My Decluttering Journey Part 5

I finally started something that I had been planning to do for years: build scrapbooks of memorabilia that I kept all these years. As a pack-rat and sentimental fool, I've stashed a lot of travel mementos such as entrance tickets to museums and other attractions I've visited, boarding passes, and brochures of tours I took. I also kept lots of tickets to shows I watched, such as concerts, musicals, and ballets. These were all stored in boxes that I never really opened but I never threw them out because I always felt that it would be nice to look at them once in a while and go on a wonderfully nostalgic trip down memory lane. So when I started my decluttering journey this year, I made it my mission to finally start building my scrapbooks.

One of the scrapbooks I got from Amazon looked like the Adventure Book in the Pixar film Up, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. In that film, Carl and Ellie originally wanted to go to Paradise Falls in South America but they never got around to it and Ellie unfortunately passed away before they could. Instead, Carl and Russell end up on a wild adventure in South America when Carl attempts to fly his house to Paradise Falls using balloons and Russell inadvertently joins him. So I thought that it would be nice to fill with this scrapbook with memorabilia from the South America trip I took with my mom in 2018.

My glue tape has indeed proven to be very, very handy. It made me think, maybe the reason why I stalled on scrapbooking all these years is that I was originally thinking of using normal glue which would have been messier and which would have required me to wait for the glue to dry. The glue tape has addressed these problems and made scrapbooking so much easier. Cool!

The big question now is whether I did this right. I actually stuck scraps on both sides of each page. My books don't have any separators between pages to protect the stuff I put on them so I'm thinking now that maybe I should have just stuck my memorabilia on the front of each page. I guess I will find out soon if this move is an acceptable one or if it is a disaster haha. I still have two more scrapbooks at home and lots more stuff to stick on them so at least I can learn from this first one and make any adjustments if needed. I'm also guessing that once I've filled my three books, I will need more.

New Discovery: Glue Tape

One of the things that has been on my to-do list for the longest time was building scrapbooks of the memorabilia, most of which are from past travels. I have a friend who is an expert scrapbooker so I asked her if there was a special adhesive to use for scrapbooks. While she told me that Elmer's Glue would work, I could also use Glue tape, which was a lot easier and handier to use. She told me that this is readily available at National Bookstore so I could buy it there. I had never heard of glue tape but I made my way to National to buy it. And OMG, what an absolute revelation this is!

While I planned to use it for my scrapbooks (I will write about this in more detail in my next post), I first used it for my expense report filing. We are required at work to stick our receipts on sheets of paper for submission and in the past, I would always use Elmer's Glue because I find glue sticks to not be as effective. I really don't enjoy this task because I find it to be messy and I have to spread out all my receipts for several minutes before stacking them to make sure the glue dries fully. However, glue tape has proven to be a perfect tool to use for this. I don't experience the same mess when using Elmer's Glue and I don't need to wait for the glue to dry. I also find glue tape to be way more effective than glue sticks. While in the past, it would take a while for me to attach receipts to sheets of paper, I am now able to do it in a fraction of the time. I can't believe it's taken me all this time to learn about glue tape!

Granted, it is a lot more expensive than Elmer's Glue and glue sticks. That said, at my age, I am willing to spend a bit more if it means I end up having a lot less hassle and stress and I get to avoid spending too much time on tasks that I hate doing. If you haven't discovered glue tape yet, try it. It's really a blessing!

Five Trips to the Movie Theater

The Sheep Detectives

The Sheep Detectives was such an incredible discovery. I remember seeing a poster of it and not knowing anything about it. Its title made me think initially that it was a kids movie. Soon after that, a post popped up on my social media feed about Sheep Detectives being the best whodunnit movie ever. I thought that was such a bold statement but it made me pay a bit more attention. I looked it up and that was when I started seeing all the rave reviews and its very high 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I decided I had to see it. And boy, was I blown away! I totally didn't expect how the story would flow. While on the surface, it seems like a comedic whodunnit film with a sheep twist, for me, it is so much more than that. It is fun, funny, heartwarming, emotional, moving, and one could say even philosophical. I loved it so much that I told as many of my friends as possible to see it, and those who did agreed with this movie being amazing. Some of them even bawled their eyes out. If you have a chance to see it, please do.

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary was already a huge global box office hit by the time I saw it in the movie theaters so I already knew that people all over the world loved this film. Despite being late to the party, I somehow hadn't been spoiled yet. Now that I've seen it, I agree with the vast majority - it also has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes - that it's an amazing movie and definitely worth watching! SPOILER ALERT: if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to be spoiled, skip the rest of this paragraph. Project Hail Mary does an impeccable job at building a beautiful relationship and a powerful connection between Grace and Rocky. So much so that when Rocky sacrifices himself to save Grace and starts disintegrating as he tries to get Grace to safety, audiences were in tears. When Grace discovers that Rocky was in danger of being unable to get back his home planet of Erid, he sends all his findings back to Earth and foregoes his plans of returning himself in order to look for and save Rocky. The thing is, it felt like everyone watching understood his motivation for this choice. The ending was such a feel-good scene and a perfect way to cap off a fantastic film.

Hoppers

Similar to The Sheep Truth be told, I had no idea what Hoppers was about. In fact, I didn't even know this movie existed. However, the moment I found out that it was a Pixar film, I knew I had to see it. What I realized as I was watching was that this movie, to me, is very inventive! Or well, maybe not that inventive, given it's supposed similarity to Avatar in terms of concept haha. I found it really hilarious that the movie itself calls this out, when the lead character Mabel says "guys, this is like Avatar" and Dr. Sam reacts indignantly saying "this is nothing like Avatar!" haha. Hoppers is really witty, enjoyable and, just like practically all other Pixar films, quite moving and heartwarming. SPOILER ALERT: if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to be spoiled, skip the rest of this paragraph. I loved how the different animal groups have their own kings and queens that convene as an Animal Council. I loved how they activated the Apex predator. And I loved it when King George felt betrayed by Mabel but still eventually sacrifices his kingdom to help her and the humans. There really are so many great things about this movie and I'm glad I got to see it.

The Devil Wears Prada 2

I am such a huge fan of the original Devil Wears Prada, which is an absolute cult classic. So it's not surprising that many people were wary since there was no way it could top the first film, and may end up being quite a disappointment. I understood that sentiment but I still wanted to see how things were in the lives of the lead characters 20 years later. While this second movie did not top the first, it was a really good sequel. The storyline was very relevant and it was very entertaining and interesting to see how the characters have been sort of forced to change with the times while still being the same people they always have been. There were also several nods to the original move I absolutely loved. The Devil Wears Prada 2 has become Meryl Streep's biggest box office hit to date (not adjusted for inflation; if it were, that honor would probably still go to Mamma Mia!) and I'm happy that it did well at the theaters.

Masters of the Universe

I had to see this movie as a fan of He-man and the Masters of the Universe, a popular cartoon from the 1980s. It isn't critically acclaimed for sure but it was a whole lot of fun. It fully embraced being campy and it took audiences along for a wild and entertaining ride. Those of us who watched the animated series in the 80s surely felt very nostalgic, seeing characters like Skeletor, Teela, Man-at-Arms, Evil-Lyn, and Beast  Man on the big screen. The usage of the original theme was also pretty awesome, as was the hint about She-Ra in the end credits. Hopefully, that She-Ra movie gets made. It would be really fun, especially if they combine He-Man and She-Ra in one film.

All Aboard Expo 2026 sa QC

The second All Aboard Expo 2026 sa QC was held this year last May 28-31 at the M.I.C.E. Center in Quezon City Hall. And for the second year in a row, I decided to take a day off to attend the opening day.

Due to last year's success, the event this year was bigger, with even more game designers and people renowned globally in the game board community. I got to meet and have my photo taken with Tom Vasel, Founder and Head Game Guru of The Dice Tower. (I was hoping I could run into Emerson Matsuuchi, the designer of Century Spice Road which I have, but I didn't get to see him.)

The event allowed me to try a few new games including Misfit Heroes,

Misfit Heroes

Sea Divers of Jeju,

Sea Divers of Jeju

and Lion Wake.

Lion Wake

I particularly enjoyed Lion Wake, probably because the people from the company that created that game were there to explain it to us. And party because I absolutely love its aesthetic and even how thematic it is. I think that when my friend Jovan and I played it, the idea was for it to only be a quick demo and that we would end after a few turns but Jovan and I ended up playing the full game. Surprisingly, it didn't take too long to finish. Given how intricate it looked, I thought it would take a lot longer. I have to say, this game was really enjoyable to play. Apparently, it was also a beta test run for the game. The makers said that they try to have this game test-played in its current form so that they can see how the gameplay and all the components work. That way, they can get feedback and enhance it further before launching. It was such a cool experience and I'm happy that not only was I able to try out a new game that I really enjoyed, I also got to participate in its beta testing. Cool!

The event spanned four days, from Thursday to Sunday, but I had plans on all other days so I could only go on its opening day. But even if I got to go on only one day, I still enjoyed it immensely. I look forward to participating again in next year's event.

A Guitar Recital and a Celebration at Incanta Cave Bar and Restaurant

What a proud moment for my family! My nephew CJ performed his junior recital at the UST Conservatory of Music. This was such an important moment that I did not want to miss so I took a day off at work to attend. And I'm extremely glad that I did because it was an incredible experience on so many levels.

The junior recital was held at Recital Hall 1 in Albertus Magnus Building. CJ played five pieces, although the first one consisted of two movements and last one was a full suite composed of four movements. This was his repertoire:

1. Sonata No. 2, Op. 29 1st and 2nd movements by Anton Diabelli (1781-1858)
2. A Fancy (P6) by John Dowland (1563-1626)
3. Fantasia, on Themes from La Traviata by Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)
4. BWV 997, Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
5. Koyunbaba, Op. 19 by Carlo Domeniconi - Moderato, Cantabile, Mosso, and Presto

A piano from Germany in Recital Hall 1

It was such an incredible set of music that was played so beautifully. I have seen and heard CJ play solo before but that was many years ago, when he at the onset of his music journey. More recently, I had only seen and heard him play as part of the Sibol Guitar Octet. So I was truly impressed and amazed at how much growth CJ has shown over the years and how much better he  has become at his craft. This being a junior recital meant that each piece had a relatively high degree of difficulty. As if that wasn't challenging enough, CJ performed everything without any sheet music. Wow!

My absolute favorite was his last piece, Koyunbaba by Italian composer Carlo Domenico. I have since discovered that Carlo Domenico is a contemporary classical musician whose compositions are influenced by music from many countries and cultures. Koyunbaba, as CJ explained, blends music from the East - specifically Turkey - and the West. I can understand why my nephew selected this suite to be his finale. Not only is it magical to listen to, it is very difficult play. This piece requires the guitar to be tuned in a unique way. In this interview of Carlo Domenico (as a modern classical guitarist, he's still alive), he explains that while the normal tuning works for the old harmonic system, it doesn't work as well for different tonal systems so he changes the tuning in many of his pieces to achieve a different sound. He even goes on to say that to meet the demands of his musical creations, "it is the player who has to change!" Apart from this, Koyunbaba requires the musician to perform various guitar techniques such as arpeggios, rasgueados, and slurs, and it requires a lot of stamina to perform. I don't know a lot of guitar tuning nor techniques but when you hear this piece, you just know it's absolutely special. This four-movement suite is entrancing and hypnotic, taking its listeners on a magnificent musical journey. And to see and hear CJ play it so expertly, expressively, and sublimely was so mesmerizing and awe-inspiring. I was - and still am! - really so impressed and mindblown that my nephew is able o play a piece such as this. And everything else on his repertoire that afternoon.

To celebrate this significant milestone in CJ's conservatory life, my family had an early dinner at Incanta Cave Bar and Restaurant. None of us had eaten there before but I had seen photos of it before and it looks really interesting and very photogenic.

Since we arrived there in the late afternoon and not during the busy lunch or dinner hours, we were able to get a table even without a reservation. It is called a cave bar for a reason as it is designed both inside and outside to resemble a cave, with the walls looking like they are made of rock. It is definitely great for photo ops, and I took a lot of pictures.

Incanta serves Japanese food, which we love. We ordered a lot of food, such as Samurai Roll, which is a roll with torched eel, crispy potato, and truffle kabayaki. I naturally had to order this because my nephews both really love eel and they kept ordering eel every chance we got when we were in Japan a few years ago.

Samurai Roll

I also ordered the Matcha Mille Crepe, which is a match crepe cake with matcha buttercream and served with mango compote.

Matcha Mille Crepe

It really was a superb day that started with fantastic music performed so deftly and confidently by my nephew for his junior recital and ended with a great meal at a really interesting place that we all got to experience for the first time together. I'm so proud of CJ and his talent, skill, discipline, and dedication. He told me before his recital that I should just listen and enjoy and not bother taking videos because it was going to be recorded. I now just need to get a copy of the videos so that I can rewatch CJ's performance.

Congratulations, CJ!

My Decluttering Journey Part 4

One of the biggest chunks of work I did, and am still doing, is decluttering my CDs and DVDs. My CDs can be categorized in two: commercial CDs (music and video) and personal CDs that contain photos and documents. I didn't have an external hard drive back then so when I needed to back-up my files and/or transfer them from one laptop to another, I would burn all my photos and personal documents into CDs (which I used to buy from CD-R King). I didn't want to just give these CDs away because someone might end up accessing whatever photos and files are in them. I decided I had to check the contents of each of these burned CDs and determine which ones contain photos and personal files and which ones didn't. The ones that do, I would keep for now. My friend Myna has a CD shredder so I can shred those CDs. Everything else I would just get rid of. The problem is, most laptops nowadays, including mine, don't have CD drives. As such, I had to buy a CD/DVD drive that I could then connect to my laptop. This would help me verify the contents of all my CDs.

My external CD/DVD drive

Now all this time, I believed that everything I burned into these CDs, I somehow transferred to my external hard drives and personal laptops. However, it turns out that I hadn't. As I was checking some of these CDs, I found photos that some of my friends shared with me in the past. Thank God I decided to check the contents of all my old personal CDs because it was like finding valuable treasures! Here's one photo that my friend David took of me in Seoul. We we on a business trip there at the time and it spanned a weekend so we got to go around. I don't even remember which place this was.

An old photo from one of my old CDs

I've already gotten through a lot of personal CDs and identified which ones I need to shred and which ones I can already toss out. That said, I still have a lot more personal CDs to go through so this is still a work in progress.

Now, onto my commercial CDs and DVDs. I'm a big music and movie fan and so over the decades, I amassed a pretty large collection of CDs and DVDs, which I kept in racks and in large CD and DVD cases that I purchased from Amazon. The thing is, I already ripped most of my CDs into my iPod (yes, I still have a working iPod and I still use it LOL) and since I can play music from my iPod in my car stereo by connecting them via Bluetooth, I haven't had any need to play any of my CDs in a really long time. As such, I got rid of almost all my CDs. I actually still kept some of them. For instance, my Elliott Yamin CD that he autographed when he visited Manila back in 2007.

I also got rid of a large chunk of my DVDs. Almost everything that is on Netflix or Disney+, I tossed out. I also tossed out movies that I enjoyed back in the day but realized I'm no longer interested in rewatching. (I actually purchased a lot of DVDs that were on sale because the sale price wasn't that much more expensive than a movie ticket so when I missed a movie that I wanted to see at the cinema and I saw a DVD of it on sale, I would sometimes buy the DVD.) I still actually kept a lot of my DVDs, particularly of movies that are not available on any of the streaming services that I subscribe to. These included my Meryl Streep collection that includes Sophie's Choice, Silkwood, and The French Lieutenant's Woman and my local films such as Himala, Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, and Ina, Kapatid, Anak. I also kept a couple of my animated films such as Kubo and the Two Strings and The Boxtrolls. I'm surprised these aren't being streamed since they are really good films!

My DVD case which contains all the DVDs I decided to keep

So what did I do with the CDs and DVDs I got rid of? Most of them, I gave to our helper. She sells a lot of stuff to junk shops and earns extra cash from it so she normally asks us to give her any stuff we no longer need. I also gave several DVDs and CDs to my brother because he said he had a friend who still watches DVDs and listens to CDs. (Note: if our helper told me that she didn't want the CDs and DVDs, I would have dropped them off at the e-Waste disposal drop-off points of The E-Waste Project in UP Diliman.)

Everything that I kept could fit in two large cases so that meant that I no longer needed all of my CD and DVD racks. Once again, our helper was the beneficiary of these because she took them from me. I'm not sure if she sold them or if she used them at home, but either way she hopefully gained some (a lot of?) benefit from them.

Getting rid of most of my CDs, DVDs, and my storage racks really did have a huge impact because they took up space at home, both physically and visually.

Sports Central Sale and New Sneakers

I am now the happy owner of a new pair of Nike Court Shot sneakers which I got on sale at the Sports Central Sale.

Nike Court Shot

I recently went to SM Megamall after work for some errands. While at the restroom, a security guard was on his radio and talking loudly enough for everyone else to hear him. He was asking someone about reserving a pair of shoes for him. We both headed out of the restroom at the same time so on the way out, I decided to ask him what was going on. He said there was a Sports Central sale at the Megatrade Hall on the 5th floor. He said that it officially opens the next day but it actually already started that day. He suggested that I check it out since there weren't many people yet, given that the sale hadn't officially begun. I had been wanting to get plain white sneakers for a while now so I thought this could be my chance.

Sports Central sale at SM Megamall

As it turned out, I did find a pair of plain white sneakers. They also cost a bit less than P3,000 which is quite inexpensive for Nike shoes. Luckily, I found the size I needed. Naturally, I decided to get them.

I also ended up getting an Adidas shirt that was also on sale at 50% off. I didn't really need a new shirt but it was a pretty nice shirt with colors and a design that I like and the discount was very compelling haha.

I don't normally go to the 5th floor of Megamall so I wouldn't have passed by this sale by chance. I'm really thankful that I ran into that security guard which allowed me to learn about this sale.