It was raining so hard today. Decided to just chill at home and work on my wellness bingo card. I hope to have time to go to the beach this quarter!
I started writing when I was 8. My mom got me a journal where I could rant (prob so I won't be an annoying brat). I stopped writing for 8 years until the pen and then later on the keyboard called on me again. I blog because I like writing and that's just about it. Hope you get inspired though... Bite the apple!
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Friday, January 20, 2017
How to Always have a Good Day
There are good days and there are bad days. Today was a great day. Based on my post yesterday, it wasn't a good day yesterday. I guess it really depends on which side of the bed you wake up on.
I've been having bad sleep the last few days, possibly because of the medicines I have been drinking to cure my sinus infection. Phil told me earlier that the meds should put me to sleep. I said I don't know why but my brain has been hyperactive the last few nights. My EENT will not be happy because he said that one must have good sleep every night. And to have that you should breathe freely (of course he's an EENT). My cardio would say, "No stress. Have a happy heart."
To commemorate today's happy day we decided to go to the beach to breathe in some fresh air. It's been a grueling work week for me full of ups and downs and being sick does not help. Since it was Friday the hubby suggested we go to the beach to relax, breathe fresh air and then have a good dinner. So off we went to Sentosa. We had a nice good walk at the beach side and had some snacks (Jaybucks!) by the water. It was a nice refreshing way to end the work week.
I try to meditate as Meng taught us, but my mind always wander off. It takes me awhile, but it eventually calms me down. What makes me happy and perky though is when I become thankful. I start being thankful with simple, tiny things (cute lady bugs count!) and then work my way up to the big stuff (like being alive!). What floors me though is when I wish happiness for others. Counting blessings will bring you out of any rut you are in :)
Happy TGIF!
I've been having bad sleep the last few days, possibly because of the medicines I have been drinking to cure my sinus infection. Phil told me earlier that the meds should put me to sleep. I said I don't know why but my brain has been hyperactive the last few nights. My EENT will not be happy because he said that one must have good sleep every night. And to have that you should breathe freely (of course he's an EENT). My cardio would say, "No stress. Have a happy heart."
To commemorate today's happy day we decided to go to the beach to breathe in some fresh air. It's been a grueling work week for me full of ups and downs and being sick does not help. Since it was Friday the hubby suggested we go to the beach to relax, breathe fresh air and then have a good dinner. So off we went to Sentosa. We had a nice good walk at the beach side and had some snacks (Jaybucks!) by the water. It was a nice refreshing way to end the work week.I try to meditate as Meng taught us, but my mind always wander off. It takes me awhile, but it eventually calms me down. What makes me happy and perky though is when I become thankful. I start being thankful with simple, tiny things (cute lady bugs count!) and then work my way up to the big stuff (like being alive!). What floors me though is when I wish happiness for others. Counting blessings will bring you out of any rut you are in :)
Happy TGIF!
Thursday, January 19, 2017
How do We Bring Things Back to Order?
I never thought I would have the opportunity to work for a foreign company. I always thought that I would just be based back home. I assumed that being the youngest I would be the one to stay home with my parents since my siblings both live abroad already. Opportunity came and I found myself working with a diverse set of people and eventually found myself living far away from home. I found that Filipinos always put their best foot forward when abroad. It is when we show that we are hard workers. It's also when we are at our charming best. It's also when we always follow the rules.
When I went home last Christmas I noticed that we do tend to beat/ignore the red light (a lot of jeepney drivers do this). Pedestrians not following the signs. Throwing trash everywhere. And it's not just in Manila because I saw these things happen also in other cities in Northern Luzon. In the compound I live in Manila, my neighbors oftentimes rant in our FB group that there would be others who would just let their pets do their thing and then leave the dirt after without cleaning up. Or when others would just leave trash lying around to be scavenged on by cats. It's sad. It's really, really sad because we all want to have peace and order, but we do not follow these simple rules.
I wonder how we could bring back what the ancient barangay represented. The time when being part of a community meant being helpful and being good neighbors. I know it's going to be hard because life is hard especially in the city (i.e. getting to and from work is a daily struggle), but maybe if we love our neighbor a bit more, maybe we can bring things back to order.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Fire in Paranaque
I got sick and after reading the blogging attempts I did early this month I decided to rest and just re-start the challenge when I felt like doing it. My target was to start again on January 15, but I had a relapse over the weekend and had to use all my energy for our quarterly review. I survived the review, but hope I did not infect anyone else. Saw my favorite EENT right after my last review and he ordered me to take at least one day rest.
So yesterday I rested and as the day progressed I started to feel really sad that I've been sick for more than a week already. I was also sad because the doctor gave me antibiotics again. I know I need it to get well, but I was hoping I wouldn't need to drink antibiotics for several more months. I know that worrying is very unproductive so I took the time to sleep to help heal my body. My brain was also having a hard time anyway figuring out a new assignment that was given to me.
I was still sulking by evening and was quite masungit to my boys. I wanted to work on some projects but my body wasn't cooperating. Past ten in the evening I received a message from Phil about the fire that broke near our place in Paranaque. I immediately checked for news about it to identify the area. I realized that it's quite hard to get the exact area from Twitter because they usually just state the general location. I was starting to panic because the areas were near our place.
After scouring through tweets I finally found the correct area that was on fire -- Sitio Pag-asa, Barangay Sun Valley. I immediately checked the map to see how near/far the area was. It was very near. I kept telling myself, DO NOT PANIC. I then checked on my Mom to see if they already knew about the fire. They did and they said that they could hear explosions coming from it. My neighbors who were chatting on our FB page also indicated that there were many explosions coming from the area. I then informed my other neighbors in Sun Valley about the fire.
The alarm was eventually set to 5. I did a bit of research to understand better what the alarm levels mean. It's mainly about what level of authority will be in-charge of the situation according to the Bureau of Fire Protection. Because it was already level 5, fire trucks from all over Metro Manila came to respond. Ate Luz said that there was a firetruck already in our street which is about a kilometer away from the fire. I really truly appreciate the hard work the fire fighters did to protect everyone and save properties.
According to GMA the fire was controlled at 12:07am and it was out at past 1 in the morning. Sixty houses and 150 families were affected by the fire. There were no casualties reported (thank God!). The fire hit very close to home. It was just a kilometer away from my home and my Mom's home. Being far away the only thing we could do is to pray that the fire fighters could put it out as soon as they could. I also took it upon myself to find accurate information to share to my family and get as much info to assuage my fears.
The work now is to help the families affected by the fire. My neighbors shared that the Marimar chapel and the school was also affected by the fire. If you would like to send donations, you may send it to the parish through Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (+632-823-1210).
So yesterday I rested and as the day progressed I started to feel really sad that I've been sick for more than a week already. I was also sad because the doctor gave me antibiotics again. I know I need it to get well, but I was hoping I wouldn't need to drink antibiotics for several more months. I know that worrying is very unproductive so I took the time to sleep to help heal my body. My brain was also having a hard time anyway figuring out a new assignment that was given to me.
I was still sulking by evening and was quite masungit to my boys. I wanted to work on some projects but my body wasn't cooperating. Past ten in the evening I received a message from Phil about the fire that broke near our place in Paranaque. I immediately checked for news about it to identify the area. I realized that it's quite hard to get the exact area from Twitter because they usually just state the general location. I was starting to panic because the areas were near our place.
Photo by Myra, our neighbor.
After scouring through tweets I finally found the correct area that was on fire -- Sitio Pag-asa, Barangay Sun Valley. I immediately checked the map to see how near/far the area was. It was very near. I kept telling myself, DO NOT PANIC. I then checked on my Mom to see if they already knew about the fire. They did and they said that they could hear explosions coming from it. My neighbors who were chatting on our FB page also indicated that there were many explosions coming from the area. I then informed my other neighbors in Sun Valley about the fire.
Photo by our neighbor Daisy M.
According to GMA the fire was controlled at 12:07am and it was out at past 1 in the morning. Sixty houses and 150 families were affected by the fire. There were no casualties reported (thank God!). The fire hit very close to home. It was just a kilometer away from my home and my Mom's home. Being far away the only thing we could do is to pray that the fire fighters could put it out as soon as they could. I also took it upon myself to find accurate information to share to my family and get as much info to assuage my fears.
The work now is to help the families affected by the fire. My neighbors shared that the Marimar chapel and the school was also affected by the fire. If you would like to send donations, you may send it to the parish through Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (+632-823-1210).
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Friday, January 6, 2017
Pasalubong Shopping in Baguio
Our goal today was to buy pasalubong for our parents and earmarked time to buy goodies at Mountain Main Training Center (Good Shepherd) and get some veggies from the Baguio City Public Market. It was a bit challenging getting on the right road to the Good Shepherd place because some of the roads recommended were closed to traffic. We almost ended up going to Nueva Vizcaya! The view though was very nice and we just turned back to find a safer route to the center. It was real treat to see this lovely view.
We wanted to finish our shopping before lunch and attempted to go to the public market. Finding parking though was very challenging so we decided to just eat lunch first and just go back. Luckily we were able to park at the department store across the public market. I've been to the Baguio City Public Market several times already, but only discovered today that there is a pasilio just for flowers! The area smelled heavenly and it was so tempting to buy a bouquet.
The public market in Baguio City is one of the cleanest I have been too and I absolutely love shopping for vegetables and rice there. The best brown rice I have tried is from Baguio City and that was the main reason why I wanted to go. Aside from rice we got 2 brooms, strawberries and some veggies for our parents. There was also some fun zumba ongoing inside the market!
I realized that three nights in Baguio isn't enough! I still have a long list of new restaurants I want to try, but will have to save it for another time. I hope it won't take me another three years to go back!
We wanted to finish our shopping before lunch and attempted to go to the public market. Finding parking though was very challenging so we decided to just eat lunch first and just go back. Luckily we were able to park at the department store across the public market. I've been to the Baguio City Public Market several times already, but only discovered today that there is a pasilio just for flowers! The area smelled heavenly and it was so tempting to buy a bouquet.
The public market in Baguio City is one of the cleanest I have been too and I absolutely love shopping for vegetables and rice there. The best brown rice I have tried is from Baguio City and that was the main reason why I wanted to go. Aside from rice we got 2 brooms, strawberries and some veggies for our parents. There was also some fun zumba ongoing inside the market!
I realized that three nights in Baguio isn't enough! I still have a long list of new restaurants I want to try, but will have to save it for another time. I hope it won't take me another three years to go back!
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Happy Tummy in Baguio
Ahhh tonight I'm blogging using a tablet (with a bluetooth keyboard), so hopefully I will have an easier time. Hotel wifi though is a bit slow, but much better than the last time I stayed here in 2014.
Our family vacations generally revolve around finding good local restaurants we could dine in. Friends usually help with recommendations. Our friend, Vince, told us that there are now a lot of new places to try in Baguio. We've been to Baguio numerous times and have been to the usual tourist places several times so our theme for this vacation is, "Happy tummy!".
Our first stop last night was "Don Henrico's". Don Hen is a well-known local restaurant that originated in Baguio. We always eat at Don Hen whenever we visit Baguio. I'm glad though they now have sampler plates because I don't need to bring home any leftover anymore.
Next door was "Vizco's". Vince described it as the locals' sosyal (affluent) cake shop. The cake display looked amazing so we sat down and took a look at their gigantic menu (it's much bigger than the ballot cover folder when you vote). We ordered a strawberry cake and oreo cheesecake. It was absolutely heavenly! We'll definitely go back!
After dinner and dessert we were too tired to do anything else and went back to the hotel and immediately conked out. Well I managed to blog a bit about our trip last night (I don't really remember what I wrote anymore hehe). Ahhh Baguio, the cool air would definitely force you to catch up on zzzs.
Our family vacations generally revolve around finding good local restaurants we could dine in. Friends usually help with recommendations. Our friend, Vince, told us that there are now a lot of new places to try in Baguio. We've been to Baguio numerous times and have been to the usual tourist places several times so our theme for this vacation is, "Happy tummy!".
Our first stop last night was "Don Henrico's". Don Hen is a well-known local restaurant that originated in Baguio. We always eat at Don Hen whenever we visit Baguio. I'm glad though they now have sampler plates because I don't need to bring home any leftover anymore.
Next door was "Vizco's". Vince described it as the locals' sosyal (affluent) cake shop. The cake display looked amazing so we sat down and took a look at their gigantic menu (it's much bigger than the ballot cover folder when you vote). We ordered a strawberry cake and oreo cheesecake. It was absolutely heavenly! We'll definitely go back!
After dinner and dessert we were too tired to do anything else and went back to the hotel and immediately conked out. Well I managed to blog a bit about our trip last night (I don't really remember what I wrote anymore hehe). Ahhh Baguio, the cool air would definitely force you to catch up on zzzs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)