My coverage in Clark was almost wasted because the US embassy hostaged the whole thing.

For the “official” presscon, the embassy made the PH government staff ask us the questions we planned to raise. The damned embassy, however, filtered them and they — officials of both governments— only answered the most benign questions by giving us motherhood statements.

And to think I came all the way from Southern Luzon for this?! I even spent my own money for a hotel stay in QC so I won’t be groggy the entire coverage because the presscon is 175 km from home.

In my anger, I stuffed myself with sisig during lunch. Bad for my health, I know. But I was upset.

All the other reporters around me were also grumbling, saying that we could just have done a Zoom presscon if we couldn’t even ask our questions, in the way we want these to be asked. We just wasted our time, gave up sleep, and sacrificed our entire working day for this when we could’ve done something else that would have given us one or more stories instead.

The staff members of the two PH government agencies who were also former journalists understood our frustrations. They begged their officials to grant us interviews on the sidelines. They cited my case that I came all the way from Southern Luzon for nothing.

So the officials relented. The US govt official gave in.

We got stories.

Horrible coverage that left us exhausted.

On Sunday afternoon, I left my house to check in at Red Planet Cubao. I didn’t want to go on an out-of-town/Manila coverage without proper sleep.

Red Planet is very near the first apartment where my ex-husband and I lived about 25 years ago.

I am very familiar with the area. Even before Gateway Mall came into being, I was already there. I walked to Farmer’s Plaza everyday to ride the MRT going to Ayala Ave because my office (an IT company) was at LV Locsin building. Then later, I took the jeep daily going to QCity Hall (near Mercury drugstore) to get to work when I was still with a government agency along QC Circle. In the evenings when I was finishing my master’s degree, I rode the jeep in UP Diliman going to Philcoa and from there I rode another jeep bound for Cubao/Alimall.

When I became a reporter, I walked daily going to the LRT 2 Cubao Station, got off at Legarda Station, walked to Doroteo Jose LRT 1 Station. I then got off at Vito Cruz Station, took the tricycle or pedicab to reach the BSP complex. I was covering DOF and central bank then. That was the time before the elevated walkway from D. Jose Station was connected to Legarda Station. 🫠

My cheap shoes didn’t last with all the walking I did back then. I was able to buy a car when we already lived in Pasig-Cainta area because we already had a two-car garage by then.

Araneta Center has changed so much since 2001 when I first got there. But it still the same; Aurora Boulevard is still dingy, the girlie bars are still there. The constant feeling of being unsafe never left me. I became hyper-aware once I stepped back into Cubao because being stupid can cost you your cellphone or your life.

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 has 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 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.