Tuesday, Tuesday

Looking at metrics with lighted lavender candle. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I had been looking at our metrics for two days now and something is wrong with our database. I contacted the person in charge but he hasn’t responded. I need to elevate this to HQ IT. It seems like I’m the only person in our bureau doing this 😤

So many hurdles that we/I are/am facing for changes to be implemented. I told my APAC boss if things don’t change, people will be resigning. Including me. Competition is actively hiring.


It was so hot today that whenever I go downstairs, I get knocked out by the heat. Later in the afternoon I didn’t realize I fell asleep while reading on my bed after finishing an edit. I felt I was being woken up by one of the girls but I couldn’t understand what that was about.

Then a Lazada package was on my table.

Sketchbook arrived! Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I bought this for less than PHP 200. I can have a hardbound sketchbook for less than PHP 1,000 via Lazada! Thank goodness for that. Moleskines are like PHP 1,500- PHP 2,000. I can’t keep forking out that much money for practice sketches.

I quickly put it to test.

Initial inking. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

I was determining here how to show depth since I took the photo directly on top of the food bowls so there’s no way I can show the depth of the bowls. That stumped me so much.

Light coloring. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

It’s really posing a problem. It’s a puzzle that I still have to solve because the ramen bowl is white. I’m trying to color a bit with ecru. I also added shadows under the bowls but another issue with the original image was that there were many sources of light there. The restaurant had multiple lights overhead so my light source is confused.

Still haven’t solved it. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

I need to give up for now to let the paper dry. The 150 gsm paper of this sketchbook is holding up and is not bleeding. Not bad for a hardbound sketchbook for less the PHP 200. I’ll solve this conundrum tomorrow.


Today I battled my way into reserving hotel rooms in Makati for the April 30 rally. And OMG the other Leni supporters are really fighting with me for the rooms! Everytime I clicked, Agoda told me that somebody else beat me into it. I even tried booking 3 bedroom suites but to no avail. Manila Peninsula was already fully booked yesterday. I tried the ones in Valero St. and Salcedo Village. I was able to book rooms in serviced apartments but on the first night it was in Valero and the second night is along Salcedo Village, a block away from Paseo de Roxas. I had to cut the reservation dates because there was no way I could book two nights in a row.

My mom is excited. Her friends have been having a difficult time booking rooms, too, and she’s happy I was able to snag rooms.

I’m also ordering pink shirts online. Will put click “buy” on Friday once I get clearer idea about the dates exact dates.

The girls are coming with me, too. I want them to see how people are gathering to push for change.


Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, we were manufacturing radios and televisions even before Japan started doing it.

The brand is Radiowealth and we had a unit of that huge TV at home when I was a kid.

Photo from Isamunangpatalastas.blogspot.com

We were a manufacturing hub before. Japan was devastated after the war. Korea was the same. China was deep into Maoism. We used to make watches during the later years of the Spanish colonial period. We had a thriving economy that was the envy of our neighbors.

But then Ferdinand Marcos Sr. came. And grabbed power.

When Martial Law was declared, Guevara’s business plan was jeopardized, especially since he was one of 7 delegates who voted against martial law. Because of this, he was pressured by the Marcos government which wanted to take over his successful business. Knowing it was futile to fight Marcos, Guevara—whose health has been affected by the turn of events—together with his wife, fled to the United States.

isamunangpatalastas.blogspot.com

RADIOWEALTH eventually closed, signaling an end of a shining era of industrial revolution. But Guevara’s legacy remains in Mandaluyong, where a busy, bustling street on where his manufacturing plants stood-Libertad St.–has been renamed after him—Domingo M. Guevara St. the self-made industrialist died in the 1990s.

isamunangpatalastas.blogspot.com

Photo from isamunangpatalastas.blogspot.com

This is the reason why the economic powerhouse that was the Philippines fell and crumbled. Because of one man’s greed. We became the laggard of Asia as we continued to be dragged down by dollar debts that were stashed into Swiss bank accounts. We never recovered.

That is why this show of support to the opposition—Leni and Kiko—is not only a petty knee-jerk reaction against Duterte-Marcos. This is a fight for my children’s future. We must not let the Marcoses be back in Malacanang.

This is why we are sparing no expense in showing to the world that we are ready for change. For cleaner government, for public servants in the truest sense like Leni and Chel Diokno. And there are stories of people being converted during and after the Pasig rally because they saw how people are there on their own volition, without being bribed, without being forced by their LGUs.

We might never get back that economic status before Marcos Sr came. But at least we are trying to change our course to a better one.

Goodbye, Philippines Part 2

This is so fucked up. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This is really making me consider going to Canada. Apply for a graduate school scholarship there (but it’s fucking cold), go with my kids (free basic education) and kapoof! Or to New Zealand but I may just end up milking cows because they don’t need my skills there. They have enough of my type there.

Anyway, it’s not an option right now since my passport is going to expire next month and I still couldn’t get an appointment with the Dept of Foreign Affairs. WHY IS IT SO HARD to get a simple government service??? I need to fly to Singapore in May and June.

Meanwhile, this other table shows that the bigger the N=, the smaller the gap between Marcos and other candidates. So there might be some *hope* there.

The other surveys’ sample sizes are 1,500-3,000 vs RP MDF’s which had an N=10,000

Also in 2016, Leni trailed in the surveys but she won in unlikely places.

Praying for a miracle right now.


I’m on alprazolam right now but it’s not doing me any good. I slept at 3 am today and woke up at 5 am. what kind of sleep is that???

Melatonin good for a month. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My psych said I can take melatonin because of my sleeping issues. She can’t just jack up my dosage of alprazolam–that would really mess me up. This was also prescribed to Covid patients who have trouble fixing their body clocks. Why it’s only now I asked about melatonin from my doctor, I don’t know. Maybe I was scared if it has any conflict with alprazolam. Or maybe I was afraid of no longer waking up. If I didn’t have kids, yeah, why not? But I have kids and I love them so I can’t risk dying.

But this sleeping problem is really affecting my productivity.


My friend, B, has booked herself a one-month stay in Boracay and she asked me if I want to join her for our own version of “Eat, Love, Pray” hiatus from the world. I said, why not? I’m about to send my girls to their grandma to attend an entrance exam review school for the summer and I can work remotely in a resort with B. I said I can join her after the girls’ birthday. She and I will be kite boarding every morning before we go to work.

My older sister also said the same thing; she wanted to book a month’s stay in some seaside resort. I said Anilao will be good since she doesn’t have to fly and she is a certified scuba diver so she has something to do. So I need to find a place for her so I can join her from time to time.

I told B about my solo Palawan trip and she said she could tag along. We could do El Nido; I’ll see how long we can stay there.

I just need to get rid of this toxicity that surrounded me since Friday. It doesn’t help that the girls kept looking at the girl whom J cheated me with on Facebook and kept watching her vlogs. “Mommy, she kept on talking about ‘Do you want to earn extra money?’ but she only shows her boobs!'” I told Twin A to stop it because I don’t want to know! My girls call her bakla because they said she looked like a gay man cross-dresser. It was cruel, I know. Maybe they are that angry with J. They refuse to refer to him as tito anymore. It was my friend, Jo, who lives in the same condo who told me about her. She always sees the girl walking along the riverside. “Yeah, she’s the type who wants a quick ticket to live abroad. Many of them in this condo who are with foreigners are like that. You know the type,” she said. Yeah. Many of them love to hang out in Poblacion, Makati. In the red light district, feeling like it’s the coolest place to be. That’s why I always beg K not to book dinners there (being a gay man, yeah, he likes it there).

I remember working in a Starbucks branch there with J because we were meeting with a startup guy. We saw an old Korean uncle with his very young plaything. J commented, “Very typical of these old uncles.” Little did he know that he has become an old uncle himself who got his own maldita hija de puta.

Jo said, “I can’t believe that he also chased M*** at the same time!”

I said, “Ah yeah, you were also there in that E*** awards party, right?”

Ugh. The world is really, really small.


So yeah, I think two weeks or just a week in Boracay will do wonders. Kite boarding in the morning. B and I can have our breakfast along Bulabog beach. Then work. She cooks and I also cook. Run along the beach for exercise until sunset. I can take a week off in May or June for Palawan–if I’m not flying to Singapore or Thailand. B just came back from the US and I haven’t asked her yet regarding her status with her guy in MD. But we have all the time in the world to talk about that in April. She just needs to go to Masbate after April or in March to visit some family properties.

It would be nice to get away from all these. I’m getting tired of the city but I really don’t want to be near family. What to do???

The world seems bigger than both of us

Yet it seems so small when I begin to cry

– Splender –

Ah, truer words have never been spoken.

Half-working, half-daydreaming while planning trips

Sunlight. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I spent the morning just bathing under the gentle sunlight streaming through my curtains. I decided I will not exert much effort since most of Asia is dead starting today. I just helped a colleague upload his story in the backend and that’s it.

It’s Lunar New Year’s eve today but unfortunately we couldn’t go to Chinatown to see the lion and dragon dance. But in years past I did that, visiting some Chinese-owned investment houses in the Binondo area to chat with some of their traders and taking photos for my news outfit’s social media account.

I remember punctuating the Lunar New Year with the Lantern Festival in Hong Kong with J in 2019. We had the lion dance inside our office and then after work J and I walked around Sai Ying Pun area at night.

Lion dance at our Hong Kong office. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My family is really not wholly ethnic Chinese so we really don’t celebrate it unlike some of my friends with Chinese or hispanized Chinese last names.

My mom told us that we’re Chinese on her father and mother’s side but the Chinese last name was already lost. It was common in Batangas (and also in some areas) for Chinese immigrants to adopt Tagalog or Spanish surnames to avoid discrimination. Since Batangas faces the West Philippine Sea (formerly South China Sea), some parts of the province like Nasugbu and Lemery were centers of trade with the Chinese and other Southeast Asian neighbors. So of course there were Chinese traders who wanted to emigrate to the area but I heard that Batangueños were pretty hostile to the Chinese. I don’t know if this is just some kind of legend but I was told that’s the reason why there are no native Batangueños with Chinese last names and most often than not, they had Tagalog last names (in our case, our last names are Spanish). On my father’s side, one Spanish ancestor was industrious enough to claim land “as far as his eyes can see” by fencing up tracts of land up to the mountain in our hometown. That’s how his forebears became rich (this story was reminiscent of the movie Far and Away).


Some unread books. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I finally transferred my “books-to-read” for 2022 on my bookshelf that was once occupied by Gundams and then later by stuffed toys. I need to finish these books first before I buy more. Tsundoku in action. I now have all the things I love in my room: music, art, and books. Now I really don’t have any reason to venture out of my room. Hehe.


I was looking for activities or places we can go tomorrow but it seems like there are limited things we can do given that I have unvaccinated children with me.

Celossian Flower Farm in Baras, Rizal. Photo from https://www.howshewanders.com

I think we can visit the flower farm and Pililla Wind Farm tomorrow. The first and last time I was there was when J and I explored that area three years ago. We dined at the palaisdaan (fish farm) in Theresa, Rizal.

Wind mills. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Waiting for the sun to set at Pililla Wind Farm. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
View of Laguna Lake, specifically Talim Island, from Pililla Wind Farm. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Palaisdaan (fish pond-restaurant) in Theresa, Rizal. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Mount Pugad camping is for another holiday…Probably during Holy Week. We need a longer holiday to be able to camp here.

Photo from Klook
Photo from Klook
Photo from Klook

I’m still figuring out the logistics. The ideal time to camp here is now, before the summer heat could kill us.

Lack of empathy

Let me tell you about people’s disconnect from the realities of this world. Their bubble and the lack of resistance in life made them what they are… They lack empathy. I’ve met humans like that and I honestly wish I won’t come into contact with them ever again.

Follow this thread on Twitter, it’s interesting and it hurts.

No, this is not only about UPenn. This is everywhere. I remember having to hear such similar litany regularly before. And I wondered why this person even bothered talking to me or being with me at that moment. This person couldn’t believe that there are people who could not afford to pay the full amount for a bottle of shampoo so poor families resort to buying sachets of shampoo because that’s all they could afford for the day. Because they had to make 500 pesos or 350 pesos fit for everyone in their family for a day. Everyday. 365 days a year.

This type of person couldn’t understand the sachet economy that is the Philippines. That not everybody can afford to buy their daily needs from supermarkets and had to rely on sari-sari stores for their groceries–despite the fact that they pay 1.5 or even 2x the retail price–because the sari-sari stores can sell them goods on credit.

And this person just thinks the poor are just numbskulls that’s why they stay poor. This person does not understand that when you’re at the lower level of the pyramid, it’s hard to climb, even if poor people work 18 hours a day. There are just too many hurdles strewn around those at the poverty line compared to people like me who lead a relatively comfortable life. I’m not even rich. I drive a crappy car, I don’t own a house. I don’t have financial security.

And yet these people will be the ones running companies, making public policies, make big and small decisions that can add or lessen the obstacles for the poor. The lack of empathy among this kind of people is disturbing.


Because I’m not in a good mood today, I slept almost the entire day. And then fixed my container garden.

New location. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
New location. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I relocated my plants because placing them under the huge mango tree was a big mistake. They were shaded, fell victim to caterpillars, aphids, and other pests, neighborhood cats kept digging the soil, and the overall vibe was bad. So a lot of my plants died and these are the hardier ones. The roses lost many leaves and the flowering became dormant.

Now I’ve put white stones so the outdoor cats wouldn’t dig again. I bought flowering fertilizers to revive the roses. My sunflower was completely lost to caterpillars. The periwinkle died of root rot or some fungal infection. The mums and the daisies stopped flowering maybe because the location was not optimal.

I had to redo everything.

This is my goal:

She just completely transformed her condo balcony into a country-style garden.

More or less we have the same size to work with. She has more patience and time than I do though.

Inequities

Photo of an 80-year-old man named Narding Floro who was arrested after he allegedly stole mangoes from his neighbor. (PIO Asingan via The STAR)

Here they arrest a grandpa for allegedly stealing mangoes that he thought was still within their property.

The elderly man identified as Narding “Lolo Narding” Floro told the authorities that he only picked the mangoes because he thought it was part of their property, according to the report of the public information office of Asingan town in Pangasinan.

InterAksyon/Philippine Star

And yet they have to arrest any of the Marcoses who were convicted of various crimes to humanity. I want to give up on this country and leave but I couldn’t. There are those like this grandpa that needed to be heard.

I just received a Twitter direct message from a professor seeking my help (and other journalists in Southeast Asia) seeking publicity because Thailand (or government-linked entities in Thailand) had doxxed and hacked into all his family’s devices because his university did not like where his research was going. Even now that he is no longer in Thailand, his devices and all his electronic footprints were still being monitored and hacked. He claims expats and Bangkok-based journalists will not speak out (“they are obviously protecting lifestyle” he says) on his behalf.

This just highlights people’s need for their voices to be heard through journalists. This guy even went out to seek journalists outside Thailand, a country that isn’t really known to have a free press, being under military rule for so many years.

Even though I cover a different beat, my reputation as a journalist gives me credence to whatever issue I can raise or whatever I write–when I am fighting for the truth and against the injustices experienced by my countrymen. I can easily shift to covering such things when I’m no longer tied. Or whatever.

I don’t know what I’m trying to drive at…

What I’m trying to say is, I want to stay here in this fucked up country. Because of the reason above.

So I think I would have to be ready to give up the promotion if they force me to transfer to Singapore.

I also cannot really raise two children alone without my support system. Simple children’s illnesses will become domestic and professional disasters because I will be by my lonesome. And my company insurance doesn’t cover family. Foreigners in Singapore have to fork out huge sums if not insured because they’re not covered by the national insurance system of Singapore. A single visit to the clinic can set you back SGD 100 (my colleague said) and my kids are asthmatic, so it may have to cost more than that.

I’m on tenterhooks right now. I’m still waiting for that Call. It’s keeping me from moving forward with my personal plans.

Elementary students had better excuses

The hearing of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s disqualification case before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was slated for today. The coward was a no-show. The criminal has been convicted of tax evasion by the lower courts several years ago and now he faces three petitions for his disqualification. He keeps on submitting dubious documents as he tries to worm his way out of this one.

I wish this was a satire or a joke. BUT IT IS NOT! OMG! Even my kids could make up better excuses than this. *facepalm* People online are joking that we now have a new Covid variant called Zoomicron, which can be transmitted through Zoom.

No, you can’t make this up. It’s too stupid. But here it is, it’s all over the news.

One of the Commissioners is now livid.

They want to delay this as long as they can so he can continue to run even though he is a convicted criminal.

Meanwhile, we stocked up on KN95/KN94 masks because double masking with surgical + cloth for a better fit doesn’t cut it anymore.

Yep, the growth is exponential. Good luck to all of us. I was chatting with a source last night and he projected that we will be hitting 50k cases by Monday and then 100k towards the end of the month. By Feb this will taper off but before that, all of us would have caught it by then. He told me he already stocked up on oxygen tanks and meds. Forget about hospitals, he told me, we are incapable of getting help from the hospitals now. I told my sisters that they should make sure the oxygen tank at home is filled up just in case my mom gets hit again.

So 2022 is like a repeat of 2021, only that we are just too tired of the shit of last year. Year 3 of bullshit. So people are now turning to little things like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson taking on Cookie Monster on Twitter for some amusement.

I envy my cats. No stress, no problems. The only stressors they have are my two-legged children disturbing their peace.

Lucky cat. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

As Twin I said, in her next life she wants to be our cat.