We Filipinos love anime so it comes as no surprise that Netflix is turning their eye to this genre, with new shows and renewed seasons. Some of the titles coming our way are the new Ultraman, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Cannon Busters, as well as new seasons of Aggretsuko and Castlevania.

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One of my favorite watches growing up was my G-Shock, which lit up with the push of a button and had a tiny stick figure dancing to an 8-bit tune. Whenever I think about it, I am transported to my childhood where I’ll just light it up and watch the figure dance what I thought were the coolest moves. However, like everything in my childhood, I grew up and forgot all about it.

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One of my favorite Netflix shows is The Crown, which illustrates the rise of Queen Elizabeth II, the current Queen of the United Kingdom and the longest currently-reigning monarch, having served as the Queen since 1952. The show is an extravagantly-told tale with extravagance, elegance, pomp, and grandeur.

The thing about The Crown is that every two seasons, the cast will change to reflect the Queen’s age. Each season is set in a decade so it’s going to look kind of weird if she hasn’t aged 20 years for the third season. Claire Foy, who brilliantly portrayed the royal’s vulnerability and strength, will soon be replaced by Olivia Colman and Netflix just released her first look.

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Whenever I would visit Hong Kong, I’d see hundreds of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) working hard to provide for their families back home. Sometimes I’d make small talk with them, asking them how long they’ve been there or how often they see their loved ones. The stories are always touching and sometimes heartbreaking, but it’s the only choice many of them have. Skilled workers are needed abroad and the pay helps those they’ve left behind.

The problem with working abroad is remitting the money back home. The fees can be expensive and can take a huge chunk that could be used in the Philippines. But that has changed because AlipayHK and GCash have partnered to create the first blockchain-based cross-border digital wallet remittance service globally, so that users can transfer money between Hong Kong and the Philippines.

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One of my fondest memories of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is seeing the musical Mamma Mia! with my family. I’m a big fan of musicals, ABBA, and anything dripping in eleganza so I had a great time seeing the story unfold with my loved ones. Soon I’ll relive the memory because Mamma Mia! is returning to Manila and they just announced the cast!

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When I finished watching the first season of the rebooted Queer Eye, the first thing I thought of was, “When is the next season coming out?” My prayers were answered because just four months after the show premiered, the second season came out!

If you’ve been living under a rock and you have no idea who Jonathan Van Ness is, Queer Eye is a reality show that followed five gay guys as they gave “make-betters” to clueless straight men. The reboot has an entirely different cast made up of Jonathan for grooming, Tan France for fashion, Bobby Berk for interiors, Antoni Porowski for cooking, and Karamo Brown for culture. And while the original (which aired from 2003 to 2007) was fun and light, the reboot was so much more. It was heartfelt and empowering, and I found myself crying in many of the episodes.

Queer Eye‘s second season continues the Fab Five’s mission and I decided to rank all eight episodes:

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As they say, space is the final frontier. And it’s a frontier that Netflix tells so well with Lost in Space, a modern-day adaptation of the ’60s series (itself an adaptation of the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson). In the series, Earth is falling apart so everyone is flying off to colonize a new planet. The result is a lush, intelligent, and compelling look at the lengths people would go to just to survive.

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I’ve been a fan of Anina Rubio ever since I saw her murals of leaves and flowers for Art in Aura, an initiative to bring art out of the gallery and into public spaces. So when I was told that I could watch her paint a new mural, I had to say yes! She was invited by Seattle’s Best Coffee for the first SBC Perkspective, a series of quarterly pocket events that offers talks, workshops, and informal meet-ups.

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