I did it!

I completed my first half-marathon. Timing 3 hours 3 mins - is okay average considering my lack of training. I am so elated and am donning my nice finisher's tee.

Final week to 21KM

I'm in kind of trouble because of my lack of training for my first marathon.

My original plan heading to the week of March 18th is 5KM (Tue) + 7KM (Thurs) + 12KM (weekend). What I did was 2KM (tues night) + 5.5KM (Friday night) + 7KM (Sunday night).

Song Fa Bakut Teh

A nice simple meal with my parents - at Song Fa. They liked the casual environment and the relatively inexpensive price tag. We had a nice table outdoor with cooling sunset air, thanks to my swift action. They now had a novel idea of serving tea with traditional small clay teapot and tiny cups with boiling water self-served from the gas stove next to the wall. We ordered Tien-Lo-Han and the bunch of the half-tea leaves went mysteriously missing in the middle of the dinner.

I had 10km refreshing run thru Garden by the Bay East this morning, then Chinese New Year lunch at Eco Sanctuary showroom @ Chestnut (dissapointing food but fabulous Dragon and Lion dance) and followed by Hi-Tea with choco fudge cake and Long black at the Marmalade Pantry Ion.

Kinabalu

After 2 years of talking, finally due to a sudden incident, I went to Kinabalu, and climbed that mountain. My fully body is now sore beyond belief. Sitting upright and especially standing up, becomes painful. And stairs... oh don't mention it. I cringe at the sight of stairs now.

Archive: 2012 Accomplishments

• Buy a property
• Love myself
• Travel to Taiwan
• Reach Nordkapp
• Try something new (camping)
• R'ship exploration
• Scandinavia travel

Purpose

It is a bit intimidating.. in a good way, facing with someone who knows exactly what his priorities in life. I feel clueless.

Decisions are all making sense. The choices. Speed. Career choices. Relocation. The travel.

I suppose a wanderer warrior one day must go home with his identity. I can understand that, I felt the same and lost as well sometimes. Unfulfilled and empty. Having a sense of purpose and dedication is important. It's almost vital. what's the use of lifeless paperwork.

The Taurus Woman

I like the description of the Taurus Woman here:

The Taurus woman

As the bull is a supremely masculine creature, the cow is supremely feminine. The female Taurus is often the epitome of the instinctual feminine archetype, with all the gentleness, strength, wisdom, patience and sensual passion of her goddess-antecedents. There seem to be two distinct types of Taurus woman.

The first is the real Venusian Taurus, with a perfectly made up face, surrounded by beautiful scent, dressed in sensuous, expensive designer clothes. Pampered, indolent, and preoccupied with her own attractiveness, you may accuse her of vanity and self-indulgence, but she knows that self- confidence and pride in herself are the best guarantee of being treated with real respect.

Then there's the Taurus woman who reflects the purity and harmony of nature. Organically grown food, natural fibres, a ban on smoking, a refusal to use chemicals in the garden or artificial colouring on her hair, this woman harks back to the old temple priestesses in the days when the power of the Earth-goddess represented the power of life itself.

Either way, the Taurus woman is wise in the ways of love, and is devoted and usually loyal -provided she has security and knows she's valued.  Her tenacity and faithfulness are admirable. Sometimes they're too admirable. Try to release yourself from this kind of Taurean woman and she will hang on with that incredible Taurean tenacity until you give up and come back out of sheer exhaustion. Taurus women can wait, and they often do wait, and wait, for the promise you made ten years ago to be fulfilled.

Flirtatious at the beginning of a relationship, Taurus settles into stable routines very easily and quickly. If you enjoy spontaneous trips and unplanned holidays, give this woman at least three months' notice. And don't, for heaven's sake, change plans at the last minute.

Taurean women can be very literal, believing what you say and holding you to it the next day. Or the next year. Or the next decade.  If she promises something, she'll endure all kinds of hardships to keep her promise, and her sense of responsibility is very highly developed. She doesn't like letting people down, in personal life or at work. If you promise something to a Taurean woman, mean it. Otherwise, learn to think before you speak, or choose another sign.

There is an innate simplicity in the Taurus woman, even in those whose practical abilities and business acumen have led them to build a solid career in the world. "Simple" doesn't mean "stupid", so don't make the mistake of thinking, because she didn't win any prizes on the school debating team, that she isn't grasping exactly what you're trying to say, even when you thought you meant something else.

Although some Taurean women are gifted at verbal gymnastics, most prefer clear, plain, no-nonsense communication where nothing is concealed or ambiguous - and because they're usually straight and direct, they know when you aren't.  Despite her strangely childlike quality, the Taurus woman can be terrifyingly shrewd when it comes to seeing through shams and pretences. She isn't innately suspicious or mistrustful, but she can spot a fake from a long way away. That applies to fake antiques, fake flowers and fake people.

Taurus' eye for the realistic, the stable, the reliable, is unerringly accurate. Her common sense is a wonderful elixir for the jaded visionary, and her capacity to get to the basic core of a problem allows her to find simple solutions while you're still pacing up and down tearing your hair and wondering how you'll ever even begin to sort out the mess. The Taurus woman brings everything - including her partner - down to earth. And because it's a gentle sign, it's likely to be a soft landing.

Lunch today

Grilled ribeye steak
Asparagus and carrot - boiled/steamed
Grilled potatoes with tomatoes
Fruit appetizers - starfruit, granny smith apple, plum

Result: colorful delight for lunch with camomile tea. While jamming with Dj Earworms 2009 mix.

First Tiramisu on Sunday rainy morning

Tried my first Tiramisu. Result - nice with right sweetness and right alchoholic contents. But I made the mistake of leaving the egg white for too long that it spoiled.

What I did to track marathon progress of my friends

Bond: SkyFall

Just came home from watching 007: SkyFall. I like the show. It's not so emotionally gripping - but I enjoy the beautiful movie by a wonderfully skilled cast. Daniel Craig, as buffed, macho, and serious as Bond. 3 beautiful Bond women, and my favorite Judi Dench. I like Ralph Fiennes' straight guy but gentlemanly and Javier Bandem's performance is chilling - so cool.

And guess what, today 11-Nov is Bond's birthday.

Sunday Morning

The title reminded me of Maroon 5 song, so now it's playing in my head.

I exercised this morning, circling Hong Lim Park 5 times - 1 round more than target - yay - on my Vibram shoes. After 2km failure yesterday, tempted by the yummy thought of MacDonalds' fries - I resorted to cook my own fries today.  So my run was preoccupied by the thought on how I would prepare and slices them in 3 different sizes thus batches,

One the chubby finger fries like you normally get on Fish and Chips. They are filling!

Next skinny long ones like McD's which is my fave when some of them crispy and some are meek full of potato goodness.

The last batch, turned out to be the sides. Which I am enjoying now. I didnt have size in middle to make it midsize...

Tada...

so what I wanted to write about is my experience as Publicity Assistant secretary. Maybe through my life I am aggressive to try to make up for that period of time, when I felt I am more deserving as the Main Officer, and how I executed the job. When I look back the only thing that hindered me is that I didn't have the confidence. I wasn't confident enough to stand at public speech. I wasn't ambitious enough to stand up for that post. I felt I didn't have enough friends to support my selection. But in the end, I was egged on to nominate, that must be from my friends because I wouldn't have thought about nomination myself. So because of that, despite I am the driving force and I executed the plan, planned for work distribution, I then feel cheated by that post. By 3rd year I was focusing on my Industrial Attachment, and my Accelerated Masters program that I wouldn't think about running for the second time. But I am proud of myself going through that experience. I just hadn't been thinking or digesting that time enough to realize the underlying subconcious on how it formed me today, aggressive, ambitious, vocal - that was created by joint experience. I am sure that experience must have helped to form this single-minded focus on work and progress.

Well I am proud that I am able to subconsciously realize and assign the funniest person to do lecture announcement, because I know instinctively what would catch people's attention. Assign the most aestatically gifted to paint the banners, etc.

Hurtful and Heartbreak

Do you have feel shattered when your heart breaks and you felt that painful feeling ...

You feel that you are right and being misunderstood, but that emotional moment you can't try to understand the other POV like you always do (and almost be expected to). Sadness can't begin to understand how I feel.

I can't breathe. I am longing for more air.

Liquids streaming down my face.

I am feeling waves of emotions that I never know I felt before.

I sense something intangible, breaking out. breaking apart. The silent scream fills my ear. For a moment I just want to grief. I feel useless. I see no purpose. I can't understand. Comprehension is lost.

Oh my god. I am alone.

My Sesame Street favourite

I am so sad today to hear the death of the man who is essentially Count Von Count from Sesame Street, Jerry Nelson at 78. It is  always very strange feeling to hear an icon from your childhood passed on. I guess it gives a sense of awakening on age. That time passes. And that I am getting older and old. Until this news, I've not even considered death of puppets. So sad. I guess this must be what some people had been feeling about the Muppets characters.

Holiday and Expectation

I am back from holiday for almost 20 days in Europe. We hit 5 countries on the first 6 days. beyond statistics, as my number-driven travelling companions like to say, I love this vacation because it has no expectation. I had no expectation on myself, how I should spend my time, how I should behave on politeness , that I should keep in touch with the world through tv, internet, all and my thinking just roam and be free.

Post 20 days relaxing holiday, I hit the office this Tuesday so chilled'out. And dive into 12 hours workday with jetlag and little sleep. Oh boy. My mentor said "it's because you came back and realize how stressful this role actually is."

Master Your Workday Now!

Proven Strategies to Control Chaos, Create Outcomes, & Connect Your Work to Who You Really Are by Michael Linenberger

• Create Lists: Now Tasks:- review daily
• Critical Now = today
• Opportunity Now (over this/next week)
• Over the Horizon:- review weekly
• Move oppt now to here on lower priorities
• Defer to Do
• Defer to Review
•  Significant outcomes

Vision Goal = Aspirational
Target Goal = realistic and executable

Vision Goal + Target Goal = Now Goals.

A Project-Manager based approach over mastering Workday.

The Dark Knight Rises

Dark Knight Rises

The third-movie of the Dark Knight trilogy is intense, dark, but also realistic. I feel that most part of the movie is very fast-paced, sometimes felt rushed in terms of most of the scenes. So it's exciting but takes a while to digest all the things that are happening with multiple villains and frenemies. The themes however is very relevant to concerns today about the decaying moral of modern society, the have- and have-nots clashes, and various urges of the powerful characters whether to cleanse, defend, forgive, punish, or to trust.

I love Christian Bale's portrayal of Batman, he is egoless outside of the custome, and dark menacing inside the custome so you always feel such that his character is reigning in something immense. Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle is alluring, cunning, and street-smart. She is lovely and unsettling as the feline character. I love Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman as the supporting Gentlemen of the Batman ensemble. Marion Coutillard is so lovely and fully composed as Miranda Tate. Joseph Gordon-Lewitt feels familiar (a number of characters from Christopher Nolan's Inception) as tough police-detective and finally Tom Hardy portrayal as Bane is evil and chillingly scary.

Go the Goodness and Hope!

Garden by the Bay and Morning Run

So Dad read out a book he borrowed from the library. It has healthy advices such as:
1. We should rest from 11-1 when the body processes and recuperates.
2. 1-3 is when the body recover from toxins processed
3. 3-5 when the body and lung functions are rejuvenating.
4. 5-7 is the best time to wake up and start slow as the body is ejecting its digestive by-product.
5. 7-730 the best time to have breakfast.

Today, the whole family awakens by 630 and we started off exploring the route to Marina Bay and the Garden by the Bay all the way to Marina Barrage.

What a beautiful dawn!

In-flight entertainment

8 hours flights each way Singapore - Brisbane

3 episodes of the Big Bag Theory
Hunger Games
Friends with Kids
Lorax
Act of Valor ***1/2
The Artist ****
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ****1/2 (my favorite)

Zodiac' Today's Theme

Mine Taurus


A person who is a Taurus is born between the 21^st of April and the 21^st of May. The Bull is the symbol assigned to Taurus. The ruling planet for Taurus is Venus and their element is Earth. Fridays are said to be lucky days for Taurus people. Strengths of Taurus include being compassionate, dependable, loyal, reliable, and also being strong both physically and emotionally. Stubbornness, aggressiveness, sensitivity and a dislike when faced with change are all weaknesses associated with a Taurus.

The Bull symbolizes strong and silent, and this is exactly how a Taurus is said to be. Until you really get to know a Taurus you will probably not see his or her true self. Taurus are very stubborn individuals and once their minds are made up, swaying them even a little is next to impossible. If you do not try to push, Taurus folks will come across as being laid back and reserved. Take heed though because if you anger a Taurus, it is likely that you might find a violent temper. However, Taurus tempers generally will not flare until they are pushed.

Taurus make wonderful friends, and whenever you need them they will certainly be some of the first ones there. Taurus know exactly how to brighten the day of friends in need. Don't count on a Taurus ever calling on you to return the favor. They are very in tune with their emotions and rarely display them. Taurus are loyal and will stand beside a friend until the bitter end.

Sounds about right ;-)

Credit for Yahoo!