Travel notes, food finds, and everyday stories.
I used to think adulthood would announce itself. A mortgage, maybe. A wedding. Some milestone with a date on it. Instead it showed up quietly, in the small print of my calendar, in the invitations I started saying no to. That’s the first sign, honestly. Time started to feel fast, and a little frightening....
Travel Date: August 13, 2026 I checked into Conrad Manila at 3:46 in the afternoon, and instead of unpacking, I went straight to the mall next door. My first trail run is coming up, in Vietnam, and I still didn’t have half of what I needed. Running shorts, a hat, swimming shorts for after....
A couple of days ago, I wrote about claiming a replacement for my Shokz OpenMove that wouldn’t turn on, and how surprisingly smooth the process was once I got in touch with Shokz’s customer relations team through their Lazada store. Today, the replacement arrived. I can’t be happier. If there’s one takeaway from this...
I returned Cyrus to his previous owner today. I’d grown attached to him, more than I expected to, and that’s what makes this hard to write about. Sona, my older cat, never came around to him. Since March, I’ve been trying — slow introductions, separate spaces, all the things you’re supposed to do to...
A friend texted me on a Saturday morning, the kind of message that reads casual but isn’t really: “If only I didn’t need the money, I wouldn’t work on a Saturday.” I knew what she meant. I was working too. Here’s what I told her back. It’s better to work a Saturday for a...
It had been raining for weeks. Not the dramatic kind of rain that makes for a good story, just the relentless, gray, no-end-in-sight kind that keeps you off the road. So when the sun finally showed up a day or two ago, I grabbed my Shokz OpenMove and pressed the power button, ready for...
Somewhere in the last few years, without deciding to, I stopped being a texter. I’ll type out a message, look at it, and instead of hitting send, I’ll just call. It’s faster, I tell myself. It’s more honest. It’s done in three minutes instead of stretched out over forty. I didn’t used to be...
I buy my snacks at the grocery store now, not the concession stand. It’s a small thing, but it’s the first sign that this has become a routine rather than an outing — you don’t optimize for cost and convenience on a special occasion. You do it when something has become ordinary. Ordinary in...
When I was a kid, one of the best parts of going to Dagupan was knowing we’d stop by Pedritos. I’d get excited the moment I knew we were headed that way, because it meant I was getting a pineapple twist. Soft, chewy bread wrapped around a pineapple jam filling that was sweet with...
I couldn’t let April slip by without writing something here. A lot has happened, and honestly, I got caught up in the rush of it all. Days blurred into weeks, and before I knew it, the blog sat quiet. I’m still hoping for the day when writing feels lighter, more natural, so I can...