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Family Secrets

Thursday Letter #14 | Holiday Funk

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Good morning/evening!

Ang nasa utak ko ngayon ay Pilipinas. Kasi nai-imagine ko kung gano ka-festive dun ngayon. Yung ramdam na ramdam mo yung holiday cheer, lalo na sa mga malls. Ang sarap umuwi! Ang tagal ko nang dream na makauwi ng holiday season. Kaso hindi pa matuloy-tuloy. Sa ngayon, magpapatugtog na lang ulit ako ng “Di ba’t kay ganda sa atin ng… Paskoooo… Naiiba ang pagdiriwang ditooo…” like every other December, habang medyo teary eyed.

If we have unlimited funds, we would spend every Christmas and New Year in the Philippines.

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Throwback

My 19 Year-Old Playlist

Many years ago, after getting my first iPhone, pinamana ko yung iPod Touch ko kay Illysa (my cousin) because I figured hindi ko naman kailangan both at the same time. But now that she’s no longer using it, I retrieved it for nostalgia purposes (buti na lang hindi nya naiwala or tinapon). Nung binigay ko yun sa kanya back in 2016, ang tanging hiling ko lang ay wag syang magbura ng photos. Thankfully, she didn’t delete them all and I was happy to see some of those old photos again.

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Happy Things Hobbies Life Secrets

Happy Things #29

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Feeling Pro

First time kong makagamit ng stand mixer nung nag-bake ako sa bahay ng friend namin (Hello Aryan and Hudas!) Ang saya pala talaga nyang gamitin! As in konting seconds lang combined na lahat ng ingredients. Walang kapagod-pagod. Sobrang bano ko. Noon, ang tingin ko sa stand mixer ay pang-pro levelzz lang. Napapanood ko lang yun sa mga experienced bakers. Pero nung nakita ko sya sa bahay ng friend namin, at ginamit ko sya pang-bake ng revel bars, napaka-smooth and convenient pala talaga!

Nung una nga na-intimidate pa kong gamitin. Plano ko na talaga na i-mix lang yung dough using a spatula. Pero sa sobrang thick nung mixture, sumuko na ko. Sinubukan ko na yung stand mixer kahit hindi naman ako marunong mag-operate ng ganun. Pero siguro sa dinami-rami ng napanood kong baking videos sa buhay ko, na-figure out ko sya agad. Na-amaze din ako sa sarili ko kasi alam ko kung pano i-tilt yung head, kung pano i-detach yung mixing bowl sa base, kung pano yung pag-push and turn to remove the beater—all in one try. I was practically a natural at it. Meant to be talaga kami! Haha! Kaya naman sa isip-isip ko, “Gusto ko nitoooo!” And that’s what I got for my birthday!!

Hindi ko pa naman birthday pero in-advance ko na hehe. At buti na lang merong 12 months to pay, 0% interest sa Amazon (may kamahalan din baga). Sa sobrang excitement ko, chinat ko si Aryan para i-share ang good news. And her response made me cryyy…

I Love My Friends

This is my second happy thing. Literal na naiyak talaga ko sa reply ni Aryan:

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Insights Pals Secrets

Best Friends

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I was listening to a podcast and one of the hosts talked about having a best friend and how they had a falling out, and I naturally thought of my best friends and how we had a falling out. Back in grade school, I still think fondly of all the ‘best friend things’ we did. Listening to boy bands and girl pop stars (we loved Christina Aguilera), sharing our boy band crushes (mine is Ben of A1), gushing about our real-life crushes, gossiping about girls we didn’t like, skipping my piano lessons and hanging out at their house for hours (yung pambayad ko sa piano teacher ginawa kong pang-meryenda namin), and all that cutesy naiveté that childhood brings.

I find it incredibly cool that back then, living in a small province, we’d just tell our parents we were going to our friend’s house and then just walk there on our own. No cellphones, no way for them to track us, no texting our friend to say we’re coming over—we’d just show up on their doorsteps completely unannounced, and all that was just normal. What we had was pure, unadulterated quality time with our friends, and there were no cellphones to distract us. If there’s a landline phone, its main purpose was to prank call our crushes (hindi kami nagte-telebabad ng best friends ko kasi kung gusto naming magusap, pupunta kami mismo sa bahay ng isa’t isa para mag-chikahan). Those were the days indeed.

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Art Secrets TV

Life Updates | Stranger Things + 911 + New Favourite App

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1.

We watched Stranger Things season 5 volume 1 at sobrang na-excite ako sa volume 2! Kaso ang tagal i-release. Sa Pasko pa. Pero perfect timing na rin kasi on-call ata si Kenneth ng Christmas at malabo naming magawa ang aming Christmas movie tradition sa cinema, so manonood na lang kami ng Stranger Things kasi para na rin namang movie ang bawat episode.

Yung last Christmas movie namin ay Nosferatu. Para tuloy nagkakaron na ng monster theme ang Christmas movies namin (and I think I like it).

Stranger Things volume 1 spoiler alert:

Nung first time pinakita na na-eexperience ni Will yung POV ng demogorgon, naisip ko na yung possibility na maco-control nya yung mga monsters, at yun nga ang nangyare sa ending ng volume 1! (maybe even controlling Vecna sa season finale??) Sobrang satisfying. Will deserved this moment. After being helpless sa mga naunang seasons, yung tipong sya na lang lagi ang kelangang i-save, now it’s his time to shine! I love this for Will.

The thing I’m dreading is yung mga mamamatay before this final season ends (for sure meron!) Ito yung list ko ng mga characters na hindi ako sobrang magiging heartbroken pag nadedz sila:

  • Nancy
  • Lucas
  • Joyce or Jonathan (dapat may isang matira kasi kawawa naman si Will)
  • Maybe Eleven and Robin??

Habang naghihintay mag-Pasko, sinimulan ko ulit panoorin yung season 1 (I’m now on season 2).

2.

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Life

November Recap

November 28, 2025

Nabilisan ako sa buwan na ‘to. November felt like two things:

  1. Malapit na ang US barkada trip namin (our flight was November 7th)

and

  1. Tapos na ang US barkada trip namin (we flew back November 18th)

Pero since kasama namin si Benson pabalik ng Calgary, tapos lumabas pa kami nung 19th and 22nd, parang na-extend pa rin yung trip somehow. November 28 na ngayon, and I’m still writing about this recent trip of ours. Kakatapos ko nga lang manood ng isang LA vlog nung minsan. Needless to say, hindi pa rin ako nakaka-move on. Tapos next week, December na! Parang lumipad lang talaga yung November.

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Journaling Secrets

Thursday Letter #13 | What I Love About Journaling

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Good morning/evening!

I found myself in the mood to update my Hobonichi (my planner-slash-journal that’s more like 10% planner, 90% journal). I filled in the calendar page to reflect our recent California adventures, then, out of curiosity, picked up my 2024 Hobonichi to see what my November looked like last year. Some significant events were:

  • nag-last day ako sa work
  • pinanganak si baby Max (pamangkin ko sa pinsan)
  • took French classes
  • early Christmas party with Winnipeg friends (kasi malapit na kaming mag-move to Calgary)
  • watched Wicked with Trix

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California Family Travel

California 2025 Highlights Pt. 3

Rainy days in LA

Since sobrang konti nga ng kaalaman ko about LA, nito ko lang nalaman na hindi pala karaniwan umuulan sa LA. Kaya niloloko nila kami na kami yung nagdala ng ulan kasi maulan nung week na punta namin. Ngayon ko lang din nalaman na since hindi nga maulan dito, ito yung ideal place mag-shoot ng movies, plus idagdag mo pa yung varied landscapes like mountains, beaches, and deserts—a perfect shooting location. Good to know.

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California Nevada Pals Travel

California 2025 Highlights Pt. 2

Kitchen chaos

After Sequoia, it was inuman night. We had drinks, sang our hearts out, and stayed up until 4AM. Just like old times.

We had this one free day which wasn’t exactly a free day. We planned a surprise pre-baby shower dinner for Aryan and Hudas to thank them for hosting us, so while they were out and about (attending another baby shower), we were busy cooking. We only had 2 hours to prepare and so we were scrambling in their big kitchen, figuring out where the pots and pans and baking tools were.

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California Pals Travel Utah

California 2025 Highlights Pt. 1

November 7-18, 2025

This whole California trip was an achievement in and of itself. Our schedules were aligned, no flights were cancelled despite the US government shutdown, (and most importantly) we now have some adult money, and even with some unavoidable hiccups, we all managed to take with us special and fun core memories.

Travels with Kenneth
With our matching neck pillows (that feel more like neck braces)

I’m happy to be traveling with Kenneth again. After so many trips these past few months (12 flights!!), it feels nice that this last trip of the year gets to be with him. I’m also grateful that my friends are his friends too! We don’t have to worry about one of us being left out or getting bored. No awkward scenarios where one of us goes quiet and the other constantly asks, “Okay ka lang?”

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