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!

EMG Family Day - Damai Laut, Perak

Welcome to my second family. My colleagues and I are so close, I consider them my second family. In fact, I spend most my time (working life) for the pass 1.5 years with them. We are all such a great team that I am greatly saddened by the current restructuring that will see most of us going to other groups/projects. So, this is also a farewell trip for our close-knitted group.

If you must know, we are bonded mostly by food. Well, who's not, if you're in Malaysia. Everyone is such a great cook; I envy them being able to juggle between taking care of 5 kids(!) and coming to work with breakfast prepared (<8.00am!) enough for everyone to savour. They always cook lebih-lebih. I come to work every morning with home-made breakfast for sure at the pantry. (And I will be latest to wake up every morning and come in office empty-handed for the pass year - the luxury of being single and having no kids, husband to cook for).

As anticipated, our department's family day was a food-filled time. The trip to Damai Laut was a breeze and plus, the weather was kind to us. I packed my parents, god-sister and swim suit (as I was designated swim teacher for family day) into the Alza, sped to resort, and soon found out we are all staying at this awesome huge bungalow. Well, to cut the story short - we swam, BBQ-ed at night, karaoke-d whole night, played pool, relaxed at the beach, acara sukaneka involving balloons (my phobia!) for adults and kids, bitten by hundreds of mozzies, and the highlight for me (personally!) was - sharing ghost stories in the night. I spooked myself out, but was too tired to not sleep.

More importantly, my dad and mum enjoyed themselves and no-doubt fitted quite well with my colleagues, bosses and their family members. My mum is the most sporting mum in the world, which put me at total ease 'cause I was worried they wouldn't fit in easily (esp. dad). They were really really happy with the trip. I was happy that they are too.

I love my current boss. She's the greatest. She will be retiring end of this year and I am really sad that I'm about to lose a great mentor, a great problem-solver, and the one who hired me into a great company! *mata duitan*

Some random pics of the Family day:

BBQ

Afternoon at the beach

Damai Laut Resort - overlooking the golf course.

Mum

Newly-wed Fellie and hubby; others ain't my colleagues :P

Mum, Dad, Ying2

Biblical 1111

Look what I stumbled upon that interests me @RickWarren: 

"A GODLY man loves the strength of a GODLY woman “IN THE LORD women & men are not independent of each other.”

1 Cor. 11:11

The verse and of course, the numbers interests me. 

Btw, Corinthians is the 7th book of the bible. How perfect :)
 

Previous posts on 1111: here, here, and here AND HERE!!!!

Tempias

kan...kan...kan! I dah cakap awal-awal: 

Singapore finds radioactivity in imported Japan vegetables

March 24, 2011

SINGAPORE, March 23 – Singapore said today its authorities had found low levels of radioactive contaminants in four samples of vegetables imported from Japan.

It said samples of wild parsley, rapeseed plant, mustard and perilla leaf were found to have elevated levels of radiation, although an adult would have to consume 3.5kg of these vegetables to receive a similar amount of radiation as one X-ray.

The contaminated samples were imported from the affected prefectures of Tochigi and Ibaraki, as well as Chiba and Ehime which are outside the affected areas.

Earlier today, Singapore suspended the import of milk, meat and produce from areas near Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant due to worries of radiation contamination. – Reuters

....Tempias nuclear ni dah nak sampai benua ni! Jagalah sikit, tuan-tuan & puan-puan. See my previous post here: http://cchivy.blogspot.com/2011/03/compounding-interest.html Malaysia, being Malaysia, will play down the seriousness of this radioactivity. Gomen takkan report punya...

Kalau lah you think it's low levels only and radioactivity is normal, then I have nothing to say. Kissaten lah, hari-hari. :-p But don't be paranoid, just be aware and careful. Awareness je...

Honestly, radioactive vege is worst as pesticide-laden Cameron Highland vege. At least you can wash off pesticide away very easily!

Dreaded Slope

The Dreaded Slope of Koi Kinrara, Puchong.

Almost every 2 days (if it ain't raining), I will drag myself up this slope:

....and down (which is more dangerous!) 

Doesn't portray that much here in the pics, but it's pretty steep.

I assumed it's about 30 degrees..

Compounding interest

 My current muse: The Looniness of a Long Distance Runner - Russell Taylor

RM5.00 only from the Big Bad Wolf Book fair. So worth it!

'Compounding interests':
I love this term. Makes you wanna cry every month :-P However, I am talking about the interest in running. My interest in running is compounded by reading several funny-ha-ha books such as the one above - "looniness of the long distance runner..." . I always ter-sleep when I read a book to bed, but not this book. I laugh hysterically every night reading this book (not good if you're my neighbour), and knowingly bearing the consequence of a mere 4 hour sleep nightly. You know how I hate British authors and style of writing since uni days: Dry! dry! dry! and leave you more confused at the end of your read. Once you've read American-authored books, you'll never lay hand on a Brit's shit ever. But this Brit (Russell Taylor) has been killing my sleep every night.....*smiles*

And I thought the first chapter that prints a huge title: "The History of Marathon" would be harshly mundane, wordy and only a greek kid would be compelled to follow it. This was different, surprisingly. I actually did enjoy this chapter the most. The modern history of marathon was the best-est part.

Who would've thought the infamous Murakami runs....and writes abt it! I would have to recommend this book to anyone who has compounding interest in running. The read has motivated and taught me so much too.  This was because I could relate to him and his experience in both is struggles in running and triathlon (swimming). Yes, I can lend you this book, but for once, please return to me after reading. None of my books were returned to me after I lent them to so many. Darn

I can never leave coffee out in anything I do. Caffeine is another 'compounding interest' of mine.

Topping up my reads with a brew of Choco-Cappuccino (from Marks & Spencers - Xmas'10 present fr Callie).

 ____________________________________________

 With all the natural disasters and pending-wars in this world, I am optimistic that the world is going to end relatively(?) soon (eh, relative to what?).

I truly believe, either:

1. 2012 is for real, ppl. Buy a property/land in South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. :-P

2. Climate change is for real, ppl. It has always been anyway.

3. Earthquakes can be human-triggered ;-) Many do know about this already but if you're in the oil/gas company, you will know exactly how and the science behind it. Small, small tremors may be human triggered. Don't bother if you're not a scientific person.

Google in the lines of: 'Human-triggered earthquakes'; 'secondary oil recovery and seismic activity', 'reinjection of water into well', etc.

4. Radiation clouds will arrive in Malaysia soon. Ppl think this is an overstatement, but I think otherwise. When it comes to radiation and eventhough ppl say: it's still far away from here lah, trust the Japanese ppl lah; Japanese ppl are damn modern and can handle this nuclear situation lah, whatever shit wind doesn't reach Malaysia lah, all government will say that to keep calm. I am not paranoid abt this. I barely have extra toilet paper at home and only one Maggi mee left :-P It is just that I have a bad feeling that even if the radiation has arrived in Malaysia, and Malaysia being Malaysia, will have their meteorological station play down their data!! I don't like information to elude me. I sgt benci data-scandal!

This is the same thing as GMO lah. You dunno meh...you've been eating GMO soy bean products for the past 12 years? I got data mar. Our gov can't even be bothered to label those GMO food. Same: you may already kena radiation or emitting some, but betcha our gov can't be bothered or can't handle the situation. We should be smart enough to not to play down the nuclear situation in Japan.

http://www.slate.com/id/2288618/?from=rss

Sigh. I also believed Japanese gov ( just as any gov would have) is really really undermining and playing down the effects of radiation in this region cause they don't want panic, panic-buying and economic meltdown or stuffs like that. But hey, which government wouldn't, eh?

But wait!!! Dah cakap membebel-bebel banyak ni. Let me see...radiation or not, I don't have a gym. So, you'll still see me in Bkt Jalil running under the rain. Any forms of radiation won't stop my compounding interest in running :-P

My wishlish 2011

Tick tock... tick tock...tick tock...*boring giler*....

Half an hour feels like 'forever'. My bags are packed and I'm ready to go...home. Work finishes at 5pm and ....hmpph...I have 'forever' to....hmmphh...maybe fill in a post or two anything:

Let's see. It's definitely way too late to put my NY's resolution, no? Okay, maybe a list of WANTS (TO-DO) this year 2011.


1. A good vacation somewhere faarr. Can't complain in this department. I've got HK in my bag already that automatically come with a half-marathon. But HK ain't too far. I've got a Scuba diving trip this September in Tulamben, Bali. Can I put another vacation in between now and Bali, say...Australia, Siem Reap, Anzac?


2. Bali. Yes, I need to get a good dive package for all 4 of us. Almost forgot.


3. KL Marathon 2011 (26 June 2011) - I am going to push myself beyond my physical comfort for this race. I am aiming for 2:15. If I can do 2:21 in darn cold weather in HK, I can do it in KL (with ample hydration, of course).


4. Set to run thrice a week....towards a full marathon in 2 years time. 


5. Slim down 1.5 kg. I am at my optimal weight now, which consequently means that it's a tat more difficult to reduce my weight even it's a little itsy weeny bit more. To do that, I need to reduce my greediness.


6. Spend more money on anything I want and whatever that makes me happy. Clothes, coffee, vacations, classy food, bak kut teh, make up, perfume, bag berjenama, on family, on shoes, conserving turtles, orchestra, theatres, on plays, on my boyfriend, on romantic dates, on comedy night, spend spend spend spend!!! 


7. ....and with the little extra money I've got, derma them to Japan (via a legal route). You guys need to tell me how to donate, and if my money reaches (or not!). How to know ar? 


and


8.  Drink a whole pint of Guinness draft this year. And why not this Saturday with the girls?! It's St. Patricks Day this whole week anyway!





Now, that's not too bad for a restless half hour. Just about the right time to fong kong or pang kang!!

Death of this blog imminent

Blek, celebrating the impending death of this blog....

I have not been updating as frequently as previous years due to work (part time teaching swimming and full time work) and a series of events that led to me to abandon my blog this year. Not on purpose. Cause, mind you, I love blogging and writing. And I love this blog. It's been My Space (pun intended) since 2005.

1.  The domain: Blogspot has limited the number of pictures (which is linked to Picasa) that I can post on my current blog. Max photos in Picasa is 1GB, which I surpassed long ago because I had uploaded pictures to Picasa since 2005. Well, unless I delete my old photos which is big no-no. I am altogether pissed with, not my blog, but with Picasa. I am definitely not paying for extending my 1GB space of my current Picasa account. What I did was to set up another Picasa account: cchivy81@gmail.com where I get yet again another brand new lousy 1GB. Whatever it is, this factor alone has compelled me to wanna quit blogging for real. 

2. Indeed, the word 'microblogging' rather than blogging per se have taken over me. I've been twittering more, and concurrently updating my life in Linked-in, FB, Buzz via TweetDeck. While I still will upload photos to my new Picasa account (sure boh?), I am definitely looking forward to my FB account in terms of uploading new photo albums as FB is not limiting my album space (sure boh!?). Will they limit in the future? Well, let's just hope not for the time being. Microblogging is the way to go, but where little bits and parts of my mind goes bewildered and lost in some 'book' that I have a hard time recovering back. That's what I don't like abt microblogging and where microblogging is lacking.

3. Setting a new blog, probably: cchivy81.blogspot.com. Will this work? No eye-deer. I am contemplating on doing this though I am pretty sure it is repeating the cycle/wheel with blogspot again; I foresee the same damn problem cropping up in the future. And soon, I will copy-paste from this rant again for y'all :P 

I don't need readers for this blog is not for ppl to see (though I do appreciate comments), just that I would love to have a so-called online diary...you get what I mean? I enjoy writing and looking back at the past posts and smile at my sillyness (and smartness also lah).

4. Set up my own website/domain such as: ilovecchivy.com.my :P No?

5. Apa dia Tumblr ni? Put water punya bekas? Accelerated death of blog due to microblogging: http://www.goreng.my/spark/article/tumblring-up

Any suggestions in solving my issue above? I am a clueless person on the web. I know very well, but I have little idea how to exploit the vast opportunities that exist in the internet. Please, please, a big part of me don't want to quit blogging altogether.

*Apologies if I did not get my facts right on those issues above. Errata appreciated.