Marquez' Travels: February 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Century Superbods Run 2010: RunRio Trilogy Leg 1

My Running Diary:

I already read a number of reviews and comments of the recently held Leg 1 of the RunRio Trilogy dubbed as Century Superbods Run 2010. And I am taking the pleasure to have mine.

Foremost, with the TVC showing Derek Ramsay, I believed that it attracted a number of participants - may it be seasoned or first time runners. Speaking for myself, I do not register for the sake of seeing Ramsay or any other celebrity. I registered because I wanted to run - and that is the least that I can do to join events for a cause. However, with the turn out of more than 11,000 runners, the organizers fell short of marshals that they were not able to handle them as perfectly as The 2009 Timex Run. On second thoughts, I still believe Coach Rio had handled that gigantic number on a much better way. It is a real challenge to handle that number, and still, Coach Rio together with his team at FinishLine managed to please 95% of the crowd.

Secondly, I am a bit disappointed with the 10 minutes early gun start. We were late and we need to squeeze in the number of 3K runners that had piled up on the starting line. It was part of our fault, I admit. We should have been there earlier. But our punctuality had been worsen with that early gunstart. Good thing we have the Champion Chip so I really don't mind. I would still have my accurate time. At the same time, Coach Rio already explained himself, apologize, and take full responsibility of all the shortcomings of the race in his open letter. And I salute him for that. Apology accepted.

Thirdly, traffic is jam packed! We, ourselves, experienced the traffic as we arrive at The Fort being adjacent to the 10K runners. But I believe this one is out of their control. There were traffic enforcers and marshals that signals the motorists and/or runners to stop; but they were just too stubborn to obey. Only, there was one or two vehicles that had joined our route, which is a little bit troublesome.

Fourth, I can't think of antyhing that made my race experience annoying. If I have to rate it, I would still give him 4 stars out of 5. Having The 2009 Timex Run as the barometer, Century Superbods Run 2010 is something close to perfection. I love the organized booths as well.

We may all have different experiences about the race. Some were complaining; while most enjoyed and had congratulated Coach Rio with all his tireless efforts for the event to be a success. I believe I am among the 95% lucky participants who enjoyed the event beyond the glitches.

With here, I profess, I will continue joining races and events organized by Coach Rio - the cream of the crop not only in running but in organizing events as well. Not to mention that he keeps his feet on the ground inspite the high pedestal he's in now. And so, I'll take this opportunity:

Congratulations Coach RIO! Century Superbods is a race well organized! Wishing you success on your April Marathon! Make your country proud!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Too Much of a Daydream

Slowly, I am inch by inch closer to my dream of having my dream house. Last January, my girl and I attended the PAGIBIG counseling about housing loans. I will be filing my housing loan come March. For now, I am eagerly looking over the internet for available floor flans, have it printed, and study the layouts; although, we already asked my girl’s cousin to have made a plan for us [for he’s an architect]. We were expecting it by March. We will need it in our PAGIBIG housing loan.

If what I have been thinking will be put into reality, we would be having our dream house by third or fourth quarter of the year. With that, I believe we can now plan for other matters. Well, I am also planning to have our own vehicle. I long to have one for I would really want to travel once more to the places I’ve been with the one I love. Setting foot to a non-stranger island is still exciting for me, or as long as it is my girl whom I’ll be traveling with.

My girl’s choice was an X-Trail. For me, well if I had to dream, I’ll want a Jaguar or a Ford. Whew! How much do ford accessories costs nowadays? I guess this is too much of a daydream for me. Have to park now before I lose my sanity, LOL!

Paulo's Travel Tips

I don’t have an itchy foot. No. I don’t travel for leisure. Travel is an unavoidable part of my work. And with the number of travels I had locally [and a few internationally], I had become aware of the dos and don’ts in traveling. On the other hand, I am no guru when it comes to travel; hence, what I can speak about is merely based on experience [and not in depth studies].

Foremost, I must say that you have to travel light. Yes, exclude those unnecessary baggages you put on your luggage. You won’t need them anyway right? And just in case you do, I’m sure you got that extra penny to buy one; unless you would want to torture yourself carrying those loads. You are bringing toiletries? No, free those spaces for other important things. I’m sure the hotel that you’ll be visiting will gladly provide you with those. Try visiting Hotel Teneriffa or Hotel Hamburg City, you’ll surely have one. And don’t hesitate to ask for another set come the following day. I believe they have allotted for customers.

Secondly, make yourself aware of the attractions of the city you’ll be touring. It would be nice to have a tour guide; but if budget inhibits you from having one, Mr. Google has all the answers to your queries. Thus, if you are going to visit Finca Mallorca mieten; it would be nice if you got to know more about the place before plunging into a foreign land.

More travel tips to follow. Keep on visiting.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

I'm Sick

Could this be dengue? Hope not. Just making myself well. Will be posting my Bicol travel once I got the energy to do so.

I may not be able to greet you tomorrow, so Advance...

God Bless!!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

My Blog and Its Humble Earnings

I have been blogging for quite some time now, more than a year but less than two. And I am happy that I had earned, well, a humble $100. I know it was nothing compared to thousand dollar earners, but still, satisfaction gets my way.

Over and over again, I am encouraging you [my readers] to create your own online journal; and soon transform it into money making medium. If you’re as lax [and not so serious] as me about it [earning online], you can stay at your comfort zone and still be able to earn as much as $10 a month. It is not bad, already enough if you would want to purchase a domain from Google or other web hosting sites. Yes, domain name alone will cost you $10 annually. Probably I am too thrift that I stayed [contented] with my [free] Blogspot domain name.

If you have the money and would love to earn way better, I suggest you get dedicated web hosting instead. I just heard from a blogger friend that paid to post sites sometimes offers much better opportunities to those who have one. Well, as far as I’m concerned, I am satisfied with my humble earnings, enough to treat myself once in a while.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Condura Run 2010 - Run for the Dolphins

My Running Diary:

It was yet another challenging day ahead for me on the dawn of February 7, 2010. And the greatest battle there is was to wake up as early as 3AM and be able to hail a bus or a cab to bring me to GMA Mini Stop before 5AM.

Cutting the story short, I was able to arrive at GMA Mini Stop just in time where my girl had been patiently waiting. We immediately hail a taxi to bring us forth at 28^th Street, BHS, Taguig - the starting line of the Condura Run 2010 - Run for the Dolphins. It is good that the taxi driver is now aware of the running events that are being held in the country; thus, he already knew where to drop us.

Upon setting our foot at BHS (seems a bit long time since our Bull Run), we had written our runner names on the DIY race bib the organizers had provided with our race packets.

After which, we drop our baggage at their baggage counter. While on the line, the fireworks display for the 10K category had been lighten up. And it was spectacular, felt like that they were giving high regard for us runners. And so there comes the calling of attention for the 5k runners. We headed toward the check in to have our race bibs checked and settle ourselves a few meters behind the starting line where Jollibee and Hetty are positioned.

I am really entertained on the AVP prepared by the organizers, most specially on the race map presentation. And, similar to the 10k runners (and I believe across all race categories), we also had the fireworks display right in time with the countdown for the gun start. I managed to record it on video.

We have moved (I suppose) from a runner buff to a more serious runner who aimed at beating our own Personal Records (PR). Probably that's the main reason why now, I don't took pictures of every leg of the race route. I just run, and continue to run, until I cross the finish line, hoping to be a few minutes faster than my PR. And I did. It was more or less 34minutes. But the official race result shows that I had crossed the FIN by 37minutes.

The event is another Adidas KOTR 2009 (which had the same race organizer). They've got a considerable number of co-sponsors that delighted runners of all ages. Not to mention the PhP60,000 cash prize of the full marathon winner. Probably, one thing that I could recommend for the succeeding Condura Run is to have Gatorade or Powerade as their co-sponsors. I think those drinks were really bringing forth more energy for us rather than plain water. And more importantly, if they could not provide an accurate race result, it would be better if they would resort to the disposable timing chip.

Here are some pictures I had from the event. Enjoy!

See you at the Century Superbods Run this February 21^st.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Shutter Priority

The first time I got to know about Shutter Priority in my Nikon D60 SLR is during our trip at Zoobic Safari. The concept was introduced to me by my girl and the procedure was relayed to me by her cousin, Nep. Here's a sample of the output then.

I badly need a tripod right?

Last Sunday, while waiting for my girl's peer to arrive, we once more tried the Shutter Priority of my Nikon DSLR. She would want to have a heart written; but I just can't capture it without moving my arms on the longest time possible.

This is the best among my shots

With a great amusement, I am glad that my girl captured this excellent shot. It's as if I am holding that letter during the shot, when all the while I did write it using her flash light.

I should be the model now, my girl should be the photographer. She doesn't even need to have a tripod.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Ang Babaeng Makabago

The Author, while delivering his poem

Allow me to post a Filipino composition.

Kung sa Francia may bayaning Joan of Arc ang pangalan
na humawak sa sandata sa digmaan ay nakilaban
sa bayan ay maraming rin ang babaeng napatanghal
ay namatay na bayani dahil sa Inang Bayan

Isang Josefa Gabriela ang pinatay at binitay
ng dahil sa pagtatanggol sa bayan at kalayaan
Si Josefa ay asawa ng bayaning Diego Silang
Isang anak ng Ilocos na magiting at marangal

Isang Melchora Aquino ina ng Katipunan
Kung tawagi'y Tandang Sora ng maraming kababayan
Sa bayan ng Balintawak natitik ang kasaysayan
nang magiting na babaeng balita sa katapangan

Isang Corazon Aquino familya ng Cojuanco
Sa bansang Pilipinas unang babaeng pangulo
naglingkod ng matapat sa sambayanang Pilipino
kaya siya ng pumanaw umiyak ang buong mundo

Kagitingan ng babae sa bayan ko'y pinupuri
pagkat sila'y karangalan at hiyas ng ating lahi
bilang isang Pilipino ligaya ko't luwalhati
ang babae sa bayan ko'y maitampok na palagi

Ngunit ako'y nalulungkot at kung minsa'y nanglulumo
kapag aking nakikita ang malaking pagbabago
makabagong kabihasnan ng dumating sa bayan ko
tila dungis na bumitay sa ugaling Pilipino

Ang ugali't kahinhinan nina Selya, Maria Clara
katangiang pinupuri ng dayuhan noong una
pero ngayon sa babaeng makabago ay lipas na
katangian ay bihira nang mamasid at makita

Masdan mo ang kasuotan kahit hindi nababagay
pinipilit na isuot basta moda ay masunod lang
kahit hubog ng katawan bayong na ang kabagay
suot pa rin ay piting sakab na sakab sa katawan

Ang babaeng makabago may kaitiman ang balat
nakasuot pa rin ng backless ang likod ay nakabold
binti niyang walang korte tadtad ng peklat
nakasuot pa rin ng short seksi pa kung lumakad

Ang babaeng makabago katawan ay hubog Coca Cola
upang itoy lalong mapansin anong nipis ng bestida
kaya nga si Ka Berto ng makita siya noong una
si Beauty ay niligawan si Beauty ay hinarana

Ang babaeng makabago adik sa cellphone
madalas itong dukutin sa bulsa ng pantalon
text sa umaga text sa tanghali text hanggang sa hapon
maging sa oras ng pagkain hawak pa rin ay cellphone
kaya kung minsan ay nalilipasan siya ng gutom

Ang babaeng makabago laging suot ay mini skirt
panay hila sa damit habang sakay nitong jeep
marahil ay napapansin niyang maraming mata ang nakatitig
sa itinatago niyang mapuputi niyang legs

Ang babaeng makabago sa tahanan ay makikita
sa halip na Bible komiks ang binabasa
kaya naman ng mag-asawa at sa biyanan ay matira
first time na magsaing ito ay saksakan pa ng lata

Ang babaeng makabago sa school ay mapapansin
sa halip na pumasok ang kasama ay boyfriend
sine doon party doon kanta doon cut doon panay ang good time
resulta lumobo ang tiyan maternity ang tinungo
bagsak pa sa eksamen

-- Jessie Manuel
Copyright 2010

This literary piece was written by an 87 (?) year old in the name of Jesus Manuel. We normally call him as Ninong for he is the godfather of my father. He really excels at writing poems. Here I am posing a picture with him after he delivers the poem.

Ninong, I, and my girl