SUPERsports.

My previous post, I blah blah about my career, but let's move on from that. Today, I wanna talk about one of my many hobbies - sports.

I am no runner, no swimmer by birth. I was borned into a short family. Not that my parents are hobbits, but mum & dad ain't that tall. The only one thing that mum said when I was pulled out from her womb is that - I was TOTALLY Bald. She concluded that I may be a good swimmer when I grow up because I was born aerodynamic. She took back those words after spotting my first strand of hair at age 2.

So, being short and plump, I had no obvious potential. Dad could only praise me for being super diligent and hardworking in sports :P (what!??!?!). I can practice whole day-whole night cause I know if I don't, I can never beat those tall, strong girls. I performed pretty well in  swimming at MASUM (University Games) at age 23, and found out that I can backstroke quite well (never liked backstroke when I was younger). I am now running my own small swimming business whereby my niche is teaching kids and ladies.


Running wasn't in my blood til I was 18. From swimming, my coach was determined that there's still an "age group" for old swimmers like me (18 is veteran already when it comes to swimming): it's called Triathlon. My swim coach and his gang of Ipoh Roadrunners were avid triathletes thus introducing me to the sport. Actually, my first ever long distance run was during sport trials at high school where I ran err.....200 m track and panted like a fucked up puppy. At that time I simply thought that if I could swim well, I could run well. Well, duh! Didn't realised they weren't the same set of muscles used in running and swimming (I don't like studying human anatomy). So started learning and practice running. My first REAL long-distance running, 10km, was at Ipoh RoadRunner's run. From then, I progress to triathlon and biathlons by waking up 5am in the morning to swim and run at Ipoh Swimming Club almost every other day (I was 19 years old). I remembered winning a pair of Brooks running shoes after being in podium position for a small biathlon event.

Swimming took over my life and life was all about swimming. I forgot all about running but not until I entered university and was being ragged by seniors to run the WHOLE of UPM campus. And guess what, I came out top of the pack. Actually, I have a very good stamina, and not because I can run fast. In 2009, I entered my first 10km run at SCKL after several years of hiatus. I have a log book of all my runs. Not only scuba diving has log book, ok? 

My log. Running races since 2009:
1. Standard Chartered KL Marathon - 10km - 26 June 2009 <--- first LDR after 6 yrs hiatus
2. Energizer Night Race - 10km - 27 March 2010
3. New Balance Pacesetters  -15km - 16 May 2010
4. Standard Chartered KL Marathon - 21km - 27 June 2010
5. Ipoh International Marathon - 21km - 18 July 2010 <--- hometown run!
6. Penang Bridge Marathon - 21km - 21 Nov 2010 <--- Super-duper Thunderstorm and got sick after that.
7. Malakoff - 12km run - 19 Dec 2010 <--- Killer hill almost at the end of the route. Gila
8. Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon - 21km - 20 Feb 2011 <--- first ever International run - super-duper cold (11 degrees)!
9. Menara KL Towerthon - 2058 steps (24 floors) - 7 May 2011 <--- I did super well. Name at first page of the results page.
10. New Balance Pacesetters - 15km - 5 June 2011
11. Standard Chartered KL Marathon - 21km - 26 June 2011
12. Centro Run, Klang - 12 km - 23 July 2011
13. 7th Pacemaker Relay (PAR) - 14 Aug 2011
14. Siemens Run - 10 km - 25 Sept 2011 <--- worst ever 10km run. Ran super slow and dunno why.
15. Adidas KING of the Road - 16.8km - 2 Oct 2011
16. PJ Half Marathon - 21km - 20 Oct 2011<--- super hot sun. I got super headache after that.
17. Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore - 42.2km - 4 Dec 2011 <--- broke my FM virginity
18. Malakoff - 12km run - 18 Dec 2011

Me in Pink cotton Victoria Secret shorts. First run after 6 years of hiatus - SCKL 2009.

Penang Bridge Marathon 2010 - Super heavy thunderstorm during the run cause me to get high fever after that.

Race pack collection at Victoria Park, Hong Kong

Running through Hong Kong Island. If Singapore was super-crowded, then Hong Kong's run was super-DUPER crowded and super COLD. So can't complain much abt Singapore, yeh.

New Balance Pacesetters 15km 2010, Putrajaya

Hey, ECP, I am going to challenge you again next year! FMV at Singapore 20111204

What's next for me in running? I have yet to plan any races for 2012. Nil. Zero. This is because I am giving running a short hiatus. I am concentrating on major runs, and not to participate in too many minor runs which may cause me to get jaded. If you know me well enough, I get jaded with things pretty fast. By choosing a few races to enter I want to ensure I don't lose the excitement in running or try not to do anything TOO MUCH. I tak nak jadi muak.

Possibly, the Sundown Marathon at Singapore (May 2012) is next. My running coach @Teh Boon King said that I might be facing the challenging ECP again (cause Singapore so small, sure use ECP wan, where else?). But deep down inside me, I feel like facing ECP once again to challenge myself and make a comeback this May.

SUPERB life!

My Career Dilemma

Disclaimer: This will be some plain boring, lengthy stuffs; only read if you have the time or if you like to kaypoh my life (for that, I am grateful). I am sure you will abandon and unsubscribe to my blog if you are uninterested with this post (but please don't) :P  

Here goes: I had this dilemma since the restructuring of my company early this year. I was given the task to decide which scientific group I would love to be at my point of career. 

Before that, here's a little background to my career: I've been 2 years in this multinational company. Gladly, it has been a memorable and terrific 2 years; my contribution to the previous project was duly recognized. I was having fun and enjoyed my position as researcher in the Environment group where I, a biologist, dealt with research of plants (like scrubs and trees, not factory plants) that mitigate oil spills and heavy metals. After the project ended and the group dissociated early this 2011, I was left in a limbo because being originally hired as a biologist, I became a lost child (di-anaktiri-kan) because my company refocused on research related only to exploration and production (nutshell: chemistry and engineering). Biologists are no longer needed. I guessed they could not kick me out of the company cause I did nothing wrong, right? 

Top management also dunno what to do with these biologists, with Ph.D. degree and all, dunno which new project to be placed with, I was finally in a Management post after options have all ran out. Initially, I thought I was made to manage staffs and could adapt into the new role. However, three months into it, I opted out cause I wasn't contributing well and felt out of place (my senior said I was toooo nice; should be more ruthless esp. in management). Call me un-risky and unadaptable, whatever you want, I really hated my role in the management line. Sorry to those ppl who trusted me to manage other ppl - I just can't! I wrote to the GM of research so that I could placed once more  in a technical/scientific role, well, which was definitely in line with my Ph.D. degree anyway.

Wait! The above paragraph is not the dilemma.

When my GM in research accepted my request, I was once again placed in scientific research, and this is where the real dilemma begins. Yes, yes, people in research love me cause I was pretty fast in picking up scientific knowledge as my fundamentals in science was pretty strong. Throw me a reservoir, I can tell you the science of it in 2 weeks (with lots of reading, of course). The research group was huge: There were 7 teams consisting of physicist, geologist, engineers to chemist (nope, definitely NO biologist). Just to be sure I was in a team, I was first housed at Team 4. But my work in the laboratories was Team 1-related. I helped out in completing some samples for Team 1. Then, Team 6 had some HSE tasks, had to second me to their group to handle the task. So I my name is in T4, but doing mostly T1 work, however also assisting T6.

My GM of research said that I should decide where I wanna be and not doing everything, like some servant/maid. So I have to decide where I wanna be. All 7 teams have different projects to complete, with different demography.

I've posted the dilemma in FB 3 months back. I've gotten some answers but I believe the FB post does not realistically explain the whole situation I am facing. It's a lot more complicated than a few lines on my status update. I appreciate all responses anyway. Thanks guys!

 

So, here's the description of Teams 1, 4, and 6. The detailed version:

Team 1:

Group is mostly production engineers, chemists, physicists, that is bright and smart. Not that other Teams are not as smart, but T1 members are specifically brilliant cause their fundamentals in science (I am talking molecules, protons, atoms, etc)  must be strong to dictate possible chemical reactions for most processes. They look into things very deeply. Fundamentals. Like quantum physics (but not quite also :P ). Yes, that is the kinda brilliant I am talking about! My immediate superior is a married lady who is straight fwd, passionate. She say what's in her mind and she doesn't hold grudges. Whether you're a genius or sloppy, she'll tell u straight to the face. I like this kinda boss. No hidden agenda. 

Pros. You will be versed in the science of oil research. In my company, you'll be given a researcher scale. In the lab, I get to complete whatever criteria in that scale, and then I will go for my assessment. You will sure pass the assessment because you've completed every darn laboratory thing written in that scale. By achieving everything in that scale, boomsss......in no time, you will get to naik pangkat, naik grade (become technical boss) and salary akan naik mendadak. The ladder way. You have a good balance in work-life: 9-5 job, time for yourself, reading is all you do, don't meet ppl (can be a good thing, so no gossips will ever involve you). You don't get grapewines. And you can blast the radio in the laboratory and strip naked in the lab - no one cares. Also cause the chemicals I deal with (think: H2S, Octanol, Butanol acids, etc.) stinks the whole freaking lab, no one bothers to disturb you. Btw, T1 group relatively receives the highest budget allocation because... it's freaking fundamental research we're talking about here, ya? Yes, I get to go conferences to present my results, but it's not my KPI.

Cons: I will be confined to my laboratories (dem, exactly like those boring Ph.D. years). One is one. Two is two. In the lab, there's only BLACK AND WHITE, no gray. Results are YES or NO...no Betweens. Your either FAIL or PASS. Top management will not appreciate your work cause you're visibility in the company is low. Top management also won't understand how important your work is. At the end of the day, unless you win the Nobel prize, nobody knows you cause you are not the one presenting the results/report to the CEO - it's your lady boss who presents your lab results. Lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama.

Team 4:

This is the glamour group. They get to go to offshore often and local and overseas conferences all the time. The boss is a smart, great personality, very knowledgeable and very sensual in leading the group. Sensual cause...she's just so nice = not bossy. She is respected by many and I respect her most of the many people in my company. The team handle important elements at the platform- such as the side-effects of Team 1's doings, oil quality. When you have a nice boss, a team consist mostly of females (but weirdly, no gossips), it's ...err...Easy breezy, Cover Girl..!!

Pros: Vice President puts much hope in this group. They have high budget, and their job is interesting. The chinese lady boss is wondrous and easy to work with. Get to travel here and there....who doesn't like that? In addition, the members of this team are also geniuses. Not much further from Team 1. It's the pride, don't you get it don't you, the pride? 

Cons: When you travel too much, my lab work gets abandon, and I might not be to meet my standard naik pangkat/assessment criteria that requires me to accomplish some laboratory work, hands-on. The tradeoff: get stuck in the position forever (unless you found amazing opportunities elsewhere) vs. enjoy with traveling/networking.

Team 6:

A new team. Only 2 person in this team. Currently, the boss is a mechanical engineer (from F1 engineering) and his subordinate is a geneticist/biologist. You may wonder why a geneticist is in my company. Yes, she and I happened to be in the same quagmire for being abandon from our Environment Group. This group, despite only being manned by 2 person, has the heaviest job load on their shoulders. 

Pros: What makes this group so interesting is that, if you join this group......you learnt everything about reservoir/process/production/petroleum engineering from a scratch. When you learnt everything from a scratch, you really really learnt! You don't have to teach old dog new tricks. The 2 team members here offered many fresh and practical ideas from outside the industry. In my honest observations, I realised that many colleagues who has been in the industry for a decade or more had a hard time changing their mindset on certain issues and therefore, fresh ideas seemed elusive. Since you are new, and if fail, no one will really blame you (err...more like "I can forgive you this time round"), but if your project brings back great returns and impact to the company, you will be duly recognize and rise up the corporate ladder pretty quick. 

Cons: There's little budget given to this group. Cause this group basically just manage and no scientific work involved. All we do is make phone calls here & there, meeting here meeting there. Basically admin stuff (managerial work!). They are decision makers but I know my personality: it's tak begitu best (for me). 

ZzzzZZzzzzZzzz.....Hey, there....asleep yet?? 

If you are wondering where I am now: I am officially in Team 1 (genius team, ahem), but helping Team 6 in one tiny part of the project.

What I wanna say is: I am happy now. I am happier than before when I was in the management team. It's been 3 months since the dilemma, and changes has been rapid. I am learning everything in Petroleum engineering to process engineering from a scratch. It's difficult, but I like. LOIKE! The challenges are ample but they are challenges that I am glad to face everyday. My work now fits my personality.

Things has been rapid. As I am speaking now, I've been seconded to UTP to monitor a project there until its completion (about 3 months). Sounds simple, but my role is HUGE. 

You'll never know what's with me...in another 3 months!!! Dynamic, unpredictable, ever changing and fluid.

Just as many would say:"That's so Ivy"

 

Thank you for my Ipod Nano that brought me through 6 half-marathons and the Ipad2 that redefined my family.

You will be missed.

RIP Mr. Jobs.

Fellie's Baby Shower - 16 Sept 2011

This is my first time attending a baby-shower, and what an interesting experience. Didn't know such event existed in the first place! :P

My colleague, Fellie who is conceiving her first child will give birth coming early November (or see if baby cannot tahan di, maybe late October 2011). Mommy-to-be, together with her best friend Gracey and sister Ken, threw a baby shower party...to celebrate the coming of a baby boy to the family!!

Also partly because mommy will be leaving soon to hometown Kota Kinabalu Sabah, so that the whole confinement period can be held there with the help of her own mother.

Baby wants Diapers! Everyone writes a msg to baby...

The highlight of the party are the party-going hosts and guests, plus some guessing games (e.g. how huge is mommy's ass, diameter of mommy's tummy, cannot say the word B-A-B-Y during the whole party, and seach for a missing 'baby'). Food was homemade but I kept picking on some nachos dipped in some unfinished spaghetti sauce! A combo one must try.

Congrats once again to both Fellie and Tharmain! Good luck in welcoming your new born baby son in November (or October) (Eh, u choose to go natural birth, kan?)

Mid Life Crisis pulak!

Guests arriving.

Fellie and I

Fellie and hubby, Tharmain.

The girls and Fellie with big-breasted-and-tummy cake!

Doesn't the cake look familiar??!?!?! (read: Ian's 30th bday)

It's a boy!

One of the many decorations for the party.

I spotted Fellie sipping on a Banrock white wine earlier! Bad mommy :P 

Belon = Aeroplane in S'wakian language

One person wrote to baby: Listen to your mommy and daddy!

The Great Expectations by Mum Dickens

My mother always say that she didn't give birth to me. I agree 70%. Cause there's little in common in our characters and being. She's street-smart, I am book-smart; She was prettiest girl in Taiping (my dad vouched), I took the crown of prettiest in Jalan Persiaran Perajurit 2 Ipoh ever since my mum got old(er) and wrinkly; She loves raring chickens and do gardening, I was afraid of chicken droppings and has 'hot' hands (even cactus die under my care).

I despise her fashion sense. She hates mine completely.

But then mathematically, the 30% has some truth: We are both females..duh!; we love to eat anything and everything that is edible + sambal belacan-kinda-spicy; she and I are caring..yup yup...to a certain extent; she and I can never say "no" (kinda bad trait, actually) to any requests; both me and my mum loves flowers; she likes to entertain people, and so do I (e.g. jemput orang makan-makan, masak byk-byk di rumah, suka ber-party, etc.). And this trait, no one can deny: She and I are both super-talkative and opinionated/vocal.

Some China-based flowering plant which only thrive in cool climates, but my mum managed to make  it grow and bloom in hot, humid Ipoh.

Why did I even start this blogpost?


I suddenly miss my mum. No wonder I hate holidays (yesterday). Thinking of nothing makes you think of something. Tak han mou yeh chou. Makes me over-think about things...and worst, I get emotional over it.

So yes...I miss my mum. If I hadn't talk to her in a couple of days, I may suffer, die or stab myself to death. Not that I am dependent on my mum, but she gives the best opinion ever and some how, and I dunno how, her opinion turns out right. She used to pressure me a lot when I was younger to study, music, swimming, and other sports but I understand why....cause I could do it. Since my 20s, I've been buggering (it came to a point that I was WARNING her) her to stop putting any pressure on me anymore in my studies, career...and surprisingly she relented. I know why. When I was young, she thought I was perfect and could do wonders until.... I didn't fare quite well in STPM onwards. Today, my mum probably has come to grounds that I am a failure in many things, and finally it made sense to her: I am only human.

My Ipoh's house is full of plants, crops and flowers maintain by my mum. No wonder I was named after a plant by my mum.

Yup, in spite of all the madhouse, old-school punishments, caning and scoldings I endured....I was given a lot of freedom and most important of all: she trusts me. She allowed me to do and pursue anything I want. I was allowed to dye my hair red (which I didn't), go clubbing every single weekend (in my mid-20s), drink and drunk, buy as much clothes as I want with my teaching-swimming side income, date any guys I want. She doesn't care who I brought back home. But she only warn me of these 3 things:
1. No drugs,
2. No smoking, and
3. Don't get raped.

And her favourite sentence of all time: "Never be kan-cheong in anything you do". But I always feel that she meant otherwise. Cause it's soooo unlike her to say this to me after all the pushing and pressure she imposed to me to do just about everything.

My mum is my best friend. You can see me and her talking in the afternoon and one will never know that's my mum on the other side of the line. We talk like friends... taruh each other, talk loud-loud, scold each other (both of us opinionated marr)...but there's definitely a sense of respect somewhere.

Or maybe I don't have a sister. I do secretly pray each day that I had a sister one day. Father and brothers...ahem...I won't say you guys aren't any good in this earth, but you don't have enough oestrogens to understand me. You guys are really from Mars!


I love you, Mum.


Bla bLa bla bla...Okay, now Mum, cook me some prawn sambal petai!

At Lumut jetty. Mum showing of her 'luxury' salted fish. She had gotten it at a bargain price and soooo proud a...salty fish?!

You can do it, guys,

Whassup August?! 

Before you know it, it's already mid-August and  for me, August is the month of flowers. Roses to be exact. I am not shy to say (to all the guys out there): every girl in this world loves flowers. And guys, it's always worth giving flower(s) to your love ones though I totally know many out there will curse me for campaigning so. Don't cha believe it if a girl tells you she's not into flowers - that's BS. 

Cause any girl will go head-over-heels over flowers!

And give real flowers. If you're like my dad who thinks real flowers represents real love, then you're right. Though it wilts and last barely a week, at least it's FOR REAL. I don't buy into the idea of giving fake plastic flowers that obviously doesn't die, but thinking that it represents everlasting love? Nah....so not appropriate. Leave fake flowers for decorating houses. :P 

Bouquet I got when I was at Secret of Louisiana, KJ. The flowers were a surprise, an so was the venue.                         Hidden gem of Selangor.

I got these roses for no apparent reason.

...and these too.

This are fee yen's bouquet after complaining of not getting one (when I got 2 in a month!).  Kidding lah... Hubby surprised her with these white-peach bouquet for anniversary. Sweet!

YP's bouquet of lilies (pretty!) sent by hubby to her office. *sorry for copywriting this fr your FB

OOoooo...seems like a trend here. Keep it up, guys!

But just want to set the record straight: besides flowers and roses, I am also into Coach bags, Gucci, Sports Cars, Tiffany's Diamonds, Blue Mountain beans, Caviar, Fois Gras, Truffles, Kobe beef, etc, etc.... (fill in the blanks with luxury items here). Muahahahaha.

And btw, my Ph.D. graduation/convocation (sigh, finally!) will be this October 15th. *Hint**hint*

______________________________________________________________________________

I just love the Spongebob Squarepants sticker used during today's Pacemaker's Relay Run. See, see, rambut serabut and blur....just like I every morning! I chose this sticker cause it reminds me that I need to get a hair cut quite quickly.

I've never done a relay, but it's pretty stressful. My pace was brought to a sprint(!), and I was panting the sh*t out of myself upon passing the baton to the next runner. But believe me, I had really great fun with the SpongeBob Square Pants/ BKT runners :)

More pics of the event in my FB page.


Ivy Out!

Always happens!

Man does not live by bread alone.

I kinda know why I hate leaving my country for an extended period of time. It's the food (and my parents) that I miss, of course. I am not that independent as one would teethingly claim because I can assure you that I am highly dependent on Malaysian food.

What makes me this meaty and chubby despite my highly active lifestyle is because I am strictly unfussy in food. Except for tortoise, turtle, reptiles, insects and larvae, I pretty much gobble anything that is mildly nice. I can't tell if a dish is better than another shop serving the same although ppl claim that one place serves it better. Say for example, some friends say that Ipoh's Kuey Teow noodles is many times better than the one I am slurping on in PJ. I really don't know, man. I can't tell. For me, both Ipoh and PJ Kuay Teow is insignificantly different from each other (95% confidence level) despite my friend kept brainwashing me that it is. Another example: the Tau-Fu-Fah in Funny Snow Mountain Ipoh (whatever!) is soooooooooooooo good? Nah, don't bullshit me. HOW MUCH TASTIER CAN A TAU FU FA in Ipoh compared to say...Klang Valley's, eh?!?! It's psychology...you come this far, you definitely think it's worth it although it's not, because you don't want to think you wasted your time, journey and money to come here and say it's the same as anywhere else. (warning: tongue twister).

Let me tell you a secret: I went to HK and I can't tell if it beats every meat ball noodles I've eaten in KL. I've tasted noodles in KL that is as good as that in HK. Same goes for the lai-cha (Teh C). Oppss...

So after reading the above, you can tell that I ain't a foody person. Cause I ain't. I admit. When I go to many other countries and enjoy whatever food (not fussy mah) I find, but I won't go search for a particular food. I won't go the extra mild to search for a so-said famous food.

Anyway, here's the list of my favourite food (from any country) from 10th placing to 1st (only if I can't cook/prepare them). But I dunno where's the best place/restaurant to makan these, so no need to recommend me. I don't care. Period:

10. Slimy Lady's Finger Indian Curry (+ fish is a bonus)

9. Chapati + Tandoori Chicken + Mint sauce and pickled onions




8. Banana Leaf Rice (only when makan with clean bare hands) + must have deep-fried batter bitter gourd




7. Bakkutteh + offals + deep-fried ghost




6. Any egg dish i.e. steam eggs, sunny side up, scrambled, half-boiled, full boiled, infused with herbs, fu-yeong, etc... including Century eggs, salty eggs and duck eggs in curry





5. Ramly/Otai burger daging special + cheese = "Sloppy Burger" in kwai low's terms




4. Maggi Mee Goreng + Sunny side up




3. Semi-cooked (bloody) Kerang in 6-6 style





2. Penang style Char Kuay Teow with kerang (and must have chives!)




....and the number one food that I, without it for a week, would sit the first flight back to Malaysia:



1. Nasi lemak ikan bilis, only those in banana leaf packs. I can't find it good in any other country. No nasi lemak in any part of this earth beats Malaysia's nasi lemak.

A few food I found worth mentioning: Nasi Ulam/Kerabu, Ho Boh's Lui Cha, Agedashi Tofu, Bibimbap + Kimchi, Fried Wanton, Dim sum-style Deep Fried Tapioca, Pheasant's hand (Chicken feet lah!) + Wan Ton mee, Tau Fu Fah.

My favourite month.

June.

It's my utmost favourite month.

It's the month where my birthday resides. What more, in 2011, I had four b'day celebrations in a week. Blessed with good friends and good company.

It's the month of the Geminis. Btw, Geminis consist mostly of hyper, noisy and gila-gila ppl (jenis yang buat lawak bodoh). I do find myself annoying. Esp. during this month.

It's the month where I got my new assignment in my company. But I fought to get out. And guess what, being gutsy paid off. I am going to continue being an Environment consultant and will be at Daya Bumi - which is what I have always wanted.

It's the month where I get to go Singapore and shopped til I drop. Read post here (blogspot) or here (wordpress).

It's the month where I decide to sign up for a Full Marathon. It will be in Singapore this Dec 4th 2011.


It's the month where I decide to have two races in a month - NB15km and SCKL21.1km, and fared pretty well. Satisfied.

It's the month where I had to fight off a bunch of termites and colony. With money. But money can't heal all. Though all that matters is that it's working (for now).

It's the month where I think I own way too many running shoes. A new pair of Adi Response and a pair of Nike.

It's the month where I decide to give July a rest. No races, less swimming, more balik kampungs.

It's the month where summer movies (the bests ones of the year!) are out. - POTC IV, Super 8, X-Men First Class, Green Lantern, Transformers.

It's the month where a good friend migrates to Australia.

It's the month where I found new friends having the same passion. Many good new friends.

It's the month where I made soo many atrocious decisions, I amazed myself. Funny, every thing turned out fine.

It's the month where I hope every month will be like this month!


Thank you, June. Welcome, July.