south of the border

It had been over a year now since I'd gone down to Mexico to visit one of the homes that Corazon De Vida supports, so it was with a bit of welled-up anticipation that I joined about 40 or so other early risers on Saturday morning to head down past the US-Mexico border. Our destination was Hacienda Imaculada, just outside of Tijuana.

Corazon De Vida (Heart of Life) is an Irvine-based not-for-profit organization that clothe, feed, shelter, and educate the children living in the orphanages in Baja, Mexico. Currently, out of the 50 Baja shelters, CDV is supporting 14. Many of the kids living in these orphanages were mostly found living on the streets. Some were brought by their parents who do not have the resources to care for them. While others are abandoned and orphaned.

As soon as I walked into the orphanage, outstretched arms beckoned me to pick up the owners of those limbs. A five-year old boy (I think his name is Luis) immediately "adopted" me and played with me. With only a handful of adults supervising over a hundred kids, it's not surprising that Luis, like all the others, crave for some attention. While we were there, we cooked up a birthday lunch for the February birthdays, played soccer, pushed the kids on the swings, did face paintings, put together some jigsaw puzzles, and basically, just hung out with the children for a few hours.

Upon our departure, the children gathered at the front of the home and waved an enthusiastic good-bye.

Click here to find out more about CDV, the work that they do, and information on sponsoring a child.

More pics here.

kiva

My friend, Abbie, turned me on to a cool non-profit, Kiva.org, so I thought I'd share it with you too.

Kiva.org allows individuals to make $25 loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance). By doing so, individuals like you provide affordable working capital for the poor (money to buy a sewing machine, livestock, etc.), empowering them to earn their way out of poverty.

It's a new, direct and sustainable way to fight global poverty, and the way I see it, I get a higher return on $25 helping someone build a future than the interest my checking account pays.

Anyways, if you have a minute, please check out the site: http://kiva.org. If you need more "reputable" validation than my recommendation :), know that they have received great press in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to NPR to BusinessWeek.

Thanks for reading!

a lot to be thankful for...

Many of you may have noticed that I suddenly took a little hiatus from the blogging world for a couple of weeks. A lot has happened, some good, but more not so good. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but it's during this period that I've had a bit of time to ponder and reflect what was around me.

Love lost, and when I look close enough, love found, in people, in family, in life, and in the world around us. As a friend told me recently, we were given this amazing gift to love others, and for that I'm thankful.

63 minus 5 miles of x-training

My brother and his wife convinced me to join them for the Cool Breeze Century Ride in Ventura this past Saturday. We all signed up for the metric century–that is 100 kilometers or about 63 miles through Ventura, up to Ojai and back down to Ventura again. It's a beautiful and mostly flat ride punctuated by views of the ocean and vineyards and orchards along the way.

Now, I'm not a cyclist by any stretch of the imagination. I don't have a decent bike road-worthy enough to go that distance. I don't even own a cycling jersey or one of those fancy clip-on cycling shoes. But ride I did, borrowing my brother's mountain bike which was outfitted with slick tires and clipless pedals. He, on the other hand, rode his carbon fiber road bike which propelled him effortlessly up the hills and even against headwinds. My derrier, which has never been on a saddle for so long–the farthest I've gone on a training ride was only 25 miles–was complaining, but I gave it little or no mind.

I really enjoyed the ride, more than I thought I would. For the metric century, there were three rest stops at about every 15 miles or so. It's very tempting to just hang out at one of these stations as they are stocked with fruits, cookies, muffins, lemonade and even popsicles while riders rest their legs, enjoying the company of other cyclists and the ocean vistas.

There was a longish uphill section between the first and second rest stops, and I was surprised that I managed to stay pedaling. Actually the burn on my legs was not as bad as running uphill so I actually appreciated even this part of the course. Thank goodness for those low gears.

After the second rest stop, my brother and I were riding together. I didn't have to work so hard since I was drafting behind him. Then all of a sudden at about mile 40, a loud noise the sound of gun fire erupted. I saw it happen. My front tire blew out. We pulled over and upon further examination, we determined that the inner tube and tire both need to be replaced. Fortunately, a SAG wagon came by and gave me a lift about 5 miles or so to the next rest stop where they were able to put on a new tire and get me on my way to finish the ride.

63 minus 5 miles after the start, I crossed the finish line festooned with a balloon arch. My brother was there waiting, as well as several cyclists and their friends and families who cheered the finishers. I thought about raising my arms up a la Tour de France, but decided against it at the fear of losing control and falling in front of everyone. My sister-in-law was braver than I, letting go of her handle bars long enough for us to take a picture.

We enjoyed the post-race lunch, picked up our free patches, and I was on my way home.

Well after a day like that, I needed a nap to prepare for a different type of cross-training and hydration. In the evening, I went off to meet several friends for some dancing and alcohol-laced libations. With all the races and Saturday early morning training runs, I've had to miss out on some nightlife action. But not this time, and I'm glad I didn't, as some beauties and cool peeps came out to play.

This weekend, my brother and I are doing a race, this time at the Bulldog 25K. It's gonna be fun but it's also gonna be hot, hot, hot.

burrito update

I've made a pretty good dent at it, but Mr. Serious is still weighing in at close to a pound. When I opened my fridge today to have this massiveness for lunch, it looks like it actually grew. I can't even finish this thing in 24 hours. I think I may have found my 100-mile race food if I ever go that distance.

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More update:
Had more of Mr. Serious for dinner, and I finally slew the beast.

life is good

Enjoying a late summer afternoon at the beach with two beauties, Allyson and Michele. Yes, life is good. (Thanks for the photo, Michele).

Ingredients for a great day...

1 part southern california summer day
a fun trail run with friends
a barbeque/pool party at the vinmeister's house
hanging out at the beach with some cool people

Start off the day with an 18-mile morning trail run through O'Neil Regional Park with a mix of OCTR runners and the all-female contingent from the Sole Mates. Follow it up with some cannonball drops in Vinnie's awesome pool while enjoying some ice-cold Corona. Mix it up with some fresh- off-the-grill salmon and carne asada. Top off the day with a little beach volleyball and bonfire with some friends. Enjoy. Serves one :)

the fourth of july

Unfortunately, I had to miss Addy's bon voyage run on the fourth. Addy's been one of the most positive and nicest people I've met during these last few weeks. Fortunately for us OC'ers, she's a home-grown girl, so I'm sure we'll see her on these trails again when she visits her family.

Instead, I played in our annual July Fore Golf Tournament. Wouldn't think of bailing on this one. Already missed last year's because of traveling. My cousin puts it together, and it's been a little family tradition now for the last 7 or so years.

Now if only I put in as much time playing golf as I do on the trails, then trying to sink that little white ball in that little white cup wouldn't have been so embarrassing. Fortunately we only played 9 holes on an executive course, though from looking at my score, you'd think I was shooting 18 holes. It was actually a comedy of errors, with me losing 5 balls to the omnipresent Aliso Creek. All in all, it was still good fun.

In the afternoon, I went down to Eusebio's place in Dana Point for a little get together. What a host. He had a little spread on the table that would rival a Love Boat buffet. Met a few cool dudes and dudettes for the first time—Stephanie, Rachael, Michele, Flora, and Chris. Kip aka RJ and his wingman, Ivan were also there. Eusebio surprised Steph by busting out an ube birthday cake for her from Goldilocks (the pinoys' fave bake shop). Awwwh...

After filling our tummies with pancit, pasta, salmon, adobo and Kip's iced tea concoction, we walked down to the harbor to board Lola. We motored out to the ocean with several other boaters as we watched the sun setting over the horizon.

Viewing the fireworks shoot right over our heads as we're anchored just outside the harbor was an amazing experience. There was a little over a half hour delay because of tech problems, but once those pyro experts got it on, they got it on. The finale was awesome. Check it out. You can hear everyone screaming with excitement at the end.



No running today, but what a fun day it was, and a great way to celebrate the fourth. Happy Birthday, America!

Group photo courtesy of Eusebio.
July Fore graphic © 2007 JOD.