Author Archives: admin

On the second day

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This year’s theme is self-love.

Last year was just brutal and I couldn’t define what it was but it was an uphill battle. Thank God for supportive friends, some of whom had to literally drag me out of the house to join the living.

So as part of this year’s theme, I’m celebrating the things that made me who I am.

My gallery wall. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My photos and my watercolors. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
When I was in high school I experimented with a Chinese paint brush. My control was dismal but at least I tried. Photo and art by CallMeCreation.com

I ran out of picture frames so I guess I would have to order online from Ikea.ph instead of going there again. I have a lot of photos I can print and hang. Or I can paint again with watercolors. But I’m super rusty. It has been 25 years since I have picked up a watercolor brush. I’m not good but at least I’m enjoying it. I’m not even aiming to have an exhibit like my sister but this is just something for my own home. Some of the better watercolors I did in high school were given away to classmates.

I’ll take photography seriously again, just like when I was in college. I didn’t invest in DSLRs because I know how time-consuming photography is as a hobby to justify the expensive equipment. And time is something I didn’t have for decades. For now I’ll use what I have–my cellphone and my Fujifilm XQ1–until I can say that I can now commit time before I step up and buy myself a mirrorless Fujifilm, which I find to be the best when it comes to low-light photography. I’ve worked with Canons, I had a Nikon, and two Olympus cameras but I find Fuji to be the best when it comes to color rendering and low light scenes. I have yet to try a Lumix. I’ve read about Hasselblads when I was still fooling around with films because those are the go-to cameras for medium formats–for book covers and posters. But those things are out of reach of the general public, especially now in digital. I’ve only seen a Hasselblad in a studio for portrait photography.

I lost all my Lomography cameras 😔 I had a Holga and I still had a black abd white film stuck in there when I left it in the old house. All that is left of my Lomo stuff is the 135 film converter. 😕

Rose tea to stave off colds. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’ve been imbibing copious amounts of tea as I’ve been feeling under the weather. I might have contracted the girls’ colds so I took 500 mg of vitamin C, Neozep every 8 hrs, and a lot of bed rest. I slept early last night and slept some more after lunch. So far it has worked but I’m refraining from going out because this may turn out to be the dreaded omicron variant. It can’t hurt to be paranoid; look at what happened last year when I thought what the girls had was just an ordinary flu turned out to be Covid that knocked me down.

There is this Gwyneth Chua from US who broke her quarantine stay to party in Poblacion, Makati. She was positive for Covid and has infected 15 people whom she had dinner with or partied with. Stupid, stupid privileged asshole. And Twitter has the receipts. As it turns out, she studies at De La Salle University and Lasallians are now disowning her.

https://manilastandard.net/news/314026121/woman-cuts-quarantine-to-party-15-test-positive.html

Now, we’re back to a higher restriction due to tripling of cases in the last three days. Another lockdown to stem another Covid wave is not far behind. 😩

Here’s to a better year

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Our neighbor’s fireworks on the street. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My girls’ sparklers’ dying out. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Fireworks in our village. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Here’s to a healthier 2022. More camping trips. Hopefully we would have roadtrips and diving trips.

Less stress from work. Better working conditions for us.

No more Covid please!

Please no Bong Bong Marcos presidency!!!

More personal growth for me and the kids. More love for family and friends.

I hope I hurt less. I hope I no longer hurt. Period. I hope I become more numb so I can finally move on.

But I should be kinder to myself because it’s not easy to emerge from that kind of heartbreak when you have given your love unconditionally like that. This is not a race. I should give myself time to heal better. As my shrink said, I should heal in a proper way so I won’t have another relapse and get into a cruel cycle.

2020 is horrible in every possible way. 2021 is like walking through fire barefoot. I hope for 2022 I come out stronger than steel forged by fire of the past 2 years.

To cap the year…

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Brunch of recycled whatever. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I cooked. Twin I asked for onigiri, so I made them rice balls from rice I cooked yesterday and was just sitting in the refrigerator. Reheated tonkatsu in the mini oven and steamed okra and mandu, and chopped cucumbers and lettuce for salad as sides. Yogurt for dessert and Smart C for a boost of artificial Vit C. Lemon and ginger infusion tea for scratchy throats. The girls had the sniffles after their trip. Trust their dad to allow them to get colds…

Controlled carbohydrates. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I made ham sandwich and yogurt and cold tea for brunch. Controlling my carbohydrates. Sheesh.

We went to Ikea this afternoon to get some inspiration for our flat. The girls enjoyed it because they saw for themselves that a green accent wall in the living room is cozy.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

And to have our grey sofa reupholstered with floral fabric is ok. It wouldn’t look too granny. Twin A is urging me to buy that daybed for the tiny living room that we’re going to have for friends who would want to crash into our flat. Plus they themselves fall asleep on the couch.

Twin I testing if the daybed is comfortable for her naps. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The kitchen below is about the same size as the kitchen in our future flat. I will show this to my contractor. If he can make me similar cabinets and counters, great. If not, he should give me the dimensions so I can order from Ikea and his workers can install them for me. Although I prefer that he make me my kitchen because I want real wood and not just particle boards. I like Ikea’s soft-close doors and drawers though.

Investigating the feel of the breakfast counter that we will have in our flat. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m doubting the longevity of the doors but they look neat. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This is the workstation setup that I’ve been looking at their online catalogue. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I told my contractor to allot a length of 140cm for my workstation so I can spreeeeaaadddddd. My table should be able to accommodate my dual monitors, laptop/desktop and printer. My work table will also function as my sewing table and vanity area.

Dark-walled bathroom. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m still debating whether to have a dark-colored bathroom and have shiny fixtures and fittings or have all-white microcement bathroom but with black fittings and fixtures.

I showed this bathroom to my contractor because I said I don’t want tiles in my bathroom because I hate grout. They become grotty over time, as shown by what I had to deal with this apartment where we live now and I had to spend thousands of pesos for a bathroom that isn’t even mine.
Loft bed that the girls wanted. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This is the main reason why we trekked to Ikea: they want to see for themselves how a loft bed can be set up for them. They got so excited that they started planning what tables and dressers they can put under their beds.

Girly loft beds. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I can have their loft beds custom made with real wood to make their room warmer and same goes for the study tables and dressers. At least I can show this to the carpenter. I saw on FB Marketplace some custom furniture makers offering loft beds but I’m thinking I’d rather have them made on site so that would be less transportation cost.

I bought picture frames. I’m still not done with my walls. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My girls insisted we buy new drinking glasses because they’re not inspired drinking from our fugly mugs. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

And teapot. Because we need a bigger teapot. We all drink tea now.

Here’s to the coming new year! Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This is our new year’s eve dinner. I’m too lazy to cook tonight. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Growing

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My kids have appetites of grown-ups. They eat more than I do these days and that’s a good thing. Since they’re healthier these days, they were able to withstand Covid even without vaccines yet while I was knocked down despite being fully vaccinated. They were only sick for 48 hrs max (Twin A; Twin I was 24 hrs but she’s healthier) I make sure they have their veggies 3x a day and their daily dose of Vit C or multivitamins.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Greenhills. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

They had a full meal set for our late lunch this afternoon when we went to Greenhills. It had a bowl or ramen, rice, tonkatsu, cabbage salad, hot green tea, and fruit salad. I was afraid they won’t be able to finish it.

Demolished it. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I was completely wrong. They cleaned their bowls really well 👏👏👏👏. As a mother, I’m happy that they’re eating whatever they’re served with and are no longer that picky when it comes to food. They can already tolerate the Korean spicy chicken that we normally buy at Jjangke along Kalayaan Ave. It’s a far cry from what they were when J was still with us.

You know, they grow up. They don’t stay as whiny little brats forever. They mature if you just have the patience to train them well. And so far I have been successful. They’re cleaning up after themselves now and doing chores so they can earn pocket money. They know now the value of money and how to manage their resources that’s why they were featured in my TV friends’ talkshow about personal finances. They save up for whatever they want to have, like the second-hand folding bikes and other extras. If they want something, they need to do more chores and we tally by the end of the week how much they’ve earned. If they fall short, they just do more the following week.

Next school year, they said they want to prepare their own bento boxes for school. Let’s see. ❤️

Speaking of Covid protection, I’m still trying to book my schedule for the booster shot but no such luck yet. I also applied with my barangay for assistance. K told me his sister, who is a nurse in California, got the omicron variant and she said it’s highly transmissible vs delta. Even if she followed the protocols to the letter, she still got it and omicron is really a nasty one.

So until then, I am double masking and wearing my glasses instead of just contacts to protect my eyes from any bodily fluid that may accidentally hit my eyes (just in case some Neanderthal talks or coughs without a mask. To make sure I won’t be down again with Covid.

The girls said they rarely went out of their grandpa’s house when they were in their dad’s hometown because people outside were not wearing masks! It’s as if they feel the pandemic is just a hoax or an elaborate conspiracy. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Goodbye, Philippines!

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If Marcos Jr wins, it will be worse than having Duterte for the second time. OMG 😱

We need to reach out to the masses. I want to render my services for free as a communication strategist for Team Robredo. They have no unifying theme. 🤦🏻‍♀️ The campaign is organic, yes, but it lacks cohesiveness as a result. The messaging is undefined. The actionable message is lacking, there is no aspirational thrust.

We need to do something!!!

I had been refraining from writing anything political during the Christmas break because I don’t want to be stressed out. So I’ve been writing about inane stuff to take my mind off stressors like the thing above 🤦🏻‍♀️

So back to inconsequential stuff, I picked up my glasses and contacts in Cubao, then went to Tiendesitas to buy cat supplies. Because I’m still a bit apprehensive about dining out indoors, I still wear two masks (surgical and cloth) and sunglasses in lieu of face shield. Because I still haven’t had my booster shot yet. I’ve been trying to book online but there’s no schedule yet for A3 people for QC. After experiencing Covid, I’m more adamant at having the vax ASAP.

My sister said I look like somebody who’s hiding from the paparazzi. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I then jumped to Makati to get myself another pair of shoes before I pick up the girls from the airport at around 5 pm.

Wrong move. There were a lot of people!!! Like there’s no more pandemic and omicron is just another Greek letter that doesn’t mean anything. It gave me some heebie-jeebies. Because of this, I wasn’t able to find that pair of shoes I need because it seems like face-to-face press conferences and meetings will be more frequent next year and I don’t have enough good shoes for such occasions.

I think I would have to buy online and grin and bear it if the pair of shoes turns out to be painful to wear. 😬

On minimalism

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I’ve always admired people who are able to live minimally, like the girl here in this video. I tried picturing myself as a minimalist but couldn’t. Although I have less stuff than other people I know (i.e. the girls’ dad and my ex-in laws), I still need closets and cupboards to store them.

The reason why I am thinking about minimalism is because I am planning in my head the closets I will have to have my contractor make in my flat. My place will be small so my closets should not take up precious floor space…

I clearly have too much stuff.

So I started purging yesterday. I put my old shoes in shoe boxes and put them outside of our gate this afternoon. I also put the rubber slippers that my girls have outgrown in a plastic bag along with the shoe boxes. They disappeared the next moment I went out of our gate to run errands. Then I culled clothes that I haven’t worn in more than 3 years or clothes that I’m no longer interested in wearing and chucked them in a paper bag for donation.

I have adopted Steve Jobs’ style of having a monochromatic wardrobe to take out the complexity of choosing what to wear for the day. People barely remember what I wear anyway and they only take note of the accessories I have to dress up my plain dark clothes. Jewelry take up just a tiny space. However, my bags do take up room. I can’t give them up yet since a lot of them are expensive (I won’t give up my Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Coach bags. Nope.) I think I may have to have a special cupboard made to store them…

Come to think of it, I have a lot of bags but less than 10 pairs of shoes.

When the girls come back (I’ll pick them up at the airport tomorrow), we will have a de-cluttering session before we usher in the new year. It’s just going to be 1.5 years before we move again and I will be hauling boxes upon boxes of stuff. And I will be spending 6 months unboxing them, just like when we moved here in this apartment. The last stuff I was able to unbox and organize are my books. Teehee!

Meanwhile, the girl’s apartment in the video above also gave me an idea how I can have an efficient pied-à-terre in Makati after I’m finished with my flat in my hometown and buying a new car. A studio will be enough, which I can AirBnB if I’m not there.