Category: Secrets

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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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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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Pals Secrets

Sex Ed

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Books Food Nutrition Secrets

Life Updates | Social Media Detox (Again) + Baked Goods + Disappointing Author

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1.

Deleted my social media apps (except Threads). I just said goodbye to TikTok and *with a conflicted heart* Instagram. Where am I gonna find my recipes? Where am I gonna share my cooking and baking and our cute kitties? But my willpower prevailed, and I’m going to try and stick with it for as long as I can.

I don’t think an explanation is needed for this move because, at various points in our life, all of us wanted to take a real break from these apps. And last week, I had the guts to go cold turkey and just live a quieter life. I’ll get my recipes somewhere else and I’ll still be able to share stuff here.

2.

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Food Secrets Wellness

The Menace Bulletin No. 2

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Welcome to The Menace Bulletin! It’s where you’ll find a curated collection of little discoveries, interesting tidbits, and all sorts of odd curiosities.

THE GOODS

Cool people and things I stumbled upon.

Micro library

I discovered this last July nung maganda pa ang weather at araw-araw pa kong naglalakad. Lumihis ako sa usual walking route ko at nakita ko ‘tong maliit na building. Nung mas nakalapit pa ko, library pala sya!

Parang greenhouse pero mga libro ang laman

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Calm Secrets

Thursday Letter #12 | Letters to Self

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Hello from my cozy little home office. Ang aga kong nagising ngayon (5:30AM) which meant more time to read, journal, and write my 12th Thursday letter. After reading my saved articles (hoping to spark some ideas), hindi ko pa rin alam kung anong isusulat ko today. So binasa ko yung latest entry sa journal ko at meron pala akong ginawang list:

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Money Diaries Secrets

Q3 Expenses | As Expected

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It’s time for the quarterly report!

Just like last time, I’ll start with the percentages of our monthly average expenses, then move on to the detailed breakdown of the numbers. Looking at last quarter’s average (left), there were definitely changes.

EXPENSE BREAKDOWN

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

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Books Journaling Life Secrets Today's Log

Today’s Log #23 | Perfect Day na Sana

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Books Secrets TV

Life Updates | New K-Drama + Skincare Update + Dreading Winter

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1.

It took me more than a year, but I finally finished The Graveyard Book. When I started reading it, I stopped at 20%, paused for 15 months, picked it up again, then finished it in a week.

Every time I read a Neil Gaiman book, my initial reaction is always, “I don’t get this. This is out of my league.” But I learned that if I just keep going and let myself enter his mysterious world, I would eventually be enchanted by it. I have to keep this in mind whenever I start one of his books again.

I currently have 38 books on my ‘currently reading’ list and maybe that’s just how it is. Maybe each book has its own time and place (The Graveyard Book was gifted to me by my sister last Christmas of 2020!) and I’ll pick them up again when the timing feels right.

2.

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