My Most Admired Korean Actresses

I've been watching Korean dramas that were dubbed in Tagalog (Filipino). Besides its plot and its characters portrayed by top Korean celebrities, I also noticed why I liked watching at the first place. It's because of these beautiful actresses. I mostly admired them not only with their beauty but their versatility when it comes to playing difficult roles.

Song Hye Kyo

Full House

Eugene Kim

Save The Last Dance For Me

Three Dads with One Mom

Park Shin Hye

You're Handsome

Heartstrings

Hayate The Combat Butler

Hwang Sun-hee

City Hunter

Wild Romance

Shin Min Ah

A Love To Kill

My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho

Jang Seo-hee

Temptation of Wife

Lee Yo Won

49 Days

A Taiwanese Drama Review: Skip Beat!

“Ai wo ba bu!” Gong Xi proudly said that every time before she debut. It means “Love Me Section”.
That’s from the Taiwanese drama ‘Skip Beat’ that came from a manga and an anime of the same name. I just started to watch it last week and finished it few days ago. Taiwanese star Ivy Chen portrayed the role of Gong Xi who suddenly wants to be famous in entertainment industry in order to find revenge for her childhood friend Bu Po Shang which played by Super Junior’s Donghae who became a popular singer and treated her as a careless housekeeper. Also Siwon from Super Junior co-starred as the handsome actor Dun He Lian.

This drama had been postponed due to script and cast changes plus losses for its prior production with original cast Ariel Lin and Jerry Yan. When these Super Junior stars accepted the roles, they spoke in Korean during filming. In order for the Taiwanese viewers to understand the drama, the production used 2 voice actors to dub the parts of Shang and Lian.

I saw the low ratings posted on the site DramaWiki. I wasn’t used to the ratings from Taiwan. The figures shown are very different from the Philippines. 

I liked the story as it went through. But I was disappointed of the drama’s ending. It’s very plain and the viewers like me want to know who Gong Xi chose between Lian and Shang. I don’t agree with Gong Xi’s reason for entering the showbiz just to find revenge to Shang. But at least in the end, she didn’t feel revenge after seeing Shang and liked acting.

At first I don’t like Jiang Nan Qin (played by Taiwanese actress Bianca Bai). But as the drama went further, I started to like her after realizing that Gong Xi helped her though she don’t like Gong Xi’s personality.
As I was watching the drama I saw drama posters like ToGetHer, The X-Family, It Started With A Kiss, Hot Shot, and Tokyo Juliet. I also noticed familiar Taiwanese celebrities from previous drama: 

1 - Frances Wu played Maria, who is the talent company president’s daughter in the drama which I first saw her as sister of Ah Yi (Aaron Yan) in the drama Love Buffet.

2 - Bu Xue Liang, the comedian who played the role of Supervisor Shen which I saw him as the father of Xiao Mai (Angela Zhang) in Romantic Princess and Xiao Feng (Reen Yu) in Love Buffet.

3 - Chen Bo Zheng, the actor who portrayed as the restaurant’s male boss of Gong Xi which I saw him as the father of Wang Da Dong (Jiro Wang) in KO One and evil principal of Dong Han Academy in KO3anGuo.

4 - Cai Yi Zhen starred as Gong Xi’s friend and co-worker in the restaurant which I saw her as Wu Xiong in the drama KO One.

5 - Yi Zhen’s elder sister Cai Han Cen had a supporting role as Gong Xi’s co-actor in the play featured in the drama which I saw her in The X-Family as Han and Bing Xin.

6 - Qiu Er had also a supporting role as Gong Xi’s co-actor in the play featured in the drama which I saw her in Love Buffet as Da Lin, one of Xiao Feng’s best friends.

As the drama ended, I saw on DramaWiki (or Wikipedia) site that Skip Beat will be having its second season and the production will start around next year. Though its ending is quite disappointing, for sure it’ll continue and find out who will be Gong Xi’s prince. Will it be her childhood friend Bu Po Shang or her senior Dun He Lian?

Apply Then Fail But Never Give Up

Applied. Failed.

Applied. Temporary qualified. Failed again.

I’m such as professional job applicant, ain’t I?

Well, that’s my life now…

There are a lot of the companies here in the Philippines. Some are legally registered by authorized government institutions such as Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Department of Local Employment. Some are not so it means they’re illegal but they’re still operating to recruit and somewhat fool applicants who want to find a stable job and earn money by offering 2 different jobs in a text message and orientation and collecting a “so-called” fee and a closed sale account (either referral or loyalty).

And I’ve encountered that twice: first in a company (TotalMED) that selling medical card at a cheaper price located in Greenhills, San Juan and the second one in a marketing firm (Benne Ssere International Inc. or BSII) who’s selling a dental access card at also a cheaper price. They’re not offering basic salary but only compensation and benefits that came from closed sales.

Why did some company do this? Hiring for a job for the sake of closed sales? I don’t get it. An applicant finds permanent job to earn money, not for the company’s purpose to sell at least to get hired.

Here are some tips to guide you in applying a job at any company:

1 – Apply at credible job sites (i.e. PhilJob.net, Jobstreet.com, JobsDB.com, etc.)

2 – If you received a text message for scheduled exam/interview, search the company on the net for its background or overview. If you want to be sure, check it thru the sites of DTI, SEC, or DOLE.

3 – During the interview, don’t hesitate to ask if they’re offering basic salary and what vacancy job they’re offering. YOU MUST DOUBT if the interviewer asked for a fee (specifically not for laboratory/medical), if he/she didn’t answer those questions honestly, or if he/she answered them indirectly.

4 – If you attended an orientation right after the exam and interviews, you’ll need to answer an evaluation sheet. If you read questions such as “Do you understand that we are not offering BASIC SALARY?” don’t answer. Better if you’ll not pursue the job that they’re offering to you. You’re required to pay for that fee and have a closed sale before you get hired.

To all the fresh graduates who still haven’t found a job, be careful always and good luck!

Soundtrack of My Life

Music is my passion, my life. I love it because it's the only thing that hasn't walked away from me when I needed most. It relaxes me whenever I play any genre. But at some point, few of these songs are really related what has happened in my life. I picked 5 among these songs and I chose few lines that suits most.

Song: Skyscraper

Artist: Demi Lovato

You can take everything I have

You can break everything I am

Like i'm made of glass

Like i'm made of paper, Ohhh woaah

Go on and try to tear me down

I will be rising from the ground

Like a skyscraper!

Song: Reflection

Artist: Christina Aguilera

I am now in a world where I

Have to hide my heart and what I believe in

But somehow I will show the world

What's inside my heart and be loved for who I am

Song: Mean

Artist: Taylor Swift

Well, you can take me down with just one single blow

But you don't know what you don't know

Someday I'll be living in a big old city

And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me

And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Song: Wide Awake

Artist: Katy Perry

God knows that I tried

Seeing the bright side

But I'm not blind anymore...

Song: Can't Take That Away

Artist: Mariah Carey

They can say, 

Anything they want to say,

Try to bring me down,

But I will not allow anyone to succeed hanging clouds over me,

And they can try 

How to make me feel that I, 

Don't matter at all,

But I refuse to falter in what I believe or loose faith in my dreams

These songs made me cry once I sing with it or I listened to it. I may not used to open up to these things when it comes to my personal life, but you'll see that my life is much complicated when you suddenly realized that it's not perfect as they say.

The Negative Side of Me

Note: It’s optional if you’ll continue reading this blog post. It’s very personal. So if you decided to read it, be sure to respect whatever it has written.