2018: Finding my "Silver Lining"

In reference to EXO’s latest single, Tempo *with Chen’s high-pitched voice*, I CAN’T BELIEVE that 2018’s over! It’s funny how there are times when I just wanted 2018 to go by much faster, now here I am, struggling between finding time to wrap up my year with a blog and cleaning my room.
Just like any other year, 2018 has been filled with a lot of great memories with my friends and loved ones… So many that I can barely write them in one sitting (also, I am cramming as of the moment, haha!) So let me just share with you my monthly highlights for this year. 😉

JANUARY

I’m excited when I found out that we would be visiting Roxas City again after 7 years for our family reunion. I’m glad to see Papa with all his siblings and Lola Lilia; it was a good time to bond with my cousins as well. Papa’s ancestral home really gives me a sense of relaxation; with the short period that I have, it has given me a peace of mind away from Manila (and my work haha). It was too bad that we don’t have enough time to explore other parts of the city (although we went to Santa Monica Church in Panay, which is considered to be the largest bell in Asia). Nonetheless, that weekend was priceless because we were all able to find time to take time off from our daily grind from school and work for a much needed family time. 💖

FEBRUARY

We’re not the type who gives each other expensive gifts, dine at fancy restaurants, and even travel together when it’s our anniversary. Just the company of Kevin on our special day is enough. Our anniversary date fell on a Monday, so we decided to celebrate it on a Saturday. We ate early dinner at Kko Kko, it was both our first time eating to that restaurant, unfortunately, the food is not really that delicious 😢 and the melting cheese was just overly hyped, I love the ambiance though. After which, we went to get our photos done at Fujifilm. Admittedly, I’m hesitant to get our photos taken at a professional photo studio because I don’t really like to pose hahaha, ang awkward kasi LOL. But he insisted and good thing that I went along with it because the photos were beautiful. 💛

MARCH

Keene, Eunice, Shalee, and I rarely bond given our ever-conflicting time schedules 😆, although we were able to squeeze in some time to meet last January for our post-Christmas party and gift-giving. This month, we bonded again over watching I Remember a Boy, a play where Shalee is part of the cast. The story is about a group of friends who reunited at a café and recalled how their friendship came together, how they fell in love and fell apart. It also features the music from classic Original Pinoy Music (OPM) hits from ‘70s to the ‘90s. I love the story and is very relatable as well. Shalee and the rest of the cast were just as equally good and fitting for their roles.

APRIL

Last April 2017, I was fortunate to have bought tickets (thanks, Globe pre-selling event) for Jassy and I for Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams Tour in Manila. It was my first-ever legit concert with my favorite band, and it truly was an awesome night. A year after, on the same month this year, Jassy and I attended our first ever K-Pop concert at the Mall of Asia Arena, together with other EXO-L trashes, Jenica and Jia, for EXO’s ElyXiOn in Manila Tour! 🙌 We were at the queuing line at around 2:30pm; Jia and Jenica were able to secure good spots, it is just that the fans were surprisingly wild, I was not able to anticipate it. I thought that I will not survive the craziness and rudeness of some international fans (even PHIXOS, sadly), but I guess it is just mind over matter, LOL. Nonetheless, even quite a number of casualties happened in the VIP mosh pit section, I’m very happy to see all of them up close and perform live! They were all just equally handsome and oozing with appeal… special mention to my bias, Oh-Sehun 😍 HAHAHA!

MAY

Patrick is my closest guy friend from late grade school to high school, but we kind of lost in touch eventually when he moved to Japan. Thankfully, after 6 years, we were able to meet again and he introduced us to his wife, Roxy. We ate our dinner at Yellow Cab while reminiscing all our GS and HS moments. After Yellow Cab, we proceeded to The Pad and had drinks, I was surprised when Patrick sang for open-mic a 6Cyclemind song 🎤, it feels good seeing him happy and carefree. 

JUNE

It was June 15 when I was able to finally meet my soul sister again. We ate lunch at Barcino (the pasta’s good!) while catching up on a lot of things, drank coffee at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf while using the SNOW app to take cute selfies 😋, and sang for an hour at Karaoke Hub at SM North EDSA while remembering our “music sessions” in college just like the old times. It was also a good timing because prior our meeting, she called me for a great news that she was granted a scholarship by the National University of Singapore!

JULY

We visited Batangas once again as we had our little celebration and (sort of) reunion because Kuya Eric and Ate Joan arrived here in PH after almost 5 years of residing in Canada. Kuya became emotional when we arrived, he’s just very happy that we’re almost complete. The following week, they visited us in Malabon and stayed in the house a little bit then went to the cementery to visit Lolo because they weren’t there during the burial. We went to SM North EDSA and treated them lunch at Barrio Fiesta (because every balikbayan would always crave for Filipino food upon arrival here for sure haha). We also went to the Venice Grand Canal because they haven’t been there and they wanted to take pictures, luckily the weather was fair and we were able to take lots of pictures and selfies (special mention to Ate Joan’s iPhone X!) 📷

AUGUST

I have been a Korean skincare junkie since early 2016 and so when a skincare products retailer, Go Bloom and Glow opened applications for part-time content writers, Jassy and I immediately applied. Luckily, we both passed and it was just an achievement for us as we get to write and impart our thoughts and knowledge on Korean skincare to a different platform other than our respectively blogsites even just for a while. The experience made me feel like I was a professional content writer, especially the exchanging of ideas and revisions. It was also a breather for me because my nature of work includes writing financial analysis and this opportunity from Go Bloom challenged my writing skills as the content is different from what I was used to.

SEPTEMBER

Eunice, Keene, and I have always been planning on an out of the country trip together, good thing I Eunice and I were able to book a promo flight. We decided that our travel dates coincide that of Keene’s because she already booked a flight (with Rods) which is also bound for Taipei. We arrived during lunch time, left our baggage after checking in and met Keene, Rods, and his friends where we ate at the Modern Toilet (it was a little bit pricey and the food isn’t that good as well). We went to Longshan Temple and the Sun-Yat Sen Memorial, the following day we booked a day tour care of KKDay going to Jiufen, Yehliu, and Shifen. Unfortunately, it was raining hard so we don’t have many pictures. 😢 Then upon arrival to Taipei Main Station, we went to the Shilin Night Market. On our last day, we just went to 288 Peace Memorial Park, Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei 101, bought cakes at Sunmerry and oolong tea from Ten Ren, and stroll around the Ximending Youth Shopping District. I wish there was more time to explore Taipei but I still enjoyed it. I love how clean the surroundings are and how effective their transportation system is. Cannot wait to go back! (P.S. Do not miss eating ramen at Ichiran!)

OCTOBER

I don’t know why but I suddenly find myself holding back my tears during some moments during my brother’s commencement exercises. Hahaha. I tried so hard not to cry even for a second because I was embarrassed because Mama might tease me! I guess I’m just overfilled with joy and proud to see JR graduate and awarded with best thesis. His years of studying finally paid off. 🎓

NOVEMBER

There are two things that I am grateful for this month, first was EXO’s comeback! Really loving EXO’s new album, Tempo, which was out last November 2. Luckily it was a holiday and so I was able to get crazy with the EXO-Ls around the world as the music video was almost simultaneously released with EXO’s live comeback performance in Music Bank. Finally, drought’s over! 🎶

Second was my birthday, of course (which I’m just as equally grateful for as EXO’s comeback LOL). I took a day off from the office to celebrate my birthday at home with Mama and JR. Mama cooked my favorite dish, sinigang for lunch and bought a black forest cake and ice cream. Kevin also visited home later that evening and brought Domino’s pizzas. It was a simple celebration with my most treasured ones and all I wish is for God to give me more years to live so that I can serve Him more. ☝

DECEMBER

Besides December 25, the 23rd was probably the highlight for this month because Papa was home for Christmas 🎅 We thought that he will not be coming home but thankfully he was able to celebrate this festive season with us. I’m happy that we will also welcomed the new year together. These moments spent with my family will always be priceless.
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I have been in constant struggle of trying to look for what I really want to do. Last March, I was diagnosed with bell’s palsy (BP) and still am not fully recovered as of writing. Having diagnosed with BP has never been easy for me especially during the past few weeks, I became more conscious with my face, I lost my appetite, and I barely talk to people. I was devastated. I have been filled with self-doubt.
Probably the greatest thing that I learned this year is to be grateful despite the challenges that come your way. God reminded me that despite of me having a condition and battling against my own struggles, I must not forget to be grateful that I have my ever-supportive family, friends, and cherished loved ones who never fails to be there for me and support my decisions. Looking back to all the things that transpired in my life this year, I know that God taught me not to dwell into negativities but instead try to look into the other side of things, ika nga ni Catriona Gray, to the “silver lining”, kumbaga. 
Praying that this 2019, I will get better, hustle more, and strive to put extra effort into the things that truly matter… ultimately praying that this year, I can get what I truly deserve. 🌈

Let's all continue to aim for our goals as we embrace 2019!

Abby 💗