Even though my surfing has been in stops and starts (I pop up at Club Manila East only every 6 months, and haven’t been on an ocean surfing trip in ages), it’s one of the things I try to do every opportunity I get — if I have a companion to come with me.
And that’s the problem: I’ve got a great freelance schedule, but everyone else is tied down to a 9-to-5. So any time I look for a travel companion, they all have work.
But I don’t think anybody could refuse a free trip to Bali, though. I mean, it’s BALI, one of Asia’s top beach and surfing destinations. This year, Aloha Boardsports’ Surf Bound: Bali is sending one lucky winner and a companion on a paid three-day getaway!
For every P2500 worth of products purchased from Aloha Boardsports stores, you’ll be entitled to one raffle entry. The lucky winner will receive a paid surf trip for two to Bali, Indonesia, inclusive of airfare courtesy of Air Asia, accommodations, and products from RVCA, Billabong, Dakine, Von Zipper and Sony.
Surf Bound: Bali prizes
Even if you don’t get the grand prize, three winners will also be chosen to win a Sony NEX-5N digital camera, a pair of Von Zipper eyewear, and P5000 worth of gift certificates from Aloha Boardsports and Billabong. The grand raffle draw will be held on June 4, 2012 at Aloha Boardsports Mall of Asia.
I hate getting my phone scratched and banged up, so I use jelly and hard cases, screen protectors, socks, etc. to keep my phone from looking the worse for wear. Still, I can’t completely avoid accidents, such as when my phone falls out of a jacket I’ve draped over my arm, or when the screen protector peels off during a trip and something scratches the screen before I can replace the protector.
Having a damaged phone bothers me to the point that I just have to buy a new phone. It’s why I have a new BlackBerry Curve 9360 when my old Curve 9300 has better battery life: I couldn’t stand the scratch on the screen and the banged-up trackpad.
Replacing a phone has a heavy price, so when Otterbox held its Drop Test tour last week at Power Plant, I went to see what it was all about. You can drop a phone in an Otterbox case? I thought in disbelief. When I arrived, two girls were juggling phones back and forth. Well, if they were juggling those phones they weren’t doing a good job; every three throws they dropped a phone.
Oops, I dropped it again!
That’s how confident Otterbox is in their product, which absorbs the shock and abuse thrown at it so that the phone inside is protected. In fact, Tenkie Box, the sole distributor of Otterbox in the Philippines, has been told by the Otterbox mother company to replace Otterbox cases damaged by drops, bumps, and falls, no questions asked. (Replacing the phone is a different story :D)
Also present at the Drop Test event was one of the local Otterbox brand ambassadors, Lorraine Lapus. I’ve known Lor since 2008 when she was a fulltime surf coach for the Philippine Surfing Academy based out of Club Manila East. These days she still surfs, but is a bit more jetset as the brand manager for Rip Curl at Stoked, Inc. Otterbox is a perfect fit for her active lifestyle in the city and out-of-town on surf trips.
Lorraine Lapus uses the Defender series
Apparently, BlackBerry was one of the first smartphone manufacturers to work with Otterbox, which is why I had so many options when it came to choosing my own Otterbox (with special thanks to Tenkie Box!). I could go with the sleek Reflex series (a hard shell that slides off and on for easy docking), or the attractive yet affordable Impact series (a durable silicone skin), or the heavy-duty Defender series (hard shell covered by a silicone case).
I'm such a sucker for pink.
I went with the Commuter Series Strength case. Aside from its attractive pink outer shell, there’s a soft silicone inner case that absorbs shock and cradles my BlackBerry like a baby. Also, 10% of the purchase price goes to support the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.
Of course, we had to show that we had full confidence in our chosen Otterboxes, so we had to do the drop test with our phones as well. I think my phone traveled the farthest when it landed and skidded across the platform. :'( But thanks to Otterbox, I won’t have to worry about my new phone getting beaten up. Much.
I remember years back when I started my now-defunct travel blog that I set out some travel goals I wanted to achieve. One of them was to go on a road trip where I would be driving most of the way.
Driving within the city, the challenge is to avoid traffic and accidents and get to my destination in a reasonable amount of time. Long drives out of town, the challenge is to stay awake and not get lost!
Last February I had the opportunity to be a support crew driver at the Bataan Death March Ultramarathon 160. We took my car, so I was driving when we left Metro Manila at 12 midnight, arrived in Mariveles, Bataan at 3am, and supported our runner until 11am. This meant I was in the driver’s seat for 11 hours (!!!). We then drove to San Fernando, Pampanga to check in at our hotel, which meant another hour of driving. If I wanted to, I could probably drive to Camsur myself next time I feel the need to wakeboard.
(I’m going to fly off on a tangent and tell a story about the last time I was on a bus back from Camsur. It was after the Camsur Marathon where I had been invited as a media guest, and I had a return flight to Manila. Unfortunately a storm hit the Bicol region and my flight was cancelled. Tessa Prieto-Valdes was in the party and arranged for a van ride instead for those who needed to go home. Buti na lang I chose to get on the van; others who took a chance that there would be return flights or bus rides the next day had to wait out the storm for two more days!)
So, the other weekend was my first solo long drive. I attended a triathlon camp at Pico de Loro in Nasugbu, Batangas and decided to drive there the day before so I’d have enough rest going into the tri weekend.
I printed out directions from Google Maps and thought they’d get me there, but unfortunately they only took me as far as Nasugbu public market! Thank God for the foresight to download the BlackBerry app for Google Maps; I was able to use it with my Globe BBMax subscription to get real-time location and directions to Pico de Loro. Sure there were big directional signs every so often on the highway, but it was nice having a safety blanket.
Coming home I also drove alone and decided to make a stop at Bag of Beans in Tagaytay City. Even though the cafe was on the only road I could take to get into Tagaytay, I turned on Google Maps so I could find out how long it would take me to get there. I wanted to be back in Manila at a certain time, so if it took too long to get to Bag of Beans I would have just skipped the stop. As it turns out, I had just enough time to get a cup of hot chocolate and some sylvannas for take-out. Just the right thing to keep me awake on my long drive back home.
I’m excited that I can now drive myself that far. Where will my little car take me this year?
It’s tough to take a hard line on rule of law here in the Philippines. We live in a culture that flouts laws and regulations regularly: have you seen the jeepneys that load passengers right in front of “No Loading/Unloading” signs, or the people that smoke beside “No Smoking” signs?
I get so disappointed every time I see something wrong and nothing done about it either due to apathy, or due to corruption. This really hit home today when I came down to the parking area through my condo elevator and saw stacks of grocery goods waiting to be carted up to the commercial-scale minimart operating inside my residential condo.
I already sent a letter of complaint to the developer, DMCI Homes, but didn’t receive any response on it. So I’m publishing my complaint letter here on my blog (with some redactions to preserve privacy) in hopes that this wakes up the head honchos to do something about this mess.
Why I even have to resort to public shaming to get wheels moving is a uniquely Filipino trait. There needs to be a threat of bad publicity before anything is done, both in the public and private sector. Hay nako.
UPDATE: A few days after I wrote this blog post, a circular was sent to all residents advising them not to patronize the store because it had already been served with a final and demand notice. Last week, the store closed and all its stock was removed.
I’m hoping that’s the end of it, so I’ve removed my complaint letter from this post.
Believe it or not, I’ve never been on a real Valentine’s date. In fact, this year I had work on February 14. But that was OK, because I was looking forward to February 15 when I would be speed-dating a few of the Philippine Volcanoes. No, not Mayon or Pinatubo or Taal…
The Ring of Fire ain't got nothing on THESE Volcanoes.
I first became aware of the Philippine national rugby team from their Bench Body billboards last year, and from a press lunch Globe Telecom gave last year to publicize their continuing sponsorship of the team. Turns out, the Volcanoes have posted far better results in the international scene than the national football team. They’ve even been invited to take part in the Hong Kong Sevens this March, which is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens (a variant of rugby union).
Coach Matt giving a few updates about the Volcanoes
This year, the Volcanoes are poised to make a bigger impression on the Philippine sports psyche. Aside from inking a television deal with GMA7 which will ensure their games can be watched on national TV, the Philippine Rugby Football Union will also be hosting some major international rugby tournaments in Rizal Stadium. Exciting!
Our speed-dating event organized by Globe also promised to be exciting. There were seven smoking-hot Volcanoes present that night: Chris Everingham, Jon Morales, Jake Letts, Nick Perry, Darran Seeto, Kenneth Stern, and Andrew Wolff. Four batches of seven women each were given two minutes of time with each player, which meant that each of these Volcanoes had to socialize and make nice with 28 women! (Poor fellas.)
Let's call this a dating treadmill.
This event was also a sort of launch for Globe’s post-Valentine promo giving free Facebook access to Globe and Touch Mobile subscribers with internet-capable phones (excluding BlackBerry phones, which require a BlackBerry data plan, and Opera browsers, which access Facebook through a proxy). You can register to the promo by texting “FREE FB” to 8888 or dialing *143#. After your registration is confirmed, you can browse Facebook by accessing it through m.facebook.com via phone browser or by using your phone’s Facebook app.
We were all each loaned a smartphone so we could take photos of ourselves with the players within the two minutes we had with each of them. At the end of the night, the photos would be uploaded to Facebook using Globe’s mobile data service and posted to the Globe MDS Facebook account.
having trouble taking a photo of myself with Kenneth Stern
I was part of the last batch, so my friends Karen, Faith, Tiara, and Marbbie (who had all had their turns before me) tasked me with some cheeky follow-up questions. OH-KAY.
Inquiring minds want to know.
The boys were extremely nice during the speed-dates even though we kind of figured they’d be shell-shocked by the end of the evening. I have to say getting to talk with them albeit briefly has made me more curious about the sport they play. I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Volcanoes this year.
Noelle De Guzman is a Globe Mobile Data Services Brand Ambassador.
The January-March 2012 issue of the Runner’s World Philippine edition has a feature on eight running bloggers. I’m honored to be one of those chosen for the feature. Read more →
For quiet moments with a cup of tea or coffee, I seek refuge inside a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Back when they still had electric outlets I could plug my laptop into, I would do most of my writing and blogging work there. Now that leeching off their electricity is no longer an option, I still go to CBTL just to hang out with my friends. I guess it’s because their interior design dampens any conversation noise, so it doesn’t sound like a McDonald’s.
Anyway I got a heads-up about a promo they’re running at their newest branch at Two E-Com Center in Mall of Asia (this is on the IMAX side). From February 18 to 24, 2012 from 12:30 to 1:30pm, customers can get their favorite drink for only P100.
Coffee Bean promo: P100 for signature drinks
I’m supposed to head to Mall of Asia sometime soon because I heard Mizuno put up a giant wall poster of me in their store. I think I’ll drop by the Coffee Bean then to get my favorite drink, a Tropical Passion Tea Latte.
If you haven’t been following my Twitter feed, you might not have known that for the past nine months, I’ve been waiting to be a Tita Noelle to my niece, Brooke Gabrielle Manahan. (Well, I’m her godmother, so it’s Ninang Noelle.)
From the first day my sister voiced her thought that her period was late I told her that she was pregnant. When it was confirmed with a pregnancy test and ultrasound, our excitement knew no bounds.
Michael and Marielle decided to name their daughter Brooke after the New Zealand singer Brooke Fraser. Apart from her professional solo recording career as a folk/pop singer, Ms. Fraser is also a singer and songwriter for the worship group Hillsong.
Shadowfeet by Brooke Fraser
Our journey with little Brooke had its ups and downs, especially when we were told on her fifth month that the ultrasound had detected some congenital anomalies. We have a wonderful spiritual family at Victory Ortigas who came together with us and prayed with us throughout the next four months, helping strengthen our faith in God. An ultrasound at six months showed that Brooke was normal and we would have a healthy baby girl with us in three months’ time.
Last Thursday my sister and brother-in-law went for her weekly checkup; it’s S.O.P. that women at nine months’ pregnancy have to see their OB that regularly. When her OB (who is also our aunt) saw that she was already in early labor, Marielle was immediately scheduled for emergency caesarian section due to her pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, also known as pre-eclampsia. On February 2, 2012, my niece Brooke was born.
Baby Brooke wasn’t breathing when she was delivered, so the doctors attempted to resuscitate her, finally hooking her up to a respirator at the Newborn ICU. Still, it was clear to us that she wouldn’t live long. I thought she wouldn’t last the night. Then the first miracle happened: in the early hours of Friday morning, Brooke was taken off the respirator and started breathing on her own!
Marielle, after her CS, got up and walked earlier than we thought she would because of her desire to see her child. So despite the pain and discomfort, we all were able to go see Brooke and even dedicate her to the LORD. It was here that another miracle happened: Brooke turned her head toward her parents as she heard them speak to her. A one-day-old infant is not able to determine the location of sounds, so that was wonderful that she was able to acknowledge their presence. And as Michael and Marielle reached out to hold her in their arms, Brooke cried for the first time.
Since Brooke remained stable the rest of Friday until the evening, I went home to rest and to take care of some errands. I finished them quickly on Saturday and headed back to the hospital. Unfortunately, I went via Aurora Boulevard, which is where the Bourne Legacy was filming that day. While I was stuck in that traffic jam, I received news that Brooke had died.
It was hard being just a few kilometers away and missing seeing Brooke one last time. I was mad at myself because I had an opportunity to take another route, but didn’t. I was mad at the Bourne Legacy crew for screwing up traffic. I was mad at the MMDA for allowing use of Aurora Boulevard when they knew there were few alternate roads.
She was touch-and-go, but every time Michael and Marielle held her, she rallied. God gave us 12 more hours with Brooke, allowing my grandparents time to fly in, to see her and hold her. And when we had all accepted that Brooke’s time was near, that’s when she went.
For three glorious days, I was Tita and Ninang Noelle to the bravest, strongest little girl I know. Although we’re sad now, I’ll see her again in Heaven.
Yesterday we held a memorial service in her memory, and during the worship time we had, we sang “Desert Song” by Hillsong (lead vocals by Brooke Fraser and Jill McLoghry). I wanted to put the song up here because it spoke to me so clearly:
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that’s within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides
This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame
I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here
When I did my research on “Desert Song”, I found that the singer, Jill, had lost her son Max a few weeks before she had to record the song. She went into premature labor and gave birth to him at 23 weeks old. They had only a full day with him before he went home to the LORD. Her response was to choose to worship God despite her sorrow and grief.
Desert Song testimony
Thank you, Brooke Gabrielle Manahan. God used you mightily in touching so many people’s lives. And now I know that despite any circumstance, I can still worship God and praise Him.
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favour and providence flow
I know I’m filled to be emptied again
The seed I’ve received I will sow
My mom sounded alarm bells on my hair a few months ago. She told me it was getting thin on top, and my forehead looked wider and higher than it used to. (Receding hairline? NOOOOOOO!)
Since then I’ve been using a hair fall control shampoo and tonic from the dermatologist’s office. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination or if my hair has really begun to regain its thickness. However, it’s also made my hair feel more coarse. Weird!
Without knowing about my hair woes, Dove one day sent me a basket of goodies from their new Dove Damage Therapy line.
Damage Therapy, compliments of Dove
Nourishing Oil Care Nutri-Oil Serum: improves dull and frizzy hair without lustre and shine
Intense Repair Daily Treatment Conditioner: a conditioner plus treatment for stronger, smoother, and softer hair
Intense Repair Conditioner: to be used in tandem with
Intense Repair Shampoo: offers 9 times less split ends in just 3 washes
Intense Repair Overnight Treatment: restores depleted protein, to be used at least once a week
2-Step Treatment: repairs hair exposed to frequent styling
Intense Repair Treatment Mask: weekly treatment that reconstructs the hair’s internal structure while protecting from damaging styling habits and environmental factors
All these bottles will certainly last me a long while! I’m about to use the treatment mask, just to deep-condition my hair. I’m not sure how different the daily treatment conditioner is from the regular conditioner, and the overnight treatment sounds like it does the same thing as the treatment mask (only that one is a serum and the other is a creme).
I’ve heard good things about it from other bloggers, like Nikki Tiu and Tara Cabullo. Let’s see if what worked for them will also work for me. Meanwhile, I’ve got to get into the shower. Later!
Running is a basic activity that has been around since time immemorial, wildly popular around the world. In Running USA’s Annual Marathon Report for 2010, it was estimated that 467,000 runners in the US had finished a full 42-kilometer marathon in 2009 alone.
The numerous running events around the world testify to the wide popularity of this sport. The Boston Marathon has been held annually since 1897. Races like the Berlin Marathon attract as much as 40,000 participants. The London and New York marathons both saw about 50,000 participants this year. The Philippines also seems to be catching up on the running craze—just about everyone in Manila is running these days.
From recreational three- and five-kilometer runners, intermediate 10- and 21-kilometer runners, and serious 42-kilometer marathon finishers, running has been imprinted on mainstream consciousness. But since when was running the “in thing”? Will it fade, just like the badminton hype did, around half a decade from now? Read more →
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