plasticine

Speaking of which, I felt like a lump of it yesterday.

ITB felt strained and tight after the 25km run on Sun, so on the advice of Grace, I made an appointment with Iggy yesterday for my first rendezvous with the "pain master". He was really nice to accommodate me, even with like a full time job and I guess other better things to do with his free time.

The place is located just behind paragon. Nice little row of shophouses, not a place where you would expect a torture-house, err.. spa to be located. The sound of new-age music and a whiff of aromatic oil greeted me when I stepped in. Gee.. I was thinking how could Choonwei be yelping in this heaven-on-earth?

Well, they dun call him the pain master for nothing. After Iggy got started, I was squealing more excitedly than a pig in heat and moaning louder than Britney Spears and Pamela Anderson combined! Oh man I sure must have embarrassed myself badly. Damn malu lah! But the massage was good and I really could feel my muscle knots being squeezed away. No Pain No Gain!

Anyway wanted to bring this up in my blog too: Unsafe Motorists. Yup I agree that not all motorists are bad, and not all cyclists are saints either. However, the number of reckless drivers I have met on the road, be it as a cyclist, driver or even pedestrian is simply appalling. I often wonder if 10 year old kids are at the wheels, or if the drivers are trying to killing someone on purpose. Well, I can go on and on about this, but that's for another day. (Rushing tutorials and I have a early bike ride tomorrow morning)

BUT, I do want to bring your attention to this website - yellowcard. Started by an artist who nearly died a couple of years ago and wants to bring awareness of road safety to all. This card not only is meant for motorists, but I think it can be applied to cyclists and pedestrians alike too! (the wording on the magnet can be edited) Spot a reckless jaywalker? Yellowcard! Cycling on pavements/without helmet and lights? Yellowcard! The idea is not to fine or punish anyone, only to bring awareness of road safety and of course, knock some common sense into people while we're at it. Singapore, with its me-first attitude, may not be the best place to start, but if not now, when?

Do we need another case of Sylvester Ang to realise the importance of road safety and public graciousness?

referee kelong!

les entraînements du semaine W-3

23 mardi: Course 15km (Alexandra - Kent Ridge)
24 mercredi: Nager 2km (SAFRA MF)
25 jeudi: Course 14km (Queenstown intervals)
26 vendredi: Nager 2km (Clementi)
27 samedi: Cycle 202.22km, Course 5km (east loop, west loop, tuas extended)
28 dimanche: Course 25km (Peirce)

En total: Nager 4km, Cycle 202.22km, Course 69km

magic number 200

Yup.. I did it! Managed to bike more than 200km today, 202.22 to be exact. =D

Did Longhouse-Sengkang-Changi loop with Wildcat and gang, then back to Longhouse for a quick bite. Thereafter went to do the Mandai loop with KK, whom I managed to meet at Longhouse. At Boon Lay met up with Grace and we did Tuas loop, extended version. After dropping her off at BH, I continued on to Padang and back to my place. But alack and alas, my speedo only showed 197.52km! WHAT?! Well, decided to do my usual 5km run loop on the bike to make up the numbers. Haha.

Ok, today's weather wasn't as bad as Batam, not much headwind to speak about and of course, no "hills"! But legs were feeling kinda tired over the past few days' interval trainings, and that made things a little difficult. Traffic and traffic junctions were also a major problem. So now I've been there and done that, next will be Langkawi!

Anyway, due to the boredom of the ride today, I took the liberty to compose a song, Cycling, which Grace agrees that compliments my singing ability, and whose lyrics I shall enclose for you to appreciate.

Cycling (sung to the tune of Sailing)

I am cycling, I am cycling,
Cross the road past the bridge.
I am cycling, busy roadways,
Up Mt Faber, down NTU

I am cycling, I am cycling,
Here in Tuas far away.
I am cycling, drafting trailers,
To maintain 35(kph), to bike free.

Can you hear me, can you hear me
Here in Mandai far away,
I am dying, forever biking,
If i puncture, who will know.

Can you hear me, can you hear me,
Moaning in pain far away.
I am dying, saddle sore ridden,
Hidden backstrain, painful crotch.

We are biking, we are biking,
Home again cross the bridge.
We are cycling against headwind,
To be stronger, to be Ironmen.

Oh Stadler, to be near you, to be free.
Oh Macca, to be near you, to be free,
Oh fuck (nearly got hit by a passing car again).

le malheur

Ben oui! le Janvier est mon mois de malheur!

Ce matin, je me suis réveillé tôt, car j'ai un rendez-vous du vélo avec les garçons du ME - Whelan et Aaron. Mais, quand j'étais juste sue le point de sortir, il pleurait! Wah! Très sian lah! Donc, j'ai leur dit annuler le rendez-vous, et j'irai de faire mes devoirs.

Pendant ce mois, beaucoup de choses malheureuses à été passé à moi, notamment les billets du parking. =(

J'espérais que le février me donne plus de bonheur! Ok, je arrête mon poste ici, parce que je veux finir mes exercices, en plus je ne sais pas qu'est-ce que je veux écrire encore! Hehe.. à 6h du matin, je n'ai me réveillé complètement pas encore!

les entraînements du semaine W-4

16 mardi: Nager 700m (BH)
17 mercredi: Cycle 73km (Tengah interval loops)
18 jeudi: Course 10km (SAFRA MF)
19 vendredi: Nager 4.2km (Clementi)
21 dimanche: Cycle 165km (Batam 6 bridges ride)

En total: Nager 4.9km, Cycle 238km, Course 10km

6+6=12

12. The number of bridges I crossed in Batam today.

Went biking at Batam today. Event was organised by Robson of TriZen. Hehe.. Thanks to his "imaginations", we all had a very good and fulfilling ride.

Met the rest at 645 at Harbourfront this morning. Was supposed to warm up my legs beforehand with Harn Wei but in the end I went to feed mosquitoes at our meet-up point instead. Had 21 going up to Batam, including Jacq, Bingyi, Chin, Sharon, Esther (naval diver), Andy, Tobias, Craig, Harn Wei, Robson (of course!), Calvin, Kwan Ho, etc.

Got out first surprise after arriving when we found out that our support "van" turned out to be a taxi instead! Oh no! Looks like my plan of faking cramps and taking the van on the return leg (supposed to have bad headwinds) was going to be doomed from the beginning! Cycled out as a group all the way to the first bridge, taking in all the sights and sounds of my first Batam trip. Seriously, I cannot imagine this place being a hotbed for illicit affairs and one-night stands! After the first bridge we all broke up and cycled at our own pace to the sixth and last bridge, whereafter the plan was to have lunch. Going from first to sixth was relatively easy, especially when you have a strong tailwind aiding your pedalling. At one point I think Bingyi clocked 79kmh on his bike whilst zooming down!

Reached the sixth bridge after 3 hours and sadly it did not look like there was anything for lunch! There was a little roundabout and that was just about it. Rather deflated, I turned back and immediately got slapped in the face by a strong gust of wind. Damn! Worse yet, as I had planned to eat something at 80km, I had only brought along with me 2 powergel sachets, one of which looked like it was going to last me for the next 80km!

Eventually Harn Wei caught up with me and following our support vehicle's lead, we found a place for lunch - Lucky Seafood Restaurant (you're lucky if you even see any food at this restaurant!). Food was nothing to shout about and I didn't even manage to finish my plate of rice. Decided to push on after lunch to try to take the 1715hrs (1615hrs Batam time) ferry, 1.5 hours earlier than what Robson had planned. Nobody else wanted to follow, and all the elite riders had not stopped for lunch, so I had to hotfoot it back alone. Well, with 56km more to cover, only 2 hours more to 1715hrs, strong headwinds and relentlessly undulating terrain, it looked like there was an uphill task for me right from the start, if you pardon the pun.

The way back was filled with the loud whirring sound of the headwind in my ears, punctuated by complete silence as I struggled to keep my balance on single digit speeds and trying not to be flung off my bike by the ferocious crosswinds. So there I go, up-down-up-down, sometimes up-up-and-more-up and once in a while, downslopes where I just cruised along.

Missed the 1715hrs ferry by 10 mins, but amazingly I could change my ticket to another company's ferry which was going to leave at 1745hrs (with a $5 fee of course!). So I took the ferry back to SG alone, and reached back about 1830hrs.

Today's ride was super good! Thank you Robson and the rest who made it all so fun and enjoyable! Although the route was kind of "siong", it is precisely these kind of non-stop-in-hot-weather-strong-headwinds-and-undulating-terrain courses which I have to ride if I want to improve my bike! I will definitely do this one again.. Anyway Robson, either delirious from the heat or rubbed off by Harn Wei's craziness, was already planning for another ride (2 x 160km in 2 days) during lunch time! =O

Well, I have a killer 10-hour school day tomorrow. Going to print some notes, finish my tutorials and get some rest. And stay tuned to this space for reports on future overseas biking trips!

160km of sheer biking pleasure

the last breakfast

Jacq and her enormous blow-tool =D

Robson telling us more about his imaginations

Bernard, Stephanie, JC and Sharon

Esther, Chee Meng, Mun Keat and KK

Bingyi, Harn Wei, Robson and me!

our elites in stealth mode

at a row of drink stalls near Barelang
that grin on my face would soon be wiped off

gathering on bridge 1 for re-sup before pushing off

our elites all tucked in and comfortable

feeling top of the world on bridge 5

group shot sans moi as i had already left

parting shot of bridge 1.. kinda reminds me of the SAFTI bridge

All photos reposted courtesy of Bernard and Andy. More photos of course can be found at TriZen.

ma vie en école

Regardez! Mon emploi du temps. J'ai juste fini de compiler. =)

hard talk at hard rock

Hi there! Just back from the Deca-IM Sharing session at HRC.

Well, most of the triathlon community was there, with the aim of hearing about the crazy exploits of Harn Wei and what drives the man. Well, shan't tell you about the details (hey, we all paid $18 ok?), but HW delivered his presentation in true professor style! Haha. Wonder how many modular credits will TRI101 or IM2101 offer? =)

Well I managed to bike in the afternoon, thanks to a break in between classes. Wow the weather was so hot! Went down to Tengah to do sprint intervals, and had to stop every 2 loops! Did 5 in all, and I'm glad that I improved with every lap! Weather's been good these few days so taking the opportunity to do more, especially in the afternoons (Langkawi simulation).

Think I'll just end off today's entry here. Need some sleep. Nights!

HW giving out numbers for the next 4D draw

sharkie unveils his battle plans

priceless

cats and dogs

Yeah that's what's been happening: Raining non-stop cats and dogs. All the Buckies, Garfields, Satchels and Snoopies in the world have been let loose and falling down from the sky and becoming roadkill.

What's the connection between these domestic pets and the weather anyway?

Anyway the weather has most certainly disrupted my training. So much so till I'm at the point of non-training. Rainy weather just makes me want to sleep in! Anyway, got some mileage in today (100km bike and 30km run). Got drenched at Sungei Kadut during bike and I did most of my run in the rain. Quite lovely as the roads were all rather deserted.

Je n'ai peur de la pluie! Je fais du sport toujours, tous les temps! Je ne peux pas arrete! Dans la pluie, dans le soleil. Quand il est froid, quand il est chaud. Parce que.. Je suis un Ironman! =D

Taking opportunity of the bad weather, I went to settle some admin stuff, as well as do some shopping. Finally I got the Orca tri singlet which I had always been eyeing for. Too bad for 2006 it does not come in white anymore, but black sure looks fierce! Blends well with my bike too.

Doesn't it just make you swoon? I look just like a killer whale!

Anyway, the tri top made me think about coordinating my attire. Posted my helmet for sale last night in a whim, and in like 1 minute, somebody called to enquire about it! Wow! Sold it off just now for $60. So now I am helmetless and I need to get one soon! Any helmet sponsors out there? =D

les entraînements du semaine W-5

8 lundi: Nager 500m (BH)
9 mardi: Course 12km (SAFRA + Winchester estate)
10 mercredi: Cycle 75km (NTU loops + Faber loop)
11 jeudi: Nager 3.2km (Clementi)
13 samedi: Cycle 1.5hrs (Trainer)
14 dimanche: Cycle 95km (Mandai + Tuas loop), Course 30km (Esplanade + Sentosa)

En total: Nager 3.7km, Cycle 170km + 1.5hrs, Course 42km

You know you have stayed too long in Singapore when..

1. You've lost your sense of irony, sarcasm, and cynicism.

2. You don't know what's lame and what isn't anymore.

3. You think there's nothing wrong with putting chili sauce on everything you eat.

4. You wait for instructions from people in authority before doing anything. Always.

5. You join queues without knowing or caring what the queue is for.

6. You know what "queue" means!!

7. Your idea of a good night out consists of having dinner at a hawker centre, drinking beer, and then going to another hawker centre and eating again.

8. You've lost your ability to criticize people in higher positions than you, even if they're wrong.

9. You think it's okay to have only one meaningful choice on a ballot.

10. "Crossing the country" means taking the MRT tothe end of the line.

11. You have a high tolerance for nagging.

12.Most or all of these acronyms make sense to you: NUS; NTU; ERP; SDU; PAP; MRT; LKY; GCT; PRC; TIBS; SBS; SMS; JB; JBJ; AMK; AYE; PIE; ECP; ISD; ISA; 5 C's; CPF; CHIJMES; SPG; CWO.

13. You use too many acronyms when you talk, or you create new ones.

14. You think that nothing makes a girl or guy more attractive than to dress exactly like hundreds of thousands of othe girls and guys who all dress exactly like girls and guys in malls.

15. You think that S$100,000 [= US$ 57,000] is a reasonable price for a Toyota Corolla and S$1,000,000 is a reasonable price for a bungalow, but S$5 [= US$2.85] for a plate of fried noodles is a barbarous outrage.

16. You believe that not being able to get decent roti prata outside Singapore is enough to keep the best and the brightest people from leaving.

17. You see nothing wrong with forming committees of select elite people to deliberate and study ways to stimulate creativity and spontaneity.

18. You justify every argument with the phrase "in order for us to be competitive in the 21st century."

19. You think everything should be "topped up."

20. You see nothing unusual about an organization of trade unions spending more time owning and operating supermarkets, parks, drugstores, amusement nightclubs, and financial services than planning the next strike.

21. You believe that a lack of land is enough justification for the goverment to do what it wants.

22. You wear winter clothes indoors and summer clothes outdoors.

23. Durian and belachan no longer stink to you.

24. You like to have fun, but not too much fun, since you need to correctly gauge the amount of fun necessary to achieve the optimal result. Any more fun that that would bring shame to your family and your country.

25. You're not confused by a street naming system that locates streets like Clementi Road, Clementi Street, Clementi Crescent, Clementi Lane, Clementi Drive, Clementi Way, and Clementi Avenues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 all within walking distance of each other.

26. You get irritated if you don't see a sign telling you how long your wait's going to be for a bus, a train, or the expressway to take you where you want to go.

27. You're certain that Holland Village is for hippie bohemian artist types and not for overpaid yuppies.

28. When you cross the border into Malaysia, you automatically and deeply fear for your life and your wallet. Especially your wallet!!

29. No matter what you're doing at the moment, you'd rather be shopping.

30. No matter how miserable you may be here, you thank God you're not in Indonesia.

31. You're impressed by high-rise apartment buildings with actual lobbies instead of bare exposed pillars on the ground floor [such as are found in much government-built housing].

32. You forgot what chewing gum tastes like.

33. You're sure that the best way to change social behaviour is through consistent and comprehensive government-sponsored campaigns that permeate as many aspects of daily life as possible. And when they don't work, you never speak of them again.

34. You agree that what the government thinks of your personal habits and lifestyle should determine whether you get a condo and how much you pay for it.

35. You've become a fan of either Arsenal, Manchester United, or Liverpool when you barely knew what soccer was before you came to Singapore. And you don't care that none of these teams are Singaporean!

36. You think a bus is incomplete without a TV.

37. You believe that politicians are clean, white and honest.

38. You actually believe everything they say.

courtesy of expatsingapore.com. Dun sue me!!! =D

roppongi hills

HALLO! Just came back from hills training. Did 5 x NTU loops and 1 x Faber. Wah going up Faber alone at night was damn scary! Kept thinking of pontianaks and Huang Na.. -_-|||

Well at least it was good training after a day of school today. Badly wanted to do some hills training since lunch, but was not possible due to bad weather. So after french class msg-ed Mel and we arranged to bike. Thing was that I forgot to tell him the objective of training today until West Coast Mac's. Hee.. I think Mel is damn strong to just go for hill training just liddat. I know that I would not be able to do so! Anyway clocked about 75km.. Took 2.5 hours due ot the hilly nature of today's ride. Anyway.. THANK YOU MEL for accompanying me on this ride. =)

Quoi qu'il en soit, aujourd'hui était mon premier leçon de LAF3203. Mon prof de ce semaine s'appelle Francis Doumecq. Après prof Woozer, moi et mes amis nous pensons qu'il sera un bon prof! Hehe. Finally a real professeur! =D Marchon, marchon.. les étudiants du LAF3203!

hedonistic running

HALLO! just back from dinner and tv.

Had another boring day at school today. As usual the lecturers opened fire at us straightaway with the usual gusto, and in usual fashion everything just flew over my head. =D But I'm already dreading this semester.. With the horrible timetable and modules that I have to take. Its more like punishment school rather than university!

At least I had a good run today. Met up with Mel and Grace. Met up with the SAFRA runners at Mount Faber today. Turned out that they were doing their lactate threshold test today so didn't join them. Instead, we went for a run led by Ah Heng, one of the regular runners there who didn't want to go for the test.

He brought us to Winchester estate.. Wow the colonial houses there are so so nice! I so want to live there! The houses are so huge, and some even have treehouses and separate living quarters for servants! OMG.. They really define the term "depths of decadence". The loop inside was about 5km, but it didn't feel anything like that, with all the sights and sounds of our running tour. =D Think at the end we managed to clock about 11km. Lovely.

Did a running tour with Ai Ling on Sunday afternoon too. 18km scenic run along lower and upper Peirce. Did it at 3pm on a hot and sultry day, so the entire place was almost devoid of visitors and runners. But alot of monkeys suntanning along the road. Wow the views were spectacular! We took alot of detours along the route.. The sun was superb and the hills were fantastic. Never had so much fun running! Ran along some parts of the reservoir which brought back memories of NS days.. Remember Ex. Wildcat?! What an irony.. Haha. Would have loved to have brought along a camera so I could share with you the amazing photos. =)

Well.. Here are some photos from Grace's cam which she took on our 160km bike on Sat. Look at it and you'll know why we bother to wake up at 4am in the morning to put ourselves through all that pain and suffering. Enjoy!

me riding into the err.. sunrise?! =D

aliens trying to take over part of Old Tampines Road

perfect weather conditions for takeoff along Tengah

Steam Room Cold Pool

Hello! Just got back from the steam room cold pool treatment at Blue Horizon. Wah feel so nua now! Like somebody just broke all my bones and turned them to jelly. Or rather, as Grace describes it, wet noodle legs. Haha.

It was a super boring first day of school today. Did my timetable spreadsheet this morning and I'm already dreading the schoolterm! Sems like its going to be a super packed semester! DIE. Today we started off with me3501 which is mathematical methods in engineering. The lecturer just gave his name and started on lectures proper like immediately! I was still feeling quite perky in the morning when he just deflated me. Dang. Luckily he ended the lecture early so I was able to grab some breakfast at 1130.

Next lecture was a total bore (not that the others aren't) so I left early after one hour into it. Went home and met Grace for lunch. She promised to help me troubleshoot my desktop's problem(s). Ok so after lunch we turn on the com, then looked at the connections. What I thought was an innocent question from her turned out to be the cause of the problem: Did you plug in the correct hole? ALAS! I had plugged in the monitor cable to the on board graphics output and not my own video card. No wonder no input lah! Haha. Felt damn stupid. After that I put on Kill Bill and we watched the movie and nua-ed te afternoon away, killing any thoughts of going to Sentosa.

Woke up only about 6 and we went over to Blue Horizon again for swim and physio treatment. My muscles were aching after Saturday's bike ride plus yesterday's run with Ai Ling up and down Peirce. Wow the scenery was super nice yesterday! Too bad I didn't have a camera with me. =(

After that we went for dinner at Holland. Went back to the car and Grace pointed out that there was a slip of paper on my windscreen. Thinking that it was probably some car saleman's namecard, I sauntered over casually as I knew that I had placed a parking coupon before I left. But alas it was not to be. It WAS a parking coupon! Dang! I reached Holland at about 2045 so I put the start time on the coupon as 100. The parking attendant came at 2051. Damn! Talk about bad luck. So now I have a $120 & 3 demerit points offence, plus a $30 fine incurred today. All within the first week of 2007! =x

Oh well this happened to the beginning of 2006 as well.. I got 3 parking coupons within a week! Super unlucky! Oh well, no point bitching.. let's move on now.

Tomorrow I intend to bike at Sentosa in between classes, so let's pray for good weather, and I need to go sleep now. Nights! =)

les entraînements du semaine W-6

1 lundi: Sly Ride 33km (Dempsey area)
2 mardi: Nager 3km (Queenstown)
4 jeudi: Cycle 1.5hrs (Trainer), Course 8km (Faber)
5 vendredi: Nager 2km de drills (Clementi)
6 samedi: Cycle 160km (Mandai -> Coastal loop, Mandai loop + NTU)
7 dimanche: Course 18km (very hilly Peirce loop)

En total: Nager 5km, Cycle 193km + 1.5hrs, Course 26km

la fête de Letch!

Bonsoir! Aujourd'hui est la fête de Letch! Actuellement, l'anniversaire du Letch était 4 jan, mais elle a choisi 7 jan pour organiser une partie.

La partie était tenue à SPANS-JOM à Balestier. C'est le deuxième fois que je suis allé là-bas. Le première fois était la fête de Weiliang! Haha. Mais, dernier nuit ressemble une scène de Bollywood Monsoon! Très cool! Merci Letch pour m'invite!

Nous mangions les curries, les naans et les riz bismati. Tous étaient délicieux! Hehe.. Mes amies gourmande - Xinhui et Michelle mangeaient beaucoup, et peut-être Lynn veux les joindre! Le club spéciale de les gourmandes! =D

les femmes et les gourmandes.. =D

les deux d'or et leur bébé!

la groupe! merci mich pour les photos =)

un bon jour!

Hehe.. Le premier jour de 2007 a été passé! Ce matin je suis allé au Sly Ride avec mes amis Mel, Grace et quelque cyclistes du Trifam. C'était un tour pour partager les règles de la sécurité routière, et pour se rappeler Slyvester Ang, qui es mort pendant 3 ans. À mon avis, le tour n'était pas très utile car il était très tôt (7h du matin) et il n'était pas beaucoup de conducteurs et gens dans les rues. En plus, parce qu'il y avait beaucoup de cyclistes, je me sens que quelque fois le tour était un peu dangereux, surtout les cyclistes n'avaient pas trop d'expériences. Hélas, je n'ai pas les photos, parce que je ne m'apporte pas avec moi un photo-appareil.. Il faut que je achète une portable avec un photo-appareil! N95!!! =D

Nice bib designed by Botak

L'après-midi ma famille avec moi sont allés à Taka pour déjeuner à Imperial Treasures. Nous nous sentons que Crystal Jade est mieux. Après dejeuner, nous allions à Pasir Panjang pour visiter l'école qui mon père a l'étudié quand il est un étudiant. Nous allions à Mount Faber. C'était amusant!

Le soir nous sommes allés à l'esplanade pour diner. Nous mangeons les fruits de mer à "No Signboard". Les nourritures n'étaient pas très délicieux mais Gilbert and Friends (Roomful of Blues) ont étés la-bas et ils ont étés chanter! Wah ils étaient très bien! J'espère que je peux chanter comme soi.

Yawn.. Je suis fatiguée. Peut-être demain je fera du vélo ou je fera du natation. Ou les deux. =D
Bonne nuit et à demain! =)

Happy 2007!

Happy New year and have a GRREEEAAAATTTTT year ahead!

My resolutions:
1. To be more disciplined during training (yes that means climbing Mt Faber no matter how tired I am)
2. To buy/read/understand all relevant course materials for sem 4
3. To read/listen/speak more french
4. To donate more to charity
5. To take myself less seriously

Hehe.. May not seem like alot, but hey, its just for a year only, ok? Need to have good work-life balance hor? =)

Hey, now you know how to do it in sign language!