special birthdays

A little something I made for my friend AJ's birthday.

AJ never really celebrated his birthday with the group before, so his family decided to organize a little surprise for him on his special day. As a gift, I thought of making him something simple and personal that could come from the group. Just took some stamps, ribbons, paper, cardboard, and a puncher to make this present!

"AJ is amazing because ______" plus a birthday message from his friends written on the back.                   

Happy Birthday AJ! It was great seeing you again, being in your house for the FIRST time, eating the amazing food prepared by your family, meeting your UST friends and just spending time with
you on your special day. Thank you!

The day after AJ's birthday was followed by another celebration. A birthday of someone I'm not really close to; someone whom I have exchanged more "hi's" with than words in a conversation.

I didn't get the chance to really know Paolo Mallari as a person, and it's unfortunate that it is from his passing that I learned about how much of an amazing guy he was. I just always knew him as an acquaintance in Luke 18 and school, but more importantly, as my friend Sasa's boyfriend. But after seeing all the love Pao, his family and Sasa received during his wake, and after hearing all the stories about him and all the things he had done to touch the hearts of all the people that paid their respects, I am inspired. I'm not sure if it was said by the priest or a friend during the mass, but there was a mention about Pao being so good at doing the little things, and these little things affected people greatly, which eventually became big things to everyone around him. This is something that really hit me, and now that I've seen and heard just some of the wonderful small things Pao had done, I am so moved. I realized how much small things can lead to great lessons, memories, and impacts on others, and how it can make someone, like Pao, who did an amazing job as a son, brother, friend, cousin and boyfriend, so great.

I know it's very unfortunate for Pao's loved ones and for the world to lose such an amazing guy, but personally I think that it is because of each individual in Pao's life that he had become the person that he was, and the person that he will always be remembered as. Everyone in Pao's life played a major role in sending him to heaven, and I'd like to congratulate everyone for that. There is probably nothing more fulfilling than being a part of the life of someone like Pao, who at a very young age, gets to stand by God and watch over all his loved ones.

Thank you Pao for the lessons that you have left us all with; for teaching us never to take any person, event, or the chance of a tomorrow for granted.

Lanterns in the sky for Paolo's 22nd birthday.

RIP Paolo Mallari.

pampanga chair

Anyone interested in buying this beautiful chair? I convinced my mom not to sell it because I really liked it, so she allowed me to keep it as long as it stayed in my room. But as I was cleaning and rearranging some things, I realized that the chair took up too much space. I tried looking for space in my siblings' rooms but there was no place for it. So now I'm finally giving in and putting it up for grabs. 

Beautiful, sturdy chair made from Pampanga! Really nice stand-alone piece of furniture to add to your lanai area or living room.

EDIT: The chair is made of ratan and is patterned after Kenneth Cobonpue's designs.

Text or message me on FB if you're interested! You can also email me at danielagamboa76@gmail.com.

life goes on

Words of Marc and Angel Hack Life stamped and pinned. I left my stamps out after using it for a birthday card weeks ago because I wanted to use them to label some things. Then I remembered some of the lines I read from Marc and Angel and decided to stamp and pin one on my little board.

zambales video

Here's a video of our Zambales trip which was shot and edited by Alec Yatco. Our getaway to Capones Island!

zambales round 2

Manila heat is terrible. Movement or no movement, you're bound to sweat unless you're followed by an electric fan 24/7 or are situated in an airconditioned room. The bagong ligo feeling now only lasts me about five minutes (or less) from the time I step out of the shower, and by the time I'm fully dressed, I'm already sweating like a pig. It's crazy. Headaches now come more often than they usually do because the heat just really gets to me, so I'm left in bed trying to sleep the headache away... sweating. I can't turn on my aircon so often because we're trying to keep our electric bill at a decent price, so most of the time the electric fan (blowing out hot air) will have to do. The only way to really appreciate this kind of heat is at the beach, which is what my friends and I did a week ago in Zambales.

The initial plan was to surf in Zambales and stay at The Circle Hostel for the weekend. But since the water was flat and the Circle was full, we went with the alternative plan and stayed at a tito's house located in Iba, about 40 minutes away from the dock of our activity place, and decided to spend the day at Capones island. My friend Carla's friend Lui organized a trip to Capones island and prepared all the food and boards we were going to need. My friends and I were actually Lui's guinea pigs because it was the first time he took out a group and organized the food and activities for a decent price. He put together a flat surf day package that is inclusive of a fish and barbecue lunch, a boat ride to an island or cove, and paddle boarding. Here's the official poster.

Here are some photos taken by Alec Yatco of the beautiful Capones island.

Unfortunately, some parts of the island and water need a little cleaning. The place was filled with trash and called for a restoration team. It's so sad to see such beautiful island go to waste because of the irresponsible visitors that trash the place. So if you're interested in helping save Capones island, visit Save Capones Island on Facebook and help the wonderful people behind the awareness restore the island's beauty and cleanliness.

Despite the trash, the island was still naturally beautiful. We spent the day hiking up the little mountain, lounging around, drinking, eating, paddle boarding, swimming, taking photos and talking. Definitely a great way to embrace the heat!

More photos from Alec.

the best way to eat on an island!

After spending a day in Capones, we had our dinner at Casa San Miguel (really cute place and had affordable, good food), then headed to our place for the night in Iba. The next day, we decided to just lounge around Punta de Uian resort until it was time to go home.

Fun trip! I really was looking forward to the surf though, especially after the amazing second surf experience I had in Baler. Luckily, the alternative plan to Capones made up for the flat water. So if you happen to be in Zambales during a flat weekend, try out Lui's flat surf package and experience the fun, chill, away from the city and under the sun weekend that we had.

moving and learnings

Where do I start? The days that followed my Baler trip were grueling, time consuming, but immensely informative. It was time to get ready for the move!

The following days consisted of cleaning, packing, managing a three-day garage sale, transfering things, driving, and cleaning some more. I consistently had to get up at 7 in the morning and work till the sun went down during my (extremely hot) summer days, skip my exercise routine, and spend less than an hour on the internet each day, which is not normal and does not happen on a regular summer day in Daniela's life. But because we were moving house, my summer started out very busy. It made me very productive, and I liked it. I was always exhausted at the end of the day, and it left me with sore heels, knees, and muscles. But it was absolutely fun because I got to work with my parents, siblings, friends, and household help. And there was definitely a lot to learn!

Cleaning the House

My mom needed people to clean the house we were moving to. And because hiring people to do the cleaning was pricey, she hired her children and some friends instead.

Learning: It is no joke to clean a whole house. I regularly clean my own room because I hate a dirty room. I never thought of doing it to spare the maids from having to clean an extra room, but now I realized that one room less for them to clean really does make a difference.

Cleaners having a break.

Anton and Sechu cleaning the walls of my room.

The Garage Sale

While packing our things, my sisters and I became aware of how many bags, shoes, and clothes we had that we barely or no longer use. A lot of the stuff in our rooms were things we didn't feel like throwing away kasi sayang, or because it served as some sort of memory of when we were younger. Then we realized, we had too many things, and we had to let go. We had to. So we organized a last minute three-day garage sale during our last three days at the house.

Learning: 

Sometimes we like to keep things because (1) we spent a lot on them, (2) they're still in good condition, (3) they just look nice, or (4) we just want to have them around in case, one day, we decide to use them even though we're almost sure that we won't. This taught me to (1) learn to let go, and (2) spend money wisely.

I can't stress it enough, we had so many unused and barely used things. And a lot of these things were actually still in good condition, almost new, which is why every time we "cleaned out our rooms," these things never came out. But in the process of packing and moving, we realized that storing these things longer will only bring us more dust and less storage space for new things, so we brought them out, and sold them to the happy helpers that would actually put them to use.

We haven't gotten rid of a lot of things still. The third day of the last garage sale looked as if we had not sold anything, even though we really did sell a lot, and the pile for our second garage sale items just keeps getting bigger as we unpack the boxes. Maybe it's also because we're moving from a bigger to a smaller house where there is less space to store things. The lack of space is frustrating, but it really was helpful in making my family and I realize that we had to let go.

Some garage sale items of day 1.

DVDs

Start of the garage sale, when we were still holding back and not letting go of what really had to go. 

Learning: My household helpers are natural sales ladies. When all their friends came in to look at our stuff, the sales ladies in my maids just came out, and a lot of our stuff were sold thanks to the marketing skills of my helpers. Actually really impressive!

Learning: Don't add trash to your garage sale items. If you're gonna sell something, sell it because you know it could be of use to someone else. Not because it's decaying.

A lot more learnings and realizations really came after the move. It was the first major move for me in this state of mind (we moved twice before but I was young, so I didn't feel the moving at all), and it really was an experience.

To be honest, I am sad about having to leave my Woodstock (street) house. I love that house. It was beautiful, so convenient and spacious. But the sadness is outweighed by everything my family and I learned in the process of moving out of it. It's something much deeper than the simple learnings I posted here. These are learnings which will really help our persons in the long run. We no longer have the house we all fell in love with, but we got a lot from losing it. The house is just something material, and whatever it is we all got from letting go of it is something that will stay with us forever. 

words of wisdom

I couldn't help but list down a few of the many helpful reminders from posts of Marc and Angel, just so that I could easily read through it when I want and need to. Their words are very inspiring and helpful, and it calms me down when my mind is going ballistic from over-thinking and anxiety. Very good read, so take time to get inspired and visit Marc and Angel Hack Life.

Some advice from their different posts:

10 Commandments for Happy Relationships

"You’d be amazed at the pain and tears a smile hides.  What a person shows to the public is only a small fraction of the iceberg hidden from sight.  And more often than not, it’s lined with cracks and scars that run all the way to the foundation of their soul." 

"Information is the grease that keeps the engine of communication running.  Start communicating clearly."

"Trust that you can count on each other, and be available not only when it’s convenient, but when you need each other the most."

"True love and real friendship aren’t about being inseparable.  These relationships are about two people being true to each other even when they are separated.  "

"Inner peace is being able to rest at night knowing you haven’t used or taken advantage of anyone to get to where you are in life.  Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons.  Run a marathon.  Live so that when others think of fairness, integrity and reliability, they think of you."

"Having an appreciation for how amazing your significant other is leads to good places – productive, fulfilling, peaceful places.  So be happy for them when they’re making progress.  Cheer for their victories.  Celebrate their accomplishments, and encourage their goals and ambitions. "

"Our first and last love is self-love.  Don’t rely on your significant other, or anyone else, for your happiness and self worth.  Only you can be responsible for that.  If you can’t love and respect yourself, no one else will be able to either."

10 Signs It's Time to Let Go

"It’s wiser to lose someone over being who you are, than to keep them by being someone you’re not.  Because it’s easier to mend a broken heart, than it is to piece together a shattered identity."

"True friendship is a promise made in the heart – silent, unwritten, unbreakable by distance, and unchangeable by time.  Don’t listen to what people say; watch what they do."

"However, the end of love is not the end of life.  It should be the beginning of an understanding that love sometimes leaves for a reason, but never leaves without a lesson.  If someone truly loves you, they will never give you a reason to doubt it."

"Love means giving someone the chance to hurt you, but trusting them not to.  When you completely trust a person, without any doubt, you’ll automatically get one of two results - a FRIEND for life or a LESSON for life.  Either way there’s a positive outcome.  Either you confirm the fact that this person cares about you, or you get the opportunity to weed them out of your life and make room for those who do.  In the end you’ll discover who’s fake, who’s true, and who would risk it all for you.  And trust me, some people will totally surprise you." 

"There comes a point when you have to let go and stop chasing some people. Sometimes you just need to let go and accept the fact that they don’t care for you the way you care for them."

"If you allow people to make more withdrawals than deposits in your life, you will be out of balance and in the negative before you know it.  Know when to close the account.  It’s always better to be alone with dignity than in a relationship that constantly requires you to sacrifice your happiness and self-respect."

"Don’t just make the safe and easy choices because you’re afraid of what might happen.""What matters most is not the first, but the final chapter of your life, which unveils the details of how well you wrote your story.  So let go of the past, set yourself free, and open your mind to the possibility of new relationships and priceless experiences."

12 Truths to Tell Yourself After a Mistake of Failure

"Moving on doesn’t take a day; it takes lots of little steps to be able to break free of your broken self.  Never let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life." 

"A person who makes no mistakes is unlikely to make anything at all."

"Being hurt is something you can’t stop from happening, but being miserable is always your choice. "

"Failure is not falling down; failure is staying down when you have the choice to get back up."

"No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying."

"You have to take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you have and be thankful for what you had.  Forgive yourself and others, but don’t forget."

"Life is change, things go wrong, and life goes on."

- Marc and Angel Hack Life

Visit their site for more from each post and more on life.