A look back at Philadelphia

To test this new feature I discovered at Photobucket, I strung together a slideshow of photos from the Philadelphia leg of my US vacation last May. Actually most of the time there I spent in the nearby Norristown, where my best friend lives her very suburban lifestyle with her husband in a 3rd floor apartment. Besides being very happy to see her again, and being happy that she was happy, there's not much for me to say about Philadelphia. I guess I'm just not cut out for suburban living. We drove into the city for the requisite visits to the Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and a cup of coffee at the popular chain Cosi's. I spent most of my time loading up on various fare at Red Lobster, The Cheesecake Factory, and spent most of my time swiping away at Macy's, and my favorite shops not available in Manila, H&M, Sephora, Forever21 and Bath & Body Works. But then how could I have helped not taking those shopping excursions at the King of Prussia mall when I was reunited with my favorite shopping buddy Mylinda?

Eating and shopping, that's what I remember about Philly. It was pretty much a sinful few days. I tried to compensate by snagging the best deals (with Mylinda's compulsive coupon clipping) and jogging for 30 minutes around their apartment compound, but that really didn't stop me from getting broke and gaining weight. To think it was only the first few days of my trip!

Endorphins

Yes, its old news...but new to me. Going to the gym can make you feel good and exercise can get addictive.

I have always had to bear the burden of coming from a non-athletic family. Sports, phooey...what matters to my family are our drawing, writing, singing, ballet-dancing, piano-playing and pictionary skills. Basically I was built to be a creative person who's pretty much a weakling. When my metabolic rate started easing its way out at age 26, I was left to try my hand at actually exercising to look fit instead of deceiving people into thinking I was fit just because I was naturally skinny.

So I picked up climbing, running, surfing along the way, still demonstrating my klutzoid abilities and natural non-athletic-ness all the while, but damn I tried! I even saw progress sometimes. But in the last year, I've had over 10 people tell me how much weight I've gained, including my half-blind grandmother, the older helper of our next-door neighbor, and my best friend's mom who actually called me chubby *sniff*. I admit I'm being overdramatic especially to people who have bigger problems with their weight than me, but I guess its just a glaring difference to someone who always struggled to get beyond 104 lbs. This year while vacationing in the US I weighed in at 118 lbs. DING!

I gave up my luxury gym membership last January because I was bleeding cash by going only twice a month, but this July I crawled back to the ghetto gym on the next street and signed up for about 5 months. Then I got a trainer (a guy who's skinnier and shorter than I am though he seems quite capable). I've been going back religiously 3x a week. I get withdrawal if I miss a day. And I've started seeing results! I don't know if its psychological, but I'm imagining cuts along my arms already, and the poof in my tummy area seems much less. In fact when I suck my gut in during the mornings I can actually see abs. And I now weigh an ideal 113-114 lbs.

Physically, I haven't felt this good in ages. Its a good counterpoint to the gloomy weather thats prevailed over our skies lately, weather that just makes you want to crawl into bed and meditate on your life. Now if I hadn't been gym-ming I'd probably think of all the bad stuff and magnify them by a hundred times. Thank goodness I've been going, its helped me to stay positive no matter how things are.

What Boredom Looks Like

Ok I admit it. I've been too lazy to update my blog with my US vacation pics. My 30th birthday thoughts. My La Luz trip. And coming soon, the first family vacation to Palawan. How will I catch up?? But I promise to put some updates on all those things even if it takes me forever (and it might!).

Anyway I scrounged up these hilarious photos taken at SYA Weekend Day 2 when we were asked to give our wishes for the community. Its tough to imagine me at a religious retreat I know, and these shots just shows how extremely looong (although enlightening!) the talks got...

I'll be back soon!