Friday, bloody Friday

This Friday, we had one of our bi-weekly cycling days. Planned to head to ECP for an afternoon of cycling and dinner at Bedok 85. Set off a little earlier as we had some errands to run. Headed first to SP to settle Stella’s boating license. We were hungry so we had our lunch there while we were at it.

After lunch we headed down to ECP by train. We’ve gotten to the habit of taking a taxi down from Bedok as the only bus that takes us to ECP is a ridiculous 40 minute ride for such a short distance. Well, it wasn’t very expensive anyway. Got to watch most of an episode of BSG on the way to Bedok, and we finished it when we got to ECP.

Us at Macs after finishing the episode:

Rented our bikes, and cycled for about 2 hours. This time we didn’t make many stops, so it was just a non-stop cycling trip along the way. Somehow or another we misjudged the distance and time it would take us to get back, so it was a bit of a rush getting back to the rental shop to return the bikes. thankfully they didn’t charge us any more for the extra time we took.

Bought some bubble tea, and sat down for a bit. The weather was really nice at that time, so the cool sea breeze was relaxing. Watched the sea crash against the sand, watched people going about and having their own fun. Nice. We even found some time for a small game that I recently uploaded to my ipod.

Our drinks, with the retarded looking mascots there. What are they? fish without tails? or bubbles from the bubble tea? Whatever they are, we ate them all.
Stella fiddling with her phone. Think she was smsing a friend or contacting a tuition agent.
We left around 6ish, and made our way towards Bedok 85. By the time we got there, we were starving, and set out to buy some food to eat.

Carrot Cake:
Waiting for food. The guy behind Stella had started talking to himself over his beer. Pretty entertaining:
The essential sugarcane juice with lemon:
We wanted to have some shellfish, so I went out and ordered some blood cockles and clams. We got a surprisingly large amount for 5 bucks a plate. Stella loved the blood cockles but not so much the clam so I think I ended up finishing most of it. We were given so much that we had trouble finishing it by the end of the night. Not only that, the bloody cockles (yes, literally dripping blood) frankly got a bit too much after a while. I’m hoping that I won’t die of cholesterol overdose, but it was a really good to just put health to the wind for a night and just enjoy ourselves.

We  also had a bowl of bak chor mee each. The girlfriend prefers the one from the stalls facing the outside area while I’m a fan of the Ah Poh one. We’ve come to the conclusion that the Ah Poh one has a tastier soup, while the other ones have better noodles. Can’t get the best of each I guess. Delicious anyway. The pictures were taken partly with Jasmeet in mind, and I think by now he would have already seen Stella’s blog. Although I’m not a patriot, I’m pretty darn confident that we have some of the best tasting foods in the world.
Me, my mee, and baldy:
You want some?
An insider’s look:
TGIF people.

hk day 2

Woke up to the cold air of the city. Took a couple of pictures of the view from Panda Hotel. Really beautiful. Here begins day 2 of our HK journeys.

aftermath and recovery – really not that snazzy

Just like how Stella is now nursing a bad throat infection of sorts, I’m now feeling the effects of my body trying to recover from the bad air in hk plus all the activity. Slept like a pig in the afternoon, and woke up feeling a little giddy. Probably need more fruits and exercise.

Aftermath

Man, I’m in a world of pain right now. Back muscles feel horribly overused, and I think I’ve developed a minor shin splint from the pressure caused by running too long. It’s a good pain though. I don’t mind something like this once a year to remind me that I’m alive.

We finished our StanChart 10k race

We even got medals to remember it by. I’m really thankful that I managed to complete the race, even though those little training sessions that I had never reached even 5km. Definitely part of the mental training also came from Stella egging me on with egg sandwiches this morning. haha. No, jokes aside, she has been telling me to do my best the whole week, and I’m just glad that I didn’t walk too much, even though it got pretty hellish around the 7+ km mark. Thanks nilly =) Those who say that anything after 8km is pure mental are right. I can’t even begin to imagine how Cheryl the Loris managed to complete the 42km even by walking. Crazy shit.

And I finally introduced Stella to the world of Moleskine Diaries. Got her a lined, softcover notebook so that she will have something nice to pen her thoughts and scribbles into wherever she goes.

Also bought a Jack Spade sling from Wooonderland. Love it for its technical design. Ironic thing is that I’ve always wanted a large bag to throw all my shit into, but somehow i ended up with something small this time. Oh wells. I guess I can do with one more extra bag. Shall not buy any more in HK =X

Running my first marathon

Gonna attempt my first 10k marathon tomorrow for the StanChart run. Let’s hope that I manage to complete it decently and not cripple myself in the process

Great to meet up with the EL people today for some bowling and dinner/drinks with Asraf, Cheryl and Erwin. Pity that it rained so we couldn’t go cycling, but I think everyone had a relatively good day in the end despite the cold and wet weather. I know I did.

Collected our stuff for the StanChart run that is this Sunday. Seriously, the only way I can describe the queue is that it was fucking long. Almost felt my life draining away second by second as we inched forward. I was telling Stella that the time we took to wait for our bags, I could have run the 10k and gone home already.

Anyway, minor gripe aside, hk is barely a month away. Can’t wait. This hols seems nicely packed with activities, and I think I am going to enjoy myself quite a bit.

gasp. 2 weeks.

Just realised that I have roughly 2 weeks left before the StanChart 10k run. Currently in the most unfit time of my life ever since army started, and I need to go on an intensive weight loss programme and dedicated muscle group training program on top of my runs. Need to shave off 2-3kgs so that I can push myself further with less effort, and the dedicated weight training to build up enough thigh and calf muscles to take the strain. I still remember how a friend ran and ran till his ankle sustained a hairline fracture just like that from the strain, and I hope it doesn’t happen to me.

The past week

Now that I may finally spend some time blogging, here’s some of the things that transpired over the past week :

1. Biyou’s birthday – Stella and I celebrated her birthday at Sun with Moon Restaurant

2. Andy leaves for Vietnam – One of my closest friends, Andy, was hired as a producer doing post-production work in Vietnam. As the decision came pretty quick, I was in a mad rush to meet up with him before he left. Basically most of the week was spent meeting him, and finally sending him off on Wednesday. He’ll be  back once a year. I’m pretty sad that over the years, my gaming group has splintered all over the globe, with Keane in Wellington, Jon (probably) ending up in Spain, and now Andy in Vietnam. That leaves me in Singapore without my closer group of friends. I love gaming, and I hope that I’ll never have to give up on it one day.

3. Bedok 85 – Yup, I finally got to try the food at Bedok 85, after Stella and I sent Andy off at the airport, and it was seriously good shit. I’m definitely going back with Stella soon. The food is so good that I don’t mind travelling down by MRT and bus just to have it. Singapore food rocks.

4. Intensive weight loss program – I was horrified when I went for my flu jab with Stella when I was asked to take my weight. I realised that all that slacking behind the computer screen had gained me a grand total of over 8kg since year 2. Like Jer says, I’ve been putting on the pounds indeed. It is with this that I am going back to my intensive exercise regime of a swim and run/gym everyday, plus a stricter control over my diet. I aim to lose a couple of kilos that by the 7th before I leave for Korea with Stella. Hopefully the hotels in Korea have gyms/pools in them – I’ll continue the rest of the program in the other country.

5. I’ve been studying for the exams – what else!

Later folks.