At the restaurant, I could hear the women’s conversation clearly. My ears perked up when I heard a network’s name and its popular TV show in one breath. “Its finale was GMA’s most watched,” said the woman whose back was to me. “The youth of today are so lucky! They can just watch Jose Rizal’s...
Author: Liana Garcellano (Liana Garcellano)
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What pulls you to K-drama: the actor or the storyline?
It may sound unbelievable but there are still some Filipinos uninterested in K-drama, like my mother and two of my close friends. Of the latter, I conspired with Melie Cruz, a senior adviser for an international development organization, to get our high school buddy Joy Chadwick to watch a series. We got her started on...
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Oxytocin and a smooth talker are the drivers behind romance scams
“Michelle” would have known it was one of the popular cons had she read more about it sooner, but “Perry” was one smooth operator. Waking up after half a sedative pill had sent her to la la land, she put two and two together. She’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for a romance scam, and...
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Ghosters—to sue or not to sue
Memories of my first ghosting experience surfaced when Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., filed House Bill No. 611 in July. His proposed measure would declare ghosting an emotional offense because of the trauma that develops from “feelings of rejection and neglect,” according to a CNN Philippines report. “The emotional abuse caused by ghosting” was...
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Staying high on K-drama
These days it’s either you watch K-drama or you don’t. The latter is an unpopular stance but some are unfazed, like Harriet Limbo who just isn’t keen on watching. This sentiment runs counter to that of K-drama fans. Fistri Abdul Rahim is, like me, a relative newcomer to K-drama, tuning in only in August 2020...
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Banishing anxiety and fear: a fitness journey
I knew I needed to get back to my exercise routine when the doctor didn’t hesitate to prescribe Xanax. It was the remedy for what he diagnosed as anxiety attacks after listening earnestly to my tale of feeling hopeless every day. His assistant handed me the tablets on my way out, and a new wave...
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K-drama’s undead as social commentary
Christine Ang-Buban and Ni Kadek Eta will never watch “All of Us Are Dead” (AOUAD) or any other zombie show. Ang-Buban’s love for Emma Stone didn’t move her to watch “Zombieland” (2009), and Eta tried but couldn’t get past Episode One of AOUAD. They’re the opposite of sister-entrepreneurs Anna Clarissa and Angela Javier, who’ve included...
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When art meets reality in Korean ‘chaebol’
Kang Tae-moo arrives in Seoul from New York and heads to the office immediately. The tall, dashing heir to Geumhwa Group, a chaebol founded by his grandfather, Chair Kang Da-goo, snubs his inauguration ceremony as president of the subsidiary Go Food. He also fires a company executive for misbehaving. The chaebol has always been associated...
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As Netflix loses subscribers, rivalry intensifies in streaming game
Keyboard warriors took to the Internet when news broke two weeks ago that Netflix lost thousands of subscribers in the first three months of 2022, and will further lose two million subscribers in the next three months to July. The last time this happened was 11 years ago when Netflix lost one million subscribers because...
