myescapingescapes

Three Sundays ago, one of the highlights of the sermon was about trusting God even when things don’t make sense. Brother Udy shared about the prophet Habakkuk, who saw injustice and pain in his nation. He asked God hard questions, but in the end, he still chose to say, “I will rejoice in the Lord.” That message has stayed with me, especially today, election day in the Philippines. I voted online…

First and foremost … You are beautifully and wonderfully made. People will call you names – pitot (petite), balbon (hairy like a monkey) and other names that may hurt you somehow. BUT always remember and believe in your heart that you are God’s beautiful creation (Psalm 139). Your flaws are not going to define you. You are strong. You are going to face a lot of challenges growing up – at home,…

In this chaotic and uncertain world, we all need moments of total peace and serenity. Serenity sometimes can be found when you take a leisurely walk in a lush garden or go for a hike in the woods or even when you’re just sitting at home, drinking coffee. All these, though, will just give you temporary serenity. When reality hits again, you will find yourself drowning in fear and worries. There…

Some days are just great.

When everything is working out

When things go in your favour

When you feel contented and satisfied

When you feel victorious

When you feel blessed.

Choose gratitude.

Then there are other days.

When you’re frustrated and disappointed

When things did not turn out as planned

When you suffer injustice

When problems arise

When things seem…

A friend of mine shared a facebook post of this guy holding a sign saying ‘STOP POSTING YOUR OLD TRAVEL PICS’. I don’t know what his reasons were but I don’t agree with him. This #dudewithsign should not stop you from posting your old travel photos. Ignore those who criticize. You do you! 👊🏻 Posting these old travel photos can be therapeutic as it may help you relive the good, happy memories and…

Sunrise hike – Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Why do most girls feel it’s necessary to wear make up everyday? 🤷🏼‍♀️ They wear make up to the gym, when they go jogging, swimming, 😜 or even when they are just at home wearing sweats.

Wearing make up everyday is not my thing. That’s why I was surprised when I posted a photo in one of my treks and someone commented “you look so simple, no make up”. I…

The sunrise in Jakarta took me by surprise yesterday morning. I did not expect this at all. No smog. Clear skies.These pictures were captured using only my iphone camera. No filter. No edits whatsoever.

Indeed the planet is slowly healing or at least it was able to breathe. But until when?That I am not sure of. Maybe until June 4 when Jakarta’s large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) will be…

Would You Travel With Someone You Just Met?

Would You Travel With Someone You Just Met?  Do you or can you ever trust a person you only meet once? Most of you would probably say “NO”. As most people say, you simply can’t trust someone so quickly. You just can’t.

Well…

Here’s to that one time I went on spontaneous travel getaway with someone I just met – one week before the trip happened. Her name is Venny. I met her once only so imagine my…

Self-isolation and social distancing is the new normal these days and being stuck in my tiny room, coping up with self-isolation had been a struggle. Since schools had closed, we shifted into home-based learning and doing zoom classes. Yes, learning continues until the second week of May. The busyness of preparing learning materials has somehow helped me ease the boredom of this new reality yet I…

Every one of us go through valley experiences in our lives. Needless to say, it’s part of life. However, sometimes we tend to wonder why things happen the way they do. Why is there suffering in the world? Why would a good God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Sometimes we feel that God is silent – He may seem distant and we feel like He never hears our prayers. Then we question His…

My sense of time is all messed up these days. My biological clock goes haywire. I get up whenever I wanted to unless of course I have scheduled zoom classes or online church services. I have lunch at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I can’t tell the date without having to look at my phone. This isn’t normal.The world isn’t normal. When will this be over?

My heart breaks every time I read or watch the…

I came from a family of singers and musicians. My Lolo was a singer. He used to sing and play guitar at church. My tatay sings and he plays the guitar, too. My kuya is a gifted singer, and he plays the guitar as well. My Ate has a beautiful, soothing voice. BUT NOT ME! Why oh why!? 🤣When God poured out his blessings, maybe I wasn’t born then. I can carry a tune, yes, but i don’t have that ‘gift’.…

The Silent Treatment: A Day in the Life of a Teacher

Tuesday is one of my most favorite days of the week this school year. Aside from the fact that I don’t have classes for periods 1-2, and periods 8-9, I will only be teaching the tenth graders today. Oh, today, we are just going to have the chapter test and after that, we’ll be watching and evaluating their biology video project. No lecture, no discussion. This will be a light, easy day for me.

Th…

Four years down, more to go!

Four years ago today, God sent me to this city. My first out of the country trip. Took a risk. Travelled alone. Stepped into into the unknown. What I was sure of then was the promise that wherever God sends me and leads me, he will feed me. God provides. God is good. He is faithful. Always.

My initial plan was to stay for 5 years, so I only have one more year left.…

Short Bali Trip – A Weekend Escape

This is a long overdue post as we went to Bali six months from now but at last, I got time to write again and share my 2-day Bali adventure with you.

In my line of work, you rarely (or never) get an opportunity to file for a vacation leave and go anywhere you want. Thus, what I usually do is check the school calendar for long weekends and holidays and plan ahead. If you have been reading my…

I was born and raised in the Philippines, a tropical country boasting of a variety of fruits. On top of that, I am more privileged to grow up on a rural family farm planting different crops and fruit trees – ranging from jackfruit to mangoes, to guava, marang, and santol fruit trees and the list goes on! Even in our yard, we grow pineapple, star apple, and sugar apple. However, we didn’t have an apple tree!

I have never seen an apple tree in the Philippines. Was there even one?  Hmmm… None that I know of. So imagine how excited I was when I found out that we are going to go apple picking (my very first time) on our trip to Malang.

Malang is the second largest city in East Java, Indonesia. From Jakarta, it would take you around 15-17 hours by economy train. It was my first time to travel by train this long and I would not try it again. It was a promo fare, only around 200,000 IDR round trip. Yes, it was way cheaper than executive/business trains, but I would not recommend it. It was too slow and the seats were very uncomfortable.

When we arrived in Malang, I didn’t expect that we were going to stay at Batu City. Batu City is one of the most visited places in Malang for its apple orchards. In fact, Batu is called the “Apple City, offering several apple picking tours to visitors. There are are a lot to see and do in Batu, but apple picking is sure is included in everyone’s itinerary.

Luckily, since we stayed at Batu City, we don’t have to go somewhere else far to pick apples. There are a lot of apple orchards we can choose from near the villa where we stayed at. There are even apple trees in the front and backyard! Our host even offered a tray of apples when we arrived up until our last day.

  Apple farm just a few steps away from the villa! 

    Orchard visit early in the morning!

    Beautiful apple tree flowers

  We visited a few orchards but it was only during the last day when we finally went apple picking. A farm girl myself, I am not new to harvesting fruits, of course!  However, there was something really different about being in an apple orchard for the first time. I felt like a little kid. I could hardly contain the excitement and took a bite of the first apple I picked even when I was told it has to be washed first!

  It was a private orchard, not for apple picking tours filled with tourists, so we were the only ones there. Spell L-U-C-K-Y! The orchard was so huge. It was so fun to go around looking for the best- looking apple. We filled the two bags to the brim in only a few minutes! Of course, we brought to Jakarta with us the bags of apple we picked as well as apple chips made by the locals themselves.

My first apple picking experience was fun and unforgettable and I hope it won’t be the last.