BBQ No.2: Alissa's Crib

As soon as I made it home from BBQ No.1 (I mean the run @ Canning Reserve), took a quick shower and waited for Den & Andrew to come pick me up. Keng couldn't make it as he has exam the next day. Reached there and we were just in time to eat. Elvin was the Master Chef for the day. Jo and Kim came over later and as everyone has left, Uncle Malcolm and Tua Koh came by. There were plenty of food on the table and by the end of the day, I had some 'ta pao' (packed) food for me and Kheng for our dinner.

Alissa wanted to have the BBQ not only for my farewell but also to celebrate Arina's birthday, which falls on Tue (yes, her birthday is actually today).

BBQ No.1: Farewell Run With Cool Running Gangs

My last weekend in Melbourne is finally over and just a couple more days before heading back to KL. I had my final group ride on Sat and yesterday was my final run with the Cool Running group. I've already been through a few runs with them and with their friendly & "must have" coffee session right after run makes it so much easier for me to blend right in.

Bennie suggested a new running trail for us, Canning Reserve-Brimbank Park. It really feels great to see different parts of Melbourne through running (or cycling). The trail runs along the Maribyrnong and it offers a really scenic view. His wife, Ruth, even agreed to prepare some food and drinks for post run. Grace, came to pick me up in front of the apartment in the morning, together with her husband, Kevin and her two youngest children. She has 7 kids mind you and a real fast mother indeed. She did a 3:45 in last year's Melbourne Marathon and now she is preparing herself for Boston Marathon April next year. However, due to her injury, "a pain in the butt" she refers it, she couldn't run with us. Hope she recovers soon. There were a lot of mountain bikers who shared the same trail as us but road was wide enough for a passing manouver.

There were 9 of us, Di, Morley, Warren, Michael, Baz, Bruce, Bennie, Terri and me who ran that day with Grace opting to walk with her husband and two children along the river bank. Bennie's wife, Ruth and their 2 children joined in later bringing the food from home.

Chit chatting session as a warm up before the run

Michael's not only good in giving running advice but on how you should drink water from the tap

The big climb

Now, for the main event. Yeah, running was just a side show.

We have plenty of food & drinks on the table, homemade pancakes, fruits, homemade breads, crossaints, coffee, juice, etc. We took a group photo before we left, but still waiting for Bennie to post it up before I can download it.

To all Cool Running Runners that I got to know in such a short time: It was fun running with you guys and will surely miss the Sun morning runs and the coffee session after. Who knows our path may cross again one day.

Last Group Riding In Melbourne

Today was my last group ride with my cousins and also Josiah & Liam. We head out to the usual Beach Road but today was a good day to ride and there were more riders out there. We just cruise along the way till a group of cyclists which include two pro grand tour riders went passed us. And all of a sudden, they decided to follow the 'train'. We were going like 36-40km/h, but it was good to tail behind. The pro riders were from Team Columbia-HTC and the other from Cervelo Test Team (Simon Gerrans. He is first Australian to calim a stage in all three Grand Tours). At least my last ride here, I got to ride with Grand Tour riders eh? How often will this happen? Maybe never, but it happened today.

We didn't tail them the whole way but made an earlier u-turn back to the city, as we don't want to burn Josiah out, just before his World Cup Track race this coming week. LOL! Actually they did couple of sprints but each time I was the only one with no answers to it. On the way back, there's this funny conversation by the guys. I was actually behind having a conversation with an Aussie white guy. Conversation goes like this (something like this), and they are talking out loud at a traffic light stop:

Den: Liam wants a white girl

Jo: Liam wants white girl? Oh, my mama warns me against white girl. My mama says, "Never get married to a white girl, they'll divorce you"

Then I was like, "Oh shit, what is the white guy going to say about this?" i just pretend he didn't hear that.

White guy actually spoke, "He wants a white girl? My son is in Bangkok looking for an Asian girl!"

We stopped for a while at a cafe on the way back to the city. Thought of going for the Christmas Parade in the CBD area but when I got back it's already past 11.15am. It starts at 11am but takes me 50 mins to walk to CBD.

Tonight Den and Andrew made pizzas at Jo's place. It was going to be another Wii night. Jo just got DJ Hero and by the look of it, it''s a fun game to have. I got to go get one of this when I go back. As I got to get up early tomorrow for a final run with the Cool Running Group, Ieft earlier.

East Burwood Cup

The horses have their race around a 3200m track in the prestigious Melbourne Cup, while the Masters runners have theirs on the track as well, albeit a synthetic one. I'd only knew about this race when I was browsing through some of the event sites in Melbourne. The track is about 4km away from my cousin, Elvin's house in Burwood. So decided to bike over my cousin's house on Wed night and stay here for couple of days.

Earlier, I went out to get lubricant to clean up my bike chains. Had to walk for miles to get to Bunning Warehouse, then to Coles supermarket. Add in the sweltering heat. Came back home at around 4pm, I was already exhausted and felt more like sleeping than participating in a race. The race only starts at 7:45pm but I had to be at the track at 7pm to register. I ran to the track as warm up but my legs already felt tight and tired. Anyways, it was just a fun run and it will be good to test out how fast I can run a 3200m at my current fitness. At least I can know where my weaknesses are.

Reached the track just before 7pm and registered myself. The race won't start till 7:45pm. Most guys and ladies who turned up are in their 40s and over. However, Victoria Masters Athletics are for men and women aged 30 and over, so I am well qualified. Some of the odd distances (60m, 600m, 200m, 1km walk event) started earlier and the East Burwood Cup was the highlight of the evening.

The race started in a fast pace led by the fast guy & lady. Both came to the track together so I guess they must be training for something. Both looked like lean and mean machines. The guy probably cycles too since he has got the tan lines on his muscular legs. After a lap and a half, I took over the 2nd place from the lady. As I sense the pace was slowing down by the guy in about the 3rd lap, I gladly went into the lead and led for a while but I knew I won't be able to hold on to the pace for too long, as I was already feeling tired. Pretty bad move but winning here wasn't my priority as I want to test out how fast I could run, so I wasn't going to let the pace slow down.

Well the thing about shorter distance, is that you have little time to come out with a strategy. Once you made your move, you'll either make or break it. For this case, I broke it. Soon, there was another guy, who went out fast passing us and he really pushed the pace hard. That was the point where I lost contact with both of them and my strides were no longer smooth. I can hear the lady breathing down my neck from behind. Soon enough, she was in front of me. We got about 3 laps to go and the two guys were way out in front. Then I saw the guy who broke up the field apart was standing beside of the ground, just after the start/finish line, cheering. It's official that I'm in 3rd, but I wanted hang on to the lady's butt (well she is quite fit. Haha) and see if I could outrun her in a sprint finish. With about 1 & half laps to go, she accelerates and I was left for dust. All I could do was to guide myself to the finishing line. I'm a little disappointed that I could't go any faster but glad that at least I broke the 12 min mark. Just barely.... 11:59.

I didn't win anything for 3rd place. Only the first male and female gets prizes. The MC even joked about how slow the time was. In Melbourne Cup the horses were probably doing at about 3 mins or so for the same distance. Haha, hey, we don't have horses legs. Anyway, when it came for the spot prizes (lucky draw as we called it) for the EB Cup participants, I was so surprised that the first number that they pulled out was No. 3, and that was me. I won a AUD200 worth of weekend spa package to Hotel Bruce County or Gateway on Monash which nearby. Too bad this weekend will be last, so am giving it to cousin, Elvin.

The fast guy

The fast lady

Results (time only):

1. 11:25 (The fast guy)

2. 11:50 (The fast lady)

3. 11:59 (Me)

4. 12:13

5. 12:27

My lap time - split time (Avg, Heart Rate)
Come to think of it, spending too much time pressing my watch buttons to get the splits, instead of concentrating in race, but I need to know my weaknesses.

1. 1:24 - 1:24 (155)
2. 1:29 - 2:53 (168)
3. 1:31 - 4:24 (169)
4. 1:28 - 5:53 (169)
5. 1:34 - 7:27 (170) - this should be the part where the lady caught up
6. 1:30 - 8:58 (170)
7. 1:30 - 10:29 (170)
8. 1:30 - 11:59 (168) - I think I gave up on this lap, explains why my Avg HR dropped.

Time for 3000m was 11:15, so I think my fitness is ok, except I need to work on my speed and threshold training. Doing too much long slow runs are not helping. Once upon a time, I could do a sub-10mins for this, well that is once upon a time story. Haha. Time for me to get back to basics in speed/threshold training!

A Hot Hot Day In Melbourne

Days are getting warmer in Melbourne. Today it peaked at 36.3 C. Being exposed to cold weather for so long, to acclimatise back to a warm day seems a difficult task. I tried running today at around 6:45pm, but I seem to be struggling in my run eventhough I wasn't pushing hard. My mouth dried out fast and had to stop for water break 40mins into my run. My average heart rate usually will be around 145 bpm, but today I think it was 155-160 bpm.

I decided not to continue my run, after taking the water break. Instead did some speed drills to cap off the day. I think I will have a tough time acclimatising running in KL weather when I head back next week.

On other note, my cousin got his new 42' Toshiba LCD. No longer does he need (or me) struggle to view on the old 15' TV.

Out goes the old TV...

In comes the new one....

So how much different does it make? See for yourself......

One good thing is that he didnt need to buy the Digital Receiver to receive digital channels in Melbourne or even HD channels. It seems his apartment already has a centralised access to it. Wonder when Astro will provide us with a digital feed in Malaysia? It sure is nice to watch sports channel in High Definition (HD).

Mount Dandenong Solo Ride And A Date With Wii

Since I'd only 2 weeks of stay left in Melbourne, I just had to try riding up Mount Dandenong at least once. I've already been up there with my cousins, Elvin and Fei, but that was driving up.

Melbourne is a relatively flat city. Instead of riding the usual Beach Road, some cyclists from Melbourne will head east of the city centre towards Mount Dandenong to test their climbing skills. The most popular of all is the "1 in 20" climb which starts from the Basin to Sassafras via the Mountain Highway. It's named after its steady gradient of an average 5%. This route is not as tough as the climb I did in Genting Peres, Ulu Langat. The route starts from the 60km/h signage near the shops. There's even a yellow painted "Start" marking on the road. Each kilometer are marked to give the riders indication of how far they have left. The distance is 6.75km in length. The road is relatively quiet on weekends but it is very narrow and riders had to be cautious of passing vehicles.

Reading up some of the postings in the internet, a time of sub-14 mins will put you as one of the best times recorded and a time of under 20mins is respectable.

1 in 20 Climb: The Basin to Sassafras

http://www.bikely.com/

I started my ride from home at around 7.20am. Little did I expect that riding from home to the Basin would be a lot harder than climbing the 1 in 20 due to the short but rolling hills via the Toorak Road and Burwood Highway. The Basin is about 33km from the apartment. I didn't see many cyclists along the way, only 1-3. I tried to draft behind each cyclist I see but they dropped me at the hill. I was expecting the worst when I start my "1 in 20" climb. I was glad when I reached the Basin but still I had a long way to go. the climb and the ride back. There are quite a number of cyclists there either starting their climb or already made their descent from the top.

Starting the climb I didnt really know what to expect, although I really wanted to go under 20 mins. I started at a good pace but not fast. In my mind, I thought there will be a steep climb somewhere along the route (which I found out there's none), so was kind of saving some of my energy for that big climb. As I reached the mark of 2km to go, I look at my watch it was already 17plus mins.



There's no way Im going to make it under 20mins, but I push it as fast as I could. I saw the 250m to go mark and push a little more and was trying to find the finish mark sign in front of the 60km/h signage, but didnt find it. There's two 50km/h sign in front, so I guess that was the finish line. Stopped my watch "21:22". There was a thought of going back down and to try it again but had to save up for my ride back later. Although a little disappointed with the time, I'll just accept the effort I've put in for the day. I guess the ride from the apartment has already zapped my energy level.

Luckily the road up to the mountains are shadowed by tall trees and offers scenic view of flora and fauna. This offers riders a cooling ride up eventhough the temperature on the day soared to near 30C.



Reaching Sassafras, I made my way up again to SkyHigh Mt Dandenong. Entry fee applies for cars and motorbikes, but didnt see any charge for cyclists. When I reached the security checkpoint, the guy just told me to go in to P2. Took a long break at the top of SkyHigh and had some food I brought with me. Just couldn't resist to get someone to take a photo of me up there, at least I have a proof that I did ride up there.



At the descent, I accidently took another route, instead of making my way back to the Basin. I ended up in Upper Ferntree Gully, which is still alright since it leads me to Burwood Highway as well. Top speed reached almost 75km/h at the descent. Cyclists will need to be cautious here since at certain parts there will be tight corners awaiting.

As I reached the foot of Mt Dandenong, now it's the dreaded ride back home. As I was passing Deakin University, thought I called up my ex-colleague, Syazrin, who's studying her Master degree in Melbourne for brunch. I had a Subway six-inch for my meal and I just felt so lazy to ride back. After an hour break, made my way back slowly. The weather is not humid as in Malaysia but I can feel the sun ray piercing thru my shirt and burning my skin. It was huge sigh of relief to see the shops along Toorak Road, as it indicates that I'm near home. Total distance covered for the day was 96km.

Upon reaching home, I was still feeling a little hungry so cooked myself "Cha Bee Hoon".


Post recovery brunch

Later that night, Andrew called me to have dinner at Josiah's place. Den was cooking his specialty, Cabonara pasta. After dinner, we ended playing Nitendo Wii till the "wee" hour in the morning. Looking at the photos and videos, you'll realised how foolish each of us looked playing the motion sensored game which took the world by storm. Anyway, I suck at playing video games and I really got wiped out in most games played.

Check out the funny antics......

Now my body is aching!

Why We Shouldn't Add Our Boss in Facebook

This is a funny one.....and a good advice for all...

What To Do When the Sun Is Out?

It's funny how two different people from two different countries react when they see the sun is shining brightly in the sky. I was walking pass a park on the way back and just amazing how many people are out basking in the sun.

Here's how the "ang mohs" (mat salleh/caucasian) react when they see sun.....

While Asian will probably do this.....

Asians will try their best to look as fair as possible while "ang mohs" will probably try to get tan as much as possible. Good to be brown?