Limping Marathon Runner

My day filled with activities the moment I woke up. Nevermind the activation. I checked my cake in the fridge to see if everything is okay. I tasted a slice of it before passing to Bala, whom Karloong always agreed with me that he is a true trashbin.

Set!! I am off to find more victims! Meeting my lab rats at a station near our designated dining area, I forced them to finish my oreo cheesecakes at syringe-point. Most of them did comply because they were hungry while waiting for Philip and Sotong. I do agree with Kay that the cake was a little strong on the cheese. I'm finding ways to lower that. Hmm... The crust does not stay compressed as much as the way I wanted it to be. I should have made the filling a little firmer. Sotong went ahead to wait at the claypot store and when Philip arrived, all of us made comments on how hot his chest hair chest was, as seen with 2 buttons undone at his shirt.

No time to lose. We ordered food and gobbled them down as soon as the plates touched the table. Hungry!! No suprise at all, we were the noisest lot!


We had dessert after a sinful-filling dinner. What sinful dinner would it be, without desserts!? Thanks guys, for the fantastic night that you have shared with me!! Meteor and Alvo came all the way to volunteer as lab rats. Some more pictures on the claypot rice and dishes to whet your appetite.



Not enough? This was what the whole claypot hunt is for? Eat this!


So much for food. Tomorrow, let's burn it out at MR. No slacking.

In production. Stay tuned.

Some of the ingredients.
I have just finished the crust, filling and all. Now, its in the fridge. See ya later, cake.

Midway through my filling whisking session, my stomach was growling...
Damn.... I just had my dinner!!!

It's a road kill. Don't look.

I had a good swim with SV, Tiwazz and IMD at the pool tonight. There was a good, bloody, heart pumping workout at the last 500M. IMD and I had a good laugh at the results. We got out of the pool earlier than usual today. They are catching Australia vs. Japan at my place tonight. Japan lost and its only goal was not exactly the best, not even good to me. Pure luck.

My morning started with a trip over to Sentosa, meeting SV and Tiwazz for a swim at the beach. I stayed to look after bags and read some notes that I brought along. The tide was just nice and I wished I swam. Families with kids and dogs running all around. At around 12pm plus, the dark clouds moved rapidly to cover over our heads. Fortunately, SV and Tiwazz bathed and changed. We had to do a short tempo run to the bus stop. It was pouring already. When we reached Harbour Front, it was down to a drizzle.

We took a train over to TTSH to visit Commando or where we thought he would be (initially). I think I forgot to copy down the details. We ended up having lunch at TTSH's food court before taking a cab to SGH. Commando is in good condition and is recovering. We all hope that he would be back in action to join us for runs. TLR, FD, SV and Tiwazz, Renohtaram and I dropped by at canteen to have some coffee and dessert before heading home. Speedy recover, Commando!

Really excited to meet ShiHao and his squeeze wife-to-be today, after I accidentally bumped into him the last time at Orchard. He told me how his wife-to-be changed his life, lifestyle and views. I have known him since Primary School. Being someone simple, he has a few simple pleasures in life. Someone who is an introvert too.

We had dinner. I ordered ham crepes, potato salad and ice tea. They gave me a treat, I bought them coffee over TCC then.

Nice to know another man walking away from singlehood.

World Cup Starts Now!! Dang!! Germans, go back to your sausages making and pork knucles!! I want the underdogs to win! But, Costa seems weak.

There has been a claymore blast incident. Man down situation.

Wait! But, I have seen this before.

While waiting or a meeting to start at one of the most uncommon place (a cafe), I got bored waiting for people to arrive and started taking pictures. Photography is probably one of the best ways to distract me from daily's silly struggles. A slow 6K today. Just to burn off some of the mango cake.

Today is Bala's birthday. It is SportVenturer's too. Yesterday was Bee's. Happy Birthday, guys!

Just after a short run. I have not taken Japanese food for quite a while. Since, I missed run wth the guys today because I had to get a present for Bala.

I had my dinner at Waraku Japanese Restaurant which happens to be nearby the shopping mall.

A colleague passed me a book today, which is rather interesting. I'm already finishing soon due to its huge font and wasteful when it comes to use for space in a page. Frankly speaking, I have not been reading such books for a long time. My time is spent on other books or PDFs. However, I must say this book is witty, hilarious in the points that they bring across. Yet, it brings light to those who are still clouded with excuses.

Back from a swim with the guys. Nothing much. Just a short 1km. Lots of kiddies at the same small pool splashing away. It holidays for students.

Hmm... it sounded like a ping sweep today, during lunch. I think my IDS is picking up too many traces. Need to have more security choke points.

Scary.

Today's lunch was Japanese. This reminds me that I said I wanted to go over to Waraku for a long time. Soon.

Well done, TeeLee and Tiwazz. Great work. We saw Sumiko and Evelyn there too. They did great too.

Before TT started, I went for a round in MR. I did not know that Roentgen will be doing a round too. Junie, KickJazz, Nemo, Andy, Roentgen, Ronnie and SportVenturer appeared as support team. We went for dinner at AMK S11 with Nemo and TeeLee ordering XL chicken cutlets. I had minced meat noodles which was pretty decent. Looking at the less than spectacular desserts, I went for Iced Milk Tea (nice).

I'll probably do my TT again in August? But, ... I might be out of town!
C'mon... I'm waiting for Cars to be out this Thursday too! Slither looks crappy. BenchWarmers received the thumbs down from the guys.

More yummies posting in Tibet/Chengdu before I go for a short run in MR and some supporting at TT.

EndlessTrail's Raisins in Rice was a really funny one. Apparently, we could not find any raisins in the rice, albeit the dish being sweet.

Slacking day in Sentosa for me today. While meeting Tiwazz at the bus terminal, the rest of those are already at the beach. IMD and SportVenturer biked there. Nemo and Andy were already there. Nemo and SportVenturer were swimming. The tide was okay. I shall join them next week. But, I must say that I was surprised to see Dasher with what they call "chopchops" there. It has been a while since I saw Dasher. He must be really busy with his Salsa classes.

I was just a bag jagarer today.

I want to go back there now.

It is friends like these that make you forget struggles in an office.

I met Bug, Flip, RunAlone, IMD, Penguin and Kops21 for lunch at Dover, since we are working around the West. Sotong was not able to join us in time. Penguin was the last to come. But, she was still able to have some chicken that is left on the plate.

We laughed and chatted about runs that are up and coming. We parted ways with Penguin while RunAlone sent me IMD and I to the train station. Thanks guys for the great one hour!!

Gathering with ex-colleagues to have a simple dinner tonight. Anyway, it was difficult to decide a dinner place. Beng did not want Mache, RLEK did not want KennyRogers, etc. We went over to Fish and Co. for our dinner instead. Surprisingly, the food and drinks were quite good.

Beng and I had New York Fish and Chips. Hmm. .. Tasty good to me (maybe with the cheese). RLEK had just norm Fish and Chips. Gang4 and Cecilia had a Seafood Platter each, while PolarBear and gal shared one. We chatted and laughed. As usual, we were the noisiest lot. I'm sure everyone enjoyed every minute of it.

Great to be able to pop by for the run today. Tiwazz, ShutTheHelUp, Paul, Philip, Charmane3, Bee, Evelyn, Charlotte, Meteor, SportVenturer, Ronnie and Roentgen were there. Nemo and Tekko did a guest appearance. Tekko brought along some protein loading Balut. But, none of us touched it. We started the run with a loop into the Marina and did a short stop at the pier. Apparently, no one seem to know where Bee went. I did recall seeing her at the "pit stop". Charlotte, Meteor and Evelyn went to check the washroom. Nope, Bee was not there. We waited for a while before calling Nemo to get Ronnie's number since he was running in the front. We started running back. There was a spiltting point for a longer or shorter loop. Just to cover all possible tracks, ShutTheHelUp, SportVenturer, Roentgen and I went for the longer loop. The rest took the shorter loop. When it was near reaching the end point, they called to say the Bee was back. *Phew* She actually took the longer loop. Probably we waited the "pit stop" for a while and hence did not bump into her along our way. Needless to say, we saw an apologetic Bee when we were back.

Tomorrow's dinner is a small gathering of two groups mixed together. Small dinner affair with Beng, RLEK, Gang4, PolarBear and probably Cecilia.

I dropped by my office to settle some stuff and to charge my spare batteries. I don't think one set of battery can go through 7Gig of photos. By 11am plus, it was pouring outside. It was just drizzling while meeting some of the guys for some pictures sharing. Heading over to Coffee Bean, I had a "Chocolate of A Thousand Leaves" cake. Wonderful. I topped it up with a Mocha IceBlended. Eunice shared with us some of her Turkey and Athens photographs while Meteor bought more cakes. Too bad, my 2 set of batteries could not last for the 7Gig worth of pictures. I guess I will have to upload the pictures and share them out.

Got to run! I was late. Suppose to meet EndlessTrail, Saya, Jeffrey and Andy (Saya's friend) for a crab feast. I arrived last after a close 20 minutes walk to the coffee shop from the MRT. Jeffrey said, "Just walk further". Haaha! 20 minutes worth of walk. Creamy butter crab, creamy crab soup in claypot, curry crab in claypot, steamed prawns, sweet potato leaves and man-tou (bread). I think the creamy butter crab is a new taste that I have not tried before. Nice! I prefer chilli crab to curry crab. Too much crabs in one night. It will be a while before I want to have any seafood like this again.

For the past few days, feeling kinda funny. No good or bad time for this. It comes especially when I have a cup of tea in hand, relaxing off under the influence of slow music.

叶子
歌手∶ 阿桑

叶子，是不会飞翔的翅膀。翅膀，是落在天上的叶子。
天堂，原来应该不是妄想。只是我早已经遗忘，
当初怎么开始飞翔。
孤单，是一个人的狂欢。狂欢，是一群人的孤单。
爱情，原来的开始是陪伴。但我也渐渐地遗忘，
当时是怎样有人陪伴。
我一个人吃饭、旅行、到处走走停停。
也一个人看书、写信、自己对话谈心。
只是心又飘到了哪里，就连自己看也看不清。
我想我不仅仅是失去你。

Credits

I have always thought that the MTV was really sad, to lose someone you love that way. Having known that actually happened to a friend of mine, that saddens me more. If you ever find someone you love, never let him/her go. Tell your partner how much you love him/her and mean it.
Okay, too much crap crab.

Tibet Holiday: Day 1 Pictures up.
Tibet Holiday: Day 2 Pictures up.
Tibet Holiday: Day 3 Pictures up.

Trying to find time to edit my template for this webspace with a Tibetan look, or at least related. To remind me that I should look forward to a holiday again!

Thursday was a busy day for me. A meeting and followed by seminar support. My lunch? Cheese cake and chocolate cake.

Not the most filling lunch, it will have to do. I even had a small discussion during free time of the seminar. But, I think the morning meeting was really fruitful.

Taking over a training (stand in) session for today. Not an easy day too. Clearing piled up work. A dinner and movie after work with ex-colleagues and ex-colleague-to-be. X-men - The Last Stand. Just got back home. I think it was still okay. I am not really a Marvel fan. But, I just enjoy the movie. Hm.. shall I watch Over the Hedge tomorrow? Meeting Jeffrey, Saya and EndlessTrail for crab dinner on Sunday night. We kept talking about it during our Tibet trip. Mouth-watering.

Quite a day for me today. Things at work, I tried to settle. KimChi ChiGe for lunch and dinner. Yum! Dinner was fantastic with EndlessTrail and BlurLing. BlurLing was trying to finish off her main course and dessert. I called her, "Strugg-Ling". Yeah, she was struggling with her LongGan and Almond Jelly dessert. She has proved worthy of her title again by asking, "Where did I put the tickets?". What!?!! We were about to proceed to the cinema for Davinci Code!!

Cool! I got the 2 DVDs from EndlessTrail, 7Gig worth our Tibet trip pictures. More uploading of pictures soon. A lot more on food photography.

I think I need a new pair of shoes for work. Either this pair of shoes go or my feet will. Shopping later today?

Damn... I dropped my journal in the toilet bowl on the 4th day. The updates are in another makeshift journal. Silly freak accident. It was even video-ed down, courtesy of EndlessTrail.

2 pictures to share (on our way up to EBC).

It is great to join this running family again. After my long absence due to work and followed by a holiday, I did a good 9km with Tiwazz, ShutTheHelUp, Paul, Philip, Charmane3, Bee, Puay Hien, Morgan, SportVenturer, Ronnie and Roentgen. Kops21 and sweetheart did a surprise drop-by. Sxuanjing wasn't feeling well and had to see a doc after saying hello. Meteor joined us for dinner.

I went for Mission Impossible III Movie today. Since it has been showing for quite a while, I thought we did not need to get tickets in advance. We were wrong. 4pm show was already sold out when we got there. We had to opt for the 5pm show elsewhere.

Before meeting EndlessTrail for the movie, I stopped over at the library and borrowed a travel book on Bhutan. EndlessTrail was already asking, "When?".

I love food photography.
I miss those noodles already. At least, I know how to cook the noodle soup that we had at Yang Pa Chin Village (羊八井).
Okay. Enough slacking for a day in the weekend. Some things waiting for me to do tomorrow and to watch MI3 with EndlessTrail too.

Aims

• Northern lights: Aurora Borealis
  
• Grand Canyon
  
• Pyramids
  
• The Alps
  
• Acropolis
  
• Colosseum
  
• Taj Mahal
  
• Angkor Wat

Done

• Mount Everest: Base Camp
  
• Great Wall of China

I should have gotten myself a DSLR all along.

I went for a 4km run, something that I have not been doing for close to 2 weeks. Felt great. What could be worse? I miss Tibet and traveling already.

I want to go back and grab some tea pots, many more pictures and some yummy noodles.

Back in business.... time to kick some old school butt.

Meanwhile, work is piling up too.

It has been a really eventful day. Moments of highs and lows (and I mean really low). Let us start with Potala Palace. Reaching there early, the way up that we took was interesting. Vast land (and mountains) as view on our way up and it is just awesome. Potala Palace is said to be a must visit attraction. Reconstruction work is spotted around the paths. Once we are ready to enter to the Red/White Palace, no picture taking is allowed. We walked around to various chambers used for prayers or tombs for Dalai Lamas. The inscriptions around and transcripts of teachings in pigeon holes were simply facinating. Seeing all the Buddhist statues around, I was overwhelmed with emotions. Yet, in my head, I felt blank. The feeling is beyond explanation. Probably, I felt empty, hollow and insignificant in such a majestic architecture. Some parts of the Palace seem to be built or carved out of rock or part of a mountain, where the rest of it seems to be built from straw or wood and topped patched up with cement on the surface. This grand structure (red and white Palace) is simply spectacular. Too bad, pictures are not allow. There are CCTVs, guards and motion sensors all around. Religion can be sensitive. We have to respect that.

We finished our walk in Potala Palace around 1pm or so, where Saya wanted to head back to the hotel. I think she needs a rest. Kenny and I hopped onto a trishaw and went over to Jokhang temple to meet up with Jeffrey. The three of us stopped at New Mandala Restaurant which happens to have a roof top seating overlooking the Jokhang Temple. I ordered a vegetable noodle soup and honey lemon tea. Nice! This restaurant has a roof top toilet too! Pee with a mountain view, anyone? Awesome.

We finished lunch by 3pm and made our way towards Jokhang Temple. Though a little disappointed that Jokhang Temple's main doors were closed, we still see devotees praying towards it. I took a few shots around the area. Okay. We walked around part of the Kora route where there are stores selling decorative stuff and handicrafts all around. It was at one stretch, I pointed out that there seems to be some prayer wheels around. There is a row of smaller prayer wheels surrounding a small building, housing a huge prayer wheel. There were pilgrims spinning the huge prayer wheel. We walked around the building and then down the lane. We saw some people walking into the next building which seemed like some living quarters. But, it turned out to be a small temple of some sort. We followed the locals and found a two storey high Buddha statue in the building. At level one, we were at the statue's feet and had to peep up to see the Buddha's facial features. Walking up to the second level, we came face to face with the Buddha. After a while, we got out of the temple and carried on along the lane. Stopping just outside a door, a beggar asked for some money. We stepped through a door that seems to lead to some attached corridor where there were plenty of locals moving around. We followed through, passing a row of prayer wheels with a chapel on our right before reaching a cooking stove area where some people were boiling water. Just at the left bend, we saw something that blew my mind off. In a small assembly area (a square of some sort), there were 100-150 pilgrims sitting around, chanting. The pilgrims were really friendly and invited us to walk around by motioning to us. We signaled not to take pictures in the compound. There are two long Tibetan horns in the temple and we walked to level two and three. Each level had pilgrims sitting all around and chanting. At level three, there is a small room, filled with religious items. We paused for a while before taking the flight of stairs back to level one, facing the two Tibetan horns. We wanted to walk out to the front. But, we did not know if it was rude to do so. When someone walked in, we followed them to move out to the square and made our way out to the main road. It was not too long that we reached Jokhang Temple after walking along the main road. Passing by the side door of Jokhang Temple only made us we realised that it was not closed for the day at all (as opposed to what we thought). Jeffrey did not want to go into the Temple and went off to walk on this own. EndlessTrail and I proceeded to visit chapels in Jokhang Temple and taking pictures on the roof top. There is a long row of prayer wheels surround the chapels compound and I did not count them as I spun them while walking.

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.