last night, i made a personal swim record of 500 meters in 11 mins and 44.2 secs. it is a personal best because i have never gone that distance without stopping every 50m. when i started my swimminglessons early this year , it was a struggle. i wanted to quit very early in the program because i couldn't even finish a lap on an olympic-sized pool without feeling utterly tired and spent. it didn'...
it could be the colors and the costumes. it might be the thumping sound of drums. or it may even be the careless dancing and the wild abandon on car-less streets, the organized chaos. i can think of many different reasons why i'm drawn to festivals: they are a photographer's buffet and an explosion of folk culture, history, christianity, and paganism. i first got a taste of the different flavors ...
i had a rather fruitful day todaydespite having risen from bed in time for lunch. i brought home the tuna i bought in davao last week and my mom made her classic kinilaw. i have actually pretty low standards when it comes to eating raw fish because i would eat them wherever they're served, but my mom's recipe is pretty good. too bad my dental issues have gotten in the way of completely enjoying ...
at least 2 days prior to my early friday morning flight to davao, i had already packed my osprey argon 70, and on an anxiety-filled thursday evening that left me tossing in bed, sleepless, i decided to consider the weight of my pack. i attempted to lift it with both hands, and marveled at my own difficulty. i'm normally used to carrying insanely heavy loads, not wanting to trade the little ...
anyone who frequents the blog will notice that my entries have been far and few between. not that i have a dearth of topics to write about, but i have perpetually been deprived of time. while writing appears to be natural for me, i really have to find time to do it. i can draw inspiration from anything, and can write about the most mundane as well as the most profound subjects, given the ...
while wading through shin-deep floodwaters in bgy. de la paz in biñan, laguna, a young man clutching onto some donations paused to speak to a young woman who had just purchased some canned goods from a make-shift store. the man complained that the woman has not given him any animals; she replied that she'd sent over a banana tree, an elephant, and a cow, and that all these gifts would be ...
for the last four nights, i have been strugglingin bed, unable to sleep. the basement parking of the building where i live was flooded by at least 17 feet of water, trapping 9 vehicles including a luxury sedan, and leaving us powerless since saturday. i have kept my petzl myo XP headlamp handy, as walking through pitch-black corridors can be a little daunting. i have been told that the situation...
this is a tale of two mountains. the first is about my initial foray into mountaineering, where, despite having neither skills nor training, but with virginal interest and enthusiasm, i fell in love with the sport, and decided that i would like to keep returning to the mountains. the second is about my most recent climb, where, despite years of experience and deep pockets of wisdom earned from ...
i have only been 33 for over a week now and i have been neither under pressure nor under the impression that i should be making any profound statements about growing a year older. i had already done that when i hit 30, and also tried it a year later (check my birthday series ), and maybe the next slew of realizations would take place when i'm closer to 40. in the meantime, i realize that i have ...
i really didn't have any concrete plans for the long weekend. i was half expecting to hie off to some far away place in search of answers to questions i have not asked. instead, i found myself practicing french at aris's party, worrying about a flash flood, heckling chickens, and inducing a groin injury. on friday, ninoy aquino day, i left with fabian to attend a small inuman in mandaluyong. ...
