I was nominated by Fairy Bread Life for the Mystery Blogger Award. I’ve learned that Fairy Bread Life is living the expat life but she strikes a point which all expats can relate to: “we simply don’t know how long we will have the privilege of living overseas”. So true! I’m in Singapore on an employment pass and no matter how much I love this country, we really don’t know how long we can stay.

What is the Mystery Blogger Award?

“The Mystery Blogger Award is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion.” – Okoto Enigma

Origin here from 2016 I think. Doing this for fun… appreciate the nom!

The Rules

1. Put the award logo on your blog.
2. List the rules.
3. Thank whoever nominated you and include a link to their blog.
4. Mention the creator of the award and provide a link to their blog as well.
5. Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
6. Nominate 10-20 people.
7. Notify your nominees.
8. Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice, specifying one weird/funny question.
9. Share a link to your best post(s).

Three things about me

1. I’m an American-born Filipino living in Singapore. I’ve called Singapore my home for the past seven years. English is my first language. Tagalog is my second. After several years speaking Tagalog, I can finally speak it fluently and without an accent.
2. I started blogging in 2003. I stopped around 2009/2010 when I was unhappy about not being able to talk about the real things that made me happy: being gay and having a boyfriend. I came out to my parents in 2013 (inside Cambodia’s Angkor Wat after an epic thunderstorm) and that was my first post on this blog. That’s why it’s bekpackr = my first post was titled “I’m back, beckies!”
3. I still dream of being a filmmaker. I used to create homemade movies on my 90s-era camcorder (with the VHS tapes). I took music from Mortal Kombat and Mission Impossible and made little movies while on a U.S. base in Okinawa. But this is what happened. I wanted to take film in university but ended up studying journalism. I wanted to be a journalist but ended up in TV entertainment. Whatever I want, I end up with something related. I wonder when I’ll steer it in the right direction?

Questions asked by Fairy Bread Life

1. In which part of this world do you live? – I live in “sunny on the left, cloudy on the right, raining in the middle” Singapore.
2. If you could choose only one season (winter, spring, summer of autumn) to live in forever, which would you choose? – Definitely summer. I’m from the Philippines!
3. Which area of your life is going really well for you right now? – My career. I’m not the best at it. But I’m learning so much from this new job. Learning so much the last five months than in the past five years in a previous role.
4. What is one movie you never get tired of watching? – Back to the Future!
5. If you had access to a time machine, which time/era would you visit first? – The Roaring Twenties (1920s). But I’d love to see it from Asian cities like Shanghai, Manila, Jakarta, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Singapore.

My Nominations

1. Peterwander – http://peterwander.home.blog
2. Empiredirt – http://empiredirt.blogspot.com
3. I Want to Go There – https://colinstravelogue.wordpress.com/
4. Kid Gnarly – http://kidgnarly.me/
5. Thoughts of Sheryl – http://thoughtsofsheryl.blog/
6. A Canadian in Brazil – https://acanadianinbrazil.com/
7. Good to Hear from You – https://jamypye.wordpress.com/
8. Just Wandering – https://justwandering.org/

If you chance upon this, I nominate you to answer the questions too!

Questions for my nominees

1. If money didn’t matter, what would you do with your life today?
2. What message would you tell your younger self from 5 years ago?
3. Describe your perfect evening in only three words.
4. If you had to lip sync for your life, what song would you pick?
5. You’re having lunch with Beyonce tomorrow morning. What’s on the menu and why?

My Best Post

A recent favourite one is a post called “Valentine” (it’s a video).