I'm skipping my weekly Friday's 10 Happy Things to share a short story of a few things I'm really thankful for for the month of September. Here goes! I was planning what I'll be doing over the long weekend of the APEC summit when all of a sudden, I got an e-mail from an unknown person. I would usually dismiss e-mails like that as spam because I get a ton of those useless I'm a millionaire I'll give you some inheritance stuff, but I decided to read it anyway.  I was surprised shocked because it was a nomination e-mail stating that my blog has been nominated by several netizens in #Bloggys2015 for the Philippine Blogging Awards!

If there's anything I did differently this year, I started to focus more on putting articles that will be of help to my readers. I used to post rants and really personal stuff *cringe* in here, but I realized after a loooong time that people probably wouldn't be interested with all the drama my life has to offer, lol. I also started cooking more and posting consistently! Being nominated alongside popular bloggers is such an honor already! I thought that was it, I was happy and ready to accept my loss even before the voting session begins, ha! Your main pessimist, that's me! But then I received another e-mail! I was told that I'm also invited to the Philippine Blogging Awards Gala Night! *insert silent scream*

I got the e-mail while I was in the office which explains the silent scream, hehe. Can you imagine? A red carpet for influential bloggers and I'm actually invited, people! I also get to bring a date! Ugh, so much enthusiasm and eagerness! I think this is the part where I tell you guys, I'm bringing my boyfriend.  Yes, I have a new boyfriend, haha! More about that on my next post!

For now, I'm just really thrilled with how September ended for me. It started out crappy due to some financial miscalculations I did aka buying clothes, shoes and gadgets I don't really need, but overall it still turned out quite well. I went over to the site to find out what it's all about and also to nominate my favorite blogs! If you want to know more about Bloggys, you can go here. If you want to nominate your favorite blogs on the other hand, you can go here. 

Aside from the horrendous traffic we experience last Tuesday, I think I had a pretty good week. I don't want to remember how horrible Tuesday was because I actually consider myself one of the lucky few who didn't get wet, who had to walk home or who paid P1k+ for a ride home. Doing this week's 10 Happy Things also made me realize how fortunate I am to live 10-15 minutes from work. Oh, the small things. 

1. Waking up to the person I love on a Monday morning and sort of not wanting to go to work yet because you just want to cuddle. And eat breakfast together or probably sleep some more.

2. 100% passing rate for my Engineers! They got endorsed to Technical training last Wednesday and I couldn't be more proud. We also got to celebrate with a few drinks after class which is a good thing because it saved me from the hellish traffic situation. 

3. I got a box of donuts from my trainees the other day as a simple thank you gift. It somehow served as a reminder of why I'm doing what I'm doing. Not for the food of course, lol. But to keep inspiring people (naks!).

4. I was out drinking last Tuesday which is why I didn't have any idea about the horrendous traffic consuming Metro Manila. I thought cab drivers were just being extra choosy because of the rain. One thing to be happy about was that I got an Uber to take me home. I didn't fully understand the extent of the traffic until I traversed EDSA-Ortigas and was still stuck in traffic for about 15-20mins at 1 fucking AM.

5. Got an invite to join a product launch on Saturday. I won't be able to go because I have another appointment but I'm really glad to be getting a lot of invites lately. Posting content consistently really does pay off. 

6.  The new iPhone 6s in Rose Gold! It's so pretty. I don't really like Pink but it's a break from all the neutral (Gold, Black, White, Silver) colors we've been getting from Apple. Not to dismiss all the fun colors from the iPhone 5c but, they're just too loud for my taste. The Rose Gold on the other hand has the perfect amount of subtlety I would want for my next device. 

7. I found the perfect design for my blog! Buuuuut, it's only available for WP. I've already sent the designer an e-mail since I can't be bothered to tinker with my own design right now. Crossing my fingers she can convert her WP designs to Blogger!

8. A reader sent me an e-mail containing links to her photos doing some of my recipes! I'm overwhelmed because I'm NOT good in cooking. I really just get lucky with all of the recipes I mix and match. Lord, is this a sign? Lol!

9. Finally finished all my backlogged office work! As of this writing, I have nothing to do for the rest of the day except work on updates and follow-ups. YAY! It felt orgasmic to cross out that final task on my list.

10. Today is payday Friday! I'm not going anywhere due to the weather. But still thankful because I get to pay my bills on time, huh. I want to hold on to my money a little longer before I do so which is why I've decided to pay my bills this afternoon, hahaha!

Anyway, as mentioned, I will be staying in because I've been out and about for three weeks now and my room looks like a scene from Tarzan. I have to sort my stuff, clean my kitchen and do the laundry! I will also be doing a few kitchen experiments. I'll be cooking Steak for the first time (wish me luck!) and I'll also be doing a new version of my No-bake Blueberry Cheesecake. Cheers to the weekend!

I've been crazy busy the past few weeks and haven't really found the time to work on my back logs. I'm still in the process of rediscovering tools that will help my blogging life easier. I'm pretty sure there's a more efficient way to make this blog work to my advantage. Easier that what I'm doing right now, lol. Once I've finalized my tools, I'll be sharing them with you guys! Right now, I'm sort of stuck in creating templates, looking for the perfect font, and still trying to find the perfect theme that really encompasses all of me. 

Enough about all that insanity; Let's talk happy things! I've been seeing a lot of blog series lately such as The Sunday Currently, Life Lately, What I Ate Wednesdays and Workout Wednesdays to name a few. I've been wondering for quite some time now if I should join the band wagon as it will also help me be consistent in posting articles on my blog. I was leaning towards What I Ate Wednesdays but it dawned on me that my condo has the crappiest lighting in all of Metro Manila and given my busy schedule the past few days, I sometimes don't eat, so....nah. I first read about Friday's 10 Happy Things on Helga's blog and I remember feeling quite light-hearted after doing so. Obviously after a lot of thought and convincing, I decided to go with that blog series. Let's get started!

There you have it, my first Friday's 10 Happy Things. I hope I can be consistent in doing this because it does feel great to look at all the small things we should be happy about. It's also a good way of re-evaluating one's self. Here's to the weekend!

The title might seem misleading since The Banaue Rice Terraces isn't in Sagada. But I included it nonetheless in my Sleepless in Sagada series because it's a part of our Sagada tour and it was also our first stop en route to Sagada! So, don't mind the category. Can I just say it's difficult to categorize shit in one's blog? I keep on having different ideas on how to categorize my recipes, travels and food adventures, now, my whole blog is a mess. I'm thinking of starting from the beginning and just put out about 5 categories for the whole blog but...meh. I'm too lazy. I'll probably end up re-coding everything, huhu. Anyway, going back to what this post is really about.

The Banaue Rice Terraces, often referred to as the Eight Wonder of the World, are 2,000-3,000 yr old terraces that were carved in the mountains of Ifugao. And no, that's not stock knowledge. Thank you internetz for giving me that information. I was half-asleep during the trip, which I realize now, was about 8-10hrs, with stop overs in between. We were told by our guide, also our driver, that we can frolick around the terraces for 30minutes, and frolick we gladly did. I went down and walked along the terraces with my sister. It was a little scary because if you fall, you won't really die, I presume. But you'll definitely get hurt, real bad. It was a annoying as hell when other tourists, who saw that the only way to traverse the terraces is by following a one-way line, would try to go back because they get scared mid-way. I don't have a problem with being scared, but I have a problem with not being able to assess if you're able to take on the whole thing before proceeding. Cheezus. That was, by far, the only nuisance we experienced.