Today: What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

 Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

View all responses

It changes over the years. Depends on what I’m currently obsessing about. Normally I would say drawing, reading, or writing. But I’ve never drawn anything in so long. I’ve never finished a book in months. And I’m only beginning to write religiously again because I have a new site and I just finished tinkering with the layout. Which makes me excited to write content haha.

So yeah, for now it’s writing.

But if I’m not writing I’m probably watching kdramas on Netflix, playing Royal Match, cleaning the house with Rainy Jazz in the background, or simply procrastinating on work. The last being what I do for the most part.

Today: Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

 Daily writing prompt

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

View all responses

College. I was in a University I liked, taking a course I didn’t like, in an academic org that without fail always made me feel stupid. Mind you, I didn’t take it against anyone. It’s just that the course was too hard for my brain. A subject my peers could understand in one semester, I had to take thrice. I thought getting into an academic org would help me but I just felt more and more inferior. Everyone was so smart and I felt so little, so stupid.

I shouldn’t have been there in the first place. When I failed the entrance exam, my parents found a way to put me in the waitlist, but it meant taking a course I didn’t choose, and losing a semester of school. It was important for me to get into this uni because it’s a prestigious one, and my older sister is there.

The only available courses for me were in the engineering department, because they only looked at your Math and Science entrance exam scores. Somehow my scores put me in the 90th percentile, which gave me a good chance. My preferred courses looked into English and Reading as well – where I scored low, so that pulled my percentile ranking down.

So yeah, I entered on the 2nd half of the schoolyear. And spent 2.5 years feeling so stressed out at school. No matter how much I studied I just couldn’t grasp anything. After failing a lot of my prerequisite subjects, which is a lot of Maths and Sciences, and realizing I won’t get anywhere with this field, I decided to leave.

My parents supported me because they knew I was having such a hard time and they didn’t want me to suffer so much, specially when they realize it might take me a decade to graduate with this kind of brain haha.

So I left and transferred to a nearby college, where my dad taught. I picked a course I was interested in, started as a new freshman, and enjoyed school. I had friends, got a part time job, was busy with several orgs, and loved it. I graduated with latin honors and even met my husband there.

So in a sense it all worked out.

Today: Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

 Daily writing prompt

Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

View all responses

Oh my goodness as someone who works in IT I’d be dead meat for sure. All of the skills that would make me money depends on me working on a desktop so as far as getting a good paying job, I know I don’t stand a chance lol.

I’d probably look for a service industry job like a barista or a fast food crew to make ends meet haha. And my husband, if he’s in the same nightmare would probably be in the sports and fitness industry? Maybe he’d try coaching badminton or train as a gym coach or whatever. Yeah, that looks sweet. He’ll be in the gym and I’ll be in a cafe haha. Just our favorite places, would you believe it? But poor, yes. We’ll be poor haha. Our dog will suffer.

But as for how my daily life would probably go without a computer… there was actually a time in my life I didn’t rely on one, and that time is called my childhood haha. Guess I’m too old for this question cos I can totally imagine it!

I’d read more books, draw more, go out in the sun more, watch TV more. But of course without my high paying IT job I probably won’t have time for leisure and would be working all day, on a regular shift that I hate, and be back home all tired and spent. I’d probably hate drinking coffee now that I’m making it for a small living. Oh well.

Great question! It was fun imagining.

Today: What’s your #1 priority tomorrow?

 Daily writing prompt

What’s your #1 priority tomorrow?

View all responses

Okay this was the prompt for Thursday but I decided to put off on writing about it, so I’m doing it now! Friday’s priority should’ve been work but as usual, I’m delaying doing any form of actual work because I’m afraid of work. Yeah.

So tomorrow* is a Saturday and the only major thing Jeckie and I had planned is to eat dinner at James & Daughters because they have a special Spanish comfort food menu and we’re very excited about it.

James & Daughters is one of our favorite favorite restaurants. We love to eat and discover new restaurants within the area and this is one of those restos that really struck us. When we first sighted it a few years back, we were confused about its menu filled with random dishes. I didn’t know what to order, it was kindof overwhelming. There’s Filipino, Chinese, Indonesian, etc. Apparently it’s a collection of the founding family’s favorite dishes from their travels.

I remember my first dish being Tuna Kilawin and it really made a huge impression on me. It was so delicious, it has coconut milk which is unusual for kilawin but that’s exactly what elevated it. Since then we’ve been coming back to explore more of their menu and we were almost never disappointed.

My current favorites aside from Tuna Kilawin is the Seared Tuna Togarashi, and Crispy Tadyang (used to be Wagyu). Their dishes are flavorful, natural, full of texture, and the plating is spot-on.

Last week when we dined there we got to talk with their super friendly owner, Miles (one of the daughters!), who was so entertaining. She just went to our table and asked how we’re doing. Next thing we know we’re exchanging restaurant recommendations and flailing over the fact that we’re from the same province. Kaya pala magayonon kaming duwa! 🤣

She had stories from when they were starting out, how they’re holding up being surrounded by The Bistro Group, how they avoid imports to support local farmers, maintaining an inventory that’s more than 90% locally sourced; even the plates are locally made! I was touched, to say the least, by the passion, the heart. It’s so cheesy but there’s really no way to describe it haha.

It’s always an experience hearing people talk about something they love so passionately. The story behind the menu and the heart they put into every dish makes me love James & Daughters even more. ♥

📍 James & Daughters is at G/F East Wing, Estancia Capitol Commons.

* it is technically Saturday but my day hasn’t ended so therefore it’s still Friday haha

Today: What’s your all-time favorite album?

 Daily writing prompt

What’s your all-time favorite album?

View all responses

I mostly listen to playlists, not albums, but I do own one album and that’s Reese Lansangan’s Arigatou, Internet! It’s the only one I have so it’s definitely a favorite. Me and my dad love it. ♥

Now if we’re talking about playlists or channels, my favorite ones on YouTube Music are:

• Golden Gods of Metal
• J-Rock Anime Playlist
• Cafe Music BGM channel
• Classical Piano Music by Kassia

They’re my focus music.

Topics I would like to be more informed about

 Daily writing prompt

Which topics would you like to be more informed about?

View all responses

I hate to admit it, but I always like to be informed about local celebrity news, tsismis as we call it. The challenge of solving blind items and the shocking revelations lol. Very tabloid. And I’m a sucker for it. The varying degrees of opinion people dish out, formed around inconsequential interactions between a celebrity and a devotee – absolutely entertaining. But really it’s because that’s as much as my puny brain can handle haha.

On a more serious note… I’d love to be more informed about

• Hold on I need more time to think
• Seems like nothing interests me that much
• My feed is already saturated with all forms of stupidity I did not consent to be informed
• So maybe I want to be more informed about health and fitness? Workout prompts, recipes and stuff
• Okay I’ll get back to this post when I figure it out lol

I’m back and I know now… looking back at the days when I would devour my Quora email digest with curated content on random topics, here are the areas I always find interesting…

• Psychology – specifically behavioral
• Physics, engineering, and architecture – I love learning about how certain things are designed the way they are
• Origin of things – specifically words or sayings. For example, honeymoon. Why is it called honeymoon, what’s with honey and moon and why was it used to describe newlywed bliss? My husband and I used to collect words like that and make up stories guessing its origin. The closest answer gets a virtual point hehe. I’ve made a list actually!
  • Cliffhanger
  • Soapbox
  • Blockbuster
  • Third wheel
  • Dry spell
  • Under the bus
  • Half-assed
  • Etc.

^ There’s more but I think I’m gonna make a separate post for that! 😄

Keep faking it

Today.

Monday meeting got cancelled. Which means it’s another lazy day for me. To be honest I haven’t done any serious work in weeks, maybe months, and I’m just here raking in the money. I feel guilty but I’m just too lazy.

More like scared.

I’ve reached my first year anniversary in this company and I haven’t, for the life of me, learned anything substantial about the tool I’m using. The tech I need to stack in order to survive. I haven’t fully adjusted to how things work around here. Who to tap if I have questions, WHAT TO ASK (more importantly). I’m just here wasting my days putting off tasks that could’ve been completed in a week if I only had the courage to ask people around for what to do. You know, show a little vulnerability, exposing my stupidity.

It’s depressing.

I don’t know how long I can keep faking it.