Jubilant January

They say that how you spend the first days of your year is very important because it determines how you might spend the remainder of your year. I don't know if that is true but I'd like to be believe it is. I went for a mini out of town trip hoping that this year, I will be spending more time out of my hometown. Hihi. Redundancy alert!

I love waiting for the sunrise. I love sunrises more than sunsets. I am rare, you know. :) When sunsets are said to be for hope, sunrises are for  new beginnings and there is something so fascinating about beginning again. 

My January in one word is FRIENDSHIPS. I am blessed with such loving, thoughtful and funny friends. How awesome it is to be reunited with wonderful friends from the best high school years. More than a decade! Just wow!

I think it is cool when a barkada has a name. Batang '90s we are! We are a generation of boy bands and girl groups so I think a barkada name is a must-have. I have a girl group called Healthy Babies and a "boy band" called Pugad Baboy. 

Lunch Date with HB

Our conversations have evolved from puberty concerns and broken hearts to mommyhood and fulfilled dreams.  I am inspired by the lives of these beautiful women. 

We also gave Rhea, the balik-bayan, a midnight harana for her 30th birthday. So glad it turned out to be successful after all the bloopers which even required a 2-minute rule to pacify us all. We are all turning 30 this year!!! Yay!

These old photos from Rhea's baul make my heart melt. I love old photos. These unfiltered treasure give me magical feelings. We love bihon and pandesal from Canteen A. We like having 2 meat breads in Kimball Plaza. We hang out at Home Radio. We go swimming at Lagare Spring Resort and Maharlika Extension. Good ol' days!

All Kinds of Trippin' with Pugad

We visited a relatively new place in Gensan, The Peak. Love their broiled chicken!

Our water tubing trip in Maitum started with an unplanned surprise visit at our City High beloved. So many changes in the school, including its name. From General Santos City High School, it is now General Santos City National High School. Kakaproud!

Photos by Bents and Edgar

We stop by anywhere we like stopping by or actually, anywhere our driver Borj commands. It was a martial law kind of roadtrip. Haha!

My dream shots in one frame! Oh, Maasim you've been so sweet! :)

Next stop is Kiamba. I have been to Kiamba several times. It is one of my favorite destinations on my city escapes. The place is so peaceful and clean. I will never get enough of it. 

It is my first time in Maitum. People are so warm. They make us feel like real tourists. :) We drop by a mini museum located in the Municipal Hall. I love museums! I hope to visit Gensan's. Does it have one?

We also went to a Pawikan Nesting Sanctuary but we were a month earlier from the release of the baby turtles to the sea.  We mingled with the locals instead. We got a little peek at making Maitum's famous dried bangsi (flying fish). It's one of my favorites!

The children got some lessons on posing wacky and using GoPro from Borj. This was fun!

Water tubing in Pangi River at Maitum, Sarangani Province was incredible! It didn't feel as life-threatening as the white water rafting in CDO so I enjoyed it a lot. Bitin! 15-20 minutes of this kind of fun isn't enough. For the first time ever, my kinda adventurous self was screaming for more. I will really be back, Maitum!

I was supposed to write that the highlight of that day was the water tubing but I was brought back to the non-activity moments. The singing and dancing was a blast with an impressive playlist of Bent's sister, amazing voices and energy of Luv and Borj, and a not so special participation of Bents and Guimo. Our favorites were All About That Bass, Fireball, MMMBop, Bring It All Back, Stop. The 5-word storytelling game, whatever category - love story, suspense or hardcore drama, always ended up a comedy. The countless crazy side-trips were exciting. We met 7am and reached our main destination at 2pm! Thanks to our tour guide, Edgar. The no-napping rule was memorable for me. Fifteen hours of roadtrip were all for belly laughs, songs, dances, stories, craziness. We lived by the words: It is not the destination but the journey.

New Hairstyle

Cut my hair really short and had it colored for the first time evah! Not so happy with it though so I am not posting a photo here. Hihi.

Now, on to the next chapter of this year. Hello Love month!

Currently Vol. 3

I am in the mood for documenting my midweek. It is still the third week of the year but I feel that tons of things have happened already. My heart is in deep gratitude.

READING
Still on Tuesdays with Morrie but I am also in search of some quotes that I plan to post on my wall. I love reading something inspirational at the start and end of my day. I feel the need to nurture my mind with meaningful thoughts. Some of the my favorites are... 

LISTENING TO
Top 40 Biggest Songs on 2015 in Youtube. Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran is such a craze. I hear it everywhere! Even my father is inlove with it. I fall inlove with love over and over again because of how rich its lyric is. There are days when it is on repeat on my playlist.  I got over Yeng Constantino's Chinito. :)

THINKING
About starting a list of 30 things to do before 30. I know! I'll be turning 30 in about 3 months. It feels weird. :) I do not know why time is always in a hurry. I actually made a list 2 or 3 years ago but some things were just out of my control so they would never happen in less than 3 months. Then I found some cool lists on Pinterest so now I'm thinking of making a new list.

FEELING
Sleepy. It is almost 9 pm. My body clock says it's time to travel to dreamland. 

LOVING

Every minute of my day. I try to always be grateful. I am grateful even for difficult people. They teach me understanding and self-control. Thank You God that all is well. 

NEEDING
To create a post other than this Currently series. :)

WISHING

That carrots would grow on trees instead. 

Currently Vol. 2

Hello there my virtual friends! It turns out that I am finding Sunday afternoons very convenient for  my Currently posts. I hope this becomes a habit. :)

READING
Tuesdays with Morrie, a life-changing book as they say. I started this book months ago but I stopped because I did not want to read something sad and I figured this book was filled with sadness because it talked about death. Reading its synopsis again and hearing good feedbacks from friends, however, made me start all over again. Let's see how this book affects me.

WRITING

Down my expenses everyday since Monday. I've never been very good at keeping track of what I spend my money on but it is never too late to make things right.

LISTENING TO
The sound of the electric fan. My cutie talkative niece just got on her afternoon nap.

THINKING

About Sanchez Peak and the four hours hike to get there. When will I ever get to see you?

via

FEELING
Determined to finish all the things on my to-do list today. I still have six tasks to go. I find this strategy very effective for the procrastinator me. 

LOVING

The Pope's beautiful messages to the Filipino people and the fact that headlines are all good things since he arrived. Well, because all these talk about him. And oh his smile! Two of my favorite messages are...

WANTING
To know how to prepare beautiful balloon bouquets that's so quick and easy. :)

NEEDING
To understand over and over again that overthinking is not so good for the mind and body. :)

WISHING

I was not afraid during those biggest decision making moments...

and wishing I was here...

Currently Vol. 1

Happy New Year friends! I have been vowing to write often, to visit this happy place at least once a week, to document my life so I won't forget my precious moments. Last year, I was a lazy blogger but I hope to be better this year. I think it is not so hard to beat 18 posts. Haha. And I still have the guts to call myself a blogger. But the year is new and everything deserves an nth chance every new year. Thus, here is me forcing myself out of a nap on this very sunny Sunday afternoon to give this blog a little life. 

I am inspired by Krissy's post on her Currently but instead of doing mine on a particular day of the week,  I'm doing it on any day! Today is a Sunday and here's what I'm/I've been....

READING
Miriam Santiago's Stupid is Forever. It's a collection of her "quotable quotes" during her speeches and some other interesting things. Last year was a glorious year for my reading and I plan to be addicted to this hobby. I became a young adult fiction convert. I still don't have a to-read list and I guess that's a good start because this never would have made it to my list. This book is hilarious, full of truth and fun. I adore this Ilongga!

WRITING
Dreams and action plans on a planner that I hope to be filled up to the last page. I am always good at beginnings. :) Now, how to stick to routines up to the last week of the year? Praying that my last year's shattered dream will come true this year. Staying positive! :)

LISTENING TO
And watching The Judge starring Robert Downey, Jr and Robert Duvall, which is now at pause because I am not a multi-tasker. Hihi

THINKING
About the first week of this year which turned out to be so awesome. I never planned it to be such a blast and it turned out to be more than what I expected. Oh, how inlove I am with traveling.

FEELING
Inspired to begin again. There is always something magical about beginnings. Feeling inspired to learn more everyday.

LOVING
The fact that I was not tempted to enter a movie theater yesterday. Hihi. Less movies for me this year. More outdoor fun please!

WANTING
To juice later. I was also good at juicing last year, not consistent but good enough compared to the other year. I hope to discover a green juice recipe that would delight my palate.



Skipped other things but I guess this is enough documentation for today. :)