Desert Elephant

I was viewing my social media feed recently when I saw a picture posted by my friend of these really awesome-looking shoes. They looked so good that even if I'm not a sneakerhead and I don't know a lot about shoes, I messaged him to ask him about them. He said that he pre-ordered these shoes - Nike Air Jordan 3 Retro Desert Elephant - from Titan in BGC. He also told me that when he picked them up earlier that day, the sales staff informed him that they still had stocks.

Nike Air Jordan 3 Retro Desert Elephant

I decided to pass by Titan in One Bonifacio a couple of days later to see if they still had a pair in my size. They did! So I tried them on. And I gotta say, these shoes look great in photos but I thought they looked equally good (if not better) when I was wearing them! They aren't cheap but I liked them to much that I decided to get them anyway.

The question now is whether I will actually wear them anytime soon haha. I don't want to damage them or make them dirty. Maybe I can do research on shoe treatments that can be done to keep my shoes are pristine as possible.

Face-to-Face Time

After being in isolation for most of the last couple of years, I've taken as many opportunities as I could to meet up with people. In fact, for the last few months, game nights have once again become staples. In this last month, I had a couple of them, including one where we got to celebrate Mitch's birthday. This was actually the first time we celebrated someone's birthday face-to-face. As is often the case, I was responsible for the cake. I decided to order a Dark Chocolate Cheesecake from Mary Grace because it was a limited edition cake made for Father's Day so it won't be available during most of the year. I'm glad I ordered this because it was really good. So good in fact that Mitch actually ordered the same cake for her birthday celebration with her family! It's a bit pricey but if you haven't had it yet and it's still available, I suggest you give it a try (even just a slice).

Dark Chocolate Cheesecake from Mary Grace

I also got to play a few games that night, including 5211, the new edition of Love Letter, Isle of Cats, and Qwinto. Earlier in June, I had another game night where we got to play Architects of the West Kingdom. I purchased a secondhand copy of this game before the pandemic and I got to play it only once before quarantine started so I'm glad I got to play it again.

I've also met up with many different sets of friends over meals. I had lunch at Cafe Breton with my high school friends (I requested this place because I hadn't eaten there in a really long time). That was pretty special too because the son of my friend who now studies abroad was in Manila for the summer break and he joined for lunch. It was cool hearing about how his life has been living and studying abroad.

I also had a Wild Flour-themed get-together in BGC with my friends and teammates from the corporate social responsibility group in my previous company. I say Wild Flour-themed because we had dinner at Wild Flour Italian (which was the first time I ate there) then we walked all the way to the original Wild Flour and Farmacy for dessert. While my friends all got ice cream from Farmacy, I got a cake and coffee from Wild Flour. I also ended up buying some pastries that were 50% off. (I brought those to my family the next day for their merienda.) 

I also had lunch with some friends in Single Origin in Rockwell. We had all been chatting about getting together but our schedules didn't match up until recently. It was the first time in about 3 years that we all got together to enjoy a meal and catch up. I love meeting up with this set of friends because of their involvement in the arts and culture scene. It's always great to hear about what they are or have been up to and learning about upcoming shows and exhibits. Hopefully, I can get to see a live show again soon.

Finally, I got to meet up with my friends from my first company. Jette lives way up North while Chari lives way down in the South so we decided to meet up in Shangri-La mall for lunch. Mitch suggested Kettle because of their buttermilk chicken (naturally, we ordered that). Needless to say, our meal together was filled with fun and intriguing stories. One of our friends based in Australia might be coming home for Christmas so hopefully we get to see each other again then.

There has been a surge of Covid cases recently but so far, the cases have been mild and hospitals are still not overwhelmed and remain in good shape. While I will obviously still keep my guard up, I'm hoping these are signs that our bodies are slowly building a greater ability to manage and fight the virus and that life continues to get closer to pre-pandemic normal.

My Fitbit Achievements

I really love my Fitbit! I talked about what triggered me to get one in a previous post and how it has encouraged me to exercise and try to be fitter in another post. What's made my Fitbit use even better is how it motivates me through badges. I got my first one - Boat Shoe - on the first day of using my Fitbit by taking 5,000 steps.

As it turned out, I got my second badge - Sneakers - on that same day as well after taking 10,000 steps.

But wait, there's more! Before that first day ended, I received the Stuart Minions Badge after walking 12,345 steps. Cool!

I got my fourth badge - Urban Boot - a couple of days later when I took 15,000 steps in one day.

Towards the end of the first week, I got two more badges. The first one was the Marathon badge, which meant that I had walked 42 kilometers since I started using my Fitbit. Wow! I had walked an average of more than 8 kilometers a day on that first week!

Later that evening, I got another badge - High Tops - for taking 20,000 steps in just one day. Awesome!

To top it all off, a week later, I got another badge - Penguin March - which meant that I had walked 112 kilometers in total since I started using my Fitbit. Amazing!

I always knew that I walk a lot but I never knew I actually walked this much. Having my Fitbit tell me how many steps I've taken and how many kilometers I've covered is very encouraging. I'm really happy that I decided to buy a Fitbit, even if it isn't cheap. It has motivated me to get moving. Hopefully, I can get more badges in the near future and more importantly, improve my overall fitness.

Quarantine Stories Part 20

I got my UP UAAP basketball championship shirts! One of my classmates from college volunteered to place a bulk order for our group of friends. We had a choice of either maroon or black but I decided to get both. I was initially worried that the shirts might not fit but thankfully, they do! I can't wait to wear them!

My UP UAAP Basketball Championship shirts

I also went to Ayala Malls The 30th last month to visit Anyam Hablun, an exhibition of weaving arts by women of Sulu. This was a project of a good friend of mine. There were a lot of beautiful items, such as fabrics, malongs, bags, blazers, and even dresses. I ended up purchasing a couple of beautifully designed folding fans that I gave to my mom and my grandmother. A day after I visited, I asked my friend how much the bags were and if they still had fans that I could buy. She told me that all fans and bags were sold out. I later found out that almost everything in exhibit was sold! That's wonderful news, especially for the women of Sulu who created these crafts.

Anyam Hablun exhibit

Some sad news: Le Petit Souffle is closing. Ads popped up in my social media indicating that this restaurant was closing in mid-June. I really love the chocolate souffle here and while I told myself a couple of years ago that I would visit this place every so often to indulge in great desserts, I wasn't able to do that. As such, I made sure I visited Le Petit Souffle while it was still open. When I got there, they only had a limited menu. I decided to order a few items, including the French Onion soup which was at 50% off...

French Onion Soup from Le Petit Souffle

...and the Le Petit Souffle Carbonara Souffle (yes, that's the official name on the menu) which was served with a very fancy egg. (I didn't want to eat too much since I still had dessert so I only ate half of this dish and took home the other half.)

Le Petit Souffle Carbonara Souffle

Of course, I had to order my favorite Valrhona Guanaja Souffle and it was still such a quality dessert. Such a shame I won't have a chance to enjoy it again in the future.

Valrhona Guanaja Souffle

I'm also really happy that recently, I've been able to start exercising regularly again. It started when I got my Fitbit. There are daily targets, such as number of zone minutes (22), calories burned (2,700), number of steps (10,000), and distance covered (8.1 kilometers). I don't often meet the daily targets for number of steps and distance covered on days when I work from home, especially when I don't leave my pad. However, the zone minutes and the number of calories burned are much more achievable targets. I started using the Power Abs subscription that a friend of mine gave me last Christmas. It's about a 10-minute ab workout five days a week, although I probably get to do it only 3 or 4 times a week. However, since it's only a 10-minute workout, it's not enough for me to achieve my Fitbit targets. As such, I started supplementing my Ab workout with my Downdog app or with the dumbbells that I purchased late last year. I also looked up some zumba videos on YouTube and I started doing those routines to help improve my cardio. As a result, I've been able to exercise around 3 to 4 times a week for the last few weeks, which is the most I've been able to do in the last two years. The key now is for me to be able to maintain this. Wish me luck!

Nadal wins French Open Title #14!

I am in absolute awe. Rafa Nadal just won his the French Open for the 14th time! Way to go, Rafa!

Rafa-Garros 🇪🇸🏆 pic.twitter.com/0iC9GYREvt

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022

By the numbers:

• His 14 French Open titles matches the total Grand Slam singles title count of Pete Sampras. Remember that up early 2009, 14 was the record for most major title won by a man.
• He now has 22 Grand Slam singles titles, extending the men's record that he held when he won at the Australian Open this year. He is now 2 major titles ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
• Rafa is 14-0 in French Open finals. Never losing a Roland Garros final is just mind-boggling, especially when you consider that he played two of the greatest players of all time (Roger and Novak) in the finals a total of seven times. (I guess the rule is, if you wanna beat Rafa at the French, do it before the final.)
  
• His win-loss record is 112 wins and 3 losses.
• This is also the first time in Rafa's career that he won the first two major events of the year. 

🇦🇺 🏆🏆
🇫🇷 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
🇬🇧🏆🏆
🇺🇸 🏆🏆🏆🏆@RafaelNadal | @rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/dGJucF9e3O

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 5, 2022

Before the tournament started, I thought his chances to win were slim. He injured his rib while playing Indian Wells that left him sidelined for several weeks. He returned to Madrid where he lost to an in-form Carlos Alcaraz. In Rome, his chronic foot problem resurfaced, leading to a fourth round loss to Denis Shapovalov. Meanwhile, Alcaraz won Madrid and Novak won Rome. With no title wins on clay leading up to Roland Garros and his key competitors were both doing very well, the odds seemed stacked against Rafa to win.

As it turned out, Rafa overcame Novak in 4 sets in the quarterfinals. He then faced Zverev in a titanic semifinal that featured many momentum swings. Rafa won the 91-minute first set in a tiebreak. The second set also went to tiebreak until a horrific ankle injury forced Zverev to retire.

In the final, Nadal won easily in straight sets against Casper Ruud, giving him a record-extending 14th Roland Garros title.

King of Clay x 14 👑@RafaelNadal remains undefeated in Paris finals, conquering Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 for a 14th title#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/GctcC17Ah8

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022

Rafa is now tied with Steffi Graf, my all-time favorite player, as both have 22 majors. I also love that there is a picture Steffi at the Rafa Nadal Academy restaurant. (I hope I can visit this place one day and have my photo taken between Steffi and Rafa hahaha).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar (@rafanadalacademy)

Many are now wondering whether Rafa can win the Grand Slam (all four majors in a single year). His chances aren't that great, given that he hasn't won Wimbledon in twelve years and he hasn't reached a final since 2011. But if Rafa has proven anything in his career, and especially this year, is that you can never count him out. Whatever happens, Nadal has truly spoiled me and his millions of fans so much with his amazing records and his incredible accomplishments that anything else he achieves is icing on the cake.

On the women's side, Iga Swiatek lived up to her ranking and seeding as she won the French Open title for the second time. She is now on an amazing 35-match winning streak, which comes with 6 consecutive titles. The last time a player won this many matches in a row was when Venus amassed 35 straight matches in 2000, a whopping 22 years ago! Ever since Ash Barty retired, Iga has been the clear #1, playing head and shoulders above the rest of the field. 

Noticing a trend 😄#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/QZyS26qfw9

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2022

Congratulations, Rafa and Iga!

Final thoughts on my trip to Shangri-La Mactan

While my trip turned out great, it started out very rough. A couple of days before, I was notified that my return flight from Cebu to Manila was cancelled. Unfortunately, Cebu Pacific didn't move me to any other flight; instead, I was instructed to select a new one. The problem was there was no option to just replace the return leg. To rebook, I had to select both the flight to Cebu and the return flight to Manila. But because my flight to Cebu was just two days away, the flight costs were now very high. I decided that it would just be cheaper to book a new return flight (I could get one at about ~P3000) than to replace both legs because just the Manila to Cebu leg would cost me P5000 more than what I originally paid! I was later able to talk to someone from Cebu Pacific thanks to a friend who works there and I was told that I could have replaced my full flight without any additional cost. I said that it wasn't clearly indicated in the email notification that this was the set-up and I was afraid to cancel my original flight just a couple of days ahead of my trip. Thankfully, they converted my new purchase to a travel fund. Now I guess I just need to decide when I can travel again haha.

The other problem I had was that I couldn't check in online before my flight. I was worried that having two different flights, including one that had a cancelled leg, was causing problems. I decided to arrive at the airport 2 1/2 hours before my flight so that if there was a problem, I would have time to sort things out. Thankfully, there was no problem and my check-in was smooth. I'm guessing that because I got there very early, I was placed in an exit row. I was so happy that after my booking-related stress in the previous days, I had a lot more leg room to relax during my flight.

Extra leg room at the exit row during my flight to Cebu

This was my first trip since the pandemic started and also the first time I got on a plane in almost 3 years. I gotta say, it was strangely comfortable being at the airport.

My return flight was in the early evening on a Friday and since I checked out of Shangri-La Mactan at 3pm, I decided to go the airport about 2 1/2 hours earlier as well. (I wasn't sure how bad the traffic would be in Cebu during rush hour so I decided to arrive at the airport a lot earlier than needed.) Upon checking in, I requested to be seated at an exit row. Surprisingly, I was put in the front row of the plane. Wow!

Even more leg room at the front row of the plane on my flight back to Manila

A friend who saw some photos I shared said that she remembered the resort having more trees. Maybe Typhoon Odette brought down many of them. Another friend told me that she planned to visit Shang Mactan last February but it was still being renovated at that time. I'm guessing the resort must have just reopened to the public. I'm glad it was already operational by the time I went to Cebu.

I mentioned this in my previous post but once I checked in, I looked for a supermarket so I could buy supplies. Based on Google maps, there was supposed to be one about 500 meters away from the hotel. However, when I got to where it was supposed to be, I couldn't find it. I looked for the next nearest one and I saw that there was a Shopwise Express about a kilometer away. It was quite far but I started heading there anyway since it would be good exercise. Along the way, I spotted a 7-Eleven so I decided to shop there instead. I ended up going to that same 7-Eleven a couple of times during my trip.

The Promenade Mactan is practically across the street from Shangri Mactan. Each time I headed out the resort to buy supplies, I also passed by the Tom N Tom's at the Promenade to get coffee.

Breakfast at Tides restaurant

I also mentioned in my previous post that I bought wine from 32 Italian Deli and Kitchen which is also at the Promenade and that I got one with a screw cap bottle because I didn't have a corkscrew. I thought I would get to consume the whole bottle over my four nights at the resort but in the end I only drank about half of it. It wasn't expensive but I didn't want to throw it away. Because it had a screw cap, I decided to just take it home with me (I had some bubble wrap with me so I covered the bottle in bubble wrap) and placed it amidst my clothes to protect it from being broken.

Wine selection at 32 Italian Deli and Kitchen at the Promenade Mactan

I probably didn't drink as much wine as I thought I would because I drank a lot of decaf each night while reading my book. I brought some ground decaf with me as well as my plastic pour over dripper in the hopes that there would be an electric kettle in the room. And there was! I ended up enjoying decaf coffee each night I was there. Oh and if you're wondering why I drink decaf, it's because my doctor advised me a couple of years ago not to drink too much caffeine so I now have drink decaf in the evenings.

Shangri-La Mactan lobby at night

I initially thought about spending one day of my trip sightseeing and maybe enjoying local restaurants and doing a food trip. As it turned out, I didn't do that. I felt that it would cost too much for me to sightsee and eat out alone (if I was part of a group, we could all split taxi or Grab fares). Besides, I was having such a great time chilling at the resort and I wanted to maximize the limited time I had there.

Cultural show at Buko Bar

Since I didn't go out, I thought I thought of maybe buying pasalubong at the airport on my way home, specifically lechon and dried mangoes. I thought about getting lechon for my family but I knew that after 1 or 2 days, it wouldn't be as good anymore. Also, Rico's Lechon and Zubuchon are now available in Metro Manila so I had the option to buy lechon from those places instead. The dried mangoes at the airport also cost the same as dried mangoes at the supermarkets in Metro Manila. As such, I didn't buy any pasalubong from the airport anymore.

I'm really happy that things have gotten better pandemic-wise. While many other people have already been traveling quite a bit over the last couple of years, it's only recently that I considered going on a trip. I'm really happy that I did . As someone who loves traveling, this holiday at Shangri-La Mactan was exactly what I needed.