It's been a while since I did a life lately post, huh? The last time I posted one was in April as well—more or less the same time one year ago. It's so funny to me (in a dark, depressing sort of way) that during that time I was complaining about community quarantine supposedly extending until June, because then we wouldn't be able to celebrate some of our friends' birthdays together. Well, surprise surprise.
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I don't want to talk about the PH quarantine situation in detail, but basically, we're still in it. One year later. Nothing's changed. (Again, surprise surprise.) Anyway, here's some stuff that's happened during that time:
May 2020. We had to bring Mimi to the vet because a huge lump suddenly grew on the side of his face. We were a bit freaked out because it was SO SUDDEN, but thankfully it turned out to be just some sort of inflammation and not anything worse. Mimi looked so funny though ðŸ˜
July 2020. I started collecting albums and photocards
I don't know when but I eventually stopped journaling. It's not that I lost interest or anything! I just felt like there wasn't anything of significance to write about. Most of the time it feels like I'm just drifting from one day to the next, trying to survive and stay healthy (physically and mentally). I miss working on journal entries though, so I've been channeling the frustration into decorating my wall instead. I really wanted my wall to look like a page out of my own journal, so the way I put things together is similar to how I do spreads. I don't know if I'll finish anytime soon though, because I keep moving things around. The photo above was taken in November, before I changed it again. The photo at the start of this post is what it looks like currently! :)
October 2020. I turned 31! Had to spend my birthday without my yearly celebratory ramen, sadly 💔 I didn't have cake, either. I didn't think I would be celebrating my birthday in quarantine, but I did. I thought the least I could do was to feel pretty on the day, so I put on makeup, got dressed up, and took photos.
December 2020. During the holidays I got to meet up with my friend Kenny while I was staying at my mom's. They live just a few minutes away from my mom's so we made plans to meet after Christmas. We only met up for a few minutes (we literally just met up outside the village gates) but I got so emotional about finally getting to meet one of my friends IRL that I cried lol. I cried even more at home while opening the Christmas gifts I got from Kenny and Ingrid. I miss Thupergroup so much...I really want to meet everyone again soon.
Aian and I spent our 11th year together in quarantine LOL. Honestly, I just didn't want to risk going out. By this time a lot of establishments had started operating again and there were a lot of people going out, but because it was almost the New Year I thought there would be a lot of people celebrating the end of the year outside. (More people = more chances of getting infected, so...) I took this photo on the morning of that day. Rather than not being able to celebrate our anniversary, all I could think of at the time was that this year was the first time since 2013 that Aian and I didn't fly to KL for the holidays. It was a little sad. I miss KL a lot.
February 2021. Leng had to have three of his teeth surgically removed. To explain in human terms, one of his molars broke off so they had to remove the part that was left behind. Leng has always had bad teeth too, since he used to be a stray for a few months before we took him in. They removed all the bad teeth and cleaned the rest of his good teeth. The surgery went smoothly, but aftercare was stressful because he wouldn't eat. We didn't have this problem when Sosig had her teeth pulled. I'm guessing the antibiotics left a bad taste in his mouth so he couldn't eat even if he wanted to. For one week I had to puree cheap smelly wet food into baby food consistency and then hand-feed it to him. With a little spoon. Like a baby. He's okay now though!
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As dramatic as it sounds, I can't deny the fact that K-pop carried me through some of the roughest patches of 2020, and it continues to do so through this seemingly never-ending quarantine. I've been into K-pop since I was in uni but somehow it felt like I only ever went into the metaphorical pool up until my knees, never fully immersing in it. But now that my closest circle of friends are into K-pop as well, it's become a hundred times more enjoyable for me than it was years ago. Also, thanks to my enabler friends, I discovered the joys of collecting K-pop albums and photocards. I went from having only one album in 2019 to having eight in 2021, with one more on the way. It's amazing how much serotonin you can get from unboxing an album from a group/artist you really like, and even more so if you get the photocards you want.
Speaking of serotonin—these days I've been getting a lot of it from being able to check out the things I've added to my Shopee cart. That doesn't mean I've been buying things randomly, though! However impulsive the reason for checking out might be, I still try to be mindful with whatever I buy, lol. And on that note, we finally bought a vacuum cleaner! I've been wanting to get one so I'm glad we got to buy it when it went on sale. We also bought an egg boiler, a new dish rack, and a few other household items. For my birthday I actually bought myself a ring light! After getting frustrated about not waking up early enough to catch the sunlight whenever I take photos for reviews, I'm glad I finally bought one. I'm thinking of getting a second one for even better lighting. Maybe after I buy that waffle maker I've been eyeing.
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I've been playing A LOT of Genshin Impact recently. At first I didn't want to play because I have a bad history of getting too sucked into games once I start, especially with MMORPGs. That's....pretty much what happened with Genshin, lol. I started playing around November last year, and now I'm already at the (current) max level. It's super easy to get addicted to this game though. Everything from the story, the characters, and the world itself is so well-made that you can't help but keep playing. My favorite thing about this game is that even though it's set in a fictional world, a lot of it is based upon places that exist in real life.
For example, my favorite place to hang out in-game is based on the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China. It's a place that I've always seen and admired through photos, but because I'm ridiculously scared of heights it's also one that I could never even dream of going to. Here I can visit and watch the sunset whenever I want.
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One show I've been watching a lot of these days is Amazing Saturday / Doremi Market. It's a variety show where the cast and guests have to play games and win to be able to eat food from the episode's featured market. The main game they play is Song Dictation, where they have to listen to a part of a song then write down the correct lyrics. It's fun seeing them try to figure out the lyrics, especially for difficult songs like Seventeen songs. The cast's chemistry is really good, too. I loved the original cast with Hyeri a lot, but now that Taeyeon's on board I feel like things got a lot more chaotic, lol. Whenever I hear her ahjumma laugh in the background I'm reminded why she was my bias-wrecker back when I was a huge SONE. My favorite episodes so far are: #114 where Seungkwan and Woozi guested, #146 where Yena and Jaejae guested, and #147 where Taeyeon had to put on a beard as punishment for losing a bet. SUPER FUNNY.
Aian and I also just recently finished watching Jujutsu Kaisen. I read the manga in 2019 so I already knew it was going to be good, but I didn't think the anime would be THAT GOOD. If you're into stories that deal with supernatural themes (Dorohedoro, Chainsaw Man, etc.), definitely check it out!
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There was so much good music in 2020 and early 2021 that it would take me forever if I were to talk about all the releases I liked during that time. If I were to choose my absolute favorites, then I'll have to go with FAME by Han Seungwoo and EQUAL by Woodz. If you follow my
For more of what I'm currently listening to, here's a playlist of my favorite songs. This doesn't have all my favorite songs; it's more a collection of songs that fit my favorite style of music. It's mostly chill / K-R&B, music that I like listening to either when I'm working on stuff or just chilling at home. I was a little hesitant about sharing it because I'm not good at curating playlists, but I really like all the songs on here, so why not. I still add some songs from time to time though, so it's quite a big boi. 109 songs and counting!
Hmmm...I think that's pretty much it? A lot of things happened in my life in the span of a year, but these are, for me, the most significant. Other than that it's same old, same old. Which, in a way, is supposed to be a good thing, I guess. Steady lang, ganon. But I just want things to be better, you know?
Hope you're all safe and healthy, friends.
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