DASMUSICALKAT

Sydney. A few years ago. A martial arts class. Two girls meet and become fast friends. But it is not until they somehow happen upon the subject of K-Pop (Kat was probably dancing to SHINee in class again) that their friendship is cemented to last throughout the years! One day, Kat breaches the subject of a BIGBANG cover competition that gives winners the opportunity to meet the boys themselves in Seoul. Both Holly and Kat are big fans of BIGBANG (T.O.P!) and Holly (a film student) readily agrees to help Kat submit a video entry cover of Bad Boy. They don’t win, but the event has brought the two closer. And it was lots of fun to make! Present day! And I am going to stop writing in third person, haha. HI! I’m Kat! ^.^ I’m crazy excitable and overly enthusiastic about a whole lot of interesting things that I’m really passionate about. It’s a long list, but they begin with musical theatre, Korean culture, Kim Junsu, film scores, anime, RPG gaming, dancing, Josh Groban, learning new things and being involved in a heap of stuff. I’m not sure exactly when it began, but many years ago now a friend showed me a Korean music video. And that was that really. I have loved Korean music, film, food, culture, history and the language ever since. I study Korean, dance K-Pop, cook Korean food, take Janggu classes, read about Korean history, watch a WHOLE lot of kdrama and film, and yes, listen to a HUGE amount of K-Pop. Oh? Who is my bias you ask? KIM JUNSU. Always. Further to Mr Xiah, I love JYJ, SHINee (MINHO!) and BIGBANG. And pretty much everyone else too. I am also immensely passionate about the Korean musical scene. I love musicals. I always have. Like, really really love musicals. In fact I write about them for the Australian online music publication- The AU Review. As well as my musical/Arts coverage for The AU, I also write for Hello Asia! section, which makes a perfect overlap when I review Korean musicals! I first started to fall for Korean musicals when Junsu was cast in Mozart! and then Tears of Heaven (coincidentally works from my favourite musical composers- Sylvester Levay and Frank Wildhorn respectively!) and from there I began to steadily realize that the high level of production quality and the beautiful adaptions of these musicals in Korea. I have seen musicals in Australia, on Broadway in New York and in London’s West End, and let me tell you- I don’t think any of them comes close to the dedication and production that you find in Korea. I have now seen December, Mozart!, 42^nd Street and Dracula in Seoul and loved all of them. I have written reviews for mostly all these musicals, so check them out if you like! Kat is getting distracted! *shiny musicals*  Back to our story…! Over the years we continued to enter these types of competitions, mainly because we had fun doing so. We knew that we’d end up visiting Korea together at some point in the future, and had fun imagining all the things we’d do. So it was that I found myself reviewing a few films at the recent Korean Film Festival in Sydney, watching the same opening ads over and over again. One of them was particularly exciting- from the Korean Tourism Office featuring BIGBANG! The campaign was called “Imagine Your Korea!”. They were running a competition that asked entrants to imagine what their ideal tour in Korea would be- who they would take, what they would do etc. I decided to enter Hol and I, and not tell her. My tour naturally talked of the Korean musical scene, of delicious food, of fascinating culture, and of sharing the whole experience together since Korean culture was so pivotel to creating our everlasting friendship bond. N’awww ^.^ Then the email came- I had won. Holly and I were going to Korea! In a month! On the Tour of my Imagination!! And! It was going to fall ON MY BIRTHDAY! It was absolutely one of those surreal moments- I had won a trip for four days and three nights with flights, accommodation, spending money and a perfect day in Seoul! high pitched squealing and much bouncing The Korean Tourism Office in Seoul contacted us and we started planning. And packing! October 30^th was fast approaching…