2013 Palarong Pambansa

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I will still be keeping this blog open so you can read all of my old posts.  But you won't miss a thing with the new blog as it will have all of the old posts, as well. 

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I just came back from Dumaguete after doing chaperone duties accompanying my eldest as she participated in the swimming event for the recently concluded Palarong Pambansa which was held in the city of Dumaguete, Negros Oriental from April 21 to April 27, 2013.  The Palaro, which has been held annually since 1948, is the biggest sporting event in the country, composed of elementary and secondary school students from public and private schools from all the 17 regions of the Philippines.
 
We landed in Dumaguete just in time to witness the colorful parade of athletes, joined by a marching band and marjorettes, as they passed by the streets of Dumaguete; a thick throng of people crowding the streets cheering for the student-athletes.  It was a festive and lively display which I enjoyed, in spite of the blaring afternoon sun. 

For the uninitiated, the Palarong Pambansa is actually a series of meets, starting at the school level,followed by provincial, then regional, and finally culminates in the national games known as Palarong Pambansa.  The process of selection starts in the first semester of the school year, wherein preliminary meets are undertaken by the individual or team athletes, and the top two winners in each school are selected to represent the school in the district meet.  The process of getting the top two victors is repeated in the regional level until the final two athletes/team qualify to move up to the national level of competition. 

Delegates were assigned billeting quarters in the different public schools of Negros Oriental.  For the delegates of NCR, the Dumaguete City High School served as the temporary housing for all the NCR athletes, coaches and support staff.  In addition shuttle buses were also provided to shuttle the athletes and coaches from the billeting quarters to the playing venues.
 
Food is served for breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner - for free, ha!  Moreover, fresh fruits, bottled water, juices and Gatorade were also provided for free everyday during the entire duration of the games.  The DepEd of Dumaguete also made sure that the sleeping areas for the athletes were comfortable as the rooms were provided with padded mattresses for sleeping.  I have heard that some of the previous sleeping accommodations for the past games were not so comfortable, with the athletes being made to sleep on top of school tables, or worse on the cold floor with just a banig .

 

But most of the NCR athletes, like us, did not stay at the assigned biletting quarters, and instead each booked their own hotel rooms.  But there are a lot of other student-athletes who slept at the public school, and most of them came unchaperoned.  The athletes who stayed at the quarters had to contend with doing their own chores such as washing their own clothes and cleaning up their dishes after every meal.  It would have been a very educational experience for J if she also had the chance to sleep at the headquarters, even just for a night. 

The girl in the photo below is a member of the NCR-girls baseball  team.  I chanced upon a group of them inside the girls' room cubicles washing their jerseys.  I took a photo with the intention of showing my own daughter how washing her own suit after every meet is not a chore that should be met with dread, but should be viewed as an opportunity - a chance to develop larger life skills like independence, industriousness and self-reliance.  

 

Here are the NCR girls being briefed by their coach on the first day of the meet.  A total of 8 girls to represent the elementary division, and another 10 to represent the secondary division.

 

This is my daughter’s first Palaro experience, and the entire episode is nothing but wonderful for her.  She was able to muster mental strength as she overcame her jitters in her first event, the 100-meter butterfly, to qualify for the finals, placing seventh in the morning prelims with a time of 1:17.  After prevailing over her struggle to calm her nerves, she finally clocked in her personal best time of 1:14 during the finals in the afternoon, shaving off 3 seconds from her prelims time.  She was gunning for a third place finish, but actually placed fourth overall in the 100-meter butterfly. Still, even without the podium finish, we are both satisfied with how she performed.

She went on to win silver in her two other events:  the 4x50 freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle.

On our last competition day, the parents of one of the NCR swimmers hosted a thanksgiving party for all of the NCR swimmers.  It was a delightful change to see the swimmers have the chance to talk to each other outside of the pool for a change... wearing clothes other than swim suits, and their feet fitted with shoes other than the usual flipflops.  The NCR coaches took on the task of hosting the program and providing entertainment.

Dumaguete lived up to their promise that this year’s games would be "clean, green and high-tech."  We are impressed with our Palaro experience as we got timely results and photo updates via various social media sites.  Even the Phenomenal Papa, who was left behind in Manila, got the game results a few minutes after they happened.  Kudos to the Dumaguete provincial government for one of the most organized Palaro games! 

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Iloilo: Where To Stay

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I initially planned to do a travelogue on the province, thinking that our 5 day stay there for the Batang Pinoy National Championship would provide sufficient time to squeeze in a city tour; but quickly realized after having spent half-day cheering my daughter on by the poolside, under the humid Iloilo sun, I was too pooped to actually go around the city.  Nevertheless, I was lucky to be in the company of some great people who managed to make our stay there fun and super-comfortable.  So even if I can't share city sights with you, you will still be getting the dish on Iloilo's must-visit restaurants in my next post.  

We took PAL's first flight out, and got to the province at the first crack of day.  Typhoon Sendong was making its arrival the same day, and expected to make landfall early evening.  While, it did spare Iloilo from its wrath, the other provinces were not as lucky.  News reports days later tagged Typhoon Sendong as among the deadliest cyclones to hit the Philippines.  So lucky for us that the typhoon's path spared Iloilo!  Look at the flooded streets of the nearby province of Cagayan de Oro.

Anyway, to move along...  For now, I will post about where we stayed.

We stayed at the Days Hotel, and booked the classic deluxe room, which we found roomy for its class.  Our room had two double beds, which could easily have accommodated a family of four. 

This is how the classic deluxe room looks like

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This is how the modern deluxe room looks like.

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The classic deluxe room wasn't as pretty as the refurbished room, which they called modern deluxe room, but I figured if I took out the tacky green duvet, the room won't look as bad.  And I am right!  Save for the headboard, lamps, duvet cover and the outdated upholstery, the rooms are seemingly identical.

look at the difference it made to the room with the tacky duvet half-drawn down

While the rooms are clean and well-maintained, the lighting could be improved on.  If you've read my blog post about Swissotel @ The Stamford when we celebrated the holidays last 2011 in Singapore right here, you'd know my preference for a bright room. Nothing that a request to housekeeping can't fix.  The true gem of Days Hotel is clearly the wonderful and accommodating hotel staff, all armed with that distinct Ilonggo hospitality.  The housekeeping staff quickly provided my room with bulbs of higher wattage and even added a floor lamp.  It also has a sitting corner and an office desk, which we found very useful as J needed to review/ do advance study after the day's competition to make up for the long absence from school.

Our room came without window views; I opened up the curtain to a blank wall.  But the lack of view did not really matter to me.  The bathroom is adequately sized, with the toiletries being refilled everyday.  We brought our own body gels and shampoos, and just used up the hotel's hand soap, but the staff kept refilling the hand soap each day with a new one. The open closet was provisioned with several hangers. And there was even a safe where to put one's valuables in the comfort of the room, though I did no bother to use this amenity.  They claim to offer free wi-fi, but the signal was choppy, at best.  

Our hotel stay came with daily complimentary breakfast.  There are a lot of food choices, but I am a creature of habit;  if available, I usually start my breakfast buffet with congee.   One of my best Iloilo memories is having authentic Filipino/Ilonggo breakfast while watching the early morning traffic from the window across my table.

Days Hotel is right at the heart of a very busy commercial area.  This three-star hotel's layout can be confusing initially as it sits on top of the Atrium Mall, with the hotel lobby at the fourth level of the mall, and the guest rooms on the fifth level.  The first to third level house a mini mall which includes a grocery, and food court.  

The hotel lobby.  image source

If I would go back to Iloilo next time, I would definitely stay here again.  The room rates are very affordable, and the hotel's location makes for convenient travel for everyone:  the grocery store on the first floor, the steady stream of cabs on the street fronting the hotel, the free breakfast buffet, the food court on the lower level.  And not to mention that SM Delgado is just a few walks away. 

Days Hotel Iloilo
Address: :  4F The Atrium Mall, Gen Luna St., Iloilo City
Phone:  63-33-3373297




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Wishful Thinking: {Wardrobe} Swim Mom Uniform

Sports has always been a part of my kids lives, especially for my eldest, J.  Although the level of intensity was not so heavy back then when she was younger.  We initially started with soccer camp during summer, and then moved to once a week soccer lessons, and this increased to twice a week of soccer training when she played for her school team.  This was long before the Azkals were formed and the Younghusbands entered the local football scene.  While playing for the school soccer team, she decided she also wanted to swim, so she mixed swimming training on alternate days when she doesn't train for soccer.  

Those days are long gone, as she has already made up her mind that swimming is THE sport for her.  She has gone a long way since she started 3 years ago, competing at the D-League (developmental) level, moving up to class A category, and finally, qualifying for the Batang Pinoy National Championship this December. 

She has always made me proud of her simple achievements in the pool, each hard-earned medal made more significant because she was able to successfully combine academic excellence while being a student leader and a competitive swimmer.  Although she has a million more laps to swim as far as swimming internationally is concerned, I am hoping she gets there... eventually. 

... Otherwise, how can I channel my inner Victoria Beckham while cheering for her during competitions? Hahaha!

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Being a swim-parent means being in charge of logistics, food provisions, motivation, etc.  I am always there with my kids every training, 6 days a week. Oftentimes I am multi-tasking as I wait by the pool deck, trying to meet the needs of each of my three kids.  And because of that, I thought to myself that I deserve a new wardrobe... even if it's just wishful thinking. :) 

I love Breton shirts, and pairing them with Converse all-stars low-cut is a great way to being a chic sporty mom.

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Don't fancy red? Blue and green is a great sporty fashion combi, too.

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And this fashion template shows us all that pink doesn't have to be always prim and proper.

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Gray and white looks crisp and clean.  Perfect for those all-day swim meets.  Just ditch the hoop earrings.

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And if you want to stand out in the crowd, making it easier for your kids to spot you in the hundreds of spectators, wear something bright like this yellow tank.

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What about you?  What is your daily uniform like?


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CAL Swim School

How is your summer shaping up? 

If you still haven't figured out what to let your kids do this summer, why not let them get active and moving- enroll them in swimming classes. 

CAL Swim School has been conducting Learn-to-Swim programs since 1999, and they have camps all over Metro Manila.  Their seasoned instructors include former and current varsity swimmers as well as licensed lifeguards.

What's more, at the end of summer the CAL kids have a mini-competition where everything is guaranteed to be fun.  The kids can showcase all the strokes they have learned and mastered over the course of the summer.  This is also a good time for the kids to asses if they would like to take things a step further and join the training camp which runs the whole year round.

For schedule and camp locations, visit the CAL Swim School webpage right here.

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Bubee Lunch Jar

As a mom to young athletes, I am always conscious about the nutritional intake of my kids.  Bacon, sausages, hotdogs, canned goods rarely, if at all, make an appearance on our dining table  I always try to serve food that is as close to the natural food source as possible.  

When J and her dad attended a nutritional seminar late last year, what the nutritionist discussed was a reinforcement that we were on the right path.  Yet, we needed to make a few alterations still.  For instance, even if the kids were eating the right kind of complex carbohydrates, we still needed to change how much of it they needed to consume, and at what time of the day. 

At the start of this year, knowing what I now know, I took it upon myself to implement a few changes starting with how to properly space the kids' meal (how much and when to eat).  And with the need to properly space their meals, come the need for an appropriate food container which can make hot foods hot, and cold foods cold for hours. 

 It is a relief and with perfect timing that the Bubee Lunch Jars were introduced to me.  One set of Bubee Lunch Jar includes two jars and a carrying pouch.  It is made of thick, food-grade stainless steel which is double layered.  It claims to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot for up to 5 hours.  I have not tested this for hot lunch, since I only use these containers to carry their breakfast and afternoon snacks, which only takes about an hour from food prep upto the time the kids eat it.  

If I use it to hold fruits, I simply flash freeze the container by putting it inside the freezer for 10 minutes.  I also make sure that the fruits have been placed in the refrigerator prior to slicing.  When I take out the container from the freezer, I just dump all the cold, sliced fruits and then cover. 

But if you intend to use this as a container to hold their lunch, you can try pouring very hot water into the lunch jar and letting it stay for about 5-10 minutes. Then pour out the water and simply put in the hot meal, and quickly cover it. This way, your kids should get warm lunch to enjoy. 

The lids are leak-proof so there is no concern over spilled sauces or liquids.  My older kid can easily open it for herself. While my two younger ones still need assistance as their hands are too small to cover the entire lid.

With the recent concern about BPA, nothing comes into contact with plastic with these containers.  As an added bonus, they are also very easy to clean, none whatsoever of the greasiness even with just one washing - something that your helper will absolutely thank you for.:)

Moms, you will be very happy to know that this is available locally and it is cheaper than Amazon, where it retails for US$49.99.  This simply means instant savings of at least P500, and that is not even counting the shipping charges.

For product inquiries, please visit shopsueystore on e-bay.ph or Shop Around on Facebook.

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Instagram Weekend {January 15-16, 2012}

It is already middle of January, and I have yet to get my game on.  My things to do are piling up and I definitely need more hours to my day!  We just finished a week-long fasting at my church, and a few minutes of the day spent in prayer and reading the Bible does wonders to my perspective on things.

Inspite of the hectic schedule, we should all find time for some quiet.  And for me, quiet does not always necessarily mean the absence of noise.  It can also be just taking a break for the busyness of it all, and doing something that relaxes you.  And one of the things that I look forward to is spending time with my fellow swim-parents while we wait for our kids during training.  Last Saturday was one of those days where I spent hours with these like-minded parents as we talked about anything and everything under the sun, literally.  We were at UP's Sunken Garden watching the kids took a breather from swimming; instead, they played frisbee and soccer.  We all had a pizza picnic for lunch and called it a day!

Come Sunday, the family was up very early as the three kids participated in the Grand Family Invitational Swim Meet.  The Grand Family Association is an organization formed by the local Filipino-Chinese community who share a common surname.  They come together for a variety of purposes and have activities among members, mostly to promote family pride.  So for that day, the swimmers were grouped according to surnames.  I just love the family logo that our association came up with.

It is B's first competition ever, and to have made her pool debut in Rizal's daunting 50-meter pool is a feat in itself!  She did not top the list for her age group, but she finished fourth in the 50-meter freestyle, alongside more experienced swimmers.  Naturally, I felt so proud of her for doing so well and most of all for giving it her best.

J and R took home medals, which they couldn't wait to show their Ang-kong and Ah-ma.  They were swimming for Team Ong, after all,

A swimming co-parent took everyone out for dinner after the competition, so bedtime was pushed until 10pm.  With the exhaustion from her first competition and the extended bed-time, B couldn't help but feel sleepy in class.  And so during Math class, she couldn't fight it any longer and drifted off to sleep - for the entire duration of the class.   So I asked her, "So teacher did not get mad at you for sleeping in her class?"  She moved her head from left to right repeatedly, "nope, she did not say anything.  I woke up middle of Chinese class already."  Ayayay!  I probed further, "Do you mean to say teacher did not try to wake you up?" She answered, with her eyes almost in disbelief at my question, "Mommy, why would she wake me up?  Eh di ba, it's impolite to wake up a sleeping person?" Toink!

Hahaha!  Right back at me... this is my line every weekend morning when they wake me up with their noise.  Or worse, when they wake me up to ask where I kept the Ipads.  

But just so you know, and not think that the teacher doesn't care to have a student sleep through her class; her classmates took it upon themselves to explain to the teacher about her competition the day before.  And the day after the incident, she also got called to explain why she fell asleep in the class. 


Hope your weekend was as FUN!


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Who Do You Follow?

For all you Instagram addicts out there, are you aware of Webstagram?  Webstagram is this awesome web interface which allows user to access their Instagram account in a desktop browser.  Cool, right?  Finally, I don't have to scrunch my eyes to see details of my favorite photos.  I can now view them on my desktop and laptop. All the Instagram features are available here and it is so easy to use, and most important of all, it's FREE, too!  Check it out by heading over to http://web.stagram.com/.

One of the people I follow at Instagram is my kids' swimming coach.  Now that I am on Webstagram, I can appreciate his photos more.  I follow him because he takes such amazing photos on subjects that I love...

....first and foremost among which are MY kids... Thanks, Coach!  I really LOVE the photos!

But other than my kids, I also love the photos he took of swimmers of all ages, capturing the swimmers in action...

 

His photos affirms what many of us swim-parents know all along - that for many young swimmers, happiness is simply being in the pool!

He captures the friendship and the essence that the pool is really one big playground for the kids.  A great venue to meet friends - many of whom stay on to become best buds ... for life!

 

 And here are a few more pool shots that are simply beautiful to look at.

And if you are the type who want a little something different, he also offers up interesting people photographed from an artistic perspective, with an edgy urban feel.

 

 

He consistently finds common locations and successfully transforms the mundane to interesting by coming up with new angles to shoot from.

 

 

 

Follow him at Instagram or Webstagram to see more of his wonderful photos.  His instagram ID is:  wengman.

Sherwyn used to be a bemedaled swimmer in his youth, and has since channeled his love for the sport into coaching a young but very talented swimming team.  As you can see, he is also an amazing photographer who covers events (weddings, birthdays, engagement, corporate functions, et al) and product launches.  He also does one-on-one portrait services, pre-nuptial photo shoots on location, company product shots, and many more. 

If you have any need for beautiful photos, give his photo team a call/message at #0917.533.0727.

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