we're almost halfway done now with the last month of this year and surely, 2020 is now all around the corner. in a few days we'll already be welcoming another year, and welp, another decade. and, i'll also be in my 24th year of existence in less than a month from now. danggg. that sounds crazy! 2020 will really be something and i'm claiming it to be my year.
for the past years since i got out of college, i've really been a mess. i've been too confused at life. most of the time, i just didn't know what to do or if i am even doing the things right. i've been trying to live the years one day at a time -- waking up, going to work, getting back home, wasting my time on social media, going to bed late and the cycle goes on. pretty much unhealthy, i know.
i've been stressed too many times and nope, of course, i don't want to go through the same cycle over and over again. thus, i decided to utilize the remaining few weeks of 2019 to observe myself and come up with ways to lessen the stress and change up some routine one step a time to make my life a little bit better.
in november, i took out all the unnecessary pressure and opted to just go with the flow. i allowed myself to be one huge mess for awhile and gave myself permission to make irrational decisions -- decisions that came out of my emotions rather than my sane self. i never pushed myself too hard during this month. i did things as they pleased me. i allowed the monkey inside my head to win this time.
after i have loosen up for a month, in december, i decided to start getting back on track as a way to prepare for 2020. i kicked it off with getting organized and writing things down, and oh boy, it's been making such a huge impact in my life. the simple act of getting stuff out of my head and putting them down somewhere else where i can go back to anytime is such a lifesaver.
i have came up with a system that is currently working for me that i am prolly bringing into 2020. physically, i am keeping a bullet journal that is fairly minimal. it is never fancy unlike anyone else's, but it certainly serves its function. the only pages that i have in there are my monthly calendar, habit tracker, monthly budget page, daily expense tracker, weekly spread and a little space for some random scribbles here and there. that's just it.
i am planning to add a few spreads in 2020 and probably get rid of a few ones since i'll also be utilizing my 2020 planner that was given to me by my cousin. as much as possible, i'd like to minimize my planning to only one notebook, but i just can't not use the planner because the pages were designed for 2020 and not for any other year, and i don't want to put it into waste so i really have to use it. i can't drop my bullet journal either because the planner is pretty restrictive. so yeah, that explains why i'm having both in 2020.
i don't know about you, but i never write anything work-related in my personal planner (as by the word itself, "personal") aka my bullet journal. thus, i don't bring it at work. this really helps me separate work from my personal life, and vice versa, and this means that i don't have it in my bag on a daily basis. does it still serve its purpose? for me, yes, it still perfectly does.
what about if i needed to write something down while i'm on a commute or while at work or basically when i'm out and about, you may ask? well... google notes does the job. since i have my phone with me 99% of the time, i use google notes mobile app as my collecting tray. it collects basically everything -- from the stuff that i need to do to the random ideas that i have thought of, and whatnot. then, by the time that i get my hands on my bullet journal, i transfer them. this is also where i try to copy my to-do list for the day, so i have it handy whenever wherever.
aside from bullet journal, i use an online software called asana to keep track and manage my life. the list that i can make in this software is pretty unlimited and i love the fact that i can separate them into projects which makes everything more organized. this online software is actually designed to manage a team's work and i'm glad i have learned its rope since this is what we use for work. it is definitely of great help! personally, i am currently using the free version and i am pretty much satisfied with it already, but you can always upgrade to premium or business at a cost. nope, this is not sponsored.
my asana contains all kinds of list, including those that i haven't put into my bullet journal just yet. basically, asana serves as another collecting tray for me and is especially convenient whenever i am brainstorming in front of my computer.
in summary, my bullet journal and google notes do most of the work, while asana is there for some backup. mostly, it has the list of those things that i don't need to act upon anytime soon. i don't depend much on it because it is online, and i can never assure that i always have a decent internet connection, but it is still incredibly helpful for me that's why i can't eliminate it despite that fact.
on a separate note, i revamped this blog for a fresh start. please don't ask me how many times i have did so, 'cos i honestly can't count already. there's just something satisfying in changing my blog's layout and keeping some good ol' posts back in my drafts. i might or might not put them back, but as for now, i am sufficiently satisfied of how it is at the moment.
i've done all the revamping whilst i'm sick. i haven't been productive over this weekend because of flu, so i took it as some high time to work on the blog. i think, i'm back! ~for real~
first off, here's the first part of this trip, and after stopping by the bacolod city public plaza, we headed to the nearest jollibee to have our late lunch. i remember my stomach was already growling at that time.
anyway, after refilling our stomach, we rode a taxi to mambukal resort. it was a pretty long ride and it started raining. it was raining the whole time we were traveling. good thing, it already subsided when we arrived at the resort.
upon arrival, we were greeted by the security guards on duty and were asked if we have any reservation, and nope, we didn't have any. and guess what's the news we got next? it was fully booked. yep, you heard that right. it was fully booked, but nope, nope. it wasn't any bad news after all 'cos they offered us if we're willing to avail their tents instead. and of course, do we have any choice? i mean, did we travel for more than half an hour only to go back again just because it was fully booked? of course not. lol. so we availed their tents that could hold at most four persons at php600.00 each. we were six, so we had rented two tents for an overnight stay.
after a few instructions from the security guard, we started walking to the camp site, so we can place out belongings and take a quick rest, if possible. i was already a bit tired at that time after the long drives that we had before we were able to get there.
the sound of the flowing water is actually pretty relaxing. and i just wanna take a moment to appreciate my mom. i wouldn't be able to get here, really, if not because of her. i love her to bits, like dangggg idk what i'd do without her.
and here are a few more photos of the place that i have taken while we were making our way to the campsite.
there were quite too many people in the place at that time. mostly are families and some groups of youngsters.
and we're now almost near the camp site and we quickly stopped by to take some photos along the slippery road.
and finally, we're here!
we arranged ourselves inside the tent, took a rest for quite some time, changed our clothes, then decided to roam around the place.
this is the boiling mud area not too far from our tents, and for some reason the smell of this particular place is a little stinky.
i really love the place. it's peaceful and relaxing. there is something unwinding with the forest-y vibe of the place.
after our leisure walk, we finally decided to grab some dinner.
but of course, it's not me if i don't have any mango shake. =) after dinner, we went back to our tents and got ready to take a rest. since i didn't have any internet connection that time, i was able to go to sleep early. pretty much needed.
i never really thought that i could go visit bacolod too soon. i mean, it wasn't really in one of the first places i've planned to see, yet it just happened.
as i've mentioned in my october wrap up post, my mom's workmate from another branch (and that is in bacolod) visited our town for the first time and it was awesome how she really got along with everyone that we were even encouraged to visit her current town a few weeks after that, and in case you're wondering, yes, i am fairly friends with mom's workmates. it's because i occasionally visit their workplace and she often brings me to some of their get-together or simply just some quick bonding time outside work, and yep, every time they arrange some short getaway, they never forget to invite me/us (by us, i mean, me and my siblings), and since it was a weekend and a holiday at the same time, of course, i couldn't say no.
it was saturday, the 2nd of november, when we left our town and started traveling to iloilo city, where we rode a ferry to bacolod city. we agreed to leave our town around 5am, but, it's a shame to admit, we left the when it was already around 7am. our first stop was ted's la paz batchoy in jaro, iloilo. we just badly needed to fill our growling stomach after around three hours of traveling through a bus.
after refilling our tummies, we then asked for some directions on how to get to fort san pedro, then rode a jeepney. a few minutes after, the jeepney that we were into had some trouble that we needed to stop and get off from it. the driver tried to troubleshoot, but to no avail, so we were asked to transfer.
upon arriving at the port, we immediately fell in line to buy our tickets, then paid the terminal fee. we then waited for a while until we were already able to get into the ferry and started sailing.
after an hour or two, finally, we were already in bacolod city. as soon as we got off, we rode a tricycle to their bacolod branch and met some new faces. we never really had any itinerary, and so we needed their suggestions. we also did not have any place to stay for the night, so they suggested that we can visit mambukal spring resort where we can book a place to stay.
however, we first needed to get some late lunch. it was already past 2pm that time, yet before grabbing some food, we stopped by their public plaza, which is known to be the heart of the masskara festival, to quickly take some photos.
first are my solo photos featuring the iconic checkered flooring of the plaza.
and fyi, this is the first travel that i've ever had with my childhood best friend. yep, my childhood best friend is my mom's office mate. she's fairly new, actually, but because she's friendly and bubbly, it seems like she's been with the company for years already. she has her ways to not make the atmosphere boring, really fun to be with, and she is already pretty close with everyone!
and of course, the mandatory group photos...
nope, we didn't forget to have some photos with the bandstand.
hello! i'm back for another late monthly wrap up. i must admit, i still struggle with being consistent with this blog, but it's still something i've been trying to work on. well, for sure, updating is never an obligation, but i'd just like to throw updates every now and then, not for anyone but for myself. idk how many times i've already mentioned this, but i want this blog to be a place where i track my progress at life. of course, if i post often, it would be something that i'd be grateful in the future.
anyway, october started out great. well, perhaps i can say, it was an eventful month.
i actually made sure that before the month started, i already set up my bullet journal for the month. it's actually my most favorite set-up so far. i did quite good in tracking my habits, although i was only good at tracking but never good with the habits. lol. talking about this, i am a little tempted to open my bullet journal right now, but i think i'd choose not to. for some reason, i am in hiatus for such thing for this month of november, and i don't want to pressure myself with it. i am in the process of contemplating on what really works for me, something that i'd look forward to, not something that i feel like an obligation to do, and maybe taking a break from it won't hurt.
10-08-2019 // we welcomed a visitor in our town. actually she's my mom's visitor, a workmate from another branch, and i was just tagged along. we ate dinner in a simple restaurant by the beach. we actually quite ordered more of what we can take, so that made us so full for the night. we then dropped her by to her hotel where she was checked in for her whole stay in the town. then, mom and i headed home.
10-11-2019 // we celebrated my brother's 18th birthday which i talked more about in this post. wow, i can't even believe he's eighteen now, and already has a girlfriend.
10-13-2019 // we visited istorya forest farm to try their lunch buffet and took lots of photos around the place. it was the first time i got there. i am creating a separate entry for this one to share the many photos that i took (hopefully lol).
and i can't get enough of these sunset photos i took while we were in transit on our way home from istorya. i never put filter on these photos 'cos i simply don't wanna ruin their beauty.
10-19-2019 // went to the cemetery to do some cleaning for the upcoming november 1st and here are a few snaps i took while we were on the way. the photos look serene aren't they?
10-25-2019 // here is another sunset photo that i took as we were about to do some grocery shopping. and yep, it's another filter-free photo 'cos it's already beautiful as it is.
10-26-2019 // and here goes a photo of a sun rising, still filter-free. this was taken before we hop into the boat and cruise all the way to olotayan island.
and that's a glimpse of the beautiful olotayan island, as well as the people i was with. and again, i might create a separate entry for this trip so i can share the many photos that i took during that day.
to be honest, i was greatly exhausted after the olotayan trip that i can barely even function as a human being right after i got home. i was running out of breath, and nope, i am not even exaggerating. the last activity we had really squeezed all my energy off of me, but anyway, the exhaustion was all washed away (but not really lol) after i received this stuff from my youngest cousin as her pasalubong for me after she came home from cebu. it's a 2020 planner and a string bag. aaahh... she knows me too well!
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and i guess, that's all for october. i am actually planning to think of some better format for this monthly wrap up that i think i'd implement by the beginning of next year. gosh! cliche, but time flies! we're now down to the last two months of this year. oh no! i need to start getting my shizz together before this year ends.
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