My New Fitbit Achievements

I've been walking a whole lot more this year and with my Fitbit measuring my activities, I actually get to see how much work I'm putting in. Earlier this month, I achieved what was then my best week. For the first time since I got my Fitbit almost a year ago, I exceeded all my daily targets for steps (10,000),

distance (8.1 kilometers),

and calories (2,700).

I also hit my weekly target of 150 zone minutes, which is the total number of minutes of moderate activity.

I ended up walking a total distance of 66.56 kilometers over 7 days, or an average of 9.5 kilometers a day. At that point, I achieved personal records in steps (96,099) and distance (66.56 km) in a single week (since I started using my Fitbit, of course). Wow!

As if that wasn't enough, I practically matched that achievement the following week. While I missed my daily target on March 22, the total steps I took (97,066),

the distance I covered (67.21 km),

and the calories I burned (21,309) that entire week actually eclipsed my totals in the previous week.

In fact, my total steps and distance became my new personal records, besting my achievements the previous week. Awesome!

To top it all off, from March 9 to 21, I covered a total distance of 132.01 kilometers. That means that in those 13 days, I averaged more than 10 kilometers per day. That is the best 13-day stretch I've had so far!

While the only exercise I'm doing is walking, I am covering pretty good distances and I'm definitely not living a sedentary lifestyle. While I do want to start exercising more properly again, I'm just happy that my Fitbit is encouraging me to walk more and be more active again.

Rest in Peace, Maricel

My dear cousin Maricel passed away.

She's not that much older than I am but unfortunately, she got sick. While there were moments that gave our family hope that she would pull through, she eventually succumbed to her illness. I was able to visit her at the hospital shortly before she passed on and I am grateful that I still got to talk to her. On that visit, I brought her and her family a box of Bake cheese tarts, hoping she would be able to eat a bit of it. Thankfully, she did and her mom and her sister both told me that she really enjoyed it.

Any death in the family is difficult but what made this loss somewhat easier for everyone was seeing how strong Maricel's faith was. She understood that this cross that she had to bear was God's will and she embraced it fully. Even amidst all her trials, her faith never wavered. Even her doctors were moved and inspired by her steadfastness.

It was a bright, sunny day when we laid her to rest. While the weather didn't really match how we all felt, maybe it was God's way of telling us everything was going to be okay. Rest in peace, Maricel! We love you and we miss you.

March Hodgepodge

I got to try the Afternoon Tea Set at the lobby of the Peninsula Manila. My mom and I were in Makati one Sunday afternoon and we were hungry so I thought it would be nice to go to the Manila Pen lobby, which in my opinion is the best hotel lobby I've visited so far.

Manila Peninsula Lobby

We got there mid-afternoon and as it turned out, the hotel parking was full (I needed to have the valet park my car) and when we got to the lobby, it was packed. My mom and I were placed  in the waiting list but as it turned out, we didn't have to wait too long because a table became available for us quite quickly. The afternoon tea set came with a choice of coffee or tea - both my mom and I got coffee - as well as a 3-tier cake stand filled loaded with many different pastries and savory appetizers. Each item comes in a pair because this tea set is meant to be shared by two people but I do think that it can actually be shared by three people, considering the volume of food. I've always wanted to try the Manila Pen afternoon tea set so I'm happy that now I have.

Afternoon Tea Set at the Manila Pen

I also got to plant another tree through GCash! This time around, I planted Bakhaw Babae at the Tanon Strait. It's worth 19,108 G Energy so it took a while for me to earn enough to plant it so I'm really pleased that I finally did.

A Bakhaw Babae tree was planted in my name!

On a recent visit to S&R, I purchased a few tubs of ice cream. As I paid for my groceries, the cashier told me that I qualified to get a couple of ice cream bags for free (I figured this was because my ice cream purchase reached a certain amount). It's strange to think that something like this would actually make me happy but it does. I often bring ice cream to my family and having these bags keeps them from melting (or at least melting too quickly). I've used these bags quite frequently since I got them.

Free ice cream bag from S&R

And since we're talking about sweets, I also purchased some Valentine's Day donuts from Krispy Kreme last month. I especially enjoyed the chocolate-coated heart-shaped donut with a rose and caramel drizzle. In fact, I bought one again for myself on a subsequent visit to Krispy Kreme.

Valentine's day donuts from Krispy Kreme

I also forgot to write about this in my previous post about get-togethers but I attended the first birthday of the son of my cousin. The celebration was held at Alex III in San Juan and it was great seeing Guilly in person for the first time. The food was really good but the company was even better.

Guilly's first birthday celebration

Finally, I got to renew my passport. It expired during the pandemic but now that things are getting back to normal and international travel seems to be a bit easier again, what with less Covid-related requirements, I decided it was time to renew my passport. Now that I have it, I need to start planning trips abroad again.

Half Saints

I discovered Half Saints when I was looking for restaurants in the Tomas Morato area that I hadn't tried before. I checked out their social media accounts and I thought that their menu looked really interesting. When I found myself with some free time one late Saturday afternoon, I decided to have an early dinner here. For my main meal, I ordered the Gravlax and Schmear, which is house-cured salmon in salt and dill, spiced cream cheese, red onion pickled in mirin, dill, lemon, olive oil, and black pepper. It is served on their housemade pain au lait (milk bread). You can add poached eggs to this dish (I did) and it was pretty good.

Gravlax and Schmear with poached eggs

Since it was my first time here, I had to order something else. There were a lot of dessert options but I ended up choosing something that wasn't exactly a dessert: the Flower Tartlet Trio. It includes a Calamansi and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tartlet, a 64% Dark Chocolate Tartlet with Himalayan Pink Salt, and a Queso de Bola and Paprika Lava Tartlet. While I absolutely enjoyed all of them, I think my favorite was the cheese one. I would absolutely love to have it again!

Flower Tartlet Trio

The place is small and cozy, which means there is limited seating. When I arrived, I was asked if I had a reservation and I didn't. Thankfully, there were a couple of empty tables in the bakery area. The food, and especially the desserts, are not cheap but I thought the quality was excellent and everything I had was delicious. I definitely plan to visit this place again.

Half Saints
halfsaints.com
62 Sgt. Esguerra Ave, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila

Tamang Hinala by Rumors

A very long time ago, I heard a song on the radio while driving that I really liked. Unfortunately, the title of the song wasn't shared. I took note of the some of the lyrics I heard, specifically the ones that I figured could uniquely identify this song: "Bigla na lang nagdadabog" and "Naiinis sabay alis". I searched these lyrics online after but I couldn't find the title of the song. The only hits I got back then were pages or sites where people were asking for the title of the song with the same lyrics hahaha. Apparently, other people heard the same song, remembered the same lyrics, and tried searching them online to no avail.

For the some reason, I kept those lyrics and I searched every now and then to see if I could get the song title. For a long while, my efforts were futile. That is, until I got a link to the song Tamang Hinala by a band called Rumors. I clicked on it to see if it was the song I was looking for and indeed, it was! Hallelujah!

Check out the song here:

video uploaded in YouTube by Rumors MusicOfficial

As soon as I found it, I added it to my liked videos on YouTube. Since then, I would play it every now and then. I'm not particularly sure why I like this song, but I really do. What do you think?