I generally don’t like hot drinks. I take my water, cold; iced tea, iced; cola and juice, cold; milk, cold. But owing to a somewhat sore throat that started early this week, I’ve had nothing but warm water and hot tea all week long. I guess the new flask I got from my cousin’s wedding found its purpose this week when I turned it into my juice flask. 🙂 My other (and bigger) hydroflask (with its dented side) will remain my water bottle, for when my throat gets better and I can indulge in cold drinks again.
It’s just one of those “maladies” that comes with having allergic rhinitis I suppose. This incident with the sore throat does come back every few months that it’s no longer surprising. When it comes, it comes, and I just learn to deal with it while it continues to persist—with a couple of cups of hot tea. It just hits the right spot when it goes down the throat, warm.
A swirling vortex of days, weeks, and tasks–that’s exactly what the last month and a half since my last post has felt like. There hasn’t been much breathing room to write about anything out of the ordinary, and possibly no stamina or patience to sit down and write; in fact my personal journal has also been somewhat empty. But heck, I did finish watching a couple of anime on Netflix: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1, Moriarty the Patriot, and re-watched the entire Kimetsu no Yaiba before moving on to the OVA and Season 2.
Somewhere in the middle of that vortex, I turned a year older. It was a little uneventful in the sense that midnight struck with little to no excitement despite was actually planing to head to bed early since I didn’t want to be awake at 12midnight. For a number of reasons, I had a very very busy birthday at work that started very early. It started as quickly as it ended, like it always does.
There was this one day that I decided to lunch out (sometimes I bring a packed lunch) and went to a place nearby that I would sometimes frequent pre-Covid. There were barely any people at the restaurant when I got there, but I was happy to see that my favorite dish to order was just how I remember it. After that lunch, I made my way to a newly opened portion of the building where there was the new branch of a local bakery. I don’t know what’s fascinating about bread laid out on trays and all lit up, but you just get tempted to buy a couple of each variety even if you don’t really have the urge to eat them. hahaha. I also ended up ordering iced coffee to-go.
I also had a day-off owing to a local fiesta, so I spent some of that time re-organizing part of my bookshelf to make room for all my new books (from the Big Bad Wolf sale) and undusting some things in and around my shelf. That day off also allowed me the chance to take a peaceful drive with my aunt, who told me to try out the Bacong-Valencia bypass–this really long cemented road that supposedly cuts travel time in between the two municipalities. I’m so used to taking the highway (since it’s easier to manuever considering it’s a straight road) so taking this new route allowed me the opportunity to see other places and areas in Dumaguete and Bacong. We had dinner in a place we’ve never tried before, which is something we often did pre-Covid.
And then just recently I spent a weekend at a resort, driving there right after work. It was a first time for me to drive that far (about 14km) at night, which can be a pretty scary thing since provincial highways tend to not be as well-lit like it is in the big cities where there are lots of building lights and billboards, there area lot of motorcycles that don’t necessarily switch on their lights (which I don’t understand – it’s like they’re asking to get hit), and where the highways intersect with municipality propers and other populated areas (where people and vehicles readily cross the street/highway). Driving at night aside, taking a break away from work and the usual routines is a great way to kind of zone out of regular responsibilities. Since travel has been severely limited due to Covid, there aren’t as many things to do to de-stress, especially when I’m at work 6 days a week. Staycations are the best! Most especially when you live by/near the seaside or somewhere that doesn’t resemble your every day environment.
So, swirling vortex of 2021: it was filled with some good things, some not-so good things, and a lot of things that kept me busy on a day-to-day basis. I can’t believe it’s already December, and 2022 is just around the corner. Where does the time fly? I don’t know if I’m looking forward to 2022, but I am looking forward to just ending the year and geting rid off some bad juju and thoughts I encountered this 2021. I’d like to say that we’re looking towards 2022 with some semblance of normalcy, especially with lots of people getting vaccinated around the world, but then again Omicron just popped up on the news a few days ago so that’s another damper on things.
I found out some sad news before heading to bed earlier today: one of the dog personalities I’ve been following for the last few years, passed away. Her name was Ava, and she was a Sharpei.
Ava’s facebook page (you can also check out their website) lists her as a “tapping pei”, and her mommy posts these photos and videos of her tapping her mum for attention, for affection, or when it’s time for tucky time (bed). Ava’s videos have been a source of happiness and comfort these last few years, most especially after I lost my own Shar pei back in 2018/2019. Ava’s mum had been posting recently about how Ava had been sick with some kind of liver sickness, and how she’s been eating less or feeling less energetic. There was a bit of good news for a while because she posted that she had gone to seek a second opinion and were waiting on some leptospirosis results. That was the last post I saw, before the news of her passing was posted.
It’s devastating. I can’t imagine how Ava’s mummy is faring, having been there myself. She posted to update all the people who’ve been diligently following her page, but it must have been very hard and painful to do so while she wrote it out. It was nice that so many people sent messages of concern and love for Ava and her mum (myself included). I hope it helps give her some peace and comfort knowing that so many other people, mostly strangers, also fell in love with Ava and her adventures.
At least she’s in a better, less painful, place.
Also, since I can’t post Ava’s photos, here’s photos of my own Sharpei Kafei “Fei” when she was still with us.
Oh my. I’ve been feeling extremely busy and exhausted recently, but I guess for good reason. I’m tackling something (work-related) that I’ve never done before, and I was (and still am) initially scared of starting such a heavy responsibility. There are a lot of to-do tasks and checklists running through my mind, and I’m trying to juggle all these deadlines that I have to meet.
Hello adulting.
The good thing about being busy is that it keeps me busy from feeling depressed or anxious about some outside events and circumstances that are beyond my control. Being busy also means that my time feels more precious and valuable because there’s something good and something developing well in my endeavours or in work, for which I am thankful.
I am challenged, and sometimes it feels like I as a person am not enough to handle it all. But then when certain milestones, achievements, or even just tasks, are met or conquered, the degree of satisfaction can also be extremely pleasing.
So yes. All things one step at a time, one breath at a time, moving forward at my own pace.
The last few weeks have been especially hard, for plenty of personal reasons. It feels like I’ve been on a rollercoaster of emotions, with most days ending like there’s nothing to look forward to tomorrow.
Still, on I do trudge. I take things a day at a time, since that’s all I can seem to manage at the moment. I try to keep myself busy so I don’t have time to dwell on my thoughts. The recent evening rains, most of them heavy, seem to exacerbate my emotions. But I’m still alive. I’m still here. Still getting out of bed.
Cheers to the little steps. And the little things.
In the meantime, I’m going to keep replaying this on my phone..
Sitting down in a chair, while having my favorite cup of expensive coffee. It’s not often that I decide to take a day out. While I sipped my almost $4 coffee, over-priced but something I haven’t had in months, I reminisced on what felt like a semblance of normalcy. Except for the masks, the distancing, the limited number of people inside establishments, and people walking about like they all had colds, it was a normal afternoon in quiet Dumaguete.
It’s been over a year, and the fatigue creeps in like a snail making its way into your garden, or how a tiki somehow finds its way into your room despite all doors and windows being tightly shut. Some days, it’s like it’s not there. And other days, it’s the only thing you can think about.
For now, (I’m) just taking things one day at a time.
It’s been 5 years since that Easter Sunday when one of my uncles took me and my cousin to Siaton (which is a municipality in the southern part of Negros Oriental) to visit the seaside. Since me and my cousin are out-of-towners (I from Manila, and my cousin from Australia), he wanted us to see the beautiful full moon from the southern-most tip of Negros Island. Dumaguete faces the east, it is not a city that sees the sunset in its natural orange-y magnificence; while the place where my uncle wanted to take us was a point where we could watch both the sun set, and the moon rise.
The original plan was to drive back to Dumaguete after watching the view, but uncle ended up deciding to camp out and we were able to find a place (on the property of uncle’s friend) to stay for the night. My uncle is a seasoned camper so we set up a tent that he had in his car right there in the garden, and for dinner we used food supplies from his stash and cooked over his portable oven.
Reeling the net in to shore
When morning came, it was a very early start. There were loud sounds coming from the beach. My uncle had already woken up, and he was helping the fishermen bring in their net from the sea. The camraderie was such a sight to behold. The net was large and it had been cast into the sea, where a lot of swordfish (malasugi in Cebuano, according to Wiktionary) found its way. It takes a number of people working together to haul the fish in from the sea, usually all neighbors who are fishermen, and to bring it to shore. Those who help to bring the fish to shore are usually given a portion of the fish as a reward, while the rest will be brought to the market to be sold.
Part of the morning’s catch
It’s amazing to see everyone, even strangers like us, help to bring the fish in. There are some who help, and some who stay by the way-side to watch. Usually the number of people helping to bring in the net are a few, but as it comes closer to shore you can see a few more people lend a hand to get the whole net beached.
The very nice fishermen even offered my uncle a few pieces of swordfish to bring home. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I think we came home with at least 2 pieces of fish that day.
Looking back on it now, I think this area of Siaton/Zamboanguita is rich with these kinds of fish. My uncle has brought my cousins and siblings to these areas (some seas, some rivers) many times for adventures, one of which included a bunch of canoes at sunset and swordfish jumping across their boat and sometimes into it.
That last paragraph aside, it was (and stilll is) always a pleasant surprise to see the kindness, friendliness, and generosity, of fellow Negrenses. They had never met us before, and we had never met them before that time, but those fishermen offered up to us a share of the little fish that they had to both eat and sell. As seas become more polluted, corals dying due to climate change and other factors, fishing continues to become a more challenging livelihood. Yet, you can still encounter people, neighbors in a sense, like this who share what they have with others. Of course, it is also rude to turn down something so freely offered to you, especially after you helped them in their endeavor. In cases like this, it is sometimes best to politely turn down their offer the first time, and then later offer to accept a few pieces of what they give.
With a lot of seas surrounding a lot of islands, the Philippines has a lot of sea-oriented activities to enjoy. Oslob, where the whale sharks are, is coincidentally in Cebu island but it is much closer to Dumaguete in terms of travel time: Dumaguete to Oslob is about 2.5 hours, while Cebu City to Oslob takes about 3-4 hours.
A few years back when my aunt and uncle told us they were planning on taking us to go whale shark-watching in Oslob, I was quite excited since I heard a lot of people do it before, but I had personally never done it myself. Oh, I was quite frightened too since I am afraid of being far away from the shore.
Can’t believe it’s been 5 years. It reminds me of all the traveling (local, domestic, and international) that everyone is not doing because of Covid19.
I’m just fondly reminiscing about the days when traveling was a thing. And the days my cousins and I could actually go out traveling since work responsibilities weren’t as busy as they are now.
Sundays are my only rest days from work, and I often spend them sleeping in or trying to catch up on other hobbies (like gaming or reading books, cleaning my room, etc). I think Covid19 has, to some extent, underlined the importance of such quiet and precious days.
Last Sunday and yesterday, I’ve been going to our garden to check out what vegetables and plants we had growing. The lettuce leaves spread across different plots in the garden look to be growing well. Some of them are on their way to being harvested, and some of them were still a bit small. It’s exciting to know that lettuce and salad will soon be a part of our lunch or dinner.
Some of them seem to be growing like roses when looking at them from above. The leaves look so fresh, and green.
I was going through the photos on my phone when I stumbled upon these from 5 years ago. They were taken by the seaside here in Dumaguete, in an area now known as Escano Drive (just north of Flores Avenue). This road used to be unpaved but was a shortcut to get to E.Rovira Drive and the airport quicker, as opposed to taking the highway from Real Street. Many fishermen would bring their boats to the low shore, and then cross the short unpaved dirt road to their homes. In the mornings, or so I assume since I’m not a moring person and haven’t witnessed them in action, they would bring those boats out to sea to cast their nets and catch fish.
That road has since been paved and asphalted, which was still “in the works” when this photo was taken.
I loved the view of the flags as we would drive by. My cousin was driving the car when I took this photo; she was actually bringing me to the airport so I could catch my flight to Manila. While I don’t really want to get into the politics and history of this area since I’m quite unfamiliar with it, simply looking at all these flags lined up along the coast, with a view of the sea and Cebu Island on the opposite side, was just a sight to behold. In times like this, when we feel constrainted by the rules of traveling during Covid, and when many of us are quarantined in our homes or in our town/cities, even just the memory of being this free in the wind, like these flags, is like a breath of fresh air amid a week of suffocating day to day responsibilities.
I miss freedom. I miss travel. I miss not having to worry about forgetting my mask. I miss being close to someone without fear of catching something. To go where the wind takes, and to feel the sea air fill your lungs like it’s the most beautiful experience in the world.
