Limping Marathon Runner

Colleagues here bought me a farewell lunch at a SzeChuan restaurant. Great ready to drip some saliva and wet the floor.

Burp!!!


Good heavens... after all these days of rest and food, I would want to put on my faithful LandrethII and burn some rubber. I can get back to my swim as well. I need to feel the gliding sensation. I have lots of things to try out.

In another few hours time, I shall grab my Tatonka backpack, laptop bag and a bag of teapots, cups and tea to board the plane. I have learned more from this trip.

服务员！ 买单！ 要发票. = Waiter/Waitress! Bill, please! I need a receipt.
干什儿? = What the hell are you doing?
没事儿! = It's okay!
我们打车! = Let's flag a cab!
您是销售吗? = Are you a Sales person?
您是售前,还是售后? = Are you a PreSales or PostSales person?
今天,我不想干活儿了! = I don't feel like working today!

Just a few things I have learned these few days.

Router = 路由器
Firewall = 防火墙
Switch = 交换机
Server = 服务器
Wireless = 无线
Broadband = 宽频
Gateway = 网关
IP Address = IP 地址
Netmask = 网关掩码
BlueTooth = 蓝牙
NAT = 地址转换
Digital Certificates = 数码证书
Anti-Spam = 防垃圾邮件
Virus Definition File = 病毒定义文件
Encryption = 加密技术
SSL = 安全接层加密技术
Mouse = 滑鼠
Hard Disk = 硬盘
USB Storage = U-盘
Interface = 端口
Trojan Horse = 特洛伊木马
Phishing = 钓鱼诈
Hacker = 黑客

Try conducting training in full mandarin, technical terms included. 哇靠!!

Back from YanCheng... phew... tiring!! Glad to be back in 上海 hotel again. Lunch at customer's canteen was interesting.

Taking for granted that this is just a $300++ motel.. there will not be any Internet connectivity. Well, what do you know? I am so wrong. Just left with 2 more nights here, I saw a LAN port. *self applied silly slaps* Ta-da!! Online!! But, then again, I had more sleep than before.

I tried to reach Lambie since its her birthday today. Too bad she is in Bangkok and I don't have any SMS "feature". She must be having a "good-good" time now.

Reaching 盐城, this is mainly a manufacturing city. I do not think there is any interest pictures for me to capture. The number of people per square meters is definite less than Shanghai.

Upon reaching the bus station, it is pretty obvious that we are from elsewhere (even with my China colleague). We were charged RMB $30 for less than 400m!!!! Fortunately, we gave a call to our partners and found that it’s just a stone throw away!! Pirates!! We checked into the hotel and met up with the partners and customer in the room. We went out for dinner and I get to see a wedding at the restaurant we were at. Not a great difference. Pretty interesting… they even served something like Risotto. The next event, I could not escape. Entertainment. I could not go back alone to the hotel since I am sharing the room with my colleague. I cannot use an excuse like “running” too. Of course, nothing much happened. But, I didn’t feel comfortable with the so called entertainment. I can only say that looks can be deceiving. Well, looking on the bright side, I learned how to play a dice game. But, it was more of a white washed. All of them were asking me to relax and just enjoy. Enjoy?! I think I enjoy a 10 or 21km slow run better. Maybe an online game. How about a good slow tea session?!! Since I am a foreigner, I downed quite a number of drinks. I still prefer runs to drinks. Stoned, I just wish to go back home. I miss my bed… absolutely. Super uneasy. I prefer the company of friends and teh tariks.. not these.

Tomorrow, I will have to take a medium distance road trip on a 4 hours car ride to 盐城. As planned, it will be a night’s stay at 盐城 as well. I would have to shelf the plan for heading out to Nanjing Road to Friday night because I need to prepare the training notes for 盐城’s training. I recalled that there is a tea shop near my hotel area and I decided to visit it before dinner. I managed to get a fair good tea at a reasonable rate. *Smileys* A quick noodle dinner (for tradition) and I am back in the hotel room to start on my training notes.

Yay! AGB will be here on Friday night as well. Coincidentally, we will be taking the same plane back home!! Woopeee!! I have not seen AGB for ages! We would have lots to talk about. However, AGB is on a packaged tour. Getting nearby seats would be extremely difficult. This flight is said to be full.

I can only read SMSes and can't send them. Must be my provider's problem. Thanks everyone for the well wishes. My phone has been beeping (SMSes) and even calls from morning till 10.30pm, last one from Renohtaram. *Grateful* The follow call does NOT count.

Doing my own laundry and then reading a book with coffee in hand, my room phone rang.

Lady: Did you call my number?
Me: What number?

Lady: You called for massage, right?
Me: No. You got it wrong.

Lady: Room ABC, right?
Me: No, I did not call or ask for anything. *taps fingers*

Lady: You want massage?
Me: No. (NB. Nice try….)

Lady: Sorry for disturbing.

Hello. Wake up your idea!!! Bloody fools. Why do I always get such calls? Same when I was here 2 years ago (even at a different hotel?). Just let me read my book. Alright?

Moving out as planned, I bought biscuits as my breakfast since I could not find any stores that sell breakfast around the area of my stay. I boarded the Metro, bringing me to 人民广场 and was greeted by the familiar Raffles City building. They were not opened then (only starts from 10am). I started my walk in the Old Town of Shanghai, which the route mainly covers old houses. I want to see the daily lives of a normal Shanghainese. No to shopping malls! I took loads of pictures! I skipped 豫园 since I have been there last time. The place is for tourists.

While walking the Old Town, I am delighted to find wet markets, road side stores and shops selling daily necessities. I could even see living quarters, someone’s bed that is just facing the door! Basins just outside your door with people washing their stuff or brushing even their teeth. All these remind us of how fortunate we are.


Along the roads at another side of the town, I was quite saddened by the fact that porn stuff is being sold, by men and women (as well). A lady shouted out to me in chinese, “Come lad, take a look at this. Good stuff!!”. WTF. There were some orally taken “enhancement” products and toys of that sort too. I walked the hardware square that sells lots of interesting (maybe to an engineer) gadgets and tools. Cool!! Oh yeah, I came across many bike stores. However, I could not find anything for EndlessTrail. Cutting through the Old Town, there is a stretch of antiques shops. Nah… not in my interest list because they looked like what we have back at home. But, the old skool cameras caught my eye though!!


Walking back to where I came from, I went into a tea pots shop which I passed earlier on. Ha!! I managed to get two good bargains!! Of course, I do not think that the clay is of top quality. Nevertheless, I am happy for that price I paid for. S$36 for the two tea pots. I bought several different designs of tea cups. I would say I am rather picky in this area. I can accept flaws in the goods or the quality of it. I would judge by the feel of it to determine its worth. Further down the road, I bought some other tea that is not available back at home too. S$50 for two different kinds of tea. Not too bad. Waa… this is some quality retail therapy!!! Super high… cloud nine!!


I found a nice little restaurant and ordered a bowl of 叉烧面 and 小龙包, all for S$2.10!! I shopped a little and walked along the Bund before catching the Metro back.

Can't run, do my stretches then..

I followed LonelyPlanet guide to find the tea pot store that they recommended. It is quite a fair distance of walk away from my hotel. The tea pots are indeed of some standard. However, they were a little too pricy to what I would want to fork out at that level.

Since 新天地 is just around the corner, a good 800m away, I walked there while taking pictures along the way. The whole 新天地 is the same as two years back. Well, the only difference is that the restaurant serving our local delights has closed down, taken over by a pizza restaurant.

Wooops.. lunch time. I went to a recommended restaurant selling 锅贴. Let me tell you, it was packed!!! Left with no choice, I went to MacDonalds. S$2 for a mini meal, I could not complain. Alone, getting a seat is difficult. People still want to cut queues everywhere!! POS! After my meal, walking along the familiar 淮海中路, I decided to take the Metro to 徐家汇. Trying to look for the oldest temple in Shanghai, I failed. Some roads have changed and are not reflected on the map. I had to turn back since it was getting late and near the closing time too.


Since I thought of taking my dinner around my hotel area, I dropped my bag and took the Metro again to 静安寺 area's 园园餐厅. Same outcome, a packed restaurant filled with locals. Though not a big place, I got to eat what the local eat, right?! Damn ... Anyway, I was not that hungry yet. I took the Metro back to my hotel stop and walked the back alley around my hotel area. A bazzaar looking stretch and I walked a little since I had a little adventurous voice in me saying, “C’mon!”. I admit that I was really surprised that where this whole stretch led me to. Approximately 600m long of stores selling food and wares in front of restaurants. The whole pack is jam packed with people!! Lots of yummy stuff like smelly toufu, BBQ squids, BBQ buffalo wings, sugar cane juice, cold drinks snacks and more! I chose a safer bet of 锅贴 in a restaurant for S$1. But, I think the lady overcharged everyone since the queue was long. No morals ... Money is everything. I left the stretch and found another restaurant that sells good mushroom noodles for S$1.50. I was bloated by the time I finished the bowl of noodles.


While watching the T.V. program, someone delivered my laundry. What’s wrong with these people?! I could whiff the smell of cigarettes from my 2 pieces of Polo. I can never trust these people. That’s it!!! No more. I flipped the LonelyPlanet guide and planned my route of movement for tomorrow before I fell asleep.

Yesterday night, I was covered in cold sweat. Rather worried that stuff might turn out to be disastrous, I had to use the "Dial-A-Friend". Fortunately, the upgrade turned out okay with just a few harmless error messages. Tried the salty version of LaiLiaoXia with some other dishes, we ended the night at 11pm and I was already super sleepy.

Late night before and I still have an early morning train to catch for today to 无锡. From what I understand, the trains have hard seats and soft cushions for our selection at different rates. Surprising .. the soft cushion cabin, with air-conditioning, that we took is rather clean. Minus the toilet smell, if you are sitting hear the toilet .... that it. No pictures of 无锡. Just there to conduct training and back.

Some of them wanted "enjoyment" tonight, I found myself some silly excuse, wanting to back to the hotel. "I need to run 10km". Viola!! I skipped the entertainment. Its my choice!

I guess the title suggest very much what this whole post will be…. sad. I’m sitting down with a cup of 3-in-1 coffee recollecting what I went through today. Erm… not exactly good coffee though….

This post in particular is just my own opinion. Read at your own risk.

A little late for work today and I am suppose to be lead to the office today by my colleague. Another colleague came lead the way from my hotel to office. Meeting kicked off with some briefing of what is expected for my attachment here. I cleared some Emails with some multitasking chit chats over MSN with some running friends. Lunch was on the house by the local office boss. Sorry no pics on the food, it seemed a little rude to me to take pictures. Pretty decent food to me. Back to work and I received instructions to head over to WuXi for this Friday and JiangSu’s YanCheng next week. Expect to conduct some training to end customers. Just before leaving the office for the day, my Chinese colleagues asked me what I do back at home. I said, "Running". They were not exactly ready to hear the number 42. I told them the Kenyans' timing at average of 2hrs 15mins. They said, "他妈的! 我们二十个人接力都不一定跑得赢!!"

Someone I know from hometown came to Shanghai for leisure today (who happens to be a good friend of the local office boss). We went out for dinner and talked about having me to come back in October to conduct some training to the local engineers here. It seems like drinking (entertaining) is inevitable. I have not been drinking for… lost count. I don’t really enjoy drinking anyway. To entertain, I don’t think one or two mugs of beer would do. Hanging out at a pub with lot of Chinese girls where I don’t really feel comfortable. Seeing a 40-ish Caucasian frenching a Chinese young girl, .. ladies sitting on guys’ thighs .. shit. . .. I just want to get out and read my book in the hotel. Or probably run on the streets. Air over here is not too good. Most of the girls are hanging out with the Caucasians. A Chinese lady (waitress) came over to chat with us, asking us where we are from and what business we have in Shanghai. She said we looked too serious to be approachable. We chatted quite a while before she had to take orders from other tables. Another Chinese lady (but transvestite) looking asked my associates for cigarettes and them to buy her a drink. After giving her some lame excuse that we are leaving, she got pissed and went to another table. Sad to say that my associates are hoping for some hook ups.

We left and took a cab back to our hotel, where I bought some water. Here I am, with my cup of less than satisfied coffee, typing this entry. Damn, I wish I am doing some tracks in stadium, burning some rubber now. Entertaining in this area is just not my cup of tea. Why sad post then? Well, I know for the fact that some “entertainment” (extras) happens around the world. But, work might not be about what you can do (technically). It is about what you can offer and who you know. Sad but true. Maybe one day, when I retire, I shall contribute to charity work, where “entertainment” is not required. It is all about how we contribute through our hearts, sincerely.

Sigh… more “entertainment” this weekend. I will stick to my beliefs. Probably, I am just a stick in the mud. Got to sleep .. still need to do O.T. after office hours tomorrow.

Grabbing my pack and heading for Pudong Airport, Shanghai. I did require a bit of reading before falling asleep on the plane. Landed at 3.10pm and major jam at the immigration at Shanghai Pudong Airport. It took me almost an hour before I claimed my luggage and took a cab to my local office. I wanted to take the MagLev train very much. But, I was running short of time. Reaching office, I downloaded some mails before heading out for dinner with the local office boss. I checked in at the hotel alone, unpacking my stuff. I got to do some reading and watching Stephen Henry on TV. He is still good, though he has aged quite a bit.

I have already gotten some feel of “SinCity”. Not that I am experiencing something, but through monitoring people.

Short time for swim today, due to some packing. Just 1.5km. I wish I could do a little more. 3 pratas to reward myself.

I continued my packing. Phew! Just finished.

Ready for some "Shit Hit the Fan" action tomorrow! On Guard!
Night! Over and Out!

*static*

Back from KL .... just reached home. Loads of fun and laughter. Write about it soon. Tons of pictures too.

Not sure if I will have time to do a proper FR. Busy tomorrow and will be jetting off to Shanghai in just about another 34hrs time.

Got to wake up to catch a cab down in order picking up Flip and Fennel. Cannot oversleep. 7 person will throw choppers and knives at me if I fail to appear. Stress... so worried that I have several alarms to separate me from my bed at 6am.

Most have arrived once we reached Golden Mile. Hey! Hanseng (Beng's friend) is going to KL for shopping as well. But, he is on a different bus. I heard the sound of jaws dropping on the floor when I said I am going there to run. Another surprise character / familar face when I board the bus. Benson whom I got to know through diving. He shruddered in disbelief when I said I am going to race in KL. Passed through the immigration without much hassle and we got to play some movies at our own personal LCD T.V. Since I did not watch Ice Age, X-men and Sahara before, I watched these three movies before falling asleep. We soon reached KL around 2 or 3 pm and went on foot to our hotel for check in. We deposited our packs in the room, slacked a little before heading over to Jalan Alor and then to Petaling. Walking around the stores, we had to stop by at the famous longan drink store for a thirst quencher. Look at our model for the store.

Uh-oh... sound of thunder accompanied by dark clouds closing fast, signaled to us that we should seek shelter soon. DoraemonRed suggested to stop for a tea break. Dark Soya Fried Hokkien Mee for tea break?! How sinful. We had some Kailan and lime juice to wash all the grease down. Impeccable timing! Once we finished up our food, walked out to one of the exits, the rain changed to a drizzle. We started to make our way back to Sungei Wang, meeting IMD and his MHA for some shopping and dinner. What's next?! Some asked. Hotel was next. We met Seal and his MHA, since he is collecting his RealRun goodie pack from me. Too bad, the couple had plans for the night. The rest of us (DoraemonRed, TKTan, Roger, IMD, IMD MHA, Shutehelup, SV and me) went to Jalan Alor for supper. Fennel and Flip decided to crash out and retire for the night.


They missed some teh tariks, fried maggi mee and sinful Rainbow Sago. Heh heh heh. Aww... we were really tired by then. Retreat!! Back to the hotel, bathed and prepared my gear before I slept.

*Growling stomach* Lunch time! Rushing off to run some errands together with a lunch appointment, I saw a familiar face wavng at me. Ho ho! It was Divey! We chatted a while and KJ soon popped by. The gals are having lunch together at Chinatown. Oooops.. gotta go! Tata, ladies!

Moving around the area, waiting for my next appointment, I bought a cold drink and stood around enjoying the greenery. Someone slapped my left shoulder with newspapers. Ooops... It was Mrs. Fong. We had a short chat before she went back to her office.

Fight fight fight... at least with the software. Plus some explanation of concepts and trying to educate people's mindset.

Great to receive a phone call from an ex-colleague who is now... with Beng. Ha!! Touched. We had a short chat on my mobile on recent issues and stuff. Got to meet up one of these days.

Dinner with a couple of guys over at a "recommended" restaurant.

Main course plus desserts. We'll let the pictures do the talking.

Since BengTrainer was still feeling a little wozzy yesterday, we decided to pay them a visit at the ward today. I had to do a quick disappearing act during lunch time with RLEK. I bought some nourishment for the mummy and food for the dad. Beng Jr. screamed with his eyes closed. One tough cookie! Hungry? Maybe? This little fiery bundle of joy is one cute fella. Beng winked at me, "Fatherhood? Join us!"

This ain't no recruitment poster / slogan!
There are just some thoughts. But, I shall just leave them where they are.

Running late for the usual run today due to last minute meeting at customer's office. By the time I reached, I saw most of them crossing the traffic lights just in front of my cab. Late. I began typing my report since I am alone. Compass and SV came ... later than I am. Since I'm still in my office wear, I told them to go ahead. 5 minutes later, Cfred arrived too. But, I guess he wasn't going to run. We chatted about their recent race on Desaru. Let me do my Ironman 70.3 Triathlon next year!

Hi there, kiddo!! Hello!!

Congrats to Beng and BengTrainer!!
We have been waiting for this new born for a long time.

Welcome to this world, munchkin!

Waking up at 5.30am on a non-race day is never easy. Air-conditioning buses are killers to me at 6am. Freezing cold! I had to wear another dri-fit Tee over my running singlet. I reached the waiting point sharp at 6.45am. More guys arrived as I warmed up my legs. A new face walked towards us, mentioning a name that does not even ring a bell. Once she said, "mis_nomer". We went, "Ooooh!" Renohtaram did a quick briefing on the Vanilla/Caramel/Chocolate route and off we went. We paused along the way for some toilet breaks and mini hill runnings before tackling a "must-do" Ultraman's slope. Spotting Renohtaram along the way, guiding and making sure that no one loses their way, we looped back to BG again. I told Renohtaram to go ahead with the 16kms and 21kms while I waited for the rest. Since Tiwazz and Bee did the 11km, I accompanied AlecChua and Meteor as the last man for the 16km or 21km. Reaching one of the 7-11s along the way, I thought AlecChua looked a little worn out and we bought some Isotonic drinks. The air-conditioning's cool air was fantastic! We continued our run where AlecChua wanted to walk (signaling us to go ahead) when we were at the Newton Circus stretch. Meteor and I proceeded towards BG. Most of them were already done with their run and waiting at the starting point. I did the last stretch of 4km since Meteor stopped at 16km. It was a great run this morning.

A lot more events throughout the entire day.
But, this is all I wish to write. Over and out.

Waiting for my RoadID to appear in my mailbox.

Three places to be at today. In the morning, it was a run at MR with my cousin and his colleagues. Just at the SICC golf course portion, I met Ronnie who seems to be doing his own ninja session. Ha! At the tower, they decided to walk. I switched my mindset to "walk" the rest of the 6km. A sign that I should do an easy run today to rest my legs for tomorrow Vanilla-Caramel-Chocolate triple treat run? Likely .. .. yes. Trails were really crowded today with track-n-field students doing their trainings and groups of people heading to Tree Top Walk, I suppose. After our breakfast, I went back home, changed and travelled to HWA.

Great work organising the talk and coordination by the committee. The running injuries talk at HWA by Dr. Jason Chia was great. Ahh... runners knee. My fave topic. *grumbles* Much of the information on this topic has been gone through by me before. I learned a lot today and I always believe in re-learning topics that I have covered before. Rounds of applause for the two doctors! Heading off, run.run.runaway offered to drive us to a Novena MRT. But, Renohtaram walked out to take our bus instead. Along the way, we saw a traditional bakery making bread. We bought one loaf each and started snacking away!
Renohtaram still has a little flu. Rest well!

I went to get a couple book in the evening and slept like a zombie till I reach my station.

Just happen to see my poser photo with SV at the Trailblazers last weekend. Tired but still have to pose during the run, right? Damn comical!

A couple of friends are already at Desaru doing some triathlon event on this Saturday. IMD, SV, Cfred, Loneshark, Andy, Charmane and Sotong (I think).... Good luck guys!! IMD and Shutehelup will be doing Putrajaya runs on Sunday. Here goes crazy....

Alrighty!!! My battle scars from Trailblazers seem to be fading. Healing, so to speak.

The raspberry cheesecake I ate last night tasted like my Oreo cheesecake (booooo!!! Shameless) *thumbs down* Just like what Kay has mentioned before. I understand what he meant when he said, it tasted a little too cheesy. I kinda agree. Maybe I should add water?? *choke on crumbs*

Frenchman Breaks Record By Running To Japan
Taken from ChannelNewsAsia
Posted: 05 September 2006 1722 hrs

TOKYO : Frenchman Serge Girard has completed a 260-day run from Paris to Tokyo, breaking the record for the longest journey without a full day of rest.

The 52-year-old former insurance worker arrived at a hotel in the Japanese capital after running 19,097 kilometers (11,840 miles) since setting off from Paris on December 18.

Looking tanned, fit but also tired, Girard was greeted by a small crowd of around 10 supporters and was embraced by his three children.

"This is a great joy. This incredible feat was accomplished with a team. It wasn't just me," he told reporters.

But he added: "There is a certain feeling of sadness as it's true that this was a fabulous adventure that comes to a close."

On Sunday, Girard beat the world record held by the Australian Gary Parson who ran around his own country for 19,030 kilometers (11,799 miles) for 276 days without resting.

Girard, a former financial adviser for French insurer AGF, ran about 73 kilometers (45 miles) a day guided by satellite through the Global Positioning System. He rested at night.

He ran through 19 countries: France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China and finally Japan.

He completed his journey with a 20-kilometer (12-mile) run through the Japanese capital that took him past the imperial palace.

Girard says he is also the sole runner to have raced the distance across all continents, having previously run across the United States, Australia, South America and Europe.

- AFP

All the running gods have gone touring.

This day, I redeemed my status back to gold. Yay! My previous record was fail. I can only be a pacer if I drew a number tag. To pace my platoon mates, I can only run at a just pass pace for them to follow. Strange to declare fail on all the other stations, right? So, today, I cleared my killer station, standing broad jump station, and happy to clear the 2.4km to claim some moola. Yay! Maybe can go shoe shopping and be vain. Buy that red Asics Cumulus VIII?

After my test, I went over to SP Tracks and since none of the guys were there, I started right away. I did a couple of 800s and soon saw Tiwazz and Kops21. Once I was done with my run, LimYouLiang came to collect his running set and AlecChua joined us for the dinner. IMD met us at the Commonwealth station, where I gave the guys a Ching Tng treat. Some opt for a second on the house, Dao Suan. Damn... the Dao Suan looks really nice and I did not have my digicam with me. The uncle at dessert store was playing "BeeGees" today. Waa.... Retro-papa... It is Desserts Day, afterall.

... D-day? Let's see if I can bag something tomorrow. Today's CBD was okay. I ran with Kay and asked the rest to move forward. Meteor sort of lead the run with the front pack. We went slow just to let our bodies warm up. Part of me wanted to go slow and give my legs an easy time. Good run and met some new faces again! Trial ....tomorrow?

Received a call from someone who is really stressed over work. Sounds like someone hitting the shitty patch. (T_T) ... simply does not help at all. I can only go, "Yes yes yes, I understand."

I think I will "!@#$%^&" another round or rather each time I change my dressing for my battle scar.

Just touched home after a leaving IMD on a separate bus. Checking on my most prominent battle scar, it has turned really red and swollen. Applied some antiseptic cream and I went, "!@#$%^&*".

6am!! TLR's alarm rang. I want to sleep some more!! The weather is nice to curl up under a warm comforter like a cocoon. But, it's time to get up after all.. we will have to "navigate" to the football field, which happens to be the starting point. Since we had problems finding the LongHouse last night, we should move out earlier, just in case.

Breakfast would be provided after the race. Hence, I did not take any food at all. We started walking towards the direction where most people are heading to and the sound from loud music and people talking over the microphone soon appeared to be closer. The event ground is already filled with participants, volunteers and officials. The Fitness First team conducted a short warm up and we took some more pictures before moving to the start line. That was when we saw Ham who was there with her friends. 8.15am (or so) the wild category was flagged off. We started out trail run! The mild category started 15 minutes later. It was still early that we ran on the road and we were soon greeted by gentle trails. The first mud pool came where I cross it rather easily. I heard people shouting that their shoes were stuck in the bottom. Poor souls. Tighten your laces! We had to do some ascends.. steep slopes. Practically, if you see ropes... you'll know that you need them. We sort of went back up and then back down to be greeted by streams. The sound of rushing water is quite clear and distinct. We had to climb up the slopes then stairs before reaching near the LongHouse area. But, that is not the end yet. There was still another 2km to go. Some twists and turns, up slopes and down slopes before we climb in and out 3 large pits that were 2 metres deep. The next obstacle .. .. mud pools!! Two mud pools, approximately 5-8 metres long?! I can't be doing TI in those!!! Crossed a row of tyres. We had to climb and cross 2-3 man made ramps before crossing the finishing line! A quick check at our timing, I found that my watch still caked with mud!!! SV has been a good race partner. He is usually ahead. But, always waits at the start of the obstacles. We collect our finisher medals. Well done, SV!! And me ... of course.

We had a quick shower and claimed our well deserved breakfast. Let me see... there were cereal, maggi mee, sandwiches, bananas, ice milo, and more ... burp! IMD's babe was lucky enough to win a Swatch SKIN watch through lucky draw!! How lucky! All of us went back to shower PROPERLY before getting changed and ready to check out of the hotel. We took the bus back to the Genting Bus Terminal and saw Runwitme. It was the first time seeing him in person. More chit chats on the upcoming races and we took a picture before we board the bus back to Puduraya. I managed to catch some sleep even on this one hour plus ride. We took our late lunch, where I had a Cheese Nann. Nothing is complete with a wash down with Teh Tarik. Our bus back to homeland was a little late during to traffic and the carbon monoxide build up did not help at all. So ... our bus brought us back to YongPeng and then to Woodlands checkpoint to conclude our trip out for this weekend!! Fun!

Our "trip" starting on Friday night, after my 10km run and getting my book from the library, I met up with IMD at Gelare - CityLink for his ... sin. Waffle and ice cream. I had a Mango milkshake thingie to replenish my sugars. Sins. We moved over to Beach Road market to meet up with SV and TLR for our dinner. IMD carbo loaded again!! This guy had dinner before his waffle .... Another bottomless pit. Three of us had Roti John and SV ordered Mutton Soup.

While we were awaiting for our bus(Sri Maju services) to come, we filled up our immigration cards. IMD said, "That looks like the back of a familiar person". "Seal!!", I shouted out. True enough, it was the man himself. He is on a visiting trip to KL. Somehow he had some trouble with his bus service and eventually settled the problem. We left as he wished us good luck to our race and right after the immigration, we saw Seal again. Once the bus started moving again, it was till and hour or so later, that we reached YongPeng for a drink/food/toilet stopover. Three of us walked around while TLR continued with his power sleep. We reach Hentian Puduraya at around 4am plus and took some food and drinks while waiting for 7.30am bus ticketing office to purchase our tickets to Genting. I had Roti Canai and Kopi. We queued for our return tickets once we reached the bus terminal at Genting. Walking around looking for the bus that connects us to Awana Resort, TLR asked for directions and found the waiting point. Once the bus came, we hopped on it and it was just 5 minutes of ride, we reached Awana Resort.

Since it was just 9am plus, the set up was not ready. We had to kill some time before collecting the race packs. It was just poor coordination (IMO) that some of the helpers do not know what to do and what to check. No briefing to the helpers/volunteers? No idea. Hungry. Looking for food in a golf resort? Never expect "afforable". We left the "afforable" cafe and headed back to the cable cars tower / bus terminal for cheaper alternatives. RM$3.50 for maggi mee.. no complains. Beat IMD's cold fried rice. LOL. Yeah, the hunk grumbled. TLR and SV bought some tidbits before we took the complimentary bus back to the resort to get our room. Ta-da!!! The room was not even done up, since the last guest left. But, it looks spacious enough for four! We called for housekeeping and went for the briefing by the Event Director. There was a talk by a lady triathlete / adventure racer on fueling and training. Another session on foot injuries and stretching by a sports doctor. Sam and Eddie from RL is also participating in the race. BabyMonster was spotted with her hunk as well. We collected our free PowerBar and went back to our rooms for a power nap.


Around 6pm to 7pm, we linked up with IMD's babe and her colleagues before moving to the "LongHouse" for our Jamboree dinner. Due to the sub-standard instructions and no maps guiding to the LongHouse, we had to take a few wrong turns. From far, we can hear the music of the dinner event grounds booming away. Did they say LongHouse or LongWalk???!! Anyway, we took a "short cut", bashing through barb wires and greenery before reaching the top. Some gradient workout before our dinner, huh?! I enjoyed the live band music more than the food. The music soothed our mood and we headed back to our rooms for shower and an early night.

.... with great friends! I joined Mrs. Fong and Beng for lunch at Hans today. It was a stroke of luck. I SMS-ed Beng to ask him out for lunch since I was around his area. "Before and After Dating Days" topics had us chatting all the way till we walked Mrs. Fong back to her office. I hope she'll recovering well from her flu. After getting some money changed, I met Sxuanjing who was really casual (on half day). I met an ex colleague, Sandra as well. Further down the road, I bumped into yet another ex colleague, Elayne. She exclaimed, "Wah, you still remember my name?!!". Apparently, she has forgotten mine. *pffftt*

Back from a 10km, where my 1.6km was the timing that I wanted to maintain. That is the goal for now. I'm happy. Gonna get changed, packed and head for Trailblazers!! Ciao! Field report when I get back. FR .. FR ... FR