Category Archives: travel

32 days without a car

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I had a call with the teams that are heading the conferences next week and I realized that I need to extend my stay in Singapore because there is no way I can finish all the tasks I am set to do. My boss told me yes, please extend because I need to meet Singapore candidate reporters as well. My colleague in Singapore will be taking her CFA Level 2 exam in November and after she passes that, I don’t have anything to offer her besides making her officially my deputy, which does not make any dent compared to other prospects that she will have. Even with a promotion and raise, what other financial institution can offer her would significantly be higher.

Stadium Road, Singapore. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

So I must do some succession planning. I need to hire one or two new Singapore reporters and if I need to go back in September, then I should, even though I would like to limit my travel overseas. I need to make room for my S.Korea working-holiday in October-November.

If this colleague-friend would leave soon, then there would be a big gaping wound in my team because she is very good. It’s going to be a huge wound, I tell you.

So there, I would be arriving from Singapore on 2 August and would be fetched by my mom’s driver from the airport at midnight and sleep in my mom’s house for a few hours then go straight to my college’s testimonial and recognition rites. Then my mom’s driver would bring me back to QC.

Today is hectic with calls, editing, and the amount of writing I must do. I’m still creating charts now to include in my crystal ball-gazing article for the region, which our commercial team is asking me to finish NOW because they will include this in the conference next week.

With the amount of ass-kicking I’m doing, I must really ask for another round of raise by the end of this year.

young female freelancer with laptop and notepad in kitchen
Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com

I have four to five pending articles I must write this week. Heaven knows how I would be able to shoehorn it tomorrow when I need to fetch my car, do more food shopping because I would be out of this house for 10 days, and I also need to buy a dress.

My head is swimming. I am wearing four hats all at once and I don’t have mental space for anything else.

That makes my S. Korea holiday a welcome respite from this chaos.

I decided I would be working in Seoul for the first week I would be there and just rent a unit via Airbnb and wait for my friends to arrive the following week. I was already exchanging emails this morning with the PE that I would be visiting there in October. I would just fix my schedule there after this SG trip since I would be meeting some Korean LPs in Singapore. Then I would just let my friends take charge of the itinerary because I’m tired of managing my life. I’ll be happy just being dragged along and be brainless. Anyway, I don’t have any real target that I must achieve/see in Seoul or wherever we would be going. Until Japan opens up to individual tourists without Japan-based family (and not group tours), Korea would be my best alternative holiday destination for this year.

OK, I must go back to my writing chore. The commercial team is waiting for my draft.

TIMECHECK: 12:35 am 21 July —> submitted draft to commercial team and to editing pool

I’M ALREADY BRAIN-DEAD.

24 days without a car

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DO NOT SETTLE.

This is the message I got today from all the people I got to talk to this week.

Do not settle for a half-assed written story. The story I just edited, I admit, I let through because the reporter would not have any output for the week. But then the content editor put a stop to it, because it was half-baked. Full of fiduciary statements with no substance.

I should stop being nice.

Do not settle for less than a full commitment to a job that was assigned a long time ago. I have given my team enough lead time; they should fulfill their end of the bargain. I push for more benefits and their promotion, then they should step up as well.

Do not settle for fleeting attention. If you want a relationship with me, I want your full attention. I don’t come second or third.

Do not make excuses for people. I will not settle for someone who spews inconsistencies and lies. Do not settle for people with questionable character.

Stop being nice. I deserve more than what I was receiving in the past.

Daughter: Dumb guys go for dumb girls and smart guys go for dumb girls. What do smart girls get?

Dad: Cats, mostly

Ah, truer words were never spoken. Because we’re no longer settling, we get cats. Happiness are derived from cats, not relationships.

Meanwhile, I would have to push back my trip to S.Korea from September (two weeks) to October-Nov (one week) as this is the only break my bestfriend and another good friend would have in the middle of the first semester school year 2022-2023. They have already booked their tickets while I haven’t because of my crazy schedule. I’m not sure if this is a good time for me since I need to go back to Singapore by mid-November and as head of the region for my publication, I cannot NOT be there… Ideally this S.Korea trip should be in September but…oh well. It’s more fun to be with my girlfriends if I cannot read street signs. My best friend and I had died of laughter for 8 days when we were in Japan in 2009 so I would really want to take this trip with her.

I don’t know what crazy stunts I would be doing this time but for sure I will not, I repeat, I will not eat a live octopus.

16th day without a car

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My officemate sleeping on the job. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

So today my foul mood is gone and the other effects of the booster shot. Was busy fulfilling my duty as an underpaid manager; so with that thought, I took a break and slept for 3 hours this afternoon before trying to draft another story. An underpaid manager is entitled to all the breaks she deserved, right?

Had a good session with my shrink earlier this evening. She could see that I’m in a better place now and told her my realizations. “I don’t know if this is the antidepressant talking but I’m good,” I told her.

Just like any good doctor would do, she is dialing down my dosage to half tablet every night for a month, then half a tablet every other night for another month before my consultation with her in September. She said she just couldn’t pull it out altogether; we need to have my body/brain adjust to the changes before we pull out the antidepressant completely.

But still no coffee. 😑

Healing on my own, without going into a rebound relationship, is sweet. It was hard but it was for the best and I’m reaping the benefits. I congratulate myself for being brave and strong. It was a slow and arduous process but I made it. I never thought I could but here I am. ❤️

I asked Twin I how she would feel if I started seeing other people. She said she’s ok as long as he likes them. I said that is the top criteria for me, that he should love them as he loves me. It’s a tall order but there is zero compromise there. My daughter hugged me and said, thank you, Mommy.

I felt guilty. They had faced so much rejection from the men in my life that I feel like I didn’t prioritize them and I’m just too wrapped up with myself and my personal happiness that I neglected their welfare.

Not this time.

You don’t like them? Then I don’t like you. Go away. You don’t deserve to have a life with me.

They’re my life.

I will start applying for SKorea visa right after my Singapore trip. I would be there for at least two weeks before things get really cold there. I’m meeting a PE executive in their office as they are gearing up for a SPAC listing in the US for one of its portfolio companies. I would be meeting some lawyers as well as there are lot of things going on there with Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia. Maybe I can work for a week or less and then take off a week to go around. There’s always Google translate. 😂 I’m also meeting up with a friend there who would help me navigate. Besides, half of the fun of traveling is getting lost. 🤣

My Singapore trip, on the other hand, is packed and I don’t think I would be able to meet all the people I need to talk to. Even my dinner with my lifelong friend who works as BD in a law firm there would have to be carefully planned. 😶 I wonder if I would still have the energy to go around to see people outside work. I hope the company just wouldn’t instantly pull me to host one of the panel discussions there just like what they did to me in one of our conferences a few years ago. That was nerve-wracking.

I could stay longer but I’m not that enticed to do that. I don’t know why but staying there for more than 8 days would make me go nuts. It’s just too confining for me. That’s one of the reasons why I was also not that hot about transferring there, aside from the regular 30% jump in rental rates because of the increasing transplants from Hong Kong. My colleague-friend told me she has to move from her studio again because of the skyrocketing rent. That’s just bad; she would have to room again with others in an HDB. So on a net basis, I’m doing better here compared if we lived there and I get to own my home. Rent there would just gnaw into my subconsciousness. Regular trips to Singapore would just suffice. Living in the Philippines is like living with somebody with a bipolar disorder but you just have to get used to it. It’s home.

But Scotland sounds nice and my friend is near to convincing me of that. 😂

Traveling in my head

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There’s a Cebu Pacific seat sale (PHP 88 base fare) going anywhere but for travel in February to May 2023. It’s hard to buy tickets that advanced; you’ll never know what will happen in the next month or so. I mean ever since Covid, it’s hard to plan life very far ahead.

I want to go to Siargao and Bohol again. Then if I have enough time, I will go to Palawan.

It’s hard to shoehorn holidays like that because I may have to travel to Singapore in August and November. I’m scheduled to leave next month as well.

May have to go to Bangkok in between.

But right now all I want is to be near the sea. I sleep well when I hear the waves crashing against the shore or rocks. It’s some kind of lullaby. For others, the sea may be terrifying but it has only been kind to me. It has always been a comfort to me.

Bantyan island, Cebu. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I have shared my love for the sea with my children. I’ve also shared it with him.

Someday, I will share it with somebody who will equally love it the way I do. My kids know that when I die, they will cremate me and scatter my ashes into the sea. We’ve often spoken about that.

But right now, I will just let the sea heal me.

Homeward bound

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Breakfast by the balcony. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Well, surprisingly I was able to sleep before 12 midnight last night then that meant I was already awake at around 5:30 am. By 6 am I gave up and made breakfast for all of us. My sisters and my mom had to leave at 9 am due to prior commitments today. My girls and I had a more leisurely breakfast and allowed us to clean the entire place before checking out.

This gave me the chance to walk around the lagoon to fetch my car from the country club.

The pathway behind our condo unit. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Flowers that I will copy. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This way to the beach. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This way to the country club. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Lovely lotus that I will also copy. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

We left the resort at 11 am and I showed the girls the reason the place was called Pico de Loro.

The protruding stone formation looks like the beak of a parrot from another angle. I saw the likeness last Saturday when we were approaching the resort. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This was a popular hiking destination before it was overrun by amateur hikers that disturbed the flora and fauna of the area. The DENR closed the area permanently since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, we encountered the monkeys of the mountain pass of Nasugbu and Ternate again. This time, I was ready with my digicam next to me.

A family of monkeys. I stopped by the road to take a picture, Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The inventor of the buko pie, hence, the name The Original. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

They ran out of buko pies at 2 pm. Oh well.

Blueberry cheesecake. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

When we arrived in my hometown, we ate in a resto-bar owned by a high school-mate. After college he took up culinary arts at CCA and decided to open restaurants in our town. Here is Twin I enjoying the blueberry cheesecake pie.

My favorite chocolate chip cookies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Then I dropped by the confectionery that I had been going to for 25 years. This has been my comfort food since my high school days. Love, love, love it. Bought 400g of this to bring home.

My undergrad college. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Its facade hasn’t changed much since 20+ years ago. We used to sit on the plant boxes or the steps and just hang out in between classes or just people watch.

I waited for my best friend, T, to finish work so we can have dinner together.

Sitting under the kalachuchi tree where we used to hang out.

We were planning our next dinner/lunch probably this weekend but we’ll do it out of town. T then drove me home and I called the girls to talk to Tita T because we were planning to bring the girls to a K-Pop concert in July and August. She and the girls chatted about so many things and we planned to go to S. Korea with the girls. In theory.

So tomorrow I’ll be talking to another contractor for another quote for my apartment. It’s better to shop around. I will decide later if we drive back to QC tomorrow or stay here for another day.

Meanwhile, Ate C said the cats miss me so much that they always slept on my empty bed. I told her not to wash my bed covers so that they can sleep with my smell.

Kimchi waiting for me outside my bedroom door. Photo sent by Ate C.

Meanwhile, I’m blogging on my childhood bed.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Of course I can’t sleep early

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I brought my sketch kit with me but the lighting in our condo unit is terrible. I’ll probably do some sketching tomorrow when we get to my mom’s house. But right now I have to pass the time writing, as is my wont when my hands get fidgety. I think I slept for four hours this afternoon so I guess I have to suffer the consequences.

I’m loving my iPad setup. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Our condo unit, however, is ok and has higher ceilings than normal SM developments, which are like being in plain boxes.


Living room with a giant tv that doesn’t have any use at all. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The sliding doors leading to the ground floor balcony. Twin A finishing her Kumon worksheet while her cousin’s tablet is just nearby. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Told my daughter she can only play with the tablet after she finishes all the worksheets.

Dining area and kitchen. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Stairs leading to the bedrooms. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

If this unit is in the city, this is not so bad for the three of us. This is roughly the same size as our current apartment but this has two bathrooms, however, the one on the ground floor is tiny. This also has a balcony next to the master bedroom. The bigger bathroom upstairs can house a washing machine.

In the words of my children, the entire Pico de Loro resort is fancy but they like the rustic charm of the resorts in Anilao. They’re not enamored of the sandy beach; they like the corals and rocky shores of Anilao. They said, mommy, if we have money, can we have a rest house in Anilao? I said, we must not spend so much on frivolous things so we can save for a rest house. LOL as if I can but maybe, who knows?