2011: The year that was

Binalikan ko ang taong 2011 ko gamit ang Archives page ng Tumblr account ko, at ang dami palang nangyari sa loob ng 360 days. Kung sa bagay, sa isang segundo nga eh may namamatay, may naliligtas, may nagiging milyonaryo, paano pa kaya sa loob ng isang taon diba? Kaya naman let me walk you through my colorful 2011, one month at a time!

JANUARY
Pumunta ako ng Palawan noong January para mag R&R at hanapin ang sarili ko para sa darating na taon.

 Nakita ko din ang underground river, ang mababait at honest na tao ng Palawan, ang hinahanap kong katahimikan. Pagkatapos nung trip na yon, naging mas maganda ang pananaw ko sa buhay.

Totoo din yung "time for myself" na hinihingi ng mga tao kapag pagod o stressed sa buhay. Sa mga ganitong paraan mo lang din kasi maririning yung totoong gusto mo mangyari sa buhay mo. Walang opinyon ng iba, yung ikaw lang talaga. Walang outside force.

Sabi nga ng co-coach ko sa World Stage na nag masteral sa hypnotism, ginagamit daw yon para marinig mo ang subconscious mo. Kasi more often than not, ito ang tamang sagot sa mga tanong mo. Yung walang halos bias. In short, gut feel.

FEBRUARY
Sumali ako sa isang online video contest kasama ang dream team na sina Jam, Judy at Alexis. Tungkol sa saving water ang campaign ng ADB. Gumawa kami ng short film gamit ang bago kong GEDV1 HD underwater camcorder. Hindi man kami nanalo, masaya naman na pagkalipas ng halos isang taon ay nakatrabaho ko ulit ang co-heads ko sa TOMCAT. Doon pa lang, panalo na ako.

First time ko din mag buffet sa Sofitel, at nag EDSA run din ako, at my fastest time ever at 5k.

MARCH
Umalis na ang panganay namin papuntang UK. Nagpadespedida party siya at ako ang punong abala. Nagpagawa pa ako ng special cake para sa kanya. Actually, ngayong pasko ko lang naramdaman yung pagkawala niya sa Pilipinas. Sa Lucena kasi siya nagtatrabaho, kaya hindi ko ramdam yung absence, pero iba kapag pasko. Usually, sama-sama kami nagcecelebrate, ngayong taon, via Skype. Buti na lang at uuwi siya ng March next year, one month siyang mag-stay dito!

APRIL
I finally launched my food blog, Ramenologist. It was cool at first, but eventually, I couldn't find the time to write anymore. But hey, small steps eh? Will try to do a full blast blog next year. And because of this food blog, I was given a free meal by one of the restaurants I featured on my page, cool no?

MAY
This was definitely World Stage Superstar month. On its third year, WSS launches a more challenging camp for the kids. We did several outdoor stints that were both difficult and fun all the same. Walang tulugan, but was definitely worth the effort. I was finally appointed "coach" from being an apprentice for two years. Next year, WSS is planning to expand its office to Manila. So I am really considering this offer rather than moving to Singapore.

Speaking of Singapore, nag family trip kami doon for three days, kaso hindi na nakasama si Achi, dahil nasa UK na siya. Ito pa naman sana ang first out of the country ng family. =(

JUNE
June is my birth month. I celebrated my birthday with very special people. I stayed at Tagaytay for one night, lunch at Sonja's, was served home-cooked dinner. Probably one of the best nights I've had in 2011. I don't really like celebrating my birthday, but this year reminded me why these days exist.

JULY
This month, I had tons of job offers from TV5. From being the Supervising editor of Hapier Together, Pinoy Samurai offered a Supervising Editor position, and so did Loko Moko U! For a moment, I was the SE of TV5's comedy shows! I later on resigned from Loko Moko dahil hindi kami pareho ng vision ni Direk Al. Nonetheless, I was able to buy the things I want dahil sa malaki kong sweldo. Like a 500GB firewire 800 EHD, two Blackberry phones.

July was also the month that my famous CONYO DRIVERS video invaded the internet scene. Naging viral ito sa facebook, Youtube. Kagulo. And everyone was congratulating me, as if ako yung may kagagawan kung bakit ito sumikat. ahahah! Well, I uploaded it on my Youtube account. One move that almost made me lose my job. ahahah! Oh July!

AUGUST
Puro pagbabalik-tanaw ang ginawa ko noong month ng August. Binalikan ko ang mga inaral ko noong college dahil nag take over ako sa renovation ng IIBB branch sa Manila. Binalikan ko din ang Foursome group namin nina Miko, Cookai, at Chands, pero this time, tatlo na lang kami. Wala na si Chandra.

Binalikan ko din ang pagiging fan ko ng Westlife at nanood ako ng concert nila. Binalikan ko din ang mga araw ko sa Teatro Tomasino. Yes, impulsive ako nung August, kaya naman biglaan din ang pagpunta namin ng bestfriend kong si Cookai sa Baguio dahil napagod lang kami sa mundo, at kailangan namin ng ganito.

SEPTEMBER
Naging abala ako noong September dahil ako ang gumawa ng wedding AVP ng pinsan ko sa Lucena. Sa tulong ng best friends kong sina Cookai at Reynard, nagawa naman namin lahat sa loob ng isang araw. Tumulong din ang TOMCAT friends kong sina Jam at Alexis sa video. Panoorin ninyo ang December to Remember. Panalo ito! Pumunta din pala ako ng HongKong kasama ang TV5 peeps!

OCTOBER
Mas naging tutok ako sa renovation ng IIBB. Ito rin ang unang agkakataon na ang short film na isinulat ko para sa Hey It's Saberdey ay pinalabas sa tv. Nakakatuwa na mapanood mo yung gawa mo at maappreciate ng tao. Sana magawa ko din ito sa mainstream cinema.

NOVEMBER
November ay pumunta ako ng China, nagbackpacker for a week. Iniwan ko lahat ng trabaho ko dahil feeling ko naliligaw na ako. Dito ko naramdaman na parang ayaw ko na sa ginagawa ko, na pakiramdam ko, may mas kaya pa akong gawin, at hindi ito yun. Pagkatapos ko sa China, naisipan kong totohanin na ang pagpunta sa Singapore. Dahil sa November, mas naging futuristic na ako, less of "living one day at a time". Dito din ako nagsimula magplano para sa kinabukasan namin ng mapapangasawa ko.

DECEMBER
Binigyan ako ni John Lapus ng chowchow dahil ayaw na ng nanay niya dito, malaki daw masyado. Hindi niya alam, nasa 2011 wishlist ko ito. ahahah! Sobrang gandang addition ni Tank sa pamilya namin, iba talaga kapag aso. First time ko din sumayaw pagkatapos ng pitong taon, SEVEN years. Oo, sumayaw ako para sa Christmas party namin sa TV5, awa ng diyos, 2nd place naman.

***

Malapit ko nang simulan ang 2012 blog ko. Pero hindi ako magsusulat ng mga resolutions, dahil hindi naman yan natutupad. At lalong hindi makakatulong sa iyo ang pagrerestrict sa mga bagay na nakagawian mo na. Mas makakatulong kung gagawa ka ng listahan ng mga gusto mong gawin at mangyari, mas positive at mas madaling gawin. Yun ang motivation, yun ang tama!

An attempt at something different, like baking.

So I was never really into baking because we never had a big oven, ever.

And I tried baking using one of those oven toaster mix, it was always a failure. The banana loaf I made then was undercooked. I never made a follow up.

Today, I was given an opportunity to bake one of the most talked-about pastry in the world, yes, red velvet cakes.

But being the irksome weirdo Wado that I am, I decided to make green ones, just so I'd be different. I am emo that way. LOL

So here are a few photos from my very successful first time at baking! Cheers to me!

Anybody want some?

Madaming Magbabago (China blog)

So I just came from a week-long trip to China. I am pretty thankful for two things, one is that I met two awesome people that really changed my perspective in life, and two, now I know what I want NOT to do.

I met Ma Chao and Fei Ying, two very different guys with opposite outlooks in life. Spending an entire week with these strangers helped me decide what I wanted to do this 2012.

Fei Ying is your happy go lucky guy who spent an entire year walking from China to England just to meet the love of his life, who in turn, left him for being jobless. Now he found his soulmate in Xiamen and have two kids.

Ma Chao on the other hand is the professional rich Audi owner who remains single yet successful. He pretty much paid for what I ate and spent in China, and I was really glad to meet him. I would have gone bankrupt without his assistance! ahahah!

This is by far the bes soul searching trip I found. Because it was able to live up to its purpose. I am now more confident to leave my job simply because I don't see myself doing this for the rest of my life, editing and all. Yes, the pay is good, but I don't think that the job is good enough for me.

Going back to the guys I met in China, I asked myself which among these two guys do I want to become? The hot-headed successful guy, or the happy go lucky poor man?

 At the pace I'm going, I'm walking towards becoming a happy go lucky person, living one day at a time.

But sitting in a table with these two guys, I know that successful guy has more to share, more to offer than just wonderful stories of love and adventure. He's worked his ass off to reach his stature, dealt with very difficult people and overcame challenging situations.

I wanted to become both.

After seven days in China, I am ready to become happy and successful, because that is who I choose to be.

I am about to face bigger changes in the coming weeks, and I will be ready for it.

And if the world should end by 2012, I will embrace it with arms wide open.

2012 is my year, I am claiming it as early as now! I've never been excited about anything in my life, here comes the DRIVE!!!!! YEAAAAH!

Thank you Lord for being always with me! You are truly Amazing. Ikaw na!

Hindi ako seloso

Pero ano ba naman yun? Di ba pwedeng ako din?

Nakita ko yung niligawan ko nung 2nd year sa Facebook, akala ko may katabing artista, ayun pala, bago niyang boyfriend. Aahaha! Nakakahiya, ako pa yung naging choosy dati.

Haaay, pag-ibig.

Went to mass today, at puro baby sa loob ng simbahan.

Sabi ko sa sarili ko, I want one.

All my bags are packed

So I'm leaving for China tomorrow, but my mind is still in limbo. It's not that I don't want to leave, of course I do! But not getting the DSLR I want, plus the fact that I'm thinking whether to bring my laptop with me or not, gets me frustrated.

I'm afraid I might get bored with 7 days of museums and food, but I hope not. China is no Thailand or Japan, kaya nga China eh. Here's to hoping that my China expedition will be different, and in a really good way.

So let me get started on my list of things that I want to do in China:

1. Take good photos.
2. Eat good food.
3. Meet a DCATCH friend.
4. Take a walk at the beach.
5. Make new friends.
6. Party for one night.
7. Finish a book.
8. Make 2012 plans for myself.
9. See the Great Wall of China and Google map myself.
10. Shop for clothes.

Well, I guess that's good enough for one week, don't you think?

I've decided to bring my laptop with me. I'll take movies and tv series with me.

Here's to China! LETSGO!!!!!

I may not be a good traveller, but I backpack well

So I saw this site that allows you to mark all the places you've been to in the Philippines. You should visit this site and create your own, I got grade of C-. Cool no? Well I don't have any intentions of coloring this map blue, but for sure there are still some places here that I would like to visit. Like Benguet, Pagudpud, Coron, Camsur, and Bicol.

I'm going to China next week, from November 6 to 12. I'll be taking a week off from work because I really think I deserve it. I 've been sending emails to my friends from China to meet me once I get there, I got one reply from my buddy Ying saying that Xiamen is way too far from where she's at. =( Still keeping my fingers crossed for my other DCATCH friends. 

I've been spending too much lately, but that's only because I'm earning enough, and I think it's okay to spend. So far, I've bought my mom 20k worth of stuff for our restaurant, IIBB which is now open by the  way! Visit our Facebook fanpage to know more about our branch.

I want to get myself a huge mountaineering knapsack so I'd feel like one of the Amazing Race contenders when I travel. Since I'm going to China next week, and Thailand next year, I think I can make the most out of the expensive bag. =)

Any suggestions for a bag? A friend told me Deuter brands are good, and cheaper compared to The North Face. 

I also want to buy a DSLR that can take videos. Since I'll be travelling a lot in the coming days, videos could come in handy. Plus, I want to use the tripod I got before it gets rusty. Nah, too expensive to get rusty. hah! But yeah, I really want to use it. TIME LAPSE!!!!!

I also want to buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab, is it worth it? I want a laptop that I could carry around with me, but I think that the iPad is too big, and iPhones are too small. Galaxy tablets are just perfect in size, what do you think?

Well I think I think too much about spending. Ahahah! Gulo! I want to keep my money vault in its 100k safety zone, so no to spending muna. I have to prioritize the things I need from those that I simply want.  Naks, matured na si Wado! 

So I made this nursery-type poster for IIBB, which includes the "steps" on how to dougie, este, how to eat a binalot sa dahon. Do you find it cute or cheap? Comments naman from my 13 followers. ahahaha! I kept this blog private for a reason, and I intend to keep it that way. May stalker kasi ako sa office, and as much as possible, I'd like to keep him out of my life, for good. In short, mamatay ka na. Bye.

Well I'm working on my China itinerary. Susme, one week. Sobra naman yata ang tagal ko dun! ahahah. But anyway, here's to the good life! Love live backpacking, I can't believe I'm living my dreams at 23! Dream job, medyo okay family, good friends, time for myself, isama mo na din ang lovelife! ahahaah! 

CHINAAAAA HERE I COMEEEE!