[Life Blogs] My Old Blogs and Me NOT Practicing Geology Anymore

I received an email from one of the readers of this blog (surprise, surprise) the other day and I honestly was weirded out by that. Not that I think this one sucks but I was reminded that the main purpose of this blog before was to cater to geology graduates preparing for their board exam.

I admit, I was becoming very lax with this blog when it comes to posting about Geology reviewers. One of the reason for that is the lack of time (obvi!) and me literally not having the interest to actually work on something. From time to time I got some inspiration to do some readings and write questions but, as it usually goes, hot turns to cold. I feel like it is a HUGE undertaking for me later on.

I do believe though that I would still write some more Geology content because, even though I really have no real, REAL, real love for the field, it's still an interesting subject (and I have a degree on it). From time to time I am piqued by certain topics and papers and I would probably write something about that. I also have a geologist boyfriend and sometimes he just wakes me up at 6 am in the morning to talk about his escapade in a structural geology lab study somewhere in Germany. He would literally lull me back to sleep with his stories about the papers he read about the geology of Mars, something about faults and materials to use in their experiment. I would watch him excitedly tell me about all these stuff while I try to piece everything together and groggily congratulate him on his little progresses (as he call them).

Anyway, about me not practicing anymore, I guess it stems from the fact that I am unable to do something that I love related to Geology. During my undergrad years, I thought I was made for mine sites; born to be a mine geologist or whatever. I truly believed that as I am not really someone who gets homesick and miss a lot of things I am used to. Unfortunately, my first year of practicing was not that great. I worked for a mining company who was (and still is) using archaic and crude methods of mining. As someone who really feels for the environment (as we all should be), this did not sit well with me. Especially around that time, we were working on their Environmental Management System. It was such a blow on me when I found out that you can literally pay for anything. Not just for this one but every process, paper, license, and permit that you can think of, you can just pay for it to get them. Maybe I'll do a separate blog on this later. So, in short, I was not really a fan of the management so I left. Moved to a government bureau and thought that I would flourish there.

And so I did. For quite some time, I really did. It will just come to a point wherein you'll just got tired of getting your pay late, not being treated equally like the plantilla employees, paying for your own fieldworks (thank God my previous CENRO boss gave me money to conduct my fieldworks. Without which, I would be spending a LOT more) and worrying about your retirement plan and insurance because you have none. Working for the government taught me a lot of things and one those things is that life is really unfair. You'll toughen up after a while. :)

I told myself last December 2019 that that would be my last Christmas without a 13th month pay so as early as November, I started looking or researching for a job that I could take up next. I wanted it to be meaningful, something aligned to what I actually believe in. So when I heard about a renewable company that is apparently one of the biggest and well known in the country right now, I jump the gun and applied. I managed to get hired eventually and I thought I hit the jackpot. It was perfect; pro-environment and pro-Filipino people. I was wrong. I applied for DOE by the way. I don't know anyone in there so you know the drill. Just saying. Haha.

I would want to delve in more with sustainability, management of natural resources, energy efficiency or something along the lines of these fields. I probably need a MSc but I'll figure that out later. For now, I am working on something right now so everything depends on that and the rest will follow.

As for the future of this blog, I am definitely gonna have a lot more opportunities to update this from time to time and upload useful content and not just stories about my life. As I am one of those person who googles everything a lot in order to lessen my mistakes, I feel like I would want to write about doing things more practically or easily. I have a lot of topics in mind but as you know, I currently have no time for it yet. :)

The Peter Scully Case [Part 1]

I honestly don't know why I am writing this right now. I am just so pissed upon hearing the newest podcast by my current True Filipino Crime Podcast, Lagim (check their YouTube channel and btw, you can also listen thru Spotify).

It's just so hard to listen to this because the apprehension happened in 2015 and still, up to this day, the trials are still far from over. There was also some British energy coming out of me right now because all I can think of is, "This is utterly vile and disgusting, innit?" Kidding aside, there are a lot of factors why I am choosing to write about this one today while I am trying to rest. It's a mixture of anger, disbelief, frustration and disgust. This is one of those moments where I think that mankind should just disappear in the face of the earth because I think it is better this way.

I will not give you a narrative on who this disgusting piece of shit is; you can easily find that online. Wikipedia already summarizes everything that you need to know about this guy, the proven and 'alleged' cases of online sexual exploitation of children that he did and where he is currently right now. As for the last part, this I am really not sure if he's indeed rotting in jail. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in the Philippines is known for its extreme corruption, unfair treatments of its inmates (the rich are treated well, even given pass to attend fucking weddings or other nonsensical excuses) and just about everything that is wrong in the penal system. I don't really want to go deeper into this because it sickens me so we have to move on.

Apparently, the base of Peter Scully was in Mindanao, in Malaybalay amongst different addresses. The victims are girls ranging from 12 years old and below, wherein the youngest known victim was just about one-year-old. The victims came from poverty which is not surprising. There are three known ways on how he lured the children: (1) offers of food, which was directed on street children, (2) promised of adoption, in which deeply impoverished parents gladly offered their children for a 'better future' for them, and, (3) abduction or just simply forcing these children to participate. He has known accomplices, two of them are his supposed girlfriends, underage and Filipinas, who also helped during the abuses that they methodically videotaped and sold online. There are four more who were incited as 'the ones who helped him produced child pornography', (1) Christian Rouche [German], (2) Alexander Lao [Filipino], (3) Althea Chia [Filipino] and, (4) Haniel Caetano de Oliveira [Brazilian]. What they do is 'produced' and most known for is "hurtcore" child pornography which usually involves degrading violence, bodily harm that can sometimes lead to death and of course, molestation and the most gruesome child sexual abuse.

The Anger

What drives me crazy is the fact that the Dutch Police was even the first one to discover this. When his video, "Daisy's Destruction" was first release on mainstream platform, the Dutch National Child Explotation Team thought that the guy filming or in the background was speaking Dutch (the guy was Australian btw). Can you imagine this immediate response? While on the other hand, the Philippine National Police in the area was, well, I don't know, sitting pretty? I don't really want to speak badly about the Philippine National Police but I got to admit, they are fucking trashy, then and now more than ever. I am having this bad vibes in me that someone in the ranks of the police officers there knew about this operation and probably even protecting this guy because it's ridiculous not to know. If they have the ability to know EVERY pickpockets and drug dealers/lords in the bigger cities in the Philippines, I'm pretty sure that an elaborate illegal scheme such as this one, (which generates a lot of money, by the way) is within their radar. Pure allegation but yeah, there is a HUGE CHANCE that there is some truth in here. 

The Disbelief

I still can't believe that in this day and age, parents are still rather negligent when it comes to the welfare of their children. But in the case of the parents involved in this case, the ones who willingly gave up their child to this scum of the earth, they are victims as well.

You can't imagine how helpless I felt when I was listening to the part of the podcast wherein it was described that they gave away their children to Scully "for a chance of a better future; an opportunity to be educated and be well-fed". I am beyond speechless imagining the grief and despair leading to such decision. I am sure that these people are marginalized, the ones Filipino people described as, "isang kahig, isang tuka" (hand to mouth in English) and of course, we have the politicians to blame.

This is my stand when it comes to Filipino politicians: they don't like it when the general populace is well-educated. They don't want the people to have the ability to think highly and deeply for their own good, they just want the basics like being able to read and write. That's it. They don't want us to succeed in life (the current and reigning officials at least), because then a huge majority of us will NEVER EVER vote for these people. I remembered having to interview multiple people on who are they voting for last May 2019 elections and the reason why they are voting for these people. 

Wait for Part 2.

[Mainstream Media] The Frenemies Blowout

 

Honestly, it was kinda expected.

Totally using the meme, "Disappointed but not surprised" in here.

This show was a train wreck but the chaos of watching these two got me hooked every Tuesday then Tuesday and Thursday. I've been waiting for every episode since the beginning and now that it's the end, I am gonna miss it sorely.

Anyway, I am rewatching all episodes and I am gonna take note all of the red flags in here.

[Life Blog] Exposing my Workplace

I know that this can be a rather sensitive topic because it involves real people and real life experiences but this is perhaps the only cathartic means I have at the moment.

For quite sometime now, I am just switching between pilot mode to extreme anger/annoyance when it comes to my work. It is extremely mind-numbing and frustrating nowadays. One by one I see my coworkers drop like dead flies and from the previously 50ish staff we have before, we are now only down to 23 (possibly lesser in the next few days). It is a sinking boat and everyone is trying to either get out or make the boat stay afloat. As for me, I feel like I am just a disinterested passenger who casually do her own thing, neither giving her best nor her worst. I am way past beyond the point where I actually care what happens in here because this organization finally and totally lost all of my respect.

I believe in SOME people, I repeat, SOME and not everyone, because I've worked with capable, talented and tireless people. I saw them stand up to every challenges, face every obstacles bravely even to the point where they are taking all the blame and magnificently handles a hopeless case and make it work in the end. Bit by bit, they try to pick up the tails of mismanagement and carry the burden on their shoulders but as it usually goes, people get tired too. I saw how the management failed them, pretty much like a small Philippines. Everyone is expected to pick up themselves on their own with just a little bit of support, sometimes even without it, and expect from them great result. I've seen them struggle all alone when the task at hand is beyond their duties and positions anymore and be blamed when the result is either bleak or disappointing.

Anyway, I don't mind any hardships or whatsoever because that is synonymous to life anyways. I would just love to be around supportive, honest and hardworking people and I am satisfied with that. Unfortunately, that is not the case even in here and it's so toxic to the point where I don't know what the fuck is wrong with these people. The top management are all childish, there is a strong sense of favoritism and promotions are not usually caused by hard work. It's insane and it's indeed a miniature Philippines.

I will write more regarding this. There are a lot more infuriating things that happened in the office.

[Life Blog] Candle Obsession

Adulting is a rather strange thing for every millennial that I know of. 

There are a lot of issues to consider why it is harder to do so nowadays but the main reason I can think of is the insane inflation rates vs. the current wage pay vs. the extremely ridiculous cost of living.

With all the stress we're going through right now, some of us are looking for ways on how to relax. Some choose to pick up a hobby, even turning them into something profitable. Some go to the great outdoors and never look back; indeed claiming the nomadic lifestyle. Some even go to the extent of cutting up their connections to the world for some days and go back feeling a little bit refresh only to be ruined by the world again.

If you ask me what I do when I am stressed out, I would answer a few things:

1. I lie down and stressed out some more (which is never good);

2. Try to write and draw (but fails because I am never inspired by anxiousness);

3. Do some crocheting (which also fails because, c'mon, you need to somehow concentrate on this activity a lot more);

4. Exercise or jog (which I do a lot);

5. Overeat (which makes me feel bad about myself); and lastly,

6. Light a freaking candle.

I like scented candles and since it's the title of this blog, I would write about it some more.

Whether they are the cheap ass candles in our Japan store that cost me P66.00 or those herb-scented ones sold in SM Department stores, I really don't care. I just light one up when I feel that I am getting to burned-out. I would rather a candle wick be burnt than myself.

Anyway, it was a sort of health concerns for me for quite sometime because of the issues regarding 'paraffin', you know? But according to this one article that I've read, every major type of candles (paraffin, soy wax, stearin, palm wax and beeswax) were examined for 300 toxic chemicals and they found out that it only released a certain amount of toxic chemical BELOW the numbers that can actually cause human health problems. That's right, I've checked the study myself so you don't have to, lol. This one is conducted by the Bayreuth Institute of Environmental Research in Germany so I have to believe it. Haha. But kidding aside, there are no conclusive evidence that burning candle wax is damaging to our health. But if you're still worried to burn paraffin wax candles, then try plant-based waxes maybe, beeswax or soy wax which is rather common.

As much as I hate the fact that people capitalizes on the groundless study that paraffin waxes are fucking bad for you and then try to sell you ridiculous-looking candles with essences at insane prices, I would still choose to buy the soy wax candles. Not because of it's health benefits claim, it's supposed 'green advantages' or even the advertisement of 'cleaner burn and less soot', but rather its lasting scent inside the room where you light it.

I'll admit that it burns a little bit, JUST a little bit slower, than your paraffin candles but these guys have such strong scents emanating from them. I don't know if it's because of the fragrance oil the makers are using and the amount of it put in the concoction but I just like the smell of them once lighted. Anyways, this is a rather weird blog post because it's really out there. All I want to tell you is that, (1) I like candles and (2) my boyfriend sent me 4 from this store. He got me all the short soy candles that they have and I my current favorite is the Midnight in Paris scent. If you want you can try them.

Also, try to relax in which way you can. Life is really stressful and freaking crazy right now. Worry a little bit lesser than you are doing right now and do something fun today. Maybe pick up a book? Buy your favorite milktea or boba drink? Or, yeah, light up a candle. :)

Bye.

[Learning German] Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Learning German

 Ah...

Looking back to more than a year ago, I would have never imagine that I would be able speak and understand another language aside from the ones I currently know. I am not saying that I am already good at it because although I am practicing everyday, I really don't have any formal schooling or education when it comes to learning German. Although this is the case, my desire to learn and study the language feels like falling in love. You get to be introduce to it first, get to know it, 'experience a daily conversation' with it, a lot more of getting to know it, trying to get used to the idea of having it in your daily life and then eventually, being with it for God knows how long.

My journey started with me casually reading to a German dude, "Ich liebe dich," as I go through a web page with German phrases and sentences. He froze and I was so confused with his reaction. This was quite unusual because even if I read out loud cursed words or nasty things in German, he would just laugh. I then read the translation beside it and we both laughed nervously as I try to save my ass from that awkward situation. I then promised myself to look more into it to avoid embarrassing myself some more in front of this guy. Even when I was still unsure back then if I am gonna be around him longer than a few Meets and Reddit conversations, I looked into the German language and started to be intrigued.

So I started Duolingo, then look for resources online like the German subreddit (where they provide a great resource list by the way!) and then even Pinterest where I got my charts and tables. It was a rough ride at first because I basically don't know anything about German except what Duolingo was trying to 'teach' me every single day. I was a virgin in this language and if I ever do go back in time, here are the things that I wish I knew:

1. Duolingo is ONLY great for vocabulary words.

Don't expect Duo to teach you about grammar WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT by the way! You will get confused by the sentence construction and declinations (dependent on the articles)! As I said, it's only for enriching your vocabularies and maybe seeing a pattern in the sentences that can somehow guide you but damn, the Akkusativ, Dativ and Genetiv killed me here.

ctto

2. Use YouTube.

This favorite platform isn't only for influencers' dramas, it is also a great resource for learning new things. I have never imagined that a full A1 course (or somehow it feels like it), is being taught in here. I was already done with the Duolingo Tree and in the midst of 'taking exercises' in the VHS Lernportal (great free website btw thanks to the German Government!) already when I got tired of having mistakes over and over again due to the articles. Can you imagine? My dumb self trying to check if I can pass the A1 Certificate even without knowing the German noun cases by heart? It's a good thing that I found the videos of this YouTube Channel, Learn German.  It was really helpful and informative and will guide you with baby steps along your German language journey.

3. Memorize the words with the articles.

OMG! This is perhaps the dumbest thing that I've done while learning the language. Every time I see a word, I just focus on that and not the articles attached to it. You see, the German language has genders in them (pretty much like Spanish and I am giving this as an example because it's the only other foreign language I know with gender) and it pretty much dictates on how you structure your sentences dependent on its case (whether it's will act as a direct object, indirect object and as a pronoun). Please, please, memorize them with the articles. It would be really helpful that way.

I am including here a basic guide on how to 'guess' or figure out what's the article of a word if you happen to forgot about it or it's the first time you can encounter them. Highly unadvisable but can be very helpful. (ctto)

4. LEARN THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE ALPHABET BY HEART....

And listen to it over and over again to get it right. As a native Filipina, it made me giggle at first to listen on how ridiculous it is to hear how "I" and "J" are being pronounce after the other. It's childish but damn, that still cracks me up to this day.

It might be weird that this is on number 4 but I am not writing this down based on the level of importance and I can't believe I am trying to make an excuse for myself in here. Haha. But going back, if you know how to pronounce each alphabet, you would probably know how to pronounce them when you see them in a word. 

An example is the letter "v". 

You pronounce this as "fau" in German so you'll know from here that any word that starts with "v" will be pronounced as "f". 

A word example of this Volk (people in English -- that's why Volkswagen literally means people's cart). You pronounce this as FOLK.

Another example is the letter "w". 

You pronounce this as "veh" so any word that you'll see with this will be pronounced as "v". 

A word example for this is Wasser (water in English). You pronounce this as VASSER.

There are of course exceptions like "y" and "ß" which you can't really pronounce like that in a sentence. 

Also, be very wary of the umlauts. Those guys can fuck you up. Make sure to really listen to them carefully.

5. Practice SPEAKING and WRITING as much as you can. Don't forget to also LISTEN.

I can't really stressed out the importance of this. Learning a new language can be tough especially if you are not immersed on it in your daily life. If you're studying it on your own, in a country where it is not being used or spoken even, it is very important to listen, speak and write it as often as you can. 

Although I am a strong reader in German already and I can understand my boyfriend if he would speak in Hochdeustch in a moderately fast manner (really a freaking receptive bilingual at this point), I am still rather slow when in comes to writing and speaking. Most of it comes from the fact that I am kinda shy to speak the language, afraid to be corrected and therefore growth is slow. You shouldn't be ashamed, just speak and write and be grateful if you are being corrected because that will lead to your desired perfection or the level of fluency that you want. I myself can say that I am better in writing than in speaking because I have a hard grasp on the basics as I really started out with Duolingo.

As for the listening part, as I've mentioned regarding the pronunciation, it would benefit you greatly to learn faster if you are hearing the language often. Watch children's show, listen to Deutsch musik and more importantly, if you know someone who can speak the language, listen to them attentively.

Well, I hope this helps.
Would write some more about this language. 

Tschuss.

[Life Blog] I got vaccinated!

 As the title goes, yes, I got vaccinated.

The vaccine was Sinovac but, you know, it's better than nothing. Honestly, if I have a choice, I wouldn't be choosing this one. I just tried to be open minded when my landlady, who works in the public health sector, told me that every vaccine we have right now hasn't been tested to the fullest of its 'ability' since all of them are just created and developed during the pandemic last year.

I encourage everyone to get vaccinated if they are being offered to do so and if it's available. You shouldn't also choose at the moment because COVID is still a real threat and any medication/vaccination we can get our hands on is preferred over getting sick.

In my experience, I got vaccinated by the local government unit of Mandaluyong. I got my first shot last June 1st and I would be getting my second and final dose on the 29th. I am thrilled and really happy that I did it and I am just not writing because I am a DDS or something but I really do care for my wellbeing and the wellbeing of the people I am close to and encounter with in the daily.

As for the experience during vaccination, Mandaluyong LGU are doing several steps for it:

1. Registration on MandaVax - do this prior to your vaccination appointment; the LGU will text you if it's already your turn to be vaccinated.

2. Go to the place of vaccination - currently there are two places I know of: SM Megamall and within the City Hall of Mandaluyong (where I got my vaccine).

3. Checking and Registration - they will just write your name again and confirm if you really have a MandaVax registration and if you really have a slot for vaccination. Ngl, there are still people using their power to get someone or their relatives vaccinated.

4. Screening - there is a screening area to check whether the person who wants to get vaccinated is 'fit' for the vaccine. I was told that there are some cases that they will refuse people who currently have an allergic reaction prior to vaccination. The usual questions though are the ones we are already familiar with regarding COVID (e.g. feeling any symptoms of it).

5. Waiting for your shot - after the screening process, you will fall in line again and wait for your turn. Honestly, it was really fast and I am gonna give that to the LGU of Mandaluyong. Everything was in order and everyone was trying to be really helpful.

6. THE VACCINATION - it was really painful. I feel like it hit a bone or something and not because it was the reaction from the vaccine. In my experience, I feel sore in that area for 2-3 days and I have to move my arm a lot or quite often. I did not do some warm compress at home though and maybe that's what I did wrong. The nurse who vaccinated you will also give you your next vaccination date.

7. Aftermath - after your vaccination, you will be lead to a group of doctors and the Observation Area. You will be informed about when to call Emergency hotlines regarding your vaccination and if you're having some weird and negative side effects. They will give you a list of stuff to watch out for, emergency hotlines (which was also written on your vaccination card, btw) and then they will ask you to sit around there and 'observe' for about 30 minutes to an hour (depends on the situation).

8. Go home and rest - well, here's the best part: going home. Mandaluyong LGU has this photobooth where you can take photos (of course, duh) to show off and say to the world that you got vaccinated already. But I wasn't talking about that, no, no, no. The best part is that the exit of the vaccination center is right in front of Jollibee. Haha. So I treated myself for some good old Jollibee fried chicken and spaghetti.

I am generally a healthy person in some way. I don't really get sick often and maybe that's because of my love for sour foods or just my strong immune system, lol. But as far as I know, everyone is at risk to get COVID so it's best to still get the vaccination when you can and as soon as possible and to follow all health protocols (even after getting vaccinated!). I still disinfect my hands as often as I should, stay 1 meter away from other people, avoid going out if I don't have to and generally taking care of myself through good food and exercise (the good food is a stretch because I still enjoy tons and tons of pizza and doughnuts).

Anyway, just want to share my experience with you. GET VACCINATED, please!

Updating after almost two months of not posting

 Life was...crazy.

I keep on telling myself that, "Okay, you should really work on some reviewers, your story/novel and your blog while you're waiting for something to happen in your life," but yeah, NOTHING.

I was really unable to pick up my pen and start writing (figuratively, of course). I am just doing the bare minimum schedule that I hold myself accountable. Taking up German lessons, doing my Duolingo daily task, exercising (sometimes, even this I crossed out) and going for a run, making sure that I am not eating rice and working; these are all the things that I try to do daily.

Anyways, I would probably post here more often so that it can take off some pressure on my mind. Hmm. I am currently processing something right now and honestly, it's so frustrating. There are a lot of challenges that I am facing with regards to this that I feel like maybe it's best not to go on with this one but I know in my heart that these should not faze me. These are just struggles, obstacles and maybe life's way in preparing me to a whole lot more struggle because I am going up in another level.

Would probably post helpful information here about taking German lessons for a bit before focusing more on Geology. It's a standstill.

Adios.