Bong 4!

To some, it was a great trip, full of new learning experiences, a road of self-discovery, and an enjoyable one at that.

To me, it went on a high, but ended on an all time low.

I guess I'm really lucky to end up here blogging. Really. When people are desperate, they'll do anything to get their way. And I really mean anything.

Anyway, the trip was great, although there was the initial hiccups at the start of the trip which made things a little unbearable, like participants being late, and where we had to split up the entire group into 2 due to a traffic jam encountered by the Causeway Link bus.

Whilst waiting for the bus to Kota Tinggi, we had some entertainment:

Nonetheless, we managed to make it to the Kota Tinggi resort, where there were the usual preparatory work, such as safety briefings and the warmups, and off we went. It started to drizzle a little when we walked in, so out came the rain-covers to protect the bags. The sky seemed fine, with patches of grey clouds hovering in a distance. I made a silent prayer not to rain during the trek up.


Off we go!


Lian Guo and Candice were the front 2 men, with Kheng Hui in the centre and me at the back, as the rest of the comm and ex-comm members were having their lunch due to their delayed bus (but they still arrived in the nick of time). So Heng Jie, Lai Yee, Noel, Suji and Wanling were to catch up with us as we 4 brought the participants up first.

And even before reaching the first waterfall, it was a coincidence that there was another group from Singapore going up (6 people), as well as a large group of Malaysians going up. The Malaysians just hopped around and took all the shortcuts, and I was amazed by how they transported their stuff....by throwing across a river.

Imagine your bag floating down the river should you mis-throw. Haha.

Upon reaching the wall leading to the first waterfall, the remaining group of 5 people actually caught up! We merged with them and successfully reached the first waterfall, where we had fun...for a short while.



Let's go!


Up the rock face


Noel, Suji, Candice, Lianguo


Candice & Me

We went up for the 2nd waterfall, which is just a short journey away, past the valley. The water level is pretty shallow this time round, and it all spells good for our trek up. I was very pleased with the weather, which had ceased to rain, but seemed to be dark only. At the 2nd waterfall, it was fun all over again. And the Malaysian kids passed by us, and went up for the 3rd waterfall effortlessly. I was simply stunned, and amazed. Dang, they're good.


Guess whose leg?


Wanling & I


With the group of Malaysians


And we found JJ's missing slipper

We gingerly made our way up towards the 3rd waterfall, as the path seemed slightly more smooth and difficult to get a good grip already. Weather held on, although rumbling was heard in the distance.

And we pushed forth on reaching the 3rd waterfall, as the weather seemed to be on the brink of raining. Slotted myself between the participants to help them out at obstacles, as the route from the 3rd waterfall to the campsite is quite long. When we reached the top, it drizzled slightly, but no thunderstorm. I heaved a sigh of relief.

However, the rain really dampened the mood a little, and umbrellas came useful (Lesson learnt from Bong 2). We did not set up the tents as it would make the insides wet during the setting up phase. Therefore, Noel, Wanling and I decided to make our own hopscotch to pass time, and it was damn fun playing in the sand! Haha!

After the hopscotch, which WL won easily , Noel & I proceeded to 'teach' her the game "Magic Squares". (Basically, if you attended any reputable FOC they should have taught you, unless your IC forgot the game. Haha.)

Before we knew it, an hour or so had passed, and rain had stopped, which meant that we could set up our tent. After a quick discussion, the tents were set up, sited and secured into place.

Soon, night was falling, and a nice outline of Lumbong was seen.



As the groups set up their cooking and got down to eating, the committee prepared the basha to link both Suji's 2-man tent and our 8-man tent together (below), which allowed us to cook in (almost) all weather conditions. I unpacked my bag to produce the steamboat set which Noel had passed to me in the morning, and the rest took out plastic bags and ice-cooler worth of food...for steamboat! The participants had already settled down to eating and filling their hungry stomachs.



So we cooked...


and we cooked...


and we cooked...


and we cooked (Danny-certified!)...


till the participants even came over to have a look-see!


Not to forget, the bouncing gelato (jelly actually). Thanks to *ahem* for offering her mouth to test the jelly.


And the sumptuous chicken Noel did


When you run out of steamboat gas (cos we just brought ONE, you make do with...burners!) And here's how to do it:


Then there was the Baron's Strong Brew which Noel brought up for our own private consumption. Simply great. And LY, Noel, WL & I just talked the night away. The night was cool, windy and simply great, with the absence of stars later on in the night, sadly.

Nevertheless, I really like the weather. A good time for some self-reflection, some deeper thoughts and a recollection of all the wonderful things which you've gone through thus far.



An interesting breakfast greeted us the next day, where we wasted one egg, and tried to crush a can with a rock which simply split on hitting.


WL & I led the way down, with me being the second man. Being the 4th time up-down Lumbong, I felt more certain of the route already, with the exception of the river crossing prior to arrival to the 2nd waterfall.

It was relatively easier to go down than up, and WL was more familiar with the route, which meant that I had an easier task . And there was more time to have fun at the 3rd waterfall. It was simply theraputic!



Wanling


Liling


Me


Malaysians along the river


Wanling, Liling, Sze Kei, Yusof


LG & I

We managed to be early at the plantation, and changed into our slippers for the trip back. Nothing much which I would like to say regarding the taxi trip, just that it's pretty harrowing and an unforgettable one.

Soon, it was time to wrap up a wonderful Lumbong trek! And off we went...to Larkin and home.



Current Mood: Indifferent

Chalet!

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

Today: End of Running Season, Start of Trekking Season

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: Sleepy

-=Continued...120505=-

Just 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.

Strawberry with Cream flavour.
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.

Æon Flux Redux

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