Life Lately: On Reading, Staying In, and Trying Things for the First Time

Hello, dear readers. It’s been months since my last update and I have no excuse! I have photos ready to upload but they’re sitting on my phone waiting for months to be uploaded. My South Korea photos are basically begging to be posted. Hopefully, I’ll get to do it by next month once I get my lazy ass out of bed.

I have so many stories to tell, and so little time to tell it. I don’t want to use work as an excuse, but after work I just like resting and reading books and watching shows and shutting down my brain. I don’t want to do anything that would require me to think. Thinking what to have for dinner is the only thinking I want to do. I hope you understand.

These past few months, I’m spending more time indoors and less time being on the road. I do miss traveling, but I also enjoy wasting weekends in bed and just reading. And you know what else? I spent the last few months pondering about where I want to go and how I want to go there. It’s still confusing now, but I do hope that in the next few months, I’ll figure out what I want to do with my life. I’m not getting any younger and working with fresh grads reminds me this everyday.

Honestly, the time I was away from the blog wasn’t so bad at all. I just wish I could blog all about it in detail. I spent a lot of time reading books and binge-watching TV shows (not Kdramas!). Somewhere in between, I tried a couple of things for the first time.

• I completely forgot to include in the previous Life Lately post that I got to watch The Moffatts Reunion Concert! Do you know how amazing that is? *insert internal screaming* I spent my childhood obsessing over Clinton Thomas John Moffatt and I cried when I didn’t get to watch their last PH concert before they disbanded. There was no chance in hell that I’d miss this one. And it was awesome. I shed a few tears, and it was the best concert they could offer to lifelong fans. I still know all the lyrics by heart, yo!

You had to cross this wooden bridge to reach the foundation / We rode a truck just to get there!

• Last July, I joined one of my office’s CSR activities. We went to Bulacan for  a tree planting activity at GreenEarth Heritage Foundation, Inc.. It was raining and I was sick, but it was all worth it. I almost backed out because my friends bailed on me (Hi, Iris, Ina, and Dale! Haha), and I panicked when I realized that I had no idea who else would be there. To reach the farm, we had to ride a 6×6 truck and go through muddy tracks and cross a river. It was pretty exciting, but two minutes in and I was so sure that I would die. But I didn’t so here I am.
• I’m just glad that my introversion didn’t stop me from joining the activity. It was the first time I participated in a tree planting activity, and we helped plant moringa (malunggay) trees, which the community use to make import-quality moringa tea! We also got to know the community who shared their stories, hopes and aspirations with us. You can help transform their lives, too, by supporting the foundation’s and the families’ efforts. Buy quality moringa tea, support one of the farmers’ children, and even volunteer!

• Iris got married! I met Iris in January 2016 and thought she was an intimidating hipster, but it turns out she’sreally a weirdo who shares that same humor as me (but I’m funnier :P). She was my lunch buddy before she resigned and left me huhu. Then fast forward to 2017 (and she’s marrying the love of her life and I was playing bridesmaid. I wish Yong and Iris happiness, love, and endless laughter. Awesome people deserve awesome things, and I pray for only great things for them.
• The past few weeks were devoted to devouring Tana French novels. Dublin Murder Squad is not your typical detective series, but its eccentricity got me hooked! Every novel has a different protagonist but all of them are members of the murder squad (except one!). I’m now on my fifth book, and it’s killing me that I can’t find an ebook of The Secret Place anywhere online. So far, Faithful Place is my favorite book, which was surprising considering I didn’t like Detective Mackey in The Likeness. I’m averaging one book per week now, and it’s all because of Tana French. Her books are highly addictive that it dragged me out of my reading slump. If you’re looking for new crime books to read, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES.

• I tried wall climbing for the first time! It was all Erika’s idea and Jil and I (and Alex!) tagged along at Climb Central. But because we enjoyed it so much, it seems like we’ll be doing it again soon. I sucked at it, though, but I swear I’ll start working out so I’ll be stronger next time we go wall climbing. They all reached the top of the wall and even tried the more difficult ones. Just so I wouldn’t go home feeling defeated, Alex encouraged me to try to the kiddie wall and I succeeded. I believe I enjoyed belaying more than climbing.
• Changmin is finally back! After 21 long months, my original oppa has finally completed his enlistment. I received so many congratulatory messages last week that it felt like I was the one who entered the army and not Changmin. Hihi. It’s crazy how I’m still a pretty big fan considering that he’s been inactive in the industry for so long. I don’t know. I guess my love for TVXQ will never die. So many things have happened for the past two years, and I’m glad that I’m still here.❤
• On a sad note, I haven’t been watching Kdramas that much lately. My sister almost disowned me when she learned that I no longer regularly check Dramabeans. Haha. But I’m watching Secret Forest right now, and it’s pretty good. Still, I’m waiting for the next drama to pull me back. For now, I’m tempted to rewatch Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo  to mend my broken heart.
• Work has been crazy lately, but Goose House has been keeping me sane! If you like JPOP (are they even JPOP??), then listen to a few of their covers and you’ll love them as much as I do. If you watched Your Lie in April, then you’ve probably heard of them before.

Next time I update this blog, I hope I’m no longer saying sorry for the lack of updates. Hopefully, you’ll be hearing from me soon.