An Overnight trip to Melbourne

According to those random Harry Potter online quizzes that I took, I belong to Gryffindor. But let's not deny the fact that my soul is a Slytherin. HAHAHA!

Storytime (from July 2019):
I bought my tickets for this 2-part Harry Potter and the Cursed Child musical about ten months before it was scheduled to start. If my friend did not send me a message asking, "When are you flying out to Melbourne?" days before the show, I would have completely forgotten about it! I was in the middle of my second term in uni at that time and there were major assessments due. I recently found out that I had to move again so I was also in the middle of looking for a place to move into. I was even in Melbourne a month ago with friends. My head and my pocket were basically stressed out. Haha! Initially, I decided to sell my tickets and just skip it. But no one wanted to buy my tickets, unfortunately! Since I didn't want the tickets to be put to waste, I booked a flight 2 days before the show instead. I didn't even bother booking a place to stay at because the tickets that I bought were first flights in and out.

A day before my flight and after work, I headed to a friend's place, which was conveniently near the airport, to stay the night so I didn't have to wake up too early. Lucky I did because dear, oh, dear I snoozed my alarm!!! Next thing I knew, it was 4:45 AM and my flight was at 6:00 AM! Man, I tell you, that was probably the quickest shower of my life! HAHAHA! A friend, from way back in high school who now lives in Melbourne and whom I haven't seen in 6 years, offered to pick me up at the airport. We had brunch. I met her husband and very charming baby boy for the first time. When she knew about my brilliant game plan (which was: brunch with her fam, see the show, dinner with another friend, go back to the theatre again and then head to the airport, bam!), she offered to let me stay at their place just so I can get at least a few hours of sleep before flying out. In between the shoes, I caught up with a friend from college and his partner over dinner.

So yes, it was a very looong and very tiring day but it was great (Hindi ko na uulitin though! HAHAHA!). A big thank you to all my friends who let me stay at their places and spared some of their time with me! Until next trip in Melbourne! :) And the show was superb (Okay, confession though: napapapikit na ako sa antok sa very early scenes of the show. I don't think it's the show itself, super pagod lang talaga ako, as in. Haha! Pero gising ako 95% of the show, I swear, so I know na maganda talaga siya.) To say that my 13-year old self was beyond elated is an understatement. :) If you're a Potterhead (even if you're not), go and see the show! You're welcome. :)

Living Solo

It's been a year (and 8 days) since I started living on my own in my own rented flat. While I enjoyed living with my friend and my brother, I must say, living on my own is as equally enjoyable, if not more.

I am not pressured to clean the house every weekend. Though I still clean every weekend, at least, I know that if I feel like skipping it, it's no biggie. :)

I can walk naked -- from the bathroom to the bedroom, that is. Especially on a day when I put my bath towel in the laundry and I forgot to grab a new towel before hitting the shower. I don't think I can walk naked in any other area of my flat. In my previous one, I have windows everywhere and the ones beside the main door are the only windows with roller blinds na see-through pa rin once the lights are on. In my current apartment, there are big, sliding glass doors in my living and dining area and a big glass window in my bedroom. Both of them have roller blinds also, see-through din except the one in the bedroom. So yeah, I will not give my neighbours a free show, you know. HAHA!

I don't have to cook everyday kasi ako lang naman ang kakain. The meals that I cook on weekends will last for the whole week.

On that note, I also spend less on groceries.

I own all the space so I can place my things anywhere, without invading/occupying my housemate's space.

And since I own a bigger space now, I have more room for my clothes. I mean, for my projects. I have my own mini-office/studio.

I have peace and quiet as soon as I get home. Okay, it's not as if my friend and my brother were loud or I didn't enjoy their company but I have days when I just don't want to talk to anyone or I just want to be alone. When my brother moved in with us, he and I shared a bedroom and hindi rin naman malaki yung apartment namin before na may pwede akong taguan or gawing hideout. Haha!

SUPER LAPIT KO SA WORK! I have no issues with commuting but damn, iba pala yung convenience ng malapit sa work. I save so much time!

Once you live on your own, I don't think you would want to go back to living with someone -- on a housemate level, specifically. Of course, case to case basis yan, depends on where you are in your life. Yes, iba pa rin when you live with your family. Or you realised na mas gusto mo pala ng may kasama. Or, obviously, when you get married to the person you really want to share your home with. But in my case, I had to and I also felt like it was time na din to do so. Kind of similar to when I decided to move here to Australia 7 years ago (today! Grabe, parang kelan lang). And also, afford ko na din magbayad ng rent mag-isa eh. Haha!

And yes, 7 years ago today... I don't know if I'll stay here after I graduate from design school though. I'm aiming to work outside Australia, God willing. And then maybe move there? I don't know. I'm just blabbering these thoughts out there. Iniisip ko din kasi how will I be able to afford a house here later on. Real estate prices here are getting ridiculous every year so I'll have a better chance (and survival rate because di ako mababaon sa mortgage! Hahaha!) of buying a property elsewhere na mas cheaper. Of course, if there will be a good work opportunity here for me, as a budding designer, who am I to say no, right? Oh well, let's just wait and see...

End of another decade

I thought of looking back and evaluating how the past 9-10 years of my life were. You know, to get into that end of a decade/yearend spirit. I sought the help of an old friend named Facebook (We go way back in 2009, hence, a good starting point! If Multiply did not cease to exist, it would have been a better reference.) because we (people my age and younger) all did, at one point in our lives, shared too much stuff there. Back when it was kind of a safe and nicer place, your parents and extended family did not care about its existence and your friends just talk about a lot of things (It was refreshing how pleasant the exchanges were on that section! It was kind of scary how unperturbed we were about our privacy though) on each other's Wall, statuses and comments instead of doing it through personal inboxes. Anyway, I didn't go as deep as I intended to because:

1. I spent too much time reading the convos and witty banters on the things I posted or was tagged to me. 
2. I couldn't help looking at every album I posted and how young my friends and I look in the photos. Physically young. We are still young at heart, thank you very much. Haha! 
3. It also reminded me of the homo sapiens who broke my heart. Hahaha! Wag na natin balikan yun. But truth though? It was nice to look back pala. There were good memories there, I must say. Of course, I did not forget. But I am no longer cringing by the thought of how pathetic I was. Hahaha!

I was also reminded of my accomplishments and milestones (which was reassuring and therapeutic because there are days when I feel like I've barely done anything and I'm heading to whatever it is and who knows where) such as graduating from uni (3 times and another one coming up. But who's counting? Haha!), studying and eventually moving overseas (best decision I ever made so far), traveling a fair share, living independently and slowly turning into a semi-domesticated chick I once thought I will never be (HAHA!), trying new things, meeting more people, Mavs winning a championship (Sobrang over the moon ko nun, I wrote an open letter to the team! #MFFL) and still alive and kicking (or so I think! HAHAHA!) this adulting thing.

And if there were highs, there were lows such as entering the workforce just to slowly kill my morale right from the get-go with shit pay (I know. I should be grateful. But keeping it real here), nearly losing my brother to some fucked-up strangers (which hasn't really come up in family conversations for a long time now), being betrayed by people I trusted (See the trend there? This is why I am extra careful and why I am kind of suspicious/paranoid about some people. Also, I obsessively read and watch a lot of crime-related stories and shows, too, so that is not helping. HAHAHA!).

The main takeaway is, (as always, dami kong hanash!), it was not perfect but it was good. The decade started with me feeling lost and confused as I transition into another stage of my life and a different level of responsibility. Being thrown into the real world on your own after 20 years of having a set plan laid out for you or following the normal, basic steps to take was daunting as it was enlightening. Oh, it was a ride. Innumerable series of trial and error. It pushed me to explore and to toughen up. Nothing can ever really prepare you for it. We all have to work our own way through it. And it never stops. Now, fast forward to 10 years later, while I already accomplished some goals I set for myself, I'm still busting my ass off to get to where I really want to be and everything else that I want to achieve. What is it that they say? Great things take time, right? The next few years, even the next decade, will be tough and scary but exciting. And that's a story we all have to wait to happen.

For now, let's raise a glass:
To good health, to achieving dreams and to new people and places, more memories and better experiences for this coming year and the next decade; 
To my family and friends (you know who you are!) who never wavered with support and love and helped me to get to where I am now; 
To the people who doubted, rejected and broke us and turned us into stronger individuals;
And (actually, grab the whole bottle for this one) to the person we are now and are becoming. We all deserve a pat at the back (and that bottle!) for making it this far and still going, hey! 

May we all have a brighter and blessed new year!