Urban Recreation: La Mesa Eco-Park

I had been planning all week to take Toto to the Sta Elena Fun Farm in Laguna on Sunday, but Saturday night I checked their website and realized they require a reservation! I texted and they were booked in the morning. Being that it is ungodly hot in the afternoons and I have a 3pm Jivamukti class, we decided to go to the La Mesa Ecopark in Quezon City.  It only took about 20 minutes to get there at 8am on a Sunday morning.  There weren't many people when we arrived, but when we left at 10am it was starting to get packed and loud. The entrance fee was P50 ($1.25) and an additional P80 ($2) for the Butterfly House. Let's chat about the butterfly house, shall we? 

Great sign lured us in and the caretaker took us to the glass breeding tanks where we saw the stages from egg to butterfly. While he was talking he threw a couple of dead caterpillars out and told us that they died from the stress of too many people holding and squeezing them yesterday. Um, what? Maybe you shouldn't let people do that, caretaker of the butterflies. Onto the butterfly tank where the new guys were emerging from cocoons. Before we went to the next area, the caretaker had to sponge the blood off the bottom of the cage. So gross. Who knew butterflies bled as they emerged from the cocoon. Never saw that in any cute kid's book. Toto was not thrilled with all the butterflies swarming near her face, but they were pretty. And we saw two species--"the black one and the white one."

We strolled through the flower terraces, pet the horses baking in the sun, watched a "pre-nup" photo shoot in the amphitheater, saw some fish, and then headed home. We'll probably go back to see the orchids and organic garden.  Despite the growing crowd, humidity, and stall after stall of hot dogs, the huge trees and relatively clean air will bring us back.

My advice - go early.

Don't squeeze the caterpillars.

Some dead, some bloody, but still educational.

View from the La Mesa Dam.

Bangkok: The Marathon

After months of training, I felt ready to finally run this marathon. At 5pm on Saturday, we ordered pasta to the room and I went to bed at 7pm. I set the alarm for 1am so I could make some instant coffee and grab a taxi. I seriously would have walked to the start line if there had been an open Starbucks on the way. During the 20 minute taxi ride I saw tons of people shopping for fruits and vegetables at night markets, and several people on their way home after a night at the bars. I managed to eat a boiled egg, Clif bar, and banana, and drink a water bottle. I decided to carry the Nathan waist pack with two water bottles (small), 5 hammer gels, and my iPhone for texting/pictures/music. There weren't many people at the start line at 2am, so I was able to stretch and use the bathroom - on a bus! - in peace. At 2:45am they started herding us towards the start line. The announcers said lots of stuff in Thai, and there was a lot of arm waving, and then we started.

The first 16 miles or so were on a desolate highway, which didn't bother me because I am not the type to look around while running. Every 2km there was a water stop, so I walked for 20 seconds or so and doused my head in ice water. Yes, it was hot and humid in the middle of the night.  Not as bad as I had imagined, but still hot. Every couple stops they had gatorade and only about three times they had bananas. I was so happy I had my gels.

Sunrise on bridge

Mini marathon??

I stopped to take pictures once the sun came out and I got off the highway. We passed some pretty buildings, none of which I recognized. But I did see a scary lizard dragon animal come out of the water.  I did my cockroach jump squeal that I do at least two times during any run in Manila.

Swimming mutant dragon

Official-looking building

At 32km I still felt great, at 35km I felt ok, but at 38km I was sure my legs were broken.  It took lots of self encouragement to keep going. When I finally saw the finish line I got a 17th wind and sprinted to the end. Granted, it took me 5 hrs 18 mins to finish, but I have never been so happy to stop running.  The Shark had already run the half and was waiting for me at the end. The first 20 minutes after the race I felt terrible, but by the time we got back to the hotel I felt a lot better. Oh, and here's a tip: don't wear hot pink underwear during a marathon, apparently they run dye down your legs and also pool in the seat of the taxi - sorry Thai taxi driver, hope we tipped you well!

Dragon arch

Old fort

We spent the afternoon riding the train and going to the park. It was only around 1 million degrees out and Toto insisted on me carrying her most of the way.

My ankles, knees and hips were sore, but a 90 minute Thai hot herbal massage and a tall beer(s) took care of that. Will I run another marathon? Not sure. I enjoyed the discipline of having a training schedule, but disliked running in humid polluted Manila.  I'll probably stick to shorter distances and hope to get some big hikes in next year. Any marathons in your future?

Bangkok: Part 1

The weekend of the marathon finally arrived. The marathon I had signed up for months before, that seemed so far away, with so many weekends for long runs, was finally here. We took a 3 hour flight on Philippine Air on Friday and arrived in Bangkok around 1pm.  Right away I noticed the air smelled cleaner--in the middle of downtown.  We checked into the Sivatel where we got a great rate on a suite - 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a living room.  Toto was thrilled and spent many hours running between the three rooms.  After she passed out, The Shark and I headed out to pick up our race packets.  Stay tuned for Part 2.

Signing "airplane"

Welcome drink and cold towel

View from our hotel

Too many power lines

Culturally sensitive Ronald

Kid Recipe: Apple Sauce

Apple sauce is so easy to make and tastes so much better than the jarred stuff.  Not to mention it is a lot cheaper to make it yourself.  I just peeled and chopped 4 big Fuji apples, added 1 cup of water, some lemon peel, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 cinnamon stick and a little brown sugar (next time I will probably go sugar free), brought it to a boil, then simmered for 30 minutes.  Afterwards, I used a potato masher to, well, mash it.  Delicious with vanilla ice cream (for me) or on pancakes (for Toto).

The best baby food storage method I have found is to cook big batches on the weekend - chop mangoes, bake squash, roast carrots, pan fry turkey, boil noodles - then cool and freeze in these 6.5 ounce Libbey bowls I get from Amazon.  According to the Libbey website the lids are BPA-free (god knows what other chemicals are there, but the food rarely even touches the lid).

My other great food storage method is a second fridge.  I had to beg my employer a bit for this one, but it was SO worth it.  Now I can store (hoard) tortillas, bread, baby food, berries, spinach, and all the other stuff that we would have to run to the store weekly to replenish.

Clean Water

One of my first questions I ask in a new country is "Can you brush your teeth with tap water?"  In Rwanda, I brushed my teeth at the faucet  although I had serious doubts about the country's water treatment systems, mainly because the kitchen was soooo far away from our bedroom and involved several locked doors to get there. Of course when I got pregnant, the protective instincts kicked in and I would have The Shark get my water for me.  Duh.  I haven't had our tap water tested in Manila and probably wouldn't want to know the results, so all our drinking water is delivered weekly in five gallon jugs and we usually go through two or three per week.

Hot and Cold!

Naturally I freaked out about what might be seeping into Toto's skin from the bath water so I ordered this bath filter from Amazon.  Honestly, I am not sure if it removes all the chemicals it says it does on the very weird box, but it makes me feel better.  We also use Weleda bath and skin baby products, mainly because the woman at the natural store in my parents' town told me the company was "clean" and was the only brand she carried for babies.  What I really want is an antique water pitcher that we can fill daily with fresh water for the bathroom--and surprisingly there are tons of antique shops in Manila.  Now how to convince The Shark to go antique-ing...

Upon closer inspection, this resembles what I imagine a prison shower would look like.

Marathon Countdown

Seven days until the Bangkok Marathon!  

Highlights from my training in 2012

Longest run: 20 miles

Best week: 36.2 miles, Week of October 22

Worst week: 3.1 miles, Week of January 2

Yoga classes taken: 39 

Tai Chi classes taken: 1

Best running aid: Hammer Gel (Expresso flavor)

Races: 2

Best recovery aid: 1 hour at home foot/leg massage for $6

Total miles run this year (so far): 726.65  

I initially thought a marathon 14.5 months post-partum was a stretch, but then I read multiple accounts of pregnant women running marathons and shut the hell up.

Yeah, that 3.1-mile week was right after Christmas, family in town, and a STILL colicky baby to deal with. Best week included my 20-mile training run---I probably should have had some weeks at 40 miles, but just doing this to do it, not to set any records. Yoga has been my savior in all this.  I take all my classes at Bliss Yoga, but was fortunate enough to have an amazing private class in Bali that I will never forget. Oh, and I know, only two races (soon to be three) in 2012?! While Manila hosts tons of races and is home to thousands of runners, it just isn't a great place to run.  I ran the World Vision half marathon and the Men's Health Urbanathalon, but that might be it for Manila races.  It would have been cool to run 1,000 miles this year, but I a guessing I will get closer to 800.

Oh, and you might want to think about moving here if you haven't already.  The best foot masseuse I have ever had comes to my house.  And I can drink wine and blog.  I usually end up tipping her 75% because, folks, it is a $6 massage at my house. You can bet that is a weekly occurrence. But no, I am not getting my feet massaged as I type this, but I should be.

And one more thing, should you be wondering. I am indeed Type A and keep meticulous records of all my workouts and have been doing so since college.  So what?

Seven more days!

DIY Friday: Vanilla

During a recent trip to Tagaytay, we stopped for lunch at adorable Sonya's Garden.  Not only was the setting gorgeous, but there was a crafty type shop.  Much to The Shark's chagrin, I cannot keep myself away from stores of the following genre: country, thrift, general, craft, corner, basically anything with a cute sign.  A friend bought a vanilla bean to make her own vanilla, so I did too.  So easy.  Mix 4 oz. (cheap) vodka with a slit open bean.  Store in a dark, cool place (that doesn't really exist here, but anywho) and wait a couple months.  Plentiful, cheap vanilla.

Boil glass jar

Slit open bean lengthwise

Submerge bean in vodka

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Come on, it boiled fish sperm sac, people.

Holidays Overseas: Halloween

Sometimes celebrating holidays overseas is hard, for example, Christmas in 90 degree weather with no family around.  Wait a minute...

But seriously, we've spent many a holiday abroad, and have always tried to make the most of it even though we missed family, friends, snow, cheesy potatoes, hot chocolate, fires in the fire place, turkey, Peeps, you know Americany holiday-ish stuff.

Thanksgiving 2003 in Mole National Park Ghana

 Valentine's Day 2005 in the middle of the Sahara Desert, Mali

 Thanksgiving 2009 in Rubondo National Park, Tanzania

 Christmas 2009 in Kigali, Rwanda

And now, of course, Toto is spending her holidays in foreign countries too.  We try our best (even though she won't remember it, but who cares because we will force her to look at pictures to show her that we tried to give her a "normal" life) to make our own holiday traditions no matter where we are. This "fall" we went to a pumpkin patch held by the Manila Girl Scouts. Yes, pumpkins cost $30, and no I did not care because we were going to have Halloween come hell or high water.  

Pumpkin patch was more like little pumpkin nests.

One dollar plastic decorations?  We'll take seven.

Our building is awesome and got totally decked out with witches, scarecrows, ghosts, and cob webs. Every time we passed this display, Toto would point to the pumpkin and say "dada."  There was even trick-or-treating in the building.  With over 100 kids jammed in an over-heated stairwell going to apartments on 30 floors, well, let's just say it was not your normal trick-or-treating, but she had fun. And we had Halloween.

That hanging thing terrified me everyday for weeks.

Finding Green

Having grown up surrounded by green spaces - a farm and the suburbs - The Shark and I want to make sure Toto doesn't spend the first five years of her life thinking metro Manila is the norm.  When we are not traveling, we scout out green spaces on the weekend.  Purchasing a village sticker for our car gives us access to the gated suburban communities that often have nice parks.  We frequent the Forbes Park playground because it is huge, clean, and has baby-sized swings and slides.  This morning the leaves were falling and it looked a little like fall.  Especially since I was drinking a holiday latte - it's already Christmas at Starbucks!

We also keep lots of plants in the house including this new window herb garden.  Toto was surprisingly patient and interested in the seed planting and we check out the sprouts everyday for progress.  Hopefully she doesn't start eating random plants after we demonstrate that you can eat what you grow...

Twenty Miler

Sometime during the haze of Toto's first months outside the womb I thought it would be a good idea to run a marathon.  I rationalized that between baby #1 and #2 might be the best time to check off that life goal.  Although many women run pregnant, I doubt I could keep up with the training schedule while working and raising a toddler.  

Running didn't really happen during my pregnancy.  When I was about 4 weeks along with Toto I jinxed myself by declaring I was not going to have morning sickness.  I found some statistic that said 90% of women had some morning sickness, and I was obviously in the lucky 10%.  Then I spent the next 8 weeks puking every time water touched my face.  People, I puked when I washed my face.  Is that normal?  Better yet, could you run in that condition?  So for the longest period I can remember in my life I did not work out.  I basically worked, cried, slept, and ate cheerios.  Then the glorious second trimester started and I felt amazing.  But not running amazing, more like elliptical, swimming, yoga, and light weights amazing.  So pretty much for almost a year I. Did. Not. Run.  Kind of hard to believe.  But I was growing a human.  **Otherwise occupied**  I did actually start jogging a little in my last month of pregnancy hoping that bouncing might coax Toto into the world, oh and to avoid the hunters on the trails.  What?  You don't jog alone on Michigan county trails shared by deer hunters while pregnant?  Well, then you haven't lived.  

Back to the present.  The Bangkok Marathon is coming up November 18 and my training has been going well, tons of short to medium runs with good times and less longer runs mainly due to travel and weather.  But last Saturday was my 20-miler according to Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme plan (gotta start somewhere) so I set the alarm for 4am.  It was a long 3 hours and 59 minutes, but I felt good afterwards and it gave me confidence for the marathon.  Can't wait to finish and celebrate with some Thai food.  And beer.  Lots of beer.

Enough said.

Rare sight - a carless street.

This actually exists in Manila.