To my sweetest home girl,

            We met when we were still so innocent and naïve from the cruel reality of the world, still enveloped with our own colorful bubbles. You were the first one to call me “Joan” in my entire school life, and I’d like to believe that was the moment I fell in love with your personality. No matter how many friends I have mastered to gain throughout the years, I’d still find my way back into your warming comfort and accepting words, your deep but yet so overflowing nature. You know me like the back of your hand, and I am immensely grateful for the time and effort you have always blessed me with.

            You were always present in my life, from my highest peak and lowest downfall. You were there as if you’re all ready to clap for my victories or even catch my soul when it gets too heavy for me. I don’t have to filter my words and hide myself from you because you’d still see through me. You’ve taught me how love can be expressed in multiple ways and how it is not limited to what the society had constructed it for the many. I guess, this is what those wedding vows with lines “loving is easy” for because it is so easy to love you. I don’t have to think of any grandeur gifts and trips or even keep up with how you live your life. I just blend with you easily and smoothly like it is meant to happen from the very beginning of our friendship.

 How many times have you seen me laugh like there’s no tomorrow? How many times have I cried my heart out to you? How many times have I gone so crazy through life with you? Crazy how, for sure, I’ve lost count for these moments and now I am celebrating your 21^st year on earth.

        In 21 years, I’ve witnessed:

1.     How you proved to our 3^rd grade teacher that you can be a good example to your sisters. You are always like that, I’ve witnessed how people would perceive you differently and no matter how much I’d like to correct them but I just let it pass for I know I’m just blessed enough to have known you this much.

2.     How you learned to mingle with new people and find beautiful friendship with them. It is so refreshing to see you happy and laughing with other people. You always have this easy going personality that drives people to you. You accept us for who and what we are, no matter what. You vibe with us, you jive with us.

3.     How you braved yourself to join a beauty pageant back in high school. You totally surprised us with that one, and know that we don’t mind getting surprised with your growth and courage.

4.     How you get lost and still find your destination. Literally, it happened to the both of us a lot of times. And we will always be grateful for those times because those learning experiences were etched in our memories. Figuratively, you were thrown into paths that were nowhere in your comfort zone yet you have learned to love the journey.

5.     How you committed yourself and your life to God. You are a good reminder of how God shows his grace and mercy in life, people look up to your faith in Him.

6.     How you thrive for your progress. You, of all people, have the most efficient discipline and dedication. If you want something, you get it done simply and silently. I know it was not easy to get to where you are now, but I just I want to say that I am so proud of you.

7.     How well versed you are in expressing your thoughts and delivering your insights. Your words will forever hold a dear value I the lives of the people you’ve touched. I am a fan of your writing and choice of books, I guess your wisdom reflects all of your interest and investments with it.

8.     How dedicated you are to the people you love and things you adore. From real life people to fictional characters, and kstans who made you fall head over heels. It is just so fascinating to see you get so hooked and pressed with these, you deserve to enjoy life and its people.

9.     How cheery and self-loving you are. You always give yourself time to grow and say yes to opportunities, you never rush things and just go accordingly to what your heart tells you to. Just continually growing at your own pace.

10.  How you balance your person and social life. Thank you for always trying your best to hang out with people even if its way past time your own life schedule. It just means that you hold people dear in your life.

11.  How thoughtful you are. You never forget to look beyond and extend your effort to the people who matter to you. We are so pampered with your love and friendship. You give your time for us as if it is something you can just bear and bring back to. Time is the most precious gift that you hold in life yet you never hesitate to spend it with and for us.

12.  How you worked hard for the things that you have. From the first time you had your first job at a BPO company to having sidetrack jobs that enabled you to provide for your own joys in life. Instead of asking, you worked for it. And not just that, your faith, inner peace, happiness, and contentment. I know it was a not a smooth road to take to have everything built for yourself.

13.  How simple you choose to live life. You were never the type of person who invest on expensive things and fun times, you were more the simple and chill girl. It is fine by you to just stay home, do your own things, go out occasionally, and that’s it.

14.  How disciplined you are. Oh my gosh, believe it or not you are on the top of my list. It’s still so amazing to me how you managed to live a low-key life by not dwelling too much on social media (and everything in the virtual world).

15.  How you step up your aesthetic game. If there’s one thing I have not said so often to you, I think it’s this. Just seeing your photos (and outfits) and watching your vlogs, I know you have a niche for these. You capture moments so candidly; you present yourself timelessly.

16.  How selfless and nurturing you are to the people around you. Most of the time, after every call, I could just thank the Lord for sharing you—a beautiful gift to me. You are always willing to give your time up for people, you take time to understand every word that they speak and then you assess and give your own insight. It means so much, and it helps a lot.

17.  How you are always low-key with your progress. You were always quiet with your wins; you were never the one who would post it or share it to us. Just know that we acknowledge and appreciate your hard work and effort. And for that, you deserve it. I am proud of you.

18.  How overflowing is your sense of empathy. You always know the right words to say, and when it comes from you? It feels like you understand us better than anyone else. It is such a powerful ability how you can see through our eyes and feel our heart like you have owned our struggles and pain.

19.  How brilliant you are. People would be so amaze if they ever get to see who and what you are in my perspective. You are one of the purest gems that I have known for years and years, and your value just adds up every time. You bloom, you prosper, and you continually sparkle. I will always believe in your capacity to do and achieve greater things. And as long as I live, I would really try my best to protect you.

20.  How you envision life and how you hustle for it. If imagination is the limit, you already know that you are a pro with it. What sets you aside is that you continually work for it, you just don’t give up easily. You know what you want and you work hard for it.

21.  How open you are to opportunities and possibilities. I believe that this is the main ingredient of your growth throughout the years, you grabbed the right opportunities and made the right decisions that led you to multiple possibilities. 

    Madam, thank you for letting me witness all of these and more. Thank you for growing with me from first grade down to our last years in college (and to all our beautiful days here on earth). I am so blessed and grateful to share every milestone with you. I wish you nothing but genuine happiness, stable inner peace, and well-deserved success. And may you always find spark in everything that you do and through.

2019.
An unexpected year of change and courage. Every month went like a flash of light all wrapped with thorns and graces of life; pain and joy tweaked me to be able to surpass each day of the year. It seemed like I was in a stance where everything was uncertain and was just full of unfinished businesses to attend to. I did a lot of unforeseen ventures and made a lot of startling decisions that stressed me out for God knows how many days and sleepless nights. I was hustling and resting, pushed too many buttons of overtimes and breaktimes before I finally learned to ride the waves of my phase.

The peaks and in-betweens of 2019 helped me bear my priorities and responsibilities. Surprisingly, I found myself not doing the stuff that I was so crazily into for the past years for I have developed a sense of fondness on the different side of the road. The unfamiliarity of new things was refreshing. I got so invested with my love for food, bags, and cases. Thank you Shopee and Sisig places, I wasn’t able to save any money (but at least, you made me happy and contented!!). I met and established great bonds with new people. I spent most of my days in the university. And I had enough strength and courage to face my 20th year of existence ft. choosing myself and prioritizing my happiness. At last, I stood up for what I believe I’m capable and responsible enough for.

I am forever grateful to the people in my life for aside from myself and my aspirations, they are the reason why I am still here. Thank you for making me laugh, for slapping me to get back into the right senses, and for staying despite the ups and downs. And of course, to the Lord who made everything possible for me and for my loved ones. Thank you so much for the answered prayers, waiting game, and redirections, this is all for Your glory. May the tears that I shed out of happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, and kilig in 2019 water my upcoming endeavors in 2020!
2019, you challenged me to see the beauty of life in your plainness and inner & outer battles.
To more 2020!! 🍃❤️

2018 has been my time out, time out for what I’ve been used to. It was rough but worth it. I needed time to forget, forgive, and flourish. 

As I turned its pages, I journeyed to different coasts that knocked me some realizations and changed my views. Priorities and responsibilities found its way to fit in and bother me as I unraveled the mysteries of life. I’ve learned that even though almost every little thing is well, reality would probably slap & tell me that its still not done yet. That no matter how prepared I am, if its meant to happen it will happen. This is life, after all. I just need to grasp every moment and nurture it to grow older and wiser.

This year had me with its countless of sleepless nights and daydreaming trying to figure out what’s best for me and what path to choose. And I ended up traveling to places I’ve never been to, moving mountains for the people that I love, grabbing a bag of opportunities, serving with all my heart & faith, facing the harsh reality of failures, rejections, and adjustments, learning to grow through letting people go and people letting go, guarding myself to avoid unnecessary pain and headache, and of course --- loving the people that made my year tough (lol, hello?) and bearable (thank you so much, luv!).

What a year!!! Thank you to every charm in my life for the courage, strength, guidance, and love that you’ve poured into me that lead me to the last day of this crazy year. I love you with all the universe and outside the universe can hold, with all the love from the beginning of time to its end called forever <3

And to the giver of life, my greatest source of strength, and the center of my existence; Lord! Regardless of my flaws, lapses, gaps, broken promises, and empty words, still, you’ve showered me with blessings, opportunities, experiences, and lessons that I don’t even think I deserve. All I know is that I trust You and Your plans for me and for my life. Thank you so much.

to more, 2019 💋

Sometimes in life, you would always chase people who you want to be part of your life. You see them, you know them, and next thing you knew, you crave for them.

For their laugh.
For their words.
For their actions.
For their love.
For their presence.

But, you would not end up having them. At least not have all of them.

Its because there are people who are worth the chase, but not worth the fight.

love,
Raice of 04/17/18

love,
Raice  of 04/07/18

                       So here's a mural beside the door. This is by Atong David, an artist of Kaliwete Arts (he's behind the artistic feels of Out of Nowhere). You can contact him through this number 0926-675-7580 or this email address atongtdavid@gmail.com





                                                               Inside of the said place.




                          And yes! I had the time to take a picture of the menu, loves! I know that you'll need this somehow. You're welcome.

                          So, as what I've said, the couple treated us and I'll be showing you what we've ordered.

                                                                   (From left to right)

                          Chocolate S'more Shake - Php. 140.00
                          Chili Con Nachos - Php. 160.00
                          Chocolate Cake - (I forgot the price, its not included in the menu cause they have this refrigerator for the desserts.)
                          Matcha Green Tea Shake - Php. 140.00
                         
      *Note that they have a 10% charge for service.

                         Out of Nowhere is really worth it, I tell you. Especially for those teens who wanna spend in a sulit food cause their serving is big and the price is justifiable, try the Asian Grilled Chicken Thigh (Php. 180.00) & Carribean Style Grilled Chicken Thigh (Php. 180.00). They also have wines and teas for formal meet ups & chitchats.


                          My squad aint really into this kind of bonding for we prefer staying at Mitzi's place and eat pancit canton but hey, we also wanna try something new and trendy. I suggest that you and your squad, family, partner or even you, alone visit and try Out of Nowhere Kitchen!



                                                         Me and Mitzi doing the VV Pose

                                                            Thank you for reading loves!

                     Hi, loves! Have you ever thought about your purpose here on earth? Are you still on your track towards your goal? Here's something for you, a piece that would somehow touch your heart or wake your sleeping senses. Keep your fire burning, it may be hard these days, there might be lots of challenges and responsibilities that you should take & surpass, but it will all be worth it in the end. Just think of this, its better that you're having hard time right now with the support of your loved ones than suffer in your 20's in which you need to be independent.

 Annyeong! As a prologue of this life story of mine, its just right to start it with some facts about this human being who's trying to connect with you all.

1. Rachelle Joan Mejos Torentera is my full name. I'm carrying lots of nicknames in my existence, so you can call also call me as Raice/Rachee/Rach/Chee/Joanna/Cheng or maybe you wanna guess the nickname that's placed in my birth certificate? HINT: Its one of the thousands of endearments in this world.
2. My name was supposed to be Rachelle Anne, but my birth month falls on the 6th place - 24th day (which is the nativity of St. John the Baptist) so my grandfather combined Jo and Anne, it became Joan. And oh, its also close to "John".
3. I am a happy pill, a happy virus. I'm exerting efforts to keep this aura in me, to block every negativity and to always look at the brighter side of life. I believe by keeping this mind set, life would be lighter and easier. 
4. I can't keep quiet, i'm a living shotgun. There would always be thoughts that would never leave my mind, experiences that I would like to share (cause I think its worth-sharing, lol), and sometimes just random stuff or people that I find interesting or irritating.
5. Newbie writer. I love writing, it is my hobby. It relaxes me and helps me think in an organized way. When I want to let my feelings or thoughts out, I'll just write it down. I also have an obsession in color pens, colorful notes\
6. A Low-key Dog Lover, yes yes. I would always imagine myself having a dog and treating that cutie as a baby. But sadly, I can't have one cause my sister can't stand with dogs.
7. As I mature, I realized that selfie is life but photography is lifer. I am fascinated in capturing the beauty of life, the behind the camera scenarios, and for me it serves as an evidence for a certain moment of my life.
8. I am a wattpad enthusiast, specifically a Royal Reader (JonaxxStrories Lover). Those practices or the characters, themselves, are the ones this generation has forgotten. And I love how these fictional characters would remind or even set the standards of how it should be, how it supposed to be or it used to be that kind of way or person. It is also an outlet to experience different shoes and learn so many values that I could use in my daily life. 
9. Definitely a pink lover. This is my happy color, the one that I will always choose over others. 
10. I'm into the culture and language of Korea, I love Kpop. I'm amazed of how well they've preserved their culture and how they value their language. Their dramas would always be on the top for me and their music has this kind of spell that would make you wait for more debuts and eras. The way the talents there would really work hard for their dream and how thoughtful each of them is.
11. One thing that I do during my leisure is to investigate people that interests me. Yes, I prefer using that term cause 'stalking' is quite an underestimate, lol. 
12. I have lots of friends, like really. But Btchs, SAE, Er-angs, Stellars would ace them all. I hang with them compared to others. Its like each of them has a different function in my life, they're my constants.
13. I'm shy at first, I would just observe and evaluate how things/people do before I make my actions. But once I'm already comfortable or I've already adjusted, I can get along easily and you should get ready for some loads of crazy stuff and non-stop talking. 
14. If I'm not in my day to day/normal mood, there's something going on with me/us/the situation that I don't like and it is bothering me, big time. 
15. It is in my bucket list, to go to the city of love, Paris. I would picture out myself, having a pic and my background is the Eiffel Tower. I feel like my soul is there, I belong there and I'm destined with that place.
16. Music: ON, World: OFF. Music is my secret potato planet, my connection to what the world doesn't know about me. It affects my mood and helps me get over over something. The lyrics of a song would speak out of the thoughts/feelings that I can't tell or describe. 
17. I'm not single, and I'm not taken. I'm simply reserved for the one who deserves my love, effort and time. I'm patiently waiting for my love story and its still not one of my worries cause the Author of it has been writing for over thousands of years now. I trust Him. As they say, good things happen to those who wait.