Workout Update - Wednesday

Wednesday, 21st July

Supposed to meet the girls for dinner after Sumi finishes her class at 930pm. I finish work at 6pm. 3 1/2 hours to kill before I meet them. Instead of heading off to the gym immediately after work, I stayed on in the office till about 710pm. Smugly I thought I can definitely avoid all the usual traffic jam. How wrong I was. The roads were still full of cars even then!

Anyway I reached gym at about 8pm. Just right, 1 1/2 hours to kill. After changing, I did my usual routine. Gym was unusually empty. I suppose the rainy, damp weather isn't very appetising to be held in the gym. My Sun salutation routine was longer this time. I realised that I have been so complacent in doing this routine that I haven't been paying attention to the progress, IF ANY. I still couln't have my feet flat on the floor when I am bending front for one. I was more focussed this time. The entire stretching area was MINE :)

I stretched my head-knee as well. My head should be touching my knee once I have mastered this pose. And everytime I do it, I should aim to achieve a smaller degree. I am still at about 35 degrees angle with my knee. I am determined to achieve this. I realised that by breaking down my goals to smaller chunks as such, it is more satisfying and attainable than having a general big picture such as I want to do 10 rounds of yoga or loose my baby fat.

I stretched my time for staying in the pose from 3 to 5 minutes. I am sure I can achieve the final goal if I keep raising the bar each time. If I stay at the same pace, I can be doing it for the next 4-5 years and nothing would have changed.

As for my running, I decided to follow VJ advise on a technique he proposed. He asked me what's my pace the other day. I was blur. My pace.. as in my speed or my time or my distance or a division of either or?
What do you mean? I gave him an idea of how my speed increase would correlate with my feeling, if I feel like running faster, I would increase my pace. Usually I would hit 9.0 and start panting for breath before I reduce my speed. And then I would maintain at that. I have written previously that I increase my speed gradually but this wasn't tied to a specific time. So he told me his technique and asked if I wanted to try something different. I agreed. So this time, I started at 5.0 with brisk walking, increase 0.5km every 3 minutes at first till I started to run at 7.0. By then I have walked about 600m.

As soon as I started running, I kept tab of the time and every 5 minutes, I increased my speed by .5. This way I was not concerned about stopping in 30minutes alone. My challenge was to keep going. SInce there is no hard or fast rule to this, I also did maintain at 7.5 for more than 5 minutes.

I stopped at 30minutes at 9.0km/h speed. And the only 2 reasons I stopped was because the machine reached its maximum time and i had a runny nose. As I was telling Sumi and VJ, i start having my phlegm running down my nose after a certain time while running. I thought that this must be because of the blocked nose I had some days earlier. It was worse initially that it just flows down like a broken tap even 10 minutes into my run. This time it was after 30minutes so it wasn't so bad. But i'm not too sure about how to deal with it. Perhaps I should try taking anti-histamine? I don't know.
Let's see it another day.

Challenge for speed

I am faced with a challenge at the moment.. A challenge for speed. In the internet age that we live in, I must admit that I am always seeking for speed! In the virtual as well as real world. I am always walking fast, driving fast, thinking fast for answers, searching fast on google and I expect my machines to be up to speed when I need to look for something. This is especially crucial since the nature of my job requires me to work with a lot of data.

I'm currently being placed on site temporarily for a few weeks. The challenges I had to overcome were countless. From day one up to week one - chasing up on telephone lines. (unique codes are required to call out). Week 2 till week 3 now: my workstation is changed from a laptop to a desktop. I have no issues with going back to basics but I've been given a machine I would have likely used 15 years ago. It's a data entry PC I complained to the MIS guys. He kept quiet. No mention of how I can escalate the issue and demand for a higher level PC. Once my anger subsided, I looked at the situation again. My colleague said that I need to issue a ticket to the help desk and the IT team works on those tickets. These are their KPIs.
The turnaround time to solve an issue is about 2 weeks! 2 frieking weeks in which time I will not even be in the office anymore. I brought my own laptop on days 1 & 2. A lot of changes and data corruption due to the different Windows version in each OS. SIgh....
Day 3: I decided to just use the 1960's machine and get my work done. Now this is a usual scene for me at work:
8:50am - Switch PC on
9:00am - Log on to Windows
9:10am - Open Lotus Notes
9:20am - Lotus notes opens & I replicate for new emails
9:25am - Open Internet Explorer
9:30am - IE opens. I need to wait for a few more minutes before I can type in jobstreet.com.my and monsters.com.my (Have to wait for a while as doing it simultaneously can cause the system to hang).
Bear in mind that speed typing is also a challenge here as the system hangs. Too much of words gibberish!

FinallyI am able to start work at 9:45 or so after making sure that there are no urgent emails to follow up and I work on the applications.

That's all for me in ONE DaYs work until the 28th at least.

Workout update

Despite the heavy downpour on Tuesday evening, I managed to reach Manulife by about 640pm. Started off with Yoga. The area was crowded but managed to wait around until it cleared and did 10 rounds of sun salutation and head-knee post. Proceed to run. Unfortunately I experienced pain on my left side near the stomach & right below my chest. My pace was walking from 5.0km/h, increased up to 6.5 then I started running at 7.5. I ran for about 10 minutes until the pain came around. Usually massaging the area works and the pain disappears. But this time it continued and I was forced to stop. I walked for about 5 minutes or so until the pain went away.
I continued on after that, with an average speed of 7.5 moving up to 8.0, 8.5 and then 9.0. Managed to clock up to 30minutes, 3.5KM.
Slight increase of about 5%. There's still more room for improvement. Went on to the bicycle for about 15 minutes. Clocked 5km there. Time was already about 9pm then. Showered, had dinner and then back home. Time well spent. To-be continued again today.

The joy I feel within

I find it undescribable.. Can't seem to put my finger on the right words to explain the way I feel right now.. I am in love.. Totally in love again... I've experienced this feeling many times before with VJ and now I am going through the same with HIM. I recall back to my childhood days when I used to sit in my garden in the evenings and compose songs of praise to HIM. I have always been fond of HIM and his wonderful works around me. I have found myself back in this relationship with HIM again. It feels great. I have drifted away and I have come back. As the story of the prodigal son goes, HE accepted me with an open arm. I can feel HIS hands wrapped around mine as HE walks me through the carpet of life. The journey is long and weary and there are many troubles along the way but it feels secure with HIM by my side. I am not worried about the journey anymore. I can surrender it all to him and let his plan take place. I do try what's within my might to go through it all because I am assured that HE will not bring me to it if I cannot do it.
IF I really can't go through it, HE will help me. But the lesson in the journey is what will make me a stronger and better person. I have to do it HE says. And I listen.
I listen willingly because I have seen all the goodness and wonderful things HE has done for me. I have taken it upon my human self and relied on my own strength before, ignoring HIS voice and going my own way. Disaster upon disaster came upon me. Again I thought, this must be part of the plan. Since I am so stubborn like a mule, this must be the only way for me to learn.
In fact, I am feeling more and more love and compassion for those around me, even more for the kindred soul, VJ.. HE has blessed our relationship and I believe HE has greater plans for us together which is why we are now stronger than yesterday. There has to be a reason I thought. Our souls relate to each other in a way I cannot explain. And this feeling surpasses everything physical and worldly.
I am writing this entry in words as the thoughts flow because I experienced HIS wonderful handwork in the beautiful morning.. Showers of blessing that poured so early this morning and continued to pour as I left for my car. The roads were full of puddles and it was wet everywhere. Nice condition to be in bed I thought. On 2nd thoughts, maybe not. Something great is about to happen today and I am not going to miss it. I will go through it, another day!

Unregrettable decision - ALPHA

Of all my days of attending ALPHA, I was feeling a little lazy on this particular Monday. I entertained the little voice of the devil in my head and told my sister that I might not make it for ALPHA. But I wasn't 100% firm. Surprisingly, I left my office building at about 6:10pm and the roads were clear. A very unusual sight on a Monday i thought. Hmm... I'm sure there will be a jam at some juncture. Surprise again.. Damn... I got hold of VJ on the phone and checked his co-ordinates. At Curve meeting a friend and gym afterwards. What happens if you see me I asked, what changes? He will not go to the gym he said. Well, no worries then. Go ahead with your plan and I will go home. Still not decided on ALPHA i headed home. I reached at about 645 or so. Plenty of time I thought. I took my own sweet time to shower, had dinner and took the kids out with Rita to fuel my car at Shell Jalan Ipoh.
Time was 8:25pm when I got home. Just right for me to go for ALPHA and I left for church after dropping them off. The unfortunate part of the matter is that I also told VJ earlier that we could do dinner together once I was done. This was approximately at 9:30pm.

When I got to the seminar room, I saw that Nikki Gumbel has already started. Damn.. I mis-calculated my time I thought. Anyway the topic of the day was "Does God Heal Today?"
As usual, Nikki held my attention well with his animated talk and jokes throughout the session. Unusually though, after the session, we would usually break into our own groups for discussion. Time check then was about 9:15 or so? I thought okay, 15mins to go. I can run away now. The lady who got up to do the announcements gave a short summary on how to allow God to heal us and led us into prayer. I was lost in prayer and lost track of the time. SInce i put my phone in silence - no vibration or notice when the phone rings or messages come in. We all got up from our seats and grouped. This time we joined another group since there was only 4 of us who came. This shouldn't take that long I thought. I can finish it by 945 i thought and sent VJ a quick sms and joined my group. What followed was an express session of praying for each other. We all observed silence and in the moment of having invited the Holy Spirit into our midst, we continued praying for everyone in the group. As a group and individually after. For my part, when I stood in the centre, I lifted up those I know who needed God's healing. I was glad I took that center space because I know something moved within me that night.
I felt awfully guilty about keeping VJ waiting though. As soon as we sang praise and final thanksgiving, I left the room heading to my car. I was worried that VJ might have come over and waiting for me downstairs. Fortunately he wasn't downstairs but unfortunately he was upset. He waited for an hour he said. I felt guilty for not having told  him earlier. But as I told him, I didn't expect the healing session, no one did.
Anyway, next week will be my last ALPHA.
It was testimonial time and we were encouraged to bring a friend who would benefit from the program. I thought of VJ since I have been asking him since day ONE. I also thought of Rita, Janice and even my mother. In fact anyone and everyone must attend the ALPHA. It was an eye opener and simplified version on how we can approach our own faith.
So, there goes - an unregrettable decision. I'm glad I went that Monday.

Count-down to SHAPE run

Its 19th of July 2010. 12 days to go before the SHAPE 2010 run at Putrajaya. Me and Sumi signed up as part of our plan this year to get back into activity-to be active.

It all started off with the Tioman Eco-Challenge race 2010. As part of our preparatory exercise, we used to run at the park on weekends. Sunday mornings were our usual time. Regardless of how lazy or tired we were, we both pushed each other for training at least for 4-5 weeks until we moved into our own training. This was when Sumi left for Singapore. We met again at for the race at the bus station in Mersing.

ABout the SHAPE run on the other hand, i came across the registration details on the SHAPE magazine. I bought it immediately. Reading through the details, i called Sumi and checked if she wanted to proceed. Dates were okay, registration details etc. We made a trip to the menara OCM in KL to submit our registration forms directly.
This was sometime late June?

I have joined the gym since and my fitness activities revolved more around the gym than the park. However, I did make it a point to run in the park whenever I can.

At present my training regime starts with 10 sets of sun salutation and a few other yoga posts for the legs including head-to-knee stretch and rabbit pose. This is my warm up session.

Following that, I will get on a treadmill and start with a 3-5 minutes of brisk walking, increasing my pace every minute and eventually i would start running. My run has not lasted for more than 30 minutes so far. My ranges are between 8-7 minutes per KM. In total, I usually clock 3KM for about 30 minutes (including walking & resting time). Resting time here refers to the short walks I will reduce to if I am experiencing shortness of breath or any form of pain.

Following my run, i will get on the bicycle for about 10-15 minutes. I do allow a break of at least 3 minutes between each activity.

Next, I will get on to doing weights. My usual weights or other exercise will depend on what my focus is. I've been alternating between my stomach and legs for exercise. If VJ is exercising with me, I would ask for a customized training instruction. He operates as my gym trainer as and when needed. These times are quite rare so I make the most of my training times with him so that I can learn some new exercise and improve my skill. I will then do these exercises when I am on my own.

Approaching the heavy weights and machines in the gym can be rather intimidating. I always shy away from there in fear of being ridiculed as not knowing what to do and how to do it. But, it is totally different when you approach it with someone else who confidently teaches you the methods on using it specific to your capability. I believe that I set my own limit and exceed it. The best way is to keep raising the bar to reach maximum capability.

In this next 10 odd days, I need to raise the bar higher as I am running out of time. I have a total of 7KM to reach and I also need to time my pace so that I am not caught off guard.
My schedule for gym so far looks like this:
Mon - Alpha program in church
Tues - Gym
Wed - Gym
Thurs - Gym
Fri - Gym
Sun - Run in the park
With the above, is there a possibility that I might collapse and die out of too much of muscle activity? Perhaps I will allow rest on Thursday. Let's see.

In terms of expectation - I ain't aiming to come up as the 1st. I am aiming at completing the race. Regardless of the time but I don't want to spend too long on it. Not till midnight at least :)

So, there goes. I will update this blog again on my progress.

Random shot... at a Healthy-Chinese restaurant in Summit USJ

It should be World Cup Finals everyday :)

Driving back home was a breeze for me yesterday. When I left my office building at 6:10pm, I headed out to the main road and was caught by surprise as there were no cars at all. It looked like a Sunday! No complains, I drove on and reached home at 6:20pm. From Section 13 PJ all the way to Sentul. WOW! Amazing, record breaking time I thought. I suppose most people were still catching up on sleep after staying up late for the once in a 4-year game finals.
I'm happy for Spain that they won. I love the some of the countrys' architecture, landscape, the language, the people, their dances... Above all, after browsing thru FIFA.com on the team write up, I learnt that most importantly, their indominable team spirit never died. They gave their best! Bravo Espanyol!

On the different branches and brunches of life...

I was inspired to write this entry thanks to one of the resumes I was browsing through... This line tickled me.. "...Also supporting for **** brunch at 4 other location in Ipoh, Melaka, Johor and KL."
He must've been hungry at noon time while writing this resume I thought.. As brunch - food between breakfast and lunch is chosen instead of the different branches / offices..
Similar to the line above, I have come across MANY of them. Some which I can vaguely recall are as follows:
- I'm preferred to work in KL
- Thank you for your respond.
- We are looking for post of sales man or representative
- she’s looked for permanent job
- Here I attach my resume for your l looking for job HR perment job or any tempory job in shah alam area. If they are any please call me .


If you still cannot find any fault in the above lines, you shouldn't continue reading this entry. I hurt everytime I read such lines. I see them everyday, in cover letters, professional resumes, in emails and the list goes on. These days, I even catch one or two of such errors on national newspapers!
I stopped keeping tab of such mistakes and tried to look beyond the words, for the benefit of doubt. Unfortunately, I am 99.99% accurate when I follow up, only to be disappointed with very basic few lines of conversational English and reverting to ... "boleh bercakap dalam bahasa melayu tak?"

To be honest, I am open to being a Malaysian. I am proud of my country and the languages and the rich cultural heritage we bear as one nation. However, I do believe that in the advent of globalisation today, we need to be armoured. All rakyat or Malaysian citizens need to make an effort to master some basic communciation skill in order to interact with the society around them. This is especially true for the youths of today. No one is an island. And the youths are the future pillars of the nation and there are millions of them out there who cannot hold a decent conversation in English. No doubt Malay is our Bahasa Kebangsaan but learning a new language doesn't mean adapting to the cultures of the language or losing foothold of their mother tongue. If anything at all, it gives one an added advantage amongst the rest where the workers of today are no longer a local but global worker, open to opportunities worldwide

Going back to the grassroots of the issue, ultimate importance has always been given to the subject Malay language in school. You could have achieved A1 for subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English. BUT if you fail your BM, you will need to repeat the paper or else you will not be considered for a full pass in your final secondary year exam. And the reverse applies where you can have an 9F for 8 out of 10 papers in your SPM with a B for your BM and you will be considered pass. This is the reality. If I can scan all the resumes of the latter I have seen, I can draw out a statistic on the same. Sad but true .... The weight of importance is misappropriately placed in our education system.

Recently there has been a massive debate on the validity of continuuing PMR and SPM papers. I believe all students are praying really hard so that the bill will be passed to scrap the papers altogether. Well, here comes another trial-error. Let's see the result - are the students screwed up at the end of graduation or are they fine, in fact better on hands-on experience or SME (subject matter experts) on concerned subjects.

In this climate where even the fundamental basics are not laid and sorted, we are trying to fish back the local expertise who have left for overseas to work there given a better and more conducive environment for growth.
I wonder what lies ahead for the children of our future. Home education? Private tutoring? Or Private schools, following Britsh of foreign syllabus?


What about those who cannot afford the luxuries of private schools? Those middle income earners? What about their rights to choose the best for their children? Do they have to leave their children in the mercy of the education system which is on a reverse-forward and trial-error mode?
I am praying that I will not be in a situation where my kids will be forced to become voluntary guinea pigs.
That God will enlighten the leaders of today to pave the education, financial and governing system in a way that will be able to progress children of all layers of society and it will truly be an education for all.

How to make more money online?

Skill replication. Copy cat methods that have worked for others? I am ephasizing SKILL replication i.e. the process & tools used & always try to improve. On another note, why not pay attention to your current job & enjoy it. OR look for something you are passionate about doing. You'll never need to worry how much money comes in after that as you will be passionate and the work becomes your 2nd nature ;)


Any thoughts?

Alpha retreat at the Golden Sands Resort.

Pictures first., the stories to follow.

Thai Food at Flying Chillies

After a gruelling 1 hour++ drive from office to MidValley, I finally arrived. Late, depressed and upset for making him wait for soo long. Anyway we headed to have dinner. Flying chillies - for Thai food. This should repair the damage I made the night before, I thought. Had Green Curry at this one fancy joint in Telawi street and yucks! It was really bad. And I'm not that much of a foodie but that was one recipe gone totally wrong! Never again I told my friends to order that dish. In fact I think they should remove that food item from the menu right away and stick to their specialities - pasta and the like.

Food at Flying Chillies was waaay better.

The menu looked very similar to the Just Thai restaurant at 1-Utama. Price was also almost similar. They had those huge red chillies everywhere. It's almost like their trademark.


We had Green Curry (Chicken), Egg foo yong (omelette with prawns), Kangkung fried with Belacan, ice lemon tea and chinese tea in a pot.
Total: RM 68 for 2 persons.
Thumbs up for ambience, food and service.



We shopped around for a wedding gift for a friend and ended up getting memorabilia champagne glasses for them. Had it wrapped and ribboned. Task 1 down. One more to go.
I've been scouting around for a block of Parmesan cheese for the longest time. Didn't find any at the Tesco in The curve the other day so have been wanting to look it up in Carrefour instead. Of course they had it there. So finally my pasta will have its flavour again :)

After that was home and I stopped by my sisters office to fetch her back. Time we got home: almost 10:00am. Time well spent.

Salad for breakfast

Yummy!

Looking back

I just browsed through some of my posts for the past 2 years and realised that I had a few un-recorded major events! How could I do justice by not having these important momentos put to paper. This will serve as a memory jog when I am old and gray and my memory fails me..

1. Gua Tempurung Trip
2. Salsa adventure
3. Road trips to a few places

-- and a few more that i will be sure to write down when I remember.

On Bamboo

BAMBOO

- Is part of the grass family

- The fastest-growing woody plant on Earth

- Unlike trees, all bamboo have the potential to grow to full height and girth in a single growing season of 3–4 months

- Bamboos seldom and unpredictably flower, and the frequency of flowering varies greatly from species to species. In fact, many bamboos only flower at intervals as long as 60 or 120 years.

- Once flowering takes place, a plant will decline and often die entirely.

- Bamboo's long life makes it a Chinese symbol of longevity, while in India it is a symbol of friendship. The rarity of its blossoming has led to the flowers' being regarded as a sign of impending famine.

- In Japan, a bamboo forest sometimes surrounds a Shinto shrine as part of a sacred barrier against evil.

- The pine tree, the bamboo, and the plum blossom (song zhú méi 松竹梅) are also admired for their perseverance under harsh conditions, and are together known as the "Three Friends in Winter" (岁寒三友). The "Three Friends" is traditionally used as a system of ranking in Japan, for example in sushi sets or accommodations at a traditional Ryokan (inn). Pine (matsu 松) is of the first rank, bamboo (také 竹) is of second rank, and plum (ume 梅) is of the third.

- In Chinese culture, the bamboo, plum blossom, orchid, and chrysanthemum (often known as méi lán zhú jú 梅兰竹菊) are collectively referred to as the Four Noble Ones. These four plants also represent the four seasons.

USES of Bamboo

- Animal feed (i.e. Panda)

- Commercial Timber: Timber is harvested from cultivated and wild stands and some of the larger bamboos, particularly species in the genus Phyllostachys, are known as "timber bamboos". Bamboo timber (image)

- Construction: In its natural form, bamboo as a construction material is traditionally associated with the cultures of East Asia and the South Pacific, to some extent in Central and South America.

In China, bamboo was used to hold up simple suspension bridges, either by making cables of split bamboo or twisting whole culms of sufficiently pliable bamboo together.

- Ornament: collectors desiring to grow specific bamboo typically obtain their plants as divisions of already-growing plants, rather than waiting for seeds to be produced. Furnitures are also made of bamboos and sprayed or painted with shellec to give it a shine

- Culinary: The shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of bamboo are edible. They are used in numerous Asian dishes and broths, and are available in supermarkets in various sliced forms, both fresh and canned version. 

Preparation of lemang - cooked over coal fire

Lemang

- Medicine: Bamboo is used in Chinese medicine for treating infections and healing

- Textiles: Bamboo fabric is known for its softness and boasts strong absorbency and anti-microbial properties, though the chemical process in bamboo rayon destroys any anti-microbial quality.
In addition, the fiber of bamboo has been used to make paper in China since early times. A high quality hand-made paper is still produced in small quantities. Coarse bamboo paper is still used to make spirit money in many Chinese communities.

- Musical instruments:

Bamboo's natural hollow form makes it an obvious choice for many instruments, particularly wind and percussion. There are numerous types of bamboo flute made all over the world, such as the dizi, xiao, shakuhachi, palendag, jinghu, angklung. In India it is a very popular and highly respected musical instrument, available even to the poorest and the choice of many highly venerated maestros of classical music.

Transportation

Several manufacturers offer bamboo bicycles & can be knitted together to form a "rakit" - In asian regions, drifted on rivers

Well I learnt something new from this research. Hope you did too! Thanks for reading.

Note: ALL IMAGES IN THIS POST IS COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES.

Greener fresher look ;)

I couldn't stand the sight of my blog one day. It's had the same look since it's inception. Boring.. Why not give it a facelift I thought. And thanks to blogger, there was a small message box with added features and new designs on bloggerdraft. I ventured a little, custom-picked the design I wanted. But the spread of choices left me with Hobsons choice! How to choose. Re-align your thoughts, I told myself. Back to the core of the blog - Caught in the forest of life? Forest, green, nature.. These were some of the themes that came to mind. I initially wanted to create a background myself from scratch but I never got around to doing it so this was the next best option and then I stumbled across this forest full of bamboo trees. Looked up some facts about Bamboo from Wikipedia & a few online sources and I'm putting it together in my next entry called On Bamboo..



It would be great to get some feedback on the new look. If you are reading this now, and have something to say about my blog, new look or any of my entries, please feel free to comment. ANY comments will be accepted with a pinch of salt.

On my way to work

Thursday
My new route to work for the month of July =
MRR2 -> Mahameru -> Jalan Bangsar -> Jalan Kerinchi -> Federal Highway -> 3rd exit up to Asia Jaya LRT station, right turn into Section 13

Time: 8:10am
Usual traffic along Mahameru was clear.

Time: 8:15am
Road turning into Jalan Bangsar has a long queue lined up. I immediately swayed into my left road and took back into Jln Mahameru. I had no clue of an alternative route I could take. Followed the road into Jalan Duta and turned into Pusat Bandar Damansara.
Thank GOD the road was clear.
Followed the road into TTDI, KGPA and took that road. I've made this mistake too many times to not remember - if i'd gone straight, I'll come to a toll. I keep to my left and I arrive near Section 16. The Star building is ahead of me. From this point onwards I am familiar of the route. I follow the road ahead and I find myself at the traffic light I usually wait at on my way back from work. My new office lies a few stone throw away.

Time: 8:35am.
Arrived at parking.

Not bad at all. Was that luck or coincidence? Either ways, Thank you God.

Damages of being bold on social media

I just read the World News on CNN.com and was sad to read this piece: CNN Editor Sacked Over Teary Terrorist Twitter Tribute!
If she, Octavia didn’t explain further to defend herself that the statement she made is not a reflection of how or what she felt over the terrorist life work, I wouldn’t have a clue. But the damage has been done. Whether she likes it or not, she has to step down as CNN does not take her reasoning. Twitter has become a very powerful networking tool. Most influential figures – political or rockstar alike subscribe to a twitter account and they tweet about their daily life, whereabouts etc. Ardent fans who wants to keep up to date on what their super stars have been up to add them to their twitter account and follow them very closely. Octavia is one leader in a sense as she did contribute to the entire world a glimpse into the Middle East series of events. And the one who passed away is not exactly a pro-govt or the nation or US, in fact, he was very much against it.
Now, I don’t know the entire full account of what happened out there but this piece of news is somewhat an eye opener to corporate figures out there. Akin to posting private pictures on Facebook only to be discovered by your boss and senior management, I think Twitter tweets pose similar threats. Personal stands, views and ideas posted on any social networking media needs to be filtered. A few days back, my own corporate communications guideline on dealing with media was released internally and some of the points I came across was rather shocking to me.
Being consultants representing the organization, we are not allowed to speak on behalf of the organization in views relating to the field of expertise. This can either be to a personal friend or a reporter or anyone at all who might quote our names without permission and land us in trouble. Likewise if someone intends to put you into trouble, all they’ll need to do is to hack into your system and type something that totally damages your career and reputation. In this progressive world of media revolution, it doesn’t hurt to be wary of our actions as these speak louder than words.
So the next time you post a remark or update your status – think again… is this remark really necessary? What will the consequences be if your boss reads the comment you’ve just posted? Do you risk losing your job? Pause and think for a moment before you click on the send button!

Race Day

We were up as early as 530am. Breakfast is served from 6am onwards. We were among the few early birds who were up so early. Boat-uncle has been waiting for us since 630am - he told us afterwards when we met. We had a hearthy breakfast as we needed all the carbs, protein and energy we could ever have. We were given a banana each from the kind chef :)

I was having small butterfiles in my stomach on my way there. But the wind against my face somehow blew those uneasiness away. I enjoyed the boat-ride till we reached the race pit.

We ran 2X around the field and did some more warm ups to get started 30minutes before flag off time. The track was pretty straight-forward as explained but we learnt the hard way that it is not as easy as mentioned.

There were altogether about 3 main tasks in the race: 1st leg: Run for 2km until the foot of the jungle.
2nd leg: tracking into the jungle. In this leg there are many other challenges such as climbing, going down-hill, passing river and more. And mind you, this challenge is in a virgin-jungle. There is no track or trail. Red-white plastic ribbons were tied around trees as landmarks to follow. If one loses track of any one of these, for sure you will be lost and there were at least 20 over people who were lost on the race day.


Thankfully Sumi and I stuck through it together. We met a few of them along the way at times when we needed some help i.e. when we were totally clue-less, not able to find the next marker or to get over a huge boulder. But we were alone most of the way. We were not aware of what lay ahead of us. There could've been snakes / monkeys or even tigers for the matter but this is a case when ignorance is bliss. What we didn't know didn't hurt. We climbed up tree roots, wen over a river full of rocks, stopping by for a drink, climbed over huge boulders with no foot-holds to step on. And we thought the worst is over... Until we arrived at the 5th checkpoint! I couldn't see flat ground anymore - where we were supposed to continue and the marshalls at this pit stop told us that the next leg of the journey is to climb all the way where your knee will come up to your chin!

That totally put me off. We or at least I was not prepared for a climb as such. My feet by then was already aching very badly as I put too much stress on my feet whilst climbing downhil earlier. My Nike shoes were made for running not climbing and they were not particularly helpful in my up and downhill attempts.

We sat for a while, and I analysed myself honestly from all perspective. (Bad)
1. My mind was willing but my feet was really weak.
2. I knew that I will get myself bruised and hurt since my feet was pressing against my shoe front and was aching.
3. Time then was already close to 1pm. The sun was high up my head and I was very dehydrated. My rate of dehydration was faster due to the loss of energy along the way.
4. The next pitstop for water station is at least another 5 km. I didn't have proper tools to carry my water bottle. And since the next leg is climbing all the way, i will need to use all 4 limbs and no space for water bottle!
(Good)
1. I MIGHT be able to finish the race & receive a certificate BUT I MIGHT be too hurt or bruised or worst - DEAD to take it
2. Bragging rights - Won the first ever race in my life but again I MIGHT not be alive to brag about it

Having gone through all the pros and cons, I decided to call it quits. I and Sumi walked down another route - a road that led us to the Berjaya Resort grounds again.

On the way we were given a ride by one of those managers who was on his way to pick up some food for his workers. We picked our bags, chatted with the organizers for a bit and then left. This' not the end. Initially our plan was to stay back for the night of Dinner and Prize Giving where the Sultan will be present together with the media etc. Since we didn't complete the race, and it was still early then, Sumi suggested to walk back instead of taking a boat ride to Paya beach. Now that we knew how the tracks connect to the beach.

I agreed without realising that the way to Paya also had some climbing to do, which meant going back into the jungle. I was cursing and swearing that Sumi made me go through the jungle all over again despite my deteriorating feet condition.

However, I was relieved at the end of the journey when we arrived at Paya beach in no time. She saved us both RM40 each per boat trip! The money which we used later on for a decent meal.

Ragging-issues-rugged up again

Todays newspaper had at least 5 to 6 articles on the issue. Ragging - an ongoing issue that has always been undercover has surfaced up. If you notice, ragging issues are most prevalent in the local universities. Or maybe the incidents in the private U-s don't surface due to the strict rulings and "expensive" consequences they might need to face.

Relating to my own experience, entering into a well-known local uni, I was told the scariest stories about how seniors will rag the juniors, things they used to do, and I was even told to bring along punjabi suits (traditional Indian costume) to be worn throughout my 1st semester. I was horified at the stories - not so much for the ragging bit but for the part where I have to wear punjabi suits everyday for the next 3-6 months??

The bigger problem was - I didn't have that many suits to use. My cousin sister offered to pass me some of hers. So, 1 bag full of suits and another full of my own things. Being the rebel that I am, I wasn't at all bothered to adhere by the punjabi suit rules. I wore my baggy jeans on day 1, 2, 3, 4, until the end of orientation week and then at my faculty, I did the same. I only wore my own punjabi suit (I took a personal favourite just in case) for the Malam Suai-Kenal - a get-to-know dinner night with speeches from the top management & lecturers.

Looking around me, majority of the Indian students were clad in Punjabi suits. Most of them came from the small towns of Ipoh, Malacca, Kedah, Pahang etc.. They all spoke in Tamil all the time, giggled at the sight of any Indian male and was very shy - looking to the ground.
I wore my fav one on Fridays alone when I had 1 class and we had to meet the Indian seniors for a get-to-know session. Out of respect and to have a feel of the group, I wore my red suit. I sat aside a friend who ended up glueing herself to me throughout most semesters and eventually dropped off.
Then the orientation took place - where everyone was supposed to think of a joke or sing a song or act out something. When it came to me, I had no joke, no song to sing and coming to think of it, I can't even remember what I ended up doing. I think I was told to think of a joke in the next meeting which eventually went forgotten.

And then, the Indian male seniors will crowd our supper stalls at night. All the Indian female students were required to be present during this "supper-stall-session" but I always had my excuse.. stomach ache / gone back home / sick / exam or assignment etc etc.

I finally came down one day - to check it out for myself. The female seniors were not notorious at all. They were very kind in fact, some of them. Some others were rather rude or cruel. But there'll always be good and bad apples.
I used to wonder if the seniors had nothing else to do since they were all so free to be there at that hour to get to know us. But those who were very quiet and submissive had a bulk of their teasing. I was rather bold, probably too bold in fact that they didn't quite find me an interesting subject for teasing. They did attempt to ask me to follow them out with them in their cars etc. But I knew it better not to follow any stranger, at night, alone in a car!
The fact that I came from Sentul - which is known as a very notorious area in town did help me quite a bit. Some of them were cautious to tell me to do stuff or tease me too much in fear of being beaten up by thugs from Sentul.

Only I knew the reality of the matter as those stories were not exactly true. Sentul has been stripped off its mafia-status many years back. And as for me, growing up in the area where drug addicts roamed by and street gangster-wannabes drove about teasing and disturbing girls, I have seen the worst of teasings and learnt the art of avoiding them.

I made some very good friends during this time. Some of which I am still connected to. I think when the rod comes out from the furnace, it is made stealthier and stronger than when it went it. This was my experience. I was trying to reason out the logic behind every event that took place then but to no avail. I suppose God above all else has his own plan in the work of it all. We are merely the players.

Perhaps mine wasn't the worst case of rag that can be. The worst is being locked in a room with 3-4 seniors in my faculty and all my other friends were told to go back. Probably locked was not the right term, I didn't attempt to run out or try opening the door. I just sat in the room, bravely looking them all in the eyes, watching them do their work, some were merely playing games, asking questions etc.

When they were done asking me questions and trying to get to know me, I was allowed to go back. In fact i asked to be excused due to an exam i had the next day. One senior even offered to send me back when he was on the way. That's it. In fact, the next days and week, we were back to normal. No teasing or disturbs. In fact, they appreciated the fact that we looked them up whenever we needed some help. Occasionally when we bump into them we exchange the usual hellos, how are you. Apart from that, campus life was back to normal. Majority of the events were forgotten.

The ones we clearly remembered were those in which we were actively involved or played a role. One particular friend was always the bait to knock at the senior door whenever we were there to ask them anything at all. She was the most outspoken one among us who didn't mind the attention and speaking up. I on the other hand, couldn't really be that bothered about any one of them. We all had our own strength and weaknesses.
But if there is any one thing I can go back and change, it will definitely be to take up my studies more seriously as I wanted to do initially.. Some things might have changed, as I am at present at a junction where I am knocking myself hard for not paying much attention to score the 3pointer. Anyway as I've mentioned earlier, God has better plans for me. I thank you Lord for the wonderful gift of life and eventz in it.

A check list on trust

I came across this article on TheStar dated 8th June 2010 - Lifestyle Section; taken from McClatchy- Tribune Information Services. Found it very useful as a check list for myself. In the advent of this new age, where rates of marriage and divorces are on the rise, perhaps we should take a step back and think before getting onto a straight "YES". And 5 months down the road, realise that you can no longer stand the smallest details such as BO or lateness or his pets! And this was you = 5 months earlier going all puppy-doll-eyed at his lil' chihuahua.

Women are more liberalised at this age and time, with the freedom of speech, and doing what they will. Imagine having had your way all your life and suddenly there is this one man who walks in, sweeps you off your feet and before he had put you on the ground, it is already too late to realise the blunder you have made. It's good and well if you were not all that blinded during the courtship period but when reality sinks in and you are not too happy about the outcome of it then your life is at stake.

Anyhow do read on and you might find it useful if you've missed out the news article... It is not the entire article but excerpts from it.

1. Have I observed this person in many situations over an extended period of time?
(from the paper) For the trust-wary, there is no substitute for time. you have to see someone in many different situations over a long period of time before you know what kind of stuff they're made of. Let a new love interest know you need a lot of time to get to know who they are and who you are together before you are ready to commit. The right person will appreciate where you come from and won't push you.

(from me) The journey together as a couple shouldn't just consist of happy and joyous moments but a bulk of it has to be stressful, pain-staking with loads of arguments and disagreements. I believe that arguments are good in a way to iron out issues. I always believed that dust swept under the carpet doesn't disappear into thin air.. It remains until the carpet is lifted up one day. So, the best is to sweep it away while you're at it.

2. Is this person available for family events and holidays?
(from the paper) If not they may already have a family they're not telling you about.

(from me) In my case, I find it hard to make any social plans which include my other half as his weekends are usually packed with classes which usually stretch till late at night, However, when there are the occasional, important events, if and whenever he can he makes it a point to turn up. Holidays are to be planned way ahead prior to the date so adjustments can be made. And when he is flexible to allow room for these adjustments, it reassures you that he is responsible and serious enough to make room for family time.

3. Do they frequently work late/ weekends / take business trips?
(from the paper) Hmmm... perhaps you should find out where they're going and what they're doing.

(from me) Well, we share almost every detail of our daily life with each other at the end of each day and if we really can't talk over the phone due to travel reasons or whatever, we will make it a point to sit through a long detailed gossip session to tell all about the week that has passed or events that transpired. Transparency helps.

4. Do they tell you the important stuff right up front or do you find yourself being blindsided by deal-breakers?
(from the paper) Telling the whole truth, whether it's about sex or health or money problems builds trust.

(from me) Totally agree. Being "best-friends" helps the process as you would naturally confide in your bestfriend in every thing you do, right? That's how we have become. Important stuff, not-so-important details, the whole lot of information is shared. I was listening to a talk on the local radio station this morning about a colleague who gossipped about her co-workers to their boss. And the question was on how and what she can do to make ammends. A caller made a good point = not everyone can take the entire truth. Sometimes if you have to tell 5 facts or truths, tell the whole 3 and tell the rest 2 diplomatically. Which dampens the effect in a way.

5. Are they sincere or do they placate you by telling you what they think you want to hear?
(In the paper) While this tip is closely related to tip 4, it's more about how they operate in the present than whether they've messed up in the past. Learning to ask for what you want and need right now, rather than merely parrot back what you think the other person wants you to want and need, allows you to be transparent in a relationship.

(From me) I firmly believe that transparency is utmost crucial in a relationship. Crucial being the word i've chosen to use due to the weight of the consequences should this rule be broken.
As someone with a history of other bad-apples-experience, I have always felt inadequate and had the need to tell him all about it so he knows it from the start. But the other half thinks otherwise, I love you in the NOW not your PAST. It took me awhile to comprehend this statement. I've learnt to live by it now. By being the best you can be in the present, leaving behind your past and truly doing it, not merely saying that you will. This further builds your firm relationship foundation

6. Are they reliable?
(from the paper) Do they call/ arrive when they say they will? if they say they're going to do something, do they actually do it? This shows respect and consideration for other people. Reliability is important and is very very sexy.

( From me) - totally agree. If anything, I should be the one guilty of non-reliability. Being someone with a high sense of discipline and keeping time, I am the total opposite.

7. Do they share their emotions?
(from the paper) If so, they;re comfortable in their own skin. A good sign they have nothing to hide.

(from me) Not too sure if we can expect much of this from the men in our lives. Being Asian makes it even more hard as Asians are generally not very verbal with their feelings or emotions.

8. Do they remain rational?
(from the paper) No ranting, raving, yelling or screaming, please. Such out-of-control behavious is a smokescreen and what's behind that smoke-screen isn't something you want in your life.

(from me) - Rising to the occasion is definitely a very sexy thing, I feel. Women might want to be in control of everything they can have their say in but deep down inside, at some down point or another, we do want to take a back seat and let someone else drive. In any crazy-hectic-demanding situation, when I am out of control, I need someone to cool me down so another negative charge will definitely be bad news to me.

9. Do they think in terms of "me" or "we"?
(from the paper) In the world of the narcissist, everything is about "me" and that leaves no place for "you" or "we". You want someone who is over themselves. Look for someone who can focus on, care about and make choices based on the well being of other people while at the same time, honoring their own needs.

(from me) Very true, the last thing you need is a mirror or bathroom hogger. Genuine concern will go a long way especially when it comes to golden years.

10. Are they willing to earn your trust?
(from the paper) New relationships are wonderful opportunities to find love - don't hold them captive to the sadness of the past. At the same time, once you decide you're willing to consider trusting someone, remember: he/she has to be willing to earn your trust

(From me) Transparency leading to trust as a basic element is definitely important.

Eco-Challenge part 5 - The journey continues

Ferry was to take off at about 5pm. Our briefing was between 5pm till 7pm the same evening. We still had about 30 minutes before our ferry takes off. We walked into the waiting area to wait for our ferry. We paid RM5 per person for the island wildlife conservation fund. This fund is supposed to manage the wellbeing of the island, keeping people away from poachers and illegal fishing. However, from what we hear of from the few locals we met, nothing much has been done for the past few years to preserve the island. In fact, it has become quite dirty on the contrary over the past few years. We witnessed this ourselves while on our ferry trip as there were plastic water bottles floating around.

Whilst at her office, our agent explained to us that we will need to charter a water taxi to commute to the berjaya resort on Saturday as there is no land transfer there. The thought of a water taxi was fun minus the cost! Its cost ranges between RM30 to RM5o each trip!! What a rip off I thought.

Not an option to skip though, as we have already booked our accomodation at Paya and we need to be at Berjaya by 8am the following morning. We agreed to talk to the boatmen once we reach Paya we thought. While waiting for our ferry, another thought struck my mind. Our drop off point was Paya which is stop #3 and Berjaya is stop #4. If we continued on we will be doing a pit stop at 3 to drop our bags off, get a water taxi for stop 4 and once briefing is done, head back to stop 3! Thats an additional RM80 per person in one single night on water taxi alone!

Too much a rip off I thought and we checked with Ms Lim (agent) if we can get off at Berjaya with our luggages, go for the briefing and then check in at Paya once we were done. She said that is fine and advised us that the taxi rates might be more expensive for travel at night. We took that into account & got off at Berjaya stop. Once there, we asked one of the boatmen for a water taxi and thankfully a boy lead us to his brother who ran the water taxis there. He even offered to send us to the school for our briefing while he contacted his brother.

We took his offer, landed at the school, midway through the briefing and listened out to as much as we could. We were faced with a moment of decision again. After registering, we enquired about the timing to be there the next morning and possibility of having any accomodation at Berjaya for one night alone. We were put into contact with the liaison person for the race who called some of his contacts to check on the availability of rooms. Unfortunately there were no rooms available on such short notice and he advised us to find any other motel rooms on the berjaya side itself for convenience the next morning.

We toyed with the idea and thought about it for a while. At the end, we decided to go back to Paya and take a water taxi back the next morning. When we told him our decision to stay put with our original plan, he was kind enough to even offer us to bunk in with the organizers at the Berjaya if we changed our minds as he was very concerned on the travel time and safety at that hour. Given that the accomodation in Paya is already paid and we have already fixed all plans at that time, changing or looking for a last minute bunk-in place didn't sound viable. We told him that and thanked him for his help, agreed to meet him again the next day for the race.

Eco-Challenge part 4 - The journey in a nut shell

I left on Friday morning at 7am for my bus which was scheduled to leave at 9am. I've made my ticket purchase online and had my e-ticketing receipt as proof with me. Took an LRT to the Bukit Jalil LRT station and walked across the road from there to the temporary bus station. Stopped by at the kedai runcit on the way for 2 Snicker bars.

Upon arriving at the temporary ticketing counter, I found out that there was no electricity. It was already 8:45 and to my horror, electricity was still not up yet. At the counters, the agents were already issuing manual tickets to walk-in passengers. I went up to the counter and asked again and they just told me to proceed to my bus with my e-ticket proof and board the bus. Thankfully, there was a Transnational staff member who was standing next to me who asked me to follow him and he took me to the bus and asked his boss to acknowledge my ticket. The boss was even nicer to explain the situation, apologize and allowed me to board and told the bus driver to ensure that I have a seat on board with no issues.

I thanked God for their kindness and for not giving me any issues on the matter. Since I didn't have a proper seat number, I sat on the single seat at the back of the bus on alert to make way if anyone comes over to sit there. As i've guessed, a malay girl came to claim her seat with a proper ticket with the seat number on it. I quickly moved over to the 2-seats next to it. When the bus took off, the back row was only filled with 2 people and since no one came to claim my seat, I had both seats for myself. Excellent for leg space I thought and i slept all the way through the journey.

I was supposed to meet Sumi at the bus station at about 3pm and my bus arrived shortly after she arrived. Met her as planned at the Mersing bus station. Upon asking around, we found out that the jetty was about 500 metres away from the bus station and our ferry was leaving at about 4smtg. WIth ample of time in our hands, we decided to grab some food. We walked from the bus station to the main road, and came to a row of shop houses and restaurants and even a Public Bank!

While Sumi went to withdraw money, I waited by the side of the bank with a few police officers who were in the lookout for some pick-pocket guy who escaped them.

What more security can one ask for?

The safest bet for food we could think of was KFC which was 2 doors away from the bank. It was about 38 degrees hot by this time so air-cond was a good option. We had some burger, fries and drinks at the fly-infested place but no further complaints as we didn't have any stomach problems after that & the toilets were also clean. Beware when walking up to the upper floor or the toilets as the steps are rather steep and narrow.

After recuperating from the extreme heat, we continued our journey and continued walking towards the jetty. We were supposed to meet the travel agent there as well. As we were reaching the jetty area, our agent spotted us and called out for Sumi. Good guess I thought. After a brief introduction, we proceeded to her office to collect our ferry tickets, accomodation tickets and settle outstanding payments.

Eco-Challenge: Part 3 - Confirmation

Over the weekend of 1st of May, Sumi & I were frantically searching for hotel bookings online and packages we can take. Countdown by now was - 6 days to race day!

We resorted to travel agencies & I ended up bumping into one contact online who offered us a package at an affordable price but was rather sticky on the fine details such as arranging for bus transportation and other logistics we enquired about. By now, Sumi, on the other hand also had the Paya beach resort hotel contacted and she found another contact who offered us the same package but were more flexible to changing details.

As her contact person was able to confirm the details on Monday, I held the booking I had initiallised with my contact and waited for SUmi to finalise her finding with the resort contact. On Monday, she came back with a better deal with the flexibility of giving up the snorkelling and packed lunch option which came together with the 3D 2N package. So we confirmed with the same lady who later turned out to be more helpful in so many ways and made our entire trip smooth and easy.

By then I've already booked my Transnational bus tickets to go to Mersing or else she would have been able to book the same for me. As a point to note, if you are considering Tioman as your holiday destination with no frills and a smooth ride, she is one person worth considering. From the booking of your bus tickets, up to the bus station in Mersing, she arranges for transit to the island via ferry, gives you valuable information on the island itself and most importantly friendly and conversant in English.

Why Paya Beach Resort?

Well, we knew tat the race was to flag off from the Berjaya Hills resort in Tioman. Of course accomodation at Berjaya itself was rather pricey for us so we looked for other alternatives. Paya Beach resort became our mutual choice for a number of reasons, namely
1) good reviews for me
2) decent toilets for sumi
3) affordable prices for both of us

The map shown online had land connection between Berjaya resort and the other neighbouring resorts in the island. Little did we know how this land connection was until we arrived at the island.

The adventure is about to begin..

Eco-Challenge part 2: The training

The training

Training for me was tough as I have been physically inactive for more than 5 months by now. The eco-challenge race which came around was a kick-start motivation for me. I was visiting my 2 gfs at Desa Kiara pool for a "float session" irregularly on Wednesdays so I converted those floating sessions to a jogging session instead at the Taman Tasik Perdana. So there I was on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays jogging and on the few Sundays we had, we hiked up to Frim and Mont Kiara Park.

Sumi left for Singapore on last week of April which left me to train alone on those days while she did her set of training back home.

Due to my lack of stamina, I pushed myself to an extreme out of fear.
Fear of being left behind during the race. I had to keep up as I knew that Sumi had the strength and long-lasting ability like that of a Duracell-battery.

When I first started, I could hardly mover 5 metres without stopping and grasping for breath.

During training, I was also not allowed to drink a drip of water until I finish the entire course around the lake. This helped me a good deal as I am usually as thirsty as a lark!

By the end of my 2nd week of running I could already complete half of the lake without stopping. This boosted my motivation further and I kept pushing myself to achieve more. My goal then was nothing else but to complete a full round about the lake without stopping at all.

Something new which I also began to experience was sweating and a faster heart beat. I experienced palpitation and I was excited with this new change. I checked with my GP on whether this can be of any danger to me and he told me there was nothing to be worried of unless I was fainting or felt nausea or anything to an extreme, out of the norm. Thankfully none of those happened to me and on the contrary, I was feeling healthier than ever! Training continued till day 0 - race day!

Eco-Challenge

Date: 16th of April 2010

As usual I was early in the office and was waiting for someone to open the door. While waiting, I flipped through the morning papers and came across an interesting cover on something called eco-challenge. Reading on, it was about the 2009 Challenge which was held in Tioman Island and the one this year was to be held in about 1-months time!

The write up was interesting enough for me to google them up and upon gathering more information, I was already keen to sign up. Registration fees was only RM30, location in Tioman, and hey why not! Firstly I was interested to be part of the race, secondly, I wanted to visit Tioman since I have not been to an island off the coast before. In the excitement, I rang up my good girlfriend (gf) and asked her if she was keen. She was having her holiday break at hometown then.

Her initial response was - no... I've got a meeting at my centre the next day and I have to register for my next semester by then. Ah well, got to do it alone then, I thought. Continued on with work afterwards and applied for my leave the very same day!

Sometime later the same day, my gf calls and asks if I have found someone yet. I said no. Told her that i've promoted it to my office mates by then but no one seems to be solid keen to take part. So I was probably going to do it myself and she said she can come with me afterall, given that the trip was to return the same day after the race. I thought for a bit and said, yes. Why not. The actual race is on Saturday morning. Scheduled to finish by 4:30 pm. And we can take the next ferry back and catch the next bus back to KL. See, that does sound do-able right?
If you are not already laughing at me at this juncture then you must still be clueless as to what exactly we were looking at. Well, read on & in the next few entries, you will know why the wish-ful thought was not so practical after all.

So all agreed on, I went online to register for both myself and gf to go for the eco-challenge the same day during my lunch time. It was too much excitement to contain and without wasting any more day, I decided to start a jogging-routine for at least thrice a week.

We held off the logistics arrangement until we had a black and white confirmation from the organizers that our participation is confirmed. Confirmation email came in 2 days later. By then our exercise plan already took off and we were already scouting for a hotel and to confirm other details.

As usual, the procrastinators that we are, confirmation of hotel, transport and all other details we only done 4 days before the race day - 3rd of May!

an act of kindness and who's fault is it anyway?

It's officially approaching 1 year since i started driving on the streets of KL. It has been a barrel of mixed feelings to describe, one i can't quite put a finger on and say aha--

Since i started commuting to Subang for work since 2010 started, i am out of my home by 7am. Latest i've left home is at 650am with the intention of heading on to Federal Highway before the crawl starts to build up. The early hours work fine with me, dealing with sleepy and slow-ly annoying drivers on the road has helped to build up my patience.

The only times I am stopped on the roads are when I don't make it to the traffic light in time before it turns red. During which time I usually ponder and wonder about the things around me. Mornings work great for me. I am most alert, happy, resourceful and peaceful during these times. I don't even feel the stress of the traffic jam or honking drivers unless I am absolutely late which I try to avoid at all costs.

This morning I was driving behind this motorcyclist - an uncle who was delivering papers. He was driving extremely slow and was in the lane I was driving on. He had some space on his left lane but he kept swerving to the direction where my car was heading to. The traffic on my right was full of vehicles. So with no choice I followed him behind. Traffic light is about 50 m ahead of me and the moment I was reaching, the light turned red.

The motorcyclist now, already swerved to his left lane continued on his journey as he made it there when the light turned yellow. Alas for me... I was stuck till the light turned green again.

This situation struck me like a bolt! I was trying to be kind enough to not honk at him and when it was convenient for him, so conveniently he swerved on to his lane and he was well on his way. Where does that place me?
What could I have done differently to change the circumstances and in turn made it on time at the traffic light?
Would that have affected the motorcyclist and even if it has or not, would I have stopped to even think twice about it?

And last but not least... why do I have to be so kind and allow these people to go ahead of me?
Would the law of Karma turn around and work in my favour at times when I need it?

the struggles on our path..

oftentimes the most difficult thing to do is take a first step.

Thanks to the ignorance of....

- the road contractors who forgot to remove the road barriers at a construction site, a massive traffic jam is created (The overhead bridge along Jalan Bangsar)

- the level 2 technical support who refused to attend to my query on improving their service, they've lost a potential client

- and more??

On the different rivers we stride on

The wind and tide decide where the current takes us to. Who controls the wind? What about the current?
What if there is a huge waterfall ahead of us?

Usually, once the boat hits off the waterfall edge and drops all the way down to the connecting river below. For sure the boat will sink in due to the impact of the fall and might even toss out a few of the boat passengers.

If one survives this fall, manages to find the boat again and crawl onto it, the next set of sail is smooth for sure. This is the reality of life and the best analogy that nature can offer us.

The hidden message or "isi-tersirat" (as we used to write in our malay karangan during school days) God is trying to convey is straight forward in His creation.

Wonderful and magical indeed... for those who go about in life looking for miracles, they are simply overlooking simple miracles that take place before their very own eyes...

On those who lurve to 'hog' and 'block' our roads

HOG Definition: To take more than one's share of.

Being on the road more frequently, being exposed to Malaysian drivers and the whole works has opened up many ideas and thoughts in my lil head. Thought provoking-important-matters that is such as - WHY this and WHY that.

Looking out the window from the 18th floor of my office, i get a birds eye view of the Kesas highway. What I can see more clearly in the usual morning jams are very long unending queues of people on the roads. all 3 lanes will be filled with cars. But one important point to note will be the fast / 1st lanes. In that view, one can see gaps in between a few cars ahead of the others. Behind them there'll be 100s' or even 1,000s of cars but these drivers wouldn't budge. As a result, those who get on the fast lane for the obvious reasons - to be fast are stuck! Since they can't even move to the left, considering that all 3 lanes are literally sandwiched.

I go through this in person every morning when I am on the Federal Highway and on my way back on the Jalan Duta. So, be it a free-way or a high-way paying toll, you still face the same bunch of drivers. I don't understand why do people even hop onto the fast lanes if all they're wanting to do is cruise along...

All i do know is that these people need to be more sensitive to the other drivers on the road with them. Remember you're not alone. There are reasons why the roads are built for all and not one person alone. Unless you pay more tax than the rest of us, or bought over the road, i think it's unfair that you hog and block roads meant for use by general public.

Have some driving-sense...

We'll move on to the signal light usage in the next post.. till then ;;

Christmas Tree OH Christmas Tree...

It's the time of the year again to put up the decorated holiday tree & deck the dolls at home. Having kids at home, the joy of celebrating is even more felt compared to previous years. After 3 years of having a white Christmas, it was time to get back to the natural way of the festivities - a green one! What i mean here is the Christmas Tree. We're used to using "real-live" trees as we were growing up. Anya always made sure we had our tree up on the Eve of Christmas and sometimes, if we're lucky, 2 days before the day.

This tradition carried on till 4 years ago, until his physical strength started giving up on him. We had to endure this painful period with a heavy heart and this was when i decided to break the tradition and bought a white tree for a difference. The tree stood for 3 years, with the exception of the year anya passed away.

Now it's turned brown and the stand is nowhere to be found and this has made us get back on the road to look for a replacement tree again. Charlie decided to sponsor the tree and with a budget of RM150 i got on the road to find the 'right tree' for our home this year. It's 3 days before Christmas now so time is not on our side either.

With a list of errands to run, my first stop to look for a tree was in Petaling Street. My first time driving there, I found a parking a little further away across the road and walked into the street. The first time I bought my tree there, i literally carried the tree on the LRT trains till home.

I thought my search will not be so long but I was so wrong. The first few shops had trees which were exhorbitantly priced. Prices were ranging from RM199 till RM599. Some even had fully decorated trees and the price before and after are RM255 & RM699 respectively!

My ordeal doesn't end here as i continued walking further into the streets of Chinatown, eyeing on ANY shop that had more than 1 Christmas tree on display for sale, walking in to check the price and the tree itself.
Most shops were already filling up their door fronts with Chinese New Year decorations while a handful still had their Christmas deco in the fronts.
Some were not very friendly to assist, so much to an extent that one shop helper asked me to check the price on the tree itself. She insisted I checked the tree even after I've explained that the price tag was not attached.
Sigh... I even walked up till the top floor of UO (Uda Ocean) to no avail.
After walking into at least 15 shops, I finally bumped into this one last shop called M&K Party house. This was on my walk back, the last leg of my journey since I was running late to run my next errand.
Although it was a chinese shop, they still had Christmas decorations in the front and welcoming helpers. The price was reasonable for a 6 ft tree, at RM100. It was similar to our previous white tree and I even found nice white ornaments and lights to match.

And then i'm off... till the tree goes up, i'm leaving for now

What goes around comes around

I believe in the title statement above. But what is the time frame of the "return" really?

OUM 7th Graduation

An exciting day for all of us, two people from home will be receiving their scrolls on this day. Sharal & Charlie (sis & bro). Of course it took much persuasion to get Charlie to attend the event but he eventually made it and it was great to have them both there!

The whole event gave me goosebumps and memories of my own ceremony came flooding in. Felt honored and special to be present there, even more special if i was the one walking up to receive my scroll.

My education aspirations have not come to a halt, in fact, they've developed even more! I am more inspired to continue my studies at some juncture in this lifetime. Be it in any part of the world, this is a sure reality, yet to come true.

Education is lifelong, not a full stop at any juncture. From the cradle to the grave, we are all forever studying. This is amazing. EVen more so when I do it myself.

Pics of the graduation is to come. Look out for it.

Random ANN-TONY shots

Tony has his first "orange-feel"!

" Yummy... since no one is watching, I might as well savour every bit of the orange..."

Caught in the act (Below)

An angry - WHY-ARE-YOU-STILL-LOOKING-AT-ME look!

Tea-Break-Snack : Minced Meat Patties

Result of my tea-time-snack : Baked Minced Meat Patties. It was a mixture of a few readings on other recipes but with a few added ingredients here and there, it turned out tasting fantastic!

Ingredients include: potatoes, carrots, chiilies, spices

Healthier tea time snack option than the usual famous goreng stuff ;)

A well said article - For the women of ages 30 and above..

CBS - 60 Minutes lemondrop:
Here is a piece written by Andy Rooney - CBS 60 Minutes.

As I grow in age, I value women who are over 30 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:A woman over 30 will not lay next to you in bed and ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something more interesting.

A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom.Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what you might think about her or what she's doing.

Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women.

Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 30. They always know.

A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women or drag queens.Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk or if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.Yes, we praise women over 30 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal.

For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 30+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free." Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage.