Hi kids!

Welcome to Mom's April blog diary.

Writing this while listening to "Love is Embarrassing" by Olivia - because it really is. Indeed, love is a beautiful thing, but it can also be embarrassing af esp when it's given to the wrong ones! Lol 

Listen to your mom; if that boy/girl isn't reaching out, LEAVE. I didn't raise yall to be such losers.

so anyway haha

here's how April went

Yoyo and I kicked off the month with a much-needed night walk around BGC. We tried the Moovr scooters, and they were SO fun!!

After zooming around, we had dinner at Pound x Flatterie, then grabbed some drinks from KK to wrap up the night. Honestly? Pretty productive evening if you ask me 😌

The next morning, I checked out a new running spot: Track 30th in BGC.

They had sakura trees in bloom!! 😭🌸 The closest I’ve gotten to the real thing so far, so of course I took photos. It was a good solo run, and I met up with my bestie Gail after for brunch at Bake House Manila in Shang. 

We finally reunited with your Tita Yssa — fresh from Japan!! 🇯🇵✨ She’s officially staying for good (yaaay 🎉). We got to visit her new place and catch up after a whole year apart. The trio is back, baby!

That same weekend, Tita Sadae, Tito Muy, and Tito Xander joined me for a morning run at Ayala Triangle. I swear, I’m so happy we’re doing this fitness thing together. I got my friends to RUN!

The next day: I woke up bright and early for my second fun run! This one was the Rexona 10 Miler - Manila leg. Aaaah!!! I’ll save all the details for a separate blog. 

(Yes, babe, I’m going full force with this whole runner era — feeling legit na HAHAHA)

Also during Week 2, I met up with my work friends Mark and Chi.

Started with a lil work talk... and ended with a full-on oversharing session lmao 

Dinner at TGIF, desserts at Pancake House.

Capped the week off with another night run with Yoyo 

Also went on a date... Because why not? Hehe  

I can't be calling yall my kids if we don't find a dad lol

Ran with Muy one night and unlocked a new running route: Circuit Makati!

AND I hit a new PR for 5k!!! 🥹🎉

Next morning, ran at Ayala Triangle again — this time with Sadae’s sister Sai and the cutest pom ever, Zippo. 

We rewarded ourselves with a delish breakfast at Spotted Pig

Sunday came and of course, it was time for Ayala Car-Free Sundays!

We ran again and OMG — this has to be the healthiest trend ever.

Like, I don’t care if people are just doing it for clout... if it gets you moving, I’m all for it. Period.

Had post-run breakfast at Tattooed Baker 

On the same day, afternoon - I went out to meet some friends! We opted to have ramen at 

Hakata Ton-ichi, then had some tea and cakes at the Secret Recipe

Wrapped the month up with another brunch date with Yssa — this time at Wild Flour (yaaas).

I still couldn’t believe she’s really here in the flesh!! 😭 We also grabbed some drinks from Harlan & Holden — classy girls only 

some photos from the camera roll

- lowkey crying coz I worked out for 2 hrs to burn only 200 kcal. u gotta be kidding me

- cinnamon roll coz this girl was craving so my friend got me some!

- dinner at Honolulu Cafe (generous serving!)

- one random inuman sesh. Hello Tequila, we meet again

- last 2 were from love packages from my bestie, Gail, sent on 2 different occasions - she's the sweetest!

Here's a post-run selfie after completing a 10k run!!! Couldn't be happier.

Also, did another one the next week. 

April was all about movement. Even I'm surprised at how active I was this month. 

Thank you, self, for pushing our limits and striving to be better physically. ♥

Onto our Netflix Department

I only watched one docu this month since I was too busy in my running era - "The Menendez Brothers". I got hooked on the series that they made about it, so I watched another documentary. Needless to say, I was left speechless - just like the first time. 

ending this blog with some true-to-life statement shirt- it's been hard for your momma kids. I hope your dad is rich lolol

I never imagined the day when I would sign up and pay to tire myself out would come, but here we are. 

Hi kids!

Join your mom on her first fun run.

To say I'm excited was such an understatement! I was literally in the clouds. 

TATAKBO BA TALAGA AKO??

BAKET??

ANONG NAKAIN KO??

AM I REALLY THIS BORED WITH MY LIFE??

AM I RIGHT IN THE HEAD??

just some of the thoughts I had

Naturally, as a beginner, I signed up for a 3k run coz I'm still a baby (yeah a 30-year-old one!)

I have been practicing and training whenever I get the chance to squeeze it in. 

Would I say I'm confident? HELL NO.

I'm FAR FAR FAR from being fast heck, I'm pretty sure my form is wrong on so many levels but idc lol

So came morning of the run, I woke up and ate a good breakfast. Yoyo was joining me this time (which is also her first fun run so we were both excited af)

I'm also testing out my new shoes that I got the day before - in all honesty, that's not very ideal, but God forbid a girl is indecisive, haha come what may!

Gun start is at 4:45 and we left the house at 4am. Thank God di kami nalate!

we brought our bags to the counter then headed straight to the starting line. 

There were so many people! nakakatuwa na nakaka kaba!

The countdown ended, and I heard the gun sound. Everyone started running. I was too busy starting my Strava while jogging lol! It was a couple of seconds late - rookie mistake! 

But Yoyo and I proceeded to run after. 

My mind was all over the place during the run. I kept going back and forth, and a part of me wanted to push harder, and the other part just wanted to stop and catch my breath. But every time I felt like giving up, I’d look around and see everyone else still running… and somehow, that gave me the push I needed to keep going.

I was highkey tired lol

Without knowing it, I hit the finish line! It took us 33 minutes; I'm proud! :) because I never expected this result. 

Took pictures because people have to know I'm running now like, "Healthy lifestyle is my 2025 vibe."

#athletic

hello, my first medal! ♥

Yoyo and I gathered our stuff; we also got our string bag, enjoyed the free stuff like ice cream and taho.

We stayed until the awarding ceremony ended and OMG I was shooketh at how fast the top placers finished! Like legit ang bibilis nila!! They weren’t playing around with their runs 😭 Meanwhile, there we were, hingal kabayo just trying to survive the 3K

 We also got photographed!!

I honestly enjoyed the whole experience so much. Out of everything I’ve done lately, this has to be the most overwhelming (in a good way) and kinda addicting too. Running was never on my 2025 vision board. I mean, I’ve been walking since last year and loved it, but there’s just something different about running. Like, every time I feel my heart racing and I’m out of breath, weirdly, it makes me feel alive. And I love that feeling. 

Overall, my first run wasn’t bad at all, I actually had fun! So much that I started looking up upcoming fun runs the moment I got home.

Scratch that — I actually signed up as soon as I got home 😂 This time, I’m running 5K… and I’m doing it solo! 

More on that on my next blog!

Thanks for reading, everyone! 

Hi kids, silent readers, and countrymen!

Come with me to La Union! I was ecstatic to be back simply because this was also my first out-of-town trip after my father's passing last year. 

We went on our way, Friday morning. Had a quick stopover to get our caffeine fills. 

We booked our house thru Airbnb, which gives us private access to the beach since they're located in the residential area. It's a 3 minute walk away from the house. 

The first day was spent resting since most of us had to work at night. 

Look at us!!!! Grateful for things like this - being able to work remotely while enjoying life a little more.

we started drinking and played card games. 

It was fucking hilarious coz the games were R-18 but my friends were down to do it!!  

here's me doing a dare to post this photo on my story

everyone was enjoying the game while I finished some work. When I clocked out in the morning, I took a nap coz we had a busy day ahead. 

Unfortunately, by this time, there was a power shutdown. Not only was it hot, but there was also no water supply. The caretaker was kind enough to help us fetch water so we could all go and take a bath in turns. 

Firs thing on our agenda was Kabsat. It was 2 in the afternoon when we got there and there was a pile of people in line. Waited for at least a good 20 minutes until we were ushered to our table. 

cocktail kicking in...

I had my first cocktail for the day! such a sucker for the happy hour lol

to be honest, the food was nothing above average. maybe I just expected it to be better, given the reviews I have read online.

When we're done eating, we walked by the shore to to chill a little before going back to the house.

Tonight's plan was to visit the famous Flotsam Jetsam.

We got there just in time before it got crowded; we were even lucky to score the table in front of the DJ's booth. 

So, before settling at our table, we ordered the first round. I was so ecstatic just looking at their extensive cocktail variety! It was even hard to choose. 

This is what I got, and we also had some pika pika food. 

it was starting to get late and there were more people inside the bar, it was getting crowded. If there's one thing I hated about the whole thing - it was the type of music they were playing. I mean the selection wasn't so great. I expected more coz the DJ was so hyped in his booth but honestly I think it was only him who knew all the songs he was playing. The crowd was dead silent either lol 

I think they didn't mind it, though since everybody was busy with their own conversation, but I did mind it. It threw me off a little and honestly just made me feel sleepy. It could also be because of my lack of sleep and the 3 cocktails I chugged down but really, the choice of music - those were not my cup of tea. 

(sleepy tita)

Believe it or not I was even begging my friends to go home at 9pm haha. It turned out it wasn't just me who wasn't liking the vibe, so we all just went home and called it a night. We all swore to try a different bar the next time we go back. It was my first time trying Flotsam, and I believe it was overhyped since a lot of celebrities go there.

The next morning, we had some breakfast and it was like a fucking buffet in a hotel lol (no pics coz we finished everything swiftly!!)

and I also got a late birthday present hehe ty!

We reserved our last day for swimming, so that's the plan. 

The good thing about being in a residential area was that there were barely any people on the beach. It was like we rented the whole place! We set up our mats, put on some loud music, and off for a swim we went.

We took a lot of pictures, danced, ate some snacks, we even bought ice cream!

the waves weren't so strong as well. It was enough to sweep us back to the shore and thankfully, we were all safe. Last time I was at the beach was in Boracay pa so despite me being scared of any bodies of water, I enjoyed it. 

When everyone got their vitamin-sea we all decided to head back and prepared to go home.

We dropped by this restaurant called Nuq Dining & Villas that I saw that same morning, since it was a few blocks away from the Airbnb we rented out. It was screaming - ZEN.

We also got Mr. Cat here guiding the menu in the entrance. 

Took some pictures while waiting for our food. 

I enjoyed their food - it was a solid 10. It was also affordable. 

It was approximately a 7 hr drive back to Manila coz of all the traffic grabe! I was soo damn tired when I got home!

I’d totally recommend the Airbnb we stayed at because of the beach access — major plus! But just a heads up, it’s a bit far from the city proper. So if you’re the type who has a packed itinerary and wants to explore more than just the beach, you might want to stay closer to Urbiztondo. That said, I really enjoyed our place! It was super peaceful and quiet — perfect if you’re after some rest and privacy.

that's a long ass blog

bye kids!