I know I've been saying this for every day of this trip so far, but honestly hands down, this is the highlight! This is the day when I experienced events that I know I will remember for the rest of my life. Writing about it now, everything already feels like a dream... 🌸❄


While browsing through the tours on the KKDAY website, one specific tour package took my attention. The web page of that tour had the photo of the same scenery on my phone. I didn't know that the place on that photo actually existed in real life. I thought it was just an imaginary place.

I remember setting this as the wallpaper on my phone upon finishing booking my flights last year (August to be specific). Doing this trip altogether was a huge leap of faith for me and so having that wallpaper was my constant reminder to myself that I could make this trip happen (remember: this is my first solo trip + first time to visit Tokyo... that's two huge walls that I had to go through). I don't know -- looking at that KKDAY tour and looking back at my phone's wallpaper, I felt like some sort of serendipity was being presented to me. I felt like this is the tour that I needed to be on (oh how right I was, more explanation later about these serendipitous forces 😊). On the tour details, it said that there are 400 steps up to the pagoda. I found that a bit intimidating because of the condition of my knees. But again the thought of "it's now or never" came back to me. And so, I went for it and booked the tour. A feeling of "fulfilling my destiny" rushed within me. Did I actually prove that the law of attraction is indeed true? I randomly just chose that wallpaper (not knowing it exists in real life), and now I'm actually going to that place.


The Journey Begins
And so the day of the tour came. I have always been worried about this specific day of my trip because according to the Accuweather site, it will rain on this day. This is the only day predicted to be rainy in this trip, which felt kind of ironic. This is the only day that I needed some clear skies because this is the day of my Fuji tour. Oh well, I still hoped that I would still be able to see Mt. Fuji despite the rainy weather (oh life is really a box of chocolates... read on 😉).

I was able to arrive (safe and sound!) at the designated meeting place as instructed on the KKDAY tour page. I was feeling a bit stressed because I was worried that I won't be able to make it on time or I won't easily locate the meeting point (memories of our tour in Taiwan rushed through me). Thankfully, Japan has a very punctual train system. I didn't really need to be worried of the "traffic" because I was able to check what time I would arrive on my station. But well, there were still some unexpected events that happened enroute to the train. This is my fifth day already right, so I should have known by heart the way to the train stations from my hotel, right? Heck no! Specifically on the day that I had an appointment, I made two wrong turns, which ended up with me taking a few minutes longer than expected to reach the train station from my hotel. 😵 Well fortunately, things still went alright as I was able to arrive at the meeting place just 10 minutes before the assigned time (which in Japanese standards is late already LOL). The only catch was because I was all in a hurry, I wasn't able to eat breakfast. 😢 I told myself I'll just munch on some leftover Uji Matcha snacks that I still had on my bag.

Up on the bus, our tour guide told us we will have designated seats. And hey, apparently my seatmate was a Filipino! Looking at the seating arrangement, it looks like this is KKDAY's SOP -- they place together people that are from the same country so they'll meet friends on tour, even if traveling solo. Nice one KKDAY! My seatmate's name, according to our seating arrangement layout, is Carl. I actually didn't realize he is Filipino (I just said a quick hello as I sat down). I only realized that he's a kababayan when he pointed at that small plastic in the pocket of the seat in front of us and asked me "Para ata to sa suka?" Took me a few milliseconds to process what he said, then I finally exclaimed "Oh you're Filipino!". That broke the ice easily. It's nice to speak Filipino after 4 days (or speaking to someone generally 😂). We exchanged a few introductions. He said he's traveling solo (same!) and it's his first time in Tokyo (same same!!!). I'm just so happy to know we share this same experience. I wanted to do more small talk with him, but meh I didn't want to invade his personal space, so I let him be for the rest of our trip to our first tour destination.

My First Snowfall
I was all going emo while listening to music and looking at the scenery (I was seated at the window side) when I noticed something unusual happening outside. It was so foggy! It felt a bit weird (similar to that feeling I had traveling to the Sutro Baths in San Fransisco) because I felt like I was in some horror movie 😂. I looked at the window shield by the driver and noticed that bits of crushed ice were splattering on the screen. And I realized the unthinkable -- it was snowing!!!

Upon arriving at our first bus stop, it was already snowing heavily. Yoko-san, our tour guide in the bus, told us this was very unusual weather at this time of the year. This is her first time to experience this actually. Well because of the weather, there's little chance that we would be able to see Mt. Fuji. For me, this was 100% okay because I'm just so happy to see snow for the first time. And Carl agreed also (it was also his first time to see snow), he said that experiencing snow is a more personal experience than seeing Mt. Fuji from a distance (which I wholeheartedly agreed).

Everyone was just so happy seeing these little drops of snow fall to the ground. I felt like I was a kid again, looking happily at the sky. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It felt so magical.

https://videopress.com/v/PI9jYBh6?preloadContent=metadata

After all the hype of the snow, we all calmed down (I think that applies only to me haha because I had to) and went back to the bus to go to the Arakura Shrine. And then that 'oh oops' moment struck me -- it's snowing. There are 400+ steps up the pagoda. I'm a disaster in-the-making. 😨 Well, Universe it's all on you. I give my fate to you that everything will be alright.

Up The Shrine
And so we arrived at our stop! Apparently we had to walk for a few bit before reaching the stairs up the Arakura shrine. Well my worst fears were confirmed -- the pavement was slippery because of all the snow (some parts already were submerged with snow up to the ankle). I had to walk very slowly because good gracious heaven knows what would happen if I slip and hit my kneecaps first (I think it would break and I would be rushed to the hospital and that will be the end of me 😭). Carl was actually kind enough to walk in the same pace as mine. I think this was the moment he asked if I am an otaku (uhmm no?). I told him a bit of my experience in Akihabara wherein I didn't recognize most of the animes that I saw there.

When we reached the stairs, I knew this was the start of my "little pilgrimage". Carl was busy filming with his phone, so I thought hmm I guess I'll go on my own from here? And so I began going up the stairs. I didn't stop climbing (I just paused for a bit here and there to bow at the Tori gates of course, taking in all the beautiful scenery with my own eyes). This place was just straight out of my dreams. I felt like I was in Narnia, reaching the place through the wardrobe. ❤️❤️❤️

And then I reached the pagoda. I was at awe that finally, I'm seeing this oh-so-familiar scenery in real life.

THE pagoda. It was so beautiful. <3

There were no people yet when I got at the spot of the pagoda, save for one who was carrying a DSLR on a tripod. I checked the trail and there were still stairs upwards. Maybe there's still something there? And so I continued going up. There were no one in site and the surroundings were eerily quiet. I saw a bear sign by a tree and I got scared for a bit. Then I saw this lady foreigner going down the flight of steps. I built up my courage and made small talk. Our conversation went somewhat like --

Hi! Is there something else up there? She said there's a hiking trail, but nothing more to see. I guess the main attraction here is already the pagoda.

Then I told her about the bear signs I saw. She said I didn't have to worry, because the bears are for sure in hibernate mode.

Beware of bears. :O

Then I went on going on a happy rant that I'm so happy to see snow. It was my first time to see snow! I'm from the Philippines (a tropical country) so there's no snow back there. She said she is from Germany. And yeah it's unexpected that we actually had snow today One local, that she was able to talk to, told her that this is only the third time in his life so far that he encountered this kind of weather. How lucky we were!

I can't remember what we talked about next, but after a few exchanges, we happily said "It was nice meeting you!" and headed the opposite directions. I still went up for a bit and found this little covered sitting area up the trail of steps. I stayed here for a bit. I took this moment to just breathe in everything that I was looking at. I paused and prayed with a grateful heart to the Universe that I was able to make it up here unscathed. After a few minutes of quiet time, I began the descend. I think there's only 20 minutes left before our assigned time to return to our bus (or else I'll be left behind... for real. I saw that happen to some tourists that were with us in our KKDAY tour in Taiwan). But I was not worried. I took my time and strolled calmly around the place, absorbing every bit of the beautiful surroundings.

When I arrived at the pagoda again, of course I had to take pictures of it! At this point, there were already several tourists at the photo spot. I asked this kind Chinese lady to take my picture.

And then for the rest, it's all selfies! 🤣

The pagoda is so beautiful from any angle!

Then I continued going down the steps. I took this opportunity to take more photos of the place.

I looked closely at the cherry blossoms that were now frozen with snow. I don't know but aside from the feeling of amazement, I somehow felt a bit of sadness. I don't know why. :(

At the last tori gate, I did a long solemn bow. I thanked all the spirits and every magical creature that reside in that place for taking care of me because I didn't slip on any step. I also extended my heartfelt thanks for letting me visit this place. 💗

With less than 10 minutes left, I walked back to the snowy pavement and back to the parking lot where our bus was at. I didn't dare hurry my steps because I knew the road was slippery. I think I arrived a few minutes past our designated time. Yoko-san (our tour guide) approached me and confirmed my name as soon as I arrived at the parking lot. Well, I was just actually the last passenger to return (huhu hontoni gomenasai). I spotted Carl sipping some coffee at the waiting area. Hmm so I guess I was really that late, huh. I think he had described me to Yoko-san as the lady with the totoro handbag 😅 that's why Yoko-san spotted me easily as I arrived.

And so we all returned back to our bus to go to our next destination. Because some of the passengers opted to stay on that place to go around on their own, the bus had more vacant seats this time. Carl asked me if it was okay if he transferred seats, which of course I told him yes (but deep inside I got a little sad huh).

When the bus drove off, I began reflecting my journey in the shrine. Fortunately during the flight up and down the stairs, my knees didn't hurt. I was so happy. I just felt a bit bad for leaving Carl behind because I could have taken good photos for him at the pagoda. But oh well, priorities. I had to do some soul-searching. I was not there as a tourist -- I went there as a visitor who, because of some string of magic and luck, was able to go to that place that I first saw as just a wallpaper on my phone. I'll never ever forget this experience. 😊

• How the changes would affect the new records and the flow on how users interact with them (CRUD operations)

• How it will affect existing records (CRUD also)

• How it will indirectly affect other records (i.e. parent/child records, sourced fields, saved searches via the delete/inactivate dependencies list)
• How it will affect other scripts; compare if there would be conflicting logic flows compared to the other existing scripts

Jesse McCartney. No, he's not related to the Beatles. If you don't know who is but you know who Justin Bieber is, get out. I don't want to talk to you. 😜


He held a one-night concert on July 13, 2019 at the New Frontier Theatre (formerly Kia Theatre).

As far as I know, he was inactive in the music scene for some time. Well, I just learned (while reviewing his discography for the concert) that he actually released some material last year. One of the tracks is Better With You, which is such a great listen, just 'ol good vibes (and the music video is just awwww ❤️).

Prior to the concert, I didn't watch any of Jesse's live performances online. I didn't want to spoil myself. I want to hear him sing live for the very first time in the concert. You know what, it was the greatest decision I could make to appreciate him fully as an artist. His appearance changed a lot (I might not actually recognize him if you show me his recent photos) but OMG his vocals are still so on point! The guitarist was also so good! Their music is a match made in heaven. 😍🎶

He sang a lot of his older songs. I saw his face glow up when the audience sang along even to his songs released several years ago. I really think he missed performing. He said during the concert that the amount of warm feedback his songs (which includes Better With You) got last year motivated him to get back to the studio to write songs again. He's currently working on a new album and will be releasing it soon. I'm so happy he's back to creating music! I didn't realize I needed some JMAC material right now. 💕

He sang "Bleeding Love" (popularized by Leona Lewis) while playing the keyboard. I didn't know he wrote it. It's a whole new experience hearing his version of this song.

Listening to his songs now, I must say most of his songs are too sexy for teenage girls. Haha maybe I didn't realize the "dirty" meaning of some of his songs when I was younger. I just enjoyed singing along to them.

Also, Jesse is so good at doing fan service. He brought a fan on stage, held hands with her, sang for her, and even hugged her! Such a lucky lucky fan!

Well I guess his popularity didn't really falter throughout the years. The venue was fully packed! And to my suprise, the crowd that night is young. I guess the accessible collection of music content online allowed the younger generation to discover even his older songs. So proud!

This is the first time I got captured in the audience in a concert. AHAHAHA. (📷: Random Minds @randommindsph)

It was a pretty quick concert - just an hour long, given that there's no front act. Aaah, I need more Jesse McCartney content! Well he said he'll come back soon though. I'll take his word for it. For now, I'll have to thank you Jesse for finally coming to Manila. He told it himself that he's sorry it took a while for him to actually drop by, but I'm so glad he finally did.

See you around on your next concert here! 😘

Welp. I guess I was not in my best condition when I played the game. 😅

Escape rooms have become famous all over the world. Each establishment that offers this activity have a variety of themes for their rooms. I guess the reason that line is present in the waiver is due to the presence of stressors inside the room. Every person reacts differently with stress. Some factors of the Escape Room might unintentionally trigger emotional attacks, that's why there's a means to contact the staff outside in the case of emergency so that any participant in the room can leave in case they feel uncomfortable already.

It's the second escape room that I got to participate in (and I'm proud to say that my group was able to solve it in the two scenarios). I know it's just a game, but I guess because of the kind of material that was unceremoniously presented in front of me for this specific one, it's affecting me in a different way. Since part of the content of the waiver that I actually signed was a non-disclosure agreement about anything inside the room, I will give as little of information as I could about the room that I got into.

Let's just say I'm having some kind of anxiety attacks. I've played that escape room game with my colleagues four days ago, and I haven't slept well since. I slept with the lights on and had bad nightmares (even during afternoon naps! whaaat). As the days are passing by, the effects are getting more intense. Friday night was the worst so far. I've never cried like that after a nightmare. Am I getting paranoid? I turned the lights on and just sat on the bed all curled up while hugging my pillow. My chest was hurting so much because of the emotional stress that I was feeling. The events in that nightmare were highly possible to happen, and that just actually made it even scarier. I was afraid to fall asleep again. I'm scared that my dream would continue.

I don't know why I am actually having this kind of reaction. I was really happy when our group was able to finish the game (we were only a minute away from the time limit so adrenaline levels were at peak when we finally unlocked the last door). I was even chatting merrily about our team's bloopers amongst my other friends. I noticed I just felt eerie scared the night of that day, as specific scenes from the escape room replayed in my head. Maybe it's a factor that the scenes presented looked realistic and true-to-life. If you are of the faint of heart, the images presented might somehow affect you negatively.

I remember this specific Youtube video with a disclaimer that it was not approved for the general audience for viewing because of disturbing content. It was a cute cartoon with a scene of a girl very seriously studying in her room at night. At first I thought -- why does this video have that kind of disclaimer? And then out of nowhere, I watched as the girl held a knife in her hand and attempted to cut herself. The video was apparently promoting mental health hotlines that are available to call.

Another similar material that I could think of is Doki Doki Literature Club. It was a game categorized as 'psychological horror' and I was really curious why. There's also a similar disclaimer at the start of the game that this game is not for children and for those easily disturbed. Well I knew my tolerance level on these matters, so I just chose to watch a Youtuber's gameplay of it instead of me personally playing it. And so I just watched it being played by another player. Even though there were witty comments throughout the gameplay, I still got goosebumps during the part where the twist was revealed. Now I understood why the game can be a trigger for people who have suicidal tendencies. The game stuck with me for a few days after.

Anyway back to escape rooms. I was wondering if I was the only one having this kind of reaction. I tried googling to find blogs or articles that I could relate to for this specific situation. I didn't find any. In contrast, those that I found actually said that participating in Escape Rooms can improve mental health because it exercises the mind's wit and strategy skills in stressful situations.

Oh well, maybe this emotional stress I'm feeling is similar to the effects being experienced by viewers who just watched psychological horror movies. Heck, I don't even need to get far -- this is similar to the disturbing feeling I get after a Black mirror episode, just quadrupled in intensity. It's a bit more disturbing because I experienced it in real life.

Lesson learned: Watch out for triggers even from unlikely situations. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! (which is Mad-eye Moody's favorite motto by the way).

I hope to go back to normal soon.

Also, it's so hard to sing in a room that's not soundproof. 😅

Chords:

Verse / Chorus:
Gb Eb Db B

Bridge:
Db Eb B Gb

I just want to rave about this restaurant all because the food is just so good. I love shawarma, and theirs is the best one I've tasted so far. 😋


📷 All photo credits go to my friend Jean!

Some bit of history here --

My friend Anne and her husband built upon this idea for almost two years. Currently, they only have their home branch open, though she mentioned they have plans to spread out. I have witnessed her work on all the ideas for this restaurant. When they finally perfected the recipe of their shawarma, we were able to get some free taste during one gathering in a colleague's house. I fell in love with their shawarma with just one bite.

I am not saying this all because she's a friend (my heart and my tummy have different masters lol). I'm just raving about it because truly, I have never tasted a shawarma like theirs. I've tasted Turks and those other generic shawarma stalls at the mall, and I actually enjoy them. But after tasting the shawarma of Shawarm Buddies, my standards just got higher. It's obvious that they put a lot of spices on their shawarma. Good thing Anne is able to bring some at the office when we order in advance. Even if they were just reheated in the microwave, it still tasted so good. 🤤

Then, their chicken wings were born to their restaurant's menu. Of course foodies that we were, we ordered some from Anne again. And yet again, they've set my standards on chicken wings several notches up. They've perfected that buttermilk flavor 🍗 (okay I am writing this post late night and now I am salivating). Anne was even being modest about the taste and told us it would taste way better if freshly cooked in the restaurant (we were only heating them up in the microwave). And so this is where the idea to visit their restaurant came up. Together with my other colleagues, we traveled to Tondo to visit Shawarm Buddies in person!

We were already so familiar with the restaurant that visiting the actual place felt like reconnecting with an old friend. It was so amusing for me to see all the logo and menu all actually laid out, all of which I've seen in their draft stages.

From the shawarma, kebab, and the chicken wings, their menu has extended to pizzas and nachos!

Since we all knew that it will only be once in a blue moon that we would be able to dine in, we lavishly ordered from the menu!

I ordered their Kebab rice because Anne told me the meat is way way better when freshly cooked off the grill. Well yes she was right -- it was juicer. I just scooped some shawarma from the other plates of my friends. My tummy was so happy!

Of course we won't pass the chance to order their chicken wings! Compared to the microwave-reheated bunch that we got to taste before, the skin of these were crispier! The dish comes with yoghurt and cheese dips. The wings doesn't need any sauce actually, but the dips just even made it even tastier (yoghurt is my favorite).

It was all our first time to try their yogurt drinks. Anne told us their bestseller is their strawberry yogurt shake, a sweet drink to contrast the palate from the spices of all the meat.

I ordered their Matcha yogurt shake, while my friends ordered their Triple Choco shake (which is a best-seller amongst kids).

Obviously, we finished with full and happy tummies! It was worth traveling to their place to dine in! If you love shawarma and chicken wings, or even just the general foodie, their restaurant is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered! It's a must-try!

~o~
Shawarm Buddies: Shawarma & Kebab
Facebook | Instagram | Food Panda

It's crunch time season! It's the start of a new quarter! No time to rest! 💪


👩‍💼 Career
use the tools

💰 Financial
(1/2) recharge

💡 Personal Development

• create music
• write articles
• finish posts

🧘‍♀️ Spiritual
attend a meditation class

🎓 Educational
write at least one post about technical learnings on current projects

❤️ Relationship
mend, build, reconnect

🏋️‍♀️ Physical and Health
exercise twice a week

Weekly Tracker Table - Q3 2019

GOAL

W1

W2

W3

W4

W5

W6

W7

W8

W9

W10

W11

W12

👩‍💼

✓

✘

✘

✘

✘

✘

✓

✓

✓

*

✓

✘

💰

✓

✘

✘

✘

✘

✘

✘

✓

✓

*

✘

✘

💡-m

✓

✓

✓

✘

✘

✘

✓

✘

✘

*

✘

✓

💡-a

✘

✘

✓

✘

✘

✘

✘

✓

✘

*

✘

✘

💡-p

✓

✘

✓

✓

✓

✘

✘

✘

✘

*

✘

✘

🧘‍♀️

✘

✓

✘

✘

✘

✘

✘

✘

✘

*

✓

✓

🎓

✘

✘

✘

✓

✘

✘

✘

✘

✘

*

✘

✘

❤️

✓

✘

✘

✘

✘

✓

✓

✘

✘

*

✓

✘

🏋️‍♀️

✓

✘

✘

✘

✓

✘

✓

✓

✓

*

✓

✘

Just like that, we are already half-way of 2019! We are now entering the third quarter! Before I set out my new goals for the new quarter (I am very excited on this because I have a new format!), here's an evaluation on how I have done on the goals that I have set for Q2:


Main Goals (Needs)

🏆 complete intermittent fasting (16:8) for a month
This is a 100% completed goal! I am more than prouder of myself as I was able to be consistent with this habit. I knew I had to be a bit lenient during times that I needed to socialize (because what's the best way to bond -- over meals!). IF alone, I have lost 4 pounds. Logging my fasting times on the Life Fasting Tracker app has already been part of my daily habit and I will continue that until I reach my target weight.

Next steps: I will be incorporating exercise to the routine!

🏆 cook recipes for diabetics
If you look back at the tracker table on my goal setting and steps page, I was able to do this 8 out of the 12 weeks. Thus, I'm considering this as an accomplished goal. Although I wasn't really able to cook all of the recipes that I have researched online, I was able to cook at home as needed. I couldn't cook much during the weekdays though, but I was able to do so most of the weekends.

Next steps: Continue exploring new recipes and plan to buy the ingredients at the wet market every weekend.

🛑 take that test
I am parking this one for now. There were a lot of things that happened recently that made me realize that I wanted to stay. There are pros and cons for every decision that we make in life and for my case, the pros of that other decision outweighed the pros of the other one. However I know at the back of my mind, I still wanted to give it at try... and I think I can find a work-around wherein I will be able to get the best out of the two options I'm pondering on. I'm on a race against time though. ⌛

Minor Goals (Wants)

🛑 finish course on music theory
This is another goal I am parking. I am not actually totally abandoning it -- I will just be doing a different approach on it. I just realized that I'm not really into the technical side of creating music (for now, although I know it would greatly benefit me in the long run). I am already in progress with this new approach and I am enjoying it so far! The fruits of this (if I successfully complete them) will surely be posted on the blog. 😉

🏆 finish that book
Proof

🏃‍♀️ consume all that green powder from the weightloss program
This is still in progress because realistically, I couldn't really finish all of it within the last three months. I was always mindful to have it as my breakfast during weekends, so good job, self! Just keep this going. 👏

🏃‍♀️ publish an article for that online site
Although I have already finished the material where I will base this article on, I still have not completed this task. Admittedly, it was because it was never in my priority list (having no time will never be an excuse). Err so yeah, I need to put that out as soon as possible... like this weekend at the latest. *wooh pressure! 😬*

🏃‍♀️ finish writing Korea / Taiwan / Japan travel posts
I would like to commend myself on how dedicated I am in making my Japan posts as detailed as possible. *pats myself on the back* My ultimate goal for all of these efforts is to preserve those precious memories as alive as possible for my future self (which is also the whole point of this blog anyway). These posts would serve as reminder for myself that the Universe has been good to me (hopefully this site is still up in the years to come 😅) and I shouldn't be that sad (although sometimes I couldn't control it). I still have a number of posts pending to be documented on the blog (as far back as 2016 😣). But yeah, I'll get to that sooner or later (just needed to get all the Tokyo posts out).

Yay, thank you Universe for this quarter! I am excited to plot my next goals!
Keep your eyes on the prize!


Legend:
🏆 Finished
🏃‍♀️ Still in Progress
🛑 Aborted