The Ultimate Summer Trip (Day 2): Baguio Part 2

Read about the entire 6-day trip here.

I promised to write about our actual tour around Baguio City yesterday, but something came up. You know what that is? A freaking cockroach went inside our air conditioner. I noticed a clicking sound when I turned it on, and when I investigated, I saw na the sound came from the cockroach trying to escape from the a/c. Ugh creepy! I already sprayed it with insecticide, but it didn't come out, and our bed is directly beside the air conditioner, so I didn't want us to sleep in the room.

Since we haven't had the time to have our a/c cleaned yet, we've been camping in my parents' bedroom drive yesterday. So I also wasn't able to blog haha.

So much for that segue. Let's now talk about Baguio!

Early next morning, we prepared to be toured around Baguio. Our driver slash tour guide, Mang Leo, said we're heading off to the farthest place first, which was Strawberry Farm in La Trinidad, Benguet.

Strawberry Farm, La Trinidad, Benguet  

Because strawberries cost a lot more if you pick them, (P400/kilo vs. P100/kilo of bought from the vendors), we didn't try it na. We just walked around the farm, took pictures, and bought lots of food from the many stalls.

The Ultimate Summer Trip (Day 1): Baguio Part 1

Read about the entire 6-day trip here.

After more than 2 weeks, I finally found the time to write about our 6-day trip. I kept writing 5 days in some of my old posts, and when I did the math, I realized 6 days pala. Oops!

We temporary said goodbye to Davao on March 21, a Saturday. You must know that I have classes on Saturdays and Sundays, so I was actually absent for two days. I didn't like to be absent from class, but we already had our trip booked last year when we expected real estate brokerage classes to begin in January and be done in February or early March. Long story short, buti nalang a maximum of 2 absences is allowable.

This is Yuri's second flight (first flight was to Cebu when he was just 7 months old), but this was the first time he got his own seat! He didn't stay in it, though.

We arrived in Manila at around 12:45 pm, and we haven't had any lunch yet save for the sandwiches we ate during the flight. However, we headed straight to our waiting driver and rented van to save time. We figured we can just pass by a drive-through and be on our merry way. Because some of us were late (ehem), we weren't able to leave NAIA until 2 pm.

There were 15 of us in our group, by the way, not including the driver. We went on this trip with my aunt, my cousins, my nephew, and some family friends.

But grabe ang traffic sa Manila that we never found the opportunity for a drive-thru. Grabe, I get annoyed here in Davao when I get stuck in traffic for 3 minutes. Dear Manileños, I admire your patience! As for probinsyana me, I'll stay here. Hee hee.

It was fun taking photos of milestones along the way, thanks to a hyper-zoom camera. I think we were more than 40 feet away in a moving vehicle when I took this shot. But I stopped taking photos when hyper-acidity hit me!

Obviously, everyone was getting hungry. We were munching on our snacks, but those are not enough, right? Ang tagal naming nakalabas sa Manila; it took us almost 3 hours yata. (Matagal na ba yun?) We were able to eat lunch only when we stopped over at Bulacan.

Our trip from there to Baguio was still long, obviously, but relatively easy because there were no more traffic jams especially along NLEX. Now, that's the kind of road trip I can tolerate!

It was already dark when we reached La Union and even darker when we entered Kennon Road. I swear, I will never go through that road again. The next time I need to visit Baguio, I will just hop on a plane. Road trips are not for me, so having to endure the winding Kennon Road for what must have been an hour was torture! I had a toddler with me pa, so double the torture. #chicken #carsickproblems

Online Shopping Made Easier with iprice

I have been shopping online since college, and I became almost fully dependent on it when I became a mom in 2012. I mean, who has time to go to the mall with a baby just to buy baby-friendly insect repellent or nature-approved household stuff? I certainly did not.

There was a time in 2013 when I had packages coming every week. I went to malls every week, too, but I did not have to buy there (except when there are sales). Almost everything we needed was taken care of by online shops.

However, despite the convenience of online shopping, I found myself wishing for one thing. You see, it can be frustrating to go from shop to shop to look for a particular thing. There were also times when it is difficult to accurately compare prices between shops. Sometimes, I wished there was a website that took care of this need and listed everything sold in major online shops so that we wouldn't have to waste precious time shop-hopping.

iprice must have heard this wish.

Officially Employed with the Perfect Gigs

I know it has been more than a week since we arrived from our vacay (which I promise to write about this week - promise), but this is my first Monday with my new job after the first weekend that I did not have to go to class. (I just graduated!)

Side note before I begin: I really miss going to class. I enjoyed every second of it, and now, I have my weekends back, but I kinda feel lonesome. Huhu. Not to mention board exams are fast approaching!

Back to the show. Oh yes, I have a new job. It's still homebased, but I'm actually employed now and not just a freelancer. I've been connected to a particular company since 2011 and have worked with them full-time since 2012, but I did not have an "employed" status. Nobody among us did as we were considered service providers.

The circumstance was fine because I controlled my own time and I could work and not work whenever I wanted to (which is, of course, subject to certain conditions). I also did not have to report to a particular employer though we worked with teams. The setup was perfect for a work-at-home mom, and I used to recommend the job to everyone.

I first started to see the downside of the job when I decided to get my own property. Since it was under my name, I needed to produce my own employment certificate. I could not get one from our company because my status was service-provider, not employee. It caused a lot of trouble on our part, but thanks to God, it all turned out well. I was never able to get an employment certificate bt the way.

I still continued to work for the company because, honestly, I loved the job. I like helping students improve their work and the thought that my suggestions and comments might have helped them attain a higher grade.

But early this year, if you remember, I got into a career dilemma as we underwent a lot of changes. Still undergoing changes as a matter of fact. And when I weighed my options, I realized that though I still wanted to improve as a teacher, it ceased to become the practical choice. Instead of earning a particular amount per hour, because of the changes, inevitably, my earnings also decreased; they were slashed into more than half. I knew then that I should start looking for new opportunities.

I started by accepting a part-time writing job for a client who owns the Christian company, Memory Cross. This was truly a blessing for me not only because my client is good (supervises but does not micro-manage, criticizes and praises) but also because my job helps me grow as a Christian. It also pays really well for a job that requires just two (2) articles per week.

Source: benziher.wordpress.com

My setup last month was to work this part-time job, work occasionally for my old job, and write freelance. Suffice to say, it was stressful and, financially, I had to keep borrowing from Job. In other words, the tiring setup was fruitless.

What You Can Sacrifice This Holy Week

Source: oakwoodfwb.com

I belatedly realized that this week pala is Holy Week. I blame that on not being fully employed (until today -  I will share with you the details soon!) and the jetlag from our trip.

Kung makajetlag, akala mo kung saan nanggaling. Luzon lang pala!

Anyway, I've been hearing and reading again promises to give up meat on Holy Friday. If you love eating meat and want to sacrifice something you love in order to deny yourself and focus on Jesus, by all means, go ahead. You have my full support (if it matters).

BUT

But if you're only giving up meat because many other people are doing it, you may be doing it just to fit in. In other words, the sacrifice is not for the Lord but for other people.

Also, if you're not into eating meat in the first place, what's the point of giving it up? And if you're going to replace pork with baked salmon or roast turkey, is it still sacrifice?