Let me tell you how I ended up with a mermaid tail, three Cats, and a fridge full of veg goodies.
It started in 2013, on the white sands of Boracay. You know that feeling when you’re staring at the water, and it’s so impossibly blue that you just want to become part of it?
Yep, that was me. So, I signed up for a mermaid class (yes, that’s a real thing), thinking it would be a fun vacation story. A weekend of pretending to be a mythical creature, I’ve been dreaming of it since I was a little girl.
Well. I fell in love with the weightlessness. The way your whole body has to move like a wave and when you’re underwater, it is the closest you can get to flying. The ridiculous, sparkly joy of wearing a mermaid tail costume and calling yourself a mermaid.
Fast forward and I was back in Manila, teaching other people how to swim like mermaids and appearing in events and birthday parties. That chapter of my life taught me something important: You don’t have to be a kid to believe a little magic.
But the real magic? That came later.
CATS, THEN CLARITY
I have three Cats at home. Two are adopted – eldest white Cat (Azula) from a Facebook group and the third tuxedo Cat (Bumi) from Cats of Legaspi. The second Cat was a full-blown rescue story: a tiny, screaming calico (Toph) on a busy intersection where my cousin saw her.
Now, they all live with me rent-free.
I’ve always loved animals. But I wasn’t always vegan. Not even close. Mind you, I hate eating my veggies.
I grew up in a family with a heavy history of disease. Heart issues, diabetes, the whole complicated map of conditions that doctors nod at solemnly and say, “Well, it runs in the family.” So when I first switched to plant-based eating five years ago, I’ll be honest, it was selfish. I want to outrun my genetics.
I started slowly cutting out red meat first, then Chicken, then Fish, then dairy and eggs over many months. I understood that my body needed time to adjust. Small steps are still steps, you know?
I didn’t call myself vegan back then. I just said, “I’m trying to eat more veggies.”
THE MOMENT IT CLICKED
The shift from plant-based to vegan happened one random evening. I was sitting on my couch, petting Azula and she looked up at me with those big, trusting blue eyes. And out of nowhere, I thought: How can I love you this much and not see it in every animal?
I couldn’t unsee it after that.
If I wouldn’t eat my Cats, why would I eat a Pig? A Chicken? A Cow? A Marine Animal? They all have faces. They all have personalities. They all want to live.
That’s when I found the ethical side. And I realized that plant-based is what you do, but veganism is who you become.
It’s not a diet. It’s a quiet promise to cause less harm.
FROM NURSING TO ANIMAL ADVOCACY
Now, let me rewind a little. Before the Fish tail and the Cats and the veggies, I was a nurse – specifically in Hemodialysis and Community Health Nursing. Fifteen years of taking care of people, holding hands during tough treatments, teaching communities how to prevent disease.
To be honest, it was a love-hate relationship. It was my identity for a long time.
But after a decade and a half, I felt something shift. I was helping humans heal, but I kept thinking about the animals I couldn’t reach. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and started volunteering with local groups like Animal Empathy Philippines (AEP) and PETA.
At first, it was just helping at events. A few hours here and there. Then I took on a part-time role with AEP as Community Engagement Lead while still working at the City Health Office. That was exhausting in the best way – balancing two worlds, learning on the fly, crying over animal rescue videos at 2 AM.
Eventually, I finished my contract at the health office and went full-time with AEP as a Program Officer. And now? I’m their Communications Officer.
Yes, my job title is basically “professional animal advocate who used to be a nurse and sometimes wears a mermaid tail for work.” Life is weird. I love it.
WHY I SWIM WITH A MESSAGE
So why the mermaid thing?
The ocean is in trouble. You don’t have to be a marine biologist to see it; just look at the plastic on any shoreline, or the sad state of overfishing, or how factory farm runoff literally creates dead zones in the sea.
As someone who spends hours in a tail, moving like a sea creature, I feel a weird responsibility to speak up for the waters that gave me so much joy.
That’s where The Vegan Mermaid persona came from.
On my platform, I mix mermaid videos (yes, silly underwater twirls included) with conversations about vegan living and ocean conservation. I would like people to watch a clip of me swimming gracefully, smile, and then stick around for a post about why farmed animals matter just as much as wild ones. Or why a plant-based plate saves more water than you think.
It’s not about shaming anyone. I grew up eating meat. I worked in healthcare for years without connecting the dots. Change didn’t happen for me overnight – it happened through curiosity, community, and a white Cat staring at me on a random night.
So my content is gentle. It’s warm. It’s a little silly sometimes (mermaids are inherently silly, let’s be real). But underneath the sparkles and thing-a-mabobs, there’s a real message: Compassion shouldn’t be selective.
SMALL STEPS, STILL STEPS
Whether you’re still reading because you love the ocean, because you’re curious about veganism, or because you just want to see a grown adult swim around in a mermaid tail – welcome!
If you’re thinking about changing your eating habits, please don’t pressure yourself to be perfect on day one. Listen to your body. Try oat milk in your coffee. Adopt a cat or a dog if you can. Rescue one if you dare. And maybe, just maybe, take a mermaid class someday. It changes you more than you’d expect.
Know your why. And just as importantly, know your who. Let me be honest with you: I’m not saying we should lower our sights. A fully vegan world? That’s still the dream. For the animals. For the Earth. For the very soul of this movement – that’s the destination.
But here’s what I’ve learned: The animals don’t need us to be perfect. They just need us to keep showing up. Keep trying. Keep swimming forward – one small step at a time.
