Hitting the Courts Again

Ahhh. Yesterday I finally got to play my favorite sport again, Badminton! It's been more than 2 months I think since I last played. Good thing I bumped into my friend Tom while I was working out. I was actually resting from my ab exercises that time. The workout area is at the second floor and as I looked down at the courts, I saw him! So I came down to chat. He invited me to join his group.

My performance was so-so. Well, blame my two-month hiatus. I also have this problem of getting tired easily, albeit only initially. I get all my energy back after a few minutes of rest and I'm like the Energizer bunny all throughout. I'm still a bit rusty on my smashes. I think I charge at the shuttlecock too late or too low. I dunno. Most of my attempts do not end up going over the net. I think I have to analyze the situation to know when a smash is or isn't a good decision. Today I'm hitting the gym with a friend of mine. I'm trying to achieve my lifelong goal of having abs. Meh.

What Sells More? Salable or Bestseller?

There's a new byword in sales pitching: SALABLE.

I've been hearing this aplenty here in Davao City. When I ask for recommendations from baristas, waiters, salesladies, managers or chefs, they say, "Sir, this is salable po". From what I know, the word simply means "it can be sold" or "available for purchase", not necessarily selling like hotcakes.

Whatever happened to BESTSELLER? Has that become an obsolete word? I cringe when I think of bookstores labeling books as salable.

On a side note, I also find it off-putting when someone says "For a while" when I'm asked to wait on the phone. Who invents these phrases??

Meme Again?

Ria tagged me.

What makes your blog unique?

Are we talking about this blog? Well, it's unique because it's Andrew dela Serna's one and only personal blog. No one else can say that, unless we have the same name.

When did you start blogging?

I started about 3 years ago, albeit on and off. This blog is only 3 weeks old.

What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?

I hope to be able to rant all I want and practice my blogging skills.

What are your feelings on the “blog popularity” issue?

Who doesn't want to be popular? I think everyone who says they don't care about it are lying to themselves. Although it shouldn't be the primary reason to blog, popularity is the ultimate measure of your blog's success. What good is your blog if nobody reads it, right?

What’s your favorite childhood memory?

My favorite childhood memory was when I peed my pants in class when I was in second grade. Imagine the looks on my classmates sitting beside me. I also peed while waiting in line at Universal Studios, so say my brothers.

Are you a spiritual person?

No. But I believe in what Jesus said about doing unto others as you would have them do to you. I can be confrontational sometimes, so if someone smacks me in the face maybe it's what I deserve.

Do your moral values affect the way that you blog, and if yes, how?

I haven't been paying attention if they do. But I guess when it comes to political issues, a few moral values come to play. I've stopped blogging about politics already, thank goodness!

8 Secrets!

Aileen tagged for this meme wherein I have to reveal 8 secrets about me. Hmm, this shouldn't be that difficult.

First, here are the rules:

- Each player must post these rules first.
- Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
- At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok, now brace yourselves!!

1. I'm vain. Actually, I was vainer when I was in college. But now with all the crazy things that keep me busy, I don't have the luxury to be, which makes me not vain anymore! Hahaha. But I still like taking pictures of myself sometimes, or staring at the mirror. Oh, and I dry my hair with a fan. I just don't like leaving the house with a sponge on my head.

2. I take 5 different multivitamins: GNC for Men, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Saw Palmetto, MSM and B-Complex.

3. I'm a hypochondriac (proof in #2). When I feel something slightly wrong with my body, I feel like I'm gonna die. Worse, I'm afraid of taking medications.

4. I use a for-kids toothbrush, with a Mickey Mouse design at that! Adult toothbrushes freak me out. I imagine steel brushes grinding in my mouth.

5. I am the family PC technician. I have about 20 cousins living in the same village as I am. If something goes wrong with their computers, I am at their beck and call.

6. I love sneakers and rubber shoes. I bought a new pair a few days ago. Leather shoes aren't my thing.

7. I love playing practical jokes! I also like making up stories and asking obvious questions to dupe people.

8. Call me a modern-day Peter Pan. I just don't grow up!

I can only think of a few people who'll do this: Kim, Ria, Jehz and Winston.

Becoming a Godfather

A while ago I attended the baptism of my niece, Gabrielle Martina Abella Limpin, the first daughter of my close cousin Ina and husband Greggy. She is my 4th goddaughter and I'm happy that I was among those chosen to be her ninong. I don't know a lot about the godfather's role in a child's life except that I'm obliged to give them gifts on their birthday, the holidays and important milestones in their lives. I have to say that it ain't cheap being a godfather. But if the child needs anything from me, I'll provide it as long as she doesn't ask for a house, a car or my soul. Notice the "she". I'd love to have a godson too. I think the whole "godparent" deal has lost all its real purpose other than giving away material things. But if that's the only way I can help, why not?



I have a few godmothers who now tell me that it's time for me to return the favor, meaning I should give them gifts now because I have a job. What? Do yours tell you that too? When I become ancient, I'll NEVER oblige Danielle, Maxene, Maddi or Gabby to give me gifts. Even if they become millionaires!

Trio Loco

Ahh, the beauty of this personal blog is I can talk nonstop about utter nonsense. And I'm free to do all these cool meme's. I was tagged by Sir Blogie for this one.

Three Things That Scare Me

1. Rats
2. Lizards
3. Cats

Three People Who Make Me Laugh

1. Jay Leno
2. Conan O'Brien
3. Michael V.

*Unfortunately I don't know anyone with a sense of humor kaya celebrities na lang :D

Three Things I Love

1. My websites
2. My laptop
3. Food

Three Things I Hate

1. Bagoong
2. Bulad
3. Stupidity

Three Things I Don’t Understand

1. Physics
2. Philosophy
3. People who understand #1 and #2.

Three Things On My Desk

1. Cellphone
2. TV Remote
3. My wrists

Three Things I Am Doing Right Now

1. Doing this damn meme
2. Listening to Jason Mraz
3. Smelling my new pair of shoes

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Travel the whole world
2. Sing with an orchestra
3. Have enough money to be called a billionaire

Three Things I Can Do

1. Play the piano
2. Crack my knuckles on my pinkie fingers for like, forever
3. Beat anyone in a game of Dynomite

Three Things I Can’t Do

1. Sleep early
2. Have abs (at least not yet)
3. Get my own pad (at least not yet)

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To

1. Yourself
2. Maroon 5
3. Your mom calling you for supper

Three Things You Should Never Listen To

1. Kris Aquino
2. President Arroyo
3. Stupid people

Three Things I Would Like To Learn

1. Sing opera
2. Spanish or French
3. Juggle

Three Favorite Foods

1. Chicken Mami
2. Cheese
3. Prime Rib Steak

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid

1. Transformers
2. G.I. Joe
3. The Smurfs

Let me tag Marc, Jun and Kim for this one.

My Workout

It's going to be a month since I began working out here at the Smashville gym. What is nice about this place is it's not that crowded. When I came in this afternoon, it was just me and my friend on the treadmill machines! Cool! But shortly thereafter, one person entered. Meh. But still, 3 people ain't a crowd.

Yes, I am actually at the gym waiting for my friend to finish freshening up. She has the penchant for saunas, which gives me plenty of time to write this post. It's cool here because there's an Internet station with 6 PC's that only us gym members can use anytime we want. I usually check my emails after a 20-minute run on the treadmill, then head up to the gym for my stretching and weightlifting program. When I'm done I quickly get into my clothes and go back to recheck my emails and approve blog comments. I don't like taking showers in public baths by the way and I hate saunas!

I've been on and off on my workout routine since college. I'm definitely not the muscle-bound type as you'd imagine. I'm still very slim. But since I reactivated my so-called healthy lifestyle last June, I did gain about 12 pounds. Before that I was just pathetically underweight and lanky. Anyway, I stopped again in April when the new gym I went to became too claustrophobic. I hate it when people go to the gym only to socialize. You know, those types who take their sweet time on exercise machines chatting without really giving a damn that others are waiting on them. That gym is Holiday Spa. And I got the worst gym instructor in the whole world.

By the time my birthday arrived (June 5), I had wanted to go back working out. Out of the 12 pounds I previously gained, it's gone down to 7. Since I haven't seen my friends in a while, I decided to treat them out a few days later and one of them said she and another friend of ours (who wasn't there) had recently become members of the Smashville gym. Excited, I immediately tagged along with them the following day and got a free trial workout. Impressed with the facilities and the *sweet* absence of people, I signed up right then and there.

Since I didn't want to bulk up too much and look like Popeye, my gym instructor Eric gave me a "toning" program. The program is focused on a lot of stretching and abdominal exercises. Boy, I didn't know stretching could be so tiresome! I freakin' failed the stretching test during my pre-workout checkup! At the beginning, I had such a difficult time stretching my legs up straight. Clearly I'm not gonna win the Mr. Flexible title anytime soon. But after a month, I'm much more comfortable now. Eric even gave me more difficult exercises, which is fine by me. After stretching, I have to do a few weightlifting stuff for different parts of my body.

I've become addicted to my new "healthy lifestyle" that I recently bought a box of cereal to replace my fat-infused midnight snacks! Funny though that I'm already halfway through the box! My diet hasn't exactly changed yet. But I am trying to eat more fish in place of beef and pork. I'm going to renew my membership this weekend. Hopefully that is a good sign of things to come.

Panic at the Kitchen

Last night was a nightmare.

Let's back up a bit. Yesterday afternoon, our help cleaned my fish aquarium without my supervision. I thought that they wouldn't have such a difficult time because they've cleaned it several times before. Only then I realized that they were new. Our maid turnover rate is pretty high, you see.

Fast forward to last night. It was about 11PM. I came down to check on the aquarium. Something was wrong with the filter. The water that it was spewing out was flowing erratically. It wasn't installed correctly after the aquarium was cleaned. So I removed the top covering to check it out. That's when all hell broke loose. Since it wasn't correctly installed, the hose connected to it was not fitted tightly enough. When I took off the cover the water was gushing out like crazy!! It was one of those moments in life when I screamed like a little girl. What really scared me was the outlet was right behind the darned thing and the water was going right at it. Good thing I lived to tell the tale! I immediately unplugged the filter and the water quickly subsided. It was a total mess. The kitchen counter was flooded with water. The medicine rack beside it wasn't spared. I shamefully woke up my mom to help me do some damage control. Damn, obviously I didn't know how to clean up after myself. Ah, the sheltered life.

Good thing my mom didn't get pissed off that much. After the ordeal I had to take another shower coz I stunk like fish. Speaking off, I have four socially inept parrot fishes. They like burrowing their own holes and hide. That's why I don't like them. But they're there. I wish they'd just die so I can buy a new set of fish. Before them, I had two parrot fishes too, but they were bigger, more attractive and didn't hide too much. Unfortunately, our maid's idea of feeding them was filling the whole aquarium with pellets. So they died almost instantly. I rarely get attached to pet animals, but that incident really left me depressed and angry.

I'm thinking of riding the Flowerhorn craze going on here. My cousin has one. At first I didn't understand what was so special about it when I first saw it at their home. It was small and looked like any other fish I'd see at a pet store. But after a few months it grew quite big and colorful. Ahh, now I get it. The Flowerhorn is quite the looker. I warn you though. It's a carnivorous fish like the Arowana. My cousin put a smaller Flowerhorn in the same aquarium thinking they'd get along. The next day they were shocked to see the poor little thing impaled with only 75% of its body left dangling.

Here at home we also have a black Labrador named Temi. He's very friendly. Initially, I was frightened by him. But he's grown on me. I still won't pet/touch him though.

At The Malagos Garden Resort

Yesterday, Me and fellow bloggers Aileen, Migs and Blogie drove down to the Malagos Garden Resort here in Davao City for some nature tripping. We were supposed to visit Eden Nature Park, but we figured since Aileen had been there before, it would be nice to see something different. It was my first time there too, and Migs'.

The entrance fee cost us P100 each. I wasn't expecting much, thankfully, because the place was not well maintained. It reminded me of the Eagle Park. A shame. But I enjoyed it nonetheless, because of the company I had (teehee) and all the interesting wildlife we encountered. I was surprised to see obese chickens as we walked toward the Butterfly Sanctuary. I'm not kidding. They're fat as hell!

Here's one of them:



And another:



Some of the butterflies we saw:



Although most of them were black and white, they were still a great shot!



As my friends began to notice, I was afraid to go near the ostriches. For me, they're modern-day velociraptors!



Look at how ferocious they can get!! Rawr!



I loved this bird because it had a mohawk:



And this bird was funny. Whenever we walk past it, it seems to stand frozen in time. That's why it's the easiest one to photograph!



This is the gang cooling off at the Roofdeck Cafe:


(L-R: Migs, Andrew, Blogie, Aileen)

I ordered a Club Sandwich that was pretty good. Aileen had a Ham Pizza while Blog had Empanadas and Migs a Chicken Sandwich. Let's just say that Migs and I were the only ones who enjoyed our food. ;)