Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Random stuff

I discovered the Golden Duck Singapore Salted Egg Crab Seaweed Tempura chips during a shopping trip to S&R. It looked really interesting so I bought it, tried it, and immediately loved it. I bought more during my next trip to S&R but in my most recent trip, it was no longer in stock. However, I discovered a Golden Duck kiosk in Unimart in Capitol Commons. If I need to get a salted egg snack fix, I now know where to go.


I finished reading my fourth book this year - City of Lost Dreams by Magnus Flyte. This is the sequel to City of Dark Magic which I finished reading early last year. I'm just really happy I am consistently finding the time to read now. Will I manage to finish reading one more book before the year ends? I hope I do.


I also got a really cool Star Wars tumbler recently. My friend Myna is a big Star Trek fan but she keeps getting Star Wars gifts from her friends. She knows I am a Star Wars fan so when I met her recently, she gave me this tumbler. I've used it a few times already since then and I'm really happy to have it. :)


My phone case has been deteriorating over the last two years, but the damage has gotten significantly worse in the last few months. I couldn't find a Samsung S7 Edge case in Digital Walker or at the Spigen kiosk I visited. I asked the Spigen salesman where I could get the case I needed and he told me that all the S7 Edge cases were now sold online. I immediately checked Lazada, found one that I felt met my requirements so I purchased it immediately. I prefer my old Speck case (unfortunately, there are no Speck cases on Lazada or Shopee) but at least my phone is protected again.


Finally, I recently got Spotify Premium. I got notified of a Spotify sale - P9 for the first three months! - and that deal was just too good to pass up. Needless to say, it was absolutely worth it. I've built a couple of playlists, including one with classical music that I absolutely love. I also asked some of my friends who are into jazz music for some playlist suggestions, and I am now very pleased to be listening to playlists that feature Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk. I also discovered Kurt Rosenwinkel's Intuit album but it seems to have disappeared on Spotify. Bummer. Still, I am truly enjoying getting to listen to really good music. And other not-so-good songs that are my guilty pleasures LOL.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Bowling

Our department recently organized a bowling team-building event. I was really happy about this because it's been maybe three years or so since I last got to bowl. There were about twenty of us and we were broken up into four teams. Each team would be competing for the highest average score (some groups had only four players). On top of this, a prize for the highest scoring male and the highest scoring female would also be given out.

The last time I bowled, I scored less than a hundred so I wasn't sure how things would turn out. Thankfully, I ended up having a pretty good day. I scored a 137 in my first game...

Game 1

...and a 124 in my second game. I certainly wasn't expecting to get these scores so I was really happy.

Game2

What made things even better was that even my teammates got pretty good scores. As a result, our team managed to win the team challenge and take home P500 worth of SM gift certificates each. My first game score of 137 was also the highest score among all the men so I took home an additional P1000 worth of GCs. Cool! So what did I do with my prize? I used it to buy dog food the next day. :)

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Carlos Yulo wins Gold at the Gymnastics World Championships!

Historic news for Filipinos all over the world: Carlos Yulo won the gold medal in the men's floor exercise at the 2019 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships! Carlos already etched his name in history last year as the first Filipino - and first South East Asian - bronze medalist at the World Championships. This year, he took it a couple of steps further by taking home the Gold. Bravo!!!

That he accomplished this by competing in a sport that isn't that popular in the Philippine or where we have been very competitive at the international level in the past is even more impressive. Check out his amazing performance here:


video uploaded in youtube by Traveler's Couch by Moon Ray Lo

I love how excited the commentators were as they talked about his routine. And what a spectacular routine it was! His elevation, the speed of his twists, and his strength and athleticism were sensational. We have to give massive props to his coach - Munehiro Kugimiya - without whom Carlos wouldn't have achieved what he did. I also have to say that it was quite emotional hearing the Philippine National Anthem being played during the awarding ceremony.

There is now talk about Carlos' chances of being the first Filipino to win an Olympic Gold in Tokyo in 2020. I personally don't want to put that pressure on him, especially in a sport that doesn't really have front-runners because so many gymnasts have the capability of winning gold. Regardless of what happens next year, Carlos has already made his country very, very proud.

I join the entire Filipino community in celebrating Carlos' achievement. Congratulations and thank you, Carlos!!!

Wednesday, October 09, 2019

Majoy and Dawn win International Awards again!

Great news! Two of the Philippine Women's Volleyball Team players, Majoy Baron and Dawn Macandili, received awards in the 2nd leg of the ASEAN Grand Prix!

Majoy Baron continues to make a name for herself in the international scene. She showed everyone that her Best Blocker award in the first leg was no fluke by winning the same award in the second leg. Back-to-back best blocker awards playing against Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam is no small feat. Talk about consistency!





Dawn Macandili was hailed as the Best Libero in the tournament. This is also her second international accolade after she received the 2nd best libero award at the 2017 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship. Amazing!




I think it's incredible that both Majoy and Dawn have now received two international awards each. While the Philippines still has a tough climb ahead of us, what with Thailand and Indonesia being very dominant in South East Asia, we are making good progress. Hopefully, we can get a podium finish in the upcoming SEA Games.

Good luck national team and congratulations, Majoy and Dawn!