Year-end Reflection Attempt 1

How difficult is it to reflect on the year that was 2020. I really do want to keep this on the positive note, but we were all there. 2020 was a tremendously difficult year.

6 days in, and I haven’t had the chance for yearend reflection and set my New Year intentions. This is new to me, so I looked up some guide questions, and man they are tough to answer.

So let’s start with this one –

What worked well that I’m grateful for?

I am grateful that boss and I got to keep our jobs. I don’t even have to research what the increase in unemployment rate was last year, to know that it was bad not just here but also for the rest of the world. I’m also grateful that we get to work from home and not have to worry about higher risk of exposure from workplace and on daily commute. With that, I’m grateful that we spend day in and out together and actually not combust! We had our moments, but we keep on surviving.

What were my most meaningful moments?

I think it will be too cheesy if I talk so much about being a wife etc. But during the months that I was on morning shift, I inadvertently developed a routine. Nap after shift, prep for early dinner or order from Grab Food more often than I should, go YouTube or Netflix hopping while having dinner, sometimes blog, wash the dishes & clean the apartment (yes you read that right!). Before my husband wakes up for his shift, I savor my “alone” time in our neat apartment and that makes me happy. Sometimes, I even stand on a spot where I can see both our kitchen and living area and just appreciate our humble tidy space.

Another moment which came to mind was meeting Siquijor; that was another level of kilig. I lost count of how many times I uttered hunggandaaaa!!!  – “ang ganda” spoken with kilig that I literally wanted to cry. It was like hearing a beautiful song for the first time and experiencing 13 seconds to love. (Okay, now I want to cry because I miss travel so much).

After the liquor ban was lifted, boss & I felt so alcohol-deprived that we drank almost every weekend lol. Our drinking sesh constituted as our date nights. I don’t remember all the stories shared but I remember enjoying those nights with slightly looser inhibitions and tipsy easy laughs.

Where did I spend my time and energy?

I do not despise this question. I just hate the fact that I will not like the answer. I spent a lot of it on entertainment, mediocrity, and trying. There I said it and I hate it. At some point, I could no longer find show and content I actually like on Netflix and YouTube but felt like I had nothing else. Now I think it looks bad that part of my “meaningful moments” answer is this lol. Anyway, I did try to look for something else that will be valuable. I signed up on Udemy and looked for free short courses. I tried to learn Hangul, I tried to learn to be a better at writing, and I tried to study some other stuff that I am just remembering now, like Dr Robert Sapolsky’s Behavioral Psychology lectures. I even volunteered for an NGO and translated COVID-related surveys to Tagalog. Without Googling, can you translate “behavioral change” to Tagalog? The task was far more exhausting than I expected, and just had to stop. If you are interested, I can hook you up. But consider this a warning.

Ang haba na. Itutuloy ko to promise.

 

 

 

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Happy Splashy New Year

 

 

 I got inspired by the splashy greetings of the elephants at Sheldrick Trust Wildlife and thought of uploading this clip of me jumping from a swing in Cambugahay Falls. 

I can't believe it's been 10 months since this trip!

I sincerely hope we all have better cards in 2021!

Happy New Year!

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sobrang hahabaan ko na lang, yung tipong see you next year after this

game, let's do this. sobrang hahabaan ko na lang, yung tipong see you next year after this.

I'm at a comfy chair, it's kind of quiet in my brain, outside, not so much. I'm busog, and i'm not depressed, sorry, I know i shouldnt use that word lightly, pero i'm okay, i'm at that right state of mind. 

kaso too bad some of they keys on my laptop are no longer working.

medyo kakalungkot. matagal nang nauna tong shift key. hit or miss tong letters k & j na dapat ulit ulitin bago ma-type talaga. 

nadidiliman na rin ako sa resolution.

anyway, malaya ko namang nagagamit ang PC ni boss pero possessive kasi ako, kumbaga, iba pa rin for me ang sarili kong laptop. 9 years old na rin kasi to. company discount pa kila ate. 

ano na ba ganap?

may approved vaccine na for COVID-19. sana talaga makabalik na tayo sa dati. kahit gaano ko ka-love ang work from home, mas bet ko pa rin na bumalik sa normal. ayaw ko nung constant fear and yung stress na hindi kami basta makauwi kila mommy.

pero medyo thuglife na rin kami. please don't judge.

we are mindful pa rin ng mga safety protocol, though mostly ng labas is essential, like nung nilakad namin yung billing issue sa Globe. and nitong hinabol namin yung license sa LTO. twice pa lang yung super non-essential, brekky with Artes, & nung bumili kami TV. pero ewan, palakasan na lang talaga ng guardian angel. dami na rin talaga tao sa labas. namasyal ako sa lower Cavite habang driving lessons, sinusunod ko lang si sir instructor. pero ODK Bacoor, Binakayan, apakadaming tao sa labas! nauna bang natapos sa inyo ang pandemic?! bakit parang chill lang lahat at medyo matraffic pa rin - aguinaldo hi-way, juskolord, di kita namimiss. 

akala ko mag ease ng konti dahil may Cavitex na, pero it's still very sikip, at ang mga motor, itigil nyo yang kakasingit singit nyo! 

DECEMBER na ulet!! parang kelan lang nag wedding anniversary kami, now mag 2nd year na kami agad! 

hihirapan na naman ako isip gift for wedding anniv, Christmas, & birthday for boss. 

ang daming nakakamiss na mga bagay. just before I resumed writing this post, I was watching an online gig; tumugtog She's Only Sixteen. once pa lang namin sila napanood, and ang saya ko kasi ako nag introduce nung band na yon kay boss. feeling validated lang ba. kasi he's the musically-inclined one sa amin, ako hilig lang kinig and discover new artists. so nung niyaya ko sya sa gig non sa  Saguijo, go agad sya. nanalig akong makakabalik tayo sa dati at makanood sa mga siksikan na events/gig nang walang pangamba.

mag photodump ba ko at lumipat sa PC ni boss para i-correct ang mga case ng mga letters sa post na to?

sige, konti lang. 

brb

Tinatamad na pala ko i-correct mga cases.

Random Photo Dump - from my camera na nasira na </3 

Puro Singapore photos pala nasa album na yon. Ayusin ko na talaga.

kthxbye

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I have a forgotten Mutual Fund account that I just checked this morning and was surprised to find out that I gained P750

I have a forgotten Mutual Fund account that I just checked this morning and was surprised to find out that I gained P750! Sobrang saya ko, ibang klase. Kalat-kalat kasi mga mini funds namin and this one is from prior to us getting married pa. 

On one of Financial Wellness talks sa office, na-enganyo ako mag open ng COL Financial account and funded it ng cute amount. 

Nakalimutan ko na which product yung gusto kong gawin, nag magpapaturo sana ako kay BFF Don. Hindi ako marunong mag trade kasi talaga. So ilang months yung fund na sleeping. I wanted to pull it out na kaninang umaga kasi I was thinking of managing finances na lang muna thru mga Digital Banks (ING, CIMB, etc.). To my surprise, naibili ko pala yun ng stock ng Sunlife, at may gain ako na P750. I keep saying "gain", but am not really sure if it's the correct term. ROI? Anyway, ang saya lang. Contrary to my much older mini UITF naman, na forever lugi (-27%)!!! 

Anyway, here's a comparison of per annum interest rate why I wanted to move yung savings --

Traditional Savings (eg BDO) =  0.125%

Security Bank eSecure Savings = 1.000% (may bracket, but if 50k-99k)

High Interest Digital Bank (eg ING) =  2.5% (and while naka promo now 4% for the next 4 months)

Pero aandar talaga savings namin, kung titigilan ko na kakapadeliver via Grab Food and Food Panda! 

kthxbye

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Mini Other Kwentos of the Non-Touristy Stuff: (Getting to) Camotes Islands, Cebu

2013, First trip namin together at amateur pa ko mag plan ng itinerary.

Ang ganda sa Camotes Islands. Proud ako sa mga pag commute namin sa ibang lugar, pero ito medyo asar na asar ako, 'til now. 

So from Cebu City, nag van lang kami to Danao. Pagbaba ng van kagulo mga tryk/pedical driver dinumog mga pasahero. Medyo na-disorient ako sakanila. Pero ayun may kinausap kaming isa, and ihatid kami sa port - kontrata P150. NAPAKA LAPIT NG BINABAAN NAMIN NG VAN SA PORT!! I made Google just now, 'di ko tanda if mismo ba sa terminal kami binaba, pero nasa mga 700 meters lang terminal to port.  

Anyway nakarating naman kami sa Camotes Islands and may guide na I made arrangements with. Hindi ko lang natanong prior yung duration ng island tour. So, yung whole day trip, pinagkasya namin sa halfday. Sayang, di namin na-enjoy yung ibang stops nang matagal and as usual nag LQ pa kami. Naiwan nya kasi swimming shorts - ayun nga rin issue pa kasi sakin, di ko rin sya na-brief kasi nga ako plan nang plan, basta sumama lang sya lol. Charge to experience. 

Medyo nakwento ko na pala to sa Camotes post ko. Pero ayun, medyo proud lang ako how far I've come when it comes sa pag plan ng mga lakad now. 

At dahil 'di nga namin na sulit, sana makabalik kami. Looking forward kasama mga kaladkarin friends, same people on our Dumaguete x Siquijor trip. 

Haaaay, pandemic please be over soon! 

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This was supposed to be a longer post but CTS is acting up Blogger is being stupid.

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Lazy post dahil ako parin 'to. I spent ridiculous amount of time mindlessly scrolling again, and YouTube hopping.

And Blogger is giving me a hard time with the fonts.

Anyway, earlier today I decided that I'll step out and run some errands. I don't know how the transportation situation is here in Bulacan. Di ko napansin nung papunta kami dahil busy looking for ATM that is not offline, has cash, and hindi mahaba pila. Error 404! From both NLEX Gasoline stations na nadaanan to the ones along the way, Pla & Pul.

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It's my bedtime but I challenged myself to write the entire week so even though I'm tad bit sleepy, here I go.

 I actually miss writing on a nice notebook with my green Pilot pen. I miss my dresser back home. My husband got me a table that was supposed to take that (GMA dresser) role but COVID happened, so the table is now my office.  

I used to always own 3 (or more) green Pilot pens - for home, office, and my purse. And like Chapsticks, I often lose the purse pen. So it gives me a little bit of pride when any of the other 2 reach the end of its life and run out of ink. And like all my other possessions, I usually drop these pens, hence the "or more" part. It's a known fact that Pilot pens get choppy when dropped. I try to replace it at once.

Yes. I got side tracked thinking about my green Pilot pens when I was supposed to be writing something with substance. 

I got nothing. 

So here's more random blabber which is also ink-related. 

I just realized that a lot my friends have tattoos. I used to want one. I kinda still do. But I fear that if I choose an artistic or pretty design, I will eventually get over it, or worse, find the design cheesy/cringey in the future. Afterall our taste changes over time. Tattoo commitment issues exist! 

On the other hand, lasers now exists! However even with that knowledge, I do not have that urge to get one. So maybe I don't really care for it? Idk.

 This is long enough. *scrolls up* 

Yup. Good enough for my future self's entertainment.

 

 

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