distance: 5 km
time: hh:33:27
this weekend was so occupied with:
gone around alabang last saturday, stops: honda alabang to get a quotation for insurance coverage (the car needs some works to do). passed by festival mall and almost..almost bought a diesel shoes. good thing i was with my mom and sister, and their powers combined were too strong that i realize i don’t need a new shoes afterall. i’m still in saving mode right now. frugality. i have to remind myself over and over again.
evening of saturday = pyrolympics at MOA with lomo friends. ‘went there with glai. late!!! they have 2 shows every saturday, one at 7pm and other at 9pm. we missed the first one of course, and we were still literally looking for a parking space when the second one started! imagine me, armed with a tall tripod and a big camera around my neck, running and searching for a better view of the fireworks, my shirt soaked with sweat, but still, i had futile attempts to capture the show. my gulay, please, even for just one single shot. please come out looking decent. needless to say, most of what i got were human heads and silhouettes of fellow watchers ahead us….and as i’m folding my tripod, a bystander passed by us, commenting, "nice shots?". whatta!!!! haha i’m totally humiliated!
then we met the rest of the lomo gang behind hooters (yes, we have hooters philippine already, it’s right beside MOA, at the very end of san miguel lines of restaurant). there’s a mitsubishi lancer car exhibit going on nearby, and we take a peek inside it. they’re featuring the new lancer ex. all i have for it is one word. wow. i really really like a mitsu lancer, but it’s a bit pricey as compared to honda’s cheapest car, city, we settled for the latter.
some shots by glai at the exhibit, as i’m still under the spell of shame as to what happened to my pyro shots.
going back next saturday! that would be my last chance!!
the "best" shot i have. whatta!!?!? madness.
sunday. today. just at home, doing official business stuff, ran a couple on the tread earlier, and getting ready for the C++ training tomorrow!
arguably the country in asia most heavily-influenced by the west. where people watch and more than eager to know who won the american idol (us) premiere.
====================================================
on another note, allow me to tell you what has been happening lately…well, i’ve been going home late the past few days. in fact, i just finished my dinner (at home), and i think i could do a quick post before crashing to bed. the good thing though (is it?) is that i’m not getting hampered because of work. last wednesday was ice skating night. the last time i tried this was in hong kong couple of years ago, (where i met several good friends =D ) so the other day, we went there after office, and even there’s a bit of thunderstorm and some of the crew can’t make it, we still decided to go on. i only have jug (holga) with me so no digital-instant-photo that i could link in right now…and speaking of that, i dropped by digiprint glorietta01 (they moved from ayala mrt station) after office today to have some 5 rolls developed, and yes, that includes an experimental roll of redscale on 120..so crossing my fingers what will happen….and so ‘will probably be posting lomo pics soon. afterwards, we headed to greenbelt and had 3 rounds of dota tourney.
and to talk about dinner, yes, i have one overly satisfied stomach at the moment in line of my goal to at least reach 130 lbs. i’m around 126 lbs at the moment (sigh). the heaviest i’ve been entire is at 146 or 147 lbs, so i think i could still earn on some pounds. probably the biggest factor i’m losing weight is the everyday commute to work. 
dinner? some fried torta, a ton of rice, 2 rounds of soggy noodle soup, and since we ran out of iced tea (powdered), i made myself a tall BUCKET of fresh calamansi juice.
ZZZzzzZzzZZzzzz…zzZZZzzZZ
good night. er, ohayo gozaimasu!
however, before eating, i did a quick run on the tread.
distance: 3 km
time: hh:17:56
south-east asia → philippines → metro manila → manila
this post is so overdue, but anyway, manila ocean park with my mom, sister, and cousin weeks ago. ‘got free tix from my sister, so i guess it’s not bad to tag along. this facility is behind quirino grandstand, near rizal park. obviously incomplete at distance outside, it’s significantly smaller compared to hong kong ocean park. although both facility carries ‘ocean park’ in their name, each belongs to totally different category, i guess. hong kong ocean park is more of an amusement park with rides, wildlife park (other than sea creatures) showcasing pandas, birds, butterflies, etc. and live show of trained animals (birds, dolphins, sea lions, and seal). while manila ocean park, for now, is simply an oceanarium. it’s the largest aquarium facility in the philippines (if not the only), and it features a wide variety of species ranging from fishes to sharks, lots of sting rays, and a giant crab. when completed, it will include a specialty mall, some restaurants, and outdoor pools. at the moment, it’s a complex containing fish tanks that you could go around and see fishes and be done in about one hour and a bit. and at 400 pesos entrance fee, it’s a bit pricey.
apart from the fish tanks, they have an area where you could have ‘fish foot spa’. if i remember it right, it’s 100 or 200 pesos for 20 minutes. basically, you dip your bare feet in a reservoir with some species of small fishes, and they’ll feast on your feet’s dead skin [cells?]. although it sounds completely exotic, we didn’t catch the bait. another extra feature is a glass bottom boat. from the advertisement, you’ll take a boat ride, and the bottom of boat is glass, hence the name (eureka!) unbelievably, there’s a queue going on for this "extraordinary" boat ride. after walking the whole building for hours, seeing fishes, sharks, and sting rays swarm around, from flat aquariums, to gigantic ones, to open water aquariums, and especially from that one, where you enter a long walkway tunnel with 220-degree curved acrylic walls, i couldn’t possibly think why one would suddenly desire to see these water creatures from a boat with a clear bottom? isn’t that enough? give the fishes a break please.
the oceanarium is owned by a chinese subsidiary company in the philippines, and although it’s good to see facilities like this arising in the metropolis, i wish we could have something wholly owned by the government. apparently, the only thing that happens when government intervenes is …sadly, delays. NAIA terminal 3? where art thou?
i better stop now before i turn this post into a rant. good night.
more pics -> here
this is from google adsense on the right side of my blog. and surprisingly for some reasons, there’s a bit of truth in it! "How I Lost My Belly Fat?" yup, i’ve been losing a lot recently. since i started working again in manila, i lost more than 25 pounds. looking at my pictures from late last year, it’s really a drastic change. to counter this unpleasant happening, i’ve asked my mom to put in extra rice in my lunch box, and starting now, i tried to eat more than what i normally consume. even for dinner, i don’t stop until i feel like puking. i still run on the tread though. i normally do a 5-km, 3-4 times a week, more or less 30 minutes each. planning to make it at 10km straight, i guess i can still handle it. 
"new zealand guided walks". well this is undoubtly one of the most beautiful landscapes on planet earth. as seen from lord of the rings movies, stunning vista, green endless pastures, and of course it’s the land of the "middle earth"! i hope i could go here in the future.
for some strange reasons, i received a lot of birthday greetings today, mostly from the office. even my boss messaged me! and a lot asking for birthday treat (cheeseburger! cheeseburger!). some of them even seems so sure that it’s indeed my birthday and suspected that i’m just denying it! to make it clear, no, it’s not my birthday today. honest.
it started when one of my officemates changed her YM status announcing my birthday loudly.
*thanks to glai for the kung fu pic *
