I’m both happy for and a little surprised at seeing the ascendance to television ratings queen status of Lee Bo Young. I seriously thought her star was headed towards perpetual weekend drama status, which is not a diss because weekend dramas bring in some crazy high ratings and if the ahjummas love her then she’s CF gold which is where all the money is anyways. But that doesn’t seem to the case, as she’s well on her way to headlining the two most highly rated dramas of 2013. My Daughter Seo Young broke 40% but with the way I Hear Your Voice is going with 2-episodes left, I wouldn’t be surprised if it broke 30% by the last week. In this day where getting teen ratings is considered a solid outing, Lee Bo Young’s two dramas have been the saviors of the networks were praying for. I’m calling it now – Lee Bo Young is taking home the Daesang at the year-end KBS Drama Awards for My Daughter Seo Young. After she wrapped MDSY and before starting IHYV, Lee Bo Young took a trip to Italy with cable network O’live for its featured program Eat City which sends a celebrity to a famous city or region overseas to introduce a certain famous part of its culture. Five years ago Lee Bo Young did the program called From Grasse to Paris, and this time her marching orders were to do an expresso tour of central Italy. That seems like both a perky delicious dream (Italian expresso, swoon), and a sleepless over-caffeinated nightmare (Italian expresso multiple times a day).

I’m sad that Lee Bo Young couldn’t take her long time boyfriend Ji Sung along, just the thought of being in Italy makes me always want to send couples instead of solo travelers. But never fear, her man has been quietly doing his thang – it was reported by the production of IHYB that Ji Sung recently visited the set to bring snacks for everyone and waited until Lee Bo Young was done filming to drive her back to the city. It was said that she seemed to really get her energy back once she saw him and couldn’t stop smiling between takes. When filming was done, she hopped into his car with a giant grin and off they went. Awwwww, they have seriously been dating forever, so for them to still so happy around each other is definitely a heartwarming thing to hear. Poor Ji Sung must want to borrow some of his girlfriend’s mojo, his last drama the SBS sageuk The Great Seer should have been called The Great Bust it was so terrible and ratings tanked as well. Lee Bo Young is one of those K-actresses that always comes across as rather unassuming onscreen, neither eye-catching nor unattractive, but rather very pretty in a normal(er) way than many of her colleagues. I’m happy for her grand career revival and hope to see what she picks next since I’m sure she’ll get offered every single drama from KBS or SBS first for the foreseeable future. Check out the fun snippets of Lee Bo Young touring Italy and get ready for come coffee porn. I swear I could smell the expresso wafting out from my computer screen.

Lee Bo Young in Italy for O’live Eat City: