Essays from the Weekend

I’m still shaken over the news of former President Noynoy Aquino’s passing. I admired the man and how he operated on pure integrity of character during his term. His appointees all seemed so principled, full of integrity, incorruptible. “Walang wangwang” - who could forget that, when people with connections didn’t really get ahead of the rest of us? The showstopping economic growth of the country? The “do the right thing” mentality that the government and the citizens rallied behind? I didn’t vote for him when he ran for president but he easily won me over, even though he was imperfect.   The Aquino nuclear family accomplished so much — his dad, incendiary opposition senator whose death sparked the EDSA People Power Revolution; his mom, who led the traumatized country out into a new democracy; and PNoy who again shone a light on the goodness of the Filipino people. The newspapers generally stop there but I’d like to add: Kris Aquino, the top individual taxpayer of the country for s...

Hi there! I wasn’t able to write this past weekend. I was too enthralled with where I was. Practically in a rainforest. I love looking at wild birds and there were many different birds where I went. I saw a hornbill (at least I think that’s what it’s called, it has a horn on its bill), lots of crows, a couple of mysterious blue birds. The whole weekend, I felt like I was in a Murakami novel. Many parked cars but no people around. Stray cats everywhere. Weird trees all around. Deserted, run-down, 60s style buildings. I’ll be writing about this place soon. It’s just on Airbnb. I just want to keep it to myself for a little while. There’s a fun video series on Youtube by GQ called 10 Things, where famous people like Shawn Mendes, Finneas, and Trixie Mattel list show and tell their 10 essentials. Here’s Dan Levy, whom I like: Noone asked me, but if I were to share my ten essentials: 1. Phone case wallet. A gamechanger. I used to worry about bringing my phone and my wallet all the time. Wit...

  I have a love-hate relationship with the news. I grew up seeing my dad read multiple newspapers every weekend. It was a habit that I wanted for myself too. It seems responsible to be on top of current events. I never did get into it consistently though. The news appeared to be constantly disappointing. It served me heartbreaking headline after heartbreaking headline, especially in the recent years.  Tim Ferriss gave me an idea back then that it was okay to stop reading the news in the name of focus and mental health. He said he didn’t read any news because there was no purpose in keeping up to date just for the sake of being up to date; and when there’s something we absolutely should know, the information makes its way to us somehow anyway. I subscribed to that worldview for a while, a little relieved that  Tim validated that. Then I subscribed to New York Times and only read that. It was foreign news, great writing, great drama, and it all seemed far-distanced from me,...

One of the newsletters I subscribe to featured this nifty graphic: Sometimes it’s hard to put yourself out there because of the fear of what people will think. Caring about what other people think isn’t bad per se but it’s bad when it stops you from being you. I think we owe it to ourselves to be ourselves in public. The cultural status quo is not the truth without each individual’s participation. We each equally matter. Yes, there are always haters, but there are also always niches. You will always have a market, no matter how offbeat or strange you may seem to others. We have to honor and put forth that part of us inside that is the most natural and autonomous. I particularly love the Spotlight Effect up there on the graphic. Have a good week ahead!

  On Thursday, I was just looking at this view and wishing I could go for my daily lunch time walk. The heat these days is making it impossible to go out for an afternoon walk anymore. The heat is just so insane and my subconscious just knows it hasn’t felt heat like this ever before. It feels like the heat can actually kill you, these days, if you stay out long enough. It’s no joke. Suddenly, the LGU texted me that I was to scheduled for the vaccine the next day. I got my first dose today! Thank you Government of Muntinlupa! Well I couldn’t resist this photo wall. After more than a year of living in fear of the virus, things are slowly starting to get better now that different LGUs have rolled out their vaccine programs. My most vulnerable family members have gotten vaccinated already and it’s a huge relief, knowing that COVID won’t be able to affect them anymore. It’s been a couple of hours and it still hasn’t sunk in that the vaccine I’ve been waiting for for more than a year is...

My new set-up for personal projects. Credits to M. This is a tech review for people who are considering to buy either a laptop or a tablet. I have gone on a major research expedition for the replacement to my prematurely-dead Macbook. There was a lot of studying going on here because I know that the companies behind consumer tech ads and reviews will want to create needs in us where there originally was none. We’d want to value the products we have and don’t want to be tempted to buy things we don’t need.  So after my first and last iPad was the iPad 2 from several years ago, I bit the bullet and got an iPad Air 4 with a Smart Keyboard folio and Apple Pencil 2. I could use a personal device after my Macbook died last year.  I was considering either a Macbook Air or an iPad and took quite some time in deciding. It all boils down to: laptop or tablet? Tablets are fun but can it do everything a laptop can do? After backing up everything from my hard drives into the cloud and mont...

“We are here to fully introduce ourselves, to impose ourselves and ideas and thoughts and dreams onto the world, leaving it changed forever by who we are and what we bring forth from our depths.” - Glennon Doyle, Untamed Happy Eid al Fitr to our brothers and sisters. Reading Untamed to prepare for my book club this June 5th. I’m primarily in charge of the discussion questions and am the de facto facilitator. I initially thought I couldn’t relate much to... well, mid-life issues from a white woman living a life of privilege in the USA — but yes I can. All women are sisters in a way. I am rooting for every one of us. When one has a breakthrough, I feel as if it is partly my own breakthrough. A cause for celebration. I got to thinking about how women’s lives vary greatly. The traditional life of being a wife and mother. Celebrated for being married, for bringing life into this world. I have been fascinated by mom influencer Joy Mendoza for this life that she leads and which she is sharing...