Guys will be guys!

GeoTagged, [N1.30861, W103.67215]

Fight for the captain's ball not over the game of captain's ball... What a joke!

Damn unlucky!

I need to learn how to tie knots again man

2km more to go

GeoTagged, [N1.27644, W103.62316]

It's here! I nearly cried at this point! I've made it here ! Two more km .. And I can go have my breakfast cum lunch.. No matter how hard i've try, I can't lift my legs to jog .. Not even at the sound of cheers and horns.. Then it happened .. I passed the finishing line!!! At the last 100 m, I mustered all the last remaining strength and courage to 'sprint' to the finishing line, with a 'smile' too! I seriously told myself.. No more man , no more!

Less than 10km to go!!

GeoTagged, [N1.26917, W103.60506]

With a strict diet of water, isotonic drink, power gels & bananas, I managed to reach this ironic milestone.. Neither here nor there, cannot turn back and another 1hours or so more!!!

I will survive

Push on.. Run,jog,walk,crawl whatever it takes to cross the finishing line was what I constantly shouted to myself!!! With a shrill combination of jog & brisk walk I made it to the 21 km turning point.. Now the real challenge starts ! Before the race I told myself, at my pace I need at least 5hrs to cross the finish line. Therefore mentally I told myself to just drift away before daybreaks so as to 'waste some time' my legs are cramping up badly with each step.. When I try to run, my thigh cramped. When I try to jog, my inner thigh cramped. When I do brisk walk, my calves and hamstring cramped. Lol!

Slow and steady..

Along the way, I maintained a steady pace.. And i've encouraged a whole deal of racers to strive on by giving them a pat on their backs.. Boy! You can see their tired demeanor morph into a smile! To be realistic, I know my body could not take the beating of 42km thus I decided to split the KM into segments, 3 segments of 15kms each. Never did I know that upon reaching the 15 km mark, the cramps had dwarfed on me.. I was a poor soul in need of tiger balm or relaxant spray! Thus I half staggered to the first aid tent which was damned far btw for some relief.. At that point I knew that my legs were gone.. And I was damned dehydrated! But I have a whole deal in front of me.. At least 30km more!!!

Woopee it's over ..

Yeah! I've accomplished the goals that I've set for myself at the start of this year. That is to complete a triathlon and a full marathon. The event of the year- standard chartered Singapore marathon 2009. I've completed it in 6hrs. It was a early morning for me on the race day. I've had to wake up at 3.30am so as to catch the shuttle bus to the venue from cck stadium at 4am. Free bus ride in the end due to some cock up. Reached the Padang. Walked towards the esplanade to look a toilet.. But to no avail so had to make do at a nearby bush. At 5.15am, got ready at the starting point to flag off.. The feeling was nervous and surreal as this is it.. No turning back now! Got ready my mp3 player.. Final min.. Silence in the crowd.. And off we go!

Power of a smile...

Females are often deemed as the weaker sex. The main reason before the saying could be because they are physically disadvantaged when compared to their male counterparts. However modern female has many "weapons" to their disposal. One of them is a smile, a generous smile shared by none. A therapeutic effect to a tired soul of a man after a whole night of work.

Just Enjoy Another Night

Updates

Nth much this few days... going to meet up with lbkks on Saturday after morning shift. I've had been running, gyming, swimming basically exercising a lot recently. Bo pian Standard Chartered coming soon.. and my form is damn bad.. can manage only 30-40mins

This week is quite a tough week to get by. Firstly its the 1st week after so long that I am limiting and budgeting my living expenses on a day to day, week to week basis. $10 per day? When was the last time I tried living on $10 per day? Secondary school ? poly? lol

So my plan so far is ... to stay at home for meals .. heh heh cheapo abit

Ytd during work, regain back the feeling I've got when I first went on patrol. Not bad... I should maintain this level of standard, if any? And to pass on the work attitude to the future batches. I should also seriously start picking up more conversational Malay sentences

New shoes..!!

I just bought a pair of new running shoes.

A pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 12.

A new pair to accompany me on the judgment day - 'Standard Chartered Full'

Back from 4km run. Approximately? I guessed... Since I do not have those high tech running tracking gadget from Nike and Co.

Have to admit my stamina had dropped since Army Half Marathon. Or is it the weakened willpower? Or is it my tired body from gym and swim in the afternoon?

Came across a book on '50 places to see before I die'. Was about to purchase it but stopped by a shoelace budget for myself, this month. Bought two other useful books instead - Spanish Dictionary and a book on the functioning of our brain.

Guess I am more or less en route towards my traveling plans. Learning Spanish vocab. , keeping my physical self fighting fit.

Like I planned, this year I shall commit to marathon and races. Come next year, I shall scale the mountains and hills. Let me get my Canon 500D ...

A major decision

Relocated to Multiply

Blogger is full of bugs. Thus I had decided to relocate my blog back to multiply.

Just completed a 5 hour plus cycling trip with Wong and Jody to ECP and back. Usual stuff, cycling, "bio" girls, rest for drinks. We initially wanted to make a detour to Geylang, however as we were all tired therefore we fast forward our return ride.

Interesting things we did include getting horned or nearly get run down by cars, shouting like small kids along the chain of underpasses at Clarke Quay, posing like Raffles at the Timbre and then airing our feet in the Mac Donalds at ECP in front of many eating patrons - Yucks! damn unhygenic!

All in all, it was a good start to the month of September. I had decided to break out of the vicious cycle that I had been living in for the past .. 5 years? Time to make a break for myself and for my family/friends/career.

Jiayou Jiayou Jiayou!!!

Reflection on Army Half Marathon 09

I've just did my 1st half-marathon. Army Half Marathon at the esplanade, self-claimed to be Singapore's largest running event. Not much of the 'runner's high' but I sure received lots of abrasion and sore muscles. To be frank, I was rather confident of my ability to complete the 21km distance as this served as a warm-up and a gauge for the ultimate challenge for me - Dec's Standard Chartered Full Marathon. From my performance today, guessed I seriously need to buckle up and pull up my socks. Time taken for this race - Approximately 2hrs 45mins.

The race flagged off at about 5.30am at the esplanade bridge near Fullerton Hotel. Trying to adopt a steady and easy rhythm early in the race, I tried to mentally control my breathing/drop my shoulders/keep my posture upright/lift my legs as we turned towards the ECP highway. A funny sight I've observed was that many supposedly male runners ran towards the forested area along the highway to 'relieve' themselves. A case of over-hydration?

The ECP route was also rather challenging as it was a uphill road and I struggled to keep my running rhythm.

Next we move in towards FORT Rd -> East Coast Park

The challenges posed here were a many. The first is the narrowing running path as we moved from the luxury of a 3 lane highway on ECP to a single lane jogging track along East Coast Park. The second is the cluster of 'walkers' who block the lane, forcing many overtakers to cut in and out dangerously around the poorly lit track which is also the last challenge. After the U-turn at the end of the park, i stopped near the toilet to ease my bladder. Bad move! As I struggled to regain my pace and I've lost sight of my friend Ke Ming who started the race with me.

Soon the day broke as we cruised into Tanjung Rhu -> Nicoll Highway

Yipee! More water points around here. After a sip or two of 100plus, I felt my pace slacken more rapidly and I struggled to lift my feet. At around the Nicoll highway, I chanced upon a casualty - bad cramps. I stopped and rendered my help in the form of providing some tiger balm rub which he appreciated.

As we headed towards the start of the F1 race course, I met up with my friend and guess what? More water points! And last 3Km left.

When I saw the esplanade, I was over-joyed! Because I've thought that the ending point was over at the end of the bridge which was not the case. It was at least 600m away ... at the padang! But as I sped towards the last 100m, the feeling that came over me was again out of this world. A kind of accomplishment of sorts! The plus point- we can finally get our medal, get the 'salonpas' treatment and then get the hell out of here and back to bed! Yawns .. only 3hrs or so last night!

Reflections on OSIM Triathlon 2009

I had completed the OSIM triathlon this weekend. A major accomplishment and a huge 1st step into the world of Marathons and such.

I am thankful for having the support of my racing buddy, Wong, and the backing of my Mum and Sister whom came with me early in the morning of a lazy weekend just to see me race.

Actually the magnitude of the event was greater than i had expected. When we first arrived at the check-in counter at about 8am, we were greeted by the waves of activities happening simultaneously right before us.

There were the busy security personnel meticulously checking the identification of each racer before letting them into the bike holding area, the volunteers who were divided and placed at every point to carry duties like body marking/ushering/water-point/cheering and lastly the triathletes sprinting through the different segments of the race like their whole life depends on it.

Another observation that Wong and I discovered is the type of bikes that many were using for our race category. They were mainly road bikes that all look very "fierce" and expensive. Even the athletes they themselves look "fierce". (Okay, we admit it. At that point, we were both rather intimidated.)

However, we did not let this affect our high spirits. We systemically toured the event venue to camera-whore and to try out the OSIM massage like a typical tourist.

As our race starts at 11.35am, we spent the available time to cheer other participants on near the starting/ending point and to relax plus mentally psyched ourselves up.

Then came our race. At 11.35am, the last wave of the MEN's Sprint Open were all gathered on the beach at the starting point. With a quick brief by the MC, we were flagged off. Everyone instinctively ran towards the water like a pack of hungry wolves but not us. We stayed at the back of the pack as we were slower breast-stroke swimmers and we have heard so much about the violent jostling in the water. Everything went fine with me trying my best to glide through the currents without exerting too much energy at the beginning of a 2hrs race. With particular caution, I stayed well clear of many swimmers as a sign of Sportsmanship. Coming up on the last third, we rode the current which was bringing shore-wards which gave us a lot of momentum forward. The whole swim took me 24 minutes.

However I was really annoyed by the "Ang-Mohs" who came from the subsequent wave. They were mainly brutes who elbowed and kneed their way through. Being the stubborn one I am, I somehow return their "favors" as it became unbearable. Boy! it was fun!

Coming up to the beach, my knees suddenly felt like jelly. However not to lose face in front of the many adoring "fans" gathered there, I picked myself up, ran passed the showering point and towards the bike holding area for the bike segment. At the holding area, I was careful not to rush through the transition phase. As my body was feeling hunger and thirst, I popped almost a handful of almond nuts into my system and conducted a mini "water-parade". The time I spent in the holding area - 3 minutes.

Along the cycling route, I used the first round of three to test the distance and to adapt my muscle to the cycling motion. In order to keep my spirit high, I constantly remind myself to overtake the cyclist ahead. I also consumed a energy bar which I bought at the GNC booth in the morning. Damned! the bar left a nauseous plus dry aftertaste and the pineapple and nuts concoction felt like chewing the fiber of a sugar cane. Other than that, the cycling segment went by like a breeze. Time I took - 45 minutes.

Next stop, the dreaded running segment. By now my thighs were locking up and it felt like irons. I almost had difficulty making my way up and across the bridge which led to the starting point of the running leg. By now, I desperately need a drink to quench my dying thirst and to cool my head & body with. Along the 5KM track, my legs were merely moving awkwardly forward in small steps and sometime in a "limp" but at a speed which was smooth and constant.

Throughout the leg, I mentally reminded myself not to stop the momentum and if I do, my legs would be able to move anymore. Moreover, by finishing this "s**" I would get the finisher medal. At almost every checkpoint, I will take a drink to drench my head and to ask the volunteer how much more to the turning point/finishing point as my body was aching. But at the expense of others, I was motivated at my ability to keep moving while others merely gave up by walking/ vomiting or dropping out of the race.

To further push myself and others, I encouraged a fellow participant to carry on jogging as I saw him walking slowing by himself. I managed to re-ignite his drive and we chatted for a distance before he stayed behind at a drinking point to rehydrate. My spirit right now was at a all-time high as I knew that after this drinking point, I was effectively less than 15 minutes from the finishing point.

Suddenly the adrenaline rush came from nowhere and my legs could "move" again in its normal function. Cruising through, I reached the desired blue carpet and sped past the finishing line accompanied by a orchestral of up-tempo music, cheers and camera clicks.

Suddenly it dwelled on me that I had completed something which I had not imagined myself to accomplish before. The feeling was surreal and I felt that what I have just fought for was just another routine. I just instinctively reached for another drink and proceed back to the holding area for my bike. Later the so-called runner's high came and I just feel like congratulating all the participants who "made" it. This so-called high continued until at night. Running leg - time took 35 minutes. Total race time taken- 1 hours and 50 minutes.

Michaels' Week

This past few days or should i say weeks have been a roller coaster ride of events. Both triggering emotions from the common people, the general public. The main similarity lies in the persons involved. Michael's their first name.

Firstly the demise of MJ, the king of pop. Our idol, our icon. Although plagued by negative publicity in recent years, the death of our generation's most adored artiste generated a massive wave of sympathies, tributes, record sales and new coverage from most people alive (puns not intended).

Next, it is the signing on of Michael Owen as a free agent from relegated Newcastle United. Personally i had admired Owen''s goal scoring instinct since years back when he was the No.1 player for England. Mostly a fan - til he went downhill from 2006 due to hamstring injuries. Since then, he had not been at his best and was laterally being kicked around clubs like a football. From Liverpool to Real Madrid to Newcastle. Hopefully his new stinct at Man U will reignite the fighting spirit and form that he always possess.

Go Michael ...!!

Blogspot or Twitter

Who got the patience to sit down in front of a computer screen and pen down their thoughts in a electronic diary? Why not use a Twitter? A lazy man's solution to the problem.

But to crossover to Twitter from Blog spot? No way, too much hassle!

After work yesterday, i was spacing out for awhile and thought of trying to go into rock-climbing. Professionally? No way, too much hassle!

http://www.smf.org.sg/index.html

No way, too much hassle!

Marathon fever..

Currently, my life revolves around sports. Let this year be the year i commit to marathons.

Marathon training is my goal for this year. I had already signed up for the Army Half Marathon coming this 16th August 2009. A small step, i say, to the ultimate challenge - Standard Chartered Full Marathon on Dec. In the meantime i am actively improving my running time so as to last a full 2hrs and more.

OSIM Triathlon sounds interesting to me too. Since i love cycling and swim occasionally, surely i can do a triathlon since i am also running regularly. The criteria for the Triathlon Sprint Category: 1) 750m swim 2) 20Km cycle 3) 5Km run
I shall decide on my next pay day since i am rather broke now ( registration $125 damn ex.)

On work: Handling workplace relationship can be tricky. The key is to act your role and to promise little, deliver more.

aja aja fighting!!

Reflections of the past year

My old targets

1. Get my steersman license immediately after my birthday. (have to postpone til June because of exams in May)
   
2. Be effective and efficient in my work, studies and relationship management (not quite there yet, better time management maybe?)
3. Be fitter, mentally and physically, by working out whenever i am free and enriching my mind with more fresh and radical ideas from books and people i interact with
4. Pick up a new sports/hobby (marathon ... e.g. Army Half Marathon and this December Standard Chartered )
   
5. Be more adventurous and daring by maybe travelling to places less travelled. (save up for a road trip to Melbourne for this year end)

My new targets

Building on my past targets, i had a list of new goals to achieve before this year end.

1. Have a healthier saving account ( after studies expenses)
2. Uni results ( GPA 3.5 and above )
3. Trophies ( at least one each from all the intra-games this year)
4. GF? ( comes naturally though no need to push it like a target ^_^ )

so my bday just passed?

Study please!!

Or else u would end up like holmer

IPPT coming soon in May

My current physical condition

The dreaded annual IPPT is coming this May for me. I am just not prepared. The two stations i am not proficient in is the Chin-ups and 2.4km. Thus starting today, i will go on a intensive cardio training by increasing the frequency of my jogging schedule plus to swim more. Or maybe i can ...

Buy the Wii Fit to keep fit?

By the way, i just opened up this email attachment depicting the future layout of our country's increasing complicated train network. Just by looking at the lines and colors is making my eyes see whirlwind.

complex eh?

I want Resident Evil 5

I want a piece of RE5 which has just been released on 5th March 2009. Just reading and watching all the reviews, video trailers is making me excited. Guess what? I've heard that they are selling at Comic Connection in Lot 1. WooOpEE i think i am going to cycle there for this piece of masterpiece. yipppeee

a proud fan of the series since god knows when? =)

I just saw a road accident...

While crossing the cross-junction at yew tee, i witnessed a car accident happening right before my eyes. A speeding Nissan hatchback was trying to beat the amble light while another Toyota Altis was making a U-turn at the junction when the traffic light just turned red. In the end the Nissan's right bumper was hit by the Toyota's left front bumper as she sped past the Altis.

Guess what? Female driver. lol






just in case you do not know what to do in an event you are involve in road accident, go to : http://driving-in-singapore.spf.gov.sg/services/Driving_in_Singapore/Faq/reportfaq.htm

Why female driver?

Dragonboat...

Dragonboat Training at Kallang Basin

The boats we are using for race-day

The paddles

After training

This Friday. Race day. Champions again?

DB is fun but tiring!

Back to school...

School life. Two long years had passed since i graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Since then, my brain had been sitting idle in the small little vacuum in my skull. Hardly exercise, mostly hibernating. Come today, i finally went back to school to ready myself for another piece of certification in this paper chase society.

The lesson for today's financial accounting module was mainly boring. Maybe it is just the 1st lecture and maybe i had covered intensively this topic for my Diploma in Business (entrepreneur)

By the way, who says lectures are interesting anyway? And i told myself to ace all modules (if possible?!) because it is a challenge to myself ( cos i paid for it -_-^ )

Nevertheless, the feeling of school life is .... so unlike working or NS .... SHIOK!

am i abit too high?

Busy like a 'B'

I am just a bee, not Agnes 'B'

This new year 2009 is a sure hectic year. It is only just 13 days into the year and i am feeling burnout from the sudden surge in planning and implementing activities for both work and friends.

Today alone, I had a retreat with my team at Yishun Safra. Fun but tiring. Enjoyed the 2nd half of the day where we had water activities. Rowdy, energetic and delightful are three words to describe it.

My brainstorming group for the day

After the event, I met up with SM for a final CNY shopping at Chinatown to soak up some CNY atmosphere.

Some decorations along Eu Tong St.

I am passionately interested in dragon-boating, at least for now i must say. Thus i had applied to be in my region's DB team. Tomorrow will be the 1st training at kallang. Looking forward to it. Have to rest my tired body now since it is quite late to prepare for a long day ahead.

agnes C? anyone

EZ-Link card & CNY Shopping ..

The poster at CCK bus interchange

The roving station deployed for the exchange program

The massive turnout for that day after the news came out

Why is the rush to exchange for the new Ez-Link card? Surely we are given ample time by the Ez-link company, til 30th Sept 09 i assume... The problem with the 'Early movers' are that they will be given the 1st-gen set of cards (most probably not the most fine-tuned yet). Moreover, they have to jostle with the long snakey queues. Why not wait for a while more? =)


The annual CNY is really nearing. 2 weeks to be exact. Thus its time to go shopping for clothes and shoes.

1st stop Far East Shopping Centre.

more to follow over!

what a day...

what a day! what a task! what a accomplishment!

Thanks to my two pals from work, we had completed painting my bedroom under 5 hrs

Before painting... removing all the stuffs

All the junk in my living room

All that junk back in my room

Our masterpiece .. titled 'Painters' hand print'

Overview of my room

The current condition of my room is still messy as i am too tired and sapped to pack up.

i shall resume tmr...

i found a EZ-link card today

I am like so no life. I found a ez-link card at JE Mrt. Then we as in me sm ml went 'in search' of the person who lost her ez-link card. Helpful ?

1stly we look up Facebook. Tried all kinds searches. Advanced search. No avail.

Then we google for her name and voila, she happens to have a blog.

cool shit, we thought and her latest post was on her missing ez-link card.

Perfect hit.

Now we shall play the waiting game. Wait for her reply on her tagboard.

and btw meiling is the best!!

Bintan Trip 28/12/08

some highlights from the trip..

Me and Sm at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal before boarding the ferry...

Walking to the ferry

on board the ferry to bintan

At the beach with my board.. tried jet ski too!!

Riding the waves

On the taxi to Pasar Oleh Oleh for our dinner and massage

At the entrance of the village

Our dinner

Next morning at the pool

Finally going home .. a group picture

What a trip!