Items

• 
  2020-05-27

  Dreaming Again

  Ms. Lea Salonga launched a campaign, #LSdreamagain regarding the things we miss or dreams we crave while on lockdown. One of the things I miss is the brush of the wind on my face. Even before the pandemic, I am what you call a treehugger, so I crave hugs. Hugging my niece and nephew is one of the things I am looking forward to after this "period". Savouring the simple pleasures of life.
• 
  2020-08-15

  Our youth is yours

  Turning twelve is a toast to tweens. To the parents, it’s a wistful goodbye to childhood. Before the March 16, 2020 enhanced community quarantine, two mommy friends and I were happily hatching a surprise party for our tweens. Our kids were childhood friends who shared the same birth month. Secret Viber invites were sent to the parents of their classmates and to close family. Then the news of the Covid-19 pandemic took over the headlines. Metro Manila was going to be on lockdown. The viber chat was shutdown with the cancellation of the party. The chicken nuggets and fries celebration was shelved. Michelle, Mika and Maddie would mark their memorable 12th year on this earth witnessing a global pandemic that would rock the world.
• 
  2020-04-22

  The 3Rs COVID-19 taught me

  COVID-19 pandemic shakes the entire human race and how the disease triggered the press button to let us all “slow-down” or “pause” to almost our entire usual goings remains an enigma to one and all
• 
  2020-04-10

  Lockdown 101

  My story is simple. It is about lessons learned while doing Lockdown 101, a crash course in life, in death, and everything in between.
• 
  2020-07-17

  A Warm Meal Shared

  It's my story in how something mundane like cooking a meal and the community of sharing a meal is affected severely by COVID 19. Since I live alone at present, it is difficult, let alone near impossible to share a meal with anyone else and the disconnect I feel affects me and possibly some people who have to live alone and no one to communicate with. It's also a story of longing forward to see my fiancée again and trying to live life with a semblance of normalcy in an uncertain world.
• 
  2020-07-17

  Food for the Family & for the Soul

  The Covid contagion found us without access to our usual weekend grocery trips. Luckily a Viber food community group we were invited to started posting restaurant suppliers in our area who were selling restaurant sizes cuts of meat, bakery wholesale suppliers started selling flour, sugar etc. Our pantry wasn’t going to go bare after all. With restaurant quality ingredients and more time to prepare food our family found special time to be in the kitchen. Not only was it therapeutic to prepare the meals, mealtime became even more meaningful. Dressing up the dinner table and exploring different dishes to cook felt like we were experiencing private dining everyday. We realized that this experience was even better than going out to dine in restaurants. This was the blessing of Covid-19. It brought us back to the sacredness of the home and the family table!
• 
  2020-07-10

  Payapa lang

  I took this picture of me - a selfie if you will - while enjoying an old Filipino music in my study room. I envisioned July as the month where lockdowns are lifted and everything is in control, but it was not the case as the government [continuously] reports spiking increases of active cases. Because of the news of increasing cases, government inaction and the recent battle of a media giant, I was having an anxiety and panic attacks. I realized that my hands were shaking, I have cold sweats and my body is trembling I [couldn't] breathe, I decided to play the song "Mabagal". All throughout I was enjoying the song, it gives me comfort, I decided to take a picture of my self enjoying the breeze behind the windows while the music play, this is the only time I felt peace in times of uncertainty. A picture of me at peace while there is fear of unknown and uncertainty behind me.