Scarlet Heart Ryeo Ep 19 Lee Joon Gi Junki Boring

Tuesday  1 Nov 1:12p.m.

So boring. No wonder the ratings fell to Moonlight Drawn by Clouds.

Moonlight Drawn by Clouds above 20% ratings. That's because they have a cute & lovable heroine & a super handsome Yoon Sung (Section Chief for Education & Culture played by Jin Young). I don't care for the Crown Prince but Moonlight has a refreshing sense of humor, is upbeat & with better OSTs.

Scarlet Ryeo is so boring. Joon Gi is trying so hard to lift the whole drama by himself. Now that everyone is dead, it shows that it's weighing too heavily on him. He can't carry it all by himself. He's not handsome, face so thin & sharp. Eyes beady & small. Small thin body. Which part is handsome? He glares all the time. Misunderstood by everyone. So boring.

Worst of all, Hae Soo is so boring. Completely transformed instantly from being the life of the party to being completely dead. Of course with the death of the Court Lady, it's understandable she won't be the same as before. But she's so subservient, so dead, so obedient as if she belongs there.

Hey, she isn't from that time. She's from our time. Why is she falling into that palace role thing so easily & so fast? And so miserably? And got herself so badly tortured that she won't be able to walk normally again. What the heck for? She's not from Goryeo. So irritating watching her.

Because they removed the element of her fighting to get back to her own time, the whole thing became just another boring historical-type drama with a dull female lead.

That's why the ratings fell. Also, Joon Ki was gross in dripping saliva in Ep 18. I forwarded that part. What's the matter with him? Did the actress who played his mother mind that his saliva was dripping on her hand (or on her)?

It's like you need to drip loads of snot to be credible that you're grieving? Singapore actors & actresses used to do that. Completely gross. I tell you, real grieving people don't cry & drip snot like that.

Ep 18, I  actually completely forgot to watch. Usually, I will tune into the Chinese-subbed site first thing it came out. But that night, I was watching Moonlight Drawn by Clouds replay (since it ended at Ep 18 earlier than Scarlet). I was downloading to watch the early episodes & completely forgot about Scarlet. I only remembered I didn't watch Scarlet the next morning when I realized that "yesterday was Monday".

I wonder how they are going to end Scarlet. Where else can it go? Hae Soo left the palace. Very few elements left to play with. It's like the chess board is at a point where the few pieces got nowhere to go.

Ezbuy Slowing Down & Useless Chat Staff: Crazy Purchaser/s (review)

Getting worse. Something wrong with their purchaser/s. Just recently, they used to order within the same day. Now, it takes 2-3 days to place order.  Problems more often now. And when there's a problem, chat staff can't help & don't know what's going on.

They used to be so fast that just a few hours after submitting, they will place order. And just a few hours within the same day, they will ship out once you request to ship.

Now, even shipping out takes a few days. For China & US orders.

Previously, US ordering was slow. Now even China ordering has problems.

No excuse. Can't say that because of so many Prime orders or because too many orders, not enough staff/time.

Seriously, every time I order from Ezbuy, I'm worried. What's going to go wrong? There are perfect orders & also messed up instances.

Problem is these days, running into problems with Ezbuy has become more frequent.

Side note: Ezbuy chat is usually available till 10pm Mon to Sat. But sometimes, they disappear. Like now 9pm. 21 Oct Fri.

Case #1: 18 Oct cancelled 2 items

I ordered 2 pieces of underwear from a China site. Previously, I have ordered from this site before & Ezbuy was able to order within the usual time frame.  I submitted the 2 orders on Friday (14 Oct).  They should be ordered on the same day. However, these days, it's usual for Ezbuy to order it the next day.

So, I waited but was not ordered on Sat.

Sunday, Ezbuy is dead. So I waited till Mon. No order placed.

I waited until Tues late afternoon & still not ordered. So I entered chat & asked what's going on.

[Previously, a few days before this, I had ordered some underwear from a Taobao seller & one item didn't arrive at the warehouse for a few days. When I asked, Ezbuy chat staff kept smoking through without any solution. I had to ask every day what was happening before I finally got the answer that the item was rejected by warehouse because seller had sent a defective & wrongly-sized item.

Throughout, purchaser did not leave any updates in my order remarks. After posting in their Ezbuy Facebook page, the purchaser finally left an update in my order.

When I said I wanted to cancel for refund, the purchaser assured me it will be done. But many days after that, nothing happened (even when seller was online & their China holiday had passed). When I asked chat staff, I found out the refund request was not yet submitted by purchaser.

So that's how I know their purchaser is shitty.]

This time, up to late Tues afternoon, my 2 new items were still not ordered. Clearly, the purchaser was putting off ordering from that site from some odd reason.

Fine. If the purchaser don't want to order them, it's Ezbuy's loss. Just tell me.

On Mon, I already asked a chat staff (YC) who smoked through by saying "dear so sorry, will inform purchaser to order asap". YC said will leave message for the purchaser. Nothing happened the whole day.

On Tues, here's another chat staff who tried smoking through:

What update manually? That's clearly a lie. Previously when I ordered from the same site, everything was "updated" normally just like any Taobao order. 

The orders were cancelled & I got the refund immediately. Very smooth & fast, only because the items haven't been ordered. If already ordered, refund will take a longer time (& these days, as from previous experience, will need to push purchaser to get it. Could be because this time, it's... I don't know what's the excuse. In the past, no need to push to get refund.).

For now, refunds are processed instantly (for un-ordered items) by chat staff.  I don't know how long that's going to last.

I don't know what happened to their purchaser/s. Could be newly recruited lazy staff because previously, they were very fast & efficient.

Bottomline is: I didn't get to buy what I wanted. In the time it took for Ezbuy not to order, I lost interest. Ezbuy didn't get to earn anything. What the heck is Ezbuy for?  Plus, they have this ridiculous rule about being unable to ship liquids above 200ml. Come on, EMS/Speedpost ships everything.

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For my own record:

Case #2:  So far, I haven't had China orders missing before.  Delayed a few times.  After so many items I ordered: single small items & larger items. Mainly, my items are small packets. Quite amazing. Even delayed, they arrive at the warehouse. I still don't know at this moment whether this new item is missing or delayed. It should arrive by end of today.

US order missing once & Ezbuy said it was seller's mistake sending to wrong address. I've not ordered from that seller again.

This time, ordered a Taobao item on Sat 15 Oct. Coincides with the underwear problem above (case #1). Previously, when they were 65daigou, it would have been ordered on same day Sat. But these days, it's normal for Ezbuy to skip Sat.

So, order was placed on Mon. At the same time, (case #1) the underwear placed on Fri 14 Oct was still not ordered.

On Tues, I cancelled underwear orders & got refund. That same night, I remember the seller of this new order I placed (on Sat) dispatched the item because I was thinking (when I saw the update) that the seller is so fast despite his 4.7 track record.  But till last night Thurs, still not arrived at warehouse.

Normally, it takes just 1-2 days for China local delivery. Anything longer means there's a problem.

According to Ezbuy (this Fri morning), it was dispatched on Wed 19. Odd. If it was dispatched on Wed, I wouldn't be so disturbed because I know 2 days China delivery to warehouse is normal.  And that "dispatched by seller" status in my order page has been there for a long time. I check many times a day.

Either I made a mistake in recalling the day of dispatch, or the seller clicked sent earlier before actually sending it out (like Ebay button that seller can click whenever).

Anyway, bottomline is: delay. It should be flying now but till now 12:13pm Fri 21, still not at warehouse.

If it hits Sat, it might not be shipped out until Mon. These days, that's how slow Ezbuy has become.

Last night about 8.30pm, I asked chat staff to check why it still wasn't at warehouse. Chat staff still online until 10pm, but purchaser already disappeared. What can chat staff do?

Many times these days, I am finding out that chat staff are hopeless. They can't do anything without the purchaser. Can't order, can't update, can't check anything.

Ezbuy chat staff are the frontline smiley face.

I hate it when useless chat staff who didn't solve anything put this crap at the end: "You are most welcome! Pls rate our service".

Note that I said "Mon" dispatch. That is incorrect. It should be Tues. Or if Ezbuy is really correct, then Wed.

This is last night's chat Thurs about 8.30pm 20 Oct:  Heather was nice enough to tell me to wait along the way. Some chat staff just leave me hanging. But it was a 20 minutes wait.

 Leave message means nothing will be done, don't expect update from purchaser.

Since she can't do anything without the purchaser, I said I'll wait to see if it reaches warehouse tonight. I thanked her. She sent the template "You are most welcome!" & ended with:

What further assistance can you provide when I just asked for assistance & you were unable to help??

The chat staff replies can be so slowww these days... that even after I've crapped & bathed in the bathroom, come out & still no reply. 

Next morning at 10.10am, I asked another staff where's the item. Note the chat staff never corrected me when I said dispatched on Mon. She didn't check. She didn't argue. I would say so far, the staff have never argued with me. Always neutral. Pretty good training.

In order to test whether Heather (last night) was being inefficient last night, I asked this staff whether she needed the purchaser to check.  Answer: Heather was fine & telling the truth. The purchaser really, could not be contacted. And chat staff can't do anything without the purchaser's information.

Nice of Venx to copy & paste the entire local delivery information, rather than just telling me.

There are a few chat staff who are nice & genuinely try to help. But the limits to their accessing of purchasers' information & warehouse information makes it impossible for them to help much, if at all.

This is bad considering they are frontline staff who must know everything to be able to answer customers' enquiries.

This morning's chat at about 10.10am:

as checked in the courier company website your order is be sent out on 19/10, it still on it ways to our china warehouse for that >2016年10月21日 上午8:46:24
[浦东金桥] 浦东金桥 的 唐陆路 正在派件

I wait to see if it'll arrive at warehouse today. If not, I'll have to throw the above information back to them.

[Update Sat 22 Oct: arrived at warehouse at night on Fri. Today Sat I submitted ship request. Due to Haima typhoon, not sure if flying today. It's not my item. Customer's item.  
Update 24 Oct Mon 9:04pm: Ezbuy breaks record for speed this time. Despite typhoon Haima & Ezbuy's warning that flights out will be delayed, item really shipped out on Sat daytime! Amazingly, it just arrived tonight. I just checked & it was freshly updated to "arrange delivery". Out of so many times, this is the 1st or 2nd time Ezbuy is this fast. Amazing.].

Sometimes, I get so sian, I tell myself to just be grateful that there is Ezbuy, still quite professional with chat always on. They are the only ones reliable out of the few 2 others.

Anyway, I seldom buy things from Taobao unless necessary or I have some spare cash. Taobao variety is very bad for many things. All the sellers tend to sell the same things, just different prices. Because they get from the same source.

Even after browsing more than 20-30 pages, still same designs. Lack of variety.

Also, the designs are all look very crude. Across all items. Clothing, shoes, underwear, furniture etc... One look, you know it's from China. No refinement.  Compare the products from Europe or US, the difference is clear.

It's actually very difficult to find something on Taobao that don't shout "China". 

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds Ep 18 A Pity

Seeing the prince/king kissing her, I think how the other guy would have kissed her. I prefer the Other Guy.  Sexier. Subtly, sexily intelligent. His kissing should be better. I'm curious how his kissing will be like.

Unfortunately, he got himself killed... because she didn't love him. How can a smart man be so silly to loose his life like that? Against a few lousy assassins.  So many assassins not to get 1 girl, but actually sent in case he rebels.

I'm also comparing this king's kiss with Lee Joon Gi's kiss in Scarlet Heart Ep 16 (Joon Gi puts his finger just under the girl's ear).  I think this king guy kisses better.

 

The Other Guy.  Kim Yoon Sung. Section Chief of Culture & Education.

I love all the clothes he wears. So beautiful & romantic clothing. Floral designs & handsome. Everytime he shows up in a new outfit, I go "wow".  Every piece is very nice. I ought to do a compilation of all his robes. I have not seen a man look so cool & impressive in floral robes.

So kingly compared to the real king.  When he's sad, he's even handsomer. His eyebrows so expressive & sorrowful towards another man (Byung Yun) Ep 17.  I've never seen a man look so handsome when he's sad.

Very calm, very steady, very quietly intelligent & quitely steadfast man. To be loved by him, it's a privilege. To have him on your side, is lucky.

I love his voice. Very soothing. Soft & calm.

I wished he didn't die & was miraculously saved.  I don't care for the king. Yeah, the king is smart & good-looking. But this Other Guy is a different level.  For the king, to lose him, is to lose an asset. 

Unfortunately, Ra On never got to be kissed by him. What a pity... (even if you want to lie on her lap, also don't have to go to this extent of getting yourself killed just to have your head lay on her lap.).

I have to be careful that when writing my novel, I don't make my characters make stupid decisions just to force an effect that I want.

 

He always looks very cool & calm. I've never seen him look so affected, so distraught & so sad.  Handsome even when sad. You have to see the video to see the handsomeness. These screenshots aren't showing it well.

 

 

 

Arhhh.... why can't all men look like this?

He's so damn cool. Took the sword with his bare hands away from the Crown Prince (his best friend). So cool 2 men protecting her at the same time. Yoon Sung really loves her badly (as he says). I think he loves her even more than the Crown Prince.

 

 

 

He makes me smile stupidly.

Scarlet Heart Ryeo Moon Lovers Ep 16 Chinese-Subbed already out

English-subbed website says, "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo Episode 16 won’t air on SBS and International TV tonight because of livestream baseball.".   

Huh? I just finished watching Ep 16 with Chinese subs.  And it was even shown early even before 10pm Singapore time. China already has the episode & subbed it before Korean broadcast. Beijing company has the exclusive rights to sub & broadcast it. 

Unfortunately, by tomorrow, the Chinese-subbed version will be changed to Youku that don't allow viewing outside China.

I went to English-subbed website to watch the Raw (after watching Chinese-subbed because the 2 versions can be different with the silly director's deleted scenes here and there).

I love the part where the 3 men are together in the same room & they all feel the pain seeing her being hurt by the 3rd prince (King) Yo. They all love her.  It's touching to see.

Disappointing that even as a general now, Prince Jung still cannot bring himself to go against his brothers.  He wants to intervene but lets himself be stopped by Wook.

I think Prince Jung has asked to marry Hae Soo. When the King asked what he reward he wanted for securing the border, his answer wasn't shown.

The crazy king throws the teacup at Wang So. Even Wook is surprised. I like the look on his face.

 

 

King grabs her wrist. This is called serving tea at the wrong time.

 King: If not enough manpower, don't tell them to sleep.

She starts feeling the pain.

King: Where there is shortage, even if steal must also steal it to make up for the shortage.

I love this part where Wang So slowly glances up discreetly & sees her wrist. So small her wrist held painfully in that man's hand.

King: Squeeze, squeeze, and squeeze.

King: Also must finish it before the day.

 

She's very brave not to cry out. Prince Yung can't stand it anymore. About to say something, but is stopped by Prince Wook.

 

Wang So is really bothered to see her hand being gripped painfully like that.

 

She lets out a small sound.

Wang So finally decides to step in. He had earlier told her his feelings for her have changed, so he is trying his best not to show that he still cares for her.

Wang So kneels: I deserve ten thousand deaths, your Majesty. (It's my fault, your Majesty).

Prince Wook intervenes & frees her. She releases a sigh of relief & hurries away. I love the look on Prince Wook's face as he discreetly follows her with his eyes as she moves past behind him to the door. He still loves her very much.

I love these 2 men protecting her in their own way.

As for the bed scene.... there's nothing much to it. I hope she didn't sleep with Wang So, although it looks like she has. Her outer clothes have been removed & she's in bed with him in only her underwear (in those days).  And then... there's the suggestive candle blow out.  That's the old-cashioned Chinese modest way of saying the couple is having sex.

Not married & had sex already. Going to be problematic if Prince Jung has asked to marry her as his reward. How is she or Wang So going to explain they slept together already? And worse, when she's pregnant?

What happened was, Wang So was badly grazed by the arrow while protecting her from the king's intentionally shooting. He was also supposed to have been despatched outside the castle. Along the way, his wound gets worse. At the same time, Hae Soo wants to see him & gets Baek Ah to help.

She sneaks into his room.

Baek Ah:  "All other people have been cleared away. You can relax.".

His position in the scene below reminds me of King & Clown.

 

I love it when he twitches his left eyebrow in pain at seeing her. How does he do that? Just that eyebrow. Very sexy the way he falls into unconsciousness. I'm sure a lot of gay men will like this.

I love how the director tells the story as Wang So wakes.  Audience sees through Wang So's eyes. First, when he wakes, he looks to the left. Thinks there's nobody. Looks ahead with a sigh thinking that Hae Soo left, checks his wound, then turns & sees her asleep against the wall. Then the director pans out to show full view of their positions in the room.

 

 

 

 

I love this part where he reaches out his manly hand to touch her. Almost going to cup his hand around her small, lovely face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She says she risked her life climbing over the palace wall to come here just to hear him tell her. For 2 years, not a day that she does not long for his return.

Hae Soo: Do you still love me?

He tries to resist. It's hard for him. 

I love the way he turns around & answers:

Actually, I don't like the way he kisses with his lips sucking on the other's lips like that.

I'm watching where he puts his hands when he hugs her. His hand is very near her breast. Does she mind? This is the 2nd time. First time was when she cried in the rain & he was holding her back. Is he trying to eat her "tofu" while acting? (taking advantage of her).

 

Where's her blue clothing? She took it off? Her hair has also been let down...  He is still clothed though. Maybe she was just tired & wanted to feel more relaxed?? Unfortunately, I think I've to face it. That they had sex. Why and when would a maiden take off her clothes & "rest" in bed with a man? This must be the "after sex" moment:

Has Lee Joon Gi's hands always been like this? Large & manly but very rough-looking. Sinewy. An older man's hand. She suddenly looks very (too?) young for him.