My Osmo Pocket 3 broke in 6 months - screen rotation issue

And I'm hoping the DJI Service Center here in Manila fixes or replaces it. When I brought it to the center for checking they noticed there were dents on the gimbal so they would have to seek approval before fixing it. Oh well. Those dents, if they were even dents, most likely came from the cover case. THEIR VERY OWN COVER CASE. So yeah. If they reject my case even though it's so within warranty, I'll make an appeal. If they still won't budge then I'll finally have the reason to make a review video of the product along with a warning not to buy this thing ever again.

 

My issue is actually pretty common. The screen got stuck at an angle and won't switch back to its normal position. I've read countless of issues like this where the magnet got misaligned and caused the screen to get stuck like this and people had to make workarounds just to be able to use it because repair costs aren't cheap. Some made a clip that would fix the screen position to vertical. And some would just never flip it to horizontal position and endure the very small screen when recording in landscape. Others though were lucky to get their unit replaced pronto.

I wish I'll get lucky.

I mean, why should I have to wish for it this is clearly not my fault. They should've replaced it immediately urgh. The waiting is frustrating me because this is my daily cam. 

 So here I am looking for an alternative camera already. Maybe I'll finally give Insta360 Go Ultra a go? 

[UPDATE]

Finally got my pocket back after 12 days!

 

Side quests

I don't need a new jacket.

I don't need a new smart watch.

I certainly don't need a new badminton racket? haha

I'm starting to hate my red uniqlo jacket because the color has faded a lot ever since we started adding colorsafe bleach to the laundry. How ironic. We've stopped doing that since. My gym shorts have also faded significantly because of the habit.

Do I need a new smart watch? I just went back to using my old analog watch because I'm starting to hate having to charge my fitbit every now then. But what I actually hate is the charging clip. It's hard to find an angle that's conducive for charging. And I've replaced the charger multiple times. Also cleaned the charging pins. Beats me. But hey, it's been a good few days without it. I realized I don't really care about my steps that much, and my sleep too. Those are things you just have to feel for yourself. 

Wasn't there a time when we didn't obsess over step count and sleep quality? I miss those times. If I wanted to walk I'll just walk. Then I'll look at my watch to see how much time has passed. No timers, no GPS, no hurry. Then I'll go home, eat well, shower, maybe read, then sleep. My have we complicated things too much these days.

So yeah, maybe this is an effort to reduce distractions. Or maybe replace it with more productive ones. Like writing, or reading, or drawing. Anything but doomscrolling.

I'm babbling.

Let's get to yesterday the other day. I really wanted to talk about how HECTIC yesterday the other day was. 

So we have a big steak order. A surprise one actually. Because it came from the same person who ordered our first big batch (15 steaks). We didn't get any form of feedback from him the last time so we thought that was the end of it. But wow, not two months in and he wanted 20 steaks this time! We had to preorder his steaks cos our inventory was running low so it took 3 days to fulfill his order. We were also short by 4 steaks cos our butcher ran out of Picanha.

Anyway. Yesterday was delivery day. My plan was clear. Since Jec is going to the office and bringing the car with him, I had to do everything by myself. We've prepared the ice blocks, styro box, and labels beforehand. I knew I had enough time because the cutoff at the station is 7pm, and the bus leaves 8pm.

Here come the side quests...

I was in the middle of showering when Koomi knocked on the balcony. Indicating he needed to poop. I rush taking a shower and attended to him. Then I realized we're out of wet wipes! So I had to get one from the storage closet. No big deal really except there's a chance Koomi might follow me in the house and spread poop droppings cos he's having diarrhea. Good thing he didn't follow me inside! Whew! One down!

Next side quest. Earlier that noon someone ordered 5 steaks. So we weighed them and sent the total and asked for their preferred MOP. I gave our bank QR, but they requested for bank details instead because her boss doesn't have online banking daw. This is usually a red flag for us as we have experienced someone faking a proof of payment and demanding a refund because they didn't send the correct amount daw lol. So yeah, we still sent our bank details but we're not expecting anything from this.

Now it's around 3pm. I attended to a little something at work then resumed to setting up the big order. I was readying the ice and the styro when Jeckie called and asked if I have received the payment. What payment? Turns out the "scammer" really went to the bank to pay and sent us a deposit slip. Wow. I checked my bank account and the money was there. Unbelievable. And I'm saying this in fascinated surprise because all the red flags were there. Asked for a bank account instead of QR, no access to online banking daw, the inquiry didn't even come from our ad placement, it's organic, the order was already sure from the start, and it was pretty big too.

Anyway, wow! Thank you Lord! But now I have to rush packing this one first and make sure to dispatch it asap because I have another order to pack and it's been raining so hard! So I packed, did the labels, and booked a ride. Thank goodness I got a rider in no time. So I went down and handed the package and that was done. It was still raining mind you and I was so sticky when I got back up.

Alright now onto the main quest. I thought it was gonna be easier this time because we made much more ice and even made bigger blocks. But now my challenge was trying to fit the blocks because the lid wouldn't close haha so I had to bash the bigger blocks to make everything fit. My hands were burning from the cold but I was so proud of my masterpiece, look!

I made sure to fill the whole box this time. But when it came to lifting it omg, IT WAS TOO HEAVY! I didn't think it would weigh this much cos I was able to easily carry it the last time. Then again that had less ice. But I have no choice right? It took a while for me to get a Grab ride and when I did it was 16 minutes away. I'm not complaining though cos it gave me enough time to rest at the lobby and find that my matured MP2 earnings have been credited. So I transferred it right away to my new MP2 account and well, I'm just so happy cos it took less than 2 weeks! I was expecting for it to take months because our government is such an efficient workhorse yknow /s.

Okay so I'm in the taxi now heading to Partas Cubao. Traffic was hella bad both ways so I was thinking of skipping the cab on the way home. I dropped off the box successfully, it was 11kgs, and contemplated some more on whether I should book now or walk to the MRT station which isn't too far but super hassle cos it's raining.

I decided to walk to the station. It's a short walk, around 650m per Google Maps, and it was... fun! The roads are super wet, stinky puddles everywhere, it was still raining but not so hard, and myyyy there were so many street food vendors around! I smelled adobong mani, barbecue, calamares, banana-q, lumpiang togue, uuuurgh! I would've stopped to eat but it was raining and I didn't want to reward myself too early. 

I reached the MRT station. Nothing has changed and it's been more than 5 years since I rode the train. Luckily they have libreng sakay for National ID holders so I was able to get a free ride! Yey! Time was around 5:45pm and I got off at Boni station around 6pm. It wasn't too crowded yet. I got a seat immediately. I don't think it gets too crowded around this time on a Southbound train. Normally it's the Northbound route that gets pack this early. 

Anyway. That's really it. I went down the station, walked to our condo, and oh right! I also picked up my IKEA order on the way to the unit. It was a GRÅFJÄLLET side table. I was already very tired from all the side quests but this was the last for today's adventure so I thought I'd give assembling it a go before having dinner haha. And so I did. 

Finally replaced the wobbly table that used to sit in this corner. It took me maybe 30 minutes to do this. Quite intimidating at first but once it starts taking shape you get more excited about it hehe. And that's it! After assembling this one I had about an hour to eat dinner before I go into a series of meetings for the day.

Oh finally, when I went to the bathroom to pee I saw that I forgot to flush Koomi's poop! HAHA

So yeah, that was a day ago lol.

 

 

I need a financial stimulus. Since Jeckie resigned before his payday we've been broke for a month now hahaha. Yeah we weren't too liquid during our Bangkok trip. Jeckie funded most of our pocket money from his savings and I carded our flights and hotel so I need to pay for them soon. They I also have a backlog of debts and new stuff I want to buy and I can't wait for his first paycheck so yeah. I'm gonna pull in from my savings in the meantime.

Koomi has been having diarrhea since yesterday. I must've fed him boiled carrots that went bad when I left it to cool for hours on the dining table. I feel so bad. He's been pooping every hour this morning. Bad, wet, watery poops. He was able to hold it in for 3 hours this afternoon, then the intervals are getting longer this evening, but still the same wet poops. Now with blood. We're taking him to the vet later. Fortunately, it's just diarrhea right now. No vomiting, loss of appetite, and lethargy. Hopefully it's nothing serious!

Time jump!

That was a week ago. We took Koomi to the vet and he was prescribed fortiflora, sucralfate, and RC gastro diet. Bloodwork looks fine. No need for antibiotics. He's slowly recovering but he's farting like hell and so frequently too that we could probably light a match in the air and cause a fire! It's so bad we had to air out the bedroom this morning because the smell was so suffocating! I think it has to do with his gastro diet. For something that smells like luncheon meat I read that gastro diet tastes a bit bland for dogs.

Anyway. That's really it for this chapter I was gonna post something new then I saw this draft. Today was crazy. See you in the next post. 

[Success] Claiming my matured MP2 savings online

// Maturity date: July 23, 2026

I followed the steps at the Pag-IBIG website, submitted the application form and uploaded everything they asked, then waited for feedback. 

It's pretty straightforward once you get in the site. Of course, by government standards, the submit button may or may not work, and the page may show some mysterious error message, after which you'll get an SMS notification that you have successfully filed a claim.

// Application date: July 24 (Friday)

// 1st update: July 27 (Monday)

Monday (July 27) afternoon I got a text that my claim was rejected. 

I followed the site to check the details, but as usual, the success rate of interacting with any government site is 50% and I wasn't able to get anywhere with my query. So I submitted another application, not knowing what was wrong.

Then I checked my email and saw my Pag-IBIG branch messaged me with the reason why. I forgot to put in my date of birth, and they do not allow e-signatures. I replied with the updated form because I couldn't resubmit anymore.

SM Aura branch is where I opened my UnionBank Loyalty Card Plus.

// 2nd update: July 29 (Wednesday)

 

They asked me the same thing. As if they didn't see my email reply. To be fair, when I got the disapproval text, I immediately resubmitted, without knowing what I missed; I just added more info. I still forgot to put in my DOB, so they probably responded to that without knowing there's already an existing thread about it. As soon as I read the email about what I missed, I replied with the updated application form. Looks like no one has read it. 

 

Oh well. I had high hopes this will be quick but as usual, our government seems to value inefficiency as a KPI.

 

And as usual, their online claim status tracker isn't working.

 

// PROCESSING: July 30 (Thursday) 

 

SM Aura branch replied that they have received my correct application as has started PROCESSING. Yey! Email also mentioned it could take up to 20 working days and that I should just wait for the money in my bank account. 

 

// CREDITED: August 5 (Wednesday)

 

That was fast! Took 4 days to process. I checked my UB Loyalty balance today and saw that it was credited already.

Good job Pag-IBIG, or more specifically, SM Aura branch! I immediately transferred the proceeds to my new MP2 account.

 

So yeah, the whole claiming process took almost 2 weeks. Not bad! 

On supplements.

I have no idea what I'm deficient at, but here are the ones I started taking daily

Supplement	RDA	What I take
B-Complex	1 tablet (per label)	Stresstabs
Vitamin D3	1,000 IU (25 mcg)	Forti-D
Omega-3 Fish Oil	500-1,000 mg combined EPA+DHA	CardiClear
Vitamin C + Zinc	500 mg Vitamin C + 10-15 mg Zinc	ImmunPro with Zinc
Magnesium Glycinate	200-400 mg elemental magnesium	Swanson Magnesium Glycinate

I added Forti-D just now because I don't see the sun a lot. Let's see if it works. I only take Magnesium Glycinate when I don't have to wake up early the next day. I find that it helps me sleep very well so if I had to wake up early I'm sure to oversleep.

Stresstabs, ImmunPro, and CardiClear all have proven to be good supplements for me. I'm careful not to take too much of anything if I don't need it. Then again, I don't really know what I need. I do feel healthier taking those supplements.  

What a downer. We know Koomi likes to lunge at moving feet, especially those of strangers', which is why it's been hard for us to take him out while we eat. Having him on the floor is a risk for those passing by. And even in the elevator when someone's coming out he would randomly lunge at someone's feet. At first we thought it was cute. We were even joking that he has a type when it comes to slippers. It's usually crocs or something expensive. We laugh it off most of the time. Not realizing it was a growing problem. He's been this way for so long. We couldn't control it, or at least haven't tried seriously looking into correcting it. 

Until today. He lunged at someone's sandals while we're walking out of the elevator. I only saw his mouth graze the woman's footwear. I said sorry then left. Later on, the guards issued us a ticket with a 5000 peso fine. Apparently the woman reported us to PMO because her sandals got bitten through and almost tore the skin under. We were found through the CCTV. We were appalled. I didn't think it was that serious. It happened so fast. We should've checked on her to make sure before exiting the elevator. We got in contact with the neighbor and apologized. We found out through a facebook post in the community. We offered to compensate for whatever medication she may need and replace her slippers too. I'm just glad they were nice and understanding. Everything is fine now, all things considered. But I can't shake this certain feeling off. Is it disappointment? That we have to spend 5k for a lesson learned? That we're such irresponsible owners for letting it happen 3 times***? Fear? That it might happen again, at a worse time, here in the condo, get a second violation, eventually get kicked off the property? Maybe both.

*** First major time it happened was at Longhorn. Dinner with the family. We were seated outside cos we had dogs. Koomi was on the floor. A waitress arrived. He lunged at her jelly shoes. The waitress got scared but brushed it off. We apologized. Later on the guard at Shang came to us with an incident report, asking for vaccination records, showing us he reported a dog bite incident because he witnessed it. We thought the waitress didn't care. Looks like somebody else did. We were bummed out but eventually accepted the situation. He's just doing his job. And between customers like us and mall employees, there should be no discrimination if someone got hurt. 

Next major incident was at Taiwan Kitchen. Same thing. We were eating. Koomi's on the floor. Someone from the other table stood up and immediately Koomi was on his feet. Reached the guy's calves. He wasn't let loose but his leash wasn't short enough. We apologized profusely. Guy seemed to brush it off at first, says it's fine, he has dogs too, but later on inquired about Koomi's vaccination records. We also gave him Koomi's Instagram in case he wanted to reach out for anything. It was a casual conversation. We went home feeling normal. We would always scold Koomi when it happens, but always playfully. We never thought it was a big deal.

Until now. 

This is truly a wake up call. To be more responsible. To always check the people he might have hurt. To take accountability and ensure everything's fine. I'd like to think we got off easy, even at this point. And that 5k is a small price to pay for the all the trouble this bad behavior has caused. A behavior we tolerated and normalized and even found cute, at the expense of others. We were lucky none of them got seriously hurt. But what if it gets to that? 

I think I know what I feel now.

Shame. 

// Urgh. My fitbit won't charge and I figured it's probably nearing the the end of its life. Again.

Okay, time jump! It just worked again haha. I remember it dying a year ago so I replaced it with another smart watch then when I got tired of the new one and checked back on my old fitbit, it started working again haha. Looks like I just need to scare it into replacement hehe.

Anyway. Now I could let off buying a new watch. But seriously I've been meaning to find a fitness watch that's small and feminine and charges easily. I only really use the step counter, sleep tracker, HR sensor, and timer. For a while I got my eyes on Garmin Lily 2. It's perfecttt but looking at the charger I know I'd have a problem with that in the future. Problem with smart watches today is they're so biggg. 

Why did they have the discontinue Fitbit Alta? That's the best fitness watch for me. 

// Okay. I really really want to move to a better condo but we can't afford it yet. I'm eyeing  Empress at Capitol Commons once it's turned over because then owners will start leasing them. I'm also looking at Portico by Alveo which is a bit farther but definitely a far cry from a DMCI development.

I don't really have a big issue with our condo yet but our landlord has been very delinquent in paying all the miscellaneous fees that we're always getting disconnection notices and even got disconnected once, while we're on vacation!

// I've realized that condo isn't the way to go long term. It's good for renting cos we can choose the location and as long as we can afford it and we can just keep moving to new developments if our place is starting to go bad. To be honest I can really feel our condo's state deteriorating. 

// Wishful thinking but I hope to move to an Alveo property or the ones at Capitol Commons in the future. That's if we can afford it!

 

// I think I may have a chronic headache. I always seem to have one every single day since last week. I thought it would stop after my period. I tend to have period migraines. But last week was the worst. Three days straight. Switched to Saridon after learning about its fast action properties. But soon realized it's bad for bedtime because it has caffeine. And my migraines just so happen to be worse right before bed. It was torture not being able to sleep through the pain because my medicine has probably ran out its analgesic effect and only the caffeine is left. But to be fair, it really is fast acting, but it's not long lasting.

// I've been having problems focusing at work. I can't seem get my focus on. 

// Dave's Premium Steaks is doing okay. We just got our biggest order (yet) last week. 15 steaks can you believe it? And it was delivered out of town. We were hesitant to take this one but the client suggested bus cargo so we gave it a try. I could only hope we put in enough ice. He doesn't sound too happy when we followed up if he got the steaks already. Oh well. Next time we'll be sure to pack in more ice.

I recently got myself cheap earbuds from Anker. It's like 700 something pesos only. Been hearing lots of good reviews from the brand. I know they make great powerbanks, but I was surprised to see stellar raves for their audio products as well. 

So here's the Anker Soundcore K20i

It looks very much like the apple airpods. Infinitely cheaper too than the 9k I paid for my airpods2 which broke in 4 years. With this I don't mind getting disappointed every year lol. 

It's pretty decent for its price. Since my airpods broke a few years ago I've relied on the wired apple earpods for private listening. And it's been great. It's literally wired airpods. But I can't help note the differences in audio experience coming from an apple product.

Anker's is noticeably lighter, plasticy and less premium to the touch. They boast about the bass but I had better bass on my apple earpods and I didn't need to change any settings. The earpods are also a bit bigger than Apple's so I can't dismiss the feeling in my ear. On the other hand, I tend to forget I have my airpods on. Bluetooth connectivity is fine, but coming from something that switched seamlessly between apple devices, it's quite an adjustment. 

Anyway I do love that there are better tap controls on this one. I don't know if they made these in the newer airpods but I can now tap to control the volume on this thing.

Overall I would say I still prefer the Apple Airpods but no way I'm spending 7k on something thats breaking in 4 years. Mine's battery just got wonky over time. They won't charge equally, the left one dies faster, and the charging case isn't holding juice anymore.

Oh well. Still pretty pleased with this!

Two shoes I blame for my self-diagnosed plantar fascitiis. 

1. The pair of birks I ruined cleaning. It was looking very grim at five years old and I wanted to restore the footbed to its former unsullied glory. So I sanded it. Reddit says it works. Well it did remove the black oil stains from my foot, but it also made the footbed incredibly hard it became painful to walk with. I don't know what I did wrong. Oh well. I just bought a new pair of birks and I'll be more careful with it.  

2. Next is my allbirds flats. I thought I got a good deal with it, it's a bit cheaper than Vivaia sitting around 5k/pair and it's incredibly soft when I tried walking with it. It's like walking barefoot on a carpeted hotel room. I had to be specific with the illustration because no way I'm walking barefoot on a public carpet. I've been wearing it at least once a week every time I go onsite. Which was okay at first but eventually I realized this old and frail body needs its arch support and this pair doesn't offer any. To remedy, I bought insoles for it but I have yet to put it to the test. We'll see.

So much to do. So little motivation. 

I'm in the middle of doing various little things at once. Harvesting bits of dopamine in each activity, but never focusing on something long enough to complete it.

I'm bouncing between generating music on Suno, looking for vacation rentals on Airbnb, and learning a guitar tab for Dust in the Wind.

I would do anything but work on the hours I'm expected to do so. And I'm not proud.

-- 

I have a discipline problem that I'm trying to address. I've never been able to stick to a diet enough to see results. Never pushed myself hard enough to leave my comfort zone. Never challenged my bad habits. And the result is being overweight for years, getting easily injured, easily tired, perpetually disappointed in my fitness levels, always hating how I look in photos.

I want to change that. And for accountability purposes (blog, don't jinx) I'm writing it down.

I'm committing to at least 30 days of calorie deficit. That's 1500cal per day, give or take. I mean I just started 2 days ago and I'm already over 300cals haha. Actually let's make that 1600? My maintenance calories is 1800+. A 200/day deficit is like cutting on midnight snack. How about let's start by quitting snacking at night?

Urgh, see it's impossible!

I don't find myself blogging as much as I used to. I think vlogging has replaced it, in terms of purpose (documentation) and the time I spend on it. Not that it's the same creative pursuit. Sometimes I find myself wanting to just rant mindlessly on Twitter, then I get too lazy, too conscious to air out my thoughts.

I do miss writing though. It's not the same as vlogging. I think I'm a better writer than a vlogger. Not that I excel at writing, I'm just saying that relative to my vlogging skills I'm a more creative writer than a filmmaker, if you wanna call it that. My vlogs are boring and template. It's literally just my day to day. In snippets arranged chronologically. No color grading, just captions, and AI generated music.

But writing, writing is more fun. I get to recall events and narrate them. Rack my brain for memories, and words to describe such memories. Try to make it interesting. It's very mentally stimulating for me. And it takes me the same amount of time writing a detailed account of the week and editing my Weekly Monotony. The only difference is that editing vlogs has become muscle memory for me, whereas writing poses a fresh challenge every time.

I'm really just waiting for my vlog to render, then I will TRY to sleep. I have trouble sleeping. Maybe because I drink coffee too late in the day. One in the afternoon and one during meetings. 

I had a big wart removed on my foot the other day. It's actually a recurrence. It's been removed last year but I wasn't able to take care of it properly so it grew back and looked much worse. So yeah. Derma had to inject several mls of lidocaine to the skin around the area and it's painful as hell. I hated the procedure so much I vow not to let it happen again.

Alright, happy weekend!

I don't think I'm gonna live long.

I'm 35 and in a lot of pain. Mostly in my knees since 3 years ago. Now my foot. And my lower back. It's been difficult getting up in the morning. Literally. How I wish I could just get rid of all this body pain. 

Every year I earn a new pain point. When I hit 40 I'm probably just gonna drop dead.

I skipped work today because of a terrible migraine. The one that pounds on the back of your head and creeps unto your neck. I almost slept the whole day. But still woke up with the same pain. Then I tried to get up and my lower back complained. I tried to stand up and my left foot shot me back to bed. Hay. 

I'm at a point in my life where I don't mind discovering that God may actually be just a nerd who ran a simulation in his computer. And that we're all just bits and pieces in a loop that's meant to simulate life, whatever that is for our supposed creator. It's not his fault he spawned a species who evolved with a penchant for the divine and worshipped anything that came close.

I'm also at a point in my life where hell doesn't scare me so much. Only those who believe in it fear it. And I think I've never really feared it in the first place. Being born and raised in a "Christian" household I never questioned my indoctrination. I never doubted. Not because it's indisputable. But because doubting requires questioning, and questioning required thinking. And I, never thought. My belief came from being conditioned, not convinced.

[Review] Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam

 

Had a pleasant 6-night stay at HIEX Bangkok Siam early this March! The first time we stayed at Holiday Inn Express was seven years ago at Singapore Katong. We loved the concept where only the basics are provided, prices are kept low, and you get the same Holiday Inn hospitality. Perfect for tourists who are mostly out the entire day and only wanted a safe and comfortable place to sleep in.

Here's my Youtube feature of the hotel:

 

Room and price

We got the Queen Standard with breakfast for around ₱4,600/night. Upon check-in we were upgraded to stadium view which was nice. 

Queen Standard

 
Stadium view 

We knew we could get a cheaper place but I don't know, for 6 nights I wanted to make sure we're staying at a credible hotel with thick walls so we can sleep soundly in the evening.  

Room is quite spacious at 23sqm, there's a Smart TV, floor to ceiling window, water kettle, cups, coffee and tea, and a mini ref. They also have soft and firm pillows, as usual and a very comfy bed!

Toilet and shower area is impeccably clean and towels are replaced daily. Water pressure is good, but the cold shower doesn't get that cold! Hot shower can get really hot which is nice, but I'd like to alternate with a cold splash once in a while and unfortunately the water just won't get that cold. Must be the weather. It's a very hot week in March.

Location 

 

I rate this place 10/10 for the location. BTS National Stadium is just 1 minute away (80m) and it's a terminal station too so it never gets busy. 

Ground floor has McDonald's and a bunch of cash machines. There's also 7Eleven nearby at Mercure hotel.

There's a coffee shop too along the driveway. And Lek Massage next door.  

Aaaand it's also walking distance to Jim Thompson museum (300m).

If you're looking for a place to buy pasalubong there's Lotus's Rama 1 Supermarket which is 600m away.

It's also one station away from Siam central station where the subway and Sukhumvit line interchange is. This is where all the big malls are huddled around. Near enough not to get stuck in traffic! It's very very central and we loved it so much.

Amenities

Being an "express" hotel, don't expect five-star amenities here. No swimming pool, no grand lobby, no fancy breakfast spread. Everything is basic and kinda self-service.

 

They have a 24-hour gym which has enough equipment for cardio and weightlifting.

 

They also have a spacious outdoor garden right outside the gym.

There are designated smoking areas, a meeting room, and a 24-hour laundry room where you can also fold and iron your clothes.

We also love that there's an ice machine! Perfect for when we're about head out and needed to fill our tumblers with ice water. As we've learned, water isn't free in Thailand. Even ice! 

Breakfast 

 

Breakfast is served from 6-10am at the Great Room. You can either dine in or Grab & Go - they provide take away coffee cups and bags for pastry. Really appreciate Grab & Go because I love their coffee!

 

They have a modest spread but quite frankly it's more than enough for us. We tend to skip breakfast anyway. The usual spread is sliced bread, croissants, muffins, fresh fruits, yogurt, milk, juices, rice, sausage, beans, pasta, congee, eggs, vegetable stir fry, rice, and something special called the hero's dish. Some days it's chicken stir fry, other days it's Pad Thai or Tom Kha. It varies. 

 

My favorite part of breakfast is probably their coffee. It's so good! 

Finally

Overall we had a great stay. Wouldn't mind staying here again and 100% recommend it to anyone who wants to explore Bangkok! 

New vlogging camera and spotting a fake Legato Largo bag

Remember when I promised not to buy anything this year? I'm out. I just bought the DJI Osmo Pocket 3. What can I do? It was on sale! I got the standard version for 5k less. It's even cheaper than the 2nd hand ones on marketplace. So yeah, forget it. I'm back to overspending and mindlessly shopping for little things. 

New gadget means new accessories. Besides an SD card, I also bought a magnetic mount, and also a new bag. Why a new bag? My current bag would be too heavy with the camera in it, and I needed a bag with more compartments so I could dedicate one to the pocket 3. It's a pretty delicate camera because of the gimbal so I needed to secure it better.

Ever since getting the camera I've been eyeing for bags on Shopee, and what really caught my eye is the Legato Largo line. It's a sister brand to Anello and can be found in some @Tokyo PH branches. It looks like a Longchamp Le Pliage but without the annoying flap. 

I tried it on at the mall and decided on getting a medium beige on Shopee. When it arrived though, I had doubts if it's real. The stitching on the handle isn't clean, and the color also looks off. True enough, when I checked back at the mall, the difference is huge. 

The leather details are bad, but besides that they pretty much got everything else right. The size, the labels, the feel of the nylon fabric, even the tags. I'm actually quite impressed. But the handle and the straps are really screaming fake. So I had to return it (hopefully seller accepts and Shopee refunds me).

I bought the original one at the mall and went home happy. I got the display item cos it's the last one and I love it!

Yet again, buy nice or buy twice. 

On another note, it's been weeks procrastinating on work. I really really need to get something done today. It's my productive day before we head off to a week long vacation. Urgh, I always fail to reserve energy for work.

:)

January

I opened the laptop with the express intent of paying my credit card bill, but the banking app is on maintenance so I couldn't access my statement. So that brings me here.

January went by so quickly. 

The first week we were still on a holidaze. I was editing vlogs nonstop. My phone storage couldn't keep up with the happenings. I had to transfer footage to my laptop. It was so busy. We were out a lot. Meeting family. Meeting friends. It was exhausting.

Then I got back to working onsite after being on temporary WFH setup because of my knee surgery.

I noticed my Weekly Monotony vlogs are getting more views when I put a face on the thumbnail. And so I changed the way I design my thumbnails and now I'm getting 5x more views. Which is cool. 5x seems a lot but on average I get only 10 views per vlog, and now I get 50 hehe. Just by changing the way my thumbnails look. It does look cuter now. 

I promised myself not to buy anything new this year. And so far I've been successful. It wasn't easy though, cos I was itching to get the Osmo Pocket 3. So instead, I rented it for a week. Just in time for our La Union trip. 

It was awesome. But I couldn't quite get the hang of daily vlogging with it. For a bunch of reasons:

• It's kinda fragile. I'm a grab and go type of vlogger and my phone has been extremely handy for that purpose. With the pocket 3 I always need to pull it out from its case, and put it back as well to secure it because of the gimbal. 
• It's an added weight to my bag. If I wanted it to be more handy and still safe I need to change my bag into something with a separate compartment solely for the pocket 3. 
• The footage doesn't sort well in my video editor. When I transfer the files from the mimo app to my phone, it can be sorted by date from the gallery, but not on my editor. In VLLO when I try to sort, it creates date groups that are sorted differently. It's been difficult trying to arrange the clips chronologically.
• So for the most part, if not all, I edit my osmo vlogs on my laptop, using DaVinci Resolve.
• Also because I don't have enough storage on my phone haha.

If I do decide to get the pocket 3, I also need to upgrade my phone so I can continue editing on it, also get more storage. Not anytime soon.

All that adjustment and I'm still leaning towards getting it in the future. Why? Because the quality is superb. These two vlogs are such a delight to watch, at least for me, because I can really tell the difference in quality. 

Anyway. My favorite day in January goes to that one day when I had pho, a manipedi, a foot massage, and iced mocha in one day. Such a great day. 

2025 screen recap

Here we go again! Not proud of my book count, as usual. I think I may have gotten over my love for reading. Which sucks. Because it's like one of my proudest hobbies. It's when I learn the most; write the most. I don't want to give it up. I believe it's just a matter of finding the right books, and intentionally giving it time. 

I enjoyed The Kite Runner and A Man Called Ove. They're both really good reads. I finished each book in less than a week, which is a personal best, given my dwindling attention span. 

Whitney, My Love was a re-read. I remember being so hooked with this type of period romance ten years ago. But now that I'm older I find it annoying haha. Clayton and Whitney need to learn to COMMUNICATE. It's marriage 101, my goodness. Then again, this book wouldn't exist without the pettiness that miscommunication brings. Oh well. 

Maybe I'll re-read Nicholas Sparks instead. 

 

I watched a whopping 47 movies this year. All with my husband. Mostly Marvel because we decided to re-watch everything that leads to the infinity saga. 

We also "re-watched" Kung-fu Panda. Putting it in quotes because my husband insists we've already watched them together more than ten years ago, and I have no recollection of it. I do remember dreaming about Mr. Ping's restaurant in the past but I'm not sure if it was halfway into the movie haha. I tend to fall asleep watching movies at home.

Besides re-watching, we also enjoyed a bunch of films that came out recently, like Weapons, Novocaine, The Companion, and Quezon.

 

My favorite series of 2025 has got to be Severance. It's so freakishly mind blowing.
I would love for Mythic Quest to go on but apparently it got cancelled after four seasons.

 

That's about it for 2025. Hope to get back to reading more books and picking up on KDramas!

 ETA: I forgot to put in One Punch Man Season 3 lol. It's not that good, but yeah that's 9 shows for 2025.

Nothing new for 2026

It's that time again where I pretend to realign with my long forgotten goals. So yeah let's do this haha

I want to jump into this trend of fighting overconsumption by reducing the things I buy this year. This means no new clothes, shoes, anything personal and material, except of course if something breaks or runs out. Like my hair ties and body oil lol.

Besides limiting my purchases I also want to continue decluttering items we don't use anymore, just to make space, not for something new, but for the sake of regaining storage space. Our house may not look that cluttered but I assure you every cupboard and drawer is full and we could probably throw away 50% of the stuff in this house. Maybe I'll do a weekly declutter. It's so easy to give away stuff within our condo anyway.

I always tell myself to limit doomscrolling as well, but I couldn't get myself to quit Instagram or Facebook. It's where I discover and document things. Maybe I'll quit Facebook instead and focus on Youtube and Instagram? I don't know yet, but I know that I want to write more and scroll less.

Speaking of writing more, that goes hand in hand with reading more - in my case. My 2025 book count was dismal (3), but at least it's not as bad as the previous year where I only finished a single book, regretfully at that. This year, I really want to read more. In fact I've just made my first ebook purchase, for A Thousand Splendid Suns, because the copy I downloaded for free was so horribly transcribed. 

While jotting down my bills payments earlier I happened to look into the sum total of our credit card expenses and learned that we've spent close to 8 million pesos in the past 9 years. What a sum. I couldn't imagine we've spent that much. We're not even businessmen.

Which is why I want to save more money this year. My goal is to be able to save a million pesos at least, and put it in MP2. Should be easy if I don't spend a lot on unnecessary stuff! Also food! Argh!

Oh well, we'll see! Here's to still trying in 2026!