Cebu City Marathon 2014

Jan 12 2014 IT Park
21K 3:18
note: injury at right leg

This is the  first Cebu City Marathon with  RunRio as co-organizer and also credited by AIMS. One thing is for sure if Rio is involved, bring your own food hehe.  I stayed at UP Guest house because M Velez  st. will be closed at 3-4 a.m. I stayed in room 1 which was separated from 3-6 rooms where a group of noisy students stayed.
I could barely sleep with the all the noise, so I woke up and went out before 3:00 am. The gates were locked so I had to find  the guards who were sleeping by the way.
It was  raining allday   on saturday , I'm been dreading this run since the first raindrop fell. I decided to use my raincoat during the run coz it looked like the rain was never gonna stop. Overall i had a nice run, although i didnt like my time, 4 minutes longer compared to the PRC lapulapu run. The rain stopped for a while but it came back in full force at 6 a.m. I was drenched and injured when I arrived at the finish line. But IT WAS FUN.

Good stuff: Lots of runners were there, very festive. In every hydration table, theres gatorade.  The first time I've seen that much gatorade in a run. There were also dancers and lots of music. Love the route, we passed by lots of historical landmarks, I'm sure the tourists would be happy with the sights and srp was my fave as usual.

Bad stuff: there isnt really much. No fireworks this time, but thats okey.  I had a minor injury, i didnt know how i got it.  IT park was really muddy. No food but i expected it, as long as theres gatorade, I'm happy. Will I run on Jan 11, 2015? Just try and stop me. I wonder what will be the design of the new medal. To CCM, pwede pink ang color sa shirt next year? hehe

Freebies: finishers shirt and loot bag (black towel, water, gatorade and safeguard products) Thanks to all the sponsors.

Picture at the finish line. Still raining while doing this pic.

21k finishers medal

at the Guest House, preparing to Leave

my attempt at doing selfie while raining

My DFA renewal of Passport experience- Not a Horror Story

It was the year 2009 that I got my passport thru a travel agency at the old office in DFA near Plaza Independencia. It wasnt much of an effort at all. My passport's 5 year effectivity will end in March 2014 so I was dreading the renewal of my passport after I heard the horror stories of going to DFA at 3:00 a.m  I googled  DFA policies and some blogs to get some info. Thanks to the bloggers btw, you are the heroes of the IT generation.  I applied for renewal of passport  at DFA on Dec 19 2013, and I want to give some pointers from what I experienced. Hope this will help you.
New Rules FIRST
DFA is located at the 4th floor Pacific Mall in Mandaue City. If you are not from Mandaue City like me, take a taxi getting there.
Issuance of Priority Numbers (If you are not a minor, pwd or a senior citizen, you must get priority number)
9:00 pm to 6:00 am the following day. Pacific Mall will issue a priority number. Present valid ID and old passport if renewal and NSO birth certificate at the guard near the entrance. He will give you an application form to fill up.
6:01-:6:30 am     Setting the"Pila" based on Pacific Mall Priority Numbers
6:31 am onwards DFA will release priority numbers.  The guard will call out your number  and return your valid ID so listen carefully.Surrender the Pacific Mall priority number, and submit valid ID and application form. The priority numbers issued from DFA is not necessarily the same as the Pacific Mall numbers so be alert when the guard calls your number.

I arrived at Pacific Mall Mandaue via taxi at 3:15 am (P 162.50)and was happy that there were only few people around but was suprised that my number was 128. Kaya pala, the guards are releasing as early as 9:00 pm, hayyy lessons learned. I decided not to go home and just wait for 6:00 am. I already downloaded the application form from DFA website and filled it up so i was just merely waiting for the time to arrive. There are no seats  and tables in the area, so its better to have the form filled up in the comforts in your home. Remember to fill up all the data required. BRING BALLPEN.
At 6:00 am, there were already lots of people waiting at the parking lot and the benches. The guard called up instructions of the placement of the line based on numbers,then another wait again. Finally I heard my number called, the guard gave me back my ID then I surrendered it to the DFA and submitted the application form. My 128 number was replaced by 115, and was instructed to come back at 11 am.
One thing I noticed in Pacific mall, its really hard to get a PUJ. There was an ongoing road renovation and even at 7am in the morning, traffic was already heavy and most of the PUJs are already full. I also didnt feel safe waiting beside the road. After about 30 minutes, I decided to get on the Park Mall bound PUJ (instead of SM) then had breakfast at Jolibee at ParkMall. Its better to get a ride at Park Mall terminal since a lot of 01k PUJ's are at the terminal. Much safer place to wait for a ride. Then from Park Mall to SM to UP. Yup 3 rides. I went back to my office at UP to rest and wait for 10 am. I decided not to go home because  of time constraints.  THen 10 am arrived, still I wasnt able to sleep, so I took another taxi (P127.50) to Pacific Mall, then went straight to the fourth floor DFA office. There were so many people waiting outside. I arrived before 11:00 am and the guard said the were still processing no. 70.

The process:
1.  The Front Desk: Accepts your priority number and gives you back the application form and valid ID. He instructs you to have the ID xeroxed. There's a copier inside the office but the line is long so photocopy everything to save time.
2. Acceptance of application form with documents. Theres a sit-down pila inside so ask who is the last person. I apologize to those people in line, I accidently inserted in the line while asking the guy if they gave out numbers. The guy told me to sit down so I did. Little did I know that  i just inserted in the pila. Fortunately I did not hear violent reactions.
For renewal of passport: Application form, Old passport with xerox (first data page and last page), valid ID with xerox,  NSO birth certificate (original and xerox)
For new passport, please visit DFA Site for the list of requirements coz there's more documents that are required.
The person in charge will staple everything and return it to you for the next step.
3. Payment-  Submit your papers at Window 2 then wait for your name to be called. I paid P950 for regular processing . Its better to have P50 ready or the exact amount. There's an option to have your passport mailed but I dont know the rates and I didnt inquire on the procedure. Mas better jud to personally pick up your passport.
5. Encoding- At this point,  I was kinda stuck here for more than hour because of the lunch break.  I was waiting at the pila outside and for almost an hour, the line wasnt moving. I was able to get inside at past 1 pm and there were only 2 windows open. Anyways, there's a tv inside so you dont get bored.
The process: Submit your papers, and pose for the camera. Remember, no earrings and necklace so leave your jewels at home. Also no bangs and ears should be visible, so hair back. I looked so ugly & haggard in my passport photo, it looks more like a prison photo than a passport photo. Even if its a renewal, they are still encoding my info. so watch the screen as they encode your name and other info. Double check, FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, MIDDLE NAME for spelling. Also DATE of BIRTH and Place of Birth. They will print the data for you to sign later so dont be in a hurry to sign the form. CHECK and Double Check.  Then they get your signature, LEFT thumbprint and RIGHT thumb print. The process is really quick and easy. After double checking everything, I signed the form and returned it to the window 7. 
I arrived 10:30 am and finished at exactly 2: pm, more than 3 hours. 
Thanks for the DFA personnel, guards and the people there who responded to my queries.
I checked my cellphone inbox if the office needs me but they didnt text me so I decided to eat. Boy was I hungry.
AFter that I decided to go to the mall's PUJ terminal to check the if I can get a ride there. There were only 2 PUJs, 1 for liloan and another consolacion. So I crossed the scary road again to  wait for a ride. I again took  a PUJ bound for park mall but this time i stopped at EMCOR to ride an AYala Jeep. From there, I went back to UP and did some work.
The process of renewing my passport was easy, but the waking up at dawn just exhausted me. I'm so glad  for the 5 year period before I have to do this again. I hope they have the appointment system at cebu implemented by that time #crossfingers.
IMPORTANT TIPS:  
1. Dont go to DFA unprepared. GOOGLE for info or ask from your friends. I asked the people next to me in  the pila but all of them are first timers. I didnt get useful info.
2. Always prepare small bills and loose change for payments, xerox and transpo.
3. BRING BALLPEN and all your documents. I have a folder that contains important documents just incase  its needed. XEROX  required documents
4. Bring food, water and books to read.  Know where the CR is.

Energen Family Run 2

Dec 8 2013 10k

5:30 am 1:28:12

taxi P127.50 Park mall

My singlet and race bib

 Energen Family run is probably the last run I will participate this December. The moment I read the news of this run, I already decided to join because I am an energen drinker and they give out loot bags for all finishers, of course the contents of the bags are energen products.

The problem was I had a minor accident on saturday. My right foot slipped on some pebbles and I came down hard on my right knee and my two arms tried to protect myself in the fall so I felt sore, as if I ran a half marathon. Still, I was only running for 10k, I decided to run and get my loot bag.

When I arrived at Park Mall, I was surprised at the number of participants, probably more than a thousand. I didnt think the run was well advertised. Anyways, the first thing I did was drop my backpack at the courtesy booth and then joined the zumba warm-up. When the run started at 5:30 am, I had a difficult time running. I was struggling already at 1k, I even started walking after the first kilometer. It was so frustrating, I feel so out of shape. My time was 1:28, it was an okey time for me given the heat and my condition. Whats important is that I finished the run. They also give out finishers shirt for 10 k. Anyways things I noticed

1. presence of distance markers every 1 k and direction markers. I havent seen so many signages and markers in my previous run. Since I'm not from Mandaue City, the directions in every turns has helped me a lot
2. I didnt like the route, I felt like we were running in circles. At one point the 10k runners were joined with 5k, then later on, it was 3k and 10k. You know how you can tell if its 3k or 5k runners, they were walking

3. No snacks. I was expecting this. Just like the milo run. But they do give sample energen.

4. They have this timing chip that you need to attach to the shoelace. I wonder how the barefoot runners will do this. 

   

   Timing chip
   

5. Didnt like the bracelet instead of necklace turning point tie/ribbon. I've seen some on the ground. Necklace is better
6. You can only qualify for the raffle if you finish 10k in 1 hour and 5 minutes. A big BOO! A kid won the lenovo cellphone #jellymode

Finishers & loot bag with contents -all energen flavors

Will I participate next years Energen Run? Maybe.

Marathon for Humanity (Phil Red Cross Cordova Chapter)

My 21k finishers medal

21K Nov 24, 2013 (originally Nov 10, 2013) 2:00 am

Hoops Dome Lapulapu city

3:13:56

Hoops Dome at LLC

Before the run, I was able to watch the movie Hunger Games: Catching Fire at SM City Cebu. I missed 15 minutes of the show but that was okey. I recommend it to all the readers of the book and non-readers who are into great stories (just watch the first movie). My 2 fave scenes 1. district 11 speech of katniss and 2. peeta and katniss “nobody needs me” beach scene

Now the reason I mentioned this is because replaying the fave scenes in my mind has helped get through the 21k run.

 Okey, here's the story. I reserved a room at GV Hotel LLC for overnight stay (note to myself: puj acacia-mercado then stop at julies), it was a small room at promo room rate of P475 with private cr/bath, tv and aircon that works like a refrigerator (turning on and off). The hotel provided a towel, 2 small soaps, 1 small pillow and blanket. The downside was they have no elevator and I was assigned at the fifth floor. Oh well, since I'm only paying P475, I shouldnt complain, at least its clean. There are some ants on the bed but I wasnt bitten.

My small room at GV hotel Lapulapu

Since the gun start was 2:00 am, I tried to sleep during the afternoon, but I just couldnt. So I prepared my gear, inserted the batteries of my flashlight and headlamp and prepared the stuff to bring on the run. I also set my cellphone alarm, then ate a little then took a shower. I was able to take a short nap before I woke up at the alarm past 12 midnight. I showered again, put on my gear then went down and sought assistance from the guard to get a pedicab, that costs P40 btw.

I arrived at Hoops dome before 1:00 am so I just wandered around, searching for the baggage counter then sat down and waited. Then the emcee called us for a warm up, I didnt like it, they made us dance but the steps are hard. So I just moved my legs & arms just to warm up. The PRC staff was also giving away whistles to use in case of emergency.

So after the warmup, the runners waited at the starting line, I think the estimated number of 21k runners is about 500-600, not bad. I turned on my blinkers so I wont forget, and then we're off. I'm so glad it stopped raining, it was raining really hard last saturday morning. The advantage of running at night is that the heat wont tire you easily. I was actually jogging most of the way and I didnt drink that much. There were so many areas that are not well lighted, good thing I had my headlamp. I think I would be scared if it werent for the presence of the other runners. I honestly dont know where I was going so I just followed the other runners. They werent offering any food or bananas in any stations, only water and they ran out of plastic glasses...tsk tsk. The roads are flat so I didnt have a hard time, in fact I was surprised when I saw turning point, I thought it was much farther. I ate my chocolate bar after the turning point to keep me going. What helped me get through it, it wasnt the scenery since there wasnt much to see, it was dark and its mostly residential area... The thing that distracted me were the scenes from the Hunger Games: Catching Fire...I love Peeta haha.. It just kept replaying in my head. One thing I didnt like was when I was 1.5k from the finish line. They were already releasing 3 and 6 k so I had I hard time running the roads since it was full of cars/pedicabs and runners. I think it cost me 2-3 minutes delay.

Things I received: finishers medal and shirt. Snacks hotdog, rice and bihon. Not bad for P700 registration fee. They were giving prizes for the raffle but I didnt finish it since the prize is a free massage..

Comments for improvements for next year: provide banana stations and make sure you dont run out of water or cups

I survived !

Picture taking in front of the finish line is a must in every run

Will I join next year's run... Right now my answer is no. My head hurts for 2 days becoz of lack of sleep but no regrets.I love joining runs for the red cross.

Bradford Centennial Run

Bradford Church Centennial Run

Oct 26 2013 Saturday

at Bradford Church Osmena Blvd 4:30 am

21k 3 hours and 19 minutes

After a fun time in Palawan, here I was dreading saturday. I had a headache on Friday so I had no choice but to drink medicine, but afterwards I was feeling groggy. To top it all , my period arrived. But I need  to go back to road running again, hence my decision to register in the first place. I knew that after my puerto princesa trip I would feel lazy again.

So after I hard and tiring day at the office, I went home after 5 pm so I can rest and prepare for my run. It was a rainy friday so I was a bit worried. I was able to fall asleep right away, that was how tired I was.

I woke up at 3:15 am, still feeling sleepy so I forced myself to stand up, eat and dress my running gear. I decided to bring my cp for the first time to do some selfie pics. I went out of the house at 4pm, the air was so cool, then got on the pedicab, then taxi. The warm up was already starting when I arrived. I was looking for the courtesy booth, took me a minute to find it, then left my bag and returned to the starting area. I remembered to turn on my blinkers this time while waiting for the gun start. When I saw the runners for the 21k, there were about 200 of them, yup so few, I felt I'm gonna be the last finisher this time.

The experience during the run  was okey, it was a cloudy day so the sun wasnt so hot,  as expected the route was a bit tiring but familiar. I just tried to distract myself and think of puerto princesa. After the turning point, I was mostly walking than jogging but I persisted. Good news, I wasnt the last finisher, there were about 5 runners behind me. I didnt know there were that many. My time was as expected 3:19, I knew that kapamilya run was a fluke.

During the run, I lost my hand towel and dropped my water bottle twice. I also forgot to bring my shades, good thing the sun decided to hide behind the clouds.

Thanks to Bradford church for the nice medal, bananas and hotdog. I liked the location of the starting/finish line because it was easy to go home. I hope you gathered enough funds for the renovation of your church.

Will I join a bradford church run next time? Sure, why not.

                                 thanks to the safe marshall for taking this pic 

                                                           practicing my selfie skill

I Left my Heart in Puerto Princesa

My Puerto Princesa Adventure

Oct 18-22,2013

One of the things in my bucket list was a trip to palawan. Then a co-worker mentioned that she with other staff will be going there. It felt like a drop from heaven, but I was hesitant at first, what if UPS calls and wants me to go to diliman. But I decided to take a risk, Thanks to my co-workers from library, they arranged my ticket and accomodation. On top of that, 2 other co-workers decided to join us, so originally there was supposed to be eight of us for this trip.

On Friday, Oct 18 was the day of departure, 1:00 pm, 3 of us only since there was no promo fare on the 19th. I went to office, signed some papers 'till 11:00 am, then off I go to the MIA. There wasnt really much going on, the plane departed on time. When we arrived at the PPA, we had to look out for our sundo, the Trip@PAL tour service. After about 2-3 minutes of looking, I found them, then off we go to Payuyu pension, Manalo st. extension

Day 1. Self tour since the tour starts on Saturday.

We had a late lunch at Chao long for some beef stew with noodles. I'm not so sure of the name, I keep forgetting about it. Then the three of us went to LRC Tiangge and did some shopping. I spent P1,200 for accessories, food and bags. Then dinner at baywalk with Ms. Portia and Annabelle. We ate fresh fish sinigang, inihaw and barbecue. Yummy. Then the lights went out, ughhh brown out. Good thing it was the full moon. Then we went to Remari pension house to look at the place and get Portia's hopia. Payuyu pension afterwards, lights didnt come back till about 3 hours later.

Day 2. City tour. Tour starts at 1:30 pm.

Four a.m. I woke up for my jogging. I didnt bring my rubber shoes so I just used my flat closed shoes with socks. The bantay at the pension house was asleep so I had to wake him up. I was able to get out at about 5 am, I was in a hurry because i wanted to see the sunrise. I was a bit scared coz there wasnt much people around, just some tricycles passing by. It was the longest 2k run in my entire life, my right shoe kept coming off. When I arrived at baywalk, there were already lots of people walking /jogging, so i felt relieved. I walked, jogged, took some pics. The sea breeze was so cool, the sea looks great. Perfect stress reliever. The I went back home, but I had to drop by landbank to get my salary. AFter taking a bath, we did some sightseeing at Provincial capitol, did some picture taking. Then early lunch at Nocinoks. There wasnt much food there when we arrived so I just ordered halo-halo and burger. My other companions ordered veggies and rice. So after we were full, we went back to the pension house to rest. I went downstairs to use the wifi and upload pics from my baywalk jogging. 4 of our co-workers arrived, 1 had to beg off becoz her dad was in the hospital.

It was about 1:30 when Trip @pal crew arrived then we started our tour after picking up a couple from another hotel. It was a quick tour, here are the places we went, as far as I can remember. there was a lot of picture taking but I got too tired when we went to bakers hill.

Tiangge

Baywalk ( it was hot so we just passed by)

Immaculate concepcion church

Crocodile farm

Iwahig Prison

Bakers Hill and House of former senator Mitra

Then we had dinner at Baywalk again, same place. We tried to have some pictures taken but the power went off again.

Day 2. Palawan underground river

This place was my target to go so i was excited for this trip. It was about 2 hour drive with some stopovers plus 30 minutes travel by boat. There wasnt any swimming because of the big waves. Reminders, wear shorts and slippers. Prepare to get wet. There was more pictures taken while waiting for the boat, then the arrival. We were warned not to carry plastic becoz the monkeys are attracted to them. The underground river is a different kind of experience. You cant help but to sit down, not move, stay silent and observe the wonders of nature. Its hard to describe, you just got to see it. After the trip we had a nice lunch, everything was tasty. At that point, I felt that I was done, I'm contented already...boy was I wrong. After the trip, we went back to tiangge, then went to church at 4:00 am. Dinner was at Razons, last night with one of our companions, since her trip to Manila was 7:30 pm.

Day 3: Honday bay ( Pandan island and Luli island)

Early morning after some snacks and coffee, our sundo arrived, we had a slight detour to pick up a couple from Turkey, then off we go to Honda Bay. We had less than an hour land trip, stopover for snorkling gear and bread, then another boat trip with life vests on. When we arrived, we tested our snorkling gears. Boy was I excited. I couldnt believe it, I was able to use the snorkling gear. The water was so deep, there were a lot of fishes in the sea. Once you give the bread, lots of fishes just come to attack the food. Not good for picture taking, lemme tell you. So i just gave some of my bread to my companions. I was just happy enjoying the view under the sea. Then lunch was ready, we had ordered sinigang, taho and some shells on top of the lunch provided by the tour. My tummy was so full with all these goodies, I particularly love the talong. Then we did some magic photoshots with the talented bangkero. It was hot but the experience was great. After that, we were off to Luli island. It was drizzling that time, the waters wasnt so clear so the fishes were barely visible. We had a great time do some picture taking, did jumpshots for the nth time, snorkling and fish viewing. There was a diving board where some of my friends did some jumps. After a bit of convincing, I also jumped. My ears were ringing after the jump, but I'm okey. I'm glad I jumped and have pictures to prove it. There was no bathroom in Luli island so we went back to the van wet. After taking a bath and rest, we went back to tiangge again. i think I went to that place about 5 times. Then dinner at chowking, we were supposed to go to Kalui but you need reservations to go there. We actually walked from Kalui to chowking. Mode of transportation in Puerto Princess is by tricycle, P8-10 rate. I keep running out of loose change because of the tricycle rides and we had lots. Did the backride btw.

 One of the magic tricks in picture taking, No Photoshop needed. Just a bottle, camera and lots of imagination.

Day 4. Go home

Woke up at dawn to pack my bags. The other group went out to tiangge and NCC Mall to shop for some stuff. We had lunch at chao long again and i bought sandwich for baon. Then our sundo arrived to take us to the airport.

Thats it, that all i can remember, I hope the sequence is correct. I had the best time ever. The timing was perfect after the big quake in cebu last Oct 15. We escaped aftershocks for 4 days.

Will I got to puerto princesa again? Maybe but I'd like to go to El Nido next time. Thanks to Jonilyn Abrenica and Trip@PAL tours for the experience.

     Jumpshot at Luli Island, Honda Bay Palawan. Its More fun in the Philippines

The Day 7.2 Earthquake hit cebu on 10.15.13

I debated with myself if  I should include this in my blog. Well, since my memory is not so good these days, might as well write all things down before I forget.

Oct 15,2013 was declared a holiday because its a special day for the Muslim religion. For other religion, its a day to relax, enjoy, maybe do some chores and other stuff. For me, its either run or swim, I chose swimming.
Its been weeks since I last swam at cebu city sports center because of a lot of things like menstrual period, pool is closed for treatment, and other reasons so I was looking forward to this day. The night  before I decided to drink tea, fitne viva slim so I can poop in the morning. Unfortunately, I was only able to poop past 6 am so I arrived at the pool  almost 7 a.m. But thats okey, since I only swim for an hour and the sun wasnt so hot. I didnt swim as much as I had planned, I was mostly just standing there in the pool and swim when I'm in the mood. I noticed the clock was already 8:15 am so i decided for one last swim then stayed near the stairs to enjoy the water for a few seconds before getting out. Then it happened. I heard a loud noise, I didnt really know what it is until I looked up. The side part of the stadium was moving really fast. It was like an invisible hand was shaking it hard. I looked around, I see people out of the water, trying to duck,trying to run, trying to panic. 
I was still in the water, holding on to the handle bars near the stairs. I figured I'm gonna have a hard time getting out of the pool with all this movement. So I just waited and prayed for the shaking to stop. It was a long wait. I looked around, I see white smoke..nope not smoke,  more of concrete dust. Something was breaking apart. Finally the noise stopped, but I was sure aftershocks will come minutes later. I can already hear sirens outside. What going on outside? I was outside the shower, undecided..should i take a quick shower or just change?.. I checked the walls, no cracks..no lights either...Oh well, i will  take a risk, if the shaking comes back, just run outside. So I went inside, took a shower, didnt do it in a hurry. I didnt want to go outside right away. In the first 10 minutes I was the only person inside, then a few ladies came later.
I dressed up, finished everything and I was ready to go outside. The first thing I saw was the people, patients of St. Vincents hospital with the dextrose bags. I see babies, I see old people lying on hospital beds. I got on the Andres PUJ, I was planning to stop by Chowking fuente but changed my mind when I saw more people outside. I see store clerks,  tourists, some even in bathrobes..more patients of Cebu Doctors Hospital...Then I arrived home, everything seems normal..Nora and her family are still preparing to move to lapulapu city. I went inside and got my netbook and checked my facebook...I noticed some of my stuff are on the floor but nothing broken.. I saw the news in Bohol, I saw the damage...THat was a strong earthquake in Cebu. Sto. Nino Church was partially damaged..omigosh, whats gonna happen to the Sinulog next year. Right now  Cebu is still experiencing aftershocks..some are really strong.. I'm not afraid..Some stores and schools are closed today, But will go to work tomorrow. So many things to do.. I already checked the office earlier.. No damage. Just some folders and supplies found on the floor. Will cebu survive this? Of course, cebu has to survive. I just hope and pray that  cebu will never experience this again. We are not prepared for this kind of calamity.
Side effect of the earthquake: I was constantly hungry.
p.s. Condolence to the people who died during the earthquake.