moved to: wherepamstands.wordpress.com -- come on over

We hit up Kogyo Maru ship wreck first. It was a Japanese freighter carrying construction materials for building a runway for the Japanese war effort in the Pacific. There are about 10 ship wrecks located around Coron that are popular to divers. All were bombed back in 1944 when the U.S. discovered the Japanese ships hiding out in Coron. 

The water was murky below so we weren't able to get good shots of the shipwreck. 

always a good time with this crew!

Jumping into 2017 like...

Cheers to the new year! No better place to kick off the year than at the beach.

♡ Pam

• I usually like studying from 8pm-2am, I call it my prime time. For some reason, I cannot study in the morning for the life of me! However, my exams start at 8:30am so I'm setting my body clock so I wake up early and get in the zone that early on.

2. Study with a friend

• They can keep you on track with your studying. You feel guilty when they're working and you're there scrolling through Facebook.
• They brighten up your breaks. Instead of curling into a ball and crying during your 10 minute break, you can chat with them (preferably about anything other than school).
• Studying with people in the same class is a bonus. Cause you can *collaborate and listen*!
• Warning: choose your study buddy wisely, make sure it's someone with good study habits too otherwise they end up being a distraction

3. Choose a place that is conducive to studying

• I'm rarely productive when I study at home. It turns out being 3 hours of work: 6 hours of procrastinating.
• Look for cafes, libraries, etc. that you can study in. You might have to go to different ones. I've gone to some that were too loud, had sucky wifi, uncomfortable chairs etc. (yes, I'm quite picky) Find a place you feel productive and comfortable in because you're going to be there for quite a while...

4. Consume coffee as needed

• As I mentioned earlier, I have a hard time focusing in the morning (cause I'm still half asleep). So I've embraced coffee with open arms (and hazelnut coffee mate flavouring) to make me more productive in the morning

5. Apps to help you out

• "There's an app for everything" - me to my parents
• The 2 apps I rely on to be productive are

• Self-control app (https://selfcontrolapp.com/) - It's a free app that you download to your laptop. You create a "blacklist" of websites you can't access when the timer is switched on. So throw in Netflix, FB, youtube, etc in there. You set the timer (up to 24 hours) and no matter what you do, you won't be able to access those websites till the timer is up. Yup, even if you restart your laptop.
• Pomodoro app (phone) - Studies have shown that you are more productive when you study in short intervals. Apparently when you study for 1.5hrs straight you end up taking a longer break than usual. I can attest to this. I study for 1.5 hours then think I deserve a 2 hour break. Lol. This app rings when 25 mins (you can change it) is up, then cues your 5 min break. You do 4 rounds of 25 mins of studying with short 5 min breaks in between, then a long break of 20 mins after the 4 rounds.

6. Relax 

• After sitting down for 8 hours straight, you need to stretch it out. I downloaded an app called SWORKIT which has easy stretching techniques. I did it once I woke up since my body was feeling quite sore (from sitting??). Thinking of doing it every morning to ease my way into the day.

My ideal study place: Olive and Ruby Cafe on Broadway and Macdonald

I can't help it...I love going to concerts.

So there I was minding my own business, jamming out to No Problem and Summer Friends on the way to school. With each bus ride came new found love for one Chance the Rapper song after the other. A few weeks later, lo and behold, he happens to be playing 2 shows in Vancouver. Since both shows were sold out, I decided to just get tickets off StubHub if they were reasonably priced. People were selling them at ridiculous prices of $100 or more when they were originally $50ish. Get real.

Luckily, on the morning of the 2nd show, there were tickets for $45! So I convinced my friend and sister to come along with me for a little mid-week treat.

• All We Got
• Summer Friends
• Same Drugs
• Blessings
• Angels
• No Problem
• Chain Smoker
• Blessings (explicit)

Into another serotonin overflow

Love on the weekend

Love on the weekend

October flew right over my head...probably because my head was always crouched down reading textbooks. To say it was a busy and stressful midterm season is an understatement. Whenever I finish a task or a test and put my feet up to relax, another assignment comes up and I find myself crawling back to my desk. 

A snippet of October:

12 - midterm for HSCI 307: health research methods

14 - midterm for MBB 222: molecular biology and biochemistry

17 - quiz for HSCI 340: social determinants of health

18 - group project due for HSCI 340 (and we all know how stressful group projects are)

19 - quiz HSCI 324: human population genetics and evolution 

21 - homework for MBB 222

24 - midterm for HSCI 340

26 - quiz and assignment due for HSCI 324 & quiz for MBB 222

I'm not complaining. I always try to look at the bright side and focus on how lucky I am to be able to learn new things and study in university, but it's a constant struggle trying to keep up with the workload of 5 classes that eventually I get burnt out. 

So this weekend (happy veterans day!), I headed up to Whistler to stay at a friend's cabin and it couldn't have been more perfectly timed. I discovered the cure to burn out is: alcohol, netflix, makeup, cozy blankets, a dance party (preferably at a bar), starbucks, and nature. As a student, it's easy to overlook your mental health and make it your last priority, but being prone to constant stress makes it even more important to take a step back and take care of yourself when needed. Never underestimate what nature can do for your mental health. 

Despite being hungover, we braved the cold and went on a hike around a lake in Whistler. The fresh air and beautiful views were enough to get my mind off of school and re-energize enough to take on the remaining 5 weeks of the semester (5 WEEKS!!!). 

Love and happiness and kindness and crisp air to go all around --

Pam

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving day, Patch flew back from Toronto and we decided to go for a walk along Kitsilano Beach. After walking in the deceiving 12 C degree weather (it felt like 5 C), we ate dinner at Burgoo as a celebratory dinner before her first official day at work, and my...break from studying for midterms and celebratory "made it through 1.5 months of school". Yup, I deserved it. Ever since we moved here, Kits beach has been my favourite spot -- it's seen heart ache, homesickness, celebrations, new friendships, and rekindling old ones...I get taken back to those times whenever I go here.

Out of all the areas my parents chose to buy a house I'm so glad they chose one here. It's funny to think back to when we were house hunting in 2008/9, I remember driving to dozens of houses in different neighbourhoods. Out of sheer luck and perfect timing, we ended up finding a house in one of the best neighbourhoods/areas in Vancouver, one that we would quickly call our new home.

Never in my life did I think I'd have the opportunity to call two places my home. The world used to be pretty small growing up in Alabang. We lived in the same house for a long time and had everything and everyone we ever needed. Then suddenly, everythingEVERYTHINGeverything changed (that was for dramatic effect).

I always talk to my sisters about how "strange" our lives are, in the sense that we have two different lives. Majority of immigrants that I've met here in Vancouver (and trust me, there's a lot) have assimilated here and plan on staying permanently. In our case, since we moved here we've stayed very close to our roots.
Over the last seven years of living in Vancouver I've spent six of my summers in the Philippines so that just goes to show how half-and-half my life is between the two places.

I still feel so connected to the Philippines and it's largely due to family being back there. My parents mentioned a couple months ago that it was always their intention to keep us close to our roots (which I wasn't aware of). Their intention for us in Canada was to grow into independent adults while getting the best education, but hoped that we would bring back all our new perspectives and knowledge to the Philippines and contribute to improving the country.

So far my parents have done well in instilling that, for me at least. They've left it up to us to decide where we want to work and settle down, but hope that we find our way back home...and I just might end up doing that. Vancouver is the perfect city and has been so good to me all these years, but there's always the lingering feeling of the Philippines calling me back home. I know the quality of life is so much better here, but I feel like I have an obligation to serve the place that made me who I am, and to give back to those who aren't as lucky. Call it patriotism if you will.

It's been an ongoing internal debate whether I should stay or I should go, when is part of the question.

Well, I've got a year left in uni to decide (and figure out my life, really) but for now, I am extremely happy to call Vancouver my home.

Anyways, fall has definitely arrived here in Vancouver. There's nothing like orange/red leaves scattered all over the ground, chilly wind blowing in your face (while your nose is running, of course), and seeing people dressed so cosy.