Category: Secrets

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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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Happy Things Life Secrets

Happy Things #28

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Hello Panda

Nung nagta-trabaho pa ko sa Maynila, madalas akong mag-bus mula probinsya namin papuntang Makati. At minsan, may makakatabi ako na may naka-ready syang snacks (4 hrs din kasi ang byahe) tapos maiinggit na lang ako habang sarap na sarap sya sa pagkain ng Hello Panda (minsan Chips Ahoy or Oreos). Nakakainis. Bakit nga ba hindi ko naisip mag-baon? Tamang wishful thinking na lang ako na sana alukin nya ko kahit isang Hello Panda lang. Tapos matatawa lang ako dun sa thought kong yun kasi ang unusual naman na gagawin nya yun. Kahit ako hindi ko yun maiisip gawin kasi parang weird.

Sa dinami-raming beses na sumakay ako ng bus, never nangyare na may nag-alok ng pagkain. Kaya nagulat na lang ako nung nasa flight ako papuntang Winnipeg last month. May nakatabi akong babae (feeling ko mas bata sakin) tapos inalok nya ko nung kinakain nyang sweets! Bumalik yung mga bus memories ko at natuwa ako. Ang thoughtful naman nya! Pero tumanggi ako kasi hindi naman ako gutom (kung Hello Panda pa yun).

Touch ID

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Life Secrets Travel

I Need to Take a Second and Savor This

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May random moment sa sasakyan (on the way kami sa Waterton para ipasyal ang Mama one last time bago sya umuwing Pilipinas) na napa-blurt out ako ng, “12 times pala akong sumakay ng eroplano this year!” After saying that, ang unang pumasok sa isip ko ay exhaustion.

I will not deny the feeling of relief na last na yung Waterton sa itinerary namin ng Mama. After ng sunod-sunod na ganaps sa Pinas, tuloy pa rin ang ganaps pagbalik ko ng Canada. I know this is a great thing, pero looking forward na rin akong tumiim ng bahay. Lalo na dahil sa result ng blood test ko. Mababa raw ang WBC ko, meaning mababa rin ang immune system ko. Kaya pala ang bilis kong magkasakit at ang tagal kong gumaling. Napa-paranoid ako kakaisip kung nag-normalize na ba yung WBC ko or mas bumaba pa. At feeling ko, ang solusyon para maging normal ulit ay magpahinga.

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Journaling Secrets

Thursday Letter #11 | Planner Season

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Love my new office space 😍

In the journaling and planner community, September is known as ‘planner season’. It’s when notebook brands start rolling out their new lineups for the coming year. Two of the popular ones I always look forward to are Hobonichi and Traveler’s Company (both Japanese companies).

It’s kind of like when Apple announces the new iPhone each year. I know I’m not going to buy every release, but I’m invested in seeing what’s new. It’s the same with these two big brands. It’s just so fun to browse the new cover designs and themes for 2026, and also temptingly look at all their planner offerings in different layouts and sizes. But in my heart, I already know the single thing I’m going to get. I know that I’ll be sticking with the same planner I’ve been using these last two years: the simple and uncomplicated Hobonichi Day-Free in A6 size.

But alas, I was wrong.

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Life Money Diaries Secrets

Paycheck Routine

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I have a very complicated budgeting system, so I won’t go into every detail. I have an expense tracking app, an Excel file, and I track every cent—if you ask me how much we paid for our Instapot back in 2019, I could tell you (it’s $67.19). In short, it’s a whole thing (but it’s an obsessive-compulsive’s dream).

Today, I just wanted to share what I do during paydays. I remember our abundant months when I’m not waiting for paydays to arrive. Back when I was confident that if I forgot to allocate funds to our different money buckets, I know that our bank account had enough money to cover all the auto-debited bills. Oh how I miss those days.

June 2013 (this is my old app, I use Money Lover now)

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Career Insights Secrets

The Okayest Employee

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I’ve downloaded the LinkedIn app again just to take a peek of what’s out there. I even  received two messages about remote job opportunities na para bang alam nilang babalik na ko sa trabaho soon. Pag nakauwi na ang Mama sa Pilipinas, I will be in my full-on job hunting mode.

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