child-ish

i believe i'm always a strong person... having overcame some depressing and bad experiences in life. 

but being a strong person doesn't mean i would not feel sad and lonely at times, shed tears and just be emotional once in a while...

and when i do, does it mean i'm being child-ish...? as much as i can i always try to be cool and strong... i can also be vulnerable but not child-ish...

pocari sweat run 2013 race result

yah, i know this is quiet late a post of my race result for pocari sweat run 2013...

i found out the race result last 18th which is two days after the race... and i think something is not right about it. take a look...

result 1

my nett time is longer than my gun time... maybe there had been some error... 

when i take a look at my result today, as i wanted the link to be inserted here in my blog, look what i've found ;) i think they had corrected it... and maybe this applies for everyone...

result 2

i would agree on the second result as i crossed the start lane a few seconds after the first row or runners at the gun time ;) and it almost coincides my runkeeper app timing as well...

here's to pocari sweat run 2013 result...

a year after

yes..! it's been a year since i'm blogging... and i'm happy i made it thru, hehehe... though this is just a blog of anything about me and nothing in particular as other blog about travel, cooking, gardening, etc... 

i hope to continue and not miss a blog every month and hopefully one or two or three in a week... whoah... lol...

though, i don't know who are my readers are or were... but thanks to all of you :)) 

pocari sweat run 2013

yesterday, was my first long run of my 20-weeks training for full marathon. i'm supposed to run 8kms but I ran 10kms for pocari sweat run 2013… 

i ran alone with thousands of runnners 'coz my running mates and friends were not around, but it was still fun. 

the nearest i could be on starting lane

we had a cool and a bit tough route as we have to run up twice marina barrage. first was in between 3km & 4km mark and the second was between 8km & 9km mark... 

sweat for pocari

as per my runkeeper app i finished a 10.52kms at 01h 17m 05s... will be waiting for the official result in the next few days...

my full marathon training schedule

an addition to my bucketlist, which is still to be updated as i have more to come ;) is to run a full marathon...

i've been joining running events for over a year now in various distances, from 10km to 21km... and i wanted to feel and experience how it would be being full crazy, that is to run a full marathon...

i found this 20 weeks intermediate run marathon training plan that can be customized for the upcoming race day. but i have to modify it to accommodate my monthly visitor...

week 1 to week 10

my day 1 started yesterday and i hope to have determination and discipline to go on with this schedule and run the full marathon for standard chartered this coming december 1...

week 11 to week 20, the race day..!!!

encouragement and inspiration are welcome to help me finish the race and fulfill this from my bucketlist...

tuna pasta melt

i have this recipe for quite a long time, maybe almost or more than a year… got it from del monte kitchenomics. at long last i had it prepare last saturday for dinner...

it is an easy to cook, easy to prepare recipe… try it!

here's what you'll need:

1/4 tsp - pepper
1 tsp - salt

237 g - del monte italian style spaghetti sauce (i used what is available which is 200g)
184 g - tuna chunks in brine, drained
1 pc - large onion, sliced
6 cloves - garlic, crushed
200g - del monte elbow macaroni (i used shell macaroni)
1 can - sliced champignon mushrooms (not in the original recipe)

1/2 cup - quickmelt cheese (coarsely grated)

for white sauce:
1 tbsp - margarine
1/4 cup - water
1/4 cup - water
2 tbsp - all-purpose flour

procedure:

1. suaté garlic until brown. add onion and cook for 1 minute. add mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes. add del monte spaghetti sauce, 1/4 cup water, salt and pepper to taste. simmer for 5 minutes. add tuna chunks. set aside. 
2. white sauce: mix well all ingredients. season with salt and pepper to taste. Ccok over low heat with constant stirring for 3-5 minutes or until thick.
3. blend spaghetti-tuna sauce with cooked elbow/shell macaroni. arrange in pan. pour white sauce all over and sprinkle with grated cheese. if desired, bake until cheese melts.

yummy tuna pasta melt...

it turned out good and having it the first time, i would say it taste good and i liked it ;)

phuket: beautiful sea phi phi island tour (p2)

not far from the viking cave is an amazingly nice and wonderful cove. it would feel like your swimming in a pool. our tour guide even said, "welcome to your pool..." i wish we could have stayed longer than we did... me and brad were the last to be backed on board...

clear sea water, just amazing...

we had so much fun in here... brad jumped from the head of the speedboat twice and of course me, too but only once... one tour guide, a french-speaking lady also had a few jump from the boat... yah, we were the only three who bravely jumped...

jump shot! yey! i was able to capture it...

after enjoying the natural pool we headed to the famous maya bay. it is where the movie 'the beach' by leonardo dicaprio was shoot... there were alot of parked boats and a lot of tourists as well. i think no matter what time of the day it'll still be crowded... but still i was so happy that this time i was able to set my foot on the sand... coz last time i was in phuket, we only saw maya bay from afar...

entry to maya bay

we walked for like ten minutes to be on the other side of the island. there was a small platform to view some other islands around.

view from the platform

dipped feet at maya bay

and it's time to leave maya bay and head back to phuket boat lagoon marina...

maya bay, view from the shore

it was a wonderful hot sunny day... would love to be back again anytime...

phuket: beautiful sea phi phi island tour (p1)

upon arrival at phuket international airport we were picked up by a van courtesy of jc tour. it comes with one day trip that we booked on them, beautiful sea day: phi phi island discovery. there were only me and brad inside the big van. the driver was nice that he even stopped along the way to let us buy some mangoes, rambutan and santol :)

phuket boat lagoon marina

we were picked up on time, that is 7:45am, at the hotel on our second day at phuket for the trip. after more or less an hour drive from kata beach we arrived at phuket boat lagoon marina. it took the group for awhile to leave as we waited for few other tourists. while waiting we fitted our snorkeling gears...

there were 16 tourists on board the speedboat and all of them were white (caucasians) except for me ;) and all of them, sitted inside the boat with a nice shade of the roof but me, brad and two other couple comfortably enjoyed the wind and the heat of the sun infront...

the island where we snorkel...

first stop: snorkeling… with our snorkeling gears on we all jumped into the water and enjoy the life underwater. it's amazing to see different color and size of fishes. we were given by the tour guide some ripe bananas to feed the fishes. it's a lot of fun to let them swim on different direction even in front your face with the food by your hand. i wish we had a waterproof camera...

next stop: swimming… we stopped on an island for a swim. the water is just crystal clear you'd love to swim even if it's very hot.

camera pose before swimming

lunch time… we had a buffet for lunch. there were good choices of food... also, there were a lot of tourists on tour on that restaurant...

after lunch we headed to stop by and say hello to the monkeys. brad had a chance to feed one of them as it jumped on the boat...

monkeys everywhere... they're harmless

we also passed by along the viking cave... there were ladders inside the cave, and we were told that there are some few people that stay there to collect bird's nest...

viking cave from afar

to be continued...

phuket: kata beach

the last time i was in phuket with laurence, we stayed at clubmed along kata beach... this time, i chose to stay nearby kata beach again as it is a quiet area, not so much of a night life compared to patong beach...

after checking-in we headed to kata beach with our beach towels. it's only around ten minutes walk from where we stayed. and yes, it's just behind clubmed...

kata beach

kata beach

it was a very hot, hot day... there are chairs with umbrellas lined up along the long stretch of kata beach. we picked one and enjoy the shade of the umbrella until one thai guy approached us and asked if we would like to rent it... i said no and instead found a shade at one spot while my baby is enjoying the sun and the waves of the sea... 

this is us, not knowing we have to rent the chair lol

we enjoyed our first day in phuket, walking barefoot on the long stretch of kata beach... i'm still amazed how white people could last the heat of the sun laying on the sand having a tan... that includes my baby ;)

brad with crab island behind