BOO!!!

this post should have been published days ago… i was busy and then i thought – wag nalang kaya? but looking at the photos a while ago… i can not bear not to share it

so here goes…

this year, same as last, i volunteered to accompany my nephew trick or treating. my nephew’s costume is a dragon — according to my friend mimi, the co-founder and owner of bumblebee. but because of the color na green and purple, people kept on saying, “hello, barney!”, o kaya naman, “look! it’s barney!”, hahahahaha! he would often say,”hinde! dancing dragon ako,”… then later on napagod na sya. sabi na nya, “tita anne, sabihin mo sa kanila, dragon ako.” DRAGON nga kasi! hehehe.

mukha bang dragon?

medyo right? hehe...

despite the back to back typhoon, calamities and tragedies our country have experienced, it is a refreshing break to finally be a part of something festive.

waiting...

the hulk with his pumpkin

sister, this way pls...

cute face, scary painting

more photos at random nice things…

i was up and excited by 4am and woke up mark who slept over so we can go together for the big event! the adidas king of the road 2009! this will be my first 5k run as the last time sa smash and run we ran 3k only, hehehe… together with some senior citizens and kiddos so, this one is really something i look forward to. i tried to train and jog despite my busy, busy week and despite the weather.

we arrived at the fort a few minutes before gun start and you feel everyone’s excitement. so, naturally as we ran along we lose each other especially kung hindi kayo magkaka pace.

1. gathering up for the gunshot

2. with first time runners don and minette

i kept on looking over my watch kasi alam ko sa UP oval which is 2.2k kaya ko sya ikutin 2x by 40mins only so i think kaya ko naman ang 5k ng less than 1hr… so i was in a wonder na why i was far from the finish line by the time i’ve been running for 55mins so i kept on running/walking lang… aba nakakapagod no kaya me walking. i finished at around 1hr 3mins i guess… was a little disappointed but happy that i was able to finish the run…

3. can you see me? i was sooooooooooo tired....

but wait! wait! wait! apparently, the route we took was not just 5k as originally planned… it turned out we ran an extra 1.41k!!! woohoo!!! this is very good news! how did we find out? syempre the mayayabangs quickly posted the achievement as soon as they went home after the race… some even via mobile phone posting shoutouts via twitter and facebook… ako, i waited until after lunch na… hehehe. then, this morning a friend commented on my fb shoutout saying :

apparently, that was 6.41. there you go. you’ve ran more than 5k now!

4. the supposed to be route and the actual route

oh wow! oh wow! oh wow! we googled it and true enough… via i2runner in this post, we found out we ran more than the planned 5k. i quickly spread the news espcially to those who ran with me in the 5k

5. team 5k (fr right to left) : mark, thets, minette and me

photos : 1, 2 and 3 by my cousin ica; 4 from www.i2runner.com and 5 by my officemate joey using my phone cam.

PS : if you have not tried the social vibe in this blog, so do by clicking on the social vibe badge at the right side of the screen

hello readers!

notice at the left side of my blog template is the social vibe widget. from it’s homepage…

social vibe  is a “social media utility connecting people with brands, empowering them to engage with sponsors and share branded content with their social graph to benefit a cause of their choice”,

how? by simply clicking on the widget and doing a very simple activity. it will only take not more than 2 minutes of your time… easy diba?

my chosen organization is world wildlife fund – an international organization dedicated to evironmental conservation by protecting the nature for more than 45 years now.

so, this requests you to help me raise funds for wwf by doing this simple social vide acitivity, every hit you make is a corresponding donation to wwf.

thank you!

from the random nice things post today…

last weekend was not a time to relax or rest for us. after more than 12 months of stay in our las villas in valle verde apartment, my friends and i are moving out and moving in to a new one. saturday was spent, doing last minute errands, taking to our previous home management and to the new building management, packing things, throwing away excess stuff that will soon turn into clutter, saying goodbye (well, not really kasi we we’re somehow avoiding the dramas…), cleaning up, moving out…

endless packing

and moving up! yes, finally i convinced rhea to move to a building and try out the condo life.

view from the living room

it was not an easy weekend indeed. we have our move team which includes my favorite brother – eggie (nevermind that he is my only brother basta favorite ko sya) and the 2 good friends of rhea’s brother (nasa london na kasi si keith so he sent representatives, hehehe), do endless tasks of moving. hay… sobrang pagod! we had dinner at nearly midnight na … naturally hindi kami natapos to unpack. we, had to call it a day and tried to sleep but was not able to do so soundly because th aircon is not working properly

sigh… so i woke up early sunday to continue cleaning up and unpacking. we had to run to the mall to buy kitchen tools and other basic stuffs, drop by to our previous apartment to clean up some more and i had to go to the grocery pa to buy our supplies… i was so, so, so0000000 tired… i kept on hitting shelves and other people in the grocery with my cart — endless apologies from me. and it’s already 5:30pm! i had to rush to megamall pa to claim our race packet for the adidas king of the road 2009 and the claiming is only up to 7pm only! i need to hurry! i had to call rhea so i need not drive all the way to basement 5 to park the car. i told her to meet me at the lobby para mag mrt nalang ako kasi sale sa megamall and sabi ng kapatid ko super dami daw ng tao… so, i had to hitch a ride until edsa central and walk all the way to megamall. grabeng pagod na pagod na pagod na pagod na ko…

i was literally about to faint of stress lack of energy when a was hit by a random compliment from a stanger

she was there manning the entrance area of the claimin stations and i was just looking through her. as in i am not paying attention because gusto ko nalang matapos na ang gagawin at umuwi nalang. then out of the blue, she told me. “ma’am, i like your top,” and gave me a sweet smile. she made me smile and she made me feel so much lighter.

taken at the hotel

giving strangers random acts of kindness like a smile, compliment or a simple hello can indeed do wonders. at least sa akin effective sya. this girl made me feel likeable (kahit and meant nya ay yung suot ko    ….) and she made me forget for a moment how tired i am.

is a virtue. this is what my mama would always say whenever we would as children start to raise our voice and simply refuse to just wait. 

today while i was on queue at the grocery and waiting for my turn, i hear this man yell at one of sm hypermart’s staff (he was holding a grocery push cart na apparently not working properly and pushed it over to the poor guy)… as in ang lakas ng boses nya. he said and i quote, “e kung sira to, alisin nyo na to dito! sipain ko pa yan eh,” all heads turn to him (mean no?) and then hindi pa sya naging happy dun… sabi pa nya, “you’re wasting our time!”

sigh…

really… what’s will he lose over 2 to 4 minutes to check over a perferctly working grocery cart? i don’t know… made me think — siguro at point in my life i may have lost my patience over such a petty thing. maybe in past i used to think my 5minutes which i thought was wasted was more important than other people’s feelings.

there is a reason why i saw this man make an ugly scene a while ago… maybe, this is God’s of telling me — “see, how embarassing it is to lose your patience over a petty thing? in this world of text messaging, emails, mobile phone calls, excellent customer service, atm machine, online services, 30-minute delivery and fast food services — patience is still a virtue.”

so next time i start to lose patience over :

1. a cashier who does not have enough change for my purchase and had to ask for change in the next counter,
2. a long queue in the building parking entrance
3. a long queue over the elevator lobby
4. my staff making me wait for a feedback or input ot report that is due an hour ago
5. over my sister endlessly talking about her day
6. and over other everyday routine… that is taking more time than usual…

there is nothing wrong with waiting… making a scene is not the solution. in the end, you will only regret it.

so, we must learn how to wait again….

proverbs 19:11

finally some good news for those in the north…

back to basic transporting...

from the philippine daily inquirer today.

Food, gas finally reach Baguio – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Shared via AddThis

take a moment to see this…

66% more people use the stairs if it’s more fun and this uses less energy too!

if only we can do this in the philippines too…

today, this lovely blog post from chuvaness :

photo by cecile van straten

chuvaness : Why does a single tablet need to placed in a plastic bag?

why indeed?!!!

i have read somewhere that your re-useable/eco bag used 2x a week for 2 years saves up to 832 plactic bags which is equivalent to 11 lbs of garbage and enough petroleum to drive you 60miles.

food for thought today and tomorrow and everytime you are given a plastic bag

back to posts about bangkok

my bangkok trip will not be complete without any shopping! and so with limited time to do some really serious shopping i would sneak from my group and do some shopping on my own

one thing that delighted me in bangkok “mall” shopping (e kasi nga no time to go to the bazaars) is that they are into re-using ang saving the planet too! because the emporium mall is just beside our hotel and office, this is where we would bump into each other while we do our shopping. i bought some dresses and remembered i forgot to bring in with me my reuseable bag because we came from the office. as i prepared to take my purchase, i was feeling bad kasi nga they will be put in a plastic, they handed these really nice paper bags made of recycled paper with some green reminders : think green, nature never goes out of style !

my favorite paper bag todate!

and then i saw this advertisement inside the mall that i can buy playhound’s limited edition eco/reuseable bag for only 400 bhat! so off i go to the basement level and looked for the bag. the bag is not an ordinary eco tote!

it's a body bag!

it has adjustable starps, you can easily tie it to what suits you. the fabric is so soft, you can fold it into a small square so it fits your purse and you can carry it along with you everywhere. the bag itself is a work of art so it’s stylish enough to carry with you anywhere.

upclose

green head is a dog!

more than that, emporium mall sell this very chic and durable re-useable bag as well for 299 bhat only , this is my pasalubong for my ate. she loves it and guess what, i can borrow it anytime i want

nice right?

emporium mall in thailand offers a complete range of shopping from clothes, to shoes, bags, home appliances and furniture and grocery, too! we bought cheese, dried fruit and nuts and some wine there as well…

mmmm.....

more bangkok experience on the next post.

sa google kahapon…

words that made him famous and big as he is now…

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

and while i was browsing through treehugger (one of my favorite blogs)… i bumped into this article – what would ghandi do? centainly not buy a luxury fountain pen.

He was speaking from his own experience as an activist and visionary. This vision continues to motivate people today. Whether fighting for climate change, creating innovative systems to help the underprivileged, or rebuilding a more local and sustainable world, people embrace Gandhi’s image and philosophy as a guiding framework.

For environmentalists, it’s not only his simple lifestyle that is a touchstone. His belief that change can only be motivated by embracing truth is also valuable in an age dominate by a debate over the severity of climate change and resource use. Commenting on the nature of progress, Gandhi said that:

Speed is irrelevant if you are going in the wrong direction.

gandhi's grandson holding the commemorative pen..

ironic nga naman. why would his grandson think that an expensive montblanc pen would be a good way to remember him?