The DJ who's not a DeeJay

I've been having a lot of thoughts, insights, opinions, and realizations and haven't been diligently adding them to my blog. I've been a bit preoccupied with a lot of stuff left and right, but I do think it's a missed opportunity if I don't get to share my thoughts with the world.

It may be something I have just learned but known to the public or an opinion that could be a subject for discussion and insights.

Using YouTube as my preferred search engine has also sparked my curiosity in multiple directions.

So what's my thought for the day? That's my thought. And I will think about it more by writing about it.

I hope you join me and my interests. Maybe some of them are yours too!

Writing mode: on.

The theme for this year's World Tourism Day is "Tourism and Green Investments," emphasizing the need for greater and better-targeted investments for people, planet, and prosperity.

In celebration of World Tourism Day, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to catch up with my travel blogger friends and revisit their blogs.

Wendy from whywendywrites.com

I reconnected with my former colleague, Wendy Ng, who is passionate about travel and tourism. We worked as part of a Public Affairs team, but I was pleasantly surprised when I learned then that she is also a travel writer who has been writing about travel since 2013.

Wendy believes that knowing more allows us to travel better, so she writes to provide useful information to travelers and to promote appreciation and understanding of the places they visit, as well as the local communities and their stories.

Wendy's publications and guides have also appeared in a variety of media, including Tripadvisor, Klook, Skyscanner, Tripzilla, and others I personally use for reviews and suggestions. She has also worked with the Taiwan Tourism Administration Singapore, the Japan National Tourism Organization, and the Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau, and she has published various travel guides for Japan and Taiwan.

Knowing Wendy's vast travel experience, I asked her what advice she could give to other travelers like me, and what her message is for World Tourism Day.

I can't say I'm celebrating an anniversary as it's not something I'd like to celebrate. But it's been just about a year since I experienced COVID-19 and acknowledging it is an understatement.

Having experienced COVID at a time when the pandemic wasn't able to assure you of getting well or having nothing to worry about is something that I will remember for my lifetime. 

(Read my personal accounts of having COVID in 2022 here)

Health and wellness monitoring didn't stop after getting well from COVID. The side effect I experienced was having asthma which is something I never had in the past. I guess now I know what it feels like and have learned how to control or avoid it. 

Fast forward to today in a world where a lot of health protocols have been suspended and are optional. It's good to look toward a new normal that doesn't involve fear of acquiring it. But I am well aware that the battle for complete eradication of the virus is not yet totally won. Staying safe is still something me and my family observe with additional precautions. It is my hope that the people who we interact and engage with face to face are also responsible for their respective health and wellness.

I think COVID-19 has managed to make everyone be more aware of their health and take extra measures to ensure they don't have the virus. On the other hand, there are some who think they are invincible, and immune, and have let their guard down just because fewer people are getting it. I pray for all of my loved ones to be safe from sickness and for doctors and scientists to continue discovering ways to eradicate this virus.

In the meantime, stay safe everyone, and don't keep your guard down.

 

We've been decluttering since we merged all our stuff from 3 different places. You'll find out that duplicates of things per household will pile up and take up space. We've covered a lot of ground, especially with clothes and books. We're now on to decors and the one thing that we found we have a lot of are picture frames.

Picture frames are a great way to display your memories and artwork, but they can also take up a lot of space. Dealing with too many picture frames can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be. Here are some of these tips to declutter your frames and create a more stylish and organized home.

1. Reduce the size of your frames. If you have a lot of bulky photo frames, you can resize them, add a mat, or use a floating frame to make them smaller. This will give your frames a more modern and streamlined appearance while also saving you room.

2. Clear out your picture frames. Examine your photo frames carefully and select the ones you truly adore. Remove any frames that no longer provide you delight or that do not match your décor. This will allow you to eliminate clutter in your home and make displaying your favorite images easier.

3. Display your frames in a creative way. If you don't want to get rid of any of your picture frames, you can creatively display them. You might use them to make a gallery wall, display them on a bookshelf, or even decorate a coffee table. Mix and match and try out several looks and locations.

Yes! It's called Grey The Tabby Cat! 

Backstory: For the past two years, I've been keenly studying and following YouTube strategies and have learned a lot about strategies, content creation, and managing a channel. I thought it would be a great time to put all my knowledge to good use and prove those theories, strategies, and tips right.

My main YouTube channel, though, is really a personal one that I created way back in 2007. Since I wasn't actively recording video clips then, I was limited to the random video clips I took from my phone or of some place I visited if I brought my digicam with me. A few years later, I did a purge, removing videos that I found irrelevant or not in line with my channel. What was left were mainly music videos of me playing the piano or organ. As much as I enjoy playing music, I knew that recording music videos and posting regularly would take up a lot of time, not to mention the time I needed to practice and rehearse each song.

My channel is still there with all my music performances, but it's more for sharing with friends, and sometimes a few people like the music they hear. And I'm thankful for that. However, posting anything other than music may be counterproductive to its growth.

I created a test channel to learn more without disrupting my main channel. It helped me a lot to experience firsthand how to maximize its use, and I really learned a lot. So I was ready to create a new themed channel and apply all that I had learned. But what other topic should I consider?

I was always fascinated by how many cat videos were on YouTube, but I never thought of creating videos myself. After all, we didn't have a cat.

BUT WAIT!!!

We do have cats that visit us every day. They're feral cats that live in the neighborhood and visit most of the homes on our block, including ours. When we first moved in, we noticed a certain gray cat would roam around, seeming eager to meet the new owners. As a family, we found ourselves talking about the cat over meals, and so I figured that sharing this and our experience with a feral cat would be a nice niche for a YouTube channel. And so Grey The Tabby Cat's YouTube channel was born.

I'm happy to say that to date, there have been 13 episodes. I post once a week (every Friday night or Saturday morning) and upload a few YouTube shorts during the rest of the week.

Ready to binge-watch Grey and learn more about him and his life?

Here's an episode run-down:

1. Intro to Grey / Trailer

2. Where Is Grey’s Sweet Spot?

3. Uncovering The Secrets of the Garden of Grey

4. Grey’s Night Out (From Dusk Till Dawn)

5. How Grey Got His Name (It’s Not What You Think)

6. Grey The Scavenger or Explorer?

7. Did Food Lead Grey Here?

8. The Tale of Grey’s Tail

9. The Grey Heart (Not As Gray As You Think)

10. The Grey Montage / Grey The Model

11. 5 Interesting Facts About Grey You Didn’t Know

12. Look out Grey: There’s a New Tabby In Town

13. Could This Young Tabby Be Grey’s Daughter?

Do say "hello" to Grey the cat in the video comments!

Hope you subscribe and like the videos. 

MEOW!