2025 Year In Review

It’s been a while since I last wrote one of these yearly reflections. The last one was back in 2022, and so much has happened since then. I didn’t get to write from 2023-2024 because I was just trying to survive.

There wasn’t space for reflection then, only for doing what needed to be done. 2025 finally gave me room to breathe. This year felt like the right time to return to writing about my year in review! To reflect on what has happened over the years.

I kicked off the year by getting a Hobonichi 5-year journal, where I document my daily life for the next 5 years. I wanted to see how much would the next years change, for better or worse.

Looking back to 2023-2024

A couple of years of plot twists and growing pains. Starting off with ending a 9-year relationship, which meant I had to go through a life-changing moment just before entering my 30s. The process was painful and overwhelming. It made me scared of the uncertainty of it all, but for some reason, my mind went on survival mode and really focused on the next steps I had to do, all while crying, until eventually, I wasn’t.

I had to start again: let go of my old home, find a new place, rebuild again. I had so much sleepless nights trying to figure out where should I go. I contemplated even going back to my family but I have so much need for personal space. That said, I didn’t have space to reflect because of all the noise.

It worked out eventually, since I found a new condo and I didn’t have to uproot myself out of the city that I learned to love.

I created a new home that I love

I managed to get a good deal for a condo, I’m actually surprised how lucky I was to encounter this deal! Around 2023-2024, this space has been so bare. We slowly built it over the years, taking our sweet time in deciding on every piece of furniture. I’m thankful for my new partner who has been very supportive throughout this whole process. She’s the primary reason why this new place easily felt like a home.

I found motorcycling

In 2023, I tried learning how to ride a motorcycle, then I got myself a Royal Enfield Hunter 350! This has taken me to places I never even imagined going to. I really appreciate the freedom that this machine gives me. The freedom to go to anywhere, and to discover places from the perspective of two wheels, from the saddle.

For me, my Hunter is now a reliable way of getting around and out the city! A daily driver for when I need to go to the office, and a weekend ride for coffee somewhere outside the city.

I found my way back to Kendo and passed my shodan in 2024

I was on and off with Kendo since August 2023, but slowly tried to go back around the end of the year. I joined the Yamanishi Cup despite the lack of practice. I realized from that cup that I had lost my edge. After months of not training, my body hasn’t adapted to Kendo just yet.

So I went back to training, took my shodan exam and passed it. I was supposed to take the exam in Hong Kong back in 2020, but pandemic happened and we canceled our trip. Thankfully, we now have local shinsa so no need to fly to another country to take a Kendo exam!

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2025 Year in Review

2025 finally gave me room to breathe. After two years of survival mode, I finally have some time to reflect: on my Kendo, community work, motorcycling adventures, and lots of new things I’ve learned this year!

On Kendo

This year, I’ve been able to reflect on what Kendo really means to me, to process my recent experiences, and to see the bigger picture of my journey.

I supported the Philippine Team at the ASEAN Kendo Tournament in Singapore 🇸🇬

September 12-15 2025, I volunteered as videographer and social media manager to support the Philippine Team at the ASEAN Kendo Tournament in Singapore, documenting their journey in the tournament. That experience was eye-opening, observing competitors from different countries, seeing the level of dedication and emotion that Kendo inspires.

Below is the highlight reel I managed to put together for the team! I’m still learning how to utilize my camera, and it might take some time before I get a hang of it!

Side trip: Singapore 🇸🇬

Since I have like a day and a half to kill, might as well discover Singapore! Initially I was travelling around alone, but on my last day, I didn’t know what to do so I tagged along my Kendo friends, and made an unlikely bond with this bunch.

I participated in the 7th Philippine National Kendo Tournament and won a Fighting Spirit Award

October 25-26, that weekend was intense. Competing at that level, surrounded by kendoka from across the Philippines, reminded me how much the Kendo community has grown. Being part of Metro Kendo Club’s delegation is something that I carried with pride, and seeing our club members support each other throughout the tournament reinforced how important this community has become to me.

I received a Fighting Spirit Award in the women’s individuals, and that recognition meant something huge for me after the exam result! That award felt like acknowledgment that even though I didn’t pass the exam, I was still on the right path, still showing the qualities that matter in Kendo.

I attempted my nidan exam

I attempted my nidan exam and didn’t pass, and while I accepted that, it still hurt. I thought it was enough. But the result was absolute and clear: I wasn’t there yet.

I cried to my partner, wiped my tears, and tried to show up for the shiai (tournament) right after the exam. I didn’t have time to dwell in my sadness.

I was surrounded by sensei(s) who encouraged me about my exam. It felt great to know that there are people rooting for me. Rina-sensei told me something that stuck with me that time, which she learned from Akita-sensei:

Keep showing up, the rank will come to you when you really deserve it.

My thoughts were just filled with “I want to practice. I want to train until I deserve the rank.”

I continued contributing to Metroken and the UKFP

From memes to random Kendo facts, how we have shaped Metro Kendo Club’s online brand is something I’m proud of. There were a lot of wins that I want to be thankful in this space:

✨ We grew Metro Kendo Club’s Facebook page from zero to 8.6k followers in less than a year. We have an old page before with 11k followers that we had to archive (long story.), so we had to start fresh with a new page, which I published January 31, 2025.

✨ 2026 win but: thanks to our consistent online presence, we managed to get 42 people to sign up for the January 2026 batch.

✨ Metroken co-organized the Kamei-sensei seminar with the United Kendo Federation of the Philippines (UKFP). I covered media (video + photos + socials) work for this.

✨ I designed an official club jacket for Metroken, which I’m happy that our members proudly wear.

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Creative outlets: Journaling and Photo/videography

I really leaned into journaling this year. I started with a 5-year Hobonichi daily journal to capture small, everyday moments. For planning and thought dump, I got myself a Traveler’s Notebook! I use it for weekly planning, thought dumps, meeting notes, idea notes, etc! Being on the TN ecosystem is fun! I love that I get to write more recently.

I also just recently broke my “one fountain pen only” rule. I got myself a Lamy Safari: Charcoal, because I needed an extra fountain pen for when my other one runs out of ink and I’m outside without access to my ink refill.

Journaling is one additional creative outlet that I recently added to my “rotation” on top of drawing and coding, the other one is photo/videography.

I bought a secondhand Sony ZVE10 from a friend of a friend! I have accepted that there isn’t a cheap way around photography, and buying secondhand is the most economical for me. I’m completely new to videography and photography, and I’ve been enjoying this new creative outlet!

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Learning Japanese

I started learning Japanese a little bit more seriously. I signed up to the Japanese lessons offered by the UP Department of Linguistics Extramural Classes. Admittedly, it was overwhelming! I eventually shifted to self-learning because I had to pace myself to avoid hating the subject.

I’m thankful to Metroken members who teach me the Japanese language! It’s great that I get to practice with our japanese members.

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More adventures on two wheels

My Hunter has taken me to places that I never thought I would go to, more so alone! I had a lot of long-ish rides outside of Manila this year.

My ride to Pico de Loro for our company outing was my longest solo ride to date! I usually use the annual company outings as an opportunity to do a solo ride to the venue, which normally is outside of Manila!

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On Work

Every time I encounter a friend who I haven’t seen in so long, they would always tell me “I didn’t expect you’ll last that long in Deloitte”. I’m as surprised as them.

I’m still in Deloitte. Given my experience being heavily leaning towards startups, being in a big corporation such as Deloitte is really something that others might say is a bit out of character for me.

I’m actually learning a lot here, especially with handling global clients. I think what makes it consistently interesting for me is the fact that there are always new challenges.

On AI

Work-wise, AI adoption depends on the maturity of the organizations I’ve been working with, with a lot of concerns primarily on security. So I don’t really get to do a lot of AI stuff at work aside from just AI assistance.

So to make sure that I don’t get left behind, I’ve been experimenting a lot with AI recently for my personal projects. I love how it entirely changes the modern design workflow! Personal take, but I love that the traditional UX design processes are now being challenged. However, I do have my reservations on GenAI images, mainly because I empathize with creatives. So I use it on product work that involves repetition, so I can focus on other areas that need my attention.

Some code in this website was written by Cursor. I’ve been very curious about OpenClaw recently, and I might do some experiments with it and write about it soon.

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Hangouts with people I love

2025 was full of both small and big moments with the people I care about! My first Pride march with my partner and friends, weddings, food trips! Something that I saw on Tiktok stuck with me: The price of community is inconveniece. Not that our friends are inconvenient, but the willingness to dedicate time, effort, sometimes even money, to be present for our friends.

I hope I get to embody that a bit more, though it’s very challenging especially for adults.

So whenever I get asked if I want to hangout, I don’t just answer yes/no.

I would say: Sure, I’ll make time. And I do hope that I can always make time.

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On Entertainment and Media

Some honorable mentions on what made 2025 great: amazing art, games, music, etc.

• We watched XLOV, MAMAMOO Whee In, and BLACKPINK live! I just had luck in getting those BLACKPINK tickets.

• We watched some good anime, Frieren and Apothecary Diaries among others.

• Played games that changed my life: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a beautiful game about grief and how we cope around it.

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Onwards to 2026

I’m writing this in 2026, and reflecting on how my 2025 went, it sometimes surprises me how much actually happened? There are things here that I didn’t share as they were more personal than whatever I wrote above.

I got to do so much, I even managed to squeeze in an overseas trip which is a big deal for me because the last time I traveled overseas was back in 2018. Something I deeply appreciate about my 2025 are the connections I made in the local Kendo community. The friends I made, revisited, and strengthened this year made my 2025 tolerable.

Thanks for being part of that!