This post marks my 800th entry on the blog. Wild, right? I have never thought that I would be writing for this site for this long. This idea that happened to pop in my mind one morning on my way to work has become the most consistent thing in my life so far. 

1. I enjoy the process of writing. Time and time, I have proved to myself that this is something that makes me happy. I can go on a whole day just writing on the blog and I will not feel the hours pass by. I do believe this is one of my ikigai. The process is also therapeutic for me. Aside from journaling on a physical notebook, writing online about my emotions and experiences help me process them and reflect on them.
2. The blog allows me to reach out to more people with similar interests. Again, we go back to the concept of the serendipity vehicle. This blog allowed me to connect to people that I really won't be able to meet in real life. I was able to go on adventures, attend events, and receive prizes all because of this blog. I might not receive much PR events now, the great ones I receive are comments from my readers! 💖
3. The blog helped me become comfortable with writing. Working on posts trained my mind to translate my emotions and ideas into words, and the skill of writing became truly useful in other aspects of my life, notably at work. I get to write emails and technical documentations at ease.
4. Blogging allows me to exercise critical thinking. Aside from my personal experience, I also write about books that I have read and also movies/series that I have watched. Through this exercise, I get to practice coming up with my own opinion about the content that I just consumed. I believe this is a good mental exercise because I'm not just passively consuming content, but instead I'm also being an active critic about it.
5. I have an accessible diary online. Whenever I feel down (or maybe just bored), I randomly read my old blog posts. I would always feel awed by my old self's write ups. The blog also has proved to be useful when I just wanted to share something with my friends.

• getting media pass on events and concerts
• receiving deals from brands
• generating passive income through ads

• Write about something you love. Inspiration and ideas will surely follow you.
• Find bloggers that will inspire you. I have a list of blogs that comprise my reading list and I just enjoy reading entries from them. I make sure to also comment on their posts because I know how much those can make bloggers happy! 😁
• If having online exposure is one of your goals, submit your blog on sites that curate top blogs on every niche. As of this writing, I am part of the top 70 lifestyle blogs in the Philippines on Feedspot.

I made it mom! 😍

The main goal of the blog has always been to track my life goals. Things just naturally went beyond that. It amazes me because people just find the blog organically.

Last year, I attended the first ever You Well-Being Festival. This is an online well-being festival with a whole array of speakers talking about their expertise in the well-being field. I really enjoyed the experience and I learned a lot. I'm so glad that they pushed through with holding the second one this year! Of course, I kept my promise and also attended year two. And to give back to the Universe, I purchased my ticket pass this time. 😁

• clicking the Submit button doesn't do anything on the page (no prompt or anything)
• upon clicking the Submit button, all the fields went blank - this was what most of the commenters on the city's FB page were complaining about 😅
• there was an error message related to the email address field - I cannot remember the exact message, although my hunch was that the email address was a unique identifier on their database, and this was my second time registering with the same email
• some received an SMS confirmation that they had been registered; some received email confirmation; some received nothing

Yay my second Sakuraco box is here! I started my subscription last month for this Japanese artisan snacks that ships straight from Tokyo, Japan! 😀 The details of the July box was officially released on their site at the first day of the month, and just within 7 days, my box got delivered to my doorstep!

Yubari Melon Cream Sandwich Cookies

⭐⭐ Recommended

This one has a light taste, not so sweet. I like the butter cookies

Yubari Melon Jelly

⭐⭐ Recommended

Based on the snack's description, it was suggested to serve this chilled, but I didn't bother placing it in the fridge. 😂 I straight up ate it was on room temperature. I tasted hints of tamarind, but I could be wrong. Maybe that's the "special ingredients" they added on this jelly. 😁

Some of the other snacks included in the box (that I wasn't able to take photos of 😂) are:

• Kibi Dango - ⭐⭐ Recommended
  It tasted similar to the Waraku no Sato Salt Yokan in the June box. This one came in two's again. My dad got the other one. I was watching him when he opened the packaging and I saw him struggling to remove that layer of 'plastic' on the snack. Later on, I read on the booklet included in the box that the snack was wrapped in edible Oblaat. So my experience of eating the snack was easier. 

• Hokkaido Grilled Corn Senbei -  ⭐⭐⭐ Must Try
  I was mildly surprised when I took a bite of this snack, which looked like an ordinary cracker. I was feeling a bit down one day and what better way to cheer myself up than to eat yummy snacks! And with my experience with this snack box so far, there's really nothing 'ordinary' with the snacks included here. And so I took this snack without really paying attention with the label (I couldn't read it anyway lol). So when I took a bite, I was surprised with the corn flavor! Every bite was very savory. I felt cheery afterwards. I want more of this! 😋

(📷: Inoh)

This trip happened 4 years ago. Yup, it's been that long and I have not written my travel log for this! ☹️ Because the events have happened several years ago already, bear with me as I try to recall the memories I have made during this trip. There were lots of things that stuck with me up to this day, and you will know why when I get to those parts. 😉

These people I'm with were all outdoor beings so thanks to them, I was able to experience a lot of nature during our first few days stay in Coron. 😊

Atop of Mt. Tapyas (📷: Inoh)

At the rooftop of our hostel, playing cards late at night, after a few shots of soju (📷: Inoh)

Of course I'm the one in rash guard. 😅 Inoh was practicing landscape photography then that's why he had all his camera gear and his photos were amazing.

We hired a boat for island hopping and we were able to eat lots of delicious seafood that the boatmen prepared for us (full disclosure: I liked our lunch that day better than the fancy one we had with the whole team a few days after😅). 

Recently, I bought an automatic washing machine for use at home. When the idea was initially brought up by my sister, I thought it's just a luxurious expense and that it didn't really fit our lifestyle. Well, I didn't have any problems with manual washing, but I failed to consider the needs of my folks. They're not getting any younger, and doing the laundry had been a challenge for them physically for some time now 😅. And so when we learned later on that my titas in the province had one and that they attest to how convenient life was after getting it, we were convinced to also buy one for us. And as of this writing (two months later), that buying an automatic washing machine was a great decision that benefited everyone at home.

• Process selector. Aside from the preset programs, you can specifically select which process you want to operate on your clothes. There are three processes available: wash, rinse, and spin. With the process selector, you can do different combinations. The only selection not allowed is selecting rinse only. This configuration is useful because we still get to use our old washing machine for the washing process, then we just transfer the washed items to this machine for rinsing and spinning.
• Water Level selector. It took some time for us to figure this one out. Again, thanks to the manual, we learned that this is the way to control how much water goes into the machine in the washing and rinsing cycle. There's just some programs wherein the water level is fixed (like Program 5: Blanket, which is 52L).
• Very intuitive Programs configuration. This was really one of the main reasons why I chose this model (aside from the price of course lol). The buttons are user-friendly and easy to follow. If you don't really bother with specific settings, you can operate the machine with just pressing two buttons (Power and Start buttons, which starts the Program 1: Normal mode with the default settings). This is very helpful, especially for my mom whose not really techie. At least through this simple process, she won't get intimidated using it. 😅

•  Mobility aspect. I didn't purchase the accessory roller so it would be a challenge to move this machine in case we'd need to do a general cleaning of the laundry area. 
• Wash time and rinse time cannot be manually configured. Since the longest wash time available for all programs, excluding soak, is 15 minutes, heavily soiled clothes are not that thoroughly cleaned. So instead, we still opt to use our old washing machine, which has a maximum wash time of 45 minutes.

Canada is a great country filled with incredible wildlife. Whether you are just taking a trip to the country or looking to move there by searching things like Vancouver homes for sale, you should be aware of the hot spots to experience the wildlife. I certainly considered Canada as a place for me to settle down, but due to logistic concerns and other factors, this is still a dream for me (for now!). But I believe as long as you have the capability to imagine it in your mind, you have every ability to actually make it happen!

What if the sleeping beauty never woke up?

With just eight episodes in the first season, it was actually a quick watch. I will certainly wait and watch the next episodes in the next seasons!