New Toy - Nokia E71

Yes, I finally went over to the Dark Side and am now a Nokia phone user. I bought this phone a couple weeks ago and I have been quite happy with it. The key pad is very responsive. Even though the keys are small, I have no problems with the keypad and the overall usage so far.

It has a built-in GPS and has been working smoothly with the Garmit XT mobile software that I am using with it. I also have downloaded Google maps on it and it is working very nicely, the few times that I have tried it. Yes and now you can send me messages in Chinese. Unlike my old phone, this phone does display Chinese brilliantly. Not that I am better at reading Chinese anyway.

Also, Windows Live comes with it so I can be on MSN 24 hours if I so wish. I can check my web email with it and that is rather useful since my office tries to block MSN and web email on my work computer. Yes and my family will be happy now that it works as an internet phone though I have not set that up. In fact there are a lot more functions to it than I care to find out.

So does this phone actually save more of my time? Certainly not. In fact, I have been spending some late nights trying to figure out what this gadget can do. As with most gadgets, many times they end up owning us instead of us owning them. Also it is funny how when you buy things there is this chain effect. For example, if you buy a nice TV then you might buy a new DVD player. Because you have a nice DVD player, you want a good sound system...and so on and so forth. In the case of my phone, since the phone supports so many internet functions, I want to get a 3G internet plan. Because I have a 3G internet plan... I do hope the list ends at the internet plan.

So the moral of the story? You do not have to change phones every couple of years. There is no shame in using an old phone and no rules stating that you must change a phone when your contract with your mobile company ends. Yes, use the old phone unless it is breaking apart and ignore all those irritating friends that have nothing better to do than nag at you for not keeping up with the trend. Their nagging worked on me and see how I turned out.

Music & Personality

My friend bought a used MP3 player and sold it to me. Quite a nice player - Cowon D2, 2Gb memory. Anyway that's not the topic of this discussion. As the Mp3 was "lost", it came preloaded with a lot of Korean songs and a few English songs. It has the full Dreamgirls soundtrack converted. I was wondering if one can tell a person's personality by listening to the music that she listens to. Anyway I think it is not easy to tell. For example, if one likes heavy metal music, what type of person is she. I think it is easy to stereotype but not easy to tell a personality just by music choice. Moreover, nowadays with digital music players going in gigabytes, there can be thousands of songs in a player.

Anyway, the player also had the movie Benny & Joon in it. I remembered when I was in college, the friends around me loved the show. It was one of those talked about show for a couple of months. I didn't really think it was so fantastic but my friends did.

My new love - Run Ning

Yeah lately it's all about Run Ning. She's my new love. I spend around 3 times a week with her. However she is also very rough with me. If I spend too much time with her, I might get hurt. She's not nice to me but to others they can spend 6-7 days with her and still not feel any effect. Even then, most of my free time has been consumed by her. I hardly play any computer games or go to the movies anymore. On days that I don't see her, I usually meet up with church friends. Also, rather than turning my blog into a shrine for her, I would much rather keep this as my travel and ramblings blog and create a new blog in her honour. That way I wouldn't have to bore you with Run Ning and still be able to write about my new love. It would be Run Ning's shrine.

Haruki Murakami - Kafka

Sorry if lately my blogs have all been about getting fit and running. If it seems like that it is because training for the Kinabalu run has taken a majority of my free time. I did finish a book from Haruki Murakami called Kafka on the shore while I was at Kinabalu. A friend lent it to me and highly recommended it. I found the characters in the book interesting - all of them rather weird. The main character is a fifteen year old boys who escapes from his home because he hates his father. He is also trying to escape this Oedipal prophecy from his father of him falling for his mother and killing the father. Yeah it is a rather dark book. What I like about it was that the story is weird and a little fantastical. Things do not necessarily have to follow the laws of physics and reality...cats talk, spirits can be projected out of the body, leeches can fall from the sky, etc.

Update on the Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon II

The race started at 7:00am Sunday. I woke up early at around 4:15am to get changed and to eat some breakfast as I was expecting the pickup van to come at about 5am. Fortunately, I got ready early because a car came at 4:40am to pick us up. Morning at around the base is chilly especially since I was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts. There were about 6 runners from the lodge that I was staying but the car could only pick 4. Actually the 2 that took the second round would have been more fortunate because we ended up having to wait at the starting line from 5:15 till the time that the race starts. For those that were inexperienced, we only had our racing gear. The smart ones had thermal wear and they were comfortably warming up till the start time. There was a baggage drop off counter at the start so they would transport your jackets back down to the finishing point.

The race started promptly at 7am after the roll call and was more a walk than a run for me. Even before the 1km mark, I couldn't keep running and had to revert to brisk walking. Simply too steep for my heart to take it if I was running. The route was uneven steps almost all the way until around 6.5 km I think. Then it turns to a steep rock face for the rest of the journey. By the time it turn to the rocky section, my quads were already getting cramps and my thighs were like jelly. I was just literally pushing myself up although I knew judging from the timing that I could not make the summit in time. Just did not train enough on steps.

Therefore on my certificate it wrote DNF (did not finish). I did not finish the race. I was a little too slow going up. At the cut off time at 2hrs 30 I was probably at 7.5km. The summit is 8.75km. The run marshals let me continue till about 8km then turn me back.

I decided to run down as much as the legs could take. However, the uphill part already took most of my strength so I wasn't fast coming down. I tried to go as fast as I could till I took a tumble. I tripped on a rock and fell. I scraped my knees and elbows. After the fall, I just took my time coming down as my left knee was a little swollen. Moreover, I knew that I would have a DNF anyway even if I sprinted down in the allotted time. Fortunately with all the skating falls, I had good experience with treating road rash.

Great experience, I guess (though still a little traumatised. Ask me a few more weeks and I would tell you what a wonderful time I had). My consolation is that many share the same DNF with me. Out of around 170 men runners, only 40+ qualified. So there were around 130 of us, who just went for the experience. It seems from the race director usually only about 30% from the men's open category qualifies. With this DNF race, guess I'll have my next year's fitness goal fixed as well - need to finish some unfinished business.

Kinabalu run update

Still in Kota Kinabalu but don't feel like talking too much about the run. Too traumatized to talk about it now. When I find a computer with a proper keyboard I will let you know how it went. So this message is to say I am still alive but slightly scarred.

Too much time?

Arrived in KK this morning and realised that I may have alloted too much time to just sitting around and doing nothing. Quite likely I'll be around the Mt Kinabalu base camp for a few days. Maybe it would be good to roam around the area a little. I remember from the map I saw earlier this year, there were a few trails around the base. Maybe take a few hours tomorrow to hike a little or go to the tree top walk and hot springs. But for now, I am stuck with my big bag and no itinerary except the run on Sunday. I'll probably take a bus to the base camp very soon. Maybe get a good bite and move on. As have been my experience, time usually flies once I start moving around.

Running late

Yes lately I have been in the best cardio shape than I have ever been. That is for as long as I can remember. Well since I am going to run the Kinabalu run in about 2 weeks, I ought to be but sadly I have to admit I am a little lacking. Tried to run a small hill in Ipoh and found it to be torturous - my calves were burning and I had to walk for the majority of the way uphill. That hill was about 800m...Kinabalu is 4000+m. Given that the tickets have already been paid for and the time off work has been scheduled, all I can say is that I will give it my best shot. I will likely try to squeeze in a last longer run by Tuesday if possible. Then it will be just maintenance till the race. Thinking about the race at least gives me something to look forward to rather than the monotony of working in corporate Singapore day in, day out. Yes for me in a fitness sense, this is shooting for the moon.

Second Gunung Ledang Trip

This is my second Gunung Ledang trip in the last 2 months. I go because it is something to do and I need some training for my legs. Anyway, just some pictures of the group that came along.

Ledang 2nd Trip

Kinabalu Climbathon

At the beginning of the year as I was making resolutions, I came up with a fitness goal that I thought would challenge me for the year so I signed myself up for the Kinabalu climbathon.

Here is what I wrote during the start of the year...

Year 2008. Just started a new fitness resolution for the year. This year I want to run below the men's qualifying time for the Sabah Climbathon in Malaysia. Why this event? I am staying in Singapore currently and have always like the mountains. I figured to go below the qualifying time for this event would be a great achievement for me. It is difficult enough that it is a real challenge. I know to some who are reading, they might think it is not a tough challenge. But difficulty is a very relative measure, to me a beginner runner, this will be my holy grail for 2008.

How do I, a runner who barely runs 10k a week, train and develop the legs to run a 21k mountain run? How do I prevent injuries when currently I get leg problems only after 5km runs? Currently, there is relatively few mountain running plans for the absolute beginner. That is, at least, from what I can find. The best stuff I can find so far is on the Pikes Peak marathon and that event seems much tougher than the Kinabalu run. So I thought if I write down the training plan, it could be a guide for beginner runners like me to gauge how much training is required for this run or similar mountain runs.

Another disadvantage is that Singapore is relatively flat. The best hill to run is Bukit Timah which is about 1.5 hours away by public transportation. Much of my training will be on the roads around my house in Simei and the threadmills at the gym, which fortunately I have paid for in advance.

Fast forward to July 1, 2008. I have definitely ran more than I did in the beginning of the year. Still it shames me to say that I did not come up with a definite plan. Let me sit down and plan after finishing this blog. With 50+ days ahead of me, I need to do the max that I can do to get below the qualifying times without getting any injuries.

Another thing with these type of mountain races is that it is difficult to know how much is enough without experience. Will 30k flat be equivalent or will 20k run on the threadmill with incline be enough? However, one thing I know is that what I am doing currently is not enough. If you have any good running tips to help me train, now is the time to let me know. I will try to keep you updated on the running schedule, if you are interested and do not laugh about it.

Spanking New Skates

Just got myself a pair of new skates. They are in between speed skates and recreational skates. I wanted to take a picture of them before I use them. I think given my beginner skill level and the length of the frame, I will scrape them on the ground soon enough. Probably on the first few tries and they'll not be spanking new anymore. The people in the skate shop kept reminding me not to go to any slopes with them before I could learn how to stop. I definitely don't want to skate in east coast park with them till I get proficient in these skates. That way I don't get to see the smug smile of those skaters who beat me but are on kiddie skates. However, that'll mean many months as my focus will be on running for the next few months. Anyway, I think after a few weeks I won't care what they think. Let the kids have their satisfaction. As one of the speed skaters mentioned, you have to start somewhere.

This setup is quite an upgrade from my 78mm recreational skate wheels. 100 mm versus 78 mm. I am not sure if I can even stop with the heel brake. Still it is not full speed skate as the cuff is higher. But I guess it'll be quite close. This toy will keep me occupied for some months. For now the focus is still on running as the Kinabalu event is just around the corner.

First skating event

During the weekend, I participated at a skating and cycling event at the Paya Lebar Air base. It was a annual event where they move out all the planes and open the air base to the public as a cycling and skating event. The course was 15 km per lap and there were varying events of different distances to cater for people with different goals. I participated in the 30 km endurance skate and tried skating for 30 km for the first time ever. It was a great experience but I also learnt that skating uses a set of muscles that I hardly train, the back muscles. At least for my skating style, I use a lot of back muscle. I must be skating wrong because towards the last few kilometers I could barely push fast due to the sore back. I also learnt that my skating skills need tons of improvement. Many were just zooming past me before I even got tired. If before I thought I was entering the intermediate stage, I just realised I am just a little better than the absolute beginner. Well I think I like this sport so I think next year I'll come back with a vengeance (if I am still in Singapore). Next year God permitting, I'll focus more on improving my skating skills. For this year, the sport focus will be running, in particular, hill or cross country running.

Puteri Gunung Ledang

Last weekend was a longer weekend so some of us pop over to a small town called Tangkak to climb Mt Ophir (Gunung Ledang). In fact there were 2 groups that went over. I climbed with the first group and hung out at the base camp while the second group climbed the next day.

The drive from Singapore to Tangkak takes around 2.5 hours. So on most weekends, I figured you could easily hop over on Friday night and come back Saturday morning. Even with car rental, I think it would cost about $80 SGD only.

It was not exactly a walk in the park. In fact it is rather challenging as a one day climb. The first group that trekked up consisted of Deon, Anna, Fang, David & myself had a blast climbing up. We weren't ultra fast but we just happily trod along. Somehow, I think I just gel well with this group so I had a good time. We stopped for light snacks along the way and just enjoyed the walk up. We did not reach the summit due to the heavy rain that started just 30 mins before we got to the summit. I actually wanted to continue climbing up as we were so near but was warned by a guide and a few others not to continue. So heeding their advice, we just turned back and went back to the base. Looking back, it probably would not have been dangerous if we continued on. I had a great time but I did not find any trace of the mysterious puteri (princess) Gunung Ledang. All I saw were some "unglam" shots of Deon, Anna and Fang. Well Anna did try to put on lipstick before the climb so she gets an A for effort. See it for yourself...

Mount Ophir May 2008

Myanmar refusal of visa

I am really indignant at the Myanmese government. According to them, 60k+ people are unaccounted for some died and many lost. And they want to play games and refuse foreign help. Their visa office in Thailand is on holiday. Can you believe it? People are dying and they cannot decide. Food is a few hours away, and they are going to let some starve due to redtape. Man, if I had one of those Ironman suits, I would just put it on and blast these government officials to smithereens. But I guess maybe it is good I don't have one, because I might end up doing something really silly.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5greyFH3qkj9mc9oagSoulgjN4KHgD90HTE586

UN blasts Myanmar for visa policy on aid workers
1 hour ago

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The United Nations says Myanmar's refusal to give visas to relief experts is "unprecedented" in the history of humanitarian work.

A spokesman of the World Food Program says the organization has submitted 10 visa applications around the world, including six in Bangkok, Thailand, and none of have been granted.

Spokesman Paul Risley said Friday "the frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts."

Myanmar's military government said more than 62,000 people died or are missing in a cyclone that hit the country's Irrawaddy delta last Saturday. The junta says it needs international aid but not the foreign experts and staff to deliver it.

No visas are expected to be issued in Bangkok on Friday because of a Thai holiday.

Picture of Kinabalu

Mt Kinabalu trip with dad

Click on the picture above to view the album.

Via Ferrata route : RM 600
Flight to KK: RM 400
Lodging: RM 300
Experience: Priceless

Climbing Kinabalu via ferrata

Guide and I at the "via ferrata" route down



Dad and I taking a rest on the way up the summit


Prep Time: 1 month
Time Off Work: 2 days
When To Go: Year round

Mt Kinabalu is one of the most accessible mountains in South East Asia and is respectably high at 4095m. It does not require any technical skill to climb up and offers a spectacular view up around the summit. However because of the accessibility, it does mean that the lodging up on the mountain is fully booked months in advance. Fortunately, most local tour operators manage to get a place if you go through them. Unfortunately, this means you'll have to pay more for the climb than if you go about trying to book it on your own. Also they have increased the price so dramatically that I am telling myself this is the last time I am going to stay up on the mountain lodges unless there is a super reason. However, it does offer the world's highest "via ferrata" route and the only one I know of in the SEA region.


Hiking up Mount Kinabalu was tiring this time round. Mainly because I have a full blown cold (cold sores + blocked nose / running nose). And going down 'via ferrata' required me to use my arms and shoulders which I do not usually train. Despite of all these minor problems, it will still be a very memorable time for myself because I got to spend some good time with my dad. The weather on the 2 days that we were there was perfect. It did rain a little but only when we were in the hut. Dad managed to climb it without any major problems. He knew he would have no problems with the normal route as he is in good shape but kept complaining about how scary 'via ferrata' would be for him but I kept encouraging him to give it a try. You never know till you are out there.

Another personal reason for going up the mountain was to have a feel for how difficult it would be to run up and down the mountain in the 4:30 hours. 4:30 hours is the cutoff time given for the climbathon that I have signed up for this August. Basically after the assessment, it would be nigh impossible in my current condition. Hiking up to the mountain lodges at the 6km mark took me nearly 3 hours and it was a steady walking pace with little rest. This means that in the next 4 months, I somehow have to whip myself into shape for this grueling task. Hmmm, I usually do not whip myself that hard so we will see how it goes when August comes. It will be a good challenge but the time has somehow run very short.

Flu to Kinabalu

Well, I have a cold and it sucks because tomorrow I am going on a long hiking trip at Mount Kinabalu again. I took 2 days off and did the preparation work for accommodation and all. So it will be a bummer having to walk with a dripping nose. Anyway, I have not let a cold stop me from going anywhere before so I don't think I will let it stop me from traveling this time.

I will be going on a route I have not been before this time round. Supposedly Asia's first "via ferrata". "Via Ferrata" is a mountain road equipped with fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges and so making it accessible to walkers and climbers (from Wiki). Previously it seemed that most of these routes were only available in Europe and I was stoked to see one in Malaysia. I somehow manage to convince my dad to come along as he has wanted to go to Kinabalu for some time so hopefully he will enjoy it and also we can get some good father and son bonding time. I'll give you some update after the trip. Now it is packing time and in 5 hours I am out of the house.

Road Rash Treatment

After a lot of trial and error and spending around $80 on road rash treatment, I feel I have a bit of say on the latest road rash treatment available.

Before I continue, I need to give a little definition of road rash. Road rash is a rash that appears when you press your skin hard on the road and then drag it along the road. A more common term would be skin abrasions. This happened to me as I was trying to see how fast I could go on my inline skates. After much effort, the final conclusion was not very fast, slower than sprinting. However to get to this conclusion, I had to eat a little pavement. I had to eat the road as I got out of control on the skates and ended up sprawling on the ground. Fortunately, I had my guards and helmet on but I still had some abrasions on my knees, hands and face.

Anyway after reading up on the internet, the current wisdom in treating road rash is to keep the wound moist. This goes against things that I was taught when I was a kid - to keep the wound dry. Many friends, some medically trained are still giving me advice on keeping the wound dry. As there were multiple spots for me to try, I kept the lighter wounds dry and the more serious wounds moist just to see if latest wisdom held up. It has been about 5 days now and I think I agree with the current wisdom. For abrasions, keep the wound moist with a moist wound dressing like Duoderm extra thin or Tegaderm. Even if the healing doesn't accelerate, moist wound dressing are so much easier to manage. Since the wounds are moist, movement does not hurt it as much. Moreover, as most moist dressings are waterproof and can be left on for days, I can take quick showers without having to clean my wounds or redress the wounds. Supposedly, moist wounds heal faster but I cannot compare since I dressed all the heavier wounds in moist dressings.

Summary of treatment after road rash:-
1. Take shower. Clean wounds with mild soap or sodium chloride 0.9%. Avoid harsh cleaners like hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol (hurts like hell) as they might damage the tissue.
2. Let surrounding area dry and cover the wound with moist dressing. Over in Singapore, Tegaderm, Duoderm extra thin and Opsite is readily available at bigger pharmacies. Just stick the film/dressing on top of the wound. Dressing removal usually does not hurt except for the occasional skin hair.
3. Keep surrounding area clean. Dressings should be changed every 2-3 days or whenever they start to peel off.

Cons: The dressing can cost quite a bit. Duoderm is expensive at $2 per piece. Tegaderm is relatively cheaper at $.50 per piece.

Gluten Free Diet

It has been almost 2 months since I started on my gluten free diet and I am almost used to it by now. This is probably because I am not very strict with the diet. I cut probably about 90% gluten from my diet but to be 100% gluten free requires too much effort. I probably would have to cook most of my meals at home.

So some might be wondering what is a gluten free diet? Basically it is a diet where one abstains from all wheat, rye and barley food stuff. Easy right? Not really. Gluten is everywhere - most processed foods, bread, cakes, biscuits, noodles - many things have gluten. And for me the most difficult thing stopping me from being completely gluten free is soy sauce. Soy sauce is made with wheat and almost all Chinese food is cooked with soy sauce or its derivatives. Since I eat out for every meal, it is really troublesome for me to avoid soy sauce in Singapore or in Malaysia.

I started this diet because I believe it would help my skin. I have bad eczema on my body and it has been irritating me for years. I have been to a few dermatologists and all they could do was prescribe me very strong medication to suppress the symptoms. I was on very strong immuno-suppresant drugs that gave me good relief but as a side effect I was constantly suffering from urinary tract infection. UTI is so uncommon for men that almost all UTI info is catered towards ladies. But I was suffering from it once every few weeks.

Anyway, I have been at it for 2 months and it has not really help my skin. This week was a particularly bad skin week for me. I will likely stick with it for a few more months to see if the symptoms are improved. Quite likely, I will have to start a food journal to see which type of food is bad and which type of food helps. One of the side benefit is that I have lost quite a lot of weight without really trying to lose weight. The other day I was at the gym and was shocked when I weighed myself. I thought I was around 65kg but the machine showed 61.7kg. When I started out 2 months ago, I was at 67kg. Maybe the machine was faulty but it was the same machine that weighed me at 67kg two months earlier. At this rate, I'll be underweight soon.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. So far today will be the first weekend of the new year. My resolution is still incomplete. This is one of those years that I'll be trying to make some resolutions. Not many, just a few things that I'd like to aim for this year.

2007 has gone by rather quickly. I cannot believe how quickly but I did not get many things done in 2007. The year was fun and events went past without much of a care. I got to do a few things that were exciting. Turkey was definitely a good, longer trip. I ran more last year than I ever did. I was also at the heaviest that I have ever have been. Don't know why, did not try putting on weight but it kept on increasing up month after month.

The weekend I have a feeling is going to be filled with activities - a good thing. But I need some reflection and planning time.