Activities 11 and so on:

And amidst all the things I had going on, I am actually amazed at how I was able to accomplish being 100% in less than 8 weeks in ALL my 3 major goals for LEAP. Enrollment, Personal and Professional and juggling work, my mom, cats et al all at the same time. I feel awesome and truly WHOLEHEARTED in this journey. In fact, I was still asking Coach Rommel for additional activities and these were some of those: Join World Vision, a dating site and plan for a "Me Time" holiday next September 2015. So for these, I was able to decide on the following:

1. Go to Thailand next September 2015. It's so pretty :) Am excited!

2. Volunteered for World Vision.

3. And maybe just maybe someday be found ;)

4. What's most important in this entire journey is that I realized that I am 100%. I am enough. I am good and I am love. I could be so much more. I am my declaration. I surrender to love and abundance :D

Activity 10: My Museum Dates ;)

I am not that much of a museum visitor but just recently, I have been meaning to visit a few. The add-on to this activity is that I again reconnect with a friend. I chose my good friend, Joan. I have not been able to hang out with her for close to 2 years already. I admire Joan for her strength and love as a wife and mother. We hung out at Ayala Museum and Café with her son, Jopoy. Jopoy is a darling to be with. It was a very enriching 3 hours reconnecting with these two.

My next museum visit was the Mind Museum with the Awesome Dreamers girls, Hester and Eunice. We had fun exploring the place and what was funny was our commonality as introverts, our penchant for being drawn to the relaxing sit-down attractions. I think Hester and I even dozed off in one or 2 of those. Hehehe. Guranggables na kasi kami ni Hester-ness ;)

All in all, the value I experienced in all these is love. I may still not be much of a "museum fan" but I appreciated the activity more because I was with special people (Joan, Jopoy, Hester and Eunice) in my life who wanted to be with me. Thank you girls and Jopoy :) I love you!

Activity 9: The Make-Over that hopefully my Coach Approved of ;)

LEAP is just so amazing. I was able to accomplish things that was only be in my "wish-to-someday-do" list. Having wavy, semi-curly hair was one of those. When digital perming became a buzzword, I wanted to do it but again, I was SCARED ;) You see, I pride myself in having really beautiful, straight, jet-black hair. I only experimented with different styles a couple of times and these were usually out of rebellion during my younger days. Boy were the results traumatic...hahaha! Thus, again, leading to me becoming fearful and just staying in my comfort zone. I would just maintain my hair this way: straight, black and long. So when Coach suggested that I undergo a digiperm, a part of me was terrified but a major part was excited ;) Breakthrough ;)

Then there was the issue of finances. I am not poor but I am not YET rich. Again, I am emphasizing on the YET because I know I will be financially abundant soon :) Anyway, I was asking for advice and researching via the net. I got a couple of leads: Toni and Guy (expensive and good reviews), Tony and Jackey (mid-range and mixed reviews), Piandre (no digiperm), Salon De Manila (expensive) and Beauty Bricks (cheap and good reviews). Cheap and good reviews?! Too good to be true but I checked out the hair of some of the nurses in my hospital and all seemed nice and they were happy. I asked Coach Rommel and he told me that he was familiar with the place and that his experience of it was good. He was leaning towards the trusty Toni and Guy though. Up to the last minute I was debating with myself. I ended up going to the 2 parlors and did my surveillance. When I went to Beauty Bricks, the stylist, a Japanese man who did not speak in English just looked at me, told his interpreter something, left and continued styling his present client. They told me that the entire service would cost 3500-3800 PHP, treatment, haircut and digital perming. Wow! A bargain. After visiting that parlor, I went to Toni and Guy at Megamall. To start of, let me commend their customer service. They were so accommodating and kind. They also assured me that I was going to be taken cared off. Then they gave me the cost estimate of the procedures to be done, treatment would cost 2800 PHP, the haircut 650 PHP and last but not the least the actual digiperm 8,474 PHP, that brings the entire service to a grand total of 11,924 PHP not inclusive of the tip for all the stylists. Gah! I never spent that much on my hair. I would only visit the neighborhood parlor which would charge 50-100 PHP to trim my tresses. The most was the once-in-a-blue-moon visit to Salon de Manila just because my mom was with me.

Anyway, I was actually prepared to shell out if only to be assured that I would end up happy with the results. Remember, Coach would always say, it is in the values that I will be experiencing during the entire journey of every activity. Well, at the end of the day, the Ilokana in me took over and I decided on the cheaper alternative.

Coach Rommel, my darling buddy, Eunice and Eric accompanied me to the salon. Mr. Shin was very grumpy and hardly listened to our suggestions. After trimming my hair, he told his Filipina interpreter to tell me that my virgin hair would end up damaged after this. Am I prepared? "What the?!", I was telling myself. And even Coach asked me to the last minute if I just wanted to undergo a haircut and have my hair highlighted. For some reason, even after, Mr. Shin's manner of questioning and lack of Filipino customer service, I decided to push through with the procedure and this was how it turned out:

 

 

Mr. Shin and I, he seems happy with the outcome. I definitely was ;)

So I am now happy to say that I am experiencing how it is to have soft and full curls. And so far, I am happy. I am just not that used with the care required to maintain the curls but am definitely satisfied with the change :) Thank you Coach Rommel for your white light, thank you Mr. Shin for your shrewd expertise, thank you buddy, Eunice for being there for me and my Awesome Dreamers Council, Hester and Eric- I LOVE YOU ALL and MY CURLY HAIR ;D

Values: Love, Openness, Vulnerability and Responsibility (because I chose to be economical ;p)

Activity 7: Bikram Yoga...Namaste :)

I don't have a photo of me in the actual studio doing the session because I don't think it is allowed. I actually did not even ask. I just assumed because everybody was close to being naked already and the aura of the people in the studio was serene. I did not dare disturb their peace. This was one activity I truly enjoyed. It was difficult though.

According to Wikipedia: "Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 40 °C (104 °F) with a humidity of 40%.<sup>" The difference of this practice compared to the other yoga disciplines is that the postures are done in extreme warm conditions.  I enjoyed my sessions very much. I did it twice. I actually availed of the 1 week unlimited package for first timers at the Bikram Greenhills studio but I was only able to do 2 sessions. Would I do it again? I think so. After every session, I felt rejuvenated and that my system was cleared of all the toxins in my body.

Bikram Yoga: Check! 2 sessions
Venue: Bikram Yoga, Connecticut, Greenhills
Intructors: Isabel (a darling) and Nikoy (strict)</sup>

Activity 6: Horror Flick with a Long-lost Friend ;)

I don't like getting scared. I hate watching horror movies or just anything that is remotely scary. My imagination would just run amuck! I was such a fearful person to begin with, and it would be too much to add the scary elements of Hollywood. The task was to meet up with a friend I've been meaning to see and have not and watch that movie with him. Finding the friend was easy, I immediately thought of Allan but the challenge was to watch the movie since there was none showing. So being the girl scout I was. I went to a store, bought a non-vampire seemingly scary flick and the rest is history.

Friend: Allan
Movie: After Life

 

 

 

 

Am still not a fan of horror movies but the time with my friend was worth it :)

Activity 4: Aquanaught-ing with Darling Hester :)

I am a Piscean. We have the fish as our symbol. So what is my point? I am trying to say that I love the water. When I was younger, I actually wanted to be one of those divers who swam with the dolphins when I visited Sea World and Ocean Park. Even as an adult, I love going to aqua theme parks. I love animals (except reptiles and sharks) and the water. Ironic because I can't remember when I last went to the beach or even swam on a pool. Oh well, with LEAP, I was able to translate a dream to a reality. I was able to swim with the under-the-sea creatures and the cherry on top of the icing was that I was with my newest good friend and council mate, Hester. I was actually planning on doing it alone but it was more special because I had Hester with me. It was only after the activity when Hester told me that she was claustrophobic. This made it more meaningful for me. Thank you, my darling friend. Thank you, beautiful Hester :)

 

WHOLEHEARTED.

Activity 3: Salsa in Scrubs ;)

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I was on a roll that beautiful Saturday. So when an opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it right away. When I heard of the salsa invite of the council of Coach Shale, I immediately asked my Coach if I could count this in as one of my activities already and of course, being the supportive mentor that he is, he allowed me to do so :)

And this was my salsa night. It started out funny actually because I went to the venue after work, in my uniform...my scrubs :) As I look back, this has been my staple outfit. Hahaha. I had no choice, I  work most of the time, so when an opportunity arises, I am usually in scrubs. Hmm, an afterthought though, maybe I should start bringing extra clothes in my car...

So, there I was, 15 minutes ahead of the call time of 11 PM and as I entered the establishment, people were looking at me, or so I thought, maybe they were wondering why an allied health professional was amidst the area. Could somebody be suffering from a stroke?! Hehehe.

We, Coach Shale, Riva, Madame Lorelie and Rica joined the free salsa dance lesson. Another disclaimer, I have 2 left or right feet. It really does not matter, I just am not that coordinated. To prove it, I spontaneously fall on my shoelaces, flat on my butt or if am really unlucky, on my face. Okay, to alter the belief system, I am just blessed with other talents ;) this did not stop me though. As I mentioned, awhile ago, I was on a roll. So after the lesson, we had to partner with the boys and I was fortunate to be invited to dance by this pretty boy. Please refer to the below photos:

It was okay. Okay, it felt odd. Let's just put it this way, Pretty Boy and I did not have what you call "Dance Chem"...not at all. He was very nice though. For a beginner (or so I thought! He was a professional because when he went back to the dance floor with an authentic Brazillian Salsa woman, he was moving like he was in Dancing With the Stars or some competition of that sort. The nerve! Hahahaha!), he was patiently trying to guide me but just like most ill-fitted relationships...it just ain't working ;) So I feigned being tired and went back to our table and "wallflower-ed" myself once again ;) I thought that I was never going to be able to enjoy the night as a dancing salsa diva. God had other plans ;) Amidst all the gorgeous dancers was my "dance soulmate". As we were about to leave, close to 2AM, a gracious "older man" asked me to dance. And boy did we! I was still stepping on his feet for a few minutes but after that, he led me in such a way wherein I was able to move to the beat, enjoy the rhythm and even twirl a few times ;) he and it was AWESOME ;) I had a good 20 minutes of solid dancing. It felt real good. And again please refer to the below photo. Caption this :) Meet my "Dance Soulmate" :)

 

 

If I will be profound about this experience, I was actually relating the events to my taste in men. I really prefer men who are older and who could lead the way. I am stubborn and strong-willed (just like my feet) and it takes a special and patient kind of man to be able to bring out the best in me. And with that I thank the stars for sending me my Mr.Dance Soulmate even for a few minutes ;) In hindsight, I recently heard that one must be what one requires of another person. So I guess, I should be the first person to treat myself special and with patience. And maybe, just maybe my match and I will find each other.

 

 All in all it was a fun-filled evening shared with this amazing council. Thank you to the dancing divas, Coach Shale, Riva, Madame Lorelie and Rica :) You made activity 3 just AWESOME ;)