OMG It's Been a Year

Naiinis ako na I haven't been journaling as much. I really want to, hindi lang talaga kinakaya ng aking katawang lupa bilang wala na ako ulit minions. Of course having assistants make life much easier, but I have to admit I am liking the peace and quiet. But then again, I'd rather have someone who will help me with business stuff. Well I guess when the stars align, makakahanap din ako ng magaling na minion. 

Just a quick update with what happened these past 12 months...

Nawalan ng Minions, Nakahanap Ulit, Nagbakasyon Tapos Hindi Bumalik

As aforementioned, both of my assistants left. I know only one was coming back. I was sort of confident she'd be coming back. Tapos ayun tumawag. Mag-aaral daw siya ulit. Well, who am I to tell her to not pursue her studies- good for her, actually. Not good for me, but I know I can manage. Just right before Christmas, a former minion contacted me. Thank God that I found help just right before the busiest days. After the holidays, she asked permission if she could go home to Sorsogon to celebrate her son's 2nd birthday. Ayun siempre confident na naman ako na babalik siya. At first she was answering my messages, coordinating with me as to when she'll come back; then suddenly, no more replies. Na-ghost ako bish! Anyway, kinakaya ko naman. There are people who have been helping me- THANK GOD! 

My takeaway from this- I shouldn't take things personal. Before, when employees leave, I feel bad and take it personal. But now I realize na gamitan lang 'to. Hahaha! So I guess I'll contact her when I need help again, but for now I can manage by myself. 

Korea 2025

I celebrated my 42nd in Seoul ♥ I enjoyed it. There were some things I wished we had done differently, but meh, okay na rin. I can always go back, I guess. We were with Ate's officemate and officemate's niece. I did enjoy their company. It was fun. I just missed taking the train and checking out the city by foot. I mean, you see more of the place if you walk around. Bish, wala akong nakitang poster/ad ni Byeon Wooseok! I think we were to blame na rin bilang wala kaming plano. Also, I should have pushed for Suwon. Siguro kung nakita ko lang yung gate ng bahay ni Sunjae at nakapag-Cafe Mongted ako, I would have felt accomplished hahaha. Anubeh. But yeah, that's how I felt. Most especially during our last day. We could have done more than wait on our companions. And now I want to go back!! While Byeon Wooseok's ads are still aplenty!

rainy day in Bukchon Hanok village 

We meet again, Granhand :) 

I like their clean aesthetic

lunch. not very Korean, imho lol

Hongdae ata

dinner

Gamaksan suspension bridge

Imjingak

bullet-riddled train in Imjingak

frog in Imjingak

DMZ nga

that's North Korea across the river

LDR kami ni BWS

Kim Hyeyoon ad

ayan, LDR kami ulit

view of the Seoul Tower from our hostel

art biennale in Gwangju (JHOPE!!)

an art installation in the Gwangju Biennale

but of course, Compose Coffee

yes magsusugar ako para sayo, bhie LOL

to the mothership

BTS was on break- military service eme

Seoul nightscape

Seoul Tower

We were able to go to a lot of places naman, but I feel I could have seen more had we taken the train. Ang pagta-taxi ay sana pag-uwi na sa gabi pag sobrang borlogs na. 

Takeaway from this experience- MAG-PLANO! Plus if traveling with other people, we should make our own itinerary tapos assemble na lang after kanya-kanyang gala at nighttime or late afternoon for dinner, because sayang ang oras. 

High School Homecoming Chenes

It's been 25 years since I graduated from high school. 25 YEARS! Um, it was one event I honestly could have foregone- kung hindi lang ako nahiya because I was supposedly a part of the committee, pero sa totoo lang hindi kasi wala naman talaga akong ginawa. Bish, kinunan lang naman ako ng kidney. I guess I have a valid excuse for not being bibo with the preparations etc.

I enjoyed high school. I'm grateful for the friendships I started since then. Only a few have remained solid- mga 2 lang hahaha! But still I am grateful that high school for me was a pleasant experience, that I was not traumatized in any way. I was surprised to learn that a lot didn't want to attend because they didn't like HS because of the bullies, a few power-tripping teachers at kung ano pang ibang rason. 

My takeaway from this event- people don't really grow up. After 25 years, people are still the same. Siguro a few nagkakaroon ng realization at character development, but most, sadly, are still the same. Lalo na yung feeling nila cool sila. Haha. No. Mukha kayong tanga na feeling niyo ang cool niyo. Anyway, I don't think I'll be attending a reunion again anytime soon. The whole time I was just with my BFF who I meet every now and then naman. 

Capiz Vacation

Last January, we went back to the province for Uncle Er's 55th sacerdotal anniversary. I had fun because I think we were a bit more prepared- we booked a nice airbnb, Dad's friend lent us his van and AD was there to drive it (in other words, we were able to move around freely). 

Since we were already there, we also attended a family reunion in my Dad's side. Okay naman. Also, I don't get the logic of family reunions when you tend to stick lang din with relatives you already know. 

After the reunion ganap, side trip to Boracay with the sisterettes ☺

welcome back to me lol

vowed for this to be the last colored drink I take for the year...
LIE!

masarap :)

isa pang masarap charot
oo masarap mag-relax sa buhangin

masarap pero overpriced

skies were a bit gloomy...

so none of those breathtaking sunsets during this visit
actually, this one's not so bad

the day we return to the main island

colors

Day6 Concert ♥

Since Wooseok sort of introduced me to Day6's music, I've been hooked :) I failed to get a ticket last December as it was sold out already when I decided to buy; but, lo and behold, just two days before someone sold me their tickets at a discount. MAHAL TALAGA AKO NI GOD ;) Bawal inggitera :P 

Malapit na kaming umalis. Will end this update now. BRB. 

Well Well Well

 Balon. Balon. Balon. 

Chos. 

Done with half of 2021. Still in lockdown. The government has been easing the quarantine classification but it's better to be on the safe side of things. Anyway, here's a rundown of what my first half of the year has been like~

The Highs

+ Celebrations! We celebrated Mom's, Dad's and AC's birthdays, J-Hope's & Suga's birthdays as well and of course, my first Army-versary 💜 

Like I've said before, in times like this you have to make your own ganap. You have to learn how to distract yourself. It's so easy to fall into the COVID news blackhole and imagine just all the worst-case scenarios that could happen. So I focus instead on the nice things in life we can still have or enjoy in this time of pandemic, like celebrating another year in our loved ones' lives, celebrating our favorite idol group's milestones and successes ☺

+ Vaccinated! Mom, Dad and I are already fully vaccinated, while the other members of our household have gotten their first dose already. Except for AC. She's waiting for the Moderna vaccine. We just hope that the Moderna vaccine arrives soon, or at least that she gets a better one than Sinovac which we all got. But anyway, there's less worry since most of us are vaccinated although we are still on our toes and still practicing our protocols inside and outside the house, albeit more relaxed already. The Delta variant is of concern since it's supposedly more virulent and more transmissible. 'Nakngtokwa nga naman. But still hoping that our vaccines will somehow give us some kind of protection from it. Fingers crossed na nga lang. At siempre, prayers pa rin. 

+ BTS Festa! Bilang Army, it is my duty and responsibility to take part in their 8th anniversary online muster event- legally. LOL. Last year it was my sister who paid for the Bangbangcon and since it seemed like she didn't have any intentions of paying for this year's event, I took it upon myself to shell out 2 kiaw plus plus for the concert. IT WAS WORTH IT! I enjoyed every minute of it. And I am happy that Taehyung/V is back to his old self. If you watch last year's Festa, he was SO different from the V from yesteryears at that time- he looked so forlorn- and it somehow bothered me and made me sad, too. So now that it seems that he's back to being the happy and makulit V that we love ♥ I just hope that he's genuinely happy and not just putting up a front. 

+ Last May's Lunar Eclipse. I am a selenophile 🌙 and even pre-pandemic, I would often look up to the sky- at the moon, the stars. I got a mobile phone zoom lens for taking photos of the moon and I am in love. Last May was the first time I was able to take a photo of an eclipse "up close."

Ang ganda ganda ganda, diba? The first few minutes of the eclipse, when the moon was still red, my takes were a bit hazy. I don't know if there was a problem with the focus or sadyang epekto siya nung eclipse. After a while, it became super cloudy which made taking photos of the eclipse impossible. At dahil zero visibility because of the clouds, we decided to eat dinner first. After dinner, the moon has shown itself again but it's not red anymore, but still

ANG GANDA 😍

Again, I'm happy with this gadget of mine cos it enabled me to take wonderful photos of the moon. 

+ I've watched quite a few dramas already. As of date, I already finished ten dramas, one drama on hold and am currently watching five. BUT my favorite of all of them is *drum roll* Imitation. It was actually a serendipitous find and I will explain that in a different post when I'm done with it already. It only has 12 episodes and this weekend is already the tenth one. Can't wait to reach the last episode but at the same time dreading it, too- drama finales will always be bittersweet. 

+ After several attempts in a span of eight years, I finally started tracking my cash flow and made my own cash flow spreadsheet. Huzzah! I started last March and I'm still at it until now. It's easier now since I'm always home and it's easier to write it down immediately after plus there are fewer expenses. It's an eye-opener, actually. I think dati I didn't really want to know how much I'm spending, that I'd rather be kept in the dark LOL. But now, I finally see the light haha! I hope when things are okay and back to normal, I can still do this religiously. Now I know where my money goes and also it's easy to control my spending- mostly business supplies and food. 

The Lows

- I lost a friend. Before the Sowoozoo event, I received a message from a common friend that our dear friend Joji had passed. Hindi ako makapaniwala. I last messaged Joj last May 4 and she didn't mention anything about having another operation. I thought all's well. Tapos I received that news last June 14. Until now I still can't believe it. Hindi pa rin mag-sink in. I miss Joji. I pray that she's already in paradise- no more pain, no more cancer 💗

- Business is operating at a loss. Because I'm closely monitoring my expenses, I know for a fact that the business isn't doing good. At face value it looks as if it's doing good, but when I tally the revenues versus expenses, waley. I just hope and pray that sales will be better this second half of the year. And hopefully Christmas would be more stellar this 2021. 

So that's pretty much it. Uneventful pa rin naman ang bagay-bagay overall but I'm just grateful that I'm surviving. 

God provides. 

I'll just make another post for the Kdramas I finished this first half of 2021. Marami-rami na rin yun. 

Sinovacc'd

 So... as of today, I am fully vaccinated. YAY ☺

With Sinovac. 

Not really my vaccine of choice but it's the one available to me now and since I am scared of contracting the virus or at least the severe version of it, I settled for it already. Better safe than sorry. 

There are articles saying that we might need an mRNA booster vaccine after this. 

Anyway, congratulations to me! 

Casi Un Año

 Almost one year since the lockdown/community quarantines began and it seems that things haven't improved still. People were actually more cautious back when there were still a few cases; ngayon na marami na namang cases, bahala na si Batman. 

I am currently on a two-week self-imposed quarantine after babysitting my nephew in Marikina while my sister was in the hospital (non-COVID case, btw).  Day 3. Bored na ako. But still nothing beats being in your own house, sleeping on your own bed. Technically it is not my bed since I'm staying in the guest room, but I guess you know what I mean. While on quarantine, I want to do the ff:

• finally finish reading Maybe in Another Life and finish two more books
• finish Run On, a K-drama I just started watching yesterday
• finish watching all BTS Bon Voyage episodes
• watch the soapmaking on-demand tutorial video I enrolled in
• finish making photobooks for Honkong and Taiwan trips
• make layouts for my bujo, at least until October 2021
• finish Anne's Jimin doll 

Tingnan natin kung may matapos ako jan. LOL. Of course I still have to work while I'm cooped inside my room. I am super duper grateful that orders are starting to pick up. Has something to do with the economy opening up and people are less restricted and can move around more freely. Personally, I feel that things should have been done gradually, lalo na at yung mga tao sobrang atat lumabas- ayan rampa! Sana may guidelines. Slowly but surely, ika nga. It came from them that the country can't afford another total lockdown, but what if things get out of hand and closing down everything must be done? Epal kasi ng gobyerno na 'to eh. Excellent daw ang COVID response nila. E di wow. Hay. Tama na nga ang BV. 

Moving on... today is Suga's birthday ☺ 생일 축하합니다 ! Siempre meron kaming handa- sushi bake, minty brownies and garlic parmesan. Boring lang since I celebrated by my lonesome self, quarantined in this tiny room. It would've been more fun eating with my fellow army-sister. LOL. 

It's only March and I've already finished four K-dramas. Again, I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. O eto na report ko sa mga natapos ko na dramas.

Penthouse

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Didn't really intend to watch this but when my friend said that she's watching this drama, I read the synopsis and watched the first episode- and the rest is history. I got hooked. Hindi ko naman siya like na like pero the storyline kind of hooks you into it? Inis na inis na ako sa lahat sa kanila, yung tipong gusto ko silang batuhin ng something kung puede lang... pero at the same time, gusto ko malaman kung ano'ng mangyayari. At ang malala, may season 2 siya!!! I don't know if I want to watch the second season though. Maybe when I'm done watching all the kdramas I really want to watch. 

Medyo eye-opener etong drama na 'to ha. Eugene playing mother roles to 16 year olds? Medyo ouch. Talagang ahjumma levels na 'to. 

True Beauty

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OMG I was excited over this drama because, 1) I am reading the webtoon and, 2) Cha Eun-woo. The webtoon is still ongoing and I thought it would be nice to know how they would end the drama. 

Out of 10 stars, I'd give it a 7. I didn't like Moon Ga-young as Jugyeong- ang pabebe ng bwiset haha. Maybe the role calls for it but it's super annoying when she talks like that. If it weren't for the eye candies, Cha Eun-woo and Hwang In-yeop, I would've dropped this series midway. 

I'm also starting to get tired of the webtoon. Masyado nang feeling si Lim Jugyeong. **SPOILER ALERT** In one of the chapters, she was meeting her blind date in a cafe. The guy looked different from his profile picture which irked your Ate Jugyeong. Well, the date was mej feelingero pero sana wala na yung comment na 'he looks oddly different'. Ikaw pa talaga ang nag-judge sa kanya for doing that, Ate Jugyeong? 

I enjoyed the drama naman but there are times when I get irritated at Moon Ga-young's manner of speaking. Sabi ni Ate, nerd daw kasi. I know a lot of nerds who don't talk like that. Now I want to try watching one of her dramas to know if she really talks like that. 

Mr. Queen

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Another drama that I didn't really plan on watching but ended up watching because read about it in dramabeans and usually those dramabeans peeps and I are one the same kdrama wavelength. 

I enjoyed this Kdrama so much, so funny. I just feel that when the real queen is back in her body, then that is not the queen that our king has fallen in love with. Maybe Jang Bong-hwan's character sort of rubbed off on the queen eventually pero still that is not her. Sabi nga nila 'wag masyado mag-isip, suspension of disbelief eme. And I'm happy to do so. Ayoko na mag-critical thinking, no? 

If it weren't for the dramabeans blog reviews, I wouldn't have watched this because I didn't really like the lead actress and I sort of have an aversion to sageuk dramas. Binasag na yan actually ni Hwarang and 100 Days My Prince, pero there's still this tiny part of me that doesn't want to watch the genre. 

Loved Shin Hye-sun in this drama. Bati na kami, haha. 

More Than Friends

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I started watching this drama early this year. Because of Ong Seung-woo. Oo, lalaki ulit ang dahilan. LOLs. But man, this drama was painfully sloooow- kung gaano si Kuya kabagal sa pag-realize ng feelings niya kay Ate Girl- so I just finished watching this drama yesterday. 

At dahil fresh pa sa aking isip ang mga pangyayari, mas marami akong feelings regarding this drama. 'Di naman marami, actually. 

First- at the beginning of the drama, Woo-yeon has this one-sided thing for Lee Soo. Well, if I were Woo-yeon I would also, sort of, would develop feelings for the guy. It is wrong to assume kasi nga diba sabi nila, if you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME. Ganern. Pero besh, he's giving her special treatment!! O baka sadyang pa-fall lang si Lee Soo. Soooo... towards the middle of the drama when Lee Soo realizes he likes Woo-yeon in that way and Woo-yeon has, supposedly, moved on from him with Joon-soo eh ang sarap sigawan ng BEH, BUTI NGA. 

Although I sort of get din where Lee Soo was coming from. His parents' relationship was sorta malabo and maybe, unconsciously, he's been avoiding having relationships for fear of being in one that mimics his parents'. At saka, they're BFFs- hindi pa ba tayo natuto sa Friendzone that some would rather keep the friendship than risk going into a relationship and in the event that things don't go well, you lose the friendship as well. 

Second- gone are the days of asshole second-leads, no? Writers are making it harder for us viewers by giving us a cute, mabait and kind lead AND an equally cute (minsan cuter pa!), mabait and kind second lead as well. Case in point, Joon-soo. Wala ka namang maipintas kay Kuya except that our female lead is just not that into him. Ika nga ni Joshua kay Julia, sinubukan naman natin diba? Lels. And when Lee Soo and Woo-yeon were broken up, Joon-soo didn't take the opportunity to swoop in and get the girl. May sinabi siya pero nakalimutan ko na. Haha. Basta ayun, dilemma para sa ating viewers bilang nahihirapan tayong pumili sa kanilang dalawa. At mas malaking dilemma dahil sa totong buhay ay wala naman tayong pagpipilian. Hahaha. Lech.

Third- while Woo-yeon and Lee Soo were in long-distance relationship, the time difference was a big challenge for them. At first, they were handling it pretty well but eventually both their schedules got more hectic, their thrice-a-day phone calls turned into twice-a-day turned into once-a-day turned into missed/unreturned calls. Puede namang mag-text diba? Ng "sorry I missed your call. We were shooting my calligraphy eme for the movie." So na-frustrate si Woo-yeon because she feels that she's not that important to him anymore, that he's not her priority. So she broke up with him over the phone. Si Kuya naman madaling kausap, so sabi niya, Okay. Noted. So fast forward... Lee Soo returns to Korea, surprises Woo-yeon in her workshop studio. Hindi natuwa si Ate. Lee Soo wants to pick up where they left off, but Woo-yeon thinks she's had it. And here's my favorite scene- when Woo-yeon was pouring out her heart to their friend who owns the resto-bar, he told her this,

"If you are so quick to judge things from the beginning, 

no matter whom you meet and what kind of love they offer,

you won't receive it."

Boom. Galing ni friend.  Ayan, words or wisdom from kdramas. 

Out of 10, I'd give it a 6. Keri naman. Boring lang siya. And here I realized that I only liked Ong Seung-woo in A Moment at Eighteen. Of course I now know better than to judge a drama based on the actors playing the characters or based on genres. Dapat lang marunong ako mag-let go.

So there, kdramas I've finished so far. Right now I am watching three- She Would Never Know, Run On and a Japanese drama, Oh My Boss! Love is a Bonus Book. So far, so good. Maybe I'll do another not-really-a-review review post when I'm done with all three. 

Okay. Yun lang. 

You Know... Stuff

General update on my consumer-driven life...

Aside from the usual kdramas (currently watching Record of Youth and Go Go Squid- which isn't a kdrama, btw), ako'y nahuhumaling sa webtoons. And since I've just recently discovered its wonder, there's so much for me! Here are the titles I'm currently reading:

1. True Beauty
2. I Love Yoo
3. Odd Girl Out
4. Age Matters
5. Back to You
6. Let's Play
7. I Hate U, I Love U
8. One of a Kind Romance
9. Unlovable Replacement
10. She's My Type

OMG ang dami na pala! I'm enjoying the aforementioned titles tremendously- SUPER! The only downside is that after I've devoured all the available chapters, I'd have to wait for a week for a new one. And what's more excruciating is that most of my webtoons are currently in season break. But as they say, patience is a virtue and so I'm going to wait for them, albeit not very patiently. 

And since we're still in quarantine... I've been looking up, literally, most of the time. AB gave me moolah for my birthday and I used a portion of that to buy telephoto lens- super worth it ♥

Different nights, at different phases- que belleza, no? My sister doesn't get it- why the moon appeals to me so much. I guess it started during one of our school activities back in seventh grade, when we went stargazing in UP. Our balcony is definitely something we never knew we needed, LOL. 

Another "news" is we have a new dog. Meet Tannie

We adopted this shihpoo last September when he was just five months. Not really a dog person (or kahit ano mang hayop, actually) but we can't really resist Tannie's charm. We feel a bit guilty that we allow Tannie inside the house, but Tutti stays outside. Anyway... having a pet is expensive which is one of the reasons why I don't really like it. Haha. Tannie is more attached to Manang than us which is understandable since he sleeps on her bed- one thing I can't imagine myself doing. I mej know na what kind of a parent I'll be in case I'll be one and I know I won't be one so safe na ang mga future non-existent junakis ko. 

So that's it, what's keeping me busy and sane during this nakakabaliw na 2020. Almost Christmas. Sana may orders pa rin.