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Taxation 101: A Primer on Philippine Taxes

First time to get invited and attend a local seminar held by Upwork and Taxumo exclusive for Top Rated freelancers (naks!). Held last Saturday, September 1, 2018 at Acceler8 Coworking-Finman Bldg. This is Adulting 201, learning about how to file my own taxes and other contributions. Shoutout din pala to Toni G. seeing her while waiting for the elevator. Good thing I was half an hour late lol. Photos courtesy of whoever the photographer was at the event and of Miss Avery. Thank you for this very informative event.

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INTP-A

I somehow ended up watching a vlog from Frank James who discusses much about INFJ personality, and I’m pretty sure I took some online test before to determine my personality. I know I’m one of those rare types but I couldn’t find where in my long list of blog sites I posted my old result, so I just took another quiz and this is what I got from 16personalities website:

https://www.16personalities.com/intp-personality

I’m a Logician Personality, which, as the introduction says, only makes up about 3% of the population. But I know I wasn’t always this “intellectual” person when I was younger. I was more of an “emo dark rebel kid” growing up. Maybe it kind of got cultivated by experience, or maybe it has always been innate which just needed the right triggers to get it to come up to the surface. Whatever the case maybe, I’m just glad I’m still not common, no matter how much I’ve changed over the recent years. 

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Rami Malek is 🖤!!!

I’m so excited to watch this movie, more so because I’m a Rami Malek fan since Mr. Robot. There’s just something about him that seems raw to the core. Pure talent and pure genius. 

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Hustle Kahit Hassle.

This is easily my most favorite Pundesal Pundikit of all time. It kind of became my motto last year, before I got into a serious case of burnout early this year. I’ve since accepted I need to allow myself to have a “Tamad Day” at least once every hustlin’ week to just relax, take it easy, rest and do nothing if I want to.

Anyway, I’m glad I came across their Pack ‘Em All promo where I get to choose any sticker I want to buy. I contacted them a few months ago asking about this but it was not possible at the time, so I’m really glad they finally gave it a go this time. I just really like having these stickers where I could easily see them to remind myself to keep hustling towards the kind of me and the kind of life I want to live, even if it can be a hassle at times.

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I woke up today aching for some Audioslave. And in the middle of my sound trip sesh, I thought, well, this song is a good anthem to start off this new day, new month, and the first day to my year-long self project. \m/ Chris, you’re being missed. 

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“Let’s not forget these early days Remember we begin the same We lose our way in fear and pain Oh joy begin” - Dave Matthews Band, Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin) I made this quick design to mark this new start in my blog. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up and post contents regularly like I used to. 

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quitting for “reel”

About two weeks ago, I decided to finally express my intention to quit being an aspiring events and wedding videographer and video editor. Maybe it was that whole industry I wanted to quit from, or maybe just the studio I was a member of. Maybe it’s just a phase. Maybe my intentions didn’t align with reality. Nevertheless, at this moment, I wanted to quit from it all. Partly a subset of my current state of being, and partly due to a lot of instances that made more sense to me the minute I stepped away from all the unnecessary noise. It was my initial intention to start exploring more of that industry whom I was privileged to be a part of since 2014 that led me to decide to be in it for real this time. I was hoping I could be more because of it: more avenues to express my creativity, more experiences, more knowledge, and extra money of course, although I’m well aware that return of investments would take some time to happen in that field. However, with each single time I come home from an event, I feel more disadvantaged than ever. I became a lot less and yet still being wrung out some more. Pleasing them became my sole mission to keep pushing until I can no longer move. When the veil of urgency and chaos and noise got lifted off, I was left to face an empty and meaningless space and being slapped in the face with all levels of wrong that I looked past on for so long. I don’t have to keep pushing myself where I clearly don’t fit in well with. Not anymore.

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Some of my photos from yesterday’s Relentless Wedding Videography Workshop held at Dazo Hall Philam Village Las Piñas. We arrived late because: 1. the diaper incident that halted the MRT operations. I was one of those passengers that had to be discharged from the train at the Shaw station after riding the train from Ortigas Station. I don’t commute everyday because I’m mostly home-based, but when I do, I get to experience the freakshow that is MRT. Major ugh. 

2. waited for more than half an hour for our Uber ride to arrive

3. Uber driver was halted by traffic enforcer for entering an incorrect toll lane.

Anyway, the whole event was from 9am to a little past 5pm. While some of the speakers were really their sponsors advertising their products and services, and while some speakers could have given a lot more “meat” to their talks given that the whole workshop isn’t free and cheap, I still learned quite a few things with some of the better speakers when it comes to their processes and techniques. Certificate was very cool since it was printed in cloth instead of the usual parchment paper. I won a tshirt, lol, and had quite a number of features in their BTS video. All in all, it was a good event for beginners like me to meet some of the respected and well-known masters in the industry of weddings and events videography. Especially that gorgeous Gabo from Mayad. LOL! 

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decided

Today is when I finally felt decided, hell bent in finally pursuing something more concrete. And I want to always remember this day.

These past few months, I’ve always been very busy, but not like the kind of busy-ness I have these past few days and the coming weeks. It all started when I got way too upset with one of my boss. For a couple of days, I sank beneath the darkest sea bed. I couldn’t move and didn’t know what to do. That’s when I realized, maybe it’s time for me to take my side hustles more seriously. Eventually have my own design and photography studio. There is a videography group that’s keeps on wanting me to join their team but I never took them seriously. So I thought, maybe I should start there. I’ve been working in the events industry since 2014, but never full time. I started as an assistant coordinator. Another group hired me to do an SDE photo slideshow where I failed to deliver, where I felt like an utter disappointment, until I was told it was not in the contract with the couple so there’s not much harm done. And then this current group that kept getting me to do small tasks, like a family gathering photo session, or to do trimming for SDEs. Lately, they’ve been more serious into leveling up their studio and they still welcome me in their team as a videographer and as a video editor. But part of me still have some hesitations. I’ve never been at ease with them. Maybe because I have a different way of working. Maybe because my current home-based job has groomed me into becoming the leader that I never thought I could be. A bit bossy and bitchy at times, but someone who knows what she’s doing very well and has given much thought about the best possible outcome for any situation. More responsibility means more stress, but that’s when I uncovered a lot more potential in myself that I never saw before.

So earlier today, when I went out with my sister to discuss our first ever joint project in making a christening invitation and souvenir, I pitched in to become the official photographer for that small event. I named my price and even though the client had hesitations, I stuck with my price because I know what I’m capable of doing. My work means great quality. And the client finally agreed. It’s my first ever freelancing photography job that I acquired mostly on my own, with only the help from my sister. And boy, I was ecstatic! This is exactly what I’m looking for. A gig, a project, that I can call my own. Now that I’ve opened my own window for this opportunity, I’d do all that it takes for me to fully get in and fucking rule this corner of the world. The path is open for me and I know there’s still a lot more to learn and a lot of challenges to face, but when my work means something, when my work means passion, when my work reflects my own self, it’s all worth going to be worth it.

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It’s Saturday, so... 

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Tonights epiphany.

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shaken

Life has a funny way of shaking me up sometimes, even for just a bit. Yesterday, as I was going through my mind-numbing routine of waking up and logging in to work, I saw a friend invite on my work Facebook account. It was from a girl I don’t know and whom I have no common friends with. When I opened her profile, I saw that she’s the current girlfriend of my ex. I felt a lot of things and had a lot of questions all at once. Why? Why did she want to add me? How did she know about me? Fuck this shit. So I stalked her page a bit. Found out they were classmates in elementary. Realized my ex really has a knack for girls he already knows previously. Realized that wow, what a downgrade yet again with 3 slow claps for him. Realized that they became a couple a month after our last email exchange from last year. Realized that no matter how much I mentally bash the new girl and my ex, it doesn’t change the fact that he already has a new relationship while I still don’t. That it’s always the way with him, less than a year after we broke up and he’s already with another girl. Nine months to be exact. It fucking sucks. I was surprised how I felt a rollercoaster ride of emotions in the last 24 hours because of it, even though it’s just a kiddie rollercoaster compared to the gigantic ride I had when we first broke up about 5 years ago. I was shaken, yes, but only about a magnitude of 0.25, nothing more. Maybe because of residual feelings I may still have for him. Good thing I have someone special to talk with for the most part of the last 24 hours. I’m okay now. Moving on is like a skill I’ve grown to master more and more. I didn’t run away from whatever pain I felt when I found out about my ex’s new girlfriend. I looked at it as some situation I had to face momentarily. I recognized the pain because for so many years, he was the only guy in my heart and every time I would confirm that he’s with someone new, it always sucks. But I also recently realized that not all feelings can be trusted, and not all feelings must be acted upon. You just have to look at it, acknowledge it, let it run in your veins until it evaporates on its own. I had long accepted the fact that we really are two very different people, and two different people in different levels in our own lives and not even love was enough to make me stay any longer. I had to save my own self from him. His darkness was eating up whatever was barely remaining in my light back then. I couldn’t keep fighting for him when he just refused to fight beside me. It takes an awful lot to love a boy like him for very long. So good luck to that new girl. I hope she can handle him. And I hope she can handle him without losing her own self in the process.

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This is now, by far and hands down, my most favorite wedding video of all time. And it is done by the master of them all (although I’m also a fan of Bob Nicholas) Jason Magbanua. This is like a fun, culture-ridden, multilingual and majestic love story of two equally beautiful people. Solenn has always been my favorite “It girl” because she’s so multi-talented and sexy and she’s half-french. Anyway, kudos to Jason Magbanua’s team. This video, even though it’s 15 minutes long, is just every bit gorgeous. 

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Hehey!!! I can finally listen again to my oldschool CD collection!!! My Macbook Pro’s CD/DVD drive was not put to waste after it was removed when I had my mac fixed/upgraded last month. Thanks to the sponsor of this enclosure which was bought from Lazada through this link for only Php 535. 

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100-day Self Foundation Rebuilding Project

Ever since I read the books “Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod and “Manage Your Day-To-Day” by 99U some years ago, I started to believe in the power of having a productive morning routine because I saw the benefits of it when I was fully applying it. I was more at peace with myself, I had more confidence, and I get more things done. Every single day that I get to do my morning routine, it felt like it’s one step in a series of steps that will eventually lead me to where I want to see myself someday. However, that morning routine stopped some years ago and I find that I couldn’t really get in to the habit anymore. It’s like battling my worst enemy within myself every single week that I plan out to finally get back to my routine.

A few weeks ago, I had an idea to start a project for myself. I thought, 100 days could be a good time for me to start rebuilding my personal foundations to eventually stop hating myself more and start liking myself again like I used to about 2-3 years ago. But this time, I will take it slowly but more solidly. I used to set a plan for my week with loads and loads of tasks only to wake up the next day already feeling defeated for being so overwhelmed. So I end up hitting all the snooze buttons until I had already wasted hours of my day in bed. If there’s a competition for being the best procrastinator around, I could definitely win by a landslide. LOL.

I love Saturdays, and because of it, I made Saturdays the start of my own personal week. So I started this 100-day self foundation rebuilding project last Saturday, May 20th. My goal is to get to August 27th, 100 days later, and see how much I’ve improved and hopefully be on my way to hating myself less and start liking myself again. For the longest time, I feel like crap, I look like crap, I think like crap. Ugh. I feel like at my worst for the longest time, but I so want to change it, hence, this project. This time, I decided that what I will do is start my first week with about 3-5 habits that I want to do daily and then adding one habit each successive week, and then blog about it so I have some documentation about my journey.

For this first week, I’m keeping it low-key. My main goal was to actually make my apartment clean and sorted out which I was able to do last weekend. I just need to do the laundry, but most of the chores were already done. I find that it’s more conducive to a better well-being if my habitat has less clutter.  Apart from that, here are the habits I want to start doing this week:

Week 1/14: 

Habit #1: Drink vitamins and supplements

Habit #2: Meditation

Habit #3: Read the “Basic Principles of Success Mechanism” from Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

Habit #4: Do a quick tidy up of my apartment a bit (make my bed, wash dishes, throw my garbage, sweep the floor, return things to where they should be)

Habit #5: Beauty regimen before going to sleep.

Also, along with these, I’m setting myself to finish reading at least 2 books and watch at least 3 movies each week. I also want to finally stick to my Bullet Journal and update it daily. I’ve been doing BuJos since, I think, February of last year. I already own 2 black Bullet Journals, the official ones that came from the bullet journal website and not just the Leuchtturm 1917 medium hard cover dotted notebooks. It’s actually hard to get hold of any of those and I had to order it from the US because none of those are available here. I’m trying to recall who was the Youtuber that I watched that made me discover about this journal system, but it was not until I’ve discovered Boho Berry that I got to really appreciate the system more. Anyway, maybe this whole Bullet Journal can be made for another post. For now, what’s important is that I get to stick with those first 5 habits before I start adding more to it in the coming weeks. I’ll try to update this blog every Friday, which is the end of my week, for any progress, challenges, and whatnots. I have to get back to work so bye for now. xx

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These days I’m having a hard time falling asleep, and when I do, it would usually only lasts for an hour or two. In my attempt to get myself to fall asleep, I came across this manga site, and kept reading this story. A small part of me feels normal doing this, then I recalled how I used to kill time at work reading mangas like this. I always thought that I need to do something everyday to make me feel “my normal self” again, and I guess for today, this is it. :)