Since I missed almost a week of work last Christmas, I decided to just take a 2-day break for New Year's Day, yesterday (December 31) and today (January 1).

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!!!!

The last day of the year was pretty busy but productive. I mostly cleaned my room in the morning. I wanted to change my bedding and deep clean my closet.

It's interesting because I found a lot of clothes that were at the far end of my closet that are still in great condition. You know that situation when you just get the clothes that are near the door of your closet... so, I end up wearing the same thing over and over again.

Not that I mind, though. I rarely go out and I can wear the usual clothes I wear at home for my job. It was just nice to see some of my clothes that were sleeping for a long time once again. Now, I have more options. haha

In the afternoon, I just air-fried some rice cake and banana cake as requested by my parents. It's just the three of us at home, so we didn't prepare a lot. We had one whole chicken and bam-i (mixed noodle dish) for our main dish and refrigerator fruit cake and these stuff I made for dessert. *My mom would be sharing her recipes soon, so just check her blog @arashi1118.

At least, we have something long (bam-i), something sticky (rice cake) and fruits... which are kind of essential for a Filipino New Year meal. And ohh... for something round...





One of my high school friends sent us this chiffon cake as a gift. We had a lot of stuff for dessert, so we decided to give some of the cake I made to our close neighbors... and I'm glad they liked them.

After dinner, my parents and I went our separate ways. lol
Mom hid in their room with our furbaby because he's scared of firecracker noise and my father tended to our small store. In my case, I just watched random movies on Netflix while waiting for the clock to strike 12.

The crazy thing is... the movie I watched turned out to be the second movie! hahaha Well, I still understood and enjoyed it, so it's all good.

We had some midnight snacks when the clock struck 12... we wished each other a happy new year... and my dear cousins and I had our usual video call!

I slept at almost 3 AM because of manga... hahah Anyway, I didn't have to wake up early...





I sent some greetings and replied to others... I also received this cute message from one of my students. I had quite a lazy morning... just chatting with friends online and playing some mobile games. Because of this, I wanted to be productive in the afternoon.




I created my January calendar which I use mostly for classes outside my main job. I also made an organizer to track my progress toward my 2025 goals.

I was able to do some Japanese studies earlier, but I'm doing more later after posting this. I also exercised for 50 minutes this afternoon (stationary bicycle, jump rope, etc)... and made some random sketches. haha

It's indeed so random... xD But it's better than nothing.

I'm working again tomorrow... and my first schedule for this year is fully booked! This and one Skype class in the evening. Gonna be a busy year, but being busy in a good way. :)




I started my year with a nice balance... :)
Off to do some Japanese activities and then read some more manga before calling it a day! Thanks for reading. (^^,)/