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.
I just ordered stuff via Grab today so we can relax and we can attend to school work and my work. One of my good friends from the industry also sent the girls a cake, matcha strawberry.
This is for tomorrow. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Then they spent the rest of the day with their dad, who took them to Estancia Mall in Kapitlyo, Pasig. They came home in time for a shower and straight to bed.
The girls were happy. They’re easy to please and they don’t ask much. They’re happy with their bunnies and my sister offered to have them framed.
Twin I asked about their other twin sisters—the cats. They declared that their birthday is on the 12th of April 2020. So I said, Ok, I’m gonna make their sketches as well.
Kimchi, the fat cat. Art and Photo by CallMeCreation.comSushi. Art and Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Laziness has set in today because my body knew that this is supposed to be a week-long holiday…And yet I edited and interviewed somebody from Singapore whom I need to visit when I get there. I also set up an interview on Monday with an aviation company. I think I must draft today’s interview by tomorrow or else I may forget the details after this week. My brain cells are already protesting.
Tomorrow I will cook as my daughters’ friend is coming over.
My call with my new manager and outgoing manager will also be tomorrow for the turnover of duties. I don’t know when they will formally announce the transition so that all communication and PRs should be directed to me from now on. Drats, I just had 400 business cards printed with my old designation.
It takes a long time for paperwork to be settled 🙄
I want to have a week-long break before chaos officially starts.
Today is Palm Sunday, traditionally a day that marks the the start of the Holy Week in this predominantly Catholic nation. The old practice was the oldies refrain from eating rich foods at the start of Ash Wednesday but with my generation, sacrifices (no eating of meat) and fasting usually start on Holy Monday. I remember there was this old practice of Filipinos eating only fish on Fridays as part of their penitence, regardless of the time of the year, that’s why galunggong (round scad) and mungbean soup were popular dishes in offices/canteens every Friday lunch.
Anyway, I don’t really follow these practices since I’m no longer Catholic (because for me Jesus’ death on the cross is enough to pay for my sins so no need for penitence) but fasting is a good way of making you focus more when you plan on meditating this coming Holy Week. I tried intermittent fasting before when I was doing my reflections in 2016-2017. I subsisted only on coffee during the day and then break my fast after midnight with a light snack.
So today I grilled blue marlin steaks because Twin A asked for it, not because it’s Palm Sunday. 😁 I was surprised at how well I seasoned the fish before grilling. 🥰 I cooked meatless hotpot with tofu to accompany the fish. The smell of the fish while I was grilling it reminded me of beach outings we had when I was growing up. We always grilled something when we go to the beach during summer holidays. 💓
I then attended to my garden again to re-pot the plants that were not thriving and transferred the ones that already outgrew their containers into the clay pots I bought from Marikina yesterday. Now that I have a good look at my inventory, I can assess now what are the additional flowering plants I can buy next week. It took me four hours to finish. No wonder people during lockdowns were so into gardening. We can pass the day just gardening.
Twin I taking a photo of me while I was busy.
My morning glory plants are thriving and I may have to transplant them next week into hanging planters because they’re already growing vines. The marigolds are sprouting but I haven’t seen any sign of the calendula and aster. The leeks have also sprouted. This encouraged me to plant kale and lettuce in my spare mini pots. Let’s see if my black thumb only applies to vegetables.
As I said, gardening is trial and error. So I realized that the loam soil I was buying retains water too much and my area does not encourage evaporation that quickly so a lot of my earlier plants became victims of root rot, especially my expensive roses. Now I learned I must mix this soil with coco peat and humic plus soil conditioner.
And clay pots do make a difference.
Clay pots allow the soil/roots to breathe since the pots are porous compared to plastic pots. Yes, plastic pots are cheap and convenient to have but they easily encourage root rot. So what I’m going to do with my existing plastic pots and rectangular planters is I will drill holes not only at the bottom but also at the sides to encourage aeration. I already did that to my big plastic planter, that’s why some of the current plants there are surviving. However, it seems like the holes aren’t enough because my cosmos are nearly dying. So I transferred them to a clay pot and into an area that receives full sunshine throughout the day. I just hope it works.
Tomorrow will be the formal turnover of duties from my boss to me during the team call. Then on Wednesday will be a follow up call with my new manager (APAC head) as my outgoing manager will be transferring to the data team and by June she will be transplanting herself to London. I have to fix my schedule again to see if I can fly to Singapore before July (probably next month?) to introduce myself to PRs and renew my connection with firms and sources after the formal announcement of my promotion (and also my salary raise–a lot of paperwork and admin work).
As the newest reporter under my wing said, I will be busier but not much difference since I had been leading the team for quite some time now. Well, she has no idea how long I was like that, the invisible team leader that was underpaid. 🙄
My very old TV has stopped working so I ordered a new universal TV remote for it. If it doesn’t work, then I think I have to retire it and buy that 50-inch TCL Android TV for Netflix marathons with the girls. I will then mount it on the wall when we transfer to my new house and make it disappear by creating a gallery wall around it. Like this:
Feeling much better today so I managed to write and publish another story. I keep posting job ads, too. I must fill up these vacant positions soon.
Cats are really therapeutic. Bad day at work? Squish your cat like you do stress balls. Play with them and they will make you laugh.
Sushi and Kimchi ready to ambush the laser pointer. Photo by Twin A for CallMeCreation.com
I talked to my best friend yesterday and told her I would be going home soon with my girls to settle down there. I told her, I think I’m already ok growing old solo and this flat I’m going to build is just the start. I will save up money also for a condo unit in Makati and/or a small cottage by the sea.
She said my decision is sound; we are at this stage that we don’t want to be harassed financially anymore. She assured me that it’s ok to stay put even if all the others are saying, “Don’t let go of this opportunity!” Because we should be doubling down on our savings now for retirement and children’s education.
Because I feel guilty that I’m depriving my children a chance to live abroad and be exposed to foreign cultures in exchange for comfort and peace. BFF told me our other BFF was also thinking of moving back to Vietnam, to her old post with an MNC. She did the numbers as well but she realized it wouldn’t work without the expat package. She is a single parent to two kids under the age of six (another case of having an irresponsible father). So instead, she stayed put and pursued her sandwich program in Belgium and here while she keeps her job with an international institution. She said there’s no point of living like a pauper abroad when we can be very comfortable here. Stability is important for solo parents.
Such is the fate of parents…especially single parents. Without a good support system, it would be really hard to spread our wings.
My APAC head was pirated by our former APAC head to join her in her new consulting firm. She will leave us in three months. I had been pushing for people to move up; was counting on her to back me up.
But then, I can’t fault her. She has been with the company since forever and she needed a new challenge.
I feel bummed out today after my call with her.
And I’m having a hard time hiring in Jakarta, Bangkok, and Singapore. My manager isn’t exerting much effort to help. I need to fill up these vacancies before my APAC boss leaves. I am going nuts here; my ass is tied to my chair and couldn’t really actively hire in these markets due to travel restrictions.
All the more that I shouldn’t move to Singapore; it’s too much of a gamble to uproot ourselves with this kind of leadership issues we’re having. Our former APAC head knows what my goals are and she knows that I’m not into client-facing jobs. I can chase stories and network like crazy but chasing contracts is a stretch for me. That’s why she hasn’t and she won’t pirate me.
One Singapore-based high school friend who is a lawyer for one of the big global investment banks told me I should grab the opportunity to relocate there. I pointed out to her the cost of sending children to school. She agreed that education for foreigners there is prohibitive but she said it’s doable. Well, with her income level it’s doable. Journalists don’t earn much in Singapore like bankers and lawyers and I would be pinching pennies there. I don’t want a lower quality of life just because we need to grab the opportunity to live in Singapore!
I hope I will feel better and optimistic tomorrow. Right now I’ll just wallow in frustration and sadness.
My flat’s proposed plan by my contractor.
So now we have the right dimensions. This is about the same as some mid-priced condos here in Metro Manila but I have a garden and more space to move about outside. I can build an extra office or studio in the garden. Besides, when we’re back in my hometown, we won’t be spending our time inside all the time because it’s so easy to be outdoors there. The mountain is just by our doorstep. Sports and recreation is literally walking distance. My high school friends are even planning a year-end camping trip in Caliraya–those things are easy to manage when you already live there.
And when I’m old and grey, this space is easy to manage. I’ll just have a two-person elevator installed.
Today I emailed my APAC boss to ask for promotion and raises for two of my team mates. It’s long overdue and this has been neglected by my direct boss for quite a while.
I cannot work well if the team I have is overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated. I need to fight for them and be given their due. Just as I asked for equipment for one of my juniors and went to HK to fetch it. A good team leader always makes sure that her team is looked after by giving them the right support, training, and resources.
I have to keep fighting for their welfare. I cannot lose another team member. So even before I assume my new role, I have to make sure everybody else is well compensated. I have yet to have my papers worked on by my superiors for my promotion. Everything is still fluid.
I have a tough road ahead of me.
In the meantime, I will continue with my soup and bread diet for dinner and nuts for snack.
I will try the intermittent fasting in January for a clean slate.
I love mornings like this. Appreciate the little cozy things.
Sunlight being filtered by my new curtain. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
