Day 17 - Galera to Tagaytay Highlands (with exercise)

I was never the kind of person that you could easily tie down.  I move a lot and seek adventure in almost everything i do.  I also split town as often as possible and use almost every excuse in the book to leave town and go as many places as possible.  This week i had the opportunity to see a friends new house up in Tagaytay Highlands.  That being said, i took the earlier trip out of Galera which was at 730 instead of the next one which was at 10.  Being the delinquents we are though, our group (note: roommates) ended up leaving at 830 instead of 730 and we upset the guard, the captain, the wait staff, as well as the driver in Batangas who waited for us along with about 20+ guests :)

Before getting on the boat, i passed by the buffet to get some take out breakfast and came up with this.

That is a styrofoam box with 2 ensaymada's, 4 sausages, Tocino, sliced bread and 2 bananas.

In the end, all i had was a sliced bread and a banana plus a tiny piece of Tocino.  Gave the rest to the asshole driver when i should've just given it to literally anyone else instead of him.

(Speaking of that, what the fuck is wrong with you guys Coco Beach?! Get your act together man!)

I got dropped off at the Total Gas Station on South Super Highway and was fortunate enough to have been offered a ride to Highlands.  It was going to be a bit of a wait though so i decided to get a bite to eat since i hadn't really had much, plus since i'd gotten quite drunk the night before.  So i had Spagetti from Jollibee...

Not too long after my ride came and we made our way down south!  We stopped by a little restaurant in Sta. Rosa called Kanin Club and i order a salad for meat eaters.  I can't remember what it was called and my photo of it is on my wife's phone so i can't show it now but it was ok.  I also ate that with a few of the things that were ordered in our group which were predominantly meats :)

After lunch we continued on and finally got there!  We got stuck in some traffic but eventually made it and began the relaxing time in cold Tagaytay.  I was settled in when my buddy started telling me that it was time to drink.  I almost said yes, instinctively, but quickly caught myself and said that i want to earn that drink by first doing a bit of exercise.

So i went down to the garden and did the following on the grass while on grass ;)

Jump Rope for 1 minute

Push Ups to Failure ( 50 )

Bicycle Crunch 1 minute

Stairs 1 minute (there were no stairs so i ran up and down the steep garden)

That bench thing where you bring your knees to your chest for 1 minute

That other bench thing where your hands stay behind you and you do something like leg raises

Bench Jump (jumping up on a bench and back down to the ground) 20 times

Single Leg Presses (15 each leg)

Single Leg Lunges

Lunges while lifting weights over your shoulders 15 times

Jump Rope for 1 minute

And then my wife decided to join me!  So from here we did these:

Plank for 1 minute

Side Plank 30 seconds each side

Plank with raising feet 1 minute

and some lunge thing i saw on tv where you stand straight then bend your knees all the way til like your butt is hitting the ground then go halfway up, then go all the way down again, then stand up regularly.  We did 8 of those and then we were done :)

Once done, i went and got myself a nice cold smoke and a nice cold beer!

With my beer i had a Spanish Bread piece and a cig or two.  Not long after that it was dinner time as we ate early and enjoyed more Spagetti but only this time with delicious bread and even better meatballs!

That was really good by the way!  Thanks Wife for being so awesome in the kitchen!

For dessert, we enjoyed these chocolates!  I was able to behave myself and did not feast on these, although i sure did enjoy a few squares here and there.  Let's not forget, considering this was Saturday which is otherwise known as cheat day, i behaved pretty good!

Just more smokes and DVD's after this and of course, a bit of extra exercise with the wife!  Let's not forget that i hadn't seen her in 2 days and had been on a beach the whole time without her!  Love you!

Day 16 - Puerto Galera

This was Friday.  Our day got started early in the morning.  I'm not sure what time but it couldn't have been any later than 9am.  We were woken up and told to prepare for the day ahead which consisted of a few things starting with Island Hopping.  I got into my board shorts, grabbed a sarong and my iPod and needed nothing more besides my shades that i was wearing straight away.  Note: I did have a bit of a hangover from the fun night before!

So the day starts off with breakfast and at this point i'm thinking to myself, fuck it i'm on holiday!

Bacon, Tapa and Rice.  Fuck yeah! If you notice, i didn't get much rice nor tapa ;)

Oh, and for the hangover, a healthy cup of coffee!  

(did you guys know that coffee is healthy for you?!)

After breakfast we headed out to the boat and went to a nearby island where everyone went snorkeling except for a few of us who stayed behind.  I didn't even bother with a mask and snorkel and quickly got started by swimming off to beyond the reef and treading water by myself for quite awhile before i was joined by a friend.  It was nice out there and when we went to shore we chilled for a while in the hot sun then got back in the water but this time stayed in the shallow and enjoyed great conversation!  When it was time to go, we got out of the water, up onto the boat, and headed back to Coco Beach.  

In no time lunch was served since it was already after 12 noon :)

That is Adobo with mixed vegetables, string beans with some carrots and whatever..healthy shit!

After i was done with lunch, a lunch i didn't entirely enjoy but became one of those, "I'm eating cuz my body needs food and not because i like the food".  So naturally i went back to the pool to digest in preparation of swimming again.  When i got there, my officemates were eating this for dessert!!!

Tanginang Yan!  Chocolate Cake from Valle Verde Country Club!  I had none.

Instead, i put on my iPod, laid out in the sun, and sound tripped!  It was great and i managed to listen to maybe 10 songs before i was drenched in sweat and had to jump into the pool!  Good fun though this sound trip!  Thank you to Led Zep, Steve Miller, Black Crowes, Bob Dylan and Billy Joel!

The next 2 hours were spent in the pool.  This must've been from 1pm - 3pm.  At one point i was literally the only one in this massive pool and when i wasn't, there was just an old couple in there with me.  The sun was fucking shining bright and there were no clouds in sight!  It was beautiful and peaceful and i managed to meditate a few times plus found God by just being at peace holding my breath underwater.

This is a perfect achievement of Mind, Body and Soul and it was beautiful.  I can't explain it but the peace i found in that pool by myself after that great sound trip just really kicked me where i needed to be kicked and i found myself rejuvenated magnificently after that :)

And then came 4our PM, otherwise known as Happy Hour!  At Coco Beach, happy hour is literally just one freaking hour long.  Hahaha i find that kind of funny and somewhat pathetic but whatever man, just drink while you can right?  So, together with a Danish Couple I met earlier in the day and with a Jamaican dude who decided to hang out with us since we were drinking, we enjoyed many topics of conversation over many drinks within a single hour.  These are the Rum Cokes i had :)

1

 2 & 3

 4

 and 5

I forgot, i had 2 san mig lights when it was after happy hour :)

I passed out after these drinks!  Hahaha good fun!  I went back to our room, for the first time since i woke up that morning, to enjoy a nap in bed.  

Apparently, dinner had already been served and wasn't going to wait for me forever so i slept maybe only half and hour and then had to make it out to dinner, or pay for dinner myself and order from the menu but i wanted my money to be spent on other things so i force fed myself this dinner....

soup (not sure what was in it)

 one stick of BBQ with mixed vegetables and chicken + tomato and cucumber salad

And finally I decided to eat the chocolate cake...

In the end i took 2 bites and didn't want any more!

(Good job Belly! You're getting trained!)

After that though was back to being time to drink!  We started with something called a Hot Shot and then i had a bunch of beers!  All San Mig Lights...i guess i'm trying to keep the calories down :)

It's so dark that these are the only pictures i took...but i did list them down on my phone ;)

1 Hot Shot

1 Shot of Tequila

6 San Mig Lights

and endless sips from a bottle of Bacardi Gold.

I almost threw up from being so full of booze but not because i was drunk.

The band never showed up a second time and so we didn't fly anymore...

Day 15 - Puerto Galera

This was my first ever company outing.  Up til this trip, i was never part of a company that ever had any company outings.  Well, i was with Kerplunk Studios and til today we still go to the beach quite often but i can't quite consider those trips company outings because we go there to party and abuse ourselves and have a good time....then again, this trip to Galera was all party, abuse and a good time too.  Ok fine, I've been to countless company outings with my friends from Kerplunk Studios, but this was my first company outing with my new job and boy what a trip it was!

It started off ugly actually.  Fucking really early in the morning and i was in a bad mood cuz my wife and i got into a little bit of a shit silent argument.  As a result of that, i didn't care what i ate and decided to have this for breakfast...

White rice, with a fried egg, a hotdog, and a piece of longanisa.

But then i was still hungry and opted for the healthier option as seconds...

a salad with another hotdog and its ceasar sauce...

Then it was time to leave for Galera and so we went on our way...Once there, we settled into our rooms and i quickly got changed and headed straight to the Coco Beach swimming pool for a quick dip before lunch.  Naturally, the quick dip became a long swim and by the time i got to lunch, everyone was done.  

This was the lunch i had :)

That's like salted eggs with mixed vegetables and a bit of chicken curry.  A very unusual meal for me, especially while out on holiday and with a buffet full of mixed foods that i would have greatly enjoyed, had i not started this diet.  But i enjoyed it all the same and felt lighter and healthier as a result of choosing this instead of the heavy meats and no vegetables...

After lunch it was back to the pool for me and before i knew it i was digested enough to play in the pool which is exactly what we did.  Together with my officemates we created games and messed aound the pool for quite awhile til finally we caught the attention of a waiter and decided it was time to consume more.  

I had two bottled of san mig light in the pool (hence no photograph) and when that was done decided it was time to get a bite to eat.  So my boss and i each ordered a Coco Burger!

It's a big fat bacon burger with vegetables and a slice of pineapple on it and it was delicious!

I didn't eat the fries, nor the mayonnaise, nor the ketchup, nor the top bun of the burger.  I merely sliced the bottom half of the burger and ate only that.  But then it became happy hour so i order rum cokes!

I had two of these and soon after took a nap right on that lounging chair i'm on and only woke up when it was time for dinner.  Good times!  I love the outdoors!  In fact, i loved it so much that i never made it back to our hotel room until it was time to sleep hours and hours later into the night!  Which in short means that i checked in and stayed out til it was time for bed :)

This was dinner.

Soup...

Tuna salad with mixed vegetables and pork adobo...

And Graham Crackers with mixed fruits for dessert.

After dinner, it was time to resume drinking and we started it off with a game of King's Cup!  At King's Cup, i drank 5 San Mig Lights.  

While playing King's Cup i managed to make friends with the band that was playing and when the game was done, they came over for a jam and we played around 4-5 songs together.  When we were done jamming i asked them if i could ask them a question that was slightly embarrassing and their percussionist right away said "alam ko na yan sinasabi mo, tara sama ka samin!"

So with him i split from the group and got to bake with these local Mindoro musicians who were cool as fuck!  They asked me a bit about myself and it so happens they saw the Blue Jean Junkies when we played in Galera's White Beach a year or two ago and quite liked us.  It was cool and i finished their stash!

After maybe half an hour to 45 minutes with them on the beach i left them to join my group.  There i had another 3 beers with them and then went to sleep cuz i knew we'd have to wake up early for Island Hopping.

Day 14 - Merienda and Dinner

I was hungry again and some of the interns at our office decided to order from Wendy's.  I love Wendy's and normally order shit like Bacon Mushroom Melts and other large burgers.  But, since there was a menu on hand and since i've been on a diet, i decided to for the first time check out what's on it.

Lo and behold, i saw something that piqued my interest, another salad.  Only this time, it was a taco salad!

So delicious i had to take 2 different photos!

And check out what i had for dinner!

Yet another delicious chicken salad :) 

I think in part it's because i was unable to exercise today...

So that's that!

Day 14 - Breakfast and Lunch

Being that i was so tired from yesterday, i slept real long and was late for work.  So, in my rush to get some food in my belly before leaving for the office, my wife fixed me up a quick bowl of Oatmeal and i added some raisins to it to sweeten it up some.  Check it out!

When lunch was served at the office, i was thrilled!

Beefsteak!!!

But instead of having it with white rice, i decided to have it with a salad :)

If you know me, you would know that i don't love this but times they are a changing and i actually loved  it!  I suppose some changes are good...nothing feels as good as feeling healthy!  Haha considering all the other shit i put in my body that i can't post here :)

Day 13 - Dinner + more exercise

Ok so where are we?  I've told you about the upper body weight training i did today, as well as my crazy job home from the office.  Now it's time to tell you about everything i did when i got home...

First thing I did was rearrange the house.  My wife had asked me last Sunday if we could bring the table that was on our balcony into the house to use as a dining table, the time had come to once and for all do it.  But before just bringing the table in, I had to create space for it by moving a long ass table dividing our kitchen from the hallway and put it up next to the wall.  While doing that, i had to move everything that was up against the wall as well as lighten the table from everything that it had on it.  Note: This is a heavy and long table that is definitely not the lightest thing.  After the table was moved, i had to sweep the floor for as we know, tables gather dirt under them and this has accumulated over a period of a few months.

Once that was done, i had to wipe down the table for that had gotten really quite dirty too.  It was on our balcony for months, maybe even more than a year and we live on the 4th floor next to a main road with jeeps and trucks constantly passing by.  When that was done, i got the table inside and decided it was finally time to eat.

My amazing and beautiful wife prepared a great meal for me, not once forgetting that I'm on a strict diet.  This is what she prepared for me:

That is a large bowl of chicken salad mixed with a pear and some salad dressing.  If you recall, i actually had this for lunch earlier in the day.  I had it delivered by KFC and I'm sorry but i have to tell you that my wife makes that chicken salad waaaay better than KFC...and i fuckin' love KFC!!!  That's how amazing it was!

And if that wasn't enough, i still had some energy in me and was still raring to do more.  So, I did the dishes and after that, organized a whole bunch of papers and files and CD's and chord sheets and business cards that had just gathered and grown to becoming a pretty massive pile.  That alone took me over an hour!  I guess you could say that I'm not that organized a person!

But i wasn't done.  There was more to do and i wanted to do it.  At this point, my wife had fallen asleep on the couch watching a DVD of 30 Rock (Funny stuff!) and i wanted to surprise her by doing all the dishes.  They weren't actually that much, but they were still plenty!  So i gone and done that and then went on to finally taking a bath!  

In the bathroom, i still had energy!  So what do i do?  I decide to shave and instead of taking a normal shower, i thought to condition my hair as well.  I know it's not much and is not that tiring, but considering everything I had done, you'd think that i would be as lazy as possible and only do the must dos.  

It was when i came out of the shower than i was pretty much dead.  I woke up my wife, took her to bed, and finally laid down.  Oh sorry I'm lying...i pet my cat for over 10 minutes continuous and then finally laid down in bed.  What's funny was that i didn't even fall asleep right away, i ended up watching I shouldn't be alive and finally fell asleep at almost 3AM!  

Boy what a night!  I was fucking knackered man!  I ended up sleeping so deep that i slept really long and was late for work.  And, when i woke up, i was still so tired that i decided i would not exercise today but would make it a point to eat properly throughout the day.  And that was my night :)

Oh fuck i forgot, while watching I shouldn't be alive, i ate these :)

Day 13 - Exercise

Wow what a day!  I enjoyed a great working day at the office and was in a great mood the whole way through!  So, when it was time to start the work out day, i was ready to go and excited to begin.  Our "trainer" told us that for this day, we would do an upper body work out.  Great!  We haven't done this yet and i was happy to learn that we would yet again be doing something we hadn't done before and that it would be a new thing again.

This is the weight training we did:

Bench Press 2 sets of 12 on the machine which weight we don't know but it was on number 5
Incline Bench Press 2 sets of 12 also on 5.
Barbell Row 2 sets of 12 with 20lbs plus the bar.
Machine Back Row 2 sets of 12 at 3.
Dumbbell Lateral Machine 2 sets of 12 at 10lbs.
Machine Shoulder Press 2 sets of 12 at 4.
Barbell Biceps Curl 2 sets of 12 at 20lbs plus bar.
Machine Bicep Curl 2 sets of 12 at 1.
Close Grip Barbell Bench Press 2 sets of 12 at 4.
Triceps Dip 2 sets of 12.
Bench Crunch 2 sets of 12
Back Extention 2 sets of 20.
Side Plank 30 seconds each side.
Plank Alternating Feet 2 sets of 30 seconds.
Push Ups to failure....30.

After that it was quite late, maybe around 10PM and i was fucking hungry!  So, it was time to go home.  Being that the work out was all upper body, i thought that the walk home would be great that way i get to exercise my legs too.  But what happened?  I freakin decided to jog home instead!  Man!  That was tiring and i started really sweating again!!!  But i loved it and thought that it was great that i was able to do that.  You should know that it's about a half hour walk home, consisting mostly of the uphill slope beside Ultra.  So running up that road was really a killer but the accomplishment of having done it is quite priceless.  Plus i got home much faster!

The story doesn't end there...I got home and had a few more things to sort out before and after my delicious dinner.  Will post those details on my next post.  Cheers!