Now
This is a log book of what I am exploring and thinking about.
August, 2025
I am slowly diving deep into the Oracle GoldenGate product, from an on-premise implementation to its OCI PaaS derivative.
I was told early on that I need to start learning the product because there will be lots of projects requiring skills for this in the coming months. I finished training on it, and even got certified for it.
Oracle GoldenGate was not new to me - my first implementation of it was back in 2016, when a project requires it for data replication to a data warehouse. I was using version 12c back then, and it was still the classic architecture.
Now I found myself surrounded with articles on the said product, including best practices and HA/DR design patterns and I like where I am headed. Sure, the product comes with its own share of headaches, but at least in this case I am learning something new everyday. Plus it’s good that I have access to its product managers who were very helpful in answering questions, even if some of those were already explained in their documentation.
I am sure that at some point I’ll find some inadequacies with my designs implementing this, but I hope that we can get past those and be able to implement them well. I look forward to learning more of this product.
July, 2025
I finished my first solo Audax 200km today. I have been training in secret for weeks leading to this event because I want to prove to myself that I can do long distance cycling. The organizers picked the original Audax Batangas 200km route that was launched around 2022-2023, before the bridge collapsed.
My plan was simple. Follow my own pace.
This is the reason why I didn’t tell my friends that I will be joining the Audax Batangas. Actually I already told them a number of times but they simply forgot. When they asked the last time I no longer responded.
Based on my recent experience riding with them they would always go fast and leave me behind. If I am familiar with the route that’s fine. But I have the tendency to get lost all the time so imagine the horror if I missed a turn. Because I am afraid to get left behind I tend to play catch up.
But it’s tiring to catch up and I am not having it in my first Audax.
Plus they love to take long breaks and I don’t want to risk missing the cutoff so I decided to ride on my own.
I knew Audax will humble me so I didn’t give it a chance to do so. I started slow and followed my route.
I know there’s a big climb coming back so I thought I don’t need to waste my energy going at my limit on the flat parts of the route.
I was able to reach the checkpoints and got my QR code scanned. There’s one guy who followed my slipstream as we reached the first checkpoint. He also pulled but since I have the route loaded I led the way. After the first checkpoint he said I could join them but decided to do my own pace.
I caught up with Melvin, Joel and Kuya Edwin at the second checkpoint. But I decided to move ahead.
We even saw one another from Laiya and after reaching the intersection going back to Candelaria I decided to have lunch instead of trying myself to reach Janine there. It’s hard to eat. I can’t swallow my food. But I had to eat something.
After lunch I reached the next checkpoint and found Janine. At last we were able to catch up. I saw her meters away from the second checkpoint and I thought we’d meet on Laiya checkpoint, but it turns out she decided to go to Candelaria instead. That’s where I took some drinks and food.
After that she said she’ll be back to the finish line so I am on my own. I am already cramping. But the pain subsides when I spray magnesium which Janine bought for me.
All the way I was going 15-17kph. Crawling but non stop.
I reached the climb and prepared before I went up. Drank two bottles of soft drinks. Managed to survive the steep parts of the climb with controlled diaphragmatic breathing.
After reaching the secret checkpoint I got a second wind and managed to power through the last 10 kilometers. At least until there’s 4km remaining when both thighs cramped so hard. I was able to unclip my right food but the left one was stuck as I fell on my right side. I was lucky that someone helped me get out my left foot from the shoes and stretched my leg. I had to lie down awkwardly at the pavement while people kept looking at me. Glad that some of them showed concern. But basically i can’t move my legs anymore. I reached out for the magnesium spray on my handlebar bag and sprayed on my thighs. That spray is amazing - I was able to stand up almost right away after that! I thanked the guy who helped me and went on my way. I went easy this time and cruised my way back to the finish line.
Success. Thank you God for keeping me safe. I may have crashed and fell but aside from my sore thighs I am not injured or anything. I don’t feel embarrassed lying there on the side of the road.
Even if I am on my own I am glad. I am glad that I don’t have to play catchup to anyone.
That’s the whole point of this solo Audax ride. I am done chasing people.
I am so glad to have my wife in this event though. She endured so much just to support me. I appreciate her very much. I don’t feel like putting her on the same situation again but knowing she’s around makes me feel confident that I could finish this.
And I did in 11:48 hours. Not bad for my first time.
February, 2025
My wife and I visited Puerto Princesa, Palawan, for our second wedding anniversary. It was my first time there, and I’m really glad we went.
Island hopping was the highlight of the trip, though I might bring earplugs next time. I also took my first high dive into the water and loved it so much that I did it three times. I used to fear the water because my father would dunk me in Manila Bay, thinking it would help my asthma. I still have asthma, but at least I enjoy deep waters now—as long as I have a life vest.
I captured some underwater footage with my Insta360 Go 3. I held onto it tightly, afraid I’d drop it for good. The X4 is tempting, but I still love the Go 3.
Grateful to my wife for convincing me to go. Hoping for more travels this year!
January, 2025
This is my first post on this page, which aims to provide a thought log without requiring a proper post. I still don’t know how often I would write here, but I am guessing one paragraph per week1? I don’t want to turn this into a blog, but it might come to that.
I am slowly getting back to the saddle after months of rest. Happy to see my resting heart rate going at 56-60 bpm2 even without taking the “as-needed” medication.
I bought a new table top for my standing desk which is deeper than what I already have. The one that I have right now is 140cm x 60cm in Maple Red color way. The new one I intend to replace my current table top is in White Oak, measuring to 140cm x 80cm. I don’t have much space for a wider desk - although I need more depth so I can rest my arms while typing. I just need a good cable management solution which doesn’t break the bank.
Speaking of bank-breaking opportunity, I just discovered TrainingPeaks Virtual which is going to surely compete with Zwift. I used to have TrainingPeaks Premium for my training plans and Zwift for the virtual ride component. I find it too costly to pay for both when I can just use my Wahoo head unit (it can be boring as heck, but it’s cheaper) so I stopped my Zwift subscription. The good thing I see in TP Virtual so far is that it estimates the FTP based on the ride made (not sure if Zwift already does that). And since my training plans are already in TrainingPeaks, it’s a straightforward integration. I hope they start importing to Garmin and Wahoo.
TP Virtual is going to be a free offering until March 2025. After that it will be part of TrainingPeaks Premium. Is it time to get Premium? Hmmm
I just tried doing a tempo ride today but I can only manage to finish one set. I can’t remember the last time I managed to complete a tempo training ride. Maybe it’s because I get bored real fast, which is why my mind is already conscious of the pain in my legs.
Updated this site to Astro 5. The typical upgrade via npx didn’t work, so I tried the following command which worked perfect:
npm install @astrojs/starlight@0.30.3 astro@5.1.2 --legacy-peer-depsIt also helps reading the documentation on what files to change. Good thing that this site is versioned so if anything breaks on my local machine I could just rollback and try again.