Definitely the biggest, most last-minute trip I've ever pulled off; ain't no thang. I had to scramble and change other travelling arrangements (had to forgo Vancouver - sorry Nat, I am making a comeback, I promise!), miss other special plans (Erika's birthday and FJ's book launch party) and even possibly turn down a possible job offer.
Manila, PI
But this is a once-in-lifetime opportunity to travel with family to see my roots...and if not now, when? The timing was perfect - I am funemployed from the accounting world, in the interim of finding another corporate world job and running my personal training & bootcamp business.
Plus, it is with Lara, my super awesome fellow-fitness buff & Paleo-inspiration cousin; we wanted to do adventures together and we`ll kicking be off 2013 with this epic one. Oh, and we started the whole30 Paleo challenge in January, so we`re going to be on Paleo until at least Feb 2nd...then maybe ease off a bit. (Although, I am loving Paleo - that will be another post, for another time.) Paleo in the Philippines? Challenge accepted.
Myself & Lara
So it begins...
I made it to Manila! It's my first time in Asia and I'm loving it so far. I left Toronto on Sunday Jan 27th, met Lara, Uncle Del and Tita Pilar in Tokyo, and we arrived Mon Jan 28th evening (that would have been Sunday morning your time, North Americanos). We're staying at Lara's (other side of the family) cousin, Katrina's place. When we first arrived there were five masseuses waiting for us at their home; we ended up getting massages at 1am in the morning that put us straight to bed. Twas nice. The house is upkept by 4 young helpers (17-24 years old), who are sweethearts; looks like Lara and I have some adopted sisters for the next little while :)
I woke up Tuesday morning early, around 7:30am. Lara and I did Roman's "Neural Wake Up" ritual; it is this 10 min bodyweight circuit (1-legged squats, full arm extension plank, half plank holds, Bulgarian split squats and other craziness), which left us sweating and tired.
I ended up eating breakfast and then taking two naps before we left the house at 1pm to:
go to the bank;
get my caffeine fix at Starbucks
(I am so jetlagged, it's not even funny);
(I am so jetlagged, it's not even funny);
go grocery shopping;
and then dinner at Banana Leaf:
We have been drinking out of coconuts
and eating Paleo-approved food on banana leaves.
After dinner, we came to the house and Lara, Tita Pilar and Uncle Del started planning our excursions. I was incredibly tired and called it a night at 10pm. (Whaddup jetlag!)
Wednesday Jan 30th: I then woke up at 3am this morning and couldn't go back to bed. I was tossing and turning until about 7am, when Lara woke up. Needless to say, I was a zombie today. I've been sleeping in the car every opportunity I can get and zoning out of conversations. Haha, jetlag, you got me good.
I had a yummy Paleo breakfast at Tita Pilar and Uncle Del's hotel.
Instead of drinking tap or bottled water at restaurants,
I've vowed to only drink coconut H20 while I'm here.
I then did Lara's 10-minute circuit again before Lara's cousin, Bernice, picked us up for lunch. We ate at Charlie's Grind & Grill, this really cool grass-fed burger joint. The girls got this yummy organic beef lettuce wrap; I was getting my zombie on and wasn't too hungry, so I opted for just veggies and taking bites of out Lara's beef wrap. Yum!
Afterwards, we went to Cordillera Coffee, this cute Ma & Pop shop, where we apparently had one of the most expensive coffees in the world (360 pesos, which is like $9USD...apparently in England, this cup of coffee can be sold for 50 pounds. Say what?!)
The Kape Musang coffee is rare and special because of the following process: the musang wild cats eat the finest coffee cherries, it then passes through their system and it is later harvested by the coffee farmers organicaly (see the explanation below). Yes, the coffee beans are picked out of the fecal matter of cats.
The Kape Musang coffee is rare and special because of the following process: the musang wild cats eat the finest coffee cherries, it then passes through their system and it is later harvested by the coffee farmers organicaly (see the explanation below). Yes, the coffee beans are picked out of the fecal matter of cats.
This coffee is the shit. Literally.
Lara, Bernice and myself drinking the best black coffee ever;
it was delicious.
When Lara and I got home, we hung out with the helpers (Laney, Rhonalee and Fluourence) talking about their schooling, boys and visiting the Manila Zoo. They are such dolls!
I then took a nap because I was delirious and then
we busted out this 20-min workout circuit:
- 10 burpees
- 30 jumping jacks
- 8 push ups; with 5 cross shoulder taps in between each one
- 30 cross knee jumps
- 10 side planks with underneathe reach
- 16 reverse lunges
Repeat 3 times.We then went on a 4-min cool down run, washed up and got ready for our massages!! I think we're going to make massages a regular ritual here.
We then sat down to this feast at 10pm:
Now it's super late - 4am - and jetlag is playing with me. At least I am being productive blogging and being reflective, and spending some quality time with Lara, who is also planning out her goals and visions for 2013.
I have a feeling this trip is going to be full of adventure, humbling momemnts,
self-reflection and badassery.
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