北京欢迎你

August is just around the corner and it's going to be an exciting month! Aside from it being my birth month, it's the Beijing Olympics month!!



8 days from now on 08.08.08 at exactly 08:08:08 pm, the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony will begin. I'm 100% sure it's going to be one spectacular event!! On that day and at that time, I will be here in Manila watching Cinderella at the CCP. I'll just ask one of my friends to record the opening ceremonies so I could watch it after.

I've stopped hoping for a miracle that I will be in Beijing for the Olympics and besides, I wouldn't want my Cinderella tickets to go to waste. =P

Anyway, my sister called me today and told me to listen to the Beijing Olympics theme song in youtube. She said that it was a beautiful song and that I would like it. I did like it! It's a Chinese song (obviously!) entitled "Beijing Welcomes You" (北京欢迎你) featuring various Chinese artists, most of which I don't recognize. The song is quite long (over 6 mins) but it carries a beautiful melody and a nice message. The song was also performed during the 100 days countdown event in China.

These are exciting times for Beijing. Wouldn't you want to be there during the Olympics?

Alternative Fuels, anyone?

With the price of fuel consistently rising, more and more people are looking for ways to either cut fuel consumption or go for alternative fuels.

To cut fuel consumption, we would have to stop using our vehicles or at least minimize using them which for some of us is not really acceptable. Carpooling is also one option in cutting fuel consumption but how many of us have colleagues that live in the same place as us? Another way of cutting fuel consumption is to live close to where we work so that instead of driving to work, we'll just walk. However, this would only work if we're renting because it's not easy to just sell our house and find a new one close to our workplace. And what if we find a new job in a different location? There's also the option of changing your gas or diesel powered vehicle to a hybrid one but we all know that hybrid vehicles are expensive and I don't know if they are already available here in the Philippines (probably not).

So, finding alternative fuels that are cheaper is probably the most sensible way to combat the rising fuel prices. But what are the available alternative fuels in the Philippines?
One available option is to convert our vehicles to run on LPG since it is cheaper than gasoline or diesel and according to reports is environmentally friendly. The conversion cost is around P70,000 for gas-powered vehicles. I'm not sure if diesel-powered vehicles can be converted. One UK site says it can but that it is more costly. Of course, there are pros and cons in using LPG. But from what I've been reading, there are more advantages than disadvantages. Developed countries like the UK, US and Japan are adapting LPG-powered vehicles. I remember when I was in Japan in 2000, the cabs there were already running on LPG. Anyway, one major concern here in the Philippines about using LPG is the supposedly adverse effect on health. If that is untrue, then converting to LPG is a good option (after shelling out the P70,000 conversion cost and giving up your trunk space).

But if you don't have P70,000 or do not want to have an LPG tank in your vehicle or is convinced that installing LPG in your vehicle will have a bad effect on your health, the option is to use ethanol-blended gasoline on your vehicle. Currently, some oil companies already offer what they call E10 gasolines (90% gas & 10% bioethanol). They are normally P2/liter cheaper than the regular gasolines. According to reports, there should be no need for any conversion and should have no difference from regular gasolines in terms of vehicle performance and is also good for the environment. But I've heard different opinions about E10. Some say that it's only for newer vehicles and some say that as long as a vehicle has an EFI engine then it's safe to use E10. I personally am not sure what to believe but I found an AU site that can help determine which vehicles can use E10. I think this is the easiest option for most car owners since there's no tweaking needed and can be done at once. Unfortunately, this is not for all and gas stations offering E10 are not widely available yet. Most importantly, the P2/liter price difference may not be enough as compared to the huge difference one can save when using LPG or other cheaper alternative fuels.

And then there's taking Bioethanol to the next level. It's the same fuel used in E10 but instead of only 10% bioethanol & 90% gas, this time it's 85% bioethanol & 15% gas.They call it E85. Saw this in the news today. This is already available in Manila. However, there's a device that needs to be put in the engine first before E85 can be used by a vehicle as a fuel. And the device costs around P25,000. It's relatively cheaper than converting to an LPG and the fuel price is almost the same. You don't have to sacrifice trunk space and it's also environmentally friendly.

At the end of the day, it's up to us to decide which of the options available will work for us. As for me, I think I'm leaning more into the E85 for now.

The Dark Knight @ IMAX Incident!!

Tet and I watched "The Dark Knight" last Sunday at the IMAX theater in SM MOA. I know it's already late to be talking about this movie as a lot of people have already watched this and all of them are raving about this movie. Read somewhere that this movie might be the one to break the Titanic record of being the highest grossing movie of all time!

Anyway, what I want to share is what we witnessed inside the IMAX theater that really pissed us off. No, there was no technical problem. Everything was perfect! It's just that there was one couple who didn't even bother to stand up while the Philippine National Anthem was being played. How disrespectful!! They remain seated during the entire duration of the song while everyone (including some foreigners) was on their feet. I wanted to take pictures of them so that I could post it here but it was dark inside.

So to the two of you (whoever you are), SHAME ON YOU!

Pain, pain, go away!

I hurt my left knee from the last Mizuno run and I haven't had the time to go see a doctor yet. My work has been keeping me from going to the doctor but I hope to go to one before I run again. It's been over 3 weeks since the Mizuno run and I sometimes still feel pain on my knee.

I'm disappointed that I'll be passing up the TNF 100 (10K) and Robinson's Supermarket 5K buddy run. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to participate in the Milo Marathon (10K) on Aug 3 but I'm more likely to sit this one out as well. =( But what I'm really excited about is the MH Miracle run (10K) on Aug 17. That one I will not miss! I'll make sure that I will be ready for that run.

By the way, does anyone know of a good Ortho/Rehab doctor? Please recommend!

Government Projects.. Did you know?

All government projects are plagued with controversies. But that doesn't mean they have to stop those projects. I hope they don't. But I also hope that they don't waste too much money because of corruption. Corruption is a fact of life, especially here in the Philippines. I don't think they'll change overnight but I hope they do in the near future. I've mentioned the word "hope" several times because in reality, the only thing we can do is to HOPE.. and PRAY! (hope and pray that they don't get too greedy and that they'll eventually change)

Anyway, this blog is about some of our government's infrastructure projects and others. I've been curious about them ever since I heard them on the news and read them on the internet.

Did you know? (you probably do)

..that the NAIA Terminal 3 is finally open after 6 years of being put on hold..
..that the Clark-Tarlac part of SCTEx is going to open on July 25, 2008..
..that the LRTA has a lot of projects going on..
..that the Northrail project might still push through despite the controversies..
..that there are other projects that I do not know of.. hehe..

Well, I hope all of these projects finish and hopefully be beneficial for the Filipino people in the long run.

Rush to Infinity run - the Aftermath

This is Mizuno run Part 2! Like the first Mizuno run, this was another memorable run. Let me tell you why..

1. This was my first 15K run and the weather that day was perfect for running.
2. I woke up late (because I couldn't sleep the night before) but managed to arrive several minutes before the 15K was to start. Good thing they did not start on time, otherwise I would've been late... again!
3. I was flagged down by the Bonifacio Security for beating the red light. In my defense, I was in a hurry because I thought I was already late for the 15K. I apologized to the Security and told him that I was late for the run. He then asked for my license and gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was to do what I did. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying because I was busy hoping that the run hasn't started. =) Good for me, He let me go with a warning.
4. Water and Rush Fitness water were overflowing this time. There was no shortage at all! Good job! I heard some say that there were few water stations but I think it was just right.
5. I started with a good pace but upon reaching the first 5KM, I started to feel pain on my left knee and left foot. It was the same pain I felt during the MH ATR. I still tried to run but eventually slowed down to a jog. And when the pain became unbearable, I was forced to walk. But even when walking, each step was still painful. I would psyche myself that it was all in the mind and there was really no pain. I kept repeating "no pain, no pain" in my mind. I tried to run again several times and was able to do so for a few minutes but only to end up walking even more. I was so frustrated! I was not tired and I wanted to run but my feet/legs won't let me. =( Add to that the frustration of seeing other runners running passed me.
6. When I crossed the finish line, I tried to look for my finish time and from what I can remember, it was around 1:42:36. But when the official results came out, my time was 2:11:08. Quite a number of runners had that same official time which was odd. If you haven't heard, there's this "technical error" encountered by the race organizers so the finish times were not accurate. Anyway, I'm just happy and thankful that I was able to finish.

Overall, I would say that it was a good run. There are lots of things that could still be improved by the organizers but they still did a good job. It could only get better. The next Mizuno run will be better. =)

I'm still disappointed with myself for taking more walks than running. My feet/legs still hurt but I hope it's nothing serious. A colleague who also ran had a bad knee injury. If I'm not mistaken, I think the doctor told him that he tore his ligament and that he could no longer run until he has surgery. Ouch! I will have my knee checked as well before I participate in another race. I really really hope it's nothing serious. I do not want to give up running.