2014

2014 what happened?

It started out so great and then last quarter was a disaster. I don't know how it started awesome and ended with dismay.

I get to travel for most part of the year, Philippines (Jan-Feb), US (October/December) and domestic Canada (Toronto - July; Calgary - September).  A lot of firsts also happened this year but not all those first are good memories. There are lessons taught to me and I have to learn it the hard way.

* when you love, save something for yourself because when they leave you'll be left with nothing

* patterns never lie. everything else changes except this one. watch out and look for the signs. Do not ignore it. do not make excuses for him to comfort yourself. 

* learn to appreciate everything (people, things, moments, efforts). it goes a long way. show someone that they are special no matter how busy you are. say hi, send a text or email to your mom, dad, family and friends. ask them how their day went. appreciate the people that cares for you, thank them for the effort and time they put into it. money can be replaced but the time someone has set aside for you is priceless. 

*stand by your word. back in the days, your word is your honor. as for me, when i say, i'll do something, i'll do my best to fulfill it. 

*humility - its not about who is wrong or who is right but sometimes acknowledging that we are not perfect is good enough and assure them that you'll make it up to them.

Still, 2014 is memorable and I like to thank these people who inspired me and made me hope that the best years of my life are still ahead. Here are my 2014 People of the Year

Capt and Biker- They are 2 amazing individuals. I haven't talked to them much but I saw that they were able to fulfill their lifelong dream. They made me hope that someday I too will be able to do my own adventure of a lifetime. Capt has achieved his dream to be become a pilot, it sure did took a while but he got there. He did it! Nothing is impossible while Biker here is currently on an adventure with the love of his life. Cycling from North America to South America, they've been in the road for several months now. I wish I could do that too. It's still on my bucket list and I know I'll do it someday. 

Cla - Thank for being my voice of reason. Thanks for reminding me to love myself and put myself first before others. You may not know all the story but you're always there to listen to me.

ACT - for always, always being there. You never get tired of cheering for me even if i have not been a good friend to you.

AnnKat - You've always come through whenever I need you. Wherever you are, whenever I send you a message you never bail out on me. Thank you for always being there.

Bogart - never a dull moment with you. You've always been a great travel companion. I wish we could live in the same province together. It would be really awesome. Here's to more lakwatsa days, booze and mischief moments.

Midnight Boys (Rye, Jay, Fran & Dave) - working at nights with you guys are always the best! being a night auditor for the first time, you were all supportive and helpful guiding me at work. and when i'm alone, you've always check on me if I am alright. Through heavy snow, dealing with suspicious persons, calming down drunk guest, you always got my back. Graveyard shifts are the best! lol Thank you all for taking good care of me.

Rachel, Nads and Shei - Though we are miles and miles apart, all of you never forget to say Hi or check how am I doing. You don't know how it means a lot to me. Thank you girls for always remembering me.

The constant persons on my list are my family here and back at home. Words are not enough but from the bottom of my heart, Thank you, Thank you for everything, I would not be here without you all. Looking forward to 2015. 

Cheers! 

October

Dear October,

What happened?! October you were supposed to be the IT month.; birthdays, anniversaries, travels and autumn (my favorite season).  You and I used to have fun all the time. Partly my fault, I have not made some good choices lately.

You would think at my age, I would not make that much bad choices as I have done this month. I have not wise up through the years, I think my brain cells just died or I didn't have any brain cells to begin with. lol One bad move after the other, it keeps piling up. Its November now so I'll just leave it behind and bring with me the lessons I've learned.

Oh well, I'll just laugh this off. As they say, bad decisions make good stories. I'll live with that for now. 

Till next year! It will be better, promise! 

Annual Birthday Wishlist

Well, well, well... will you look at that, it' October! Last quarter of the year, time flies so fast! October means its time for the Annual Birthday Wishlist! Yay!!!

May I now present to you my wishlist...

1. Laptop  - my trusty old laptop is giving up on me. :( Well, its been 3 or more years old now. Look at the crack by the cover. I sure do need a new one. 

2. Winter Gear - October also means Fall season but if you live where I live, Fall season doesn't exist. lol Or Fall is just like for 1 week and winter feels like forever in here. So to be ready to face the hrash cold I need a reliable winter jacket and boots that can withstand a windchill of -45. brrr!!!

Arctic Winter parkas from North Face

Anti-slip Winter Boots from Columbia Sportwear

3.Backpack - I love backpacks it makes my life easy.

Herschel Back Pack 

4. Phone Case and Earphones  - Believe it or not, my iPhone 5 right now is bare, meaning I don't have any phone case/cover on it nor a screen protector on it! Crazy right?! I dropped it a few times now, what can I say, its durable and tough. I do have a lifeproof phone case for my phone however the cord that connects the phone and earphone is no longer working so I really can't use it especially if someone is calling me, I can't hear the other person. I think I can only drop it a few more times and it would finally won't work. So before that happens, I should get one asap. 

I want a blue one!

5. Old fashion handwritten letters and cards - I love chatting, texting and all that sort of technology but deep inside I also love receiving handwritten letter and cards, its more personal and thoughtful. I miss getting one from my Nanay. :( 

Thanks in advance to all my secret Santas' for the early Christmas gift AKA Birthday gift! hehe! :)

must get out

I'm baaaaaaaack! Hello blogosphere, its been awhile.

The past week has been crazy. It was so crazy that I need to go away. I was so physically drained that one night I was crying. I think I was losing my mind. I needed someone to talk to but the person that I wanna talk to was nowhere to be found and was so busy with his own thing. That's when I said to myself, Screw this! I'm going somewhere, I need to leave ASAP . Immediately after, I texted my evil twin Bogart and told her that I'm going to Toronto and I'll stay on their place. I basically, self-invited myself to their house (lol). I traded and gave away some of my shifts then booked a flight to Toronto and flew a day after. It was all spur of the moment. I'm so thankful that Bogart is in Toronto and her family was gracious enough to let me stay in their house. And thanks to Annkat too for being patient with me especially that night that I was about to go insane.

Fast forward to today: I just came from back my trip. I was glad I made that decision. I had to a great time there. Its nice to get away from the all the craziness; to step back a bit, to break away from work routine and give myself a chance to breathe and relax. Still not quite ready to get back to work yet but that's life. Oh well, there's always next time.  I'm looking forward to my next get away.

 

be free!

Parliament House (Toronto)

The Vintage Code( Kensington Market, Toronto)

view across Square One Mall (Mississauga)

Credit Lighthouse

 

 

As the old adage goes, All work and no play makes a dull boy/girl. So peeps, give yourself a break. Find something that will help you relax. Traveling does it for me; and I must say blogging is therapeutic for me too.  Don't take life seriously, no one get out alive anyway.

 

 

Cheers and have good weekend everyone! 

My GM Diet Experience

I just finished this so called GM Diet last week. I've never tried any kind of diet before and for me diet is DIEt with the emphasis on the first 3 words. lol. A friend of mine swore on how effective this diet works and so I tried it. I didn't follow the diet strictly, I made some modifications. 

Anyway, here's how my week went.

Day 1: Fruits 

Any kind of fruit you want preferably melons and cantaloupes (except bananas) and you can eat unlimited amount of fruits for the whole day and of course, lots and lots of water.

Breakfast: melon, strawberries and mandarin orange

Lunch:      melon, peaches and apples

Dinner:     melon and apples

I started my day with melon, strawberries and mandarin, eating halfway through my fruit bowl I already feel full. By lunch time, I had the same fruits plus apple and peaches. During dinner I had melon and apple. I didn't feel hungry at all.

For a rice eater like me I feel that I'm missing my daily fill of carbs. It was a struggle especially if everyone in the house is eating rice, nevertheless, I survived Day 1.

Day 2: Veggies

All you can eat veggies for Day 2, its advisable to have it eaten raw or boiled. Avoid oil and coconut when cooking vegetable. Eat potato in the morning you can add a small dab of butter for taste. Don't forget to drink lots of water.

Breakfast: potato with small amount of butter

Lunch:      boiled broccoli and cauliflower, celery sticks and lettuce

Dinner:     mixed veggies with some oyster sauce

I thought the 1st day is the hardest but now I feel that the 2nd day was the hardest, for me atleast. I do eat veggies but with seasoning (salt) not boiled or raw. I tried munching on celery and lettuce without dressing but I had a hard time. What I did was I boiled some broccoli and cauliflower and add some pepper on it just to have some taste. Still no rice, oh the struggle is real!

Day 3: Fruits and Veggies

All fruits (except bananas) and all veggies (except potatoes) you can eat. And also don't forget to drink lots of water.

Breakfast: apple and mandarin oranges

Lunch:      celery sticks, steamed cauliflower and broccoli, apple

Dinner:     steamed cauliflower and broccoli, peaches, strawberries and melon

This day is easier than the previous day because its a combination of fruits and vegetables. I ate more fruits than veggies because I like fruits more and I feel like fruits has more variety in taste and texture than veggies. Day 3 went by smoothly.

Day 4: Bananas and Milk

You can eat as many as 8 bananas and 3 glasses of milk.

Breakfast: 2 bananas and 1 glass of milk

Lunch:      2 bananas and 1 glass of milk

Dinner:     2 bananas and 1 glass of milk

Looking at the diet plan, I thought 4th day would be difficult more difficult than the 2nd day. Surprisingly, I didn't have a hard time. As per GM diet, it should be skimmed but I changed it to 2% milk because I don't like the taste of skimmed milk. On this day, I ate 2 bananas and a glass of milk, I don't know why but it made me full and didn't feel any hunger.

Day 5: Chicken and Tomatoes

As per GM Diet, it should be beef and tomatoes but I substituted beef for chicken. 

Breakfast/Lunch/ Dinner: chicken and tomatoes

As mentioned, I made some modification for this day's diet plan. I am not a big fan of tomatoes, I can only eat tomatoes if it has cilantro and some seasoning on it just like that of a tomato salsa. So what I did was I sauteed a 8 tomatoes with onion and garlic and threw in the chicken breast. That 's what I ate for the whole day. 

Day 6: Beef and Veggies

Beef and veggies for the whole day. 

Breakfast: steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Lunch:      beef broccoli and 3 spoonfuls of rice

Dinner:     stir fried beef and a medium sized cucumber

Yes, you read it right, I had rice. Finally!!! I was waiting for this day! There are many variations in GM diet, I read in some websites rice can be eaten starting on the 5th day. But I waited till the 6th day, just to push my limits on how long can I go without rice. lol I feel lighter now than the 1st day that I started. I haven't weighed myself yet. 

Day 7: Beef, Fruits and Veggies

Feast day! The Grand Finale! Beef all you want and a cup of rice plus any fruit juice you want. 

Breakfast: strawberries and melon

Lunch:      stir fried beef, corn and carrots, 5 spoonfuls of rice and a glass of apple juice

Dinner:     stir fried beef and strawberries

Truly, it was feast day! It was a balanced diet, I had my carbs, protein and vitamins from veggies and fruits. What a way to end a diet!

Result and Thoughts:

The GM diet works website says, you'll lose about 10-17 lbs a week if you follow the diet. Since I made some modifications, I lost only 7lbs. That's not bad, not bad all! Well, in my opinion I think I did well.

I really think that I won't be able to finish the 7-day diet program. What kept me going was the bet I made with Dex; that whoever loses most weight in 3 months will win an Ipad mini. Kidding aside, what did it for me is having someone to motivate, encourage and support me to finish the diet and not give into temptations like chocolate, ice cream and pizza; those were my favorites and it was so hard to resist.

Being on this diet has led me to discover that if I put my mind into something I can achieve what I want. So for those of you out there who want to try this kind of diet, find someone who will motivate and encourage you all throughout the week. 

Will do it again, and my answer is yes, I will. :) Maybe next week again or probably next month. I just want to get started in losing weight that's why I did this diet. I will do some exercise program next week to keep weight off and lose some more.

P.S. Once you're done with the diet give yourself 3-5 days rest before you go on this diet again. You can repeat this diet as many times as you want. 

For those who are still hesitant to do it, I say to you START! GO for it! DO it! If I can do it, you can do it too! 

2013 hits and misses

I never believed the superstition that #13 is unlucky but I must say lady luck was tough on me last 2013. I was struggling to find a job, had a hard time adjusting to the terrible weather and adapting to my new environment. Nevertheless, I still have a lot of things to be thankful for. Here are some of my Hits and Misses last year. 

HITS

*work - After applying in more than 35 companies, I finally got a call and successfully landed on the job that I like.

*travels - I was able to get some time off from work. Wasted no to time to book my ticket and fly to different cities in Ontario; Montreal and of course explore my own province and nearby towns.

Downtown Winnipeg

Niagara, Kenora, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto

*friends - I'm really blessed to have friends that value our friendship despite the distance and time. I may not get to see them but talking to them in a daily basis makes life and living here tolerable. Yay to all my friends! 

meeting in person; chat thru skype, viber and fb

MISSES

*blog - Wrote just a single  entry for 2013. I have a lot of things to say, stories to tell, memories to share and lessons to impart but I was lazy. There were some instances that I started writing but I didn't finish it and it just here in my drafts folder waiting to be published.  Hopefully, this 2014 I can write again. I miss writing; this has been my outlet and lately I am feeling crappy, so maybe I should get back to writing again. 

*death - death was so busy last year, everyone I know has lost someone dear to them. I for one, lost my Nanay (grandma) last year. It was the hardest goodbye I have ever made in my life. 

*snow - i like it here, its just that I can't stand the cold and snow. its a struggle to go to work let alone go outside the house in -40C temperature. And having snow for almost 6 months is pure torture. 

*photo taken from instagram*

So here's to a better year! Cheers 2014! The best is yet to come! 

My 2013 People of the Year

As an annual tradition of this blog, here's a salute to the people who made my 2013 extraordinary.

AnnKat

 - Changing time zones and distance is not a barrier in our friendship. Thank you for listening to my krung-krung and heart break stories. And thank you for not making any judgments on my actions and decisions. kunsitidor! Thank you for being supportive!  wahaha!

"Dex"

- 2013 has been crazy, thank you for keeping me sane. You make each day bearable in this miserable weather. I hope you won't get tired of me. It'll be spring in a month or two, are you still keeping that promise?! I hope so. 

ABC

- Thank you for your never ending faith in me, and I'm sorry if i caused you any pain. I hope you understand. Thank you for always being present whenever I need you. I hope someday I could repay all your kindness. I wish you well for the rest of your life.

Kathy

- Thank you for not getting tired of driving me to and from work even on your rest day. I never hear any complaints from you and you always offered to drop me to work on wee hours in the morning and for that I am grateful.

Tadz and Taby

- I am forever thankful for looking after me; for being my 2nd moms here in Canada; for all the help you have extended not only to me but also to my family. I don't know how I will be able to repay you both but I know God is faithful to give you all His blessings.

Patty

- I dread going to work everyday especially when I was new. Thank you for patiently teaching and guiding me; for making work less stressful; for believing in my capabilities and for always being there to defend me. Thank you! Its always a pleasure working with you.

Marose

- Thank you for being my 1st friend at work. I have found myself a new lakwatsa buddy. We rarely see each other but knowing that you're still with JV gives me relief, I still have a friend at work. 

Bogart

- My evil twin, you never fail to make me laugh with your witty hirits! Looking forward to your everyday rants about weather and school, you make feel normal. hahaha! Thanks for taking the time to meet me last August. Let's plan again this year!

AK barkada

- I won't name all of you, you all know who you are. Thanks for everything ( I know gasgas na yung line but I really mean it). Whenever I read our conversations on our "chatroom" it makes me smile and sad at the same time. (baliw lang?!) I miss you all! Thank you for keeping in touch!

Family

- Thank you for believing me, for loving me unfailing love. I miss you all. I wish we could all be together soon, I hope. 

Thank you for being a constant force in my life.  I am forever grateful to God to have met all these wonderful people in my life. Let's make more memories this 2014.