Last Friday (6 December) was a dream comes true for Black Roses in Malaysia as rising South Korean boy band The Rose brought their ‘We Rose You Live’ tour to Kuala Lumpur. The 4-members boy band gave an entertaining setlist with a combination of their singles, unreleased tracks and even covers that went up to 2 hours approximately – making the night out very worthwhile.

Soon after the lights dim, the inside of KL Live is all aglow with fans waving the group’s official lightstick. Everyone was there for the same reason – The Rose. The band began with a soft-rock tone of ‘I.LY’ followed by fans’ favourite ‘Insomnia’ and ‘I Don’t Know You’. The voices of Black Roses singing along hit tracks of the band undeniably gave everyone goosebumps.

With just a quick greeting from each member, the Rose immediately played ‘Beautiful Girl’, ‘Like We Used To’, ‘California’ and ‘She’s In The Rain’. Woosung and Dojoon’s emotional vocals paired with the instruments definitely worth an attentive listen. What made the night more special was the LED rose fan project. When the melancholy track ‘She’s In The Rain’ was played, LED roses were beautifully lightened up, filling the venue with a sea of roses.

As the set progressed, the quartet The Rose performed some great covers like ‘ILYSB’ by LANY, ‘Breakeven’ by The Script and ‘Hey Judge’ by The Beatles. The crowd interaction during ‘ILYSB’ was absolutely phenomenal.

The show then continued with a sequence of solo stages, where each member was given the opportunity to shine at the mic. Main vocalist, keyboardist and acoustic guitarist, Dojoon started by covering James Bay’s ‘Hold Back The River. Bassist Jaehyeong and drummer Hajoon then did a duet of ‘Soldier’ by Before You Exit. Lead singer Woosung however performed his solo tracks ‘Moon’ and ‘Face’. Each performance undeniably highlighted the signature flavour of The Rose.

The most distinct moment of the night had to be when The Rose performed their unreleased track ‘OMG’. We had heard loud crowd belting out screams and cheers but we had never heard one that loud for that long. The loud cheer was almost drowning out Woosung’s powerful voice. “You guys are too hot till my guitar broke,” said Woosung and Dojoon added, “I think KL is the second loudest city I have heard”. The crowd cheered even louder and longer after that which had Dojoon smiled in satisfaction and said: “Okay~ Kuala Lumpur is the loudest”.

Hyping up the already heated crowd, The Rose continued to play ‘Can’t Let Go’, ‘Baby’ and their debut track ‘Sorry’. The members’ high-energy had everyone in the audience moving and jumping around with their hands in the air.

Closer to the end of the concert, Woosung delighted fans with comment “This is our first time to Southeast Asia and we definitely will come again.” The band then wrapped up their set with ‘Take Me Down’ and ‘Red’. Before saying goodbye, The Rose took a group photo with the crowd, left everyone wishing for a little more time together with the band.

The Rose ‘We Rose You Live’ tour in KL was incredibly slick. Vocally, it was fantastic. The band brought life into every song they played, making the tunes stand out and have a vibe of its own. The show not only reflects their identity as a band but also showcased each member of The Rose - full of charisma, talents and brimming with passion.

Hopefully, The Rose will return to Malaysia soon with their new album and a full concert. If you are in Manila, Seoul or Busan this December, do get the chance to see The Rose live on their current world tour.

Lastly, we would like to thank mymusictaste and J&Star for the invite!

Check out what went down:

Popular Korean chef Baek Jong Won travels around the globe to find the best street food through tvN's food show 'Street Food Fighter 2'. In the previous episodes, Chef Baek explored Hanoi, New York, Xi'an, Mexico, Taipei, Sicily and Wuhan to introduce each city's best street food and their hidden gems. However in the latest episode, chef Baek arrives the city of street food heaven - Penang. Which Penang street food can captivate the taste buds of chef Baek Jong Won? We have listed it down:

Baek Jong Won kick starts by introducing what we, local, mostly had for breakfast - Nasi Lemak. Although the rice dish is topped with only fried anchovies, hard-boiled egg and peanuts but the sambal (chilli paste) itself enhances the overall flavours to the dish. Chef Baek also suggested to eat with sambal sotong (squid) or sambal udang (shrimp). 

The bite-sized snack, Kuih/Kueh caught chef Baek's attention at the food court. He said kuih is similar to tteok which is the Korean rice cakes that they commonly eat during festival or celebrations. He further added try to eat Pulut Tai Tai (blue glutinous rice cake) with kaya and it will taste even better. (ps: he even shared a little history about nyonya food)

Chef Baek ordered both the soup and dry form of bak kut teh. He suggested if those who prefer less medical herbs taste could try the dry form instead. He explained the soup form of Bak Kut Teh is similiar to Galbi-tang which is the Korean-style short rib soup and the dry form however, is similar to Galbi-jjim, the Korean-style braised short ribs. (ps: he even explained the differences between Singapore and Malaysia Bak Kut Teh)

Next stop, chef Baek moved to the night market where various street foods are served. Firstly, he tried our local common street food, Lok Lok which consists of various meats and vegetables that served on a skewer. Chef Baek suggested to dip the skewered food in satay or chilli sauce. He further expressed his love towards pork intestines and commented "I would regret if I didn't order this... Where else can we eat this on the street?" 

There are 3 flavours available - banana, corn and kaya and chef Baek chose the banana flavour apam balik. "It tastes even better if you try to eat it with coffee in the morning", said Baek Jong Won.  

Moving to the next day, chef Baek started by having roti canai as breakfast. As roti canai is kinda oily so the best drink to pair with it would be teh tarik. He described teh tarik as the sweet milk tea. 

How can you missed out asam laksa when you're in Penang? Chef Baek said many people can't accept asam laksa taste when they first tried it and they often questioned "Oh~ What's that?" He explained asam laksa is with fish-tamarind base and topped with pineapple, cucumber, onion and a spoonful of sweetened shrimp paste that gives the soup a mixture of sweet sour taste. "Even without kimchi it has a refreshing taste." 

If you see this iconic wall mural, you found the right place. Chef Baek said even if you haven try cendol you definitely heard of it. It's made of 5 basic ingredients - shaved ice, coconut milk, gula melaka, cendol green jelly and red beans. 

Did you know nasi kandar is originates from Penang? Chef Baek said when you order nasi kandar do remember to ask for the curry sauce. He further added it's a must to eat the chicken curry. The curry of nasi kandar is so good that even made him questioned "both are curry but why Korean chicken curry doesn't taste the same?" 

Penang Chinese often has char kuey kak as their breakfast. Unlike pad thai that has a sour taste, char kuey kak gives a more savory taste. "It tastes like the radish cake, mutteok (무떡) in Korea but it's slightly softer than that," said Baek Jong Won. 

The perfect combination for kaya toast is to dip it with the half boiled egg that topped with pepper and soy sauce. One side of the bread is topped with kaya jam and another side is with butter. Most important ingredient to make kaya jam is to put the panda leaf and not forget the coconut milk, sugar and eggs. 

We all know Penang has many good food in town but have you tried above street food that introduced by Baek Jong Woon? Next time do marked the restaurant and explore a different dining experience when you're in Penang. Next flight to Penang? Jom!

Street Food Fighter 2 airs every Thursday 11PM on tvN (Astro Ch 395).