Police report..

Went to do the police report for my car today.. man, there's just something wrong with government servants sometimes... from immigration to the police force. Anyway, listen to this first:

I went inside the Kajang police station, and there was a desk with three computers and three officers, and one head officer doing some paper work on a desk behind the front desk. So I just went to one of the officer ladies. Told her that I needed to do a police report to be able to re-issue my car road tax. Anyway, when she started asking me questions, her voice and tone was rather stern and sounds as though she was on perpetual PMS-mode! And the other police lady on her left was even worse! After making the report, I went to the "Beli Salinan Repot Polis" counter, which was (wo)manned by another officer lady. Wah liao.. she looked she could kill somebody any time of the day, at the snap of a finger, man!

Like.. what's the deal man? I know these people are fasting this month and all.. but heck, no excuse, man. Even if they weren't fasting, I somehow think they'll be acting like that too. "Service With A Smile" my a$$!!! I know policemen are supposed to project an authoritative presence, but this is a load of hogwash, man. Sigh... I hate government offices sometimes... FAK-ed up... the only government office with the least trouble and excellent service I've been to was the EPF office! They're great... and they do things REALLY, really fast, and they're really polite and helpful. If only the rest of the government departments are like that.. and not acting like Judge Dredd with the "A-YAM-TE-LUR" (I Am The Law.. Stallone style!) kinda attitude. Losers..

Maybe the government should set up a Behavioural Reprogramming Department specifically for these people... oh, wait.. if government, then no difference la.. they'll be like that too. Sigh.. what a world...

I'm raving.. never mind.. ciao...

Headachhheeee....

Rested pretty nice today la... after yesterday. Quite a long day, from 4am to almost 3am this morning (okay, fine.. the 3am thing was my fault la.. I'm a bit of a night bird la). Well, at least got energy to do all them dumb errands today, relating to my car.

Anyway, here was what my plan was to get my windscreen stuff in order:

1. Develop photo shots of my car after the screen was broken, photocopy IC and license to claim the insurance cover.

2. Go to the post office to get my road tax done.

So, after getting ready, I left house to go to the photo shop at Metro Plaza shopping complex. Had a Delifrance brunch.. one of them Potato Gratin thingies. Got the photos developed, and photocopied my IC and driving license. I proceeded to the post office to get my road tax done. When I got there, I was told that I have to go directly to JPJ to get it done... shitteee. Never mind, next I went to do the insurance claim, I asked them about the road tax. Apparently, I was told next that I had to do a police report to be issued a new road tax sticker! Ah shit... then, I was also told that I wouldn't have to pay a "lost road tax sticker" fine if I had taken the road tax paper portion from the broken glass. But I didn't take it, and I threw it all away with the glass on the side of the road where my windscreen broke. SHIT!!!! Now I have to do a police report saying that I lost the damn sticker, and I have to pay a rm50 fine! Sigh... by the time I got the insurance claim done, I went home and it was about 4 something in the evening. I then got the call from the insurance people, and they told me that my mum had to sign the claim forms (the car was under her name)... they made a mistake by not checking the car ownership card. That means I have to go to the insurance office again to give the police report and take back the release form to sign, and THEN return it back. Sigh.. only can do it tomorrow morning.

My last words for the day...

ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!...... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!................


FAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!........

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!....

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....

Sunday...

Oh well, what a way to end the weekend. Anyway, continuing from Friday's boombastic episode, I sent my car to the workshop yesterday to have the windscreen replaced. But not after spending about 30 minutes to half and hour cleaning glass out of my car as much as possible and leave the rest to the workshop fellas. It'll be the first time I see someone replace a car windscreen. I purchased the laminated windscreen, as opposed to the tampered one, and I can see it ain't no easy job replacing one. The guy who fixed my windscreen like biasa only, but the way I see him work, from cutting out the broken glass primers (the adhesive that is used to stick the windscreen), blasting out all the glass pieces with a high-pressure air gun, reapplying the primers and putting the new windscreen... this guy is an artist man. Yeah, i'm talking about your average windscreen mechanic... the meticulosity of his work... whoever said working on cars is a lowly job... to do a good job, you need to have an artistic right brain, man... don't play play. But of course, you still get your hack-ed up half past six mechanics around here and there la. But this chinese, loud-voiced bloke is pretty good, man. So impressed. Yay.. got spanking brand new windscreen. Cost me rm695 (rm200 for workmanship.. worth the money), but insurance only cover rm500. Aiyah, better than nothing. Now only thing have to get my road tax done, and send the insurance claim. So that's that...

Anyway, I had a Sunday Buddhist class this morning. Had to go early, like checking in at 7am. Wah liao... but I really cannot tahan.. I had to go and run. I haven't ran since... Tuesday? Crap, missed two days of training. So you know what? I woke up at spanking 4am this morning, and went out to do a nice long run... 9 - 10k! Wanted to test out some posture and form concepts from Chi Running, where footwork was concerned. Anyway, I clocked 1 hour 8 minutes.. that was same as da recent Powerman race pace. Maybe I shouldn't have ran that fast? Nah, never mind la.. was pressing for time anyway. Anyway, some analysis of the run:

1. Chi Running concept of picking up your feet as your turnover. Really does take a load off from your lower leg muscles. Add that to the body lean, I think it does make me run a little faster. At least I think it felt like that.

2. Running while pressed for time is always not a good idea, but sometimes you don't have a choice. I think I may have pushed a bit too hard today. I tried running almost all the way, I only took 3 or 4 one minute walk breaks.

3. Trying out the Chi Running foot work, should start off doing less distance, so my quads are a little sore now.

4. Running is good to release pent-up tension, man! And running is a vicious cycle, you run to get rid of adrenaline, but adrenaline comes back and makes you want to run some more. And if you don't run, you get antsy... tension sial...!

5. I can't believe I can wake up that early this morning... and I only had about 2 hours sleep, or half-sleep.. I couldn't really sleep also. Well, when you gotta run... you gotta run... (Jamie, wish I could join you guys at Bkt. Aman, tho!).

6. When designating a day to do a long run, make sure there's nothing else on the day's itinerary... I think I must have slept donkey amount of times in my Buddhist class.. and I'm immune to caffeine... so coffee doesn't do diddly-squat for me..

7. Got chased by a dog also, like Azwar. So instead of running away, I stood my ground and growled back at the mutt.. poor animal got freaked, it braked on it legs, thinking that I might eat him or something.. hahaha... well, the fact that I keep a dog also helped la. Used to be freaked out about dogs.. last time I was cycling down, I kena chase by dog, I fell on gravel, and my left knee had to get god knows how many stitches.

Well, I'm tired as hell, wanna have a nice good sleep... ciao...

Oh yeah, I think I might be going to Boon Foo's to look at some bikes with Greg... yee haa!

FAKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay... now I got that going....

I was in the shower an hour ago, and I was just thinking of some stuff, and for fun and out of frustration, I came up with a theory: Everyone has at least ONE super-DUPER-kau-kau-FAK-ing BAD LUCK day in a year! If not, the BAD LUCK is usually spread it in smaller doses thru-out the year. Same goes for good luck. Well, for me, it happened yesterday!

The day started out alright.. woke up in the morning, went to KLIA to pick my parents, had lunch, came back, relax a bit, and then prepped myself to go to Mid Valley to watch Resident Evil: Apocalypse with my brother. So on my way there, after Taman Connaught, and before the East-West Link toll, my entire windscreen cracked.. with a bursting sound! That itself was a shock.. I stopped on the roadside with hazard lights on. Talk about mega-bad-luck man...

Anyway, I proceeded to try to break off all the glass and dump it on the roadside with the plywood from the spare tire compartment. But instead of going ballistic, I think I remained fairly calm.. even I'm surprised. Usually, I'll be like... (*%&#Q(*&$*$&Q(#&(#Q&% already. But I didn't.

Then when I almost finished breaking and clearing the glass, and trying to clean out the glass shards in my car, IT STARTED TO RAIN!!!! The rain didn't fall in one hard swoop, but started from gloomy clouds, then drizzle to full fledged rain. Can you believe it?? Mega bad luck. Luckily my brother who was on the way came to help me out. I drove slowly to the nearest petrol station, a Shell station, after the East-West Link toll. My brother brought with him one of those book-wrapping paper.. to tape it to my windscreen. But unfortunately, he only bought one piece, and it wasn't enough. And knowing rain, cellophane tape just wouldn't do to stick the paper... so what happened? Both of us ended up waiting at the Shell station, with hopes that the rain will recede and blow off. So, 3 hours later, it was still raining, albeit lightly. My dad then came to the rescue with a big transparent wrapping paper and paper clips! After clipping the paper on what was my windscreen, we made our way back to Kajang at 45 - 60km an hour.

Sighhh... there goes my movie.. I really, really need to lepas steam.. gonna try to wake up early to do a long run in the morning.

Rain.. rain.. no train...

Arrrggghhh.. FAKKKK!!! I can't believe this! It just rained, and rained and rained! It rained COWS and BULLS last night, and I missed my training. It's a good thing I went for a swim in the morning, some adrenaline used... but not enough! Kajang started raining so badly, I didn't want to take the chance of going to KL to train... nanti kena also. *sigh*

Need to release tension, that's what running does.. good one I tell ya. Anyway, I managed to get my pianist Justin to go to Poppy Garden at Jln Sultan Ismail with me to jam with some friends who are playing there. Oh, man.. feels good to play with a band again... for my musician friends: Long time never play la... and I mean REALLY play. I miss No Black Tie.. *sob sob*

Hopefully can train a bit today..

Going to watch Resident Evil: Apocalypse later with my bro... reviews when I balik...

Later...

Singapore Marathon (21km) Training Plan

Here's my training plan for Singapore Marathon. I'm using the plan that appears in Runners' World Magazine. From last week, I'll have exactly 7 weeks to train for it, so this plan starts from last week.

Week 7 (11 - 17 Oct):
14/10 training run - 5 - 6k + 4GP
16/10 6 - 7k
17/10 long run - 10k

Week 6 (18 - 24 Oct):
19/10 3km, 2x(1:00, 1:30, 2:00)AI, 3km
21/10 7km incl 4x1:00 AI + 5 - 6GP
23/10 5km
24/10 long run - 6 - 8k

Week 5:
26/10 5km, 3x(2:00, 2:30) AI, 3km
28/10 7 - 10km incl 4x1:30 AI + 6GP
30/10 5 - 7km
31/10 long run - 12 - 15k

Week 4:
Same as week 5
7/11 Long run - 12 -15k

Week 3:
9/11 5km, AI - 2x2:00, 2x2:30, 1x3:00 + 6GP, 3km
11/11 10k + 4GP
13/11 10k
14/11 Long Run - 21k

Week 2:
16/11 5km, 2x(2:00, 3:00, 4:00) AI, 3km
18/11 10k incl 4x2:00 AI + 6GP
20/11 10k
21/11 Long Run - 15 - 16k

Week 1:
Same as week 2
28/11 Long Run - 10k

Week 0:
30/11 3km, 4x1:00 AI
2/12 3km easy, 4GP
4/12 3km easy
5/12 Singapore Marathon Half!

Glossary:

Aerobic Intervals (AI) - short fairly fast paced running intervals during the run, tempo run speed (about 85%).

Gentle Pickups (GP) - 100 metre intervals, start by picking up the pace, gradually push it to 90% to full and hold it for 10 to 20 meters, then gradually slow down. Walk to full recovery before starting the next one.

Penang.. with Ning

Ahhh.. I just got back from Penang. I did a show with Ning Baizura on Saturday 16 Oct, for a launch of this concept called "Dimensions"... some lifestyle connection to Dunhill. Basically it's just Dunhill advertising in a club, so they got Ning to sing jazz-type stuff, as to reflect the lifestyle that reflects Dunhill.. blah blah blah...

...anyway..

15 Oct night:

Only started rehearsals at 10pm Malaysian time (which means 11pm lah). Also just found out our flight to Penang via AirAsia is at 7.20am!! Really last minute... after rehearsal, I went back and probably slept at around 2 to 2.30am.

16 Oct... early in the morning (groan!):

Woke up at 5 am to pack my stuff, and left at almost 6 am to the airport. Decided to drive myself to KLIA and just park my car there until Sunday when I get back. Checked in with the rest of the band, and took off around 7.30.. fairly early for an AirAsia flight.. at least compared to the previous flights I took by Air Asia. Especially after the Sabah trip, me and my friends, out of good humor, coined a new tagline for them... "AIR ASIA.. Now everyone can fly... LATE!" (no offense to Air Asia.. but some flights are always late). We reached Penang Int'l Airport at around 8.15am, and we were picked up by the organisers for the show, Nexus Productions. They checked us into Gurney Hotel, and while the other band members went to sleep (they didn't have much sleep the night before, they're Muslim, so they were fasting as well), I went to Coffee Bean just outside of the hotel (it occupies the same building on the ground floor) to have some breakfast. Walked around a bit, went back to the room and napped for about half and hour. Woke up, saw that it was nice and sunny outside, and went for a swim at the pool (that's what I like about Gurney Hotel.. the pool's just good for laps, and they have a wading pool for kids, too!). After my swim, I went back to the room, chatted with the musical director for Ning, Alywin, showered and went out for soundcheck (but not before having my lunch at the Bean). Side note: This is the first time I have so much Coffee Bean food in a week! We finished soundcheck and a bit of a rehearsal for about 2 over hours, and I went for long run around Gurney Drive. I went two rounds both directions (one direction is about 1.5km long), so that amounted to 6km.

After the run, it was back to the hotel room, a nice hot shower, and makan at the Buka Puasa buffet. After some preparations, we headed to the venue, ChillOut.. which is just next to Coffee Bean, which occupies a portion of the hotel building on the ground floor. We did the show, Ning sang some tunes like Sway, Fever, You've Got A Friend, and one of her new tunes from the upcoming album, Breathe Again. Then we stuck around for the party after the we finished the show. We thought it was gonna be a little more happening, with some dancing and some partying. But the guests started leaving! Penang crowd not happening la... and I was really in the mood for dancing! Anyway, I managed to meet Joanna Bessey (who was MC-ing that night). After a chatting a while, myself, my friend Rozhan (who played bass), Ken (MC-ing that night with Joanna) and some of Joanna's friend hit the dance floor and started dancing. After a couple of glasses of wine, I headed out to Coffee Bean for a night cap, and I found I couldn't keep my eyes opened, so I scrapped the idea of going back in, and just hit the sack!

Today, early in the morning (...grooaaannn!!):

Had to wake up at 6am to pack. Flight was at 8.30am. Left hotel with the whole team and Ning at 6.30am. Checked in at 7.15am. Had hot mocha coffee and a blueberry muffin at Coffee Bean (see what I mean?) at the airport. Entered the terminal and waited some more. Boarded and took off at 8.40am. Landed at 9.30am. Left KLIA at 10, send Rozhan back to his house. Had second breakfast at Killiney's Kopitiam with Justin (I just love half-boiled eggs, toast bread, and french toast with butter and pandan kaya). Went back home, bathed, slept a bit....

.. and that was it.

Wow.. what a fun trip.

Oh, by the way, my big toenail on my right foot is starting come off. It all started when I did a long run when I first got my 717s, got hammertoes, black toes, the whole deal. Now it's starting come off.. and I've got a big toenail, not the short types. Bugger... anybody wants pictures? Ahahaha..

Ciao...

Sabah Pics..

I just posted some pics I took with my PDA. Check it out here. More pictures forthcoming, when I get them from my friend's camera..

Started training again...

Yesterday (14 Oct), I went to Lake Gardens in the evening (around 5pm) for my training run. It was a nice, cool evening, as it was raining quite a bit, and receded to a drizzle when I started my run.

This marks sort of a start of my training for Singapore Marathon, of which I'm only doing the 21K. I was officially supposed to start training the last 3 weeks, but I inadvertantly took part in the Desaru race, which sorta breaks my SG-Marathon-being-my-first-21K thunder.. but who's counting? Anyway, that race probably meant more for me, than what would have been my first, come Singapore. I wouldn't know if I would get a medal at all in Singapore. But I did in Desaru.. so YAAYY!! Go babehh..

Eh hemm.. back. Anyway, timing seems to be everything, don't you think? There aren't any races this month due to the fasting month. It's like the perfect time for some of us to concentrate on our training.. mine at least.

So, I managed to crunch in about 6 - 7k in Lake Gardens, albeit slow. I seemed to feel a little lagged this time around, my heart rate is higher, etc. But I suppose I had it coming. I made a mistake of not doing easy jogs/runs after the Desaru and Powerman races. So here's a tip from a lazy fatso: Don't stay around idle after a race... must do some easy jogs, or walk, or swim, or whatever. Don't let your ass stick to your couch!

After that, recuperating a while, I did 4 GPs, or Gentle Pickups. It's a 21K training tip I got from Runners' World. Gentle Pickups are 100 meter runs, where you start off running easy and gradually pick up the pace to an all out pace for 100 meters. Then you walk around or stop until your breathing returns to normal, and do another GP. It's a form of interval training as well, where the main objective is to train your muscles to get used to running faster than it does.

I also tried out one of PowerBar's new Protein Plus bars, Mocha Almond Fudge. It's lighter than the Vanilla Yogurt or the Chocolate flavours.. and easier to chew and eat.

At home, I also tried their new PowerBar Recovery drinks. Orange flavour. I think the Endurance Drinks taste better than the Recovery ones. But then, I'm not too picky about it, so I think it's okay. Not all good things taste good.. don't you think?

Jairus Anthony Music Fest - 13 Oct 2004

Jairus Anthony Annual Music Fest

For those who didn't know Jairus Anthony, he's most prominently known in KL as the James Taylor of Malaysia. He did the club circuit for quite a while, and he made his name in KL singing James Taylor tunes, with a bit of Jairus edge! He was one of those musicians who believe in real expression in music, and not making music out of monetary interests. He passed away a couple of weeks ago, he was suffering from some rare case of pancreatic cancer. He was supposed to undergo some specific treatment for his type of cancer in the Philippines. Unfortunately he didn't live long enough to go for it. I can't say I personally knew him, I have heard of him, and until we all found out about his cancer diagnosis, I have never met him. I did a show with Greg's band at Actor's Studio as a fund-raising effort for this treatment in the Philippines, and that's when I met him. It was also the first time I've heard him sing, and even though he was not in top form, his singing and his sense of expression touched me. His singing exudes honesty in every inch of his body, and that is the ultimate goal for any musician or artiste!

Anyway, I played in Greg's band, The Biophonics last night at the Backyard Pub, Sri Hartamas, as part of the Jairus Anthony Annual Music Festival. The idea for the musicfest was conceived by Jerry Chong, owner of Backyard Pub & Grill, to keep alive the memory of Jairus and everything he stood for. Although Jairus parlayed his talents for over 20 years in the local pub circuit, he never received the recognition and industry accolades he deserved. It was only after his illness was diagnosed that a charity album entitled "Jairus & Friends" featuring his talent was finally recorded live at the Backyard pub through the kindness of fellow musicians, fans and friends. The musicfest is aimed as a platform for the most talented local musicians to show off their abilities at a single venue every year and attract recording companies. Part of the proceeds from the festival will go towards developing and encouraging young and up-and-coming musicians.

Besides us, the performers for the night included Az Samad, Shelley Leong, and Soft Touch (Peter Hassan Brown and Markiza). It was quite a packed night, and everyone definitely had a good time playing, as well as listening to the band. The music fest takes place every Wednesday beginning Oct 6, and ends on 17 Nov, which happened to be Jairus' birthday.

So, if you're free do go and check it out. Wednesdays at the Backyard Pub.

Sabah trip... 7 Oct to 11 Oct 2004

Here's my account of my trip to Sabah...

Prologue:
The trip originally consisted of myself, Devin, Bala, Kantha, and Jeya. But Kantha couldn't get his leave approved, so he couldn't go, even though he paid for the trip. Jeya couldn't go due to work, but he confirmed that he couldn't go much earlier. So it was only me, Devin, and Bala, and Bala's gf, Pu Ei, in Sabah.

7 oct:

Went to klcc to shop for stuff, like Speedos, latest Runner's World and JazzTimes mag. Met Devin for lunch, sent him home. Packed my stuff as expediently as possible. Plan was to take KTM to Bandar Tasik Selatan and take the ERL to KLIA. By the time I reached Devin's, it was too late to take trains. Luckily, Devin's dad managed to arrange for taxi. At the airport, after checking in and stuff, we went to the terminal to board the plane. To our dismay, the plane was delayed for over 2 hours. Instead of taking off at 5:15pm, the plane took off at 7:30pm. Finally we reached KK at about 10:30pm. Bala's gf picked us up from the airport and me and devin checked in to our apartment, Marina Court. After that we went for a late night snack (my dinner actually) at a nice restaurant, that also served some nice North Indian food. Had Aloo Mater (potatoes, peas, and carrots) and Palak Paneer (grinded spinach and cheese) and naan. Went back to our apartment and went back to bed. Oh yeah, my Discman crashed big time on me. Can't even play it no more! Crap..makes me want to consider them digital audio players like the IPod or something.

8 Oct:

Woke up early, 6am, to prep myself for a morning run. Left at 6:30, and ran around KK city. Ran for about 37 minutes. I wanted to buy some roti canai on the way back, but apparently I forgot to bring cash..crap. Ran back to the apartment without food. Then, I went for a swim at the apartment pool for about an hour. Haven't swam in a long time...about over a year I think. Feels good to swim again, although I had better start learning some proper techniques for swimming if I wanted to compete in tri events! Anyway, then me and devin had a mcdonald's breakfast. Walked around Api-api centre and bought some drinks and snacks from 7-Eleven. Later we took a walk around town, from the Filipino market to Centerpoint shopping complex.

The Filipno market had lots of stuff, but it's really divided into three sub-sections. The first section sells fruits (along with young coconuts to drink!), the second section offers handcrafts and souvenirs and the last section is the Ikan Masin section: dried seafood! Wah liao, the smell of dried fish, seacucumbers and various seafood was a little too much for me to handle!

Then we walked along other parts of the city. Most of the shops in KK town are made out of old buildings, and the businesses seemed as though they had been there for ages! We made our way to Centerpoint shopping complex, and met up with our friend Bala. We then went to Tanjung Aru beach. A short stretch of the beachside has a small park, and adjacent to the park is a row of nice eateries and food stalls, from Sugar Bun restaurant, cendol, coconuts, and a foodcourt. We checked out Bukit Padang, which has a nice park (where I would consider going to run), but it was quite a drive unless I had a car to drive at my disposal. Next we took a drive the town of Lintas. The shops there are younger in age compared to old KK. I also spotted two new vegetarian restaurants, in addition to the one I went to from the previous trip, two years ago. Later, we picked up Pu Ei from her workplace and headed back to the apartment. I rested awhile, while Devin took a dip in the pool. After getting ready into our party clothes, the four of us headed to Little Italy for dinner. Little Italy is a nice little restaurant that serves really good italian food, with prices lower than the average italian restaurant in KL! We made our way to a local club called Shenanigans, where most Sabahans and visitors go to, to let their hair down! At about slightly after midnight, we retired from the club. Me and Devin went to a local cybercafe behind the apartment to do some emails. The café still uses Windows 98, and old microprocessors! Intel Celeron, I think, at a slower speed than my previous Celeron computer! Man, it was just too slow for my liking already. After an hour or so, we headed back to the apartment and just hit the sack!

Footnote: missed Malaysian Idol finals...Jac against Dina.

9 Oct:

Woke pretty late today around 10am. Took a swim to get some exercise. We checked out from the apartment in the afternoon. Bala and Pu Ei picked us up and drove to Centerpoint to have lunch (they got a nice, small vegetarian food stall in the food court). I looked around for a Discman to replace my old, konked out one. Found an Aiwa, fairly simple functions, no remote, for rm240 (after some haggling from Pu Ei). Oh well, something to use before I get a digital audio player in the near future!

The four of us headed to the port and took a ferry to Gayana Island, our first island trip for this holiday. The half hour boat ride was a relaxed one. Slow enough to enjoy the sun and sights of the surrounding islands.

The resort at Gayana is a seaside water resort, consisting of 46 wooden chalets, is built on stilts on the outshore of the main island land. I found out that the island was to remain untouched, hence the surrounding sea area remained clear (you could see the waterlife swimming around the resort).

After checking into our really nice chalet, we headed out to an adjacent beachside (a 5 minute boat ride) just across our resort. We fed the fishes with bread; you could see a school of fishes literally rushing all at once to grab a small piece of the bread we were throwing in the water. We rented some snorkels and snorkelled around the surrounding seabed. Due to less than good weather the last couple of weeks, the visibility of the deeper side of the seabed wasn't as good as we would've wanted. We also fed them fishes while snorkelling. I stood in one spot on the seabed and held a piece of bread and just waited for the fishes to grab the bread off my hand! Within minutes you could see a colorful spectrum of fishes of different shapes and size flocking around me and grabbing the bread piece by piece. It was really beautiful. After that I headed to the shore, and me and Devin took a run along the beach area. Unfortunately, the beach area thinned out very quickly and we had to double back and go the other end. At the other end, we turned back and ran again to the opposite end! I think we took only 10 minutes to run. Short, but it kickstarts the juices! After some photo shots, we packed our stuff and headed back to the resort. We met for dinner at the resort's Island Seafood Restaurant. I found out that the restaurant also catered for vegetarians! The waiter gave me several choices: vegetarian salmon, char siu, and chicken! Wow! That's definitely the first for me. I ordered the vege salmon and braised mushroom with brocolli dish (they even used vegetarian oyster sauce to cook!). Amazing. We reconvened at the chalet I was staying in, had some drinks, talked and joked around, etc, and then retired for the day.

Footnote: CONGRATULATIONS TO JAC.. OUR FIRST MALAYSIAN IDOL!! WOO HOOO...

10 Oct:

Woke up super early today.. like 6:30am! When I woke up it was so bright already. I couldn't resist it. I took my new Discman, and sat on the balcony overlooking the resort, and listened to Oliver Nelson, while writing this on my PDA.

About 8:30am, we all went for breakfast at the Island Seafood Restaurant for our free breakfast buffet. Not a lot of choice, though... just baked potatoes, baked beans, cereals, bread, and eggs for me. Oh well, got food better than no food. After that, we decided to kayak back to the same beachside where we went snorkelling the night before. Me and Devin on one kayak, Bala and Pu Ei on the other! Not easy trying to kayak with another person. A lot of coordination is needed, trying to paddle the kayak straight also quite a challenge! Did about an hour and a half of snorkelling again.. then we kayaked back to the resort. We checked out, and boat-rode back to KK port.

At the port, we were supposed to take another boat to Manukan Island. But the boatmen needed at least 8 people for us to pay a rm14 per head fo the boatride. Otherwise, it's rm112 for the whole boat. We decided to wait for more people to show up and go in the same boat. So, instead of waiting in the port, we decided to go to the nearest shopping complex for lunch. We got the port people to call us if there are more people who are going to Manukan, so that they can put them in the same boat. We walked to Wisma Merdeka (about 5 - 10 minutes walk) for a late lunch, then headed back to the port to wait. By the time we got there, there was one guy who came on board as well. Instead of waiting some more, we decided to take the boat, with just the five of us... a little more expensive per head, but too lazy to wait. The port was going to close too. Anyway, we took a speedboat to Manukan Island.

Finally reached Manukan Island... the place looked stunning. The chalets also looked very interesting. Some of them are built on the hills, with wooden walkways to connect to each chalet. They put us in one of the hill-built chalets, but the place looked rather old and run-downed. The air-con in our room was rather weak.. it was still hot even though the temp was at 18 degrees Celcius. I think the air-con was spoiled. Anyway, me and Devin decided to take a run along the so-called 1500 metres jogging track. To my surprise, the track, or the trail, rather, is a series of slopes and hills. Me and Devin ran (Devin obviously running way faster than me), while I threaded the hills rather apprehensively, as I didn't know the route. Finally when I reached the end of the 1500 metres, it turned out to be a dead end, on a cliff overlooking the sea.. and the sunset. It was aptly named Sunset Point! After resting a couple of minutes, and talking to the Austrian couple who was there checking out the sunset, we resumed our run back. By that time, it got darker and darker, as there were no lights around that small, narrow, track. I proceeded with caution. At the end of the 1500 metres at the starting line, the sky was virtually dark. When we went back to our chalet, Bala managed to get us moved to another chalet, where the air-con and the rooms are in much better condition. We found out that we moved to a renovated chalet, whereas the previous chalet was set for renovation a little later in the year. After taking a nice shower (the heater didn't work.. but I was hot from the run, so I cold bath was good), we headed to the open air restaurant, and ate an expensive dinner, much to our chagrin. I paid rm7 for a small glass of lime juice... wah liao.. daylight robbery, man. Finally, we all headed back to our chalet, and retired for the night.

11 Oct:

Woke up late this time.. really tired. The chalet was so comfortable that I almost didn't want to wake up. Skipped breakfast (had chips though), and we walked around the beach area. By that time, around 9 something, the place was flooded with tourists! A lot of Taiwanese tourists, and also Westerners. Later we snorkelled around the beachside area... to our disappointment, the waterlife was rather... sparse. The corals were mostly scattered and broken... there wasn't much fish as compared to Gayana Island. Manukan Island didn't turn out as nice as we thought it would be. We weren't that happy with so many people at the island...too crowded. I think Manukan is a more popular place to go to than Gayana due to advertising. But I personally prefer Gayana Island. There wasn't THAT much visitors at one time (there are only 46 chalets there). Anyway, after chilling and getting a bit of a tan, we checked out from our chalet, and took the boat ride to the port. We walked around KK a bit more, and come evening, we went back to Tanjung Aru for dinner.

Finally, we took the flight back home to KLIA, and a taxi back to Kajang.

That's the end of our trip... thanks...

Yay.. just got back from Sabah!

Hehhhh... I reached KLIA around 10:30pm.... and reached home around 11:30pm, I think...

Took a nice hot shower, and watched pre-recorded Buffy The Vampire Slayer finale.

Reeling from my Sabah trip.. it was quite a beautiful sight... had a good time...

Will write about it when I'm less sleepy...

Back to practicing and working... well, I shouldn't be complaining... my friends have to wake up early in the morning to work, while I don't. Anyway, time to get myself together also...

Anyway, will write about it soon.. I didn't bring my camera, as my parents wanted to use it when they go to China.. but my friends took some pictures, so I'll try to get them as fast as I can, and post them...

Later...

Some Powerman pics...

Hey y'all.. some pics from the Powerman last Sunday. Enjoy..

..oh yeah, can go see some more full ones at my Yahoo! album.


Greg on the way to the transition area after the first 10k


My cyclist Reeta


June on the way to the transition area on the first 10k


My 1st runner Nora (in red cap) and a new friend I met, Mimi


Greg getting his prize (2nd place)


June getting her prize (4th place)


(l-r) June, Greg, and me with our winnings


Me and my medal


Yay! Finisher medal!


My first Powerman medal!

Got my PC back... sluggish...

Hmm.. got my PC back about 2 days ago. But it ain't working as well as it should. Keeps hanging and stuff.. talk about messing me up. Not only that, the computer tech didn't save my data on my Microsoft Outlook, so I lost quite a lot of archived data that I usually sync with my PDA. Sigh.. at least I still have my recent data on my PDA, so not too bad la.

I'm feeling sluggish the last couple of days after last weekend. Maybe it's because I was in a busy period the last two months (went by really fast, by the way) from performances and gigs, did quite a lot of races since June and suffered some of them too, and maybe even sleeping late...down to my watching Buffy DVDs. This could also be post-gig depression blues... maybe a little bit on post-race blues, or rather post-vacation-cum-race blues.. buggaa.. or all of the above. Didn't even practice at all. I better get myself together by next week. I'm so behind on a lot of things.. practice.. practice.. practice.. and a bit on training also. Oddly enough, there aren't that much races within the next couple of weeks before Singapore Marathon, only about one or two, I think. So I hope that will allow me to concentrate on my training.

Oh yeah, tomorrow, I'm going off to Kota Kinabalu for holidays with some of my Kajang friends. But the trip is already not on the way as planned. There were supposed to be five of us going, but two of us bailed, due to work commitments. So it's only three of us, and one of our friend's girlfriend. Hopefully she's got some pretty friends we can meet over there. Oh yeah, hopefully can find places to run. I've been to KK before, and it seems really, really nice there. So it shouldn't be a problem.

Sighh... I need a life... actually, I just feel like sleeping all day. Shitteee... on the other hand, feel like running also... ARGH!

I want a bike... a nice road race bike... very itchy for one, after seeing those triathletes..

Arrrgghhh... so many things...computer down, Teh Tarik Crew, Powerman..

FAKKKK!!!! My computer went konked on Thursday! I had tried to download the Windows XP Service Pack 2 online, and when I did, it restarted, and then the whole damn PC hanged at the Windows XP introduction sign! I tried restarting it on safe mode, and some stupid funny things all come out, and it hangs. Bladddyyy hell.... why la, must do this to me at this time. Some more that time I have to send some important emails, pay some bills, and of course, update my blog... damn celaka la sometimes. The more high-tech things get, the more complicated and headachey it gets... anyone else feel that way? Anyway, back to the story telling...

Thursday 30 Sept:

My brother, Gavin's birthday, today. Only plan was to go and teach some students, then if got time, go to KL to do some stuff. When I reached Endah Parade, Sri Petaling to teach, the school called me up and told me that the students are not coming! Usually, I would start cursing, but it turns out to be a blessing. I had the time to go to KL and do some stuff. I wanted to exchange the red Asics pants I got from the Parkson sale. Although it said XL, but it was tight.. like that New Balance pants I got from Albert at the NB store. So I went to Albert's shop first, exchanged the NB pants for another Axel pants. Then I bought some more DVDs (I, Robot... De-Lovely... and Ghost In The Shell 2 for my brother as a small gift). Went to KLCC after that and exchanged the red Asics pants. Oddly enough, when the salesperson got another pair of the same pants, and we compared sizes, the newer pants was bigger. And the sales manager just told me to take the pants in exchange! Such a nice guy. Usually supermart stores like that don't have a policy of exchanging the stuff after you've bought it, y'know? And I guess it was a old-stock item, they probably don't bother that much la, maybe. So that's cool!

Anyway, didn't have time to send the damn PC to the service centre.

Friday 1 Oct:

Ohhhh booyyyy.. I had such trouble getting myself out of bed. I have a rehearsal with the Teh Tarik Crew (TTC) guys (and a real pretty chick by the name of MizzNina!), at 11am. Such a drag.. to drag myself out. Managed to anyway. Luckily, most of us were a bit late, so we managed to grab some breakfast. Anyway, we managed to get all their songs down fairly quickly. They had to leave fairly quickly, as they had to go for a soundcheck (they were opening for Alicia Keys that night). Then me, Justin, and AJ went to Mid Valley to makan and hang around. We all left later, and I went to Armada Hotel for the Powerman Malaysia briefing and dinner. I was quite apprehensive going in there alone (Greg came a little later). Anyway, met up with some familiar people who I met when I volunteered for one their Malakoff Duathlon races sometime last year. It was fun, having food, and chatting with the rest of the athletes and stuff. I was signed up with a Mixed Relay team. I met my 1st runner (Nora), and my cyclist (Rita) in the team. Some insights about Triathlon/Duathlon events as compared to running races later.

Saturday 2 Oct:

Wanted to get up early to do a short, easy run, but couldn't la. Me and my Buffy DVDs! Arrrgghh, I should really stop sleeping so late in the night. Anyway, woke in time enough to go for the soundcheck at BarBlonde for the KLue 4th Anniversary gig - Seven Collar T-Shirt and Teh Tarik Crew album launch. While doing soundcheck, it rained like mad! Nice weather. Managed to go home for a couple of hours before going for the gig. Cool. One mistake though, I should've taken a nap, but NOOOOOOOOOO!!! I had to watch my Buffy DVDs. Bad mistake. Should've slept a little bit, and get as much rest for the Powerman race. Anyway, I left for BarBlonde and reached around 9pm (we were scheduled to start at 9:30pm). Guess what, there was a power failure!! Wah liao... such inpeccable timing to have a power failure. That means the first band, Seven Collar T-Shirt (SCTS) hasn't started performing yet. So we hung around for about 30 minutes to an hour before the power finally came back. SCTS started their set, then us, with TTC. The show was good, to say the least. It was really fun for us, I think it's sorta a first time for us playing with a fairly real hip-hop band. The vibe was really cool, and groovy. A lot of pretty chicks at the venues around there la... from BarBlonde, That Indian Thing, Bar Savanh... the whole row of shops (aptly named Asian Heritage Row). Went to have some tea at the Lotus mamak next to Nikko Hotel (met a couple of cute girls there.. AJ's friends). I left around 2am to go home. Needed to sleep la... I'm thinking to myself.. am I gonna be up for the Powerman race in the morning???

TODAY, or rather yesterday, as I'm typing this, 3rd Oct:

Managed to wake up to my alarm clock at 5:30am. But I had a bit of a tough time pulling myself out of bed. Still feel tired. I had serious doubts about doing the race. Darn, why did I have to sleep so late? Anyway, pulled myself out anyhow, washed up and then packed my stuff for the race. Managed to make some sandwiches for breakfast. I also managed to prepare a bottle of the PowerBar Endurance Drink (which I bought at the Powerman briefing on friday) the previous night and chilled it, too. Good time like no other to try it out. Hopefully my stomach will agree with it. Anyway, after the Desaru episode, I'm determined to not dilute my body of electrolytes and sodium, so I wanted to make sure I take more isotonic drinks with some balance of water.

Started my journey to Putrajaya, Precinct 2. I took the first turnoff to Putrajaya (coming from Kajang), and followed the signs to Precinct 2. Guess what, the main road leading to Precinct 2 was blocked! WTF???? They were organising some event and they closed off the road.. how the heck was I gonna get there?? I was pretty afraid of being late, and then not able to meet up with my team and all. I took a couple of turns here and there, and I managed to find my way to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) building. Met up with my team members, Nora and Rita.

The first group to flag off at 7:30am was the Individual category. The second group was the Men's and Mixed Relay teams at 7:50am, then the Sprint category at 8:10am. Saw off Nora in the Mixed Relay flag off. Then I hung around with Rita and managed to chat with her quite a bit while waiting for Nora to return. Nora eventually returned from the 10K run after ab0ut and hour and 20 minutes, and Rita started off on the bike. Saw some of the other athletes like Greg and his wife, June, coming in from the run, transitioning to the bike, and then off to the 2nd 10K run. Rita came in about 2.5 hours later, and I started out my run at 11:27am. By that time the sun was pretty high and bright...it was really sunny and hot already.

I started out the run fairly fast. I was running out of time, as I only had about an hour 10 minutes before the qualifying time was over. Bad mistake. I had a bit of stitches (or maybe stomach cramp?) the first quarter of the way.. bugger. I had to do some walks on and off to cool off the stitches. Anyway, the 10K route was a straight route from the MOF, all the way to the Putrajaya Convention Center where the route doubles back around the PCC, then back to the MOF. So the deceiving part about this route was that you could see the PCC from the MOF. You'd think to yourself, "It's not that far, away?", but once you're on the run, the road seemed to go on forever trying to get the the PCC. Good thing about the route was that it was fairly flat. The only incline area was the overhead bridge prior to the PCC and the round trip around PCC to double back to the MOF. Anyway, I managed to cover half the 10km route at around 35 minutes, which meant I may have a chance to score the 10k in less than 1hr 20 minutes. I picked up the pace slightly, somewhere around 4km to the finish. Stopped to walk for about half a minute a couple of times. There were times I thought I had that tingling feeling (reminiscent of Desaru), and I thought to myself, "Oh boy, not again!". So I walked about half a minute, sipped on the PowerBar Endurance Drink, then proceeded to run again. I picked up the pace a little bit more the last 2km, I was getting really psyched.. the finishing line was getting really near! Stopped once for about half a minute to walk, because I couldn't hold that pace too long. Then I decided to run all the way to the finish line... Rita was waiting for me with another runner whom I had just met as well... the two finishing line ladies holding the finishing line prepared the line for me to cross... I ran as fast as I could... and YESSSS!!! I managed to reach the finishing line, and had time to put a smile on my face (not sure if they took a picture or anything)... stopped my watch, and I clocked 1:08:08! That was about 11 minutes faster than my Adidas KOTR time which was 1:19! Wooo hooo... not bad! Right after that, I guzzed down 3 cans of 100Plus Power.. I didn't want to make the same mistake as Desaru! I assessed my body... no tingling feeling on my face! Didn't feel disoriented. Aahhh.. okay la... I'm gonna be alright! Wooo hoooo!!! Another race finished! I'm happy with my time.

Later on, I met up with Greg and June, and with the other athletes whom I managed to chat up with while waiting. Went to the toilet to change, wash myself up a bit, then joined Greg and June for some food that they were serving. They didn't have much food for vegetarians, so I just gobbled some kuih, fruits and one fried egg. Had more 100 Plus and water too! After the prize giving ceremony, we proceeded to our cars, and managed to take some cool pics of us with our medals and prize. Then we drove all the way to Section 17 PJ to eat at Kanna's Curry House! Long, out of the way... I know, but never mind la. Anything for some good post-race food!

For dinner, I went out with my family to La Bodega, Bangsar. And ordered lots of food to eat.. 2 plates of penne with mushroom cream sauce, vegetarian pie, salad, grilled vege sandwich, 3 types of cheese with baguette, and a plate of tiramisu and choc fudge cake! Had a nice dinner... ahhhhh...

Post-race analysis:

1) Tried out the PowerBar Endurance drink, Orange flavour. Works pretty well for me. Not sure if there's much difference, but as long I'm not fainting out or feeling a great loss of energy, I don't worry so much about it!

2) Should've taken some more lubricant with me, the ChampionChip leg-strip chafes a bit. Luckily it was only 10K.

3) More sunblock, especially if you know you're gonna race in the hot sun most of the way.

4) Should learn to start the pace fairly easily and not start running too fast, even though the body was feeling anxious and want to burn rubber.

5) Sleep early! Buggaaa... musicians..!!!

6) Tried one of their new ProteinBar products, Chocolate Caramel Nut. Easier to eat than the Chocolate Fudge flavour. Less protein content and lighter, but easier to eat.

7) I didn't suffer from the cramp thing like Desaru, so drinking more iso drinks and some water does help!

8) Enjoy the race like always la...

9) Finally, I find that there's much more camaraderie in these events like Powerman and Triathlon events compared to typical road races! With normal road races, unless you know a group of people already, you're most likely less able to make friends easily, because the range of participants are wide, whereas in the multi-event races like the former, you're most likely to see some of the same guys from the previous races. It's more "familial", in a manner of speaking. Once you're in the multi-event races, you're like in a family, automatically! At least I felt it more than in the road races. But of course, as I've said before, I already knew quite a number of people from the road races that I've joined in. So that makes going to them races more fun, than going alone or with only two or three people.

That's it for now. I'll post them pictures once I get my PC back!

Later...