Oh My Janey

Life Lately: On Strength and Aging (Gracefully, I Hope)

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On my way back to Singapore early this year, I had the pleasure of meeting a Filipino mom on her way to Indonesia for work.

She’s one of the many Filipinos leaving home to work abroad just so she can give her family a better life. My father was one, and I guess I am, too. In a way.

She asked how I found myself working in Singapore. I shared the long story, as the immigration queue at NAIA was even longer. After telling her how I did it, she nodded her head as acknowledgement and said, “Tough girl.”

The comment surprised me, as no one had called me tough before. Clumsy, all the time. Tough? First time in my life.

The comment got me thinking whether I can say the same about me. And after everything I had been through, I realized that I am, actually, a tough girl.

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The Best Year

Just like that, I turned a year older!

Will this be the best year ever? I am claiming it will be but, not yet, because a week after I turned 32, I, unfortunately, caught Covid for the first time. So yes, dear reader, I am sick in bed as I type this birthday blog post. But don’t worry. I feel a lot better now and can confidently say that I’ll feel even better tomorrow.

Nevertheless, I had an amazing birthday week, though the following week I’m spending in the confines of my bedroom, sleeping, eating, reading, more sleeping, and seeing no one but Eren and the rest of the Attack on Titan gang (I am now on season 3).

Anyway!

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Two Years in the Little Red Dot

Two years this month, I packed my bags, left home, and tried my luck in Singapore.

I’ll just stay there for two years, I said.

I’ll just go home if I get homesick, I said.

There’s no guarantee I’ll be able to find a job anyway, I said.

But this week already marked my second year in the Little Red Dot, and I’m already in my second job and in my second home. So much has happened in the past two years, but also so little!

Two years fly by so quickly when you’re in the middle of a pandemic, isn’t it?

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Hello, My Thirties!

A couple of years ago, I made it a point to publish a birthday post every year. But life happened and I skipped the last few birthdays. And what do you know? I’m suddenly 31.

I was twenty when I first started this blog, fresh out of college and excited to find out what the real world is all about. I did a good job documenting my early twenties and capturing all my highs and lows. I meticulously recorded all my travels and made a point to do introspective quarterly or yearly reviews of my life.

The past two years, however, remained undocumented, even though I feel like those were my most tumultuous years. I said goodbye to my twenties without a single parting word on this blog.

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Life Lately

This is an old photo and I have no photo to illustrate my life lately, lol.

Today was just a regular day, but my shower thoughts went something like, “Oh, it’s that day of the month and I haven’t blogged in 10,000 years. Why don’t I publish an update for my three readers?” So here I am, oversharing again like I had done when I was younger and more impressionable.

Exactly six months ago from today, I found out that I might actually grow old alone, and I’m still trying to live with that fact. It had been a series of tearful weekends, soju nights, impulsive life decisions, useless Shopee purchases, and eye-opening realizations since then.

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