Double Eight and Honest Ten

I love 8's, today's 8/8 and I'm feeling extra great! It's the weekend and exactly two months before the 8th of October - my 26th birthday. Yahoo! :D It's never too early to get excited about one's special day, right? Right! This morning, I woke up at 6 and the sun was already beating down hard so no run for me. Instead I did some yoga and after an hour or so started my weekend eats with porky pancakes. Using whole wheat flour for the first time, I was quite worried how it will turn out but the results were so good I ate two right after they came off the pan and decided to bake the rest of the batter into my fave - whole wheat banana bread. Are you sick of reading about my banana breads yet? I can't help it! I just love them. Haha.

“This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul.“

Awww, Katharina is a real sweetheart and passed me this award. Thank you! So I'm supposed to list 10 honest things about myself. Well, here goes nothing:

1. I love that I am able to amuse/entertain myself with whatever way I can. While I enjoy spending time with others, I am perfectly comfortable being on my own. There's the tv, internet, running, cooking, and reading to keep me busy. Other times, I play with my camera and whatever catches my fancy. Salt and pepper shakers were two of my first subjects when I first got my camera.

{Salt&Pepper Wedding}

2. My family and I are fortunate enough to be able to afford balanced meals everyday. I often write about my obsession with fruits and vegetables and you may get the impression that everybody eats the same way as I do back in the Philippines. It's sad to admit though that malnutrition is a huge health concern in my country where about 28 million Filipinos are unable to buy food to meet their nutritional requirements and other basic needs.

3. Issues (such as the one mentioned above) and current events (from Mischa's meltdown to wars) sometimes seem too distant or too huge for me to comprehend that I feel nothing but apathy. It's been said that being indifferent is the worst state and I hate that my apathy stems from feeling like I can't help the situation at all.

4. They say (Who are they anyway?) that one may choose to live life whatever way s/he wants. Only rule is not to hurt others while living your own life. I'm guilty of this attitude sometimes (read item 3) but I'm working on not only loving myself but loving others as well. I know I love my family and friends to death but I have to work on being a better person for other people as well.

5. Maybe items 3 and 4 are the reasons why I'm still single? Haha! Is it really too much to ask for somebody just like my Dad for a boyfriend - handsome, humble, smart, and funny?

6. While I don't care much for makeup, I take the time to prettify photographs. Since I forgot to snap a picture of my breakfast, I took a pic of my pan. Here's why I called them porky pancakes. I wish I could send a pan to each one of you; I really do!

{Unwashed Porky Pancake Pan: Haha, how very classy!}

7. Sorry, TMI but I like getting sweaty. After a run, I relish the moment when I'm doing my stretches and the sweat just pours out from my uhmmm, pores. It feels so cleansing. Makes the shower feel 13,453 times more refreshing! Don't worry; I drink more than enough water throughout the day and after a workout for optimum hydration. :P

8. I don't get contented easily. Don't we all? I feel like my writing, pictures, running, and many other things are so so. Compliments are reassuring but then I'd always find faults and imperfections. It can be seen in a positive light though - a passion for continuous improvement maybe?

9. I can never follow a recipe to the letter. :s I improvise and experiment with my cooking after taking inspiration from others. Oh yeah, Julia - here's the recipe for the kinako banana bread. For everybody else who can't read Nihongo - it's basically mixing bananas with store bought pancake mix (bonus points for honesty)! :D Since I just have to mess with every recipe, I nixed the sugar and doubled the banana. Then I added kinako since I'm addicted to it. Here's my freshly baked BBread from today's breakfast leftover batter (without kinako) which was so moist. It was a good thing I added a bit of water since I read that WW flour absorbs more liquid than all-purpose flour.

{Whole Wheat Banana Bread}

10. PB used to be my crack but when I moved to Japan (where food is the best but lacking in PB awesomeness), I found a worthy replacement in kinako. It's toasted soy bean flour and is used in Japanese traditional sweets. Everything kinako flavored, I tried it - mochi, Kitkat, donuts, ice cream, soy milk (soy overload much?), everything. But the best way for me is to eat a spoonful straight from the bag. Haha!

{KinakoDonut by MisDo: Check out their mouth watering summer goodies!}

I'm going against the rule and not tagging 7 fellow bloggers but I'd love to hear about a random fact or two about yourself at the comments! :D I'm off to watch fireworks tonight, still no plans for tomorrow, and half marathon training starts next week! Eeep! Enjoy your weekend, dolls!

There's an Imelda in Everybody

Imelda is the widow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. She is the best known shoe collector in the world owning over 3,000 pairs! Can you imagine if she was a runner?! Her shoe closet would definitely be the envy of us all, right? I don't have the money to buy even a hundred pairs of shoes but this weekend, I managed to start with a tiny 0.1% start to building my personal Imelda Running Shoe Collection.

{Brand Testing: Asics, Mizuno, Adidas}

Each pair fit me really well. I gave them a test run at the shop and they feel exactly the way my favorite and well worn running shoes do. My plan is to test out these three different brands and then decided which one I feel best with. Then I'll probably stick with that brand after. We'll see. Another shopping score this weekend were these organic goya (bitter gourd) and cucumbers! I was hesitant on picking up the goya since the ones I had before very too bitter for my taste. Thankfully, these ones had just the right bitterness level and added a different flavor to my bento today. :D

{ODed on Veggies and Shoes}

After my first ever 12 miler, I didn't run on the weekend and cross trained with power yoga and biking instead. I did register for the November half marathon and only need to pay by September to make it official. Jo (Aki's husband) wanted to join to but he's expecting family from the States by then so it's a no go for him. Hopefully Rea will want to run at least the 10K. She's vacationing back in the Philippines so I'll ask her when she gets back. :D

After looking over some half marathon training guides, Hal Higdon's seems to be the best fit for me. With just two months' running experience, I think the Novice program's ideal. After all it would be my first race and I wouldn't want to overtrain and get injured. However, having done well with distance and wanting to work on my speed, I'm tempted to follow the Intermediate plan which includes speedwork. What do you think?

I had plans to ride a train to Nagoya to watch the World Cosplay Summit but the rain kept me from going. :S Maybe that explains why I ODed on shoes instead. :P With the rain turning everything gray outside, I had soulful food to warm my tummy.

{Udon}

Also, I had the last slices of the banana bread on a weirdly cool Sunday morning. This loaf lasted a week which was a miracle for me, a banana bread monster. A slice (plus some other food) before or after my runs was my "secret" running fuel the past week. As a matter of fact, I baked another loaf for this week's runs. Hope that one lasts at least until Friday. :D

{BB with Honey Roasted Peanuts and Coconut Flakes}

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Here's to a fantastic start to a brand new month!