Background: I started doing this "year in retrospect" exercise in the year 2015. Why? Because at the end of each year, we tend to rant that a year has passed by so quickly. But if you look back and reflect, surely, you must have done something throughout the year. Now whether you consider these activities productive, good, fun or meaningful is another thing. But for me, that's entirely up to you - your own rules, your own metrics, your own definition of enjoyment and your own criteria of what's worth your time with the 365 days we've been given in a year. :) As my motto goes - life is never too short if we live it well. :)
Here's my 2019 in retrospect (and in random order):
New things I tried:
- I tried working remotely for 2 months and it was a good experience. I fixed my sked so I could swim in the morning (before starting work) or during lunch break. Then after I finish working in the afternoon, I would walk in the park and I would still able to catch the sunset and do other activities.😎Plus, I enjoyed hot meals at home or in nearby cafes. Oops, I make the experience sound like I was a hermit but it wasn't the case. I was still interacting with my colleagues online during regular work hours, had telecons and physically attended important meetings during the period. I know working remotely isn't for everyone but it equally works for me. As long as there's a desk, chair and good internet connection, I could work anywhere and forget about time.
Not only was I able to enjoy the beautiful sunset in the neighborhood but also had the time to stop and smell the roses and watch the fishes in the pond. 💚 Sometimes, you really need to take a step back and see old places and things with fresh eyes.
- I had my place (including all cabinets and doors) repainted to all white. For years, I was hesitant to do it coz it might be hard to maintain a light color but a monotonous light color makes a small place look spacious. I should have done it earlier. 😜
- Like most people, I tend to visit museums and points of interest when traveling, but ironically, we never explore the ones closest to us. 🙈 We all should and you might be surprised with what you'll see and learn. What was I able to visit? The National Museum of Anthropology, the San Agustin Church Museum (I think the first and last time I visited this was during a field trip in high school!😅), Casa Manila Museum and around Intramuros via Bambike Tour. It was a great experience as I re-learned some historical facts (sadly, my mind automatically purged everything after I passed Araling Panlipunan).🙊😅 Sharing with you some highlights as I was not able to do blogposts on these -
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| San Agustin Church |
The San Agustin Church was completed in 1607 which makes it more than 400 years old. It's the oldest stone church in the Philippines and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Other interesting facts - (1) In 1863 when a strong earthquake hit Manila, it was the only public building left undamaged by the quake; (2) During the Japanese occupation, the church was used as a concentration camp by the Japanese; and (3) It is the only 1 among 7 churches in Intramuros that survived the WW2 bombings in 1945.
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| Inside the San Agustin Church |
Do you know why the hallways of San Augustin Church are high and wide? Apparently, during earlier times, when there is a scheduled procession and it suddenly rains, they held the procession of carosas inside these hallways.
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| Spacious hallways where processions were once held |
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| A tassel made from real gold thread 😲 |
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| Miguel Lopez De Legazpi's tomb. Legazpi was the first Governor-General of the Spanish East Indies which included the Philippines. |
There's a hall inside the San Agustin monastery which used to be where Augustinian friars prayed for departed souls. During the Japanese occupation, the same hall was used as prison and execution grounds. Today, it is now a crypt where some prominent people like national artist, Juan Luna, are buried.
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| Juan Luna's tomb |
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| The crypt inside the San Agustin Museum |
Ever wondered how Augustinian friars made decisions? It was via votes using beans. For any question they need to decide on, each friar would put a white bean or brown bean in this small wooden box. If majority of the beans are white, then the question is approved. If majority of the beans are brown, then the question is denied.
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| The friars' voting mechanism |
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| Bambike - a bike made from bamboo. Bambike Tours go around Intramuros. |
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| Antique flat irons |
See the antique flat irons above? You put hot charcoals to keep the metal warm. But why the varying sizes? Coz it depends on what item you are pressing. The smallest is to press handkerchiefs, the medium ones are for clothes and the big one for bedsheets.
The most fascinating trivia for me while at Casa Manila was surrounding this antique fridge.
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| Antique refrigerator |
Since we have the tendency to take things we have at the present time for granted, it never occurred to me (until I saw this antique fridge) that in the earlier times when there was still no electricity in the Philippines, ice was imported from overseas. 😱 Imagine blocks of ice being transported via Galleons from across the globe and partly melted by the time they reached our islands. And one of the signs of the truly rich at that time is if you have ice in your home (coz it means you are able to afford imported ice).
This made me realize that the everyday and basic things we enjoy today were once upon a time luxuries and limited commodities. And just thinking about that gives us an overwhelming sense of appreciation for everything - no matter how ordinary and basic an object or resource seems to be in the present time. 💛
- I love to read books but since my eyes are in front of the computer most of the day, I decided to shift to audiobooks to give my eyes some break in the evening. It's also a great way to improve my listening skills plus it would allow me to multitask as I could listen while washing the dishes or folding clothes. What were the results? My book consumption more than doubled! From 10 to 15 books in a year, you know how many I finished listening to in 2019? 31 books! 🙌 I am loving Audible. 💙
Musicals I watched in 2019:
Among all of them, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical was a great surprise for me. I didn't have plans to watch it nor had any idea what it was about but a friend invited me to watch it and I loved it. It's packed with life lessons and beautiful music we're familiar with but it was only during the show when I learned that those familiar songs were composed and/or sung by Carole King. (Sorry, I am really bad at songs and singers. I listen to music but I don't know the titles, lyrics or singers.🙈)
Trips I took in 2019 -
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| Coron |
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| Siargao |
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| Amanpulo |
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| Singapore |
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| US - (L-R) Kennedy Space Ctr, Epcot, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas |
In my trip to the US, I was able to visit 3 new states (Florida, Nevada, Arizona). This brings my visited states to 11 (North Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Florida, Nevada, Arizona). Not that I have plans to visit all states but just taking note for posterity when I am too old to remember what I saw in my lifetime. 😅
Important realizations -
Stress can cause and make your body manifest real symptoms. I had a health scare middle of the year but when I underwent medical tests, all the results were clear. The moment I was able to identify the cause of my stress and dealt with it, all the symptoms disappeared and never recurred. Whew.
For personal goals, I realized that it's better to focus on 1 or 2 goals that you would commit to really work on during your free time versus having a lot of plans but end up not accomplishing anything. What matters is not the quantity of personal plans you declare to others that you'll do. What matters more is what you don't tell others but you just simply do them and see through that they happen.😉 So yes, I was able to accomplish the 2 personal goals I've set for 2019 but still needs improvement this year. 😅
2019 was overall a challenging year but that only means things can get only better. 🙏
That's about it for my 2019 highlights - my own metrics, my own definition of enjoyment and my own criteria of what's worth my time in the 365 days of 2019. 😊
Happy new year!
