Second 15K at the Mizuno Run...

This is a really late post. I've been swamped with work, and I already know the next two weeks would be swamped with work, but I also know that I have to write an entry in my blog. Thus, here I am. Haha! Bomalabs intro.

Last Sunday, I did my second 15K at the Mizuno Infinity Run. I joined the same run last year, but I joined the 10K group. The run was quite good. I did much better than The Green Miles Run. Unofficial time for Mizuno Run is about 1:49. For the Green Miles Run, I clocked in at 1:52. Not bad, huh?!

The race route was also much better. I was already quite familiar with the directions (or so I thought), even if I still can't remember the names of the streets at the Fort. This is from a guy who has attended more than 5 races at that venue. Hahaha!

The night before the run, I checked the race map which I downloaded from a blog one of the more serious runners. I was quite sure that in that map, the turning point was right before crossing the railroad at the Buendia and South Super Highway intersection. So when the guy doing the VO was reciting the race route, I was surprised when I heard that we would be crossing SSH and that we had to go a little further. The turning point was in Bautista. Shoot.

I had no problem with the distance. What I didn't like was having to run that area right after crossing SSH. First, there are more vehicles in that area. Aside from the buses that come from Ayala, you have provincial buses from SSH, the jeepneys from wherever, and other private vehicles. In short, the road's more dangerous and the pollution is more terrible. Ugh! But since there's really nothing I can do about it, I thought the best thing to do was to get out of that area fast. That's exactly what I did.

During the return run to the finish line, the last few kilometers are always a struggle. I had to call on Agnes, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry to help me cross the finish line. Hehehe! And so far, the girls have never failed me. Woohoo! It was extremely hot last Sunday so even if I downed several glasses of water and Gatorade along run, I was ultra thirsty when I crossed the finish line. Haha!

Compared to the other races, the Mizuno Run was much more simpler and with less fanfare. A quick reaction would be to say, "It's not as good as this run or that run." or "This run doesn't have that much oomph." But after giving things a little thought, I realized that it still was a good run. Sure, there wasn't that much post-run gimmickry, but the organizers took really good care of the actual run. There were enough directional signages. There were water stations at strategic points. Marshalls were present at several points of the race route to guide runners. The finish line was decent.

That's all that matters, I guess. After all, it was only recent when runs became more of a competition among corporate sponsors, right?! I'm not saying I don't like being surprised at how fantab this company or that company will mount the event. I'm just saying that the Mizuno Run still is a good run, because it satisfied the first and foremost reason why we all decided to get up at an ungodly hour on that Sunday morning - and that is to run, yeah? Everything else is just a bonus.

Mizuno Run. Check. Up next is the Earth Run. 16K, baby, 16K!

Kym + JoAnn = Love, Love. Love.

Today was a day full of cheesiness and romance. I love! Haha!

Earlier, my friend/former colleague Joann tied the knot with long-time (?) boyfriend Kym at the Antipolo Cathedral. I was lucky to have been invited to witness the lovebirds exchange vows. I can't remember the last wedding I've attended. I'm quite sure it was the wedding of someone I didn't know, and a girl friend just had to drag me to be her plus one. Hehehe!

See, having queer guy friends is good for single girl friends. Hehe! I've attended a number of weddings, baptisms of people I don't know because I had to accompany my single girl friends. Haha! And I'm always happy to do it. Who knows? The person who'll finally change my FB status might be at these events. Hahaha!

Anyway, going back to the wedding, the plan was to meet up with office friends at Reena's house. I arrived at her place around 2PM. When I got there, she and Mich were already prepping. Minutes later, Rhyz and Stephie arrived. When we left Reena's home, I was with four gorgeously made up ladies. Can you say hawt-e?! Haha! I, on the other hand, just wore black pants, leather shoes and a white shirt. The barong was worn when we got to the church.

We reached the church just in time. Joann was waiting in the bridal car. We got to say hi to her before we went inside the church to find seats. It was a beautiful and moving ceremony. Weddings are like that, I guess. Seeing two people profess their love for one another and their desire to stay together til whatever does something. It restores one's faith in love and relationships. Ugh! Cheesy! Hahaha!

I didn't like the homily of the priest though. Ulk. He didn't have one central idea. His thoughts were all over the place He touched certain issues that made me go, "Oh puhlease." Jeez, the homily was as generic as it can be. Hay! And the Church wonders why the drop in the number of churchgoers.

Moving on, I had a grand time taking photos of the couple and the ceremony, even if I wasn't an official photographer. The church staff were already giving me a "get-down-from-the-altar" look but I didn't care. Hehe! This was one of the situations where the training in work to get the needed photo came in very handy. Hahaha!

An hour and a half after the bride and the groom marched down the aisle and sealed their love for one another with a kiss and so much more, we left the cathedral and headed to the reception venue. The dindin was held at the Velada Estate. The place is quite nice. Perfect garden reception venue. I didn't stay for the duration of the party though. I had to leave early because of the Mizuno Run tomorrow. Thankfully, colleague/friend Kring had to leave early and I was able to ride with her. Otherwise, it would have been difficult commuting from Antipolo to QC. Hehe!

Really nice cheesemax Saturday night! Congrats Kym and Joann! :)

Unplanned dindin at Sonya's...

First few photos from Hanschen...

Here are some of the first few photos from Hanschen.

I'm really loving the macro shot feature. Hehehe! :)

Jeez, whoever made the LX3, I worship you guys. Astigggg ng macro! I feel like a cataract patient who's undergone a cataract removal surgery. Haha!

Anyway, I'm just sharing these random shots of little things on my desk. Gotta sleep na. It's almost 1AM. Eeeep!!!

Night, night.

LX is love...

The day after Easter was more of like Christmas day for me. A really, really good Christmas day. Hehe! I felt like a little boy who held in his hands the toy he's been wanting for a long time.

Only, in this case, I'm definitely a little boy no more and the toy we're talking about is a Lumix LX3.

Around lunch time, I got a text message from colleague Rosy. It read, "Monet and Angelo. Your cameras are here!!! (smiley face)!"

Moneigh and I hurried to the 27th floor where we found the other "kids" - Rosy and Karlo - busily tinkering with their new toys. Haha!

About a month ago, our wonderful "fairy godmother" mentioned over dinner that she could probably get us the LX3 during her trip to HK. She said it is waaay cheaper. It is!!! I looked around in some stores and the selling price was between P27K and 29K. We got ours for P21K, including a filter, a case and a 4GB SD card. It's a good deal, yeah?!

The best thing about it, we could pay in installment. Haha! After doing the math, we all decided to get the camera. Woohoo! I was really, really excited over it because this is my first digicam ever. Hehe! The last camera I owned was the one with an Advantix film. And that was a million years ago.

For my trips, I borrow from friends who are kind enough to trust me with their cameras. Hehe! For the trip to Jolo, I borrowed from Edsel. For the Vietnam, SG, Cambodge, KL trips, I borrowed from Tey. For some weekend trips, I borrowed from Engel. The other times, I'm just lucky to have a card reader or a USB with me so I can save the photos. Hehe!

Now, I need not worry about what camera to bring on my next trip. And heaven knows I love to point and shoot especially during trips. (For the Cambodge trip, there were about 1,000 plus photos!!!) Hehe!

So, yeah, I'm really, really happy that I now have this new toy. Never mind if I have to deprive myself a couple of weekend gimiks. Hehehe! The new toy is really worth it. I still have to read the manual (which I don't like doing) and I have to familiarize myself with the features).

By the way, the new toy (and the newest sib of Ben and Stefan) has a name - Hanschen. Hehe!

You and I will take beautiful photos together. Wahaha!

Uneventful eventful week...

I don't really know what to write about. Nothing ultra spectacular has happened since Tuesday so I'm not really sure what to put here. Haha!

But I want to post something. It helps me keep writing, and putting my thought into words is much better than doing nothing productive on this holy day. I'll just recount what has been happening from the time I fell sick last Tueday until uhm right now, which is Friday, 5:23PM.

It was a bit of a stressful week. I really can't go into details, but the weekend was filled with phone calls because my boss and I had to make something happen. Thankfully, heaven was shining on us and that thing that needed to take place did take place. At least, I'm assured that I still have a job right after this long Holy Week break. Hehe!

TUESDAY

Tueday night, I had my usual gym routine at Gold's. Since I was late for spinning, I decided to hit the treadmill and do a 5K. Having ran a couple of 10Ks now, it seemed but natural to make the 5K as the base distance for runs at the gym. Once the treadmill's digital display showed that I have hit my target, I went to the locker room to change.

Up next was dance class. I don't mind missing the spinning class, but Reagan's dance class is one class I can't miss. It always, always gives me an endorphin high. The class is tiring, very tiring. The routine for the past two weeks has been footwork intensive. I do enjoy the class, but I have to say it really drains me. Haha!

After dance, I changed again and I also got my mat for an hour of asanas. Usually, I'd still have so much energy come yoga class but last Tuesday night was different. I didn't have the strength to do some of the poses. I was feeling weak. When the teacher finally bid us "Namaste," I hung around to recover.

And when I finally decided to get up and hit the shower, I felt the sudden change in body temperature. I had chills and in the shower, I was freezing. Something was wrong, that's for sure.

WEDNESDAY

Come Wednesday, I was feeling feverish. I brought my gym clothes just in case there was no gimik with the office gang or non-work friends. Well, guess what, I had an eventful Wednesday night. I texted JB to ask whether the get-together would push through. He said yes. By 8PM, I was standing along Ayala Ave. waiting for a cab to take me to BHS. There was no traffic, but there were no cabs either. I dunno. Maybe everyone really decided to head out of the city for the break.

Anyway, I finally got a cab and made my way to BHS. After thanking the cab driver and giving an insane tip, I walked to Chelsea where I found the boys halfway through their dinner. The rest of the gang showed up later that night.

From Chelsea, we took a walk down BHS. There's an ongoing exhibit/art installation in BHS. The subject? Stations of the Cross. It was presented very differently though. Quite interactive, I have to say. No, don't worry. You didn't have to get nailed to a cross. But the entire setup was definitely a crowd drawer. I dunno until when the installations would be there, but do head to BHS asap to check it out.

Our last stop for the night was a yogurt shop at Piazza in McKinley HIll. I'm really liking that place. If it weren't unfriendly to commuters, it would be a nice community to live in. Hehe! Anyway, we spent a good couple of hours just chatting about all sorts of things.

It was definitely a fantab time. Good food, good company, good time. There was nothing more I could ask for at that moment. (Well, fine. It would be nice if there were an SO making sure I wouldn't faint because of the fever that got worse by the minute. Hehe! Sorry, OA.) But with or without SO, I definitely enjoyed the company of the guys. Not even the f-ing fever was enough to keep me down. I may have looked like a walking ball of plague that night, but inside I was really a ball of sunshine just happy to be around my people. Hehehe! You know what I mean.

THURSDAY AND TODAY

Thursday and today were spent at home. Thanks to the fever, there wasn't really much I could do yesterday. The most that I got accomplished was bring some sense of order to a storage/warehouse which is otherwise known as my room. Hehe! Pahinungod friends invited me for a day trip to a resort north of Manila, but I had to say no because of the fever. Sacristan friends invited me to our traditional Visita Iglesia, but I had to say no because of the fever. Ugh!

It was only today that I got much better. Temperature's back to normal. I've finally started to sweat again. And I'm already able to move around comfortably. I did get to do a lot of things today. One of this is cataloguing my book collection. The books I have are all in plastic crates. I placed the books there because they will keep on gathering dust if I just leave them outside.

I was surprised to find out that I've got close to a little over 100 books in my collection. More than half are queer-themed. I got to say that I'm really happy to have a good collection of queer fic and nonfic. I think I'll also catalogue the DVDs I've bought through the years. My problem, sometimes, when I go to a video store is now know whether I have a particular title already. So, yeah. I think a DVD catalogue would also be helpful. I'll probably do that tomorrow.

Wow, it has been a busy week, huh?! Even with the vacation, the time away from work, there were still so much that was done. I like it. And there is much more to be done. Hehe! Aside from cataloguing the DVDs, I've got to buy extra plastic crates, I need to have the Geraldine Javier collages fixed, I must bring the James Jean signed print to Gallery Frames, I have to get rid of some clothes and bags, I need to take my barong Tagalog to the drycleaners for Joanne's wedding, I have to find time to visit an aunt who's in the hospital for several days now, and so on. Toxic, I know. But I like it. It's much better than being idle. Haha!

What I like more though is that I might have a new toy this Tuesday. I don't want to spill the details yet because I'm afraid it might get jinxed. I'm relying on a friend/colleague to deliver the new toy and I won't find out until Tuesday if it's a success. Haha! Let's just say that Ben and Stefan might have a new brother soon. Woohooo!

Anyway, enough about me. How have you been?