Taiwan was the first country that I’ve been to the second time. Honestly, I would go there over and over again! There is so much to see and so much to do that most of the things I did last year wasn’t the same as the activities I went to last 2019. This time around, I was also able to go to the western side of Taiwan, which is Taichung.
Ever since the travel restrictions eased up, I was hesitant to fly out of the Philippines again since there were a lot of changes in requirements and I think the immigration officers have become more strict this time around. Additionally, ticket prices are absurdly high. I did book a September Taiwan trip during a seat sale earlier this year because I thought it would be a safe restarting point for my international travels. The ticket prices weren’t that expensive (relatively) and I’ve been there before, so I’m quite confident that it would go well despite the lack of preparations and brain cells.
It was the only international trip that I was waiting for, so imagine my surprise when my manager in my new work asked if I could go to Malaysia. While the company is US-based, all other members of the APAC team are in Malaysia and Singapore, so he had said it would be nice if everyone comes to the office to welcome me and another new hire (based in Malaysia), while also kickstarting our training sessions.
I was only with the team for two weeks so it was all very out of the blue, and he did tell me at that time that nothing was sure yet. But two days later, I had a ticket and a hotel for a whole week.
So I went.
Continue reading “Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Part 1)”
Part 1 here!
Continue reading “Davao, Philippines (Part 2)”
I did say I would write about Cebu, but the return to office brought so much more stress than working from home did. Honestly, there were a lot of things that happened last 2022 but I couldn’t find a time to really think and write about it. I also had a Boracay trip earlier this year during my birthday, so I might just publish another post with a photo dump and a few comments about the photo but that’s just about it. I can’t remember the details anymore! 😅
So before I forget about our Davao trip, I might as well write about it.
Continue reading “Davao, Philippines (Part 1)”
This was a picture from my Cebu trip earlier this year. It’s been a while since I last wrote something but I finally had the chance to travel again so yay!
May this be the start of more travels and also the start of recovering from my writing slump. I thought this year would be uneventful as well, hence the 2021 “hiatus”, but obviously God had other plans and surprises. Will probably write about that one, too. 😊
2020 has been such a wild ride. January was marked with a volcanic eruption, no less, then came the pandemic which is still affecting all of us. Honestly, I thought it would only last for a month or two, but obviously not, and I’ve never felt so bad about being so wrong. Things are kind of looking up right now, with the quick development of vaccines left and right, however, we can’t really expect getting a proper vaccine until mid-2021 the earliest, right? But at least there is hope.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’ve taken more workload this year due to the resignation of my counterpart in Germany, and it’s not a role usually given to someone who has spent a little bit under a year in the position. While I am thankful for the trust in my abilities, I had other commitments that made everything difficult — as I’ve also said before, I applied and got into the graduate school that I’ve been holding off for so long. I find myself with less free time to enjoy the things I enjoy doing (like sleeping, reading, writing!) and my mind is more focused on trying to organize the game plan for the next day just to prevent being swamped up by work and school. My anxiety over things worsened, more so when I started to not meet quotas I expected myself to meet. My brain was in such a state that I refused to accept anything less than my own high expectations, so even though I was constantly assured that it wasn’t my fault, I thought instead that I wasn’t really trying my best because I couldn’t focus on just one thing. Looking back, I thought this year was kind of uneventful for me because I was stuck in the same busy cycle every day that I had very little time to really socialize aside from a super quick chat. I failed to notice that the very things that made me that busy was quite an event in my life that I didn’t even know how I managed to pull off this year.
I also failed to notice that there were a lot of things that happened this year that I wouldn’t have done if it was a normal year. I was able to spend time with my parents without worrying and dreading the time I’ll be leaving. I was able to spend my year in the cool climate that Baguio has to offer. I was able to start collecting albums of artists I enjoy listening to. I was able to meet with friends that I don’t always have chances to meet, and we were able to become closer because of it. I was able to attend some online seminars with the singles’ community in the church (on how to maximize this season!) and meet people in different countries. I was able to go on a staycation with friends without fearing infection because the local government unit was pretty good at managing the pandemic. I was able to keep my finances well. I was able to catch up on my leisure readings. I was able to finish some things that were long overdue (like unresolved feelings? Hm.) I was able to enjoy my quiet time with the Lord more. Actually, even the fact that I was able to start my Master’s, I owe it to the opportunities that presented itself during this time.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have really noticed how much has happened in my 2020 and how much appreciation I have that despite the pandemic, my family’s still healthy and we have stable jobs. I wouldn’t have taken time to reflect on my year if it wasn’t for this short break that I have, along with meeting with some friends who were genuinely interested in how my year went. I thought at first that I was just spouting positive, watered-down statements like how I usually would when I don’t want to explain anything or I don’t want to bring the mood down, but then I find myself really appreciating the year despite trials and challenges. Of course, it’s still quite a difficult year, knowing what is happening out there — layoffs, worse health, death of a loved one, social injustices, incompetent government etc. At the end of all of this, I hope that we will be able to hold accountable all those who were responsible and/or practically abandoned their duties in the middle of the chaos.
As for 2021, I am kind of hopeful for the year. I mean, it would be better to be hopeful about it, right? This year actually taught me to be grateful and more appreciative of the things that I have. So while I know that things will be tough next year (more units in school, the horror!), I’ll continue to persevere and press on. After all, all things, good or bad, come to an end. And I now know better where to anchor my hope. I want to thank the Lord because He has been faithful this year, and I know that He will continue to be faithful in the next year. I am excited for the breakthroughs and surprises that may be revealed in 2021!
Happy new year, everyone!
How has the pandemic been treating you? I hope you are safe and healthy and living comfortably despite the vaccine being nowhere to be found. As for me, my life has been really crazy lately. This post has been sitting in the drafts for quite a while, to the point that I had to delete my first few sentences and redo everything due to more recent updates.
First off, I still have a job and no salary cuts were implemented (thankfully) since the company normally operates on a digital platform, so business goes on as usual. Prior to the implementation of the lockdown, my mom urged me to return to Baguio and bring my laptop so that I can work remotely here. I’m really grateful I was able to secure a bus seat that day because people were already really frantic about going back to their provinces. So there, I’ve been staying in Baguio since everything started but I only brought back a “weekend” bag because I thought everything would be over in a month. 8 months later, I wish I brought more, like my hard drive full of movies (not in Netflix) and some of my skin care products. If it was possible, I would have even brought my cat.
To be honest, work hasn’t been kind lately. My counterpart suddenly resigned, leaving me to take up her specialist post since I am the only one working closely with her. It hasn’t even been a year since I started with the position, and I just got trained with creating full reports, so my mind has been really fuzzy like there’s a blur with everything I’ve been doing. I’ve been doing a lot of things, yet I still feel unproductive. I’m glad I have a co-specialist doing other things that I haven’t been trained on, but I somehow feel useless because I sometimes have no input in some ad hoc tasks because my mind is elsewhere.
Which brings me to the next update: prior to my counterpart’s resignation, I actually applied for graduate school and was fortunately accepted. It’s something that I have been really planning on doing for a while now, and that has always been the goal since junior year in college. I just didn’t have the time or energy before, but this community quarantine left me with a lot of free time so I decided to just go for it. I thought I could manage, since my counterpart’s there and I only have the reports to think about, but her sudden resignation and my sudden new responsibilities just coincided with my new career path. So now, I’ve been juggling with both the reports and ad hoc tasks from work and the knowledge building for medical physics.
My mental health hasn’t been good as well, since I’ve been experiencing burnout. I feel demotivated to do anything (which is also why this has been in the drafts for a while) which also makes me feel guilty because I should just persevere through it, right? At least I have a stable, well-paying job? At least my family’s safe and healthy? Those thoughts are going through my mind every time I decide to take a break or rest from either school or work. I know it isn’t right, that I deserve to rest once in a while, but it’s a struggle I still have to come to terms with.
My preliminary exams start this week, so I expect to be even more busy than how I am lately. At least I have things to look forward to at the end of the week—two of my closest friends in Baguio are coming over for a Korean binge! It’s been a while since I last saw them so I am really excited that we could catch up while eating chicken and enjoying soju.
Guess that’s all for now, I just wanted to post this so that my page wouldn’t waste away without updates because there’s no way I could travel this year. Good bye, Cebu and Thailand plans! (Can they already refund our flights, please?)
Have a great week!
Part 1 over here!
As usual, a disclaimer: unlike my other posts, this one has no detailed itinerary nor an expense breakdown but you can pick up a few tips here and there to save up on expenses and get a general idea of Seoul.
