Lakwatsera Fridays: In-N-Out Burger

Saw from my stream that In-N-Out Burger had a pop-up station yesterday in BGC. It's a popular burger place in the US. Most of its branches are in California, so my friends there told me that I had to try it. I did whenever I was in Sunnyvale. The burger is certainly very tasty. 

The last time I went to In-N-Out was a lunch out of Sweetie's classmate who lived in the US. She thought it would be a good experience for the boys. The crew found out that we were visiting from another country and they provided us with cute In-N-Out hats, haha. 

The place was very busy when we went. I think it was a Sunday and people just kept poring in. We were lucky to find tables to fit all of us, haha. It was fun to experience dining-in and I got to observe how much food the kitchen produced. They were fast and I can't imagine how they were able to cook so much fries so fast! It's been 5 years since I've had it, all I remember now is it's good and juicy unlike other fastfood burgers. I also liked their milkshake. 

It was a really good burger and I wouldn't mind if they expanded here in the Philippines. They haven't expanded internationally though, so we'll likely just have pop-ups. This blog post though says that they have acquired trademark registrations in several countries, including the Philippines. More to protect its brand. Best way to try it is go to California :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Throwback Thursdays: Career Advise for my Fresh Grad Self

Remember when you had your career orientation just before you graduated from college? They advised all of us to have a "plan". The only thing that stuck to me from that class was to chose your place of work that's close to your home and to gather skills as you go along. 

I graduated with two degrees, AB- Political Science and BS-Legal Management. A lot of people asked me how come I didn't pursue law. I didn't because I already found it hard to finish my LM degree. I wasn't into it and at that time I realized I should have taken up marketing instead. And that's the reason why I got a Masters in Business Administration. It gave me additional skills to understand better what else I needed to learn. 

So that's what I did with my career. I went through the 7Ps of marketing in the different jobs I had. Much as I didn't really have an "end goal" I was happy in the roles I had because I continued to learn. What probably helped me was being part of the market development team in my first job. Our role was to break in new products in the market and that's why I enjoyed doing. I never really cared much for titles and funnily used different titles on my business cards depending on the market I was serving. 

My career was cut short because of my illness. My doctors advised me it was time to slow down and rest. It was too late when I stopped. I should have probably stopped after my first PE four years ago. I was fired up though because I liked what I was doing. My only regret is not leaving some energy for myself. On the brightside, at least I'm not a financial burden to my family. 

This would be my advise to my fresh grad self -

• You can reach anything you want as long as you put your mind and hardwork to it
• Don't be a slave, leave something for yourself
• Focus on roles that would help others
• Just keep learning
• Don't be picky on what you need to do, but draw the line if it goes against your values
• Budget your money wisely
• Plan your retirement from the beginning

A lot of my friends grew tired of their corporate job already. Working abroad just happened for me and I always knew I wanted to go home as soon as Miggy finished his studies. I was just surprised my career ended this way. I blog everyday to keep my brain working. My doctors made me promise not to let my brain waste away.

I think it wasn't so bad I followed the learning path for my career. I was happy to just keep learning since it removed the pressure of going up the ladder. Whatever movements I had was because my work and skills were recognized. It would have probably helped though if I was a bit more noisy about my accomplishments, but it just never felt right. 

The only way I could work again or maybe have a business is if my quality of life improves. My doctors keep telling me I'm still young and they're hoping they could help me get better. In the meantime, I'll just keep writing 15 to 30 minutes a day. 

PS I had 10 jobs before I joined the last one. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Wellness Wednesdays: Dealing with Life's Mysteries

I have learned to accept the fact that doctors and science cannot explain everything. The best way is to live your life the best way you can. I made this comment last night in the pulmonary embolism patients group. I remember when I joined the group many years ago, I was confused and anxious about the diagnosis. Getting a PE is always a surprise to everyone. You only find out you have it when it happens. 

In my case, it took over a year and getting a second opinion before I was diagnosed with it. I was bewildered and realized if I didn't push to see another doctor I'd probably be gone now. I didn't dwell on it at that time because I was busy preparing for a trip. I was grounded by my doctor after that trip, haha. I went on with my life, but eventually had a second PE. 

I actively comment back to new patients who join the group. I know and understand what they're going through. They are often frustrated, bewildered and lost. Looking for answers on why you had it. Some are lucky to know why they had it. Some get it because it's in their genes. Some due to birth control. Others due to giving birth. But there are people like me who would never know why I had it. 

I've made peace with that and embraced it as a life mystery. Doctors don't have all the answers. I've seen a good number of them. I did so many tests and they generally told me to just monitor and don't let anyone open you up again. My focus now is to improve my quality of life. Here's what I've learned so far:

1. Not all your questions will be answered, just let it be. Treat it as a mystery and just let God take care of you. 

2. The Nile is not just a river in Egypt. Denial will just frustrate you further. Just accept it and focus on improving your quality of life. 

3. Not many people will understand what you're going through. Some would be sympathetic, others would be distant. Others would expect you to be "normal". Just focus on appreciating those who are around you. 

4. Don't beat yourself if you can't be what you used to be. Just be at least 1% better than yesterday. 

5. Find simple joys and be grateful of everything. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Creative Happy Tuesdays: My Christmas Quilt Projects

Finally got around to planning my Christmas projects. I spent an entire week after I finished the quilt cover I made for the O2 concentrator thinking about what I should make for Christmas. I found my idea notebook and poured over the list I made. After selecting what I want to make, I also looked at Pinterest for ideas. 

Since I don't have any Christmas quilts, I thought I'd make some for use at home. I want to make some place mats, potholders, a table runner, coasters and maybe mug rugs. I hope to finish also the tree skirt I started last year and if I still have time make some throw pillows, a lap quilt and maybe a Christmas sock.

Pinwheel lap quilt

 

In previous years, I was able to make gifts for my friends. I'm still thinking about what I can make this year that won't break my fingers (haha). The previous gifts I made were all hand sewn. I made a few lap quilts last year for my friends in Singapore and my doctors. It was a race to finish it in-between packing for our trip home. 

Lap quilt for my respiratory doctor :)

To warm up, I'll probably start making some potholders and then I'll work my way up to the table runner. I'm still figuring out how to properly do the tree skirt. I didn't finish the one I made last year because I'm not too happy with how it looks. I'll probably finish it since we're planning to put up multiple trees again this year. 

Hope I'll be more productive for the rest of the year. I spent too much time already just trying to gain more energy. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

  

Home on Mondays: Sold My 10-Year Old Car in 2 Weeks

Minnie is now gone. That's what I called my tiny car when I got her in 2011. The funny thing is I even created a blog to chronicle my adventures with her. Of course, that didn't happen because a few months after getting Minnie I moved to Singapore. 

I never really got to drive Minnie by myself because Mom always insisted I should have someone drive for me. The only times I got to drive her was within my barangay. I initially wanted to be more independent in getting from point A to point B. I also got sick after riding a taxi that reeked of LPG fumes. Getting a car was a natural next step.

An opportunity came I couldn't pass up, so I left. I got to use my car whenever I went home. Sadly, in the last decade it only traveled 12,000+ kilometers. I didn't sell it because I thought Miggy might be interested to learn how to drive. I moved it to our new home since we had ample parking space. The pandemic though kept us home and our movements have been limited.

I would look at Minnie everyday while watering my plants. I realized that I didn't give her the love and care she needed. I had the casa assess what should be done to spruce her up. The casa was charging me 30k to get her back in perfect shape. It was then I thought long and hard whether I should still keep her.

Keeping her would mean getting her fixed. Annual costs also include regular maintenance and registration (about 25k to 30k annually). It also meant I need to get a  license. My license expired years ago. I was also not allowed to drive since I had heart surgery. My poor car, I thought. She never got to fulfill her mission.

Decided to sell her and asked help from Sweetie to get things in motion. Told myself the deadline would be until her next registration date. We decided to consign her though Automobilico, a shop that sells second hand cars in our neighborhood. After assessing the car, they gave us two choices: (1) Get paid spot cash, or (2) Put the car on consignment and we get paid based on our prescribed amount. 

The day she left.

After some research we also found a couple of websites where you can enlist your car. If you do this though you'd have to entertain the inquiries yourself and take care of all the paperwork. Well, Automobilico took care of everything. They even picked up the car and brought it to their showroom and they took care of all the inquiries. And, as expected, the car was sold in two weeks. Headache-less transaction was completed today. Yay!

Goodbye Minnie! May the family that bought you take care of you and finally fulfill your destiny :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Miracle Sundays: I Want the World To Be

I want the world to be a safe place to live in. 

To be a place where everyone is treated equally and fairly.

Where everyone can have everything they need. 

Where everyone can sleep at night without worry.

A world where all of us can be happy and live simply. 

I took a peek at Twitter last night and just saw mayhem and unhappiness. Protests happening against government. War waged to gain more land. Devastating typhoons. Rising prices of goods and services. Value of the peso going down drastically. There's a lot of dissatisfaction, discontent and people not getting along. 

I've been using Twitter for over a decade now. It used to be fun. I had a lot of friends on it before and we'd exchange ideas, banter with each other, share our blog posts and even do tsismis on it. It's so different now. Only a handful of my friends are active now. Nowadays, the vibe is usually angry.  Even good news is sometimes met with anger. 

And that's why I'm wishing and praying for the world to be better and kinder. I pray we all have leaders who are servants instead of those who just serve for their own benefit. 

“To serve God, to love God, to enjoy God, is the sweetest freedom in the world.” (Thomas F. Wilson)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: What I Learned From My Failed Gardening Attempts

I haven't successfully cultivated anything to harvest this year. I've only been able to harvest some mustasa once and my tomato plant hasn't formed any fruit. So far all the flowers fall off before they form into fruit. All my bell peppers died and none of my lettuce plants flourished. 

A part of my Mom's lush garden.

I was a bit more successful when I just had a small balcony garden. I looked backed and assessed why I was better at it in Singapore. I assessed what I did when I was there that helped me have a better garden and then watched tutorials to improve my game. Here's what I'll have to do moving forward:

1. Use the Sun More - my garden doesn't get a lot of sunshine. We realized though that the bamboo grew more bushy since it started raining. It kept my plants from getting enough sun. I moved the seed tray where it would get more sunlight and I soon got more seeds to germinate. 

2. Make sure the soil is full of nutrients - I realized that the soil I used in SG already had compost. I just added some nutrients to it weekly. I originally thought that our soil here was the same. I learned from watching a few videos that you need to add compost and mulch/rice hull. 

3. Kill wrigglies and their eggs before planting - I was surprised to see a video where a gardener cooked his soil. He said it would kill the germs and eggs in the soil that could ruin your plant. Another video said though that cooking soil would kill the nutrients. It's better to just pour boiling water on it. I just did that the other day before I planted the ginger and tumeric I propagated. 

4. Soil needs nutrients continuously - from the videos I watched it's important to keep the soil rich. You have to add compost/manure and fertilizer every week. It's already too late to save your plants once they have a disease. I guess this means I should give up on my tomato plants already. 

5. Understand what your plant needs - my plants in Singapore enjoyed the morning sun. By 11 in the morning the sun would be gone and I never had to worry about the plants burning. There are plants though that prefer more sunshine and there are those that prefer to be in the shade. I have been researching on which ones should have more sunlight and will re-position some of my plants. 

6. Water only as needed - overwatering is something you should watch out for because it can cause root rot. I look at the soil first whether the plant needs watering. Plants though prefer rain water and you should leave the water overnight if you're using faucet water.

Strangely though, the ornamental plants given to me by my Mom and friends are all doing well! I guess that's one reason why my Mom prefers taking care of decorative plants than growing veggies. I'm not giving up just yet and will try all the tips I got from the videos I've been watching :)

#BeKind #StaySafe