Just like during Marcos Sr’s martial law. This has a chilling effect on us in the industry–except of course this doesn’t affect media workers who are Marcos supporters. 🤬 Asshats!
My mom always reminds me to be careful and keep safe. She lived through the killings of the first Marcos era. Now I’m living it now.
I no longer know what’s or who’s next. 😔
We’re so fucked.
While we were in the boat going to the spot where I can dive last Sunday, Twin A accidentally dipped her sling bag that contains her mobile phone into the water. She wanted to take pictures, she said. It got wet and she kept on turning the phone on and off. Expect that some short circuiting will ensue.
They would be going to Cebu by the end of the month so I need them to be accessible via phone ALL THE TIME because I do not trust their dad. I had to have that phone fixed.
I went to Greenhills yesterday to have the LCD replaced.
Painful to watch. Photo by CallMeCreation.comThis is how a wet LCD panel looks like. It still has some salt deposits on it. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It hurt my wallet. PHP 2,000, including a screen protector.
I will have that kid hung upside down to teach her a lesson.
Finally, the midweek drinks with my friends pushed through. So M has decided he will tender his resignation in November. He recognized that it’s really unhealthy to stay and his doctor told him that whatever he is feeling physically is psychosomatic. Which I had been telling him all along.
L, another friend, has been contemplating on quitting for quite some time. She said she can no longer continue working 7 days a week. But she is trying her darned best to overcome psychological barriers to performing better in her new beat. She needs to leave her job on a high note so she is pushing herself to the limit.
Cooked this from scratch before we lose power tonight. Then we will resort to time-saving, ready to cook marinated stuff I bought from Monterey today when shit hits the fan.
Meatballs in gravy. Secret ingredient: lots of nutmeg. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Apprently, I haven’t been reading the weather maps well. Typhoon Karding hasn’t made landfall yet.
PAGASA and JWC had upgraded Typhoon Karding into a super typhoon after it crossed the Philippine Sea—notorious for its warm waters—that fueled its strength before landfall. It is yet to cross Metro Manila now at 2 pm but the periphery of the typhoon is already felt with the deceptively calm rain we are experiencing now.
If Signal #4 is already raised here, then Karding is about as strong as Typhoon Glenda or Milenyo, two typhoons that knocked out power in Metro Manila for at least a week. Milenyo was in 2006 when I experienced walking from the Department of Finance to my newspaper’s office because there were no public utility vehicles. There was no power anywhere and as a reporter, I still needed to file my stories whatever the circumstances. The bigger the catastrophe, the more we must work and be on the ground.
Then the unlearned still brand us as paid hacks and useless 😑
Glenda was in 2014, when the girls were still babies. That was challenging. Right after Glenda passed, Metro Manila was freaking hot and humid—a guarantee that would send babies crying at night because it was so uncomfortable. We had to go to Araneta Center to charge our gadgets, in my case my laptop, and have some air-conditioning. Power was out for more than a week and I still had to file stories.
Twin I helping me shop for supplies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Twin I and I went out for our supplies run before Typhoon Karding hits us. Right now it is taking its time ravaging Quezon Province. 😔
Back to making curtains. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’ve also brought out my hobbies that won’t require power, like sewing curtains and sketching/painting.
I’m writing about these things so when I’m already gone, my girls will know what to do upon reading blog entries such as this.
Also posting this link to an IG reel that hit me hard. This is for my girls as well. If they feel like they are being treated like a human appliance, they should pack up and leave. They shouldn’t sink to my level; I who groveled at the feet of men who treated me badly.
So my children, if you’re reading this now that I’ve gone to the great beyond, then remember this: be always prepared before a calamity. It doesn’t hurt to be extra vigilant. If the typhoon passes without destroying Metro Manila, it’s good. Do not treat your prep work as wasted effort.
Second point: do not stay in a relationship because you are expected to. Once your partner treats you like a maid or human appliance, LEAVE! You don’t deserve to be treated like that.
That’s why I think I will end up as a cat lady. It’s only my cats who love me like this. Sushi slept on my pillows all day. We slept together this afternoon and this evening she’s at the foot of my bed, still sleeping. She doesn’t let me out of her sight. ❤️
Chamomile tea to calm my frayed nerves. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I edited a lot of stories today 😩 which left me mentally exhausted. I promised myself that I would walk 8k today but the weather had other plans.
It rained. 😑
But I needed to burn some calories or else I will become as big as a house again. Indoor workout again.
I need to shrink my arms and my pregnant-looking tummy.
I’m also cutting down on carbs. It’s hard though. I’m getting hungry at night.
My lovelies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
If I don’t instill discipline in me, I will become that chonky Kimchi. It was so wrong to introduce her to snacks. Now she demands it in the morning whenever I come down to go to the bathroom. The leash I bought the last time was small so I think I need to buy the dog body leash for Kimchi and the normal cat body leash for Sushi. We need to train them to walk outdoors so they will be ready when we transport them when we move to our new house. Plus Kimchi needed the exercise.
Tomorrow I will have drinks with my journo friend who went on medical leave for three months after the trip to the ER. He didn’t know what was wrong with him when one day his BP shot up and he had to be brought to the ER. Upon arriving there his BP and everything else became normal. He says that his BP has become wild in the past few months… And he hates his job now.
Like zero fucks given to his job.
The last time we talked face to face he has been complaining to me about his direct manager and how he hates doing what he was good at before.
I told him he those are anxiety attacks and I was like that a few years ago. I frequently had palpitations, chest tightening and pain, and strong urge to puke. One time I was driving and I had one of those episodes that I willed my way into driving to the nearest ER. I thought I was having a heart attack. I was cleared when my ECG showed it wasn’t a heart attack; iy was heart burn/GERD. A friend of my sister said I had exhibited anxiety attack symptoms. That’s how bad my situation was when the girls’ dad and I had lived under the same roof but led different lives. When I had taken myself out of the situation, my anxiety attacks stopped.
I need to convince this friend that no job is worth dying for. He has to quit. He has been telling me over and over he wanted to quit and will just put up his own business (he’s loaded anyway). So pep talk is what he needed. I told him last Wednesday when we saw each other in BGC that he doesn’t look good and he looks like he needs to rest for a few months. His colleague (and also my friend) from the same media entity also quit recently and it seemed like he is burned out. He (second friend) told me he is just loafing around and will soon go to Peru to unwind. There must be something wrong with their management now, methinks. Reporters are just getting burned out at the same time. 🤔
It’s a terrible, terrible feeling. I had been in that position before. When stress and anxiety are taking a toll on your health, you should just quit. There’s nothing wrong with quitting. When the current situation is no longer working for you, cut your losses. Stop and reassess your situation, realign your goals if needed. Plan an escape route. After you have figured out what you needed to do and what you wanted to do, then re-engage with the world.
Your mental health is at stake here. This eventually would bleed into your physical health and all aches and pains will become psychosomatic.
As my sister said, quit while you still have your dignity intact. Because if you keep pushing beyond what your mental state can take, you will make a mess of yourself and destroy your reputation in the process.
Save yourself.
I am a living testament of quitting-before-I-fuck-up. So far it turned out pretty well for me.
So now I wonder if we can go to that wine bar we went to…
I was driving on the way home with our Manila reporter, Kr, when I suddenly had a barrage of friend requests and private messages from strangers over at Facebook.
I thought maybe the ABS-CBN interview aired.
Yep, it aired. And I found that I was so angry and it radiated through the screen 🤣
I was able to put on makeup but my hair was a mess 🤣
In any case, my friend said this will be a series of news reports about this issue because she was able to open Pandora’s box. It was bigger than we initially thought.
Meanwhile, I was able to come back to Manila Peninsula to cover a conference so we can ambush interview some C-level execs.
The Manila Peninsula. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I think we have at least 4 stories from this event alone 👏
Plus we saw friends. Ex-journalists-turned-PR/corpcomm.
Selfie!
All in all, a very productive day with a touch of reunion on the side with many, many, many PR friends.
I just realized that my network is vast. From govt, to private sector, to corpcomm, and academe. From top-down. If I wanted, I can really pull serious strings.
Ah, the exes chose the wrong person to mess with. 😏
Oh geez, this tita can no longer keep up with the millennials. My friend B and I were convinced by the Filipino journo friends we had drinks with last Friday…to stay up past 3 am. I was so trashed the following day that I only got to do my grocery shopping at 3 pm.
I had 4 pints that night. Photo by CallMeCreation.comI kept on staring at this chandelier, counting 1-10 and assuring myself I was fine. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I wanted to put that kind of chandelier in my future bathroom
Some local Pinoy and visiting journos.
There were so many conferences this past week, which allowed fellow Pinoy journos to gather in one place and exchange chismis. These were former Bloomberg TV Philippines/TV5/Businessworld people. One is an anchor/SEAsia reporter for CNBC, the other one is already a senior producer/editor/journo at CNA, and another is a Bloomberg reporter transferring now to their Jakarta office from Manila bureau. Others are from MSN and a commodities trade magazine.
We all had the same complaints: WE CANNOT HIRE IN SINGAPORE. ZERO TALENT.
Two of these people here I have already poached in the past. Of course they wouldn’t jump ship because they’re already the same level as me. The others are really meant for broadcast. So basically we’re all competing for a very small pool of unqualified locals because we’re all having problems with MoM barriers. What I found out is that they can go around the limitations by hiring at S-Pass levels and just hit the maximum payscale at that level so they can get people from abroad. Unfortunately, I cannot do that since 1) we’re an MNC so it’s harder for me because of reputational risks; 2) we’ve already hit our quota.
And of course, there is no way I can hire a local PR or citizen. For the PR, they are so much sought after that I cannot afford them. For the citizens…mehhhhhh. I will just kill myself by imposing this kind of headache if I hire local.
I told my bosses that there is no way I can fulfill London’s orders so I’m poaching from our HK bureau and sold SG so much to her. She’s flying in September to cover two conferences and if she likes it, I will facilitate her transfer. I can tell I will not be loved by the HK bureau chief/current manager.
I can also try poaching from our Australia bureau…
I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
My first meal of yesterday at round 2 pm. Thank God for the Kopitiam near my hotel. Photo by CallMeCreation.comShopping at the nearby Fairprice. CallMeCreation.com
I’m a coffee runner since the world began. For some reason my good friend G and my brother-and-SIL tandem like the local Gold Roast coffee here. So here I am, in danger of going overweight on my baggage.
The much needed foot reflexology. SO lovely. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
There is also a nearby reflexology place. This is the reason why I like staying in places like Lavender; neighborhoods like this have affordable options.
I fell asleep there while I had the 90 mins foot and back reflexology combo.
Walkathon. Photo by CallMeCreation.comWaiting for my gradeschool/highschol friend. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
So my my good friend, who transferred here during the lockdowns of 2020, and I agreed to meet here so we can have nice talk amid the fireworks and the lights show. Her studio is a chaos right now because her mom and sister had been staying there for a week now or so. Plus of course, we wouldn’t be able to talk about sensitive stuff because they’re around.
With The Fullerton Hotel at the background.
She had been my best friend in elementary and I was always at their house because my piano teacher lived nearby. So every Saturday after my lessons, I walked over to her house to hang. We kind of drifted apart in second year high school because we thought we’re too cool for each other to hang out together. She joined the rich kids clique while I joined another popular kids clique. But we later realized it was stupid (teenagers…) We were still in each other’s lives though and all throughout our 32 years of friendship, we were always just a phone call away.
The view from the Singapore River walk.
It has been more than 5 years since we saw each other face-to-face but we talk almost everyday on FB Messenger that’s why it didn’t feel like we haven’t seen each other that long. I’m the one who knows EVERYTHING about her life post-separation from her husband. Like every graphic detail. LOL.
I’m helping her now find another law firm doing M&As here in SG because her current one sucks. It’s a local so no wonder.
It’s kind of funny. They have an oversupply of lawyers and bankers here while there is a dearth of journos since there is no free press here.
Ok, I must take a shower now and attend church at 10 am.
