Taking my mugshot

My passport expired and to renew it, I was requested to provide a recent photo.  The photo I gave them, which was perhaps 5 years ago, was declined.  What happened to democracy, so I choose to live in denial, that is my citizen right!

Ok, so I asked Matty's mom to take my mugshot.   So these are the photos I got.  Hmm...such a cutie pie eh?

Shocked!

I woke up Sunday morning late, rushed to throw clothes/shoes into bag and ran downstairs to where coach was waiting.  Usual gang running 16km of Macritchie - my first foray back to Macritchie after last year's MR25 ultra.

It was only mid-run that I really woke up, when Simon told me the PAP has lost to WP in the by-elections at Ponggol East.  What?!  Unbelievable.  His exact words were, 他们不懂得人民的心, translated, the PAP is too aloof to understand the average Singaporean.

Singaporeans engage in group think too much.  We talk and suddenly everyone is anti-government.  Stop and rationalize for a bit.  Or perhaps cos I have lived overseas, I appreciate what we do have.  Look around us, compared to all our Asian neighbours, we have a system that is efficient and relatively incorrupt.  As for rising costs, there is a global situation all our neighbours are facing and trying to fix, look at HK's housing prices!

So the PAP is not perfect, I like it that they are quick to rectify and tweak a system to make it work for all, because Singapore is run like a huge conglomerate : Singapore Inc.

My only grouse is foreigners.  Enough already.  If we continue to dilute our identity as Singaporeans, we lose the social fabric of what makes us Singaporeans.  I work with and am close friends with many non-Singaporeans.  They have options, the option to go back to their country of birth.  I don't.  This is it.  This is home.  So I want everyone to love & respect Singapore for what this land stands for.  How do you tell someone to queue up, and that pushing/shoving is not acceptable in Singapore when we are no longer the majority?  How do you enforce society norms like not stealing my mobile phone off my lunch table or throwing thrash to the floor when they did not go through the same campaigns we grew up to : no littering, honesty is the best policy.... Sigh.  I am on the verge of bursting out into singing Chan Mali Chan.  But of cos, 50% of the people of Singapore have no clue what that even means.

To the PAP, may I suggest that maybe we don't need to have such high standards, that perhaps it is ok to accept a lower GDP, and we figure out the way forward together.  What is the point of having high GDP growth in terms of statistical numbers, but this prosperity is not evenly spread amongst Singaporeans.  Yes, I am still a PAP supporter but even more so, I am Singaporean and proudly so.

My lunch in 2 parts

I had 2 roti pratas for lunch today, eaten over 2 parts.

First I ate half of each prata (1 plaster - which is egg and 1 cheese - which is mozzarella cheese).

Next a Cisco parking warden appears and stands in front of my car (illegally parked in front of prata shop).

I got up, moved the car to the nearby car park, walked back and calmly resumed lunch.

Ate the remaining half of each prata, finished my tea halia, walked to the counter and paid for lunch.

No one got upset, no one panicked, my lunch though interrupted was complete, the parking warden did his job and left, the prata folks were paid.

Just another day in the life of typical Singapore.  Yes, I love Singapore!

And I also love Niqqi's prata - they invented mozzarella cheese prata you know!  To die for!

You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek

Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 

HEB 7:1-3, 15-17

Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kingsand blessed him.
And Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything.
His name first means righteous king,
and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up
after the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become so,
not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent
but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
For it is testified:

You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Remote controllers have a home!

A little caddy to hold my remote controllers.  It's so cute I couldn't resist taking a photo.

I regret

It's Jan 22 and already I caught myself meddling in other people's affair - something I said I would not do ever again.

We all thought V was not going to be strong enough for the upcoming North Face City Run on 3 March.  But since the event isn't for a few more weeks, no one did anything about it until a friend came to me and told me that perhaps asking V to withdraw might be a good idea - her exact words were, "kick Vivi out of the team".

So I did.  I spoke to V and she withdrew to "not let the team down" - which was a sweet gesture but did she do so out of peer pressure or health concerns?

Next I approached A - whom I met at last year's North Face 50km and MR25 50km.  She accepted as part of her training for some HK 50km trail later in March.  We have a strong replacement now.

The whole process took a day's worth of text messages/emails traded over Whatsapp/Facebook and concluded with an email from the North Face organizers confirming the change is made along with a credit card charge of $20 admin fee.

Thank you Fel for meddling, you are rewarded with pissed-off people and $20 deficit.

Yeah, I regret the whole matter, that I did precisely the things I hate - meddled, interfered and worse, judged V as not strong enough - what if she really needed this run to gain some momentum in her comeback plans?

Ok moving forward, no more team events and no more being Ms Smarty Pants. Everyone's an adult, I will take you at face value.

Catholic Liturgical Calendar

With advent (the month before Christmas), we began a new year, Year C of the catholic liturgical calendar.

Since I use the weekday missal for my quiet time, for the daily readings, I thought I would need a new missal just as the Sunday missals are new (with year C).

After a few weeks of procrastination, I emailed Peter of Wellsprings and asked for the price of a new weekday missal.  He quoted $45.  Sounds reasonable.  After I ordered it online, I decided I should be prudent and double check that it was the weekday (not Sunday) missal that Peter was going to send.

And so began my epiphany.

1. This year 2013 is Year C for the Sunday cycle ; Cycle I of the weekday cycle.  
2. There is no cycle III nor a cycle C for the weekday cycle - OH!   
3. I don't need a new missal - just switch back to cycle I.  The missal has both cycle I and cycle II.  

Thankfully Peter canceled the order, reversed the charges and I learned something new.  Sorry Peter for the trouble!

Cateye Micro Speedometer settings for a 650c road bike

My speedometer ran out of battery and for the life of me I could not find the correct settings.  The manual offered by Cateye seems to have every setting but what I have.

So my wheel size is 650 x 23C.  ETRTO is 23-571.  These are clearly marked on my tire.

Now set the speedometer to what?  Impossible to read this chart right?

I had to google and people discussed measuring the roll out to get exact measurement, but in general, set L = 1950 or 1938.   (Note neither of these are in the table from Cateye).

Yes, so I am blogging about it here for greater visibility so the next person who rides a 650c road bike and needs to reset her speedometer will be left scratching her head and wondering what to set the L settings to!

No thank you Cateye!

By elections at Ponggol East

By far the funniest commentary I read by an ex Straits Times editor, Betha Henson.  Hilarious.
http://berthahenson.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/a-possible-wp-response-to-sdp/

My sporting calendar 2013

Even as I am still saying "happy new year" to people, I already ran my first event of 2013 - Zoom on Track by the IMD group of ultramarathoners.

Mapping out my calendar for the year, I realize it is still pretty full for a "low mileage" year.

Events already signed up for :
23 Feb - NTU bike rally.  Will be my longest cycle distance of 138km.
3 Mar - The North Face City Run.
2 Apr - Layang Layang dive trip.
5 May - Borneo Marathon.  Signed up for half since it's my low mileage year!

Second half of year plans :
1 Jun - Singapore Duathlon
3 Aug - MR25 Time Trial.  I hope by this date I'm can be speedier.
23 Aug - ACPT Retreat (ok this is spiritual sports!)
7 Sep - Army Half Marathon
Nov - Taroko Gorge Marathon in Taiwan?
Dec - Standard Chartered Marathon & MR25 Ultra-marathon

MR25 Ultra-marathon 2012

My last race in the last days of a very hectic 2012.

Race mechanics are simple - repeat laps of 10km of Macritchie Reservoir, run 5 laps and you receive a finisher medal/tshirt. It is not a circular loop, but a 5km in/5km out loop - so everyone is somewhere along the 5km trail at any point in time - won't get lonely running.  It was a prettty interesting run, a nice end to the year, a good chance to work off some Christmas excess weight, and we didn't need to get overly serious about it.

When I awoke that morning, it was raining.  By flag off time, it was a slight drizzle that continued for the most part of the run.  While it makes for cool temperatures, it also means super slippery trails and some places were water-logged (read, it was a mud bath!).   The only sane speed was slow and careful.  On lap 2, I met A and mentioned I might go for a 6th lap, was really enjoying the run.

At the end of my lap 2, I met P.  He was just behind me and was going to take a short break.  I carried on running (I rather walk than to waste time in transit - the retired triathlete in me speaks!).

The next time I met P, I was starting my lap 4 and  he said he was finishing his lap 4.  I took a double-take.  Unless he ran 21km (laps 3 and laps 4) in the same amount of time I took to finish lap 3 or about a blistering 5mins per km pace, it is mathematically impossible considering the terrain, and his normal speed.  He doesn't even run flat roads at 5mins per km pace!  Cheater bug!

By lap 4, my hips started to ache from the rocky terrain.  I am thinking I need trail shoes for better cushioning, so I started to walk a lot.  While walking I could stare at my fellow competitors : I saw Sim Wong Hoo - my ex-CEO, Ng Kai Wai - formerly CTO with Sim & also my friend's dad, my former VP in Creative - Lee Teck Seng, Angela Flynn our angmo friend who I first met at the North Face run...  Awesome!  The women were rather strong, many still running steadily, while most of us were walking a lot, only running downhill, by then.

By lap 5, I could hardly run, the rocky terrain was too jarring, the impact from every step if I keep running, was hurting all my joints.  I chose to walk to spare my internal organs!  Alex appeared at the start of my lap 5 - he was completing his lap 5, jumped very close in front of my face and asked me if I was still going for 6 laps.  I was too tired to kick him or I would!  All I could do was shake my head sadly : 5 laps and that's it!

I finished my 5th lap at 9 hours and indicated to the marshal to stop my run at that point.  Compared to the North Face 50km run which I completed in 6:50, this is way way slower.  The overall winner was a woman, Sumiko Tan who ran 9 laps in just under 11 hours.   She beat the winning man by 2mins who also ran 9 laps.

MR25 is a sports club, not a professional business, we paid less for registration fees, but also got less out of it.  Other than Pocari sweat drinks - which were served refreshingly cold & a whole lot of bananas, there was nothing else. No energy gels, nor muscle rub.    At the end of the race, they handed out finisher medals to everyone!  You queue up, they ask you your timing, you tell them (no verification!), they hand-write your name and timing on a certificate, then pass you the certificate along with a finisher medal and finisher tshirt.  Tadah!  Guess this is meant to be a everybody's race!

It was a pretty fun run for me, especially after we headed off for chengdol and a big chicken rice meal along Thomson Road after the run.  If I want to run it again this year, I should get trail running shoes to save my bones/joints!  I just might!

No Excuses!

We had dinner last night and the topic came to new year resolution and about living healthier lives. S is on a diet plan called TRA and has lost some 11kg in the last 4 months.  Rest of us are struggling with weight - hey, we just had Christmas, new year celebrations and Chinese new year binging looms.

Philip sent us his transcribed notes from a book he read and liked very much, called,  No Excuses – The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy.  He shared his notes with us this morning to encourage us.  So I, in turn, will share it here cos I really like this!

• Plato – The first and best victory is to conquer self.
• Losers make excuses; winners make progress.
• Self discipline is the ability to do what you should do, whether you feel like or not. There are many success principles but without self-discipline, none will work!
• Two biggest enemies of success, happiness and personal fulfillment are the Path of Least Resistance & The Expediency Factor.  There is no easy way/short-cut to most situations, and the hard path will provide valuable lessons towards success. Seeking fastest and easiest ways to get to the things they want with little or no concern for the long-term consequences of their behaviors.
• Bad habits are easy to form but hard to live with; good habits are hard to form but easy to live with. Everything (good) is hard before it is easy!
• Hard work is key to success and the indispensable requirement for hard work is self-discipline.
• Everyone wants to be successful but most people are not willing to pay the whole price; they always hold back and have excuses.
• The greatest reward of success is not the money you make but the excellent people you become in the quest/process of striving towards success!
• The fastest and most dependable way to eliminate negative emotions is “I am Responsible!” With this acceptance, your anger, blame, non-calm and other negative emotions will quickly neutralize. You will see yourself as being in charge, and no longer a victim.  The more you accept responsibility, the greater sense of control you experience.
• Only 35 of adults have written goals; and everyone else works for these people.  Writing out your goals increases the probability of success (hitting these goals) by 10 times!
• 7 steps to achieving your goal (page 70 – 73). Most important write out your SMART goal. Next most important 
• Make a list of drivers/inhibitors (internal and external), knowledge / skill / tools and people (who cooperation and support) you will require to achieve the goal.  Organize this list by both sequence an priority.  Take action on your plan immediately.  Do something every day that moves you in the direction of your goal.  Remember – everything is hard before it is easy!
• Use 3% rule to invest in your Learning and Development – never stop learning and growing.
• Courage
• Normal and natural that everyone is afraid. Difference is that the brave disciplines himself to confront, deal with and act in spite of the fear. In contrast, the coward allows himself to be dominated and controlled by the fear.  
• Deal with fear directly and address it head-on. Like twin sisters, fear and worry go around together. But many a times, they are unfounded!  “I have worried about a lot of things in life and most of them never happened” by Mark Twain.
• Persistence is self-discipline in action. Primary reason for success is persistence; and primary reason for failure is lack of persistence – quitting too soon.  Winners never quit, and quitters never win!
• 5 ingredients of Happiness: 1) Health 2) Happy Relationship 3) Meaningful work 4) Financial Independence 5) Self Actualization.
• 5 P’s of Excellent Health : 1) Propr weight 2) Proper diet 3) Proper exercise 4) Proper rest 5) Proper attitude

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!

I started the year off with Matty, family and then tried some mountain biking with Felix & Jo on January 1.

They have been nagging me to switch to mountain biking cos no one ever dies, worse case you suffer broken bones, versus road cycling where you play a game of chance with cars.

I must say, they have very good mastery and can steer very steadily through logs/rocks/flowing streams - just about anything!  There is also a lot of technical skills involved - keeping pedals level (I just couldn't do this!), hitting obstacles square on and handlebar control.

I was caked in mud up to shin high after we were done.  We got back and Matty watched us hose down the bikes - he stood inside my car and yell, uncle!  or godma!  come!

Good fun... Glad I went with them after putting this off repeatedly through 2012.

Some riding, more pushing... And totally caked in mud afterwards.

Let's review my 2012 targets :

My targets for 2012 :
1. Focus on work - specifically my new job.
2. Stay close to family.
3. Stop acquiring too many friends, lest life gets complicated.  Return to the loner (that I am anyways).
4. Do less events this year : perhaps these 5 Singapore Duathlon, Sundown Half-marathon, GoldCoast Marathon, Army Half Marathon, Standard Chartered Marathon.
5. Travel a little more.  First country : Taiwan.  Perhaps US next?

Now for my 2013 targets :
- focus on work for real, if I have to, I'll need to switch jobs again
- no. 2 and 3 seems somewhat acomplished, more of the same in 2013
- on the sporting/travel front : I should scale back.  Less endurance and more fun would be nice.