When one is a certain age, memories grow fuzzy around the edges. It can happen when you're 79 or like me, at 24. I find myself forgetting a lot of old yet important details in favor of absorbing day-to-day information. This irks me to no end but then, what are blogs for?

I don't want to be overly melodramatic here so I'll keep it short. The year 2013 has been incredibly amazing, for me. It's the year I finally got to travel out of the country, the year I met more wonderful people and managed to sign in more clients. It's a year of discovery, of seeing just how far I can push the envelope. Many of my dreams came true. This gave birth to new aspirations for 2014, naturally!

Here are a few highlights of my 2013. I hope you don't feel like I'm bragging or anything, as this is just a useful way for me to reference how my year went. :)

The world outside was something that I only read about in books or saw in TV shows. That said, I knew I'd get to travel someday, but I didn't know that 2013 would be the year! I was extremely lucky to visit Japan twice, first during the muggy summer and second during the fall. I love this country and would like to come back at least once a year, if I'm able. It's beautiful there, the people are nice, and the food is amazing!

I hope someday I can explore more of it outside Tokyo.

I also got to visit Hong Kong with my parents. It's a great place to shop and eat at, but not much else. Still, I appreciate being able to see the awesome Hong Kong skyline and to finally visit Disneyland. I have more photos in this post.

I organized six events/ small gatherings for my clients last year. I got to work with amazing new brands like Wink Laser & Wax Studio, Dakasi Milk Tea, and Ellana Minerals.

I was thinking of putting this off since I have a few looong overdue beauty posts, but I figured, if I don't write this down now, I'll never get around to it. It will probably suffer the same fate as my Boracay trip last year - I have dozens of photos, even a video of us helmet diving, but I never blogged about it. And now I just have a hazy memory of a vacation to show for it since I left all the photos in my old Macbook.

So! Last weekend, Marco, Luis, Vanessa, and I went to Marinduque to visit Elefante Island. The solitary island houses a beautiful, Satorini-inspired resort called Bellarocca. To say that I enjoyed my stay there is an understatement! The place was breathtaking, private, warm (in terms of service), and just perfect. I am obviously running out of adjectives so it's time for a photo dump.

The only airline service that flies to Marinduque is Zest Air. It's a 40-50 minute flight from Manila.

We're here!

Bellarocca provides a 40-minute van transfer to their jetty

I haven't stepped out of the condo since I got home on Thursday. Yes, you heard that right. I can live on what's in the pantry and what's on the Internet. At this point I don't know how to describe my life - some parts boring, amazing, sad, exciting, empty, happy - the list goes on. I evaluate my life by every week I spend it. Was this week great? Or sucky? Or just meh. It's dynamic, and I guess that's a good thing.

My doodle

So how was this week? Let's see. 

• Monday: New arrivals day at Ukay Manila. Always a busy day. Went out in the afternoon to shop for two week's worth of stocks for the store. Then, I attended the Pond's private launch at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati.
• Tuesday: Went to the Vibal office in QC for a meeting. My gosh, QC is sooo far. The meeting was less than 30 minutes while the travel time was 2.5 hours.
• Wednesday: Office day. Or marketing consultancy day. I'm always in Ortigas every Wednesday.

If you've been following this blog, you'll know that I've been working as a freelancer for the last three months. So how is it? Pretty cool, actually. I get to work on my own time. I get to attend events, nap, or play Xbox whenever I want to. It's great to stay inside the comforts of my place here in Makati most of the time, so if you ask me, I have zero regrets.

That is not to say that it wasn't difficult at the start. One of the most terrifying things I've done in my life so far is quitting my full-time job. Heck, I'm only 22. I was terrified that I haven't paid my dues enough and wouldn't make it as a freelancer. I was terrified of being poor. I was terrified of having to come back home to the province and live with my Mom (she's awesome, by the way, but living with my parents isn't my idea of a successful life).

The first month sucked. I earned very little money. However, on the second month, everything turned around. I got big PR gigs out of the blue, an editorial job, then the business boomed. It seemed like doors were opening everywhere - pardon the cliche, but that's the truth. I have never been this busy in my life.