What's In My Head

Life update

2026-05-23T13:55:34.987+08:00

Hi everyone!

It's been a while, I know. So many things happened. Hormones kicking in and in all honesty, I still can never understand why I become sentimental over dogs and my sons and the other stuff.

And of course there were goals achieved, disappointments in between. Yet, I still am grateful for all the small and huge achievements and of course, everything in between.

We're learning more of coffee since we started and hope to learn more and experience more of it to become more passionate with the industry we're in now.

4 years into it and the learning kept on coming. Surprised even to learn that my college degree may become an asset. Yey!

I had one goal in my bucket list that I ticked off but who knows, I may be able to achieve it because I am in the coffee industry. As most of the Christians would say, through God's grace and in His time.

For now, I am thankful, grateful and greatly blessed. All glory to God!

My heart.. my dad.. mayor D

2025-04-22T20:58:00.003+08:00

I am not a writer, so definitely, I will not be able to explain, articulately, the feelings I have at this moment. Yet, I will compose this from the heart... just fill in the blanks, if need be. I am speaking and writing this with what is true to me, to my heart. As for my siblings, they have their own experiences with him and I can't justify mine to theirs.

I am a daddy's girl, had been since I can remember. Dad never failed to deliver, in his own little way. If he can't, he tells me so. Being the eldest, and assuming that I was the apple of the eye, I believed that I was favored with whatever I ask. Spoiled little creature, you see. Well, speaking generally, we were, when we were young. Don't try to deny it.

I had always dreamt of being a pedia and he knew that from the start. Yet, financially incapable, he convinced me to take up a different path instead with the promise of proceeding to what I dreamt of, after. With his guidance, I became an engineer with the bright outlook of proceeding to medicine after graduating and passing the licensure exams.

Gratefully blessed, I did pass and became an engineer. I already had plans laid in front of me to reach my goal but Little did I know that after that celebration, my dreams will be shattered and sorrow will come after. Yeah, sad to say, he was taken away from us, robbed away from us when my siblings were still too innocent to understand why this has to happen, why this had to happen.

After the paragraphs you had wasted your time reading on, you're now wondering why I became pro Mayor? Here is why..

Mayor Digong, as Davaoeños used to call him way back when, was still in Congress when it happened with our dad. Almost all sort of crimes were rampant: Robbery, murder, rape, drugs, name it, we had it. And yeah, my dad's case and several other kidnapping cases wasn't extra-ordinary when it happened outside of his watch. It was More than 25 years ago, yet, for me, it was still fresh as it was yesterday. Especially these days when the good Mayor was illegally seized with no due process.

Going back to what happened, When he was reelected, everything became still. Every crime was on a pause/on a halt, if it wasn't in slow motion. You can see discipline, fear and respect.

Yes, we didn't really get the justice that we were looking for and deserved, but the promise that there will be no other victims after us gave as assurance to forgive, let go and let God.

Fast forward to today, it hurts me and hurts our family as well, with what happened to the good Mayor. I am left bleeding, teary eyed and at times crying, together with most Filipinos, for the injustice that has happened to the good Mayor. You will never understand. You will never ever understand the respect and love the Davaoeños will have for him.

I and my family may never see justice for our dad but I am fervently praying that PRD will see his justice in his lifetime. With that, I will cease to find ours. For the future of my children and my children's children and so and and so forth.

Finding the perfect espresso machine

2024-09-14T10:07:00.003+08:00

An espresso machine is one of the most important equipment a cafe owner will need in running a cafe. The other one being the grinder.

Ever since we started our journey in the coffee industry, we see a lot of different brands and types of espresso machines, different prices, and of course, the different features and specifications of espresso machines.

Quite often, we see cafe owners in the City of Davao using the home use type of espresso machine. Their reason, budget. By home use, it means that the capacity of the machine can cater a minimal number of serving at a time, say, 3 to 5 coffee drinkers at once. Then you need to wait thereafter for the machine to reach the right temperature again to make another batch of 3 to 5 extractions. These types of espresso machines may not be able to sustain when the cafe business gets big especially if you use the steam simultaneously. That's the time that they need to decide on when to upgrade and which machine will be best for their operation.

So, the question really is, "which one should I choose?"

Remember that all espresso machines have different features. To name a few, boiler capacity, heat recovery of the machine after use, pumps, pressure and temperature reach and others.

The best advice I can give is to "know your goal" first. If your goal is to serve more than 10, 20 customers an hour, you need to put this into your priority list in choosing an espresso machine.

The next part is knowing how many succeeding extraction an espresso machine can make. Remember that temperature and pressure play an important factor on this. Hence, you also need to know how the heat recovers.

For busy coffee shops in Davao City, average customers may be from 20 to 50. We have seen coffee shops near schools where customers of 10 to 15 go in at once and order their hot or iced coffee drink. And with this number, an espresso machine and grinder which can sustain this volume of customers should be a priority.

If you have already found a list of espresso machine to choose from, the next thing you may want to know is the after sales service.

Of course, machines may break down, parts may need to be replaced at a certain time. Can the machine supplier provide you with the parts? How about a service technician? How fast can they cater to your concern?

Now if all of your questions and concerns are answered, that's the right time to pick out the best espresso machine on your list. This is certainly an investment that you may need to be really sure of.

So, happy espresso machine hunting!

Coffee Journey

2024-07-04T20:28:00.000+08:00

When we started our coffee journey in 2022, we didn't know that we would be enjoying this today. To be honest, the only thing we know about coffee are those that every household have and drink every day, the instant coffees.

Fast forward today, we reached a lot of places, improved our speaking and sales skills and we get to learn a lot from coffee beans to espresso machines to the different coffee beverage we can actually create.

Here are some of the things we learned since we started:

* Coffee plants are planted in different level of elevation and it depends on the variety of coffee. Like for example, robusta are found on low level altitudes while arabica are found in higher altitudes.

* Coffee can adopt the taste and aroma of the crops that were previously planted on the soil. For coffee experts, they can easily identify different taste, calling it notes, and the most common being the jackfruit and citrusy after taste from lime or lemon.

* Coffee has unique tastes and goes well when blended although some prefer it 100% of the same variety when extracting their espresso. Robusta for example is most commonly used as raw materials for instant coffees and they're known to have more caffeine content which is the reason for its bitterness. Arabica, on the other hand, is known for its acidity. So, when combined together, the tastes compliment each other producing a really good cup of coffee.

* Coffee, when extracted by an espresso machine, will have different taste depending on the temperature applied. Like for example, the same batch of coffee at 93 degrees may not have the same taste when extracted at 95 degrees.

* Roasting plays an important role in making a perfectly good batch of coffee for espresso machines.

* When grinding coffee beans, the grind size matters. However, it would still depend on the palate of the coffee drinker to say that a cup of coffee is really good which is pretty much their "sweet spot".

In all honesty, the coffee industry is quite unique. The more you indulge in it, the more you learn about it and it just doesn't end.

Bye 2023... hello 2024

2024-01-01T15:14:00.002+08:00

Looking back at the year that was, 2023, made me realize that we are blessed and we should always be thankful for whatever we received and what we went through, no matter how hard it was.

From our side of the coin, our relationship with friends was tested. In all honesty, it's not a confidential matter but only a few "close" friends knew what happened. Although it was something that has become a barrier and a hurdle to grow the friendship and maintain it, we learned a lot of lessons from it. This learning has helped us, somehow, to choose the right friends.

Patience was also tested. There are times when we feel that the values we had learned was enough, but, when you evaluate it, it is not and won't be enough in this lifetime or next. Either you just learn to dance with the music or completely block these off.

Faith, hope and family mattered, A LOT!! Let's face it, we're all imperfect. And these aspects require a lot of effort, trust and prayer. In all honesty, these are what we describe as "work in progress". And something that falls in this category shouldn't be taken for granted.

Nevertheless, no matter the hurdles and blessings were thrown on your path, you will have to learn to thrive. No matter how good or bad a situation is, we shouldn't be complacent. Things may change in between.

But trust God that He will carry us out of what we think the lowest situation we are in. And, we should always be thankful for whatever comes our way, good or bad.

So let's declare that we will have a better 2024! Cheers to the year that was and the year that will be.... all the good and bad things that were and all the good and lessons that will be learned from all of these.

Happy new year!! Bring it on 2024!

Resolution? Nahhhh..

2023-12-28T18:39:00.003+08:00

A few more days and we'll now be entering a brand new year, 2024.

The question is, what have we accomplished so far? Did we become better people? Have we achieved our goals? Have we been good and worry free? Have we ticked off some of our itemized goals from our bucket lists? I bet, most of us didn't. If we did, maybe 2 to 5 off our bucket list would be a great achievement.

Well, to be honest with you, I never had a bucket list unlike some people I know. I usually go with the flow and what's available.

BUT...... I really have a few ones that I really, really wanted to do.

1. Travel to Egypt. - I really can't explain why but maybe the engineer side of me wanted to see personally how beautifully made the pyramids were. Let's face it, it's history. And, being there at that site is certainly a dream. I may not be a civil engineer but a perfectly mafe structure is worth the money we have on earth.

2. Explore Jerusalem. - Almost all of us were educated that Jerusalem is a holy place. It was written in the Bible. I believe that being there alone would really make an impact to our religious and "not so" religious side. Maybe, it will inspire us to love Jesus more.

3. See the northern lights - Well, like most people, I also want to witness the wonders of the world. And it's almost always that the actual sight is more beautiful than what we see in the pictures. Doesn't do justice.

4. Live abroad. - I had been dreaming eversince of waking up everyday in a different country. I don't know why. But this might be one of the list that will be hard to achieve. Yet, only God knows.

Each of us may have dreams that may seem to become less and less achievable. Yet, I certainly hope that these will not affect our goals in life. I have a lot. You may have more than I do. Yet, all of these are gifts from the heavens.

If we ever do achieve one, let's thank the heavens for it. And if we don't, let's strive more to become better.

Happy New Year!!

Thankful

2023-12-17T15:18:00.010+08:00

I am a Catholic, born and raised. Yet, I am not a religious person. I don’t go to Church every Sunday nor do I read the bible. But I pray whenever and wherever, yet not that religiously also. But amidst these, God has been really good to me, to us. I can attest to that.

Let me tell you our story.

Year 2022, when I left the company I worked for, my husband and I decided to enter into a business together with our childhood friend with his wife as partners. We came to learn and love the coffee industry. Although not an expert, we learned to distinguish good and bad shots, difference of Arabica, Robusta and Liberica, uniqueness of performing artisan and signature coffee to normal extraction and so much more.

Our partners, however, had been in the F&B industry for more than 10 years and so we didn’t question a bit of their credibility since they were really good at this craft and, of course, sales.

When 2022 was approaching to the 4th quarter, we were introduced to a “possible investor” who were based in the US. Of course, we became excited with this idea since we were actually short of capital to make the business expand.

When we met the wife, we were actually hopeful that the negotiations will turn positively. Much to our dismay, we were told by our partners that all negotiations will go through them and not to us which means that if and when there are meetings, we're not included and we will only be getting the minutes. They will be conveying whatever they will tackle. What sad is that, apparently, they said that the investors decided that they will be the ones who will be in the corporation (SEC) and we will just be given our portion through the shares that will be handed to them. No contract, no legalities.

Then came 2023, further talks was that they won’t be investing here and that they will concentrate in another Region. Furthermore info from them was that we will just be a sub-distributor to a sub-distributor. This meant that we will be selling products that they buy from the main branch. This also meant that margin will be small for us since they’ll be cutting a percentage from the profit we’re going to make.

Because of these issues, my husband and I had a lot of sleepless nights which ended up in small and big arguments. It was then that we decided to call the main branch for clarification, deals and arrangements that we can work on from where we were standing.

Luckily, the main branch gave us their trust and confidence that we can make it. Not that we are raising our chairs but we had been in Mindanao all our life. Plus, coming from a society that consists of businessmen and capitalists, we thought we will be able to start off positively without them.

After my husband and I decided not to take on with their last offer of being their sub-distributor, the corporation we established went to shambles. It was decided to just finish the contract and each of us will go our own way. To be honest, that was by far the best decision we had made. No more arguments with my husband and no more sleepless nights.

Now, we are working towards being known. We now have clients that can attest to our hard work. Clients that know what our worth is.

Thankful that God really works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, we may not understand why these things happen, but in the end, it is still proven that God knows what is best for us.

To quote Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plants to give you a hope and future.’”

If you’re going to question me who these people were, I’d rather keep it quiet and just watch how karma works. After all, Karma is a bitch.

21 years for 26 years and counting

2023-12-17T15:18:00.009+08:00

A few days ago, I celebrated my 21st birthday for 26 years 🤪. In all honestly, when someone asks me how old I am, I always answer them with a “21 years old”. They raise their brows, confused, yet I always give them a follow up explanation that I just stopped counting at 21.

Nobody wants to get old, I included, even if I can’t deny the fact that my body and bones are telling otherwise.

In all honesty, I had lived a full life at this age. People I know haven’t experienced what I had experienced. Name it, we went through it. Well, if not 100%, at least, more than 80%, to my knowledge.

No one knew what our struggles were. How we coped up and how we’re still fighting to be reach full recovery.

To tell you frankly and not bragging, I grew up in a middle class to a well off family. I never came across to having problems on what food will be served on the table, whether our clothes were ironed or not, what bills were remained unpaid, what tuitions were missed out…. or maybe our parents were just too secretive to let us know their hurdles as well like what we’re doing now. Maybe, the latter. But they successfully took care of that, that we didn’t know that we have to also be mindful of it. Not until we grew, got married and had kids. Well….

Having said all these, I really think that I had lived a full life at this age, experienced a lot of situations wherein not everyone are privileged to experience. And I have to thank God for that.

Another reason that kept me going was my husband. He never gave up on me. I can be frustrating at times. I don’t know how to cool, clean, etc. But he managed to work with me. Today, he cooks for the family except when he feels under the weather or has a hangover from the night before. When he does, the kids or I take over, let’s not to mention the over-cooked viands when I take over. The twins, however, are brilliant cooks. They got it from their papa.

Luckily and thankfully, eventhough I am not “religious” and a “devotee”, God works through me, and, in me. The reason why I always feel thankful, grateful and definitely blessed. And, I have no regrets. Well, there maybe some that should been done differently but no regrets.

My point? Honestly, I don’t have a point here. I prolly just want to share what I went through in a silhouette. This is just, maybe, 5% to 30% of my life story.

Would you care to tell me yours?

Run free, Kulit

2023-12-17T15:17:00.003+08:00

We lost another dog today. We now lost 4 dogs this year. Sad.

I’ll be missing you, Kulit. Run free now. I hope to see you on the other side someday.

Rides and Adventure: Procorato Farm Resort

2023-12-17T15:14:00.008+08:00

After the quick visit which I shared in my previous blog entry, we finally decided to do an overnight out of town escapade on the 28th of October, 2023, yesterday.

We took the Panabo – Malabog road still. We reached the resort at around 3ish in the afternoon. We were greeted by the owners, Jerome, Mar and Bernard, with smiles, an empty resort which was already reserved exclusively for us at a downpayment of Php 500.00 sent through Gcash.

What I like the most about the overnight stay was that the boys took really good care of our group. Gates were locked at around 10PM to ensure our and our vehicle’s safety.

There were there with us until we decided to retire for the night as they had also retired as well.

Although the resort didn’t have electricity as of the moment, they prepared 2 generator sets for us, 1 is reserved in case the generator set. The resort also has a karaoke machine which made us really happy since singing is one of the hobbies that Filipinos love.

I will be sharing with you videos and a few pictures of the area to give you an idea how it looks like.

Although the resort is still a baby, 2 years old according to the boys, the pool and waterfalls are already a-ok for the price. And, they’re looking forward to doing more improvements with the area.

So far the experience we had with the accommodation was worth it. That’s why, I’m giving it a 7 out of 10.

Rides and Adventure: Malabog

2023-12-17T15:00:00.008+08:00

One advantage that we felt when we started our small business is that we don’t need to spend 8 hours in the office just like when we are employed with an 8 to 5 job. This honestly is one of the best when managing a business. Although, there are also disadvantages like earning being directly proportional to the hard work that you put into.

Nevertheless, we get to enjoy a lot of time to ourselves instead of being stuck in a desk in the office for 8 hours.

Speaking of free time, last Saturday, since we had no schedule we decided to do our rides and adventure following our itchy feet.

This time around, our itchy feet brought us to Malabog, Paquibato District in Davao City. There we had the opportunity to scout resorts for future escapades.

There are 3 routes that one can take to reach Malabog: Mandug – Malabog which is 49.1 kms with an estimated travel time of 1 hour and 28 minutes; Panabo – Malabog which is 54.7 kms with an estimated travel time of 1 hour and 37 minutes and Calinan – Malabog which is 57.4 kms with an estimated travel time of 1 hour and 47 minutes. By the way, these estimates are actually based on our current location which is Cabantian.

The last time we heard that there was a landslide along Calinan – Malabog route and Callawa – Malabog route which was unpassable, we decided to take the Panabo – Malabog route to be sure.

The travel to Malabog via Panabo was an easy one. Roads were already fully cemented, thanks to the efforts of Build, Build, Build and NTF-Elcac for reaching to far flung areas with their own projects. The view is spectacular for you are able to see a lot of overlooking sites while you travel.

When we reached Malabog, we immediately went to the resorts to check them out. Without further ado, I’m sharing pictures and videos so you can have a clearer picture of how the resorts look like.

First stop was Camp Eleaga which was already a famous resort even pre-covid days. Camp Eleaga’s source of water is from a lake beside their pool. It is said that the water came from a cold spring.

Next stop was Procorato Nature Park. While the other resorts’ source for their pool water was either a spring or a stream, Procorato’s source was from a waterfall. If you plan to go overnight at Procorato, you can go exclusive at 3,500 and good for 25 pax already. Check in is 4PM, check out is 12PM the next day.

Third stop was Remy Areja’s spring resort. Since the whole view of the pool can be seen from the top, we decided not to go down to take pictures. Instead, we took videos. What’s cool about the place is the overlooking view of the resort.

Last stop was Masdec. Masdec is a smaller version of Remy Areja. Unlike the latter, masdec doesn’t have an overlooking view although the resort is descending.

So these are the 4 resorts that we went to. There was another resort that we passed by while travelling and looking for lunch, we decided not to go in anymore since we thought that we had already found the resort that we would most likely go back to and that’s Procorato. Why you may ask? Well, I love the sound of tre water from the waterfalls and being closer to nature is just awesome.

Oh, by the way, we took the Calinan – Malabog route on our way home to check if it’s already passable since the people there told us that it was already indeed passable. Just a tip to everyone, there are portions where the roads cracked and utilizes 1 lane only instead of 2. It’s best if you’re on a 4 wheel drive vehicle and motorcycle if you decide to take this route.

Till, next entry!

Random Prayer

2023-12-17T15:00:00.001+08:00

Dear Papa Jesus,

I know you know what my heart holds. I rarely share prayers of disappointments, rather, I pray that everything goes well and some in between.

This time around, I want to express a small dent in my heart.

I know that life is not equal. It never will be equal, never will be fair.

I used to explain to people that no matter how hard you try to trace a line using the same ruler, every line will almost always end up differently by a certain degree. Yet, never have I imagined that it would really become one of those experiences that I will hold until I get old.

I have always understood that even if parents would declare that they look at their kids equally, it never ever happens that everyone are equal. Moreso if the parents have more than 2 children.

I never expected anything to be fair, yes, never. I knew for a fact that no matter what, there will always be someone from the brood that will escalate as their favorite and that can’t be helped. It exists. I never had any questions about it. But, if it will become a burden for the rest of us, that will be a different story.

Papa Jesus, guide us please. Especially me. I’m the oldest. And everything that will happen to any one of them is and will be my fault. I remember mom telling me before, that it was because of me that they married someone she doesn’t approve and someone who’s not Chinese. I was their role model.

I never imposed anything to them. I even advised them to not follow my footsteps. But you know better.

It’s alright Papa if I get to catch all of those blunders, it’s fine. In the end, you know better.

Just, please, somehow, heal my heart. Teach me to let go of things that don’t matter and are hopeless. Remind me that it’s not my fault, if it’s really not my fault. If it is, let me carry it.

My prayers stand the same, Father. No need to tell everyone what I pray for, for I know, You know what my prayers are.

Still, thank you. I get to learn so much in the short time that you had alloted for me in this world.

Love, A

Goodbye our little Nami

2023-12-17T12:19:00.003+08:00

Sharing a sad news to everyone reading this blog. Our little puppy Nami who is 7 weeks old passed away yesterday.

I previously wrote that our Nana gave birth to 4 puppies by CS.

Now, only one has survived, Yuna.

I will miss our little Nami so much. We tried our hardest to keep her but God has other plans.

Run free little Nami. I pray that God will keep you on his side in Heaven. We’ll see each other soon. I love you Nami.

Rides and Adventure: Pilan River

2023-12-17T12:18:00.004+08:00

After months of telling our ride buddies about Sinoron, as recommended by a friend, we finally were able to go on an adventure to Pilan River located at Sinoron, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

The travel to Sinoron, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur from Davao City is about 40 kms and will take 1 hour and 30 minutes more or less. We started off at around 6AM and arrived at Sinoron before 8AM. Well, we took a few stopovers for breakfast and did a minor repair to one of our friend’s motorcycle.

Upon arriving at the Sinoron Barangay Hall, we registered and paid our fees which was Php 50.00 per head. While the guide assigned to us was at Php 80.00 per head.

The hike to Pilan River from the Barangay Hall is approximately 3.5 kms give and take a few meters. We were actually lucky enough to not have taken the whole 3.5 kms trek stretch since we were allowed by the ones at the Barangay to drive halfway to Pilan River. There, we parked our motorcycles in the compound of the guide’s relatives. For the parking fee, well, they didn’t ask for a fixed amount instead they told us kim whatever we can give, they’ll accept.

From the area we parked, we were down to 2 kms hike and mind you, it wasn’t easy. The slopes were definitely difficult and I wasn’t actually expecting it. Some portions were cemented while others were not. Uphill was certainly a struggle, I had to make short stops in between to catch my breath since I have no practice when it comes to hiking uphill.

Yet, no matter how difficult the hike was, when we arrived at the area, it was definitely worth it!

Here are some snaps we took while we were enjoying the serene sound of nature, bonding time with friends and just plain conversations. Right, just conversations since mobile signal can’t reach that far which was a relief.

Of course, food was as enjoyable as the view.

With out tour guide, Julius

The boys had the chance of going for a hike deeper to enjoy the asik asik falls or mini waterfalls as the others would call it. Too bad there were no pictures.

Anyhow, we left the area at around 3PM to head home. The hike back to where we parked was as difficult as it was getting to the river. Well, even if it was downhill, the knees complained 🤪 a little.

When we reached the Barangay Hall, we stayed for a bit and some were even able to enjoy walking on stilts.

Before I wrap this up, I had to flex our tiktok entry for the dance challenge “cake” at this link:

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNNn3feo/

Better yet, I’ll just upload it here.

This is definitely one of those adventures that we would like to go back to even if my muscles are hurting from short hike yesterday.

Oh and by the way, if you plan to visit Pilan River, you can contact our guide at these mobile and fb pages:

– 0953 182-7094

– messengers: Julius P. Gesalan and/or Judith Angget

Rides and Adventure: Awao Falls

2023-12-17T12:17:00.003+08:00

After sales service by GGM: Cowboy Town, Resto, Bakery and Shoppe

2023-12-17T12:15:00.004+08:00

2 weeks ago, we had the chance to travel to Cowboy Town, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon because of work: maintenance and servicing of 1 unit Conti Compact CC100 and 2 units of BDG 300 grinder.

Parking area view of Cowboy Town

Conti Compact CC100 and BDG 300 grinders

Travel from Davao City was about 4 to 5 hours, vehicle speed at 60 kph to 80 kph.

Impasug-ong local tourism spots in 1 map

After settling in for a few minutes, we were able to check out their resto.

Bukidnon is known for its vast Agricultural Land where Rodeo is one of the top sports the locals enjoy

The place was literally nice and cozy. It’s located along the highway which can easily be seen by cars and according to their staff, most of their dine in guests are travellers.

Anyhow, after a few minutes of looking around and talking to the head barista of the history of the machine, our technicians started diagnosing, servicing, replacement of parts and maintenance.

After the hard part was done, we proceeded to check if the machine was already operational: heated it up, extracted a few shots of espresso and requested the in-house barista to make a latte.

Servicing the grinders came last since these machines are easier to diagnose. Technicians learned that 1 unit was operational while the other unit was defective.

Technicians then proceeded to diagnose it, calibrated the grinders and it was running and in good condition after a few minutes.

After finishing up the servicing and maintenance, technicians, of course, needed to have a photo op with the services units in the background.

Servicing wrapped up at 4 PM.

We, then, were welcomed with a free overnight stay at a local inn courtesy of the owner of Cowboy Town. We were actually lucky enough because there was a local celebration in their town.

What’s best was that we were able to enjoy street food!! The ones we missed during our younger days.

And more street good the next day after a good night’s rest!

We were also able to witness the rodeo parade and some of its competition before we headed home.

The rodeo parade

And boy, did we have a chance to have photos with one of the stags! So fun!

It was indeed one of those “work and leisure” in a package.

Complications

2023-09-13T20:03:00.003+08:00

Dear Papa Jesus,

Growing up in a Catholic community, we were taught that things happen for a reason. That they may be called as fate, destiny or lessons which we have to go through in this life. The reason, we may not know until we get older.

I just honestly feel sad Papa Jesus. Especially for my dad and, moreso, my mom.

See, when I came into this world, I was introduced to the complications within a family. That we don't live in a normal family setup like what we read in the books and what most of us dreamed of.

Our grandparents are from the Land of the Rising Sun. Our grandpa came to the Philippines way ahead than our grandma. He was engaged in logging and worked his way to where he was before he passed. Throughout his years in the logging industry, he travelled to different places in Mindanao, had his share of experiences in different industries, saved and had several children from his Filipina partner.

My grandma who was left in China, on the other hand, bore a child but passed because of complications. She, then, decided to adopt, and that was our dad. When she arrived in the Philippines, she had 3 more: 2 of whom were born from her and another 1 was from her sister whom she adopted as her own daughter.

Fast forward, my grandpa had a total of 11 children. My dad and aunt who is residing in Manila are adopted, 2 from their "bloodline" and 7 from the other wife.

Why am I telling you these? To be frank, Papa Jesus, I don't really give a shit where each one of them came from. I grew up and learned that they are family. They are supposed to be "family". Families should stick together through thick or thin, good or bad, happy and sad times, yet, sad to say, we are left out. Always had been left out yet we didn't complain.

Declarations to people that we are part of the family will remain as declarations. We know better.

I honestly feel sad for dad. He really deserved better if not the best. He was robbed of life, of time. To be frank, Father, I don't even feel that any of them gave him the respect he deserved. Again, as what we were taught many times, we may not know the reason, but I pray that we could at least know the reason why we need to give them the respect that I'm not sure they deserve.

In all honesty, Father, I can now understand why mom wanted to leave this City and go back to her sisters in Manila. And she probably just couldn't because we, her children, won't.

So, for now, we're stuck in a situation where family shares with us through story telling their moments as "family" while we, as always, didn't know anything of.

By the way, Papa Jesus, these are just my sentiments and I honestly am not after any invitation from them. Never did expect anything from them. Never felt a twinge of anger nor jealousy when I see pictures from different occasions they hold.

It's alright, though. All's still well.

Love, Sweepz

A furmom's experience

2023-08-18T17:17:00.015+08:00

I now know how it feels to be a furmom. I now know that it's possible to be scared over small conditions and complications and the feeling of paranoia while spilling a million tears because my thoughts would go way beyond my imagination even when people assure us that everything will be okay.

We brought Nana to Davao Emergency Veterinary Hospital between 4:30 AM and 5:30 AM early today. She was pregnant, estimated 62 days since the 1st contact with Yogi, and started having her contractions after we had dinner yesterday at 7:30 PM.

Her contractions were normal and I promised to myself that I would help her deliver her babies. Her 1st puppy, a female, came out at around 9:30 PM. I thought things would really be a breeze since I assumed that just like us, the 1st is usually the hardest while the rest would be easy peasy. I was wrong.

The 2nd wave of her contractions started 2 hours after she let out her 1st pup, just an estimate. Khyle, who just came home from work as a part-time barista was with me while we were doing video calls with Angeli, his girlfriend, and Jai2, his twin's girlfriend, helped me with Nana so I would be able to keep my eyes open all throughout Nana's ordeal.

At around 2:00 AM, we noticed that her contractions were coming in faster but no puppy was coming out during that time. However, we were able to see a sign of the 2nd puppy's paw a little after 2:00 AM but her contractions decreased. That was, in my calculations, 4 hours and 30 minutes from her 1st birth. Beforehand, I was able to read that normally, the interval time between 2 dogs is around 30 minutes to 2 hours, 3 hours being the longest. Now, I was already starting to get worried about her situation and called on my husband, Tata, and told him that we need to bring her to the vet or she might not survive.

We decided to bring her to the Davao Emergency Veterinary Hospital, one of the hospitals for furbabies which is open 24/7. Luckily, we were able to arrive on time. If it we were a minute too late, all would be nothing.

Doctor Karen, the doctor on duty at that time, was able to help us assess Nana's situation calmly even when the emotions we had were wildly and weirdly mixed. She got Nana into surgery after assessing her in less than 30 minutes. We were really lucky to land on Dr. Karen.

While waiting for the most tormenting thing to be over when you have a patient, her promise that surgery will take about 30 minutes to an hour, estimated, materialized.

Thankfully, Nana is now recuperating. She bore 4 puppies, 3 females and 1 male. 1 female wasn't able to survive but still, I believe, God is a miracle worker. Doctors and anybody who has a big role in any event are God's instruments to make things better.

First, I can't thank Papa God enough. This made us stronger and what came out are better furparents. Secondly, I am grateful for Dr. Karen. I wasn't scared and was confident that Nana will pull through because of her. Thirdly, we are lucky that Davao Emergency Veterinary Hospital is available to every furparent, 24/7. Their skills, expertise and compassion to every fur-family is immeasurable. This is the reason why I highly recommend them. Pricesare reasonable. Of course, this definitely is equal to the love they give to their profession and the care they give to their patients.

I am surfacing from this experience as a much better fur-mama. I love Nana with all my heart. I even pray that when time comes, we would go together. But, I'm pretty sure that God always has His plans for each one of us.

A sentimental mom's thoughts

2023-08-13T15:23:00.005+08:00

A while ago, I sent a "sad face" emoticon to one of my twin sons to a picture he posted on his socmed from the concert they attended for Kadayawan. It was by accident as I was supposed to send a love emoticon for the picture. I feel happy that he was able to enjoy the moment where his a-i and I shared finances for him to be able to witness the event. Half heartedly, I was sad because he was enjoying this life with his friends and girlfriend instead of us. But such is life.

As the song goes "and children get older, I'm getting older too", which makes me feel sentimental every time I get the chance to listen to this song.

To be honest, I would like to think that we'll be okay, and for sure I'll be okay when time comes because the people that we love the most will be taken cared of the way we took care of them. That, I'll be ok knowing that my kids will be compensated with the love that we gave them, if not a 100%, 80% at least. This is honestly the reason why I love my sons' respective girlfriends, yeah, sad to say, they already have girlfriends.

I pray though that what we lack, they will search, most especially the relationship with Christ. But nevertheless, I'm okay. We'll be okay.

Thankful, grateful and blessed

2023-03-25T22:22:00.003+08:00

I had always been declaring to everyone who ask of my age that I am 21. Well, not that I'm no good in Math but I just stopped counting since then. I prob'ly should say that I'm still stuck in that era. Forever 21.

I had always felt grateful, thankful and blessed for all the things that come my way even bad ones. Who knew that the bad ones kept us strong and going.

Anyhow, I think it's high time that I share some of the things I had learned along the way. So, here goes:

1. Everything is not about you. - whatever you hear, don't be paranoid. Even if it's about you, act as if it doesn't matter. Learn the art of "kiber". To be honest, I think I had already mastered this. So, even if someone says that I'm dumb, i just let them think of me that way so I can make the next move by evaluating everything that needs to be evaluated and act on it like a thief in the night.

2. Friends are the worst enemy. - I, honestly, am not implying that I have one but I had an encounter with a friend over something petty and I must say that it wasn't worth it at all. Yet, it's not a mistake to make boundaries. If and when friends made one mistake, be cautious about it. If you see a lot of red lights, end it, it's not worth your self respect.

3. Respect and love yourself. - This should always be the case. Before you can spread goodness from within, you should be content that no one, not anyone, can take away the respect and love you have for yourself.

4. Never compare yourself to others. - True that we have our own hurdles. Some may be similar but it is and won't ever be the same to anyone's. We were brought into this world unique. Even a ruler, if you look at it through a lens that can zoom a million times better than what we have now, a straight line traced through a use of a ruler compared to the same straight line traced through the same ruler is not and will not be the same. Even fingerprints are unique, no matter how many millions, billions and trillions of people there are on earth, it won't be ever be duplicated.

5. You have a loyal friend. - no matter how hard the problems are, trust that there will be someone who will be willing to listen to your sorrows and may be with you through it. If you're lucky, you'll find them in no time.

6. Have faith. - Have faith that all of these will have an end to it. After all, everything is temporary. God sees every struggle we go through, every decision we make, every good and bad thing we do. Religion alone can't save us but having faith, hope and love, can. Oh, and also remorse.

Be good and kind to whoever and whatever. Remember always that there is karma... and, it is a b*tch..

Peace out.

Latte Art: Frustrating

2022-06-23T15:30:00.004+08:00

I may be posting a lot about coffee from hereon and share what I will learn about the coffee industry.

As a beginner in this industry, please don't take it against me if there will be a lot of mistakes that I'll be going through. My only consolation is that I will learn and I'm quite sure that it'll be a lot.

But for today, allow me to express my frustration over my nth attempt in doing latte art through this video. You may click the word video to see how frustrating it has been.

So, now, I'm taking the afternoon off to vent off the frustration somewhere. No more coffee for the rest of the day.

So, cocktails anyone?

Coffee is definitely life

2022-06-21T12:41:00.001+08:00

It took me a couple of months to a year to find the industry that I want to grow old to and that's the coffee industry.

I am an avid drinker of coffee but only limited to those instant ones. Never did I realize that there's more to it than just buying a stick, some cream and sugar which I had been drinking at least twice a day.

Now, the opportunity has come to indulge in this industry and I really have learned a lot ever since we started. Oh joy! And ever since we started, I can now literally take in a dose of espresso and mind you, no sugar to really test my palate of the uniqueness of different varieties and origin of the beans we have.

Anyhow, a part of this experience in this industry is sharing with you our softly opened company, KETTLE AND SHAKER INC.

Kettle and Shaker Inc., located in the heart of Davao City, is a Mindanao wide distributor of the following products:

CONTI ESPRESSO MACHINES

from Monaco

DALLA CORTE ESPRESSO MACHINES

from Italy

LONGBEACH PRODUCTS

SIGNATURE TEA

COFFEE BEANS

Local and Imported

Can be customized with customer's logo

You may want to follow Kettle and Shaker Inc.'s facebook page to see more of its products and services.

Rough and tough times

2021-08-10T09:26:00.002+08:00

I rarely write these days. And when I do think about it, it's always sad thoughts that would really be written. And this is not an exception.

I have these friends from when I was very young. I literally grew up with them since their father used to work for my grandparents when we were still little.

They are going through a rough and tough time the middle part of this year.

Her daughter and a niece of my bestfriend succumbed to cancer last week. She was just 11.

Early today, I learned that their brother passed away. Not even a week after his niece passed.

It's difficult to understand why people have to go through rough and tough times. Especially now that the pandemic is still here, it will be easier for people to get depressed and friends cannot visit friends to personally condole with them.

My friend Cliff Berning

2019-09-20T16:58:00.000+08:00

I have a friend whom I haven't met personally. His name is Clifford Berning. I call him Cliff. We met online more than a decade ago through this yahoo mail forwarder group composed of Expats who were interested in visiting the Philippines, asking questions of it and getting different information of the Filipinos, the food and the country itself.

I can remember vividly how our friendship started and it was at the wrong foot. We argued on a lot of things especially of his impression with the Filipino women. We would constantly exchange conversations on Viber, him being his usual sarcastic self, telling me that Filipino women are dependent and very practical on a wrong point view (which means asking for money, spending it and giving it away even to extended families) and me proving to him that he was wrong and shouldn't generalize his impression of the Filipinas.

Over the years, the exchange of messages brought our friendship to a deeper level. Conversations became less annoying. We were able to tolerate and accept each other's frankness. And, we learned from each other's experiences as well.

We would talk of almost anything: weather, jobs, money, Jesus, religion, life, family, vacation, economy and whatnots. Yet most often during these conversations, Cliff would bug me with finding him a woman to marry and he would stress over and over of the "list of qualities" that I should look for before introducing him to some woman. To which I always tell him that he has really high standards and it's very difficult to find someone with all the qualities he is looking for. Viber exchanges like these were constant and they kept on coming until the middle of this year.

About a week ago, I was ready to introduce him to a friend so I created a chat group and started the conversation. However, his reply was really unusual and it made me suspicious that there was something wrong with him. Just a few days ago, I found out that he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. When he told me, he was still in the hospital.

He was already discharged as of this blog writing but his speech and his movements has already deteriorated. He mentioned the need of a wheelchair for a walker cannot sustain him anymore. After he was discharged, he fell off thrice in one day and had difficulty bringing himself up after falling. He lost a lot of weight already in just a span of a week, from 126 kgs to 95 kgs as of yesterday.

He is currently in Chang Mai, Thailand and will most likely stay there permanently. His doctor discouraged him of traveling back to the USA because of the risk of a seizure attack.

I am sharing this to you to raise money for his medical expense. Chemotherapy is the next step for his treatment. He underwent radiation already.

I am also sharing his Go Fund Me Page. You can click the words underlined and it will direct you to the page itself where you can make a donation.

Please help me share his page as I am hoping it will be able to reach his family and friends who can help my friend Cliff. Thank you in advance.

Shattered Dreams

2019-06-15T16:39:00.001+08:00

Yes, I had been procrastinating for a few years.
After coming home from a 5 months trip, I couldn't find the inspiration to write a new blog entry.

I felt like I hit a wall, a really hard wall, when hub talked me into agreeing that it was time to go home after our 2nd try at extending our visa.
It was as if my dream of living in another country ended after having the chance to actually blend in and learning what it was like to live in a totally different place where the culture, people, lifestyle, cost of living, and what's not are the opposite of what we were used to.

We arrived at the end of spring when the cherry blossom trees started saying goodbye while slowly fading away.
Landing at Christchurch and experiencing the really cold breeze made us realize that the clothes we brought might not be suitable for the weather.
The 7 to 8 hours travel to Nelson left us mesmerized to the beautiful mountain view along the way where you can see them covered with snow.

Yet, hub wasn't used to the quiet life and even labeling New Zealand as the land of "The Walking Dead".
The sun would shy away from the sky at between 8 and 9 in the evening.
Waking up early at 4 and having coffee at the garage in jogging pants, sweatshirts and jackets and still feeling really cold while our bodies slowly adjusted to the 10 degrees temperature was something new.

There weren't too many people and cars in Nelson.
Most of them would turn in at 5-ish or 6-ish.
People roaming around the street can be counted by one's fingers.
This includes the patients walking inside the aged care, some naked.

Malls open at 7 in the morning and closes at 5 in the afternoon.
Yet, going to the grocery, buying chocolates on sale, ice cream, bread and finding a dollar's worth of either pork skin, pig's head, pig shank, beef shank, chicken liver and chicken gizzard found at the dog food section was pure happiness to us.

Walking, riding buses, and walking some more to get to different destinations was always welcoming and comforting even if I wasn't used to it back home.
Walking became our daily routine everyday after breakfast and dinner, talking and laughing at our experiences in the land where we were strangers.
Feeding ducks at the park and lakes was also one of the activities we always look forward to, wishing we could just grab one or two to cook for dinner.

We had a chance at applying for jobs, taking calls and interviews online yet not one was a match made in heaven.
Hiring process took a lot of time, over 3 months, and our time was quite limited.
And, even though it wasn't meant for us to land a job in NZ, it was an experience that was worth learning from.

When the days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and the time to finally go home has arrived, there's that "sepanx" and empty feeling inside after realizing that a lifelong dream which was in your hands has already started to fade away.
And that feeling of failure after realizing that you're not going to get something that you had always dreamed for your family sets in was heartbreaking.
My dream for my family was gone, in other words, shattered.
Worse of all, going home without a job to go back to was something to worry about.

But then I realized that closing a chapter isn't really the end.
Closing a chapter just means that it was time to open a new one.

After 2 years, I realized that coming home wasn't so bad after all.
We had a taste of living the New Zealand dream even for a little while.
Our family's relationship became better.
After coming home, I was blessed with a new job and I must say the pay was better than the old one.
The experience we had taught us a lot: patience, adjustment, anger and frustration management, to name a few.
But we are still blessed.

The dream might have faded away but we can always start a new one.
Maybe... Maybe one day I will be able to reach it.
If it wasn't meant for me to reach it, maybe, it's meant for my children.
There's hope. :)