So I’ve been back at work for a couple of days, and did realize? I didn’t want to be there anymore. I want to leave now. I set a deadline for myself. Wait for this huge project that I am a part of to go live in production then I can look seriously for another job. But now that they kept on pushing the live date later and later, I am just tempted to leave and not look back. I mean at this point, I just really need to think of myself. I don’t really care about the job anymore.

I’ve been really neglecting posting. This was supposed a daily log and I’ve been posting weekly at the most. It’s been really difficult for me. Let’s just say that I’ve been having some difficulty getting the motivation to get things done. Yeah. Rough.

Let me see, the last time I posted was Thursday. What happened since then?

I went to a karaoke on Friday. I had fun. I haven’t done that in a while. A long while. So that was a welcomed break. But since they decided to do it a little bit later than we normally do happy hour, Chris and I decided to kill time in the International District. We had some poke for dinner and went to Japanese bookstore. We were there for a few hours. Got lost in the ailes for pens and notebooks, and mangas. I spent quite a few $$ because you know, I have no discipline when it comes to books. But I had fun so I am not complaining too much.

Saturday was chore day. This is what it really means to be an adult. Go to work five days a week, and weekends are spent catching up on chores. I did laundry, cooked, and washed dishes. My hun and I didn’t get to hang out, he wasn’t feeling well and I was sporting a headache the whole day. I think it was hangover for having only two beers the night before. But my hun said it could be a combo of beig sleep deprived and lack of food. I still think that it was because of hangover.

Today, let me see. I had to ran errands. Why? Because again, being an adult sucks. Did some groceries, got a car wash, went to the pet store to grab some treats and a new bed for my 18 yr old dog, and then went to Costco. Washed dishes again today, and threw away the trash.

I did get to hang out with my love which was nice and always welcome. Keeps me out of my head for a little bit. What did we do? Of course, video chatted and watched some episodes of The Great British Baking Show, we finally decided to continue with The Dropout, watched an episode of Ugly Americans, and watched a live action movie of Bleach (2018).

The Great British Baking Show (Season 11 or Collection 8). We watched three episodes today. First episode – Cake Week. We got introduced to a new set of bakers during the first year of the pandemic. There some bakers that we liked off the bat. We both like Peter. He said that he is more accustomed to baking gluten-free bakes compared to regular ones because of his brother who is gluten-intolerant. I instantly like Mark L. HIs laugh is just contagious. I instantly did not like Sura. I just did not the carelessness resulting to Dan’s bake for the technical round to fall on the ground. Like seriously. Peter got the Star Baker for this week. Second episode – Biscuits Week. Still enjoyed Peter’s bakes. I am personally rooting for him to win. Dave – the soon to be dad – did really well during this week. He won Star Baker. Still on defense on him though. I might end up liking him in the later episodes. We were kind of surprised that Rowan was not eliminated during this second episode. Third week – Bread Week, Paul’s favorite week. Peter struggled and so did Dan. Star Baker curse? Mark L and Marc E did well for this week. But there was no surprise that Marc E got Star Baker. He excelled with his bread bakes. I also started liking Hermine on this episode. The wing-it attitude was so refreshing. Rowan went home, not surprised. He struggled the first two episodes too. 

The Dropout. My hun finally decided that it was time to pick up again. We watched two episodes (episodes 5 and 6). This show just annoys the heck out of me. Not because the show sucked but because of what happened with Theranos. Fraud all the way through. I did not like the Mark, the Lab Director, was portrayed. I read Bad Blood and I felt like the book was bit better on how he was described and how he acted. Sure he ended up as a sort of source on both mediums but I did not like how the show just showed him as just a follower. Turning the blind eye to pretty much what was happening. We also got introduced to the two whistle blowers – Tyler Schultz and Erika Cheung. And of course John Carreyrou. I mean I was also not happy with how Tyler Schultz’s character was portrayed. I felt like the book showed having a bit more balls than the show did. But I mean, maybe that was how it really happened. He has a bit more of a blind adoration going on on the show. But again who knows what really happened before he became a whistleblower. The death of Ian Gibbons brought tears to my eyes. Why? Because of how he got fucked by this company. My hun and I have two episodes left on this mini-series. 

Ugly Americans. This is a cartoon from Comedy Central. And it was weird. I mean, it was definitely interesting. I would be down to continue with it. My hun was laughing at my facial expressions. Let me see if I can make a concise description of what the show is based on the first episode. Hmmm…The animated was about a social worker, Mark Lilly, based in an alternative New York City – a city inhabited by monsters and the other variety of creatures and characters. For example, Mark’s roommate is a zombie, he is dating his boss – who I think is a devil, well she has horns anyway and has devilish voice at times, he also works with newly migrated “people” – like a brain with the brainstem and spine (yes, just a brain that makes squishy sounds). You get the idea.

Bleach (2018). A live action film adaptation of one of my favorite anime. My hun wanted to watch it so he recommended for us to try it. He enjoyed the movie. He said he would give it a 6 rating. But did I think about it? It was a really decent adaptation. I appreciated the fact that it did not stray too much from the anime. Of course, there were some creative liberties taken but that was understandable. It was a movie afterall. The CGI for the three hollows were good. I liked Ishida’s bow. I had some issues though. I mean, I really think that they could’ve worked more on the costume. It translated as a cheap cosplay costume – especially Kuchiki Byakuya’s costume. At least for me. I couldn’t get over of how short Abarai Renji was in the movie. Don’t even get me started with Chad. I still enjoyed it enough, and I understand that film adaptations of anime will never truly capture the full essence of the anime. I am glad that my hun suggested this but I think this is where a draw a line on live action anime adaptations. 

Anyway, going to end it here. I want to read a bit before sleeping. I started reading one of mangas that I got on Friday, Fangs. I started reading this yesterday but I want to ration it for myself. Mangas are not cheap! So I want to read an episode tonight or maybe just finish volume one. And then pick up given.

Like I said in my previous post, my hun and I did not really get to go anywhere during my visit. Not that we did not want to, there were a few places that we wanted to check out, places that we wanted to visit, and things that we wanted to do. However, they were not really a priority. The main thing that we wanted to do was be together. That and the weather really did not permit us too much of anything. It was raining every day since I got here. All good though, like I said the main thing that was important to us is that we are together. So we were happy just to being home and cuddling.

What did we end up watching?

Escape Room (2019). This movie is a psychological thriller about six strangers who got invited to participate in an escape room challenge. These strangers found themselves in a maze of deadly rooms and they need to use their wits to survive. So essentially a survival of the fittest movie. My hun enjoyed this movie the first time he saw it, so this was definitely his suggestion. And I enjoyed it as well. Sure there were some intense moments, I mean again, this is a survival of the fittest kind of thing so there were definitely some scenes that made me say, WTF. But other than that, I love the premise of the movie. I think the movie was executed well. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021) is also available on Hulu right now, so that is on our list to watch movies.

Deddoman Wandarando (Deadman Wonderland). My hun had watched this anime before and he was very hesitant on suggesting this anime for us to watch. This anime is about a nine grader named Ganta and him trying to survive the Deadman Wonderland prison when he was framed for a crime he did not commit. Anyway, I would not say anymore, since I would spoil a lot of things if I did. But I actually recommend this anime. I just wish there’s another season. A heads up though, the last few episodes were dark and intense. I loved it.

The Great British Bake Off. I am not going to give a recap of all the episodes that we watched while I was there. I’m glad that my hun’s bet won the season. We were sad when Helena got eliminated during Episode 5: The Roaring Twenties. We really think her ideas were so uniquely her that we were disappointed when her showstopper Vampire’s Kiss Rasperry Vodka Cake did not deliver. I was also sad when Henry went home during the quarter finals. His showstopper Chanderlier Picnic Pie did not save him. And I cannot blame the judges. Episode 9: Patisserie week pissed me off. I really hated how judges made comments on David’s showstopper – how it was a cake during patisserie week. And I keep telling my hun, Alice and Steph made cakes as well. And I didn’t hear them say jack shit about it. Whatever. We were glad David won. He definitely came into the finals as the underdog. Never won a star baker at all. Always a second but he was never considered for a star baker. But you know what, he won when it mattered. 

Tokyo Guru (Tokyo Ghoul). After the ending of season 1, we were really interested on what will happen to Kaneki. This anime is dark…and intense. And I’m okay with that. With the subject matter, I don’t mind the blood everywhere. But Kaneki’s character growth…or rather character shift was definitely interesting. His constant battle with his mind and control was heartbreaking to watch. You can feel his pain when he told Amon that he does not want to eat anymore. He got a taste of what eating a fellow ghoul can do, and he couldn’t stop. I really am very interested on how his story goes. Right now he seems to be struggling to control his ghoul. My hun’s favorite character at the moment is Juuzou Suzuya. That one is definitely an unhinged character. Understandable for sure consider how he was raised by a ghoul. He was definitely one to watch out for.  

Pleasantville (1998). This was definitely a rewatch for me. I’ve seen this movie so many times already. It’s fantasy comedy-drama movie that centered around two siblings who ended up trapped in a 1950s TV show. It seemed like such a light hearted movie at the beginning. But the tone speaks volumes. From personal repression to a bigger political conflict. From being afraid of change and afraid of something different. It’s definitely a deeper look at a societal construct. My hun liked it, that I’m sure of.

Vampires Suck (2010). It’s a parody film of Twilight and New Moon. I mean, I am not about to dissect a parody movie. My hun and I went into it knowing that it will be a silly movie. We were not expecting anything else from it. And because of that we enjoyed it.

New Moon (2019). Well, I cannot let our vacation pass without squeezing a Twilight Saga movie in there. Since we already watched Twilight months ago, it was for the sequel. And all I can say is my hun hates Bella. And that is fair. I really have nothing to say about the movie. I have been impartial to the series for a long time. I have issues of course. The relationship between Bella and Edward was just problematic from the beginning. Edward was a dick. And Bella was just annoying. 

Crime Scene Kitchen. We watched the first episode on season 1. Interesting premise. Weekly, the teams will guess what was dessert was baked using the clues left on the crime scene kitchen. Nothing much to say really, I think I just wish that the tone of the show was a bit darker. Comedy doesn’t reall fit in a “crime scene” fake or otherwise.

I feel like I missed some things that we watched. But this is a good summarization of the things that we spent time on during our vacation. So we will be watching more Tokyo Ghoul, The Great British Bake Off, might consider continuing on with SpyxFamily. We’ll see. I’m still trying to convince him to give given a chance. We also have some movies we want to watch as well. Just waiting on when they will be streaming on our subscription platforms.

These last few days have been bliss. My hun and I really didn’t plan on what to do during my visit. I mean we did have a few things lined up but we were more than happy to just wing it. A lot of the things that we thought of doing are all outdoor things but since the weather has been rainy and humid and hot, we just decided to just really take it day by day.

The one thing that I really appreciated was the domesticity we had. Being at home, doing errands together, cooking together, doing chores together. Really just being with each other was the thing that I wanted. I really didn’t care if we go out or not.

Friday, we went to an Asian store and did a little bit of grocery shopping. We found a nice sweet shop a few feet away from it. So what did we do? Of course, we had to try it out. And it was amazing. My hun of course got peanut butter chocolate things. We tried some cannolis. And I had to try their mint-flavored oreo thingies. The shop did not disappoint. We also watched a movie – Escape Room, some episodes of Bob’s Burgers, and episodes of The Great British Baking Show. That night, we also read together. I started reading Homicide and Halo Halo, the second book to the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery Series. And my hun started reading A Dirty Job. And yes, we both gave each other a book to read.

Saturday, the morning was spent in the ER – not going to give context to this. All I am saying is that it was neither of us who needed to see an MD. After that, we ended up going to McDonald’s because I was craving some salty fries. Then we ended up going to KFC so my hun could introduce me to their fries. It was good. It definitely hit the spot for me. We stopped by CVS and Dollar General on the way back home. I ended up cooking some pork sinigang for dinner. My hun cooked and stayed in the kitchen with me. He told me that he was a little bit intimidated by the dish because of how many vegetables I planned on putting in the dish. The way he dissected the dish as he was eating was adorable. He ended up liking it, he said he couldn’t taste the veggies so he liked it. The only thing that he didn’t like was baby bokchoy. I told him that could be substituted with string beans next time. We ended up binging and finishing Deadman Wonderland after dinner. To say that the last few episodes of that anime were intense was a huge understatement. It got intense and dark so fast.

Sunday, we went to the laundromat – his folks needed to do some laundry. My hun and I decided to have brunch at Waffle House. Of course, I didn’t really expect the place to be able to cater to my allergies. And I was fine with that, as long as I don’t really stack my sensitivities up then I should be fine. But my hun, being the sweet person he is, asked our server if they would be able to use just the yolks for the eggs on my dish. They did. And we really appreciated that. A lot of places won’t even bother. At least the only allergen I had there was the cheese. And it was fine. We introduced his folks to the Filipino store/restaurant located next to the laundromat. And introduced them to some Filipino snacks and food. My hun and I cooked braised pork belly for dinner. We finished the season of The Great British Baking Show. I got annoyed with comments about David’s showstopper during the semifinals and I wanted him to win just because he was such an underdog going to the finals. And those comments. “He made a cake” on patisserie week. Well, hello, two other semifinalists also made cakes for their showstopper. So boo. 

Today. Monday, we went to the laundromat – we needed to do some laundry ourselves. We stopped by The Filipino store/restaurant again while the clothes were in the wash. We had brunch, we got two entrees + rice combo with calamansi juice. They also gave us free sinigang broth. It was a good lunch. After, we went home My hun watched me play The Stanley Parable. I was able to get some different endings. My hun seemed to enjoy my reactions to the journey to getting different endings. I loved the narrator’s reaction every time I didn’t follow his instructions. It was fun. We ended up watching a few episodes of Tokyo Ghoul after dinner. His mom cooked arroz con gandules, green beans, and pork tenderloin for dinner. It was good. I enjoyed every variation of cooked rice I ever had before, so it was no surprise that I love this one as well. 

What are the plans for tomorrow? Go back to the sweet shop, buy a couple of boxes of sweets, one for my hun and one for me to take back. Then stop by a store to get an insulated bag for the sweets. I really don’t want to think about tomorrow, to be honest. The time my hun and I together are too short for me. For us. One week is really just not enough. I just want to start our life together already. But until that day comes, both of us will just have to be okay with the situation. 

Holy crap. I’ve been absent for a good while. Let’s see – I am on PTO and on the other side of the country to visit my love. 

Today is our second year anniversary and our second year in a long-distance relationship. The situation is not ideal but we make do with what we are given. Eventually, this situation will change but for right now, we will deal. 

I took a redeye from the West Coast on 09.14. To say that my anxiety was triggered was a huge understatement. I am not a big fan of flying alone, to be honest. But good thing that I passed out right as the plane was moving on the runway. I didn’t even realize when the plane took off. I got here at 6 AM on 09.15. My hun picked me up at the airport and with no fail – like the other times I’ve been to this airport – I got lost. No idea how or why that happens, I just get lost. Regardless, he was there waiting for me right next to the assigned baggage claim carousel for my flight. 

The first thing that we did, aside from the obviously given kissing and hugging each other, we got breakfast. Where? I wanted Dunkin’ Donuts. Unfortunately, Dunkin’ is not an easy place to find where I’m based, so I was more than happy to enjoy it. I mean, definitely, this was definitely not a Roma-proof breakfast by any means, but I was happy regardless.

Next stop? Target. I had to get some necessities that I forgot to pack for this trip. After that, we drove to his place and just relaxed before our dinner date. We decided to do our anniversary dinner a few days earlier since the 18th fell on a weekend and that would be busy for sure. I normally don’t get dressed up anymore and often just do not wear makeup at all. But I was more than happy to get dolled up for the night. 

Location: Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Why did we choose this restaurant? We wanted to have a bit more of an upscale feel for our second year anniversary. We spend most of the year away from each other, so we want to at least splurge a little bit for this dinner. We got to the restaurant and we were escorted to a table with rose petals on it. With the hostess and our server greeting us “Happy Anniversary”. It was cute. Did I take those rose petals with me when we left the restaurant? Yes. I did. The ambiance was really nice. The restaurant was dark, quiet, and definitely not crowded, regardless of the fact that there were already people seated when we got there. Even as the place got even more crowded as our dinner went on, I never felt crowded and the place didn’t get noisy either. It was a peaceful and delightful dinner.

Drinks: I ordered a Blueberry Mojito. It was a very refreshing drink. It was not strong at all, which I was not surprised about. I mean this is a restaurant after all and not a bar. And I appreciated the fact that I was able to enjoy the food we ordered. The mojito definitely tasted like juice to me and had the potential to be a very dangerous drink. My hun ordered a Blackberry Sidecar. That was a bit more of a stronger drink in my opinion. I could definitely taste the alcohol but good nonetheless. My hun enjoyed it and that really was all that mattered.

Appetizer: We chose the Veal Osso Buco Ravioli. It’s a saffron-infused pasta, sautéed baby spinach, veal demi-glace. And it was good. It wasn’t heavy at all despite of it being pasta. The spinach was good – my hun couldn’t stop eating it even though he does not like vegetables. So I will take that as a win. There was also complimentary bread and butter provided – and oh goodness, the bread was fresh and so good! And when we dipped the bread to the veal sauce, yeah, that was heaven.

Entree: We both got medium rare ribeye steaks and a side of garlic mashed potatoes. The mashed potato was smooth and creamy. And steaks were perfectly seasoned, juicy, and tender. It definitely cut like butter. We enjoyed every bite we had! Despite being full, we couldn’t stop eating it because the steaks were that good. We did end up taking some leftovers home. And despite eating the leftovers at 2 AM the next day, and the steaks being in the fridge for a few hours, it was still tender and oh so juicy.

Will we come back again? Most definitely, when? Not sure yet. 

Last week was a bit too busy. Anyway, I’m here now. Not going to discuss all the things that happened last week. Let’s just say that it was overwhelming and annoying.

I’m getting ready for my coming trip on Wednesday night. No I have not packed. But I’m slowly collating my stuff for packing. But yes, I am going on a trip to visit my hun on the other side of the country. Finally.

My hun and I didn’t get the chance to hang out yesterday. We chose to do some chores, get some stuff done before I leave in a few days. The air quality was bad. Ash everywhere. And I was struggling because my allergies were bad, and my breathing was labored. I went to H Mart. And then I went to Target. Yeah, I had fun at Target. 

My hun and I did hang out today. We watched a few anime episodes and a couple of episodes of the baking show.

Tokyo Ghoul. We finished the first season. And Kaneki’s character development was amazing. Embracing that he is now a ghoul was definitely a turning point for him. How he got there though was a bit tough to watch. We definitely did not expect how intense this anime actually was. The last few episodes of the season involves Kaneki being tortured by Jason. It was difficult to watch but I also couldn’t look away – why? I have been waiting for a shift in his character and I had a feeling that it would happen during the torture scenes. And I was right. That last fight scene was…yeah. Yep.

Deadman Wonderland. My hun was very hesitant to suggest this one for us to watch because of the intensity of it. But after watching Tokyo Ghoul, he said that maybe we should check it out. The first episode definitely caught me off guard. The massacre was definitely…something. I definitely had some questions. Like how the 14 year old became the scapegoat and why in hell the investigation just jumped on that. My head was spinning because did no one question the logistics of what happened at all? NO ONE. Make it make sense. Anyway, premise is definitely interesting and I can’t wait to meet the other characters with the Branches of Sin ability. I know this is a gladiator-esque death match anime, and I’m all for it. I want to see where this goes.

Great British Bake Off. Episode 2 which was Biscuit Week. And Jamie went home. I personally think that he was not ready for this kind of competitive pressure. I think it’s very different doing something for fun vs if you are competing against a bunch of people with the same hobby. I still love seeing the bakers help each other. I just really find it so refreshing. Granted I have not seen the US version of the show and I have nothing to compare this to, but I feel like the environment between the two would be different. Episode 3 was Bread Week. And Amelia got eliminated. I still think Henry is my favorite but I am struggling to pick my second one. I keep on see-sawing between Alice and maybe Steph. I don’t know. My hun still likes David and Michael.

Tomorrow is a new work week. And my anxiety is definitely triggered. I have a headache, could be a stress headache. My hun and I didn’t make plans to hang out but I know that I will be packing little by little for the next few days.

Today was a long day. My work day started way too early. 6:30 AM. Yeah, never again. From now on, any meeting earlier than 7:30 AM is a NO. I was onsite so early that I was hearing things. All the time that I was in a meeting, I kept hearing the doorbell. And every time that I check, there was no one there. Yeah. Never again.

It was busy. People were visiting the lab. So the office was packed. And a lot of food was available. They were nice enough to get some Roma-proof variety, which I definitely appreciated. I believe there were two more people going to be coming in tomorrow. So we shall see how crowded the place would be.

My hun and I got to start another season of The Great British Baking Show. The first thing I thought was, that there were a lot more youngins this season. I am already leaning toward Henry – a young literature student. Priya – an aspiring novelist. I think my love is leaning toward David – the health advisor, who baked a healthy fruit cake and the snake birthday cake, and also Michael – the clumsy one, who cut himself three times during the signature round. My hun said that Michael’s clumsiness reminds him of me. We shall see.

My CTS is flaring up today. Actually, for the sake of transparency, it’s been pretty flared up for quite a while now. It’s just that today, it’s been really bothersome. I was tempted not to type anything today, but I figured why not? I can make a short post. I need to evaluate how ergonomic my home and work stations for ergonomics. I raised my seat now using a seat cushion here at home, so maybe this will help. But I need to look at my station at work. Evaluate it really carefully.