Running it is...

November 2010

A month into working out 2 - 3 times a week. My health has improved, not necessarily my weight but the interest in fitness and having a healthy lifestyle has started to spurn. I am more interested in it now and view it as less of a chore. My tv set is now glued to destiny cable's channels 30-36 espn, solar sports, star sports, eurosport & Btv. My magazine collection slowly getting filled by clearance back issues of metroactive and men's health.

Upon browsing magazine stands, I picked up a copy of Men's Health magazine, mainly because of the article that had "the smart gilas workout" After checking the magazine out, I gave it a 7 out of 10. There were some good articles in there. The Gilas workout could've been longer but it was quite decent nonetheless.

However, what eventually stood out, is a freebie magazine called Runner's world Philippines. I was curious at first, Just wanting to take a look at it for as a freebie magazine, but reading through the articles got me interested. Before I read the magazine, Running is one of the last sports I even envisioned myself to be in. Ever since grade school, I have been the one which was always considered to be big and slow. During basketball games, most of the reasons why I screw up in plays is because my stamina wasn't at par. Granted I run the treadmill 15 minutes per workout, but that was just an alternate between sprinting for a minute, then walking on the next.

Come to think of it,  I needed another sport. Finding weekend basketball games is tough when the christmas season is nearing. Also, It would be better to develop my stamina for basketball rather than developing my stamina through it. As the magazine I bought stated on one of it's articles "You train to play sports not train by playing them".

After which, It left me to ponder my last weight loss which was back in 2006. Back then as a fresh college graduate, I decided to take some time off and concentrating on working out and being thin. The staff at the gym were impressed and asked me to join their bodybuilding contest, with that in mind, I lost a total of nearly 40 lbs. By the time I reached my lowest weight, It was still not enough for the contest but I was satisfied. It even landed me a hosting gig for a cable channel.

After which work and career responsibilities have caught up to me and even with a number of workouts here and there, my weight slowly gained back. No matter how hard I tried, I really did not have the same weight loss I had back in 2006. Then I realized that the main reason that was so successful was because I was motivated. I had a goal, I was on preparation for a competition. There's something in a competition that fires me up. So yeah, I needed a sport that I can regularly compete. Not necessarily a team sport like basketball where it would be dependent on the schedule of your team mates and tournaments would be scarce. But a sport which has numerous regular competitions that can keep me focused and motivated with continuity.

So there it is, I finally found a second sport I can compete in, a sport I can get my motivation to.

Running it is.

Meeting with the Skywalker

October 2010

I have been invited to play at a local friendly game by one of the online jersey sellers that I am a customer of. The highlight/ guest of the day was the "Skywalker" a legend in Philippine basketball and  a former Fiba Asia champion. To put how legendary this guy is: During the 80's at an international basketball tournament featuring the PHL team and some international ballclubs, a Showtime era Lakers scout approached him and said that if he was a couple of inches taller, he could've made it to the league.


Moving on, It was nice meeting the man, Athletes of his generation remain humble all these years. I met another 80s star before,  the which was nicknamed "The Captain" and he was equally humble. Incidentally though, the biggest asshole that I met was some guy nicknamed Big Shot Rob.

So after Skywalker has left the building, The game has finally started. I have never played a game in 2 years and basically played only 2 games in the last 4 years prior. Sure I got a few rebounds and defensive stops here and there but the stamina wasn't there anymore. In the end, our team won by a mile. Even though I was tired, it awakened something inside of me that had been long gone since , the thrill of playing sports and an active lifestyle. Sure I was working out here and there. But working out is gets easily complacent especially if you don't have a goal. So there I have it. I finally find a new direction.

Prologue

August 2010,
Shinjuku, Tokyo

After spending the last day roaming around Tokyo's Metropolis. After a compulsary half day city tour of downtown tokyo, I had to rush and visit all the places I need to in a matter of hours (this is why I hate organized tours). In my itinerary, there's 3 more places I need to go to before coming home to Manila, who knows when will I go back to Japan. It's Harajuku, the fashion/cosplay district, Akihabara the ultimate toy and electronics shopping area and Shinjuku, the area around my hotel where the square enix museum is located.

As any Photographer/ Tourist/ Otaku making the most out of his final day in travel, I managed to visit them all in  a matter of hours. Blisters and dried blood from wounds in my feet appeared after I took out the chuck taylors. So there was it, the final day of touring; Freaked by Akiba's maid cafe promo girls, helped by train station attendants and stalked by african hustlers at harajuku. My credit card bill went up to 40,000 yen for the trip due to impulse figure buys at akihabara and shinjuku. The morning after, as we were preparing for the airport back in Manila, I picked up my DSLR to shoot a promotional standee of Kamen Rider Accel, only to discover that the LCD was busted.  I felt this was it. The "otaku" in me was tired I am thirsty for a breathe of new air.

So there was it. It was time to move on.

It's a New day

Welcome to my new blog... In retrospect, people might come here in the original post and ask, Who am I and what started this blog.  I am a geek, or used to be... I'm a guy which spent the last decade going to conventions, collecting figures, taking pictures of cosplayers and so many stuff related to the geek lifestyle.

But unlike most geeks in the Philippine fandom community, I am also interested in sports. Basketball, Football, Running and Working out. While these activities spur my interest, I am unable to fully commit to those activities, but I make sure there's something else beside my hobby, social life and career. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten my share of geek cred and awards the past 12 years. But I know when it is time to move on.

I have seen so many people in the geek community forget to do something that has happened to me, which is grow up. The same people which were lording the geek fandoms over when I was still in high school (in the late 90s) are still in it now.

Collectors on their late 30s and early 40s still picking on younger geeks and trying to pin their dominance on their hobbies by pinning the "I'm finding joy by having something other people don't" or instead of guiding and helping other people, they lord it out like prima donna faggots on their forums and communities that other people (who moved on with their lives) help built. 

The same (or worse) can be said the cosplay community. In which, the people which led it to a boring, underground collegiate indie hobby back in the late 90s, are now bitter of it becoming the whoring portal it is. These freaks are also trying to lord over some bunch of teenagers as some sort of self proclaimed masters.Granted, the community is now infested with jejemons, goddesses of attention whoring and "herding" photograpervs.

So that's how the geeks of the 90s are. Nearing (or on their) the 40s, obese and having the only source of social life fulfilled by teenage suckups who are too scared to get kicked out of their group. Perverts who still pick on underage girls at this day and age because they find a lot of difficulty picking a normal woman of their age. Self proclaimed "Kings" and "Masters" who are still persistent on keeping their former glory in dressing up as cartoon characters despite their frustrations that the fictional characters do not age, and they do. Using the "Elitist", "Legend" and "Senior" mask for them to forget about this reality.

But enough about them, Without further ado, let's leave those muthafuckers alone, It's  a new day, welcome to my blog and enjoy.