Limping Marathon Runner

Picture of an mid-life crisis uncle.

Damn,... my Gimp techniques are improving.

Came across a few good quotes while reading my beIRONfit book, with regards to mental training.

1) Ronald Reagan, one of the most famous optimists, liked to tell a story about a boy who walked into the barn and stepped into a pile of manure. A wide smile came across the boy's face and he said, "I know there must be a pony here somewhere." Ask yourself right now: If you walked into a barn adn stepped into manure, what would be your first words? I suspect they would not be words you want to say in front of children.

2) Mark Twain once wrote, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear." Courage does not mean you are without fear. Courage means you have fear but you have learned to deal with it in a positive way.

3) Embarrassment. You don't regret things that you did in life; you regret the things you didn't do.

Just something that Muggs wanna share.

Late night or early morning (wee hours), always a good choice for riders. Less traffic, less pollution, faster speed achieved in a slightly safer surrounding, plus more weird encounters. Yes. You do not have Strabimus, commonly known as crossed eyes or cock eyed. You have read the words correctly, weird encounters.

Muggs started off his usual riding route at 12.45am, leaving parents to watch cable T.V. programmes. 20mins into my ride, Scenario 1 took place. Look at illustration. Legend: Muggs in BLUE, Indian cyclist in RED.



Scenario 1: 20mins into ride, Muggs along a straight stretch was already already moving at top speed. Muggs spotted an Indian cyclist, dark colored T-shirt and bike frame from far. Muggs looked and thought that Indian cyclist was cycling with the flow of traffic. Muggs maintains speed. Split second later, cyclist appeared to be cycling against traffic flow. Muggs tapped on brakes to slow down. Best has yet to come. Indian cyclist was looking across to the other side of the road. Whoa kaoz!! When cyclist return his concentration back on the path ahead of him, Muggs muttered "Shit" and zoomed pass him. Muggs managed to squeeze between him and pavement, because Muggs was traveling too fast to do a head turn to check traffic. Close call. Muggs continued routine of cycle.

5mins later, Muggs' usual route, cycling into a quieter lane of an estate, Muggs saw Indian cyclist ahead again. He probably too a shorter turn and became ahead of me, while Muggs went around the estate. Refer to same illustration.

Scenario 2:
Now, with past encounter just minutes ago, Muggs changed gears to go slow. Muggs witnessed Indian cyclist went in a zig-zag fashion almost hitting the curb/pavement. Muggs was still 10metres away from him. Muggs checked rear for traffic, moved passed him and maintained a 3metre clearance away from him. Hope he's okay. Not sure if he's been drinking..... Sheesh.

Reached home, bathed and slept at 3am. Felt great, worked out my quads. Pet mozzie on vacation. Muggs slept till 9am. Sprang out of bed, when to work. KNS. 15mins late. Not good.

More encounters? No idea, man.

*29 days left. Marching towards show down day. God of Gamblers can't believe it. 29 days is so close yet so far away*



Back from JP Morgan run. Coincidence that I need to do my run today too. Sorry. Mobile phone is low end stuff. No integrated state-of-the-art kind of camera. Will be getting sweaty and Muggs thought that bringing a digicam to a jog would be insane. I think there are close to a hundred participants from our company joining this 5.6km JP Morgan run. Warm-ups, followed by queuing up at the starting line for flag-off. Bumped into ex-customers of my ex-company that I worked for. We waited for about 10-15mins before flag-off. It was really stuffy. Finally, at the horn sounded off and everyone was moving off. As usual, like any other run events, people who chose to walk in this run event took a spot to stand around near the start line. Once the horn went off, they walked.... jamming all the joggers behind. Joggers will have to zig-zag and clear their way. Guess the runner/walker mindset is not a culture for a certain group of people yet. With that aside, Muggs maintained a constant pace, while trying to cut through people to get away from the crowd when possible. Finshed off in 28mins 52secs. Not ideal. But, I'm still happy with the timing. So silly, I forgot to take my pulse reading. Muggs was hanging around the end point of the race with the rest of the colleagues for a photo shoot before heading home.


Chatting with a colleague during our train ride back home, Muggs recalled that there is a family dinner. My uncle who struck lottery wanted to give a treat to all the relatives. Muggs would have attended if its not because of 2 characters that he does not wish to see. Call me anti-social. I rather accept this label than to listen to a relative ramble nonsense to piss me off. Classic example:

Muggs: (giving due respect to elders, Muggs greeted "Extreme Character" with extreme care) Hello, Aunty XXX.
Extreme Character: Wow! Is it snowing in this part of the world or is this a crazy world? You're here.

Muggs: Haha.. ha. *cough* (trying to blend in) Oh. Busy recently with work. Overloaded.
Extreme Character: Are you sure? No storm could bring you here. Or was it El Nino who blew you here?

Muggs: Oh.... no. *forcing a weak smile* Trying to get out of work. Where's Uncle XXX?
Extreme Character: (ignoring my question) You're such a big shot. I don't know what could have brought you here? Rare guest indeed.

Muggs: (muttering under his breathe) Its your fart-gas. I followed the trail of scent. Could detect the smell 40km away.
Extreme Character: What??!!

Muggs: Oh, I said .. . You're the best. I'll follow your hint. Could only eat until you say, "Chow away".
Exterme Character: *Looking Yaya-Papaya*

That is why I never put my life at risk by attending such functions. Don't need to be obese to get an immediate cardiac arrest. Okay, time to crash out. Got to crawl to bed.

It's great to have a pet mosquito in your room. It helps in your morning training sessions, really. How about having two? I'm left with one when I swatted one dead. I tried to give him a pad on this back to thank him for waking me up. Couldn't find the other pet mozzie. So, I'm wide awake again. Picked up my bike and I went to complete the session on my training schedule.

Its 5am plus in the morning and you still get taxi uncles trying to cut into your lanes. Aren't roads wide enough? Are they high on booze or drugs? Some people just don't learn.

Away from my schedule for 2days, itching already. Slowly adjusting, I did a run last night, hitting a Zone2 (high-end aerobic). I measured my heart rate using plain old stopwatch and pulse read style. Okay. I'm still satisfied.

Having a half day leave tomorrow afternoon to settle some stuff. Muggs will have rush back to office to join the JPMorgan Run. Looks like I have swim tonight and bike at around 12am. Miss getting a sore ass from my Grey Hound saddle.

Back from a short break (wasn't exactly a holiday), Muggs feels slightly recharged. Overall, it was a great break away from work. This short getaway left me with a "I need a real holiday....." feeling. Be warned.... this is a really long blog post.

From previous blog, my ass got dragged to a seminar by my sup on Friday morning. I rushed back like a mad dog, around 6pm, grabbing my stuff and headed off to the meet up location. With my dive buddy, WilBeer, Muggs met up with TonyS and SulF. Great seeing them again. We got acquainted with the DM (his name - Man), Sunny, Bong, and 3 other caucasian divers. Ready to go, we were ushered into a mini-van. Mini-vans travel faster than coaches. Less waiting time and better maneuverability. Crossed the customs in a jiffy and we reached Kota Tinggi for a short food/toilet break. Muggs ordered Mee Goreng and it was crappy. Muggs would have made a better meal. The only thing that satisfied Muggs, Milo-Ice. Ready to go, we boarded the mini-van and headed to Mersing. Reached Mersing at wee hours of Saturday morning. Since there wasn't going to be any boat rides, we had to bunk in to a local accomodation. It was a nice, plain simple kind of place that we stayed in. The place is decorated with a Balinese touch. Too bad, it was really dark. Pics wouldn't turn out to be any good. Hence, I didn't take any.

Slept for a few hours and awaken by the Muslim chanting from a nearby mosque at 5.30am. We washed up, took breakfast and waited for the speedboat. Merely a 1hr plus ride, we reached our destination. Now, Muggs has never stayed in this part of Pulau Tioman before. At the jetty, I saw a sign saying "Internet Access Here". Instantly, Muggs had a spinning headache. Is that signs of Internet Deficiency? Withdrawal symptoms? On the way to the resort, I saw people on a mountain bike. I can't recce the surrounding if a mountain biking trail is near by. Not enough time. We settled down in the dining area with a cooling Mango syrup drink before heading to our room. Nice...!


No time to waste. Unpacking our dive gears, changed and we gathered for our first dive briefing. Since its a check-out dive, we're doing something shallow. Not too deep, probably around 15metres. WilBeer had a close picture shot at a blue spotted ray. Muggs is still waiting for him to email me the pics. We came back for lunch. Waited till 2.15pm before going out for a second dive of the day. Muggs looked for an old friend that can be found anywhere near dive resorts. Mr. Hammock.


I dozed off for a while before a slight drizzle woke Muggs up. Rather reluctant, I had to move my butt. Anyway, it was near dive time, I thought I might as well gear up. We had our second dive briefing. By then, the passing drizzle (wasn't much of a shower) stopped. Perfect. All ready to go, we headed to our second dive spot. same thing, around 15metres, we had a bottom time of 45mins.

We did a surface interval of 45mins. Muggs just want to relax. Plus, I didn't really like the next dive site, which was Tekek Wrecks. Muggs stayed onboard with my dive bud, WilBeer (he's lazing out too), and he took a pic of a crab sun-tanning on a buoy. We saw a tiny trigger fish about the length of a finger. But, little fella was too quick for any good shot. Our 3 caucasian fellow divers couldn't locate the wrecks. *Phew*... they were feeling a little grumpy about this. We all headed back. Dinner time!! BBQ... great food. At least better than the Mee Goreng that I've had.


The rest of the guys went for night dive. Though Muggs likes night dive (different things to see), Muggs is afraid of cold waters. I went to watch T.V. programmes at the dining area instead. To my surprise, they have cable T.V.!! ESPN was on, live soccer match. I watched the match till the rest of them got back from night dive. Soon, it was bed time. Time to crash out. That was Saturday.

Sunday started with a bang when the dive shop's music playing Reggae Jamaican music (since my room was just next to the dive shop). TonyS banged on the door, "Shaky shaky, wakey wakey! Time to dive!". I got up, cleaned up and had a quick breakfast. WilBeer refused to wake up, claiming that he's done for this trip. He said he'll just do some snorkeling. So, Muggs buddied up with TonyS and we went for the first morning dive at Malang Rocks for dive 3. Spotted a 0.5metre cuttlefish turned from white to brown before it took off and I thought to myself that what I witnessed was really cool. Right after surfacing, the speedboat took us to Genting Bay for the second dive of the morning. While the boat stopped there for our surface interval, the waves rocked our boat. The part where Muggs hates most. Food, yet to digest, slowly finding its way to Muggs throat. Needless to say, the smell of speedboat fuel and exhaust acted as a catalyst to my Merlion act. Knowing that I could hold it any longer in the reservior of my throat, I abandoned ship. Once I dived into the water, vomitus came spewing out of my mouth, faster than I can say, "Chow time!". Fishes dived sporadically at the "food" scattered underwater. Not a pretty sight. Ewwww. 45mins later, the rest of the group did a second dive, which Muggs opt out again (C'mon its Rest and Relax dive trip isn't it?). Muggs had a good nap (rocking good time) on the boat while waiting for the group to surface. Once they all surfaced, we went back to the resort to wash up our equipment. Lunch was served. We left the resort after lunch, heading back home and that was the end of our trip. WilBeer swears to come back to Pulau Tioman for more food, drinks and snorkeling. Probably hiking/trekking too. So, for this trip, 3 dives out of 6. Very relaxing indeed.


Like the pics? Muggs found the photo frame scripts and used GIMP to edit them. These are the few pics that I liked about this trip among other crappy shots.

Hit office this morning and my ass was dragged all the way to seminar by my boss. Suppose to take over my GM's seat in seminar. At least one good thing, I met up with a lot of ex-colleagues and friends in this industry. Just got back, rushing like mad. I left the goodie pack, which is a Targus bag, for my GM. Don't need it.

Will be going away for 2days. Trying to get high inhaling compressed air. Have not been diving for 2 dry years. 44 as my last clocked number of dives. There were a few dive trips that I did not log my dives on paper. Too lazy. I'm not going to be DM anyway. Aww. .. I miss puking in the sea. I feel sea sick already. BRB on Sunday night. I'll be counting the stars tonight.... ..... ;)

More pictures and blogs from trip? Sure, I hope.

No Commando shortie story update. Auntie was just smiling last night.

Hahaha. Commando tells Muggs that one of our colleagues (another department) knows someone from the friendly auntie LBS. We might be able to get some discount. Alright!! Now comes the tricky part. Since we are going over after work, Commando has to face his formidable foe again. "I-am-taller-than-you" auntie might be taking extra effort to ensure that she's clearly the winner. Hello, platform shoes.... Kawaii ! Sorry, Commando, these are not tactical enough for your usage. I have no idea what auntie is going to say this time if she sees him again. How about .. . "Wassup .. kid? Back for more insults?" *Muggs acts blur* More hilarious action on the visit tonight? I hope.... *so bad*

Credits: Picture from here

Mmm... yummy. Silver, yellow and black combo. Nice.

Anyone wants to see Tay Ping Hui look like Mr. Brown? Who doesn't want to be Mr. Brown. Try here.

Ah..... a new layout. Got this template from pink design. Just tweaked some settings, the rest are totally original stuff.

Feeling crazy today, I went to jog in a stadium. Get it straight. I'm not a stadium person. Muggs do not like to run around in circles like a hamster in a cage, spinning in the wheel. But, it has been a long time since I ran in a stadium and I thought why not. Ok. I still prefer running anywhere else. More stuff to see. Now, on my way back after the run, I passed loads of people having their dinner at a nearby coffeeshop. I saw someone sipping lime juice. Man!! I told myself, "I need a glass of cold lime juice!".

Alert.... Traits of a Libra.
Indecisive and changeable : Checked, I thought I need ice water.
Gullible and easily infuenced : Checked, I need cold lime juice.
Flirtatious and self-indulgent : Checked, I need cold lime juice.

BBC-Low called me just before I began to jog in the stadium. We had a small chat before I started off. I mentioned to him that he needs to get someone to take over me on the 1st of May, which is BBC-Low's wedding day. Muggs is suppose to help BBC-Low out as an emcee. Muggs is suppose to partner another lady on stage for his big day. Life as an I.T. engineer is terrible. We can only mess around with stuff when people are not working. Hence, holidays are the best to screw up anything and fix them up again. News came out saying that I got to work overnight till 1st of May and the timing is not fixed yet. As a contingency, Muggs told BBC-Low to source for another guy to partner this gorgeous lady (BBC-Low claims that she is gorgeous). BBC-Low and Muggs have been friends for ... 17 years, since SecSchool days. I wouldn't want to miss this event. No, not for a million dollars. I'll turn up, no matter how tired I would be. But, Muggs is just worried that fatigue takes over and Muggs starts to mumble and blunder on stage. Too important a day to screw up anything for my good friend. Muggs even wrote down what stuff to say.... aww... just too bad.

Mr. Mackey from SouthPark always say, "Drugs are bad, mmkay?".
Muggs would say, "Time to go get my lime juice now, mmkay?"

My day started late. No dim sum because parents woke up late (suppose to head for a restaurant further away from home). So, just a simple breakfast at a nearby coffeeshop.

A great day, since its my off day from work. Went to see another bike shop. But, seems like the prices are not that competitive. Hence, I left the place after checking out some stuff. Had to hurry to box Toyogo containers for my "green" logistics. After my lunch at the mall, I walked into a sports shop, hoping to find a pair of tights. Voila! I saw one by Reebok. Medium and XXL (OMG, not my kind of size) were the only available pairs on display. Lucky thing, they have Small in their store. It is still just a little loose. Heck... allowance for putting on weight? Like real. Anyway, I took it. Being a puny little fella, small ass, like a malnutritioned monkey, Muggs always have difficulty in finding sizes. Well... not all the time though. Occasionally, my sis (while still in U.S.), would buy things like clothing for me. Nice. She has rather good estimation of my size for tees and bermudas.

Karloong: Eh .. Gor! I bought this Tee and Bermuda for you. Nice, hor?
Muggs: Whoa.... Not bad. Cool. Great taste and good estimation of my size. *Muggs gives thumbs up*

Karloong: Of course. *Smirk* These are largest size for kids size range.
Muggs: *Frown* ........ .... ... nabei *Palm face*

Karloong: What to do? *Giggles*

*Phew* I just finished cleaning my dirty dog, Grey Hound, too. Ah... should be a happy little pup once he's on road again. Shucks.... since, I still perspiring, I might as well re-pack my room. A little cleaning up. How about a jog? *Muggs checking his organizer* Yep... have to.

Read more about triathlon stuff and one of them is trying to train in the morning. So, it means no more late nights. Muggs still wants to watch "Who's Line Is It Anyway?". They even talked about time management (which is true), in the book. I decided to give it a try. But, I had to complete the routine last night. So, I still had to go for my 20min run (short of 5min, since Chini wanted to return me my LAN ethernet card).

Now, just back from a swim, which I almost had a close encounter with a fellow female swimmer. It was really crowded at the pool. Almost nudged her when an oncoming swimmer is coming head on towards me.

Oh.. .. this afternoon, at work, I asked my colleague, Commando, if he wants to take a look at one of the LBS around our workplace. So, we sped off at 1pm, walking swiftly to the LBS. Once there, we were greeted by a friendly lady (auntie actually). Who doesn't know where this place is, once we mention the friendly auntie. Anyway, we were looking around and Commando asked for the price of a GT Ava 3.0. She mentioned the price. But, took a second look at Commando. Commando being slightly shorter than Muggs (well, Muggs isn't that tall either), commented that the "S" sized GT isn't suitable for him.

Auntie: Eh... you are too short. This is not suitable for you.
Commando: *Looking hurt* Huh... am I short? (sounds familiar... think I've heard similar stuff like "Am I fat?" somewhere before)

Auntie: Yeah... I'm taller than you. Ask your friend.....
Commando: *Looking at Muggs* Issit, huh?
Muggs: ....... *Gazing elsewhere, Muggs is sooooooo not involved in this conversation*

Moment of silence ......... You could actually hear a pin drop...... now.

Auntie: Well, if you think you can handle this bike, it'll be okay for you.
Commando: *Mumbling under his breathe* #@#$%^&

Fact: Commandos are the elite forces in this world. They strike anywhere, anytime. Fearless, mean, fighting machines.

Fact: My colleague, Commando, is taller than the auntie.

Fact: Mentioning sensitive issues like height has detrimental effects on a Commando's self esteem. Auntie's words have speared through this Commando's heart like a surgeon's scalpel.

Taking an accumulated day off from work for Wednesday. Scheduled tasks so far are:

1) Dim Sum with family (Karlooong must be swearing now)
2) Look for SPD pedals and road shoes, plus one more jersey? *sigh* (Collateral damage?)
3) Buy plastic boxes for my "green" logistics.
4) Pack up for my Pulau Tioman diving trip. Good bargain - damage already done. .....
5) Grey Hound maintenance, this dirty dog needs a wipe. Procrastinating? Forgetful? Bah...
6) Swim and probably run.

Oh .. Wait... Over there.. . over the hills..
Smoke.. Is it what I think it is?

ZhaoYun (FTOGPX) is calling for help, besieged by generals, infantrymen and archers, I shall move swiftly to his rescue. Black Lightning or Shadow Runner is not with me. I can only reach rally point by tomorrow night on foot. More sleepless nights ahead.

Too tired to blog last night because I had a long day. After cycling and only sleeping at 4am, I woke up at 8-ish to meet Conan for breakfast at Mac. Suppose to be my treat. But this fella is already starving and has ordered some food, starting without me. Right after breakfast, we reached our nearby training ground which was already packed with people (some picnic or birthday party). Blading seems better, probably after more practises and balancing acts. Conan felt that it was time to try out spinning stop. He did spin. He did stop. But, only face flat with a splat. After series of laughter, I had my equal share of spin stop falls. One thing we did right, we always checked to see if anyone spotted us falling. *ma-lu*

Somewhere not too far away, another warrior cries for help. Deeply engaged in battle, he cries out for his weak sidekick, Muggs, for an alliance. With the advancement of technology, I received a reinforcement request via SMS. Hence, we no longer use pigeons as messengers (they are just a source of food, as roast pigeons) nowadays. Young warrior, ZhaoYun, a.k.a. FTOGPX can hardly keep the massive army of soldiers charging at bay with his spear. After my inline skating session, I took a Red Hare ride to the frontlines and meet my comrade in need of my aid. We kicked countless asses in Dynasty Warriors (PS2) so hard that we only had toilet and meal breaks.

Muggs has no idea why they always pronounce "Cao Cao" as "Cow Cow" in Dynasty Warriors. His son "Cao Pi" would be "Cow Pi".

Longest ride so far. I just clocked 32km. Saw TP doing road block on other side of the road, while on my way back. I went over a road kill too... *puke* It was a pigeon which is dead already. Looked kind of dry. At the end of my ride, I checked my tyres for any organs/magots that I've picked up from the road kill. Lucky thing, no. Really hungry (well, actually tummy started growling during halfway through the ride), I ate some sandwiches from the 24hrs coffee shop.

Now, that I'm back, need to wash up and sleep. It's late. Conan is going to blast me if I'm late tomorrow.

Wasn't actually going to blog about this. A single but firm request from Conan, I have to oblige. Who can wrestle Conan, The Barbarian and make him tap out? Nope, not Muggs. How about this guy? He looks kinda tough.

Credits: Picture from here

Certainly Kurt can make Conan tap like a sissy? Nevermind that. Back to what I'm about to blog. Extracted from Conan and my conversation on Yahoo IM:

Conan: Whoa.. . 江美琪 - 我又想起你 ? Thinking of Turtle again?
Muggs: Well. ... erm .. yes. Anyway, Yahoo IM me.

Conan: When?
Muggs: Thursday. I did not blog about it.

Based on Conan's request, I shall pen it down. On the other hand, during last night's dinner with Kitty and people, Kitty asked me about her too. Anyway.......

Thursday, I went online on Yahoo and ....

Turtle: How are you? How are your old injuries?
Muggs: Still the same, they are here to stay. Not going to go off.

Turtle: Oh. Busy today?
Muggs: A little. But, still manageable.

Turtle: More house shifting.
Muggs: Ok. Mostly done?

Turtle: Yep. But, once all settled here. Might be going over to Shanghai, working there. Me, a normad.
Muggs: Ok.

Turtle: Got your bed frame yet?
Muggs: Just a phone call away, but just procrastinating. Anyway, my room is still in a mess. Not in the config that I want, yet. Just have to sleep on the floor, Jap style for now.

Turtle: Next weekend, I might be in town. Can I call you?
Muggs: You can try. I might be in the pool and I can't answer your call. Might have to wait a while.

Turtle: Ok. I need to see a doc. Not feeling too good.
Muggs: You should. Go.

Turtle: Ya. I will. I call you. Bye
Muggs: Sure. Bye

Logging off, I sensed that I missed something. I seem to have forgotten something. Till last night, I remembered. I will be going to dive next weekend. No wonder.... felt something is not right. Totally forgotten about trip (too bothered with things at work). I'll be out of town and she'll be in town. Ha... what a joke? Fate is playing a joke (as always). Not that it'll develop into something. But, I've never seen Lady Luck before. Usually taking a rain check when I need her around.

Long day tomorrow. Got to blade with Conan at around 10am, after our Mac Big Breakfast meal at 9am. Guess what? My treat. I'll make sure this uncle pays for the car decals that I make for him. Pengz

Wooo-hooo... .. just saw the new layout on Triathlon page. So, registration is open, might be a good guess. True enough, it is on. Now is still an early bird registration period. Hence, some slight discount. From now till then, no slacking in training.

Back from swim, still ..... a lot of swimmers. Had to battle it out. Just a short 25min swim. I'll wait for a while before I cycle. Probably move out at 1AM.

Last night, a short dinner gathering with Kitty, KittyTrainer and Nan. Nothing fanciful, just normal hawker food. Chit-chat and stuff. Seems like Kitty and I got closer these years and we think alike. Maybe given the fact that we dive, trek and do most outdoor sports? Nan being our SecSch classmate, seems to go into a "comparing" mode these years. It is just different from those younger days. Part of growing up? A price to pay? No idea. We had some desserts before heading home. But we did promise to plan for an overnight majong session at Nan's place. Nan will be out of town for the whole of May. So, June it is.

A re-post. Or rather, I shifted the post. A little too late to join in the fun, but the Peko Poko dolls just gave me an idea.

Presenting Muggs lame version of "I'm too sexy for my blog", originating from Xiaxue.

No. As a matter of fact, I'm not sexy at all. Never were, never am and never will be. I came across this "I'm too sexy for my blog" thingy on Mr. Brown's website, doing "The Original Sexy Blogger, XiaXue" classic photo. Now... that "I'm too sexy for my blog" look just reminds me of Turtle whenever she tries to cover up and hopes to get away scott free when she knows she's wrong.

Some of the best way a mother can shower her love to any of her children:
1) Cook a feast, 10 course dinner - dessert included.
2) Making "liang-teh" (traditional chinese tea, which has cooling effects on every human's biological system). Pouring into a cup included.
3) Clearing the whole family's laundry. Ironing included.
4) Spick and span, tip-top spring cleaning every nook and cranny of the house. Mopping include.
5) My mum's personal favorites: "Cough? See doctor." "Sneeze? See doctor." "Muscle ache? See doctor." "You listening to me anot?" .... Ma .... why is your son Muggs not a doctor by profession?
6) Any other requests....

Tonight, YellowMother selected option 2. Mmm mm .. , this concoction differs so much from her usual mix. A little unconvincing and sub-standard by just viewing it. No, I have not tasted it. It has a thick yellowish phlegm looking color. Is my mum a nuclear scientist or what?


Bala outsmarted me. He poured a glass full of the yellowish solution and conveniently left it on the table for me. Instantly, I feel like one of those white mice caged up in a scientist lab. I tried to mimic the cat in Shriek 2. "I'm too full. Can I not drink?". Apparently, it did not work. Pointless to resist now, I inhaled a lung full of air, pinched my nose and took a giant gulp. Forcing on a smile, sort of like a gun point situation, I remarked in a squeaky tone, " Mmmm ... Nice. I likey.".

Nodding her head, signifying approval of Muggs action, YellowMother is happily humming away some Teresa Teng songs now.

Karloong, your dear brother just drank one on your behalf. *belch* Yes, Karloong, that is Bala's sexy hairy legs in the background of the deadly mucus mix picture.

Pissed with things at work, I shall not divulge any more infomation on what happened. I wouldn't want to put my ass on the line. Fast forward. *click click* Moving on to something more comical, lighter side of the already-under-heavy-direct-artillery-shelling political office life.

A short story ......
Our eyes met. Instant connection. Twitching our eyebrows, we all know what each party wants. Unable to resist, we succumb to temptation, moving swiftly despite our bodies already exhausted. 4 shadows crept in tactical moves, avoiding any surveillance we encountered along the way. Once out of the building, though not out of danger area yet, we quicken our steps in double quick time to escape detection. In no time, we reached our destination. Our shrine. "What time is it?" "It's kopi time! It's kopi time!!" Coffee break. We rewarded our already caffine starved bodies with drinks. While HaMusa bought a banana from a fruits store, the 3 of us stared blankly at him and totally amused at the same time. We've heard of banana with icecream a.k.a. BananaSplit. Bananas with coffee? Namely .. . eh... KopiBanana? This guy is certainly looking for a shitting good time. Think he's trying to paint the toilet bowl brown or something. As HaMusa started peeling the banana while sitting down, he asked, "What is so funny?". At that instant, probably he was holding the bottom of the fruit with his finger tips while peeling the banana, it actually took off, falling. HaMusa dived to grab hold of his *ahem* banana. A fumble. But, a lover rather than a fighter, HaMusa is good with his hands. Therefore, he did manage to salvage a somewhat banana lookalike bunch of mess. (Women just love a man with his pair of slow hands, dont' they? LoverBoy HaMusa?) Pausing there to regain his composure, he looked like a hybrid of a NFL player diving for the football and a porn star worshipping some male organ/love object. We all laughed at the sight of this poser where both of his arms are fully extended.

If he's going to pursue an NFL career, we have a name for him. "Big-Baaaddd-Banana". TripleB, in short. TripleB sounds so much better. More gungho, garang, macho. Sounds like some bad ass WWE wrestler name. If he wishes to do a porn debut, the name OooRal-B sounds juicy. B as in Banana. HaMusa can take some Jap lesson from SillyCelly to make his porn debut more .. . . erm.. . artistic. Coulieo can be the manager/agent, Commando can be the bodyguard and I can be the P.A.. We'll make a great team. We can all retire from the I.T. scene too.

I've just completed a 32min run, SMS-ing ABG along the way. She was complaining about her day at work too. Seems like a rough day for a lot of people today.

From CNETAsia. How to blog about your boss, bitch about your workplace and not get fried. Article belonging to EFF.

From BlueCollarMTB. Anyone fancies an add-on module of rear suspension to your hardtail bike? Look no further.

*muack* *muack* Karloong called to say that she's going to help me get an Oakley Half Jacket in U.S.. She can get the spare lens too. It seems that Oakleys cost less over there for all models. Hiak hiak hiak. *Rubbing my palms, evil grin* If Conan is reading this .... I think he's going to faint. His FMJ frame Oakley Half Jacket can potentially cost less and hence reducing the damage done on his wallet.

Karloong says she can help me get K2 wrist and knee guards too. They only cost USD$20. *Eyes blink* I saw a set of wrist, elbow and knee guards over here selling for $70 over.My current set of wrist guards seem to be giving way. The cushioning sponge from inside is jutting out. The only thing is... . ... Karloong will only be back in September..... It is a long wait, but worth every penny. Or should I say worth every second of wait?

Back from my 23min run. It was raining not too long ago and the pavement is still wet. Therefore, I went real slow. Just a minute, let me grab my organizer. My training schedules are so messed up now. Looks like I missed one biking and two swimming sessions for now. Mainly due to work and appointments. Like I always tell me friends, I have too much time at hand. How to pass time? I swim. I bike. I jog. People tell me, "Do yourself a favor. Get attached. Look for a mate.". My reply? No one can take my shit.

Trying hard to accomodate, I have to re-arrange my training sessions. Contant checking is required. Shall not miss any training, as far as possible. Ooo .. . looks like Karloong is on the phone with Bala now. Sis is calling back home via long distance call.

Reading CowboyCaleb's blog just now and I saw his banner. It is a Playmobil figurine. Ahh.. . .good o'l childhood days toys. I like them so much that I bought a box/set when I was in Hawaii in 1996. It is not opened yet, sealed in its original box. Still intact. I bought 2 more similar sets for my 2 cousins (brothers). Now, the smaller box in the pic is given to me by my cousin, Ric. He bought it when he went to Europe last time. Eh.. can't remember when that was. Playmobil sure bring back some fond memories, given the fact that I had a partial twisted childhood. Hahahhhha.. My mum dropped me on my head when I was a toddler. NOT. If I have kids one day, I'll tell my next generation, "These are your dad's toys when he was a kid.". Who knows, by then, probably marbles are extinct. Marbles... Oooo... so 60's and 70's .. .. .


Okay... now, a picture of my "Grey Hound". Conan has been bugging me to take a snap shot of my racer before the mileage of this bike is high. By then, it would probably look like an Ah Peh's (old man) china-made dark olive green bicycle. My racer is currently housed in my sis's room. Karloong, if you're reading this, notice how this photo is taken. Trying hard not to capture any background that looks too messed up. Yes, your room is in a mess now.

You must be kidding. Badminton games in an enclosed hall = drenched in sweat. Tired after the game. But, I left the hall, satisfied. It was suppose to be a last session of badminton. But, surprisingly, there were 7 person who came tonight. So, when our game ended, we all urged the organizer to keep up the good work, never give up. We promised to make it whenever possible. She agreed. Hooray. =p

While I was still in the office, I felt a little weak. Don't really know the reason or problem. Probably due to insufficient rest. Skeptical about where can I still play when I arrive at the badminton hall, I proceeded to my destination. After a match or two, I was already sweating profusely. Totally unexpected, I felt better instantly. Mmm... I think I needed some exercise to purge some water out of my system. No... peeing doesn't count.

Now, back at home, I think I shall skip the jogging session. Wouldn't want to stress my body out. I'll probably do my jog tomorrow night.

Too damn tired to blog last night. Work related. Couldn't swim after I got out of the office since, it was already 10.30pm last night. Pools are already closed. Dismissed the idea of doing an early swim this morning at 6.30am, since I was knocked out cold last night. Probably due to my lack of sleep the night before (cycling probably). Badminton session is on tonight. Unfortunately, it seems to be a last session. Poor response, cited as the cause for not organising badminton sessions anymore. I remembered it used to be a huge turnout when it first started. Well... more family commitment for most, I guess. It is not easy for the organizer too.

I hope I can go for my run once I reach home, after my badminton game tonight. No rain, please.

Surefire way to train for cycling? "Yes sir! Keep a pet mosquito in your room, sir!!"

The mosquito in my room pissed me off by giving me a few stings and disappearing each time I switched on the lights. When I finally spotted it, I was too slow to swat that bugger. Now, wide awake at 3am. What could I possibly do? Ride. I have to ride anyway. So, I got my stuff, moved as silently as possible and started my ride at 3.30am. 16.5km, mainly straight roads and only 2 steep little hills that I have to climb. I reached back at my place 52mins later, which I intended to do an approximate time of 48mins. A little more is ok I guess.

Time to let me bathe, get changed and sleep. Hoping that mozzie would have found a new owner or sucker to sip his Bloody Mary cocktail.

It's a good Sunday. Wake up early to smell the air that is fresh and clean. Most people are still in bed. Have to work today. It is a bright and sunny day. Great day for sports and family outings. The train empty with barely 10 commuters in each cabin. Got to work till afternoon today. But, still, I love Sundays.

Now that I'm home, it feels good. I just went over to Borders, browsing through some magazines. Mainly MTBs. Mm.. . Someone living in my block is playing the saxaphone again. That's why I love Sundays so much. Don't know who he or she is, but it sure feels like I'm in some Jazz club.

I'm gonna miss my ride again. The sky was still clear and stars were visible hours ago. Now, when I'm ready to move . . .. strong winds, tree tops swaying, clouds, not a good sign. It'll be raining soon. Shall not risk getting my racer's gear wet, if it rains when I'm riding. I'm still contemplating if I should get one of those Minoura trainers. Gonna burn some rubber anyway.

Looks like I have not choice but to march straight to bed. Let's see if tomorrow is a good day for helmet, break falls and inline skates. Meanwhile, slumberland time. ZZZZzzzz

Remember a while ago that I posted about our colleague who has a medical condition? Then till now, she was in and out of the hospital. Some ago, she was already resting at home, nursing her health before going for the operation .

This morning, I received an SMS saying that she passed away last night.A wonderful mother, loving wife and helpful colleague. She left a son, her husband and us, peacefully at her residence.We understand that she has medical complications all along, awaiting for her health to at least recover, strong enough to go through an operation.But still.. .. .. It seems just like yesterday, when I gave her my extra set of DVD player (got a free DVD player from insurance freebies). It seems just like yesterday, when we had a BBQ and lucky draw prizes for X'mas celebration at 0103's (another colleague) condo. Life is fragile. Just like the tsunami incident. Show more care and concern to those around you. Can't say enough. Is someone on your mind lately? Tell them how you feel. *Staring at Conan* Are you listen, Conan? No one knows what lies ahead of us tomorrow, not even to talk about our future. Thought of achieving something that you wanted to accomplish long time ago? Go do it. Afterall, life is so short. Shorter than the time taken to say the word, "Tsunami".

As I blog (really need to get it off my chest), some colleagues are going over to pass the money collected, express our deepest regret and condolence to her family on behalf of everyone of us in our office. Now, our "Clown of the Century" HR person made a "Words of Wisdom" of the day..... telling our boss,

Quote
"Eh. ... . can collect the staff pass and medical card from the family?"
Unquote

KNNBCCB.....does this person eat crap and shit rice? Probably my hate vocab is limited. Maybe you guys can help me on this. Maybe even Quasi. This has certainly pushed the buttons for some of us. Sistar, you've just tripped our circuits, burned our fuses. Count yourself lucky if a trashbin is not flying towards you. What the hell is wrong with this person? Yes, a HR person has to enforce policies, be fair and most of all compassionate. HR personnel handles sensitive issues everyday. Surely, one can understand the departure of a love one. I strongly believe that no amount of HR re-course can tune this person's head. She certainly needs to see a shrink.

Trying out some template changes last night. When it is offline, on desktop, it seems ok. But, when I tried it online (posting), it looks weird and definitely different. Not something that I want. But, as for now, what I can think of, will be to change the banner.

I thought that I would be free on Sunday for a "blade and fall" session. Something is just not right, I thought. Checked my schedule, found out that I need to work this Sunday, a whole long day. *eyes roll* So, bringing forward the "blade and fall" session with Conan will be the only solution. I thought of cycling to my office on Sunday early morning since I need to reach by 0730hrs. But, since I do not have a spare tube yet, I shall not. Just in case if I get a puncture, my a** will be on the frying pan and my head .... chopping board.

Oh.. . Chase is on T.V. now. Let me watch Linda Liao, while I sew buttons for my shirts... they're coming off.

You don't get to meet understanding motorists everyday. You got to watch your own back.

Bicycle Safety got it via Blue Collar MTB

what's wrong with you.... .? I guess I must have mis-handled you. Dropping you on your head, a little too much. Now that you are a little schizophrenic ... .At times, you sing melodiously. But there are days when you lose your voice and you just wink at me with your sparkling, pretty face. I wonder if I should get Eric to take over you. But, 2 years.... Anything can happen. He might not be able to follow me wherever I go too. What am I to do? Let me consult my stars..... I think my 2 years with you is almost up.

Its raining cats and dogs out there. Can't run, swim or bike at all..... I can only snack now... how devastating

As the title suggests... work. Especially when no planning is done beforehand. Cutting into my training timing is the last thing that I hope to see. But, it happened. I missed another training timeslot on my time table again.

Onto some other topics, Conan and RanchuKing seem to have some small discussion over what should be the next objective to conquer after our recent TreeTop Adventure. Conan wants P.U. mountain biking. B.T. walk is another suggestion from them. Don't tell me Conan The TopoKing wants to try his luck in navigating again.

5th April 2005: Edited version and repost. Inserted RanchuKing's pic.

The following excursion took place in some place with dense vegetation. A place full of SEAL trained mosquitoes and without a bikini babe in sight.

What a great day for a hike. Muggs, Conan, RanchuKing and ChiefClerk set off at the start of the trail, 0800hrs sharp. All of a sudden, Conan feel like doing a EliteForces style of camouflaging his face. According to my personal standard, it was a lousy paint job.



Approximately 3.5km down the trail, we seem to be lost. Tired and thirsty, everyone seem to have missed the map that was planted along the dirt track. Being the wisest one here, Muggs begins to consult his trusty Brooks jogging shoes for directions. "Hey, little fella. Which way is the TreeTop Bridge?"



Needless to say, Brooks, after being stepped on by Muggs for the past 3.5km, has refused to reveal any clue. Now, Conan starts to look doubtful.



Pissed, Conan decides to lead the pack. Conan screamed his war cry, "I am Conan the Barbarian. Hear me roar!! Follow me instead because I have the POWER DRINK!".



Strange as it seems. A usual TopoKing, Conan was able to navigate to the rest point near our objective. Seems like Lady Luck is with him. Will you just look at him? One kind of Yaya Papaya face. "Yellow watermelon face, actually.", corrected RanchuKing.



Even our ChiefClerk, a.k.a Mrs. RanchuKing, shrieks in disbelief. (ChiefClerk stresses that she wants to stay anonymous. Hence, we "mosaic-ed" her face.)



Well, even though Muggs is defeated by the new TopoKing in town, Muggs never fails to pose for a shot. Been here, done it and I'm loving it.



When it was Conan and RanchuKing's turn to take a picture, there was a small incident. Butt groping. Feeling guilty, our RanchuKing looked away.



While crossing the Tree Top bridge, our TopoKing, Conan, suddenly got excited when his mobile phone rang. Conan yelled, "Hello. Ohh.. .AM? Yes, AM? Ah ha... Oh yeah, by the way. I'm now crossing the Tree Top bridge leh.". Happily yakking on the phone and block the uni-directional pathway at the same time, a pudgy lady decides to overtake Conan. In the process, Conan's mobile phone left his hand and plunged to its death, into the primary rainforest below. We thought we hear a yelp from his Nokia when it landed on the ground with a thud.



The rest of us laughed our heads off. Conan spun around only to catch the sight of the pudgy lady taking off, leaving a cloud of dust. Conan let out a thunderous roar, "KNN". Clearly, the roar didn't help but only left us with spasms in our abdominals. Conan spotted that Muggs had the loudest laughter. The Barbarian shoved a lemon down Mugg's throat with one swift thrusting action.



"Shit.... what WAS that?", Muggs choked. "A lemon and serve you right for gloating over my misfortune.", hissed Conan. By now, RanchuKing and Chief Clerk intervened, "Alright, cut it out, you guys! We should be heading back for lunch already. I'm starving.". Conan proposed a toast to finish up his power drink before we head for lunch, while Muggs still feeling sour over what has happened, turned away .... *still fuming*.

breakfast. A good way to fuel up a day full of physical activities in the next few hours. It was 7am then. RanchuKing, Chief Clerk, Conan and I moved off to our designated form up place before moving off for our TreeTop Hike. Gearing up and getting ready at the start point, it was already 8am. For the initial few kilometres of our walk, everyone chatted because they were still fresh. To me, its a refreshing walk since I have not been back at this trail for a while. Basically because my group of regular jogging pals are slacking now. I enjoyed the walk. But, they were trying to hide their fatigue faces from each other. I guess they got more than what they have bargained for in this walk to view the TreeTop canopy. We're not even half way there yet. We stopped a few occasions for breaks. Finally reaching the start of the TreeTop canopy bridge, we took some more pictures before crossing the uni-directional bridge. We did hear a clown roaring off like George The Jungle. "Awwweeeoeeo". Of course, it followed by a disapproval whistle blow from the Park Ranger. This is a nature reserve. Not the Amazon Rainforest. Next stop, a Tower. Although it was just 6 levels of spiral staircase, our team is already complaining. Too much sofa and tv programmes, eh? The reward, 360 deg panoramic view, at the top was wonderful. We paused for some bread and drinks before descending and heading back to the carpark. From the tower to carpark will take another 2hrs of slow walk. So, when we reached the carpark, it was already 12pm. Since the path way back to the carpark is so much easier, there wasn't any grumbling from the 3 of them.

Hey, what do you know? The rest of them wanted to have lunch at indoor air-conditioned environment. Where else could be better than TeaGarden Mac? Watching kids enjoying games at a birthday party while having our lunch was quite a laugh. Kids will still be kids. Who doesn't enjoy a birthday party filled with fun and games? RanchuKing and Chief Clerk parted ways with us to walk around the florist nearby, while Conan and I headed off a park near my place for inline skating practice. Conan bought his new K2 skates and it is time for some scratches. We had a few falls. Resting, 10mins breaks in between each looping "workout". Since we're not really skating that good, we called it a workout more than cruising. Ending our "practice" an hour later, after spotting some "suspicious" looking dark clouds, we decided to have some drinks at the nearby Mac. Tired and finally returing home, we agreed that we should do this again. ... . . More falls soon ... definitely.

So, .. no blading today. Since its raining, our Uncle Conan's shinning new K2 skates can turn to rust skates. Hence, mission abort for EC. But still, we shall proceed to plan for our HTTW objective hike that is taking place tomorrow.

Just back from a short ride. From my place to old work place, ex-company. A loop, then back to my place again. Nothing fanciful. Just a short 15.5km. At this time of the night, I saw 3 mountain bikers and 1 racer rider separately. Looks like a lot of night riders out there too.

Mmm .. . . I think I should clean my bike. Looks dusty.

Now, that's nice. In fact, fantastic should be the word. K2. Big name. But, no. I'm not the proud owner of the new pair of K2 inline skates. It belongs to Uncle Conan. Happy man now. Not so happy for his wallet. He is officially $239 poorer. It was quite a good deal. With protective gears, helmet and all. However, this uncle has a rather unique way to wear his wrist guards. I shall demostrate it, capturing it with my trusty digicam. But, I just need to edit them. Its hilarious. Other than tackling the HSBC TTW tomorrow, we're set to go blading on Sunday at EC. Time to take some falls..... Good o'l days of unarmed combat...

Today was a long day. Before meeting up with Conan, early in the morning, I went for some bird watching with ZhuiTeLun. Bumped into some tourists (shall not name the nationality here), who was screaming at the top of their lungs. They saw nature stuff.... probably they could not take the shit. They were complaining that they see nothing at all. Its hot and stinky. Only a bunch of birds and loads of sand banks. They were trailing us, hoping that we could point out some interesting stuff. How could we watch birds when anyone can hear their voices or should I say noise within a 10 metre proximity from them? ZhuiTeLun and I purposely stopped in our tracks to let them overtake us. Finally, giving up, they did a U-Turn, assuming they got out of the sanctuary. A good thing. So, after this "tourists" encounter, we saw a pretty good range of stuff. 1 metre plus monitor lizard on top of a branch, approximately 6 - 8 metres off the ground. Common green tree snake that was cleverly camouflaged behind some leaves. Sandpippers, doves, king fishers, plovers and eagles. We saw archer fishes in the water too. There was a particular pond that we saw 4 monitor lizards that had perfect blending with the environment that it took us some time to spot them. We had a good rest point climbing up the watch tower. It was really cooling up there. We ended the walk early when it was slightly drizzling again. We went off for lunch and we spotted a country club that has a cafeteria opened to public. Mm ... that might be a good rest point for my biking next time.