2 min readToday isn’t actually the anniversary of my move to Singapore—that happened sometime in April. Lately, I’ve been ruminating about my life so far, something I often do during idle moments, and I’ve realized that next to the Philippines, my home country, Singapore is where I’ve lived the longest. It has now surpassed my time in…
Privacy Check
2 min readThe older I get, the more particular I’ve become about keeping many aspects of my life private. I’ve been chronically online since the days of Friendster about 20 years ago, so I imagine my digital footprint is all over the place. The advancement of technology, especially in AI, has made me take a step back…
Travel Diary: Minaulon, Lanao Del Norte
6 min readMy grandparents grew up in a quaint little barrio called Minaulon, quietly tucked along the coast of Lanao del Norte. As next-door neighbors, they’d known each other for as long as they could remember. I found out during a speech my Lola gave at my late Lolo’s wake that they had started “going steady” when…
When Things Are Steady
3 min readI’ve been home, staying at my grandmother’s, for the past week. My almost ten-year-old nephew sleeps on a mat on the floor of her bedroom, while I take my spot on the daybed placed perpendicular to her bed. Three generations sharing one room in a simple two-bedroom farmhouse built over twenty years ago. The house…
Travel Diary: Seoul, South Korea
8 min readAlways, an overwhelming wave of gratitude fills me when I get to travel. Even more so when I travel with great company. I’ve had the privilege of visiting two exciting places at the start of this year. Two destinations, two contrasting profiles. One local, one international. One can be described as a summer paradise, the…
Travel Diary: Dumaguete and Siquijor
6 min readAlways, an overwhelming wave of gratitude fills me when I get to travel. Even more so when I travel with great company. I’ve had the privilege of visiting two exciting places at the start of this year. Two destinations, two contrasting profiles. One local, one international. One can be described as a summer paradise, the…
Three Tales from One Week of Bumble
3 min read1 “Hey, see you soon?” Read a text from E, 36, Spanish, 183cm tall. I was at NAIA Terminal 2 having breakfast with Gino and Makie at Jollibee. By pure coincidence, he and I were both traveling to Siquijor, taking the same 8am PAL flight to Dumaguete. It could have been the perfect meet-cute but…
Up In The Clouds
5 min readThere are places in this world that are far too beautiful for words to describe. Mount Bromo is one of them. Four hours after we set out to ride at dawn and climb steep hills in pitch darkness without anything to hold on to for dear life, we find ourselves standing witness to something truly…
One Fine Morning in Lisbon, I Ran a Marathon
5 min readRan and finished. 42.197km. 4:46:35. Months of gruelling training culminated in a moment that stretched into the early afternoon of the 6th of October when I crossed the finish line at Praça do Comércio, in front of an incredible crowd of spectators and supporters. Among them were two of my closest friends, Vanessa and Tina,…
Midlife Musings: Crisis or Glow Up?
2 min readI turned 35 today. Frankly, I feel indifferent about my age these days. Sometimes I need a minute or two to remember how old I am, giving the adage “age doesn’t matter” a rather altered meaning. I feel young—except when my back creaks from a mistimed bend, or when I reach for the appropriate strength…