Finger Stretching Before Piano Practice

In the past few weeks, my right hand would become a bit sore especially at the right side of the forearm after practicing on the piano. I'm not aware of any jerky or sudden movement that trigger this soreness. And it isn't fatigue either. It feels like a dull pain that radiates from the side of the palm near the pinky finger towards the right side of the forearm.

I tried a couple of stretching exercises that have significantly prevented the recurrence of the pain. This is in addition to the usual close-open hand stretch where one closes the hand into a fist and then slowly opens the hand until all fingers are fully stretched out.

The first stretch involves the two hands. You simply hold on to one finger at a time and then gently pull the finger outward to the opposite direction as shown by the arrow below. You could also massage the finger while pulling it.

Typhoon Ondoy's Blackout

We were so very lucky that we weren't as affected as the rest of Metro Manila specifically Cainta, Marikina and Pasig. The worst we got last Saturday was having to deal with the super strong rains that managed to get into our bay windows. The roads fronting our neighbor mall was also flooded shin-deep. That we saw when we took Che to the sporting goods store for their cheerleading uniforms.

We lost power in the afternoon just when I was about to power on my piano. We were braced for the outage and so we prepared candles and batteries. DH had the foresight to prepare dinner a bit earlier to take advantage of the late afternoon daylight.

Rainy Days of Typhoon Ondoy

It's been raining hard the whole morning. Here's a shot outside while practicing at the piano.

Even with the wind, the rain doesn't enter the window easily. The wind mostly blows from east to west (hanging Amihan) or west to east (hanging Habagat). This window faces south.

You could see our Ampalaya plant being blown by the wind. This is at the height of Typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) at our place.

Swimming Long Slow Distance (LSD)

Wednesday was my first time to commute to the pool. I was actually having second thoughts coz of the overcast skies. And I was right. I got to the pool around 1:30pm but but at 3pm, it rained cats and dogs. It would've been fun continuing the swim hadn't the thunder scared me coz there was a bit of lightning as well. The pool's at the mall's rooftop and so it's too risky. A middle-aged rotund gentleman fried crisp (by lightning) floating in the pool is not a pretty sight.

But I managed to slip in a pretty decent workout. I realized a few drills that have benefited my bilateral breathing at freestyle.

1. One-arm free with non-stroking arm extended. Have the non-stroking arm extended in front at around 20 to 30 degrees below horizontal. Stroke with the left arm one way and then the right arm the other way. Stroking helps train the head position in the water and when exactly to breath - which for me is when the stroking arm is almost ready to break the surface.
   
2. One-arm free with the non-stroking arm at the side. This is a bit harder coz of the tendency for the head and torso to sink. But it helps train the kicking to keep the balance and avoid sinking.
   
3. Fist drill free. Reinforces the proper body rotation for efficiency. Why? Because fist-drill is tough, having to depend only on your fists and forearms so a proper rotation is imperative to swim fast.

Swim Membership at Starland Garden Resort

I finally got my membership card after Sunday's swim at Starmall, Alabang (used to be known as Metropolis or Metro for short). I believe it's the first time the resort offered such membership. I should know, we've been going there almost every year for the kids' swim lessons.

For this membership, I plan on commuting by jeepney instead of taking the car. In fact, I've already cleaned out and washed DH's old leather-bottomed backpack. It's smaller than my old swim bag, so it'll be handy in the commute.

Burgers for Laps

Yesterday was a nice sun-shiny day for swimming and so I asked who'd like to go with me to Metropolis mall. Only Renz expressed interest. I told him to get somebody else too coz I needed someone who can take turns with me looking after him.

After much cajoling from Renz, Sandra and DH finally relented. We already had lunch at home and so decided to bring just crackers and water for the afternoon swim. After all it was just the four of us for the swim.

Storage Space Under the Stairs

At the time the house was being constructed, I asked the architect how the space under the stairs before the landing would be utilized. His reply was to use it as an open rack with shelves and he showed DH and I a sample of what he meant. This was at the house of his daughter.

It looked nice if you have the discipline to put in the shelves simple stuff like figurines and NOTHING ELSE. If you've got family members like in our house, well, all you get is clutter that's stuffed inside. And it's clutter that collects DUST.

And so I suggested a closed storage space but which will allow us to reach into the full depth of the space under the stairs. I gave the architect some drawings and here's what the carpenter came up with.

Meeting Meeting

A week ago, my daughter Karen was in tears and said something about her not making it to college presumably because we may not afford it. DH and I were of course alarmed how she could utter something like that. Both of us speculated where she could have gotten the idea - friends? classmates? siblings? And so, after dinner, I asked everyone to return to the dining table for a meeting.

Somehow the word "meeting" piqued Renz's interest. I mean he's been hearing the word when we adults talk about with regards to our previous work and my toastmasters club. So he was excited to come down and position himself on the table.

Ako'y Isang Pinoy

This year, Renz's class performed the song "Ako'y Isang Pinoy" by Florante for the school's Buwan ng Wika celebration held last August 29. You know the song: "Ako'y isang Pinoy, sa puso't diwa. Pinoy na isinilang sa ating bansa..."

I was so impressed with Renz's diligence to memorize the song by singing it aloud. He would sing it all day which drove his sisters batty. Of course every time he sang it, I'd correct his tune until he got it perfectly.

We were surprised one day when we learned the teacher asked him to sing it in front of the class for everybody to follow. Apparently, his singing became THAT good!

That's Renz on the stage, in the middle.

Speech Choir at Sandra's School

In celebration of Linggo ng Wika (occurs at August), Sandra's school, Southernside Montessori School had a Speech Choir competition which they called Sabayang Pagbigkas. They held this last August 27.

Sandra's class, Talisay, delivered a piece entitled "Ang Sabi ng Idol Ko". They've been practicing this piece for days and Sandra would sometimes come home late. That's Sandra in the middle, with the glasses.

Piano Room

So sorry for the lack of updates lately. There have been some crises that had to be attended to.

Anyway, with typhoons Labuyo and Maring out, the sun's finally shining and so I took some pics at home inside the newly cleaned yellow room downstairs. The Yellow Room is the only room downstairs although we all sleep in the rooms upstairs. The reason it was added in the house design is for a practical purpose. Well, DH and I will eventually become old (and arthritis may one day catch up on us) that staying downstairs in this room may be the more practical and easiest arrangement. The room already has the facilities for a phone line, aircon outlets, closests, etc. :)

But for now, we're also calling it the Piano Room and below is the new setup for the piano. The old piano setup at our old house may be seen here.