TV Show: A Bar with an Ocean-view that We Longed For

Sea of Hope | 바라던 바다 (2021)

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The Korean title for the new TV show ‘Sea of Hope’ is ‘바라던 바다' (Baradun Bada) which has two meanings to it - ‘the sea we wished for,’ and ‘the bar we wished for.’ The six members that star on the show (from left - Lee Dong-Wook, Su-Hyun from AKMU, Lee Ji-Ah, Kim Go-Eun, Onew from SHINee, and Yoon Jong-Shin) moves down to the shore city of North Gyeongsang province, Pohang. In the middle of the beach, at an open bar that’s made of sustainable materials, the members cook and serve dishes with the ingredients of the sea. Moreover, they also make beverages to serve, and offer live music performances. Since Korea still has gathering restrictions, twenty priorly chosen customers got to enjoy the experience each session. 

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With the show’s keyword being ‘sustainability,’ the bar set was made to be ‘sustainable’ as well. 100% recyclable metal was used for the bar’s poles and supports, and the main roof was made with solar panels. Moreover, the deck where the customers would walk along is made with recycled plastic and the by-products of steel mills. The art on this set was amazing, especially on the deck where the moss garden is filled with pottery cups made from natural ingredients - customers would pick their own cups from the garden to use as water glasses! Watch this video to see the bar close up 👏

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There’s a good reason why this show took place at the beach because one other purpose that the Sea of Hope team had was ‘beach cleaning’. Kim Go-Eun (actress), is a pro scuba diver who volunteered to act as the ‘sea keeper’ for the team. Side by side with Lee Dong-Wook (actor), the two dived in the ocean and started cleaning the garbage deep down the sea from day one. It was so heartwarming to see the two actors from Guardian (the all-time famous K-Drama 😍) reunite on this show, and doing their best to keep our oceans clean - watch the video of them in the cleaning-action here. Beach cleaning organisations are increasing all over the world! So if you're interested, try joining the NZ environmental charities 👉 HIKOCO aims to donate to Sustainable Coastlines every year, so join the movement with us 🤗 The cleaner the ocean gets, the healthier our Earth gets, and the better view we get!

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As the actors all focused on the beach cleaning side of the show, the musicians had something else to do - make good music! Each artist starring in Sea of Hope are separately well known for their gorgeous voices, which was why viewers were so excited to hear them sing together. The harmonies they create are just so angelic 😇 Seeing these top-class artists singing in front of the subtle waves crashing was such a heartwarming scene to watch. My favourite song of the show so far, has to be Yoon Jong-Shin and Onew’s duet of ‘Departure’. Plus, the musician / sing-a-song writer duo Melomance who plays the guitar and keyboards for the team takes the instrumentals to top quality! Not only can they play instruments, but they can most definitely sing as well! Watch Su-Hyun and Zairo’s beautiful duet of Brave Girls’ Rollin’ here.

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What got the international fans thrilled was the appearance of Rosé from BlackPink as a part-time worker at the Sea of Hope bar! In the first episode, she visited the members’ jamming session in Seoul and had a practice round of one of her covers, John Mayer’s ‘Slow Dancing In a Burning Room’ - John Mayer even shared this cover on his own Insta Story! As a Blink (BlackPink fan) myself, I was so happy to see lots of different Rosé covers of not just English songs but also classic Korean ballads like ‘Because I Love You’ by Yoo Jae-Ha. 

The show airs every Tuesday, and it’s up to its third episode now. We’ve seen the team at work for the first time in episode 2, and as starters go, the bar was filled with running arounds here and there 😂 Next Tuesday (20th July), we’ll get to see the bar’s first lunch time open with Rosé joining along! I’ll be here for the whole season waiting for more great songs to be performed, more delicious food to be served, and to cheer for our ‘sea keepers’ Kim Go-Eun and Lee Dong-Wook! Looking forwards to what beautiful scenes we’ll get to meet at the ‘bar we wished for’ in other lovely beaches of Korea as well 🌊