#justanotherdayattheoffice

Through out the course of my my short, two-months journey of working at the travel magazine, I took necessary pit stops, entertaining a handful of interesting, creative ideas whilst on trips or being stuck at the office. I must admit, they all seemed brilliant at that time. But one that stood out the most and actually saw the light of day was my simple photo series which allowed me to share to friends and family where "my office" was on certain days with the aid of my okay-quality camera phone. Eventually my little project welcomed the possibility of on-location Skype dates and later (d)evolved to the usual documentation of somewhat typical office affairs. As all things, however, it was fun while it lasted. Until the next crazy adventure! (More snippets after the jump.)

Sun-kissed salutations by the sea

My short time in Subic around the same time last year was quite special. Truth is, there was nothing I wanted more than to get off my office chair and go someplace, anywhere but in the city. And who can blame me, I've been bitten by the travelbug long before I was hired and taking official trips for the magazine's book project (on travel, no less!). Besides, I really needed to take a breather, being swamped with revisions while carrying a heavy heart and all. So our little by-the-bay getaway assignment could not have come at a better time!


Only having been there twice and both for its famous water theme park, I didn't really know what else to expect. With sheer anticipation, I realized that it had been a while that I'll be exploring a town for the first time--the best kind of feeling! But as soon as the excitement finally kicked in, exhaustion immediately caught up. Hannah and I slept throughout the entire drive up north and woke just in time to be welcomed by beautiful, mountainous landscapes with giant trees on one side and the peaceful bay with large ships on the other, all while on wide, wide roads.

Marching on

Back when we were all students, March had always seen us say goodbye to something so special: the past crazy school year. It comes along with memories of almost-always mediocre grades, often buzzer beater projects, and the times we concentrated on how the teacher never failed to end his statements with "Are you following?" rather than how to get the derivative of a certain equation. It's at this time of year that I reminisce on our glory days which was schooling season and wish I had done better than I already did: had been more meticulous with both my problem solving and grammar, conquered my fear of giving a ridiculous answer or raising a stupid question during class discussions, and gone the extra mile with my outputs instead of turning in sloppy last-minute ones.

Usually this trip down memory lane has caused nothing but trouble: logging back on and digging through my then-public blogs which I have abandoned since, and being up all night playing detective, figuring out what happened between high school sweethearts and how in the world someone ended up in the honor roll. No worries, I have my trusty ol' online journal to back me up with enough evidence. But as far as I'm concerned, high school had always been a favorite subject for my time travel of sorts. And right now I can't help but miss it all, especially my dear alma mater.

When my valedictorian of a youngest sister graduated last year, it was that one final farewell to the place our family called home for the past nine years and just the thought of it brings tears into my eyes. The least we could do was hold onto each other tight and say our goodbyes together. We flew home to applaud the purple league for finishing the gruesome four years of being in one of the countries' top science high schools. We all took turns in receiving and putting on/turning over Kendi's countless awards. Much to our surprise, Mom and our roster of sisters were celebrated as well...

The perfect recipe

My spirit may have been beaten down by the end of the first half of 2013 after experiencing road block after road block, but I don't really have much to complain. All these, even though they bring painful and haunting dilemmas, are ingredients to a strong and full life. The other half of the equation is what I'm after though, which are the uplifting things found along the way. I'm so blessed to have my friends and family as a solid support system through out this journey...and of course, the beyond-satisfying meals and heartening experiences we spend our golden time on together.


Pub cheers post-foodtrucking with the gang · Endings and beginnings · High school batch in Manila?!