my very healthy weekend get-away

hm. before this weekend, when was the last time i spent 2 hours in the gym, pigged out, drank a Grande Cafe Moccha, slept for about 3 hours, woke up early to head for Baywalk to exercise, then hit the gym for an hour of cardio and thirty minutes of stretching?

uh...never??

and just when i thought my bday celebration was over, tet and mike "surprised" me by treating me out last weekend. well, technically, it was mike's treat and tet accompanied me. but since they're a couple, let's just make the whole deal conjugal. hehe.

our very action-packed weekend began at a very quiet and busy internet cafe in Megamall (how exciting!), where i finished all the things i needed to do (like reply to e-mails, download photos, and check out my Flickr site) while tet chatted with mike and rica, her brother's girlfriend. when i was finished with my deliverables, i joined the conference. we had a fun time, mostly ganging up on mike and teasing the couple til they blushed (ah, the power of the webcam.) soon, our hour was up.

then the real action began.

Shake, Belly Belly Dancer

tet and i stuck to our plan of having a healthy weekend and jumpstarted it with a trip to Slimmers Megamall. after 30 minutes of sweating it out on the transport, we attended the 6:30 belly dancing class. i've never been to one (although i watched the class for a few minutes before.) as the regular attendees, in their sparkly gold belts and midriff tops, lined up in front, tet and i waited in anticipation for the class to begin.

the warm-up was pretty simple. we followed our svelte instructor as she demonstrated the hip and arm movements. hm, looks like we won't be breaking a sweat.

after the first water break, i was getting more comfortable with the dance, which involved mostly waist, hips, and leg action. but before i was about to scream, "Eat your heart out, Shakira!" our instructor quickened the pace and added more moves. ah, so much for my bubble of confidence. Shakira makes it look so easy, i swear.

by the time we were done, i was so thirsty i practically brisk-walked to the drinking fountain.

Me-Kenny!

as we were walking towards Mega Strip, we spotted Christian Bautista signing autographs on stage. i laughed and took a mental note to make gelli envious that i saw him in person before she did (she's a big Christian fan.) of course, i took a couple of photos just to make her feel worse. haha!

that night, San Miguel had an event (Oktoberfest). there were so many people and all the food spots along Mega Strip were packed. my request was Piadina and i was already dreaming about their Pasta Ariabiatta when i realized that the restaurant wasn't there anymore. bummer.

after checking out other places, tet and i ended up at Kenny Rogers. well, i haven't eaten there in a while so i didn't really mind.

our orders? Solo A meals each plus a Veggie Salad.

yum!

the greens in the salad were crunchy and fresh and i also loved their Italian dressing. too bad the dressing wasn't enough for the salad, though.

the chicken was yummy as always, although we noticed that the corn muffins are smaller than usual. never thought KR would join the cost-cutting bandwagon but looks like they did. we also tried the new side dish - cheesy garlic potatoes. it was delicious! made me forget about those muffins for a while. :D

i'm ready to dig in!

ang takaw!

while we were eating, mike called tet just to check on us. i think he was worried that i wasn't cool about eating in KR. what, me? i can eat anywhere! hehe.

look like our resto of choice is still way under the budget. so tet made up for it with coffee after dinner. :)

Caffeine Overload

Starbucks was packed but we were lucky that a group left a few minutes after we arrived. tet ordered Grande Cafe Mocchas. i actually requested for the smallest size but, seeing as the price difference isn't that significant, tet decided on an upgrade.

i used to drink a lot of coffee back in my IT days but now i rarely do because i don't really need that extra jolt. with my toddler students, i think i need something to relax me! maybe i should drink tea more often...

so should it really come as a surprise that i'd be wide awake after downing this much coffee??

looks like somebody had too much caffeine :D

anyways, it took a while for us to finish our drink so we obviously had a lot of time in our hands. we talked about life, friends, showbiz, family...everything under the sun, really. oh ,and i got to test the burst mode of my camera, too. it's a good thing i brought my mini tripod with me!


we're lucky silly people aren't banned from Starbucks!

Let's Get Physical

just as i expected. i could hardly sleep a wink that night! my body was so tired yet my mind was working in overdrive. not my idea of a good night's rest, especially since we were scheduled to wake up at 6 for our Baywalk escapade.

it was pretty frustrating that i woke up a few minutes before my cellphone alarm came off. what do baristas put in their coffee anyways??

anyways, by the time tet and i got to Baywalk, i was wide awake and raring to go. we began our day with a doze of good ol' healthy taho. yum! when we were finished eating, we started brisk walking the whole stretch of Baywalk. i realized then that it was my first time to be in Roxas Boulevard early morning. i was used to seeing the sunset, the lights, and sounds from the live bands along the bay. mornings at Baywalk was relaxing and invigorating at the same time. i felt the cool breeze during our walk and decided to ignore the mild stench that came from the breakwater (well, at least i can say it's a treat to the senses - touch and smell.) the site wasn't as colorful during the day as it was at night but there were a lot of colorful characters who enjoyed an early morning stroll along the bay. couples (who were probably there since the night before), parents with their kids, friends, old friends, and even pets filled up Baywalk.

once tet and i reached the other end of the bay, we chanced upon several aero classes going on. the first one ended the minute we got there but we were able to join the other group a few paces away. although we were there the last 20 minutes of the class, we still got a workout as the instructor added kickboxing moves to his very interesting aero repertoire. i say interesting because majority of the moves consisted of gyrating your waist and hips like a burlesk dancer. well, at least we were being consistent, considering we attended a belly dancing class the night before. guess our tummies and hips really needed more exercise. :D

after the work-out, we headed towards the port. yachts and ships (mostly for Corregidor tours) lined the part of this strip. i got a pleasant surprise when i saw the rows of restaurants (Pancake House, Dencio's among others) and, lo and behold, Starbucks! they're everywhere, i tell you!

trip to Corregidor, anyone?

after taking a few shots in front of the Corregidor tour ships, i had a fantastic idea. i turned to tet and told her to jump. not into the water, friends, but along the port for an action picture. :D

hurrah for Starbucks!

when it was my turn, i decided to use the burst mode of my digicam and had a little fun. the people in Starbucks were probably regretting their decision to quietly enjoy a cup of coffee that morning.

hyper!

well, our adventure didn't end there. our next stop - Pan Pacific Hotel!

The Final Leg

speaking of leg, my legs were aching already by the time we got to the hotel. well, we did walk all the way there. and let's not forget our early morning work-out along Baywalk.

that said, tet and i marched to the Slimmers lobby and signed up for the cardio class.

a cardio class after brisk walking, attending an aero class, and walking all the way to the hotel? my, my, i never knew i still had that much energy! tet, looks like we're not that old after all! haha!

of course, all thoughts of being young and energetic flew out the window about 20 minutes into the cardio routine. what were we thinking??? needless to say, i stuck to my guns and tried my very best to complete the class. by the time we were doing the final set, i was too dizzy from doing all those turns that i just stopped and let the experts do their thing. i think i took a water break about 10 times within that hour!

at last, the class was done and i was raring to plop down on the mat. while i stretched and lazed around, tet did several sit-ups (naks, mike would be so proud :p)

when i checked the time, my eyes practically bugged out. it was past 11 am! we've been out since before 7 am. no wonder my legs were aching (excuses, excuses...)

before we left the hotel, we lounged around the pool area for a photo op. :D

certified divas

when i got to tet's house, i was so famished. somehow, my food vanished into thin air in less than 20 minutes (or was that 10?)

i wasn't ready to leave after lunch. actually, i wasn't even ready to move yet, so tet and i watched My Super Ex-Girlfriend to kill time. it was a great movie, very light and funny.

before i left, we had our last "photo shoot" with chay. :D

chay, it's not bad luck if we're 3 in the photo, you know! :D

weeelll, what a weekend it was! with that killer work-out schedule, i'm pretty sure this get-toghether is at the top of my Most Healthy Gimmick list. not that i'm planning to lengthen that list any soon now. :D

mike, thanks again for the treat! and tet, thanks for a very fun (and energetic!) weekend! till next gimmick! :)