RECENT POSTS


  • 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.

    (more…)

  • 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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  • June Recap

    Daming ganaps nung June, kaya hindi rin ako masyadong nakapagsulat. Ang buwan ng June ay bagamat hindi na kalamigan, sobrang maulan naman. Ilang beses kaming inulan at binagyo habang nag-eenjoy sa labas. Buti ngayon kumakalma na. Ang reklamo naman namin ngayon, sobrang init na! Nag-grocery kami kahapon at first time kong maramdaman ulit yung pagpasok mo ng sasakyan tapos ramdam na ramdam mo yung init kaya atat na ata ka nang gumana yung aircon.

    JUNE DIGEST

    * links in bold are paid posts

    • In Life Updates, I shared my mixed feelings sa paparating namin na camping trip. First time kasi namin kaya may halong excitement at worries.
    • After camping for 3 days, ito ang verdict: Camping is a Yay. Title pa lang alam na kung nag-enjoy ba kami or hindi. I’m glad we said yes to this thing we’re skeptical about. I’ve now become more open to trying new things. At if ever hindi ko nagustuhan, eh di hindi ko na lang uulitin.
    • Naging semi-obsessed na kami sa pagiging healthy and we’re loving it. I talked about it in this month’s Thursday Letter.

    Bawi ako sa utang ko next month. Thank you for reading! 🤍

  • Q2 Expenses | I’m Selfish

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    Kung yung Q1 ang isa sa mga best quarters namin in a long while, lumagapak kami ngayong Q2. Pinaghandaan naman namin ang pagdating ng parents ni Kenneth so hindi yun ang main reason. Tingnan muna natin ang big picture:

    Ang top 3 big chunks lagi sa pie ay syempre yung bills, transportation (dahil sa car loan), at food expenses. Compared sa last quarter, merong mga na-inflate yung share tulad ng gifts (andito yung budget namin sa stay ng parents ni Kenneth) at shopping (huhu).

    EXPENSE BREAKDOWN

    I’ve highlighted the highest and lowest expense for each month:

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  • Thursday Letter #21: I Prefer This New Version

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    Hindi ko in-expect na magiging bagong tao kami ni Kenneth. Nag-evolve kami into calorie-counting, protein-conscious, outdoor-loving, workout-almost-everyday people. Na-observe ko yung pagbabago, pero hindi sya super obvious kasi madalas bumabalik lang din ako sa dating gawi. Tapos mag-aatempt ako ulit maging healthy-healthy, then fail nanaman. Paulit-ulit na ganun. Pero ngayon, mukang tumatatak na. Nagiging part na talaga sya ng everyday namin. Natatawa na nga lang kami minsan sa mga sarili namin kasi ang layo sa kung ano kami noon. But now it’s our new normal, ika nga.

    So pano ko nasabing itong new normal ko (i-exclude ko na si Kenneth kasi ang tagal na nyang consistent) is something that will actually stick? There were signs:

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  • May Recap

    I know patapos na ang June and this is a very late recap for May. Plano ko na talaga syang i-skip, pero hindi ako mapapakali.

    Sobrang happy ko sa weather nung May kasi hindi na tagos sa buto yung lamig. Mas vibrant na rin tingnan ang paligid dahil sa pagsibol. Umay na umay na kong tingnan yung mga puno na lagas ang dahon at mga damo na kulay yellowish brown. Ang sarap sa mata na makakita ng madaming green and pops of yellow and pink this time around.

    MAY DIGEST

    * links in bold are paid posts

    • In Happy Things #33, super naramdaman ko yung love ng mga kaibigan ko sakin at ng Mama ko. Nakakataba ng puso.
    • I enjoyed answering a super random list of questions in Isang Tanong, Daming Sagot. Di ko in-expect na babalikan ko pa yung mga panloloko ng mga ex ko sakin while also answering shallow questions about my height and the thickness of my hair.
    • Shared a story about the ups and downs of my food cravings.
    • Something unexpected happened in May (a friendship was rekindled) and I shared it in Life Updates. Also, ang ganda ng Project Hail Mary! Gusto kong panoorin ulit. Available na ata sya sa Prime.
    • Muntik na kong maiyak habang kumakain ng bangus: Luto ng Papa.
    • Na-shock ako nung nalaman kong 3 weeks straight kaming hindi nagpa-food delivery. Plus more money mumblings in What I Spend in a Week.
    • In Thursday Letter #20, I talked about the fine line between being annoyingly overbearing and offensively underbearing.

    See you next week for June’s recap! Thank you for reading!