Shainne Hostalero

Last touch for the year! Wooohooo! Sorry, couldn't get over the excitement my short travel brought. Looking back, I have started this year with a travel - to Baguio - and eventually ended it in... Baguio. Baguio has been that good serene place for me to explore but it is just recent that I got to explore lots of places there. Though I have not explored the place in its entirety still, I guess this has been a great start and a good spree to find the chance and the time to go back and traverse the place more next time. My good friend and former housemate ( parang PBB lang ) Emily hosted me for the past 3 days and 2 nights of my stay. She religiously heading back to Baguio whenever there's a long vacation because her relatives reside there. Lucky me that I got to stroll around the city with a local and a good friend, oh but of course. I went to Victory Liner in Cubao, Quezon City on a Christmas day to buy tickets in advance for the next-week travel. I left the bus station a...

For the past 300+ days of the year 2015, there are just so many things I've learned and things I've conquered. Truth be told I grew wiser, stronger, and I've learned not to settle for anything less like I've used to (just because I'm afraid to lose some). Losing things and people are hard to bear, especially if they have been part of you for quite some time. But as I course through the year, I've learned that it is necessary or even a requirement to let go of these toxins that caused me so much hassle. I tried to keep them. I really tried so hard. I did and I was able to but then it didn't get me any happier. It was just to compensate that they are still there and I didn't lose them - not just yet. I've lost them before I even admit it to myself. I've lost them not because I didn't take good care of them but because their roles in my life are finally over - even though they have been considered a mainstay - and so I thought. And that wher...

#NoToStraw campaign initially started when I was still in college taking up my Green Marketing course. The said course opened my eyes and my being to be an environmentally responsible marketer which also constituted with our group then doing a research in using plastic utensils in University Belt, its effects and its alternatives. Truth be told, I also happened to have lost my track to what should have done in the first place. It is very recent that all these woke me up again and finally initiated a campaign for the greater good. When I started supporting campaigns for the ocean, it triggered me to be more responsible and hands-on to what should be done for the environment and its entities. Besides, we are the beneficiaries of our own efforts and sacrifices.  My #NoToStraw experience seems to bring weirdness for some. As an example, the baristas who serve me coffee or frappucino - to be more specific- used to find it really different that I go for a no cover, no straw , and...