Heh I know I'm two years late with this post, but better late than never! 😊

And so the story of my visit to Gyeongbok Palace begins here. It was not my first time to go here actually, although the experience this time around is a bit more interesting because I am wearing a hanbok, South Korea's traditional costume, c/o Oneday Hanbok. 💓

I think this photo above deserves to be photo-framed and be hanged in my room. 😍

Honestly, I think I was the only one enjoying at this point.😅 Thanks to my thesismates Rey and Mel for supporting my photoshoot around the palace. 😀 Of course it's also a cultural experience to them I bet. Rey also had his own photoshoot but I won't post them here cause this is my blog. Haha.

After strolling around (we could really feel the cold Autumn breeze), we walked further around and just did some more sight-seeing with the other structures around, which was really cool.

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, The 1975's third album, just got released this midnight. At the strike of 12AM November 30, I refreshed my Spotify app to see the new white square album cover art added on the band's page. As I listened to each of the tracks (with closed eyes and my hands gently tugging my heart), I knew I needed to do another track-by-track review of the album, just like what I did for ILIWYSFYASBYSUOI. However when Track 15, entitled I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes), played and the first 20 seconds kicked in, I knew I just hit something. As the song ended, I knew this deserves its own post.


When I heard the intro, I felt my heartbeat skip. I always cherish that first time of hearing a song because it's so precious. It will only happen once. That amazing moment applied for this song. It's like falling in love at first hear (😦?). Upon second listen, I looked up the lyrics on Genius, and I felt even more mesmerized. Mad respect for the band.

I admit I myself has flirted with the idea. The feelings were stronger at some of those periods, but I guess I have learned to tame the emotions brought by my own brain's illusions. "But your death it won't happen to you. It happens to your family and your friends." Since that theme has always been with me for years, I've learned to befriend and manage it. I even gave our relationship a theme song. Having that song as the central message of what I felt didn't really give a positive outlook about things. Although it felt cathartic sometimes, I knew it was not right.

Well I have to say this song has owned me the second I played it. I knew the time has come to change perspective. In this song, Matty Healy, the band's frontman, acknowledges the presence of darkness. He has always been open with his struggles with his inner demons, and has been fighting them ever since he went to rehab late last year. Through this song, it's like he is saying that he has accepted this as a fact of life, but still sees that gleam of hope in the horizon. And that, that is the kind of outlook I want to have, and this song embodies just that.  It's wonderful that it's placed as the last song of the album. This is the message that the band wants to leave to their fans.

If you can't survive; just try
The effect of this song among the fans has been massive (although it's just been hours). Reading this reddit post brought me ugly tears while appreciating the message of this song even more.

This is another wonderful craft from the band. Thank you. 


~o~


All I can say is this band has stemmed its roots deep into my life. I'll forever be grateful for the courage I had to take that leap of faith to see them on my own in a concert back in 2015 (which started my lone concert adventures). Hopefully I get to hear this song performed live. 💓

This month, two films about two great bands were shown in local cinemas. Since I am a fan of both of them, I immediately booked tickets as soon as they were available. After watching the movies, these bands earned more respect from me and my adoration for them just grew even deeper.


The movie depicted just how this band started, the legendary Queen, and how the inspirations came about that led to their creation of their popular songs, most notably Bohemian Rhapsody and Love of My Life, for me at least. The film follows their adventure from their first performance in a bar to their legendary performance on the Live Aid stage.

I became a fan ever since I got to watch their Montreal concert DVD. I even felt sad upon realization that I won't really be able to see them perform live. I have also seen the Live Aid footage on Youtube several times after as I have read that this is the ultimate Queen experience. Their 20-minute set was one of the best live performances of their hit songs Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Gaga among others. It has never failed to give me goosebumps and (that oh so familiar) concert eargasm. I just love Freddie Mercury's voice and stage presence. In the movie, they used the original audio from the Live Aid footage. It was noticeable though that the film skipped their performance of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and the obvious reason for me is due to the technical difficulties that happened during the song (which was really a bummer as it could have been a flawless performance but yeah I guess that imperfection even made it more appealing).

I also found it amusing to see the CGI used to recreate that massive crowd of Live Aid audience in the film. If you see the actual footage, you'll realize that yup that number of people were in the audience (around 70,000 in attendance). The crowd was ecstatic during Queen's performance, everyone clapping their hands during Radio Gaga, and We Will Rock You. Freddie's signature stage moves were very lovely to watch. It was indeed amusing that the film did it's best to be loyal to the Live Aid setup - from the band's outfit to the crew on the stage, to that green scotch tape on the mic + the drinks on the piano (hey Pepsi you just got free advert for that), to the people on the crowd (saw that black U2 banner!). Aside from this being a historical milestone for the band, their performance was even more worthwhile because this monumental event is all for a great cause - Live Aid's main goal was to raise funds for famine relief in Africa, and boy did they overachieve this as thousands of people sent their donations during the live telecast of the concert.

Although it's already a given that some events on the film were altered for cinematic purposes, it showed the band's adventure as they went for their destined fame, and also to Freddie's personal life, showing us the struggles that he had to endure throughout his life - the music, friendship, love, identity, and even his own mortality.


Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams
"A HEAD FULL OF DREAMS offers an in-depth and intimate portrait of the band's spectacular rise from the backrooms of Camden pubs to selling out stadiums across the planet." - IMDb


It's official: Coldplay's Head Full of Dreams concert is my life's greatest concert regret. I knew it the instant I saw the footages from this film. My heart ached as I saw what I missed that night. 😢 I knew that seeing this film is my way of rectifying that mistake, and well somehow my Coldplay heart became happy and satisfied all the same.

With videos spanning from way back 20 years ago, this documentary film showed how the band started. Even before they thought of naming their band "Coldplay" (of which they shamelessly stated they stole from another band that didn't want it anymore), those timeless moments have been captured and collated for this film. We see how they found their drummer. We see how Chris Martin formulated their hit The Scientist during that one time he was alone in the studio while the rest of his members were in vacation. We see how they built their songs in the early stages, how one cool guitar riff bore a full pledged song. I just love this one footage of Chris Martin telling the camera to mark this date as he says this words with uttermost conviction: "Coldplay will be the biggest band in the world, you will see." And damn yes, he was a self-fulfilling prophet. Just look where they are now.

Heavy with the band members' commentaries, this movie unfolded the notable events along Coldplay's 20-year journey in the industry. It's only here that I learned that they've been through a lot. They've been abandoned by the manager and the drummer along the way, and after sometime found their way back. It's humbling to see that their current line up is the original since day one. With that, you can just feel the bond they have created which was made stronger by life's ups and downs.

"Is there a keyboard somewhere?" We hear Chris Martin ask this during one of their jamming sessions. I will always be at awe at how musicians work. They are real-life magicians crafting these wonderful melodies that speak the language of the human soul. And can we just talk about Chris' voice! Man those vocals! His voice has always been the same since the start: deep and full of soul. He sings songs so emotional that it gives you certain feelings you never knew existed inside of you before. I learned from the film that the Ghost Stories album came to be post-Gwenth-Paltrow-breakup and there I understood why the songs sounded that way. Chris was broken inside. Even their members felt this, and they were all so protective of him during this delicate time of his life. Quite the opposite of the mood of his songs in this album, he has this personality of a bubble of energy off stage, grinning and doing dorky stuff in front of the camera. The film showed some footages of the band when they were here in Manila last year for the Head Full of Dreams concert leg in the country. We see them walking around Intramuros haggling with locals for souvenir hats, and also Chris biking around MOA arena (with fans realizing who he was began screaming his name as he past by) hours before the concert began.

I was happy I didn't leave the theater right away, because there was a comprehensive post-credits scene with Mat Whitecross talking about his experience filming the members since the beginning. After seeing the film, I can't help but feel that this is some culminating process for their career. They've been in the industry for two decades and maybe they feel it's time to retire and call it a day? I don't know. I hope they won't, that they would still create music until the day they die (LOL not to be interpreted literally). Can I promise myself I'll see them if there's a chance they'd come back to the country to perform? I don't know. When I missed their concert here, I knew in my heart that that concert was not meant for me. It was not for me, and I'll just have to accept that fact. But oh well who knows. Maybe by some stir of luck, I can see them perform live, even if just for one song.

~o~

I super enjoyed watching these two films using my VIP membership at SM Cinema. If you want to have a free refill of popcorn and drinks and earn cinema points, and also have a complimentary movie pass on your birthday month, download the SM Cinema app and become a VIP member! Aside from booking your movie tickets at the ease of your fingertips, you also get those cool perks!
By they way, this is not a sponsored post. I'm just a happy customer sharing this nice news to others! For more info, visit the SM Cinema site.

It's Friday night 9PM (well at least when I started writing this), The 1975 songs blasting inside my room. Ahhh, I am in my happy place right now. It's been 2 months since I last did a life log and how the energies have been reversed.

Inserting a photo I took at Nami Island, South Korea... cause why not? 😅

Just minutes ago, I pressed the send button of an email, addressed to that therapist I talked to some time last year. As I did so, I couldn't help but tear up a bit, because that person truly saved me during that time. I was in my lowest - a lot of changes were happening, a lot of adapting and learning of things on my own. I was scared and I was alone (initially), but good thing I realized I actually have close friends to help me get through everything.

It's been a long while since I went out of town to do some unwinding and just travel and expose myself more to nature, but as you can see on my travel logs, I didn't have anything planned for this year (which was kind of a bummer, I really have to roll my luggages on 2019 New Year's Day) so I am left with reminiscing the great great times I had travelling with my friends and colleagues.


My travel to Sagada is one memorable feat, as it was my first time to bring along my sister to my colleagues' regular nature getaways (yep it was during the time when we were still best friends). Oh what changes a year (or more) can have with people: relationships broken, forbidden love blossomed, and friendships rekindled. When I look back at these photos, I couldn't help but feel that I have been a different person back then. The lady I see on these photos was unaware that certain darkness and challenges would come her way, within her family and among her friends.

I just love this picture above. Although my face is in the shadows, the scenery behind me is such breathtaking. I want to look back to this photo when I'm old and fragile, and just proudly tell myself that I did a great job because I was able to experience being in the mountains and seeing the beauty of the sunrise (my second mountain top sunrise that is!)

I don't know when and where I'll have this kind of adventure again, but I am forever grateful I was able to have these memories in me -- of the forests that I trekked, of the wonderful scenery I was able see from the peak of the mountains. I guess my ever-cracking knee will always be a reminder of the great great adventures I got to experience in life.😄

Here continues my adventures as I delve again into the enchanting world of Harry Potter. In this book, I read again on the festive Quidditch World Cup, on Harry's happiness now that he has Sirius Black in his life, and how Harry did everything he could to get through the Triwizard tasks.

This is hands down one of those concerts that would stand out forever in my memory because of a lot of factors. This might also be the concert that will cap off my live concerts adventure (or will it?)


I know I have been to a lot of concerts already, but this is one of those concerts that I wished and prayed and hoped to happen. I am very well aware that The Royal Concept is not really that popular, but contradictory to that, this band is the closest one to my heart. This is the band that sang the songs that have become the anthems of life. Shut The World has become the song that gave me comfort during the darkest times of my life. Although I am now in a better mental state (compared to before heh), this song still has a very special place in my heart.

I think I first encountered them through Spotify (as always!). I noticed their music because they sounded remarkably similar with Phoenix. When I became obsessed with them, they were still not actively touring - they even had no new material released yet. So seeing them live any sooner was close to zero percent, but well I still included them to my concerts bucket list.

So for months I have been stalking the band's Facebook page, holding on to that possibility that they'd tour and stop by Manila again (they went here during Wanderland 2014). So just imagine the (mini) heart attack that I felt when I saw the announcement that The Royal Concept is finally coming to Manila! When the ticket selling began, it's already a given that I was first in line, even availing their early bird promo. Wohoo! 😄 I'm just glad that I'm already used to going to concerts on my own so I didn't need to think twice on buying the tickets or pause to worry about who I could come to the event with. This time, the band played for Karpos Live's concert series. Together with local band Urbandub, they played for a one-night show at ABS-CBN Vertis Tent in Quezon City.

I just proved to myself how much I liked this band, because I overcame these "walls" during the concert:

• unfamiliar bands playing that same night (well now I know them!)
• unfamiliar venue (first time to go to Vertis Tent, and hey it's located far north!)
• unique event schedule (it's on a Sunday freaking night!!!)

On concert day, I arrived just on schedule to catch the start of the show (yup, lesson learned from the latest concert I went to 😅). I passed by Trinoma to get to the event venue. It's actually been a while since I've been to this mall. Good thing I was able to locate the Vertis Tent without much hassle (although I did make a few wrong turns along the way). When I got there, all the people were inside already, and Over October (the opening act) was already playing on stage.


I was mildly surprised by the complimentary beer, but well why not right? It's my first time to experience drinking while seeing a concert so it was really a unique experience. And now I love it. How come there weren't any booze in the other concerts I've been to? Apparently I've been doing it wrong all along!

The Royal Concept finally went on stage, though I must say their timing was anticlimactic (for me at least). At that point that night the effect of alcohol has left my system. I knew in my heart I would've enjoyed the show more if I wasn't sober (yeah yeah judge me all you want 😅 but if you read the lyrics of their songs you'll understand... hopefully). I'm surprised to learn that In The End is David Larson's (the band's vocalist) favorite song to perform live. Though I think this sentiment stems from being able to sing this song to a crowd of fellow breathing human souls.

My favorite live performance of that night was of On Our Way. I was one with the music especially along the lines 'hold me close, we're losing time... hold me close, we're falling to the ground.' 🎶🎵That song was already good enough for me to have it as their last song for the night. Just before they started their encore, I started walking towards the exit with such a beaming and bright heart. I had to leave early because 1) it's getting late, and I need to get up early the next day 2) I need to book a Grab before everyone else, or suffer the consequences and be stranded in the middle of the night.

I've been drafting this post for weeks, but couldn't seem to find the perfect timing to really sit down and get this over with, well until now. It's a Friday night, and I'm here at home typing away at my room. It's strange how this setup feels perfect for me, when before being alone for the weekend made me feel miserable (I should be attending a girls night out or something). Anyways I think it just shows that I'm becoming an old soul and the comforts of my bed is the best place to be as prep for the weekend.

• Really, be careful what you wish for. I've been preparing myself for something, and yup it finally happened. Although I can say I have been successful in preparing myself, I more hoped it didn't have to happen in the first place.
• The more time that passes by, the more I realize I'm finding it difficult to forgive. But then again, there's nothing to forgive actually. I just didn't want any of it anymore. I'll have more peace of mind this way. I've been enjoying my own company and with that, it's been enough.
• My vision is getting blurrier and it scares me. I've been wearing glasses for months now, and I noticed I've becoming more dependent to it than ever. At first I meant to use it during work hours when I'm in front of the PC, but recently I've been wearing it even outside the office, there are signs that I found difficult to read, even those just beyond arm's length. 😓 I'm just going to put it here --- for those who know me in real life, if you get to read this, can you offer me a hug? Just mention bear hug, and I'll know it. I can do with one, to make me feel better.
• I mentioned before how I was so into the Black Mirror series. Remember the Playtest episode? It was one of the episodes that really disturbed me. I just remembered it because for the past weeks I had difficulty sleeping, and to resolve that I would open my podcast app and play an episode as I fall asleep. Hearing people talking comforts me at night, making me feel like I have company. I know this is just an illusion, and it creepily reminded me of the lines that Katie was telling Cooper over the phone on the start of the game when they were in the mansion.
• I had a haircut in a whim, and it was my first time to do it. I don't know, I was feeling down on my way home from work and during my travel I thought of cutting my hair short. It was kind of exhilarating to do it actually.
• I'm managing work load way better now, thanks to some trainings I took at Lynda. You know, it really helps when you are busy -- your mind is moved away from thinking too much, and you actually accomplish something, which makes you feel even better!
• I'm happy to discover that I still had that childlike wonder on playing the piano. Just last week, I jolted with excitement when I saw an old piano in an events place where we were spending the afternoon. I couldn't help myself. As soon as I unloaded my bag, I approached this beautiful instrument and just clumsily pounded random keys. I was hesitant to do some playing (cause I knew some folks who were there who play very well and I didn't want to be judged) but of still I couldn't hold back so I played some pieces that I knew by heart. Good thing the place was a bit noisy because of all the socializing that was happening here and there. Someone approached me and he said he was surprised that I knew how to play, of which I panicked because uh I can't really play that well and he might have had some high expectations. But all in all it was a really fantastic experience. I got to hear other folks play their stuff (and of course they were so amazing I felt intimidated approaching the instrument again afterwards). This experience made me more motivated to practice regularly moving forward so I can confidently play something outside the comforts of my room. 😅
• Related to that socials event, I got to meet our original boss back in the day. Up to this day I am so amazed on how down-to-earth and cool this person is, and also I am very lucky to have someone like him of which I look up as a mentor. Our team has learned a lot from him, and are still learning, so it's such a huge thing that he's still here in the organization and we could actually depend on him for guidance and stuff. He now holds a very influential position in the company and we are all proud of him for reaching that milestone in his career.
• It's been some time since I heard a song that stopped me off my tracks, and yes this song below did it for me. It randomly played over Spotify, and wow I had goosebumps hearing Lana Del Rey sing this classic Broadway piece. I have always liked her voice, but now I'm in love.

• I'm currently re-reading the Harry Potter series (I'm now at book 5), and I'm so engrossed again with this series. And randomly I found this really witty HP comics on Tumblr. Below is by far my favorite sketch:

• I've been focusing on the well-being of my parents (hey they're not getting younger anymore!). Although it feels fulfilling that they get to depend on me, there were some scenarios that happened that made me realize that they can do things on their own, that they're independent and don't really need much of my help... which just leaves me feeling a bit worthless. Anyway I really don't know, it might just be hormones but my emotions are just all over the place for the past weeks (or months).
• I had to say goodbye to a lot of people -- some migrating to other countries, some leaving to another team. 💔
• I got really sad (been crying) when I learned that Spudgy passed away. I never got to meet him in real life, but I always loved that dog. Spudgy is Simon's and Martina's dog. They are a couple on Youtube that I religiously follow since I can't remember when anymore. I super love this couple (even went to their cafe when I was in Korea) and so learning that they had to put down Spudgy affected me very much. I'll miss him for sure.

viva la spudgy. (📷: eatyourkimchi)

Writing these all out made me feel a bit better, but I guess I'll grab some wine before midnight. Happy weekend all!

I knew deep down that it's a win-win situation for me if I go and show up to the event, so even though I thought of changing my mind a hundred times, I still pushed through with attending. I'd say right now that no, I didn't get a match. There were interesting guys there, no doubt about that, but there was noone interesting enough that made me feel curious to know them more. There were some that stood out of course, aside from the lookers actually, like this one guy who is currently a full time student with 2 side jobs. He's working hard now because he plans to retire at the age of 27. 😮 Now that's some goal there (but thinking about that statement now, so how will he support his future family if he doesn't have a job?). He seems to be a rich kid, so I guess that's possible for him. With another one, he said he works in Finance, and since it was the end of month the previous day, he had to work for long extended hours, and confessed that he hasn't slept yet and has been awake for more than 24 hours. I told him good thing he was still able to attend the event, of which he replied that he'd still go no matter what. These are the kinds of events that shouldn't be missed. Work shouldn't interfere with once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Then the conversation got more serious with talking about work-life balance and knowing what to prioritize to make experiencing this life worthwhile. That was honestly a very nice sentiment that went straight to my soul coz I'm guilty as f*ck for dedicating my body to my day work. On another hand, I realized that I can get turned off by the simplest things, like not knowing how to correctly spell the word 'robbers' (like dude are you high on something?) I also realized I would never approach someone that I think I would like - I'll just let people who like me come to me.

There was some kind of relationship coaching also during the event, and I learned the 5 languages of love (Affirmation, Touch, Time, Gifts, Service) and the fact that my giving language is Service and my receiving language is Time.

Overall, even though I can say that the event was a blast, I can't help but see some major flaws with how the event went:

1) Based on what I have observed, there was no profile-matching done (contradicting to how the organizers marketed the event, because they even made us submit our answers to a list of personality questions beforehand). Couples were chosen by draw lots. Although all the guys that I was able to talk to were nice (in fairness our conversations were not awkward and there were no tensed pauses), I wasn't able to talk to someone whom I share the same background or interests. I don't know if that was the organizers' intent or what.

2) There were more ladies than men, so it did happen that some of the ladies didn't get to have a partner. I think their work-around was to have some "spare guys" around (I'm not entirely sure though, so don't quote me on this) because they had the guy doing videos and stuff at the venue, and also the host's friend, to join the crowd, when they realized that there were people left out.

3) The organizers allowed the male participants to reject the ladies face-to-face. OMG It was the most nerve-wracking moment, like real torture. I believe also that some of the matches made were one-sided. I hoped they just allowed both parties to choose who they liked discreetly by submitting this info to them, and those who gave mutual remarks would be notified a few days after the event (just like how it went with my friend's), together with the matchee's contact number. So it will be up to them if they want to contact their matched partner again. I saw that there were a lot of first-timers in the crowd there, so I hope they didn't get emotionally traumatized (like I did 😅).


That went to a rant real fast.😂But honestly it was a very interesting experience. It went not as bad as I thought it would. I was even surprised myself that I was not feeling nervous, but at the contrary just  nonchalant throughout the event (except from that one excruciating part). But well, all is good. Thank you Universe for letting me experience this kind of stuff. I felt like I've gained 100 Life points now. 😉