My 2011 Christmas Wish List

It's that time of the year yet again.

My most favorite time of the year. CHRISTMAS, the season where I get to give and receive gifts.

This entry enumerates this year's wish list.

• CirqFit Passes from Gym FTX or Circuit Training Passes from 360 Fitness. 

FTX December Promo

• Closed Cap - I know di na uso pero inarbor kasi yung closed cap ko kaya I want a new one pwede rin kahit hindi. Black, Grey or Blue.
 

 

Closed Cap from Google

• Boxer Brief. Size 30-32 (Medium) Handford Ice ang Brand ko. - Got one pero I want more. :)

Hanford Ad from Google

• Slacks/Chinos. Black, Blue, Grey or Beige. Size: 30 Straight Cut
 

Slacks from Google

• Long Sleeves. Slim Fit Small. checkered or Stripes only. Color na bagay sa kulay ng Pinoy. - Got two pero I want more
 

Checkered Long Sleeves from Google

• Nathan Hydration Belt pang LSD 

 

From Google

• Blender - Sira na kasi yung amen - I got this already... Yung Rice Cooker naman!

Blender from Google

• Rice Cooker - Luma na kasi yung amen

 

Rice Cooker from Google

• Gift Certificate - Pwede na rin Cash... Pambayad ng Bills...

Gift Certificates from Sodexo

Singlets, Finisher's Shirt and Advocacy Shirt for Go Natural 2012

In relation to my post about Go Natural 2012, the first important run of next year.

This post details the singlets for all categories (3k, 5k, 10k, 21k)

Blue

Green

Orange

Red

The 21km Finisher's Shirt

The Advocacy Shirt given when you donate at least P150

What are you waiting for?

Join now!

First IMPORTANT 2012 RUN: Go Natural 2012

The first run I shall be joining next year is Go Natural 2012 sponsored by Nattural Quality Corporation, Run Rio and Resorts World Manila. I was influenced by CJ (nagsusumbong?) to start 2012 by joining the 21k category of this event. My running buddies, PEX Running Club, promised to pace with me on this race so this should be fun.

Join Us!

GO NATURAL 2012

Start the year 2012 right with Runrio’s Go Natural on January 15, 2012 at the Bonifacio Global City.  Run for the education about Diabetes at an early age. 

Proceeds from the event will be donated to ABS CBN’s Ako ang Simula. 

Join Go Natural 2012 and run for a diabetes free future. 

Live healthy, Go Natural.  

RACE CATEGORIES
3K/5K/10K/21K

REGISTRATION FEES
3K – PHP 350
5K – PHP 550
10K – PHP 650
21K – PHp 800

- Includes Bib with Timing Tag and Singlet (21K + Finisher’s Shirt)
- First 1,000 early bird registrants get a special Go Natural Baller ID. Special surprises await those who wear the Baller ID during the run.
- Register 4 + 1 race kit for free for any category (in-store only)
- Donate P150 on top of the registration fee in support of early child diabetes education gets a freebie T-Shirt. (pickup race day)

REGISTRATION VENUES

November 28, 2011 to January 8, 2012 (12:00 nn – 8:00 pm)
- Toby’s – Shangri-La Mall and SM MOA
- Planet Sports – Trinoma and Glorietta 3
- Riovana – Bonifacio High Street
- Athlete’s Foot – Robinson’s Galleria and Alabang Town Center

To register online visit http://www.runrio.com

For More Information visit:
Official Website -> http://www.gonatural.com.ph/gonaturalrun
RunRio Website -> http://runrio.com

Go Natural is brought to you by Ampalaya Plus,  Amapalaya Plus Delite Herbal Tea, Slenda, Enduranz, Renalin, Resorts World,  Powerade and Viva Mineralized Water. 

Free Membership Card in Resorts World Manila

From a lucky invite, I was able to visit Newport Resorts World that is located near NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay.

Commute to Newport Resorts World Manila

I went to this venue accompanied by my running buddy, CJ. I always thought that the only way to visit this place was through riding a taxi which would cost P150 to 250 from Makati. From CJ's internet research, we were able to commute to Newport Resorts World Manila.

From MRT Taft Station Jeep Terminal,
1. Ride a jeep to the barangay hall tagged as Nichols Terminal 3
2. Ride another jeep in Nicols Ikot and tell the driver to drop you off in Newport.

This establishment also offers free shuttle service from QC, Mall of Asia, Paseo Center and other venues but be sure to check their website before anything else. Check out this link for the latest shuttle schedules and other ways to get to Resorts World Manila.

Free Membership Cards with Perks

Since I am a fan of Genting and Sentosa from Malaysia and Singapore, I have been curious about Newport Resorts Manila for the longest time. They are also hosting the well-loved musical, Sound of Music, which was extended until February 12. Ensogo is currently offering a deal for this one so you may check it out

I urge you to visit Resorts World Manila soon as they are currently offering free membership with a membership card. All you have to do is bring a valid ID and fill out a membership form which collects your basic details. I recommend to fill out the form online as they offer special perks for those who do so. I got a free game of spin 2 win since I registered online.

 Free Spin 2 Win Voucher

The membership card has your photo which will be taken on spot before you'll get the card seconds before. This card will offer you discounts (from 5% to 40%) in stores in Resorts World Manila. Shops and Restaurants in Resorts world include Bvlgari, Mango, Puma, McDonalds, Montblanc, Passion Restaurant and many others. All of which offers discounts and promos with your membership card.

Lastly, this membership card offers a loyalty program where you could use points to gamble, buy stuff and purchase a meal.

My membership Card from Resorts World Manila

So do visit Resorts World Manila and get your membership card for free.

Free Fly Yoga Sessions at FTX

I so love the newest gym in Makati, Gym FTX.

First, I got promo deals from my favorite group deals sites at very reasonable prices. Then, they featured my blog post in their latest deals. Then, they have a Christmas promo for the Cirqfit Bundles (P2990 for 5+4 Passes). Then, Teacher Isla invites me to a free fly yoga sessions.

 Christmas Promo

Fly Yoga

Just a refresher, Fly Yoga classes are composed of your basic yoga poses made easier or more challenging by hanging part of your body in a cloth suspended beneath an anchor.

Classes begin by Teacher (either Lalah, Lesley or Dess) introducing everyone else and how Fly Yoga works.

Then you warm up with stretches with the cloth. Then, you go into different poses including body circles, monkey poses and anything Teacher Isla can add to your workout. You will be working your core and stretching most of your body in the poses of Fly Yoga. The conclusion of the session is pose for releasing pain, worries and stresses that your body carries.

Free Fly Yoga Session

Since Teacher Isla and I are now facebook friends (YEY, FTX FTW!), she invited me to free session of fly yoga. I will be attending one if my schedule permits me. The Free Fly Yoga schedules are as follows:

Dec 5 Mon
3:30 - 4:30pm


Dec 6 Tue
3:45 - 4:45pm


Dec 7 Wed
11:00-12:00pm
12:45 - 1:45pm


Dec 8 Thu
3:45 - 4:45 pm


Dec 9 Fri
10:30 - 11:30am
1:15 - 2:15pm
2:30 - 3:30pm

Dec 12 Mon
11:00-12:00pm  

3:30 - 4:30pm


Dec 13 Tue
3:45 - 4:45pm


Dec 14 Wed
11:00-12:00pm 

12:45 - 1:45pm


Dec 15 Thu
3:45 - 4:45 pm


Dec 16 Fri
10:30 - 11:30am 

1:15 - 2:15pm
2:30 - 3:30pm

All participants must be wearing tops with sleeves and bottoms that reach the knees. This is not a requirement but it will be beneficial for you since the cloth may cause you chaffing.

A requirement is wearing a smile and sporting an open mind.

Each session is limited to at most 9 people so be sure to reserve a slot by contacting FTX Gym through their email info@gymftx.com or calling 8223311 or 09162701177. Please mention you got the invite from me, Thirdy.  In case you can't make it to their free session, the usual rate is P950/session with discounts if you purchase their bundle passes (5+4 passes). Update: 2+1 Bundle Promo is now available.

 FTX Gym Facade from their website

FTX gym is located at Unit 202, Three Salcedo Place, Tordesillas Street, Makati City (above UCPB Tordesillas & Salcedo Velasquez Park)

FTX gym also offers signature workouts called CirqFit where a trainer will be with you every exercise in their circuit programs.

My blog was featured in Ensogo

It was just a relax day and I was just tweeting when I found that my favorite new Gym, FTX, was having another promo which may mean that I am covered for February to April.

In that deal from ensogo.com.ph, my blog post about Gym FTX Fly Yoga was featured.

That's my blog post!

That's so cool!

Old Swiss Inn

For almost a few years ago, I had an inkling to try a cuisine out of the usual types. Slash off chinese, filipino, japanese, korean, american and italian. I wanted to try a swiss restaurant. So I googled my way into finding Old Swiss Inn besides Manila Peninsula and at the ground floor of the Olympia Condotel and we tried pasta and a slab of meat which made us full.

From my favorite daily ritual (which is browsing group deal sites), I found a deal from Cash Cash Pinoy. The deal is P1000 worth of fondue in this restaurant.

For starters, we were served butter rolls. We were really hungry then so this gave us something to munch on while we were waiting for our main dish.

Dinner Rolls and Butter

Our main dish is the Neptune Fondue, made with various fish meat, shrimp and squid. We got garlic rice to go with this meal. We love shabu shabu so we enjoyed this meal. The variety of sauces mad this dinner adventure interesting. We'd try all the sauces with different combo.

 

Neptune Fondue

Sauces

This main dish is really filling so do come in hungry.

Shoe sharing project

There is currently a shoe sharing project shared to my by fellow runner AdoboKing.

The beneficiaries are the young athletes of Negros Oriental who needed to share shoes to participate in the Palarong Pambansa. The full story can be read from this blog.

The PEx running club is going to donate shoes for this project.

Please support!

More details on this link

360 Fitness Club Challenge: Things I get myself into

After my first urbanathlon finish, I went on a whim and tried the 360 Fitness Club Challenge. The challenge entailed an inidividual to do a circuit with a 12 lb kettlebell. Since the rest of our running buddies are still on the road, I said to myself, "Why not?" and signed up for the challenge.

 Unsuspecting Victim

The challenge

The challenge included 50 kettlebell swings, 25 squat-shoulder press combo on each side and 20 one sided squats. It looked easy but it really wasn't. Kettle bell swings were easy at the beginning but towards the end I could feel my body giving up. Then, I had to do the squat - shoulder press combo. I couldn't even control the kettle bell on the position the trainer told me to do. At the right side, I completed the 25 reps with the last 10 reps extremely wiggly. On the left side, I could only do 10 reps. Then I rested a lot and the trainer was already helping me to raise the kettle bell to a shoulder press. That was my limit.

 Kettle bell swings are not easy at all

More Swings you do that harder it becomes

To end the torture, I was finished 20 one sided squats. At that time, I was thinking about joining a gym again. Apparently, not following a regimen hadn't improved my muscles so at that time, I decided to join 360 Fitness Club by next year. I got vouchers from FTX and MAP so I have myself covered in attending gyms for the next 3 months.

 Resting at the combo

Struggling at that shoulder press

Trainer is already helping me

Come February though, I have to join a gym on the top of my list is 360 Fitness Club.

Fly Yoga at FTX Gym

Thanks to group deals (especially to Cash Cash Pinoy), I was able to spot the newest gym in Makati, FTX or Fitness Exchange. The gym is located in the heart of Makati, just behind Makati Sports Club at the exact address of 2nd floor, Three Salcedo Place, 123 Tordesillas St., Makati.

 FTX Logo from CCP

The new gym offers classes on yoga, dance, core fusion training, boxing aerobics, muay thai drills and 14 signature workouts. Classes have a schedule but since the gym is still in its early run, the schedules are bound to change based on the clients needs. While the signature workouts can be availed anytime that a trainer is around. I haven't tried the Cirqfit workouts yet but based on what I saw when I went there, the trainer works out with you, too.

Fly Yoga

After office hours, I went from our office in PBCOM to the back of Makati Sports club where the FTX Gym is located and used by Cash Cash Pinoy Vouchers to try Fly Yoga. I have only been to a few classes in Yoga but I do practice Fitness Yoga from Tony Horton's Yoga Flex, Yoga X and Stetching X from the P90x programs since they are good for runners who regularly train like me.

Fly Yoga Ad from CCP

So I was excited to see if how fly yoga works. As expected the class was dominated by females but it was okay since it was a small class. The yoga teacher, Isla (who is also the girl in the CCP ad), started the class getting to know our names and introducing info about yoga and fly yoga.

In the class, the "Fly" would be referring to the cloth anchored to the ceiling. This cloth will carry your body while exercising your core through yoga. Being a person that weighs 140+ lbs, the cloth was able to carry my whole weight so if you weight the same weight as me. I could guarantee your safety.

The warm up immediately included the use of the cloth so our bodies was "flying" little by little. I don't really remember the actual yoga terms but our session included body circles with half circle and quarter circle variations (out upper bodies flew in a circle); Monkey God pose with Variation (our leg was flying away while we stay grounded on the floor) and a lot more poses which I forgot how they are called.

To end the workout, we did the hanging corpse pose which was called that since it practiced letting go of everything in this pose our whole body flew while our teacher commanded our bodies to let go.

The workout was fun and really challenging. It needed the student to engage a lot of your core muscles. Our teacher also showed us things we could learn in the future like inverted split, head stand, etc wherein the cloth could make things harder or easier. The only con would be the good pain aftermath which meant your body was growing because of the workout.

Looking forward to my next fly yoga session at FTX.

For inquiries, contact 822-3311 or 0916-2701177.

Running in the Rain: My 2nd 5k at Slimmerun 2011

After experiencing my first fun run in May 2011, I was hooked. I decided to join at least 1 fun run event every month.

And for the month of June, my running buddies (Gelo, KC and JR) came into a consensus to join the Slimmerun 2011. It was originally schedule on the end of June but a big typhoon came to the country at that time so it was postponed to the 2nd week of July.

 Slimmerun Stage

So July comes but the rains are still rampant in the Metro but the run was on still on the GO according to tweets and fb posts so I prepped early in the morning at 5am and asked where KC is (since he was my cab pool buddy) and he was sound asleep. When he finally picked up, he declared the run cancelled and went back to sleep. But I wanted to go despite the rain so I called JR, who was supposed to have his first 5k experience in this fun run event, but he too didn't want to run in the rain. So my last resort to running with a friend was Gelo who wasn't picking so I decided to skip the run too. I changed into my sleeping clothes and was about to shut my eyes when I received a call from Gelo. He was already in the venue and was looking for us. I decided to go and changed into my running attire.

I hurriedly got into a taxi and made my way to BGC. Since I wasn't familiar with the place, as it was also my first time to run in BGC. I dropped off Market! Market! and jogged my way to the starting line. I came just in time as the 10k runner were prepping to start running. I checked my things in and made our way to the starting line but the 5k gun start was already fired so we just caught up with the other runners.

 Start/Finish Line

This was my best run so far. It was my first time to run 5k nonstop and the first time I broke my PR and set a new one.

By the end of 5k, I was exhausted so I learned I needed to learn a new skill getting good pictures from amateur photographers in fun runs. It was a fun experience despite the rain and the small puddles of water that wet my shoes.

 First PR

To cap off the morning, the loot bag was the greatest loot bag ever, it included a box of premium cold cuts from purefoods, tons of giveaways and short lines to eat all you can sandwiches and cold cuts. We spent most of our time in repeatedly getting bottles of diet juices and giveaways and in a long line to a photobooth.

 Best Loot Bag EVER!!!!

Slimmerun 2011 is the best fun run so far basing on sponsors and the amount of people who joined. I didn't regret the decision of running in the rain.

11-11-11

A lot of people are making a big deal with 11-11-11 (November 11, 2011).

It's a good thing though as businesses like Cebu Pacific, Zest Air, Shakey's Pizza, Oxygen and other establishments are holding promos and sales.

But despite the unique date, nothing is really special about this day. 11-12-11 will be tomorrow's date. If you will think about it this date, you will only experience this once as you would probably be dead by November 12, 2011.

Treats

Earlier this year, I was awarded a performance bonus due to my promotion and I decided to treat my family.

Sweets

I was browsing in my favorite group buying deal and one of the deals I encountered was this deal from Cash Cash Pinoy for brownies. On the day we set my dinner treat for my family, I claimed this sweet pasalubong. I was expecting to just pass by SM Ayala and board the MRT to Trinoma but since I was the only one who wrote SM Ayala Cart in the options. The salesperson got confused and directed me to the branch where the gate to Glorietta was also located. So I went to the SM Ayala Cart to the Glorietta Gate branch and SM Ayala Cart while awaiting numerous clarification from managers.

Glimpse of brownies from brownies unlimited

I am a patient person so the waiting didn't turn me into the Incredible hulk. (LOL)

Lesson learned, though, to choose the more popular branches. They get this done faster.

Dinner

I wanted to use my freebies from California Pizza Kitchen but we already decided on the token chinese restaurant so we just had dinner there and took the free pizza home.

Our Chinese Dinner

I hope for more blessings to share for my family and friends.

My look at that day

I have a twitter friend, Michael who keep a style blog called Show Me Your Look Today. In that blog, he details his personal style and styles of his friends.

As a twitter user with a blog, he usually tweets his latest blogpost and I usually check it out and inspired by the spirit of his blog, I am writing a blogpost about my look on the day we went to Tagaytay.

If you are a fashionista and my look is so not cool, I am open to suggestions, as well as sponsorship so do leave a comment.

Look No. 1

Since Tagaytay weather is supposedly cooler that the temperature in Manila, I made it a point to wear jackets and long sleeves. The first attire for that vacation was a gray long sleeve shirt from Old Navy which I bought before out movie day at Pennsylvania when that storm stopped me from going to any tourists spot. I originally bought it since I forgot to bring any jacket and the cinema seems cold. I also wore token dark jeans and rubber shoes so my feet would be comfy when walking... I wore this ensemble from the time we got to our hotel, to the time we looked around the nearby shops until dinner.

Sporting my gray long sleeves shirt in cool Tagaytay

Look No. 2

I love earthy colors and basics so to compliment my Bieber jacket, which I got from H&M. I worn a white shirt with a twist. The white shirt had buttons like a poloshirt has but it has no collar. So it's a plain white shirt with a twist. I also wore the same dark jeans and rubber shoes. I wore this ensemble from the morning photo op, to lunch at Leslie's up to the time we arrived back to Manila.

 

 Plain white shirt with a twist under my Bieber jacket

Thus, concluding my attempt to do a style blog post. Did I do well?

PEX invited me to an exclusive bloggers event by Pizza Hut set to present the new Tuscani Pizza with Shamcey Supsup

The Invite
I was just waiting for my slow computer finish my code deployment and tweeting at the same time when I saw this tweet from PEX (@pinoyexchange)

I was instantly curious of this opportunity so I introduced myself as a blogger and I found that PEX is inviting bloggers to an exclusive Pizza Hut event featuring their latest endorser, Binibining Pilipinas - Universe Shamcey Supsup.

Excited with the information, I heckled my way into this event and I got an invite the day after.

Preparation

The event was scheduled on 6pm. Since I leave the office before 7pm, I had to find a way to be there earlier so I watched less TV that day and arrived at the office at 9am. This successful attempt lead me to be able to leave the office at 6pm. However, being in a hurry lead me to forget to send an email to my boss so I was worrying about that during my walk to the event venue.

 Token picture with Shamcey Supsup featuring the Tuscani Pizza

As I arrived, a lot of bloggers were already there swarming around Shamcey. Lucky enough, admin Nakura and my buddy Jean was there to help me get a token picture and get seated with the rest of the PEX bloggers. Aside from having to be acknowledge as an actual blogger by PEX, I got to meet people from my blogroll, Madmader who was also there with madfather; SweetKay (better known as TS to most of the PEX clubs) and jessica_wabbit (foodie whose blog introduced me to Hawker 101).

Tuscani Pizza

To tell you honestly, I didn't really remember a lot about the Tuscani pizza as I was enjoying the company of PEX bloggers and the rest of the PEX team. I was also baffled by how respectable Jean, my friend who I know to do crazy dancing and apparently host for the night (at least when he's sober), was.

 Jean behaving as a respectable member of society
 

But I do remember how flavorful the All Meat Tuscani Pizza was. I do recommend this for a pizza treat to your friends and family.

New All Meat Tuscani Pizza

But since Pizza Hut gave bloggers gifts for attending, I owe them a review of the Tuscani Pizza, which I will be talking about as soon as I find time to go on a Tuscani Pizza food trip.

Acknowledgements

Capping off this entry, I would like to extend my gratitude to Pinoyexchange, the PEX Bloggers club and Pizza Hut for giving us a wonderful night.

 PEX Bloggers Club with Nakura from SweetKay

You might like to check out the facebook page of Pizza Hut as they are having a promo.