2013 In Review

2013 ain't so bad. 

On Travels. Early this year, I get to travel to Hanoi and Bangkok (again!). It was almost March, and knowing that Hanoi is in Asia, I packed for a Philippine-like weather (hot, hot, hot). Also, my Halong Bay tour guide sent us their email confirmation which included a suggestion to bring "swimwear, sunblock, and sunglasses" for the tour. 

Swimwear, my ass. It was 12 degrees when we got to Hanoi, and to my Manila-acclimated body, that 12 degrees is practically freezing. We were in constant fear of getting frostbites in our slippers while the rest of the group in our Halong Bay tour were in their scarves, thick socks, and boots. 

Pop and I having a contest on the top deck of our Halong junk, on whose toes would freeze first and fall off.

But no matter, Hanoi is magnificent. One item off my bucketlist. And well, Bangkok is still Bangkok. So freaking hot and hostile, but whose green curry and pad thai remain unrivaled. 

Later this year, I get to go to Batanes, and to this day, I still cannot stop thinking about it. I crossed out several items on my bucket list on this trip alone. And I get to go there on my birthday, no less.

You, Batanes, will always be awesome.

I know I could have traveled more (also this year, I learned that doubling the L in "travelled" and "travelling" is also correct). But as usual, I still could not get all three things that would allow me to: money, time, opportunity. In my early twenties, I have tons of free time but was perpetually broke. When I finally became a lawyer, money started trickling in, but I was swamped with work. When I finally changed jobs, the money was better, the workload reasonable, but my ethically-upright boss frowns upon using up all my vacation leaves, and believes that unless you're dying, you should be at your work desk at 8am every morning. 

I think I know how this goes: when I finally retire, I will have all the time in the world and enough savings to travel. But by then, I'll be too old to carry that backpack, or bike that trail, or bear that cold. Ahh, swings and roundabouts. But that's the card I've been dealt with, and really, no point getting bitter because I know I have been given a life much better than most. 

On Career Growth. Hmmm. This seems to have tanked this year. Everyone seems to think I am just in this job as a halfway house of some sort, to give me time to desensitize myself from whatever trauma I experienced (hah). But in all honesty, this is one job you could not complain about. The pay is great, the work is light, the boss and officemates care for me like I'm family. I have enough time in my day to read my chick lits, play with my dog, and spend time with my family. For the first time in my life, I could breath. I feel that this job is my reward for all my previous hard work (ahem) and yes, sufferings and sacrifices. It's not a job I could hold for life, and I really should be worrying where I would be four or five years from now, but all I could think of now is how happy I am to be here. 

On Fitness. I have never been thin. But between taking the bar exams and the pressures of a law firm job, I packed enough to become obese. I did crash diets and crash gym workouts unsuccessfully. This year, my sister discovered Fitness Gourmet, and it amazed me that she lost 7lbs. in 2 weeks alone. My goal then was to lose 10 lbs., because that would get me back to being overweight (as opposed to obese), and overweight is something I can work on with more confidence. Fitness Gourmet did it for me. I started with 159 lbs., and three months into an on-and-off diet meals, I am down to 139 lbs. I think it's a pretty impressive weight loss considering that my birthday, a string of Christmas and New Year parties, and gastronomic visits to Grandma's, came and went.

My sisters came up with really interesting names for our FG meals: Patuka sa ibon, pagkain ng hamster, and our favorite, the Miss Minchin Special (for that scene when Ms. Minchin was starving Princess Sara, so Sara and Becky had to forage in the trash bin for vegetables bits -- see right pic). But kidding aside, 98% of FG's meals are quite delectable. I especially loved the meal on the left.

After I lost some of those pounds, I discovered that my lighter body can run better. I used to run 3km before I start feeling what I think is the onset of a heart attack. Now I run for 9km, twice a week. I never had cardio this good. I'm still pudgy as hell, and I still look like ball of jelly bouncing on the treadmill, but one morning, Kororo snapped this pic of Porfy and me, and I was happily surprised that I seem to have sprouted a neck...and something that resembles a chin? 

Before 2014 ends, I hope to reach 125lbs. That's still heavy for my height, but I have to keep my goals realistic. 

On Family.  For the first time in years, I get to spend the holidays with them. As far as I can remember, our holidays are never relaxing vacations but boot camps brightened only by the christmas hams that our suppliers would gift us. This year, we held our annual "assembly line" of sliced bread production, with Dad overseeing the overall baking of bread, Jed and Pop with the slicing and packing, and Mom and I with the distribution and sale. 

A few hours before New Year, Star, who was spending the holidays alone in Manila because of work, called us, and she was just bawling. With loneliness. You know, the kind of cry where there's just a lot of heaving and you cannot understand a thing she's saying because it's peppered by sniffles. 

I know I would cry too, because this is what she's missing: At the close of business day, Daddy would apologize to us for "ruining" our vacation. Pop would be so touched she would cry, because she's the kind that cries at the slightest prodding, even at McDonald's TV ads.  And we would all hug Daddy, because there is no reason he should apologize to us. Mommy would switch to kind-mom mode and bring out her precious jamon de bola and cook for us. I love my family, and I don't want to miss another holiday with them, even if it means days of sleeplessness and back-breaking work. 

On Yolanda.  We lost friends to Yolanda. And the images and footages on tv just become more heartbreaking everyday. We did what we could to help. My dad and brother pooled whatever resources we have to extend aid to family friends in Tacloban. During the weeks following the typhoon, there were limited means of flying into Tacloban, so I made contact with whoever I could to assist Manila-based friends in getting home. With every bonus I get, I donated to Red Cross via Paypal. And still it did not feel enough. Of course it will never be enough. So I was glad when I went with my aunt on a relief operation in December, because the gratefulness of everyone seems to validate every little help we were able to give.

I've been trying to come up with something very profound to say about the Yolanda tragedy, but I'm still unsure what to make of it. I don't know exactly what lesson is there to learn. For weeks, people on social media bickered, saying the government is not doing enough, others urging to cut the government some slack. Then came the memes suggesting to keep silent na lang and focus on helping instead, while the other camp  argues that the criticisms keep the government on its toes, and hell,  they can help and criticize at the same time, so again, what's there to be gained by keeping silent?  Everyone has something to say, and everyone has a point, and everyone is right and wrong at the same time. But let me digress and say that the looters from my beloved Samar DESERVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL. The more I read about Tacloban, the more cynical I get, and the less inclined I am to help. So I stopped reading because compassion is not a thing we can afford to lose at a time like this.

On Porfy. Porfy has been legitmized! Mommy has given up driving him and Star out of the house, thanks to my Dad's constant intervention. We no longer have to pester friends to adopt Porfy while Mommy is in town. There are even times when Mom would slip and say that she finds Porfy delightful, because he is "like a child." And when she's about to leave the house, and when she thought no one can hear her, she would call out to Porfy and say, "Bye bye, Porfy!"

"Legal na ako!" - Porfy

So like I've said, 2013 ain't so bad.

I hope 2014 would be fabulously awesome.