November/December 2023 - Germany + Poland (Part 2)

Continuing with Part 2 of my trip, where we head to Poland. First exploring Krakow, including a day trip to Auschwitz and the Salt Mine, followed by a stopover in Lodz to watch a volleyball match, and finally ending the trip in Warsaw.

November/December 2023 - Germany + Poland (Part 1)

I'm back from a long trip to Europe, visiting Germany and Poland, mainly for the Christmas markets, but also for some WWII history, and another volleyball match! Our itinerary was to fly from Singapore to Munich where we spent 3 nights, then travel to Berlin via train where we spent another 3 nights. From Germany to Poland, we took a flight from Berlin to Krakow with a layover in Warsaw because there strangely weren't direct flights, spending 3 nights in Krakow before taking a train to Lodz for the vball match, then taking an Uber car ride to Warsaw where we spent 2 nights, and flew back to Singapore. Our open jaw flight from Sg to Munich and Warsaw to Sg on Qatar airlines cost around $1.5k sgd per person, and our flight from Berlin to Krakow on LOT airlines cost slightly more than $200 sgd per person.

Part 1 will be on Germany, where we visited Munich with a day trip to Neuschwanstein, a short stopover at Nuremberg, as well as Berlin.

Drama Reviews - Mask Girl (2023)

Another Netflix drama! Mask Girl is about Kim Momi, an ordinary office worker who does broadcast streaming at night beneath a mask, because she is deemed not pretty enough to be a star. A series of events then happens, prompting her to get complete plastic surgery and become unrecognisable. 

Drama Reviews - Queenmaker (2023)

Queenmaker is about Hwang Dohee (Kim Hee Ae), the Corporate Strategy Team Director in Eunsung Group who is the fixer for the chaebol family who owns Eunsung, who ends up becoming the Campaign Manager to make Oh Kyung Sook (Moon Sori) the Mayor of Seoul, against Eunsung's chosen candidate.

I haven't watched a k-drama in a long time (Netflix subscription going to waste), but finally decided I was in the mood for one, and picked Queenmaker cos Kim Hee Ae my queen is in it. Been a fan ever since the sublime Secret Love Affair. I've mostly seen Moon Sori in smaller parts like The Handmaiden and Little Forest, but I know she's got an impressive filmography as well. 

June / July 2023 - Bangkok [VNL 2023]

So my masters ended, just in time for me to catch Week 3 of the Women's Volleyball Nations League held in Bangkok from 27 June to 3 July! I'm a big fan of the Brazil Women's National Team, or selecao de feminina volei in Portuguese, and they were scheduled for 4 matches in Bangkok. And so in May, I bought tickets to 3 of the 4 matches during the pre-sale. For the Thai vs Brazil match, I didn't manage to get tickets (yes, it's as competitive as concerts) so I bought it off a reseller via a personal shopper. I paid almost triple the price. The original price of each ticket in the lower bowl was about 900baht which was very affordable in my opinion, so I was still willing to fork out that amount. 

April 2023 - Canada + NYC [Prima Facie]

Just returned from a 2 week long holiday to North America! So this trip was planned around two main events - the women's ice hockey world championships in Brampton and Prima Facie, a one-woman play by Jodie Comer on Broadway. I spent 9 days in Canada (3 nights in Toronto, 2 nights in Quebec City, 3 nights in Montreal), as well as 2 full days in NYC. 

Drama Reviews - The Glory (2022/2023)

I'm back after a long break! I've been watching non-kdramas, watched Extraordinary Attorney Woo and didn't finish it, and was also busy with other hobbies. But I was trying to make my Netflix subscription worth it and The Glory received rave reviews so I decided to watch it and really enjoyed it. 

The Glory is about Moon Dongeun (Song Hyekyo) who was bullied in school by 5 classmates led by ringleader Park Yeonjin (Im Jiyeon), and her elaborate revenge plan to take them down in adulthood. It was released in 2 parts on Netflix but I waited till the second part was released to watch all 16 eps.