Bermuda Cup Match ‘08

    Thursday and Friday before the first of August are the biggest days in Bermuda.  Why?  For me, because it’s the only 4-day holiday I’ll ever have in the island!  But for Bermudians, it’s Cup Match!  For somebody who’s not familiar with Bermuda (like me!), it’s the chance for residents to watch a cricket match between St. George (west end) and Somerset (east end).  Remember Bermuda is an English territory so they are definitely into cricket.  I, personally, never understood the game but somebody told me that it’s a very long game that could take days to finish.  Yes, days…just like Harry Potter’s Quidditch?! 

Being a small and expensive island that it is, there are no concrete grand stands to hold this kind of event so to the Bermudians built makeshift courtside seats, which are very similar to what we have at small town events in the Philippine provinces (sans the girls in bikinis of course).  We call it palapala in Zambales.

Aside from the cricket match, it’s the only days that gambling is allowed in Bermuda.  Uh huh, another fact about this island is gambling is strictly prohibited.  Even cruise ships that pass through the island shut down their casinos because the island’s authorities enforce this law seriously.  The only game though is what they call the “Crown and Anchor”, which is basically a dice game but instead of numbers marked on each face of the die, it is symbols: crown, anchor, diamond, spade, club and heart.  It is very similar to the Philippines’ kalo-kalo sa peryahan.  You place bets on any of the symbols and if that symbol comes up, you win. 

The blue and white striped tent is where the crown and anchor tables are setup, which is exaggeratingly packed with people sweating like pigs!

G placed a few bets and won $10.  Not bad.  I pulled him away from the tables though because it was awfully hot and disgusting with all the sweat from gamblers. 

There are food vendors all over the place and of course alcoholic drink stands.  Booze would never be missing in any event here in Bermuda.  I found quite a lot of people swaggering around and it was just 2 in the afternoon!  Aside from drunk men and women, there are other sights to see like girls in bikinis, weird hats, and a wedgie here and there. 

I didn’t stay long at the field because of the heat.  But in spite of the high temperature, the sweat and the discomfort of it all, the event was still popular as evidenced by the queue of people as well as scooters outside.

We spent Sunday on the boat supposedly to watch the non-mariners’ race.  Unfortunately though, we didn’t get to the venue in time to witness it.  G says that the race features make shift rafts, which are made from materials you would never think would be used as a floating device like park benches and tables.  I think it’s pretty interesting so hopefully I’ll get to see it in the coming years. 

Anyway, we may not have seen the race but we were able to enjoy just hanging out in the water, gawk at nice boats and of course, watch people do all sorts of things.  Here are some pictures I took:

I think pretty much all of the boats in Bermuda are out today.

We drooled at this sleek boat.

All sorts of sights to see…I’m restraining myself from dropping comments…

And for sure, there are parties all over.

I had a fabulous long weekend.  Can I have more please?!

G rocks! err…cooks!

We’ve been eating too much meat lately and G knows I really love fish a lot.  Having been brought up in Zambales made me one of the greatest fans of seafood.  So to satisfy my fish craving and in our attempt to eat healthy, G decided to try our colleague’s recipe called fish in a bag.  It’s really nothing complicated.  It’s just fish wrapped in foil.  As G told me, it’s a very common recipe for westerners.  The only ingredients needed are fish (we used salmon steaks), lemon, rosemary, onion, green pepper, salt and pepper. 

The only variation of this recipe is that it has couscous in the bag too. 

I’ve never had couscous before but apparently, they say it’s very healthy. 

That’s my personal chef at work

By this time, I was really getting hungry that I was tempted to pretend it’s one big piece of sushi! Haha!

After 30 minutes or so of waiting, this is what I’ve got for dinner!

I don’t think I took a very good picture but it was really delicious!  It was very easy to prep too.  We didn’t use too much dishes so I was happy with that (I’m the dishwasher).  Oh, and the total cost to make this is only $24.00!  That’s very cheap for Bermuda.  I can never get one salmon steak for only $24.00 here!  It’s not only our tummies that got happy, our wallets too!  Yay!

getting off the road to fatness

I recently weighed myself and found out that I gained a whopping 10 pounds!!!  I say whopping because I’m definited that it’s not muscle weight gained but just a massive amount fat spread all over my body.  I used to be fat and this is the heaviest I’ve been after  I lost those fat right after my university days.  I don’t wanna go back to that body anymore.  I felt depressed and not feeling good about myself.  So G and I decided to have a change our lifestyle a bit so we both will be fit and healthy.

Our first resolution — we will be running everyday at 6am.  Yes, 6am.  Just thinking about it makes my body want to go back to bed again.  Starting it the routine was the most painful part since all my life I’ve never been an early riser and not very physically active.  But G is a very good fitness partner.  He wakes up early and calls me just to make sure I’m up too and keeps me going when I’m starting to pant and give up while running.  Our first week went well.  We were very consistent on our routine and I think my body is now looking forward to waking up early and running everyday.  After waking at 6am and running, one would think that we’d be pretty exhausted and sleepy by the time we get to work.  Quite the contrary though, I actually feel more hyper and energized after incorporating the morning runs to our routine. 

Second on our list is to take the stairs up the 6th floor after every lunch.  It seems like a little thing but I think doing it everyday will help us towards our goal of weighing less and keeping healthy.  As with running, the first time was the hardest.  I feel like my legs weigh heavier than logs after 3 flights and by the time we reach the 5th, I don’t think I could lift them any longer.  But with just one flight ahead, I suck it up and get through the last step with sweat trickling down my back.  After the climb, I feel better and I think it keeps me getting sleepy after a good meal. 

Last but not the least on our list is eating healthy.  We now watch what we eat and we try to cook more so we could have control on the calories on our food.  Aside from being healthy, it’s cheaper and I think tastes better too.  Besides, I’m getting tired of the limited choices of food here in Bermuda so this is perfect for us and recently, I think cooking is so much fun. 

We’re taking baby steps now and as with everything, it takes time.  But I’m pretty sure that if we keep our resolve and stay consistent, we’ll be successful and end up being fit and healthy at the end of the day.