.....times of refreshing.....

30.5.16 Osim Sundown Marathon 2016 ...

ChrisAu 12:30 AM Sundown Marathon , 15 Comments

I remember I did my first half-marathon last year at Sundown 2015 and I felt the jittery then, Well, how time flies and I participated in my second half-marathon at Sundown again. Initially I thought I am not going to do another Sundown after all the sacrifices , I gotta nap on Saturday before the race and on Sunday after the race, cos the event started around 12mn. However, since I always ran in the evening in the dark, I thought to myself , why not another one? It's an easier run compared to those hot morning runs! Yes, its indeed a pleasant and easier run and I could have improve my PB if I didn't take too many toilet breaks and 'kaypoh' around , by stopping to take pics.

Here's a view of MBS, Gardens By The Bay, Singapore Flyer, Suntec City ...all in one !

I felt great before the run though I only trained for two weeks only, with a max of 12KM run. It's always good to travel to the destination with a train full of runners in the blue singlet. Anyway, (as usual), the run was delayed till almost midnight instead of 11.30pm as schedule.

Folks reaching the F1 building, which is becoming the hub for runs

Folks warming up at the starting point

More and more ~~young~~ ~~ladies~~ people at the 21.1KM starting point

Getting ready ....

A view of the F1 Building with the Flyer at the background

Wefie time with my running partner , Bala. He also ran the same race with me last year. while all my other running mates prefer to hit the bed ..LOL

It rained earlier and that makes the run quite pleasant. In fact, I don't face much problems for the first 10KM. The route was similar to last year's and we are at the climb again after 1KM at the Benjamin Sheares Bridge. I decided to walk while climbing to conserve energy and sprint down later. Then, we turn into East Coast Park , where I usually ran every Wednesday, all the way till the 10KM mark. It was a familiar sight to me since this is considered my 'training ground'. Anyway, I do take a breather at 8KM by walking before running towards 10KM.

Somehow I felt tired after 12KM and I decided to walk to conserve energy and I tried to take it 2KM at a time. It works till 18KM where I really need a longer 'walk' but I am glad to reach thus far. I thought I have beaten my PB but I shouldn't have stops too many times in stretching, taking pics and toilet breaks (I drank a lot of water before the run...LOL). Towards the end, there was a steep climb to Marina Barrage rooftop, which was new in this year's route. I guess it's due to some renovations work near Garden's BTB. As usual, I walked up and sprint down again , and it was walk and run in the last 3 KM.

I considered the 15KM mark a great milestone whenever I run HM.

And hello 20KM ... almost done. Always delighted to see this signboard.

After the run, a 'shadow' pix with my running mate.

And, another achievement for both of us

Here's the fabulous medal , simply the best looking medal to-date!

Again, though I didn't train much but I still need to improve on my stamina and speed as well as stop all those unnecessary breaks. I reached home at around 5.15am and got an early breakfast in McD before going to bed at around 7am and woke up at 2pm. Will take a rest now to recuperate my injured feet before my next 10KM run in August. (or maybe another HM in end July....)

Have a good week, folks!

26.5.16 The Toast...

I didn't know about this makan place which received a lot of 'hoo hoo har har' or attention among JB folks lately, thanks to FB. My niece tagged me in one of their facebook post last week and I got to know this place. It was only opened on last Friday and I was there for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, before we head to our church. It was the second day of their opening and there was quite a crowd. I gotta queue for a short while.

It was a grand building! They actually have one branch in Taman Johor Jaya and it was always crowded whenever I patronised it. And, before you thought this is a high class restaurant or something, its actually one of those kopitiams selling nasi lemak, fried noodles, toast, half-boiled eggs, noodles and etc. The surroundings was nice and lots of folks taking pictures around the area.

Their staff busy preparing the food for the crowd

It's was really crowded , thanks to their FB initiatives!

A chicken floss toast for my little princess

Kaya toast for my kid

I had a nasi lemak with fried chicken. Love their gravy!

My wifey shared a mee hoon kuey with my little princess

And, a chicken rice set for my kid

Overall, the food was great and the service was also fast despite the crowd there. Thus, it was not surprising that their Johor Jaya branch still having good business after opening for years. And, there are many parking lots available in their spacious compound!

After a nice lunch, we head to our church for a refreshing evening! Have a good weekend!

23.5.16 Race pack collection for Sundown ...

ChrisAu 12:00 AM Sundown Marathon , 23 Comments

I always enjoyed those major marathons race pack collection (REPC). They always held in fabulous places like Suntec City or Expo and it's very orgasnised, with lots of exhibition booths on sports stuffs, where I can go around to visit after collecting my race pack. Well, thank God I felt better with my injury and managed a 12KM run last Thursday without much problem. So, I guess I will be running my second Sundown Half-Marathon after all, without much expectations except to finish the race and get the medal. And, yes, I will have to sleep during the day before and after the race, on Sat and Sun cos I be 'doing night shift' on Saturday night/Sun wee morning...LOL. The good news is I will be on my mid-year leave after the run.

A nice screen advert to welcome the runners at Suntec City for the race pack collection

Entrance to the exhibition hall and REPC. I was an early bird where I reached t here at 11+am on the first day. They opened at 11am.

At the 21KM booths, not so crowded then!

The short queue with lots of counters opened. I always collect my REPC on the first day to avoid the crowd, I only waited about 10 mins.

Time to check out the exhibition booths

More booths, I got myself two energy bars for the run

Somehow, this year has lesser booths compared to last year and some prominent brands are missing, but I still enjoyed going around.

After I am done with the REPC, I decided to go to Paparich in Suntec for lunch as I needed to rush to a meeting nearby. This is my first time in Singapore's Paparich, so I thought it's a good idea to check it out. The services was good and the ambience seems nice until more crowd pack the restaurant during lunch time. It's definitely more expensive there if we compared with the exchange rate with RM else, it's almost the same price but in S$.

My cuppa coffee, I think Malaysia's Paparich coffee is better though this one not too bad,

And, a fried rice with fried chicken and egg for me.

My meal cost me around S$22. And, will forward for my first night race in 2016 this Sat. I did enjoyed my last night run in 2015. Have a good week!

19.5.16 Watching oldies ...

ChrisAu 12:30 AM movies , 9 Comments

I downloaded a movie app from Microsoft Store called FreeFilms and I thought it was good! There were a lot of HD new movies like Deadpool, The 5th Wave and so on, but while searching thru the movie database, I found that classic Aliens and decided to watch it. Well, I like that horror sci-fi movie when I watched it during my early teens but during then, I didn't really grasp the details of the story line, like how long the heroine Ripley was in cryogenic from the prequel before she was rescued. So, by watching again these classics , I finally understand the details of the story.

I also watched many old movies over the years, like Star Wars episode 4-6, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Back to the Future 1-3, Terminator 1 and 2, Matrix 1-3, Lord Of the Rings 1-3 and etc. , whenever I am free and it's kinda nice to understand the 'small details' of these movies when I watched again and which I could have missed out when watching in the past.

It was raining almost daily lately and though I welcome it, the afternoon rain seems too long and it rained till the evening, which has affected my training. With the Sundown HM on next Sat night and without much training except some short 5K runs in the gym, I guess I will just enjoy the run and forget about improving my pathetic personal best (PB) timing..hahaha.. After a 5KM run on a cold rainy night in the gym, I decided to have something warm - Ginseng Chicken Soup at Seoul Garden's Hotpot.

It comes with a bowl of rice, some vegetables like kimchi and prickles and boiled chicken drumstick in the soup. It's not really cheap as this cost me S$22 but I seems addicted to it. Well, since the Ramen restaurant has closed down at the nearby mall, perhaps it's time to embrace Korean food.

Have a nice mid-week!

13.5.16 2016 Updates # 2 ...

ChrisAu 12:00 AM 26 Comments

1. I didn't really train much lately although the Sundown Marathon will be held in end-May. Well, partly thanks to my injured feet where I took time for recovery. It's getting better now and with a new pairs of shoes, it did help to cushion the feet. Although I did short runs almost daily, I only started long distance running where I did a 8KM two weeks ago and then 10KM last week. It was tough run and I ran out of breath easily, after 5-6KM. LOL ... Well, I guess I will just enjoyed the Sundown HM and enjoyed the night scenery.

2. The school holidays is around the corner and I am still thinking of where to bring my family around. I also thought of taking a short break from work as work has been kinda stressful of late. Thinking of going back to Ipoh or bring the kids to Klang Valley for Kidzania, as well as jalan-jalan around the city.

3. Watched Captain America : Civil War last week in an empty cinema (due to exams and week-night) and it was a pleasant experience in a small cinema. The movie was great too and perhaps this was the best Avengers movie to-date. Looking forward to Infinity War 1 and 2. I actually wanted to bring my kid to watch it but somehow, he's not too interested in Marvel's superheroes. I guess if its Japan's Kamen Rider or Ultraman, he will pestered me to bring him to watch ... LOL

4. It's exam week and the CIQ was unusually quiet over the weekend, though it's Mother's Day! I was expecting a crowd and glad it was a smooth journey back to SG from JB. Anyway, with the school holidays around, it will be a hell of a time at the CIQ soon. I guess I better travel early on Sunday nights!!

5. Enjoyed a simple set lunch at Asanoya Bakery with a mushroom soup, garlic bread , a Tonkatsu sandwich and black coffee. The lunch was actually quite filling! And, it's Japanese style! :)

Have a good weekend!

10.5.16 Celebrate Mother's Day at Seven Oaks , Taman Pelangi ...

ChrisAu 12:30 AM Seven Oaks Restaurant , 38 Comments

I seems to desert my blog for a week! Well, no thanks to a busy schedule and a short week, last week! Anyway, I am back and prevented my blog to turn into a cobweb! Well, I guess most of you folks celebrated Mother's Day over the last weekend! Me too, I decided to bring my wifey for some treats (as well as all of us too...LOL) and we are at the fabulous Seven Oaks Cafe in Taman Pelangi, The ambiance, decor, service and food were simply fantastic over there! No wonder its always crowded !

It looks so majestic outside and I thought this was another bridal shop initially

It looks like a hotel lobby at the ground floor! They are selling pastry and cakes at this level.

Folks checking out the pastry as well as enjoying a cup of coffee and bread/cakes.

The restaurant is located at the second floor and there was even a lift to ferry the folks up, though the building is only three storeys high. We waited for our turn and it was not a long wait.