Body clock still out of whack. I slept before 12 last night then I got woken up at 4 am. Had to fall back asleep. Then woke up at 9 am! Despite that, I still fell asleep at 1 pm and woke up after 1.5 hrs.
What’s wrong with me???😢
Anyway, got my groove back and tackled this Sombrero Island watercolor. I’m waiting for it to dry then do another layer.
Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m missing the sea again. I wish I could go now but the weather is uncooperative. I want to try checking in at Arthur’s Place or Planet Dive.
It’s quite annoying that my trip to Singapore this June is yet to be approved. Needed to justify why I need to attend such and such conference, do we often attend such, etc. Like hello! That’s my freaking job!!!
Back to cleaning my room. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
After writing Love Letter to Myself and seeing my friends yesterday, I felt much better. The Philippines is still fucked up but at least I’m not alone in feeling this way. A group of journos will be meeting for dinner next week so we would be able to prepare for the riskier environment we would be operating in. I guess we have to do this more often because the government is hostile to us, plus people allied with the government and incoming administration had been red-tagging various institutions like UP and Adarna Books (a publisher of children’s books????? Damn it!)
But we have to function normally. Life goes on…albeit we are more threatened now. And fucked up. I have said that twice.
So back to regular programming. Back to doing household chores and cooking.
We went to Tiendesitas to buy cat supplies and check out swimming gear but we ended up with more cycling wear and accessories (new helmets and bike lock). Well the girls got rash guards but no adult size for me. I guess I would have to go to Speedo for my own swimming gear.
Ah Decathlon, the bane of my existence. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m looking at camping grounds now so we can go next week before the rains become more frequent. I need to push through with this as I would be flying to Singapore on the first weekend of June because the following days I would be attending a 3-day conference and I need to meet some of my sources.
A video shot by my sister-in-law who watched the UP vs Ateneo game live
We all had a very bad week (and bad next six years or so). But at least the UP Men’s Basketball Team gave us something to be happy about last night.
First championship since 1986.
And in 1986 a woman led the people to oust a Marcos. You know, hope springs eternal. I have a feeling Junior will not finish his term.
I’ve been supporting the UP Men’s for decades as a former Maroons player myself (football) with an ex-bf who was also a UP basketball player. My sister was also a Maroons, playing volleyball in the WNCAA. I know the struggles of UP athletes—underfunded but full of fighting spirit. And to win the basketball championship—the most watched and anticipated UAAP event—after 36 years of struggling is super sweet.
My friends and I had dinner and drinks in Makati last night. Three of us are international news wire editors and one is a former reporter who is now a mid-level government official. We all covered the Treasury at the same time so we had this deep bond that spanned more than 15 years. What was supposed to be an election crying session turned into a laugh trip dinner and drinks. We hardly talked about the election and we just picked up where we left off when we had our last get-together dinner in March last year.
Since K had his appendix taken out a few months ago, he told us about his experience and the lingering horrific pain of having a catheter pulled out. 🤣 We three women agreed that catheter pain is what we remembered most during our own surgeries. Catheter > epidural needle. 🤣 I told them that pain relievers don’t work on me and I have a weird relationship with anesthesia. My dentist is forever frustrated with that. Even my anesthesiologist was surprised and alarmed when I was awake, talking, and still felt “something” during my gall bladder operation. I clearly remember asking her, “Why am I still alive?” when I wanted to ask why I was still awake 🤣 she hiked my anesthesia to put me back to sleep. When I woke up from surgery, I was on a higher dosage morphine drip.
Our conversations have changed from year to year and now we’re talking about hospitalizations and health. Gee, we’re old 😂
K asked me how I was since my anxiety attack in Feb. I said I’m already fine and that recognizing and accepting that J was just truly evil that’s why I went through all that shit is part of my healing process. And art therapy. I may not yet be healed but I’m much better—to the extent I had been off alprazolam for more than a month.
We were like Cinderella and had to break up the party at 12 midnight. Three of us are moms while K has a strict sleep and gym schedule.
“Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is at hand-—that and such hope as I bring.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Gandalf
I had sent messages to older friends who were high ranking government officials, CEOs, and VPs who were imprisoned during martial law. I asked for forgiveness, said sorry and that I never thought I would see another Marcos presidency.
One of them said:
“Hi CallMeCreation. Thank you for your touching note. Life is just the way it is. We fight a good fight, sometimes we lose and sometimes we win. The important thing is we don’t lose the will to fight. To fight for a better future. Am pretty sure those who stood with their conviction during Martial law understand that it will be a continuing advocacy for a better PH. Thanks again.”
The other one said: There’s nothing to forgive. We just need to continue to help our country.
My tears couldn’t stop flowing. This is the only election that I was emotionally invested in and the only one I truly cared about because it is pivotal. Now we are on our road to hell.
I just attended a briefing on private equity deals in Southeast Asia this morning. The speaker said (paraphrased):
The Philippines has never been the first port of call when it comes to private equity deals (compared to Singapore, Indonesia). As for the impact of the latest political developments on FDI, FFI…your guess is as good as mine.
This is as bad as it gets. The other webinar I attended this afternoon was about renewable energy in Southeast Asia and of course they had to discuss the Philippine market. The panelists had an embarrassed laugh of some sort and one of them said, “There’s a new president now but he’s not exactly new as they had been controlling the Philippines for years now…” and then they said they do not know in what direction the policies will go.
Well, because he doesn’t have any platform. He doesn’t have any plans. Nothing.
And today the Philippines received its first investment downgrade. It would soon be a series of downgrades.
Screenshot of the PSE today.
Even the Philippine Stock Exchange couldn’t handle the madness today. The market fell 3% at some point today and is now in bear territory (I think). The website crashed and for an hour it was like that.
My siblings (two economists) and I were chatting about the macroeconomic implications and my sister asked what is the possibility of us entering stagflation.
I said:
“There are too many headwinds. The companies are holding out on expansion, no growth seen in the private sector. The companies we interviewed said there are new orders, no new product launches, only core products. They’re holding cash because that’s the one they will use to buy raw materials as it is risky to borrow for capex due to climbing interest rates. We are heading for stagflation. Liquidity is the best policy. This is why I’m not buying a new car and will just have the Crosswind have cosmetic repairs since it’s not the best time to have a mortgage. I don’t know how long the BSP can keep keep its monetary policy stance when the USTr is rising, the peso is weakening.“
“Good luck to Filipino consumers because of the high commodity prices in the world market…palm oil, grains…because of supply chain disruptions. Even if you keep importing rice to lower the cost to fulfill BBM’s campaign promise of PHP 20/kilo rice, you have to remember we’re not the world’s biggest importer of rice (ergo we cannot dictate the price)—it’s China and it’s hoarding supplies. The run up in palm oil prices is a result of the protectionist stance of Indonesia because they banned palm oil exports to keep local prices stable. All countries are being protectionist now due to supply issues.“
Soon there will be capital flight.
This is scary. The vote for Leni is not just for ego and not just to fight Marcos’ evil reign. It is also the fight for investor confidence, better macroeconomic policies.
It’s just so sad that all the things I fought for all my life have come to naught. I taught high school students in Mindoro so they can enter UP, climbed mountains in Batangas to fight for farmers’ lands, climbed mountains for indigenous people so they can have a better shot in life… Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, and Tiktok took that all away.
It’s exhausting.
Many will lose their jobs, many will go hungry. But of course, they do not understand the implications of what they did. You tried to explain to them, but then they just have thrown dirt at your face and accuse you of elitism and “respect my opinion” shit.
Now they’re bringing you down with them.
It was a struggle editing today. I cried. I slept. Tried to finish tasks at hand. I need a mental health break (because you know, heartbreak is heartbreak) but I can’t because I’m a manager and I can’t just be a wuss.
I worked through my heartbreak for 15 months. How many heartbreaks can I take? How much more can I endure? How many dark tunnels must I walk through?
Whenever I get upset, I go back to my favorite books for comfort.
‘But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.’ – Samwise Gamgee
Leni x Kiko Grand Rally at Ayala cor Paseo de Roxas at 6 pm. Photo by Roby Alampay via Twitter
Since I knew it’s going to be difficult with kids in tow, we opted to have a biking campaign around the village and UP campus.
Washing our bikes. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
First we washed our bikes and oiled them. We went to the vulcanizing shop and bike shop to change the interior tube of Twin A’s front wheel.
In solidarity with the people in Makati. Photo by CallMeCreation.comRested here for a bit. Then the girls did some speed biking until it was too dark to do it.Photo by CallMeCreation.comWater break. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Something’s wrong with the gear shifter in Twin A’s bike so I’m going to have it replaced tomorrow before we bike to another venue.
We had dinner at Rodic’s near Bahay ng Alumni. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
We were looking for the street food vendor near Oblation but it was already very dark and we couldn’t see them. We proceeded to Rodic’s near Bahay ng Alumni and had a quick dinner. The ambulant vendor-kid there was appealing to us to buy his heavy rice-based snacks. I felt bad so I bought one and I gave it to the other kid who was begging for food. Then the vendor-kid gave me Leni stickers. I gave him more money in exchange for the stickers.
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
We went around the community this afternoon and evening with this.
Screencap of a video by a friend.
I wanted to be there but as a mother of asthmatic kids, I cannot compromise their health by contracting Covid. I hope they’re all safe.
Yesterday, National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab initiated a flash mob at PowerPlant Mall in Rockewell. I am loving that artists are lending their talent for Leni.
