Before I turn 20...

It's November? Wait, what? Did I hibernate the whole month of October? Time went swoooosh without even realizing. And before you knew it... I'm turning 20! I don't, I just, I can't. The big two zero gives me so much "Errrr you're no longer a teenager! Act your age!" feeling, and it gives me a little pressure. Notice how I changed my banner from 'MAGNETISM: A Driftless Journal of a Teenage Gypsy' to 'The Birth of Venus'? It's 'cause I realized that I'm no longer a teenager in a knick of time and I had to change my blog page banner before it's too late!!!!!!!! See how much pressure it gives me? It's too much. Too much.

But since I still have more or less 50 days before the celebration of my two decade existence, I still have the time to assess whether or not I ticked off everything from the so-called TEENAGE BUCKETLIST. 

20 BEFORE 20

1. Have an epic kiss - x

Uh, are my parents reading this? If they are, then... "Nooooo way! Kiss? Na-ah!" If not, then I would say hmmm no. I haven't had the upside-down Spiderman kiss or prom night Troy & Gabriella kiss. Maybe it's within my definition of epic, and sadly I haven't had that yet.

2. Take a Road Trip - ✓

Check! I always go on road trips with church friends and cousins, but my last road trip was beyond amazing. We had no itinerary for 3 days, we just let our feet take us wherever. And the most awesome part is, I'm with the unexpected people who turned out to be the best people to go on road trips with. (Check my Cebu & Dumaguete blog posts!)

3. Try a Food You Can't Pronounce - ✓

I can't remember if I ate something that I can't pronounce, but I'm pretty sure that I have since I eat almost everything anyone makes me eat. But I think eating adobong pagong would count. I can pronounce it but never in a million years would I find myself eating adobong pagong, but I have. 

4. Record a Cover Of Your Favorite Song And Post it On YouTube - ✓

Done! Love Is An Open Door was my favorite song at that time and I posted my own version of it along with my vlog. (starts at 3:39)

5. Go Skinny Dipping - x

Hehehehe. NO. -_-

6. Participate in a Flash Mob - x

I would love to!!!!!! Maybe sometime this month. Eh? Eh? *wink wink* 

7. Fall in Love -- And Get Your Heart Broken - ✓

Yes! It was tragic. I fell in love with Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev (a.k.a. Damon & Elena) during Season 2 of The Vampire Diaries and got my heart broken when they broke up (in real life) one year ago. Still in the process of getting over. Bazinga. Haha. Of course, I have. And I didn't regret that I fell in love and got my heart broken. Because it was a pleasure getting my heart broken by him. Char.

8. Sleep Under the Stars For One Night - x

I haven't, but I love star gazing though. But I think my Mom wouldn't let me sleep outside during cold nights. I can hear her say, "Hindi pwede. Baka sipunin ka." Hahahaha #babyfeels

9. Pull a Fun All-Nighter - ✓

Pulling an all-nighter during college was both fun and not. Haha. Fun, 'cause you get to annoy everyone who's working on their shizz and make chika. Not, 'cause the thought of having an all-nighter means that you're cramming. But I did have just pure fun all-nighter. Picture me at 5:30am in the pool reminiscing my first years in college with my friends.

10. Go Electronics-Free For 24 Hours - ✓

Thanks to typhoon Glenda last July that left almost everyone in Luzon area without electricity for 3 days or more. 

11. Vote - x

Heeheeee. Haven't gotten my voter's ID yet. Well, that I can't do before I turn 20 huh.

12. Have a Meaningful Conversation With A Stranger - ✓

Now that I think about it, actually I have. 3 months ago, I was in a room along with people I'm competing for a job position. There were four us, the two got interviewed first and there left me and a guy who's around 24-26 years old. There was the inevitable awkward silence at the first 5 minutes, until he asked me if I'm a fresh grad. It started from there, until he told me about his previous jobs, how his part at some commercial got cut off, the Stuart Edge in him as he do his social experiments and eventually gives me a life advice which I carry until now.

13. Get a Passport, And Take It Somewhere - ✓
Check. I got my passport in year 2010 and flew to Singapore the same year. And referring to blog posts below, I just recently came back from Dubai.

14. Learn To Play A Song On An Instrument - x

I tried! I grabbed my brother's guitar one morning, searched for tutorials on YouTube and I try to play 'Revelation Song'. It's not as easy as it looks. I always forget what finger goes where. I chickened out and never learned. I'll try to work on that. 

15. Get A Job. Any Job - x
You don't think I'm working on that right now? Huh? You have no idea. But before I turn 20, getting a job is my main goal. Not just any job though. I mean, there's no such thing as "any job", as if you're belittling some other jobs. If I land on something that's worth my time and effort, I wouldn't say that "I just got this job. Eh. Any job would do anyway." 

16. Write A Love Letter To Yourself. Open 10 Years Later. - ✓
Done! It's in this blog.. in my draft.

17. Learn To Have A Basic Conversation In A Foreign Language - x
I tried to learn basic Korean when I saw an English-Korean dictionary in our bazaar when I was in college. Well mostly, I made fun of how it was pronounced and never really got to learn and retain anything. 

18. Dance In The Rain - ✓
Who doesn't?

19. Date Yourself - ✓
This is something I usually do. Not because I don't have friends (I do, believe me, I do) or I love being alone. It's really nice to just go out and be with no one but yourself. It's when you shut everything and everyone out for a bit and get to know your inner goddess (oh the Anastasia Steele reference). You can check my Instagram posts for when I enjoy my solitude.

20. Learn To Cook Your Favorite Meal - ✓
It's hard for someone like me to have a favorite meal since I love every food I get. But lately, I've noticed that my grilled cheese sandwich keeps getting better. When you don't have a bread toaster, work with your favorite kawali, spread generous amount of butter on two slices of bread, toast each sides for 30 secs., put the cheese in between and voila! Aced it!


Not bad. 12 out of 20. I didn't fail after all. But those 8 items left with x, needs to be worked out on. We'll see.