2019 – A year in review
I finally made it to Yosemite, finished writing the first
draft of my travel manuscript, did an outreach in a urban poor day care center,
finished my 100 x5km run (500km), discovered recipes for my healthy dish
versions of duck and rabbit meat, and did a few other minor things.
The summary somehow revealed that I should be doing more in
life, but of course – my summary did not mention responsibilities at work and
at home which usually takes a lot of our personal time.
Still, it was a good enough year creating a momentum to do
more, to eat healthier, to travel more,
and yes – to go back climbing!
Travel
My US travel was my only major travel last 2019 but which
covered New York, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Napa Valley and the highlight –
Yosemite national park.
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| At Pier 39 San Francisco - tourists meet lazy sea lions! (2019) |
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| Yosemite National Park - El Capitan (left), Half Dome behind right (2019) |
It was good to rediscover the beauty of the southwest US (I,
not being into big city things), shortly enjoying a more relaxed and friendly
atmosphere of “San Fo”, before doing a proper tour outside the city. Seeing my first Sequoia and Redwood trees
were a blast! And of course, walking on several trails in Yosemite National park topped my list. The majestic view of the valley landscape
where El Capitan, Half Dome, the valley, a waterfall and a bright blue sky –
all made a perfect natural symphony of an ideal scenery! Truly a breath-taking, wow-moment view.
My only local fly-out travel was the end-of-the-year
holidays in Iloilo and Boracay. And
although I’ve been there a few times, I somehow savored the food and atmosphere
more this time. Since I cook a lot these
days, I become a foodie ensuring that I try out the best. Adobo-fried native chicken, grilled managat fish (a kind of jack), fresh
shellfish, kansi (like bulalo), and even stewed stingrays – come on!
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| At the far end of station-1 Boracay Island (Dec31). Here, I concluded my 100th run (of 5kms) for the year. |
Then the island to the north. Boracay was still Boracay,
albeit with a sense of subtle ‘martial law’ forbidding many things including
fireworks, beach fire dances, beer by the shore, love-making by the beach, micro-bikinis, among other things! While there were good things done by the rehabilitation
team, there are still many improvements to make.
My take – the inner road congestion was really bad that I thought -
reviving boat station-1 should help ease this off. Plus, it makes a good future livelihood
promise for boat operators once the planned Caticlan-Boracay bridge was built and operationalized. The e-trike
was a good initiative, but best if solar-recharging station were also
constructed. I also think that the small
BBQ kiosks (now all gone) should be reconsidered as long as they are regulated
and placed strategically! I mean – isaw,
chori-burger, etc. are good chow for the cheap and hungry. I saw too many hawkers along the beach – and
that needs to be regulated and reduced.
Most were nuisance!
But overall, The beach-fun atmosphere was still there,
half-naked people all around, Paraw boats whizzing by, busy vibrant restaurants
serving meals, clear shallow water splashing one’s feet, and yes - the beautiful Boracay sunsets were still
stunning!
Projects
Writing takes a lot of personal time! I spent my usual social nights alone in some
resto-bar writing and re-writing what-I-hoped-to-be-a travel book by the end of
2019. After almost 100,000 words, I
breached and went past my target page number of 300 and declared – done! But not done enough to publish it. So there’s that one goal now for 2020!
Writing travelogues covering more than 20 countries was a
challenge, especially for trips that I’ve done 20 years ago! So here’s a tip – write today even if you
don’t have a book plan!
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| Experimenting with a book cover-maker application. I may need to change the long title. |
Climbs and Sports
Life will not always be an uphill battle. Sometimes – it’s relatively, FLAT! I only climbed or hiked 7 times (7 days) in
total! 3 days in Yosemite, few small
hills at home – Pinatubo being the local highlight in terms of photography!
My Seven Volcanic summits plan was not progressing, with Mt
Damavand in my ‘forever next list’ (after only 2 done). And as we all know, the conflict in Iran (the
peak’s location) was becoming more and more of a reality! But I’m hopeful, a next trip to US will
surely allow me to visit Cotopaxi as a possible next.
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| Perfect weather made a perfect hike. |
To bring back my ‘sports discipline’, I targeted 100 runs of
5kms each. 2x of run a week is not much,
but it instills discipline. Not that
I’d be race or expedition-ready, but to follow a simple Dory principle. “Just keep swimming (or moving)”. Now
that the routine and discipline was back (I hope), it would be easier to do regular
runs or other activities this 2020.
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| Pose-run at Gulugod Baboy peak in Mabini Batangas |
Advocacy
As part of my yearly promise, an outreach or sustainability
project should be included in my year’s goal. The Mt Apo project phase2 was in
deep slumber with zero trip made due to a variety of reasons. Something that I need to revive this year.
And after a long lull, we just made an outreach trip
impromptu-style in one urban poor day care center. In fact, I discovered this to be a perfect
model for a small group-sponsored type of program. One just need to identify a beneficiary – and
we have thousands to choose from, and just have fun shopping for donation.
Since Iloilo was a target vacation place, we picked one from there. Donating useful school items (water bottles,
face towel, slippers along with fruits and eco-bag), feeding (chicken, rice,
burger, coco bread) and simple games and story-telling made a great day for
some 20 small kids (the other 10 didn’t make it but they’d get their goodies).
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| At the outskirt of Iloilo city center, visiting a small urban poor day care for an interaction day. |
Engagements and Campaigns
FWD Insurance made a second partnership for their North Pole
Marathon campaign. No, I didn’t run – but a strong runner named - Joyette
Jopson. My role was to support her
particularly on winter survival and performance requirements. Or probably just for moral support. In the end and unfortunately, the weather
didn’t allow them to run in the pole – but she made a spectacular best-time
finish in the alternative Arctic location in Svalvard (Norway) raising yet
again the image of Filipina athletes!
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| At FWD launch event, here photo-bombing a group :) |
I averaged 5 company speaking engagements a year (and I don’t
want to do it every month), but one highlight was an intimate ‘conversation’
(not just a ‘talk’) with a local management team. Very intimate with only few participants
easily fitting two dining tables. I find
it very engaging, deep and more meaningful somehow. The other one, although a crowd of 600+,
somehow offered more warmth and friendliness.
Perhaps because I know a few people, perhaps the crowd was more
receptive – or may be because their advocacy sits well with mine. Disaster
preparation (use of rechargeable lighting items) and energy conservation (use
of LED tech). I made a mental note to
find a win-win project related to Search and Rescue or Disaster Prep – with them
as the key partner. Another 2020 possibility I guess.
So there.
The lull and ho-hum of 2019 gave me a lot of rest and
thinking time. And I’m feeling that the lack of ‘blast’ would propel me to do
many things this year. 2020 – here we
come!
***
PS. Oh, I didn't include the rabbit part. Here's a photo, and there's a separate post for my culinary journey.
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| Lower right is my rabbit meat stew version. A good meat alternative (as they multiply and grow fast, with healthier quality of meat). |
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