#NA beer reviews to come in the new year lol

[teesbees]

The gods smile down upon me, my flight is delayed an hour and a half which means I can do Airport Drinking before saying goodbye to all alcohol for the next two months

[sorasunao]

Garish Room #28 [2017 ver. member A to Z case of Aoi] part 1

- Actor (favorite actor / actress, own acting ability)

Aoi: If I name, for example, Satomi Ishihara, it will be a little strange, huh? *laughs* She is very pretty, and her acting is quite good. The Doramas with her are very interesting. Next, if we're talking about actors... This year I first watched all the releases of the "Taiga" series.  [*Big River" is a long historical series, which shows NHK throughout the year. It has been broadcast since 1963]. Initially, I thought that I'd only watch the first three episodes, but it turned out to be so interesting that I was seized by this. In this regard, I believe that Kusakari Masao is the best among the actors.  He's insanely cool.  I even thought that I want to become as magnanimous as he is.  What about my acting?  It's no good. To be yourself and completely reincarnate in someone else is two huge differences. 

- Baby (do you often behave like a child)

Aoi: I often think about it. So honestly I can't say "yes". From time to time, I really want to intervene into someone's conversation with emotional words like: "Eh? Why?" And this is very childish. * laughs * And I often think to myself "Oh, it's so awkward."  But there's nothing to be done about it, because I have such a character.  I realized this already when I arrived in Tokyo. The people of Kanto region don't understand my jokes at all. *laughs* Hmm, maybe nobody at home could understand me too. * laughs*  Sometimes, others say: “You are unbearable”, but in fact, even then the ambience around me is very pleasant.  But, even if they don’t fully understand these jokes, then parry with words like "Okay, okay, it's alright" or "Hey man, what makes you so angry?".

- Christmas (memories of christmas) 

Aoi:  Nothing special. Everything is too ordinary, and there is nothing to tell.

- Danger (it was dangerous!)

Aoi:  In early December, I was poisoned for the first time by oysters. Despite the fact that I really like oysters, I thought I would die. I heard that such a poisoning is terrible, but it was really terrible. At first I thought, "How can It fever from poisoning?", but then I thought, "What if this is the moment of my death?". *laughs*  Somehow I reconciled to this,  my body was weak, and I thought that this is how death comes. And, then, during the tour, I was struggling to think about life as much as possible. After all, they [* about Shinigami?] come unexpectedly, don’t they?

- Emergency (things you think you need to do now, as soon as possible) 

Aoi:  General cleaning. Anyway if I don't clean the bathroom, I won't be happy. If we talk about cleaning in the bathroom, it needs to be done throughout the year, so then you don't need to polish it to shine. But even if I do this, I still have to clear the drains several times during the year. And if I do not do it at once, I will have to do this for a year, for my health. It'll seem to me that everything bad is still in my body. So I must do this as soon as possible.  Therefore, by the end of the year (2016), my plans must be implemented. Probably I will do it right tomorrow. *laughs*

- Fashion (preferences in style)

Aoi:  No preference. The other day, I went out with a backpack from the collection of our goods. And since I never wore this backpack on my shoulders, so I put it to put on wild. When Ruki saw this, he only said, "This is wrong way". So I looked like a Yankee who carried a backpack on elongated straps. * laughs * But in fact, I have no interest to such a fashion. *laughs *

- Ghibli (Ghibli's favorite works)

Aoi:  I prefer the works of Pixar. Therefore ... I can not single out anything *laughs* 

- Health (what do you pay special attention in the field of health)

Aoi:  Every day I drank up to two cans of beer. The first thirteen years in the group I was constantly slightly drunk, and because of this, I began to gain of weight. Therefore, now I don't eat in the evenings and have reduced the volume of consumed alcohol. And I'm glad with the fact that I started taking care of my health. I stopped drinking and overeating.

- Immorality (about treasons, which became a hot topic in 2016) 

Aoi:  I do not think about people who think that it's worth it. Apparently, they can afford such a way of life. Perhaps this is related to money. But ... all this is not good, right?  But even on television, everyone does it.  And they do not limit themselves in anything.  If this is true, then I would prefer to watch only local news and reviews on seasonal food.

- Junk (unnecessary things at home)

Aoi:  Cables? *laughs*  After I stop using them, I don’t throw them away, so there are a lot of in the bag.  And although I don’t use them for anything anymore... I do not understand how I can take them and throw away.  They are all called "What kind of adapter is this?".

- Kimi no Na Wa (the film "Your name")

Aoi:  Of course I didn’t watch... Since the cross-promotion of soundtracks, with the help of active advertising and various advertising  cooperations, in all available ways they get such a hit. This how I can explain the growing popularity of this story.

- Love (the importance that love occupies in your life)

Aoi:  It takes about 2% of my entire life. What is called love is the need to share your time with someone else, right? I love only one person. [* himself? LOL]

translated from japanese to russian by shimizu_ran.vk for the_gazette_quotes.vk

translated from russian to english by me

as always thx for reading and sorry for mistakes ^^

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 5th May 2019 (Stormzy, Taylor Swift, bird sounds lol)

This week is really busy and crazy, so I’m going to try and keep it brief – although I have a lot to say.

Top 10

The biggest – or the first immediately notable – story is the new number-one, as “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy, reaching a peak of 12.6 million streams in its first week, the most ever for a British rapper. Its battle with our number-three spot was heavily publicised and Stormzy (And Lil Nas X) understandably won, mostly because of timing, however I don’t think Taylor Swift could have gotten the number-one spot anyway. At least pop music has gotten exciting, I guess – doesn’t mean the UK charts are any good right now, but it’s a significant improvement. This song is massive as is its video, and Stormzy’s first-ever #1 on the chart as a credited artist, and fourteenth top 40 overall (It’s his sixth top 10 hit overall). I pray to God this crosses over to the US, because, yes, I think it can.

To my surprise, Lil Nas X is still at number-two with “Old Town Road”, down a spot from last week, featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. I thought it’d be left demolished by Swift and Stormzy, but here we are, I suppose. Speaking of...

At number-three, we have another debut, Taylor Swift’s 25th (!) Top 40 hit and her 13th Top 10 hit, and Brendon Urie’s sixth Top 40 hit and first ever Top 10 hit, “ME!” credited to Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco, or as the YouTube video claimed, “(feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco) ft. Brendon Urie”. I’ll talk more about this and “Vossi Bop” later, but it’s safe to say that this was even huger than Stormzy’s track, at least worldwide, yet was beaten in pure sales and streaming. I guess that’s what we get for not counting radio on the UK charts.

Now it gets less interesting. “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi is down one spot to number-four, thankfully.

“Piece of Your Heart” by MEDUZA and Goodboys is naturally down three spots to number-five thanks to the sheer power of the top three.

Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” is down two spaces to number-six.

The late Avicii’s posthumous release “SOS”, featuring Aloe Blacc, is down one position to number-seven.

Tom Walker’s “Just You and I” is holding on, down three to number-eight.

Russ (Splash) and Tion Wayne’s “Keisha & Becky” is still safe off of the remix’s longevity, down a spot to number-nine.

Finally, rounding off the top 10 at #10, is “Location” by Dave featuring Burna Boy, up a singular spot from last week.

Climbers

Okay, first of all, “All Day and Night” by Jax Jones and Martin Solveig as EUROPA featuring Madison Beer is only up two spaces so it’s not notable enough, but may I add that the official single image was used for weeks until they decided to use the thumbnail for a version uploaded via TunesToTube.com and I’m not joking, the watermark is still present and visible in the image used – how does this slip through the cracks? Anyways, “No Diet” by Digga D is up seven to #20, becoming his first ever UK Top 20 hit, “Carry On” by Kygo and Rita Ora from Detective Pikachu is up nine spaces to #30, and that’s all.

Fallers

Fallers are a different story though, there’s quite a lot to talk about here. First of all, the streaming for Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker” may or may not have been cut as it’s down six spaces to #13, whilst four consecutive early 2019 hits continue their gradual fades out of relevance, with “Giant” by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man down eight to #24 but “Don’t Feel Like Crying” by Sigrid, “i’m so tired...” by LAUV and Troye Sivan as well as “Don’t Call Me Up” by Mabel all down six positions to fill up the #25-#27 slots. I’m also unsure to why there are premature drops for George Ezra’s “Pretty Shining People” down 12 to #37 and “Let Me Down Slowly” by Alec Benjamin featuring Alessia Cara down seven to #38, although our final drop here from Post Malone with “Wow.” down six to #40 is fully expected.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Some earlier 2019 hits are making room for the Summer it seems, perhaps due to streaming cuts as “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish is out from #15 and “Dancing with a Stranger” by Sam Smith and Normani is out from #36. Some songs that never went anywhere like “Who Do You Love” by The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds of Summer and “MONOPOLY” by Ariana Grande and Victoria Monet are also out, from #38 and #40 respectively, but the biggest story is George Ezra’s “Shotgun”, which has spent nearly all of its 58 non-consecutive weeks on the Top 75 chart in the Top 40, and is finally out from #30 – although it’s still outside of the top 40. Other than that, there are no drop-outs or returning entries to speak of, so let’s get to reviewing the new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#36 – “Sixteen” – Ellie Goulding

Produced by Mike Wise and FRED – Peaked at #19 in Scotland

Okay, so, I’ve never had to talk about Ellie Goulding all too much, and to be perfectly honest, she’s continued to sour on me the more she puts out and the less unique her material gets. Sure, her songwriting chops have always been there and hopefully always will, but she isn’t as interesting as I wish she was, especially instrumentally as while her producers carved her own lane back when she was making stuff like “Lights”, she seems just to be chasing trends in recent years. Regardless of my opinion of Ellie Goulding, she’s made some good stuff and this is her twenty-second UK Top 40 hit, so let’s see how it fares... well, this sure would be mediocre in 2016. In 2019, it sure exists. Remember tropical house? Yeah, you love that, right? Well, let’s mix it with the boring and dull vaguely-pop music of 2019, and make what isn’t a disaster at all, somehow. It starts abruptly with a looped and manipulated vocal sample that goes nowhere, before cutting to an immediately pretty interesting guitar-lead verse, which then kicks into gear for a really bouncy, fun pre-chorus. Then the chorus comes in where Goulding strains her voice talking about being 16 and wearing her significant other’s T-shirt, and all of the momentum is killed when it drops into that manipulated vocal sample. Do I appreciate the tongue-in-cheek MSN reference? Of course, I do, and the lyrics are actually very unique and I’d argue pretty great, and really invokes that youthful sense of exploration and feeling like you can do it all, you’re on top of the world... but I’m not sure if it holds up sonically, especially with that freaking drop, it really isn’t pleasant and feels like a remnant of recent past. Overall, it’s okay and I don’t really care about it enough but I understand the appeal, as with Goulding’s work overall.

#34 – “Don’t Worry Bout Me” – Zara Larsson, not featuring Alessia Cara

Produced by The Struts – Peaked at #7 in Sweden

I say NOT featuring Alessia Cara, mostly because BBC seems to think it does. Sigh, there’s an insane amount of mistakes on this week’s entry. Anyway, this is Zara Larsson’s new single and like all of her singles it has a massive singles push, and by that I mean an incredible amount of pretty pointless remixes, whilst the original is just a cloudy pop single that doesn’t stand out at all from the rest. This particular single, co-written with goddess Tove Lo, is her ninth UK Top 40 single and only slightly more recognisable, mostly because it takes an 80s/early 2010s fusion of dance-pop that was pretty interesting but the build-up feels a bit drawn-out, with the lack of percussion making the way-too-obvious autotune stick out like a sore thumb, but once the strings and 808s hit, it’s not much but it does add a lot of drama and that cinematic feel is immediately killed by the drop, but the chorus is a catchy kiss-off, and the fast-paced percussion and house music-influenced bass does add a lot of bounce to the hook, and it is pretty fun. There’s a really nasal, eerie synth sound in the bridge that was irritating at first but did grow on me, but then it disappears for the entirety of the last chorus and outro, which doesn’t add any sense of climax or finality at all. The rest of the song doesn’t exist. Next.

#18 – “Let Nature Sing” – The RSPB

Produced by literal birds

So, this is the confusing one I think I might have to explain a bit. “Let Nature Sing” is a campaign more than it is a hit single, as The RSPB isn’t a band, rather it’s one of the largest wildlife charities in Europe, specifically the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Now this isn’t a pandering charity single with a bunch of celebrities singing vague lyrics about we love the Earth, it is our planet, we love the Earth, it is our home, no, it’s literal birdsong – for two minutes and thirty-two seconds. Now, initially, I had no idea how to rank this in the top 20 so I invented a new “???” tier just for this single and any other bizarre picks that ended up in the top half of the charts... but I think I love this. There are 165 critically endangered species within Britain’s environment, as RSPB claims in their promotional website for the single, and that is 56% of the wildlife in decline. So they’re raising money a la Band Aid and/or Lil Dicky, for preservation of British wildlife, and trying to spread the word about this single, which eventually did get enough downloads and sales, as well as 58,000 streams to chart. Now, I hope this money is used well and that the birds who are sampled in this song are paid songwriting royalties because this is great. This is beautiful. Now it’s not like this has any specific structure, and I haven’t researched to see what species of birds are singing here, but this is pure serenity and almost works as ASMR wave sounds to fall asleep to. Sure, there are a bunch of reverb effects that make the woodpecker sound jarring, and some non-bird sounds that kind of sound like an artificial bass being added, as well as a synth but that may just be my complete lack of knowledge about birds in general. It’s all chopped up and it definitely is not pure recorded birdsong, which I’d be inclined to check out, but for what it is, the sounds here are quirky, fun and sound natural, and since it’s helping a cause, I’d say stream it. It’s not unpleasant and isn’t a 7-minute joke about small penises featuring Lil Yachty as a sexually-transmitted illness, so I’d argue it’s a better alternative to actual charity SONGS... so, yeah, stream this, it’s short, it’s calming, but I doubt this will stay longer than two weeks if that.

#3 – “ME!” – Taylor Swift featuring Panic! at the Disco

Produced by Joel Little and Taylor Swift – Peaked at #1 in Hungary, Nicaragua and Scotland

There’s a lot to hate about this new lead bubblegum pop single from Taylor Swift’s upcoming seventh studio album, featuring vocals from Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco fame. There really is a lot to hate, from the factory-settings production that feels like such an abrupt shift from the mechanical albeit jagged electronic production from the last album, Taylor’s aggravating inflections from her verse AND the pre-chorus, the nonsensical chorus which rips hard from “Sit Next to Me” by Emeli Sande, the marching band percussion that reminds me all too much of “Shake it Off” as well as Urie’s work on Panic!’s most recent album especially with the rattling hi-hats covered up by a blast of overproduced trumpets, and the cringeworthy bridge, where two grown adults in their early 30s starting their middle-eight with, “Hey, kids, spelling is fun!” – seriously, this was written only by the producers and the artists, how is it this unfitting and odd for Taylor to be singing? Surely, Taylor should be able to come naturally with great songwriting like she has before, even on reputation, and this shouldn’t be as awfully-written as it is. The “Spelling is fun” tangent doesn’t even fit the time signature, for God’s sake. Oh, and this trainwreck of a line:

Girl, there ain’t no “I” in “Team” / But you know, there is a “Me”

No, there isn’t. There isn’t a “Me” in “Team” unless you rearrange it, and in that case, it’d be misspelled, hence your bridge’s message, which is, as I recall, spelling is fun, is undercut by the fact you can’t spell. What does that even mean in this case, since it would otherwise be a cheesy lyric about how they’re a team or whatever, because it’s been rearranged and manipulated? Is there no “Me” in “Team” anymore? Are Taylor and Brendon breaking up in the middle of their spelling bee? Are they saying their relationship is as complicated and infuriating as this one lyric? Let’s see Taylor’s reasoning here:

“We wanted it to be playful, we didn’t want it to take itself seriously at all.” That, by the way, is why I love this song to death and despite everything I can nag about it, it’s actually really fun and one of Taylor’s best songs to date. It screams colour even without the expensive music video, and every little annoying misstep counts towards the hilarity of the song and how carefree it is, from Taylor’s “UHH” ad-libs to them both belting distant lyrics about how there’s a lot of lame guys out theeeeeere, it all comes together and makes a really cool song that doesn’t care about your judgement. Yes, I had a lot to say about that one, but I’ve been building it up for nearly two weeks now. You can’t spell awesome without “ME!”, I guess.

#1 – “Vossi Bop” – Stormzy

Produced by Chris Andoh

Speaking of awesome people, welcome back, Stormzy, one of my favourite British rappers and one of the most unique, with Gang Signs & Prayer holding up as one of my favourite hip-hop albums ever. Merky Academy’s founder has decided to strip it down a bit for this minimalistic return to form after a gospel-tinged and R&B-influenced debut studio album. This is “Vossi Bop”, and it bangs. We have that lo-fi yet menacing synth line looping in the back of the mix before the thumping bass kicks in with a catchy and eerie piano melody which really adds a lot of grit to Stormzy’s bars, mostly just about living life of luxury and celebrating his rags to riches story. While the 808s are admittedly mixed a tad oddly, as is the trap percussion, the rattling hi-hats give an otherwise pretty slow-paced rap flow some bounce and quick-paced energy. The multi-tracked hook is catchy and anthemic, although Stormzy’s refusal to dab is a bit more EB the Original Master than I would prefer, and I personally like the Mondegreen, “my brothers don’t die, we just Vossi bop” better, but the verses are pretty great. In this context, Vossi bopping means a laidback dance popularised by a guy named Vossi that went viral a few years ago – in fact, this song was made ages before its release. In the bluntly-delivered verses with some smooth flow switches, Stormzy discusses how he looks at his girl and thanks God. How wholesome. Also F Boris Johnson and he’s Chuck Norris? It’s not exactly the most poetic Stormzy’s been, but he does have multisyllabic rhyme schemes and his lyrics are at least coherent, which isn’t really what I can say for most UK rap that debuts on the charts nowadays. He also refers to jet lag as “f***ing up my body clock”, and we have a censored word that we don’t know yet, and have yet to have had any explanation for? We’ll see, I guess. Anyways, this is an absolute banger and I’m ecstatic Stormzy has a #1.

Conclusion

This was actually a cool week in retrospect. Best of the Week is going to The RSPB for “Let Nature Sing” because it’s two and a half minutes of birdsong in the top 20 and that’s impressive enough. The Honourable Mention is tied, going to both Stormzy for “Vossi Bop” and Taylor Swift with Brendon Urie for “ME!”, whilst Worst of the Week goes that Zara Larsson song. Blech. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more pop music ramblings and Top 20 rankings, and I’ll see you next week!

I could never die, I’m Chuck Norris (Chuck Norris) / F*** the government and f*** Boris (Yeah)

[mikkalaia]

2017 IN REVIEW

Last 2016 I also did a review on my year, it was just a short recollection of my “best of 2016”. But this year I’ll try to expound on my year a little bit more. As you all might not know, I do multiple journaling, one for my daily recollections, a planner for my to do list and schedules, and another for my notes and lessons it’s basically just a notebook for random quotes and thoughts. This time I’ll try to share with you how this year went so far. I’ll share to you my best and worst of 2017, no frills. Just so you know this blog started last year and I haven’t been able posting that much. But this year I liberated myself, I took this year to find myself and I think I did- in a way lol. 2018 get ready for a wiser me!

Recap, last time I decided to take up my MBA which I didn’t by the way because of work-related reasons. lol so that’s that. haha

JANUARY:

I decided to cut all my hair off and it was the shortest haircut I ever had. I needed to learn how to put on wax and fix my hair which I barely did even if I had my hair long and that was one of my misconception about cutting your hair really short that you won’t get to fix it. I was going for the Audrey Hepburn look but ended up looking a lot like Eleven from Stranger Things instead. So basically, I had to put wax on my hair and beat my face with makeup just so I can still look like a girl with no cancer. It was one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done this year – I took off one of the things that defined me and made someone new again and not even the shiny and new kind. I was naked and free.

Had my first trip out-of-town for work reasons, of course, we were bound for Subic to visit the BCB branch. I also organized and hosted my first media event. and it went well – one of my best accomplishments at work. Next to coordinating a TV feature for “Taralet” – a travel tv show with Andi Eigenmann. They were late but it was okay. Then had my first wine event at Speakeasy – that went okay as well.

Binge watching on Narcos for this month. hahaha and

And for the last day of my January, I was able to go to Sto. Tomas/Mt. Cabuyao for lunch at Cafe in the Sky with the officemates and bosses. It was my first time there, the view was to die for but the food was substandard. But I’ll come back for the view, and I did 11 months later. Dan turned 21 this year and we had Japanese Buffet at BCC.

FEBRUARY:

for February one highlight of this month is that I had dinner with AC at Hill Station and he gave gifts like a hard case for my MacBook Air, a Lang Leav book collection among other stuff (Thank you AC!) and waited for Angela to celebrate her birthday and blow her candles. 2 good friends visited me at work today Chad & AC what are the odds? we all ended up having drinking games. I was honestly mostly drunk this month. drinking with bosses & friends and I guess this is what it’s like to work in a brewery. lol

I also had the chance to organized a staycation for bloggers at the Villa Cordillera and hosting at The Other Office. Food was great but the staycation was a bit creepy I admit haha. and It was my first time to see and feed a dear so that was different. and for this’ month’s travel bumming around in ELYU for a day with friends. and squeezed in a blogger activity at Sugar Artisan.

For Valentine’s Day I was working and hosted my first ever four-course meal and craft beer pairing – and it was damn cold that day. Hosted Larry Guevara a famous bartender for a guest bartending at Speakeasy.

“I’m Drunk, I Love You” with Cati & Jen. I cried! haha. and I still have to post my review and commentaries for this film cause it was so good.

MARCH:

Micah & I celebrated our birthday together on the 14th at @ Monterazas for bbq, wine, and smores with friends. On the 17th AC planned a surprise dinner together with my family and friends. I cried so much cause I was unprepared and I was ugly hahaha. and on the 18th Chad and Micah surprised me again at work! they gave me a box of 23 cream puffs and a watch from Chad. then after that, we hangout had takeout and movies with friends. And back at the office, I had another surprise! they gave me 2 bottles of mead from sir Ar, messages from the BCB team, cake and wine and all things nice. This month was loaded with surprises, I just feel so blessed. and thinking about it 2017 ain’t so bad at all.

For a Blogger event, we went to try out Joie de Vivre for a blogger meet up and hosting the place had a great view. and Ma’am Sheryll hosted her first ever Study Circle at the Library.

Logan, Kong, Beauty & the Beast and Power Rangers with the squad. Not my kind of film but this is the most month I went to the movies. But nothing beats “English Only, Please” and “Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa”, “Sana, Dati” and “Sakaling Hindi Makaraking” at CAP and meet the director & bought postcards and stole posters hahaha.

For work I hosted a brewed and BBQ party, it went super well but the cops kept driving by cause it was too late and noisy lol. but yeah friends were there to support me so yeah It was good.

For family travel, we went to Vitalis Villa in Santiago, Ilocos. A day of learning how to swim with mom.

APRIL:

Went to Sagada with friends this month, I tried spelunking @ Sumaging Cave for the first time. Visited Mt. Kiltepan and had lunch at Guaia Cafe where they shot “That Thing Called Tadhana” (and yes I’m that Filipino indie film freak for sappy love stories), bonfire & boodle fight @ Lake Danum but nothing beats going there for the first time alone and experiencing the place and people. It is truly a place for healing.

This month blogger activity we had a food crawl organized by Chino and it was a success I was able to host them at the Brewery and Speakeasy as well but sadly I wasn’t able to join them. For work I hosted bloggers for Air Asia from Davao I think, anyways that was that.

“Lion” was this month’s favorite and “Eternal Sunshine on a Spotless Mind”. started watching the “Newsroom” this as recommended by my officemates and surprisingly it was good and I enjoyed it.

For this month’s family travel we visited the Grape farm at Bauang,  Luna for the “Bahay na Bato” and Back to San Luis Del Mar, Bauang for an afternoon swim. We ate pizza and drank fresh coconut juice on the side of the road and it was cool.

MAY:

This month’s blogger event was an invitation at a spa opening. Me and Micah took the liberty to have a body scrub and bleaching – it was both our first time to experience it. I was okay. Published my first blog post after a long while “Don’t Think, Just Jump”

For work I organized a video shoot for BCB’s Aniversary, and the video was done by Hiromi Umatsu and his team. He was really good and we connected with the films and likes. This month I made a friend.

13 Reason’s Why was this month’s binge-watching series. which gave me nightmares by the way. The series was too heavy. and started to watch “How I Met Your Mother” again just to move on from “13 Reasons Why” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” was okay. I kinda find it lame, to be honest. but It was funny lol. Other movies are, “Liberal Arts”, “Diary of a Teenage Girl”

Dad had a wedding exhibit at the mall this month. And for Dad’s birthday month and we had Tepanyaki @Hamada Restaurant, BCC. and surprised him with a cake at the Cafe. Cati, my friend also celebrated her birthday today, but we celebrated with kids at a church it was a nice outreach celebration.

This month’s adventure was at San Garbrielle’s Tangadan Falls, I went cliff diving thrice by the way I wish someday I can do it without a life vest. The habal-habal ride back to the main town was exhilarating, and it reminded me a lot about Baler.

JUNE:

For blogger activity, we visited the workshop at “Everything is Pine”, It was far but the view of the place was too good. I wanted to live there. For another event, we had a hosting at Zola, Dropout and one from Il Padrino. We’ve been basically just eating this month.

Still, binge-watching HIMYM and I’m done! “Moonlight” had cool take to a coming-out film. “Before I Fall” was okay. and for my first Koreanovela -“Descendants of the Sun” gahh I fell in love and gave all the feels.

A puppy visited us to work. and for this month’s event. BCB turned 3 – I felt like shit this day. I was so stressed, and annoyed. but yeah there we’re problems but it went okay in the end.

Had dinner at BCC for Father’s Day.

And for thrills and adventure, we went to Pugad Adventure with the bloggers. We tried out the ziplines & giant swing. I ALMOST DIED! then swam the whole afternoon. It was pretty chill.

JULY:

Still, on food assignments for blogger activities this time it was at The Camp – from Sala, Hardin, One-Sick-Damn- Joint. food!! and for Social Media Day we had a staycation at the Forest Cabin, this activity was super fun wine, food, games & friends. I needed this!! What I enjoyed the most was the bathtub. Can’t wait to have one of those. haha and, Cafe by the Ruins finally had its last Caniao it was a sad event actually.

Work has been rocky since June, but I was able to host other TV feature for BCB. Its been really slow and I’ve been working with BCB Cebu already and I was bound to Cebu for 10 days for its opening. I took the liberty to work hard on Cebu I’ve been beating myself more the 8hrs a day for the media hosting and grand opening. And I would go out drinking and have Karaoke with them until the sun is up. And in the afternoon I would go for a dip in the pool cause thank God they got me an Airbnb with a pool and it was near the site. and before anything else, I went around the city alone, rode a habal-habal from place to place. I liked this version of me that was carefree. I knew what made me happy – what made me. me. I really did love my own company, that I didn’t feel much alone when I was there. I learned to live, cook and care for myself. I was happy there.

And I did stand up comedy workshop with blogger friends and the next day It was my first time to put it to the test and I was so nervous but liberating to make fun of yourself in front of a crowd, it was the longest 3 minutes of my life and Thank God they laughed!. This month I was able to tick another box on my bucket list.

Also Mom’s birthday month! dinner as per usual on our favorite korean place -Wood Nymph haha.

Finally watched “Miracle in Cell No. 7” -I cried my eyes out! “Okja” did the same thing. watched “Kita Kita” in SM Cebu alone and cried again but I didn’t mind.

AUGUST:

Now back to my city, friends welcomed me home and we had dinner @ Slaughter. nothing fancy but the food was always great. I was able to meet a lot of my friends this month, I had coffee and beer with Janine, Jerrilyn and Zandra. Had dinner and wine with one of my favorite human Tom- we catch up and shared our sentiments in life. We just missed each other. I’m super proud of him!

Enrolled for Open University for an MA in Development Communications. Lunch at Canto with an officemate that is a good friend. and celebrated Paul’s birthday. this all happened in one day.

“Rebel without a Cause” was this month’s film. “Everything, Everything” made me kilig lol “To the Bones” was good as well. “100 Tula para kay Stella” got me crying real bad on the last part.

For this month’s adventure Micah and I tried to travel alone for the first time ever. bus ride after bus ride, and jeep and a tricycle we finally arrived in Batangas! Thank’s to AC for hosting us at Club Balay Isabel, we stayed there for 2 nights. he gave a tour of the resort, took tons of bikini pictures, and pool day all day. It was the life. a break from the stress. It was a good day.

SEPTEMBER:

Baguio day! Spent this day with my forever bestfriend Micah, breakfast at Cafe Adriana, did our blogger duties, fixed our schedules, made plans for The Local Folke and visited sir Jogin at 18 BC. We can feel that this month is going to be busy for the both of us. With school and work, friends, other projects, traveling and blogging I might lose it lol. We decided to make The Local Folke a community and planned for a gathering of creatives. The activity went super well, we had brunch at Arca’s Yard and Chiara bought the Raw Table and shared it with us. It was super inspiring.

Micah and I attended Maxine’s Lipstick line Launch at the Basement. The lipsticks were really nice, I really like the choices of shades. Had a few drinks, met and made friends. Climb Mt. Ulap for tree planting with Chiki (turistaboy) and Kuya A (ATravels), and it was raining super hard, so we decided to descend early had a fellowship, met new friends, it was a cool experience, no regrets.

This month’s film was “Boyhood” it was pretty mundane nothing much except you get to see the actors grow up on screen which was cool. Did a movie marathon Wes Anderson, Rushmore, The Shark and the Wale, The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tenenbaums, Aquatic Life with Steve Zissou, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Moonrise Kingdom. I’m a super fan of this works and how it is curated, I’m super in love with his style everything!

OCTOBER:

This month was both a good and a bad month but nevertheless, I was always productive. We have our first solo hosting of the Gathering for The Local Folke at the Other Office, we were only expecting 10 attendees but ended up hosting 15! it was hard, tiring and consuming but we were able to pull it off and It was all worth it.

For work, I coordinated another magazine feature BCB at Travel Now Magazine. and we had a Halloween Party, us at the office took the liberty to dress up as well, I went for that 40’s tattooed pinup look. This is my first time to dress up for Halloween haha. Anyways this month’s food highlight is Aytron & Ebenezer’s sinigangan na Bangus is the bomb!

Chino had an art exhibit this month together with his dad at the Baguio Museum, we were all there to support this milestone of his. He was good and damn the guy can paint. We also attended the 4th year Aniv of The Other Office -the birthplace of The Other Blogger and played mini golf. it was my first time to watch fireworks up close it was breathtaking – magical even!

Wonder Woman on cable. started How To Get Away with Murder. lol It was really exciting to watch and mind puzzling. “What Happened To Monday” was a good futuristic action movie, really nice plot twist.

My slowest month yet, no travel but I was able to hang out a lot with friends and workmates.

NOVEMBER:

This month was sht to be honest. It was the worst. I resigned to a job that I love doing because my morals are being challenged and I simply had to choose. I wrote a two pages resignation letter and that was the bravest thing I’ve ever done this month. But I just felt like I had to do it. and for my last media hosting, CNN Philippines. -my finish strong. For a week I was depressed, I cried and drink and all that stuff. It was hard turning over, given the time. I felt powerless.

The day after my last day I was bound for MNL for a Blogapalooza @City of Dreams, It was my first time inside of a casino and I tried my luck as well. It was a bonding experience, the breakfast buffet at Nobu Hotel was really good. and the room interior was nice and clean. Right after the event we took the liberty to look around the city we visited the National Museum of Anthropology and I enjoyed so much that I didn’t even felt hungry, I was so amused by the artifacts and stories behind it.

Rewatching “That 70’s Show” my all time favorite show. Had a date with my brother, we watched Thor Ragnarok, we went thrift shopping, strolling and taking random pictures around the city. It was a good bonding day cause I barely had time with him.

This month I started jogging, and had wine with my favorite person -Micah and ma’am Ninj at Arca’s Yard and for the gathering, it was super intimate, honest. and I love that my brother was there and he was really good. Everything was so good, the people, the sharing, the love. everything. I tried to declutter and fix my things. I threw some things and kept some things. This month was hard.

DECEMBER:

December was light – It was a very light month and super jampacked. but still, there are ups and downs. We were able to do a 3-day garage sale, finished my first semester of my masters. Mom got bitten by one of our cats and I have to accompany her get her shots. We lost two baby kittens this month and it was devastating, we cried a lot.

We hosted the “Towards One Blogosphere”  a blogger event for local Baguio Bloggers. the event went okay. after that WTB invited me to come with them for an exhibit at Oh May Gulay, it was my first time to go and I was able to meet the artist as well. I like these guys a lot! they’re so cool!

Had Christmas dinner with the friends and gave my gifts. and for our gathering that almost didn’t happen, we had a picnic and it was lovely, we’re happy with the outcome. Micah surprised me with a Where To Next Planner and right after we had life talks at 2600 while we eat chicken haha it was really fun and lovely day. and for Christmas day we went to Baguio City Jail to give out letter and toiletries among other things.

Climb Mt. Kalugong with my ex-officemate that is now a really good friend of mine. I also went to Winaca Village, I simply walked around and I relearn how to drive again yey! then on the same day, we drove to ELYU for food and drinks, we did a set and snuck on a beach hostel to drink. It was a very spontaneous experience with my college friends and best friends. It was pretty cool. and for my last travel up north, we went to Mt. Cabuyao, for sunset but it was too cloudy however the city lights got me – it was so gorgeous, I liked how cold it was I fell in love with everything about it. I’m coming back here every year. We had bonfire and beer, and habal-habal on our way back to the main road. Also received my camel backpack from Ebenezer! It was worth the wait haha.

And I was able to finally have my closure and it gave me all the right feelings. I was me again, I felt a lot lighter. I’m happy again. and I can truly say that now.

xoxo