My Thoughts on the Turning Red movie

Disclaimer: This is based on my biased opinion. Read at your own risks. It might also includes some spoilers.

So we've watched this new Turning Red Movie with Emma. And I just want to share some of my thoughts.

Yes, I'm Asian. I grew up in the Philippines and now here in Calgary. One of the reason I watched this is because the setting is in Toronto. The story is about an Asian- Canadian girl's growing up and pains.

I can say that some parts are really relatable in some extent like having a competitive parents. Yes, Asian parents are stereotyped for being competitive. They pushed their kids to excellence. My mom is like that. And now that I am a mom, I also push Emma to excel. I always instill the principle from the Bible that says "Whatever our hands find to do, do it with all our might."

In the story, when Mei can't control strong emotions, the red panda will be released. It doesn't matter whether it's good or negative emotions, strong emotions drive out the red panda. One thing that caught my attention is when she can't control her anger, the red panda do disastrous things. The same with our life. When we can't control our anger, we do crazy things that are sometimes undoable. 

Mei's friends helped her neutralized her emotions. When she thinks of her friends, she become calm and she will not turn to a Red Panda. It reminds me of good friends. It's good to have friends to really help you in life. As the Bible says "A friend loves at all times." True friend loves at all times, in good and in bad. True friends stick closer than a brother and a sister. But I realized that as I grew older, I get fewer friends. I lose some friends but gain some. But I'm glad to have some few amazing friends who shared my joy, my pain, my strength and my weaknesses. I have some sisters who prays with and for me. These are good friends that are worth keeping.

Some of the issues discussed was putting family first above everything else and being a good daughter to the extend of supressing your happiness. Yes, I believe that families are important and honoring parents bring blessings. But anything too much is not good. And maybe it's still true in some Asian family until now. That's why it's important to talk and communicate. Open communication will help lessen this kind of problem. I'm just grateful for my parents who are not that strict. They are very supportive in what our heart desires. 

Now, let's have a break with serious stuffs. 😉

In the movie, Mei and her friends love the "4 Town Band". I remember me and my sister grew up in a Boy Band phase. And this 4 Town Band reminded me of Backstreet Boys. I used to like their songs but I'm not too fanatic like them. 😜

Although there are good things that I can get from this, I would still give this movie a 2.5/5 score. Since the theme is about the growing pains and joys of a teenager I think this is not very appropriate to children under 10 years. I've watched the trailer before watching this movie, it looks fun and cute in the trailer. But, it doesn't show the not so good stuff in the movie. 

Emma watched this with us and there are some things we have to explain to her. There are scenes that talks about periods, boy crushes and lying to parents. Also, there was a scene when Ming was imagining stuffs with her boy crush. And she draw some "sexy" pictures under the bed. It's mostly for girls undergoing puberty.

I was actually suprised that Pixar and Disney movie produced this kind of film. The feeling of watching this movie is kinda different to other Pixar and Disney movies they've produced all through the years. This movie is something that I would not recommend to anyone. There's a lot of good movies out there that that is better than this.

So, that's my two cents.

Korean Drama review part 4

 This is the part 4 of my Korean drama review. I enjoy giving reviews to these dramas because I love watching them as well. 

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert of Korean Drama. I just reviewed them based on my biased opinion 😜. Also, I've watched these from Viki App. I'm not so sure if they're available in Netflix or in other Korean movie site. 

This is just in chronological order of when I finished watching them. Some of these might include spoilers. 

1. Hyde, Jekyll and Me (2015)
20 episodes

Star: 4/5

I like this story. It is based from a classic book Mr. Jekyll and Hyde. Hyun Bin portrays the role of both Seo Jin and Robin. As opposite to the Jekyll and Hyde personality, Robin the 2nd personality is kind, helpful and charming.

It's funny because it's a love triangle between the 2 personalities and the main character, Ha Na. There is a little bit suspense and thriller in the middle of the story. But overall, it's a good balance of romantic comedy and suspense.

The story ended well. They were able to reconcile the problem in the story. I highly recommend this one. Hyun Bin is really a versatile actor. 👏 I really enjoyed watching him here. 

2. Encounter (2018)

16 episodes
Star: 4/5

The story starred Park Bo Geum, as a young man who fell in love with an older person, a CEO. The CEO Cha Soo Hyun was played by Song Hye Kyo. They first met in Cuba, and they met again in the company where he was newly hired.

Overall, it was a very light love story. It's kinda comedy. There were some struggles but not very stressful to watch. I also love all the music and sound that accompanies the drama. I love the song, Take Me on by Saya, which I recently discovered because of this drama.

I first knew of Park Bo Geum in the series, Reply 1988. He was Taeki in the story, a Go game genius. His role there is very different here so I really appreciate how he's very different in the role he plays.

 

3. Love in the Moonlight (2016)
18 episodes
Star: 5/5

This is another tv drama of Park Bo Geum. I think I'm starting to really appreciate his shows. This is a costume- period drama. I was biased before and thought that I will not enjoy this kind of shows. But, I stand corrected. I enjoyed this romantic-comedy drama.

In this series, he is Crown Prince Lee Young who fell in love with Eunuch Hong Ra On (played by Kim Yoo Jung). The eunuch is actually a woman pretending to be a man.  Park Bo Geum portrays his role very well. The other stories of the drama is very interesting. It's a mixed of political and romantic comedy drama and I truly enjoyed it.

Supporting actors Jin Young who played as Kim Yoon-sung  and Kwak Dong-yeon who played as Kim Byung-yeon (the prince's royal guard) were very good as well. I really appreciate their roles as they give more color and beauty to the drama.

This series won some awards as well. Kim Yoo Jung won as the best new actress in the 5th APAN Star Award in 2016. Park Bo-gum also won an Asia Star award actor in the Asia artist awards in 2016. It won the Best Drama series in the 22nd Asian Television Awards in 2017.

Did I convince you yet? This is something that I would really recommend to watch. 

4. Personal Taste (2010)
16 episodes
Star: 3/5

This is one of the earliest korean drama of Lee Min Ho and So Ye Jin. The story is about an architect who pretended to be gay and a girl who live together. But soon, they both feel warm towards each other. I only gave 3/5 as I don't really enjoy the theme of the story. Also, while I was watching I keep thinking to myself that how did they make Lee Min Ho and So Ye Jin play that kind of role. It's romantic comedy and there are funny scenes in the story. It's just light and if you want to watch a stress free show, you can definitely watch this.

It's just not very appealing to my personal taste 😜

5. My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)
16 episodes
Star: 4/5
(This is available in Netflix as well)

I just watched this because I'm just curious of the story. This is about a girl, Kang Mi-rae (portrayed by Im Soo Hyang) who was bullied because of her looks. So, she undergoed to cosmetic surgery to be beautiful. The story started as the girl being a new student in the university. She met in the same department her classmate/schoolmate whom she thought made fun of her back in highschool. But he wasn't really making fun of her. Well, he didn't recognized her because of the changes in her looks but he remember her name and some things about her.

I just found out that "Gangnam Beauty" is an offensive word which means that an attractive person who undergoes to plastic surgery to become beautiful. And she was called by people that name.

This story is just a light story. It's kinda cute as well. One reason maybe because the main lead man, Cha, Eun- woo, is handsome and they look good together. It's actually my first time to watch them. I don't even know both artists before I watched this.

Also, this tv show helps me reminisce college years, so maybe that's another thing why this show is close to my heart.

 

Which of the following are you going to watch?

My thoughts on the Ukraine- Russian conflict

 I am no expert on politics or even in history. I don't know much about the issues between Ukraine and Russia. But one thing I know is true-that in war there is no winner.

It's been more than a week since I've heard of the news that Russia attacked Ukraine. I've seen a lot of media coverage about this. It's all over social media as well.

I'm not watching much news lately because of all the conflicts, stresses and bad news happening around the world. But me not watching the news, doesn't mean that I don't care about these things.
Actually since last week, I've been shedding tears for the people of Ukraine. I know some of them fled the country. I know some families were broken because they send their kids and their wives outside of the country. I know a lot has died already because of the missels and bombs. I know some were hiding in their bomb shelters where it's not even comfortable to stay for a night.

I cried for some kids who need to be separated from their parents. Those poor children that needs to be send out to a safer place. I cried for those civilians who need to take weapons to defend themselves.

Now how should we respond to this crisis?There are some ways:
1. Go there and help them fight. I know some armies from their allies are going there to fight.
2. Volunteer your time to do some ground work there. The Samaritan's Purse will be building its Emergency Field Hospital there. If you are able to help, go and help.

3. We can also donate financially:
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/ukraine-response/

4. Support local business that is doing fund raising drive to support the crisis in Ukraine.

5. Ofcourse, the last but not the least, We should pray for the Ukraine and Russian conflict.

Here are some of the prayer points that we can pray.
    A. Let's pray for peace to rule in the land and for wars to cease
   B. Let's pray for God's divine protection to the people of Ukraine and continue to do some miracles.
I've read some news about some miracles happening there. Let's pray for small and big miracles to continue to happen. God is a God of possibilities.

C. Let's pray for the children, for the weak and the heartbroken. That God will comfort them and they will know that God's presence is with them.

D. Let's pray for the dying. That those dying people will know Jesus even at their last breathe and be saved.

E. Let's pray for President Zelensky and his family. Pray for God's protection over them. Pray for God's wisdom and direction as He leads his country.

F. Let's pray for those in the bomb shelter to be safe and not to get sick. Pray for comfort for them. Pray for provision as well.

There are so many things to pray about that this page will not be enough.
So, let's pray. Let's pray without ceasing. 🙏

My heart breaks for them. Let us not just be a spectator. Do something! In this time and year, we should not just watch a bully fight a weak person. It's not right. Let us do something right. 

Only one thing that just comforts me with this situation is that God is not blind. God sees all of these. He is in control of everything. He is the right judge who rule the earth. I just pray that God will vindicate the Ukraines against the ungodly nation and the unjust man. (Psalm 43:1).