Heated Rivalry: Episode 2

2. Olympians

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov continue sexting and sporadically hooking up with one another from their first meeting in 2008 until the 2014 Sochi Olympics where their teams fare differently. Rosanov is stressed out for losing on home ice and is blamed by his father Grigori (Yaroslav Poverlo), a Russian official who is showing early signs of Alzheimer's. Ilya is rescued by his friend and occasional FuBu Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova) from the boring state-sponsored party and takes him to Sasha (Kaden Connors), his Russian coach’s son whom he mentioned to Hollander as his first time with a man. Rosanov ignores Hollander and ghosts him for the next six months. They meet again at an awards show in Las Vegas where Rosanov is celebrating the Boston Raiders’ victory, flaunting the cup. After an emotional reunion in the men's room, the two reunite at Ilya’s penthouse suite where they consummate their situationship with a striptease leading to coitus. Hollander feels used given how Rosanov is dismissive toward him after the deed.

Heated Rivalry: Episode 1

1. Rookies

December 2008. International Prospect Cup, Saskatchewan. Canadian rookie Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian sensation Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) face off on ice; the latter’s team bringing home the bacon. A year later, Canada rebounds on home ice. The two players continue to meet in the next two years during hockey season, mostly in the North American circuit where Hollander plays for the Montreal Metros while Rosanov is taken in as an import skating for the Boston Raiders. With much time spent together, their heated rivalry evolves into something more carnal and fiery, unfolding behind the scenes in hotel rooms where they begin to explore each other’s bodies. As lust slowly gives in to feelings, the two continue to navigate their high profile sports careers, making sure to keep their hangout sessions a secret. Hollander eventually wins Rookie of the Year over Rosanov. Rosanov is mad, not because of the fact, but rather because he is going home to Russia in 3 days. The two kiss on a dark balcony before Hollander breaks it off and abruptly leaves.

Stranger Things: Episode 38

38. Sorcerer

Max explains to Holly that they are trapped in Henry’s memory world. She has a plan to escape, which involves Holly going back to Henry’s house. As Joyce tries to ward off the monster, Nancy, Jonathan, Dustin, and Steve run it over and manage to follow it back to the Upside Down before the portal closes. Hopper and El get to infiltrate the military base but are almost overpowered by Dr. Kay and her men. They still emerge victorious and manage to open the door where they find a hostage that is not Henry, but rather Kali, aka 10. As the military rounds up children and keeps them in their barracks for protection, Joyce and the rest try to break them out through the tunnels to sneak them out of Hawkins but are caught. Vecna emerges from the portal and explains to Will how he made him see how it is possible to break and reshape weak bodies and minds. As he goes back to the Upside Down with all children in tow and as the monsters resurface to kill all of them, Will manipulates the creatures before killing them telekinetically, proving Mike’s theory that he is just like the Sorcerer in D and D.

Stranger Things: Episode 37

37. The Turnbow Trap

Try as they might, El and Hopper can’t breach the wall. Worse, the military guys come with some sort of sonic wave equipment that keeps El incapacitated. After Hopper destroys the equipment, El wipes out the men and they capture the leader. She goes into his head to scour for info and finds a big metal door at a military base in the Upside Down behind which the military is keeping someone powerful like her. She thinks they have Vecna. Spying on Vecna, Will determines Holly’s classmate Derek as the next target so they set up an elaborate plan to kidnap the family through Erica’s sleeping-pills-filled pie. When the monster appears, Nancy shoots a tracker into it so they can follow it, but it just heads toward the barn where Will, Robin, Joyce, and Erica are keeping Derek’s family captive. Holly is held hostage by Henry in a fantasy world without her knowing. She receives a note instructing her to head to the woods, which Henry prohibited her to do but she goes anyway. There she is chased by another human being, who turns out to be Max.

Stranger Things: Episode 36

36. The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler

Will’s hive-tethered visions predict that an Upside Down creature will attack the Wheeler residence. Karen and Ted end up at the hospital. Even then, they can’t save Holly who is dragged back to the Upside Down. El manages to jump into the closing portal in time and finds Hopper there, before they try to track Holly. They find a huge wall which explains why El can sense neither Vecna nor Holly. Robin suggests that Will could be some sort of proximity-based receiver and he wants to help in tracking Holly but Joyce is reluctant. Robin and Will sneak out to do what Joyce has forbidden them to do. They are led back to Holly’s school where Will concludes that his visions are seen through the perspective of the Hive and, thus, Vecna’s. Nancy and Mike manage to ask a now conscious but speechless Karen about Holly’s imaginary friend. She writes a description of his appearance and outfit on a piece of paper along with his name: Henry. A flashback shows Holly hand-in-hand with Henry Creel, being led to his house on a promise that he will save her and the other kids.

Stranger Things: Episode 35

35. The Crawl

November 12, 1983. Will Byers is in the Upside Down and dragged unconscious by one of the creatures to Vecna, who promises him they’d be doing great things together before infecting him with something. November 3, 1987. Hawkins is under military quarantine after everyone is assumed to have been infected by the aftermath of Vecna’s attack. The gang is preparing for their 37th crawl, which is a coordinated effort held simultaneously with the military’s breaching of the barrier to go to the Upside Down and search for Vecna. Hopper sneaks into a truck, leaving a disgruntled El behind because she is wanted by the military, particularly Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) who is experimenting on some Upside Down creature parts believing that El is the answer to their problems. Max is still in a coma. Dustin gets beaten up black and blue by the frat bros. Will sees the Upside Down through a monster’s POV. Mike’s sister Holly (Nell Fisher) gets constant visits from her imaginary friend Mr. Whatsit. At the end of the episode, an Upside Down monster ambushes her in her room.

Thirty Virgins

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Naghahanapbuhay si Leslie sa isang maliit na pahayagan kung saan inaabot abutan siya ng kanyang tagapangasiwa na si Boss JM ng tig-lilimang daan at paminsan-minsan ay isang libo upang gumawa ng mga bagay-bagay na kailangan nilang ilihim sa pamunuan. Ang barya baryang ito ay magiging limangdaang libong piso kung tatanggapin lamang ni Leslie ang alok ni Boss JM na paunlakan ang labag sa batas na kalakaran ng Tsinoy na mangangalakal na si Peter Tan. Anong kalakal nga ba ito? Bawat taon ay namimili ang Tsinoy at ang mga kasama nito sa pangangalakal ng tatlumpung kababaihan na wala pang karanasan sa pagtatalik. Hindi naman pinipilit ang mga babaeng ito. Sila ay nasa wastong gulang na at sila pa nga ang kusang ipinagbibili ang kanilang kawalan ng karanasan sa mga nais magbayad na taga-ibang bansa. Ang halaga? Tumataginting na isang milyong piso. Ang tungkulin ni Leslie? Ang pakikipanayam sa tatlumpu upang malaman ang kani-kanilang talambuhay. Sa huli ay sasagi rin sa isip niya kung sapat na nga ba ang limandaang libo.

The Da Vinci Code

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Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives a call from French police captain Bezu Fache who invites him to the Louvre after hours. Langdon was supposed to meet the museum’s curator Jacques Saunière there earlier that evening but the meeting was canceled. Langdon arrives at a crime scene with the murdered body of the curator spread eagle on the floor mimicking the pose of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, along with scribbles containing numbers and verses that do not make any sense. Sophie Neveu, a cryptologist from the French police, arrives and distracts the captain, claiming to have an answering machine message for Langdon from the American embassy. What Langdon doesn’t know is that he is Fache’s main suspect for the curator’s death. As he almost falls into his trap, new information from the recording convinces him to cooperate with Neveu in a race across two countries in search for the Holy Grail.

KPop Demon Hunters

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Girl group Huntrix has the KPop world in a chokehold as they churn out hit after hit, much to the delight of their multitude of devoted fans, but they have an even bigger mission than being mere superstars. Long ago demons roamed the Earth serving their ruler Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun) by terrorizing humans and feeding him their souls, until a trio of women used the power of their voices to create a magical barrier known as the Honmoon. From then on, a trio is trained in every generation to maintain the barrier, with the ultimate objective of closing it for good when it turns gold. Lead vocalist Rumi (Arden Cho) is an orphan raised to be one of three. However, she has a secret that poses a threat to the success of their mission as she keeps the truth concealed from her bandmates: main dancer Mira (May Hong) and lyricist Zoey (Ji-young Yoo). Meanwhile, a quintet of demons are sent to the surface, as a boyband, to serve as competition.

Gregoria Lakambini (Tanghalang Pilipino)

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To say that Gregoria de Jesus (Marynor Madamesila) had been through a lot is an understatement. Her love story with Katipunan’s supremo Andres Bonifacio started at a young age and the lovers had to deal with her parents’ disapproval before tying the knot. However, marriage is not all rainbows and smiles when your husband is fighting a revolution to free the country from its colonizers. It also doesn’t help when your lives are put in constant danger not just because of the foreign invaders you are trying to boot out of the islands, but also rather due to infighting among other groups that also happen to be your countrymen. And yet Gregoria survives, flourishes, and gets to live long enough to witness the country’s independence with her own two eyes. And now she tells her forgotten story through the choreography and beats of Pinoy pop. Because Gregoria Lakambini is Mother.

Bar Boys: The Musical (Barefoot Theatre Collaborative)

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Four friends bond over MMORPG and promise to support one another as they take their adventures to a totally different territory. LAW SCHOOL. Erik Vicencio (Benedix Ramos) is uncertain because his security guard father might not be able to financially support another four years of university studies. Torran Garcia (Jerom Canlas) is pushing through because this has always been his parents’ dream for him and he wants to make them proud. Joshua Zuniga (Omar Uddin) decides to go ahead with the plan but drops out early because of his disillusionment with the system. Christian Abueva (Alex Diaz) strives hard in an effort to prove himself to his estranged father. As they take on their four years of law school that will serve as their preparation for the bar, Erik’s father gets caught up in a huge case against his employers and the three future lawyers immediately give their all to the case, under the tutelage of their professor Justice Hernandez (Sheila Francisco).

Wicked: For Good

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After fleeing the Emerald City, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) comes back from time to time to rescue maltreated animals and also warn the citizens of Oz about the deception of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). However, the propaganda machine helmed by Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) is already in full swing, with Glinda (Ariana Grande) now proclaimed as The Good, a much needed foil for the wicked witch that everyone must continue to despise. She is also scheduled to be wed to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) to complete the illusion of a happy couple everyone will look up to. In an effort to lure back and catch the Wicked Witch of the West, the weather witch summons a cyclone that drops a house from Kansas on her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), instantly killing her. A teenager from another world emerges from it and begins her journey to meet the Wizard alongside three companions: a cowardly lion; a tin man without a heart; and a scarecrow.

Meet, Greet & Bye

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Baby Lopez-Facundo (Maricel Soriano) is a family matriarch who is going through her Korean culture craze phase late in life, nursing an addiction to Halyu superstar Park Seo-joon, which is why she and her girlfriends are ecstatic upon hearing the news that he is coming over to Manila for a fan meet. Her eldest son Tupe (Piolo Pascual) is coming back home from LA to be at the graduation of his daughter Geri (Belle Mariano) whom she raised. Middle child Brad (Joshua Garcia) involuntarily becomes the paterfamilias after his father’s death and older brother’s absence, while youngest son Leo (Juan Karlos Labajo) is the family baby, a young father and aspiring musician who tends to be overdramatic at times. When Baby discovers that her cancer has relapsed, she keeps it a secret from everyone. When they finally find out, they ask her to undergo chemo again. However, she’s had enough.

[KAOHSIUNG] Budget and Itinerary

 

MONDAY: 10 November 2025

THSR (Banqiao - Zuoying) - 1,245.00

Red Line (Zuoying - Kaohsiung Main) - 25.00

Yoshinoya (Gyudon + Coke) - 219.00

7 Eleven (Groceries) - 195.00

Airbnb (3 Nights) - 2,070.00

TWD3,754.00

[KAOHSIUNG] Lotus Pond + Pier 2

The last time I was in Taiwan was exactly a decade ago. 2015. Fresh out of that one-year sojourn in Xiamen to study Mandarin. Taiwan used to be a favorite destination, visa free if you had a multiple entry US visa in lieu. Now, Taiwan is visa free regardless, 14 days allowed. And so I thought maybe it was time to come back. As for Kaohsiung, it has always been in my radar because I’ve always heard about it from almost everyone who has been to Taiwan but already done with Taipei. This time, we go south. I booked a high speed rail ticket via Klook from Banqiao in New Taipei to Zuoying. It took an hour and 26 minutes.

Die My Love

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Jackson (Robert Pattinson) and Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) are a young couple who decide to move into his uncle’s house in Montana after his death. The house is idyllic and seems to be in the middle of nowhere but not that far away from his mother Pam’s (Sissy Spacek) residence. In fact, Grace just walks all the way there to visit her now widowed mother-in-law from time to time. Soon a baby is born and the couple notices a change in their relationship. He is having sex with a lot of other women but not with her, while she is longing for sexual contact with him but is often shut out, leading her to start an affair with a married man who always passes by their house on a motorcycle. Even more so, her mental and emotional wellbeing fall prey to postpartum depression, leading her down a dangerous path of isolation bordering on nervous breakdown.

Bugonia

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Auxolith CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) is smart, wealthy, and has her face plastered on the cover of various magazines for blazing a trail as a female executive. Her current project is to make her company a better place to work by imposing 5 PM clock outs as long as workload permits. Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) is a beekeeper who also happens to be a conspiracy theorist, believing that the Earth is inhabited by Andromedans who have completely blended in and are planning to replace mankind as the dominant species on the planet. Teddy is also taking care of his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) who is intellectually disabled and follows everything he is told to do. Teddy has a grand plan. He wants to kidnap Michelle because he believes her to be an Andromedan he could use to get to their emperor, with whom he plans to negotiate to save humankind.

The Witching Hour

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Rowan Mayfair is a successful neurosurgeon who grows up in San Francisco in a life of comfortable existence, not knowing much about the family drama and secrets of her biological family waiting back for her in New Orleans. Her biological mother Deirdre has spent most of her life as an invalid stationed on a screened porch in a huge mansion at First Street where she is accompanied by her grandmother’s sister Carlotta and a malevolent spirit that has been haunting the family for three generations. His name is Lasher. When Deirdre succumbs to the call of death, the spirit, along with the Mayfair legacy worth billions and which includes an emerald necklace, passes on to Rowan. She crosses paths with Michael Curry, a house builder who gains psychometric abilities after a near death drowning experience. Together, they head back to Louisiana to confront the ghosts of their past, but are they strong enough to defeat them?

[HAWAII] Budget and Itinerary

WEDNESDAY: 29 October 2025

Alaska/Hawaiian (New York - San Francsico - Honolulu) - 273.78

Waikiki Beachside Hostel (4 Nights) - 92.89

W Line (Lelepaua Airport - Kuhio/Ohua) - 3.00

USD369.67