August is Here

The onset of the rainy season brought challenges as Super Typhoon Egay wreaked havoc in northern Luzon. Our village experienced power and water shortages for days, compounded by a week-long internet outage. The aftermath resembled a movie scene with closed roads, fallen trees, and landslides. Fortunately, my siblings and I had stocked up on essentials, though we initially underestimated the typhoon's impact. Living in a non-flood-prone area spared us, but my heart goes out to those severely affected, especially those who lost loved ones during Typhoon Egay. Grateful for our safety amidst the challenges.

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Residing in Baguio, the coldest part of the country, presents both blessings and challenges in my perspective. The constant cold is a joy, with hotels forgoing AC as you invite the refreshing breeze through open windows. After 11 years, I'm still captivated by the descending fog, transforming the surroundings into an entirely different world. The serene chill effortlessly eases worries, and despite occasional summer heat, it's a haven compared to Metro Manila. Plus, the abundance of affordable veggies led me to embrace a vegan lifestyle – veggies are life for me.

Yet, the curse reveals itself in the rainy season. Relentless downpours lasting weeks or months can lead to a clothing dilemma, and battling mold becomes a constant struggle, particularly with beloved wooden items. Rainy day blues affect some, but for me, it's an excuse to indulge and, thanks to my hyperthyroidism, weight fluctuations are inevitable – a genetic quirk. Living in a cold place like Forks from Twilight evokes a bittersweet emotion, akin to a happy kind of sadness. Finding bliss is essential, acknowledging that happiness is a state of mind, not solely dependent on location.

My Rainy Day Survival Tips

Rainy days are here again and it's here to stay. With class suspensions here and there due to inclement weather plus a lot of experimenting going on to alleviate traffic, we must be ready to brave anything or everything, pretty much. If you're a commuter, imagine the hassle of having to go to school despite the bad weather just to learn that after a few hours classes will be suspended. It would be totally chaotic also for those who go to work because they have to go through the same hell over again just to get home. So what's the solution for all these? "Patience" and I mean lots of it. I use to be a commuter myself (I work from home now) so I know how it feels to get stuck in the middle of traffic, get stranded and all. Well, you just really have to find a way to calm yourself amidst it all or stress yourself which does not solve anything, to be honest. 

Let me share three (3) rainy day survival tips especially when you get stuck in traffic. As we all know when it pours, expect heavy traffic anywhere in the Philippines.

1. Rain gear 

What better way to protect yourself but to wear rain gear? A raincoat will not just prevent you from getting soaked, it will also protect your bag and everything inside it. Make sure to wear rain boots as well for health reasons. You wouldn't want your feet soaked in dirty waters you might catch athlete's foot or even worse leptospirosis and other communicable diseases. 

All geared up for the rainy days

Waterproof backpack

Rainy days call for extra space in your bag but I assure you it would be worth it. A waterproof bag is ideal but if you don't have one, then that's no problem at all because you can always wear a raincoat to cover it or you can use any plastic. If you're not comfortable wearing rain gears then you can always bring an umbrella. In my experience, a single fold umbrella is more reliable since it's more resistant to strong winds because it does not flip easily compared to the three-fold ones. But if you tend to be forgetful like me, I suggest carrying an umbrella that you can easily tuck inside your bag just make sure to cover it with plastic so everything inside your bag will not get wet. I do this all the time because I do not want to leave my umbrella in the umbrella rack at my workplace as I get paranoid it might get lost. I would rather have my umbrella inside my bag in the locker so I can have peace of mind. Let's just say that my stuff has sentimental value to me.

The classic big umbrella

Three folds umbrella

2. First Aid Kit 

First aid kit is not limited to medicines, water, and light snacks alone but extra clothing (including undergarments), towels and hygiene kit as well. Make sure to waterproof them properly because there is no point in bringing all the extra stuff if it will be soaked too. You can put all your important belongings including your gadgets and power bank in ziplock bags or any other waterproof case if you're trying to reduce plastic usage to help save mother earth. Make sure to charge your phone, power bank, and other gadgets for emergency purposes. Your first aid kit is not just a lifesaver during rainy days but also in case of other natural calamities.

First Aid Kit

Hygiene kit

Bring extra clothes in case you get wet

3.  Chill

Do not leave home without saving tons of your favorite music, TV shows or movies on your phone or tablet. This not only relieves stress but helps kill time as well. Time flies when you're pre-occupied as long as you have a power bank to back you up when you run low on is battery, then you're good to go. When you're stuck in traffic you can still try to be as productive as you can. You can listen to relaxing music or stream movies from your phone/tablet, eat, hydrate yourself or even get a nap because when traffic hits you hard you can't really fight sleepiness. I'm not really comfortable sleeping inside public vehicles but there are times that I really cannot control myself especially when I'm very tired. Our body needs time to recover from a long day but make sure to wake up when somebody needs to alight to avoid annoying other passengers.

Stream

A power bank should always come handy

Eat

Get a nap

Just remember to always expect the unexpected and it's better to be safe than sorry. Make sure to keep R.F.C. in mind: Rain Gear, First Aid Kit and to Chill, be optimistic because everything will pass, just like the rain.

Inclement Weather + Online Shopping

Here comes the rain again. I'm no girl scout but due to the inclement weather, I never leave the house without my rain gear. Rainy day sucks for the most part but what can you do when you live in a country where the only seasons available are wet and dry, plus blame the rest of it on climate change. My cat has been sleeping a lot lately so I can tell that it's cuddle season once again. 

Rain, rain, go away...

Bed weather for Atari cat

Rainy season comes with a lot of delay in terms of parcel deliveries, thank God I got all my packages already. I used to shop on eBay a lot but it takes a month or two before my parcel arrives because majority of the shops are virtually located abroad so I opted for something local although these days I heard that even orders coming from overseas no longer take forever to arrive in the mail but still, I prefer to shop from local sellers just to be sure in case a problem arises. I would like to be able to talk to someone I can understand. I thought I will stay with eBay for the rest of my life until I discovered Shopee maybe three or four years ago (this is not sponsored btw). I am so far still satisfied with their service because I am able to receive my packages in less than a week. Of course, I had my share of order problems in the past but it's nothing major and was resolved in no time. I still enjoy online shopping for over a decade now I guess because I am vigilant enough to know if a seller can be trusted or not. I suggest checking buyer feedback on items that you are looking to purchase first to make sure that it's legit and always opt for online sellers with high ratings and good reviews. It's better to be safe than sorry.

My Shopee haul (L-R): Macbook Air 11 case, 16cm Studio Ring Light & my cute Cat Coffee Teaspoon

Rain, Pain, Go Away

Rainy days are here again and kids are back to school. I don't miss school at all thank God i'm over it' because I hate having to deal with exams, homework, boring subjects and professors. I mean seriously? art class is all I cared about back then. 

Rest day again so as usual I worked out and boxed my heart out earlier. It was a good one I felt my sweat running down my spine. I lost one pound this week my fruit diet is definitely working yey! My sister got me into this fruit diet thingy but i think she needs it more since she works out just once a week, haha.

I had my neck sprain therapy at Pain & Rehab Center (located at the 5th floor of SM Mega B) yesterday. My left side neck has been hurting since last week I had difficulty sleeping for days I took Ibuprofen to ease the pain but to no avail. I even tried a real strong pain reliever but didn't help either. I had salonpas patch on my neck while at work even though it's kinda smelly at least it gave me a little feeling of relief. I know it's not good to self-medicate but I do it a lot because I find it such a hassle to visit a doctor but I do a lot of research about my condition first to make sure that I'm well aware of what's going on with me. I'm not in pain anymore prior to the therapy but my sister insists for me to still go there to make sure I get proper care plus it's Medicard accredited so I gave it a shot. I had consultation with a doctor first then waited for a few minutes for my turn to have therapy. First I had neck ultrasound then hot compress for 20 minutes. Lastly I had stretching of the neck and head. The therapy went on for roughly 30-40 minutes and my neck felt so much lighter after.

Change topic. So, Noynoy and Binay was proclaimed president and vice president respectively yesterday. I hope that this change is a good one. New leaders, old people so let's make it work. Our leaders can't do it alone, they need our help.