Goodbye, buddy!

I'm saying good bye to a dear running buddy.

We've shared miles and miles together over the past year. He has been with me in my triumphs in races and has been dedicated and patient in training with me. He has been a constant motivation in times I feel like giving up. Though he knows he's slim and slender, he never points it out against my stocky, yet muscled physique.

I wish you the best in your new ventures.

I will be forever your first, Lukas.



Lukas will continue his life in my sister's care as her car music and entertainment accessory. He will fly off tomorrow, 30 Dec 2009, to the land where he was born, Makati, to continue what he was meant to accomplish in life -- be a man's companion.

I didn't knowing this could be heart-wrenching.



- BlogPress-ed from my iPhone

some major changes before the year ends

you all know that i moved to Singapore a few months back, and i have been in-active in my blogging life ever-since. guess i was busy, or was just too lazy to write on what's happening to mi la vida. my twitter, however, says otherwise. follow me as well @iandmac.

anyway, before i run-down what happened to me over the past months, i just would like to announce that i'll officially maintain ONLY my blogger account for my blogging. i just find it difficult to write here in my Multiply account and edit the one in blogger as well. and i think it's also the fact that after my official separation with my previous work last august, i am finding it a wee-bit cumbersome to manage this Multiply account. i will still use this to view photos, post comments, etc to my friends' accounts. yun lang po. (oh, Multiply, please don't close this account)

anyway, here's an attempt to re-count the events since i left my home in Makati.

• landed in Sing last sept02
• been living in my sister's flat since then. oh, i was literally crashing in the sofa-bed outside the sala.
• joined the 10miler mizuno wave run 2009 last sept13
• going to the gym, swimming, and running are my main activities. i do sleep, eat and watch my favorite US TV shows too
• trying to swim regularly in the public pool across where i live, in an attempt to join a triathlon by 2011
• met up for an afternoon-evening fun with Rex and Ron. i was their guide for a short while. pinalakad ko sila ng bonggang-bongga. sept21
• felt helpless to know about the typhoon Ondoy, and flood waters rushing to our apartment in Makati. good thing bez Andrew lives nearby and helped my sister move our things to my room in the 2nd floor. thank God! sept26
• out of countless emails to prospective employers (with well-edited email "cover letters", subject headings, etc) i was poised for an interview with a web company.
• i think i aced the interview since two days after, i was offered the post. i was pretty lucky as well, since the post i was applying for was filled-in. my current-boss offered me this spot in the marketing/operations team, which he thought i was more fitting than sales. he guessed it right.
• Ryan (Bacolod friend) came here for a weekend holiday! we went to Play. a popular bar in Tanjong Pagar, THE Malate of SG. my first encounter of the PLU community. oct05
• processing my papers to start working in another country could be tiring! and i had my first, official HIV-test as a requirement for my work pass.
• joined the nike human race 2009. oct25
• first day at work. oct26
• increasing my daily mileage (how do you call that if i log my runs in kilometers?) to 8-10km per run, 2-3x a week. i wanna do a half-marathon soon. then pro'ly a full-marathon before 2010 ends.
• after less than a month, we moved office from boat quay to bugis junction towers. nov20
• had a mishap with my bank account for payroll. thank God it was resolved quickly. my thoughts were to go back home in Bacolod. i cried that night in bed before sleeping. awwww. nov30
• good friends and running buddies @outednarnian and @jamiedavinci were here for the Standard Chartered SG Marathon! they both joined the half-marathon (or 21K). dec04-07
• fetch them both at Changi. @outednarnian stayed with me while @jamiedavinci stayed at Marina Mandarin with his Kuya. we met Allan Wu of Amazing Race Asia (picture above) at the Expo when they got their race packs. kainan, and gala to the extreme! @outednarnian and i went to the Sing National Museum. it was awesome! dec04-05
• i was their yaya on the day of the run. i love them both. i didn't complain. dec06
• felt sad when they flew back to Manila. dec07
• built up my swimming endurance. proud to say that i can swim 5-7 laps (100m/lap) without stopping.
• night-out with @mksurf8. went to Tantric and Taboo. dec11
• got sick after two-weeks of less sleep. fatigued. no run/swim then. dec13.
• first christmas party here in SG! i got an expandable rubbermaid food container. great baonan! and won a $10 takashimaya gc for being best-dressed for the holidays. dec18
• the office is holiday-mode. less work! yay! dec21
• caught up with Gibbs who's in SG for Christmas! dec24
• my first christmas, overseas. a pleasant day -- mass, swam a good 18laps, watched avatar with my sis and bro-in-law. dec25
• night out with Gibbs and his friends. i'm starting to like Tantric more. dec26
• announcing that i'm officially moving my blog to Blogspot. dec28

And there you go, ladies and gentlemen, that's to the best of my knowledge. if you still want to follow my running tales and adventures (and my attempt to go tri soon!) do follow me on RainbowRunning.blogspot.com. or if you're into micro-blogging, i have a twitter account too, it's @iandmac.

take care. see you around.

Now I know what I want for Christmas

"The epiphany is the most pleasurable sensation known to man..." That was a twitter post from @helloluis, a computer geek I follow. I find it memorable because of the second part of the post, which I had to cut since it's r-18 for this public post. Complete tweet here.

Anyway, the past two years of my life had been rocky. Yes, I was blessed with meeting persons whom I look up to and the un-ending support of my family and friends. But this last quarter of 2009, I think I have grown mature as an adult, as a son and as a friend. While I was doing (swimming) laps earlier, I had a Christmas epiphany. I do not know what came to me, it must be the rushing/calming waters going through the sides of my head that I started to have one. And since I'm reaching my quarter-life in a few days, I think 'tis about time that I had this realization. This realization I had to share as five Christmas wishes.

Let me start off with:

• Good Health to do and finish the things I need to and want to in life
• The Strength to avoid mental/physical/spiritual injuries. May this also be part of...
• The Wisdom to make the decisions that will make me a better person/man, son/brother and, friend/parter.
• Happiness (plus that genuine, pearly-white smile) to spread to my family, friends, colleagues and yes, even strangers.
• And finally the Unconditional Love to the person/s I'm offering it to. I'm not seeking any in return, but perhaps to be loved as well. And I quote Toulouse-Lautrec from Moulin Rouge, "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return."

To end this Christmas post, a good friend once asked me, "Why is it always easy for me to move on (after break-ups) and find another?" I simply answered, "I was ushered to this world with so much love, and now I have this so much love to give."

Happy Christmas everyone!

Oh, pahabol. To those who can afford, I'm still welcoming MATERIAL gifts. Anytime and any form of delivery, I still welcome.

*GCs from Topman, Zara, Aldo/Pedro and/or Swatch

*Running shoes, Asics Gel-Kayano 15 in white/brass/black size US8/Japan41

*Macbook 15" white, the latest release

*and the Canon G-11

Thank you in advance, and my birthday is also on Jan03.