Sandara Park on being recognized by Filipinos even after living abroad: 'I'm so happy'
Sandara Park is humbled that Filipinos still recognize her even after she retired from the local showbiz industry.
On Twitter, the South Korean singer and actress questioned how people still remember her even after moving back to her home country, Korea.
She asked: "Question! Pano nyo ba ako naalala hanggang ngayon kahit matagal nako wla sa Phil. Tv show. Sa halos lahat ng generation, naalala pa nila ako. Kahit sa mall, sa market, sa restuarant, sa lahat ng places. kakagulat hehe I’m so happy!!!"
She also said in another tweet: "Sobrang nakakagulat at nakakaflatter na hanggang ngayon, kilalang kilala pa ako ng mag Pinoy. Maraming salamat sa love & support nyo sakin~!!! mahal ko kayo~!!! Forever~!!!"
The tweet, which has over 62.3k likes and 4,338 retweets as of writing, elicited numerous responses from her fans, saying they'll never forget the Korean idol because she has a heart of a Filipino.
"Hindi ka makalimutan ng mga Pinoy Sandy kase lagi mo rin kaming naaalala at binabalikan," a fan replied.
"Beh, ikaw ung koreanang pusong [P]inoy na mas masipag pa magpromote sa Pilipinas sa totoong Pinoy. Ikaw ung nakita namin sumikat at nangarap hanggang naging totoong K-idol ka. Siyempre [di ka] na makakalimutan. Ikaw ang nagiisang krung krung namen and our one and only DARA," said another fan.
Others told her that they have loved her ever since she appeared in ABS-CBN's reality-based talent competition Star Circle Quest (SCQ).
"Grabe impact mo sa amin kahit SCQ days pa. Fave memory namin ng mga kapatid ko yung In or Out era. Around 6-10 yrs old kami kaya nagpasama pa kami sa lola namin sa mall show. Pinapagalitan nya pa kami noong una pero noong lumabas ka sa stage sya yung ang lakas ng sigaw...napabili pa ng album para makalapit sayo. Tapos pinakiusapan pa yung guard kung pwede lahat kaming bata makasama sa loob for signing. Every time inaalala namin yung lola namin, naalala ka rin namin," shared one Twitter user.
"Sandy, pioneer batch ka ng SCQ, which was a big show on free tv plus you are really unforgettable, Koreana pero marunong magTagalog at mahal ang Pinas. Tapos, yung song mo na In Or Out, so catchy. Lastly, nakatatak na sa lahat ang Rejoice commercial mo na Walang Sabit," explained one user.
Meanwhile, other netizens said that they're also fans of her now-defunct K-pop group 2ne1.
"Parang ikaw ang nagsimula ng K-pop craze sa Pilipinas. 2ne1 fan here since 2009, college days pa & until now, 1 decade na halos lumipas, I still wish to see 2ne1 together in the future," a fan wrote.
"After kitang nakilala from the time na katambal mo po si Hero Angeles, sa 2ne1 kita sunod na masubaybayan hahahaha Grade 3 palang ako non on repeat na kantang ninyong I Don't Care at Fire sa music player ko non," one reply said.
Sandara, or Dara to her fans, rose to fame in 2004 when she joined the first season of SCQ and emerged as the runner-up and overall fan favorite.
Following that, she signed with Star Magic and starred in local films and TV such as Bcuz of U, Super Noypi, and Can This Be Love?
She also produced her self-titled album Sandara, which included the novelty song In or Out.
Sandara left for Korea in 2007 to start anew and eventually became a Korean idol.
Sandara is in the Philippines to film a new show for SBS MediaNet called Idol Truck Project, a show that highlights small and medium-sized businesses.