我有點累了

I heard this during an afternoon briefing today:

"If you have access to the internet, just go to our website, fill up the form online and your completed form will be sent electronically to us. However, if you don't have access to the internet, you can still go to our website, download and print out a hardcopy of the form, fill it up and then post it to us."

Singapore Bay Run

Caught a ride in Babumouse's car at about 4.20 am to the Esplanade for the Army Half Marathon. Got there, met up with some of the SgRunners, and then quickly merged into the horde of anxious runners for the 5.30 am flag-off. The race started promptly, and we were off.

I decided to take the race in a less competitive spirit. I hadn't had the chance to run AT ALL in the past two weeks - thanks to you know what - and it would be sheer folly to have a sudden intense 21-km spike in my running mileage. So, I paced myself and took things slow. The run brought me along Esplanade Drive, into Cross Street and then South Bridge Road, which were lined with quaint old shophouses, and then down Maxwell Road, and finally onto the East Coast Parkway. I reached the turning point near the East Coast McDonalds (about 11.5 km) about 1 hr 5 min into the run. For the return leg, I could feel my knees and ankles getting wobbly, and I reckoned that if I pushed any harder, I could tear something. So I made the difficult decision to walk. So, at the 15 km mark, I started to stroll and really took in the scenary of Fort Road, Mountbatten Road and Republic Avenue. There were plenty of water points - including 100-Plus points, for this race, which was good :) And the weather was fabulous too. At about 1 km from the finishing line, there were two Caucasian spectators standing by the road cheering the runners on. So I stretched out my hand, did a Hi-5 with them, and picked up the pace for my final burst. Finished the 21.1 km race in 2 hr 20 min. Not a great timing, but the run was enjoyable nevertheless. Gathered after the run for the SgRunners family photo thanks Dasher for being our cameraman, followed by lunch at Marina Square :)



There were quite a number of casualties for this run. Brokie had bad cramps, and Balasing's ITB problem flared up on the way back in East Coast Park. And most unfortunately, one army 25-year old captain collapsed at the end-point and died soon after. :( My deepest condolences to CPT Ho Si Qiu's family.

After lunch, doraemon_red, tktan, charlotte, tiwazz and I headed for the NUS Guildhouse @ Suntec to shower and soak in the sun. Then we went over to attend the Running Fit forum at the National Library, which was co-organised by Emmanuel Physiotherapy and SgRunners, and sponsored by NIKE. It was a great and informative session, and covered topics such as common running injuries (including the biomechanics and recommended treatment) and shoe selection. Many thanks to the speakers, Franklin, Mingjuan, Dr Goh and Mr Tye, and Mark for moderating, and for David for having the vision to get this forum going in the first place :) Pity that I was feeling rather exhausted from the morning's exertions, and struggled to stay awake during some portions of the four presentations. :P

Got home at around 6 pm, had dinner, watched some TV, and am now blogging. The bed beckons, and I shall be responding to its call soon. :)

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Update as of 29 August 2007, 2300 hrs

I've been ranked 1535th out of 3324 runners in the Men's Open category (according to gun-time), with a Checkpt 1 time of 1:12:17, gun-time of 02:20:01.01 and net time of 02:17:56.56.

Is that a great performance for me? NO. Is that good enough for me? YES.

Ah... Life is good :)

冲！冲！冲！

前阵子的那几件事，发生得实在太快了，让我一时措手不及，被搞得团团转，甚至彻夜难眠。而因如此，将来的日子，也变成了一个大未知数。有时，仿佛感觉自己像个傀儡，轻而易举地被他人使唤、摆动。但仔细思考之后，其实我自己能够，也应该，掌握自己的命运及未来，争取自己的幸福，追求自己的理想。可是话说得容易，做却相当得困难。不过，我不能气馁，得必须加油。雷诺特郎，你是一个长跑健将，快穿上你那双运动鞋吧！新的道路，新的景点，全都还在等着你的发掘呀！

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Update as of 1830 hrs

Watched "The Willow Tree" (Beed-e majnoon) at the Picturehouse with BoSe. It's a Persian film about an Iranian professor Yusef, who had been blind for almost 38 years following a childhood accident that damaged both his corneas. But after receiving treatment in France, he regains his sight. He returns to Iran, to his wife and child, who welcome him with open arms. But his new-found sight brings him more grief than joy. He sets his eye on his beautiful cousin, and realises that his wife is plain-looking by comparison. He discovers that his home is not the paradise that he had envisioned in his blindness. He witnesses a crime, but fails to report it. His sight becomes a curse unto him. A tragically gloomy but thought-provoking film, which coincidentally satisfies my yearning this week for some Middle Eastern cultural exposure.

怎么又是病了...

I think I have gotten the flu... but I don't know where I had picked up the bug...

糖不甩

Spent the morning and afternoon working from home which was a shame but it couldn't be avoided. There were things to be done, and there never seems to be enough time during official working hours to get them done. Not that I finished everything on my in-tray by this evening, but I did whatever I could and then rushed off for my dinner appointment at Suntec, arriving there half an hour late. :P The Japanese feast at ハモルwas great, and so was the company: tktan, doraemon, fennel and ripley. The lady manager was really friendly and whipped up a few custom-made off-the-menu dishes just for us. :) Afterwards, ripley went off to watch a soccer match and the rest of us headed to 记得吃 along Mosque Street for dessert. I had the 芝麻糊 and 糖不甩.

The thing that really bothered me today was that I had accidentally scraped my left wrist against the edge of my cupboard, and a whole long flake of skin came off. That means a really bad and ugly scar will form there, just like the ones on my right thigh, both my feet, the back of my right palm and along my right forearm. It's terrible to get keloids, and I don't know why I am now afflicted with the condition. I guess the one thing which could possibly trump this as the worst thing that happened to me today was when I heard that retirement age would be extended to 67 years for me. And that is simply nightmarish.

Spider-pig, spider-pig

A rather dismally wet start to the day, but the rest of it proceeded rather okay. Went to Bukit Panjang Plaza first thing in the morning to get my Oakleys lens fixed. Then went over to Toa Payoh SAFRA to pick up my Army Half Marathon race pack. Met Johnson, Mythos, Kayano, Stazla, Meteor, Alvo and Freddy there. Then, I lunched at PastaMania with Stazla.

I was scheduled to watch a movie with two friends at 3.10 pm at Golden Village Marina, but I ended up alighting at 3.05 pm at Marina Bay MRT station instead. Imagine my horror when I went up the escalator out of the station, only to find myself surrounded by patches of wild grass. :D Luckily, I managed to navigate my way back to Marina Square by 3.20 pm, and only missed the adverts before The Simpsons Movie began. It's a hilariously slap-stick and mildly rude movie, but enjoyable nevertheless. :D * Spider-pig... Spider-pig... Does whatever... a spider-pig does... Can he swing... foom a web... No, he can't... He's a pig...*

Went over to a housewarming party afterwards, and realised that 私の日本語はC.M.I.だ。 いる日本人と話しかったが， 私は何トピックでも話せなかった。 会話は全然できなっかた。 But I am grateful for a book lent to me this evening: 「宮沢賢治短編集」。 ありがとう！

Running Fit

Kaolin

Haven't been feeling too well since Tuesday. Had an upset stomach and felt like throwing up all the time. Went to see the doctor on Wednesday morning, was issued a 2-day MC and given some really foul-tasting medicine which, by their colour and consistency, look like something that may be used in a Chemistry laboratory session. :P

I spent most of yesterday sleeping. And missed the party at Dreamergal's place. And today, I wasn't feeling good enough to go to the TLR-Fd Wedding Run either. :( What a pity. I really wanted to be there for both events.

Today is Singapore's 42nd birthday. Happy National Day! Looking back at what we have achieved as a nation in the past 42 years, it's amazing, all our transformation into a modern, prosperous city-state. It's sometimes too easy to take what we have now for granted.

Adidas King of the Road

A fabulous trip this weekend to Malaysia, thanks to BoSe and his excellent group of friends in Klang, Selangor who were very hospitable and great company :)

Day 1. On Friday afternoon, I met up with BoSe at Novena Square where we then caught a FirstCoach ride to Kuala Lumpur. Along the 6-hour journey, I was mildly traumatised by a sneezing passenger who was seated across the aisle from us. With the sunlight streaming in through the windows, I could clearly see the particles emanate from his mouth and nostrils and expand into a evil cloud which drifted towards BoSe and me. And when the cloud reached us, I was assaulted by the smell of his stale breath, and it was disgusting. But the rest of the journey was uneventful, and BoSe and I arrived at Bangsar, then took the LRT to Taman Jaya, where we were picked up by BoSe's childhood buddy Lok Bin and driven to supper. We had char kuay teow and some rojak by the roadside. Later on, Lok Bin drove us to BoSe's house in the Yong An (永安) district --besides the Berkely (摆家利) district -- in Klang, where we deposited our bags and then headed out 20 feet to Guardian to buy antiseptic cream and bandage for my festering ezcematic wound on my right foot, and then drove out for more supper. This time, we went to eat tang-yuan and muah-chi. That's where BoSe's other childhood friends William and Yumei spotted us and made arrangements to meet us for breakfast the following morning. Then we headed back to the house, washed up, read some X-Men comics and then went to bed.

Day 2. Woke up at 8.30 am, to find out that BoSe had survived a night of my snoring. :) We headed out for a really expensive dimsum breakfast with Lok Bin, Yumei and William at Restoran Rahsna. Then we drove over to Centro for New Zealand ice-cream (I didn't eat any, but the rest did), and then went up to YogaFitness where Lok Bin and Yumei were scheduled to attend their Pilates lesson. Interestingly enough, as we were walking along the corridor towards the gym, this ang-moh guy came up from behind me, grabbed me by the shoulders, laterally displaced me to the right, and then overtook me, as if I was an inanimate object blocking his path. Ha! :) Anyway, William, BoSe and I watched Lok Bin and Yumei do all sorts of contortions for about 30 mins, and then BoSe and I went to get our hair cut. And again, interestingly enough, I was asked -- of all the possible questions -- by the hairstylist when I last dated and whether I was confused. Lol :)

Then BoSe, Lok Bin and I went over to meet Pacemakers founder Ronnie at a place where really good cuffy puffs were served :) When Ronnie passed BoSe his running package, we saw, for the first time, how small the S-sized running vest really was! (Later on, when I tried mine on, I had difficulty breathing in it! Lol...) After that, we met up with Yumei, William, Hui-Ching, Sue-Anne and Pei Yi at One Utama for a glorious shopping galore. :) Our dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant was on BoSe, since he was the self-proclaimed "centre of attraction" in Klang. :D

Day 3. Woke up with surprisingly little difficulty at 5.20 am, washed up, had breakfast and tried to quieten the butterflies in my stomach. It was my first competitive race since my injury in January 2007, and my first 21-km race at that! And only the top 300 runners would get a medal! Gosh! Would I manage to get one? Thankfully, BoSe was a great encourager, so he managed to calm me down.

The Race. The Adidas King of the Road race started outside Sunway Pyramid where the Sphinx cast its eternal gaze. We started the race just a couple of minutes late of the scheduled 7.30 am, so that was okay. But the first few kilometres were very terrible for me. I was breathless, my legs were heavy, and I even felt like vomitting at times. But I told myself - enjoy the race, don't worry about the medal. And so, with each gruelling step, I managed to plod my way along the highway to the 10.5 km turning point with a timing of about 57 min. The scenary wasn't great, and by then, the sun was already out so the heat was beginning to mount. Somehow, though, I seemed to get my second wind after the U-turn, and my run from the 10.5 km to 15 km mark was exceptionally smooth and easy. Then, I punctured, and the remaining quarter of the race was extremely laborious. I had to intersperse my slow jogging with walking. :( Even when the finishing line came into view about 400 metres away, I could not muster the strength nor the resolve to pick up my pace and run to the end. I figured that there were probably no medals left for me. But to my pleasant surprise, there was one for me! Hooray! :) I had also met a number of familiar faces during the run: SgRunner's Ronnie, Shutehelup, Yee Hua, DiverRunner and a number of Mt Faber Safra runners. I also dropped my Oakleys onto the road, and one of the lens fell out and I couldn't put it back in again :(

Distance: 19.6 km (apparently not as long as the 21-km as stated)
Timing: 2:00:35
BIB: A2004

Brunch was settled over Klang's famous herbal bak-kut-teh and hot Chinese tea. :D Many thanks to BoSe's friends for the treat :) Many of them may come over for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon at the end of the year, and perhaps then, if I am still around in Singapore, I can return the hospitality. :)

Went back to BoSe's house after that, showered, caught a nap, and then Lok Bin came over to drive BoSe and me directly to Bangsar (thanks, Lok Bin!) where we caught the 3.30 pm FirstCoach coach-ride back to Singapore.

The whole experience has been fascinating. I had learnt some Hokkien, got to know more about the town of Klang and the great people within, had a few interesting encounters, and also ran an enjoyable and fruitful race :) Overall, simply excellent :)

Journey to the north

Leaving for KL in a while, will be back on Sunday night. Had worked until past 2 am this morning, feeling really exhausted now. But the real spoiler was a call from the Officers' Mess a few minutes ago. It was no fault of the caller; she had to act on instructions. The real problem really is systemic, and I am not sure if anything can be done to change things.

Gilgamesh

Today marks my 2nd anniversary at work. Coincidentally, I succumbed to illness, got myself a day of medical leave, and spent the rest of the day alternating between doing limited office work from home and reading Gilgamesh.

I had read another book by the same title earlier, but this one by Stephen Mitchell is quite different. Unlike Joan London's book (which is about the romance between an Australian girl and her archeologist beau who is fascinated with the story of Gilgamesh), Mitchell's book is about the epic story of Gilgamesh himself, the giant king of "great-walled Uruk" (current day Iraq) who was born 2/3 divine and 1/3 human. Accompanied by his best friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh sets off to slay the terrifying monster Humbaba which guards the Cedar Forest and later also thwarts the plot by the goddess Ishtar to punish him with the Bull of Heaven for spurning her advances. As the story develops, Enkidu slips away into the netherword, and overcome with fear and grief, Gilgamesh embarks on his long and difficult journey to the end of the world in his quest for immortality.

This is a poetic and fascinating story which was inscribed in cuneiform script on eleven clay tablets over 3,000 years ago. These tablets were only discovered in 1853 in the ruins in Nineveh, and the script was not deciphered and fully translated until much later. It is possibly the oldest surviving epic story in the world. Mitchell has done a masterful job of translating the script into modern English and making the tale come truly alive for his readers.

This is how his translation of the prologue of the story goes...

"He had seen everything, had experienced all emotions,
from exaltation to despair, had been granted a vision
into the great mystery, the secret places,
the primeval days before the Flood. He had journeyed
to the edge of the world and made his way back, exhausted
but whole. He had carved his trials on stone tablets,
had restored the holy Eanna Temple and the massive
wall of Uruk, which no city on earth can equal.
See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun.
Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine,
approach the Eanna Temple, sacred to Ishtar,
a temple that no king has equalled in size or beauty,
walk on the wall of Uruk, follow its course
around the city, inspect its mighty foundations,
examine its brickwork, how masterfully it is built,
observe the land it encloses: the palm trees, the gardens,
the orchards, the glorious palaces and temples, the shops
and marketplaces, the houses, the public squares.
Find the cornerstone and under it the copper box
that is marked with his name. Unlock it. Open the lid.
Take out the tablet of lapis lazuli. Read
how Gilgamesh suffered all and accomplished all."