Three times a sister

I used to call her Até Ethel. We were born a year apart. She was double my size for 12 years of my life in the elementary grades and I never won a wrestling match against her.

She stood up for what she knew was right even if it meant being the only student in the entire school against the imposition of Martial Law. She did this when the police officers came to our school and gathered the school population in the auditorium to lecture to us about the Martial Law, which was proclaimed just about a month earlier. She didn't flinch when questioned in front of everybody.

I was very proud of her even while I feared that she would be shot by a firing squad. 

She is my sister by birth.

*****

I used to call her Eting or Ting. She finally stopped growing and I zoomed past her. I guess she was glad wrestling was not the sport anymore or she could have tapped out easily under my arm triangle choke.

I got into medical school 2 years ahead of her. She first tried her hand at teaching in nursing school, but then decided to follow my footsteps.

Still her fearless self, she joined a frat/soro and her hazing was done by the batch that I had a hand in grilling. Through all the fear, pain and insult she kept her wits and survived.

She is my sister by birth… then she became my sister by creed.

*****  

I used to call her ‘tol. Wrestling is now out of the picture since it would be hilarious to see guys with grownup children engaged in a grappling match. I would admit too that our joints couldn't stand the activity anymore.

We were at the 4^th decade of our lives when I decided that I needed to test the doctrines that we were born into and raised. In my search I found out that the church of my birth was unbiblical in many doctrines and worse yet contradicted God’s holy word. I made the shift out of the church and sis gives me a stern lecture and tells me to stay loyal to the church.

She however gives in to my invitation to study the bible and go through the tests of truth and shockingly comes to the same conclusion as mine regarding the key issues of the Gospel.

With her husband and four kids she decided to receive the true and unperverted gospel and she is born again in the Holy Spirit.

She is a sister by birth, she became my sister by creed and now she is my sister by spiritual rebirth! Three times my sister.

Happy Birthday sis, love you!

that's our favorite wrestling arm lock :-)

The North Face Run side trips and activities

The venue for the North Face marathon was on the mountains northeast of Bangkok smack in the midst of vegetable, flower and livestock farms. This place is also known as vacation-land because of the cool weather and the attractions that abound.

We took this opportunity to tour the three most popular places: Thong Somboon Club, Palio and Chok Chai Farm.

we had the pool for ourselves... the other runners just wanted to sleep.

aboard the water horse

"oh no... i can't do this."

Jj thinks it no big deal

she loves ponies and she has a lot of pony toys and she watches pony cartoons for hours. now it's her big chance to play with real ponies and she thinks it's not as easy as when she plays with the plastic ones.

learning the basics of horse riding

"this could be better if it were done in the mud"

shuttle bus

ready for lunch

lala just trying to get the hang of it.

both these guys are in the prime of their lives.

Chok Chai farm models

these calves were separated from their lactating mothers... they were robbed of their milk so the homo sapiens could make some money.

"hi there stinking pony!"

"the biggest bull in the world!"

nice skinny cow

these sheep are really hungry

burger with bacon... i could feel my arteries clogging up.

Palio model

 some birds on a limb

 gorgeousness

 the cursed kiss... they turned into rock.

 this place is soo cool you can't stop taking photos

 the three ladies in my life

i'll come back here some day.

North Face 100 year 2013

This is the second year that the North Face staged the Ultra Marathon in Thailand and it was done in the hills of Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima, Northeastern Thailand.

At my age and physical condition I made the most of this event by running the 10K fun race with Kukie – my daughter. We did the North Face 100 also together last year in Amphawa: http://sunnimoreno.blogspot.com/2012/02/the-north-face-100k-marathon.html

Compared to all the marathons I’ve done this one is the most enjoyable. No concrete streets, no vehicles, a cloudy day, fresh unpolluted air, rolling hills, through plowed fields, rocky cow paths, sandy dried up creekbed and thorny thickets. Exactly just like the hills where I grew up as a hyperactive kid.

God’s hand was evident in the surroundings, which was the opposite of the usual marathons in downtown Bangkok were man-made structures dominate.

You may click on the photos to enlarge them.

This is what greeted us when we got to the venue

My running team: JJ and Kai - certified registered

next thing: mount bib on jersey and running chip on shoe

 Grace Izdepski

Kailee seeing us off

 Jag ready to run the 100K

 Jag, Kathy and John

 the only Filipino entry to the 100K

 

a monk blessing the runners

 Justine, Noods, Gray and Che

best dressed guy for the run

 100 and 50K runners

there they go

 10K runners waiting for the starting horn

 uphill through a plowed corn field

 down a rocky path

 down a hill

 by a pond

 over some bull shit

through a thorny thicket

 ahh... the finish line. I clocked 01:15:01 for the 10K trail and hill run. 

 I could keep on running

 Kai coming in

 that's my girl!

tired and elated

Grace and Jesse 

 a soothing rubdown

 ouch!

 stretch it girl

I ranked 9 among the 22 men in my age bracket for the 10K run... not bad for a 57-year old doggie running with a cam in hand and snapping some photos. there were 1,400 runners all in all. Thank God for the opportunity to enjoy running!