Wow, it’s already 2023! Time flies, and I don’t know about you, but I felt like, in some way, we’re still in limbo. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not denounced COVID-19 yet from its pandemic status, so we’re still in that situation. Nonetheless, we are all living in a new normal – where people are more aware of themselves, their health, and others, whether good or bad. The health emergency situation changed us in so many different ways.
Continue reading Hello, 2023!Tag Archives: Random
Quoi de Neuf?
It is pronounced as ‘kwad-nef’. In English, this French sentence simply asks, “What’s up?” And when I changed my phone’s language to French (as part of my learning practice), I saw this everywhere. Since 2020 when the pandemic began, everyone has asked others how they are and what they have been doing. Pre-pandemic, this seemed pretty intrusive to some or a part of a greeting that when some people ask, it’s just a customary follow-up to hello, but a person who asked probably didn’t care. But during (and can I say after?) this period, we’re still asking one another how they are. Now, it has become a habit for some to check on their family members or friends. We have realized that when we were stripped down from our freedom of movement to be protected from this virus, we enhanced our basic human instinct of caring for each other. It made us feel alive, feel belonged, despite being miles from each other.
I have been away for a long time. After my colleague contracted COVID last August 2021 (when I last posted), I never had the time to blog. Work made me busy as only a few of us were left on the team. Spring came, and I also began business travel to parts of Europe and the South American region, and then finally had the chance to visit my family in the Philippines in time for my birthday.
After many months, I finally found a grip back on the things that I like doing. I was able to finish reading some of my books, and then this blog now has a new site domain, as I was not able to keep my old one 😦
In my next posts, I will be sharing about my travels, some tips as a foreigner who lives in France, and new recipes that I was able to try. I like blogging as it allows me to practice writing.
Now, how about you? How are you doing lately? 🙂
COVID got Close!
If you live under the rock since the first lockdown (wherever you may be), the number of Covid cases is re-surging again due to some variants and some regulations getting eased up.
I am crossing the bridge towards this topic that many people are still arguing about. Some still think that Covid is just a figment of the imagination and that vaccines will alter something in your DNA. So many crazy ideas are sprouting everywhere, but one should look at what’s going on in India and other countries that are still going through such hardships to battle this virus and realize that this is alarmingly serious. Today is my own opinion only and not anybody else’s, and I want to share my experience when this virus almost got me.
Continue reading COVID got Close!Undercover
Alexia Mendoza instantly knew Richard was within the area. For some reason, her senses would go overdrive, aware of his presence. She didn’t know why. The first time she learned about Lucas Reyes’ nephew, she took all the information she could get about the drug lord’s most trusted relative. She had to cover all bases to know how she would act in front of Lucas’s favorite nephew. If he were smart, she would know when to be careful not to blow her cover.
Continue reading UndercoverMuted Darkness
Warning: Suggested violence.
It was dark. She almost could not see anything. The closed-door of the closet where she was hiding was blocking her from everything was the only safe haven she could have at this moment. She was shaking. She was scared. Another loud shot rang outside, and her hands immediately flew to her mouth, avoiding so much as not letting any sound to come out of her lips. She was void with the ability to speak since she was born, but being deaf would not stop her. She could not scream, but maybe her wails could get anyone’s attention. She could not do it yet, however. Not while the assailant was still outside, roaming the hall.
Hands in her mouth, she felt the cold metal on her finger. Angrily, she slipped it off, regretting the day that someone put it on her. Salty tears streamed down her face, wetting her hands as she continued to cry quietly. Sweat trickled down her face, as well. It touched the hands, covering her mouth. She has been hiding inside for so long. Nobody expected it. They didn’t see it coming. He was the kindest man she met, whom she thought have accepted her despite her disabilities. She loved him, but she has been wrong after all. He was an opportunist who wanted nothing but power and wealth. And he would get it, even if it takes him to murder her entire family, including her.
Continue reading Muted Darkness