Just this night, I sat and played on the piano, aiming to practice piece that is part of my "to-learn list" for my lessons. After a few rounds, I randomly played some notes, until I found myself arranging a melody (well that was what I think I was doing). When the right notes were established, I hit the record button of the piano, and just played along.



I can already imagine a violin as accompaniment to this. :D I'm calling this "Farewell to Spring", which is about reminiscing all the happy memories of the past, but also saying goodbye to them one last time. Bittersweet.

I'll try if I could make a better arrangement for this.

Who doesn't like cats??!!

I know, I know. There are people out there who are not into cats, but as a I have become an active Redditor recently (check out their /aww subreddit!), I have found them so much adorable than ever!

I'm actually eyeing a number of cat/dog cafes in my upcoming travel (excited to blog about this preeeeetty soon!) so when I learned there's actually one in Metro Manila, I messaged my cat-loving friend and arranged our trip there!

It was a relaxing afternoon with the cats. Totally loved it! Tanggal lahat ng stress!!! Will return when they expand the place. Yay. 😸#miaocatcafe

A photo posted by Kathleen R (@katalinarosario) on Feb 28, 2015 at 4:32am PST

Miao Cat Cafe is located along Congressional Avenue at the 2nd floor of the Cakes2Go building. When we visited, they still don't have a sign outside. But don't worry, the cat cafe is very easy to spot. You just have to go up the stairs on the left side of the entrance of building.


We were booked in the 2-4PM slot (yes you do reservations in advance) but we arrived at 2:30PM already (sorry, my fault :( ). Before entering the cafe, we were instructed to remove our shoes (there are slippers provided) and disinfect our hands.


We also signed a waiver stating that we have understood the rules posted at their entrance.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the cafe is the design of the place. The place is a bit small but the layout is very appealing (kinda reminds me of Subspace actually).

This is Orange, the cat that we have mostly interacted with.

sleeping buddies

The have these 'cat toys' with feathers and bells to attract the attention of our feline friends and make them play with you.

Miao Cat Cafe just opened last Valentine's so everything is still on experiment stage.




They also have some cat stuff on sale! From keychains to wallets to tumblers, to socks and scarfs, they have it all!



They gave us some cat stuff for our pets. This cat grass are seeds to be planted on a pot. They said if your cat comes near the plant, it means that they are sick. The bottle with green liquid is their experiment organic product which they want to try on cats (or even dogs) to cure allergies on the skin. I haven't actually tried it on our pets (it's impossible to keep them still!).



It was so relaxing being there in the cafe and just playing around with the cats. I wish we could have stayed longer. The owners plan to expand the place so that they could place more of their cats in the cafe. I would like to visit again when that happens!

Ah and also one tip I can give you: choose a time slot that is in the late afternoon (5PM onwards). During our stay, most of the cats are asleep (siesta time!). When we were about to leave, most of them are awake already!

There's Orange sleeping beside me! :D :D :D

Thanks Sam and Loida! We look forward to visiting you (and the cats!) again. :D



~o~

Miao Cat Cafe
https://www.facebook.com/miaocatcafe

With the advent of the internet, shopping has never been the same. Choosing an item (it may be a bag, a shoe, or that perfect dress for a dinner date) has become way easier as there are a lot of online sites out there that offer endless options for all your needs.

Shopping for clothes online for instance has become more convenient. You now have access to thousands of options with just a few clicks of the mouse and you can easily go through which of the designs you like. You can either bookmark them for reference when you go to the mall later on, or order for that specific dress on the online market without leaving the comfort of your home!



For searching for ideas, I love to browse on Polyvore and Chictopia. When I find an outfit that I like, I switch to online clothing stores to find matching designs. For example, Zalora Marketplace has a great collection of formal dresses including long gowns and cocktail dresses which you can choose from. If you're searching for sweaters, H&M's online shop is a good option. There might be brands that won't apply the online shopping route (just like Stradivarius, which is becoming my personal favorite), having an idea already  for an outfit will help a lot in going through all the available choices, may it be online or at the actual store.

I am no expert in the fashion field, that's why as a noob, these tips are helping me a lot to ease the process of selection for the right clothes. Actually these techniques don't apply to clothes alone, but also to any item that we need to purchase.

~o~

Speaking of clothes, I still need to finalize my outfits for an upcoming trip! I am so excited to blog about it soon. Stay tuned~

Was it just two weeks? The memories are a blur now. I have never experienced this kind of loops of ups and downs in just a span of days and it's kind of overwhelming really. One day I was anxious and depressed at the same time, waiting in the hospital questioning previous acts that I have done in my life that led to this moment and by the next day I was overly happy because I finally got the results of an application and it was positive news (clue: related to travel). And then the next week, I had the "dreaded talk" and have been confirmed of the worst scenario that can happen for my career, which led to hours (that turned into days) of confusion and deep thoughts about what I really want to do in life and if I'm still really happy where I am now. It came to that moment when I couldn't take in all those emotions anymore and I just had a mental breakdown. Thank God I had music to calm my nerves and to carry on with my day.

I just realized this is the longest time that passed without me updating the blog. So now I am writing everything down because it has always been therapeutic for me. So, where do I start? *sigh*

This rollercoster ride started when I experienced pains in my upper abdomen that lasted for days. I was getting worried with it already (especially when it felt more painful after eating lunch in an unlimited buffet) so I decided impromptu to go to the hospital immediately the next day. The doctor suspected gall bladder stones but suggested I do an ultrasound to make sure. My family has history of that and I was so worried because if curing the pain would need surgery, aside from requiring to shell out some money, this would mean that the trip that I have planned for over a year will not happen. I could not bring myself to focus on stuff on that day but I still pushed to do some work stuff (because it's all piling up already). I had problems also with the schedule of the tests at the hospital so I had to take some more days off from work. Good thing there was a holiday that week so I had another day off. Last day of the week came and I was able to get the news from the doctor that it was not as worse as I imagined it. I just had to take some medicines until the pain goes away.

Next week was business as usual. Though I just got a bit sad because it turns out some stuff that I did seemed to backlash to me. Last week I felt my health was at stake. This week, I felt my career was at stake. I have A LOT of things that I want to rant here, but I think it is better that I don't. Let's just say I pushed to concentrate to do some tasks last week even if I was not feeling okay, but it turned unappreciated. No one even asked what happened, and if I was alright (save for one kind soul). Well I shouldn't expect something like that anyway, *sigh* but I just got depressed because of that. I have always learned information from the things that they were not saying, and I am learning a lot from them still. I don't know if I am just overreacting or what, but they say sometimes you just have to trust your intuition.

So fast forward to today, after hours and hours of contemplation (with tears involved) I have chosen to focus on the brighter side, to focus on the lessons that I can get from my current situation. There are lots of things that I am learning and I am very thankful that there are lots of people guiding me on this. I am still at the crossroad but I have decided to walk on aligning my career path with the opportunities that's becoming available to me today. Maybe that is the better road for me, I will never know until I try it. Plus, this is a more challenging path (as this is outside my expertise) and will surely help me in "climbing up the ladder".

I will never be able to say this in real life, but I want to send out this to the person has really guided me ever since I entered that place. I have learned a lot, and still continuing to learn a lot from her. I'm feeling (and I am 100% sure) that I won't be under her wing for so long, and all the pressure that's placed on me is for preparing me for a bigger challenge in the future.

I will do my best. I am being pushed to my limits, and I up to the challenge. I want to conquer this. I will conquer this, and I will emerge as a better person in the end. I am preparing myself for the new things to come. It will surely be difficult, but knowing that someone out there is believing that I would be able to do it is enough for me to get me to my destination.

The past few weeks felt like a long stretch. It was exhausting, but I saw the purpose of it. Hwaiting. Hoping for the best in the future. #icandothis #gogogo