McDonalds goes groovy

I am a huge McDonalds fan. French fries tops my list of comfort food, then there's nuggets, coke float, quarter pounder, and the list goes on and on. I'd gladly choose a McDonalds date over a formal dinner date. Aside from their food, what endears McDo more to me is their recent commercial. For those who have yet to see it, have look here:

This is definitely a better one than their previously released ad, the one that got too much attention from different sectors to the point that McDo had to voluntarily stop airing it. I myself did not like this:

After I saw this ad, I even posted this on my facebook wall " Don't go for the girl who only wants fries, go for the one who could buy her own fries" .

Enough said, all this mention of fries just made me crave for one. 

i expected a polvoron

I have been to 3 run so far and for my next run, and my judgment on whether or not to join a specific run will be based on the following criteria:

1st it should be an event organized by RUNRIO because I have noticed that runs organized by them are ummm  Organized? and second the it should be an event where my favorite couple Elaine and Emer should be running too. 

I joined the Goldilocks 45th anniversary run last May 15 because it was organized by runrio and Emer and Elaine will be running too. Not to mention the fact that the singlet was branded ( New balance) and I heard that the loot bags are nicely loaded . I did not expect a lot of runners because it coincided with at least 2 other runs and because the registration fee was a bit pricey. I was surprised to see it well attended, and most of the runners were female. Could it be because the ladies were expecting Goldilocks' endorser eye candy Dindong Dantes to run?

Had to do an early morning commute and met with the Emer and Elaine at 4:20am. We went straight to Bonifacio Global City and did our stretching first by Emer's car. We affixed our bibs and D-tags (timing chips) before going to the place where most runners were already congregating, We soon found ourselves behind the stage where a few celebrities were doing their pre-run stretch. The host for the event were DJ's from 89.9. Shivaker is indeed a looker.

Since there were a lot of runners, they have decided to have both the 10k and 5k  in 2 waves. We were running the 5k and have decided to run the on the 1st wave. We were guided to stretch while we were lined up and waiting for gun start. On the huge LED screen, images of Dingdong Dantes, the Eigenmann brothers and Wendell Ramos' huge arms were shown. They were to run the 5k too. After the gun start, Me, Elaine and Emer has decided to go our separate ways and just meet on left side of the finish line.

I definitely felt the difference of running with and without practice. As compared to my 1st 5k run, wherein I felt so tired after running for just 1k, this time, I breezed by the 1k mark still comfortably breathing. I have decided to try jogging until I reach 3k, however a little before 2k, I took a phonecall informing me that I have manpower issues at work. I had to make some phonecalls and fix it so I had no choice but to walk just so the person on the other line could understand what I was saying. After being able to create a temporary fix for my work-related trouble, I resumed running, this time a little bit faster, because I have come to realize that I would be needing to report for duty after the run. 

My official time for the run was 45:03. I chopped of a whole minute from my previous 5k run. I finished  a little before 7:00am and by that time the sun was already shining mightily. I immediately looked for Emer since I saw him pass me by early on in the race, I saw him already holding his loot bag and told me to get mine as well. I had to tell him that I will be needing his help to drive me to the airport after the run since I will be going on duty.

I had high expectations for this run's lootbag. After all it was an event sponsored by one of the biggest bakeshop chains in the country. Much to my disappointment, there was not 1 baked product in the lootbag!!! All I had was a pouch full of over-the-counter drugs, a can of tuna meatloaf,a bottle of water and a sportsdrink! I chugged the sports drink immediately. Here is a photo of the lootbag taken by Elaine who just like me got no use for the pain killers since we both are allergic to them.

 

 I felt bad  that I somewhat forced Emer and Elaine to leave the venue immediately. I know they have wanted to explore the other activities. We had time though to take some photos. Here's me and Elaine with running enthusiast and socialite Tessa Prieto Valdez:

 

Since this was the first race where we all wore a D-tag, Elaine took a photo of our shoes as well:

 

And here is a photo of me and Elaine. My face was still flushed. 

The race results was posted on BazuSports. Too bad I still can not download the photos from their site. I hope all runrio runs will post the race results like the way they posted it for the Goldilocks run. Click here to see my results. It's something more interesting than brag-worthy.

a day at the cove

I used to be a regular at Island cove.  Back in 2005, I lost major poundage playing tennis there. But I had to stop. Mainly because it was financial suicide if I continue. I was not playing competitively, I played with a trainer. So I had to pay for court usage charges, pay for the trainer fees and pay for the ball boy. Back then, what I was shelling out for my twice-weekly game was equivalent to a quarter of my monthly salary. 

My officemate recently spent a day with her family at Island cove and told me that her kids had loads of fun with what the place had to offer. I heard her say that they swam and biked around.  So in my endless quest to keep fit, I asked my nephew to go with me for an early morning bike.

Much has changed since the last time I was there. Very noticeable was the new CAVITEX. The new road that connects Kawit to Coastal road. So for those who will be coming from Manila, you can now be spared of the gruesome traffic along E. Aguinaldo Highway. Me, my nephew Jermaine and cousin Lara walked to the entrance.  Way back in 2005, I used to just enter freely and announce that I would be playing tennis, thereby exempting me from resort entrance charges. But when we got there, we were asked to pay 100 pesos each in exchange for IC (Island Cove... I guess) money that we could use for purchases inside the resort.Fair enough since I heard we are to pay 100 pesos for an hour of bike rental. This is a mandatory charge for everybody. Since I have also tried running inside the resort before. I can not help but ask if I will be charged should I not use any of the resort's facilities and just run around. Yup! I still need to pay entrance fees! I guess nothing really is free. But they offered me membership to their runner's club. For 300 pesos, I will be given an ID to grant me free access to the resort to run. This card is valid for a year. No thank you.

I was not aware that the bike rentals will not be available until 8:00 am ( We went there on a Friday, we were told that on weekends, they operate an hour earlier) We were there as early as 7:00 am. We walked around, visited the fishing village and spent a few moments by the poolside. Since I noticed that my nephew was losing his enthusiasm and was starting to feel bored. I challenged him to a game of chess. Here's a few shots courtesy of my cousin Lara:

 

Here is Maine with his Queen!

After our game.. actually once we saw the bike rental counter was already opened. We rearranged the chess pieces and chose our bikes. Lara and Jermaine picked mountain bikes, old fashioned me, I picked a BMX. After an hour of butt-punishing-leg-torturing biking, we decided to call it a day, or half a day and went home to a hearty breakfast. 

Find out more about ISLAND COVE.For a quick getaway from the summer heat!

There goes my February fund

Two consecutive blog posts? Does this mean I actually have a lot of time to keep my blog updated? Partly true. I have a lot of time because I am staying home...I am staying home because I am sick. Yup. Been calling in sick for two days. Truth is I really don't like using my sick leave credits. Because all my remaining sick leaves at the end of the year gets paid and they normally release it together with our February 15 salary. Yeah it may not be much. But it is something that I don't have to work hard for and it is something that I don't have to share with the government. I guess I just sneezed off 2 days of untaxable dough!

Another thing that makes being on sick leave so unappealing to me is the fact that even if I am not on duty, I still have to ensure that the schedule does not get interrupted. So should I be absent, I still should find a way to have the plottings ready for the days that I am away. I live, breath,dream schedule... I guess no one will be surprised, after all this is how my bed looks like:

The "Burberry" bedsheet was something I bought at a public market in Macau some 4 years back. Those hanging from my bed's headboard is something similar to what I post on our bulletin board: Staff roster.  The blue phone by my pillow is the 24/7 hotline for sick calls. And the book under it is something I would want to read someday!

What I got for 63 pesos

After almost a month, I did my second run.Most runners I know do their runs progressively, I did the exact opposite: I ran my 5k first before running my 3k! 

I would have wanted to run in the 5k as I have survived my 1st. but the event that I joined required a child partner and my only willing nephew was 10-year old Jermaine. Although he was willing to run in the 5k, he was only qualified to run in the 3k.

I registered for this run on the last day of registration as my nephew did not always show enthusiasm towards running. There would be days he'd wake me up early so we could jog around, but there were also times he'd rather stay home and play with his computer games. So before I finally registered, I had to get his 100% commitment, after all I wouldn't want to waste 500pesos.

After my duty last May 1 (last day for registration), I took an MRT ride to Ayala station.  I had to walk to Greenbelt 1. I am a rehabilitated mall rat, so I did not find the walk from Glorietta to Greenbelt amusing.  After what seemed like a lifetime of walking, I reached L time studio only to find out that they can no longer accept registrations for the 3k run. Bummer! But they advised me to proceed to SM Mall of Asia's Hypermart as ALASKA has set-up a booth for registration there. Not wanting to break my nephew's heart. I hailed a taxicab and went straight to Mall of Asia. 

I reached MOA a little before 5:00pm. Was so delighted to know that all i needed to do was purchase a few Alaska Chocolate drinks and my registration will be free of charge but I had to do it quickly since the registration will be closed by 6:00pm. After I paid for the drinks, went back to the booth and filled-up a registration form, I was handed 2 bib numbers for me and my nephew and another chocolate drink. No shirt was issued to us as only the 1st 500 finishers will be given a finisher shirt.

Come race day, me and my nephew woke up early to go the the Mall of Asia grounds. We just took a bus to Baclaran and took a cab ride to MOA. Gun start was set at 6:30am, we were there at 6:00am as I wanted to be there early since I was unfamiliar with the place. 

2 rehydration stations were set up at the starting point, I told my nephew to have a drink first before we position ourselves to the starting point. Here is Jermaine with his Gatorade cup. Which he did not finish because he said it tasted bad. Hahaha

As this was virtually a free run, it was well attended. I had a hard time looking for the starting point. I was confused because I saw a lot of adult-child pairs wearing the same bib color as ours but they were lined up behind the "FINISH" sign. It turned out that they have placed the signs wrongly. We really had to start at the finish point. At that point I already had a feeling that the run will not be as organized as my first run.

The runners were not guided to stretch so I just asked my nephew to do our usual stretching routine whenever we run. After waiting for around 30 minutes, amidst the whining of children getting impatient, I heard the gun shot that signified our start.

Jermaine started strongly, I always checked on him and kept reminding him that he should tell me when he is already tired. I was a bit worried since he is asthmatic. After the 500m mark, he said he was already tired so we walked. He complained of side stitches every once in a while so I had to remind him to breathe deeply. At the 1km marker, we already saw pairs on their way back, that gave me very small hope that we will be able to get a finisher shirt.

We finished the run in 27 minutes. After the run we lined up for the loot bags. I expected to get just Alaska products but got the surprise of my life when we got finisher shirts! The loot bag contained 4 Alaska yoghurt drink and a sports bottle.Here is my happy Jermaine with his sweaty hair, wearing his finisher shirt and showing his loot bag:

So let's do the math, I paid 63 pesos and got the following:

• 7 pieces of Alaska chocolate drink
• 2 finisher shirts
• 2 loot bags containing a total of 2 sports bottles and 8 Alaska yoghurt drinks
• 3 km run 
• and priceless bonding moment with my sumpungin nephew. 

Needless to say, that is probably the best deal I ever got for 63 pesos.