Standchart Marathon 2008

It's over. I did it. I have completed my first marathon ever. Finally one more item on my to-do list struck off. I have to admit; I underestimated the marathon. 42KM is no joking matter. I only actually managed to run for 10 plus kilometres. From 10 plus to 30 plus it was run and walk. By the time I reached the last 10 plus kilometres, I could barely manage walking.

This would explain why none of the pictures show me running. These were taken during the last leg of the marathon. By then I could only walk. Running was impossible with the pain and fatigue in my legs. More than once I almost gave up, encouraged only by the presence of my friend Shi An who was walking with me and waiting for me.

This marathon was one of many firsts. It was, of course, my first marathon ever. It was also the first time that I had applied so much deep-heat rub on me. It was the first time that I laid down and slept on the road. Certain points during the marathon I was so tired that I just laid down on the road, not giving a damn what was happening.

It was, in Shi An's words, not a marathon. It was not even a Walk-a-Jog. I had brought it up to a higher level. We were doing a Walk-Jog-and-Sleep.

Fooled be not by the pictures. Though we look like we were "sashaying"; Though it looks as though we look like we were taking a stroll through town, a walk-in-the-park this marathon was not. Beneath the smiles and laughter, we were in fact in excruciating pain. Pain that got worse and lasted for 2 additional days after the marathon.

All in all it was a unique experience. Somewhere between 20KM and the end I started questioning my decision to join this in the first place. I exclaimed with conviction that I will not ever join this again. Now that it's over, I am beginning to think that I might do it again. Just to better my time. On the other hand, 7-and-a-half hours is not a difficult timing to beat. Maybe it's true; the marathon is addictive. I do, however, need to be better prepared.

NIE beckons

Yes! It finally came. After weeks of waiting and longing, at last I received the letter for NIE.

Starting January, I will go back to school; to learn how to teach.

The Office Party

In the words of Eunice, we have cultivated an "expensive habit". Indeed it is the third show I have seen recently and the tickets are not cheap.

The Office Party is a sexually-charged play about a group of people working in Chapman and Howard. It was basically about their relationships with each other, their individual problems and how it all interwined.

Overall it was enjoyable, though I sometimes got lost in the thick accent spouted by the Caucasian actors. Some of the jokes also required contextual understanding, which meant that I was left scratching away while the "ang mohs" in the crowd were laughing away. This meant that I wasn't able to enjoy the show as much as I would like to.

Pity. It would otherwise have been a rather witty and fun-filled evening.

Blogging

Blogging is an extremely time-consuming activity. There are just so many things to write about.

Everytime I come across something interesting, I feel like penning it down. Sometimes that can be a lot. So much so that I went the other direction and wrote nothing down.

How the hell do all these bloggers find the time to sit down in front of their computers and type away?

Singapore Zoo

I went to the Singapore Zoo yesterday.

The last time I did that was I think 15 years ago. 15 years is a long time. The only memory I have of the last visit was monkeys running away with my packet of tidbit.

It was quite interesting to visit the zoo after so long. There were many things to see. Best of all, it's free. MOE corporate pass, I like.

Regrets

Regrets, I've had my due.

I wish I could say they were few.

And everything was okay,

Because I did it my way.

A Day to Remember

On the second Sunday of every November, we celebrate Remembrance Day at Kranji War Memorial. In 25 years of my life, after countless history lessons about the war, I never knew this.

This year, I had the opportunity to be there. It was a day to remember. Early morning on the 8th of November, I was there in my army fatigue. It rained. It was an incredible feeling. What I arrived, everything felt so right, yet so wrong.

There were many people, mainly families of those that fell. The band played, giving the whole place an unmatched sense of poignancy. Raindrops felt like tears.

I didn't experience the war. Many present did, even more didn't. I dare not claim that I could understand how they felt. I could only guess - how I should feel. What captivated me more was the place. Everything just resonated, eventhough I did know what. Maybe it was the lush green field and the rows after rows of tombstones. Maybe it was the names inscribed on the walls. Maybe it was the occasion.

All I know for sure is, it made me not want to leave, and to want to come back next year.

The Technological Advantage

This is the M16. The version we use in Singapore is slightly different. I have been trained to use it since I was 13. It started when I first joined the NCC and continued when I was enlisted into National Service. Despite all the training and getting all the basics right, I was never a good shot.


This all changed with the SAR21. This is a rifle designed and manufactured in Singapore, if memory serves me right. For old-school trained people like me, the initial handling and familiarisation was not easy. In terms of ease of use and handling, the general consensus I got was that the M16 was a tad better.

This perception did not change although I did find something that the SAR21 is better at. I used the SAR21 during the Novelty Shoot at the NCC Annual Shooting Competition. Amazingly, I got all my targets. Using the scope built into the SAR21, aiming and shooting became so easy. I got the silver award only because I was slightly slower than the winner. All these from me, who used to barely pass my shooting tests.

Running resumes

I finally got myself to run again yesterday. Sometimes it's just difficult to make myself put on that pair of running shoes and get my butt out of the house.

It's hard to clock the distance. My original plan was to progressive increase the distance. The first 10Km was a breeze. Exceeded that on the second or third run. After that however, it was a steep curve. Every time it felt like we covered some good distance, it always turned out to be around 10KM still.

Like yesterday when we took a new turn and run towards Lagoon Food Centre before turning back towards Bedok, we only added 1KM to the total distance! According to the distance calculator, all that running only covered 11.408KM.

All these only make the final run on 7th Dec the more daunting. If we keep having problems running 15 20 KM, how the hell will we make 42.195?

Russell Peters

Russell Peters came to Singapore! I didn't go and now I regretted it. He has to be my favourite Indian.

This video that I embedded is one of the shows that he did and the one that made me his fan. I have watched it many times and I still laugh at it every time. Support Russell Peters!

Return of the V

Sorry the picture is only half of the poster. It's suppose to read "The Return of the V". It was a hybrid between a play and a stand-up comedy I think. Not really sure what it was. All I know is that it was really funny.

From what I could gather, this latest installation by Fly Entertainment was a sequel to last year's "V Conference", which was about vaginas. This year's V was instead about Villians and Victims. Issues tackled included TT Durai and the NKF fiasco, rising cost of livings, homosexuality, among others.

Right from the beginning, Irene Ang came out spouting Hokkien saying, "Wa Si Guan Yin Ma." For ah bengs like me from working class background and not "jia kandang" one, it was hilarious! Poor Eunice was trying to make heads and tails of what she was saying. So sorry I had thought that it was something "ang moh".

Other than that little technical issue, I really thought that it was a funny show. Of course there were some cliches here and there but still, the fact that it was in Hokkien made it funny. Sadly, Hokkien could not escape its fate of being the crude language, as it was also because of that that it was comical.

In the end I really did enjoy myself. The fact that Tiger went out at $5 plus a mug made things even better!

Commissioned

The 54th NCC Officer Cadet Course has come to an end. 79 Cadets successfully completed the course and were commissioned as officers of the National Cadet Corps. From 14th November onwards, these 79 officers, including a Major, a Captain, several Lieutenants, and many Second Lieutenants, will carry on their shoulders the burden of grooming future leaders of the Corps and possibly the Nation.



These three and a half weeks were a fun-filled time of meeting new friends, bonding, and learning. Some things were useful, some things were not. All in all, the leadership and coaching courses that we went through were not as good as the real thing as demonstrated by some of the coaches, Course WOs and officers. Talk about leadership by example.

I finally got my chocolate bar. It's been 6 years and 5 months since I first stepped into OCS in June '02. Though it's not SINGAPURA, NCC will suffice for now.

Ho Chi Minh City

Yes! I just bought tickets for Ho Chi Minh City.

My Hardwired Report

I just did a psychological test of some kind. Anyone interested to know me better?

Preferred Style

Jobs you prefer

You enjoy jobs and activities that require attention to detail and a sense of urgency. For you, keeping information or things organized can be most satisfying, especially if your efforts lead to short-term results and rewards.

Jobs you find least rewarding

Wee Loon, you may become frustrated with jobs that constantly change without notice and fail to identify clear goals. Since accuracy is important to you, delegating to others can be challenging, especially if you’re responsible for the quality of their work.

You may also dislike jobs and activities where you’re not allowed to work independently and where your personal success is dependent on the actions of others.

Expectations

You were socialized as a child to think that people should follow the rules yet be open-minded, and communicate with a friendly, reserved style. These became your Expectations of how people should act and communicate, and they apply equally to your personal and work life.

You’ll feel these Expectations most when someone starts a conversation with you. If their communication style meets what you expect, you tend to listen. If not, you may stop listening or even get defensive – for example, if I am too direct or discourage your questions.

You may also become frustrated with people who regularly cut you off before you’re finished speaking. Doesn’t this communication approach frustrate everyone? Well, no. Some people actually prefer it. What would work better for you is being given information ahead of time and being encouraged to ask questions in open discussions.

Managing your Expectations

Wee Loon, you can’t control how people communicate with you but you can take charge of how it affects you. Remember that Expectations are not necessarily the same as needs. Don’t let what you think you “ought to do” override what you actually need.

People who are too impatient to listen and avoid group discussions will most often be the ones whose approach you like least. Let them know their communication style doesn’t work for you, and what does. Unless you tell them, they won’t know.

Instinctive Needs

Your Instinctive Needs

Wee Loon, you instinctively need to achieve understanding and organize thoughts before moving forward. For you, having a sound strategic plan is essential to your confidence and feeling of security. You identify more with people who avoid risk by thinking before they act.

Understanding instinctive differences

The Instinctive Needs graph affects business relationships more than any other dimension of your HardWiring DiagramTM. Since only 25% of people will instinctively understand what you need it’s easy for misunderstandings to occur.

Instinctively, you feel that encouraging people to slow things down and think through the implications will make them feel better, since that’s what works for you. For people who are wired differently, your efforts to show commitment may be seen as obstructing their progress. This is especially true for those who are more extroverted and instinctively keep things moving.

You may also assume that people have your same ability to pick up unspoken signals and therefore respond to what you need without you having to ask. For some, no news is good news and if you don’t tell them you have a problem they won’t know. In the absence of knowing how to deal with the people closest to us we turn to our own instincts for direction. Remember, 75% of the time our instincts will give us the wrong information. The goal to real personal growth is learning to give others what they need without giving up what you need in the process.

Becoming more effective at work

In the workplace, you have a strategic focus and an instinctive nature that thinks before you act. Not everyone needs as much information as you do before taking action. Since you instinctively evaluate the risks up front you may judge others for acting without thinking. They may feel you procrastinate. This right and wrong game is a no-win resolution.

Learning to show respect for people with different needs, along with having a clear understanding of your own, will allow you access to opportunities that would otherwise pass you by. For example, your risk averse, strategic nature may dismiss a tactical can-do approach as being too dicey, but being open minded to colleagues who take this approach can lead to better results as both your long-term and their short-term perspectives are factored into business decisions.

Beautiful people

If birds of the same feathers do flock together, then I must be a gorgeous person. :)

Sorry for the self-delusion, since I just realised I have not one, but two friends who are in the running for Female Magazine's 50 Gorgeous People. OK, one is and one was.

Littleboy is in the running for this year's contest. Great picture by the way. :) And while I was googling around, I came across last year's competition and found out that Esther was in the running.

How lucky am I to know so many beautiful people. Please vote for contestant no. 27.

Start

The 54th NCC Officer Course has begun! Here's to three weeks of leadership and military training.

I saw Eunice there and it was a pleasant surprise as we all know, I am not good with new friends. One of the coursemates commented that I had been putting up a stern face for a large part of the day till I saw Anglican cadets. I had to defend myself with the "smiling with no good reason makes me look crazy" argument.

Daniel is also going to re-join the course. So that makes 2 friends to tide over these 3 weeks, how nice. However, due to his disdain and fear for motorbikes, I'm going to join him on the public transport for the whole of the the course! I don't take public transports. Sharing with strangers is not one of my forte. Still, I'm too nice to decline.

So rejoice commoners! You have the honour of my company for the next three weeks.

Vagina Monologues

I watched the Vagina Monologues on 11 October. After that it was a round of drinks at Paulaner to celebrate Oktoberfest.

I have heard about the show since quite a while ago and when I heard that it's on in Singapore, I decided that it's time to get some cultural kudos.

It was a locally adapted version, with references to Indian, Malay, Chinese versions of the V. Girl issues were also very Singaporean. I now wonder how the original version was and what did it deal with.

Being the non-connoisseur that I am, I went for the cheapest available tickets at $27++. In the end it wasn't such a bad choice, for me at least. The view was ok, the show was funny, and I generally enjoyed myself.

I can't however say the same thing thing for my friends. Jason didn't think that it was funny at all. Shi An asked me why I asked him to spend 30 bucks to watch a CB show, literally. I guess everyone has different preferences. Well at the end of the day it was just another excuse to get all my friends out for a gathering. Everybody enjoying themselves was just a bonus.

Now I am interested in "Return of the V". Anyone interested? Good de-stressor.

Run, Wee Loon, Run

I went for running again today, after almost a month. What I mean is long-distance running, not the 2.4KM that I did last weekend, nor the running I have been doing in the soccer games.

I didn't think I could run very well after the break in training. Well I only managed a slow 11 minute plus timing for 2.4. Things, however, turned out pretty well. While it's true that I ran at a slow pace, I hardly felt out of breath.

I had planned to go the twenty though it did not turned out as planned. Long-distance running only happened from my place to East Coast Park. That would be around 6KM. After Shi An and I reached ECP, he came up with a new change in our running habits.

We started varying our runs between sprinting, slow jogs, fast runs and walks. In short, interval training.

I have to admit, though it was not a test of my endurance as I had wanted, it did make the run more interesting. Still, I hope I can complete the 20KM the next time. Just to know that I am closer to overcoming the 40KM milestone and am not wasting my money signing up for Standchart.

Lifesaving 1, 2, 3

Today is a day worth celebrating. I passed my Lifesaving 1, 2, 3 tests and am one step closer to being a certified lifeguard.

The next step would be the BM - Bronze Medallion - test. That will allow me to be a lifeguard in public swimming complexes. After that it's AM - I think it stands for Award of Merit - which will allow me to be a lifeguard at places with open water.

So here's to more swimming.

What an active week

This week has been a helluva week.

I ran once, for 2.4 KM and came in at 11 plus minutes. I played futsal twice. And I swam. Now my muscles are just aching.

MOS no more

So the rumors were true.

According to the news today, Ministry of Sound Singapore, a.k.a MOS, closed down as of yesterday.

The news had been circulating for a while and when it finally happened, it didn't seem such a surprise. I had fun at MOS. I still remember the days when it first opened, when the pioneer batch of staff started furnishing and setting up the place. Every chair, table, glassware, bar mat were put in by us.

So many nights I spent pouring, mixing, throwing, scrubbing, cleaning while the guests were dancing, drinking, socialising away. I made many friends there and learnt many new things, some things that I might never use again in my life, some I might.

Even though the pay was meagre and the hours long, at least MOS helped me pay for part of my living expenses during my uni days. But as whole however, I still feel that my Mdm Wong's days were more fun. We had a stronger camaraderie and understanding.

Even so, I did have my share of laughter and fun at MOS. Like all the places I worked in, I will miss it. All is not lost, since the parent company retained tenure of the space and will be setting up a new club. I hope my friends are not adversely affected.

NCC Officer-to-be

It's confirmed. I'm going to be an officer with the NCC. Looks like the uniform's here to stay. Is it really "once a NCC cadet, always a NCC cadet"?

As Junfeng said it, I should really let Mr Seah know about this. I'm following his footsteps.

Such irony in life, I was training to be an officer with the RSAF during my NS days till I was downgraded against my wish. Now I am still going to be an officer but with the NCC.

I don't know how long I will stay with this school, but I hope I can do something with it while I am here.

A Little Something

2 Saturdays ago I did a little something for the environment. Something insignificant when compared to how much I have done to it.

I participated in the International Coastal Cleanup organised by the Nature Society. I was part of the BV contingent made up of teachers and students. Together, with participants from various other schools as well as organisations, we made our way to Pulau Ubin to help clear the Chek Jawa area of rubbish.

Alighting from the boat.

Seaside houses

View of the jetty

View of the coastline

It's been almost a decade since I last set foot on this beautiful island up in the north. I must say, it's still as beautiful. It looks exactly like it was 10 years ago, as if time stood still on the island.

Resting place in the town centre

Restaurant by the sea

Bicycle rental

Roadside shelter

The island has not yet lost any of its rustic charm as wooden houses and pavillions lined the muddy road, with bicycles lining up the side instead of cars after cars.

Hungry man caught on tape, notice the Sheng Song plastic bag

Because the programme started early in the morning, I did not have a chance to grab breakfast before going. Instead I bought some baos from a shop right on the island. Home-made wholesome baos that were still steaming hot as I bit into them. Interestingly, the plastic bag used by the auntie were Sheng Song bags. Everyone was surprised to see it and had thought that the supermarket chain had made headways into the island.

Briefing by NSS

Let's get started

Disposing off the body bag

Teamwork, recording finds while standing on lush green seaweed

Collection point. Look at all the bags filled. Always remember to hydrate.

More work to be done.

At the Chek Jawa area we quickly sprung into action after some briefing by representatives from the Nature Society. The amount of rubbish that we saw was shocking. Man-made items of all shapes and sizes were strewn along the coastline as regular tidal movements washed them ashore. More peculiar finds included tyres, car air filter, toilet flushing system, sleeping bag/ mattress/ jacket look-a-like thing filled with sand.

View of Singapore from Chew Jawa

Chek Jawa

Apart from the rubbish, Chek Jawa was a beautiful marshland. The view, the flora, and the fauna make it a treasure we should all learn to cherish. I'm glad that I came on this trip. Seeing Ubin again after so long is so surreal. It's amazing how the rampant development going on on the mainland has not spread its claws here.

On the way back we saw monkeys picking food out of a rubbish bag, a family of wild boars running across the road. Such scenes are lost in the concrete jungle of ours. We must preserve this last bit of kampung life.

A quote to remember:

15 KM uncompleted

It's been more than 2 weeks since I last ran. That's the thing about sports. It requires a lot of discipline to do it day in day out. Being the sloth that I am, I just couldn't keep it up consistently enough.

After some careful thought, I decided to try running 15KM today, instead of 10Km, which should have been the next run according to my plan. It's like the backlogged assignments that I used to have. If I keep on trying to complete what I missed, I will always be doing catch up. There comes a point when you should just try to keep to the schedule and do the backlogged work when the tasks at hand are finished.

To accomplished 15Km, I added Bedok Town Park to the route. If I made from there to ECP and back, It would have been 15KM and more. So I started running from my place to Bedok Town Park to Shi An's place and continued towards ECP along the Siglap Park Connector.

The lack of consistent running did not affect me in the beginning as I could still run without much difficulty. But on my way back I started feeling sick. Lips felt like bacons, dry and crisp. Blood was no longer flowing in me. In its place I felt that the liquid flowing through my body was more like molten lava. After the distance I was not feeling all warm and sweaty. Instead, on this supposedly warm autumn night, I could only feel a chilly breeze.

At this point I knew I could not carry on. I assumed I was too dehydrated. Sadly, I failed to complete 15KM. After some calculation, I only managed a weak 10.306KM. It was completed in 1hr13m.

Based on this calculation, 42.195Km will take me about 5hrs, plus an additional 30 minutes to account for the reduction in speed at the later stages due to fatigue. That would allow me to complete the marathon within 6hrs.

The next time I run, I'm going to bring some water along.