Christmas Slideshow - 2010

With the 2010 Christmas Picture in, it's time to compile all previous Christmas pictures. In the tradition of our family's "Christmases Past and Present", here are a couple of slideshows for 2010.

The first is a swf (shockwave flash) video uploaded to go2album and the second is a wmv (windows media video) file uploaded to youtube.

Christmas Theme - 2010

Well, it's that time of the year again when the tripod comes out and the camera gets mounted on it for a brief pictorial session with the family. This pictorial will be for this year's Christmas tree picture. The practice started in in a simple Christmas Collage in 2005 and eventually became a tradition I call Christmas Past and Present.

Weight Training for Bodybuilding Program

I've been wanting to post my weight training exercises eversince I restarted my physical fitness program. These exercises revolve around the homemade gym equipment I assembled after I decided to workout at home instead of joining fitness gyms.

My strength training equipment at home consists mainly of free weights (barbell and dumbbell plates). I have a wooden dumbbell amd plates rack to store the free weights and use rubber tiles on the floor to prevent dumbbells from rolling. Many of the exercises utilize a pair of multi-purpose safety squat racks that I built.

Digital Camera Flexible Mini Tripod Stand

This may as well be my gift for myself this Christmas. Yes, I don't spend too much on myself. It's a flexible mini tripod stand that I bought from CDR-King. At Php120 (less than $3) it's the cheapest camera mini tripod I could find that has flexible gripping legs.

I already have a Slik brand camera tripod which I bought decades ago when I went to the US in 1987. I remember getting that camera tripod for a Video8 format Sony video camera (called Camcorder back then). When that video camera broke I replaced it with another camcorder which also broke. The Slik tripod remained and has served me well. But I only use it occassionaly for our yearly Christmas pictures.

Sandra's Birthday 2010

It's that time of the year again when the regular healthy diet gets sidetracked a bit with the kids' birthdays. Last week was Che's birthday and come Dec. 6, it's Renz's turn.

This year, it's Sandra's 14th birthday. We're grateful she has overcome her bout with dengue. Because of her illness and confinement at the hospital, she missed a whole week of school. After her release from the hospital, she had to catch up on lessons as well as school practice for an event. The first quarter periodical exams proved to be a challenge.

Motorola Philippines Grand Reunion

You know you're getting old once you start attending reunions left and right. This is especially so if those who you see at the reunion ARE old. But I didn't let that bother me too much because I feel I'm in my best shape. This is thanks to a regular exercise routine and diet regimen spurred by the need for fitness training.

After the First AMD Grand Reunion I attended several weeks ago, I attended another reunion. This time it's for the company I worked for the longest - Motorola Philippines. This isn't the cellular phone company that many know now. This is the first enterprise that Motorola had in the Philippines and this was in semiconductors assembly.

Che's Birthday 2010

It's time for another break from the regular healthy and fit diet. In other words, it's time to indulge a bit for Che's 18th birthday. Indulgence came from the Ho Chai Lai restaurant platter we picked up on the way to my mother-in-law's house in Makati. My mother-in-law is still recovering from her hip and wrist injury at home. She completed her physical therapy exercises for her legs and her wrist therapy exercises will soon follow. We figured as we celebrate Che's birthday there, we could cheer her up a bit.

All Souls Day 2010

As in the previous years' All Souls Day in 2009 and 2007, I was looking forward for some outdoor exercise with the frisbee at the memorial park. It isn't everyday that all the kids are around in an outdoor setting, so we might as well engage in some healthy activities with plenty of sunshine. I noticed them to be lethargic lately so I suppose some frisbee throwing, catching and heart-pumping running would bring about some energy.

All Saints Day 2010

Unlike last year's All Saints Day, this year's observance didn't have the associated back-breaking exercise of chopping firewood. Last year, we loaded up the van with firewood that we took from Sto. Domingo. I believe it took me a whole week exercising my lats, triceps and other back muscles to level the pile of firewood. And yes, I consider these kind of activities as exercise. Any activity for me that requires physical exertion without resulting injury is exercise and with it comes health and fitness benefits.

Shortcut to NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) from Mindanao Avenue

Every month, my family and I motor to Pampanga to visit my mom and my sister's family. We take the most convenient route for us and that is C5. We try to avoid EDSA because of its horrendous traffic. But then we cannot avoid it entirely because we still had to pass by the Balintawak Cloverleaf to get to the tollgate of the Manila North Tollways.

That was then. Now, with the NLEX-Mindanao Avenue link (promotion flyer in the thumbnail), we could skip EDSA if we want to. At a cost of Php 2.1 billion, the link, also known as Segment 8.1 is 2.7 kilometers long. The full cloverleaf interchange is three times larger in area than that of the Balintawak Cloverleaf.