Prior to that I was a big fan of the 2004 Korean drama Full House with Song Hye Kyo and pop star Rain. I liked the predictability of the characters in Korean dramas. Sometimes you need things like that in your life. After Full House, I didn’t really get to see a lot of other k-dramas just because there was too much to see and too little time to while away. I went through the Grey’s Anatomy, Prison Break, Heroes and Lost phases in my TV life and after a while I just grew tired of the long seasons where characters constantly break up, get back together or die in the end. What I loved about k-dramas is that they finish the story in just one season. No cliffhangers. No season 2 letdowns.

Then came Coffee Prince, which I absolutely enjoyed. The story was cute and the actors were surprisingly good so I got hooked. I even have the full soundtrack on my iTunes. My friend Hannah, who’s like the Asian drama guru in our office introduced me to other dramas like Goong or Princess Hours, which I also enjoyed and the Japanese adaptation of the manga Hana Yori Dango. I think I finished seasons 1 and 2 of HYD in less than two weeks on top of everything else I had to do for my graduate classes.

Now, Hannah and I are obsessed with the Japanese adaptation of the manga Hanazakari no Kimitachi e or Hana Kimi, which is about a girl who pretends to be a boy. She enters an all boys school to meet her idol, an athlete named Sano Izumi. GMA-7 is airing the Japanese version while rival ABS-CBN is airing its Taiwan version. I absolutely loved the Japanese version though I haven’t really seen the Taiwan version so I reserve comment for now, on which is better. However, I might be biased because I’m a big Oguri Shun fan. Shun played the role of Hanazawa Rui (Hua Ze Lei in Meteor Garden) in Hana Yori Dango. He’s not really a gorgeous actor but there’s just something about him.

What I like about Veronica Mars is that it reminds me a lot of Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley that I used to read when I was in elementary. It’s like Nancy Drew meets the Wakefield twins in Orange County. As embarassing as this may sound, I actually love to watch characters going through high school stuff — prom dresses, first loves, innocence lost and all that crap. It’s probably because I have a lot of hang-ups and unsettled issues from my own high school experience.

But as much as I like watching, I never want to go through high school again. It was the worst time in my life, so far at least.

Please vote for Pow Chavez to be the first Philippine Idol. My three-year-old nephew Miguel would be really disappointed if she gets voted off in the next eliminations. She’s got a really beautiful voice and Mr. C even predicted she’d be the first Philippine Idol.

Just type POW and send to 2339. But do this on Sunday within two hours after the performances or else your votes won’t be counted.

Thanks!

Bakekang has been getting good ratings these days probably because of the Filipinos’ natural love for underdogs. The success of other similar dramas attest to this– Betty La Fea, Kampanerang Kuba, and the like. Even if it’s only television, it’s nice to know that the beauty challenged gets the sympathy vote.

Bakekang airs on GMA-7 weekdays after Atlantika.

The thing with movies like these is that you can’t really expect any grandiose or sweeping plots. It’s eye candy and sometimes you need those. I was genuinely entertained and we didn’t even pay a dime for it, except for that soggy hotdog sandwich we bought. E won the tickets in a PEX contest.

The short side of it though is that we were seated next to this couple, who were probably born in the middle ages and never knew who Superman was till that night. The girl, who was clinging to his man as if watching The Notebook, kept on asking whether Lois Lane knew Clark Kent was the man with the red cape. When Clark dropped his glasses, the girl sighed with relief that Lois didn’t see him without his glasses on or else she said, Lois would’ve found out that the Man of Steel was standing infront of her, wearing a suit of course. The guy, on the other hand, felt he was an expert in comic book films and commented on how Spiderman, Batman and Superman were all set in New York. What the? And oh, the girl insisted on shouting how swoon-worthy Brandon Routh was in tights.

But despite that, Superman rocked and I can’t wait to see it again at the IMAX!

Well, since my last post I’ve decided to be a total slut over bad boy images. First, there’s Ryan Atwood of The O.C. played by actor Benjamin Mckenzie, who looks like a young version of Russel Crowe (another bad boy I absolutely adore). My life has been reduced to The O.C. reruns airing Tuesday nights on Star World. For those who aren’t into the show, The O.C. chronicles the lives of rich, young snobs from the posh town of Orange County in California. The O.C. depicts how being thin as Marissa Cooper or rich as Seth Cohen does not spell a perfect life. As if I still needed to be reminded of life’s imperfections. But still, I feel a sense of triumph watching these gorgeous characters live their imperfect lives. Benjamin Mckenzie is just too cute to watch, sporting his wifebeater and those puppy dog eyes.

Then there’s the Taiwanese drama Mars starring Vic Zhou who surprisingly plays a bad boy this time. My friend Iris told me all about this Chinovela so I got curious and now I’m totally hooked. Vic Zhou plays the character of Chen Ling, a biker-racer and notorious womanizer who falls for the silent artist Qui Luo played by Barbie Hsu. God, I just love bad boys. I mean good, bad boys. Good-looking bad boys. Romanticized bad boys. I love ‘em.

So while battling with my inner demons, I’ve been watching two hotties these past weeks. Not bad for a pathetic life.

Nung college pa ko, my friends and I would go to George’s house to watch Felicity on Thursdays. We’d swoon over Scott Speedman a.k.a Ben Covington. There was something about Felicity that really drew us in. Naalala ko tuloy ang magic ng college life, ang mga boylets, the blithe, carefree, careless life (*sniff* *sniff*).

Lost na yun. Sa Felicity ko na lang mababalikan.

Narediscover ko ang Meteor Garden hindi dahil sa pagpapalabas nitong muli sa kabilang istasyon kundi dahil sa nahiram naming vcds na Tagalized version. Kaya ngayon napapakanta akong muli ng “Oh baby baby baby.” Kinikilig ako sa away-bati-away-bati nina San Cai at Dao Ming Si. Naa-amaze ako sa pagiging autistic at the same time intuitive ni Hua Ze Lei. Sa mga musings ng mga tao, napansin kong may lalim din pala ang Meteor Garden.

Nabaliw din ako sa Full House bago nito. Kahit sa palagay ko mas cute si Luigi kay Justin, okay lang. Kilig pa rin.

Ang tatay ko naloloka sa All About Eve. Totoo. Adik ang tatay ko sa pagpanood ng mga DVDs. Proof nito, kaya niyang panoorin ang anim na pelikula sa isang araw. Movie marathon talaga. Minsan inaya ko siya, “Pa, nood tayong DVD.” Sagot ba naman, “Di ba tayo manonood ng All About Eve?” So sige pagbigyan ang layaw. Naaliw din naman ako.

Sa Quiapo, nagsa-scout talaga ako ng mga Korean films. Mayroon na ko ng phenomenal na My Sassy Girl, Windstruck at isang bonus movie na My Crazy Love. Three in one pirated dvd at P100. Not bad.

Si BR na kasama ko sa bahay may pinapanood din sa aming dalawang Korean films. Yung isa ay How to Keep Your Love starring the actress in Lover in Paris. Di ko napanood ang Lovers in Paris pero masaya rin ang pelikulang ito.

At alam niyo bang, sexy star pala sa Korea itong si Luigi ng Full House? Totoo. Shocked din ako nang makita ang kanyang overexposed butt sa pelikulang The Sweet Love and Sex.

Minsan napag-usapan namin ni BR kung bakit patok na patok ang mga Asianovelas sa atin. Naisip ko dahil mas malapit ang kultura at ugali natin sa iba pang Asyano. Madalas magaan din ang treatment ng storya ng mga Asianovelas. Hindi mabigat panoorin. Pag komedi, komedi talaga at pag drama naman over sa kadramahan.

Ayoko sa escapist mode na dinudulot ng media. Alam kong imbes na nasosolusyunan ang problema ay nadedelay lang dahil sa pagiging escapist ng tao. But to keep me sane, kailangan ko to.

Jologs na kung jologs. Sabi nga ni Diether Ocampo sa NU107 Rock Awards, lahat naman tayo jologs.

Can’t really choose what scene I loved best: Qiu Wu jogging to get water out of his system so there would be nothing left for tears (panalo sa kakornihan to!), the cop played by Tony Leung talking to a piece of worn-out rag, Faye (Faye Wong) head banging to the music of Beach Boys (California dreamin….), the Chinese version of the Cranberries’ Dreams blasting from the cd player, the cop catching Faye red handed.

So much interesting stuff goes on in the film all the while injecting great humor, soundtrack, editing, cinematography. The script is poetry at its best. I think I was smiling all throughout the movie.

There is something about Wong Kar-Wai’s films that make you feel sentimental about time passing by, strangers you may never get to meet, people you might have loved, the past you will never recover. That is the poetry of Wong Kar-Wai.