The Omnivore Experiment

When I got out of the mental hospital in 2016, I committed to quit my addictions and replace them with better addictions. Hihi.

Instead of spending my weekends doing extreme outdoor sports, I did the unthinkable. I practiced yoga and learned how to sit still in meditation. Yikes.

(I can’t believe I am teaching yoga now. o_o)

Instead of drinking alcohol, I turned to smoothies and fruit juices.

Instead of coffee, I had jasmine, camomile, and green teas. Hibiscus tea was my favorite.

Instead of rice, meat, and eggs, I had a bowl of fruity oatmeal for breakfast.

Instead of hanging out with drunken friends and outdoor sports junkies, I hung out with yogis and writers. It was hard. This one felt like a brain reset.

Instead of depressing “literary” books, I read ancient literature and romance poetry.

And indie films? I quit them altogether. I stopped snacking on films due to the dying culture of piratebay.

Regardless, I missed the old internet, when I could download indie films on a whim. Now it’s just popcorn Netflix culture.

The internet was shifting rapidly. And what was once a safe and quiet haven for my thoughts, became littered with sharks and creeps.

Suddenly everybody was online posting videos, going viral, and creating spikes of growth in the deep interwebz.

Then after going vegan for five years, I realized I looked so much younger than my age.

People mistook me for a fresh graduate — I even looked younger than when I graduated.

In 2022, I made an experiment to go back to my old habits.

I started eating meat, sugary drinks, and chips again. I drank some coffee and a little liquor.

I hung out with my old drunk friends (they haven’t changed). I read Henry Miller and Anais Nin.

I tried social media, but no matter what happened, it still couldn’t replace real life.

I’ve had more water sports such as snorkeling and swimming, and was close to doing dragonboat again.

When my ex Vincent and I started talking, he noticed that I have “matured”. Lol.

In just three months of incorporating more fish, shrimps, squid, crabs, chicken, eggs, and sugar in my diet, I started looking older.

I mean, in just three months, I literally aged five years. And in one year, I probably aged 10 to 15 years.

It was interesting to notice how eating animals can make me feel older, look older, and even feel slow and fatigued.

I had slept more than usual. And my dreams weren’t so good.

By the end of the year’s omnivore experiment, I have started looking the same as the people my age.

Like those people who were battered by life. I looked like a mother, with kids, and I am not used to it.

Not to mention I felt crankier than usual.

I think the worse addictions that I reviewed were (1) COFFEE and (2) ALCOHOL. These are the worst — when you’re clean these two will fuck up with your system.

Anyway here’s me at my real age. I’m slowly going back to my plant-based diet, and I’m sure I’ll transform back to my younger self in no time.

// 14 Jan 2024

Ashy Sky


The 4pm haze felt like an early sunset.

I was on the way back to the island when I noticed that the sky was hazy everywhere.

People say a volcano erupted today in our neighboring country Indonesia.


The thick air from the secret island.

The atmosphere was so hazy I couldn’t see the islands around us.

The ashy haze was dense and heavy, like the pollution in Manila’s city traffic.


Hibiscus flower. <3

I’m feeling unwell today. I should steep some hibiscus and make tea.

// 10 Jan 2024

Yoga on the Secret Island

It’s our first time to host a yoga retreat on the island.


Sneak peek of the yoga sesh today. <3

Two people didn’t make it, so we only have 14 guests. They’re mostly from Russia, and they’re spending a week with the island all for themselves.

Food has been a bit of hell in the kitchen. But John the head chef kept getting better so quickly that every meal was like a come back from the few mishaps in the first two days.


Artem doing a back flip. He’s a recovering calisthenics junkie.

I’m supposed to have a weekend break, but I worked. Which sucks. >_< I should slow down a bit; I was producing my graphic design work too fast.

I guess I was too excited to finish them. I made a watercolor-themed catalogue of the activities and services on the island. :) I haven’t done graphic design since 2010, and it felt like a long-forgotten comfort zone.

I missed being an artist. I’m still an artist as a writer, but doing visual arts is an entirely different alternate reality.


Hand stand on the secluded beach.

On the second day, I showed the Russians a draft design of our offshore activities, which are island hopping and waterfall adventure.

Surprisingly, they booked both. They had so much fun doing the island hopping and feeding enormous turtles yesterday. They came back red and sunburnt and very hungry.

I haven’t seen the turtles yet, and the videos were incredible. :3 Martin, Philipe’s dad, said that the turtles weigh over 100kg each.

I wonder how old they are? What do they eat? Can I please pet them for a week? :3


Dmitri and his girlfriend at the hideout.

Today, I shared with our guests a great spot for sunset yoga — the secluded beach with the lovely cliff and shade.

We went by speedboat to the beach. It was so far away it took 45 seconds to get there.

I’ve been speaking with their retreat organizer and yoga teacher, Mark. He’s organizing so many retreats in exotic places in Asia and he’s only 21 years old. He showed me his sports cars and I was like, are you kidding me?! o_o


Mark doing a scorpion pose. #bucketlist

His life story was insane. I thought he was joking when he said he had anorexia two years ago, and that yoga changed his life.

He’s so tall, fit, and commanding, I wouldn’t ever think he was sick or that he was leading retreats in multiple locations in Asia.

Then he showed me his photo from two years ago. He was all skin and bones, and looked weak and malnourished.


I was testing the beach for yoga. The space was perfect. <3

His friend Dmitri kept butting in the story that I couldn’t understand Mark’s complex relationship with his mother, leading to the anorexia.

Actually there were three of them boys going back and forth translating the story from Russian into English just for me to understand. And I with all my honorable brain cells understood nothing.


More arm balances with Artem. He’s also 21.

But when Mark showed me his old photo, I understood everything. Damn right. :P

Not to mention, they were all over the floor of the clubhouse practicing their arm balances.


The view from the hideout.

I was telling Philipe today that we should have a yoga studio midway to the cliff. But he didn’t want his island to be associated with retreats, I’m not sure, but we’ll see.

When I turn Philipe into a yogi we’ll have 10 yoga studios on the island. :3

And their response to the food? “More, please.” <3


The sunset at the end of the day.

// 08 Jan 2024