I think the holiday season officially started for us when one of Kenneth’s college friends invited us to go on a holiday train ride.
Our whole universe was in a hot dense state…
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Holiday Season 2025
Category: Pals
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Happy Stranger Things Vol. 2 day! Also, Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël !
Ngayon ko na lang ulit ‘to na-feel. Yung super excited ako sa isang TV show. Bukod sa curiosity ko kung anong mangyayari after that epic Will-has-powers!! episode, airing the next volume on Christmas day (and the season finale on New Year’s Eve) gave me an anchor. Here’s why.
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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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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.
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
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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Some Emo Thoughts On Our Recent Trip
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Ang sarap bumalik sa bahay after a long vacation. Kinikilig ako habang nakaupo sa office chair ko, nagsusulat, tapos mamaya magbabasa ako, magpapakain ng pusa, then magluluto.
I can’t wait to go back to my nice little routine. But let’s rewind a tiny bit…
I spent 9 straight days with some of my closest friends during this recent California trip, and it was absolutely divine. It was as if we’re college kids again—hanging out everyday, drinking almost every night, and chatting endlessly about the past and the future. It was such a treat! Sobrang na-miss ko sila! And the sad part is, sobrang mami-miss ko rin sila now that it’s over. I was actually feeling nostalgic kahit magkakasama pa kami. The thought of, “I’m going to miss this.” kept popping at the back of my mind while currently hanging out with them. But I try to pull myself back and just enjoy the moment. It’s also probably because there’s a part of me that couldn’t fully believe we were all really together and spending this much time with each other once again—and I think some of us felt the same way too, because Benson would randomly blurt out, “Wow! Dito na talaga tayo sa US nagkita-kita!”
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1.
One thing na tumutulong magpagaan ng araw-araw ko ay PBB. My big winner is Shuvee kaso na-evict na sya huhu. Dalang dala talaga ko sa mga ganaps at parang every episode na lang umiiyak ako. Nagulat rin ako paguwi ko last April kasi hindi ko alam na hooked rin pala yung mga pinsan ko sa PBB. So happy na nagkaron ako ng ka-bonding dito kasi lampake si Kenneth haha.
Skip this grey text if you don’t watch PBB:
Ngayon hindi ko na alam kung sinong duo ang gusto kong maging big winner. Gusto ko si River pero sobrang ayoko kay AZ. Okay naman si Charlie pero ayoko na kay Esnyr. Gusto ko si Will pero ayoko kay Ralph. Dati pareho kong gusto si Mika at Brent pero naayawan ko na si Brent kasi medyo rude sya kay Mika minsan.
Hindi available sa Canada yung mga full episodes ng PBB so umaasa ako sa mabubuting tao sa TikTok na few hours pa lang after the episode airs, uploaded na agad. At hindi sya yung pinaghati-hati sa ilang parts ha, full episodes talaga with decent quality! Thank youuuu!
2.
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Pag meron akong mga kaibigan na nawalan ng mahal sa buhay, I will say my condolences, sincerely let them know that I’m just here, then give them space. Aantayin ko na lang silang mag-message ulit pag ready na silang makipag-interact sa outside world. Pakiramdam ko kasi yun yung kailangan nila. Ayokong mangulit, ayokong maka-bother, feeling ko pag chinat ko sila ng “Kamusta?” baka mainis lang sila at sabihin nila na, “Ano sa tingin mo?” Pero ngayon na nagkaron ako ng isang major loss sa pagkawala ng lola ko, in my case, mas na-aappreciate ko pala yung kinakamusta ako. Hindi ko pala kelangan ng madaming space. Kasi pag nagsolo lang ako with my grief, ang hirap nyang dalhin mag-isa.
On comforting someone experiencing grief:
— Lori Gottlieb | How to Deal with Difficult Emotions During Tough Times to Support Your Family and Friends Effectively, On Purpose podcast
I hope we can talk about the truth of the loss, not distract them from that. Because that is what’s going to help them.
The excuse of, “I don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable” but you’re actually making them feel uncomfortable by not speaking about what’s there in plain sight. Don’t be afraid to go to hard places.
Nagawa ko ‘to nung nawalan ng kapatid yung kaibigan ko. Siguro dahil sobrang close din namin kaya hindi mahirap sakin to “go to hard places” with her. Kahit few months after, or even years after she lost her younger brother, napaguusapan pa rin namin minsan yung pain at sadness nya. At ngayon na nawalan naman ako ng lola, ganun din sya sakin. Sabi ko sa kanya, kahit ang tagal ko nang pinaghahandaan ‘to at alam ko namang matanda na rin ang Mommy, never pa rin akong naging ready nung nangyari na. At yung pinakamasakit, hindi mo makokontrol yung way ng pagkawala nila. Kahit gano mo pa i-wish na sana hindi sila mahirapan, it’s really out of our hands. Na-comfort ako dun sa sinabi nyang, “Kahit alam naman natin na hiram lang ang buhay, ang hirap-hirap pa rin talaga.” Walang paghahanda ang sapat pag realidad na ang kaharap natin.
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Gleniz da Menace 