K-BBQ, K-Pop, K-Drama — the South Korean buzz has achieved a global-scale phenomenon. I was never entirely sold on K-Drama for so long as some scenes in certain shows felt too… “superficial” for me. Don’t worry, that statement has been long thrown outside the window after I stumbled upon Shin Won-ho’s Reply 1988. Every episode is an emotionally-charged life lesson.

It is vibrant, nostalgic, youthful, and everything you can ever miss in life.

A quote from episode 19 of the series goes, “Chrysanthemum has its seasons, and the beauty of a flower will not last ten days.” That short line…

Every part of our reality is an incentive of chance. As I glance through my desk, I see fruits and flowers — both designs of biological happenstance. A Scottish poet immortalized roses as the symbol of romance as he likened its color to a powerful, passionate love. Just imagine the peculiarity of contemporary Valentine’s Day if the winds blew to a direction where roses were unable to pollinate or mutate the way they did. A single alteration to its cell make-up can not only change its appearance, but also the way we look at flowers and even love.

I often…

I wonder
what flowers think
of Valentine’s Day
Do they yearn for the season
they get human validation
Or do they wish
they could talk
against the cruelty, I suppose
shame,
they are fooled to think
they are loved and adored
just to be cut
right off their roots
and served as an offer
to the ones
we are truly fond of

Flowers are gorgeous
but dead, they are, too
you can keep them preserved
but can’t human corpse, too?
Yes, eternally beautiful
yet eternally dead, too

I wonder what flowers think of Valentine’s Day Do they scrutinize their purpose…

It took my room a few tidying up until I realized that the rules of minimalism just aren’t for me. With that, I decided to come up with my own decluttering process — one that is pressure-less and most definitely realistic.

I am a firm believer that decluttering need not be extraneous and overwhelming. It can be a therapeutic activity that allows us to be in touch of ourselves and our surroundings. It can say a lot about what we value, who we are or perhaps, who we once were.

As my advanced New Year’s resolution, I decided to declutter…

I recently saw a Facebook post that claims disasters in the Philippines as a result of people’s nearsightedness. The majority of the population indeed put magnified importance on survival over long term plans. However, the vastly flawed and deeply-rooted issue extends way beyond a myopic generalization.

Typhoon Rolly (Goni) recently caused vast devastation and destruction in Bicol, leaving at least 20 people dead. A few days later, typhoon Ulysses (Vamco) makes landfall in the same Region and leaves some 170,000 dislodged, one dead, while three are still missing. It wiped the main island of Luzon to destruction earlier this week…

Christmastime is arguably the season of goodwill, togetherness, and gleeful traditions. Mirthful laughter and colorful lights surround the streets, as people welcome the last hurrah on an eventful chapter of their lives. Every good thing that comes throughout the year builds up to this very moment.

Christmas is also the celebration of happiness, abundance, and togetherness — much of what most of us, unfortunately, can’t necessarily have at present.

My first Apple gadget was an iPod touch. I carried it with me everywhere, you’d easily assume I knew it perfectly well. Yet, if you told my 12-year-old self that the gadget she adored so much was made by an overworked, underpaid Chinese slave who would rather die; she’d probably just walk away and put her earphones back on.

Times change, and almost gone are the days when consumers are completely passive of what brands they consumed. The internet now provides them with extensive resources that can aid them to practice their autonomy. I will endlessly admire the Gen Z…

Most university students would see recollection and retreat courses as no more than just another requirement to graduate. Personally, they were six units of my college life that I just wanted to get over with, so I didn’t necessarily have my hopes up on the impact scale. That was until our retreat lecturer raised a question that forever changed the way I look at life.

In my CSR class, we recently discussed frameworks that highly influence people’s ethical decision-making: the Consequentialist Framework; the Virtue Framework; and the Duty Framework. These ethical frameworks identify three kinds of people in the world…