I hope you realize your own beauty

There’s nothing wrong about getting enhancements if it makes you happy.

At some point in my life I wanted to get a rhinoplasty mainly because I was tired of not just other people but my own friends and family bullying me with my big nose. It was my greatest insecurity until I realized that I am beautiful despite having a big nose but it took me two decades to accept everything I was born with.

Accepting everything you have is not easy especially when your brain was wired by your environment that you fully trust since day 1.

You are fortunate if you have an affirmative surrounding telling you that you are enough and nothing is wrong with you however this is not always the case.

I thought I was the ugliest and felt like life was not fair. But, the universe allowed me to see the world in a broader perspective and that changed how I see myself now.

Life brought me to a place with a very diverse culture. People across the globe who lived their lives way different than me and found how each of us are uniquely beautiful. These people never pointed out that my nose was big but made me feel that I am enough and beautiful. And for that I will forever be grateful.

The people I have been meeting made me feel secure and accepted. I am thankful I didn’t end up changing anything in my body.

But again, it’s ok to have physical enhancement but I think what’s more important to improve is our personality, character, values and knowledge. Stay true to yourself, kind and loving to yourself and other people. Crave to know more. Think before you speak. Try to see different angles of where things are coming.

And I hope when you find out how beautiful you are, you can also be a medium for others to see their own beauty.

That was me 10 years ago and the way I see myself now has changed a lot! I know now that I am beautiful even with my big nose. 😉

Do I need a CFO if I have a J1 visa? (Philippines to USA)

YES! YES! YES!

YES, you need to have a CFO!

A CFO sticker from them!

If you answer yes to the questions below, then YOU MUST have that CFO sticker/paper with you:

Do you have a J1 visa?

Is it your first time to go to the US with a J1 visa?

Again, if your answer is yes to those two questions, then regardless of your category YOU MUST APPLY at the CFO office to get one.

I am a government employee and returning after 5 months from an exchange program, do I need a CFO?

YES! YES! YES! Regardless if you are working in the government or private office in the Philippines or even if you are unemployed, you will need a CFO before your departure.

In some cases it takes a week or two to get an appointment with CFO or for your sticker/paper from CFO to arrive to you, so make sure to plan ahead of time on getting yours.

And, if you are so close to the date of your departure before realizing that you needed one, go straight away to the CFO office in Quezon City because calling them is a bit of a challenge but getting one from their office will usually take less than a day if you have complete documents. They are only open Mondays thru Thursdays, 7am-5pm.

The CFO has an assistance desk at NAIA Terminal 1 that is open from 5am until midnight Mon-Fri except regular holidays, but you will have to call them 2-3 business days before your flight.

My kaBOBAhan mistake: How to cook white tapioca (BOT BANG) pearls?

I grew up buying cooked boba or tapioca pearls in the market so this was my first time cooking it and I thought I was smart enough since I cooked brown tapioca pearls before perfectly!

Wait, let me defend myself a bit. There was no instruction on the packaging! But my inner self was screaming — you should have searched it! Internet is free!

Boba is a Tagalog term for stupid girls which I brought to life when I did not cook the white tapioca pearls correctly. LOL.

Here’s the thing. The white vs the brown tapioca shares similar and different things when cooking them. Similar in terms of putting them in boiling water but different on the duration that you will have to simmer them.

Below was the disaster I made which was dissolved white tapioca pearls:

Please DO NOT put yet the tapioca pearls unless the water is BOILING!!!

LET THE WATER BOIL FIRST!!!

Then, put your pearly white raw tapioca.

Reduce the heat and let it slowly boil for 30 minutes.

Unlike the brown boba, with white tapioca pearls you should let the pearls sit in the water until it cools.

You should see mostly translucent pearls and few opaque like the photo below. If you see a lot of opaque, you need to BOIL the WATER again and cook the half cooked pearls for 10-15 minutes and let it sit in the water until it cools for 10-15 minutes.

After this time, you should see that most of the pearls are translucent.

Wash them to remove extra slimey coating of the pearls.

Then you can cook them in sugar syrup if you want them sweet!

Beginners’ snowboarding guide: lens from a tropical grown first-timer gal

Ok. I grew up from the Philippines. the 3 decades of my life was spent in a country that never gets snow and has two season – rainy and sunny. Seeing a snowfall is a goal for people who grew up in places that never gets snow – you can ask them. LOL.

And, doing snowboarding is more than I could ask for. It was already a full circle moment for me who’s from a place that does not snow and never thought that she could ever ride a plane.

Anyway, I did my first snowboarding and let me tell you some of the things I learned that could guide you on your upcoming trip.

It is not cheap but can be manageable

If you are like me who wants to enjoy life but does not have all the resources in the world, then I am telling you snowboarding is not cheap especially if you will do it in Colorado, US. But, do not let it stop you from going. With timely hotel reservation, finding a cheap gear rental place and free place to snowboard then your $450 will be enough to go on a 3-days-2-nights snowboarding (excluding the travel cost) below is the cost breakdown:

Hotel (100 per night) = 200

Snowboard complete gear for 3 days = 150

Food = 50-100 (will be enough if you will bring most of it)

Lift = free in school zones but if you want to try the gondola and the mountain snowboarding, prepare extra 230 per day

It is not easy on your first try but do not give up

If this is your first time, prepare that you will get your body sore as you hit the ground several times. You may get frustrated but do not give up. It will be fun eventually. As in any cases, learning a new thing may seem impossible at first but then you will realize that you made it!

Be prepared – body, mind and soul

Plan ahead. It may look sunny in the morning but will be cold and windy, do not be complacent and bring your stuff. It may be too windy so the lifts may be closed so you will have to stay in your hotel. Also, bring water bag suitable for snowboarding because you will sweat a lot and you will need to drink water or water with salts like gatorade this will help you out quenching your thirst and on managing altitude sickness.

I woke up in the dark and couldn’t find the light

Have you ever been very energetic and passionate towards different wonderful goals?

And then woke up one day not finding any?

The list of 10 things you wanted to do were all gone.

The heart was empty of desires.

The mind was wandering aimlessly.

Yesterday you were filled with dreams and aspirations.

Today was very different.

You got up.

And that was it.

No known desires.

No spark.

Nothing.

Light couldn’t be found.

You took a vacation to find any.

But it seems that you are drained.

And you are filled with darkness.

You are lost for words and thoughts.

You still have to get up.

Work on characterizing the uncharacterized dreams.

Because the world will not wait for you to find your light.

You have to create it again.

To fight the darkness or else your inner monsters will eat you alive.

And the saddest part is you will be eaten alone by your own thoughts.

Fight and do not lose yourself in the darkest place you created.

Stop chasing your butterfly. Let it freely land on you.

Miley Cyrus is something. She exudes an aura of an empowered woman. An empowered woman who is capable of loving hard and giving all she has.

I like her as an artist and as a person she shows the world.

But this post is not about her. It is about her speech after receiving her first Grammy.

The story of the boy that keeps chasing a butterfly and decided to let the butterfly go and eventually the butterfly just one day landed on the boy’s nose, and Miley finished her speech on a note that the butterfly was her first award from Grammy.

Aren’t we all in dire need to catch our butterflies as soon as we can?

We often use all the means we have to get what we want that we often forget the real reason and intention of wanting something. We badly want to get it because we feel like we are wasting time and at the end we lose sight of our purpose, get hurt and become tired.

Think again. WHY? Why did the boy want the butterfly? Why Miley Cyrus wanted a Grammy? I am neither of them and couldn’t answer their whys. I can only speculate that maybe because the butterfly was pretty that the boy does not want to lose it and maybe having an award is an affirmation for Miley that she is a good artist.

Digging deeper of the boy’s and Miley’s speculated reasons, what they have in common is the inner happiness they feel when they are doing what they are doing. The boy enjoys the beauty and grace of the butterfly while Miley enjoys her songs. And we often forget this especially when we lock our eyes on our target which results to not seeing the beauty of the surroundings anymore.

It is the joy of the present moment.

We have to enjoy making the cake until we get to the part of putting the cherry on top of it. Allow yourself to lose in the rhythm of the process. Savor each moment of doing what you like. Explore, learn, and grow, and let everything your heart desires unveils itself.

Do not get caught by something that is out of your control. Enjoy the present moment. Give your best and let the world surprise you by unboxing something that you worked hard for.

Stop chasing your butterfly. Let it freely land on you.

Rejection is redirection. Keep working on your dreams.

Were you rejected today?

Or yesterday?

And even more than a day!

Rejection is painful.

It is sometimes a monster that slowly eats our heart.

But often a teacher that molds you to become ready of the world.

Either way, not getting what we badly prayed for will never be easy to accept.

Although it is easy to lose hope and give up.

Please do not.

Maybe it is not yet your time.

Maybe it will better than what you planned.

Maybe you just need to be patient, keep working and wait.

Waiting is not fun especially if you are waiting for something uncertain.

No one likes waiting and uncertainty.

But you will not like the constant thinking of what ifs.

What if tomorrow I get that dream job after applying again?

What if it only needed a week for the universe to conspire for you?

What if it works out?

Guess what?

You will not know if where that rejection will redirect you.

You will not know if you will stop working on your dreams.

You will not know if you give up today.

Rest is ok. Rest is productive. Rest.

The hustle culture demands lots of our time and energy.

It’s a thief of our feeling to have a break.

Take a minute to breathe and think about rest again.

Do I deserve it?

Did I work very well?

Yes?

Then, do not hesitate.

Take that break fully and intentionally.

Rest is good for the body, mind and soul.

It allows you to calm down.

It relaxes you.

It gives you a brand new energy to work again.

It avoids burn out.

Burn out is a silent poison of dreams, vision and passion.

A poison hard to get the antidote.

A poison that lingers for years.

A poison incurable at times.

A poison we can all avoid by taking that pill we call mindful rest.

Rest will be your antidote, pain-reliever, and cure.

Today, if you are tired, choose rest without guilt.

Rest is ok.

Rest is productive.

Rest.

Thoughts about the ‘Magtanim ay ‘di biro’ documentary

The recent documentary Magtanim ay ‘di biro by Kara David was about the sad reality for our farmers.

Farmers who stay under the sun for hours and doing physical work to give food to our country.

It was hard and painful to watch that to those who went through that struggle and still in that struggle and to me who tries to show how wonderful it is to become a farmer or at least get involved in agriculture. It makes you feel hopeless for the farming sector of our country or even the country as a whole.

In every part of the world, we have agriculture to sustain the quantity and quality of food the people need. Farmers in different places have their own struggles in growing crops alone and in the Philippines, the bad road and supply chain adds up to what they already had to deal with during the growing season.

Imagine a farmer without crop insurance and uncertain market for their produce will risk a whopping P40000 ($900) to earn at the end of the season of P6000 ($120) or worst nothing! In any business, it will drag you to bankruptcy and debt. The young generation will not want to become a farmer to experience what their farmer parents did.

A heartbreaking reality that we can all help in our own little ways by trying to find them a direct market to eliminate the cost for middlemen or if you are close to that farm, find another way to sell them like using our social media platforms.

I guess we cannot solely rely to our leaders anymore in helping our farmers. If you know an avenue to empower our farmers, let us do it!

Day 1 of 7: Habit stacking

When I first found this concept I didn’t believe it. I was like: NO! I’m not that weak shit! I have all the motivation and need to change for the better. I will do all the habits that I’ve always imagined and I will be consistent for a month and magically have the best routine!

Voila! It did not happen! I was not able incorporate the 10 things I listed to be part of my daily routine especially the two sessions of 4-hour deep focus for work. However, I wanted to give credits to myself for several habits I consistently have done until up to this point although I missed a day or two, I tried my best to go back again to those habits not more than 3 days.

Here are some of the easy habits I successfully incorporated in my list that my brain becomes bothered when I don’t do it. They are simple but with good intentions.

  1. I wanted to learn a new language: 10-15 minutes of Duolingo which I am on my 250 day streak and 30 days straight of not missing a day to learn.
  2. I wanted to regularly have 7-8 hrs of sleep and correct my sleeping pattern: getting up at 6:30am and sleeping at 11pm.
  3. I wanted to have a hydrated body especially in the morning: I take a glass of warm water every morning.

And, the other 7? I failed and realized the importance of habit stacking. One good habit at a time until you master the 10 in your list.