ria's birthday week 2023

It's that time of the year again! I turned another year older. But this time is special because...now I'm an actual legal adult with responsibilities...

I'm having an existential crisis if you couldn't tell by my use of ellipsis. 

Honestly, being 18 doesn't feel that different. Granted I've only been 18 for two days.

Also, I love the fact that whenever it's my birthday week, it also coincidentally becomes a school break. My birthday is tooootally a national holiday (actually it's all souls/all saints, but let me be delusional, it's my birthday).

Usually my birthday week clock starts on Sunday, but this week was so eventful that I had to include the day before it too.

    Saturday, October 28, 2023

Since I have a flight tomorrow, it only felt right that I get to spend my last day in Manila at my favorite hotpot restaurant.

YUMMMYYYY

I actually love hotpot so much. You guys have to understand that it's the single most versatile comfort food on the planet. Whether you're sad/happy/hangry, hotpot is perfect for absolutely everything. I'm basically a walking hotpot advertisement at this point but it must be said.

After practically inhaling my food, I went to go get my last melonpan in Manila (until I get back lol). It was also really good.

choco chip melonpan

Then it was time to go shopping for our trip to Boracay. I made a beeline to H&M since I already knew exactly what I was getting. My brothers went to Bershka but they eventually followed me to H&M since they're losers. We also got stuff from Uniqlo.

I got sooooo many clothes we had like eight shopping bags. They were all so pretty I couldn't resist. Plus it's my birthday week so I can do whatever I want.

yas

We ended up getting home around 11PM. I took like three hours to pack but I did sleep well.

   Sunday, October 29, 2023

I woke up super early to get ready for my flight...at 2PM.

There's this thing I see floating around that Asians prepare for flights way too early. I'm here to say that this is kinda true? I woke up at 7AM, but we got to the airport at 11AM because everyone was taking way too long, and I wanted to say a proper goodbye to my cat since he couldn't go with us. (Don't worry though, the maids took care of him.)

The first thing we did was check in our luggage. Then we went straight to this Singaporean restaurant where we ate Hainanese chicken rice because it is also one of the greatest comfort foods of all time.

my brother's coffee

I don't even like coffee but I took a sip because it looked yummy. It really wasn't. After eating, I took a nap at the lounge until it was time for us to board the plane. 

The boarding process was pretty smooth. I had the window seat which I have a love-hate relationship with since I like leaning, but I hate how bright it is.

cotton candy

And then we landed. This was my very first time in Boracay by the way. I mean, I knew where it was, but it was never on my priority list to visit since I hate the beach and the heat and the sand. Gross.

We got on the boat to the actual island. I watched as the water gradually got clearer and clearer. It was actually pretty magical.

clearest water ever probably

We arrived at the actual island around 4PM and had dinner at our hotel. The service was slow. Food was meh too.

some kind of cornflake chicken

We were still kinda hungry at around 9PM so we went to the nearest convenience store (which is actually inside the hotel). I got a bunch of ramen and chocolate croissants because those are my favorites.

I also found out that there was a liquor ban. I think it's because of elections? Not sure though.

oof

    Monday, October 30, 2023

We woke up early to go to the very famous White Beach. It was very pretty.

woah

But it was also really hot. 

There was one place I wanted to go to in Bora since I always see it on TikTok. They sold mango ice cream and I saw one immediately as we walked in. We sat down and ordered and it was SOOO CUUUTEEE! I loved him. Too bad I was pretty hungry.

its ok i'll see u in ur next life

We walked around and I saw this cute One Piece mural. I sent a picture of it to Cy.

one pace

Then my kuya (older bother) decided that he wanted to go eat at this famous restaurant. He said it was walkable so I tagged along.

I've never regretted anything more. In hindsight, of course my gym rat brother would say a thirty minute walk at the beach was walkable. It was 1.6 kilometers of pure hell. It didn't help that I was wearing the worst shoes ever. Or that I was wearing pants that I was practically walking on because of how long they were. It was awful.

There was a silver lining, though, because while walking I saw my friend Ares! At first I didn't think it was him so I walked past. But then I decided to call his name, just in case. It was him!

We made plans to hang out while we were both in Bora, and then I had to keep walking because I wanted to sit down at the restaurant immediately. But oh...the restaurant was FULL, so we decided to just stay there and get takeout. 

four cheez pizza

At least the pizza was really good.

Once we got the takeout we had to walk back to where our parents were, so that was another 1.6 kilometers of hell. At least it was easier this time because I knew what to expect. On the walk back I saw this Superman thing in the sand. T'was awesome.

wow

We got back to our hotel and I finally got to rest.

    Tuesday, October 31, 2023

I didn't do much today because of everything I did yesterday. I did, however, take the greatest nap of my life.

Actually, I didn't do much since I knew I was going to hang out with Ares at night. We met up at McDonalds and I was with my kuya bc I didn't know the area that well. I had a lot of fun that night but I'm probably not going to talk about it in depth ever 😓

Here's where we hung out if you are interested:

I was basically a corpse when I got back to the hotel. Literally and probably for the rest of my life...

    Wednesday, November 1, 2023 

I got out of bed at like 4PM today in lieu of last night's events. We all went to Jollibee but my head hurt so bad...

Jollibee is always good though.

smoile

I also saw this cult.

pumpkin family

I basically spent the entirety of my day at Starbucks since I wasn't in the mood for anything.

even in a starbucks the view is insane

But I did go swimsuit shopping with my sister. I got a black one piece with a bunch of cherries on it. It is really cute. The view was absolutely amazing too.

jeebus

We ate dinner at this hidden gem seafood restaurant our guide recommended to us. On the way home I saw this lonely ghost. I wonder if he has friends now.

a child...

Thursday, November 2, 2023 

We woke up suuuper early today because we went island hopping.

Which sounded like an absolute nightmare to me because:

1. I hate the beach, and
2. I hate the beach.

Please. I was so tired of all the sand and heat I thought it was going to be aggravating. But it was actually kinda fun!

ooooo

We had a private boat so we got to pick our destinations. We went to Puka Beach first. While my siblings went swimming, my parents and I bought souvenirs and drank from coconuts. It was very relaxing.

coco

We left after an hour. And then we saw this giant turtle island!

omg

Our next destination was Crystal Cove. It's basically two caves with awesome views. 

so pretty...

While I was there I saw this hilarious restroom sign. I am so going to copy this if I ever have to make a restroom sign.

lol

Then we went to eat at Magic Island! They gave us this awesome kamayan spread. It was absolutely delicious.

this was probably the best thing i had at bora

After eating, we went cliff jumping and parasailing. My mom has the pictures and I'm too lazy to get out of bed to ask her for them.

It was a very great day.

    Friday, November 3, 2023 

My birthday!

I still honestly can't believe that I'm 18. There's seriously no way -- I used to think that 18-year-olds literally knew everything at this point, but now that I'm eighteen, and I know that I know nothing...nope.

This day was so daunting for every reason. Now that I'm eighteen, I can legally: drink, vote, sue someone, and create my will!

Which is absolutely crazy. I cannot be trusted to do any of these things. But now I am! 

I had hotpot as my first meal of the day because, well, obviously. It's my tradition.

i ate here!

Then I basically spent the day relaxing until my parents told me I had to go sign papers for my *drumroll* new property! This was actually the entire reason we went to Boracay in the first place: my birthday gift is my first property there, which is honestly super awesome.

I had to take a bunch of pictures inside the unit with the guy I signed papers with, and then took a bunch of pictures around my hotel as well.

When that was over, it was already around 5PM, and we had to go to the beach where my party was being held. Actually, it was more of an intimate dinner since it was just my family and I plus the waiters and the band.

what it looked like

Oh my gosh, I loved the band. Especially the sax guy! He was amazing. 

My mom made me sing a few songs with them so she could post it on Facebook. Then they gave me their messages, roses, toasts, my birthday cake and my other birthday gift...which was money, of course. And we ate more food since there was a looot.

When that was all over, my sister, my younger brother and I went to the souvenir stalls to buy stuff for our friends back home. Then we attempted to walk back to the hotel. Key word attempted since my parents saw us struggling and got us driven back. 

Since this was our second-to-the-last day, this meant we also had to pack tonight. I started packing around 1AM since I was still feeling my birthday.

I wanted to preserve my roses so I decapitated all of them so I could bring them back home.

You can't tell me I'm not a genius.

    Saturday, November 4, 2023 

And thus concludes my birthday week in Boracay.

Our flight back was around 3PM. We had a nice brunch and then rushed to the boat and into the airport. And then...onto the airplane back to Manila.

back in manila...

It was a nice flight. I wasn't in the window seat this time which I preferred.

Our driver picked us up from the airport and I finally saw my cat after an entire week! I was actually getting withdrawal symptoms from missing him so much.

Some relatives sent us food since we were finally home. It was seriously awesome.

I'm not entirely sure I'm going to be a good adult. I've always been told that I'm a very childish person. I want to mature a lot this year so I can be a person that younger people can look up to.

It's still really scary to me that I'm actually an adult now. I mean, I got my drivers' license when I was 17 (which I forgot to blog about...) and now I'm in my senior year of high school. I'm going to uni next year. It's all going so fast. 

But I'm going to try my best. I'm going to be a good person. That's my goal. And I wanna thank everyone around me. I love you all so much! If I ever become a bad person, you have my permission to dropkick me.

In all seriousness though, thanks for reading this. Or anything I create. I know I don't write consistently, but I try my best and it always makes me happy to see that people view my stuff!

See you again in my next blog entry. I'll be the new, more mature version of me soon!