batulao travel video

I'm not an avid hiker but I get peer pressured to join on occasion. The selling point of this hike is that it's not a difficult technical hike -- which I realized was true approaching the summit but we made the decision to do a longer route back to our detriment haha.

Here's the rest of that 'longer route' at Mt Batulao in 2019, with my persevering (and hilarious) friends. I made a wrong setting in my camera which led to overwriting of some of the clips, hence the lack of substantial clips on the ascent. This mistake also happened to my UK trip in 2018 but I'll save that rant at another time (when I'm done with THAT travel video).

el nido travel video

El Nido will always be one of my favorite spots in this country so here's another video in the lovely Miniloc island (El Nido Resorts). My first El Nido trip was back in 2013 and every experience never disappoints (though management's doing some changes so deals don't feel as much of a bargain compared to before).

So here's my El Nido travel video from the tail end of what has been a stressful week back in 2022 :)

hongkong travel video

So this might be a jump scare to whoever is (still?) looking at my blog...a NEW travel video after FIVE YEARS!!!

Finally became semi-serious about upgrading *ahem spending a lot* on my tech so that I can finally catch up with my backlog. I switched to a different software and slowly going through my list. Thankfully the investment paid off since I don't have lags anymore. Hopefully I'll finish my backlog before the end of this year :)

*Cue drumroll* here's my travel video of my trip to Hong Kong back in 2018 with college friends! This is (to date) our only trip out of the country that we're complete so I'm happy I got to generate a video out of it (although I'm barely in it lolz)

waterfall circuit

Quarantine period is not allowing me to procrastinate any longer so I'm taking on my severe vlog backlog (starting from my trips back in...err...2018). I already managed to finish one trip that year during the last Christmas holiday and here's the next one!

I LOVE waterfalls. I seriously only get motivated to go on hikes if I know that we will be hitting waterfalls (and swim) at some point. So imagine how ecstatic I was when I found out that there's a waterfall circuit hike in Luisiana, Laguna where you can see not one but THREE waterfalls! So I dragged my Laguna-friend who fortunately also loves the water on this hike. Got doused in the second waterfalls and went on a swim in the third one. Apparently they don't allow swimming in the first one for safety reasons. We went during the summer so the amount of water is less compared to the rainy months but we were happy nonetheless :)


So I have...three more trips in 2018 that I have to edit. And four vlogs for 2019. Good luck to me.

yow 2019!

It's kind of ironic that just when I had a TON of free time during the holiday break (solo for two weeks since family is at the province), I didn't muster enough will to write a year-end post ahead of time. So here I am, turbo typing in the morning of January 1, 2020, to squeeze in my year-end post for 2019.

I wished for a positively crazy 2019 and I guess I got one? I can barely remember what happened this year to be honest -- and this is where being more active in social media might pay off, but I was resolved to post less about what's happening in my life especially in Facebook. So, scrolling through my spattering of Instagram posts this year...I managed to go on a hike in Batulao, swam and jumped (!!!) my ass off in Moalboal, went on the annual summer trip with my ex colleagues, had a nice solo birthday getaway, attended an emotional concert in Osaka, got into tita mode with my niece and mom in Hong Kong, and had a chill trip with my usual Korea gang.  Thank you IG for reminding me that I was apparently busy this year hehe. I also had two major family reunions -- from both sides of my family -- which were great events to catch up on relatives (and I was spared from the dreaded single mid-30s woman hirits! Win!).

2019 was a dynamic year for my personal and professional life, but whatever expectations I had for those two aspects haven't fully manifested. Nonetheless, I'm grateful that there is some movement -- whether towards the good or the meh -- at the very least. (I already KNOW, x years from now, that I'll read back to this post and I'll be like -- what the hell am I talking about?)

2019 is also the year I turned 35. I still feel loopy about it, I feel like I should be doing something for my 36th birthday hahaha. Anyway, we'll see how it goes!

Weirdly enough, I'm excited with 2020 (although I'm dreading going back to the office tomorrow). My brother is getting married, and my sister will give birth this year. Ano naman kaya para sa kin di ba? 2020 is the Year of the Rat. It's MY year. C'mon universe! LOL (I might regret typing this btw).

And so I thank everyone for the fun memories of 2019. I've always mentioned that I've been neglecting this blog and now I'm comfortable with this level of neglect LOL. I'll just devote this site for my birthday and year-end posts (and maybe some video postings) to chronicle at least the highlights of my life for the sake of my future self. Happy New Year to everyone and cheers to 2020!

eventful 2018

I decided to do this entry ahead of time – it’s Christmas Eve – since my family will be flying in tomorrow for the holidays. My condo would be a war zone for two weeks and I don’t think I can scour the mindset to do an end-of-year post. Besides, I checked in a nice hostel nearby just to free my mind for the next 24 hours. Agenda is to do my laptop stuff with no distractions (hence white stuff all around). This is my last treat for myself since I need to recalibrate (been using that term A LOT this year) before going back to work.

So, how has 2018 fared for you? I scrolled through 2017’s year-end post and I apparently wished that I was less restless this year. I think I fairly accomplished that since there were a lot of STUFF that happened that I barely had time for idle thoughts and be restless (maybe that’s why I did this brief staycation haha).

Main reason for un-restlessness: MY UK TRIP HAPPENED THIS YEAR! It was a tiring and awesome two weeks with my bestfriend. Thoughts of the Scottish Highlands (it was beautiful, I have no words) would be there every time I space out. I made a daily vlog during the trip but my sd card got corrupted (I swear, when will I ever learn! Argh) so as of now I have no England clips (Scotland clips are still alive…for now). Hopefully I get through my vlog backlog and finish all of them by next year.

For other trips that happened this year and contributed to my state of poverty: Went to Korea in April (which contributed to my friends’ itchiness for Korea in the fourth quarter), and as part of my connecting flight to London in October (good idea, since I didn’t miss Korea as much as my friends did haha). Finally went on a waterfall hike trip in Laguna – hit three waterfalls with Ris in a span of three hours (productive to the max). Then went to Caramoan and Albay with my Metrobank girlfriends, which was tiring and fun at the same time. The adventures during that trip were endless, buti na lang taas ng tolerance ng friends ko for trip mishaps haha. Managed to squeeze in a Dive n Trek snorkel trip last August (should’ve added another one to end the year huhu), which includes a solo province bus (strangely relaxing and liberating?) ride to Laguna for Ris (si Ris na naman – dami pala nating trips together…?). And FINALLY had a trip abroad with my complete college barkada (in Hong Kong). We just drank alcohol more than 50% of the time. Which is how all vacations should be to be honest.

Funnily though, I didn’t realize that I went to THAT many trips this year. All of them (maybe except the UK trip) were obscured by the other life stuff this year. I was hospitalized and underwent an operation last March, and already cleared last August as of my last ultrasound. Thankfully that turned out well for me. Glad that my mom happened to be in my condo during that time and it was not that serious (in the grand scheme of things). I also went to an epic concert last month probably the best kpop concert I’ve been to as of now. Money well spent haha.

Also went to (and passed) the Korean Elementary 1 course (ang hirap ha) in KCC, and unfortunately (fortunately?) was not able take the TOPIK exam because the date is during my UK trip. Not sure if I'll take the test in 1Q2019 (why do I have to make my life complicated?). Also got to finish a certificate course in Economic Diplomacy! Haha what is productive.

There are lots of adulting moments during this year as well for me and my friends. Suffice to say, these are the times that I’m happy I have a condo to myself at a strategic location so that my friends can swing by anytime (preferably with a beer bottle or two) and be sounding boards for a night.

Kinda ironic that I’m talking about adulting moments now that I’m already 34 (overdue adulting) but this year has sorely tested how much adulting I can take. While this year has been emotionally taxing, I am grateful for the shallow and deep (‘cause both have equal standing) conversations with my friends on whatever is the topic of the moment. I have no idea if I have become wiser or more clueless from all the blessings and shitstorms this year, but I know in the future I’ll look back at 2018 and think to myself, what was a beautiful yet crappy year, next!

And so, I enter 2019 surprisingly with more optimism compared to previous years because 2018 was such a weird year and I don’t know how 2019 can top it LOL. And dammit, I’ll be 35 next year and I have no time (and money) to go on a midlife crisis *nervous laugh* so here’s to optimism!

So yeah, cheers for a crazy 2018 and hopefully a positively crazy 2019 ahead. Thank you to the people in life for still keeping me sane. I hope I can make it up to you next year.

who tells your story?

Watching Hamilton in West End is definitely one of my highlights of 2018. Since I’m a musical geek, I already told my friend that we have to watch a show – any show – in West End during our UK trip. 

At first, I’m not that interested in Hamilton (!!!) despite its popularity in Broadway (and despite the ball of positivity that is Lin Manuel Miranda). Watched their performance in the White House and I’m like, uhm, ok, not too drawn to the songs (I’m gonna regret that months later).

But then I found out that there is already a London run for Hamilton in time for our UK trip and I thought that maybe we should try watching the 2016 hit since we’re there anyway. Seats were sold out (as expected). Fortunately, my friend went to England around July and told me about the line beside the theater for the return tickets. Basically, they’re tickets that were already bought prior but are returned on the day because they won’t be used. The seller gives it to the staff and the staff will go to the line and sell it to the one in front at face value (which was lucky for us coz reselling prices in the US are insane).

And so come Monday afternoon, October 21, we went to Victoria Palace Theater. I inquired the staff, who showed us where the chance ticket line is. We were the first there (around 4:30pm) and I told my friend that we can afford to have early dinner at a nearby Shake Shack. Don’t want to get take out ‘cause it’s really cold and we need the toilet before our vigil lol. By the time we got back, we’re already eighth in line. I was already nervous that our decision to stay in the restaurant cost us our chance to watch the show. But it all paid off well – because when my turn came, the guy (I didn’t get to meet him though T__T) just wanted to give his ticket away! FOR FREE!

I got in first and I’m literally shaking from excitement to the point that I don’t care if the show was crap. I’M IN VICTORIA PALACE THEATER! I’M IN WEST END! I’M IN LONDON WTF! My 16-year-old-self-watching-Miss-Saigon-in-CCP would cry at this point. The 34 year old self just planted her chin against the railing like a kid, eyes misty while waiting for the show to start (and waiting for my friend to message me and confirm if she got in – which she did 😊 )

Mind you, my only exposure to Hamilton at that point was watching “Alexander Hamilton” being performed at the White House, and a recording of “Helpless” by The Regrettes (from the Hamilton Mix-tape). Which was a good thing because OMG THIS MUSICAL IS AMAZING! No elaborate sets, no fancy production numbers. Just these talented people and the songs. My god the songs – perfectly written. Came close to crying (my friend bawled a couple of times apparently hehe) during the second half. Usually I struggle in the post-intermission portion of musicals – they’re usually less interesting than the first half. But Hamilton didn’t disappoint.

I just love the whole theme of trying to make your mark – being a part of history, making a legacy – and the danger of losing sight of what essentially matters. To those having an identity crisis, this is the perfect musical for it. And you get a fascinating exposition of American history (most likely not entirely accurate). If I listened to the entire Hamilton OST before the show, I probably won’t get to appreciate this musical as much as I did. So everything paved well in the end.

So well in fact that we watched Hamilton AGAIN three nights later. Thanks to being eighth in line, we just split the cost of my friend’s ticket and we can afford to go on another round. Also managed to buy merchandise (because I was stupid and didn’t buy the first time around). This time we got the producer’s seats, which are the fancy boxes at the back and we get a butler! Surreal!

I hope that Hamilton makes its way to Manila at some point (maybe in a decade…?) so that more people will get to watch it. And we have two Filipinos already in the London main cast so this should be a no brainer.

I cannot expound on the show anymore ‘cause I’m running out of creative words now haha. Anyway, it’s amazing. I’m floored.

“And when my time is up, have I done enough? Will they tell my story? Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?”

siem reap travel video

FINALLY done with my travel music video backlog! This is four years delayed. Good thing my best friend has WAY more important things to do than pressure me to finish. Drove myself to hurry up because we (hopefully) have another (more) major trip that this year.

Next on the to-do list: edit clips from four trips this year ala travel vlog (why am I doing this to myself again?)

seoraksan travel video

At least I can say that the bed rest forced me to be productive.

This is my "best effort" at a hiking video. I do not hike in general but seeing that this is our nth Korea trip (and some pressure from my Korean boss to do it), we decided to take a break from stuffing ourselves with food and drinking soju by exercising more.

So we booked a shared tour (apologies to our new friends that somehow got forced to do our trail) and told the driver that we wanted to try the Ulsanbawi Rock trail. We know it's an intermediate (2km)-advanced(1km) trail but decided to risk it. The driver however got a case of "tinimbang ka ngunit kulang" moment and told us not to do the Ulsanbawi route and instead do the Biseondae-Geumganggul Cave trail.

Going to Biseondae was easy enough (it was categorized as "moderate" for 3km) but wtf the climb towards the end was pure torture. Our party of 6 soon dwindled to 3...the other half stayed at the viewing deck while I and two of my friends soldiered on to see that cave. No wonder I almost cried from the steepness (and exhaustion) and I can barely film because I can't keep my balance (took off my bubble jacket despite the winter weather so one arm is basically useless) -- that leg is "expert" (so, uh, higher than advanced) level for 1.5 km. I guess our guide thought that 4.5km of moderate-expert is equivalent to 3km of intermediate-advanced (mukhang pwede nga naman).

So with my shaky hands and general laziness in exploring stabilization techniques in the post-editing process, I give you my most unstable mv to date hehehehehe. At least the view was worth it!

Someone please give me a gimbal to overcome this! Oh and this is the first time I used my SJCAM on land. As I said before, not bad for such an inexpensive camera!

phew 2017!

So it’s time to scroll through my Instagram posts to remind myself what I did for the past year LOL

This is the first full year in my current job and I’d like to believe that I’ve finally settled in. There are going to be a couple of shifts next year though (a LOT of diplomats are ending their term in the Philippines) so good luck with acclimating again and preserving my sanity.

Just realized that I had way too many swimming trips this year (not complaining). Boracay in January, two Dive and Trek trips (thank you jacks for always being there!), El Nido (WAY TOO MUCH FUN I WANNA LIVE THERE FOREVER), La Union (with an unfortunate jellyfish encounter, with scars still visible til today), Lakawon in Bacolod during my birthday trip, and swimming with the whalesharks once again in Oslob. No wonder this is the darkest I’ve been in recent memory.

Also went on a few hikes – Tinipak in Rizal (got to swim inside a cave!), Masungi Georeserve (met new friends and had way more fun than expected), and Mt. Seorak in Sokcho, Korea (pending travel video soon hihi). I’m itching to explore waterfalls in 2018, so here’s to hoping I can muster enough energy to do so.

Got to finally see Taiwan and check out their food – which was awesome but I’m still biased towards Korean and Japanese fare – the truffle xiao long bao in Din Tai Fung though, I’m willing to sell my soul for. And of course, had my annual Korea trip with my friends in November. I think this is the longest gap in between Korea trips ever since I caught the bug around 5 years ago. Kung kailan nasa Korean embassy na ko saka pa ko bihirang magKorea haha.

If my jampacked December calendar is any indication, I got to see more of my friends this year LOL and we have two new babies in the fold!

I wasn’t able to do most of my personal projects (because I’m just lazy?), though I finally caved in and bought a new laptop so that I can tackle my video editing backlog.

For the first few months in 2017 I was very restless for some reason (i.e. naghahanap ng roadtrip, gusto lang umeskapo). But all in all it was a fun and steady year – with only minor hiccups because I like to induce drama (in my head) once in a while. I hope I will be less restless in 2018. I’m scared for my birthday – 34 – because, you know, it’s closer to 35 lmao. I plan to do my last bucketlist trip in 2018 as well – UK – after that, I can now be an adult and seriously save for retirement haha.

So my favorite color is also Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2018! I hope that’s a sign of good things to come. Thank you (why are you still reading my blog though?) for being a part of it and cheers again to another year!

caliraya travel video

Another travel video that is way overdue...went with my ex-colleagues to Caliraya for a hello summer trip in March last year. I'm so used to filming a different set of friends in my previous travel videos (as you may have noticed) so shooting this one was entertaining and challenging hihi.

I tried some post-edit color correcting methods but I don't think I achieved the effect yet...must practice some more.

soliguen - fajardo nuptials

So I finally surrendered and bought a new (more powerful) laptop a few months ago -- which means I can now tackle my video editing backlog! Almost cried when it only took less than 10 minutes to render my travel videos T__T

So here's my "two-year edit" of my friends' wedding last year in Guimaras. Only brought my Go Pro 2 (ie shooting blind) and I was part of the entourage so I barely have any clips. Good thing I get to steal some from my other friends hehe

Which reminds me, my Go Pro finally gave up on me and I'm poor so I bought an SJCAM 4000 instead and wow, talk about value for money hahaha. Hopefully I get to edit the videos I took from that soon.

checking in!

I think this is the by-product of not having a major trip, i.e. a long and expensive trip abroad, for the year: I’m constantly looking for mini-trips during weekends LOL. Or maybe these are just signs of aging, like you want to do more “extra-curricular” stuff if possible. So as part of that, my friends and I went to Batangas last month to eat at my friend’s new restaurant (I ate like there’s no tomorrow).

Since we’re already in Lipa, might as well stay the night and snorkel in our go-to house reef, Dive and Trek in Bauan. It was my best snorkeling trip in the marine sanctuary to date! I don’t know what happened since last year that changed the layout of the reef, but dang, to see that many big-eyed jacks blew my mind. And there are a lot of clown fish this time around. So happy! Sadly my new gear (Tribord mask and my own fins that I have yet to baptize) did not arrive before this trip. And I forgot my underwater camera, geez. Good think my friend (who's a better swimmer than I) brought hers.

Early this month we also trekked at Tinipak river in Tanay, Rizal. We went on a weekday because this is a pretty popular destination (apparently they register around 300 hikers per day on weekends O_O). The river trek can be done within one hour but obviously in our case we took more than that because we took a lot pictures and chatted a lot along the way. And I finally was able to go spelunking again! And swim inside the cave! The trek usually comes at the tailend of a hike to the summit of Mt. Daraitan but uh, I do not climb mountains (unless there's a waterfall on the way?). And apparently it's already an assault at the beginning according to our guide so...pass.

I brought my GoPro this time around but it acted up, so ugh maybe it's time to buy a new action camera.

jumpstart!

sun + sleep + lounge + people watch + life updates + chori + isaw + booze + that strawberry thing LOL

couple of shades darker (way too hot for January)

awesome way to end the first month of the new year (or to start the year, but I'm not Chinese)

to more beach trips this 2017!

out of the woodwork

A little more than a month and it’s the end of the year…(unsurprisingly) I barely updated this blog nor have I made enough traction with the personal projects I’ve listed. Oh well, good luck to me T__T

On the upside, I was just regularized last week in my current company. Wasn’t much of a big deal (didn’t get a notification or anything), but it was important to me personally given what I heard from coworkers.

Anyway, yay to being officially employed, lol. Off to Seoul next week ^^

europe travel videos!!!

This trip was almost a decade in the making (in terms of scouring for funds) and it was freaking worth it! Three weeks with awesome friends to five countries...I won't forget 2015 because of this.

Compared to other travel videos, I was able to make this one pretty fast -- largely due to the deadline imposed by my friends (um, thanks). So here it is and hope you enjoy!

The viewing of this video is much anticipated so we even made a reaction video LOL. We were all reacting to an almost final version of the video compared to the final final video :)

And then there are still way too many funny clips leftover so I made another travel video -- or more like a vanity video since these are all just us goofing off.

under the tuscan sun

As you may notice from the degree of neglect this blog has gotten, I’ll probably won’t be doing a comprehensive blog entry of my three-week Europe trip last June (wow, it’s been THAT long). I’ll just kill myself doing my traditional travel video of that epic vacation before the year ends or else my friends will kill me, hihi.

Europe, as expected, is so Instagrammable. Too bad I’m relegated to the job of videographer so I don’t have as much pictures otherwise. But I watched Only You last night and ugh, I miss Europe again. I haven’t combed my pictures and videos since June because my laptop crashed (it’s working now). So now that I have time to look at them properly, I spot this:

Take me back to Tuscany, please.

europe-dreaming

Finally I'll be Europe-bound in a few days! I'm so excited to achieve this travel goal almost a decade in the making. And I'm lucky that I'll get to travel with some of my closest friends. Here's to an awesome trip ahead!

boseong & busan trip music video

I finally got around to making this music video about our trip in 2013 (I know! I deserve to get beaten) in Busan, South Korea. Rissee and I made a side trip to Boseong since I want to see the tea fields, which was a huge endeavor since we commuted the whole way although I got to say the place itself is very photogenic. We only spent two days in Busan/Boseong and then squeezed in two more days in Seoul (which won't be featured in this video) so pardon the limited footage.

I also chose a freaking difficult song to edit with, using Gain's Bloom (which was my "jam" in 2013, hahaha). It's the most challenging song I had to layout for so far and may be the reason as to why I've been putting it off for most of 2013/2014 (and the fact that I got sidetracked with other personal projects). Nonetheless, editing the video at the end of 2014 made me reminisce of the craziness that happened in just a short amount of time haha.

So here you go, enjoy. And a super HUGE thanks to my travel buddy Rissee for her patience!!!

awesome 2014

I just want to clock in at the last day of 2014 here in freezing Seoul, South Korea to greet all of you a Happy New Year!

I doubt this is a comprehensive year-end blog post because, as you can very well see, I haven’t been updating my blog lately (last post was my birthday? *facepalm*). I was looking through my social media accounts for a timeline reference but oh well, that seems to be sorely lacking as well. It seems randomly conversing with my friends via LINE and other messaging apps can already satisfy my need to be “connected”.

As was expected, 2014 definitely brought in a lot of changes – decided to enroll in Korean classes (which I only got to the most basic level *sniff* super hard to go to UP given my schedule), turned the big 3-0, and moved in to my new place! Still adjusting to single living life, especially with the fact that I’m always treading near poverty line every time the monthly bills arrive T__T But generally it’s all good! I’m back in Makati, where everything I need is so accessible and I get to dictate my own pace.

window treatment ^^

And this year’s trips were so much fun…costly…but still fun! Finally, after n years, I was able to go to Japan with my family and see the sakura that I’ve been dreaming of since my anime days in high school. Then made a quick trip to HK for another insane bout of fangirling and watch the EXO concert (which thankfully pushed through since the Manila stop did not happen, pfft). Then went to Korea on a sudden solo trip (my best friend wasn’t able to make it), which was fun and eventful. And then a few weeks after that, I went back to Siem Reap to tour my best friend (who I finally dragged out of the country).

 

sakura at Ueno park *hearts*

 

 ...these pictures will haunt me in a decade, i can feel it

she wasn't able to go with me to Korea, but i'm glad we still managed to go abroad

So now I end the year back again in my favorite city (to date). First time to spend the new year away from home and I’m having a great time so far (but seriously, how can anyone NOT have a great time in Seoul?) Memorable way to end what has been an interesting year.

 worth braving the subzero temperature

I end the new year grateful for all the blessings that I’ve received, especially to my family and friends who have helped me through it all (I seriously cannot count how many “house blessings” I had lol). 2015 will be another big year I think – I have a major trip planned that hopefully will push through. So have a blessed New Year and may 2015 be good to all of us! Always be happy! 사랑하자!!!