G.A.W.K

It's 26 Oct. In a bid to 'progress' in my training routine and perhaps spice up the cardio workouts, I've decided that I'm going to embark on the G.A.W.K, also known as the Great Abdominal WorKout.

Will start tomorrow. Basically I'll start with 200 crunches on my first day. I will increase my crunches by 2% everyday up to a month (or 30 days). Then we'll see if there are any improvements in:

1. achieving any form/shape/inkling of a six-pack washboard ab,
2. overall endurance to overcome the daily incremental load,
3. improvement in heart rate (will wear HRM)

Please motivate me.

Are Reality Shows Real?

Reality shows are becoming a farce.

America's Next Top Model is just a showcase for the aging Tyra Banks boob job. And who's that has-been judge? What-ever-her-name-is talks too much and she still thinks she's a hottie. Please lah, her face is enough for me to puke. I'm sure you've heard of phrases like "Once a Soldier, Always a Soldier" or "Once an Engineer, Always an Engineer". Modelling is one job that cannot use this type of phrase. Instead, it should be "Once a Model, Now an Old Hag". Come on, face it. WE ALL AGE. WE ALL GET OLD.

Actually, ANTM is not as bad as Singapore's productions. Recently, Channel 5 aired Villa Wellness. I seriously think it should have been called Villa Grossness. Then there's that uber fake David Gan who insulted one of the contestants "You look like banana". Erm.... okay.... banana.

Why do I even end up watching these shows on prime time slots?!?! See, now you all know why I'd rather be training!

Disclaimer: I only caught one meagre episode of Villa Grossness hor... and you guessed it right, I caught the 'banana' one.

A SIM-biotic Wedding Made In Heaven

Congrats to Calvin and Lynn!! - Both my juniors from Purdue.

Calvin came into campus in the Fall of 1997, and is one year my junior, while Lynn enrolled during my Senior Year in 1999.

My first impression of Calvin was during the Freshmen Welcome BBQ at Happy Hollow Park. We were having a conversation with Calvin (blur blur cute cute face) while he was drinking some pop and he suddenly started to slur and stutter. My first thought was that this poor chap had some inherent speech impediment so I kinda took pity on him. Then he began to lisp really badly and he pointed his finger into his mouth. We thought he had choked but then we saw this 'thing' in his mouth, stuck on his tongue. It was a bee! A bee had stung him ON HIS TONGUE while he was drinking pop! Damn funny. But anyway, I cannot remember if he spat the poor bee out or someone took him to the health center. That was my first impression of Calvin Sim - the blur blur cute cute clumsy one.

I met Lynn for the first time when she and CY contacted me during summer of '99 to enquire about studying at Purdue. We met at Breeks! at Wisma Atria and Dave and Tap were with me to give these 2 new birds some advice and such. The seniors tried our best to advice them on what to bring, how much to bring, what to expect, what to do on first day, etc. That was my first encounter with Lynn Phua - smarty scholar.

Fast forward October 2004. Bok Chain was back in Singapore for some Motorola thingy. Lynn flashed her engagement ring at the girls (the usual bunch - HX, CY and Naomi). I saw the ring... WAH....

Fast fast forward 22 October 2005. I see Calvin waiting anxiously for his bride to appear. Honestly, I kept having visions of the Cheshire Cat throughout the solemnization and dinner. Calvin was just grinning endlessly! Anyway, I digress. The atmosphere was so full of love. Ask me about love during weddings and I can tell quite abit. I've done so many assignments for weddings and I can honestly say that this was one wedding that had all the makings of true love. To be frank, I always dread weddings for all the happy endings and mushy stuff associated with it. Calvin and Lynn's wedding was one which was just that - and it was awesome for them! I'm happy for them, seriously. I just feel... lonely when I think about it. Oh well, but the day belonged to them. Lynn hit it on the nail when she said "I love you" to Calvin (who else?) when the couple were giving their thank you speech during dinner. It was so sweet and simple. It was like a small girl so excited about opening her christmas presents. Yeah.. that kind of joy, simple pleasures in life.

It was also great to meet up with the other Purdue guys...

Calvin and Lynn, may God guide you through your marriage with fun, love and lots of laughter and may the two of you start a Sim-City soon!

Resurrection

Greetings to all faithful readers of my blog.

I am back. I have returned to blogosphere! No I wasn't being hunted down for sedition (apa ini?). Neither was I keeping a low profile.

I just needed a break from the public eye (haha... like real). I just wanted to chill out from so many things that were bothering me. I wanted to keep things in perspective. I wanted to do a major overhaul (well, not so major lah). I just needed a re-think.

In a nutshell:

Did the Terry Fox Run on 18 Sept. It rained and it rained and the 8km got cancelled. Eventually did a 2.4km (according to my trusty footpod). CY ran with me. The boys ran too (Clayton, Jiji, Vincent, Nick, Yihan, etc..). Bloody Mythos WALKED the 2.4km. Okay lah, give him credit for completing the Desaru Half Ironman only the day before and rushing back to Singapore to support the cause.

Then I did the NIE Biathlon on 25 Sept. 500m pool swim + 5km hilly run around the NTU campus. Finished in 45 minutes. Not too bad considering I had absolutely NO IDEA of the running route. I also met some of my former PTIs who conducted last year's Remedial Training. One of them asked me if I was one of the RT-men from Maju Camp. I sheepishly said yes coz apparently it's quite embarrassing for RT-men to show up for endurance multi-sport races. haha... Well, for the record the PTIs beat me at the biathlon by a mere 3 minutes! Come on lah, they're like 10 years YOUNGER than me ok. I'm so proud of myself.

Then there was the NTU Ultramarathon (168km) Run-Round-Singapore on 1 Oct. I was supposed to do escort running for 6.5km. Gee whiz... I ended up with a personal best of 35km in total! I even got lost in Senoko. You know you're lost when you see the 3 Senoko smokestacks/chimneys and you don't see any other runner in a 2km radius!). Supported Adrian Mok till he couldn't run anymore. That was the beginning of the Changi Coast stretch. But that crazy boy still managed to complete the 168km distance in respectable time and through all that pain! He ran... amok... that's all I can say.

The ultra gave me more confidence and strength to increase my mileage. I'm averaging 40km per week now. I've also learned that I have to be careful about overtraining. Hence I'm constantly listening to my body for signs of over-fatigue (increased heart rates, nagging sores, wierd aches, etc..)

That's it. Been running and running and running. No wonder no time to blog much... heh heh... but the thoughts are all in my head while I run - that keeps me sane (and creative too!)

Okay... will write more soon. Promise.