The Good Life

I joined my officemate (as her guest) in the gym today.
We went straight ahead to a gym in ABS CBN after office. Actually, it was my third time already to be there, as a guest. Seriously, I enjoy the workout, the facilities and amenities but I am not willing to shell out a hefty amount just to get physically fit.
Anyway, I was interviewed first by the receptionist and she tried persuading me to get a passport membership. I politely declined saying that I have to think about it first. Which I already have done a gazillion times.
After warming up and dong some mid-body workouts, we joined the body combat group exercise. It's like sparring with choreography. It was fun but sadly I had to stop after 15 minutes because my heart is pounding really fast.
Mind you, there were nearly-senior citizens in group exercise and they have lasted all through out the session. I was thinking, it might be they really have good stamina that n I have or they just want to show off or convince themselves that they can still do it.
Oh good luck with that! I don't know if they've got clearance from their physicians to do strenuous workouts. As for me, I don't want to push myself to the limit, I have mitral valve prolapse and i still want to live a little longer.
I just sat in the lounge and waited for my officemate to get done. I felt nauseous. Good thing soda is free flowing.
When she's done we just changed into casual clothes. Yeah, we did not hit the shower. I did not bring towel because I was thinking it will be provided for since the monthly gym fee is ceiling high. Well I was wrong. I just forgot that they were not really providing towels for the people there.
I was not able to talk my officemate into getting a body spa so I just went on alone. It was outside the gym.
The masseuse was very good although she did not talk much during the one hour session. She focused on my stress points especially on my back.
All the pain and some discomfort that I have been feeling since my last spa treatment in September last year just vanished.
It's really good to treat yourself once in a while and feel guiltless about it.

PhotoHunt - Emotion

Meet the poor man's Gollum.
Everyone who has seen him perform thought that he successfully channeled Gollum's emotions of greed, hatred and evilness in LOTR. He even volunteered to have his head shaved just to pullout Smigol's devious emotions for our play.
Are you feeling it yet?
He was full of emotions on stage and in photo ops.
Oh yeah, he had his 15 minutes of fame.

Being COOKiefied

Is it me or is it him?
There's a strangeness on the way DC delivered his lines on VH1's Best Week Ever. Unless it was intentional, I would say that he reminded me of Carson Kressley and again unless he's trying to channel him. I can completely say that he totally pulled it off!

I noticed something different the way he swayed his hips performing Shout to the Lord (the night before Idol Gives Back).
Confused.
Whatever.

A worthwhile hibernation

I was supposed to post this article prior to joining a meme after my week-long hiatus but I have to wait for all the pictures and videos to be shared in the office.Last week was our General Assembly (GA). It’s kind of big time and required presentation of the 7 programs in our department. It was a contest by the way. A huge contest with our group running on a tight budget.
Last year, our program came in second. I was not among the dancers then. Yey!
I don’t know if it was good or bad, but right after I joined our department’s song and dance group for the December 2007 company wide contest, my team leader kept on volunteering me to join any dance-ish activity.
First was the cheering squad. Okay, I stood them up there because I can’t bear the thought of wearing a short skirt in front of a huge crowd. I heart Bring it on and cheer dance competitions but I cannot pullout a Britney Allen or Claire Bennett.

Second and the latest was this magical dance presentation. Cheesy!
After a series of pep talks, I finally caved in with the condition that I won’t be showing my face while doing the majority of the dance stuff. I turned down the elven role and went for the dark knight instead. Suits my personality eh?
And beside that, I joined not because of my team leader, good thing she does not read this but because of my friend who headed the project.
Rehearsals were so disorganized which kinda ticked me off because I was trying to stay late in the office after my duty and skipped class just to be with the group.
The pressure rose even higher when the team leaders and program manager saw us rehearse and we could sense dissatisfaction. The pack was not in sync up to the dry run a few hours before the contest.
We did not get the chance to rehearse even the blocking as scheduled early morning on the contest day because the teams ahead of us went over the allocated time. And to make things worst, the other group ganged up on us not letting us in of our supposedly shared dressing room.
I kept my cool, I told the team to just let it go because blessed are those who are oppressed. Huhuhuhu.
We were the last to perform and based on what we saw in other groups’ performances, our theme, LOTR is at par if and only if we would move in harmony.

A few minutes before our performance, our point persons told me and the other dark knight who would come from the audience to exaggerate our movements and scare the judges. D’ oh! I was assigned on the side were my friends from the other programs were sitting.
So when I walked by awaiting my cue, they were yelling and calling my name, by the way, I was wearing all black, a bonnet and a black cloak. Maybe they just sensed that there’s a piece of black cloth floating.
I did not mind them because the moment that I made an affirmation that it was me, the more that I would become more conscious.
On the other tables we I am closer, the mean guys from the other program are mocking me making stupid comments. So before they got into my nerve, I decided to walk a few tables away from them.
And my cue came, I moved as if no one was watching. Making exaggerated movements and when I finally reached the judges’ table, I am pretty sure I scared the hell out of them.
Right after the performance, everyone in our program especially the team leaders congratulated us because we delivered. And they were surprised about the instant change in our mood on stage as if we were possessed. We moved in unison, almost.
Everyone, I knew, did their part. The stunts became real. Gollum really jumped into Frodo, I slashed the sword on Sam’s back and it was a mistake because I can’t see rapid movements in a bonnet under a hood. Thankfully it was not sharp.
I felt good even if Sam kicked me on my lumbar really hard. I had bruises and I felt sore for a couple of days. I slipped because I was not able to remove the cloak in the happy song.
I felt inspired by Gollum watching him on stage (while waiting for my cue). He really gave justice to the role and he nailed it down. He did not have qualms wearing boxers and body paints. He even had his head shaved for the role. No one asked him to do it. He was the only team member who had a perfect attendance in our rehearsals. In fact, he memorized all the members’ routines.
He earned to be the instant celebrity that night having countless photo ops with other attendees even from other programs.
Did I mention we won? Yeah we did, and this meant I had to be kicked by Sam again since we had to show the audience again our winning form.

Sorry for the lengthy blab.
I just wanna share.

All natural all the time

Whenever I am craving for protein bars (I rarely eat animal meat), I have to swing by a grocery store near our office. I need to energize my body. Well, we do have a canteen and a vending machine but all they sell are unhealthy and junk foods.

I am into munching natural healthy snack and having organic choices would be a heaven, not only in office settings but more importantly in schools. Yeah, it’s back to school and children are often tempted to sink their teeth into sweets or other junk foods. Parents and guardians though prepare snacks for their kids they are still unsure if their kids are free from snack-swapping sprees.

I would say that it is about time that school and office administration consider putting up natural vending machine or organic vending machine. There should always be quick bites of good nutrition and a handful of alternative snacks for people who are always on the go.
It just dawned on me, since our department has launched a wellness program dubbed as iCONLites, I think it would be great if they will also include new healthy vending program that will offer healthy choices and provide good nutrition for everyone.

Wordless

Hectic week and DC's playlist

I might not join any meme this week.
I am swamped with so many work this week but I just want to share this.
I am obsessed. So what?
I stumbled upon David Cook on Nightline and this is his playlist:
1. One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey (I'll give him that thinking of Boyz II Men and DC's rendition)
2. The Thunder Rolls - Garth Brooks (I like contemporary country. I still have to check on this one)
3. Close - Nine Inch Nails (this too I have to research)
4. Innocent - Our Lady Peace (One of my favorites. The message just hits me)
5. The World I know - Collective Soul (Watching him sing this makes me want to cry. Full of emotion)
And finally, he chooses Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. I love IH. They have a couple of songs in The OC soundtracks which I all have.
I really want to kiss the cook!

Ciao for now!