Singapore - 18-19 June 2011

Some didn't know that I studied in NUS for a 6-month-stint in Singapore under the SIF-ASEAN Student Fellowship in 2002. Since then, I go back to Singapore every year; also because it's the nearest  'overseas' (or just Over-Selat) location to go to. Singapore is our cleaner, more efficient and more politically-timid neighbour, but there's still a good amount of vibrancy, happenings, and twice the number of hunks than say....Malaysia. Somehow, Singapore never fails to impress me, though I would think twice, nope thrice, about living there. I have my reasons why I am unlikely to ever move to Singapore. Maybe another post.



On my way, walking to Marina Bay Sands, to dine and shop (nope, no gambling).



My trip this time coincided with the Great Singapore Sales. I identified several (actually, a lot lah!) stuffs that were way cheaper than in Malaysia, but the Singapore Dollar (against the Malaysian ringgit) was the highest I've ever experience! So it was kinda back to square one when you purchase something to eat or wear. Food is not cheap unless you don't keep converting the prices in your brains. As I walk along Orchard Rd, I kept reminding myself of my impulsive buying habits and not to overspend. But when you have only 2 days and  the cheque's in the bank, the just-grab-whatever-first-and-regret-later mode set in. Also, I will never forget what a good friend said to me while I did a 'freestyle' in a pool of clothings at Somerset 313, "Whatever makes you happy, Ivy!". Thank you, I know. But damn you too - you're supposed to stop me from over-buying!

Certain shops such as MNG, Forever 21, Cotton On were like ...how do I put it....moving walls of flesh! Those shops were soo packed with people, I couldn't believe I was cut at my queue at the cashiers...in Singapore! :P So, Jakun ppl still exists in Singapore! When it comes to shopping, manners are valued at zero, even here. In addition, queues and wait to the changing room could put any Bangkok jam to shame.

As much as I wanna write down every minute of my shopping and eating experiences in Singapore (I could if I want to), it's past my bed time here. Let's keep it short. Here are some memorable moment of my 2 day experiences in photos:



Tau Suan, (Lek-tau dessert in Hokkien). One of the best desserts I've ever tasted. It's only found in Singapore, I supposed.
Most memorable lunch ever @ Le Chasseur, Clark Quay





BK bought me a Marron cake from Flor by Chef Yamaguchi.
Memorable frozen cheese cakes too 



 

Worth my walk. My long black @ Forty Hands Cafe.
 Cozy, different and hard-to-get-to (we walked 1.0km from Flor) to get here, I think!





Egg Beneddict for breakfast. That's a half-cooked yolk that explodes in your mouth. Volcanic experience!
(forgot the name of this cafe di)

Boon King's experiment...his hypothesis null that cameras are water-proof. :P
Conclusion: Only Boon King's camera.



Most 'memorable' dining experience because it's a super expensive meal, but gave me beef paties instead of real steak! Urghh...

Can't even bother about the name of this restaurant @ Marina Bay Sands

Being in Singapore is a annual affair. I'll be back in Singapore once more this year between 1-4 December, in conjunction with the SIF-ASEAN Alumni gathering. Can't believe it's been 10 years since I was part of the fellowship. *proud*. And...tada...many already knew that on the 4 Dec 2011 itself, I'll be doing my virgin FULL MARATHON. 42.195 km to be exact. *breath, Ivy, breath*

 

 







The Singapore's Standard Chartered Building near Marina Bay Sands.
Scaring the sh*t out of me already.



Menara KL Night Towerthon 2011

This is a long overdued post. Sorry folks. Some posts can wait, right?

The Towerthon took place on 7th May 2011, so it's exactly a month since I raced up 22 floors of the Menara KL in the night. This was my first time entering a race that involves going up a skyscraper. Last time I remembered training for a climb (not race!) was Mount Kinabalu in 2005. 

Even if you boastfully said that you've been trapped in an elevator for 10 minutes and not feel a clinch in your stomach, then try the claustrophobic stairs of the KL Tower that goes up all the way to the observation deck and see why claustrophobic is a gross understatement. Before the race, I wiki-ed 'KL tower' which states that there are 22 floors of stairs including 4 elevators that makes up 2,058 steps. I was like, wow... but I was also thinking: if I could conquer Mount Kinabalu, what harm can 2,058 steps do?!

Again, a gross underestimation of the horror 2,058 steps could do to your soul. The combination of the claustrophobic-ness of the staircase and the number of people climbing at the same time PLUS the lack of ventilation (claustrophobic lah tu!) makes walking up Batu Caves 10-times while fending yourself against monkeys, a piece of cake. I dedicated a substantial amount of time to train for this Towerthon and ended up in a total 6000++ steps accumulated over that period. It was one of my more well-prepared races compared to say PBIM 2010 and HK Marathon 2011.



 Looks can be decieving. Tough race up the brightly lit tower.



On paper, my race starts at 8.30pm. Biasalah, the Malaysia boleh mentally sets in, and for whatever reason my race delayed to 10pm. In Malaysia, memang apa-apa pun boleh! I was sitting there mengantuk like crazy, and because I was all by myself and alone for this race, I was bored to death. The race organizers were releasing 300 ppl up the tower any one time, and even so, we heard that a human traffic jam was already forming within the walls of the Menara. Before the start of the race, I really felt like being in a kandang lembu, being sequestered from other race categories with wooden barriers. While at the starting line, I saw Yuen Yu Fang, our Malaysia veteran pro-long distance runner at another kandang just behind me. She was staring at me. Maybe I look intimidating! But I quietly thank the Lord that she is not in my race category.

Tip no.1: The starting line is 800m away from the foot of the Tower. No one told me to do so, neither did I google for this tip, but I told myself to run as fast as I could for this 800m even though it was 100% uphill all the way. I ran as fast as I could 800m overtaking approx. 100+ runners, as all these runners were blimley oblivious to the fact that running as fast as u can RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE is the key to this Towerthon. Many took their sweet time walking uphill towards the tower. I was delighted I came out top of the pack cause there's no better time to beat 100 runners anymroe....not at the narrow staircase, no!

I was the first few girls in my category to reach the staircase. I ran ASAP up for first 10 floors. Wasn't really tired, but I've anticipated the impending human traffic jam on my way up. It was almost impossible to run up anymore - the stairs are narrow and you have to overtake the person in front of you in the most flattering way: by saying "EXCUSE ME" all the way up. Not easy. And thats like soo many people ahead of you. There was this one time where I blocked by this fat girl (sorry!). Her huge frame blocked the whole stairway. Being behind her, I had to resort to walking about 5 floors, but unable to take her (slow) pace, and excused myself to overtake her. She wasn't happy.

I had to watch my steps...Tip no. 2: The stupidest idea for one who does a towerthon, is to listen to his Ipod while racing up! It will definitely kill your concentration because it was very easy to trip and fall. You need to focus on your footsteps, taking care not to fall over papercups and slip on wetfloors.

Stamina and breathing is core to this race. But your mind should be above all, be strong and stubborn. Let me tell you why: Ventilation is almost zero, the stairs is claustrophobic (how many times have I mentioned this word here already?), people are behind and in front of you mere inches apart, you smell fresh sweat, and finally....you see people stopping halfway, hyperventilating and some idiots sitting on the stairway blocking other runners (where are your manners, people!). Some looking at you, their swelled up faces probably demanding that you empathize with them. Tip no. 3: Do not look into the faces of runners who stopped. Their faces demotivates you. Their tired faces sucks the life out of your pace. Continue running and focus on your steps.

I finished the race in 27 minutes!! I can't benchmark my performance against anything, but for the first time in my life, my name was at the first page of the results pages. I was Top 48 in my category. Maybe you've heard stories, but did you know that it was wayyyy tougher to come down from the Menara then racing up?  The idiotic organizers had only one lift working for the thousands of runners coming down. That aside, I was satisfied and convinced to not let this be my last Towerthon up the Menara KL. The observation deck awarded every finisher a pleasant night scenery of KL for a tough finish to the top.



3 Peas for my Big 3-0: Politics, Passion, Priorities

Indeed I have a lot of explanation to do. I have a lot to explain to the followers of this blog and to myself after being MIA for > 2 months (from this blog), which is quite unlike me. Who doesn't know that I love to rant and write. And yet, I still cannot comprehend this awkward difficulty in expressing myself lately. Even as I am typing now, there is still much reluctance. Reluctance in thoughts. Well, even my idol, Stephen Hawking said that some things are memang inexplicable. I have so much to tell (if u know me well, I always do) but words doesn't spell (and spill) out as easily as before. You may say it's a 'writer's block' but I digress. I call it errr...'stagflation'. If you've gone to economics class (I did mine in NUS and fared badly; should have stuck my classic sciences :P), it's a combination of being fake-ly 'high-spirited', but probably compensating for the stagnancy in my life.

Wow, I found another 8th of June baby at office!

Politics. These two MIA months were actually critical months in my career. My company is (still) going through a huge re-org and I found myself in a limbo. Shoved around. Found out that during such times, words are mere words if there are no actions. Promises were made and broken. A position in the company that was 'promised' to me, in which I was also eyeing for, was taken away without remorse. Such that I was the last one standing, in a game of musical chairs. Pretty much makes me the loser in this ruthless game. Of course, it's pretty normal in any company; many have journeyed through a similar path. I could only do two things: Quit or Stay. Office politics is as shitty as Malaysian politics. But the solution to politics is 'easy': You stay or you quit. (as per Singapore NDP 2002's speech by ex-premier Goh Chok Tong). You stay: you are doomed. You quit: politics will come find you wherever you are. Sooner or later, you're doomed.

Relationships: This 2 months has gladly shown me who are the people who don't give a damn about your life and those who genuinely do, who puts you down cause they envy your success, who understands your needs or those that plays down your aspirations by knowingly giving you shitty advice.  At this point, it was ridiculously easy to pick out the ones that REALLY care and you care for too. Also those who makes use of you and your money, and those who thinks I am a nice girl, found out that I am not!

Doesn't feel great to be thrown around and letting the company or your anyone else decide your future. I need to decide my own future. But in turbulent times, a silver lining appears: The situation has allowed me to re-assess my priorities, my wants and more importantly - my passion. It the midst of chaos (and it was chaotic), I sorta found myself. Learnt more about what I want in life. What my limitations are. What my strengths are. By now, I am 70% sure in what I want (that's quite high by my standards!). These two months was a debate between passion vs. money; relationships vs. invasion; heart vs. mind.



Makan-makan with my senior colleague.

Passion. What is passion actually? Probably it's just stuffs that you enjoy doing. My passion was swimming. Then, it was Aikido. Later, it was my doctoral research where I was delighted to see fungus growing out of any thing. I also found out that passion changes over time. It's vulnerably fluid. I currently enjoy running, which is definitely my passion today. All I talk about lately is about running, the shoes, the races, the training, etc. But hey, passion doesn't pay your bills! I run but it's not good enough to beat those (angry) Kenyans or Japanese to stand on the podium with a mock cheque of USD8,000. So, to some people, stop asking me quit my job to do what I am passionate about. Let me tell you, I can't do running as a job. Read my lips: It doesn't pay my bills. Maybe, not at this moment. Hopefully one day, I shall find my TRUE(?) passion. But whatever it is, I hope to find a job/passion that fits my out-going, bubbly personality.



Priorities. You can see where my priorities lie even in this blogpost itself. Chronologically. Notice that I always speak about career first......then you do the maths. Maybe that's where the problem lies when it comes to r/ship. More on r/ships next time. That would be in another post. Maybe several posts :P :P 


Tomorrow, I'll be hitting the Big three-Oh. I reflected back on what I've gone through for the past 30 years (wait...I barely have any memories of my first 5 years after birth, so it's 25 years) - the bitter-sweet memories, unforgettable travels, joyous occasions, big achievements, horrendous mistakes, life-changing moments, plain dumb decisions , and weird paths chosen - that led me to where I am today, I know I am blessed. I am also grateful, though slightly unsatisfied (I am still human being marr!),. I did come to conclusion that God do not allow me have everything, because if he does, I won't turn to Him anymore. Change, Loss and Pain are unavoidable. Growth is optional. "My prayer is you'll keep growing in love, knowledge and insight" - Philippians 1:9

Happy Birthday, Ivy. And grow up!