what the....!!!???

It really pisses me off that people are unable to grasp the concept that some Chinese surnames have 2 words instead of the usual one.

It pisses me even more because this almost always involves me......since I'm one of those Chinese that have a 2-word surnames!!!!

Several months back, I ran the King Of The Road Shah Alam 10k and actually made the qualifying time of 1 hour for Women's Open. (I was a newbie in road racing....can't run really fast....2nd 10k race ever!)

Anyway right after that race I was given the usual blank check of a finisher's cert and medal. (It just feels....odd....to have your certificate of participation devoid of the contestant's name...it's like my MOM could fill in her name and tell her colleagues the next day that she ran the bloody race!.....you have not met my mom.....)

So when I went back on Thursday (I decided I was sick of working and took Friday off) to PJ, I was surprised.....and delighted (initially) that there was an envelope from Adidas with my cert in it......nicely printed my name and my finishing time......

Except that they didn't quite print out my full name......

    

  my name Pui San would entail my surname 

Sigh......maybe it was just too much to ask for......

Anyway I realised intelligence is one of those rare traits that is being wiped out in our species at a devastating speed due to natural selection or whatever......(see....told you evolution exist!!)

On a good note....my parents had a good laugh about it. (Happy 27th Anniversary Mom & Dad.....wasn't laughter the best gift I could give you guys!? What do you mean I still have to belanja makan!!!!???)

And NOW I fully appreciate the blank-check cert method. At least I would not write my name wrongly!!!!!

Oh before I forget......I did make it to IOI Resort.....and it was NOT in Putrajaya like I was made to believe......

Mind you, I (actually more like dad and me, the annoying backseat passenger) got lost trying to find this place and at one point was really starting to question the existence of such a place....

And why the hell did they spend all that money in constructing Putrajaya where every other kilometer of road has a toll booth waiting to extract your hard earned money!??? Don't they know the people are embracing themselves for recession???!!!! (wait....this isn't the topic of discussion currently...sorry....my bad....)

Anyway....after many illegal U-turns and a third of the petrol tank of the Myvi later.....we found the elusive IOI resort.

Sigh......and now I've got 2 vouchers for Hi Tea at Grand Marriot Hotel.....and a medal!!!

Gosh...I was really hoping it would be gift certs to New Balance or something....I really need a new pair of running shoes....OK....maybe not NEED.....but I would like a new pair of running shoes.

Besides....you cannot question someone of double-X chromosome of the number of shoes they have.....even if it is running shoes.....

By the way....I told mom to give those Hi Tea vouchers away....there is NO freakin way we're going back to that part of the country!!!! (unless there's a race coming up in Putrajaya and the goodie bag is really really good......but even then.....)

Anyway......7 days to go.....21.1km Singapore.......hoping for 2:30.....(my primary school teacher told me it's good to aim high!!!!)

oooh.....I can't wait!

Aiyoh....!!!

Sigh....I sometimes wonder if things like these (which what this posting is all about) things only ever happen to me!

Firstly, for the past 2 days....been having this sudden urge to sink my teeth into medium rare steak. Yea sure that sounds pretty normal to most people that I know......except for the fact that I'm VEGETARIAN!!!! I don't know how this came about.....well actually I may know.....coz this isn't exactly the first time this urge came about. 

But maybe a little history of my eating habits should be in order.

I've been vegetarian for the past 8-9 years, initially started because of my "need to be ethically correct and refusal to kill a life for food" (naive...I know) and throughout the years (after researching upon this ethical method of eating on internet and reading countless books on this subject) my "reason" for continuing this....way of life, if you may, had evolved to a certain degree. (I'd like to think that i've matured throughout the years.... but then again thats MY take on things)

Anyway I started out hardcore....cold turkey, gave up meat and all animal products (please do not use the word fanatic on me....) and became....vegan!

Well....that lasted for 2 years because (although I hate to admit) it was socially restricting. I can't exactly see myself being a recluse for the rest of my life!

So I became lacto-ovo-vegetarian.....which means I do not eat the flesh but am willing to consume animal products such as eggs and milk and the likes.

This was all going well until about 3 years ago that it happened!

The urge came!!!!! (shudder...)

And I gave into the urge....(gosh I feel so embarassed talking about this!!!)

So I was like any other person eating just about anything........I became an Omnivore.....again.

It didn't feel.....right.....morally I guess because being vegetarian has been a HUGE part of me for a very very long time. But it did settled the immediate urge/need/feeling....whatever.....I was feeling towards my appetite.

Of course my parents were happy......."Our kid is normal again!" (big thank you to mom and dad for their unrelenting support of their appetite-deviant daughter)

But after much internal "struggle" of control (and after almost a year), I'm back on MY true-to-self path! (hey....it's my personal thing....I don't try to influence anyone else.....I gave up on that a LONG time ago!!)

So happily along I went with life being a vegetarian....until 2 days ago!!!!

And now all those weird/unexplained feelings that I felt years ago are resurfacing....and I HATE IT!!!!!!

I wish I didn't have this urge!!!!!!

I think I may be anaemic....or at least bordering on it....since I'm trying my darnest to up my running mileage in preparation for the Singapore Half Marathon in December. (7th December 2008 to be exact....I can't wait!!!! So excited!!!!)

Am really hoping popping more iron tablets are gonna eliminate...or at least suppress all these crap!!!!!!

Sigh......I'm starting to feel like it only happens to me (i STILL refuse to believe that I'm screwed up as a human being!!!!)

Speaking of the Singapore marathon.......sigh.....I still have no idea how to get to the race site!

Aunty Kit has been generous enough to let me bunk at her place for 2 nights (which reminds me, I better remind her that I'm coming coz she has this tendency to....forget)....and I don't know how to get to starting point of the race in the morning.

Yes I know that Singapore has brilliant public transport and all.....but I need to get to race site at 5am which means I leave the flat before that! 

Anyway, I found out that the marathon actually put itself up on Facebook (God bless Facebook!) and so I joined it and posted up my problems in its discussion board.....

Now I'm praying hard SOMEONE.....ANYONE.......will answer me and tell me how to get about this!!!!

(isn't technology wonderful???)

The race is less than 2 weeks away.....and I'm only worrying about such important details NOW!

Gosh I'm such a procrastinator!!!!!

Any idea what is the cure for procrastination besides a "serve-you-right"?? (i bet it's like one of those inborn error of personality that one can't quite shake off!)

Anyway.....if someone.....ANYONE......reading this blog (who the hell reads this blog?!) can help me with the above problem/s please feel free to leave a comment......and for Heaven's sake don't procrastinate to help!!!!!!!!

Penang Bridge Run

Ok....this race was sort of a prep thing for my Singapore half marathon on 7th December 2008. Penang is near enough to Ipoh and its nearer than driving home.....and i LOVE going to Penang (although i don't actually go there often enough to proclaim the love i feel....but nevermind).

So....this mini-trip consist of only me and lynette....(the only person i could conjure up enough enthusiasm to join the race with me...apparently i'm not very good with persuasion these days).

I drove (coz miss inspiring surgeon was post-call) and we decided to leave Ipoh early, to avoid the jam up north obviously. It was the start of the school holidays.....(shudder....)

The drive up went pretty smoothly. No jams...no accidents....no nothing.....good start....or so we thought!

We needed to get to Queensbay mall first to collect our "goodie" bag and bib numbers. Lucky enough to find decent parking (but mind you it was pretty packed already at 11.30am! Just like megamall....sigh).

Anyway......the race pack included 1 oversized cotton t-shirt (where is the technical running vest????!!!!!)....bib numbers (the frayed cloth sort....although lynette didn't get a number coz she entered the fun run).....1 toilet seat sanitizer (still have no idea when i'd actually use this)..... 1 voucher from Adidas to get rm50 off the next pair of runners you buy (i've had 4 of these coupons which went into the recycling bin)....1 pack of tissue paper (lynette and i figured that this was the MOST useful of the lot)......1 deep rub cream for pain relief (i have stocked up tons of these from work.....hmm...maybe shouldn't be revealing this....people from work might actually read this!).....and 1 race booklet.

The funniest part besides my enthusiastic running friend not getting a number was the fact that I got 2 bib numbers!!!!! (i pity miss E-5015)

Anyway, met up with Lynette's friend, Elaine for lunch at Sakae Sushi (man...i was starving at this point in time) and had a blast!

By that time, we were rushing off to check in at our hotel.....

Here's the thing...i was put in charge to book the hotel room and i did the lazy person thing and went online for last minute reservations. I don't really know Penang town's geography that well and i THOUGHT that Georgetown was pretty near Queensbay area where the flag off was. (i bet Penangnites are laughing their heads off as they read the above statement!)

So I actually booked...wait for it.....Berjaya Georgetown Hotel! (what...i thought Berjaya have good hotels!)

In retrospect, after booking that hotel (please DON'T ask me how much i paid for the room), Michelle (my lovely housemate) informed me that Eric (mutual friend) says NEVER to book BERJAYA HOTEL......yea...NOW she tells me!

Anyway the two of us endured 90minutes of pure joy of being stuck in a Penang-town-jam trying to get to our hotel. (well....at least we had loads of time for photo ops)

When we finally did locate our hotel, i guess i was a little struck by how dodgy the place looks. (does anyone else know a dodgier word??)

Wait...the BEST part......we had to LINE-UP to check in!!!!! and this place was rated as 4-stars!!!

(must have rated it on an extremely cloudy day!)

I guess this did prepare us for the atrocity of a room that we'd find upstairs!!!

Sigh.......

Well, we did our best to enjoy our mini-holiday by getting OUT of the hotel and into the jam packed streets of Penang (which was more fun than the room) and headed off to Batu Ferringhi for some fun under the sun (and it was a very sunny day might i add). Anyway we headed to Rasa Sayang hotel and pretended we stayed there so we can lounge at their seaside lounge chairs, smelling the ocean breeze....while Lynette cranks open her laptop and check for free wifi services!!! (she is a self confessed tech-addict)

After being imposters for a wee bit, we're off again....heading to Gurney Plaza. Time for DINNER!!!! (anyway we're gonna meet Lynette's friend for dinner, whom she met when she went diving last year......this girl has friends everywhere!!!!!)

I sorta insisted on Italian food....(we lack affordable italian food in Ipoh....no...the pasta in Kenny Rogers doesn't count!)......so we headed for Pastamania!

Tips for my dear readers.....DON'T order their pastas!!!!! It's a sure-fire way of contracting hypertension early. (the food was SO salty......but what to do....needed to carbo-load before the race)

And after dinner we had to go get our breakfast for tomorrow.....(what...we NEED to fuel!)

I LOVE doughnuts!!!! Especially for breakfast!!!! And to think that i'd burn all those excess calories by running 25km!!!

 *tech-loving Lynette with a hungry looking Sany

Race day started very early....very very early! (try 3.30am, when we left our hotel)

Oh...before i forget, I'd like to thank Lynette's friend Sany for coming to pick us up!!! (don't think I would be in the right frame of mind to drive at such ungodly hour!)

My division (Female Open Half marathon 25km) flagged off at 5am while the boys' (Sany & Chu San sprinted off at 4.30am). Unfortunately for Lynette, the fun run was suppose to start at 6am but she only started burning the rubber soles of her shoes at around 6.30am!

Personally (I speak for myself and myself alone ya!), I really enjoyed the race! It was cool and windy and i LOVE running and have the whole highway (not to mention Penang Bridge) all to yourself! I even got a power-gel (meant for the full marathoners) that really helped fueled me at my halfway mark!

For me, the best moment running that race was passing the guys (from Male Open 25km) that started half hour earlier than me.....(yup...that's the feminist part of me bragging)

Anyway, I came in at 2hr, 57min, 55sec.....which is pretty awesome for a first time try for someone who has never run a race more than 10k and trained with minimal long runs!

* the queue for the portable toilets for ladies was 3 times as long for that of the gents!!! Why can't they just give more allocations of porta-porties to the ladies?!

* the initial part of the bridge....the girls already caught up to the guys! 

I LOVE the cool morning breeze!!!! I felt like i could run on and on and on......

* on the other side of the bridge heading back to the island....the sun is already on its way up. 

Have to mention that the hydration stations were rather sparse and few in between. I wanted more hydration stations.....(coz i told myself before the start of the race that i would allow myself to walk at each station!!! oh well....continue running then)

* these two guys sporting really weird albeit funny Santa hats! 

* the sun is already up....starting to feel the heat....and we're almost there!!!! Already back on the island, joined by the fun run group!

 

* the end is near!!!!!! aiyah the picture above not very clear...what do you expect? it's a phone that happens to have camera function!!!

* the crowd running/walking/trudging back.....didn't see anyone crawled back though....

* the post-race crowd!!! Quickly grab your milos and 100-plus!!!!

* tech-loving Lynette trying to tap into free wifi from nearby Starbucks. Sany is obviously amused at the sight (lying behind Lynette)

* our post-race atmosphere....Lynette doing what she does best....Chu San and Sany feeling drained.....me taking photos like there's no tomorrow!

* our post-race breakfast back at the hotel. We got into the restaurant JUST before the announce that breakfast time was up!

* YAYY!!!!!!! I'm obviously very excited and thrilled after crossing the finishing line, all pumped up with endorphines and ready for more!!!!! BRING IT ON!!!!

* Finisher's Medal and Cert.

I thoroughly enjoyed this race and my super-short trip to Penang....even the crappy hotel room (at least i can laugh at it now). I'm totally psyched up for my next race and promised myself I'd be back for next year's Penang Bridge run!!!!!

Now I'm ready  for Singapore!!!! (or at least train for it....)

BRING IT ON!!!!!

IOI Community Run

i know....i'm such a slacker....why do i ever bother myself with a blog when i don't even care to blog on a regular basis? Gosh...i ask myself this question everytime i surf onto a freakin cool blog and think to myself, i am SO gonna update my blog...just after this......(of course the after never actually came for quite a while...)

Anyway...before coming to the topic of today's blog posting, i think it would be appropriate for me to vent my frustrations over my Mizuno Wave 10km race on 19th October 2008 (coz it has EVERYTHING to do with the topic of the day!).

i have to first admit....i didn't really want to run the Mizuno race....i was THIS close to backing out (call it bad aura or whatever) but then i already paid for it.....i figured i should at least go collect my race vest and bib number. and after collecting it, i figured since i was already back in KL i SHOULD at least try to walk it...if not run it. Besides, this race was the last thing on my mind, with my macbook destroyed due to rain and my Nokia phone on verge of falling apart. 

So anyway i did turn up at the starting line, and psyched myself up to finish it less than an hour. (my PR for 10k was 57min...nothing to shout about but i'm working on it!). 

The race started fine enough...was running in the pace that i was comfortable enough to make the 1 hour mark...and then the hills came!!!!!!

I know that the running route would involved SOME hills (it was similar to the Shape run few months back and i made it 1 hour) but i did not prep myself for THE hills that i was about to face!!!!!

Lets just say i had to stop and walk certain part of the race route (i NEVER walk during a 10k race!!!) and came in about 1 hour 8 min (self timed). i was SO disappointed~!!!!!

I was in a shitty mood for a week post-race and i swear this never happens to me!

Anyway.....before i detour too much (i do have a tendency to do this very very often), i was in search of a short and flat race to compete in before my Penang Bridge Half Marathon (i was NOT gonna go into the halfie feeling like crap) and i came across the IOI Community Run in the newspaper. (frankly i was kinda hooked as it was really cheap!...only cost rm15)

So i was IN! Anyway i did not expect much out of this race...it was small scaled and not many people have heard of it.....so i had really really low expectations for this race!

Here comes the biggest lesson for me...never underestimate the low-profile!

The race pack turned out pretty good for a race costing 15 bucks. I had a race vest from New Balance (not the crap cotton t-shirts) and i guess what impressed me the most was the bib number. It wasn't the usual frayed cloth with printed numbers on it...it was the plastic-ky material that you'd find in overseas international races (not that i've been to.....but i've seen it in running magazines!). Oh yea.....it all came in a enviro-bag big enough to carry my laundry back to KL from Ipoh! 

But the other stuff were so-so...(i have a tendency to compare every goodie bag to the Shape run) but still....things were looking up!

Then on race day, I had to drive to Puchong (where the race was held).....and got hopelessly lost. C'mon....i've never been to that part of town. I was optimistic and thought it would be a piece of cake to find the starting place! (yes i know....optimistic and guillible)

Of course i did make it there in time. 

The race went well.....for the whole 7.3km of it! I made it in 45min......and i even had a placing....(i was 17th in my division!!!)

However, i didn't wait around for my medal (the prize giving ceremony would take forever)....i had to rush back home and for a moment there i was devastated that i will not be getting a medal for this race. (i ALWAYS get a medal....except for the Nike Human Race.....we were given bracelet instead)

OK...so now the best part of this race.......I got a call the following week from this really nice lady, telling me that she has my medal and since i was placed 17th, i also won a gift certificate (bad feeling it would be really crap certificate) !!!!!

Problem with this is...i have to go collect it from IOI Resort in...for all places....Putrajaya!!!

(i have no idea how to get to Putrajaya.....please don't hold that against me in the future!)

So if anyone out there knows how to get to IOI Resort (i can figure out the Putrajaya part...) please let me know!!!! i really really want my medal!!!!

I should have pictures (and i do)...however have been unable to upload it (don't ask me why.....i've been having bad luck lately when it comes to electronic gadgets)......so this posting will do without!!!