It’s been a month since I left Manila. My time living on my own is has come to an end. If you’ve read this post, you can say that I am a sheltered kid back home and having given the trust to live alone is a big thing for me.
Living alone has its downsides, I won’t deny that and now that I’m back home, I’m thankful that I don’t need to do the chores myself. Back in Manila, I clean my own studio, I wash my own dishes, I iron my own clothes, and I have to just accept that the clothes from the laundry shop downstairs doesn’t look as clean and smell as nice as what I’m used to back at home. I tried buying a washing machine and washed the clothes myself but I take so much time it’s inefficient.
But I have this list of things I miss most living alone in Manila:
1: Food
It’s common knowledge that I love love love food and there’s no shortage of restaurants in Metro Manila. Whatever it is you’re craving, there’s at least one restaurant that serves it. I even have a book from SpotPH that compiles the ten best restaurants that serve a certain food – crispy pata (fried pork knuckles), champorado (chocolate porridge), croque madame, everything! Here in Davao, there are more and more restaurants opening, serving different dishes but the variety is not yet as wide as that of Manila’s. But I can see the food industry is growing fast so this might not be a problem in the near future.
2: Own Time
I get to do things I make time for. Back in Manila, although there were a few errands my dad asked me to do, I was mainly focusing on school. As long as I keep my grades up, I can do whatever on my free time. I took up swimming lessons and was doing laps 3 times a week, I went boxing or to the gym also 3 times a week, and I had French lessons once a week. A lot was going on and I loved it. I thought I was a morning person because I consistently wake up at 7am even without an alarm but thought otherwise now that I’m back home. My dad wakes me up at 5am so we could jog together, and I can’t just go to the gym or go swimming in the afternoon because I spend my time in the office, sometimes, actually doing nothing office-related but I stay there anyway. haha. Evenings are usually spent malling with my mom or meeting up with friends.
🏋🏽♀️📷: Ivaen Ottone of (C)Lock In
🏊🏼♀️📷: Darius Arceo of Aquarius Swimming School
3: Freedom
Back in Manila, I had no curfew. My friends and I don’t go out often, but when there are big events like festivals, I have the freedom to go out and enjoy. Here at home, my curfew’s at midnight. Although my dad is a bit lenient now, I still get his disapproving face when I come home at 12:30am. That’s just 30 minutes past curfew!
Things definitely changed for me after coming back home but my goals are intact and I will make things happen here in Davao, the way i Imagined them in Manila. Wish me luck!
