hope to grow old gracefully too!

46th wedding anniversary! looking great my folks....

well, christmas has come and it's still christmas in Hawaii but now gone for most of the world! im so greatful for many things especially so because my first sem back to school was a good start (got A's! final grades were posted just 3 days ago..a great christmas gift)...but, also because i finished my shopping list just in the nick of time, the day before christmas!

it's official...2009 honolulu marathon is over...as usual, a great feeling to finish another one (12th and counting).not sure what made the difference this time around though...perhaps it was the phiten discs i used on my legs, or the 2 salt tablets consumed during the race, or maybe the near perfect weather conditions, or even all of the above, but i felt unexpectedly strong throughout the entire 5 hours, 23 minutes, 50-something seconds of torture. physically it's no doubt brutal but the awesome feeling of great pride that emerges from mile 25 lingers on far more so than the temporary pain during most of the 26.2 miles of pounding.

with the fall semester behind me (took my finals today!) and the honolulu marathon THIS sunday, it's mixed emotions to say the least. relieved that school is pau for now, but then the biggest run of my life is fast approaching. My before-sunrise-cool-mauka-weather run started off the day just right....and felt ready for the big one on sunday....i hope.

it's beginning to look alot like Christmas! I got into the spirit today by putting up christmas lights around the yard and the front door, even decorating one plant with lights.....this is quite early for me actually...most years i wait til after doing the marathon which is the 2nd sunday in december...i am even planning to pick up a christmas tree this weekend! i guess my neighbors have alot to do with this...many of them have elaborate lights to show off and i guess i was inspired or just simply jealous...the hardest part was digging them lights out of storage under the stairway.....mele kalikimaka.....

a nice pre-thanksgiving, pre-x-mas, and dad's belated birthday dinner with family, and to celebrate suburbanrambler's hawaii visit earlier this month. He took us to Kahala Hilton's Plumeria Restaurant. Great food and company!

blogging from my new acer notebook given to me by suburbanrambler who is in town to learn scuba diving and what better place than in these islands, right? im glad he's here and my hands-me-down notebook which will help me tremendously with school work....thanks, brother for a nice gift (you dont need to give me anything for x-mas)...

you know it's time to retire from running long-distance races when you dread going to those events.....that's how i felt getting ready for yesterday's 30k run at Kapiolani. Though i finished (in 3:42 and still feeling ok the morning after)...i think the fun aspect of racing was missing and was replaced by fear. I dont know how those elite runners keep a big smile while running at the same fast pace...seriously...how? i'll stick to recreational jogging...

for the first time in years i will be skipping a chance to explore a new country (or city) on my vacation next week....i will be home bound....writing 2 papers and reviewing for 2 midterms....and i dont feel bad a bit; well, maybe a little...i considered going to Ikea then Anthropologie just for the day, but then there will be another chance for that after finals...

if i didnt have school this year you'd find me somewhere in South America...but for now, the home needs some special attention too.

Just feeling anxious about the 15-miler race tomorrow in Kailua--only my second time here and i remember clearly that in the 9th mile there's a huge hill to conquer inside the marine base and i just know that i'm gonna have nightmares about it tonight. Because of school my running has taken a back seat in the last month. I was hoping tomorrow's run will put me back on track before the marathon in December. I'm actually liking school so far. Probably even more so now than when i first attended in the early 90s (wow, sounds like ages ago). Just took my very first exam in Anthropology class yesterday and I aced it! God is good.

what if

is it just me or dont we all have that moment in time at least once in our lives when we examine ourselves and wonder "what if?" That moment came to me a year ago, more or less, when the thought of going back to college sounded pretty inviting. I guess i had forgotten how grueling writing term papers and final exams can be....after all, it's been almost 15 years since i was a very young, timid, and carefree college student.

turning that thought into action. i enrolled at a community college and registered for 2 classes (although, i might drop one because of time conflict w/ work--bummer!) Eventually, depending how well i do, i plan on leaving my job at the Advertiser to become full-time.

it's a long road ahead, i know, but taking the first step is just as important as the last...i.e: finishing a marathon.

so, Rol, if you want to donate your old laptop...im just saying....

So my father and I returned from our short and speedy Italian vacation a few weeks ago. It was fun exploring new places with my dad. He did not mind at all that we just walked and walked all over the place (once in a while we would ride the subway too of course) ...he didnt complain about the last minute change of route in which we took to get to Rome in the first place. To say that the life of a standbly traveler is unpredictable is an understatement. The original plan to fly to the west coast then to DC and then fly to Rome was immediately crushed when i learned that no standby employees were getting on any flights to the US mainland that weekend. All of a sudden, United flights were packed and overbooked. Canceling my vacation was not an option, however, so i decided to take the advice of my dear co-workers and take the opposite direction to get to DC....via Japan! Taking the scenic route proved to be a success because we did arrive in Rome at the expected time.

Rome was nice, but i fell in love with Florence right off the bat! It was hard not to. The last time i fell in love with a city like that was a visit to Luzern in Switzerland and Bath in England a few years back. Very charming, i just loved the architecture of the old buildings.

Venice was also a sight not to be missed. Rain came down pretty hard that day, and i still have the umbrella i bought in Venice as a souvenir because of it.

My dad was a good sport....He waited with me for more than an hour to get into one of the museums in Florence after a long day of walking everywhere!

The best part was knowing that our return flight home from LAX had nearly 60 open seats; and no matter how beautiful the places i've been to, coming home, to me, is far more satisfying....

Ciao

Heading to Rome, Italy in a few weeks...So far, i've yet to book a hotel online; i usually do so about a week before i go......i know it's going to be a different trip this time because coming with me is my father who's 72. I've always wanted to bring him somewhere besides Las Vegas that old folks here in Hawaii care to do alot..so finally he gave in ( i added we might stop by las vegas on the way home---not!).

I'm just browsing thru an old Italy book that my brother gave me from his past trip to that country and it's making me all excited. Given the strong euro currency against the dollar, i think 4 days in Rome is just about right to explore the city and its surrounding towns, if time permits..

Hopefully, may this trip inspire my dad to explore and see a few more places in the near future while he still can....and i'd love to play the tour guide!

Ciao!

One of the main reasons for my SFO overnite trips was get my Target shopping fix.

Well, that's not necessary anymore since the two Target stores in HI finally opened today to everyone's delight. It was supposed to be a silent opening and it was anything but.....

So instead of taking a plane, now i can take my volvo!

By lunch time and after my morning run, of course, mom, dad, and i drove to Kapolei to see for ourselves and experience one of the biggest thrills we've had here in a long time...yes, Target is Big here!

Driving to Kapolei felt like driving to Gilroy from Sfo.....too far, eventhough it probably took me only 20 minutes to get there! I guess i should have gone to the Salt Lake location, which was closer i think, but the drive to the country side sounded more pleasant.

Oh it wasnt so country out there anymore...in a way, it really did look kind of like Gilroy or other shopping places i've been to in the mainland with those huge parking lots, but only better...

Despite all of the excitement i was trying to control the urge to splurge....oh Target didnt dissapoint for sure and even though i walked away only with 2 cans of Spam (yes, they were on sale for a $1.50 each--ha, ha), shower curtain hooks shabby chick collection, and a deodorant, i know i can always come back since Target is here to stay!

Now, if only Ikea was to open here....i guess those overnite trips to Sfo is far from over!

my birthday started just the way i wanted it to: off from work! after my usual morning quiet time with 2 cups of strong coffee, i headed out to the gym for my regular excercise routine---- running....oh what a difference it felt...like i was ready to face anything that comes my way after that cardio!

mom prepared her pancit in the meantime and dropped it off later on for my lunch.how sweet!

another year has gone zooming by and there's still a few things i'd like to do before turning 40 in 2 years.....simple ones such as running a marathon out of state, or even better running it outside the country!

i'm sad that i'm actually missing today's 2nd biggest run in the state:the great aloha run! the last 'aloha run' i ran was in 2000 before getting hired at the Honolulu Advertiser...since then i've worked every single president's day thus missing this yearly run which is held on president's day and is a favorite among locals because of the manageable distance between aloha tower and the aloha stadium (total 8.15 miles). i thought about calling in sick, believe me! but then, i thought i can always run after work, at the gym,...of course it's not the same...