‘There won’t be a Sandara Park without the Pinoy fans’

MANILA, Philippines - The Korea Tourism Organization couldn’t have found a more fitting ambassador to entice more Filipinos to visit South Korea than Sandara Park.

Last Monday, at the Korea Night: K-Beauty & Fun event held at the Fairmont Hotel, the presence of the K-Pop superstar and 2NE1 member became a nice reminder for the audience of why and how a foreigner like Sandara managed to become the darling of Philippine entertainment — the Pambansang Krung Krung — more than a decade ago before she decided to pursue a showbiz career in her birth country.

Sandara (or Dara to K-Pop fans) answered questions in a Q&A session and during a mini-presscon with select media in Tagalog, speaking candidly about being a K-Pop superstar, her personal goals and her beauty/skincare secrets in line with the event’s focal purpose, which was to showcase South Korea as a medical tourism powerhouse.

But first, Sandara, who was discovered via an ABS-CBN reality artista search in 2004, gave credit where credit is due with regards to her showbiz beginnings. When she learned of the opportunity to revisit the Philippines to drum up Korean tourism, she grabbed it right away despite a loaded schedule, reasoning: “Kailangan kong pumunta. Siempre, this (Philippines) is my second home…Dito ako nagsimula. Walang Sandara Park kung walang mga Filipino fans. Kaya salamat! (I had to come. Of course, this is my second home… This is where I started. There won’t be a Sandara Park without the Filipino fans. So, thank you!)”

While giving out her recommendations on Korean spots Filipinos should check out — like Jeju Island, a destination oft-featured in Koreanovelas, as well as her actual birthplace Busan — Sandara laughingly recalled how her random excursions to the 24-hour shopping district Dongdaemun always had her bumping into Filipino tourists, who’d be calling out to her, “Uy si Sandara, si Krung Krung!”

When asked about her beauty and skincare secrets, the youthful-looking singer quipped, “Baka magalit kayo sa akin. Ganito na talaga ako since birth (You might get mad at me, but I’ve been this way since birth),” drawing laughter.

 She was also asked to describe South Korea in one word and came up with “possible.” “Maybe ‘possible’ because nothing is impossible in Korea. Kung hindi, siguro ‘me’ (laughs) pero ganun din (If not, maybe ‘me,’ it’s the same thing). I tried my best. Ginawa ko ang lahat para makuha ko ang gusto ko. Masipag ang mga Koreans (I did everything to achieve my goals. Koreans are hard-working). (So) nothing is impossible.”

Sandara has gained massive popularity with her girl group 2NE1, which Billboard magazine tagged as K-Pop’s “modern-day Rolling Stones” and whose 2014 Crush album set a record by landing No. 11 on Billboard World Album’s year-end list, a first for any K-Pop act. Despite her stature, she maintained that she’s the same old Sandara. “Walang nagbago, parehong Sandara pa rin ako. Siguro medyo mas confident ako. (Nothing has changed, I’m the same old Sandara. Maybe I’m just more confident now.)

“From the shy, sweet little girl to strong, powerful, fierce, girl power — that has become my image. That’s also how I feel when I’m on stage. I have learned a lot more about music, performing, recording and to work as a team with three other girls. This is a great experience for me.”

Nevertheless, Sandara still finds it hard to believe she’s now one of the frontliners of this so-called Korean pop phenom that has won over overseas audiences, the Philippines included. “K-Pop star ba talaga ako? Parang normal lang sa akin kasi Korean ako… Gusto ko magpasalamat sa mga fans na nagmamahal sa K-Pop, parang feeling ko yung K-Pop, yung mga fans all over the world, kahit hindi nila naiintindihan yung lyrics, kinakanta pa rin nila. Masaya (ako). (Am I really a K-Pop star? It seemed normal to me, maybe because I’m Korean. I want to thank the fans who love K-Pop, I feel that even if they don’t understand the lyrics, they’re still singing our songs. I’m happy.)” 

Sandara wants to be known more than just a K-Pop artist. She’s finally flexing her acting muscles via her new project, the web drama series titled Dr. Mo’s Clinic that pairs her with Kim Yeong-Kwang. “This is it, actress Sandara na ako. This is my first project as an actress in Korea. It’s a story about a boy and a girl na brokenhearted then they met and fell in love with each other. It’s a healing drama, very innocent.”

When Sandara began to study her character, it wasn’t hard for her to relate to it because “ako ’to, kasi yung character sobrang shy type, takot siya sa mga crowd… nung high school sobrang shy ako, meron din akong stage fright. So parang kaya ko ‘to. (This is me, because the character is very much the shy type, who’s afraid of crowds…when I was in high school, I was very shy myself, I had stage fright. So, I felt like I could do this.”

According to Sandara, the web drama is just the start. She wants to take on other challenges like being a DJ and host. “I want to show other sides of Sandara Park.”

Doing a project again in the Philippines is one thing she’s hoping to happen. “I would love to do it! Dati ko nang sinasabi na gusto kong magka-movie sa Pilipinas ulit (I’ve long been saying that I want to do another movie in the Philippines).”

Apparently, there are reports that John Lloyd Cruz has had expressed his desire to work with Sandara. A visibly thrilled Sandara reacted, “Eh di wow! Naku si papa John Lloyd. Gustong-gusto ko yan, kasi I really love his movies, his acting, nakaka-in love yung mata niya ’pag umarte siya, so sobrang excited ako kung mangyari yun. (I really want that because I really love his movies, his acting, you will fall in love with his eyes when he acts, so I’ll be very excited when that happens.)”

Sandara has a minor concern though. “Medyo nag-wo-worry ako kasi di ba mature yung movies niya, mga serious… parang feeling ko bata pa ako (I’m a bit worried because his movies are mature, serious… I feel I’m too young),” she laughed.

She added though that should the movie materialize, she hopes for a never-been-done story, playfully calling the attention of ABS-CBN’s movie-making arm, “Star Cinema, hihintayin ko yun! I will wait for it!”

Sandara also received a plaque of appreciation during the Korea Night, which was organized by the Korean Tourism Organization and hosted by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in partnership with the Korean Cultural Center and its sponsors — the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA). She also graced the 2015 Travel Tour Expo at the SM Mall of Asia.