Rediscovering the Urban Life

Run Until Your Lungs Give Out

2012-07-18T02:19:00.002-07:00

Since I'm on a climbing break, I gave running another try.

Merrell Adventure Run (June 2012)

Placed 6th - 5k Women's Category

3rd Trek the Tec (2 weeks after Merrell Run)

First vertical run in the Philippines

Climbed almost 2, 065 steps

Finished the race in 26 minutes

Kalatungan

2012-04-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

My latest attempt to climb the top nine (or ten if Mt. Ragang is climb-able (?)) highest peaks in the Philippines.

What: Mt. Kalatungan (sixth highest mountain in the Philippines)
Where: Pangantucan, Bukidnon
Elevation: 2824 masl
Trekking time: 5-6 hours to summit

At Brgy. Mendis jumpoff

The clouded summit of Mt. Kalatungan

Hunter's campsite

At the summit of Mt. Wiji, Mt. Kalatungan summit in the backgound

Mt. Kalatungan for Holy Week 2012

2012-04-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

My photo from the summit of Mt. Kalatungan in Pangantucan, Bukidnon. More pictures and stories in the next blog entry. Too bad there was no clearing on the day we climbed the peak but at least another mountain was crossed out from the top ten list.

I Conquered my Own Seven Summits

2012-03-03T00:12:00.000-08:00

After almost months, I finally completed my entry for The North Face contest called "Conquer your Own Seven Summits." TNF came up with this contest after Filipino mountaineer Romi Garduce successfully climbed the top seven summits in the world.

The seven summits of the world are Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft.)in 2002; South America’s Mt. Aconcagua (22,841 ft.) in 2005; world’s highest, Asia’s Mt. Everest (29,035 ft.) in 2006; Europe’s Mt. Elbrus (18,510 ft.) in 2007; North America’s Mt. McKinley (20,320 ft.) in 2008, and Oceania’s Carstensz Pyramid (16,024 ft.) in 2011.

The rules of the game:

Do seven minor or major climbs in the Philippines.
Wear any TNF apparel during the climb.
Bring your TNF banner and have your photo taken at the summit of the mountain.
Submit your entry on or before March 4, 2012.

Lucky winner will walk away with TNF gift certificate worth Php100,000. Winner will be selected via raffle.

Mt. Banahaw de Tayabas

Mt. Batulao

Mt. Kalisungan

Mt. Maculot

Mt. Pico de Loro

Mt. Pulag

Mt. Talamitam

Eargasm

2012-03-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

This track is on repeat:

What You Need

The Weeknd

My Christmas

2011-12-16T01:55:00.000-08:00

I took this photo from our yard...

And decided to make a drawing out of it...

Merry Christmas!

The Clichés of Break Ups

2011-12-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

The love you gave is not equal to the love you received.

Expectations are like poisons.

There will be lapses in the decisions made (which should not be acknowledged).

More time devoted staring into an empty space.

Old self slowly creeps back.

The endless what-ifs.

Alcohol-bingeing.

Too many FML moments.

Mt. Mantalingajan Photo Dump

2011-11-04T02:20:00.000-07:00

What: Mt. Mantalinganjan Climb
When: Oct 29-31, 2011
Where: Puerto Princesa - Brgy. Ransang - Brgy. Rizal
Who: HAMOC members (Pat, Ro, Karlo), Sandugo (Greg) and Palaweños (Mayo and Jasper)
Why: We wanted challenges!

We reached the summit (2035MASL) after 1 day (we rested for the night) and 8 hours of trek.

Training Weekend Before Mt. Mantalingajan

2011-10-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

A week before our climb to Mt. Mantalingajan in Palawan, our team dedicated one whole weekend for our last training climb. We decided to complete the Nasugbu Trilogy - Pico Traverse, Mt. Talimitam and Mt. Batulao. Here are a few selected photos from the climb.

The beak of Pico de Loro

Can't help but laugh at this photo. We were out of focus.

After the traverse in Pico, we had to walk this long road to the nearest house and rent a tricycle

The trek to Mt. Talamitam

And on Sunday, I did two circuits in Mt. Batulao

We leave tomorrow for Palawan. Let's do this!

My Friend Marries Freedom

2011-10-10T02:10:00.000-07:00

Arianne was my friend since grade school. Yesterday, she married her long time boyfriend, Kalayaan (Filipino word for freedom). I was one of the readers during the mass and got this cool photo of them making funny faces during the wedding.

My Kada!

These boys were doing the 'Dougie dance' while the wedding ceremony is taking place.

The wedding happened in the Parish inside University of the Santo Tomas ---where Arianne and Kalayaan studied college, met and became lovers.

Each guest received a potted artificial plant with picture of the couple.

My look for the wedding. I got the dress for only...Php 150!

My Itinerary

2011-09-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

~~Buy clothes for friend's wedding~~
Go to Batulao for training
Attend Kali and Arianne’s wedding
Train in Batulao (again)
Do Maktrav
Get diploma
Drink at Kambingan (with my good old friends from UPLB)
Visit San Lazaro for prescription for anti-malaria
Climb at Batulao (last and final training)
Fly to Palawan to conquer Mt. Mantalingajan

Yeah. This is life.

Smiles, Tears and Memories

2011-09-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

My Lola took her last breath last Friday at around 10 in the evening.

I fondly remember the time when I gave you a haircut in the balcony since your hair was too long but your hip injury restricted you to go out of the house. It was fun experimenting what cut to do to your white hair.

And how funny when I was in high school, you say sexy stars are "parang nagtitindi ng p*kp*k nila" or when we, the grandchildren, talks back to you and you tell us "na parang kakainin mo ako ng buhay".

I’ll miss your honesty and cooking. I hope you find peace with Lolo in heaven.

My Photo Needs 'Hearts'

2011-09-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

Hey!

I need a little help. Please 'Heart' my photo for Like Creativity Love Sony Photo Contest.

Go to this link, and click the 'Heart' button.

The more hearts I get, the bigger chance I win the prizes.

Thank you. :)

Bits-es in Boracay

2011-09-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

Taking a bite of Boracay island's famous Chori burger.

The heart marks the spot.

The ride to Kalibo cost Php125 / person. This sticker served as the ID.

The boat ride

Drink-all-you-can cocktails at Obama Grill

Kao Pad (Bagoong Rice) for lunch at Smoke (strips of green mangoes are missing)

My favorite photo of Bits

The Craze

2011-08-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dream within a dream.

Friday within a Friday.

Movie within a movie.

Works of Art Photo Dump

2011-07-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

Since I'm too lazy to write and I'm a slave of the Internet:

Photos from World Bodypainting Festival.

Click here for more.

Jonathan Bréchignac drew this Muslim prayer carpet with just a Bic pencil.

More of him here.

Sketching Day 2

2011-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Completed the boy's face and the collar of his shirt. I realized now that I should not copy 100% the shading of the original drawing because that's impossible to do. Learning little by little what tone is appropriate in emphasizing shadow and light.

Sketching Day 1

2011-07-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to pursue my artistic dream, I bought an exercise book on sketching, a drawing pencil and a sketch pad. Lesson 1 is Gradation.

Tried out different tones of shading and curve lines.

Applied what I learned on my sketch pad.

Started with exercise 1. (Photo refused to rotate)

The Other Side of Laguna

2011-07-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

It was a road trip on a Sunday! Geared up, rode the motorcycle and off we went to what I call the 'other side of Laguna'. I grew up in Calamba, went to college in Los Baños but I never got the chance to explore the other towns of Laguna like Mabitac, Pakil, Paete and Pagsanjan. We passed by all these towns on our way to our first stop, the Taytay falls in Majayjay. (The sight was a nice reward after sitting on the motorcycle for three hours)

When we arrived at Taytay falls, the place was filled with families, couples and group of friends camping and swimming. We decided to look around for a spot to eat our packed lunch. We explored more and found this. It's like a clubhouse with interconnected multi-purpose rooms. The place is lovely but I felt bad that it seemed that the local goverment did not continue the maintenance of the building. (It was a big waste of time, money and effort)

It rained a bit (that's why I have sore throat now) but the rain didn't stop us from going to our next stop, the Exotik Restaurant in Kalayaan, Laguna. The restaurant serves Filipino dishes and of course, exotic cuisines. As soon as we sat down, the waiter offered us to try buwaya (alligator), pating (shark) and palaka (frog). We settled for ginataang palaka (frog cooked in coconut cream) to go.

We ended the day watching the football game of Azkals and Sri Lanka (Azkals won!) on TV and had the ginataang palaka for dinner. :)

Nachos Bravos

2011-06-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Our winning homemade beef nachos! Thanks to recipes online and trips to local drinking places, we were able to come up with our own version of nachos. Spent 200 pesos for this treat. Not bad. :)

Ingredients:

3/4 kilo of beef
2 pcs tomatoes
1 pc white onion
1 pack of taco flavoring
1 pack of shredded cheese
1 pack of taco chips

How to prepare:

1. Brown beef on a skillet; drain excess liquid; add taco flavoring and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Spread taco chips on plate, put 3-4 spoonfuls of cooked beef; top it with cubed tomatoes, onions and cheese.
3. Serve with cold drink.

Letting You and I Fly love

2011-06-21T03:44:00.000-07:00

Song: Fly Love (part of the OST of the animated film Rio, which I haven't seen yet)
Artist: Jamie Foxx

My housemate always plays this song at night to kill time; a soothing music to keep us company as we keep ourselves busy over the internet. Today, I bumped into the audio of this song posted on the Facebook profile of a person who I know for more than four years but I never really paid much attention about his existence. Hey you, your choice of music finally caught my attention.

Last Friday Night...

2011-06-13T01:48:00.000-07:00

Song: Last Friday Night (TGIF)
Artist: Katy Perry

Top 5 moments:

1. When Katy woke up, shouting Friday
2. Seeing Rebecca Black on the video
3. The funny way Katy run towards her house (around 4:14 in the video)
4. The band playing in the garden is Hanson. (Mmmmbop!)
5. Katy Perry made a hilarious video for this song!

Aelita: Paints Over Barbie

2011-06-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

Her name is Aelita Andre, a child painting prodigy. At first, I have doubts about the talent of this kid (her parents are so nice to allow their kid to mess with paints) but when I saw the scene where she carefully laid the painted mask on the bed of glitter glue (4:06 in the video), I was in awe.

War of My Life (John Mayer you're a genius)

2011-05-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

Come out angels,
Come out ghosts,
Come out darkness,
Bring everyone you know.
I'm not running,
and I'm not scared,
I am waiting,
And well prepared.

I'm in the war of my life,
At the door of my life,
Out of time
and there's nowhere to run

I've got a hammer,
And a heart of glass
I gotta know right now
which walls to smash
I got a pocket
Got no pills
If fear hasn't killed me yet,
then nothing will
All the suffering and all the pain
Never left a name

I'm in the war of my life,
at the door of my life,
out of time
and there's nowhere to run
I'm in the war of my life,
at the core of my life
Got no choice but to fight til its done

No more suffering, no more pain
Never again

I'm in the war of my life,
at the door of my life,
out of time
and there's nowhere to run
I'm in the war of my life,
at the core of my life
Got no choice but to fight til its done

So fight on,
fight on everyone
fight on
got no choice but to fight til it's done
I won't give up
I won't run
I won't stop for anyone

Fuck yeah, it's my birthday!

2011-05-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

Did you know?

There are 24 hours in a day.

24 is the atomic number of Chromium.

24 is the sum of twin prime (11 + 13) numbers.

The 24th moon of Jupiter is Pasiphae.

And I turn 24 today.