Marquez' Travels: May 2010

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Puma Complete Calibus Wide

I told you from my Globe Run for Home '10 post that I had won a Puma Shoes but would want to conserve my excitement once I got hold of the prize. And I have to believe that BPI's promotion is for REAL.

Originally, I should have Puma Concinnity shoes; unfortunately, there's no size 11 for my feet. So, I had these instead, the Puma Complete Calibus Wide.

I find it comfortable for my soles. The mesh cools my feet too. But I do not want to use this for running (at least for now) for I don't want it to get dirty.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Neutrogena Run 2010: Chase the Sun

My Running Diary:

It has been almost a month after my last race event. The sun is just too hot, sometimes unbearable. I wonder how runners were affected by this kind of weather. But I guess Kenyan runners were already used to it though.

For The Neutrogena Run 2010: Chase the Sun (well, I guess it was the other way around - the Sun chased me!) I finished 281^st among the 320 10K runners with a finish time of 1:22:47 and a chip time of 1:22:41. Well, I just don't want to push myself further; otherwise, I might collapse or something. Again and again, I need to remind myself that I NEED PRACTICE. Most probably, I'll be attending the Nike Running Clinic next Tuesday at the ULTRA.

Anyhow, I would like to congratulate my girl for winning our 01:10 challenge for a 10K. She is a tough runner now, I cannot really chase after her.

Thumbs UP

I guess targeting only 4,000 runners (they fall short though) is a great decision for the organizers to make the event more manageable. All in all, there were only 1,963 runners in the field, 320 runners for our category. Which somehow make the 10K run enjoyable and stress-free for most of us.
With the heat of the sun, hydration is a very very vital element for a race. Good thing the organizers make it a point to position a hydration booth at the heart of the Buendia Flyover. Otherwise, I would guess many runners would collapse due to dehydration.
Kilometer markers are very very efficient, as well as the marshals. They had placed markers for every kilometer. It is very helpful to those who are targeting a certain pace but does not have a Garmin to measure it.
Freebies, finisher's shirt, and singlet is a thumbs up too. Although my kit does not have a Neutrogena on it, I still like the overflowing post-race kit.
Post race event is equally enjoyable. We had enjoyed a bottomless lemonade, a jump at the trampoline (with pictures), and free red mango yogurt. There is also a free foot spa, but we did not avail it.

Thumbs DOWN

I can't think of any downside of this event other than the plastic cups that had been thrown anywhere by the runners. Well, this is something out of the control of the organizers; but within the control of us runners. Be responsible enough.

At the Starting Line

At the Buendia Flyover
See the hydration booth at the 6K mark?

Listerine's Freedom Board

After the race
See the goodies we had?

Enjoying the trampoline

with Coach Rio De La Cruz

Saturday, May 15, 2010

DAL vs BGK at the Araneta Coliseum

Guilty as I am, I celebrated Mother's Day at the Araneta Coliseum to watch PBA live. It was a game between Air 21 Express and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for Game 1 and Derby Ace Llamados (DAL) against Barangay Ginebra Kings for the main event.

Despite hearing some 'not so professional fans' within the area I'm at, I still enjoyed the game; most specially because DAL wins it with James Yap as the Best Player of the Game.

I really have nothing to share, but the players just kept me holding on to my seat with their stunts and amazing moves. Particularly that of Raffy Reavis' alley-oop dunk from Rico Maierhofer.

And since it's a holiday on the following day, my girl and I took the rare opportunity of having pictures with the PBA stars.

Enjoy the pictures as I enjoyed them!

Air21 vs ROS

James Yap on the Free Throw Line

Raffy Reavis' Double Handed Slam

with Rey Evangelista

with Kerby Raymundo

with Celino Cruz

with KG Canaleta

J. Yap's Vehicle

with Allan Caidic

Rudy Hatfield

with Marc Pingris

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Sta. Ana Resort, Pandi, Bulacan

Part of our Church activities is a summer outing. We held it last Black Saturday at Sta. Ana Resort, Manatal, Pandi, Bulacan.

Sta Ana Resort
Manatal, Pandi, Bulacan
Contact: Restituto Sta. Ana
Tel. No.: +63(919) 860-2237

I have no idea how much we had paid for the resort (a private one). They offer videoke. They had basketball court. They had a single pool which is deep on the left side and shallow on the right side and has slides. They also provided a mini-pool for the kids.

Powerful Dunk

Videoke

Enjoying the Pool

Sparkle

Room for improvement is their comfort room.

So, Your Car Stopped

So, your car stopped. And you don’t know what to do. You called for a towing service to bring you and your car home. Back home, you are disturbed in your sleep for you were thinking about the amount of money you are going to spend to have your car fixed. And worse, you have to commute on your way to the office the following morning.

Good thing if you had your own mechanic who is just a phone call away to have everything or anything fixed. May it be just the timing belt or the water pump that needs to be replaced; you had your confidence that your man can do it, and won’t overcharge you for the service and the new part installed. It is analogous to having a personal doctor for your car right?

However, if you had just bought your car, say a Ford Escort; and is not acquainted to anyone who could fix your car that is of high quality service, it is best to ask your neighborhood for reliable mechanics or repair shops. Or better yet, try searching for nearby repair shops in the internet. You’ll be surprised to have yourself a list of these repair shops together with customer commentaries similar to this Phoenix auto repair database.

So, your car stopped. You now know what to do.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Flash Drives at CDR King

It is so evident how CDR King had emerged from a simple CDs and DVDs whole seller and retailer to a store of almost everything you need to accessorize your computers and gadgets. It is, at the same time, tempting to buy from the store for their very low prices as compared to the 'branded' ones. But I should have not settled for that low priced flash drive; it only brought forth a waste of money and time for me at the end of the day.

A year ago, I had bought an 8GB USB flash drive from CDR King Pulilan. But after a few months of use, the flash drive would always display an error message while copying a number of files. It is frustrating.

And I just can't understand myself how I fall again at buying another 8GB USB flash drive from the same store at P980 last March 14, 2010. An SOP, I asked the crew to have it tested. A simple copy and paste and showing of the flash drive's capacity - that's it. The flash drive is in 'good' condition.

What I bought was an 8GB flash drive [not the 2GB as shown in the picture]

Unfortunately, after a few days, I am encountering the same error as the former. Not only that, even if I had successfully copied a number of files to the flash drive, I will just end up with corrupted and inaccessible files.

Okay, I may not be a computer engineer or anything inclined at computers; but I am an electrical engineer and believed to have a technical know-how at computers. The problem is on the flash drive, not on my files. I had isolated the problem and that 'corruption' only happens to that flash drive I bought from CDR King.

With that, I returned the unit to CDR King for them to have it checked. Of course, the crew would be hesitant to have it returned to them for they would think that you just don't understand anything about their product. They accepted the service request but do not fully understand what the problem really is.

After three weeks of waiting, they informed me that my flash drive is ready for pick up. Only to find out that there has been no action taken on my flash drive. I decided to return once more the flash drive for a second look. They promised me to have the flash drive replaced with a new one.

A week had passed, so I visited the store to claim my new flash drive. Before giving the unit to me the crew told me, "Sir, pinalitan na po ito ng bago. Kapag po ganun pa rin ibig sabihin po 'yung files niyo na po ang may problema." My girl and I looked at each other and had a sarcastic smile. We're not ignorant not to know that the problem really is the flash drive and not our files.

So, I had a thorough testing of the 'new' unit. I copy a number of files from my iPod to the new unit. Great! No corrupted files at the onset. But when we disconnect the flash drive and have it connected again, my hundred files become sixty plus only. Where did they go? I tried once more copying files from my other flash drive to the 'new' unit. And there, the 'corruption' took place.

What do the crew told me? Nothing. They did not even told me that they will take a look at the 'new' unit and have it replaced once more. It was really frustrating that their words would make us look like ignorant of computers; but upon showing them that we know what we were saying would only give us a blank look and not even offer a hand to help us with their product. What kind of service was that?

I should have not fall into buying flash drive from CDR King. I should have bought an external hard drive instead. There, I had wasted P980 for a flash drive that I cannot use.

Like what the song 'The Show' had been saying, 'I want my money back!'