You know there are days you just want to lay in a fetal position and hug yourself.
Today is one of those days.
I’m not strong. I get lonely.
…
Category Archives: personal
Quick night out with friends
Some friends from the industry messaged me earlier tonight that they were at the Vietnamese restaurant near my apartment. In two minutes I was there. I had dinner of chicken pho and then we proceeded to the wine cellar a block away and they had a few glasses of rose while I had a sip (because I really can’t drink).
It was nice seeing them again in person. The last time we had virtual drinks was in August when we were talking about that girl that J was chasing. Anyway, we were talking about what happened to me in February (the painting that was sent to me, the cheating discovery, etc) and my road to recovery now. M, who was the only guy in the group tonight and the chauffeur, said my story was so wild and he said that I was a strong person to have endured such kind of treatment.
Then we talked about our anxieties and stresses. Like Mdz, she is so stressed about her boss who is not that bright and she’s looking for another job; Lou, who was so stressed with what happened yesterday during her first face-to-face coverage and then her story didn’t come out because of office politics; and M, who is so stressed with his new boss that he already wanted to quit the newspaper business and just figure out his next move. He’s rich anyway so he can afford not to have a plan B. So the three of them just said they would want to open a business and M would be the financier. <<< This is the type of talk among friends who are already weary with life. They’re all single so why not???
I invited these friends for dinner or lunch at home; we can grill something and I will cook a full set meal. I still have wine. Mdz said she will bring wine, M said he’ll bring the steak, and Lou will bring whatever. I’ll just have to plan it. Perhaps the weekend after the elections. Maybe we will all commit harakiri if BBM wins.
Prior to the message and the dinner and drinks with them, the girls and I went to Gateway to get our glasses. The style and brand (Ann Taylor) of my glasses were the same with minor changes. But I still miss my old glasses because this new one doesn’t sit on the bridge of my nose well like the old one did. Anyway, I’m glad it’s here so I can draw again.
Tomorrow we’ll go biking with our Leni T-shrts, baller and watches in solidarity with those who will be at the Grand rally in Makati.
A week away
A week from now, Filipinos will determine if we sink or rise from this disaster. I’m scared. I’m anxious but I’m hopeful.
The surveys that had been coming in are flawed. Several statisticians from UP and the former head of the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB, now part of the Philippine Statistics Administration) have already pointed out the methodology flaws of those surveys that they were structured to favor the class D which tended to favor Marcos.
Horror of horrors, in 7 out of the 17 regions, there are more registered voters for May 2022 than the population 18 years or over!!! The percentage of “over-registration” ranged from at least 1 percent to at most 11 percent. How on earth could this have happened?
Dr. Romulo Virola
Pulse Asia (PA) overrepresented those who did not reach college representing more than 78 percent of the PA sample and almost 70 percent of the PSA 2015 Census of Population and consequently underrepresented those who did:
Romulo Virola
Meanwhile, I was arguing on Twitter with a Filipino journo based abroad for his crass words today. He has no idea what it is to be on the ground here. Now.
I can’t keep my words from flowing. The last time I couldn’t, I went viral on social media.
I was talking to my taxi driver this evening about Leni. Just one conversion is already a good one. Doing 10 conversions makes a world of difference.
Because I’m fighting for the future of my children. It’s not just for me or about me, unlike those people who are voting for Marcos who just say, I’m voting for him because I like him better than “lutang” (floating) Leni.
We are doing our best to change the mindset of the majority of the electorate who are not reached by social media and proper education.
Here’s my mom yesterday talking to some rural folk somewhere in the middle of a farming community in the province, campaigning for Leni. Giving a talk and leading focus group discussions. There are millions of her doing this, volunteer on the ground campaigning, house-to-house visits to persuade people, correcting false information and propaganda.
It’s that time of the month again when I have to record/tally my expenses or trace where my money went. I always pay my credit cards in full every month. I don’t want consumer debt hanging over my head and I always make sure I have savings and petty cash for unexpected stuff like this:
I lost my new eyeglasses. I don’t know where and how but I just couldn’t find it anymore. I had been wearing contact lenses the entire weekend and it’s only yesterday that I discovered my eyeglasses were missing.
Since I couldn’t live with wearing contacts full-time, I immediately went to my optometrist to have new eyeglasses made. I also had my girls’ and Ate C’s eyes checked. It’s not surprising they have astigmatism because of the amount of screen time we all had the past two years…so I had four pairs of eyeglasses made (Ooohh boy they’re not cheap!). Only Twin A’s were ready tonight and the rest will be picked up on Saturday because I ordered ultra thin lenses for us.
My girls will now join their four-eyed kuyas. 😁
My cats missed me. When we arrived home at 1:30 am today, my cats were all over me. Then they settled on my bed while I unpacked and searched all around for my missing eyeglasses. I slept at 4 am and I woke up at 9 am with my cats still in my bed. ❤️
Today Southeast Asia is dead: Eid’l Fitr celebrations across Southeast Asia while Vietnam celebrates its liberation with a holiday that began April 30 until tomorrow. I had been sending requests for interviews again and I think I have several lined up for this week.
I must finish writing three stories tomorrow. 😑
I haven’t had time to draw 😥
Be kind
I thought I was fine, I thought it’s over. But I had a dream that rattled me for a day, but I quickly bounced back. It’s probably an indication that I’m still healing and sometimes I would still stumble and fall.
But it’s ok. I have to be nicer to myself. This is not a race.
I will be me again, probably better as I have more understanding of myself and the world compared to four years ago. I’m in a better place now.
Salcedo Weekend Market
Finally. I was able to see whatever’s been written about Salcedo weekend market. It’s in the middle of Makati CBD, just at the back of our serviced apartment. There were interesting foodstuff like Vietnamese, Mexican, Aussie, etc as they cater to the expat community living in Salcedo Village/Bel-Air. Some of the vendors are the well-heeled type who are doing this as a hobby. I was looking for the Aussie lady who’s selling crumpets but my girls wanted to go back to our unit because it was hot.
They bought corndog, pancakes, and hash browns but I wouldn’t settle for those—there are better things to check out.
And I was rewarded.
And yes, it did taste like the Singaporean one. But still far from Tong Fong Fatt though.
This is hardly breakfast food but I just couldn’t resist.
This is where the girls played late yesterday afternoon but they decided not to take a dip this morning because they wanted the bigger pool of the serviced apartment where we transferred later today.
My sis-in-law and my nephew joined us after lunch so the cousins would have another chance to bond. They didn’t join us in Anilao because of schooling and football game schedule conflicts. So I upgraded my reservation from a studio to a one bedroom apartment. Some would sleep in the living room, some in the bedroom. As if these kids would sleep; this is an expensive slumber party with mommies in tow 🤣
I had extra beds set up in the living room. It’s OK, it’s just for one night. All in the name of familial bonding.
This is the view beside me.
Another day is dying in the concrete jungle. I will soon be able escape from this.
Handmade
I broke one of my drill bits last night because I was being stubborn. I need to replace it this weekend when we have the chance to go the mall. We will spend about three days in Makati in two serviced apartments I reserved for the Leni grand rally in Makati, which was eventually cancelled. My reservation was non-refundable. Anyway, we will treat it just like a staycation and I will be working one of those days, plus I needed to cover an event at night. It’s a relief I don’t have to drive back to QC after that.
For some strange reason I woke up early again so I was forced to confront work earlier than usual. I think our stay in Anilao has reset my body clock and now I’m back to Philippine Standard Time. It has been several nights that I get to sleep before 1 am and it has been so lovely so far. I think my body has finally withdrawn from alprazolam.
So I was productive today, editing a number of stories, communicating with sources and doing my usual admin work, writing another story…and yet I haven’t done any of the pending stories I was supposed to publish this week. 🙄 I promise I will publish two tomorrow. And I’m still waiting for a confirmation of an interview schedule…
Because I already scratched my DIY itch yesterday, it’s now the handmade itch’s turn to nag at me. So I restarted the sewing project I had so I will have new set of curtains for the living room downstairs before this month ends.
I’m loving the way my house now is becoming more handmade as the time passes. This is our fourth year staying in this apartment and we still have one year more to go before we transfer permanently, I think, in our new flat in my hometown.
I don’t have mass market art on my walls and I’m making handmade curtains. I’m DIY-ing so many things in this apartment that I feel like this is already mine even though it’s not. I have my say in all of the things here whereas I didn’t have that freedom in the past. Soon I will have my couch reupholstered with a more cat-friendly fabric and I will be making more pillows. I discovered that you can buy pillow fillers from Shopee and you can refill old and saggy pillows–or make new pillows and throw out the old ones. I can make big and fluffy ones if I want to. I either can hand sew again or I buy that Brother sewing machine on my shopping list on Lazada and make my life easier.
I have so many ideas in my head that I want to execute for our new flat, like an outdoor hot tub under the fruit trees. I can buy this galvanized iron tub from FB Marketplace and put it on top of concrete blocks to have a low fire going underneath.
This guy made a hot tub using an old barrel and some blocks.
A brick pizza oven in the garden, a grilling station, and a small workshop or art studio. I’ve also been looking at outdoor furniture with umbrella at Ikea and at Ace Hardware. My girls and their friends can hang out there.
I got the brick oven pizza from this guy as well.
So I weighed things…my job may not be that fabulous right now but it offers me flexibility to pursue life—real life outside work. So far the arrangement is agreeable to me. I just need super fast internet, like what I have right now, then work-life balance is ok.
I have to talk to the Converge people because they still don’t have a line near my new place. I need to attend one face to face event with them so I can sweet-talk them into installing lines there…hahaha!
I’m excited.