z

We're down to the last few days of the Enhanced Community Quarantine. Here in Bulacan, we're transitioning slowly to General Community Quarantine. It is less strict than ECQ I guess? Social Distancing will still be practiced but most (if not all) businesses will be allowed to reopen soon. Mass transportation will be allowed but still to practice social distancing of course. Most restaurants will reopen but only for takeaways. Malls will partially open. Basically, in the coming days, we'll be transitioning to the "new normal". 😊

The past months have been challenging especially to people like us who are used to going out for work. On top of that, while Metro Manila residents still enjoy hassle-free online shopping and deliveries, people from the provinces (like moi) don't have that kind of perk. So when Shopee resumed their operations last April 30 for all locations, I just got super excited and ordered some things I want for my birthday. 😍 yup! no boyfriend no problem, I can pay for it myself. 👸 just kidding! 😂 Wanna share some of the things I ordered via Shopee & will link you directly to the items in case you wanna buy. 😊

It's gonna be MAY! 💜 Taurus season! ♉ and my birth month 💕 There are so many good things about May but then tragedies keep on happening this year and I don't even know what to say. 😕 Anyway, just to get my mind off the crazy and focus only on the good things, I've decided to just update my blog with all my home shenanigans. ❤

We're ending April in quarantine! 😞 How time flies. It's been 2 months that we're in quarantine. I am not really the outdoor type of person but there are some activities that I really do miss a lot. 😞 As we all know, even after the Enhanced Community Quarantine is lifted, we will still follow a "new normal". But what is a new normal, really?

The new normal basically aims to ensure that we still practice social distancing until we have defeated this virus. For example, when we return to work in our offices they suggest that we follow a skeletal workforce system. Although for us, we will be working remotely until the 31st of May for now and we're still waiting for further advice.

I guess that means more themed zoom meetings for us! It is quite a challenge for someone like me who hates video conferences. 😕 Never in my life have I thought that I will be at home all day while working. 💁 For me, the new normal in my home town feels like 1997. Less transportation, cleaner air, peaceful surroundings. While writing this I can finally hear the birds chirping again after a while. No malls to go to so little Ria is stuck at home. 

What's sad about this though is I must admit I am also the type to bail out on my friends the last minute. But now I really do miss them a lot and the new normal will not allow us to loiter in the wee hours of the morning anymore. Who knows, since we are now in different companies maybe we will also have different schedules. The lesson from this entire shenanigan is to never take anything and anyone for granted.

I really pray that this all ends soon. I miss the usual routine except for EDSA traffic. 

I hope everyone's doing well. After this, I hope we can all finally hug our loved ones.

XO,

Ria <3

How will I remember the year 2020? We're not even halfway yet but there's so much that has been going on. Despite all of it, let's still remember our small victories just to take our minds off the dilemma that we are all facing.

When we started the community lockdown, actually 2 days before the announcement our company has already decided to do a skeletal workforce system. For us, what's supposed to happen is that we are provided a new schedule for the days where we are expected to be in the office but since then the Covid-19 cases in the Philippines worsen so the CEO has decided that it is safer for everyone to just do remote work. 😊 I was so grateful since I am always at risk due to my commute. Imagine riding a full packed bus to work, how do I protect myself from that? 😐 During that time when they have finalized the decision, I still have a lot of tasks to do so I still carried on with my usual work routine. However, in just a span of 2 weeks, the situation seems to have taken a toll in the global economy so were advised to hold everything off and just make sure to keep the people that we have within the company. Another thing that I have faced during this entire quarantine situation is some employees are not confident that their colleagues are actually working from home since they can't monitor each other. In my opinion, this is not the right time for office politics, this is the time where we should be working together. 🙅