Stallions - Seating at the Top.

Sunday Club, November 22, 09 -- The Dela Fuente Fighting Stallions defeated Team Black (defending champions) in an intense battle for the 1st place.

Warming up -- players were at the court prior an hour to start.

Black Team started the game with a 'fast and the furious' tempo that gave them the 8-0 run at the first 4 minutes of the 1st quarter. Jag Galvez, the 5'11 power forward, answered the call for the Stallions and scored the first 4 points for his team which broke the cold start of the Fighting Stallions. From there, Wilson De Leon started to rally the team with his scoring prowess along with Bong Iranga. Though the Stallions has came back into the ball game, Elmer Galvez gave up 4 hard fouls to the key guards of the Team Black, however it will be harder for his team if he'll be gone too soon, hence all the fouls committed was intended for a psy-war.

Joseph Aguilar taking matters on his own hands.

Second quarter was one fierce quarter as both teams had a deadlock twice at 35-35 and 48-48. The Stallions managed to catch up but Team Black was refusing to give up the lead as they keep on paddling their own boat ahead. Asi Nodalo had a hard time hitting the 'gimmes' under the basket because of his knee complication and yet to credit the tall defense of Team Black at the interior. Speaking of another injury, JR Nodalo's scoring was greatly affected by his hand injury which evidently lessen his scoring. With the injuries weathered the Stallions, Joseph Aguilar decided to take over with his 'Esquerra-esque' moves in order to keep the scoring within par against the opposing team, thus perfected his shots at the freethrow line that makes the ball game so close to begin the 2nd half.

Wilson De Leon started the 3rd quarter strong with a lot of penetrations into the defense, scoring, and dishing out assists to his teammates. He was everywhere at the court as his defensive game clicked as well but an unfortunate foul was called into an all-ball block which transpired to a warning to a technical foul by a suspected impartial referee. The momentum was suddenly turned into the Team Black's favor and started to afflict the presence of their defense -- they blocked two consecutive attempts at the shaded area, Lito Dula, Team Black's head coach, was taunting at the top of his lungs on the bench. The game was momentarily stopped as commissioner Armel talked to both coaches of the teams to get rid of the trash talking because the heated game might turned out to be ugly and just leave the talking to the fans. The game resumed -- it spelled a man's defensive stand as both teams were not giving up easy baskets as fouls were accumulated towards the final quarter.

4th quarter was aced by the Stallions. The Nodalo trio started to contribute significantly; Asi Nodalo were starting to hit his post up shots, defensive guard Buboy Nodalo was making it hard for the backcourt players of the Team Black and hence shared a handful of assists, and JR Nodalo manoeuvered and scored an 'its over' drive over the Team Black's defense which was the nail to the coffin. A collective effort of the Stallions were greatly shown as they made the defending champions tapped out at the final strech of the ball game.

Numero uno!

It was 92-82 win for the Dela Fuente Fighting Stallions, the team took the throne at the 1 spot, guaranteed with a twice to beat advantage at the up coming final four.

Fun Day Sunday!

Happy 46th birthday to my mom last Sunday! Furthermore.. Manny Pacquiao won, i got to wear my new footwear, and well-celebrated birthday..that's what you call a day!

My new Nike sneaker, the skin is made out of jeans, given by my dad!

Just like the Pacquiao-Hatton fight early this year, we were there again to watch the Pacquiao-Cotto fight live at Access Point Bar & Restaurant. The place is so relaxing as it seats on the residential area of Scout Borromeo St. Near Pier 1, Tomas Morato, Quezon city.

The warm ambience of the bamboo walls, breezing cool trees on the surroundings, and delicious Filipino delicacies are what makes the place a haven. Also alcohol drinks are much available at the bar station. It's the place to be if you want to watch live sport events at it's finest with an affordable price.

With family and friends after the breakfast, undercard fights was boring. Why not take a picture? (Credits to Malu Mendoza for the picture.)

Til next time.. Congratulations Manny Pacquiao! Your worth is more than the titles that you have in your belt, continue to make our country proud, mabuhay Pilipinas! You are next Gayweather.

Out of the BLUE!

Saturday, Sunday Club - Team Blue took out the Fighting Stallions in a forgetful margin. Deja vu? Again, the first team that imposed a lose to the Stallions' flourishing record, same 1pm schedule, and the manner of defeat. Fate? It could be.. But in the eye of basketball logic, it is not.

The first problem is the team was drowning in confidence. We overlooked that we're playing against the first runner-ups last conference, they're not from Las Vegas but indeed from San Jose so don't incorporate luck to their brand of game, and they've proven us that they can DEFEAT us in black and white which simply implies that they're for real.

We need to go back to the drawing board in order to adjust our mistakes:

1. Bad decisions were clear as white, as basketball fundamentals was merely forgotten. Cross-court passes/dangerous passes was translated to countless turnovers and yet scoring opportunities for Team Blue. Passing to a nearby teammate will not hurt.

2. With passes can't connect, Forcing the issue is not the smartest thing to do. A lone wolf has a 0% chance of winning against a pack of wolves. With good spacing and patience, we'll be able to have better looks with a good pass or two. I'm sure we don't want to dig our own graves.

3. Horse Mask, even Michael Jordan has Scottie Pippen as his partner, somtimes even trusted Dennis Rodman's cuts into the rim, and assisted Steve Kerr one of the most important shots in the history of the Chicago Bulls. Let's just accept that fact that bastketball is a team game. Come on, we're better than that!

4. Stallion's Defense, we're known to be the roughest defenders in the league but the basic box-out was neglected, as it caused a lot of second chance points that killed us in the 2nd quarter courtesy of Team Blue's, 6'3 center, Friedlander. And yet, our zone defense had a lot of loop holes as the top defenders were committing so early with the offensive player who has the ball at the top of the key which makes the other side of the defense open. We can't afford to be exploited because of our defensive mistakes, we are the tallest/largest team in the league, let's wisely utilize our advantages against our opponents, the size of the court is on our side.

Against Team Black next weekend. I know we'll be physically and mentally adjusted. Let's keep the faith guys.

Stallions in Full Throttle!

Stallions Basketball is on a roll so far with a 4-0 flawless record. After the traditional opening game winner against Team Yellow (3rd time in a row), the Stallions started to move forward to grab the goal of 'no less than a championship' thus won the following three games against Team Green, Vendors, and Red.

Joseph Aguilar receiving instructions from playing coach Elmer Galvez before the game starts. How is he going to fit in within the circle?

Team Green was the 1st season's 1st runner-up. Their ace player 'Buljak' was re-signed by the team in order to put up a fight once again this season as they were downed to the 8th place which was the worst last season. Team Green also acquired Grimares who was a former teammate of Joseph Aguilar from the Blue team of the 1st season who is a top gun to consider. With good recruits, Team Green fared well against the Stallions.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen - it was a war that occurred. The game ended with two casualities from the Team Green; one with an ankle sprain and the other has suffered a knee injury. Also, some Stallions took it up close with Team Green star player 'Buljak' -- Buboy Nodalo, shoved his shoulder after fouling out, same with Nanat Aguilar who spitted on his face on his final foul, Wilson De Leon also almost had a fight when the game was halt because the basketball game might turned out to be a riot between the two teams. Allan Zamora, Team Green's head coach, instigated a walk-out but failed after being conferred by the commissioners. The aftermath was a point lead for the Fighting Stallions, a hard fought victory.

The following game day was a good day to walk in a park. The Fighting Stallions man-handled Team Vendors with a 51 point lead! Enough said.

Lighting never strikes twice in the same place -- and it did! Team Red knocked-out the Fighting Stallions on a twice-to-beat advantage, twice in a row, beaten twice in two consecutive seasons on a play-off. A clear testament of 'speed kills' but the Stallions don't have plans anymore of losing this conference.

The game ended 89-87 in favor of the Stallions. It was an intense game that made a lot of players fouled-out; 4 players from the Red Team and a player from the Stallions. Team Red always 'put their best foot forward' through applying a full-court pressure on any team because their team is composed of agile players and it worked wonders against the Stallions which was evident with the results of the play-off games.

Given that the Red Team is a fast team, Stallions had surprised them with a counter full-court pressure which off-balanced their offense. Credits to Buboy Nodalo, Nanat, and Joseph Aguilar whom played a ragged defense at the backcourt that made the depleted line-up of Red Team worn out. As players from the Red Team was in foul trouble and some were fouled-out, it was Don-Don Nodalo and Bong Iranga, Stallions' giants, whom dominated the inside. The Red Team was never giving in as they were still ahead by two points at the last minute. The defense worked out well further for the Stallions -- the last seconds was crucial as Bong Iranga basket two important put-backs on the crunch that put the Stallions ahead and finally snatched the victory over the Team Red at the final buzzer.

Tomorrow is going to be against the team that beaten the Stallions last conference at the elimination round. Team Blue took the 1st runner up at the first conference this season. Let's go for a bounce back and show them that they only lucked-out, a convincing win for pride! GO STALLIONS!

Fighting Stallions Prevailed!

Siberian dog brought at the court as a muse - lovely isn't it?

DLF Fighting Stallions (White team) won three consecutive opening games against the Yellow team, maybe next year again, perhaps it's a tradition in the making..

92-86 was the final score tonight. No less than a championship is the target of the team this conference and we did it right in the on set. Good luck to us next weekend! (:

SEAIR is the colors of Asia!

It's my first time to come aboard with Seair which took me safe to my many 'first time' in Boracay. The Bora-escapade was an unforgettable trip, honestly I can't get enough of it until now, perhaps that's how the astonishment of the whole journey had rid of me..

Dornier 328 at Caticlan airport.

The carrier that flew us to the paradise was Seair! An airline which caters regional flights all over the Philippines. A month before the flight, I was thinking twice if I'll still go on with the Seair because of the incidents that they were involved several months ago which is really alarming for me as a passenger but all of the worries suddenly vanished when we were handled delicately at the airport by their ground staff, having a cue that the rest will going to be alright as well.

A shuttle bus conveyed us safely to the place where the airplane was parked and then by the stair, I was greeted by a warm smile of the welcoming flight attendant on the door step of the cabin which was I found so nice. The routine explanation of the safety procedure was clearly and properly narrated and the rest was history.

After the snaack ~ Flavorish nuts!

Even though there was a delayed for about half hour of my return flight to Manila, Seair's services was a compromise to consider. The shuttle services at the Caticlan airport exclusively for the Seair passengers is great -- instead of letting their passengers commute by themselves, Seair provided a bus to hand a seat.

Unfortunately we weren't able to avail the free back and forth boat ride to the island of Bora because we were unaware of the priveledges from Seair. A good pack of treats but it's our ignorance's fault (we'll exert effort next time to ask) so nothing to take away from the commendable services of Seair. Thumbs up!

MY BORA EXPERIENCE!

Flight's final approach to the Caticlan Airport, Boracay at glance.

It's my first time to visit the beautiful island of Boracay. The visit informed me a few little facts about the flourishing paradise; 35 minute distance from Manila via plane travel (faster than a taxi ride from Caloocan to our house in Sampaloc, Manila..wow), Bora is still part of Luzon, it's under the province of Aklan, 70% in Bora are foreigners especially koreans, and every move spells money but nonetheless it's a 5 star tourist spot, worthy of it.

..After the flight, a shuttle bus (thanks to Seair) at the Godofredo Ramos, Caticlan airport awaited to escort us towards the port for a 10 minute boat ride onto the main island of Boracay.

Finally.. A stepped to the flawless white sand.

The best beach I've ever seen in my entire life. Funny thing is I was startled -- I haven't seen the rest to enjoy but I've immediately told myself, "definitely I'll be back here", such an alluring place, now I know why Boracay is a world class attraction.

The white sand is powder-like which so soft and comfortable to step on. I've seen several tourists don't mind wearing footwears, they preferred to feel the soothing sand instead. The beach water is like a shade of aquamarine.. So crystal clear, a perfection of beauty and yet with the white sand, it is indeed.

Bora is unbelievable and so as the food.

Our eyes were so full of wonderful sceneries, however we also need to feed our tummies with delicious Bora delicacies. Pasta ala Marinara didn't fail my italian craving along with a lot more; fettucini alfredo, pizza, chicken, mojos, and many more island food which derailed my diet. The island is so perfect, thus the beautiful sultry weather dictates anything cold to quench the thirst.

The classic-talk about Jonah's Fruitshake is a part of the Bora experience which can't be missed. Whoever Jonah is, it's the best in the island, and if you fail to have their refreshing drinks, perhaps your bora journey I must say is incomplete. Lucky us! (:

The Paraw is a double outrigger sail boat found in the Philippines.

There are more to Boracay than the beach and the food. The water activities are imperative to indulge. We enjoyed the Paraw Sailing at the sunset, even though we sat at the edge wing which is a bit uncomfortable (it's my butt only) but I wasn't able to to notice it actually when it started to sail towards the clear outskirt. The paraw navigates along with other paraws wandering at the calm sea water intending to project a nice Boracay point of view from the sea. It's a wonderful pleasure to ride the classic Paraw boats of Aklan.

Viewing the coral reef and feeding fishes -- isn't awesome?

Island hoping and snorkeling took us to an another fun adventure at Bora. It took us 3 hours to finish the trip. We circled the whole island and seen the Crocodile Island (crocodile shaped island), Puca beach which is so beautiful, it's located at the other side of the Bora proper, The Pearl of the Pacific island which is a private island full of adventerous caves. We also passed by the Pacquiao Mansion and Shangri-La Boracay for some nice pictures. After sometime, we were able to snorkel at the astonishing coral reef and yet fed some colorful fishes underneath. A floating buko boat was so cool! It arrived to rehydrate us after a long fun water activity. The whole island hoping experience was such a splendid!

Boracay is really the gateway to paradise. From head to toe, vise versa, everything is marvelous. I've said enough perhaps.. It is such an unforgettable experience. A world class beach in the Philippines! The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be! (: