jeudi, août 30, 2007

student orientation

Other than French lessons in the day I have been busying myself with the orientation activities organised by the BI.

On Tuesday we had pizzas in the park followed by a visit to the bar. The mood was tepid in the evening (presumably due to the French lessons we had earlier), but by a couple of pints at night, everybody was chatting away like nobody's business. And of course, many of us switched back to our preferred language of communication - English. So much for intensive French lessons! =P But I must say that many of the other students speak much better French than me.. -_-|||
waiting for the pizzas

CF as buaya as ever..

getting dark, and STILL waiting.. =P

when the going gets tough, the tough start drinking!

On Wednesday I went up la bastille for a BBQ, as per my earlier post. Damn.. Why is this whole place full of mountains? La Bastille is situated at the top of a "petite colline" and thus we had to hike up all 500m of it. For comparison, Bukit Timah is 163m "tall" only. =D But the view up there was worth it!!! Just look at the photos! The BBQ was also very well organised and although I only ate a hotdog, I enjoyed myself up there. =)
at the bottom of the hill..

and up..

long queue for the hotdogs..

cultural exchange lesson

magnificent view at sunset

Grenoble at night

Today I am giving the night's activities a miss. Need a little break from everyone else (especially after getting pelted by hailstones last night, but that's for another story!)! Anyway they are just going to play pool, something which I totally suck at. =D Just going to cook myself a nice dinner and chill out tonight. À plus tard! =)

mercredi, août 29, 2007

room with a view

view from my room!

like real.. =P This is more like it, with only a glimpse of les montagnes. Damn the stupid tree blocking my view!

The previous photo was taken yesterday when we went up to la bastille for a BBQ organised by the Bureau Internationale. Will post up some photos up soon! =)

mardi, août 28, 2007

mind rape

This week we have intensive French lessons and I happen to be in group B2+, which is the best class. Most of the students are German and Swedish, and the only Asian representatives are Andi and me.

I seriously do not know why both of us are grouped into B2+, as ALL the students except Andi and me have attended at least 5 years of classes! It truly is a mind rape everyday as my level of French is probed everyday in class and more and more of my incompetence is exposed.

On other fronts, life is pretty busy. Classes in the morning, administrative stuff in the afternoon, and domestic issues at night. Not to mention the huge load of homework..

Ok gotta go now; The stupid French keyboard layout is killing me anyway.

dimanche, août 26, 2007

delightful dimanche

Allo! Greetings from MacDo once again! Seems like the whole town relies on MacDo for Internet service as the place is full of laptop-toting Frenchmen (yes I know it sounds like a joke but its true) on a perfect sunny Sunday afternoon! =D

After all the cleaning up I did yesterday I was surprised to wake up at the unearthly hour of 0730 this morning. What surprised me even more was that I was unable to get back to sleep! So in perfect sleeping conditions, I got dressed and went out for a short run. I decided that my route would be the entire cycle track surrounding the domaine universités, or university grounds as it would not only give me the chance to explore my new school, it would also be impossible to get long as I did not deviate from the cycle tracks.

At 0800 on a Sunday morning, everywhere is devoid of human presence. Just like a scene from 28 Weeks Later, I had the whole place to myself this morning. Not even any cars except for the occasional tram service. Nice.. =) Had an easy, perpiration-less run (due to weather and not due to my slackness =P) and I managed to check out my school, ENSHMG - École Nationale Supérieure de Hydraulique et de Mécanique, along the way. Its amazing how a country which has amazing architecture like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe can still have boring, old and dilapilated buildings like ENSHMG. Actually it was not really a surprise for me from my experience at INSA Lyon last year, but I was hoping for something nicer this time as I would be attending "real" classes this time. Oh well. Didnt bring along a camera so I guess photos would have to wait.

Went to town to grab some breakfast after my run then headed back to do some more cleaning and slacked about until about 1500 to drag my ass down to MacDo. Classes are starting tomorrow, but I have yet to check out the location and time of my classes! o_O Heh.. Doesn't feel like an academic year abroad but more of an extended vacation/sabbatical! Haha.. =D

Leaving you with a couple of photos.. Enjoy!!!
very foggy first views of Paris

my luggage after surviving the flight

my (still neat and well packed) room

another view

check out my all-new scholarly look!

samedi, août 25, 2007

Singapore -> Paris -> Grenoble

Ce matin SQ334 est arrivé à CDG-Paris et dans ce matin brumeux, je suis arrivé en France, après un séparation de une année. Il était si brumyeux que j'ai pensé que l'avion était dans l'air encore quand actuellement il va atterrissage! Mais il me semble qu'elle ne change pas. Elle est si romantique, si mystérieuse et si énigmatique comme ces temps que je la suis parti. Alors, Paris je t'aime! =)

Mais je ne peux pas y rester longtemps - J'ai une autre voyage à Grenoble! Donc, Je suis allé à la Gare de Lyon, aussi la même gare comme le dernier fois quand j'ai traversé le Channel.

Enfin après 18h du déplacement, je suis arrivé à Grenoble aujourd'hui environ de 1500. Je suis allé à ma résidence, et j'ai essayé de rester un peu.. Très fatigue après la grande (et longe) voyage. Et après j'ai fait un peu de courses et maintenant je suis au chez McDo, où je peux utiliser le Wifi.

De tou façon, merci pour tout les souhaits et merci à tous qui sont allés à Changi pour m'envoyer. Je suis très touché! En particulier papa et maman.. Je vous aime! =D

Ok je dois partir bientôt.. À tout à l'heure!!!

vendredi, août 24, 2007

les grandes aventures de pot

Leaving on a jet plane in less than 6 hours. Feeling the usual mix of apprehension and adrenaline before departure. Meanwhile still have stuff to pack.. =X

This means that Desaru race report will have to be done in France..

De tout façon, les grandes aventures de Pot va commencer! On y va et on va explorer les choses inconnus!!! =D
all packed and ready to go..

jeudi, août 23, 2007

steamboat willie

Had a nice steamboat dinner with my parents, grandma and aunt today amidst all the chaos of luggage packing and rendezvous with friends.

Felt like reunion dinner come early! =D

Thanks to moms and pops for making all these possible. Hehe.. You guys are definitely the coolest and I will miss you in this coming one year!!! =)
feast lovingly prepared by mom

tucking into dinner.. =P

lundi, août 20, 2007

self maintenance

Final week prep!!! Now that all my races (local) are over for this year, I can finally get down to some TLC for myself. =)

Went for a dental check up, did my hair, then serviced my bike today. Tomorrow I'll be going to Iggy, then helping my mom to service her car. Finally I still have a huge lot of stuff to pack! Clothes, shoes, academic matters, triathlon equipment, etc. all sitting about and waiting to be stuffed into my bags.

Which explains the lack of a race report on Desaru. Which means Con-Fusion Kenneth, sorry but you have to wait a little bit longer! For those who cannot wait, here's a picture of me pre-race.. =P
Body Glide still refuses to sponsor me even after all my blatant photowhoring

jeudi, août 16, 2007

full circle

Will be heading up to Desaru later for its annual Long Distance Triathlon. Going up with my parents (their first triathlon spectator experience), Jinseng+Keiko (triathlon lao cheows), and Chris (new kid off the block wanting more torture). Caroline and her relay partner might also be tagging along in our convoy train.

This will be my 3rd attempt at this same course where I started out in triathlon. Ironically, this will also be my last race locally (yes, I consider Malaysia local) as I take a year-long break to head for the French Alps. Yes in a way I've come full circle. =)

Wish me all the best and stay tuned as usual for the race report! =P

lundi, août 13, 2007

techno cat

For the first time in my life, I went to a Getai. And all the way at Ubi too, if I may add. My brain is truly fried. =D

It all started with this movie "881" which I went to watch with my parents on National Day. "881" means "papaya" in Hokkien, which is an allusion to the Papaya Sisters, Getai singers and main protagonists of the film.

The story is about two girls with one dream. Little Papaya and Big Papaya grow up idolizing Chen Jin Lang, the King of Hokkien Getai, and dream of becoming Getai singers themselves. As with any melodramatic movie worth its salt, the Papaya Sisters meet with their fair share of ups (enlightenment by the Goddess of Getai) and downs (competition by the Durian Sisters) before ascending the throne of Getai. However, their reign is all-too-short as Little Papaya dies of cancer, leaving only Big Papaya to continue on.
881 movie poster

For the uninitiated, Getais are boisterous live stage performances held during the Hungry Ghost Festival in Singapore for the spirits who are allowed to roam mortal earth once a year during the 7th lunar month. The stage setup is composed of temporary structures and it is usually situated in the heartlands, in any empty field or even in carparking spaces. Performers normally don loud and glittery clothing. The main language spoken/sung is Hokkien, and these performances appeal mainly to the older folk.

Anyway I was so impressed by Royston and his cast's movie that I went down to Ubi today (the first day of the Festival) where he the entire cast was scheduled to appear at a real-life Getai. =)

Kudos to all the actors/actresses/cockerel who were in the film. Of notable mention are of course the Papaya Sisters played by Yeo Yann Yann (Big Papaya) and Mindee Ong (Small Papaya), and Liu Ling Ling, who as a veteran Getai singer and entertainer, was able to delicately and accurately portray her character Aunt Ling in the movie. Those who have watched the movie will understand the title of this post! =P

The soundtrack was equally nice too. Sensitive to the movie and uniquely Singaporean enough. I usually do not appreciate Mandarin songs, but one of the main theme songs "一人一半" really touched my heart. =) Go listen to it! I may add a link here later on..

Ok some pictures of one very eventful Monday night!
Papaya and Durian Sisters on stage

no this is not WP election rally! XD

everybody gathered on stage for photo taking

alternate shot

dimanche, août 12, 2007

On Training

Training is a necessary evil.

Necessary if you want to be evil.

=)

samedi, août 11, 2007

When You're Gone

- by Avril Lavigne

I always needed time on my own
I never thought I'd
need you there when I cry
And the days feel like years when I'm alone
And the bed where you lie
is made up on your side

When you walk away
I count the steps that you take
Do you see how much I need you right now?

When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too
When you're gone
The words I need to hear to always get me through the day
And make it OK
I miss you

I've never felt this way before
Everything that I do
reminds me of you
And the clothes you left
they lie on the floor
And they smell just like you
I love the things that you do

When you walk away
I count the steps that you take
Do you see how much I need you right now?

When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too
When you're gone
The words I need to hear to always get me through the day
And make it OK
I miss you

All I ever wanted was for you to know
Everything I do I give my heart and soul
I can hardly breathe I need to feel you here with me
Yeah

When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too
When you're gone
The words I need to hear to always get me through the day
And make it OK
I miss you

bad day

Just had a terrible training week. Bah!!!

After the National day training washout I felt like I was coming down with something, so I canceled my scheduled run and rested.

Although I still managed to do my 20km run yesterday, it felt too easy/sedated to be training. And I somehow managed to pull my shoulder muscle during swim class.

Didn't ride this morning because I felt real lousy when I got out of bed at 5am today. Just didn't feel like getting out of the house and riding. =(

Am I losing it?

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

jeudi, août 09, 2007

have you ever seen the rain?

Creedence Clearwater Revival asked that in their song of the same name, and boy did I clearly see the rain today.

Amazingly enough I overslept this morning so was unable to make it for the 0500 Longhouse ride. Nevertheless I decided to do one Mandai loop on my own. Noticed the sky was a little ominously red and that the winds were strong when I left. Decided to plod on as the weather had been fine the previous few days. I eventually made it to as far as Thomson before it started drizzling so I decided to make a u-turn - No point getting all wet on a normal training ride.

Unfortunately, I had only reached Orchard Road when the heavens opened up and water gushed down from the skies as if there was no tomorrow. For awhile, it rained so hard that I felt as though I was pelted by tiny stones! Put my head down and pedaled against the roaring headwinds. I just wanted to get home!

And home I did reach, after battling numerous big pools of water, almost zero visibility and the strong headwinds. Sigh.. Only cycled about 30km, and yet I had a massive bike cleaning job in my hands! So I cleaned my bike, and drank some miso, then went back to bed. All this excitement in the morning, and I was back in bed at 0800! =D

Anyway I woke up about 1000 feeling shitty. Think I may have gotten a cold. Bah. Always happens about this time of the year. Hope I get well before Desaru next week.

Also found out that the rest of the Joyriders got stuck at the cemetery this morning. Hee.. Sometimes it pays to oversleep!!! XD

Watched a movie with my parents after lunch and just slacked about after that. =)

mardi, août 07, 2007

une petite pause

Need to take a time out from blogging these days.. Cos I am super busy from living my life! These few weeks have been hectic to say the least, with exams, races, training, meetups, trips, etc. And now, its only a mere 2 weeks before I leave for France. Where had all the time gone to?

But well, this post is sort of ironical, isn't it? =P

samedi, août 04, 2007

Tour de Mersing

I saw Spiffy Sharon's post on the Joyriders website a few weeks ago about an upcoming Mersing ride that she was organising. Checked my calendar, and saw that the date was just after my exams. Perfect.

And so last week, I rode 180km up to Mersing with 6 other equally mentally deranged people: Erickong, Bernard, Spiffy Sharon, Big Mouth Francis, Vinokourov Vinod and Winston.
van all loaded and ready to roll!

Mersinging in the Rain

Met up at 6am at Bernard's place and loaded up our bikes onto Colin's van (Colin was our support driver). Colin first drove us up to JB for breakfast (the most yummylicious dimsum I have ever eaten; much better than Crystal Jade!), then we headed to The Pulai Desaru, where our ride was to begin from.

Got to Desaru, prepped ourselves and our bikes, then we headed out in somewhat gloomy weather. The first 35km to the first resupp point was pretty frisky, with Bernard, Francis and me taking turns to warm up our legs. The day was still young, and all of us were raring to go.
group photo at the start

warming up at the beginning

At the resupp point, the weather took a turn for the worse and it started raining. I learnt from my previous mistake at Desaru two weeks ago and put on my arm warmers. In spite of the weather, the pace was much faster, with me and Bernard pulling the peloton along alternatively. Other than a near-miss collision with a cow which ran onto the road because it got scared by incoming traffic, this stage of the ride was pretty uneventful and we reached our lunch stop within the hour.
ninja van!

Lunch was Eric's favorite nasi ayam. Silly me decided to limit myself to half a bowl of rice, and I eventually had to pay for this lack of nutrition later in the ride.
lunch pic - ayam eaten and nasi devoured

Merciless Mersing Mountainous Madness

Bernard, the veteran Merman, had warned earlier that the roads would get alot more rolling after our lunch point. And boy he wasn't joking! We departed from the kedai nasi ayam, only to be confronted by this:
killer Sedili Kechil bridge

And so began the real Mersing ride. Up-down-up-down-up-up-down-up-down or so multiplied by about a hundred times! We even took a detour into the even more hilly Tanjong Leman, as Eric said that no one could consider themselves a Merman or a Mermaid unless they had completed the Tour de Leman! Damnit.. So I hauled my ass into Leman when I should have gone straight up North towards Mersing.

Up till now the ride was going smashingly well for me. My legs felt great, rolling hills is my kind of terrain, and the weather was air-con perfect; and so I decided to push the pace a little faster. Which was a big mistake.

I was leading all the way until we came out of Leman. Somewhere along Highway 3 to Mersing Bernard passed me, and naturally I tried to follow. Somehow I think I didn't get enough food into my system at lunch and totally forgot that I had not done any century long rides for a long time; plus I forgot how strong/deranged Bernard is and I pushed a little too hard too soon. Not surprisingly, I started to feel the all-so-familiar sensation of bonking. Tried to rectify things by taking my one and only sachet of powergel, but I guess it was too late: I only made it to the next resupp point before dying. Not to mention the nigging cramp in my left lower back which prevented me from going aero. Really, the 30 or so kilometres to Mersing town from that point on was pure determination and hard-headedness.

Finally reached our team hotel, the Timotel Mersing at about 1700 hrs. It had been raining the whole day and we arrived all soaking wet and shivering. Not to mention hungry.. =D

So after we checked in and washed up, we went for a huge dinner at one of the seafood restaurants. But I was still famished after dinner, so for good measure, I had another Ramly burger (with specially buttered buns courtesy of Eric) and some more beer. Coincidentally the AFC semi-finals between Japan and Korea was on that night so I stayed up to watch tv while the rest died soon after dinner.
one of the numerous hills at Leman

photowhoring

sumptuous dinner - my glee is evident

Endau-Rompin

Next day we proceeded up to Rompin. The plan was to do a 120km out-and-back loop from Mersing to Rompin, instead of riding all the way back to Desaru, which I am sure, would have made for an utterly boring ride as we had just did the same route the day before. However it was much more sunny, and it did somewhat lift our spirits. Due to fatigue from the previous day's exertion, we started out more cautiously. At the same time, nobody wanted to be blamed for "stirring shit" by upping the pace. Haha. =D

But unfortunately, the breakaway DID happen. I profess to be one of the instigators, but only because I was terrified of Francis' rendition of Britney Spear's Hit Me Baby One More Time! =D

Unfortunately, I only lasted till the lunch point, which was more or less the same as the day before. Somehow along the way Francis (ex-almost-filipino national team rider) caught up with me, and we worked together to get to KFC Rompin (lunch stop). It was a nice ride consisting 30km of rolling hills from Mersing to Endau, and 30km of totally flat and boring land from Endau to Rompin. Nevertheless, I was dying once again when we got to the lunch point. When the rest finally regrouped, I wasted no time in getting us lunch: Which for me was a KFC 2 piece chicken meal and a plate of fried rice. =)
trying to set the pace again on the 2nd day

francis and me looking mightily pleased with ourselves at Rompin

while francis and me were away buying KFC..

yes, i was that ravenous

After lunch, it was a technical ride back. Firstly because of my slight indigestion, secondly due to my oh-so-aching back, and lastly due to the weather, which had once again turned bad. Headwind was particularly bad at the flat stretch from Rompin to Endau this time, and we were reduced to crawling at about 28kph.

Nevertheless, we managed to reach back Mersing town on time. =) All in all, I must say that it was a most enjoyable and incident-free ride, except for some "monkey business" thanks to Colin. Washed up, loaded our bikes up, and began our drive back to Singapore.

6 Mermen and a Mermaid

Hmm.. 2D1N with 6 of the most fun and crazy triathletes/cyclists, riding all the way 180km up North in inclement weather and super-rolling terrain. Difficult? Yeah. Mad? Yeah. Would I do it again? HELL YEAH!!! =D In fact I will be headed to Bintan this coming National Day holiday for yet another bike tour cum training for my upcoming Desaru Half Ironman.

Anyway, would just like to say a word of thanks to the 5 other mermen and the only mermaid in the group for making it all possible. I really enjoyed myself immensely! Already looking forward to the next trip. =)

Conclusion: Cost of safety van and hotel per person - S$100. Cost of food and drinks - S$30. Price of one specially buttered Ramly burger - RM2.50. Experience and friendship forged during the trip? Priceless! =P
goofing off on the way back..

smashing.