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/

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..

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. 

Update: Last push for this year!

As I've started my new journey in graduate school this year, I've been quite busy keeping up with the new wave of readings each week, and it's somehow keeping me from blogging about my favorite shows. I still do watch them, during meal time, and sometimes when I still don't feel like wrecking my mind in trying to understand what a certain author said. Nonetheless, I will eventually come up with my schedule to try to keep up with school, part-time work, and blogging.

After I'm done with all the work for this year, I'll be counting down to Christmas each day, to make up for my lack of Reel Thursday posts this December. Each day I will blog about Christmas movies that I've watched, been watching, and will be watching. I've never felt Christmas so festive as it is today, since I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit nowadays.. (probably because I downloaded Michael Bublé's Christmas album) Anyway, I'll be back soon in blogging! Happy Christmas!

Hiatus. (This Week)

Just this morning, I woke up at 4am and only got 4 hours of sleep. I had to wake up that early despite having gone home at 11:30pm the other day because I had my Civil Service Exam this Sunday morning. I wasn't that prepared, considering that I just studied (not vigorously) a week before the exam, and I was also busy last week. At 11am after finishing the exam (which was stressful by the way, because of the really uncomfortable chair that I sat on for three whole hours) I accompanied a friend to go shopping at a mall for her birthday. Then, we went to her condo (by car, thank goodness, but the traffic was terrible in Manila) and picked up our two friends. Thankfully, they decided to drop me in Makati for my training for my part-time job, at 5pm. I actually just got home and remembered that I still don't have a post for Monday, and I'm too busy tomorrow to create a blog entry.

This week, my schedule is also packed, and I don't think that I can squeeze in a proper sleep what more update for my 4-day blog entries? Now, I'm writing this as a 'promissory note' that I will definitely write K-Mondays, Tuesday Running Man, J-Wednesdays, and Reel Thursday for this week, but not on the days themselves. Most probably by Wednesday, I can write some of it but I will try to finish until Sunday. I don't even know if what I'm writing is right anymore. Anyways, I need to sleep now and wake up at 9am tomorrow (finally some decent sleep) but I know that it'll be a busy day tomorrow. Gambare! Fighting! Aja!

It's the Random Weekend: What's Up?

Seriously, my bedroom has a door for the purpose of it being closed. Don't you hate it when people come in and out of your room without knocking first, or even closing the door after they leave?

Now, now. I'm actually cranky because my knee is currently swelling and I cannot walk properly. The funny thing is that I can still drive when I tried to this morning. You see, I just got my driver's license yesterday and as I was going home after I got the license, my right knee started hurting and I thought it would eventually go away after 12 hours. However, when I woke up this morning, I was still unable to walk properly. I had some plans for today and tomorrow and I had to cancel at the last minute because of my knee. Those plans involved work and play and I was excited for a whole week about it and a mere knee swelling left me unable to attend both plans. I was so sad about having to cancel that I immersed myself in animated movies/series today.

I first watched Mulan and then Mulan II. They were both awesome films but Mulan made me really cry with full emotions. Haha! I don't remember watching Mulan and understanding it as a child so it was probably my first time to watch it fully just this afternoon. After Mulan I did a marathon on an anime that I haven't gotten a hold of in a while, which is Servant x Service. Along with Free! and WataMote, those three are the Summer 2013 anime series that I'm currently watching. I must say that the Servant x Service plot has leveled up and I'm so elated by what's happening!

All in all, I don't feel bad as much as I felt this morning because of not being able to attend to my plans. Watching those things made my mood better, but getting a reply from the job that I'm supposed to take part in also did the trick. I just hope that my knee will get better soon so that I can walk properly from point A to point B, and so that I can lock my door and not be bothered as much to open it each time someone knocks on my bedroom door.

It's the Random Weekend: Bakit nga ba hindi ka crush ng crush mo? (based on true story.. charot!)

Babala: ang mga tao at pangyayari dito ay pawang likha lamang ng aking isipan... hihi

Nagsulat ako tungkol sa libro/pelikula na "Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng Crush Mo" noong Huwebes. Pero ang entry na ito ay hindi tungkol doon. Sabihin na nating lahat tayo ay naka-experience na ng ganito: yung hindi ka crush o gusto o even kilala ng crush mo. Alam natin yung feeling na kikiligin ka kapag daraan si crush sa harap mo, tapos kahit isang aksidenteng sulyap lang sa'yo e feeling mo na may gusto na siya/interesado na siya sa'yo. 

Bata pa lang tayo, ang tanong na sa atin ng mga nanay o ate o kuya natin e "Sino crush mo?" Aminin mo man o hindi, mayroon man talaga o wala, aasarin ka ng mga kaibigan at pamilya mo na nagkakacrush ka na. Tama ba? Huwag mong sabihing hindi nangyari sa'yo yan. Ngayon, ilang taon ka na ba? Fourteen? Eighteen? Twenty-one? Kahit anong edad mo pa, kung isa kang normal na tao, ay paniguradong may crush ka.

Sabi nga nila, ang exciting naman talaga sa pagkakaroon ng crush ay yung pagaaksayahan mo siya ng panahon mo, tapos kapag kaunting sabi lang niya ng pangalan mo ay kikiligin ka na. Exciting di ba? Hindi mo alam kung interesado siya o hindi, pero go ka pa rin!

Una sa lahat, paano mo ba malalaman kung interesado siya sa'yo? (O hindi)

1. Kahit anong effort sa pakikipag-flirt sa kanya ay successful.

Alam mo na, ang usual na pagiging touchy at being all eyes and ears kay crush ay effective talaga. Kung hindi siya lumayo, o mukhang na-weirduhan sa'yo, success! Alam mo na, may pag-asa ka. Pero huwag masyadong umasa, malay mo, friendly lang pala talaga siya. Hahaha!

Kapag patuloy ka naman na nakikipag-usap sa kanya while getting all touchy and interested at ang sagot lang niya ay "Oo nga," "Pwede rin," "Hindi naman," not so good ang impression mo. Pwede mo pang ituloy, kung sapat na sa'yo ang na mas marami pang kayang sabihin si Siri kasya sa crush mong walang kwenta. Haha!

2. Siya na ang unang lalapit sa'yo.

Sabihin na nating nasa gathering kayo ng mga friends of friends niyo, at alam mo na dadating siya kasi ini-stalk mo na ang Facebook o Twitter niya o di kaya naman pina-text mo na siya sa kaibigan mong may number niya kung pupunta ba sya. Pagkakita niya sa'yo e magha-hi na agad sa'yo at kakamustahin ka. Ayan tayo e, swerte mo na yan. Kuhanin mo na kasi ang number, gamiting dahilan ang similar interest niyo tulad ng table tennis o di kaya naman ay beerpong. Haha!

Pero kung pagkadating mo sa gathering niyo e nakita mo siya, nilapitan mo kaagad, at nag-hi ka, tapos biglang after ilang minutes ay nagpaalam na siya sa friends of friends niyo na uuwi na siya, nako. Dalawa lang yan. Either may gagawin pa siya (not likely) o iniiwasan ka na niya. (awtsu!)

3. Tuloy-tuloy ang conversations niyo hanggang sa maging close na kayo.

Oops, grabe na 'to ha. Talagang interesado na niyan si crush kapag kahit sa Facebook o text pa yan e magkausap kayo at biglang magseset pa siya ng lakad niyo na kayo lang dalawa. Nakaalis ka na sa pa-crush crush lang. Pwede ka na ngayong magpatweetums, o kaya naman magpa-miss. Hindi na yan sakop ng post na 'to kaya gorabells ka na!

Ngunit kung ikaw naman ay in-add mo na siya sa Facebook, finollow sa Twitter, hinanap ang Youtube channel, Ask.fm, at kung ano ano pang social networking sites na member siya, plus kinuha mo pa ang number niya sa kaibigan pero hindi mo naman mai-text, at minessage mo na sa FB pero na-'seen-zone' ka lang, itigil mo na yan. Ilang linggo mo na ba yan crush ha, two weeks? six months? Habang maaga pa, move on to the next crush nalang na pagaaksayahan ng energy sa panlalandi o pangii-stalk. Sayang lang ang oras mo sa douchebag o bi-atch na yan. Gora na at hanapin ang mas compatible na crush para sa'yo. Anong malay mo, kapag naka-move on ka na saka siya magiging interesado sa'yo at gawin mo ang lahat ng ginawa niya sayo! (wishful thinking lang haha)

Matapos ang lahat ng yan, kung naging successful ang pagkakaroon mo ng crush kay crush, e tuloy mo lang yan. At kung hindi naman, gaya ng sabi ko kanina ay move on na agad sa next crush bago pa maging bitterness ang nararamdaman mo. Kaya naman tayo nagkaka-crush para mas exciting ang lovelife, yung tipong hahanap ka nalang ng crush kaysa naman sitting pretty ka lang waiting for your knight in shining armor. Kaya kung maging bitterness yan, aba, mali na ang pinasok mo. I-brain wash ang sarili ng three to four times na hindi nangyari yun at hanap na ng bagong crush! Magmadali!

Ngayon, pano nga ba malalaman kung bakit hindi ka crush ng crush mo? 

I. Ayaw niya sa'yo.

Gaya ng unang chapter sa libro ni Ramon Bautista, isa sa mga pinaka-obvious na dahilan kung bakit hindi ka talaga crush ng crush mo e dahil ayaw niya sa'yo. Huwag mo nang ipilit, baka bigwasan ka na niyan. He's/she's not worth it.

II. You're out of his/her league.

Andami pang nalalaman na na ganyan, e para lang naman sa nagmamaganda/nagfeefeeling pogi yan. Kung feeling ng crush mo ay masyado siyang maganda/gwapo/sexy/ma-appeal para sa beauty mo, e, douchebag siya! Huwag mo nang ipagpilitan ang sarili mo sa mga taong ganyan ang pananaw. Malay mo, feeling din ng crush niya e he's/she's out of his/her league. Quits lang!

III. May gusto siyang iba.

Simple lang naman yan e. Gaya ng unang dahilan, ayaw niya sa'yo, posible dahil baka may gusto siyang iba. Minsan naman, hindi porke't may gusto siyang iba e ayaw niya na sayo. O kaya naman hindi porke't ayaw niya sa'yo e may gusto siyang iba. Malas mo lang kung ang sitwasyon mo e yung huli kong sinabi. Ang point ko rito ay hindi ka talaga mabibigyang pansin kapag iba ang laman ng isip at puso niya. Hintayin mo na lang na maggive-up siya sa crush niya, saka ka pumasok sa buhay niya. Anong malay mo, baka ikaw pa ang maghilom ng sugatan niyang puso? Haha!

Minsan, kung mamalasin ka talaga, lahat ng dahilan na sinabi ko e applicable sa'yo. Huwag ka nang magpakabitter, ginusto mo 'yan e. Mapapayo ko lang sa'yo ay move on, marami pa diyan ang mas worth ng stalking at flirting skills mo, kaysa sa crush mo na masyadong mataas ang standards na kahit siya, hindi pasok sa sariling standards niya. Hahaha!

P.S.

Marahil base ito sa mga karanasan ko, ng mga kaibigan ko o ng iba pang mga tao sa paligid ko. Puwede rin naman itong inspired by real events. Pero hindi ko naman masasabi na ang mga ito ay applicable sa lahat satin. May iba sigurong nakakarelate, pero may iba rin namang natatawa nalang sa mga nakasulat dito, kasi medyo parang bitter ang pagkasulat. Haha!

It's the Random Weekend: Written words.

Written words make me express myself more. Even if it’s cluttered, or arranged in a conventional way, my heart is always present in my writing. I have many essays, short paragraphs that contain my inner self of the past that I sometimes come across whenever I feel like digging into it. Those were written on my old mobile phone, the one I used all throughout college. What lies there were my thoughts on life, at that moment where I still have all the time, money, and new experiences that I want. I can’t help but feel different about myself. It seems that I really grew up in a span of really short years. I feel like I’ve matured enough to think that those problems and opinions that I had were not applicable to my life anymore. It’s like those words that I sincerely wrote were not of mine entirely, but just a small, unrecognizable part of me of the past.

It's the Random Weekend: Roller Coaster of Fear

So I just read a post in Tumblr about someone being forced into riding a terrifying roller coaster ride. While before the ride the person was hesitant to go on the ride and during the ride the person was scared to death, after it the person gets excited and probably wants to go again. Admittedly, I am also terrified of those rides. However, I am one of those people who talks (force) other scared friends to go with me on the ride. The thing is, even if I'm at scared at first, like the person in Tumblr whom I talked about earlier, I always end up liking it and wanting to try it again. I would never want to regret not going to any terrifying roller coaster ride just because I'm trembling at the mere sight of it. Facing that fear of falling gives me excitement, yet my knees always seem to give up on me whenever that happens. In essence, riding a scary ride in amusement parks make me face my fears and not doing it would make me regret it.

I want to be more like that in life. Facing my fears while my heart beats so fast I don't know if it's excitement or panic. I'm trying now, so that I won't have regrets later on. Just try and try, because I will never know what's out there for me unless I give it a shot.


Life is one big roller coaster ride.

It's the Random Weekend: What's happening?

This is just my second Random Weekend because last week I was sort of busy packing up, meeting with friends because last Saturday night I had been in my flight back home to the Philippines. I chose to come back here to reach my dreams and challenge myself. I'm not going into details now since I'm writing this at 3pm and it's very hot right now (why is it that it's not raining when I stay at home? ugh). I want to relax and think about running this blog right now and save stressing out for my dream later at night. 

I'm currently downloading movies that I might or might not end up using for Reel Thursday and most of them are quite old movies. I started watching one movie last night that I acquired a long time ago but didn't get to watch immediately although I didn't finish it last night because I was too tired and sleepy. I went on a 2 days and 1 night trip to my second home in Manila (Vito Cruz, Taft) and I did some things for my applications for Master's and for Civil Service Exam, but I didn't manage to get it all done because of reasons. Now that weekend's here, I won't be stressing out too much and just relax for the first time since I came home. I really hope it rains though because I miss playing jazz music when it's raining, while I cuddle up with my blanket and watch movies. Ahh, that's the life. 

Moving on.. I have checked my books that are all piling and lining up for me to read them, and I decided to narrow them down. I chose Para Kay B by Ricky Lee and A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare (No Fear Shakespeare Edition). Maybe today, if I don't get annoyed by the hot, humid, and blinding weather, I will start reading Para Kay B.

About the upcoming posts for next week.. I think K-Mondays will be about Korean Food with some sort of twist in it, and I'm so excited to write about it. I'm still not sure though if I'll be able to pull it off. Tuesday Running Man is not so exciting as last week's but still, I hope that it would be as awesome as always. Next is J-Wednesdays, I have one topic in mind and it's 'how to learn and practice your Nihongo skills while reading Japanese Manga.' However, I'm still considering other topics. Finally, for Reel Thursday, like what I've mentioned earlier, I will be talking about some promising movies that I have yet to watch that are also quite old.

じゃーね〜

It's the Random Weekend: The cat who reincarnated into a FANGIRL.

I have made some changes in my blog, just to make me more efficient in blogging, and make my blog more readable. I included five segments per week: K-Mondays, Tuesday Running Man, J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！, Reel Thursday, and It's the Random Weekend. First is K-Mondays. On Mondays, I'll be talking about anything related to Korea, be it their pop culture, traditions, food, cultural heritage, travel, etc. My first topic this week was K-pop, specifically, 2NE1's new single Falling In Love. Second is Tuesday Running Man. Since English subtitles for Running Man usually come up on Monday nights, I'll be making the post on Tuesdays. Also, I'm hoping that my beloved Running Man will not be ending soon and might make it into 5 years or more! Third, J-Wednesdays, is a day for anything and everything Japanese! This week's first J-Wednesdays was about Karuta, Hyakunin Isshu and Chihayafuru (anime). Next is Reel Thursday. On Thursdays, we wear pink. Now, that's a line from Mean Girls. They wear pink on Wednesdays though. Anyways, I talk about mostly Western movies on Thursday, but who knows, I might go for Filipino or any Asian movies.. Lastly, it's the random weekend. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, I want to take a break and just do 1 to 2 short blog posts with random topics. This week, I chose to talk about the changes in my blog.

Moving along, I want to talk about the blog name change. I went with "The cat who reincarnated into a FANGIRL" because I wanted to change my blog name since I saw that similar blog name with a Tumblr user. I, myself, is a Tumblr user but I don't have the same blog name as my blog name here. The reason though for coming up with that name is my own personality. I am a fangirl and I love cats. I find myself similar to cats as I live with them for how many years now. Sometimes I'm lazy, I'm not in the mood, but other times I'm hyper and want to play along. That's why I thought that I might be a cat in my past life. And so, I made that into my blog name, The cat who reincarnated into a fangirl.

I'll be going real random with this blog post and tell you guys that The Walking Dead Season 4 Trailer is out! It's only available in America though, but a kind person uploaded it in Youtube for us to watch in places other than America.

The Uncanny Adventures..

of a Professed Fangirl.

I just found a blog with the same name as I have here. I admit that I didn't think much about this blog name and so I want to change it AGAIN. I think I'd have to include my name on it so that it would be really unique. AHH, fickle fickle me. If only I didn't come across that blog with the same name.. Nonetheless, I really want my blog name to be unique so as not to cause confusion. 

In fact, while making this post, I'm thinking of new ideas to replace my blog name again. And now I'm back! After an hour of thinking, looking things up, thinking again, I've reached a decision. I will change my blog name once I finalized making my banner with my lame PS skills again.

Tah-tah!

That tiny secret drawer.

At night, I make sure that I am always occupied. I keep myself busy, watching Korean dramas, movies,  talking to my friends through Twitter, or even just going on Tumblr. Why is that? It's because I'm afraid that when I give myself some time, my mind would dig up that tiny secret drawer that it has on the corner, which contains the reality of having to think of what's ahead of me. It's just that when I open that drawer, all I see is either a blinding light or complete darkness. It makes me feel uncomfortable and eventually that thing inside that drawer would occupy my entire mind and wouldn't make it rest for one bit. The sad part is that I don't even know what those blinding light or darkness are. It's something that is a part of me that the present me wouldn't know unless I try to find out. That's the hard part though- the trying to find out thing. I'm not entirely sure which step to take that's why it always ends up occupying my mind for hours and it's not good. Once I try and make a decision, it always ends up being rejected or being questioned again each time that drawer is opened. Sometimes I'm the one who opens it, sometimes other people. It's much better if I open it though, because when other people gets involved, I will undoubtedly question that light, which always seems within reach when I'm the one controlling it. With other people, I just feel helpless and mad.

I wonder why no matter how little that drawer may seem, it still makes everything appear irrelevant. Making myself busy from practically playing with my computer and getting the most out of it, will undeniably not help me from uncovering the mystery that is the little drawer but provide me with inspiration to go face the thing that I'm afraid of, which holds the path to knowing what's really ahead of me..

Girls just want to have fun.

I come home in the morning light,
My mother says "When you gonna live your life right?"
Oh, mother, dear,
We're not the fortunate ones,
And girls,
They wanna have fu-un.
Oh, girls,
Just wanna have fun.

The phone rings in the middle of the night,
My father yells "What you gonna do with your life?"
Oh, daddy, dear,
You know you're still number one,
But girls,
They wanna have fu-un,
Oh, girls, just wanna have..
That's all they really want...
Some fun...

Cyndi Lauper's song Girls just want to have fun not only is pleasing to hear, but also tells a truthful story.

As I am entering my 20's, I am slowly realizing how life is not always easy to fathom. Like in Ms. Lauper's song, her parents keep asking her what she plans to do with her life. I, admittedly, am also bombarded with that question. I said earlier that life itself is not easy to understand. I say that because there's so many things that I want to do and yes, one of them is to have fun like what Ms. Lauper continuously informed the public with her song. Girls just want to have fun, but that doesn't mean that people will leave us girls alone and let us have all the fun. Unfortunately, not all we want will be understood by many. Nevertheless, the main thing that this song imparts me is that people could (badly!) judge our decisions but it is up to us to have fun, to just not care about what they think and move forward with our lives.

On a slightly different yet related note, I have finished the first season of the HBO series Girls. Lena Dunham, the creator, writer and star of Girls, once mentioned in an interview that Girls is not like Gossip Girl or Sex in the City. The series itself is unique because the story that it tells is what happens between Gossip Girl (teenage years) and Sex in the City (adult-ready-to-get-married-years). The series tackles the "quarter-life crisis" which many young adults go through especially after graduating from college and starting their careers. Girls (the series) communicates to its audience the crisis these young adults (especially women) like me go through and how they cope with it. It portrayed the issues in a hilarious way yet you can feel its weight on the characters. 

My thoughts: Not all of us has their own future planned. Some might do so, but it is not guaranteed that it would push through. There is no guarantee that what we want ourselves to be would be there in just a snap. There is no guarantee that what we planned to do next will be what we really do next. Sometimes the world just plays with us just a bit to shake us, to temporarily prevent us from looking forward to our goals. However, it is up to us to be strong and not let the world have its fun of ruining our plans and permanently erasing our real intentions from our hearts and minds. To end this entry, I present to you a photo of us Girls, having fun.

The K-drama Effect.

As an avid fan of Korean Dramas, I have to admit that these dramas have really affected me in one way or another. Yes, they affected me a great deal while I was watching but after I finish the series, I am always hungover. After watching, these dramas affect me in such a way that I would be incorporating new things into my life just to live like they lived in the drama. I expect that many avid K-drama watchers like me can relate. Although, not only K-drama fanatics would be able to relate, I suppose. Let's take for example those people who do "Cosplay." They are a perfect example because they are putting into "real life" their favorite characters from a game, comic book, anime, or TV/film. Like me, rather than putting on a costume and acting like my favorite character, I would for instance buy the food that they ate in the drama not only because I craved for it after watching but also to feel like I was with them somehow..

If I had made a drama for example and it was a huge hit, I would be ecstatic to find out how people have been affected by what I made. I have been thinking about this especially when I watched Marry Me, Mary (the protagonist, Mary, is an avid K-drama fan). I thought about how these dramas affected me and how this came to be. What sort of characteristic do these dramas have that it made me, for example, want to become a doctor? I had those questions in mind but really, it's just hard to answer by myself. I even came into a point that I want to make a drama or something that could affect many people just to realize the answer to my question. But really, that is the better way.

In this entry, I want to tackle about how some of these K-dramas have affected my way of life, interests, and wants. For starters, the general one. I, being the most amateur foodie that I am, now love Korean food. It's not that I didn't like it at all but I did have this traumatic experience in my childhood with Kimchi. I didn't like its smell though my mom really likes eating it. It stinks and the whole fridge stinks of it whenever my mom decides to buy a jar. But now, Kimchi is my best friend. I've tasted different sorts of Kimchi and so far, I have found a favorite brand of cabbage type Kimchi. 

This one is available in 1004 Mart in Al Barsha, Dubai, UAE

I am definitely in love with Korean food. I eat it. I cook some of it. I influence my family and friends to eat it. (and succeeded!) I've tried Korean foods like Jajangmyun, Ramyun, Doenjang Jjigae, etc. all because of dramas like Fantasy Couple, Big, and Marry me, Mary (consecutively). Just this afternoon actually I've cooked my second try on Ttukbeokki or Spicy Korean Rice Cake. I put in (together with rice cakes) fish cakes, hotdogs, and hard boiled eggs. 

It looks savory but don't be fooled-- it's spicy as hell!

I'll stop talking about food now. The drama to blame for the next one is My Girl. I'm actually re-watching some episodes of it just before writing this that's why I thought of it first. I started collecting snow globes after re-watching it back in 2007. Although 4 isn't much of a number for a collection, I consider it a huge addition in my interests. Snow globes are quite pricey and being a poor student (and now a poor bum), I didn't have much money to buy many. However, when I'm at a store, my eyes always go to those round and sparkly things.

My cramped room. Snow globes are to be found on the right just across my laptop.

Next drama would be Full House. I won't be elaborating on this. When I went to Korea last December 2011, I included the set ground of Full House in my itinerary. For further info click here. I've also included The Coffee Prince Shop although I haven't really finished the drama but here's a photo~

The popular painting and me all covered up.

This time it's My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. I was so into that drama and I found the drumstick plushie super cute and cuddly that I begged (yes, I did) my parents to buy one for me from Ebay.

Here is haggard me with the huge plushie. And oh look at the lower left corner, snow globes! Photo dates back to 2011.

Then we have Dream High! I learned the dance, practiced and practiced until I got used to it. I'm not good at dancing but I know how to copy the moves so why not. I also taught my friends how to do it so we danced it together but I'm not going to share the embarrassing video. Haha!

The next thing that I can think of was my ringtones/message alert tones. The ones that I had for long were Gumiho's ringtone in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (the one about Korean beef) and the other one was Ha Na/Yoona's ringtone and message alert tone. 

Lastly, my high school senior prom dress was inspired by Hanbok, the traditional Korean dress. This was because of Goong. I found all their dresses so beautiful~

Would you look at that peace sign? And the uncoordinated aqua blue bolero.

Those that I've mentioned above are just the physical types of effect to me by Korean dramas. They have also affected me mentally, emotionally and intellectually if I may say. They imparted me with wisdom, and other times nonsense. I believe that without these K-dramas, I literally wouldn't be who I am right now.