The Left Wing

29..

2008-11-05T21:58:00.003+08:00

Last November 2.. I turned a year older again..

Man I'm getting old.. hehe 29 years old to be exact.

Yep.. 1 more year before I hit to big 3-0.

Who wouldve thought I'd get this old fast? ;)

Since I slacked off from my triathlon training...

I had plenty of time to relax.. and get away from the very stressful tri life.

Right now, my goal and focus is to defend our gold medal at the 2nd Asian Underwater Hockey Championships this november.

Team Philippines won it at Singapore last year.

Been training and playing a lot of underwater hockey lately.

So far so good..

But of course.. I still squeeze in a little training from our triathlon program as much as I can.

I know what I'm facing this february 2009.. and its not a walk in the park.

I'm not stupid.. you must give it its due.. and must train for it..

You swim 4k.. then bike for 180kms.. and then to top it off.. you do a full 42k marathon..

All within 17 hours or less.

For some people.. finishing a 42k alone is an achievement of a lifetime..

Thats how tough Ironman is.. I know that.. and I.M. ready.

Redemption..

2008-10-05T22:34:00.023+08:00

I waited a long time for this...

A chance redeem myself..

A chance to improve my time last year..

A chance to prove that given the proper training... I can do it.

and finally...

I DID IT!

Yup.. I admit.... I raced with a chip on my shoulder.

I promised to myself that I wouldnt talk about this anymore.. and I'm gonna keep that promise.

Except for this moment.. hehehe..

I left my old team simply because, some people on that team, said I didnt deserve to be on the team because I havent proven anything yet. That I didnt have what it takes.. unlike them. Even went as far as saying they will leave if I stay on the team. There were other issues but, those we're really petty.

Weird huh? Isnt a team supposed to develop and help their weaker players? As soon as I heard that, I left immediately. I joined that team because I wanted to get better. I dont want to be associated (hehehe..) with a team that has elitists.

Ok enough about that.. thats over and done with. Besides, I already blogged about it.. its just set in private ;)

I sacrificed 4 months of my life training for this 1 event.. The Whiterock Triathlon (WRT)... the most famous and mecca of all long-distance triathlon races in the country.

Last year, I think I raced around 10 major races. For 2008... I raced only two. The Subit Tri and the WRT. My whole "tri-career" revolved around WRT.. which became my "A" race.

My social life has definitely taken a pounding because of this. There were countless times when I was asked to go out on a weekend and I said no because we have an early bike ride or run the next day. Date with someone? Well it better be on a sunday because thats the only time that I could stay up late because the next day is our rest day. :) Hehehe..

Now for the million $ question... Why am I doing this? I think thats the question every triathlete asks himself... shouldnt I be out partying? shouldnt I be just relaxing and working? Enjoying the perks of life?

Your entire household is already sleeping... and you're out there.. in the living room.. biking and cranking your trainer. Sweating it out with nothing but the boring nightly news to entertain you..

While everyone is thinking where to have dinner or where to go after work.. you're thinking about what time you'll be able to sneak in your "1 1/2 hour moderate" run..

While everyone is preparing to go to work or have breakfast.. you wake up earlier than them because your 4 hour ride starts just when everyone in your family is "about to leave the house". And what happens if its raining? You can't call it a day and go back to sleep.. you cringe everytime you wake up on a long biking weekend and its raining because you know its gonna be you, your bike, the turbo, and the boring tv all over again.. FOR 4 HOURS. Not to mention you still have to do a 4k swim afterwards.

Missed your morning swim? Well prepare to suffer under the glaring heat of the sun.. You must swim now because you still have work to do for the rest of the day... your face gets vandalized by the tan marks left by your goggles... Sunburned? Who cares? After that you still have to go to the gym or do an easy 1 hour bike. I got so dark I already stopped using sunblock. :) No use anyway. Besides.. I'm starting to dig this whole new dark thing. hehe

So... was it worth it?

I dont know.. maybe I just liked the pain our training brought. Masochist? maybe... Motivated? You bet. Knowing that this could probably take me to the promised land.. the place that would vindicate everything.. the place where I'd find my "bulalakaw".. my friends term for a medal.

Or maybe.... I really just wanted to prove something.

I finished with a dismal 6:48:27 time last year.. Far from my 6:15 target.. I could barely walk when I got to the finish line. My legs down to my feet was cramping up.. even my toenails!

This year though, I got my target and upped my time by over an hour. I finished with a 5:43 time which was enough to get me 3rd place in my age-group. The biggest achievement of my so-called multisport career so far. Back then I was just racing to finish... now I cant believe I'm even thinking of racing for the podium.

It was a weird feeling really.. knowing that as you were on your way to the finish line.. you may have just made it... you may just have gotten your wish. You trained hard for this.. did it really pay off?

Its just something I wasnt really used to.... yet.. and I think I like it. :)

I'm also really happy for my team. The Gold's Gym Triathlon Team, now called Gold's Gym Multisport :). This team went thru hell and high water in those four grueling training months. Not only in training but also in a lot of other nasty stuff as well. Which I'd rather not talk about. I'd rather focus on making this team fly. The 2009 season will definitely be a good year for the team.

Our road to the WRT race was the best part.. all our training sessions... our crazy antics just to keep us sane.. the wild Iba, Zambales rides.. our wacky swim time trials.. the long 2 1/2 hour runs! The race itself for me.. was really just an icing on the cake.. baked to perfection :).

Whats important for me is that.. we all had an amazing finish! Everyone on the team completely destroyed their time last year by an average of 45 mins to over an hour! A fantastic result if you ask me. I guess MAO really knows what he's talking about. :)

This group always believed in me since day 1. They never doubted me.. nor questioned my abilities. They kept on telling me, I'm getting fast, getting better, etc etc.. yeah its true at first I thought its just part of the whole camaraderie thing. See coming in this whole multisport world, I always just wanted to finish the damn races... of course in my mind I dreamed of what it would be like to climb the podium but... back then.. I was really doing it simply because I wanted to... lose weight. hehehe.

This team will push you hard in training.. no question about that.. but they will also never hesitate to lift you up if you go down. Team first before everything. Isnt that what its supposed to be all about?

I got injured 1 month prior to the race. Its tough because its the same injury I got when I did whiterock last year. Same ankle.. same injury.

I've been kicking myself 'till now because I havent missed a single training session before I got injured. I was able to do everything on the program.. and was feeling really, really strong.

I managed to survive two nasty bike crashes.. got battered and bruised but still managed to do the training... and then just because of a simple "slip".. its over.. I couldnt run or even bike really hard.

Good thing I was still able to swim with the injury.. even if it meant kicking with just one foot :(. Its tough but what are you gonna do? You're already 3 months deep into the training.. you sacrificed a lot already.. are you going to let it all go down the drain? I wont. I'd rather let my ankle snap during the race... at least I tried. Thats better than doubting myself for the rest of my life. Like what the great Lance Armstrong said.. "Pain is temporary... Quitting is forever".

I missed around 3 good weeks training because of that.. just when the training was peaking and was focusing more on speed work. I could run yes... but I'll definitely be in a lot of pain afterwards. It was really a tough situation... your mind and heart is willing.. but your body just cant take it anymore.

Kudos once again to my therapist... Butch Ong and the whole Sante clinic crew.. who never gave up on my ankle.. who urged me to go on and run and dont mind my ankle because they'll take care of it. You're a miracle worker doc! and I'm happy to say that we made it!

Now on to the race...

We arrived in subic a day before the event... we checked in at our favorite place.. Playa Papagayo owned by a triathlete and a good friend, Frank Lacson. Staying in a resort managed by a triathlete has its own perks.. aside from getting triathlon designed meals.. you'll also get the benefit of having an early breakfast (restaurant opens at 4am) plus they wouldnt mind if you check out late the next day.

The Swim - I had a lot of mixed feelings before the start of the swim.. knowing that this is it... the moment we have all been waiting for... after doing my warm ups and my pre-race/training stretching routine.. I just took a deep breath and then prepared for the gun to fire. Theres no turning back. I was restless but some reason.. I was also calm. I just kept on thinking to myself.. 2k swim?? Heck, I swim an average of 10kms+ a week. How hard could this be?

At gunfire, I made the mistake of trying to draft with some of the fast-but-not-that-fast guys.. thinking I could draft off them and save some energy. But I was dead wrong. The moment we got into the water, it was like hell. I got stuck in the middle of the washing machine and lost a couple of minutes just to get my bearings straight. After the 1st lap I made a concious effort to stay on the outer lane.. where the water was calmer and I could do the last 2 laps faster. I ended up with a 43 mins swim. 3 minutes short off my target which is 40 minutes.

T1 went smoothly this time.. compared to my previous WRT.. this time I had a battle plan.. so everything went... well... normal to say the least. :)

The bike - the moment I've been waiting for... because I knew this is my strongest discipline and could really gain ground if I push hard enough.

Days before the race though, I've been bothered about the elbow pads on my aerobar.. it just keeps on getting loose everytime I hit a bump or a hole in the road. I decided not to adjust it anymore and ended up paying for it. I think I lost a clear 2-4 minutes on the bike because of that. Everytime it'll go down I'll try and force it back up. Which sometimes, almost caused me to crash.

For most of the time on the bike.. my arm was resting on the basebar itself.. instead of the elbow pads.. which was really uncomfortable.

As for my gameplan, I just stuck to it the whole way.. making sure that I was properly hydrated and was getting my nutrition. I maintained my target RPM and I managed to execute my gel and liquid plan to a T. The powerbars though were another story. See for the whole ride, we were supposed to finish 3 powerbars.. ok I thought.. I practiced this.. no problem. That was until I started chewing it! It was really tough to swallow.. especially when you're biking at race pace. I almost puked a couple of times because of it. That's probably the last time I'll eat a powerbar. I finished the bike with a time of 2h42m :) Just the time I hoping to get. Actually I didnt set a target time on the bike. I just want maintain my target RPM and let it take me to wherever. If it makes me do a 3h plus bike.. Its ok. In the end, it worked and I ended up with a very good bike split. So I guess it really works afterall. Hehehe.. Whats the magic rpm you ask? Ask TeamBB :)

During T2.. lets just put it this way.. last year.. I think I wasted almost 8 minutes here! Hehehe! After my bike last year.. I was so wasted already. So tired that I didnt know how the heck I'd be able to finish the 20k run. Hehe.. T2 was a breeze this time.. simply racked my bike.. got my t2 gear and changed. :) I blazed off t2 still feeling strong... that is until....

The Run - hehehe... yup... the run... the famous WRT run course.. where the heartbreak hills and the microwave awaits... a stretch of really tough hill climbs and a very long path of open road.. Honestly, I was feeling really good coming out of t2... I was feeling really strong.. I was feeling a slight pain on my ankles but adrenaline is taking good care of it.

I have a target pace in mind already.. which I was doing until I reached the 2.5k mark... suddenly my calves started to cramp.. uh oh.. Not again! I tried to rest and stretch it for a bit.. which worked.. for just a very short time.

I still managed to run a bit.. up to the foot of the heartbreak hills.. I really wanted to conquer it but I guess I still have a lot of dues to pay.. I almost walked the entire uphill section because of cramps and just made time on the downhills. I got second wind when I entered the base. I was able to run most of it.. that is until it was time once again to conquer the damn uphills on my way back. It was the same story.. walk.. ok brisk.. walk the entire uphill section.. and then make up for it on the downhills. This time.. even my quads were cramping. It was becoming really hard to run and stretch because if I stretch this muscle group.. the other one would cramp up because of the slack.

Frank of Playa Papagayo was right.. the remaining 2.5k left when you cross his resort would be the toughest, hardest, and most painful 2.5k of your life... I was really starting to cramp up so bad... I just kept on telling and psyching myself that this 2.5k is NOTHING... It almost just 1 loop at the UP acad oval.. how hard could this be?? 1 loop there is just our warm-up!

When I saw the Total gas station.. I just gathered everything I had and gave it a final burst.. just enough to make sure that I get to the finish line still running. :)

I'd like to take this opportunity to say big THANK YOU to everyone who supported us... to my friends who screamed their lungs out and gave me the motivation to finish the race strong... to my family who really surprised me by being there.. it was the first time they ever supported me in a race. Their presence and the fact that they're waiting for me at the finish line kept me going. When I was suffering on the run.. I just thought about my two nieces.. I wanna cross the finish line towing both of them.. should I carry them? I could but I'm afraid I'll cramp up, fall, and humiliate myself in front of everyone! Should I carry just one? Its gonna be World War 3 if I do that. Good thing when I got inside the resort.. I didnt see any of the two rascals. Turns out they got tired and went to sleep. Problem solved. :)

Now... again.... for the infamous question... was it worth it?

Given the chance.. would you do it all over again?

For those who didnt know...

When we started this mini training group of ours for WRT...

We had a slogan...

Which goes...

"One Target. Whiterock Podium. Nothing Else. "

Now.. let me add this teenie weenie bit...

Mission Accomplished. :)

Was It Worth It?

2008-09-08T15:33:00.001+08:00

The 4 month journey is almost over... and during this whole triathlon mumbo jumbo..

I lost some friends (or who I thought to be), gained new ones, maintained respect for those who stuck by their decision, saw people crack under pressure, but most importantly.. I saw who my true friends are.

Which leads me to this blogs title.. a question I've asked myself a couple of times throught this journey... Was it worth it?

Was it worth it, seeing who will stick with you no matter what?

Was it worth it, that you stuck to your principles and did what you think was right?

Was it worth it, seeing a bunch of people despise you when youre on your back, then suck up you like a candybar when youre in front of them?

Was it worth it, leaving your old team? (i blogged about this already, its just set in private)

Was it worth it, seeing the various persona's of a human being?

Of all the times that I asked myself that question, my answer still remains the same.. and that it YES.. It IS worth it. Every damn second of it.

I had a blast throught this whole experience. It made me tougher, it centered my life, and let me know how to set my priorities straight.

When it comes to sports.. underwater hockey is still my # 1 priority. Had I not been injured, I couldve gone back sooner. Triathlon comes next.

Work is still important... and because of this training, I managed to learn how to organize my job better. Got lots of work to do? Train early to you can start working earlier and finish early. Why? So you can rest and train again the next day.

Family still comes first before everything.. even fitness.

There are far more better things in life than training and racing.

When this journey is all over.. I'll try not to look back.. and just charge everything to experience.

You got pissed on, but you survived, you built your own rock, and now its time to reap the rewards.

The next endeavour will be longer and tougher, and I'm glad I'm with the people who I want to take that journey with.

More prepared this time around.

Armed with a better program.

And most importantly, the camaraderie is stronger than ever.

We're growing steadily. With new enthusiastic people coming in and showing how they could help.

The future looks bright.

Its time to lay the foundation.. and make sure there wont be any cracks.

We have survived a lot of trials and hardships. Theres no reason we cant make this one fly.

A friend of mine once said, the stars have aligned.

And yes it has, in due time, everything will fall into place.

We just have to take that journey... one step at a time.

Subit 2008!

2008-07-18T21:37:00.000+08:00

Dont want to start my latest post again with this...

its been awhile!

hmm its been what? almost 4 months!

Ive been wanting to write again for the longest time but I just cant seem to get my groove going..

writers block? maybe.. but i'm not a writer so how can that happen to me? :)

The past 4 months maybe the most busiest, activity filled, emotionally draining months of my life.

A lot has happened to me in that very short amount of time.

Hmm where should I begin?

Lets kick this off with last months Subic Olympic Distance Triathlon (Subit).

As usual, my time wasnt good enough for a podium finish or anything but my target prior to the race is to simply just OBLITERATE my time last year.

I clocked 3h:22mins last year and Im happy to say that I accomplished my goal and obliterated my personal record! I finished this years Subit race with a time of 2h:46mins J Not bad.. It wasn’t enough for a podium but its more than enough for me. J

Before the race start though, I made a mistake and underestimated my training buddy Julian’s knack for snoring. Ever since, he’s had a reputation of being a really loud snorer. I’ve been with him for a couple of pre race sleepovers before and found nothing wrong with it so I thought it’ll be just fine with me.

Also, prior to the day before the race, I barely got any sleep because of work. So I was thinking that sleeping before raceday wouldn’t be a problem because I assumed I already would be sleepy as hell come bed time.

But to my surprise, KABOOM! It fucking backfired! I dunno if its pre-race jitters or my buddy’s snoring or the coffee that I drank before bedtime but I couldn’t sleep!

I know it wasn’t jitters because I never had those before. So its either the coffee or the snoring. Haha.

Anyways, that totally messed up my preparation for the race. I hate to admit it but I think it DID affect my race in such a way that I didn’t get to fully recharge my batteries.

The end result? I ended up sleeping only for 1 hour prior to the race L Add the fact that I didn’t get enough sleep the other day.

I was literally feeling like a zombie before the start of the swim. I couldn’t concentrate. Deep in my mind I was pissed because I trained quite hard for this only for me to fuck it up come raceday.

When the gun was fired and we started swimming already, I was slowly losing it in the water.

I was literally dazed all throught the swim, thoughts about the fact that I didn’t get enough sleep just kept on popping in my head. Give me a floating bed and I’ll be more than happy to stop and finally get some sleep. I tried to block the negativity off a couple of times but its just didn’t work.

I ended up a full minute behind my p.r. in the swim compared to my 07 Subit swim time… and to think I barely even trained last year compared to this race. That says it all.

The bike was a totally different story though.. after I exited T1 and hopped on my bike, everything just seemed to get back in gear. I finally managed to get in a zone and pound those cranks away.

The bike seemed like a blur cause I felt really good all throught. I really think my tires made all the difference! My Argon-18 made me faster too of course.

As for the run, I think I did a 55 minute 10k run.. still a P.R. compared to my previous SubiT time but I’m still not happy with it. After feeling really well on the bike split, my legs were toast on the run stage. I wasn’t tired, I knew I could go faster, but I just couldn’t. I came to the finish line still feeling really well and good. Far from my target to cross the finish line really drained and washed up. Meaning I gave it “my all”.

But heck, its over now. Just have to pick up the lessons here and start all over again J

I totally didnt train last year and just "winged" it.. this year though, lets just say I “kinda” trained. Hehe.. hence the improvement J.

Im also very happy because I’m finally injury free! It felt really good racing without feeling any pain. Starting from my injury prone ankles, knees, and shoulders! So thank God for that.

Thanks also to my Physical Therapist who’s been very patient with me throught the whole process. Youre the best doc! Your clinic rocks!

If you’re injured or youre feeling any pain, give my P.T. a try. He’s the best. Send me a message for his info J

Phew its been awhile.

2008-03-30T22:09:00.003+08:00

Havent posted for the longest time..

Been REALLY busy.. trying to cramp everything I can.

My triathlon training, my so-called work, and other personal matters.

Actually I'm just enjoying everything that I have and everything thats happening to me right now.

Its all been very good actually.

Really happy with my family right now. We've always been really close but right now I think it got kicked up a notch.

Didnt even bother planning anything during the holy week at all.. I just decided to stay at home and spend some time with them. Ended up doing a major room cleanup. Fixed my moms room as well. I guess my interior design frustrations kicked in.

My triathlon training is doing really well. I got this major race on May and I'm really preparing for it. Taking my training seriously as well. I just hope it pays dividends on race day.

As far as my injuries go.. My knee is pretty much ok already.. my ankle I think is 100% already. Thank you Adidas Supernova Control! I liked this shoe so much that I got myself a custom MI Adidas pair. Right now I'm having my shoulder therapied. I strained a shoulder during my last hockey game.. it also didnt help that I worked out the following day. The pain got so bad during my inclined dumbell press that I dropped one of the dumbells. Good thing it didnt hit me.

Because of that my arm was in a sling for 2 weeks! Thats gotta be my worst injury. It was so painful I couldnt even lift my arm. Well if I'll put everything into perspective and look at the bright side, that injury taught me to take these stuff very seriously.. which I did.

Even if my shoulder is ok now I still dont wanna risk injuring it again because of hockey. The Cons clearly outweighs the Pros this time. I couldnt bike (cant reach the handlebar), couldnt run as well (it hurts because of the pounding), plus I couldnt swim! For obvious reasons.

I also finally got myself a tri-bike. Its an Argon 18 Mercury decked out with my dream groupset.. Dura-Ace! Thank God for that one.

I had it fitted with a standard size cranks and 11-23 cogs. It was a move that up to now, I'm still making if its the right move or not. The size of the cranks are ok.. but I think I may have over estimated myself with those 11-23 cogs!

I'm having trouble adjusting to it. See I can from a Giant Roadbike fitted with compact cranks and 12-25 cogs. With that bike climbing the hills of sierra madre, tagaytay and bugarin was a breeze. That bike of mine (Cory) rocks!

So far I've done two long rides with my tri-bike already. All with MAJOR UPHILL sections!

I struggled a lot when I used it in one of my rides going up sierra madre. I was in uphill hell the entire time. I still finished the ride so its ok. Its just that I was WASTED after our training.

But I can see it paying dividents already. I can feel my legs now getting stronger. I think I'm gonna stick with my 11-23's for now. Besides, thats what all the pros use :) I'll try my best to train really hard and make myself worthy of those bad ass cogs size!

In other news... I got pretty pissed off when I noticed that the BELL Sweep-r helmet that I bought at this bike shop in Cartimar only last december has a CRACK! Theres this thin crack on one of the aero fins(?) at the back of the helmet.

I returned it to Velo to have it checked and do a warranty claim. The guy who talked to me (one of the sales staff) was a complete Tool! Instead of just helping me with my warranty that idiot was looking for possible REASONS and LOOPHOLES as to how the crack got there. He even told me this STUPID idea that maybe the helmet fell on the ground thats why it cracked. I told him that if it did fall on the ground it would LEAVE A MARK! I took great care of that helmet and cleaned it really well all the time. Thats why I got PISSED when I saw the crack. See i have this cheapo but really great Trek Helmet which I used for my entire 2007 training and triathlon races and up to now, IT DOESNT HAVE A SINGLE CRACK IN IT. I'll call the shop this tuesday and hopefully everything will work out fine.

Been running a lot lately as well.. I'm trying to follow my training schedule as much as possible. So far everythings going exactly as planned. I ran 15k this morning at the Mizuno Infinity marathon held at the Fort. Which turned out to be a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.

Being sponsored by Mizuno you would think that this race will almost certainly be 100% glitch free. But the race was a disaster. Especially at the aid stations. THEY RAN OUT OF WATER! I was literally dehydrated when I crossed the finish line. Everyone was really angry because of it too. Who can blame them? I feel sorry for the first time runners. Thank God I didnt let my MOM join this race! Because a couple of weeks ago I got her to agree to join the 5k distance. Good thing she changed her mind and backed off. It wouldve been HELL for her I'm sure.

The race lacked marshalls as well, I heard a lot of runners got lost. The route was EXCELLENT though, that for me was the only redeeming factor of this race. I think this is the first time somebody used that route for a marathon.

I finished with a dismal 1:27 time. I simply didnt have the energy this morning. My form was terrible and I just couldnt find my groove. I was also stressed when I started the race because I woke up late. Something happened to my alarm clock because it didnt go off. I woke up almost 5:30am already. Good thing I made it at the start line with 3 minutes to spare. It also didnt help that I fell asleep around 4:30am already.

Its ok though because the race was just part of my training for the big camoola at subic this may. The Subit olympic distance tri.

Time to rest.

:)

PUHC Battle of the Elements Aftermath!

2008-02-23T13:32:00.005+08:00

The 1st ever PUHC Battle of the Elements Tourney is finally over. And as the dust settled, one team reigned supreme above them all...

Team Earth defeated Air in the championship round to capture the 1st ever Battle of the Elements crown!

Never the favorites to win the tournament, Team Earth, to the shock of everyone took a quick 4-0 lead against Air in the 1st half of the finals and never looked back. Breezing thru Team Air for a 6-2 win.

The tournament was smooth sailing all the way. The two day tourney which gathered almost 50 participants from PUHC was very successful. Thanks to the stellar job of rookie tournament director Achi Michelle and her sis Jowi.

As expected, The Battle of the Elements 1st day match-ups were intense. As teams jockeyed for "playoff" positioning, no team could afford to take it easy. As a simple loss here, or a low score there even if you win the match could still cost your team a slot in the championship round.

Round 1- Team Air squeaked by Earth for a 3-2 win. Team Earth, still finding the right setup, could not match Airs offense and suffocating defense in the first half. Team Earth played better in the 2nd half but simply ran out of time. On the other side of the pool, Metal easily defeated Water 5-1.

Round 2- This is where things got a little interesting. With Fire blazing thru Team Water for an easy 4-2 win, all eyes were on the 2nd pool where Air was slugging it out against Metal. Both teams were unable to score a single goal all the way 'till the final minute of the 2nd half. That is until Metal's Team Captain Leonard found a hole in Team Airs defense, allowing him to flick the puck to his forwards and letting his team get the winning goal in the dying seconds of the game! Everybody cheered on that goal. Especially Team Earth who got their collective asses kicked by Air the previous round. Hehe..

Round 3- For Team Earth, their next match is a must-win. Because if they lose again they can kiss their championship hopes goodbye. They squared up against Metal in the final round. Finally finding the right formation and defeating Metal 3-2. Team Air easily extinguished Fire 4-1 on their final game of the night.

The 1st day ended with Team Air on top of the leader board. Having fought 3 games, they ended their campaign with a 2-1 standing. Followed closely by Earth 1-1, Metal 2-1, Fire 1-2, and Water 0-2.

After Day 1, almost all of the players were either limping or nursing a bruise or a concussion. That only proves how tough the games were. Both physically and mentally. As evidenced by fellow Earthling Roger. Who during the entire 1st day of the tourney couldn't even manage to show a single sign of happiness or even a smile because of the amount of whoop-ass that he got from the other Earthlings. Hehe.. The Gentledog also saw Air's Vice-Captain Nix at Talengs place the next day sporting at least 4 new bruises. Taleng looked wasted since shes already sick even before the tournament. The Gentledog was again nursing a bruised rib since he got kicked by Team Airs' Ram during their match up.

Going into the 2nd Day of the tourney, there was a lot of trash talking going around even before the start of the games. Which were all in good faith of course. (Baka may mapikon na naman.. hehe) Led by the Gentledog, who was readily proclaiming that night that his team would fight 3 matches that day. Meaning to say that his team will win their first two matches and would go on to the championship round... which would be their 3rd. Hehehe.. Cocky? I don't think so. Thats just part of the psy-war of Taleng and the Gentledog. Hehe.. Team Earth was never the favorite to win it all, so were just psyching-out everyone. Which we're hoping would benefit our team and give us all the positive energy that we need. The Gentledog went even as far as telling some of the Tourney organizers to have our team's shirt printed with "Champions". Hehe..

Round 1- Day 2 started with Team Air going against the undermanned Water team and Team Earth grinding it out with Fire. Team Air easily drained Water out of the pool. Lacking in key players, Team Water simply didn't have the arsenal and firepower against the highly motivated Air. Who needed just another win to get to the championship round. Which they easily got. Its just too bad that reinforcements of Water didn't arrive because they were one of the favorites to win the championship right from the start.

Team Earth's match against Fire was a slug fest. Team Earth, still adjusting with its new player Cid, who replaced Bummer in the lineup was still down by 2 points with just 6 minutes left in the second half, The Gentledog cant remember anymore if the lead was by a point or 2 but he's sure that Fire was still up with only 6 minutes left because some of Firemen were already asking the time-keeper how much time there's left on the clock. And I clearly remember the time-keeper shouting 6 minutes!!! "Shit.. Patay ako ngayon pano na yung trashtalk ko" said the Gentledog. The biggest break of the game happened came when the Gentledog accidentaly flicked the puck at Fireman Jowi. Which under the PUHC-regular-game-norm, would be an automatic stoppage of play for safety and checking purposes if the other person is alright. The Gentledog and Jowi rose up and as he was apologizing for the flick, The Gentledog noticed that the ref wasn't able to see what happened and was still letting the play continue. Some of the Firemen noticed this, got down and tried to defend their goal but to no avail since most of the Earthlings as well continued with the play. That play provided all the momentum Team Earth needed to defeat and upset the newly reinforced Fire Team 3-2.

Round 2- In the penultimate round, this is where the championship match ups would be finalized. In pool one, Team Fire, coming from an upset defeat against Team Earth, melted Metal easily. Leaving them to rust in the pool for a 2-1 victory. Team Earth, who by now found the perfect formation, rattled Team Water for a 6-0 rout.

Final Round!- It all boiled down to this... Team Earth against Air for the Championship and Metal against Fire for 3rd place! Team Earth sucked all the oxygen out of Team Air in the early minutes of the game and quickly built a commanding 4-0 lead. Already winded, there was this immediate deafening silence on the once-proud Team Air goal and sub area. Even some of the spectators couldn't believe it. Heck, Team Earth couldn't either. But still, it was a welcome surprise. By then, it was just about managing the clock and making sure that Team Air wouldn't be able to stage a comeback or have any chance to fight for the lead.

In the other pool, Team Metal, with a score to settle against Fire, got their revenge and won 3rd place with a last minute goal again! This time using their last minute heroics against the heavily favored Fire. Rounding up both the championships and the tournament.

For the P500 tourney fee, every cent of it was worth it. Not only did the PUCHers get to play for 2 days, each PUCHer will also get his/her own tourney shirt! Win or lose! Also a big THANK YOU to the tourney sponsors! (Who helped lower the tourney fee as well hehe). Where else can you get a pre-tourney gift pack, a chance to win a hockey bag, and have some snacks (with drinks to boot as well!) before the final game? ;)

Biggest props to my fellow Earthlings! Thank you for keeping my tourney win streak intact. Hehe..

To our super backs Taleng, Bummer, and Ferdie! Ayos mga kapatid! Nakadale tayo! Hehe..

To our bacolod inasal comeback PUHCer Jay Abello!

To our Sto. Niño Aleta! You did it again! Nagpakulot pa ha kaya x2 ang swerte! Hehe.. Amen!

To Roger! Na sa wakas nakangiti na nung 2nd night. At least nakabawi nung finals diba? Hehe..

To the Ambasadorrr! Bro how come wala ka pang "victory treat" for Team Earth? :) Kelan tayo?

To Meyan! Ayos ba? ;) Told yah kayang kaya natin to teammate :) Hehe..

To Cid! Who helped anchor the forwards! Thanks for the post tourney treat bro!

4 in a row. :)

Thanks for reading ;)

Being Patriotic

2008-02-12T00:21:00.000+08:00

I've always been PRO-Philippines.

I've always been patriotic. Always thinking of ways of how, in my own little way, I can make my country better.

I love my country and I'm so proud of it.

Even when all my friends are migrating here and there... in various "first-world" countries, I'm still here.

Its not because that I can't, its just simply because I dont want to.

But then again, with the whole NBN-Senate Fiasco, its being put to the test.

I guess the million dollar question is... what can an ordinary/average Filipino do right?

While talking to a dear friend of mine, she gave me this very interesting tidbit.

In an interview with Korina Sanchez, NBN's star witness, Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr said that after Neri's testimony in the Senate he was tasked to survey the middle class to find out what they think about it. And by doing so he found out that the middleclass has 3 kinds of mindsets. I'll just post what my friend said. Besides, I bet she can say it way better than I can. Hehe..

1) yung first one was the arrogant mindset - yung mindset of
inaction. ksi daw eto yung mga tao na natatakot to lose the little that they
have. eto daw yung mga nagsasabi ng eh wala rin namang mangyayari eh.
2) tapos yung second is the insulting mindset - eto yung mga
nagsasabi ng eh pare-pareho naman yang mga yan eh. so ito daw yung mga tao
na
ang tingin ay wala nang mabuti na pilipino.
3) tapos yung third is the untrustworthy mindset - eto yung
mga
nagsasabi ng two years nalang naman eh. eto yung mga maghihintay nalang
kahit na
alam nila na may mga tao na kaya naman maglead...pwede rin na sila
yung tao na
may kakayahan maglead pero they're scared that we might demand
the same moral
rectitude from them kaya sya untrustworthy.

Man.. that struck me. Now I can say that I'm leaning towards #3. If you'll think about it, I'm sure you heard those 3 mindsets before from various people right?

Can the Filipino afford another people power? More importantly, can our country survive another event like that?

I'm afraid that if we do that again people power would lose its real meaning. What's gonna happen now? Everytime a President messes up we'll create a revolution? I dont think so.

Because by doing that, the filipinos wont learn. Thats why we have elections for crying out loud. So that we get to VOTE FOR THE RIGHT PEOPLE. Now if we voted for these idiots then we're part of the blame also.

Now going back to my question.. So what can the average Filipino do?

Leave the country? Another people power? or pray to God and just hope for the best?

Right now, I'm doing the last option and just enjoying to whole Senate NBN Fiasco.

I know theres a saying "nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa" but what can I do?

Its like the tagalized koreanovelas that we dub here in our studio. Only this one is more addicting. :)

Woohoo another P.R.!

2008-02-04T15:36:00.000+08:00

Last sunday, I joined the Green Is Good 10k run at U.P.. and I'm happy to say that I finally broke the damn sub 50!

I clocked in around 49:30. Hehe.. barely a sub 50 but again, it still is. :)

My previous 10k P.R. was 51mins.. and that was around 2005 when I was still training with my mountaineering group. If I remember correctly I think my worst was 1:25-30. Which was my very first 10k. Hehe..

I was supposed to pace my hockey buddies but 1 min before the start I decided to try and run at a "normal" pace. Not really the pace where you'll run out of breath but more of a relaxed pace where you know you're running quite faster than your normal training run. Sounds complicated? Hehe.. Basically I just wanted know what my 10k time's gonna be this time around. I mean now that I already did a 42k run.

I didnt prepare for this run at all. Never even thought of registering for it. I just heard that my hockey buds were joining so I joined as well. I wasnt doing anything on that day anyway.

A couple of days before the race I was drunk. Hehe.. it started thursday night and then drank again on friday and then on saturday. I got home around 3am already and slept around 4:30. Slept for only 30 mins, woke up 5am, and then got ready and went to the race venue.

Quite frankly, the race was over for me in a jiffy. I guess thats what running a full marathon gives to you. It gives you swagger. Hey, what's a 10k compared to a 42 right? Hehe.. Its only the warmup.

My left knee though acted up again after the 10k. Maybe its because of the increased effort and pounding because it didnt hurt this much after my last full marathon. Right now, its feeling better (maybe because its on ice hehe) I just have to make sure I continue my therapy sessions.

Right now, conditioning wise, I'm still not at my very best. Maybe around 60%. Weight is still an issue (caused by the holiday season) plus the fact that my knees arent 100% yet. My ankle so far is feeling ok though. I'm using smaller fins now for my main sport, underwater hockey, so that also helps a lot.

At least my motivation is high. I'm focusing more on my running and conditioning. Been hittin the gym consistently for the past couple of weeks. Havent missed a beat yet so I hope this continues for the entire 2008 season. :)

Add That To The Checklist!

2008-01-21T23:58:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday, a couple of friends of mine along with myself accomplished what only 1% of earths population has done..

Running and finishing a 42k marathon!

A couple of years back, I never thought I could ever finish a 10k marathon. What more a 42k! I still remember my very first 10k vividly. For someone who didnt have any running background, and whos lifestyle consist of only drinking and eating all day, I thought that damn marathon would never end. It looked like we were running from earth to pluto and back! I could still also remember looking at the rest of the 42k finishers as they cross the line and saying to myself.. "this guys are insane!"

Nowadays its a different story of course :)

The marathon was held at the beautiful and ever friendly triathlon place, Subic Bay. We got there early saturday morning and bunkered at my favorite resort La Playa Papagayo. That place is just awesome! Aside from the very cozy atmosphere, you also get "A1" treatment from its staff and owners. That's because the owner of the resort is a triathlete himself, so that makes things a little easier. Even if the check in/out time is the usual 12pm-12pm time, they allowed us to check in very early in the morning so we can bike and take our precious time to check out the following day.

Once we got there, we (Bong, Chock, and I) decided to bike the entire 42k route which later on proved to be one of the best decisions we did that day. By biking the route, we were able to gauge the course. Honestly, I dont know what would've happened to me in the marathon if we didnt do the quick ocular.

This has got to be one of the races that I really prepared for.. nutrition wise that is. =) Days before the marathon I was already loading up on good carbs, eating right, and getting enough good nights sleep. After our bike ride, my carbo loading didnt stop there. Haha. Bong, Chock, and I stuffed ourselves with QUALITY food all day long. Eating delicious steaks at Meat Plus (twice!)and eating also at Playa Papagayos restaurant. Come raceday morning, it was carbo loading once again. Hehehe.. A huge serving of spaghetti welcomed us at the breakfast table. Hahaha I know, i know you shouldnt eat that much anymore on raceday but what can we do? We're hungry! Hehe.. Too bad we werent able to finish the spaghetti. As we were still full from our steak binge the previous day.

Physically wise, I still wasnt 100%. Both my left knee and right ankle still hurt. It also didnt help that I was still in the process of breaking my new shoes in. I bought a new pair because I just recently found out that I was FLAT FOOTED! And to make things worse, I've been wearing shoes designed for HIGH ARCHES! As per my research and my physical therapist, that alone is a major contributor as to why I was always getting knee and ankle injuries.

About my shoe.. if you're flat footed like me and is on the lookout for new kicks, try the Adidas Supernovas! Get the motion control version. Among all the shoes for over- pronators that I tried from New Balance, Mizuno, Asics, and Nike, this is the one that I loved the most. I just hope these shoes are durable though.

I did someting during the break in stage of my Supernovas which up to now, I still regret. Instead of breaking the shoes in gradually, I went on and did a 20k training run! That caused my left knee to flare up and left me unable to run or train for 2 weeks! After my costly 20k training run my next run was the 42k marathon itself. During those grueling weeks I couldnt even run 5k without feeling any pain.

I did a 10k marathon the week after I injured my knee but I dont really consider that as training or run because I was just keeping pace with my hockey friends who were running the 10k for the very first time. Courtesy of the Gentledog of course :)

If not for my recruits, I would've just opted to rest my knee. It hurt like hell during the 10k run but I was just gutting it out because I didnt wanna demoralize any of them. Its a good thing that a couple of friends of mine from the tri-dogs decided to help me pace my recruits. That enabled me to focus on the weaker ones.

A big THANK YOU also goes out to my therapist. That guy is heaven sent. He acupuntured, electrocuted, iced, and rehabilitated my knee and ankles just in time for the 42k. I've never been a believer of alternative medicines but I now am.

Back to the marathon... the race itself was very organized. It started right on time! By 5am the 42k runners were off! Since I know the route already I was able to pace myself really well. I was really being cautious at first for fear of aggrevating my knee injury which often starts to hurt on uphill climbs. Braced with a pair of pro-wraps and LP patella supports, I was quite surprised that my knee was actually holding up. I got to the 10k mark around 57mins. Still right on target.

Before the race, we were having a discussion as to how long it would take us to finish the race. Chock was eager on beating his p.r. 4 years ago which is somewhere in the low 5's (forgot already). Julian's target is a sub 5. While for me, I just wanted to finish the damn race. I dont care how long it will take me. Bong ran as well but joined the 21k division. That was his longest run yet! 42k is next!

I was able to talk and pace with a couple of runners along the way. I was egging some of them to slow down and take it easy on the 1st few kms of the race because there's still a lot of uphill climbs waiting for us until the turnaround. Some listened and some didnt but thats ok, at least I already did my good deed for the day :). Its fun seeing and passing all the people who sprinted at the very start of the race. =)

I reached the turnaround point at 2hours 10 mins. I took my time there, making sure I was properly hydrated and ready for the final push. I walked for a couple of meters and then decided to resume running at the downhill portion. On the way back I was still feeling really well to the point that I was deciding if I should leave one of my powergels to the marshalls and ask them to give it to Chock who I met just approaching the turnaround while I was on my way back up.

I was able to pace with a fellow runner for another 10k. We ran at a steady pace hitting the 30k mark in 3h10mins. My knee was already acting up but I did a quick math and found out that if I continue this pace, I just might end up with a sub 5 marathon! That inspired me even more to ignore all the pain and just keep on running! I still have almost 2 hours to go to get a sub 5 result with only 12k left. But by then, exhaustion was slowly creeping in. I was already getting hints from my body that if I dont take it easy and finish the remaining k's wisely, I would end up getting cramps! NOT AGAIN! I dont wanna feel the torture that I felt during the run split of the 2007 Whiterock Half-Ironman triathlon ever again.

All throught the run I was praying. Thanking God for letting me do this race and asking him to give my knees and ankles the strength to finish the marathon.

During the last few k's of the run I knew that if I want to get a sub 5 result, I would have to run the rest of the race. Fortunately for me, my buddy tintin spotted me along the highway and jogged with me till the 39k mark. That helped me a lot because I was already contemplating on taking it easy and just forget about hitting what now seemed to be a very ambitous target for me.. a sub 5!

On the final push to the finish line, I saw some of my friends and they cheered me on. That gave me the final jolt of adrenaline that I needed to get the sub 5. I finished 4h:57mins. Barely a sub 5 but its still is :)

Now with regards to the 1% of the population line at the beginning... I just got that from one of the runners =). So mythbusters feel free to prove that wrong. =) It just caught my attention because it makes you realize how lucky you are.. how strong you are.. and how priviledged you are that you are able to participate on this one of a kind event.. and finishing it!

Oh before I forget.. based on the footpods and and pedometers of the other runners, as well as the organizers themselves.. the actual distance of the race was 45k. =) So all in all, not bad for an injured first timer :)

The Rundown

2008-01-12T00:49:00.000+08:00

Man.. its been awhile since I last updated my bloggo. Things just got a lil hectic... the holidays, etc etc. I've always wanted to write something here... but for some reason I just cant. A lot of what I'm supposed to write got piled up and I just lost my momentum. Hopefully I can get everything back to normal and get my toilet ideas in full swing again.

A lot has happened to me since my last hockey tourney post. Another "first" in my life.

Actually this year has been a year of "firsts" for me. First time on a lot of things.

Lets do a quick recap. Though some of this may not mean anything to some, its a big deal to me.

1. Finally joined the auto transport show at Megamall.

- Though I didnt win anything, it was a heck of an experience. Something I'll always treasure. What made that experience special to me is the fact that a couple of years ago, I was just a mere spectator of that event. I've always kept track of my transhow life and its always nice to think about how I was just watching and drolling at those beautifil cars before. Then a couple of years later when I founded Honda Club of the Philippines, I got to know some of the shop owners and a couple of friends who joined the show themselves. Giving me the priviledge to enter the so called "forsaken realm".. meaning I finally could go across the damn rope barrier and mingle with the big fishes in the car industry. I also got to know the organizers in the process. Giving me certain perks :) Hey, it pays to know the right people :). Then this year, I just the show myself. Thats something I'll always be proud of. Seeing my car displayed there. Seeing people take pictures of my car.. hearing them talk about it and what they have to say about it was really nice. After the event, I felt I fulfilled another one of my dreams.

2. Winning at a carshow.

- Of course when you join car shows you want to win something right? Who doesnt? That has always been a big problem of mine since I started joining carshows. Its because of the fact that if you wanna win at carshow, aside from having unlimited stash of cash, you need to make your car as WILD as you can. I'm talking about bright colored paints, doors opening and closing like crazy and cars with bodykits like spaceships! Thats just not my thing. For me, I want my ride to be simple and solid. Extreme in its own way. Something everybody would want to drive and own for a very, very, long period of time. Something which I'm sure I was able to accomplish with my ride.

This year, in one of the carshows that I joined, my car was able to win 3rd place Best Honda! Woohoo! That was an awesome moment. Something that I will surely cherish forever.

3. Winning at a Car Audio Competition

- This has been one of my frustrations also because when I decided to "bling" my cars audio setup on 2005, I did it with the target and purpose of joining car audio competitions. For some reason, I just wasnt able to join any of the audio competitions that came up. Finally this 2007, I joined the EPITOMY of car audio competitions. I joined the IASCA contest at the new venue of the Custom Car and Sport Truck Show (now called the Manila Auto Salon) at the SMX complex of the biggest mall in asia. Aptly called S.M. Mall of Asia.

I didnt change a whole of my setup to begin with. I just upgraded my separates to bigger ones thats why my setup, if youll think about it, are all still "2005 specs". I won 3rd place at the rookie category! Besting out 14 other competitors in my division. Except for the 1st and 2nd which is a BMW 7 Series and a 3 series :) I'll take 3rd place anytime! Given the amount I spent on my audio setup compared to those other big wigs. Their setup alone costs twice as much as my car. Hehehe.

4. Joining the Whiterock Half-Ironman Triathlon.

- This was the race I could only dream of joining a couple of years ago. I finally did it last 2007 and it was damn good. It was a GREAT experience. I was just so happy and proud to finally be able to finish that race. I was never the sporty one when I was a kid. So for me to finish this, in a very respectable time for a first timer, is a very good thing ;) I posted my writeup about my Whiterock experience here so I dont really need to elaborate about the race anymore :)

5. Winning at a Triathlon race.

- Like the carshows, winning something at triathlon races was something that I've always dreamed of. Something that I've always wanted. That dream got fulfilled when I won 2nd place on the last triathlon race of the year, the Extri Off-road Triathlon. Thats the event I was supposed to write about but I just got caught up on a lot of things and wasnt able to muster enough time and momentum to finally do it. Till now. :)

That race will always be special for me. Not only because thats where I won my first triathlon medal, but also because thats where I decided to start taking triathlons a little more serious. That pave the way for me to join almost 90% of the races here in manila. Hopefully in 2008, with me taking my training a notch higher, I'll be able to do better.

6. Personal Life

- A lot of firsts also happened to my personal life. As much I'd love to share it here, I think its best that I just keep those things to myself. :) If I have to say something about it though, I'll have to say "Its All Good!". Because it really is. :)

Onwards to 2008! :)

Gold Rush! Team Philippines Dominates The 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championships!

2007-12-05T19:44:00.000+08:00

Now it can be told.. in the eyes of the Gentledog.

After all the calories gained strategizing at Mcdo..

After the countless hours deliberating the line-ups and yes.. even the design of the men’s team swimming trunks..

After all the e-groups drama and blunders..

When it comes to Underwater Hockey..

The Philippines is THE BEST in Asia.

We're the CHAMPS!

Except for a draw in the mixed division, Team Philippines from the Philippine Underwater Hockey Confederation (PUHC) dominated almost every game of the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championship (AUHC) held in Singapore.

The games were held at The Queenstown Swimming Complex. Located along stirling road, the complex was perfect for the 1st ever AUHC. Although the tile grouts takes a little getting used to, the pool was big and deep enough for underwater hockey. Stirling Underwater Hockey Club (SUHC) did a fantastic job organizing this event. Except for a couple of kinks here and there, which can be considered as growing pains, everything went smoothly and as planned. Next year, I hope PUHC will be able to top what SUHC did.

The games were on-time 99% of the time, the barriers did a fantastic job containing the wild underwater hockey players, there was LIVE COVERAGE of the games being shown on deck on 2 huge 50(?) inch TV’s, not to mention still having enough space for all the other players to loiter and hang around. The washrooms were big and water was never a problem also.

Going inside the venue, you'll immediately feel the competitive yet festive nature of the event. Everyone was in high spirits! It was great to mingle around and talk to other underwater hockey players from Asia. Despite the obvious language barrier, it was good that everyone knows how to speak English. In 3 days time, I think I saturated all the English in my vocabulary. Including the ones in my reserves. I was reduced to "Yup", "Uh-huh", and "Yeah" on the last day. Hehe..

Day 0 (Thursday) - Coup-de-etat!

History was made on the day we left for Singapore, not because of us but because of the coup-de-etat staged by the rebel military soldiers. While everyone was busy burying their attention at the Manila Peninsula Hotel where the rebels held their fort, most of us were busy haggling the traffic going to the airport. When I got to the airport, I can't help but feel patriotic seeing the other members of our team clad in matching Speedo sponsored, Philippine Team t-shirts.

We made quite an impression at the airport, with a number of people asking if we're part of the Philippine Team contingent that’s going to slug it out at the SEA Games. Only to see their faces turn into blank "huh?" faces when we mention that we're going instead to Singapore to play Underwater Hockey. Underwater What?!? Hehehe..

The flight took around 3½-4 hours which was honestly the longest 4 hours of my life. Not because I was afraid of airplanes but because I was butt-hungry. When I saw the flight attendants pulling the food carts I thought they we're going to serve us snacks only to find out that those damn junk foods aren’t free! 100 bucks for a freaking cup noodle?!? When I asked the pretty flight attendant why they don’t serve free snacks she just told me, "Budget flight lang po kasi Sir.. mura lang kasi yung ticket". What the hell? Good thing the flight attendant was pretty. Then as I lowered my head in frustration I saw this flag on my t-shirt and that told me everything I needed to know. Hehehe.. Say hello to our third world country :) Hehehe..

When we arrived at Singapore we just got our luggage’s and went on our separate ways. The SUHC people were gracious enough to host most of us in their houses. Some people were picked up by their kind hosts, and some like my group took a maxicab. My group decided to make a quick detour at Mustafa to have our $US converted to Singapore’s currency. We also had a quickie midnight snack at one of Mustafa’s infamous eateries. Wherein the use of serving spoons and utensils is practically unheard of. Hehe..

We got to Sam’s (our host) place around 5am already, which was really embarrassing to our kind host since he's been waiting for us since 1am. Not to mention that he's been stuck with Chock for the entire time. Hehehe.

DAY 1 (Friday) - And so it begins.. Team Philippines sets the benchmark.

For Jay, Chock, and the Gentledog (GD), the day started pretty early. Armed with just an hour of sleep, we were tasked to help our host setup the barriers. We slept at 6am and woke up around 7am and immediately went to the pool. To those who thinks setting up the barriers on our PUHC tourneys is hard enough, the barriers made by SUHC was even harder to setup. It was harder yeah but it was all worth the effort. Considering that it did its job really well. Along with some other SUHCers, we were tasked to carry the barriers, chains, and other stuff from the storage to the pool area. Which we happily agreed to do. Those barrier walls were heavy. It took two persons to carry 5 of those. Y'all saw how many barriers were used. Feel free to do the math :). The chains were also heavy as hell. Those chains weren’t the thin ones. They were HUGE. After bringing them to the pool area, we helped Sam and the rest of his Equipment & Set-Up crew put the stickers on the barriers. Then also helped them put the gazillion # of nuts and bolts together. We finished and got back to Sam’s place around 11am. By then we were talking about going to the various shopping places in Singapore. Which was put on hold because all 3 of us felt sleepy as soon as I turned the aircon on. Hehehe..

After a couple of hours recharging, the 3 of us were hungry. We went to this sorta-like hidden chicken rice place in Singapore which was recommended by our SUHCer friend Twang, which to our surprise, serves one of the best chicken rice in the whole country. We ordered a half-chicken which we finished in a record 5 mins time. We came back to this place the following day along with our fellow housemates and this time ordered the whole chicken! That didn’t last long either. Hehe.. The Chicken was that good. No wonder this restaurant got an award for having the best Chicken Rice Singapore has to offer. Sin Kee is the best!

The PUHC women’s team were barely challenged on their way to clinch the women’s championship on the very 1st day. Since Japan didn’t field their own women’s team, Team Philippines and Singapore went at it on a best of 3 format. Team Philippines won each game convincingly. Outscoring Singapore on their 1st game 14-0 and then upping the ante on the 2nd game. Finishing the game with a 15-nil win over the Singapore Women’s team. Those lucky ladies! They can now relax because they're already assured of a medal. Something which The Gentledog really wants. Selfish as this may sound but, I want the medal more than the mixed games winners certificate. Hehehe..

The PUHC men’s team also showed its strength against Team Singapore and Japan. On their 1st match against Singapore, the PUHC men’s team dominated the game with an 8-3 win over Singapore. Singapore on their 2nd game versus Japan won the game 6-4. On the last match of the day, Team Philippines overwhelmed Japan for a 14-1 victory. Though the game against Japan was a blowout, the game got really rough. Trust me, it wasn’t an easy victory. Every goal was a product of hardwork, teamwork, and determination. Everybody contributed to every goal.

It wasn’t the same for Team Philippines' X-Games division though, armed with mixed men and women players from PUHC, and playing against an all-men’s Singapore roster, the PUHC X-Games division teams lost on both occasions. Losing the 1st game 8-3 and succumbing once again to the all men’s Singapore X-games team on the 2nd game 4-3. Everything was still going as planned though because even with those 2 losses, those x-games are non-bearing matches. So technically, Team Philippines still has a perfect all win-zero loss record. GD though may have caused a commotion among the x-team players because of his suggestion that his fellow Mighty PUHCer shouldn’t play with the x-team on their 2nd game. The x-team was asking for reinforcements and Jay was telling GD that he's thinking of playing with our x-team. Given that we were going to play against Japan in a couple of minutes I told him GD’s side that he shouldn’t play there anymore but instead save himself for our final game against Team Japan. Because based on what I saw during their last match against Singapore, those Japanese players are no push-overs. Besides, why risk getting injured and wasted on a non-bearing game? Also, with your match against the very strong Japanese contingent only a few minutes away. Not to demean any of the x-game players but at the end of the day, our game is what will really count on the score sheets. What happens if someone from the men’s team got injured? What if someone from the men’s team plays all out at the x-games division and loses gas at the all men’s game? Who are you going to blame this time? Yes the term non-bearing hurts but quite frankly, it is what it is. A non-bearing game. Besides, why blame GD? He's not the team captain. If a players wants to jump in for the x-games then he/she can do so. He's just saying what he thinks is right. Also, can teams put in players from the men’s and women’s team to their x-game counterparts that easily? I dunno what the rules are about that but I still stand by my opinion. No one should underestimate any opponent. Not even Team Japan. Not even if they just have 7 players. After our game against Japan, despite the blowout victory, I think my opinion regarding that one was justified.

We all went to Kopitiam after the game for dinner. Where GD sampled their infamous cereal prawns which was costly but very delicious. After a few rounds of ice ka chang(?) for dessert, some of us headed to clark quey for a couple rounds of beer. Some of the went home already. We went to Hooters where we got our first taste of Ambassador Glenn’s generosity. This dude is one of a kind. Credit card limit size that is. Hehe.. Most of us got surprised (pleasantly of course.. hehe) that he took care of the bill that night. So in return, we made him pose between our 2 lovely girls for the evening.. Achi Michelle and Ditse (tama ba? hehe) Jowi and promised him that he will score a goal (take note) tomorrow at the mixed division.

DAY 2 (Saturday) - Domination, Determination, Perseverance, and the 1 hour dance routine.

This is the day The Gentledog dreaded the most. Because if you'll look at the rosters of the 3 Philippine Teams, our team (Phi2) had the most number of women. Phi1 had the strongest first 6 and subs (except for a few) of all 3 teams. While Phi3 had the most balanced team in terms of regular players and new player firepower. Phi2 only had The Gentledog as its male forward. The CF position was handled by Nix while the other wing position, by Nikki and Nadj. The Gentledog was sharing his with Margie. Our backs were anchored by Ferdie at the CB position along with Boy Toy Roy (more on than later.. hehe) taking care of the right back. Chari and Ines were subbing at the left back position. Backing up The Gentledog whenever he fumbles the puck. Hehehe..

Before the actual game itself, The Gentledog knew he's gonna pushed to his limits. Being the only male forward, he will be tasked to penetrate, gain ground, attack, and occasionally defend as well. Though its a task The Gentledog has no problems with, playing with a sprained ankle on day 2 is not how you wanna start facing your opponents. The Gentledog has been having problems with his 2 bum ankles for the longest time. Unfortunately for him, during one of the tune-up games with PUHC before the 1st AUHC, he sprained his right ankle pretty bad (again!). 1 week before the freaking 1st AUHC! When he woke up the morning of Day 2. His right ankle was swollen. But as always, and because of the expected earful that he will get from Nix, Chari, and the rest of Phi2 team if he decides not to play, (hehehe..) the Gentledog played. Thanks to chocks painkillers, my 6 months old ankle support, my quack quack self-medication, and a lil bit of luck, The Gentledog made it through.

Phi1 as expected blew all their opponents out. Scoring 8-1, 7-0, and 10-1 against Singapore(Sng)3, The Joey Carpio powered Sng2, and the Aussie Superstar Greg Bush powered Sng1 respectively. Against Japan though, the game wasn’t much of a blowout as we expected. Getting 7 points while letting Japan score 2 goals against them. The thrilling part here is that, In Phi1's 4 games, Ambassador Glenn was able to score a total of 4 GOALS! Yup! Count em.. 1,2,3 and 4!

Phi2 was able to get by Sng3 and the Greg Bush powered Sng 1 pretty easily. Beating them 8-0 and 8-3 respectively. Then the Phi2 girls Nix, Chari, Nikki, Nadj and Marge took the challenge of going against the stronger, faster, and rougher players from Japan to heart and helped Phi2 beat them 6-1. Joey Carpio's Sng2 squad though was another story. Even if Phi2 won 5-2, this was undoubtedly the toughest game Phi2 has ever played. Being their last game for the night, fatigue is slowly creeping up. Especially with the Gentledog.

The game was deadlocked 2-2 after the first half. The pressure was on. It was our closest game yet. They were pounding The Gentledog and the rest of my co-forwards everytime we try to attack. The game was getting rougher and more physical by the minute. Add the fact that the refs didn’t count one of Gentledogs goal attempt. Which could’ve made the score 3-2 in favor of Phi2. I swear it was a goal. I was scot-free on my breakaway and I flicked it high. Yes it was high but I was pretty sure that it hit the part BELOW the tape mark. I'm sure the other Sng 2 players saw that too because they went up as well as if I actually made the goal. I was in fact already on my way back to our goal area to prepare for the next strike. Only to find out that my goal wasn’t counted. Oh well, lesson learned.

Counted or not, its was all water under the bridge for the G.D after that. Nothing you can do about it anymore. Maybe the refs were right, maybe it wasn’t really a goal. But who cares right? It happened already. Move on. Yes, that pissed The Gentledog a hell lot, but I have to put all that behind me and just focus on our remaining task ahead. On deck, I can hear the cheers from my fellow Team Philippines encouraging us and boosting our morale. My ankle was hurting really bad already. The painkillers aren’t working anymore. Plus, G.D. was already dead-tired and worn-out. But so are my team-mates. So I cant use that as an excuse. Our starting 6 was playing without a sub for almost the entire game. Before one of the strikes, our CF Nix kept on telling GD to put what happened behind him and to just focus on winning the game. Maybe because she knows GD has the tendency to take those things personally. Sometimes way too personal that it affects his performance. But Nix was right anyway. No point crying over spilled milk.

During one point in the 1st half, with the game tied 2-2, we were all down in the water when another unfortunate incident happened to the GD. His dorsal stick broke! Talk about perfect timing! GD was shocked honestly. How unlucky can anyone get? Plus that happened after my no-goal incident. So that really stressed me A LOT. Feeling helpless without a stick, I immediately went up and screamed "Nabali stick ko!!!". I swam to our sub area as fast as I could and then just said to my teammates "Nabali stick ko!!! Pahiram stick!!!". Funny thing is, without even mentioning a word, Margie, Nikki, and Nadj (our subs that time) just held their sticks up. I had to make a quick decision on whose stick I should grab. Fortunately for me, Nikki was also using a dorsal stick. So I just ripped the stick away from her gloves and continued to play. Talk about adrenaline rush!

Inspired but still ticked off with the no goal call, G.D. and the rest of the Phi2 players gave it all they got at the 2nd half. "No way we're gonna lose this one" I thought to myself. My CF Nix has been telling us that we should win this game because if we lose, we're gonna be the 1st team in the mixed division to do so. Which is somewhat embarrassing given the fact that sometimes, we we're proclaiming ourselves to be even better than Phi1. Hehehe.. Hey.. nothing wrong with a little bit of swagger. :) We just have to make sure we back it up!

We were able to score 3 straight goals after that. The Gentledog was able to score 2 straight. Assuring Phi2 of the win. No way I or my super backs Ferdie, Chari, Ines, and Roy would let these guys score 3 straight and steal the game away from us. No way that’s gonna happen. I've always said to myself that pressure situations is where great players are born. Where the men gets separated from the boys. Its a unique and special situation to be in. Its either you crack or it makes you shine even brighter. Just imagine the thoughts running in my head before the start of the 2nd half.

1. We're tired!
2. They really didn’t count my goal?!?
3. How the hell am I going to blog about this?!? (Hehehe..)
4. If we lose this one, its gonna be a very long and embarrassing WALK going to the lounge area.
5. We're the only mixed team to lose! Yikes. That’s the fact which I'm sure we all dreaded the most.
6. If we lose, my “no-goal” will haunt me for the rest of my underwater hockey career.

After the win, we were just so relieved that it was finally over. We made it! 4-0 baby! Perfect record! Now it was time to relax and do some ref duties.

Phi3 had it the hard way. Routing Sng1 and Sng3 to a 6-3 and 8-3 victory, they were unable to get by Sng2 that easily. After their game, their scores were tied 4-4 which resulted on a draw. Giving Singapore their lone point on the standings. Their game against Sng2 was exciting. Down by 2 with a couple of minutes left, Phi3 rallied behind the rabid cheers of their fellow countrymen. My brother Mighty PUHCers Junvie and Jay held their ground and their defensive area which allowed them to score 2 straight points. The crowd went wild after they made the game-trying goal! They had a chance to win it but it just wasn’t meant to be as time ran out. Its ok though. We’ll take a draw anytime over a loss J.

As faith would have it, they still have one more team to face. Although it’s a non-bearing game, this team definitely are no push-overs. Ladies and Gentlemen I’m talking about Team Japan. Hehe.. Jay and Junvie's “Pang-himagas”. Hehehe.. If they got exhausted against their game with Sng2, just imagine how harder those 2 would have to work just to keep up with all those fast Japanese players. Man, they’re gonna be in for a treat. Hehe..

Team Japan won 4-3. After being tied 3-3 for the longest time, one of the Japanese forwards got a clean breakaway which enabled them to score the game winning goal. You just have to give it to Team Japan though. Those guys were playing their 6th game of the night already! And they ONLY HAVE 7 PLAYERS!!! Talk about stamina and endurance! They really earned GD’s respect after that. Though still inexperienced, Team Japan will surely be a force to reckon with in the future given the proper training and game sense.

After the games, we all decided to eat at Lau Pa Sat where we sampled more of Singapore’s finest delicacies. The food was good and it was pretty cheap! Some of us went home to change to party clothes for what was going to be a very unusual “gimik” night.

As soon as Chock hit the dance floor at the Hed Kandi bar and felt the music, he started dancing impromptu! No warm-ups, no pre-socializing with the other Team Philippine players! He just took the dance floor and danced to his hearts content! Not to be outdone, some of the foreign guests took the challenge of doing a dance-off with PUHC’s very own Philippine Monkey. Chock eagerly accepted their challenge and took on 3 guys which he later embarrassed. Words will not be enough to explain the craziness of Chocks entire act. It was as if he planned everything. No wonder he wore two shirts. 1 Polo and 1 Tight Fit shirt underneath. It was all part of his act. Hahahaha Polo first then hell take it off to reveal his shirt inside. Chock worked the dance floor in every way possible. Doing the worm, dancing on the corridors, and heck, even doing push ups on the chair! Hahahaha. All in 1 hour!

We decided to leave and head for Ministry of Sound (MOS) right after. The Gentledog was still tired as hell from all those games that he played. So he wasn’t really excited about it. Later on, we all just decided to go home and left Achi, Jowi, Glenn, and Idol Roy behind. Hehehe.. Where we later found out that someone did A LOT MORE than just dancing at MOS. I’d love to expound more on this but what happens in Singapore stays in Singapore. Hehehe.. You owe me bro. You know who you are. Gandahan mo stick ko ha. Hehe..

DAY 3 (Sunday) – The Finale, The Wild Party, and the Ring!

This is the day most of the men from Team Philippines was looking forward to. Because on this day, they would find out if they would go home with a gold medal around their necks. Failure is not an option. We didn’t come here to finish second place. We went here to win.

The Men’s Team first game against Japan didn’t start off as planned. The four of us (Gentledog, Chock, Jay, and Milo) arrived late. When GD and Chock got into the venue the game already started. We were 5 minutes late. Fortunately for us, we were going against Japan. When we got in the water, Team Philippines was comfortably up, 3-0. Team Captain Colet had no choice but to field in 2 reserves on the men’s team. Pulling Roger and Glenn (Yes.. Ambassador Glenn) out of the x-team lineups and into the men’s team. Wow! Roger was able to score a goal but unfortunately for the Ambassador, despite his HERCULAN efforts, it just wasn’t meant to be. But he played well enough and helped our team beat Japan.

I dunno if its strategy but we once again played Singapore just after 15 minutes! This was supposed to be a non-bearing game which we honestly could just forfeit because we were already assured of our championship slot. No more point playing Singapore 2 straight games. We could just decide that this would be the championship match and end the day early. But our Team Captain still decided to go for it. Total Domination! Clean Sweep! Nothing more, nothing less.

Singapore was able to score the first goal on both occasions, giving us a quick dose of reality check. Team Captain at one point was scolding us that we should dig deep! If we decided to stay up late last night, then we shouldn’t let our game suffer because of that.

Fortunately for the men’s team, all the Philippine players still had something left in their tanks. Although they played sloppy, well.. really sloppy, they still managed to beat Singapore’s best all men’s roster TWICE and get the Gold.

After the celebrations, everyone made their way to the banquet party at Merbau bar organized by SUHC. The party went really well! It was wild! Everyone, especially Team Philippines, were having the time of their lives. Nothing beats partying with a gold medal hanging on your neck. :)

As the celebrations continued, Chock, Gentledog, and Roger participated in this jack en poy game by Japan. You’ll take off a piece of clothing everytime you lose. Unfortunately for the 3 of us, by the end of the last round, we were also down to our underwears. Hehehe…

Almost everybody got drunk. Team Captain Colet treated each of the men’s team to a round of beer. But not to be outdone, Ambassador Glenn took care of the drinks of the ENTIRE Philippine Team! Furiously swiping his credit card in his bid to get everybody drunk and happy. Thanks Amba! Iba ka talaga!

As the program went on along with the awarding of the medals and trophies, the biggest surprise of the night happened when out of nowhere, Ferdie proposed to Nikki!!! Nikki and almost all of the girls cried their hearts out immediately. Nikki, so conscious that she doesn’t look pretty that night because she was already wasted, threw up a couple of minutes after Ferdie proposed to her. Hahahaha.. But its ok, despite smelling like puke and looking really wasted, Hehe.. everybody still congratulated her and Ferdie with gusto. I for one was very happy for those two lovebirds. Because believe it or not, The Gentledog played an instrumental part, both figuratively and literally, on how those two got together. :)

The party still went on after the proposal of course, but now everyone was really in high spirits! Just as we dominated Singapore and Japan underwater, the girls of PUHC dominated, caressed, groped, hugged, kissed, and had their pictures taken with SUHCs Aussie superstar, Greg Bush.

A lot of other things we’re happening inside and outside the bar. The Gentledog, Chock, and Beejay groped every lady that dared seat on our love nest. Hehe.. People were dancing everywhere! On top of tables, chairs, and even on the bar! Alcohol is really God's gift to mankind. :)

A lot of KISSING happened also. You name it! Enough to put Gretchen and John Estradas’ “KISSCANDAL” to shame. There was a girl to girl action, a girl to guy action of course, and heck, even GUY TO GUYY action! And also.. I dunno if I should say this but there was also a girl-to-errr-guy-err-ok-girl-ano ba talaga?!?-ok-both?? scandal! hehehe.. But what happens in Singapore, stays in Singapore :) I'm sure thats a line most of the guilty ones would agree to. :) You know who you are. Hehe.. The Gentledog included. ;)

Thanks for reading! :)

Wish Us Luck =)

2007-11-29T12:42:00.000+08:00

Me and the rest of the Philippine Team from the Philippine Underwater Hockey Confederation (PUHC), will try to bring home THE GOLD at the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championships thats gonna be held in Singapore. We're gonna go against the Singapore and Japan national teams.We're leaving tonight so talk to y'all when we get back. Hopefully with a gold medal hanging on our necks.

Pray for us.

See yah!

GO TEAM PHILIPPINES!

DUing It Westgrove Style!

2007-11-27T11:17:00.000+08:00

Dont just Tri! Du it!

Looks like I made the right decision. :)

Before anything else, I got the "Dont just Tri, Du it" line on one of our Duathlon events. Kinda catchy :)

A couple of days before the Westgrove Duathlon, I've been tormented on whether or not I should the duathlon or the 10k Healthway Marathon held at the fort. I already pre-registered for the 10k a month ago and was already dead set on joining it. Besides, it would be my mini-reunion race with some of my batchmates from AMCI so I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, a few days prior to the race I was asking the one who invited me whether or not the marathon is still pushing thru. I wasnt able get a reply from her so just I decided to join the Westgrove Duathlon.

Funny thing is , I got a confirmation from her that the marathon is still on AFTER i confirmed to my fellow PUHCers that I'm joining the Westgrove Duathlon instead hehe.. But its all good though... not much of a biggie. Its just sad because I myself have invited a couple of marathon newbies from PUHC to join the 10k. Good thing some of the PUHCers decided to join the Duathlon instead also.

Its been a hectic weekend for me last week. I was starting to get sick around friday if I remember correctly. That was a long day for me. It was the ingress of my 2nd consecutive carshow week (shiro didnt win anything =P) plus it was also our referees clinic for PUHC. So I just hurriedly left my car at Silvercity then went off to the clinic. Good thing I was able to bring our driver because after the meeting I was feeling sick as hell. Was able to sleep around 3am na . Then the morning after that I woke around 5am and immediately went to the Mall of Asia to bike and run a couple of kms with my training buddies. I dunno what has gotten into me but I still played hockey that night. Hoping that would somehow cure my flu. Was able to go home that night around 1am already. Was able to sleep around 3am then have to wake up at 5:30am to meet my duathlon buddies at our designated meeting place. On the way to Westgrove I was still trying to catch a quick 5-10mins powernap. Which I of course wasnt able to get.

During the entire race, I felt like a zombie. I was really feeling groggy and sleepy the whole time. Good thing the race was short. The Westgrove atmosphere was very unique. I dunno... maybe its because of the place which I heard was touted to be the next ayala alabang. The place looked really great and the houses were awesome.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of familiar hardcore triathletes/duathletes doing the race also. Team PMI was there in full force along with racers from Team Al-terra and some other teams. Heck, even one of my bike mechanics was there also! Their presence alone made it clear that this is going to be a FAST sprint race. My bike mechanic alone can do a 10k marathon in 39 mins! We also saw fellow PUHCer and Triathlete Rafa in the mix. It was also fun seeing the young ones do their first triathlons! Going out T1 with their kiddie bikes! Some even had rollers!

I went there along with my fellow PUHC riders/training buddies Bong, Julian, Nadj, Jc, and Chari. From the get-go we made it clear that this is just going to be a tune-up race for us (yeah right!) so everyone should just take it easy and should prioritize their safety above anything else. (yeah right again!) With the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championship happening next week, risking and flirting with injury is a big NO-NO. Especially in a non-bearing and fun race such as this one.

During the registration I got the scare of my life when I saw the dreaded #66 race packet heading towards me. The guys in front of me got the #'s 60-64. I was really hell bent on avoiding that race packet no matter what. Good thing I got #65. One # shy away from the very unlucky # which went to my training buddy Julian. Goodluck to him I said to myself.

10, 9, 8, 7.. the countdown was on and the race went off! Team PMI immediately took the lead right from the start and never relinquished it. Julian got off to a fast start as usual with Chari following him a couple of meters behind. During the turnaround I was able to overtake Chari and managed to catch up with Julian during the transition. I think we went off t1 around the same time. Bong was right behind us while Jc and Nadj were a couple of mins behind.

The run route was short (yup we measured it). But I enjoyed the bike portion! Especially the uphill climbs! The rest of the route of was rolling. It was very tempting to go flat out on the downhill portion but I was hesitant to do so for fear of a crash. One mistake and its bye-bye to my international hockey career. Not to mention having a very badly bruised ego.

I was trailing Julian for the 1st 1/4 stint of the ride, with Chari following me closely behind. I managed to overtake Julian before the first u-turn but he managed to out-sprint me on the downhill part. Its ok though. There are still a couple of kms of pure uphill cycling up ahead. *grin* hehe.. I didnt notice Chari was behind me but she told me after the race that she was just tailing me for the entire 1st lap of the 2 lap bike portion. Thinking whether or not she'll overtake me on the downhill part since she noticed I was braking very erratically. Well honestly I WAS really braking a lot because I didnt want to go flat out at all. Hey, better be safe than sorry :) Crash on a concrete pavement? Yup, you guessed it. TOCINO wounds.

I managed to overtake Julian again on the pre-uphill portion of the steepest climb section. After that I was looking for him at the first turnaround but didnt see him anymore. I saw Chari and then Bong a couple of kms behind but no sign of Julian.

After the bike, the rest was easy. One more lap of the short run distance and it was all over. I managed to clock a respectable time of 52:55 while Chari managed to get the 3rd best among the ladies with a very fast 55:01 finish.

While fixing our stuff at the transition area, we saw Julian going in for his T2. It turns out he had a flat... and surprise surprise, what was his race number again? :) Bong had a strong finish as well along with Nadj and JC.

The post-race buffet was DELICIOUS! As usual, the PUHC riders had their fill of bottomless pasta, iced tea, cheese sticks (yup meron nito!), chicken fingers and bbq! SOSYAL! Hahaha.

The 400 registration fee was all worth it! Not to mention that you get a shirt and medal as well to boot after the race. :)

But for this certain PUHCrider... the race didnt end there. Not being content of doing just a Duathlon. She decided to up the ante and do a Quadathlon! She added a 10k marathon!!!

Instead of a Run, Bike, Run... She did a Run, Bike, Run, BUY! Hahaha. We managed to convince Nadj to buy this 10k worth, bang for the buck, trek mountain bike! After a couple of haggling with the shop clerk we managed to get it at 9k. P9500 if you charge it which Nadj did. Which was still a very good deal considering the parts included on the bike.

It was a beautiful green/floral themed Trek mountain bike armed with bontrager stems, seatposts, and handlebars. Though the groupset leaves much to be desired, it was still OK considering that Nadj is still very new to the sport and it would take awhile before she even maximizes the full potential of her current 7 speeder or the full benefits of having a better group set. So given the conditions plus the budget contraints, that bike was more than enough for her. It was still a very, very, very, very, good buy. I was really glad that Nadj bought the bike. Aside from being a mega good deal, the bike fits her and her personality.

During our impromtu dinner at this bbq place in katipunan, we all thought of a name for Nadj's new ride. When I suggested "GAGAY" I knew immediately that we had a winner. Hehe. So on that night, we christened her bike as "GAGAY: Ang Bulaklaking Manglalakbay" Hahahaha!

So much for the hell week. I was knocked out as soon as I got home.

Looking forward to a brand a new week! I'm now fully recharged and looking forward to represent PUHC and our beloved motherland at the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championship in Singapore! La! Hehe..

Shiro did it again! What a great year this has been.

2007-11-21T23:08:00.000+08:00

Man am I proud of my car or what?

During the recently concluded Manila Auto Salon Carshow held at the huge SM Mall of Asia, Shiro bagged another award! Shiro got 3rd place in his division (rookie class) besting out 11 other entries for the award.

Kudos to my car audio tuner/installer JC Car Audio... though my system is 2 years old already, he still managed to make it sound really good! So to those of you whos into or into of getting into car audio, I highly recommend this shop.

I'm realistic.. though I'd be nice to get 2nd or 1st, how the hell can you beat a BMW 7 Series? LOL! That cars SRP alone is is nearly 10 times the SRP of my civic when I got it. Hahaha. And lets not talk about the amount he spent for his audio system compared to what I spent for mine :) But thats ok really, going into the competition I just wanna represent JC Car Audio. Thats all about it really. Im happy my car represented his shop well. :)

2007 has been a very good year to me..

Spiritually - My faith in God has never been stronger. Im really happy with the blessings that He has been giving me. Thats why I never miss going to Baclaran every wednesday to give thanks to Him. He knows what I pray for everytime I go there. I just wanna feel happy, loved, and content. Which is basically what I'm feeling right now.

Sports - A couple of years ago, Who the hell would ever thought I could finish a half-im distance triathlon? TWICE in 1 year? My sports life has been great so far. So no complaints. Aside from the various injuries, I've had a good year as far as competing and training goes. Though I still havent gotten the elusive podium finish yet, I know it will come. I just have to keep on training and pushing. My age-group bracket is one of the most toughest age-groups to crack. But I'll get there. I'm confident I will.

Underwater hockey is still my #1 priority when it comes to sports. Given the choice between triathlon and uwhockey, Ill pick hockey in 1 nanosecond over triathlon. I'm happy with my uwhockey game right now. Modesty aside, I've become one of the better forwards in PUHC (our uwhockey club). It feels good to know that the other players respect my game. I'm really proud about that because I worked hard to achieve that.

Financially - When i was 20 years old, I had a mission. Which is to retire when I reach 30. I'm 28 now and lets just say that my target is still achievable. Never say never :) Pretty stupid if youll think about it. Retire by 30??? By retiring I meant that I no longer would have to work, I'll just be living on interests and commissions. Its tough really, but like what they always say... "Mangangarap ka na lang din.. taas-taasan mo na. Libre naman eh :)" If I dont accomplish that goal, hey, I can always extend it till I'm 35 :) hehe.

Rides - As far as my car addiction goes, I'm proud to say that I'm over that stage already. (Yup.. I really am). Shiro is now what I've always dreamed of. All the things that I imagined doing and putting in car when I was still a kid, Shiro has all of those already. :) Maybe thats why I'm now leaning more towards Vans, Pick-ups and SUVs?? Hehehe or maybe I'm just getting old. hehehe.

Honestly, with my current lifestyle, my car simply cant cut it for me anymore. Yes he can still bring me to places but I really need a bigger car now. So sorry shiro.. If only I could put at least 2 bikes on you plus my other triathlon stuff without messing you up. Its more of me actually not wanting to torture shiro, than him not being able to serve me anymore.

As for my bikes, I'm really happy with my 2 machines already.. Cory and Macoy :) Cory, my road bike can still give those other 100k+ bikes a run for their money, hehehe. So theres no chance I'm selling her. I still havent reached her full potential as a road machine. My mountain bike Macoy has been great so far. Been able to ride him a couple of times pa lang and it feels like heaven on dirt tires! Its a far cry from my previous mountain bike.

Family - My family is my strength.. I'm really happy with our life right now. My dad, mom, and sis are all doing well... and so is my sisters family. She's pregnant again though (damnit here comes the tough babysitting part again) so that'll add another pamangkin to our stable. Which is all good of course. :) As for my mom, though I'd want her to relax more and not burn herself to death with work, I know that is what makes her TICK. She's a workaholic. I'm sure that if she'll slow down, she'll start to feel her age. Working gives her a purpose. So I'm really kinda 50-50 about it. Thats why I always ask God to bless her and my dad with good health. I love the pinoy family culture. Who says I have to move out anyway? Our family is sticking together until the end. No matter what other people say. I'll take care of my folks and my sis when they slow down. Thats one of my self-made roles in life.

Thats it for now.

Thanks for reading.

20+ Virgin =P

2007-11-11T20:51:00.000+08:00

I finally did it!!! After 2 futile attempts of finishing a 20+ kilometer marathon, I finally got the 20+ marathon monkey off my back! I've done 20k runs at triathlons but that doesn’t really count because I walked off some parts of it. The pace is different too.

This is my 3rd try to finish a marathon event this long. I joined 2 previous 21k's before but unfortunately, I got lost on my first one (ended up just doing 15k) and wasn’t able to wake up on my 2nd attempt. Which was, honestly, a big blessing a disguise because I mistakenly packed my dad's identical but 1 inch shorter shoe in my gym bag. Had I been able to do that race, being my first 21k marathon, I would surely have a lot of dead toenails enough to run its own funeral service! Plus it could've been a very painful and uncomfortable run!

I'm really glad that I got de-virginized (20+kilometer marathon wise hehe) by the Extribe organized, New Balance 25k Power Race! Held at Clark in Pampanga, the race offered the runners a new and wonderful venue for marathons. Who says you can't do a race of this caliber outside manila? :)

As expected, with those guys in charge, the marathon went on as smooth as silk. The event was very organized, directional and distance signs were everywhere, the aid stations never ran out of water, plus they have portalets! And lets not forget the availability of the RFID Timing Chips to the 25k runners. Digital na tayo ire! He he..

The run was tough as hell, literally. IT WAS HOT! The race course even had its own version of the infamous HEARTBREAK HILLS of Extribe's Whiterock Half-Ironman. I wasn’t expecting to face those hills again this early.. at least not for a year. Hehe..

It could've been better if the race started a little earlier. Say around 6am like most local marathons but I'm sure they have their own reasons as to why they started it at 6:30am. Hey, at least I didn’t have to wake up that early. He he..

Prior to run, my target was just to finish the marathon and do it without walking. Being my first post-injury long distance run (here comes the excuses! hehe), I wasn’t really sure how my right knee and left ankle will react to the pounding. Good thing all the prayers, rest, and therapy paid off! I wasn’t able to train for this marathon at all but I'm glad that I was able to finish it well within my target time.

The contents of the goody bag that they give you at the finish line was hilarious! Hilarious in the sense that it fit the event to a T. Being a very tough marathon, who wouldn’t be glad to see the following after finishing the race?

1. Alaxan FR - Hahahaha.. Need I say more? Name says it all. ;)

2. Titan Tape Up's - Correct me if wrong but I think this is a new product. One read of the back panel tells you all you need to know why its included in the package. "Reduce fatigue, relaxes muscles and nerves". Hehehe.. After doing the Power Race, you'll definitely be needing this!

3. Alaxan GEL - I’m using this one right now! Hehe.. Didn’t know they already have Alaxan in GEL form.

4. Fitness First Face Towel - Wow sosyal :) Hehe.. San ka pa? :)

5. 2 Strips of Band-Aid - 25k Marathon + Wet Shoes + Soaked Socks = B-L-I-S-T-E-R-S. Can also be used also for yag-burns.. Hehehe.. For those wearing loose underwear and forgot to put on petroleum jelly.

6. Circulan Tablet - Nothing wrong having a good health supplement in hand after the race. ;)

Congratulations to all the finishers! Congrats to my fellow PUHC 25k marathon virgins and 10k first timers!

Kudos to the whole staff and crew of Extribe! You guys did it again! The staff and marshal’s were very efficient, from the check in area, to the aid stations, down to the guys at the finish line. Aprub!

See you guys at eXtri this december!!!

A Year Older

2007-11-01T18:43:00.000+08:00

Wow.. I'll be celebrating my 28th bday in a couple of hours...

Am I looking forward to it? Yep.. Marks another full year of existense.

A decade already since I started legally watching r18 movies.

:)

I remember when I was still a kid I was really looking forward to that day.. Babaw ba? hehe. I looked forward to the day when the guard wont ask me anymore what my age is. Hehe.

Thank you Lord for very the wonderful year. Looking forward to another great year with YOU.

27 has been a very blessed age for me. And my previous ones also of course.

Thats why for 3 consecutive years already, everytime my folks would ask me what I would like as a gift, or if I'd throw a party, I'd simply say none and no.

And thats 100% sincere. Given what God has given me and my family, I have no right to ask for anything more. I just wanna continue thanking HIM for always blessing me and guiding me through everything that I do.

I'm happy. I'm content with my life.

My family is ok and intact.

And thats good enough for me. Anything that comes after that is just a bonus.

Thank you Lord for everything.

Non contact sport?

2007-11-01T17:30:00.000+08:00

Hehe.. 3 hits in 1 week.

Now i know that I'm not superman. Hehe..

And they say underwater is supposed to be a non-contact sport? Thats a pile of bullcrap. hehe

I never back down from any challenge, sport, training or whatever, but last week. I finally decided to give my body some time to recharge and recuperate.

Why? Because last oct 23, thats a tuesday, A.R. gave me a very solid underwater taekwondo kick on my right rib. Funny thing was when I was asking for a sub, my team mates couldnt hear me because I couldnt speak. I wanted to but for some reason I had no voice. Probably came out along with all the air I had that time.

I still continued to play that night of course.. thinking that this is nothing serious anyway. It was painful but I just played through it.

Then the following hockey night, oct 25, thurs, I started to feel pain in my rib area. It wasnt THAT painful yet but it really stings everytime I go underwater. I couldnt bring my A-game (to my standards of course. hehe), because I couldnt breathe. It was too painful to take a deep breath so I had to make do with mini breaths before I go under water. Plus the pain was really starting to bother me.

The kick was incident #1.

#2 and 3 happened on the same freaking night. As if getting kicked on the ribs isnt painful enough, I got a huge concussion on my forehead because of a flick! Ferdie from the opposing team in my opinion was supposedly trying to swing the puck outside but decided to flick in back on the wall area because he saw a lot of defenders preparing for the swing. Me, on the other hand noticed what was happening and decided to go for the puck and attempt to ram it out of his hand. Unfortunately for me, he flicked it just when I was going down so the 3lbs puck hit my forehead really good. Good enough to give me a good ole' bukol. :)

It was all good though. He apologized for it immediately and I know for a fact that it was purely a hockey incident anyway. No big deal for the gentledog. Its my fault too also. As soon as I got hit, I immediately tried to feel if there was a gash, a cut, or whatever. Luckily for me, its just a concussion. A HUGE concussion :)

#3 was the final blow. As I was going up for air, I felt a painful solid thing scraping my back. And true enough, as I looked over to my left, I saw this loose underwater swimming pool lighting fixture! The damn thing was FLOATING. Its electrical wires was the only thing thats holding it.

It wasnt painful when I was playing.. I only knew the gravity of it when my hockey buds noticed this white skin on my back. Turns out my skin got scrapped really good. White meat anyone? :)

So there.. given the 3 injuries, I had no choice but to cancel my supposed mountain bike ride the following day. I wanted to, heck, I really wanted to ride my newly purchased mountain bike (more on that soon ;) that day.. But how can u bike when you couldnt breathe? How can you put on your helmet when you have a concussion the size of Alabama on your forehead? How can you wear your cycling jersey when u have this deep gash on your back? Band-aid wont be enough to cover it and prevent it from getting infected.

I also had to forego my scheduled bike ride that saturday and the 2 hour run the following day.

Crap.

Good thing there's no hockey this weekend. Ill get the chance to finally rest it. I tried to play through it last tuesday and wednesday. It was still painful. It just sucks because just when I thought I finally got over my injury bug, this happened.

I'm on painkillers now. At one time the pain got so bad I decided to rush myself to the hospital. For fear that I have a fractured rib or whatever. Good thing the results were negative. Probably just a bruised rib. Hehe.. Just?

The hospital gave me an injection which was really good. The pain was gone in an instant. Its kinda addicting though since the meds they gave me was crap. Compared to the shot they gave, these puny tablets just cant get to job done. It was still painful.

I also tried riding my mtb (couldnt resist hehe) last monday. That was a tough one also. Since it hurts everytime I take a deep breath, every breath and pedal was painful.. the ride route, being a very steep uphill climb, didnt help either. I still finished the ride so thats all water under the bridge now.

Another setback.. it just means that ill have to stage another comeback :)

Cant wait to be 100% again. I'm tired of getting held back because of injuries.

Got the shirt!!!

2007-10-16T03:03:00.000+08:00

Phew.. I did 2 triathlons in a week. Last oct 7, I finally finished my first ever half-ironman marathon.. then just last sunday.. I joined another tri event. This time organized by TRAP which is the NAGT (National Age Group Triathlon).

It was a sprint distance. Wherein youll do a 950m swim, 27km bike, and 6.5km run. Though it may sound short compared to the half-im distance, its still very tough because youll have to do it as FAST AS YOU CAN. No pacing here.. just go flat out on every discipline.

I've always wanted to join NAGT because I really like their finisher shirts (I'm a sucker for event shirts). I'm glad I can finally add theirs to my collection. Hehehe.. only 1 shirt left to collect. Which is the Lakeshore triathlon. hehe

I was also able to de-virginize a couple of tri newbies from my underwater hockey club (PUHC). It was tough getting them to sign up but it was all good. I even lend them some of my stuff including my mountain bike. Hopefully, they'll get addicted to this sport as much as I am. Besides, its a very good cross training for underwater hockey. Hehe.

If theres one race highlight for me, its the fact that I AM NOW OFFICIALLY INJURY FREE! My ankle felt pretty good during my 6.5k run. My knees also held up as well. So I'm really happy about that. At least I can now train on my run. I have a lot to work on.

Finally Conquered The Rock!

2007-10-16T02:12:00.000+08:00

The Whiterock Half-Ironman Triathlon has been on my crosshair for over a year.. Last year when I just did the relay, part of me kept on telling me that I should've done the full distance. I know I could already, but I still opted to do just the bike part.

I've been wanting to write about my recent Whiterock Half-Ironman Triathlon experience but for some reason.. I just cant find a way to kick-start my writing mood.

Now its already been a week so I dunno if I should still write about it or not anymore... But what the heck right?

Sad to say, I bonked during the bike leg of the whiterock half-ironman. It was really disappointing because that is supposed to be my strongest department. I knew my run would be a disaster because I had no training for it. Even though my aim was just to finish the half-ironman, I was hoping that I could do my target time which is 2:40 or 2:45 max. I ended up doing 3:01. 1 minute slower compared my last years bike leg, though I didnt swim for 3k then.

Up to now I still cant figure out what happened. As far as I know I did everything right.. I slept early (been sleeping early that week already), ate good food, had loads of water and gatorade, and had enough powergels to nourish at least 3 triathletes!

I started strong at the bike.. my target average speed was 35kph. An average speed of 30kph would get you in the 3 hour zone (mine was 3:01). I was doing around 37kph average for the first 15-20kms or so when it hit me without warning. I felt a twitch on the bottom part of my legs! I didnt know what it was so I kept on pedalling. It kept on bothering me so I decided to just spin and take it easy.. hydrate and take my gels.. hoping that it would do the trick but I still wasnt able to get rid of it. Thats when I knew I was in trouble. Could it be this bonking thing that most athletes have been talking about? No.. It couldnt happen to me.. I had the training.. I prepared for it.. and most especially, not DURING THE RACE!

After that it became a struggle.. I couldnt even last pedalling continously without standing up my bike and stretch my legs. The cramps got worse and worse.. By the time I finished my bike leg.. my legs down to my feet were cramping really bad.

For the run part was a complete struggle, I was cramping the entire 21k distance.. not to mention that I was still nursing an injured ankle that time. Every step was really painful.. but still, I had to finish the race. No way on earth would I allow myself to get a DNF (did not finish).

But still.. I was damn proud of that race.. I am damn proud that I finished it. I am damn proud that I was able to cross the finish line even if I was already cramping really bad.

Prior to the race though, being the astrological, zodiac, or whatever you call it guy that I am.. I have this thing for numbers. On my last Duathlon event (Run, Bike, Run), I got really bothered when I got the #13 race number. And true enough, like what the number means, I got 2 flats. Effectively kicking me out of contention for the race. So after that, I've always been weary of my race numbers.

Lo' and behold.. when I arrived at the check in station of the whiterock event.. I knew I was in for a disaster when I got #66!!!! 66!!!! For crying out loud! Of all the numbers available why in the world did I get #66!!!! I tried to beg the registry people if I could have that changed... but of course, its not possible anymore. I dreaded every second after that.

I didnt get a flat this time around but my bike leg was still ruined by those stupid cramps. Oh well.. as much as I want to blame my 66 race number, there's no point crying over spilled milk. Plus, there's always Whiterock 2008.

Next year... I'll be even more ready. I'll train like crazy. At least having those struggles and let-downs gave me a chip on my shoulder. Something that should inspire me pretty good.

Keep Pounding The Rock.

2007-10-05T02:13:00.000+08:00

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before." -- Jacob August Riis

Come saturday, ill be embarking on my latest quest... and that is to finish the upcoming Whiterock Half-Ironman Triathlon!

I've waited a long time for this... spent countless hours and rode almost a thousand kilometers on my bike training for this one, swam countless laps.. though i kept on playing underwater hockey so that counts as part of my swim training too =P hehe, and then.. spent ONLY a measly total of around 10 hours running ON THE THREADMILL! The run part will be the weakest part of my race thats for sure. All those runs simply wont cut it. But thats ok, what can I do? I'm freaking injured. I'm just gonna enjoy the run part and walk to my hearts content. Hey, its legal to walk anyway. Nothing wrong with that. hehe

As much as it pains me to admit it, Yup.. I think I'm getting OLD. Hehehe.. I have a badly beaten up body (I have lots of injuries) or maybe its just because of the fact that I've never been the athletic type anyway. Before I joined PUHC (Philippine Underwater Hockey Confederation), I was just content on bumming around and drinking liquor to my bladders content. PUHC honestly started it all for me.. after I joined PUHC, I also joined AMCI Mountaineering Club and from then on, I also started joining marathons, duathlons, and Triathlons. The big cheese of multi sport events! =)

As of now, here are my injuries.. first one is my ankle injury.. I popped this a couple of times already.. which explains why its so weak to begin with. But this latest injury though is the toughest one. I got this injury almost 3 months ago! During one of our uwhockey tournaments, I didnt realize that I already injured my ankle while playing. Maybe its because from all the adrenaline. I just kept on pushing on pushing till I heard another "pop" again. Thats when I knew that i fucked up my ankle pretty bad. It started to hurt during the after hockey celebration (Good thing we won the tourney!) and then got really sore when i woke the next day. Couldnt freaking walk.

Sadly, just two weeks after the tournament, I joined my then-longest triathlon event. The o2 Olympic Distance triathlon. o2 simply because its the length of an olympic distance tri times two. The run part there was the hardest for me.. though i finished at a decent run time, it was pretty obvious that my ankle was already bad at that time. I had no lift when I was running and I was literally grazing the road with my shoes. But its ok.. Just keep on pounding the rock! Like what my favorite quote above says.

So after that race, I clearly couldnt run anymore. I still tried running of course (a really silly idea) and stopped when my ankle hurt.. I rested it again for a couple of days and then started to run again.. I can still feel pain so I stopped again.. Finally, after trying to run at the gym via the threadmill, I couldnt last even for 5 minutes anymore! The pain was simply unbearable. Thats when i finally decided to swallow the shame pill and get myself checked by a doctor.

Fortunately, the doctor didnt see anything bad with my ankle.. which was pretty weird since I was expecting to get diagnosed with a torn ligament or something.

Aside from the ankle injury, I also have this pesky knee injury which i definitely think I got from mountaineering. But its all worth it. The high that I got while I'm on the summit and the feeling of just pushing yourself while youre climbing up the mountain is a very very unique experience. Its simply you against yourself.. Will you quit? Or will you go on?

My knee first acted up when we were already on our way down from Mt. Kibungan. The 3rd mountain on our Basic Mountaineering Course program. I was enjoying jumping and trekking down so much that my right knee started to hurt. Maybe its from all those poundings. But being the stupid and proud guy that I am, I of course just decided to give it a rest and just let it heal by self-medication. Not the brightest idea in the world but, hey, what can I do?

And then lastly, I have this irritating pinch that I'm feeling inside my left shoulder. Instincts tell me its a rotator cuff injury. Which is pretty common to all hockey players. But I messed my shoulder when I was in Boracay last year with my family. Unable to compete in the Iba Olympic Distance triathlon because of our family vacation, I just decided to bring my swim gear there and train. For some stupid reason, I had the idea of swimming from station 1 to station 3. Which is somewhat impossible given the amount of people swimming in the water and the boats roaming around. So I just decided to swim the area.. WITH SWIM PADDLES! Given the amount of waves I was encountering, it was pretty tough to swim on that day. But still, why would i stop right? After a couple of mins of training, I heard my left shoulder pop. Given all my injuries before, you would think that this would make me stop right? But no, I still kept on swimming. The next day, my shoulder is already messed up. I couldnt even lift my left arm. It still hurts to this day.

I am just thankful to our Lord because he's been very generous, kind, and loving to me. I am thankful that I am able to do all these things.. which are definitely not your normal sports activities. He's letting me live my life the way I want to. Thats why I never miss going to Baclaran every wednesday. Been going there for almost 5 years now STRAIGHT. I only missed one or two wednesday nights because I was both on a family vacation. But I made it up immediately by going there as soon as I got home.

So this latest endeavor of mine is dedicated to you our Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for always keeping me safe, for looking after me, and guiding me thru everything that I do. I will enjoy this race to the fullest. This will be the culmination of all my multi-sport dreams. Last year, I only participated in the relay event and did the bike portion. Which honestly, pains me because when I was there at the race I knew deep inside that I can finish the whole race. Now theres no turning back. Barring any accidents or injuries, (God I hope not) I'm gonna try and finally finish the whole distance.

This race is also for all my past and previous training buddies. Wouldnt be here without you guys. Lets get this over and done with!

1 step at a time.. after this, its time to focus and concentrate at the next BIGGER event..

All Mens Fast Game. Autobots Trump Decepticons!

2007-09-28T01:41:00.000+08:00

One shall stand... and one shall fall...

The fight for cybertron and the spark cube is finally over. After 4 hard fought battles... the Autobots defeated their arch-nemesis, the Decepticons.

The Autobots won the 1st Best of 5 All Mens Fast League Series with a decisive 3-1* victory. # still counts.

Game 4 proved to be a battle of epic proportions. Both teams played full force, each sending their best possible unit for the game. The Autobots want to finish this series as soon as possible because they know that momentum can easily shift to the Decepticons if ever this series turns into a sudden do-or-die match. The Decepticons of course wont take this sitting down. With their pride on the line. Its a win or go home game for them. No holds barred. Nothing to lose.

The final score was 4-3, which goes to show how tough the game was. During the last 14 minutes of the game, both teams were unable to score a single goal. Game 4 (though I wasnt able to make a goal) in my opinion was the best game of the series. Each team fought hard, and got opportunities to seal the win, especially the Decepticons. With the gentledog out of the game for 2 minutes because of a dangerous flick, Megatron and his troops had the chance to take advantage of a 5-6 mismatch but failed. Credit of course goes to the Autobots for stepping up their defense and preventing the Decepticons to score.

Another blow to the otherwise fantastic Decepticon rally came when one of their gunners, escaping the tenacious Autobots defense, found himself doing a solo breakaway with the chance to score the equalizer but threw it all away when he misfired and flicked the puck over his opponents goal. It couldve been 4-all had it not been for that blunder. Call it a rookie mistake but things like that really happen. Heck, it even happened to the gentledog.

Its been said that the Autobots had it easy the entire series. That they havent been really "tested". And now that the series is over, the Autobots overcame everything the Decepticons could possibly throw at them and still managed to get the win. Proving to everyone who the rightful inhabitants of cybertron really are.

Now with the victory on their hands, what's next? If the previous Fast League is any indication, it can only mean that the 2nd series will be faster and tougher. Which the gentledog is sure everybody will be looking forward to again.

Though the league had a couple of blips here and there, its a fact that this is league is just on its maiden debut. Mistakes and adjustments are supposed to happen. Kudos to the entire All Mens Fast League committee, the team captains, the selection committee, and of course the players for making this possible. Looking forward to more faster, harder, and tougher games ahead!

Interestingly, because of the whole fast league mumbo jumbo that went on during the course of the series, we managed to get the attention of this very interesting personality. He said he wants to join the next fast league and of course, our beloved PUHC as well. I told him to just contact Nikki and get the details. I also adviced him (in a good way of course) that it wouldnt be a very good idea to show up at the next intro to hockey like this..

Hehehe.. Congratulations Autobots! Its time to celebrate and get our Autobots championship shirt! =)

Hitting the wall

2007-09-25T02:53:00.000+08:00

At first I thought it was a joke.. guess its not.

For the last couple of days or so.. I've been bugged by this nagging thought.. this bastard shadow-like notion that keeps on popping inside my head every now and then.

Could I be really experiencing the quarter life crisis(qlc) already? I guess so.. even if my mind suggests otherwise.

I've had enough experiences that made me conclude that I already am.. heres a few.

1. At a bike shop.. when I was chit-chatting with the owner.. I told him that I couldnt buy the part that I needed for my bike because I was still busy setting up my car.. his reply? "Hindi ba matanda ka na para diyan ilang taon ka na ba?" Toink.

2. I'm starting to think about my "future" (nope.. I'm still not interested migrating abroad) more and more.. Toink.

- I'm starting to save for retirement.
- I'm now interested in certain "retirement plans".
- Just got my salary? My first instinct now is to save and invest.
- I think about what businesses to set up.
- Lastly, heres the clincher about the "future" stuff... I find my car now as a liability for me! So sorry shiro.... (thats the name of my civic) Believe it or not.. I'm now getting interested in station wagons, suv's and dear God... Vans!

Though some of that can be still be argued as not a definite sign of hitting QLC, for me, trust me it is. Maybe I'm thinking about vans and other big cars now because of my current lifestyle. I'm looking for more space that would make me take by bike to places easier. But how the hell would you be able to explain the retirement plans topic?!?

3. Before.. I used to be the youngest of any group that I was in.. I'm still friends with those peeps but now I sometimes find myself hanging out with peeps WAY YOUNGER than me. To my horror I couldnt dig what they dig. Even sometimes saying to myself I'm too old for this sh*t. Toink again.

4. In one of our family dinners.. cant remember anymore if it involved my entire family or just certain family members and friends.. my age became the topic of choice.. "Ilang taon ka na ba?"... "27" I told my sis.. "Tanda mo na pala no.. pwedeng pwede ka na mag-asawa". What the fu*k?? TOINK! Some of them argued.. "Hindi pa yan.. mag enjoy ka pa dapat" (Which I certainly am doing).. My sis replied "Oo nga alam ko yun.. yun lang yung age niya pang asawa na talaga". I later found out that he got married to my bro-in-law when he was 28! Yikes! Toink toink toink!

5. And the final proof that I am indeed hitting QLC... I'm talking about it! TOINKKKK!!

=P

Well I guess thats about it.. if it happens it happens. I'm ready to embrance it. In fact, I'm looking forward to it. Its gonna be a joyride.

I can say my life now is at its peak. My family and I are having the time of our lives.. thats the most important part. Were just starting to live better... more comfortable than ever before.. and we owe it all to God. He's the reason why were experiencing all these blessings right now. Whatever happens I vow never to stop going to Baclaran every wednesday. Been going there for the last 5 years.. straight. I think I missed only 1 baclaran night because we were out of town.. but I immediately made up for it by going to the Baclaran the next day.

Hey.. I guess blogging really has a purpose. I feel like I've just taken a huge chunk of dead weight out of my chest. Phew. Toink!

Game 3. All Mens Fast League. The Decepticons Escape!

2007-09-21T20:37:00.000+08:00

In a race for the total domination of cybertron and the all spark cube, Megatron (seen in the picture), and the Decepticons won Game 3 and escaped being swept by the Autobots.

The score is now 2-1*, with the Autobots still leading the Best of 5 Championship.

Ladies and Gentlemen.. we finally have a series.

As expected, close-out games proved to be the toughest game of any tournament. With their backs against the wall and their pride on the brink of extinction, its clear that the Decepticons will do everything in its power to win at least 1 game and hopefully secure the momentum in their favor.

This time, the Decepticons left nothing to chance, they assembled their complete/toughest squad, came to the venue early, and played brilliantyly as a team.

It took around 3 minutes even before the 1st goal was made, thats how tough the game was. The game was fast, hard, and rough. The Autobots had its chances, they scored the first goal had the opportunity to go up 2-nil when the Gentledog (GD) stole the puck from the opponent and to his surprise, faced a completely unopposed and wide open goal, but overflicked it! (Yes, I did.. sorry guys.) Causing the puck to fly over the rusty metal goal. Yes it did hit the goal.. its just that it hit the "TOP" part. A clear no goal. That shouldve brought the momentum into the Autobots favor.

It's funny when you think about the classic pinoy saying "bilog ang mundo"... because just before game 3, A.R. from the Decepticons sent the Autobots this transcript.. "Fear the strongest players of the other team. Prevent them from playing."

Just like in the classic Hasbro cartoons, Team Autobots showed no fear against the Decepticons... and after game 3 last night, everybody now has an idea who that quote should refer to. No, the Decepticons didnt prohibit a single player from getting into the game, but upped the ante and prevented the ENTIRE TEAM from playing! With still plenty of time left and with the lead on their side, the Decepticons, also like in a cartoon series, deceptively forced Angel the lifeguard to stop the game by making him say that the clock has expired. Whats can a helpless, soft-spoken lifeguard do right? Especially when he's being screamed at by 10 adrenaline and testosterone filled hockey players.

Much to the Autobots dismay, that ended what could arguably be the most toughest and well fought match of the series. Talk about a spoiler. All along everyone has been clamoring for the fastest and toughest games possible for PUHC.. and here we are playing it.. and abruptly wasted it.

After the puck went outside for the nth time... and both teams now on their "equal puck" formations, instead of just going for the puck and letting a final goal decide whether game 3 will end on a tie or a clear Decepticon victory, the Decepticons instead loitered around and just pinned their hopes on their own personal "Angel". That is why for the author, that win by the Decepticons deserve an * mark placed right beside their at the standings. Yes, they got the win. For me, thats a win they cant proud of.. I surely wouldnt. (Correct me if I'm wrong kind sirs.. hehe). The 3 goals that they made against the Autobots were genuine goals.. no doubt about that. Those came from 3 different fantastic Decepticon team plays. The gentledog just isnt sure about the win. Yes, its ok to lose.. you win some you lose some. The gentledog is no sore loser (though i hate losing hehe), especially if you played against such a brilliant team. But that sucker punch leaves a sour taste in G.D.'s and the rest of the Autobots mouths. Hopefully, this will give the Autobots the extra swagger it needs to finish the Decepticons in game 4 once and for all.

Case in point, even after some of the Fast Game League'rs finished their shower, the rest of the players of the other game (mixed game) were still playing. So I guess there was really no time left. :) I rest my case.

Game 4 of the All Men's Fast League is on next thursday. Prepare for Battle!

Finally.

2007-09-21T13:30:00.001+08:00

This is long overdue.. After years of pondering whether I should join the community or not, I finally did it.

I've never been a fan of blogs because most of the blogs I've seen are usually self-serving. Honestly, would you really write and let the public know about the negative stuff about your life? Of course not. I've always thought of blogs as a personal diary.. only thing is its online.

I still have my own journal here in my room but the problem is, in todays digital world, its getting to be pretty painstaking to maintain. Also, since i got so used to typing (tuldok system) already i now find it hard to write by hand. Pathetic. Plus I usually go online as soon as i get home. Leaving no time left for me to write to my journal.

Perhaps youre wondering what the hell is up with my blog url.. But you read that right.. Its really "Toilet Ideas". Why? Because most of the crap (no pun intended) and ideas that i come up with are usually hatched while I'm inside the toilet. I dunno why.. maybe its because thats my only me-time or maybe its because of the "aroma" of our toilet. I guess I find that therapeutic. Hehe..

With regards to the left wing header, thats just the position I usually play when I'm playing underwater hockey. Thats all there is to it :) Just thought that it has a nice ring to it.

So you got this far huh? Give yourself a pat on the back.. You have a lot of time in your hands my friend.. Hehe. :)

Seriously, have a seat and enjoy your stay. :) Welcome to a bit of my world. I said bit because I'm not stupid enough to post any of my private life here. Not that everybodys interested to know about it anyway. :) Well like what they always say.. its always better to be safe than sorry :)

My thoughts finally have a home.