Flowers!

The entire arrangement
The "memo" on each flower

Home-made Mooncakes

I received a message from an ex-student of mine wanting to meet me for lunch near my office. She seemed quite anxious to meet because when I asked for her preference on cuisine, her response was that she was willing to just get a drink because her main intention was to meet me.

In any case, I bought her a pasta lunch and the picture above was the reason why she was adamant on meeting me – she wanted to pass these home-made moon cakes to me before the Moon Cake Festival and before they get moldy (due to lack of preservatives)!

I was so touched….mabbe I should really go and teach…full time....

Hong Kong 2009 - Food

Spent some time in Hong Kong this year for work. Had a weekend off so it was a weekend of some sightseeing and food, food and more food!! :)

Beef meat and brisket riceThis alone is enough to make me want to go to Hong Kong again! French Toast from Mido Cafe. Drooooooool........ Baked seafood rice from Mido Cafe Crispy Noodles from Mido Cafe Stir-fried spinach with garlic Chicken and mushroom claypot rice Fried oyster cake Porridge breakfast spread Chee Cheong Fun - Hong Kong style Soft warm egg tart Baked pastries Steamed milk with ginko nuts Roast meat dinner Roast goose meat Double-boiled herbal soup Hong Kong styled pastry with century egg Veggie Chicken ramen Veggie fishball mushroom ramen Japanese flat udon
Mak's Wanton noodles Ee-fu noodles Chilled fresh fish skin - it was nice and crunchy :)

Darn! Uploading these pictures are making me droooooool again!!

Sleep & Death

For some of my morning runs, I do a slow jog to the nearest stadium with a running track near my place. It is about a ten minutes slow jog to the Queenstown Sport Complex. Then I will do my workout for the day around the running track. I need to go to the track because there are some workouts that I want to do that are distance-based so running on the track makes it easier to know the distance that I have covered. One of the advantages of running on the track is that it is also kinder to the joints as the running track is much softer compared to tarmac roads or concrete pavements.

One of the things that I noticed at the running track is that there is a LOT of elderly folks doing their morning walks or slow jogs around the track. This is not surprising if not for the fact that it is not even 6 o’clock in the morning yet and the sky is still black! I reckon most, if not all of them are already retired.

I remember thinking to myself – I waked up early throughout the whole of my working life. When I am retired, I would want to sleep in or at least till “the sun shines on my butt” (according to a Chinese saying) everyday instead of waking up at such unearthly hours to walk! So I commented to a dear friend about the horde of elderly folks at the track early in the morning and he commented,” Do you know why they wake up early and do not sleep so much? That’s because they are afraid that they may end up sleeping forever!”

Hmmm…….

Ankle sprain

That's how my ankle looked when its all bandaged up :(

0515 hours

That is the time that I have been waking up to do my early morning runs before getting into work. And I am proud to say that I can still get into office before 8am!

For the longest time, I jog in the evenings after work. That is because I have never been a morning person – I hate waking up early in the morning and I love sleeping in. And I feel that it is “easier” to jog after I have had the chance to drink water and eat food during the day to fuel my body, to get it ready for the run.

I decided to try jogging in the mornings for a change. To be totally honest, it was indeed really tough to drag myself outta the bed when the alarm goes off at 515am. But once I am awake, it gets easier as I drink my energy drink, take a banana, use the toilet and change into my running gear.

Stepping outta the house when the sky is still dark and knowing that half of Singapore is probably still in lala-land gives me a strange sense of fulfillment knowing that I am “seizing” the day! Its probably just a self illusion. Ha!

The air is cleaner, there are fewer vehicles on the road and there are less people staring at me when I jog (although those who did stared at me harder with weirder looks than those who stared in the evenings – those who stared in the morning must be thinking that I am a lot crazier than those who stared in the evenings!).

The chirping of the birds, the singing of the crickets, the cries of a hungry baby, the flushing of the toilet, the ringing of a musical alarm clock – these are some of the sounds of the morning that I experienced. The stillness of the morning, the quietness before the sounds of Singapore stirring into consciousness, the rhythmic tapping of my feet hitting the ground one after another – it’s very refreshing. I have not had to use my mp3 player on my morning runs.

Depending on my workout for the day, some mornings are a mad rush to shower and get ready for work after the run. Some mornings are not so bad. But the euphoria feeling after the morning run is definitely so worth it….:)

The sacrifice/trade-in for early morning runs: I hardly have a social life on weekdays anymore because the zzz monster would normally attack me by about 930pm. So I have been adopting the "Sleeping early, Rising early is good for the body" practice :P

Unfortunately, I have had to stop my 0515 morning runs for two loooooooong weeks because of a mild ankle sprain I got from stepping into a pothole. :( Darn! Just when my lazee body was just getting used to waking up early...

Remind me again....

What and why am I working so @#$%^& hard for??....

A Time to Die

The recent death of Calvin Lee at a triathlon event has thrown the spotlight again on people having sudden deaths at endurance events. This is not the first time it has happened in Singapore and the people who died are usually young and successful in their own fields. They are also “supposedly” in general good health with no known illnesses.

After this latest incident, Mummy and Papa spoke to me on separate occasions but using similar words to send the same message: “Hey! You read about the case of the man who died at the triathlon? He is still so young. And as for you ah, you better don’t push yourself too hard when you run, OK?”

My response to them and generally this is how I feel about death too, is that there is a time to die. I believe that every one of us has a pre-defined time to die. This is regardless of which religion you belong and which God you believe it. There is a time to die. And when it is your time to die, nothing you do or did not do will change that.

I recall a newspaper article I read when I was in secondary school. It was about this person who died while waiting for a bus at a bus-stop. He/She (I cannot remember the gender) was knocked down by a car that had lost control. Now, waiting for a bus at a bus-stop is something many of us do everyday; and it seems perfectly harmless to do that. We wait for the bus that takes us to school; we wait for the bus that takes us to work; we wait for the bus that takes us to the shopping mall; you get the idea.

When it is time for one to die, it is time.

I can't see you!

Coffee's latest look - his fringe is so long that we cannot see his eyes!! (Which is good during the times when he is begging for food, like in the picture below, so that we cannot see his pleading eyes and give in to him. Ha!)

Should I or should I not?

As you know, I am using Mapmyrun.com for tracking the distance that I am running. One of the drawback of that tool is that it does not map small roads or if I were to jog to Botanics Gardens and do rounds in there, I cannot map those rounds. Thus, I have been contemplating the Garmin Forerunner 405.

Here is the write-up on the Garmin Forerunner405:
"
Long runs, tempo runs, speed drills. You expect a lot from your body…and from your training gear. Meet Forerunner 405. This GPS-enabled sport watch tracks your training, then wirelessly sends your data to your computer. The ultimate in training technology, its sleek design features a touch bezel that lets you quickly scroll and select features on the run.

Watch Results
Loaded with serious training features, Forerunner 405 continuously monitors your time, distance, pace, calories and heart rate (when paired with heart rate monitor). Each run is stored in memory so you can review and analyze the data to see how you've improved. You can even download recorded courses to compete against previous workouts or race a Virtual Partner®. Customize Forerunner’s data screens for instant feedback while you train.

Use with Ease
Sport watch and personal trainer — Forerunner 405 gives you the best of both worlds in a sleek, stylish package. This high performance watch is easy to use and comfortable to wear when not training. Simply tap the touch bezel to change screens without fumbling for a button. Forerunner 405 comes in two color options — black or green — to fit your style.

Run, Sync, Store and Share
Once you’ve logged the miles, innovative ANT+™ wireless technology automatically transfers data to your computer when the Forerunner is in range. No cables, no hookups. The data’s just there, ready for you to analyze, categorize and share through our online community, Garmin Connect or our optional Garmin Training Center® software. You can wirelessly send workouts from your computer to Forerunner, too.

Share Wirelessly
With Forerunner 405 you can share your locations, advanced workouts and courses wirelessly with other Forerunner 405 users. Now you can send your favorite workout to your buddy to try, or compete against a friend's recorded course. Sharing data is easy. Just select “transfer” to send your information to nearby units.

Track Heart Rate
Forerunner 405 is available with or without a heart rate monitor (see the versions tab) to help you make the most out of your training. Versions with a digital heart rate monitor continuously track heart beats per minute. Train in a certain heart rate zone to improve your fitness level or compare your pace and heart rate to past performance on the same run.

Lock Onto Satellite Signals
Forerunner 405 sports a unique design that gives the GPS antenna a better view of the sky, so it can get a stronger signal during your run. And its high-sensitivity GPS receiver provides improved tracking under trees and near tall buildings.

"
I am holding back because it will cost about SGD500+ for the watch and the heart-rate monitor. That is a lot of money for a watch that I will only wear for running. But having said that, I actually spent XX times on the Franck Muller watch and it does not even perform any of the functions stated above! >.<

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookie!

5 months after Ashton is born, Been, Lian & I resumed our ad-hoc baking session. However, we got lazee and decided to cheat this time round by buying a pre-mix!

Donna Hay's Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookie

The recipe looks simple enough :)
Mixing the dough

Added in the white and milk chocolate chips

Bite-sized cookies ready for the oven

Lian admiring the inputs and outputs of our efforts

The outcome! Yummy!

The whole load of cookies...

That's Been doing her motherly burping duties :)

That's Ashton - a very adorable and very easy baby :)

MapMyRun.com

I would like to give credit to this website because they are a god-send for runners without those complicated gadgets that measure the distance one run. I only use a stop-watch and a heart-rate monitor for my runs.

This tool allows me to know the distance I have ran for each session. Of course it only works if I run out around the neighbourhood. This tool would not be useful if I run round and round and round the park near my house :)

An easy 6.4km run in 40 minutes on a humid morning

Home-cooked food

For those of you who know me for years, you would know that I grew up on outside food. I never had home-cooked food because Mummy never cooked and Papa never liked home-cooked food. So I was felt that I was the "deprived kid" when it comes to food and nutrition!

Mummy started cooking recently! And I make it a point to go over to eat whatever she cooked since it's home-cooked goodness! :) It's also to encourage her to cook more often. Ha!

Chicken mushroom soup with wolfberries and red dates Braised chicken wings, bean curd and eggs Chicken soup with mushrooms 3 types of steamed eggs - salted, century and normal

Shenzhen, China 2009

Went to Shenzhen for the second time in two years for work. Stayed at the Sheraton Shenzhen this time round.

The Sheraton Shenzhen View from my hotel room Me with participants in my training session - I am proud to say that I conducted 80% of this training session in Mandarin! My Mandarin definitely improved while I was in China :)
Beef noodles Tofu I went to try the Italian restaurant in the hotel for dinner Clams linguine in pesto sauceLunch @ the same Italian restaurant - seafood appetiser Fish with seafoodFusion-style Beef Dessert..... Went out for dinner with a Shenzhen friend - that's the condiments Fish slice soup - Shenzhen version Veggie soup Beancurd with shredded veggie