What the Shell Lounge Bar (Xiang Liu's Underwater Luxury Lounge)

 Kokuto:

That was hilarious.  Especially both of their reactions when he stopped. 

Really?  Had no idea.  I think it was my third?  Maybe second.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8rUMy7W/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8rUS3Dq/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8rU9eqs/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8rUD2Js/

https://youtu.be/95GZ_fSD3SA?si=4fNbkH6YlVV3lDZz

 Kokuto:

Yes, it's a funny rom com, and a welcome break from ANGST and crying.

Yep, definitely! 'Cause I gotta be honest, I'm going from being sad about LYF to being really pissed off. I just need to unlock the indifference level, and I'll finally be cured!

 nathsketch:

Yeah! Dylan is my special guy.

I remember watching the first episode and it was like getting struck by lightning. It's my favorite drama ever, my Asian Lord of the Rings haha ?. I watch it every two months or so. I think it was also the main reason I decided to learn Mandarin

Wow.  Okay, that's an impact.

Rebel Princess was what got me into CDramas, cause we just don't have epic 70 episode historical palace dramas shown regularly in the US, despite the success of Game of Thrones or Downton Abbey.  But Love Between Fairy and Devil cemented my dive into CDramas, because we really don't have this type of romance genre in the US.  I mean, we do have romance fantasy shows like Buffy and True Blood and Vampire Diaries, but nothing with the visual feast of a good C Drama xianxia or wuxia or historical.

 nathsketch:

You know, I do love the opening credits song. I listen to it almost daily. Zhou Shen is just ?

I don't think I've met anyone who has watched as many dramas as you have. You should write a book. 1001 Dramas to Watch Before You Die. It'd be a perfect coffee table book ♥️

??. I saw once another person that had 1600 + dramas and it’s funny because sometimes I’m checking some new drama or an actor/actress and then I saw a drama that it wasn’t marked as watched but I forgot that I’ve watched.

 I started using mdl like only 2 years ago so I made my watchlist remembering dramas that I’d watched or looking the pages of actors and adding them. And there are 100+ mini dramas in YouTube that aren’t here on mdl

 nathsketch:

Hahaha why? I'm known for my love of fairytale-like stuff. And in that aspect, LBFAD is just perfect. I was really hoping that Lost You Forever would be the same for me, but unfortunately, it isn't :(

Yeah, Rebel Princess is really epic. My mom loves it. I'm watching it with her and it's just so amusing. I know where I got my fangirl genes from. Yes, there's nothing quite like it in other countries, so that's why I can only watch these beauties from now on. 

LYF is something of fairy tail, but the Grimm's version, not the modern version.

That's great that you and your mom can share them!

 Kokuto:

So, you'll be starting on that book any day now, eh?

???

 nathsketch:

Kokuto, can I ask you a personal question related to your life as a Kokuto? ?

What does Kokuto mean? Is it an anime thing? Or a Japanese word? The curiosity is killing me

Heh.  My life as Kokuto.  :)

Kokuto is Okinawan brown sugar, or as the Japanese say, Black Sugar.  The way they process sugar cane in Okinawa is a little different and minimal, and they leave it in pieces or blocks. It's sold as candy (or sugar cubes) that way.  Between the process, the coral rich soil, the salty sea winds and ocean water, it's much healthier and tastes different from regular sugar. 

What is Kokuto

My Mom is Okinawan, and I was born there.  My Dad got another tour there when I was 5, so I have some memories of it.  I LOVED kokuto as a kid and will gobble it up when ever I can get my hands on it to this day.  It's better than brownies.

That's also why Champloo got his name.  It's an Okinawan dish, a mix upped stir fry of whatever is at hand or left overs.

That's also my profile pic.  An Okinawan shisa, probably inspired by the Chinese lion dog guardians.

 ErickaRamirez:

I have a friend in disqus and her username is Moriyama Mikuri so I thought that she was Japanese and I was watching a Japanese drama and one episode was taking forever to be subbed so I was going to ask her the favor to translate a part for me. When I asked her if she was from Japan, she said no, I’m from Spain ??

Her family could have moved there earlier and she's nisei or sansei or even further removed.  I know that there was a Japanese delegation to Rome back in the 1500s, that ended up in Portugal or Spain, IIRC, and some of them ended up staying, and they have descendants still.  I saw a documentary on it.  Anyway, is she actually descended from Japanese? 

Cause Okinawans aren't Japanese, though they are part of the nation now, and mostly speak Japanese and have Japanese names.  They were an independent nation until the Meji era, with their own language and kings and culture.  They were a big on trade, and had more of relationship with China than Japan.  If you got to see the royal palace, Shuri-Jo, before it burned down, you can tell.

Before WWII, there was a large migration of Okinawans to Brazil, of all places.  Also to Hawaii.  So, both of those places have Okinawan populations.  One of my Okinawan uncles (by marriage) was born and raised in Brazil, then returned to Okinawa, where he met my aunt.