177 – On Recapping 2017

To put it bluntly, 2017 was screwed over to begin with.

A broken-down laptop in January cost me a lot of posts and derailed any plans I had for the blog. To add insult to injury, my smartphone’s screen also got broken. (I have yet to bring both these electronics for repair. If they can’t be fixed anymore, I’ll set aside some money for data recovery.) Finally, I lost the replacement flip phone I bought after the smartphone last December 22—delivering the death blow. I seem to have an unlucky streak when it comes to gadgets.

This only lasted 7 months before I lost it.

Speaking of blog stats, the loss of my laptop affected my posting schedule and output. From a total of 39 posts in 2016, I published a total of 27 for the past year—equating to an average of 2.25 posts per month. This is the lowest post average I’ve had so far, compared to the high 4.42 posts per month I racked up in 2015.

To get the average posts per month, I counted the total number of entries I published in a year and divided that number by 12 months.

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But do we throw away the baby with the bath water? Not just yet.

The past year wasn’t all screw-ups, however. A lot of highlights happened that made up for the misfortunes I suffered during the past year. Here are some of those:

1. Continuing to create and publish new posts

Losing both my smartphone and laptop was tantamount to losing an arm and a leg, so to speak. But it didn’t stop me from creating new entries. I picked up where I left off—starting with Hermanos Taco Shop and closing the year with CoCo Ichibanya and the double bill of BLK513 + 80 Queens, the latter establishments both being close to home.

In addition to these food reviews, I did post some non-food entries for this year. These involve things like lessons I picked up after six years of cosplaying, insoles for your shoes, three outfit posts, and the 2017 MUNI Market Day.

2. Traveling overseas, specifically to Singapore, for the first time

Being with CJ for the past three years has made me experience a lot of new things. From our first domestic travels to Cebu and Palawan, we stepped up our travel game and visited Asia’s Little Red Dot—Singapore. As I’ve said in my posts about the Lion City, its cleanliness, decency, efficiency, and organization make it an epitome of urban planning. (Urban planner and fellow acquaintance from cosplay Jean also shares the same sentiments, as seen here.)

Initially, I had issues with regards to finance even before this trip started – but I managed to get over those. All in all, I don’t regret traveling to Singapore and getting my very first passport stamp in over 20 years!

3. Being here despite the difficulties that my family has faced

If you will remember last May, I wrote about falling on hard times with my family. Seven months after, I’m proud to say that things are turning out better.

I have managed to repay all my debts and save a significant amount of money on the side, thanks to the yearly 13th month pay. I got it in full after a year’s tenure, compared to last year in which I only got a fraction of it. On the other hand, Mom has finished her chemotherapy sessions and is now undergoing radiation therapy. A number of her anti-cancer drug infusions are still sponsored by Roche (the pharmaceutical company), and that’s a big help.

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Despite 2017 not starting out the way I wanted it to be, maybe the upcoming year will be kinder? I don’t know, and one can only guess.

Until the next post – belated Merry Christmas, and a bountiful New Year ahead!

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