Today...

... is quite a good day! I vacuumed, made some coffee and resolved to get back to doing 10-min ab workouts daily. About a month ago I finished a 36 day streak, which is 6 days over my goal of just 30 days straight! And then we went to Boracay and I forgot about it. I'm proud that I was able to stick to something that long. I even documented my progress, or lack thereof, to prove something. And if anything, I've proven that 10 mins daily is not enough to lose weight hahaha. I didn't lose weight, didn't tone up like I expected, heck I didn't get abs. Of course 10 mins daily won't cut it. I remained fat, although for what it's worth, I didn't gain weight so that's a good thing! So yeah, I'm gonna continue with this just because it feels good to put some movement into my extremely sedentary life. Plus I really need to work on my core and basic mobilities cos I feel like my body is starting to rust, I can't even pick up something on the floor without my back complaining.

Here's to hoping for positive physical changes!

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[Review] Part 2 of my Wink Laser Studio underarm whitening experience

Part 1 here: [Review] Part 1 of my Wink Laser Studio underarm whitening experience where I spent 12 sessions and figured it's not enough! 

As usual, this is an in-progess post! Will update this as I go along...

✱ Session 13: May 28, 2022 (Podium) 

I'm gonna start with session 13 since this is just a continuation. Here's a photo taken before the session, which means it's last session's result. Pretty pleased with how it's coming out so far hehe also because I have a better photo haha

✱ Session 14: June 25, 2022 (Podium) 

Not much has changed but it really has improved a lot.

The sessions now are more focused on the center part where it's still a bit dark. This area is usually the longest to treat because it's the part that folds and is exposed to more friction. In terms on UA habits, still the the same, Deonat tawas spray (aloe), and in the shower I wash it with Pond's facial wash, the pink variant. I think it's called Pond's Bright Beauty Serum Facial Foam now. The packaging used to be Pond's White Beauty Facial Foam. 

By the way, I thought I'd share something to encourage you about this freaking long UA whitening journey, so here's something I unearthed recently while I was cleaning my inbox... a photo of my UA four years ago, that's 2018 BEFORE I STARTED with SkinStation's Underarm Diode Laser Hair Removal... 

It's dark, hairy, rough, and itchy. So yeah, we've definitely come a long way haha. I can be patient wahaha!

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Life lately

✱ Long overdue oil change!

Last weekend we had our long overdue oil change and PMS at Shell Dahlia. We're supposed to do it every 8 months or 10,000 km, whichever comes first daw. But well, it's been 15 months and the car has only been driven 2,000 km since. We usually go with the distance marker cos it looks more practical, but at our current rate it'll take us over 5 years to get the oil changed lol and that's something no one should ever do unless you enjoy riding an active road hazard.

The mechanic says everything looks good except for the AT fluid which needs changing. Have to buy this from Toyota directly so we'll get to that this weekend. It's the first time I heard of such fluid. Apparently it's used to lubricate the transmission component of the car to ensure smooth shifting from gear to gear.

We got the battery checked as well cos it's going 2 years and 10 months already and I feel like the headlights are starting to dim. The battery tester says it's at 62%, mechanic says it still a good number but if we're starting to observe some performance issues then it's probably time to change.

I did some Googling and it found that SOH (state of health) refers to the condition of the battery cells relative to its age, maybe like our phone battery health? SOC (state of charge) is the battery level relative to its capacity, so it's uhm 99% charged in a 62% capable battery. RES (resistance) - I don't really understand this but it says the lower the value of the internal resistance, the better the battery can discharge a high voltage load. Today I learned! Thanks to this Q&A.

✱ Maya and my first crypto purchase

So Paymaya recently rebranded into a neobank and it's offering 6% p.a. savings as its early access promo. Naturally I have to try. I pulled out a small amount from CIMB and transferred it to Maya. For CIMB to GCash to Paymaya, transfer fee is  ₱15 via InstaPay. Maya Bank is not listed yet so I have to move from Paymaya wallet to Maya bank account within the same app.

Since they also offer crypto on the platform, I tried that as well. Don't really know much about bitcoin so I just bought ₱500 worth. I mean it plumetted quickly cos I bought it on a downtrend lol but that's fine as I only intend to watch it fluctuate.

✱ Looking out 

You know I'm dreading RTO so much that I started handing out resumes to several companies through LinkedIn. I'm specifically avoiding consulting firms and agencies and so far I've gotten to three HR interviews. They all happened last week on Friday. It was a back-to-back-to-back interview begining 3pm and what can I say, I think it only made me more grateful for the firm lol. 

Company 1 has enough budget for my asking, offers permanent remote work, but I don't think I'm a good fit for the role. It's an automation testing role that uses technologies I'm familiar with but have never used within the scope of testing.

Company 2 has no budget for my asking, so they tried to encourage me by sharing their benefits. I was a bit hopeful about this company because the Jobstreet and Glassdoor reviews are good, and they're listed in Great Place to Work PH so those count for something right? But again, I don't think I'm a good fit because they wanted an automation tester with experience on Selenium and Cucumber so I'm definitely not the person they're looking for. Their max budget for the role is pretty much my current basic pay already so I decided not to pursue. The benefits are okay but not stellar compared to what I'm currently enjoying.

Company 3 is also a no-go. The position looks promising, very relevant to what I'm currently doing. The tools and technologies match, my years of experience check out, and it's a big company with a big infrastructure so it excited me how much I could learn from developing in such a scaled up environment. However, as much as I felt the fit, they couldn't possibly meet me at my asking price. Their budget is way below my current salary. And my asking, according to the HR is already on the executive level lol.

So yeah, after the call HR formally told me they'll keep me in the pool but would not pursue with my application. We talked for over 30 minutes, starting with a long primer on the history of the company, it's partners, subsidiaries, and parent conglomerate. It's actually the same company I worked with 10 years ago as a fresh grad haha, and back then the HR didn't give me this intro lol so I actually learned a lot haha.

It's kinda sad that none of the interviews worked out for me. It made me wonder if I'm actually overpaid or I'm just looking at the wrong companies lol. Actually no I'm not overpaid, some companies - specially local ones - just don't have the budget haha. Also, as my husband says, "better overpaid than underpaid".

It also gave me an insight at how blessed I am with the firm. In 5 years my pay has increased by 56% so I'm still on track as far as my personal standards go. My workload is manageable, my teammates are all great to work with, my manager is cool, and my office friends are a delight. I've become so comfortable I don't wanna leave. Also I don't wanna lose the iphone plan I literally can't afford it haha.

Okay that said I think I'm gonna give RTO a chance. Still actively responding to promising opportunities though, specially overseas ones!

✱ YouTube payout

Good news! I just got my second YouTube payout! I'm saying it's YouTube but it's actually Google Adsense so that's a combination of my blog and vlog earnings. The income ratio being 25% blog and 75% vlog so yeah it's mostly YouTube. I set my withdrawal threshold to $200 and I was able to reach it in six months! I know it's not that big, when I got in the Youtube Partner Program (aka monetized my channel) my first payout came nine months later. So this arriving three months early is a great thing! It means I'm still earning lol. It's fun to get paid doing stuff you enjoy no? lol

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Ah, life

For the first time in my life, I voted! May 9 was a monumental day for me. It's the first time I gave over zero fucks for this goddamned country. For a while I had hope for the Philippines. That while being less than 24 hours. Cos not even two hours after the voting period closed my heart began to sink. With every passing hour I tried to make sense of things. How is this possible? Has anyone applied Benford's law to the election results? The answer is yes and the data trend checks out. Read: PH 2022 election results analysis using Newcomb-Benford’s Law

So eventually the feeling of defeat turned into acceptance. Whatever fucks I invested during the day dwindled back to zero. Apathy. Then to a negative. Hatred. I was never proud to be a Filipino. This time I'm ashamed.

Now I'm back to usual. Lazy. Unmotivated. Didn't take a day to lose all the hope I had. Maybe because there was never much to begin with. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

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Samgyup with the fam with our new portable stove

I have always wanted to treat my parents to samgyup but we could never find a weekend that's not too crowded and ma-traffic. My parents are always wary of going out and as much as possible would rather dine in at home than expose themselves to the horrible Metro Manila traffic, and also people lol. And then I got a portable stove and an outdoor table and the first thing I thought was finally, we can eat samgyup at home!

It was a fine Sunday afternoon when we gathered at my parent's roofdeck. Jeckie and I brought meat for grilling. And to complete the samgyup kit we also came with some kimchi, minced garlic, and of course a bunch of lettuce!

Setting up the portable stove was very easy. It comes in a cute carrying case and also includes an English manual so you won't get lost. You may get this Gem portable stove from True Value. Don't forget to also purchase a butane gas!

Just place the butane gas in place, aligning the notch collar on the index arm. Our butane can is too big so we can't close the cover but that's fine! Press down the black lever to lock the cartridge in place. When it's firmly set turn the ignition knob all the way down to Max, then turn it a bit more till you hear a click. The burner should ignite automatically.

Didn't think it was so easy to set up your own samgyup at home if you have a portable stove with you!
 

Get the stove along with this Lifetime table that's adjustable and extremely portable and you've got yourself an easy to setup dining set that you can take with you anywhere you want. It fits just right at the trunk of our car and even the backseat. This portable Lifetime table is also available at True Value. I couldn't be happier about this table cos it's so multipurpose and compact, I can use it to work and just stow it away when not needed.

Needless to say we had loads of fun eating together this way. It was a welcome change dining in an indoor-outdoor space under the bright sun in a cool afternoon. It was worth hauling a bunch of things up two flights of stairs haha!

Already excited for our next picnic!

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