My “Baket” List

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I’m going to live till 91.

That’s the estimate of this online life span calculation.  But then, most of my relatives passed on before retirement age, including my own dad who went home at 56.  So, I came up with a more realistic bucket list for myself.

I have fear of heights and I hate hiking, so don’t expect stereotypical wishes like skydiving, bungee jumping, or climbing the Everest.  Nope, no sirree, sorry to disappoint you.  A good half of my list can be done sitting down. LOL

So, here’s my baket* list: (My 60 things to achieve before I hit 60)

(*Ilocano for old woman)

In random order:

  1. Re-read at least 50 classic literature books (woot! woot!)
  2. Do a hand stand in Philippine beach waters (with an ambulance standing by)
  3. Publish a series of books for children (hopefully beginning of 2018!)
  4. Eat tamilok (raw shipworm marinated in vinegar, chili and onions)
  5. Finish my doctorate degree
  6. Hit 20k followers on Twitter (6k now!)
  7. Publish an e-book featuring my pa-profound photography collection
  8. Re-visit my childhood school (St Mary’s College, QC)
  9. Compose, produce, perform and publish 5 original worship songs on YT
  10. Draw a pencil portrait of my late father’s face
  11. Visit Myanmar
  12. Eat kamaru (fried rice field crickets)
  13. Visit my dad’s relatives in Davao (ready the red carpet, cousin Jojo!!)
  14. Dye my hair in 4 colours… or maybe 5
  15. Watch a Pink concert
  16. Enrol in a dance class (statue dance haha)
  17. Throw a surprise big birthday party for a loved one in the Philippines – on my tab
  18. Have a grandchild before I hit 60 ( I wanna be called “Meemaw” like Sheldon Cooper’s grandma)
  19. Surprise a charity with a cheque donation or in kind
  20. Learn water colour painting
  21. Re-visit Phil National Museum
  22. Polish my rusty French by aiming to write a short essay in French (Oui! C’est vrai!)
  23. Eat Soup No. 5 (bull’s balls and penis in soup)
  24. Visit my old workplace in Morong, Bataan (refugee camp)
  25. Start and grow a network of women mentors and entrepreneurs in the Philippines
  26. Drink my first red and/or white wine (yes, I’m a wine virgin haha)
  27. Visit Indonesia (Hi, Ella!)
  28. Attend an indie film festival and blog about it
  29. Have my own kindergarten & primary school in Manila
  30. Have my own laundromat
  31. Adopt 3 more dogs from a shelter
  32. Watch an Avril Lavigne concert
  33. Learn how to properly play a bass guitar (again)
  34. Create digital photo album of old family photographs
  35. Go on a road trip with girlfriends
  36. Get henna hand tattoos
  37. Sleep on a water bed
  38. Write a family tree (both mother’s and father’s side, 2-3 generations back)
  39. Bravely drive in Manila, during rush hour
  40. Get together again with my 1st year high school best friends Gloria and Girlie (where are you guys now?)
  41. Attend a Catholic spiritual retreat
  42. Try dark dining (which is basically me without contact lenses)
  43. Grow my own herbs (good luck to my grim thumb)
  44. Watch the sun rise and the sun set in one day, same place with my children
  45. Write a song for my late dad
  46. Attend a poetry reading session
  47. Get interviewed on a radio show or a vlog
  48. Experience getting asked for an autograph
  49. Get my mom and my sister pampered for one full day in a spa (with me of course!)
  50. Try acupuncture
  51. Write a cook book of my own recipes for my children
  52. Join a marathon (1 km only haha)
  53. Unplug for 24 hours (not the ICU kind okay?)
  54. Bake my own pan de sal
  55. Start up a small community public library for younger kids (happening soon!)
  56. Kiss and say “I love you” in the rain (without getting sick after)
  57. Get together again with my 1st year college best friends Lotlot, Odette and Ernestine (I miss you, Joelisam!! San na ba kayo?)
  58. Buy my own a portable keyboard
  59. Publish an e-book of my poems
  60. Attend a church service with no physical walls

A cool list, eh?  Very attainable.  I’m excited to check each one off in the next ten years.

I also saw this 1000 bucket list and I’m glad I have done some of them in my life:

  • Explored a cave (in Baguio haha)
  • Flipped on a trampoline (and hurt myself real bad huhu)
  • Climbed to a top of a tree (I think anyone born before computer age has done this)
  • Made a snowman (and so did all Canadians)
  • Rolled in a huge pile of leaves (by accident)
  • Was a tourist in my own city
  • Climbed on top of a lighthouse
  • Went to Grand Canyon
  • Stayed at a bed and breakfast (Ottawa!)
  • Visited a temple (Thailand)
  • Visited Hollywood
  • Ate Maine lobster
  • Walked the Las Vegas strip
  • Ate buffalo wings in Buffalo, New York
  • Went to Niagara Falls (too many times haha)
  • Walked through the Grand Central Station, NY
  • Saw a Broadway musical (The Phantom)
  • Stood in Times Square, NY
  • See the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville
  • Visited The Alamo, Texas
  • Visited Bryce Canyon, Utah
  • Visited the Vatican in Italy
  • Made a wish in the Trevi Fountain, Italy
  • Saw the Sky Gardens
  • Visited the Statue of Liberty
  • Stood under a waterfall
  • Swam in the ocean
  • Witnessed a solar eclipse
  • Attended a high school reunion
  • Had a meaningful conversation with a stranger
  • Met someone famous (Marion Cotillard!!)
  • Sang a karaoke duet (I’m Filipino, so yeah…)
  • Acted in a play
  • Published a book
  • Wrote songs
  • Wrote poetry
  • Got a caricature drawing from a street artist
  • Got VIP passes to a show
  • Went to a dinner theatre
  • Went to a drive-in movie (too many times haha)
  • Watched a Cirque Du Soleil show
  • Threw a themed party
  • Be blonde for a day (still am)
  • Got my nails schlacked (thanks, Yolly!)
  • Started a business (ESLplus!)
  • Cooked a traditional dish from a different culture
  • Ate at a food truck
  • Picked a fruit from a tree and made a pie
  • Ate a beef tongue, century eggs, chicken feet
  • Ate blood sausage, eel, frog legs
  • Ate lamb tongue, brain and rump
  • Ate octopus, sashimi, dimsum, ant soup
  • Went canoeing (and fell and almost drowned haha)
  • Had a white Christmas
  • Joined book clubs
  • Left my mark in graffiti
  • Stayed awake for 24 hours (too many times)
  • Be an organ donor on my license
  • Donated books
  • Volunteered in a soup kitchen
  • Learned Spanish
  • Rode a camel
  • Rode a tandem bicycle
  • Rode in a tuk tuk
  • Rode on a cable car
  • Had fun at Disneyland
  • Went tobogganing

 

Not bad for a lazy, I-hate-walking-I-just-wanna-chill person like me.  LOL

(Below are the photos I took at some of the places I listed.)

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4 thoughts on “My “Baket” List”

  2. Reading this post inspired me to list down the many places I have been blessed to see. Thanks for motivating me to list them. Here’s some:

    1. NYC: Climbed the Empire State Building, visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, West Point by the Hudson River, Watched Les Miz and Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, ate at Chinatown in NYC and at Mesa Grill owned by famous US chef Bobby Flay.
    2. California: An Annual Passer at Disneyland, I’m a Disneyland junkie, Rode rides at Universal Studios in Hollywood, Walked at the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Rodeo Drive, Blueberry picking at Santa Barbara, cherry picking in Palmdale, apple picking at Glen Oaks, Ran a Half-Marathon TWICE:) in Napa Valley, ate Danish pastries in Solvang, Saw my first brown bear in Yosemite National Park and was awed at the sight of The Dome and El Capitan, hugged the trees in Redwood National Forest.
    3. Italy: Saw the Collosseum, Constantine Arch, Vatican City, tossed coins at the Fontana di Trevi, walked and drank water from a potable fountain at the Spanish Steps, ate seafood pasta at hole-in-the wall at the Via Amadeo in Rome, ate yummy assorted flavored-gelatto daily.
    4. France: Posed by the Eiffel Tower, climbed the top of the Notre Dame and posed by Quasimodo’s bell, ate crepes at the Latin Quarter, sailed the Seine River via the Bateaux Mouche, visited a working dairy farm in the countryside of Lyon, France and ate homemade cheese daily, baguette and drank red wine until I had palpitations at night:).
    5. Thailand: Relished sticky rice and ripe mango while afloat on a Floating Market ride, rode an elephant, ate pad Thai and green curry to my heart’s content.
    6. Singapore: Ate laksa every single day while there, went to Gardens by the Bay and Sentosa Island.
    7. Australia: Crossed the Darling Harbor on foot and strolled down in front of the Sydney Opera House, went wine-tasting in Adelaide, South Australia.
    8. Saipan: Climbed Old Man by the Sea, Suicide Cliff and Talafofo Falls.
    10. Switzerland- ogled at the beauty of the Lake Geneva all sparkly on a moonlit night, loved how clean and neat the way they park, loved the chalets atop the hills, saw the Nestle Building while aboard a bullet train enroute to Rome.
    11. Maui, Hawaii: Did the precarious Road to Hana Tour where we rode a tourist van and passed multiple blind-curved/ single lane roads, when you look down you’ll see the stunning view of the Pacific ocean, but one little driving error and you will plummet to your death and will end up in the blue waters of Hawaii, not too bad, right?

    There you go….I’m sure there’s more that I need to recall, but this will do for now. Let’s continue to explore the world!

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