In a couple of weeks, I'll be turning 23. It's like not too long ago I was writing a blog post that I was turning 17 and now I'm well into my early 20s. My year 22 is such a boring year, I don't know about you but I did not feel like 22, in contrast to what Ms. Taylor Swift has prophesized all these years.

Well, I guess, everybody's year sucked, not only me. Last year, I planned that for my birthday this year, I'll be traveling to Sorsogon by myself, like what I did last year with Baguio. Now, I have to think of another way to excitingly mark my new year of existence. 

But before we get into my birthday plans, I want to discuss what does it mean to be in your early 20s. A part of me thinks that I should cherish my youth and freedom since I don't have any heavy responsibilities now. The early 20s picture is partying, chugging alcohol, and going through the dating pool.

Since I've been cooped up, I've had a long and deep thought of who I am. I'm a tita and I want to embrace that. I will wear cat-eye prescription glasses, I will drape a shawl over my shoulders when it's chilly, and I will enjoy my essential oils.

Some other things that I do that make me feel like an 80-year-old is crochet. YES, I CROCHET NOW AND I ENJOY IT. You know when you watch a movie, and you feel like your hands should be doing something when a scene gets boring? You either reach for your phone or find something to eat. 

I crochet when I watch movies. it's really therapeutic and fulfilling. You see a piece of yarn and later on, it's a coaster! it makes me proud. Also, I actually think I'm good at it. It's the hobby I've long searched for that I'm immediately good at. 

I also make a huge batch of cookie dough and bake a couple of cookies at midnight while I drink tea like is that not the most old woman-y thing you've heard. 

These things that I've been doing lately, makes me feel older than I am and I'm embracing it. I don't want to feel the pressure of doing something "youthful" and later on feeling terrible about it. I'm looking at you walwal sessions. 

My plans for my birthday include buying prosecco or sangria, buying a burnt cheesecake, either buying a lasagna or making homemade pasta. Maybe I'll go for a facial too if it's safe. All of this while wearing a cute dress and full makeup. 

Much love,

Sophia

By June of 2020, I was laid off from my third full-time job. It's not like I wasn't expecting it. We were in the midst of a pandemic, and the travel industry was crippling. Clearly, the only content writer in the company was one of the first ones to go. With no sarcasm whatsoever, this is just what I needed.

In the middle of my career last year, I kept on wondering when was the right time to delve into freelancing. I wanted to try freelancing at least once in my life since it was such a flexible experience. Well, it was like the opportunity was served to me. 

Once we had our desktop computer set up, I wanted to kickstart my freelance career in writing to get some money flowin'. One of the most recommended platforms to get projects was Upwork. So I made an account there and got to review what my career life looked like so far.

I have a pretty decent resume and portfolio, so I was confident that I was going to book projects in no time. I need to tell this to myself because when submitting proposals on Upwork I was overwhelmed with how valuable connects are and went into an impostor syndrome spiral. 

feedback from my very first Upwork client!

While waiting for projects to come through, I wanted to embrace my freelance career by having a website that showcases my portfolio. Because I'm a sucker for branding, I wanted my website to be visually appealing and not just a list of my work. For me to do that, I need a clear vision of what I wanted my website to look like. 

So like any overachieving professional, I made myself a branding deck, complete with color swatches, fonts, and logo types. 

I wanted my branding to reflect my personality. I'm fun, flashy, quirky, but not overly feminine. I went for orange and yellow as my main colors because they show warmth and youthfulness. I chose Boiling as my font because I wanted a bold serif font that can represent professionalism. 

In case you don't follow me on social media, kleoamo is my "online name." It's my username on most social media platforms, and I want it to be the name of my personal brand. 

I had a lot of internal debate on what platform will I host my website portfolio. For a solid number of days, I was convinced with Squarespace. I told myself that it was an investment. In case you didn't know, Squarespace requires a membership fee for you to use it as a platform. I was also planning to buy a domain.

But since I'm a thrifty gal, I ended up with no domain and on Wix. I had some experience with Wix during my college days, so I'm familiar with it. I also didn't want to go all out with the website; I wanted something I can drag and drop.

Wix is easy and great for a quick website. I had fun working with some animation, plus they let you upload your own font.

The website portfolio is pretty handy. I could upload the articles that I'm proud of and archive my work. If clients or companies ask for a sample of my work, I just link some relevant articles for reference. 

It's fun to have a personal branding deck. It saves me the time on choosing colors and fonts on other materials that I do such as social media content and business cards! 

You can check out my portfolio website here! 

Much love,

Sophia

1. I like how pretty Miles is
2. The "accidental" hand touching looks so non-accidental
3. What was that blonde wig Yeng was wearing???
4. Felix Roco was content at the end because he knew Marco was gunna die and can have Joyce for himself hehe
5. Still a shock that Miles came from a wealthy family with parents that have a healthy separated relationship. 

That's right folks, your baby girl Kleona just went on a 2D1N trip to the mountains alone. Not only that, she did it on her 22nd birthday. A queen. 

Day 1

2AM - 7:30AM: Victory Liner Bus - Pasay to Baguio

Cost: 501PHP Terminal booking

7:30AM - 8:00AM: Taxi to Dangwa Bus Terminal

8AM: Buy tickets to Brgy. Sayangan, Atok

Cost: 250PHP

You get to put on some rain boots because the area is quite muddy. Boyboy will be your tour guide and personal photographer, ACTUALLY REALLY HANDY FOR SOLO TRAVELERS. 

He knows the right angles and the names of the flowers and why they are named so. According to him, Northern Blossom Flower Farm was a private garden before it was a mega tourist attraction. They delivered flowers to Dangwa markets, but now they just grow their beautiful flowers for the aesthetic of vsco girls. 

Boyboy knows what the right angles are to get that winning shot. He tells you to crouch down, point your hand to the left, and do the flower pose. The demanding ~energy~ (lol)

After the tour, you'll have free coffee and a cookie at their cafe. The cafe is quaint, airy, and very tita. Each table has a flower vase with flowers that are fresh from the farm. This is the area where I was catching my breath so hard the property dogs were looking at me funny. Oh yes, did I mention that the farm is on a terraces-like structure? No? You don't feel it going down, but YOU WILL FEEL IT WHEN THE TOUR ENDS.

12:30PM - 1PM: Lunch at Marosan's Restaurant

Cost: 60PHP

Asking around where's the station I can ride back to Baguio, locals told me there are vans to Baguio at Marosan's Restaurant. Since I haven't had a decent meal all day, I ate afritada at Marosan's. 

1:30PM - 3:30PM: Van ride to Baguio

Cost: 120PHP

There were vans in front of the restaurant hailing passengers. I ate hurriedly as to board the vans as soon as possible. I paid, went inside the van. When I asked, is this van going to Baguio. THE DRIVER and PASSENGERS looked at me weirdly and started talking to me in Ilokano. W H A T 

They were telling me where to go and I couldn't understand them. I alight the van and asked for directions BUT EVERYBODY WAS TALKING TO ME IN ILOKANO AND LAUGHING AT ME.

So I sat down on a bench and waited. Later on, I realized I think I just boarded a private tour van headed north of Atok. whoops.

Pro Tip: Look for the sign La Trinidad in vans. There are no vans going to Baguio, La Trinidad is your best choice. La Trinidad is not that far from Baguio, it's where the strawberry farm is. You can ride a taxi to Baguio from the Van terminal. 

3:30PM - 4PM: Taxi to 3BU Hostel

Cost: 135PHP

Was so tired and felt so sick after all that, so I had to take a taxi to the hostel because I just wanted to lie down. 

4PM - 5:30PM: Check-in/Rest

Cost: 800PHP

Checked in the hostel, settled in, and fixed my stuff. They even had a toiletry bag for me with a towel, shampoo, soap, toothbrush, and AND ANDDDD A ROLL OF TISSUE. god bless. 

5:30PM - 7:30PM: Massage at Romanelle Spa

Cost: 1,050PHP

Yes po opo nagpa-massage po tayo. My body was aching and all I wanted was a massage. So I searched good 'ol trusty Google Maps for the nearest spa. And am I not the luckiest gal in town? There was a spa just across the hostel. LITERALLY 2min walk. 

I debated whether I should get a full body massage, a body scrub, or both? After consulting with my lifestyle consultant (LOL hi zel), I went in and got both! Because why the hell not it was my birthday.

The spa was a nice house with a Japanese restaurant in it and on the other side was the spa. it wasn't Nuat Thai feels but more of a massage at your friend's nice house feels. 

7:30PM - 9:30PM: Dinner at J's Liquid Black

Cost: 150PHP

Day 1 Itinerary + Cost Breakdown

Day 2

9:30AM - 10:30AM: Breakfast

Cost: 0PHP

Went upstairs to read a book and have complementary breakfast. Ended up just reading a book because the complementary breakfast was a hoax. Turns out, they don't offer free breakfast despite what it says in the website's Terms and Conditions.

So I went back to my pod and ate leftover pesto pasta while watching Daybreak.

10:30AM - 12PM: Get ready

The shower I went into had very low pressure and the temperature wasn't stable. I was either bathing in icy cold or scalding hot water. 

12PM - 12:30PM: Check-out

Check out was a breeze. They even let me leave my bag at the front office again, so that I can freely loiter in Baguio.

12:30PM - 1:30PM: Lunch at Ili-Likha Artists Village

Cost: 50PHP

Bought a slice of my favorite cake too, Vizco's strawberry shortcake! I wanted one for the road :) Got pasalubong for my fam and officemates too. Got crinkles, lengua de gato, and of course, sundot kulangot :P 

The souvenir store was actually near a Victory Liner terminal, not the terminal I was meant to go to but they offered a shuttle to my designated terminal. So I went in.

3PM - 4:15PM: Panicking to board the bus

Cost: 535PHP Online booking

Arrived at the right Victory Liner station early, so I went to get my tickets by claiming it at the counter. The line wasn't long at all. BUT THE LADY HANDLING THE BOOTH WAS TAKING SO LONG. I don't know what she was doing!! All you have to do was surrender your voucher and they give you a ticket. THAT'S ALL! It took forever.

I had to rush back to the hostel and get my bags and go back to the terminal. Spoiler alert: I made it on time.

Pro Tip: Claim your return tickets once you arrive in Baguio, so that you won't be in a rush to board the bus.

4:15PM - 10PM: Victory Liner Bus - Baguio to Cubao

Had a lot of time reflecting on my trip back. I didn't even get off at stopovers because I made sure to drink Neozep drowsy pills, so that I can be numb or sleepy during the way back. 

10PM - 11PM: Angkas, Victory Liner Cubao to House

Cost: 100PHP

Immediately booked an Angkas once I got off the bus because I just wanted to sleep in a bed.

Day 2 Itinerary + Cost Breakdown

Overall, the trip was a success! Almost everything went right and I learned a lot from the trip. Actually planning my next one! Any suggestions? ;)

Much Love,

Sophia