Blog Hop: Plans for The Girl Next Shore

So the lovely Andrea tagged me on this blog hop thing a few weeks back. Hopefully, you'll all get to know me and my little blog more.

Ladies and gents, this is the story of the girl. Welcome to my shore.

1. What am I working on/writing?

As mentioned recently, The Girl Next Shore has been nominated in the 2015 Philippine Blogging Awards for Best Photoblog (you can show some love by voting for thegirlnextshore.com here). It's quite shocking and exciting all at once as I don't actually edit my photos (usually taken with a Sony RX-100 or my trusty iPhone6). However, I really want to improve my photography skills so I'm considering getting a proper DSLR and learning more about Lightroom.

What's brewing? I've been planning on sorting out my layout and branding for a while now and after dining with Lauren and Andrea, I'm inspired! Now scouting for a really good web developer/designer I can work with to convert from the Blogger template... so if you guys have any recommendations, please do let me know!

There's also still a huge backlog of food and travel posts I've been drafting and re-drafting so watch out for those!

In all honesty, I just want to be able to keep writing and keep having this blog as a creative platform and also as a way to document experiences to remind me to be grateful.

2. Why do I write what I do?

As mentioned on my "About" page (which may be difficult to find because it's hyperlinked to that banner on my sidebar) my blogging history dates back to 2001, the days when "blogging" was all about journalling emotions of youth and expressing creative juice through word-weaving. It was some sort of therapy (#cringe).

As years passed, I've come to realise how peachy life is so now I (try to) blog about what makes me happy - food, travel, music, pretty little things. From time to time, I still write musings for when the mind feels a bit philosophical (but definitely less dramatic because really and truly if I wanted people to cry, I'd just tell them to watch Sharknado). 

I write mostly about food because hellooo, I've been passionate about it from a very young age. I first dipped my toe on food blogging (Eat My Gunk, c 2010 - and yes, #cringe) to have a better relationship with food and also to improve the life skill of cooking... except I may have championed the life skill of eating out instead!

I'm very much in love with and very passionate about amazing and fresh food and the blogging got more serious when people started asking me about where/what to eat at several occasions. It's also nice sharing experiences and recommendations with fellow foodies all over!

I've also learned to appreciate food more especially after participating on the Live Below the Line challenge for two years; I've been very blessed to be able to eat wherever, whenever, whatever and for that I'll always be grateful.

3. How does my work and writing differ from others of its genre?

This blog has been my happy space where everything is bright as the sunshine and people I meet are like diamonds in the sea. 

I've joined blogging communities like Nuffnang and Zomato and it made me love blogging even more because I've met a lot of like-minded people out there. 

What I've noticed is that though bloggers are more alike than we are unalike, we are still essentially individuals. We all may exist to coexist but end of the day our opinions are all based from our own unique experiences, non?

And we all have different preferences. What matters to me may not matter as much to others; what I find amazeballs may be considered eww-ful by some.

Most of my posts are usually connected to memories I've previously had so they're somehow laced with a bit nostalgia, a bit of my (semi-corny and semi-dry) humour, and a teeny bit of philosophy. I'm not trying to be the Dalai Lama or Aristotle of blogging but it's nice to document lessons learned from life in case it helps encourage someone else, non?

One thing you can guarantee from this blog, though: you will always have honest reviews of places and products here - even when they're comped. I won't ever be afraid to say it's shit when it's shit (like the candidates on this year's The Apprentice UK).

4. How does my writing process work?

My writing process is much less complex than my food selection process. I don't particularly have a blogging regime per se; I just blog whenever I can (especially as my day job is very demanding) unless I've been briefed a specific deadline by brands I work with. Perhaps the simplest way to summarise it is this:

Step 1: Take photos of interesting and 'bloggable' experiences.
Step 2: Watermark photos and upload on Blogger. I don't edit photos, but maybe soon, I will!
Step 3: Write as you feel. When done, check what you've written. Sleep on it.
Step 4: Wake up the next day and read post with fresh eyes. Press publish, or schedule post to publish.
Step 5: Post link on social media, ie Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Et voila! That pretty much summarises what goes on here at The Girl Next Shore. I do hope you guys learned a bit more about my blog and myself, why I write what I do, and how I sort (or not sort) my writing.

Now passing the baton to the following bloggers:

Jaime at Angloyangkophile, because she writes with a bit of nostalgia, too.
Katy at LittleMissKaty, because I want to know where she gets all that energy and positivity from.
Suze at LuxuryColumnist, because she's amazingly fab and I want to know her better.

Can't wait to read and to get to know more bloggers around!

You can follow new posts on The Girl Next Shore via Twitter and Instagram or by subscribing on Bloglovin.
Have fun!