• Trail Diaries: Rawson Lake + A Failed Attempt to Sarrail Ridge

    Ito na siguro ang pinaka-extreme na ginawa ko sa buhay ko. Ang daming adjectives para i-describe ang nangyari. Memorable, fulfilling, cool, stressful, death-defying?? Haha basta. Hindi ako pala-mura, pero napamura ako out loud. My “Putanginas” are few and far between, kaya everytime napapamura ako, matatawa lagi si Kenneth kasi nga ang unusual nyang marinig yun sakin. For him, it’s also a sign na ang taas na talaga ng emotions ko.

    This is a lengthy one, but it’s action-packed at may konting drama. Legow!

    Just a “fun” weekend hike

    Nagsimula lang naman ang lahat sa idea na magha-hike kami sa weekend. Si Kenneth ang in-charge sa pagpili ng trail and he chose a manageable one. Rawson Lake is an 8-km hike with only about 300m elevation gain. Ang rating nya sa Alltrails app ay ‘moderate’ at nasa point na ko na alam kong achievable sakin ang mga moderate trails. Since almost 3 weeks ago pa yung last hike namin, gusto kong mag-start lang sa alam kong kaya ko. Ayoko na muna nung mga 700m plus elevation gain tulad last time na bawat tapak, sumasakit yung tuhod at balakang ko.

    Naka-mindset ako na it would just be an enjoyable hike at matatapos na kami by lunch time. Pero merong pahabol si Kenneth. Pag nakarating na raw kami sa Rawson Lake, silipin daw namin yung papuntang Sarrail Ridge. Kasi apparently, pag diniretso mo pa yung trail, merong another trail na ang rating sa Alltrails ay ‘hard’. Eh hindi pa ko ready sa mga hard! Tsaka pag ang pangalan ng trail ay may nakakabit na ‘ridge’ sa huli, automatic sa utak ko na sobrang hirap nun. Kaya sabi ko sa kanya, “Ridge?? Diba mahirap yun?” Ang sagot nya, “Silip lang naman.” Kung ano raw itsura. Hmm, okay.

    Woke up around 4AM and we’re on the road at 5:45AM
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  • Happy Things #36

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    How to move on??

    OMG sobrang ganda nung pinanood naming C-drama!!! First time kong makapanood ng C-drama and WOW. Akala ko pa mauumay ako kasi 40 episodes (!) yung series, but we just breezed through it! Bitin pa nga! Hindi ako fan ng mga period dramas, pero this series got me hooked!! Hindi ako maka-move on dun sa dalwang lead. May sinimulan kaming another C-drama, pero si Fan Changyu at Xie Zheng pa rin ang nasa utak ko. Hays.

    Btw, Pursuit of Jade yung title ng series.

    🥰🥰🥰

    Thanks for the trust!

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  • Life Updates: Protina + Mountain Hike + Facial Acupuncture

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    1.

    Ang ganda na lagi ng tulog ko lately! Dire-diretso na! YAY! Pinaka-importanteng factor daw kasi para makapag-build ng muscle ay quality sleep. Second daw ay nutrition, tapos last yung workout. Kaya kailangan talaga i-prioritize ang tulog kasi sayang naman yung mga protein na kinakain ko at ang pinaghihirapan kong mga workouts.

    Minsan ang delusional ko kasi pinapahawakan ko kay Kenneth yung non-existent muscles ko. Feeling ko lumalaki na yung muscles ko pero wala pa naman talaga haha. Pag tinitingnan ko yung mga dati kong pictures at kinukumpara sa ngayon, wala namang nagbago. Pero gusto kong isipin na meron para masaya 😂

    Nagulat ako dito sa random chat ng 19-y/o pinsan ko. Good job Isabelle! 😄

    2.

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  • Thursday Letter #23: Thoughts on Minimalism

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    First, a quick and important message: I started doing my Thursday posts exactly two years ago and I can’t believe we’re going into year 3! Please always know that I can’t thank you enough 🩶

    In one of the corners of my digital world, the planner and journaling community is celebrating Hobonichi season, or planner season in general. Most of them are getting overwhelmed with which planner to buy, how many journals to use, whether they should get a new cover, etc. I’m glad I’m not one of those people anymore. I only have my eye on one Hobonichi planner—I’m a satisfied Day-Free A6 user since 2023.

    But it’s still fun to watch people get excited. I have this urge to jump in whenever I see posts asking for recommendations for their first planner. But then I see loads of responses already and think to myself, “No need. They’ve got it covered.” I also can’t help but chuckle when I see a big haul of notebooks and pens and stuff because I know some or all of it will get neglected at some point in the next year. I know because I’ve been there too hehe. That was an expensive lesson to learn.

    Hello September

    What I really wanted to talk about is minimalism. It was my 2025 theme and I’m not quite sure if I succeeded. Sabi nga ni Steve Jobs:

    To be really simple, 
    you have to go really deep.

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  • “Yes, boss!”

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  • August Recap

    This month was full of fun adventures and lots of great food, but behind all that, there’s this one thing that has been constantly bothering me and has been brewing for the past few months. At dahil ilang months ko na syang dinadala, feeling ko malapit na kong sumabog ngayong August. But thanks to my family and friends and this blog for giving me space to rant. Thank you also to the most effective distraction: nature. I’m grateful for our weekly hikes, and I always come back to one of my favourite quotes about nature:

    How wonderful that the universe is beautiful in so many places and in so many ways. Its intonations are our best tonics, if we would take them. For the universe is full of radiant suggestion.

    — Mary Oliver

    AUGUST DIGEST

    * links in bold are paid posts

    • Sinubukan kong ilabas ang aking mga saloobin in this month’s Thursday Letter—pero kung alam nyo lang, pigil na pigil pa yun 😅 Wala eh, there’s only so much negative feelings I can take, kaya kailangang i-release yung iba.
    • Happy 8 years in Canada to us (did a mini Q&A session)! Despite the challenges, I’m still glad to have made this choice and we are so fortunate to be here.
    • This month has been stressful to my mind and body (which I shared in my Not-So-Fun Life Updates) but as mentioned earlier, those hikes and my repeated exposure to nature helped soothe my spirit somehow.
    • Ito na siguro ang pinaka-magastos naming week: What I Spend in a Week. Kahit natuwa naman ako sa mga kinain at pinaggagawa namin, we really have to reel it in next month.
    • Kahit sumasakit na ang ngipin ko sa stress ngayong August, I still had to look for things that made me smile.

    Thank you for reading! 🩶

  • Happy Things #35

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    Dreaming of Mommy

    Lately, I’ve been dreaming about Mommy. Sa universe ng panaginip ko, naka-recover sya sa sakit nya at lagi kaming nagha-hug ng super higpit. Masaya lagi yung eksena. Nagkaron ako ng phase na laging nightmares ang panaginip ko so buti naman at napalitan na ng mga sweet dreams. Sana mas madalas ko pa syang mapanaginipan 🩶

    This was a great day

    New Ka-Pitness Member

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  • 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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