I really wasn't expecting it, but because of the overwhelming response to my race kit-giveaway for the Earth Run 2011 held last Sunday at Bonifacio Global City, Miss Milette Roque of Solar Entertainment also gave me my own race kit :) I didn't have any plans of going, but how can you say No to that? So, just like Barney Stinson - if you don't know him, WHY? You should go watch How I Met Your Mother. Now! - there could only be one answer: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Never mind that I have been getting three hours of sleep at most for about three days before the race. Never mind that I don't have proper training for it (I go to the gym, yes. But I rarely do cardio because the weight-gain program I follow doesn't recommend it). Never mind that I don't have running shoes and the closest thing I have to trainers is my Hush Puppies "Gryffindor" shoes (referred to as such because of its red/ gold color combo). Never mind. It would be my first time to join a Fun Run and I am going to work it!

The race kit included a strider chip that let us know our "official time".

Oh hello, I am runner number 4290 :)

Friends put the FUN in Fun Runs! Frank, Mae, and Jonas were also there :)

We reached BGC before the assembly time of 5AM, and it was so amazing how so many people all wearing the Earth Run dri-fit shirts have already gathered! It's a great feeling when you stop and think about how they all collectively contributed for this very worthy cause. I say, if we only exert as much effort in making sure our environment is protected, then all hope is not lost after all ;)

Anyway, back to the Run. I chose the 5K category so that my friends and I will all be in the same level and I won't run alone. I ended up being alone though as I lost them five minutes into it LOL. They were already waiting for me in the sidelines when I approached the Finish line, and cheered me the remaining way through!

Of course I HAD to stop and pose for a photo ;) Photo from Mae.

Look at that. That is the face of determination. LOL. Photo from Mae.

It's a wake-up call on how out of shape I am, and now I know I should really take my health seriously! Nevertheless I am still proud I finished running the whole stretch in less than an hour! Yay! :D

Breathless, but on a high!

I also saw my Sigaw sister Cherryl there! ♥

All race finishers were given a certificate and a gift bag of goodies from the sponsors. BIG thanks to 2nd Avenue for staging the Earth Run 2011! There'll be another Fun Run this coming September, and I am hoping I would get to participate again :)

We were absolutely famished after the Run, so we went straight to Market, Market where we feasted on food. Aside from a tapsilog, I also finished a one piece chicken meal (with rice, mind you) AND saging at sago for dessert. Plus one cup of coffee. Told ya, I'm skinny but I eat a LOT. I got to my parents' house at 12NN where I ate lunch, then slept like a baby for five hours. Heehee.

My leg muscles hurt the rest of Sunday and Monday. I even tweeted about having a Barney Stinson-after-the-New York Marathon moment. If there's anything I learned that I want to share with you guys, it's this: ALWAYS WARM-UP BEFORE YOU RUN. I learned that the hard way haha. I feel a bit better now, though still a little sore, and I walk really funny. But! I am unstoppable. After work my officemates and I will go to Laguna for an overnight swimming/ teambuilding at a private resort with hot springs. Yayyy! So I have to sign off now as we're leaving in a few. I hope you're all having a great week as well, wherever you are ;)

What immediately comes to mind when you hear the word "boot camp"? Does it remind you of sweat, body pains, and rigorous activities? That's what I thought too, but when I received an invite from Miss Jenny Yrasuegui with the word "Beauty" attached to "Boot Camp", ooooh I was sold!

Last Thursday after work, I headed straight to Newport Mall in Resorts World Manila to participate in FAB Salon's Bloggers Beauty Boot Camp, and oh boy, it was hands down the best pampering and prettifying experience I have had the pleasure to go to ♥

I wasn't planning on having anything done any more because I was already satisfied with the two services I availed, but  FAB Salon's Creative Director Lourd Ramos recommended I have a haircut too. I was a bit hesitant at first because I just recently had a hair cut - the day of the Philippine Fashion Ball, to be exact - but at the same time I really wanted to try it out. So, you can already guess what happened next.

Kira of Elegantly Wasted enjoying foot spa. Foot spa with pedicure costs P500.

With Nikki of Ask Me Whats. Read her account of our FAB Salon experience here :)

With Shen of Shen's Addiction

I wasn't able to take more photos, but Earth, Phoebe, Sophie, and Jeng were also there. Truth be told, it felt so surreal for me to spend the afternoon being pampered with Manila's top beauty bloggers, considering I only just used to read their blogs before. Trivia: I learned how to apply makeup by reading their tutorials. It really made my visit to the Salon even more special. :)

With Mr. Jose Marco Pascual

Thank you so much for inviting me! The location is quite far from my apartment, but I am willing to go back especially as I have already experienced being attended by the very accommodating and competent staff, as well as the over-all pampered and prettified experience it gave me. I have actually recommended the Salon to my friends, and my officemate Arnz will go there with her daughters tomorrow :) As for me, well, I'm going to have my hair colored again next month and it'll be another trip to FAB Salon and fabulousness ;)

FAB Salon is located at the 4th level of Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila. Another branch will open soon in Valero St., Salcedo Village, Makati. 

I spent last weekend making-do with some heavy-duty power-napping instead of getting the usual 4-5 hours of sleep because I needed to: support a friend in a contest he joined, see my friends from high school whom I haven't seen in months, and go out of town for a very worthy cause. Last Friday night I was only able to sleep for less than two hours before I needed to get up before the crack of dawn again to reach Ayala by 6AM.

Ana and I were invited by Mr. Ram Bucoy in behalf of Golden ABC (owner of leading fashion brands Penshoppe, Oxygen, Regatta, Memo, ForMe, Tyler and Red Logo) to go to Cavite and participate in Kariton Klasrum spearheaded by CNN Hero of the Year Efren Peñaflorida. One mention of his name in the email and I was sold! Besides, this is my first out-of-town bloggers' event so you bet I was really excited!

En route to our destination, Ms Pat of Golden ABC's Corporate Affairs Department briefed us on what we could expect and what were expected of us while we munched on a breakfast meal which consisted of Sausage McMuffins and Hash Browns from McDonald's. We were also given Penshoppe towels and I Am Pinoy shirts to change into. The trip took less than an hour; before we knew it we were already in front of the infamous KarBil (short for Kariton Building. Kariton means cart in English).

They modeled the exteriors to make it look like a cart.

For those who are not familiar to his story, Kuya Ef started a youth group called Dynamic Teen Company which aimed to fight violence among the youth and promote education and literacy. They pioneered the idea of a "pushcart classroom" loaded with books, toys, and other school materials, going around the town and setting up at different locations to reach out to kids and teach them basic writing, reading, arithmetic, hygiene, and good values. Mind you, these efforts are done without any of them expecting anything in return. The funds on building and maintaining KarBil came from donations and Kuya Efren's grant as CNN Hero of the Year 2009. I firmly believe that him being hailed as a hero is very well-deserved. When he won, his dreams of building a library for the poor kids have come true and I feel honored to have been able to witness him touch the lives of these kids.

There are four carts in all. When we got to the market, they were already being set up and the kids divided based on age. Ana and I went to the group with the youngest children.




The session for the day included singing, dancing, transferring grains from one container to the other, coloring, playing with toys, and giving them refreshments. It was fun seeing them participate in the discussions :)

Meet this little munchkin. Her name is Angelita. She's so cute, listening intently to the teachers and raising her hand to volunteer every single time :)

You can really feel how appreciative they are of these lessons and it certainly gave me a warm, glowing feeling inside. At the same time though, I felt sad to witness the plight of some of our countrymen. Deep inside, I thought these kids should be in school, enjoying their childhood. They shouldn't be exposed to life's hardships like this. I was particularly touched by Danica's story. Danica is eleven years old, yet looks about eight. She told me of how her father is dead already, how her mother ran away with another men and left her and her four siblings with their grandmother. She said all these nonchalantly, like it's the most normal thing in the world. I was struck and wiped a few tears when she wasn't looking. How I wish I have loads of money so I can provide more for them. It certainly puts things into perspective, doesn't it? I mean here I am, complaining about having busted computers and phone bills, when this child half my age is already enduring more than I have endured in my 25 years here on Earth. Sad, bitter realities of life.

But then again, meeting people like Kuya Efren and Jake gives me hope.

Meet Efren Peñaflorida :)

Jake is only 15 years old. Instead of wasting his weekends being idle, he spends it with DTC, volunteering and offering time and effort for these kids.

After the day's session, we walked back to KarBil. It was hot as it was almost 12NN, but after seeing what the children are going through I guess we weren't in any position to complain.

Smile!

When we reached KarBil, we were treated to a McDonald's brunch while Ms Pat showed us video clips of when Kuya Ef won the CNN Hero of the Year award as well as Golden ABC's video clip for their CSR initiative which is called Get Up.



A term commonly used as an alternate word for "outfit", Get Up very aptly describes Golden ABC's advocacy to make us wake up, get up, and help out. They have recognized the difference Kuya Efren has made in these kids' lives and now aim to help more. Golden ABC CEO and President Bernie Liu said, “While Efren himself has been a valuable resource person and inspiration, GABC continues to make a difference by promoting the values of passion, volunteerism and teamwork towards making a positive change.”

ARE YOU WILLING TO GET UP AND DO MORE? You can volunteer with Golden ABC and DTC and join the Kariton Klasrum every Saturday! Get Up's website goes live tomorrow so you can bookmark and visit it to see more details. THERE'S MORE! For every P1,000 you spend on Golden ABC stores (Penshoppe, Oxygen, Regatta, Memo, ForMe, Tyler and Red Logo), P25 will be donated to Get Up's fund raising efforts. This is for the while month of September, isn't that awesome? Every little helps, and your money will certainly go a looong way for these kids! This might be the perfect time to get myself a pair of Oxygen's Reversible Jeans I've been eyeing for so long now...

What a worthwhile weekend! Thank you very much for this opportunity, Golden ABC and Mr. Ram! And of course, big thanks to Ana for another bonding experience!

We glammed it up at Glam Camp, now it's time to get our running shoes ready and run for the environment ;)

Are you interested to join the Earth Run? Well, I have great news for you! I will be giving away FREE race kits to 10 lucky readers. All you have to do to join is leave a comment below. If you don't have a blog, you can also use your Facebook or Twitter accounts to comment, just make sure to leave your email address. The giveaway will be open until 2PM tomorrow so join now! I would also appreciate it if you could spread the word and RT to your followers and friends, it is for a worthy cause after all ;)

The response has been so overwhelming, big thanks to everyone who joined! Unfortunately we can only have 10 winners, and here are their names:

I have already submitted your names to Ms. Milette Roque, and have emailed you with instructions on how you can claim your prize. I will be given my own race kit as well, so see you this Sunday! :)

For those who didn't win, you can Like 2nd Avenue on Facebook because they will be giving away more race kits tomorrow!

I would like to thank Ms. Milette and Solar Entertainment for this opportunity to use my blog for a very worthy cause. For those who didn't win, I hope you can still register for the Earth Run. But then again, Earth Run or not, let us do our own share in taking care of our planet.

It has been a week since the first Philippine Fashion Ball but I am still under its spell, so please forgive me for still going on about it ^^, In this post I am featuring the celebrities, designers and models we have had the pleasure to rub elbows with.

It was like heaven opened up and showered glitz and glamour on the Rigodon Ballroom of the Manila Peninsula Hotel; everyone looked their absolute best! The ladies were resplendent in their gowns and formal wear, while the men were all dapper in their suited-up ensembles. Very apt, seeing as the night acknowledged and gave recognition to the people who've worked their magic on the Philippine fashion scene.

Now, behold and be enchanted.