Race Prep: Bidor Half Marathon
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Yet another early day for me to get out of bed because we are going to race in Bidor, Malaysia - Bidor Half Marathon! Meeting at Kranji MRT around 6.30am, I was the earliest. I should have taken a bus instead. By the time Ronnie, Shut and SV arrived, we got on Bus 170 and crossed the immigrations on both sides swiftly. Since Senai Airport is not too far away, sharing a cab was quite a deal and we only got into a slight jam which is just outside the airport. A quick check-in and we were off to some breakfast at CoffeeBean and TeaLeaf. It was not too long that we got on the plane and reached KL before we can catch some sleep. Budget flights... did not expect too much. Within minutes, IMD and Yee Hua were at the lobby. We loaded our packs into the car and went to Cheras to look for Yen Erl.
Catching a quick lunch, we continued our journey up to Bidor where it was raining along the way, with IMD behind the steering wheel. He was practically transporting a car load of zombies.. all of us fell asleep. Oooops. Upon arriving at Bidor, we asked for directions to the race pack pick up point. Once we parked our car, it poured from the sky again!! We decided to have some hot drinks before driving over to our hotel. The friendly, chatty coffee shop owner even showed us his travel pictures!! Now that made us look like country bumpkins!!! He has been to so many countries!!
Since the rain stopped, we went to the official race hotel and were greeted by a "See Foo Hotel" which translates to "Master (KungFu) Hotel". But, it actually meant West Lake Hotel. *slaps forehead real loud* Ouch. There were signs pointing to a small door leading to a flight of stairs which certainly did not suggest any "star" to the hotel. Heck! Simple beds and bathing facilities are all we need! We went out to take some pictures at the start line and did some walking around the small town of Bidor. It was raining on and off, every now and then. We ended up eating Ramly Burgers, Goreng Pisangs, Curry Puffs and Duck Drumstick Noodles. Yum!!
Since there weren't any cable T.V. programs or Internet access, I read "The 5 Love Languages" till I fell asleep at 8pm. First time sleeping at such an early time!