When Meghan Markle aka the Duchess of Sussex was still dating Prince Harry of England, I was obsessed with the way she dressed. I loved how her looks were both very casual and laid back but still fashionable at the same time. One particular look that I loved was during their first public outing at the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada. She was wearing a white button-down shirt, distressed jeans, flats and was carrying this brown leather tote, which was identified as the Day Market Tote in Cognac by Everlane (priced at around $175).  

I was obsessed with that bag! For one, I’ve always been more a fan of totes than small dainty bags. I feel like I always need to bring along too much stuff so small bags are out. Whenever I do bring one of those small bags out of necessity, you can bet that those bags are crazy stuffed and busting at the seams because I can’t minimize the things I bring along whenever I’m out.  

But I digress. We were talking about Meghan Markle’s bag, the Day Market Tote, Of course, I cannot afford to buy a bag like that and honestly, I’m not particularly keen on buying expensive bags because even if there were ever a time that I could afford it, I would probably wreck that bag anyway. I’m just not the dainty type. It’s more about the look and function instead of the brand name and the presumed quality for me…which brings me to my point: I wanted the same look, just without the high price that would make me vomit if I were ever to ruin the bag in some of my usual but random clumsy accidents. 

I found the right bag for me via the brand Thomas Laureti (zero waste friends: the package was delivered in a box. I was so happy that they did not use plastic).  OK let me invite you to my confusion when I say this because I don’t understand myself: the bag is branded Percy Laureti, but the brand’s site that I got the bag from is called Thomas Laureti. For the purpose of clarity, let me just call the bag the Laureti from now on. 

The Laureti bag I found was the 2 in one bag. It’s a brown bag that is similar to the Day Market Tote, the only difference is that it has a matching bag that you can use as a pouch bag or shoulder bag. For the price, I thought that it was a very good and practical purchase. I also found another bag, the reversible. This one is also similar in look and size to the Day Market Tote but the difference is that you can use both the inner and outer color of the bag. I chose the brown and black version instead of the two shades of brown.  

I’ve been using the 2 in one bag daily for work. I find it practical because I use the tote to put my papers in it when I have to go out for a meeting. It’s also large enough for me to put everything I need in it for the day. The smaller bag I haven’t had much use for (because I hardly use small bags) but it’s been handy when I need to bring a smaller bag for certain occasions.  

While I love the bag, it seems to be disintegrating little by little through time. The inner lining of the bigger bag flakes a lot so everything gets brown specks on it whenever I put it in the bag. The outer lining in the edges (have no idea what they’re called) keeps flaking off as well. I guess this is normal wear and tear since I use the bag daily but it’s sad to see it practically wasting away. I wonder if this can be fixed because I love this bag. 

The smaller bag, on the other hand, still looks brand new because I hardly use it. I love that this one has an inner lining – which means that it doesn’t flake on the inside. Maybe one of these days I can find more use for this one.  

As for the reversible bag — surprise! It’s been more than two years (I think) and I have NOT used it yet! I’ve been so used to the 2 in one tote that I have not gotten around to using this one. Will post a review on it when I do. But for now, I like looking at it because it still looks new (hahaha).  

If you’re interested in these bags, there is a Thomas Laureti page on Facebook. They have a website but lately, my malware scanner has been telling me that the site is compromised so I won’t share that one! Hope they fix it soon!

*Photo Credit: Thomas Laureti Facebook Page 

The thing about being an adult is that I tend to look back on the past decades of my life and wonder why I haven’t done enough with it. There’s so much I wanted to do that I’ve never done. No regrets though, since now that I am older some things do not seem as important as I had pictured them to be.  

This year, however, I want to try and do something about the things that I’ve always wanted to try that I always seem to put aside for work and other responsibilities. I guess with how bucket lists are a thing lately, I’d like to share some of the personal projects that I want to work on that are on my not-quite-the-bucket-list:

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

A little warning before starting this post: this show that I recently watched deals with sensitive topics so if you find yourself emotionally triggered by topics of death, depression, and other related issues, it might be best to skip this post.

Tomorrow is one of the K-Drama series that I watched last year on Netflix. I was not actively blogging back then, so I was not able to post a review, but I did share a bit about this show on the Fandesals Podcast on YouTube. It was just a brief review back on the show, so I decided to write a blog post to add to what I had previously shared on the vlog.

The series is about a group of Grim Reapers. These are not your usual reapers: these are the ones who are not there to pick you up to bring you to the afterlife, but the ones who are actively trying to stop you from dying if you are trying to move on by yourself (if you know what I mean).

The series starts with a young man who, after helping someone who tried to take her own life, falls into a coma. He goes to the afterlife where he chooses to help this specific group of reapers in exchange for a better life after his coma, becoming months instead of years.

As one of the reapers, he helps his team to save the lives of specific people, with each episode resulting in moving stories from people at various trying points of their lives. The show featured topics such as bullying, eating disorders, and childhood trauma. 

Every episode of Tomorrow presented the issues faced by the targets of the reapers in such a moving way that I could not help but cry at the end of every episode. I am not kidding, I cried so much while watching this show. It was a good, cathartic cry every single time.

I appreciated that the series could show people a look into rarely talked-about topics without being preachy or boring. People find these sensitive topics difficult to discuss but they need to be out in the open if we want to resolve them. It was never a dull moment in every episode and yet it did not feel overwhelming or rushed. The topics were heavy, but not in a depressing way.

Another thing that I liked about the show is that there were still light moments that balanced out the often-depressing topics presented in the episodes. The obvious tension/spark between the reapers Ryeon and Joongil was also something that I was a huge fan of. I loved that you could tell there was something there but still not understand what it was until the actual reveal of their story. It is like the writers kept you guessing and allowed you to make certain conclusions only to show that it was not what you had expected. The chemistry between the two actors was so good that I wished that there were more about them together than what they had in the show.

It is too bad that this show did not have a second season. This is just one of those shows that could go on for more than one season if given a chance. Unfortunately, I heard it did not do as well in Korea as it has done internationally via Netflix, so I think season 2 will never happen. 

Tomorrow is still a good show to watch if you do not mind all the crying you will be doing while watching it. I wish more people watched this. The topics and social issues may be those that people experience in South Korea, but these are issues that have similarities in other countries as well. These are topics that we need to see, acknowledge, and discuss (hopefully), so we can change things for the better.

This show is among several KDrama shows and movies that I reviewed on an off-season episode of the Fandesals podcast, hope you can all give it a listen and let me know what you think!

As most fans of BTS know, J-Hope is the second of the members to enlist in the South Korean military. He actually entered the service today. It’s a big blow to fans like me. I don’t think anyone expected him to be the next one to go and serve. Everyone knew that someone would be going next eventually, but no one expected it to be him until it was announced.

Just like Jin who entered the military before him, J-Hope decided to release a song for the fans as a way to say goodbye for now. Not only did he also release a song just like Jin, but he also did it in collaboration with someone he admired in the music industry. If Jin had Coldplay, J-Hope had J. Cole. 

I enjoyed listening to On the Street. It had a lighter tone compared to J-Hope’s other songs from his recent album and I thought it had a feel-good, comforting vibe which was perfect considering the intentions of the song. 

The recent Christmas holiday gave me a chance to read the books on my TBR pile. One of those books is Almond by Sohn Wonpyung. I only knew of this book from watching the first season of BTS’ In the Soop. RM and SUGA read this book in the show, with the latter seeming to highlight lines from the book so many times. I was curious about what it was all about, so I had to get my copy. 

Image Credit: Harper Collins

The book is from the point of view of the main character, Yunjae, who was born with a brain condition that prevents him from feeling emotions. Growing up, he had his mother and grandmother to support him, guiding him through the emotions that he cannot feel or understand in the hopes that he would be able to live and relate to others despite his condition. Sadly, on his birthday, both of his guardians become victims of a violent attack that kills his grandmother and leaves his mother in a coma, leaving him to learn for himself how to live in a world that does not understand his condition.

It is when Yunjae is on his own that he learns from the people around him. He becomes friends with Gon, a wild child with a troubled past, and Dora, an aspiring track and field athlete. Of the two friendships, I found myself drawn more to Yunjae’s friendship with Gon than with Dora. I thought that having a character like Gon helped to emphasize Yunjae’s condition more. Here was a boy who felt nothing, faced with another who felt everything and yet tried so hard to show that nothing affected him at all. Their opposite characters drew them to each other: Gon wonders what it would be like to not feel like Yunjae and Yunjae is curious about how it is to feel as much as this boy does. It may seem like an unusual friendship, but I could understand how it could work from how each of their scenes together played out in the book. 

Yunjae’s friendship with Dora, on the other hand, left me a bit confused. He is someone that cannot feel, then when he met Dora, he started to feel a crush on her. I felt that somehow Dora was in the story as a plot device to show that he is starting to feel because the character moves to another school once that happens. It also left me with questions, particularly about the medical aspect of his condition. Could he really start to get better? Was that even plausible? The same goes for how conveniently his mother woke up from her coma just as Yunjae was getting better.

It was a bit difficult for me to read this book. Having it narrated from Yunjae’s point of view meant that it was lacking in the emotional aspect of it, even if was understandable given what the story of the main character was about. Since this is a book translated into English from Korean, I would have to wonder if there are things about the book that were lost in translation. Sometimes the context of a scene was lacking because of that. I know from experience that there are words in my language that do not have direct English translations either, especially if you are lacking in knowledge of the cultural significance of certain words/phrases. 

Being a book in Korean and written with a Korean audience in mind, there were no explanations about certain aspects of the characters’ life concerning their being Korean. I know there are books where if the writer or the characters were not western there tends to be this long glossary of terms that the reader could refer to, and sometimes the authors provide long explanations of certain things within the story. I do not feel the need for writers to do this. I am the type of reader who prefers learning about these things on my own. If I do not understand a term or why a certain character’s beliefs are a certain way because of their culture, I would look it up myself. I do not want everything explained to me. It is part of the adventure of reading to learn about these things myself. I liked that this book was the type that did not have to explain itself or the culture of the characters in it. 

I did not hate this book, but I am not sure that I liked it either. There were moving and thought-provoking moments, but I am not sure how memorable they would be for me overall. The first part of the book was OK because I breezed through it in one sitting, but finishing the book was a tiring process for me. I had to force myself to finish it. It was not that bad, but I will not be raving about it either. 

It’s February and it’s the 14th…Valentine’s Day! It’s the day when a lot of people celebrate (romantic) love and people go on dates or do certain romantic gestures in honor of the holiday. For the most part, it is a day for couples (or people who want to be couples). For someone like me who has been single for a long time, it doesn’t really carry much weight for me. It’s just another day. But love? Well, that’s another story. 

Even if I have been single for a while, I still consider myself a romantic. I still swoon at the sight of romantic scenes in movies (and real life, if I get to witness it). I still believe in love, even if it has not happened to me. 

I once ran into an old college buddy of mine and we talked about how different our life paths were. He is now married and I am, well, still single. We talked about me and my (lack of a) love life and he commented that the problem with me is that I was still a (hopeless) romantic. He said that marriage (and love) isn’t about that. It caught me off guard and it made me reassess what I thought love meant.

So just what is love? What does it mean really?

At my age, as I watch friends and family fall in love, get married (and stay married), separate, and remarry (for some), I have learned a lot about what love is about and what love is – for me, anyway. To be clear I am talking here from a couple standpoint, not love in general.

The way I see it, love is a choice. It is this choice to unconditionally care for and accept another human being. To choose to have this person in your life through the good and bad, to accept and embrace your differences from one another and build a life together. It’s about choosing who you give your affection/attention to. Choosing who you care about enough to spend the rest of your life with.

Love is not always going to be about romance. As hopeless a romantic as I can be, I am also a realist. Life happens, and it can’t always be about sweet kisses, flowers, and happily ever after. Love means knowing that while you can have those moments, that love can also exist in both of you sitting at home in your oldest, worn-out clothes and arguing about what to order for takeout. That’s not to say that there won’t be romance. It’s just that it won’t always be in the way that movies or books portray it. As much as intimacy is important in a relationship, it’s also not all there is to it. 

Love is a partnership. As they say, it takes two to tango. It needs to be a two-way street. It can’t always be one person making the effort for the other person. It’s about being together and working on that relationship together.

Love is a commitment. You made a choice to be with that person. You’ve built a partnership with that person. You also have to commit to it. You commit to being there not just with the good but also with the bad. You stay to try to make things work and not run away when things are not easy. 

Love needs friendship as a foundation for it to grow and last. The best relationships I’ve seen are from people who were friends first before going romantic and committing themselves to each other. As good as romance can be, as I said earlier in this post, you can’t live on romance or romantic moments forever. For a good relationship to last, for that choice, that commitment, that partnership to stand strong amidst the challenges it would face, a solid foundation of friendship makes things easier. A friend of mine says that the romance fades, and I have seen it in some relationships. But I have also seen that while the “kilig” does fade, there seems to be a sweeter side to those relationships that last because of the foundation of friendship (which, after all, is a form of love in itself). And they do have their sweet/cute/romantic side too and it’s really adorable. 

As the song goes, “I want a love that will last.” I haven’t been in a relationship in a while, but if and when I do, I want one that will last. I want one with the qualities that I mentioned in this post. Is it still too romantic? Is it still asking for too much? I don’t know for sure. I just know that I’d love to have that. 

One of the writers that I am a fan of is Alexandra Potter, who wrote some of my favorites like Be Careful What You Wish For, Calling Romeo, Don’t You Forget About Me and You’re the One That I Don’t Want. I was also a fan of the series Jane the Virgin which starred Gina Rodriguez. Given those facts, I was so excited to find out that Gina was doing a show based off of one of Alexandra’s books, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up. This show is called Not Dead Yet, which is on Disney+.

For transparency’s sake, let me just admit that I have not read the book this series is based on.  I have the book but for some reason, I have not gotten around to reading it yet. From what I can tell though, the series doesn’t follow the book that much at all except for some plot points here and there. Given what I know of the book and what I’ve seen of the show, the only similarity is that Nell, the lead character, has the same start in the story: she was in a failed relationship, and she moves away to start over, landing a job writing obituaries. She meets an older woman named Crickett, who she befriends and who helps her to start over with her life. Aside from that, I think the series went on a whole different trajectory in its attempt to be a sitcom. 

In the series, Nell, for reasons that have not been explained, can see the spirits of the dead people (and in one episode, animal) who she has to write obituaries for. In a way these spirits not only help her to write good obituaries, but they also help her to learn and grow as a person as she starts over her life. The storyline for every episode is fairly simple and given that the episodes only last around 20 minutes or so, there’s really not much to expect in terms of it for the show. Most episodes can be summed up like this: Nell gets an assignment, and the ghost comes and annoys her as she goes through her everyday life. She finishes the obituary, and the ghosts leave. All this happening at the same time as some side-plot that involves her and the people she works or lives with. There are problems solved, lessons learned, and tiny victories enjoyed. The end. 

Not Dead Yet is not on my list of favorite shows, but I did watch the entire first season. One, because the episodes were short. Two, because I was wondering where all this would go. And three: Scott Michael Foster, who I loved on Chasing Life, was a guest near the end of the season (if there is ever a season 2, please get him to come back!). I thought that something was missing from the show, and everything felt forced to me. The actors were obviously trying to be funny or just trying too hard in general, and the storylines felt empty or too shallow. I think that the show has its moments, and I am happy when I see that, but it doesn’t happen that often. The show has a good set of supporting actors but sometimes I feel like they are not clicking for some reason. 

I feel that this show is trying to figure out what it wants to be because it is definitely not the book of Alexandra Potter anymore by the end of the season. I hope that the producers and the writers can come together and try to piece together the elements that worked during this first season to come up with a stronger season 2 (if it happens). With the writer’s strike going on in the US though, I’m not sure if that is possible. 

Would I watch a second season? Probably. But I’ll be hoping for an improved season (and more Scott Michael Foster please!). If it doesn’t happen, no more season 3 for me (if it even reaches a third season, that is).

These quarantined times have allowed me to do some reading and I found myself going back to some old favorites, one of them being the YA vampire series Blue Bloods by Filipino American author Melissa de la Cruz. Writing a book that involves fantasy, action, and adventure is something I have wanted to do for some time so I knew that the author’s success in writing this series is something I can learn from.  

Here is a little review of the series: 

Set in Manhattan, the series of books follows Schuyler Van Alen, who tries to navigate around her newly discovered identity as a Blue Blood, otherwise known as a vampire. She discovers that she lives in a world where humans are unaware that vampires exist and live among them. These vampires, it is revealed, are actually fallen angels. They live on earth following cycles of life and death via a form of reincarnation until they are forgiven and allowed to return to heaven. On earth, they are led by the incarnation of the Angel Michael. He is supposed to be joined by his partner the Angel Gabriel but in the book, she is introduced as being in a coma, a result of not wanting to be bonded with Michael in this incarnation after falling in love with a human. I think this is an interesting theory about the origins of vampires and that new idea was remarkably interesting to me and I wanted to learn more through all the books.

Fallen Angel Image by Sergei Tokmakov from Pixabay

The series has a total of seven books, along with a couple of companion books and some spin-offs. Blue Bloods, the title of the first book, introduces the reader to the world of the vampires, their origins, and their lifestyle. There are also mysterious vampire deaths that are occurring that lead to the death of Schuyler’s grandmother. This becomes the start of Schuyler’s journey to try to answer the questions she has about her origins and the deaths that are happening around her, meeting and involving a few friends along the way. 

The first book would make the reader think that the series is centered around Schuyler alone but once I got through the other books, I discovered that the author also gave attention to the other characters. This made rooting for just that one person hard to do while reading this series.  

As with most teen books, there is a love story involved. It’s not just about the love triangle that involved Michael, Gabriel, and her human partner but also a love square (if there is such a term) that involves Schuyler: she is in love with Jack, who is bonded (since their time in heaven) with Mimi. To make things more complicated, she also has feelings for her best friend Oliver, who also feels the same way. I will not spoil how it all works out in case anyone wants to read the series, but I would like to think that it was resolved well and that the series ended on a good note. 

I think the series was a good mix of adventure, love, action, fantasy…I was reading this as an adult and even if this is supposed to be teen fiction, I found myself entertained every step of the way. One of the books even had this adventure in hell that reminded me a bit of Dante’s Inferno because of how they described the journey to get to a certain character, who was a demon (of sorts). 

The only comment I can give about the series is more of a generalized question on most fantasy fiction books that involve teenagers: why do they all act and speak like adults? I often forget how young most of them are when I was reading the series. I always seem to picture them as older because of how they behave. It is something that is not unique to this series alone because there are a lot of other books where the leads are teens that are the same way. Is it an American thing? Or are we Filipinos a bit on the conservative side? Or is it just me? 

When I first read this series, I immediately thought that these books would make good movies or a TV series at least. With how Shadowhunters had their chance as a movie and TV series, I hope that this series could have the same opportunity. I read somewhere that Walt Disney Pictures has the rights to the books, I hope that they will make use of it and actually make a movie (or movies — franchise, anyone?) or series, especially now that they have their own streaming service. 

If you like vampire stories, or if you are interested in stories about angels and demons, you might like the Blue Bloods series. I liked it then, I still like it now all these years later.  

One of the things that fascinated me when I moved to the province was the locally-produced products in my grandmother’s hometown. One of those products is a fabric/textile that people call “habi.”  

The word “habi” means “to weave.” In the town of Maragondon, Cavite this is the term used for the locally woven fabric that is commonly produced to make towels, table runners, and blankets. During the time that I discovered it (which was more than a decade ago), I learned that in the early days, many people in town could produce the fabric, weaving it using a traditional loom made of wood/bamboo.  

Back then my co-worker and I were looking in town for the fabric to buy as gifts, and we discovered that there was only one person who was still actively doing it. I thought that was too bad since it is an art that should be retained and it is something that could set the town apart from the others. I was also disappointed with the lack of options – it would have been nice if there were more types of items to choose from or different types of material that it could be made from. 

Thankfully, I found out that Maragondon has started putting more attention to this product and has launched an annual Kawayan and Habi Festival, which will be celebrated every December. The festival, which had a street dancing competition where participants wore habi items on their costumes, also included a fashion show/competition featuring clothing made from the fabric. This was exciting for me because it showed the potential of this product, something that could put the town on the map. After all, habi products are being sold in the Metro at high prices, and coming up with clothing and accessories produced locally could help make Maragondon known outside of the province (or dare I say it, internationally). 

Some of the products for sale during the festival included shawls and cover-ups. There were also bamboo products for sale and what caught my attention were the bags – why not make them with the fabric as its main artwork as well? Just a thought! 

I think that this festival is a step in the right direction as far as promoting the product is concerned. I hope that apart from the usual products made from habi, they can expand to make clothing that can be sold not just around the country but internationally as well. I think that the local producers already have the know-how, this time it’s just a matter of finding the creative and innovative ideas that can make it something to watch out for. I hope that the people making these products can have the support to make this happen and that it can be marketed in a way that would help to encourage more people in town to pursue the craft because of its profitability. 

Photo Credit: Edrock Photography

One thing I noticed from the festival was that being its first year (if I’m not mistaken), most of the people who were there to witness it were the locals. It would have been great if people invited outsiders – people who were not from Maragondon – to witness the festival. There were news crews in the days prior, but I think it would have also been great to have people who could help grow the industry that was being promoted. Bloggers/vloggers (I hate the term influencer) could help to promote this as it will give them material to add to their channels and at the same time promote the town and its products. Prominent designers or retailers could also be invited to the fashion shows – this can help show the potential of the products and could possibly be enticed to help bring the products to the public. 

I’m really very excited about the way the first festival was conducted and I am looking forward to future festivals to come. I hope that the industry can grow into something that could help the town of Maragondon to be known for the products that it currently produces. My grandmother’s hometown will always have a special place in my heart and I only want the best for it! 

In this day and age where the annual temperatures are getting higher and higher, it’s hard not to spend more on electricity just to keep cool here in the Philippines. Years back I was the type of person who would resort to electric fans because the use of air-conditioning can be expensive but the heat has gotten to the point where I had to buy an air conditioner. One AC at home soon became two and my electric bill was suddenly higher than what we normally pay for. That prompted me to consider solar energy to see if it could be something we could afford to use at home. Solar energy costs are still high given my current budget, but it is still something worth considering because of the savings it will give you in the long run.

There is a lot of solar energy information out there, it’s not that hard to find. Many companies offer solar panels that will generate energy that you can use for your home, each with different pricing options and products offered. These companies are more than willing to provide you with information on solar energy and will even visit your home to give you an accurate assessment of the cost of installing solar panels to generate electricity for your house. They also explain how the energy generated works with our electric provider through a solar/net metering system with Meralco. Some companies even conduct seminars for potential buyers so that they can understand the concept of solar energy for home/office electricity needs better.

Solar energy has its advantages and disadvantages. Based on what I’ve learned so far, here are the pros and cons:

PRO: Lower Electric Bill

One obvious pro is a lower electric bill since you will be using solar energy for your power needs. This is the main reason why I was considering solar energy in the first place.

CON: Expensive Cost

Even with the technology being better than before and the cost being lower than when it first started out, the installation of a solar energy system at home can still amount to a lot of money. Yes, the money saved for the amount of time that the system will work for you will still be higher but since most companies do not offer an installment plan for this kind of service, you will need a large amount of money for this upfront. Can you imagine how many solar panels it would take (and cost) to shoulder your power needs if you normally have a large bill and want to zero it out with solar power? I don’t even know if it will fit our roof!

PRO: Low Maintenance Cost

According to the companies that I have talked to, there is a low maintenance cost for this type of system. Most companies say their system can work for you for 20 years. Return on Investment (Savings from electricity bills) is much bigger than what their systems would cost since there is not much maintenance involved.

CON: Storage of Energy is Even More Expensive (and Impractical)

One thing I was curious about was power storage. For example, if there is not much sunlight and there is a power outage from Meralco, would there be any way to save energy generated from previous days to be used as a generator of sorts for our home? I learned that there were batteries that could be installed to save electricity for future use. However, these batteries are rather large and have a separate and equally expensive cost compared to the solar energy system to be installed.

PRO: Renewable Energy

The sun is a resource that won’t go away any time soon (I hope) so you are assured of a power source, especially here in our tropical country (Philippines). If you have solar panels and a system to convert that energy to electricity, you’re good to go.

CON: Use Depends on the Weather

Unfortunately, there will be days when you won’t have enough solar power to use, like when there are typhoons and when the weather is particularly gloomy/cloudy. You can’t use the system at night either so good luck with power outages at night (unless you also have the batteries I mentioned installed).

Even with all the disadvantages, I think that the advantages are enough reason to buy solar energy systems, especially here in the Philippines where the electricity prices seem to get higher and higher over the years.

Sadly, I can’t afford to buy a solar energy system now but I wish that I did. Hopefully one day I will.