Thursday Run No. 4 -- July 30, 2009

Sheila, Camille, Backy, and Amine before the run. Taken at the gravel parking lot behind Building B:6, again at the Bonifacio High Street complex.



[ Click on the pics to enlarge. Then click on the "Back" button on your browser to come back here. ]




Second shot is clearer. Notice Amine's new iPod arm strap. Pero chopsuey pa rin!












Conti's at Serendra. This place has never failed me so far in terms of waiting for a table. It's so popular among the dining crowd that we have had to wait each time we've gone here to be seated. And two of those occasions our group had to be split into two separate tables not adjacent to each other, including this particular occasion. But, the food is always good and the staff are always courteous.





The gang of girls. The Speed Bagal Angels? How about the Chopsuey Runners. Speed Bagal and the Chopsuey Runners! Parang pangalan ng jologs na banda haha.

Top row: Camille, Backy, and Sheila.
Bottom row: Meg and Mom Amine.







The view opposite Conti's. Lots of people out dining tonight. Celebrity sightings: Heart Evangelista with her Mom (according to Meg's Ate Eden) here in this area, plus Billy Crawford and Nikki Gil with their little companion toy dog later on inside the Hobbes and Landes store on Boni High. This is the 2nd occasion that we have come across these two and next time I'll be sure to take a snapshot of the gang with them. Pakapalan na.





Inside Conti's. Sheila's sister Tintin joined us here. Good thing we had an extra seat courtesy of the group split into two 4-seater tables (I took this photo from the other table). Tin was late but her food was served first! She ordered a slice of cake and a salad dish, which probably explains the quicker service.







King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. These little figurines are amazingly detailed for their size of about 4 inches (?).











This one's Cleopatra's court.

These sets are sold at the Hobbes and Landes store there at Bonifacio High Street. There are other equally detailed sets such as a Chinese Wedding Procession. Unfortunately, I was told that taking photos of the display is not allowed in the store. I'm posting these pics to make up for my violation. It might generate some sales for the store, who knows.

Thursday Run No. 3 -- July 23, 2009

View from behind the B:6 Building where we parked

Camille, Amine, and Bambi before the run


Sheila, Camille, Backy, Amine, and Bambi at Stock Market
[Obviously, I'll need steadier hands when I take photos.]


Copyright 2009 speedbagal.blogspot.com

Chopsuey Runners

Chopsuey Runners made an appearance at the Bonifacio High Street running grounds this evening, running among the clueless casual runners of the Thursday group. They were there tonight, clearly wearing what one cousin would describe as chopsuey.

Inspired by cousin Nino when he advised wife Sheila and sister Camille against wearing chopsuey running apparel, "O, baka naman 'chopsuey' ang isuot n'yo d'on!", it was decided by Speed Bagal to attempt to explain it here.

Well, what did Nino mean to tell Sheila and Camille?

It's quite simple. If you like to eat vegetable dishes and you're Filipino you already know Chopsuey, a local food delicacy commonly prepared at home. It's a Chinese dish made by combining several vegetables and cooking the assortment in some sort of sauce. Here's the Chopsuey formula.

Gulay A + Gulay B + Gulay C + ... + Gulay Z + Sauce = CHOPSUEY

Clearly, my knowledge in food preparation is questionable, but my Math skills appear to be of some value. Ano naman koneksyon n'on?

Anyway, take the Chopsuey formula above and apply it to a runner's brand selection in running apparel and accessories, and... voila! The Chopsuey Runner is born.

So, who are the select few, the chosen ones, the creme de la creme of "Chopsuey Runners" at the Thursday group run tonight, July 23 '09?

• Amine. Equipe top, Old Navy shorts, Adidas shoes. Check. Chopsuey Runner #1.
• Bong. Accel top, Oakley shorts, Adidas shoes. Check. Chopsuey Runner #2.
• Camille. ?
• Backy. ?
• Sheila. ?
• Bambi. Please see below.

The last member of tonight's group is a 1st time guest. We're not yet sure if she will come back next Thursday (please do ^-^) but she deserves special mention here because she came in a COMPLETE bright red outfit by Nike! Wow!

• Red Nike dry fit shirt. Check.
• Red Nike shorts. Check.
• Offwhite Nike running shoes with red swoosh. Check.
• Price tags still on shirt, shorts, and shoes. Check, check, check!
• With matching iPod arm strap. Wow!

Congrats, Bambi! You're not a Chopsuey Runner tonight but better luck next time. Galing mo talaga mag-English bro. :)

Thursday Running "Dates"

We have an ongoing running "date" every Thursday for three Thursdays now! It's like a family outing, actually, with cousins and uncles joining the walk-jog around Bonifacio High St. I stumbled upon an interesting term coined by a young lady runner who blogs at runpinayrun.wordpress.com -- LAKBO. It's a morphed version of lakad-takbo. "Lakbo" describes pretty darn well how we go about our recreational running dates on Thursdays.

The first Thursday, our dates couldn't make it, but being as motivated as we were to "train" for the Robinson's Supermarket buddy run, Min and I pushed on with our own running date.

The second Thursday, my brother Mike, Min's cousins Camille and Sheila plus Tito Scap joined us for their initiation into the wheezing world of running 5K's. Tito Scap had an iron will and resisted running altogether, and just walked around for a while. Afterward, we all enjoyed a hearty, but slow-to-be-served meal at the Cafe Mary Grace in Serendra.

The third Thursday date, our group swelled to an impressive 10 people. Mike abstained, but our new recruits came: cousins Hollie, Backy, Ann, and Paolo plus Tito Santi. With Camille, Sheila and Tito Scap back on their second appearance, there were 10 of us, Min and I rounding it out. We also dragged our 6-year old daughter Meg, her Ate Eden, and 11-year old niece Dandan with us so we could spend time together that day. Looking back, I should've thought about snapping some photos for this blog, which I still haven't created nor even considered at that time.

This turned out to be an interesting running date due to the rain that decided to attend our little get together. As we were approaching the Boni High area from C-5, we saw the heavy dark clouds over the Global City while Hollie and Backy who were already at the rendezvous area were simultaneously texting us "it's raining cats and dogs here!" and "it's raining... it's pouring", respectively. Of course, in our car we had only 1 umbrella to match 6 of us (Camille hitched a ride). We waited out the heavier part of the downpour and decided quite enthusiastically to have sandwiches and coffee at Seattle's Best Coffee in the meantime. Bad move. We didn't have enough time to digest the combo snack before we started walk-jogging around the three blocks of shops and parking lots, therefore, Min and I both experienced varying degrees of belly ache.

The rain didn't completely stop either. There was a heavy drizzle while we were out there and we got soaked. Some stopped after two and a half laps, I extended to three and a half. I think Backy did, too. And so did Hollie. Paolo, I heard, was going to do ten laps! I hope he made it. The rain spoiled the fun, but we still got to get together. And, everyone's in good spirits to make it next Thursday. Now that's an excellent result for an otherwise iffy date. We'll see if there are any additions to the group date and this time I'll take some snapshots. :)

[ Update: Yes, I was able to take a few snapshots the following Thursday we were able to run together. Click here to view that entry. ]

* Photo credits go to various online sources since I neglected to take my own photos.