Conquering Kuala Lumpur International Marathon 2008

The phone alarm woke me up at 2am yesterday. I didn't realise I had any dream. Surprisingly, with merely 4 hours of sleep, I don't really feel tired or sleepy. My body always told me that she doesn't get enough sleep when I woke up around 5 or 6am during weekend for my usual run. Maybe I am too excited. Anyway, I still took few sips of coffee in case I fall asleep during the run. For food wise, I wanted to try different things this time. One cereal bar for me but not powerbar as this things really upset my stomach with their ingredient and taste.

I was there by 3.30am, the Sultan Abdul Samad building was beautifully lit up. Hundreds of participants were already there. Some stretching, others chit chat or wait for the time to come. I met up few of my gang of friends. The feeling was good as they are still here to support the race even though some of them are unwell and not physically prepared. The group started to become smaller and things have changed after all these years but their passion for sport never change.

Marathon is always a mind over body activity - however, enough training is still essential. We're all gathered at the starting point . My mind was all cleared up. Adrenaline pumping high. I have no expectation or target this time but hoping to complete the race within 5 hours.

BANG! The timing chip set off a beep as I crossed the starting mat. Everyone was quickly passing through me at this point. We paced each other at the beginning before I went ahead. They are not here for the glory but for the friendship and promises.

I started my 10km to 20km slow & steady as I have learned a mistake to run too fast but end up too tired at the end. Thanks to CTH who paced with me for the first 20km. Anyway I have to continue my journey without stopping too much at the water station. I'm all alone. The traffic control was bad compare to last year. I hope there will be some improvement next year. I earned a powergel after 30km mark. Anyway my stomach still refuse to take it. I didn't suffer too much in term of mentally or physically after 30km. Legs were ok.

To keep my mind occupied, I tried to look at things along or in front the road. Too bad, nothing entertaining. People are too stingy to cheer for you but only stare at you with an unbelievable expression. Sad... I saw 8km mark which really motivate me. I was more confident with the flat and downhill route in the last few km. Another 1km to go, I decided to push further. The finishing line in sight! I looked up just in time to see my finishing time on the timeboard... I crossed the finishing line in 4hr20mins. A huge sense of relief came all over me. It was unbelievable. Jubilant. I could not believe myself. It was just lucky. Till then, I will see you again next year.

生于斯长于斯

Panoramic view of Miri

Miri Airport
Library Miri
Dewan Suarah
Grand Old Lady (Oil Well No. 1)
Miri High Court
City Fan
Tua Pek Kong (100+ yr old)
Taman Bulatan
Marina Bay

Taman Selera
Crocodile Farm
Curtin University
Miri central

Circuit Run 3

I was late and so do some runners who are going to take part Circuit Run 3. I guess the authority started late due to few reasons. 1) Wait for more runners to turn up as they expected some runners were staying late for the General Election result which turn all the Malaysian in shock. 2) They hardly start on time. But I must say thank you to them. What a sun rise run which gave me a hard time. I almost melt under the sun but luckily I survived by completing 11th laps. Thanks to Lee and TM for pacing with me in the last 2 laps. Can I complete KLIM with my performance today? I doubted...

别让那只鸟飞了

（转摘自一篇非常棒的文章)

我和先生结婚 10 周年那天，一位移居加拿大的朋友给我寄来一份礼物→『一张游戏光盘』，名字叫《别让那只鸟飞了》。 我没有玩游戏的习惯，因此就把它当做一份纪念品收藏了起来。 一天， 8 岁的儿子在我书房里乱翻，发现这张游戏光盘。 玩过之后，儿子对我说：" 妈，这里面有一只鸟，弄不好就会从窗口里飞走，一飞走，游戏就砸了。" 在儿子的提醒下，我打开了计算机，执行那张光盘。 这时我才知道，原来它是一张针对成人而开发的大型游戏软件，总投资 8,500 万美元。 游戏打开之后，映入眼帘的是一栋具有皇家风范的豪宅。豪宅里各项生活设施应有尽有。游戏者进去之后，可以以主人的身份在这里生活。 你想打高尔夫，可以去高尔夫球场；你想看书，可以走进书房；想喝咖啡，可以让仆人给你送去；想举行舞会，可以邀请包括马丹娜在内的 100 位世界级影视明星； 想去旅行吗？车子就在门口；上了车，沿着门口的路，你可以去埃及、法国、中国等世界任何一个地方； 假若你有一位情人，还可以秘密地约他出去，到附近的海滨或南美的哥伦比亚大草原。 总之，在这里，你可以随心所欲地生活，可以按照自己的意愿想怎样就怎样。

但与现实不同的是，这栋豪宅里有一只鸟在飞，它嘴巴上叼着一只篮子，从客厅飞向卧室，又从卧室飞向书房，飞向餐厅，飞向豪宅的每一房间。 这只鸟有一个特点： 不论你是外出旅行，还是在家读书，或是在公司处理商务，你都不能忘记往这只鸟的 篮子里放东西。 假如你忘了，到了一定的时间，它就会从某个窗口里飞出去，一旦出现这种情况，屏幕上就会出现这一个画面： 豪宅倒塌，野草丛生；夕阳下，一个孤独的身影慢慢地消失在黑暗中。 那么，该向那只篮子里面放些什么东西，才不会使鸟儿飞走、豪宅倒塌呢？ 游戏里有一份菜单，那上面有包括金钱、花朵、微笑、哭泣、亲吻在内的 152 种日常用品和日常行为。

它是赫利克斯公司耗时 3 年，从全球 50 万对金婚老人那里征集的，每一件东西，每一个行为都按照这 50 万对金婚老人票选得票的多少， 被赋予了不同的时间价值，有的代表一个月，有的只代表 3 分钟。至于哪种代表一个月，哪种代表 3 分钟，上面没有明说，得完全由游戏者根据自己对它们的认知来判定。
自从打开这个游戏，我就被它迷住了。 只要有空，我就要玩上一阵。 起初，由于不知该向鸟儿的篮子里放些什么，所以那栋豪宅经常被我弄得从屏幕上消失。 有一次，实在是不知该怎样侍候它，就随便挑了一个吻放在篮子里。 结果大出意外，它让我大书房里看了整整一下午的书， 有几次它甚至还把篮子放在我的书桌上，然后自己跳到里面打一个盹。 还有一次，我送给它一个亲密的拥抱和惜别，就去了墨西哥的古玛雅城市遗址奇琴伊察。 这次更出乎我的意料，半个月后，我回来了，鸟儿不仅没有飞走，当我到达家门口时，它还热情地迎接了我。 这到底是怎样的一只鸟儿呢？ 我送它金钱，它只在家里待 3 分钟，我送它一枝花朵，它竟可以待上 3 个小时。

后来我终于发现，它是一只婚姻鸟，并且它有许多不起眼的救星。 一个轻吻，一个微笑，一个拥抱，一句关切的话语，一份小小的礼物，一段短暂的离别，都可以把它留下。 现在我已能非常熟练地玩这个游戏，并且越玩越觉得它不再是一个游戏， 而是 50 万对金婚老人在婚姻生活中的感悟和发现。 它告诉我，一句微不足道的赞许，一杯顺手递去的热茶，一枝 10 块钱的玫瑰， 这些日常生活中微不足道的东西，具有滋养婚姻的神奇力量。 前不久，一位朋友结婚，我把这张光盘送作礼物，转赠了出去。 我想，我应该让更多的人从这个游戏中，悟出婚姻中的一些道理。

把心带回家，不要把一生心血精华卖给公司，留给家人的却是破铜烂铁 。

Au revoir et tout le meilleur

We never know where life will take us.
I know it's just a ride on the wheel.

I know I'll never see you again.
But the time together through all the years
Will take away these tears

I know you have to go
And it it the time to say goodbye

All the best to you my friend!