I had another skirmish with APAC boss and it’s not even my fault. The journo/editor that I am helping train asked so many questions about editing, why did I do this, why did I do that in one or two samples of stories that I showed her. To make things easier and not spend too much time explaining, I said I will cc you in the story drafts I’m currently working on, just to illustrate.

I did that this morning and a few hours later I received an email from boss, reprimanding me for going into her turf. Like—I didn’t even know there was such a thing. I mean, the trainee asked and asked…to keep me from spending too much time answering her questions, I just said “I’ll just send you a copy of what I’m doing so you would understand.” I can’t brush off her questions, can I? I’m already there in person so why not be helpful and answer her queries??? 🤦🏻‍♀️

So annoyed that I needed to go out and destress.

I walked from where I was lounging to push away the dark cloud hanging over me. I looked for a place where I can buy snacks for my kids and for those who are helping look after my kids.

My sis-in-law bought and gave me this blouse for my trip here so, here I go, road testing it.

Thank God for family to cheer me up.

Such a gloomy day.

After the obvious corruption at Dept of Tourism that cost us PHP 49m, here comes another agency.

This government is remaking everything so that Marcos’ asssociates can have kickbacks. Just like what they did to that horrible DOT campaign.

Nothing is wrong with Pagcor’s old logo and it has been the logo for several administrations. Why the need to rebrand and redesign???

In no time, Filipinos started making fun of the new logo that was obviously copied from Petron. My kids could make better logos than this unknown graphics company that sprung out in June 2023. Paid PHP 3m for a kid’s ouput.

Jokes aside, here’s the real story behind this shit.

That’s what they did with the Tourism shit we had/are having, only it cost PHP 49m and the recipient of the kickback is a talentless cousin of Liza Araneta Marcos, the first lady.

Oh Philippines, how I hate thee. How I hate the thing you have become. I am really crossing out people who have voted for Marcos and Duterte.

I trained two journos on different time slots today. I was working until past 7 pm and Lord knows how exhausted I am. But I didn’t want to go back to my hotel because for some reason I am lonely. I used to be ok with just being the introverted me spending nights alone in my hotel room. But this time it’s different. I’m not sure why. So I went to Orchard because it’s where a lot of tourists congregate outside of Sentosa. Do I just need the human vibe? But I hate crowds and being with strangers. Maybe because I’m hormonal right now due to my period.

I bought a jersey jacket yesterday because it’s cold in the office and at the airport/plane.

And this is what our CEO told us in an email last night:

It’s the inverted yield curve that bugs everyone a lot, which indicates recession. Our CEO’s refusal to budge regarding hiring is because of this yield curve—he believes that the recession is/will be severe. News stories have been harping about the lower unemployment rate in the US, indicating a jobs recovery. However, everyone forgot that we came from a high base as a result of the pandemic (many lost their jobs as the lockdowns hit consumers) and it’s only now that jobs are beginning to see an uptick. But the inverted yield curve indicates that investors are dumping short-term bonds for longer ones because they’re pessimistic about the near-term future. Ergo, they will not be investing—that’s why a firm that I wrote about that has been raising capital for their emerging markets fund since 2021 had to cut its target by more than half and they’re still trying to convince investors that it’s ok to place their bets on developing countries.

That’s on the high finance front. But on the real economy, people are not spending as much because everything has become expensive but the wages have not caught on.

I’m sleepy. Ciao!

Aaaaand I got two stories today 👏 but most of my day was devoted to admin stuff that is driving me nuts. At least I had my PH reporter’s trip to Cebu for a three-day conference approved. I’m still struggling with the other trips for my other reporters that I must push for approval. 😕 When overall business climate is shit, it’s hard to have every single request for activities that will cost a lot of money approved.

Because the world is still battling with this sticky high inflation rates. Possibility of recession (maybe already in recession) depends where you are in the world. But it can’t be denied that all central banks now are like firefighters—they’re digging through their policy tool kits for whatever they can throw at inflation to tame it. So far they haven’t been that successful. They have stemmed the somersaulting rates but the full effects of these rate hikes are still being unraveled in the real economy. Many now are struggling with the increase in their home and auto mortgage. Many companies are laying off workers, especially SMEs and the startups. Even the large global funds are struggling to raise new capital or many are being forced by their investors to cash in on their portfolios—so many of them are forced to sell despite the harsh conditions and large valuation mismatch.

Let’s see how things will progress this week. I just want to go gallivanting; I’m so stressed. I learned from one of our sales teams during our call this afternoon that some of our clients have cancelled their subscription because of the lack of Thai content. So it’s a chicken and egg situation. 😩

Whatever am I going to do? It’s a constant struggle everyday.

I feel like it’s a failure on my part; but then management and I don’t see eye to eye. Sometimes I just want to be brainless; like those social climbing bitches who do not care about the world around them and just sip their cocktails while taking selfies with duck lips. It’s so stressful to care too much; to be passionate about my profession and the world around me. To be hyper-aware of what’s happening to the world.

Maybe that’s what attracts me to freediving—it’s just between me, my breathing, and the sea. Some troubles melt away and the world is shut out.

I need to paint now but I didn’t bring my kit. 🙁

This was at 5 am yesterday. Filipino immigration people at NAIA are so infamous for their power plays that they even force people to bring their school yearbook to prove their identity that they indeed graduated from so and so school, which is irrelevant to the purpose of flying out of the country. Many have posted on social media about their woes of missing their flights because of the caprices of immigration staff.

And they’re causing the choking at the gates.

I think the recommendation of being three hours ahead of your flight should be changed to four.

This is the reason why I also keep on flying with PAL, because they’re assigned to Terminal 2 and Terminal 1. This T3 is a living hell, starting from its development by PIATCO—which was riddled with corruption, hence, the shoddy construction, etc. It’s that terminal that keeps on losing power during critical days like New Year, Labor Day, and the latest one was just recent. One of the top corporate lawyers in this country told me that the PIATCO concession contract was the dirtiest he has seen in his entire life.

Another issue with T3 is the choking at the immigration gate. The people assigned there are power players. One of my reporters last month was taken into custody for futher questioning because he keeps flying in and out of Jakarta. He had to take out his contract to prove that he is working for our company. I told him they can call me to get an earful from me. I can report them to their bosses at DFA if they keep on harrassing him.

That’s another reason why I don’t dress like a hitchhiker when I fly out of the country. They do a profiling of everyone based on his/her appearance. If I look like trash, I would be mistaken as someone who couldn’t afford this trip or that trip, hence, I am doing something illegal, like human trafficking. I kid you not. I wear jewelry, bring out my expensive bags, I put on makeup even if I’m there at 3 am—as I learned through the years of traveling for work and leisure. I should look like I have money to travel. So far I haven’t been questioned that much so whatever I’m doing is working.

Now that I ditched PAL, I am now exposed to T3. OMG, such a living hell.

But with a better airline this time. I didn’t sleep during this flight because I was able to finally watch The House of Gucci from their in-flight entertainment. When I fly out on Friday, I will watch Everything Everywhere All At Once.

My desire to check for sales and deep discounts is not that great because I just indulged in the 4th of July sale in the US. Yep, I shopped online and was awake until 5 am to check out items that were originally priced/valued ~USD 400 to more than half of it. I will have it delivered to an Oregon address (tax free!!!) by ShippingCart (which is owned and operated by LBC) and then delivered to my address in the Philippines. I did that years ago when I bought art kits from Amazon for my girls and my Sony Walkman (TM) mp3 player, which is still going strong up to this day.

So no need to buy from parallel importers here in Singapore (which what I originally planned on doing) and just go straight to the official online stores of fashion brands like Coach, Kate Spade and Tory Burch. Shoes might be tricky because of sizing issues so I better shop for that personally in Singapore. My last two shoe purchases were from Tangs at Orchard.

Given the extravagance I just had, I restrained myself from going over my shopping budget 🤣 I just keep on justifying my insanity by telling myself that it is for work and today I will be meeting the regional head of a Japanese trading house/conglomerate. At least I should be on the same level as these guys in suits—at least on the outside. 😂

I don’t know when I drifted off to sleep last night. I was so tired.

Because a working mama gotta do what she gotta do. I’m leaving again in a few hours and I did marathon cooking again today to make sure my girls are well fed.

First, I assembled this morning the stool I bought from Ikea last night and used my existing folding table to create a “sort of” balcony in my landing area. I realized I needed two more stools (one for outside my door for when one is taking off/putting on shoes).

I had to open my front door while cooking because of the heat. Good thing I already got myself this UV insect killer that zaps all living creatures that come into contact with the live wires.

It was a good decision to turn this into a “sort of” balcony because drinking tea or coffee here is lovely, especially during the golden hour until the sky turns orange then pink.

I’ll buy a porch umbrella for the mornings that I want to have breakfast here without being fried. ❤️

Oh dear. It’s NAIA again for me in a few hours 😩

Today was just…three back-to-back physical and online meetings. The second call was with my boss who said there is no business case for Thailand, while the third call is with a client that has been asking for Thai content 🤦🏻‍♀️

I am cancelling plans to go back to SG in August and Sept because…what’s the point? Why am I pushing myself too far??? Why am I doing all these?!

The lunch meeting was in BGC and so right after it, I needed to park myself in a coffeeshop with power outlets because I knew that the calls would halve my phone’s battery life. I ended my workday at 4 pm because I was already mentally and emotionally drained. I didn’t care if there would be edits; I didn’t have headspace for that anymore.

My sis-in-law again hitched a ride with me and went about her business around BGC while I worked. We decided to leave the area at 4 pm before all the working people leave at 5 or 6 or else we will get stuck. BGC is like a blackhole—it sucks you but you can never get out. The exits are choke points during rush hours. There are just too many cars.

We ended up at SM Mall of Asia because it’s accessible to Skyway/South Luzon Expressway. We went to Decathlon to buy basketball gear for my nephew while I bought a new set of fins for Twin A because she outgrew the last one we bought. Why did I even buy it when there’s no immediate need? Because I may decide to book a resort in Anilao right after my SG trip and we don’t have time to visit Decathlon for new fins.

I just want to work by the sea, to wash away my frustration. I need to clear my head.

I’m tired of fighting this kind of battles everyday.