• What I Spend in a Week: Daming Nangyare

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    It’s one of those weeks na alam mong gagastos ka talaga ng malaki. Their cousin visited us for a week and madami kaming plans. It was a fun but hectic week at ang ending, nagkasakit ako.

    But first, time for Best Buy and Bye-Bye of the week!

    Best Buy

    Ang dami kong naiisip na best buys pero siguro ang #1 ko ay yung eczema cream ko. Kasi simula nung bumalik at lumala yung eczema ko (huhu), halos araw-araw akong nagigising ng madaling araw sa sobrang kati. Magigising na lang ako na kinakamot ko yung kamay ko tapos as in sobrang kati talaga.

    My saviour

    Before this, almost 3 months akong eczema-free at sobrang saya! Nalimutan ko na nga yung feeling na walang eczema. So nung nawala sya for a few months, it felt so librerating haha! Kaya asar na asar ako nung bumalik! Feeling ko na-trigger nung kumain ako ng hipon kasi kinabukasan na kinabukasan pagkakain ko ng hipon, merong sumulpot na maliit na spot hanggang sa nagtuloy-tuloy na. Umaasa pa kong kusa syang mawawala, pero nung gabi-gabi nyang dini-disrupt ang tulog ko, I’ve had enough! Nag-book na ko ng appointment sa family doctor namin para maresetahan na nya ko ng steroid cream.

    Ngayon, wala na ulit makati at sobrang saya ko nanaman. I want to be eczema-free forever please!!

    Bye-Bye

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  • Not-So-Fun Life Updates

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    1.

    UGGHHH may sakit nanaman ako! Buti na lang latter part na ng week ako sumama ang pakiramdam kasi bumisita yung pinsan nila from US, and madami kaming nakaplanong gawin that week. Ang sakit ng ulo ko. Halos hindi nawawala yung sakit. Diba minsan pag nakatulog ka, nawawala yung sakit ng ulo pagkagising. Pero yung ngayon, paggising ko andun pa rin. Tapos ang kati ng lalamunan ko kaya ubo ako ng ubo. Halos magdamag akong inuubo hindi na ko nakatulog ng maayos. Hays. Ang bigat din ng katawan ko. If this is a viral infection, feeling ko ang baba pa rin ng WBC ko kasi ang bilis kong mahawa. Si Kenneth at Kat okay naman sila.

    Friday is when I started to get sick and stopped getting my steps in ☹️

    Monday na ulit so may pasok na sila Kenneth. Meron akong until Friday to recover bago magkaron ulit ng labas sa Sabado. For now, I will eat my soothing and comforting wonton soup for brunch and drink lots of water.

    2.

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  • 8th Canada-versary

    Today, August 9th, officially marks our eighth year in Canada. Kung hindi ko pa nakita sa ‘on this day’ feature, hindi ko pa maaalala. Si Kenneth hindi na rin tanda.

    Naisip kong gumawa ng Q&A portion por today’s bidyow.

    General questions:

    Why move?

    Wala talaga akong planong umalis ng bansa. Kaso nung nagta-trabaho pa ko sa Optum, around that time, puro nurses and doctors lang yung hina-hire nila, so napapaligiran ako ng mga kapwa nurses. At ang madalas nilang topic ay yung mga applications nila sa iba’t ibang bansa. Merong may apply sa UK, sa Australia, meron sa US, Dubai, etc. Akong walang interes umalis, nabo-bore palagi pag yun ang topic. Pero dahil magkakatabi lang kami ng cubicles, I can’t help but overhear everything.

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  • July Recap

    I’m looking at my July calendar right now so I could sum up the month for this recap. I noticed that the second half of the month was very active. I tried pilates for the first time, we went on a road trip, had lots of food trips, and last but not the least, we went on five hikes!

    For the past few weeks, hiking is all we’ve been talking about. I can say that this was the time we really fell head over heels with hiking. My algorithm knows about it too. My feed now constantly shows reels of new hiking spots, hiking tips, hiking shoes and clothing, hiking memes, and just everything else hiking-related. I don’t think the next few months will be any different—until winter gets in the way huhu.

    May nakita nga akong meme na ang sabi, “Choose your mid-life crisis wisely.” And I think we chose wisely 😄

    JULY DIGEST

    * links in bold are paid posts

    • Everything went up, up, up in Q2 Expenses
    • In Life Updates, I shared my favourite group chat, my favourite musical note, and my first Stampede experience with friends (miss you guysss!)
    • Sa sobrang sama ng pakiramdam ko around mid-July, I wrote: May Sakit Ako.
    • Our 10th wedding anniversary was initially a flop, but it’s still one of this month’s Happy Things.
    • In Ramblings #57, I quickly talked about that weird nostalgic feeling again.

    Thank you for reading! ♥

    PS: After more than a year, I updated my now page.

  • Thursday Letter #22: All Aboard the Rant Express

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    We’ve been very busy the past few days kasi we made the most out of the long weekend at araw-araw merong ganap.

    Friday: birthday ng Dadi ni Kenneth

    Saturday: together with Faye and Josh, we hiked Lake Agnes Tea House plus the Little Beehive!

    Sunday: watched Odyssey and went to the Taste of Calgary festival

    Monday: Trix and Kris (our Winnipeg friends) plus their kids were visiting Calgary and we met up with them

    The best thing we tried at Taste of Calgary:
    giant inari sushi

    After these social events, back to work na si Kenneth, at ako naman, back to household chores. Naipon ang labada namin. Back to pagiisip ng kung anong kakainin for lunch, anong kakainin for dinner. Back to managing the household habang naghihintay ng tawag from potential employers. Kakatapos ko lang kahapon ng July expense tracker namin at medyo nakaka-stress nanaman.

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  • Ramblings #57

    I have this cozy, nostalgic lens the past few days. Lahat ng tinitingnan, pinapanood, at pinapakinggan ko, kahit they are all new to me, it feels nostalgic. Hindi ko maexplain but it feels like I’m living in the early 2000s. Basta yun yung aura. I find it so comforting. Ang weird but I hope may nakakagets sakin. Also, I don’t want it to go away huhu..

  • 10th Anniv

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    Basque burnt cheesecakes

    Since konti ang pera, ang tanging plano namin for our 10th wedding anniversary ay mag-hike. Pero hindi lang basta hike, yung hike na medyo challenging for us. So pinili namin mag-hike papuntang Ink Pots kasi around 12km hike sya back and forth. Siguro prior to this, 6km na yung longest namin. Kaya medyo exciting at may very light kaba kasi hindi ko alam kung kakayanin ko. Sabi ng utak ko, kaya ko. Sana mag-agree yung katawan ko.

    “Anong oras tayo aalis sa Wednesday?”

    “6AM”

    Morning disaster

    Nag-alarm ako ng 4:30AM para makapag-prepare. Plus magpapakain pa ko ng mga pusa bago kami umalis. Napansin kong may time pa ko para mag-stretching, so nag-yoga ako for 10 minutes para ma-warm up yung katawan ko. Pansin ko si Kenneth, hindi pa rin naliligo. Kumakain na ko ng breakfast at after kong matapos, ready na kong umalis. Galing si Kenneth sa garahe at tinanong nya ko kung nabasa ko raw yung chat nya. Sabi ko hindi. Kaya pala sya matagal sa garahe ay dahil napako yung gulong namin! Malambot na daw yung kanang gulong sa unahan. Ita-try daw nyang ayusin. Ang wrong timing naman huhu. 

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  • Happy Things #34

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    Hot Pilates

    I tried another new thing! Last time diba camping, kahapon naman pilates. Matagal na kong curious dito kasi nung una ko syang nakita, parang ang weird at ang complicated. Nakaka-intimidate. Pero after nung free intro class namin kahapon ni Kat (kapatid ni Kenneth), ang fun pala nya. Knowing na nagpi-pilates talaga si Kat, ito na yung chance ko na ma-try kasi gusto nya rin ituloy yung pilates classes nya habang nagbabakasyon dito. Gusto ko kasi may kasama muna ako sa first class ko. Tapos pag nagustuhan ko, kaya ko nang mag-solo.

    Gets ko na bakit ‘to nauso 😄

    Sobrang basic pa lang nung mga pinagawa samin kahapon kaya nasundan ko naman yung instructions. Tumitingin din ako dun sa iba para i-check kung tama ba yung ginagawa ko. Ang ayoko lang, ang bilis masyadong magsalita nung instructor. Tapos parang di naman sya nagpe-pay attention samin. Siguro dahil libre lang. Nevertheless, we’ll book our first paid class next week at dun ako magde-decide kung magtutuloy-tuloy ako.

    28 Days

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  • May Sakit Ako

    May mga certain moments na paggising mo, meron agad certain vibe yung araw. May mga days na flat, minsan warm, minsan masarap, minsan nostalgic. Yung ngayon, parang ngayon ko na lang ulit ‘to na-experience. Hindi ko masyadong ma-describe in one word, pero para akong college student na nagsusulat sa luma naming computer na lagi naming pinag-aagawan ng kuya ko. Nandito ako ngayon sa bahay namin ng asawa ko sa Canada, pero para akong nasa bahay namin sa Pagbilao. I’m trying to hold on to this atmosphere kasi ang calming sa pakiramdam. Tulog pa ang mga tao dito at ako lang ang gising. It’s just me and my floating mind and it’s 6:40AM. Pag may nagising, masisira na ‘tong fantasy ko.

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  • Life Updates: Mga Ka-Pitness + Favourite Note + Stampede

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    1.

    Meron kaming group chat na ang naging pangalan ay ‘Mga Ka-Pitness’. Apat lang kami sa GC na yon (Ako, Kenneth, Nick, at Benson) and since three out of the four ay trying to be healthy and fit, yun na yung naging main topic nung group chat. Ang ironic lang kasi kung sino pa yung doktor (si Benson), sya yung hindi nakikisali sa fitness talks namin. Sya yung hindi healthy ang lifestyle. Kaya niloloko sya ni Kenneth na hypocrite haha. Pero hindi tumatalab yung panloloko kasi wala syang pake sa mga pinaguusapan namin. Pero kahit wala syang ma-ambag, lurker sya nung gc kasi minsan mag-eemoji react sya. I’m hoping that one day, our enthusiasm will rub off on him.

    Noong isang araw, tumatawag si Nick at na-confuse ako kasi nung sinagot ko, naka-smirk lang sya tapos hindi nagsasalita. Then ni-flip nya yung camera nya at pinakita nyang nag-lalakad sya sa walking pad. Na-surprise at natuwa ako kasi nabudol ko pala sya haha. Tagal ko na kasi syang kino-convince na bumili rin ng walking pad. Ang dami nyang reasons na wala raw syang pambili (ASA). So na-surprise ako kasi finally, bumili na rin sya.

    Sumeseryoso na talaga kami sa fitness namin at nakakatawa kasi nga, hindi naman kami ganito dati. Sabi ni Nick, “Ang galing natin ano? Healthy na talaga tayo. Feeling ko aabot tayo ng 100 y/o.” Tapos pinaalala ko sa kanya yung podcast episode namin years ago na sinabi kong gusto kong umabot ng hanggang 100 y/o, tapos pinagtawanan nya lang ako. Anyway, since meron na ring walking pad si Nick, ang recent topic ng gc namin ay daily steps. Goal daw nila na maka-10k steps a day. Sabi ko ako 7-8k steps goods na.

    I’m happy na may isa pa kaming accountability buddy 😄 We will be patiently waiting for you Benson!

    2.

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