1. Watch: Second season of Hospital Playlist
One of the hottest K-dramas now is Hospital Playlist, which has topped Netflix's top 10 chart in Singapore.
Its second season has captivated audiences with its engaging, heartfelt storylines and relatable characters.
The medical drama follows five doctors and their patients in a hospital, where there is birth, death and everything in between. Behind every frequent visitor, noise complaint and pregnancy is a story with lessons one can learn.
Among its stars are South Korean actress Jeon Mi-do, whose performance as a doctor got her nominated for Best New Actress in the television category at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awardslast year (2020).
There is also South Korean actor Jo Jung-suk, whom one might remember from the dramas Don't Dare To Dream(2016) and Nokdu Flower(2019).
Info: Netflix's website
2. Read: About irises in art
On the Google Arts & Culture page is an interesting story on irises, a colourful flower grown worldwide, at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
There are 1,750 species and countless varieties of the flowers, which are named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow.
Their most popular depiction at the Getty Museum is the painting Irises (1889) by the late Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
The beautiful blooms can also be found in many other works in the museum's collection, such as around the border of a page from a 15th-century Flemish manuscript, in the drawing Flowers And Beetles (1582) by German painter Hans Hoffmann and in two photographs by Japanese photographer Ogawa Kazumasa.
Info: Irises at the Getty
3. Do: Eye yoga
With everyone spending long hours in front of glowing screens - from smartphones to tablets to computer monitors - it is easy for one's eyes to feel tired.
A new trend which has picked up during the pandemic is eye yoga, which consists of exercises that engage all of the ocular muscles.
These exercises claim to help improve the flexibility in these muscles, which support eye movement, and help one focus better.
In a podcast in May (2021), former Beatles singer Paul McCartney, 78, attributed his sharp eyesight to practising eye yoga regularly.
According to the Eye Care Institute in California, common eye yoga exercises include deliberately and repeatedly looking up and down, then left and right; closing one's eyes for several seconds to increase moisture in the eyeballs; and warming one's palms and placing them over one's closed eyes. These can be done in the morning, throughout the day and before bedtime.
Info: Eye Care Institute's website
4. Comfort Cooking: Have fun tossing your own rojak
Making your own rojak is not only fun, but also gives you full control over what goes into it, so you can add more of the ingredients you like to eat.
The portions given here are just a guide and you get to decide on what ingredients you want to use and how much.
You get more value too, especially if you are not a fan of the basic version, which is simply a toss-up of you tiao (dough fritters), pineapple and bang kwang (jicama).
For me, a must-have ingredient is torch ginger bulb, colloquially known as "rojak flower", which adds a floral perfume to this Asian salad.
