"No Need To Hurry. No Need To Sparkle. No Need To Be Anybody But Oneself." - Virginia Woolf

~ When the Camellia Blooms ~

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Images: Netflix | Doodle App

“Real time is slower than social-media time, where everything feels urgent. Real time often includes periods of silence, reflection, growth, space, self-forgiveness, processing with loved ones, rest, and responsibility."

-  @adriennemareebrown @artidote 

~ My Thoughts on ‘Yuru Camp’, Season 1 ~

I was looking for an easy-going drama, and ‘Yuru Camp’ was exactly the one my tired mind needed. I am a sucker for nature & food-centric stories and this is the kind of healing I always want more of.

1. Right off the bat, I fell in love with the little while scooter of Shinma Rin and the breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji. I usually travel with my friends, but I could see the beauty of camping solo through Rin's passion for her hobby.

2. Rin may not be people-friendly but there is something very grounding about her. I think she's true to her heart in her own unique way and follows it. I love how comfortable she is with her herself & how much she relishes her own company. It was so lovely and refreshing to see that. On the other hand, it was also cute to watch her awkwardly open up to people and friendship. Nadeshiko was the primary reason for this happening, but I also loved Rin's efforts in taking the initiative to be a better friend. There's also such a caring side to Rin and this comes forth every time Nadeshiko does something reckless or stupid. Lol, I love that concern and the hilarious camaraderie the two share.

3. Now, a little about Nadeshiko, because even though she's shown to be a bit naïve, I found her very soulful as a person. For one thing, I love anyone who devours a cup of instant Nissan like they're eating the most delish dish in the world. Nadeshiko will always have my heart for it. Amidst getting lost and napping on the pavement, I love how she's always up for new things, new people and ideas. Her first camping experience with Rin, the serene beauty of Mt. Fuji against a pale, full moon instilled in her a love for the outdoors.

4. Even the school's outdoor club was such a cool venture. I loved how they find these perfect hot springs for their first outing and relish in the warmth of nature's water-gift. I even loved how they enjoy a dessert date, tasting each other's picks one after another.

5. My favorite moment was when Nadeshiko and Rin make a hot-pot on one of their camping trips. The mandu look so plump and juicy and the sheer deliciousness of having hot soup with dumplings almost bursting with filling brings goosies to my heart. I love how they relished each bite, especially Rin's face when she had her first one.💕

6. Another favorite moment was when they went camping in a forest, by the lake. Tall trees, an evening sun, and our 'Secret Blanet Society' of Rin and Nadeshiko was superb. There was also this moment when Nadeshiko's sister enjoys a cup of hot coffee sitting by the lake, when she comes to drop off her sibling at the campsite. That is such a peaceful and heart-filling moment too.

7. There is a solo trip that Rin takes, where the route to the camping site is blocked and she decides to persevere and take a longer detour. On the way, she buys buns filled with meat and vegetables. She learns how winging it is also a joy of travelling and finally, on arriving at the campsite, she watches a night sky shimmering with stars, tiny lights lit up in the village houses below, while enjoying a crispy-yet-soft grilled bun for dinner.

8. The show was such a lovely respite from my anxieties around regular life. It really made me feel all warm and happy on the inside. It also made me realize how much I love feel-good Japanese dramas that have no agenda except to cherish the beauty of simple things and everyday moments of living.

~ I Found A Long-Lost Part Of Myself While Watching 'Meteor Garden' ~

Here's a fact: you can never get over the first drama you've watched. 

Every drama-lover I know confesses this lovingly. So, as I waited for being lovestruck yet one more time, I was drama-struck by Cupid instead.

My very first drama happened to be 'Meteor Garden’ (2018) a Chinese remake of the popular K-drama 'Boys Over Flowers'. Like the blink of an eye, I didn’t realize when I was already forty minutes into the first episode. 

That's how the drama bug got me.

The Story:

Meteor Garden revolves around the story of two Ming De university students, Daoming Si (Dylan Wang) and Dong Shancai (Shen Yue). While a typical rich brat meets a poor but badass girl, the story also pans out to accommodate a great cast of secondary characters. 

Beginning with the 'F4', Ming De's most popular boy-group starring its leader Ah Si (fierce, smart heir to the Daoming Group of industries), Huaze Lei (musical genius), Ximen Yan (tea god) and Feng Meizuo (art lover with an unbeatable memory).

There’s Dong Shancai's adorable mother and father, her best friends, Chen Qing (banana expert) and Xiao You (bubble-tea partner).

Over a span of 49 episodes, we watch Shancai and Si's unexpected love bloom, we celebrate the spirit of 'family' -- both in blood and otherwise, we cherish friendship as true as the color of a clear sky and we come face to face with a bounty of life-lessons as we fall deeper and deeper for the characters that make the show.

My favorite learnings from the drama:

1. Dong Shancai's character is a far cry from your typical C-drama heroine. She's strong, confident, boisterous and unafraid of speaking her mind. I absolutely love the way she teaches you to own who you are. To own your whole person --- your strengths, your weaknesses and to keep going exactly when you want to give up.

2. Meteor Garden celebrates love in different forms. The love between a mother and daughter, that between between two lovers, two friends, two almost-lovers-but-now-lifetime-BFFs, the kind of love that hurts because it isn't yours to claim, the kind of love that teaches you how to love with a big heart and then, the kind of love that you must let go of so that you can meet a love you deserve.

3. The F4 sum up the following sentence: find your tribe and love them hard. Their lifelong kinship reminds you that 'family' goes way past DNA and some of the best people in your life today, could have once-upon-a-time been complete strangers. They support, encourage, guide and hold each other up.

4. As a typical C-drama lead, you'd expect Daoming Se to totally own his privilege without acknowledging its side-effects. But Si's transformation from exactly this sort of person to someone who is open to changing for the better is refreshing. What blows my mind is how Si shows courage to write his own story, not the one that's expected of him.

5. While we're used to 'voicing' our opinions, Shancai taught me it's better to let your actions and virtues do the talking. Because, a pure heart may not always be a loud one but it will be seen nonetheless, since it is true to itself.

6. And then you have my favorite learning of all time: LOVE IS WORTH IT ALL.

It is worth growing into, growing for and fighting with every ounce of your soul. 

I've watched many love stories and read quite a few too, but I am unabashedly biased towards Si's pure, magical love for Shancai and vice versa.

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Image Credits | Netflix 

Image Art | Doodle Shape (Android App)

But art has no name, Neither yours nor mine. It is divine energy Claiming the heart, body and mind. It is love itself, Talking through us, To us.

~ Anvi Doshi

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~ I wanted to do a little appreciation look-book of Jin Su-Kyung’s super pretty, prints, hair bands and bows, from ‘Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol’. So here it is! 🌼 ~

Through ‘Goblin’ I Learnt Life Is Beautiful In Both, Colors Of Light & Dark

Ah, where do I start with this show? The 'Goblin' was my first 2021 drama pick. I had heard SO much about it -- one of the highest drama ratings ever scored, the love story of Eun-Tak and Kim Shin and of course, the hardcore shipping of Wang Yeo and Kim Sun. 

My YT recs were spammed with "Goblin: funny moments" featuring the Gob and Deok-hwa. And then, I happened to read a Google Review by someone who was raving about how the world built is so vast, so intricate and so fascinating. My mind instantly packed in high expectations for the show.

I get why Gong Yoo is so popular but can I say I love him more when he's doing off-screen interviews? (Have you seen his recent one with IU on Palette? *adorbs*)

The show has everything for a fantasy lover like me --- Korean mythology, magic, fantastical characters and badass Gods. 

What I didn't enjoy very much, contrary to popular opinion, was Eun-Tak's character. I found her obsessive and more of a crybaby than anything else. No offense to the actress, who I'm convinced is massively talented.

The story revolves around Kim Shin, a cursed 900-year-old Goblin who was a general-of-war in his last life and is seeking his wife in the mortal world. The latter is the only one who can help him end the treacherous curse and send him peacefully to afterlife.

Eun-tak, an orphan since she was 9, can see ghosts and converses with them. She's also very aware of her destiny as the Goblin's wife. A high-schooler, she meets her destined husband (Gong Yoo) and  soon enough, the tale gets complicated as the two battle fear of death, their growing love for a each other and the wretched curse.

There is Wang Yeo, a scaredy-cat of a king who is similarly cursed to be a Grim Reaper for repenting his past-life sins. I must say, the GR (Grim Reaper) is hot.🔥 He's also one of the most fascinating characters in the show for me -- shy, reserved, melancholy, with a soft lover's heart. 

Personally, I liked his bromance with the Goblin more than the latter's love story with Eun-Tak. (** insert: the MIB'ish slow-mo scene where the two of them walk towards Eun-Tak to save her. Also, the beaut BGM**)

But I am also heartily biased towards 'Sunny' aka Kim Sun, Wang Yeo's queen and Kim Shin's sister in her previous birth. Sunny is everything that Yeo is not -- bold, courageous, unafraid of chasing the man she dotes on and a strong woman with an even stronger pool of self-love.

The story is slow-paced, highlighting how transitory life is and how beautiful it is to be alive. We see the gradual progression of days as the Goblin and Eun-Tak fall in love and how the latter shows our hero what it means to live fully. Just following this up with some of my favorite learnings from the drama now:

1. You cannot change the past but you can learn from it. Something Wang Yeo does so beautifully when he regains his memories as a GR and repents for his past acts of cruelty and injustice.

2. Choose yourself, over and over again. Ah, I learned so much from Sunny, especially about how sometimes, forgiveness is not the answer and you cannot force yourself to offer it.

3. Through pain and discomfort, we grow. I could see this with Kim Shin's character --- first a deft goblin with a cocky attitude, we see his heart open up to the vulnerability of being human, of loving someone even when there isn't a guarantee of a happy ending and letting pain help him rise to be a better man, to himself and those he loves.

While Goblin is a fascinating drama, I wouldn't call it a favorite nor something I'd like to re-watch. Maybe because the expectations I set for it were too high and the show felt a little too long and intense. Another lesson learned: never read Google reviews of a drama before you happen to watch it yourself.

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GIF Credits: | 2 - Yahoo News Singapore | 5 - Wattapad | 6 & 17 - Giphy | 11 - Pinterest | 

~ Dear joy, thank you for quiet, persistent whisperings. ~ 🌼

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~ notes from everyday ~

~ Often, I say things because it gets me to belong in a circle of people I like. Often, those things are quite contrary to my own truths, to my values.  . Saying what you really want to say isn’t about being loud, but speaking clearly of what aligns with you.  . For. e.g. “Hey, I know it’s cool to talk dirty with your friends, but I do not like to. For me, sex is sacred and I don’t want to condition my mind to downplay it.” 

Or, “Hey, I know gossiping is fun, but it riles up a lot of negative emotions in me for someone, which I’d rather not feed.” . I am guessing we all talk of things we don’t whole-heartedly believe in sometimes, just to feel like we’re a part of people’s lives. But saying the things you really want to say is insanely powerful. It drops you back into your body, mind and heart thoroughly and when you say words which directly align with your energy, you feel beautifully grounded in who you really are. ~🌼

~ Iburagurashi ~ Ep.1 Favorite Moments, (Part 2) ~

~ Meguru and Yori spend their Sunday afternoon having homemade cocktails and smoked snacks ~

* I’m very attracted to the way J-dramas are appreciative of the little moments of living. It is this quality that I cherish in people too. As I write this, I feel myself smile because I know how much I treasure shows that bring this to my heart, over and over again.✨

* Yori-chan may seem reserved but has a mind that thinks things over. She mulls upon what is shared and is quick to learn new things. She feels a lot but she isn’t very articulate with her thoughts. ✨

* Meguru-chan is the more vibrant of the two. He smiles easily, opens up to new people faster and is way more expressive when he relishes his meals. However, behind all of this is a wonderful depth---he says the wisest of things in the simplest of ways. ✨

* I love how different Yori and Meguru are from each other because it is wonderful to see how their personalities compliment one another. I also like how Yori isn’t forcefully bubbly or talkative like most ‘positive, cute’ women characters in dramas. She’s confident and comfortable in who she is and it is lovely to see that.

* For me, the slow waiting for the cooking pot to smoke the meal of the day instilled peace and calm. It was like a definite pause to my thinking mind. Through that pot, Yori and Meguru explore the adventures of cooking their special yet humble Sunday meals.

* The last picture of the evening sky, with Yori and Meguru having spent their Sunday well in each other’s presence, blessed my the bounty of delicious food, is precious.