Silver Quill

Silver Quill
Originally uploaded by eefa87.

Leashing the Black Dog

Logo of the Black Dog Institute



Churchill who coined "Black dog" to refer to his depression




Franz Kafka and his mouse "Josephine, die Sängerin", in which the central character is a mouse, who sings - or squeaks

Billy: My Cat

oh and isn't my cat a cutie? It's getting really naughty

Here it's biting off its own tail

Oucchhh.. it's my finger, kitty!






Kitty love...





I should be in bed... havta wake up at 6am, work out and then it's gonna be a looong, tirin' day but heck I'm ready for the challenge :)

A Crazed Pre-Med Student...

A look at my utterly disorganized and scattered life. Here's my desk right before an important exam...



Because the 24 hours of the day and the allotted hours of study are not enough, there's an anatomy chart under the shower to maximize shower time.. after all, no moment is too brief to be wasted...




It's also important to curb the few minutes that are wasted everyday in attending to nature's call.

Thus, I cannot overemphasize the need to keep a couple of books at hand to occupy oneself while one engages in this undeniably necessary need.

That Falling Feeling...

Finally...the economics project is complete... That's significantly de-stressed me..

A sneak peak at the economics assignment:

Wow, they actually have renovation work in Manila!!! The view from the living room...

And the view from my bedroom...

Tagaytay Retreat

Last weekend, I had my LASARET retreat. Wasn't really looking forward coz of all the negative feedback but the experience turned out to be very fulfilling indeed.

After hearing the experiences of friends and acquaintances from upper batches and those already through with LASARET, I didn’t receive a very favorable response. However, after going through with the retreat myself, I can sincerely say that I was genuinely moved, touched and inspired. I also learnt that I should take other people’s advice with a grain of salt hehe...

My favorite part of the retreat was the Solidarity Meal. College life, for me, has been for the most part, an emotional roller coaster ride. During the Meal, it really hit home that my life is after all, MY life. I can’t subsititute for another person’s life. I have to accept the goodies and not -the -so –good aspects of my life and strive to be the best I can be. The fruits, the bitter herbs and the sweets all bear a poignant resemblance to life’s mixed experiences.

I am glad that I can say that even though I'm a practicing Muslim, attending a Christocentric retreat has rejuvenated my relationship with God. Now I engage in a regular, healthy dialog with Allah.

Some photos I took of the place... So scenic. I'm jealous the nuns get to stay their 24/7 :P

Typhoon Aftermath...

Milenyo wreaked havoc in Metro Manila. Many areas of Makati City are still out of power. I feel for them. We were without electricity for a whole day.

It's the strongest typhoon in Manila in 11 years. That's the photo I took from my bedroom...

After staying home 3 days due to the typhoon aftermath, I must tell you how annoyed and pissed off I am.

What did I do? I studied

Last night, I worked out after a whole darn week. It was one of THE BEST if not the best. Not just that, the best part was that I immensely enjoyed the whole workout. Because I took up running primarily for weight

The First 10K

Finally, the wait is over... TODAY is the RACE DAY!

I woke up at 4am after a mere 3 hours of sleep, showered and got ready for the race: my heart fluttering with excitement and dare I admit, a bit of fear of not being able to complete the 10K. There was reason to be fearful. Hell, I haven't run more than 5.4K in one go in my life!

After getting to the race venue: Ocean Drive, SM Mall of Asia (largest mall in Asia), my first visit to this famed mall, it wasn't difficult to find the crowd of racers. After checking in (check-in = a line with a blue pentel pen on the race number.)

My race number

I realized it would be better to totally relieve myself before beginning the race and so joined the unending, wriggly line infront of the portalets (portable toilets). I must tell you, it's NOT a pretty sight in there and not much of an olfactory delight either :P

While I was still lined up, I saw this huge swarm of people gushed forward. I didn't even hear the gun being fired! I just stood there supinely ignorant and I started 7 minutes after the "official" start of the race. Sure it's good to be timely but to start a race five minutes before 6am?!?

I had asked several veteran runners about how to survive at least an hour of non-stop running. "Just focus on finishing it, they said and pace yourself", and so that's what I did. There were some pleasant surprises: just when I thought we finished 3 and a half K, I realized we had jaz passed the 5K mark in 31 minutes, my personal best. The last 5K were naturally harder than the first 5K but I just continued without really ever going slower than a brisk walk pace.

And before I realized, we were near the finish line though it was completely out of sight. I plucked up the final gush of energy, sprinted and dashed forward and lo and behold, I had made it. My FIRST 10K.

My time: 1hr, 11minutes

I realized it hadn't really been as hard as I imagined. So I already came up with some lofty future goals:

The Yakult 10-miler (16K)

Then, a half-marathon (21.2K) and then finally a MARATHON (42K)...hehe

Kudos to the race organizers, it was arranged very well. The route was unambigous and the directions were very clear and well laid out. There were drinking stations every 3K or so, plenty of patrol men and patrol cars. It seemed a family outing of sorts for some: many people lined the pavements probably there to cheer on some family member or friends.

Oh, there was a goodies bag for finishers...

The goodies bag

Inside the goodies bag...

I was shocked to see a Men's Health back issue in the bag... I remember there were two lanes near the finish line. Since I was the only girl nearing the finish line at the time I finished (there were many more male participants by the way) and in my mad dash to the finish line, I had entered the male finishers lane before realizing the mistake and subsequently swerving to the adjacent female lane. I wondered if I had been handed a MALE goodies bag. What other reason could there be to have different lanes for the 2 sexes?

But NO, I found out, EVERYONE got the same goodies bag. Men's Health happens to be one of the major sponsors of the race hence the issue being included.

After the race, we had a scrumptious English breakfast at Pancake House. The Cinnamon Toasts were great... Then I hit the bed to make up for my heavy heavy sleep debt.

The Race Packets

Last night, I got my race packet. Remember, I had initially ordered a medium-sized singlet for my brother (who doesn't want anything to do with running btw)...well, I changed my mind :) **evil grin**

The singlet was too much of a beauty to let go off. It was the fabric that's extremely comfortable to run in. And after seeing David try it on, I realized, it didn't really reveal much above the shoulder. And besides, I wasn't even sure if Tamjeed (my brother) was amenable to wearing anything of this sort.

Here's the shirt. It's supposedly 695 pesos in the market as shown on the tag. All for free with the race registration fee. Oh, not to mention a 25% discount coupon as well on Adidas items. Woah.

Can't wait to hear the fire shot signalling the start of the race :P

I just want to return home triumphant. The goodies bag is beckoning to me...hehe... All finishers get a goodies bag, the contents of which I don't know.

Currently feeling: ecstatic

On Running...

I'm infinitely excited about the Adidas King of the Road race which takes place in less than a week. Sunday September 17, 2006. My biggest fear is not finishing the race. After several days of back-to-back & back-breaking practice, I don't want to come home defeated. It's my first 10K.

Wow. I got a chance to read a few blogs from people who had participated in the same race. It's held in Malaysia as well...so there were some interesting accounts from them. I have to tell you, it's gonna be pretty challenging. Those folks mentioned the rolling hills which was a bolt from the blue. My practising ground has been my fav. oval Ultra Stadium in Valle Verde. So TOMORROW, I better be practising on the treadmill to achieve the incline to be expected out in the open.

I also got a feeling of the need for those indispensable power bars and energy drinks that I need to get hold of and the need to warm up properly for optimal performance. Here are the lessons I learnt:

1. Bring power pars, isotonic drinks etc

2. I HAVE to be there 530am for a nice smooth warm-up, that means I have to LEAVE 5am. and I guess my friend will have to pick me up even earlier i.e. leave home 440am or so!!! So I need to sleep nice and early so I won't be groggy during the race.

3. The first 50 finishers get medals. hehe

Tomorrow, I'll be in North Greenhills getting my race packet. They're giving away adidas singlets but since I DON'T wear sleeveless stuff, much less SINGLETS, I ordered mine several sizes bigger.... for my brother! hehe...Now, I can't forfeit my singlet jaz coz I don't wear one!