Twice Today!

There was a little group there during lunch time today and whoa, they were way early for their PE class at 3:30pm. Anyways, I did a couple of sets and then put in some sidestrokes, elemback & hubrst. I brought along my radio thinking I had no company, but with a few folks there, I just turned it off.

Why twice today? Well, since I still have that "halo" feeling, I was ready to go in the afternoon session despite the rumbling threat of thunderclounds. And there were a lot of students there. I underestimated the size of the group in the PE class. No wonder Mang Bert said on my way in "ewan ko lang kung makakapag-lapping ka pero, pwede namman siguro, hindi naman exclusive sa kanila eh" Good. But I did ask the coach that I'll be sharing with the group and he said it was okay.

This afternoon I did a couple of sets and the rest, believe it or not, was some informal coaching. I didn't ask for it. Some of the college girls just went up to me and asked if I could teach them. You can't expect that from the guys - it's a man thing I supppose - ask help from others when there are girls around. I was a little hesitant coz, well, they had a PE instructor there! But it seem the girls were desparate to learn ANYTHING coz obviously they were being graded already for skills that haven't been taught! On breaks of my swimming, I was asked 4 or 5 more times to teach something, especially the "patagilid" which it turns out the girl was refering to the sidestroke.


After seeing the coach (who looked like a substitute) didn't seem to mind me "teaching" or giving some tips, I just obliged. The students were more concerned on learning anything fast though. One was particularly fearful of the water. But swimming is something that's truly hands-on, I told them. That means plenty of pool time and practice. But I did tell them how to do a good glide with a strong kick with both legs from the wall. I purposely distanced myself from them so they wouldn't think of me as "fresh". Towards the end of their class, a few guys went over and gave their own tips to the girls. One particularly reeked of a strong perfume like it was just splashed on. What the heck? I just let them and moved aside. They probly felt slighted with an outsider teaching "their" girls. It's the alpha male syndrome. Picture this: a male gorilla pounding on his chest, sending signals of his claim to his territory.


One funny thing though is that one of the girls actually thought that I was just an older student. Wow, really huh?

I learned from Mang Bert that classes there are held on Tuesdays and Fridays at 3-5 and Thursdays (whole day)

New Bottle

Yesterday we were at Puregold and the plasticware section reminded me to get a water bottle for me. The blue water bottle's size was conveient and I've been bringing it the past weeks. However, a kid would sometimes ask for it and I have to go fetch it from the car. And then go looking for it when it's my turn to use it. So I got me this sports bottle from Sports Gallery for Php109.75.


At first glance, it looks like a baby's milk bottle. That's coz it's clear and has this baby blue color for a cap which doubles as a drinking cup. The label tag sez it's virtually unbreakable (Lexan), leakproof, odorless, approved by FDA etc. which is all nice. But in addition, the clear color just means it isn't too conspicuous in the office coz it also looks like an ordinary mineral water bottle. That is especially when I lug it around to refill it with ice cubes. I tried it today at the pool and it'll just be good for a one-hour workout on a very hot day - nothing more. I clarified today with Mang Bert if the entrance fee is good for the whole day. He said yep, as long as it's 8am-5pm, you may come in any time.

Cramping in the Toes

Finally, the CBT training is off my chest. What a relief. I was hoping for a postponement to tomorrow but, nopes, didn't get it. So I was rushing to finish all materials for 3 days - early mornings and late nights.

As I look back at the training, I am rather pissed at how one staff manager conducted himself. I only had 1.5 hours to conduct this hands-on training and he took 30 minutes with questions not so much related to the HANDS-ON training. It was more on concepts and administrative processes that he should have dealt with my client team a long time ago. I wasn't the resource person to answer his queries and I had A there to answer. But come on, this is a hands-on software training with participants expecting to do lots of stuff on their computers! His self-aggrandizement went too long that some of the other managers became bored and left. Too bad the General Manager wasn't there to put him in his cage. The Operations Director didn't do anything about him either. It was a horrendous waste of everybody's time. Finally, at the tailend of the session I immediately distributed the certifcation exam and the evaluation forms for fear that more managers would leave. I could see some were already packing-up their laptops and stuff.

And generally, I'm not satisfied with the marks I got at the evaluation sheet as a trainor. Only 2 out of the 8 staff managers gave consistent excellent marks. And the rest were mostly "very good". One manager had the gall to even give me a "fair" rating. But hey, at least it's over.

At the pool today, I wasn't in a mood for sets. I just did a hodge-podge of strokes and then proceeded to do just flys. And these are slow relaxed flys. I noticed that I could actually breath easier if I'm more horizontal in the water and the body almost at the surface. This means not too much undulation that gets the body in too deep that it's a struggle to resurface. I just love the sensation of doing slow dolphin kicks. The legs just seemed so relax and "go with the flow". Funny though at the end of several laps, I felt 3 toes of my right foot curling up and cramping. Maybe it's fatigue due to lack of sleep.

Keep those Straps Loose

Wow, the midday sun today was beating too hard that I wondered if I'll pass out while inside the pool. It was so hot that I decided to just finish 3 sets.

Passing through the gates today was a breeze. Heck I was at the pool before 12noon. I guess travel time for me is 2-3 mins.

Today I took out one of my reserve goggles. This one was on sale for Php200 down from Php395.75. Yup, I just love buying gogs on sale. It's an XTRM brand and has a widish profile and grayish lenses. They're wide that they hardly fit in the case. They look like ordinary sunglasses, don't they?


Actually I forgot all this pair of gogs coz I still bought a new one branded Atlantics for Php222 at SM Southmall. Anyway, one of the few things I learned very recently is to keep the goggle straps loose. I'm not in any competition so there isn't a big worry of it coming off. What's more important though is that the goggles eyepieces fit perfectly after doing the goggles test. When positioned and stuck to the eyes, the gogs should remain stuck for a few seconds. Now by keeping the straps loose, I realize that it's more comfortable without them pulling too much. Maybe that explains the mild headaches I got in recent days.

A New Car Sticker

Another 3 sets of Free, Back, Fly and Breast. I think I could regularly do this now. I thought I could do more as it was fairly early. There was no radio music today coz the hut's being renovated so the radio was stored somewhere. On my way out, Mang Bert asked if I'd want a car sticker. On my way in, he originally offered a gate pass worth Php300 good for one year. But with a car sticker worth Php450, it's good until Dec2008 or that's 1.5 years from now. It'll also allow me to pass through the right lane at the guard house. So I took the offer on the spot!

Lifestyle Change and Traffic Stress

Gulped 2 loads of water. One in breaststroke and another in butterfly. Did 3 sets of 50y Free, Back, Fly and Breast. I seem to have lost my blue coppertone sport. Did find 3 pcs of soap though.

On diet: I'm keeping with the veggie diet. I've not cut any break so far. I think I don't even need to coz I'm coming to work earlier now. It's because I no longer go swimming in the morning, but still leave the house at 6:30am. So I'm at the office now at 7:00am.

Now, it's good, no traffic to contend with. Diet now is mostly veggies but since I've not cut any breaks, I still tend to get 2 veggie dishes - sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening. I think the best arrangement would still to keep the 2 breaks, but keep them shorter, and more importantly, stick to 1 veggie dish. That may prove difficult though (the veggie dish part) because our cafeteria has limited creativity when it comes to cooking veggie dishes.

Am so delighted with the recent lab results. It was a great sense of relief and knowing it's not something like stones, appendicitis. or a needed operation. I'm still feeling some mild discomfort on ths same right spot though. But I still have around 7 more sachets of Psyllium to take. Hopefully, I'll be feeling much better after that. Actually, I'm contemplating on taking fiber on a regular basis too. Company doc (JP) said it helps take out excess carbohydrates and fats out of the system, or whatever that means. He also said buying it in powdered form (not in sachets) will be much cheaper.

After watching the Body Invaders series of Discovery Health on osteoarthritis, gout, weight control and many more, I'm now rethinking my lifestyle. That means diet, need for walking, maybe weight-lifting. I took on a lifestyle change many years ago (1995) to treat hypertension. Now, I'm for another lifestyle change. That means put in the minutes, put in the hours - for walking and swimming. Damned the work. It won't take care of me and my health. That is up to ME. I'm no longer taking some illness, or any discomfort , lightly. I feel something wrong, I'm doing everything to get it right. I'm at the age where I'll just have to take full advantage of our health benefits especially that is afforded by our HMO card (Medicard). Heck the company's paying for it! On food, I'm taking more caution with food, smelling it first, tasting it first. Unlike before when I thought I had a strong stomach that could take in anything. Now I'm taking Yakult too!

I mentioned to the company doc the issue of going away from my heart medication, Pritor, worried of long-term effects especially to the kidney. He said it even helps the kidney (really?), but that maybe I ought to see the cardiologist which he says comes once a month. Better check that out!

Stress: Ah, who needs it. Instead of passing through SLEX as I usually did, I drove to the national road to avoid the supposed traffic jam on SLEX. I heard it took Steve 2 hours to negotiate the traffic from the office to Alabang. And the drive through the national road? It took me an hour. Totally exasperating, as I kept mutterering to myself, "stupid tricycle and jeepney drivers!" Ugh. Next time I'll be bringing this stress thingie:


I bought this a long time ago from a Chinese shop at SM Southmall where they sell massagers and oils and pills and what have you. It has this embossed name "Safe Living" on one side and "SLM" on the other. It's like a spiked stress ball. But the nice thing about it is it gives (bendable) as it is crushed by the hand. It's like a sponge ball but it's made of rubberized plastic so it exerts pressure when squeezed. I took out the chain on one end (it's a keychain as shown) so that I can roll it around in my hand without being bothered by the chain. Maybe I could buy another one so I could massage both hands at the same time. But then, how will I hold the steering wheel?

Rain and PE Classes?

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When I got to the pool today, I saw a bunch of nursing students (they were in white nurse uniforms, duh!). First impression was an outing of some sort. But then it's a Thursday, they were in school uniforms, and in the morning? As it turns out, it was some PE class of some sort. Most were already dressed up and bidding the instructor, "Sir, bye!". They even had a radio on. Cool! The radio belongs to the clubhouse it seems. Maybe I could use it while I swim there.

On my last few minutes, it rained! I put my swimbag right under one of the concrete tables. An ingenious idea? Guess again. The raindrops that pooled on the table surface slowly dripped downwards into one spot. Yup, right into my bag's zipper opening. Swell, huh? This left some large wet spots on my pants.

I tried something new today. Since I've been mostly breathing out through the nose now in freestyle, I tried exhaling just before the face goes down. This ensures bubbles already going out when the face submerges. That way, I don't have to consciously exhale underwater. Seems to work. Will try it more.

The results of the liver tests (SGOT,SGPT,ALK-P,T.Bili.) from Medicard Festival Mall Alabang. The numbers were all normal. This is just based on the normal ranges put out for each test. Nonetheless, I'll be consulting with the company doc tomorrow just to see if he's got something else to say.

My New Home

After several days of no swim, I tried out the village pool much nearer the office. This is the first time I've entered the clubhouse and used the pool. Unlike the old pool where I paid a dirt cheap Php3000 PER YEAR, here I shell out Php85 PER ENTRY as an "outsider". A village resident only pays Php25. Too bad the lady wouldn't even allow me to buy a car sticker so I don't need to leave my license at the guard. Oh well, at least there doesn't seem to be much vehicle traffic at the guardhouse - today at least. Well, one thing sure, there's plenty of parking.


There's even a nice playground outside.


The shower area is definitely much better. It's got urinals and a wash basin. But what's this? Flimsy and very short shower curtains?


Hopefully, there won't be any idiots doing their laundry and exhibitionists at the shower stalls. I took a spot at one of the shaded concrete tables. Here's a view of the pool. It has 6 lanes but the outer lanes seem a little cramped.


Apparently, there's a swim club here called the Mako Sharks as seen on this painted sign on the wall. Why they chose a shallow pool to practice is beyond me. Maybe it's the way the pool's maintained.


There's plenty of concrete benches and tables.


One nice thing about the pool is it has 2 ladders on both sides. With no other visual cues for backstroke, they're useful for watching out for the wall on both sides.


It's got 6 lanes, though it's smaller than the old pool. I heard from P that this pool measures 25 x 12.5 YARDS, not meters. The tiles are 8" and seemed to whizzed by when I swam coz I was used to 1-foot tiles. It is shallow though and mostly, the water just reaches my armpits. Thank God I already know how to tread using the eggbeater kick coz it's harder to learn that here.




I'll have to say though that this pool is better maintained. The tiles are white and no mossy green color. Later, a small family came and on my way out, I took more pics of the pool.




So far so good and I think I'll like it here. So this will be home for the time being.

The question is how frequent am I willing to shell out Php85 per week? I definitely am losing feel of the water and so I intend to go everyday at least this week. I've not gotten any swim so long that my sports towel had started to stink. Yah, it smells like a wet dog. I also plan to take out one of my breaks. In lieue of it, I'll just eat bananas at my table. But I'm still undecided which one.

If I take the morning break and cut the afternoon break:

• Food tastes like lunch. There's more lunch dishes to choose in the morning.
• I'm going with "lunch" people while having lunch so there's a bit more time to socialize.
• Eating bananas seem more apt in the afternoon.
• This will require me to eat lightly for a productive swim.

If I take the afternoon break and cut the morning break:

• I could "compensate" for tiredness in the swim.
• I'll feel lighter when I swim coz I've not had my lunch yet.

Anyway, I'm thinking of cutting out the afternoon break and see how it'll work out. Some other things I forget is to put on sunscreen as I realized I hadn't put anything on after taking a shower. So here are the few must do's to remember:

1. Put on sunscreen even before leaving the office. That'll give the sunscreen to settle on the skin. That means take it out of the swimbag and bring it insdide the office.
2. Put some ice cubes inside the water bottle. Yup, it also means taking out the bottle and bringing it into the office.
3. Eat lightly before leaving. No sense feeling too full while swimming.

Bling Bling

I've been recently toying with the idea of getting me a pendant. Something I could relate with my swimming. And so I thought of getting a dolphin design and there were actually several to choose from stores like Just Gifts, UniSilver and others. Some were small, some with multiple dolphins, some were big with small stones (rhinestones?). But I just had a simple design in mind. I found such design in Festival Just Gifts for Php300. I looked for other shops in other malls as well.

Well, today I found the same design in Southmall Just Gifts for Php250! I looked at the same shop for a suitable chain and chose one priced at Php640 (with the 20% discount). I asked the lady why men's chains always had 20% and she said it's because the chains were longer and cost more. So to make them sellable, they're discounted. Go figure. Anyway the pendant had a 10% discount and the total cost was 225+640 = Php865. I also got a card that gives me free cleaning and repair service for a lifetime. Here's the pendant placed on top of the laptop.


Maybe it isn't too visible, but you'll notice a stone set on the dolphin's eye. And here it is placed on top of a calendar poster I found. Nice?


What's it for? Well, not much really. I just fancied having one. And now it's a milestone to mark my leaving the old pool to a new one. Oh, it's also a thanksgiving token for the health benefits I've gotten from my swimming. Speaking of which, my ultrasound revealed nothing serious except for some fatty liver - yehey! So, the gastroenterologist (Dr.Ceniza) just concluded Fecal Impaction. But he asked me nonetheless to get tests for the liver (SGPT, SGOT, etc.). He also prescribed 15 Psyllium (fiber) sachets which are turning out to be very effective for me.

Gastro Checkup

I was at MPI-MCM yesterday for a checkup with a gastroenterologist. I've been having this discomfort at my right side for over a week already and it's now radiating to my right thigh. There are even some sitting and lying positions where my right leg goes numb. I'm still hoping and praying that it's nothing serious.

UTI has been ruled out after company doctor asked for CBC and Urinalysis. Anyway, the gastro doc asked for full abdomen ultrasound which I had today. It took longer than I expected. The ultra doc had even instructions for me to inhale, hold, exhale while taking pics with the probe. But she was nice enough to point to me my kidneys, liver, prostate and urinary bladder on the screen. I'll probly resume my swim after this checkup has cleared. I'm getting the results and going back to the gastro doc tomorrow. For now I'm taking Dicycloverine and Norfloxacin (rx).

While I was at MPI-MCM, I kind of regretted not choosing Asian Hospital for the checkup coz I won't have problems with parking and thought that consultation would've been faster. But then, today, I learned from the hmo rep that laboratory test (xray, ultrasound, etc) are not at all covered by the hmo card. What the heck? So now I don't feel so bad, coz if I did consult with Asian, I would've gone to others for the lab tests and then go back to Asian, etc. My decision wasn't so bad at all.

Happy Days are Over

Again, there was some traffic on the way to the pool. I'd call "slow crawling" for 10 minutes on a 50 meter stretch heavy "traffic". From afar, when approaching the intersection, I'm already groaning at this sight:


Imagine, this is at 6:50 in the morning! (Groan) This intersection was once problematic and then became traffic free, and now this! And this was after a few roads have been widened. Once I get to the end of this tail, it'll be 5 to 10 minutes before I'd get to a stretch of 50 meters. And there's plenty of jostling, no thanx to stupid tricycle drivers and hot-headed motorists. Ah, what a way to start your day.


Once I got to the pool, imagine my surprise when I saw it had no water! No announcements whatsoever. When I peeked inside, I was just told that there'll be no swimming until next year's summer.


The girl also told me that the remaining balance of my membership (1.5 months) can be applied next year. Oh, really? Remember, this resort's up for sale and the new owners (if ever) may not even honor that!


Ah well, it wasn't a total surprise though. I would've appreciated though if they'd posted some kind of announcement for this. I decided to head back and go to the office. Here's a view of the long traffic line, still there on my way back. Terrible.


I wonder how the newly elected mayor (husband of previous mayor) will handle this crap. Most of these private vehicles I suppose are heading towards the Laguna Technopark. The new roads, now with weeds in the center don't seem to help, coz the junction and other roads are just narrow.


Here's another area of jostling - the intersection at the public market.


There's a new bridge and it hasn't been opened yet. I just hope that with this bridge and its new road, traffic here will lighten up.


But in fairness, there's a bit of results especially here with the construction of center islands. Hopefully, those stupid jeepney and tricycle drivers won't be counterflowing traffic by moving on to the opposite lanes.


P was surprised when I mentioned the pool's closure. He said that he was there just the previous Saturday and that he couldn't even see the lane lines WHILE swimming. Yup, the water was THAT murky. But now the lane lines are there to see coz there's hardly water. Ah well, all good things must pass.

Braces for the Munsci Kids

Cheche had her braces put on by the dentist last Saturday. Last Sunday was Karen's turn. Asked how her classmates reacted, Karen said some of them found her braces "cute". Hmmm.

Hectic at Work

At last after 3 days of no swim, I managed one today. It's been hectic the past days as I went to work early and left at 8pm and all for watching these macros run correctly. I did some frees and flys today. I'm looking to trying breathing facing down the bottom of the pool rather than forward. Looking down looks more streamlined and doesn't strain the neck. Corz it needs to be precise to not swallow water. Another is breathing to the side. I've printed some articles from findarticles.com on the butterfly stroke and breathing on the side is one such topic.

Traffic going to the pool today is bad again.

LBM Friday

Last Sunday we went to Pampanga and for the first time, in all my driving experience of almost 10 years, we went for a drive-thru in a fast-food (McDo). Can you believe that? We just never found the need all this time!

Renz was quite excited as they gave all their "orders" on a slip of paper to DH.


I didn't need to say a thing as DH talked to the live person at the counter who took the orders.


In Pampanga, we mostly chatted and Renz here enjoys molding clay with ate Dada. That's a new table they have there at the azotea.


I was worried that we won't be going that day coz I've had the case of the runs all through Friday and even had a fever. For medz, I took Diatabs (Loperamide) and Dicycloverine (Hydrocholoride and grape-flavored Gatorade.