Thor: Ragnarok stands up to its hype. By far, it’s the best movie I got the chance to watch after Deadpool. It was fun, it was entertaining despite cheesy scenes and other flaws. Ask my son and my wife whom I knew were betting if I’d snooze before the popcorn hits the bottom of the bucket. I didn’t.
I want to write further about the movie but I won’t. I don’t have time. I would rather run or skip rope as what I’ve been doing for months in my ongoing quest to lose weight plus there’s this new goal to get near Thor’s physique. Or sleep is the next best option–as always. Go read the movie reviews on Google.
If there’s one message though that Thor: Ragnarok tells its viewers, it is the need to accept defeat and move on. For defeat is temporary. Yes, it is a setback but it is something that once we learn to accept makes us think better and see the next steps clearer. Thor knew Hela was just too powerful and recognized that Asgard isn’t the end of the game. He made the right choice.
Loss is never easy to embrace. Our ego will always get in the way and that ego is often a tough adversary that could only be overcome if we look beyond any predicament at hand. Ego makes it hard to say sorry. Ego makes it hard to move on. Ego makes it hard to bury the hatchet.
Last ones to leave the cinema and before we almost did our GTA moves.
***
I’ve read that kids are great imitators and this why controlling my expressions and temper in front of our son continue to be a challenge. While I claim to have gotten better, there’s still that room for improvement–big room. Being a parent made me learn to curb my emotions and say sorry whenever appropriate. This usually saves the day.
***
Like parenting, and writing, driving is also a work in progress. Maybe it comes with age as being behind the wheel for years have made me gather my composure faster. Last night was another test.
Right out of the last screening of Thor Ragnarok, while happily talking about how we like Korg, a vehicle rear-ended our car. It was the hardest hit it ever had. The culprit made a run for it and I tried to pursue while Marcus freaks out in the car wanting to get even with the guy. Realizing how upset he was made me snap out of my own road rage fast, me and my wife instead consoled Marcus that a dented bumper is not worth the chase. I didn’t even bother checking our dashboard camera when we arrived home and wifey said I slept smiling that night. Nope, I didn’t dream of doing a successful pit maneuver.
***
Surprisingly, the bumper was fixable. I was able to align it back after breakfast today. There’s only a minor crack on the backup light but I can live with it.
***
Then there’s pets to bury. One of the dogs in our compound that wifey started to take care of for weeks passed away. For some reason it was in pain for days so I’m just glad that it’s finally over. Same goes with another white kitten that also left us on the same day. Rest in peace furry friends.
It’s a great day despite the overcast skies. Just had a 500-calorie breakfast after my usual second run of the week which is the routine I’ve tried to stick to for months already. You see I have never been committed to running, not to mention waking up early, in my entire life. Now I hit 5 km on average and this week I broke my personal time by clocking below 35 minutes and with a best pace of 5.5.
I hit plateau in August and since then I decided to take actions. It was a personal challenge I took seriously just to test if everything I read about losing weight while staying fit is one that I can also achieve. So I jumped into the fitness bandwagon–extra weight in tow.
Measurement is key. Everything almost done by the numbers. In fact, I’ve caught myself doing things just so I would know the calories I take. I’ve called waiters to ask how many grams my serving has. I used the kitchen weighing scale more often than before–and was worried when the ones seven segment display broke. I would take time reading nutritional labels at the grocery isle. And I would log on my MyFitnessPal app, if not scan the barcode of any food packaging, any food I consume every meal. It’s a strict routine but fortunately not in vain.
On this tenth month of 2017 I now hover close to the magic number. I just stepped on the bathroom scale and it shows I’m 0.6 away from being exactly 10 pounds lighter than when I first started my calorie watch regimen and trend shows that it’s a matter of days when I breach 140.
Controlled descent.
It doesn’t end here though. According to basal metabolic calculator–my age, weight, height all factored in–my ideal weight is 4 pounds farther. That means more restrictions ahead but I know I would hit it soon anyway. MyFitnessPal predicts five weeks which is just a couple before my birthday. I think that by then I would have earned the right to celebrate it with my favorite 200-calorie Krispy Kreme.
One that got away.
Timehop continues to amaze me with what it can pull up from my past posts years ago today. Some cringeworthy, some funny, some sad, and some funny kind of sad like this one from eight years ago. This was the last balloon I’ve ever bought for Marcus which got away from his grip just before we left MOA. Few years later though we’d buy balloons again for him, this time only red balloons–the symbolic red ballooons we released on our first celebration of Duchenne Awareness Day.
Duchenne awareness day symbol.
***
We don’t have balloons today but the significance of this day remains in our hearts as we remember everyone with DMD. God bless all these children and anyone–especially their parents–who commit in making sure this progressive condition doesn’t stop them from enjoying life.
Declutter. Dispose whatever is not needed. These are rules I’ve been following, or trying to follow, regardless if a stuff is something sentimental or not. I’ve disposed a lot and surprisingly so far I didn’t have any regrets. Must be the effect of reading about minimalism on my Facebook timeline.
If I could walk the talk was once again tested last night. While looking for a tool I found an empty cheap cologne container. There’s nothing special to it if not for how and where it was kept. It was among my valuable keepsakes.
12 years in possession.
By some interesting coincidence, exactly 12 years ago I took this cheap cologne on a special trip. Its scent filled my room each morning while I get ready for the day’s equipment training, it competed with the aroma of strong brewed coffee and fresh breakfast muffins I would hoard from Holiday Inn’s little pantry. The smell reminds me of Watertown, Wisconsin which was my first trip to the US, one that was unexpected. There’s some anxiety but I am now letting go of this cheap cologne. One stuff down, more to go.
***
I was contemplating on getting our cable subscription disconnected as we seldom watch the tube anymore. Every now and then we would but Netflix was tough competition. Plus there’s Marcus who has commandeered our flat TV.
So wifey had a win-win idea: Transfer the cable connection to our bulky Sony Wega. This got me occupied after dinner last night which led me to finding the cologne bottle ahead of the tools that I really need. Need to declutter more I guess.
***
Mood: 1/10 Honks! (Some trivial suffs do keep big memories, don’t they?)
We’ve all been there. For once in our lives we sat in a classroom checking our watches, looking out the window, doodling like each stroke matters, daydreaming in between, and wondering when our history teacher finally ends ‘his story.’ It’s the history subject as we know it.
History was inescapable and it’s a fact that those who don’t know history is condemned to repeat it or, at the very least, flunk it. So no matter how we dislike listening for hours about what happened in the distant past, we persevered to pass this subject among other demanding classes. I don’t exactly know but I suspect that it’s either the claustrophobic classrooms or our monotonous history teachers–or a combination of both–who’s to be blamed for our utter lack of interest in this subject matter. Whatever or whoever it was, we survived this class anyhow and highly likely promised ourselves to never attend anything that has got to do with it ever again if possible.
Then came the History Channel. This cable TV channel presents engaging documentaries and shows for all audiences, not to mention no boring teachers. But some say there are flaws to the facts presented on TV, some say it’s commercialized history—not only on History Channel but those on TV in general. Fine, argument acknowledged. Not one learning setting may be perfect but no thanks, count me out of future history classes unless it is interactive and fun.
This is how History Channel changed the game. It puts a brand to the once bland subject, history. Because of this channel there is now better recall and mere mention of the H word attracts more attention than it used to.
Our bands.
So last weekend we became part of history. Thanks to a Facebook friend who is affiliated with our cable TV provider, we got two passes for the event for free and only paid for Marcus’ entrance. That Sunday we found ourselves inside a packed History Con 2017 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. It was the second year History Channel sponsored the event and this time they say was bigger, better, bolder.
The red wheelchair joins History.
***
More than its interesting exhibits, H Con 2017 made the experience a whole lot better with the warm treatment Marcus got from different people: ticket agents, bouncers, exhibitors, shuttle driver and even the janitor (the restroom was clean!!!) all did a superb job making Marcus enjoy the day.
These guys dismounted their bikes and willingly posed with Marcus.Elmer Reyes (in red shirt) welcomed us inside their bike displays and I learned that his group, Laguna Choppers. supports effort to educate PWDs.History Con showcases local talents. With wifey in front of local illustrators booth.Marcus tries foosball.
***
Mood: 1/10 Honks! (Holiday but woke up early. Running is addicting, isn’t it?)
I finally breached the 150 mark by a pound down. No small feat after struggling for more than six months since our December vacation that piled all the fats and the additional nine pounds. No regrets about those fudge and all the giant food servings but I just can’t carry them around all day anymore.
While seeing the magic number on the weighing scale calls for a personal celebration given the sacrifices and conscious efforts to limit food like my favorite pizza, it seems I reached the dreaded plateau again. My weight reduction progress have flatlined. Desperate times call for desperate measures then. Time to do something long overdue, time to count calories like I’ve never done before.
Resisting the initial idea of my wife to use an app that would monitor my calorie intake I eventually ended downloading it from Google Play and I got hooked on it since then.
I wish I’d have yogurt and almonds for breakfast but this isn’t mine. (Image from Google Play.)
MyFitnessPal seems like the perfect app I need. It made me realize I’ve been missing a lot on the opportunities to see the numbers behind each food I take. Grams versus calories, fats versus protein, carbs versus fiber. It was overwhelming at first but I picked up on how to process the data in less than one day.
Under Armour is the company that created this free app. Users can search and log from its database almost any food taken during any meal including snacks. Unlike the health books I once knew, this app includes almost anything. You ate isaw, monggo, or galunggong? MyFitnessPal recognizes these local foods and its corresponding nutrional values. Had buko pie or piyaya for dessert? Yup, this smart app knows them too. The key here is just to be honest and log everything to see if you are still within your calorie goal. And the good news is that this app considers exercises performed on the same day so you can exert extra effort if you just lost control and had extra rice for lunch because it was perfect with the leftover longganisa.
One cool trick I like. Our coffee creamer says I could only have one teaspoon per coffee. (Image from Google Play.)
Besides manual entry of exercises, this app likewise connects to several smart devices. I got a Garmin watch and its Connect app works with Under Armour’s MyFitnessPal app. Data is pretty straightforward. Calorie goal minus food intake plus exercises equals remaining calories for the day. It does the math so all you need to focus is if you are still allowed to pick that tempting smores in the fridge or not. Your call but be ready to face the consequences if you go over the required servings.
While this fitness app presents useful info, discipline falls on the hands of its user. Setting the right expectations is needed to avoid any frustration and blame game. Take one step at a time and see realistic results happen. Remember that whatever is measurable is controllable. MyFitnessPal also works for weight maintenance or weight gain goals.
***
My Timehops show that I usually go on a diet same time for the past years. Must be the subconscious working to prepare for December’s binge.
***
Mood: 2/10 Honks (Aiming to run in a couple of hours.)
Sometimes the shortest discussions are both sweet and sad. Like this one with Marcus yesterday.
“How old would I be in 2025?”
“17”
“Are you still alive by then? How about mommy?”
#run4Marcus
***
He has funny moments as well. Last night he drew something he plans to sell for 200 pesos on OLX. He calls this the best drawing ever. I did the body and right arm, FYI.
Any takers.
***
Mood: 1/10 Honks! (Just ran. Thank God for the recovery.)
He loves to shoot, in fact, he shoots well. He’s a fan of the game. Call it bad parenting if you want but that’s life for Marcus. We allow him to play this popular first person shooting game called Call of Duty. Call of Duty makes him duck, shoot, jump, and run. All of which he can’t accomplish in real life, not even in actual play soldier with other kids. Sucks but we deal with it. So after that premature check-in at Red Planet, the show we’ve been waiting for finally happened and we were there. This time he gets to see real guns, lots of it.
Old and young. Marcus in front of a vintage Gatling gun displayed at the PNP booth.He was able to hold small but heavy guns.Then there are lightweight polymer pistols.More guns.The booths were packed but a good soldier gave him a chance to take a picture with this serious stuff.
He’s been wishing to shoot the real deal but since his tiny hands can’t yet, the Shoot for Marawi BB shooting range by Strong hand was the closest he can get. He downed a couple of targets.
A very rare opportunity happened this last weekend. Thanks to family coming from San Francisco, our party of nine once again reunited in Palawan for a weekend experience that would likely remain in our memories forever. It was three days of ups and downs, of uncertain weather, of adventures we didn’t know what to expect but ended enjoying it nevertheless.
Munting Paraiso
Day one. The three of us– wifey, Marcus, and I–arrived ahead of everyone in Puerto Princesa and were picked up by Munting Paraiso‘s shuttle for an early check in. We stayed in room number nine and sis and family would take eight. My mother, father, and elder sister stayed somewhere nearby, Paboreal, where we all converged for lunch before our first Palawan vacation activity.
Clockwise from lower right: Paboreal’ room is big; Beer is life; Meeting my mother again after 3 years; At the crocodile farm; Croc stuffed toy.Clockwise from middle left: Baker’s Hill has stuff for kids; Other than its hopia, the place itself is an attraction; Dinner at Kahlui; Get reserved please; Mini gallery; Kahlui’s entrance.
Friday afternoon was spent on a subtle city tour. It was our first feel of the dizzying Puerto Princesa City’s streets. We passed by their baywalk, the crocodile and Mitra farms, Baker’s Hill, and a souvenir market. All these getting in and out of the van plus the unusually humid weather worked up our appetite for dinner. Our elder sister who previously visited Puerto Princesa reserved accommodation for us in one of the city’s popular resto called KaLui but since the place sticks to its 6 PM opening so we waited for an hour in their garden. It felt like an eternity. Good thing that the long wait was worth it.
KaLui is a Filipino-themed restaurant. Its structure, wooden furnitures, menu, and yes, its observance of an old-fashioned practice of removing footwear upon stepping inside the place made us feel like visiting a home rather than a commercial establishment. Our low-seating arrangement complemented the native dining experience. KaLui has interesting artifacts and even has a mini art gallery, and a restroom so clean that walking in barefoot didn’t matter. Too bad I didn’t return to take a picture of the restroom as I got busy tasting everything that was served on our table. Its local brew was nice as well but I soon learned it was pricey than San Miguel.
The sky opened up early Saturday morning and it felt like nothing could be accomplished that day. We all left for the Underground River tour anyway in spite of heavy downpour but without wifey and Marcus. Good thing our tour guide kept the rainy drive interesting for everyone including our foreign guests as he speaks good English and provides insights about the place. We reached the port after about an hour and 30 minutes.
Weather improved when we reached the ferry port. Only challenge left was to have our 82-year old father get on the ferry and deal with some slight bumpy ferry trip to the Underground River. All efforts paid off when we started getting a glimpse of the rock formations along the coastline. The main attraction would be more striking.
Underground River day.The tour is only a short segment of the Underground River. Special permits are required to enter the entire length of the cave.
While the briefing on our way gave us some idea on what to expect, our senses were overwhelmed the moment we entered the cave. The Underground River is a spectacle and it is hypnotic. I find it also a blessing that my automated voice module didn’t work because all I heard were natural noises. The rhythmic splash of the paddle, the echo of the boatman’s voice, the sounds of bats flying all over the cave, and the water dripping from the cracks above with some of it hitting our hard hats every now and then. Darkness during the entire trip cut only by the lights from our and other boatmen’s helmet added to the sense of mystery and awe. Then there’s that distinct stink of guano. All elements combined beat any movie visual and sound effects. No question that the Underground River is among the seven natural wonders of the world.
Surely deserves the spot.Nice beach but seems like they don’t allow swimming here as this is only for ferry boats.
Part of the tour package is a buffet lunch at Gusto Grill and Resto where the highlight would be the chance to try their exotic offer, the Tamilok. I learned that this local delicacy is a mollusk rather than a worm which explains why despite its intimidating length and texture it actually tastes like oyster. My father and I had one serving each and we could’ve taken more. Too bad our American guest didn’t dare touch it.
Our last dinner together at Munting Paraiso’s dining area.
Sunday started just like the day before. Peaking out of our room’s native Zebra blinds reveals that we’re in for another soaky day. It’s a make or break day especially for wifey and Marcus who got left behind yesterday. I don’t want them to remember their Palawan vacation as just staying in the room and swimming in the pool so we braved the rains. Marcus was excited to do some driving adventure on our last day.
MAX Palawan adventure.
We headed to MAX Palawan with anxiety if the rain would let up. With Marcus in mind, quitting was an option if rain continues to pour hard. Fortunately, luck was on our side and it was like heavens just readied our day’s playground. After few minutes spent putting on our safety gears and a quick orientation, we got ourselves strapped in the dune buggy. My sister partnered with my wife in the other car while my in-law and their son got on their respective ATVs.
The track was rocky, twisting, undulating, and muddy. And we enjoyed it. It was wet and wild and exhilarating. MAX Palawan’s dune buggy allowed me to drive with ‘controlled recklessness.’ Marcus enjoyed his role as navigator and never cared if mud and puddle water came splashing in. That’s my boy, willing to get dirty to save the day. We definitely didn’t regret picking this forty-five minute adventure over snorkeling or scuba diving. MAX Palawan is on Facebook , check them out.
I wish they offered this. This a display at Blue Palawan Hotel where my in-law swiped his plastic bandit for our muddy adventure.
We beat the clock on our way back to the hotel. Barely clean after a quick pressure hosing just to remove the clumps of dirt, we settled in MAX Palawan’s van with most of us still wearing our clay-stained clothes. Thanks to the preparation wifey did in the morning, we were able to accomplish the fastest check out we’ve ever done. We transferred to a cheap hotel as we wait for our flight to Manila.
Our Palawan weekend was short and sweet. We didn’t really get to see the other popular attractions but the fact the we spent the weekend with family in a place we’ve visited for the very first time makes the experience irreplaceable. I also like that we were able to prove the advisories wrong. Philippines is still generally peaceful and its people and places could still create an experience that we could be proud of especially to our foreign guests. There will be a next time, we will be back.
New Palawan Airport’s departure area.
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Munting Paraiso is good place for groups or individuals who prefer quiet accommodation as it has only less than 12 rooms and it is located 1-2 kilometers from the city proper. The way the streets going to the hotel are setup also made it appear farther.
Their rooms’ interior and exterior designs are good and I think each of it has a veranda with a native hammock where one could lazily hang out while waiting for their next adventure.
Lighting though is dim so reading books could be a challenge at night. We had a hard time assembling Marcus’ new Lego as we had to use cellphone lights to follow the instructions.
I also learned later that my sis family’s room has a foul smell which my in-law said could be a backed up drain which prompted them to transfer to another hotel the day we parted ways. So it seems like it wasn’t me smelling guano when I entered our room’s restroom coming from the Underground River trip. My clogged nose that weekend was a blessing in disguise.
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Is Palawan PWD-friendly?
Trips are always a challenge with someone in a wheelchair. So strangers who offer help are always appreciated. One offered to carry my son’s wheelchair so we can see the bigger crocs at the crocodile farm’s elevated walkway but since I can still carry him I politely declined it.
The tour guide also assured that they could accommodate Marcus and his wheelchair had we decided to bring him along. The wheelchair may be left somewhere at the finish area of the Underground River tour.
MAX Palawan was also PWD-friendly. They picked us up and the wheelchair fit just fine inside their van. The buggy’s four-point harness also ensured a safe ride for a 9-year old boy.
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I received a call from an unknown number while taking a siesta in D’ Lucky Garden Inn. It was from the airport clinic in Cebu. The caller advised that my mother got sick coming from Palawan and while waiting for their transfer flight to Bacolod. Good thing the doctor soon allowed her to be transferred to Mactan Doctors Hospital with my father in a wheelchair tagging along. I felt helpless that we can’t be there for them at that moment. My elder sister who got another airline eventually arrived there and took charge. They all missed their flights but were out of the hospital the next day with the doctor allowing my mother to fly back to Bacolod. Whew. Definitely a weekend to remember.
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Mood: 2/10 Honks! (We’re almost back in shape. Marcus and I were nursing a cough while in Palawan.)
Marcus Can Blog 