I want to go on another weekend dive before the rainy season starts. The regular rains have started; SLEX at Bicutan got flooded yesterday. When I was still in school, flooding during the summer break sounds absurd but climate change fucked up the seasons.

In the meantime, I would just have to content myself with this for my weekends.

At least I’m not stuck in the city and limited to malls just to cool ourselves off. My kids go on long walks in the early evenings for exercise.

The past few nights were torture as the National Grid has been implementing rotational brownouts due to insufficient power supply. Power plants either have gone on emergency shut down or tripped. I no longer know the specifics. Because of the fluctuations, my aircon got fried and is now at the repair shop. Needed to buy a new fan motor and total damage is around PHP 10,500. I’m not yet in a position to buy a PHP 35k new unit because I will be installing a solar power system on my roof soon.

In the heirarchy of priorities, the solar power is on top. I still have another aircon unit in my girls’ bedroom where I’m sleeping right now. I’m the floor manager this time. Plus I’m still able to have my unit repaired and it still have a couple of years left in that thing.

I’m so off to Cubao this afternoon or early evening because tomorrow I will be going to Clark to cover the visit of a US govt official (still hush hush) and several private sector execs from that country will be coming as well. Good thing I’m done with laundry and garbage disposal. All I have to do now is clean my fridge and fold some clean laundry then pack.

Once again my children went up the stage to receive their medals for academic and extra curricular excellence. One proud mama here.

My kids may not have large allowances like their classmates or have new and high-end gadgets but I seldom say no when they ask for money to register for some contest or conferences they’re joining. Or sports trainings they want to be part of. When they want to dive. When they want to cook a dish or make some elaborate dessert.

They know where our priorities lie.

They want to take the entrance exam of my high school for their senior high years (Grade 11 and 12). I told them if that’s they want, then they should endure the review sessions for that because it’s going to be very competitive. 

They should reareange their priorities for 10th Grade if they want to get into my school for senior high

Lockdown at the Senate!

Sen. Bato dela Rosa resists arrest as after ICC issues warrant yesterday. Marines are in the premises.

Shots were fired.

I don’t know how this is going to end.

UPDATE: IT’S FUCKING STAGED so Bato can escape Senate and transfer somewhere without being served the ICC warrant of arrest.

My body is aching all over. I didn’t realize that diving and swimming with a sea turtle is a horrible full body workout. I didn’t even have to fight waves and yet it feels like I got run over by a bulldozer. My thighs and knees are sore.

I guess that’s what ageing is all about. I’ll be turning 50 in three years so yeah, my body isn’t what it used to be.

But good thing we pushed through with this quick weekend getaway because the typhoon season is about to start. Next week, to be precise.

I’ll maximize our stay in Anilao this time. I don’t know when we’ll be back. 😥

After watching the sea from 9:30 am after breakfast until 1:15 pm, I gathered my children for lunch and a bit of rest.

Then we jumped into the sea again at 3:30-ish.

Oh hello, Mr. Turtle, we meet again.

We swam with Mr. Hawksbill Turtle, surfacing with him when he took breaths, then diving with him when he went back to the corals to much on algae. We left him several times to check out the corals at Twin Rocks, which was next to Planet Dive. The whole area, from the edge of the resort until the private property next door is a protected marine sanctuary.

The waves were strong because the high tide peaked at 2 pm and it has been very windy today. We were battling strong currents and the waves were bit violent, making it difficult to surface. I think I will have a very sore body tomorrow. 😵‍💫

I am so down and anxiety is eating me up. Work is eating me alive. Not because I’m overworked but because news is slow. I am scrambling to get stories but I’m unsuccessful. All my requests ended up just being seen-zoned by those who initially were enthusiastic by my interview proposals.

To drive the blues away, I booked a room in Anilao yesterday, dragged my kids…so here I am, working by the beach for some vitamin sea. Serotonin boost.

I’ll go through my emails first before I beg for more interviews.

We were blessed with the company of a large critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle this afternoon. It was peacefully munching on corals and we freedived to where it was feeding.

I’m happy to say I’m able to equalize well now and I can go deeper despite not being able to dive for 2 years because life got in the way.

Of all the house reefs that we have gone to, I think this one at Planet Dive is the best. The corals reef was extensive and old (judging by their sizes) but they didn’t escape the widespread bleaching that started in 2020. Many still managed to survive but there was a large number that got bleached i.e. died because of rising sea temperatures. However, there are still colorful ones and the schools of fishes are large.

I was supposed to book Arthur’s Place because of their house reef. It’s one of the stops for scuba divers because of Arthur’s Rock. It’s also one of the best spots for swimming with hawksbill turtles. I decided to book Planet Dive instead because I thought my mom will come with us. It has a swimming pool that she might like when she got tired of the sea. Arthur’s Place is basic and it caters mostly to hardcore divers so it may not have the amenities for senior citizens. Well, my mom backed out the last minute because she said she has so many things to do so she can’t afford to be away until Sunday.

Next time, I’ll book Arthur’s just to compare house reefs.

Oh, by the way, I’m red as a lobster. 🦞

I just got out of the cinema and let me digest this for a bit.

Technically, there is no summer in the Philippines because it’s perpetually summer here. What we have are dry season and wet season. However, since we were an American colony, we adopted the term “summer” to call the dry season when school children are on a three-month break (March – May).

So here we are, my children lounging the days away. Twin I is bored out of her skull and finds ways to disturb my peace. Twin A, being a creative person and somewhat of an introvert, can find things to do on her own.

Maybe we should go back to Anilao next week.

Right now I’m sitting on my balcony, being serenaded by cicadas and morning birds. I remember the endless summers I had here in this same spot when I was my children’s age. I never thought I would be enjoying this again. It has been exactly three years this month since I moved back in my hometown, my kids in tow. It was short of a miracle that I was able to build my house without debt, how smooth everything was, from the construction down to the big move.

If it’s in God’s plan for you, He will make it happen.

I didn’t know I had that much money tucked away to make it possible. I thought home ownership was out of reach for me, considering I’m a solo parent.

I treasure these cicada-filled mornings. I never thought I would have them again in my life. We didn’t have this in the city. Whenever I had the opportunity to hear them in the city (mostly in UP Diliman), my heart ached for home.

So however small my house is, I always try to make it beautiful and cozy. I brought my kids to Ikea last week (when I attended a company briefing around the MoA complex) and let them choose a shower curtain to replace/be a substitute for the plain blue one we had the last 3 years.

I also stuck the Malang tray on my kitchen wall with the help of Command strips.

Life it short. Make every moment beautiful. Make it all count.

Yep, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, typhoons, floods…just another day in the Philippines.

Mayon Volcano just erupted today and the whole of Albay is covered with ashfall. Kanlaon is also rumbling while Taal is restless.

And they say Filipinos are always sunny and happy. You know why? Because we eat death and destruction for breakfast. We know how hard and fleeting life is so we just choose to be happy with every little thing that makes us smile instead of being morose and be perpetually cold like northern Europeans and Germans.

There is no way that I would be able to walk before 6 pm because it’s freaking hooooootttttt!

At least I was able to sweat today. I did 11,400 steps today, including this walk tonight.

I needed this to decompress because tomorrow is another anxiety-inducing Monday. 😥