Admitted to INSEAD!

Woot! I made it!!

Two days ago, I got a call from my Admissions Officer saying that I was admitted for the MBA Class of '22D in Fontainebleau! I couldn't contain my excitement-- I started planning right away! I now have an insead.edu e-mail address and because of this, I can access the INSEAD student portal. And I just recently found out that there are tons of things to do prior to the start of the program. Aside from the preparations needed for moving to a different country, there are also readings, coaching sessions, and webinars. Plus, I have to learn a new language in 7 months!

So far, these are the things that need to be done in the next couple of months:

- Pay the first instalment of tuition

- Take language classes

- Request UP's Office of the Registrar to send my official Transcript of Records to INSEAD

- Find an accommodation so that I can book early! Leaning towards Marcel Lods

- Finish readings

Completed Harvard's Principles of Biochemistry Course

 

I wanted to be productive during the quarantine so I took this Biochemistry class on EdX by Harvard. Clearly, I didn't know what I was signing up for! I spent 4-6 hours a week, watched over 90 video lectures ranging from 8 to 20 minutes each, and took multiple session and unit assessments. It was definitely much work! I go to the office Mondays to Saturdays so I don't have a lot of free time, but I'm glad that I finished it! It feels so fulfilling knowing that I worked hard for it.

My Daily Schedule - Quarantine Life

 

A friend of my boyfriend read the book The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma and started applying the learnings from the book to his daily life. He was very happy and satisfied with the results and said that it had a profound impact on his wellbeing. I haven't read the book (but I will, once I finish the books I'm currently reading), but basically, the book suggests the following: waking up early for some peaceful quality "me" time before starting your day; following the 20/20/20 rule, which states that you should spend at least twenty minutes each for exercise, reflection and meditation, and learning; and obtaining balance between one's four interior empires - mindset, healthset, heartset, and soulset.

With this in mind, I came up with a daily schedule that I hope I can maintain.

5:30 am - Wake up

5:45 am - Read the Bible and pray (App: Bible)

6:00 am - Exercise (App: Downdog/Freeletics)

6:45 am - Meditate (App: Calm)

7:00 am - Read (Monocle)

7:30 am - Get ready for work

8:30 am - Work

5:00 pm - Go home and take a snack

5:30 pm - Play the piano

7:00 pm - Watch shows/Leisure

8:00 pm - Dinner

9:00 pm - Read/Relax (Nighttime read: Sapiens)

9:30 pm - Sleep

Life Updates

Photo taken at the Sydney Opera House, March 2019

Well, 2020, it has been one hell of a ride. We're not even halfway through the year but so many things have happened to the world, and mostly bad. 

The biggest threat the world is facing this year is controlling the spread of the COVID-19. Countries closed down establishments, disallowed non-essential work and activities, and halted all kinds of travel. This is the first time I experienced this, and it's scary. What's worse is we don't know when it's all going to stop. The next several months seem bleak and uncertain. 

The government implemented an enhanced community quarantine in our area, which means, only those working at companies involved in provision of healthcare, and utilities, and the manufacture, delivery, and sale of food items can go out of the house to work. Aside from that, only one person for each household is allowed to go out to buy the family's necessities. 

My family business is distribution of food items to supermarkets, groceries, and retailers, so we still go to work, but we operate on shortened hours and only with a skeletal workforce. To make the most out of my extra time at home, I made sure I was productive. These were some of the things I worked on during the quarantine. 

Boracay 2020

This is the first time I visited Boracay after the six-month long rehabilitation, and boy, was it amazing! The beach was perfectly clean, no trace of trash anywhere. There's a security personnel stationed every few meters that made me feel absolutely safe to walk at night. And the annoying salespersons who keep pestering you to avail their beach activities? They're gone! They were replaced with licensed ones who are compliant with regulations.

The reason why I came to Boracay in the first place was because Ryan and I was invited to a wedding at The Lind. The wedding was beautiful—nice and intimate, just with close friends and family. We spent four days in Boracay and felt that they weren't enough!  

Spartan Race 2019 Alviera

I joined the Spartan Race twice before-- I did the Sprint (6km) in Alviera and the Super (13km) in RD Hill. Training for the race takes a lot of time, patience and dedication, which can sometimes be hard to juggle with work. I decided to join the Spartan Race one last time, the Beast (22km + 30 obstacles) in Alviera last October. 

For my training, I woke up at five to run in the mornings. And on the days that I didn't run, I went to the gym to lift some weights. It was difficult and tiring, but definitely a lot of fun! 

It was incredibly hot on the day of the race, and there were some areas where there was no shade at all. Towards the end of the race, I barely had enough strength to walk. Finishing the Beast was such an achievement for me because I hate running! Also, on this race, I got to convince my brother to join me. Passes for Sprint were sold out so I signed him up for 21km Trail instead.

I'm very thankful for my gym friends who trained and raced with me, and which made the experience much more enjoyable (our group photo at the bottom of this post)!

Japan 2019: Osaka + Kobe

And here we are on the last leg of my Kyoto-Osaka trip! I'm a bit tired writing at this point lol (this is my fourth post today), so I'm just going to list what we did on the last leg of our trip:

- ate ramen at Ichiran

- went to Osaka Castle and rode the Osaka-jo Gozabune boat

- went up the Umeda Sky Building

- had fluffy french toast at Hoshino Coffee

-had yummy unlimited sushi at this random place in Dotonbori 

- took pictures with the Glico man and shopped at Don Quixote

- ate Kobe beef (AMAZING!!- worth a trip to Kobe)

-had lots and lots of Gyudon

- was treated steak because it was my friend's birthday

Now that I think about it, it seemed like we did nothing but eat, eat, and eat! Haha. Until next time!

Japan 2019: Universal Studios

My favorite part in every vacation—a visit to a theme park! I'm still a kid at heart and I love love love going to theme parks. This is quite funny but my theme park tradition is ordering a turkey leg for snack. Every time I go to theme parks, I always have to have a turkey leg. It makes my visit complete. Lol.

In USJ, I especially loved the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I am a Harry Potter fan and I've read all the books immediately after they were published. This place is truly memorable because it was where I got my very first taste of butterbeer! And to add to that, we were lucky that we went on this trip in October, since Halloween was approaching, the park was horror-themed! There were horror houses, and at nighttime, the park staff dressed up as monsters or zombies and they roamed around the park to try and scare you! HARRY POTTER + BUTTER BEER + HORROR HOUSES + TURKEY LEG = HAPPINESS!!

Japan 2019: Himeji Castle

We headed to Himeji Castle on our second day in Kyoto... which was a wrong decision because we would be passing by Osaka on our way there! We stayed during the first half of our trip in Kyoto and the second half in Osaka. Traveling back and forth is so fast and easy so it would've been better if we stayed in Osaka the entire duration of our trip—we could've avoided the hassle of transporting our luggage! 

Himeji Castle was amazing! From the train station, we rented bikes and biked around the castle complex. It was so cool because we got to enter the castle to see the rooms up close. Would you believe that this castle was built more than six centuries ago?

When we felt we have spent enough time at Himeji Castle, we took the train back to Kyoto for a quick visit at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was already closed! Disappointed at our poor time management, we just went to the mall where we met up with a Japanese friend, and ordered katsu for dinner!

Japan 2019: Kyoto

It has been a looooong time since I last visited Japan—nine years ago, to be exact. Oh but I did go to Okinawa last year as it was a stopover in a cruise, but that doesn't count lol. Anyway, for my annual trip with my high school friends, we decided on Japan!

We visited Kyoto and Osaka, and I was the only one in group who would be visiting these cities for the first time (I visited only Tokyo before)! We went to Fushimi Inari shrine, and joined a walking tour in Kyoto on our first day, where we explored both Gion (where geisha houses are located) and Higashiyama districts. We decided not to finish the tour because some of my friends were tired from all the walking, so instead of making multiple stops had we continued the tour, we headed directly to Kiyomizudera Temple. We didn't enter though because the building was under construction. Sad, it could've looked so beautiful. We ended our tiring first day with an unlimited yakiniku dinner. Yay!

The next day, we headed to the majestic Himeji Castle! But more on that on my next post.

On the third day, we got up early to have a quick look at Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion). It was a remarkable sight! The place looked so peaceful and relaxing, and the entire walk around the property took only around 20 minutes. After that, we were supposed to meet up with the rest of the group at Nishiki Market but we took the wrong bus and got lost on the way! Lol. It took us a long time but we eventually got there. After grabbing some food at the market, we checked out from the hotel and took the train to Osaka.  

Thailand 2019: Bangkok City Center

The rest of my trip to Bangkok was spent on eating Thai food (pad thai and mango sticky rice, yum!), getting massages, and visiting markets (Chatuchak) and shopping malls (Icon Siam). 

One unique thing we did was try Dialogue in the Dark. It's a one-hour experience where you would be navigating and exploring different places in the dark to give you a glimpe of how it would be like to live without the sense of sight. You would also be given a cane and a blind tour guide to accompany you. At first, it was very difficult to move in the dark since I couldn't see at all--even if you open your eyes, you would only see darkness--but after a while, it somehow became easier. The blind lady who accompanied us was very patient, and even with her disability, she was able to navigate pretty well. After this experience, I got a newfound appreciation for my eyes and realized that I'm blessed to be able to see the things around me. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who's open to try new things!

That's it for my Bangkok trip! Will be posting my Japan trip next!

Thailand 2019: Suhring

This is definitely one of the best best best meals ever! Suhring is a two-star Michelin restaurant and belongs to the World's Top 50 Restaurants in 2019. We had a wonderful nine-course meal, which took us almost three hours to finish! Each of the dishes were very innovative and perfectly crafted. Every bite was like an explosion of flavors⁠—I loved every bit of the experience! The restaurant is a beautiful glass house surrounded by lush greeneries, which made the meal even more enjoyable.  

Before we had lunch, we joined a yoga class at Trika Yog. The class focused more on deep stretches rather than traditional yoga poses, which I don't see very often, but the instructor was great and guided each student in the class well.

Thailand 2019: Ayutthaya

Since my first visit to Bangkok last 2018, I have been wanting to visit Ayutthaya because of its historical significance. I booked a day tour and visited Wat Phutthaisawan, Luang Pu Thuat Market (where we had lunch), Wat Ratchaburana, Wat Mahathat, and Wat Phra Ngarm. Most of these sites have Buddha structures, with the one on the tree at Wat Ratchaburana the most popular. We spent an entire day in Ayutthaya, and when we got back in Bangkok, we had a relaxing massage! 

Thailand 2019: Cooking Class

This is the third time I signed up for a cooking class during my travels. The first one was in Ho Chi Minh, the second one was in Bali, and the third one's here in Bangkok! I noticed that I'm slowly enjoying preparing food in the kitchen! 

On my first day in Bangkok, I booked a class at Silom Thai Cooking School. The preparation area was very nice and clean, and the chef very friendly and approachable. I found the class a bit fast paced though—while I was still slicing and chopping the ingredients, the chef was already explaining the next steps! It was perfectly okay though as I was able to catch up easily. The class had to be fast paced because we had to prepare five dishes under three hours! Not an easy feat for a beginner like me! When the session was over, I felt so proud of myself to have prepared these yummy dishes! The dishes I made were: Tom Yum Soup, Pad Thai, Green Curry Chicken, Red Curry Chicken, and Dessert Rubies in Coconut Milk.

Spartan Race 2019 RD Hill

A day after my birthday, I flew to Cebu for the Spartan Race. Last year, I entered the Sprint Category in Alviera, Pampanga, where I ran 6km and completed 23 obstacles. This time, I went one level higher and joined the Super Category covering 13km in distance and more obstacles. Although I allotted more time to train for this race (around three weeks) compared to last year where I practically had zero training, I was able to complete more obstacles last year. The terrain in RD Hill in Cebu was very muddy, and every step was a challenge. We had to cross lakes, and rivers, and sometimes had to walk on waist deep mud where your entire legs get stuck with every step. The obstacles were also much more difficult. Because of the mud, the bars, the ropes, and the weights were all very slippery and hard to grip. 

Despite all these, I still had so much fun! The unexpected terrain made the victory much more satisfying. There's another race coming this October and I want to push my limits even further and join the Beast Category. It's a 21km race with 30 obstacles. I also want to complete the Trifecta this year, but the only way to make this possible is if I join the Sprint a day after I complete the Beast. I haven't made up my mind yet, but this is certainly a possibility. I guess we'll just see how it goes!

Bucket List

Traveling has always been one of my greatest passions. I enjoy discovering new places, and immersing myself in different cultures. And the more I travel, the more I want to see the rest of the world. 

Experiences matter a lot to me, which is why I'm more willing to spend my money on funding my trips, than on material things. This is also the reason I decided to keep this blog. I suck at writing but I wanted to remember everything about my travels as much as I can. I've been to quite a lot of places but my feet are still itching to explore what else the world has to offer. Here, I listed the top things I want to do and I hope I get to do all of them in my lifetime!

27th

I usually don't give a big fuss about my birthday. Every year, there are no parties, no celebrations, nothing-- just a simple dinner with the family. I treat it just like any other day. I mean, what's so special about it anyway? Everybody gives you extra attention, which does nothing except make me feel awkward.  

This year, however, was different. 

I realized that my birthday is an opportunity to celebrate the blessings I received through the years. It's a brilliant excuse to gather all the people I love in one place and to enjoy each other's company. Although my parents were away on a trip, and it was just me and my brother at home, I still felt complete and very much loved. On the eve of my birthday, I celebrated with my close friends at Tacoway, and the following day, there was a simple celebration in the office. There were a lot of surprises that I didn't expect, especially from people who took the extra mile to make me feel special. I've never felt more loved. Of course, the day didn't end without me thanking the Lord for everything He has given me, as I do everyday. 

See? Celebrating my birthday isn't so bad after all. In fact, it was awesome! Next year, please come sooner!

La Union 2019: Day 2

We woke up bright and early the next day, excited for brunch at Choka (this was mostly just me, lol). We had a wonderful view of the sea while enjoying the dishes we ordered, which was my primary consideration when I chose this place. And have I mentioned that it was insanely hot in La Union? We couldn't bear the heat that we desperately looked for a place with air conditioning. There was only one place we could think of-- Coffee Project. When we arrived, the place was full! We had to wait for around 30 minutes before we got to be seated. Unfortunately for us, it was still scorching hot even with the air conditioning on!

The entire afternoon, we just lounged in our hotel and swam a little. And for dinner, we had ribs at Mommy Lu's-- the best ribs I've tried in my life! The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and the sauce was amazing. Really, our experience would've been awesome if not for the smell of a dead rat that lingered during our meal. Lol. Still, the ribs at Mommy Lu's are the best! We then had a few cocktails at Surf Shack before calling it a night. Note to self: order a pitcher of Pink Eye next time!    

On our last day, we decided to stop by Baguio on our way back to Manila. We had a nice, sumptuous lunch at Hill Station, and ordered some hot chocolate at Chocolate de Batirol so we have something to drink during the long drive back. When we checked Waze, we were surprised to see that it would take us over 6 hours to get to Manila when it was supposed to be only 3 hours! Apparently, Kennon road was closed so we had to drive all the way back to La Union and take an alternative route to get to Manila. Lol. The trip was short but sweet. And I'm glad to spend time with these people who I've known for more than two decades.

I'm traveling to Japan with the same group of friends this September, so stay tuned!

La Union 2019: Day 1

Summer was the perfect time to go on a beach holiday, and I went with none other than my high school friends! Compared to our other trips, this one was not planned in advance. In fact, we only decided that we were going to La Union less than a month before we leave. Lol. On the day itself, I took a 12-hour land trip from my hometown (Legazpi) to Manila, and spent another 5 hours from Manila to La Union. Whew! 

We were starving when we arrived in La Union so we stopped by Grumpy Joe's for lunch. We didn't know that their serving size was enormous so we ended up ordering too much. Lol. For dessert, we drove to Halo-halo de Iloko for some (yes, you guessed it!) halo-halo. The queue outside the restaurant was very long so we just decided to have the halo-halo to go, and ended up eating them in the car. We were tired from the long drive, so we checked in at our hotel and rested a bit. Just before sunset, we went to the beach at San Juan for some surfing. Unfortunately, the waves were too small-- we decided it wasn't worth it. We walked around the beach to pass the time, and had an early dinner at Baybay Seafood. Our seafood boodle dinner was amazing, and very affordable! I'm not a fan of boodle fights, but this one was one-of-a-kind. The seafood was so fresh and the sauce tasted great. Naturally, I ate a ton! We ended the night early but still managed to squeeze in a bonding session in our room before going to bed.

Australia 2019: Bondi Beach & Sydney CBD

And we've finally come to the last day of our Australian vacation. We woke up early in the morning to go to the world famous Bondi Beach. Three trains, and one bus ride after, my sister and I found ourselves at the southern end of Bondi Beach. We enjoyed the light breeze and listened to the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks. What a wonderful way to spend our morning! We then realized that we hadn't eaten breakfast, so we hurriedly looked for a nice cafe. The Pokecado at Preach Cafe was amazing-- clearly the best dish I had in Australia! It had cured salmon, edamame, smashed avocado, rocket, cucumber, mango, and black sesame seeds with soy sauce on sourdough. The combination of the flavors, and the presentation was just marvelous!

We absolutely adored the walking tour in Melbourne, so at 2pm, we joined another walking tour in Sydney. And after that, we joined an evening tour of The Rocks. For dinner, we had ramen from Gumshara in Chinatown. There were a lot of walking so I wasn't surprised that we were all so tired! I checked the health app on my phone and it said we walked 14 kilometers that day! Whew!

During our time in Australia, our tour guides would say that Sydney and Melbourne have this long-standing rivalry. Personally, though Sydney has more iconic sites, I prefer the city of Melbourne. I think Melbourne has a lot in common with San Francisco. Both have hilly terrain, and have trams as public transportation. They also have the same young, hipster vibe. I feel very lucky that we got to visit a lot of different sights with the limited time we had. In Melbourne, I think we only skipped Great Ocean Road, and in Sydney, Manly Beach. The next time I'm in Australia though, I plan to go the Outback! Until then!