quick notes on february & march
first quarter storms, and all that jazz
Hey friends, how are you! Long time, no write. I swear to god, I have to get a handle on my record-keeping at some point! It’s been a messy ride so far, and the weekends are way too short to get any living AND writing done, so. So yeah. I’m glad you’re here, though! Thank you for always coming. Let’s catch up. -K
Okay, so February doesn’t usually feel so long because it’s literally the shortest month, but on a personal front it was an Entire Struggle getting from the start of February to its last day.
Like pulling teeth, as the saying would go: Friends got sick, had surgery or were told they would need one, lost their dads plural, got into road accidents, got hospitalized—you name it, it must have happened to our team at work.
But yeah, the theme of the quarter has been change—about letting in new things and letting go of old. At the start of the year, we began a leadership transition and welcomed new bosses and teammates. It’s been an interesting few weeks—a lot of learning, a lot of adjustments, but in all I call this a good stretch. I like being challenged and I’m enjoying it so far, moving parts notwithstanding. We soldier on and hold the fort, etc.
IN ANY CASE—it wasn’t an entirely joy-less quarter—we celebrated our Dad’s 80th (!!!) and we updated our family photo after x years haha (we even have a makulit version with partners hehe) then we threw a party for him and we invited his friends. It was nice.
February in music & art
We finally caught The Corrs LIVE in Manila!!!!! For me, the concert has been decades in the making. I first discovered The Corrs as a high schooler and my god there are idols who are younger than my devotion to The Corrs HAHA1.
They opened with Only When I Sleep and oh wow, it’s like I’m back in my old room listening to old bootlegged tapes recorded straight off the radio!! Or with my discman, playing an old burned CD. Andrea’s energy onstage is still unmatched after all these years (girlie’s got 10 years on me so she’s what, 50??? WRONG SHE IS AGELESS), Caroline’s still got the beat, Sharon the grace, and Jim—well. Jim is still Jim hahaha parang di rin tumanda si Kuya???
They played all the crowd favorites! It’s hard to choose just one stage—I think Runaway is an expected favorite2 , but the energy during So Young is so infectious! I’ve always dreamed to be a part of this sing-along crowd, and I’m happy I finally got to be in it!
We also caught Day6 live! They’re so good live, first song pa lang naluluha na kami haha. Hearing Congratulations live was a TRULY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, I’m telling you. Young K is so charming, Sungjin just SOUNDS LIKE THAT LIVE SO CASUALLY… HOWTF?? Dowoon is so cute I wish I had him in more of my clips but our restricted view seats :(( And of course, Wonpil being Wonpil—weepy as hell, he is just like me. We are one.
We also managed to catch the tailend of Art in the Park—which was moved from The Link in previous years to Ayala Triangle this year. I think it was also bigger this year? Anyway, we went on the last day in the afternoon toward evening, and saw so many good art! It was well-attended, too, which is a good thing.
P.S. At the cinemas, we caught Ex Ex Lovers, a charming Jolina-Marvin starrer, ahead of Valentine’s Day. Simple and straightforward, unabashedly nostalgic, but with a surprisingly progressive and complex message. I liked it!
March in media, etc
We caught Dahyun’s actress debut in You Are The Apple of My Eye (2025) at the cinemas! Watched this in Power Plant with about a dozen other viewers. We’re so proud of her pls?? She did really well, and we really enjoyed the movie.
We’ve also been checking in with our series from time to time… who knew we’d be into SOLO LEVELING?? We’ve just finished all 25 episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 and are rightfully worried that Season 3 doesn’t seem to be in the horizon just yet??
We have also managed to finish SHOGUN??? We stopped after bingeing, like, six straight eps and it took us a handful of months to get through the last few ones—oh wow, what an intense ride though??
Also: Adolescence (2025)!!!! So so good—the single take, the acting, everything. Terrifying and compelling and all too real. A must-watch, especially for households with teenagers. Really damn good way to spend about 4 hours of any evening.
Anyway, TWICE has released official videos of stages from their Nissan Stadium stop (hands down the best RTB Stop in the entire tour) and it’s really funny how I don’t remember bits of these videos because the actual concert is like a different show entirely in person??? Does this make sense???
Music-wise, it’s been a REALLY GOOD MONTH, too. There’s Yeji, there’s Lisa AND Jennie, there’s Hobi and NMIXX and Le sserafim. But if I may recommend just one track, let it be from Olivia Dean3.
ANYWAY. This has been long and haphazard and all over the place, but I got through to the end of it, and that’s what matters haha.
Thanks for indulging, and hoping to see you back here sooner rather than later.
XO,
K.
I think I first heard Don’t Say You Love Me in 1998??? That makes (99-liners) Chaeyoung and Tzuyu younger than that…
They couldn’t even get a word in at first because the Manila crowd is one hell of a sing-along crowd haha—as always, and as it should be!
What a title, amirite.