Diwa Daily

  • My First Leather Project with Sunday Paper Co. x Soul Flower

    This year, I made a personal commitment to devote 2017 to learning and practicing a new skill. This sprouted from a long-term frustration with my inability to make things. I can’t paint, cook, bake build, repair, or craft. I feel useless whenever there’s something broken in the house or if we need to nail a picture…

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  • Get Things DONE: My Handmade Rubber Stamp from SqooiD

    Determined to start the year right, I got myself a new planner to organize everything—my daily to-do’s, appointments, activities, and projects. I loved the feeling of checking things off the list. It’s my kind of endorphin that motivates me to keep on finishing. I wanted to take things further than the checkmark though; something visually appealing…

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  • My blog audit (since 2012)

    I bought my first domain—stefgonzaga.com—back in 2010. It looks clean and profesh now, but it went through so many identities and changes before this look. From freelancer website to personal blog to creative writing journal, you just couldn’t tell what it’s meant to be anymore. Getting this domain was a HUGE thing for me though…

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  • Final Words To the Professor Who Taught me to Love and Learn the Craft of Poetry

    1 Loss. When all that’s left are the fleeting memories of tall cups of coffee and literary exchanges, an intertwining of passion and hunger for experience. That thin recalling of how your eyes glistened with pride as you displayed your autographed copy of James Tate’s poetry collection, how you managed to earn an afternoon with…

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  • Dear Stephanie of 2019

    I unearthed a letter from Stephanie of 2009. Written in blue paper and tucked among the letters I kept over the years, she asked the following questions: Did you still look back and wish that things would be different? How is life for you now? Were you able to do what you wanted to do…

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  • My 15 Awesome New York Experiences

    After a fruitful first week in Maryland, my next stop is seeing family in Albany and Long Island, New York. I flew via United Airlines and arrived just in time to see my Ai Myra and two of my favorite cousins, Matt-matt and Shoti Mark. Our itinerary is to tour Albany on the day of…

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  • Visiting My Aunt in Maryland

    When I’m on the road or visiting a different country, I don’t take pristine photos of everything around me. I prefer to immerse myself in the experience of the travel, and just take snapshots of the place when something catches my eye or if there’s some downtime in between moving. Maryland is no exception, but…

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  • Good Evening, Baltimore!

    As much as I hoped to reenact the famous opening scene of Hairspray on a beautiful Sunday morning, I ended up arriving at Dulles International Airport at 5:00PM in the evening. Philippine Airlines decided to wait a tad bit longer before taking off, causing me to miss my 21:28 San Francisco flight to Baltimore. Immigration…

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  • How I Managed to Get My US Visa

    Whenever I think of how I managed to get to where I am today, I always come to a close debate with myself. Am I here because Fate and Destiny promised this journey for me, or because I took control and action over my life?

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  • Manila, Day 2: A Walk Back in Time at Intramuros

    As soon as I got up from bed, I looked out the window to see if it had rained. The clouds were pretty grey, but the weather overall looked like it was going to be in our favor. I got some work done while Glaizee was still catching some shut-eye. I thought of where we…

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