2008 Shape Run Official Result

My official record on the ShapeRun08.

Time: 00:31:00.91 Position: 220

My goal was to improve my timing and improve my positioning from last year. Those were all achieved. However I wasn't in the first 200. So I guess I must consider the fact that there are more runners this year? There were roughly about 4851 in the 5km run.

I don't want to make that my excuse. So aim for next year, top 150and timing to be within 26mins, regardless of the number of runners for 09.

Now waiting for photos on shaperun and nikewomen sites which I will update on this post.

Edit:

Sickening nike didn't take too many of my photos..I had to search for all the other runners before & after me to find 2 extra ones. I believe there are more because I was running with another group. I only caught up with these people that I'm photographed when I was near the finishing line. I'm tired of guessing & searching already.

2008 Great Eastern Women 10K

Wished you had gone for the 2008 Shape Run on 20 July?

Well, here's your 2nd chance to experience a run!!
This is the other women 5km fun run.

I must state first that even though the registration fee is about the same ($28/$38), it does NOT come with free magazine subsciption or loads of goodies. Actually, half of the goodies in the ShapeRun were useless to me. Which means it loses out in the Prizes Vs Prices arena.

I think if your goal is to test your body's limits, this is a MUST!

Check it out yourself:
Benefits & Prizes

The down side to it is that it's raining season in this half of the year. So there's like a 50% chance it will rain since the run is on 26 October 2008. They will cancel the run if it doesn't stop raining beyond a certain amount of time.

I wanted to try something more challenging so I've signed up for the 10km run this time.

It was only after I've signed up then I got worried cause it showed '10km competitive'???!!! What?? Nevermind. I will just try and maybe humiliate myself by being the last.

Let me know if you're interested.

Edit:
Currently, one ex-colleague has signed up and one current one may do so too.
Standard Chartered Marathon - 3 guys and 1 gal pending... Anytakers? 10km men/women

Edit 2:
Another colleague signed up. Total 2 friends in Great Eastern 10k.
May trash standard chartered 10k if no takers. Not so confident about 10k to take on 2 in a roll. See how if company subsidising then I may take on for the sake of having a goal to continue my regular running.

2008 Shape Run Result

A quick update before I go back to doing my paper.

Carolyn and I arrived at the Padang very early. About the same time as last year but somehow this year, there were more runners around.

Since I've only had 2 hours of sleep and was working on my paper nonstop the whole of saturday, I trashed the idea of achieving my goals. (Infact I was tempted to skip the run at first.)
My competitive spirit is just too overwhelming. When I saw the ladies running, my legs started to have a mind of its own. I kept my pace through out the race. This run, I didn't stop or slow down. It was running all the way. Whenever I see someone stopping, I would just tell myself not to be like them. Die, die must stay at the same pace all the way.

All my determinations from last year resurfaced. Since I was so stupid to have stopped at the wrong finishing line last year, I told myself that I must make sure that I get it right this time! So I reserved my last bit of energy and dashed the last 300metres.

When I saw the clock '30...', I was pleasantly surprised and couldn't contain my joy. My smile froze for a second when I past the line at '31'min but still I'M SO BLOODY SATISFIED! I've managed to shave 3 mins off my last year record!

Carolyn did very well also! She completed it at 49min! It's amazing cause she wanted to take it easy and wasn't really looking at hitting such a cool ending time! Well done!

Congratulations again, Carolyn! You've completed your First SHape Run!!

Crappy

I've managed the walking to school for a week. Somehow various reasons came up and I've ended up driving for the second week. Either I'm late or that I have to bring back the stupid stack of work I brought home. And I've been feeling so depressed lately that I've had 2 wasteful driving-around-singapore trips.

I've decided I'm not going to downsize or what. The only option that I will even consider is selling the car away. So for now I'm going to observe my car usage and finances for the next few years before I make up my mind.

Right now, there may be another change to my future plans. I've been resigning myself to my fate of getting a flat only when I reach 35. Just recently, my mother suggested that if HDB allows, she can join name with me for a home (YIPEEE!!!). I've been too busy with work. Though I kind of remembered it's not possible, I will still check it out.

My co-worker who stayed in the block of flats next to mine may be buying a new home. I'm eyeing that at the moment! She had knocked down the wall to combine two rooms into one big master bedroom. My ideal concept! So it's perfect because I wouldn't need to add on costs to do the same. And it's next to my parents' home! WONDERFUL!!!!!

I've been inspired by some artists on deviant art to snap more photos. So I've uploaded a few of my old photos in deviantart. All I need is the chance and time to search for inspiration. Think I may need to use my car again to explore those far, isolated places. It saves me a lot of time when I've started my busy work life again. I wish I have more free time.

This Passion = My Pain

Before you start thinking weird stuff, this passion I'm talking about is my passion for driving.

Let me share this story from the start. That would be 31 May, I think. That's when I realised that my available credit of about $1k has disappeared. It occured to me that I've wasted good money on stupid expenses. It was time for me to take extreme measures. The biggest sponge of my $$ is of coz my car. The combination of petrol, ERP & parking charges. Thus I was VERY determined not to use it from then on.

My workplace is very near home. I didn't drive even though my co-worker said it doesn't take much petrol to travel such short distances. I actually walked and even carried my notebook all the way there. Seriously, 1km is no joke in the hot sun. I liked the fact that I've exercised and it's a healthier lifestyle!

I took free rides from others, MRT and bus! And you know what? I actually enjoyed it! First of all, I feel like I'm a student again. You know, that carefree feeling! Secondly, I enjoy the scenery & do my things. Finally, I don't have to deal with the stress of maneuvering the car in the traffic. Give me traffic jam anytime! I don't give a damn! Ha!

So since then, I've only driven three times out of practical needs. Nope, my skills/confidence didn't dispel. However, my road rage flared more often and indepth. On those three days, after I have reached home, I would feel constant pain in my chest. I made the conclusion that driving could be the culprit of these pains and might even be the root cause of my migraine. After all, my migraine started about the time I passed my driving test.

Nah, it's either nothing, as in it's only temporary. Or that it has more serious complications which I can't be bothered to find out. I rather die not knowing if that is the case. So no point seeing a doctor who will only refer me for further tests that would waste my time (and test my patience).

Anyway, my mum ridiculed me for the above saying since driving is my passion (taking up more than 60% of my salary), how can it be the cause of my problems? Well, I did mentioned to her that I hate driving now because of all the problems and headaches. It's true. I'm so much happier taking public transport. But a car is needed at times, like when I have to fetch a trolley full of groceries back. Also when I'm going to totally out of the way places (I took 138 to the zoo!) and fetching family around.

For now, I will continue to let my car rot in the carpark. I think I've already saved about $100 since that day. Isn't that cool? I'm even considering the option of downsizing/CNGing/weekending my car.

Ja!

Shoujo Manga Addict

It's official. I'm seriously addicted to Shoujo Manga aka girls' love comics. I've started off with the Canadian ShojoBeat magazine which had extracts of a few manga titles. That wasn't enough. Then I tried to buy a sampler of manga books (one book each of three series). I love one particular one so much that I bought the whole collection (well, not that many, about 6 books total).

I'm crazy about Vampire Knight in ShojoBeat. So I am eagerly waiting for the June issue to reach Singapore (heard it's already out in US). Therefore I went Kinokuniya to check, only to be disappointed. So out of desperation, I bravely ventured into the Japanese section of the book store. All these while I didn't dare to because that section is always filled with Japaneses and I was too shy to intrude on their territory. Also I was afraid that if I start looking someone would talk to me in Jap.

Anyway, I quickly looked at the Manga Magazines shelve and WOW! They have so many different types of colourful, beautifully drawn manga! *Drooling* *Slurps back saliva* Candy store - phenomenon again. I was awe-strucked by the volume of each magazine. It has the average thickness of 3cm and area of an A4 size paper. That's simply humongous! This addict was tempted to buy all the available love comics. Luckily my diminishing credit limit won the usual buying battle (my bank account is probably saluting that). I only bought one miserable magazine which happened to be the cheapest one.

This is an expensive hobby.

2008 Shape Run - CLOSED Registration

Sorry, gals.

Fully Registered already.

All 8,000 places snapped up within 2 weeks.
Think this time round, places are being taken up faster than the year before. *shocked*

http://www.shape.com.sg/shaperun08/registration.php

Calling all Wakeboarding Kakis!

I'm considering a wakeboarding session the coming vesak holiday with Carolyn.

Anybody else interested? *SMS*

Should be taking the kallang one by Extreme Sports.

They do have sessions with instructors (most likely going for that).

So newbies and experts are both welcomed.

Exercising Complains

My arms are still aching like mad. It was so bad that I woke up in the middle of the night in pain. They are like attachments to my body that I have little control over. I wonder if they have grown longer from being pulled by the boat. Maybe I look like a monkey now with super long arms hanging by my sides. Just swinging them around as I walk. *grin*

I was too ambitious also. I went jogging last night, thinking that the workout would help ease the aches. Instead it added on more strain to the already-torn muscle tissues. So, even though I was very inspired to run or play badminton at my workplace today, I did the smart thing (finally) by resting my body.

My body feels like it's swollen all over. My clothes even feel tighter. Is it cause of the expanded muscles or cause I'm simply too fat! Well, I will never know.

Anyway, this is the time to start my regular runs till the shape run event. Not training lah, just maintaining my stamina. I know I can never do long runs anyway. The longest I've ran on my own is around 1.5km. It's just keeping my body used to running so that I won't suffer on the actual day.

I'm super keen to go wakeboarding again. I'm just afraid of over-exerting my body cause I'm not that young anymore. But I'm craving for it. Haiz. Kakis kakis..??

Live Concerts? NLB@esplanade

The amazing treasure that the National Library Board @ esplanade has been hidding from us. Or maybe it's just me. Actually, someone has revealed it to me before. Just that I wasn't interested back then. Let me list some of those things. DVDs, VCDs, CDs, CD-ROMs, music scores, film scripts and theatre/film related books. It's like the DVD rental shop except it's FREE!! Well, actually you have a pay $21 for it's premium membership to borrow up to 4 AV items. But then now you have increased your borrowing quota to 8! Not bad, right?

I've been searching around the shops like mad for Japanese live concerts as mentioned before in my previous post. Like I said, not many available and they're either not the ones I want or they're too expensive (no lah, I'm too stingy to spend the $$$). So when I searched the NLB catalog and found some, I was so excited. So I went today & managed to find a few to borrow!

Sadly, I realised not all the singers give good live performances (not like Ken Hirai's anway). Got this Tackey & Tsubasa 2004 Spring Concert and was so disappointed. First of all, they're teen pop stars (maybe not so teeny anymore). I was hoping to see solid rocking performance, yet turned out they're so lacking in energy. Since they're singing those super fast pop songs, I guess it must be tiring. Cause majority of their songs are not sung live! Well, Tsubasa has the kind of voice I like but he's like so uninterested in performing. When they did sing live, it's nothing impressive at all. Maybe they're just lacking in confidence.

Then I watched BoA's Live tour 2004 Love & Honesty and it gave me a bit more hope that there are some good ones out there. She was full of confidence and gave her best. Smiles and stares unwavering at the audience. Guess the eye contact makes a lot of difference. At least, I enjoyed it much more than the Tackey & Tsubasa's one. Again, guess it's due to the energy-sucking dance steps, quite a number of songs were lip-sync. However, those live songs were done rather well, cause she has good control of her voice and it's powerful enough to be projected well.

So now, I'm left with the Ayumi Hamasaki's one. Will update again. Since she's a really experienced performer, I except it to be better than the previous two. But I've seen her live performance of 'Dream' on 'Music Station' before and she went off key on the high notes. Erm.. well maybe I should just lower down my standard.

I'm sure however, I can count on a few Japanese artists to do well. The MTV unplugged one by Utada Hikaru will definitely be good (even though her voice a bit soft at times). Also, Namie Amuro's Live is good because of her dance steps (though she's another cool faced performer) and she's singing live majority of the times. Amazing stamina for a singer! Then I can always trust Ken Hirai to give the best of best live songs!

Yup all those borrowed from the NLB@esplanade. I think I've borrowed enough today to make up for that $21 premium membership fee :)

Introduction to Wakeboarding!

YES! I DID IT! My first wakeboarding experience! Yipee!

I signed up for this course at CSClub which roped in Extreme Sports. Paid only $55 for more than 3hrs shared with another 4 gals. The instructor was very good and encouraging. He didn't force us to get the techniques right, instead focused on the thrill & enjoyment of flying on water!

Also, they were flexible enough to let us get on the boat to watch a professional demonstrate. His name is Roger, apparently very famous in the Wakeboarding scene. Wahlau! I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to watch a pro do the stunts right infront of me. I was sitting right at the end of the boat (almost as good as roller coaster ride) and stupidly I fell backwards when they stopped the boat abruptly. So malu (read: embarrassing).

Well, I had 2 slots of water-time. Both times, I kept falling but once I got it right, I was flying all the way through to the end. Wah, damn shiok (read: enjoyable). It reminds me of riding on a bike. They're all called riders anyway so haha..you see the link lah. I love riding the water! No chance to learn how to ride the waves yet. Fell flat when I couldn't maintain over the waves. Then my water-time was over (*SOB*).

This is what I've been missing out on! Goodness, if only I had the opportunity to try much earlier. I'm super thankful I noticed this course by CSClub. Anyway this instructor, Hardi, is really patient and yet was able to spot your exact error and correct it. Do ask for him if you want to sign up. They are providing it for $150 for 4 lessons package. Sounds like a good deal. Click the link below for more details.
http://www.extreme.com.sg/

P/S: Sorry, as I went for the course alone, I've no one to take photos of me (I didn't bring my camera also lah). Wish I had. Aiya, nevermind, next time. :) Yes, Carolyn is right, I'm aching all over today haha.. But they're good aches, cause I love to know I've put my body through the stresses from Sports! The adrenaline! Wahlau Shiok! I'm addicted to another hobby! Oh! I also discovered I'm a left-footer, maybe cause from using it more when I played the electronic organ and also using the clutch pedal for 2 yrs.

2008 Shape Run Singapore

The 2008 Shape Run is happening in July!
Registration starts 26 April 2008. So do sign up!

Please go to this website for more details:
http://www.shape.com.sg/shaperun/
I'm definitely signing up!


UPDATES:
I've signed up the moment it was past midnight (aka 00hrs on 26 Apr).
I'm no 322! hee.. Talking about KiaSu :)

Locked Blog

Blogger is saying that i have a spamming blog???



What? First time. I'm confused. How do i spam my blog?



haha..anyway.. hope for a fast review & revive my blog..



Else be deleted in 20 days..wahlau..

1 day later. Thank goodness it's been unlocked..

Now better not link photos to original sites ..just incase..still not sure if that was the problem.

Japanese Music, Manga & Anime

I was shopping one day and entered a CD shop that sold all sorts of disc items. With my recent interest in animes, I searched the Japanese section and chanced upon an old DVD of Ken Hirai that marked his 10th year in the music industry in 2005. Since it was cheap and I liked some of his songs, I bought it. Actually I've seen his performance in 'Music Station', the Japanese music variety show and was impressed with his live performance.

It is so darn great! His voice control is good and had great showmanship. It's enjoyable to watch him perform. I actually felt as if I was there in audience itself. WOW, it's so moving and his singing is so mesmerising. The Japanese are really into music cause their song production is so great and the audience is always so supportive and raving all the way through til the end.

Now I think I'm addicted to Japanese Live performances. It's a matter of finding them. I tried a few shops but they all had the same boring old titles. Nothing much to choose from. I wonder if there is any place in Singapore where I can have a better selection.

Anyway, I've watched quite a few animes. I'm going to list those I've watched here:

Bleach

Naruto

D.Gray Man

Fullmetal Alchemist

Those are the 'Shonen' (manga for boys). As the first 3 animes listed are still on going in Japan, I've no choice but to wait. However, I'm the kind of person who hates waiting. So I bought the manga magazines, hoping to catch the latest chapter.

Sadly, the English verion (made in Canada) is always way behind the Japanese ones. So instead of satisfying my urge to find out the latest, I've gotten myself addicted to some more manga/animes. Well, maybe cause I also bought the 'Shojo' manga which is manga for girls.

Now I'm into the 'neoromance' manga, Shojo manga created by female, usually about a heroine surrounded by loads of handsome looking males. Wah.. reminds me of 'Meteor Garden' which I've watched back in 2000 on cable. That's an old neoromance manga which was made into anime. Then later on the Taiwan's drama version and then the Japanese one much later on. Some of the Shojo animes which are currently aired on the 'Animax' channel on our Starhub cable are 'Honey & Clover' and 'La Corda'.

Haiz, I'm still not desperate enough to want to read the Chinese manga of those animes I'm following. (Those are more up to date.) So I'm trying to keep myself busy with learning how to draw manga now. Only drawing the handsome, cool male characters. I'm not good, only can copy existing pictures. However, I am picking up the basic of manga drawing from doing those. Samples of my copied manga: (The first two are from a manga drawing book and the 3rd one is my first attempt on copying from an actual manga.)


As usual, work is busy. I'm still preoccupied with marking and planning things. Nothing much to say about that. Not in blogs anyway. :)

150th Post!

I've been slow in updating my blog for various reasons. Since workplace is closing early this year, I've been doing overtime at mac with my good friend roza almost everyday. After that I'm so drained that I have no inspiration to blog at all. Today is the worst day of all cause I'm having stomach-flu symptoms and I'm still pushing it to the max with work.

I've missed the PL gathering last friday to finish my work. I've failed all my 2008 resolutions. For once, I've been the opposite of zen-like. I've flared up a few times and I'm pissed off with some people who are giving me a hard time at work. I've not done anything related to water (not even swimming). I've not even signed up for any language courses yet. I've failed terribly.

I was down with fever and taken MC just a week ago. I do not wish to take MC again but I may have no choice this time. I think I'm down with some bug. It's irritating to have this happening now. I don't have the time for this.

It doesn't help that I've the most challenging project ever. I'm suffering the consequences of trying so hard to upgrade it to my last year's standard.

I've been hearing some sickening rumours from this toxic friend. So to sum it up, it's a bad year to take on extra responsibilities with all these things happening.

Stress level is at its highest and everyone has lost their smiles. I've heard a few people talking about resigning. I've even looked at job advertistments. That's how bad it is right now.

It's a tough struggle to stay happy and positive about things. I know it's good and I kinda enjoyed it at first but it doesn't help to have those negative people around. It makes me feel really down about it all.

I'm just glad at least there is a friend who's been injecting some laughter into all these. Thank God for that.

Backdated Blog - 30 November 2007

Though I’m feeling pretty carefree recently and seem to be happy at work. There are times when certain songs, scent or scenes that will still invoked in a me a sense of nostalgia about the past. Most of all it hits me like a stab in my heart, a sudden craving to be back in those days when we were blissfully in each other’s company. My heart crunches and I had a sudden need to end my torturous exsistence. I’m glad I’m in school. There are many colleagues around. Just knowing that they are there is enough to feed this aching heart.

Usually at this time of the year, we would’ve already booked a trip to Genting Highland and Kuala Lumpur. I would most likely be anticipating arrival of the holidays. Such a drastic difference that I now wish school will not end so quickly. I want to occupy my time with work and not have time to think about things. I fear the days when I will have to think hard about what I could do in Singapore and shield myself from the temptation of driving up Malaysia.

Beyond 3 Oh

Reflecting on my days since turning 3-0, I do see some significant events happening.

(1) I ended my revived relationship.

(2) I finally woke up from my job to a career.

(3) Found out that a ex-suitor who's perfect gentleman is married.

(4) My first BF is still attached to the reason he broke up with me.

(5) Discovered I'm better off being single.

A little elaboration of each of the above...

(1) An ex-bf i shouldn't have had a relationship was attached to me for more than 2 years. A silly mistake, i realised. Stupid to have even have faith in him or even believed his obivious lies. All the while believing that he has a good heart and won't hurt me emotionally.

(2) Finally not treating my work as a job. Doing something to work on climbing the ladder. It's the foremost thing on my mind at all times now.

(3) An ex-suitor who wrote me the most touching letter that i've ever received in my whole life, is now married. I still remember my mum's words about letting him go and find the right gal if i'm not interested. Well, it happened. Should i praise myself? or lament that I gave up a good chance? Just another minestone in my life.

(4) My very first bf has probably married her long time ago and is still happily married to her. How did a schemeing woman get him? Well, maybe that's just what guys want. A manipulative woman.

(5) I should probably ignore all of the above except for the one about my job. I realised that i like being myself and not having to deal with all the crap with another person. So what's happening to all my exes shouldn't matter anyway.

My current time fillers??

Anime/TV, work and sleep.

Sometimes i find that life is playing some joke on me at this point in time. So i guess it's worth blogging about.

2008 Chinatown

For the first time ever in my life, I went to Chinatown with my parents to join the crowds viewing the Chinese New Year sales. It's so much more meaningful than going with friends because we were there with the intention of shopping for items for home, not just to walk around. We bought quite a number of stuff. Infact we were quite smart to head there early and still had time to drop by NTUC supermarket to do more shopping.

What's a pity is that I didn't have the foresight to bring along my camera to capture the wonderful decorations that they had put up there. For example, the Budda's Tooth Relic Temple dimmed their lights but filled up their foyer's ceiling with lots of lanterns. It was a wonderful sight. Plus the mood everyone was in should've been recorded! Anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter cause this will forever be etched in my memory.

Kuchiki Byakuya - My Type of Boyfriend

Best BLEACH Boyfriend for ME!

The Best Bleach Boyfriend for You Your Result: Kuchiki Byakuya You want a dashing man of nobility and good social standing. He has high moral values but will be willing to bend the rules out of love for you. He may seem cold and distant at times but he has a good heart and will move heaven and earth to fulfill your every desire. You may have to accept, however, that he's too good-looking and that your expensive hair accessories and shawls look better on him.
Abarai Renji
Kurosaki Ichigo
Hitsugaya Toshiro
Yasutora Chad
Ukitake Jushiro
Ishida Uryu
Kisuke Urahara
The Best Bleach Boyfriend for You See All Our Quizzes