Class is in Session

I decided to return to school to pursue my master’s degree. I’ve always known that I would be doing it, it was just a matter of finely-tuning the why. I found a reason a decade after I graduated from university but a reason's a reason, right? And only time would tell if my reason is good enough. Let’s not jinx it. I digress. 

Long story short, I went to a business school in France to get my postgrad degree and I’m happy to announce that I survived my year of independence abroad. There were two habits that I developed early on in my recently concluded academic return – first was spending at least half an hour getting abreast with the global business market, and next was how to use generative AI. I adapted the first not by choice but rather out of my fear of public humiliation. Others less dramatic refer to it simply as 'class recitation' though. On the first day of classes, my Finance professor asked us to introduce ourselves by specifying the country where we came from and to mention a trivia about our country's economy, something as simple as "my country's birth rate hasn't dwindled down yet, contrary to the global trend." He responded by giving another trivia about the student's country, albeit something more nuanced and contextual. There were more than 70 of us in our cohort, representing around 25 nationalities. It was pretty impressive how he was talking about Cote d'Ivoire one minute then moving on to how the Marcoses have returned to power in the Philippines while giving a background on why the world thought it impossible before the 2022 elections. He then began all our succeeding lectures by volleying with the class about the recent news on the Financial Times for about 30 minutes, impressing on us the importance of being updated with what's going on worldwide, both for our grades (let's be real, I, for one, wouldn't have voluntarily chosen to start my day by skimming through articles about the money market) and for our own brain's benefit. The exercise has stuck with me until now, made easily digestible thanks to select Spotify podcasts.

A hot topic in the business world, one that was consistently present in all 4 terms between 2024 and 2025 that my recent education was condensed into, was the emergence of Chinese electric vehicles, not just in the European market but in the global market as a whole. As a brief aside, it fascinated me how our class discussions always had to be examined through 3 markets: the European market, the US market (because let’s face it, they are still the standard when talking about the economy; besides, I’ve come to realize how heavily dependent business schools are on papers published by Harvard Business School), and everyone’s current favorite, the Chinese market. As an Asian, it captivated me how much the latter can affect global economies. We’re in the era where the sleeping giant has truly been awakened.

Chinese car manufacturers have been eating into the market share of all other Western-produced EVs. This was the consistent trend for the entirety of my master’s program. I could just recall how shocking it had been when news of the factory closures of giant German car manufacturers hit the stands. This was particularly historic because I’m sure no one could have predicted that one of the stalwarts of the European economy would be hit this badly. The luxury cars we have grown accustomed to, just like our parents and grandparents before us, are mostly, if not entirely, made in Europe. They’ve been rolling down our streets for so long that we were certain they’d continue doing so when it’s our children’s children’s turn. But alas, EVs seemed to be the one area where the European giants were on the brink of being shoved away. At that time, not one of us could predict when the dominance of Chinese EVs would plateau. Certainly the Harvard-published papers that credited their manufacturing vertical integration as a significant key to their out-of-this-world price points were at the forefront of our consciousness. As such, we could only list reasons for their continuous dominance, making it difficult to assess when the damage could be stopped. The increasing tariffs that the EU market kept levying were mere band-aids because it seemed that the Chinese government could just reach into its deep pockets to mitigate those fees. At least to me and my group, it was clear that the European market was a casualty of Chinese innovation.

So much so that for our final paper, we chose this topic over other interesting themes like green bonds. Trust me when I say that this type of bond blew my mind when I was introduced to it in my Sustainable Finance class. As a Filipino whose local market doesn't seem fully prepared to trade ESG-related bonds just yet (due to many reasons that remain valid for any other developing economy), you can imagine how eye-opening this class was for me. Chinese EVs came back to mind because a month ago, I saw a YouTube video asserting that, for lack of a better phrase, the rise of Chinese EVs has met its end. The video claimed that sales numbers are inflated and that demand was heavily orchestrated. A quick search confirms that since the latter part of 2025, the local sales of their cars have gone down drastically. Or at least, that is the case in the Chinese domestic market. Their global expansion is still in its aggressive stage. Only time will tell if the industry will yield another Harvard paper praising how it completely overturned the EV landscape, or if it will just become another case study on how they conned the world into believing in their manufactured dominance.

These photos were taken in Australia last August 2024, six days before I flew to France to attend my in-person classes. Knowing that I would be gone for a year, my parents organized one last family trip to for me. I wanted to have a clean mental slate before taking on the challenge of going abroad for a year, but as we all know, it's me. I've never really had a momentary break, which is exactly how I like it. At that time, my mind was all over the place already, trying to nail everything on my mounting to-do list. Firstly, there was my previous work. It was my first job, the first organization that gave me a chance, and let's be real. Everything that I know in a professional setup, I learned from working there. I wanted to leave all my files up-to-date while simultaneously attending all the despedida trips that were arranged for me. Make no mistake, I love how my family and friends celebrate my birth month, and how they come up with the most thoughtful ways to make me feel so loved. The same thoughtful celebrations were organized for my farewell parties, only this time, they came in the form of traveling with different sets of friends. One weekend I was in Hong Kong, returning to work the following Monday, only to take another leave on Friday of the same week to make way for another trip—Taiwan on the second weekend—and so forth. The other trips were to South Korea and Tagaytay. My bosses at work even arranged a very nice farewell lunch overlooking Makati for me too. Not to sound ungrateful, but for every minute I spent having fun away from my desk, I had to make up for it by coming to work even earlier than I usually did.

There was also the factor of me being the designated family organizer. My parents wanted my farewell trip to be in Australia where my younger brother is now based, joined by my cousins (including those who flew in from Canada). It was up to me to arrange our car rentals, Airbnbs (my Dad insisted on staying in houses that could accommodate 13 to 15 people instead of hotels with limited spaces), and even the itinerary. And since we had been in Australia during the exact same months the year prior, no one wanted to see the same places twice. But all of these paled in comparison to what demanded my time the most. My classes officially began in July 2024 with 3 online foundational courses. I took them seriously. I watched each video carefully, took notes, and answered both the quizzes and exams honestly. I was so scared that I had lost my grasp of the academic material that I even supplemented those courses with YouTube videos. I didn't take a single shortcut. I simply did not have enough hours in the day to accomplish all the professional and personal things happening at once. Looking back, perhaps what suffered the most was my ability to enjoy the personal side of things. If not for the photos and videos, I think I would have forgotten a lot of what actually happened during my despedida trips.

 Take this not as a paper I would’ve written for a class, and rightly so, given that I didn’t fact-check my claims here, but simply as a personal commentary from an easily impressionable girl who's come to understand that she lives in a world she'll never fully catch up to. 

Chasing the Illusory Grandeur of Yesteryears

 Everyone seems to be looking at 2026 through millennial nostalgia-riddled glasses, as evidenced by how everyone is comparing it to the iconic, one-for-the-books, legendary year that was 2016. I am wishing, desperately at that, for this year to be as good to me in the same way 2016 had been easily among my most memorable and accomplished years. We shall see. I'm currently working on making it a fruitful one. Fingers crossed!

Dress: Zara | Mules: Amina Muaddi Lupita | Bandeau: Bench | Bracelet stack: Cartier love, Cartier juste un clou, Van Cleef & Arpels perlee clover, Tiffany & Co. knot | Ruby earrings and ring set from a jeweler 

It only seems right that I update this blog with recent photos, something I rarely do but must do now because I need all types of alarm bells that I can think of to force my mind into focus. I have a goal this year, an extension of the previous year's goal, and just as I have done with the one before, I want to nail this one too. This was not a product of my usual bursts of sudden enthusiasm. This time, I'm trying to fulfill a goal that was set in motion when the pandemic forced me into a quarter-life crisis. I've no complaints whatsoever though. The self-reflection was long overdue, and without the distractions of everyday mundanity, it was bound to happen. Fast forward to now, where my two-fold plan has come to its 2nd leg. Come on, universe, work in my favor again. I need this win. 

This year's birthday dinner was celebrated with my family (minus my younger brother who didn't return home from abroad. Boo, what a killjoy). Since this past year, I have been wishing that my beloved Nanay were still around to witness my recent 'milestone', so to speak. I bet she would've cheered the loudest. Thanks to my Tita, who lent me Nanay's ruby ring which became the focus of what I wore for the night, I had something of her to celebrate with (Side note: my celebratory cake was sent by my grade school best friends Frances and Emma who colluded with my Mom to surprise me. Those sweethearts!!)

So, what was it about my 2016 that I wanted to relive, if not to top it even more? See, 10 years ago, I had just been a few months into my 1st job when I bravely took on an additional challenge. I had so many things to prove then because I was, for a lack of a better term, a lucky hire. I applied for a position in an organization that was in no way near either the pay grade or the skills expected of a recent college graduate. I went into that office with no substantial experience, carrying a bucketful of confidence and the usual sprinkle of fake-it-til-you-make-it dust. Suffice to say, I passed that series of interviews and at the end of it, voila, I got the position. At that time, I was the youngest in the office by at least 5 years compared to the next. I celebrated that win for maybe two months, all while overcompensating for it by making sure that I learned as much as humanly possible in the shortest amount of time. My methodology was simple. I was the first person to come into my department and also the last one to leave, while also proving that I may be the youngest but in no way did that deter me from coming into work wearing a different pair of heels every single day. I was a post-college Aldo/Zara/Naturalizer girl then who used to obsess over quantity of shoes over quality. I will never forget the words from my seniors in the department: "don't be a hero," when they realized that I had been staying past office hours just to finish some files, or from the Manager, an equally shoes-obsessed woman, who commented that my pairs of heels were not as nice as hers (to which I cheekily responded, "I don't think so", which she eventually agreed to when we both attended a work-related party wearing the same pair of Louboutins). That first year of work was by far the most challenging period of my professional life. I never once thought of myself as stupid until then. Haha. 

            The challenge didn't end there, though. On the sideline, I let my friend talk me into opening our very own clothing brand, the now-defunct Arkipelago. She's obviously the brains behind our partnership. She introduced the idea to me and convinced me why our partnership would make sense. I was drowning in workload from the day job but I didn't want to disappoint her nor accept that I couldn't multitask. So for a good 2-3 months, we produced our own line of an 8-piece collection. I was responsible for the production side, given that I found the seamstress and eventually became her contact person, while my friend focused on sales and marketing. Well, she helped me with my role too because she was the one who drove us most of the time to Taytay where we sourced out our fabrics and other materials, and where our seamstress was based. In less than 2 weeks after our launch, we had already reached ROI. We didn't talk about how we'd like to market our clothes, but I guess our personal "hobby" at that time played a major role in it. We cemented our impending partnership by going on a quick trip abroad, and it was also around that time that I think I was indulging in as many trips abroad as I could with friends, on top of the family trips that we usually had, while her schedule involved being abroad for weeks at a time every other month, if not almost on a monthly basis. Thankfully, 2016 was also the time when the millennial travel culture was rapidly increasing and our market associated our clothes with vacations. We were lucky in the sense that, at that time, the Filipino influencers whom we approached accepted the clothes we sent them with no monetary compensation involved. They also validated our unintentional marketing campaign by wearing our clothes in their trips abroad too. Alas, all good things eventually came to an end when our schedules couldn't fully accommodate our increasingly demanding side-hustle. It even came to a point where I couldn't send out orders on time because the delivery rider was delayed. By the time he could collect the orders, I was already on a family trip abroad, while my friend also went on a separate sudden trip. Still, I consider Arkipelago among my fondest memories from 2016. 

 

Top, pants, jacket, earrings: Zara | White boots: from a local shop in Lille, France | Watch: Rolex 

I celebrated my birthday last year on a last-minute decision. Case in point: except for my watch and the earrings, everything else I was wearing was bought just a few days prior. I thought that I would be in Manila, celebrating with my family as I had done for the past 3 decades of my life, but no. I was instructed by my parents to stay in Europe to fully experience the once-in-a-lifetime "I'm all alone" Christmas fun. And yeah yeah, it's typical 'woe is me'. I had to spend the holiday season with my friend and her family in Finland, among other countries, because again, woe is me. My parents thought that since I was on an independent run, I might as well have full experience of it. 

After spending the holidays with my newfound friend and her family, I returned back to Lille, France in the middle of a snow storm, exactly a day before my birthday. I initially planned on getting a head start on my thesis but then the universe decided to work in my favor. What's a girl got to do except call her parents, convince them that she needs to be in Paris immediately, otherwise she won't be able to attend a crucial class, despite having just returned from a 3-week trip exploring the Nordics, and the fact that her birthday falls exactly on the date that she had to be in Paris? My parents didn't believe me when I first told them, especially since I was probably giggling in between presenting my request. I mean, it's just so funny, really. The universe has sometimes worked in my favor, yes, but never as blatantly as it did then. I guess the universe has concluded that I should never spend my birthday alone and quietly. Win!

So, since I was technically in Paris for a school-related class, I was allowed to stay in the heart of it where I got to enjoy daily breakfast buffet at the hotel, joined by my classmates who flew into the city fresh from their Christmas vacations, on the same day that I did, all for the purpose of celebrating my birth. I have to emphasize one thing though: the breakfast buffet at the hotel was really really good and filling. I was so happy, it's a far cry from my typical breakfast of the past year, and take it from someone who's been a breakfast person all her life, it's a big deal. My friend Jade who shared the room with me, and her notes for the upcoming class, was a great organizer. How lucky I had been, to have found friends who not only tolerated my presence, but even thought I should be celebrated. Aahh, universe, you seriously have been on a roll! My friends Nicole, Pielly, and Jade joined me as I celebrated that night. I chose the restaurant which was just a 5-minute walk away from the Eiffel Tower. 

Have I mentioned that I lived abroad for a year? Uh huh. I did. But let's save the story, aka my existential crisis coupled with a bunch of rationalizations, for a different post because ding-ding, it is coming next. I have to talk about it, and post it here, if only to immortalize my attempt at independence for a year.  Again, let's save the realizations for later, and let's feast on my usual 'woe is me, help me I'm aimlessly wandering' ramble. 

I might be obsessing over chasing another 'illusory grandeur', but such is life, is it not? Let's see how far we can go before we accept that my entire belief system has been rooted in nothing but just that, a grandeur built on illusions. I can't wait to be in the same boat I was in 10 years ago, proving that I can rise to a challenge that's beyond an arbitrary line I have set for myself. Perhaps the only thing that I would change from my 2016 self would be the travels. I can no longer justify weekend trips abroad with a simple 'you only live once' mantra. Now, more than ever, I feel that my next course of action will have to be intentional if I truly want to succeed. 

Come on, universe. Give me another shot.

But I Must Live Fully

5 years ago (can't believe that 2019 is truly 5yrs ago), one of my best friends in this entire world and I were traipsing around Salzburg, Austria to chase after the places that at one point became the setting in the life of Mozart, to wait for a half hour just to be seated in an 1880-built restaurant where we  tried their famous schnitzel and beer soup, to do our own rendition of the Do-Re-Mi song at Mirabell Palace and Gardens, and just to immerse ourselves in a city that is full of historical and musical importance. Of course the best Mozart-related activity that we had, more than visiting the Mozart Residence, was eating the Mozartkugeln chocolates. Those were truly divine, and inspiring. 

Fur top: Zara | Pants and inner long-sleeves: Uniqlo | Beanie: Tommy Hilfiger | Boots: from USA | Bag: Pacsafe

Ever the reliable friend, we had matching bags in this trip thanks to Tatiana. It is probably unwise to leave 2 super-trusting, super-adventurous girls without any protection, so to speak, that her Dad made a very smart move of buying us "thief-proof" bags before we went on our trip. There is always the possibility of being taken advantage of anywhere in the world, yes, but Europe was so far away from Manila that her Dad's first thought after learning of our trip was not to wish us enjoyment but to esnure that we'll have at least something to secure our belongings; not that our common sense was lacking in any way. It's just that, it would prove to be very difficult if we suddenly found ourselves without our wallets and cards. I'm happy to report that all the cities we visited proved to have the friendliest and safest locals to tourists like us so no, we didn't lose any money nor important stuff that we weren't readily willing to part with, save for a few taxi fares that we had to take because of having no other options.

Perhaps I have been a little sentimental and recollective of my Feb 2019 Eurotrip because I have just completed a form regarding my accommodation for the foreseeable future, in Europe. Yes, I am going back to Europe before the year ends. No, it doesn't excite me as much as planning a 2-3wk family trip but it excites me in a more be-brave-Gellie way. More than my conviction of going to a new city/country every year, my goal this year is to try something that I have never done before. And this, my friends, is where the double feeling of fear and excitement enter. 

Though I am unfortunately among those who do not have hard-driven goals, one thing that I am certain of is that, I will live a life that would hopefully have no regrets. I'm going to go on as many adventures as I can, take as many leaps albeit calculated as I can, and enjoy all of it. I am going to be scared, sure, but I will try to gain independence out of it all. Ahh 2024, I am so excited for everything that you have in store for me.