Every New Year’s Eve, I like to revisit the year that was. I’ve done it since 2011 and it’s been surprisingly nice seeing how the year went by – mostly.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
New Year Celebration
January
Another thing that’s been a yearly tradition is my videoke party every January 1st. It honestly started with just us three – Ryan, Mai and me. But I love that for two years now, the number of people that’s celebrated New Year with us has grown: Rej, Hazel, Dom and Ver. I can’t think of a better way to start the year right than this.
Sky’s Birthday and Baptism
January
Attended the birthday/baptism of Sky, the youngest child of Jackie, one of my closest friends. I was the proxy godmother of Anerine who couldn’t make it because she was abroad while Ryan was one of the godfathers to this beautiful kid.
Hangout with new friends
January
Met Da and Enzo at the gym. I don’t often hang out with these two especially these days but it’s always a treat to see them both. This was an impromptu dinner we had one weeknight after gym.
Chinese New Year with Friends
February
Chinese New Year was a non-working holiday and I spent it doing Body Jam marathon at the gym then had a spontaneous early dinner get together with friends afterwards. Good meal. Good company in the form of Rej, Jordan, Dom and Ryan.
My Valentine
February
I love how I spent Valentine’s Day in 2019. It was in the company of good friends. Being the single gal that I am, Valentine’s is usually an uneventful occasion. The past two years, I spent it at the gym working out but also going home right after because well the guy I hoped would ask me out never did.😅 So it’s Valentine’s spent over dinner and drinks (Rej’s influence!).
Big Bad Wolf Book Sale
February
Second time to attend Big Bad Wolf Book sale event and this time I got a VIP pass. I had so many awesome book finds at this event! Book shopping spree dream come true considering the books are super affordable!
Cambodia to see Angkor Wat
March
Always wanted to see visit Cambodia to witness the sun rise in Angkor Wat, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 2019 allowed me to do exactly that.
My Best Friend’s Low Key Birthday Celebration
April
Ryan’s 34th birthday had a low key celebration with some friends from the gym: Hazel, Jordan, Rej and Jen (who came a little later). This was also the day another travel plan hatched – Siargao!
Staycation at Henry’s Hotel, Manila
May
Bonsch and I had a girls’ staycation at Henry’s Hotel, Manila. We both thought Henry’s was a charming hotel and finally after countless months of talking about doing a staycation there, we finally did.
Read more about it here.
The Unexpected Travel to Pico de Loro, Hamilo Coast
June
Alfred invited me along with a couple more friends from the gym for an overnight stay in Pico de Loro, Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas. It was an unexpected invite because truth be told, before the invite, I’ve never actually spoken to Alfred (maybe a couple of hi’s and hello’s? I’m not even sure!). Perhaps I was invited as an after thought because Ryan was invited and people probably thought we always come together? 😆 My best friend ended up not being able to come but still I went. Openness and all. Okay so I did have Rej and Hazel there with me anyway so there was still some level of comfort.
My stay was nice (minus having to sleep in a bed where the aircon was on full blast and directed at me!). We swam. We ate. We took photos. We drank alcohol. And we chatted, thereby I ended up making a new friend – Alfred, who has turned out to be a mirror of myself (mostly when it comes to how he deals with guys he’s interested in romantically).
Read more about it here.
My Birthday Week
July
I turned 34 in July. On the actual day of my birthday, I celebrated it with Rej, Hazel, Dom and Ryan. Dinner and drinks at Aby Bistro. It was a spontaneous celebration. It started with Rej’s birthday greeting for me where he hinted about a dinner and drinks get together to which I happily said yes. Right after his Body Jam class where we danced to tracks from Jam 86 (a fave of mine!).
That weekend, I also invited some of my friends to try an escape room game. It was challenging and fun. Too bad we weren’t able to successfully breakout!😆
Read more about it here.
Body Jam Marathon on National Heroes Day
August
This year saw me attending more Body Jam classes. Long weekends spent at the gym, attending Body Jam marathons (when there’s one). I still love Rej’s classes the most.
Manila International Book Fair
September
I annually go to this book fair event as well because it’s a great time to buy the books on my reading list at a discounted price. I invited a fellow book lover to come this year, my friend, Enzo.
Hello FF Manila! Plus back to workout trainings
October
I decided to change my gym routine in October and so I changed my membership from having only home membership to passport membership which allowed me to workout at other FF branches. And since Rej also decided to go back to being a Personal Trainer on top of being a Body Jam class instructor, I signed him up as my trainer.
I’m actually having fun this time around even though the workouts can get so intense and exhausting. Also, so far, I haven’t felt that I’m-feeling-lazy-I-hope-my-trainer-cancels-or-doesn’t-show-up feeling.
Bangkok, Thailand with Mom
November
Went on another travel with mom in 2019. This time we traveled to Bangkok, Thailand with my Aunt Neneth, another friend of hers and my friend, Mai. It was a short trip of 4 days, 3 nights but we enjoyed our stay, exploring temples, eating Thai food and learning about Thailand and its history and culture.
Siargao Islands and Rej’s Birthday
December
I’m not a beach person but I found myself saying yes when Rej invited us to go to Siargao with him and some of his friends. I thought it could be fun considering it was the first time I was traveling with Jen, my friend from the gym plus Ryan and Jordan (high school pals turned gym buds).
Made a new friend too from this trip – Yum, the girl in brown shirt beside me. Talking to her is so easy, I feel like we’ve been friends for a long time. Incidentally, Rej’s birthday fell on the second day of our stay in Siargao so I got to celebrate his birthday with him this time around.
It was five lovely days that I spent in the island. We ate a lot, did some island hopping, posed a lot for photos worthy of posting on IG and we drank a whole lot of booze. It’s definitely one for the books this travel!
2019 was a really good year for me. Light and happy. And looking back at these photos, I realized what my 2019 was all about – it was all about my relationships – of making new ones and deepening the old ones.