Hannah

                         Vigan City, once named Ciudad Fernandina is a historic city in the Philippines, in the province of Ilocos Sur. The city is known for its well-preserved historic architecture, streets made of cobblestones, and historical sites.                          Before getting colonized, Vigan City was a coastal trading post, and settlement for Chinese merchants, exchanging goods such as porcelain, silk, and other items for locally produced items such as gold, beeswax, and cotton. With Bahay Kubo, or houses built from stilts as its earliest architecture.  In 1572, Vigan was founded by Juan de Salcedo and was named Ciudad Fernandina in honor of King Ferdinand II of Aragon. The city was made into a hub for the Spanish political, religious, and commercial operations in the Philippines. Back in 1762, Vigan was occupied ...

  As the clock strikes midnight, another year passes. 2024 ended with moments of love, joy, and hope with my family. I can’t help but feel a wave of excitement and anxiety pass through me as 11:59 on the clock turns into midnight.  I am delighted and beyond thankful to have survived another year unharmed with my loved ones. However, I am also scared and curious as to what 2025 will give me but as Gracie Abrams once said, “Whatever happens, I’m letting it”.  I decided that I wanted to start 2025 with positivity. I want to reflect on my past actions and improve whatever needs improvement to become a better person, daughter, friend, and student, leaving whatever needs to be left behind in 2024.  2024 happens to be another memory for me to reminisce about the past joyful memories that I’ve shared with my loved ones. Looking back, I am forever grateful that my friends are still my friends despite the challenges that we all faced through the tough year.  I want to sta...

 December 21st was the start of the Christmas break. My relatives from Zambales and Manila came home to celebrate Christmas and New Year with us. I was beyond excited because I got to see my closest cousins again. I spent my Christmas break with them, waking up earlier than I used to usually wake up during weekends in order to hang out with them. We also went to visit the Christmas Onederland. It was beautiful, and they also gave us sweets right after taking pictures with the characters. On December 24, my cousins and I went to Xentro Mall to buy presents for everyone.  It was really fun. We got home a little late so we ate dinner and decided to give our gifts to everyone. We then took out the speaker and made Brielle, our 4-year-old little cousin sing and dance, it was very cute and funny to see her sing and dance which made us all erupt in laughter.  At Christmas, we went to Hidden Garden to eat lunch and give our gifts to our cousins. During Christmas break, Bryn, Vhou...