Accomplishment of the 42.195km

Enrolling myself in the the standard charter martathon, which is 42.195km long, i started my own training about 2 months back. I'd not been running regularly for 1 year plus, and the feel of running again is just so tiring.

From a round of a part of bishan park (abt 3.4km), to 2 rounds and 3 rounds, i ran for an hour 2 to 3 times a week to prepare myself for the run. Normally, it takes approximately abt an hour, sometimes with the companionship of my running buddy, Loo..

I thought, that i would have simply complete the whole marathon within 5 hours.. but that is wrong...

The start of my holiday is equal to the stopping of my running to to the tiredness that i face daily when working.. So, i think naturally, my stamina drops again..

On 7th Dec 08, the race day, i were to reach esplanade drive at 5.30am which is the time that the race was suppose to start. However, equipped with only 3 hours of sleep due to work, i work up only at 5.45am. In this marathon, i had 2 best friends who were suppose to be joining me side by side, one being Qingfa, the other being Leon. haha.... but both of them just dissappear, not because they run too fast, but because they did not attend the run. Qingfa went overseas with his family and Leon went missing the night before, and i doubt he went for the run..

Upon reaching the destination, i time is about 6.45am. I started along with those half marathon but running different route. I'm not the latest i think... With my MP3 which lasted only 2 hours, i ran on my own. I like the feeling of running past people as that gives me an achievement of 'fast'. Being one of those who were late and as the last few of themarathon, my aim is not only to complete the race but also to catch up with the main pack.

I jogged non stop, taking water, isonate water, a banana, some kind of energy gel, along the way.. i felt energetic... however, after 17km, i gave up, my legs aching.. i took the deep heat from those at the side of the road distributing them, and applied to my legs, i walked run, walked run.... til the 21st km when i heard the couple passing a electronic part were there's a beep sound.. and when i passed, there wasn't any. I wondered why, and looked at their shoes before realising that the black thing which i collected before the race must be pet at the shoes nd not in my hand pouch.. OMG, so, my timing is off so much then... haha...

I continued the journey, running stopping, stopping running, my legs aching more an more.. the feeling of the pain which i felt in hell week seemed to surface again.. however, along the journey, i saw some of my batch boys, zurong, silvestre, gabriel chong and mervin, and it seems that quite a few of the others were also in the race, and i think they are up in front of the middle pack.

Towards the finishing line, the sight of people were funny... it seems all had became penguin, the movement, walking were so funny.. but i wanted a strong finish... so i bore with the pain and finish with a run... i finished it in 6hours 17mins.. from my own watch timing... the time being about 1pm..

The pain on the legs were excruciating thereafter.. I felt it when i reached home and it indeed lasted for a few days.... so... these are the photos... and, i'' put more up soon...

Charm: without pain, there's no gain..

Guilty of not Blogging

Yo!!! Firstly, let me apologise for not blogging.. lol.. I'll put it down to the fact of me working, exams(which finished on the 10th Nov), and probably just plain laziness...

Exams shd be fine this time round, i hope... December gotta be very busy due to christmas sales and hopefully, all the villagers in Singapore will come and get some presents for their love ones, if not i wun get any sales.. =p

I was looking through the photos in my album when i saw that i have so many of the photos not uploaded yet. haha... and so... its here:

Eileen's wedding..

A photo with the gorgeous bride, one who i worked with when we both finished our O levels.. She look so pretty in that dress, and for all ur info, she's an ex-airstewardess..

Our table..

Friend's gathering:

Yoshi's going home, back to Japan after a 6month attachment to NUS.. We met for the last time before he left for his home in Japan...



So, i made some japanese friends, a malaysian and a Singaporean in this group. And of course, a few of them cannot make it to this gathering.

The memories:

I was looking at the profiles of my friend's when i saw some of the photos we took while we were still serving for our countries. As seen, in this photo, we were taking a break during one of the many rehearsals of the NDP'06. The last parade held in the national stadium.

Zhengxin's birthday:

A sumptious dinner treat from zhengxin on his birthday at marina square. However, we had 2 people missing here, Yongzhong (who was assigned to India for his job) and Danwin ( who was in Australis studying). We purposely took this photo of the wonderful meal to share with them. =p


Zhengxin with his girlfriend.

An after dinner supper at Xing Wang... wooohoo... i love the peanut butter bread there..

The five of us...

And so candid we tried....

Charm: Devotion = time + effort

Long overdued Phukit trip

So, my trip on 5 Oct is long overdued? lol... i have to admit that loading pictures into blogs is so annoying, due to the long waiting time and the 5 pics at a time process, repetitive, is so tedious...
However, here they are nevertheless..


For the past few years, my parents have been travelling to Thailand to pay respect to one of the gods, Jiu wang ye, on his birthday. This trip, along with tens or even a hundred of his friends, seems to be a boring one for me as the thoughts of going around with them to temples... omg... this just don't seem to be in my list of overseas stuffs to do.

However, this year, my parents asked me if i wanted to follow them there. I was hesistant at first, due to the intial thoughts and the exams being around the corner. But, a look at my calender, i saw the empty slots for the whole week as i have no lessons. So, i thought why not? since its paid for by my dad. =p

This, being my first trip to Thailand, and my desired diving trip at first to phukit ( which turn out that the virginity was givin to other things rather than a diving trip).

I was tasked by my dad to book tickets online for tiger airways and air asia for them, me and a friend of his. So, the amount per person? Its dirt cheap, considering that its less than S$200 per person for a round trip, even thou its on a budget airline.. and i have to book multiple times spread over multiple days due to the limit of my credit card and that i have to pay through AXS whenever i reach the limit of the credit. This being tedious too...

5th Oct, in the evening, we arrived at the budget terminal, my first time there again... haha... don't laugh at my sua gu - ness...

The tiger plane which we took to phukit... Its so small and crampy... On the trip there, along with us, is one whole 'battlelion' of scouts i think, form one of the overseas school in Singapore, and they are so hyper in the plane, throughout the ride.

My dad, mum and me, taking a photo at the awaiting hall at the budget terminal.. Nothing much to shop here as compared to the terminal 1 and 2.. =( I was trying so hard to play with my new samsung omnia wifi, but think i'm either from stone aged or that the phone need some bashing... i just cannot connect!!!

Upon arriving, a mini van chartered by the Metropole Hotel which we were staying, sent us there..



OMG!!! The instant entrance to the hotel just stunt me!!! This was supposed to be the best hotel in Phukit town, but you will not, or should i say NEVER, see this in Singapore. The hotel was decorated with flags and stuffs in its lobby. However, i think it just show that Thailand is really a sacred place to be in... and i have to admit i respect them for this.



One of the display in the lobby in this hotel... Anyway, the room rate during this 'vegetarian festival', which will have u seeing lots of Singaporeans, malaysians, etc.. in phukit, is just S$58 a room. And its fully booked during this period, with some of my dad's friend having to go to other hotels.

The view in my room.... Okie lar... What more can u ask for S$58 a room.. I shared this room with my dad's friend.. he's hilarious!!! haha... but i dun noe what to blog abt him

The view to the temple.. mind u, this is just one door to the many deities. This temple housed taoist deities, the house of buddha, thai gods and indian gods.. I think there are over a thousand of immortals house there.

On the side of the temple but still within its vicinity, is onecool place which u will see in Singapore.. the Kopitiam.. and there's a 881 over the other side as well... but they sing thai songs and not the ones u see in 881..

The seats, erm... i forgot what are these called in english, which they will tie the statues to while walking round the streets in the morning daily..

The Dang gi, or the person who had the god posessed in him, healing the people. I wanted to try to see if they really can heal my knee, but i wasn't wearing a shorts that day, so i gave it a pass...

1 of the ang mo who gaved it a try nevertheless. I find this quite amazing and wonder how the deity react when he sees the cross tatoo on his back.. I wonder if he did it on purpose or not.

The Thais dedicate a channel for this festival!! U can watch it even if u aren't there....

On the streets all around Phukit town, you have stalls selling vegetarian food and white shirts which u have to wear if wanna follow the rituals... In this stall, it seems that they are brothers to KFC... lol...

The buzz around the streets, endless stalls selling food and endless no. of vehicles... Only while u are here, will u understand the importance of our government imposing ERPs and road taxes.... ENDLESS flow and jams of motorbikes and cars!!!

The funniest thing that i found about MacDonalds is that they follow the culture!! haha... You won't see this statue in Singapore...

The scenery from my room...

The morning 'Chingay' daily during the festival... over here, u see He Xian Gu.. Its so crowded and u will be amazed by how devotees actually offered their offerings on the long stretch of tables... and the 'deities' distributing them to the devotees..

The birthday of the deity, Jiu wang ye, as seen in the pic... You have people throwing fire crackers on that and the people walking with them... However, you don't need to be a General or something to be allowed to play with fire crackers. Neither do u need to be trained for months like what they have to do during national day parade.. All u need to do is just purchase the fire crackers and throw.. U won't be charge in court!! ( Not in Singapore thou)

Ne zha!!

The dragon dance. Its all so similarm that we see here during Chinese New Year. Only that this dragon seems to be having loads of monay stuffed in its mouth where ever it goes!!

A trip to one of the mountains, they have a national project to build this buddha, which have taken years.. Its huge, enormous, and wow!!! haha... made of ceremic tiles, it requires donations from visitors, whereby they can donate money or buy a tile..

The monks here are busy!! they don;t even have time to eat their lunch. Following the people in my group, i kneeled before him, and he said some prayers on me, sprinkled some water and gave me tokens of food donated by devotees.

The buddhas with the monks..

The scenery form the top of the mountain.

My mum and me.. The air is so fresh up here. but its hot!! and the humid feels so different from Singapore..

The bronze buddha that is still under construction.

the 'feng ling' or the wind bells..

The creative toilet that they have here. I think its more inviting than the ones u see in Sentosa or the zoo..

my mum and dad at the toa pek gong temple.. Fire crackers again... this time, 10000 connected together and pi-pi-piak-piak... never get to take down the photo as i was playing with dogs outside the temple.

Amazingly, every vehicle that passed by this temple horn. This was, as i heard from the people, a respect to toa pek gong... I wonder what will happen if drivers horn their cars when they pass by guang ming shan...

The beach at patong... a good place to shop and bargain!!! haha... and bikini girls, sun, sea, sand...

erm...

Over here, its surprising to see ang mo-s being into the religion.. I guess we see very few in Singapore, but its really a sight for me!!! I was told in the precious year, there are negro-s and even ang mo who are dang-gi...

This is what i mean by u won't have to go through trainings or have a rank of a general to play with crackers!! Insane people the bystanders are... they just throw the crackers at u.. and it seems they don't feel much of a pain... I was standing aside, trying to take picures and being a good guy, i won't wnt to be a villian.. coz i wun want people to throw at me either..

Okie... the faint hearted should not see this!!! It is said that when the god possessed them, they won;t feel any pain.. so here come the axe, knives, every weapon u noe of... and chop chop... blood flowing...

Looks insane to me, he uses an axe and on his tongue, it goes left right left right, just like the timing in marching u noe of in NS.. then the blood flow freely... Yeah, its disgusting... but this set me thinking if they are really possessed. if they are not, how do they endure the pain, the flow of blood, the aftermath, the.....?

here's another one... u can see that the blood is there... i was at the place where i really saw flood flowing non stop, and the axe also chopping non stop!!!

I always thought that Singapore is very efficient.. this only after what i saw in this festival... everyday, u see the loads of rubbish on the roads, everywhere. If this were to happen here, i think closure of roads are bound to happen.. However, just behind these displays, are 2road cleaners vehicles and sweepers.. the road resumes straight after the displays with no road closures. the place is cleaned up within 10 mins!! Now... this is what i call efficient..

Like what i said above, this is more than what u can see in Singapore, prob getting a rating of Z26 instead of R21... haha... probably, they will ban it..

Gruesome...

Side view of the chopping... Nah... its not even a M16... see how the child enjoyed that?

The thousand hand goddess on display... mind you.. its one big long chain of displays

Another goddess on display, just that this is a real human, prob possessed also... she's giving out tokens of sweets or amulets..

The lion dancer that prob earn more than what i earn in 3 months.. everyday, he just had a lion head, going around and loads of money are stuffed to his mouth... And the most hilarious thing? the Wealth god, or i called the cai shen ye, which has a head like da tou wa wa, not the possessed ones... collects money from the people rather than give money out to people... haha...

This kid is brave!!! i don't think i have the guts to do what he did

see the one on the top? thats the kid!!! he is emotionless!!!

The vehicles are just so power!!! they played the buddha songs like we play techno like that

another vehicle.... just so many of them!!!

My mum... and u can see the long long stretch of offerings to the deities while they are on their displays....

I wanna grab a moment of that too before they arrive..

This is the rubbish cleaner truck that i'm talking about... right behind the displays...

the in sightsof the vehicles.... swee bo?? haha... try modifying this to ur vehicles? u not only ganna summons, court hearings but also Singaporeans writing to newspaper to complain ah... that is even if u don't play a single sound on it... Just putting this to ur vehicle..

the transformer..

Crossing this 'Ping An Qiao' isn;t easy... u have to go vegetarian for at least the whole day..

the front ciew of the temple.

Getting ready for the D-day( looks like coolie?).... You know what? i thought that training in NDU is already very difficult already.. but in this D-day of the festival, that is if u choose to walk with the deities to send him off... u will use up whatever u learn in trainings..

Getting ready for the walk...

The huge no. of followers in the temple... its so squeezy...

I was told there are hundreds of Dang-gi for the last day.. something you won't experience until you get there... its as if the whole palace of deities came down... the most exciting part of the process? You get someone standing beside u, suddenly possessed!!!

trying to be funny... wondering why everyone is having a white cloth over them? to protect u from the crackers thrown at u in case they hit ur head.. i had one big one over my hand and another on my back... haha... also the cloth is to protect u from inhaling too much smoke!!!

Stylo people i met there... one of them is the second runner up in the world's tatooing... haha,, we call them gong ji or chicken!!! just look at their hair!!

They are the extremes!!! For this one which one of my dad call him Osama, he had his tongue cut into 2... and he did a clap with '2' of his tongues.. Just like a snake..

Look at the no. of big studs he had on his tongue!!! i was told that they have no place to tatoo on their body... so they started doing the extremes...

The departure!! Notice the 'curtain' at the gate? Its not a curtain!! its all fire crackers!! there were at least 1000 bunch of them which amounts to a million of a cracker.. we have to go through that!!! and good thing it did not start when i went through.. haha... Remember that i said whatever, i learned in NS was being used here? okie... During the hell week, the terrifying sound of the machine guns seems to come back to haunt me... before the ceremony, the crackers started. Non-stop firing of the crackers, smoke everywhere on the streets. the training whereby, we don our mask upon hearing 'gas! Gas! Gas!' keep ringing in my mind... so does the firing of the crackers... i became afraid, very afraid.. the thoughts of another hellweek seems so near again.. route march for 2 hours with constant crackers thrown at u.. endless inhaling of smoke, with the irritant of smoke on ur eyes... etc...

The departure

Smokes, fire crackers.... rush... feeling like a part of a riot..

Initially, when the crackers are thrown at me, i will kick them back to the side and its funny when u see people throwing them at u jumping and dancing around the crackers as it goes piak-piak... however, the walk lasting about 3 hours, i got tired, grumbling in my heart, endless vulgarities scolded inside me... its really a test of patience..


i do think that those who think u are good... try this festival next year... i'll be there with u..

The final destination after a long and tiring walk.. my white attire, along with my shoes, became black.. i smells... the same as the last day of hell week... i got the feeling and achievement as that when i passed my 5 days of hell week...

The sending off by boat... looks like straight out of the romance of the 3 kingdoms, whereby zhuge liang was on the ship to get arrows from the enemies...

The burning of the stuffs... There's another long long chain of fire crackers....

Doesn't it look like the Gu zhuang ju?

the toilets are so full, however, i noticed this mobile bus toilet... Me, not being able to understand a single thai nor read the words, i went to the girls toilet... no wonder i cannot find the standing urinals... anyway, the guys toilet here seems to be open for all to see... u can see the guys peeing inside..

Another interesting thing that i saw was how 2 groups of youngsters fighting.. its ruthless... the girl stomping on the guy's head like nobody's business... and the policce standing on one side watching how the episode ends..




The trip out

So, i met 2 new friends there and i joined them for their snorkelling trip... 1800 baht for a full day of fun inclusive of meals... worth it!!!

One of the island made famous by a hollywood movie... haha...

The sight is pretty, isn't it?

Pretty scenery, better with those sun bathing... haha...

Notice, how clear the waters are? i can literally see the fish, unlike the water in Singapore!!!

on the yatch deck... to another island...

i look so gay in this pic.. but nvm...

the feeding of bananas to the monkeys...

The wonderful view...

playing a fool on the yatch... okie... look at the gal there... apparently, a lot of them wear bras and panties instead of bikinis..

enjoying a glass bottle of pepsi.. The sun's scortching hot!!!

The brazilian sitting next to me.. They wana took a photo of her so... i have to act... haha... told u how they love wearing bras and panties instead of bikinis...

Snorkelling in the water... i think diving is better. but too bad they don't dive.. so i have to snorkel... as i was trained in holding breath and i can just touch the see bed, the ang mo-s are pretty impressed as they asked me to demonstrate to them and they clapped!! haha...

the clear waters, me enjoying a swim there..

Can u see the fishes?



This trip is very enriching to me... seeing how the festival actually attracts people all over the world and how other races also worship the religions.. the beautiful sceneries and the indulgence of food there are just so good... the challenge of walking the route is the most satisfying... and i dare u people to join me for next year!!!

I wanna stay longer next year, i wanna do more shoppings and divings and water rafting... The challenge is open now!! Do u dare?


Charm: Experiencing is better than seeing and commenting