Barking for the environment...

The entire month of April has just been crazy, really crazy.

It was mainly because of our Earth Day participation. But aside from providing the publicity and communications support for those activities, there were other special projects that needed attention at the same time.

So, it was crazy. Just crazy.

Things are starting to normalize now though. I still have to work on some post-Earth Day press releases et al, but I can say that I'm breathing properly again. Haha!

Speaking of Earth Day, we had our culminating activity last week. It was a walk your dog event, and I have to say that it was my favorite amon all the Earth Day 2010 activities.

Billed Bark for the Environment: A 1.5K/3K Walk Your Dog event, the activity gathered animal lovers and earth lovers together on an early Sunday morning in the name of our dear Mother Earth.

The event was extremely special and memorable for me because I was part of the two-person team that mounted the event. My work colleague Sam was on top of the whole event, while I was in charge with the communications/publicity support. I did find myself though helping out in organizing the "race...errr, walk."

A day before the event, we were at the Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife in QC supervising the setup for the walk the following day.

Having attended all those organized runs certainly helped. It gave me ideas on how to mount the event, how to dress up the venue, what the starting line should look like, among others.

I felt really, really good when our fantab supplier was already mounting the event streamer on top of the starting line arch. Who would've thought that the race participant would be a race organizer?! Hahaha!

I know, I know. It's a small thing and it's nothing as big as the runs at the Fort, but I'm really proud with the outcome of the event.

There were close to 180 participants. Wait, I have to clarify that further. About 100 humans and some 80 dogs attended the event. Hehe!

The event was really amusing. Canine friends in all breeds, shapes and sizes arrived and they were all so cute. There were a couple of really cute owners as well. Wahaha! Would've been a perfect opportunity to walk up to someone and say, "Cute dog. Not that surprising, because your pet's got a cute owner." Wahahaha! Really terrible pickup line. Hahaha!

One of the highlights of the event was a commitment wall where we asked participants (both humans and animals) to make their pledge for the environment by placing hand and paw prints on our commitment wall. I thought it was fantab seeing everyone do it.

We ended the entire thing around 9AM. We had to keep it short, because the weather was starting to get too hot for the dogs. Seriously.

So that's it really. I'm really, really happy that the even turned out well. All the dogs behaved. All the humans were cooperative. And in the end, we were all just happy to have had that venue to walk and bark for the environment. Arf!

Tey's Big 3-0...

Brothers & Sisters fans, do you remember that episode where Jason Mccallister and Kevin Walker were volunteered to organize the engagement party of Kitty and Robert? Jason says something like, "What... Gay person equals brilliant party planner?", before nodding his head in agreement.

I have to agree with that. Haha! At the office, for example, I always find myself in party planning mode after blurting out ideas for parties. Thankfully, my colleague and good friend Moneigh aka Maver was also blessed with the party planning gene. She's been doing it for some quite time now, and loves it very much. It's really great tossing around ideas with her. For two years in a row now, we planned the party of our dear Group Head. Last year, we found ourselves planning the "Smart" party of our President & CEO!!!

Though it's more work for us, I must say Iike it. Haha! It's a welcome distraction from the usual stuff at work.

Anyway, I recently found myself putting on my party planning hat. This time, it's for a very important person in my life, someone I really love - Tey. My friendship with Tey started in June of 1996! The venue is some old campus along Padre Faura. Haha! After college, we stayed in touch and managed to keep the friendship alive despite work, despite living in different parts of the city. In 2007 (and largely thanks to her), we "reconnected" big time when I started working for the same company. Even better, we are in the same department. To cut a long story short, the 14-year friendship and counting with Tey is one of the best things I have in my life.

So, when Tey said that she didn't want to do anything for her big 3-0, it was only natural that I object and say that I will put together the party for her and her LP friends.

And that's what I did.

Work has been majorly, majorly toxic for the past two months. We're holding a month-long celebration of Earth Day, and I'm a one-man team providing communications and publicity support to the activities. Still, I found the time to insert menu planning, decor making, coordination with friends, downloading theme music, and so on. I have to thank the heavens though because our good friends Zet and Engel also helped out. Maver, on the other hand, made a fantab chili con which we served during the party and which everybody loved.

The theme of the party was something like "Tey Aragon: Soaring to 30." I know, I know. It's similar to the PAL anniv theme. But that's exactly the inspiration. Tey is a huge fan of traveling, so that sort of became the theme for the party. We converted her place to some kind of airport (Thank you, Mumbai Int'l Airport, for the hi-res photo! Haha!). We added some banners and balloons to add more festivity. I downloaded some "plane announcements." So in between Agnes and Katy Perry, the guests would suddenly hear "Mga binibini, ginang at ginoo..." Wahaha!

It seemed like Tey had a good time at her party. I'd like to think so. I wasn't able to stay the entire time, because I had the 16K Earth Run the following day, and I had to leave around 10PM. Boo! But I think Tey really did enjoy. Thanks to friends who showed their love for Tey by showing up. Thanks to Lance for prepping games. Thanks to the LP gang for being always present. Hehehe! Happy birthday, Tey. Love you, love you always.

So, that's it really. Another party "success" brought to you by the gay gene. Wahaha!

The HM is just 5K away...

I’m one kilometer closer to doing a 21K!!! Woohoo!

Last Sunday, I ran 16K at the Earth Run. This was just a week after I did the 15K at the Mizuno Infinity Run.

Never mind if I felt like my legs were still wobbly (or it’s probably just in my head). Never mind that my only practice for that run was one 10K run during the week. Never mind that I only had five hours of sleep the night before the run.

I just had to do it. (On a side note, may sense naman pala talaga ang Nike tagline na “Just do it.” I used to think na wala lang. They just wanted a tagline. Kidding. Haha!)

A little before 5AM, I met up with I-vanchy at our usual parking lot. After prepping ourselves for the run, we decided to head to the starting line to do some stretching and to do some eyecandy spotting. Hehehe! I shouldn’t have written that. But since I already did, I have to say I’m kinda bummed out that I didn’t see Boy Braso. Neither did I see him at the Mizuno Run. Boo!

Boy Braso is this non-work colleague, who I only see at the canteen during afternoon merienda and sometimes at noontime when I step out of the office with Tey and Engel for some sun. Hehehe!

Anyway, even with no Boy Braso in sight, I was still game for the run. I have to say I was quite excited because the race route included the Heritage Park/Mckinley Hill area. I’ve only ran in that area once, so I was looking forward to reaching that area.

We started the run at 5:30AM. I was really happy to notice that I seem to have been building my endurance. I was already at the Kalayaan flyover when I decided that I needed to slow down, get hydrated, before hitting the road again. Yey!

The run was nice. The weather that morning was much, much better during the Mizuno Run. It wasn’t too sunny, and there were certain parts of the run when a cool breeze blew into my face. I also enjoyed the route, even if the Heritage Park/Mckinley Hill area was a killer for the knees. Wahaha!

The best thing about the run was I did good with my time. The Green Miles Run | 15K | 1:52. Mizuno Run | 15K | 1:49. Earth Run | 16K | 1:52. Not bad, huh?!

The other really good thing about the run was the post-run photo op. Wahaha! It has already become a tradition for me an running buddy I-vanchy to head back to the race venue after we freshen up a bit to take some photos. Of us, of the gimmicks, of the eyecandy. Wahaha!

This has to be one of my fave photo op sessions. I liked the photos, particularly the one where we sat on the road with the arrow sign. But really? Would you expect anything less from an ad agency guy and a PR/CorpComm guy?! Hehehe! Ooops, just kidding, just kidding. Baka mabugbog ako. Nagbibiro lang po. Hehehe!

The definitely not good thing about the run was seeing all the plastic drinking cups from the race littering the stretch of the Kalayaan flyover. Ugh! Whattashet! I thought this run was for the environment. That’s exactly the foremost reason why I signed up for it. And then I see all these plastic drinking cups on the street?! Jeez! What’s up with that?

Moving on, if my running schedule will continue to be like this, I’m scared that I might be prepared for a half-marathon (Wow! Half-marathon! It feels so good to write that!) sooner than I might have expected. I’ve been planning to do my first HM at the Singapore Run this December. Hmm, I’m wondering now if I should go do my first HM here so that come December, I would (hopefully) do much better with my time.

Let’s see. Let’s see.

Happiness is a stone’s throw away... and it starts at P30...

A couple of months ago, good friend/colleague/food trip buddy Moneigh brought us Koren ice drops as pasalubong from one of her lunch outs. She bought the fantab dessert from a Korean store somewhere in Makati Ave.

We crave for the sweet treat every now and then. Since the store is in Makati Ave. we don’t have time to go there during work days and so we just wait for days when everyone’s up for a lunch out.

Well, now we don’t have to wait for another lunch out. Thanks to whoever, Korean ice drops are just a stone’s throw away from the office. The goodies are being sold at the Country Style store at the corner of Sedeño and Herrera.

It was a bit amusing because there were so many ice cream flavors, but since the product label is in Korean (Hanggul?), we couldn’t understand a thing. What’s even more amusing was the girl behind the cashier trying to figure out the price for each item. Hehehe! Poor thing. I’m sure in time she’ll remember how much this flavor costs, and how much that one costs.

Moneigh, Engel and I enjoyed the sweet cool treat so much that we decided to bring back some of the goodies for our colleagues. Spread the calories! Hahaha!

And guess what, iisa ang boses ng masa. The ice drops are superrr! Haha!

My faves are the kiwi ice drop and the choco chiffon ice cream cake. Wahahaha!

Alright, time to stop reading this and time to start heading to that store.

Dindin with the Inocians...

I swear I love Facebook. I love the Internet. I love Facebook.

Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and his team of geniuses, I was able to reconnect with classmates from grade school, my altar boy days barkada, and my college friends.

Not to be mushy, but most of the friends I have made in UP are the most important people in my life, or at least people I really care about. Usually, we hear people say that friends for life are found during high school. Not for me. It was during college. It was at the University I will always love.

And thanks to Facebook, I was able to find treasured friends.

Last night, Tey and I met up with a blockmate whom we haven't seen for the longest time - Tsin. She was our classmate for only a semester, but that one semester was more than enough to cement our friendship for a lifetime. Haha! Mushy!

Anyway, the reason why Tey and I met up with Tsin was because another classmate (and another friend I love to death), Charmy, saw some of the dresses Tsin is selling and wanted to buy a few pieces. Thanks to Facebook (again!), Charmy, who is now based in the US, was able to easily contact me and ask me to get the dresses for her from Tsin. A couple of phone calls, mouse clicks, and taps on my phone keypad, the meetup was scheduled.

I can't remember the last time I saw Tsin. My last recollection of seeing her was at the College of Fine Arts canteen a million years ago. So again, thank you, Facebook, for reconnecting UP Manila’s Orcom Block 11 Batch 2000 once again.

We met up at BHS, and headed to Friday's. Her husband, JC, joined us for dindin. I thought they’d bring the adorable kiddies with them. Saw some of pics of the kids and they’re really adorable!

For a couple of hours, we just talked about college and our classmates, and what's been happening with each other's lives. Definitely good dindin time.

Later tonight, I have to bring the dresses to Charmy's house. Her Dad and sister fly to the US tomorrow. I have to pass by Via to get one of the dresses, since Tsin wasn’t able to bring it with her.

Lagare ito. Haha! But I’m really happy because I get to keep in touch with my UP gang.

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! :)