bethgstories

Not all disabilities are visible. Life with chronic illness is unimaginably challenging - it’s stressful and has the potential to pull away every shred of hope and strength you have in every aspect of your life. It has the capacity to rob you of the important things, and most of the time including your sanity. It drains you of every positive thought in your head, forcing you to believe that you’re this little piece of scum that has no value or meaning at all. I should know. I’m living this kind of life. Around this time of the year not more than six years ago, I was told I have myasthenia gravis . I could only imagine the blank stare I gave the doctor because one, I didn’t know what it was and two, that called for the question I so dreaded to ask. Is it curable? It took her some seconds before the doctor answered me back. It is treatable, yes. You see, myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune, neuromuscular disease that causes severe muscle weakness. When I say severe muscle weakn...

Disclaimer: I am not a vegan. I'm not even a chef. Or a nutritionist. This is entirely based on my experience.  Like what I’ve posted previously, meal prep has become part of my weekly routine. It’s an effective stress-reliever, from planning out the meals for the week down to Instagramming the finish product. Plus, it’s healthy, much cheaper and I don’t need to worry about contractual labor by resorting to fast food meals. If you have been following me on IG (and that’s @bethgstories if you haven’t), you’d see my stories are always about food (though other times I post my goofy self because it’s fun). Lately, I’ve been trying much too hard to do a #meatlessFriday, and that's how I came up with this healthy vegan pasta soup. However, more often than not, I don’t succeed because my colleagues’ food are also impossible to be ignored. You can do this thing and save yourself from unhealthy food the entire week Just so you know, I like to keep my meals not only heal...

I was in the Enchanted Kingdom last weekend, along with my co-workers for our monthly company gathering. I didn’t get too excited at first - I mean, what are we going to do in a freaking theme park (just in case you’re reading this and you’re not from the Philippines, Enchanted Kingdom is a theme park like Disneyland and also, thank you for reading!)? I knew I was just having issues with myself at the time because I ended up being grateful and happy that I spent one Saturday with the newest people in my life. The park is huge, and with the weekend crowd, it’s impossible for one to be able to visit all the attractions it has to offer. Since our group is fierce and seemed to be in a constant search of adventure, we decided to stand in line for the extreme rides first. I figured it didn’t matter. I’ve been there some years ago and I know more or less what I was getting into. The lines were too long, and between chatting and taking pictures, some life lessons popped up in my head. ...

Warning: This is a not-so-fun post. And I’m not a quitter but… I decided to write this because I know it’s going to make me feel better once I’m done. Submitting a resignation letter could have been great, but apparently I am forever bound as one of the incorporators of an organization that had somehow failed to be fully established. Also, I wasn’t given the chance or even the common courtesy do so, because someone has already spoken on my behalf [read: without my consent] when I was still on the process of deciding and figuring things out. All I had in mind was to be of help. What I’ve gone through with my condition was something terrible, and I want to be part of an effective support system. Going through a rare ordeal is difficult. It makes you feel alone. No one genuinely understands what it feels like not being able to walk, talk, swallow and breathe due to severe weakness. It’s like cracking up a joke using a Harry Potter reference to a person who has never read even...

I used to be under the impression that meal prepping is such a huge task that’s gonna take all my time and energy. The planning, the search for recipes, listing down of ingredients, going to the grocery store and the actual cooking consume all my strength just thinking about it. But times have changed, and maybe I just grew out of all my childish excuses. It’s been a few weeks since I started preparing my meals for work, and let me tell you why I continue doing so. Korean chicken curry I am so serious about living the healthy life, I swear! Living with an autoimmune condition is a bitch, and you don’t have any choice but to fight it. Every. Single. Day. If you’ve read my About Me page, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’d say I am so lucky to have met a doctor that was able to alleviate my symptoms through proper dosage of medications and surgery. But then it shouldn’t end at that. I also have to do something in order to experience that overly-coveted remission. And so I ...

The weather forecast said there'd be downpour that afternoon, but it did not stop us from dolling up a bit and readied ourselves for another mini-adventure. I figured I needed updated pictures for this blog, and so I called up my ever-reliable friend/alpha-reader/soul-sistah Nicole to come with me and take pictures at the Pinto Art Museum. Pinto Art Museum is located inside a private subdivision in Antipolo City, but anyone can go there. If you're a commuter, it'll just gonna take you one tricycle ride from Antipolo Cathedral. This Santorini-inspired museum has a lot to offer - from fine artworks of seemingly-underrated (or maybe I just haven't heard of them) but super talented local artists, instagrammable corners for your winner IG shots, to cafes that serve superb meals. We got there at around 3 p.m. or so, and with the skies threatening to cry out I knew there was no way we'd be able to visit all the galleries. But we were  still able to take a bunch...

Batang Jollibee here! Yep, I was one of the kids who craved for Jollibee back in the day, though I always preferred the burger steak and palabok while everyone wants their Chicken Joy and spaghetti (and this happens until now). And I should say Jollibee has become my go-to fast food whenever I wanna feel nostalgic vibes in order to get that suspended novel going. Talk about comfort and homey feels. Anyway, Jollibee (not so) recently launched their newest product and I didn't think something would beat the savory tuna pie as one of my favorite Jollibee desserts. And yes, it's the Ube Pie . I have been looking for an opportunity to try this out I am overly excited and yesterday was finally the chance! Ube jam is something that I'd always ask someone to bring me back when they go to Baguio (well, apart from the snowballs and strawberries). I'd either put it in bread or eat it as it is - but Jollibee has given me more than that! My excitement about this Ube Pie was too over...