Abu Dhabi Week is a magazine distributed in several establishments in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (well, yeah, the name suggests so) every week. It is packed with valuable information about lifestyle, real estate, city’s latest news, and more. With its glossy physique and weekly feature, it is too generous to be available for all for free. One of reality’s drivers that the best things in life are indeed free. This week’s cover is extra interesting not because my favorite color is pink. The mosque backgrounder with pink is dedicated to the celebration of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Because it is still January, everyone seems serious to lose weight.

I was checking the photo archives from my phone and saw this one which I took last year. Always, after the New Year, I am very motivated to trim weight or at least eat healthily. But I know that it is just to psychologically compensate for all the pigging out that I did the preceding year. But come March, I would be making excuses again. And again. Until it is December already. I remember when we enrolled for a fitness program in a gym when I was still based in Makati, the consultants were saying that consistently there is an influx of enrollees during the first quarter of the year. The same way that there is a federation of ningas cogon gym-goers.

However, there is a tried and tested motivator for me. That is when I am taking part of a wedding. I remember I worked out to death in early part of 2008 for two weddings. Incidentally, I must eat healthily again to prep up for a very important occasion/celebration this year. A younger cousin (whom I have not seen for at least 8 years) is flying to the Philippines with his wife and parents to have a church wedding. Everyone back home is doing the necessary preps, except me. I need to catch up before the big day. Yes, I will be there for a week sometime in March for the wedding. Wow, another whirlwind trip for me.

Yes, the period has been discussed in a couple of Science subjects before that fated day. But apart from that, we never really talked about it at home. That time, the elders thought it’s either too early or too bold to tackle. That Tuesday was declared a local holiday because it was Jose Rizal’s birthday. I remembered well because the succeeding day was my assigned day to recite Panatang Makabayan as part of the regular flag ceremony (in some days I was randomly assigned to raise and/or fold the flag, etc.) It was too uncomfortable then because of the newest biological change that happened to me. I functioned like a robot . Whew, improper orientation is ridiculous.

The peak of my enlightenment happened when I participated in the Population Commission (PopCom) quiz bee. But years before that, I remember exchanging notes with selected classmates-pals about menstruation and related stuff:

(a) I was told not to bathe the entire duration of red days. Sooner, I didn’t. As much as I respect the elders, I explained to them that it’s so unhygienic and has no scientific basis. “We know better than you, we’ve been there, blah blah…”

(b) Classmate # 1 was told by her aunt to jump off the stairs so the period would be shorten from the ordinary seven to three days. The fool in me envied her. I thought it was not fair that no one told me to jump off the stairs.

(c) Classmate # 2 was obliged by her mother to wash her face by blood (first occurrence) to avoid getting pimples. I almost crazily believed because she really got very nice skin. But then I didn’t envy her because I thought that’s purely yucky. There’s a related myth: to wash your eyes by pee to cure the sore eyes. Double yuckyness.

(d) Classmate # 3 was told by her sister that once she had her period, she’ll get pregnant anytime if she’s kissed (even on the cheeks). And just when we were well-oriented by our Science teacher about the wonders of reproduction system, we thought her sister was oddly just trying to scare her. She’s just being too protective.  That’s the better way to look at it.

(e) That virginity would be lost by riding a bike. But we were intense bike riders especially during 6th grade.

(f) That the one who had her first period too early is the pinakamalandi in the batch. Lol. Lol. and Lol.

(g) And a lot of things = myths

Hence, I nodded and sighed as I read the results of the recent survey on BodyLife (really one word) IQ study. Of the 1,800 (women aged 12 to 24) respondents from six Asian countries, Filipinas were with the biggest information gap about body knowledge. The online survey covered questions on woman’s body, female biology, pregnancy, virginity and health.

“Young women from two countries with the lowest body-knowledge IQ scores—the Philippines and India—expressed the most satisfaction with the education they received, suggesting that lack of knowledge is self-perpetuating because ‘you don’t know what you don’t know,’” the paper said.

With the exception of respondents in Singapore, the other young women surveyed revealed that their top sources of female body-knowledge were their close friends, followed by their mothers and their older sisters.

You know how these myths are being passed from one generation to the other. But I didn’t expect it is still this worse as of today. Although these are sometimes discussed with younger ones in our family/among relatives, these are clearly explained to them why they are the so-called myths and why such misinformation survived. Proper orientation should really be given to young women. And well, I think awareness like love and charity should begin at home.

Only a few are aware that I reactivated my dormant Facebook account primarily to play Farm Town. Haha. Sure, it offers gazillion of applications so I took some, e.g. Twilight quiz declaring that I’m a Twilight nerd. So I recently took another one but I didn’t publish it because I hardly understood the message, or maybe I was in denial. Lol. In particular, I clicked on What God Wants You To Know out of curiosity. It says,

You are what you eat.

Food you eat becomes you, so take a good look at the food in front of you, – is this what you want to call yourSelf? What kind of food deserves to be called by your name?

Five days passed and I forgot about that message. Then, I plurked this morning about fresh orange juice (I normally take one before the work kicks off):

A few minutes after that plurk, I checked new feeds from my favorite blogs via Google Reader. This one from Zen Habits struck me:

3 Ways To Enhance Your Willpower:

*Anticipate and plan for your times of low self-control
*Exercise your willpower muscle to get more of it
*Drink some ORANGE JUICE. It turns out that glucose is one of the key ingredients that your brain needs for effective self-control. Willpower. It’s not just for breakfast anymore!

Call it coincidence. I sometimes do and do not believe in signs. But it’s really a matter of how you look into things. Moral of the story: drink orange juice, preferably fresh. Seriously, I know you’re getting my point, i.e. refer to the title (wink).

What does this mean?
(a) Drink orange juice everyday
(b) I am what I eat, so I should stop eating hog’s meat. Or else I’ll be figuratively or literally become a pig. Lol.
(c) Willpower rocks and nurture it
(d) I should re-plant orange trees in my farm (in Farm Town) because I sold them and instead retained the coconut, plum, cherries, lemon and mango trees.
(e) All of the above
(f) None of the above
(g) What else?

Have a great week ahead.

My Wii Fit age as of 27 of March 2009: 54 years old. Whaaaaaat?

I’m engaging myself to Wii Fit since Friday. I never thought this is much fun, insulting (because of the Wii age) and helpful. It’s like going to the gym. Try to read the screenshots. Sweet reminders.

Being fit is a never ending challenge. Especially in my case. I love to eat unhealthy food. But I honestly try to do my best to improve my eating habits, combat my huge love for chocolates in particular. I’ve tried going to the gym only in 2007. That time I knew my diet sabotage will not work just in time. So I had to enroll. I was trying to trim down for two weddings happening at the same month. Our team outing in Boracay was another reason. (Hey, friends! Anyone getting married? Feed me some motivation. Haha.)

(You can create and select your Mii/profile)

Going to the gym is fun. It makes you feel good, develop acquaintances and friendships and nurture self-discipline. My main issue though was the work schedule that time. Literally, we were working like 24/7 during busy (tax) season. To cut the long story, I achieved my desired frame before the wedding. Thanks to my trainer. She made me very determined. She used to reward me a small pack of M & M after an effective work out done each day. She noticed the sweet talks didn’t motivate me much, but tangible sweets did.

(Greetings from Wii Fit. Showering me the ‘gym feeling’)

When the motivation doesn’t come from within, mostly likely the fitness program will only work for a short run. I’m a perfect example. I would use occasions as delaying tactics. Also, I would always think I’m still young, anyway. I feel invincible. I used to take pride on being so functional despite the lack of sleep (without taking vitamins or coffee, but chocolates as picker-upper).

When I went overseas for work, that’s when my biological state became glaring. Since I’m getting more sleep since last year, my malpractices (i.e. lack of exercise, too much cholesterol, etc.) are starting to punish me. I’m now beginning to feel the trade offs. This should get me motivated. I’m beginning to be. And that scares me. It’s either I continue with my comfort zone or work hard to live longer. Aah. I remember those 20s looking yogamates at the gym. They already have grandchildren, but they seem to be glowing and getting younger. I admire their discipline.

During my first day with Wii Fit, I was required to provide specifics like weight, height, etc. aside from basic tests to assess my body mass index (BMI). Just like in the real gym, minus the push ups though.

Wohooo, I’m overweight! I’m not surprised. My appetite skyrocketed when I came here. The weather and homesickness have something to do with this. Haha. Excuses again. Partially true, maybe.

Most of the activities in Wii Fit would require you to use the balance board. During the first session, I was tasked to have the Center of Gravity test. Incidentally, I’m a big failure (again). No more excuses this time. Sometimes, we already know our flaws. But we always try to defer the improvement.

After selecting my Wii Fit trainer, I was asked to set a number of goals. Like aiming to get close to the ideal BMI of 22. As much as I want to share the screenshot of the goals I set, I chickened. Let’s just say that my ‘trainor’ and I would try to hit 0.4 kilos decrease in weight for every two weeks. The goals are adjustable though. This must be a realistic effort.

For almost a week now, at 4:30 AM I do meet my trainer. I would always start with aerobics. Doing steps to warm up, jogging (I’m always the last to finish!) and hulahoop for full sweating. I’m telling you, this is super fun. I just hope I would sustain the momentum. You know, ningas cogon.

I had screaming muscle pains on the first two days. Just the normal feeling after the real gym kick off. I remember I was complaining to my trainer in the Philippines during the first week and she would just laugh. With my Wii Fit trainer, I would instead get occasional encouraging remarks whenever I’d make improvements and challenging ones whenever I seem to be lacking the fire. From being a “yoga starter”, for some poses I now receive the “yoga trainer” assessment.

And yes, as per my latest Wii Age test I’m now 33. Getting closer to reality. Being healthy is a never ending challenge. Not just being physically fit, but being healthy in other aspects of life should always be a work in progress.

I hope you’re working on being healthy, too.

Bottlegreen drinks

Last week I’ve piqued on two flavors from Bottlegreen. While Cox’s Apple tasted like Cali’s Apple drink, the combination of elderflower and pomegranate as a drink came a little weird for me. Maybe it’s because I’m not oriented to floral flavors. Few days ago I got another two bottles of Cox’s Apple, while I almost never wanted to finish my pink drink. Until I read the article titled 11 Best Foods that You Are Not Eating Well.

Of these 11 best foods, only the folllowing are in my general consumption:
(a) Cabbage. Should be eaten like Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
(b) Dried plums. I’ve eaten one ages ago, ack!
(c) Pumpkin seeds, the most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium (yay!)
(d) Sardines, should be packed in olive or sardine oil.

Well, that’s 4 of 11. The rest include beets, swiss chard, cinnamon, pomegranate juice, turmeric, frozen blueberries and canned pumpkin (weird!). So, there’s no more reason for me to drop the bottle of pomegranate. That makes it 5 of 11.

I am writing this with no offense to the streetfood vendors and patronizers.  Occasional eating of squidballs sold in Ayala Ave. is actually one of my simple pleasures.  The last time I craved about it was last month that I took this photo:

Fronting People Support Building, Ayala Ave.I cooked some at home but it is not at par with those in Ayala’s despite that I matched it with the yummy ready sweet and spicy sauce/s from SM Supermarket.  What’s the secret?  The dust in the street? Hehe. 

I also wanted to try these big guavas but I only eat those which are freshly picked in Laguna:

And this tempting shawarma at the stall near LRT Station.  But no thanks!  I think I’m safe with the one from SM Megamall.

Rarely I also eat “tokneneng” (coated quail eggs) at Balut Eggspress in Ayala MRT Station or in Robinson’s Pioneer.  Lately, I have tried these also from Dr. Kwek Kwek Eggspecialist in Mall of Asia (MOA):

And here’s the heart of this post:  are you fond of eating fried squid/calamares selling for PhP2.50 or less per piece in the streets?  This explains why the vendors can leverage on its cheap pricing which is way different from Tokyo Tokyo’s Nakamura meals and prices by Squidster in Mall of Asia:

Squidster, Mall of Asia.  Haven’t tried these.

For those who didn’t catch the November 17 airing of Imbestigador, they did an expose about the source of these frozen squid being used by the streetfood vendors in coming up with their marketable calamares.  

Calamares sold at Ayala Ave. 

These are imported from Korea, Spain and China by (some authority that we do not know) and are warehoused in VIFEL-2 in Navotas, which is temporarily closed as of the moment.  According to the warehouse personnel, there are several companies who are patronizing these produce/stocks.  Per Fisheries Administrative Order Number 195 , Section 2, retail selling of these is prohibited in the Philippines.

It is not being maarte.  But let us al be cautious.  And it is not all about making a living.  But be a fair entrepreneur – whether you’re a street vendor or not.  How sure are we that some of the establishments are not sourcing from these featured frozen squid?

These imported frozen squid are selling at PhP60/kilo, while squid locally grown in the Philippines are at PhP250/kilo.  A street vendor claimed on national television that they profit at PhP2,500/day on the average.  And the horror of this:  the frozen squid bears Yeast and Mould count of 2,500.  Isn’t that eeeeeew?

I  missed going to the mall.  After the mall mayhem on October 19, it was only yesterday that I resumed my interest and found courage to go inside a mall, which also has a possible poopoo saturation level issue that would be blasting sooner or later.  Well, I’m not singling out any establishment, not being a pessimist also, but it is human to feel extracautious after an untoward incident.

After a visit to a client based in Ortigas, I went to SM Megamall to do my last minute shopping in the spirit of Halloween/ All Soul’s Day which traditionally I observed in Laguna.  I bought a combination of stylish and simple candles, spooky toys, pumpkin jar containing pumpkin marshmallows and other candies, etc.  These are distributed/shared to my younger nephews and nieces while at the cemetery.  This is one of the few occasions that give families and relatives a chance to spend candid time with each other.  At the cemetery, I got to see long lost dear ones also – former elementary and highschool friends, and many others.

After the tiring long queue at the cashier I wanted some quietness and decided to dine in Sugarnot.  I found the perfect time to try the low-fat, low-carb, sugar-free food that Eli Beltran (the owner) offers.  

Pumpkin soup, PhP78.

Well, nothing so unusual with the taste.  It was pretty like pumpkin (laughs)!  I like the top.  Surprisingly, this is the only spooky food they prepared.

Pasta arrabbiata, PhP158.They say that this is sundried, mixed with tomato and spicy red sauce.  I rarely appreciate pasta.  But, I am pleased this time.  This really tastes good!  I think the bread was not a garlic one.  It brings no after-taste, so I wonder what they put here.  It is like they made a difference by matching the pasta with a non-garlic on the side.

Ultimate temptation, PhP158.  One of the newest flavors.This is a belgian chocolate cake with truffle filling and drizzled with caramel and white choco frosting.  There is plenty of cake flavors to choose from.  I learned from the reviews that their Tiramisu is very good but I was intrigued by the cake’s name, “Utimate Temptation” because there is also one named “Last Temptation”.  Hence, the choice. 

Good choice.  Loved this till the last bite!

Branches:
*Westgate Alabang
*5F SM Megamall
*5F The Podium
*Labaire Building, Makati
*3F The Block, SM North

For franchise, call them at +63 2 8893427.  Email at info@sugarnot.com.ph.  Website:  www.sugarnot.com.ph