If I find you can't sleep one night, I'll make you a grilled cheese sandwich. :)

(Wow this week is really getting to me.)

I think being a responsible parent for three large dogs will teach you proper family planning. If someone questions themselves about parenthood and how well they'd provide for them, I say try out with a pet first. Not the small and boring kind of pet, we're talking about the larger species here! TRY LARGE DOGS! As long as it's a pet that weighs as much as you do. That'll be a good test. Excellent, even. Think of 'Marley and Me', look how well that turned out. LOL!

I own three large Labradors, weighing up 30-35kilos each. I tell you, it was terrible family planning for my part, or rather, OUR part, since Mom is the culprit behind all this.

It's quite the exaggeration but if you cared properly for your household pets, you would know what I am talking about. The larger the pet, the larger the requirements for proper care. It's soooo much work, these dogs. But they're totally worth it.

Frisbee Time!

Guess who's back playing outdoors! :)

Life just sort of surprises you more often than you'll realize. One can either be living their lives daily in such a repetitive manner that they can easily miss out on those little surprises. Little gifts come to people every single day and not all of them are spotted. Some of these little gifts could happen only once and could just possibly never reappear ever again... but then again, the positive side of us would beg otherwise. The positive side of us knows there's something good everyday. The positive side of us can easily spot these carefully gift-wrapped parcels of kindled surprise. The positive side of us receives more surprises in life.

More surprises means more adventures. Lately, I've begged for it.... and it has come. It took me long enough to realize. All I had to do was to form a different perspective. I formed a different perspective and ALAS, some little new presents had been thrown my way.

It's like Christmas everyday. Haha!

Get well soon, my dear baby Henry. I love you.

"Who's ready to be all you can be?"

I did have some catching up with my favorite show, The Amazing Race, and came across the Road Block challenge that said, "Who's ready to be all you can be?"... and the animal in me was shrieking "ME!!! PHIL!!! MEEEE!!!"

That got me excited enough. Well that whole season got me really pumped that I started getting back to some proper weekly running! I've been consuming 30K every week and now I've been doin' some research and I've prepared a little schedule for training for 21K! Yes, I'll be training for a freakin' half-marathon!

I've been wondering how one runner would condition himself mentally with such a demanding and physically draining task... well, I never did find out. It's obviously different for everybody.

Soo... maybe I'll let you know? Haha.

E-L-A-T-E-D

I feel elated for some reason. The reason I started blogging about this is because I could not really pinpoint an exact source for it.

I am making a big deal out of it, I know.

But I really want to know why I am feeling like this! It is not normal for me to be elated and NOT KNOW what it is exactly.

Maybe I'll find out when I set my thoughts for sleep. Later then.

When someone cuts you on the freeway, you won't honk your horn. You'll probably stop that other car and hand over a present. You're that irritably nice.

Snapnook

...because film cameras deserve a decent home. A store needs a decent domain. So... finally!

www.SNAPNOOK.com

This Is A Place We Call Planet Earth

LC-A Photos from my first hiking trip to Mount Pinatubo

Back to running today! Wore my new favorite running shirt. This is really the only piece of Leica that I could currently afford. Hopefully someday I could purchase my own Leica M series... but for now, let me just enjoy running with the red dot.

RUNNING ROUTE by Sports-Tracker

Yoga for Runners

I have an old Yoga mat at home that has been unused since purchase... and this was back in '09! It has finally been put to the test this morning for a little runner's stretch. The videos I got, called 'Yoga for Runners' is designed for the leg muscles and to release tension around the shoulders. It includes the breathing technique for improved running time as well.

But I guess I've totally forgotten about how my mat would turn out because I was the one who has been definitely put the test. I began by trying out the easy 8 to 10 minute Yoga workouts for the ham strings. Then moved on to the 20 minute workout, which I could not finish at all! But my flexibility has improved a lot, definitely. With more sessions, I would be able to do this more comfortably.

I feel great! Really lookin' forward to be running again tomorrow! =)

Some sample Yoga for Runners can be found here:

Here are the happy medalists after the Condura Skyway Run =)

I ranked no. 791 out of 2,795 Runners for the 10K category, finishing at 01:15:41

Very happy with the results although I know I can still push it. I'm doin another 10K run on March 6. I'll just remind myself to dig deep. =)

"Yeah, it just got old. I'm well over you. It's like... liberating. Yeah. Finito."

Mmmm... Veggie.

My first veggie burger. HOMEMADE! The patty is 80% black beans, the rest are bell peppers and spices and it's surprisingly quite good. It's the best you can get out of a veggie burger. Texture is thick and a bit spicy and goes very well with lots of tomatoes and onion. I also just discovered that it goes very well with peperoncini. Really yummmy. =)

Took one lazy weekend up to Baguio with my Mom. We probably had the most terrible hotel in the city, but all in all it was quite fun. I love traveling with her, she's usually just up for anything. She makes the perfect travel companion, just do not make her walk too much. Hehe. Love you, Mom!

Singapore, you're so irritably beautiful. I miss you.

100 Ways to Piss Off Your Friends. #37 Shoe Tossing

#37. When the opportunity comes, take your friends shoes and tie the laces together and toss onto telephone wires, powerlines, or whatever raised wires you could find.





Just kidding. We do not want to purposely piss anyone off... let alone your FRIENDS! I took this photo after my morning run today and I just laughed. It makes me wonder why people have to toss their shoes over power cables. I thought maybe it's some folklore so I googled it. Would you believe that SHOE TOSSING is a folk sport? Really silly. But I went on to read more about it on Wikipedia and came up with this.

"Shoe flinging occurs throughout the United States, in rural as well as in urban areas. A number of sinister explanations have been proposed as to why this is done. Some say that shoes hanging from the wires advertise a local crack house where crack cocaine is used and sold (in which case the shoes are sometimes referred to as "Crack Tennies"). It can also relate to a place where heroin is sold to symbolize the fact that once you take heroin you can never 'leave': a reference to the addictive nature of the drug. Others claim that the shoes so thrown commemorate a gang-related murder, or the death of a gang member, or as a way of marking gang turf. A newsletter from the mayor of Los Angeles, California cites fears of many Los Angeles residents that "these shoes indicate sites at which drugs are sold or worse yet, gang turf," and that city and utility employees had launched a program to remove the shoes. However, the practice also occurs along relatively remote stretches of rural highways that are unlikely scenes for gang murders, and have no structures at all to be crack houses."

Haha so is my neighborhood part of a crack dealership? That's interesting. Haha. I don't know what all the deal is behind shoe tossing but I think it's just plainly for pissing people off. Good morning, everyone! =)

Veggie Burgers, Anyone?

I started researching on high-fibre diets earlier this week and came up with a plan to bump up my daily fibre intake to 21 grams. I figured it's a good disciplinary action for me to take the high-fibre diet in prep. for my future half-marathon adventure. Yes, yes, yes! I am indeed planning to join my very first half-marathon sometime this year.

My mother acts as my personal physician in regards to this diet... but I just ended up helping her instead! She started eating most of the fibre snacks I got!!! I really needed a reliable source to help out, so I went for Mayo Clinic High-Fibre articles. I printed out the meal planner and made sure I had the basic ingredients I needed daily. I began the meal planning by reducing fat consumption and taking in a lot of fluids. I changed my daily meals from apples, raspberry almonds, corn, broccoli to veggie burgers (black beans and mushrooms) and chicken chili with kidney beans and tomatoes.

They're not so bad as I've instigated in my head for years and years. I've always thought, "High-fibre diet are for cows! High-fibre diet! Boo!"

I am just glad I've tried this. My digestion has never been this excellent since the day I learned how to eliminate. So that's technically NEVER. NEVER. Never 'til this week. Hehe. I also never did like beans! But beans are AWESOME! I realized that with the proper cooking, it can be such a tasty and healthy treat and replacement for the high-calorie meals. It excites me to start eating right during the day. I feel relaxed when I cook for myself, and even better when I've discovered something really good. It's also fun for me to drop by the grocery store and learn about these ingredients that I never really knew existed. For instance, LENTIL's!! what the F are lentils! Haha. That is actually my next target. 'Cause apparently lentils is an excellent source for fibre.

So... veggie burgers tonight! =)

Ready to Start

We witness the trance
It's falling into existence
Slowly dressed for their beginning.

Taal Squares

These are my Holga photos from my Dad's hometown in Taal, Batangas. It simply brings back a loooot of memories with the family. More Holga love! =)

On To The Next Thing

I am impatient. It's in my character to abandon and jump to the next best thing. When I feel like there's no growth, no room to move and just be free and happy... I know myself well enough to just move away and get out of it quickly. It can be a detriment for my part because I may often end up not finishing things that I've started. I should look more into that with my actions every single day. It's a fresh year and that's something worth working on.

Anyway, sometimes I just have to draw a line somewhere and keep my integrity in check. I just have to say that your downward spiral is making me nauseous... and I'm moving on.

My Dad is Mr. Swabe!

Beantown!

I'm making a deal to myself just to help me stay fit... and that is to cook at least 1 new healthy dish every week! Easier said than done, I know! But we'll just see where it takes me. Tonight I made Chicken Chili soup with kidney beans and tomatoes. It's surprisingly good. I don't think I've had any decent meal with kidney beans before. It's high fibre too, so that helps. They say beans are the musical fruit. Haha. Please don't make me elaborate!

Doldrums

Finally! Some film photos! It has been 4 years and I still very much love my Holga!


Bangui Windmills, Ilocos Norte, 2010

"Lets go fast! I don't want to have time to think about it."- Nat Strand

You Are What You Eat!

Shopping for groceries can be boring... really, really boring! But apparently it's sheer bliss whenever I'm madly hungry and have the "awesome" recipe in mind. It's all fun choosing your favorite snacks and ingredients and I'm thinking only one thing can possibly ruin the food-hunt... and it's WAITING IN LINE FOR CHECK-OUT!

I have worked my way around the system by going only when it's still early! So naturally, I was hardheaded still and went against the plan. Luckily, there was barely anything to wait on. It was a smooth shop all the way. =)

One of the little things I do to keep myself "entertained" while waiting in line is to subtly look at the person's food selections in front of me. I find it entertaining to see whatever food that person has chosen, and then judge that person from there. (HA!)... just try and see how fun it can be. The person in front of me earlier had the healthiest options (compared to the people I've seen in the past few weeks). She had all the Quaker Oats snack line! I'm not kidding! The rest were fruits and I saw her pop a salad dressing in there. And then I noticed her white uniform coat. That screamed "DOCTOR!", just all over it. Makes sense. You are deffo' what you eat.

The photo here is not from the doctor in front of me earlier!! Haha! Surprise, surprise! These are my goods! I bought quite the healthy selection this time around. I decided to make some more healthy meals after the success of my bruschetta at home. It's not much, but definitely enough for myself this weekend!

I'll be making Tortilla soup, more bruschetta, some carrot dip for snacks, tomato salsa and some grilled chicken. Yum!

Back to Running!

I came across the E-Registration booth at Greenbelt 3 yesterday and signed up for a 10K run. This event is called "RUN FOR THE DOLPHINS: Skyway Marathon" sponsored by Condura.

This will be my very first 10K run and I am really excited about it. I have quit smoking a week ago and this would be the perfect opportunity for me to just get back to running and training.

So I decided to do a run this morning, and I was sooo early! So early that I finished my run and still the sun has not risen yet!

Here's my training map today. Wee! I've managed to pull my first 6K! It wasn't as difficult as I thought. I probably did well because it was still cold and the sun has not barely come up to irritate the heck out of me. But I will get better. I need to be in just the right shape for the 10K run!

Endomondo Running Workout: "was out running 3.98 miles in 50m:39s using Endomondo."

Get Back to Shooting Film!

I just realized I've gone off-track here. What I originally wanted for this blog was to post film shots I've taken throughout the year, and to what!? I haven't posted any new shots for months and months! I have about a dozen films here that I need to take to the shop! I will do it this week! I MUST! I MUST! I MUST!

Deviled Eggs

The devil has just made herself some deviled eggs! YUUUM, by the way! I can't believe I've never made these before. So darn tasty! I think I'll have these again tomorrow! =)

BULA - LA!

I do not know what has gotten into me but I suddenly got this huge desire to purchase Beanies!!!! I'm pretty sure it came with the rush that I got from watching travel shows. I have this dream of reaching the best outdoor adventures located in the Artic Circle and the Norwegian Border with tech sleds and probably some mountain biking. Hopefully I'll get to do all that within the years before my legs turn into jelly.

So I was on the hunt and came up with the BULA website. They've got about hundreds of beanies and hats to get you all warmed up. And they have more colors for every design which makes it just much sweeter.

It is a little funny because there's absolutely no purpose for me to wear a beanie hat in our fantastic tropical climate... I'm thinking I could own a couple and maybe use it on trips to Baguio or Tagaytay. But hey these BULA Products are innnnsanely adorable... I gotta have one... or two... or... OH HELP ME GOD.

First I may want to use an ocean colored earband for snowboarding. Just cause I want to cover the fact that I just WANT one and try to force it in my head that my ear piercing needs protection (LOL)...

I also love this sun colored trio beanie, it looks just as insane and happily BULA-LA'd like me. These are the first 2 things I picked, but as I went on, I realized that it may take a while to take a good pick... because I loved everything!

Check out their website and drool with Beanies!

Happy 2011!

2010 has been a beautiful year with countless blessings and with lots and lots of memories to keep. Some of which I may have kept well in my heart, and some I might have carelessly abandoned behind the pack. Lookin' at my existence as a whole, I've realized that I'm just truly thankful for my beautiful family and the life I've been given by God to be fully spent with them. Everyday I try to remind myself to just stop and just take a look around to appreciate what it is or whoever it is that surrounds you. There is so much life packed in 1 year, its truly overwhelming. Just stop for a second to take it all in.




I've been back to smoking cigarettes for 4 months now. I caved in during a trip to Cebu. One stick lead to another, and another. I made a decision to quit again (nth time!) for New Year's. It's a daunting task, and with a half-hearted decision I'm hoping to manage. So... cheers... and good luck!