Comfort

They’ve now accepted their new home. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

They adjusted slowly. They’re still terrified of strangers entering our house. But at least they’re now ok and have not attempted to escape. But they still seek comfort in me. For two nights in a row, they’ve slept at my feet and didn’t leave all night.

Kimchi is fascinated with the sounds in the province. Video by CallMeCreation.com

Here is exhibit A. Kimchi is very curious about the various sounds in the province. Cicadas in the morning and a variety of bird calls. Of course, an occasional dog barking, and no cars.

I need to install cat climbers so they can try the catwalk a.k.a the top of the kitchen cabinets.

I’m still unpacking our stuff. I haven’t even brought down the things stuffed inside my car so I couldn’t pick up my laundry at the laundry shop outside the uni campus. I have a long way to go.

But good news is that I managed to get four meetings in Bangkok plus one meeting with a journo I plan to hire there. I need one more and I’m all set.

I have another meeting on Tuesday in BGC so I need to maximize my drive and set up more meetings with other people.

I’m supposed to be out of touch from work but here I am, replying to emails in between hauling boxes. I also had to talk to our Philippines reporter regarding how to angle the lead she got from an ambush interview.

No rest for the weary.

And weary I am. Very. I woke up aching all over from cleaning, carrying stuff (I carried Twin I’s old table!) outside for pickers to take, and packing the rest inside my car yesterday. I was just fueled by adrenalin and I only had breakfast to provide me with energy the entire day.

I HAVE TOO MANY STUFF!

I cleaned and packed the last of our things for FIVE HOURS

Back in the apartment to take the last of our stuff. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I slept early last night because I had to take diphenhydramine, which knocks me out. Twin A, my sis in law, and my mom had the hives. The forest is releasing pollens again or something else. Early to bed, early to rise so at 6 am I started tidying up. I barely made a dent to my unpacking and tidying. Let me leave that for another day.

I left for QC at around 10:30 am and went straight to Unionbank to claim my new debit card to replace the expired one. Oh good, this one is good until 2030. We don’t have a Unionbank branch in my hometown so if I do need to physically do banking, I would have to do it in the next town or in Makati.

I started pulling out our stuff (didn’t realize how very important the things we left behind!) at 1 pm. Finished at 6 pm. After that I took a shower and cleaned the bathroom at the same time, for the last time…

Just how much did we leave behind? My car is so full (my Tetris skills again at work), with the 2nd and 3rd passenger seats at the back folded.

Trash bags. At this stage I have already cleared like 80% of our stuff. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
90% cleared. I scrubbed the counters and tiles, even the cooking and laundry area. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I left the hanging shelf. I didn’t have the patience to patch up the wall if I remove the screws. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The girls’ room scrubbed clean. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My bed used to be here. 😔 Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I didn’t bother repainting the door after I had it repaired. The floor is still shiny and warm underfoot. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Scrubbed clean. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I left the wall clock and the Ikea lamp shade because I no longer have a ladder. Well, I hope the next tenant will like them. The red divan used to be here. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
All locked up. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I am thankful that we had the lockdowns here and not in a condo because of its strategic location and it was less confining despite having six people living here. Imagine if we were six in a small two-bedroom condo 🤦🏻‍♀️, sharing elevators with hundreds of people, it would have driven me mad. The proximity to UP Diliman was heaven-sent as well as it provided us with green open spaces when we needed it the most.

Thank you for the five years. It was home. ❤️ I did my best I could manage under the difficult circumstances.

I’m beyond exhausted

Chaos. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I woke up at 5:30 am and started packing the remaining things that should be packed. But it isn’t enough. We had to leave ASAP because the cats were freaking out, hyperventilating, and felt extra warm to the touch. Moving is so stressful to completely indoor cats.

I left the girls’ pc towers and a lot of computer paraphernalia at the apartment and the plants. I need to come back for them tomorrow.

Back at the new house, it’s complete chaos, but haha the priority was to find a new home for our diving and camping gear.

Dedicated closet for diving gear. Good thing the dividers can be removed so I can accommodate my long fins. The diving donut is on top. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Camping gear on the top-most shelves. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Our home may be small but it’s customized according to our needs and hobbies. According to how we live. We don’t watch TV that much so the TV/lounge area is small. I devoted the majority of the living area to the kitchen because I cook a lot. And oh, we do a lot of laundry so I dedicated a large area downstairs for that.

And our ISP is acting up again. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

And finally after several hours and much coaxing from the three of us, the cats felt more confident and comfortable exploring our new home.

Kimchi gave me a scare! She was panting like a dog inside the car and I was terrified that they will have a heart attack. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My high school classmate-vet said that if a cat is too stressed, they can collapse. He told me to keep them in a dark room with minimal noise. They’re like kids under the spectrum that’s why the react so much to too much stimuli, he said. So I followed his advice and covered their cages and told the girls to keep their noise low. We kept their cages near their new litter boxes and their water fountain. We tried coaxing them with wet food but to my frustration they ignored it for hours.

But at around 5 pm there was a breakthrough. Kimchi started nibbling on the cat treats.

Finally, the very skittish Sushi emerged. Yep, we proceeded to take their wet food out of the room to encourage them to go out. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I had hung the curtains because the morning light here is harsh. And that is Twin I, who is no longer a little girl. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Ditto for the tv area. I have so much to doooooooo! 😭 Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Funny faces.

I need to sleep early. I must go back for our other stuff tomorrow morning.

Changes

I’m going to miss this set-up. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Despite the age of this room, it was cozy. It was home. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Despite the chaos, it was cozy. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m proud of what I created. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
At Christmas time. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

It’s now turned into this. Forlorn. Stripped of my spirit.

Chaos. Impersonal. The last night. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I also took down the shelf that I had installed for the ex’s Gundams, which eventually became my shelf for books yet to be read. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My girls’ bedroom. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My world now has come to this. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My kitchen wasn’t a looker but now it’s sadder than it has ever been before. Photo by CallMeCreation.

I’m not yet done emptying my drawers and dismantling my laundry area. I’m so exhaustee. Must wake up very early tomorrow to finish everything.

My friend, M, asked me when we had our drinks last Friday if I’m sad. He was more sad for me at that time. I said not yet because I was in the thick of taking down stuff. He said, “but it has been your home for the last five years, imagine that. It was yours.”

Now it has sunk in. This is like the first true home I had because the ones I lived in before weren’t mine in the sense I wasn’t allowed to personalize them. I couldn’t put my stamp on them. Plus I wasn’t comfortable in those houses at all. They weren’t home, I didn’t feel rested and protected. I didn’t feel nostalgic about them. This apartment is different; it felt like a cocoon for me.

Once upon a time, I was surrounded by flowers. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Fare thee well.

Disappearing slowly

Artworks taken down. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

We’re slowly erasing evidence of our existence in this apartment. Taking apart the things I have put together carefully throughout the five years we lived here.

It’s now bare. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I had kept the artworks up at the last minute because the moment I take them down automatically depersonalizes the space. Now it looks so barren, devoid of feeling that there was a family that once lived and loved in this place from 2018-2023. Members have come and gone one by one and now only four are left to strip away memories embedded in this home.

I refused to give up my fairy lights. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I woke up this morning at around 6 am, with my fairy lights, which I had coiled to prevent breakage, still lit. It gave me a bit of comfort, still a sign that this is my home, well, at least until Tue morning.

Packing my clothes is a struggle. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Ready to go. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Yes, I’m mostly monochromatic. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Questionable articles of clothing. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Twin I saw these lacy things and she said, “these are too sheer! It’s not even good for sleeping in. Are these sleepwear?”

Of course I didn’t answer her and proceeded to chuck these inside a plastic bag. I WILL BURN THESE when I get to our new house. Evidence of my being a human appliance and a sex slave to a man who didn’t even regard me as something more than that.

I’m tired. Let me sleep on my moutain of clothes for a while. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I need to pack my piano and the stuff in my drawers. And of course my work station.


Goodbye QC drinks

Cherry blossom craft beer at Uva. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Met with friends at Uno Cinquenta again, maybe for the last time, for drinks at Uva. From past 7 pm until 11:30 we were just gossiping and laughing our socks off. We reporters love our grapevine and trade stories. Lots of stories.

Waiting.

Craft beer + Sangria = I’m sleepy.

I should be doing a bit of work now because I’m on leave next week, but I’m just so dead. I can’t. 🫠

I need to sleep.


I was so exhausted yesterday because I was chasing people to interview, requesting for coffee meetings for next month with people in Bangkok, while editing and dealing with editor/manager headaches. One of my reporters was being asked by the interviewee to take down a story. It was a bit stressful because we had to trace if the reporter followed protocols, checked his notes whether it jived with what he wrote in the story, and had to look for evidence of what the interviewee claimed he said and did not say.

Getting shit done at work and packing my whole house is draining me. I just want to curl up and read or watch videos or movies on my tablet.

But no, the clock is ticking. Must pack.

It looks sad…Photo by CallMeCreation.com

We had taken down and washed the curtains. Now the apartment looks bare and sad. My world is topsy turvy right now. We don’t have much food here as we are trying to consume everything in my cupboards and fridge.

It no longer looks homey. This room will soon lose its soul. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I will be packing my clothes and paintings later after I fetch the girls at UP Town Center where they are hanging out with their friends for the last time.

Sounds sad, isn’t it? Like we are now putting a period in this chapter.