Salcedo Weekend Market. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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.
Chicken rice! Photo by CallMeCreation.com
And yes, it did taste like the Singaporean one. But still far from Tong Fong Fatt though.
Mmmmm ❤️ Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This is hardly breakfast food but I just couldn’t resist.
Tiny pool. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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.
Horseplay. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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 think this is roughly the size of my future kitchen. Photo by CallMeCreation.com One sleeping setup. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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.
Salcedo Village. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Another day is dying in the concrete jungle. I will soon be able escape from this.
My cats knew we were leaving today. While I was getting dressed, Sushi was lying on my clothes, while Kimchi was lying on my laptop bag. They don’t want me to leave 🤣
However, it took me another hour before I could get away from my table because there were back to back calls with my boss in China and then boss in S. Korea. Then cascade the info to my reporters in Manila and Kuala Lumpur. 🥴
Before that, I had a one-hour interview with a CEO who was in New York so I had to compress everything because he needs his rest.
Rushing work at the dining area. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
After checking into our serviced apartment, I rushed to edit two stories, ordered food via room service, then I let the kids jump into the pool.
A living room with no purpose. It became the alternative dining area while I worked. Photo by CallMeCreation.com With Ate C. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It was good that Ate C came with us because I had to hop immediately to an event somewhere also in Makati. BUT BUT BUTit was hard booking Grab 🙄 Oh yeah, seems like pandemic is over. I had no choice but to go back to the parking area to get my car and drive to the venue. I was late 😣
Yep. Those are the deals I’ve been following.Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Was tired when I came back. Couldn’t book a massage 😭 So the least I could do was a hot water soak in the tub for my tired muscles.
I’m not really enamoured of city life. I could only appreciate it at night from above.
Photo by CallMeCreation.comPhoto by CallMeCreation.com
I’ve always been a provinciana. And will probably die a provinciana. I didn’t want to live in a condo and my gut feel was right. I couldn’t imagine spending lockdowns here in the CBD area. No trees nor open spaces. I really don’t like shopping so I dislike malls. I only go there when I need to buy something. I never made it a habit to window shop in malls; it’s such a waste of energy.
Wall Street knows only money. That’s it. How can anyone resist USD 44bn for a company that registered a USD 221m loss in 2021?
However, the problem with having Musk at the helm of a powerful media tool like Twitter is that it will give rise to the likes of Duterte and Marcos, who both built their alternative universes by keeping troll farms. It undermines fragile democracies like the Philippines.
That’s why Musk’s bid feels like much more than just an economic takeover of Twitter. It’s also a political takeover, akin to Rupert Murdoch’s 1976 deal for the New York Post and 2007 purchase of the Wall Street Journal. The world’s richest person, who has said he “doesn’t care about the economics” of buying of Twitter, is aiming to acquire a different kind of power: control one of the world’s largest megaphones and the ability to impose his libertarian ideology on questions of moderation and misinformation…
…The pressure will be even more significant outside the U.S. In 2020, Twitter said it would start labeling as “state-affiliated media” accounts belonging to some Chinese government officials and state-linked media outlets, in addition to ensuring that tweets from those profiles aren’t amplified. The Chinese government surely hates these restrictions. Suppressing government statements arguably contaminates the free-speech stew, but Tesla also has important business goals in China and needs the support of President Xi Jinping.
Twitter will be a weapon of mass destruction now that Xi Jinping, Duterte, and Marcos will be given a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge platform for their propaganda.
Good luck to us all.
Mitsubishi Xpander
I was looking at cars that could replace my current one and the closest thing that I could say I liked is Mitsubishi Xpander because of its cargo cabin size.
It’s so roomy!
I love my Isuzu Crosswind because I have a lot of room for bikes, camping gear, and even furniture. And I just discovered last year how to fold the passenger seat for more cargo room. However, it’s already old—but then I really don’t want to let it go because it can take whatever I throw at it. I’m conflicted. 🤔
So I’m holding off… I think I’ll just soup up my current ride (already inquiring about body repairs) because my sister may go abroad again (she said) and would probably sell her Toyota Corolla-Altis to me. But then, I really don’t like sedans; for me they don’t have any use except to ferry people. I can’t even drive that thing on provincial roads farther than Laguna because driving through Quezon province is like driving on the moon. For someone who often goes on road trips, that’s going to be such a drag. Sedans really limit you in terms of where you can go here in the Philippines and what you can bring.
I’m itching again to go nature tripping. I found several campsites in Tanay in Rizal and Kalayaan/Cavinti in Laguna and I want to try all of them, especially the areas that offer kayaking, paddle boarding, and wind surfing. My high school friends who bike around Laguna on weekends said Lake Yambo in Nagcarlan is also good for camping.
We will be going to Decathlon this weekend to buy new swimsuits/rash guards and kites. Yes, I saw kites!
If still available, I may buy that camping cooking gear that I’ve been lusting after for quite some time.
I’ll take a week-long leave this summer so the girls and I can go camping then dive in Anilao again—before they start their high school entrance exam review classes and before I start flying back and forth Singapore.
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.
Flower tea to start the day. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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.
Tiny neat stitches. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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.
Perfect for a hot tub with fire roaring underneath it.
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 gave myself permission to start the day late even though I woke up earlier than usual…I slept early without the aid of sleeping agents. Pure exhaustion is the answer to insomnia. I just love my bed. It used to feel empty but now it’s full of…ME! I don’t think I can share it now with anyone. Except for the cats.
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
And I gave my cats some morning exercise with the help of the laser pointer. After shredding that paper bag, they needed to expend their energies on other pursuits.
Weekly calls, editorial chores, etc occupied the rest of my day. Still didn’t manage to finish any of my pending articles left stewing in my leads list.
Then the DIY bug hit me again.
This time I fixed my closet door that hasn’t been closing for 2 years. Now I was able to fix it and the only missing tool to accomplish this was a cordless electric screwdriver so I can install the roller catch. Geez! 🙄 I waited that long.
It only needed the help of a cordless electric screwdriver.Photo by CallMeCreation.comI finally am able to close it! Hahaha! Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Now the eternal cause of irritation when dressing daily is finally no more. It now closes.
I am multi-talented but an idiot. 😂😂😂😂😂
I am reminded by this passage I saw on my Twitter newsfeeds.
This made me feel a little bit better. I have so many interests but I doubt if I am exceptional in any of them so I hid them from other people, especially my drawing. Only a few people knew I drew in high school. No one in my high school knew I was already a published writer. I didn’t let people know much about that because I was afraid they would think my efforts were not good enough. Same with my visual art. People my high school only knew me as an actress and a singer. Then when I became an adult, only very few people knew I sang, played the piano, and acted on stage. Zero knew I drew. I was known to be just a journalist.
I always thought I had to be excellent in all of those things I am interested in. I thought I had to be good but Kurt Vonnegut assured me that it’s ok to be mediocre. As long as I enjoy them, who the fuck cares, right? I enjoy watercoloring so I should be happy that I can do it. I keep buying frames for my drawings/paintings because it makes me happy. As I told my shrink this weekend, art therapy melted my anxiety and helped me lift myself out of the doldrums.
All these things—my multiple interests—are helping me heal. I’m enjoying life again. It took a while but, hey, I don’t have to rush.
P.S. I should buy Kurt Vonnegut books. An editor I know is a fan.
Chasing executives, scooping competition, producing stories back to back on the menu for today.
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This is my first face-to-face annual general meeting for the year and it seems like others will follow suit. I woke up early this morning to attend to some admin stuff before heading out.
Lighting a scented candle for good vibes. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It only took me 50 mins or less to reach Conrad since I took Skyway 3. I didn’t have to deal with horrible Edsa.
The shoes hurt less this time. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I spent gruelling hours attending back-to-back-to-back earnings briefing and AGM press briefings. All three overlapped so it was a feat that I was able to listen to all of them and ask questions and write stories. Whew! My copies were not super clean but my aim was to publish ahead of competition.
Writing and listening to a presscon while awaiting the start of another one in the other conference hall. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I arrived here early so I can start working on other things but I had to jump in one meeting right after another. Whew!
I wrote two time-sensitive stories back-to-back and edited some. I missed this adrenalin rush. Meeting the execs after a long time. One of the company owners told me I had slimmed down. Hahahahah! I told her we just hadn’t seen each other for two years that’s why you think that way.
I missed this.
Beautiful sunset again. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I have no problem working here at Conrad because the view is always lovely. It’s just unfortunate that I couldn’t sketch because I was trying to beat the buzzer and needed to publish these stories ASAP.
Sunset over Manila Bay. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I couldn’t drive back home now because my car is banned from the streets from 5 pm to 8 pm during Mondays. Now, should I waste my evening shopping around or should I waste money ordering coffee again? ☕️
Oooh, the president of this company just walked by and remarked to me, Oh you’re still working? Yup, gotta be fast, I replied.
Ahhh, I missed this kind of interactions. The small talk, the chismis, the market talk. This is why I have been doing this job for more than 16 years now. ❤️
