Unplanned Gala (continuation)
I feel really exhausted today, both physically and mentally. I want to sleep and rest but my mind is very active that even when I close my eyes, I'm still thinking about the things that I want to do. I guess I'm just too excited about doing new things which makes my mind preoccupied.
Writing is my form of therapy so instead of forcing myself to sleep I decided to just write anything, and so I'm here writing without any topic in mind.
Then I remembered that I still haven't published the part 2 of my 'Unexpected' or u planned gala article.
Now let me just share these photos here because sharing it on social media would be redundant.
These photos were taken two weeks ago at Albay Park and Wildlife, a park and mini zoo located in Legazpi, Albay. On the previous article, I featured the photos I took in the park. Aside from the wide refreshing play and picnic ground, there is also a man-made lake in the park which makes it look cool. Here are the photos:
The first photo shows how the lake looks like when you are standing in front of the picnic ground. The water looks green because it reflect all the greeneries that surrounds it - from the trees, plants and the hill at the background.
The second photo is me posing on front of the camera with the lake at the background. As you can see, I am wearing a face mask and a face shield (that's on my head lol) because all tourists are required to comply with the health and safety protocols to avoid the spread of the corona virus.
As you can see, there's a long bridge at the middle of the lake and this is how the bridge looks like. If you walk further, you'll reach the middle of this bridge, you will see a round nook. It is also perfect to make tiktok videos there. But since I can't dance, I just posed again.
This is how the middle of the bridge looks like. My friends are too busy taking their own photographs so I just took a picture of me through self camera. The background looks refreshing and it is also good to take a few minutes of rest here if you are already tired from sight seeing.
At the further side of the lake, this ramp is built where these mini boats are located. I don't know if tourists are allowed to ride this since this is just new, but I think the main purpose of these boats is for cleaning the lake and feeding the fishes that lives here.
Look how refreshing the place looks with all that greens around! I wish I could see a view like this everyday. This angle is located at the nook on the middle of the bridge.
Tsadaaan! Here's a different perspective of the lake taken from a different angle. On this photo, the castle os visible. There are also different sorts of plants and it includes the water lilies on the lake. How refreshing indeed!
This photo is taken at the top where most of the animals are located. These cottages can be occupied for free and aside from the wide grassland, there are also horses roaming around which are actually very nice. Aside from the horses, can you those dinosaurs? Three years ago those dinosaurs looks so real, they made sounds and can even move their body parts! One time I took my baby sister here when she was still 4 years old, she was terrified of those dinosaurs.
Aside from sight seeing, there is also an option to either ride the horses and take photos for only Php 10 ($0.21) or do horseback riding for a small amount of Php 30 ($0.61).
I'm adventurous by nature and loves trying out new things and new experiences so even though I haven't tried riding a horse yet prior to this, I decided to ride the horse.
After strolling the entire park and zoo, a tourist will surely feel tired and hungry. So its time to get some snacks and refreshing juice or shake inside the castle. This castle is actually the home of vendors at the park. They sell a different foods here that will surely satisfy the palate pf a hungry tourist.
So that's all the picture I have here that is not yet uploaded on my social media pages, I hope you enjoyed my photographs. See you on my next gala photographs! 😉
I'm finally done with the article, but I'm still not feeling sleepy even though I'm feeling so tired 😭
Importance of Sleep
There was a problem at home the night before last night and as a result, it kept me awake the entire night. No matter how much I'd love to go to sleep already, I just can't. I was just tossing and turning on my bed, changing positions but to no avail. Good thing, at 3 a.m, sleep has finally come to visit me. But because I have work at 8 a.m. and my body clock is already set to wake up at 6 in the morning, my body's built in alarm clock woke me up after barely having 3 hours of sleep.
Sleeping has been my problem for a long time now. Before, when I was still working in the BPO company, I was always assigned to the graveyard shift. I usually work from 7 p.m until 4 a.m and sleeps for an hour and proceeds to either my part-time job or participate in some volunteering works.
My friends have always been amazed of how I can manage to do so without getting sick. There were days when I hardly get 2 hours of sleep and what makes me feel bad about it is that there are times when it seems like I can no longer feel my head attached to my body (I know that may seem overreacting, but I'm serious), I'm nauseous at times and feels like I want to vomit. That setup continued for almost a year, and I'm just thankful that I didn't get sick at all during that time.
At home, I was sharing a room with my sisters, so I couldn't get a decent sleep at all. I'm very sensitive to noises and even just the noise of a plastic bag or even when my sisters whispers to each other could easily wake me up.
I can't sleep when the lights are on, so I also find it hard to sleep during the day because I can see light. One time, I've set up curtains around the room which made it look like a cave, but since there is still a bit of light passing from the door, I couldn't sleep again.
And right now, I'm writing this because I badly want to sleep already since I didn't get a decent sleep for the past 24 hours, but my mind is still wide awake. So I thought of writing about it, hoping that I'll feel sleepy while writing.
I always wonder why some people can easily travel to dreamland as soon as they close their eyes but me on the other hand, it usually takes a couple of an hour before sleep visits me.
**Sleep, is it Really Important?**
Admit it, when you are still young your mom or dad or any adult that is looking after you asked you to sleep or get a 'siesta' after lunchtime or in the afternoon. But as kids, we would rather play than to sleep. Sometimes, moms who are looking after their kids to sleep are the first ones to go to dreamland while their kids are silently laughing feeling triumphant because they will no longer go to sleep.
As a kid, I also felt that sleep is a punishment, and it is just a waste of time. I'd rather read my books than go to sleep. But now that I am an adult, I realized how important sleep is. It is no longer a punishment, but I feel like it's a luxury, getting more 8 hours of sleep in a day or at night is already an accomplishment for me.
**Falling Asleep is a mystery**
If we try to observe the sleeping habits of babies, they have short periods of sleep every day but if we add the total amount of time they sleep, they sleep for about 18 hours each day. But as we grow older, our sleeping habits changes. Our jobs usually deprives us of getting 8-10 hours of sleep each day.
What can make us fall asleep? What can make us lose consciousness when we fall asleep? Well, this has been a mystery, even researchers find it a mystery until now. Since I was particularly interested with sleep, I've read a magazine a few years ago. It is discussed in that magazine that our brain regulates the complex process of sleep and sleeping has a 24-hours biological clock. This is the reason why we would usually talk about our '***body clock***'.
According to researchers, our body clock is also the one responsible why there are people who struggle to wake up in the morning while it is easy for others and why others find it hard to fall asleep while others can in just a blink of an eye.
One of the many chemical substances that regulates our bod clock is called melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone which is believed to be responsible for triggering sleepiness. The brain produces this hormone, and slows down our body's metabolism. According to researchers, this process occurs prior to falling asleep. After this hormone is released, the flow of blood to the brain is reduced as well as our body temperature, our body muscles also slowly lose their tone and as a result, our body becomes more relaxed as we get ready to drift to dreamland.
**Reasons why Sleep is Important.**
*Sleep is divided into two phases: REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep can be subdivided into four stages of progressively deeper sleep. During a healthy night’s sleep, REM sleep occurs several times, alternating with non-REM sleep.*
**It makes a person feel physically refreshed**. During REM sleep, most dreams occurs and our body muscles are the most relaxed so as a result we feel refreshed upon waking up. https://read.cash/@sc/importance-of-sleep-c4009e53
**More growth hormones are produced during sleep****.** During non-REM sleep, more growth hormones are produced. Studies show that some teens produces this hormone fifty times more at night than during the day. https://read.cash/@sc/importance-of-sleep-c4009e53
**Sleep can affect our mood**. Have you ever experience when someone suddenly woke you up while on a deep sleep? What happens after then? We tend to become irritated, that's why Filipinos have this saying: '***magbiro ka na sa lasing, wag lang sa bagong gising'***, which when translated means, you can make fun of a drunken person but never do it with a person who just woke up. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/KeddJKkJ7db
**Sleep affects our appetite.** Scientists believe that the brain interprets lack of sleep as a lack of food. Sleep deprivation leads to more consumption of carbohydrates which can turn into obesity if not controlled. https://read.cash/@sc/importance-of-sleep-c4009e53
While sleep is vital for our health, sleep deprivation also has consequences. Consider the following:
**The short term effects of sleep deprivation are:**
*Sudden mode swings, lack pf concentration, drowsiness, loss of short-term memory and the lack of capacity to concentrate.*
While there are also **long term effects of sleep deprivation, and these are**:
*Fatigue, obesity, chronic memory loss, and it increases the risk of having gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases a swell as diabetes.*
`I was writing this article last night because I could not sleep again but I ended up falling asleep while writing 😅`
Unexpected Gala
You can read the first part **here**: https://read.cash/@sc/animalandia-d6d51cf0
________________________
Now let me define the word **gala.** ***Gala*** is a Filipino word which means to travel, or to wander around aimlessly. It means you can wonder about without any itenerary.
Like I mentioned in my previous article, I had to take care of some business in the city last week. The last time I went there was in 2019 so the last time I was there has already been almost two years. Since the hard lockdown due to the pandemic, a lot has changed when it comes to travelling to comply with the health and safety protocols. But since it's the first time in ages that I'm travelling, I didn't the process.
I chose to travel via UV express because it is faster and more comfortable compared to travelling by bus or jeepney. Upon arriving at the terminal I acted like how I used to, I immediately opened the door or the vehicle, but a man told me not to go there yet. I have to input my information and contact details for contract tracing and I did what I was told. Then, I waited for the next van because the previous one is already fully occupied. I paid and continued using my phone as I was updating and making noise on noise.cash to ease my boredom. But to my surprise when the UV express was ready to depart, the ***barker*** (the man who calls in passengers and collects fares) shouted at me because I was wearing a half face shield, more like a visor. In a high pitch, he told me that it's not allowed to wear that and he almost made me leave the van. Good thing the driver was nice and lent me his extra face shield after I told him that it's actually my first time travelling since the pandemic started. Finally, the unpleasant experience at the terminal has ended and off we went to travel.
I took care of my business and good thing, my college friends were also there. Since it's already late, we decided to eat lunch and everyone agreed to seize the opportunity that we are all there together. We decided to wander around the city.
A wildlife park was located few meters away from the office where I went to, so we decided to visit the park first and maybe go to the sunflower plantation after.
The park is named '***Albay Park and Wildlife'*** because it is located in Legazpi, Albay. It's a park and zoo in one place. Before the pandemic, a lot of people visits this place every day and a lot of school also goes here for educational tours because of the wild animals that can be found here.
Upon entering the premises of the park, visitors are instructed to proceed to the cashier to pay for the entrance fee. We payed Php. 50 ($1 ) each. But for kids, the entrance fee is only Php. 25 ($0.50).
There's a lot of flowering plants near the cashier and I was too busy capturing whatever that seems pleasing to my eyes. I'm with two more teachers that I just met that day and they probably think of me as a weirdo. But I explained to them not to mind me. I'm just fond of taking pictures and I'll be using it for my blog.
I took this picture while waiting for my turn to pay for the entrance fee. The hill on the background is called ***Ligñon Hill.*** The view at the top of that hill is superb! The road to the hill is actually far from the park so it's not possible for us to go there. But when you're at the top of that hill, you can see the perfect cone shape of the majestic Mayon volcano.
**First Part - At The Park**
After paying for the entrance fee, I wandered around the park and took pictures of the refreshing view.
At the back of the building where the cashier is located, I saw this wide park where children can play around. This is where picnics can be done too.
The chairs on this cottage is built like a hammock, so it moves when you sit down.
The park is very spacious so there's also a lot of these cottages around.
There is also a greenhouse just near the park I think there are also butterflies in there but I forgot to ask the zookeepers if there are any because I was too immersed in the beauty of the playground. I suddenly missed being a kid.
The park is sort of a playground so at the middle lies these slides which looks really cute because of the big *dinosaur*.
Okay let us take a photo first so we could have a memorabilia. Aside from the slides, there are also swings where children will surely have a great time. But since kids are not allowed to go outside yet, there are no kids playing around this time.
Oh yes! I can act as an elegant lady, but I can also be a kid at times depending who I'm with and where I am! Enjoying the swing to fullest since there are only a few visitors that day, it's not so embarrassing to fool around.
We fooled around like kids and even played with the see-saw. Who cares about what others think? lol.
Playing around ended when a group of caretakers approached us. One of them is holding a phyton, which is not that big yet and offered us to hold the snake. We were terrified at first because we all know how dangerous snakes are.
At this picture, the caretaker is convincing me that the snake is nice and doesn't bite at all. He only talks to me because my friends are terrified to even touch it.
Tsadaaan! After 10 minutes of convincing talks, I finally had the courage to hold the snake. I was screaming at first because I am terrified, my hand was sweating and it is getting cold and numb but after a few minutes, I finally felt comfortable around Snakey. She's actually too nice and doesn't bite. Though honestly, I still feel nervous everytime I see it stick out it's tongue.
And because I conquered my fear of snake, the caretaker challenged me to hold the bigger snake which they call ***Boa Phyton,*** but I didn't take the challenge plus the fact that the snake weights more or less 30 kilograms. It is also sleeping that time so there's no way they can take it out of it's cage.
I still have a lot of pictures to show so I decided to publish this article in two parts. Do you want to see more photos of the park? Then anticipate for the next part. There's a lot more awesome photos that your eyes can feast on. Thanks for being here! 💖
Animalandia
A day before yesterday, I had to take care of some work-related stuffs at the city and since there is a park nearby, I seized the opportunity to unwind.
It's better to go there because the place is not that crowded. It is very spacious, refreshing and there are a lot of wild animals we can look at. In this article I'll share with you the photos of the animals.
Let me start with these Giraffes. Haha Just kidding this is what it looks like outside the park. It is very easy to locate the park because of these giraffes.
Here's the first animal I saw at the wildlife. It's a python snake held by the caretaker. At first I was really horrified when I saw the snake hanging on his neck. But the caretaker told us that it's very nice and doesn't bite at all. And if in case it bites, it's not poisonous so it's okay to hold it. According to him, there is another python that tourists can actually hold, it's a 30-kilo *python boa* but I didn't dare to hold it. They allow tourists to hold the snake and take a picture with it but you have to give a donation after.
We walked further and I saw this Lion. Upon seeing him, I felt kinda sorry for him. It's nice to see wild animals that we don't normally see everyday but they are supposed to be living at their own habitat - the wild. He was roaring when me and my friends went near his cage. But it is not as loud as how it sounds what I see in videos. He doesn't look very healthy as well. But this lion is actually a new attraction at this park because the last time I went here back in 2019, its not there yet. Nevertheless, I was very amazed to it in real life.
This is what the lion's cage looks like.
Here's a friend of the lion - a tiger! They are actually neighbors. This tiger has been here for so long. I remember back in 2009, I went here too with my younger sister during their educational tour and this tiger is already here. That time, he was very aloof and he only stays at the far end of the cage which seemed like he doesn't want to show himself to people. And everytime there are people nearby, he would release his urine so hard on purpose and tourist ends up wet with his urine. But yesterday, he seemed relax and doesn't even mind it when people are looking at him. He even licked his paws and yawned like a bored tiger on animated movies.
On the next photo, he looks like he's calling out to his neighbor.
And finally here are my brothers 😂 These two **monkeys** seemed very annoyed when I went near their cage. They can even put their feet outside the holes so a tourist really have to be careful not to go near them. They look really wild and mad at people and would scratch anyone who goes near them.
**BIRDS**
The next photos will be photos of birds. Some of them, I know the names but I since my phone's battery nearly drained, I was in a hurry to take pictures of the animals and I forgot to take snaps of their names.
This is a ***Lawin.*** This is native to countries in South East Asia such as the Philippines and they mostly live in mangrove estuaries and the coastal areas. They usually feed on crustaceans, frogs, fishes, rodents and insects.
I uploaded this photo on my instagram account as well and one of my friends who lives in the United States told me how pretty it is. She asked me what the name of the bird is and told me how beautiful the bird is. She find it really beautiful because they don't have this bird in the US.
I don't know the name of this bird, I think it's a **maine** or a **black hornbill** but I'm bot really sure, so let's hop on to the next photo.
This is a **Philippine Rofous hornbill** and in the local dialect we call this *Kalaw.* It looks very adorable. When I got near it to take a photo, he looked me in the eyes and went to the side of the cage.
Look at him being shy! He looks so cute.
This is a **Philippine eagle-owl**. This is also known as *Bubo philippensis* and is one of the biggest owls in the world.
This is a group of **owls.** One of the birds with the biggest population at the wildlife.
It's getting late so we need to go back down and I saw these peacocks.
It looks really stunning when it opened and spread it's tail which looks like a big fan.
Fifteen meters away from the peacock's cage is a big cage for these ostriches. I think I saw a total of four ostriches on the cage and only one is an adult. The color is different from how the one on the picture looks.
And the last bird is a turkey! Based on it's legs and feet, it is already old. And since it is alone on the cage, it also looks sad.
**OTHER ANIMALS**
Here are the other animals that can be found on the park.
A big alligator that's been on the park for more than ten years now.
There are two horses inside this fence but aside from this, there are a lot of horses that are not inside a fence or a stable. Those can be hired for horseback riding but I will write a separate article on that.
Here are turtles on the mini pond.
There's a lot more that I failed to capture, blame my phone for that. I brought it but forgot to charge it the night before.
It's really fun to see those animals, considering the fact that we don't get to dee them everyday. Some are very adorable and you would just love to hold them, but since they are wild we can't. But there's a passage in the bible which makes me excited about. A day will come when people will no longer be afraid of those wild animals, and those animals will no longer be locked in cages!
*"The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them.*
*The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull.*
*The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake.*
*They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah."*
**ISAIAH:11-6-9**
`Okay so its been what? Maybe a week since I last wrote an article and` @Ruffa `has been bugging me last time to write and publish an article here first before publishing an article on publishOx.`
`I tried to write different articles on different topics two days ago but I just can't seem to finish them so I gave up.`
`So today I'm writing an update. This is supposed to be published last night but things got messed-up which made me really mad so I gave up on the thought of publishing it last night. Today, I woke up early to rewrite the article again. Thanks for reading!`
Past Midnight
***Time Check 1:26 am PST.***
It's past midnight, a few hours from now, and it would be daytime already. I need to sleep, and I must, but here I am, tossing and turning on my bed, restless. All I can here are the sound of the crickets, the raindrops hardly pouring on our rooftop and the noise made by the mattress every time I turn around.
I must sleep because tomorrow (or later) is another day to do the same thing over again. I have tutorial at eight in the morning, and it seems like I'm going to be late again.
Talking about tutorial, I know that tutoring the kids is what gives me money, my bread and butter but sometimes, I feel like I'm getting tired of doing the dame thing over and over again. Sometimes one of the kids makes me really mad that I want to throw her out. But of course I can't do that. Good thing that I love babies and kids because of not, I'd really just grab that kid and I might hurt her for being so stubborn.
I actually don't know what to write, but I want to write something hoping to get sleepy while writing. But blame the four cups of coffee I drank the entire day. I thought coffee doesn't affect me that much anymore because I can even drink six cups at most each day and would still end up sleeping as early as 7:30 or eight in the evening.
But today is different, I was getting sleepy just a while ago but before closing my eyes, I tried to open my mobile data one more time. Opened up my Facebook account and checked whoever reacted on my status, checked my noise. Cash account and see if I got some free tips again and to my surprise, I got more than fifty cents of free tips even without any post for the past 21 hours. I was really surprised and happy. So instead of going to sleep, I tried to read some post on the site and gave my tips to other users. I was enjoying everything that I forgot about being sleepy. And the drill is to go to my bitcoin.com wallet and check the price of bitcoin cash. I was getting excited that the price of the coin is going to the moon!
Bitcoin cash. Almost everyone is talking about saving bitcoin cash and getting a whole BCH before the year ends. Well, it's really exciting! It's exciting to see how bitcoin cash is changing the lives of many people and of course that includes me! I want to save some bitcoin cash for myself too! Several times I was tempted to join the challenge and the 1 BCH club, but I restrained myself. I'm the type of person that when I set a goal for myself I wouldn't stop until I reach it. I will become too focused on it that I tend to neglect the other things that I need to do. And that's what I'm afraid of, I don't want to be too focused on reaching the goal and later on neglect the more important goals. So instead of joining the club, here I am trying to reach the goal, but I'm just low-key. I'm happy that I'm making small progress. I'm happy to see that my small saving from the tips I'm getting here are starting to get bigger, and I'm sure that one day, like the others I can also achieve the same goal.
Twenty minutes. More than twenty minutes has passed since I started writing this article. I'm not supposed to publish one tonight, but maybe I can. I started about not having any specific topic to write but look at how long this is now. This is supposed to be a journal. A journal that I once never fail to write an update. I wonder why I became too lazy to write one. Maybe I could start writing one again. These days, I only remember to write a journal when I'm going through something, but the problem is I'm too busy and happy with my life right now that I can't even think of writing on my diary application on my phone.
I'm sick and tired of worrying about my life. I just want to go with the flow. Furthermore, I want to do everything spontaneously and see what happens. I will no longer live according to the expectation of others and live doing what I love instead. I no longer care about what they say about me, what their impression is about me and I don't care if they gossip about me. As long as I'm happy with my life. Life being alone, but not a lonely one.
Finally, my eyelids are starting to feel heavy, and I think I need to stop writing now because if I don't I'm sure I won't be getting any sleep tonight.
Goodnight!
Time: 28 minutes and 50 seconds
I typed on my phone's keypad nonstop and I can't believe that it took me this long for this free writing.
Unrequited Feelings
Everything is still vivid in my memory. It was five years ago when I first saw him, he had that big smile with a perfect set of white teeth, while reaching out for a handshake. He stated his name and asked for mine. I barely uttered my name because I was a timid and shy girl that time. Looking back, a lot of things changed since then.
I was still in college when I met him and I had a lot of campus crushes that time, so I didn't have my eyes on him, plus the fact that he's so out of my league. But eventually, things slowly changed. We got to know each other more, or maybe I got to know about him more. He's nice, kind, polite, smart, and I realized that he's kinda cute.
We volunteered together, and he usually fetches and drops me off my house. As I spend time with him, I realized I was slowly falling for his charms, for his wit and just everything about him though I couldn't accept the fact that I fell for a guy like him. I tried to suppress my feelings and forget him, but I just can't. I'm a secretive person when it comes to serious stuffs, so I couldn't tell anyone about it. I was just silently liking him.
Two years later, we became group mates for a certain volunteering activity. We became closer, and I became closer to his entire family as well. When I'm with his family I feel like I'm also a part of their family because they treat me like one. And one day his sister who's also a close friend of mine accidentally found out about my feelings for her brother. While I was too nervous about it, she seemed to be too happy about it and is teasing me nonstop. She was praising me about how good I am at hiding my true feelings. She told me that the way I act doesn't manifest even 1% of my feelings. And I was glad because I don't want to make things awkward for us since we're together almost every day, and I don't want to ruin the friendship that we have.
As time goes by, we became too close that his family even suspected that something seemed to be going on between us. To make things worse for me, his sister told me that she once saw his wallpaper, and it was a photo of me and my friend. And since I have deep feelings for him so much that time, I can't help but to hope and think that maybe he also has some feelings for me that he can't express. I was getting by with that thought.
One day my cousin told me that one of our friends likes her and has a crush on her, but she couldn't tell me who it is. She let me read some of their conversations and based on the conversation and previous happenings, I could tell it was the guy I like. I was deeply hurt that time, I was crying on the bus while I'm on the way to work. I felt betrayed, I was mad at my cousin for not telling me about it considering that she knows how much I like the guy. Not only that, but I couldn't concentrate on my work too. So I prayed so hard for God to help me to eliminate and remove whatever feelings I had for him. I prayed for God to help me remove the unrequited feelings I have for him for three years. I decided to forget about him. I tried to stay away from them until I met another guy. He comforted me during the times that I was hurting, but when he confessed his feelings for me, I couldn't accept it. I can't bear to use him because he was too nice, so I told him to wait for me, and he agreed.
Meanwhile, I found out that my cousin just played a prank on me, and it isn't true that the guy I like likes her, it was his cousin who likes her 😅 (lol this seems to be too complicated).
But somehow, even though I found out that it was just a prank, I'm glad that my feelings for him already subsided a bit.
One time, the guy who likes me asked me out on a date, and it was supposed to be our first date. Since I can't go without a chaperon, I asked my friends to come with us and that includes the guy I like. That day, I totally realized that my feelings for him is still there, buried deep within my heart. So I decided not to entertain the other guy anymore, and I also don't want him to end up hurting because of me.
Things went back to how it was before, and I thought things are going on smoothly between us. But like an older and matured friend once told me ***"don't assume unless otherwise stated",*** I should've kept that in mind. I assumed too much and once again I ended up hurting.
I thought he also likes me because he easily yields to my requests. When I ask him to accompany me to my students house, he would go with me. He would praise me for being a good cook. I thought he also has feelings for me but in the end it was just a sibling love. He loves like I'm one of his siblings. I was on sister zone.
What hurts more is when I found out that he already got a girlfriend, and it was the friend who I always ask to accompany us whenever the guy I liked and I are together. Technically, I was the one who brought them together, they became too close because of me. They couldn't even tell me because the girl made him aware of my feelings. I understand that between us two, he would choose her because she's pretty, and I'm not, and she's someone he can be proud of while me, nah. It's been more than a year since I found out about it, and I'm now happy for myself. I'm happy that I was able to move on from the hurtful happenings in the past, and I'm happy that I can smile at the two of them genuinely again. I'm happy for them now, and I'm happy living a single life.
Well that's just how life is, so I promised not to adjust my standards anymore for a guy. If he can't reach my standards then he can't enter my life. I will make sure not to fall for any guy that will not reach the standard I've set. That way, I can protect myself, I can protect my heart from hurting over and over again.
`Waaah this is the result of boredom! I don't want to think about those things over again and I don't want to remember the feeling of being hurt but I can't think of any good topic to write. And it also happen that I saw their status about going on a date, so my bitterness subsided and I ended up in front of my phone and the keyboard typing this 🤧. Bare with me for this article and if you reach this point reading this article I really want to thank you for reading it 💕`
An Afternoon at the Park
I was supposed to write about this about a month ago but things happened and I forgot to share this here. And while I was exploring my gallery to free up some space so I can install the nexo wallet on my phone, I saw the pictures so I thought of writing an article about it.
This happened about month ago. Me and my college friends decided to meet and spend some time together since it's been more than two years ever since we saw some of them. It's good to reminisce and just talk about things and catch up. But we are not the group that catch up with each others lives over a bottle pf alcoholic drink just like other groups of friends.
My friends and I prefers to go nature tripping and do some physical activities as a form of bonding and catching up.
So for our recent meet up, we decided to go to **Kawa kawa Natural Park.**
**Kawa kawa Natural Park** is located in Ligao City, Albay. It takes approximately 30-45 minutes by jeepney to go there from where I live.
***Kawa*** is a *Bicolano* word for a cauldron and that is where the park's name is derived from. Because it looks like a big cauldron when you look at it from the top.
As what you can see in the picture above, this is how Kawa kawa Natural Park looks from afar.
During summer, this becomes a big sunflower plantation where local tourist enjoys sightseeing. Sunflowers big and small is too captivating to the eyes and will definitely lift someone's mood. Last year, before the pandemic started, I was fortunate to have the beauty of those sunflowers.
It will take almost 30 minutes of walking to reach the top of the hill and it is advisable to wear comfortable shoes because the way to the top is very steep. If you a low stamina, just five minutes of walking will make you out of breath. So it is also very important not to forget to bring a bottle of water so you can replenish along the way.
Aside from the big cauldron-like hill, near it also lies the Bamboosetum Park where tourists can see different species of bamboos. Those bamboos also makes an awesome background for instagramable pictures.
Standing down the hill, just near the Bamboomsetum park, you'll see a giant heart at the top of the hill.
This is a closer snap of that heart at the top of the hill. What's amazing about this is that it overlooks the heart of the city of Ligao. It looks more amazing at night because of the hundreds of city lights that looks like stars from afar. A lot of couples loves taking their photos with this big heart on the back drop.
Near the Bamboosetum park, you'll see this wishing well. A tourist can throw any coin and make a wish. Those coins just stays there according to a care taker.
If you are curious of how the inside of the well looks, here it is:
It doesn't look like a lot of people are throwing away their coins to make wishes on this well.
This tunnel-like bamboos at the bamboosetum is also one of the favorite spots of the tourist for taking photos. There's a lot more of bamboos aside from these that I failed to capture that day because I was too busy enjoying the company of my friends.
Once you visit this natural park and your eyes are done feasting with the looks down here, you can start going up the hill to watch the beautiful setting of the sun.
Watching the sunset on the of the hill while looking down at the vast plains and paddy field below is a wonderful view.
Are you wondering how steep the way up is? Well, just look at this photo. If you are not wearing a rubber shoes it will surely be a challenge for you. You'll hurt your feet and you also have to make sure that you are looking at the street because if not, you will end up stumbling and rolling down just like what happened to Jack and Jill haha.
Since it is not yet time to plant sunflowers, the hill becomes a vast pineapple plantation as of the moment. I want to visit this park when it's time to harvest the pineapple fruit. It will surely be an awesome view to sea a lot of pineapples.
And when you walk a little further, you will sea man-made dinosaurs and dinosaur's nest. Tourist are not allowed to stay for more than five minutes on those *nest* because everyone should let the other tourists experience it too and take photos.
Here's me sitting on the '*dinosaur's nest'* on top of a tree. Unfortunately, my friend didn't include the dinosaur on this snap.
Here's another snap of me.
It's getting late now so we have to go down. But before going down, let's meet this bird first:
It's getting dark so we really have to go down because there are no lights on the way down the hill.
We went here last december so there is a mini christmas village that most people who celebrates christmas really love. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the christmas village because we are already in a hurry to go home since we need to catch the jeepney or bus going to the town where we all live. But I am able to take one last snap of the light decors that hangs on the trees which makes the place look more lively at night.
I hope you like these photographs I shared here. I'll post more next time. See you on the next article.
Hair talk
Some call it as a woman's crowning glory. Long, short, black, brown or blonde. No matter how long or short and no matter what the color is, our hair really makes a difference in our physique. Sometimes the hair itself speaks up about someone's personality, her belief and what she's going through.
Several women I know cut their hair short when they undergo a hard time such as a break up. Cutting the hair short according to them, feels like they are leaving behind any hurtful memory and having a short hair will help them move on.
But that is not the case for everyone. Some cuts their short because they look good in it. Personally, I also cut my hair from time to time because a lot are telling me that I look much younger with a short hair. But most of the time, I only do something on my hair out of boredom.
I was born with a natural jet black, shiny hair. When I was in high school my classmates would always admire my long hair and some even asks me whether it was rebonded or not, though it's not.
One time, my cousin who studies cosmetology asked me if I could be her model to comply with the requirement for their lesson. She curled my hair and after that it took more than three years for my hair to return to being straight and healthy.
I tried several hair styles that suits me in the past years.
This photo was taken in September 2016. I was a college girl that time and I was getting ready to be deployed for OJT. That time most of my classmates are having their hair rebonded and colored. I wondered what it would look on me so I asked my aunt to dye my hair too. I love the hair color but dying the hair makes the hair unhealthy and dry. So if you are planning to have your hair dyed you should also think about getting it treated. Moreover, hair treatment sometimes costs a lot too, specially if you have a long hair.
This photo is taken back in 2018. Two years after I dyed my hair, I decided to cut it short to eliminate the split ends and for my hair to go back to normal. Some of my friends have been teasing me about being broken hearted after I cut my hair this short. The thing is, it is not supposed to be this short, I cutted it but my desired style wasn't achieved, so I went to a salon and make it look better and the hair stylist ended up cutting it like this. Several months from now, I'm planning to do this again to my hair.
I know a lot of girls can relate to this. When bored, we usually tend to be too attracted with the scissors and ends up getting bangs. I did this to my hair last February 2020, I was at home and that time, I didn't know about read.cash yet, there is no electricity either so I can't watch television to ease my boredom, so I decided to just cut my hair and get a bangs. I really liked it at first but after two weeks I was regretting about doing it.
Let's Get to Know Our Hair https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/Cek8QJYIxdb
Our scalp contains an average of 100,000 strands of hair and each strand can continue to grow for 2-6 years only, it then falls and a new hair will start to grow again from the same pore. So don't panic or worry about getting hair falls. According to studies, each day an average of 70 up to 100 strands of hair naturally falls out.
Melanin is the the pigment in our hair that is responsible for our hair's color. This is the reason why hair has a variety of color - black, brown, blond, rust and gray. The greater the melanin in the hair is, the darker the color of the hair. Having lesser of this pigment of having none at all is what makes the hair gray or white and shiny.
They say that gray hair is a sign of aging. Old people usually gets white hair, but in some cases, even at a young age, someone can get a gray hair. My sister who is seven years younger thane has a lot of gray and white hair while I don't have one. It is true that when we age, our white hair increases, but aside from age, there are also other factors that contributes such as your diet.
**Taking care of the Hair**
***Improve the blood circulation on your scalp***. You can do this by massaging the scalp. It can be done when taking a bath a applying shampoo on the hair. Sufficient nutrition also plays a role in getting your blood circulation improved. Make sure to rinse your hair thoroughly after applying shampoo. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/Cek8QJYIxdb
***Do not brush or comb your hair with excessive force*****.** As I have a long hair, it is usually very hard to comb my hair after I take a bath since the hair strands are usually tangled and rough. I see some people forcing their hair just to untangle it. But this is not good for the hair. Instead of forcing it, start combing or brushing the hair at the ends, then comb or brush from the middle up to the end and lastly, slowly comb from the roots to the end. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/u5gJk9bJxdb
***Apply hair treatment.*** You can apply hair treatment or go to a salon to treat your hair specially if you dyed it. Like mentioned previously, dying can make your hair dry so it is essential to go for a hair treatment to ensure that your hair will remain healthy.
***When trying to have a new hair style, make sure to have a picture of the style you want to achieve or tell the stylist about it.***
Our hair style and caring for the hair is actually a form of self expression. Whether you cut your hair, straighten it, curl it, get an extension and have it dyed, the hair is usually styled to express yourself. Sometimes, our hair style speaks about our political or religious belief or simply to meet trends in fashion. So what does your hair reveal about you?
Law Of Attraction
I've been seeing a lot of post on social media about the Law of attraction. But what is the law of attraction? It is a philosophy about positive thoughts that has positive effects and negative thoughts resulting to negativities.
There's this group on Facebook I joined last year, most of the members there have their accounts on Upwork and some are those who are interested in creating an account. We all know that life is too hard these days and that includes looking for a job, a lot of employees have been laid off from work due to pandemic so most of them resorted to look for opportunities online. And as a result there is a fierce competition in the freelancing world. But on that Facebook group previously mentioned, a lot of members are posting about jobs, claiming that they'll get it and then later on they will post once again that they indeed got it. So that's the law of attraction, even though there are uncertainties, positivity attracts positive results.
The Law of attraction works not just when it comes to career and getting jobs. It has a wider scope. It can be anything about life - love life, career, family, friendship and goals. And I think that Law of attraction perfectly works indeed!
When I was still a student, I'm the type who never gave my best when it comes to studying. I just get high grades on my projects because I always try to unleash my creativity effortlessly. But when it comes to studying during short quizzes, short tests and major examination, I've never been serious about it, but I always pass those tests and examinations with a little studying compared to what my classmates does because I always believe in my stock knowledge, and I'm positive about passing.
After I graduated, I didn't follow the path of my classmates. I thought about working and earning money instead. I'm a fresh graduate, but I told myself that someone's going to hire me for sure and guess what, shortly after my graduation I landed my first job. And I was certain that it was because of my positivity, and of course prayer helped too!
If I'm going to elaborate all the positive outcomes of my positivity, I'm afraid that this article will be boring because of experiences that is great in number.
So why am I writing about the law of attraction? Simply because recently I'm trying to be more positive again after picking up myself from all the negativities I was in.
Seven months ago I was jobless. The pandemic prevented me from getting the job I applied to, my laptop broke, and we don't have a stable internet connection, so I can't even apply to jobs online. My mom was saying mean things against me, comparing me to others who have jobs abroad, and it is really depressing. Then I discovered read.cash I started earning small amounts of BCH each day. I was happy to earn $0.40-$0.60 each day on my first two months. But I was really happy because I was able to save some money after I converted my earnings to fiat. Then things changed on the site and I really liked it because I was earning more. My highest earning for a single article is $13, and I was really happy about it. I saved more and more, and I also learned how to hodl. I HODL a certain percentage of my earnings and the rest are converted to fiat currency. It really helped me.
But there comes a time when I wasn't myself. It seemed like I can no longer think of any topics to write about, and I feel too lazy to write, and when I'm finally in the mood to write, my efforts are not rewarded. So I stopped writing on read.cash for a while. I looked for a daytime job instead. I was positive that I can find one nearby. And yes, the law of attraction indeed worked one more time. I got my first tutee two months ago and another came and another. Then I tried to write again and the results are indeed positive! I love how things are working the way I want it to be.
I was also reading a lot of inspiring stories and articles here about some writers (I won't drop names because there's a lot) trying to reach their goals this year. Reading their stories really inspires and motivates me to be more positive about my goals too. If they can do it, I also can!
There's this user I've been cheering on about her goal to build their own house this year. I'm really rooting for that user because I have a somehow similar goal. But mine is to have my own room, and when I say mine, I don't have to share it with someone. This might be simple for others, but I've been wishing for this to happen since a long time ago. Since I was young, I've been sharing a room with my sister and now that were all grown up, I'm no longer happy about it. I can't even have my own privacy and I can't rest during the times that I want to rest. So I started to plan to have 'my own room construction project'. I was hesitant at first, but I'm positive that I can do it within 2-3 months.
I know that law of attraction will work again this time. It wasn't even a month yet since I planned my project but I'm already seeing positive results. How did I say this? Our dear bot is being so good to me lately, so I'm earning more. I have several tutees and another job is coming plus two more tutees will be added to my list! Now I'm super excited about what's going to happen in the next coming days!
True, the law of attraction works. Thinking about positive things yields positive results but also remember to pray along with your positive thoughts. Positivity is good and God will grant our positive thoughts and wishes!
`Well this is supposed to be a formal article but it ended up like a free writing.`
Courtship
I've heard about this story several months ago, but I'm writing an article about it just now because I totally forgot about it.
So here's what happened: *I was inside my room when I heard that someone came to* *visit my dad, few moments later they were already talking over a bottle of alcoholic beverage. That time, my 6-year-old cousin was staying with us and I faintly heard my dad telling his visitor that my cousin is actually my 'son', who I got when I was still a teenager. I was quite annoyed when I heard that because I'm afraid about words spreading in the entire neighborhood about me being a pregnant when I was still a teen. But I just let it be so if in case the neighbors makes gossip about it, those who have a little crush on me will be discouraged and that is a good thing for me - no one will bother me any more every time I take a walk.*
*After two days, we went to my uncle's wake and some of my aunts were asking whether I already have a boyfriend, so I kidded them and said I have a lot, referring to Korean Oppas. That moment, my dad shared the story about what happened the night before. So he told everyone that he got a visitor the two nights ago and that visitor paid him a visit because he wants to ask for his permission to court one of his daughters which unfortunately is me (eeew). My dad knowing how picky I am thought that I'll surely become annoyed, so discouraged him saying I already have kid, and he also asked the guy that they should talk it over a bottle of alcohol. The guy agreed and my dad gave him a glass of vodka, the guy drank it all at once and several minutes later he was too drunk and said he'll go home. Actually he didn't go home, but he slept outside our grocery shop instead (well we didn't know about that), my mom found out that the guy slept outside the shop when she heard someone puking at 4 am and cleaning up the mess afterwards.*
After this incident, that guy was too ashamed to even show his face near our house, and I'm just too glad about it. Because he doesn't stand a chance with me.
So why am I writing about that story? Because it is somehow related to the topic I will write about - courtship.
Nowadays, not a lot of guys has the courage to talk to a girl's parents to ask for their permission to date their daughter. Gadgets, specially mobile phones and internet have changed people's perspectives with regard to dating and courtship. Online dating have gone mainstream and getting into relationship is just a piece of cake for others.
I've heard and read about a lot of stories about people who met the person they're dating online. A college friend is now in a relationship with a guy she only meet on social media. Some romantic relationships formed online does not undergo the 'proper' courtship and what I mean about this is the kinds of relationship which only started through chatting and then the two people will eventually like each other and will just exchange I love yous and boom! They are already dating. Some of these relationships becomes successful and some even led to marriage but most of them leads to heartbreaks.
When it comes to dating and courtship, the Philippines have a distinct set of norms which made its culture and tradition fascinating.
Here are some of the Filipinos unique way of courtship in the past:
***Harana***. This is usually done during nighttime when a man, accompanied by his close friends or family member expresses his feelings towards the woman he likes by singing a song underneath her window. During this act of courting, a guitar has always been the most used instrument. Today, there are still few who do this, but it is done in a modern way. And most of the guys no longer sings a song for the girl they like or love underneath the window, they do it anywhere.
***Paninilbihan***. *Paninilbihan* means doing some service for the woman and her family. The act of servitude shows how genuine and sincere his feelings is towards the woman he loves. This also shows that he respects not only the woman but her family as well. This includes helping out with household chores such as chopping woods, fetching water and other chores.
My grandpa used to tell us that he served my grandma's family for about a year just to get her precious 'yes'. He chopped fire woods, fetched water from a nearby river and well and even helped in my great-grandparent's farm. He even told us that since my grandma's parents have Spanish roots, they are quite hostile towards him. One time after filling a big barren with drinking water he fetched from the well, my grandma's mom just poured it while saying that he can't trust my grandpa because he may have added any potion on it. But my grandpa is naturally a kind man tons of patience, so he just endured everything and in the end he got the parent's favor and gave their blessing for my grandpa to marry my grandma. Aaaw a real '*sana all*'.
***Love letter writing***. Love letters have been part of the norms for courtship. Wherein a man through a mediator (usually a close friend or a family member) will send handwritten love letters to the woman he likes. This form of courtship requires a lot of patience especially when sending a letter to a faraway place because it takes so much time before they will receive a response, but everything is worth it when they receive a positive response from the lady.
An elderly couple who I treat like grandparents did courtship through love letters and every time I have the chance to sleep at their house, I always read their love letters. It is too romantic, and I feel giddy every time I read those. I can feel how much they respected each other through those letters and since it is arranged properly by date, I can see how they progressed from pen pals to lovers.
Now, one will surely feel special and will love to read a long sweet message on social media during their special days such as a monthsaries, anniversaries or Valentine's Day. But I still prefer love letters over those long sweet messages. Call me old-fashioned, but I still think that sending handwritten letters are indeed romantic, and I promised myself that I'll marry that person who will give me a written love letter.
As time goes by and as modern technology emerge, these unique courtship practices have been replaced by modern way of dating and courtship such as texting, chatting or video calling and using of online dating sites. Many people would prefer the new way of courtship and dating, but some still loves to experience the old way of courtship, it's not just about exerting more effort nor about being more romantic, it's also about preserving our rich culture that our ancestors did before.
I Thought
When I was a young girl, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. Every time I was asked what I want to be when I grow up, I would always answer "I want to be a teacher!" without any hesitation. Even when I was in my teenage years, I would always try to be a teacher to my younger siblings and my cousins. We have a board at my grandparent's house which we use every time we play school. I'm the teacher, and they are my students. I also used to spend half of my money that is supposed to be spent on snacks for photocopying the test papers I made for my cousins. That's how eager I am to be a teacher.
But things changed and time came when I became too confused of what I really want to do in life, I want to be a nurse, a doctor, a scientist and even an astronaut! I want to do all of them. So I ended up choosing the path of a computer programmer, though math is my Waterloo, so I ended up hating programming.
And I thought of my original dream - to become a teacher and inculcate change in the lives of students. So I had to start all over again.
I thought it is so easy to be a teacher. I thought taking up education is just a piece of cake. Furthermore, I thought I won't have to go through sleepless nights just to make a thesis when I reach my fourth year in college because I heard that they only make portfolios as a prerequisite for graduation. But I was wrong. I started losing sleep on my second year in college, paper works became my friends, we made a lot of research and studies, have to submit portfolios every end of term and a thesis before we can proceed to practice teaching.
Fourth year came, second semester we have to make a lot of demonstration teaching on every subject before we can go in the field. I passed and was deployed. Practice teaching is not that easy, unfortunately I was assigned in lower sections, and it is very challenging to teach in such an environment. I had mixed emotions when I was teaching a lesson in english, one pupil excused himself because he wanted to pee, but I was so shocked when after a few minutes I saw him climbing on the ceiling! I don't know if I'll get mad or laugh. Some children in public schools are just too wild! My practice teaching experience broke my dreams. I didn't receive any encouragement from my cooperating teachers, instead I was too discouraged to go on with my dream profession. But I decided to still continue and see what will happen to me after graduation.
I thought being able to graduate is enough. I could land any job I want because that's what people keep telling me, that you can land on any job once you are a graduate of education. But those are just assumptions I think. It's not easy, there are discrimination in the corporate world when it comes to graduates of education, they have this mindset that we will just leave the company anytime to go back to teaching.
Fortunately a BPO company gave me a chance to prove myself. I thought I was enjoying the job, but after some time, I missed the classroom, I missed the school and I missed the kids. So I took the exam without undergoing any review. I told myself that if I pass, it means I'm really meant to teach but if I don't, it's not yet too late to get a new dream. I passed, and I thought that once I passed the licensure examination, took the professional oath, it will be easy to land a job at a public school, but it's not.
I have to undergo ranking.
***Ranking*** *is the process of selecting qualified teacher applicants for teacher 1 position.*
To have my name listed on the registry of qualified applicants, I need 70 points, but I don't have prior teaching experience, so I automatically lose 15 points. I need to have certificates from seminars and I need to undergo training and examination to acquire a National Certificate 2 from Technical Skills Development Authority.
See, the start is already challenging. I was just courageous enough to apply even without experience because I have high grades back in college and I trust my teaching skills.
Applying in the government sector is not easy. These are the things we need to make sure we are qualified.
Like I mentioned **high grades** is an edge. You need to have high general weighted average so you can acquire high points. Good thing I did my best from second year to fourth year because I was a scholar. If you don't have high grades, it will be a disadvantage. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/ibIONTtynbd
**High ratings** in the Licensure Examination. Getting good numbers on your rating is really an advantage because it will also give you more points. And if you are not a passer of the licensure exam you are not entitled to apply for the ranking. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/ibIONTtymdb
**Experience**. One of my teacher friends told me that the department of education really values and focuses on an applican't experiences. So if you don't have an experience, well you may just be wasting your time for the ranking. But if you are confident about your skills and numbers, then you still have a chance, specially if you have awards during your graduation.
A **master's degree** is not a must but it is an edge. This is the reason why some of my classmates immediately enrolled in graduate school for a master's degree shortly after graduation. But I didn't do that. I don't think it's a good investment while I'm not yet a government employee. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/NpujkIoybdc
Like mentioned earlier, I need to get a **National Certificate** from TESDA to make sure I automatically have 10 points. I even sacrificed my high paying job in the BPO industry just so I can enroll, be trained and be qualified for taking an examination in TESDA. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/MgujkIoymdb
You should **ace the interview** **and demonstration teaching****.** During the interview, as an applicant you will face 3-5 principals, in which some looks really intimidating and scary. But just be confident and be yourself when talking to them because they don't eat people lol. Demonstration teaching is quite challenging too because you will teach an actual class with a principal at the back observing how you execute your lesson based on lesson plan that you wrote. Everything must be strictly followed and children must get high results during your evaluation. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/NpujkIoymdb
And there's more!
I thought everything is done, but we still have to write essays to test our english proficiency skills. During my application, the essays that we wrote went down the drain because after two months the division where I applied required us to take another English Proficiency Test, this time a computerized one. I still don't know my result during that time up to this moment. https://branch.wallet.bitcoin.com/ibIONTtymdb
And after all these process, it's not yet the end. We have to wait several months before the Division post the results. I waited for almost ten months for my result. And I was too confident that I'll be qualified. I computed my result on hand and I was too certain that I'll pass, that I'll get at least 76 points. That's what I thought, but I was wrong again. I trusted the process too much. I forgot that it is always a matter of 'under the table' when it comes to applying on government offices. It took me ten months waiting for the result but the result was too devastating. Once again, wanting to be a teacher broke my heart.
`P.S. Sorry for this long write up. I was just feeling sentimental while having a talk with my college friend and planning to go to the Division office to verify the results.`
***If you are interested, find the hidden treasures in this article. $0.15 and $0.05 are hidden! Comment down below if you found it.***
I SEA you
Are you wondering about the title of the article? Well, it's because I went to the sea! After almost a year of not seeing the vast ocean, finally I was there. It was just a brief and unplanned escapade with my family but I was really happy because this is the first time in three years that we went on an outing as a family. The last time that we went on an outing as a family was way back 2017 when my cousin was still alive. We went to the exact same beach we went that time so I was brought back to memory lane.
Anyways that's enough drama. I'm here today to share some snaps of our unplanned escapade in which some photos are already shared on noise.
**Unplanned Trip**
Before I share the photos let me tell the story of how this unplanned trip wad '*planned'.* Last friday, I was craving for a salad so I bought ingredients to make a macaroni salad. We're a family of 8 so I bought half kilo of macaroni plus the ingredients to make sure that everyone at home will be satisfied. But I was surprised when I was done making it because I made a lot! My sister who was helping me that time said that it would be great if we could take that as a snack to the beach. My mom overheard our conversation but was against the idea because we would need to buy more snacks and foods we will bring. I told them I was gonna pay for everything just to make sure that we can go and they agreed.
We invited several family friends and my siblings agreed to travel by 4 a.m. because the beach is quite far from our place, which is approximately 2 hours away from our house. We prepared and had everything ready for our trip the next day.
Saturday came, but at 6:30 a.m, everyone's still asleep and too lazy to get out of bed. I was feeling lazy as well because that is supposed to be my day off and I just want to sleep the entire day. But our driver (my brother) was nagging us though about him waking up at 3:30 a.m. and blaming us for his lack of sleep, so my mom decided for us to go though it's too late already.
So I hurriedly cooked some foods and I was done at 11:30 a.m. At 12 noon we were already travelling. And we have to stop by some places to invite some more people. *The more the merrier*!
We arrived at the beach at 2:30 and I started to take some snaps. It's not a fancy beach resort because it will take more time to travel to the nearest resort. But the important thing is that we were able to enjoy the trip, especially my baby sister.
Here's the first photo I took:
The first photo is a snap of my younger sister posing for the camera. We make a good team - she's the model and I'm the photographer. This gal has some talent when it comes to making '*awra*' in front of the camera but she's the worst in taking pictures which makes me mad. So I decided to be her photographer whenever we're together. And she doesn't know I'm sharing her photo here haha.
The next snap is a macro shot of this tiny flowers growing near the shore. The combination of colors looks really pretty but trust me it doesn't smell good.
And here comes the sea! See I told you, it's not a fancy beach resort but the blue ocean reflecting the blue sky really made me smile.
I don't know about others but these proud-standing and tall palm trees looks really awesome in my eyes, can't help but to take a photo of them.
My sister is having the time of her life, looking sexy on this jump shot lol.
I saw a similar photo on instagram and I ought to imitate it, but my snap is not as cools as the photo I imitated.
How do you find this apple on top of stones and shells? I find it cute!
This mini coral is too cute to ignore.
We're supposed to be grilling fish since we're at the sea, but my dad's friend brought this chunk of meat so we are grilling this instead. And everyone's too excited about the thought of going to the beach so no one remembered to bring at least a small knife. Good thing I have some survival skills. This really taste good.
Here comes my favorite part of the day. The sunset.
Magnificent sunsets reminds us that no matter how ugly the day started, it can still end beautifully.
Looking at this I can only think of one word - POESÍA, a word that means poetry. I can't help but admire this marvelous wonder which makes me want to write a poetry about it.
The first sunset photo is really great, but this sunset photo featuring water photography is awesome and amazing!
And finally here's me enjoying the sunset by the beach for the first time in a while. This is just a self camera, since I don't trust my sister's photography skills.
I know we all missed the photography articles on this site so I'm sharing these photos here. Which one is your favorite?
Can We Beat Procrastination?
I have a goal, but I don't know how to start reaching my goal when laziness is so hindering me to make a step forward. I know that I have to beat laziness and be serious but some other daily activities also hinders m be serious. It's been two days since I last wrote an article, and I've been meaning to write, but I keep delaying it - yes, procrastination at it's finest!
Okay, so like I mentioned I really want to write an article but aside from I'm not in the mood, I also can't think of a good topic to write about. So I decided to make my laziness an inspiration and write an article about it. This is actually not about laziness but about procrastination.
Here's a scenario.
*Just another ordinary day. I woke up even before the alarm I've set the following night wakes me up. It's 5:00 a.m. and upon waking up I realized that I have a lot of things to do, from household chores, errands to take care of, I have to prepare an activity for my tutorial classes and I have to write a new article. I know that these are all important and that I have to start doing things, but I'm too lazy to do it and there's an inner force in me that stops me from doing things. And then I'll suddenly realize: "some of these are not urgent, I'll just do it tomorrow." And the next day it's the same scenario - I don't feel like doing things again, and I keep on prolonging and delaying doing the important things. When I try to delay things these come to mind:*
**•** Well, I'll just make noise on noise.cash instead of writing an article.
• I will not prepare for the next class since I can just depend on the textbooks.
• I won't wash my clothes and bedding since I can let my sister do it for me.
• I will not do that favor my friend asked me to do because it's not urgent, I can just cram a day before she needs it.
Different thoughts for different scenarios, which shows one thing:
**Procrastination**.
***What is Procrastination?***
Procrastination is the act of postponing to do something which can be done today.
Most of the time people delays doing important things and use their time for relaxation and leisure instead. For some it becomes a habit. Most commonly, the young adults. There are students who are given assignment and projects way far from the due date, but they don't do it while they still have ample time and rushes things a day or a night before the day of submission. Well, I'm talking based on experience lol. Back in college, me and some of my friends tend to make projects and reports a day before it is needed because we feel like we can think faster and make things easily when we are under pressure. Students are not the only ones who procrastinate.
There are some adults too who tends to delay things at work and this does not have positive effects, businesses may end up losing income and deals due to procrastination. When I was still working as a customer service representative, I used to give promises to my customers that I've give them a call back to check with them or give them an update about the concern they called about, but there are times that I tend to procrastinate and delays my follow up with them for several days and as a result they give me low ratings and it deeply affects my performance ratings at work and I have to make up for that by working hard for about a week. See, I'm probably the president of the procrastination club!
Time is precious, and we do not want procrastination to steal it from us. So in this article, let us have a better understanding why people end up procrastinating and what to do to beat procrastination. These are not my own idea but I got these from a valuable book which I used to read back when I was a teenager. I tried to reread the book hoping that I can apply the advices to myself.
**Reasons why people procrastinates**
***LACK OF MOTIVATION***. Sometimes there are projects or chores that just seems too boring to even start with it. We feel like it's a burden to do it and instead of starting to do the activity we look for other fun and interesting things to do. For example, a student is given a project, but it's too boring and ends up scrolling social media pages or playing video games instead because it's more fun!
***YOU HAVE A LOT OF OTHER THINGS TO DO***. True enough, almost all of us have many things to do every day. Sometimes, it overwhelms us and does not know where to start and ends up not doing anything at all or probably do the things with less importance first.
**Tips that will help to beat procrastination**
***Set priorities***. How about making a list of the tasks that you need to complete? You can try to arrange the list from the most important to the least important. That way you know which task you need to prioritized and do first.
***Create a schedule*****.** Sometimes we tend to procrastinate because we just do things spontaneously, how about making a schedule for your activities the next day and strictly stick to your schedule no matter what? It will help you gain control of your time and your stress level will also be reduced.
***Think of the consequences***. If you don't start doing things today, you may end being stressed out and pressured about it. Good outputs are not done when rushed and done under pressure, it is a result of careful thinking and when you invest enough time for doing it.
**Think of a good reason why you have to start doing a task.** Maybe a chance of getting a higher grade if you submit an assignment earlier. It feels great when we do things ahead of time and for me, I feel like I've achieved something good whenever I do this, and it makes me feel happy and proud for myself.
We may have a lot of reasons to procrastinate, it is inevitable specially when we became so used to it but let us try to apply these valuable advices that might help us to beat procrastination.
Going back to the question on the title of this article, can we really beat procrastination? Definitely! Quit procrastinating and start doing things now! - A message for myself lol.
What To Remember When Shopping Online
Internet shopping has become mainstream nowadays. Personally, I love online shopping because it can provide a wider set of options for the products or stuffs I'm looking for. Aside from that, I can also purchase items online for a very affordable price. Most of the online shopping applications and websites also have something to excite the customers each month such as free shipping, discounted items and much more. I get really excited each month to order stuffs mostly on Shopee and Lazada because that's the two most popular online shopping apps in the Philippines. But if you are living in the United States and Canada, the most popular shopping website is Amazon where you can get as fast as one day shipping for the products you order. There is also an option to apply for prime membership which provides a lot of benefits. Having this in mind, I wish *Shopee* or *Lazada* can have that option as well - and I'm pretty sure that I'll be one of those who will eventually sign up for any membership!
But as an online shopper, you can't expect that you'll always have a 100% satisfaction on the products that you buy online. There is always the expectation versus reality dilemma, oftentimes you won't even get the quality that you paid for.
But there are also people who hesitate to shop online. Some are worried about the risks of buying online such as getting their debit or credit card hacked, others are afraid of inadvertently giving out their sensitive personal information and other simply just don't know how to go shopping online.
So how can you make the most out of your online shopping? Consider the following suggestions or shopping advices I came up with based on my previous online shopping experiences.
**Online Shopping Suggestions**
Here are few things to consider, so you can shop with confidence and enjoy shopping at the comfort of your home, your office or anywhere you may be.
**If you are using your computer to shop, make sure that malware and antivirus are installed.** It will protect your information from hackers or anyone who may use your sensitive information for any fraudulent activity such as your debit or credit card numbers, your pin and your password. If possible, avoid using any public computers when shopping. I've previously worked as a customer service representative for a well known online shopping website, and I've encountered several customers who have their cards debited or credited for something they didn't purchase and later on found out that it happened after placing an order using a public computer at work or at the library.
**It is easier and more convenient to shop using applications**. This came to mind after hearing a story from my mom this morning.
*We often see advertisement when browsing on Facebook about cheap products on Shopee and Lazada are right? But you can't order it right away straight from Facebook, instead you will be routed to play store to install the apps or if you already have it installed, you will be redirected to the app itself once you click on the product. So there is no need to comment on the advertisement because Shopee or Lazada will never answer your queries through Facebook. Remember it is just an advertisement. But that's what my mom's Facebook friend keeps on doing. He is interested in ordering a razor on Shopee, but he only keeps on commenting on the advertisement that appears on facebook, asking how much the product is and how to order.*
That's not how it works so make sure to install the application and shop from there.
**Do not shop mindlessly - putting everything you see on your shopping cart.** Oftentimes when you're bored, you might just end up browsing on those shopping apps. But because these sellers online have the goal of making us feel like we always need something new, we may be tempted to buy just anything we see, specially if it's on free shipping or on the flash deals or sales.
**When shopping for clothes, make sure to know your measurements and refer to the size chart before placing an order.** Don't assume that the small, medium, large sizes works the same for every piece of clothes. So refer to the size chart to make sure you won't end up going to the hassle of returning an item.
**Before adding an item to your shopping cart, check the reviews**. I found this really helpful whenever I shop online. Check if the product or the seller has high ratings, if not you may try to look for that specific product you're looking for from a different seller. Aside from the number of ratings, I usually check on the comments as well and it affects whether I'll place an order or not. This helps to minimize the chances of returning an item.
**Remember that as customers, online shopping apps gives us the option of returning an item if there is a good reason for doing so, it may be due to the wrong product that we receive, or it may be defective and other reasons**. But also remember that it is sometimes better to communicate with the seller and come to agreement because returning an item is a hassle. Most of the time, you will have to pay for the return shipping cost and refunds also takes time.
**If you see a product that you might want to order in the future, add it to your shopping cart** so that you won't have to spend a lot of time looking for it once you are all set to buy it or once you have the budget to pay for the item.
**If you don't want to use your cards or online wallets when paying for the items you buy online, look for the option of paying it upon delivery.** Look for items that has the option for COD or Cash-On-Delivery.
**If for some reasons you won't be able to receive your parcel, communicate with the courier or contact customer service.** These online shopping apps provides customer service experience where you can talk to a live agent to help you with your online shopping concern.
Online shopping provides an opportunity to buy and obtain any product or stuff you need or wants to buy. Once you keep these suggestions in mind, I'm sure you'll also enjoy shopping online where you don't have to tire yourself looking for items on physical stores.
How To Make Your Relationship Last
*“Two is better than one.”*
Yes, being in a relationship could be a beautiful thing for others. Finding the love of your life could be one of the happiest moment. They say that love is magical as it can bring the colors of the rainbow into your blue life, it can bring a smile to a frowning heart and can melt even the most frozen heart. In simple words, love and being in a relationship could bring a change in someone's boring life. But forever does not exist in this world, change is inevitable, so as time goes by, either you or your partner will change. Be it for the better or it might bring your happy relationship into worst that you might even feel giving up on each other is the best thing to do.
What causes these changes?
These are the problems caused by misunderstandings, money matters or contradicting preferences and beliefs. Most of the time, having a third party involved is also one of the reasons why a happy relationship can be ruined and sometimes, a simple falling out of love. These reasons are usually the culprits of breakups. But it still depends on the couple whether they will face these problems heads on and save the relationship or let it assail their relationship.
**Tips to have a lasting relationship**:
**Develop your communication skill**s. Conflicts are inevitable, but communicating well is the key to resolve conflicts. How you communicate can either make or break the relationship. Disagreements and misunderstandings due to a poor communication skills can cause anger and more conflicts. So it is vital to develop your skills in communicating. How to do that?
***Consider the following:***
Focus on what the other says.
Listen first before butting in or reacting.
Learn to compromise
Don't give up with communication.
Admit your mistakes.
Know the point of view of your partner.
These tips are proven to be effective in developing communication skills even for other kinds of relationships.
**If conflicts arise, understand the problem**. In every relationship, conflicts arise when there is a misunderstanding. We all have the tendency to misunderstand because we are all imperfect. A small conflict might turn into chaos if both parties doesn't understand what really is the problem. And failure to understand each other perfectly usually leads to breakups - and for married couples, separation or divorce.
**Change that negative mindset**! Negativity is sometimes the root of a conflict. I've seen and observed a lot of people who are in a relationship who always doubt their partner without reasonable grounds. Some girls always think negative about themselves, perceives their own self as ugly or unattractive, thus their partner might look for someone more beautiful and dump them or cheat on them. In this scenario, trusting your partner is the key. Have trust on his or her love for you and look for the positive in yourself and your partner as well. Get to know him or her more because if you truly know your partner, you will tend to trust him or her more. Optimism will help you overcome the challenges in your relationship.
**Recall the reason why you fell in love.** If your relationship is already hanging by a cliff, would you still hold on? Well for many, they choose to hold on and rescue such relationships. So when everything seems to be so challenging and you can no longer hold on to the relationship, travelling back in time and remembering the reason why you fell for your partner might help your heart and mind to decide, remembering the good times might help you rekindle the flame of love you once had for him or her.
**Be considerate**. Yes, we all make mistakes, so it might help if you just let simple mistakes pass. But this doesn't mean you'll have to be a 'martyr', being considerate is only applicable to unintentional mistakes. But if they are already doing the same mistake over and over gain intentionally, then it might be better to talk it out. Being considerate of each other can save relationships.
There is no perfect relationship, as we are imperfect ourselves. But if both you and your partner will try to apply these tips, it might be the key to achieving a healthy relationship. Having a healthy relationship means that you work as a team, meaning, both of you strives to fill each other's need in a balanced way.
What To Remember When Using Rejuvenating Sets
Pimples have always been my problem since my teenage years. Good thing that I've passed that stage of my life now. But although I no longer have so many pimples on my face now, some pimple marks are still there which reminds me of how my face looks when I was younger. Three months ago I used a rejuvenating set which is really effective in removing my skin impurities.
If you are not familiar with rejuvenating set, these are the skincare products which comes together in sets. It includes a kojic acid soap, a toner, a sunscreen protection cream and a night cream.
**What To Remember When Using Rejuvenating Sets**
Bear in mind that **rejuvenating sets will not be a part of your skin care regimen for a long time.** It is only recommended for 30 days and if you haven't seen the result or not yet satisfied you have to stop using the rejuvenating set you're using nevertheless, and you can use the clarifying set instead. Using rejuvenating sets for a long time might result to a dry skin or worst, it can even irritate and damage your skin.
**If the rejuvenating set causes unbearable irritation on your skin, stop using it as soon as possible**. If you feel like you still want to continue because you don't want it to go to waste, then try not to use it for a few days and go on using it after two to three days, but you don't have to use it like you used to before. For example, you'll just have to choose whether to use sunscreen during the day or just the night cream at night. You don't have to follow the instructions written on the packaging. So if you already used it in the morning you don't have to use it at night anymore and vice versa. Continue doing this for about three to five days until your skin is no longer irritated or if the irritation is bearable.
**Don't apply the kojic soap directly on your skin**. Just rub it on your palm the n apply it on your face. Remember to be gentle when applying the soap on your face. Remember that you don't have to wait for a minute or two before you can wash it off just like what the packaging says. And of course, apply it on your neck as well.
**Pat dry your face after washing it with the kojic soap**. Don't scrub your face too hard with the towel because the face tends to be very sensitive when using rejuvenating sets on it.
**Dab the cotton when applying the toner or apply it in an upward motion.** Don't apply it harshly.
**Reapply the sunscreen after three to four hours**, specially when you are going outside the house.
**Don't scratch your face when it feels itchy**, specially if you have long nails. Scratching might scar your face.
**Don't feel demotivated and don't stop using the rejuvenating set if you see a pimple or pimple breakout even while using the set for a few days.** Remember that it is just normal and part of the process. Bear in mind that your skin imperfection will show before you can achieve the perfect glass skin you want to achieve. If in case pimples still comes out even after using it for a long time, just quit using the rejuvenating set since it might mean that the brand you are using is not suited for your skin type or condition.
**Don't put on a makeup when using a rejuvenating set to maintain a glowing Korean like skin.**
**Avoid directly exposing your face to the sunlight**. Direct exposure to the heat of the sun might burn your skin.
**Don't forcefully peel off the skin**. Just wait for it to peel off by itself or wait for a few days before you peel it off, make sure that the skin is already dry.
**Don't use other products at the same time while using a specific brand**. If you want to use other products wait for you to finish the entire set or stop using the set you are currently using.
Hello
I don't think I need to write an introductory article, but then I'll still try.
To whoever reading this, hey there thanks for taking the time to read! I'm '**sc'** by they way. Some of my friends calls me that and I became so used to it which prompted me to use it as my usernames online, though I'm using a different spelling lol. I don't want to write under extravagant pseudonyms so I decided to use sc as my name on this crypto blogging site.
Once you subscribe, we can be friends through interacting on the comments section, so I want to tell you something about myself. First, I quite know about the site and I'm on noise.cash too btw. I love reading novels, watching korean dramas and variety shows, I love anime's too specially those with sports genre and I love learning different languages (I'm not sure if I can be called a polyglot though). I speak four local dialects (variants of the Bicol language) and four major languages including Filipino Sign Language and I also know a bit of Korean and Spanish but I'm still not confident enough to speak in Spanish, maybe next year I can confidently converse in that language (cross fingers).
Whenever something bothers my mind, I tend to write about it so most of the topics I write about are stuffs that I can relate too. I don't have a specific niche and I don't know much about crypto. But I've been reading a lot of crypto-related articles lately which educates me and won't make me look like an idiot when talking to people who knows a lot about the topic.
I also love to cook so in the future, I'm sure you'll be seeing some food-related articles from me as well.
What else did I forget hmm? Oh and I'm still young, I've been living on earth for more than two decades now and really like socializing and talking to people from various ages. I have friends from teens to oldies and I must say that it's good to make friends not just from your peers.
If you have any other questions feel free to comment it down below. I hope we can all get along well.
Sending warm virtual hugs to everyone 🤗💕
@sc
