Kdrama Rant - Blog Posts

~ ‘Little House In The Forest’ Showed Me The Joys Of Mindful Living ~

I feel K-Variety shows have a way to help you tap into your Zen. My encounter with them has made me fall in love with how positive, uplifting and fun they can be.

'Little House In The Forest' is a special one among the litter. I received the link for the first episode from my friend who'd just stumbled upon the show and was already head over heels for it.

I won't lie, she had very good reasons to be.

What the show is about:

The central theme of the show is around how simple, mindful living can actually boost people's happiness.

We have 2 celebrity subjects in the show: 1) Subject A: Park Shin Hye 2) Subject B: So Ji Sub

The subjects are brought to individual cabins, set in different parts of a forested area and they are given various tasks through the days. These tasks are actual experiments in helping them discover happiness and calm in the everyday.

Our celebrity subjects are then required to do these tasks and share their honest experiences on how effective these experiences were for their overall well-being.

The tasks are simple yet really soothing to watch, but what makes the show fun is the distinct personalities of the celebrities.

The Guests:

Subject A, Park Shin Hye is cheerful, likes playing music when she's cooking, loves to eat and is a thorough maximalist (her weekly pantry that she gets from the city is proof of this).

USP: Park Shin Hye's attention to food is superb to watch. She thoughtfully plans her meals and ravishes them with respect and contentment. She cooks up the coolest menus and is quite proud of her flavors.

Subject B, Ji-Sub is a quick contrast to Shin Hye. He's quiet, unintentionally funny, likes to eat but isn't ballistic about it and needs very little to live well (his luggage i.e. a medium sized rucksack is proof that he's probably a modern day monk in hiding).

USP: Ji Sub surprises you with his sensitivity to things. At first, I did confuse his introverted personality for aloofness but he's brilliantly creative. He has this knack of building things out of thin air, such as a simple towel rack, a footstool and my favorite, a hammock.

I love him more because ramen is his favorite meal in the whole world (*take all the brownie points*)

We also have some random cuties who appear on the show. One of them is Bong, the cloud-white dog who will only follow human orders if there's food involved in the bargain. He's shamelessly selfish and won't chill around with the guests even when they ask him to stay for company. He likes sunny, windy days while sitting in grass and is also quite fond of flowers.

Side note: He has a hilarious first encounter with Ji-Sub where the two of them take offense and depart with sorry disappointment.

Then there are the cows. Yes, cows. These creatures of the nearby forests wander into the meadows that surround our guests' cabins and they often take a liking towards the camera.

However, when our guests get friendly with them, they find themselves and their homes surrounded by an entire herd that refuses to leave (oops).

And last but not the least, the narrator that comes in with a calming synopsis of the tasks, explains their meanings and pulls you in to try them as well.

The Tasks:

I especially enjoyed the experiments of happiness our celebrities received. A few of my favorites among them were:

1. Decorating a part of the cabin with your own unique art: Shin Hye painted a flower meadow around her window ❤

2. Taking 3 hours to prep, cook and enjoy lunch: Ji-Sub had a slow, barbeque style meal outdoors and enjoyed it with the surrounding mountains and clouds.

3. Capturing the colors of the rainbow through photographs of objects around them: The two of them traveling through the surrounding woods to notice flowers, dew drops and streams to capture these colors is very beautiful to watch.

4. Building a little something for the cabin as a goodbye gift: I loved Shin Hye making a cute bird nest outside hers for creatures to come and give the cabin company in her absence.

5. Turning off your smartphone post 6 p.m.: Ji-Sub was a stud as had switched his off from the morning itself (lol) while Shin Hye almost had a panic attack without hers for the evening. 

6. Going for a solo picnic.

There were a total of 44-46 tasks that the guests performed and there were glimpses of the omitted ones in the last episode (the director's cut).

What I Liked:

1. I loved the theme of the show in itself. It is positive, nourishing and very beautiful to see simple living in action.🌼 2. The celebrity guests, who with their contrasting personalities make the tasks so much more fun to watch. 🌼 3. Bong the doggo.🌼 4. The various happiness tasks that can be done even when if you're living in a city. 🌼 5. The resourceful nature of Ji-Sub who lives calmly even when he spends a winter night without electricity. 🌼 6. Shin-Hye's meal combos and her manner of eating. 🌼 7. The beautiful, simple and well-structured cabins in the woods. 🌼 8. The woods. 🌼

What I Didn't Like:

1. I feel they could have shown more tasks rather than just the select few.

My Learnings:

1. Happiness is not faraway. It is right here.

This is the biggest message that the show gives out. It displays how happiness is day to day affair and how we can welcome it where we are, without needing to head off to a cabin to look for it.

2. Who you are is enough and you deserve rest.

Both our celeb guests warm up to the idea of rest which for them, is such a stark contrast given their hectic lifestyles. I love Ji-Sub's evolution through the show: how he slowly gets more comfortable showing who he is onscreen, sheds off much of his shyness yet is naturally himself.

3. Listening to yourself requires you to sit down with yourself first.

If you really want to get in touch with your feelings, you have to let go of the mental clutter of thoughts and sit down with yourself. Letting go of excess to focus on what's important enhances your time and gives it an enriching, peaceful quality.

My last thoughts: 

This is a BEAUTIFUL show. One that deserves your time and one that is perfect if you want a feel-good watch. It adds value and purpose and helps you make better choices to live more fully.💕

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Image Credits: 1 - burnsocial.com | 9: Channel Korea |

Don’t Let Your Past Dictate Your Present Is What  I Learnt From ‘Chocolate’

For every drama I've loved so far, there's an inner Anvi screaming "O, my god! What a show! Go watch it!". It's screaming very loudly for this one as well.

My third drama to be precise and my first Korean one, ‘Chocolate’ (2019) had my heart in a knot and made me weep like a baby. It took every broken piece inside me and took its time in gluing it back with a little bit more magic and love.

Man, this show. Oh man, this show.

A tale of two childhood sweethearts, Dr. Kang and chef Moon Cha Young, the two reunite after nearly two decades with only Cha Young recognizing her first love. Dr. Lee Kang, an illegitimate heir of a big medical institution, lives with his step-family who wants nothing more than his inheritance. A boy who once dreamed of becoming a chef, Kang now seeks revenge for his mother's death.

Moon Cha Young has had it rough in life. A survivor of a terrifying building crash, she finds solace in food and cooking. Suffering from post-traumatic disorder, Cha Young keeps to herself, until Kang's best friend falls for her.

(I won't spill the beans further because that would just unravel the plot making it pointless to watch. Which is precisely what I don't want --- I want you to watch the drama and fall head over heels for it and cry buckets just like I did.)

Kang and Cha Young cross paths once again in a hospice for terminally ill patients and it is here, amidst stories of love, death, family and friendship that they begin to know each other.

The drama is tear-jerker, NGL. But I didn't mind that one bit. It isn't a light watch, it is mature and heavy and worth every minute of your precious time.

As is typical of drama male leads, Kang's initial treatment of Cha Young pissed the shit out of me even though I could understand where his attitude stemmed from -- Cha Young after all, broke the heart of his only and best friend. Still, I wanted to punch the man in his face a lot of times. And I also wanted to shake the hell out of Cha Young for returning to him time and again like a wounded puppy. Thank god she stopped after a while, thank god for some self-respect.

I also love, love the side-cast in this show. What freaking cool actors and boomers. I particularly love head nurse Ha Young Shi who's totally cool, gives zero shits about gender stereotypes and goes all in with her heart. Then there is Lee Joon who's narrative I particularly enjoyed, especially the way he chose to let his own heart guide him rather than his family's expectations of him. I loved Director Kwon Hyun Sik, a father figure to Kang and an absolutely beautiful man.

My learnings:

1. Some people are worth those second chances. 

Some people are worth placing your trust back into and trying once more. Some people are worth the fight. 

2. Don’t let your past dictate your present. 

Let your present dictate your choices, your heart. The past is long gone and if something from it comes revisiting, it is worth looking at in a brand new way.

3. It’s never too late to open your heart again.

For me, 'Chocolate' still remains one of my favorite dramas till date. I love the slow-paced nature of the show, I love how it wrings out all kinds of emotions from you and how it heals you in ways you don't even realize.

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GIF Credits: | GIF 2  - Soompi | GIF 7: Tumgir | GIF 11: Netflix 

Image Credits: Hancinema.net