reading, watching, listening, viewing ★ - favorite ⠀ ↺ - repeat ⠀ ✍︎ - entry

• dnf ∙ Normal People (2020), Doctor Slump (2024), Spy x Family, season 2 (2022), Geek Girl (2024)
• tv ∙ Lovely Runner (2024) - Absolutely enamored by this well-executed time travel love story, and one of the best things I’ve watched in a while, if I’m being honest. The destined lovers trope always leave a little room for more when the ultimate rationale between two people being together is because “the universe says so”. But Lovely Runner is no such thing when the guy and the girl will choose to save each other across lives and timelines. Tell me then, how can time be not but kind to Sol and Sunjae whose love is so fierce it moves all odds? Tell me then, how can I not keep believing in love? ★
• book ∙ Happy Place, Emily Henry (2023) - [thoughts to follow]
• film ∙ Spirited Away (2001) - [thoughts to follow]
• theater ∙ National Theatre Live: Fleabag (2019) - I don’t know why I didn’t expect to be blown away by this, but I did get blown away by this.
• live ∙ Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS: Live in Manila (2024) - Overheard the person in front of me who described this as “teenage self healing”.
• book ∙ I Hope This Finds You Well, Natalie Sue (2024) - Cute characters and premise.
• album ∙ Sour, Olivia Rodrigo (2022) - Never really had that teenage angst myself, but in here I’d say it’s almost poetic. ★
• tv ∙ Spy X Family, season 1 (2022) - Absolutely endearing foursome!
• film ∙ Deadpool x Wolverine (2024) - Humorous, but eh, I’m not a deadpool fan.
• book ∙ Die Hot with A Vengeance, Sable Yong (2024) - A smart, nuanced, and compassionate observation of the beauty industry and how we relate to it; one of my favorite 2024 releases ★
• film ∙ How to Earn a Million Before Grandma Dies (2024) - So that’s Bilkin! Relatable plot and kinda cliche ending, but heartwarming nonetheless.
• documentary ∙ Inside the Mind of a Cat (2022) - Cute, though not necessarily new information
• book ∙ Crazy, Rich, Asians, Kevin Kwan (2013) - Enjoyed this in a different way than I did the film. The characters and their inner lives are so compelling. Footnotes on history and contemporary culture of the Singaporean Chinese was a treat, too! ★
• film ∙ Baby Assassins (2021) - A knockout! Came out of the film festival feeling bitin. Smart, enjoyable, and brilliantly acted. ★
• tv ∙ Queen of Tears (2024) - Promising start, but devolved into a soap opera mess :( But Hyunwoo and Haein are the real ones.
• book ∙ Yellowface, R.F. Kuang (2023) - Felt so perplexed after reading.
• book ∙ The Love of My Afterlife, Kirsty Greenwood (2024) - Love how everything connects and that twist ending!
• book ∙ I Decided to Live as Me, Kim Soo-hyun (2016) - Appreciated the messages; good to read back from time to time.
• film ∙ Irish Wish (2024) - Standard romcom fare, but I didn’t think the leads had that much chemistry. Fun to watch Lindsay again, though
• book ∙ Shanghailanders, Juli Min (2024) - Interesting premise, but some stories were more compelling than others.
• tv ∙ Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023) - Two of my favorite actors and a beautifully written second chance romance. Spoiler, my favorite part is Samdal’s writeup of Yongpil and lenticular clouds. I shed real tears. ★
• book ∙ The Fountains of Silence, Ruta Sepetys (2019) - You could almost live in the setting. Rotating characters and Spanish dictatorship can’t help but remind me of Noli. Met the author in-person and she’s lovely.
• book ∙ Oye, Melissa Mogollon (2024) - Fun and funny, but I speed read this for work and I want to reread it in the future.
• film ∙ The First Slam Dunk (2022) - Not necessarily a fan of the original anime, but interesting first foray into sports drama for me.
• book ∙ Everything, Beautiful, Ella Frances Sanders (2022) - Has the kind of illustrations that compels a foolish desire for ownership, as if one could ever truly “own” art. In the same way, as if one can ever truly “own” beauty.★
• book ∙ Upstream: Selected Essays, Mary Oliver (2016) - Rightfully my New Year book.
• live ∙ SEVENTEEN, Follow to Bulacan (2024) - Saw them liiiiiiiive!