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Le dimanche en rose (Sunday in Pink)

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I’m not referring to the Laetare (which is the mid-Lent Sunday happening next week). Our Sunday was actually a Sunday on the streets.

There was a political rally in Ortigas to show support to a candidate in pink running for the highest position in the land. Frankly speaking, we only had the time to go to the event around evening. We had to drop by the Mall of Asia (MOA) for lunch and an Ikea run. Still, Mon and I decided to don our best and only pink and white dri-fit, and show our support.

We managed to scoot from our place to the venue at around 30 minutes. It has been awhile since we had been in Ortigas, but it was not easy to miss the throngs of pink-clad supporters to lose our way.

'The best man for the job is a woman'

‘The best man for the job is a woman’

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Manila Night Crawlers

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I am not sure how the title sounds, but it seemed apt to what we exactly did one Saturday evening. We have been seeing beautiful photos of the City of Manila at night making the rounds in social media. This crawl had been long overdue, but, despite the quarantine and working from home, we did not have much time.

Well, we finally did it with our trusted 25kph max e-scooters. Our first stop, chase the sunset at Manila Bay.

Manila Bay does not look that filthy from here

From our place it took only around 15 minutes to go there. We haven’t been this close to the sea for more than a year. While Manila Bay is not exactly a beach resort, seeing see birds, a floating restaurant, boulders, and seawater was a welcome respite.

Disclaimer: I had to remove my face mask ONLY for this photo. Yes, I wore the same thing as my last post!

There were a couple of families who were there. I thought 16 year old kids are not allowed to be outside because of the quarantine protocols. But I don’t blame them. It has been a very long movement restriction in the Philippines and kids may not be handling this very well. We even allowed Brie to drop us off back to the apartment last New Year — the farthest she had been since being at home since March 2020.

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Dinner is ready!

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When was the last time I had planned an event? The good thing about my new role is that I get to do the same kind of organizing I did in my former humanitarian role. The better thing? I will not be doing it alone.

For this thanksgiving dinner to our sponsors, I had been planning in the last 3 weeks with our intern. She’s also taking up International Studies and she was (luckily) assigned to our department.

Table set-up

We had been in constant contact with the focal person from Makati Shangri-La. It was tedious, and that is all I am allowed to say. LOL

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Officially rainy and Jupiter setting

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As of yesterday, PAG-ASA has announced the start of the southwest monsoon. This only means that the rainy season is already upon us, and I can now wear my boots again! This also means not using lot of leather bags. While I had a good experience with the Collonil Waterstop spray, it was just too costly. The bottle only lasted for about a month, with the rotation that I do.

To welcome the rainy season (that just seem wrong), I used a canvas bag with minimal leather parts.

Gucci in black canvas and leather tote with silver hardware, Doc Martens 8-hole boots

The silver hardware is reminiscent of the Gucci Jackie bags

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Travel/Work Thailand: Weekend in Bangkok Day 1

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*extremely picture-heavy post

On my last few days in Thailand, Mon arrived on an AirAsia flight to spend the weekend in Bangkok. We did not bother transferring to a new place as we got a good rate from the hotel. *winks* However, it was only a breakfast for one person, so we had to eat outside.

Our morning started early, based on the research we did the night before on how to reach the temple complex. We took the BTS until the last station of Saphan Taksin, where we found a long queue of people for the ferry.

Passing by Wat Arun

By the second week that I arrived in Thailand, I felt really uncomfortable with my hair. I normally get a haircut once a week to trim the sides, but I could not muster the courage to go to a barber shop. I then had to brave the weather again, hoping not to suffer another near heat exhaustion.

It was a very delightful ride. The first thing that I have observed was how the waters, lookswise, of Chao Phraya were not too different from the Pasig River. However, I can see a couple of big fish occasionally swimming to the surface and I did not smell a hint of stinky odor. How I wish our Pasig River was as developed as this. It would have been an excellent alternative in braving the Metro Manila traffic.

Aboard the ferry from Saphan Taksin

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An unexpected QC turn

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While I don’t usually post work-related stuff, I think I will make an exception today. Nothing in the content is sensitive with the work that we do and it was too interesting for a day not to write about.

I was only given a couple of minutes to breathe after I arrived in the office, when my boss asked me if I could join her to Quezon City. At first, I thought we were visiting QC Jail, which I have never visited. I have been inside a couple of detention places before but I have never visited the one in QC. It turns out, we had to go to QC to quickly drop by a workshop.

Rainy Guadalupe

Rainy Guadalupe

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Last student, new application

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Before my boss went outside the country for her almost-a-month holiday, I had a very long meeting with her. It was eventful and I appreciated that we had it as there were things I had to look forward to when she comes back.

Among other things, I expressed my interest of studying French again. I admittedly did not have a lot of opportunity to speak French and I, along with other foreign language learners, fear the day that we’d be back at square one. You must grab the bull by its horns and take charge. After several weeks, I finally got the green-light.

Library of AFM

Library of AFM

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Building up slowly!

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To all my (silent) readers, I want to let you know that this page is still alive! (And a HAPPY NEW YEAR too!) LOL I might not be as diligent with updating BRYOLOGUE lately, but I am still here! I have been (yet again) keeping tabs on a lot of things, thus the delay in posting. But most of all, A LOT of things have happened since the last time I gave an in-depth view of my day-to-day activities. I just finished renewing my self-hosting, and I could not believe that a year has quickly flown by since I had bitten the bullet.

To cut the chase, this is the most significant update of my life:

I'm finally home, I guess. =)

I’m finally home?

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Bye, bye Taft!

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They say that, sometimes, you accept whatever life throws at you and hope that you can turn it out into something excellent.

As it was my last day working at this organization, I was extremely delighted to have the chance to work here. I never thought I’d see the day that I get to be inside these hallowed halls in my entire life, not to mention the chance to be involved in something worthwhile.

And as I proceed to another adventure, I’ll keep these fond memories with me. Thank you very much and see you around!

It was a pleasure working with here

It was such a pleasure working here!

And suddenly, I’m back in Oz

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Sometimes, you just have to grab an opportunity that comes along by the balls. That is what exactly I did when I suddenly got a call from “Oz” two weeks ago. A year ago, I was fortunate to be shortlisted for a position there. While I did not eventually get the job and landed half a year after at Elm Street, it helps keeping an open mind and see what fate has in store for you.

Waiting for the train

Waiting for the train

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