Too Much Can't Be Good

I've been told that being heavy-handed with the soy sauce when eating sushi can offend the chef. It overrides the subtle flavour of the sushi.

I also hate it when a friend who wants to share my saucer of soy sauce, mix the wasabi vigorously in the sauce. No no no. I take my wasabi on the side and adjust the amount with whatever I'm eating. Some sushi gets a little bit more than the other.

There is one sauce that I've seen being splashed around on plates liberally here, and that's chilli sauce. Chilli sauce or ketchup in my opinion can totally drown the natural flavour of a dish. I like ketchup myself but I put it sparingly or if I am consciously trying to flavour a particularly tasteless food. (KFC very dry chicken comes to mind).

Boggles the mind on how some of my friend would even need chilli sauce for a spaghetti marinara. Why? Why? Why? Or is it normal to do that and I just didn't know? @.@

p.s I should totally chill, shouldn't I?

Do You Need Two?

I guess I look stupid wearing two running watches during my run. 

Wait! Wait! There's a reason for it.

The Timex watch (the one in black) doesn't count distance. But that watch has plenty other nifty features - lap timing (which I rely on a lot nowadays), pace alerts, hydration alert, interval timer, target time pacer, etc.

The pink Nike+ Sportband on the other hand is a watch I got when I first started doing my runs regularly, which was in July last year. It is a free replacement for the old, faulty one I had earlier. I put it on just for to keep track of the distance I covered because other than that, it's too cumbersome checking on it with its toggle buttons.

Can't afford a GPS watch, be it Timex, Garmin, Suunto or whatever brand there might be out there in the market. I'll buy one when I'm already good at this running thing. An almost RM2,000 running watch and I'm still very much a tortoise? I better run good (and FAST!) to feel entitled to wear them. Maybe when I finally start "training" for a full marathon? We'll see.

Now? I'll just settle wearing both my RM268 Timex watch and RM229 Nike+ Sportband at the same time.

Never mind looking stupid (or macam poyo as my hubby would say) looking at both hands; alternately ye... not at the same time -  during my runs. hihihi

Anyway, I seem to be running faster than usual these past two weeks, looking at the total time I take to finish my runs. I think it's not that I actually run faster but because there's no more pit-stops made to the loo during a run! Not stopping for a pee can really save running time! Not wearing anything too tight that you'll need ages to put them back on helps reduce the timing too. heeeee....

A Bit Of Steaming And Grilling With The Family

by having a siblings gathering over a pot (make it two pots) of steambot and grill on Saturday in Bandar Baru Bangi.

My brother and sisters were there with their family except our two youngest brother & sister. Raimie gets to play with his cousins, who were pretty excited meeting him -  as usual. He gets to play the cool "big brother" with them. ^^

The obligatory entrance shots. Average spread, but hey! It's just RM25 per pax (RM12 for kids above 4). We ate our fill of grilled meat (marinated chicken, lamb and beef)  that day. Who cares about frozen balls (ehem) anyway. I don't. Another plus - it's nearby.

Happy time when the food is all ready to be eaten! Everyone dig in! ^^

Grilled meat.Yummmm...

Spent more than 3 hours there, and got back home quite late and slept late too. Though I'm happy to report I managed to crawl out of bed at 5am, after being prodded by Zaini and make my 16K (it was just 15.56K actually) on Sunday. Nice weekend.

Water Park Trip!

We rather dislike crowd so despite promising Raimie that we'd take him to Desa Waterpark during the school holidays, we postponed the trip until after the school holiday and went on a weekday! A school day to boot! 

But then again, Desa Waterpark only opens from 12pm to 6pm on weekdays. If one goes to a morning session class/school like Raimie does, they can visit the park in the evening no problem - right? xD

 Before we got all wet, time to pose for photos!

An almost deserted waterpark. Sure nice to have the place almost to ourselves, for a change. ^^

I'm currently under nothing-to-write-other-than-about-running block. Have been guilty of not replying to comments quickly too these past few days.

Maybe it'll be better next week. I need something to perk me up. I should go out and run more, methinks. But then again, that would totally get me off from being online! LOL

Have a great weekend ahead, everyone!

Weekend Training

All three of us agreed  that Raimie needs to "train" with Mommy in anticipation of any upcoming races that Mommy might have wanted to register for him. He is already registered for a 700m kids dash in June at Standard Chartered KL Marathon. The starting time of the kids dash should motivate Mommy into running a sub 2:30 timing for the half-marathon, to make sure that Mommy can be there when he start his run. Too idealistic? We'll just have to train for it and try! ^^

I procrastinate long enough to be too late to register him for a 5K fun run at Energizer Night Race. But we'll see what other races there will be for kids his age that don't need school participation in the future. Maybe run a 3K costumed fun run during NTV7 Feel Good Run? ＼(~o~)／

On Sunday we went to Taman Tasik Cempaka in Bangi for the "training". We thought we might as well travel there, get some fresh air, sweat a little bit and then head to a nearby Pasar Tani (farmer's market) and buy Nasi Ambeng.

Ready, Set, Go!

There are distance markers at this park, and every 100m is marked. A loop around the path on the park where the library is, is 1400m.

I used this park to calibrate my new Nike+ Sportband that I got as a replacement for my old, faulty one. I had been worried that it might not register the correct distance, but after comparing it against the distance markers here, I'm happy to note I got nothing to worry about. My Nike+ Sportband registered the correct distance after all.

We did a 2K warm-up walk first and wasted a bit of time looking for a working toilet at the park. Mommy needs her toilet visit!

Raimie and I ran side-by-side for 1K before we stopped. He was such a trooper. Next week, we'll try a bit farther, OK?

Then, to finish off I made another loop alone while Raimie rested with Daddy.

Overall, the park there is nice. Plenty of shades. Plenty of flat spaces (grass and concrete), nice pavements. There is even a futsal court there and a skate ramp. It is clean too. But general amenities are lacking. There are buildings where the toilets should be, but they were rundown and neglected. The only toilet I can find was near the PKNS building. 30sen an entry! @.@ But there is a shower facility there, if you need that.

Other options for toilets would be going to the PKNS building or McD.

As a reward for Raimie and motivate him to train again with Mommy next week, we went to McD. Two visits in a week! He got his doctor Spongebob on Friday and today he got dessert chef Spongebob.

After breakfast, we're off to Pasar Tani! Nope, weren't looking for fresh fish, fresh meat or veges but we were there for Nasi Ambeng.

Raimie whispered to his Dad about wanting a football jersey, a Harimau Muda jersey to be exact. But somehow, he chose this instead after browsing through some jerseys for sale at the Pasar Tani.

A 1K non-stop run, another Spongebob toy (plus another McD visit of course!) and a new set of clothes. Great Sunday for the boy, don't you agree? (゜o゜)

SpongeBob Again, Likes And Peeves

Once a week. That's the agreed number of visit fast food place. Currently it's Friday night at McD. Until the SpongeBob promotion McD is having is still on, that is. We don't usually buy Raimie the Happy Meal set but then, it's SpongeBob! Let the boy gets his SpongeBob. xD

Shopping for groceries at Village Grocer in Bangsar Village is sure nicer than having to navigate around aisles packed with trolleys at Jusco or Carrefour at Mid Valley. One catch though - it's a tad more expensive to shop here. Ah well... it's Bangsar kan?

If you remember I got myself a GU Chomps last week. Not loving it so I was soooooo glad that Lafuma finally stocked-up these solids. Tempted to buy the whole box but I went all prudent and just bought just three tubes. Three tubes would last me for 9 weeks. I'm ready to roll! ^^

No, I don't eat one for every KM I run. I only take one solids for a 1 and a half - two hours run. Shouldn't totally depend on energy food to sustain me during a run, right?

Now for the peeves! Man, I sure hate it when going into an elevator and there's someone hogging the and stand close to the floor buttons (or whatever you call that) yet so unwilling to press open/close buttons. Yeah yeah. I know you are busy staring at your smartphone. But if you are, move away from the area and let someone (like me) who would help keep the elevator's door open for others or quickly close it afterwards. Also, it's not nice to block the way when people need to press the floor they are going to. I'm sure you will not be happy if a guy accidentally touched you, right?

Hubby ask me whether I have nothing to write nowadays. The answer is, pretty much yes. Gawd! My life is so boring! :(

Unless of course, you all are willing to read about me going long-winded on my runs - over and over again. That's easy! ;p

Two Sides

Always stand on the left side when taking an escalator in Japan so that those who are in a rush can walk on the other side. Time is of the essence! So is good manners and basic courtesy.

However, do stand on the right side when you are in Osaka!

Here? We stand any which way we like. I am rather partial in standing in the middle myself. But that's only when Zaini and Raimie are in front of me. xD

You?

p.s have you seen SK's awesomely packed escalator photo in his previous post? I wish I had photos like that!

But You Run Marathon, What!

OK. First - I'm not a marathoner, as many of my friends and colleagues kept saying I am. 

I lost count on how many times I corrected people when they say this, until I stopped correcting them.

I have never done a 42K run in my life. Not yet anyway. A 10K race is not a marathon. Neither is 15K. 21K is "merely" a half-marathon. After SCKLM on June 24th, maybe you can call me a half-marathoner lah. heh heh

The point of this rant is actually because I just did a basic screening that was arranged by the company for all staff. A hospital had this medical campaign on and since it was free - just go lah.

Now, the problem with doing it en masse and with 80% of staff knows you is that, everyone can KPC or busybody about your results. You can do it too. I pretty much wreck havoc at the screening room, "disturbing" other colleagues who were doing their screening too. haha To the nurses there - thank you for putting up with our "disruptive" behaviour. ;p

I pretty much suck at the test. 

BMI = overweight

Body fat = high

Skeletal muscle percentage = low

Bone density = osteopenia

Good thing the rest of the tests results are normal.

OK. I pretty much know the results from a more comprehensive check but as I mentioned, when this was done en masse  people can know my results.

So when it was advised that I go for a diet control and exercise, a few concerned colleague exclaimed that how much more exercise I need to do since I run marathons. Oh boy!

And me being a "marathoner" was being mentioned over and over since my results are the same with those who didn't bother to exercise. Aiyah~

Anyway, just to let you know - I'm also not that healthy. You can't be that healthy if you used to have your name down in more than 3 medical specialists at one hospital. I also have the tendency to get that 1% side effect from a medicine. You know - when you are given a medicine to take and the doctor will give out a list of side effects but then proceeded to mention that only a handful will have that side effect? I will fall under that category. How special, right? LOL

The point of this rant? As usual - no point. But I find it quite embarrassing for people to call me a marathoner or I run marathon when I actually haven't!

But be patient. I will do it. Someday. ^^

Thank you for your patience reading this. I trust you did read the whole thing? heh heh

6 Months Later

I posted up my rantings (I always do, don't I?) about the state of one of my toes way back in September last year.  I pulled-off the blackened toenail and I had a nail-less toe for a while. Suited me just fine, since no toenail wasn't giving me any problem.

The nail grew nicely and in the pink of health (heh!) earlier this year, yet somehow now I got these a few weeks ago!

Not just one toe! But two black toes, on each foot! Darn! They don't give me any pain, but they sure are unsightly when I'm wearing my work heels. 

I've been using the same two shoes for my runs - my Brooks Glycerin since September 2011 and  Nike LunarGlide since December so it can't be due to a tight fitting shoes. I'm guessing it's time to change my Glycerin to another shoe?

Haven't been looking for one yet. Can't decide what model or what brand to get. Of course the easiest option to get a good shoe with proper consultation for me is to contact Brooks. Zaini flat out refused to go with me to the Running Lab in Tropicana Mall. hu~

That said, I do think I should at least get two pairs this time. A training shoe and a racing flats too. :)

p.s. This month marks the 7th month I have been running regularly (or as Zaini said, maniacally) and it's been 5 months since my first ever road race. My, my... time flies. In three month's time, I hope to do good time at Standard Chartered KL Marathon. 21K this time! Woot!

Spongebob, GU Chomps, Bananas And Lee Su Kim

All those spamming over SK's blog about McD's Spongebob Happy Meal toy made me crave for a McD dinner. So after work on Friday, off we went to McD. Didn't fancy the McD over at MidValley (the staff there seriously test my patience sometimes) so we went to the one at Jalan Telawi. The astronaut Spongebob all "habis" already so Raimie had the painter Spongebob instead. Still cool!

Got myself a couple of back-issue magazines cheap at a shop nearby McD there (they sell cheap books too!). Tempted to hoard all the running magazines that are for sale but managed to restrain myself and bought only two; for the price of one new magazine. Great deal for me!

While on running, I got myself a packet of GU Chomps from GNC at Bangsar Village. I went to Lafuma to stock up on my Perpeteum Solids but they had yet get new stock and most probably it'll arrive today. 

Anyhoo, I decided to try GU Chomps and see how I like it.

Been eating lots of bananas for the past months, ever since I started this running thingy. For the weekend's breakfast, I got rather bored of baked beans so instead it was chocolate banana spread on bread with slices of bananas on top. Yummy!

We spent time over at MPH for a bit. I had been looking for Lee Su Kim's book titled "Manglish - Malaysian English at its wackiest". Can't believe that it's hard to find this book! @.@

Anyways, found this other book instead and I just had to get it! It's not for me, if you are wondering. I'm going to pass it over to a certain lady of insatiable thirst of learning. I probably get around to sending it... say next week? Next month? First, I need to politely request her address.

p.s. I love going to Bangsar shops. Staff there are sooooo friendly, don't you notice? From the McD staff  to the staff at Bangsar Village to the staff(or owners) of the independent stores that line the streets there.

Saturday Gripe

He now works late

and somehow that made me lose weight

isn't it just great

to have that effect?

I should be happy

I can be skinny

but how can I be?

if I'm back home too late for the runs I do nightly!

Picky! Picky!

Feeling Lucky?

Dunno about you but this sounds rather naughty to me. But then again, I do have a mind in the gutter. Anyway, I somewhat blame SK. With all that fetish mention is his Thursday post, one can't help think "serong" a bit. Hahaha

Just random ranting today. No mood to post anything else. 

After The Run

We were supposed to go to IKEA on Saturday, after picking up my 1 Vision Run race kit at Padang Merbuk but got somehow sidetracked. Instead of heading there early in the morning, we went to get ourselves a new washing machine. Our 13 year old washing machine finally acted up on us so it was time to change to a new machine. This, barely a month after needing to change our car's tyres. Cash flowing out like water. Uwaaaa!!!

So instead, the trip to IKEA was made on Sunday, after my 1 Vision Run.

I freshened up after my run at 1 Vision Run at Lake Garden's toilet, changed my shirt and then, off we went to IKEA! I hope I didn't stink-up the place too much!

Breakfast at IKEA cafe - 99 sen sub-standard fried koay teow (why is it so popular, ah?), chicken wings and muffin & chicken soup and cinnamon roll for Mommy. We actually wanted to eat their meatballs, but I was already hungry at 10.00am. Was so not gonna wait long for my meal and so not gonna wait till noon! I got lotsa things to do at home too.

Bought two bookshelves from IKEA and then we made a trip to the Nike store at the Curve.

I mentioned that my Nike Sportband conked out early this year. Finally went and checked whether the Sportband can be repaired as it is still under warranty. We went to the store at Alamanda; where I bought it and was told they will replace a new one to me but the Alamanda Store didn't have any stock at the time. As we were nearby Curve on Sunday, I took the chance to go to the Nike store there and minutes later, I came out with a spanking new Nike Sportband. Wooohooo! Let's just hope this one lasted more than 5 months!

A 10km race, breakfast at Ikea, two bookshelves and a new (free to boot) Nike Sportband. What a great Sunday I had! Hope yours was great too. ^^

Lari Suka-Suka

or you can call it, "just for the heck-of-it" kinda run. I had no expectation of a "happening" race, joining the 1 Vision Run KL 2012 at Padang Merbok instead of the more popular, better publicised, much hyped World Kidney Run that was held on the same date and at a venue very near (Dataran Merdeka, if you must know) to this 1 Vision Run.

I am still not familiar with this popular race route in KL and the reason I entered this race was to familiarise myself with this hilly route. Hills, I certainly experienced a LOT yesterday!

We got there rather early at 6.30am (early by my standard that is) and I remarked how hardcore some runners are, already making their runs around the Lake Garden. Zaini just remarked dryly that I should marvel at the people who aren't running but still needs to wake up early on weekends (meaning him and Raimie) instead of those runners! LOL

By way of warm-up, I walked and jogged from our parking spot at the playground  at Lake Garden to Padang Merbok and back simply because the toilet at Padang Merbok wasn't open yet. I mentioned this is previous race posts, I need my toilet visit before the start of a race. Without fail. Good thing the toilet at the Herb Garden was already open. Imagine running with a full bladder. @.@

The Run was very much a small scale event and started rather quietly without much fanfare. Too quiet perhaps, that traffic was still allowed to go through the starting line that had runners already lining up to be flagged off. It is one thing that the organisers and traffic police didn't block the road yet, but it is another when motorists still force their way through a huge group of people and insisting their right of way. Ah well...

Follow the sea of red. That was my plan as I have absolutely no idea the route I was supposed to run. The World Kidney Run would be a "follow-sea-of-blue". It's important to distinguish this as both Runs had routes that collide at some point. Saw a fellow daily miler and waved hello to him at the starting line. Hi Kah Yen! ^^

I tried not to over-exert myself and since I had no idea how far I was running and what my running pace was that morning; I just ran without pushing too hard too early. I only pushed myself towards the last km, at the point where 1 Vision runners who were doing 10k and the World Kidney runners (3k and 7k?) converged and shared the same route. I guess by that time, it was already rather too late to do good timing for my run. No problem. I enjoyed my run despite the pain in one of my toes and the pain of a forming blister in my right foot. I used my much narrower Nike LunarGlide and not the wider Brooks Glycerin for this run because I like the firm feel and lightness of the LunarGlide but boy, this shoes of mine certainly can't take me far. No more than 8k. Anymore than that, I feel a blister coming. Guess this can used as a perfect excuse to get a new pair of shoes? No? xD

Apart from the glitch in traffic control at the starting line, the rest of the route had excellent traffic control, in my opinion. It was an experience for me to be running by the expressway with vehicles zipping by. I have to say I enjoyed this route a lot and definitely look forward tackling it again in the future.

Nearing to the first water station, saw a blogger and Ultra-Woman (she did a 50k solo run at The North Face Thailand. Respect!); Aini and hollered hello to her. But in my woozy state of mind, I called out her friend's name instead of hers. Sorry Aini! She totally left me in the dust after that. Boohooo!

No finishing photo of me this time because Raimie and Zaini wasn't expecting me to arrive so soon. In fact, they were just walking towards Padang Merbok again after spending time walking at Lake Garden (which I think is 500m away from the starting line?) when I called them after finishing my run.

No finish line photo with Raimie this time, because Daddy and Son weren't there to greet me (bummer!), just a photo of Raimie playing with my medal while waiting for me freshen up at the toilet. As usual, I was soaking wet with sweat despite the cooling weather and shady route we had.

The red t-shit that I'll be using to wear while mucking around the house - it's those soft cotton t-shirt and the very ummmmm looking medal.

And just now, I realised that I have something to brag about.
Exhibit 1 - my bib number

and here's the result for Women Veteran category, courtesy of Penonton :

Can you see the D011 placing? Zaini just pooh-poohed the result by asking me how many Women veteran runner were actually running that day. Whatever. ;p

Didn't get or claimed the prize because I had no idea until a few hours ago. The finish line, the medal stall and the rest were a bit of a mess, I was lucky I can actually find my way to where I was supposed to collect my medal! A fellow lady runner asked me where she was suppose to report to after the run since the MC kept on reminding us to report and get our placing but I have absolutely no idea where we were supposed to go to. So I just went back looking for my husband and son at the carpark. xD

Two Schools, Two Exams

First exam of the year! It's called the PKSR (Penilaian Kendalian Sekolah Rendah) or Primary School Evaluation Test. Some students, not to mention their parents too will be having sleepless nights over this. Raimie?

 

Apart from the weekend revision with Mommy; he's happily stress-free about it. Mommy isn't too fussed about it either. That's what you get if the Mommy is rather "lazy" and had never been the studious type.

Raimie goes to two school. The Sekolah Kebangsaan or the National Primary school in the morning and then he goes to Sekolah Rendah Agama (Islamic Primary School) in the evening and then... continued with his Al-Quran reading & learning after the SRA.

Two schools means two sets of exams. For the national primary school - Raimie has English, Malay, Maths, Science, Arabic, Islamic Studies, Music and Art.

For Islamic school - there are nine subjects he needs to deal with : Tajwid, Tauhid, Sirah, Feqah, Arabic, Al-Quran, Akhlak, Jawi and Khat. Phew!

Anyway, I hope he can do his best. He might not slog over books studying for the exam, but then it's not as if he didn't do any studying either.

Raimie wants a handphone and we told him that he has to get and maintain the #1 spot in class before we even talk about getting him that handphone. That means a whole year of studying and doing well before we discuss about his reward. Think he'll be able to do it? ^^

Sleeping-In No Run Saturday

No running for today! It's my taper week and am scaling back the mileage. Happy and proud to say that I've slowly but surely building up my mileage over the past two months; averaging 30k per week in January and 40k in February. Pffft! Big deal, you say? Well, it is for me!

No need to wake up so early and I'll let the two boys enjoy their early morning swim while I leisurely prepare breakfast. Nothing fancy planned for our brekkie - just the usual : baked beans, melted cheese, two eggs sunny side up, toast and a big cup of really, really kaw black coffee for me.

Then, we'll be off to IKEA to get the bookshelves for Raimie that we initially wanted to buy last week. But before that (or should it be after?), we need to make a stop at Padang Merbok. I need to collect my race kit and t-shirt for the One Vision Run KL I'll be doing on Sunday! Wish me luck!

Good luck to those who are running in races this weekend. Have fun! 

Talking about races, I registered myself early for the Energizer Night race that's gonna be on Apr 21st. I had wanted to register Raimie and Zaini for the fun run (5.5km) but initially Raimie wasn't interested. So I decided not to.

He suddenly mentioned to me yesterday that he did indeed wanted to do it but just as I about to register them, I learnt that the registration is already closed for the fun run category and all 1,500 spots taken up before the closing date which is on Mar 23rd. I missed it by just a few hours. Boooo!!!!

Anyways, there's another event that got my attention but it is held the next day after Energizer. It's the Jogathon Warisan 2012 - an event held at Kwang Tung Cemetery. Yes! You read right. A cemetery.  It's interesting - the fact that one can run around a Chinese cemetery. What other time would I be able to do this? Tempting but I know I won't recover fast enough from a 15.5km I'll be doing the night before at Energizer to be able to do a good time at Jogathon Warisan. Next year, maybe? ;)

Two Covers

Some nice manhole covers that one can find all over Japan. Manhole covers in Japan differs at each place as they are most likely designed with the area/region's pride be it a structure, a festival, a flower or a historic event. Nice, right?

What about ours? Well,our manhole covers serve it purpose - that is to cover manhole! And as long as those manhole covers are there to cover manholes, I'm not complaining. Much better than to have an exposed manhole! Am I right or am I right? @.@

Whaddya mean where's the photo of our manhole cover? Do I really need to post our boring JPP (Jabatan Perkhidmatan Pembentungan) cover here?