dzaneena
dzaneena
20-something architect based in Davao who has a knack for color.
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The ARCHive
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2020 Recap, Onwards 2021!
New year always makes us think of how our previous year has been. It’s been a heck of a ride and I think it would be sort of a good way to remind ourselves of the hardships, lessons learned, and growth there’s been in the past year. Here’s how mine turned out.
January
Oh, new year, new hope. I thought this would be the year I could make it mine. Get the things I’ve always wanted and spoil myself with every little thing I could not have when I was younger. Job is going well, financially stable and able, everything was fine. This month, I’ve purchased my first Macbook. Yes, apparently I’ve been sucked up into the apple ecosystem and now I want to experience all of it if I can. I did and I’m happy about this. It’s been a dream for someone who always had to save each meal into two so I could have it for my next meal just so I can save money.
February
Oh, the month of love! Yes, yes. I had the chance to travel to Thailand, being the temporary adopted child of a friend’s family. I was thrilled to be there and experience this one-of-a-kind experience. At this time, the virus was not that rampant with everything and there were no restrictions for travel. We thought everything was fine and would be fine.
March
A week after arriving from our trip to Thailand, I got a text from one of my closest friends asking if I would like to spend a weekend in Vietnam with her. Well, of course I did! At this time, finances were a-ok! I could afford it. Plus, the food there was really good at a low price! We didn’t spend much on this trip. We just hung out and took photos here and there.
We arrived one day before the city announced General Community Quarantine. We were lucky to arrive at that exact day or we would have been stranded in another country for God knows how long. :( Work was feeling the effects of the pandemic already. 50% of our workmates were laid off. This was a sad, sad time. I couldn’t help but think of all our workmates who had to think of how to survive without work through this pandemic under the quarantine with little to no mobility.
April
Work has been... work. Everyone had to cut their hours and get back to basic pay. I am thankful to still have work but this took a big hit with my finances, of course. I live alone. Recently paying off the house I’ve invested in from last year.
This was also the month my friends practically forced me to play mobile games. Thank goodness they did! This was where all my rage/frustration was spent.
May
Remember that house I invested in? Yeah, that went down the drain, literally lol. I’ve been having problems with leaks and puddles of water coming through the walls of the house which caused a chain of serious issues, health-wise and safety-wise. This was a hazardous house to live in. I guess it’s true what they say about things being “too good to be true”. I’ve tried to settle this with the landlord but I didn’t get not one penny back, not even my deposit. I’ve been paying this for over a year. Much, much regrets. There’s a whole lot that happened during this time. I had to move out and decided to just cut further losses and be done with it. I couldn’t sleep at night for no idea how many weeks/months because of all that money I’ve invested that just vanished. I still feel a weird kind of sadness every time it rains. It always flooded in that house whenever it rained. So you can see how much I relate to that movie “Parasite”.
June
Lucky I have a house to still come home to. This was the previous house I lived in before purchasing that God-forsaken flooded house. I was adjusting and trying to make the best of what I could for the time being. I had a small renovation project as well.
July
Renovation project going well and it was my joy to see how clients were happy about it. This was also the first time I was seeing my mother since January and it was only for a few hours because she had to go back to our hometown within 24 hours or else she would have to be quarantined. Traveling was such a pain during this time. We can’t even go visit our hometown to see our family.
On the bright side, I got to try out a lot of food (all home-cooked, of course). And I got to learn to cook some Korean food as well. I was well into the k-drama world for this whole time.
August
Kittens were growing up well. My cat gave birth in May but a lot of things happened then. I had 3 cats pregnant almost at the same time. Needless to say, we had to castrate our lover boy cat, Brutus. Though he had one last go before we did this and got another round of our cats getting pregnant. I can’t even. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Had the opportunity to do a product photoshoot for a local ice cream business. It was an amazing experience and it’s cool to think that people actually believe in my photography skills if I had any. LOL.
September
My birth month. I found out that I wasn’t even worth one minute of people’s time to text me. LOL. Well, life goes on. (Insert BTS’ Life Goes On)
On the positive side, my boyfriend’s family decided to do a Korean dinner (Samgyeupsal, Kimchi Jjiggae, Tteokbokki) for my birthday. It was really sweet of them. 😭🥰 I couldn’t spend my birthday with any of my family but they spent it with me. I’m tearing up just writing this down hehehe thankful for this second family.
October
One of my closest friends was getting married. I kid you not, we were waiting for this day to happen ever since college. We travelled to the city where he was getting married with the Friendship Pause crew. (That’s a whole other story LOL) It was nice getting a nice moment down from all the crap we’ve been facing.
I was also able to get back to my hometown for my mother’s birthday. Despite all the travel restrictions, we managed to push through. My eldest brother and I are the only ones not living in our hometown.
November
Ahh, yes. The year is almost over but it still feels like we’re stuck in March. During the span of the year lately, I’ve been actively looking for a second job for extra income. And thankfully, because I’m such a “never give up, never surrender” kind of person, I’ve landed a few jobs project-based for this year. I’ve been a graphic designer, personal assistant, transcriptionist, food photographer, social media manager assistant, etc.
I’ve also landed my latest job from a start-up company. It’s amazing how some people can see your grit and potential. I pray we all get to do what we want to do in life so it won’t be such a chore to do. My first (online) job is the very first job that I actually enjoy and everyday, I am really excited to get work done. Hoping that this company recovers from the economic hit of the pandemic fast.
December
Ahh, the last month for this challenging year. What could be in store for us? I think this pandemic has hit us physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically, and financially. It also makes you realize things. I realized that I’m no one’s go-to friend. I’m just that extra friend right there when you need me to be. Not a particular someone you call when something’s up. That’s okay, I guess. We can’t be everybody to...well, everybody! Haha!
I’ve been into tech lately and with all the gaming I was doing, I created a gaming page somewhere along in those past months. Streaming games was one of my stress relievers. Hopefully, if I can have a stable source of income, I’ll be able to do this full-time seeing that traveling is still out of the picture.
All in all, this was such a shitty year. There are a lot of in-betweens that happened this year and I had to just highlight some things but basically, it’s just been so hard. I know I’m probably not the only one struggling and trying to survive on a daily basis. I am thankful that I have a job (3 actually, 4 if you count our online business on hiatus) and I am still able to put food into my stomach. But sometimes, we just need a good cry and some ice cream maybe.
If you’ve read this far, thank you! Thank you for actually caring to read my thoughts and random stuff I have in mind. We may not see each other but please know that I really appreciate your effort.
On a lighter note, I hope everyone will be happier this coming 2021. Stay safe!
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098 . 🏮🏮🏮 (at とらふぐ亭渋谷店) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Sm6u0gdvB/?igshid=u4hdcwn5n9mc
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097 . Travel and experience every moment 🙌🏼 (at Choi Hung Estate) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5O46J8A7xx/?igshid=1b978b54bwa16
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095 . November 22, 2019 💖 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5MTsHxgf8v/?igshid=1xrgbpviay09h
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093 . Tokyo memories 🗼🇯🇵 (at TokyuPlazaHarajukuOmotesando) https://www.instagram.com/p/B49RaBWg279/?igshid=12ssxqlhv3s8k
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091 . Joe 💕 https://www.instagram.com/p/B4m64M_gC2S/?igshid=ocmk89whbou4
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090 . Happy Halloween! 👻 (at Davao City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4C6pbtAlcF/?igshid=1jvtcq1a0cbfu
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089 . These kids came up to us because they wanted to get close to this little bork (chief). You could see it in their innocent little eyes how pure their joy was just getting to pet this cute little pup. Makes you think what do you do to keep and protect this innocence. What do you want to leave behind for the next generation? ✨🧐 . #DDIGeneration #TeamDDIGames (at Roxas Street Food) https://www.instagram.com/p/B362dAtgf9B/?igshid=qb742y6tnmvz
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088 . Tensile walkway 🚧 (at Odaiba) https://www.instagram.com/p/B34FIHqgUvc/?igshid=182yvcgzvw3ua
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087 . Arashiyama Bamboo Forest 🎋 . Photo by @furese8 (at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Kyoto, Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/B32DUFzA6p0/?igshid=jg1o7ui1g42s
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086 . Tokyo night life 🗼 (at エーエムピーエム歌舞伎町一番街店) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3uUq0vA_ZJ/?igshid=i9kl0cvbeezw
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085 . Nakagin Capsule Tower. Built in 1972, this was the benchmark of Japan’s post-war economic boom. This building is set to be demolished to be replaced with a conventional apartment building. This halted in 2008 due to the stock market crash. I hope they change their mind about demolishing this iconic building. (at Nakagin Capsule Tower) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3szm2sguW3/?igshid=17c6743sir9nw
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084 . Travelling has some magic of its own. Conquering fears, experiencing different cultures, forming new friendships, getting lost and then finding new discoveries. It encourages one to be adaptive, resourceful and resilient. Everything won’t go as planned but you gotta work your way through it. Every learning through experience during travelling sparks joy— especially in this journey called Life. What sparks joy in you? ✨ . Photo by @erikagalgo 💖 . #DDISparksJoy #TeamDDIGames (at Tokyo Disneyland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pQDmfgXtR/?igshid=vung7vg3xwr7
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083 . Quaint little street in the afternoon ☺️ (at 八坂神社) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3nruCHA8tf/?igshid=1amcrcssc53qd
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081 . Tokyo Tower. Cardcaptor Sakura feels. Hello, childhood dream! We made it! ✨ (at 東京タワー Tokyo Tower) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3b5uC2A3DJ/?igshid=1shfeon7a645f
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080 . Nag-selfie2 ko ani kay golden hour kaayo. Padulong mi’g Gion pra mangita’g geisha. Unya naa lang diay xa sa akong likod!!!! Hahahaahaha (at Giommachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama-ku) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Uiw-8gTwz/?igshid=vipiecjkhr5y
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079 . Senso-ji Temple 🎐 (at Sensoji Temple, Asakusa) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3N_9EtgkSP/?igshid=1gsl9gg4mki7g
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