Starting To Get Warmer

Seems like the weather is getting warmer lately, which is a good thing. However, it's still not as warm you think it is. I still have to wear 2 layer of clothes and putting on hand gloves (and beanie at times) when going out for a run, with the exception of today. Sun was up today but after a few laps around the park, it was freezing.

I didn't do anything on Mon, thought I rest up my legs, which getting a little sore. On Tue, went for an hour run around Fawkner Park. Last night, I ran to Genesis Fitness Centre, Freshwater Pl, to join the training series run organised by the Melbourne Marathon organiser. The centre is about 3.5km from where I stayed, so I ran there to log in some mileage for the day. Reached there and saw there were about 20-30 runners waiting. Then a guy came out and asked everyone to gather around. He divided the groups. There were 8km, slow group, medium group and the other will be 12km group, divided into slow, medium and fast group. I was contemplating in joining the fast group but I thought I better not "kepo" in joinng the fast ones. A lot of them went with the fast ones, probably be doing 4:20-4:40 pace I think.

Anyway, it was a good decision. The medium pace group was at the speed I was looking at around 4:50-5:00/km pace. I just want to get my mileage in. The run started at around 6.10pm. There are 6 of us in the group and we started with a slow pace, running along the Yarra River and out around the Tan Track, then we went across the river to the Melbourne & Olympic Parks, better known in hosting of the first tennis Grand Slam each year, The Australian Open. The arena are also used to play host in some of the big concerts/events. Looking at their webpage, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, II Divo, Liza Minnelli, Nickleback and even Britney Spears will be down to perform. Melbourne will also play host to the coming UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics (Link). Speaking of which, Josiah actually lives where I am staying right now. Haven't got the chance to meet him yet, as my cuz told me that he is away in Japan for some track races. But he will be back for the World Cup. And oh....it's held on the day that Im flying off from Melbourne. Since my flight is at midnight, will be catching some of the events for the night session and head straight off to the airport after that.

Now where was I? Oh...we ran pass the Melbourne Park thru to Melbourne Cricket Ground or better known as MCG. MCG is the largest stadium in Australia which can hold a capacity of over 100,000 spectators. This stadium is packed every Sat due to the football game...no we're not talking about soccer you idiot. We're talking about the fiery game of Aussie Rule Football, the Footie. Everyday you take out the newspaper and turn to the sports page, you'll have 3-5 pages on footie before you have the other sports news. And everyday, you'll have at least one show or more on TV. These people are crazy about AFL (yeah, not EPL). Even my cousin, Alissa, can sing and dance to her favourite team theme, St. Kilda! Well, MCG of course did play host to the 1956 Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Back to my running. We passed MCG, then went on to run around Fitzroy Garden. Can't see much as it was already dark. But running in the dark, you are able to see the beauty of the city, where Melbourne's skyscrapers are lighted up manigficently. The run was pretty much a tour around the city for me, as one of the guys put it. We then ran across one of the bridge back to where we started. I ran slowly back to Kheng's place after that. Took a quick shower and had fried rice leftover I cooked in the afternoon. I think I logged in about 19km yesterday, I was pretty satisfied with it.

Today, as I went out to do a tempo run, my lower back hurts at the start of the run. Thankfully it felt better after a while. I cut short 10 mins off what I wanted to do. I've been feeling the lower backache lately, so I think I better not run for tomorrow. It could be the cold weather which is affecting my lower back. Even with the "koyok" I stuck behind my back is not helping at all.

Cooked some rice and as for vege, I dumped the mince meat, carrot and cauliflower into the wok and stir fry. Easy meal. Nothing delicious thou but it did fill my hunger. Mmmh, next time I should take photos of my cooking (well, some really look or taste like shit! Who asked me never learn it from my mother).

Oh, here's a photo of Lamington, generally found in Australia. Basically it's a sponge cake, with chocolate icing with desiccated coconut.


Boy, I wish I could have a massage right now for my backache!

Nike+ Human Race, Singapore

Just saw the ad for this race. Looks like a good/fun run.

"Date: 24 Oct 2009

Race Duration: 7.30am – 11am

Venue: Singapore’s scenic route.

Details to be announced soon.

Entry Fee: S$20 (24 years old & below)

S$35 (25 years old & above)

And here’s some encouragement for those running in the Nike+ Human Race 10km:

All runners get a Nike race t-shirt with a pre-printed number bib.

Every Nike+ Human Race 10km finisher will receive a special finisher’s bracelet.

Look forward to an exclusive music concert featuring Thaitanium (Thailand), Composition B (Singapore), Estranged (Malaysia) and more from the region after the race.

Starting 10 Sept 2009, the 1st 1000 who buy the Nike+ SportBand 2.0 will get to register for FREE for the Nike+ Human Race 10km.

Please visit the following Nike stores for detail:

+ Nike Wisma Atria

+ Nike VivoCity

+ Nike Suntec City Mall

+ Nike Paragon

+ Nike Wheelock

+ Nike Orchard Central

+ Nike Velocity

Look out for a host of other goodies at the race."

Too bad can't make it. Anyways, anyone who wants to register can click on this link.

LOOK TT Bike

The TT bike that I saw at Melbourne Bike Boutique, stumbled upon in You Tube it's a 2009 LOOK 596 TT Bike. Click on this link to see the review on the bike.

A Hearty Dinner

I woke up early again on a cold and breezy Sun morning, anxiously wanting to join a running group for a long run organised by the Melbourne Marathon organiser. I washoping to join one last Wed but I was a little late so ended up running myself. This time I reached there at 7.55am and was hoping to see 20-30 runners waiting at the Genesis Fitness Centre which so happen to be walking distance from my cuz's place.

So, what did I see? No one there!! I waited till 8.05am before I gave up and ran myself. I went to Albert this time to change the scenery a little. A lap araound the Albert Park lake was about 4.7km. I was thinking of hitting above 20km but ended up doing only 1hr 20 mins run. Did 3 laps around the lake. I was pretty exhausted after an hour of run. It was pretty sunny day but still cold and sweat was not visible, well, maybe a few drops. This is the time when I need a group of runners to motivate me, but so disappointed that I didn't get to join one. I went back home and check the schedule again and found out it's actually an 8.30am start! First time I got there late, second time too early! Anyway, can only join 2 of their runs, Weds and Suns. Wed is also at Genesis Fitness Centre but in another branch slightly further away, near Crown Casino/Hotel by the Yarra River. I got lost last Wed, that's why I was late for the run. Anyway, will try to make it this week.

Alissa came over and took me to Safeway to get some food supplies. She then told me she'll cook for us. A way for her to "take care of us two boys". She even bought fresh oysters for us. She baked a meal from her own recipe she says. Well I forgot to take the photo before we ate, so that's already half gone. Arina (her sis) came back after work and took half of what you see in the photo. Haha. What's inside? Onions, Corns, Mushrooms, Chicken, Bacon, Eggs, Cheese, Tomatoes...really good stuff! Delicious!



Here are the oysters...



After that, it's dessert time....Sian Chao...or better known to ang mo as Grass Jelly and the Mala - Cin Cao. She used gula melaka but somehow it hardened



The gula melaka somehow hardened before it made it's way to the cup! Haha!



Didn't do much today. Watched some US Open matches online in the morning. Afternoon, was just too lazy to run, as need to rest my legs a little as I've been training on my racer so nto giving me much support in terms of cushioning. Then cooked pasta in the evening for me and my cuz.

Married Life: For Laughs

They say that marriage makes a man dizzy, and it's true.
As soon as I got a wife, I lost my balance at the bank.

Men want 3 qualities in wives: Economist in kitchen, artist in home & devil in bed.
But they get artist in kitchen, devil in home & economist in Bed.

Q: Why do women live longer than men?
A: Shopping never causes heart attacks, but paying the bill does!

Before marriage: Roses are red, sky is blue. U r beautiful, I luv u.
After marriage: Roses are dead, I'm blue. U r my headache, one day I'll kill u.

Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want, and then when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that.

Man: Is there any way for long life?
Dr: Get married.
Man: Will it help?
Dr: No, but the thought of long life will never come.

Why do couples hold hands during their wedding?
It's a formality just like two boxers shaking hands before the fight begins!

Wife: Darling today is our anniversary, what should we do?
Husband: Let us stand in silence for 2 minutes.

VRR Tan Time Trial

Didn't do much in the last few days. Had a walk to my cousins' place, Den and Andrew, yesterday to pick up my bike and rode it back to Kheng's place. Did walk around Chinatown to see what it has to offer. I saw Old Town Kopitiam there too. Wow, even in Melbourne got branch. The taukeh must be very "kaya" by now with oversea franchisee. I walked in to one of the sports shop, Rebel Sport. A very big sport shop indeed. 2XU, Skins and other brands of compression clothing are easily available here. They displayed it like what we see in departmental store selling underwears! Haha. But I can see these are widely used by people here, especially Skins and 2XU.

I reach Den's place and took my bike and rode home. It was a little dark already, so had to put on my headlight and tail lights. It was only about 5km away, so didn't take long for me to reach Kheng's place riding. Took a long time for me to walk though!! Here's a video showing my ride home. Am actually on a special lane for bikes on road.

Woke up early today to join the Victorian Road Runners Tan Time Trial. No charges in entering this event and if not mistaken it's a monthly event that they organised for members or non-members. No medal are offered here, but not that the runners mind. I guess runners here have different mindset, not so medal gila. Even some of the events that are fee charging, availability of medals are not a guarantee. Not that I mind, cos I'm also not too sure what I do with my medals. Mine are all inside the plastic bag back home, hidden in one of my cabinets. I ran to the starting line as it's not that far from where I stay. Today, it's a handicapped event. I ran a few handicapped events in NZ. What it means is that the faster runners will start last, either through your estimated time or the previous trial you had with them. So if you start later, you go chase down the guys in front of you. In the end, most people will have pretty much the same timing but that is never the case lah. I went to see the handicapper and this is the short conversation I had with him (not exact conversation)

Handicapper: You doing a 8km? (they had 2 time trials each time, 4km-1 lap and 8km-2 lap)

Me: Yeah, the 8km.

Handicapper: So what is your estimated time for 8km?

Me: I say about 34 - 35 mins (well I had a few runs around the park and my average time was around 17'20)

Handicapper: So, I'll say it's about 36 mins?

Quiet momentarily. (I was like, "Wah, kua beh ki wa meh?") Then I think he caught the message and say, "So you think can do 35 mins?"

Me: Yeah, that's ok.

Handicapper: You'll start at 10 (that means you start 10 mins later from the first batch of runners)

Hehe. I didn't really mind where he started me, coz I just there to do a tempo run since I'm too lazy to do it on my own. They had a digital clock for this event, not bad. We had a briefing/anouncement before the time trial started. Anyway, think they were just annoucing some results/news and even the number of times some of the members had done the Tan Time Trial. I think one of them had done more than 200!

After that, the clock started and off they went, a big group of runners. Then every 1 min, another group went. I waited there freezing cold, made a big mistake not to wear my gloves as I saw the sun was coming up. Then I was talking to this petite lady and she was asking me what was I starting on and told her at 10. She looked a little startled and say how could she get 11 mins when she thinks she runs slower than a lot of people? I just smiled. From then on, I just thought the 1. handicapped are not really accurate or 2. she's going to chased me down!! I asked her whether we are just running the loop. She then told me that since it's a slightly less than 4km per loop (3.827km), we need to make a turn to make it 4km. I waited freezingly till the 10th min and off I went. I went with 3-4 guys, surprisingly all of them are quite old, maybe 50s. Then I thought, "Alamak, are they that fast? Kalah malu man". Anyway, they just went slowly, so I followed one of the "younger" runner, maybe 40s. He was going at quite a good pace, I wanted to pass him but wasn't sure about the route, so I just stuck with him. Then as I saw the turn we needed to make, I just went ahead. 1st lap, 17'01. I went faster in the 2nd lap, but was actually a little out of breath, but not as tired if I had run in Malaysian weather. Stopped my watch, 33'17. My 2nd lap was 16'16. I was trying to do a 4'00/km but I was pretty happy with my time nevertheless.

The digital clock at the starting line



Runners reporting their time after the run.


A lucky draw, small prizes, e.g. chocoloates, fruit juice during the breakfast.


A BBQ and drinks (juice and hot drinks) greet the runners after the run. You got to pay AUD3 to enjoy that.






Met quite a few people there. A guy name Graeme, passed me a VRR magazine. Very nice of him since the magazine is usually for members only. Then he told me that, I can still enjoy the hot drinks/juices without paying. Also, chatted with a guy named Steve, who has done 10 marathons so far but have broke 4 hours yet and also Tim. Right after, I went for a coffee nearby with Tim and Graeme. On the way to the cafe, met up with 2 of their friends. Can't remember their names though. The lady was actually from Johor but she's been here for 5 years already. After the coffee, I bid farewell and walked back home. Suddenly, I realised that I have dropped the house key. F$%@! I went around the Tan track again in search of the key. I wasn't putting up much hope of finding it as I got too much trails to look for one small key. In the end, I gave up and I was already shivering a little as the weather is really chilling today. I still had the access card. Lucky most aprtments here has entrance phone for each unit. Otherwise, I wasnt sure how am I going to call my cousin. Lucky he hasn't gone out yet. I feel so bad of losing the key. Damm, why am I so careless?!!

VRR "Stride Out" magazine


I had a quick hot shower and had toast. Went to take a nap for a while but keep thinking about how I lost the key! Woke up, had my meat pie again and not much to see but Footie (Aussie Rule Football to watch) on TV! No US Open, No EPL....

Family Lunch in Malaysian Restaurant

Before I moved in with my cousin Kheng's place is St Kilda Road last Sun, my cousin, Alissa brought us out for lunch on that day itself. Den and Andrew didn't follow as they've got prior appoinments. I packed my bags in the morning and came to pick me up. We then picked up her mum and sis from the city after their shopping. Then, dumped my bags over at Kheng's place and to pick him up as well. It was about 20km from Kheng's apartment. I didn't know we were going to a Malaysian Restaurant. When we reach, I saw the sign, Kotaraya Restaurant. Definitely Malaysian. It's located in Clayton. If not mistaken, there's a Monash University campus located in Clayton too.






Everybody were there already, Uncle Malcolm and Tua Koh (Den and Andrew's parents), 3 Cek (Alissa's dad), 2 of Uncle Malcolm golfing buddies and his mum.









All of us had Hainanese Chicken Rice. Must costs a bomb as the portion was damm big. We ordered sago dessert as well. Green coloured sago.....






After lunch, went to Coles Supermarket to get some food supplies for myself. Since Alissa is driving, might as well get more.

Good Simple Lunch and a Good Run

I went for a walk yesterday to familiarise myself around the new place Im staying in. Looking at google map, the apartment is walking distance to 2 parks. One called the Fawkner Park which is just right across the road and the Albert Park which is about 10 mins walk or less. Albert Park is better known as the venue of Australian F1 Grand Prix. Anyways, it was bad timing for me to go out for a walk as I was caught in the rain. Had to find shade couple times to avoid the rain. I went back home as the rain stops. As soon as I got my wet clothes changed, the sun came up. KNS! I head out for an hour run that evening. It was still cold but bearable. Think I am starting to getting used to the weather already.

I had lunch with Geraldine today. She has moved to Melbourne for quite a while with her husband and children. We used to see her a lot in KL races. She took me for lunch at Abbortsford Convent. We went to this Lentil As Anything Restarurant. It's a vegetarian restaurant which operates on a pay-as-you-feel model. It is run by a non-profit organisation. Although, I am more of a "carnivore, " I find the food here pretty good.

Behind the convent, there's a foot/cycling path along Yarra River. Very nice and peaceful place. There's also an animal farm for children and picnic areas.

This is the GPS in Geraldine's car showing where we are.

And I saw this at the park as well. Maybe I should send this to The Star....may end up winning the RM50! Maybe not, they going to censor this anyway.

Had a run in the evening at Fawkner Park. Did interval training today to get my heart pumping a little harder. Short of time to train for a 42.195km race in the middle of Oct but pretty happy that I trained today. One thing great about the park is you see a lot of people walking or playing with their dogs. All of it are really well trained. After the run, I went back to cook rice and veges and my cuz, Kheng heated up the frozen curry chickens his mum cooked before she went back to KL. Cold weather and after training really makes one hungry!