meriiiiiiinette

BA JOURNALISM. TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom. It was the very first non-fiction novel I have ever read, and it changed the way I look at things completely. I just love how all those lessons Morrie taught Mitch, during the last days of the former, are actually the most fundamental life lessons everyone should know. The sincerity of the conversations every Tuesdays, as well as how Albom beautifully put all those anecdotes together to produce a life bible (as I call it), left such an impression to me to the extent that I am letting the lessons of Morrie guide my principles and decisions in life for years now. A WEREWOLF BOY directed by Jo Sung Hee. This is a Korean film, starring Hallyu stars Song Joong-ki and Park Bo-young, which talks about the out of the ordinary love story of a werewolf boy (a scientific experiment causing him to be such) and a sickly lady. The thing about the movie which appealed to me the most (that is, aside from Joong-ki's visuals hehe) is how 'waiting' was depicted greatly throughout the story. It is not really that of an exceptional film, if compared to others, but the simplicity of the 'waiting' theme weaved together with the fantasy of falling in love with a handsome beast, plus some definite tear-jerking moments (that one legendary word which won't fail to make your tears fall), would surely make A Werewolf Boy a strong contender for anyone's favorite film. It is a tie between Sir HOWIE SEVERINO and Ma'am NANCY CARVAJAL. I am a huge fan of Filipino documentaries, and growing up with a 'Kapuso' family, I owe the documentaries of the GMA News and Public Affairs team much. One journalist who definitely moves me with every story he tells is Sir Howie Severino. The way he presents the lives of many Filipinos--who a lot of us fail to see in our everyday lives--through his documentaries just makes me want to do the same thing--to be a great storyteller like him whose name may sound alien to many, but whose stories leave marks to the minds and hearts of his viewers. On the other hand, I was lucky enough just last semester to meet the journalist behind the exposé of the PDAF scam, the Binays' hidden wealth, and President Duterte's hidden bank account--Ma'am Nancy Carvajal. And instantly, she became a role model to me and an inspiration to my dream of being a principled journalist. I would never forget what she said when we asked her if she isn't scared of what might happen to her after all the revelations she did: "I don't back off, as long as it is true. Sinong magsusulat no'n kung lahat nalang, matatakot?" BANGTAN SONYEONDAN (BTS). BTS is a KPop boy group, and before the judgment (yes, I am so used to the disapproving looks whenever I tell people I am a Hallyu fan, because of the ever-existent stigma of being a 'KPopper'), hear me out first. BTS is a group different from many other KPop groups. While others (not all) talk about nothing but love, heartbreaks, love again, and heartbreaks again in their songs, the seven gentlemen of BTS choose to explore different, more relevant aspects of life: childhood, youth, family, self-awareness, self-care, and quite courageously, societal conditions and issues. This breakthrough that they did in the KPop industry gained them adoration from millions of fans all over the world and popularity comparable to that of Western boy groups such as One Direction and the Beatles. And did I mention that, unlike many other KPop groups, BTS members write and produce their own music? :) As for my favorite song of BTS, I couldn't really name just one, so I'll pick Baepsae (Try hard / Silver spoon), a diss song about the struggle of the present generation because of the deeds of the past generation; Deunggolbeureikeo (Spine breaker) which is a rant message to those who live luxuriously without minding the "breaking spine" of their working parents; and lastly, Not Today, an inspirational upbeat song which tells the 'underdogs of the world' that a day may come when they would give up, but it is definitely "not today," so they should keep fighting and surviving. SOOMPI. It is a Hallyu news portal which posts news and updates from the Hallyu world. I am a frequent of the site because I love to keep myself updated with what's happening to my idols in Korea. While many would say, it is but a petty website made only for the pleasure of fangirls and fanboys, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the Soompi team not only because of their dedication to 'serve' international KPop fans (they are the ones who usually translate news articles which are originally written in Korean) even with them gaining nothing much from doing so (a great number of contributors of the site are volunteers, meaning they do not receive profit from writing reviews and articles), but also because they greatly value authenticity and verification, compared to other Hallyu news portals which spit out whatever information they get, regardless of them being true or just being rumors. As Soompi puts it in their Twitter bio: "We take gifs, OTPs, and reporting on your bias' fashion choices seriously. But not rumors. Ain't nobody got time for that." JOLLIBEE SPAGHETTI. I grew up being a 'batang Jollibee,' and I just got no reason not to love their sweet spaghetti recipe. Well I guess old habits really die hard--specially if the additional sauce and cheese for the spaghetti are free. :) My hobbies include: watching Korean dramas (I am currently trying to monitor five on-going KDramas) and Korean TV shows, reading news articles, keeping myself updated about the KPop scene, reading novels and fan fics whenever I have enough time to do so, writing down random emo thoughts every late night (and planning to post it all in a blog but always failing to do so), doing song covers which I do not release to the public because I think my voice isn't good enough for an FB post, and... talking to myself once in a while.