Also known as: The weekend in Baguio City Translation (from Ilocano, a Filipino dialect): Thank you very much, Baguio! Note: Photo dump coming up.
My weekend was spent in the City of Pines, a trip that I had proposed to my friends at the start of the year when we were playing picnic. I’ve been to Baguio City thrice, four counting the trip last weekend, but the only time I was really able to appreciate Baguio as a tourist was once when I was about seven and the last weekend. The other two times were for a Kids for Christ conference when I was 12, and last year for a strategic planning for work. Both times I didn’t go around Baguio at all, and all I could remember of it was being homesick and enjoying the cold weather.
So last weekend is a trip that made me a tourist in Baguio again. I wanted to go because I really just want to make the most out of the cold weather, and I wanted to get out of the city. It came to a point that I was so stressed at work and with other real life stuff that I just needed a break — a mental health day if you may. So it was done. With my friends who achieve, and a foreign “delegate”, we trekked up last weekend to the City of Pines for a well-deserved cold weekend.
Where I try to act tourist-y. Not my best picture, but the sign behind me is really more important. :P
And now in bullets!
Baguio is easy to get to if you’re coming from Manila…but it is wise to get bus tickets in advance especially if you want to reach Baguio early. We got to Victory Liner station thinking it would be easy to get a bus, but the next bus available is at 5:00am. :O We decided to buy tickets and then line up as chance passengers.The 3:00am bus was our lucky bus, and as soon as the bus started moving, we were all knocked out asleep. 6 hours later, hello Baguio!
Waiting for the bus
We stayed in PNKY Home, a quaint little Bed & Breakfast along Leonard Wood Road. Toni discovered this place but he didn’t have a chance to stay here the last time he was in Baguio, so we decided to book the place.
They’re doing a bit of renovating so there’s the steel bars behind Cookie. Oh, and Cookie’s the official mascot of the trip, at least until the animal hats came into the picture. :D
Also known as:The end of January, goal updates, and some time woes
Just like that, January is ending. Excuse me for being cliche once again, but where did this month go?
There’s something about this year that makes me want to slow it down. Maybe it’s because of that twenty-five thing. Maybe it’s because I don’t want this lovely cold weather to end yet. Maybe it’s because I feel like time really just passes by too fast and everything is passing me by. Maybe I’m just feeling all of this now because I have a monthly visitor and that has always made me feel a bit more emotional than the usual (see how easy it is to blame the hormones?).
But anyway. January is ending. There is exactly 11 months left in 2011. How is that possible?
Forgive me for being so overwhelmed by the turn of the month. I’ve been through 25 January endings in my entire life, but somehow this one just strikes me a bit more. I guess that’s what happens when you think about things too much. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
So the usual question with this should be: how are your resolutions, so far? Well, since I didn’t really make resolutions this year save for two goals, it should be easy to answer. I don’t know if I’d like the answers…but what the heck.
Goal # 1: Driving
I can’t count how many times I wished I had my own car in the past month. It’s an itch, strange to say. I really have this feeling that I will only really have the confidence to drive if I had my own car. It’s like how I lost weight, you see: I tried exercise videos, leading cutting stack programs, dieting on my own, and all that, but I only really shed the extra pounds when I signed up for the gym. It’s not only about the entire gym atmosphere really, but the fact that I knew gym fees (including trainer and nutritionist fees) were being charged in my card, so I felt that I had to make the most out of it. It worked. I figured the same principle would apply with driving.
This is why I want a car.
It’s a huge investment, though. I know I can’t afford it anytime soon (especially because of Goal # 2). But man. I could count the number of times I wished so bad I had a car — then wished I knew how to drive well.
Of course, owning a car now is not really a wise thing in the Philippines, with the rising gas prices and car-related crimes and all. But I wouldn’t mind owning this pretty little thing:
Honda Jazz. ♥
I also have a feeling I’m just being a tad materialistic there.
Goal # 2: WYD in Madrid, Spain
It is a bit too early to start preparing the papers, but I have started planning my trip dates! I ran into a bit of conflict in the first dates I planned because of work (which reminds me I should write some thoughts about that), I think I have finally settled on dates that is perfectly acceptable to me. The next steps now are to collect requirements so I can start fixing the papers.
Speaking of Spain, My best friend and I were talking about trips and stuff, and a bit of quarter-life crisis (more to that on another post), and I told him that I can’t not go to this trip. I don’t know why, but I feel like this is something that I should do for myself this year, whatever other people say. I feel like I owe this to myself, at least for the part of me that yearns to do something other than what I do.
* * *
I think the saddest thing about January ending is how the start of the year feels over. It’s February, you can’t say the year just started. The freshness is starting to fade. And there’s a sad feeling knowing that it would take 11 more months before we get to really feel that freshness again.
Then again, that is subjective. Every day is a new day, ergo, every day should have the same kind of freshness that January 1 had. It should. It’s not easy, but we all need new days. And we are given that everyday. How beautiful is that?
In less than an hour, January is going to end. I’m kind of sad that it is ending…but I am looking forward to what the February has to offer. And March. And April. And May. And…you get what I mean.
This entry felt a bit all over the place than what I originally intended. Apologies. I will try to blog more often here than I did in the next month. :)
Also known as: Some thoughts after meeting college friends last night
Thanks to Ramie for the photo and to Rye for taking this :)
I met some of my college friends last night for dinner, swinging from mid shift to day just so I can meet up with them despite the fact that I ended my shift last Monday at one o’clock because of a call and got to sleep at 3:00am because of some family stuff. I was a walking zombie in the day that needed to be caffeinated twice. However, come afternoon, I was excited to see my college friends again, so despite the sluggishness, I headed for Shangrila.
A little backgrounder about my college friends. Normally, you’d have only one original block in college, the people who you will know first and probably graduate with if all of you are lucky. It was a slightly different case for me. I had an original block that lasted for two terms (my adventures and such with them may be written in another post). By third term, our block was dissolved, and then by sophomore year, we were all split into different specializations. I specialized in Instructional Systems Technology in college, and it was one of the smaller specializations in our college, with only one block. We were only 36 in our batch, and because of that, we were a pretty close bunch. They became my second college family.
Just a week ago, our specialization had a New Year’s/Reunion party, where we saw most of the people in the batch as well as the other batches. Then our batch planned a little dinner where I use our newly-wed blockmate Ramie as an excuse to meet up. :P Only a few of us made it, last night, though, but nevertheless, it was still a fun night.
The funny thing about my college friends – especially my thesis mates Rye, Ramie and Micko – is how our conversations evolve throughout the years. I remember in college, we’d talk about school stuff, obviously. When we’re taking a break, we’d talk about mundane stuff. Soon after we graduated, we were having coffee one day and we started talking about taxes even if none of us were working yet. Now that we’re together again, what do we talk about? Growing up stuff. The average salary of someone our age. Following your dreams. The best online tax software. Deciding what to do next. Do you really love what you’re doing? Will you give up your stability for something you’d love to do?
It was a very serious conversation, and enlightening, too. I’m not exactly in a crisis mode in my career, but I’ve been feeling the edges of…I don’t know, unrest? I still like my job, and I think my company is still taking care of me, but a part of me wonders if there’s more out there, you know?
Case in point: when my best friend got the opportunity to go to UK for an exchange program, I was very envious. I wanted the same opportunity, too. I wanted to try new things and do all those things that I know I wanted to do before I joined the corporate world. But a part of me is also thinking: will you be able to file a leave of absence for that long to pursue the same thing? Or will you actually have the courage to resign from your job, do that, and then see what happens after? Can I be at peace knowing that there’s no steady income coming in and there’s no assurance of a job when I go back?
I guess the real reason I am hesitant to do things like this (or even other things like study abroad or something similar) is because I’m used to having a steady income. I’m used to having my own money, used to affording what I want when I want it (as long as its reasonable). But what’s life with just that? I’m young — I should be able to do more stuff now before it’s too late, right? If I may borrow Stacie Orrico’s words: there’s got to be more to life!
I aired those concerns last night and I liked how our friend Kiran put it: everyone gets to this point, and at one point in your life, you’re going to have to decide. Then, she told me it usually happens when one reaches 25.
Me: Oh, no wonder.
Kiran: Are you twenty five?
Me: No, but I’m turning twenty five on March.
Kiran: Oh, you’ll get there soon.
So I guess the magical age is 25? I have two months and five days to go.
But I don’t really want to stress about that. I can feel it, but I don’t think it would do me good if I stress about it over and over again, you know? And like what Kiran said, these things just happen. And it will be okay.
A thought: this is probably one of the reasons why I’m far from settling down. :P
When Ramie dropped me at Eastwood after the dinner, he hugged me goodbye and said, “May this be the year of answered prayers for you.” He meant something else entirely (and trust me, that will be posted here someday soon) but as I was thinking about it on the way home, I realized that God has never failed to answer my prayers anyway. He always has. He always will. It may not be always the answer I wanted, but He has never failed to answer them.
But I like that. 2011: the year of answered prayers. Maybe I need to be more aware of how God answers my prayers? :)
So from the looks of it, 2011 will be THE year. The year of what, I’m not sure exactly. But I am looking forward to finding out.
First two items on the list: practice driving and start fixing papers for Schengen Visa for WYD. Yes siree, let’s get moving. :)
