Travel Date: August 13, 2026 I checked into Conrad Manila at 3:46 in the afternoon, and instead of unpacking, I went straight to the mall next door. My first trail run is coming up, in Vietnam, and I still didn’t have half of what I needed. Running shorts, a hat, swimming shorts for after....
Cabuyao Original Buko Pie Review: Classic, Reliable, Worth It
There’s a version of buko pie that tries too hard. Heavy on condensed milk, drowning the coconut in sugar until you can barely taste what made you order it in the first place. Cabuyao Original Buko Roll Bakery’s Classic Buko Pie is not that pie. At ₱250 for a whole pie, this one leans...
Edna’s Cakeland Buko Pie: A ₱400 Pie That Doesn’t Deliver
There’s a specific kind of letdown that comes from paying more for less, and that’s exactly what happened with this buko pie. I went in expecting the classic combination of tender coconut meat and buttery crust, the kind that makes buko pie worth seeking out in the first place. What I got instead was...
My Shokz OpenMove Warranty Claim, Part Two
A couple of days ago, I wrote about claiming a replacement for my Shokz OpenMove that wouldn’t turn on, and how surprisingly smooth the process was once I got in touch with Shokz’s customer relations team through their Lazada store. Today, the replacement arrived. I can’t be happier. If there’s one takeaway from this...
Why I Had to Give Cyrus Back
I returned Cyrus to his previous owner today. I’d grown attached to him, more than I expected to, and that’s what makes this hard to write about. Sona, my older cat, never came around to him. Since March, I’ve been trying — slow introductions, separate spaces, all the things you’re supposed to do to...
The Good Problem With Owning Your Own Business
A friend texted me on a Saturday morning, the kind of message that reads casual but isn’t really: “If only I didn’t need the money, I wouldn’t work on a Saturday.” I knew what she meant. I was working too. Here’s what I told her back. It’s better to work a Saturday for a...
How Easy It Was to Claim My Shokz Warranty on Lazada
It had been raining for weeks. Not the dramatic kind of rain that makes for a good story, just the relentless, gray, no-end-in-sight kind that keeps you off the road. So when the sun finally showed up a day or two ago, I grabbed my Shokz OpenMove and pressed the power button, ready for...
Why I’d Rather Call You Than Text You Now That I’m 40
Somewhere in the last few years, without deciding to, I stopped being a texter. I’ll type out a message, look at it, and instead of hitting send, I’ll just call. It’s faster, I tell myself. It’s more honest. It’s done in three minutes instead of stretched out over forty. I didn’t used to be...
The Afternoon I Stopped Waiting for Company
I buy my snacks at the grocery store now, not the concession stand. It’s a small thing, but it’s the first sign that this has become a routine rather than an outing — you don’t optimize for cost and convenience on a special occasion. You do it when something has become ordinary. Ordinary in...
The Little Houses Outside Every Bangkok Building Made Me Wonder What We Left Behind
I noticed them on my first solo trip to Bangkok in 2024, before I knew what they were. Small, ornate houses standing outside hotels, offices, shops, homes. Bright colors, pointed roofs, sometimes elevated on a single pillar, sometimes on several. Someone was clearly tending to them. Fresh flowers. Little plates of food. What looked...