Tag Archives: cats

28 days without a car

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Yup, it’s almost a month since I went out of my 4-km radius. To make matters worse, it has been raining so I couldn’t ride the bike to go anywhere. Physically yes, I can bike under the rain but I don’t want to risk getting sick before I am to leave the country for the first time since July 2019 (Jakarta).

I can last a month without seeing other people. 🤔 The introverted side of me is ok with that.

So today I’m just stuck here as usual and I’m cleaning out my refrigerator so I’m using the last bit of ingredients in my pantry before I do another big shop.

Tonkatsu rice bowl with egg. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I made tonkatsu, which turned out good because I finally figured out how to do double frying as I’ve seen from Imamu’s Room Youtube channel. My kids loved it because it was crunchy and I seasoned the meat last night so the meat was savory. Since I don’t have mentsuyu to cook the pork with the egg, so I just made a runny sunny-side up fried egg to top my rice bowl. I paired this with miso soup with kombu.

For dinner, I made ramen and eggplant tempura and eggplant fritters.

Garlic pork tonkatsu ramen. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Eggplant tempura and eggplant fritters. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m down to my last vegetable dish tomorrow (sauteed squash with string beans) and I’m thinking whether I should add coconut milk and a bit of chili flakes since I don’t have sambal. Oh, I should remember to buy sambal and bak kut teh spices when I shop in Singapore. (*Makes a mental note*) I should haul my ass out of this house tomorrow to shop for fresh veggies.

Cooking is some kind of stress-reliever for me—as long as I don’t have to do the wash up after.

Next year when it will just be the three of us, I would be batch cooking and probably supplement it by hiring my mom’s cook on weekends. (Ate C and I agreed that I would be releasing her from my employment and I will just finance her last year in college as my scholar with the usual monthly allowance, her tuition, and other school expenses. She would be staying with her sister until she finishes college. It’s just for a year). Imamu’s Room and Nami on Youtube have tutorials on how to prep bento lunches–packed meals for my girls and prepared lunches for me because I’m too busy with work to bother cooking during weekdays.

I will buy a robo-vacuum for daily cleaning and hire my mom’s bi-weekly cleaning lady for general cleaning during weekends. Besides, it wouldn’t be that hard to clean a 52-sqm apartment. The girls are already folding and putting away clean laundry as part of their daily chores and I would start them now with doing their own laundry with our automatic washing machine. How hard can it be?

The only thing that I dread doing starting next year is the daily litter box cleaning, because my critters are useless 🙄. When you are owned by a cat, you clean up after them for life. That is a fact.

Yup, I couldn’t lie on my bed because they have already commandeered it. I adjust 😂. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

We are in a scarier environment now with the China credit crunch unraveling further. While US economists/pundits are debating whether they are already in recession, China logs the slowest YoY growth in eons, registering 0.4% growth in 2Q22. Then here comes the threat of end-buyers/homebuyers not paying their loans because housing projects couldn’t proceed as real estate companies suffer from the Evergrande fallout.

China’s real estate sector is grappling with a crisis that has seen developers squeezed by eye-watering levels of debt, sparking a string of bond defaults among major groups including Shimao and China Evergrande — the world’s most indebted developer with about $300 billion in liabilities.

This is like the US subprime crisis of 2007-2008, just a different flavor and shown with subtitles.

When the world’s two largest economies are hobbling, then not far behind is probably the Great Financial Crisis 2.0. We are going to see a domino effect that could further weigh down emerging markets like ours, which are already suffering from sky-high prices of goods and services. I’ve been editing a number of stories that point to tightening of belts and external funding already coming in trickles. Soon the tap will be turned off for the time being as market chaos reigns. Huge valuation differences and forex issues (especially for the Philippines, which saw its currency weakening from 53 to 56 in just 30 days) are holding up deals.

This is a tough year; next year would be horrible.

I should move quickly and have my house up before December so if there is some kind of financial fuck-up that may happen, being homeless will be the least of my problems. I have logged a lot of paper losses from my investments and I’m kicking myself for not shifting my pure equity funds last year into fixed income because I was too lazy. I’ll just treat this market rout into a buying opportunity.

We should treat food insecurity with self-sufficiency and generosity. I will plant an edible garden and alongside that is encouraging people to do the same. A half kilo of minced meat and eggs with lots of vegetables go a long way for food-insecure families.

I’m holding everything with bated breath.

26 days without a car

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This just happened this afternoon on my Instagram that is set on private.

This is how they catfish people and I read on Reddit that it’s very prevalent on dating apps.

On IG, these catfishers just message me out of the blue. But you just don’t do that to me—it’s just like walking into Mordor. I’m suplada so I just say it bluntly and stick a knife into you. 😂 Especially now that I have PMS and I’m constantly irritable.

And I did this to another random guy messaging me a few months ago.

And another random guy in February

Then they block me 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. They figured I’m not worth the effort. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Ladies, use Google Lens to reverse-search the photos of these random men who message you out of the blue. One guy who messaged me I think last month used Korean model Dongwon Bin’s photos and he has been catfishing women since 2019, as I discovered on Twitter.

On Instagram
On Twitter

And this is the legit IG account of the model

I just keep blocking people. I’ve blocked a lot of men (and trolls and orcs) on Twitter, too. I do not delude myself into thinking that a person would be attracted to me with just one photo (since my profile is locked). So nope, go catfish someone else.

Some have tried on LinkedIn, too. One Indian guy was very persistent and kept messaging me to help him find programmers to recruit in the Philippines (and I assume he’s not dumb not to see I am a journalist and that I have nothing to do with IT). Dude, I’m too busy! He kept on messaging me until I blocked him. I entertain random messages on LinkedIn because that’s how I gain access to people I want to interview so I return the favor. But if you’re going to be like this, no, you get blocked.

You know, nothing is really genuine in this day and age. All lies, all fake. Even the people you meet offline. That’s the scarier part—it’s harder to judge people you meet in person who turned out to be fake and liars.

Talk about rough experiences 🤬

People who are worth your time are those who will find you even if you are living as a hermit deep in the woods (which I would be doing soon). They will find you.

And as previously stated, happiness comes from cats, not relationships 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

That said, I’m calling an exterminator. I can’t risk my cats and my humans getting sick because of vermin—just because the nextdoor unit is a cesspit.

25 days without a car

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And I’m going nuts.

I texted the car shop and the chief mechanic said they couldn’t do the paint job yet because it has been raining the past few weeks, which I completely understand.

Lord, please give me at least two dry days so my car paint job will be done. I don’t know how long I can stay like this, not being able to drive to places, even do a big grocery shop.

Meanwhile, my neighbors had Mochi/Whitey cremated today.

Goodbye, Kitty, love. Photo c/o my neighbor.
With paw print and glass for the ashes. Photo c/o my neighbor.

It was just so heartbreaking that he held on so we can be with him at the last moment before he let go his last breath.

I really do love cats. When I was growing up until my first job, I thought I was more of a dog person and my salary just went to pay for my dogs’ vet bills. Now that I’m older, I think my temperament matches more with cats. I’m an ambivert but my introverted side appreciates my cats’ aloofness and pretension that they do not care about me but in truth they’re really nuts about me. 😂

Like this lovely critter here. She again offered me another dead mouse outside my bedroom door.

Sushi, who is fond of giving me love offerings.

She had been making noise outside my bedroom yesterday morning, made sure I wake up so I can let her in my room. But when I opened my door, she refused to enter. I wondered why she went through all the hoops to wake me up then she’s not going inside my room 🤔 Only when I saw the dead mouse and acknowledged it did Sushi finally saunter into my room with a smug face. 🐱

I screeched and asked Ate C to clean up the crime/crime scene.

We don’t harbor pests in this apartment but because our neighbors in the next unit are really messy people, they already have a rat colony there and some of them had crossed over here. Hence, Sushi’s new preoccupation.

Their landlord inspected their apartment recently and saw that leftover Jollibee meals were on the kitchen counter with small rats circling around these. 🤢 That’s how disgusting they are.

I couldn’t put rat killers around my unit because of my curious cats. That’s what my other neighbors suspected that killed Mochi/Whitey. 😢 I’m still figuring how I could get rid of the pests without harming my fluffies.

Meanwhile, I don’t have anything else to keep me occupied today so I spent the evening learning to sing one song. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Ghad, I’m so boring.

Ocean – Lady Antebellum

At least this is better than trying to amuse myself by chatting with strangers, like what some friends suggested since they themselves are currently doing the Bumble thing. Especially this lawyer friend of mine who has been in the dating circuit in Singapore. She went through so many scrapes now because of Bumble and it seems like she hasn’t learned anything.

Anyway, I still can’t do that because I just discovered that I am not completely out of the woods yet i.e. I still want love and attention, which is fatal as this would lead me to the wrong person/people. So better I keep to myself until I become numb and heartless.

Maybe I would be able to do that dating thing when I am already nonchalant about everything, which I doubt I would be. Ergo, no. I would not be able to do it.

I should’ve learned my lesson.

Fly, cross the rainbow, kitty

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Handsome boy.

We tried to save him. After an hour of syringe feeding him, I saw he was already hyperventilating and his eyes were dilated. He just waited for me and my neighbors to come back to him before he said goodbye.

He held on long enough so we can be with him before he departed.

He enjoyed being brushed.
Mochi/Whitey enjoying the lights

He loved to play with my legs and he always made himself cute, begging for attention. At least for the last few months of his life, he was able to live stress-free and enjoy the simple pleasure of no longer fighting for survival. He learned how to play with broken branches and tin cans. He loved sleeping in this shoe rack that we provided for him outside my door.

At least he knew what love was.

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. 😂

Random

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My Oppo earbuds case/charger. I’m into cute cat things now. Photo by CallMeCreation.com.

Here is my small cat.

And here is my big cow. I mean, cat.

Kimchi the cow. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My ever loyal companion while I work. Sushi. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I love my cats. They make me smile all the time.

Still in bed at 6 am. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I got woken up at 6 am by my cats, who kept meowing outside my bedroom door. They complained that their food bowls were already empty. Then it took me a while to get back to sleep. I woke up at 8:58 am, just two minutes before my MS Teams call where I would have to present the trends in Southeast Asia.

Good thing I was already half-decent at that time.

Lasagna swimming in marinara sauce. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I cooked lasagna for dinner on my slow cooker. I had put too much sauce and cheese. It’s a lovely gooey mess but Twin I loved it.

What if there is somewhere out there who is meant for me? Am I shutting out that person because I am very stubborn and wouldn’t open up to people? Am I right to just hide away and let anger just consume me until I become a witch cooking children deep in the forest?

But how many heartaches must I experience? How many risks do I have to take?

I don’t know why I’m suddenly thinking about this. Maybe because of my conversation with my friend the other night?

But I’m tired.

But then life is not just about finding a partner. Life is a journey and having a partner is not the destination but rather something you may pass through or just a stop. It’s not a goal; it’s just incidental.

I don’t understand myself these days. I may be transitioning or I am just hormonal.