Life (라이프) (2018)

Picked up this drama because I wanted to watch anything that is not romance and lovey-dovey stuff. Also, it does not hurt to see Lee Dong Wook and Cho Seung Woo in a same screen.

Snippet of the drama (From AsianWiki)

A power struggle ensues at a hospital. Ye Jin Woo (Lee Dong Wook) is a doctor in the emergency medical center at Sangkook University Hospital. He has a warm heart and charisma. He admires hospital director Lee Bo Hoon (Cheon Ho Jin). One day, he hears from his brother Ye Sun Woo (Lee Kyu Hyung) that the hospital director placed government subsidy money into his personal bank account. On that night, the hospital director dies after falling off an apartment building rooftop where vice-director Kim Tae Sang (Moon Sung Geun) lives. His death is ruled an accident caused by a heart attack. Ye Jin Woo believes otherwise.

Koo Seung Hyo (Cho Seung Woo) begins work as the president of Sangkook University Hospital. He is cool-headed and ambitious. As a businessman, he wants the hospital to become profitable. Other people tell him that running a hospital is different from running other businesses, but Koo Seung Hyo doesn't see why a hospital is any different. So that the hospital can start turning a profit, he decides to transfer 3 departments, including the money hemorrhaging emergency medical department, to other hospitals. Hospital staff members oppose that idea and a strike is led by the vice-director. Meanwhile, Koo Seung Hyo experiences the dark side of running a hospital, including cover-ups on patient's deaths.

Credit: Here

My thoughts

I had quite a high expectation about this show but unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectation. I found it quite unfortunate because the actors have been giving us nothing but stellar performance but the loose plot made me feel ughhhhhhh! It had so much potential though! T^T

Let me talk about the ending first. I wasn't expecting the ending to be quite dull. Maybe I was looking for something more impactful and for everything to be nicely wrapped, so there's that. Also, what's with sudden romance and love lines?! I think the show could be fine without romance and love lines. Though I have to say watching Ye Jin Woo having a feeling on the reporter and trying to get close to her was cute. It was the same for Koo Seung Hyo as well. But I still stand firmly, that all those scenes looked like they came out of nowhere.

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I know this show was all about power struggle but I wish we were given better, solid reasons for the power struggle. Also, wish they slowed down the power struggle a lil bit. There were so much stuff going on at the same time. Should give us the viewers time to breathe and process everything that was going on.

However, I do love some of the moments in the show. For instance, I loved very scene of Ye Jin Woo with his brother. I was happiest at their ending scene. Additionally, I liked every scene of Koo Seung Hyo together with his secretary. They were like a crack in the middle of all seriousness. Also, I loved every scene that shows the humane side of Koo Seung Hyo. Dude can be hard to read, so having those scenes really helped to decipher who he is.

Anyway, I don't recommend this show unless if you want to have a headache or if you don't mind with the loose plot or if you are a die-hard fan of one of the actors.

Exploring Johnston Canyon In Summer

Had a chance to go to Johnston Canyon for the first time last summer (Can't believe that summer is now over and it has been snowing for the past few days. Where is fall again? T^T). Johnston Canyon was my first stop that day so I had a lot of energy and was mentally and physically prepared to go for a hike.

Tip: Go early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid the crowd.

Johnston Canyon hike is approximately 7 km return hike if you're going up to the Upper Falls. Otherwise, it should be approximately 2.5 km return hike if you're going up to the Lower Falls only. Am not sure about the elevation gain. Think it's about 135 meters if you're going up to the Upper Falls.

Tip: Ditch your and use public transportation as parking spaces are limited. Parks Canada runs shuttle service in summer for CAD 5 return trip. Otherwise, Hop On Banff can be a decent alternative.

As someone who's not physically fit per se (I'm a couch potato through and through, in case you still haven't realized about this), I think the hike was pretty easy and doable for someone like me. I obviously huffed and puffed through my way up to the Upper Falls but I didn't have a moment like, "Ughhhhhh, penat gila. I don't think I can do this T_________T" So, that was good. I was quite happy with myself. lol. 

Lower Falls

The trail heading to the Lower Falls was gorgeous. I loved it! I was in awe all the time. I think it's going to be a magical experience if there is a less crowd. I actually enjoyed my walk so much that I didn't realize that I have arrived at the Lower Falls. I arrived at the Lower Falls with a heap of people, so it was kinda congested at the viewing bridge (as you can see below).

Lower Falls

When I was there, I saw a line heading through a tunnel. Intrigued by the line, I decided to line up as well because I was curious about what's waiting at the other end of tunnel. Apparently, you'll get a closer look of the Lower Falls at the end of the tunnel. I was lucky that the line was not that long when I was there. Had to wait less than 3 minutes before getting a spot at the end of the tunnel and finally seeing the Lower Falls from a closer range. 

Tip: If you have an expensive camera, please bring waterproof cover as your camera might be misted with water.

Upper Falls

I then walked to the Upper Falls. The trail heading to the Upper Fall was quite different from the trail to the Lower Falls. I walked mainly through forest this time. Am not sure how long I took to reach the Upper Falls from the Lower Falls because I didn't bother to check for time, but I think it was quite a long walk?

Once reached, I had two options on where I want to see the Upper Falls. I chose the easier one; a viewing platform at the bottom of the falls. The other option was a platform overhanging the gorge which can be reached by taking a steeper trail. I skipped the viewing platform overhanging the gorge because I thought I didn't have enough time. Apparently, I actually had more than enough time to see the Upper Falls from the other platform, extra 20 minutes to be exact. I finished the whole trail and returned to the starting point in about 1 hour 30 minutes?

Anyway, it was a neat experience for me. Think it was one of the nicest and easiest hike that I did last summer. I'm thinking about going to Johnston Canyon again this winter. Hopefully when the time comes, I'm ready to brace the coldness.

Namdaemun Market (남대문시장)

Went to Namdaemun Market (남대문시장) once with my junior as he wanted to buy something here. I wasn't prepared to go to Namdaemun Market at that time so I was heavily overwhelmed by the busyness of Namdaemun Market. It also didn't help as we got lost here for quite some time, trying to find our starting point.

The only picture of Namdaemun Market that I have.

Once we found the starting point, we decided that it was best for us to leave as Namdaemun Market really sucked the energy out of me and we were in a rush to go to Itaewon for his grocery shopping and our dinner. I think we barely spent 3 hours here with 1 hour-ish was us being lost in a sea of humans.

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Unfortunately, yes, I didn't get to properly explore Namdaemun Market and find the souvenir shops that are always being mentioned by other Malaysians. Hopefully, I can go and and properly explore Namdaemun Market in the future.