Tara’s Thoughts On: Extraordinary Attorney Woo

Thoroughly enjoyed this drama through its light and tender moments to the ones that made me hold my breath because oh-my-god-I-cannot-believe-this-is-happening-right-now. I don’t have the authority to speak on the autism representation in this drama, but I will say I appreciate that there were more people in Woo Youngwoo’s circle who were supportive and understanding of her situation. This is in comparison to the KDrama Good Doctor (2013), which featured the trials and triumphs of an autistic pediatrician new to the medical field. I had rewatched Good Doctor while waiting for the new Extraordinary Attorney Woo episodes to drop, and it meant so much to me that Youngwoo wasn’t surrounded by too many people whose first instinct is to yell at her for being different. This is not to say we didn’t meet characters like this, but compared to Good Doctor’s Park Sion, Youngwoo had better people on her side.

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Free on Wattpad: Gabriel’s Checklist

Gabriel’s Checklist (or, How to Survive Your First Christmas in Manila) is a short and sweet story featuring Fi and Gabe of the Backstage Pass Series. This story first appeared as part of the #romanceclass Christmas anthology Make My Wish Come True and was eventually added to the Scandalized re-release in 2018.

In this story, Gabriel returns to the Philippines to spend Christmas with Fi…and hopefully get her to agree to become his girlfriend. Will Christmas be merry and bright for Gabriel, or will he return to Seoul brokenhearted?

Read it for FREE on Wattpad.

Tags: christmas in manila, simbang gabi, holding hands sa ama namin, karaoke with friends, learning tagalog

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Free on Wattpad: Scandalized

Tags: kpop scandal, me vs. the fangirls, tour shenanigans, found family
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Laban lang, kapit lang.

It’s been another long while since I last updated this blog/website. Honestly, I really thought I’d be able to keep updating regularly this year, but after the 9th of May, everything just seemed so bleak for me and I barely had the energy to do anything. (And I know I’m not the only one, nor am I being dramatic.)

It’s the 21st of August now as I write this. Any Filipino who has lived as long as I have will know that on this day in 1983, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was assassinated as soon as he landed at the Manila International Airport (now called Ninoy Aquino International Airport, but I don’t know for how long). Any Filipino who has been in the workforce here in the Philippines would also be aware of this, because it’s been declared a special non-working holiday since 2004. Again, I’m not sure how long this will be in effect, considering the intentions of the current administration.

I guess it’s not a coincidence that I felt like posting something here today, or that I remembered what day it is. (Honestly, the days blur into each other so unceremoniously nowadays, it’s difficult to keep track.) Recalling the things Ninoy Aquino stood for in our history made me look back at the things I’ve done in the past few months, and if I’ve even done enough. The answer, clearly, is no. And no, I’m not just talking about marching down the streets and demanding good governance and justice. I’m talking about having the strength every day to work toward a goal and pushing through with it despite the odds.

Now, I’m not trying to preach here. And I’m not saying I already have that kind of strength. Because honestly? It’s kind of crippling just watching things unfold. But I’m also beginning to get tired of this feeling of dread and helplessness, and I know that if I don’t do anything about it, I will be stuck in this dark, depressing state for a long time. So here’s what I’m going to try to do:

I’m going to be grateful every day for the small things. Like the perfect cup of coffee, the shiny little object I bought from Shopee, or that feeling of kilig from that one KDrama I’m watching.

I’m going to start reading again. And writing again. And getting my ass out of the couch to exercise again.

I’m going to cherish the things that make me happy and let go of the things that don’t.

I’m going to revisit my goals for the year and start working my way toward them.

And finally…

I’m going to remain kind to myself if I don’t meet my goals in the amount of time I usually do.

Seem easy? I can only wish. I’ll try my best, so wish me luck! And if you’re working your way through a list like mine, I’m wishing you the best of luck too. We can do this, okay? The people and things we love are worth fighting for, so let’s do this. Laban lang. Kapit lang.

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#KiligCafe Chats: Book & Coffee Talk with Brij, Chi, and Jay

Last Saturday, Brij, Chi, Jay, and I did a livestream together on the #romanceclass channel. If you’ve been following our activities since the pandemic started, you’d know that we started doing livestreams like this to be able to still get together as a community despite being in community quarantine. We did that for two years, and it was just a refreshing, chaotic experience to be in the room with three other people during this stream!

Our theme for the night was brewing coffee is pretty much like brewing book ideas, and we had a lot of fun chatting about our experiences doing research for the books we wrote, how we handle manuscripts when the ideas are “underextracted” or “overextracted,” and of course, making and tasting coffee!

Watch the stream below:

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