Thoughts About Real Estate and Mortgages in These Trying Times

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022Leave a comment

Hello, hello, hello!

I’ve been catching up on a TON of work since we got engaged!!! A lot of things have been going on in my personal life as well but I’m hoping to share more of our adventures real soon. And one of these adventures that I’d like to share here with you now is not just about travels that we’ve been doing but more importantly, stuff that we’ve been accomplishing to help fulfill those goals we’ve set out for ourselves for this year and the next. I gave you some ideas before about how to reach your goals for 2022 and I’ve also shared with you some financial tools if your goal is a financial one.

So, this other adventure that I want to share here with you is also a bit related to finances. As you may know, Mahal and I are getting married next year and we are in the works of fulfilling our dream of having a beach wedding in Mactan, Cebu. Even if what we want is just an intimate one with only a few guests, it would still be considered as a big spend for us frugal folks so we’re doing everything we can to augment our income. We don’t want to spend so much on the wedding because we have a bigger fish to fry so to speak. Or shall I say “fishes”? Teehee.

And these “fishes” are:

Continue reading →

2021 Highlights: a Gratitude Post for the Year That Was

January 3, 2022January 8, 2022Leave a comment

I saw this image quote on my social media feeds and it struck a chord in me. It says:

“This January, start the year with an empty jar. Each week, add a note with a good thing that happened.

On New Year’s Eve, empty the jar and read about the amazing year you had.”

Continue reading →

Typhoon Rai (Odette): Nightmare Before Christmas

December 30, 2021January 9, 20221 Comment

Just when you had everything planned out for the remainder of the year — your tasks, projects, finances, celebrations… the biggest typhoon of your life hit you — metaphorically and literally.

We were minding our usual business… I was working and finishing my deadlines for the week and getting ready for client meetings. Mahal was busy with the resort. Everyone was working. Though we were getting news reports about an impending typhoon, upon checking, the eye of Typhoon Rai or locally known as Typhoon Odette won’t be hitting us but instead, it will head straight to Cebu City which is 3-4 hours away from where we are. We had plans of doing our Christmas shopping there that weekend so we figured that we just had to reschedule. Plus, we’ve already experienced so many kinds of weather conditions here that we became complacent. We felt confident that it’s just another one of those storms. There could possibly be a brownout (electricity getting cut off) that will last for an hour or two, or at the most overnight, but that was it. We didn’t do any kind of preparation at all — we didn’t save water; we didn’t charge our phones and electrical devices; we didn’t check if we still have enough gas; we didn’t buy supplies… nothing. It was as if it was just another day in our beach kind of life.

Continue reading →

5 Things You Can Do Instead of Social Media (Facebook Disabled My Account and I’m Thankful!)

November 29, 2021December 2, 2021Leave a comment

Oh my goodness!

It’s going to be Christmas soon, then New Year, and I still haven’t blogged about the things I’ve always wanted to blog about (like the happiest Halloween we’ve ever had)! As usual, so many joyful and exciting things have happened and continue to happen in my life for which I am very much thankful! I’m living my dream beach life and each and every day I try my best to spend it as if it were my last but without sacrificing my health too much this time around (hence, I’m not forcing myself to stay awake and do more than what my 16 waking hours would permit) coz health is one thing that we really treasure the most these days plus, at this day and age, it could really be our last with Covid around and this endless pandemic!

Anyway, it’s a blessing in disguise that Facebook disabled my account last Friday night just because I was posting photos of Mahal and Tuz in a five-star resort bathtub! They weren’t fully naked and I didn’t know bathtub photos were not allowed so I immediately deleted the post only to be disabled afterward. I can’t post, I can’t comment, I can’t react… and it’s going to be for a week! Argh! Has this happened to you before? What did you do?

Continue reading →

ENJOYING THE SARDINE RUN AT MOALBOAL, CEBU… A SCUBA DIVING ADVENTURE

August 23, 20212 Comments

Yey! We’ve now come to the 3rd part of our scuba diving adventure. Whew! It really took me a while, huh? So sorry about that. Aside from being so busy the past several weeks (which I told you about on my previous blog post), my mental and emotional health haven’t been so good the past couple of months. So whatever strength and joy I still have in me, I just divert them to my priorities which are my work, Tuz, and our family.

Anyway, I’m so happy to be publishing another blog post today and I hope to do it more frequently (Daily perhaps? Before I start my day at work like now? Hihihi! ) Writing about anything and everything about my life continue to be cathartic for me especially during these uncertain times and I’m happy to share whatever I can with you, my dear readers. Thank you for always checking me out!

So again, let’s dive in!

Continue reading →

Discover Scuba Diving: DAY 2 at CEBU SEAVIEW DIVE RESORT in MOALBOAL

August 22, 20212 Comments

Oh hi there! I know it’s been a while but I haven’t forgotten you. 😉 Work has just been so overwhelming (I just recently got another new client so yay for me!) but I don’t want to complain considering that we are on the 2nd year of this Covid-19 pandemic. Having multiple work, being able to pay the bills, and being able to buy stuff we need and want at this time is very much a blessing so I can’t complain. I must not complain! How about you? I hope you’re all still doing okay wherever you are.

Me, I would just like to give myself a little more pat on the back than usual because I also take care of our home (a.k.a. chores); I take care of Tuz and his home school activities; I take care of Mahal and his needs… I’m a superwoman! Lol! The important thing is we are all still fine, healthy, and thriving. Just recently, a few of our neighbors have died from Covid so we are just really thankful that we are all still okay. Thank you, God! Of course I am worried all the time which adds to my energy getting depleted a lot faster than usual that I’d resort to watching Netflix (currently addicted to Grace and Frankie) to relax and chill after work is done instead of blogging, vlogging, and finishing all those online courses I bought (which was my original plan but all this anxiety is getting me bogged down). So today, I am ending my inertia (of blogging laziness) by updating my blog and hopefully getting started with Marie Forleo’s B-School (after I finish her book Everything is Figureoutable). Mondays and Tuesdays were supposed to be my blogging/vlogging days that got replaced by beach days. Yes, you can find us at Mahal’s sister’s private beach every Monday and Tuesday, swimming, snorkeling and picnicking (and soon paddle boarding once I decide to buy a paddle board online). Saturdays and Sundays have become our chore days (laundry, doing groceries, cooking big batches of dishes for the whole week, Mahal doing his hobbies like bonsai-making, and me planting herb seeds and taking care of our little herb garden if I’m not playing with my guitar or reading. I also plan to add painting to my weekend repertoire). Then Monday-Tuesday we’re off to the beach, then Wednesday-Friday is where I focus on finishing my work deadlines. It’s a simple but good life (for me at least coz being productive and busy with so many different things makes me worry less). I’ll blog about our Oslob life once I’m done getting you updated with our scuba diving adventure.

So let’s dive in!

Continue reading →

Cebu SeaView Dive Resort Review: Day 1 of our Scuba Diving Adventure in Panagsama Beach, Moalboal

July 11, 2021August 22, 20212 Comments

OMG! A scuba diving adventure! Finally! I’ve been urging Mahal to try scuba diving since he has been looking at posters when we were in Malapascua last May for Mother’s Day. He likes doing adventurous stuff like me. I’ve tried scuba diving a few times before in my 20s and 30s and after my last stint in Batangas more than 10 years ago, I didn’t dare scuba dive again because though I like going into adventures, my heart sometimes couldn’t take the suspense of it all due to my hypertension. So, I’m happy to just let Mahal do it this time while I take take pictures and videos of him. 🙂

Anyway, before Mahal took his scuba diving lessons last month during Father’s Day, we first enjoyed the dive resort where we stayed — Cebu SeaView Dive Resort which is in Panagsama Beach in Moalboal, a place famous for the sardine run. I joined my diver friends back in 2010-2011 for a sardine run in Pescador Island, also in Moalboal and it has been fun! I wanted Mahal to experience it too and Tuz and I will just enjoy it from above by snorkeling. So that was the plan.

In the meantime, we enjoyed this little dive resort first off the coast of Panagsama, Moalboal in Southwestern Cebu.

Here’s our HONEST and DETAILED review about Cebu SeaView Dive Resort :

Continue reading →

How We Transferred to Oslob, Cebu During the Pandemic

March 13, 2021March 13, 20215 Comments

Hello Summer! It’s been a busy 2.5 months as we started our new beach life here in Oslob, Cebu and I promise, I will be catching up on my blog posts and vlogs until I get more current with what’s happening with us. I may still insert some throwback travel posts from the past since I’ve collected a ton all these years. But for now, here is a vlog on how our transfer from Cagayan de Oro (where we lived, half the time, the other half was in Claveria) from Sept. 1, 2017 to Jan. 7, 2021) to Oslob, Cebu happened, how we got quarantined for 14 days when we got here, and what we did while in quarantine (Jan. 9-22, 2021).

For those who are considering transferring to their respective provinces in this time of the pandemic, you can check out this related blog post:

BOAT TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS DURING A PANDEMIC IN THE PHILIPPINES (FROM CAGAYAN DE ORO TO CEBU

Continue reading →

Boat Travel Requirements During a Pandemic in the Philippines (From Cagayan de Oro to Cebu)

January 17, 2021November 29, 20212 Comments

The first time we traveled during a pandemic was back in August and it was just within Cagayan de Oro City so the only documents that were required were barangay exit pass for our family, barangay clearance for me and Mahal, and health certificates for us three either from a doctor or the city health office certifying that we were in good health at that time. It was quite easy. This time around though, we were moving from Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao to Oslob, Cebu which is the southwestern part of Cebu Region. We traveled by land and then by boat from Cagayan de Oro port to Cebu port then traveled by land again for 3-4 hours outside of Cebu City.

The following documents were required of us (and I assume it would be the same for people traveling by boat between regions anywhere in the Philippines). Just keep in mind that once you have all these travel requirements, their validity will last for only 2 weeks. So you better have your travel itinerary ready and make sure you’re good to go!

Continue reading →

Covid-19: How It’s Affecting My Mental and Emotional Health

April 13, 2020May 9, 202019 Comments

OVERVIEW

While most of you have probably been in quarantine / lockdown for about a month or so now, I’ve been imposing it on and off upon myself and my family since I first heard about the coronavirus in the news the last week of January. We were preparing for another batch of Hands-On Mushroom Training at that time when the Coronavirus Outbreak began circulating in the media. My “prepper” instinct tingled and I started having worst-case scenario visions in my head. (“prepper” is a person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies.) That was the time I started buying a little bit more than the usual number of masks and alcohol bottles we use for mushroom training just in case the outbreak becomes an epidemic, or worse, a pandemic. And because we had plans of going back to Cebu to set up another Mushroom farm, I almost decided not to go for fear of contracting the virus during our travel. This was around Jan. 25-28 when the rest of the world didn’t care much about the Coronavirus yet, and much less about preparing for it.

Continue reading →

Updates in the Midst of Covid-19: My Health, Tuscany Highlands, Training Workshops CDO, BuQid, Travels and Celebrations

March 8, 2020May 10, 20205 Comments

This is probably the longest I haven’t blogged. It’s been so long that I have to read what I wrote last time coz I don’t remember anymore, lol. And it made me cringe a bit that my last post before this was about my health and my suspicion of having Dengue which happened before all this Novel Corona Virus, now called Covid-19, started hitting the news.

Anyway, as an OC person, I want to have some semblance of chronology about what has been happening to me the past several months so this long overdue blog update might be a bit long. Just bear with me. I’ll try to only give you the summaries and I’ll just write more about them, one topic at a time, on my next blog posts. For now, here are the abridged versions:
Continue reading →