The DJ who's not a DeeJay: March 2010

I remember last year's Earth Hour experience. As much as Aileen and I wanted to support the cause, we were on the road in Makati. The only lights we had on were the headlights and I was worried how we could possibly turn them off. We couldn't park cause the vicinity wasn't a safe at night, much more in the dark.

Fast forward to 2010. We didn't have any plans to go out for the evening and so we just stayed at home. We got to prepare for Earth Hour this year. We were hurrying our dinner preparations by 8pm cause we didn't want to eat in the dark. So by the time Earth Hour started at 8:30pm, we turned all our lights off (5 minutes after just to clean up the dining table) and just spent it in our front yard.

We placed 2 monoblock chairs and sat there telling stories to each other. It's a good thing that the moonlit sky shed us some light. We totally turned off all lights and didn't even light any candles. In addition to turning off our appliances, we unplugged them to be sure that they didn't consume any standby electricity. We also decided to turn off our gadgets even if it was stored energy. So we turned off our celphones and laptops and just took a few pictures from our digicam to document and remember Earth Hour.

Sadly though, we were the only ones in our street who had our lights totally off. It seemed that our neighbors were either ignorant of Earth Hour or didn't care to support it. They may have mistaken us for not being at home.

Around 9:40pm, we decided to end Earth Hour and went inside the house. We know that it's only one hour long, but it also is a reminder to make an effort to conserve energy. It's not a matter of whether you can afford it or not. It's the mindset that electricity requires resources, and the earth, as big as it is, doesn't have unlimited resources for mankind. Thus, we could show our concern by doing our part as citizens of mother earth.

Earth Hour is not just about turning off the lights for one hour once a year. It's a conscious commitment to care for the world we live in.

Saturday, March 27, 2010
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Using A Celphone To Play A Ringtone

celphone

Saturday, March 27, 2010
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On The Wings Of Love

anime

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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Full Of Air

air

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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Shiny Cables

cable

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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Staying Alive

photo

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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Gear Up For The North Face 100

baguio

Within the last few months, we've seen wellness runs, fitness runs and fun run events left and right. Thousands of people have joined and the experience is thrilling when you run together with that many people. It's great that these events are spreading health awareness to the public and making it a fun and exciting event altogether.

The wellness runs were designed for the capacity of the general public, hence the 3k and 5k runs as the basic categories and the 10k and 21k catered to more advanced runners with the strength and stamina to endure a longer course. Despite the 10k and 21k being the longer courses, thousands of people join them and finish. Like what the wellness runs day, it doesn't matter how long you take as long as you finish.

It's not a question for the more experienced runners whether the'll finish or not. It's more a matter of breaking their personal records. So what could possibly challenge their capabilities and push them to the limits ? How about making the run longer ? How about making the path more challenging ? How about making it hard to breathe ? If you think you'd like to see how you would fare in these extreme conditions, then join The North Face 100.

The North Face 100 (TNF100) will be held in Baguio-Benguet from April 24 to 25, 2010. This isn't for the faint of heart (nor the breathless) as there aren't any 3k, 5k nor 10k courses. The shortest course is 11k followed by 22k, double the distance. For the elite runners, a 50k and whopping 100k course is going to challenge even the best of runners. In addition to this marathon's great distance, the elevation, climate and trail will all pose additional challenges to the runners.

TNF100, on its 3rd year, brings Asia's 1st Trail Running Ultra Marathon series to Baguio-Benguet. TNF100 continues to test the endurance of elite athletes and challenge aspiring individuals to define their personal limits in the gnarly paths, knife ridges, and treacherous mountain trails amidst the cool breeze and pine scent of the Philippines' summer capital.

Experienced trail runners, mountain climbers, outdoor enthusiasts and those craving for the active lifestyle will find everything they wish for and more as TNF100 traverses unexplored trails of Camp John Hay, the Philippine Military Academy grounds, Mt.Sto.Tomas, Tuba and finish in Baguio's popular landmark at Burnham Park.

You may welcome the scenery and cool breeze as motivation but the trails, elevation and distance will challenge your endurance, stamina and determination to finish this extreme run.

If you can run like hell, the cold weather's there to cool you down. If you can run up and down, then the mountainous Baguio is up (and down) your alley. And if you run amok, well you'll need to catch up with the pack or else no one will know you're on a running rampage.

Define your personal limits 6,000++ ft above sea level! Join TNF100 in Baguio-Benguet. Visit: www.thenorthface100.ph.

Interested individuals can register at The North Face branches at Shangrila Mall, SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, Glorietta 4, SM Cebu, SM Mall of Asia, SM Davao, SM Cagayan de Oro and at the Recreational Outdoor Exchange at Bonifacio High Street.

Take up the challenge. Take up the hike and Take up the North and join The North Face 100

Monday, March 22, 2010
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OFWs Get Advanced Voting Priviledges

election

Monday, March 22, 2010
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Where's My Phone ?

anime

Friday, March 19, 2010
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We Got Your Surrounded !

anime

Friday, March 19, 2010
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Mid-Air Grace

dance

Thursday, March 18, 2010
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Cross Meditation

dance

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
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Deadline Extended for The Amazing Race Asia 4

amazing race

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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Simultaneous Burning of Calories At The Wellness Run

health

Last Sunday was my 1st time to join a fun run and the Unilab Run United for Wellness made my 1st time and enjoyable experience indeed. My wife Aileen, Miguel & I were all ready as early as 5am to head to The Fort in time for the 3K and 5K run which Miguel & I signed up for respectively.

It was still dark when we got there but the 21K runners had already started and the 10K runners were already lined up at the starting line awaiting their go-signal. I had never seen so many runners all in one place. It was an exciting feeling to all be there for a unified cause.

As soon as the 10K runners were given the go signal, the hosts called all the 5K participants to assemble in front of the starting line. The starting point had several huge timers corresponding to each division (3K, 5K, 10K & 21K) and 2 huge LCD displays at the opposite ends. There was a series of quick stretching exercises that the hosts initiated for all of us to warm up. I couldn't believe that there were literally hundreds of people in front and at the back of me all gearing up for the run. I was looking for a couple of friends but figured my chances of finding them were slim given that there were almost 9,000 participants for the entire event (not including friends & family who were there to support them).

It was almost time to start. The 2 LCD displays that flashed a 25 second countdown with a beeping sound made the anticipation much more exciting. Then the 5K race started. I was at the back so we couldn't start running until everybody in front crossed the starting line. As soon as I crossed the line, everybody was in moderate jogging to running mode. We passed 2 cheering squads who pumped up all the runner's adrenalin with their lively chants alongside the drum banging. It was like everybody was in a basketball game being cheered on.

By the time we got to the 1st kilometer marker, I and the others had to stop momentarily for traffic to pass. When I looked back, I saw this overwhelming number of people behind me also in the race. It was astonishing to be with thousands of people all going towards one direction. I wasn't able to prepare fully for the event so I switched to brisk walking by the 2nd kilometer. This was also a slightly uphill route to the American Cemetery and loop back. I saw my friend on the other side at the front of the pack and waved to him, not knowing that he had just passed Diether Ocampo during this time.

Continuing on, I found it strange seeing a runner eating a banana. I couldn't figure out why he brought a banana with him to the run. A few hundred meters after, I learned that the hydration station also offers free bananas aside from water and energy drinks. Hey, it was my first time so I was really clueless that they served bananas during the run.

Heading back after the loop, most of the runners in my batch were walking but when we all saw the last kilometer mark, everybody picked up their pace and excitedly ran the last kilometer. Everybody was in a competitive mode to make their best times as we ran towards the finish line.

Nearing the finish line, more batallion squads cheered the runners on till the end. Passing through the finishing line was both a feeling of trimuph and relief.

The event also held a Wellness Village where most of the sponsors set up booths and held different activities. It was at this point that you could see the huge amount of participants in the event cause the wellness village was gruadually filling up as more and more runners passed the finish line and headed to the village.

Aside from that, all runners received a bag filled with sponsored products. Coming from the race and still catching my breath a bit, the mineral water inside the bag got me excited more than the other goodies inside the bag.

Fast forward to 2 days after and after having fully recovered from sore thighs (for not having prepared properly prior to the run), I was delighted to receive post-run updates from Unilab. What I was anxiously awaiting were the race results and they were posted online on the Unilab Run United for Wellness official site. The results for the 3K, 5K, 10K & 21K runs were posted. I placed 1764th place out of 2254 racers in the 5K category... not bad for a 1st timer. Aside from the time finished and place, I was fascinated with the statistics generated like how many percent were in front of me or behind me, how many were male and female, and how did I fare overall. It put a better perspective to how I fared in the run plus I can set it as a marker and comparison for future events.

The next day, I got a text message from Unilab informing me that all runners who participated could check out their photos on the website just by entering their bib number. I entered mine on the search field (#8683) and it retrieved 2 photos of me nearing the finish line. This is great ! I didn't know they would provide photos for everybody. And I was worried that I wouldn't have any photos of myself since I didn't want to bring a camera with me while running (plus the best shot you could take is only arms length which is like your head and shoulders). I also searched for the bib numbers of the top 3 finishers per division and checked out their photos so I could get a look at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers even if they were way ahead of me.

Overall, I loved the experience. I was already content with my regular jogging at the track & field for years, and now I wish I had joined events like these years back. Looking forward to the next run.

(Photo courtesy of photovendo.ph)