Just returned from a Fuego outing, a chalet organised by the 5A seniors (yeap, 1 batch older!)
Chalet was great, but since it was a 3d2n chalet, there was no BBQ on the first night, only this evening, which I am not attending, to give myself some room to breathe and relax.
Not to mention, to pack my stuff for 2 back-to-back trips.
Then again, I've this lousy feeling about packing bags for trips. Just simply procrastinate till the last moment, 'cos I don't know what to pack! Hehz.
There were about 20 over people at the chalet, which was a very good turn-out, and we rented 14 bikes for night-cycling to Upper Thomson Road prata shop from ECP. Sadly, it rained at around 1am, and we were forced to take shelter near TTSH, CDC and just opposite the Shell petrol kiosk (I forgot the road name...?)
So we sat there, in a leaking bus shelter (rather new too) and did some self-entertainment whilst waiting out the rain. Weird games like push-Wanyun-into-the-flooded-pool-of-water and Pizza Hut game just came out.
Added to the fact that we were largely cold and hungry, the temptation to just run across to the Shell station to grab a bite was something we could not resist. Some of them ran across and got food like chips and bread for us, which was good as we were just drenched and wet from the sudden downpour.
It was a lame night to remember.
But luckily, the rain became lighter and more bearable at about 3am, and we decided to head towards Lavender Court for supper instead, so that we do not head too far north, for fear of further bad weather.
And we quickly rode there...to watch the Benfica-Man Utd match, LIVE. Haha. Just the first half is good enough.
Well, you guys know the result, nothing much to say too. Just felt that tactics seperated the 2 teams, as well as the burning desire and committment to the match shaped the outcome.
Rushed back to chalet in attempt to catch the second half, and we did not miss much, as the scoreline was the same as at the end of the first half.
Bathed up, rested and some went to rest upstairs in the air-con room, while the rest of us got engrossed in chinese chess, Warcraft (yes! 3 laptops in a chalet! Hi-tech chalet!) and in little chit-chats. A new game emerged with the limited resources we had, and we simply had fun playing all the way till the sun was shining brightly...by then, it was about 9am.
Left with Justin, Wanyun and Yinshuo, with the latter 2 having to go NUS. Justin and I settled our breakfast at ECP Macs, then went our seperate ways...
And now I'm here, blogging this...Haha!
Current Mood: 
Sleepy
Happy day indeed...today marks the end of the "official" running calender for Singapore runners, as we take a short break after the SCM to prepare for the gruelling Singapore Biathlon coming up next year, the first event of a series of competitions...of which we might know all too well. Haha.
My first virgin run for this marathon, ended on a happy note. Happy day, indeed. 
Early morning woke up at 3am, because I could not sleep further, and had my morning breakfast of bananas and noodles (of cos one might ask how they come together...but...they did. And no problems too. Haha)
Then I set off for Toa Payoh Stadium to catch the morning 4.30am shuttle bus ride to Padang, where I met one of the sgRunners, yankee. He has run 2 marathons before, and he trained himself more for this one, so I was quite worried of whether I would be able to complete. My goal: To complete the run.
Got down to stretching, taking in my Powerbar bit by bit, checking my shoes and laces and ensuring that my Powergel is snugly in place. In fact, it would become my lifesaver later on.
Well, shall not blog too much into the run itself, will do so after I come back from my recce to KL tomorrow.
But, finishing it was definitely nice, a sense of achievement too! So, look out for edits on this post! Bye! Time to sleep...
After the event...A view of Parliament House
With some of my friends
Finished! Yea!
Current Mood:
SleepyJust returned from a recce trip to KL, shall blog that up on top, but now, back to the marathon...
The run was okay for the first 15km or so, which was from the start point at esplanade bridge, to the Marina U-turn point, and back to where we started, passing by the Nicoll Highway and National Stadium. I was running with yankee and kops21, both sgRunners forumites. It was a steady pace, which we are all comfortable at. (And that means u can talk whilst running, haha!) Basically, we were counting down...a typical convo:
me: 13km mark!
kops21: 29km more... Good work!
me: That's the 2 mark...soon...the 1 mark! woohoo!
This is called motivation.
And running with friends was motivating enough. Though both were older than me, it was my first marathon, after all, and I decided that finishing it was more important, therefore I kept close to their pace, as they had undergone at least a marathon each before.
Holding a waterbottle and running, I fingered my PowerGel nervously throughout the run till Nicoll Highway, checking that it's in place. Despite the presence of the safety pin (which I added just in case it came off), I was unsure whether the PG will drop off, as I could barely feel its presence. And each time I felt for it, I was assured that my 'lifesaver' would be there.
Somehow, when you are running the marathon, your thoughts wonder all about. At least, that's for me. I was thinking of other stuff, like what I would do after the run, who are waiting for me, the people I love, like and wish to be with immediately after the run...etc. It's this sense of closeness and longing that pushed me to want to finish this gruelling (and not to mention, HOT) race.
As I passed the distance markers and the respective water-points, I felt lucky that there were 100-Plus and water bottles available for us. A great relief, as the sun rose and the weather grew hotter as the time hit 8 am. By then, I think I was at Nicoll Highway.
Yankee had already downed his PG, and I was contemplating whether to, since I had downed a PowerBar just at the 10km mark. By then it was closing to 15km, and my stomach rumbled a little. Or was it a growl...
So I took out the PG, and tried tearing the top off. Turned into Fort Rd as I did it, and I realised that tearing the top was difficult, so the next method was to use the teeth, which obviously worked.
Slowly took in the PG, and downed with sips of water. It worked. The stomach growling ceased, and I carried on running whilst eating.
And, guess what? I saw Vijay at one of the water points, giving out the 100-Plus Isotonic drinks. I never noticed till I heard his voice. And that was motivation also. Never thought that I could see a familiar face in this run.
Many a time, during the run, I wondered why I'm doing this run. There're reasons which I have, but I doubt I would like to say here. And all those doubts and thoughts made me feel like crying during the run. It was painful, yes. But I told myself that I could push on, and as the 25km mark passed, I focused on getting to the U-turn mark, where the Powergels and bananas would come in handy.
And boy, were the bananas given out huge. Managed to eat whilst running/walking, and on turning round, I managed to grab 2 sachets of PG from the volunteers, and held in my hands. I wasn't thinking much when I got the packets, but I ran a distance, past Eugene approaching from the other lane, and the Bedok Jetty, and look at what I have in my hands.
Green Apple.
I nearly fainted. I figured that the apple flavour would at least be better tasting that the strawberry version, since I had tested my Lemon Lime version, which was awesome and I felt good after it. So I stored the Apple flavour away, and opened the Strawberry flavoured packet.
Wrong Move.
After the first gulp of the PG, I thought of puking and throwing away of the packet, because the taste was horrible! I just could not stand it.
Nevertheless, I forced myself to eat it dry as I passed the 30km mark, where the invisible "wall" lay, for most runners. I was carrying on alone, after leaving kops21 (20km mark?) and yankee (29km mark?). Basically, running my own race, mind over matter.
Felt a comfortable pace setting in, but it was between 33km to 38km where I had the worse part of the entire run. I felt slight tightness in my calves, and back of my thigh muscles, which forced me to slow down, stretch, and walk. The stretch/walk/run lasted for this crazy 5 km, where the distance seemed to get longer and longer and water points getting lesser and lesser. The weather was also significantly hot by then.
Nonetheless, I pushed on, knowing full well that I've already covered three-quarters of the distance. To give up now, is simply too wasted! I gritted my teeth, and managed to walk/run from Fort Road to Nicoll Highway. Along the way, I met with the MES runner during my Army days, a very good sprinter. Forgot his name, but he was walking and asking me to go ahead, which I did. But alas, pain struck and I had to slow down for another stretch.
All these changed when a lady overtook me, wearing Saucony Grid Tangent shoes, same as mine! She was running pretty fast, but at a pace which I can easily match. I decided to use her as my pacer, and paced her for 2km plus. And that helped to break the problem of muscle soreness! Soon after, she slowed down, and I continued at that pace, and mentally told myself to go on, for I'll be bearing the pain for only a while more.
The ending lap was hot, and filled with supporters. I just continued running at my pace, upping it to drain myself, as I thought that this is the only place where one should just heck it and go all the way. Overtook a few runners en route to finish.
Finally, a sense of relief and satisfaction gushed within me. I couldn't wait to tell my family and friends, as well as those I've had in my mind throughout the race, that I've ended in one piece.
I walked further in after the crossing mark, and took a can of 100-Plus made available. Thought of sitting down, but the emotions within me was too much. So I quickly walked to the chip-return counter and got my finisher's medal as well as the finisher's t-shirt, an adidas climacool top!
Walked over to the baggage collection area in a half-dazed mood and threw away the half-drunk can because I felt too full. Met up with Carine, who had finished her race in 3:45, which was very good for a female runner! I've got loads to learn from her. Met up with Enping and Jonathan too, both of whom had done good races.
There was some problem with the collection of bags, especially for the 21km runners. Bags were stacked so high and in such a disordered fashion, and all hell nearly broke loose as people streamed into the place to find their bags. It was made more difficult when you see lots of SCM shoe bags and New Balance orange bags lying around. Luckily, I had used my orange Crumpler, and found it immediately.
Quickly changed out of my wet socks and shoes into comfortable beach slippers, and proceeded to leave the area. Attempts to contact Huiqin, Tianyuan and Wanling
were made futile. Liquan was already on the way home by the time I called.
Went to Marina Square to meet up with Zhi Han and Geraldine for lunch, at the food court. On the way, I saw Wanling and her cousin, Isabella, both 21-km-ers.
After a much-needed drying up and change of clothes, I had my lunch, but it was difficult to stomach in the food. Soon, I left to meet another friend for the movie Chicken Little, which was damn hilarious!
It was definitely...a great day for me. Achievement of many objectives were done, and I hope that with this, "tomorrow would be a new day!" (Quote from Chicken Little)
Results:
Ended up with a chip time of 4h:30m:8s, which was above my initial expectations. This worked out to be about 9.4km per hour.
Marathon Results here.
This is a damn cool show. Period.
I'll pay to just watch Charlize Theron. Haha! Talk about coolness...
Did a run in the morning, then, a Batu briefing (with like, 5 participants and 4 comm members?), followed by taking a half-hour bus ride to Suntec City to get my SCM Race Pack (a singlet and shoe bag!), and then meeting Kossy & Huan Liang for the movie.
A busy day indeed, and I certainly enjoyed it. 
After the movie, met up with Noel and we had dinner, then chilling out at Alley Bar was cool! Talk about lotsa stuff, and well, it's fun actually. Been some time since I chilled out, and hanging out with friends too. I think Uni made my life worse. Haha.
Just that the stuff we talk about, does remind me of certain events. And well, I do feel something inside, maybe it's a sign that I'm still uncertain of certain things. As we discussed more of such issues, it's a journey into self-reflection and asking yourself what you want out of life.
Dang...counting down to SCM already...getting worried, or maybe a lil psyched up too. Haha....Good luck to me >.<"
Kossy, I just think that the book u have, is darned cool. 
Current Mood: 
Happy Mood
Current Music: Vonda Shepherd - Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow
Yesterday was lunch with parents, meeting up with Nasri and Zhi Han (for some crap too), running with Kossy and Noel, and dinner with Noel after that.
However, it was just a tossing and turning night for me. I wonder why, many times. Just unable to pinpoint the exact cause, but probably what would be happening today, I guess? In the end, I had barely slept for 5 hours, and awoke with a tired mind but a recharged body.
Morning, met up with Candice, Jorin, Kossy, Noel at Clementi Food Centre for a mini-gathering "breakfast" before heading for the bank to settle the Rovers stuff.
What the DBS trip had for me was a certain eye-opener. There was no one at the main enquiries counter, and we were unsure what to do at that time. It was 11am then. However, I remembered the previous time I had went to the bank and proceeded to get an automated slip and to go upstairs.
So off we went.
And the bank officer who attended to us 3 seemed to be running on a short fuse. A really short fuse. Basically she just went through all the documents and attended to us as though we were little kids (probably 'cos we all seemed to be younger? I dunno...) Although previous Liquan and I had come to confirm all the documents and necessary information required for the account, this particular bank personnel was very quick off her block to demand things which we had already kindly put in front of her.
Moreover, she seemed to want to do everything quickly and spoke to us in a rough and unkindly manner. I deemed it as her personal style, but it got to my nerves when she just chided us in a gruff manner when there seemed to be a problem setting the account up (of course, the problem resolved itself). In essence, the person lacked patience and customer-orientated service.
And we 3 agreed that this was one bad example of customer service. Seems like our dear government has to do something to improve customer services, as we're mainly in the services sector and highly dependent on this sector of the economy.
After which, we proceeded down to Queensway to exchange Jorin's sandals, and I got myself a mini-first aid kit. Would come in handy, as I would be going on quite a number of trips also. Time to get a new LED torch light, water bag and maybe a pair of cheap slippers. Heh.
ECP cycling outing with 5B proceeded in the afternoon! And it was fun, since exams are just over, and you can just about throw the books into a corner, wait for it to rot for a month, before desperately finding buyers for them. Despite the recent bad weather, quite a number of people actually turned up! Alvin, Amelia, Daryl, Jialiang, Ming Kwan, Selina, Wai Keong, Wee Kwok, thanks for your support!
And this cat was sleeping so nicely during one of our stops at the food center in ECP, the Lagoon (i think?). I just had to take it.
Basically, we cycled from ECP to NSRCC, attempted to go to Changi Village, but realised that the option was to go onto the road, since the pavement was cut off after a short distance. Went back the same way and enjoyed the good weather. And Daryl went down this part of the jetty near to NSRCC (basically, he just jumped down, haha), so there you go:
And then, we saw these:
Hmm, seems like ECP did some additional tune-ups, and I guess the millions intended to spend on improving the facilities at ECP is to increase the number of people going there, and to have more shops opening in the area.
Proceeded to return the bikes, and saw Jacqueline and her 1B class at the outing at ECP. Same time, same place, different activities. While they proceeded to Parkway Parade for some food, we went over to Katong Shopping Centre for some "cheap" fare. Haha.
And we were all Minute Maid spokespeople in a flash. Haha.
Current Mood:
Happy
Well, yesterday was the re-visiting of Lumbong, and boy, has it changed much since we last went!
Met early at Kranji MRT with Candice, LG, KH, TQ and HH, the latter 2 going there to buy tickets for the Berkelah recce.
Basically, it was pretty early when we reached Larkin, and while we walked around to look at the prices of the tickets to Kuantan and KL, we were talking of the free strawberry milkshake that the last person to arrive (HH) had to provide. Or rather, it was just LG only. 
Anyway, back to the story.
So HH and TQ left after getting the tickets (a whole stack of them too!), whilst the rest of us trooped off to catch the 9.30 bus departing from Larkin to Kota Tinggi. Reached Kota Tinggi pretty fast, and departed for the plantation after preparations.
After a quick (and almost non-existent) warm-up and 2 pointers from Candice, we're off!
Basically, the plantation trail has changed quite a bit since the last time I walked. That was...2 months ago? (Held in Sep) Almost mistook the wrong route inside there, but...I sort of recognised the turn, just that the vegetation really was making judgement difficult. Not to mention the limbo-rocks which we had to do. Not funny...Imagine with our big bags, and doing that. Haha!
It was a quick 6 hour up-down trek, and the jungle trail was quite alright, except a close brush with death with falling rocks (Survival Tip 1: Remember, never ever look up with your mouth open, and spectacles save the day!), getting injured with LP when we're in front of one another, laughing non-stop and acting like crazed participants...
And KH has shown us why he is proclaimed (unofficially of course) the King Of Lamers...
Candice: "On the way in, I saw a board that says 'Waterfall mining'. I wonder what they can mine at Lumbong."
KH: "of cos it's water la. That's how u get Mine-ral water mah."
(quoted from Candice & KH, all rights reserved)
And a whole lot of nonsense spilled out in this trek.
As we did not arrange for a cab to pick us up, in order to do a statistical test of the number of taxis coming into lumbong (quote from LG), it was found that on a weekday, 100% of the vehicles going into that area are headed for the Kota Tinggi Waterfall Resort. 
Luckily, KH went over to the Resort and the security person helped us by getting a member to drive us out of the area in his car, and we paid RM15 for the ride. Pretty cool huh? But definitely, not to be done again for more than 4 people! *takes note*
Went back to JB, and looking at the jam at the Causeway (at 7.50pm!), we decided to go and have our dinner first at the nearby shopping mall (and reception from Singapore appears to be strong at higher levels, nearer to metallic objects at the food court)
So for ultimate fun, just throw a group of fun-loving friends up a waterfall trek, and you get your fun. No holds barred, 100% satisfaction!
Current Music: The Sound of Music
Yea yea yea!
Celebrated Jorin's birthday with a spin (pun intended) through K-Lunch today. Although it was a short 3-hours worth of food, songs and pretty much laughter, it was great to have an event organised away from the mundanes of cycling, trekking, jogging blah blah blah...
And all of us, the exam-already-over-and-I-dunno-what-to-do gathering there early in the morning, it was certainly great.
Basically, it was a covert operation (again!) and Wanling, Heng Hong and I managed to uncover what Jorin needs...a pair of sandals.
And off we (WL and I) went to get the Teva (branded hor!) sandals from Queensway yesterday. (Thanks WL, for being really nice to go down during your busy exam period...)
And today, met up with Tianqi, Jorin and Heng Hong early in the morning at Somerset for the K-Box. And everything went as per planned...Candice and Lianguo arrived shortly after, and had already prepared a cake!
Wanling arrived late, but we had already managed to do some last-minute adjustments to ensure that Jorin would be out of the way whilst we prepared the cards, cake and everything else in the room.
And she was shocked (well, not 100%, but the gift, definitely. Haha. I'm pro)
After the K-Lunch, LG, Candice, WL and TQ left, whilst HH, KH and I (literally) dragged Jorin up to K-Pool for an hour plus of beginner's pool. It was damn fun playing, just needed more ppl, that's all.
After Jorin left, we headed down towards Borders, but not before grabbing a can of the new F&N flavour. Very cool drink, but a little on the sweet side. At Borders, there's this cool exhibition done up by this French photographer who did aerial photography of various scenes around the earth, and here's one of them...
It's damn nice la! Haiz, really an eye-opener, and lets you see places which you might never get to. Indeed, we're really lucky to be living here. And I'm really impressed by the quality. Alas, never got to view finish. Left with HH to NEL, and KH went off homeward bound.
Never mind....to view again...another day!
Current Mood:
Happy
It's pretty pathetic, I'd gotta admit. $3K for such a stupid moment, a rash decision. 
Just because she's a CEO doesn't mean that she ought to be bossing around with the ICA officers at the airport and throw the meat on the floor when realising she has lost.
It's like throwing a tantrum. It's basically childish. Considering she's a CEO, I won't have thought such actions would be enacted...now, I think otherwise.
We have laws, every country has laws. Even your home has, too. (Unless you don't have one, which I can't say for all)
So if you can't live by the laws with this place, then just don't come here and throw a tantrum when you realise that the oh-so-deliciously-finger-lickin'-good food is wasted because you cannot bring it in to your family (or friends, whatever).
Agricultural laws are in place in Singapore to help protect us from the slew of viral diseases afflicting the globe. We're considered pretty lenient already, and if you wan comparisons, have a look at Australia then. Theirs is even more stringent.
It's all in the interest of public safety and health concerns. You can eat all you want in China, but please, do respect the law here concerning the well-being of all
Anyway, talking about laws, read about the recent comments regarding the execution of Nguyen, an Australian who was caught smuggling heroin in transit in Changi Airport. To cut the long story short, basically the Australians are trying to lobby for a turn-around in our court's decision. Now, I just think that they should not try to impose their laws on our courts and reverse the decision. Imagine the value of the law should it be changed after strong protests.
Basically, the ball's in our court, and we're to do whatever is as defined in our court (pun not intended).
To all FNA1002 students: Take a look at H16 of today's Home Section...And u'll understand what the full-page ad is about.
Current Music: Sun Yan Zi - Yan Lei Cheng Shi
And the end...was it beautiful?
To me, it wasn't. In fact, a horrid way to end. After weeks (or days) of studying and preparation, it turned out to be like this.
Exam strategy? None.
And there goes the module which I had the greatest confidence in.
Perhaps, "confidence breeds complacency" is true. After all, I had concentrated mostly on my other modules, especially Physics and Marketing. The stack of books and notes was tremendous (below)
And perhaps, the day just wasn't smooth sailing after all. Firstly, I forgot to bring my waterbottle with me into the exam hall (which is usu the case); Secondly, I forgot my desk number at the start.
And looking at the questions, I just fumbled as I thumbed the pages, uncertainty grew, and all there was left as a huge black void.
Guess I should just enjoy the hols, since the results are of no consequence...You can only look forward to the future, reminiscence the past, and live the present.
There it goes!
There it goes again!
Darned, the Serway textbook was too huge for my wastepaper basket. Maybe a lighter would suffice
Time to watch the movies I've always wanted to, go out with friends I've always wanted to be with, enjoy sports, enjoy nature and a whole lot more.
Hopefully, Dec will be much better...
Current Mood:
ExhaustedCurrent Music: Wu Yue Tian - Sun Wu Kong
Woke up today morning, feeling the morning breeze...the wind...and the cold.
Been raining for the past 2 days already, and it's really cool to have natural airconditioning at this point of time, after a period of hot and dry weather. Well, TRIED to study in this good-to-sleep weather, but failed quite miserably.
Then again, nah...
Exams are really a killer. You kill millions of brain cells each day trying to force in things which you might not use in the future, or have no use before, or do not know what the hell you are learning it for.
On top of that, you just get results, but do not know where the mistake lies, what it is, or whether any of the information you know of is correct in the first place.
Basically, you think you know everything, but you do not know what you don't know. What an irony.
Was doing Maths and Marketing the whole of today, been a killer. Looking at my helpsheet, there was a sense of satisfaction (and therefore I shalt not throw it away after exams) on completing it, but I kept thinking what else should be added, or have I missed out any important formulae. Looking at the past year question pretty much sucked as well. Trying to attempt them, using the "tricks" we've been taught...and I think to myself, what's the use of all these? Is there an application which we can put these into good use?
Marketing was still alright, at least I could relate to the current ME. Haha. Price, Product, Place, Promotion, the Consumer Buying Process, the AEITA model, the utilities given by a product, the values consumers look at when making a purchase, the channel intermediaries...The list just goes on.
Crap. This ain't supposed to be some MKT1003 blog. This is a blog of today.
Life has pretty much hit a all-time low. No runs, no outings, no movies. Just plain me sitting in front of stacks of papers and textbooks, each screaming at me as if saying "Read me first!" And pimples appear as if landmines have just been spread over the entire planet.
And I did, and 3 are out of the door as I speak. Banished from my room...till I find suitable buyers for them.
2 more to go, before the semester draws to a close...finally. 
Current Mood: 
Cold