Our Silverwood Theme Park Vacation: tips and hacks

 Hi guys! 👋 If you know me, you would know that our family love to travel and I love to organize travel plans. 

This summer, we went to Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, Idaho. It's in Northern part of Idaho. It's just 7 hrs drive away from Calgary. 

To hype you up, this is Northwest America's largest theme park. When you visit there, you'll see that they also have a water park that is already included in your day ticket/ pass. 

If you like rides and slides, you'll definitely enjoy this place. But even if you don't do crazy rides and slides, there are still a lot of things to do for you. I also appreciate that this place has enough things to do even for little ones or even old ones. You can also rent a stroller, a wagon and a wheelchair. It's very convenient and very family friendly. 

We went there for 2 days, it works for us. But if you have extra money, go for 3 days. You'll really enjoy the place. 

Anyway, my first tip in planning any vacation is to do your research. I read and searched a lot of blogs, vlogs, reels about Silverwood and the surrounding areas. That's how I came up with our things to do there in Silverwood and the surrounding areas. 

Here are some of the tips specifically for Silverwood: 

1. It's cheaper if you buy your tickets online and it gets cheaper if you buy more days. 

2. You can also bring a 12x12 soft cooler inside for your snacks and drinks. There are also a lot of water fountain in the water park and dry park. 

Although, we didn't bring our own cooler, we just brought 2 water bottles with ice inside. We also brought some snacks like jerky, oreos and some cookies. We still wanted to try their snacks and other food their. Actually, their food is not so expensive. I think it's just fairly priced. 

3. Know the layout of the park and decide what do you want to do. So, I did this for our family. I had 2 days scheduled plans. We try to follow it, although there are some minor changes. But I think having a plan saved us from going through and from 2 parks. 

I will include our 2-day schedule here.

Day 1 Vlog at Silverwood 

Boulder Beach Vlog

4. Get a locker. If you're like us, we went to both parks, then, get a locker in the main street. It's located behind the carrousel. It's closer to both parks and to the parking area. We rented a locker for 2 days. It's $10 for the whole day. 

We put our wet clothes their and towels after we're done with the water park.

5. Come early. The park will open at 11am. But, you can come before 10am to secure a nice parking area near the entrance. You can have your bag checked, you can start your day with a coffee at Silverwood Coffee Roasting Company. You can look around and get some souvenirs there. 

We did it for 2 days, our hotel is 20 minutes away from Silverwood. 

For 2 days, we arrived there around 9:45am. It was great. It was not yet busy, we ate our breakfast there, have our coffee, find a locker and take some pictures. It was amazing

5. Come early. The park will open at 11am. But, you can come before 10am to secure a nice parking space near the entrance. You can have your bag checked, you can start your day with a coffee at Silverwood Coffee Roasting Company. You can look around and get some souvenirs there.
We did it for 2 days, our hotel is 20 minutes away from Silverwood.

For 2 days, we arrived there around 9:45am. It was great. It was not yet busy, we ate our breakfast there, have our coffee, find a locker and take some pictures. It was amazing!

6. They don't accept cash in the park except the Silverwood Coffee Roasting and Company. So we put some money in a "cash band". We used it to pay for the food, the midway games and souvenirs. 

7. Our plan next time if we are sure that we are going to Silverwood, we can buy the tickets online because the tickets are not "date-specified". Then, we can allot money every now and then to our "cash band". 

Anyway, for any unused cash, you can always refund it at the end of the day or at the end of your stay. 

Here's our schedule for 2 days. 

I found this schedule from a blog as well. We just adjusted this one to some of the things we like. 

Day 1: 

Come before or 10am

1. Boulder Beach Water Park

One person should secure a place to sit down. There's a lot of seating areas there, but it's first time, first serve. 

We found a place near the lazy river. Honestly, we just put our towels and snacks there and just went back there every now and then if we need it. We put our phone to water proof cases and brought it with us. Our wallet is in our lockers. We have money in our cashband if we need to buy anything.

If you like slides and big slides, do it first.

Well, Emma and Mike just did Riptide Racer and Rumble Falls. Later they realized they wanted to do the Eagle Hunt, so we did it the 2nd day. 

      Eagle Hunt (new expansion this year)

Riptide Racer (Emma and Mike did it 3 times)

There's plenty of place to buy food there, have your lunch there. 

After lunch, do the Elkhorn Lazy river to relax. Although this is our favorite thing, so we did it even before lunch.

                    Elkhorn Lazy River

There's also a Polliwog park and Salmon Run for little kids. There's also a boulder beach bay for wave pool.

We stayed almost until 4pm at the wet park. By the way, this closes at 7pm. 

2. Take the 5pm train ride and show. 

The train ride and show from the main street is every hour and only about 35 minutes/ ride. 

We planned to get the 7pm, but we noticed that people also like to take the train later and it gets busy, so we decided to take it earlier time. 

3. Dinner- Either High Moon Saloon or Lindy's restaurant. 

High Moon Saloon have musical shows at night. We just went there and check out the music show. But we didn't finish it. They are also selling food there. 

We had dinner at Lindys. It was a beautiful restaurant. It's like a formal seat-in dinner with some options that is not only fries and hot dogs.

The interior design of Lindy's is really beautiful. 

4. Check the rides at Country carnival or Critter Camp after dinner. 

The lines for the rides for the kids is not too long. I think we just waited for about 10-20 minutes/ ride.

The rides at the dry park closes at 9pm but some of the stores in the Main Street closes at 9:30. So we took our sweet time with the rides, played some games in the arcade. Then by 9pm, we started heading back to the parking spot. We bought some caramel apples, took our stuffs in the locker and head back to our hotel. 

Day 2

Come before 10 or 10am.

1. We get some coffee at the Victorian Cofee House. This is another beautiful cafe shop at the park.

               Inside the Victorian Cofee House 

Outside at the patio, there are also some chairs to sit down. 

Exterior of the Victorian Cofee House 

2. When the park opens at 11am, go to the big rides (Coaster Alley) because the line goes so long there. We didn't do the roller coaster. But this morning, we did Thunder Canyon first, Log Fume and the Bumper Boats. 

Then, we did the other small rides that we missed from the day before. 

We are at Log Fume, the drop was not too bad.

3. Around 2pm, we had lunch inside the Phantasm, where they also do the magic show. 

We ordered some pizza and drinks and waited for the show. 

4. After the magic show, we went back to the water pack to try the Eagle Hunt and lazy river. 

You can skip going back to water park and just stay at the dry park. 

There are also movie theater in the Main Street that shows old school movies. They also have a "mine" for the little one in the Critter Camp. 

They have midway games and some retro arcade. We did those in both days.

Overall, I loved Silverwood. It's a lovely theme park. It was not something that I felt overwhelming. It's definitely a go to place if you're from Calgary because it's not too far from us. 

Maybe on our next post, I can share some things we did other than Silverwood. We visited some places in Idaho and Spokane as well. I'll write more on that on our blog. 

Check our vlog for the whole experience:

10 Things Iove about you!

 Happy birthday to my beloved!

This year, I'm really grateful for adding another year to my dear husband. Last year, he had a heart attack and had some health issues. It was truly a blessing that God added another year in his life.

On this post, I want to honor him by sharing the 10 things I love about him.

1. He is kind. Even before when we were still in Bible school, I can see his kindness. He is kind to people. That is one of his qualities that attracted me.

2. He is generous. He will give his time and his finances to God's ministry and to people. He will not hesitate to give and sometimes people take him for granted. He gives without expecting anything in return. He is generous financially and with his time.

3. He loves to share Jesus and the gospel to others. He will use his social media to share about God's love and power to others.

4. He is thoughtful. Sometimes I complain that he is not really "planning" or thinking of special dates or suprises. But, honestly, he is very thoughtful. He will bring me some "pasalubong" or simple gifts from the airport after his work. One time, he will just suprise me with some chocolates or noodles or a rose. Sometimes it's so random. But I really appreciate this little gestures that he do.

5. He loves people. He never complains when he sometimes need to meet someone 30 minutes to 1 hr away from us. He will not hesitate to drive for people to bring them to destinations. He is always available to help if he can. I appreciate that about him. He loves people the way God loves people.

6. He is very passionate in learning more. These days, he's been learning and studying a lot about different things like apologetics and stuffs. When he is passionate about something, he will really spend time with that. I love that he is willing to learn and to study.

7. He is trying his best to be the best husband and father. He will play with Emma. He will be silly with her. Actually, for Emma he is the funny parent and I'm the serious one.

8. I love our road trips and our joy rides. I love our food trips, movie trips and karaoke time.

9. I love how he is also growing as a person, as a husband and as a Christian. I enjoy our deep conversations about life, God and faith.

10. I love how he shows his love for me. He has his simple ways of showing his love to me. He is corny and still want to do corny things with me. He still likes to do couple shirts. He will watch movies and Kdrama with me. I love these sweet little things that he do for me.

I'm grateful for you Daddy Mike. You deserved to be loved and happy today and forever. ❤

God's goodness inspite of Mike's heart attack

 Thursday, 11:30am

Mike went down to the basement and asked me "Did you put too much coffee on mine? I'm not feeling well."

I answered and said, "of course not. We had the same measurements."

I asked him what he is feeling. He had a hard time expressing it. He went back up stairs and started coughing and throwing up. I called 911. He explained that he thought it was food poisoning because he was throwing up.

In about 2-3 minutes time, the paramedics came to our home. They did assessment on him. He was rushed to Foothills Medical Hospital for a suspected cardiac arrest.

I accompanied him. I seated beside the driver. As we were driving to the hospital, I was reflecting on God's goodness. I was thinking and meditating on His character. He was the same God of the Old and New Testament. He was the God of Moses who divided the red sea. He was the same God who defeated Egyptians. He was the same God who healed the sick and raised people from the dead. He even resurrected from the grave and defeated death. I am contemplating and focusing on these truths. He was the same powerful God of old, He will and can still do wonders until now. I was tearing up. I'm shocked, but I'm trying to be calm.

I was praying. I am thanking God that this happened when he was at home. I am thankful that we are in Canada and ambulance were so quick. I am thankful that it was our summer break and I am available to be with him.

When we reached the hospital, he was rushed to the Cath Labs and a procedure was done to him. After few hours (honestly I wasn't able to check what time already), he was brought up to the 10th Floor in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. They informed me of what happened. They did angiogram on him and found out that he has a blockage on his artery. They tried angioplasty on him but was unsuccessful. They put him on a blood thinner medicine.

I thought that he was getting better. But then, between 5pm- 12 midnight, he was coughing and throwing up every hour. He was also experiencing fluctuating level of chest pain. It was so bad. He was so weak. I am of no help. I can't do anything but pray.

Our other church pastor visited him, stayed with us and prayed for us. He also went again the next day. The church also had a prayer chain for him. I only mentioned what happened to some people and those who knew prayed and shared the prayer requests as well.

Our first night was the longest ever, and was the worst. But after his last pain medicine at midnight, he didn't asked for pain medicine again on friday morning.

Friday

I've seen how God has changed him overnight. He was sooo weak a day before and I've seen how he is recovering and getting stronger.

That evening, they moved us to a regular room. It was his first night there without the medical equipments that were hooked on him at the ICU (BP, oxygen and ECG). So I stayed there with him again for the 2nd night.

It's God's favor that they even gave a recliner chair for me so I could sleep comfortably. That night we were able to sleep much better than the first night.

Saturday
He was so much better than Thursday. He was walking slowly at the hallway. His spirit is also much brighter than before. We are so thankful for all the nurses, hospital staffs and doctors who checked and take care of him. He is well taken care of.

We are also thankful for our families, churchmates and friends for their word of encouragements, scriptures given and prayers.

We are still at the hospital as I am writing this. Lord willing, he will be released this week.

My thoughts and reflections on what happened:

1. If bad things happen,  focus on God's character.

Focus on the truth, which is:
God is powerful and mighty. (1 Chronicles 29:11)
God is good. (Psalm 103)
God is our healer. (Jeremiah 17:14)
God is our strength. (Phil. 4:13)
God is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
God is the author and finisher of our faith. (Phil 1:6)
God is our provider. (Phil 4:19)
God is our good Shepherd. (Psalm 23:1)
God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
God is in control of everything. (1 Chronicles 29:11 - 12)

2. God's word is alive and will comfort us in times of need. So let's read and meditate God's word. His word is true and very helpful in times of need.

I've been reading and studying Romans. I am at chapter 8 which is a great passage.

Here are some of the verses that encouraged me:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18 NKJV

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NKJV

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Romans 8:31‭-‬32 NKJV

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35‭-‬39 NKJV

3. Always show love to your spouse and family. What happened to Mike shocked me. It made me realize that we should always show our love to our spouse and family through words and actions.

4. Health is really wealth. Be intentional to what you eat. We need our bodies to do God's ministry, so it's important that we are healthy.

5. Despite all of this, find time to still be thankful.

Right now, we're still waiting here at the hospital. But we are hopeful. Our hope is not in the medicine or in the high technology that will make Mike well, but our hope is in the Lord. He is our Jehovah Rapha who heals. 

What does this day mean to me?

 Happy Easter Sunday!

Today, most people celebrated Easter. Some people I know celebrated it with egg hunting, chocolates and treats. These are good but I hope that they won't forget why are we even celebrating this at the first place.

What is the significance of Jesus resurrection to me? What does it mean to me personally?

I've been asked this question before and today in our Sunday school, we were asked the same thing.

Let me give you some of my reasons:
1. Jesus's death and resurrection showed His power. He is very powerful that he even conquered death. I can't imagine anything harder than conquering death. No one in history was able to do that except for Jesus. So if He can conquer death and sin (which I believe is the hardest thing He did), he can do so even the simplest prayer we asked Him.

If we asked for healing, He will heal us. (If He wills).
If we asked for provision. He will provide for our needs.
If we asked for answered prayers, He will answer them according to His will.

He already did the hard part, which is dying and conquering the grave. We can trust that He is very powerful to even do the things we asked if Him.

2. Jesus death and resurrection showed that we can trust His words.

Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
Luke 24:5‭-‬7 NKJV

Jesus talked to his disciples about his coming death and resurrection. Everything he has said, happened. This is just an amazing proof that whatever he said in His word, He will do. I can trust the Bible, everything in it, because I know that His words are true. 

I can hope and look forward for heaven because I know someday we will be there in that beautiful place with Him, just as He said in His word.

3. Jesus death and resurrection means life!
Someday, we will all be with Him.  If we die here on earth, we will be resurrected with Him someday. His death and resurrection means eternal life with Him someday in the near future. 

It also means, I don't need to be afraid to die because I believe that I will resurrected again and live again with Him someday. 

Today in the church, we watched The Case for Christ. That movie I would definitely recommend to all. Lee Strobel, the main character of the movie, thought he could debunk the claims of Christianity. So, he started his quest in disproving the resurrection story. He interviewed a lot of people. He researched and looked for it from historical, physiological, and even medical point of view. He failed. Because even science and history proves that Jesus really died on the cross, was buried and resurrected from the grave!


The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting
Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated

Forever, He is glorified!
Forever, He is lifted high!
Forever, He is risen!
He is alive!
He is alive!

Christmas, what does it means to me?

Christmas Tradition

I grew up in a Christian family. We love celebrating Christmas. As a family, we get together at Christmas Eve, had family dinner together, sing carols, talk about Jesus birth, play some games and open our gifts. It was a fun tradition growing up and I've told myself, once I have a child, I'll make Christmas the most fun holiday ever. But then my grandpa died few days before Christmas in 2010, it shaken me a little bit and makes me realize that sometimes Christmas is not always the happiest season ever.

Christmas Passage
I was once asked which passage is my favorite with regards to Christmas. I would often quote some of the famous one:

Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

These are all good passages. I love them. But there is always a passage that I often overlooked, even get bored when reading this. The passage of Matthew 1- the geneology of Jesus Christ.

I don't like history even geneology. Everytime we read Matthew 1, I got so bored that I just want to skip that part.
But few years ago, I started to appreciate and even understand this boring passage and why it was there in the Bible.

The Silent Years
When the old testament ended, there were about 430ish years of silence. It was called Silent Years because during this time there were no prophets, there were no king, they just came from exile. It seems God is so quiet during these years. The Jews have been waiting for the Messiah. The Messiah that has been prophesied by Prophet Isaiah but the exact date of when He will be born is not given.

Imagine the years of waiting of uncertain date. Imagine the years they've been waiting for the Messiah. It's even hard to be patient waiting for a specific date. How much more  waiting for something uncertain. I talked to my students about this. One of my student, honestly shared that it's even hard to wait for your birthdya next year.

But moving forward when we read Matthew 1, the verse opened with

V.1
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

We can see the promised One, the One promised from Abraham and to David is here. He is here. He was born.

And what amazes me is that in Jesus's geneology we can see different people with a past. There was Rahab, a former prostitute, Ruth, a widower and even David, an adulterer and a murderer. It is just so amazing how even different people came from different backgrounds were used by God to fulfill His plan.

What's more amazing is that the Promised One really came. The One promised to both Abraham and David came. He is Immanuel, He is the God with us.

The Suffering Servant

Philippians 2 is another passage that I love. It's not necessarily a Christmas scripture but it is something so humbling about Jesus.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians 2:5‭-‬8 NKJV

He being an infinite God, a Powerful One humbled Himself to be a baby, to depend on His earthly parents. It is truly humbling to know that Jesus obeyed the will of the Father, even unto the death of the cross, a painful death.

There's so many things about Christmas. I love Christmas with every thing in it- Jesus' birth, the festivities, the presents, the food, the gift of family and friends.
But this week when I experienced stress and struggles in Vancouver and Victoria, when the possibility of spending Christmas in the airport struck me, when the idea of celebrating Christmas far from home looks like a reality, I go back to the basic.

What is the meaning of Christmas to me?
Christmas is all about Jesus Christ and what He did. He humbled himself, obeyed the will of the Father, to be born a baby, lived a human life and died a painful one just to save humanity from our sins.

Even when all the festivities, fun, food, and fellowship will be stripped away, Jesus remains the same. He remains the reason for the season.

Thank God we arrived safe to Calgary last night. I'm glad to experience all those hardships to be able to reflect well about this Christmas season. 

What if everything will be stripped away from me, will Christmas still be good?

Have a wonderful Christmas season. May you experience true joy, love and peace through Jesus Christ.

 

9th Year in Canada

 Happy 9th year to me!

Today is my 9th year in Calgary, Canada. It seems like yesterday when I first came here.

I would like to share 9 things about my 9 years here in Canada. 🇨🇦

1. Adjustments and homesickness are real. I had to fought to this feelings during my first 3 years here. But when I first went home in 2017, I told myself that Calgary is my home now. So, if you're new to Canada and feeling a bit homesick, just endure. It will be better soon.

2. If you feel homesick, it's good to find good people who can understand. I'm grateful for my colleagues from Value Village. They are my first friends here and helped me to adjust well here. I'm also thankful for my church family. They're also our friends and prayer warrior. Most especially, I'm grateful for Mike's family here. I can really call them my own.

3. Sometimes, you can be in the waiting period and it's okay. I was in the waiting season for almost 9 years. I really wanted to be a school teacher here in Calgary. Finally, I got my interim license in 2019. Then covid came in 2020. I thought I would never be able to teach in a classroom again. But thank God, I was hired as a subsititute teacher in Emma's school in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. But now, I'm working full time in that school. God really works wonders if we are just patient to wait.

4. I'm grateful for the free medical system here in Canada. I gave birth to Emma and didn't pay a single cent. When she was 1 day old, she got sick and we stayed in the Children's Hospital for 5 days. She was given the best care and we didn't pay for anything. Also, in the first 6 months of 2021, I battled with a lot of health issues and thankfully all the check-ups, laboratory tests, MRI, emergency rooms are free.

5. Enjoy every season. I love summer because it's hot and we can do a lot of outdoor activities. But I also love winter. The snow is so beautiful. I am still in awe of how the world turned white because of it. I love how the leaves change during fall. I love the cool weather and beautiful color changes that is happening around. I also like spring because that's the time when everything starts blooming and growing again. I've learned in my 9 years here is that embrace the changes of season. Dress appropriately, go out and enjoy! Every season teaches me of something and makes me appreciate how awesome the One who created all this season.

6. I love meeting new people. Here in Calgary, I've met different people from different cultures, backgrounds, origins and experiences. I've learned to appreciate different food cuisine and different cultures. It's just a beautiful picture of the things to come in the future.

Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, "

7. Explore your community and city. Be involved through volunteering, giving, or attending events.There are so many good places to explore in your city. In my 9 years here, I've volunteered in the library, highway cleanup, Samaritan's Purse. I've attended some free programs of the community. I've given/ donated to some of the non-profit organizations here.

8. In my 9 years here, I learned and appreciate the "Canadian" culture. I appreciate how nice the Canadians are. I learned some slang words and tried to use them in daily basis. I appreciate mapple syrup, bacon, Timmies, and poutine. I loved anything "western" like stampede and boots.

9. As I reflect on my 9 years here in Canada, I can always say that it is only by God's grace and mercy that I was able to thrive here in Canada. There were days when it was too hard because I'm too homesick or I'm struggling with some areas of my life but God sustained me through the years. Through the years, I just hold on to God’s word and promises.

"Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

In all of these things, I give back all the glory, praises and thanks to our Lord God.

Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalms 106:1 NKJV

Kdrama review 5: Ji Chang Wook's korean drama

 Ji Chang Wook was first introduced by my sister. I haven't really heard of him nor watched any of his show until I watched Healer. After that, I got hooked watching him.

Disclaimer: The reviews are based on my subjective opinion. I've reviewed it according to the order that I've watched them. 

1. Healer(2014)

20 episodes

Star: 5/5

As I mentioned above, this is the first show I've watched. And I loved it. I am so impressed by how he is so good in the role that he played here.

The theme of the story is about friendship and it's also romantic comedy and thriller. He is called "Healer", which is a codename for an illegal night courier. But, in one of his assignment, he started to unveil some truth from 1992 incident which involved his father and some of his friends way back. The tv show is very good in showing the back story and every episode is really good. Ji Chang Wook is also good in all the action parts of the show.

Eventhough this is done few years earlier, it's well made and I would really recommend this to anyone. 

By the way, I've watched this from Viki App. I'm not sure if this is available in Netflix or in any other platform. 

2. Lovestruck in the City (2020)

17 episodes

Star: 1/5

So, after I've watched his healer, I've tried to watch other of his show. The next that I've watched is this. As opposed to my rating in Healer, I would just give this show a 1 star. I've watched this from Netflix, so maybe it was produced by Netflix. Maybe that explains the style of the show. It's very different from any Korean drama I've watched. It seems that they are in a tv show, like the Office style. They are looking at the camera, it seems that somebody is interviewing them. There are 6 people talking about their dating life.

But the story itself is something that I don't like. In his side of story, he fell in love with a girl. He needs to go back to the city because of work. He and the girl decided to meet in Seoul. But the girl didn't show up during the time they need to meet. As the story progress, we'll found out that the girl is different from whom she told him. It's just really an annoying love story for me because I don't like lying. Whatever excuses the girl makes, to justify what she did to him, I still can't easily accept it. So, this tv show is pure meh for me. 🤮

Honestly, I regret watching this. But I just finished it because each episode is about is about 30 minutes long. 

3. Backstreet Rookie (2020)

Star: 3/5

Episodes: 16

This is another drama of Ji Chang Wook. I've watched this in Viki app. The story is about Dae Hyun (Ji Chang Wook) working in a convenience store. Of course every korean drama always have a love story. So in this story, he has a girlfriend but his girlfriend is insecure when a new beautiful part timer came in his store. The story revolves in his life as a convenience store manager and some of his struggles. This is just a light drama, not too much of a drama or action. 

4. Melting me softly

Stars: 3/5

Episodes; 16

This is another Ji Chang Wook tv show that I've watched in Vikki App. The story is about 2 persons Ma Dong Chan (Ji Chang Wook) and Ko Miran (Won Ji nah) who were the first to experienced the cryogenic sleep. They volunteered to be the first human to be frozen with a promised that they will be awaken after 24 hours. But, there was some anomaly and they were defrost after 20 years. When they woke up, their normal body temperature is now 31oC. If they extend to more than that, it will be very dangerous for them. So, the story is about their struggles after they woke up, their family, financial, and work struggles.

Overall, it's just a light story. The story line is not very relatable. So, I'm only giving it a 3/5

5. The K2 (2016)

Stars: 4/5

Episodes: 16

This is another action series of Ji Chang Wook. His fight scenes are good, but not too good compared to healer. This drama is more political than the others. In here,  Ji Chang Wook as Kim Je Ha was a former mercenary soldier called "K2".  He became a bodyguard for Choi Yoo Jin (Song Yoon Ah) who was married to Jang Se Joon (Jo Sung Ha). Jang Se Joon was running for a president but he has an illegitemate daughter. Soon, Kim Je Ha was assigned to guard the illegitemate daughter of Jang Se Joon. A lot of conflict, a lot of drama and stress in the show. I can say that this is not really my cup of tea. The story line and theme itself is not very interesting to me compared to Healer. Also, the first few episodes with fighting scenes are really good, but slowly the story became so dragging with drama and political problems. It bores me. But I think maybe the last 3 episodes captured my interests again and I pushed myself to finish it. 😊

Overall, Ji Chang Wook is very flexible actor. He is really good in action dramas. He is also good in romantic comedies as well. I hope that they will just give him better shows in the future in which they can really showcase his acting skills. ❤

Which one is your favorite Ji Chang Wook tv show?

Edit additional: 

6. The Sound of Magic (2022)

Stars: 3/5

Episodes: 6

Of course, I wouldn't pass on this one when it showed in Netflix. Since it's only 6 episodes, I've watched it. The story line is not my cup of tea. It's a little bit mysterious, musical, magical and melodramatic. Since I don't understand Korean, I can't appreciate much the musical. But, as usual Ji Chang Wook is very good in his role. It makes me intrigued while watching this drama. I only gave this 3/5 because it just 6 episodes and for me it seems that they rushed to explain all of what is happening at the 5th or 6th episode. Korean dramas usually are good with their back stories, but this one is not so much.

7. Empress Ki (2013)
Episodes: 51
Star: 5/5

This is one of my favorite drama of Ji Chang Wook. This is quite a long tv show with 51 episodes with 1 hr each episode. It is a costume/period drama. Ji Chang Wook was a crowned prince then the emperor. He is really good in his roles. He was like a pathetic crowned prince, then a puppet emperor, then they developed his character to be more better.

This tv show is a mix of drama, betrayal, political conflict and love story.  I've also found out that this was based on a true story. The tv show is about 70% similar to what happened in their history. This is about the life of Empress Ki, who was once a tribute girl then became an Empress of Yuan Dynasty. In this show, Ji Chang Wook is the emperor of Yuan Dynasty. I love how his character improved throughout the story. His acting skills were amazing! We can see his different emotional skills portrayed here. Some articles mentioned that this became the turning point of his acting career.

This show is very different than previous tv shows of Ji Chang Wook that I've watched. I'm so used to see him in modern shows, thriller/ drama/ romantic comedy but this one is different because it's a historical drama. I would definitely recommend this to be part of your binge watch list. I've watched this from the Viki App so I'm not sure if this available in other platform. 

8. Suspicious Partner (2017)
Episodes: 40 episodes
Star: 4/5

This is another modern thriller/ suspense drama of Ji Chang Wook. He is a prosecutor in this show solving mysterious cases of a psychopath sereal killer. I like the storyline and the theme. It's 40 episodes but only about 20-30 minutes long so it's easier to finish this show. It's not all suspense but there's also romantic comedy parts of the show. I like this show and I would also recommend this to others as well. 

So far, I've watched 8 of his shows and would be watching more of his older shows. I really appreciate him as an actor. He is very flexible, his acting skills are amazing, he has different various roles that shows how talented he is. He's also very good looking. 😉

Additional (2024)

9. Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023)

Episodes: 16 episodes 

Star: 5/5

This is his latest show that I've watched. It's a beautiful story of friendship between Cho Yong Pil (Ji Chang Wook) and Cho Sam Dal (Shin Hye-sun). The setting is in Jeju Island. The show gives a "Reply 1988 vibe to me. I love shows about friendship. 

The supporting actors were good and funny as well. They also bring joy to the show. 

Here is my TOP 5 Ji Chang Wook tv shows (edited)

(No need to explain again, just read my reviews)
1. Healer
2. Empress Ki
3. Samdalri

4.Suspicious Partner
5. Backstreet Rookie