20 and 21
It’s been such a long time since I last posted, which coincides with when I started my first full-time job (started in June 2020) upon graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (attained in May 2020).
I’ve mostly used my time experimenting with balancing the many aspects of my life, or should I say I spent my time “gyroscoping.” This was also during the heat of the pandemic, so there were many uncertainties floating about. This experience really changed my expectations on my future, and the losses that the pandemic brought about also served as a lesson on empathy that brought me closer to the people in this world.
For some reason, the arts flourished when the world was doomed by the coronavirus. As most of people took shelter and stayed home, social media trends encouraged people to rekindle their old and new hobbies and interests that the fast pace in this digital age kept us from doing. With the pandemic, people focused more on their self-care and improvement. People participated in a lot of trends, such as tiktok dances, home-based workouts (Chloe Ting tiktok craze), baking bread, watching TV series (such as Tiger King), solving puzzles, playing videogames (such as Among Us and Animal Crossing), making coffee (Dalgona trend), knitting, jewelry-making, cooking, livestreaming, painting, and so on and so forth.
For a while, along with working from home and trying to do my best at working, my hobbies were mostly dancing, cooking, drawing, going to the gym and driving around. I could even say that work was a hobby for a bit. I took a lot of dance classes through zoom, which was a surrealistic experience. As of cooking, a few recipes I absolutely love making is Sinigang na Baboy, Kale and Tomato pasta, Tuscan Chicken with Spinach and Sundried Tomatoes, our Family recipe of Spareribs with white sauce, and Filipino Spaghetti.
Late in 2020, I had a surgery, which forced me to really stay home and also not do work and housechores. This was when I started watching a lot of period dramas and I got back to drawing!
Then, in the beginning of 2021, I started getting back to exercising after recovering from surgery. I started hiking as well, and I bought a piano after not playing it for years and started taking lessons again! Eventually, I started going to the gym to prepare for my brother’s wedding which was held in Korea. We stayed in quarantine in Jongno-gu for 2 weeks, and then we stayed in Myeongdong!
Korea Trip!
Mid-2021, unfortunately, my mother passed away due to non-covid reasons. Me and my family immediately went back to the Philippines, except for my brother who was in Korea and had immigration issues coming into the PH. The borders had strict requirements for non-Filipino citizens due to the pandemic. My dad and everyone that my mother used to interact with on a daily told us many stories about my mother. As it turned out, she was living a very happy life since she’s moved back to the Philippines. She lived a very difficult life, but I am glad that she touched a lot of lives along the way and that she was happy in her final years. A lot of people love her, including me.
It was a difficult time, and upon coming back from my mother’s funeral in July and my brother’s wedding in August, our lives were different and we also lost parts of us that were inexplicable. It was a time looking for new meanings in this life, with new perspectives to add to our old ones. This experience brought me closer to my family and friends more than ever.
During my time back in the US, I bought my first car that I’ve worked hard for by myself (without handouts!) Then, I went back to the Philippines at the end of 2021, worked remotely there, and spent the Christmas season with my huge family. It was my first Christmas without my mother, but I’m sure she is there somewhere protecting all of us on earth. I’m sure she would like for me to nurture my existing relationships with family and friends, and spread the love that she would otherwise share with her if she was still here on earth.
