3 for '12

Hello.

Lest I seem rude, I should start with: Happy New Year! It must be quite the challenge for everyone who went YOLO to have to wrap their heads around the fact that mankind has survived past the apocalypse that was due in 2012. I feel sorry for them. Why, if you might ask, is because to me, people who have the YOLO mentality have no plans nor any looking ahead. I, on the other hand consider myself to be very opposite.

This 2013 will be all about planning, sprawling out my entire life, and plotting them on a calculated grid with an imaginary hourglass (just to add some more pressure). And if that weren't articulate enough, I also have this published blogpost to toy with my pride. But before I embark on this year's new adventures, I've decided to dedicate an ode to the 3 major things that I am most thankful for in the last year.

ONE: BREAKFASTS

I love breakfast. I have always loved breakfast. I would dream about breakfast. I would fantasise about my next breakfast while I'm having breakfast. Breakfast is the quintessential start to my everyday existence. And while all of those hold legitimacy, it wasn't always the case. I remember never having the time to eat breakfast in the morning (but really, NOBODY should put breakfast in a corner!). Back in uni, I always chose sleep or drying my hair over a morning meal and even when I started working. The complete turnaround only really happened when I began working early mornings midway through 2012. Though most people would contest that being awake at 5:10am is illegal, the best thing to make up for it really is to charge oneself with a good feed. I don't mean to sound cheesy but I have had my fair share of the most amazing sunrises (the few times I've had enough time to sit down and look out the window) as I sipped on my long black and spooned in my fruit and muesli.

Because of breakfast, I look forward to falling asleep as fast as I can at night just so I can wake up to my Greek yogurt. Because of breakfast, I walk to work in a more positive disposition because I know my stomach won't be grumbling in the midst of a client. And because of breakfast, my mornings are just heaps better because seriously, who doesn't want the amazing range of breakfast on offer in life??? I am thankful.

TWO: MY FEET 

This isn't an attempt to be preachy but prior to moving to Japan, I never really appreciated my feet and legs. I always had something to complain about, nothing was ever perfect and nothing would come close. I have reconciled myself with that fact that I've got heaps of mundane woes but somewhere in all those epic monologues of complaining that I stage in my head, I realised how lucky I am to be healthy and to come intact with all appendages.

Because of my feet, I get to WALK. And occasionally run. As in, I have walked so much I have a corn in my left foot. That is a disgusting fact to divulge but I felt like I had to state a fact with hard (literally) evidence. My feet take me to not only the places where I need to be but also took me to the places I have pined for. This 2013, I will try my best to take better care of them by nightly moisturising and wearing comfortable footwear. I am thankful.

THREE: TRAVELS

And finally, probably the greatest thing that I am most thankful for this year would be all my travels. I got to go on 6 big holidays this year! It's not surprising how I hear crickets in my wallet nor how I find my bank account empty each time I fly back home. I have zero savings from 2012 but all those sights, all the food, all the culture and all those people I keep in my archives prove more than enough that traveling is an investment that keeps growing with immeasurable interest.

In March, I was able to fly to Singapore and eat the famed chili crab and then head home to the Philippines where I got to spend a long and slow month being idle. In April, Sydney and Melbourne happened. From June to July, I went two weeks throughout Honshu. I finally got the chance to see Hiroshima and Miyajima! In August,  despite on a sad note, I flew back to the Philippines to see my Lolo one last time but still very thankful for it because I also got to reconnect with some cousins I haven't seen in a long time. In October, I got to play tour guide once again when one of my best friends flew all the way here hence a second take on Japan's hits: Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. And finally, I didn't think it would be that soon but I got to see off 2012 in the land down under.

That's about 15 different cities, innumerable hours in transit and n GBs of disk space eating up my hard drive. I am absolutely beaming with excitement where 2013 takes me but on top of that, I am just utterly thankful.

It's impossible to confine all the good things in one list but these 3 are standouts because they're new and they've added huge perspective in my life. Yes, especially breakfast.

This word vomit is getting out of hand. To better days ahead this 2013!

xx,
Ina