The #1 Benefit of Deactivating your Facebook account. And it’s more than just having less hours on your devices.

Around October last year, I decided to deactivate my Facebook account. I wanted to take a break. A break from the news feed I kept seeing whenever I log on to Facebook. I wasn’t really sure why but it felt like everything was too much. It was noisy and everything looked cluttered. Friends posting every minute, showing off, ranting, etc.

I needed a break.

I started to feel better the moment I clicked “Deactivate”. I swear, it was one of the right choices I’ve ever made. And the #1 benefit I was talking about in the title is this: deactivating your Facebook account actually helps you focus on yourself. Below are a couple of observations I got from my deactivation experience.

Firstly, deactivating your FB account eliminates the need or desire to log on it every time. No distractions. I observed that after leaving Facebook, I was able to do the things I needed and wanted to do. I was more productive.

Another observation is that my tendencies to compare myself and my situation with that of my friends greatly lessened. I’m not an envious person but when 90% of what you see on your news feed are posts and photos of your friends showing off the places they've been or the food they've tried, then sometimes it’s really inevitable to compare and get a little envious.

Now, I’m active on Facebook again. But I still deactivate from time to time. I noticed that I no longer feel the tendency to get a bit envious or irritated when my friends show off. Maybe it's just really nice to take some time off social media. For me, it gave me time to breathe and re-focus.

Family Trip to a Waterfall ♥

It's been so long since my previous post!!! I am so sorry. In order to make up for it, I'll make this post as special as I could :D

Here in the Philippines, March signifies the beginning of Summer. So last April 1, my family and I went to an out-of-town trip to a waterfall. We went to Ambon-Ambon Falls, or in English, Drizzle-Drizzle Falls. It was located inside a huge ecopark in the province of Laguna.

We were welcomed by kind and hospitable people. A father-and-son tandem helped us carry our bags all the way to our cottage. There were several cute kids who also tagged along to help us settle down. It was so nice to hear them say that they would stay around so we could call them whenever we needed something.

There were simple cottages by the side of the river, and we stayed in one of them. Among all of us, I was the first one to swim. I was excited because it's been so long since I swam in a natural body of water, I usually swim in pools. The water was clear and super cold!!! It felt totally refreshing. 

There were stones on the riverbed so for safety purposes, we wore our slippers while swimming. It was a little hassle but it was a big help to avoid getting wounds. Or so I thought. I was walking against the current of the river when one of my slippers got carried away. I was chasing it and was actually close to it already when I suddenly slipped. The result was a huge wound on my left knee and some scratches on my left foot. Horrible. This happened only a little over an hour since we arrived. UGH.

Right after the incident, we had our homemade lunch that consisted of: beef steak, coleslaw, Cream Dory fish fillets, and rice. After eating, my family all went to the river. As for me, I poured alcohol on my wound and rested for a few minutes. Then I eventually joined them. 

After resting for a few hours, we left our cottage and some of our belongings to one of the caretakers of the place. Why? Because we were about to go trekking!!! In order to get to the waterfalls, which was the highlight of the trip and of the place, we had to trek all the way up! We had a tourist guide/lifeguard with us, without one, tourists wouldn't be allowed to go to the waterfalls. 

We used several bamboo boats to cross rivers.

It took us almost an hour going there. Tiring but super fun because of the picturesque landscapes around us! Mother Nature is indeed beautiful♥ 

The whole trip and everything about it was memorable for me. It's really fun going out and doing extraordinary things with my family. Everyone should really try it! It strengthens your bond and at the same time helps you gain new experiences as an individual. 

Latest Book Purchase: Thrive by Arianna Huffington

Bought a new book yesterday! Thrive, written by the president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington. I've been eyeing this book since a few months ago and now that I'm done with Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, I decided to finally grab a copy.

There are 3 main reasons why the book piqued my interest:

• It was written by one of the most successful and influential women of this age: Arianna Huffington. I'm very fascinated by successful women. I want to know more about their lives and this book is a great way to get to know Arianna Huffington.
• I'm very much into the self-help/memoir genre right now. I really loved The Happiness Project, a book under that genre, and it inspired me to look for similar books.
• I want to learn more about life, success, and work-life balance. As a fresh graduate currently having her first job, I want to find ways on how I could become successful in a healthy manner and avoid unrecommended habits.

 

But before I bought the book, I did a little research about it in order to have a better understanding of its topic. I watched a few of Arianna's TV guestings (Ellen De Generes, Wendy Williams, Katie Couric) which were all part of her book promotions campaign. I loved listening to Arianna because I agreed with most of what she said and she was able to clearly explain the subject of the book. I also read the preview available on Amazon and I really liked the Introduction. After all the mini-research, I considered myself convinced and I am now very excited to start reading it!

Kimchi Fried Rice with Chicken Pieces

Kimchi fried rice is one of my favorite comfort foods. It's flavorful and really easy to make since it just simply involves combining ingredients. And it's highly personalized as well because you can throw any ingredients you want while making it! As for me, I usually add egg, any meat of my choice, or tuna. I sometimes add Hoisin sauce too if I'm in the mood for something sweet and spicy. But for this afternoon, I decided to include more vegetables.

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 1/2 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup minced carrots

1/2 cup green peas

1/3 cup onion, minced

1 cup kimchi (I'll be honest and say that I don't know how to make this yet, my mom is the one who provides it)

1 cup cooked chicken, chopped

1. Put oil on a hot pan.

2. Sauté kimchi and chicken pieces for 5 minutes on high heat.

NOTE: Kimchi undergoes fermentation and eventually gets refrigerated, so it's recommended to place it on the pan before the other ingredients to make sure that it's cooked very thoroughly.

3. Add the vegetables all at once. Let them stay for 10 minutes on low heat.

4. Add cooked rice. Let everything stay for another 5 minutes on low heat.

5. Done! 

As I mentioned before, Kimchi fried rice is a flexible meal. You can add literally any ingredient you want, as long as the Kimchi and rice are there! 

Liebster Award Nomination By Lace & Whimsy♥

I would like to thank Kathy from http://www.laceandwhimsyvintage.blogspot.com/ for nominating me for this award! Thank you so much! :) 

Before I go straight to Kathy's questions, which I'm excited to answer because I like things like this, here are the mechanics:

• Thank and link the person's blog(s) who nominated you.

• Answer the questions given by the nominators.

• Link and nominate 11 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers. 

• Create 11 new questions for the nominees to answer.

• Notify those nominees on all social media and their blogs and link them back to yours so they can answer your questions.

Here are Kathy's questions and my answers to them :)

Why did you choose your blog name?
I love milk tea with all my heart, it's my stress reliever and happy pill. So whenever I drink it, I tell myself or to whoever I'm with, "No milk tea, no life!" It's like my personal version of "Cheers!" :))

What's the best book you've read in the past year?
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, WITHOUT A DOUBT. It's a really helpful book. I've mentioned it several times in some of my blog posts. I recommend everyone to read it! It'll change your life!

Name three movies you could watch over and over.

Nothing in particular.. I guess? But I like MARVEL movies like The Avengers, Ironman, X-Men, and Spiderman. Oh! White Chicks too!

Do you have a secret talent?

I'm afraid I don't. The only talent that I'm really confident in is cooking, and pretty much everyone knows that haha.

Are you a dog person or a cat person?

In terms of ownership and interactions, I'm a dog person. Our family currently owns three dogs and we also had several ones in the past. But I'm a strong advocate against Animal Cruelty and Abandonment, so I also care about cats, especially the ones on the streets.

Do you have pets? If so, tell me their names and everything about them.

We have 3 right now: Muffin, Whitney, and Bruno. Muffin is a female Japanese Spitz who will turn 9 years old on March 1. Whitney is Muffin's niece, 2 years old. Bruno is the only male and is 4 years old. He's a mixed breed. I love all of them!!

What is your favorite place to shop?

For clothe, I'm pretty much contented with the department store if there's nothing in particular that I want to buy. But I shop at Forever 21 sometimes and I really love H&M's corporate dresses! For shoes, I always go to Payless because their shoes are gorgeous and durable! For make-up, I go to Korean beauty shops 99% of the time. My favorite ones are The Face Shop and Nature Republic. I love them because they produce their beauty products using natural and organic elements. 

Do you like to cook or bake?

I like cooking more because I find it easier. My mom and I used to bake but our oven got damaged and we haven't bought a new one yet haha.

What's your favorite song of the moment?

Style by Taylor Swift!!

Tell me about the city where you currently live.

This is my hometown. This is where I grew up. I'm very familiar with this place because my dad always brought us with him in his nearby errands when we were kids. There are many memories here. There have been many changes as well, but I think they're all good ones. My city is getting more prosperous :) 

What's a random fact about you?

I'm a Libra.
People usually get shocked when they know about my age (22 turning 23 on September) because they think I look younger than my age.

Since this is my second Liebster Award Nomination, I'll just copy-paste my nominees and questions from the previous one.

http://www.thedailydollyblog.com/

http://littlemissfii.blogspot.com/

http://xophoebegirl.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.madelinefedmont.com/

http://www.gembolini.com/

http://www.learntheheartway.com/

http://talesfromthethrift.com/

http://katiejanecollins.com/

http://www.icantaffordmylifestyle.com/

http://thelondonwhistler.com/

http://www.styleontheside.com/

My 11 Questions:

1) What were your feelings right before you started your blog? Were you 100% certain you wanted to do it? Were you excited? Hesitant? 

2) What's the accomplishment you're so proud of?

3) What would you consider your best beauty purchase?

4) What would you consider your best fashion purchase?

5) Favorite beauty brands?

6) Favorite fashion brands?

7) Any life hack you want to share?

8) Favorite sweets?

9) The biggest goal you want to achieve for this year?

10) How would you describe 2015 so far? Great? So-so? Not so good?

11) What do you want to tell your past self? By past, it can mean your child self, or yourself last year. You can choose just as long as it's yourself from the past :)

Have fun answering my questions. Thank you!♥