My extraordinarily ordinary life!
My life is extraordinarily ordinary and this is celebrating and writing about my beautifully ordinary moments.
Following my shadow ban on Instagram (I might have had the ban for 4 or 5 days now and didn’t know it until Thursday evening!), I’ve taken the extreme decision of deactivating my account. I’ll be back in a couple of days.
Have a brilliant weekend everyone!❤️
I used to work in Colchester and I do love the little town. I think it was when I started working in Chelmsford that Alan and I stopped going to Colchester often enough for it to stop feeling familiar. I don’t know why, really. It’s got great shops, both independent and popular chains, really good, small independent restaurants (there’s a Caribbean restaurant that does an absolutely divine goat curry that you can get with peas and rice! They even have an all-you-can-eat buffet for £8 on Saturdays; drinks are separate of course. Look for the S&S Restaurant on St. John’s Street) and restaurant names, with more to come as Colchester High Street seems to be making quite the revival (with a Bill’s already established, a Byron’s coming soon and Wagamama opening in the near future as well). Apart from that, it’s got history in shedloads as it’s got a gorgeous 11th century Norman keep, ruins of an Augustinian priory, and the remains of a Roman chariot race track!
Colchester was known as Camulodunum and was mentioned by Pliny the Elder who died in 79AD (and by this virtue it is called the oldest recorded town in Britain). It was the Roman capital of Britain (yes, before London!) but was attacked and destroyed by Boadicea’s (Boudica) rebellion. It was soon after the destruction of Colchester that London became Rome’s provincial capital. Colchester held such a romantic link to the Romans that some historians postulated that it might have been a possible site for the Arthurian city of Camelot.
What I love about Colchester is the history that is all around the town, quite literally. The town is still surrounded by Roman walls that were built after the rebellion led by Boadicea. The Romans wanted to fortify the town and fortify it they certainly did. Parts of the 3,000 yard-long walls still stand. One of the biggest and oldest parts is the Balkerne Gate that stands right next to where the Mercury Theatre is. The history geek in me was excited to find that you could actually touch the Balkerne Gate. There were no protective walls around it. It was literally history you could touch!
Colchester is a mixture of old and new but still has that lovely small town feel that makes you smile. It still has lovely old houses nestled in between relatively new Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses. During a trip to Colchester to see what Invasion Colchester was all about last Saturday, Alan and I stopped off at North Bridge in Middleborough in Colchester to photograph this small, charming collection of Medieval houses that were sitting along the River Colne. I’ve seen photographs of it and it has always been biscuit-tin pretty. These lovely pink houses did not disappoint and I got my Instagram-worthy shot (pity about the shadowban, or I’d post it on IG really…maybe I will (if) when the ban gets lifted!). Even the River Colne cooperated and made like it was glass. Pity there was so much coverage on the river or else you’d see perfect reflections of the lovely cottages with their exposed timber frames.
With the fastest train journey from London being an hour and 2 minutes, if you love history, Colchester might just be the place to come and visit.
…on Instagram. That is the question!
I hope the Bard will pardon me for cannibalising his famous words. But this calls for something sombre to somehow describe the gravity of the situation.
Instagram, for those of you who have not heard of the social media app, is a photo-sharing site where people share their snaps “instantly”. I started on Instagram because it helped me practice taking photos for the blog. It kind of took over my life for a while because it became…very social for me. I made virtual friends from various parts of the globe, I got a chance to catch up on friends who lived in other countries, it allowed me to see places that I’d never seen before. It was like getting a travel pass to visit friends and places that I’d never been to. Then my virtual friends became friends in real life.
Instagram, like any social media site has been targeted by bots, trolls and all the mean nasties that social media has created…and for a while, I was quite pleased about how Instagram seemed to be proactive in dealing with the internet nasties. You could report the spammers, trolls, inappropriate posts, and online bullies, and Instagram would listen, they’d investigate and they’d take down the offending account.
I actually appreciated the algorithm…until the algorithm seemed to take on a life of its own! I once joked that the algorithm would run amok in the same way artificial intelligence did in all those sci-fi shows and movies. I’m not certain if it’s the algorithm that’s gone mad, or if it’s instagram tightening things so that they can slowly monetise the service. I’m not forecasting doom and instagram gloom. Just thinking out loud.
I think whilst I have this Instagram shadowban over me, I’ll post my photos and my thoughts on the blog instead!
Did not get any sort of sleep to write home about last night. Was crazy busy at work today (with things still needing to be finished tomorrow). Got home to find out that the oven is out of commission and will, quite possibly, need replacing.
Things can only get better!
Sometimes my irritation and annoyance just gets the better on me. I open my mouth and out comes a snarky comment.
“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” ― Benjamin Franklin
My Lola always said tactful is as tactful does, and I’ve always tried to follow my granny’s advice. But it has been difficult to learn this particular lesson. I think because my parents encouraged us to speak our mind. My parents encouraged us to state our opinions and to verbalise our reasons for feeling the way we feel. I am finding out that verbal diarrhoea whilst very Bridget Jonesy is never good.
In the same way I’ve tried (and more than often failed) to always have my verbal edit button available and thought before I spoke, I must learn to learn to pause before my hands start typing! 🙊 Because these days, it’s difficult to take it back what you release in the internet ether because whilst there is a delete button, as we all know, the delete button on the internet isn’t really a delete button because somehow, somewhere whatever you put out is still out there!
Yes, I can see the disapproving look that angel is giving me!
I’ve always maintained that my blog needs to be conversational. That when you read my blog entries, it feels like you’re having a conversation with me and I’m just chattering away. By the way, please take this as an invitation to initiate conversation in the comments section! I’d love to hear from all my lovely readers!
The trouble with working in an office environment and a technical one at that (I work for a chartered accountants firm) is that the language is so different. The language is filled with technical jargon. I’ve been typing a lot of technical documents this week so I’ve found it terribly difficult to switch the syntax off. So I’ve been struggling to write something that “sounds like me”. I’ve started 2 blog posts and I found myself rolling my eyes after reading the drafts! I know I trained in education but I know I don’t normally sound so abstruse and professorial!
So today, I am parking the blogging. Well, okay, except for this post. I am, instead, getting my hair done and I am catching up on reading and domestic goddess duties (cooking for the weekend, cleaning the flat and tackling my ironing chair – which is probably a blog post in itself!). You never know, the writing muses might choose to make an appearance and I can finally finish the blog entries I’ve pushed onto the back burner!
If the haircut goes well, I might post a photo on the blog to show the “new” mop.
I have been wanting to revamp the blog and start blogging properly again. But I needed inspiration – and probably a huge kick in the behind to get me off the proverbial couch and get to it.
I have been fangirling on Sara Tasker ever since I read an article on Stylist about how she quit her job and carved a lucrative career out of Instagram. I thought, “Oh my gosh! This girl! Her photos! How to be her?” So it was because of Sara Tasker that I started seeking out women who inspired me, women who were brave to forge careers out of things that they were passionate about.
As with everything, I am easily distracted. I completely forgot about improving the blog and allowed myself to be completely immersed and obsessed with Instagram. While it was a creative outlet, it wasn’t what I was good at. I did get quite a few likes on some of my photos though! The photo below was actually liked 1,224 times!
Now that is a revelation because I knew it had a lot of likes but I don’t have a lot of photos that go over 200 in the like category, so when something gets 500+ or 700+, it is a major achievement. It means my photo was interesting enough for people to look and click on that little heart icon. Thank you to every single person who has liked my photos and posted comments!
Instagram is a lovely distraction, but I’ve always thought my writing was more sound than my photography skills. So I searched for inspiration. I read books – lots of books about blogging, writing. food writing, making money from my blog…I’ve read so many articles and was this close to buying an expensive book that “guaranteed” they would get you blogging and making a huge success of yourself and your blog after you read their book. Nope, I didn’t buy the book – but I was tempted.
A friend of mine wanted to start a blog and helpful soul that I am, I said I’d help them set it up. But I felt an awful fraud offering to help someone start a blog when my blog was right there, languishing in the corner! I needed to brush up on inspiration basics, blog inspiration and tips!
Because Sara Tasker was my inspiration, I went back to her website. I wanted to find inspiration. I wanted to find social media tips. I discovered she had a podcast – HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?!? So I quickly made room for the podcasts and started listening to her a few days ago. The first 2 podcasts were mind-blowing. It was an inspiration fest. When I get excited I write – and one thing I’ve learned from working in an office is, if you want to remember things, WRITE IT DOWN. It’s something to do with your brain remembering things better when there is an action related to the act of remembering (I read that in a magazine in high school, it suggested studying for exams by walking!).
I’m still listening to Sara and the wonderful group of creatives who join her on the podcast episodes. I’m still writing down what I now call my Hashtag Authentic buzz words. Because that is what they are – they give you a buzz and inspire you to create!
When her website is back up, I’ll post a link to the podcast and the podcast notes (which I thought was a clever way of making you come back to her website!). You can also download the podcast on iTunes.
Be prepared though, because you will be inspired into action – action that focuses on authentic engagement.
In early 2000, I went to VideoCity (a now non-existent [I think!] video rental business in the Philippines not unlike Blockbuster video) and rented out the the only Gwyneth Paltrow movie in the store that I hadn’t watched yet. I didn’t know what the movie was about…just that it had Gwyneth Paltrow in it and the sleeve was yellow (Yellow was a favourite colour at the time).
And so began my (and my sister’s) love affair with the movie Sliding Doors. We were obsessed. We watched it all the time. We had it on in the background whilst doing chores (even whilst vacuuming and washing the dishes – yes in a whole other room of the house!). It came to a point where we would say the lines of the movie and collapse in giggles for no apparent reason. I think we drove our brother crazy because we’d have the soundtrack on constant repeat.
I don’t think it helped our anglophilia, if anything, it made it worse!
And this is a major reason why I wanted to see the Albert Bridge…for the longest time! I wanted to see if the bridge was as beautiful as it looked in the movie. It wasn’t just for me. It was for my Duckie too. I was going to take a picture to send back.
Now I have. And boy, did that bridge look phenomenal!
I’ve always thought I was an extrovert. I always thought I was very social. But these days, I am finding that I like my own company (even with Alan constantly around, I do find that I cherish the moments when I am alone with just me, myself and I). I always say to people that I am a chatterbox (I always say that I know that Alan and I are so well-suited because he doesn’t talk as much and I pretty much talk enough for the both of us) and I find that I do like to have the occasional natter. I can be loud but I find that I can’t be loud for very long. I think Alan has rubbed off on me a lot. I find that I appreciate quiet as well. Companionable silence is also a good thing (and Alan and I have that a lot, which in itself is a comfort – I’ve read in an article that couples who appreciate their companionable silences and understand the wisdom of it are stronger…but that’s another blog entry probably).
Almost a month ago now, I went on my second Instagram meet with Alan. It was for the London Disclosure hub (@londondisclosure) and there was a walk around London photo spots planned. I was terribly excited about the meet because, as I wrote in my last blog entry I had arranged to meet the Filipinos that I followed on Instagram.
I was quite subdued when I wrote about our mini meet up. But it was quite momentous for me. I was slightly fangirling because I thought these people were very talented and I loved the photos they posted on Instagram. They all have considerably large followings on Instagram and I was just starting out on my photography journey. I was worried that reality wouldn’t be quite as nice as the online interaction. I kept telling myself to not build it up in my head and to try not to expect too much. The online world can be very different from real life interaction. I was also worried that Alan would feel very left out as he usually does when I meet with my family because the language of discussion is always mostly Filipino and he feels like the odd one out(which is probably why he doesn’t look forward to going out with my cousins – because everyone slips into Filipino).
With trepidation (and a heck of a lot of nervousness on my part) we walked into Somerset House so that we could meet the Filipinos before the actual meet up started. We’d all seen each other’s profile photos on Instagram so I felt that I would recognise them when they walked in. They also said they’d all be in black (I didn’t follow the uniform – but I did have a black cross-body bag and black sneakers!).
I saw them before they saw me (at least I think so), so I whispered to Alan that I’d seen them. Cheryl (who goes by the Instagram handle @chic.wanders.in), I think spotted me first because I saw her smile and wave. I waved back excitedly and then in a few minutes, we were inundated with a friendly wave of Filipino smiles. There was a flurry of introductions and they surprised me with a loot bag filled with Filipino sweets and snacks (it had Chocnut, a peanut-chocolate sweet, Yan-Yan, pretzel sticks that you dip in the accompanying chocolate spread, tamarind candy and Kopik0, which is a coffee flavoured candy) and a lovely Jose Rizal bust-shaped tag that Ellapot (my nickname for @barefootnomad who is a little firecracker of a creative person) made especially to mark the first ever Instagram meet for what would be what we all now call the #pinoylondongrammers group.
I had my mind blown about how small the world was when Jools (@jetaime.07) and I started talking about what our lives and jobs were in the Philippines. She worked with one of my friends from PSALM and before they worked together in a energy-related firm, we discovered that we had something in common because we both worked in the Philippine power sector. So I had my little six-degrees-of-separation moment, and it always makes me smile when I think that we weren’t actually separated by 6 degrees!
I hadn’t met Karla (@clickers.click) and Hazel (@hazel.parreno) before (and to be fair, I wasn’t following them on Instagram before we met) but it was really good to meet other Filipinos who shared my keen interest in photography. I had a cheeky look at Instagram after the meet and made sure I followed them (especially Karla because I think we all agreed to get her to a 100 followers and that if she did reach that number, she’d treat us all to a lechon – a whole roasted suckling pig! Yum!) immediately! I also missed meeting Vanessa (@lil_kim426) because she couldn’t stay for the LD meet but met the rest of the group at the lunch (we have yet to meet!).
I was quite starstruck when I met Teddy (who goes by @mutyyyaaa on Instagram and who I call Teddymeister) because I did love his photos on Instagram and he already had quite the following on Instagram already. I would always see his photos on the top lists of the London hubs that I followed.
It was a great meet up. Because everyone was as lovely as they seemed to be on Instagram. What I appreciated the most was that they tried to speak in English so that Alan would be included (they did say he was now an honorary Filipino). Of course we’d lapse into Filipino (hey, it’s instinctive!) but we’d all try to go back to English or I’d remember to translate so that Alan would understand what was going on. I am also glad that Alan liked them enough to verbalise that he thought they were a nice bunch of people. I put a lot of stock in Alan’s opinion because his opinion of the people I hang out with matters a lot.
My WhatsApp has never been more active and I’ve never had so many laugh out loud moments whilst reading my WhatsApp messages or my Instagram comments and chats. I actually feel like I’ve made friends. Friends who share my passion for photography and my love of London. Friends who I’d like to keep in touch with – not just acquaintances. It’s nice to know Filipinos who love being Filipino and are proud to be Filipino. I am so happy I’ve met a group of people who do not ascribe to the typical Filipino crab mentality that you see in a lot of groups of Filipinos who live overseas. I’m so happy that I’ve met a group of individuals who actually support each other and lift each other up. For the first time, in a very long time, I’ve actually met a group of people who I think I’d be willing to move for because I’d love to live closer to them so we can hang out properly. It doesn’t hurt that Alan enjoys my stories and takes interest in what we talk about in our WhatsApp group. He has now taken to asking me “what’s happening now?” He doesn’t ask me because he’s irritated about the amount of time I spend chatting to this lovely little group, he’s asking because (I think and hope!) that he is genuinely interested in what we’re all talking about.
I’m really happy we went on that London Disclosure meet. I know we would have probably met eventually. But that meet allowed me to meet kindred souls sooner rather than later. And because of that, I feel blessed.
After a lovely 4-day weekend, it’s time to go back to work. Funnily enough, I’ve not really felt the weekend blues as much. I think I needed the long break from work to gain perspective about things (that and to catch up on my ironing!). I’m not dreading the early wake up call to get ready for an hour-long commute on the lovely Greater Anglia trains to get to my desk.
I’m thankful for the break, thankful that I’ve had time to reflect about my faith, come to terms with it and what I have to do to continue to nurture it, how to reconnect with that side of my personality and how to accept that everything that happens to me is something that isn’t part of what MY plan is. My plans may or may not coincide with what God’s plans are for me. Short of singing “Jesus take the wheel” at the top of my lungs, I am easing myself into the idea of surrendering to a higher power. Because when I allow God to take control, it is His plan that I am following and not my own wilful heart.
I am thankful for the blessing that is Easter. I am thankful for the rest it affords my body. I am thankful for the rest it affords my brain (I wasn’t, at all, tempted to do anything work related – mind you, do and think about work are two different things!). I am thankful for the rest that it has afforded my spirit and the chance to be alone with my thoughts about God, my faith and the way my life should reflect my beliefs. I am thankful in the knowledge that I am an Easter person (because I am resurrected and I am renewed).
I am also thankful for the treats that have nourished my body (and to be honest, my spirit as well!). Have you found all your Easter eggs?
Yellywelly 