money's worth...

so my cousins finally decided to come join us in kota! great! it's fun to hang out with them. i'm really excited. BUT after thinking about it, i wonder if they're really gonna get their money's worth. i mean, if you come to think about it:
it's their first out-of-the-country trip. they're going to an island of malaysia (province-like; to go mountain trekking). this isnt like hawaii you know. the cost would probably be close to a hongkong / disneyland trip (which for me sounds more like a real out-of-the-country vacation). so bottomline, i made them rethink and reconsider their decision. i just don't want them to feel forced to go mountain trekking in kota just because it's our set itinerary. they can go visit kl too actually, but again ... is it really going to be worth it? so think.

i know i got both of them real excited about going out of the country, but if it's not their thing to go trekking - i'd rather go see mickey and donald with them in hk.

they'll let me know their final decision tomorrow.
if in case they choose hk -- i have to check my own budget so i could join them sometime summer (as i promised them).

for me, both trips will be worth it.
kota is bonding time with a best bud.
hk (even though i've been there) would be bonding time with my best cuz and my future cuz-in-law :)

God bless our trip...

this is the post i was talking about that wouldnt publish last saturday night.
so here goes...

* * *

havent gone to the gym for 2 days now. friday and saturday. i both had excuses ... good excuses. friday, i went to my derma so i really wont have time left afterwards. saturday, i had to spend some quality time with my sister and family.

my sister and i ate at spaghetti house and though the spaghetti tasted better than ordinary (ordinary meaning manamis-namis (sweet) pinoy style spag -- ala jollibee), it still filled our hunger. it was carbo overload. after that, we watched world trade center, which i must say was a good movie simply because it opens up the eyes of people to the realities of the world -- both its harshness and goodness. i condemn terrorism and i salute all the brave men and women (firefighters and cops + volunteers) who risked and lost their lives during 911. after the movie, i silently took a moment to pray for the almost 3k people who fell victim to this tragedy.

one of the fears i have in this kk trip is terrorism. we all know i'll be flying - that's one. oh well, i'd rather not think about it. i just need to enjoy the trip. pray that everything will be safe.

God bless our trip :)

lots going on...

so it's monday again. for some reason i feel the holiday mood around me, but cannot really celebrate it because i think about work too much. today, i couldnt sleep well in the shuttle during the trip from cavite to alabang. my mind was just half asleep half awake. oh man! i think i need to take some medications.

i was trying to post something last saturday, but for some reason blogger is not publishing it. i'll try posting it again later.

so what's up with kk trip?

howlake's back at work. we talked almost the whole morning discussing work. we're supposed to talk about the trip, but we ran out of time and maybe talked about it for like less than 5 minutes.

here are some updates (progress?):
1) howlake pointed out to me that there's a sale airfare going on in airasia specifically for flights originating from/going to clark (manila) to/from kk or kl. ok goodness! i already booked my flights, so it's no use for me to go rebook just to save 10 ringgits. it's all good.
2) because of this sale airfare, an idea popped into my mind to invite my best cousin jon to go with me. i know it's the budget that going to be the issue. so i offered to shoulder his roundtrip airfare, but he has to commit on saving for the mountain expenses when he gets to kk. im cutting his cost to only 2/3. am i amazing or what? that's my xmas gift to him. now he wants his gf to join us, which i dont really mind coz mona's great. im just waiting for them to confirm so we could book their flights, but decision has to come soon because the sale airfare must be booked by nov 1. look at how these airlines pressure their customers. strategy's working though.
3) howlake hasnt called up the office for the lodging reservations. it's all cool as long as we dont run out of lodging. hopefully we finalize everything this week.
4) howlake couldnt find a cheap airfare from kk to kl. i'll try to search for something cheaper later. he opened up the idea of transitting in manila, but i dont think that will be any cheaper. but it's a good idea to visit manila.

king felipe

so it's phillip's birthday today. i didnt have a clue. shame on me. he's one of my closest co-workers ... no make that 'friends' at work. since it's his birthday, i think it's just right to talk about him on this entry. i promise it'll somehow connect to kk trip one way or another.

so felipe as i fondly call him is master of negativity as opposed to yourstruly who's known as master of positivity. hahaha! talking about opposites attract. he always whines about anything there is to whine about. try pushing on his 'green' boner, i mean 'bone', and you'll see a frown turn into a wide grin plus childish elementary giggles. you wouldn't really expect that from a cum laude scholar.

so felipe is one of the people who knows about the kk trip. and knowing how his brain works, i already anticipated his questions upon telling him that im trekking kk in january. 'how high is the mountain from sea level?' 'is that as high as mount apo?' then he started lecturing me with stocked knowledge (but sounded as if he just reviewed a textbook for a quiz) about how tagaytay is at this so and so level in meters above sea level or equivalent to this so and so feet above sea level. then started giving objects of comparison to allow me to visualize the values -- "it's like 5 petronas tower on top of each other. it's like 4km, but upwards." dont get me wrong. it amazes me. and so i researched for mt kinabalu's height (which i have already forgotten as of this writing). hahaha!

felipe is my cube mate, shuttle mate -- and seatmate ... yes. we're inseparable until ate jo published the new cube plan. awwww! support!

so anyway, i invited felipe to join the kk trip - but he declined. although, he did research stuff about kk to broaden my knowledge. so he shared to me just this week that mt kinabalu is actually higher than mt apo and that he thinks it's going to be worth the trip ... saying it's a 'winner' - panalo in tagalog. hahaha!

dude, happy birthday! thanks for the rootbeer float...no sarsi float ... whatever they call it!

:)

kk lodging

so i already made online reservations for our kk lodging and i got some response emails. some information are just not correct. the dates were messed up so i had to do it again. now they responded again, and although the dates are right ... the lodging itself isnt. oh man!

solution to this is for howlake to call up the agent and book it over the phone. im sure it'll be much clearer that way.

can't wait for howlake to come back to work.

hahaha!

day of rest

yesterday was such a refreshing day. the little slice of pizza i was talking about last monday nite wasn't exactly "little" -- hahaha! i think i ate around 3, no make that 2 1/2 slices of pizza. hardcore cheese and lots of pepperonis. no beer, but lime soda and when discussion was getting hot -- gin compensated for it. not to mention, i retired at around 230am. tsk tsk not good.

but still tuesday was a refreshing day since i was able to catch up on sleep. then at night, i headed to the gym. ah good workout. god bless the rower -- i miss that equipment.

oh i forgot to eat lunch.
i ate just steak and soup for dinner.
i didnt feel too hungry -- that's the good thing.
i think my body's beginning to adjust to this whole "healthy" thing. it's not new to it really though. and i actually feel better.

tonight is another gym night.

return ticket: check

so i just finished purchasing my return ticket from kk to clark (philippines).
it was very easy. i really love technology (as long as it's not acting up). i also love my credit card. it gives me a lot of freedom and less worries (except when the bill arrives).

so it's confirmed.
im set to fly feb 3rd, saturday, from kk to clark.
1420 departure. 1620 arrival.
then it should be another 2 hours bus ride from clark to megamall.
more or less an hour car ride back to home sweet home.

i expect to be home around 930pm.
not bad.

pizza and beer

it's holiday tomorrow, tuesday, to pay respect to the end of muslim's ramadan. this means i have no work and i can party tonight. my friends and i have arranged a get-together hangout at a manny's house (now tiff's and manny's). im sure it's going to be fun. the last time we really hung out was in july (during tifmanny's wedding).

so what's the connection to kinabalu?

i'm faced with the first temptation: pizza and beer.
f*ck it. im going to celebrate. im going to eat and drink and be merry.

btw, im writing this at the gym. yes, i just finished working out and i think i deserve that little slice of pizza.

ok later!

return ticket

reminder: buy return ticket tonight.

risk if i do it tonight: might need to change date.
* i only have 2 dates to choose from anyway (saturday or sunday).
* there's only one flight and time for return.

risk if i dont: might increase fare.
* it's still in january for * sake.
* there's only one flight available so...there's still a possibility that it will increase fare.

worst case: fully-booked.
* are there a lot of flips flying from kk to clark?

fruits and sleep

it's hard to not eat fruits especially for me since i love them. i like eating grapes, ponkans and bananas. but since im trying to avoid sugar (just for 2 weeks), i have to pass on fruits. i wrote specifically on my diet plan that bananas are exempted, so i ate one today. what's bad was i ate "minatamis na saging" (sweetened banana).

oh well, my mom told me that i don't really need to go through another "phase 1" of the diet (phase 1 is the 'no sweets' for 2 weeks) ... just avoid fatty stuff.

oh well...things are gonna get better. control and patience.

* * *

part of the plan is to retire early at night. what i can commit on is to sleep by 1030pm latest especially during weekdays. i just need to get the vcr work more i guess or make maximize the use of youtube.

survivor and amazing race timeslots shouldnt be a problem. dream academy would. hmm... i need to give it up.

not good, not bad

i'm supposed to visit the gym today and it looks like i can't. that's not good.
although so far, i havent eaten any sweets. not bad.

* * *

i already informed my parents that im travelling to malaysia in january. they didnt really ask a lot of questions except for when, the cost of airfare and the airport where im flying from. my father mentioned that kl is pretty nice and that i'd be able to see petronas tower. my mother, on the other hand, is thinking of coming. haha. she asked if i think she can make it. i flatly said no. haha! don't get me wrong ... we tried climbing a mountain in ilocos sur one time and she broke her ankle plus she was really slow.

diet and gym plan

the last time i was in controlled diet was in mid 2006 when i was preparing for a friend's wedding. i'd say it was pretty successful. i remember passing on sweets (anything to do with sugar) which includes fruits for 2 weeks to get my body metabolism rate pick up. i also cut on rice especially during supper. i can eat meat, chicken and vegetables.

diet plan this week is:

1) no sweets - desserts, fruits (except banana for now)
2) cut on rice during bfast and lunch: max 1/2 cup
3) no rice during dinner
4) no soda (yes, even diet ones)
5) lots of water

* * *

gym this week:

sunday - yes, 30mins cardio + light weights
monday - yes, 30 mins cardio + medium weights
tuesday - yes, 15 mins cardio + heavy weights
wednesday - rest
thursday - 1 hour cardio
friday - rest
saturday - yes, 15 mins cardio + heavy weights

* * *

oh man, i need to burn-off the slices of pizza, fries, double cheeseburgers and quarter pounder burgers i've been eating the past few weeks.

im ready!

the deal

so what's the deal?

im travelling to malaysia in late january to do a number of things. it's going to be my first time there and it always excites me to see new places and to meet interesting people with different culture and background. i want to see kuala lumpur. i want to taste their food. i want to see the protons :) i heard the night life is also cool.

im also trekking mt kinabalu in sabah, kota kinabalu. this is what i'm mostly preparing for. mt kinabalu is a "climb-able" mountain, meaning it can be trekked by anyone without formal training, but i can't underestimate the mountain. i need to ensure my body is physically fit to reach the summit and receive that colorful certificate afterwards. i heard that if you only make it half-way, they still provide you with a certificate, but only black and white. i think that's a cool motivation. hahaha! so you'll be seeing trekker more often in the gym.

i'm also meeting for the first time my work counterpart (a chinese-malaysian) who i've gotten to know for the past 1.5 years. i consider him the bestfriend i've never met. he's like a brother to me and we got each other's back. you'll get to know him too later on. he'll be my foster family when i get to kl. in kk, it'll be our adventure. he too has never been to kk himself and i'm sure this will be a great experience for both of us.

the whole trip will also be a little expensive so i need to prepare some budget plans. i need to start saving for the trip. this is going to be as hard (if not harder) than dragging my ass to the gym. i am a spender. i'm not an impulsive buyer, but i need to cut on spending a lot on food and gimiks. i need to lock myself in my room or hide my credit card - in other words. and since holiday season is coming up ... it really won't be easy.

i am usually a crammer, but after reading through a number of articles and websites featuring their experiences in kk -- i know better. i can't pack my stuff the night before my flight. with tight budget, i can't afford to buy last minute necessities from convenient shops where it will be double the price.

im creating this document to see how well i do in the preparation and to share later on the experience.

and the journey begins ...