La La La Childhood!

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Change your facebook profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until monday, Dec. 6, there should be no human faces on facebook, but an invasion of memories. =)

FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST CHILD VIOLENCE

It was fun to see people's profile pic turned into those fun kawaii colored caricatures. There was Super Boink, Magic Takure, Doraemon, Dragon Ball, PopEye, Lupin, the perv Crayon Shin-chan, Sailormoon, Sonic the hedgehog, Detective Conan, Looney Toons like Taz, Disney Productions like Lilo and Stitch and Pooh, Sanrio Friends, Yaiba, Belle and the rest of the Disney Princesses,  Ghost Fighter, ABS-CBN 10-10:30 cartoon series like Princess Sarah, among others! An absolutely pretty depiction of my happy childhood. Oh, I didn't see it, but, Superbook too! Writing this post makes me reminisce the happy kiddo watching days of Hunter X Hunter, Knight Hunter, Mary and The Secret Garden, Klaus, the heartbreaking Romeo, Nilo, and others I could hardly remember now!

But these! Oh these, I tell you. If I have to define my pre-teen and early teen life in cartoons, this picture is!

Weekend 47: The Helipad

"One stair at a time, a race of a lifetime." 73 storeys. A thousand stairs. Swissotel, The Stamford. 2010. The Vertical Marathon.

I first heard of it way February of this year when my good friend G.I. and I rode the bumboat. And I thought it was interesting. But when registration opened for this year's November race, I seemed to got disinterested. Good thing my good friend Tj wondered and asked me about it. Well, sometimes the knowledge of having a company encourages you to just... go lah.

OCCASIONALLY, I had to climb our HDB's 12 storeys for practice. I used to do at least 3 rounds and then I stopped training. Two weeks before the race, I re-started, did 3-km fast-paced brisk-walking and a less than 10-minute jogging. Heh. Surprisingly, I was able! To conquer! The highest skyscraper! Here in Sg!

The race in detail. First floor was pretty easy! The 5th floor started tearing my muscles. Until floor 37, I was telling myself "it's just halfway, just f* halfway!" And since the overconfidence of my companion made him out of shape, we had a lot of rests. And each time, I regained my strength. So when we reached the 73rd floor, the clapping usher exclaimed, "Congratulations, you made it! Waah, still so energetic!" The last 8 storeys of the marathon was the easiest! And the trophy? The best highest stationary 360-degree view of the Lion City's skyline.

And of course, as a dessert, I got to see the 26-year-old German champion, Thomas Dold, a track and field extreme athlete, tower runner, stair runner, and world-record holding champion backwards runner. I even had a picture with him, which I dare not post since it makes me look like a short, stout, dark Asian.

The evidence of the conquer below. Next year, it will be women's open. I have one year to train, in dreams to qualify for the Empire State Building race! Oh New York!

Weekend 46: Margarita

There was a bit of drizzle that afternoon. I looked great in new black tights and gray one-sided off-shoulder topped with a black fedora with every step showing off white heels. I wish I had a photo to show you, meantime, please utilize imagination. I was on my usual way to work but nope not for work but for a photoshoot. I agreed to be my friend's subject for his Million Dollar Baby theme ~ just on time for Philippine's Fighter of the Decade, Manny Pacquiao's fight with Mexico's Antonio Margarito. I've never liked boxing. It's sports yes, but I've always thought it was, yes perhaps, brotherly, but a brotherly violence. Errr.

To wrap it all up in a picture, here it is with a touch of post process to make it as real as it is in the ring.

And oh for PacMan, as usual, for the 8th time, he has made the Filipinos proud in the boxing arena.

Pleasurably Painful

It annoys me to see the lower part of my limbs swelling. I thought it's water retention until my second visit to uncle's massage parlor. The foot reflexology I had the first time was intolerably painful that the pressure applied had to be lessened. Uncle tells the pain and swelling is caused by blood stuck in that area. I remember him saying it's because of the way I stand, I must be putting my entire weight on the wrong part of the feet. And just today a friend gave her smart hypothesis, it must be the heels. I should wear flats more often. But heels are sexeh! But... OKAY.

Uncle was kind enough to give me trivia as those wrinkled yet robust fingers treaded the path where my blood rushes from the fleshy calf down to the left foot and up to that lump on the side of the knee. I'm not versed with reflexology but I know that all parts of the leg correspond to the vital internal organs, the stomach, the spine, the liver, the heart, etc. Common sense will tell, but of course, every inch of human is interconnected by miles of  microfiber called nerves.

Trivia 1: The swell on my limbs inhibits good blood circulation, and as a consequence, trimming down.  Ah did uncle mention I don't even have to force myself to diet? Oh yes he did. I should go back and ask him what, why and how is this anything to do with losing weight. IN DETAIL.

Trivia 2: Exercise is boring but it will do a great favor for the body. It keeps your heart pumping which forces fresh warm blood in mobile all throughout - makes your tissues and organs happy.

I am one of almost everyone who neglects the proper care for the body. I think it's because we never understood how it functions and how it works as a system. Perhaps I should start learning about Physiology. Before it's too late. To body be good!

A Vietnamese Gastronomy

Finally, the date with Michelle! 

It was an Asian ladies' dine out after that so-five-months-ago evening chat over margarita drink after a satay-ish dinner at the infamous Singapore's gastronomical hodge-podge of local delights, Lau Pa Sat.

So what's for today's feature? Vietnam's authentic delish dishes with, who else could be the perfect food guide but, my lovely Vietnamese friend here.

The second floor of Suntec City Tower 1 presents an array of kitchen from various countries. I've tried Swiss the first time I sat there where I ordered my then-newly faved rosti, blame it on Marche.

After my most recent island trip where I had the 50-pesos-worth of Seriously Special Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup, I realized it's a must to indulge in a proper meal. Pho House at Suntec doesn't just prepare meal, every serving is good for four! We ordered two dinner sets, mixed and matched them so we could share and get a try of everything. Wasn't it great that Mich was around to show me the ways and means of the Vietnamese gastronomy.

I learned that there's a different way of brewing or sort of filtering coffee using this steel thing on the right. The coffee tasted bitter with a sweet hint of mint. This made me think my tongue must have gone nuts and confused. And oh you have to pour the bitter filtrate on a glass of ice. This is how they do it. Iced coffee!

And the main dishes, Spring Roll, Bun Bo Hai San (BBQ Beef with Seafood Vermicili), flavorful Bun Rieu (Tomato Prawn Vermicili Soup) and amusing Rice Paper Rolls. All of these for about 26sgd net. Price-wise, isn't this more than worth-it?


Every experiment must lead to something. So here's a set of my gastronomic conclusions.

1. Vietnamese don't like veggies. They looove veggies, and they like it fresh!
2. I thought those leaves were merely ornamental, NO! The Spring Rolls were more delicious with the leaves wrapped around them! 
3. Sauce it up! All those four dishes were served with seemingly the same sauces. But when you taste test each of them, you can actually tell an almost negligible but essential difference. Each sweet/salty/lightly spicy sauce in different proportions was a perfect match to each of the dish.

Yup, these two ladies managed to finish the good-for-four dinner served. Nope, we're not voracious, we're just really vivacious diners! After full and filled tummies, what else but the traditional cup of coffee girlfriend talks to cap the day. There. Finally, the date with Michelle! And oh did I not mention? In her gorgeous new hair! Snapshot here!