Archive for June 2020

DISCLAIMER: The following entry contains some spoilers. You might with want to watch and finish the series first before proceeding :)

If a friendship lasts longer than seven years, psychologists say it will last a lifetime. Being an active Instagram user, I have frequently encountered this familiar quote about friendship -- which I know you also do. And as timely as it is, the same happens to reflect in the series that I finished binge-watching recently, Hospital Playlist.

Source: Instagram/Hospital Playlist

Hospital Playlist revolves around the story of five doctors who have formed a friendship since they started in medical school in 1999. The second installment of the Wise Life Series (the first being Prison Playbook), I was mainly interested to see this Kdrama when I learned that this is another one of the medical genre. And if you've been reading my blog, for sure, you've read about how much I've been into Korean dramas with such element.

But I never knew I was in for a treat until I finished the first episode. It was at the end of episode 1 that I had this "eureka moment; because right after the performance, it was then I already got to recognize why this Kdrama was named as such. Next to the serious and formal personalities as doctors, the five characters Lee Ik-jun (Cho Jung-seok), Ahn Jeong-won (Yoo Yeon-seok), Chae Song-hwa (Jeon Mi-do), Yang Seok-hyeong (Kim Dae-myung) and Kim Jun-wan (Jung Kyung-ho), are also members of a band named Mido & Falasol. I will not deny that I already enjoyed watching this show even on the first episode and even thought about how cool it might be if our doctors have such kind of life outside the confines of outpatient clinics, the ER, and operating suites.

But compared to the other medical Kdramas that I have seen in the previous years, I must say that Hospital Playlist is different -- in a rather good way. The show does not linger much on the usual blood and gore scenes of surgeries, nor does it tackle much of power and politics like the others. There's an interesting scenario presented in each episode without losing its focus to the main characters. Next to the friendship of the protagonists (or known as the Main Five), this show depicts the realities of those in the medical profession that we don't often see or experience much. From how interns go through their days and the situations they encounter on the road to becoming a full-fledged physician, to the scenarios and difficult decisions and pronouncements that doctors need to carry out in front of a patient's guardian and family.

The team behind this series was able to show the audience the emotional side of doctors (including the would-be ones) in a touching but realistic way. Hospital Playlist showed a side of doctors that is far from the stereotype that most of us are familiar with, as we view them to be serious, formal, no-nonsense professionals in white coats and scrubs. Here I saw how doctors could also be encouraging to aspiring ones, optimistic in front of worried guardians, and even empathetic to their patients. Imagine being visited by someone like Lee Ik-jun and be advised not to dwell too much on a wrongdoing did by someone because it's a form of a disservice to one's self. Talk about how a real-life doctor puts it, patient care outside the four corners and confines of the clinic. This show just gave me a reason to admire and love the medical profession more.

But aside to their medical careers, Hospital Playlist also focused on the part that almost everyone is interested in -- the romantic side of the lives of the Main Five. There are several couples in this Kdrama but I'm interested in three of them: the Dove Couple, Lee Ik Soon and Kim Joon Wan, and the 99z Couple, Lee Ik Joon and Chae Song Hwa. Their love lives are such cliffhangers that I am looking forward to the drama's second season (Yup, there's a Season 2 tentatively scheduled next year). I'm eager to know what will happen to Ik Soon and Joon Wan's love story. Does Ik-joon know that these two are a couple and if he's not aware yet, how will Ik-jun react to it when he finds out, given that he's Ik-Soon's older brother and Joon Wan's best friend? And if these two will tie the knot in the second season after Joon Wan's act in the last episode of season 1.

Source: Instagram/ Hospital Playlist

The other thing to watch out for in season 2 is if there's going to be a happy conclusion to Lee Ik-jun's courageous confession to Chae Song Hwa. Will they give love a second chance (which I hope they really would -- sana!) or will they choose to save the two-decade friendship and not take a risk. But if I am really to decide, I want to see option one happen next season! It just feels bad that those who enjoyed this show will have to wait for next year for it. But who knows, some things are worth the wait, right? Let's keep our fingers crossed that this one will be too!

Hospital Playlist is a balance of music, rom-com, and with very little drama. It's worth your late-night viewing if you're looking for something to watch with your barkada (whether it be your high school or college buddies). You may see yourselves in the Main Five and will be a good companion as you reminisce on your barkada adventures during your youth.

In another life

I will be your girl

We'd keep all our promises

Be us against the world.

In another life

I would make you stay

So I don't have to say you were

The one that got away

The one that got away.

***********

DISCLAIMER: The names mentioned in this particular entry have been changed to protect their privacy.

In the past few weeks being on quarantine, next to getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep, my days mostly revolve on things like indulging into a new hobby, religiously reading a book on entrepreneurship, taking care of my five-month-old niece, taking online lessons on foreign language and binge-watching on Korean dramas. But despite juggling my day amongst these things, I still have time communicating with friends.

Weeks ago, I had a chance to make a video call to my friend Liezl*. Long before this, we've been exchanging chat messages where she told me that there's something she'd like to tell me. She even referred to it as a "big reveal" but she never said a word about it. And all this time, I was thinking that she and her husband Harold* might be expecting an ECQ baby and that their daughter is going to be a big sister soon.

We were having the usual silly conversations when suddenly, Liezl brought up another subject-- Noah*. I haven't spoken to him for a couple of years and while I didn't want to hear anything about him, Liezl told me that she and Harold had a bonding session with Noah recently. But the words that she said next were something I never expected.

"Nakasama namin ni Harold si Noah recently at napag-usapan ka namin. Alam mo, inamin ni Noah sa amin that he considered (asking) you to be his girlfriend."

Apparently, it was the big reveal that Liezl was referring to previously.

What I heard left my brain numb for a few seconds. What I knew next was I was laughing hysterically while Liezl and I were having that video call. I honestly did not know how to react or even what to feel. And it took me weeks for my mind to really process what I heard.

That revelation brought shock to my braincells.

You see, I used to have a crush on Noah back then. But despite those knowing looks and being asked countless times about what's the truth between Noah and me, I had to keep the feeling to myself for six years because I have hesitations that my feelings, should it become known to him, will just be unrequited. I kept my feelings that long because knowing him, from the fame of his career to the type of girls he's going to fall for, I felt I was someone who is totally out of his league.

Even if I knew I was starting to fall for him, I already had the worst-case scenario in my mind from the start. I've been through that painful string of rejections and unrequited feelings that I got traumatized and burned. So to protect myself, I just decided to be mum about what I was feeling. Pero dahil hindi ako magaling sa pagsasabi ng nararamdman kaya sa gestures at effort ko yon binabawi.

Now, maybe if you're reading this, surely you might want to ask what would be my answer if Noah decided to pursue me then. Would I say yes if he asked me then (to be his girlfriend)?

Honestly, I definitely would have said yes. For six years, next to the effort and the waiting, I also prayed for both wisdom and guidance about what I was feeling for Noah because despite of my hesitations (that can be dealt with), I also saw in him the qualities of the person that I was praying to God for.

But I reached the point when I already felt uncertain, confused, and exhausted. I just knew I had to leave and let go because my spirit and self-esteem is slowly being jeopardized by the uncertainty. I knew I just had to do something or else the pain inflicted by something unrequited will shatter me again-- at pagod na pagod na ako sa ganong eksena.

Call it unusual but from the night I heard of Liezl's big reveal up to now, I would find myself humming the line's of one of Katy Perry's songs at 2:30 am. It may seem odd, but it brought me relief. Yes, I could say that for a moment, I felt flattered that the guy I once had a crush on thought of considering me to be "that girl". While I didn't know where it hit me exactly, I can't say that I feel regret on my part after knowing Liezl's belated revelation either. After all, it's been two years since I decided to run away from any memory I have of Noah. I will just have to leave it to that "another life" to grant me that "happy conclusion" if there really is one (think, the Grim Reaper and Kim Sun (from that Korean drama Goblin) reuniting in their fourth life-- though of course, that's something fictional).

But right now, I am happy with where and what I am and the people I'm with. And I'd like to keep it that way.