April 2023 — What's up Taurus Season? ♉
Migrations, adventures, unfiltered thoughts, and disappointments?
What’s up folks?
I know it’s been a while since I last shared my unfiltered thoughts, and today will be something lengthy because of so many things.
A quick summary of this letter:
A roundup of my two-week vacation in LA — Legazpi, Albay
Shooting range date
My birthday, which means I’m 30 already!
My blog is encountering some major changes — migration and things, which is making me anxious, super. ☹️
I got a domain name for my Substack! 💖
Life lately
So first thing’s first, my two-week vacation in LA.
Workation in LA for 2 Weeks
I went home for the longest time so far this year last April 2. It was such an exciting feeling because I got to spend some quality time with my nieces and nephews, plus with my family. Mom was really so ecstatic about me going home that she cooked my favorite viands. She made me:
Chopsuey
Sinigang
Giniling, to name a few.
My goodness, going home to these home-cooked meals is one of the best feelings ever that’s hard to replicate once you’re in the concrete jungle. Waking up and seeing Mayon after so long was also recharging to the soul. Being surrounded by mom’s plants felt like heaven because it was truly peaceful and comforting to look at.
But, a homecoming is never without questions or greetings about your weight. I was greeted by “Hey Tin, you gained weight” for three times in one day. What a record! Nevertheless, these people got some clap backs from me which they tried to rebut yet failed.
I’ve also spent some time explaining to my family why it matters to be mindful of telling someone about them losing or gaining weight. It’s because, you don’t know if that person is struggling, sick, or coping with some issues. I explicitly told them that if they have nothing nice to say, it’s better to shut up. Right?
Oh, these relatives in the province, they really have that mentality, which is not good. We must have to do our best to educate them to be more empathetic and compassionate about others. What’s ironic about it is that those relatives are religious. They pray and celebrate mass more times than I do, yet they act contrary to how Catholics should be doing.
Another thing, I called out one nephew because he was acting out. He was being disrespectful to my cousin, who’s his godfather. His replies were really out of this world and something you won’t expect coming from a child below seven years old.
Moreover, this child and his sister may have been exposed to sex at an early age because they were moaning while approaching my other nephew who’s around 20 years old. When he told me about that incident, I was appalled. I wondered why would their parents do the deed with the children around. Just why. 😞
Okay, I guess enough about that. I hope that all my friends who have their kids to please be there during their formative years. I know those are very crucial to the child’s development and growth.
Shooting range date at Makati
Before I write about my birthday, I’d like to share our adventure at Makati Cinema Square. It’s been in J’s bucket list to try shooting, so when we found the right schedule — off we went!
First, we secured our slots at Armscor Makati for the pistol shooting range. We both chose 45 caliber pistols with 50 rounds each. However, we didn’t get to shoot right away because there were other people in line.
So, we ventured out to check the Airsoft shooting range within the area. Then, we found ourselves enjoying the Sniper package which includes a sniper rifle and pistol.
Here’s our sniper rifle shooting adventure:
I shot more targets with the sniper rifle than J. He kept telling me that his rifle was malfunctioning. Oh, bollocks! 🤣
After this, we went back to Armscor, and it was nearly our turn, so we patiently waited. I had more headshots this time than my 2019 attempt. Even the Armscor guy was pretty impressed with how I did.
Here’s a comparison from my 2019 shooting and 2023 shooting.
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It’s fun to see more headshots, and my target paper died on me that day!
Goodbye to my 20s, and hello to my 30s!
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It’s been a while since I celebrated my birthday. I would usually order in, order food for my family back in LA, and spend the day with Dakila. This time, it’s different. I planned a bowling and dinner date with my hybrid family.
As usual, I woke up late because of the side effect of Quetiapine. I asked J to make me iced coffee to speed up my brain, so I can function well. We went out by around 2 PM, and picked up Ty and Jim. Then, we headed to Robinsons Place Manila to schedule and reserve a table for our dinner after we finished our other activities. I chose Max’s because I wanted to eat some good crispy pata and lumpia.
Then, we went to Paeng’s Bowling to arrange our lanes, shoe rentals, and settle in. Shortly after, Ate Cindy and the kids arrived. We went bowling and billiards after. Most of us were newbies at billiards, so Gelo thought of a game that we would all enjoy.
It was such an enjoyable day because we had fun, and bonded together over dinner. After we sent off Ate Cindy and kids, we went home to our condo and rested for a while. Then, I went with Ty and Jim to their home to catch up with Tita Mudra. I thanked her personally for her gift and hugged her because it’s been years since we last saw each other!
I also called mom to tell her a quick summary of what went through today.
April 23 was a blast and I couldn’t help myself shedding some happy tears. 💖
Blog things and Substack domain
Presently, my website is currently going through some major changes because I’m migrating to a new host. I panicked because I couldn’t access my website last April 22. I immediately reached out to my previous web host to consult the problem, and it’s because my website data had been deleted from her end.
Anyway, I’m trying to bring back everything on my website so that I won’t have to start from scratch.
On other news, I finally found the courage to buy a domain for my Substack. It felt right since this is a new avenue for me to write and share things without the pretext of being a content marketing person. It’s simply Maria with her unfiltered thoughts about everything and anything under the sun.
So, please welcome: https://www.mariaunfiltered.com. ✨
Life lately bullets
Apart from calming myself down about my website, here is what I’m currently:
Reading: Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
Watching: Call Me Kat, Young Sheldon, The Good Doctor, Grey’s Anatomy
Thinking of: Creating another collaborative project with J as we finished working on my first book.
Studying: Assess for Success: Marketing Analytics and Measurement, Content Strategy for Professionals: Engaging Audiences, Six Sigma Principles
Playing: Genshin Impact — I’m taking a break from playing other games.
Anyway, my book if finally out for sale on Kindle, paperback, and hardbound copies.
I hope everyone’s doing okay this Taurus season. 🧿
Remember to hydrate and rest too. 💖