I am having a standoff with Kimchi. That dratted cat has been clawing, biting, and hissing at me all day because she was so pissed that I brought them to the vet for check up and deworming.

I was able to outwit them this afternoon by taking advantage of their fear—I had their claws trimmed at the vet clinic. When we got home, I was able to sneak in the deworming medicine into the Royal Canin recovery food that they loved so much when they got sick when they were younger.

Because the dewormer caused havoc in their tummies, my cats are doubly pissed at me. Despite that, I was able to give Sushi her Metronidazole.

Kimchi is another matter. She’s so ill-tempered that I had altogether given up on giving her the Metronidazole. I tried folding it in the RC recovery food but she smelled the Metronidazole so she was pawing at it, as if she’s burying poop. 🤣

She’s now hiding under the love seats (either of the two seats) and is waiting for me to disappear. But no, I am patient. Let’s see if I can outwit her again.

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I didn’t order the semi-mini PC (ITX casing) because it was still a waste of space for me. Instead, I went for a mini PC that already has the latest chipset (AMD Ryzen 5 6600H, 16 GB DDR 5 RAM, 512 GB SSD, WiFi6). The mini-tower being offered to me only had DDR 4. The specs of this mini PC assure me that I’m good for the next 4-5 years.

I had put the unit on a laptop stand to dissipate heat underneath.

This one is so small that I think it’s better I bring this to SG instead of a laptop. It’s super handy. I’ll just chuck one of my keyboards and mouse in my luggage since I already have dual monitors in the office where I can plug in. I’ll just carry my Samsung Galaxy S Tab if I need to edit or write on the fly. I can fit that one in my handbag without causing shoulder strain.

However, I’m having problems with my DP jack. The HDMI is working but my second monitor uses an HDMI to Display Port cable. The systen can’t detect the monitor and much worse is it causes the PC to lag.

I had reinstalled Windows 11 Pro, updated software, updated AMD Radeon and AMD Ryzen drivers, but still the second monitor doesn’t work. 🥴 And now I only have a few hours left before I wake up again to cook breakfast.

Speaking of morning, my cat Kimchi is recharging her solar cells on my bed, hidden behind my curtain on a Sunday morning.

Ah it’s Monday again.

My girls just had their first school dance. Twin I did not win the Ms. Freshman title and she was a bit disappointed. I told her, don’t be so—you joined for fun. She said, no, because I am competitive. 😶😶😶

I told her, you’re just starting high school, you have several years ahead of you to do so many things. Don’t push yourself too much. You join this, you join that but at the end you complain that you have too many things to do and can’t go to bed early. 😑

Twin A, on the other hand, enjoyed herself so much that she was in danger of losing her voice because she was screaming with friends so much. No, I wasn’t there, of course, as this is just the story they told me.

Next week will be the parent-teacher conference. I’m not worried because they report everyday that both of them are the highest in exams in their respective classes (they belong to different sections). They’re scared that I would throw a fit if they get marks lower than 90%. Well, I haven’t thrown a hissy fit yet.

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I struggled keeping myself awake this morning to cook because I got knocked out by diphenhydramine last night. My allergies were bad; there’s something in the air that triggers our histamines to go nuts. My sis-in-law and nephew are sniffling and coughing while my sisters’ rhinitis got pretty bad. I think the changing season has activated something from the forest around us.

Meanwhile, I haven’t booked anything yet for HK. I’m still torn.

However, it seems like the bed bug problems in Paris and New York have reached Seoul. Now HK is freaking out.

The problem with bed bugs, once you have them, it’s difficult to get rid of from your house.

So no, I haven’t booked anything yet.

This cat has nothing on my cat, Kimchi. She is the devil incarnate. If there’s a cat shrew, she is that. I have multiplied my scratches and I don’t think it will stop.

I am psyching myself now to do this on my own.

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You’ll be surprised how strong she is. I tried doing this on my own, it’s impossible. I can manage Sushi by myself but Kimchi is a different matter.

I haven’t booked anything for HK next week. So it seems like I won’t go so I will not come home to dead cats. Although Kimchi is improving a bit, drug resistance is real and it could make symptoms worse. Sushi, on the other hand, has not exhibited symptoms but her fecalysis showed she has protozoa (can be counted) and bacterial infection. Kimchi’s protozoa was “too many to count” so it was critical that I’m around to administer metronidazole and cotrimaxozole.

My mom couldn’t believe I am sacrificing work for my cats. I told her that I would be devastated if any of my cats die.

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I tried ordering shoes online, via Instagram to patronize Marikina shoemakers.

The leather is so soft so I think I won’t get that much blisters like the usual when I buy leather loafers. But I have to return this for exchange because the size is too small. I like it though.

Once I get the right size, I will order more from them. The price is reasonable and I want to support the local shoe industry. Talking to Buddy Tan, the owner of Blackwing Shoes, also convinced me that local shoe-making industry shouldn’t die because of China imports. My usual go-to shoes like Naturalizer and Aerosoles (they manufacture shoes in China) have gone down in quality after being bought by private equity firms—not surprising. Rockport and Geox are terrible for my feet. I bought a pair of black pumps from Ecco and only worn it once because they hurt too much. I just gave them away to Ate C. These brands give me blisters and it takes a long time for me to break into their shoes. I no longer have the stamina for that especially that I chase people, literally, all over conference halls and across hotel lobbies.

I am going back to buying local brands. They are enjoying a resurgence with the help of Instagram/clever marketing via social media. Aside from OAK and Blackwing Shoes, I am planning to order from Mariquina Shoes and probably Rob and Mara.

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I have also followed local leather bag makers like Sato & Co, Astrid Leather, Manila Tannery, and Niqua. I am already a patron of Our Tribe and it was so convenient that its factory and showroom is just in Sikatuna, walking distance from our former apartment. I have two bags and a belt from this brand. The bags have yet to sustain damage—they’re built like tanks. My first Our Tribe bag that I bought in 2014 is still intact and very much usable and hasn’t aged that much.

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Let me forget worries for tonight as my love for theater overcomes me.

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Prior to checking in at Solaire, I attended a presscon in Makati as I was chasing a cross-border story.

But because I was chasing a story, my sister and I were late checking in at the hotel. At least we were able to catch a beautiful sunset before tackling my story inside our room.

And the owner of Solaire (well the corp comm team of the company) gave me a belated birthday gift that was sent to our room. I barely had time to relax and savor the view because I was in a pressure cooker; we needed to publish the story tonight.

I was a walking anxiety the entire night. During the show’s break, I was frantically emailing my editor about a number of queries.

When the show ended, I was still messaging the night editor. 🫠

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And now, the musical Hamilton:

It has lived up to the hype.

It’s so good. 🥰 Imagine, the birth of the United States of America in rap. Yes, rap. Alexander Hamilton in appropriate period clothes rapping about the Constitution of the United States. Thomas Jefferson dancing his silly dance when Hamilton endorsed his run for presidency. Angelica Schuyler singing and rapping beautifully. War in the form of a hip-hop dance. All of this framed through the lens of an immigrant. USA was built on the backs of immigrants; only the colors of their skins changed throughout the centuries until today. 👏👏👏👏

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s libretto is brilliant, beyond words and the Pulitzer Award is enough proof that Miranda is a genius. Now you put the music onto the words, then you are guaranteed a Tony sweep. Which it did, winning 11 awards out of 16 nominations.

I miss theater. Watching and being onstage.

Good thing when I booked the tickets way back in March or April (can’t remember), I decided to book the November run because I thought the weather would be dreadful in August-October and I would be driving through torrential rains and epic floods because that’s the southweast monsoon season. It turns out it was a very good decision as well because I was in no way in the right disposition at that time (Aug-Sept) to watch a musical while my daughter was flip-flopping between TB and cancer.

It’s wise to follow your gut feel.

This man has been teaching me how to live intentionally. His videos are just fascinating; they tickle the hidden aesthete in me. If only I could live like he does, like attending workshops and short courses on sketching, anatomy, ceramics-making, being an apprentice in some artistan’s shop…

Here he talked about traveling to Italy for some anatomy lessons (for art) and making some sketches and paintings, selling them before he left Italy to get back (plus more) the money he spent buying art materials there. As he talked, I realized that I have wanted to go to Spain for a long time but haven’t really acknowledged it (maybe because the possibility was remote as I have kids). That was why I wanted to enroll in Instituto Cervantes de Manila for more than a decade for formal Spanish lessons. Of course, I haven’t done it because of responsibilities. 😞 Every year, I was invited by the Spanish Embassy to attend their cocktail party to celebrate their national day but because of my hectic life, I never made it to a single party. Finally, they got tired of inviting me. 🥴

What would I do in Spain? No, I won’t go there just to have thousands of selfies and do provocative/influencer poses. I will go there for/to: 1) food tripping and have honest-to-goodness Spanish food and wine; 2) discover the difference between Catalan and Castilian cultures and languages; exploring Basque region is wishful thinking; and 3) art and architecture. My friend from my old TV network spent 3 weeks jumping from Barcelona to Madrid and then down to Galicia (with a side trip to Morocco), then back to Barcelona.

How I wish I could do that! I have responsibilities that tie me down. This is what I get for marrying at age 27, thinking I should follow what society is expected of me. I should have done those things before I got married.

Oh well…

Anyway, I have to sit down watch more videos of this guy.

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I’m supposed to fly to HK on Tues next week but Cathay Pacific website is terribly wonky today. I COULDN’T BOOK. Damnit.

Maybe because I shouldn’t leave???

I brought my cats to the vet during my lunch break and a quick fecalysis showed that they have bacterial and protozoa infection.

So I would need to give them not one but two liquid medicines twice a day 🫠. This is the damage that Kimchi has done to me the last four days.

Ten more days to go for Kimchi and 14 days for Sushi.

This is the reason why I hesitate flying next week. My daughters won’t be able to manage giving them the meds. 😓 If the cats’ medication drops off, then the infection will come back with a vengeance.

Cats vs HK. What a world I live in. 😑

Then there’s this thing about my girls. Hard to leave them behind like this.

Twin I is a candidate for Ms. Freshman on Friday during their acquiantance party. 🤭 She’s having rehearsals every afternoon until Thurs.