Walking in Solitude

Day 48

Talking to Pipoy last night, he asked me if I would do my morning walk today (so he would ring my phone to wake me up). I told him my sister wouldn't accompany me this morning so I wasn't sure if I'd walk or not, but his promise of accompanying me by calling me and talking to me while we walk, it made me get up early that morning to enjoy the many wonders of walking.

Sister and I walked together from our house 'til we reached the marketplace. From there, she took a bus going to where she needed to go to, while I went the other way, going to Colinas Verdes. Walking alone can be both scary and liberating, I realized.


I left the house quite early (around 5:45am, I think), but because I did a brisk walk from the marketplace 'til I reach Colinas Verdes, I got there slightly faster than what my sister and I normally do. I hoped to see a very great view of the sunrise, but it was cloudy today, so this picture above was the best sunrise picture I could take today.



Anyway, since I was walking alone, I took the straight route - leading to the Clubhouse. From the gate going to the clubhouse, I walked at a slightly slower pace...at times stopping to take pictures of things that captured my interest. It was so great to find beauty in things that people don't normally take notice of - giving proof to the statement, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

When I reached the clubhouse, I sent Pipoy a text message just to update him. Since I took short rests while walking to the clubhouse, I told myself I wouldn't stop at the clubhouse anymore and just take a U-Turn back to the gate (this route takes more or less 30 minutes). I decided to do brisk walking at this point, which was a bit difficult to do because even if I did my stretching and my warm up exercises, the chilly wind tends to make my muscles react negatively. I did wear my sweatshirt today, and boy did I sweat out a lot!

A few meters away from the clubhouse, Pipoy started calling me to provide boost and motivation. I was already doing some brisk walking, so walking and talking made me catch my breath a little, but hearing my buddy's voice felt good.


Normally, once I get back to the gate, I would rest a little and go home. Since it was still early and the weather was fairly cool, I decided I'd walk back to the clubhouse and make two trips. I was still walking at slightly faster pace, but seeing this butterfly (or moth - as this was bigger than the typical butterfly) resting on the road made me stop to photograph it. It looked pretty like this, but it actually looked prettier if it opened its wings because it was purplish in color.

I couldn't believe I walked two trips to the clubhouse today. Walking alone (physically) wasn't so bad at all, I realized, and in a way it made me exert more effort and go at my own pace because I have no one to look after. Of course, I still hope sister will walk with me again, because I so want to take different routes without having to fear about my security (as it was a very open place without much people).


By the way, I did see something cute this morning - a dolphin-shaped cloud. Actually, I was talking to Pipoy when I saw this, and it was quite amusing that even if he lives far from our place, he also got to see this cloud formation.

It was such a wonderful day.

Low point of the day? Bloody Mary. Ugh. Was it just early this month when she visited?

Still, I was able to do my Hip Hop Abs workouts and made a quick trip to the market late afternoon to buy needed ingredients for the recipe I planned to try.


My food today -

• 8:34am - 1 slice Hawaiian Pizza (Pizza Hut)
• 11:22am - 2/3 cup rice, 2/3 cup leftover Kangkong with Oyster Sauce, 1 piece Fried Chicken (drumstick cut)
• 7:13pm - 5 pieces Fish Lumpia + 2 tablespoons Afritada Sauce (diced carrots and potatoes, raisins, chopped red bell pepper cooked in tomato sauce)

Total Cups of Water: 15

Today wasn't a healthy eating day (I guess), but I still haven't had a "privilege" day for this week yet, so let this day be it.

Sister took home a box of pizza and told us that the pizza was for us - mom, bro and I. I did consult Pipoy about it and told me it's up to me to eat it, but if I decide to eat it, I should eat it either for breakfast or lunch, so I would still have chances to burn it off during the day. For lunch, I was supposed to cook the Fish Lumpia but I forgot to buy bell peppers and white onions, so I just went for the fried chicken brother cooked because I was too tired to walk to the market late that morning.

For dinner, my food was still fried, but I opted not to eat rice anymore as my meal was already enough. Food may not be healthy, but I think I did well in eating just enough.

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It's part of my afternoon routine to watch television while I blog or do my assignments, and this week, a local TV show started airing "Helena's Promise" - originally titled "Scent of a Woman," a Korean drama. It's a story of a single woman in her 30s who found out she had stage 4 gall bladder cancer and has 6 months to live. Instead of staying at the hospital, she resigned at work (at a travel agency), and went on a trip. The story is still unfolding, so am not sure what's in store, but this scene just hits the spot.

In this scene, Helena accidentally saw his former boss while vacationing in Okinawa (Japan). She toured his former boss around (his boss mistakenly took her as his tour guide - because Helena and the real tour guide had the same surname), but before the day ended, the truth came out. Them crossing paths that night, Helena said:

"Don't go out on a tour (tomorrow) like you did today; you're here to make new tour packages. How will you do it if you're not going to enjoy things? No matter how small it is, look at it... touch it... taste it even just a little. Don't be scared to enjoy, because if you don't try it,if you're not going to enjoy it, how will you tell your clients that it's good to take a vacation here? Don't think of this as a job, just have fun. In that way, you can make good tour packages. You know, Department Head, the tour packages you will think of... it can be one's first travel abroad, or it can also be their last trip before they die."

Enjoy. That's my word for today. Applying that statement to my own journey to wellness - I should look at the little things and take delight from them.


I cleaned my room after mid afternoon before doing one of my Hip Hop Abs routines, and saw my supposed to be fitness notebook (my original food diary), and in one page, I saw this. It reminded me of many things, and yes, I am all of these... and more. :)

Enjoy your Friday, everyone!



ps - Sorry for the not so good video quality; I took that using my cell phone. :)