Author Archives: admin

Torture

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I found forever on EDSA. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I spent half of my day yesterday just driving. 🤦‍♀️ Only 14km roundtrip but it felt like 120km.

I went to Greenhills to have my daughter’s phone repaired (cracked LCD) and to buy a door knob for my room here in the apartment. OMG! It’s horrific out there!

It was so exhausting that I fell asleep on my bed with my lights on. 🫠

Meanwhile, I’m trying to sell my iPad 9 with 256GB ROM to my bro since I want to shift to Samsung Galaxy Tab S8. Ipad 9’s screen is too big for me whereas Samsung’s Tab S8 can be held by one hand. Plus iPad’s RAM is 3GB vs Samsung’s 8GB RAM.

I just lightly used this because it was just too big. I didn’t use the power brick and cord because I knew eventually I would have to sell this. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Can be a semi-laptop replacement. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I told my bro that all the accessories are included like the pen and two covers, one of the covers is a keyboard combo that makes it more viable for him to be a laptop replacement when he has meetings and so on.

I tried using it as a laptop replacement but it just doesn’t cut it. The only time I was able to use it as such was when I tweaked (at my mom’s house) and read my speech during last August’s graduation rites of my undergrad college.

I could barely use it for work because it was too big to chuck in my handbag. Might as well bring my full-powered laptop with me if I still need to bring another bag.

When I travel, I find myself still reaching for my phone to scroll through IG and watch Youtube videos. It takes two hands to be able to watch anything on this iPad.

OS upgrades until 2026, security updates until 2027 or 2028.

But I’m still on a fence here since parts for iPads are easier to get here (albeit the generic ones from some Shenzen factory) than for Samsung Tabs. Resale value also lower for Android tablets.

But if I buy it now, S8 comes with a free slim case with keyboard.

I’ll visit a Samsung store to check it out before I let go of the iPad.

Hmmm so it seems like the world is conspiring against me. The Tab S8 in brick and mortar stores no longer offer the bundled keyboard case because it was a promo until supplies last. 😵‍💫

In other domestic developments, I finally have a door knob after destroying my door when my kitties were locked inside.

The carpenters had to put body fillers to repair the door. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The workers have to sand this down tomorrow so to make the surface smooth and for the new coat of paint to stick.

I now have a functional door lock after months of making do with a barrel lock and a duct taped hole. 🥴

Trees

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After a restless night (as expected) I left the dorm at 11 to check out my house and bring the Christmas gifts to the workers and wine to my contractor.

Well, it’s a slow progress but I could see that the construction is not haphazard and it’s high quality.

As my daughter, Twin I, requested, she gets a hotel-like vibe for the bathroom.

Huge rain shower head. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Granite lavatory counter. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The floor drains do not look like floor drains, you know, the ones without the grills so they blend in with the floor.

And I have a bright, light-filled room. The insulation installed above the ceiling brought down the temperature even if I would be directly hit by morning sunlight.

So bright. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I guess I would be forced to wake up early because it’s so bright. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Big enough pantry cabinet. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The drywall in the girls’ room is complete. Their room is twice as big as mine. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I need to cut the tree branches to let the light in the dining area. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

After a visit to my house, I decided to eat in a restaurant tucked away at the foot of the mountain in campus. To have a different view. To see trees.

Greenery outside the restaurant. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
View from my table during lunch. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Time to go back to the city. 😭 Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Christmas in the city. On the way to Hilton Manila.

And I just finished an ambush interview with the CEO of a listed conglomerate. Why? I don’t know. I’m supposed to be on leave 🤦‍♀️

Home but not home

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Ah EDSA, how do I hate thee? Photo by CallMeCreation.com

On the way to my appointment in BGC…

I left after lunch and it only took me 1 hr and 30 mins to reach my hometown. Travel time from QC to BGC? Almost the same 😑

As spartan as it can be. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I checked into my Airbnb to drop off my stuff that I can’t leave inside the car unattended. This Airbnb is really a student dorm. But since college classes are not yet full face-to-face, some dorm rooms had to be let out to short-term renters.

I had an early dinner with my best friend and we had non-stop gabfest for two hours. Then went to visit another friend at her apartment to bring gifts and spent another 2 hrs talking with her.

After that, I had coffee (wellll, it’s tea actually) with my sis-in-law at Starbucks and talked until the coffee shop was closing.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

And now I’m back to my sad dorm life 🤣

Dorm courtyard. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Only a few students are here. It’s kinda lonely. Although it’s better probably because college students are looouuuuddddddd!

Let’s see if I can have my walk around campus tomorrow before I go to my house.

More projects

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Recycled grocery paper bags. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My hands became restless so I wrapped some gifts for family and friends that I will be bringing to my hometown tomorrow.

I didn’t want to waste paper that will just add to our humongous trash problem so I’ve been recycling things. Aside from paper bags, I’ve been recycling my old business cards from a decade ago and use them as backing for the gift tags that I printed out.

Then I tried my hand again at painting sakura closeups.

I chucked this one because it didn’t turn out well. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
Tried again. Still waiting for it to dry. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

But it seems like I’m losing my mojo again.

It’s the end of the year and there are still a ton of things I must do like staff evaluation and self-reviews. That’s the most annoying part about my job: the admin work. Even though I’m already technically on leave, there’s this nagging voice at the back of my brain that says I must work on this now. But my body says I should relax and leave stress behind.

🤷🏻‍♀️

Maybe that dinner with my best friend tomorrow night will improve my state of mind.

Since my mom’s house is still on a lockdown, I booked an Airbnb in my hometown (which sounds absurd to me now) so I can spend the night there because the next day I have a dinner party with a listed company at Hilton, near the airport. So might as well be efficient with my trips and it will be easier to drive to Hilton from south then continue to drive to QC instead of driving from QC to Hilton then to QC again. <<<< This sounds horrific these days.

After my lunch meeting tomorrow, I will drive to hometown, check my house construction and bring my pendant lights and kitchen utensil railings that will be drilled underneath the overhead kitchen cabinets. I will also distribute the food baskets that I bought for the construction workers…something to augment their noche buena meal on Christmas Eve. Times are tough; a little blessing goes a long way for such workers.

You see, I’ve been very blessed, despite the shit I’ve been through the past 2 years. It’s my way of giving back to the universe that has been kind to me in some ways. I don’t forget the privilege that I have. I’m a single parent who can still afford to send my children to school, clothe and feed them, and have just enough to spend for our needs and wants. A lot of people are not in that position. Many struggle and find partners so that they would have somebody to share that financial burden with. Many get stuck in bad relationships because it’s hard to go solo financially.

I don’t have to, thank God.

Besides I’m not the type who will find a partner because of financial reasons. The thought just makes me nauseous. And I don’t think anyone would bother with me because I’m already old; relationship for convenience applies only to younger women and fuckbois.

Oh fuck bois. 🙄

How I hate thee.

And it’s done

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Ceiling lamps on 50% off. This one is for my bathroom. Photo by CallMeCreation.com.

Yes. Finally bought ceiling lamps. And they’re a lot cheaper than what I initially planned. I let my kids choose the lamps. These lamps above would go to my bathroom.

The other one, albeit another variant of the one pictured below which has pendants that are hanging at same level, would go to my dining area.

This one is meant for a corner so the one we chose is similar to this but they are on a track and at the same level. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I changed the bulbs from the inefficient 40-watt Edison bulb to the power saving 7-watt daylight LED bulbs.

I paid PHP 6,000+ for the two sets plus LED bulbs, which was already a very good price for the lot.

The other candidates that my kids initially chose were:

It just had too many bulbs for a four-seater dining table. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This also has too many bulbs. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
These look nice but would be better for a 6 or an 8-seater dining table. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The girls initially wanted something like this in the kitchen area but I shot it down because I want track lights so each bulb can be a spotlight on the kitchen counter. It’s easier to cook when there’s a dedicated task light for that.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My contractor sent me this photo of my fusebox and the pantry shelves below it.

Pantry shelves.

They’re installing insulators before they seal the ceiling so that I won’t be roasting in my bedroom by summer. My room faces east and it receives direct sunlight.

Insulators first.

Because I’m in the mood to spend, I indulged again and went to ArtWhale. Before I leave QC, I think I must complete my Holbein half-pans.

Each tiny pan is as expensive as a 15ml tube of gouache or oil. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Meanwhile, I was feeling a little bit creative tonight…

It’s beginning to look like a close-up of a sakura blossom. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
It’s messy but it is still a work in progress. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This is what’s difficult with watercolor: once it’s there, it’s there. You can’t erase a spill if it’s already set on paper and you’re too slow in catching it while it’s still wet. You only have a few seconds then it’s forever there. Unlike in oil you can use thinning agents or paint it over with white. Same with gouache. With watercolor… You’re doomed with your mistakes.

So I have to be creative with how I can disguise this bleeding (which came from my fingers because the new shadow green Holbein pan bled all over my hand). 😒

UPDATE

Not the most elegant way to hide bleeding but what can I do? Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

It’s the weekend!

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White wine and Jamon Iberico Bellota. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My Christmas vacation leave starts right now. 🎄 Wohooo!

However, I still have a lunch meeting on Monday with a CEO of a listed company and coffee meeting in the afternoon with the BD and CEO of a subsidiary of a conglomerate. Plus I will have the last team call for the year before lunch.

My fairy lights arrived. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I was reading some social media posts of friends who braved the traffic from north to Makati and they ended up cursing the wretched situation. Well, cardinal rule no. 1 during Christmas rush: do not book dinners and get togethers on Fridays, especially if it involves getting out of your 2-km radius. I’m serious. I’ve lived here for 21 years and as a field reporter/road warrior, I know this by heart.

I can’t go to my hometown to visit the construction and attend my high school homecoming tomorrow because my mom’s household got Covid. My nephew caught it (most likely from school) so my Mom’s household is on a self-imposed lockdown. I won’t have a place to stay, especially after I go for drinks with high school friends.

So tomorrow, we might go to the A&S Lamps Cubao to check out lighting options for the bathroom and dining area. My contractor suggested this:

He is finally riding the ridiculousness that I am aiming for. Let’s see what the girls and I can find in A&S.

Meanwhile, my contractor sent me this. My new drywalls are up and the Rockwool insulation/soundproofing will soon be installed as well.

Drywall in my room. The Rockwool insulation/soundproofing will also be installed soon.
Drywall between the girls’ room and the dining/TV area.

We would also try to go to the Marikina River Banks carnival since the girls wanted to try again the rides now that they’re all older and it’s just the three of us.

To be continued…