Dreamwalker

I never thought I'd be able to swim on my own, but hey, stranger things have happened! About an hour ago, I was able to do 16 laps - my second time this week. If you knew me 6 months ago, you wouldn't believe me.
I love the water, but I am so scared of drowning. Recent events have made me push myself so hard, though, and swimming is one area that I have been working on. It sounds mundane, but it means so much to me.
Yeah, the pool is small and a lap is such a short distance; but it used to be that I couldn't even go to the deep end (which is not that deep) without holding on to the side of the pool.
Now I am off to reward myself with a meal of tilapia fillet and zucchini.
Sweet 16, baby.

I should have posted this way earlier but I got caught up in other stuff. Anyhow, we had a great time on June 27 when we went to UP to watch Jerry's (first official) football game at the Sunken Garden. Silas had so much fun that he suddenly wanted to become a football player. Can't see much of the players as we were quite far.

With Coach Jehl
Goofing around after the gameSilas trying to tackle mom
After the game, we decided to go to Tong Yang for eat all you can shabu-shabu and grill. You really should try it - 500++ including drinks. It is so worth it!
Yeah, we are in heaven!

Next game is on Saturday. Maybe I'll get better pics this time around.

That's what Larry Merchant called Manny Pacquiao during the post fight analysis. I suppose he is right. He is, after all, an expert in this realm. He also is credited with coming up with this fight - he suggested it to a sports writer about a year ago and was initially dismissed. Today, his "whim" became reality.

It's a pity that the fight was not that great, as many would have wanted it to be. In fact, as Merchant himself said, people came to see two great fighters battle it out. What happened, though, was that only one proved to be great. The Golden Boy's glitter seemed to dull after the first couple of rounds. By the 7th round, he didn't have any luster to him at all. He just gave up. And that is not what great fighters are made of.

I wish I had gone on a limb and placed my bet on Pacquiao at this online sportsbook that I was looking at yesterday. I would have been several thousands of dollars richer had I done that. ;)

On another note...I love the…

I am sitting here watching my sister and her husband play tennis on the Wii - and I marvel at how familiar the husband-wife dynamics is. Is it because my sister and I are so much alike?

There are the encouraging times:

Hubby: Wow, that was a nice serve!
Wife: Thanks.

And there are these times:

Hubby: Quit choking when you play with me. You don't have to impress me.
Wife: Whatever! Quit trying to distract me.

Hubby: Why don't you stand up so you can play better?
Wife: Why don't you move so you don't block the sensor?

Hubby: Usog ka dun! Wala akong space. (For the nth time.)
Wife: Lumayo ka sa akin sabi!

Hubby: It's not that fun being that smart and not being good at video games, is it?

Hubby: OUCH! (Wife accidentally hit him with the Wiimote.)

Wife: Aray. (Wife gets hit on the head due to an over enthusiastic swing.)

All the bickering and irritation melt away, though, when Sam starts screaming for attention. It's been a great weekend. :)

I found this really good home service spa that offers their services here in Manila (courtesy of Glenna). They're called MY SPA and I have been using them for quite some time now and I have to say that I really like them.

Jer and I had foot spas today - long overdue ones. Then I had a full body massage. They actually have a wide array of services - from facials to waxing to a host of massages. What I like is that you can specify the intensity of the massage that you prefer and they will send you a specific masseuse. My favorite is Emily. Seriously, you will be amazed at how strong her hands are and how she can keep up the intense pressure for 2 hours (that's the longest I have had a massage done).

Anyway, I was just thinking about how things are so much more convenient these days than they were before. Who would have thought that you could get all these things done in the comfort of your own home?

According to Jerry:

"The Noe Effect is when you are up by 40 to nothing in Wii Tennis and your opponents catch up. This is because you (Noe) panics and miss the ball or hit it out."

It's kinda true. I do pretty well in the beginning and then get all tensed up. Also, I realized that my mind wanders. I suddenly think of something about work or writing (or anything else for that matter) and before I know it, I would miss the ball.

But hey, my Mii's status is a pro now! ;)

I came home last night and was surprised to find Jer watching basketball. Now he is not much of a sports fan. In fact, he likes other sports like baseball and football but for him basketball is not fun. Yet there he was, watching the game between the US and Greece and was being quite enthusiastic about it.

When I asked him about it, his answered that it is not about basketball, it's about Team USA. I guess that is proof that the Olympics is really something else. The essence of the Olympics being an international event meant to bring countries - and the people of the individual countries - together came to my mind. Every morning he checks the medal count and he waits for the events that the US participates in.

That's more than I can say for myself. Then again, we don't have too many people participating in the Olympics, maybe that's why. Anyhow, I am rooting for the Argentinian basketball team - simply because Manu is playing for them. Who are you rooting for?

Jerry and I are perhaps the most competitive couple that I know. From food (yes sometimes we try to out-eat each other) to video games, we always seem to be trying to out do one another. That is why I have stopped playing video games with him a long time ago - we just ended up fighting.

That is why I am quite happy with how things are working out. He got his birthday gift way ahead of time yesterday and we have spent most of the time since then playing on the Wii. :DCute bag that came with the package

The little boy with his new toy

The Wii in its new home - she does not have a name yet.
Any suggestions?

Our current favorite? Tennis - we get to play as a team and believe it or not, we actually encourage each other just like real players! I am liking this kind of gaming.

Of course, if we want to fight, we can always box (with) each other - now this is another story altogether!

My arms are killing me. I think it's because of the few minutes that I spent boxing on the Wii. I think this thing might actually be a good substitute for exercise. All the more reason to buy one, right?

I have decided - when we buy the Wii, we'll be using cash. This means sticking closer to the budget and saving up for this purchase. I can't wait!

But first, Jerry's visa.

I have always thought that playing with the Wii would be fun but I didn't realize just how much fun it was till I actually tried it last night at Ren's. We held one last get together for Earl - Cranium night. Before everyone arrived though, we fiddled with the Wii and tried Mario Kart, boxing, and tennis.
Earl & Jer bowling
Joff & Jer playing baseball
Am & Earl watching

Boxing was so much fun and it really wore me out! I think that watching Jerry and Earl was even more exhausting though - watch and you'll know what I mean. Ren and I were so cracked up we could barely talk!



We also played the Wii version of Cranium - it's called Kabooki. The guys won simply because they got the easier tasks (and perhaps because of the fact that they figured out how to work the controllers better than we did). We then switched to the board game version and the girls beat their butts - twice.
These guys are so competitive!

You won't believe how competitive the guys were - …

This weekend has been so busy for me (and it's not really over yet) and though it should have been one of those lean weekends, it is turning out to be one of those times of indulgence. I guess I can be excused as we celebrated Hannah's and Mom's birthdays. Then tonight we held one last "party" for Earl before he leaves on Monday.

It's 4 am and we just got home and though I am so sleepy, I feel that I cannot sleep because I am so full. We have been eating non-stop since Friday night (well, alright, I am exaggerating a bit) so I guess it is a good thing that we played the Wii a bit tonight. It was my first time to actually try it and I had LOTS of fun.

I was thinking, the Wii could substitute for exercise and diet pills! Maybe someone will get me a Wii for Christmas - an early gift, maybe? ;)

Weekends are normally lazy for us and nothing really happens much. This one looks to be different. We got the freebies we were waiting for from Globe - printer, web cam, and head set. We're set to meet the guy who made the new skin for Koryu. We're meeting Lt. to watch Dark Knight. Here's to hoping that it really is a going to be a good weekend!

Music is something that I cannot live with. It picks me up when I am feeling down (or grumpy) like I am now. It keeps me company when I am miserable. It helps me focus on the task at hand.

Of course, you need good speakers or headphones in order to fully appreciate what you are listening to. I am currently using Jerry's Sony headphones for his PSP and they are really good. But I don't really want to end up destroying them since I use them all the time.

It's time to go shopping for headphones maybe? Buy.com has some really good deals on the best brands. One thing that I have learned it's better to pay a little extra for a reliable brand than to save a little on off brands. Good thing with Buy.com, the good brands can come cheap also.

This rarely happens but when it does, I can't stop till my craving (for lack of a better word) is satisfied. These past few weeks, it seems that a gadget craze has gotten hold of me. It started with the NEO Roadshow at work.

Then I began to discover other better options in the mini laptop range. I am now down to three options and all of them are looking good. I already posted about the MSI Wind. The other two are the Acer Aspire One and the HP Mini-Note.

Specs for the Acer Aspire One:

8.9-inch 1024 x 600 LED-backlit display1.6GHz Atom N270512MB DDR2 SDRAM (expandable)1.3 megapixel camera, SDHC and multi-format media readers802.11b/g, Ethernet, three USB 2.0, VGA, and 3.5mm audio outOne free mini PCI slot for WWAN80GB hard drive (with XP) or 8GB solid state (with Linux)2.5 or 5 hours on 3 or 6-cell batteries in XP model, 3 or 7 hours on Linux1kg (2.2 pounds)Isn't that a beauty? I would really love to have the blue one. I called Acer Philippines yesterday and the guy said th…

Sometimes I think that I have an addictive personality (not sure about the term). What I mean by this is that when I get to like something, I tend to depend on it a lot. Take writing. I think I am addicted to it. My jobs. I can't sit still for long without working. Then there are video games. Once I start playing, I find it hard to stop for sometime.

We already have a PSP and a PS3 and we also play PC games. Yet sometimes, I still find myself wanting to try other consoles. Maybe a Wii for Christmas? Or how about an xbox 360? I am sure that as great as the PS3 is, these other consoles have other unique things to offer - and to get addicted to.

Oooh, did I mention that there is this new mini laptop that has caught my attention? (More about that in the near future.)

For some reason, I could not sleep tonight. We spent most of the day watching TV and just being lazy. Around 5pm we went out for a post-July 4th dinner at Friday's (yup, Jerry got his wish) and then we went back to a still lazier evening at home. It's now 3 am and I have been doing nothing but trying to get myself to fall asleep - obviously to no avail.

I just remembered how much I liked to play The Sims and how I used to design my dream house in the game. The main room in the house would be my own rec room. So tonight, I imagined designing it once again. It basically has the same elements - a home theater system, a ping pong table, a pool table, and a bar. I have a new addition - a beer pong table. I recently "discovered" beer pong while watching Beer Fest the other day. I wonder if there are any places here that sell beer pong tables? I have seen portable ones online that seem good but I have no idea where to get one in Manila, do you?

I am not a very "cultured" person but I do appreciate music and theater. Jerry, on the other hand, is not really into theater. That is why I had a bit of a hard time convincing him to watch Avenue Q with me when it ran last year. I hate saying "I told you so" but he did enjoy the show a LOT.

So when I told him that West Side Story is going to run here in September, I was not expecting much of a reaction. Needless to say, I was surprised that he was actually excited. As it turns out, he saw it when he was younger and he liked it.

Anyhow, if you are interested to watch it on its opening night, here are the details from Minnie Fong:
I am selling tickets to the opening night of West Side Story and a part of the proceeds from the play will be donated to Kythe (http://www.kythe.org), a foundation whose primary cause is children with cancer.
Touted to be the best musical of all time with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and original choreography by …

As a little girl, I liked to day dream about visiting various places in the world. I think that of all the places that I read about, I had two dream cities. These two cities really captured my interest and I remembering promising myself that one day, I would get to visit them. One is Paris and the other is New York.

I guess wanderlust hit me early on. The only thing that kept me (and keeps me!) from going is time and money - plus the fact that I was only in grade school when I felt the urge to discover the world.

Today, I can say that I am starting to live my dream. I have traveled to a few Asian countries and some areas in the Philippines. I haven't had my New York City travel or my Paris escapade yet but I am sure that they will come.

For now, I'll settle for a week in Singapore and Malaysia - if all goes well, this plan will push through in September. I do hope we'll get to go - the travel bug is nagging at me again!

We had a great time with the boys this afternoon. We met Silas, Sam, and Gio at SM North for some quality time with them. First we ate - we couldn't decide where to eat so we asked Silas to pick. It was funny watching him try to decide. He just stared at the various restaurants line up side by side for a few minutes and then turned to us and said "I don't know." So we ended up at Mexicali.

I was not able to take pictures as the kids were a handful! Sam wanted everyone's food and kept staring and grabbing. Silas and Gio kept burning themselves on the sizzling plate. I think they had fun though.

After eating, we headed over to World of Fun - I didn't realize that SM doesn't have a Timezone. Of course, we had to stop by the wash room - Sam ate too much I guess and did a number 2. Thank God for Gemalyn as I wouldn't have been able to change Sam's nappies!

Anyhow, we managed to have some fun at WOF even though the games were very limited and it …