Holidays 2025: Practicing the Art of Slowing Down

"Sa travels natin, let's be intentional in having a slow pace. Enjoy the present and savor the moment. Time has this ability to sneak up on us, at magmamalay na lang tayo na matatapos na naman pala ang taon."

Nov 4 (Mon): This year, I slowed down at work. I realized that how I'm valued as an employee is not equal to how I do my tasks compared to my teammates. I still hit targets and deadlines, but that's it. I'm only doing what's expected of me. I'm not quite quitting, as a matter of fact, I love my job. I just don't want to rush things anymore.

At home, I appreciate slow mornings more than taking only a minute or two to finish my cup of coffee. I now take my time when taking a bath, enjoying more the smell of my body wash than rubbing my skin with my body scrub in a rush. I feel so refreshed when the cold water from the shower slowly and steadily washes away the shampoo in my hair.

On the left is a snap from one of our slow dinner cravings, shy lang ako d'yan. I can still vividly remember that dinner; there was no rush to finish our food, just my partner and I savoring the Vietnamese flavors in our order. I'm enjoying this Thai Tangerine Tea, not so Vietnamese, huh?

Nov 6 (Thu): Here I am in my favorite neighborhood coffee shop, enjoying my hot Spanish latte and chocolate chip cookie while trying to figure out how I will move forward with my three process documentation projects and two course creation projects. Also, nakakatuwa kapag ganitong month na. Super light sa pakiramdam at nae-excite ako sa isiping I'll be able to meet my friends again over coffee and some pastries, catch-up malala sa mga ganap namin sa buhay bago matapos ang taon.

Nov 09 (Sun): Just finished working. I was still able to do some household chores. Well, may parating na super-typhoon named Uwang, and Metro Manila is already on Typhoon Signal #3 while my hometown is already in #4. God help us! Despite the weather forecast, it's still very calm outside, so hopefully ay hindi na matuloy si Uwang at malusaw na lang sa karagatan.

Anyway, last Friday night (Saturday, really, at 12 AM), my work friends and I went to Tagaytay to catch up, have dinner, and enjoy some coffee. Then, uwi na rin. Hahaha. Very quick indeed pero enough na for us to decompress from the stress we're getting from work, chill lang pero puro tawanan sa kung anu-anong bagay na napag-usapan.

Here we are posing for a photo while waiting for our orders: inihaw platter, seafood soup, and mango shake pitcher. Sulit din ang experience namin sa 24-7 restaurant na 'to. Hindi masyadong malamig pero grabe ang fog papunta at pauwi. There were spots where the road was no longer visible. After this, we had coffee at Hiraya, a Starbucks Reserve. Sa dami ng tao, we just opted for a to-go order and just enjoyed our lattes in the car.

On the way home, we bought fruits sa hilera ng tindahan sa kalsada. It's been a long time since nakakain ako ng guyabano. I also bought saba for my rice substitutes.

Anyway, I gotta prepare now. I have a badminton game from 8AM to 1PM. Sana, hindi na talaga matuloy si Uwang dito sa Pilipinas and just totally dissolve in the ocean.

Nov 24 (Mon): Another manic Monday! My partner and I watched the second part of the Wicked movie last Saturday. For someone na hindi fan ng play and source literature itself, sakto lang yung movie. Maybe it's the action-movie-lover in me, nakulangan ako sa main conflict scene ng movie. Anyway, I really booked the movie kasi gustong-gusto nang mapanuod ng partner ko, and that's good enough for me to actually watch it.

Dec 11 (Thu): Long day at work, but managed to squeeze in a 3.50-kilometer walk. Not much, but a perfect start after being idle on this morning routine for almost a month. I tried a new route today, the one that crossed borders between two cities. I also found a specialty coffee space named Satori.

Dec 16 (Tue): Yesterday was something that I hope not to experience again. But who knows? Anyway, this week is kinda very uneventful for me since ang huling badminton game ng club namin ay last Sunday na, and we'll resume with regular games on the 4th day of next year na. I plan to walk-run daily, starting tomorrow morning, to shake off the holiday laziness I've been feeling since last week. I also want to get a haircut, maybe tomorrow afternoon. But today, I wanna get done with the second module of the course that I've been targeting to finish by the end of this year. Wish me luck!

Jan 09 (Fri): The holiday dust has finally settled in our household: ang mga pagkaing nasa ref namin ay finally paubos na, clothes worn during our vacation and Christmas events sa wakas ay malapit nang malabhan lahat, and my pre-work routine is almost back to normal. Ang post-work routine ko na lang ang kailangang kong maibalik sa dati.

This first week at work is so chaotic and disorganized. Ang kaunti lang ng mga nagawa ko per shift pero parang pagod na pagod ang katawan at isip ko. Hopefully, it's gonna be different starting next week.

Jan 26 (Mon): So far, my January has been both boring and exciting. Boring because I feel like I’m stuck in one place, yet my mind and body can’t seem to find a way to move forward. I’ve been feeling demotivated, made worse by the cold weather, which has been giving me a hard time. I’ve had a common cold since Wednesday last week and have been having difficulty breathing—a clogged nose is one of the things I dislike the most.

On the bright side, my partner and I were finally able to experience Sinulog. Although it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, our overall experience was pleasant. Lastly, I’m already seeing improvement in my badminton games. During my game last Saturday, I won all six of my matches. As for my game yesterday, I won six out of seven.

Jan 30 (Fri): Today is the last day of my manager in my full-time job. I'm sad. I don't want to say goodbye; I'm never good at saying goodbye kaya parang ayoko ring um-attend sa farewell call for her later today. Although sabi naman niya eh we can reach her any time on WhatsApp. She's been one of the best managers that I ever had since I started working in 2013. I pray that she'll have the wisdom and strength to go through this phase in her life. And I just hope na maging friends kami outside of our work set-up. Alam kong mabait at mabuti naman siyang tao.

Feb 03 (Tue): Closing this 2025 Christmas tradition today. I'm not satisfied with the number of entries I have for this year, but life happens, and that's totally fine.

Cheers to a more productive 2026!

Balancing Work and Wanderlust: My 2024 Travel Calendar As I Strive To Get 5/5 APR At Work

"One a year, go somewhere you have never been before."

I have this line from Dalai Lama pasted on a page of one of my diaries. As far as I'm concerned, I'm following this for the rest of my life.

Side Note: My monthly brunch with my best friends is not on this post. You may reach them here: https://bit.ly/2024_The_Exploderz_Brunch_Diary.

JAN (Weekend Travel): My year started with a trip to Zambales with my work circle. It's a weekend trip lang since lahat kami eh sadyang busy the following week. We just

needed a breather from everything we did during the holidays. And I'd say, goal achieved!

Sobrang chill lang ng experience namin sa Limliwa Beach Resort: watching the sunset while having random conversations with cocktails in our hands, swimming even before the sun rose the next day, and also, having that seafood lunch right before we went home!

Then, came the last weekend of the month. This was my second year attending the Lupi Festival in Lumban, Laguna through the invite of my partner's friend.

Aside from the festival experience of suddenly getting wet because the people had a free pass na mangbasa on that day, I super enjoyed our side trip to Liliw where we got to see artisans-made shoes and slippers plus got to have coffee and kesong puti cheesecake at Arabela.

FEB (Art Appreciation): Nothing much happened this month except randomly discovering the yummy food of Bistro Ravioli. This month was supposed to be the Art Appreciation Month of 2024 pero wala kaming naging ganap kahit isa sa museum.

But to still enjoy the public holidays sa buwan na 'to, we went to Binondo the day before Chinese New Year for that Chinese food goodness. We also had coffee sa isang rooftop cafe, sarap ng flat white nila.

Mabuti na lang talaga eh hindi kami sa actual na Chinese New Year pumunta, napakaraming tao, hirap na hirap kaming maglakad, parang pila papasok sa concert venue ni Taylor Swift if ever man na magkaroon dito sa Pilipinas.

We are yet to have a proper Binondo Food Crawl but I'm hoping that we'll have one before this year ends. Probably dalawa lang kami ni Art para hindi mahirap magdecide kung saan kakain at ano lang ang kakainin.

Last entry for this month ay ang first time coffee experience namin sa The Usual Coffee. It's a nearby coffee shop, siguro mga 15 minutes from our house. Your usual coffee orders lang ang nasa menu nila, talk about being true to their name, right? The good thing about it eh talagang perfect ang pagkagawa nila sa bawat order. I had Sea Salt Latte but it's the best I ever had.

MAR (Food Appreciation): Pagpasok pa lang ng buwan, may entry na kaagad ako. My constants sa work and I spent three nights sa Dasol, Pangasinan. Dagat pero super calm, hindi mo talaga ramdam ang alon.

Chill lang talaga: kain, tulog, Netflix, inom, repeat. Ganda sanang mag-island hopping pero sobrang init kaya hindi na namin pinush. Tampisaw na lang sa mababaw ding beach nila kaya sobrang enjoy din kami kahit na wala kaming activities.

Kahit na medyo disappointing ang accommodation na nakuha namin, we found new friends sa restaurant kung saan kami kumain ng pitong beses dahil sa sarap ng mga luto nila. It's just called La Manila, managed by two friends na chefs ng Philippine Airlines bago mag-pandemic. Sa trip na 'to first time kong natikman ang Tequila Rose at Baileys.

It's our second time attending the Manila Coffee Festival, una noong introductory year nila. Ang daming bago this year. Pero ang pinakatumatak sa akin eh ang chocolate coated coffee beans. Sarap! We bought a jar and three tin cans, inuunti-unti namin ng kain. Though grabe ang tapang, kapag antok na antok ako, I ate five pieces at naitatawid na ako until end of my shift.

This month, we also tried a new restaurant sa Glorietta, new to us, at least. It's called Mamak Kopitiam. I super enjoyed their strawberry syrup coolers and roti. Sarap ng dips ng roti nila, my fave dip was the one that kinda smelled like bagoong pero may hindi ako ma-figure out na ingredients that probably made it the Malaysian version.

Since mawawala na rin sa Ayala Museum ang Hymen, oh Hymenee ni Juan Luna, we decided to see it for the second time since libre din naman ang entrance. All I can say is nagkaroon ako ng deeper understanding of the painting when I saw it for the second time. That feeling na nagkaroon ako ng rush of ideas dahil sa nakita kong painting, I couldn't explain the feeling pero para siyang pinagsama-samang rage and love. Maybe intense passion is a better to describe it?

On another subject, it's my first time meeting my online Filipino teammate since malipat ako ng department last July 2023. It was just a very short meet-up, we just had coffee but what I liked about it was we were able to set up a then monthly teambuilding kahit na dadalawa lang naman kami.

Dapat luluwas kami ng Metro Manila for the Holy Week and enjoy the beach kaso ang sobrang traffic paalis at pauwi ang naisip namin. So we just stayed in a nearby hotel on Maundy Thursday, visited seven churches for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, and went to Taal, Batangas on Black Saturday. We were supposed to attend an Easter Mass pero nagkasakit ako kaya we just stayed at home.

APR (Birthday Travel): This is my partner's birthday month so we went to San Juan, La Union to celebrate. We spent four days and three nights in San Juan savoring the food, coffee, and some alcohol of the nearby restaurants, cafes, and bars in between enjoying sunrises and sunsets on the beach.

I finally had a photo beside a surfboard on the beach! And of course, my morning taho ritual on the beach sa unang umaga ng travel.

For the places that we went to, I enjoyed Karruba Cafe and Bakery for its creative pastries, Sabong Fried Chicken for its honey-bagoong fried chicken, Shogun Cafe & Bar for its cocktails and coffee, Putik Friends Pottery Studio and Cafe for its coffee and mugs, and Kabsat for its delicious dishes.

Disappointment for me ang Coco Mama saka El Union. Coco Mama kasi ordinary dessert lang siya, nothing new. I thought it's something na hindi ko makakain anywhere else. El Union, dito ako sobrang na-disappoint. Akala ko napakasarap ng dirty horchata nila, without the cinnamon, ordinary coffee lang na nilagyan ng gatas.

We also had a side-trip to Luna, La Union to see Bahay na Bato and Baluarte after naming mag-check-out sa hotel. Iniwan na lang muna namin ang mga gamit namin sa hotel since pwede naman daw, para wala kaming gaanong dala. Nag-enjoy ako sa Bahay na Bato. Well, it's a museum kaya given na enjoy talaga ako doon. Although the second part of this side-trip which was the Baluarte, one of the old lighthouses of La Union eh medyo na-disappoint ako. Ang ganda ng view, yes! But since hindi naman managed ang lugar, ang daming tambay sa mismong lighthouse, hirap makakuha nang maayos na photo, kailangan mo pang magpapicture sa mga nag-o-offer doon na mag-picture sa'yo bago umalis sa background ang mga nakatambay na locals.

All-in-all, sobrang nagustuhan ko ang trip na 'to. I'll probably go back to learn how to surf. Maybe on my birthday next year?

Chill at Papakape's Pop-Up Cafe in Luneta Park.

Dulaang UP's Kung Paano Nanalo Sa Karera Si Rosang Taba and roamed around UP Diliman's acad oval after a very long time.

MAY (Anniv Staycation): No idea yet.

JUN (Class Break): Weeklong Vacation (Ilo-Ilo, Bacolod, Guimaras)

JUL (Travel Break):

AUG (Travel Break):

SEP (Birthday Travel):

OCT (Travel Break):

NOV (Travel Break):

DEC (Winter Holidays):