100- Hong Kong

No matter what happens, I always find myself returning to Hong Kong.

                                     Easter Sunday somewhere in the Sai Ying Pun neighborhood

I have been to Hong Kong 5 different times in my life, and after everything, I still find myself wanting to see more. Every trip has felt different, with my latest sojourn being the one wherein, I feel, I managed to explore and take in a whole lot- but not nearly enough.

One of my goals for my recent trip was to try and experience Hong Kong more from the perspective of a local. This M.O. lead to me choosing a hotel in one of the island's older neighborhoods- Sai Ying Pun- to be my base of operations. I had a first timer with me on this trip, hence, I ended up going back to some "touristy" joints instead of exploring Sai Ying Pun more, but hey, just having the archaic buildings and weathered alleyways around me- the same ones seen by generations of locals- was enough for me to see this year's Hong Kong journey in a slightly different light.

There was our tryst to Ngong Ping 360. Now, I am by no means a guy who relishes heights, and this place can be classified as "touristy", but, the sights seen up in the mountains were enough to cleanse us of any cornball oil that tourist traps tend to bring forth.

In short, the place was quite beautiful.

Yes, the sky was overcast for most of the day, but still, being amongst the clouds was quite breathtaking. 

Striking a pose amidst thick fog- and very, very, cold wind. 

Every visit to Hong Kong is different, and yet, each instance is littered with familiar tidbits which make the place feel like home. 

Must do's in Hong Kong are: 

Riding the iconic Star Ferry. At 2-3 HKD, you get to tread the waters of Hong Kong harbor on a true classic. 

Visiting Victoria Peak and the areas adjacent to it. To avoid the tourist rush, I recommend that you walk around arterial roads such as Findlay Path and Old Peak Road instead of paying extra to enter the Peak view deck. You get the same/similar views plus a good work out via option A. 

What's a trip to Hong Kong without going on a dimsum run, right? Taken here is my final lunch in Hong Kong. Scrumptuous eats from the Hau Fook Group Restaurant in Mongkok. 

Find time to eschew the hustle and bustle of Central and Tsim Tsa Tsui and take in Hong Kong's older districts. Taken here is part of Queen's Road West, on the afternoon of Easter Sunday. This photo is telling of the impending invasion of the "new" in more traditional, old school, neighborhood life. Dimsum and noodle stands now exist side-by-side with sports apparel stores and branches of Mannings and a bevy of electronic retail brands. This may be seen as a boon or a bane- depending on the perspective taken. 

Exercise, walk, run. Experience the city you're in at a pace different from your usual. I choose to do this through walking endlessly through neighborhoods, and yes, training. I run, run, and run some more. My recent trip to Hong Kong saw me run in the Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun districts (apart from walking pretty much everywhere else). Here is a photo snapped from my Easter Sunday training session in Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park. I later made my way to Victoria Park in Tin Hau also for a last minute sprint session. 

Make sure you have time to take in a cultural show. My answer to the incessant beckoning of the proverbial cultural muse brought me to the Hong Kong Cultural Center for a concert by the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra. Previous to watching this program, I had only watched symphony concerts online and on television. This was a great treat. :) 

The Hong Kong International Film Festival was also on when I was in town. Unfortunately, no time could be spared from my hectic itinerary to catch a flick or two (this is something I regret a wee bit right now). 


I could mention shopping here too, but hey, that would make my piece a bit too cliche.

5 times over, and I still find myself wanting to see, and experience, more. There are always smells from another food stall, new malls and museums to explore, new trails and districts to run through (New Territories, I have seen parts of you, but not you naked enough), new people to meet, and new images to tattoo onto one's consciousness. Hong Kong is such a dynamic city that the more discerning visitor will never run out of new dreams to grasp.

I always find myself itching to hop back on a plane to somewhere as soon as I get off of a plane that's seemingly gone everywhere.

In the case of my love affair with Hong Kong, and with the orient in general, I'd have both hands up for a repeat. As of this piece's writing, I can confidently say that I'd go back to Hong Kong at the drop of a hat, simply because the rhythm and the rhyme of the place, speak to me. When something begins to touch the very heart of you, for one reason or the other, you know that something right is going on.

Find Hong Kong on the map and break loose. No ifs and buts. No yawning, no ennui. May constant movement and indescribable energy, guide you.

Absolutely no regrets. Thank you for visiting.

MC

99- The Dream Realized.

Some people scoff at the notion of torturing one's feet for 42.195 kilometers.

"Why do something like that to yourself?"

"Why do it knowing that you'll ache like hell afterwards?"

"Why run when you can just do something 'easier' to stay fit?"

Well, the crux of all the madness associated with running is the concept of challenging one's self, and pushing one's self beyond one's "perceived boundaries".

I did it. And I feel fantastic about it.

Thank you, TBR, for giving me the opportunity to climb up a notch.

Run on!

MC

THIS KISS, THIS KISS. 

(PHOTO BY STEPH TATEL)

98- Joy.

With Steph and our super pal Bianca at Unilab and the Philippine Rheumatology Association's "Rayuma Run" 2016

Like a lot of people who are addicted to running, I try to follow a training schedule to keep me focused.

When I train, I work to equate my effort with a sense of joy. Joy is a powerful driving force. Without joy, you can tend to regress into a sense of complacency about how far, and how strongly, you can go.

Running provides me with a sense of freedom and bliss which I'd be hard pressed to find in a lot of other aspects of living. Training solo provides me with enough space to collect my thoughts and calm my soul. Staying fit, of course, is a huge benefit that comes as a result of the constant training.

I've participated in athletic endeavors in the past, activities that one would normally associate with guys (basketball, weight training, etc.). Running and running well requires a different sort of discipline, though.

With my first 42km run coming up in less than 48 hours, I can't help but feel nervous, but happy, too, that God's given me the strength to run like I do.

It's quite pleasant to view my running journey "in retrospect". At the same time, I can't rest on my laurels too much. My tryst is far from over.

The prospect of experiencing new things, running new trails and paths, with the wind blowing against my face, is enough to make me want to keep moving, keep going strong.

That is what "joy" is all about.

MC

97- Dream Running Destinations

Every runner has dream running destinations. Mine are the following:

 1) Rome
 2) London
 3) New York
 4) Tokyo
 5) Boston
 6) Greece
 7) San Francisco
 8) New Zealand
 9) Amsterdam
10) Chicago

Are these yours, too?

MC

96- Condura Skyway Marathon 2016

                     Office mates Mike and Bianca during the 2016 Edition of the Condura Skyway                                                             Marathon, Manila, Philippines, Feb. 2016


There are fewer things in this world I enjoy more than running.

For many years, I was into sports that typical guys would get into- basketball, weight training, etc. Those sports required some form of discipline, but let me tell you, excelling in running, and in multisport in general, requires a different type of focus. You need to work to eat right, diligently perform strength and resistance training, diligently go through the ringer for structured, scientific, cardiovascular endurance training, be smart about what gear you use, etc. It's easy to start running. Move your feet, breathe in and out, and there you go. If you want to move mountains (or climb them like a boss), though, you need to approach running with the type of guile and methodical patience you'd see out of, well, an Ethan Hunt type (see Mission Impossible reference).

I have worked to jive to the rhythm of the aforementioned type of zoned-in focus in how I've embraced running. My participation in the recent Condura Skyway Marathon 2016 was something which I had looked forward to for a long time, and something that I had looked forward to particularly because of the charitable aspect of the affair.

The Condura Marathon 2016 was my third journey through the Skyway- an elevated automobile highway that stretches from Alabang in Muntinlupa City, to somewhere in Magallanes Road, Makati City. Airconditioner manufacturer Condura has held the Skyway Marathon for the last couple of years to help support families of Philippine Military personnel who have lost loved ones in the field. For a typical citizen such as myself, running Condura is the least I could do to help those whom our heroes in uniform have left behind.

The medal. Quite the beautiful slab of metal. 

As with other 21k races I've run, my day began at around 1:30am. One light meal, shower, and petroleum jelly coating later, and I was off. My friend Bianca teased me as we drove to the race venue about how slow I was driving. "You can only really do 60kph, can you?" she quipped. Well, whatever restraint I had while driving would invariably be shattered once I got on the race course to run. It's not that I would eschew the idea of pacing, but, I give my all whenever I run. I'm sure Bianca gives her all, too. :) 

        The goofball and his medal. Shout out to my buddies from Team Soleus. What can I say? I just                              love the technical shirt you guys gave away last December 2015! 

One of the best things about running races (apart from the whole process of competing with yourself) would be the company you share after you run. It took me and Bianca a good 45 minutes to exit the parking lot at nearby Festival Mall (no thanks two girls in a Nissan who kept trying to cut us in what should have been a SINGLE FILE queue to the exit gate). You can imagine what hunger, drowsiness, and the general fatigue (despite the runner's high) dealt unto a person c/o running a marathon, can do to one's mood. Before we could step out of our car and give the girls a pair of Stone Cold Stunners, we thankfully made it to Recovery Food in Molito, Alabang, for some breakfast. 

There's nothing like talking about how your race went with friends and other fellow runners. The cafe was packed with people who had just come from the Condura Marathon. Excitement filled the air, and that, paired with the prospect of a good shower and a nap upon arriving in our respective homes, was too good to pass up on. 

I notched a personal best time for 21KM at this race (2:02:08 chip and watch time). That represents the proverbial cherry on the ice cream for yours truly. 

Running's become such a huge part of my life. With 3 2016 calendar races, endless training sessions, under my belt, and a whole lot of passion in tow, I look to the future with tons of optimism and unbridled joy. 

My life's marathon as a runner has only begun, and I intend to savor every minute of it. 

Up next- The Bull Runner Dream Marathon 2016!!

MC

95- Two Years

It's been two years since my first trip to Malaysia.


The beauty of travelling is the power of adding value to moments in time.


Whenever I've been in Malaysia, I have been surrounded by nothing but moments of sunshine.


Even October 2015's haze from Sumatra could not bring me down during my last trip there.


I cannot wait to return.


MC

94- That Time When I Got Lost in Hong Kong

                                         Watson's Pharmacy in Harbor City, Hong Kong 
                                       (Photo culled from http://hkchcc.org/watsons2.jpg)


I think that most kids, and moms, would agree.

A kid getting lost in a public place can be a very traumatic experience.

Let's ask Scottie to beam us back to 1988. Hong Kong. Kowloon Island.

My mom and I had gone to Hong Kong to with her pals from school and their respective families. We stayed in the posh condo of one of my mom's friends in Old Peak Road, which, I would later discover, was an area that a number of the city's wealthier residents, and expatriates, called home. To this 5 year old, it was a place with a playground, wide open spaces, and other kids, with whom I could interact and have fun with.

The very young me was baffled by the fact that hardly anyone spoke any English. During one of our evening's in Hong Kong, I got a hold of the landline telephone in the condo we stayed in, dialed my grandma's (Philippine landline number), with the intention of sharing with my grandma the many wonders I had seen while abroad (Toys R' Us was certainly one of the highlights). You can imagine how shocked I was when I heard the voice of a seemingly frantic woman, speaking a strange language, on the other end of the tellie. I was shocked and subsequently, confused. So, I wasn't in Kansas anymore- that much was certain.

Anyone who has been to Hong Kong will tell you that the city is crowded- really crowded. Fast forward to Migi and Mom at Watsons near the Tsim Tsa Tsui clocktower and Ocean Terminal (remarkably, that Watsons branch remains open, a grim reminder of when, for a brief. dark, moment, I felt truly alone in the universe). Mom was looking a nice little ornaments while some toys caught my attention. Next thing I knew, mom was gone and a pretty Chinese lady began speaking to me in caring tones in, well, Cantonese (to the 5 year old me, it was gibberish, Klingon, a lot of onions in palm oil...what mattered was that I was alone). Mom was nowhere in sight. I felt like crying, and just when I was about to shed some saltwater, my mother appeared. We were both relieved to say the least. She asked me where I had drifted off to. I said that some toys had caught my eye. She advised me to always hold her hand and stay close, and so for the rest of the trip, that is exactly what I did. I love my mom- and you should love yours, too.

When I think of Hong Kong, I think of Teresa Teng, of dimsum, of Toys R Us, and of family. I look upon these memories with a smile. I also remember being lost once and feeling very, very, distressed. Thank goodness for good fortune, and the concept of happy return trips. Mom and I did go to Hong Kong again in 2010, and we managed to visit Disneyland, too.

See, things have a way of working out in the end.

MC