Blur

Posted on 19/08/2022 by admin

Today was just a blur. I drove at 6:45 am and it was surprisingly smooth and traffic jam-free. I really love Skyway 3 since it allowed me to reach Laguna under 2 hrs without having to traverse EDSA or C5.

*Skyway 3 on a Friday morning ❤️. Photo by* *Twin I.*

It could have been just 1.5 hrs but we stopped at McDonald’s drive through for breakfast plus I needed coffee. We also stopped at my regular flower shop to buy my mom roses (as is my habit) and arranged Malaysian mums for my dad’s niche at the columbarium since it was his 17th death anniversary last month.

*The Ogawa massage chair that my mom loves*. *Photo by Twin A.*

I had a quick turn on that massage chair that had a lot of customers today. 🤣

*Werk werk werk! I used my nephew’s Lightning McQueen table that he outgrew.*

Then I edited some stories, published my own story I co-wrote with out Manila reporter, and I slept for the rest of the day. My girls didn’t have classes today because it was QC Day—the birthday of Manuel L. Quezon. The father of the National Language. The holiday only applies to schools in QC.

In lieu of regular classes, I had Kuya H tackle the girls’ supplemental review sessions for their upcoming mock entrance exam. THREE hours today. He told me the girls do not have major problems because they understand the math concepts; Twin A is good at complex math problems but panics/is overcome with carelessness when solving the basic ones. Twin I, on the other hand, is good at the basics but panics at the more complex ones.

He said they need to solve more Math problems. The issue, however, is we already ran out of practice exams. So I asked him if he could bring his old manuals and practice problem sets for the girls to work on. Tomorrow they will have more review sessions with Kuya H. And my nephew is happy he has more money on his GCash account. Win-win.

UPDATE: The review center announced tonight that the mock entrance exam is moved to next week. 😶

Meanwhile, my sisters told me I ballooned in the last two weeks since they last saw me. Ah, being locked up for two weeks at home with no exercise will really make me a blimp. Imagine, I was expending a minimum of 400kcal (on some days it’s 700+ kcal) in Singapore for 10 days because of all the walking that I did. Then it came to an abrupt halt when I came back to Manila. My body compensated for the lost calories by craving breakfast or dinner, which I normally didn’t have. I had minimal exercise because I didn’t bike or walk since I was just holed up in my room. Tadaaa! I gained all the weight I had shed off.

So tomorrow morning I will be walking around the campus, in my old stomping grounds, so I will be inspired again to get back in shape. 🤸

Mmm… It’s surprisingly cooler here. We only have a stand fan now but I find myself needing a thin blanket. Ah well, I have a forest as my backyard so it’s at least several degrees lower where we are right now, about 25 C.

The hermitess is out

Posted on 19/08/2022 by admin

*Indulgence at Starbucks 32nd Street, BGC. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

I arrived early, about 3 hours before Ayala’s press briefing because I want to savor being out on a not so rainy day. Surprisingly, the traffic was not as bad as I thought it would be. I couldn’t believe I drove from QC to BGC in less than an hour. I guess a lot of people worked from home today.

I stayed in Starbucks near Globe Tower because I just want to hang around the area. It has been a long time since I went out like this and unencumbered by endless stories to edit or stories to rush. I made a few rough sketches while I was sipping my frapuccino.

*In a rush because I realized the presscon will start in 30 mins. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com*

This is at the corner of 32nd and 7th Avenues and I have some perspective issues. It has been a long time since I picked up a pencil and drew. I made the sidewalk narrower maybe because my sketchbook is narrow. Hahahaha!

*I couldn’t draw inside the coffee shop so I went out the balcony to sketch.* *Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

*The company CEO I was targeting today. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

He told me that right after we wrote one story when he answered one of our text messages to him, he got a call from one of the big PEs and…he laughingly said “next time I should just say no comment!” 😂😂😂

All in all, today was pleasant, a sharp contrast to yesterday’s headache-inducing hammering from my manager because of something I couldn’t control.

Coffee, cookies, and a chance to sketch again were all I needed to regain my balance.

Should sleep now because in a few hours I will be driving to my mom’s.

I QUIT

Posted on 17/08/2022 by admin

I will quit caring about this job. I think I’m burning out.

Today was a shitty day. I don’t have the strength to write about it. It’s just…😡

I’ll just tune out after six. That’s it. I’ve been pushing myself too far and hard the past few months. I shouldn’t. Even if I’m out there to prove something, what will it bring me? Nothing. I don’t get gold coins for being extra.

So that’s it. I log on in the morning, do my job, then log off at 6 pm.

*Screen cap from Nikkei Asia, article written by a f*riend.

This is laughable. It has become a “blockbuster hit” because Imee Marcos bought all the tickets and gave them away to schools and government agencies.

Damn.

“It’s clear that they were trying to evoke sympathy, that we were supposed to feel sorry for them,” said Miguel Reyes, a University of the Philippines researcher who has studied the Marcos regime and the family…

…The film’s release comes just a month before the country marks the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Marcos’ martial law next month, which will likely put the old regime’s brutal legacy in focus.

All the more we need to educate the public about the crimes the Marcoses committed and brought the country down on its knees.

My children are better than most of the adults in this country. They had been researching on their own about the Manila Film Center tragedy, Archimedes Trajano, and Boyet and Primitivo Mijares. They did it without prodding from me. They did it on their own volition; they were curious why I am so against the Marcoses. They were watching video clips. These are just some of the thousands of stories that are out there to tell the truth about this family.

This crappy movie was just bizarre.

To continue with today’s theme—shit—here we have a story about sewerage woes in UK beaches.

This is the reason I never went back to Boracay. My last trip there was in 2009 and that trip wasn’t enjoyable because of this above ⬆. People who go there to see and be seen don’t realize they are swimming in their own crap. My mom (who is an expert on this) said the mere presence of algal bloom on the shores of Boracay every summer is indicative of the high nutrient content (i.e. sewerage). This is the same reason she never went back.

For an underwater enthusiast like me, there are much better alternatives to Boracay. However, people flock there to see and be seen. To party. To have sex (in the case of my gay friend K). To be able to say, yeah, we are in Boracay, like it was a badge of honor.

No thank you. I don’t want to swim in sewerage water.

I was tempted by my friend B to stay with her last summer because of the kite surfing part. But naahhhh. I was better off diving in Anilao.

To cap off this day, here’s some reality check:

And all I can say is when you’re 40, you no longer give a crap and you dig an underground lair for yourself and be content like a mole.

Lovely.

Food forest

Posted on 16/08/2022 by admin

I will soon achieve this.

Well not yet. I mean it takes years before you can establish a small holding like this. My plan is to have something more organized than this. Like veggie beds under the existing fruit trees that my father and my nephew planted. This guy also gave me an idea what to do the the laundry runoff—I will create a “wetland” to process the grey water from the washing machine since I plan to make my ground level a contained utility area and next to it is the outdoor patio for barbecues with an optional hot tub.

This video calmed me down after the shit I went through again today as a result of that idiotor that had been encroaching on other people’s turfs. Because he misunderstood the corporate structure (because stupid company named several layers the same thing), he messed up and made it look like I got it wrong. He published his own version of the story while I stood my ground and stuck with how we explain things. My manager kept on harping about it and until I drew a chart of the corporate structure and sent it to her and had the reporter explain it. So she recognized that I was right, the idiotor did a shortcut and edited it according how he understood it.

It was a painful way to end the day and my brain was so exhausted. All this hee-hawing while I was editing another story that competition was also chasing. I told another editor-friend that I was already tuning out (it was before 6 pm) as I was already so pissed and my brain was already hurting.

Then I played the piano and sang for an hour. God bless my piano that was within my reach.

*Fedora for the win! Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

For several days now, I had been installing several Linux operating systems on Twin A’s desktop computer because Minecraft doesn’t seem to agree with Ubuntu 20.04 and crashes. This last OS I installed is the latest Fedora version and so far so good, it is running smoothly. The Bluetooth manager is better compared to the crappy one that Lubuntu 22.04 has.

*Choosing wallpaper background. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

Twin A: Mommy, how did you know how to install operating systems?

Me: I learned by myself. Trial and error.

A: How did you learn Linux systems?

Me: I learned again by myself. I studied by trial and error.

I wanted to add to her that I am a geek at heart and tinkering with operating systems was a hobby of mine before I had kids. I even wanted to have a Raspberry Pi system (the barebones PC setup) to experiment with. I wanted it to be my multimedia machine back when downloading *stuff* was still a thing (now everything is streamed).

I think I can make a smart home with this Raspberry Pi if I learn how to configure this. Something to occupy me—as if there’s not enough to occupy me these days.

Twin I said she saw my door was open this morning (while the AC is running) as the cats let themselves in while I was sleeping. As I posted here before, Sushi knows how to open my bedroom door if it’s not bolted.

My sister-in-law told me over Viber last night that they adopted a black kitten. She is part of the litter that resides near their apartment and SIL said she fears that mommy cat is pregnant again. I told her when we come home this Friday I will bring my cat carrier so we can bring the mommy cat to the College of VetMed hospital to have her checked. If she’s not pregnant, we can have her spayed the following day.

*Black Kitty.* *I want to name her Kuromi クロミ*. Hehehe.

We will be spending 3 days at my mom’s. I hired my nephew to tutor my girls on Fri and Sat for their upcoming simulation high school entrance exam on Sunday. I’m quite useless when it comes to Math because I already forgot how to solve algebra problems, among other things. My nephew, Kuya H, graduated with honors from my high school–the high school that my girls will be trying to get into. At least his memory is fresher than mine. I took the entrance exam in 1991 and of course I couldn’t remember if I had a hard time when I was taking the exam. All I remember was I had no problem with English and my high score there pulled up my Math score 🤣.

OK, another day has ended and OMG I need to cut off all communication tomorrow so I can finally finish my drafts. Like seven of them.

Dude, no. You’re not that important

Posted on 16/08/2022 by admin

So there’s this guy I met in Singapore during our conferences. He messaged me this afternoon to say that he is in Manila and when can I meet him?

Dude, it’s so short notice. Who do you think you are?!

I asked him when is he leaving because I live far from the CBD area i.e. Makati and when I go there, I pack my meetings on days I have other things to do there, like on Thursday.

He said he will be leaving on Wednesday. Pfffftttt.

Does he think that I will just go and drive through the monsoon rains and horrible traffic that has gotten worse compared to pre-pandemic era just because he says so? Hey, when you introduced yourself to me, you didn’t even have a business card and you just got mine. I couldn’t even search for you on LinkedIn because your name is very common. Then you just messaged me on WhatsApp and had the gall to ask me for free entry into some of the our conferences that you weren’t able to purchase tickets for. The nerve.

Then you message me now like that?

No.

I don’t even know what kind of company you represent and I don’t think I would get any story from you.

Whoa dude. I only waste diesel and my energy on very important people.

Meanwhile, one of my old sources who has transferred to an investment bank in Washington is back in town and he asked for a coffee date. So yeah well, at least he told me he will be here until Sept so I can time that meeting with other things. Unfortunately, I can’t give him new updates because he’s so focused on mining and I’m not covering that sector often these days because the conferences by the Chamber of Mines have yet to come back. Plus none of my regular contacts have been looking into mining.

She invited herself in, plopped on my bed and slept. She can be adorable and annoying, like this:

*Girl, how do you think I can work with you two occupying my worktable?* *Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

Ah Monday. I was in a good mood and started working early. I still have a backlog of emails though that I need to attack tomorrow. I still have a long piece from Japan that I need to finish editing. It is a lot of work.

I took a break and went to Araneta Center to check if Ticketnet is still selling the cheapest seats for the G(Idle) concert in September for my girls as a little reward for finishing review school (which will end on Sunday). Ah well, they ran out of the Level 4 tickets so it’s a no-go for the girls. I won’t spend PHP 5,300 for each child. I even did not spend that much on my ticket to see GooGoo Dolls in 2017 and I waited for them for 20 years!

I didn’t go home empty-handed though. I wasted diesel so might as well pick up something from Gateway.

My bestfriend and I are still thinking if we should queue on Sunday (when they start selling) at the SM Mall nearest my hometown for the tickets to the NCT concert. Nope, I’m not watching; it’s for her and the girls. My music preferences have evolved through the years but this evolution does not include Kpop.

Earlier tonight, I was going through my receipts that I accumulated from my trip to Singapore since I needed to issue an invoice for the refund of all my expenses there. Even my bottled water from Guardian. LOL. I wondered about my spending habits there; either I’m a cheap girl or food is more affordable there since I only incurred less than PHP 7,000 for subsistence there for 10 days! (well, that does not include lunch for four days when I was at the conferences) That’s pretty cheap. I mean when I eat here in Metro Manila whenever I’m out, every meal would cost somewhere between PHP 400-PHP 500 or SGD 7.4-SGD 12.3. Well, maybe because in SG I can eat at the hawkers or Kopitiam and I would still feel satiated. I would only go over SGD 10 if I buy lunch or dinner at the financial district.

My hotel, however, is a different story. The hotel accommodations in SG have risen so much because conferences are back and the HK conferences and events (like the SuperReturn Asia PE/VC Conference 2022) have transferred to SG. There are a lot of transients as well—these are the people who are uprooting themselves from HK to SG. Since the demand for housing has shot up, those who are in transition had to stay in hotels, contributing to the tightness in room supply in the city.

Anyway, I just realized I’m a cheap person. It only takes a little to make me comfortable and content.

Concert machine

Posted on 15/08/2022 by admin

I moved around furniture in my room, trying to figure out how I can best accommodate my piano that has been stuck in the huge closet with no purpose. I’m not getting my money’s worth if it’s just hidden there. Well, after some huffing and puffing, I reverted to the previous set-up and adjusted my worktable and the Ikea drawer.

*A little bit tighter now. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

This set-up works for now; that area was dead space anyway. I tried playing for an hour and I think this will do for now. I mean I will just roll away from my desk to my piano to de-stress.

Prior to this room reconfiguring, I washed the girls’ old running shoes using the mini washing machine. I will give these away when we go home to my mom’s this coming weekend. They turned out clean! Yey! I no longer need to brush shoes manually. I am getting my money’s worth from this tiny machine. I now always have clean rags and foot mats.

*Sushi ruining my bag. Photo by CallMeCreation.com*

My cats are happy that I’m home the entire day. They have this separation anxiety that I find endearing; but I have mixed feelings regarding this when it comes to humans. Good thing my girls outgrew this because it causes me anxiety; there’s always this guilty feeling that I need to come home soon or I always had to bring them with me wherever I go. I couldn’t have my “Me” time.

same thing now with my cats. When my girls tell me that my cats are waiting for me in my room and they don’t leave my room because they miss me, I couldn’t help feel that I needed to come home immediately. Sushi especially has this weird separation anxiety. They told me that while I was away in Singapore, Sushi never left my room and she rarely went down to hang at the living room or elsewhere. She just stayed in my room and slept. I told them not to wash my bedsheets until I arrive so that my cats can still smell me and be comforted.

They always wait outside my bedroom door everyday and wait for me to open it so that they can sleep with me. But of course I don’t want them inside my room when I retire for the night because of their 3 am or 4 am zoomies.

I’d rather have cats sleep with me than have somebody who disdains me and was just forced to share my bed because he had nowhere else to go.

Stories from the sidelines

A journalist has a life other than news

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