Journal

July 21, 2008

14:49 The Incredible Shrinking Woman
I took a tape measure to myself this morning, despite last Saturday's binge with friends which took us from Banapple to Dairy Queen to Mexicali and finally to Starbucks. To my surprise I measured vital stats of 33-26-33. The last time I took my measurements, I was at 34-27-35. For someone who's been in the Battle of the Bulge for the past six years -- in active combat, so to speak, for the last two years -- it's big news. Well, never mind that it spells trouble for the "twin peaks" (I still have enough, and at least my hips are the same measurement).

Thing is, I haven't even been trying particularly hard. I have, however, started to internalize my job as a group exercise instructor more. Les Mills's push this year is all about fighting "globesity"; its instructors are "warriors" in the battle against sedentary lifestyle. This quarter's launches have really challenged my fitness, and in the build-up to the launches I had to be wiser about food choices and lifestyle so that I could look the part.

I told a friend today, "Do what you need to do to perform well. If you get smaller, but you're still healthy, that's OK."

Tags: Les Mills, Fitness

July 20, 2008

22:25 Gone for the Weekend Laoag: REMIXED!
Hey everyone! Living Asia Channel loved our trip to Laoag so much they had it re-edited and re-voiced a few months ago. Now, they're re-airing it next week from July 21 to 27. Ü

Here are the days and times you can catch it:

• Monday, July 21: 7am, 8pm
• Tuesday, July 22: 4am, 12pm, 5pm
• Wednesday, July 23: 1am, 9am, 2pm, 10pm
• Thursday, July 24: 6am, 7pm
• Friday, July 25: 3am, 11am, 4pm
• Saturday, July 26: 12am, 8am, 1pm, 9pm
• Sunday, July 27: 5am

Living Asia Channel airs over SkyCable channel 99 and Global Destiny channel 28.

Tags: Living Asia Channel, Television, Travel

July 15, 2008

12:11 Car Trouble
Last week on a routine commute around the city, I stopped for gas. When the time came to start the car again, the dashboard lights wouldn't come on and the engine wouldn't turn over. My power locks didn't even work!

You know, I could have just popped the hood and cleaned the battery contact points so my electrical system could come back to life. But no, I had the car pushed into a parking space, and twiddled my thumbs while waiting for my dad to come to my rescue.

Seems to me I might just have a tough time of it traveling by myself out of town. I mean, this happened to me only within Metro Manila. What if this had happened in Pampanga? OK I was able to drive there last month and nothing happened. But still!!!

So while I was waiting for my dad, I decided to relive the times my family and I had car trouble. (I was bored.)

I remembered two instances of car trouble while traveling; read more about them at Trippin' with Noelle De Guzman.

July 03, 2008

16:57 24
Well, this is the last day I'm living as a 24-year-old. When I wake up tomorrow morning I will be celebrating my first quarter-century on this planet.

When I was young I used to think that upon my birthday, magically overnight I would become a year older and wiser. It was only when I got much older that I realized aging is constant and doesn't come in spurts. And wisdom? You have to seek it because it doesn't come naturally to us foolish humans. Ü Still, each birthday I do some soul-searching, thinking about the past year and what I can do to live the upcoming year better.

There's a song by Switchfoot called "24", and it was written by frontman Jon Foreman on the eve of his 25th birthday.

I have some favorite parts in the song, when the lyrics go, "Life is not what I thought it was twenty-four hours ago / Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You / And I'm not who I thought I was twenty-four hours ago / Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You... See I'm not copping out, not copping out, not copping out / When you're raising the dead in me."

There were some really rough times in my 24th year. But I'm not copping out, as the song says. I'm clinging even harder to my God, who's seen me through it all. My 25th year will be a great blessing, I'm sure of it.

Happy Birthday to me!

Tags: Growing Older and Wiser

June 25, 2008

12:00 Cuisine of the Cautious
You can walk in a dark alley and you still have your hands, fists, pepper spray and what-have-you to defend yourself from marauders. But once you put food into your mouth, you have no defenses against what it can do to your body.

Read my post about why traveling and local food sometimes do not go well together on Trippin' with Noelle De Guzman.

June 18, 2008

16:37 My English, Let Me Show You It
Someone landed on my website by searching for "why english necessary for filipino student". I'll let pictures paint the thousand words I need to explain why. (By the way, "Fugly Filipino English" is the result of that search.)

No Parking: Drainage Under CONSTRUCTED

You can use new bill and old bill. Please don't use very old, wrinkled and torn bill. If you do, you may lose your bill and you can't return your bill.

Beware of Falling DIBRES

Now, if you don't understand why these photos show how problematic English usage is in this country, then clearly there IS a need for Filipino students to take English subjects.

Until the time comes when Mandarin is chosen as the new language for international business, English is still the language we Filipinos communicate with to the rest of the world. We might as well get good at it.

Tags: English language, Philippines

15:00 Endings (and Beginnings)
We're at the halfway point in this year, and it's been strange how so much has happened in a lot of people's lives. Relationships formed and dissolved, jobs taken and left, habits created and broken, births, weddings, and funerals... It's a fact of our time-limited human existence that change happens. It's just that it's been going on a lot in my circle, or maybe I'm just not as oblivious as I used to be.

The best thing about endings is that they're simply beginnings to new eras in our lives. They're opportunities to take stock about the things that really, deeply matter. They can be opportunities to reinvent and improve oneself by ways of thinking or behavior or even the people one chooses to surround oneself with.

So if the past six months are any indication of where the rest of the year is going, I say "BRING IT."

Recent Posts

The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Gone for the Weekend Laoag: REMIXED!, Car Trouble, 24, Cuisine of the Cautious, My English, Let Me Show You It, Endings (and Beginnings), Taking Center Stage, Workin' It, The Long Drive, and more in the Archives.