The Near Extinction of A Once Ubiquitous Kid Phrase

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am extremely sad to bring you the news of the survival status of a once common kid's phrase.

Many of you who were born before the 1980's would be able to share my sentiments.

As children at the playground, at school, at races, etc., we've always muttered those infamous words. It was in our vocabulary when we were less than 0.90metres tall.

Now, children scream "Ready. Get Set. GO!".

Yes. With the rapidly decreasing popularity of the cassette tape, the phrase
"Ready. Cassette. GO!" will join the league of the dinosaurs soon.

It's so sad, isn't it?

Singaporean Things That Just Don't Make Sense - Part Three of Infinity

The Munn Theory of Vroom

I've noticed - very obviously - that there's this recent phenomenon of duh-looking drivers behind big beyond-2.0 litre-luxury cars. What makes it worse is the almost dumbfounding efforts these drivers make to maneuver their juggernauts.

I see huge Mercedes' with drivers who cannot seem to fit in ergonomically with their ergonomically designed cars. Benzes now come with puny geek drivers who have their seats in the full forward position and leaning TOWARDS the steering wheel. This is not what I see on the car commercials with leather seats that scream SIT BACK AND RELAX!

What about those 7-series beamers that take ages to park despite the advent of reverse sensors and parking mirrors? Bet you have experienced them within the last 2 weeks or so. Rest assured, they are an increasing lot - these dumbasses.

Then how about the Lexus shmexus owners? They drive as if they are the kings of the road. But they really are the Ass of The World - especially when they try to hide their Toyota sheep in Lexus wolf clothes. FAKES! PRETENDERS! SMALL BALLS!

I initially wanted to postulate about the proportionality of car size with testicular/penile size but because of the Women's Charter, i decided to use brain size instead.

Hence, The Munn Theory of Vroom states that the physical size of private car is inversely proportional to the actual cranium size of car owner.

Let "Private Car" be known as "Car", or c
and "cranium" size be "Brain", or b.

Hence, in theory: c = 1/b

Ah, you might have noticed that there might have been a slight tinge of flaw here. I mentioned earlier about testicular size (T) and brains (b) and cars (c).

T is not related to c if c is in its purest form - that is, if c is not modified.

T will become disproportionately smaller the more c is modified. Get it? This relationship is not linear but can be said as negatively exponential. However, an interesting thing occurs as T tends towards zero. In this case, c can either be at the purest form (for women - at T=0 - don't know anything about car modifications) or c could be totally pink and flowery.

How about the relationship between T and b?

The Great Plateau

I have been experiencing the Great Plateau at 77kg since March 2005.

This is after the Great Dip which began in November 2004 when I tipped the scales at 86kg.

Maybe my body is maintaining itself by converting into more muscle mass? (self consolation)

Okay, at least the tailor CONFIRMED my weight loss and overall 'fat shift'. If there's one profession that doesn't lie, it has got to be tailors. They've got my 'before' and 'after' measurements.

Awesome! but the doc says that my 'ideal' weight should be 68kg. ergghh.... stupid 'ideal' weight charts. Is there really anything 'ideal' in this world?

Singaporean Things That Just Don't Make Sense - Part Two of Infinity

Singapore is located one degree north of the equator. Commonsense therefore indicates that Singapore is a very very hot place to be in throughout the year. Even if her citizens do not know the geographical location of Singapore, I'm 101% sure that everyone can FEEL the heat and humidity. Okay... perhaps we give and take 2-4 degrees of fluctuation in overall daily temperatures. We still have an average of 32 C all year round.

Perspiration (sweating) is the daily name of the game for everyone.

What am I trying to get at?

I want to find out who is the idiot who introduced long sleeve businesswear for men in Singapore. It is totally senseless!

I admit that I'm also a sucker conformist who's got to wear long sleeved business shirts to work especially when I have to attend meetings.

It's really dumb. Seriously.

Can someone influential start wearing something more appropriate to suit the climate? Someone please make a statement so idiot Singaporeans (including me) will obediently follow. Better still, can someone in government make it a law that hefty fines will be imposed on whoever is caught wearing anything more than elbow-length shirts with 1mm thick material?

Training Update

If there aren't any training updates thus far, please do not misconstrue that I haven't been training. The fact is, I'm still training.

The OSIM Singapore Triathlon will be held on 2nd and 3rd July. I'll be taking part in the Sprint Distance on the 2nd, and the Olympic Distance Relay (Bike) on the 3rd.

At this point, it's just training whenever I can find pockets of free time. So far it's been alright. I need to clock up more mileage on the bike though! haha...

Stay tuned (on the Road to OSIM....)

Singaporean Things That Just Don't Make Sense - Part One of Infinity

The Economics of Taxis

Economics is all about demand and supply. Alright, so sometime back the Public Transport Council (PTC) decided that there isn't enough 'competition' on the roads for taxis. As a non-economics professional (defined as someone - me - who is now a professional in other fields except economics because I was forced to drop econ after JC1), I really don't know what 'competition' means. Can't blame my ignorance.

So you think you know?

Okay, based on my understanding, the PTC felt that there weren't enough taxis on the road. But instead of merely increasing the number of taxis, they decided to allow more taxi operator companies to come on board so that there would be fair competition. I think it has got to do with preventing Comfort-Delgro becoming a monopoly and charge exhorbitant taxi prices 'due to fuel hikes'.

So the likes of SMARTcab, Union Cab, Silvercab, etc came into the taxi queue. And there are now more taxis on the road. It's a fact. Really.

Then you still hear cab drivers complain that there are not enough customers. What is worse is that they have to pay daily rental charges to the taxi company. Minus that, their take-home earnings are quite meagre.

And then there's still the 'magical hours'. I thought that since there are more taxis on the road, the drivers would 'compete' with each other to get customers to earn as much as possible, right? Basic economics right?

Wrong!

It is almost an impossibility to get a cab between 8am and 9am, and between 1045pm and 1158pm. The 'magical hour' appears at 9am and at midnight. This is when ALL phone booking lines are open, and when blue "TAXI" lights flash on.

At every midnight, this is the Singapore equivalent of the Northern Lights or Auroras found in the arctic regions. A beautiful sea of blue lights dance on the roads of Singapore. A wonderful sight.

Where there were NO cabs and thousands of frustrated taxi-waiting customers on the road prior to 1158pm, there are now almost NO customers and thousands of available cabs on the road at the stroke of midnight!

Maybe Cinderella's Fairygodmother took up citizenship in Singapore and all the street rats and cockroaches changed into cabs with neon sky-blue lights at the stroke of midnight. By the way, this is a conspiracy theory and it links with the reason why Singapore is such a clean city as well. The rare rodent/cockroach that you find after midnight are just serving their penalty for using long cab routes or refusing to take passengers to places like Bedok and Tampines from the airport. I also heard that it wasn't cheap to bring in Fairygodmother, but she got a good deal when ICA allowed her to have dual citizenship. That lucky bitch....

Anyway, I just don't understand taxi economics. All I see is that drivers and passengers are always at the losing end while the taxi operator companies are getting richer with everyone's daily rental contribution and 'on-call' bookings.

I also see the negative aspects of this coming into place: Drivers who purposely wait for call bookings during peak hours. Drivers who go to the airport to pick up passngers. Drivers who turn on 'that magic blue light' at the wave of Fairygodmother's wand. All for that extra income.

Analysis of the Gungho American Angmo and Kiasu Singaporean Chinese

Part One of Analysis (?)

Ah yes, we've seen it all in the movies - The Gungho American Angmo. Everything also chiong. Everything also die die must try. Everything also must beat the crap outta your competitor. Brawn, no brains.

And the privileged few (namely the citizens of this teeny weeny red-iota-on-a-1:50000-scale-world-map) have experienced it all in real life (in this teeny weeny red-iota-on-a-1:50000-scale-world-map) - The Extremely and Ridiculously Kiasu Singaporean Chinese. Everything don't dare to chiong (must ask permission first). Everything try and sure die. Everything don't dare to lift a finger to hit someone (or else Big Brother cane you!). Brains (this is still questionable at point of writing), no brawn.

Aren't we all humans after all? The only reason why we are all different is the state of mentality that we have.

The Americans were originally immigrants from Europe about 250 years ago. Singapore's forefathers were immigrants from China about 200 years ago. The mass migration timeline is not much different considering the historical timeline of the human race.

The Americans are fighters. They've always been relying on freedom to live. It is the very reason of continued maintenance of their freedom that keeps them going. From writing the Constitution to freeing the Blacks from slavery. From prejudice to pride. These dudes dare to be different. They dare to think. They dare to speak.

Our chinese forefathers dared to leave their homeland as well. They were hardworking people. In fact, the chinese migrants throughout the world are hardworking folks. What happened to the offspring of the bunch that landed in Singapore?

Did the advent of National Independence spoil the independence of the individual?

Are individuals collectively spoonfed ?

Are we all numb to the easy life?

How can 'creativity' be forced or coerced?

The drive to survive is ebbing with the pleasures of the easy life. Have we made REAL decisions or were these decisions made for us in society? Read: primary school streaming. "Investing" in public housing by ROMing, etc.

The next 5 years for Singapore will be crucial. Let's wait and see. Everyone. We'll be protected somehow. But for how long? I don't know. We're already losing it to "the others".

Prepubescent Human Pleads Innocent to Push Button Abuse

5 June 2005

The Abused Buttons Committee (ABC) filed a police report last Sunday against a preteen homo sapien for the wrongful and abusive misuse of informative push buttons at the local Science Center.

"We have had enough of abuse from itchy fingers and sweaty palms slamming on us for the sake of it. We are here for a reason but the human species just don't understand our purpose and place in this world." A visibly depressed push button was heard lamenting. Traces of grotesque humanoid fingerprints - evidence of abuse - were clearly seen on its once shiny surface.

Melamine push buttons have always been a target of senseless bullying by juvenile homo sapiens. This is especially more commonplace during the school holiday season of June and December.

A spokeshuman from the local science center clarified that the push buttons are for use in conjunction with informative signs at each exhibit. When properly used, the push buttons help to tell the story of science. He said, "Science explains the world around us, and the push buttons have been very helpful in educating humans for many years. Unfortunately, there has been a recent trend of abusive juveniles who intentionally slam on push buttons just to see exhibit panels light up."

A visit to the local science center by the reporter revealed that other contraptions used to help explain the various exhibits were also abused in the hands of humans.

Indeed, the exhibit panels, joysticks and keyboards are also lodging a similar complaint to the authorities.

When asked by the reporter, a Ministry of Education spokeshuman confirmed that "the Ministry has basically given up on teaching children about the values of learning and finding out about the things around us. Science is dead. Our local homo sapiens have been conditioned to rely on the local education system to give them the required knowledge rather than have the children be inquisitive and to seek knowledge. We actually provide a Knowledge Module provided in a very attractive package. It consists of 10-year-series assessment books and a DVD of exam questions from the local top 10 schools. As long as school fees are paid, the child will get this attractive package. We however, do not guarantee A's as we need to stream children according to their parents' PSLE (or equivalent) results and net worth according to the amount of toilet paper they own. In the past 5 years or so, we have kept up with technology and done away with ardious researching at the library and ownership of full volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica. In fact, we are reviewing the usefulness of internet."

Science is dead. When the things around us cannot be explained by science, then the very notion of Science is dead. Inquisitive humans will be a thing of the past.

Coming back to the original story, the preteen accused of abusing and misuse of push buttons has pleaded innocence to the charge. "I only blindly follow what my friends are doing. It is so cool to press those buttons! It is the in-thing to do! How can I be charged for something that is cool? I don't need to understand why chickens come from eggs, or why aeroplanes can fly. My teacher will tell me that! I don't have to waste my time reading about it at the science center! Don't you know? We all come to the science center to play with the buttons!"

When asked about the on-going Einstein exhibition at the science center, the unabrashed youth replied, "Does IT have buttons to press?"

Comment from Government Official Baffles All Laymen

I am the technical advisor for transport and traffic-related issues for the Safecycling taskforce and I recently attended a town council meeting at a local constituency. Present in the meeting were representatives from each residential precinct as well as the Member of Parliament for the constituency. Also present were representatives from government agencies like the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the Traffic Police (TP), and the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

Briefly, the agenda of the meeting was to discuss about the possible conversion of existing pedestrian sidewalks into shared pathways for pedestrians and cyclists. This could be done either by physical planning or policy change. It is worth noting that some existing sidewalks are reinforced concrete box culverts. Basically, beneath these sidewalks are drains.

In any case, when it came to the LTA 'expert' to comment, she said "I'm afraid that the (concrete) pavement cannot support the extra weight of cyclists on it."

Everyone was stunned by the comment.

Several things can be deduced from her seemingly 'kiasu' comment:

1. She is not trained as a civil engineer - no, wait! - she doesn't have common sense.
2. She has absolutely no idea of the incremental weight of a typical bicycle (clue: add at most 20kg to the weight of a human of 70kg).
3. She was not listening that THERE ARE ALREADY CYCLISTS WHO CYCLE ON THE PAVEMENTS.
4. LTA has conditioned her to think that everything beneath the surface is unstable ala Nicoll Highway incident. Therefore, any decisions that involve the downward gravitational force on surfaces requires higher echelon approval. Otherwise, make sure there's a scapegoat to blame.

So is it really true that pavements are unsafe for users to cycle on because they are not designed with the proper load (and safety) factors?

BTW, it is now a standing joke in the eastern side of Singapore.

Napa Valley Tri: Discovering My Suaku Roots

I'm the cycling turtle.

The Napa Valley Triathlon was simply breathtaking (no pun intended - and you'll know what I mean as you read along). Lake Berryessa was undoubtly quite chilly for my equatorial blood. Fortunately I managed to borrow an Ironman Hybrid wetsuit from The Runner's High at Los Altos. It kept me warm. Despite the cold, about 5% of the participants were not equipped with wetsuits. I don't know if they eventually DNF'ed or not but all I can say is that they either had natural ability to keep warm or they were just plain stupid. I must add that this was the first time I swam in absolutely refreshing freshwater! Although not as crystal clear as I thought it would be, the water was so fresh, I felt as if I was swimming in a gigantic bathtub full of soapless/sudless water. Shiok lah!

Swimming has always been my strongest aspect amongst the 3 disciplines. Uncle Sin Wing's home-made video showed me overtaking the bunched-up swimmers at the left. It was actually my strategy to overtake from the left flank. The idea worked.

Coming out of the lake, I had to run about 200m to T1. 200m gave me lots of time and distance to pull off my wetsuit. I had my tri top and tri shorts beneath my suit so it was easy peeling the Hybrid off. I didn't feel like a human condom this time. I had space to breathe and my chest cavity was not screaming for air (unlike my previous blog regarding Orca Predators).

Cycling shoes on, helmet on, gloves on, and I was on my way on the bike leg. Let me now take the opportunity to thank Mike from the San Francisco Tri Club who so graciously heeded to my SOS for a bike in the Bay Area. I didn't even know him and he just let me borrow his Trek for the race. Awesome dude! Thanks man! I hope you like the Triathlon Family polo. haha....

The bike race was tough with all the rolling hills of Napa Valley. I'm not used to rolling terrain. There were portions of the route that required non-stop cranking. You hear the gears screaming to stop the torture. It was much easier killing chickens with bare hands. Some hills were long inclines. You start to curse Newton for discovering something called 'gravity' and actually naming it 'gravity'. If no one penned this phenomenon as 'gravity', I wouldn't have cursed so much since I wouldn't know how to describe this darn phenomenon called 'gravity'. You get the idea. I did not get off the bike to push, unlike some other competitors. If I'd did that, then I would have started to curse the inventor of cycling shoes too because the cleats are the most unergonomically designed cleats in the world.

Crank crank crank creak creak....

I finally found a 'pro' looking cyclist ahead of me and decided to take advantage of him. I wanted to eat his draft. And so I did. My Sora parts were behind his Dura-aces for a good 4-5 miles. I was revelling in his draft. Woo hoo!!! I also focused on his gear changes and his cadence. I did not feel tired. Then some idiot squeezed in between him and my new-found vacuum of air. I could have screamed hokkien expletives, but then I remembered where I was and no one would understand. Oh well...

I came back from the bike leg in a l-o-n-g 59 minutes and immediately changed to my running shoes at T2. By then, my fans were already assembled at T2. There was uncle sin wing, wesley, nichole, tap and carol. My fans! Haha.. I don't even have THAT many fans when I'm racing in SIngapore! Thank you everyone!

I grabbed my visor, unloaded an e-gel and grabbed Kim the monkey for the run segment. No time to say shack. No energy to think of tiredness. I just wanted to go go go! Then the bonk feeling appeared. My cardio responses said go. My brain said keep going. My thighs went bonkers! It must have been the effects of the bike-run transition. I was too hard on myself during the bike. Now I was feeling the effects. I didn't stop. I kept on going and going like the Energizer Rabbit. Only the problem was that it was an erratic Energizer Rabbit. I was doing all possible permutations of running, walking and jogging. I even struck a conversation with a fellow triathlete called Gary. Apparently he just came back from a business trip from Singapore and he though I was kinda crazy to come all the way to Napa for the triathlon. He suggested the Alcatraz race. I told him thanks but no thanks but maybe next time. haha.

The 4 mile (6.4km) run took my 45 minutes. It's definitely slower than I had expected but hey, it was damn shack okay!

I finished the race in 2hrs 10minutes.

Yep, I completed it! YES!

The hills of Napa made me realise my suaku roots. Mountain turtle. I'm still a turtle. haha.. laugh...

Constricted by the Predator 2.

I think the Orca Predator wetsuit was designed with the boa constrictor in mind. I tried the wetsuit on and - true to what newbies experience - it was an extremely labourous effort to put the darn thing on.

I was already perspiring by the time my legs got in, and I still had to wriggle my torso and arms into the human condom.

I took a good 10 minutes and I seriously could pass off as a walking prophylactic. I could feel the springy sensation at the arms and legs. Is this what the manufacturers meant by freedom of movement in open water swims?

I tried it out at the pool downstairs.

WHOA! It was awesome! Boy could I glide! It was really effortless. Ah.. but I.... couldn't..... breathe... properly. No doubt the suit was tight. It also restricted my chest expansions when I breathed. It literally took the wind out of me at every breathing stroke.

I now have second thoughts about using Ser Luck's Orca. I have to kick in Plan B.

The Road to Napa Valley

I woke up early this morning and was determined to get to the gym to do some workouts. Not only did I manage to get to FF George St by 8am, but along the way, I also managed to have a good breakfast with mom and dad in the kitchen. It must have been quite a while since we had 'quality' time. Otherwise normally I would have missed them when we all leave for work at different times, and I would come back so late at night that I don't get a chance to have a decent conversation with my folks.

So there you go - another plus point in being determined to do these races. I get to wake up early to train AND talk to my folks.

I need a better alarm clock now since my hands are now automatically conditioned to do routine stretches to reach the Snooze button every 9 minutes. I seriously have eyes on the tips of my fingers. Either that, or some of my smarter brain cells have moved to my digital tips.

Anyway I reached the gym at 8am. This means I have a total of one hour to change, workout, cooldown, shower, change again, grab a sandwich, and walk to Club St.

I tried on my new De Soto Power Tri shorts.... Cool.... looked as if i got a tight butt. But that's besides the point.

I did my bike cadence training. Wanted to aim for 20 minutes at 100rpm but decided on 15 min instead. I managed 7.5km for distance and maintained 98rpm on average.

Then it was running on the threadmill. I wasn't too concerned about the distance so I tried 10 minutes continuous just to see if any cramps kicked in. Nothing happened. I ended up with 1.5km at about 9km/hr pace.

Since I was short of time, I left it as it is. By the way, before the cardio workout, I did some lunges and back exercises too. Well, at least I did some training today. It was really agonising not being able to find the time to train the past 2 days.

I also got the Orca Predator 2 wetsuit from Ser Luck today. Can't wait to try it on tomorrow morning. I hope it fits.

The Road to Napa Valley

Whew. Just got back from the gym. Today's workout included 5.5km (5k run, 0.5k recovery) on the treadmill, and then a 1000m swim. I wasn't too concerned about the timing as I wanted to just get on with working on my stamina (actually, I think the stamina is already there but I have this funny feeling I'm getting a little lazy to put in more effort).

I also worked on the upper and lower back exercises. On the upper back one (the low row), I tried to simulate frontcrawl conditions by alternating my pulls. The machine gave me resistance on each pull although the cable weights were not moving. DUH! It's not moving because I'm resisting the movement. Get it? Well, this hunky (classic brawn-but-no-brains) personal trainer came up to me and said, "Oi, you cannot do that."

I said,"Why? I'm trying to simulate swimming conditions."

He replied, "Cannot. See, the weights not moving. No resistance. Cannot build up."

"It's not moving because I'm resisting the movements on every alternate pull"

He was quite adament. I didn't want to give him a primary 4 science lecture on pulleys and Newton's Law. Yes, the action-reaction one. I just gave him the respect that his biceps are bigger than my brain, so I left it as that and just worked on single rows. I could still live with it.

BTW, I'm getting quite sick with the 2nd-hand smoke I'm breathing in the office. It's pissing me off.

The Road to Napa Valley

Napa Valley will be my first international triathlon. It'll be a sprint race though (800m S, 20k C, 6k R). I'm really looking forward to it. I've been training almost everyday and clocking up big mileage. I know I should be clocking more mileage but it's kinda difficult with work and everything else. Nevertheless finding time to train is in itself a discipline. I'm trying to slot in some 'free' time for training.

I should be putting a training log inside this blog. I've been religiously entering my training inputs into the log provided by beginnertriathlete.com. Let's see what I've clocked so far:

From April 1 to April 17, here's my mileage:
Bike: 29.52 Miles (47.50 km)
Run: 19.03 Miles (30.62 km)
Swim: 7217.85 Yds (6.6 km)
Strength Training

In the same timeframe last month (March 1 to March 17):
Bike: 74.56 Miles (120.0 km)
Run: 16.60 km
Swim: 6.93 km

Analysis: The higher bike distance in March was due to training and participating in the 40km Duathlon. April's bike training is mainly done on the gym bikes. I personally don't like it for the posture AND you sweat a whole lot more in the gym.
The run has been doubled. In fact, I just did a 12km MacRitchie yesterday. The swim is about the same distance. I've added the fourth component - strength training - into my schedules. After the Navy Biathlon, I figured it would be best to work on speed. Hence I'm working out on my rows to strengthen my back and my pulls. Also working on my thighs and calves. I'm not forgetting the abs for general core strength.

There's definitely more to go. KEEP IT UP!

The Longest Run (so far)

12km MacRitchie Reservoir.

With Uncle Richard and Uncle Philip.

They're damn good lah. They have the stamina. I had to keep up. No choice. Only time I stopped was to pee halfway through the run. I think some girls saw me peeing. *blush*

Quite tiring. Worse part was not so much the undulating terrain but the rocky paths. Still managed to pull through.

Verdict: Will go agaiN!

Singapore Navy Biathlon 2005

It's an Olympic distance race. The word going around was that the currents were strong - even the NDU were finding it difficult to navigate. Vectoring was the essential game plan.

The back of my shoulder still hurt a little. I was contemplating giving up even before I woke up! I was having so many mixed thoughts.

'Come on, CM! Conquer your fear! Face the challenge!'

'But I need to listen to my body!'

I woke up at 0500hrs. This time, I was careful NOT to have too much of a power breakfast. I didn't want to gag while I was swimming. I took half of last night's hot cross bun (it was Good Friday), a Milo, and a granola bar. Then I started hydrating.

Tiong and Francis came over at 0600hrs. We carpooled and took Francis' car to East Coast Park. Even while Francis was parking his car, I was still contemplating.

Fast Forward. I got my race tags and Championchip set up. The first wave was flagged off. Mine was next. From afar, I could tell the guys were veering off-course even just 200m out from the shore. They were heading towards Bedok jetty!

Uncle Richard was right. Perhaps a 45 degree vectoring would put us back towards the first bouy.

0810hrs. My wave started. I walked into the sea. From that moment, I knew there was no turning back. I had my strategy with me. I knew my running would be my worst discipline. I had to swim strong. I had to face the deep blue O, and the currents. The mass start of 600+ men was pandemonium. I started off in a blinding mix of breaststroke and freestyle. It was tough to navigate amongst so many flailing arms and legs and whathaveyou. I kept to my vectoring. I kept to swimming about 40 degrees to my left. The next thing I knew, I swam pass the main bulk of blue swim caps. But I was still in a bunch heading to the first bouy. Rounding the first bouy was the worst part of the swim leg. Everyone there were trying to navigate around it. On hindsight, the current really kept us from making the first turn!

The second leg of the swim was the toughest. From where I was swimming, I only saw high waves. I couldn't sight for the 2nd bouy. I kept swimming. I wasn't even sure if I was swimming off course. I just followed the masses. Was it the blind leading the blind? It came to pass that while I was on cruise-control against the currents, i might as well hum a couple of tunes while I swam. It definitely kept my sanity.

I finally saw the 2nd bouy and I headed towards it. The glaring sun in my eyes didn't help, but I was pretty much locked in sight. Rounding that bouy was much easier. The home-stretch - even with vectoring - was on 5th gear. I powered up and headed for shore.

Transitioning was easy. I just took my time. Behind me were many many more swimmers struggling with the forces of nature.

Now the dreaded run. 10km of tarmac ahead of me. Oh what the heck, I challenged the distance!

Dudes were running past me! The lousy swimmers were running past me!

At the 4km mark, JA popped out of the Corolla, cheered for me, took a picture of me and she received a peck on the cheek from the sweating amphibian (that's me). The procedure took 5 seconds. (note: I later realised she didn't snap a picture of me - somehow the camera was not turned on!)

And so I continued trudging along and I completed my run time at a disappointing 1hr 12 min!

My total time was exactly 2:00 hrs.

But I was satisfied with my swim. I could go faster, but I was definitely NOT out-of-breath when I entered the shore. That's efficiency. Fish-like. I'm a fat lung fish.

I conquered my fear.

I've completed my first Olympic distance Biathlon: 1.5km Open Sea Swim, 10km flat course Run.

SMUth Swim

Went to the SMU pool after Ann Jee's ROM.

Training was led by Joe. Did swim intervals to prep for speed and endurance for this Saturday's race. Of course tested my shoulder as well. Good effort in training but shoulder is still alittle stiff. I figured it could be a matter of concentration to get the correct posture and use of core muscles in order to prevent any sudden pain. Concentration helps me focus on completing the race.

Intervals:
5 x 200m
10 x 50m
1 x 800m
total distance: 2300m

Went out with the dudes for dinner at Adam Road Hawker Center after training.

Jee's ROM

My little sister cousin gets married to Amos! I'm so happy for them! Ann Jee's like a sister to me and Fye but we kinda drifted apart after secondary school days. I think it was due to the fact that we weren't staying at grandma's anymore and the coming-of-age during JC, NS and I went overseas to study/work, etc.

Suddenly we are all grown up.

Shielding questions of marriage and settling-down has pretty much become the order of the day at family gatherings. Soon I'll be thirty. See, I'm refusing to write the age in hard numericals - I'd rather stick to spelling it. Take it as self-denial and some form of fending off commitment responsibilities. Somehow I think it is scary even though I have JA. I mean, there's no ill-intention whatsoever. It's just mind boggling. I think too much.

Test of the Rotator Cuffs

Okay and so I missed the morning simulation training. Woke up so late at 1000hrs. Maybe it was good for the body to recover through sleep.

Anyway I went swimming at the pool. Went for a straight 30 minute swim and I managed 1500 meters in the timeframe. A definite pat on the back. The shoulder pain is subsiding but still noticeable.

Mobilisation Mars Training Routine

A phonecall came at 1300hrs. Thin Rope and Metal Dagger were activated for mobilisation. I was the designated Area I/C, hence had to report back to camp within 2 hours. The actual M-hour is at 1400hrs. That means I had till 1600hrs to make it back to Tanjong Gul.

I packed my fullpack, SBO and helmet, cussed abit because I planned to do some endurance swimming in the afternoon. I told myself that all was cool since I could join the Trifam chaps at East Coast for the open sea training tomorrow morning then go for the 'almost' 10km run after. Only issue was that I had better make it back to church by 1100hrs.

And so off I went towards Tuas and I reported back at 1530hrs together with Adrian "Hamster" Tan. We were the first few. The rest of the brigade streamed in from 1600hrs onwards. I thought I could sign and leave just like the rest. I was wrong. My ID was kept by RSM since I had to do my Area I/C duties. Bummer.

OC Capt Lim and 2IC Capt Lau joined me in waiting for the blokes to report back to camp. Cpl Kelvin Koh also helped out even though he had no duties. This is what I call 'integrity'. It is not so much on whether anyone could stay and help out, but it was more for the fact that the majority had the responsibility to respond early in the mobilisation exercise. There were some inconsiderated blokes who reported at the very last minute for all kinds of reasons. Anyway, I was lucky NOT to be in the taxicab-notification-sticker squad and I left early. The taxicab-notification-sticker squad consists of Area I/Cs who had to go to uncontactable servicemens' homes to either get the men to report or if to no avail, leave a notification sticker at the door of the home. I think the guys came back much later. I was able to leave by almost 2200hrs. I wouldn't say it was a waste of time. It was rather daunting and an unproductive afternoon and evening.

By then I knew I was too late to attend the Navy Biathlon simulation training.