Cool Blue Running

"Chalkboard" was a campaign project to raise funds that were used to cover basic essentials for Pawac Elementary School, located in the remote mountain district of Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya. The school is the home of about fifty students from K-1 to K-6. As most of these children come from a family who rely on the farm and livestock, they go to a great lengths just to get elementary education, helping their parents tend their livestock before walking miles of dirt and treacherous trails to reach the school ground. The Road to Pawac Pawac Elementary School Ground In less than a week project "Chalkboard" had managed to raise enough fund to cover basic essentials of Pawac Elementary School. Chalks Pencils Scissors Papers Medical Kits Drawing Sets This campaign was run and managed using crowdfunding platform, GoFundMe.com

With mental business and meetings all morning, I was ready to throw the white towel for the day and so while my colleague were preoccupied toiling with their day to day operation, I quietly walked out, feeling some guilt, the building in my running gear and hit the trail.

For about two years now, I have been using Samsung S Health fitness app which came pre-installed with Samsung S5 mobile phone. What I like about this app, It keeps track of your daily activities and smart enough to know whether you are walking or running. Moreover, It also comes with number of metrics that helps you manage your progress. Finally, it is collaborative and social, and uses game mechanics to motivate you achieve a goal.

Schedule Day 1 Sun Oct 23 Arrive in Taipei around 6:10 PM from Sapporo Stay at Taipe through Airbnb Day 2 Mon Oct 24 Sight seeing around Taipei and neighboring sites Stay at Taipe through Airbnb Day 3 Tues Oct 25 Start from Taipei to Lugang 龍山寺 Tour and lunch in Lugang then continue on to Cingjing Farm Stay at Star Villa Day 4 Wed Oct 26 Spend half a day in Cingjing Farm Check-in at Sun Moon Lake hotel Boat tour or bike around the lake in the afternoon. Day 5 Thur Oct 27 Sun Moon Lake morning boat tour and sight seeing Go to Tainan for lunch, must try breakfast Tainan milkfish salted porridge After lunch, go sight seeing around Tainan or retire at hotel. Stay at Shangri-la Far Eastern Plaza Day 6 Fri Oct 28 Leave Tainan to Kenting in the morning, about 2 hours drive by car. Arrive Kenting Stay at Howard Beach Hotel, Kenting Sight Seeing by Taxi, bike or scooter next morning Day 7 Sat Oct 29 Sight ...

We've been to Japan several times where each visit offered unique experiences. This time we'll be roaming the north part, Hokkaido.  Here is a rough plan of our Hokkaido trip. Day 0, Sun Oct 16 Meet at Bay Area, and fly from SFO together. I'll be flying over the day before from IAD. Day 1, Mon Oct 17 Arrive at  CTS around  1:30 PM. Pick up rental car at Times Car Rental by 3pm Get Hokkaido Expressway Pass Drive to Noboribetsu, about an hour drive from CTS Visit Jigokudani (Hell Valley) Jigokudani (Hell Valley) Sleep at Hotel Mahoroba Day 2, Tue Oct 18 Morning walk to Jigokudani, Hell Valley Drive from Noboribetsu to Hakodate, about 2.5 hour. Visit Onuma-Quasi National Park Night views from Mount Hakodate.  Take Ropeway to Mt Hakodate for top 3 night view in the world. Sleep at Comfort Hotel, Hakodate Day 3, Wed Oct 19 Hakodate Morning Market From Hakodate, tour around town Hakodate to Toyako (2.5 hr) Drive Goryo...

As everyone else tends to spend their summer weekend on the beach, we left our apartment early Saturday morning for Dewey Beach, a three hour drive from Washington Metropolitan Area. Around 10:00 AM, we reached the main artery that leads to the three famous beach destination in Delaware, Bethany, Rehoboth, and Dewey beach. With everyone else on the road, the last four mile stretch to our weekend destination was a bottle neck. About half an hour later, we arrived at the hotel lobby to check-in. Our room was not ready, so we decided to have lunch at nearby restaurant before spending the rest of the afternoon on the beach. Beach at Cape Henlopen State Park, about 20 minutes drive away from Dewey Beach Cheese and Wine at Atlantic View Hotel

Knowing the culture and language can lead to a more pleasant and memorable travel experiences. Here are some minutes worth remembering when travelling to regions such as Morocco, Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus. It is not necessary to bring or give gifts when invited to someones home. However, if you decide to bring gifts, sweets or liquor(only in liberal regions such as Dubai) are acceptable. No flowers as this are ornaments for funeral occasion only.  It is very rude to not accept gifts and opening gifts in front of a person is also considered rude.  The concept of time does not exist, being late half an hour to a meeting is quite normal. It is also not necessary to setup an appoint when visiting someone. Start with small talk before diving in to business. When you want something done, a small gifts sometime will do the trick otherwise you hear the word "inshallah", which means God willing. Avoid talking about personal issues.  Never take "No" for an ans...

This was a trip that required minimal effort to plan it, using "share" services such as Uber for transportation and Airbnb for accommodation, creating a laid-back and enjoyable trip in the island of Puerto Rico. In terms of transportation we were left with limited option, upon arrival at San Juan International Airport we picked up a Hertz rental car to go around the island. Not far from the airport is Isla Verde, where where we stayed for three nights at a beach side condo through Airbnb. This part of town is the up and coming tourist destination, away from the crowd of old San Juan. Isla Verde is a local hangout where you find great food at affordable price. The beach on the weekend is full of beach activities- boogie boarding, family picnics, beach volley balls, cultural events and lively  music. An hour drive from Isla Verde is Ponce- an old historic and colorful town where kids wear uniform to school. Ponce Historic Downtown Nearby Isla Verde are th...

This was a flat pancake run around Manassas Regional Airport runway where thousand of runners of all ages and skill levels had participated on this fun event on a beautiful Sunday morning.  The 10K run started at 7:30 AM and followed by the 5K run. From  start, I tried to keep up with a pack of runner until I realized I can no longer hold on to the pace. Around mile two, I slowly drop back to my comfort zone, a ten minute per mile pace and steadily hold on until the finish line. I was surprised to finish the course a little bit over an hour, a faster pace than I expected. Manassas Runway 10K Run

Cherry Blossom Kite Festival

Today, I got a chance to reflect on things or projects that I wanted to accomplish for the year and the means to achieve them. The idea is to have a relax and achievable goals where you get to have fun along the process, using SMART which I learned from work as guiding principle, I came up with the following: Learn Thai language. Thailand is a place that we both can agree on to live as a second home in the near future. It is short hop to Burma and has many centers where you can spend long retreat to practice meditation. The standard of  living is quite affordable and healthcare has improved over the years. So staying in Thailand for two to three months this year will be a fun way to pick up basic commands and learn the language. Food Vendor, Bangkok Thailand Street Vendor, Bangkok Thailand Stay active year round through community involvement, sport activities and charity work. This include training for a marathon which usually takes three to four months of prepa...