i wish i had more time to write

I love writing. My youngest sister doesn't understand it, but I really love writing. I love jotting down my rambling thoughts onto the computer. Its not so much that I have so much to share, but its more of I have so much I want to let out of my system. So many ideas, opinions, questions. And there's no better outlet for me than writing them down...well except, due to the time constraints, simply talking (or sometimes...ok more often than not, rambling).

I just wish I could make time to write. OK...no...thats a bad way of thinking. I need to find ways so I could write more. But I don't want a job writing. I just want to write uninhibited about anything and everything I want. Yeah, I'm so full of myself huh? But seriously, it isn't about ego. I just find there's a lot to say. I mean just look at this entry. I've got 2 paragraphs about my wanting to write more, and I could probably go on for pages. It won't be great writing, but thats ok with me. 

So new goal: make time to write more. If I finally figure out my financial goals and become "financially free", that will open up oodles of time to write. But I won't wait for that to happen. I'll write, work on finances, and then write some more. 

I'm a Knick?!!!

I've had NBA 2k12 since it got launched in Manila. At first I played a couple of the Legends games, where my priority was to unlock the 97-98 LA Lakers, my favorite Laker team featuring my favorite one-time Laker, Eddie Jones. (more on this next time).

Lately, however, I've been engrossed in 2k12's My Player. Just like 2k11's version, you create your player, and work your way to the NBA draft and further. Unlike last year's rendition, however, there's no more annoying "guide" (My Player's version of MS Offices annoying paperclip guy), no more road down to the D League, etc. You play one pre-draft game that sets where in the draft you go.

Well apparently, I didn't play well and dropped to the 19th pick. To the New York Knicks. I HATE the Knicks. I'm a die hard Laker fan, but more than the Celts, I hate the Knicks. I can't even tell you exactly why. I just do. And now I'm a Knick. And my My Player is trying to help the Knicks win (and so far so good too).

The upside? My player's name is Ferdinand Aguilar (pronounced a-gi-yar by Kevin Harlan in the game). That's just one letter off!

Buffets

I recently tweeted that I went into a buffet with a hot head and came out with a painful stomach. Ok my original post had a typo in it, but never mind that. One of my good friends and neighbor then replied "Avoid eating in anger or disgust or heightened emotions. Take your food with kindness and gratitude, for it will serve your body well". While a little bit spiritual for my taste, it certainly hit home.

But this post isn't about the importance of balance and taking care of oneself. Actually I just wanted to talk about buffets. Buffet s in general and buffets in Manila. I'm a big fan of buffets. I loved the Saisaki buffets growing up, and I love the growing trend of hotel buffets. Most of all, i love breakfast buffets. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I sure love proving it during a buffet.

So buffets are definitely awesome for a number of reasons, and I'm sure most would agree and have their own reasons. The following are just a few of mine:

1. It solves indecisiveness: I'm sure everyone has experienced going through a menu without being able to decide what to order. Whether it's simply due to intense hunger, because there are too many potential choices, or just plain indecisiveness, it just happens. Buffets solve this problem easily. Now I can have my salmon sashimi with my hakaw. Or I can have rogue chennai and roast beef. The limit is only the number of courses or kinds of food offered at the particular buffet.

2. Eat all you can: and I don't mean just sheer quantity of food, though you're welcome to it. I mean that you can have as much of a particular food as you want. It's not simply variety, as you can get the same results with a sampler platter. Nor is it limiting like an ala carte order. If you want 5 slices of beef and 3 shawarmas, then go ahead and call it a day. But it's not like you gorged out on 5 plates of food. For breakfast buffets, I love loading up on scrambled eggs.

3. There's something for everybody: you wanted steak and your date wanted Chinese? Hit up a buffet and you can both get what you want. If your sister is more of a dessert person, well she can go straight for the chocolate fondue, ice cream or cake.

4. It breeds creativity: not only can I now have my sashimi and dimsum together, but I can see if wasabi works well with dimsum and if chili works for sashimi. Or I can put hoisen on my steak and dijon mustard on my duck. There are no rules. You can do what you want.

I know the items sorta overlap with each other, but you get the point. Buffets are simply frikkin awesome.

Now it doesn't stop there. So you can get what you want and in seemingly limitless quantities. But you've only got so much space, no matter how big you are. So you wanna approach a buffet intelligently. Basically you wanna eat smart.

Some pointers on how to attack a buffet:

1. Survey the prey: especially if you're unfamiliar with the buffet in question, and even of you are, do at least a once over of the buffet. Take note of the dishes being served, mentally logging which ones you wanna eat or try.

2. Taste first: take the first round as the taste test round. Get a little bit of the dishes youre unfamiliar with but look interesting. Feel free to put food you really want on your plate as well, so your first round isn't a potential waste of time. Again, take note of what was good so you can get more.

3. Go for it: now that you know what you want, go for it. But leave space for 2 things: other dishes you haven't tried yet, and dessert.

4. Try some more: This part is discretionary and depends on how much you've already eaten and how much space you still have. But just repeat steps 2 and 3.

5. Dessert! : simply apply steps 2 and 3 to the dessert, OR, as there isn't usually a whole lot of dessert, just go with the sampler platter and only finish what you want to.
Important: unless there's a penalty involved, do NOT feel obligated to finish what's on your plate. Only eat what you want to.

Well thats it on buffets. Now that you're properly armed, get out there and enjoy!

Testing blogsy

Trying out a iPad apps for blogging. This one is called blogsy. Gonna see if it's worth the 5usd I paid for it.

Typing seems easy enough. Let's try attaching a picture.

That seemed easy enough. What about video?

Ok let's see how this publishes then.

the value of money

Had a pretty heated discussion recently revolving around success, values and happiness. Three very subjective topics, plus the injection of alcohol, brings us to a colorful 2 hours.

3 players, 2 guys and 1 girl. 1 guy and the girl, coming from polar opposites, the 3rd guy, namely me, somewhere in the middle and trying to act as a mediator, dispute being hot-headed myself.

Basically the points of view went as follows:

Girl: Success it tied to money.

Guy 1: Success can have NOTHING to do with money

Backgrounds:

Girl : Middle class. Dad worked his way up the corporate ladder. Mom works for the government. Money was a cause of problems for their family and was a constant issue.

Guy 1: Former elite, but now middle class. Grandfather was a governor and mayor. Dad was a mayor but was outed due to being too straight. Guy 2 has seen better days, but money problems have always been ignored.

Obviously, money has always been some kind of issue for both of them. And so money has become the point of contention. Girl is basically fixated on the need for money, a need to go from a have not to a have, sure that money will help her solve many problems and will allow her to focus on other things. Guy1 believes that he doesn't need money, believing that its other values that need focusing on.

They never saw eye to eye the entire night.

As for myself? I value many things, like Guy1, but I also value money for what it is. A tool. Something that one needs to have in order to make a real difference. What do I mean a real difference? I established last night that my thinking is based on metrics. Sure it sounds nice that Guy1 doesn't mind making a positive personal difference in a few lives. But why should you stop there?

"Just because you can't save the world doesn't mean you shouldn't try."

OK I said that with a few beers down, but what I mean is that any difference you should make should be made to as many people as you can. If you have a gift, it should be shared with the world. And still this does not mean you can't make a more personal difference in certain individuals.

One of the tools that you need to touch multitudes? Money. And I'm not talking about hand outs. I don't believe in hand outs. I mean enriching lives. With education, with employment, with enterprise. With better ways of doing things. Its through money that things can get done. Thats the way of the world. Show me a better currency, and maybe I'll change my mind.

Focus

I always thought I was a good multitasker.

OK, maybe I still am, but I've recently realized that multitasking is NOT the answer. FOCUS is.

This past year, I've finally felt the strain of spreading myself too thinly. Since quitting my job, I've tried to pull all the stops trying to earn a living. The problem with having no money for me is that every opportunity sounds like a good idea, and the problem with having no 9-5 is that I feel like I have the time to handle everything.

Well I don't. OK technically I do, but then I wouldn't lead a very sane nor happy life.

So now what? Well now its time to pick and choose. And then to farm other ideas out to other people to either run it or manage it. I'm still too possessive to let ideas go completely, especially ones that I've already invested in (whether its time or money or both), but at some point, there are some things I just need to let go.

Its time to focus.

the never-ending battle

So I've resolved to lose weight before I hit 30 (which is almost exactly 6 months away). This won't be the first time I've said something similar. But this time, I'm trying my best to stick to it.

How come? Well it all started with a health scare of my older brother last Christmas. He was brought to the hospital due to dizziness, which was later on diagnosed as a bout of hypertension. My brother of 32 years young is hypertensive and is taking maintenance medicine for it. And while he's big, he's not ridiculously so...well at least not compared to a lot of people we know.

This prompted me and my dad to get our blood checked, and the results were not good. I was also given medicine to reduce everything. Cholesterol, triglycerides, SGPT. That's what scared me. From the advice of a good friend of mine, I refused to stay on a regimen of pills. Instead, I went vegetarian.

I went on a strict Vegan cleansing diet c/o Dr. Tam. In 10 days, I lost about 20 pounds, and after a blood test, everything became NORMAL. Now, of course, this is sort of cheating (the test results I mean), because I had been cleansing myself for the past 10 days. But what was astounding was the degree of the effect. I'll look for both tests and post them here.

Now I never planned on being vegetarian for the rest of my life. I love food too much. But I did tell myself to eat more vegetables, and to stay away from red meat as much as possible. And I have been. I went from about 240lbs all the way down to 208. Then I started exercising.

Exercise for me now includes the following schedule (which doesn't always get followed to a T, but I try for at least 4 of the following 6 scheduled exercises)

M - Suspension Training (TRX/EFX)
T - Circuit Training and Tai Chi
W - Basketball
Th - Circuit Training and Tai Chi
F - Suspension Training (TRX/EFX)
Sat - Rest (or Basketball)
Sun - Basketball

I'm also trying the Abs Diet now. How's it working out? Well my weight seems to have stagnated at about 213 pounds, give or take. This might seem like a negative, having come from 208, but I actually feel healthier now than 5 pounds ago. I'm fitter and its starting to show. I'm (supposedly) looking better, but more than that, I'm playing much better ball. Getting more rebounds, running the floor better, even shooting better.

So, at 29, I'm still fighting the good fight. Here's hoping I win this time. 30 pounds down, 50 to go.