After spending Valentine's weekend in the
country with an appearance on It's Showtime, a performance at the
Philippine Travel Expo and a mini-press conference at the Korea Night “K-Beauty & Fun” event held at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati last February 16, Sandara Park admits it's been a whirlwind visit for her. The 2NE1 member says she still doesn't think of herself as a big star. “Actually parang iniisip ko 'K-Pop star ba ako?' Normal lang sa akin yun kasi Korean ako. Siguro gusto ko magpasalamat sa mga fans na nagmamahal sa K-Pop and then parang feeling ko yung K-Pop it unites yung mga fans all over the world. Kahit hindi nila naiintindihan yung lyrics kinakanta pa rin nila so masaya yun,” she shares.
Sandara
says despite getting international acclaim and touring with the popular
all-girl group, she considers herself to be pretty much the same candid
Korean girl that Pinoy loved when they first saw her in Star Circle
Quest in 2004. In fact during the event, Dara proved she still had a
good command of the Tagalog language with the way she answered
questions. “Actually walang nagbago. Parehong Sandara pa rin ako pero siguro medyo naging mas confident ako ng konti kasi from the shy and sweet little girl (laughs) to strong, powerful, fierce girl power na ang naging image ko. And ganun din yung nararamdaman ko sa stage pag kasama ko yung ibang girls. So parang I learned more about music, about recording and performing and to work as a team with other singers so magandang experience ito para sa akin,” she explains.
Since
deciding to move back to Korea for good in 2007, Dara has been one of
the most popular personalities in the K-Pop scene, which has made her an
easy choice to help promote medical tourism in the event organized by
the Korea Tourism Organization. The 30-year-old singer-actress says
Korea is a very interesting nation, “Mahirap siya i-describe in one word pero siguro “possible” kung isang word kasi nothing is impossible in Korea. Or siguro “me” kasi di ba I tried my best so ginawa ang lahat para makuha ang gusto ko. Masipag yung mga Koreans kaya nothing is impossible.”
Apart from her commitments with 2NE1, Dara was happy to share news about her upcoming web series. “Actress Sandara na ako (laughs). Ito yung first project ko as an actress sa Korea. It's a story about a boy and a girl na broken-hearted and they met each other and naging in love. Parang healing drama ito so very innocent (laughs). Title is “Doctor Mo's Clinic” and yung leading man ko si Kim Yeong-kwang, siya yung Doctor Mo Yi-An and yung character ko si So Dam yung pangalan. Parang nung una ko nakita yung character sabi ko, 'Ay ako ito!' kasi yung character sobrang shy type, takot siya sa mga crowd so pag lumalabas siya cover niya yung face niya with the hair. Hindi naman ako ganun pero nung high school ako sobrang shy type ako. Parang meron rin akong stage fear, ganun. So tinry ko (acting) pero mahirap din pala kasi naisip ko 'Pano ko ito i-e-express as So Dam and hindi as Sandara Park?' Mahirap yun at sobrang malamig sa set kaya nahirapan ako pero sobrang excited na ako,” she says.
This year, Dara says she wants to show her fans new things. “Ang goal ko for 2015, I want to show other sides of Sandara Park. Hindi lang ang 2NE1 but pati yung actress Sandara or radio deejay or as a host or kung ano man, bagong challenge gusto ko ma-try. Actually wala akong masabi sa mga Filipino fans na nagsu-support sa akin kasi speechless talaga ako. Sobrang touched ako every time na pumupunta ako dito sa Manila, sana next time makapunta rin ako sa Cebu, sa Davao at sa iba-ibang places. Maraming salamat sa suporta niyo. Hindi ko alam kung paano ko i-e-express yung feeling ko. Siguro alam niyo na yun. Mahal ko kayo,” she admits. Dara says she is hoping to be able to do a movie project again in the country. “I would love to do it! Lagi ko namang sinasabi na ang gusto ko magka-movie sa Philippines ulit,” she adds.
When asked how she would feel if she got paired with John Lloyd Cruz, Dara could hardly contain her excitement. “Eh di wow! (laughs) Naku, papa John Lloyd, gustong gusto ko yan kasi talagang I really love his movies and his acting. Nakaka-in love yung mata niya pag umarte siya kaya sobrang excited ako kung mangyari yun. Kaya lang medyo nag-wo-worry ako kasi di ba mature na yung mga movies niya, mga serious? Pero ako parang feeling ko bata pa ako kaya ano kayang magandang story? Star Cinema hihintayin ko yun! (laughs),” she says jokingly.
Credits: PUSH
