Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Deliciously Healthy Memories

Trading stories over lunch
Three young male teachers of Poveda where boisterously chatting at Kenny Roger's Galleria, lunchtime at the first week of classes.
Teacher 1: Pare, I asked this pretty student of mine to define Economics. Her face was so angelic and her accent so charming I completely did not hear what she said. I paused stupidly - completely mesmerized - for probably 10 seconds after she finished. Dyahe pare.
Teacher 2. Di ka pa ba sanay sa magagandang estudyante, pare? Why, our students can be commercial models!
Teacher 3. Basta alam ko crush ako ng mga estudyante ko. Ako yata ang pinaka-gwapo sa ating tatlo.
Teacher 1 and 2: Ulol !
-o-

Bonding over Food

Poveda teacher 1 could no longer stand the onslaugth of bright and beautiful high school students so he decided to enter a commercial bank. Clueless in the ways of the private, corporate world, he tried to observe the ways of his co-employees. One time a female colleague invited him to join her barkda for after office dinner at Kenny's. Over ribs, corn and carrots, and loads of office gossip and banter, a long-lasting friendship was formed.

-o-

In love with Ribs

Makati yuppie and Diliman girl have known each other since graduate school. They hit it off immediately, but their friendship soured when the guy began to court the girl. The girl would suddenly evade the guy, who was perplexed. Three years after they would reconnect - over roasted ribs at Kenny Roger's Galleria. Kenny's would later be their default place for pre-movie dinner dates.

-o-

Comfort muffins

The Makati yuppie suddenly found himself working in Ortigas and staying in a condo in Shaw. On nights when work was stressful or rains were heavy, he would seek comfort in those luscious corn muffins of Kenny Roger's along Shaw Boulevard, devoured along with roast chicken or ribs.

-o-

Pasta Perfect

The stress of corporate world has eaten into yuppie. He decided to run again, soon becoming a runner-blogger. In one carbo-loading party, runner-blogger-cum-party host finally got the chance to have pasta dinner while Kenny Roger's endorser Marc Nelson poses for pictures with runner fans. He was hungry, yes, but it was best pasta with meatballs he had for a long time. He would have wanted to devour more pasta but he had to go back to being event host and gamemaster.

-o-

The Sweetest Thing


Sometime before he resumed running yuppie was dragged by his officemate to a different kind of wedding practice. In lieu of giving wedding souvenirs, the couple decided to throw a party and give donation to an orphanage. There yuppie would taste Pasta Filippini - the sweet, home-cooked, catsup-laden spaghetti that evokes memories of children's parties and rural fiestas. Yuppie loved it not only for its simple sweetness, but for all the good intentions and memories that go with it.



Yuppie thought it would be a boring Saturday afternoon event. But faced with all those beaming kids, dressed in their best clothes and all eager for affection, it was a Saturday well spent after all. The kids and their caretakers would later thank the couple and their volunteer friends. In his heart, volunteer yuppie thanked the kids more.

-o-

The Loyal Supporter

Kenny's partnered with takbo.ph to bring us a 250-runner strong carbo-loading party,
feeding us and subsidizing our singlets and party venue.



In the party we tried to bring running icons and bloggers together


-o-

Time has come to celebrate what we have become


From fat, hypertensive try-athlete (Sep 2008)

...to slimmer, healthier marathoner (July 2009)


Growing from this: Takbo.ph at the UP Ictus Run (Dec 2008)

To this: Takbo.ph at the Globe Run for Home (July 2009)




Time to Create New Memories

As we Eat. Help. Run
For Php600 pesos,
I get to Eat my comfort foods,
Donate funds to kids of Hands On Manila and the 57:75 Movement,
and Run the distance of my choice (5k, 10K and 15K), night-time!



Visit Kenny's and takbo.ph for details of the run


Kenny's Urbanite Run

For Deliciously Healthy Memories


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

haha..nice one, Rico! since when did you become a Kenny Rogers endorser?:-)Since the Condura CLP, i have been frequenting KR for their pasta and muffins too. Sarap!

Rico Villanueva said...

Rene, ayos ba? Haha. I have been aspiring to replace Marc Nelson as Kenny Roger's endorser since the Condura CLP. I hope this works! Haha.

Seriously, I did this in appreciation of the support of Kenny's in takbo.ph's endeavors and runners in general.

The Traveling Mom said...

Ico parang kilala ko yung girl na yon, student sa poveda... 2 batches lower sa kin. :P sayang di kita naging teacher sa poveda, siguro alaskado ka sa batch ko. (joke!) pero naging boss (at magaling na boss pa!) hehe sip sip ba?

i'm looking forward to this run. hope to see you (kahit na i'll be doing 5k!)

Jinoe said...

Nice one Rico. Habang lumiliit ka, lumalaki naman tayo sa Takbo.ph :D

Gingerbreadman said...

Very very nice. Your creativity is blossoming with every new entry. Nicely tied down in the end. I like it Mr. Kenny endorser Poveda man :P

Cheers,
Luis

RPA said...

*sniff* nice one, idol! =)

Rico Villanueva said...

Lorena, the batch 2 levels below you had a lot of pretty faces, but this girl was actually from an even lower batch. Hehe. Funny I would also meet former student Denise Haak (now Luchanco) at the bloggers night for this run. Denise handles event management for the Kenny's Open.

Jinoe, sana lumaki pa lalo ang Takbo.ph para mas lumiit ang body fat ko. Hehe.

Luis, thanks. Lots of ideas but can't find time to write them all. Even had a very funny Milo entry sana but had no time to compose it. Blogging is harder than running a marathon. Hehe.

Rod, sniff is for the food, or for the memories? Hehe. I sincerely miss your blog humor. That humor is yours and yours alone.

Ian said...

Go yuppie!! very inspiring... makes me wanna register for Urbanite run right this very moment.. pero it's late.. tomorrow na lang..

Anonymous said...

Delightfully nostalgic vignettes, Rico! :)

carlo said...

what can i say... this was WELL-MADE. =)

beth said...

Thank you, Mr.Villanueva, for this blog, for expressing your appreciation to all our efforts. It makes us even more inspired to do our best in everything we do. See you in Kenny's Urbanite Run! - Beth, KR Sr. Mktg Officer

Unknown said...

wow very nice story to reminisce plus the comfort food!! free endorsement pa ang Kenny =D

Anonymous said...

Nice endorsement. Very convincing, now I'm a KR fan :)

Rico Villanueva said...

Ian, register na! I am planning to do the 10K. Hopefully maka-PR. Hehe.

Thanks runradio. Excited to hear beautiful stories, interviews, music, etc from you :-)

Thank Carlo. Magandang memory if we can both break the sub-60 10K here in the Urbanite :-)

Hi Beth. Thanks for taking time to read and comment on this blog. We really appreciate what you do for us runners. I am really looking forward to race, donate, EAT and PARTY!

Hello Julie. Sarap mag-reminisce ano? Nagutom nga ako doing this. :-)

Hello gleeman. Ok ba endorsement? Convincing kasi totoo lahat yan! I've always been a KR fan :-)

RUNNING DIVA said...

Nice photos RicoV. :D Nice photos. I agree with Jinoe. Habang pumapayat ka lumulobo naman kami. :D You're getting slimmer and slimmer na talaga. Walang bola! Naks! Burger! ;)

Rico Villanueva said...

Thanks Roselle...Yung burger kapag kasing-slim na ako ng elite runner. Haha.