One year as Little Miss Independent

The sun has shone again.. Life goes on.

I wasn't really in the mood to blog today but I guess I should, just to mark one special milestone in my life. Today, my friends, marks the first year of my independence. Yep, I moved out of my parents' house exactly a year ago! Beat that, all you people who made a bet that I won't last a few months! (And you call yourself my friends?? :D)

I didn't think my parents would agree to my leaving home. After all, even though I am not an only child (I am the eldest, can you believe it? Even I myself sometimes can't LOL) my parents still treated me as if I am the dainty, fragile one (and yeah, maybe I am). And to think I do not know how to cook! (But don't worry, I do know how to clean the house and wash dishes.) I mean, what would I eat? I possibly cannot subsist on takeout or instant noodles alone! Or can I? I really didn't think they would agree. So what I did was I looked for a house first with my would-be housemates Asther and Ruther and paid my share before I broke the news to them. When I did I could almost hear their braincells thinking of a way to get my crazy ideas out of my head, but after a couple of rebuttals and me promising I would take care of myself and I would not let myself be pregnant out of wedlock (haha!) they were sold! They even helped me move. Well, maybe they just wanted to see where I would live and ensure I am not running away to elope :D

Asther, Ruther, Chao and I lived together harmoniously for seven months (we even called our apartment The RACK's) before Ruther and Chao decided to live somewhere else that would be more convenient for them. A 3-bedroom apartment is too big for Asther and me so we looked for a better place. And we found one! Moving was easy as well because it was also in the same subdivision. We now live in a studio apartment we call our pad. I actually like this pad better since it's on the 3rd floor - therefore the temperature is cooler and the view, especially of the sunset, is just wow - and the amenities are better.

So much has happened since then, and as I look back on the photos collected over the past year  (and believe me, I have a LOT!) I cannot help but smile. I might not have learned how to cook (yet!), but I have learned a great deal of other things. Like angelfishes cannot live with goldfishes in the same aquarium because they will die after just two days. Or that laundromats impose a minimum so even if you brought just 3kgs worth of dirty clothes to be laundered they will still charge you for 5kgs. Or that  the two hours it takes me to commute to and from Navotas everyday for work is really tiring and so now I should be thankful because I only need at least 20 minutes to commute from our pad and that I can use all those extra hours for other productive things - like reading books or watching DVDs (hey, they are productive because by doing them I enrich my mind! :D) But these are just scratching the surface. The lessons I learned by being independent deserves another blog entry :)

glorious view of the sunset from our third floor flat

how can you not love that?

me with my housemate Asther

let me share a photo of my pet bichir fishes Aziraphale and Anathema (you may also call them Yin and Yang :D)

today is also their 5th month with me :)

And yes, I can subsist on takeout or instant noodles alone! Today also marks a year wherein half of it I did not eat dinner :D

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Relief operations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy are still ongoing. Click here for a comprehensive Google spreadsheet on how we can help. Likewise let us pray for the victims of the earthquake in Indonesia and tsunami in Samoa. It is really awful and I do hope we won't get any of these again anytime soon :(