Limping Marathon Runner

Light sleeper, I am one. Saya was snoring and EndlessTrail talked in his sleep last night. Saya and Jeffrey seemed better this morning. But, they skipped breakfast. So, EndlessTrail and I got ready for breakfast. Suddenly, I had nose bleed. Must be the dry air. I hope this release some pressure in me. Nose bleed = Internal pressure equalised? The roof top cafe breakfast was good where the cafe is at the top floor of our hotel, over looking the city streets. We could see Potala Palace from here too. I had some food and a couple of hot Lipton teas. We took several pictures on the roof top before going back to our room. I had to pop 2 Panadol tablets to curb that throbbing headache. EndlessTrail and Saya went to settle our road trip (landrover) package. Too bad, I could not join them. I felt slightly better when they were back. My headache was gone.

We thought of going over to Potala Palace. But, an U.S. couple told us that we need to get the tickets in advance. We can only queue up and book for tomorrow's tickets. While walking in the front, I took some pictures of the majestic Palace. There were many vendors selling ornaments and jewellery. Beggars are a common sight, I guess. Reaching the visitor entrance of Potala Palace, the in-charge person told us that we need to queue for tomorrow's tickets inside. We started queuing at 2pm plus. EndlessTrail was in the queue. A little Tibetan girl was playing some games with him while waiting for the ticket sale counter to be opened. I took some shots of her playing with EndlessTrail and other kids too. Ridiculous as is sounds, the ticket counter started only at 5pm. We waited 2 hrs plus. Jeffrey headed back early as he wasn't feeling well again. The three of us walked to the Eastern side of the Palace looking for some Tibetan rock carvings. We found a row of prayer wheels before reaching a small market. We bought some bananas just before getting Jeffrey out of the hotel bed for dinner. I feel better. I hope that I can eat something. Oh yeah, we skipped lunch while queuing for Potala Palace tickets. Jeffrey was feeling okay and we thought of arranging his flight since he wanted to head back to ChengDu on 5th. He would still be with us while we would be heading to EBC (road trip), setting off on 6th.


We took a cab to Lucky Horse restaurant (recommended by the U.S. couple) for our dinner. I had noodle soup with eggs and all of us shared a pot of soup and some local bread. Right after a good dinner, we walked to the nearby Jokhang Temple. It was getting dark. We should visit this temple tomorrow. As we walked back to the hotel, we sighted more beggars since the night is getting darker. Life as seen here, is tough.

4am. Time to wake up and catch an early morning flight. Based on the guesthouse's information, I think JiuZhaiGou is possible, even doing it alone. While loading our packs into the cars, I looked up the sky for stars and still there were none. Traffic seems a little messy here where we saw 3 cars driving against the flow of traffic on the freeway!! So Daytona!!! Amazing! After checking-in, I walked around and was surprised to find a fruit stall smacked in the middle of the airport departure hall. Something new. The boarding area was kind of messy because we had to be transported out to the plane, on a airport bus. Saya suggest we turn around and wave like AirForceOne's Mr. President. Silly lass. On our flight to Lhasa, just 20 minutes of airborne, the Himalayas looking snow peaks were on our left of the plane. Everyone as snapping with their cameras. We enjoyed our breakfast of porridge, salted eggs and vegetables with the scenic mountains below.

Arriving at Lhasa's airport, temperature outside was already 8Deg Celsius. I think my butt will freeze. Saya introduced Anthony and Emily (an Aussie couple sitting beside her during the flight) to us once we got out of the airport. They do not have any plans yet in Tibet. Probably, they can join us in the road trip to Everest Base Camp! All of us took the same transport bus to Lhasa city where it is RMB$25 per pax. During the journey, we went through a mountain (it was a tunnel through a mountain). When I turned around, I noticed that they had some very nicely done paintings on the wall of the mountain. What?! The bus came to a complete halt with the driver sprinting off for a pee break. *slaps forehead* We passed rows of trees by the side of the road and it was simply beautiful. Soon, Anthony pointed out that Potala Place was visible. True enough, we passed the grand structure 5 minutes later. Our bus stopped at a hotel next to Potala Palace called the Airway Hotel. We grabbed our packs, walking out of the cab and trishaw infested spot. Everyone wants to carry your packs. Each pax had to pay RMB$5 that would bring us to Yak Hotel, which we later found that we only need to pay RMB$5 per ride. Air was noticeably thinner already. Once we got our room at Yak Hotel, we had to carry our packs up to level 3. That was when I felt like an old man, with legs trembling, heart pounding for extra work and my lungs screaming for air. Sure. They had staff to carry our bags for us. But, let's do it the painful way called D-I-Y. Our room is definitely clean and better than I thought. Anyway, I am not too choosy about accomodations. It costs us RMB$50 per pax, per night with no attached bathroom. Our hotel is among commoners' living quarters and wet markets. It bring you closer to their daily activities. We went to look for lunch since we are dropping by Kirey Hotel (another recommended budget hotel). There is a restaurant and we ordered some local food. I had mixed vegetable bobbi (tortillas) and EndlessTrail had some chow mein. Saya had Yak meat with rice and we all shared a plate of vegetable momo. Jeffrey seemed to be getting AMS (Acute Mountain Syndrome) and had a cup of hot teas instead. Both EndlessTrail and I tried their local butter tea. We found out that Kirey Hotel offers RMB$25 per pax for rooms. By then, Jeffrey felt worse and I walked him back to the hotel, while EndlessTrail and Saya went to get some fruits.


We let Jeffrey rest while the three of us looked around a little after a short nap. We wandered into local's quarters and their markets, doing quite a big loop around the area. We ended up at a restaurant across our hotel and I think I felt worse after the walk (probably fatigue). I had slight throbbing headache with a little nauseous. Lucky thing, the hot honey lemon tea did some wonders for me, while EndlessTrail and Saya ate. Walking up back to our rooms was still a chore. I felt that my thighs were aching as I climbed. Must be due to insufficient oxygen going to various areas. Come to think of it, hypoxic training does help. I slept for the night, hoping for a better day tomorrow. I meant my physical fitness.

*Ring* My alarm woke me up this morning. I cannot afford to be late. It's a public holiday and I am going to Tibet. Since EndlessTrail and Saya's passports are with me, I checked my bags a few times before taking a train to the airport. EndlessTrail was already there. Once everyone arrived, we took our breakfast at BurgerKing. Saya mentioned that she is having slight fever and flu. She was still able to bicker with EndlessTrail at the check-in counter. Who said anything about fever just now?

While surfing at the Internet kiosk, our names have been announced over P.A. system. First time that my name has been called. Damn! Not surprising to find that we were actually the noisy four when the rest are all sleeping once the plane took off. Hmm... they served ice cream after our meals. Interesting. Upon arriving at Chengdu's airport, we were received by the accomodation's staff with a really small car. Ha! We did not inform them that there were actually four of us. Along the way to our accomodation, I took a couple of pictures of the city.

The guesthouse seems to be an old mansion where rooms are divided. Signs of renovation work to make more rooms out of the space around the compound. We dropped our stuff and went out for dinner since it was 3pm that we touched down at airport. Good thing that we found a nice restaurant (not pricey) serving Sichuan spicy hot pot. Since EndlessTrail don't usually take spicy stuff, we ordered a non-spicy, herbal chicken mushroom hot pot with loads of vegetables. Yum!!! It was strange that the staff told us that there were no rice and we ordered noodle soup instead. Each bowl costs only SGD$0.40!! Great! For this meal (6 person quantity), each of us paid only $4. Saya is still having problems with Chinese characters and some understanding of Mandarin. Tsk tsk tsk! After a satisfying meal, we headed back to our guesthouse to settle details of our flight to Lhasa for the next morning. We sorted out timing to wake up and breakfast too.

No choice. I got to sleep early. Tomorrow's ride to airport leaves at 5am (to wake up at 4am). Accomodation is pretty decent, regardless of what is beyond the compound. No stars tonight because the sky seems pretty hazy.

Going off tomorrow. Be back real soon. I miss running already. I would be doing a couple of FRs for some of the parties interested in visiting this place.

Enough events for today. Take care, Philip.

See y'all soon.

That Tatonka backpack makes me look like a puny little midget.

Ha! Blur Ling is heading to Borneo, this time.

Psyched and ready to go! Lhasa is going to be 13 deg celsius and EBC is -1 deg celsius. Brrr.

Assisting in a seminar yesterday, I came across this great mix of colors. Such a thoughtful layout by the staff. They instantly looked like gummies in bottles. The chocolate muffins are really nice. I was too busy eating them to take any picture. Happy loading mini french loaves and muffins, I was pretty full. I was suppose to meet Philip for lunch since his office is nearby. Hence, Philip took his lunch, after which we had some ching tng and ice kachang.

Headed back to office, I had to clear several queries and follow ups. Time is not enough. I had to settle the entire set up for the next seminar, which was crucial.

Don't ask me why, I am once tasked again. Some ... afraid I guess. But, I am pretty happy that I made it work today. PM is totally appreciative, I could see.

What early bird price is $88 for an O.D.? Must be one expensive bird.

Raining Snoopies and Garfields
One bloody big downpour on Monday. About to meet EndlessTrail and Saya, I was caught in the rain. Not that bad. I was still able to meet them for a short dinner. We were a little late to change some currencies.

Damn. I should have gotten a DSLR for this trip. No choice. Vitamin M, far from enough.

I managed to collect our passports from the Embassy. Excellent service.

Ready to do some high altitude running and not sweat a single bit? Crazy.

Last night, another better player to grill me. myFTOgpx.
"You're not getting younger. When har?"
"What? You think I'm some Prince of Persia?" (Any gamer out there?)
"Waahahahh. TMD. Anyway, I think XBox 360 has a new Prince of Persia game."
"Ehh... I should be the one who should divert your attention, right?"
(^_^)

Great friends around me started offering their gears when they heard about my upcoming trip.

Thanks Chini and 54Brownie for the backpack loan. They always prevented me from buying one. 54Brownie was saying I brought the backpack to more places than she has been to. LOL. Cool! They passed me some heat packs too, asking me to finish them off.

Thanks Mickey for the outer shell. Damn.. .. moreover, its a new piece. Apparently, he bought it last time and did not wear it at all!! So, I'm the first user for his virgin set. *Touched*

1 more week, when I can drop it all. No phone calls, SMS-es, E-mails, requests, questions and the list goes on.

I was out with my cousin having dinner.. I sense interrogation in progress. Stuff like, am I seeing someone. Would it be time for me to start seeing someone,etc. Scheming! Wedding bells for him soon too... he seems cool about the whole event, which it should really be in that way. Weddings are to be fun and lightheart. We chatted over dinner, with him sharing that he has been looking for love for over 0 years. That.. I did not know. But, everything has been planned in life. Meant to be that way. All is going well for him now. Damn.. I ate Tempura Udon and totally forgot that we were near Waraku Restaurant.

Met EndlessTrail and Saya a while ago. Crazy things at work again. Running around to set up my stuff and had to dump everything before heading off to get my picture taken for a Visa. No time to lose. I took a cab to meet up with them. EndlessTrail and Saya were already there. Saya offered me a KitKat. "Yeah, I really need something like this. But, don't tell me that's for dinner." We are suppose to eat bread from now onwards and I think KitKats cost more than bread. Luxury goods. We filled all information needed and passed them to EndlessTrail. Finishing the chocolates, we have these two, throwing KitKat wrappers at each other. I think I'll be entertained during the trip. "Dinner, shall we?" Saya protested about having fastfood. That was out. Food courts, I suppose? I had korean food (I hear people saying, "Again"). We chatted a while more before looking around for a pair of sunglasses for Saya. No luck. Nothing that she fancies.

Did I say I'm back in the office now? I'm not explaning. Don't ask.

I hope I can crash out tonight, sleep properly.

I had a real lousy day yesterday. Not exactly, for the entire day, just the second half of the day. I screwed up at work. But, at 7pm, I went ahead to meet up with those who are going for the trip. Apart from EndlessTrail, I have not seen anyone before. They had a previous meet up session, settling some items (when I could not join them). These guys are great. A whole funny lot. They went on and on about the donkey joke. It was great to have a professional photographer traveling with us too. I'm sure we will have some quality shots then. I can't seem to find my travel bug yet. It is somewhere in my pocket. But, it's just isn't biting yet. Probably work stuff is still bugging me. I have to drop it and have a great time for the trip ahead.

By then, I hope to find the lost part of me.

Phew! I had a hard time arrange my personal documents. Let's see. I'm only done with one area out of five or six that I have? Moreover, I am only 50% done in this one single domain. Well, at least, some of it is tidy! However, many thanks to SH because the template was really useful. Buddy has done a really good job.

Gang4 asked me out for dim sum, which I was not really that interested. Sure, it is at the good old
Red Star, old school dim sum. Today is Sunday! It will be madness. I can't get to eat things that I want to and I have dozens of people pushing around me. Not today. Gang4 has bought me something from Taipei. Nice!

I don't know what is happening. But, I'm getting insomnia again. I can roll over and over again in bed like a prawn in Quaker Oats, getting ready to be fried. There is nothing that I can do about it.

Right now, 2.4km for me is just fine.

Seeing the pictures of runners having fun with their runs is not going to help my morale, especially when I am working on the weekends. Hey, a good thing that they are having fun! Looking forward for that day to come when I can run again, with less work, or when I have reached that stage.

What's worse? It raining outside and I am in the office.

Most things happening a little too fast, in which I did not pen them down. They were thoughts. Most areas require my attention. In an instant, 24 hours seem not enough. Missing out on runs recently, left me really demoralised.

OMO the way to go?

Nothing I want to talk about when everything is work.

Sleep and jerk is back again. I just caught the description of "Sleep Paralysis" which seem to fit my condition.

Stuck again in office for who knows how many weekends, Nemo MSN-ed me on bikes. AHhahhhahh... you got the wrong guy, man. There is only so "much" knowledge I have. LOL! Still..... I tried my best in whatever I might know.

I have been neglecting my precious... I know. My bikes look really slack. Plus .. . looking at the possibility of cycling to work. Difficult I would say.

Next week to give them a spin? I think my work will spin me first. Lucky for me, today was rather well spent with 3 separate stuff settled.

What!!! I received a call from Sam again. This fella always called from Aussie trying to mimick some down under dude with his "D'day mate!" greetings. We had a brief chat. Okay, he's gonna be back in town again. Same old thing, asking me ..

"Wait... Are you attached?"
"What?"
"What the *beep* are you waiting for?"
"You *beep*-ing silly *beep*hole!!"

This fella hasn't replied my email like .... for 3 years? Maybe his mail server is not set up yet. Probably the MX records are screwed and his Emails got lost in cyberspace.

This morning, the guys went for a BG run. I trust that they had a great time! I think it'll be a while before I can join them again.

It is not over yet. There are more work to be done. I can only catch a short break now.

Another colleague of mine did have a very interesting signature.
"We might not enjoy result created by others, but we could create result."

Objective focusing always bring one to places. Quit wrestling with the pig now.

Just like diseases or poverty, it is a constant fight.

On a lighter side of life, 2 recent purchases, taking a shot at retail therapy. A 1Gb thumb drive (need for work where files are getting bigger) and a 1Gb MP3 to replace my dead Discman. It has FM receiver too! Great!

I thought the world is going to change. Well, at least my world to begin with. I thought I would not go down without a fight. I laid down my cards, almost to writing a program to reason out, all the combinations and possibilities. It seems that the odds are stacked. I have no idea if among all these, things will allow a sail though.

On the other hand (a totally different matter), it is perfectly alright to harbour negative thoughts in one's head. Negative does not necessary equate to evil. Allow negative thoughts to work for you and not against you. Take gravity for example. It can work for or against you. Can't stay more than 10 seconds off the ground due to gravity. Aeroplanes. Simple answer. You build something to overcome your negative thoughts. Channeling negative thoughts to drive me to places beyond my reach. Don't ask me how I can do that. Sorry, trade secrets.

Now, back to negative thoughts.
Taboo word of the day. Update.
How to use it?
"Let me update you."

Now, let me just reach for that nail and drive it through your coffin.

Philip, I have the perfect avatar for you.

Santorini. This is one place I would like to go. Holding hands, walking in the streets, enjoying the gradient blue sky and pristine clear waters. Touching white walls as we stroll along. Picture taken from here.

Now, April Fools' isn't such a bad day. Yes, I taken the bait from a friend who asked why did I not reply the SMS. Puzzled, I replied, "What SMS?". Next, message ... "Happy April Fools!". Thanks.

Enough about being a fool for the day.

Waking up early in the morning and heading over to the Esplanade / Merlion, I am doing a short 5km and reaching Geylang to have some dim sum. While at the Esplanade bridge, I took some pictures of the sunrise. Right down below, I noticed a jogger signaling out to me. "Pssst.. psst". *Surprise* It was Kops21! He was doing his ninja training this morning. Soon, Le_Charlotte, Philip, Tiwazz and Sotong reached the starting point. We did some warm ups and took a pretty fair bit of pictures along the way to Geylang. A lot of other joggers jogging in the opposite direction. A very nice morning. Reminiscing those days of schooling, during my younger days in Secondary School, this is an area I was familiar with. I even took a snapshot of the bus stop that used to alight for 4 years.



Dim sum. Our mission for the day, right? We gathered around the table ordering several variety at one go. Definitely not the best. But, rather good standards. I really wanted some Chinese tea. There was none. First time taking honey lemon tea from some plastic containers. Weird but interesting. Once finishing the dim sum, we went to look some desserts. Soya bean milk. The shop that we wanted to go to was not open for the day yet. Okay. We have a backup choice. By then, after the dessert, we were all full and everyone is having one big P. Even Tiwazz's 6P was gone.

Care bears, Stare!!! I'm sure you can't find these anymore.

Schedules are up to next Friday. y-a-y. How encouraging. I'll probably be dead by then.

Too many things happening around.

Too many things till I'm not who I am, was, or want to be ... anymore.

It seems like a burn-out at work. From zero to fully packed schedule to next Wednesday, where I need weekends to explore work stuff.

I need to stick a pencil behind my ear and ponder behind my virtual work desk.
Trying to find my directions.

I can still read. Maybe I should learn to cast haze. Aquiring skills in my cave.

Another late night, as like other races, I slept late and woke early. IMD and his dad were kind enough to give me a lift to the race site. Thanks! Upon reaching we saw DO grabbing some seats while we proceeded to the registration. While going for our body marking, I saw latic_acid with the group, Cyberkinetic, Skyver1810 and Rainbow. Sxuanjing was around too and all of us took some pictures before I spotted Sumiko. Along the way, Alvo and Meteor appeared too. The rest of the support crew like SportVenturer, Tiwazz, Astrogirl soon arrive with Kops21 who is also taking part today.

Race Report

Seems like it was time for the first wave, where we gathered to watch them flag off. I noticed this year's swim leg was much better organised than last year. Straight line as compared to last year's triangulation is definitely a much easier swim. *Horn sound* The first wave went off. I saw a lady who jumped into the open sea and exited out again. She seemed to be having some problem. Nevertheless, she went back into the race. Spotting some mistakes that the first wave made, I tried to spot the buoy rather than using the lines during my flag off. IMD shouted, "Scared already!", when we were the last to enter the water. Within a few minutes into my swim, I heard people shouting for help already. I looked around to see if the person was near me, in case I need to render help. It was a good 10 meters away and several swimmers there already waved to the safety, I continued ahead. The first length of my swim, IMD was spotted around me most of the time. I got a really bad bite by sea bugs I suppose, on the first lap. On the return leg, I couldn't see him. At one point, I thought I actually swam into the hull of the boat. I felt a strong wham on my head. Practically stoned for several seconds before I realised that a swimmer popped out of no where with his breaststroke kicking. He was graceful enough to wave a sorry hand signal and I waved back. I checked my directions at every 6 - 8 strokes but this still happens. Oh. What to do? As I completed my swim leg, I recalled being elbowed aside, swam across, leg pulled at or bulldozed. Sigh.

Tiwazz spotted me with IMD's camera as I exited from the swim and into the transition area. I took my time to change and rinse my mouth before catching Cyberkinetic on my way out.



Just within 500m away from the transition, IMD was already on his returning leg after the first loop at the hawker. He shouted out to me. When I turned, I saw Jennifery and then Cheow12. Cheow12 waved and shouted "Bala!" too. Once I crossed back to the transition area, Eunice was already crossing the finishing line! Good job! She was looking strong too. Penguin was just 600m behind Eunice. Our support team (Astrogirl, Alvo, Meteor, Renohtaram, Violet, SportVenturer and Tiwazz) were waving and cheering when we passed by. Further down, Sxuanjing was cheering anyone who passed her. A wonderful personality, she has! She was still around, cheering when I passed her and heading near to the finishing line. During the run course, I saw PS Chang, Phoebe and Kops21 too. In fact, my leg did hurt when I hit the first 1km. I had to control my pace, stride and perform 15min run / 2min walk to come back in good running form. I was wondering where Mythos was.. and there he came popping out at the finishing line where we grabbed a cup of ice cold Milo. I showered and changed to my new event Tee where I bumped into Phoebe and we had a short chat. She told me she got kick in the face. Owww.. I read about Kops21 being kicked in the groin too.. Double Owww.. Like what IMD said, its a whirlpool at the buoy's turning point.

Most of us went to take our lunch before meeting up with the runners doing the World Harmony Run that was happening on the same day. Kops21, SportVenturer, Hedgehog and DO joined in the run. After lots of hand shakes and photo taking, they continued their run with the WHR torch and flag. Tiwazz, Renohtaram, Meteor, Alvo and I went off to Suntec where we had more drinks. I was really thirsty. We chatted ... and most of us were really tired. Lazing in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf was great and most already had sleepy eyes. While all of them soon went for some gym class, I could hardly endure pass 5pm. Headed home.. I caught sight of a few people stealing glances at me dozing off even while leaning near the door in the train. Unsightly! No choice.. seats were all taken.

News broke out that today's race has claimed another life. Our deepest condolences go out to the victim's family.

Ah ha! I forgot.. yesterday, during my D-Day, I received a news from a new born baby's father. Jimmy is dad now. Congrats.

Finally, ending a D-Day event (IMHO), I could afford a little more time. No time to lose, I need to get a T.V. set. It has been dragging for quite a long while. Too long. Bala has been putting up with the volume that goes high and low like a rollercoaster.

Before hitting the bus for Orchard, I went to return my DVDs and borrow another 3. This time, it was The Last Samurai, Flight of The Phoenix and My Best Friend's Wedding.
I dropped by Borders upon reaching, browsing some magazines and books before leaving. I went to the library and could not find what I want. I shopped around for my T.V. set and was caught in between a tube T.V. or a LCD T.V.. After all the considerations of dimensions, space and size, I opted for an LCD. Tough choice, if you ask me.

Not possible to bring the T.V. on train, I thought a cab would be the only choice. I was really hungry then, close to point of passing out, I took my dinner. Then, it was time to head home.

Tomorrow is Biathlon race day. Good luck, guys!

A late night and really afraid that I could not wake up in time, I set 2 alarms. But, for whatever reasons, it took me a while before I slept.

Reaching the training area slightly earlier, I thought of doing an email. But, I was caught by a surprise when an good attendee who came early. Most of them were half and hour late. Not a good practice, but it seems like a common culture here.

Browsing through the materials, I feel that they did not receive the quality as much as I would like to deliver. For that, I have to do something about it not only for myself but also for others.

Timing could not have been better that 20 minutes after attendees have left, there was a power trip. The whole floor was out except for emergency exits that lit the surrounding. I felt better after chatting with the folks in the office there.

ZhuiTeLun wanted to play at the posh place again. Agree. The place is nicely done with good equipment and music. Not for those who wants to do practise shots there. There are cheaper places to groom your own skills.

ZhuiTeLun and JapBoy have always been asking me out for games. But, due to recent hectic schedules, I have been turning them down. Especially with ZhuiTeLun recent Lazik op, he has been eager to pit his skills against mine since I am a lousy player that he can topple. I was really tired and wanted to go home. I thought I might as well go meet them since it has been some time too. ZhuiTeLun took beer and I think that caused his balls to go pinball. He even took another colour ball as the cue ball. Lazik don't do colour correction? It was a good session, several good shots and attempts and games played. My nose getting snuffled with the air condition breeze and I smiled to myself.
Wanting to get home soon really too, I ended the game early and did not have any night snack or dessert with them. Bala wanted me to get something for him at the interchange. I was out cold on my way back home in the train. I guess I was too tired. I spoke non-stop for a day while understanding and amazed by those who could. Trainers? Not easy.

I will remember this day.

Have not been running due to work. Trying to keep my mind in the green zone. Getting fat. Even my fingers look chubby.

More stuff at work and need a breather. Astrogirl organised a bowling session at SSC. More bowlers would have came for this game. But, quite a number of them could not make it due to the date. Next time, guys!

Team Handicap: Astrogirl, Bee and Le_Charlotte
Team Really Handicap Being-Taken-Advantage: Tiwazz and Balasing

Astrogirl made a nonsense rule saying that for every stike Team Really Handicap Being-Taken-Advantage gets, we are suppose to donate 200points to them. I see mozzies!!
Don't hit me with the 15 pound bowling ball, Astrogirl !

I lost all of my ball controls and could not find my sweet spot for the day. Doing hook with house balls is a thing in the past. I have forgotten all that already. But, I am still happy that I was able to execute a Turkey.

What gutter kings and queens... all of those.. not true. The scores tells you everything. I think the ladies had more fun singing songs from SBC8 serial shows. Talking about childhood stuff like Care Bears, Snorkels, Smurfs, Mask, Centurions, etc. Old school toys.

The highlight of the day? Seeing a Mickey Mouse bowling ball. There was a Minnie Mouse ball too.

More insider news. Funny how the world works. *Shrugs* Dont' ask me.

Suppose to be swimming at the usual spot today. But, it seems like the pool is closed for some staff team building thing. Too bad. SportVenturer, Tiwazz, Astrogirl and I went to Queenstown swimming pool. We saw several people training there. Latic_Acid was there and we said hi to her. I did a swim of only 1.2km. Swimming too many times in the smaller pool has its disadvantages. Buoyance for sure feels different. Right after the swim, we went for some sinful Char Kway Teow. I can't remember when was the last time since I took Char Kway Teow from Queenstown. We chatted a while about the bowling event before leaving for home.

I changed my mind about the "lim peh's VO2Max" test today. I should be able to do that on my own if I get the method from Philip a.k.a. Lim Peh. Let me sort out my work, which is a priority on list.

Nope, my ex-boss did not call. He must have been busy and I continued with my work. A more realistic test is only available tomorrow. Now, onto the slides. At around 5pm, I decided to head for a game of bowling at Marina Square before meeting Kitty, KittyTrainer and Lambie. Beng couldn't make it. If he could, it would be complete. Anyway, on the bowling, I didn't get to bowl too. Timing when I reached the place wasn't exactly perfect. I did not want to rush in 2 games. I do not fancy sweeping gutters. I walked around and picked up my new slippers. I felt a little better with retail therapy. I got the cheesecake book back from Kitty. Now, only if I can find time... Oreo cheesecake sounds nice.

No pictures of Kitty because pretty mummy don't want pictures to be taken. No pictures of KittyTrainer because he said he put on 6kg after Kitty became mummy. No pictures of Lambie because she might be migrating and change of identity soon and she need to stay anonymous.

Pictures of food then. Kushinbo. $31 .. Hmmm... can't complain too much. It would have been a little more worth the money if I can go for the crabs and prawns. I could only envy.

Let's listen to the radio to calm me nerves. Wasting time now while waiting for commencement of serious work. Nah... I'll be working on something else first.

Artist: Corrinne May Title: Angel In Disguise

Artist: Ryan Cabrera Title: Photo

I woke up this morning feeling kind of blue and I stumbled out of bed and dragged my feet across the room Right outside my front door was a rose and a note that said 'Somebody Loves You' But out on the street it starts to pour and before I get soaking wet, A total stranger runs to give me the jacket off his back I turn around to thank him But he waves me with a smile I can hardly believe my eyes He puts on a halo and starts to fly Take a look at the ordinary Don't need to look at Paradise You could be next to an angel in disguise I met a good friend for lunch and we had a delicious meal But I forgot to bring my wallet I felt like an imbecile But she was sweet, she gave me a treat and Bought me a chicken sandwich To take home for tea But out on the street with nothing to eat A man and his shopping cart go Travelling to places, Collecting social graces I give him my sandwich and we chatted for a while I see a rainbow wash over his eyes He gives me his halo and I start to fly Take a look at the ordinary Don't need to look for Paradise You could be next to an angel in disguise Don't try to hide away from me I know you're by my side Take a look at the ordinary Don't need to look for Paradise You could be next to an angel in disguise Everyday can be legendary Every minute, an endless surprise You could be the next angel in disguise I woke up this morning Feeling kind of new. (http://www.leoslyrics.com)

A photo can say a thousand things But it can't say the million things I wanna say A photo can capture the way we were But it can't capture the way we are 'Cause you're far away What it's like to know you What it's like to touch you When you told me that you loved me were those just words You can't tell me you don't need me and I know that hurts 'Cause I'm looking at your picture 'Cause it's all I've got Maybe one day You and me will have one more shot Timing lost minutes and moments And I might be lonely girl But I'm not afraid In a second It all comes right back to me Nothing's forgotten now Yeah everything's saved What it's like to touch you What it's like to know you When you told me that you loved me were those just words You can't tell me you don't need me and I know that hurts 'Cause I'm looking at your picture 'Cause it's all I've got Maybe one day You and me will have one more shot You were my life you were my faith You gave me hope every day When you told me that you loved me were those just words You can't tell me you don't need me and I know that hurts 'Cause I'm looking at your picture 'Cause it's all I've got Maybe one day You and me will have one more shot (http://www.azlyrics.com)

Talking to my ex-boss today, saying he needs to ask me something. He's a typical funny, but ultra smart person with lots of ideas up his sleeves. He's been sounding a little strange lately. I hope he's okay.

Wasted tons of time waiting for things to happen. *Dump stuff at work* Went for a recovery swim and I stopped at 1km with a throbbing headache. Not wanting it to morph into a migraine, I did strokes. 200m of left rights, 100m fists, 100m norm and 100m of control. Mounted to 1.5km eventually. Strangely, I seem to have counted only a 35 strokes at the last lap. Maybe I missed a few counts. Must be the headache. I would have struck gold, if it was 35.

Borrowed 3 DVD for Bala to watch. S.W.A.T., Kingdom Under Fire and Ladder 49. Out of 3, I watched S.W.A.T. before. Mainly for Bala since its all action packed.

Another "ping" packet from different enemy. Seems like a sniffer. Must drop.

Charrgeee! Reach office, set up, test, set up, test.

"Stop. Can you do this instead?" *dumbfold* Lost in the world of trying to find priorities.

*Focus*

I met ArcadeDT for a tag team objective attack. If Beng was in town, it would have been a triple tag team. After the objective attack meeting, a colleague and I went for my lunch at 4.30pm (if that was still considered lunch). Consolation to hear that someone knows what is happening. But still...

After my "lunch" I SMS-ed Shihao, my long time Primary School pal. His reply, "Who are you?". I was like "What?!". Okay, eventually he called me and we had a good short chat. He's tying the knot in September. This fella is taking up, dance courses like Cha-cha, Salsa, etc. Amazing. After knowing him for so long, love does change a person. Happy that another is downed by Cupid's arrow.

Thinking of yesterday's dim sum.... hungry again. I think I'll try Neptune's dim sum next time.

With plans of reaching the summit that went "ka-put", I thought it would be a great idea to rest my body and mind too. I held onto today's leave and canceled the rest. I said, "It is a wonderful day to do yumcha." Ooopps... I forgot to inform Karloong about it since dim sum is her favourite too. She was still lazing in bed when I called her.

Tiwazz and Philip wanted to come along and we met around 0900hrs, sinking our teeth into the first dim sum. Astrogirl who sneaked out, reached within minutes and timely too to catch our first order. We can't wait, give us food! We want sinful dim sums!!! After half and hour of clearing the food, Astrogirl stopped her chop sticks action and returned to work. *Beep Beep* We received an SMS protest from Brokenrunner. Leaving the place around 1130hrs and headed over to FujiXerox where Philip sent his digicam to get it fixed. That is when we called Sxuanjing since she was working around there. Sxuanjing exclaimed, "You call me to this floor, just to see me?! Why aren't you guys working today?! This is too much." We shrugged. Timing was a little tight for her, she need to catch a quick lunch and report back to work. We left her and headed to Tea Spa where Le_Charlotte was waiting for us. Each of us had a cheese cake and infused tea. It was really refreshing. We saw the younger side of Le_Charlotte and Philip when they hawked around the toy dispenser machine. Erm.. they are not that old anyway. We bade Le_Charlotte sayonara and we (actually it was me) checked out the price of Canon 350D. I'll keep that in mind.



Philip went home by then, when we decided to give Kay a call, for coffee, since he works around the area. Man, I've not seen him for quite a while. A short coffee break was good. Too bad, Run.run.runaway is really near and she was busy today to have coffee.

We went back home, where I sent some Emails on work, read a few more arrows (with a tablespoon of salt) before changing for a swim. I was the earliest and I did 1.5km, where the rest of the 1km was a strokes and breathing re-learning session for me. Kops21 was doing his ninja swim too. A little late for him. Nevertheless, he made it. I met Zooyew at the swimming pool too. Been a while since I last saw him.

What a packed day!! So many people that we "visited" today.... Time passes fast when you are having fun! Seeing so many runners in a day was indeed fantastic.

Now, I could not get to sleep last night. I guess the enemy probe that was sent has done its job. No music could coax me to sleep.

Renohtaram just messaged me. I hope he's settling most of this work stuff too. Have an early rest, Reno.

Pressure is building up for at least another paper to be clear by this month. *Shakes head*

Expect the unexpected.

No idea what has gone wrong with my leg. I do stretch before and after runs. I have not been doing crazy trainings lately. Now, its giving me problems. I can hardly climb up or down the stairs.. .. can still limp with my notebook bag. Hence, I'm going to drop tomorrow's trip to Mount Kinabalu. Depressing, it is. But, it is a decision I need to make. I wouldn't want to slow down my group. Zoossh and guys are great. They mentioned good traveling pals would wait for each other, still asking me to go along. I agree on that, totally. Good traveling partners are hard to find. To me, my assessment is that we're going to climb.. not really walking at the same altitude. I don't want to be on an evac plan.

News is fast. Mentioning it on MSN to Lina and by evening, I got contacted. *Speechless*

Maybe its a sigh from above that I should be working on my assignments. Yes, no typo error.. "sigh". Speaking of it, here comes another assignment via MSN IM. We just love technology, don't we?

Almost killed by servers testing during my weekend, I really needed some coffee to keep me awake in this morning seminar. After taking a sip at the coffee, I noticed a uniform brown hue. I could not resist but to steal a snapshot of my cup on the table. Reading my notes for the next paper, a fellow attendee chatted with me before the seminar started.

Finally, breaking through barriers after days of trying, I got it working at 80%. The last part of the integration, I would have to try it out tomorrow before heading back to the seminar in the late afternoon. By then, I would be just a stone throw away from the CBD run meeting spot.

*OT* Anyway, passing half an hour after my knock off time, things looked a little promising at 80%! My last step towards success would depends on tomorrow. I dropped all my stuff and ran back home to grab my gear for today's swim. Reaching the pool, Cheow12 completed 10laps already. I focused on what I would like to achieve today. Mindful of the strokes and how I can improve on it, I counted a 40strokes upon finishing. W00t! Definitely elated to hit the 40 mark. I could sense less effort in moving through the waters. Room for improvement? No doubt.

Many have done well in the VM stairs climb! *Applause*
Wish I was there!

Several rounds of senseless loading and reloads in office. Not very productive. No choice, not an option. Practise makes perfect, they say.

Looking forward for my swim tomorrow. I think I keyboard more mileage than my runs and swims.

Almost done. Left with last step. Tasting. Mmmmmm..... Bala says its not sweet enough. *Hard to please* I think otherwise. But, I feel that I could use a little stronger taste in tea department. I got the home made Ice Lemon Tea from Cooking For Engineers and I made it in the morning. I had a good game of badminton during noon too, before heading back to the office. On my way back home (still in the train), I got a phone call on referral. LMAO.

Simple stuff in life, makes me happy. Coffee. Toasted bread with butter and good Kaya on a small light blue plate. Ready to take on the world again. Left for discussion on Mount Kinabalu trip after staying back a while at work today. Reaching home only at 11pm, I have to postpone making Ice Lemon tea to tomorrow.

I was suppose to wake up at 0545hrs to head for a swim. My battery packs were not recharged yet. I felt like a piece of brick. Snoozing for another 20mins, neither did that help. I drifted back to sleep instead.

Swim was then postponed to evening, where I did some efficiency test. Clocking a factor of 579. I think that is for now. Let's see if there will be improvements. I'm sure there will be. Just a matter of time. I first did a stroke count of 42. Swim was then a 1.5km, finishing in 39mins. That was pure lousy work. At least I have made some discovery.

Stroke count: Average.
Kicks: Total suck at it.
Roll: Satisfactory.

In need of improvements. Time to go back to the drawing board, back to basics.

I am suppose to make some ice lemon tea now. But, I forgot what I needed to buy. Okay. Tomorrow night then. Homemade Ice lemon tea. Any takers?

(-_-) zzz

This time, I fell asleep while waiting for train. Cleared internal training in morning and rushed off for the paper. One down, five more to go. Took a 10 mins break, walking around the mall after my paper before setting off to Bishan for an assignment. No choice. Staying pass the time for tracks run at NUS (this time round), I crashed out once I reached home.

(-_-) zzz

I fell asleep during the train ride from Bishan back home, while reading notes for paper chase. Probably had saliva drooling all over my Vertical Marathon shoe bag and backpack. People must be mocking a tired dumb ass.

I had all the gear with me but skipped the CDB run since stuck at fruitless hours of trial-n-error. Nice try, people. I can't even recall what I did yesterday. Only thing that I know is, I went for a swim with SportVenturer, Cheow12 and Tiwazz.

Stealing a breather at work, while waiting for loading.

Most of the guys doing their marathon in KL have done well, achieving sub-4hr timing. *Cheer*
60-70% of my list of the day is completed.

Owwww... gastric attack is back.

At least, things seem to have improvement after lunch. Trying to find sanity in the midst of notebooks, servers, desktops and testing notes.

I managed to squeeze in a swim after my shop around for a T.V. set.

*Heavy huff*
Swimming, no. Cycling, no. Running, no. Weekends are suppose to be for me to do all these. I see this list of Quick-To-Dos floating in front of me by higher authorities.

1. 6 x I.T. certs in pipeline (A targeted paper needed by end March)


2. 3 x internal training - different subject (next week and more to come), inclusive of set up


3. 2 x external training (more already in pipeline), inclusive of set up and blasting


4. Assignment next week

Doesn't seem like a Christmas Wish list at all.

Sometimes, I wonder if I wear my red brief over my thighs hugging pair of blue slack. Or am I just some sitting duck at a 5 metre range?

"Firers, 5 rounds of shotgun shells, load and ready!"
"Watch your front!"

Quite a number of guys are going over to KL for the marathon. Have a safe race and bring back some shiny finishers. Best of luck!

Time to settle the T.V. once and for all.. need to check the dimensions at store tomorrow after work.

How many times have this happened? I have absolutely no idea. Grit my teeth, sharpen my blade and march forward. Some day, I do bite back. Cut the crap talk.

The run, an hour ago, wasn't satisfactory. Due to a muscle pull, I had to cut short on the exercises. Managed a 2.5 laps of what is suppose to be done. Full rest ahead for tomorrow. Moreover, what can I do in the office?

Feeling totally crappy. Settled some discussion on official matters with Beng and rushed back to office for some demo. By then, I was totally zapped of my energy. Assigned to attend some job, which.. anyone could have completed that task. I have a long list in my hands now. Maybe I should change my MSN MOTD to "In search of love", like 6P KJ.

I need some Supermarket therapy. Like RIGHT NOW.

I got a party pack of Mars, a tub of Yoghurt and a bottle of red. Been some time since I have gotten a bottle of red wine for YMother. We get to share the bottle anyway. Save it for tomorrow.

Yoghurt did its job in lifting my spirits. Mmmm.

Suppose to be a recovery run today. I ended up going faster than I should. *Gulp*

5.7km to and within the Stadium. (100m sprint + walk recovery) x 8. Muhahha... Formula. At the 6th lap, all of a sudden, I felt that "I hate sprints!". Oh, but I went on. Consolation prize... Ching Tng later. That is what this run is all about.

Did I mention about singing? We've all heard of Sotong's one liner jokes. Anyone heard of him sing? I just did.. today where he sang Amigos Para Siempre while we traveled on our way to get dinner and Ching Tng.

What a waste. A day on standby after fixing stuff ready for presentation. Presentation got postponed to 4pm. Sheeesh. I could have done some testing in office. Don't waste time! Since I don't have materials that I want to read with me, I proceeded to do some designs. At least I got one up. Presentation shot pass 6pm and someone had to take over might night job. *Mumbles* "Should have been this in the first place". Nearing 7pm, I popped by the CDB run area to find the runners already geared up and doing their warm-ups. I chatted with a few of them and saw a few new faces. Most asked me where is my running gear. IMD even asked me to do the Bull Run, to run in office wear. What?!!

They went off for their 6-7km and I walked over to Tanjong Pagar NTUC to get some cups for their Isotonic drinks when they are back. Tekko made a guest appearance. Sxuanjing was kind enough to get 2 cold 1.5L of Isotonic. She called me a waiter... Yeah.. anyway, I've been a banquet waiter before during my school time holidays to help out. Some of the runners went off then, we bade them good bye, hoping to see them next week. Most of us went for dinner at Maxwell before heading home. I took an above average wanton noodle (quite good for a $3), light dinner to me. I needed to run once I get home since I did not have any chance to run at all. On our way to the train station, we imparted some out-of-date old skool skills to Philip where he exclaimed, "Don't work this way anymore!"

Allowing digestion of the 4 wonderful wantons, I sat till 11pm before I headed out towards the track. 3.1km average. Quick-Recovery for 4 laps before the stitch came. *Grits teeth* Not so quick-Walk for 2 laps. 2.8km slow. I don't need to reach for the stars... I'm seeing them. Just in time to see Bala and Ymother walking back.

*Whistle* 3 figure mails found its way to my mailbox. *Blinks eyes*

Great day at work. Having the latest arrow to champion something.. I was able to get some testing on some products. Slight hiccup. But, I think I can only do more tests on Wednesday since, I'll be out for the whole of tomorrow. I don't think I'll be joining the run tomorrow too, due to a night job assignment. Why am I tasked? *eyes roll* Just.... one small section. Pah!

IMD, Tiwazz, Cheow12, SportVenturer and I did a swim. Just barely 200metres, my arms were asking for a canteen break. Arggg! 2 weeks away from the pool and my arms stiffened?! Boo! Anyway, I continued. I got some rain drops on my head since there were several bouts of drizzle during our swim. Rain therapy! Spotted a couple of guys doing their own T.I. in the small pool too. I did my 1km of 6strokes-4strokes-8strokes-left right breathing-fisting for 2 sets. Tiring but yet satisfying. Now, give me some sinful food. Whoa seh.. IMD ate laksa.... *speechless*

Sun is out. Still... a little cloudy.. I can play now. Did some slow runs, short distance.. nothing impressive.

I think its time to do some shopping, clear off my Robinson vouchers. Shall I .. get a cologne/perfume, a new wallet or MP3 player (which I don't think they have).

After watching Torino 2006, figure skating, at wee hours this morning, I felt better.

I love watching figure skating. I feel calm each time, watching competitors move on the ice with such grace and perfect coordination.

Boardgames battle on! TLR, Fd, Sportventurer, Wildcat, Tiwazz, Le_Charlotte and Philip turned up for the gaming session. We played 2 rounds of Scotland Yard, where I was the Mr. X for round 1 and Le_Charlotte as Ms. X for round 2. She was so funny with the single eye-ed pink lamb plushie. Sportventurer got a little hungry and hugged a hamburger plushie. I could smell the traits of a thief in Wildcat too!! He'll make a good thief. OMG!! Why is Wildcat and TLR wearing the same Tee? These two brothers... Wildcat left early and was replaced by Renohtaram who joined us later. We played Rumis then till 5pm, where it was my set.



Feeling hungry, all of us went to take our dinner, Biriyani!! We bumped into BrokenRunner on our way there and got her to join us for the dinner. Dasher came along, after his Salsa class too. We were still playing Rumis at the restaurant! Most of us left after dinner, leaving a few of us to shop around Bugis area.

Our friend feels worn out. I hope he's okay! Heads up!

A song I heard in the cafe. It has been a long time, since I last heard this song. Definitely in my favorite list.

Artist: Southern Sons
Title: You Were There
I guess you heard, I guess you know
In time I'd have told you, but I guess I'm too slow.
And it's overly romantic but I know that it's real
I hope you don't you mind if I say what I feel.
It's like I'm in somebody else's dream,
This could not be happening to me.

(Chorus)
But you were there, and you were everything I'd never seen.
You woke me up from this long and endless sleep.
I was alone.
I opened my eyes and you were there.

Don't be alarmed, no don't be concerned.
I don't want to change things
leave them just as they were.
I mean nothing's really different
It's me who feel strange.
I'm always lost for words when someone mentions your name.
I know I'll get over this for sure
I'm not the type who dreams there could be more.

(Chorus)
But you were there, and you were everything I'd never seen.
You woke me up from this long and endless sleep.
I was alone.
I opened my eyes and you were there.

Can I take your smile home with me,
or the magic in your hair?

The rain has stopped, the storm has passed
Look at all the colors now the sun's here at last.
I supposed that you'll be leaving but I want you to know
Part of you stays with me even after you go.
Like an actor playing someone else's scene
This could not be happening to me.

But you were there, and you were everything I'd never seen.
You woke me up from this long and empty sleep.
I was alone.
I opened my eyes and no, I'm not alone, I'm not alone.
I opened my eyes and you were there.

(http://lyrics.rare-lyrics.com)

*Heart beats fast* *Sob sob* They played Craig David's Unbelievable too, plus some other really old songs that were familiar to me.

I am suppose to go for a run tomorrow.. but I forgot to print out the map for it. *slaps head loud* Sigh. Blur.

I never thought that something that sounds like a chain mail would befall on my friend. All I could do is lend him my ears.

Hi, Darling. Why does your hands feel cold now? Speak to me.
Look at me. Wake up, my dear! I am here.

Oh, how time has passed since I knew you were the one, my high school sweetheart.
7 years ago, I announced to the world, an angle touched my heart.

Right after graduation, you had to leave for U.S. with your parents.
I let you go to further studies for your own good.
Afterall, I know our love is strong.

Each year's, you never fail to travel 20 over hours on a plane just to spend your vacation with me. I cherished every moment with you because our reunion is short.
This year's Valentines' day, I sent you home after our candlelight dinner.

I called you the next day to wake you up.
Baby, where did you go? Please pick up your phone.

My love, you are scaring me now. Where can you be?
Your friends have not seen you for a day. Please tell me you are okay.
I pray.

A stranger informed me of your whereabouts via the phone.
They say you were involved in an accident.
I sat there and my mind turned blank.
I wish that all these were nothing but just a prank.

Could have, would have, should have.
Now, without you, food has lost its taste. Roses have lost its shade.
Even breathing seems like a chore, every minute, every day.
Day or night? I don't care.

What happens to our plans? Next year, we shall be settling down in the U.K.
I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Why are all of these, shattered in an instant?

Honey, I am lost. Tell me what I should do.
I will never forget that lovely smile of yours.
I do not know how long I can hold on to before I break down.

However, there is one thing I know for sure.
Darling, one day .... I will see you again.

*Sigh* Pause. Look around you. To that special someone in your life, look at them in the eyes, give them a big hug.

For your love ones, say how much they mean to you, in your life. Say it and make sure you mean it.

Early in the morning, stepping into the office, not many staff was around. One of my colleague was surprised to see me back in the office. He passed me a souvenir. "A red packet from U.S..", he said. Hmm... looking rather mischievous, he walked away. Ta-da!!! Look what he has gotten for all of us (each one gets a piece).


colors look lousy.. .. hmm.. might take again. Need proper lights.

Well.. this reminds me of my trip to U.S. in year 1998. I was there for training and a couple of us (colleagues) went to Disney - Anaheim, CA. I bought the series of dollar notes for another colleague then. But, I forgot to get a set for myself. Now, talking about Mickey mouse (one of my fav childhood cartoon characters), Cookie bought me the Mickey mouse glove several years back. I think Beng saw my pair and got himself a set when he was having his honeymoon in Hong Kong.

Another surprise. Compatibility.
A techie is always hungry for power,
A techie is always poor.

Why?

The $60 bang-for-buck PC that I got, came with 256Mb RAM. I wanted it to be a least a good 1Gb worth of RAM (after I upgrade). Then, I talked myself out of it ... "Just add a 512Mb will do", which I did. I figured 768Mb should still be happy (for me). But, after a few times of booting, I found out that, the hardware of the desktop machine could only take 512Mb. Too bad. I bought a combo drive too. $217 gone.

2 MSN conversation sessions have left me lost at words, trembling hands on keyboard. Skip, skip, skip. Looks like I am not ready for TribalCouncil. I am not ready for promotion, out of the bubble ..... yet.

Back from MIG last night, the guys, we discussed about the show Jarhead .... I'm wondering if I should watch that show. Yay! I wanna watch Munich! But, GV website seems weird... DB problem?

I think I'm lost ... in many ways. Some which I shall not mention.. but, I was speaking to a colleague and I was still thinking that tomorrow is going to be Thursday. *slaps head*

*taps my feet* SpaceCadet has the cheek to ask me, "Who are you?", when I SMS-ed her this afternoon, asking her how is married life. She lost her phone. I will serve her a 142mph ball when I see her. *Whack* Grrrr.....

Talking about wives.

It has lead me thinking about a commonly asked question. Sounds like F.A.Q.s?
Female: Honey, am I fat?
Male: No dear
Female: You're not even looking!

Female: Honey, am I fat?
Male: Let me see ...
Female: What?! I am fat?!

Afterall, sometimes your significant other needs your attention and approval.

TALKing about fat. I missed the mark for my standing broad jump. The rest of the stations were all 5 pointers. I decided to make saves for the day then. Pacer. Saved most of the people except for 2 who didn't quite held onto the 4 minute 20 seconds pace for 800 Metres. Let me ninja and claim my spot.

Urban dwellers hardly get a chance to see a stars-filled night sky. No thanks to light pollution. One of the nights out, when I was bombarded with SMSes and mozzie stings, I walked around coughing trying to get some sleep in the field. No, I could not. The rest of the pals were all like dead corpses.... already in their dreamland. I took a sip from my canteen and while lifting my head, I was greeted by stars from above. I always like stars. Following them for several hours, the stars moved according to the axis. Happy for a couple of hours, I crashed to the ground with the Zzz monster timer already counting.

A couple of us gathered around like old maids during our break, except we are old chaps, that got us into the gossiping chatty mode. Most talked about their wives and that all things come in a package, no selectable options. *whistles, looking away* All looking at me, "You know?! You always run, right?". I nodded. "All of a sudden, I feel that running is less complicated than a marriage!!", most agreed by raising their hands. "No, I can't make up my mind which top I should wear, each time that I am running.", I replied. I could hear them hissing, "TMD".

Thanks to many friends whom asked about my cough. *Touched*

Coughing like an old pickup truck... how to bake brownies?! Where's my oven anyway? Talking about food, I wanna grab my MOS Burger and a buffet meal at Kuishinbo. Chaaarrrge!

*Throws Flash bang* Booom! *Returns fire* Time to withdraw from DMZ. Getting a little too close to danger areas.

*Cough cough* Just woke up and the cough got worse. Slumberland punched through the 2pm mark due to a slight fever last night. Could not even cheer the guys who were having their NUS Bi this morning.

Feel lousy with no run. Wanted to buy the SISTIC tickets to Fong Fei Fei concert for Bala and YMother. Too bad, YMother has to work on that day.

Songs I heard from dedications over the radio on V-day

Artist: Craig David
Title: Unbelievable
Always said I would know where to find love,
Always thought I'd be ready and strong enough,
But some times I just felt I could give up.
But you came and changed my whole world now,
I'm somewhere I've never been before.
Now I see, what love means.

[Chorus]
It's so unbelievable,
And I don't want to let it go,
Something so beautiful,
Flowing down like a waterfall.
I feel like you've always been,
Forever a part of me.
And it's so unbelievable to finally be in love,
Somewhere I'd never thought I'd be.

In my heart, in my head, it's so clear now,
Hold my hand you've got nothing to fear now,
I was lost and you've rescued me some how.
I'm alive, I'm in love you complete me,
And I've never been here before.
Now I see, what love means.

[Chorus]

When I think of what I have, and this chance I nearly lost,
I can't help but break down, and cry.
Ohh yeah, break down and cry.

[Chorus]

Now I see, what love means

(From http://lyrics.astraweb.com)

Back at home, a short weekend break from ManInGreen. Sweet!

Philip was fast to SMS me for a game of snooker. Tiwazz and Renohtaram could not join us. I grabbed a plain dog from MOS Burger *Yum* before starting our game. We played for 2 hours before looking around several mobile phone shops since Philip wanted to get a new phone. No luck. Browsing through 2 bookstores, I bought a Triathlete magazine (which I hardly spend on magazines). I was totally inspired by the March edition, which I will talk about this later. We scanned through a toy shop (Philip is a Transformer collector) before chilling out at MacCafe for some milkshakes.

I left around 8pm for dinner with my family. Cheap and good food. Burp!



*Owww* I'm still coughing like there is no tomorrow.

Take a moment. Read. Sarah Reinertsen as an Ironman Finisher, Hawaii 2005. If you say, "Crazy.. This is tough". See what this babe can do! I feel totally inspired now! This cover babe shall stay on my work desk to motivate me towards my 2 years goal!


*Credits: Picture from Triathlete Mag

Now.. that doesn't sound too logical, does it? Here's the explanation to it.

Probably the running around toned my mid-sections *shy*... and the regular meals timing helped me in gaining some weight. This has been proved twice... happening again, this time round.

Time to gather with buddies and some see-you-once-a-year figures for a 1.5 week stay. As always, EagleNest is the entertainer of our group. A wink, a smile or a one-liner from him, we would all burst into laughter.

I buddied with one of the guys where we did IV drips administration. Since no one buddied the poor fella, I dragged him and went ahead first. Prep-ed with all the stuff, I penetrated my IV buddy's forearm with the catheter needle. Tough skin and muscle groups!! I tried to "navigate" to slice the vein and I missed. Declared as a miss, it was his turn to poke the needle into my forearm this time. Lying down and completely trusting (since we're all "trying" our best) him, resistance is quite futile here. I felt the sharp tip piercing the skin on my arm and the familiar "I got poked" IntraVenous feeling came back. "Okay ... I can feel you doing the topo thing under my skin now.", I gave feedback. My buddy responded, "Good... its a hit!". Feeling the sliding of plastic sheath into my vein, I was suddenly greeted with a series of poking sensation. What was that!?? After the entire practise, I found out that my buddy pierced my vein at a location too close to a Y-junction or split of my bigger targeted vein. Hence, when he pushed the plastic sheath further into my vein, he was actually hitting the Y-junction of my vein continuously. *Squirming and squinting my eyes* "Ooops. ... I forgot to press to stop the flow of blood." "What oops?!" Next split second, I was close to passing out. "Oooei!", I shouted. He sort of rectified the problem and continued to connect the Saline solution pack to the back connector of the plastic sheath. Confirming the entire sequence is correct, it was slowly taken down. *Owww* I feel like kicking someone. Did I mention that we got the biggest caliber needle?

While V-day was a special day for most, where they all went to accompany love ones, I stayed back. Silly as it sounds, I was rather laid back in bed, listening at love dedications over my FM receiver.

Fitness test was canceled today due to Cat 1 weather. Damn!! I was all ready to run! I was hoping to make some saves today too. Looks like a couple of the guys will be on their own, when they clear their 2.4km.

*Cough cough* .... I got a slight fever during training and now down with sore throat and cough... can't seem to shake it off.. .. been soaking up H2O like a sponge.

Heard and read news on the HK SCMarathon... sad to know that the air claimed a life of a marathoner and had hundreds others were down. This is frustrating to know, for a runner.

Men In Green.

"I'll be back!"
Very soon. Updates happen only on weekends.

Meanwhile, have a lovely Valentines' Day !! Enjoy, you lovebirds or friends out there!! I'll have my fair share of fun, running around in green.

Today is my only spare day for packing.

Most of us turned up at work in casual wear knowing that it will be a half day affair before the start our short company retreat. I settled a couple of stuff before packing up for our first stop, Climb Adventure.

After doing our company's review and stuff, we mingled around before we start our climb. The staff at Climb Adventure went through the points to take note for a climber and belayer. Yeah, I have done climbs before. Well, those wall climbs that I have done are all for kiddos. Short walls not higher than 2.5metres which do not require any climbing harness.

Today, a first time for me that I had a harness on and went higher than before. I do not have problem with heights and managed to do a few climbs before I became a belayer. I was the anchor man for a 70+kg climber. We all had fun. A really big boned colleague of mine was able to reach the top. Everyone cheered for her!!!I am pretty impressed by her stamina and determination. It took her a few painful tries before she succeeded. She was scratched a few times on her hands and banged her left knee too.

I missed the climbing introduction program from my ex-company. But, it was great that I learned something new today about climbing.



Reaching the resort, we were assigned with our bunk with two to a room. I changed before heading for the poolside BBQ. The BBQ food was done by the resort staff and I ate 2 plates of fried rice with meat and vegetables. They had my favourite corn and potatoes!! Right after dinner, we did a charade game and we won some vouchers. Do I hear a spanking new MP3 player coming? Yeeeee-haw!!

Most of them headed off for a karaoke session and I decided to go for a jog. After warming up, I started at 10.30pm. I was soon stopped by a couple of tourists asking or directions to the beach and I pointed out to them the way there. I ran a few loops near the beach passing some people which occasionally threw weird stares at a crazy jogger in the night, running along the beach. With an approximate 5km, I returned to the resort and did my warm downs. Still perspiring, I read some newspapers before
heading back to my room. I was in the lift together with the same tourists which I bumped into earlier during the start of my run. We had a brief chat and I greeted them a good night.

Bathed and comfortable now, let me have a coffee and watch some TV programmes till 3am plus before drifting off to sleep. My bunk mate came back from karaoke around 3.45am. Power.



Awaken by the morning call, I changed into beach wear and went for breakfast at the cafe. A quick bite and we are off to a briefing of rules on Captain Ball. Heading to the direction of the beach, everyone got really excited. All of us trashed it out for a best of 3 matches win. Our team lost and even though there were bruises received for both teams, it was all part of the fun. We shook hands, got all our vouchers and everyone goes home as a winner. Still high in spirits, the walk back to the resort was all about the moves that they made during the Captain Ball game. We glued our butts on the cafe's seats and ordered drinks. Since there wasn't going to be any other activities, I took a quick shower before meeting IMD, SportsVenturer, Tiwazz and Sotong. Sotong drove his car to meet me at the resort entrance before heading back to HarbourFront for our lunch. Sotong had to go off and we bade farewell to him. The rest of us took our lunch before heading back home. IMD and I had a long wait for our bus which came like 30mins since our wait at the bus stop. What is wrong?!!!

Auf Wiedersehen!!

I'm off for our short company retreat, with the promise of more pictures!!

Everything was done, blessing in disguise at work. On the other hand, a different piece of news. Oh dear.

Things went haywire today. I had to join my family for Lou Hei. Didn't know why .... but PolarBear, Beng and RLEK cancelled their Lou Hei. Ninja swim was called off too.

What killed me first.. was today's work. It was the joke that killed me. No worth in mentioning the whole story. But, it like sticking a Desert Eagle in your mouth and going into a trigger frenzy.

I went with some of our colleagues to Yacht Club for a invited Lunch for Technical Staff. Blessed with a round happy belly, RLEK managed well at his humongous Chicken Chop. I had a Spaghetti Bolognese PLUS some snacking at a huge fatty Pork Knuckle and a plate of Snapper. Breaking off at 2.30pm, RLEK rushed for his appointment, while I had my own. I finished just in time to meet the gang for some interval training.



At least the guys that I met this evening, brightened up my day a whole lot. You can say they lifted my spirits! I forgot about the incident totally. I did a cheater's interval. I wouldn't even call it training because I cheated. Okay, I did a slow jog after the third lap before I did my fourth. Just a little. I arrived early with Tiwazz. He wasn't running and could only be a jagar-er. I did my warm up and started a slow 1.6km jog to kick start my legs for tougher torturous laps ahead. I was soon joined by Sotong. I called out to a friend I met on the tracks. Not too long, we saw IMD who seem to have just reached. Time for me to start the 800m run-till-tongue-stick-out laps. *Boom* I'm off.
1st Lap - 3:00
2nd Lap - 3:15
3rd Lap - 3:30
Cheated by jogging a slow 1.2km before Lap 4.
4th Lap - 3:30
Totals up to a 7km.

During my second lap, I saw Brokenrunner who just reached and Bee starting her jog on the tracks. Everyone did their intervals, where Bee tried several 100m. Tiwazz still out from the suspected ITB, acted as the Ultimate Bag Jagar-er (assistant "Coach"). Mythos did a guest appearance for some chit chats before heading back to work. He was the "Chief Coach" and looked totally tempted to join us. IMD did his Quantum Leap strides, making intervals look all so easy. There were a few good runners on the tracks. As a usual practice, they spotted and pointed out to a CC2P. I went to the fitness corner for a couple of chin-ups and changed a fresh set of clothing before leaving to meet my buddy SH for some discussion. Missed the chance to dine with the guys. I walked around the mall after the meet up with SH. Tired already, I was still composing/replying emails for work on the way home via MRT.

Back home now, I am still doing some stretching. I just finished replying all my work mails. 2.50am already? Damn tired.

I'm torn between 3 separate appointments later today. Lou Hey with family members or Lou Hey with RLEK, PolarBear and Beng or ninja swim. I have to go family.

*Evil Laugh* Wahhahhah....

Apple iShuffle prices dropped since the a new iPod nano 1GB has been announced recently. All of a sudden, it becomes cheaper to get an Apple to keep the doc away.

Maybe I shall look at one since my Sony Discman decided to hang its earphones early.

A quick summary of my day.

1) More arrows incoming. Come. Bring it on!
2) Done with the demo and I can get on to test other stuff.
3) Damn tired, I rushed to grab Rumis from Minds Cafe.
4) Appearing at the CBD run gathering area just in time to see the guys warming down. Chatting with a new face, nice to know some new people joining us. Tiwazz feeling the thing near the sides for ITB. Not good.
5) We went for dinner where I had a less than stella fried rice.

Overall, I am really happy with the Rumis purchase though. Game on! The guys are pretty excited over the Rumis game.



Enough procrastinating. Time to register for my SAFRA Biathlon tomorrow. See if I can join the guys at Tampines Stadium tomorrow. I did a 5km with slowing down towards the end. Must be the fried rice.

Gone are the days of the 2_ inches waistline. No, I have not taken a measurement so far. But, I shall avoid even going near a measuring tape.

Friday night - Makanthon (buffet, indonesian food)
Saturday night - Loh Hei (ala-carte, chinese food)
Sunday night - Fast food Dinner (MacDonalds)
Monday noon - Appreciation Lunch (buffet, Sakura Japanese food) for our efforts thrown in last year's seminar event.

This time.. . really evil. I guess I ate too much today. Yeah.. I know I am underweight. But ... in my tummy for lunch today are :
1) 1 Chawamushi
2) 1 Glutinous Rice with Chicken pieces
3) 3 Dumplings
4) 1 bowl of Cream of Mushroom
5) 1 Salmon steak (thin slice)
6) 2 Beef steak (thin slice)
7) 1 plate of assortment of Tuna, Salmon and Swordfish sashimi (total: 15 slices)
8) 1 plate of assortment of sushi (total: 6 pieces)
9) 1 small bowl of cold soba
10) 3 glasses of fruit punch
11) 1 cup of cuppacinno
12) 2 scoops of Mango, 1 scoop of Chocolate, 1 scoop of Cookies and Cream ice-cream

The beef steak is missing a dash of mushroom sauce. Else, it would be oh-so-deadly.

RLEK threw me a long stare... I didn't bring my digicam along or else I would capture the spread of food. Probably brain dead from cracking my brains on the 10110111011010110 stuff.

There were a lot more goodies which I could not take ... like oysters (wasn't fresh, most of them had a bad tummy ache), drunken prawns (pirated version), tempura (mainly prawns), etc. Desserts didn't look too appetising.. nevertheless, a wide spread.

Damn... stuck in the office for testing again. I should not have given the key. *slaps forehead* Now.. I suffer. Can't swim, grouchy and putting on weight. Must be the work that is driving me nuts .. and I vent it on eating. History repeating.. people must bank efforts on me even when I'm about to go on "vacation". Let something, will ya? Let's hope my method works and it shall steamline processes.

Must weigh myself when I get home. *Sigh* Fitness test coming. Even my toes feel chubby.

.....

Plans to Sentosa trashed again. A few of the guys were at Sentosa today, having a race some fun and ninja training. I heard that they were trying something different too, with IMD as the swim instructor and Choonwei as safety officer. I'm sure they had fun!



Caught in an endless loop of testing, only to find out more pitfalls.... I was stranded in a jungle of test plans and finally got part of the job accomplished. By then, it was already 9pm and I ordered fast food *duh* (super-size me love handles) for dinner with another colleague. We chatted briefly before leaving him as the last man standing. He has his own set of things to fret over.

It was an intended 19km run. However, it was shrank down to 14km. Missing out the stretch to Seletar Golf Club and the secluded stretch. Construction is blocking the secluded stretch now. It was quite a good run where I enjoyed the sun and the scenery at the dam. run.run.runaway was doing intervals at Yishun stadium while Tiwazz and I headed out to the dam.

We saw "Dar" boy at Yishun Stadium when we were about to leave for some food. I think I will do the dam run again reaching even further.

With Beng's stronghold being the largest in square feet, 武林大会 a.k.a. Poly class mates Annual General Meeting at Chinese New Year, is held at his place. Beng will be having his own dinner, hence leaving the few of us settling our own. We did a casual meet up at his place (me, being the earliest again) and we have a few who could not make it.



Around 6pm, we went over to Suntec for some ala-carte dinner with Yu-Sheng. It costs us more than last year. Of course, its quality verse the price you pay. We shopped around a little before having a cuppa at Star Bucks.

Dreams. Last night. I never fail to remember each time after I wake up. Should not have acquired that skill decades back.

Everything was so spontaneous. As though words were not enough, we let our eyes do the talking. Even chatting alone was out-of-the-world mind blowing. It was good while it lasted. *Big sigh* My eyes open wide.

Charity Swim details have yet to be released, I think.. But, I am really looking forward to this swim. Meanwhile.. more ninja swims for me. Mythos did the 10km swim and I would say it is really impressive. It would mean a 5-6hour of gurgling salt water in your mouth.

Back from Makanthon.. too tired from all that eating. Must do LSD tomorrow since we had a LSD just now, Long Sumptuous Dinner. We called it the Makanthon since its a food eating Marathon session.



It was fun, laughter, food and photo taking session.... kind of like all combined into one. The guys' champion is the undisputed Sotong and the ladies' champion was a tough fight, with Astrogirl emerging as the winner. We were graded on Quantity, Quality and Artistic sections. To top up the sins, most of us ordered Ben & Jerry's ice cream and we pigged out. *Oink* Oh my... .. love handles are showing.

Since V-Day is coming and I will be bathing with 20 over naked men, I might as well put on a bright red template to match V-Day.

*Pffttt* Too engross in solving technical issues that I forgot to bring my jogging stuff back from office. Lucky thing. I have spare shoes.

Humans just try to be funny. Seems like 2 person are just using brute force in task completion.

W00t!! Tested my new $60 P3 865Mhz with just 256MB RAM and 20Gb harddisk. Running fine! *thumbs up* One thing though... can't work well with my testing software. Unless I can get the linux driver for it. Till now, only am I able to find time to test it. Hm... Other stuff.. seems really okay for now. I think I'll throw in a 512MB RAM and a Combo Drive. Took me a while to get the correct driver for the LAN interface.

This Saturday, the long awaited 武林大会. Hope to see our Poly group again. But, that is in the afternoon. For morning, I have 2 choices. Since 武林大 is around ECP, I am tempted to run there. However, thinking about sweating throughout the gathering.. . I think I shall opt for Seletar Dam run.

After which, I shall swallow several PDFs, get 2 eyebags and litres of coffee taken orally tweaking my system to stay up.

Hint. When you see 2 women at a X-box console, stay out of the way.

You never know when they will kick your sorry ass over a game or their X-box controllers hitting you in your kisser.

Taz showed a thing or two at 'Need for Speed'. Tiwazz strutted his stuff at StarCraft. Someone put on a sleeper hold on LittleFoot. Dasher was the photographer. Me? Enjoying 'Rumis'. Shocked to find that we actually stayed up till 5am. All of us agreed a time out nap till 7am before meeting Renohtaram for a swim since he was not able to join us.

At the pool, Renohtaram showed improvements over these few weeks of ninja training. Nevermind the slow improvement, one needs to have patience to see results showing. Same goes for running.

Alright! Company retreat at Sentosa on next Friday. My Asics will be following me for a 10km.

After work, I walked around Orchard area to look for some stuff. Dropping by Borders to browse some magazines and books. Craving for MOS Burger, I ordered a plain dog and sank my teeth into one. *Heavenly* Right now, the only fast food that still has what is takes... would be MOS. Sure, they do cost a little more. Satisfied, I walked to look for my oven. How to bake brownies without an oven? You can make cheesecake, non bake version. No, not with brownies. Noted down a $249 model. Hmm...

Walk walk walk .... browse browse browse... I stopped at a watch shop where a familiar looking model caught my eye. Sales lady tries to explain to me the specs of the watch and it costs $600+. Nice but... *looks away* ... better stop window shopping watches. German made - Junker. A little math calculation, I think I rather splurge on a Meistersinger Scrypto 1Z.

Just back from a 6km warmup-tempo-warmdown run. Tired but feeling good. Seems a little too fast for me or are the markings on the floor inaccurate. *ponders*

Meeting some of the runners today for a cruel swim-run transition training (on a Chinese Lunar New Year Day2!?) at 8.30am, I was there early. LittleFoot gave away his location right away with his 2 prominent tennis racquets sticking out from his backpack. We reached MacDonalds at HarbourFront and LittleFoot pointed out that Astrogirl is at the Internet kiosk. I walked over to discover that she is surfing the forum! "I'm clearing the posts!!" .........

Running a little late, Tiwazz arrived at 9am. We took our breakfast and went over to the bus terminal for our ride to Sentosa. We were greeting by a line of vistors to the island. Not too bad. We reached the beach around 10.30am and Renohtaram was on his way. Time to get changed! I took Tiwazz's float and thought of covering safety. Our aim was to swim to a pole structure around 20-25 metres away and do a loop back to the beach. We did threading of water in the sea for 5 minutes for confidence building too. *Crrrrkk* "For those who are using floatation devices, please stay near to the shore." *Crrrrkk* Obviously, the life guard was referring to me, I waved back to him signaling I'm fine. Within seconds, *Crrrrkk* "The gentleman using floatation device, please stay near to the shore." *Crrrrkk*. TMD. I had to moved back and spoke to the life guard briefly. He explained that this is the standing order even in swimming pool. Okay. I understand that it is his job (don't want to be a difficult person here), I complied. That leaves Tiwazz, Astrogirl and LittleFoot doing their 10 rounds on their own, while I *eyes roll* acted as the buoy in the choppy sea for them to practise open sea swimming sighting. Simulation. LOL. A lady and his younger brother were also swimming around there with a dog. The dog kept running over to me. Funny. Dogs and I don't usually mix. For some particular reason, well .. 50% of the dogs anyway, don't like me. This particular dog was really friendly and the owner had to pull it away from time to time. Renohtaram soon arrived barring his 6Packs. Not sure if people were drooling.



Thoughout the 10 rounds, simulating close to a 800metres swim, there were several huge boats that went to and fro the outskirt of the break waters. Numerous waves were created. I think they had quite a few mouthfuls or helpings of sea water. *Gulp* Spit! *Pweeeii* Claps!!! Renohtaram and I clapped because the guys and our Astrogirl did well!! Waves, distance, sighting and buoy turning simulation were all thrown in for them. It was really sunny by then and we headed towards the HarbourFront again for some pizza and fruits. Once reaching the bus terminal again, we were shocked to find that the queue for bus ferry to the island was all the way to the MRT station. OMG. That is a good 150-200metres (approximate) of queue!! We wanted some Ice Kachang.. .. and found none. CNY, not too many shops were open.

Wanting to do a morning LSD at MR-Lower-Upper Peirce, I had to changed it to mid-day instead. Hot. Equiped with a cap, sunglass, digicam and my new CamelBak, I went ahead to explore new places. Once I reached MR, I did more stretching than usual before starting out.



I took the usual 4km route exiting to the main route. For the 10.5km route, we would usually turn left. This time, I turned right, following a nicely formed gravel path just beside the road. Just when I thought I am reaching Uppper Thomson, the path led me back into vegetation of MR again. Hmm.. seems like still far? I continued to jog, crossing some small bridges and ran along a stream. Pausing occasionally to enjoy the surrounding and taking pictures.. I did not want to go too fast, while monitoring my ankle too. Soon, I reached a clearing after getting out of the vegetation where there is a car park. I took a left turn out of the car park, using Island Club Road to join to Upper Thomson Road. Jogging along the pavement, passing a temple and Peirce Secondary School on my right, I soon reached the Old Upper Thomson Road. Lower Peirce Reservior was just in front of me. I continued with several nice bungalows on my right.



In no time, Casuarina Road right before my very eyes. Probably given that fact that I have not taken my lunch yet, hunger pang struck. I was down to a run-walk strategy with a growling stomach when I reached the Upper Peirce Reservior Park. Yeah ... I still had slopes to tackle. *Growl* That did not help. After a few pictures and walking around, I headed back to the Casuarina Road. Along the way, a friendly fellow Indian motorist offered me a ride on his bike. I declined politely. Me .. being smelly and sweaty after the run, I rather walk / run back to Casuarina. A nice gesture from him to stop by and ask me if I needed a ride.

Famished, starved. I ordered 2 plain and 2 egg pratas with an ice cold lime juice. Fuel is important. So .. . my orginal plan was to run back to MR. I had to cut short due to missing my lunch. A recce that is a LSD (but Not-So-LSD) run at 14.6km. The good stretching before I started my run served me well.