twentysumthing

photo by Thessa Sandoval I'm a certified tea lover. Truth is, I used to ignore tea. I have an overly sensitive tummy and when I was younger, my  lola  (grandma) often told me that drinking tea would do my tummy some good, but I didn't take her advice. I started loving it when I moved to Canada. Since it's freezing cold there, especially during winter, a hot drink in your hand is a staple. I don't drink coffee and I can't have hot chocolate all the time (because, as I've said, my tummy's ultra sensitive and having hot choco all day will set it off like a ticking bomb), so my last option is to have tea... and that's how I fell in love with it. It's true, love can be learned.  Hihi .  I love it so much now that I would visit the Vintage Tea Room on  Locke St. in Hamilton  with my friend Ayeza and pay for tea reading afterwards!  "Tea Freak" image source: downthatlittlelane.com.au my friend Ayeza and I share the ...

My friend Ayeza posted this video of a TED talk about living our twenties on my FB wall the other day. I think it's an interesting topic. And since I write about my experiences as a twenty-something, I thought it would be a good idea to share it to other twenty-somethings out there. You know, just to give you the inspiration to kickstart the new month. Here it is: I can't say that I agree to every single thing she said since the way of life is different in different parts of the world, but here are some points she raised that I really think are true and applicable to all of us who are in our twenties: Your 20s is not a developmental downtime, but a developmental sweet spot you shouldn't blow. It's the critical time of adult development. No one goes to adulthood without going through their 20s. Climbing your 20s is one of the simplest yet most transformative things you can do for work, for love, for your happiness, maybe even for the world. The brain rewires it...

Sorry if I haven't been posting anything lately. Actually, I should have left for Canada this month, but I'm still in the middle of a quarter life crisis that's why I decided to still stay in the Philippines (so melodramatic, I know). Of course, being the proactive person I am, I can't just sit around and keep on thinking about what I want for my future every day . I have to keep moving while finding the answers I need. After four months of vacationing in the Philippines, I decided to get myself a job. When I think about it, I could probably survive a whole year in the Philippines without working since the cost of living here is not very high (well, at least, not as high as compared to Canada). It's just that, I don't like the idea of using up all of my savings  (the idea is just to dip into it) , my hard-earned money, my sweat and blood, and be unproductive at the same time. Just not that kind of person. I celebrated my first month in my new job earlier ...

So I'm doing something new for my blog. It's called Random Fun Caught On Cam or simply RFCOC. I guess t he name explains itself. We plotted this prank during a 5-hour break, in between two classes (look at what boredom could do sometimes). It took us a few attempts to finally get one of our friends, who we'll keep by the name Amanda Secord, to answer our call.  Perseverance pays. Haha! Shout out to my friends Kevan and Zeke (the best people to connive with), who thought about this! Brilliant.   Thank you to Arnold Schwarzenegger as well. Make sure to follow my blog to see more of it in the future! :)

One of my favourite books in the world is Francois Lelord's Hector and the Search for Happiness . Does it ring a bell? To those who haven't read it yet, think the Alchemist and The Little Prince combined. The story plot's very simple, as well as the style of writing, but it's written with great wisdom. This entry is not a book review, but just to introduce what I really want to say... In the story, Hector goes on a journey to search for happiness and came up with 23 lessons about what make people happy. I believe that almost all of his observations about happiness are true, although I haven't proven them all. One lesson I've proven (once again) just recently, though, is Lesson #19:  "The sun and the sea make everybody happy ." I know you'll all agree. If you don't, then take a look at these: Sun... photo courtesy of John Taluban Sea...  Happy! having fun in the sun with my friends Still not convince...

Photo by Thessa Sandoval We Catholics are always encouraged to practice abstinence and penance during the Lenten season. That's why I always try my best to abstain from a bad habit every Lent and to learn from it too. I remember, two years ago, I gave up shopping for Lent. Even though I don't consider myself a shopaholic (I've answered a survey which told me otherwise by the way), I admit that I am fond of it. from my actual post-it note During that time, I told myself that I'd only buy things that I really need (like groceries) and promised to forget about my "wants" for more than a month. Even though right after Lent, I bought myself a new pair of wedge shoes to reward myself (way to go, Thessa), I knew it was a success because aside from being able to do it, I've learned some lessons from my 40-day shopping hiatus, which I still keep in mind up to now. So I took it upon myself to sacrifice something this year again.  Goal: ...

A lot of my friends are Korean wannabes to be honest. They're addicted to everything Korean, and sometimes, I don't get it.  (Shout out to Tin, Grace, Misi, Tiff, and Chuchi! ;D) I've mentioned in my first post that one of the reasons I wanted to visit South Korea is because I wanted to see firsthand what the craze is all about. I know you might want to ask me, so just how crazy am I about SoKor now that I've experienced it myself?  Here's a short video I've shot to answer that question (teehee): Teddy Bear Museum, Namsan Tower, Seoul, South Korea What I recommend to see and visit: N Seoul Tower for the hopeless romantics Bukchon Village for the art lovers The Palaces and the War Museum for the history lovers AIINS World for the jet-setters Bupyeong, Myeongdong, and Insadong for the shopaholics (Why do I feel like any place which name ends with "-ong" is good for shopping?)  Nanta Cookin' Show for those who love a good...