Love It! Play It! Live It!

I stopped my work-out @ BodyMaster Gym in Takhassusi for almost two years now, because my job demands more time and I couldn’t catch up with my schedule. Our company decided to have broken time office hours. Morning from 7:30 to 12:30 and in the afternoon 4:30 to 8:30pm. Besides, I can’t find “sponsor” anymore. My ”good friend” Fahad is still in London for his college studies.

Wala naman kaming magawa, kasi desisyon ng Company. Arabs usually spare their afternoon time for siesta. Mas gusto pa nilang matulog at magpahinga after lunch kaysa magtrabaho. No wonder, maraming obese sa kanila.. Karamihan din sa mga Pinoy expats, nagiging prone na sa hypertension and other illnesses. Actually, hypertension/stroke is the main cause of death for Filipinos here in Middle East.

Last week, I had my annual medical check-up and to my surprised, my laboratory test shown that my uric acid is high. This is the first time that I had a terrible laboratory result after I stopped my regular work-out and became a couch-potato in my villa. It maybe because I had been in bad eating habits because I had no choice but to have my daily meals in our mess hall. Wala akong pagpipilian ng pagkain…. “Papaitan”, “Bopis”, Nilaga, and Bulalo…they are just few of the superfluous menu served to us. Mura kasi ang meat kaysa sa mga isda’t gulay. Not to mentioned the i-can’t-resist bunch of mixed nuts on my table, which our gay receptionist-turned-entrepreneur is so persistent that we can’t say no to his offer and buy his stuff everyday. Sino ba naman ang hindi tataas ang BP at uric acid kung araw-araw may kinakain ako habang nagtatrabaho. As a matter of fact, 3 of my officemates had been treated with hypertension and had their mild stroke just this year.

I am still fortunate that despite of my high uric acid, I was able to know it at an earlier stage, kung hindi, sabi ng doctor, baka magkaroon ako ng gout and kidney problems.. He recommended plenty of water intake and exercise.

Immediately, I asked my friend Richard if I can join him in his badminton class. Sad to say, tigil muna ang sessions nila coz they don’t have place for practice. Mahirap kasing maghanap ng available slots sa mga schools sa dami ng mga activities. Dito kasi sa Saudi, mas safe ang magkaroon ka ng indoor games sa schools lalo na pag mixed crowds, kaysa sa makipagsisikan sa mga sports centers.

At that time, I had already bought my YONEX racquet at gusto ko nang subukan ang badminton. Besides, mabilis daw na bumalik ang agility dito.

Badminton is an extremely demanding sport. At an elite level, players are often required to perform at their limits of speed, agility, flexibility, endurance and strength. On top of all of this, players must maintain a high state of concentration.

Fortunately, I was able to join other badminton club where they play regularly in one of the schools here in Riyadh.

After a month of training and assiduous weekly attendance to their practices, daily diets and abstinence from foods rich in purine, my uric acid subsided hastily. From an alarming one, now its just a little above normal.

I decided to continue my full time affiliations to the club and enjoy playing with them. As a matter of fact,, recently, we had our elections and unexpectedly, I was elected as one of the officer. Well, okey na rin yon, at least, magiging active ulit ako sa past time ko. From a cultural group before, now sa sports naman… biro ko nga sa friends ko, next time, “education” naman para kompleto na yong acronym ng DECS.

Our badminton session is every Wednesday and Thursday, but sometimes, I also attended Friday and Monday sessions sa parehong school kasi nakaka-addict talaga maglaro. This is my first time to learn how to play badminton kaya medyo marami pa akong dapat matutunan. Sooner or later, baka sumabak na rin ako sa mga tournaments. I’ve seen some of my colleagues, who are considered as Class A & B players, at talagang ang galing ng mga slices and smashes nila. Hope I can be like them in the future. Dami ko pang shuttle COCKS na dapat hawakan….pisil-pisilin…paglaruan at pagsawaan..he.he.he.he.he