Monday, February 25, 2013

30 before 30 : 30 Books That I Should Read Before I Turn 30

I am happy and proud to say that I am already 28 years old and will be celebrating my 30th birthday two years from now (November 8, 2014 to be exact)! Do I feel old? In some ways, yes. Now I know that this is how my slightly older cousin feels (ehem, Ate Jenny) everytime I tease her that she is alreay old especially since it's now my younger cousins turn to return the "favor" of reminding me my age! haha! digital karma! (plus the proverbial question: When are you getting married?). But like what I always say, I am not complaining. I am actually enjoying the season where I am now. And besides, it is not as bad as I thought! I used to relate "aging" with fear during my younger years. I imagined "old" people not having nor enjoying their lives. Where did I ever get that?! :D  Like what they, old people,  say age is just a number. And this is starting to become my mantra now :D

Not that turning 30 is a big deal for me. It's just that since I am nearing that BIG 3-0 mark, I now feel that things are starting to change. Thank God that things are changing into something better (well, less some signs of physical aging, hehe)! I now feel more secured, more confident and more at ease with who I really am. I also believe that I am a LOT wiser in dealing with different situations  and I know and value the things and people that really matter in my life. So exciting!!! :)

image from the web

As part of welcoming this "mark" in my life, I decided to make a personal challenge that is, collecting AND reading 30 books before I hit the "mark". My goal is to widen my view on things and develop the love for reading. I actually got a list of books from the web (you may check www.marcandangel.com among others) and actually started with it. I actually finished reading 1 book from the list. However, I couldn't push myself to read other books because I felt that most books were too deep for me. So, I decided to ask my friends for the title of the books that they think I should read. Yes, this was time consuming on their part and that is why i am truly GRATEFUL for their time and patience, hehe :) But this made my list more personal and I believe that this will also strengthen my bond with them (imagine having other things to talk about aside from the usual "updating" on our lives!) :)

I wanted to categorize them but the fact that I haven't read these books made it difficult for me.

Here goes my list :)

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
2. Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Love in the Time of Cholera
5. One Hundred Years of Solitude

by AJ Jacobs
6. The Year of Living Biblically
7. The Know It All

by George Orwell
8. 1984
9. Animal Farm

10. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
11. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
12. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
13. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
14. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
15. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
16. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
17. Watership Down by Richard Adams
18. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
19. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
20. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
21. Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
22. Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg
23. Lego Principle by Joey Bonifacio
24. Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity by Charles R. Swindoll
25. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
26. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
27. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
28. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
29. Honeymoon with my Brother by Franz Wisner
30. Filipino Women Writers in English: Their Story, 1905-2002 by Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz

I love it that the list is quite diverse! This goes to show that my friends have different choices on books :) This makes it more exciting! I can't wait to start collecting these books and reading them. Somehow this is also a reflection of who my friends are. It's quite a variation of the saying, tell me the books that you read and I will tell you who you are. Hehehe :)

Actually some of the books on the list I have read already (but I don't have my own copy) or I have my own copy (but I haven't started / finished reading yet). So to keep me updated, I will cross out the books that I have already collected AND read.

PS: Special thanks to my awesome and book lover friends for spending time in giving me these titles :) You actually gave me MORE THAN 30 titles but I want to make it realistic and doable for me so I only chose 30 :) For sure, I will start with 40 before 40 and get back to your list! :D

Special mention to Bobbie, Bem (who even included short descriptions of all the books that she recommended! Wow!), Angie, Mia, Lory, Joan, Eva and Alex. I actually have friends who will be replying soon but I can't wait to start reading already so I will just use their recommendations for my 40 before 40 or 50 before 50! :p







Sunday, February 24, 2013

Choosing a Fitness Routine / Club that Works for You

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an expert in Fitness. What I will be sharing here are my first-hand experiences. In the event that I sound like I am promoting something, maybe I am because I feel that it is working for me. However, it is not sponsored nor I'm a part owner of it whatsover (how I wish! hahaha!) :D

The desire to have a healthy lifestyle is more important to me now more than ever. Wisdom really comes with age because I'm having a lot of realizations lately! ehem, ehem :D First is the fact that I m not getting any younger. I definitely do not feel old at 28! However, I also don't feel as young as I used to be 10 years ago. Here are some "signs of aging" that I am noticing: 1) I couldn't stay up all day/night long like what I used to do 10 years ago!. Dati when I am cramming for requirements, I can skip sleep the entire night and still be active and fresh the following day. Ngayon e mukha na akong ngarag e iritable pa kapag kulang sa tulog! :D 2) I don't lose weight easily anymore. Before, I just do "after six (6) diet" and stop eating rice for 1 week e kita ko na ang effect, now e hirap hirap ako to lose that 3 kg!

Please don't get me wrong. Believe it or not, I am actually happy with my age now and with the season where I am now. Kasi yun nga, less those "signs" mentioned above e I feel na saktong-sakto ang season ko ngayon :) I believe that I am a LOT wiser now,not necessarily less probolems but more wisdom lang in dealing with them, hehehe :)

Going back to the topic on healthy lifestyle, healthy lifestyle for me means EATING RIGHT and being physically active.I've never been active kahit nung bata ako. Ang active ko na e playing Pinoy games like patintero, piko, moro-moro,etc. I've never been part of a varsity or any sports groups. I do love biking though. But loving it doesn't mean biking everyday. Hindi ko na nga maalala when was the last I actually went biking!

Since I am dedicated (or at least I believe I am) now to live a healthy lifestyle, I have to find ways on being one. I honestly believe those people who say that one does not need to spend a cent to be fit. Kasi nga naman e habang may kalye e merong pwedeng takbuhan! However, this not-spending-for-fitness-mantra did not work for me. In the past, I had few running/jogging sessions along the riverbanks (o di ba? ganda ng view!) and work out sessions with cousins at home (sa sikip ng bahay namin e nagkakasya ang 6-7 girls + 1 kulit pero cute na cute na baby boy!). Sadly, these attempts were not sustained. And so I have to take another course of action.

A few months after I arrived in Jakarta in 2011, I enrolled in my FIRST EVER Fitness Club/ gym (Celebrity Fitness/ CF). Clap, clap for me, right? hehe :) I was doing "well" during the first few months,as in braving the traffic just to get to the gym and diligently attending classes based on the schedule that I prepared. However, laziness got the best worst of me! I stopped attending towards the 3rd quarter of my membership.

Pero dahil nga wise na ako at ang dami ko nang realization, e may natutunan naman ako which I like to share here, thus the title, hahaha! :D

1. Know how determined you are and what your goal is. This for me is the most important thing to consider. You have to know how determined and dedicated you are. For CF, minimum membership is 1 year. For my current gym now (surprise,surprise!), minimum is 3 months (pero syempre fees are higher than 1 year membership). What I am trying to say is that you will really spend for it so you have to get your  hard-earned money's worth! In terms of goal, what do you want? Do you just want to lose weight then stop working out after you achieve your goal or you want this to be your lifestyle? In my case, I sure do want to shed excess pounds BUT this is not my main goal. I have no plans to lose too much weight (I am 5 feet tall and weighs 52 kg) kasi not bagay na din with my body type and shape of my face (I have literally a big head and siopao face!when i lost weight 5 years ago, people were telling me that I looked sad and hindi bagay, so no na to losing too much weight!). My main goal is to tone my muscles and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

2. Accessibility. Ika nga sa kasabihan, kapag gusto may paraan. However, I beg to disagree this time. For beginners like me, accessibility of your chosen gym can actually be a turning point and you might end up wasting your money! Just to give you a background, I enrolled in CF and became a 1-club only member. This means that I can only use 1 club/branch of CF. I chose CF-PIM (Pondok Indah Mall) not because it was the nearest to my place but because I found it complete aka near/inside the mall! This was my biggest mistake! I normally spent 30 minutes - 1 hour (depende pa sa traffic situation sa Jakarta) of travel time just to get to the gym and spent 350 - 500 pesos (for the fare and  food) every time I visit the gym. So as expected (lalo pa at  hindi pa ako ganun kadeterminado), I stopped attending BUT I continue to pay for the monthly fees EVERY MONTH. So yes, it was a total waste of money. Kakahiya talaga sa wallet ko. So for beginners, my advise is to choose a gym that is near your house or work place (if you plan to attend classes right after your work). I believe that the first step for beginners is to form the HABIT so choose what will encourage you. In my case, ang dami kong excuses lalo kapag tamad ako mag gym. ang layo kasi, pagod kasi ako, etc etc. So at least rule out the inconvenience in your list of excuses.

Now that you are determined enough, your goal is clear and you've found a perfect gym for you in terms of accessibililty, let us now discuss the one of the most important (if not the most important) factor to consider.

3. Price. Again I will say that we work hard for the money that we earn so it is just reasonable to be wise about spending. Wag nyo akong tularan na padalos-dalos sa enrollment ko sa CF! (I am not bad mouthing CF ha, I have only good things to say about them, the problems were internal/from me and not with the gym) Nakakahiya talaga! You have to compare prices. Kahit naman gaano kaganda at ilang kembot na lang e nasa gym ka na pero super mahal naman at hindi mo mafford e say NO! You have to start with being honest with yourself. How much are you willing AND able to pay for a gym membership? Note that it has to be an AND. Hindi pwedeng willing ka nga magbayad ng mahal for a very sosyal gym pero hindi mo na naman kayang bayaran and you'll end up loaning money e this is not wise. Remember, as mentioned above, gym membership has a minumum of 3 months - 1 year contract. This means that whether you are using their facilities or not e you will still end up paying the monthly fees unless you have it cancelled (which for most gym requires you to pay cancellation fee if you want to cancel prior to the end of your contract).

Just to share, I used to pay IDR 496,000 per month for my 1-club only membership in CF (hehe, wag pong magulat sa madaming 000, conversation rate is 1,000 IDR/ Indonesian Rupiah = 4 - 4.5 Philippine pesos). So I pay roughly around 2300 pesos per month for my gym membership. Hindi pa kasama dyan ang 350-500 pesos that I mentioned above na I spent for transpo and food EVERYTIME I visit the gym. Magaling naman ako sa Math pero ewan ko ba kung bakit hindi ko yan na compute before I signed up! Malamang e dahil sa sobrang excitement ko yan :(

With my new gym now, I do pay IDR 562,000 per month. Yes, it is more expensive BUT this is an  all-club VIP membership (o di ba? hindi lang all clubs, VIP pa, meaning I can use any of their clubs ALL OVER THE WORLD including Pinas!) O nahuhulaan nyo na ba kung ano ang bagong gym ko? :D Not bad , di ba? :) In terms of transpo, I only spend around IDR 25 000 per visit (yan e kung tinatamad lang ako or matagal ang shuttle , hehe, 10-15 minute lang ang gym sa bahay namin kapag nilakad mo). At since malapit sya, I dont spend much on food kasi nga ilang kembot lang e pwede na akong umuwi at sa bahay kumain. So I can honestly say that mas matipid ito ngayon for me :)

Kung ok na lahat pati budget,e go tayo sa kasunod :)

4. Invite your friends. I honestly think that this is important too. You need to have a support system. The more, the manier este merrier pala :D In case you want to slack off, at least your gym buddy can encourage you to go. The more, the merrier because this lessens the probability that ALL of you will be tamad to go to the gym. Example: if you are 10 in your "gym group",ilang beses bang mangyayari na lahat kayong 10 sabay sabay tatamarin di ba? Well it is possible but I dont think it will happen everyday :) Aside from that, it is nice to have someone to talk to about how much weight you've lost or how much body fat you've lost, etc etc.

And last but definitely not the least,

5. Condition of the gym. When I say condition e lahat lahat na ito. 1) maayos ba? malinis? kumpleto equipment? if you are planning to join classes, do they offer classes that you are interested in? 2) do they have friendly staff? In CF and my new gym now na top secret, haha, they have 3 "free" sessions with personal trainer. First session is to get your weight and all other info and "test" how fit you are. diagnostic kumbaga :) second session and third session are for  exercsises na and they will teach you to use the gym equipment plus answer all your questions. If I were you e I will ask ALL my questions kasi after nito e you have to avail of your sessions with personal trainer which is really expensive! Kaya until now e urong-sulong ako sa pagkuha ng PT dahil may kamahalan talaga sya!

I am very lucky now that my new gym has very friendly staff :) as in kakausapin ka at lalapitan ka lalo kapag medyo obvious na hindi mo alam / mali ang ginagawa mo :D So super plus points ito for me! And lastly, 3) Is the gym encouraging you to do your best? I mean, dapat sana e yung pag papasok ka pa lang e magaan na ang feeling mo :) ang panget kasi ng feeling na you dread going to the gym e :(


I hope the tips mentioned above helped you in any way. Like what I said, if working out for free (running, weights at home, etc) works well for you then good for you. May workout ka na at tipid pa :) But for those people who need encouragement and push just like me, enrolling in a gym is not a bad idea either :) It may cost you but being healthy is priceless (and is proven to be cheaper in the long run) and besides we have to invest on ourselves.

Lastly, pag-isipan mabuti at wag padalos-dalos at magpa peer pressure na dahil lahat ng friends mo e nag gym or kasi uso or kasi sosyal tignan, you have to do it for the right reasons and the MAIN reason is that you should be doing it for YOURSELF.

Here's to a healthier us! :)

Anyway, here is my top secret new gym na hindi na secret ngayon :p


Image of Fitness First Platuinum is from the web
(bawal daw kasi to take pictures, sayang!)




Better late than later: Kate's Bday Celebration

Yesterday, we spent our day in a "far away" place called Central Park to celebrate Kate's birthday (which by the way was last February 16) :D Kate has been inviting us for the longest time to visit her place pero laging nauunsyami! Hahaha! So kahapon ay natuloy na din sa wakas! :) Parang naging 3-in-1 ang visit! 1) to celebrate her bday, 2)to visit her place and 3) ocular inspection/house hunting. So very, very productive! :)

The place was really NICE! It was super nice that Toni, Cess and I are seriously considering moving there next year (nevermind the 30-45minute travel time going to school). After 2 years of living near (as in super near na nilalakad lang namin papuntang school!) the school, we want to have a change next school year. We want a different environment, yung alive naman (the place is near the malls and parang it never sleeps (New York ang peg!). We are hoping to get a good "deal" though so our plans and "computations" will materialize! Excited!!!! :)

Going back to the celebration, it was just a small party with LOTS of food!!! Pinoy na Pinoy aka bawal ang magutom!!! :) At ang cast e the usual din, hehe :) Dyaran!

from upper L-R clockwise: the "cast"; yummy cake; the pretty celebrant, Kate; super beautiful pool na one of the reasons kung bakit naeenganyo kami lumipat! ; Cess na feeling celebrant and Me &cutie Nina


Ay naku don't be  fooled by the celebrant, Kate. Mukhang gorgeous at hinhin-hinhin lang ang effect nyan, pero wag ka! You should see her during the body pump class! Even men are intimated (ikaw ba naman magbuhat ng weights na mas mabigat pa sa binubuhat ng lalaki e ! kaloka!) Seriously though, I am so thankful to have met someone like Kate. She is such a nice (pero feeling daw nya ay hindi sya nice so sya lang ang nakakaalam na hindi sya nice!), very "light"(tawa lang ng tawa at mega komentaryo sa mga bagay bagay), GENEROUS (if you see food on the table, more or less e galing sa kanya yun) and totoong tao (very transparent!) :) Someone I can totally relate with and can talk with about anything and everything under the sun! :)

She is not only a blessing to me but to all of us! :)

Happy , happy birthday, Ms.Kate!

And here is your best shot! :D Guess who ang peg nyo dyan! :)




Thursday, February 21, 2013

Get Down on Your Knees

I am a young educator and I could say that the past 6 years that I've been in this vocation have been a roller coaster ride for me. For someone who had no formal education about education and got into teaching just because I felt this is what I should do (much to the disappointment of my parents who dreamt of seeing me soar "higher"), as expected, my first few years were like an experiment. Correction, until now I am still "experimenting".

Teaching has its highs and lows but for me, one of the hardest challenges that I have to deal with almost every single day are students who seem to lack the motivation to maximize their potential. I was reminded of this again tonight.

I am amazed and in awe of those educators who seem to have that gift of being a good motivator. It is a gift that I am still praying and working for until now. I am not the type of teacher who befriends nor becomes a friend of my student and I see this at times as a reason as to why some of my students are unmotivated. When that emotion starts to eat me up, I consciously stop it from dragging me down and remind myself to focus on the real problem that is, how do I motivate the unmotivated students

The bad news is I still don't know the answer to this question. But the good news is after 6 years of teaching,  I am still willing to learn and I am not yet tired of finding a solution to this problem.

While I was researching on ways to motivate my students, I chanced upon this blog Motivating the Unmotivated by Ken Wilson.This is a good read for educators like me. In his entry, he gave 10 specific and practical ways to motivate the unmotivated students. He is a Language teacher so most of his examples are related to this subject. But what I like about his entry was the fact that he gave specific and tangible examples. Examples that he either observed or did in his class. I have to admit though that I've heard some of it but never tried them in my class. What struck me the most was number 3) get down on your knees, here is an excerpt:
I asked her afterwards if she had been trained to get down lower than the student in this way and she said no, she just did it once when she was listening to a student, and the student seemed more confident asking her for help. Since that accidental discovery, she continued to do it, and now felt the class were more comfortable about telling her about things they were having difficulty with.

I am indeed inspired to give it my all , to be a magis, to be a better teacher because I am given the opportunity to make a difference in this world and my students deserve only the best.  

No doubt that this will be a tough job but I am sure that it will be worth it.

I am an educator. I teach, I care and I inspire lives.



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Wise Words to Live By

For my first "official" post (that is, after the Welcome post) I was thinking of something to write about. Something memorable. Something bongga. Something shiny, shimmery and splendid. Hahaha!

Seriously though, I realized that there couldn't be a better post than to share something that never fails to get me excited about life. I still remember that I "bumped" into these verses a few years back  fine, many years back! 12 years ago when I was still a freshie (college naman at hindi high school! :D) Time flies really fast! :)

From then on, these wise words never failed to comfort me during trying times (undergrad thesis included! Exhibit A: when you get a copy of my thesis, you will find this printed on the page right before the Acknowledgement page).

Here goes:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)
 'Til next time!



Welcome to My New Home!

It feels good to have a new home! :) After being with tumblr for almost a year now, I've decided to move to blogspot since most of the blogs that I read are here. So now I can follow them! Hooray! :)

Just started to edit/customize the settings of my blog. And I must say that I spent a good 3 hours to work on  what you're seeing now. Right! I am that clueless! :D

Please check out my previous blog www.lifeisadailyadventure.tumblr.com while I research on ways on how I can move my entries from my old blog to here. Is that even possible? :)

Anyhow, after reading blogs today, I am inspired to continue blogging. Weehee!

Until next time! :)