Happy New Year! (Na naman!?)

Chinese New Year came in quite early this year, I recall celebrations happening February and not January. Having Filipino-Chinese friends opened a new world of celebration to me. Not everyone celebrates this the Chinese way with fireworks and over flowing food (Can you imagine all the holiday weight you've gained and then pigging out again after a few weeks? I can! So at some point I need to stop haha!), but it does give us an excuse to have a special non working holiday, free time to spend with family! (As if the weekly reunion and parties from last month weren't enough!)

Chinese New Year Lanterns at SM by the Bay

I picked up some errands from the flat we are leasing in Pasay, after which, I decided to drop by Mall of Asia. I rarely go to malls nowadays, so it was kind of exciting to see what's new. Two phrases to describe MOA when I visited.

1. Ongoing renovation (clap clap!)

2. Big crowd! (Something I expected, but it's different when you are old and you just don't have the patience anymore to maze through the mall haha)

The main atrium where majority of the stalls were boarded up because of the ongoing renovation.

Got to hand this to SM, they hyped up a simple walkway into something buzz worthy. It hurt my eyes honestly haha!

SM by the Bay. The crowd eventually started leaving around 8PM-ish.

After walking around, checking out what's new (or what's getting renovated), I decided to grab a quick dinner at Abe's. I just want to eat something familiar and comforting, so I ordered crispy adobo flakes. Yummy!

Oo pang breakfast ang inorder ko. Bakit ba!? Sarap kaya!

So while waiting for my food, I got some time to reflect what could possibly make our 2023 more fruitful.

Develop a new mindset.

Our mindset determines our behavior and habits. If you are not in the space (emotional, spiritual or financial) you want to be, perhaps it is time for a paradigm shift. Embrace new perspectives in life, learn from past mistakes, think outside the box and have courage to sail unchartered waters. Of course give yourself time to ponder how this will work for you, if the advantages outweighs the disadvantages, give it a try.

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” - Buddha

Create your tribe.

Your journey of discovery will never be complete without having the right bunch of people. Your tribe should give you the right space for your growth, they should inspire you and ground you when needed. (Remember, grounding is different from being pessimistic!) If you have an existing set of friends, you may no longer share the same vision in life, you might have outgrown each other already and have matured differently. When this happens, personally, I will keep the friendship intact, but will probably put them in a different silo. Yes, start grouping your friends. As you get older, you will be able to determine which friend goes to which silo. This way it'll be easier to tap the right energy you need to get you going.

Learn a new skill.

This may be a challenge for our working titos and titas. But give yourself some time to learn something new. Maybe an extra hour a day to go to YouTube to learn how to cook, or one weekend every month to learn how to do other stuff aside from what you know. This is a good way of expanding your skillset and expanding your network of friends.

Kape kape sa asoteya.

Do you agree titos and titas? How do you plan to spend your 2023? Share your thoughts!

Much love,

Gary xxx

Oh yung mga mukhang savings jan, ito na!