Category Archives: mommy matters

War

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This government has declared war on UP.

The previous administration has made all state universities and colleges (SUCs) free for all qualified students (which caused the closure of some private colleges due to low tuition/enrollment). This ballooned the student population of SUCs and yet look at what Marcos did to UP…

Just because the university chose not to invite the Marcos Jr to any graduation and did not confer him an honoris causa, which is traditionally given by the national university to a sitting president.

But why would UP even be forced to do that when it didn’t give Duterte any honorary degree during his six-year term?

Meanwhile, Philippine Star has thrown SHADE at Sara Duterte 🤣

I’m all for it, Philstar! 🙌

It’s so hard to work when it’s a bed weather kind of day. The typhoon passing through Luzon has caused class and work suspensions here (floods!) and going north of Metro Manila. The typhoon will exit Isabela province tomorrow morning. I just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep. But edits have been calling to me…🥴

Mi goreng with pork nilaga for soup on the side. I suddenly wanted something spicy for today. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

One of the primary reasons why we went home to my mom on a weekday (Friday) was I needed to apply for the UP-wide gate pass sticker. Which I only accomplished yesterday because the UP Police Force handling that closed early on Friday. It was so odd that I needed to leave my license by various UP gates whenever I go home. Like I was a stranger or something. Just because my old sticker expired—hello pandemic!

Anyway, I am finally chipping at my long to-do list.

  • UP gate pass ✔
  • Engine oil change and general car check-up today ✔
  • Emission test for LTO car registration ✔
  • Car insurance renewal – pending. (Haha! I would this online later) ✔
  • Late car registration – scheduled tomorrow

After I have renewed my registration, I can breathe more easily.

I went to my car seat upholsterer this afternoon but his shop was closed. I don’t know if he’s still in business. 😥 I hope he is because it’s hard finding an OK vendor that is a bit cheaper than competitors located on the other side of EDSA (Kamuning St). Let me try tomorrow before or after I finish my business with LTO in Cubao.

I have so many things on my list and it’s so hard for a solo parent like me to to finish all those tasks because I carry the weight of the world i.e. there is no other adult whom I can rely on for small or big errands like this. That’s why a lot of things are delayed, like this car registration 😣 And I found that it’s not unique to me. One of my bffs who is finishing her PhD (and is in Europe now to submit her dissertation and tie loose ends) said her car’s registration has been pushed to the back burner given the bigger stuff that she needed to cross out on her list. She’s a solo parent too (her kids are with her mom in our hometown). There are things that we cannot delegate to other humans because they’re responsibilities another person (who is not your partner) finds annoying or cumbersome and he/she won’t do it for you unless you’re dying.

It’s exhausting to be in my shoes.

Kimchi judging me earlier tonight. 🙃 Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Sushi always looking over my shoulder while I work. Judging me. Looking down on my work. 😂 Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I talked to the travel agency yesterday that is supposed to arrange my S.Korea visa application (because I don’t have the time to do it myself). The agent that I talked to hasn’t come back to me yet. I’m running out of time because I’ll be super busy by next month.

If I can’t have anything concrete by next week, then I’ll just spend my holiday in Palawan—if there’s no typhoon.

Better quality of life for less

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This is exactly why we’re moving out of Metro Manila. This carmageddon will never end.

I am currently working now in my future bedroom, my laptop propped on a portable table. I have sketched a new layout for my flat and added the measurements of the Pax cabinets I will be ordering from Ikea for my wardrobe. I hear the wind agitating the trees, amid the relatively peaceful environment, and it makes these photos above more horrifying for me.

I will be driving through this Bedlam tonight.

This morning I walked under a drizzle to buy beef at a much cheaper price compared to those sold in supermarkets in Manila because 1) the cow that was butchered was under the university R&D and extension office i.e. it is not meant for commercial sale (she just happened to have an accident, like a broken leg so she had to be culled); 2) it was a milking cow (hybrid Holstein), part of the cattle that the university keeps under the Institute of Animal Science to produce dairy products under its extension program.

My father used to have his office here for many years. This building is only one of the few that remained intact after World War 2. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
At least 2 kg of high quality beef inside this cooler. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My lovely view while waiting for my beef. Mount Makiling is obscured by rain clouds. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Walking back home, I saw this vegan and vegetarian restaurant next to the football field. This used to be an artillery building during World War 2 so it’s built like a bunker. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I rested for a bit so I can savor the feeling of being in the football field where I spent endless hours playing the sport that I once loved so much. It’s so peaceful. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
So sweaty. With Baker Hall in the background. Behind me is the one-storey building where I buy our fresh milk bottles and yogourt everyday since Friday. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Carabao’s milk. Yum. I didn’t buy mozzarella cheese because…I’m still thinking about our menu for the rest of the week. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Breakfast for today. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

After expending 160 kcal from my early morning walk, I gained it back by having breakfast. LOL.

I started the day early and worked in a better mood than usual. Monday.

I’m romanticizing life here now because I’m not yet living here again full-time. But so far my stress and anger from last week had ebbed and my early morning walks helped a lot in regulating my mood.

To be continued…

Blur

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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.

Review session with Kuya H.

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.

Food forest

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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).

Photo from www.raspberrypi.com

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.

Kimchi 🥰
Sushi 🥰
I don’t know who took these photos since they were taken while I was starting to work this morning.

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

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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.

Cuddling with Kimchi this morning.

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.

Milktea! Photo by CallMeCreation.com

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.

Well appointed

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By accident, I came across Kirby Allison as I was searching for a solution to my bags that had been scratched by my cats, among other things. I’m mourning the lost immaculate look of my leather laptop bag so I went to search for some solution or bag restorer to do it. I’m not exactly sure if Blackwing would be able to do it although they posted on Instragram they will be launching bespoke leather bags for women (yey!).

So anyway, while I was searching for some answers, Kirby Allison popped up in my search and I watched his video of how to restore his Italian leather portfolio bag (which is essentially an overnight bag) and got sucked into his world of being a well-appointed gentleman. Reminds of the movie Kingsman, but just the well-dressed part.

Now I am no longer skimping on the important stuff because I see that I spend more if I buy the cheaper brand (hello, American Tourister!). If I can afford it, I will have most of my things custom-made or local so I can have them repaired so they last for decades. My black leather Our Tribe is still going strong even after 8 years and I just had the hardware repaired for minimal cost. Their HQ/factory is just 300m away from my apartment. It’s not showing any signs that it’s about to give up on me and I think it will outlive me.

My pleather binder/Filofax is custom in the sense I chose the color and the hardware and the style. Made in Mandaluyong. Going strong and it still looks new. I’m so happy with it that I want to buy this item for family and friends for Christmas. I want to buy their real leather notebooks and binders next but one thing at a time…

So this afternoon my girls and I went to SM Marikina to buy them sports shoes because the ones we bought from Decathlon no longer fit. Yes. No longer fit. I should have gotten them pairs that are one size bigger. Oh well.

We also bought other stuff in preparation for the face-to-face school comeback, which will happen next month. So they have been completely online since last month and then they will transition to hybrid next month. By November, everybody should be physically in school.

Back-to-school shopping. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I also bought my nephew (my youngest sister’s son) a new backpack because I saw that National Geographic backpacks are 50% off. It’s lightweight, waterproof, and has good padding on the straps and the back—essential for students carrying heavy school books. This isn’t technically a school bag but rather it’s a travel bag for roughing it. But there’s no difference between the kind of abuse school bags and travel bags of backpackers receive when in use.

New spill-proof luncboxes ✅ for the girls and new bedsheets. ✅

Then we had dinner at Calle Reyes again because 1) I don’t want to cook anymore; 2) that’s the restaurant that’s not crowded.

My girls are already ladies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Reyes Barbecue. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Buko pandan for dessert. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I gave Twin I my new red Himawari backpack that I used as my hand-carried luggage for my trip to Singapore. I realized I can no longer use backpacks for traveling because my back nearly killed me on my way back to Manila. The entire time I was walking around Changi, I just pushed my backpack on a trolley, which defeats the purpose of using a backpack. LOL! So for future travel, either I just carry my light-weight laptop bag or bring my Rimowa cabin-sized four-wheeled luggage so I will not be lugging my heavy laptop around.

Or buy this.