I started my day today with a 5km run.
The air was cool when I started at 6:10am, and I'd worn my Standard Chartered Marathon singlet, which made it cooler than usual. It felt good to stretch my legs again. Actually I really enjoyed it when I hit the 1km mark, the cool air somehow makes me feel like I'm taking a long cool shower...
I'm starting to think about the next event. Actually, that's not true -- I started thinking about the next event even before I crossed the finish line last Sunday.
I think I'm hooked.
The buzz, the energy, the excitement pre-race, and post-race, the sense of camaraderie with other runners, the adrenaline, the endorphin, the sunrises, the music.
Most of all, it feels good, keeps me happy, gives me post-workout rosy cheeks and has a very nice side-effect: good health.
Here's a rough idea for inclusion into 2010's list of New Year Resolutions:
- series of three mini-"triathlons" (the Singapore Sprint Series -- Feb to May)
- 10km for Adidas Sundown (end May)
- 10km for KL's Stanchart Marathon (end June)
- 15km for New Balance Run (early Nov)
... and finally, culminating in: 21km for Stanchart Singapore (early Dec)
Horror of horrors -- I've morphed into one of those exercise freaks that I used to ridicule (at least in part out of awe).
Nevertheless -- it's true: I am truly hooked... and I'm proud of it! :)))
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
A Nice Compliment
Out of the blue, Jan smsed me this morning. That's her style.
She wrote: "Muz realli commend u. From the time where I saw u struggling on treadmill to now completing a ten km in 69 mins. Well done. Vast improvement. Bravo"
Vast improvement -- what a nice compliment. That's certainly a happy thought for today, yay!
She wrote: "Muz realli commend u. From the time where I saw u struggling on treadmill to now completing a ten km in 69 mins. Well done. Vast improvement. Bravo"
Vast improvement -- what a nice compliment. That's certainly a happy thought for today, yay!
Monday, December 07, 2009
A Heck of a Lot of Fun
Mic wanted to know how my Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon run went.
It was a lot more than this, but I thought I'd spare her every detail, so I wrote a simple summary:
My 10km run was a heck of a lot of fun! The run itself was tough due to the humidity (fortunately no rain or direct sunlight, just cloudy skies), and also it was tiring to avoid other runners. The run up to the top of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge was tough but I made it to the top (5km mark) before slowing down afterwards.
But still I had heck of a lot of fun - first at the starting point where the funny DJ was rousing the crowd for the start, then trying to hi-five the guy in the black-spiderman suit (his photo's in today's Straits Times Sports page), then hi-fiving the cheerleaders along the way, then slowing for a photo near the Finish Point when I spotted C waiting with camera at the roadside.
Everyone who completed 10km received a nice black metallic medal -- I love it: my first medal since high school days!
I can't wait for my next event -- that'll be the series of mini-triathlons I signed up for starting next Feb! :)))
Oh boy, I think I'm hooked. hehehe... :D
It was a lot more than this, but I thought I'd spare her every detail, so I wrote a simple summary:
My 10km run was a heck of a lot of fun! The run itself was tough due to the humidity (fortunately no rain or direct sunlight, just cloudy skies), and also it was tiring to avoid other runners. The run up to the top of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge was tough but I made it to the top (5km mark) before slowing down afterwards.
But still I had heck of a lot of fun - first at the starting point where the funny DJ was rousing the crowd for the start, then trying to hi-five the guy in the black-spiderman suit (his photo's in today's Straits Times Sports page), then hi-fiving the cheerleaders along the way, then slowing for a photo near the Finish Point when I spotted C waiting with camera at the roadside.
Everyone who completed 10km received a nice black metallic medal -- I love it: my first medal since high school days!
I can't wait for my next event -- that'll be the series of mini-triathlons I signed up for starting next Feb! :)))
Oh boy, I think I'm hooked. hehehe... :D
Friday, December 04, 2009
Making it Beautiful
A flighty feeling. And once again, a Friday. How many Fridays feel like this, I wonder. Maybe every Friday for the rest of my life. At least my working life.
I'd just finish an email to Win. I'd told him that I'm withdrawing from the mass e-mail circle that we've both been a part of since 2002, because:
"I'm gonna go for quality discussions versus quantity from now on.
Before, I was working on the premise that everyone is mature and intelligent, and much more clever than me, so I have lots to learn from them. I thought there'd be intelligent, witty, engaging conversations.
But lately, I have found that some opinions are just noise that needs to be filtered out, else it's a waste of precious time."
Before I signed off, I wrote:
Today, as on every Friday, I feel how short life is. And as it is, I once again desperately want to make it beautiful.
It's been a week filled with encounters with less-than-pleasant characters. There was the general ganging-up against me within the e-mail circle, then two rather petty colleagues at work, and an encounter with some nasty telemarketers. I'd even had a "thresh-out" chat session with a childhood friend.
The experience left me smarting, and prompted me to reconsider my rosey "believe the best in people" assumptions in friends and acquaintances.
My conclusion: life is short, I shall seek to make it beautiful -- and prune away those who would seek to make it othewise for us.
Yes, every ending -- of a week, a month, a year -- is a chance to reflect on this journey again.
Weeks will always end, Fridays will always pass -- of these, I am powerless to change. But I can make every ending more meaningful, every sunset more beautiful by remembering how little time we all have left, and remembering, once again, to make the best of it all...
I'd just finish an email to Win. I'd told him that I'm withdrawing from the mass e-mail circle that we've both been a part of since 2002, because:
"I'm gonna go for quality discussions versus quantity from now on.
Before, I was working on the premise that everyone is mature and intelligent, and much more clever than me, so I have lots to learn from them. I thought there'd be intelligent, witty, engaging conversations.
But lately, I have found that some opinions are just noise that needs to be filtered out, else it's a waste of precious time."
Before I signed off, I wrote:
Today, as on every Friday, I feel how short life is. And as it is, I once again desperately want to make it beautiful.
It's been a week filled with encounters with less-than-pleasant characters. There was the general ganging-up against me within the e-mail circle, then two rather petty colleagues at work, and an encounter with some nasty telemarketers. I'd even had a "thresh-out" chat session with a childhood friend.
The experience left me smarting, and prompted me to reconsider my rosey "believe the best in people" assumptions in friends and acquaintances.
My conclusion: life is short, I shall seek to make it beautiful -- and prune away those who would seek to make it othewise for us.
Yes, every ending -- of a week, a month, a year -- is a chance to reflect on this journey again.
Weeks will always end, Fridays will always pass -- of these, I am powerless to change. But I can make every ending more meaningful, every sunset more beautiful by remembering how little time we all have left, and remembering, once again, to make the best of it all...
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Going Further
I didn't run today. I woke up as usual when the alarm clock rang at 6am, got up, but felt rather tired out physically.
It's been two days since I ran my longest distance ever (7km), but maybe my body is still recovering. Tomorrow morning, I want to go for 8km, and then rest on Saturday before my first-ever 10km this Sunday at the Singapore Marathon.
When I started my first run back in June this year, I was aiming for 2.4km -- the standard distance in the Singapore high school-level NAPFA tests. If I could run 2.4km all those many years ago, I should be able to run it now -- was the rationale. So I would wake up, change, and drive the short distance to Tampines Stadium, ran around the track. One way round was 400 metres, and so I did six. After a week or two, six rounds became surprisingly breezy. So I started to go for eight rounds (3.2km), then ten (4km).
In early October, Apple released the ipod nano's 5th Generation. I'd been eyeing the ipod nano and the Nike Plus chip for almost a year now, and I finally succumbed. The Nike Plus chip followed quickly, and then a chip holder to hook it to my New Balance runners.
On October 7th, I started my maiden run with the Nike Plus chip -- and then, as they say, the rest is history. With the Nike Plus chip, I could now: wake up, get changed, take the lift down, cross the road, press the ipod button, and start running.
At first, I ran along the "Park Connector"-cycling path along the canal. It was a pleasant enough route -- there was the woods on one side, and on the other side, at first the road, and then an Esso pump station with a mini-mart, finally some HDB flats, and only one small T-junction to cross.
And then, I started branching off in other directions -- turning left at the T-junction, running along the perimeter of the woods, across the highway over the flyover. And then I ran the opposite direction -- towards the Megamart, at another time towards the Reservoir.
At the same time, I was increasing my running distances. I discovered new routes and new sights I'd never encountered before, or at least never at this hour of the day, nor from this vantage point.
My latest discovery was a path along the workers' hostel which, at 6:15am, was still rustling to life. Some factory workers were gathered outside the hostel gate, waiting for their factory bus pick-up. Further along my run, the road shoulder was lined with heavy vehicles -- all manners of trucks and trailers -- all parked and abandoned there overnight.
It was an eerie sight, like a scene from a zombie disaster movie, where the world's population had all vanished or perished, and left in their wake empty buildings, empty vehicles, litter and some empty beer bottles -- and I was the only survivor. At any moment, I was sure that a crowd of zombies would emerge from the bushes and descend upon this hapless runner.
Yet happily, it's currently my favourite route -- for towards the middle of my run (whence the voice in my ipod announces "Halfway point reached: three point five kilometres more to go"), I'd be running right next to an open field, and the sun was starting its slow ascend in the East across the field, over the top of the flats.
Sunrise, cool morning air, sweat across my brow, adrenaline mixed with endorphin, my favourite music.
By end October, I was hitting 5.5km, then 6.5km (end November), then 7km two days ago.
And what's more, this is just the beginning -- I know I can go a lot further... :)
It's been two days since I ran my longest distance ever (7km), but maybe my body is still recovering. Tomorrow morning, I want to go for 8km, and then rest on Saturday before my first-ever 10km this Sunday at the Singapore Marathon.
When I started my first run back in June this year, I was aiming for 2.4km -- the standard distance in the Singapore high school-level NAPFA tests. If I could run 2.4km all those many years ago, I should be able to run it now -- was the rationale. So I would wake up, change, and drive the short distance to Tampines Stadium, ran around the track. One way round was 400 metres, and so I did six. After a week or two, six rounds became surprisingly breezy. So I started to go for eight rounds (3.2km), then ten (4km).
In early October, Apple released the ipod nano's 5th Generation. I'd been eyeing the ipod nano and the Nike Plus chip for almost a year now, and I finally succumbed. The Nike Plus chip followed quickly, and then a chip holder to hook it to my New Balance runners.
On October 7th, I started my maiden run with the Nike Plus chip -- and then, as they say, the rest is history. With the Nike Plus chip, I could now: wake up, get changed, take the lift down, cross the road, press the ipod button, and start running.
At first, I ran along the "Park Connector"-cycling path along the canal. It was a pleasant enough route -- there was the woods on one side, and on the other side, at first the road, and then an Esso pump station with a mini-mart, finally some HDB flats, and only one small T-junction to cross.
And then, I started branching off in other directions -- turning left at the T-junction, running along the perimeter of the woods, across the highway over the flyover. And then I ran the opposite direction -- towards the Megamart, at another time towards the Reservoir.
At the same time, I was increasing my running distances. I discovered new routes and new sights I'd never encountered before, or at least never at this hour of the day, nor from this vantage point.
My latest discovery was a path along the workers' hostel which, at 6:15am, was still rustling to life. Some factory workers were gathered outside the hostel gate, waiting for their factory bus pick-up. Further along my run, the road shoulder was lined with heavy vehicles -- all manners of trucks and trailers -- all parked and abandoned there overnight.
It was an eerie sight, like a scene from a zombie disaster movie, where the world's population had all vanished or perished, and left in their wake empty buildings, empty vehicles, litter and some empty beer bottles -- and I was the only survivor. At any moment, I was sure that a crowd of zombies would emerge from the bushes and descend upon this hapless runner.
Yet happily, it's currently my favourite route -- for towards the middle of my run (whence the voice in my ipod announces "Halfway point reached: three point five kilometres more to go"), I'd be running right next to an open field, and the sun was starting its slow ascend in the East across the field, over the top of the flats.
Sunrise, cool morning air, sweat across my brow, adrenaline mixed with endorphin, my favourite music.
By end October, I was hitting 5.5km, then 6.5km (end November), then 7km two days ago.
And what's more, this is just the beginning -- I know I can go a lot further... :)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Life's Most Enjoyable Pleasures (One of)
One of the most enjoyable pleasures when hosting foreign guests is seing familiar things afresh through foreign eyes.
I'd brought Wolfgang and his wife Bee to Song Kheng Hai Stadium in Kuching for "special" ice kacang and chendol. After braving the sudden heavy downpour ("tropical thunderstorm" said Wolfgang) to dash from the car to the hawker centre, we sat down and I went around to the stalls to order several local dishes: rojak, belachan bee hoon and some local minced meat pies.
After some quiet observation, Wolfgang asked me how the stall assistants knew where we were seated. I stared at him blankly for a second, then I searched our tabletop for a table number -- there was none.
"Oh, when we order at the stall, we tell them where we're seated," I explained. All three of us turned our heads to observe some customers who were just ordering rojak and making elaborate hand gestures to explain where his table was.
"The stall owners also visually recognise the customer who is making the order. For me, I just told them -- I'm seated with two ang mohs." We all had a good laugh at that.
Kuching scenes -- eating at a hawker centre at the Song Kheng Hai Stadium, the "Open Air" at Electra House, or "Open Air" at Hui Sing -- are all so familiar to me. As I told Wolfgang, I've been going to these places since I was a little boy. They're places I just go to, without much afterthought -- I order certain foods out of habit, and accept the way things work without question.
But for Wolfgang and Bee, everything was new -- the tastes, the sights, the sounds, the smells. Everything was a wonder, everything was fresh, and even though they might not be aesthetically superior to the architecture and artwork of old Europe, they were still refreshingly different.
And the pleasures weren't theirs exclusively. My parents have been enjoying hearty conversations with them, filling our large living room with the warm sounds of laughter that I could hear as I bustled about yesterday evening to shower and pack up for my return trip to Singapore. Wolfgang and Bee would be staying in Kuching for another week at the Damai Beach Resort, while I would return first to Singapore with C, back for work on Monday.
As our car pulled away from the house last night, Wolfgang and Bee stood in the warm golden light on the front porch, smiled and waved. As my father drove me to the airport, he laughed: "We've recruited two Germans to watch over our house" and we all laughed along.
Later on, at the airport waiting to board the flight, I basked in the afterglow of another wonderful Kuching weekend getaway, and smiled to myself: "trans-continental, trans-cultural, trans-linguistic friendships -- certainly one of life's most enjoyable pleasures."
I'd brought Wolfgang and his wife Bee to Song Kheng Hai Stadium in Kuching for "special" ice kacang and chendol. After braving the sudden heavy downpour ("tropical thunderstorm" said Wolfgang) to dash from the car to the hawker centre, we sat down and I went around to the stalls to order several local dishes: rojak, belachan bee hoon and some local minced meat pies.
After some quiet observation, Wolfgang asked me how the stall assistants knew where we were seated. I stared at him blankly for a second, then I searched our tabletop for a table number -- there was none.
"Oh, when we order at the stall, we tell them where we're seated," I explained. All three of us turned our heads to observe some customers who were just ordering rojak and making elaborate hand gestures to explain where his table was.
"The stall owners also visually recognise the customer who is making the order. For me, I just told them -- I'm seated with two ang mohs." We all had a good laugh at that.
Kuching scenes -- eating at a hawker centre at the Song Kheng Hai Stadium, the "Open Air" at Electra House, or "Open Air" at Hui Sing -- are all so familiar to me. As I told Wolfgang, I've been going to these places since I was a little boy. They're places I just go to, without much afterthought -- I order certain foods out of habit, and accept the way things work without question.
But for Wolfgang and Bee, everything was new -- the tastes, the sights, the sounds, the smells. Everything was a wonder, everything was fresh, and even though they might not be aesthetically superior to the architecture and artwork of old Europe, they were still refreshingly different.
And the pleasures weren't theirs exclusively. My parents have been enjoying hearty conversations with them, filling our large living room with the warm sounds of laughter that I could hear as I bustled about yesterday evening to shower and pack up for my return trip to Singapore. Wolfgang and Bee would be staying in Kuching for another week at the Damai Beach Resort, while I would return first to Singapore with C, back for work on Monday.
As our car pulled away from the house last night, Wolfgang and Bee stood in the warm golden light on the front porch, smiled and waved. As my father drove me to the airport, he laughed: "We've recruited two Germans to watch over our house" and we all laughed along.
Later on, at the airport waiting to board the flight, I basked in the afterglow of another wonderful Kuching weekend getaway, and smiled to myself: "trans-continental, trans-cultural, trans-linguistic friendships -- certainly one of life's most enjoyable pleasures."
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Strangely Therapeutic
As I strolled around the shopping mall, my mind was calm, almost Zen-like. I'd just finished a Roast Beef Sandwich (290 Calories) at Subway, and now I just wanted to stroll around a bit before I headed back to the office.
I stopped by G2000 and looked at the rows of neatly pressed workshirts, my fingers reaching out to feel the soft material. There was a 15% discount if I paid for it with my UOB credit card, I made a mental note. I wanted a few more workshirts; just this morning I'd changed out of one because it looked faded and old in the mirror.
Then I took the escalator up to the top level, popped by Popular Bookstore, and had a quick glance on the Bestseller shelves to see if they had the Stieg Larrson book "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (they didn't), and then down again to the basement to grab a few bottles of mineral water from the NTUC Supermarket, before heading back to the carpark.
As I strolled around, I thought to myself: I like malls in Singapore. They're so alive and colourful, yes - crowded at times, but over a weekday lunch hour, it's possible to actually enjoy a stroll in the air-conditioned halls of a Singapore shopping mall. They're not just shopping malls, they're also for eating, sitting with a book (or, much more common these days -- a laptop) with their coffee, students congregate to study there, lovers go for dates in their cafes and watch movies in their cineplexes, and some -- like this one -- even has a library in it or right next to it.
And so, to my surprise, I found that an hour or two in a Singapore shopping mall can be strangely therapeutic.
I stopped by G2000 and looked at the rows of neatly pressed workshirts, my fingers reaching out to feel the soft material. There was a 15% discount if I paid for it with my UOB credit card, I made a mental note. I wanted a few more workshirts; just this morning I'd changed out of one because it looked faded and old in the mirror.
Then I took the escalator up to the top level, popped by Popular Bookstore, and had a quick glance on the Bestseller shelves to see if they had the Stieg Larrson book "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (they didn't), and then down again to the basement to grab a few bottles of mineral water from the NTUC Supermarket, before heading back to the carpark.
As I strolled around, I thought to myself: I like malls in Singapore. They're so alive and colourful, yes - crowded at times, but over a weekday lunch hour, it's possible to actually enjoy a stroll in the air-conditioned halls of a Singapore shopping mall. They're not just shopping malls, they're also for eating, sitting with a book (or, much more common these days -- a laptop) with their coffee, students congregate to study there, lovers go for dates in their cafes and watch movies in their cineplexes, and some -- like this one -- even has a library in it or right next to it.
And so, to my surprise, I found that an hour or two in a Singapore shopping mall can be strangely therapeutic.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Solar Powered
Rain. So much rain. I ran away from Europe to escape winter depression, and here I am in Singapore, hit by a deja vu of it. (Well, at least I get to joke about it, and there's no sense of helplessness due to a major language barrier.)
There's dinner tonight, with Eugene and his wife -- we'll be toasting with French wine and cheese, apparently. An authentic French dinner by French cooks in Singapore, no less.
And tomorrow evening, Wolfgang and his wife will be in Singapore, and I'll be out with these Germans for dinner. Boy, am I international.
I want more sunshine, please. This chronic gloominess is NOT HEALTHY.
Didn't I say recently that I wanted to celebrate life, and all those rah-rah stuff?
Well, I still do. But please, I need some sunshine to do all that. After all, I'm solar powered.
There's dinner tonight, with Eugene and his wife -- we'll be toasting with French wine and cheese, apparently. An authentic French dinner by French cooks in Singapore, no less.
And tomorrow evening, Wolfgang and his wife will be in Singapore, and I'll be out with these Germans for dinner. Boy, am I international.
I want more sunshine, please. This chronic gloominess is NOT HEALTHY.
Didn't I say recently that I wanted to celebrate life, and all those rah-rah stuff?
Well, I still do. But please, I need some sunshine to do all that. After all, I'm solar powered.
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