2007 Subang Jaya 10km Run

Run Day. I lay awake at my bed staring at the ceiling. Thinking I should rest more as I was to exert lots of energy when i run later, I closed my eyes and tried my best to continue sleeping. Tough luck as my phone rang. I answered the call and it was Jacequline at the other end informing me that her friend will not be turning up for the Run. I asked why and she said it was raining heavily and decided not to turn up for the Run and asked me to check outside. Initially I insisted it was not raining at all but after much persuasion I jolted up from bed and look out from my window. It was definitely raining but not as heavy as I imagined. Fine I thought, but one problem though as her friend was holding on to the Running Numbers. God had mercy though when she offered to collect the Numbers on my behalf and in turn I had to collect from her later. After hanging up I took a quick peek on my phone and realised it was 5:30am. Arrgghh ... I wanna sleep for another 15 minutes at least. I closed my eyes and in less than a minute the phone went buzzing again. This time it was an SMS from Rush saying that he will not turn up due to transport problems as Rezal's daughter was admitted to the hospital. Ok .... 3 out of 6 has cancelled so far... I still have another 3 friends joining me.

I then proceeded to prepare myself and by the time I was ready I received another sms from Eric saying it's raining ... What should we do? I promptly answered ... "Well if it rains, it's a good chance to see girls in their wet t-shirts". My reply yielded a positive feedback ... I'm still wondering was it because of the t-shirt thingy.... Without wasting much time I rushed over to collect the Numbers from Jacq at Sunway and rushed back to meet up with Eric who had already arrived earlier than expected. By that point of time Chris SMS-ed me and said he's not coming because he's not feeling well.... Oklar nevermind. The rain by then had stopped. With the early morning downpour, the weather was simply ideal for running.


Gathering for the Start of the race.

Besides running my personal best or finishing in the medals tally (at the moment still not possible but definitely not impossible), competing against another in the course of the race is one of the many prime motivators for me. With people of all walks and ages participating in the run, I can't help but to identify a few individuals that are of similar built with myself and silently waging my own personal race with them.

After standing for about 15 minutes at the Starting point, Mr. Lee Hwa Beng's 'short gun' *popped* and we started running like a herd of cows being released. Eric looked so excited and ran away smiling... I think he was imagining it being a mass orgy. Running at a steady pace, I managed to run continuously without stopping for the first 20 minutes. After the first 4km, I was gasping for air like a fish on land and regretablly slowed down to walking pace. I was then running and stopping to my disappointment when midway through a girl of about the same age as me caught up ... looked and smiled at me coyly and said "Doing great huh?" i answered ... "You're the one doing great" ... thinking to myself i shouldn't lose to her .. i re-focused and sped away. Too bad I did not know how/when she finished though or I would've at least asked for her number.

It was my 3rd Subang Jaya 10km run over a span of 7 years, and believe me .... you just can't imagine how big USJ is until you really cover every inch by foot. So after 72 minutes of agony, I crossed the Finish Line with the satisfaction that I ran another 10km run but of course I would improve on my timing for the next run.


End of the torture. After a 72 minute ordeal.


Looks more of like a Sales Carnival eh?


Eric - Happy Finisher ... His first 10km Run in ages.


Just a little more. Go go go.


Michael Jackson's Thriller Troupe.


Crowd joining into the fray.


Happy with ourselves as we managed to complete the Run without injuring ourselves.

Training - 3km

After a few days break, I resumed running again.

3km Run (1.5km)
Monday 20/08/2007 - 17 minutes 38 Seconds (8 minutes 18 seconds)
Tuesday 14/08/2007 - 18 minutes 11 Seconds (7 minutes 53 seconds)

Damn! I'm gonna suffer on Sunday

A Day Out

Came across this Event organised by Animax at 1 Utama last week. There was this competition held to design a costume inspired by anime influence. The finals had 20 Designers using models to parade their costumes on a 'T' Platform.


My Personal Favourite.


Panel of Judges. Hot Red Haired Judge Joyce Wong!

To get the crowd grooving, audiences were invited to play some mini games.


Asked to catwalk, this guy seemed not too sure if he could pull it off.


He was a natural it seems.

During intermission, we were treated to a dance performance by the B-Boys.


B-Boy spinning.


Can you do this?

While the Judges scratched their heads trying to decide on the Winner, we were treated to another round of catwalk by amateurs.


Shy Boy: "Mah .... I Wanna SHIT in my pants".

Asked to catwalk, this shy boy walks to the Judge's front and BOOM here's what he did.


Amateur yeah? Yehaaaa!!! Look at me! No guessing who won. Kids these days ......


Announcing the Winner....


The winning Designer...

No idea what his name was but Congrats anyway....


After the climax.

Remembering Grandpa ....

Grandpa was born in 1914.... Second eldest out of 5 and the only son, Grandpa had 1 elder sister and 3 younger sisters. Grandpa was an active man in sports and worked in the Government sector. A disciplinarian by nature, Grandpa was strict towards his children and kept close tabs on their progress in life.

I was born when my Grandpa was 64 years old. For 16 years I lived with my Grandparents and they took good care of me, before moving to Subang Jaya with my parents. I could still remember back when I was 10 or 11, Grandpa will always wake me up at 6am in the morning and made sure I was up and ready for school. A cup of hot Milo will be on the dining table and a different variety of food ranging from bread, biscuits or cakes will be my first meal every morning.

Retired and with loads of spare time, Grandpa spends most of his time taking care of myself and my younger sis and once a week takes a bus up Genting to keep himself busy. When I was about 5 or 6, I still remember vividly each time Grandpa comes back from Genting, I'll be standing at the door grill waiting for him around 4pm as he buys the best 'Kai Tan Kous' (Egg Cakes not Tart) for us.

Grandpa always treated me and my younger Sis so well, something which I did not realise or paid too much attention to back then. He will be patiently waiting for us sitting by the door of the house with an umbrella each time we get down from the bus when it rains. He kept our time occupied with games . We played cars, pool and other games that were 'customised' based on our interests. He was also our Self Appointed Teacher as he taught us English and Maths during our homework time. Grandpa also instilled various postive values, beliefs and teaching which I still hold on to until today.

I do get along well with Grandpa but of course there are times when I argued with Grandpa and refuse to talk to him for a few days as I tend to do so when I get mad at people when I was younger. Grandpa will patiently wait till I speak back to him and to this day I still feel bad for being such a brat at times.


For no apparent reason, Grandpa calls me Johnny all the time ... I'm still wondering why I'm called Johnny now.


What Have you Got There? Grandpa always had a sense of humour and will sportingly pose for cameras


Grandpa - With Great Grandchild Kay Li.

Sadly however in May this year, Grandpa passed away. The man whom I've known for 29 years and respects so much is no more. More than 3 months has passed and on the 100th day according to beliefs, the family has to pay a visit and conduct prayers. Located in Semenyih it was an hour's drive from Grandpa's house in PJ.


Grandpa's Resting Place.


Overlooking the hills.

My mind stood blank looking at the skies wondering what happens to us afterlife? If I had a chance to choose a family member for my next life, Grandpa wouldn't be missing on my list :).


Grandpa and Grandma.


Grandpa - 1914 - 2007.

Tiger FC Challenge Hots Up

Visit my mini league "MILF"

Training - 2007 Subang Jaya 10km Run

After recovering from my last run, I did my first training to prepare myself for the upcoming Subang Jaya 10km run on 26th August 2007. After such a long lay off I do not expect myself to be in prime condition to do 10km runs daily but instead I will start off with a 3km run every alternative day and gradually increase the distance from 3km to 5km and finally 10km within 2 weeks.

After doing my warm ups.... I started running. I paced myself for the 3km ordeal and huffed and puffed away. By the half way mark of 1.5km, I clocked a 7 minutes 53 seconds split timing. That worked out to about 5 minutes 15 seconds per km. Not good enough as my targeted time to run 10km is within 50 minutes. As hard as I tried, I did put some legs into my run but it only prolonged my ordeal as I did a stop start stop run by the last kilometre.

As I reached the end of the run, a quick check on my stop watch had my 3km run timed at 18 minutes 11 seconds. This meant that i took 6 minutes 3 seconds for every kilometre covered. Sweating profusely and both out of breath and stamina ... it only made me more strong willed for my next training.

Why not join me at the Subang Jaya Run? The run will begin from the MPSJ building and you'll be enjoying the sights of USJ (if I can recall, ithe run covers USJ2,3,4,10,11,12,13 before finishing at the MPSJ building) during the run if you participate. Normal entries are RM10 per head and since it's after the closing date, it's RM20 per entry now. By the way, I have on hand some FREE invitations for the Subang Jaya 10km run from a sponsor. If by any chance you're interested, do contact me.

Tiger FC Fantasy Football League

The 2007/8 season of the English Premier League (EPL) has started and what a weekend we were treated to. Sunderland begin their season on a high when Michael Chopra grabbed a late winner against Tottenham giving Roy Keane his first victory as Manager in the EPL.

Title challengers Arsenal and Liverpool can count themselves fortunate not to share points with their opponents as they each made their own respective comebacks with late goals to claim 3 points. Meanwhile Chelsea exchanged blows with Birmingham before prevailing 3-2 and claim their customary 3 points. Premiership Champions Manchester United could only secure a Home Draw with bogey team Reading, thus began their title defence with 2 points dropped.

With the season just underway, teams with new additions need time to adjust themselves before they could show their true potential. I do not expect the 2 teams (Newcastle United and Manchester City) currently occupying the top 2 spots to stay long on top as the season picks up. As usual there was alot of drama but none more eventful than Dave Kitson's appearance as a substitute as he only lasted a mere 37 seconds before begin sent off after a wild lunge at Patrick Evra. Jens Lehmann nearly outdo Kitson when he misjudged a back pass and presented Fulham a goal. Fortunately for him, Arsenal managed to make a comeback otherwise Arsene Wenger would've given him a rollocking.

Anyway, besides watching the games this season, how else can you enjoy your EPL other than punting? There's the Tiger FC Fantasy League and I'm aiming for the Grand Prize of a Trip To England plus RM1,500.00 cash! What are you waiting for? Sign up and pit your skills against mine by joining my Mini League!

Mini League: MILF
Password: maniac8

adidas King of The Road

It's been 3 days since my run and I'm still aching all over. It could be said I brought this upon myself when I participated in the adidas King of The Road Run without any form of training after a 2 year hiatus from running prior to Race Day. I blame myself as my body was suddenly thrown into the fray to run a 10km event without any form of physical or mental preparation beforehand. The last time I ran was actually in adidas's 4x3km run back in 2005 as such I was not in prime condition to go through this gruelling experience. Nevertheless since I've vowed to resume running earlier, I thought to myself I might as well start now or never.

The alarm buzzed off at 5am and I promptly woke up wondering to myself why i resort to such punishment to my body? I stood up and a mirror check of myself revealed a bulging waistline that needed a complete makeover immediately. This made me more determined than ever and hurried myself to get ready before I change my mind.

Upon reaching Sunway I text-ed San (who told me she was taking part in the run as well) and asked where she was. 5 minutes on and without a reply it was very obvious that she did not keep her end of the bargain (Well she only replied to me around 2pm but that's another story that I will rather not dwell on). I then met up with Rezal and Rush who were waiting for their Running Numbers from me. Rather surprisingly, I also caught sight of KC, Fredrick, Asri and Danny in the crowd. Didn't know they were regular runners as well. Oklar good also... I will have more mates for my future runs.


21km Run - Samy Vellu pointing his gun up before the start. Toll prices to increase after this Run?


Kings of The Road really .... New Pantai Expressway (NPE) was closed till 10am.


Our food ration for the week ...

After the runners for the 21km run started, we were next in line and I felt as though it was a pack of wild animals that were caged up for 10 years being released into the wild. Pounding footsteps were heard left, right front and back as we made our way running towards the NPE. My pace for the first 2.5km was pretty good (to my standards anyway) but when i reach the 3km mark, i felt pain on my left knee. I don't know why .. but it must be due to the lack of training and not going through a proper warm up regime that led to this injury. So i resort to running at a slower pace but as the pain grew, I slowed down and walked until the pain subsided before I resume running again. This cycle went on and on throughout the whole race.

One hot chick after another overtook me (geramnya) ... I tried keeping pace by concentrating on (ahem!) them but sad to say I failed to do so miserably. What stamina they have, I thought to myself. Even Aunties that weighed heavier and looked unfit were overtaking me ... I looked at them feeling frustrated and I could've swored one Aunty looked back at me with an evil grin that sent out this message, "Bloody young useless prick ... I beat the crap out of you". To add salt into injury, by the 5km mark, runners from the 21km that ran an extra 10km on a longer route had already started overtaking me on the road leading to the finish line.

After about an hour plus of sight seeing and enjoying some eye candy, I was so relieved when it read 1km to go .... and eventually finished my race just in front of Deena (didn't know she took part either). All in it took me 70 minutes to finish a 10km run. Embarrassed I was but I won't (hopefully) be that awful next time round.


After 70 minutes. Done and dusted.


Rezal .... Woohoo ... with a medal after he finished in 132nd Place in a time of 55 minutes. As for myself, better luck next time round.


3 mouseketeers (Rezal, Rush and myself). Rezal's running number 1532 came out in today's Sports Toto Draw.

Post Race - Caught up with my ex colleagues from adidas.


Anna-Rina ... She has talked the talk and walked the walk. Need I say more?


KC, Fredrick and myself. Poor KC finished his race in the time stipulated for the Men's Veteran Open but apparently he entered the wrong running Category.


Leila and Rozie. Ladies ... you sure you didn't smell anything foul standing so close to me?


Aida - Very Happy Volunteer.


Aida .. Will you (s)MELLY me?


Foosball Champ - Introducing Zinedine Shidan.


Guy in Red... His big toe was bleeding profusely and had to be piggy backed home.

All in all a very good experience after being away from the running scene for 2 years .... Next Run for me will be the Subang Jaya 2007 run on August 2007. I say ... Bring It On....

Havoc at Hasbro Warehouse Sales

I looked out of my office window staring at the empty land that is currently being cleared up for development and was wondering to myself what the heck was I doing in office on a Saturday morning? There is a Warehouse Sales at Hasbro's and I'm stuck at work unable to give a rationale excuse to leave early. Torture! Pure torture!

The time was just 10:15am, 15 minutes since the public were allowed to enter the Warehouse, and I called Michael. According to him, the crowd was so huge that he had trouble looking for parking and had to send poor old Soo San down to grab hold of whatever that is left behind. The background noise was deafening and to add salt into wound, he did not have time to talk to me and slammed down the phone just as I was about to ask him to buy something for me.

You see, I'm one who is not too keen on Warehouse Sales especially after experiencing myself first hand how rowdy people can get (using all means) just to buy items at knocked down prices. Toy collecting is such an expensive hobby (to me at least), and I cannot recall how many times I picked up something that I like from the Toy's Department but only to put it back when I look at the price tag. LOL ... yeah I'm cheap!

I cursed my luck as I left work at 12pm and called up Michael and San to checked on what's happening there. According to San, there was a lunch break for staff and most of the Star Wars collectibles were wiped out. Do not be too disheartened, I told myself, and I promptly checked with Marianne. The staff break was also time for them to do stock replenishment and will re-open by 1:30pm. I harboured the thought of skipping lunch but Kim was starving so badly that we had to reluctantly fill our stomachs before popping by to the Warehouse. After lunch, we headed straight and upon reaching to my relieve, I could see that the crowd numbers weren't what I expected but still were enough to cause havoc ...


This was the scene when we reached there.


Temperatures were scorch high but that did not deter the crowd.


Pit Stop for the shoppers.

There were scores of people hunting for the limited stocks, this was like Malaya during the old days when people have to queue up for water but only this time it's for toys. How lucky we are nowadays! The crowd jostled and pushed the tables inching closer to the staff as they slowly open boxes of toys to the point the staff had to verbally address the crowd to stop pushing. I think it was Marianne screaming at the top of her lungs to control the crowd. Reminiscent of days in adidas.


Pandemonium. 'Saya MAHU beli HASBRO!'.

There were some who were so sick of the pushing they just waited outside and when I came out with some goodies after a good round of body pushing and sniffing bad odour, someone came up and said he wanted whatever I have on hand if I decide not to buy it. No way i thought.


This guy offered us RM50 for something that we had on hand.


Marianne's picks. Really owe her alot for picking them up for me.

Michael and San had left after their first round but knowing that there were still goodies available, they made a second trip to toy hunt.

Amidst all the shoving and pushing there was this particular incident that took place between a middle aged man (Uncle) and a Hasbro employee that had the crowd laughing .... This happened when there was a mad crowd that hunted for the Clone Trooper Unleashed Series and the that got Uncle very frustrated because he couldn't get the last piece to complete his jigsaw.

Uncle: Oi Sei Ngan Chai pass the damn boxes out. Wanna keep them for what?
Hasbro Staff (With annoyed look): Who called me 'Sei Ngan Chai'?
Uncle (looking quite embarrassed): Ooopsss... sorry I don't know your name mah ... Should I call you 'Lengchai' instead? Can pass me the boxes ah?
Hasbro Staff: Ok lar ... (opens the box and passes the toys out)

Somehow i felt the staff was thinking ... Call me sei ngan chai? NAH Blardee fool you.. open things for you also talk like that ... NO MANNERS ... .. take this and pergi jauh-jauh...

Also there was this incident when a Man who had been standing right in front had the guts to complain when he was taking everything.

M: Oi boleh buka lagi ka? Apa pun tak boleh ambil la
Hasbro Staff: Semua sudah buka lah Encik ... Lu tengok apa lu pegang .. semua you sudah ada tapi nak saya buka lagi.
M: Saya kesian lah .. tunggu sini apa pun takda...
Hasbro STaff: Apa pun takde? Lu tengok apa lu pegang? You sudah berdiri depan sini 15 minit. Orang lain kat belakang tunggu dengan tangan kosong sahaja pun tak bising.
M: Hehehe ... sori sori..

You could just imagine the chaotic scenes there. Grown men and to a certain extent some aunties pushing each other for toys ... At one point Mike was caught sandwiched between an old aunt in front and a man at his back. As the crowd grew, the man behind pushed him and poor old Mike felt like a pervert taking advantage of the Aunty.


Who the heck is that in the middle?


The Spending Spree ends finally. Notice the hinge of guilt I had.


Michael's Loot.

Here's what I picked. Thanks to Marianne.


Battle Packs Unleashed - Kashyyvk.


Die Cast - Darth Vader, Sand Trooper, IG88 and Clone Trooper


Father & Son. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.


Unleashed - Darth Vader and Troopers


Die Cast - Snowspeeder


Die Cast - Starfighter.

Will I go for another Warehouse Sales at Hasbro if there is another? You bet I will .... But let me do some rugby training in the meantime.