STill Running

Yeah, yeah, I know... I keep saying I am not a runner and YET I still get up on race day. (sigh).. like getting up at 3am for a 5:30am gun start....

What I mean to say is, I am not a SERIOUS runner. ( in local terms, saling pusa--)... I admit, I was peer pressured into running. (hubby, friends == me into running)

Although I am very sports inclined, I usually opt to join social sports where you get to talk more with your teammates (like in bowling, badminton). Running is a whole different mattter. LIke cycling, it's all mental.

You usually are by yourself (for HOURS). I can't train because I get bored in just running. (chatty me needs conversation). My husband enjoys the challenges of improving his time. I, on the other hand, am just happy with finishing in one piece. (of course I am so lazy to train...)

One thing about running, especially when I was doing my first 15k race was that I was constantly talking to myself. like: just till that stoplight and I can start walking a bit... 3k more and we can see the finish line... breathe... I kept telling myself to just cross the finish line and not collapse. Luckily, the first 15k I did, most of the route was level (no hills) and I finished a decent 2 hours 3 mins. I actually improved my time for my 10k. (1 hour 16 mins).


Some novelties of running is that they now have destination runs. One of them, the 2nd international corregidor run will be quite exciting. We will run through some of the historical buildings in an old fortified island. I'll be doing a 10k but I won't look at the time much because I would be taking a bunch of pictures too.

One of the other marathons I was looking at was the GREAT WALL MARATHON.--


here some videos from previous ones....

I may not do it next year, but I am considering doing it by maybe 2013. It looks quite challenging and exciting.

Just one of the things in my bucket list.

TeaTime HK and Other Stuff

Another trip to Hong kong. Thankfully, the weather was cooler and nicer. How I wish the weather in Manila was like that--- 20C (not too hot, not too cold but JUUUUSSST right)


People were already in Fall/Winter mode as evidenced by the sheer number of boots being seen worn. (Here is my other frustration.... a great desire to wear boots in a country with 34C weather.-- hahahaha)


One of my OTHER haunts in HK is PAGE ONE. (this is where I bought the wooden postcards from last post.) It's a bookstore in Harbor City mall in Tsim Tsa Tsui in Kowloon. I never fail to go in there just like going to PYLONES (see previous post HERE)-- 
This trip, they already brought out the calendars. They had big ones, small one, diary types, all kinds you can think of. What caught my eye were these:

 okay.... as if you are interested in analyzing what your POO looks like. and for 365 days of 2012. UGGGH.

This one I really was considering buying. Even as a gift, this would be nice. one recipe for each day of the year.

This one reminded me of my HOST MOM in the US, who really loved crafts. Each day is a scrap book palette you can cut and use (cutting off the date)- a great gift for crafty friends.

I'm not sure if giving this as a gift would be wise... but I was curious as what Shakespeare would say.... AND it not 365 days... it's 366 days (2012 is a leap year)


So, work work work and finally had a respite on the second to the last day. Me and my friend went to ELEMENTS mall - a chi chi upscale mall in Kowloon. There we saw a high tea display at one of the the cafes named LGB (by the way, clicking on elements name would take you to the website... and they have the theme from AUSTIN POWERS as their background music....yeh baby yeh!!!!~~~hahahahaha)


So back to food...


Having NOT tried french macarons (pronounced maka-rons -- short "o"and not macaroons  -- long "O" ) before, my friend urged me to try eating one. She was raving about macarons she tried in another store (but was equally unsure about this one bec not all macarons are made the same... the best one of course is in PARIS) ~ love that city


We were ushered to our table and we ordered the high tea set for two. We each had a free included drink with the set. She ordered juice while I ordered earl grey tea. (which I think best suits a sweet meal like this)

the tea was great... and I had one POT of it!

the 3 tier set had: (left to right, top to bottom) a chocolate cake, fruit, macarons in different flavors.
tier 2: lemon tea cake, strawberry jam and clotted cream, peach cake with champange jelly, scones. bottom row: tea sandwhiches (salmon and cucumber) , bruchetta


I tried the tea sandwiches first. They were quite yummy. The bruchetta was so-so

We each had one scone. I put clotted cream and jam on mine. I was thinking this was how it was supposed to be eaten. (pls comment if I am wrong about this). The scones were not soft. They were actually quite dense. It was the first time for me to eat scones, so maybe that was how scones are mean to be... (dense). The jam was delicious and the cream with the jam was heavenly. So I guess, I enjoyed my first scone experience. (the tea also paired nicely with it too) - sooo very English... hahahaha, I was tempted to try an accent.

next up was the pink cake.

very thin layers of cake sandwiched with cream and a slight hit of alcohol. hmmm


I asked the waiter what this was called and he said, peach layer cake with champagne jelly. LIKED IT. The slight hint of alcohol kindda gives you an impression of something sinful. (maybe its just me, I'm not sure...because I don't drink that much)

Time to tackle the macarons.


Honestly, I found the macarons too sweet for me. My friend urged me to try the store in greenbelt 5 by PENINSULA HOTEL. which she says are soo much better than this. (I yet have to try it)-- tooo sweet... I took a bite and left the rest on the plate.

This one looks great. My friend said it was nice. However, it had cherries inside (like black forest) and the one flavor of cake I REALLY hate is black forest. I loathe cherries!! especially wine soaked ones.


So, I enjoyed about 50% of this meal. Oh well.


Finally getting on. I was on my way to the airport when I passed by a convenience store. It was the window display that got me. It might not be obvious in the picture but these are huge gigantic PRETZ.
Not only that... check out the FLAVORS.

this is shark's fin flavored..... huh?????

 The box is the same size as cereal boxes

the left is seafood flavor and the right is oyster sauce flavor.....

I was in a hurry so I didn't get to really take a box so you can see the actual measurement. Suffice it to say, these were GIANT--- maybe the pocky sticks were 12 inches each. I have to buy one next time...!


It pretty cool what you find as you travel. Sometimes, you don't notice it. Until you open your eyes.


Ciao!

Wooden mail

November is a month where I have a lot of friends having birthdays. From my previous post about postcards, I mentioned I saw a postcard made of wood.

On my recent trip, I bought two postcards like this (it's actually a birthday greeting..) so cute!

the dedication at the back

it reads: the secret to life is to have more beginnings than endings. Here's to the beginning of another year!

this is the front part. used a camera effect in taking the picture.

birthdays are good for you, the more you have, the longer you live...

I will try to figure out how to write on them though. (hehehe)

Another thing about this November is that I have committed to run 15 kilometers in a race. For someone who has trouble training for a race, I had the GALL to sign up for a 15k (GAWK). Not only that, I would be out of the country -working the whole week next week and the race will be next Sunday. Nov 13.

I'd probably survive though. I ran a 10k recently and came out pretty good. My time was not fabulous (1 hour 23 mins) but it was pretty decent. I think my goal for the 15k would be to manage to finish under 2 hours. (I hope! cross fingers!!!)