2010 Random thoughts turned fulfilled dreams

This was originally published in my Facebook account on the last day of 2010. I totally forgot that I wrote this one. I read it again today and realized that my life is not so bad after all. Now I'd like to post it here.

"Whew. How time flies. It's almost 2011. Alas! 2010 is over. The past year has been really crazy. It was a rough roller coaster ride with so many loops and turns that I almost didn't find my way back to sanity. My faith and personal relationships were put to test. I screwed up so many times but of course like any other storm, it eventually ended. And as expected, I emerged victorious. (ok. I was just exaggerating. I almost quit. seriously.) Despite all the shitty things in 2010. There's a lot to be thankful for. I'm grateful for the fact that I'm still alive and my whole family is healthy and happy. I eat sumptuous meals for free. I'm surrounded with people who makes me laugh. I have friends whom I haven't spoken with for a long time now but I know that we're still friends and will be friends forever. I was able to go back to school, and my grades has been good so far. I have traveled to a number of awesome places. Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami, Key West, Door County and New York City. I don't know how I did that. I didn't seem to have a lot of money to afford these places but I did. I have the most awesome boyfriend in the planet. I met different kinds of people from all walks of life which makes my life more interesting each day. The list could just go on and on.

 My list for 2011 is not even halfway done There's one thing I'm sure of. I want to travel more.

First on my list:

HAWAII

I want a 10 day trip to explore at least two of the Islands. Oahu and Maui.

SAN FRANCISCO AND LA

A five day trip would be awesome. 3 days in SFO and then a road trip to LA. Fun! =)

DULUTH, MINNESOTA

Kt used to brag about Duluth all the time. I want to see it too. Valentines Day? =)

 CHICAGO

Last time I was here, we were short with time so I didn't really get a chance to enjoy the place. I want to go back. Sears Tower, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Filipino Store, theater show, Ed Debevics and a lot more.

***

I also want to read more. I used to read a lot. I would usually finish 2-3 books per week. In 2010, I read three books. Three books in twelve months! I have been always preoccupied with too much stuff that I didn't have time to read books. Next year, I wanted to go back to my old hobby.

My idea of a perfect day would be to lie on the couch for hours with coffee sitting next to me while reading a good fat book. It would be more ideal if its raining outside. Ahh! That would be lovely.

***

This was quite a long optimistic post. Anyway, fast forward to November 2011. I was able to go to two out of four places listed here. Not bad right?

The trip to Hawaii was amazing and it was exactly how I dreamed it would be, a 10 day fun filled adventure! This Hawaii trip is the highlight of my entire existence year. I need to do separate post on this.

sunset in Maui

I also went to Chicago with Peter for our anniversary. It was my first time to really enjoy the city. I know it is lame since I live in Wisconsin and its just three hours away. I should go there more often. I need to do a separate post for Chicago too.

Sears Tower

For 2012, I have already set some goals. First, I need to go to San Francisco and LA. Instead of a five day trip, it'll be a three week road trip. It would be fun if I'll be able to stop in Bryce Canyon, Zion, Page, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite and Santa Barbara.  Yes, I dream big. Dreaming is tax free so why not! I still don't know how I'm going to fund this trip but I strongly believe that it's gonna push through. Yeah! Optimism is the key. =)

I don't care so much about Duluth now. Instead I want to attend the Mardi Gras Festival in New Orleans. It'll be my birthday gift to myself. It will be a perfect timing because the Mardi Gras parade will run from February 5th till the 22nd, and my birthday is on the 26th. Sakto!



Photo credit: escapenormal.com



And if my original plans push through, I will be going back to Manila on October of 2012. But before that, I need to make a quick stop over in the shopping capital of Asia. Hong Kong!

Photo credit: businessweek.com

And then off to Manila.

Photo credit: uniglobethetraveltimes.com

Manila City Hall

Oh Manila! I miss you with all my heart. You'll always be my favorite city no matter what.

I'm trying to calculate the cost of each trips that I want to do in 2012. How many internal organs to I have to sell for these? Hmm.. Yay! I believe that dreams do come true so I dream big. Now, I need tons of prayers  and three full time jobs. =)

Random Thoughts

My clock says 3:09am. I should be sleeping by now. I always set my alarm clock at 9am in an attempt to accomplish more things. Running at least three times a week has always been a dream. But for some weird reasons, It never happens. I'm always preoccupied with schoolwork, not that I do them. A lot of times, I'm just having a staring contest with my books and laptop. My mind is always somewhere else. 

***

I'm currently in the midst of a 'quarter life crisis'. One day I woke up having doubts about what I really want to end up doing for the rest of my life. It came as a shock to me because I'm the type of person who always knows what I want. I'm lost. I want to quit school because I feel that I'm just wasting my money, time and energy in it. I wanted to say that my life sucks but it would be inappropriate because of the continous pour of blessings in other aspects of my life. 

***

I think I have a cabin fever. For those not familiar with the term, as per Wikipedia cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period (as in a simple country vacation cottage during a long rain or snow). Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, paranoia, irrational frustration with everyday objects, forgetfulness, laughter, excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow or dark. That was a long definition, in a simpler term, I'm bored out of my mind. It is mostly because of the weather. It is getting really cold here. The worst part is that winter hasn't 'officially' started yet. Maybe its also because my life has been so predictable. I need to get out of here. I need a vacation.

***

I wish to do something random. Like driving without a particular destination or hop on the train and go to New York to watch a Broadway show or go to Miami to get a tan or fly to Vegas to get married to get drunk. I wish life  is as easy as that.

***

Is it weird that I like watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians? I know they can be overly dramatic at times it almost seems unreal. But I like how they exploit their popularity and use it to their advantage. 

***

I found out that I don't need a visa to go to Peru and Brazil. Isn't it awesome? As much as I love my country and I'm proud to say that I'm Pinoy, it pisses me off that I need a visa almost everywhere. It's such a hassle.

***

I miss Manila. I miss Christmas in Manila. 

Memory Back up File

I used to have the best memory bank. I remember every little insignificant detail in everything. What I wore on our first date, what I ordered, the cheesy lines from movies I watched, names of people I just met, jokes I heard once, you name it. I got it all stored in my head. But as I grow older and start to worry about almost everything, my memory is becoming rusty each passing day. Sometimes, I couldn't even remember my bank account password.

I have discovered my love for travel and adventure when I was in college. I have gone to interesting places in the Philippines and in the United States and tried out delicious foods from restaurants I could no longer remember. Even though I took a lot of pictures, there are a lot of details I could vaguely retrieved. But I believe that it's never too late to start doing things you feel like doing. This adventure has just started. There will be more adventures along the way since I plan on conquering the world. Oh yeah! You read that right! I'll conquer the world, one place and one dish at a time.

So I decided to create this blog and just put everything I wanted as a memory back up file. This will contain travel adventures, sumptuous foods I've tried from restaurants I've visited, good and bad service experiences and some random things about school and life in general. A lot of it will be interesting (I hope!) and some will be irrelevant things that are almost not worth sharing but definitely worth remembering.

This will be my own little space in the cyber world where I can just dump everything for a later retrieval.