road trip to bukit tinggi & genting highlands

nothing exciting but a relaxing weekend with a few colleagues to bukit tinggi and genting highlands was a good getaway.
i am the only lucky one to get $ from unlce lim's casino. i'll be back.

piccies of niece and nephew

from my new toy - ixus 850is

my first car

my first car - datsun 120y, 18-year old "老爷车". then i was 18 years old and a proud owner. unfortunately, i crahsed it within the first year. it ran over the kerb while entering a slip road and "flew" over a small drain. fortunately, three of us came out of it unhurt. and i still managed to drive it to the workshop with the tail pipe brushing the tarmac.

tibia stress fracture

visited 2 orthopaedists (at ttsh and sgh), an x-ray, an mri, several sessions with physiotherapist and 3 sessions with chinese physician (acupuncturist). all these during the last 6 weeks and more than $500 spent, it was concluded that the injury at my right shin is most likely tibia stress fracture. this means completely no running for the next 3-6 months. how bad/suay can it get?

this diagnosis was not concluded by any of the orthopaedists but a senior physiotherapist at sgh. yesterday, she applied pressure along the shin bone (to locate the affected area), specifically on the painful stretch and then across it. for months, i didn't realise that there is pain across the shin bone (only along it). she referred me back to the orthopaedist for a costly procedure called bone scan and a visit to the orthotist to correct deficiency of biomechanics (i.e., low arch, etc...). a bone scan must be performed in order to confirm the presence of a truely traumatised bone tissue, which x-rays often fail to detect them. foot orthotics allow the muscles, tendons and bones of the feet and lower legs to function at their highest potential. all these will cost me another few hundred bucks.

maybe i should pick up aqua running since i am destined to be plagued with running related injuries.

virtual dna

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adistar fusion top

what a lovely present! it comes with a quotable card:

"life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away."
(anonymous)

thank you guys for the well wishes too!

it fits polar wind hrm perfectly.

definitely a poser top but not gay in the making.

my lovely niece and nephew

on trial with slide.com. i will update soon.

tullibardine 73

glutton for a day - the usual breakfast at home, lunch at inagiku, dinner at home, 2nd dinner with ec at szechuan court, chill out with ragtagers (ec, bl, ky, ww, j, jt) at highlander and supper at founder rou gu cha.

that's because we couldn't find a better place for 2nd round of drinks. we did check out 2 places before calling it a day.
1. fashionbar - it was filled with 2nd-hand smoke.
2. china one - it was packed with abnns. shouldn't it be renamed as china black?

thank you all for the well wishes!
(ec, jt, bl, pt, ty, yh, ww, j, cck, cw, lck, smj, nll, al, dl, st, kw, ea, lex, pt fr siam, nh fr nippon, ey)

bl and me at highlander

ec and me

wcf ec from bakerzin

out of words and embarrassed

highlight of the day - shot of tullibardine vintage 1973 on the rocks

yuri gagarin

yuri gagarin, hero of the soviet union, was a soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first man to orbit in space and the first human to orbit the earth.

made in china

made in china for ragtagers cny "lao yu sheng" dinner. it was a quiet event (only 10 of us incl. the mystery guest - bl, jt, ys, pt, hc, ca, ky, j, ww, sk) compared to last year jumbo seafood, where a few were drunk from the shots of moët.

ambience - 4/5,
food - 2/5,
service - i didn't really bother as i was too hungry from the long wait for the last two to turn up. they must have lost the way to haw par villa.

as expected, the topic on "sheep and wolf" surfaced again. i am very sure some of the gals had overreacted. i was laughing away but i felt being accused of judging a person so wrongly. let's put this matter to rest since 生米煮成熟饭 already.

after dinner program was a session of card games (blackjack and in-between) at my humble place. i can only single out 3 persons as "gambler" within ragtagers (jt, ky & myself). the rest obviously have no interest and casino gaming will be the last thing in their mind. hc can stress out even with a bet as little as 50cts. a blackjack in the last round saved the day, reduced my deficit to $11.50.

link to:

hua song museum

dead cat bounce

a dead cat bounce is a term used in market economics to describe a pattern wherein a moderate rise in the price of a stock follows a spectacular fall, with the connotation that the rise does not indicate improving circumstances. it is derived from the notion that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height".

2 marathons a day for 111 days

unbelievable, isn't it? this is beyond sanity. three ultra-athletes ran across sahara (one of them is a taiwanese) - a grueling 4,000 miles, in 111 days. what kind of aspiration is this? an accolade of ultramarathons?

1. national geographic - running the sahara,
2. yahoo! news - 3 ultra-athletes run across sahara.

not too long ago, i read about dean karnazes who ran 50 marathons, in 50 states, in 50 days. i thought he was crazy. but not anymore. surely, they won't be the last to do such crazy things in endurance running.

video clips - running the sahara:
part 1 -


part 2 -

hcny!

happy lunar new year everyone!
have a great piggy year!
*oink-oink*

猪贺大家:
猪圆玉润,
心满意猪!

j-star - 新年快乐mv


astrologer's outlook for 2007
1. joey yap - annual outlook,
2. susan levitt with information on the year of the pig.
(rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig).

saint valentine's day

a dateless night but the v-day party for singles at aloha was a good getaway from reality. jl was the host. fortunately, bl came along or else i would be the odd one out as i don't know most of the invitees. she was very attentive and even went around serving finger-food. there were unlimited supply of alcohol. without drinking games, there won't be any fun at all. we had animal game, fubar (something new to me and it's very fun), smack, etc... until most of us were tipsy. in fact, i was long gone before the 2nd round. i had to stop 2 hours in advance so that i could make my way back home safetly. and i had to call ms big apple to stay awake after dropping off bl.

i am going to dread tomorrow's meeting at 9am.

square fruit & bill

i woke up recollecting last night's dream. strangely, i saw some sqaure potatoes at don't-know-where. i can't relate this dream to anything other than the square fruit that originated from japan. of course, nobody grows square potatoes (or tomatoes) because they aren't big enough. but the japanese grows square watermelons (~$125 each) so that consumers can fit them nicely in the refrigerators.

occasionally, i google for famous quotes. generally, they're inspirational, sometimes funny and rarely stupid. but this is hilarious:

"i may not have been the greatest president, but i've had the most fun eight years."

can you believe bill said that? i mean how many president had that kind of thing at the oval office? surely he had fun. probably, he said that during albert's campaign.

paranoia

last night, i was so paranoid. i thought i had a palpitation. i wore the polar hrm to monitor my heartbeat for a min or two. when it stabilised at 55bpm (e.g., last ecg reading was 53bpm), i was convinced that i am perfectly fine. when i laid down again, i realised it was the throbbing headache (migraine).

on another note, i'd like to share this article from the straits times dated 9th feb. some of you may find it interesting, especially the ladies - male sweat 'makes women happy and hot'.

virgin post

i've pondered long and hard on creating a blog. for a long time, i held back. i decided to give it a shot with my sub-standard writing skills. here i am... my virgin post.

i still feel a twitch at the shin area when i try to run. my last run was 25th jan - more than 2 weeks ago. at first, i thought it's shin splints. but i think it could be worst. hairline crack? i don't know. only an mri can tell. but it's too costly (~$800 for a non-subsidised patient), let's wait for another 2 weeks. kl international marathon is doubtful now (i'm doing a half with the objective of clocking a pb - under 1:45). i've to decide soon, 17th feb is the cut-off date.

this weekend, i've overworked myself on those machines (i.e., arc trainer & cycling). avg'g 80-85% intensity. yesterday, i've to rely on cuppa of blue mountain to stay awake for the pickle king at srt. i couldn't do much today. even at the pool, i was feeling lethargic (less than 30?). something so mild should not bring me down. i need a rest from rejection.

pre-reunion dinner at imperial treasure (teochew cuisine) with family was delectable. on the table:
1. "fatt choy" salmon yu sheng - 4/5
2. superior shark fin chicken soup - 4/5
3. pea shoot w/garlic - 3/5
4. frog legs w/ginger - 2/5
5. roasted goose - 4/5
6. "chuan jiao" chicken - 4/5
7. sau beancurd w/mushrooms - 3/5
8. deep fried prawn balls - 4/5
9. fried homemade vermicelli - 3/5
10. fried rice w/meat & floss - 2/5
home-cooked food is still the best. as usual, we'll be having steamboat next sat.

so much so for v-post.