Thursday, April 10, 2008

ONE. TWO. THREE... ENDORSEMENTS!

WHEE! WHEE! WHEE!
Ok. I swear. This will be the second to the last shirtless picture of myself. My apologies, but there will be one more to be posted in a month - the final "after" shots to the "before" shots done by Juan Caguicla. And bear with me because I just have to prove just how much weight I lost.

From this photo of chunky me (above) to the slightly less chunky version of me below...

And furthermore, I have to thank the folks over at Rogin-E and Gold's Gym (yes, I was humbled, gave up on doing my own thing and went back to Gold's Gym to follow my instructor Jopet's insanely hard core regimen.) It really was the only smart thing to do. Doing the workout on my own gave me too many opportunities to slack and I think I almost injured myself using free weights (I pulled a muscle on my side). And since I started working out and dieting in January, I have lost eighteen pounds and counting. I'm now 167 pounds from a high of 185. And once I hit my supposed ideal weight of 155 , I think I'll finally call it a day and eat an entire can of Spam to celebrate.

And also, thanks Sony Ericsson for the fantastic K850i cellphone/camera and the great features in Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Manila Standard. I have always been a Sony Cybershot kinda guy and have been using this camera for years. This new phone model felt really familiar to me and it was a breeze figuring out how it works. I highly recommend this phone. It's easy to use, the touchscreen functions are an especially cool feature, and most importantly, it's black. After dropping for almost a dozen times, it still looks good. Be sure to check out the results of their TOP SHOT photo contest here:

AND finally, make sure to watch "Urban Zone" this Sunday night near midnight on ABS CBN (it's the last show before signing off). In celebration of ICOMOS INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MONUMENTS AND SITES this April 18th (Sunday), I visit the gorgeously restored Gota de Leche ("Drop of Milk"), one of downtown Manila's most stunning examples of early 20th Philippine architecture and a 2003 recipient of a UNESCO award for architectural restoration (below). I interview Ms. Lourdes Sarabia and we talk about how heritage architecture can still be relevant in MegaManila and chat about La Proteccion de la Infancia, the oldest secular infant care charity in the country that has provided free milk and medical care to Manila's indigent mothers for the past ONE HUNDRED YEARS. Thanks Byahilo.com for the shot.