People Problems

TOP TEN TUESDAY

Hello, everyone! It's time for another Top Ten Tuesday! Below are ten things people do that I either don't understand or that absolutely annoy the heck out of me. Hopefully your Internet connection is reasonably fast for the GIFs to load properly! Enjoy.

(10) People who walk sloooooooow.
Now, I know some people have legit reasons as to why they walk at a snail's pace (e.g. they're old and have rayuma) while others prefer a more leisurely stride. I get that. But what I'm talking about are those who obviously can tell you are walking behind them and yet it is as if they are purposefully trying to walk zero kilometers per hour. The worst part is when you have no way to overtake the human turtles, and are left stuck behind them.

Could you go any slower?

(9) The want for a dislike button on Facebook.
There was a time when so many people were hoping for a dislike button on FB. Some probably still do. Baket? Eh kung i-dislike ko profile pic mo

Spread love, not hate! No need for a dislike button! It's absurd.

(8) When people say, "Can/may I ask you a question?"
You already did. Now you may not ask another.

You had your chance

(7) Sales people tracking your every move.
Yung tipong nakadikit lang sayo habang iniikot mo yung store. I understand that these salespeople are instructed to assist their customers and probably keep an eye out for possible shoplifters. But that doesn't mean tracking literally my ever step and following me within an arm's stretch. It's either you so eagerly want to be of assistance to me (if this is the case, please assist me by getting me some cookies whilst I browse your store), or I look super shady that you're pulling the human CCTV on me by watching MY. EVERY. MOVE. Either way, I am sure there are more subtle ways of keeping your customers in check.

LET ME SHOP IN PEACE HUHU

(6) When people stare.
One of my biggest pet peeves! Yung sobrang halatang nakatitig lang sayo. I know I'm cute, pero wag ka naman obvious masyado. Ay chos. Joke lang (ashu) pero yung totoo, LOOK AWAY

Bye.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Life 101

Today was a good day for my heart. Sundays always make my heart happy. I get to go to church, be with my family all day, play with my nephew and niece, and just take it easy. Easy like Sunday morning, ika nga ni Tito Lionel Richie.

Coffee and Stroopwaffles For One
instagram.com/laurapas

But during today's church service, I was reminded of Romans 8:28, and the promise of God's sovereign power that brought me such inexplainable peace and joy. I drew such comfort from this one verse, this one sentence:

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God, and are called according to his purpose for them." (New Living Translation)

He knew I needed to hear that again. He knew it would do my soul good. It was refreshing.

Right now, you may be feeling so confused that you don't even know how to begin to address your concerns to God in prayer, or maybe have given up altogether and no longer even bother to pray. Stay strong! Stay connected. Connected to God, to family, to friends. I hope this verse can also offer you assurance and peace in knowing that God's got your back, especially if you are at a point where you are trying to figure out life. That's where I am right now. I know the struggle--it's very real!

But let us not forget--
God causes everything to work together.  
Six words that can spell out miracles.

Happy Sunday!

Love,
Laura

Travel Thursday: London, Baby!

For my first Travel Thursday post, I will be cutting some corners, taking a shortcut, and reposting my blog about London from a year ago. Basically, what you'll be reading below is a copy + paste entry from my Semester at Sea blog. Ah, tricky tricky! (Or lazy, lazy...lol) But I hope you enjoy reading it! And for those of you who have already read it, I hope you enjoy reading it again. Hehehe

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I've always wanted to go to England, ever since my two older sisters did a summer study exchange program there ten years ago! I've always thought London was such a beautiful place, judging by the many amazing photographs of the city's popular attractions printed on millions of posters, books, brochures--you name it, Big Ben's in it! Now that I'm finally here, I can't help but just be sooo thankful and excited!! 

Given that I basically only had half a day to explore London earlier today, the challenge was to see as much of the city as I can with the energy I have left coming straight from a 24+ hour travel from the Philippines. If you know me well, you know I love my sleep. It took major effort not take a nap as soon as I reached my hotel room. It was too dangerous. I knew if I would give in, I'd be sleeping 'til the next decade. And that's not cool, because then I'd miss the whole four months at sea haha.

Just a side note: One of of my friends from Westmo, Abylay, is also going on this same voyage, yay! I am so relieved and so happy he is going on this trip, too! It makes a world of a difference when you have someone you know go through this whole new experience away from both our comfort zones. We'll be facing a whole new crowd, a drastically whole new environment, and basically a whole new semester! It's so much easier to approach people when you have a friend literally by your side, right next to you. It's not so dyahe to just come up to strangers and introduce yourself!

So anyway, a lot of other SAS voyagers started checking in to the hotel and getting themselves settled. As soon as Abylay was able to check in a room with his new friend Cody, we knew we couldn't waste any more time just hanging around the hotel. It was time to see London! A lot of the other people were still waiting on rooms to be available, so Abylay and I just went ahead and decided on our own plans. Well, we didn't have any. Haha!

We asked the hotel concierge if they had any suggestions on what good tours we could do in a day. He offered us a tour package from the hotel that costs 150 GBP which can be split up between two people, or among three or four. A driver would be hired to drive us around the main tourist attractions, and then he would just bring us back to the hotel after 4 hours. I thought it was a good deal, but only because I didn't want to do more research on tours and stuff like that! Haha. Gorabels lang ako. But then after we thought about it, we decided to just wing it and explore on our own! Maka Dora eh.