Busy Eating

This cute and cuddly logo is brought to you by... ME.

The Davao Food Appreciation Tour (DFAT) begins today! Will be busy eating this weekend. I'm excited to meet bloggers from GenSan, CDO and Manila!

Famous People I Have Seen

Here are the most notable famous persons I've seen:


International

Alicia Keys - Saw her talking to a couple of fans on a New York sidewalk. Too chicken to approach her. I remember her as being very tall.






Julia Stiles - Saw her walk past me one winter morning in New York. She was very pretty and white. Yes, white.







Claire Forlani - The actress whom I remember from Meet Joe Black. She was eating lunch on 6th Avenue. I think she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in real life.

Madonna - Does this count? Watched her Drowned concert in Madison Square Garden. One word: limber.

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman - I think I saw them on Chelsea Street while eating lunch with a cousin. My cousin noticed them first coz my back was facing them. I only got a glimpse of their spines. Because of that Uma isn't the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in real life. :s

Spencer Breslin - Ok, this kid isn't that famous but he played the young Bruce Willis in the "The Kid". Bumped into him on Bleecker Street.






Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - He was waiting for his flight in O'hare airport when I saw him. I was starstruck but again was too chicken to ask for an autograph. But I have to give props to the teenage boy who asked him upfront: "Are you the Rock?" and ended up being ignored.

Roma Maffia - Another semi-famous actress who played Dr. Liz Cruz on Nip/Tuck. She was standing outside Puck Building with a couple other actors who I didn't recognize.






Pope John Paul II - Saw him inside the "Pope-mobile" in a motorcade near Malacanang Palace.

Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephon Marbury, etc - Saw all of them in a Knicks Vs. Nets game in New Jersey.

Local

Richard Gutierrez and Georgina Wilson - Holding hands at the Fort LOL

John Lloyd Cruz - Chatting with Richard Gutierrez at Embassy.

Anne Curtis - Ran into her in Greenbelt. WOW. Move over Claire and Uma.

Cheska Garcia - Cheska was walking behind Anne Curtis. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. My female cousin Ria went gaga. Literally and embarrassingly.

Akihiro Sato - I know a lot of girls and gays go crazy about this Brapanese model. I saw him in Friday's.

Ryan Agoncillo - Saw him at Powerplant mall.  He's short!

Judy Ann Santos - Saw her at Ever Gotesco Mall on Commonwealth. LOL

Cure Natural Aqua Gel

Cure Natural Aqua Gel

At the risk of sounding like a beauty product endorser, I am endorsing the above product, Cure Natural Aqua Gel.  What does it do?  Read on:

Cure Natural Aqua Gel is a gentle and natural exfoliating gel that removes dead skin effectively without causing undue stress to the skin. Unlike chemical peels which use strong acid, Cure is very gentle on the skin and only removes the unwanted dead skin. It does not dry or thin your skin which causes your skin to be vulnerable to sunlight.

Note to self: I will not rave about Cure like a rabid fanboy.

I'd go far as to say that it is partly responsible for why I have good skin. I learned about it through my Plurk friend Sophie Uy, who was selling it at a Christmas bazaar last year. I purchased a bottle from her (P1,700) after hearing incessant praises from Jayvee and Fritz. Cure works by binding to your dead skin and sloughing it off by the gentle rubbing action of your hands. Right after my skin looks and feels fresh, smooth and firm. Ergo, I look cuter. They should rename it to Cute Natural Aqua Gel hehe. Use it only 3 times week tops.

As I blog this, Sophie is selling a new batch on her Multiply site, Beauty & Minerals.

**Squeals**

Blast from the Past

Universal Studios, Circa 1996

The pic above was taken during one of the darkest eras of my life. Bushy brows, fake tan-like tan, gap teeth, braces and fake golf outfit. I found this souvenir pic sitting in my mom's office storage recently. I haven't seen it in a long time. It should have stayed that way until somebody decided to resurrect it out of its tomb! It's ok coz I couldn't help but laugh at myself every time I see it. Yeah, laughing at myself is my best medicine!

OT: This afternoon, I was driving my cousin home from the gym and we ran behind a passenger jeepney filled with girls in their tweens. When they saw me (yes, me, not my cousin) they started waving at me. My cousin was like "hey, they're waving at you". So I waved back. The girls screamed. LOL

Precarious Saturday

I can't quite recall the last time I saw or spoke to my uncle Rene. He is my mother's first cousin, the son of my grandfather's sister. He also happened to be my high school English teacher, of which I have fond memories of. Outside of the classroom, conversations between me and my uncle were limited, if not non-existent. At parties he would sit in one corner and not talk to anyone other than my aunts and uncles. That could explain my amnesia. Early this year, Ria invited Tito Rene to hold a workshop on creative writing for bloggers. I thought it was brilliant. My uncle had the knack for entertaining people and I was certain he could bring that aura of fun to this workshop. It took months of planning and meetings with fellow officers of Davao Bloggers to make it happen, though I have to admit I didn't do a lot. I served as the perennial go-to guy who took care of picking up the food, the LCD machine, the LCD screen and take photos. As dull as it seems, I do a fantastic job at it. Last Saturday, things finally came together. It was the day we will find out if we're any good at what we are attempting to do -- create events for bloggers of Davao City. Most of us have had experience organizing blogging events, but this is the first time we would do it under the Davao Bloggers umbrella. I had no doubt the workshop would be a success. Tito Rene has that instant name recall that will make people sign up. Who doesn't know him? He's a famous columnist for Sunstar and an accomplished author. For me and thousands of others, he's the cool English teacher we had the luck of having in high school. I'm sure he prefers to be remembered that way.

True enough, Tito Rene brought that same energy and exuberance to the workshop. The participants gave their all in the individual and group exercises, and I myself did the unthinkable: I talked to strangers (without coercion by my cousin Ria) and I chose to be my group's spokesperson. That in itself is a personal accomplishment. During the course of the discussions, I was glad to learn that Tito Rene and I had something in common. We each had a list of cliche words to avoid when writing. His list contained words that are all adjectives, while mine are mostly adverbs. Yes, adverbs that I have not used in this blog post so far. Tito Rene asserts that in writing, one has to be concise and specific in picking words. He says we should avoid meaningless words such as "good", "bad", "fine" and go for more profound alternatives, say, "brilliant", "nefarious" and "spellbinding". But he is quick to point out that the words should remain in context.

He adds that we should draw inspiration from our personal experiences and pour it into our writing. View the <textarea> as an empty canvass and fill it up with a slew of colors, textures and brush strokes. It is a matter of having a keen understanding of what you want to say, and say it in the most concise and creative way. I'll keep that in mind from now on, though I'm worried it might take me nine times longer to finish an article. My past blog posts were written in all but 5-20 minutes each, in a veiled attempt to be seen as a blogger who writes often. That may not be such a bad thing. Readers tend to be more forgiving of blog writers than legitimate online journalists. One small mistake from a journalist can make tomorrow's headlines. One small mistake from people like me goes virtually unnoticed. That doesn't take away from the fact that there is room for improvement in my writing skills. There are lots. Okay, heaps. One thing I learned from Tito Rene is I can be better. His workshop was the first step. He insisted for a second one. I guess we're that awful?

Here comes the obligatory part where I post spellbinding pictures of the event.


The speaker, Mr. Rene Lizada


Ria, me and Tito Rene (yes, I wear glasses!)


Group pic with all the participants

Thanks to my fellow organizers Ria, Chattee, Lyle, Brendel and Dulce for a job well done. Thanks to the participants too! Hope to see you in future events.

I Dunno...

Looks to me that I have to become underweight to fulfill my dream. I am binging on a lot of protein lately to make up for the weight loss but my weight keeps dropping. Today I lessened my cardio to 5 minutes of jogging (about 1km) and spent the rest of the time lifting weights and doing ab exercises. I'm famished! Looking forward to a heavy dinner at a new Japanese restaurant I discovered. :) Best part of it is my mom is paying! lol

Beautiful Mess

Filler post!

Jason Mraz's song, "Beautiful Mess", is my favorite song of all time. This performance of his at the 2008 Nobel Prize ceremony sent chills to my spine.



If Jason asked for my hand in marriage, I would in a heartbeat! lol jk

Bastille Day in France

Bastille Day is an important national holiday celebrated in France every July 14. It commemorates the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison that led to the eventual dissolution of the monarchy and the establishment of France's first Republic. My cousins and I were lucky enough to be travelling in France that day! We *kinda* slept in the entire morning, thus we missed the festivities held on the Champs Elysee. We heard that there's gonna be a fireworks display in the evening, so we're going to see that instead. As we headed off the the Trocadero, we caught eye of military vehicles parked near the Opera. We stopped by to take pictures, of course.


Front: Steve, Me, Kathy, Pierre.
Back: Jacques and Jean-Claude. Haha


Salut!

The fireworks weren't going to start until 10 in the evening, but we figured that people are going to go in droves so we might as well start early. The subway route to the Trocadero was confusing as I try to recall it. And I couldn't forget the distance that we walked to get to the place where we could camp out and wait. It was made more difficult because many roads and bridges were closed. After hours of walking, we finally we found a comfortable spot on a sidewalk to sit. We got a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower:


Nice.. leaves..

Due to boredom, we had no choice but take pics.


Clarice, Steve, Kathy


7 hours later ... still no fireworks. This is one of the very few pics where the four of us were together. Thanks to the nice lady who took this pic <3

One thing I learned about the French is they're always on time! At 10pm sharp, the first signs explosions of light began. Due to our obstructed view (see above) we had to find a more strategic position to take good pics. It was hard to take pics of the fireworks because the camera needs to be set on a slow shutter and I was standing on my feet with no support for my arms. The results were mostly blurry pics. Shame. Here are my most decent shots:









Admittedly, I was not able to appreciate the fireworks coz I was busy focusing on my camera. Fortunately, I took some videos which I'll upload soon.

As if our way to the Trocadero was chaotic, nothing prepared us for our way back! Everyone was crowding into the subway!


People everywhere! Arghhh

My cousins said that Bastille Day was our most exhausting day of walking. Indeed it was. I think I lost 5 lbs that day alone lol. Bastille Day was tiring, but it wouldn't have been an enjoyable day without Cleng, Steve and Kathy. You guys rock!

Sea Dragon

It's been ages since I've gone to a perya (fair). One night, my friends and I went to one and challenged amongst ourselves to go on what appeared to be a "tame" ride, the "Sea Dragon".



The Sea Dragon works like a pendulum. At the end of the pendulum, a boat-shaped contraption (where passengers are seated) is swung from left to right in increasingly sharp angles and speeds. If you've been on Enchanted Kingdom's "Anchors Away", then you're in familiar territory. I was excited about the Sea Dragon since Anchors Away was easy pickings and I have been on some of the world's worst roller coasters. But all that bravado was short-lived, unfortunately.

The ride started okay. Slowly but surely. We were getting higher and higher, but that is expected. Then I realized that the ride was taking a little too long to reach its climax. Like waaaay long. After 5 minutes, I felt my internal organs rearranging. Just when I thought the thing was about to stop, it goes even higher! My friend Lyle was having a nervous breakdown. Chattee was swearing at the operators who appeared to be laughing at our misfortune. Faust was asking what medicine to take for his churned tummy. Brendel was the only one who was able to maintain her sanity.

After 10 grueling minutes, the Sea Dragon finally came to a halt. I felt nauseous and on the verge of barfing. Lyle looked like he just ran a 10km marathon. He was drenched in sweat and visibly unwell. He asked Brendel to get him some Bonamine for his dizziness, but the pharmacy across the street was closed. I said we had Bonamine at home and that I could drive us to our house which was like 5 minutes away from the fair. When we reached our house, Lyle's situation grew worse. I won't give the blow-by-blow account but let's just say that everything Lyle ate took the wrong exit :P Chattee and I popped a pill of Bonamine to be sure we won't suffer the same fate.

Afterwards, we grabbed some coffee and food at Blugre MTS. Lyle felt 50 times better. He ordered tea to help soothe his stomach. Despite our bad luck, it was a memorable evening we will always look back on decades from now. :P

Tony & Jackey

The rolling brownouts in Davao are an annoyance! Electricity conks out at exactly 1PM everyday. At the rate it's going, my desktop computer will end up a corrupted piece of junk. I might as well turn it off 10 minutes prior to the scheduled brownout or risk losing my data. It's funny coz it's become like an involuntary routine for me to stand up from my computer chair once the pc blacks out and go straight to the shower. I was supposed to work out today but I felt like skipping and get some work done. Obviously that is not possible without electricity, so I decided to get a haircut first to kill time. In a previous rant I said that my haircutter Pacita migrated to Dubai which pretty much put my hair's future in limbo. Prior to Pacita, it was Alma who cut my hair but she moved to Bacolod. I was severely depressed both times, but today is the day for me to move on. I checked out a newly-opened salon in SM, Tony & Jackey. It's run by a bunch of Koreans. The salon was white and super clean. The Korean stylists also looked clean lol. Their haircut costs P300, more than twice as much as David's (where Pacita and Alma come from). The stylist assigned to me was Daniel. I was afraid that he might give me one of those weird Korean hairstyles so I told him straight off that I wanted a normal haircut. He said "Ok" and begun work. After 15 minutes of snipping it was done. He didn't say anything else except for a "Thank you" in the end.

The result:


Props to Daniel

I'm saving up for my next haircut already :P

Halo-halo

After badminton, we had greaseless chicken at Sunburst. Have to mention that their crispy chicken skin is the best! While eating we had a discussion about the best halo-halo in the Philippines. Well, these friends of mine came from General Santos City and couldn't stop talking about some off-the-beaten-track place somewhere in Cotabato that serves their halo-halo in fresh coconut shells and picks out their ingredients literally off trees. Simpleton that I am, how am I supposed to compete with that? They lash out at my most favorite halo-halo in Davao -- Aling Foping's -- and to add more insult, says that Razon's halo-halo sucks too. And yet after doing so, decide that we should have halo-halo at Chow King, which I now officially don't like (though I love their other dishes).

Speaking of Razon's, their halo-halo is so darn simple and that's why it's good. It doesn't have the nasty beans or monggo or the colorful whatnot that we usually see. All it has are macapuno (sweetened coconut), leche flan, and saging na saba (sweetened bananas). The result is an icy, sweet and creamy dessert that's nothing short of heavenly. In fact, I love Razon's so much that when I go to Aling Foping's, I try to recreate Razon's recipe! When you're in Davao, try the halo-halo of Aling Foping's (Matina Town Square) or Harana (F. Torres Street).

As a postscript, I learned from my cousin that I could buy puto similar to Razon's from St. Paul church, which is right in our neighborhood. I'm excited! I love their puto!**

What I ate today:

Breakfast: Lipton Milk Tea
Lunch: Pork Stew and 1/2 cup brown rice
Dinner: Quarter Chicken, 3 pcs Chicken Skin and 1/2 cup white rice
Late Snack: 1/2 Pomelo

** Puto is steamed rice cakes

Back to Badminton

I'm glad my friends are back from General Santos City! It means we could go back to playing badminton. We're scheduled to play tomorrow from 4-6pm. My cousin Gwing (who's a varsity player) will be around to teach my friends the proper way to play. Also, from now on I'll try to log the food I eat each day. It is supposed to help me stick to my diet.

Lunch: Grilled Maya-maya fish with 1/4 cup brown rice
Afternoon Snack: Ham and Cheese sandwich and half a bottle of Sola Iced Tea (Apple flavor)
Dinner: Beef Caldereta (beef stew) with 1/2 white rice
Late Evening Snack: Chicken Panini and Hot Chocolate

I ate so much!! Ackkkk

Golden Chestnut

I was saddened upon hearing news about my haircutter/hairdresser/hairstylist.. I like to use "haircutter" coz all she really does is cut my hair. Anyway, I was gonna get a haircut yesterday but was told that my beloved haircutter migrated to Dubai. PERFECT. What am I supposed to do now, Pacita?! There you are frolicking in dunes and riding camels yet here I am wallowing in my awful hair!! It's extremely hard to find the right person to cut my hair. Pacita knows my hair like no one else. Today I mourn. :(

As an act of rebellion, I went to my health store and grabbed a box of hair dye and picked out the Golden Chestnut shade. It's the lightest brown I've tried. I was sort of hoping to get a very obvious brown but kinda hesitating at the same time. What the heck.. if I screw this up I could always get Pacita to shave my head.. Wait, she's in Dubai!!! **facepalm**

I fumbled through the instructions like an amateur. I have dyed my hair before using one of those instant all-in-one dyes that came in tubes scribbled with Japanese inscriptions. If memory serves me right, I had to squeeze the dye on a brush and comb it through my hair. This time I had to mix two solutions into a bowl till it becomes thick. Then, with plastic gloves, plop the mixture on my fingers and apply it to my hair. I waited 30 minutes for the dye to set in. Hmmmm...

The result was disappointing. My hair is the same color, cept that my white hair disappeared. Pffft.

This morning I gave myself a trim since I'm too lazy to scout for a new haircutter. Looks pretty good I might say. :D

Two Became Four

I've mentioned to a few folks that I have what I call "two-pack" abs. Even joked about it a couple times. I'm talking about a pair of abs below my chest that have been there for as long as I can remember. They kinda just stood there in a shroud of nothingness... lol.... In my New Year's Resolutions post I said:

(My goal is to) Have a complete set of abs. It's a frustration of mine that will no longer be a frustration! Going to the gym and being healthy never fail to cheer me up.

No, I have no intention of going into modeling or acting or anything porn-related (lol -- at least not yet). Attaining abs is just a consequence of my goal to keep myself fit and active. Unless you're anatomically blessed with a nice figure, getting abs is extremely difficult. It is harder than developing biceps or triceps or pecs and it requires a higher degree of patience. Why? Because, like I said, they are the consequence of how well you take care of your body. There is no magic exercise to achieve abs. No matter how many situps or crunches you do, your abs will never show up unless you push your whole body to work up a sweat. And how do you do that? Cardio! Yes, during cardio, almost every muscle of your body is a participant. Good examples I cited before are running and spinning. I recommend swimming and boxing too. All of them are intense exercises that burn more calories at a shorter period of time.

Ab exercises (situps, crunches etc) do almost zilch if you don't tandem it with a cardio routine. Every person, boy or girl, young or old, thin or fat, have abdominal muscles. It's a matter of burning the layer of fat that keeps them hidden. Cardio and a watchful diet can get rid of that layer of fat, not ab exercises. At best, ab exercises tighten and strengthen your abdominals. Stronger abs do help burn fat faster, but that has value only during cardio and other muscle conditioning activities. Although abs are nice to look at, they are not the barometer of one's fitness level. You can still be fit without ripped abs.

Since I made it one of my resolutions, I am working twice harder than before to get those abs. I'm now down to a size 28 and my weight has gone down to 131 lbs. The great thing is the "two-pack" is actually a "four-pack". It was the fat on top of it that made it look like two. So yeah, two more abs to go! Should I aim for an 8-pack? lol.. we'll see.

HongKong Here I Come

The last time I was in HongKong was in 2008 while on a sidetrip from Macau. It was but a fleeting moment -- I was there merely to take my niece to Disneyland. We spent a few hours in the park, enjoyed the fireworks, then hopped on a boat back to Macau. What attracts me to HongKong is its vibrancy and abundance of food and shopping options. There's not a dull moment in HongKong and that is why I'm coming back! On a whim I purchased a ticket the moment I heard that Cebu Pacific had a seat sale. I timed it to be around my birthday in June. The catch is I bought the ticket without consulting my family or friends, or even asked any of them to come along. I don't care!! So yeah.. HongKong, watch out... The Dork Knight is coming! hehe

28

So yesterday I was in my mom's bathroom to look for some cotton buds to clean out the 1-week old wax buildup from my ears lol.. I know disgusting right. As I cleaned my ears I eyed the measuring tape hanging on one of her wall hooks and thought of measuring my.. well.. waist. I took off my shirt and placed the tape around my belly button area. Carefully, I pinched the metallic tip on to the 28 inch mark. Whoa, I wasn't even cheating! Last time I had a 28-inch waist was when I was in high school!! I'm happy because this is my target waistline. The downside of this triumph is all my pants have become loose. Oh well, but my work is paying off! Don't bet on me slowing down though coz I'm still working on those abs. This may take a while... :(

How to Save Money on the Paris Subway

Getting around Paris takes patience and skill. It took me a few days before I got the hang of it. My cousins had to put up with my constant backtracking and fuzzy navigation, but they had no other choice but to go where I went.

Aside from the labyrinth that we had to put up with, using the subway is not cheap. It costs 1.50 euro per ticket (about P90). That's more expensive than the New York subway ($1.50 or P70). What most people don't know is there is such a thing as a carnet (car-nay) which is basically a 'book' of 10 tickets. You can purchase this at any Paris subway station. During my last trip, a carnet costs 11 euro, or 1.10 euro per ticket. We saved 40 cents per ticket. Not bad right? To buy a carnet, say 'Un carnet sil vous plait' (un car-nay see voo play) to the nice French person inside the ticket booth. Hope you find this helpful!

Burning Calories

Here's a quick way to find out how much calories you burn during certain physical activities. Click here to check.

It asks you to enter your weight because the number of calories burned depends on your weight and fitness level. Heavier people burn more calories because it takes more effort to perform exercises. That goes down as the person becomes fitter and attains more muscle. With more muscle, more calories are burned even at a sedentary state. Anyway, right now the stuff that I'm active in are spinning, running and badminton (social & pro). I calculated how much calories I burn for each activity (at 137 lbs. / 60 minutes) :

Spinning - 437 calories
Running - 582 calories
Badminton - 370 calories

For me, the best types of cardio exercise are the ones that keep you moving with little or no rest. Why? Because we tend to equate the time we spend inside the gym to the time we supposedly spent exercising. Sitting around and people watching don't count as exercise! In my spinning class, we are hardly given time to rest, thus we push ourselves to the limit and burn more calories. That is why I recommend spinning to anyone who's serious about losing weight. It is difficult at first -- I know a couple of people who've had tragic aftermaths following one session. But like all activities, you get better and better as long as you try and do it right. The added benefit of spinning is it isn't boring. The loud music and the natural adrenaline rush keep you alert and time ticks away virtually unnoticed.

I also run from time to time, often to warm myself up for a moderate weight lifting session. The calculation above is for 60 minutes, which I have never done on a track. I have run continuously for an hour on a treadmill. They are two different things though. I find running on a track a lot more difficult because 1) I'm exposed to environmental factors such as heat from the sun, dust and pollution 2) the terrain is more unpredictable 3) my pace is dependent on the strength of my legs, not on a conveyor belt. Despite those inconveniences I prefer running outside just because I feel like the extra effort that put into it helps me burn more calories. Treadmills are still good. In fact I recommend them to those who are starting a cardio routine. But in the long run I suggest that you wean yourself away from the treadmill to other activities such as aerobics, spinning, kickboxing, running or yoga. Why? Because treadmills eventually become tiresome and boring. Once you get sick of it, you tend to never come back to the gym.

Badminton is another great way to get active. It is the staple sport of yuppies, office workers and barkadas. In order to get its full effect (e.g. burn 370 calories), you'll need to play 60 minutes straight. The trick is to play in smaller groups that you are familiar with. With fewer people, there is less turnover, thus more play time for yourself. You may book one court for two hours or two courts for larger groups or opt for a trainer. The trainer can teach you the proper way of playing and at the same time force you to travel more across the court. The problem with playing with large parties of strangers of varying skill levels are 1) you play less 2) those who are good play more (good for you if you're one of them) 3) no one is willing to teach you the right way to play 4) you will not get the workout that you need 5) you play for fun, but others are ready to eat you alive. Definitely go for a group of friends and/or a trainer if you want to pursue badminton. It is big fun if done right.

Before and After

Four years ago, Four years after

I couldn't say I was unhappy about myself when I was overweight. Eating is FUN but it came to a point where I realized that I needed to do something about my health (and my hair LOL). I enrolled at the nearest gym but I didn't know what I was doing. I kept eating and gaining more weight until I stopped going to the gym again. Then I started again last year and really put effort into my workout. I began a jogging regimen and attended spinning classes 3x a week. On other days I lifted weights and did ab exercises. This was the only time that I saw good results. I'm not quite there yet but yeah people say I look fit. I'll give you tips on how I did it in succeeding blog posts.... on a new blog? We'll see.

Sick of Being Sick

Okayyy. Let me rant a little bit about my situation. My doctor diagnosed me as having pharyngitis and respiratory tract infection. I thought I had a much simpler case of tonsillitis and common cold. But when she held the stethoscope against my back, she suspected something more sinister. She prescribed an antibiotic to fight the infection and another to lessen the coughing. This totally sucks. Just when my #1 goal for the year is soooo close, I have to take a recess and wait longer. When I'm not going to the gym I tend to eat. Like today.

For lunch I had humba or caramelized pork knuckles. Those three words put together spell disaster. But it was soooo goood. Our cook put a lot of love into making it. She knew I loved mushrooms and chorizo and there were a LOT of it in the stew. I might as well have called it a mushroom and chorizo stew with caramelized pork knuckles. When I got to my office I ordered chicken noodles. An hour later I went out with my secretary to Jaltan to eat puto and ginataan / binignit. Wow, the ginataan was fantastic. And it was cheap (P15)! The puto was nice too. Lani had a slice of biko.. Yeah I know. She says she's on a diet. IKR.

Moving forward, I will get back to writing about my European trip. I believe Italy is next. Watch out for that and please don't take this post as part of my promise to write about fitness LOL Ciao!