Rach Rover: A Day at Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Why Vietnam?

OK. Thing is, I was supposed to be one of the Pinoy Big Brother housemates but the staff accidentally booked my flight 2 weeks earlier. I know.. shocker. *sigh*

Charot. 

But if only I knew that PBB will be shot in Vietnam, I could've booked my flight same time the housemates landed in Ho Chi Minh. Wala lang, mema lang. 

No, really.. Six months ago, my colleagues nudged me to book a flight going to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Being my Dora self, had no second thoughts and booked away. They planned out everything so seamlessly. I said "they" because I barely took part in laying out our itinerary. They even had a breakdown of expenses in excel file, labeled with colors, and detailed down to the last centavo. Talk about proper travel planning. 

I just went with the flow. I trusted them with my life. We had a decent amount of time to save up for a week long trip, but I only managed to properly set aside my travel pocket money a month and a half before the trip. As you can tell, I can never leave my moolah unspent for more than 2 minutes. 

We arrived at Ho Chi Minh on July 28, 1:30AM. Exchanged our USD to Vietnam Dong. And boy, I was a millionaire for a day. Php 500 is equivalent to VND 237,000. Oha! Makakabili na ko ng kotse nun e. Managed to communicate with our cab driver, who we called Poy, even if he didn't open his mouth to speak. Checked in at Saigon Hostel (check out my vlog for a hostel tour.. nothing much to see really). Slept at 3AM and woke up at 5:30AM.

Off we go to our half day adventure. Started off our day with the Pho and Banh Mi for breakfast. And I must to say.. it was heavenly and cheap too (VND 40,000). The serving was ginormous that neither of us finished our bowls.

First stop.. Notre Dame.

Next stop.. Saigon Central Post Office.

Saigon Opera House..

Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Lunch Lady.

Had our lunch at the Lunch Lady, just about 20 minutes away from the City Hall. I didn't get to take a photo of our Thai Noodles as I was almost passing out of hunger. But it was really good. The owner was so accommodating that he even put few more dishes on our table. We headed back to our hotel around lunch time to gather our stuff and catch our 2:00PM bus ride..

Off we go to Phnom Penh!

The Search

In honor of tradition, my friends and I would get together every New Year's Eve and read our horoscopes for the year. Mine specifically says that I should go to social gatherings this year to meet the love of my life. As funny as it gets, we started to plan out which social gatherings to go to that year, not that we intentionally would flirt with anyone but just to make a fun out of it. 

And yes, I occasionally went to events, concerts, even church activities that would allow me to meet people. But being my introvert self , I never met my KPI. My colleagues would even send me a list of events that I should go to. It's funny how my friends even my boss contributes to Project Find Mr. Right. Everytime there's a male applicant for our department, my boss would automatically call me and ask, "Rach, what do you think?" as if I have a say on whether to hire them or not. 

There's this one event that my friend invited me to and I had to ride with my boss going to that event. My friends made a bilin to my Venezuelan boss that he has to find me a #SaktongPogi guy. Before leaving he asked, "You're not wearing heels?" I shook my head. He replied, "You know it makes a lot difference for us men if we see a lady wearing heels." I just gave him the you-won't-make-me look. During the event, he overheard me saying that I don't drink. He then asked, "So, how do I sell you, Raquelita? You don't wear heels. You don't drink." Sir, saan nyo po ba ako ibebenta at kailangan ko mag-takong at mag-inom? But he realized (naks) and said, "Oh wait, you're a nice, smart, cute girl. Aaah I can sell you." Tss. Alam mo naman pala e. 

Going to these social gatherings and meeting people, I would ask myself.. Am I really searching? Because from where I am and where my heart stands right now, I'm perfectly fine. No drama. No insecurities. No heartaches. When I first watched the new McDo ad, I wanted to relate to the girl. I wanted to somehow feel how it's like to have love lost and move on from it. But now matter how deep I dig into my feelings, there's nothing in there. It's funny and sad.

Do I want having someone who would make me feel beautiful everyday? Someone who would ask me how my day was. Someone who would lie to me whenever I ask him if I look fat. Someone who would help me burn those calories. Someone who would call in the middle of the day just to say "ano gawa u? hehe" (maybe no haha). Someone who would hold my hand and think "ang taba talaga ng kamay nya pero I love her anyway". Someone who would support my Snapchat addiction. Someone who would abang promo plane tickets with me. Someone to try new adventures with. Someone who would make me want to fall in love again.

Do I? Maybe it's not yet the perfect time. Because for now, I'm better off this way. 

For now. 

Vigan Vlog

Rach Rover: Vigan

Au Revoir, 2015!

Well, hello there! Welcome to my annual blog post where I give a recap of what went on in the past year. It's one of helluva ride I must say. As always, time went by so fast I didn't realize how far it's taking me. Lots of changes, new beginnings and realizations. 

Recapping 2015 in 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1

January 

Started the year with new plans. Still unemployed but I got back on feet again and looked for a job. Had back and forth interviews for a publishing company and an ad agency. Still no luck until the company I applied for last November 2014 offered me a job at a PR and Marketing consultancy agency. Before I entered the corporate world, I had huling hirit vacation at Puerto Galera. January 21st was the day GeiserMaclang taught me to battle in the so-called real world. 

February

As per ush, I celebrated Valentine's Day as a singol leydi. Hahaha huhu. But I built relationships as I embarked on a new chapter in my life.. my GMCI family. Oh the love! Char. This is the month where I struggled to live up the adult life. Moved to Makati, pay bills, feed myself, do the laundry, budget expenses and just be adult in general. It's harder than you think, my friend. 

March 

First week of March, I got transferred to a private molecule in our department. New teammates and new accounts. Had to leave my accounts that I got attached to and manage the accounts I have no idea of. It wasn't a walk in the park but my molecule help me cope with it. Mid March was my first getaway with my colleagues a.k.a Project Bourgeois. We managed to forget about work for almost three days and enjoy the beach life at Puerto Galera. 

April 

Three months being employed and was constantly thinking of quitting. I always hear myself say "Pagod na ko. Ayoko na." But for a lot of reasons, I stayed. For holy week, my family and I went to Baguio for a quick vacation. On 26th, I joined NatGeo Run. Wooo my first fun run! Heehee 

May 

May was the month I got hooked to... dubsmash. Hahahaha! Haaay I could've been Yaya Dub. Charot. I spent my first Sunday of May being a ninang to the first baby of the gang. All five of us were complete and of course it was epic. It was also the month of my first out of town trip for work. My team and I went to Tacloban for Mahalin Pagkaing Atin campaign. We went to cover our client's event and went to different local restaurants for our photobank. Boy, it was fattening. 

June 

Half of the year in! Went to Nueva Ecija for another Mahalin Pagkaing Atin rollout. Gained few pounds, not gonna lie. For Independence Day, went to Punta Fuego with my colleagues on a short notice and yes, best adventures are unplanned.

July 
It's the start of Mla. South band rehearsals for the Unified concert in Baguio. Composed our original song, practiced during everyone's free time and had a blast while were at it. 2nd week of July, MPA team went to Iloilo to cover the rollout and feature local restaurants and farmers. It was my last travel out of town for MPA campaign. It was fun and fattening. Love it.

August 
First week of August, my 5.4 million pesos CE for a certain account got signed. In the first 5 seconds, I was jumping up and down until I realized the load of work it'll take. Pretty much spent the entire month monitoring deliverables and meeting deadlines. Hah saya.

September 
A month before the big event we're organizing. I get panic attacks almost everyday. I cried by myself at the fire escape almost thrice a week. It was intense. Fortunately, I managed to take 3 days off for the Feast of Tabernacles in Baguio. Spent 5 days with family and friends, had a successful Unified concert, took photo with the kabayo and went back to reality.

October 
Had a successful event in Baguio (yes, I went back to Baguio a week after feast) on October 3. Yay! I was in the verge of tearing up during the event. It was all sinking to my thoughts that I was part of something big and something that could change lives of many people.

November 
After a series of stress, I finally took a breather and went to our kapitbahay country, Hong Kong! It was my first out of the country trip that I used my own moolah, that's why that trip was very meaningful to me because every centavo I spent came from my own wallet. After the trip, I got assigned on new accounts. Hooo challenge accepted!

December 
Compressed all work shizz for 2 weeks before the agency break. There were nights where I had to leave the office at 1:00am to beat deadlines, but after the last push... wooooo vacation! First thing I did as vacation starts... sleep. Aaaah! Oh the joys of being tucked in bed at 11:00am. Attended Christmas parties here and there, but the most important party of the month is my great grandma's 100th birthday. Every Cuizon from parts of the world were gathered for this momentous event and of course, our pasikat family should perform. Heehee. The night after lola's party, was tenenenen... my 21st birthday! Nothing major happened naman. We just had birthday salubong with beer pong and pizza and had spa treatment with my cousins on my actual birthday.

Oh what a year it has been, twenty fifteen. Au revoir! Bring it, 2016!