Money gives you a choice. Or it can imprison you. What makes the difference? It’s how you care for your money, how you water it, nurture it and have the patience to see it grow.

The last couple of days, I’ve been bingeing on White Lotus, a dark comedy on HBO about a bunch of privileged folks on holiday. The characters are flawed and unlikeable, yet there’s something that hooks you. ( Also, Jennifer Coolidge is terrific in it)

The first morning I woke up here in Kichu Resort, I have never slept more soundly. My room is near the river, and my bedside window shows the lushness of Paro, Bhutan. This place is quarantine heaven. A lot of people asked me, “How will you survive the 21 days?” 

It’s been almost two years since I’ve been on an international flight. I took three flights to get to Bhutan. The feeling was surreal to travel again finally. For many of us, we feel wanderlust after being cooped up in our homes.

“When you screw up, you want to identify the person. It’s how the human mind works. But we have a no-blame culture. We blame the problem rather than the person.”

My favorite fairytale is the story of the poor boy, Jack, and the beanstalk. The story starts with his mom giving him a cow to sell to make ends meet. On the way to the market, he trades the cow for five magic beans. His mom gets angry that there is no cold cash in his hands.

I owned a Mexican tequila bar for five years. And being surrounded by Latina waitresses, you start thinking about your femininity and beauty.

My first time ever encountering a needle and syringe program was in Melbourne. I interviewed a friend and volunteer named Chito for a radio story. And he told me that Christmas was one of the saddest and most demanding times for drug users.

Working from home has given me the freedom to prepare my meals. I love eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. These moments are the only times in the day I can be present with such ease. I usually have an idea of what I would like to eat, when hunger strikes.

True Happiness is not about being the best.
being the smartest.
being the wealthiest.
being the wittiest.
being the most beautiful.

spoke to a friend recently about the idea of a late bloomer, a person who discovers their abilities later than usual.
She is in her 50s. I am in my 30s. We chuckled at calling ourselves ‘late bloomers.’
Then, it hit me that in our culture, we often glorify the overachievers and early adopters.
We call them lucky or deserving.

There is nothing more freeing than knowing that the ego is an insatiable beast. That no matter how hard you work, it would never be satisfied.

Hope and grief are two kinds of friends.

Hope is the kind of friend that gives you a reason to wake up.

And grief is the kind of friend that pulls up the shade in your when all you want to do is hide.

No one likes to receive bad news, even if it’s the truth.
Last week, I received bad news. And it made me reflect a lot on the common saying— honesty is the best policy.

Is it? Something is lacking in that principle.

We live in a selfish and narcissistic world, where genuine acts of service come by rare. We’re always thinking about what we need, what we want, and what we can get out of a situation. When was the last time you hit “pause” and asked another person these questions:
Are you hungry? Can I help you today? What can I do for you?

How A Daily Journal Can Save Your Mind

The first expression I learned while living in Australia was “No worries,”— meaning “do not worry.” or “no problem.”

I said this phrase a lot when I wanted to show I was calm even if I was not. A year before the pandemic, I lived alone in the Philippines. I was coming to terms with the end of a 10-year relationship. I was not in the healthiest and happiest place.

I came across this humorous article, “What Building A Lego Sculpture Taught Me About My Relationship.” It made me think about the lessons we can learn from playing LEGO and applying it to our relationships.

Since starting the podcast in the last few months, I’m confronted by many stories on relationships riddled with infidelity.

I’ve met women who don’t trust men. And vice versa. I’ve heard that life is a risk, and there is no way you’ll know if someone will be loyal to you. I refuse to believe this premise.

In The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle wrote, “Many love relationships, after the initial euphoria has passed, actually oscillate between ‘love’ and hate, attraction and attack.”

This quote reminded me of toxic relationships and why we choose to stay in them.

“You can turn something that seems nothing into something really beautiful all the time. This is actually a good life. Basically, it’s not just an Instagrammable life. It’s something that I’d want to wake up to.”

Kitty Bunag is a lover of beauty. She is passionate about design, art, and photography. No matter what crisis life throws at her, she makes sure art is in her life.

We are experts at lying. Not a day goes by where we don’t lie.

TRUTH #1 — We lie at least once or twice a day.
Studies prove that honesty is not the best policy. Lying has become a simple life condition. We have endless motivations for lying— to save face, avoid hurting people, impress others, social lubricant, or prevent conflict.

I’ve noticed that people are cracking in the countless number of zoom calls and instant messages I’ve had. We’ve been trying to hold it together since the pandemic began.
We post daily on social media, showing our most photogenic and happy selves. But we are having a shitty time. Why can’t we admit it?

When you know, you know.

Just tonight, we had Adrienne and Yu Cheol, a young interracial couple that met in Korea. They got married last year. And for most girls in their thirties obsessing over Kdrama, they are living the dream.

All you have to do is learn how to become
a true k-drama leading man or an oppa.

An oppa means ‘older brother.’ This Korean term also refers to any male that a girl feels close to, such as a brother, friend, or boyfriend.

Have you ever looked up the meaning of grit? You’ll see that it means “courage and resolve; strength of character.” I associate this word with Andrea Barrica, our guest for this week’s 30 Questions with Thriving Women (Episode 5).

All you need to do is use it. Your luck might change.

A common sentiment I hear from people is that virtual dating is an impossible task. We took all these missing elements for granted before covid-19— physical touch, face-to-face conversation, and real-life quality time. Right now, dating feels like playing minesweeper, where one must stay clear of hidden mines and bombs.

Breakups are tough. It’s a different form of grief, a loss of a person’s presence and all the memories that come with that relationship. No one can ever really prepare for it. Yet, we all experience ‘the breakup pain’ at one point in our lives— whether it’s young love or a more mature one.

Learn radical acceptance of the process.
It’s never going to get better.
Nothing will ever make that feeling go away.
Nothing you will ever achieve will feel enough.
Develop yourself.
Care for yourself.
Don’t focus on the potential.

Second best? Chat with an entrepreneur for an hour.
You’ll get a masterclass in grit.
Meet Andrea Barrica, a first-generation Filipino-American. She runs O.school, an online resource where people can learn about sexuality and pleasure. No judgment and all science-based.

To love and cherish,
till death do us part.

I won’t deny that in every wedding I’ve attended, I look forward to the vows. That is the moment that two people make a pact of loyalty.

Or, are we better off being self-taught?
At school, I learned cursive penmanship, math, and speed reading. I would never place these interests in my dating profile.

All of these subjects never prepared me for dating and relationships. No one explains how to approach love, infatuation, and frustrations.

Ben Mercer, a former professional rugby player turned #1 Amazon Best Selling Author of Fringes – Life On The Edge of Professional Rugby
I chat with Ben Mercer, a writer, and former professional rugby player, on his eating habits and whether there’s a relation to the potential for success.