The Road less traveled - Oilfields off Tianjin

A stop to Dagang town, off Tianjin was part of the China business trip we made in September '13.

The oil township of Dagang is quite a sight. The town is self-sustained by oil-industry and almost everyone who resides in Dagang has some job/career based on O&G (that's Oil and Gas for you FOBs, not the Obst&Gynae). To make comparison, Dagang is like Miri but the former is smaller. In Malaysia, we only have off-shore oil reservoirs, hence I was amazed by Dagang's vast land dedicated to countless on-shore injection pumps. From horizon to horizon, you can only see injection pumps working, pounding on the wells to extract crude.

One thing that caught my eye was the wind power. The wind in China is strong, and that is why they capitalize on this energy and technology. Even as I am now in Beijing composing this blogpost, the cold wind from the north is strong. And this is only the beginning of winter.

Look how they transport the blades of the fan for maintenance. I initially thought it was some Sci-fi UFO parts found and openly taken to a military base.

We stayed at the hotel in Dagang owned by the oilfield company itself. Likely, they own every building in this area, and make this town self-sustained in terms of food, lodging, job provision, entertainment and leisure.

We were served with a banquet day and night. It seems that the food in Beijing is generally bland, and if they's not bland, they are either too sour or salty or sweet. It's always at the end of the spectrum, rarely in between. Though we were provided with a range of food from eggplant to scallops, only some looks typical Malaysian. Malaysian Chinese food is influenced by southern China cooking while up here in the north, it's different. Rice is seldom served. Carbohydrates are obtained mostly with noodles or corn. I might never get used to the taste here. Anyway, China is so huge and therefore from one province to another, the food preparation and types varies drastically.

A banquet is still an understatement. Probably this is how the Chinese people treat their guests - freshly cooked food that doesn't stop coming from the kitchen to the table, alcohol that keeps refilling itself (think Hogswart) and yum-sengs that seemed to be like an never-ending wedding toast. The dining hall is brightly lighted and the table was huge as if for King Arthur's knights to commune.

Damn....I hate the yum seng time. They make everyone speak, so there I was, speaking Mandarin, carefully.

Our Chinese partners made us all give a toast, in Mandarin or English. My bosses gave me that shot, giving me the you-are-chinese-so-say-something-on-behalf-of-us-lahh (or was it: don't-jatuh-our-air-muka ?) eyes, so I was kinda compelled to toast in Mandarin. I spoke about 'fate' that we are here today, and thank you for being a great guest in my first every visit to China (all in Mandarin). Voila! I didn't know where that came from! (my own mouth, of course).

Scallops with chili toppings

Sotong

A mutant of prawn and crayfish

Omelette with chives

Duck tongue - quite interesting texture there!

Attempting a Word-of-the-year: Selfie

When China and Malaysia meet, it's always because of the brilliantly Made-in-China goods, if not, for badminton. During the banquet, our China counterparts kept talking about badminton and the one-sided battle between Lee Chong Wei and their beloved Lin Dan. I remembered the Chinese guy said (in Mandarin), that if he could, he would love to bet his money on Chong Wei in beating Lin Dan because both had the same skills set, but what the former lack is 'heart' or mental-strength. Enough of talking, we did the 'walking'. We were all given badminton rackets each and started flexing our muscle....against the formidable Chinese.

Hah! The surprising moment is that Malaysian (led by an avid badminton player himself - my boss) beat the Chinese in 2 games. The Chinese are younger, but my boss practices and plays badminton almost every alternate day although he's like almost 50 years old. He probably lacks the stamina, but had the upper hand in terms of skills. 

I had a great game myself, pairing up with my bosses. Before coming to Beijing this November (I still am here in Beijing!), I have been practicing badminton with my lovely colleagues in PERMATA every Wednesday and glad to have had my skills brushed and rustiness reduced. At least I wasn't intimidated of my Chinese opponent, as I have joined badminton tourneys before. Though a friendly match, the matches were still 'sengit'. Indeed we all really had a lot of fun and I can see that Chinese are most delighted to meet their formidable foe from Malaysia as well. I love badminton even more after this trip in September.

If there's one word to describe this short trip, it is the word: Memorable. And as far as 'memorable' goes, I think this is one photo that I can't get out of my head for a long time because, I it was RED, OVERSIZED & RIDICULOUSLY CUTE:

Ivy-out!

Beijing, Sept 2013

Who would've thought that I would be going to China. I mean, think about it: China was never part of my bucket list and would never thought to have a chance of going there in 100 years due to the following reasons:

1. I am super-bad in Mandarin and super-bad is an understatement (at least, I take praise that my Cantonese has improved tremendously).
2. I studied all my life in a Sekolah Kebangsaan and speak English at home, therefore has no inkling of China history and nothing from China or that part of Asia has ever interests me (only a peek of its history through 'over-dramatized' TVB drama/movies, and that's Hong Kong, btw). I am highly influenced by Western culture, and
3. The horror stories of the unfriendliness of the people, toilet hygiene, and also elements of 'fakeness' everywhere.

Let me reiterate that if you don't experience the country/city yourself by stepping foot there, don't go having a bad impressions of the country from here-say. Any country/city has its pros and cons but somehow, Beijing..really impresses me a lot for a first timer in China. That's why, perhaps, being well-traveled is important.

I told my boss I'll opt out of the project in the US because of my looming wedding and they already dedicate another staff to be there. I was one of the staff going together with my 4 big bosses to Beijing....just because I looked Chinese! Errr....and my boss actually thought I could speak Mandarin. Hehehe...Boss kena tipu: don't know that I am a banana! Never judge me by its cover. LOL!

The city:

City of Beijing on a weekday

City of Beijing is very modern but here and there you'll see a mix of old chinese gothic roofed-buildings. I was first impressed with the type of cars driven here - predominantly Volkswagen, Merz and Nissan Teana. No Kancil-small cars. I may have a early impression being in Singapore minus the traffic jam. The traffic is bad relatively but at a similar capacity with KL. I heard it could be worse. To me, town planning in Klang Valley is lousy compared to Beijing though the latter has existed for thousands of years. There were bicycles but it's getting rarer according to the hoteliers there. I am amazed by Beijing's cleanliness in general, and I was lucky there wasn't smog problems when I was there. The subways are hyper-packed with human on rush hour (well, which country isn't on rush hour?), but the subway is really well-connected throughout the city. I'd rather walk (if you know me, I would have ran) the whole Beijing than take public transport, but I am here for business, not leisure.

From my window

Kerry Hotel, Beijing:
I cannot be happier to describe the 5-star hotel we are staying in Beijing. Amazingly, amazingly amazingly unexpectedly AMAZING! Of course you'll get amazing because I paid RM1200.00 per night for non-resort hotel. Boss say nvm, claim back mar :-P. Imagine, my CEO told me that there are much nicer hotels than Kerry but they particularly like the facilities here. Whadaya mean "BETTER HOTELS OUT THERE?!?!?!!" I mean, what could be better than Kerry Hotel, ah? I feel so suaku!

Kerry Hotel, Shangri La, Beijing

From the outside, it's like a normal building, but voila...inside the hotel is a different story. I don't know where to start to describe it's amazing interior and services:

Kerry Hotel is owned by Kerry Holdings, Shangri La brand....by our own Robert Kuok! Ahem, he sponsored my whole Ph.D degree. Thank you, thank you. There are many Shangri-Las around, and Kerry Hotel is one of them. Service at Premier Lounge is top notch with free food and (alcoholic) drinks anytime of the day. We spend a lot of time there for breakfast, lunch and hi-tea. Swimming pool is set indoor, next to the gym and is Olympic size...with heater weiii! The gym is very huge with full equipment range and is opened 24 hours. Dressing room is also 24 hours with amazing dressing tables, sauna and jacuzzi.

Best indoor swimming pool ever. 2 pools some more.

Dressing table 

24 hours extensive gym.

Bed is King size and super soft with a choice of any type of pillow. Then, there's the bathroom and toilet, ahhh....where do I begin? Fully automated toilet bowl and drys your ass some more at various drying capacities, pressure and position. Too much details, opps. I main tekan-tekan a remote control, a TV-screen pops up on my freakin' mirror. EVERYTHING in the room is Loccitane. Kiasu as I admit I am, I grabbed a whole lot of stuff from the bathroom into my luggage. Hello, I paid RM1200 for this place? (Protruding kiasu-ness).

Ini baru standard room....Wonder what the suite looks like?

Pressure. I went the max and something you don't wanna try.

There's a coffee maker for 3 different type of espresso beans. Everything in the refrigerator is free, including the alcoholic drinks. Then there's fruits servings everyday: one of the fruits include the HUGE FRESH winter dates (mind you, not dried) that tasted like pears. Mooncake in Beijing is different skin from mooncakes from Malaysia too.

Coffee maker and a variety of espresso

Fresh winter dates and mooncake. Mooncake festival was just around the corner

The Business Lounge in hotel is like butler service, and once again jakun like me tried to absorbed all in. Free flow of alcoholic beverages. We've got like food prepare by a Malaysian chef just for us, as they know we needed to double check on the handling of meals (no pork). Coffee is like 'EVERYDAY'. The hotel lent me an iPad for my use in Beijing. Woh...I cannot believe that either.

Trips elsewhere in Beijing
First time in Beijing, my colleague and I together wants to see the famous Forbidden City. But for some reason, it was 'forbidden' for visitors to enter that day. I mean, it hasn't been closed for thousands of years, and when Ivy Chai arrives in Beijing, they were closed for business. WHAT ARE THE FREAKIN' CHANCES?!!!!? I was so angry, I hated Beijing for a while. But let me tell you, the vicinity of the exterior walls (including Tiananmen) was itself an amazing sight. You don't need to go inside the walls to know how amazing the Chinese Civilization was and is. It was immense: Willow trees, rivers of green, cool breeze, amazing architecture, the beautiful parks made me imagined the extend of its interior even more. What an eye-opener. But I must blame my freakin' luck that the Forbidden city was forbidden to me. I will be back.

Shit! When I am here, you close door!

Tiananmen

River surrounding the exterior of the palace

I heart willow trees. The parks here are so serene, though in the city

Having not much time, we went around Beijing area by foot, but Beijing is quite a maze. We got lost. I was pretty confident about my new-found language skills until I ask about the subway in Mandarin to a young Chinese couple, but who stared at me in absurdity and to the disgrace of my chinesey slang. They replied in English. Phew!


The Banquet:
There was this vintage old antique restaurant (blazing amazing from the external) where lunch started with an assortment of nuts, tea-time. Main course lobster, stewed lamb, la-mien, etc. It was not some regular luncheon. It was a banquet!! What can I say...I had the time of my life in Beijing. We took time off to do some shopping, but which I bought nothing. The weather in September was just right - not too cold, not too warm.

Accomplished:
1. Spoke complete sentences in Mandarin, and even gave a short speech in Mandarin (a yum seng toast) in one of the best dining experience in my life. No, I wasn't drunk.
2. Drank good coffee everyday when I thought China is good only for its tea.
3. Ate yummy and super-cheap siew-long-pao. RM4 for 3 pieces. Come to think of it, Din Tai Fung ones suck!

Did not accomplish (and will be back with a vengeance):
1. Peking duck. Duck was a big no-no to my colleagues, and I doubt I can finish a whole roast duck myself. And they don't sell by plate.
2. Imperial palace/Gu Gong - the Forbidden City was closed for an event when I was there. I blame it on my luck. I am going again soon, and they may closed it again due to a terrorist attack at Tiananmen recently.

HAVE TO SAY: I ENJOYED and HEART BEIJING!

At the Gold Club Lounge at Beijing Airport...heading back to KL.

Next post: TIANJIN - luxurious food (I am getting bored of luxury :-P), yum sengs, badminton Malaysia vs. China, and lots of oil. All next!

4th Marathon - SCKLM'13

42.195 km was torture last time I did it in Shah Alam. I found out why I was so slow in Malaysia Women's Marathon, Shah Alam back in April. It wasn't that I lacked training because I sure did lots of runs; it was the shoes. Sad to say, Sketchers GoRun2 didn't do it for me for longer than half marathons. No offence, but my Sketchers did help me PB-ed through several half-marathons (e.g. Bidor Marathon 2012). I conquered a hilly route with those shoes, but I felt it was never as comfy as a Adizero Tempo for longer distances. Sketchers was light, but it has too much padding, hence I felt really hot and sweaty in it. Soon after I went through several races with my GoRun, I bought a pair of Adizero. I had once an Adizero before several years back, so I know my feet was very happy to have found its friend again. And this is the first time an Adizero has ever been featured in my Full Marathon.

I fed myself well throughout the week and had many good night's sleep. I surprised myself this year because every time I have a Full Marathon, I suffered insomnia and had jitters at least for 2 days before the race. This year, I slept at 10 pm like a pig, woke up at 2.30 sharp, drove my hubby and myself to JKR building and park (that's the 40 km distance marker!) and walked like a soldier to Dataran Merdeka. I felt normal. I believed the calmness was due to sufficient sleep and no expectations on my performance this year. All I told myself is that I am doing this ALONE this time as my hubby is not pacing with me anymore just like the previous 3 FMs before, and just beat my previous timing of 5hr:47min.

I was taunted by my hubby that I constantly hit the wall after 35 km. People called it 'hitting-the-wall' because you just wanna give up that time and there's like some 'wall' blocking your mind and physical self from pushing any further beyond this point. So, his words became my mantra throughout the race, and I wanted to prove him and myself wrong. I told myself no matter if my leg broke or if my mind went berserk, I need to beat that freaking 35 km. All by myself.

I changed strategy this time. I purposely started in my regular half marathon pace and reach the 10 km mark in 1:05. I also reach the 21 km mark at 2:20 which is also exactly where I would be at a half-marathon race. My strategy was such as I don't care because I knew I am going to hit the wall anyway, but at least I have locked in a quick 21 distance. And also beat the sun.This strategy was rather 'satisfying'. I didn't wanna do a 21 km in 3-hour like previously. I knew I can never run fast after 21km anyway even if I ran a very very slow first half, so my as well do a fast one at the early stage. I learnt a lot about myself after years of running. My limitations and fortes.

21 km mark was about Jalan Raja Chulan. I knew this is it! This is where the real challenge begins for me. The sun has begun to rise and I stopped on every water stations (every 2 km) for a very quick replenishing of my salty systems. I started my runs immediately after each water stations, unlike previous FMs, where I would walk about 500m before starting my pace again. Good strategy this time, it seems.

I reached the 30 km mark on a hot-spot/hot-stretch. Sigh. First, some driver from cars that were caught in the road-blocks were heating up verbally towards the volunteers and traffic police. And this was where the sun was the hottest. It was sooo damn hot that I had a bit of headache creeping up and start topping up on my sunscreen. I need to look pretty, fair, and lovely on my wedding, ok? I had a feeling that this year was hotter than last years. Are you sure this was the same SUN??!?!! Seems just like another solar system's just crashed onto our planet.

30 km was where I told myself: "haiya...just run lahhh". Because at that time my legs still felt great (no pain yet!) and I picked up pace, not bothering of the sun because I believed in my fully-secured white ICI-painted face. Some guy who passed me looked back to note who the hell is this hideous looking running clown. Escaped from a circus ke ape?

35 km: Hey, not too bad. Legs was still fine, but pain starts to creep in on my right thigh (only!) (as usual!). However, I guess the Deep Heat I was carrying was like holy water - soothing the pain. Stride problems, I know. Reached Jalan Duta, turning into our ever familiar Bukit Tunku where we do our weekly LSD/Double hill training. Legs still doing ok. Not bad. Hey, familiarity of the route is an advantage! Guess what, I took a can of Nescafe Ice and I literally fall to my knees and thanked the founder of this wonderful cold drink (Nestle??). Thank you non-official, friendly water-stations. These people are life savers and are wondrous people for standing in the sun serving FOC drinks and fruits. I noticed one of the supporters was my colleague. God bless them all!



Guess what, I didn't hit the wall at 35km. At this point forth, I said: "wow, I felt okay. Let's walk a little at Tijani there and up the 30 degree slope". After the slope, it was 37 km and I was running(!) down towards JKR (saw my car, wishing I could get some aircon from it just for a minute!).


And for the first time ever, I passed the "hitting-the-wall' test.

About the 36th km

40km. I knew Jalan Raja Laut would be a pain in the ass because that's where you see pasar malam 10km, 21km runners (not all, but some berpegangan tangan, berpeluk-pelukan sambil berlengang lenguk). No offense y'all, but sometimes I wanna tell them that the finish line is soooo near di, just put some effort and run there, please. I had to maneuver the last 2.195 km like a freakin' retard to the finished line. Checked my watch: 5hrs:20 min.

Last few metres, I spotted Vincent who already made an agreement with me to take my pics at the finish line. So *snap**snap*. Checked my watched, raised my hands like a champion, no wall in front of me, smiled like a clown, and crossed the finished line in 5hr:25min. Definitely a Personal Best.

Vincent took this. Left 0.195 km to the finish line.

But if you don't know yet, I am-out-of-races (but not runs) for my wedding preparations and a lot of skin-conservation to be done.