Life in Autumn

It all started with Coffee Prince.

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.

One day to go before classes start. How can three weeks pass so quick? I’ve been spending my free time watching Veronica Mars on dvd and I haven’t finished season 2 yet.

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!

Have you been watching Bakekang? For those who aren’t into primetime teledramas, Bakekang is a komiks character who’s gifted with an unbelievably big nose, you’d want to introduce her to a rhinoplasty expert. It’s so popular now that even my busy boss has been watching it and admits to getting teary-eyed with the melodrama.

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.

Okay, admittedly I’m not a big fan of big blockbuster films and Messiahnic characters trying to save the world but I really loved Superman’s latest feat on the big screen. In between my raging tonsils and my futile attempt to understand the workings of virtual capitalism (Please don’t ask what this is all about. I’m trying not to remember.), E and I watched Superman Returns on its advance screening in Galleria.

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!