Month: August 2019

Rewatch: Top 7 Taylor Swift Music Videos

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As a long-time Swiftie + in honor of Lover, Taylor Swift’s 7th studio album, I’ve narrowed down a few of my favorite music videos of her, and wrote a few more side-comments about her other music videos than necessary.

7. ME! : The emo-kid/Taylor Swift stan in me died the day it was announced that the first single from Lover featured Panic! At the Disco‘s Brendon Urie. It’s not my favorite track from the album, but I love the cats and the colors in this one. Plus, it was so reminiscent of her earlier eras, which was refreshing after the dark-Reputation music videos.

6. Mine: Girl just walked into a cafe and started thinking about marriage and babies, we stan a psychic. Though she needs to chill in this video, it’s such a cute and wholesome look into an ideal future, and lord knows we need more of that in the world.

5. Wildest Dreams: I love the drama of the whole Old Hollywood, passionate love affair thing. Her clothes (especially the yellow gown) were so beautiful, and the scenes were exquisite, and it makes me tear up every time he runs after her but doesn’t quite catch her. The only reason this thing isn’t ranked higher is because of the wig.

4. Love Story: The Romeo and Juliet, Renaissance Faire look got to me back when this was released, which was how I became a Swiftie. (I’m pretty sure the fairy-princess style Taylor employed back in the day got to a lot of people too, since this is arguably her first major hit.) I loved this then, but looking back, the costumes were historically inaccurate and inconsistent with each other, and we just can’t have it all.

3. Begin Again: Compare to my other top picks, I didn’t watch this music video so much, but I appreciate it more now that I’m older. It’s simple, stylish, and dreamy. It’s set in France and features pastries and has some of the best Taylor Swift outfits. Plus, the song is so hopeful. We didn’t deserve the RED era.

2. You Belong With Me: I’m a big believer in the “girl-takes-off-glasses-and-becomes-a-goddess” trope. (It’s never happened in real life for me, but a girl can dream.) YBWM is an iconic song and the music video is never boring. It’s a typical high school drama of overdone tropes, but it’s a feel-good thing. Brunette Regina George! Taylor vs. Dork! Taylor was very reminiscent of Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend music video, and I’ve always liked that too. Remember, you are your own worst enemy.

1. Blank Space: Such a decadent music video. I appreciate Blank Space so much, not just for the music, but for the overall narrative of a jealous, psychotic serial man-eater who lives in glamorous house and wears glamorous clothes. It was pretty on-point with how the media likes to portray Taylor and villifies her. I truly love the Bluebeard-level discovery of the Hall of Ex-Lovers, which is also echoed in Red Velvet’s Peek-A-Boo and the Hall of Pizza Guy Shirts.

Other Shady Side Comments:

  • Teardrops on My Guitar: I miss Taylor’s country accent and noodle hair. This video was relatable as I, too, wander around my bedroom in a flowing gown, strumming a guitar as I shed rhinestone tears for all my lost loves.
  • White Horse; Back To December: Good songs, snooze-fest music videos.
  • The Story of Us: They’re in a library!!! They’re studying!!! They’re avoiding people!!! It’s all a very big mood.
  • 22: This will be my jam in February. Also, I purchased a cat headband for myself the year this was released. Judge all you want.
  • Look What You Made Me Do: The line-up of Dead Taylors was hilarious and meta, you gotta admit.
  • Delicate: If only I could also be invisible and do whatever I want without the judgment of other people, then I’d be as happy as Taylor was in this MV.
  • End Game: No comment except I think Taylor Swift and Red Velvet should collaborate based on this outfit alone:
Image result for red velvet rainbow dress
Image result for red velvet rainbow dress

Cheers for September! Christmas in the Philippines will be running for the next six months starting tomorrow. – SG

Film Review: The Slipper and the Rose (1976)

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Running Time: 146 minutes

Cinderella adaptations have always been popular with me (I’ve been told I watched Disney’s cartoon version almost every day as a child), so it was only a matter of time before I stumbled upon The Slipper and the Rose.

This was recommended to me by one of my favorite tumblr blogs: fairytaleslive and it popped up again on my favorite costume review website, Frock Flicks.

Of course, the plot is straightforward and predictable, and I think the 2015 Disney live-action adaptation of Cinderella borrows heavily from it. We have a prince who wants to marry for love, and his parents who would rather he not – since their tiny country of Euphrania is on the brink of war. And of course we have our Cinderella, who doesn’t really have much of a choice in the matter because her home life is pretty miserable.

The fairy godmother was way more interesting than in almost every other adaptation (except probably Ever After, since Leonardo da Vinci worked his own version of magic). Here, the fairy godmother is implied to be running other fairytale happy endings as well: writing 400+ more tales for Scheherazade to relate in the 1001 Nights, complaining that Snow White was also headstrong (like Cinderella), and displaying tokens of gratitude from Robin Hood and Marian.

It really is excellent in terms of costumes, setting, and overall grandiose musical spectacle. I was watching a riveting dance number while waiting for the train home, and a lady (who I guess was looking over my shoulder) tapped me and asked for the title.

The costumes were beautiful and fairly period accurate. The wigs were mostly decent, and the cuts were appropriate. Some were stunners, others were meh – but we take what we get.

This was the fairy godmother’s costume for the last scene, and a true stunner – I would kill for those pearl bracelets tbh.

I also admired the locations they chose because it was appropriately fairytale-like. I read somewhere that it was mostly filmed in Austria, so the castles would make sense, I guess.

Probably the most surprising thing about the film for me would be the snark. It’s British, and they had some zingers that appealed to my sense of humor. For instance, I could barely keep a straight face when watching this little number of the Prince singing about his dead ancestors and his eagerness to join them in the family crypt.

The King also had hilarious lines and an overall demeanor that I relate to. Like when the Prince came home after meeting a princess who was bald and had no teeth, the King made jibes about him (the Prince) being obsessed with teeth after, and pointing out potential partners who had good teeth.

All in all, it was mostly enjoyable. The music numbers were so-so and a little cringey, the dialogue was pretty solid on account of humor, and the general Cinderella-level expectations were met. Still, I think the best Cinderella adaptation would be Ever After for film, and Ella Enchanted for literature – as much as I love Anne Hathaway, that film was a travesty against Gail Carson Levine’s work.

K-Drama Review: Princess Hours (2006)

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Episode Count: 24 episodes – each around an hour long. 

Princess Hours is one of those dramas – you know, the ones frequently cited by older fans and in books about Hallyu, like Winter Sonata, Jewel in the Palace, and Full House.

[If you were alive in mid-2000s Philippines, you might not know about Princess Hours, but you’d probably know “Perhaps Love” when you hear it.] 

It’s a classic because of its unique premise: a politically arranged marriage between Prince Bad Communication Skills Lee Shin and Poor But Lovably Spunky Heroine Shim Chae Gyung, set in a constitutional monarchy AU! South Korea. 

[The beginning of the drama explains more about that last part, and honestly it’s the first time I’ve seen a KDrama begin with a fourth wall break.]

I won’t go into a nitty-gritty review of the drama because it doesn’t hold up too well, plot-wise and character-wise. For example, Lee Shin is typical as a KDrama male lead of the time, as he is a slightly toxic tsundere. But you watch dramas like this for the chemistry between the cast and the dramatic tension in the storyline, so this one was mostly enjoyable and only sometimes cringey.

Princess Hours is a riot for its crazy entanglements (generational love-triangle problems), gimmicky shenanigans (the teddy bears recreating scenes at the end), and wacky situations (meeting fake Prince William).

She made a two-faced body pillow of her husband so she can beat up one side and cuddle the other. A visionary, Shim Chae Gyung is.

I will, however, examine one message the writers kept hammering in during the first half of the story (then completely neglected in the second half, along with their skills in covering up story holes and gaps).

The “Hours” part in the title hints a lot at this message. Partially, it tells us about the hours Shim Chae Gyung (the titular princess) spends learning How To Royal. (Shoutout to its literary ancestor, princess lessons from The Princess Diaries). In other ways, it spoils the drama in a sense that in the long run, Chae Gyung doesn’t actually spend that much time as Crown Princess. 

But really, I’m thinking that the time-element in the title echoes the time-element that is repeated constantly in the dialogue: the past. 

The great evil in Princess Hours is the past. The past tyrannizes the lives of those living in the present – be they hero or villain. 

This is more clearly seen among the so-called villains. Hyo Rin, Lee Yul and Yul’s mother all feel entitled to something (or someone) because of past ties. Hyo Rin feels like she deserves Shin because he proposed to her first, while Yul thinks he deserves Chae Gyung because he was the one engaged to her BEFORE Shin. Of course, Yul’s mother feels entitled to her husband’s power – but it adds a layer of complexity to her. More than being driven by revenge and greed, she is driven by a sense of sentimentality, a connection to that position that makes her think she and her son should return to the palace. (Also some romantic attachments to the current Emperor, but let’s skate over that.) 

And though Prince Lee Shin and Chae Gyung eventually become happy together, the past promises of their grandfathers to marry them keep them miserable throughout most of the drama. I think Chae Gyung, in particular, is the one most brutalized by these past connections. Between Hyo Rin and Shin, Yul, and both grandfathers, Chae Gyung is also trapped by the traditional ways of the palace. 

Chae Gyung thinks like a 21st century girl – hell, we were introduced to her as someone who put a pair of sweats under her school skirt and calls it “hybrid fashion”. Clearly, she doesn’t like to be boxed in and this is why try as she might, she cannot conform to the palace and its archaic rules. 

[Sidenote: I love the hybrid princess fashions she wore in the earlier episodes. The colors, accessories, and blouse-cuts are very traditional, but the bottoms are flouncy and fun and short. I was really sad when they stopped pulling those looks together mid-series, probably to show that she was too miserable to care, but I digress.] 

The princess fashions in the drama were such a joy to watch, and I think the costumer for Chae Gyung had fun (unlike the costumer for the male love interests). [Photo taken from a Google search – humble credits to the owner.]

Moving on from the past is the major lesson of Princess Hours. Aside from reforming tradition and our royalty-obsessed love for the monarchy, it talks a great deal about letting go of old relationships that keep us from moving towards future happiness. 

Time is really what they needed in the drama: the time to move on from old loves, time to be teenagers and grow into themselves, and time to learn to like each other. Mostly, we got to see time the main couple wasted in hatred and spent away from each other, which is a little sad. I wish we had more time to see Shin and Chae Gyung happy together, but alas, the writers weren’t generous enough, even with the ending.

For people who enjoyed the drama, I would recommend the Goong manga (which I think is the source material). It covers more about the other members of the family (like the history between the King and Yul’s mother) and the college-age years of the teen characters. It also gives us more time to appreciate Shin’s side of things and honestly makes Yul at least 50 degrees less creepy.


Seoul

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Buckle up because this will be a long blog post about my trip last month to Seoul, South Korea. 

My friends and I wanted to go to South Korea for Hallyu reasons, so we requested the trip as a graduation gift from our parents. We planned this since late 2017, and eventually we left on July 3, 2019. We came back on the early morning of July 12 via AirAsia.

I worked a whole month prior to the trip, while my dad gave me Php 20,000 as a gift. My sister gave me Php 6,000 for her shopping expenses. I also worked as a student assistant in Ateneo de Manila’s Rizal Library for like two years, so I had roughly a total of Php 66,000 for this trip – and I brought home Php 16,000.

Important side-note: I am a huge cheapo. I scrimped and saved for this trip so I can live in considerable luxury, so imagine how much of a cheapo I am that I still brought home money. 

Anyway, we paid ahead for some expenses prior to the trip. We spent around Php 11,000 for roundtrip airfare with additional 20kg. baggage, approximately Php 10,000 for our KLOOK bookings and tickets, and roughly Php 5,000 – Php 6,000 per person on an AirBnB. 

That link leads to the AirBnB listing of our host, WT –  10/10 would recommend. 

We also paid Php 700 for visa fees to Reli Tours in Lucky Chinatown Mall. Before processing your visa, make sure to consult so you can bring the correct and complete documents to spare yourself from the hassle of making trips to the printing shop next door. We applied as fresh grads from a top university, so it was fairly easy for the visas to be approved. 

My general impression of Seoul is that it’s like the Capitol in the Hunger Games trilogy. 

It’s a lovely city that is richly embroidered in a hybrid culture between the old and the new, the artificial and the natural. The skyline is filled with skyscrapers, while the streets are lined with flowers. Pigeons fearlessly roam the streets, and the fast train system snakes its way around and over the Han river. 

The WiFi is superfast and everything is so high tech, that country-bumpkin Katniss Everdeen was really relatable for the first time. The automatic controls using buttons were a little shocking to me, so if you were inconvenienced by a locked women’s bathroom on the second floor of Dongdaemun Design Plaza, well… 

City people live fast lives. Their days begin late at around 10 or 11 am, and end late – the sun doesn’t set until 7 pm. Their fashion, their physical features – all of it is designed to convey a sense of aesthetic – be it streetwear or business. The most THG thing is how the new trend for women there is to have jewel nail art on their fingers.

Of course, it would be a waste of a trip to Seoul if you don’t enjoy K-Pop because the merchandise is everywhere. Also, it’s a pain to shop there as a girl, since there are so many cute (and expensive) trinkets, but you can’t try on the clothes. Men have the opposite of a problem there, because there is 1 male clothing store for every 30 female clothing and accessory stores.

Letting you know that we loaded 50,000 won in our T-Money cards for the whole trip and it was enough for the itinerary below: 

Day 1: Flight + Hongdae

  • Landed in Seoul at around noon after a four-hour flight. 
  • Tried the bulgogi burger at Lotteria, then took Bus 6002 to get to Hongdae. 
  • Unpacked and inspected the well-furnished AirBnB, then left to explore Hongdae. 
  • Found one too many pretty trinkets, but had to pause because it’s Day 1 and I can’t spend my money on that just yet. 
  • Picked up a fried chicken platter (original, sweet and mildly spicy, spicy) at a pub-looking place, then had Oreo-churros and ice cream for dessert. 
  • Bought bottled water and breakfast items (noodles, instant rice – the works) at a convenience store. 

Day 2: Gyeongbokgung + Bukchon Hanok Village + Itaewon 

  • Had a fair bit of sleep and departed for Gyeongbokgung late. 
  • Tried to rent a hanbok at a nice place across the palace grounds, but they were serving 30 or so mainland Chinese, so we had to find another rental shop. 
  • Entered the palace and took pics for a full two hours, lost a paper fan from the rental place in the process. 
  • Lined up to eat at a 200-seating samgyetang (ginseng chicken) restaurant. 
  • Dipped the falls-off-the-bone chicken into salt and pepper, then took ginseng liquor shots for 18,000 won. 
  • Took the train to Bukchon Hanok Village. More or less got sidetracked by the pretty, tourist-priced trinkets again. 
  • Hiked – and I mean HIKED – up the village. 
  • Gave up because it was so steep and climbed down for mango bingsuu at a cafe, but was disappointed as a Filipino when they put fake mango syrup on it. 
  • Travelled to Itaewon to visit the BT21 LINE Friends store: saw hologram cartoons, spilled water (discreetly), lost a tripod and a water bottle in the process. 
  • Visited a cheap-ish dumpling place to try cold buckwheat noodles and cheese gimbap – heartily recommend both. 

Day 3: Tour: Garden of Morning Calm + Nami Island + Petit France 

  • Went with a tour bus to the Garden of Morning Calm, Nami Island, and Petit France. 
  • Shared meaningful English and Mandarin-speaking looks with our tour guide. Took a hundred photos among flowers and bought a lavender lip balm at the Garden. 
  • Took a ferry to Nami Island, attempted to take photos with the iconic trees (but kept on getting derailed by the other tourists), and began an intense love affair with hotteok and ice cream. 
  • Visited Petit France and its creepy marionette dolls, examined artefacts that featured love and roosters, paid tribute to every vending machine that doled out cool drinks. 
  • Got caught in Seoul traffic (which was still more manageable than Manila traffic), and had Hongdae street food: mouth-burning tteobokki, salty-sweet rice cakes and sausages on a stick, fish cake in soup, and a chocolate waffle. 

Day 4: Myeongdong + N-Seoul Tower

  • Ate near our AirBnB at a local, home-cooked style restaurant – had meatless bibimbap for breakfast. 
  • Wandered around Myeongdong in near tears due to the different shopping demands of each family we represented. 
  • Paid a visit to every make-up shop possible (more than once for some – looking at you, Missha and Etude) because there were great summer sales. 
  • Had egg bread and unsweetened grapefruit juice for a snack, then took a van to N Seoul Tower. 
  • Hiked up Mt. Namsan, chickened at the height, drooled over gummy candies, and took photos with the love locks. 
  • Took a cable car and a diagonal elevator to descend the mountain, then walked back to Myeongdong. 
  • Ate our way through the street: grilled lobster tail, roasted lamb cubes, roasted sweet potato, dragon floss candy, honeycomb ice cream in a fish pastry, sugar-syrup strawberries, sweet-and-spicy shrimp, takoyaki, frozen s’mores, another fake mango shake, and everything else in between that I cannot recall right now. 
  • Raided a snack shop and the almond store for pasalubong to bring home.

Day 5: Gwangjang Market + Cheonggyecheon Stream + Dongdaemun + Ewha 

  • Had brunch at the Netflix lady’s stall in Gwangjang Market: noodle soup and a shared plate of half plain, half kimchi dumplings. 
  • Also tried a burnt rice drink and fish-shaped pastries filled with red bean and cream. 
  • Wandered around and found Cheonggyecheon Stream. 
  • Visited an outlet mall accidentally and shopped a bit, had some spicy (but delicious) fried chicken along the street. 
  • Wandered around some more to Dongdaemun Plaza then ran over to Ewha University – which has a campus that defeats most (if not all) the top unis of the Philippines. 
  • Waited and successfully saw the vans of girl group TWICE (only glimpsed Jihyo and Tzuyu though). 
  • Had dinner at a Chinese restaurant: sweet and sour pork cutlets sans the violent orange sauce I am accustomed to, plus fried rice. 

Day 6: Everland

  • Took the four-hour commute to Everland theme park, then decided to eat way through it, since I am a chicken at rides. 
  • Rode a VR ride, picked up some churros, ice-cream, and a sausage-chicken-French fry platter while waiting for friends to get off the crazy rollercoaster. 
  • Made our way to the small train that circled around the park grounds, then rode a skylift to get to a different area. 
  • Ran into Shawol friends from home and chatted for more than half an hour as other friends went on a ride.
  • Ate at a diner-style KFC, went to a haunted house shooting game, lost badly. 
  • Took two safari tours to see animals I’ve never seen before, sadly missed the pandas. 
  • Froze for an hour on a park bench while watching over the others’ stuff since they went on a splash-mountain ride. 
  • Had intense feelings of regret due to a very, very spicy order of Chinese noodles for dinner. 
  • Rushed back in order to take the four-hour commute to Hongdae, but took the cable car up which gave us an amazing view of the Everland lights parade. 

Day 7: SMTOWN @ Coex Artium + Starfield Mall + Gangnam samgyeopsal 

  • Woke up early for SMTOWN COEX, as one does when one is about to breathe in spaces previously visited by the love(s) of one’s life. 
  • Had breakfast at McDonald’s. 
  • Lost mind inside a mall trying to find a money changer, eventually gave up and lost mind at SMTOWN instead. 
  • Ran around everywhere like a madman, begging people to take pictures of me, and taking over 300 selfies here and there. 
  • Met Shawol friends again, which was appropriate, given the situation. 
  • Printed photos from the exhibits, won a slap bracelet from those arcade machines – gamble rewarded with SHINee 1 of 1 design. 
  • Dropped by the SUM Cafe and dropped money on the mint-and-chocolate SHINee cupcake, plus grape juice with a Red Velvet bottle. 
  • Thought intense thoughts about watching the School Oz hologram musical but decided against it – a choice that will haunt me with regret for the rest of my life. 
  • Left SMTOWN COEX with some struggle, and found Starfield Library. 
  • Was pleasantly surprised to find a library within the mall – an innovation that would have made my teenage years happier. 
  • Travelled to Gangnam for a samgyeopsal dinner – where the meat was less oily, bubbling hot soup was refilled in the middle of the grill, and we tried perilla leaves for the first time. 

Day 8: Lotte World Mall + Han River Cruise + Panda Express

  • Brunch at Lotte Mall – one of the best meals we’ve had so far, in my opinion. 
  • Sidenote: had a Wetzel’s Pretzel for a pre-brunch snack. 
  • Paid 11,000 won for an order of Hawaiian Beef, which was beef chunks and shrimp on fried rice, served with fried rice, green beans, and potato salad prepared differently from what I am used to. 
  • Also had brown sugar milk to go with that – a concoction of milk, brown sugar, and black pearls. 
  • Again raided a grocery store for snacks to feed the Go Family with, and had a Google Translate conversation with a grocery clerk with regards to exactly how I was supposed to bring my kimchi along for the plane ride home. 
  • Visited another high-end mall which had the Lotte Duty Free KPOP tunnel thing, which featured those brass hand imprints of EXO, BTS, TWICE, Super Junior, Lee Jong-suk – among others – and they appear on screen when you press on those things. 
  • Tried Godiva ice-cream and wandered around the fanciest produce market/food court I’ve ever seen in my life. 
  • Eventually made our way to the E Land River Ferry Cruise and tossed dried fish for seagulls to catch. 
  • Rain and wind made the experience both refreshing and exhausting. 
  • Found Panda Express at another mall, won a first place lucky scratch card that allowed me to order another meal with three viands. 
  • Dropped by a bookstore for some tape to wrap my kimchi in, went home with a copy of Dianne Wynne Jones’ House of Many Ways: the third book of the Howl series, and the only one missing in my collection, which is why I willingly forked over 12,000 won even if I know that was severely overpriced.

Day 9: Hongdae + Flight

  • Woke early to finish packing and to clean up the AirBnB, bought samgak for everyone to try as a pre-breakfast. 
  • Dropped off luggage at Yellow Luggage in Hongdae, had a bulgogi chicken sandwich with truffle fries at the local Burger King. 
  • Bought lipstick for my mother, wandered around Hongdae to spend as much won as was reasonable. 
  • Bought a blouse, a jade brooch, Baskin Robbins’ ice-cream, and things for friends: a Pepe phone case and two sweater crop tops with strawberry and banana milk designs. 
  • Eventually left Hongdae to take the bus back to the airport to wander there for four hours or so. 
  • Lost mind at baggage weigh-in
  • Met an airport robot. 
  • Ate abalone and seaweed soup, gimbap at Bibigo, then bought snacks at the convenience store: chips, blueberries, water. 
  • Nearly didn’t get past immigration for putting cosmetics in the hand-carry bag – a lesson that was hard learned. 
  • Was told the others saw Jun from Seventeen while I held my tears at immigration. 
  • Ran around looking for open Duty Free shops, took a train to get to the terminal, and restlessly boarded the plane. 
  • Got hungry mid-flight and tried a Malaysian dish – the only one available in Air Asia, and perhaps the only dish I didn’t like this whole trip, save the spicy Everland noodles. 
  • Watched (and judged) a man who whipped out a bunch of credit cards and sim cards in Manila. 
  • Made my way home eventually. 

Mess of youthful innocence

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The title of this post comes from the lyrics of Fall Out Boy’s “Saturday”, and I guess that’s the essence of what I want to encapsulate in this weekly blog. 

I’m going through a lot of transitions in my life right now – from college to work, from teenager to young adulthood – so I need a space where I can regularly express and work through all these entangled thoughts and emotions.

And I have to impose a deadline and post these things, otherwise I’ll never actually write anything. So this helps me train my writing muscles and hopefully build up to something decent? (I doubt that, but this is a practice space for a reason.) 

If anything, think of this blog as a less sad personal diary.

Because I work a full-time, 7 am to 5 pm job (I know right??), I promise I will try to write and post every Saturday. Maybe more, once I can manage the exhaustion better. 

Not really expecting anyone to read this, but I guess it’s better if I mention my general interests: fairytales and myths, Jane Austen, history, Taylor Swift, baking, embroidery, Hallyu… Not really in that order, but this is more or less what I can expect to categorize my writings into. 

Special request: if you actually know me offline, please never bring up this blog in conversation – ever. 

Cheers,

SG