Back to blogging!

Turns out, 2014 is not bad at all. Currently working for the country while pursuing graduate school, and still, I have time for my good 'ol movies and TV shows. I'm still stuck on the last few episodes of It's Okay, It's love, because I still don't want it to end yet I want to know how it ends already. I still am watching Running Man and The Return of Superman every week, with the addition of Roommate and 1 night 2 days. For Japanese shows, I am more updated in anime like Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji, Ao Haru Ride, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Barakamon, Haikyuu!!, etc. I also love the movie special of Tamako Market, which is called 'Tamako Love Story'. I can't wait to write a few blogposts about these shows. 

Furthermore, the months for most American series that I usually watch starts from October to November. Bob's Burgers Season 5, The Walking Dead Season 5, and The Big Bang Theory Season 8 are few of the TV shows that I'm watching every week. As for movies, I got myself copies of horror movies recently for Halloween, and I enjoyed some of them. Some movies that I have a copy of but have not yet watched are If I Stay, The Giver, Life After Beth, What If, and many more.

I've been quite busy, but I will not give up watching shows such as those I've mentioned above. In order to get back on my feet and get away from the stress I'm getting from such a tight schedule, I watch movies and TV shows on my spare time, usually before going to bed. Right now, I'm actually really sleepy and about to go to bed, but after writing this post, I will watch an episode of Bob's Burgers.

That's it for tonight. I will get back to blogging, soonest!

Oyasumi.

Being a mindful consumer.

Without a doubt, we Filipinos are very aware when it comes to consumerism. We know the latest trends, what the ‘good’ products are, partly because of our convenient connection to the world using social media or the Internet as a whole.  I, myself, have a preference on what to buy when it comes to electronic gadgets for example, because I look up certain features that I want in a gadget and see other people’s product reviews from all around the world before choosing a particular product.

In that sense, when it comes to consuming imported goods, it is better to know which brands offer the best quality products. The Taiwan Excellence campaign for example, which was started by the Taiwanese government as a part of a 5 year plan in the 1980’s to raise Taiwan’s international competitiveness by supporting its local brands, allows consumers to be able to choose the best Taiwanese products among the rest.

The “Taiwan Excellence” was awarded to the products based on R&D, design, quality, and marketing efforts by an international panel of judges. Each product must score evenly in all four categories. All Taiwan based brands could be part of the campaign: from consumer and business IT, to fashion, arts and culture, sports, education, transportation, etc. If selected, the brands and products were allowed to use the “Taiwan Excellence Seal” locally and internationally. From the selected products, the judges will choose thirty from the original winners, and ten will be given the Gold Award (which is the highest recognition under the campaign), while the remaining finalists will be given the Silver Award.

Even if the campaign’s main goal is to promote products of Taiwan, the “seal” can also guide us Filipino consumers in distinguishing the best Taiwan-made products and brands from others and have an “Excellence Lifestyle” for that matter. This 2014, the campaign was introduced to the Philippines. We gadget junkies might already be familiar with some of the brands that have the “seal” like Acer and Asus but this is a great opportunity for us to learn more about the best products from Taiwan that we still are in the process of getting to know of. These other quality brands include, Transcend, BenQ, HCG, MSI, etc.

Personally, I think that with this campaign, we could get to know more quality products that could be part of our choices when it comes to buying. Sometimes it is also better for us to try different brands, especially up-and-coming ones so that as consumers, we could be more smart in choosing and finally, buying products that should be worth our money.

For more information about the campaign, you can check out their website: http://www.taiwanexcellence.ph/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanExcellence.ph/

Thursday Nom-day: Tteokbokki (spicy rice cake stew)

For Korean food lovers and fanatics like me, tteokbokki is a really familiar dish. I bet if you are, you have eaten this in a Korean restaurant or even tried in in Korea. I learned to cook this based from online recipes as I always do. If I want to eat something (especially Korean food), I try to cook it at home so that I could eat it again whenever (because I already know how to cook it). Tteokbokki is one of them. Once you have all the ingredients needed, it's pretty easy to make.

Tteokbokki.

The tteokbokki I made in the photo above lacks some ingredients needed for a legit tteokbokki. This is the third time I'm making this dish and I think this one's the best in terms of the sauce even though it lacks some essential stuff in it. I don't have a recipe as I'm just following those found around the internet but what I used in this one are the following: cylinder shaped rice cake (used for tteokbokki specifically), gochujang (hot pepper paste), soy sauce, brown sugar. In the photo above, you can see some bits of white and green things. It's the vegetable packet from Shin ramyun because after this photo, I added noodles to make a combination of tteokbokki and "rabokki" (ramyun-bokki, basically).

Tteok+rabokki.

The ingredients that were supposed to be included in a legit tteokbokki are the dried anchovy+dried kelp stock, green onion, hot pepper flakes, and eomuk (fish cake). I whipped this meal because I was desperate for some tteokbokki and fortunately, there is a Korean grocery nearby.

I hope next time I can also provide a short video of the cooking process. Also, next time I want to cook it in the "real" or "legit" way. Expect some other homemade Korean food here (since that's mostly what I cook). 

Bye bye~

TV Wednesday: Haikyuu!! (Spring, 2014)

I don't watch much sports anime, except for Slam Dunk when I was younger. Not even the popular Kuroko no Basuke can make me watch anime centered around sports. This time, however, I got hooked. Haikyuu!! is a sports anime about high school men's volleyball. Believe it or not, I was a volleyball player when I was in high school and our school team even won first place in a big inter-school event. Our team wasn't that good in volleyball because most of us haven't really participated in volleyball competitions in the past. However, with much training and dedication, we made it to the top. I was a receiver since I really don't have much talent with setting or spiking, but I wasn't the libero (the one with the different or contrasting uniform from the rest of the team and enters the court freely but can only replace the players in the back positions). Anyway, I know volleyball and I like anime stories about male camaraderie (like Kimi to Boku perhaps), and so I watched Haikyuu!!

There are currently seven released episodes and I've watched all of them. I still don't have a favorite character but Tanaka-senpai and Tsukishima might just be one of the candidates (yes, both are not main characters). 

Tanaka-senpai and Tsukishima.

The screenshot above might give false impressions on the anime, but that's a memorable scene for me, from episode 6.

I didn't have much idea of the flow of the story before I watched it that's why I won't bother sharing it here. Just the information 'volleyball' and 'male camaraderie' or bromance as I like to call it, are enough to make a person watch or not watch the anime. 

I think that's it! Let the plot surprise you, if ever you're planning to watch this anime. It is good though, in my opinion, which might be an opinion of most shoujo-manga/anime avid watchers.

Soundtrip Tuesday: Michael Jackson, Ji Yeon, Spotify!

Young people of our generation have easier access to music, and have more convenient gadgets to store it in. That's why it's easier to listen to music these days. Even those people who really don't take time to look for songs that could put them in a good mood, or just represent what they're feeling, like to listen to pop songs perhaps. I am one of those people who are not really into music as a "music lover" is usually described as, but nowadays, with more convenient locations (online) to stream music (like Spotify) I have grown to listen to other genres that I don't usually touch on back then. Spotify is now available in the Philippines and I was one of those people who were thrilled because of it. I now have a separated weekly blog post dedicated to music because I want to be more adventurous in listening to different genres of music all over the world.

For this first post, I will talk about some recent releases in the pop genre.

From what I found out, Michael Jackson released a posthumous album entitled "Xscape" and one of the lead singles in that album was Love Never Felt So Good. I like the version with Justin Timberlake. It's a feel good song that captures a disco-like rhythm that just makes me move my body along with the beat. It's one of those songs that you'd want to listen to when you wake up in the morning, or at night when you're just having fun with your friends at home and probably enjoying some drinks. 

Love Never Felt So Good by Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake

The next pop song is from the K-pop scene. Park Jiyeon or Ji Yeon just released the music video of the lead single of her mini album. Check out the M/V below.

Never Ever [1분1초] by Ji Yeon

I like Ji Yeon ever since I watched a bit of Heroes (K-Variety show) and of all T-ara members, I am quite fond of her. This is her first single going solo, and I think it's pretty different of her usual cutesy actions. However, it's also a bit expected that she'd be doing something like this, and by this I mean a sexy concept. As she's just transitioned into an adult K-pop artist, it's about time she did a sexy concept song on her own, especially that together with Hyomin and Eunjung, she's the most "out-there" or "omnipresent" member of T-ara. The unique choreography matched with the sexy song is enough for a K-pop song to become popular, and I think this video just might make it if people are not tired of such things. Other than that, the song and music video is good, and it reminds me of Sistar's Alone and Ga In for some reason. I'll be looking forward to her live performances and of course the response of the K-netizens and actual K-pop fans.

Movie Monday: That Awkward Moment (2014)

That Awkward Moment stars Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan as the three main male characters. These three are best friends, and based from the trailer, the story is about those three men who promised to be single in order to support one of them, Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) who just broke up with his wife. However, things got messy when the two, Jason (Zac Efron) and Daniel (Miles Teller) seem to connect with what they thought was just a hook-up.

You can check out the trailer below.

I found this movie because its trailer was shared by one of my Facebook friends and I thought it was interesting enough.. Okay I admit it. It was interesting because of Zac Efron's naked scene on the toilet. I watched the movie and here's what I thought. The movie is about men who glorifies being single and loves living the life of having just hook-ups and never a relationship. The only man who was in a relationship was Mikey, who just broke up with his wife. That's why the two single men encouraged him to live a new life as a single man and try to find women in bars and have a one-night fling. The two, however, finally found "the one" that was a keeper that will literally keep them from finding women to just have hook-ups with. That's basically the movie. Zac Efron's love line was given more attention to as the flow of the story started with him and ended with his love story. 

I would give the movie a 3 out of 5 stars. It was entertaining, the jokes were funny enough and the stories were average. It was focused on the men growing up and falling in love thing and that's the selling point of the movie but I just don't think that the way it was portrayed was the best thing to show it. I say this because I think that their "promise" to be single together was nonsense and it's not a good enough reason for this kind of story to revolve in. I finished it though, and I found everything other than that good in this movie.

Update!

I haven't been posting lately because of my busy schedule in school and in life (haha). I've been on vacation from school for a while now, but I haven't thought of anything to post yet because I also haven't been watching a lot these days. I do have some anime that I've actually finished (well, they only have about 12 episodes with 20 minutes each) and I'm currently watching Suits (American TV series), Emergency Couple (K-drama), My Love From the Star (K-drama), and Isshuukan Friends (Anime). Going to start posting again starting on Monday!

Still on hiatus.

The whole month of March has been tiring, with all the final requirements for grad school. I am struggling still because of one last requirement that's due this Saturday, and here I am blogging about it. One last thing to accomplish and I will have conquered my first semester in graduate school. I wouldn't be looking forward to the whole grades thing though.. Haha! I'll be back to blogging this April! There's a new addition to our family and he's still adjusting to his new home so I'm kind of stressed out both ways (school stuff and home). He's a cat by the way! Anyway, until my next post.. soon.. hopefully..

Top 5 (Recent) Korean Romance Movies.

To be completely honest about it, I haven't watched that many Korean romantic films in the recent years. There are few reasons that contribute to that. First is that I've been busy. It's not that I don't have time anymore to watch a few movies. It's just that if I watch a certain movie, I want to be really interested in it even before watching because I will not and could not finish a movie if I find it to be a bother to watch based on the first few scenes. Another reason is that there are a few Korean romance movies that have really unique and interesting story lines. I watched many Korean romance movies then and it's easy for me to watch from movies to movies because the genre was new to me. Now, I've gotten used to the stories and much like those cliché Hollywood or Filipino movies, I could not take to watch every movie anymore. I just choose those potentially good movies and that's it. Lastly, I try to widen my scope these days. I really like horror or thriller movies, so I give more time in watching movies of that genre. Also, I watch (romance) French, Hollywood, British, Japanese, Thai, and other genres as well from other countries. That's why maybe I don't give time to watch other Korean romance films that are not that appealing to me. Nonetheless, I'm giving my top five Korean romantic films that was released from 2010 to present.

Let's start from..

5. Cyrano Agency (2010)

At times, I really forget what the ending to this movie was. I think that's a good thing though, because you don't watch a movie just because of its ending. It's all about the process of how the story was presented. The concept was really good because it's quite different from the usual Korean romance movies that we all like.

4. How to Use Guys with Secret Tips (2013)

This movie is much more unique than you might expect it to be. The Korean title really means "A Manual on How to Use Men." It's basically about a woman who lacks social skills that a "woman" accepted by society needs, which is the capability to attract men. She then found a videotape (bought it from a weird vendor) that teaches women how to attract men in a step-by-step process. You might have guessed already: she then followed the tips and her life turned around from then on..

There are those types of movies wherein you just don't understand what's going on, because it seems like underneath those weird scenes comes a deep meaning. Perhaps I'm just thinking about it too much, but this movie indeed is somehow weird but its message is interestingly conveyed. You might notice that I like movies that is somehow at the periphery of the usual boy-meets-girl type of Korean movies because of reasons like what I've said in my introduction.

3. My Black Mini Dress (2011)

I actually included this movie already in the list I made for the Top 10 Korean Romance Comedy Movies I made back then, however, it wasn't in the top 10. I didn't include it because it was pretty recent and I wanted to include those old movies that many people really like already. This time, I'm including My Black Mini Dress in this list. This is about four women in their mid 20's who are struggling in life, albeit in different ways. These four were best friends in college but now that they're facing the "real world" already, the fun stopped and now they're struggling to look for the direction they need in life. It's a bit timely because the generation of people in their 20's nowadays are all "struggling" in finding something that is worthy to do for the rest of their lives. It's a matter that many of us are currently experiencing, and so this movie might just be the right movie to watch even though it's not that "romantic" in a sense of having a love story as the main plot of the movie.

2. Sunny (2011)

Like "My Black Mini Dress," this movie is not centered on a love story about a man and a woman. It's also about girls who were the best of friends in high school and got separated upon growing up. The movie alternates between the "present" wherein the girls are already adults and the "past" wherein they were in high school and having fun. I like this movie because it somehow gives you the feeling of nostalgia even if you're not part of the group. It's perfect in representing friendship especially between women. I also really like the soundtrack, especially the song where the title was based on, which is "Sunny" (that we all should love).

1. Architecture 101 (2012)

Architecture 101 or Introduction to Architecture is probably popular among K-pop fans because of Suzy (Miss A). This movie is about first love. The concept of first love in romance movies might not be that unique anymore, but this movie definitely portrayed it in a different way. The movie is somewhat perfect for me. It has this subtle vibe of romance. Usually, movies about first love can be so dramatic and passionate that it just ruins the innocence that's supposed to represent "first love." This is not the case for Architecture 101. The soundtrack was also really good and as you might have noticed, I'm a sucker for good soundtracks. Overall, this movie is at the top of my list because I think it's worthy enough to be in line with my other favorite movies like "My Sassy Girl" or "Windstruck."

That's it for the top 5 recent Korean romance movies. I hope you guys like the movies in the list and I promise to watch more romance movies so that I can review them here.

P.S.

This post is to make up for the past month (February). I haven't posted anything because of my busy schedule, but I hope this list makes up for it. I'll try to post another list (maybe of soundtracks) for the "love month," February.

February Hiatus.

I haven't been able to post new updates on everything! I've been really busy with grad school and it's sucking up all my energy. I'm still watching Running Man weekly, but I haven't watched new Korean/Japanese dramas/movies (well, except Shitsuren Chocolatier, which I haven't gotten the chance to write about) and little time to make a blog post. One of these days (this February) I will be posting something like a Valentines special to make up for everything this Feb. 

Reel Thursday: Frozen (2013).

Who here hasn't watched Frozen yet? Haha! You must be too old, a hipster, or just too busy to have time to watch it. Everyone in the internet knows this wonderful Disney movie because there are no words that can express how awesome it is. From the soundtrack, the characters, and to the plot, there's nothing to be unhappy about. 

As everyone might have already known, the main characters are the sisters Anna and Elsa, the ice seller, Kristoff and his reindeer Sven, and finally Olaf, the snowman who likes warm hugs.

What I like about Anna (left) is that she is the epitome of almost all young women nowadays. She's awkward, a bit of an airhead but smart, and she's not your princess who's actions are always with finesse. It's like she's showing the young women that even when you're awkward and normal and can't even get up early in the morning, you can also be a princess.

Elsa, on the other hand, shows the insecurities that we young women experience. There's bound to be one or more things that we're insecure about ourselves, and Elsa showing that she can "Let it go" since her insecurities "never bothered her anyway" means that these insecurities that we have are just a creation of our imagination of what other people think of us. Let's all sing "Let It Go" with Elsa and let go of those things that we don't like about ourselves. The important people in our lives (like Anna for Elsa) will not be bothered about those things anyway.

Kristoff, oh Kristoff. I have nothing about this man since he's perfect for Anna. He does not overpower Anna in anyway, and it's like they're two puzzles that perfectly fit together because of their back and forth bickering. Just be awkward together! (Wait, what?)

Finally, there's Sven and Olaf. Sven is the reindeer companion of Kristoff ever since he was a kid. Olaf is a snowman created by Elsa. Olaf provides the comic relief in the movie and his lines are the funniest. He even has his own song about how a snowman like him would enjoy summer! Best song ever.

Check it out here:

That's it for this Frozen appreciation post. I didn't say much because it's just all over the internet now and everyone has their opinion about it that mine wouldn't matter as much. It's just that I love this movie and I wanted to show my appreciation of it.

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Hal「ハル」the movie (2013).

Hal is an animated movie that's depressingly beautiful. It's a sci-fi romance themed animated film that has a twist at the end. I can say that it's pretty good, but I'm not just a fan of the kind of animation for this. The story though was good, and will definitely leave you hung over the main characters after watching.

The story is set on a time when robots can completely act like humans, and I assume that anyone can own one if they can afford to..

Hal is the guy in the picture while Kurumi is the girl. They are in a relationship when Hal suddenly died from a plane crash.

Kurumi was left devastated..

Then this old man asked the robot, Q01, to become Hal so that he could comfort Kurumi who's suffering from Hal's death.

When Hal the robot showed up, Kurumi didn't easily open up to him because she's still afraid.

However, as time went by, Kurumi opened up to Hal the robot while he makes some of Kurumi's wishes come true. (Her wishes are written on rubix cubes that are completed and Hal had to solve each of the faces to be able to read the wish).

Hal also started to get to know the old Hal. Robot Hal tried to understand what kind of person Hal was back then..

Hal and Kurumi started hanging out again and went to a festival together.

After having fun, a guy by the name of Ryu who is supposedly Hal's friend showed up. He expressed his desire to sell Kurumi..

Hal and Kurumi ran from Ryu and his apparently gangster-like friends. 

While running away, Kurumi fell in a gushing river, and it was also raining hard.

I will end my story-telling right here, since anything beyond this scene will be huge spoilers. I think the beauty of this movie is the plot twist because right there, the reality of this story was revealed. Even in this advanced society, there is the existence of humanly feelings of regret, depression, and love. The reality in the story reveals the true essence of it, which is supposed to be telling a story of love between these two people who became victims of a harsh fate.

That's all I can say about this movie. It gave me the chills, and the feeling of finding the meaning of life upon watching it. I'm not even exaggerating. 

Tuesday Running Man: Episode 181, Secret Couple.

Running Man's theme this week is "girls" vs boys, but the problem is that between this opposing teams, there is a secret couple!

The two teams meet each other. Boys team: Haha, Gary, Suk JIn, Lee Jong Suk and Jae Suk. Girls team: Ji Hyo, Lee Sae Young, "Jong Sook," Lee Bo Young and "Kwang Ja." These two teams will be going against each other in the games.

However, the secret couple, Ji Hyo and Lee Jong Suk will have to do a mission without anyone of the members knowing. They will have to do a lovey-dovey act with the members present but they must not be caught. If they do get caught, the winning team for the game will receive only a real clue, but if they succeed, the winning team for the game will receive two clues, one real and one fake. The clues pertain to who the "secret couple" is, which they have to guess on the last mission.

Running Man high school's secret couple.

I must admit that these two doing the mission together made me go "aww" because they're just too cute! I'm not betraying my Monday Couple heart though. Maybe it's just because I have a thing for secret lovers...

The girls team lead by the two most manly girls I've ever seen, Kwang Ja and Jong Sook.

Of course, the boys team is lead by Jae Suk, the best dancer in school. Haha! Kidding.

The first mission for the lovers is to link arms while doing the first game.

The first game is to go above that straw platform and they must stay there until the whistle is blown by the staff. There is also a maximum of members that can pass a round. Once a member passes, he or she will not participate anymore. The first team to have all members pass, wins.

In the first round, Lee Sae Young passed, and so these gangster girls are left. They had a strategy to leave Ji Suk Jin alone (and letting the other boys pass) so that they'll easily win, with Kwang Ja and Jong Sook being left against Suk Jin.

Wanko-hyung did all his best to win...

While Suk Jin struggles against the two manly girls, the secret couple finished their secret mission, which is to link arms.

Poor Suk Jin, fighting a bunch of girls who are much stronger than he is.

The girls won this round, while the boys claimed that they just let the girls win because they're gentlemen. The boys went delusional. The girls got two clues, but they don't know which one is a fake clue or a real one.

The next mission for the secret couple is to hold hands (with interlocked fingers).

Gary saw the two staff members who were showing the secret mission to the secret couple holding hands, and so he thought that they were dating!

The next game is called the "Scarecrow Game," where they have to move 4 steps (including a swing on the horizontal bar because they cannot step within the "pond" made across the bar). After moving four steps, they must stay there until everyone is done. The next step is to go back, without ruining the pose of another "scarecrow."

The two did it again stealthily. Whew! They were so cute.

The winner for this game is the boys team, and so they get the real and fake clues.

The next mission for the lovers is the "forehead kiss."

The next game is in a market place. The boys and girls will be partnered up (according to whom they want to be partnered with) and they will buy anything that they want, come back to the mission room and receive the actual mission that they should do with the bought goods from the market.

The secret couple were partnered in the first round, and so they were able to do the mission while buying stuff from the market. 

In the second round, they had different partners.

The mission for the couples is to put the thing they bought between their cheeks for one minute.

For the last round, they change couples once again. The choosing of the couples was so funny because of Kwang Ja and Jong Sook.

The last round's mission is a word relay from the thing that they bought. They only had 30 seconds to do that, and they won. Both teams receive clues.

While buying in the market, these two succeeded their secret mission and even did the mission 3 times just to make sure. They did it at the first round of the game, that's why it was fine for them to be partnered up with different people on the 2nd and 3rd round.

The next game was "Saranghae Game!" This game was also played in Family Outing and it was fun because of the pretty boys who were guests in the show back then, since the girls (Lee Hyo Ri and Park Ye Jin) get to be kissed by them. The rule is simple, they will just be saying "Saranghae" to the one next to them and if they laugh or react, they will be guilty of "falling in love" and so the person will be "punished" of making the his or her two neighbors kiss him or her on the cheek.

When Lee Sae Young whispered "saranghae" to Gary, Gary replied with "me too."

That's why he was punished by the two guests, Sae Young and Bo Young! He then screamed "hurray!"

The girls won this game, and the secret couple didn't get to do their mission because of the lack of space. They were supposed to do a back hug. The girls team then gets the real clue only.

They then went to the final location, where they had to agree on who to guess as the "secret couple" in their groups, based from the clues. They guessed right because Lee Jong Suk was so obvious that he's the guy and that Ji Hyo was suspiciously close to Jong Suk. The secret couple then got bombed with flour on their faces.

I was looking forward to this episode because of the countryside games that they did. I was a little disappointed though because the games were not that highlighted because of the secret couple thing. I wish that they just didn't do the countryside games along with the secret couple so that the games were given more attention to. Well, I just hope that they would do those kinds of game again in future episodes!

The guests for next week's episode are Yeo Jin Goo, Si Wan (ZE:A), and Do Hee (Tiny G). The games were requested by a Running Man fan from Hong Kong. That fan is so lucky! We should be jealous. Haha! I just hope her games would be exciting (it did seem fun from the preview).