Posting from new office

I’ve finally found the time to “goof” off at work to update my blog. I know some of you might be wondering where I’ve disappeared to after the long silence since my last entry. I manage to verbally inform some of you pending my start date and now I’ll make it official. I’m now a member of the corporate world and have parked my ass in CIMB Bank. Yeah, there’ll be lotsa questions on why I’m here and also if “he’s outta his mind?”

Like I penned or more like typed / keyed in my previous entry that I was looking for a change and this to me is really a big change or more like a challenge. This will be my first foray into the corporate world and the biggest challenge to me is putting on shirts and pants. I’ve never been a shirt and pants person as my previous job offered me the luxury of casual dressing. And I’m still trying to adjust to the daily hassle of buttoning-up, zipping and belting practice, if you know what I mean.

I’m working in the Retail Marketing department with a head count of 15. We basically market the products of the bank and I’m in charge of digital assets management i.e. digital marketing for short. The beauty of this position is that I still get to do what I love best and be the client. I’m now on the other end of the food chain as compared to my days in the agency and the icing on the cake would be ………roll the drums please…….the agency that I left is the one that services the bank. The deal can’t get any sweeter than this. The biggest advantage of coming from an agency is that you have the know-how on the inner workings and also how they come up with the “creative” costing. Why the quote, you must be asking. Coz I once played an active role in creatively conjuring up costs and that comes as no surprise coz I helped rake in more than RM6 mil during my tenure in the agency and it’s a known fact that some agencies charge a bomb for their services.

I’m now into my 2nd month and is looking forward to the work that’s gonna HIT after the CNY holidays. I’m still trying to get into terms with the banking jargons and settling in pretty well with the procedures and bureaucratic BS. It’s a total 180 from where I came from. Ok, enough work and get back to serious talk, running.

I’ve manage to run several sessions without the aid of my gel pad and I must say that my PS is improving. I’ve registered myself for the GE event this Sunday and will participate in the 20K event. This will be my longest since NB15k last year and I hope to pull through Sunday without must grimacing and suffering. GULP! I just recovered from a viral infection that got me coughing / hacking away like a 70 year old. All the coughing caused me to have a sore chest and I found it hard to run 5ks on Sunday. Nevertheless, I shall persevere this Sunday to complete the 20k.

It’s about time I stepped out and soak up the excitement from this event. It’s really been a while since I attended a race due to injury and also family commitments. Time and work willing, I will put in more effort in my training to get myself prepared for more events this year. My medal tally has barely moved since 2007 and it’s about time to start my collection.

Speaking of family, my kid is already 15 months old and getting to be a REAL handful. I dunno where he gets his energy from coz he’s like an Energizer bunny on steroids. Climbing and crawling (he’s still not able to walk unless assisted) here and there and very very inquisitive. I guess he’s opened most of the cupboards and drawers in the house and pressed every available button on the TV, HI-FI and wall mounted switches. I waiting for him to come of age and send him to Azwar’s Trikids events and put his energy to good use.

My son is hooked on this group called The Wiggles (an Aussie based children’s musical group made up of a bunch of overgrown men who sings and dance.) I think he has an inclination to music and likes all the colors in the music videos. Whenever we turn on the DVD, he’ll start swaying left right and swing his arms to the music. The major drawback is that the DVDs are very limited and I only found 2 sets in our local stores. If I were to order online, I will have to fork out AUD20 per DVD and I have yet to include shipping costs. After doing some tapping on the old calculator, I found out that it's gonna cost me an arm and a leg to bring in the DVDs. I did some “research” and found a treasure trove of videos in Youtube but that wouldn’t work coz the videos in there are not TV material. I did a little more digging and found “several” in the peer-to-peer network and I went straight to work. Sorry for disrespecting these aussie blokes but I do not have deep pockets and moreover, this year, we are on an austerity drive. Now that I have my son has a whole load of Wiggles DVD to keep him entertained, he’s happy and I too am happy.

Time for a change

Wow! my last post was in May and that's when I got my new shoes. To tell you the truth, the shoes are living up to expectations and they perform as they were made to be, superb. I can't fault Asics on this and no, they did not pay me to write this entry but I wish I was sponsored tho. That will remain a wish for a while. :)

My Plantar F*** is getting better but I still get the strain at the bottom of my foot. Although the pain is gone but you still get the irritating and nagging feeling that something is still there. That feeling is not gonna deter me from getting my running fix which I've been doing on a regular basis. I'm slowly crawling back up the "food chain" and I'm far from where I was before but I'm not gonna pressure myself coz I don't wanna get injured again. Moreover, I'm trying to cut down on the races coz I don't wanna get caught in the "kan cheong-ness" in the preparation. When I fee like it, I'll register and participate. I heard that next year's KLIM is gonna be sponsored by Standard Chartered and I do wish they play a part in organising it coz if this really happens, my name will definitely be on the list.

While being sidelined by plantar in the past months, my weekly mileage, if it can still be called mileage, is comparable to a joggers'. I'm not too perturbed by that coz I found another activity which helps me focus on strenghtening my core and also burn some calories. I was introduced to bodypump by a colleague who's a gym freak. This guy can go to the gym twice a day and attend back to back classes. I think he's finding an avenue for stress relieve in the gym coz he too works on the Celcom a/c and I think he wants to impress his girlfriend(s). He's bulked up a lot since he joined. That aside, I took his advise and joined him for 1 of the classes and man did it hurt after that (I even started off with light weights). I was sore for a few days and you should try it coz muscles you thought did not exist will hurt after the 1st class, if you do it right, of course. I am now smitten and I try to attend once a week depending on how I feel. If I feel good, I'll attend the one on Monday and Weds and both these classes will keep them muscles "happy and sore" for the rest of the week. The instructor for Weds are NOT forgiving at all and they'll make sure you get the best out of the class i.e. no rest between reps. Now that I'm slowly adding on mileage, I find that my legs are stronger and I have a better posture.

I bumped into Mei Jyn (I'm not sure if you know of this petite runner but you can check her blog out. She's not updated it for a while) in one of the classes and she recognised me. She too has come down with an ankle injury which required her to go for physio sessions. She can't run any longer than 20 mins which will make her ankle sore. Instead, she has taken up bodypump to supplement the lost workouts and she is damn power too coz can attend back to back classes. I think its a matter of getting use to the strenious workouts.

Let's put running and the aside and help me congratulate Justin (the hopper PM19) and Ronnie (Captain PM1) on being new fathers. Justin and Ronnie is proud daddy to a little girl and boy respectively. The PM team is growing and my kid has turned 1 more than a month ago. I know its getting very cliché-d but true to the phrase, time flies. My son has moved into the toddler stage and he does not have the baby face anymore (see it in the pictures below. We took a trip to Camerons during the Raya holz). He's beginning to learn at a tremendous pace and he can remember things even after you've shown it to him once. He is very alert and you just can't leave him alone coz he notices things which you don't expect him to pay attention to. There were many small incidences which happened when you thought it's safe but you turn around and he's already crying. Raising a kid is a FULL TIME JOB and speaking of that, I'm already in my third year in this agency and it's about time I made a move.

All good things come to an end as they say and I've already made up my mind to move on. It was a difficult decision to make but if I don't do it, I would end up in a rut. I'm not growing anymore in this place and I don't feel the enthusiasm and joys of handling the account anymore. Everything to me is like clockwork and I already know what to do whenever a brief comes in. I feel like I'm slowly slipping into the comfort zone and I know once I get into the zone, unlike the runners' high, I will start slipping into oblivion. Well, it was a wise choice and now I'm serving my notice till the day comes when I say goodbye to this place, that is in a few days time. 2 to be exact. I've already found a job which I hope will give me extra time to spend with my family and son. I really treasure personal time and I know working in an agency will not offer you this kinda luxury. Imagine coming in to work during weekends and holidays.

There were a few offers but I turned down the ones from the agencies but rather chose the client side instead. Its wasn't tough to turn them down coz I'm no spring chicken and once you get a telco as a client, you do not wanna service anyone after that. You can ask those who's serviced a telco client and the answers will not defer much. I have to thank God that I got a job in these trying times and hope to shine in this new place. I will not reveal where I'm going coz blogs have ears. All I can say is that it's a digital marketing position in a respected organisation. Rumours a rife in the office on where I'm going and I don't know why I'm beginning to feel like its turning into a witch hunt. WTF is wrong with me leaving? sheesh! If I'm going to join a competitor, you would have known the day I threw my letter. The best thing about me quitting my job is that I've not informed any of my family members about it except for my wife. When the time comes, I'll let them know and for those wanting to know, check back next month.

Dinner time at Ye Olde Smokehouse


Why so serious? Lunch at the Observation deck Sg Palas Boh Tea Plantation


Chillin' on the couch of our Strawberry Park apartment


Me in my hoody.


Mom's #1 fan!


Me and my hoody in my ride.

New shoes

I just picked this these new pair of GT 2130 from ST. Justin and me had some trouble directing her to where we were but it was worth the wait. We had some tigers to keep us company. I can't wait to get my legs into them and try them out. I now need to get my plantar fixed before fully testing them. DROOOOOOOL!

Time to take a nice shower and get some shut-eye. It's already 1.31am. SHIT!

DNS

I'm not motivated to update this blog coz I've not been running much lately coz of an injury I
picked up out of the blue. This is the dreaded Plantar Fasciitis which hit me a long time ago. I even forgot how I manage to pull out of it. This time its even worst than before coz I've had it with me for the past 4 weeks and it seems to be "glued" to me. Me being the hard headed type does not give in that easily and will not be conformed to sit on my ass the whole time. I've cut down on my running and hit the elliptical machine in the gym. But I still find running has more "kick" than swaying my feet back and forth.

That dreaded injury is still there after all the precautionary steps I've taken. I'm doing nitely massages by stepping on a golf ball and rolling it back and forth around the arch. It actually works for a short period but it comes back the next day. I'm really up in arms over this stupid injury and will not give in so easily. We shall see this Sunday when I hobble, walk or run to the finish line of the NB 15k.

I caught the flu after KLIM and I passed it on to my kid and then my wife. We were all down with flu. To make things worst, my kid went for this 3rd and final hexa combo jabs and that made his immune system weak and that didn't do him any good.

I registered for the Orange Run and I got my friend to take the bib for me BUT I did not manage to start because I was up most of the nite when my boy cried because he was uneasy. He's 7 months old now and he still wakes up in the middle of the nite for his feeds. I guess he's not planning to outgrow this nite feed thing and my wife and me will have to wait it out. He started on his cereal when he was 5.5 mths old and have progressed to cereal and porridge as his main meals. The only drawback is that he "gian susu" whenever he wants to sleep. He needs to get his fix no matter what. If not he will not be able to fall asleep.

I got myself a new Sony Ericsson 5 megapixel toy and have been busily using it to snap pix of my kid whenever I have the chance. This is so convenient as lugging around a camera is so troublesome. I've placed a few of the pix below and you can view them. Picture wise, I can't complain much coz its a phone and I don't expect it to have the sharpness and details of a digicam. Beggars are no choosers lah.

I'm now in the midst of overhauling my rides. I'm not referring to my car(s) but to my running shoes. I think its time for me to replace my aging pair of GT2110. My Precision 7's are half way there but I'll use them till they are worn out and use them as leisure shoes, just like my Precision 6. I'll be down in Singapore for a conference on the 26th this month and will pick up my GT2130. SLUUUURP! The thought of it sends tingle down my spine. I can't wait to slip them on and give them a good run in. I also plan to add 1 or 2 more pairs to my collection to have some variety. (Rancangan Tergendala......)

Cont (15/5/08)...
Getting new shoes also mean that I need to step up and put more effort in getting my endurance and strength back. 4.30 and 5 mins pace days are long gone. At the present moment, maintaining a 6 min pace is already a tall order. I really miss the Kg Pandan days when Coach Chan will drill you to the max. I had a late run yesterday after work and was lost in my thoughts. One of the funny thing about the position I'm in currently compared to the Kg Pandan days is that I've forgotten the feel of pain. Pain was the one that brought about 4.30 and 5 min pace. As the saying goes, no pain no gain. Yes, I'm in pain now coz my PF does not look like its gonna leave soon and this kinda pain is not what I'm looking for. It now the waiting game for me. ^%$#@#$%$

Have to start them young. hehe


Me on my "Dining Throne"




Me in my crib. Hugging my angel to sleep


Cool or not? Little adult


Catching up on the latest new while havin' breakfast.
After that I can rip them all apart.


Cheeky t-shirt.

Pah lin tau, kang kang & turned turtle - KLIM 08 Race report

I never imagined myself completing the 21k in sub 2:30 yesterday. This must be one of the most suffering runs I've endured since I started this activity. I've lost count of the times which I stopped to walk because my legs were just not accustomed to the distance. This IS the longest I've ran since Mizuno Wave last year and I'm really GLAD I did it coz it really brought back fond memories of me pia-ing in my previous races.

I planned to run this race way back last year after missing Standard Chartered's Singapore Marathon. I was so looking forward to this race to get back into my groove but things didn't turn out quite as it seems. I tried doing long runs during the weekends only to be slowed down by fatigue and tiredness. The furthest I've ran was 11+kms and I know that will never be sufficient for to be able to run the full distance of 21km. I was not pressured to PR during this race as I know it's way beyond me and I planned to run walk instead.

I got an SMS at 4:30am from Martin as a reminder to wake up. I was still lounging in bed coz I only slept at 12+ coz thoughts of the race kept playing in my head. It's been a while since I participated in these kinda events and I still get butterflies in my tummy. I washed up and had a light breakfast and rushed off the KL's Post Office which I found ample parking. Thank God I slathered myself with loads of Bodyglide or else I would have been in pain the whole day. Both my inner thighs had double helping and I took even more precaution on my toes as I painstakingly fingered them. Hehe..

I warmed up with a short run to Dataran and did some light stretching before entering the kandang. Where I met Tang, Kell Jay, Buluman and wife, Kevin Chow, Eric and few other familiar faces. The gun went off and I was so happy coz I just can't wait for this event to end. We took a new route and made a 1km loop and went pass Dataran again. The mile markers were %$%*&^ WRONG! Not that I cared much about it but it affects you psychologically. I met buluman at the Seremban Highway turnoff and he walk walking with his running vest in hand. He told me that he'll catch up and he never did. Since I knew that I'll never make it through the race without taking walk break, I did most of the walking at places of incline.

As said above, it's really been a while since my legs and body was put through a grueling session. I can really feel the lactic acid building up but I just tried to put that aside and continued running. My quads and knees were sore and I just needed to cool down. I was taking bottles at refreshing station and pouring it over my head and back and that helped a bit. I caught up with Eric who was walking in Jalan P. Ramlee and his quads were cramping. The last stretch was the worst coz all my energy was spent and at the same time happy coz we did have to do the stupid loop unlike previous years. I was just so happy to see Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and just kept my focus on finishing the race.

I looked at my watch and I knew that I was definitely able to finish it in sub 2:30 (I was hoping for sub 3:00). Screw all the excuses! This is it! Finish the race, get your medal, go home, have a nice breakfast and catch the highlights of Manchester United thrashing Aston Villa (This was the icing on the cake which called up my reserves). The arch was a sight to behold coz that was what I was looking forward to for the past 2 hrs plus. I crossed the line in 2:24.50 but my official time was 2:26.24. I don't care! The most important thing was that I finish what I started! and I can now go back and chill with my kid for the rest of the day.

I'm sorry if I did not stay back for the photo session ritual coz I just wanted to have a nice shower and ice those legs of mine. For the first few hours I was limping and it was so hard to climb up the stairs but slowly things improved and I'm feeling much better now even though there are still aches all over my body. I'm now looking forward to NB Pacesetter's 15K run in May and hopefully I'm more prepared for it. Below are a few pix of KNN junior waiting for his turn to outdo me. Check out his new crew cut hairstyle. Looks like a "pai lang thau" (gang leader)

What you looking at?


Don't &%$# around with me. *that's my evil laugh