Limping Marathon Runner

I met up with Tiwazz, Cheow12, Violet, Cheow12's colleague and ChrisLeow (who is my Secondary School classmate and Cheow12's colleague). We thought of going for the 10.5km route, hoping that the path would be okay now (sealed due to landslide). We might as well try .. . if it is still blocked, we will just turn around. Once we reached the Ranger station, we noticed that the barricade is still around. No luck.



By then, we noticed that Violet and ChrisLeow went missing.. thinking that they have taken a wrong turn, we went back to the car park area to wait for them. Along the way, Tiwazz and I bumped into Choonwei. I noticed a guy dropped something while he was running and that is when I spotted him. When we arrived back at the car park, Violet and ChrisLeow were not back yet. Wahahah. They might have missed a turn and ran more than 11km! While waiting, we spotted Bselby0 and called out to him. We had a brief chat. It seems like he wanted to go for the KL Marathon. Unfortunately, he had to go for his company's conference meeting overseas and will be traveling. Soon, Violet and ChrisLeow reached the car park and we all headed to AV market for some food. The Avocado fruit juice shop is closed for new year. Boooo. We did a shopping walk at Ikea before heading home.

After contemplating about the Safra Biathlon, I have decided to go for it. Guess I will register after CNY.

Open Sea Swim. I think I remembered that there is an Open Sea Charity Swim last time. I missed it. A 10km open sea swim would be fun! Time to soak some sun and lick some salt cystals!

That was fast! myFTOgpx told me about his sis's office writing off some PCs. $60 per piece, only 12 available. Not too sure of the specs. But, minimum a P3. Yeah, I need one for testing my work related stuff. Ta-da!!! Just an hour ago, my buddy called me that he has collected the PC. W00t!! I actually got a surprise that the PC is a SFF Compaq and it includes a monitor too! I just received the goods and waiting to test out the hardware once I'm free! *Thrilled*

Most people went on leave in our office today. Rather quiet .. . but, I still had to conduct an informal run through on my pet product.

How can you leave me just when I needed you? Feels like I have lost the meaning of life. Disc man went ka-put!

Sounds like a familiar tune in my head, all over again.

A company night out event with customers. Bowling session / mini-league. ArcadeDT was there too.. and in my team. PolarBear, the brute force power bowler, was also with us. We did not win anything.. close to winning some vouchers.. but, its okay. Fun. I have not bowled for quite some time. I still recall those days in the lower Secondary that I was able to do hook with house balls. Seems like all have been wasted into the gutter along with the ball. Took me some time to find my finger positions and approach sweet spot just now.



More infomation and confirmation on the up and coming Mount Kinabalu trip. Getting ready.

A short 6km run today. However, in the city area, called the CBD run. Something wrong with the name here. It should be called the Run and Sniff event. We ran into Marina South, I probably ran at a faster pace, where most have not warmed up yet. Passing by the buffet open area and Long Beach restaurant too, smell of BBQ and seafood filled our lungs instead of oxygen! We could no longer hear our own panting. It was our growling stomach instead. The restaurant diners saw a bunch of crazy people who ran pass them. It was such a tease! We were right there... and we could not stop for even a chicken wing.. not to mention a baked lobster with cheese.



Nearing to the end point, probably 0.8km away, my phone rang. Zoossh on the line, confirming our trip. Lucky thing that I am pretty used to talking over the mobile phone and running. It wasn't that bad, I could still pick up some speed.

We had dinner at Maxwell market, where I ordered a Char Kway Teow.. 1 person at the wok, 2 overseeing orders, I had to do a self service collection and they still got my order wrong. Brilliant! I ordered a Banana milk from a fruit juice stall.. and topped up with a mug of sour plum juice. Oooooo... heavenly.

Since I am having reunion dinner tonight, I had to do a quick session in the pool. Starting out at 1845hrs, I did not exactly go for distance (laps) today. I focused on stroke count instead. Lousy. Only managed a 44 strokes per lap in the pool. Boooo.

I am hoping for 40 strokes for now.. *sigh* still padding and trying. *crosses fingers and toes for practises* When I was almost done with my swim, the rest of the guys arrived. Surpise guest appearance. In fact, two of them. Hedgehog came too! Staying around for a while before I ran off for my reunion dinner and popping back in time to join them for their dinner (I watched them eat). I had a ice cold Milo while listening to Sotong explain how does biking hinder peepee's peak performance for guys. No triathlon for him now. Though medically proven, go tell that to Lance Armstrong. Now, I truly know why they call an Ironman, .... Ironman.

I did a run.. like a walk down memory lane.

I ran the road that I once so dread walking, on every Sunday.
I ran the road that over looks the square that I once geared up for conditioning.
I ran the road that leads to unimaginable conditioning programs.

It did bring back loads of memories. Tough... but I went through it. As I ran along, the cleared fields now spot a distinctive Biopolis sticking out. I was searching for the link to Queensway. But, I think I took a turn too early. I ended up in Commonwealth instead after crossing the railway lines. Mounting up to a short 7km.



Linking up with some runners at AV market. They all had laksa, while I had prata. The avocado drink was really power! A never to miss selection at AV market. Most of them went home and the remaining few shopped in Queensway. I paid $10 for a Deuter camera pouch for my new cam. Cheap buy! Renohtaram, Tiwazz, Bee and I went over to Beach Road for some more shopping therapy. Did not end up buying anything at all and we took some drinks before going home.

Updated: 2330hrs
Just received a phone call on work several minutes back.. really killed me.. I almost die laughing. What is wrong?! Nevermind. Give me a blindfold and I'm ready to charge. Charrrgggggeeeee!!!

Early in the morning, I received a SMS invitation to 武林大会 on the 4th February. Looking forward to our AGM CNY meet! Ha!

Okay, now to the Objective of the day:
1. Open sea familiarisation swim for Tiwazz.
2. To film Tiwazz's front crawl.

LittleFoot, Tiwazz and I met earlier for some coffee before the 3pm swim meet. Probably not been taking bus from the Tiong Bahru area for quite a while, they have removed the bus service going to Sentosa. We took a train over to Harbour Front for the bus. run.run.runaway? Already found a spot at the beach.. and near the 8P lifeguards too! Renohtaram linked up with her earlier than us arriving there too.



Once we have found them, it was no-time-to-waste. Gear up time. Tiwazz was applying a full body sun block coating (approx a good 10mins) while I checked my batts in the digicam. LittleFoot and Tiwazz marched to the open waters like penguins heading to the sea. Ready! I bet it was a good experience for the two of them. Of course, safety is really important.. had to keep asking them to stay near to the shore. Renohtaram was watching over our baggage. I managed to do a video clip capture of Tiwazz before the slight drizzle came. I had to hide my cam away. Renohtaram went off to look for his friends at the Sentosa chalets and run.run.runaway joined in at the swim. I took over in looking after our bags. LittleFoot and Tiwazz did a few good rounds by then, gaining more confidence, swimming in the open waters. We exchanged a few tips and pointers.

As the sun was going to set in a hour's time, we bathed and packed up. We had dinner and walked around the mall for some window shopping. I guess today's exposure has served them well in confidence building for open sea swimming. Little steps, but, good! I'm totally dead tired.

Seems like I have a long list of hurdles to jump over... I just have to keep going.. my head up high.

I was early after work and went to several places to checked on some stuff. Great! Did my calculations and it seems everything is in order. Moving over to central to meet Beng and Lambie, I was already famished. Seems like a bowl of noodles could not even fill 40% of my stomach. Ahh.. great news from Beng! Good for you! We chatted over dinner and all of us seemed to be really hungry. We trotted over to TCC for some coffee and desserts. Sinful chocolate cake and tiramisu... Almost finishing the cakes.. I was already burping.. Yes, Lambie, I know my Oreo Mocha Frappe looks good. It taste good too. I feel fat now. Beng looked rather sleepy (probably due to work at office and more at home) and Lambie looked rather chirpy (from traumatising, what else?)... Time to say good night!

Somebody is having long work hours for past few weeks, probably months too! Cheer up!! Here's a smile for you! :) CNY is around the corner!

A new template which took me some time to edit, from the original at PinkFreak Design. I like some of their work. This design in particular is pretty neat.

Ok. I can sleep now.

Updated: 2300hrs
After a day's work, I bumped into Tekko and we briefly chatted for a while before heading off to meet PTK and KJ. Finally, tonight, I've washed those filthy power-coated shoes that landed into some mud pool on Tuesday.


Meeting Beng and Lambie tomorrow night for dinner. Kitty? Not so soon.. some other days..

On course today (in fact for the whole of this week), lightning spotted and thunder heard around 4pm. Skies looked dark and it did rained a little. A fortunate thing that it stopped before our 7pm short slow run. Blunder in the meeting point (not sure if I SMS-ed the wrong location) and sent LittleFoot to Jurong Point. *Ooops* I just trashed my sent folder and could not see if I have made the typo. *Apologies* Down to Tiwazz and myself walking over to meet Kops21 and Freddy. Upon arrival, Kops21 told us that Freddy went off due to some other issues and he pointed out to us a figure in the pool. Runalone was doing his TI swim.

We did some warm up and moved out of the gym. Along the same path.. we encounted some muddy patches from this afternoon's rain. Was it? Erm.... *Shrieks* I felt some sensations in my feet. My socks are a little damp. My shoes are stained with mud!! We were only able to see it once we reach the rays of light from the nearby street lamp.

......

I think I have to wash my shoes again from Sunday's step-a-dung incident. Another tooth brush! Someone went, "My Mizunos! Wahhhh". *Snigger* We pressed on, passing some jogger and cyclists. "Touching" the road at the designated U-Turn point, we head back to where we came from. Thoughts came across our minds, "Another 20 plus metres of mud again?". We chose a more solid path.. the road.. Discoveries! It connected to a few restaurants in a stretch of semi-detached and bungalows. Familar as it looks and memories started coming back! Ah.. I've been here before. As we proceeded.. it seem to have reached a dead end, with the expressway in front of us .. yeah, there is still a concrete path by the side of the expressway. We used that to head back to the start point.. Somehow, the concrete path ended.. and we went on the grass patch.. "Front scout, confirm ground.", I heard Kops21 shouting. Need I say who is the front scout?! LMAO! Green grass looked pretty dark and longer than usual as we came across a possible path in the bushes based on a direct azimuth back to the running path near start point. Kops21 persuaded us not to try in fear of untested grounds in lowly lit areas. What could be worse? Snakes maybe. Along the grass patch we shall move! I stepped carefully, rather slow than falls.

Was it? Erm.... "What The!!!!", I shouted... By the second word, my feet were already soaking wet. Water hazards! I pointed out and told them to look for drier spots. Tough luck.. ... they got wet too. Tiwazz related back to his experience, "Wow, Holy cow. Just like Ultramarathon day.". Estimated of 10 metres stretch of wet patch, up till ankle level, hidden underneath the grass. Three of us grumbled and walked back to the start point which was another 0.7 to 1km ahead.

Time to change and head for dinner! Lucky thing.. three of us in the wet shoes run.. else... if more were here.. they would cast stones or maybe some Asics/Mizunos at us. Run!

I saw Ben & Jerry's Fossil Fuel on the way back home. Aw,.. just a few bucks more (spent on my dinner).. could have bought it. Maybe tomorrow. Nostalgia. "Maybe tomorrow" is Tarcy Su's song.

Yesterday, several of us went for a run. Slow. Since I thought they are going for a slow jog.. 10km.. I should still be fine. I have to test my ankle's condition anyway. I woke up pretty early at 5plus in the morning, took a bus down to Gleneagles before walking over to the meeting point. I'm the earliest with others arriving soon. Cheow12, Violet, Tiwazz, Cokiee, LittleFoot, Renohtaram and I started off at the stadium. Along the way, we met up with Chyarose before heading over to 6th Avenue. Some of them went to try the slopes at 3rd or 5th (can't remember) Avenue. Due to some road works, some of us got separate. Of course, all of us know the way back and we gathered at the basketball court exchanging stretching techniques. Brunch! *Hint* There were 3 plates of Lontong. Guess who were the ones?!

Since Chyarose is flying off soon, Tiwazz, Renohtaram and I bought her ice cream. After some Holicks ice cream for me, the threes of us took a bus ride.. all napping on the bus.. reaching Queensway Shopping Centre. While walking around looking at sporting goods, .. Tiwazz resisted the temptations from nearby laksa smell.... After some window shopping, we all headed home. That was when I discovered that I had stepped on some dung. There were still grass on it.. must have picked it up during the run. *faint* Sacrificing a tooth brush, I soaped and brushed it before washing my Asics.. lucky thing. .. its the Landreth. Overall, I am glad that I am to complete 10km for now.. Everything looks good so far.

Now... I just came back from swimming with some new faces in the pool! HyperActive, I think that is what her nick is. LittleFoot's friend. So many splashes made today! HyperActive, Cheow12, IronmanDreamer, Wildcat (in his 2 piece Tri suit), Astrogirl, Tiwazz, LittleFoot, Kops21 and myself.

I woke up late today and had lunch with Tiwazz and Renohtaram. These 2 power eaters! Tiwazz finished off some YongDaoHu and then another plate of satay bee hoon. Renohtaram ordered a Hokkien Fried Noodle and then Nasi Lemak. Forgive them... probably due to their workout. Renohtaram had a swim in the morning and Tiwazz went for a 6 pack training too. We went separate ways and I flew off to meet JapBoy for American Pool. After our 2hour session, I suddenly thought of a place to look for Munchkin. Right on target! But, they are still waiting for orders to come in.. it has already been 3 months?! They did have the Super Munchkin. I wasn't too interested in that.

Yesterday, talking figuratively about poison.. . .. today, real poison struck. I was getting breathless and coughing. Food allergy!! Usually when I'm hit, I would get itchy tongue. *Grrr* How to scratch an itchy tongue!!?? "Try Sorbet...". Hmm.. worth a try. NOT! Will have to skip any food that causes allergic reactions. Today, I learned something new. This time, it's bad. Breathless and coughing quite a bit, itching all over.

Finally, better now, after much downing of liquids and juices. Flush the toxins!! Aww. .. I missed the Teh Tarik.. hope they have fun!

Enough is enough. Poison flows like blood to the heart. Stop it all at once.

I think I chipped my molar last night. I had to go to the dentist to get it fixed. It was rather fast and the dentist commented that I am brushing my teeth too hard. "You can even tell?!!" My gums are okay, she pointed out. Oh well.. might as well do cleaning. *Ouch ouch ouch* Think I shall left my right top molar rest for a couple of days. *pffttt* Costed me $95. My wallet says, "Ooeei .. Ouch". TMD.

I'm glad that the morning session (work) went smooth. *Phew* It wasn't as bad as I thought it would turn out. Another familiar face. Small world. After lunch and back to office for some small fire fights.

After work, changed and getting ready to go out for a swim. Damn... LS. Lucky thing that it was okay. Oh no! Skies started pouring again. Slight drizzle. I put on my cap and went off. RunAlone, Tiwazz and Kops21 were already there. We chatted while waiting for Sotong and Chyarose. "Let's not wait. They look for us in the pool." We went to change in the restroom and got a SMS from Sotong. "Can't join you guys. Forgot to bring swimming trunks." Ha!! Blur indeed. After 2 laps, Chyarose was already here. Swim, swim, swim! Cold, if there's no movement!! I swam 1km, focusing on strokes. Hmm.. I feel better!!

Rain. Stopped me in my tracks again for this morning's run. The rest still went ahead to meet at MR. They went Casuarina for prata again. I think they went for the air-con route.

I went for my pre-arranged meet up with the new Mount Kinabalu climb mates for a pre-climb discussion. Zoossh, Mark Goh, Timothy and Ling. We still have to work on some of the accomodation and flight issues.

Bought 2 books in Year 2006 so far. Just got myself a Total Immersion today after delaying for so long.

Sky was holding just now and I went for a short 5km. Felt great! I have been wanting to run for such a long time and finally... yes!!! Ankle seems ok.

6 Days without coffee.

Went home right after work. Changed and got all my stuff ready for some ninja swim. Damn!! I fell asleep on the sofa and was almost late to meet the Ninjas! Tiwazz, AstroGirl and Dasher were already at the swimming pool entrance. I arrived and was followed by Kops21 and LittleFoot. No time to talk! :)

All of us changed and we straight into the pool. Kops21 was the first to jump in the pool, followed by me. Both of us squealed like little pigs. It was freezing! Can't chit chat!! Got to swim and keep our bodies moving to beat the cold. Tiwazz asked if we can change back into our clothes and go for dinner instead. A surprise drop by, Taz.

When we finished all our laps, Kops21 left early while the rest of us looked around for dinner.

It was suppose to be a good slow jog today, meeting at 7am with the guys. At 4am plus.. it was already raining. Oh no! I gave it till 6am, before deciding that I should hop back in bed. Running with wet shoes is a no-no for me. Some of them still meet and head for makan. By the time, I woke up, around 10am, it was still alternating between heavy and some light rain. I did some work, went online for quite a while before leaving for a dinner appointment.

More than a little early for my appointment, I dropped my book at the library and I bumped into ZhuiTeLun and JapBoy there too. They were surprise to see me there. I left them after chatting a little, heading off to my meeting point. I was caught in the rain, a little drenched as I made my way there. It seems to be raining for the entire day already. Reaching the shopping mall, still early, I walked around to discover a new packaging of "Scotland Yard" board game selling at $44. Hmm.... I saw "Blokus" selling at $27, I think. Double Hmmm.....

Meeting at the sushi restaurant, we started out dinner since some of us are early, some .. late. Talking from everything under the sun. Chatty chatty. Another day that I have learn something about myself. At least, I am open to ideas. All of us stayed till the restaurant ended their business for the day before we hopped to another location to have coffee. Duh.. .. it was still raining then. With 18 over hours of rain... I truly am soften by the scene when I look outside, while rain drops kept hitting the window of the cafe. We continued to talk about holidays and trips. We even laughed at the teenagers of today's society vs 10-20 years back then. Changes. Okay, night wasn't getting any younger, we called it a day. Walking in the rain (still), we discussed wedding games .. . scribbling all the ideas down.

An interesting day. Not totally productive due to the weather, but at least, I learned more about myself. A New Beginning? Good start? I don't know. Let's see where Year 2006 leads me to.

I've been fighting monsters at work and totally forgotten about Congo's baby girl bithday. Mistake! But, I had a fantastic day today! Swim and a session of 3hrs boardgaming.

Renohtaram, Tiwazz and I swam at the BV pool, despite the already cold winds and cloudy sky. Shivering once I made an entry to the pool, we did a few rounds, while Renohtaram practised. We threw in a few chit chats because we knew it was going to rain. In a matter of minutes, we were chased out of the pool by the heavy drizzle that sent us shivering all the way to the shower room.

None of the gamers are here yet. We talked about runs and gatherings while we waited for them. News came that Chyarose couldn't make it, Flip probably too lazy(weather factor), no news from Choonwei and Dasher. Astrogirl and LittleFoot are on the way. The three of us, started to talk and look at games and it wasn't too long that LittleFoot appeared. We ordered our food and ate while playing Blokus strategy and pattern matching game. I was told by LittleFoot that this game is being sold in Anchor Point. By our second game in Blokus, Astrogirl arrived. We played Galloping Pigs for 2 games and changed to Munchkin, picked by Astrogirl. Damn!! She has chosen a great game! Munchkin - an RPG game!! She was attracted by the game description, "Kill the monsters - Steal the treasure - Stab your buddy"! LMAO! We played the first testing round, as explained by a lady who hasn't really played the game much. Anyway, by the end of the first testing round, Tiwazz and LittleFoot looked totally lost in some deep, wet dungeons. I suggested for LittleFoot to pair up with me, Tiwazz with Renohtaram and Astrogirl on her own (she knows what's going on). We played .. and some gray areas, due to the fact that we keep referring to the instructions. But, it is a fantastic game! You can call for assistance to help kill a monster. Or curse your friends. Loot. Negotiate and more! We changed back to Blokus since we have 15mins, playing 2 rounds before we left. We walked over to a nearby place for coffee and time could not have been better. It was a heavy downpour again! We chatted over our school days stuff, running and more outings like these in the future.



Blokus, Galloping Pigs and Munchkin are simply great! I love Munchkin best!! I'll definitely play that again. Wanted to take a pic of Munchkin. But, my batts were drained. Kaput!! Hmm.. got to sleep.. running with the guys tomorrow at 7am. 7pm, another.. erm.. event.

Now, that was quick. Just after test one, it was test two. Different Testing Subject. A group of ex-colleagues doing a gathering dinner on 13th Jan, next Friday. Yes, it clashes with Post Ultramarathon Teh Tarik Runners' Night. I would not cancel an appointment to join another. I turned down the invitation. Ex-colleague tried to get someone to pursuade me, Testing Subject. I did hold my breath, when a familiar voice resonated in my head as it was transmitted across the phone line. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Okay. 80% passing rate.

On a brighter side of life, SpaceCadet and HoustonControl held customary wedding tonight. Its great to see another pal progressing into another phase in life. SpaceCadet is totally blur. If I think Sotong or Sxuanjing, our running pals are blur enough, .. .. Let me tell you, SpaceCadet is just beyond comparison. I trust that HoustonControl will take good care of her.

Have you ever had some forewarning before actual incidents happening via some instincts?

I never doubt that one day like today, would take place. It is meant to be a test. I passed gracefully. Well, what I did not expect was that it was really that up close. For that, I am truly happy that I have put it all down. Right where it should have been.

Yesterday, it was fun eating with the guys at Al-ameen. I enjoy the company more than the food. Spectre, DO, Dreamrunner, Tiwazz, Bug, Astrogirl and run.run.runaway were there. Great company, always!

I didn't know Wallace and Gromit took 5years to make the show. Impressive.

I watched Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit yesterday afternoon alone. *Gasp* I was surrounded by kids!! Many whispered in the cinema while watching the movie and it made the show really lively with their comments! Before the actual show, there was a short clip on Madagascar Evil Penguins. Man, that was hilarious!!!

Today, just after work, Tiwazz, Kops21 and I went swimming. Suppose to be some ninja training.. but, I think the weather somehow changed our plans. The skies were already dark. I persuaded them to continue. Before we start, it was already drizzling. Somehow, we could only do a few laps and talk about swimming and running related topics. About half an hour after we entered the pool, it poured!!! We ran like stray cats in the rain. *Brrrrr* It was cold!! We changed and showered, only to be greeted by the clear night sky. <_<

Dinner! What else could we do?

It was a frenzy at the shoutbox a while ago. Wow!!! A surprise that most have been going to Settlers!! Hmm.. around 10 over of them? Renohtaram suggested a morning swim, lunch, followed by boardgames mania!! Exciting! Don't you just wish weekend is just tomorrow?!

News on the Tibet trip is on. Can't wait!! I desperately need a holiday! Probably first to hit would be the Mount Kinabalu climb? That would do just fine too! Since when did I last have a real vacation? Hmm... last trip was with my pal, ZhuiTeLun, like 2 years back? Krabi. Hmm.

To end a year, we thought of doing a chalet and spending some time together with this great group. Everyone chipped in in whatever ways they can to make this chalet event a memorable one. I'm pretty sure, those who missed the chalet.. are missing out some fun. Of course, they might be having some smashing parties too.

30th December 2005: Tiwazz helped by checking in at the chalet and followed by the rest of the guys. When Carine and I took a cab down, they were just ready for the creepy run! Tiwazz, TLR, Fd, Meteor, Alvo2102, Philip and Sxuanjing were already at the chalet. We proceeded to meet at the start point with the rest of the runners.

TLR, Tekko, Carine, Taz, DreamRunner, DO, DiverRunner, Tiwazz, 136Fallschirmjäger, Kellylim22, Teelee, Choonwei, Walfisch, Philip and Cokiee did a count before they started the run. Taz briefed everyone before moving out, since he has done the run before. LOL! DiverRunner was already doing the "hear no evil" pose. Seems like she is afraid of creepy or/and creepy crawlies stuff.



Cosmic_wind, Balasing, Jamessoh, Fd, Meteor, Alvo2102 and Sxuanjing did not run. We were all waiting for them to finish their run before we stab some forks at chicken wings in Nasi Lemak! How to pass time?! Spotted a Subway and decided to sink our teeth in some sandwiches and cookies (not Cokiee). We shared the sins. Now.. who is the Cookie Monster?



Around 11-ish pm, the runners came back. They enjoyed the run! We settled ourselves into 3 tables at the food centre and started to order food and drinks. By this time, Seal, Bee and Kops21 arrived. .. just in time to join us in the stabbing of chicken wings!! There were so much to eat! Burping and finishing up what's left... we headed back to the chalet. Some of them headed back home. Movie marathon? We did watch InitialD till 3am before most of us decided to retire for the day.



31st December 2005: Morning came. Last day in Year 2005. TLR, Tiwazz, Philip and I went for a short run, along the coastal line, in the park. It was a short run/walk with visits to childhood swing bars, slides and a maze. Philip had a really natural and spontaneous look as he went down the slide! Looks as though he was screaming. Comical! We jogged to the next interesting item to check out in the park. It is a small maze.. we took our time to enjoy like kids.

We reached the chalet and gathered the rest of the sleepy people for breakfast at a nearby shopping mall. Renohtaram soon arrived to join us for some groceries shopping before heading back.



Slowly, the crowd started to come in from 2-4pm. After we did our first game, "Guess my avatar" game, Tiwazz and I took a swim in the pool with Renohtaram at the pool side. He wants to learn swimming. After talking for a while, it started to pour from the sky above! We seeked shelter till it was over before walking back to the chalet unit. Since it was still having a slight drizzle, we delayed the timing of the BBQ about half an hour later. Nothing to do?! Never! The guys were talking about Yoga and Pilates where our Tiwazz started to do the "I am a tree" pose.

Not too long, the drizzle stopped. Started the fire at the pits (lucky did not burn the whole unit down), we proceed to barbeque the food at a slow start. It did start to pick up after a while. Sanji182 arrived at the chalet and was made to show his 6Pack. Some eye candy for the ladies.



Lots of good food and we all had a great time chatting and laughing. I like the sweetcorn, hotdogs and fried rice. The winners of the "Guess my avatar" game received prizes. By then ... some has started to head home. There were a few of us left to count down and we decided to play Taboo. Bah! I didn't win anything.. Oh well.. for the fun, of course. I must admit, Taboo is really funny and exciting! Shaunzer and his family came to the chalet. Commando's as well. Our next game was Bingo. There were still some prizes left. When we finished up the prizes, it was time to do COUNTDOWN!!! We switched on the T.V.. The countdown event is already showing. We shook hands, hugged and wished each other a great year ahead once fireworks flew signifying the crossing of the New Year, into 2006. There were horns blasting away from ships docked nearby. That caught our attention.

We gathered around the pit to chat on the recent races, topics in the forums and barbequed our left over food, trying to finish it up. Some of us tried toasting marshmallows. Hey!! It was Alvo2102 and Meteor. They left us to attend a Dinner & Dance earlier on. Once we finished the food, we watched another war film, "Thin Red Line". By this time, I crashed out.

1st January 2006: I woke up to find that some of the guys did not sleep for the whole night. They ran out to nearby to grab some hot drinks to freshen up at around 6am, I think. We checked out of the chalet at 0945hrs and took a picture before we left.

The best and most meaningful New Year celebration since 1999's. What a way to end 2005 and jump start 2006!

Goodbye 2005, Hello 2006! Another year has passed and we all lament on how fast time flies. Happy with your 2005's achievements? I sure hope you are!

Year 2005 has been a some what, bumpy ride for me. Sure, no journey is a walk in the park. We try as much as we can to brighten up our path in the woods. It keeps us going stronger and longer. Early months of 2005 left me in a state of confusion and puzzled about what can be real. I have learned more. Mid 2005. I got to meet a group of wonderful running enthusiasts who are friendly, helpful, comradely, merry, warmhearted and mildly flavored with a dash of insanity. Got race, can run. I plunged into action for my first triathlon race too. I moved to a different work environment, where my world is changed, 360deg. In later months of 2005, with workloads and expectation to meet, I was nearing burn out. Things changed a little for the better then. But, while things seemed okay, my running took a different turn. Funny injury at my ankle left me dropping the Ultramarathon which I wanted to run so much. For now, it will be shorter distances and more monitoring of my condition.

Resolutions 2006:
1) Stay injury free, recover.
2) Do my marathon again.
3) Attempt Ultramarathon.
4) Do a Half-Ironman. Though it should not be a problem.. but, just want to race and enjoy. Ironman.. later.
5) Clear some certs and work related stuff.
6) More holiday/vacation/dives?
7) *Undisclosed resolution*

So much for now. I'll have to check them off as time goes.

Year 2006 is here! Brace yourself for another targets achieving year!

Had 2 days of sinful lunches with partners. A day buffet lunch at Merchant Court and today, a wonderful thai lunch at PaddyFields. Tom Yum soup is yummy. But, still... it could be better. *stares at my waistline*

Going to the chalet with the guys and gals!! Promise of more photographs for those who are going to miss this event. More BBQ food.

Shall think of new year resolutions too. Maybe diet or something. Later.

Meet and makan!! I was suppose to do a slow jog to Al-ameen to meet some runners for dinner. When I was ready to go from home, the sound of thunder left me thinking twice.. nah.. I shall take public transport there. True enough, it poured!! When I reached there, Tiwazz and Bug were already there.. drenched.. Obviously, they ran in the rain. Flip looked comfortable in her seat. We ordered some food and drinks. Tiwazz and Bug had just finished round one. Flip ordered nasi mutton... which looked like a heap of rice. She didn't exactly finish everything she ordered. TLR and Fd soon arrived.. and they ordered some more food. Sxuanjing arrived several minutes later too. Sxuanjing did surprise everyone by polishing her big plate of chicken rice, clean. We chatted about the recent events and other up coming ones. Spending time, laughing a lot. I had some prata. *Slurp*

I shall never forget how I spent my time on Christmas day in Year 2005. Many would choose to shop around the malls or some might even stay at home to catch some T.V. programmes.

I had two wonderful slots in my organizer today, not forgetting to mention meaning ones too. Start with Event Number One, shall we?

Event Number One: Ultramarathon 2005
Christmas eve .. I tried to sleep early. No, .. I only managed to doze of at 0200hrs, lying on the bed all the while. I'm not sure if I was excited about the event or anything else. I wasn't even going to run at the Ultramarathon!! Oh, due to my ankle. Its been good for now. Nevertheless, I just want to rest it. I will be the support staff for tomorrow's event.

With only 3 hours of sleep, I SMS-ed Seal to tell him to go ahead to the Ultramarathon. I needed a little more sleep to see me through the night event on Christmas day. By then, the skies turned red and was accompanied by rain and lightning. Heavy downpour! Through SMSes, updates told me that the race started by an hour late. I woke up at 0900hrs with Kops21's SMS asking for Don Pies address. The skies cleared. I got the address online and posted a live update for Brokenrunner. Getting out of the house, I bought some pratas with sugar for the guys to "power-up" during refueling. Jamessoh was there already and Sotong started the ordeal just when he felt that the weather got better.

I reached MR and saw Jamessoh. Some of them already finishing their 3rd round. As a support staff, I help in getting drinks, food and stuff for the rest of the runners, making them as comfortable as possible. Kops21 bought Don Pies and I got them some pratas with sugar. Ultraman and
Jamessoh supplied 100Plus. Jamessoh went on to support some of the runners by doing a few laps with them. I stayed behind. News of DO came when Dreamrunner finished his 3rd round. DO's old injuries came and he had to stop his race. He joined me as a support staff. I ran around taking pictures of runners as they came in. Refueling and taking a couple of minutes of deserved rest. It was around this time, where Kay and Dasher appeared in MR as pacers too. Run.run.runaway is strong! She has a rather quick finishing time of 5 laps. I bet she can do more. "Enough!", she said. Weishan looks really tired but determined. The late morning weather was great. It turned a little nasty by 1400-1600hrs. The sun was punishing runners. TLR was doing his 6th round already. Taz was doing his 5th and still going strong. Astrogirl looked strong too! Sotong, Superboy82, Tiwazz, 136Fallschirmjäger, Cokiee, Seal, YankeeII and many others did well too.



What fascinated me most, would be the 80+ year old uncle who ran the Ultramarathon! He was slow and steady, taking his coffee between breaks. No power bars and stuff like that. He was just taking biscuits. He completed the 5 laps and everyone cheered. The applaude was as loud as the morning's thunder! Simply amazing stuff!! He made anyone of us looked like a senior citizen, anytime!



Several surprises of the day. The 80+ year old uncle. TLR did 8 rounds, Taz did 7 rounds, Ultraman and Garfield did 7 rounds too. Astrogirl, Dreamrunner and Philip did 6 rounds. Most completed the 5 laps.

Alvo2102 and Meteor went on for a romantic walk around the 10.5km route. Came back hand in hand. LOL!

I had my portion of fun as a support staff too. Being there for those in the race simply let me have more time to observe everyone feelings. Everyone's endurance, determination, mental power was superb! I regret not being able to stir some dust, sand, dirt and gravel in the trails with them. Not able to get muddy, dirty and wet with the puddles in the greenery. However, never did I regret spending my day with them, getting them seats, food, water and comfort stuff. I look forward and will be getting dirty with you guys in 2006!

Event Number Two: Sec Sch BBQ
19 years. That is how long we have known we have known each other since the first day we sat in the same class! Friends ... bonds that have been tested through time and for many more years to come. Usually around this time of the year (year ends), our 1G or 2G class (we always like to call it 2G, because we've grown closer by then)would organise a BBQ. Catching up on each other's lives, basically a gathering to renew ties and bonds. Of course, we would meet a few times in a year. But, year ends are usually BBQ sessions.

Great news. 3 soon-to-be mummies!! Happy for them that these guys are going to be dads too! We were all excited and talk about our 20th anniversary for knowing each other. I guess next year's event will be a grand one. $10 each for our BBQ dinner, that's pretty okay! Next year is our 20th Anniversary!! We hope to plan something grand!

Plenty of food and drinks were left. We played some games to make each other finish up the leftovers before we head home.



My thoughts for the day ....
The heavy downpour early in the morning might have dampened our Asics, New Balance, Saucony, Nike, Adidas and more... plus Mizuno (Tiwazz's) Wahaaha
But, it will never dampen the Ultra-Completion-Spirit!!!

Congrats!! Job well done to all Ultramen and Ultrawomen that have been through transformation today!

The Korean movie is on cable T.V. again. Sometimes, lame movies can take one's breath away. At least, mine.

Went over to Sim Lim today with OCS, sending his PC for repairs. At the carpark, I saw someone in SGR Tees. It was Kay. He was with his friends. Runners world .. damn small.

Tomorrow, Ultramarathon event. I guess I will only be there for support. Not sure if I'll be running though. Evening time, it will be Sec School class gathering!! Woo-hoo!!

Year 2006 is just around the corner. Have you reviewed your achievements in Year 2005? Your goals? Resolution for Year 2006?

For now, Merry Christmas to everyone!!

I remember the days when Karloong and I were kids.. as a sweet tooth baby, she would finish all the candy portion of the Sugar Gems biscuits. Next, she would dump the biscuit portions back into the cookie jar, hoping that I would finish them. Only then, we would get fresh supplies again.

Last night, she bought a pack and asked me if I remember our childhood days. T_T

I screwed the white balance for this. Oooops.

After work today, several of us (colleagues, ex-colleagues) met up for the movie, King Kong. As one of them said, "I would like to see King Kong beat the prehistoric dung out of T-Rexes". I kept telling myself that I'm not watching Jurassic Park, when dinosaurs appeared. This movie has several scenes that I like. Well worth the 3 hours, I say.

C'mon baby ... next one .. Naria Narnia. All right, all right.. typo mistke.. Uncle Conan was screaming over IM.

Anyone?

Trips. I mean really, truly holiday trips. Recreational, work tossed aside. I have not been on one for a really long time. It seems like I have a few trips that is going to happen in 2006. Some long, some short trips.

Due to my plans, I have been rather conservative about trips materialising. It seems like, I can relax a little now. Of course, I have thousands of places that I would want to visit. But, I need to be realistic. As 2006 approaches .... I hope I can get to travel and add more stamps on my passport. Do some photography on trips, maybe even drawings too. I think I've lost a part of me ... *really?* .. from battles and fire fights of recent years. Battles that are only necessary. I've gained battle scars and grown slightly wiser.

There is always this saying ... Gimme a break.

Long day!! Really long day.

Got out of bed at 0550hrs, did my usual rituals (showered, changed, etc) and sprinted out of the house. I missed the recce run yesterday. I'm definitely not missing today's, which promises a bigger turn-out. Aarrrraggg.. better get going.

I reached MR and found Dreamrunner chatting with his friend. I stretched a little.. accessed my ankle. Pretty okay, for now. Most arrived at 0700hrs. After some stretching here and there, we went off in an anti-clockwise direction. Slow and easy pace, we stopped a few times to gather. At the split junction, we parted ways. Some doing the 15km air-con route, while I took the usual 10.5km trail. Just to be conservative, not to overstress my ankle. 6 of us, did the 10.5km. meteor, alvo2102, violet, tiwazz, cokiee and balasing. We did run - walk - run throughout. violet almost did a 50km. :p

Once we reached the car park, it wasn't too long before the 15km runners came back. Some showered and changed. We took a some photos, before heading out to the Prata cafe. Everyone was tired and hungry. Service came a little slow. Food was just okay. Me thinks Al-ameen is better. After the prata session, most of us went off to renohtaram's place for house visiting. Poor guy got bitten by a bug (not our Bug) and has caused serious swelling. He was still limping around. Yeah.. he's another limping marathon runner. When we're about to leave... it rained, heavily!! Lucky thing, TLR dropped me at my place along the way.

Second appointment, no time to lose. I bathed, changed and left home. Meeting my cousin and his wife. Oh. I saw a book, "Pilates for men", which seems interesting. I injured my lower back before, while working. I hope this book can help me in strengthening my lower back. I think I would love to take time and browse the book store! I'll come back another day. I met up with my cousin, we all had a drink before leaving for dinner. We had dinner near their love nest before dropping by to check out their newly set up apartment. I toured their place and we watched LOTR (second part) on T.V. while sipping coffee. Getting late, I wanted to go back on my own. They insisted on sending me back. I reached home, download some mails, and did the usual things before sleeping like a log.

These running guys never fail to light up my day each time! I wouldn't know what I would do without them!! Life would be so different!

Fall in for the run!!!
leica, cosmic_wind, yulan, cheow12, violet, leh-lio girl, dreamrunner, 136Fallschirmjäger, sotong, superboy, TLR, DO, meteor, alvo2102, tiwazz, cokiee and balasing.

Fall in for renohtaram house visit!!
Plus .... cyberkinetic, kops21, Fd and penguin.

Woo...there was a rather big turn out today. But, I failed to wake up. My alarm rang.. but, my bio clock switched it off. My hand, I was trying to say, my hand. Had a late night, last night, attended a funeral wake. By the time, I got back, replied mails and work stuff clearing. I think I had only like 4 hours of estimated sleep. Still!!.. I'll try to wake up, which I failed. I think they had quite a fun run today. I believe I would be able to join them tomorrow. Okay, back to testing and more work in office. =.=



Took this pic when it was raining outside. Alright, I was getting bored from all that testing.

Not much of a Jay Chow fan myself. He's a great singer and all. I just don't like some of the songs he mumbles. His style. But, I have to say that I like this recent song, Coral Sea. Maybe because I relate so much to the lyrics. Drifting off to sleep with this song.

珊瑚海
Jay Chou feat. Lara

海平面远方开始掩埋 悲伤要怎么平静纯白
我的脸上始终夹带 淹没浅浅的无奈
你用唇语说你要离开 情不在
那难过无声的留下来 汹涌潮水
一定明白 不是浪而是泪海

转身离开 认真说不出来 你有话说不出来
海鸟跟鱼相爱 只是一场意外
我们的爱 差異一直存在
给你的爱 差異一直存在 回不來
永久真爱 竟累积成伤害
等待经历几次伤害
轉身離開 分手說不出來
蔚蓝的珊瑚海 错过瞬间苍白
当初彼此 不够成熟坦白
你有我的 不够成熟坦白 不应该
热情不在 笑容勉强不来
你的笑容勉強不來 爱深埋珊瑚海

毁坏的沙碉如何重来 有裂痕的爱怎么重盖
只是一切 结束太快 你说你无法释怀

贝壳里隐藏什么期待 等花儿开 我们也已经无心再猜
脸上海风，脸上海风，咸咸的爱，咸咸的爱，沉不出还有未来

转身离开 认真说不出来 你有话说不出来
海鸟跟鱼相爱 只是一场意外
我们的爱 差異一直存在
给你的爱 差異一直存在 回不來
永久真爱 竟累积成伤害
等待经历几次伤害
轉身離開 分手說不出來
蔚蓝的珊瑚海 错过瞬间苍白
当初彼此 不够成熟坦白
你有我的 不够成熟坦白 不应该
热情不在 笑容勉强不来
你的笑容勉強不來 爱深埋珊瑚海

I would like to blog down every detail in life, but I can't. At least, not these days. I was SMS-ing Kitty, Lambie and Beng for dinner. I stopped halfway through co-ordination. Overwhelmed by work. Sorry guys. My fault. Will catch up with you guys soon.

Battle plans. Started (at long last and at last). I know it might even take me foreover, okay, months to complete this. But still, I would proceed. In the process, I would receive more. Carry on, soldier!

How I long for each 8-ball pool sessions. Can't say that it is regular, just ad-hoc sessions. Each time, we would have great sessions (laughs included). All other tables are so tensed up and looked at us like we're a bunch of crazy students. Who cares?! As long as it helps me to destress.. count me in. Hmm.. should learn how to play 9-ball now.

Something that I didn't blog down. I bought a Canon A410 on Teh Tarik 2 Get-Together session, I mean on that day itself. Heck. I just needed a AA-batt digicam, low-res, I don't care. So far, I like it. Cheap and practical. No choice. My Canon A60 got wasted while loaned out. I loved that mean machine.

Stress. Well.. not really. Some have been asking me, my plans. Plans? About having my own family, of course. Whoa. Always sweat at these questions. Just had an IM chat with my friend who asked me. "What do you want?". Ha. My friend says the code of conduct of a gentleman is practically non-existant in males, these day. I retorted that culinary skills were once seen practised by women. Sheesh. I was interrogated if my standards were too high. In fact, they never were.

I have been waiting for Wallace and Gromit movie hitting the big screen soon! Yay!

Happy that my ankle is holding up pretty well for not. Could not say the same for my stamina. I had to trade rest for funny ankle. Bah!

Not much time to update on stuff. Just cut and paste the X'mas Template. Logout.

Here comes more arrows. 60 over mails with a bloody big arrow. I'm already handful with a few and more caught with my teeth. "Sir, I think we've got ourselves a Bloody Arrow(Not the Broken Arrow)!" Let me get my Walls of Barb wires up and I promise you a battle you will never forget. Shall stop here. *War Cry*

The only happy thing for this time of the year. 2G Glass Gathering!!! I am so thankful that each round, this time of the year, we would have our gathering. A get together session to catch up with one another. However, this year, it would be on 25th Dec. Going to clash with Ultramarathon. So, I might be turning up, slightly late. Class 2G is still the best! Looking back, 18 years since we first knew one another. Retro.

With the recent constant battles, my world is in a total different pace, order, and perspective. Chaotic, pretty much sums up everything and I am fighting to keep my life in order. I just need to bear with it for these few months, to execute my plans. Persevere.

I was pumping air into my dusty GreyHound and it breaks my heart to see it lying there, unused. Same goes for my BlackSteed. Unhappy. :(

Past 2 days... had dinner with ex-colleagues from PS... Yesterday, testing some stuff in the office and then met EndlessTrail for a movie with his friend. Thanks for the invite! Walked and spotted MindsCafe along the way. Hah!!! I saw 3 different groups of ex-colleagues from TD and a Poly classmate. EndlessTrail said, "I have lost count of how many friends you have met along the way." LOL. Relax.

Hmm... today, I did more testing in the office before heading over to Orchard for a while. Next stop, Chini & 54Brownie's baby 1st month celebration. Met several MenInGreen mates there. We chatted about another upcoming event for 3 weeks later and for the 4th week too. All.. kiddies birthday. SailorLee's little kiddo is getting cuter each day! Shy little fella. Not that shy with little girls. Just like his dad. The talk of the town was Conan & Xena being secretive. LOL. Don't look at me... I'm not in the photos. Act blur is the best policy. No interrogation please. I popped over to Borders, browsing mag before I headed home. Zonked out in the bus. The girl that sat beside be zzzz too. Dangerous man... if my head tilts and touches her, its embarrassing. Sleeping with motion control in a bus is an art. Much sought after skill. Tired.

Ahh... I like X'mas songs. I was soaking up and setting myself in the festive season moods as I was browsing in Borders. Ring-a-Ding-a-Ling X'mas songs in the air. Yeah.. its a double edge sword. Feelings working on me and against me. But, more good than bad. *thumbs up* Ho.

I did a fast 2km, then slow 1.5km today. Ankle seem to be holding on well. Seems like its back to basics. Square one. Nevermind about the stamina drop. It is not an option. No injury is a priority. Thankful.

Yeah, I had a not so great day in the early morning to noon. I tried to contain it and not let it affect me. Seems like I have to write a program using coding if then else statements to guide me through repetitions of such incidents. Later part of the day improved with me taking some initiative to utilise my time. Cleared some work.



Evening came. I reached Esplanade at 6.30pm. I was early, saw DO and he told me Penguin was already here. We had to play punk in order "reserve" some seats. No choice. We are expecting a big turn-out today. I was really hungry at that time and I ordered some fried rice to fill my growling stomach. Slowly, one be one.. .. runners started to come. Daisiki shook my hand and called my nick and I didn't even know who she is. Cool! Finally, meeting her in person. Another new face, DiverRunner. Heard of, but unseen till today. When Yojanjan arrived, everyone was high! We almost wanted to queue up and give her a hug. Tiwazz went to buy Hala Laksa from IMM. Wildcat went to buy Katong Laksa from I-have-no-idea-where. BrokenRunner made special makan. Bee bought Don Pies. DO got 3 cakes from BreadTalk - one for birthday girl, Penguin, one for fastest marathon girl, Carine and one for bravest marathon girl, Yojanjan. Everyone was chatting and I move from spot to spot. We occupied a total of 4 tables in all. I have not been having such a good time for a while. Food, laughter, new faces, chit chats. It was excellent! I hope to see you guys again!

Teh Tarik Fall In:
TLR, Fd, Daisiki, Sha, LaoKaYu, BrokenRunner, Cokiee, LehLioGirl, DreamRunner, Carine, DO, Taz, DiverRunner, Mythos, Cheow12, Violet, Astrogirl, Alvo2102, Meteor, Wildcat, Tiwazz, Kops21, Cosmic_wind, 136Fallschirmjäger, Philip, Jennifery, Balasing, Yojanjan, Chpear, Sxuanjing, Novaflux, Penguin, Flip, Bee and IronmanDreamer

Great to hear that Renohtaram has discharged from the hospital. He is now on medical leave at home. Rest well, buddy. I had to drop the sinful dinner at Al-meen, just to collect LCD for Kay, else KJ and my schedules won't allow him to pass me the LCD till next week.

I just came back from trying a 3km, after my funny ankle incident. I have to be on the safe side. Starting everything from scratch.. monitoring my foot. Looks good for now.

I am proud of her. Amazed by her courage. Determination is the word. Did I mention that she's a mother of two kids, in our local running scene? Who says you can't do a marathon? This is simply inspiring for most of us. Several almost teared just by reading. I had to post her writing.

(Quote from Yojanjan)
quick report of what happened, i tripped over an ice mountain cap at 6+km (these pp should really throw the bottles AND the caps off the road *#&$^*#&), and then again at 11km (i think) when i was too close to the left of road, avoiding the fast 21km pp running up, and twisted the same left ankle again where the road slope towards the drain, ran funny after that and developed a blister.

hot hot hot weather, but i had the great support of hubby and my best friend along the way at 12km, 20km, 28km and 31km, who gave me my supplies and heat rub, and most of all, the short term target to see them soon.

much appreciated the support of various sgrunners, cyberkinetic who gave me an intro run at esplanade the week before (feels like sooo long ago liao), gentle for helping to hook me up with clive, clive and wifey (joanne) who gave me a free lift to padang in their hired cab, sotong/ yankee/ gentle/ taz/ runalone runrunrunaway/ astrogirl sorry i dont remember correctly who met up with me at pen and wanted to keep me company (but i move backed since i didnt want to go out too fast and die early), yankee who shouted encouragement, and philip who "barked" (darn fierce, but that got me giggling) at me to run at ECP.

yes i did it, running, walking, jogging and hobbling, by counting steps (run 100 steps and walk 2min) for the last 14-15km. and the adrenaline rush at the last 200m got me sprinting across the line, and then i cried.

it occurred to me just, that it didnt occur to me to "not finish", even tho my pace was off by almost 1 hour coming into the half point, and i had hoped to finish sub7 or early 7. could have been sheer stubbornness and stupidity, but i really really wanted the medal, and i really wanted to earn it properly, and last but not least i would have hated to come in and report that i DNF.

it turned out my times were 7:48:15/ 7:53:24, better than my butter fingered timing on my watch.

i guess it is too late to cancel the order for the flowers? so i'll humbly accept, with thanks to all, for your company, support, encouragement and advice in my journey towards my first marathon finish. *curtsy*
(Unquote)

We decided to send her flowers for finishing her first marathon. Yojanjan, we love you!!! *muakz*

Our dear Renohtaram is down. I hope he is okay. Just when I logged back into the forum, I saw the thread. I guess I will sms him later today. I will drop by the ward to visit him, but I seriously hope he will be discharged.

Hours back, which was yesterday, while queuing up for some...hopes, I heard someone call out my name. I thought it was one of my Men-In-Green friends. LOL. It was IronmanDreamer instead. Seems like he is having a course nearby my office. I briefly mentioned to him that we would be having a post-marathon junk loading session at Esplanade. He would be joining us. Cool!

Hmm ... long story cut short. I wish I can write more.

Haven't been logging in to running forum for a week. Only places I have been logging in are work related forums and websites.

Yesterday, before meeting up with the runners for a carbo loading session, I dropped by a watch shop to Meistersinger Scrypto 1Z. Bad move. Damn.... too sexy. Got to stay away.

I ran off to join the guys at Swensens. We took up like 20 over seats. I walked around to mingle around. It was really nice meeting most of the runners here. We even had a HK runner joining us in the carbo loading session. I bade farewell to the rest, asking everyone to have an early night rest. I'm just doing a 21km. No pressure. We have quite a number of marathon virgins this year.

Today, I woke up at 4am, changed and ate before heading to the event area. At the baggage area, I saw LaoKaYu. Commando was doing his warm up run before the race. I bumped into Freddy and we decided to go together, since we are doing the 21km. However, he went ahead to squeeze in near to the start line. I usually prefer the back. *Bang* We started at 6.30am. The full marathon started half an hour early. I couldn't spot anyone during the start of my run. Damn.... first light isn't here yet and I saw the Kenyans at the return leg at 10km mark. 10km - 30mins. *faint* World class. I caught sight of SuperBoy and did quite a distance with him. Opposite side of the road, return leg, we saw TLR, Dreamrunner, Carine and Sumiko. I saw Vege, my NS platoon mate. SuperBoy had to rush to the toilet and I went ahead. I caught up with Eunice and waved in front of her before she had earphones on. "JIAYOU"! She shriek. Hahhaa... probably because she had earphones on. On the way out of the return leg, I saw Tiwazz. He was really focused. Spotted LehLioGirl, she was doing a 10km?! She can do more! Ooops... the left ankle is acting funny again. By this time, Phishy intercepted me and went ahead. She was going strong. I did not see anyone else that I know until slightly before the 21km U-turn point. Meteor still looking strong. By now, Eunice ran passed me and said, "JiaYou"! I think she can go close to sub-2hrs. I think I was compensating for my left ankle that it affects my right knee. With my right knee old injury... it just did not help. At around 18km, I think, I saw Mrs Sotong, still far behind. I finished off... and collected my medal. Disappointed that I had to do run/walk. I never did run/walk for 21km.

Next ordeal, baggage collection. I am seriously not happy. I think this year was really bad arrangement and organising of baggage claims. I stood in the sun for 2hrs, equivalent to another 21km run. When most people went in to get their own baggage, I jumped in too. Within seconds..... I found mine. Damn. I looked for Bee, Brokenrunner and Tiwazz at the last 1km mark before end point. I was looking out for our own runners to cheer them. Tiwazz paced and encouraged a few in their last 500m. I ended up cheering strangers. LOL. I didn't mind. They didn't too! A few said thanks. As a marathon runner (before), I understand how it feels to have encouragement from people. An applause will do. It certainly would help. Dont' say things like, "Run faster. Don't slow down.". Just smile and clap. People will appreciate. I saw Phoebe too. I cheered for a lot of our runners. Pretty, LittleFoot, jamessoh, True_Atlantean, YankeeII, Cheow12, Clive, Kops21, tekko, osama, Cokiee, Slacker, Flip, Slacker, Cyberkinetic, Astrogirl, CheeryRunner, Penguin, Dong, Sotong, Spectre, 136Fallschirmjäger, chpear, BigMouth, Mythos, Philip and more. I promised to run with Philip for the last 10km. But, damn, the baggage claim took me 2hrs... thanks so much. So, I only managed to cheer him for the last 500m. Running with him to the finish line at the last burst of fire.



Most had a great race. A few of them had cramps too. Nevertheless, everyone did a great job. I wasn't too happy with my results. But, that is part of runner. Injuries and all comes in a package. Stalemate, this time. See you all in 2006. Till then, the marathon monster shall be conquered.

Okay, back to reading work stuff.

Total lack of updates these days. If you ask me, I am seriously bogged down by work. Not implying that others might be idling. But, I am truly overwhelmed by the truck load full of crap that come knocking on my door. Some say, "Look on the bright side. This shows that you are capable.". I believe in quality, not quantity. I see no point in saying, "I know this. Oh that..I know too". However, all that one is capable of is fitting a screw.

I seem to be totally cut off from even my own life. Most friends say I have not been updating recently too. I hope I can, probably tonight. Update on last night's event.

After settling a morning attack event (yay! I'm on leave) and a late but excellent lunch, I wandered around the shopping mall. Something caught my eye. Mechanik. Yummy. Meistersinger? Pause. Maybe I've not seen this one before. The neat little thing (43mm is not really that little) is so sexy! Cool! A watch with only.... one hand! Meistersinger Scrypto 1Z. Mechanical watches have so much "life" in them as compared to quartz or digital watches. Needless to say, they are a class of their own.

I shopped around a little longer before heading for a train, homeward bound. Meeting PTK for a 8-ball pool session before dinner. Woot! I almost had a one cue game had it not been the number 8 ball's lousy shot from me.

Have not been posting for a while. Much routine and out-of-the-blue random stuff happening around. Of course, bitten by the running bug, I am totally bored without my runs.

Friends and people around me, amazed and surprised with pits of fire that I am being thrown into. I'm too tired to retaliate. Everyone is in some kind of shite. Only how deep you are in. I have been asked to let go and enjoy my weekends. How? When I have tons of PDFs to go through.

Talking about feeling crappy. Tried talking sense to a friend who has spent all the time, lamenting about the failed relationship. Everyone around her almost throat dry after weeks and weeks of conversation, trying to divert her attention. We, as friends, can only do that much.

Great lunch in the afternoon today. Mrs. Fong working on 17th floor, joined Beng, PolarBear and I for lunch. Norm stuff, Hans western food. Lucky thing that it wasn't that crowded. Erm. .. I spotted an ex-colleague, who doesn't know who I am. Who cares?!

Lecture lecture lecture....
*fight zzz monsters* Must resist!! Inject caffine.. *fight goes on*

I almost hit the panic button with my notebook freezing on me after login. Damn. Safe mode. Clear this and that. Viola! *Phew* I'll settle the labs on my own. Nothing beats serious hands-on. One will learn more when crap clearing.

8pm already. Famished! Packed and took a cab, heading off for dinner with Beng and PolarBear at Crystal Jade. Beng's treat. We should have ordered Sharks fin, scallops, lobsters and roast pigs.

Sitting on a bench for almost 2 weeks now. No running since my left foot developed a weird stretched feeling on a certain area (muscle). I feel so much better, in fact no more weird feeling at all now. I feel I've lost loads of stamina now. Nevermind. Sending the pain (not really pain) away is more important than anything. Say no to risking injury.

Clearing off some appointments and assignments yesterday, I took a breather. With energy levels as low as just 5%, I went to Al-ameen with Tiwazz. For the entire day, it has been drizzling, raining and alternating on. I had 2 Cheese Prata which helped a little in lifting my mood. Then, the Teh Halia came to bring it back down. Rainy and cold day it has been, I thought ordering a hot drink would be an excellent choice. Maybe my choice is right. Probably just not my day that my drink was totally disappointing. I should have gotten a Milo Dinosaur instead.

I need food.

Home. Clearing some stuff (stacked and dragging for a while). Slept. Woke up today, dragging my bums out of bed on a lazy raining morning. Meeting Beng for training. I know that Mrs. Fong is working on the 17th floor too. Ah ha! Mrs. Fong is back in the workforce. Lunch break.. food was good. Peking duck, ribs with papaya soup and mango pudding lifted my spirits. Training ... technical problems with notebooks. Interesting. Just great. I dropped the idea of joining vistors from overseas when I hear that they are having seafood for dinner. Seafood. Me? No mix.

Phone calls and more phone calls. Requests and more requests. Ya ya, okay okay. Good good, no no. Wait wait, later. Only one happy request. One that I would gladly serve and lay my life down to see it happen. Good friend, need I say more?

I need a break. No, not toilet break.

Alright. I had to collect and see how dead is my digicam. With the non-responsive digicam in hand, I tried ways and means to revive the once chirpy 2Megapixel shooter.

Change batts. Silent.
Re-sit batts. Silent.
Remove CF card. Silent.
Pressing all kinds of button, hoping for a factory default or reset. Silent.
Prayed. Silent.
Shake the bugger in a frenzy that any onlooker would deem me as a nut case. Silent.

Okay, you are soooo dead now. You have brought much colors to my life. Time to go. I think this space of mine will stay boring for quite a while without pictures. No digicam, no pics. Damn. It wasn't interesting in the first place, anyway! Okay. I won't even look at a replacement for now. Maybe the next time when I buy a digicam, it will be GigaPixel? Now... have I not learn anything from past experiences?

Nikon FM2 (loaned out) - she developed a green rash upon return.
28-85mm f2.8 Nikon lens - she had a few white specks in her.
Nikon SB-25 - she probably disintegrated.
400mm f4.5 Sigma lens - she was in a total meltdown.
Canon A60 - heart attack. Deceased. Still had her lens sticking out when she died.

I need air.

TMD. I need some retail purchase therapy. I looked around, said, "Madonna, it shall be. Do your magic, darling." and paid for a "Madonna: Confessions on a dance floor." On my way home, it was just Me, Myself and Madonna. Banged my eardrums, they begged to be punctured.

I need space.

Lucky thing, I'm alone. I think I would have gotten a stamp on my foot, a kick in the shin, a knee in my b**ls, elbow in my chest and a forehand backhand combo slap across my cheeks for saying, "Leave me alone honey...". Wuss.

I need a slap.

Home. Whoa.... more alarms triggers. I think cardiac arrest coming soon. Stomached down a soup bowl full of rice soaked with curry. A ladle-ful of curry, nice. Soup bowl filled with curry, with equal amount of rice generates equations.
(Curry + Rice) x huge portions = Later I'm going LS and set my a** on fire.

I need life.

Bugger. Give this character of mine, I should be an artist. Let my drawings fetch a fortune only when I kick the bucket. Let the alive and rich be richer. Artists are suppose to be a really weird pack of individuals, right?

I need to off gas and I don't mean fart.

XBox 360 is out. Give Bill Gates a chance? Yeah. I can break a controller or two, now.

Probably the bar I set is too high. Maybe I should be a Yes-man.
How to run with curry sloshing in your stomach? I cetainly live up to my nick for now.

Its been food, food, glorious food today!! Burrp! Excuse Moi! A whole bunch of us, runners, went for house visiting to TLR's place today. Fd greeted Tiwazz and me at the door. Oops.. we were late. We are suppose to have a discussion today. We covered the various topics and then.. its munch time! I like the spagetti best! I can go on and on and on.. .. There were too many delicious food around. Everyone enjoyed themselves tremendously. I was laughing for the whole of this afternoon. See how satisfied we are with the food?!



We discussed about the upcoming event, Marathon (Support) and Ultramarathon too. I'm all excited now.

Where is YankeeII, Carine and Ultraman?! We miss them!

54Brownie has discharged from the hospital and back home already. Glad to hear that everything is going fine for the 54Chinis.

These few weeks, work is getting little out of control. Nothing that can stop an avalanche from coming. The word swallow just takes a different meaning. By yesterday late noon, many events have been removed and I decided to say ... heck!

Dropped my stuff at work and headed for an American Pool session. Unexpectedly, it ended at 1am!! Oh boy! I am dead tired. Took a cab home, retrieve some emails for work(why work again?!). Talked with Karloong and Bala for a while before sleeping.

This morning (well, late morning), I went out to meet EndlessTrail, his bro (Danny) and Dreamscaper. We are going to watch the Harry Porter movie. But first, we thought it will be a great idea to have a board game session at one of the board games cafe. Cosy. Air-conditioned. Friendly people. We had a great time playing "Galloping Pigs". I think we laughed more than stressing ourselves with any winning strategy. We switched to another fantastic game, Scotland Yard. It's a police and thief game. You, being a thief, can get yourself in real hot soup or simply throw your detectives off guard while trying to slip away. I was relieved from some work pressure already. Ahhhhh.... Hmm... I sure am looking forward for the WarCraft board game! Oops! Where is my digicam!? I would have taken some pics. I am going to come back here again, most certainly!

Looking at time, we spent 2 hours there already and it was time for us to head over to the cinema, meeting Eunice there. First time, meeting Dreamscaper, Eunice and Danny today. Thanks a million to EndlessTrail for the lower priced tickets. We had nachos / cheese and a Cola to go along too. It was a well worth 2.5hrs movie. Most movies nowadays are really ... . sad to say crappy. Okay, I think Harry Porter series would not be that bad. I enjoyed the show. Right after the show(oh my!!), we though of board games again! Not feeling that hungry, we took a chicken rice dinner and ended up feeling full! Now, choosing a different board games cafe this time round, I noticed that the other cafe that we visited earlier today, it was much better. Nevertheless, we played a Cluedo idea-alike (advance mode), "Mystery of the Abbey", in a medieval theme. Not too bad..... My!! I saw a lot of games for today .. don't think we can finish all of them in a week!! It is addictive, I'd say. Next up, we played "Slam-wich", which has a similar playing style to the classic, "Heartattack", with a deck of poker cards. We ended our night with.. another 2 rounds of "Galloping Pigs"!! LOL!

I had great company today! TLR house visiting tomorrow! Erm... maybe collect my digicam before going over. Anyway, I received a call, saying that there is something wrong with my cam. Why? It always happens when I loan my cam out. Sigh... Speechless. Can I say it is time to upgrade from a 2MegaPixel digicam?

Hello! Hi there, Dayan!! Welcome to the 54family!! 54Brownie gave birth to a 54Junior!! I went to visit 54Brownie at the hospital. She is tired but fine. 54Chini is with her. I had a picture taken with 54Junior. This little infant has given me a feeling of warm!! Life!! Energy! Full of zest again! When I left office, I was so worn out by work. When I saw Dayan, I felt rejuvenated!! Good night, boy!! I will see you soon!! Just in time with Christmas around the corner!

a passing phase .... It has to be. Just do it.
Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform

At work, went to send documents like courier... *slaps forehead* Ha.
Stopped over for another appointment.. trying to reach Beng for lunch. Tough luck... he's busy. RLEK and I spent some time downloading mails from Mac, before heading back for Round 2. Once done, I sneaked over to a chinese doc to treat my "funny" ankle. The same doc who treated my wrist. This time, the same.... he pulled each of my toes with tugs. Another one clean jerk for my left foot. Not painful.. but my feet feels lighter. Cool! I can walk better.

Making my way to catch a train back to office, I was stopped by a staff. I think he has standing orders to perform random checks on bags. That is a good thing. I was probably limping so bad and he took notice of me. HA!!!

Staff: "What is this? Computer ah?"
Me: "Yes. My notebook."

I think I shall stay away from my Cumulus for this week. Next week too? Maybe. Better be safe.

I was in the office again this morning.. AGAIN? Nevermind that.

I met up with Tiwazz at the Temple of the Geeks. I wanted to pick up a PDA. Tiwazz was running a little late and I went ahead with my purchase. I linked-up with him and we walked over to our meeting point to take lunch together with Carine. But, Tiwazz and I were the ones having lunch since Carine took hers. What would runners do when they are together?! They talk about running! Once we were done with our simple lunch (I heard that we were suppose to have Katong laksa for dinner), we made our way to the bus stop and hopped on a bus to Katong CC. Since we were early (DO was already there), we helped out a little before the rest of the crowd came. Slowly, the crowd came pouring in. Ahh... I finally get to see who Seal is. He has yet to redeem his cup of coffee. I am happy to see new faces too. Cosmic_wind whom I would like to meet, came today too. Too many names to be named for the people that I met today. Let us continue...

The students of NJC were helping out to arrange the tables and chairs. Some of the runners helped out too. By this time, I had a missed call. It was Beng!! From his block, he could see me running around in the CC. LOL! I told him I was carrying stuff, arrange the chairs for the talk. The talk started, with Brokenrunner seriously funny when she was nominated to be the emcee. I am sure she will do a good job. I was half listening to Mr. Lim Nghee Huat's talk, half manning the table for registration. Still ..., some people tried to be funny. I think that was pretty rude. C'mon. ... give us due credit for arrange things like this and all you can do is ask. People with poor manners... can I even call them, people?

Anyway, the talk ended, I got my new pair of Asics GEL Cumulus VII too. I had to try them ON!! Haaa!! NEAT! However, I helped out as a road Marshall with Whr being the mobile Marshaller!! Probably another point to take note the next time, marshalling routes. Hmm...

We ended the run back at the CC. It was getting late. Some of us changed and showered. We did a short briefing on what are the up coming running events and get together sessions before the end of this year. I think we will have more fun!! Feeling hyper-excited over all these events!! Okay, we moved over to a hawker centre nearby to settle our dinner. A big group chatting around in separate tables. The gathering ended with most of us deciding to head back home. Cheow12 gave Tiwazz, Renohtaram and myself a lift home. Thanks!

What can I say?! I am eager to try out my new shoes! I was still in them when I reached home. I dumped my stuff and heading out for a run. I wanted to do an 18km but ended up doing 12km instead. I did not want a nagging ankle to become a nasty ankle.

Needless to say, none of us had experience in this non-profit form of organizing events. I would say that it is getting big. Big has its problems. A lot of us are slowly chipping in to make this place a better community for people with running interest.

Maybe this is not exactly a run as in a long run. Nevertheless, it was great meeting a lot of new faces as well as familiar faces! I really had a fun day! Thank you, guys! As usual, a list of attendees based on my memory: Taz, Tiwazz, Bee, Renohtaram, BrokenRunner, TLR, Commando, Pretty, Cheow12, Violet, Sanji182, DreamRunner, Carine, Meteor, Alvo2102, Clive, DO, Seal, Whr, IronmanDreamer, Kops21, run.run.runaway, Bug, Superboy82, Novaflux, Cokiee, Sumiko, Freddy, Kudanil, Hedgehog, jamessoh, Cosmic_wind, YankeeII, Wildcat, Slacker, Bselby0, Leica, Fellyruns, Tekko, Garfield, Ultraman, Gohkm, LittleFoot, Chankw and RunEssence

Where is ...
Fatty, Cyberkinetic, True_Atlantean

Sorry if I missed any.

Money... ooo.. sensitive topic. It is when you are asking:
"How much do you have in the bank?" (Null!!!)
"How much do you earn per month?" (measly teeny weeny small wage)
"How much did you pay for that fuelbelt?" (depends... maybe you are that sucker that paid for an extra $30)
"Were you the winner of the last toto draw?" *eyes roll*

It can go boastful with regards to dollars and cents when stuff you ask is about:
"How much did you pay for that bling-bling watch?" (Ok lah, $x.xk only)
"How much did you pay for that car?" (Cheap lah, $xxxk only)
"How much did you pay for that landed property?" (Very cheap, $xM only)

Money might not be everything. It IS something when stuff that you need, can be paid with money. No, I'm not talking about credit cards because those are not YOUR money. I might not be earning like soccer players whose pay go in Pounds per week. I am happy that I am able to pay my bills, on my own.

I always remember my maternal grand-mother who teaches me to be a down-to-earth person. Her quote: "Who to blame(no one), but myself for being poor. Grit my teeth, cos its full steam ahead!". I miss her already.

Okay... I hear my Asics Gel Cumulus VII calling.

Missed the Teh Tarik session last night. I left site around 8-ish pm? I think. In a state of concussion already. More reading and testing now trying to squeeze information in my head like packing sardines in a can. What am I talking now? Infomation, all ... non-sequential. (-_-)

Last night, we had a small celebration with YMother too. Durian cake. Why? I hope outbreak of sore throat does not hit me again. Seems like I can't take a list of foodstuff, an endless list.

Everything seems to be hay-wire now. Collecting my ASICS GEL Cumulus VII tomorrow.

Really afraid to set appointment these days. Too much uncertainty in work. I keep setting up appointments to meet friends for dinners, ball games, runs and canceling them in the end due to work. Feeling disappointed for myself and friends. Just like the chinese saying "Setting Pigeons Free".

Suppose to meet the runners for Teh Tarik Session. No Pigeons for this round, I hope.

*Cough* ... I did a whopping 17.9km last night. Unintentional 17.9km. It was suppose to be a 10-12km. Some miscommunication and muscle pull incidents, some of us got separated. Here is the Field Report:
Left my workplace sharp to reach home early for my run with the "westerners". I dropped my bag, got changed and started my run back to my office area to meet Dreamrunner, Tiwazz, YankeeII and Bug. Bug ran from his office too. We started our run to the meeting point where the rest of the guys were waiting there at the old Provost. Who was there? Flip, Runalone, Freddy, Spectre, Whr, Kops21, Kops21's friend - Poh, Slacker and LaoKaYu. We headed towards the WC MacDonalds, where it was wet along the way. It rained moments ago. We stopped briefly at MacDonalds because Poh has a bad muscle strain. Eventually, he walked and Kops21 accompanied him, with Tiwazz. At this point, we were starting to lose distance with the main bulk of runners. YankeeII was with me where the runners ahead of us were almost like a speck of dust. They were moving fast. At one point, which I think we took a different turn from the rest, YankeeII and I headed back to the Provost. OOoops... I think the rest stopped at a different end point. I received comms call from Flip that they wanted to come over to Provost. I asked them to stay at the gym area.. .. but, not sure why they wanted to come over to Provost. In the end.. it was due to bad communication, they thought I did not know how to go to the end point, gym. I sort of "sabo-ed" the guys.. making them run a few extra km. We bade each other farewell, with YankeeII, Dreamrunner, Whr and myself heading towards the BV area. Whr headed home once he reached the BV start point.

The three of us washed up a little while waiting for Kops21 to drop Tiwazz at my office area before we headed for a late dinner, chatting quite a while before we head for home.

Something about work that I really want to laugh out EXTREMELY loud until my gastric juices find its way up my throat and onto the floor. One word to summarize it all.... ridiculous.

Already done with 3 assignments, with the last one, giving me some sense of accomplishment because I have help the customer a great deal. Famished. I went for MOS burger, ordering a hotdog. Hotdog reminds me of childhood days. Satisfied. Soon, I got a ring for a pool session. Timely! We started with arcade.... *gimme more.. need to relax* and then American Pool. Wow... getting quite a number of wins, which is not too bad. Several classic shots and I even tried trik shots! Yay!! Yes, I missed my train home and had to take a cab.

Now... Why and what about work? Email is enough. I feel like a heavy weight champion already. More and more products under my belt. Soon, it will be a matter of convenience of .. you-know-everything, hence-you-can-cover-all-angles-of-X-area-of-SSSSes. I am SOOOOO looking forward for that day.

It has to stop.. and will stop one day.

Not good. Work again. I really hope that this is a passing phase. Eating up too much of my time in some areas.

I bet the rest of the gang had run at the VM today!

Not able to do the VM, I ran around 6pm instead. I had this strong craving for a cold drink right I finished my run!

Just about a quarter left to re-vamp this blog. REALLY close to completion and there is this section of the CSS code that looks weird. I shall stop for the day. Give myself a break from coding.

Going to do a slow run later.

Vertical Marathon Race happens tomorrow!

Marathon is 29 days later? Are you running yet?
Ultra Marathon is on 25th Dec. Are you joining yet?

Moving away from a lousy feeling for the day, I was thinking.. I would be a great idea to call Kay for lunch since it is his birthday today. To my surprise, Taz and runrunrunaway are meeting Kay for lunch too! I joined them. Sorry, no camera to take pictures.

Right after our lunch, runrunrunaway left us and we headed to collect our Vertical Marathon race goodie pack. That was where I bumped into Siong. We chatted for a while. I heard from IronmanDreamer that his coporate Triathlon timing was really excellent. Good for him. We headed over to the ballroom for distribution of the race goodie packs. Fastlane was in front of us. Surprise! When we were done with the collection, Brokenrunner, Alvo2102 and Meteor... joined us for coffee!! We chatted for a really long time!! Topics like races, outings, forum and all!! Seeing ZhiMien there was total coincidence!! Any place with electronics.. you will see this guy appearing. He is on leave, spending his leave day to send his Treo for repair. LOL. Smart phone gives smart problems. What to do?!

We ended out coffee session and I headed for my own dinner. I will have to work at night. I have to eat something! I stopped by the arcade area.. and there is no need to guess who I saw!! ArcadeDT. I watched him play a few sets and I left the place, heading off for my assigned job.

Going bonkers soon. I have been dropping all my runs for endless PDFs, docs, ssh and https. Testing, testing, testing 123. *mumbles*

I missed the run with lots of people like Brokenrunner, Roger, Tiwazz, Sotong, Commando and many more!! Definitely not a good feeling ...

Can't live if I don't have exercises .....

Maybe go for bowling to brighten up my mood later, after this testing shite.

Last night, I was talking to a friend for quite sometime. I do not understand some stuff. Some people just have all the luck. Yes. Life is not totally fair. But, what can't kill me, makes me stronger.... *rarrrrr*

I went online to check out the Macross Pencil Sharpener (random package) that I saw at Lot1 the other night. Damn!! So excited! I shall make myself happier! I do not know why, but I am a pencil person. For whatever reasons its may be, I prefer to use pencil than pen. Hmm.. probably because pencils have more "life" than pens?

I turned up on time for my appointment today. Kinda nervous and excited to meet the person, face to face. I have not seen the person yet. But, there is so much heard about the character that I am about to meet today.

Approximately around our meeting time, Mr. Lim Nghee Huat, finisher of the 168km NTU run, turned up in a simple polo and pants. If it weren't for the publicity, he would have seem to be like one of your neighbor-next-door. Still.. .. I noticed that he is a simple person. Humble. Willing to share. We (a few of us) touched on the topics that we would be covering for the 3rd Run Together cum Running Experiences Sharing session with Mr. Lim. Covering on other things like logistics preparation and planning for the day to ensure that the event is smoother and more meaningful for everyone. Time flies fast when you are enjoying company. We got so carried away with him sharing with us some of this thoughts and experiences on the 168km as well as other events. He did a LSD of 85km to prepare for this 168km!!! Gosh! At around 6pm, we concluded our discussion and thanked him for meeting up with us. Yikes.... I have a flyer to make for this event.

I feel totally inspired by his achievements and advice. I am moved by his friendly and approachable personality too. I am sure that this Sunday's event will be beneficial to most.

Yikessss! Just 3km into my run... the lightning was getting threatening.... I had to call it quits before it gets too dangerous.

Holiday. One for today. One for Thursday. Doesn't seem like anything to me.

For a start, I got several more arrows before I can even finish swallow the previous few. Endlesstrail asked me to join him for a ride. But, I don't think I can finish the reading on time. Moreover, I have an appointment set at 4pm later today. Its reading, reading and more reading for me now. All these required for the meeting on Friday and next Monday.

Okay, enough talkin'
.
.
Back to books.