standard chartered marathon singapore 2013

yey...! another milestone for me :) that was when i crossed the finish line.

yes! i was able to crossed the finish line of 42km after 6 hours 42 minutes. my first full marathon, standard chartered marathon singapore 2013 which was held last december 1. i really didn't expect to make it 'cos i haven't diligently followed my training schedule. but then, my friends encouraged me every time that i can do it. that i just have to be motivated. i haven't had run for the last two months before the event.

in the middle of the marathon i was craving for something to eat. but i wasn't able to buy anything 'cos i don't have cash with me and they will not accept my debit card if i will not purchase minimum of s$20 :(

with preggy lerie, she purposely waited
for me at the finish line

at 30km point, i was so excited to see bananas. i grabbed two and ate all of it... my tummy was so happy, hehehe...

with fritzie,she ran 10km 

i felt so great to cross the finish line and so touched to have friends waiting to congratulate me. lerie & fritz, thank you so much! it meant a lot to me :)) 

yey..! to finisher tee and medal

i hope that this will not be my last full marathon. another bucket list ticked off :D

full crazy for scms 2013

this is it...! am i full crazy...? yes, i will be, hehehe... after running for few 10kms and 21 kms, it's time to run for 42kms :))

there's no turning back...! i finally registered for full marathon this coming 1st of december on standard chartered marathon singapore...

let's do this... i just hope i would be able to finish the race in 5 to 6 hours time and could still walk the next day, hehehe...

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...

chinatown

on brad's first three days here in singapore, i was working and so he had to go around the city by himself...

but the only place he kept visiting was chinatown. he was there everyday for the first three days. he wanted to buy some stuff he liked but then he listened to me ;) ... i asked him not to buy anything until i am with him, hehehe... 

on the last few remaining days, we were back for few times there and were able to buy some stuff he liked for himself and for his family back home...

he also shopped for me :D i was so grateful for his gesture... it is something i haven't experienced in the past... 

happy(iest) days again

yey...! after months of waiting my baby is here again :))
it's his second visit after he's been here last christmas and new year's...

this will be a fun, fun, fun summer...

we were both paranoid few days before his departure from his place because of bad weather... there had been storm and flood in chicago. but we're glad that on the day of his flight the weather is just fine...

the next two weeks will be happy(iest) days again...

2XU compression run 2013 race result

official result is out :))

and i'm glad that i beat my previous time on the two previous half marathon...

first, the singapore bay run & army half marathon 2012, i ran for 3hrs 2mins 8secs...

second, the standard chartered marathon singapore 2013, i ran for 2hrs 52mins 30secs...

third, 2XU compression run 2013, which was last sunday, i ran for 2hrs 46mins 48secs...

i'm happy for the improvement of my race time... hopefully, next time i would be near 2hrs 30mins, that would be amazing, hehehe...

pininyahang manok

nanay is a very good cook, and i'm inspired of it... so, once in a while i try to cook new dishes...

the latest was pininyahang manok... 

for this, you will need:

    2 tbsp stripped ginger 
    6 cloves crushed garlic
    1 large sliced red onion
    3 pcs chicken leg & 3 pcs thigh (cut in two)
    1 to 2 tbsp patis & 1/2 tsp pepper
    1 medium bell pepper (cut into cubes)
    1 can (154mL) evaporated milk
    1 can drained pineapple tidbits (reserve syrup)
    5 pcs potato (sliced in bite size, boiled)

it's just an easy one, two, three cooking procedure.

1. saute ginger, garlic and onion in cooking oil. add patis and chicken. saute for 10 mins or until the chicken is slightly brown.
2. add pepper and pineapple syrup. cover and simmer for about 15 mins. stirring once in a while.
3. add bell pepper, milk and drained pineapple tidbits & potato. simmer uncovered for 3-5 mins, stirring continuously.

creamy & delish :))

originally the recipe doesn't have potato in it... next time i will add carrots, too. sometimes, i really don't follow the exact measurement on the recipe ;) it's fun to have some twist on it...

i always look into del monte kitchenomics, their recipes are simple but delicious... 

i'm glad that my housemates liked it... babe, i'll cook this again when you're around :)

gift

i feel so happy and grateful every time i receive gift(s)...

but this time, it's my turn to give myself something... i've been thinking of rewarding myself of something after completing half marathon for standard chartered marathon 2012... 

finally, i got myself something :)) it's an all-in-one gift for myself :)) sometimes we deserve something good for our self...

27th/28th

yesterday, 28th of january, marked the 5th month of being in a relationship with brad and a month of being engaged to him, 27th  :))

God is so good to give me such a nice person in my life... a very loving and very nice person...

i've always been thankful for having him in my life... an answer to my earnest prayer...

iLoveyou, baby ko...

surprise(d)!!!

i love surprises but i never really experienced it until i am with brad ;)

he kindly asked me to open his luggage and get something for him, and i obediently did it... after opening the pocket of his luggage i was so surprised to see a nicely wrapped gift with a ribbon on it...

i immediately gave him a hug and thanked him a lot :)

but i was so speechless when i torn the wrapper and saw what's inside... i never thought i could have this kind of purse, a coach leather duffle bag... another wish fulfilled... i can tick off #13 from my bucketlist :D thank you so much baby ko...

all i want for xmas is you but you gave me more than that...

classy

the first time

brad's plane landed on time at 1:30am last 20 december, 2012... 'twas the first meeting we have. i was kind of hopeful that he will show up and he did :)) 

'twas his first time to be out of his country... his first time to be on the plane and that he had to travel a total of 22 hours from chicago to singapore, to be with me on the holidays.

'twas our first time to see each other... we've been in constant communication as boyfriend and girlfriend for almost five months before our meeting but we never had the chance, not once to talk online via video call. it has always been chatting and audio call...

my heart skipped the first time i saw him on his way to collect his luggage. when he saw me he ran towards me. he throw his bags, give me a kiss and hugged me tightly. that was one unforgettable moment i had...

i'm back

i missed my blog site... i'll try to blog again as much as i can...

oh by the way, i had a very great and an awesome holiday with my baby...
i never had the chance to go online when he was here as i want to spend every minute of the very short trip he had...

'twas the most awesome xmas and new year i have :D missin' him a lot though...

i'm back :)

bohol & cebu city 2012 with nanay

nanay turned 60 last march 27… we celebrated it my way ;) she usually prepares a lot of yummy food for her birthday and invites her friend to come over. she just love to cook specially on her birthday. she would be busy the day before and on the day itself, and you would hear her say, "i'm tired of being beautiful..." when everyone's gone :)) 

early morning walk along alona beach at panglao island

but this year was different, i took her with me to bohol for a trip. just the two of us... we stayed at bohol for two nights and three days. 

sandugo (blood compact) statue

left: baclayon church,built in the 18th century
right: the shiphaus

butterfly garden

we had fun exploring the island. we had fun sitting by the shore at night having our barbeque, looking at some other tourists, the fire dance, the breeze coming from the sea and the early morning walk... things we missed on our trip, island hop and swimming :( but it's fine we still had fun... 

nanay having so much fun on loboc river cruise stop-over

tarsier conservation area

man-made forest of mahogany along the way

we also stayed for a night at cebu city. we met up with kuya lokie, my former colleague at rafi (ramon aboitiz foundation, inc.), his wife ate tata and chubby/talkative daughter nikki... they helped us get a place to spend the night. after having dinner with them, nanay & me shopped a little and watched the last screening of the hunger games at ayala mall. 

the famous chocolate hills

i'm so glad and happy that nanay had so much fun on our first ever trip together... 

countless

it's been three months since i've known you but it feels like way longer than that. thanks to skype and/or viber we can  talk almost everyday, almost the whole day :)

less than two months left and we'll finally meet :)) 

thank you God for leading us both to each other. thank you God for letting someone like brad love me as he does, for letting me feel so special. thank you God because he is so sweet, so nice and baliw ;)

i'm so happy to have you in my life, baby ko... i pray that we'll have countless months, years & time to spend with each other...

iLoveyou, baby ko :))

missed calls

i am sad :(

yesterday, i called nanay when i reached home but she did not pick up. it's been few days since we had our last talk...

also, i tried to call brad for few times last night but all i hear were the ring and the voice saying, "you have reached the voicemail box of brad"...

i miss you guys... hope to talk to both of you today...

"@Notebook: I hate going an entire day without talking to you."

forgiveness

"forgiveness is the only way to get rid of the past. that's one of the values of prayer. it helps you unload, forgive those who have hurt you and let it go so you can get on with life." this is part of my devotional reading this morning by rick warren and i was so inspired by it. indeed, it is true...

while i was enjoying my holiday at bangkok last february 2011, i had a chat with my cousin michelle. that chat lead her to a revelation that she was not willing to spill while i was still on that holiday. but i was persistent and i assured her that i'll be fine...

a revelation that changed the course of my life. it took a lot of courage for her to tell me that my boyfriend for like 10 to 11 years had been cheating on me. i was a bit shocked knowing it, 'coz through out that relationship, a third-party had never been an issue between us. i had so much trust on him that i never thought he could do it...

we were about to get married on july of the same year, but i called-it off... one betrayal is enough to end that relationship. no matter how long we've been together...

i still went home as scheduled and met up with him and settled some few things.

and one thing that i've been wanting to do when i see him is to forgive him even if he would not ask for it.  and i'm so happy i was able to. i've been praying for guidance and strength for me to forgive him. i don't want to live and go on with my life with resentment towards him because of what he has done. i wanted to live life happily. i wanted to meet someone else who deserves me and that someone i deserved as well. and i thought i will not be able to until i forgive him...

glad i'm brave enough to forgive him... and so i'm living a happy life now. smiling everyday knowing that someone loves me this much.

if we can, let us forgive those who have hurt us as much as God the Son offered His life on the cross to forgive our sins.

growing in Jesus

i like this song for a while now... it teaches and reminds me as i grow in Jesus everyday. 

it takes a lot of growing

for a tree to reach the sky

it takes a lot of rain to help it grow

it takes a lot of running

for a child to catch the wind

it takes a lot of walking to learn to run

and i'm growing in Jesus

getting stronger each and everyday in every way

cos' Jesus is growing in me

many times i feel discouraged

when the rain got in my way

i didn't know that it would help me grow

and everytime i run ahead

i always miss a turn

and end up walking backwards

while I learn

and i'm growing in Jesus

getting stronger each and everyday in every way

cos' Jesus is growing in me

and i'm growing in Jesus

getting stronger each and everyday in every way

cos' Jesus is growing in me