inquirer 25th anniversary fun run

Fun runs start at an ungodly hour (4 to 5 am), so I never felt the urge to sign up for one. I enjoy running, but I want my sleep. You had to pay to torture yourself? No thanks.

BUT it’s the Inquirer and there’s a cute singlet and it’s FREE and my office mates are signing up

So I did. I initially wanted to run in the 5K race, but maybe for my first time it’s proper to take things slow.

The 3K race it is, then. Woke up this morning at 4 AM. Gah. I didn’t feel like myself.

Pancakes, sausage, coffee. The (unhealthy) breakfast of champions:

Dark High Street.

First gun start was the 25K relay (what 25K this is insane), followed by the 10K race.

5K race here.

Ah, light!

My 3K-mates. (Photo from Almi.)

Then it’s our turn! I run at least 6K at the Oval every Saturday, but 3K in a race felt like forever. Ugh, pressure. There were children who were able to run/sprint ahead of me!

Ruuuuun like the wiiiiiind. (Photo by Raya Lopez.)

Finished at 23 minutes, 37 seconds. According to this, my chip time rank was 129, and I ran faster than one percent of the runners in my category my overall place was 145, running 7 minutes 52 seconds per kilometer, and crossing the finish line ahead of 57 percent of runners in my category.

I usually clock in 30 minutes for 3K around the oval, so eh, not bad, I think. Maybe I’ll do 5K next time. But then sleep might win.

zsa zsa zaturnnah: vack with a vengeance

Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino, Cultural Center of the Philippines. Starring Eula Valdez, Pinky Amador, Gabe Mercado, and Tuxqs Rutaquio.

I planned but was never able to catch this musical during its previous runs, so I was certainly happy to hear the news that it was going to be staged till March.

Front-row seats, bitches.

Look how close we were to the stage:

[taken during intermission; no copyright infringement intended]

Some comments:

– The sound system was wonky. It was hard to hear the lyrics of the solos,  and we were already on the front row. The chorus was fine, as well as the music, so I was wondering: was the music too loud, or were the soloists just not singing loudly enough? Sound during the spoken bits were okay too, though. Hm. It’s a shame, really. Perhaps they should just stage the musical in RCBC Plaza. I saw Avenue Q there last year, and I was able to hear every spoken/sung word onstage.

– The church scene is one of my favorite scenes from the comic book. I felt the crowd onstage wasn’t big enough in order to successfuly translate that scene.

– There were punch lines that got drowned by laughter incited by previous punch lines (usually ad-libbed by Gabe).

– The line,” Te, nagdamit ka pa“, didn’t make sense to me because Pinky Amador’s costume wasn’t sexy enough! There should be LESS! WAY LESS! (Lol, I think that’s just my personal taste showing.)

– Wilma Doesnt (who played Dina B.) looked lost, like she didn’t rehearse her movements. I caught her looking at her companions for leads several times.

Ang daming reklamo! :D But whatever, you should see this play. It will brighten your mood. There were moments when I couldn’t stop laughing.

– I enjoyed the performances. Gabe Mercado was high-larious, Pinky Amador and Tuxqs Rutaquio and “Aling Britney” were spot-on, and Eula Valdez – ganda mo teh! Ikaw na.

– I didn’t know Eula Valdez could sing. That was wonderful.

– I thought the Dodong-Ada confrontation scene was going to be cheesy, but it turned out cute.

– I love the audience. Someone said, “Girl, wag nang choosy!” during that scene hahaha!

The actors sat at a table to sign autographs after, but there was a crowd, so I just took pictures (with my cell phone).

“Flagganahng lumilipad na parang Frisbee!