On Saturday, November 1st 2025, 4 amazing individuals attended the second edition of Soju with Chingus. For context, Soju with Chingus is an intimate cultural experience for K-drama lovers, foodies and cultural enthusiasts to gather and have a memorable brunch that consists of Korean dishes and the star of the brunch, soju!

I started planning this event series after I set up my close-knit community for K-drama lovers called Kdrama Chingus Community, which has a bulk of its active members on IG. Soju with Chingus was born out of a need to have more IRL conversations with K-drama lovers while having a meal, as these are 2 things I love.

Riding on the success of the first edition, which validated my event idea, I got to planning the second edition and learnt a lot while on the journey of planning the event. This article is for anyone who intends to plan a paid event in Nigeria, and I hope that you avoid the mistakes and pitfalls I experienced while planning the second edition of Soju with Chingus.

Let’s dive in!

Lesson 1: Start Event Promotions Early

I know this is the first advice that every event professional knows by heart. It’s important to note that I did kick off some parts of the event planning process earlier — the event strategy, event timeline and whatnot. I had done the event documentation earlier in the year and thought Oops, there’s enough time. Before I knew it, it was the end of August, and I hadn’t announced the event to the public. This was my mistake.

While it’s important to start planning early, it’s more important to start your event promotions earlier as well. This will enable you to adjust for unforeseen circumstances, adjust your marketing strategies and reduce the pressure event planners feel when the event is approaching and a lot is yet to be achieved.

It took an entire month for the designer and me to align on the branding of the event, and this time wasn’t factored into my timeline. This made me move the event to November, as it was meant to happen in October originally. If you’re solo planning an event, I would recommend a minimum of 3–6 months to give your attendees enough time to plan and attend your event and to give you time to plan for contingencies that might arise along the way.

Lesson 2: The Economy is Hard. Give Attendees Some Breathing Space

I saw this happen in real time.

I received feedback about this while promoting the event and nearing the event’s date, about providing future attendees with enough runway to attend my event.

For context, my event demographic is made up of working-class people who are just like me and are figuring life out while juggling a myriad of financial obligations. So them shelling out NGN 50,000 at a go in our current economic situation to pay for my event was an overestimation on my part.

What I would do in subsequent events is to factor in attendees' budgeting for a high-priced ticket. This means a potential attendee would need to save a minimum of NGN 10,000 for 5 months to be able to pay for a ticket to my event. That’s a realistic approach we have taken towards paying for events today. By doing this, attendees can adequately plan and budget for my events without feeling overwhelmed.

This has taught me that times and economic seasons will change, and event attendees will have to adjust accordingly to fit into the seasons they find themselves in for now. As an event planner, I need to adjust accordingly or I risk losing my potential event attendees.

Lesson 3: Get Sponsorships

If you’re organising an event and do not have reserve cash to fund the event or a job, then you need sponsorships.

Sponsorships take away the stress of worrying about how to execute the ideas you have for the event and ensure you provide a great experience for your attendees. It also helps you cushion the ticket costs for your attendees.

In Q2, when I realised I had a very short window to market the event and hadn’t gone through with my plans of finding sponsors for the event, I had to reach out to my community for support towards the event and their support aided in the execution of the event experience I had for the second edition.

So, when planning your next event, don’t be scared to find people and brands who will support the vision of the event. Be intentional about the brands you work with and ensure to deliver on all you promise them.

Lesson 4: Don’t be Scared to Try New Experiences

I have always been curious about event experiences and how this can help elevate the experience of the attendees of the event I am a part of. This led me down the rabbit hole of event experience design, and I have been making this a part of all the events I plan since the start of the year, and it’s been widely enjoyed by all attendees.

For Soju with Chingus 2.0, I gave out merch bags at the end of the event. It included some staple items one sees in K-dramas; the famous Kopiko, a sheet mask, disposable chopsticks and some snacks that are prevalent in Nigeria. It is a blend of both cultures at the end of the day. The cherry on top for the attendees was the handwritten note I included in the gift bags. It was personalised and they loved it!

This is why one of my favourite events to organise is intimate events, as it allows me to demonstrate my uniqueness that will be felt by all who attend.

Lesson 5: Run Ads!

I learnt this the hard way. If I had run targeted ads, it would have connected me with more K-drama lovers within Lagos who might be interested in attending my event. Why play small when I can reach my event demographic by running targeted ads?

Organic marketing is great, but when you’re juggling a lot of things in your life as well as planning an event, ads take the worry of ‘will people attend’ off your shoulders and shine a light on what you’ve got planned for them. So, always keep aside a budget for your event, especially if the vision is to be global.

Bonus Points

Don’t be scared to ask for help or service discounts from your peers. If there’s a service you need that will elevate the quality of your event, I recommend you ask for either a discount or a collaboration opportunity.

The best gifts are from within your circle. Ensure you have exhausted all your options before going outside. Someone is waiting for you to ask so they know best how to support your dream.

Conclusion

I love culture. It is more than just a way of life. It is the thin thread that holds the fabric of humanity, and planning thoughtful events like Soju with Chingus allows me to creatively express my love for hosting people, my love for great food, my love for great storytelling as seen in K-dramas and my immense love for intimate gatherings.

Plans have started for Soju with Chingus 3.0. I intend to do things differently, but will retain the crux of the event. As they say, the third time is indeed the charm.

If you’re a K-influencer or a lover of K-dramas, or you love great food and are open to meeting new people and would love to discuss how to support the Soju with Chingus brand, kindly send an email to sojuwithchingus@gmail.com. I look forward to having an insightful conversation with you.

If you have gotten to this stage, thanks for staying the course!

Here’s a bit about me. I am Margareth Egbuchulam, an event planner and an experience designer. In simpler terms, I help craft experiences to make events memorable to attendees. If you’re planning an event, it is important to have your event experience locked down.

I am a multi-creative and express my creativity in various forms. I am a passionate lover of culture and I do this via travel, food, music, books, movies and TV series as long as there’s an English subtitle.

I look forward to sharing the stories of amazing people. Follow me on Medium so you can get a first row view of how I document culture, one people at a time.

“Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes.” — Richie Norton

One of my goals for this year was to gain more knowledge, grow as a community manager, and meet and connect with more community professionals in the industry.

In this article, I’d be sharing the impact of the 8 weeks I spent learning, unlearning and relearning about community management with The Community Collective run by Paz Pisarski on me.

Community Strategy Made Simpler!

Before my time at the Community Cohort, writing community strategies always seemed like a Herculean task requiring so much brain power from me. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing community strategies. For me, it’s one of the first steps to building a community that would thrive independently of you.

When I attended the community strategy class during the cohort, I was blown away at how Paz had simplified how to create community strategies. This method was all-encompassing and I must add more fun!

Do you want to have a glimpse of this Community strategy? Express your interest in the next cohort here!

Public Speaking; Easy Peasy!

The lessons and tips shared by Emmy Singh helped me in the subsequent events I had to speak at. For All Things In Moderation 2023, I employed the lesson of using icebreakers and maintaining eye contact despite it being a virtual event.

For Open Source Festival 2023, I learnt how to prepare and adapt to unforeseen events and also make your listeners make the most of the time you share. I have become bolder at speaking at events, more intentional in crafting my message and also implement these tips when planning events for the communities I manage.

Memorable Community Rituals

Through my acceptance into The Community Collective, I had a warm invitation to the Australian and New Zealand communities. The ritual of greeting us and welcoming us on behalf of the ancestors of the land was powerful and thoughtful.

As someone who loves culture, I had a glimpse into the rich history of the people and we were constantly reminded of this at the start of every event.

This is a ritual I hope to emulate in the communities I build. Despite being a virtual member and many kilometres away, I could feel the warm pull from the land and I really look forward to visiting Australia and New Zealand someday.

A Community for Community Professionals

Who says you can’t have both worlds? The members of The Community Collective’s community are made up of some of the kindest people I have met. The time difference was a huge challenge for me but everyone was supportive and understanding.

Whenever questions were asked, members were always ready to provide solutions. For someone who wasn’t able to attend any of the physical events, I was almost there in person based on how my check-in mate Desmond John looped me in on what went down. It was such a memorable feeling.

I also want to give a huge shout-out to Gospel Sokwo and Chinwendu Nwazoije for being amazing team members. Thank you for the calls and texts. The time difference had nothing on us!

A Reinvented Me!

At the end of the Cohort, I had gained all that I had wanted to learn at the start of the cohort and more. The clarity needed to navigate the community space and the goals I need to achieve in the coming years became clearer than ever.

I became more open to meeting and knowing more community professionals, especially in my local community. This growth is gradual but every day, I am open to embracing myself more.

I learnt how important it was to have a playlist. As someone who works remotely, it sets you in the right frame of mind and ensures you kick off your day with the right zest. Now, I have a playlist for different activities even down to the events I organize! Cool right?

Conclusion

There’s no end to learning. There’s no limit to what the mind can do especially when one is determined to overcome all self-doubts and embrace the unknown.

If you’re new to community management and looking to learn more about the field you’re venturing in, indicate your interest here and you’d be notified when the application for the next cohort kicks off. If you’re also looking to brush up your knowledge, you should consider being a part of the next cohort.

Did I mention you get to have live sessions with some of the best in the community industry? David Spinks, Emmy Singh and Jenny Weigle were some of the community professionals who shared their knowledge with us during Cohort #2. You too can be a part of this. Take that bold step today!

Thank you for reading my Medium post! I am a Community Manager with expertise in event planning and management, project management and partnership relationship management.

Looking to organize memorable community events for your members? Hit me up at maggiegbuchulam@gmail.com. I look forward to rendering my services!

Introduction

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality and equity. This year, International Women’s Day was celebrated on the 8th of March 2023 with the theme - #EmbraceEquity.

That was the basis for the title of the IWD event organized by CMX Connect Lagos which was celebrated on March 25th, 2023. The event had 12 speakers, 3 panel sessions and one keynote presentation.

A peek into my event planning background

I had planned various IWD-themed events in the past for various organizations such as Women TechMakers Aba, ForLoop Aba and so many more. This year’s event came with a twist; it was the first time I was planning an IWD event for community professionals within and outside Nigeria.

One of the things I love doing as a community manager is planning events and I saw this as an opportunity to understand the African community industry better to ensure they had a great event experience. I challenged myself a step further. I didn’t just want to plan and manage the event. I decided to moderate a panel session.

Was I worried about how I would combine all these and still deliver my tasks excellently at work? Absolutely! However, I had the best co-planner and together, Lateefah Bello and I were able to plan a memorable event within a month.

The aim of this post is to share the beauty of embracing the many skills you have as a community manager and employing that when planning virtual events for your community.

These are 5 lessons I learnt while co-planning the 2023 IWD event.

Create an event checklist before kicking off

“If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail” — Benjamin Franklin

I learnt the importance of owning an event checklist when I planned a series of community tours for the Talkbase Friends Community with Kristen Meren for my Talkbase Ambassador’s project. Kristen and I created the event checklist and the aim of creating the checklist was to provide a guide to a community professional who had to organize recurring events for the community.

This checklist came in handy while planning the IWD event as it;

• Allowed Lateefah and me to execute our tasks efficiently
• Have an overview of the number of tasks executed and the number of tasks yet to be done without having to constantly contact each other for a status report.
• Ensured we met any deadlines we set and if any issue arose, either of us could step in to ensure the work goes on.

Every single detail is important while planning an event and an event checklist ensures you have all of that captured in one place for everyone working with you to see.

Working with the best teammates makes the planning phase more memorable

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” — Henry Ford

Working with people we know is a knee-jerk reaction many have especially when planning events on very short notice. You already have a history working together so there’s no need to take time trying to figure out how the other person works and their style of communication etc.

This was the very first event I was planning with Lateefah and I loved the entire process. It wasn’t my first rodeo planning a virtual event with a team I hadn’t worked with before but that experience provided me with the first boost to scale whatever imaginary wall there would have been.

The second boost to my leap was given to me by EA - the CMX Lagos Connect Host. She trusted in our abilities to pull off a great event and she never stopped reminding us of this every step of the way. She’s an excellent manager and I appreciate the way she stepped in where necessary, offered advice when we were going off track and supported us to the best of her abilities. These are the qualities of a great manager and EA taught me via her actions how to be a great event manager.

The final boost to my step was given to me by Lateefah. When an extrovert and an introvert plan an event together, what do you get? The CMX IWD event! Lateefah was the yin to my yang and we complimented each other where necessary.

I was already excited about the event right from the planning. This excitement gave me strength when I was down and the support of my team members is a feeling I’d never forget.

Make use of tools to make your work easier

“Giving great service requires the right people and the right service tools.”- Ron Kaufman

I wouldn’t know what to do without my tools! Planning an event virtually requires a lot from everyone involved. It’s important to pay attention to detail throughout the 3 stages of the event; especially if you’re a small team or you’re riding solo.

Here are some of the tools we used to plan the event;

• Gmail: for official communications
• Google Form: for the speakers’ bio and profile pictures
• Telegram: Planning team communications
• Google meet: virtual meetings with the MCs
• Bevy: Virtual event platform
• Google docs: creating the event checklist

When in doubt, play to your strengths

“Success is achieved by developing our strengths not by eliminating our weaknesses.” — Marilyn vos Savant

If you’re new to community event planning or event management, this lesson would be great for you. Start off with the things you’re great at. Me, I am great at public speaking, event hosting and event management. But I hadn’t moderated an online panel session before, and this event presented me with the rare opportunity to go high on my strengths while I work hard to research ways I could make the panel session informative and impactful for the members of the audience.

What this does is, affords you the opportunity to learn and take on new challenges before deciding to say no to them. You now have the experience and can apply it when and where necessary in the future. But giving up early without even trying will never allow you to discover the undiscovered skills within you.

Worry less, enjoy the event!

“ Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”- Roy T. Bennett

It’s the D-day! I knew we had planned a great event but I just kept worrying the night before because I was scared. It was my first IWD event that was community focused.

Adrian Speyer was so kind to remind me to go easy on myself during our weekly BTW organized by Yurii Lazaruk for the CMX community. We had done our best by planning a great event for the attendees and it would be successful as no amount of worrying can actually change the outcome of an action.

And I took this advice to heart and it was worth it! When things didn’t go as planned at some point, I didn’t panic. I just iterated and communicated the updates to the hosts of the day who were very kind and understanding too.

At the end of the day, I didn’t leave the event armed with just knowledge shared during the event, I left knowing that I now had a community of people I admire greatly.

What a huge win!

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’m grateful to the speakers and moderators whose knowledge helped make the event memorable for attendees. I'm thankful to Jessica Hobbs, for the inspiring and uplifting keynote presentation. To Sasmini Bandara and Ijeoma Onwuka who held the event down as the dopest MCs in the communiverse, thank you so much and I am ecstatic about working with you all in the future.

In this post, I shared 5 important things I learnt while planning the CMX Connect Lagos IWD event. Hopefully, this article will help you when next you’re planning your next community event.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.

Till next time!

References

1. International Women’s Day

This year has been a great learning curve for me. My path to achieving the success I craved albeit crooked offered me the gift of self-discovery and a community of amazing individuals.

This year, I achieved the following;

• In February, I organized my first event for the Catholic Youth Organization in my parish on a zero budget. I was able to leverage my network and their support was pivotal to the success of the event. I was able to remit over 70,000 Naira to the organization’s account.

• In March, I was the event manager for Open Source Festival. This event is one of the biggest tech festivals in Africa and it drew in over 800 attendees from both within and outside Africa to Lagos Nigeria. The event spanned over 3 days and was a huge success.

• In August, I got accepted into the first cohort of the Talkbase Ambassador’s program. I had the opportunity to learn community operations, community management, and event planning from an amazing team and generous mentors. I also started managing the SG Writers Haven Community.

• In September, I volunteered virtually for the CMX Summit as a chat moderator. It was an amazing experience and I was privileged to connect with many community managers across the globe.

• In October, I attended my first community as a speaker. I moderated a panel discussion that extensively discussed building and scaling communities.

• In November, I concluded my Ambassador’s program and created an event checklist for recurring community events. I did this in collaboration with the amazing Kristen Meren and with this checklist, we created a plan for 5 community tours. 2 of the 5 tours have happened this year.

• In December, I and my team members organized a biannual dinner for the Catholic Youth Organization in my parish. I headed the fundraising committee and we had a goal to raise enough funds to complete the Youth empowerment center in our parish. At that same dinner, I won the Brilliant Groundbreaker Award for the year.

I am proud of myself for achieving these despite the setbacks I had.

My goal for next year is to land a remote community manager role in a great organization. If you’re looking to hire a community manager at the start of the year, I am open to having a conversation with you.

I look forward to making giant strides in 2023.

Happy holidays!

I was more than just an attendee at the summit. I also volunteered to be a chat moderator over the 2 days the summit took place.

As a chat moderator of over a thousand attendees, I performed the following duties;

• encouraging participation in the chat box during the sessions
• answering questions asked by members and forwarding questions meant for speakers to the MC Ilker Akansel in real-time
• ensuring members were adhering to the code of conduct.

As a volunteer and an attendee, I learnt the following lessons

1) Virtual networking is an important skill to have as a community manager.

As a first-time attendee of an event this big, I absolutely had no idea I was to attend with networking at the back of my mind. I came with the intention of only learning from the speakers.

However, I was quick to notice how community members were openly talking about what they do and dropping the links to their LinkedIn profiles to ensure they kept in touch even after the summit. I practised what I saw and was able to make new connections.

I will strive to maintain communication with my new connections as they all formed part of the great memories I have of the summit.

2) Don’t be afraid to take risks.

As someone who has so much experience organizing in-person events, I did doubt if I would be able to bring my big energy to the virtual event especially since I haven’t been a virtual volunteer.

I learnt that there isn’t much difference in moderating a virtual session in comparison to an in-person event.

Prior to the event, the CMX team showed us the ropes of moderating an online session. Coupled with me working with excellent MCs who made the process appear not too difficult.

All that was left was for me to bring in my awesome energy and ensure everyone had a great experience.

3) Aim to practice all you’ve learned when you attend an event

A lot of viable knowledge was imparted to all who attended the summit. I took note of points pertinent to my career growth and I have started implementing the knowledge I have gained to ensure I become a better community manager.

For someone who started the year feeling like I didn’t belong to the community management world, attending and actively participating in the summit is just the tip of the iceberg of all the amazing things I’ll get to experience as a community manager.

For context of where I’m coming from….

The year 2022 started with me making so many plans for my career as a community manager. Things however took a different turn when in February, I was laid off from work.

I discovered an integral truth while I conducted a career analysis. I had been alone throughout the start of my career as a community manager. I didn’t have a support system that I could learn from and also connect with whenever I suffered from burnout. I concluded that community management wasn’t for me any longer and was going to pivot.

I spoke with a friend and she advised that I join a community for community managers. She also sent me a link to apply for a CMX scholarship to take The Community MBA.

Deciding to join the CMX community and also actively participate in all the community activities has confirmed to me that I was born to be a Community Manager.

The next step…

I will be more involved in community management activities within my local community. This way I can have a tribe to lean on when I am down and can help budding community managers not feel alone as I was at the start of my career.

I’m grateful to some of the members of the CMX community who have played and are still playing an integral part in me succeeding in my career choice.

Cheers to building the future I will be proud of!

Everything I have written is personal- it’s the only way I know how to write. — Charlie Kaufman

My Backstory

I have always loved telling stories but more importantly, I have enjoyed listening to stories.

My mom introduced me to the beautiful world of oral storytelling. I experienced my village and the activities that went on there even without visiting.

I discovered the worlds that existed in books through boredom and I have never looked back since then. When I started diving into realms and dimensions depicted on screen, you can say I got hooked. Seeing the stories of people on screen and learning about their culture stirred something within my spirit.

My secondary school days was a time I gave in to the feeling for a bit. The arts subject combination scared me so I shelved my feelings back. My university days had me lighting the flame only when announcements had to be made in church during Mass.

I focused on fanning the flame during my service days but I fell by the way. I think the pursuit of money made me fire down the embers and I never knew just how dead I was inside.

The Set up

I am an ardent follower of Mo Abudu on Instagram. Her story and contribution to the Nigerian movie industry and Africa at large is phenomenal. Through her, I got to have faith in Nollywood films after many years.

I saw on her feed a post regarding a film school for individuals either professionals or newbies in the field. I was ecstatic. I felt the spark once more in my heart. The spark fizzled out in a blink of an eye after seeing the deadline for application had passed. I refreshed the website over 20 times hoping the application portal would magically open for me. I was comforted by the fact that there were other intakes later in the year.

I started to prepare for this journey. I told my dearest friend Liviee about this spark I felt in my heart. She made my dream hers and never let go of my hand all the while we waited for the portal to open. I had to sign up for a film school in United States but I couldn’t continue the conversation due to lack of funds. This was why, the dream of going to the Ebonylife Creative Academy had to become a reality.

My Inciting Incident

The moment I had been waiting for finally happened! The call for applications was out. With an excited heart, I decided to apply and one of the requirements snuffed the excitement in an instant. I didn’t have my certificate from my university. This problem was solved by me traveling to get the certificate. The journey back home is one that’s forever etched in my memories.

Armed with the certificate, I started my application process. I knew that I was a newbie in the field and I was competing with other professionals and newbies for one out of the 16 slots available in the June intake. I wrote my story and had it proofread by both Liviee and Ebose.

By the time I was submitting my application, I began to doubt myself. I didn’t even tell anyone at work. I was scared to fail. I thought by not letting anyone know about the spark in my heart, Liviee and Ebose would be the only ones who would know how disappointed I was. I was proven wrong. These ladies gave me all the encouragement I needed.

I started telling people about this dream of mine. I told my family, told my line manager, told my best friends and I asked them to pray for me. I wanted this badly. I really had to tick this off as an achievement in my goals for the year. Take this from me; share your dream with the right people and you will never feel alone.

One day at work, I checked my mail as I normally do since I applied for the program and there the mail was. It was an email inviting me for an interview the next week. I screamed!

The First Act Climax

I attended the interview and I enjoyed the interview process. When one thinks of interviews, its enough to make you overly nervous but this, was different. It was a conversation that we had. This interview afforded me the privilege to meet Karima Effendi and Glory Onyegbula for the first time. If I ever needed a confirmation that I was doing the right thing, meeting them cemented that.

I was offered an admission to study the Art of Screenwriting at the Ebonylife Creative Academy. The class was to run for 12 weeks; June 7th 2021 — August 27th 2021. I was all shades of excited. I signed all needed and registered on the portal and got ready for the journey ahead of me.

The issues I would have to sort out to survive the 12 weeks were, accommodation, personal and gadget security. I am grateful to my brother for accommodating me thus solving the accommodation issue. I had to be extra careful all the time especially as I was getting home very late.

My Mid point

I had the honour of learning about the rudiments of screenwriting with 15 other diverse individuals. We all had different personalities and we complimented each other perfectly.

The quiet, the goofy and the efikos are words to describe us. There will definitely be no other set like us and I would not have wished for anyone else to walk this journey with.

We brainstormed and worked on a short film and series together. We walked the streets of Victoria Island together whenever it rained, dragging our bodies through the flood and coming back the next day with a huge smile.

Through this class, I have learnt

• how to effectively communicate my ideas
• how to be a better team player
• how to lead without lording your ideas
• take more risks
• personal time management and
• having fun while doing what I love
• writing daily is a must.

Resolution

Today, my watch as a student of the Ebonylife Creative Academy has ended. I am proud of myself for; enduring the pains, the tears shed in quiet and overcoming struggles that almost broke me.

I am grateful for my friends and family for their constant support throughout these 12 weeks. I am grateful to the women on Idowu Taylor street who made getting lunch easy; they braved the odds to sell their food to us daily. I also grateful to my team members for their support.

I am one not to take risks but I stuck to my guts on this one and i am so glad I did. So, if you have always wanted to try something new, take a cue from me and give it a shot. You need to leave this world empty; devoid of regret.

P.S: I am open to collaborating and working with industry professionals in this new field of mine. Telling the African story through films is my dream.

Who doesn’t love the story of 2 eternal lovebirds meeting as kids, falling in love, ruling over a kingdom in the Joseon era, and dying together in their old age?

This storyline tugs at the heartstrings right?

This series however serves us a story of star-crossed lovers who were in love but were separated by their duties. It was released in 2017 with 20 episodes and aired on KBS2.

Park Min-young played the titular character of Queen Dangyeong of Joseon. Before rising to such great height, she was the sweet and innocent Shin Chae-kyung. The daughter of a court official extremely loyal to the King, Yeonsangun. She is betrothed to Lee Yeok (played by Yeo Woo-jin) also known as Prince Jinseong-daegun from a tender age and is to wed him when she’s older. Life has a way of disrupting all love plans right?

King Yeonsangun (played by Lee Dong-gun) is the elder brother of Prince Jinseong-daegun. He is best described as a power-drunk ruler who went to extreme lengths to keep the throne, even banishing the young Prince. This act gave the enemies of the young prince an avenue to attempt to kill the young king. They succeeded in keeping him away from the kingdom for 5 years but they didn’t kill him because a young maiden saved him.

The best twist to this series is the secret message the late King left on the back of the Queen when she was 5. The message showed the secret location of the King’s will proclaiming Prince Jinseong-daegun as the rightful King of Joseon. This showed us how far back the fate of these lovers have been tied.

What I love most about this series is the sacrifice the Queen had to make for herself and the King. Were they in love? Yes. Would the King have ruled over the inner court well? No. The father was a ‘traitor’ before he died and this would allow the members of the inner court to thwart every plan of the new King. He had to learn about life the hard way right?

This led to the queen stepping down as a queen. She ruled for only 7 days. It hurt to watch though. She vowed to always love him and from the scenes shown to us, she never remarried. The King tried so hard to her his but she kept firm in her resolve that she would never set foot in court. That was her little way of protecting him.

They finally met when the King was about to die in his old age**sobs**. I cried, to be honest. Despite the wall built between them, they communicated through letters constantly. This was her little way of reassuring him of her undying love for her and offer him strength to remember why they had to take such a tough decision ab initio.

My takes from this series are:

Love may be blind, but your brain isn’t.

The Queen had the gift of foresight. Although she foresaw a future in which they loved each other, she could also feel the hate they would experience within the palace walls. That hate was enough to break their loves. We could see scenes of that in the series. would be enough to kill their love. She didn’t want that. She also knew that he loved his people so much to put them through the pains his brother had made them pass through.

It’s okay to put yourself first

Yes, they were in love but there were so many plots to take her life that the Queen just had to leave the palace. She had lost her entire family due to the activities of the palace and she didn’t want to be a victim too. Experience is the best teacher, right? Well, she had learned the hard way. So, just because one is in love, doesn't mean that you should be guilt-tripped to stay in a toxic environment.

Conclusion

If you haven’t seen this series, it is available to stream on Netflix and other streaming platforms. Have you seen this series? Care to share other parts of the series that you loved? Did you enjoy my review?

Follow me for more interesting k-drama reviews.

Annyeong!

A kidnap. An intense declaration of love. An ultimatum. A whirlpool of romance and a lavish display of love. A messy world that lulled a-not-so-naïve sales director in. A marriage proposal. A murder?

These lines can be used to summarize the Polish movie 365 Dni (translated to 365 Days in English) directed by Barbara Bialowas and Tomasz Mandes.

The Story Line

“Are you lost baby girl?”

365 Dni is a 2020 drama and erotic movie that tells the story of Massimo Torricelli, the head of a Sicilian mafia family and Laura, a Polish sales director. The two cross paths in Sicily as Laura is in Sicily to celebrate her 29th birthday as well as salvage her relationship with her boyfriend Martin.

However, things go awry as Massimo kidnaps her and gives her an ultimatum of 365 days to fall in love with him. It is inferred in the movie that he had seen her 5 years prior to their initial meet on night of her birthday and he had been actively searching for her.

Laura was initially bent on not falling in love with Massimo and even sexually provokes him whenever she had the chance seeing as he had promised never to touch her without her permission (what a gentleman!). The two play the sexual power game but it is visible to viewers that Laura is sexually attracted to Massimo. One reason would be his obvious affection for her; the other could also be her obvious sexual starvation.

Massimo shows Laura the perks of being his woman and it is seen that though the sex was great, there were still sides of him he couldn’t bring himself to tell her and keep her from knowing too. She, however, wants to be more than just the woman he is having great sex with.

The movie continues on a happy note; Massimo proposing to her, he meeting her parents and she even begins planning their wedding. When she discovers she’s pregnant with his baby, she intends to tell him during a romantic dinner he got planned for them. Meanwhile, Mario (Massimo’s right hand man) gets a call that Laura is to be killed. He, however, couldn’t reach any of them as they are on a call with each other.

The movie ends with the car conveying Laura and her best friend entering a tunnel but never leaving it. Viewers are made to believe that something terrible may have happened to Laura inside that tunnel.

The Central Theme

The major theme I could glean from the movie was love. Every single person on earth is deserving of love and should strive to go out there and get it. However, be quite aware that love is quite professed in various forms as depicted by the characters in this movie. So, in your pursuit of happiness and love, look for the love that complements your strength and hides your weaknesses.

Other themes depicted in the movie are;

Honesty

Although Massimo skimmed over the most important of his line of work which included having enemies from various parts and endangering anyone he might fall in love with. The danger part was not spelt out fully for Laura. I am certain he believed that he would always protect her. That is one of the duties of every gentleman in the life of a woman. Sadly, we are humans; teleportation isn’t a gift of ours. The way Laura behaved at some points in the movie just went to show that she wasn’t aware that every action had a deep repercussion which actually ends in the death of someone.

The Brevity of Life

No one knows when death is going to come knocking at their door. I felt so sad that Massimo had no idea that he was a father. That realization would have broken him further- losing both his love and his child in one day but then, I am not a fan of putting till tomorrow what you can say today.

So, this one can apply to you. Is there someone you want to be honest with? You don’t want to be stuck in the had-I-known bubble for the rest of your life. No matter the outcome, you need to know that at least you did something. Time isn’t your friend sadly.

The acting

The chemistry between both actors was sizzling. Michele Morrone who played Massimo and Anna Maria Sieklucka who played Laura did an amazing job in bringing to life these two characters. The supporting cast did a great job too. If the idea was to depict how hot and steamy love is to be between two young people, they did a great job of showing us just how to be in a raunchy relationship. Massimo even knows how to dance! Like isn’t he the dream guy of every girl.

The Choice of Songs

I don’t think my review will be complete without giving kudos to the music department for this movie. The songs used during the sex scenes were on point! You are aware Massimo is dominant and controlling. These songs show you exactly how dominant he is.

I recommend you check out the playlist on YouTube and have a listen. Michele Morrone who portrays Massimo also lent his vocals in some of the songs used in the movie.

My favourite song in the list is I see Red by Everybody Loves an Outlaw

Recommendations

The movie had a romance novel vibe to it. Yeah, the romance and lovey dovey seemed cliché because I knew she was going to fall in love with him. The only curve I loved is the last scene where there seemed to be an accident. I believe that Laura is alive and captured by either one of his enemies or Anna; his ex.

Whichever way it turns out, I am sure you believe that there will be a sequel to this movie. Are you excited for it?

Overall rating

I am giving this movie 5 out of 10. To be very honest, I am not a fan of comparisons; however, I couldn’t help but notice some similarities to Fifty Shades of Grey. Did you also notice some too? Please drop them in the comment section let’s discuss about them.

So, that concludes my review for 365 Dni.

Do you agree with my review? Do you have opposing views? Don’t forget to drop them in the comment section. If you have friends who are movie buffs, you can share this review with them.

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Be safe and remember, don’t be limited by the language of a movie. Watch something new today!

Unplanned weekend getaways have never been my thing. I’m sceptical because I am leaving the fate of an entire weekend into the hands of another. I am one who is never to scared to create new memories for myself. So, while the idea of visiting a new town appealed to my wander lust, I still took it upon myself to enjoy this weekend to the very best. I didn’t have to over do this part, the entire experience was so memorable.

Ibarapa land is situated in Oyo State in the South West of Nigeria. It is not so far from Abeokuta that houses the great Olumo Rocks. Ibarapa is a very serene and quiet place to visit if you need to get away from all the hustle and bustle of the very busy Ibadan. The drive from Ibadan to Ibarapa was over 50 mins but not up to an hour. So, don’t assume it to be very far.

Let’s dive into the juicy part, shall we?

Ibarapa means; melon planted on the plain ground. Ibarapa land is made up of seven towns. These towns are surrounded by rocks and hills and some of these hills are believed to have mysterious powers. The same could be said for Olumo rock and Olumirin waterfall. The seven towns are Lanlate, Eruwa,Igbo ora, Idede. Ayete,Tapa and Igangan.

The early settlers of Ibarapa land then decided to occupy the plain land amidst the rocks and hills. When you see some houses in Ibarapa, majority of the land is occupied by rocks. Not small rocks, but huge ones. The people of Ibarapa are farmers. They cultivate cassava, corn just to mention a few but the major crop they cultivate is embedded in their name, Melon.

Melon was discovered to thrive on the plain grounds of the land by the early settlers. In fact, the melon from Ibarapa is what is sold in some parts of the south west region of Nigeria. The melon referred to here is watermelon and the popular egusi.

Going mountain climbing now, would require you wearing loose clothing as well as wearing comfortable yet sturdy shoes as well as having a can of water to avoid you getting dehydrated. If you can withstand the harsh glare of the sun, then you wouldn’t need sunshades. I,however, recommend you to take one with you.

The town of Tapa boasts of having the highest peaks. We didn’t get to visit Tapa, sadly, we went climbing in the town of Eruwa. Each town has their own high ground and I intend to climb on most, if not all of them. Since Eruwa has been checked on my list, I look forward to climbing yet another group of rocks very soon.

Would you visit Ibarapa if you have the chance? Let me know your thoughts about this town. If you are new to traveling, try to know the history or the story of the town you visit, it helps you appreciate their culture the more.

P.S The few people of Ibarapa we met, were very nice and welcoming.

Till my next adventure! Be safe

Picture taken at NYSC Secretariat Agodi Gate

Dear Diary,

Today’s entry is going to be the last for this month. I am sorry to break your heart.
Writing in you has made complacent in other parts of my writing.

I signed up for a writer’s class and so far my grades have been low. Not because I am not good at writing, but because I have accustomed myself to just one pattern of writing. To fully enjoy the class and apply all the lessons taught, I would have to start something new soonest. So, I will be going on a hiatus.

When I have mastered my short story skills, I will resume my diary sessions. Wipe your tears Diary, let us talk about today.

With ‘Shade at the ECDS Meeting

I attended my first Editorial CDS meeting today. Yippee! It was great seeing my fellow OBS crew members who are serving in other LGAs in Ibadan.

It was also good to put a face to the various people who I have been chatting with since December (the social media arm of the Editorial CDS). They welcomed us well into the family. OBS Crew members are the coolest kids on the block. Argue with your CDS group please.

A picture taken at the career fair organzied by JAN x Sigma Pension

My friend, Odi invited me to attend a Career Fair organized by Junior Achievers Nigeria and Sigma Pensions. The caliber of speakers brought to this event gave me joy as the inner me leapt for joy. I had my eureka moment during their speeches and dang I am not letting anything or anyone stop me.

A picture with Mr Gbenga (M) of Epower and ABK (a fellow corps member)

In this image are; Mrs Jumoke (middle) and Odi (L)

This girl is now on fire and just today has found her calling here in Ibadan.
Networking was definitely on my agenda as it availed me the opportunity to meet so many corps members doing great things in this Ibadan.

Until my classes are over, let me leave you with these words;

“Strive to be a person of value. Be so good that you make it so hard for people to ignore you”. Anonymous

Have a great weekend.

With much love,
From Maegy❤💙