RUN, RUN, RUNAWAY BABY.

This was my post on my FB some days ago, and boy, I can't wait to do my first NatGeo Earth Run. So much excitement. I don't count myself as a pro runner, but I think I can run a distance in a fairly good time. Or so I think. Hahaha. :)

Quoting from the photo above: "This is for all the papers I've wasted, electricity I've consumed and  CO2 I've exhaled". This may seem a baby step in showing my care for the environment, but I know it is a weighty count. And at the very least, it does count.

Everyone has to do their share, and this is mine. I know I don't physically pick up papers and candy wrappers from the street, but sponsoring three trees and doing a healthy run is not a bad start.

This run will be the most significant 10 kilometer I'll ever cover, aside from the classic walk from UST to Malabon that I did one rainy and floody day of my college years. 

For one, running a fun run has always been in my bucket list so here goes another item crossed out of it, which probably brings me 10kilometer closer to fulfilling everything on it. Second, this is not just an ordinary fun run, this . . . is . . . the . . . Nat Geo Earth Run. Second from the United Nations, Nat Geo is the organization I would wanna work with and for.

Will update with more photos during the actual run in April 28.

HaPepe Birthday!

HaPepe Birthday!!!

One rainy Saturday morning, our hunger got the best of us and we ended Chinese Dining at North Park Convergy's to celebrate Pj's __th Birthday.

Happy Birthday Pepe! 

You are a such a character.

Only you can pull off a trench coat, bonnet and shades outfit, and walk along Ayala while oblivious to the stares of the people you meet.

You keep tarantulas as pets. 

 

You set high standards of vanity for a guy. 

You are a genius in IT.

You are slow and forgetful.

Wish you more facial hairs, haha joke. :) Wish you a better Christian life, brotha!

Blank canvas and blunt crayons.
Unsharpened pencils and hollow canons.
Empty hauls and deserted streets.
Busted lights and torn sheets.

Broken records and broken hearts.
Tattered trousers and discarded parts.
Stained windows and faded paints.
Dirty shirts and smelly Hanes.

Cobwebbed cornice and dusty furnace.
Cracked glass, pain the a**.
Stagnant water, shabby shelter.
Flat tires and faulty wires.

Been rotten, been old,
I was left unsold.

I was aching.
I was hopeless.
I was tired.

But. . .

I never moved.
I never left.
I never wavered.

- La Coy, March 11, 2013, 1024 hours.

FROM MARKETING TO MODELING

I have to say my modeling career is picking up. 

From the runway strut, and now to being an extra for an upscale photo shoot, I am now starting to believe I have more than what it takes to be MODEL. I should think hard about shifting career <scratches chin>.

Me with the other extras, prepped and dolled up. Waiting for the actual shoot.

Was given an XL black knitted Zara top and a 'bitin' gold brown skinny pants. Top was too large while pants was obviously too short and small. Well, a professional model works with what he is given so I am sucking it up.

From a glance. I'll be the main model after a few years and a few heights. Hahahaha. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me with the MEGA Production team after the day's shoot.

Let's Get Stoked

It has always been in my annual New Year's to-do list for many years, right at the No.1 spot - to BLOG. 

Obviously, my baby steps and infantine efforts to scratch it off my list by making it atleast an ongoing endeavor, has proven to be nothing but perfectly FUTILE. At least until last year I hope. And I am further hoping, I'll get the real thing religiously going for 2013.

I can't seem to run out of excuses to justify why I haven't written any posts, especially when the matter-of-fact truth is I always have stories to tell, or opinion for that matter. As I used to kid myself, Bangko Sentral may run out of currencies and peso stocks, but never will I be scarce of something to share in words. 

Seems like the word 'speechless' is never a part of my dictionary.

So here's my courageous effort and boldly ambitious move to do a religious blogging. And this is the part where I say "So help me, God".

Yes, the title of my blog is STOKED in CHUCKS.

'Stoked' apparently is one of the words that I kinda like. It was  'love at first say'. I don't exactly know why, but the way the letters are arranged, how the word sounds, and the meaning it entails, there's something that draws me in to this word. Like how 'radical', 'misfits', 'deadpan' and 'morbid' are a few favorite words of mine.

It may send a negative connotation, but for me it means being alive, thriving, fueled, energized and breathing.

Converse Chuck Taylors, thus Chucks, on the other hand, are one of my most favorite things in the world. I like it like how obsessive with acorns that creature from the movie Ice Age is.

I am in my most comfortable and stylish self and I'm stoked whenever and wherever I go with my Chucks. The dreamer in me wants to see places, conquer the world, be young, wild and free, and experience LIFE, all its facets, all in my Chucks.

Stoked in Chucks will chronicle my thoughts, my words and my silence, my actions and my stillness, my intelligence and my nonsense-ness, and the whole bit and parts of me.

Let's get stoked as I welcome myself to the BLOGWORLD.

 

Oh Well, It's Oehl's Birthday!

Sorry for the uber late posting.

Rice-all-you-can lunch at TokyoTokyo People Support. Belated Happy Birthday to my good friend, co-performer, officemate, lunchmate, meryenda-mate, partner-in-crime and bud OEHL. 

I wish you lesser PRIDE and smaller B*TT and more. And we hope you find the desires of your heart, wherever it may be.

 We love you, Tsong! (Ewww...)

 

 

Of Reads and Plays

Just wanna feel like writing something today, as it has always been a therapy for me. Like traveling and having a good read, it keeps my sanity intact.

So posting to give a quick update of what's cooking up with me. Open the pot!

Well...

Been reading (1).

In my usual reading and comprehension rate, I could finish a 400-pager novel in 5 days or a week. But ofcourse since I have work, and I'm at my busiest, I can only read like an hour or two before my eyes get all heavy and I doze off to ZZZZzzz-land every night.

My latest read is about fallen angels.

I don't know, but it may be because my second name is Angelo or that I was an angel in my past life, atleast that's what I would like to believe; that  I am fascinated by these immaculately beautiful creatures of the heavens. They are like the most pristine, Godly, delicate, flawless, closest-to-perfection thing there is.

Wait. 

(Is  this just coincidence, or what? My music player suddenly played the song "Angels", David Archuleta cover. Goosebumps).

Zapped! Back to what I was saying. 

So there, I'm back to reading after a year-long of unofficial book-leave. I'm halfway through it and I plan to finish the novel this weekend, resuming tonight until tomorrow.

Well...

Been playing (2).

I was one of the luckier kids growing up. Was able to play Family Computer. You know, Super Mario, Contra (Up up, Down down, Left right left right, Start and voila, 30 Lives!), Galaga, Battle City, and all those gizmo games.

I won't consider myself as game buff, but I'd say game enthusiast. Played PC games, Playstation 1 and 2, PSP, RPG games, and all. 

Now in the time of Apple and Androids, applications take my time. Presenting my favorite game applications to date:

Icon Pop Quiz. May sound and look like simple, but wait til about the 3rd rounds and up on every category, you'll feel dumb.

The Ultimate Logo Quiz: This one's a classic. It requires that you need to be a keen observer and with excellent photographic memory. A good grasp of American pop and culture will also greatly help.

Mind you, they are one effin' good play. You might find them addicting with their power to rack your brain out, like what's shown below:

Me with friends and officemates making a productive lunchbreak playing Icon Pop Quiz and Ultimate Logo Quiz.

Ang Bukas Ay Lagi Pa Ring 24 Hours

May katapusan ang lahat ng pagdurusa.

Tumitigil at nauubos din ang mga luha. Gawa rin sila sa tubig kaya maari rin silang matuyo at mag evaporate.

Ang kalungkutan, parang algebra lang 'yan. Oo maaring mahirapan ka, bumagsak sa ilang quiz,at minsan, maaaring di mo mahanap o masolve ang sagot sa algebraic equations. 

Pero darating ang panahon, maipapasa mo din ang algebra, kung papaanong malalagpasan mo din ang kalungkutan.

Hindi porke malungkot ka ngayon, ang ibig sabihin ay malungkot ka na din mamaya, bukas o habambuhay.

Ang ngayon ay ngayon lang.

Ang maganda sa buhay, laging may bukas. Hindi nauubos, hindi nagdaramot.

At ang bukas as lagi pa ring 24 oras. Hindi nababawasan. Hindi nagkekwenta na dahil naging ubod ka ng saya ngayong araw na ito, e babawasan ng apat na oras ang araw mo bukas.

Hindi.

Bente kwatro oras pa din. Kumpleto pa din hanggang sa kahuli hulihang segundo.

It o ay kagaya ng kung malungkot ka man ngayon, oo maaaring mabawasan ang mga ngiti mo, ang mga halakhak mo, ang mga gabing masarap ang tulog mo, at ang kinis ng mukha mo. 

Maaari kang maging loner at di na maniwala pa na MASAYA pa din ang buhay.

Pero ang pagkatao mo, hindi mababawasan. Ito ay mas bubuti, mas lalakas, mas tatatag at mas iinam.

THE NO-MIRROR CHALLENGE

If there are two things I love that I can spontaneously name right now, it's CHALLENGES and SURPRISES.

I am never a vain person, more like conscious probably, but never vain, I solemnly swear. Though I often look at mirrors, it's more out of habit than out of a constant desire to look my best whenever wherever. 

Sometime ago, I survived 9 months without combing my hair, for Pete's sake. If that's being vain, I don't know what is not. 

But please don't get me wrong, I am not a walking male version of Ugly Betty. I take time fixing myself, preppin' up and styling, but it's not a priority, less an obsession. I just believe that there are more imporatant things I can spend my PRECIOUS time on other than wax-spiking my hair, trying on bling-blings, deciding whether to button up my polo or not, to put on a belt or not, et al.

In the past, I have challenged my self:

      1. To battle out with my being underweight
      2. To improve on my cardio by running and/ or jogging
      3. To try a no-meat diet for atleast 2 months
      4. No Facebook Posting for a month
      5. Quit on soda/ softdrinks
      6. Some other silly, weird, crazy challenges that only me can think of. Not sharing 
          all of them though. 

The list of my self-challenges could go on and on. Some were ambitious and some were not. But for the record, I stepped up to these challenges and accomplished them, and mind you, with flying colors.  

I miss the feeling of rising to whatever challenge I give myself that while taking my usual Ayala-to-Dela Costa walk to work this morning, BOOM! it hit me. The perfect time has now come for me to challenge myself, AGAIN.

Since my weight is very BIG deal to me, and since I dropped about 8 pounds of muscles from last December (I might tell the whole story about how this happened on a separate entry), I am obviously in Depression Island. 

I had the chance to look myself at the mirror some 2 or 3 days ago and I didn't like what I saw. I'm becoming skinny (flashback to my old built 6 years or so ago) and it's like my greatest fear, to be the super skinny me again. "Hello, Olive Oyl, I don't want to be your challenger!"

So, what I thought of: NO MIRROR Challenge! 

Hahaha, You might laugh, as hard as I am now. This may be the funniest challenge I've ever thought of. And may also sound like the most nonsense. 

Applying my very own 4-way Test:

Is it simple? ... Yes!

Is it doable? ... Yes!

Is it possible? ... Yes!

But is it easy? ... Damn it, a resounding N O !

I resort to mirrors whenever I wanna check if I had gained some pounds, have buffed a little, or I still am in the 'skinny' side.

I do that, without a miss, every after I work out. It has been my so-called ceremonial and progress indicator. 

Though no muscles are targeted in particular, looking at mirrors while flexing (Yes, I do that. Guilty.) is an ESSENTIAL part of my work out regimen. All men do flex their muscles every once in a while, mostly when no one watches them or in the privacy of the changing room. Either way, still in front of a mirror. That is a fact.

Point is, while my new challenge may seem nonsense, it actually is full of logic and sense. 

For a month, I will not look in to mirrors to check if I've had gains. 
Will not step on scales to weigh also. 

This will keep me guessing my weight. Therefore, having no idea where I stand in the kilo-scale would give me nothing but a "gain more, work out more, eat more, sleep more" mindset.

By the end of 31 days, I am hoping that I have aced this yet-another CHALLENGE of mine. Good luck to me!

 
The STATS 

                                                   (as of January 9, 2013)                  Goal ( After 31 days)

Weight                                                   :  124 lbs                                 132 lbs
No of times that I looked at the mirror    :     0                                         0
Challenge Success Rate                           :  100%                                    100%   




Will keep you posted.

Dear Ma and Pa,

When you see these envelopes tomorrow, please don't freak out. I am not getting married yet, and I haven't impregnated anyone so please save me the drama and over acting, hahaha.

If Papa finds these during his early waking time of 5am, please don't think that it's a stow-away letter, and that I'm gone. I'm not. I'm still in my room upstairs, probably sleepin and loudly snorin'.

These are actually my presents for you. Surprise! It's not much, but hey, I have put extra effort on it. :) 

I remember when me and kuya were still the cutest kids that once upon a time we were, we used to believe that Santa really is that fat guy who gives us our presents during Christmas sneaking thru the chimney. We should've known that it was all fantasy, because we never had a chimney to begin with. The thing is, we did not know it was the two of you who were playing the "naughty or nice" trick on us. It has always been you two.

That has to change now. I may be too slim for the Santa's required physique, but I will be your Santa from now on.

Thank you for all the things you've done for me. Here's my 31-year worth of love for the two of you. Use it well.

Beat This Week

Beat this week.

I have skipped a day's worth of meals, had sleepless nights, had a head on battle with stress, caught a flu and the most unfriendly disorder one can get (LBM), and I think I dropped a few pounds.

Yet, it has been the happiest. So happy, that I could almost touch happiness itself and that all the above almost sound so lame and negligible now.

- Just completed my Starbucks stickers, redeemed my planner. Talking 'bout simple joys. :)

- Just heard that Arnold Garcia is getting married. Congrats, men!

- Chrisse Hyne Hernandez' wedding is fast approaching. Best wishes!

- Angela Velasco Hernandez passed the CS exam! Congrats!

- Was congratulated for a production well done. Having lost yet having felt like I have won is the greatest feeling. It brings pride and it humbles me down. Being appreciated can make you shed a tear of joy. And it did, today.
- I am offered something big, bigger than I expected. In fact, I don't feel like I deserve it at all. But sometimes God gives you BIG packages, which are actually little packages that He keeps for you. He saves these little packages and give it to you at the most perfect time without realizing that when that time finally comes, the small packages have become a BIGGER one. We deserve our small packages everyday that we earn them. The only time we don't deserve them is when we deserve the BIGGER ones. It's now time to see what God has been saving for me all this time. And I bet it's HUGE.
- And finally, more than being a son, a brother, a friend, a hardworking employee (?), an enemy to a few, and an idol to many, I am now a TITO. Congrats, Ate Elaine Paurillo Tullao and Kuya Cedric Tullao. 

Don't Just Make A Choice, Make It Right

Lately, my story has been about choices.

I guess the most difficult thing about choices that people don't often realize is that, it is not when you don't have ANY, but when you have MANY and yet, you can't have them all, you only have to choose one.

It's one option against all the others. The idea that, choosing one means letting go of all the others, is a poison, so you wanna make the RIGHT choice.

But then again, there are no right choices. There is only YOU to make it RIGHT. Don't make the right choices. Make your choices right.

Time is a Friend, Not a Foe

A lesson learned today:



Don't go hastily in doing everything. Don't speed up things faster than their normal and natural pace. Let it unfold, and as it does, experience them moment every moment.

There is a reason why flowers take time to open their petals and BLOOM. It's the same reason why plants don't grow easily to become the strongest of trees.

Even the best wines take years to ferment. The sweetest of fruits are those that are ripened up by time. The strongest hearts are made after countless years of healing itself, until it can love again.

There is no such thing as INSTANT happiness, it is a product of time.

Time is a friend, not a foe. Just let it be. One can never say that he has no TIME, the same truth that one cannot say he has no FRIEND.

Meanwhile, see every beauty. Hear every melody, every note. Otherwise, LIFE will just pass you by. Trust me, you wouldn't want your LIFE to be remembered as a mere BLUR.

-Lacoy, Random Thoughts. November 11, 2012. 1821 hours.

From You to You

I have been waiting like FOREVER, and have been wanting to leave you NEVER.

I've been seeing you in my DREAMS, and have been believing you're REAL.

I have always known I belong to YOU, but have always asked if you belong to ME too.

I have always been sure that I LOVE YOU, but have always been unsure if YOU REALLY KNEW.

TO WHERE IT HURTS, I NEVER WANNA GO BACK TO.
THEREFORE, I NEVER WANNA GO BACK TO YOU.

I WANNA GO BACK TO WHERE I AM HAPPIEST.
AND IT IS STILL WITH YOU, NO MORE, NOTHING LESS.

-LaCoy. Sept. 11, 2012. 9:52pm

Pasasalamat ng Birthday Boy

Tuwing kaarawan ko, gusto ko lagi may BAGO.

Aba, siyempre  birthday ko yata!  Kahit man lang isang beses isang taon, I’d like to have something new ’ika nga.
Kasi ang LIFE, parang DILA yan. Mas nasasarapan kung iba-ibang FLAVORS ang natitikman. Kasi kung laging matamis, nakaka-DIABETES. Kung puro ALAT, sakit sa BATO. Kung puro anghang, nakaka-HEMORRHOIDS (sa Tagalog – almoranas). Kung walang lasa, nakakaumay. At kung mapait?

Wala lang, ang bitter naman ng taong may gusto ng mapait.

Ang bagong gusto ko, hindi naman laging materyal na bagay. Hindi bagong damit, hindi bagong sapatos. Hindi bagong underwear, wallet, cellphone o gadget.

Maaring bagong experience, bagong lugar na pupuntahan, bagong kaibigan, o isang simpleng bagong haircut, o isang komplikadong bagong pagbabago kaya!

Sa birthday ko ngayong taong ito, anu nga bang bago? Hmm… wala na si Dolphy, di ko na siya makakasabay magcelebrate ng birthday. Si Sarah Geronimo nalang.  Di ko man kasing galing magcomedy si Pidol at kasing galing kumanta si Sarah (ehem!), ka-birthday nila ako kaya SWERTE SILA. Hahaha…

Pero narealize ko, okay din naman ang mga LUMA. Panahon at oras lang naman ang pagkakaiba ng kung anu ang bago at HINDI. Anu mang lumang bagay ay minsan naging bago. At darating ang panahon, anumang bagong bagay ay maluluma. Pero yung kung ANO sila, di yun magbabago.

Ang sapatos nung bago, ang purpose niya ay pansapin sa paa. Nung maging luma ba, naging pansapin na sa mukha? Hindi naman ‘di ba?

E pano yung mga dati mong kaibigan na kaaway mo na ngayon? If that is the case, they were never your friends at all in the first place. Lalim! ‘Di ko ma-dig!

Since gusto ko lagi ng bago tuwing birthday ko, at since hindi na bago na lagi akong may bago, ngayong birthday ko, ang bagong gusto ko ay ang mga LUMA. (May sense, ‘di ba?)

Salamat sa luma kong pamilya - ang aking AMA na maka-Ginebra, ang aking INA na maka-Vilma Santos, ang aking KUYA na mahilig sa America’s Best Dance Crew, at ang aking LOLA na mahilig magtanong sa kin kung magkano ang sweldo ko. At kay COMBI, ang aso naming hanggang ngayon ay tinatahulan pa din ako na parang di ako kilala.

We were never the perfect family, but we always practice so I guess our practice makes us perfect. Hahaha…
Nah, seriously, we were never the best family and I guess our best wasn’t good enough. Hahaha…

Seryoso na talaga. We were never the best family, but WE are a FAMILY. Sabi nga sa Lilo and Stitch, family means no one gets left behind. You never left me behind.

Salamat sa mga luma kong kaibigang naging kasama ko sa pag-aaral, sa pagsimba, at sa pagtatrabaho, sa Manila, sa Cebu, sa UE, sa UST, sa Caloocan, sa Federal, sa YFC, sa kalye ng Anonas, sa MAKATI, sa Valenzuela, sa Singapore at sa Japan.

Lord, salamat sa Inyo. Salamat sa lahat ng lumang bagay sa buhay ko. Pero kung may darating na bago, choosy pa ba ko? Syempre hindi no.

Sa susunod na birthday ko sana maluma na agad ang lahat ng bago sa buhay ko, dahil kung gayon, ibig sabihin, tumagal sila, nakasama ko sila, nakaramay ko sila, napakinabangan ko sila, at alam ko sa sarili ko na napakanibangan din nila ako kahit papaano.

Sana mabawasan ang bago at dumami ang luma. At ang luma, lumuma pa sana nang lumuma. Basta ang hiling ko, kahit maging antik pa sila sa luma, 'WAG LANG SANA SILANG MASISIRA.

-La Coy, July 25, 2012.

Sana Makasakay Ulit Kita

 
 
Tatlong araw na kitang nakikita at nakakasabay sa MRT.
Tatlong araw na rin akong nagpapa-cute sa yo.
Hindi nga ako sanay magpacute eh, parang hindi ako.

Pero dahil gusto kong mapansin mo ako, sige lang, kahit walang dimples, SMILE pa din. May braces naman ako, bakit. Pwede na yun.

Sana makasabay uli kita. :)

Sunday Senses

Sunday Senses

February 5, 2012, an FB post

The Sound of Sunday is a lullaby to the ear, I DOZED.

The Taste of Sunday is deliciously orgasmic, I CRAVED.

The Sight of Sunday makes my eyes teary, I CRIED.

The Smell of Sunday makes my nose flair, I SMIRKED.

The Feel of Sunday makes my skin tingly, I SWEAT.

 

The Bright Light Delight Tonight

Had one of the rarest experiences tonight. Right beside Ilog Pasig, lighted a paper lantern and sent it up to the sky. With Lala Velasco Hernandez and the Marketing Team. So inspired that I scribbled some rhymes:

THE BRIGHT LIGHT DELIGHT TONIGHT

A lantern of light
Sent up to the sky
In the blackness of the night
It soared like a firefly.

Enclosed is a prayer
Signed with my wish
Written on paper
Sealed with a kiss.

Oh, please, touch the heavens, lantern of paper
Go beyond the clouds, go higher and farther
Greet the galaxy, dance in the milky way
Creep to the moon while the sun is away

Wink down to Venus, wave high to Jupiter
Play hide and seek with the meteor shower
Knock on the stars, wander 'round the universe
Get lost, be free, see the world in traverse.



So bright is the light that gave delight to my nigh tonight.