What's Up July

Oh well hello, July! I guess it's better late than never.

July is all about fitness and health for me and I mean it, in fact, I just started my low carb-high on protein and greens diet two weeks ago and so far so good because I feel less bloated. I went back to juicing detox for a month to get the junk out of my system but I started having mild headaches I decided to go easy on that and focus on my food intake instead. I really need to work hard on my diet I'm trying to avoid anything white such as rice, bread, sweets, etc. with a little help from exercise of course. Nothing comes easy but I'm sure it'll be worth it, I've done it before. 

I got all my eBay orders after a month long wait and I'm glad that they're all in good condition. I got my twin and I this real cute cat mugs (my favorite of the bunch), a nori puncher for bento making, a mermaid case for my phone and an Arabic throw blanket that I decided to hang on my bedroom wall in lieu of a headboard for my bed. There's just way too many cheap stuff on eBay but you have to be really, really patient in waiting and not in a hurry to get your orders. I enjoy free shipping though I still pay for the post office parcel fee so technically it's really not free (sigh), regardless, I'm still addicted to eBay.

eBay haul (not my pic)

Watching interesting flicks is still one of my favorite things to do and I'm glad I'm catching up on movies that I've missed. Thanks a bunch to so many online websites that offer streaming movies for free. Here are just some of the movie picks I watched recently that I'd love to recommend because they are really good ones.

Tracks (2013)

Starring Mia Waikowska and Adam Driver

Directed by John Curran

This Australian drama film chronicles the nine-month journey of Robyn Davidson in 1977 across the Australian desert to the Indian Ocean with her dog and four camels. A National Geographic photographer named Rick Smolan documents her journey.


My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think this film is really inspirational, proof that with strong determination, anything is possible.

The Kids Are Alright (2010)

Starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, and Mark Ruffalo

Directed by Lisa Cholodenco 

This film was a Sundance hit in 2010 and Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture and Annette Bening was also awarded Best Actress. Bagged the Best Picture award at the 83rd Academy Awards and four nominations too.

An LGBT American Comedy-drama film that tackles the life of an unconventional family. Nic and Jules are a married lesbian couple living in Los Angeles. Each has given birth to a child using the same sperm donor. The couple is living a quiet life until one day, Laser, their 15-year-old child thought about finding their sperm donor father but has to be 18 so he begged for his sister Joni, to contact the sperm bank which identifies Paul as the donor. The three meet, Jules and the kids eventually start spending more time with Paul that made Nic jealous. Jules denies but later on admits that she's having an affair with Paul. Paul thinks that he has fallen in love with Jules and suggests she leave Nic, bring the kids and come live with him. Jules refused Paul's offer and was able to work things out with Nic and the kids.


My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐

We have to respect that there are things in this life that we cannot change. The key to make relationships work is to forgive because we all make mistakes and we learn from them.



Okja (2016)
Starring Ahn Seo-hyun, Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Lily Collins, Steven Yeun and Jake Gyllenhaal
Directed by Bong Joon-ho


Lucy Mirando becomes the CEO of Mirando Corporation in 2007 and announces that they have been breeding a special kind of super pig. Twenty-six of the best of the best pigs will be sent to locations around the world, and ten years later, one will be crowned the winner. In the present time, a young girl named Mija lives happily with her grandfather in the countryside of South Korea along with her super pig, Okja. Mirando Corporation's spokesperson and zoologist Dr. Johnny Wilcox paid a visit and declared that Okja is the super pig and that they will take her to New York City. The story follows Mija in New York City with the help of the ALF she was able to save her super pig from being slaughtered. Mija offered the golden pig (this was given to her by her grandfather) to Nancy, Lucy's cruel twin sister, in exchange for Okja's life.  Okja was free leaving other super pigs to face their dreadful fate.


My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Animal cruelty still exists. As long as there is high demand for animal meat consumption this will go on, it's a sad reality.



The Gifted (2017)
Starring Chris Evans, McKenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, and Octavia Spencer
Directed by Marc Webb


Frank Adler is a single man raising a child prodigy - his spirited 7-year-old niece Mary, in a small town near Tampa, Florida. Frank's plans for a normal school life for Mary are smashed when her mathematical abilities come to the attention of his sinister mother, Evelyn, whose plans for her granddaughter threaten to separate Frank and Mary. 

My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Heart-warming, this film will leave you teary-eyed. Love knows no boundaries, one doesn't have to be a parent to protect someone dear to him/her.



A Street Cat Named Bob (2016)
Starring Luke Treadaway, Ruta Gedmintas, Joanne Froggatt, Anthony Head, and Bob the Cat as himself
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode


A British biographical drama film based on the International best selling book about how a street cat named Bob rescued James Bowen, a homeless and recovering heroin addict.


My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Unapologetically heartwarming, indeed. As a cat lover, what's not to love about this film? I've always believed that animals have the power to help humans heal.

Good food, Bad service

I had a real good workout earlier I sweat out a lot and it felt good. The gym isn't crowded but my twin sissy and I were not able to jog around some guys are playing badminton on the other side of the court I'm afraid I might get hit by a racket. I like working out on a Sunday so I a different trainer for a change hehe. 

It's lunch time when we finished our work out I have to buy stuff at the local mall called MP in Kalentong, Mandaluyong we went there after. Outside this mini mall we saw Mang Inasal's (Ilonggo for Mr.Barbeque) signage we decided to check it out. After the lady at the cashier took our order she informed us a little too late that they don't have available table for 2 anymore. The second floor is close for renovation so she suggested we share a table with other customers and we don't like that. It's not like we're being "difficult" or anything, we just don't like eating with strangers, period. The place is really crowded their tables aren't big enough it'll be really uncomfortable. We decided to have our food to go and ate it as soon as we got home. It would help if we're advised ahead of time that there are no more tables but I think it was done intentionally not to drive customer's away, talk about poor customer service. We're so stuffed we had movie marathon after and munched on chips that we bought from Mini Stop. I'm not worried eating junk once in a while we make sure we eat something healthy for the most part anyway.

DIY-ing

It's a rainy afternoon. I just woke up an hour and a half ago I got home past three in the morning from yesterday's shift.


I recycled the leftover brown rice from the fridge last Sunday so it won't get spoiled. I fried and topped it with corned beef and mixed vegetable. That's it, lunch is served! I still have some for my sister when she comes home for dinner. I stopped eating white rice not because it's not healthy since it has its own benefits but simply because my APE  (annual physical exam) result tells me that i need high fiber diet so I did a little research and found out that brown rice is rich in fiber which is what I exactly needed.


So much of the diet thingy, our kitchen faucet handle was broken we bought a new one but don't have the proper tools to replace it. Sissy thought she can do it apparently it wasn't as simple as she thought it would be. Since we can't use the faucet we filled our empty water container with non-distilled water that we can use to wash the dishes, it's kinda like our DIY temporary faucet.

Siomai Sharksfin

At last Sat-Sun off. Sissy and I worked out together earlier yay! Since it's my first time to go to the gym on a weekend I didn't realize that it's a busy day there. It's a weekend, what was I thinking? or maybe it was lack of sleep that's why I missed that everyone has time to work out on weekends. I just had two hours of sleep before working out my Friday shift is 5PM-2AM I got home past 3AM. 




There's quite a number of people when we arrived in Elorde good thing we knew the drill already so there's no time wasted. It felt good to shake off those fats again. I skipped boxing for a week and have not eaten rice for a week too so I did today. I craved for Mini-Stop's Sharksfin meal (yum!) for lunch. I know, some people wouldn't last a day without carbs so imagine how I survived a week. well, I just did or let's just say it's a matter of discipline especially if you're aiming to lose five pounds in two weeks. Suicide? hell no, anything is possible. 

Diet Freak

This day is about to end and I'm a little tired, tired, tired. First off my  rest day won't be complete without my boxing workout at Elorde to keep me fit. I headed straight to Antipolo church after my shift on Sunday then spent my leave in our house there so I had to set aside my diet for a while. I couldn't say no to home cooked food so I tried eating in moderation however, my two year old niece keep offering me snacks while i'm busy checking up our old pc then come dinner my other niece who's a real good cook served pork adobo by then I realized that I have to say goodbye to my diet for a while. I checked my weight earlier and as expected I gained a couple of pounds, geez! But I'm not discouraged by my weight gain and I'll continue with my work out and fruit diet. My goal is to lose 5 more pounds. 

Anyhow, I edited and uploaded pics from my DSLR camera, did some cleaning and laundry too. I sweat out a bucket like I did when I worked out earlier it's so freakin' hot I thought summer is over. 

Our broken window was finally fixed by our manong guard/jack of all trade, thank God because rainy days are here again and we don't want to invite rainshowers inside our room.