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

I have been running a lot lately and has covered 12km in three days, which to my standard, that's considered a feat. There were some weeks where I have covered around 15 KM in four days, and adding in a day of a 2 hour session of badminton. Thus, my knees finally give way and I felt a mild pain there, despite wearing a knee band. So, I decided to give it a rest over the last weekend but not exercising as well as getting the anti-inflammation medicated plasters, Ketotop,  over my poor knees.

The Ketotop plasters

Selling at about S$4+ at Guardian , it did help to reduce the mild pain in my knees and I do felt better after applying it day and night. I guess it should be around RM9+ in Malaysia. There was no menthol added, thus you don't feel a thing after sticking the plaster except the stretching feeling.

I started off my new year resolution by reducing some fat around my belly and thought it's a good idea to stop taking supper, especially after a late dinner or replaced it with a fruit, like an apple. One of the most challenging and stubborn part of a male's body is to trim down the tummy where all our fats are almost 95% accumulated there. Anyway, it's seems very challenging so far! I think I didn't do enough cardio workout yet and love food too much! :P I will need to work harder and run more.

By the way, I thought the new mall at Katong, 112, was like Bedok Point where it housed all the eateries and restaurants, as can see from outside. Yes, it indeed but it does have quite lot of shops and marketplace too. I was there last Friday for lunch and found it to be quite a pleasant place. Anyway, I didn't eat at those expensive restaurants but ended up at a smaller Vietnamese restaurant and take on the set menu. For S$15, I got four dishes as below. The food were quite good, especially the coffee and the beef noodles. Love it!

Vietnamese coffee.... very creamy and strong, nice!.

Main course, Beef noodles and the soup was great!

Mango salad.... very delicious

'Paper rolls'...consist of vegetables and meat. Getting full already!

I will run more from now onwards. :P

I always believe it's important to stay calm and serene throughout our life instead of tiring the mind with panicky and anxious thoughts. I knew some friends of mine love to think negative and as a result, they feel anxious and depressed. I especially knew one guy who is an assistant manager and had his own business too. He had a daughter and a working wife. However, he still anxious and keep deliberating on the bad things in his life, like how tough to run his business, how difficult to manage his subordinates...etc. I'm sure he's enjoying his life challenges if he take on a more positive approach to his problems and maintain his calmness.

When one is calm, relax and alert, he/she can take on problems easier compared to those who are anxious. For example, if one met with a car accident, he/she can calmly work out on how to move on rather than those who are panicky and just froze. Just an hour ago before I wrote his blog, one impatient car driver just overtake me from the right in the opposite lane when I was about to turn into another junction, with my signal on. I'm sure he can reduce the risk in his life with some calmness and patience.


Some of the ways I thought of in order to help us maintained our serenity is through regular meditation or exercise. I prefer the latter and that's the reason I work out, though there are, of course other physical benefits. After a workout, I felt much calmer throughout the day or next. It's like medicine to me. Even a 20 mins run did me good.

What a surprise! I went to collect my cholesterol report where doc asked me to check regularly of late due to my high cholesterol for almost a while. I'm expecting it to be high as usual but somehow it drop to an all-time low! In my previous tests for years, it usually floats around 260+ but this time round, it went down to 170+. woohooo....

I guess my routine of running longer helps as I have doubled my running time to 40 mins to hit 4-5Km, took oats regularly, consume enough fiber, reduce fatty stuffs, took fish oil and as well as medication. Well, doc still wanted me to continue the medication and I have to do another test in 3 months time.

I thought mine is a lost cause but it seems like it still controllable. Will continue to live an healthy lifestyle!

Voila! I started running around 4-5 km lately instead of my usual 2km+ and I managed to do it last Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday's session was tougher as my muscles were also sore and slightly aching and increasing the speed on the treadmill makes it more difficult. Although this is peanuts to seasoned runner who easily clocked 10Km in an hour or less, nevertheless, I feel great! Had my badminton last Wednesday and the run did help my singles games, though I lost all :( . Look forward to another few good runs this week.

Talked to my runner friend and he advised to try 6mins+ per Km, where typical amateur marathoners usually did. That sounds like a tall ordeal to me as 8 mins per Km is tough enough for me...hahaha... Anyway, my goals is to reduce my tummy size and improve my stamina, not to run marathon.

Anyone of you love running? Can share your thoughts with me on how to be a better runner.

Lately, some of my colleagues have been hit by 'running' fever. Some of them have developed an interest in running and using apps like RunKeeper or Nike+iPod to keep tracked on how fast and how long was their run in km/min and post it on Facebook. They have been running regularly for 5km-10km for three to four times a week. For a typical slow runner, it usually took 10 mins to complete 1km.That will be around 50mins to 100 mins of running.

The best thing was I realized some of them have been losing weight rapidly, especially on the tummy, besides improving their stamina. I was running on the treadmill after my workout for around 2.5km,  twice a week, while played badminton for two times a week too. This helps me to maintain my weight by then, it didn't help to reduce it.

It sounds simple to run for long but definitely, discipline and endurance are needed to sustain it besides interest and motivation. Anyway, it's fun to run with an app helping to track our progress.

hmmm... shall I give it a try and wake up at 6.30am tomorrow? One of my colleagues woke up at 5.30am to run 10km.... oh man.... that's pure discipline!!!

And, by the way, have a good weekend!

After weeks of late nights, finally I can leave slightly earlier tonight and have a good workout. It's been a while since I last workout and as someone who needed exercise like a drug,(uh-oh) and amid having a tummy, I can finally released all my stress and let the good endorphin flows in my body.

And again, I like to emphasis exercise is great. It helps us to calm down, feel more relax, overcome a bad day, less anxious, manage our emotions better, sleep better as well as strengthens our muscles, heart, reduce weight and etc. Just do a google and you get a long list of it's benefits.  However, from my experience, I find that the best is to workout till you huff and puff, where try to have a strenuous workout instead of strolling around, in order to have the feel good effect. Of course, do seek medical attention if you have not been exercising for a while.

If possible, workout till you drop....till you cannot take it. One of the better way to achieve that is to play games that you love. For example, I love badminton. Thus, I tried to play some singles matches till I really feel that I have had enough. After a nice dinner and shower, I really feel good!


Just some sharing after a nice time with a workout. Have a good mid-week. :)

It's a long, hectic week for me again and  it's great to be Friday and weekend. However, I only worked for half a day today as I have volunteered to play for my company for the annual Paintball game which was organised by a local computer society. This was my second time on Paintball, where I played once, two years ago.


If you never heard of Paintball, it's a team effort game, where teams will played against each other carrying a Paintball gun each. There are various objectives but usually, it is to retrieve a flag or a box close to your opponents' territory. The 'bullets' or rather paintballs, are round and made of gelatin where the 'paint' inside will break out from the ball once it hits. The 'paint' is edible, taste like vanilla but bitter. More information of the game can be found here.

Paintball bullets

Well, I was a little nervous before playing, as I was bruised from the last experience and I thought I told myself I will never play the game again. LOL...Actually , the main reason why I got bruised last time was I didn't wear proper attire, just a t-shirt and track pants. This doesn't give me proper protection. I didn't suffer any bruises today as I wore an army uniform, which was borrowed from my ex-national servicemen colleague and covered up myself properly. Thus, if you wear the right attire, you should be fine. Check out some websites on how to protect yourselves. It can be slightly painful once you got hit and this is where the attire came in. You will be given a mask to protect your eyes and face and a vest to protect your body. Thus, all you needed to do, besides wearing a long sleeve shirt, is to wore a pair of gloves and a thick pants like jeans. Wear clothing in layers, if you are afraid of the pain.

My team...I have purposely blurred the images of my team mates for privacy reasons.

My team played two games and drew both. It was not a bad result as we finished joint third. It's quite an action game but you will surprised to see ladies holding the guns and braved the raining paintballs from their opponents trying to retrieve the 'box' and ran back to their base.

Ok, I'm looking forward to the weekend break now. :)

Yes....it's the time again!! After a long four year wait, the majority of the football fans in the world will party for one month. The biggest event on Earth is about to begin !! The impact of world cup is so great that some companies willing to give time-off to their employees, especially in European countries.

For me, I have been quite a follower of  the World Cup since I was 12. Of course, my favorite team during then was Brazil. (It's England and Argentina now :p ) I witnessed the best matches of all time when Brazil (with Zico) beat Argentina 3-1 in the Espana 82 quarter-finals match. Some other memorable matches which I remember were Argentina-England quarter-finals  in Mexico 86, Argentina-West Germany in the final match of Mexico 86, Argentina-Italy Semi-Finals in Italia 90, Brazil v Holland in France 98 semi-finals, Brazil V Germany Final in Korea 2002, Italy V Germany Semi-Finals in the previous edition - Germany 2006.



For this edition, I picked Argentina to win the world cup based on the following theories-

- No European teams has won outside Europe ( check the winners' stats at wiki )
- Usually the favourites will not win but the underdogs, so don't expect Spain to lift the cup.


By the way, I predicted Italy will win the last World Cup and won some small bets with Singapore Pools. :P


Anyway, I'm afraid this edition may not be that fun for me as I didn't subscribe to the cable tv in Singapore as the telcos has been charging exorbitant fees to subscribers for the event - around S$94.16 compared to the last edition. I have to resort to watching it elsewhere. I can only watched a 'proper' match when I'm back to JB during weekend breaks.


Get ready for the biggest event on Earth with beers, nuts, McDonalds, titbits and etc...Last but not least, guys, make sure you don't desert your wifey and girlfriends for the next 4 weeks :)