Author: Justine

Random Questions, Travel vol. 1

Published by Justine

I’ve been working too much on professional projects these days that I’ve kind of forgotten how to write for myself. As I was browsing my feeds (hello Feedly, still alive) today, I came across the Travel Diaries section of R29 and decided that it’d be nice to answer some of the questions myself. Plane, train, or automobile? Living in the Philippines with such a diverse number of islands, there’s not much option to travel by car unless it was a local Cebu road trip. I guess it depends on the place. As much as I hate flying and being in planes, it’s the only way I can get to my favorite countries. I do love a good train travel, I feel like it’s what keeps me the most relaxed.

Thirty Three

Published by Justine

It’s officially been one full month since I’ve turned a year older. I always try my best to at least do a birthday blog no matter how bad I am with this so I can keep myself accountable of the progress (or lack thereof) I’ve made over the course of my life. So here goes.. The past year felt like a blur—a fast-paced cloudy struggle with lockdowns, quarantines, working from home, lots of transitions, anxiety inducing moments, and lots of mentally draining situations. But it has also been a year of persevering, of trying to look at the bright side, trying to keep a positive mind, and trying to always look for that light at the end of the tunnel even though the world seemed like it was falling apart; and I have to give myself a pat on the back for that. It’s been one heck of a year, but we’re still here. Even though there are many times I feel like I’ve achieved nothing the past year, I think of all the moments …

A Year Into

Published by Justine

It’s officially going to be a week until a whole year has passed since the country declared a lockdown due to the coronavirus. I thought I’d pop in here to write about what I’ve been up to since the year started. Blogging hasn’t been on my mind for a while, thanks to my purchase of multiple Hobonichi planners and trying to do a good job of making sure I fill every page. It’s happened with my Hobonichi Weeks so far, and it’s nice to be able to spend at least a few minutes every day to jot down what’s going to happen soon or what’s happened in the past so I can look back on the year and feel like it’s been productive, despite all the shit we’re currently being dealt with, even until now. International travel has of course, been nonexistent for a while and continues to be, and I’m not sure my anxious self even dreams of wanting travel until this is all over, or at least until I receive the vaccine which …

My thoughts on Terrace House: Tokyo 2019–2020

Published by Justine

If you, just like me, have been following Terrace House, and which lead you to have stumbled upon my Subjective Ranking posts one way or another (thank you!), you must know by now that this season didn’t fare the best in terms of its outcome. Even with my excitement that it was coming back to Tokyo hoping that it would “go back to its roots” ITC style, in the beginning I already felt detached from it. I wanted to root for the new members and like them so much. I didn’t hate the cast mates per se, I just didn’t feel the connection I used to have when I first got so attached to it, which made me an instant fan of the show from the beginning. I guess I was sort of in a Terrace-House-is-my-favorite-show bubble that I couldn’t not support it, so I soldiered on. I didn’t want to admit to myself that it wasn’t what I expected, because I was rooting for it so much. Having said all that, Netflix international has …

Quarantine Chronicles

Published by Justine

It’s been a minute and half since I’ve written in here. And still it seems like this pandemic isn’t really showing signs of stopping a year into the whole thing. It’s just been crazy and a rollercoaster ride for everyone, and holy shit I am alive to live and witness it. Who would have thought we’d be here? The future is uncertain, but no one and their mother thought that we would have to live this future. We’re all feeling the same things, the same uncertainty, and navigating a totally new experience collectively. Excuse my lack of a better phrase, but that’s fucking insane. I guess I wanted to check in because the bouts of anxiety I’ve been experiencing all throughout this year is something that I can’t really place. There are highs and lows but it’s a I’d like to navigate this entry into a more positive note by listing down things that kept me sane through this whole year, and still continues to.. even up until this pandemic ends, or will it?