.:LZH:.

2008-12-26T10:21:00.004+08:00

YES, This is Hershey's chocolate world, a place loaded with candy and of cos, cholcate.

These are just some of the few photos I have.

Look below for more.

Sorry folks

2008-12-26T10:20:00.001+08:00

I apologise to everyone who have been following my blog

Sorry for not updating over the past year, I have been quite busy :S

Singapore Marathon 2007

2007-12-09T18:32:00.000+08:00

It was Dec 1st, the day before the marathon. I was going to run on this road the next day when there were no cars...

The view on the esplanade bridge...

Esplanade Dr will be closed to traffic.

Banner advertising the marathon...

My number tag.

Early morning scene at the start point. The Esplanade Bridge. Isn't it beautiful?

The crowd at the start point. I was running in the men's open.

At the start...

The starting... Off we go...

The finish point...

Impossible is nothing...

At the finishing point...I ran the race in 50m 36s...

The crowd after the race...

My well earned medal...

In my goodie bag, there was

1. a sports bag

2. adidas running vest

3. filiz rice

4. drawstring bag

5.berocca

Till my next run! !I can't wait!

Memories of the National Vertical Marathon 2007

2007-11-16T10:08:00.000+08:00

Participating in the Vertical Marathon at Swissotel the Stamford a few days ago reminded me of another vertical marathon I participated in earlier this year. It was the National Vertical Marathon conducted by Nanyang Technological University.It was held on 25 February this year.

The steps of the skyscraper i climbed was the 60 storey high Republic Plaza. There were 1,380 steps.

See how tall the building is!

Yes, I came in 2nd in the Youth category. I did it in a time of 11m 2s.There were 75 registered participants.

I received a medal, a hamper and a bag with medical products. WOW!

The result that was placed on the notice board.

My silver medal.

I was so happy then! It was an achievement I will never forget.

Swissotel the Stamford Vertical Marathon 2007

2007-11-12T16:58:00.000+08:00

The Swissotel Vertical Marathon was held at where else, Swissotel the Stamford, at Raffles City on 11 November 2007. I participated in the men under 20. Climbing stairs is fun, have you tried it?

My number tag

The stage ...

The start line with the timing. Of course we used the championchip.

The information area. The queue behind is for the number tag. Luckily the day was fine so that the finishing point was the heliport at the top of the building.

The start point.

Many people were crowding around the screen which showed the top of the building - heliport.

With Uncle Kalai, Aunty Roda, Uncle Super, Uncle Hafiz

My finisher medal. I reached the top in 11m 30s.

My goodie bag contained

1. shoe bag

2. t-shirt

3. towel

4. cap

5. vitamins

6. lotion

When the final results, came out i finished top 20. Yay!!

New Balance Real Run 2007

2007-10-29T22:02:00.000+08:00

On 28 October at 7.30 am was the Real Run. It was held at Changi Exhibition Centre. I joined the 10 km run.

The prelude was held a week before at Velocity@ Novena.

A msp of the route. As highlighted, it was run on trail, sand, runway and road.

A view of the runway tarmac in the early hours of the morning.

A race marker.

Warming up at 6.30 am in the morning.

My number tag.

The proceeds of the real run this year were to be donated to President's Challenge 2007. The sum was $500,000.

The start line. Get ready for take off!

The President SR Nathan, flagging off the race.

Professor Ho presenting the cheque to the President

The finish! I ran the 10km race in 52m 59s. Good try as i had had not trained very hard as it was my final term exams.

Inside the airconditioned hall, was the stage.

View of the goodie bag collection area.

View of the exhibition hall from outside.

After the race, our group photo ... A bit dark..

Happy Birthday Uncle Daryl!

In my goodie bag, was

1. Real Run t-shirt

2. New Balance Shoe Bag

3. 100 Plus Drink

4. Nature Valley Granola Bar

5. Lozenges

Till my next run!!

A vist to the Museums at Fort Canning

2007-10-25T20:34:00.000+08:00

Last weekend was Hari Raya Puasa. The Museums had an 'Open House'. We visited the Singapore Philatelic Museum to look at stamps.

The building is in Coleman Street in the Civic District.

I noticed the church down the street. It is the Armenian Church. See the date on the church in the photo above. 1835! wow! So old!

A sign welcoming visitors to the church.

A plaque out the church set up by the National Heritage Board.

The Central Fire Station was built in 1909 , almost a century ago.

If you walk down the street in the photo, the Armenian Church is on your left.

Another interesting building i saw - the Freemaon's Hall built in 1879.

I found this postbox from the Queen Victorian era outside the museum. As you can see, this old postbox is still in use and you can post letters here.

When i went into the museum, i found that there was an exhibition on the spice trade.

South East Asia since the 1400/ 1500's have been growing spices which was shipped all over the world. Many European countries and China all came looking for spices . It was intersting to see all the stamps on the posters.

They even had a poster on the foods with herbs and spices.

Look at the stamps. Sadly they are not for sale....

Behind the Museum was Fort Canning Hill and we all went for a walk up the hill to look at the Spice Trail. Yes! A section of the park has a herb garden. Bet you didn't know that!!

Fort Canning was also home to the First Botanic Gardens built by Sir Stamford Raffles after 1822.

The kanaga and champaca plant

The spice trail banner along the route...

There is also an archaelogical site on Fort Canning.

The cola plant

The peppermint is a herb

Another banner highlight the important spice trade in Asia.

Sign board showing the Fort Canning Park.

The gateway on the hill is all that remains of a church that once stood there...

Walking further down you can see the tunnel known as Fort canning tunnel. It used to be where the National Library stood . This building was demolished so that this tunnel could be built.

We then went to the National Museum. Notice the shining chandeliars? They were swinging in the covered building ... How was it so? Because of the electromagnetic force. Sometimes physics sure comes in handy...

A mockup of the Chinese puppet opera house was on display.

Some intricate Chinese costumes....

I noticed the spiral staircase of olden days...But i could not go up.

I visited the Singapore History Gallery.

It was the history of Singapore and very interactive. I enjoyed playing with the exhibits.

At the same time there was an exhibition on Empire of Nature. Sir William Farhquar had collected the drawings of the fruits, vegetables and animals of his time (early 19th century ) when he was in Singapore. They are now being exhibited.

When we left, it was night. Really enjoyed myself and learnt alot today.

Army Open House 2007

2007-09-08T11:17:00.000+08:00

This is the week of the school holidays. Sigh! Only one week! Oh well. better than nothing.

As it was the school holidays, i wanted to to go the Army Open House. The army celebrates 40 years this year. It was in 1967, after singapore became independent from malaysia that all guys aged 18 must do national service for 2 years. So i will also have to go for n.s. when my time comes.

The army open house was held from thursday 30 aug to 3 sept to commemerate 40 years of national service. I was given these photos when i went for the open house.

This is the official logo for Army Open house.It is 'where our story comes alive.'

This is one of the promotional adverts of the army.

THe army has changed a lot, i heard. Internet is now used as the battlefield.

The army tanks...

The future warriors...

Steel Rain from our army tanks...

The X Factor

Secret Soldiers...

These advertisements are very cool. Really like them...

The Open house was held at Pasir Laba Camp all the way in Jurong. It is the home of SAFTI - the Singapore Armed Forces Military Institute. The Army is the place where boys become men... This is the entrance/start point.

The first place i went to was extreme world. This is where physical limits are stretched and confidence is built.

Trying out the obstacle course...

The first aid station with a dummy on display.

At hercules Station. Here i discovered that IPPT (physical fitness test ) had gone high tech.

Trying to beat the clock by doing as many sit-ups as possible in 1 min...

The flying fox and rappelling...

Are these banners the mottos of the SAF? Anyway there are

loyalty to country, leadership, disclipine, professionalism, fighting spirit, ethics, care for soldier.

At Hardware land the army armour was on display. This is one of our army tanks...

Up close and personal with the Apache helicopter...

Army rations in the early days. Ugh! how to eat this?

Today's army rations...

SAF proudly presents... NEWATER . This is a mobile distillation plant on wheels- to be used when the army is in the field...

This is Yummy Land where they served army rations...

This is Action World - where there were live performances of the army...

It was held in this square...

In future world we had a glimpse of what army life would be in the future...

The school of infintry specialists at the camp..

Shooting enemies in future world...

All too soon the visit had come to an end. as we were leaving there was a downpour... In fact the skies were very dark before...

The entrance of pasir laba camp when we were leaving... The camp is brightly decorated with flags as we are still celebrating our national day...

i enjoyed myself and learnt alot even though the visit was so short...

MalaysiaKu Gemilang - Malaysia 50th National Day Celebrations in Batu Pahat

2007-09-03T16:58:00.000+08:00

Malaysiaku Gemilang!! My splendid malaysia. When we went back to Batu Pahat my father's home town on 1st Sept we were greeted all over with cololurful flags and banners. Malaysia boleh! Yes Malaysia had just celebrated 50th independence day on 31 Aug.

This is a view of the causeway. We are entering the malaysian customs checkpoint.

Malaysian vehicles are to keep left. The speed limit is 50 km/h.

After clearing customs we entered johor baru . Look at the malaysian flags hanging from on the lamp posts. The national flag is a star and a crescent with red stripes. Where is the state flag?

i spotted the johor state flag further down the road. It also had a star and crescent. However, the background is solid blue. There are 13 states in malaysia and all of them have a state flag.

The banner at Plaza Pelangi, a shopping mall in johor baru. Merdeka or independence .it has been 50 years.

We left j.b. and drove to batu pahat. It is about 100km away from j.b. city.

The outskirts of b.p. Passed Batu Pahat mall. Selamat datang ke bandar penggaram!

Celebrations in K.L. the capital of Malaysai. The Chinese newspaer carried reports of the clebrations. In the photo, waving at the crowd is Prime Minister Badawi is on the right . In white is the Deputy Prime Minister Najib.

Batu Pahat town brightly lit at night.

The town is decorated with the national flag.

This is Dataran Penggaram, the town square.

The sultan of johor officially opened the dataran in 2001.

What does batu pahat mean? batu is stone and pahat means chisel. so this is the official emblem of batu pahat. On 30 august midnight, the 50 independence day celebrations was held here.

A view of the stadium behind the dataran square.

Batu Pahat town council is across the road...

Up the slope is the official residence of the Pegawal Daerah batu pahat (district officer) but we did not go in.

Selamat Menyambut bulan Kemerderkaan kali ke 50 tahun. Celebrating 50 years' of malaysia 's independence. No prizes for guessing who is the guy in the photo on the right. Yes! he is Prime minister Abdullah.

The men from left to right are tun abdul rahman, the first prime minister of malaysia who proclaimed independence at merdeka square in kuala lumpur on 31 august 1957. tun abdul razak, tun hussain onn, Dr . mahathir the longest serving prime minister - 22 years 1981 to 2003.

At the stadium i found this banner. There was an independence day celebration on the morning of 31 august (sambutan hari kemerderkaan)

This is my father's old school. High School Batu Pahat for boys. It is now a Malay school.

The B.P. education office...

Another banner highlighting the prime ministers of malaysia.

Part of a long long banner on the wall of the batu pahat high school decorated by the students. This was probably done by a boy from jati 1. Looks very well done and certainly an innovative idea to celebrate independence day...

The motto of B.P. High school. The words on top are in latin, below it, malay, then english.

Another independence day celbration banner. The words at the bottom read

'kami berbangga menjadi rakyat malaysia'. we are proud to be malaysian!

We then went to tasik y. Many people came to run here the sunday morning we were here. The tasik looks so calm and peaceful.

Noticed the rubbish bin. the sign says more bomb less food. who is the face in the photo? what does it mean? In malaysia looks like dustbins are more for than just for trash.

A life like dinosaur in the park . It was at least five times my size....

In the tasik i saw this on the rocks. The pink colour jelly like thing is actually apple snail eggs.

A celebration banner outside temenggong ibrahim girls' school ( premier girls' school in bp)

That afternoon we leftbatu pahat. selamat jalan!pandu cermat!safe journey! drive carefully!

On the way to the north south highway we saw this huge malaysian flag draped on the umno building at sri gading before ayer hitam.

Another flag on the other side of the umno building with the words malaysiaku gemilang.

A brightly decorated bridge on the way to the n-s highway before ayer hitam. Pity it was raining then.

The dark clouds in the sky on the n-s highway. Sure enoough there was heavy rain minutes later.

I enjoyed my stay in malaysia . Pity it was so short. Anyway Happy Birthday Malaysia! 50 years sure is a long time. Even my father was not born then.

I found out that there was a fireworks display in batu pahat at midnight on 30 aug. A resident there filmed it and put it on batu pahat blog.

Thanks runwitme!. As his blog was chosen as one of the top 20 malaysian blogs by the star, i was able to find out about the batu pahat blog which was one of the top 20 too. Congrats, runwitme!

Thanks also to philip of batupahat.org and to tigersden for taking the time and trouble to put up the fireworks display at midnight on 30 august. Hope you do not mind my linking it here! I learnt alot about batu pahat and what life was like when my father lived there when he was growing up from this blog. Thank you ! Here is the fireworks display. Yes it is grand! Makes me wish i had been there that night too. Enjoy!

Singapore Bay Run 12km Men's Open Competitive Run

2007-08-26T18:14:00.000+08:00

This morning was the Singapore Bay Run. It was formerly known as the Safra Sheares Bridge Run aand Army Half Marathon. I woke up at 4.30 am as the 12 km men's open was held at 7 am in town.

The scene at 6 am in the morning. Surprisingly the area was full of activity. The Marina bay area was brightly lit as they also were having a carnival at the same time.

I had to walk to the start area which was 200m away from the finish area which was across the road from Marina Promenade.

The view from the start line. It was about 6.30 am then.

My number tag. We also used the championship to take the timing electronically.

About 6.45 am there was a fringe activity. We were entertained by the stilt walkers.

They were dressed up as olden day european characters.

As time went by more and more participants arrived . The area was becoming crowded.

A view of the Fullerton Hotel across the road. My father was involved in the design of the structures in the refurbished hotel.

It was 7.05 am and the day had dawned bby the race started late. We were actually running on connaught drive and the sign said road closed.

The race finally started at 7. 10 am when the MCDS minister, Dr Balakrishnan appeared. Here you can see him ( in yellow running vest) preparsing to set his watch.

The race was flagged of by Parlimentary Secretary Assoc Prof Koo Tsai Kee.

After the flag off...
I started running. The route took me down shenton way, then turned onto ECP at Maxwell Road. I ran up Sheares Bridge. Then ran all the way to Fort Road, turned left into Nicoll Highway. Ran until we reached marina Bay and onto the floating platform where the national day parade was held.

Here is a view of the merlion park.

taken opposite from marina bay. merlion . Singapore is actually from a malay word singapura -singa meaning lion and purs meaning city. so singapore means lion city. So the lion represents singapore.

This is the esplanade - teatres by the bay. It also known locally as 'durian' for its similarity to one of singapore's favourite fruits.

The dome in the distance is the Singapore Supreme Court.

The view at the finishing point - the site of the NDP floating platform.

Singapore flyer in the early morning sky when dawn is just breaking.

Another view of the Singapore flyer in the background. The waters are so calm at the bay.

The runners who came in after running the half marathon. Most of them are army men. There was also another fringe event that day- Waterfest by the Bay. This event started later - at 10 am.

It was also held at the same area, the NDP grounds.

The floating platform at the bay... My fathers said the technology to build the platform is the same as that for building offshore oil rigs. The floating platform was easier to build as there was very little tidal current and it was also built very close to the shore. Nevertheless, it is still very well done and very impressive. Wow!!

The waterfest carinival started later so the carnival stalls are still empty.

The finish line ... I finished the race in 69 min. This was the first time i had run a 12 km race so i was satisfied with my time.

The stage...

If you look closer on the bridge you will find hundreds of people running/ walking up the bridge as there was a 12km and 6 km fun runs after mine.. It was reported that 70, 000 people participated in this event....

The crowd after the finish line....

Cups of 100 plus were given out after the race...

The army medical tents. many medical personnel were on stand by.

Free massages were given out after the race so i went to have mine too... It felt better after the rub...

In my goodie bag there was:

1. Men's Health July 2007 issue

2. Eagle brand Capsicum plaster

3. Lucky Draw Coupon

4. 30% discount off reebok products voucher

My Sheares Bay run t-shirt.

Till my next run....

Running on Sunday at Botanic Gardens & looking for tombstones at NUS law faculty

2007-08-19T22:23:00.000+08:00

On sunday i woke up early to run at Botanic gardens. The club member s who came: Uncle Kalai, Uncle Bernard. Uncle Jo and his wife, Dr Bala , Aunty Roda. I ran for half and hour with them after chatting to them. Singapore Botanic Gardensis in the heart of Singapore in bukit timah. A map of botanic gardens is below. It is next to the NUS law faculty and i found out that NUS has some graves....

Let's introduce botanic gardens first. I enjoyed the run as the air was cool and refreshing at 7.30 in the morning. also it is very quiet and peaceful. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the scenery is so beautiful.

A picturesque view of the eco -lake in botanic gardens. There are actually 3 lakes in Botanic garden. Eco- lake is the lake located to NUS in Buikit Timah.

A sign post by the lake...

Another view of the lake. It looks so breathtakingly beautiful...The water is so clear that i can see the reflection in of the trees in the lake...

A black swan swimming in the lake. Is there another swan in the lake?

Two ducks in the water... They actually went honk! honk! Are they geese?

The view of NUS about 100m down the path from Botanic Gardens.

The view at NUS. (same building). My sister told me that her research studies teacher had told her that NUS contained graves. We were curious as to how the university could have so we went grave hunting. to see whether what the teacher said was true.

Let's into the history:

The first Botanic Gardens was set up in 1822 at Fort Canning but was closed in 1829. 30 years later in 1859, this Botanic Gardens in BUkit Timah was set up. So there were people living here in the 1800's. NUS, the oldest university in singapore was set up in 1905. The buildings here are very old from Raffles College (predecessor of NUS) set up in 1928. So the area has a very rich history. But graves in an institution of learning?? Even my parents did not know. First time i heard it i was very skeptical...

Based on what my sister's teacher told her, we went hunting for graves. So what if it was the seventh month on the chinese calendar? This was very exciting and an opportunity not to be missed.... How often did i get to come to botanic gardens? Maybe one in four or 5 months.

Next to the building above , across the road was a ravine. There was a sign below which said Caution. On closer look the words below were archery range. So strange. What was it doing here?

Further up the road and into the path about 100m away was Botanic Gardens. We went into the ravine. Even though the grass was mowed, we noticed something very strange. Yes the area was maintained by the branches were never cut. The trees looked very overgrown and old. Peering down from the road, i sensed that time has stood still in this corner of the ground. it was about 30m from the surface level. What secrets lay there? Are there really gravestones as my sister said?

About 80m from the path we saw. Yes it was a

grave. This is a close-up of the tablet. The sign 'caution' appears behind this grave.

According to my sister, the person buried in this grave is the son of the

these 2 who were buried about 20m away. Apparently the chinese man (surname 丘 qiu) had a non- chinese wife and they were buried side by side during the Ming dynasty of China (before 1844) .

Why were the graves left there? Why were the tombs not excavated?

The teacher told my sister that they could not find any descendents of this family today but still the grass is cut and the tombs have not been disturbed for more than 150 years....

What secrets lie beneath?

About 10m away from the twin tombs is an unmarked grave. Who died here? My sister's teacher told her that up to today they don't know whose graves are there or why is it still here after all these years...

Just outside the ravine , the brick path leads to the botanic gardens.

Beside it is the sign 'development of jacob ballas children's garden. It was scheduled to be completed in 2006 but it was never completed. Now it says 2007. It is already august 2007 and there are still no signs of opening with the area still barricaded up. Beyond this sign lie the tombs.

So there were graves and tombstones in NUS after all. But questions remain. Why are the tombs left there? Nobody tends it but the grass is still mowed...

Running has brought me to many places. I have learnt many things about the places that i have run but NUS still takes the cake. Because no one knows and the secrets lie buried - maybe forever...

Till my next run!!!

E - learning Day

2007-08-18T17:35:00.000+08:00

Friday 17 August was e- learning day. We did not have to go to school but was to log on to ask n learn e- learning portal from 8 am - 9 am for Maths, Physics from 10 -11 am and English from 12 - 1 pm.

Many of my classmates logged on at midnight to retrieve the maths homework. Some even finished the work in the early hours of the morning. For me, i also logged on at midnight and went to sleep soon after. At 7.40 am i logged on to the portal again and started to upload my homework. At 8.15 am i noticed the internet connection was very slow.

Oh dear!! At 8.30 when i was trying to upload my maths homework, the server crashed. I received a message saying too many log-ins. How could that be????

I tried to enter the e- learning portal again but to no avail. At 11 am i finally gave up even though there was a message from a classmates saying that elarning homework had to be submitted before 5 pm, instead of 2 pm. An extension of 3 hours. But still the server could not be accessed... The page just refused to load......

At 12 pm, Edmund sms me that the elearning had been extended to 11.59 pm sunday.... Thanks Edmund!!!

I had to get off the computer to go eat my lunch but to me it was a wasted morning... Many of my classmates also got off without finishing their homework....

If you ask me, next time i hopextra number of log-ins. The school made all its sec 1-3 log on, that was about 1000 students. But a check to the ask n learn helpdesk found out that 2 more schools were participating inthe projecte that when the school decides to have an e-learning day, i hope that the server can take the as well . So something like 3000 students were on the portal when it crashed at 8.30 am ???? i read somewhere that for a server not to lag it should be able to handle at least twice the expected number of log-ins anticipated. In this case 6,000 or so hits at a time... So i've learnt this. Our school's elearning portal can't handle........

Run NUS! 10km Competitive Run & an introduction to Kent Ridge

2007-08-18T16:56:00.000+08:00

Today was Run NUS! It was held at Kent Ridge Park. Kent Ridge Park is just behind NUS National University of Singapore).

This is a banner advertising the event at the car park of Kent Ridge park.

A brief introduction to Kent Ridge Park:

This was wherethe final and one of the fiercest battles for Singapore was fought in February 1942 before Singapore fell to the Japanese. The old name of Kent Ridge was Pasir Panjang Ridge and the last battle was fought on this ridge (see photo below). With the fall of Pasir Panjang, Singapore fell to the Japanese. I learnt a lot when i went around the park... It was very interesting...

A machine gun pill box on display at Kent Ridge Park.

A map of Kent Ridge Park

At the hill-top, there is a commemorative plaque. The front reads:

Battle for Pasir Panjang

It was erected by the national heritage board on the 50th anniversary of the end of world war II.

The plaque desribes the battle for pasir panjang in february 1942...

There is a canopy walk to Bukit Chandu. On th e way i saw the rubber wood tree.

The walk to Bukit Chandu (above )was about 400m away from Kent Ridge Park on the other other side of the hill.

It was at Bukit Chandu on 14 February 1942 when only 4 men survived the battle against the Japanese. The next day feb 15 1942 Singapore surrendered.

The treetop canopy walk is 16m above the ground.

The park looks very beautiful with the fir trees right?

A view of the fir trees against the sky...

Kent Ridge park is very near the sea, on the hill top. The view of the sea from the top of Kent Ridge Park...

This is the start and end point of the 1o km competitive run.

The run was organised by the NUS sports club.

This is the area where they kept the luggage. Out of bounds to everyone.

The Run NUS! Kent Ridge Heritage Run Stage area.

My number tag...023...

Early in the morning there were carnival stalls being set up.

Another view of the start area.

Competitors queueing up to register.

The competitors before the start of the race.

The race was tough. I had to run into NUS and up the steps to the Central Library before I u-turned back. I then ran along south bouna vista road. At the bottom of Kent Ridge Park on south bouna vista road it was time for the vertical ascent- something like 800m. But i made it...

The time 47m 20s. i was very happy....

Registration for the 10km competitive race also came with 2 games coupons. I threw darts and won some prizes. Mechanical pencials, erasers and highlighters- not bad...

In my goodie bag there was

1. 2 packets of milo 3 in 1

2. packet of UIC liquid laundry detergent

3.packet of nestle fitnesse wheat cereal

4.amore $30 spa voucher

5. amore complimentary one day fitness pass

6. 30% off Reebok apparel and footwear voucher

7.nivea deep pore control cream sample

8. nivea deodrant for an

9. nivea sun protection lotion

10.Hanaplast insect repellent spray

11. my secret book for recording workouts and food log

12.the look magazine

13.pen with post-it labels from sdu

14. marker with post it labels from sdu

15. reusable bag from nutrition park

My Run NUS! 2007 t- shirt. Look what it says on the back:

COMPETITOR

The organisers had the word ORGANISER on their backs. Those who came and volunteered to run the carnival stalls and help to road marshall had the words VOLUNTEER on the back of their t-shirts.

i enjoyed myself. Too bad that after the race the heavens poured..... It was 10. 50 am then...

Till my next run!!!

Running on Sunday at East Coast Park

2007-08-12T19:19:00.000+08:00

Today i woke up early as i wanted to go running with my club. The run today was at east coast park. Here we are outside mcdonald's. It is 7 am.

There is also a pub at East Coast Park. I noticed the signboard which read Dublin 7024 miles. Wow! Dublin which is in Ireland is more than 7000 miles away! I didn't know that....

Today many runners came. About 20 of us came together for the phototaking. Uncle Chua was there, Uncle Tan, Uncle bernard, Uncle Kalai, Uncle Hei,Uncle Hei, Uncle Tan2, Uncle Darryl, Uncle Jo and his wife, Aunty Roda, Aunty Josie,Aunty Cindy. Some i don't even know... Uncle Han wee also came. So did Dr Bala, Prof Azhar, Mr Ow, Mr Azman. It was good to see them again. I have not seen some of them for 3 0r 4 months.

Here we are standing together as a group before the run.

It was a bright sunny morning. There was a group of people practising tai-chi by the beach.

There is even a man- made lake further up, about 800m away...

The man- made breakwater. Actually East Coast Park is on reclaimed land and stretches from Tanjong Rhu to Changi- about 15 kmlong and very very flat.

I ran about 6 km and went all the way to Bedok jetty before i u-turned back. After the run, i went to the beach and noticed this bird walking along the beach near the water..

Singapore is a sunny tropical island with coconut trees...

Some ships faraway at sea...

Some people are walking out on the jetty below.It was low tide so no fishing.

Talking together after the run...

Running on the sand...

We also enjoyed ourselves walking on the sand.

We spent more than 2 hours together.

East Coast Park is very lovely. I enjoy running there, with the sea breeze blowing. It is so cool.

National Day Celebrations

2007-08-10T13:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was National Day, a public holiday. So my father drove us to town. We were on Sheares Bridge near Marina Bay before 6 pm.

This is a picture of the Singapore Flyer, which is still being built. This tourist attraction will be open to the public in early 2008. Here you can see that only a few cabins have been attached to the wheel.

Happy Birthday Singapore! Singapore is 42 years old.

For the first time in 42 years, the National Day parade was held at Marina Bay this year. This is the view from Sheares Bridge. A floating platform was built for the occasion. Here you can see the sea of red. The spectators were wearing red and white, the colours of our national flag.

A group of spectators on the bridge with a bird's eye view of the parade grounds.

I then went home and watched the parade on tv. I enjoyed it especially the fireworks display. It was breathtaking beautiful against the night sky...

NIE Director's Relay Run 2007 (4.5km x 6 runners) total 27 km

2007-08-04T10:44:00.000+08:00

Yesterday school finished at 2 pm. But it was not the end of the school day. There was english Oral. Actually there was a letter to parents stating the oral exam would be on 2nd Aug Thursday. Don't know why it was changed to friday. At 2.30 pm we were ushered into the classroom to be quarrantined. But someone was missing so the rest of us had to wait. He finally appeared at 3. 05 pm. I tried to ask the teacher to let me start first but she said no. The first number to be called was index number 31. I was 34. I was finally called at 3.30 pm. And i still had not had lunch!

The topic given was about luck. Well i certainly am not lucky. Stuck in school when i wanted to go running in a competition later... My mind was on that and nothing else...

I was supposed to be at Boon Lay MRT at 5 p.m to meet up with my running club mates.Our club had signed up 6 of us to run in the NIE Directo'rs Relay Run. It also paid the registration fee for us ($180 for 6 runners - i think it is very expensive). But the proceeds of the registraion would go to charity. It was MINDS- movementod for the interectually disabled - Jurong Garden Special School.

The race was schedule to start at 7.15 p.m. As it was a relay, there were 6 runners. Each runner had to run 4.5 km. over a specific route in the grounds of NIE. The timings of all the runners will be counted and the teams with the fastest timings win.There were various categories. Mens open, women open and mixed open. There was also men schools (below 16 years) I was in the team mixed open . In my category there were 9 teams.

I felt very happy as this is the first time my club has invited me to represent them. At the same time i was also scared as i was afraid that i might not perform...

I was late so i went straight to NIE. It is near Boon Lay MRT station. As everyone knows, NIE is the present day teachers training college. It is located next to NTU, which is in Jurong.

I met up with my club members- Uncle Kalai , Uncle Chua, Uncle Hei, Aunty Roda, Aunty Josephine, Uncle Bernard. Uncle Yeow Seng and Uncle Sean also came to cheer us on.

This is a photo of the finishing area. Also there is a mat as Championchips were used. The clock is behind the men.

This is a view of the triangle within NIE. It is located at the admin block. Doesn't the grounds look beautiful in the evening? Time then was 7.30 pm. I had not run yet.

A view of the stage,,, The them this year is "A special run for special people" . The newspapers said that something like 500 students and staff turned up to support the race.

The first relay runners of each team were flagged off at 7.15 pm. Everyone was waiting for them to come back... At least 15 mins of waiting... They were 20 -30 teams competing. In open mixed there were 9 teams... The phot shows the start and finishing point (the mat).

This is my number tag. I was the third runner on my team. My number is a very nice pallindrome, isn't it?

The organisers were very thoughtful. They even had a buffet dinner for us free of charge. I think it was at the student hub. But how to eat? I have to wait until after my race .... First time anyone ever provided food for a run... The NIE director is very kind...

Aunty Roda was the first runner. She came back in 19mins. Then Uncle Chua ran. Uncle Kalai gave me last minute instructions. Then away i ran. It was 7.58 pm then. Darkness had already fallen. For once it felt very cool. It was not hot at all. I enjoyed running down out of the triangle, down the drive way and onto the road separating NIE and NTU. I ran behind the student hostels. Was it a mirage? But the distance felt shorter from the daytime when i ran to practice. I met no one along the way except for the few road marshalls but i ran as fast as i could. The strreetlamps shown brightly as i sped along. I then turned into Nanyang Ave , passed the NTU blocks an ran up the slope again. Yes the NIE/NTU campus is on hilly ground with steep slopes. When i turned into the admin block at NIE, i just sped the last 70m onto the mat. I almost collapsed at the finishing point. The time: 18m 45s before Aunty Josephine undid the ankle strap from my ankle. The ankle strap contains the championship...

This is my best timing so far. i was so happy when i finished. I had hoped to go below 20m but i went below 19m.. Wow!

After Aunty Josephine ran, it was Uncle Hei's turn. He also ran 18m. Here you can see Uncle Kalai placing his strap with Uncle Hei walking away... It was Uncle Kalai 's turn to run.

Uncle Kalai ran 16m 55s. Yes he is good...

Our team finished fourth with a timing of 1 hr 57min. Well done. Congrats to the NIE/NTU team for winning the mixed team open....

The person on the right is the Director himself Prof Lee Sing Kong. He is handing over the cheque to Mr Keh of MINDS. It was a cheque for $40,000 . Then it was mentioned that the amount raised was more. It was actually $45,000....

This was our maiden debut as a team. Uncle Yeow Seng said that we had done well... I was very happy that we were not last...

Another photo for the album -this time with Uncle Yeow Seng and uncle Sean...

I got this tshirt for running.... Doesn't the t-shirt look nice? Especially when it is sponsored and i paid nothing for it...

It was truly 'a special run for special people'. For me the run is memorable and special because

a. it is the first time i ran with my club as a team in a running competition

b. the race was run at night

c. i ran a pb 0f 18m 45s. The club had encouraged me towards breaking my own record...

d. The Director himself, Prof Lee spoke to me after the event. He was surprised that a young boy was running in the open category and he enouraged me to work harder to become even better...

It was midnight when i reached home, tired but very happy!!!

Hopefully they will invite me for more competitions again...

In my goodie bag, there was:

1. 3 cans of H- two- o

2. Free sample of clinique's 3 step skin care system

3.Pen from Community Chest

4. Mobile Phone strap from Community Chest

5. Organizer from Siemens

6. A paper bag from the traffic Police

Final comment: This is one of the best races that i have run. It also came with free food and the commaderie of my running club mates. They taught me how to run the race and how to work together as a team.

A special treat for my readers:

Here is a video i took before i ran my race. NIE certainly looks very nice at night. Enjoy!!

Standard Chartered Marathon Registration and a debate to remember

2007-07-23T20:54:00.000+08:00

Today there was school as usual. But the highlight of the day was the debate during english period. I was on the team participating the debate today. Of course i knewthat it would be exciting.

The topic was " national service should be made compulsory for everyone, inclusive of women." Do you agree?

I was in the proposition with Joel, liming and nicholas. How to go against the opposition? I think they had the easier task. Joel and i were able to rebuttle point for point. I became the best speaker for the debate and surprisingly our team won! Out of a posssible 60 marks I scored 55. Thank you Mrs Ng!

Wouldn't it be good if girls could do N.S.? It would make our lives much easier but i think it is just wishful thinking...

Today was the event launch of the singapore standard chartered marathon at Raffles Place. It is exactly 131 days to the event. At the event launch 500 goodie bags were given out for sign -ups. So i signed up for the 10k. Well this is the only race i can run. To run the half marathon i must be 17. To run the full marathon i must be 18...

Even my sister liked the recyclable bag. Looks better than the one many people wanted to buy in Hong Kong and created a stampede for ( the one marked i am not a plastic bag from anya hindmarch) ... And now the singapore outlet will not be selling it... Why the hooha over a bag??

In my goodie bag there was

1. recyclable bag

2. sports water bottle

3. bottle of glucosaimine tablets from Nature's Way

4. berocca sample

5. can of 100 plus

6. muscle deep heating rub (3 pieces)

7.Standard Chartered marathon Note pad and post it stickers

I am looking forward to run in this marathon. It is first class ( world class) !!!

Mizuno Wave Run 10km at Bedok Reservoir

2007-07-22T10:42:00.000+08:00

This morning was the Mizuno Wave Run. When I woke up at 6 am it was raining. So i stayed in bed longer. I arrived at the starting point at Temasek Polytechnic Sport s Complex at 7.10 am. It was where the run was held.

This is a banner regarding the run they displayed outside Bedok Reservoir Park .

This is Bedok Reservoir, the ending point of the run. Actually i did not know that ending point had changed. Orginally the starting and end point was Temasek Polytechnic sports complex but later the ending point was changed to Bedok Reservoir near the toilets. The photo was taken as i was leaving the park @9.40 am. At that time the weather was much better and the sun had come out.

The scene at 7.10 am at the sports stadium at Temasek Polytechnic. At the time there was still a slight drizzle and there was a massive jam to enter the polytechnic.

The scen at 7.25 am. The runners had to run thru' the arch to start the race. The sky still looked dark and overcast. This is a section of the crowd. There were 7,000 runners at the starting line. Wow!

My number tag. :) There was a baggage tag, a goodie bag tag. Also a lucky draw tag.

The race was supposed to start at 7.30 am. However, because of the rain, the start time was delayed.

Anyway a bus came in at 7.35 am escorted by the police car ( below). A gourp of people got down the bus. They were the Aljunied GRC MPs and grassroots leaders. The lady waving is MP Cynthia Phua. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr George Yeo also came. On his left was Mdm Lim Hwee Hua. On her left was the MP and Mayor of Northeast CDC Abdul Rasheed. I think MP Yeo Guat Kwang also came.

The flag off was done by the MPs by blowing their horns, and away we went! The ground was wet and slippery after the rain earlier. Luckily the rain had stopped. But the sky was still cloudy.

I ran past the stadium grandstand and then we ran out of the stadium. There was a backgate behind the stadium which was opened . It was the link to Bedok reservoir. Oh boy! It was crowded getting into Bedok reservoir. The linkway was so narrow. I spent my time just walking as all the runners in front of me was squeezing through the gate too. The footpath was so narrow. How to run fast? It was only at Bedok reservoir (see above) that i was able to run. We ran almost one round around Bedok Reservoir, then we left it and ran out of the resevoir onto the road and to run past the polytechnic. We were not allowed to run on the road, just the pavement as there were cars. The road was not closed. When i tried to overtake on the road, a traffic policeman told me to return to the pavement. ! How to run like that? We then ran the whole length of the polytechnic. We then turned back into the reservoir at the pumping station. Still another 3 km. My shoes were already so muddy because the ground was wet.

A beautiful scene of the reservoir. It looked so calm and peaceful.

The ending point was supposed to be the mizuno ballon arch. Or was it? When i ran past the arch i slowed down to a walk as i thought i had finished. Then i found out the finishing point was some 50m away at the clock timer. Or was it at the 'finish ' banner further down? So confusing. Later the organisers took away the timer and announced the finish was the mizuno ballon arch. The finish banner was for the aljunied grc jogathon. So the MPs attended two events in one day?And was that why the finish point was shifted from temasek polytechnic to bedok reservoir?

I finished the race in 49min, way off my personal best. At least it was still below 50min, i consoled myself.

Aunty Roda came in 6th. I was very happy for her. Uncle Kalai, Uncle Jo, Aunty Moy Hong and Aunty Josephine also ran.

The stage. The guy in purple tshirt is from aljunied grc. There was a long stream of people wearing purple tshirts yesterday.

The organisers, vgo corp distributors of mizuno products donated $30,000 to Aljunied GRC. This is the cheque. I think it was for the Bedok Reservoir Dragonboat Club.

Rows of Mizuno shoes for display only. No one was buying any. Wish i could own a mizuno wave shoe...

Another fringe activity. Selling plants ...

The queue for the goodie bag. This year everyone queued up in the same queue even though the sizes of the tshirts was s,m, l and xl. Even male and female were not separated.Very very long queue...

The baggage collection area was also chaotic and unclaimed bags were thrown on the muddy ground... I felt very sorry for those owners. With with already muddy shoes and clothes and a long queue for the goodie bag, i am sure the last thing the runners want is a muddy bag or worse lost bag.

In my goodie bag, there was

1.mizuno dry fit running vest

2..mizuno shoe bag(very nice and big - can put in 2 pairs of shoes)

3. true yoga class and gym membership 7 day trial

Till my next run!

Olympic Dream 2007 Ability Challenge 20 km

2007-07-15T15:58:00.000+08:00

Today was the Olympic Dream 2007 Ability Challenge "Around the world in one day" held at Toa Payoh Stadium. The event was to raise funds for the Singapore participants of the Beijing 2008 parlympics. The challenge was to have as many people as possible run 100,000 laps around the stadium. For running 10 laps, a person was entitled to a certificate. For those who ran 50 laps (equivalent to 20 km) the prize was an exclusive medal. Of course I wanted it. But could I do it? I had never run 20 km before.But I wanted to try....

I woke up at 5.30 am this morning and reached Toa Payoh at 6.40. It was still very dark when i arrived... The scene outside Toa Payoh stadium when i arrived.

I met up with my club members before the race. Here is a photo of us before the race. This phot was taken at the Toa payoh Sports Hall about 20m further down the road.Uncle Yeow, Aunty Wendy, Uncle Chua, Uncle Kalai, Aunty Cindy, Uncle Hei were there when i came. I was beginning to feel very excited.

At 7. 05 am all of us entered the stadium. We caught up with Uncle Malik, Uncle Han Wee, Aunty Roda, Aunty Josephine, Uncle Tan... A photo of us just before we started at 7.30.

The guest of honour (GOH)was Parlimentary Secretary,MCYS, Teo Ser Luck.He came in at 7 am

and there was a dance segment. Then it was time for the flag off by the (GOH). At the same time it was the start of the 12 hour record continuous relay run by JJC and ACJC. Till 7.30 pm

There were also wheelchair racing.

But what made me very happy that day was that when we started running, i found Mr Teo Ser Luck running beside me. (below) He was surprised to find a young boy running so he started asking questions like how old i was, my name, what school i was studying, the club i was in. He then told me that he had been running since he was a young boy too. I really enjoyed running beside him. He also has no airs about him. I ran something like 7 ? laps with him before he left. At every 100m there wwere students cheering him on. It was thrilling. Wish he didn't have to leave so early. He seems a nice guy.

The time was now after 9 am and it was getting really hot. The weather was fine and i was sweating profusely . But I still had not achieved the required 50 laps. i wanted to quit after 24 laps (= 24 rubberbands, one given for every lap run)but the thought of my club members getting the medal ( plus my cjc running mates who also came running - Rueben, Yong Chao, Calvin, Nicholas and Clement)made me push on. But i was feeling very tired...

But i finally made it. At that time it was almost 10 am. I had been running for more than 2 hours. Oh dear!! How to run the Army Half Marathon next month ?

For my hard work i was rewarded with this certificate. I had made it! ! I filled up a form with my particulars and the organisers said that they would mail the medal to me. I am looking forward to receiving it. The organisers also gave away many bottles of NEWATER and raisins from the sponsors.

This is the offical brochure. I enjoyed myself but i was very tired. It is not easy to run round and round the stadium. For long distances, i would like to run on the road. But this project was for charity so i don't mind. Hopefully not too soon again in the near future. ..

I learnt that most of it was mental and i am glad that i was able to represent my club for a charitable cause. All the best to our paralympians for Bejing 2008 paralympics. I am sure you will do our country proud!!

48th National Interschool Track and Field Championships

2007-07-13T19:40:00.000+08:00

This week was the 48th National Interschool Track and Field Championships held at Choa Chu Kang Stadium. It takes about 40m to reach there by car. Yes, it's far!

I had signed up to represent the school for 800m and 1500m. The 4 heats for the 800m 'b' boys was on monday at 3.35 pm. I arrived at 2 pm to warm up . I met up with my cjc running mates. Three of them Kubo, Timothy, and Reuben were also running in the 800 'A' boys. Kubo and Timothy qualified for the finals .Congrats!!

When the time for my race came, i was excited. Would i do better than last year? I hoped to do better. There were 18 boys in my heat, i was in lane 15. There was a starter's gun and away we ran. It was not easy to run against top runners and the other athletes. I came in at 2m 29s, not very good i must say. However it is a PB over last year's timing of 2m 36s.

The 1500m on wednesay was later in the afternoon. I was in the last of 4 heats which started at 4.55 pm. After monday, I just paced myself to better my PB. I ran the race in 5m 14s and it was a PB. I did not qualify for the finals for both my events but i did PB's for both.

Just looking forward to my next race!!

Sacuony 100 Plus Passion Run

2007-07-08T19:24:00.000+08:00

This morning was the Saucony 100 Plus Passion Run held at East Coast Park. It began at 7.30 am. The guest of honour was MP Fatima Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC. The special guest was Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong.

This is a view of the stage before the prize presentation ceremony.

I reached East Coast Park about 7.20 am. Then i met up with a few of my CJC running mates and we did our warm up together at the beach. The sea is less than 50m away. Our race was the competitive boy's junior below 19 years and the distance was 5 km.

This is a view of the finishing point . The start point is just behind. All runners had to run on the running track first then u turn and run on the bicycle track which was side by side. We had to step on the mat to start as we were using championchips. At the 2.5km mark which was at McDonald's we u- turned and there was a mat. Finally when we reached the finishing line, there were two mats. The official then requested we return our championchips...

This was taken just after the finishing point. Many runners just sat on the grass and rested. Cups of 100 Plus (the main title sponsor) were given out.

The Saucony Booth....

The goodie bag collection area...

The man holding the banner is none other than Senior Minister. MP Lateef is on his right. The banner holds all the sponsors' signatures... Can you spot SM's signature? (Hint: It is just above the lowest man's head on the banner)

These are the winners in my category. Congrats to Calvin, Reuben and Jackie for being in the top 10. Recognise the 5th guy from the left? Yes, he is none other than Mok Ying Ren... so far on e of the best runners below 19 in Singapore. Any race for boys below 19 he will always be first...

A photo for keepsake.... I did not dare to run very fast as the Nationals (800m ) is tomorrow. I did the 5km in 25 min.... Aunty Roda was 3rd in her race and Uncle Kalai was 6th. Congrats!

Aunty Josephine, Uncle Hafiz and Uncle Tan also ran in the 10 km race.

This is my Saucony t-shirt.

In my goodie bag there was:

1. a specially designed drawstring bag

2. A Passion white colour bathtowel

3. Filliz Pasta

4. A DIS Paper fan

5. COmplimentary Tan from Fabulous Tan

6.Get Active Get Healthy booklet from Health Promotion Board

7. 30% discount voucher from Saucony

8. Ricola sweet

9. Protect yourself and your family from Dengue booklet from National Environmental Agency

10. 15% discount voucher from Polar Heart Rate Monitors

All this plus the satisfaction of running a race cost only $12. I really enjoyed myself today.

Till my next run tomorrow...

Running on Sunday with memories of the Penang Bridge Marathon

2007-07-01T17:33:00.000+08:00

This morning i woke up early as i wanted to go running with my club. The destination was MacRitchie Reservoir. I was there at 6.55 am . Today Uncle Chua and his sister came, Uncle Tan, Uncle Hei, Uncle Jo and his wife. Dr Bala and Mr Krishnan came after we started running at 7.20 am.

i ran with Uncle Chua and Uncle Hei, two 4.8 km rounds the reservoir as they did not want to try the senior route. I ran slower than them after the first round and did not see them so I turned right and ran up the ranger station. I think i ran something like 11 or 12 km? All i know is that i ran for more than an hour...

I found a link to the bird eyes' views of the Penang Bridge Marathon in the early hours of the morning of 24 June . Click on the link below and you won't regret it... Makes me wish i was running on the penang bridge all over again... The experience is exhilirating... Thanks Runwitme and Waterman!!

http://cpwaterman.blogspot.com/2007/06/penang-bridge-marathon-2007.html

Penang Bridge Marathon and a holiday in Penang

2007-06-25T21:21:00.002+08:00

It was 6.20 am on friday when i reached changi airport to check- in for my flight to Penang. I was very excited and not sleepy eyed. Look at the time in the departure lounge. 6.35 am!

My flight was at 8.05 in the morning. Of course I was flying by SIA. MAS also offloads passengers on to SIA and they share flights. It was actually SQ 192

A close-up view of the SIA plane seen thru' the glass panels at the transit lounge about 6.45 in the morning....

Arrival at Penang International Airport. It was about 9.30 am.

Wnet to Queen's Bay Mall to pick up my number tag and t-shirt. i was in category J running the quarter marathon. Below is a partial list of names of boys running in the quarter marathon on 24 June.

This is Queen's Bay Mall, the largest shopping centre on Penang Island, just opened in Dec 2006. It is huge.

And inide there was Border's. (Though much smaller than the one here in Singapore)

The place to collect the number tags- just outside Queen's Bay Mall... All the participants' names are pasted up. In my category there were more than 1750 runners. I was shocked to see so many particpants. The star newspaper reported that there were more than 20,000 runners in this year's marathon.

A view of the town...

The finishing point of the marathon was the field at USM - University Sains Malaysia. My father was supposed to go there to study but he changed his mind and came to Singapore instead. He actually stayed in USM for two nights before he changed his mind.Hmm, i wonder. Would i still be here if he did not come to Singapore to study? We went in for a tour of USM and my father said that it has changed a lot since he last came to Penang to study . But he never regretted not studying there. Below are some sponsors' logos...

This is RECSAM- the teacher's training college. It is the starting point of the quarter marathon. It is about 2 km down the road from USM.

Later we drove on the Penang Bridge. It is 13.5 km long and the longest in SEA. It is the third longest in the world. Wow!! Truly an architectrual marvel!

It takes more than 10 min to cross the bridge as the speed limit is 80km/hr but as always there was heavy traffic on the bridge. The towers (looking like minarets in the distance) are at the midspan on the bridge.

After crossing the bridge we reached Prai (formerly province wellesley) on the mainland. We went on to Butterworth, the capital of Prai.

Notice the logo on the right? Yes, There is a Petronas refinery at Prai, the industrial zone of Penang.

On our return from the mainland, we had to pass through the toll gate to enter the Penang Bridge. (Toll is RM7) to reach Penang island.

This is the clock tower on Penang island in Georgetown. Nearby, is Fort Cornwallis.

This is the entrance to the Fort. We had to pay admission to get in. No guesses here the flags represent what. The flag on the right is the Malaysia flag. The flag on the left is the Penang State Flag. British flag? No, not here. Also, there usedto be a moat around the fort too but since the 1920's it has been filled in.

Notice the dustbin?? Litter here??!! It is found in Fort Cornwallis, the only intact fort in Malaysia. It was built by the British. Penang was founded in 1786 by Captain Francis Light.

This is a cannon at Fort Cornwallis pointing out to the sea.

A beautiful view of the mainland from Penang's Fort Cornwallis.

later we saw these building which were the Courthouses. Looks liks Singapore's doesn't it?

We then went to Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera). However it is not the highest hill in Penang...

This is the Hill Tram ... One going up and one going down and they meet at the mid- point...

We went to Kek Lok Si Temple where we saw the giant statue of Kuan Yin.

and other Chinese Gods. It was on a hill and the view from the temple of Georgetown below was superb. I could see

Komtar (the round building on the right) in the distance. Komtar is where all the government departments in Penang are located.

This was the goodie bag collection coupon. The collection point is Komplex Belia Sukan (Youth Sports Complex was just across the road from the finishing point in USM).

My number tag...

At 3 am on sunday we boarded the shuutle bus which brought us to the traffic light intersection outside USM... The road outside USM (half km away )was closed to traffic.

We had to walk 2 km to the starting point at RECSAM. All runners had to walk... Luckily there was no rain and the weather was fine...

At RECSAM there were so many runners. We had to collect the wristband to certify that we were running.

The scene outside RESCAM at 5 am ... There was much jostling and pushing behind the gate. The policemen kept trying to control the crowd, by whistling very loudly and kept shouting ''balek jalan! ' It was hot and not cool even though it was night. As the minutes ticked by, I was anxiously waiting for the race to start...

At the Start point. The race started early at 5.24 am. I heard that the Malaysian Works Minister might flag off the race but i never saw him. .. This is the the crowd at the starting point...

I liked running up Penang Bridge in the dark. Only runners were allowed on on the bridge. No cars. All the roads leading to the Bridge were closed. I u-turned somewhere near the midspan where I collected my second band and placed it far up my arm. When i reached the ending point i found that i had run the 10km in 46min 16s. i was 33 out of 1757 registered boys. I felt very happy... This is the scene at the USM finishing point. It was about 7.30 am then.

I found out that the winner in my category was not a State runner representing Penang. So i was actually running against state runners from Kedah, Perak and Selangor. Wow!!

This is the finishing point for (J) which was my category. K is for girls 10 km. Many particpants were still running in...

Aunty Roda came in 17th in women's open full marathon. Uncle Kalai was unplaced in men veteran open full marathon. Congrats Aunty Roda!!

Later in the afternoon we visited the reclining buddha at

at Wat Chaiya in Pulau Tikus. Across the road (aptly named Burma Lane) was the Burmese temple.

Looked like we were in Burma (old name of Myanmar)...

We boarded the plane at 6pm that evening for our flight back to Singapore . Home Sweet Home....

The view from the plane window 5000m above sea level...

In my goodie bag there was

1. 2 cans , 1 of isotea, 1 of justtea

2. proviton multivit. pills 2 capsules

3. Myvito biscuits

4. Indocafe Cappuccino 1 sachet

5. Glocosiamine 1 satchet

6. Frutale Duo luxurious shower gel

7. 1 bar antibax soap

8. Sloan's Analgesic Rub

9. Tesco plastic bag

This is my Penang Bridge marathon 2007 T-shirt.

For running the race, My medal. It's made of Selangor pewter and really heavy...

My singapore Standard Chartered Marathon Medal cannot compare .

Till my next run!

Blogging on Friday morning at Changi Airport

2007-06-22T07:05:00.000+08:00

It is now just past 7 in the morning and I am at one of the internet terminals at the Departure Lounge in Changi Airport. Yes, i know school starts on Monday but we are now going for a holiday!! There was a lot of homework to do this holidays and I also went training as there is the Interschool track and field coming up next month. But nothing can beat my excitement as i am flying out of the country to take part in my first overseas competition - the Penang Bridge Marathon in Penang, Malaysia this sunday 24 June. The marathon begins at 3 am. ...

I can't write very much more as each passenger is allowed only 15 mins to access the internet so till next time...

On holiday in Batu Pahat- a photo journey

2007-06-10T09:16:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, my father brought us back to his hometown in Batu Pahat. We woke up early so as to beat the jam at the Customs Checkpoint. This is a photo of Woodlands Immigration Checkpoint taken at the Johor Customs Checkpoint on the Malaysian side

This is City Square in the heart of Johor Bahru just after the customs checkpoint. As you can see, there are tons of banners and posters advertising the hottest deals there. We are in the midst of the Malaysia Shopping Carnival. Hope I can also go shopping!!!

This is the signboard we always see before we leave the North South Highway exit into Ayer Hitam. Hmm, we are now 80 Km away from Johor Bahru city and we need to travel another 30 Km through the Ayer Hitam - Batu Pahat Trunk Road till we reach the Batu Pahat gantry as you can see in the photo below!! This is the outskirts of Batu Pahat city.

The is the gantry they created to welcome vistors to Batu Pahat. Next to this sign is Batu Pahat

Mall, the biggest and newest shopping centre in Batu Pahat. It is almost as big as Tampines Retail Park if not bigger... It was just opened before Chinese New Year this year. Another reason for me to go to Batu Pahat.

Of course parts of Batu Pahat are still not quite developed and there are still kampongs.

A typical Kampung House with Sogo Perdana in the background!!! Sogo Perdana is the highest hill and climbing to the top of it takes more than one and a half hours. It is 1000 m above the ground (compared to Bukit Timah Hill 133m above the ground).

Have I just Forgotten? This is our all time favourite Carrefour!!! It was just open in October last year in Batu Pahat. It is the second Carrefour hypermarket to be opened in Johor State after J.B.

The Sunrise is fantastic!! See the hills in the distance... Batu Pahat is hilly...

During the time I was in Batu Pahat, Malaysian PM Abdullah got married. The Chinese Daily Shin Chew had a full write-up of the wedding.

These are my two nephews aged six and two .Serious! Not Joking. My cousin got married when she was 20. Don't they look cute?

This is the temple where my Grandparents are.We would always visit the temple every time we visit Batu pahat.

This is the Tol plaza at Ayer Hitam when we left.

We noticed this car from Thailand when we were at the Kempas Toll Plaza. It was towing a crate. Could it also be coming to Singapore ?

I think This will be the new Johor Checkpoint that will be coming up soon. It is still being built. I am sure it will handle many more passengers than now and probably clearance time will be faster.

PEMERIKSAAN IMGRESEN JOHOR BAHRU THROUS SINGAPURA!!!

And that is all. Just a short trip lasting two days.I always love to visit Batu Pahat.
However, there was no durians this time I went back cos the durian season at this point of time had not started yet. i heard my Uncle tell my father it will be in July. Looking forward to visiting Batu Pahat very soon!! ;) Batu Pahat is actually a nice place to visit and it holds so many memories of my father's childhood (and mine when i come and visit). So glad that it is in the state of Johor and not far off!!

Till next time!!

Holiday Homework and Remedial lessons

2007-06-03T19:12:00.000+08:00

Since the school holidays started on May 26 it has been homework, homework homework. When will it ever end? There are four assignments on e maths, two pages of chemistry, one alternative mode of assessment on Physics, one set of biology five year series questions, chinese compo and letter writing..., english vocab too...

This week we also have to go back for extra lessons on emaths and amaths as we are so slow... I have to go to school from 8.30 to 12 pm monday to wednesday. 1pm to 2pm from tuesday to wednesday.

Where is there time to rest? The worse thing is that the holiday homework was given to my mother when she met Mdm Ee to collect my report book so i have no choice but to do it...

Why so much homework? Because the whole cohort did badly for the mid year exam. that's why. Even though my results were ok ( i managed 3 distinctions)it wasn't very good. Oh well! So no choice but to do all the work... Just wish there wasn't so much...

Must finish everything by 25 June - that's the first day of school...

Running on Sunday

2007-06-03T16:18:00.000+08:00

Today i woke up early so that i could go running with my club. This week the run was at MacRitchie Reservoir. I was there at 7.15 am. But it was already late...

Uncle Chua, Uncle Tan,Aunty Cindy and Uncle Hei was already running. They started at 7 am. Next time i must come earlier. Aunty Roda was watiing there and had not started. At 7.35 am Uncle Arul came. He was sniffing and had flu. Soon after Uncle alan came.

Aunty Roda suggested we run the 'senior' route so i made Uncle Alan and her promise they do not leave me behind. They were very kind and helped me along the way when there was a stone in my shoe. Thank you! So today I ran 11 km! I felt great after running so far....

After the run Uncle Arul talked to me. He encouraged me to keep on running.... I told him that i had signed up for the track events at next month's National Interschool Track and Field Championships so he advised me to train hard... He really is very good to me... Just like all the other club members...

Till my next run...

Training or no training during the holidays & A Visit to the Science Centre

2007-05-30T14:26:00.000+08:00

Miss Tan messaged us yesterday. This is what she wrote:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holiday program (do on ur own)

MON - 6KM run at Stadium(15 Rounds) or Punggol park (5Rds),

WED - 6 x interval of 400m metres with rest 2.5 mins in between intervals (Stadium)

FRI - Same as Monday

Pls maintain your fitness during the holidays.Will give a time trial immediately after Holidays to test your fitness level. From Mr Ong & Miss Tan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Too bad! So I will have to train on my own this holidays. There is the National Inter-school Track and Field Competition coming up in early July and I hope to do a PB this year...

Today I also went to the Singapore Science centre to watch the movies "The First Emperor" and "Dinosaurs -Giants of Patagonia".

When I when to the Omni Theatre,I saw an exhibition known as Giants of Patagonia"

Here are some photos of the exhibition

Both the movies were highly enjoyable. I learnt that the Patagonia Dinosaurs were much bigger than those remains of dinosaurs found earlier. WOW!

The Dinosaur movie also had many special effects leaving you gripped to your seat....

Brooks 10km Life Run

2007-05-27T14:15:00.000+08:00

Today was the Brooks 10 km Life Run organised by NUS Sudents' Sports Club. This was the first time that they organised the run. But they have organised the Legs and Paddles for the last 20 years. (running and kayaking). It was held at One Fullerton, by the Banks of the Singapore River.

Here is the program. The time for the race was 10 am.

There was a warm up at 9.50 am conducted by 3 ladies from the Califronia Fitness, one of their sponsors.

This banner shows Brooks the sponsor of the race. Their corporate logo is Run world, run...

After the warmup we waited and waited at the start line. It was past 10 and the weather was really very hot. i was sweating all over... Even before i started...

Finally the race started at 10.25 am and away we ran.... We had a panoramic view of the Singapore river... We followed up the path of the Singapore River, past Connaught Drive, all the way to Boat Quay and u turn at ORD Bridge (next to Liang Court Complex). We then did a 360 degree u turn back to one Fullerton and back again. (two rounds).

I was climbing up and down steps to bridges and through the underpass. The route was tough and we were not allowed to go on the road or on the grass. There were many marshals along the way directing us how to run... We were also not allowed to spit or throw used paper cups and water bottles on the road...

I did one round as i was afraid of getting heatstroke...

These people are the runners for the race after mine. They were waiting to run first than kayak..... Many people came to run and canoe too. There was men's challenge, ladies' challenge, mixed challenge...

In the goodie bag (sponsored by california fitness) there was a

a. Brooks orange colour dry fit t-shirt

b. an exclusive waterbottle sponsored by Social Developement Unit

c. pen cum post it labels (really!) sponsored by SDU

d.hairbrush made in Italy from Reds Hairdressing

e. 4 25% off student discount vouchers from Reds Haidressing

f. 7 Day VIP PASS from CAlifornia Fitness (for people over 21- how to use it?)

g. Free fountain drink from Munchie Monkey Cafe in NUS

h.Bottle of New Water (not in photo- already drank its contents)

i. Fantasic Barbeque Rice crackers (2)

j. a copy of old issue of time magazine

Wow!! Running does have its rewards!!!

Just wished that it wasn't such a hot day...

Looking forward to my next race....

HIHS Cheerleading at Sports Carnival 2007 .:LIVE FOOTAGE:.!!

2007-05-26T10:33:00.000+08:00

Here are the live videos of the four houses cheerleading at the HIHS Sports Carnival

1) Red Kites

2) Blue Eagles

3) Green Hawks

4) Last but Not Least, the YellOW Falcons!!!! Enjoy!!!!

HIHS Sports Carnival 2007

2007-05-25T21:59:00.000+08:00

Yesterday 25 May was the HIHS Sports Carnival 2007. The event started at 7.35 am where we got to see our house logos for the first time and there was a handing over of the House Flags. Wow!It was just like a mini olympics and so grand... Nigel my Yellow Falcon House Captain said that he also did not know about the flag and that was the first time he saw it.

Here are some photos of the banners that was put up on the fence of the school field.

At 8am there was 4x 430m staff relay. This was also the offical opening of the sports carnival by Mrs Wong. No guesses for which house won the staff relay. It could only Yellow Falcons, my house. Mr Rizal ran so fast , so did Mr Sim. But that was to me not the highlight of the day. For me it was the 1300m race to held later at 9.10 am.

The games were held concurrently. There was soccer,

Captain's Ball, Basketball, Badminton, Floorball, Table tennis.

At 11am the 3 guest of Honour came. I think they were from the National Soccer Team There was an exhibition game with them. They played with our school teachers (wearing red number tags)

The GOHs wore white soccer jerseys.The match looked quite exciting...

Later they presented the prizes for some of the events. But not athletics. Oh dear! I was still waiting for my medal...

Then there was Push ball

and tug of war. Again all by levels. By this time t was 2 p.m. and still the evnt had not finished...

From our teacher's shadows you can see that it is very hot and that it was the mid- day laready

But the day was not finished yet. There was still the Cheerleading Finals from the four houses.

These are the Red Kites. It was already 2.30 p.m. when there was annaouncement that the Carnival was already over and the medals for the winners would be given out after school holidays.

Oh well! Except for that the event ran overtime. I really enjoyed myself and there were many events to see. I am looking forward to my next year's school sports carnival ....

1300m race at the HIHS Sports Carnival 2007

2007-05-24T17:54:00.001+08:00

Today was my school's sports carnival, so no lessons. Instead there was basketball, badminton, floorball,soccer, captain's ball... What i was waiting for all week was not any ball game but the athletics events. Too bad because of my cough, i was on antibiotics last week. I even gave up the Sentosa field trip last friday so that i can get well faster. Then my parents forbade me to go for the 430m heats on tuesday. Even Mr Tong said that i was not allowed to go for the heats. He was very unhappy that i wanted to run and compared me jaguar. He kept saying, advising that i did not have to run to prove that i able to do it.I was already a jaguar in his eyes. Once i step on the accelarator, i will be first... But i wanted so badly to run. I just want to support my house Yellow Falcons. I had to run...

Anyway, all i know that there was no 1300m heats on tuesday so it was a striaght final with 8 boys.

The day before,i went to see the doctor again for a review. He checked my thorat, my lungs were clear, even my blood pressure was normal. He could not detect anything wrong with me... That boosted my confidence up somewhat but i was still scared. I went to sleep early but my mind was thinking how to plan the race so that i could win,,,

The race was supposed to start at 9.10 am so i warmed up early. Mr Sim was the announcer. There were 4 atheltics events 430m, 1300m,4 x430m relay, and high jump. It was done by levels so mine was 1300m boys sec 3. I was also the only boy from my house running. Hoever, the 430m races and some of the relays were first so by the the time they announced my race it was 10 am. But I was ready and still coughing...

Yi Sheng of blue hawks dropped out of the race as he had competed the 430m earlier and felt he was not up to it. So that left seven of us. I was the only boy from my house, Yellow Falcons.

We all lined up at the starting line. Mr Sim shouted 'Go!' Then the horn blared and away we ran. A pity i could not fly...

Why 1300m? One round around the school is 430m. So we ran 3 rounds. As the school was on a slope, we had to run down hill to the road where there was a gate which was seldom opened, (but opened today because of the atletics events), run 100m on the road, turn left into the main gate and run up the slope again, pass the canteen , turn left and run another 50m to reach the finishing point.

At we sped off Ernest from Eagles was in the lead. I was fifth as we ran down the slope. I overtook the other runners as we came up the slope. In the second round i was leading. I heard Mr Sim annoucing excitedly that the Yellow Falcons was in the lead when i passed him. Ernest had dropped behind. Ryan from Red Kites was behind me maybe by 60m. I was feeling exhausted but i did not cough. It was easy going down the slope in the third round but it was difficult going up the slope... I almost walked. So Ryan had a chance to close the gap...

Anyway when i was up the slope the finishing line was just metres away and there was a finishing tape so i just ran into it....The Yellow Falcons were cheering me on... It was absolutely thrilling to feel the adrenalin rush...

Ryan was maybe 15 or 20m behind me... He was seond. Ernest was 4th.

After the race Mr Sim congraulated me. Did i mention he was from Yellow Falcons too?

Mr Rizal also congratulated me. He is the Yellow Falcons House Master. I went to see Mt Tong. He was busy. I told him i had won but he already knew that the jaguar would win. I think he was very very thankful to find that i did not collapse..Sorry Mr Tong. I just had to run...

A pity the medal was not given out today as the event was running late. Mrs ganesan announced that the medal winners will get them when school reopen after the school holidays...

I can't wait for my next race....

The Long Green Line

2007-05-19T11:09:00.000+08:00

The Long Green Line is a group of York High School Cross Country Runners wearing their green school cross country running t-shirts crossing the finish line at cross country meets.

York High School is in Elmhurst, Illinois, USA. They are the one of the best high school cross country teams in the state and have won the cross country state championships 24 times (beating 700 other schools in that state to reach there).I really admire them...

A group of old students from York High School is creating a documentary about the cross country team which will be released later this year.They first started making the movie two years ago and i am glad they finishing it soon.
Hopefully, i will to be able to watch it. But i don't know whether the movie will be released here...

To me this excerpt has already taught me many things about cross country and about life. Lessons which are useful for daily life and living. To me running is an exhilarating sport.... I really enjoy it. ..

To know more go to http://www.longgreenlinemovie.com/

Running Techniques

2007-05-19T10:42:00.000+08:00

For those interested to run.
Here are a few running tips.Enjoy!

Michael Johnson vs Jeremy Wariner

2007-05-15T21:07:00.000+08:00

Both Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner are 400m Olympic champions. Watch them fly across the track...

For the record Michael Johnson ran the 400m in 43.19s. I wish i could run like that...

The 400m olympic record is 43.49s set by Michael Johnson in Atlanta during the 1996 Summer Olympics. Jeremy Wariner did not break the record even though he won the 400m event at the 2004 olympics in Athens.

Jeremy Wariner was featured in the 'adidas impossisble is nothing' advertisements.

The music is fantastic!

Enjoy!

Running on Sunday

2007-05-14T20:00:00.000+08:00

Yesterday i woke up at 6 am to go running at Mt Faber with my friends from my running club.

I enjoyed running up Mt Faber with Uncle Chua. Aunty Josie, Uncle Kalai, Aunty Roda, Aunty Cindy, Uncle Jo and his wife, Aunty Juliana and her husband... I was so happy to see them... But I felt a bit sad... Next sunday is the New Balance Pacesetters 15 km run. Quite a few of them are going. I feel like running 15 km too but i can't go...

Why?

1. It is in K.L. How to go? Moreover it is school time. Aunty Cindy asked me to stay home and study instead...

2. Also it s for people over 16. Even next year i cannot go... I will still be under 16. This time my club is sponsoring the participation fees. Not fair...Why must i wait so long???

Anyway i am looking forward to my next run...I can't wait...

Finally Exams Are Over

2007-05-10T21:25:00.000+08:00

Today the mid- year exams are finally over. Whew! Today only the sec 3 express students came as it was Chinese Oral. I was very fortunate to have 蔡李老师

After the Orals, it was play time!! To enjoy myself i went swimming with my sister. Today waas also the last day of her exams. Wow! it felt good as i have not swum for a long time. I spent one enjoyable hour... Too bad it was so short. Then we went to the Geylang East library.

I borrowed PC magazines and videos. It has been a month since i went to the library... When i borrowed four books, there was a lucky dip. I had to write a dedication for mother's day first. Too bad! I did not win any lucky dip...

I really enjoyed myself today. The best part was that I got to eat roast chicken for dinner . Yummy!

Imagine All The People - An Anti- War Song

2007-05-04T20:36:00.000+08:00

Imagine by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no country
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

This song was written by John Lennon once part of the group Beatles. He was assissinated in 1980. I like the haunting words and music. Even though i do not know any one in Virginia Tech , i hope nothing ever happens here in Singapore... The incident on 16 April was too shocking and horrifying to imagine...

Today i went running with my cjc running mates. I had not seen them for quite a while. I heard from yong chang that jackie's father had passed away and he had returned to Penang for the funeral. I flet sorry for him. Jackie is only 3 years older than me yet he has left malaysia to come to singapore to study. I am so lucky that my father is with me. He actually helps me in my work especally maths and science. I hope i never disappoint him. ..

Real Run Club Terrain Race on 28 April 2007

2007-04-28T19:21:00.000+08:00

Today was the Real Run Club Terrain Race at Bedok Reservoir. I had looked forward to it all week. My club members were also joining the race. When I woke up early this morning, it was raining very heavily and i felt very cold. Fortunately by 6.30 am the rain became lesser. Finally the race started at 7.45 am, 15 minutes later than scheduled. Luckily the rain had stopped but the ground was very slippery and there were many puddles.

According to uncle yeow seng there were more than 600 runners. There were 450 male runner and more than 200 female runners. There were only two categories, men's open and women's open.

Most of my regular team was there - Aunty Roda, Aunty Josie, Aunty Moy Hong, Aunty Cindy, Uncle Kalai, Uncle Jo, Uncle Chua, Uncle Hafiz... I was very happy to see them...

When i started, most of them were by my side and when we were flagged off, we started ruunning together. Then slowly we got separated as Uncle Kalai pulled ahead. Then Aunty Roda. Many of the others also fell behind.

When I reached the finish line, which was two rounds around the reservoir, i was happy to find out that i had made it to the top 50 men.I felt good when Mr Malek, Mr Arul, Dr Bala and the others congratulated me. I was the third fastest runner from my club after Uncle Kalai and Aunty Roda.

Uncle Kalai came in 13th but the disappointment of tehe day was Aunty Roda. She came in just twenty seconds behind the first woman winner. I felt very sorry for her... Aunty Josie was 5th.

The good news was that only two women was ahead of me. When i neared the finish line , i saw Mr Yon. He and a group of NIE trainees had come to help in the race. He also congratulated me when I finished the race.

When will the next race be?I am looking forward to it...

Mizuno Mount Faber 10km Run on Sunday

2007-04-22T21:32:00.000+08:00

Early this morning i went to Henderson CC. Not to run but to cheer the team members of my running club on. Every week I enjoy meeting and running with them. But today i did not run the Mizuno Mount Faber 10km run.

Uncle Kalai was there. He ran a good race and was the first member of the club to finish the race. However, he was not the top 10. Aunty Roda was next and she came in 7th in the women's open. I was so happy for her.

So many members came today... Mr Chua, Aunty josie, Uncle Jo and his wife, Uncle Darryl, Mr Tan, Uncle Hafiz, Aunty Cindy ... I really wished that I was running too. There were i think more than 1000 runners both male and female.

Oh well. Anyway there is another competition next saturday. The New Balance Terrain Race at Bedok Reservoir. I want to run... I can't wait for it...

National Interschool Cross Country video

2007-04-22T21:03:00.000+08:00

I created a video of Team HI at the National Interschool Cross Country Championships on wednesday 18 April 2007. Enjoy!

Contemplative on Friday

2007-04-20T21:57:00.000+08:00

At 6 p.m. I went running at Bedok Stadium. Tampines stadium was having a soccer match and the tracks were closed so that no one could run. It felt so good to run again... I ran eleven rounds on the track. I was so afriad that i could not do it... I was not tired when I came back. In fact I felt much better and started doing my homework... I have a lot of homework to do...

I know that i will never give up running... My mother again said that i could not run 10km this sunday... But I could run 8km next saturday at the New Balance terrain race... i had to recover fully first... Sometimes I think my mother is too scared.. Anyway Mr Tong said the same thing to me on thursday... He was concerned about me and my health. So was Miss Tan... At least the school cared about me. This is so different from last year...

I feel much better now. Things are not so bad as they seem. I want to study hard too... My school work has been affected by my running...

Thank god it's friday

2007-04-20T15:12:00.000+08:00

Today is friday. Finally i have some time to myself. This whole week has been a disaster. I have been sick for more than two weeks... School is so stressful... And the exams are just around the corner...

What has happened this last week?

I had training on monday at turf city but i did not run as I had just recovered. On tuesday there was a geography field trip after school. Wednesday was the national interschool cross country finals but I never completed it as i felt heart pain and gave up halfway. Yesterday i had make up chinese tuition. I just feel so tired... I have to make up tests as i missed two days of school last week and the results are so poor...

The sunday is the mizuno mount faber 10km run. Many of my friends from the running club will be there. I was looking forward to seeing Uncle Kalai, Auntie Roda, Uncle Jo and his wife, Mr Chua and the lorry gang... But my mother said no running. I was so looking forward to it...

What is life without running? Now i just feel the urge to put on my running shoes... Who cares about school work and exams??

Our School Cross Country 2007

2007-04-15T17:39:00.000+08:00

Thank you to the school and Mrs Wong and Mr Tong without whom I would not have been able to produce this photo slide show.

No. 16 is No.1 on friday the 13

2007-04-14T15:10:00.000+08:00

There was an event which happened in school yesterday evening after 5 pm. Something really and truly exciting… How could I miss it?

When I arrived in school , I saw a team of men wearing orange colour jerseys Another team of men in blue colour jerseys. I also saw some boys from Bukit Merah Secondary. I saw a team of our school boys too. Guess what they were all together for?

I was looking out for my teachers. Every teacher wore blue except the one who wore orange colour jersey… He was the only teacher wearing orange but he later put on the blue jersey to play on the teachers side. The no. on his orange colour jersey was 16…

To me no. 16 can play quite well. He was adapt at tackling and kicking the ball…Maybe PE lessons are not the best judge…

Wow! Quite a few games were being played . And they all looked very exciting… I really enjoy watching… Maybe it is because it is people you know that is playing, so you hope that they will win instead of the opponent. Also, game was played in school and a few of my cross country teammates was there. I think the atmosphere is somehow different. Almost like family or home. I noticed a few women who came and sat together in a corner. I guess they must be the wives of the men of the orange colour jersey. Also they were a few children below 10 running about and kicking the soccer balls too… It felt so good just to watch the game that I forgot that I had just been sick. I felt so much better too…

Mr Ong was also playing I was surprised that Mr Yon did not come. Of course the usual teachers who played soccer were also there.

When the boys from our school played against bukit merah sec boys, the visitors won, even after our school boys had a disagreement with the referee.Score was 0-1. Teachers team against the orange colour jersey team. Teachers lost 1-2 even though player no 16 switched sides,put on blue jersey no. 1 and play ed on the teachers team.

I am sure you all know who player no. 16 is. No need to introduce… :)

Here are video highlights of the soccer games for my die-hard soccer fan readers. Enjoy!

American River College Cross Country Video 3

2007-04-12T17:00:00.000+08:00

This is the last in series of cross country videos of American River College, California, in USA. It shows an actual californian cross country running competition held last year.

When I view the video i can actually imagine myselfrunning too...

I wish I was well enough to put on my running shoes and just run...I really enjoy the adrenalin rush...

I know that if we persevere one day we will be able to create a team that can win - just like american river college...

These 3 videos have really inspired me to create a team like that in my school. I know it can be done... and i believe i can do it ...

American River College Cross Country Video 2

2007-04-09T20:28:00.000+08:00

I watched the movie Chariots of Fire last year and I really liked the theme song... The music was written by Vangelis who won the Oscar for best original music in 1981.

The movie is based on the true story of British athletes preparing for and competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The music in this video is this theme song from Chariots of Fire. The music is hauntingly beautiful. I can imagine myself running over the bridge too.
It really feels so good to run...

American River College Cross Country Video 1

2007-04-08T18:03:00.000+08:00

This is a very cool cross country video. It was produced in Director. After watching it i feel very inspired to run...I have a dream that one day we will have a school team that can run like that too. That would be just great...

Even the quotes are so inspirational...

Homework on sunday

2007-04-08T17:17:00.000+08:00

Today when I woke up i still felt unwell. My sore throat had become worse and i still had a running nose.

I wanted so badly to run today. It was the National Juniors and my school had sent me to particpate in the 800m. I had been looking looking forward to it all week...

Last week li ming was down from flu. He had a temperature of 40 C on wed. Too bad i sat beside him. I think i must have caught it from him. He has beenabsent since. Besides me Joel was also sick. I think a few of my other classmates are also sick. For the saturday morning remedial class, six of them did not come. I know a few of them sat behind him that day.

Anyway what is the use of moping now? At lunch time my father talked to me quite long. He advised me that it was not worth it to run since i was feeling so uncomfortable...

I spent the day on my tuition and homework...What to do? Exams are coming up too as my father reminds me. There was english, geog, e maths and chinese homework to do... I also had to write my bio journal... School sure is tough...

Team HIHS Athletics 2007 video

2007-04-07T09:39:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I spent some time creating a video of our school cross country team. I hope you enjoy watching the video as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

Friday - feeling unwell

2007-04-06T19:13:00.000+08:00

Today was a public holiday but i was up early. I was looking forward to going running with uncle kalai. At 6.45 i was out of the house even though i had a slight cought. I enjoyed the jog with him. Uncle Kalai is a marathon runner.The most recent marathon he ran was the KL Marathon last month during march holidays. I wanted to go too if not for school...

Anyway i will be running competition with him and all my friends later this month. I really look forward to that...Even if it is only 10k...
I have never really thought if i want to run the marathon one day but who knows?

When I came back i had a sore throat so i took some medicine and went to sleep. It was good not having to go to school. Hope i will be better tomorrow as there is a competition on sunday...

Softball and service learning

2007-04-05T20:20:00.000+08:00

What has service learning got to do with softball? Well nothing really just that I got to do both today. Or rather I was able to watch a softball match...

Today school finished at 2 pm. There was service learning after school today. Mr Sim came with us to Pertapis and he brought along a digital camera ro take photos of what we were doing.

We had buddy reading and we played games with the inmates.

But the highlight of the day was the softball match played in the school field at my sister's school. It looked like the visitors were winning. My sister said the man wearing a t- shirt with the words Mr Ben at the back of the t-shirt was the teacher in charge. He looked a bit sombre as his girls were losing. The visitors had a very good pitcher and almost every bat was a strike out. Both sides the coaches came and both wore a t-shrt which said coach behind.

For those who do not know, girls play softball and boys play baseball. They also wear t-shirts with numbers and their names on it...Will the cross country team ever get a T-shirt with their names on it??

Monday is journal writing day

2007-04-02T19:53:00.000+08:00

There was physics spa today for index no. 23 to 43. All of us skipped english to finish it. I heard there was english journal to write but i have not done it. The topic scares me. It is how to ace the g.c.e. 'o' level english. Well i really want to ace it but i dont know how...My english is poor.Maybe by writing on this blog i can improve it.Also i dont know much words and spelling...I could ask my sister to help me... Will she?

Well i have no choice but to write it but I wish topic could have been more interesting like what I like to do in my spare time - running and i.t.

next time i will suggesr it to my teacher :)

There was training today in school and it started at 3.45 p.m. Mr Yon conducted it and he made me work. It was tough as i had stitiches having lunch late. We went to the gym later. Actually i find that Mr Yon can really teach... he explains what we did or did not do in the debrief. Ms Tan also came today to talk to us.

Sunday Run

2007-04-01T10:28:00.000+08:00

This morning I woke up early as I wanted to go running with my friends. There is a competition coming up on 28 April -just two rounds around Bedok Reservoir. My target is 40m at most. I hope to do better than that.

We came at 7.25am. Mr Ow was there waiting. Mr Chua and the some of the others started running earlier. We ran together the two roounds in 55m. I missed Uncle Kalai and Auntie Roda. Later I heard they had gone to run at Mt Faber.Uncle Jo and his wife also came. They gave all of us us hersheys kissables.

Today we hads o many adults running together. After the run Mr Malek invited all of us to his condo for breakfast and a dip in the pool.

I love swimming. Even before I was in primary one, I already have the bronze award. Swimming 20 or 30 laps is no problem. But now with school work, tuition and running I have no time for it...

Too bad it rained and I was forced to get of the pool. The best part was the jackuzzi... The water was really warm...

I really like this club. As all of them are adults, they realy take care of me and look out for me. They run with me, pace me and help me correct all my running mistakes.They also motivate me to do better. Most of these runners are my parents' age. At first my father was shy to join them but the slower runners encouraged him to join and now mt father runs with them. Then the aunties help my mother and encourage my mother. Now she can run too...But so slow... My sister runs so much faster and better.

I am so happy my mother runs. One day I hope that all of us can take part in a competition together.When I started running she nver ran. But these people are so good to us. They encourage my mother ro run and I am so happy that she can run today. Keep it up Mummy! One day I hope you will be able to run by my side...

I know that I will never leave this group. Maybe it is because i am the only child there so they all sayang me... Or maybe they all take the trouble to make me belong and be a part of them...

Saturday thoughts

2007-03-31T09:45:00.000+08:00

Today there was remedial chemistry at 7.30 am. I had no choice but to get up early. After the lesson Ernest asked whether I can help him sell flags as it was SJAB flagday.I told him there was home detention today...

Actually i know that something is not right. I do not feeel like studying. Things are mot what they seem. However as Mr Leow said when I blog I just write I just say good things never bad... But how to express my innermost feelings when I know that people who may not like what I say about them may be reading it? He said that students have had their blog taken down because of what they had written...

That is why I must be careful when I blog...

乐极生悲 describes what I feel. Just when things are going on fine, again I know something bad will happen...It was what my father said yesterday when he was talking to my mother...

Da Vinci Project

2007-03-29T20:07:00.000+08:00

Today I reached school at 6.45 am. Went for an easy jog with my team members.

School finished at 3.15 p.m. becauase the biology teacher could not finish teaching.

After that Li Ming's father came and drove joel, li ming and me to joel's house to finish the chinese project on Da Vinci. Joel's mom was very nice and bought lunch for us as we were all hungry. Thank you aunty! I forgor to tell my mother about it as we had problems finishing the work. When we left at 6.30 the project was almost finished.

We also admired Joel's hamsters. They were really so cute...

Annual School Cross Country 2007

2007-03-28T14:31:00.000+08:00

Today was the school cross country. It was at Bedok Reservoir Park.

I woke up this morning very excited. Anyway I was there at 7.40am and did the warm-up.

We waited for the rest who were coming from school.

At 8.35 it was the teacher's race. Mr Yon came in first and Mr Ong came in second in Men (Open). Miss Tan Pei Shan was first in Women (Open). Congrrats to all these teachers in charge of our CCA cross country.

First the Boys C division ran first. Then Girls C Division. Then it was Boys B Division, my division. We started at 8.55.

I ran slowly in the beginning. Ray was in front of me and was breaking the crowd.After the the 2km mark I started running faster and pulled away from the pack.Many girls were blocking the way and I had to avoid them.

At the 3.5 km mark I only saw girls. So I started to speed up. I reached the bend just before the finishing line and heard a lot of shouting.

Everything was a blur then but I knew I had made it when I saw all the teachers at the finishing line...

Yes I came in first in a time of 18m. This is a personal best for me...

Sigh! Actually though I felt very happy that I won, it was also bittersweet.
Why? Because cross country CCA closed down last year under Mrs Ku. It was very terrible last year. I hated the school and what they were doing. I felt like quitting school and not run anymore...

In a way I am glad Mr Tong came. At first I thought he would not do anything or do little. But then he starte doing things. He found some 'B' boys for me to run with and then this term he opened up the CCA and there are now Sec 1 boys. He even let me start a blog to talk about our school cross country team. But the best thing happened at the school cross country today. He allowed me to take a picture with him wearing my gold medal. To me, it meant that the school recognised what I was doing. All the sweat, the tears, the pain is now worth it...Even if no other teacher in the school support me , only Mr Tong, to me that is enough...
I know that 18m at the National Inter-School Cross Country is very possible now...

Training at CCAB

2007-03-26T21:45:00.000+08:00

This is even week so today we finished school at 1pm. There was an add maths test on logs today. It was tricky...

At 3.45 pm we assembled in school to go for training at CCAB. Mr Ong and Mr Yon came down with us. Here are a few photos our training...

I felt really happy today. Mr Yon and Mr Ong were really concerned about us and how we trained.They took the time to talk to us individualy. This is the first time two teachers ever came down for training. It felt very good to be part of the team. It was also the first time we had more than 10 boys training...

saturday lesson

2007-03-24T13:26:00.000+08:00

Today had to get up early to go to school for chemistry remedial lesson. Five in the class did not turn up. Before we left, Ms Tan said there would be another remedial lesson next week, same time same place. Oh well...No choice but to go.

I enjoyed creating the HIHS athletics blog and I hope the team members will also post...

The URL of the blog is

http://hihs-athletics.blogspot.com

Training in school

2007-03-23T20:21:00.000+08:00

Today school ended at 2 pm. All of us self-marked our chemistry homework and packed our bag.Then Miss Tan reminded us about our remedial lesson tomorrow at 7.30 a.m. We all groaned.

3 p.m was CCA time. But it was a CCA training with a difference. For the first time the training was held in the school. Mr Ong ,one of the trainee pe teachers and my maths teacher trained us. He made us run 10 x 400m, then we went to the school gym for 10 sets of gymwork.We tried all sorts of equipment including dumbells.It was extremely tiring as I tried to carry 15 kg.(I nearly dropped those dumbells.)

Then Mr Tong talked to us after training. He told us that if any boy who ran below 20min next week at the school cross country, that boy would get a tee-shirt. I think that tee- shirt is almost mine.... He also gave incentives for running 50 km. So easy...

For the first time in over a year, I felt very happy. We are now a TEAM!

Sorry but see who has horns in the photo below...However as you see we are very happy including the sec 1's:

2nd page

2007-03-22T20:38:00.000+08:00

New page at Googlepages

Yippe!!!

The URL is http://gareth3ying.googlepages.com

See yah there!!!

Adidas .: Impossible is Nothing:.

2007-03-22T18:21:00.000+08:00

Adidas.: Impossible is Nothing:.

Allyson Felix's Story

World Champion 200m Sprinter

Adidas .: Impossible is Nothing:.

2007-03-22T18:13:00.000+08:00

Impossible is nothing

St' Margaret's

Adidas .:Impossible is nothing:.

2007-03-22T18:07:00.000+08:00

.:Impossible is nothing:.

David Beckham's Life story

Going Back to school

2007-03-18T20:57:00.000+08:00

Sigh, tomorrow it school's day.I still have not done my homework, and at the time I'm writing this post, I still do not know how to do E-maths Page 2.Question C) Name the combinations and explain briefly, with separate diagrams, how each of them proves that the triangles are congruent.This question requires thinking , something that I refuse to do cos I am going a bit muddleheaded.The homework is piling up and I'm feeling stressful.This school holiday has been partially burnt by camps and lessons, and for others it is the entire school holiday.Sigh, nothing I can do about it.Just hope to complete all homework by tonight.

Possible answers to the front page:

Wow! Six facts for every set of congruent triangles!
Fortunately, when we need to PROVE (or show) that triangles are congruent, we do NOT need to show all six facts are true. There are certain combinations of the facts that are sufficient to prove that triangles are congruent.

Methods of Proving (Showing) Triangles to be Congruent

SSS
If three sides of one triangle are congruent to three sides of another triangle, the triangles are congruent.
SAS
If two sides and the included angle of one triangle are congruent to the corresponding parts of another triangle, the triangles are congruent.
ASA
If two angles and the included side of one triangle are congruent to the corresponding parts of another triangle, the triangles are congruent.
AAS
If two angles and the non-included side of one triangle are congruent to the corresponding parts of another triangle, the triangles are congruent.
HL
If the hypotenuse and leg of one right triangle are congruent to the corresponding parts of another right triangle, the right triangles are congruent.

Blog 2

2007-03-17T22:01:00.002+08:00

New blog site for private posting

http:/weblzh.brainuse.com

Note: Blog under construction

Blog 2

2007-03-17T22:01:00.001+08:00

New blog site for private posting

http:/weblzh.brainuse.com

Note: Blog under construction

V-Camp Day 2

2007-03-15T18:55:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I went with Joel and Ester to V-Camp. It was day 2 of the camp. The venue was IHPC (part of A*, Institute of High Perfomance Computing at Science Park II.The building's name was called the Capricorn.I had a lot of trouble getting there, as the place was in a rather secluded place behind NUS and Kent Ridge Hill.At the auditorium, I met Joel and we sat together to listen to a talk by a company. This Company actually conducted a Cinema 4d Animation course at Temasek Polytechnic when I was in Sec 2.Inside the company's brochure, I saw a few of 2 Unity 06 students' photos, and of course I saw Rayson.Many secondary schools have actually gone through this course, by the company IM Innovations Pte Ltd. Namely the schools that have actually attended this course are CHIJ St Joseph's Convent, Admiralty Secondary and of course, our school.After listening to the talk which lasted for about one and a half hours, we sat for the training course (Crash Course) lasted for 2 hrs.The instructor taught us to assemble a 3d model areoplane and later to animate it.We were at an advantage, as we had gone through the course when we were in Sec 2.We created a plane which had been been blown to bits while landing at an airport .It was okay, though the animation path wasn't smooth.Later, we went for a break, which was spent watching cartoons.The cartoons we saw were extremely comical, with one particular scene showing the character landing into a pit where there was a cow passing motion.The website shown was www.rgstudios.com.These cartoons were probably made by a Korean, as there were Korean words in it.Later, we went for 3d visualsion, where we watched a movie using visual goggles.The goggles I took back home as the mentor gave it to us as a souviner.However I can only see through Cyan and magenta colours as it is specially made in such colours.I also saw particles(atoms) vibrating 3d using such goggles, and the view was breathtaking.It was really 3d like and was happening before your very eyes.(I wished I could keep on watching the video!) Soon after, we were sent to the libary, and asked to play a game.We were treated to a quiz about IHPC, and we went scouring up and down for answers.Fortunately, ester had brought along a set of fliers from the day before.We rushed around for answers and the receptionist helped us by giving us answers.Students from SJI got a bit unhappy with us and asked which secondary school we came from.We ignored them and continued.However, by the time we came back, St.Margaret's Secondary had already been there before us.It was unfortunate.... They cracked some jokes at us and said we had taken years to get there. HaHa!! Anyway, we got a souvenir while they got a Notebook.Haiz... We went to the COVE next.We played counterstrike and we lost!! I killed a few people but ended up killing my teammates.So idiotic!! Don't know how to play such games...

At 4 pm sharp all of us boarded the bus to go to the Science Centre for the Closing ceremony. I throughly enjoyed myself the last two days and I received a certificate of participation with my name on it. I was told that I can get at least one CCA point from attending the V-camp. So mustremember to go and see my HOD when school reopens...

At 5 pm I went to turf city for training. All my teammates were already there as training had started at 3.30 pm. The coach made us run the 4.5 km route and all of them had just started running after doing the workout. So I literally ran after them. After 300m the heavens opened and it started pouring. All of us were soaked through to the skin but we finished the race. Even the girls...

V-Camp 2007

2007-03-13T19:29:00.000+08:00

Today, I went with Joel and Ester to the Singapore Sci Centre.I had lots of Fun, with I creating 3d games with MGX.It was very exciting.We created a war game and knocked everybody off.Before that, we programmed a picocricket.It was a microprocessor which could be programmed to advance stage.We created an intelligent watch which could change colour in the intensity of light.It was so fun.At the end of the day, I brought home 2 chicken drummettes.Haiz...Didn't have enough time to see the exibits.Anyway, Virtual reality is great!!

Going To A-STAR (IHPC) tomorrow.Can't wait!

Waking up early

2007-03-12T07:57:00.000+08:00

Today I woke up early as usual.Nobody at home.Ate a few pieces of bread etc.Feeling Bored.Later in the day I would have to go to Turf City at 3.Haiz.......

N.B.Pls do not spam my Blog.

St Patricks' Day

2007-03-11T22:02:00.000+08:00

Today I went chatting online.Couldn't stop laughing as it was so funny.Believe me, if you were in the conversation you'll laugh and become insane.
- Tml must wake up early.GTG to SJAB headquaters(RGS)....Haiz...........Hate to do homework..Okay Goodnight to all readers and taggers........

See yah next time around...........

Running at east Coast Park

2007-03-11T10:26:00.000+08:00

Today went running at East Coast Park.Ran 8.15 km. Met New Balance Manager, mr Phillip Ho.Feeling good today.Hoping to change blog style.Signing off......

Yay! New Blog

2007-03-10T16:44:00.000+08:00