Overdue congratulations to Haile and Deena for their respective victories

Yesterday, I managed to leave the office at 6:09pm. Actually, so far, so good.

Despite the traffic, I arrived at Kg. Pandan at 6:37pm and to my surprise, Coach has not yet arrived.

Adam came over to my car as I was changing into my running gear and he said that he saw me at around the Istana road. And, his knee was acting up on him.

Thereafter I managed to run 1 lap before Coach arrived and gave us the menu:-

1) 1 lap- 50 meters fast, 50 meters slow;
2) 4 x 1km- and I was given a time of 3:45. I did manage to complete them in the following times- 3:43, 3:46, 3:45, and 3:46.
3) 2 x 400 meters- all out. Coach tricked us on this one, because initially we thought we were doing just 1 rep of the 400 meters. Anyway the 1st 400 meters was completed in 1:16; the 2nd 400 meters- 1:13.
4) 1 warm down lap.

Total- 6km.

My legs really felt like jelly and I just couldn't run anymoe, so I stopped. Ronnie had to leave pretty early to pick up pm21. When I got into my car, I realised that I couldn't find my handphone. I got Lee Chin to call my number in the hope that I can hear the ringtone but, silly me, I set the phone to silent. After literally turning my car upside down, I finally found it.

Went to the in-laws for dinner. Dinner was extremely healthy and I was still hungry. I then decided to have some really greasy supper in the form of Ramly burger. And a hotdog. Hand on my heart, I can say this- having travelled to various countries and tasting the burgers there, Ramly burger is without doubt the best tasting, and the cheapest.

What's up today? I'm having Buka Puasa with my new colleagues, so it is highly unlikely that I will be running today, unless dinner is over by 8pm, and I wait another 2 hours for my food to digest, and I run at 10pm! We'll see how it goes. Dinner shouldn't be too heavy anyway- it will be Italian.

My weekend will be spent in Singapore. I have a wedding to attend. Taking the coach down tomorrow morning, and the coach back Sunday afternoon. I only hope that there is not much of a jam because after all, many Malaysians have decided to take next Monday off (due to the DeepaRaya celebrations), thus making it a week-long holiday.

Short posting

Decided to head to KLCC for my run yesterday.

With the traffic I thought I wasn't going to make it, but with some maneuvering around the back streets of KL I managed to arrive in what I think is a decent time, under the circumstances, which is 30 minutes.

When I arrived at the park, no one was to be seen so I headed in the opposite direction. Lo and behold- Jamie and Li Sar were running together. They were already well into their workout- around 11 laps. I ran 2 laps with them before they ended their workout.

Apparently Ronnie was runing too but I didn't see him.

In total I ran 8 laps in a fairly leisurely pace.

Next up- went back to the apartment and felt dissatisfied. I decided to swim another 30 minutes. Only then I was sated.

Will be out the whole day today for a meeting. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to track this evening. But then again it really depends on the traffic and the weather.

Snoop Dogg

"Signs"
(feat. Charlie Wilson, Justin Timberlake)

[Chorus - Justin Timberlake (Uncle Charlie Wilson)]
I'm not sure what I see
Cupid don't fuck wit me!
Are you telling me this is a sign?
She's looking in my eyes, now I see no other guys
Are you telling me this is a sign? (OHHH!!!)

[Snoop Dogg]
Don't think about it, boy leave her alone
(Ooh wee!!) Nigga you ain't no G!
She likes my tone, my colone and the way I roll, you ain't no G!

[Verse - Snoop Dogg]
It's legit, you know it's a hit
When The Neptunes and the Doggy Dogg fin to spit
You know he's in - tune with the season
Come here baby, tell me why you leaving?
Tell me if it's weed that you needing
You wanna breathe? I got the best weed minus seeds
Ain't nobody tripping VIP they can't get in
If something go wrong then you know we get to Cripping

[Chorus - Justin Timberlake]
I'm not sure what I see
You better don't fuck wit me!
Are you telling me this is a sign?
She's looking in my eyes, now I see no other guys
Are you telling me this is a sign?

[Snoop Dogg]
Don't think about it, boy leave her alone
(Oh ohhh!! yeah!) Nigga you ain't no G!
She likes my tone, my colone and the way I roll, you ain't no G!

[Verse - Snoop Dogg]
Now you stepping wit a G, from Los Angeles
Where helicopters got cameras, just to get a glimpse of our Chucks
And our Khakis and our bouncer cars
You wit you friend right? (yeah)
She ain't trying to bring over no men right? (no)
Shiieet, she ain't gotta be in the distance
She could get high all in an instant

[Chorus - Justin Timberlake]
I'm not sure what I see
You better don't fuck wit me!
Are you telling me this is a sign?
She's looking in my eyes, now I see no other guys
Are you telling me this is a sign?

[Snoop Dogg]
Don't think about it, boy leave her alone
(Oh ohhh!! yeah!) Nigga you ain't no G!
She likes my tone, my colone and the way I roll, you ain't no G!

[Verse - Snoop Dogg (Justin Timberlake)]
Mami, mamasita, have you ever - flown on G5s
From London - to Ibiza. You gotta have Cape Town
You'll have Sunday's with chiquitas
You'll see Venus and Serena, in the Wimbledon Arena
And I can take you (Uncle Charlie, preach!!)

[Bridge - Uncle Charlie Wilson (Justin Timberlake)]
Nigga don't be young and foolish
You don't know what you're doing
You don't know what you've lost until she's gone (gone)
And her pretty face, drove you wild
But you ain't got that Snoop Doggy Dogg Style

[Chorus - Justin Timberlake (Uncle Charlie Wilson)]
I'm not sure what I see
Cupid don't fuck wit me!
Are you telling me this is a sign?
She's looking in my eyes, now I see no other guys
Are you telling me this is a sign? (OHHH!!!)

[Snoop Dogg]
Don't think about it, boy leave her alone
(Ooh wee!!) Nigga you ain't no G!
She likes my tone, my colone and the way I roll (hey!) you ain't no G!
(Ooh wee!!) You ain't no G! (oh oh ohh! .. Ooh wee!!)

Irrelevant ramblings

One of the things about working life is that coffee becomes part of my "diet". I usually have a cup in the morning to perk me up, but then, by the afternoon, I start entertaining thoughts of having another, even though I don't need it. I've come to the conclusion that I like the taste of coffee, and I probably only need some caffeine in the morning to perk me up. If I want to drink more coffee subsequently, I should consider buying decaf. It has the taste of coffee minus the caffeine. I have experienced an overload of caffeine in my system- I just couldn't stop shaking. Ok, next up- to get decaf coffee.

***********************************************************************************

One of the advantages of living so close to the office is that I get to go back to my apartment for lunch. I'm already looking forward to 1pm today- I have some tacos with beef ready to eat! And yes, I cooked them myself. It's pretty easy really, all you need to do is buy the seasoning from the brand Ol El Paso, buy 1 lb of ground beef, dump the seasoning onto the beef and add 2/3rd cups of water. In the meantime, cut some lettuce, tomatoes and onions. And get some ground cheese as well. After cooking, it is ready to be eaten! Get the taco shells, put the beef into it, then the lettuce, tomato and onions, followed with ground cheese. Great stuff. My stomach is already growling in anticipation.

************************************************************************************

There are some things to sort out at the apartment. I will have to get Astro, and also a phone line. After some discussion with Jeanne, we agreed that we should get dial-up instead of broadband. We figured that we will be doing most of our internet related activities in the office anyway- and that our home line will be used for less "pressing" matters.

Astro will cost me about RM80 per month, if I take up a particular package. I need my sports channel.

Bad patch

It was Tuesday and my plan was to leave the office by 6pm in the hope that I would arrive at Kg. Pandan by 630pm for track work.

Despite the dark clouds and the rain from around 3pm to 5-ish, I was still reasonably confident of my planned 630pm run.

That confidence turned out to be misplaced. I left my office at 6pm, only to be greeted by a long queue of cars waiting to get onto the main road. That queue started at around the rear of CIMB building. I finally got on to the main road some 10 minutes later, and to my horror, the traffic was absolutely horrendous. Jalan Duta was badly jammed. Every road that I took was badly jammed. It took me almost 1 hour to reach Kg. Pandan.

At 655pm, I arrived and saw that the runners were doing their laps. Rain was pouring down by then but that didn't seem to put them off. The hardcore fellas were there- Ronnie, KNN man, Ah Toh, Ah Wah, and others. I got into my running gear, wore my cap, and proceeded to ask Coach what the menu was- he said- set time for a distance of 5k, and told me to warm up by joining the 3rd group. I duly complied and ran about 7 laps with them before they stopped. I ran another 3 laps before stopping momentarily to ask Coach and the group whether there was any more in the menu. The answer was- no.

I saw that it was only 720pm at the time, so I decided to run more- after all I already braved the hour-long jam (which by the way, really tested my patience- in fact- most Malaysians, especially on the roads, aren't a patient lot) and it would be a complete waste if I stopped. In the end, I ran a total of 10k, at my usual half marathon pace, around 4:30 per km pace. Time- 45:15.

Marriage needs work

I ran at Lake Gardens yesterday.

Kenny Tan showed up, albeit slightly later than our planned appointment of 615pm. I started my run without him. Here was my route yesterday:-

1) running from the Bukit Aman carpark, past Lake Club,then onto the children's playground portion of the park (located at one end); then

2) climbing the steps and onto the the windy roads of Carcosa restaurant, before going back into the park at the other end, past the lake on my left (at this point Kenny was running in the opposite direction and he joined me as I passed the public toilets); then

3) onto the slope leading towards the other exit of the park near the Bird Sanctuary; then

4) a slight downhill, past the Tun Razak Memorial, the road winds and we end up near the National Mosque, which will be on my right; then

5) taking a left turn, passing the Muslim museum (I think that is what it's called); then

6) on the windy road again before arriving at a junction, in which another left turn was taken; then

7) arrive at another junction, and another left turn, where you would be heading back in the opposite direction towards the Bird Sanctuary; then

8) back into the slope near the exit of the park as stated in (3) above; then

9) head towards the lake, which will be on your right; then

10) run on the soft rubber track portion, in the opposite direction; then

11) you will arrive right at the steps in (2) above; before repeating (2), (3), (4), (5)and (6), except that instead of taking the left turn, I made a right turn back to the Bukit Aman carpark, completing my workout.

It was good to have Kenny keeping me company. As you know, Lake Gardens isn't exactly one of my favourite routes. I guess I should try to get used to it, since it is far more convenient for me to be running there now that my office is at Damansara Heights.

I don't really know the exact distance of my workout but my time indicated that I ran the above route in about 1:07. Based on that, I'm guessing it may be around 11-12k.

Weekend updates

I've had no time for running during the weekend. Actually Ronnie has twice invited me for the early morning Saturday and Sunday runs but each time I had to decline because I went to bed really late! Sorry Ronnie.

I did manage an easy recovery run with Adam on Friday evening. He took me around a different route at Lake Gardens, and although it was challenging, it was nonetheless enjoyable. My legs were still sore from Thursdays speed work, so after about 35 minutes of running, I decided to rest. We chatted for a few minutes before I left.

That is the extent of my running.

Saturday and Sunday were spent doing the responsible husband thing. Shopping for the new apartment, washing my own smelly running clothes, tidying up apartment and so forth.

Will run an easy 10 at Lake Gardens this evening. I'm already dressed like Superman as it is- with my running clothes under my office clothes!

New running movie

I chanced upon this movie at One Utama yesterday. It's called "Running Boy", in VCD format. It's a Korean movie. I've taken the liberty to give you the movie synopsis:-

"Cho-won is a lovely, normal looking child who likes chocolate cookies and zebras. Finding out he is autistic, his mother kneels down before the burden of reality. However, his mother discovers his love for running and begins to train him.

20 years later, Cho-won's intelligence is still that of a 5 year old boy. He farts everywhere, bows to his younger brother, and dances to music wherever. However his mother dedicates herself to training him to accomplish a sub 3 hour, which is completing a marathon below 3 hours, a dream for amateur runners.

One day, Jung-wook, a former marathon champion, comes to work at Cho-won's school to fulfill his community service for a DUI (Driving Under the Influence of alcohol). Cho-won's mother begs him to coach her son. Taking the job unwillingly, he learns to open his heart to ho-won as they spend more time together and sees the possibility of accomplishing a sub 3 hour. Jung-wook and Cho-won's mother have a serious dispute over how to train Cho-won. Amid the heated argument, Jung-wook tells Cho-won's mother she is obsessed, which makes her realise that she has been rushing her son around to make herself feel better about him being autistic. Consequently, she decides not to let him run anymore."

What happens next? Buy the VCD, watch the movie to find out!

Fried Rice is my fav carbo food

I survived my 1st track session in almost one month!

I wasn't as unfit as I thought.

I'm working at Damansara Heights now, and I had hoped that the traffic to Kampung Pandan, although heavy, would take less time compared with my office days in Jalan Ampang. I was right!

I arrived by 630pm and had little time to do my warm-up. By the time I finished tying my shoelaces, the group had completed one warm-up lap. Ronnie, Adam, Richard Habeya, and the other faster (and slower) runners were there. It was good to see familiar faces again.

Coach said that he'll be arriving early at track because it is "off-season" at the moment.

He then went on to give us the menu- 3 x 3km. Gulp.

1st rep- I ran comfortably with Ronnie and Kimberly and we finished around 12:15. Kimberly looked like she was out for a stroll.

2nd rep- suffered like hell. Ambled to 12:44.

Then Coach said that the final rep will be 2k. Phew! I was relieved... Still, it was pretty torturous as I completed it in 8:18.

Overall I was pretty satisfied. It was the effort that mattered.

Tea ceremony

Drove back to my home and I found my relatives waiting for me.

It was good to see relatives from both sides (mom's and dad's) under one roof. It was a rare occasion. The last time everyone met was probably the time my dad married my mom, which was 32 years ago! And what better time to meet again- during my wedding.

The best man (Lawrence) and wife and Kong were my only mates there.

So first up- my grandmother, the matriach of the Lee family, and my step-grandfather. My grandfather died when my dad was around 9 years old, and my grandmother sent dad and my uncles to various parts of Johore. A former mathematics school teacher, she was (and still is) strict, stubborn, feisty and demanding. She's wheelchair bound for most of the time, having suffered a stroke last year.

My step-grandfather stepped into grandmother's life few years after my grandfather's death. The Lee family love him to bits- step-grandfather- "Yeh Yeh" is what I call him- loved the Lee siblings as much as his 3 other future offspring (with my grandma, of course), the Chan-s. As far as the Lee brothers are concerned, Yeh Yeh was like a true father to them. My dad's family, was in fact a family of Lee siblings, and the Chan siblings. All this while it was never in issue, and I don't see why it should be, at all.

So I offered my grandparents tea, and Jeanne followed suit. Then tea offerings were made to my parents, and then down the pecking order of the Lee-Chan family, followed by my mom's family, the Chang-s. And so it ended, about 50 minutes later.

After that, I was quite exhausted. We went upstairs to my room, and rested. At that point in time, it hit me- I am married!

After about one hour, we left my house to Mandarin Oriental.

Next up- dinner

Suck it Up!

I had a nice run in the rain yesterday.

2 fellas promised to meet me at the Bukit Aman carpark but they backed out at the last instance (i.e., in Malaysian English, they Fong Fei Kei me); it was, however, a pleasant surprise to see Kenny Tan there. I had asked him to join us and he made the trip from his house in Old Klang Road, which isn’t too far away when the traffic isn’t heavy.

It was pissing down when we started. I had warned Kenny that I was not too fit and he promised to keep the pace down. He led the way and we made a loop near the Bird Park, before heading to near the National Mosque and heading back to Bukit Aman, whereupon we ran into the Lake Club area, onto Lake Gardens, and the Carcosa route. Kenny had to leave after 30 minutes of running. I continued running. In the end, I ran for 1:15. I think I ran at an approximate pace of 6:00 per km. It was slowly-resuming-my running pace.

I was soaked with rain after my workout but who cares? It feels great to run again. In fact, the rain made it far more enjoyable because it was nice and cool.

On a separate note, I found out, to my chagrin, that registration for the Singapore Marathon has been closed. Stupid of me to procrastinate and assume that there is still enough time for me to register, because I registered this time last year without any problems. Apparently the limit of 22,000 entries have already been reached. Oh well. There are other local races that day, but none can match Singapore. I am already envious of those who will be there. Sigh, I am so irritated with myself.

Thank you

I received a comment in my blog after my posting of 4th October titled "Nautica Thorn is simply amazing". It was from lu lea, who congratulated me. Gavin Bong, if that is truly you, thank you!

Wedding ceremony

(By the way, the wedding mass was in Roman Catholic tradition).

The wedding mass having begun, with Jeanne in my arms, we walked towards the altar, up some steps, took our seats at the right side of the altar. The mass was a slight blur, and I suppose the nerves then came back, because I forgot ALL my lines. Thankfully there was a booklet there which I could read, as I placed the wedding ring into Jeanne’s finger:-

“Jeanne, take this ring as a sign of my fidelity. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Or something like that. Even now, I can’t remember!

The priest was really cool about the whole thing. After consuming the bread, he gave me the remainder wine in the cup (which was a fair amount) and told me to “…just finish the whole thing-lah!”. There was a good ½ cup of really delicious wine for me to gulp down, which isn’t the way you should drink it, but oh well… I think many people in the audience so that I gulped the wine and some of them actually approached me and said, “wah, you really whacked the whole thing”, to which my reply was- “But the priest told me to do so!”.

Anyway I think the wine also got to the priest because he started calling me “Christine” after the wine, much to the amusement of the audience. And a few of people came up to me and said “Christine, congratulations!”

After the mass we had photos taken with family, relatives and friends, before we proceeded to the back of the church for our cake cutting and some brunch, which consisted of bee hoon, roasted chicken, samosas, and some kuihs.

Only after that did I see some of my friends (most of my friends did not attend the mass)- some of them obviously were hung over or had really late nights/early mornings!

After brunch we had more photos taken in the church and its compound.

We then drove the bridal car to my house for the tea ceremony.

Next up- tea ceremony.

I can't get this song outta my head!!!

Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes
Don't Cha

Baby
Ladies
Fellas
Are you ready?
Lets dance
Baby (ooooh)
I know you like me (I know you like me)
I know you do (I know you do)
Thats why whenever I come around
She's all over you (she's all over you)
I know you want it (I know you want it)
It's easy to see (it's easy to see)
And in the back of your mind
I know you should be f**king me (babe)

[refrain:]
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?
Don't cha
Don't cha
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me?
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me?
Don't cha
Don't cha

Fight the feeling (fight the feeling)
Leave it alone (leave it alone)
Cause if it ain't love
It just aint enough to leave my happy home (my happy home)
Let's keep it friendly (let's keep it friendly)
You have to play fair (you have to play fair)
See I dont care
But I know She ain't gonna wanna share

[refrain:]
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?
Don't cha
Don't cha
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me?
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me?
Don't cha
Don't cha

I know I'm on your mind
I know we'd have a good time
I'm your friend
I'm fun
And I'm fine
I aint lying
Look at me shine
You aint blind (you aint blind)
I know I'm on your mind
I know wed have a good time
I'm your friend
I'm fun
And I'm fine
I aint lying
Look at me shine
You aint blind
I know she loves you (I know she loves you)
So I understand (I understand)
I probably be just as crazy about you
If you where my own man
Maybe next lifetime (maybe next lifetime)
Possibly (possibly)
Until then no friend possibly
Is a drag for me

[refrain:]
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?
Don't cha
Don't cha
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me?
Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me?
Don't cha
Don't cha

Wedding day

I didn't sleep much the night before my wedding.

I went to bed around 12:00am but didn't fall into a deep sleep. I was feeling restless, constantly waking up, tossing and turning. Probably a combination of nerves, heat (the air con, for some reason, was not cool enough), and excitement.

When the alarm went off at 630am, I was still tired and sleepy.

I walked down to the kitchen and fixed myself a breakfast, which consisted of my mother's teh tarik and, peanut butter sandwich. I could feel my heart palpitating.

Went upstairs; had my shower, and preened myself for the wedding. I was all ready by 740am. By then though, my hands were shaking. I was really nervous! I took in some deep breaths and that helped for a while.

Initially I wanted to drive to church. But I found it difficult to put one foot in front of the other, and my dad drove instead. He was pretty cool about it, even laughing me off, telling me everything will be alright.

The weather was good; it wasn't as hot as I had anticipated, and the Dri-Fit t-shirt that I wore underneath my dress shirt wasn't really called into action.

I arrived at the church early and found that some of the helpers were already there. Talking to them for a bit calmed my nerves. When my other bestman arrived, I felt even calmer. In fact, as the minutes progressed, I felt better and better. I was having such a good time, I almost forgot the time, and when I saw Jeanne approaching the church entrance in the bridal car, I had to make a dash to the front of the church, which was where I was supposed to be standing in the first place.

Shortly after, I saw my dad-in-law with Jeanne, standing at the entrance of the church. And her bridesmaids were standing there too.

The church bell rang some 15 times, before dad-in-law and Jeanne began what seemed to me a long march towards the altar. When dad-in-law gave Jeanne away, he shook my hand and told me to take care of her, to which I replied, "Yes I will".

Ok gotta go back to work. Next up- the ceremony itself.

Late posting

It has been a very busy few weeks.

In the 2 days before my wedding, there were things to do...

Among other things, I was rushing to burn the songs on to the CDs for my wedding dinner. Most of the songs were selected by Jeanne, although I did sneak a few of my personal selections. Still, most songs were mellow ones. As much as I would have liked to play some louder, rock-ier ones, I suppose it would have in inappropriate for a wedding dinner.

I also collected the suits I was to wear for the church ceremony and the dinner, paid for the supply of beer barrels, collected the wedding cakes, sent my aunt from Johor Bahru (who was staying with my parents) to purchase bus tickets

Oh and I collected the cossages I was to wear for my wedding.

Updates to the blog will come by slowly as it is still a very busy period for me.

Next up- my wedding experience.

Nautica Thorn is simply amazing

As it turned out my weekend was so busy that my last "serious" run was the speed work session with Kenny on Thursday. I ran a very easy 5k on Sunday, but that was under the blazing hot 3:30pm sun, at the MPSJ track. I had to run that early because of an appointment at 530pm.

Monday afternoon was spent on finalising certain details of the wedding, and in the evening, a church rehearsal ceremony. Zero running.

Actually, come to think of it, this next 2 weeks will see me running irregularly, because I simply may not have the time to do so. I already feel unfit.