The Mystery Blogger Award II

And yet another unexpected award nomination! I have to thank Violet at Wool and Words for nominating me to this wonderful award. This is my second nomination for the Mystery Blogger Award and as always, I am grateful to my fellow bloggers who continuously recognize the effort I put into this blog. Please accept my gratitude.

So what is The Mystery Blogger Award?

The Mystery Blogger Award was created by Okoto @OkotoEnigmasBlog to recognize “amazing blogs that haven’t been discovered” yet. It is the original creator’s aim, through this award nomination, to “create a friendly community and build a link between bloggers in the blogosphere; as everyone gets nominated and they too can spread the fun by nominating more people for the award.”

The Rules

• Put the award logo/image on your blog.
• List the rules.
• Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well.
• Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
• You have to nominate 10 – 20 people.
• Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.
• Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify).
• Share a link to your best post(s)
  

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Three Things about Me!

1. Even though they were not my favorite subjects, I’ve always excelled in my English and Mathematics classes. I am surprised as well that I performed well on these two subjects. A majority of my classmates have a hate and hate relationship with Mathematics. I don’t love it either but hey, I’ll accept those high grades! LOL.
2. I memorized the fifty states of the United States, their state capitals and nicknames back when I was in the fifth grade (about eleven years-old). It wasn’t required in class; we were learning Philippine geography. Our neighbors had a set of encyclopedia which I would go on and borrow due to my insatiable appetite for reading and knowledge. By browsing through these encyclopedia, I managed to memorize all fifty states. Right now, I think I must have forgotten about 20 to 25% of the capitals but I know all fifty states.
3. I am a licensed professional, a Certified Public Accountant. However, it was never my dream. I wasn’t even sure what CPAs did when I enrolled in the university. But because I excelled in both English and Mathematics (two basics in accounting), I managed to pass my accounting subjects. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I graduated with a decree in accounting. I took the licensure examinations and passed it on my first try. The rest was history.

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Questions From Violet

1. What motivated you to start a blog?’

~ This was way back in 2015. I had this Facebook friend who had her own blog. I would read and admired her pieces so I got in touch with her. In a way, I wanted to get to know her better as well (we were casual social media friends before that). She told me how she started her blog. When she learned that I write every now and then, she asked me to start my own. A couple of days later, I started what would be The Pine-Scented Chronicles.

2. Do you have any advice for new bloggers?

~ Last year, when I celebrated my blog’s fourth anniversary, I wrote about my realizations vis-a-vis blogging. You may access the piece here: Time to Blossom: Four Realizations in Four Years of Blogging. These are also my tips to everyone who wants to start their own blog:

1. The first and the most important thing is finding the heart to “start”.
2. Celebrate every success, even if they are small.
3. Always be inspired; write and blog you.
4. Never rush; take your time. It is all about taking small steps.

I hope these pieces of advice will inspire fledgling bloggers and writers.

3. What book impacted you the most/or you absolutely loved?

~ In terms of impact, these three books rank high on my list. On the surface, they seem like simple stories but once one digs deeper, they carry profound subjects that are seminal in our lives. These books taught me to appreciate every single breathing moment; to treat everyone with kindness; and to have pursuits that will enrich me and others.

~ For books I absolutely adore, there are a lot. Here are some of my all-time favorites:

• Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children
• Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace
• Hiro Arikawa’s The Travelling Cat Chronicles
• Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s Stay With Me
• Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex

There’s a lot more. 🙂

4. What is one dream you would like to accomplish in your lifetime?

~ To be the first Igorot President of the Republic of the Philippines was my biggest childhood dream. But things changed. I grew up. Reality slapped hard and I begun to realize that my dream was a lofty one. Too lofty.

~ In this regard, the one dream I want accomplished in my lifetime is to be able to travel to all countries in the world. It sounds more realistic and achievable compared to the first. Haha. This dream was conceived after browsing through the glossy pages of encyclopedia. Growing up in the countryside, I thought it was impossible. But as adage goes, nothing is impossible (except perhaps for my first dream) and so far, I managed to land in four countries.

5. What was a place/country you had on your bucket list before COVID-19?

~ Japan. My friends and I were supposed to travel to Japan in late March. But then, COVID-19 cases started to surge everywhere, including here in the Philippines. I have always dreamt of walking under a tree-lined thoroughfare while cherry blossoms are falling. I am making it sound too romantic. LOL. But yeah, I cannot compromise my health. Japan can always wait.

~ It seems that our Indonesia trip this July is going to be cancelled as well. Oh well. Better be safe than sorry I guess. I was even preparing to flaunt my newly sculpted body in Bali! Just kidding. I am in the processing of completing that actually. HAHA. Hopefully, once this pandemic is done, I look healthier and better.

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My Nominees

Salsa World Traveler’s Blog

Sharvi @ Tips from Sharvi

HappyTonic @ ReadingTonic Book Reviews

Alisbooks @ Our Book Boyfriends

Flowers in the Brain

Saul @ Modern Day Igorot

Piyush Gulati @ The Thinking Pen

Anjana @ Superfluous Reading

Julie @ One Book More

Hannah Celeste @ Books and Bakes

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Questions For My Nominees:

1. What is your most embarrassing blogging moment? 
2. What are the first three things you are going to do once the pandemic is over and all restrictions are lifted?
3. If you were given the opportunity to meet a famous personality, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you talk about?
4. Would you rather have a teleportation machine or a time travelling machine? Why?
5. Which movie or literary character do you most strongly identify with? 

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Link to my favourite posts

I’ve always loved my post about the kindness I received from a Korean mother during my temple stay experience in Seoul. It is also about the hospitality and the kindness we receive from unexpected sources. Let us shower the world with kindness and love!

Of the over 180 book reviews I’ve done, I’ve always favored my book review on Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits. It was a book I really enjoyed and, in my personal opinion, it is one of the most well-written (LOL). Uncharacteristically, I completed the review within a couple of hours. A normal review takes me days to complete!

I also loved this semi-essay piece, The Void.It has a great backstory as well. I was randomly asked by one of our company directors, “How do you fill the void?”. It took me months to construct my answer and she absolutely loved it when I emailed her my answer. This is the expanded version of that answer.

I guess I can be very talkative. Haha. But I do hope you enjoyed my ruminations. To those I’ve nominated, congratulations! Let me reiterate, however, that you are in no way required to answer my questions. I wouldn’t mind if you opt not to. Have a great week ahead everyone!

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