Sunday Currently Vol. 60

I know it's Friday now, but what the hey. I just need a little jumpstart. 

Currently...

reading: Serena on Webtoon. 

writing: This after eons of not writing at all. The last time I ever wrote something in a good old journal was in 2024. I was in Korea then having the best week of my life.

listening: moonfesta by Kalafina. This is one song that I will always relate to the rainy season, cos I first listened to this song in July 2012. I believe I've written all about them here in this blog as well. This song also made it to my Your All-Time Top Songs playlist on Spotify. No surprise there!

thinking: Of what to do on my upcoming staycation. My brain is so fried these past months.

smelling: Nothing.

wishing: For a long, long, paid break. Hahaha.

wearing: Old t-shirt from H&M and running shorts from Peak Sports.

loving: The fact that I achieved my first weight goal five months into my nutrition intervention. And now, my weight is just going down, down, down to my next weight goal. Hopefully once I hit the final goal I'll be able to maintain it. This is just actually a very good side effect, since my main goal in losing weight was to prevent diabetes and possibly hypertension. I'd come too close last year and I'm sure as heck do not want to live the rest of my life using maintenance, and worse, developing complications. So more than losing the excess weight in less than a year, achieving normal numbers in my blood work is the best thing I can do for my health,

wanting: A long, long, paid break.

needing: A long, long, paid break.

feeling: Eggzhausted.

clicking: Nothing.

Thanks to siddathornton for this great idea.

 

Sunday Currently Vol. 59

currently...

reading: nothing.

writing: this, and posts on IG about my recent S. Korea trip with my friend G. yep, slowly but surely i'm getting the hang of writing again. i even brought a journal with me to document my trip. i lasted only three days writing in there, but to my defence i was so tired from the days' activities in addition to always arriving at our guesthouse so late at night.

listening: to the ost of Business Proposal. Or, to be more specific, Love, Maybe versions by Melomance, Secret Number, and Kim Se-jeong. This song was one of the recognisable songs i heard on my last day touring Korea, in Hongdae.

thinking: of how amazing, efficient, and pro-commuter Korea is. i really can't, can't, can't get enough of how it was so frigging easy to get around Seoul and its neighbour cities Suwon and Guri. and oh. they even have free wifi AND usb ports to charge your phone in their buses.

smelling: the shampoo i used.

wishing: i was back in Korea. if only for its superduperultramega efficient public transportation system and walkable streets. as someone who vowed to never learn how to drive, i would definitely thrive as a commuter there just walking and taking public transportation to anywhere. come to think of it, anywhere as long as the public transportation is... yes, efficient. (case in point: my Hong Kong adventure.)

wearing: red tank top

loving: my recent Korea trip. it's actually the only thing that fills my mind the most since i came home. 

wanting: the good i experienced in Korea to be experienced and had in our country. yes, i am still talking about Korea's impressive infrastructure where people can move around freely without crowding so much, without smelling funky things, without stepping on something unsavoury, etc., etc.

needing: to write a more extensive travelogue real soon.

feeling: tagabundok at how amazed and impressed i am of everything that i experienced during my trip. and a bit melancholic. see photo below.

last sunset before i left.

clicking: on possible postgraduate courses.

Thanks to siddathornton for this great idea.

interlude

ang oa ng crickets dito sa kakapiranggot na natira sa garden namin. kung makasabay yung ingay nila sa construction sa kabila eh wagas. kung maka-crikk akala mo nasa loob sila ng tenga mo. nasaan na ba yung mga palaka para makain na sila?!

at yehezzz mag-a-alas nuwebe na ng gabi pero tuloy ang construction sa kabila. alam ko namang matatapos din yan maya-maya pero kahit na. mga ilang linggo na silang nag-iingay hanggang madaling araw may kasama pang truck/crane. pati yung usok pumapasok sa bintana namin kumusta naman ang hangin na dito diba. tiis-tiis na lang dahil matatapos din ang construction. pero ang hirap. ang ingay. at kasabay ng ingay doon at ng crickets ay ang ingay ng utak ko. 

isa pa yun na gusto kong patahimikin. siguro after next week tatahimik na ito. sana. pero ngayon saksakan din ng ingay.

may isang kaganapan last week na hay naku naman kung makadulot ng kaba eh grabe naman. sa sobrang grabe tatlong oras lang ang tulog ko. yung nakatulog ako after 2 hours of trying to sleep tapos nagising ako after one hour, tapos nakatulog uli almost 2 hours after kung kailan malapit nang lumiwanag ang kalangitan. siempre kung anu-anong scenario na ang dumaan sa utak ko kaya lalong hindi ako nakatulog. yung sumunod na gabi inagahan ko talaga tulog ko at buti na lang eh dire-diretso ang tulog ko na. 

dapat siguro mas gabi pa ako magsulat para tahimik talaga. para nga lang mangyari yun eh dapat totally tapos na ang construction. 

actually gusto ko lang magreklamo rito na saksakan ang ingay dito sa amin ngayong gabi.

humina na ang pag-iingay ng crickets.

pero tuloy ang pukpukan at ang ugong ng pangmalakasang steel cutter machine sa kabila.

yung utak ko? wag na nating pag-usapan pa.

grabe mag-a-alas diyes na ng gabi ano na ba yang pukpukan! may hinahabol?

yun lang. good nite!!

lalala

i'm just putting something in here since i realised that it's the 11th anniversary of this blog. 

my food and travel blog lasted 12 years before i stopped posting in there.

wonder how long this will last? 

hahahaha

=========================

nothing much to update about, really. it's a holiday but it might as well be a regular day since the construction next door is going on full blast. all i could hope for is that the construction finishes quickly since their huge trucks keep hitting the side of our house and even our fence, thus crumbling a part of it. argh.

it's only a matter of time before another construction project begins where my lola's house used to be. and i don't think i can take it. more than the impending noise, tonnes of dust, and strange people coming in and out of the job site, my heart won't accept the fact that my lola's legacy will be gone forever.

but of course, i'm getting ahead of myself as usual. i still need to process things which i keep putting off. why i keep putting it off, well, i'm lazy in that aspect.

very much like how i'm lazy in writing in here. 

=========================

here's a song that's currently riding the earwaves as of many weeks now. i'm thoroughly enjoying listening to it using my noise cancelling headphones. love the beat of this song. also the headphones is one of the best purchases i've ever made last year haha.

Sunday Currently Vol. 58

Currently...

reading: She Wears Pain Like Diamonds: Poems by Alfa. Title was enough for me to pluck a copy out of the shelf. Love the cover too.

writing: This, and a bit in my ten-year-old journal. HAHAHA I really need to use up all its pages already so that I can start on that lovely red notebook I bought... two years ago. 😂 I haven't forgotten about my fanfics that I kept mentioning in previous volumes but alas, I still have no idea how to make the characters do what I want them to do. So yeah, baby steps until I get my mojo back.

listening: Come to Me by Clazziquai. This song is one of my fave Korean songs way, way before Kpop was even a household name in the country (can I even classify this band as Kpop...?). My Korean friend sent me an mp3 file of this song, and I was hooked to this band since then. Clazziquai also sang Be My Love and She Is on the Kdrama My Name is Kim Sam-soon's OST. 

thinking: Of the recent happenings. Sometimes being backwards ain't too bad. 

smelling: Petrichor. It hasn't rained yet, I dunno if it's going to rain, but yeah the atmosphere smells like it's going to rain.

wishing: It's already the 22nd. Nyahaha.

wearing: Striped v-neck shirt and my old pair of khaki shorts that is missing a button and is torn more than ever in even more interesting spots. I've had this since 2013 I believe. 

loving: The Extreme Bass setting in the JBL Headphones app that I recently downloaded to my phone. It's been several months since I bought my noise-cancelling headphones and I only just downloaded the app today. Anyway. I'm soooooooo enjoying the bass in every song that I'm listening to since this morning.

wanting: Two things: return to arnis training and cycling, and begin Muay Thai. I've been in a deep funk for nearly a year, my workouts have taken a hit.

needing: That push to start exercising again. Masasayang ang pinaghirapang black belt! Yeah I was promoted to black belt in arnis last February yahoo.

feeling: Glad that I was able to meet up with my friend after many attempts in the past year. 

clicking: Through this blog just to see what's up with my past self. So far I haven't read anything that needs me slapping my past self silly. Bwahahaha

Thanks to siddathornton for this great idea.

sunday currently vol. 54

 Currently...

reading: jumping between political and random romance books as of late.

writing: nothing except this one.

listening: literally to the rhythm of the falling rain

thinking: of what to do this week. i have been going out for the past few weeks already and i'm already tired of spending, spending, spending. and having to deal with people all the time.

smelling: the fresh rain scent.

wishing: i would be able to spend a whole day in silence. yes that includes my mind being quiet in addition to everything that's going on around me.

wearing: furry jammies. so perfect for this cold rainy night.

loving: i'm not loving anything at the moment. there's so many things on my mind they just keep on being loud.

wanting: to spend a whole day in silence.

needing: silence, glorious silence.

feeling: blah at the moment. 

sunday currently vol. 53

Currently...

reading: pachinko

writing: nothing except this one.

listening: newest ost from the kdrama see you in my 19th life: down (juicy juicy) by jo yuri. this is by far my most fave among the released songs.

thinking: of life.

smelling: nothing.

wishing: i would win the lottery.

wearing: sleepwear and an IV splint on my right hand. need it for my strained wrist and somehow there's one in the house so yeah.

loving: the new song.

wanting: to win the lottery.

needing: money. lots of it. as in literally diving and swimming in money like scrooge mcduck hehe.

feeling: the strain in my wrist so the IV splint is a big help. i actually had PT done on my right arm last friday but since there's a little makulit in the house, had to carry him sometimes and so i guess that put a strain on my wrist further. second round of PT is this week.

Sunday Currently Vol. 52: Then and Now

I just recently realised that this ol' little corner of the www is ten years old this month. So to celebrate, I'm gonna do this with a bit of tweak. Responses for "Then" are left unedited except for the italicised font, picking up from the previous volume back in December 2020.

Currently...

Reading

Then: come sundown by nora roberts. i'm happy to be reading once more.

Now: Komi Can't Communicate manga. I've been collecting the manga since watching the anime October of last year. The 29th volume had just been released recently so that means I still have 16 more to go.

Writing

Then: this! ha. and a bit of each of the three fan fictions i've been writing since the beginning of time lol.

Now: Some write ups on Instagram. 

Listening

Then: to jj heller's music. she is one of my top five artists according to spotify, and i couldn't agree more. she is also one of my musical discoveries for this year, starting with her song "meant to be". 

Now: Top 5 on my Spotify On Repeat playlist: Nonstop by OH MY GIRL, Inevitable by Bae Suzy, Tanikala by Munimuni, one of the songs from Bai Ling Tan (Good and Evil Cdrama) OST, moonfesta by Kalafina

Thinking

Then: of how in the world will i ever get a job in my chosen field, preferably remote. (yep i lost my job no thanks to this pandemic but i'm still hopeful amidst everything else. i should be weirded out by this but nope.)

Now: About how good this weekend is, starting with meeting up with a good friend from my flying days and how hilarious it was that we originally planned to go twinning with just jeans and our Docs, and the top will be whatever we wanted... and then discovering we went twinning all the way to our black sleeveless tops! It will never be not funny. 😂 And then yesterday with another good friend from high school. Had a relaxing time at Ace Water Spa, a food adventure at Ramen Wave, and best of all, deep conversations over nachos and cocktails at Sky High Bar (I had two Cosmos btw it was so delish). It's so amazing how our conversations have evolved ever since we were 13. It's like getting to know each other on a whole new level, especially since we have just reconnected during the pandemic despite being literal neighbours too haha. 

Smelling

Then: nothing. before, this answer would not have any bearing. but being unable to smell anything now might signify one has covid... then again, i'm nowhere anything quite smelly so i guess that's still a good thing. 

Now: Still nothing. Do I really need to be near something smelly for this? 

Wishing

Then: for all this to be over. 

Now: For Australia.

Wearing

Then: pink racerback tank and blue batik pants. kinda cold tonight!
Now: Some flowy top that's already torn in places at the back and khaki shorts that are torn in places as well and missing a button. Hehehe.

Loving

Then: i dunno, maybe still the silence. metro manila has definitely gone back to the old normal (puke) whilst trying to make the most of living with covid still lurking about.

Now: See You in My 19th Life Kdrama starring my new ultra fave Korean actress Shin Hye Sun.

Wanting

Then: for all this to be over.

Now: To go back to Enchanted Kingdom and ride Space Shuttle and Twin Spin twenty more times. Lemme just say, riding those roller coasters last month especially Space Shuttle was very therapeutic. So therapeutic, I actually lost my voice the next day. 😂

Needing

Then: remote job or a job that will require me to leave this country. not saying it's safer than here, but i'd rather live in a place where it's less populated and less noisy (meron ba 'non?! lol). 

Now: To push myself to get back to arnis and cycling regularly. 

Feeling

Then: like my brain is going to explode. again and again and again and again and again. --> this was what i wrote in vol. 50. still rings true today. 

Now: Relaxed and excited for episode 4 of See You in My 19th Life which streams on Netflix in a couple of hours.

thanks to siddathornton for this awesome idea.

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!

Unboxing

Opening a Pandora's Box of memories can be quite the event for an overly sentimental old fool. Reactions can range from "aww" to downright cringe. 

Now, make that two boxes filled with over two decades' worth of memories and we'll see what that will do to that aforesaid fool.

That sentimental old fool in question by the way is moi.

A week's worth of deep cleaning unearthed two cute tin boxes that contain every imaginable stuff that was meaningful to a younger Miss Lotts. Postcards from friends, postcards sent to myself, letters from family and friends, some cheesy and swoon/cringe-worthy missives (ahem); notes surreptitiously passed during class that predate texting (yeah I'm that old), and even bits of trash that I do not remember why I kept them in the first place. 

The older of the two boxes also contains the beginning of my journalling days: my little blue notebooks. I started buying them around my sophomore year of college after my best friend D got me into writing down my random thoughts. I was that kid who grew up thinking that writing in diaries was super corny because I thought every entry should start with a "Dear Diary". And "Dear Diary" just sounds too cheesy and corny to my young ears at the time. 

Of course D set me straight on that grave misconception and thus started me out with passing notes written on yellow pad paper about anything that comes to mind. Notes that included lyrics to a commercial jingle and whatnot from what I can remember. It was when D transferred to another university that finally I bought my first little blue notebook, for who will I pass a note to when she's so far away already, no?

Like Pandora, I was curious to see what those tin boxes contain. While I know what's literally inside them, I have no idea how opening them will affect me this time. A tug of the lid and a quick riffle through the contents was enough to bombard me with memories of a little more than half my lifetime. All in just under a minute. 

Now, what if I read just one thing? Say, a card. Well, I just about died reading the super short note inside it. So many what-ifs danced in my head. Consider that box closed for life.

Unlike Pandora, however, I have plenty of opportunities to change my mind about opening the boxes. So I reopened that particular box tonight and pulled out one of the cringey notebooks to read. Anyone who heard me howling with derisive laughter and comforting and cursing my nineteen-year-old self at the same time would think I have finally lost my mind. I would think so too.

horizontal (not) running

no idea as to when i started lying on the couch right after work, but i am pretty sure it's been a month already. 

a month of staying horizontal more than vertical because i just feel like it.

my brain wants me to practise arnis more

bake more

cook more

tend to the garden more

but no, the call of the couch is louder.

so i lie down and get dazed by the glare of my phone

scrolling

scrolling

scrolling

sometimes reading 

or staring out the window and into nothingness

or just closing my eyes

cos dreams are better than the reality.

============================

everything that occurred before 2020 tends to feel more like a dream now as each day passes by. that's all.

year one

i've been meaning to write in this thing for quite some time but was too lazy. well, i feel like writing now so here it is.

it's been a year and a week since luzon was placed in lockdown. and a year and a week hence, we are back to where we started. cases have risen once more and we are back to curfew. just curfew?! nocturnal daw kasi yung virus kaya ganun! 😆if i were them i'd have placed at least metro manila in temporary lockdown again. 

am not really surprised at the rise in cases. once the metro was placed in gcq, everything was back to pre-pandemic state practically in an instant. it's as if there's no virus lurking around. the only difference is that there's still the physical distancing, people are still wearing masks and face shields; the contact tracing forms are present in all establishments; alcohol and sanitisers still being sold by the gallons, etc. then again, the face shields and the filling out of contact tracing forms are going the way of becoming a mere suggestion, a distant memory, even. even if the regulations are still in place. 

prior to the recent surge in cases came the vaccines. finally! but even the vaccine rollout is currently thrashing under the insufferable politicking of some ldhjehfqlcmnlwwliehfe. my heart breaks for all of us who have to endure such incompetence.

so yep. we're back where we started with more cases than ever. so it's back to grocery deliveries. back to staying at home except for essential errands. just with the usual pre-pandemic noise of vehicles passing by. 

one saving grace at least on my end is that i am working from home once again just before the metro-wide curfew was announced. a little backstory. in the second half of 2020, i underwent a series of being placed in no-work, no pay status, being recalled, then placed back in nwnp until i finally got retrenched. such is the story of most people working in small businesses hit hard by the pandemic. finally got a job after some months of searching and had to work onsite for a month before we were deployed to our homes. so far, so good and i am enjoying it. 

i must say though, that one month of going out to work felt a bit like playing russian roulette with death. ha. or maybe that's just me being overly dramatic. but it can't be helped that there's that fear of catching covid every time i ride the train, get on an elevator, and anything that would require personal interactions. yet at the same time, there's that will to fight through that very fear that has kept us in our homes for the past year (as well as the fear of not being able to pay the bills lol). so i continue to wear my armour of prayers, alcohol, face mask, and face shield any time i am required to go out. at any rate, i'm just glad to be working from home again since i never liked going out that much, covid or no covid.

was sound tripping a few nights ago when i realised that the songs i was listening to were released around 2010-2015. and in some way i got to thinking, wow, we did have a life before all this madness. however, that life felt like a dream and we're living in this nightmare now. which reminds me of a previous post where i told my friend that i've quite forgotten what life was like before covid. that sentiment still holds true and i find myself reminiscing the "good old days"--2019 and further back--when i listen to music.

everyone sees 2020 as the most horrible year in recent history. some even consider it as "the-year-that-must-not-be-mentioned". if anything, 2020 showed what human nature really is like when faced with adversity, and the internet made it even easier to see it. there were the stories of hope and hopelessness. growth, regression, and stagnation were amplified in all sectors of society thanks or no thanks to social media. 

my 2020 experience is very much like my high school years and a certain year-that-must-not-be-mentioned--awful, with pockets of light shining through the parts that had managed to crack. that light meaning personal growth in every aspect, stuff learned, events that brighten up each week. meaning, i will always have mixed feelings about 2020 until the day i die. ha.  

today

decided to go to church and meet up with some friends afterwards for lunch and whatnot. had a lot of fun chatting about anything that came to mind. enjoyed the unique burger meal i had in mo's burger. also saw an old friend from work, bought some stuff in the supermarket, and chatted some more with my friends with a few photo ops in between sips of our zen milk tea in kumori. then went home, watched a movie, cooked dinner, ate dinner with family. these activities make for a pretty regular sunday if you think about it. but with covid, nothing is really "regular" anymore. 

starting of course with the mandatory wearing of face mask and face shield within public premises. let's face it. it's difficult to talk to someone without having to ask them to repeat themselves because their voices sound muffled and hollow behind their own protective gear. so of course we move closer in order to hear each other clearly. so much for social distancing in that regard. 

next would be the completion of contact tracing forms in every single establishment before entry.  there are two ways for this to be done: by paper and by qr code. thus queues form especially if you are quite slow in writing down your information. they aren't that long actually, but to me a queue is a queue and i have no patience whatsoever with slowpokes. i am that slowpoke sometimes. 

lastly, the temperature checks and spraying of hand sanitisers. these, along with the wearing of face mask (face shields weren't required until just a couple months ago) were considered our first line of defense since february. 

now combine all those factors with meeting up with friends and family. this one is kept to the barest minimum. i mentioned in a previous post that i get that touch of guilt whenever i go out because there's always that underlying fear of catching covid or worse, passing it to people unknowingly. even when i strictly follow safety guidelines to the point of being suspicious at the slightest cough. although everyone had been subject to all these guidelines for the past eight months, there are just some times wherein it gets exhausting especially since some of our country's so-called leaders think they're exempted but that's a story for another day. 

so exhausting that when i see characters in old tv shows or movies interact closely with each other, i think, is that how we really lived before this madness? it seems like i have forgotten what a good old pre-covid day feels like. i told my friend so and she agreed wholeheartedly. having to live with covid hanging over our heads has done a number on us in so many ways. whether we like it or not, it has indeed part of our "regular" days until a vaccine is found. so until then, taking the utmost care will be the name of the game.

i would have zoned out on my friends with these gloomy thoughts had i not checked out this paper wrapper that contained my krone. 

and i am jerked back to what really matters: cherish the moments spent with loved ones. in the short time i was able to get out, i was able to return to church. had a great time bonding with friends who i hardly saw for the past eight months except online. and then things at the home front were calm. even the weather was really cheery. bright blue skies with cool breezes blowing which were rare in the past month.  

yep. today is a good day. 

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. 

===================

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. 

===================

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. 

------------------------

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!