hey

i remember mentioning in a previous post from 2021 how everything from before 2020 felt very much like a dream.

now that everything has gone back to abnormal more or less in the country and the rest of the world, that part of my memory bank that should contain the events from 2020 up to the early part of 2022 is practically blank. it's as if my brain had been automatically putting each day in the bin but without the option of forever deleting them after thirty days. 

rather, each is dug up according to whatever it may trigger it. there is no specific trigger; anything i do on an ordinary day may just cause a memory to pop up. may it be a good or bad one, however, there was always that accompanying underlying fear of any one of us catching the virus and not surviving it. throw in a generous serving of sheer frustration and feeling of stark helplessness into that wretched mix.

guess i really should not imagine how things will be like in a global event. 

i remember reading the twilight series (to my eternal regret) and noting (an even greater regret) that edward almost died in the 1918 pandemic. 

yeah. really should put a rein on my imagination. 

the rest of 2022 thankfully had behaved itself.

now i begin to pick up all the pieces of everything that had been. 

Hello

 Well half of the year has passed. 

Had finally gone to the beach twice--first with family, next with friends. One more to go in a month's time woohoo!

Celebrated my first anniversary at my new job--which I got into after losing the previous one due to the pandemic.

Celebrated my first birthday outside after two years--staycation at a hotel.

Won two gold medals at the virtual arnis competition, which ups my medal tally to three.

Regular face-to-face arnis training yahoo!

Have watched 2 series, 7 Kdramas, 1 C-drama and counting.

That's all!

c'est la vie

today is the last day of the tour de france. how disappointing that i wasn't able to watch the race. our current cable provider doesn't carry eurosport where i watch all three grand races (giro d'italia and la vuelta being the other two). had to make do with updates on tdf's facebook page. surprised to learn that egan bernal withdrew from the race less than a week before the paris stage. he was a contender for both the white and yellow jerseys but eventually dropped out of the overall classification on stage 15 upon losing time, and then in stage 16. 

amazed that another young rider has won tour de france this year. thank goodness for video updates. congratulations, tadej pogacar!

missed froome and thomas in the race. what comes to mind now is that it looks like there won't be the usual team ineos champagne salute later. still, congratulations to team ineos and all the others who participated in this year's tour de france amidst the pandemic. it's not an easy task organising, let alone join a major event where everyone's health is compromised at every turn. this is a historical event in itself. hopefully next year this wave of virus will have waned so the tour can start in july as per usual and not september. i'm just happy that they were able to pull this off. 

looking forward to the giro and la vuelta later this month and in october. 

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have no idea why my back hurts so much when i do chores. as much as i would love to stretch out on my lounge chair the whole weekend, i have no choice but to still move and do the heavy stuff especially laundry and cleaning the house from top to bottom. 

christmas wish list: 

1. robot vacuum, whatever you call it. 

that's it for now. cos just let me cook and do the laundry, but clean the house? yikes no. 

up until now my back is still hurting. 

i'm just getting old, that's what. 

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lying and staring off into space all weekend sound very enticing. can't do that with a clingy sourdough starter which needs to be fed. 

anyway, said starter this weekend was quite active. even with half a cup of starter, the pancakes i made this morning was about a quarter inch thick and oh-so-fluffay! 

also made beignets this afternoon with the dough i made last night. felt so extra when i dipped them in yema, cream cheese, and choco hazelnut instead of dusting them with powdered sugar. well, i wasn't feeling that extra to make my own powdered sugar, so there. easier to dip them in ready-made spreads. ha. still yummeh if you ask me. for some reason i'm imagining purists out there who will want my head for deviating from the traditional. lol.

i also planned to make ube halaya but yeah, my back hurts so i only mashed the ube and saved it for tomorrow's cooking. after work. eep! 

made sure to buy only half a kilo so i would only spend an hour mixing it. my mum kept laughing at the idea of me making ube halaya since she knows how much elbow grease is needed to mix the halaya to the desired consistency. 

pag masarap ang gawa ko, ako lang ang kakain no'n! 

random ramblings

well, well. if it isn't the fourth post here this month. i don't think i've blogged as much as i've had in the past years. but as i always like to say, out of the overabundance of the heart, the fingers speak. a lot. and i really do have a lot to say. it's just that when it's time, i clam up. even my fingers refuse to type the words i needed to say. so whatevs. this would be just like the few previous posts (with the exception of the one before this). feels just a bit forced. i don't even have a topic to write about; just blabber on with some brain farts for good measure. 

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salamat, shopee! 

so i've just made my first-ever purchase at shopee last week. even with my trepidation and impatience with the somewhat messy interface of the app (that's just me, don't judge.), i went ahead and bought myself a zero gravity lounge chair. what brought this about, you ask? well, the weather was so good last week, i just had to bask in it. especially last saturday. it was so sunny but cool as well due to the nonstop breeze. i also love the sound of the wind rushing through the leaves so yes, the great weather made me do it. 

the delivery took just two days to complete, and i was so happy it came in wrapped to death in bubble wrap!!! others take their knitting to their favourite spot in the house; i pop bubbles on my spanking brand new lounge chair just feeling the breeze in the middle of the garden. 

two things: 

1. someone's competing for a chance to use my chair: my pa. it's just so funny to see him so excited about the chair because he's the type to just fall asleep anywhere. well, i can't use the chair in the daytime anyway since i had to work, so i let him happily use it any time he wants to. 

2. i did mention that i bought it because of the great weather we're having, right? well, i had to wait for an extra day to be able to use it outside since it freaking rained on and off all day yesterday. but good things come to those who wait and earlier this afternoon i was able to finally feel the cool breeze i was longing for. 

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ano? ano? pakiulit nga?

these are the words that i kept hearing while on the phone. wearing a face mask and a face shield on top of it makes phone conversations difficult. i had to speak louder than the usual and even then i couldn't be understood by the person i was talking to. better to text instead. 

wearing a face mask and face shield is mandatory now. just couldn't help but feel inconvenienced since it's warmer now around my face. i mentioned on last sunday's post about not feeling that awesome breeze on my face because of the face shield. the other day i went out on a longer errand and even if the mall had airconditioning, my face felt really warm all throughout. 

now i feel bad for feeling inconvenienced when our frontliners in the hospital are working nonstop in the heat of not only their face masks and shields, but their PPEs as well. if these little things are worth using for the sake of everyone's health, then let's use them. 

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i've always been quite proud of not feeling sick while riding on any transportation. the few times i felt carsick is when the driver keeps on braking especially in a traffic jam, or when i'm on a bus. i eventually got used to riding the bus when i started working. it's those oft-used brakes in cars that drive me to the point wherein i feel nauseated. 

for some reason, riding in cars lately make me want to puke. not because the driver is not good, but i think that not being able to ride in any vehicle for weeks on end is the culprit. i really had to buy some mints to help alleviate that feeling. 

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macaulay culkin recently celebrated his 40th birthday and to commemorate it, he tweeted this: 

for some reason i just imagined 10-year-old mack saying that. 

happy 40th!

of deliveries and other stuff

can't believe that it will be september in a week's time. these pandemic days have just bled into weeks, and weeks into months in such a sly yet vicious manner that before we know it, it's already 2021. 

it's been more than five months since i've been working from home and while i am not new to this, this is a whole new kind of different in the sense that i cannot move as freely as i had years ago. there's always that underlying dread now that if i go out even with all my protective gear on, i would somehow catch the virus or worse, be asymptomatic and pass it on to my loved ones. 

guess it's just God's grace that i am now able to handle the situation much better than in the first couple of months into lockdown. several adjustments have been made especially when we have to get much-needed food supplies. 

since i have no car nor do i know how to drive, so the best thing to get groceries is via delivery. and when i crave for my favourite foods? delivery. the only thing that's nonnegotiable would be my folks' meds, fresh meats, and produce. i actually tried vegetable deliveries but four out of five times, there's always veggies or fruits that are not that fresh so i had to request for a replacement which takes extra time. for this old girl it would be really better if i can actually see them.

what i like about grocery deliveries is the convenience it brings. i don't need to get out, wait for my turn outside the grocery to get in, then wait in line again to the cashier. the time i spend waiting in line to the cashier are just as long as the time i spend in traffic going to and from the grocery in the good old days. as my cousin said, grocery day is a half-day engagement made even longer if we wipe everything off before putting them in the pantry. at least this time, all i have to do is to wait until the groceries arrive, then i wipe them off. hahaha

so far i have tried four grocery delivery services: metromart, waltermart, all day, and grab pabili. among these, metromart is like an online mall of sorts: one can choose among a selection of groceries, pet shops, and drug stores. there's even a wet market (farmer's), flower shop, and a winery. waltermart and all day, thankfully have thought of creating an online version of their stores so i am able to get what we need in one go. grab pabili is good for smaller-scale grocery shopping. this i've only tried once so far and it was okay. i would have to explore grab pabili further should the need arise. 

pros: 

1. very convenient. just a few quick taps or clicks and you'll just wait for your groceries to arrive. among the four services, it's only with grab pabili that i got what i need on the same day since one only has to buy a few items. the others offer delivery schedules in which you'll just have to choose from. metromart offers several time ranges within a day, waltermart next-day delivery with one time range (9am-6pm) for the whole day; and all day offers same-day delivery when orders come in before 2pm. in my case, though, my groceries from all day were delivered the next day even when i put in my orders just before lunch time. they did inform me though, so it was not a problem at all.

2. the staff is very accommodating. for metromart and all day, they make sure to call if the item that you want is not available and will suggest a substitute for it. in the space of an hour i've gotten several calls and texts from the shopper for suggestions which to me is a big, big plus in their service. waltermart's app and website offer a feature where you place notes in specific items for substitutions, thus eliminating the need for the shopper to contact the buyer. the riders of these three services are also okay, as are the grab riders. they are only too glad to assist in helping to bring in the groceries in since i cannot carry them all in one go. 

i'd like to say there are cons, but in reality they're just minor inconveniences, like the service fee that metromart charges on top of the delivery fee. i do understand that, which is why it is best to buy with them in bulk. if you only need a few things, then grab pabili is the way to go. 

there's also the matter of delivery time but they do manage the expectations of their customers. at least on my part, that's what they did so yeah, not really that much of a con. and i don't know, maybe it's just me, but i think i've become more understanding of people when it comes to these things since everyone is in a different boat in this storm. all we really have to do is to be kind.

so yes, with all these deliveries, a month went by without me having to wander off to the nearest grocery store even with all the intense little cravings i get. and the sad thing about that is i never even noticed the time fly by. 

on an unrelated note, thank goodness i had some energy today which is why i hied myself off to the store and bought some stuff. how i relished the noonday sun beating down on me and the wind rushing by. i actually spread my arms out and took a deep breath... unfortunately, i only inhaled the fibers of my face mask, and my face couldn't feel the fresh air thanks to the face shield i was wearing on top of the mask. 

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bless this mess... not

i've always prided myself for not being all over the bed while sleeping. most of the time i turn to one side before i sleep and when i wake up, i'm still in a sane position with all of my bed stuff still on the bed. rare are the times when i knock a pillow or a blanket off. 

lately though, i've noticed my bedsheets are out of place come morning, especially the part near my feet. these are fitted sheets that fit the cushion perfectly, so i find it strange that they're always a mess upon waking even when i put them back in place the night before. it can't be because of nightmares since i rarely have those.

one thing that i can think of to solve this mystery is to mount a camera in my room and record myself sleeping. which i'm too lazy to do, so scratch that. and yeah. my imagination is already creeping me out of this idea as it is. 

so until i simply glue the sheets onto the cushion, they will continue to be a mess in the mornings to come.

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salamat, shopee! 

one hobby i've gotten into as of late is playing the games on shopee. this is the app that's by far the messiest to deal with, what with all the online shops that abound in there. and since i'd rather play than go shopping anyway, games it is then for this old girl. 

games, and those tie-ins with eat bulaga and wowowin namely shopee shake and shopee catch. haha!