The sky was dark, like there would a big thunderstorm.
No Rizal trip.
But the rain did not come and it was already too late to go anywhere in Rizal, even in Antipolo.
Bike rental Moovr. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
We ended up in BGC again and the girls rented a bike to satisfy that itch to try this thing. What they initially wanted were the scooters but every scooter was taken so the girls had to content themselves with the bikes.
Twin I trying the rented bike. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
After that we ended up in Bonifacio High Street since the government announced that Metro Manila is now downgraded to Alert Level 2, which means the kids can be allowed to eat in restaurants. So that’s what happened.
Bonifacio High Street. Photo by CallMeCreation.comPeople watching while waiting for food. Photo by CallMeCreation.comAte C also came with us. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
We needed to walk off the calories so we strolled the length of High Street going the direction of McKinley. We crossed the Mind Museum.
After our early dinner, we walked towards Mind Museum and the girls tried the jeepney displayed at the lobby.
Then we had drinks at Coffee Bean & Tealeaf near Burgos Circle to end the day.
Waiting for our chocolate drinks. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I didn’t want to end up in a commercial center again but what can I do? Oh well, next time I would go on a long drive on my own. Just to feel the wind on my face.
So tomorrow we get stuck again in the four corners of our apartment.
The three of us are sneezing because of allergies. Here is the culprit. I should know better than to bring a huge flowering plant indoors but I couldn’t resist buying this pretty thing again. The violet one was a gift to my mom but she killed it by negligence. *sigh*
I was high on antihistamines again so I slept for 3 hours, I think.
We didn’t have anything on the agenda today but I suddenly had the urge to look for candlesticks. Because why not?
We went to a Japanese surplus shop along Kamuning Road and found a lot of knick knacks and expensive dishware there (Givenchy anyone?). The girls and I went for the vinatage cameras.
Vintage video camera. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I would have loved to investigate the old film cameras there but it’s too time-consuming because they were too many.
Film cameras. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
A little more browsing and we were done. We were sneezing despite the double mask because it was a bit dusty in there.
Then we went to the antique shop next door. Kamuning Road was dotted with second-hand shops a few years ago but now it dwindled to a handful of them in this spot near EDSA. One shopkeeper said he was helping one store close down because of the pandemic so he was selling items at 50% discount. I loved the mini crystal chandelier there and some pendant lights (both not pictured) but I literally still don’t have a ceiling to put it. The girls asked me where would I put it? I said in the bathroom. “What?!” they exclaimed. I said I wanted to try the industrial bohemian style, if it makes sense, for our flat that is yet to be constructed.
The front of an antique store in Kamuning. Photo by
I ended up not getting anything.
Then I searched for wooden crates (to elevate my pots/plants) along Commonwealth Ave but I couldn’t find any. I don’t know why I keep chasing something so trivial. It’s probably the feeling of being locked up…
I just ended the day singing my lungs out.
Ah red days. How I hate thee.
As Still As a Photograph – Cacai Velsquez
I used to say that I’d readily swim The seven seas for you Now, I can’t reach the shore I used to say that only I held the key to your heart Now, I can’t find the door
Slowly fading like a painting on your wall Yet as clear as the sound of your laugh Forever captured in my mind you’ll remain As still as a photograph
My shoes are now worn from walking too far Still farther I go, My hands are so tired from hiding the scar Still I refuse to show And though I know that it’s wrong, You’re still my concern Like a thorn in my side, It’s hard to be strong When you’ve nowhere to turn When you’ve nowhere to hide
Slowly fading like a painting on your wall Yet as clear as the sound of your laugh Forever captured in my mind you’ll remain As still as a photograph As still as a photograph
And though the wound burns, it’s mine to keep To hold in my arms, And to sing me to sleep, For it’s all that I have, I now realize, The memory lives when reality dies When reality dies
Slowly fading like a painting on your wall Yet as clear as the sound of your laugh Forever captured in my mind you’ll remain As still as a photograph
Slowly fading like a painting on your wall Yet as clear as the sound of your laugh Forever captured in my mind you’ll remain As still as a photograph As still as a photograph As still as a photograph As still as a photograph
The girls had been cooped up for so long that they pestered me about going out today. But first I needed to cook brunch because I was not really sure if the kids can eat at a restaurant even if it’s al fresco.
Lugaw is essential. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I was supposed to make this into arroz caldo but I forgot to defrost the chicken so it’s just plain lugaw with boiled eggs. Still good though.
Then I tended to my garden. I had to relocate some plants because the heat at noon is too intense for them.
The wilted hanging plants under the shade of the mango tree. Photo by CallMeCreation.comHappy mums. Photo by CallMeCreation.comMy roses in thatbig planter are almost dying . Photo by CallMeCreation.com
So some of my roses are again victims of the neighborhood feral cats because they kept digging the soil to poop. I have sprayed the area with perfumed disinfectant so drive them away but it wasn’t enough. I need lemon and orange peels to assault their strong sense of smell. Then I placed the marigolds beside the dying roses to provide protection and shade. I’m still trying to revive them. My humic fertilizers I ordered online will soon be arriving. Roses, please hang on! Meanwhile, my wire mesh from Shopee arrived and attached them to the wall. I’m waiting for my hanging planters to arrive, also from Shopee, that I will hang on the grid and so the feral cats won’t be able to reach the plants that I will be putting there.
I was multitasking today. While doing my hobby, I was doing chores like washing stuffed toys using the mini washing machine because we would be giving those to the orphanage in Manila. I would be sending several kilos of powdered milk and the stuffed toys via Grab tomorrow. The toys now are almost as good as new.
As I thought, the girls were not allowed to enter Bonifacio High Street (they required vaccination cards before entering; of course the girls still don’t have it) so I just ordered Starbucks donuts and a giant cookie with frappucinos to go.
Sinful. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Then we plopped on the grass at Track 30th because that’s the only place where kids are allowed. Twin I was put out that she couldn’t ride a bike around BGC because we didn’t bring any bike. Besides, I couldn’t bike with her because of abdominal cramps (red days). I told her we’ll bring our bikes next week. You see, the only safe places now for them are UP Diliman and BGC and they’re getting tired of UP campus so that leaves BGC as the only option. On top of that, you can’t really stay inside UP campus if you’re not exercising; they’re discouraging people to linger as part of their anti-covid protocols.
Sunset on the grass. Photo by CallMeCreation.comWatching kids riding their scooters. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
We walked around some more for a bit of exercise because we had been sedentary for a loooooooooooong time.
Families with kids enjoying the afternoon in a grassy vacant lot near Dean and Deluca. Photo by CallMeCreation.comAnother day is dying in the city. I don’t know how long we will still be trapped in this concrete jungle. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Perhaps when I’m fed up working at home, I’ll just go to BGC and station myself in one coffee shop around the area to work. I have three stories to write and I need to get out of my box to be motivated to write those. I remember that I used to work a lot in BGC–at Starbucks inside Fullybooked in Bonifacio High Street, Starbucks beside Pancake House and at Bo’s Coffee, also at Bonifacio High Street–when I felt a little bit claustrophobic in Ayala in Makati. That was before the pandemic. Since I’ve been stuck here in this room for two years, I think it’s about time I change my venue.
On the way back home, we stopped by Jjangkke to buy the spicy chicken that I’ve been hankering after since last night. Finally, one parking slot was open and I was able to get my chicken!
I miss having coffee conversations. After an event/coverage, my journo friends and I usually work in some coffee shop in Makati or Ortigas. In-between typing our stories are conversations that can be mundane or these can be mature talks about life.
It has been a long time since I’ve had that. I miss it.
Everybody’s sick right now. Friends are posting their Covid-positive results on FB or are counting the days they would be out of quarantine. So it’s very scary to venture out right now. After my bout with Covid last year… Nope. I can’t even go out to the neighborhood Bo’s Coffee to change scenery to write. I’ve had another excruciating afternoon polishing a story I did with our new hire. I think I need better mental stimulation other than reading news.
I think I’ll cheer myself up by buying flowers tomorrow and set up a working space outside our front door so I won’t be too cooped up. I’ve been having conversations with my cats lately 🤦🏻♀️
I received this from my Zennya app two days ago. This is how terrible the situation is right now. The DOH reported 33k new cases today, and this does not include those who just used antigen tests and those who chose not to test at all because of the lack of test kits or testing labs still operating at capacity. My nephew tested positive for Covid via antigen test after exhibiting symptoms (he’s still unvaccinated because vaccination for kids 5-11 years old have not started yet). He has fever, colds, cough, vomiting, headaches…Of course my mom’s entire household may be infected too, it’s just that they’ve already had their booster shots so the symptoms are not that bad or no symptoms at all. They need to isolate again for 10 days.
My sister says she suspects that the carrier is their bi-weekly cleaner who refuses to be vaccinated.
One of my high school classmates who’s a nurse said there is an unusual surge of people now wanting to be vaccinated. I told him, who wouldn’t want to be vaccinated in this situation?
Even though there’s no strict lockdown now, people are just too afraid to go out. Yesterday only a few like me dared to go out because of vaccination. A reporter posted on Facebook that she was the only customer in a restaurant in Greenbelt today. Greenbelt is deserted.
Meanwhile, Comelec’s database was hacked again ahead of the national elections. The hack in 2016 was the biggest data breach, topping that of Turkey, that same month.
A Manila Bulletin piece said that hackers were able to enter the Comelec’s system and downloaded 60 gigabytes’ worth of files that include usernames and PINS of vote-counting machines, which will be used for the 2022 polls. #PHVote#WeDecide
Comelec is denying Manila Bulletin’s story but I’d rather believe Art Samaniego (who broke the story about BDO Unibank’s security breach that led to funds of 700 depositors being siphoned off) than a government agency that has been told by the National Privacy Commission that it is guilty of violating the Data Privacy Act for the 2016 hacking incident.
To help me balance these WTF news, I just turn to my cats. They’re my stress relievers. They’re so lovely to squish.
Kimchi is a cow. I need to exercise her. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Our laser pointer got broken. I need to buy a new one to exercise the cats.
I still feel like crap today because of the after effects of the booster shot but I had back to back calls today. No rest for the weary. My head was pounding and I felt feverish at times so I had to lie down in between calls. Finally at around 4 pm I took a nap and woke up at 5 pm and I no longer felt uploading one story on our CMS.
My boss told me our global head is going to call me in the coming weeks regarding my promotion and the alternative to moving to Singapore. I am adamant that I will not move to Singapore.
Look, if these companies in Forbes’ list can grant remote working, why can’t my company too? I mean there is little reason for them to plant me there when all the admin stuff is already concentrated in London. Client meetings and such can be scheduled when I fly in there.
It was different when J was still here. I would have worked my way into transferring to Singapore if he chose to do so for his career. But things are different now.
Everybody is sick right now due to the drop in temperature plus people were up and about during the holidays like the pandemic is just a distant memory. Good thing I was able to stock up a bit when the girls were battling colds, plus I had some medicines when I prepared for Delta surge last year. However, my stock is dwindling because I am down with colds as well.
But of course DOH had to say something like that to prevent panic buying. The reality on the ground is, everything is sold out now. Even Zennya has sent a message through their app that says Covid tests are fully booked that’s why they’re extending their operating hours until 11 pm to accommodate requests.
I ordered from Bayer’s page on Shopee several tubes of Berocca, which helped me to recover from Covid. In case we get COVID again, I still have Lianhua here but so far we only needed antihistamines and Sinupret forte for our colds and cough. Nasal sprays have done their work on the kids while I am still torturing my nostrils with it.
And oh, teas are wonderful, not just the one with caffeine though (my shrink forbids me as it will clash with my meds).
Ginger and lemon infusion tea. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Because I’m so paranoid, I’m no long going out and I’ve used my Puregold app to order groceries. My problem is fresh veggies. Let’s see if I can drive tomorrow to UP for that.
And this is what I’m talking about the localization of social marketing strategies, just like the communication of disaster mitigation and awareness on the local government level. The government and developmental workers shouldn’t use a bullet approach of one-size fits all. It’s never going to be effective. In the AKAP stages of social marketing (Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice), you need to be able to communicate well on the Awareness level and Knowledge exchange stage for Attitudes to change and push them into favorable Practices (in this case, getting their vax). If people don’t receive the message well on the Awareness stage, how can they even accept the Knowledge? They will just reject it.
Sheesh. These people should employ development communicators if they want something to happen. I remember writing some proposal for tuberculosis innoculation project of WHO though I cannot remember if I did this for graduate school or for an employment exam.
Anyway, the localization approach was the reason why the zero polio campaign was successful–until Duterte came along–because the DOH then was employing something right at that time. I miss Dr. Juan Flavier for his pro-development, proactive, and pro-poor policies at DOH and at the Senate.
