Hallyu stars, entertainment, food highlight annual Korean Festival
By Jeff Chung
Mark your calendar: Saturday is "See, Taste and Listen," the sixth annual Korean Festival.
Started in January 2002 in preparation for the 2003 Korean Centennial, the Korean festival's attendance has grown every year, and so have the entertainment and food selection.
Last year, because of inclement weather and schedule conflicts in January, the Hawaii Korean Chamber of Commerce decided to move the festival to July, when the weather is more predictable. Sure enough, last year's festival was blessed with sunshine all day. This year promises to be better than ever with appearances by hallyu stars.
If you are a veteran Korean festival-goer, you know that you can expect great Korean food, cooking lessons, a kim chee-eating contest, cultural entertainment and booths full of Korean products.
Another festival highlight this year will be the singers Wax and Lee Ki Chan. The South Korean stars are scheduled to perform at 5 p.m. at Kapi'olani Park bandstand.
Wax, with six CDs under her belt, is best known for hits such as "Oppa," "Money," "Mother's Diary" and "Favor," one of my favorite songs. She is also a student at Kyung Hee University's School of Postmodern Music.
Lee Ki Chan's most recent hit, "A Beauty," was a No. 1 single and its video, starring Kim Sun Ah ("My Lovely Sam Soon"), won an award for best music video. Lee Ki Chan is a talented artist who also writes music and plays the piano and flute. He has appeared in dramas and movies. He is also a student at Kyung Hee University, studying performing arts.
The Korean Festival, organized by the Hawaii Korean Chamber of Commerce along with dozens of businesses and hundreds of volunteers, promotes Korean culture in the community and supports service projects and ventures that benefit the Korean and larger community in Hawai'i.
There are five ways you can get involved and help: attend the festival, become a volunteer, become a sponsor, run a booth or simply make a donation.
THIS WEEK'S K-DRAMA SYNOPSES
'DEAR LOVER'
EPISODES 17 AND 18
Tonight at 7: After hearing Ae-young's doctor say she has only a month left to live, Hyun-suk and Jae-in try to find Dong-woo. They also tell Kwang about Ae-young. Dong-woo works at a construction site and stays at a motel.
Tonight at 8: Ae-young is discharged from the hospital and goes to stay with her dad. Jae-in and Hyun-sik try to persuade Dong-woo to see Ae-young, but he doesn't budge.
'THANK YOU'
EPISODES 5 AND 6
Tomorrow at 7:50 p.m.: Embarrassed after getting caught "peeping" while Ki-suh was taking a shower, Young-shin tries to avoid Ki-suh. Ki-suh announces his plans to stay at Young-shin's and gives her his meal instructions. Young-shin is dumbfound, but Spring is happy to have Ki-suh stay with them.
Tuesday at 7:50 p.m.: Suk-hyun impresses the chairwoman with his presentation of the resort development. So-ran tells Ki-suh Dr. Oh is remorseful about his careless outburst, and asks him to forgive him. Suk-hyun's mother tries to set Young-shin up with a blind date.
'MONEY WAR'
EPISODES 5 AND 6
Wednesday at 7:50 p.m.: Nara gives Ju-hee money to go get her integrity back, and Ju-hee sees Nara in a new light. She takes the money to Woo-sung, but he demands twice the amount. Mr. Docko tells Nara to stop Madam Bong from taking over Blue Angel.
Thursday at 7:50 p.m.: Nara is kidnapped by Kim Dong-gu and his gang. Mr. Kim, Ju-hee's boss, puts pressure on Ju-hee to hand over classified information to Woo-sung.
'BLUE FISH'
EPISODES 13 AND 14
Friday at 7:50 p.m.: Hyun-wu decides to avoid Eun-su. Eun-su tries hard to go on with her marriage as if nothing happened, but Dong-hyuk gives her the cold shoulder.
Saturday at 7:50 p.m.: Eun-su calls Eun-hae to tell her she's away on a trip. Eun-su and Hyun-wu have a long talk on the beach. Concerned after receiving a call from Eun-su, she calls Dong-hyuk to ask if anything is wrong.