Monday, December 29, 2008

Dec 26 2008 - Happy Boxing Day

It's a public holiday in London and yet I am in office today... Frankly
I am still not settled down yet.... Rather, I have yet to be tasked with
any work as of now... There's a lot of work but I gues due to
insufficent access given to me, there aint much for me to do... As most
of the staff are on leave for the year end, my accesses are all
pending..

Anyway, I had a quiet Christmas... Compared to Christmas the past few
years, this year was very quiet.. Guess I have toned down nor meeting up
wif all my frenz....Settling down in one place with a bottle of wine in
hand drinking wif few close friends is godd enough... we drank
throughout the whole night. Did not talk much.. Just sipping wine,
enjoying the stuffed turkey lying on the sofa at my frenz penthouse
relaxing staring at the sky and enjoying the breeze... Drank the whole
night and we ended opening up a few bottles... We drank so much that all
of us ended on the bed together....

My bro n sis in law came ocer for lunch today... They brought my niece
also... It was nice to spend christmas as a whole family esp with my
niece... As usual, my niece is also photgenic.... Waiting for me to snap
shots of her all the time....She just mades made my day yesterday.. Did
not talk much to my sis in law rather.. Haha.. My bro wa sin my room
playing PS3 and Wii while I play with my niece... Quiet but nice
christmas

In fact, 2008 was a difficult and a challenging year for me.. In a few
days time, 2008 is over and 2009 comes in...
2008 was a year of many challenges and chnages in my life, opening up a
new chapter n closing off certain chapters... I admit certain things
were not handled by me very well and will always stay that way till I
overcome my fear...

Each and everyone of us has a fear.. And mine is a psychological fear...
Pls, I do hope I will be a better person in 2009 n things will look
better for me and I will excel in all aspects in life. Be it career,
life, personal, personal best, relationships, fun and happiness...

To all, Happy Boxing day and Happy New Year 2009

Dec 26 2008 - Happy Boxing Day

It's a public holiday in London and yet I am in office today... Frankly
I am still not settled down yet.... Rather, I have yet to be tasked with
any work as of now... There's a lot of work but I gues due to
insufficent access given to me, there aint much for me to do... As most
of the staff are on leave for the year end, my accesses are all
pending..

Anyway, I had a quiet Christmas... Compared to Christmas the past few
years, this year was very quiet.. Guess I have toned down nor meeting up
wif all my frenz....Settling down in one place with a bottle of wine in
hand drinking wif few close friends is godd enough... we drank
throughout the whole night. Did not talk much.. Just sipping wine,
enjoying the stuffed turkey lying on the sofa at my frenz penthouse
relaxing staring at the sky and enjoying the breeze... Drank the whole
night and we ended opening up a few bottles... We drank so much that all
of us ended on the bed together....

My bro n sis in law came ocer for lunch today... They brought my niece
also... It was nice to spend christmas as a whole family esp with my
niece... As usual, my niece is also photgenic.... Waiting for me to snap
shots of her all the time....She just mades made my day yesterday.. Did
not talk much to my sis in law rather.. Haha.. My bro wa sin my room
playing PS3 and Wii while I play with my niece... Quiet but nice
christmas

In fact, 2008 was a difficult and a challenging year for me.. In a few
days time, 2008 is over and 2009 comes in...
2008 was a year of many challenges and chnages in my life, opening up a
new chapter n closing off certain chapters... I admit certain things
were not handled by me very well and will always stay that way till I
overcome my fear...

Each and everyone of us has a fear.. And mine is a psychological fear...
Pls, I do hope I will be a better person in 2009 n things will look
better for me and I will excel in all aspects in life. Be it career,
life, personal, personal best, relationships, fun and happiness...

To all, Happy Boxing day and Happy New Year 2009

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

SIgh..... it almost Christmas

Today is the 7th Day of work with Barclays Capital. Frankly speaking,
the culture here is different from CS. In a way, I feel it is good as my
brain cells will be fully utilised. And I will be able to explore and
stretch my limits. My banking life has revolves ard Treasury &
Derivatives -Futures { be it Processing, Settlement and/or
Investigations} The only thing new to me at CS was Swift message, Nostro
Funding and Team management and being answerable for the whole team
performance.

With Barclays Capital, it is a different scenario here... CDS

Current Defualt Swaps is a new pdt for me. Have never heard of this
product till I actually come to Barclays...... It is basically a
Derivatives pdt... Tat is what I can say
Product wise, processes, work demands,invetsigations and applications
wise are all new to me..

Basically, I have to start from scratch... It aint easy and it aint
going to be smooth. I do jope I will be able to survive the ordeal.

Working London hours is something new to me... My body is still
accustomed to APAC hrs... NO matter how late I sleep, I will still be
awake latest by 8am... Tat kills me... I don't have enough sleep man..
The alternative I came up wif myself is to drink a glass of wine each
night to allow me to sleep well... tats the only way, I feel I can sleep
well and wake up late and have a sound sleep ensuring that I am wide
awake for work.

Changes in my lifestyle I have yo adapt. Not been able to clean my room
for the past few days as I was too tired... Sooner or later, it will be
like a rubbish dump... Sigh..

Btw, changes in the attitude of one of my friends surprised me. A friend
who has hurt me before deeply has decided to reconciled wif me. Though
there is no words of aoplogies between us, I sense that he is trying to
make things as it were before.

Anyway, I have decided to sign up for Sundown'09.

Along running with me are Hong Ping, Billy and CG.

I hope to better excel myself this time and pick up DB in 2009

Till then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Monday, December 8, 2008

SCM 08 Dec07 - The day has arrived


It was 8 hours before the race and ideally, i should be asleep to get sufficient rest. Tried as i might, i was tossing in bed. Though this is not my 1st marathon in my life, this is my 1st marathon with Standard Chartered and 1st day marathon.

Unable to sleep, i was on msn and chatting till about midnight before i fell asleep at one and waking up at 2 plus. The day was a nice morning and i don my running attire.

In the SGRunner's Top & SKINS Tights, 2XU Visor and Nike Shades and Pouch are the gears that i don for the run. I must admit that i did not have proper training for the run. And my desires was to finsh the run.

I did a PB for my 10km in this marathon. My PB in the marathon for the distance of 10km was 80 mins. An improvement since a year ago when i first ran 10km in my life where i took 110 mins...
Look at the state of my shoe... It was a muddy run at some point.. Haha bluff u guys... shoes was muddy as the Padang was wet n muddy... Sigh.. Need to wash my shoes soon....

One thing i hate about running is running at ECP. Guess there are too many runs organised at ECP.. Till i was kinda sian liao.... In fact at ECP, I lost my momentun and slowed down a lot. MY paced was getting slower n slower... Rather, i cant wait to reach the 30km mark of the run where i can get support from SGRUNNERS.

The moral support nad encouragement by the volunteers were great. And the best part was the treat that i got from them. I got a frozen hydroloyte -orange flavor. Nice.. As i was running and sucking something nice n cold, many envy eyes were looking at me with jealousy.

Well there was only one and i am too selfish to enjoy the delicacy with strangers.... I continued enjoying the hydralyte myself. Thanks to the volunteers who offered me hydarlyte... it made a difference... it was like a power and a morale booster.

Running at the F1 track was a torture... So hot and sunny and there was no trees nor shelter...
The F1 track is not meant for human walk..

Anyway, i am happy that i finished the run though again i had stitches, nipple abrasion and blister on the sole of my right feet... To finish the run was my main objective.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Collection of race pack

Dec 4 08, was the first day of the race pack collection. This year abt 46,000 runners are taking part in the Standard Chartered Marathon 08 and there are more people running the Half marathon nd the full marathon.

This is the 2nd Marathon in my running career and i had spent approximately 2.5 hrs queuing up to get my race pack and another half an hour to collect my bus tickets. There were separate queues for everything that the runners have purchased even for Pasta Party ie Carbo Loading this afternoon.

This is the queue outside Hall 5 for the Race entry Pack Collections. In the hall, there is approximately about 3000 plus runners in the hall queuing up to collect their race bib.

I was in the queue for full marathon abt 2 hours before i reach the front 3 rows... Phew... Finally, the end is near for me.....

Its going to be my turn soon.... A while more and i will get my race bib soon. The wait is worth it

Yeah.... my Race Pack... Finally on displayed pn my bed at home.

My BIB NO is 10085
To a great race this Sunday... And may i acheived a better timimg this Sunday as to Sundown.
Gambate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Carbo Loading for marathon

below is a good write-up on carbo loading including a sample daily menu from Australia Institute of Sports - who consistently produce world class athletes (swimmers, runners, cyclists).

http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/fa...hydrate_loading

What does a high carbohydrate diet look like?
The following diet is suitable for a 70kg athlete aiming to carbohydrate load:

Breakfast
3 cups of low-fibre breakfast cereal with 11/2 cups of reduced fat milk
1 medium banana
250ml orange juice

Snack toasted muffin with honey
500ml sports drink

Lunch 2 sandwiches (4 slices of bread) with filling as desired
200g tub of low-fat fruit yoghurt
375ml can of soft drink

Snack banana smoothie made with low-fat milk, banana and honey
cereal bar

Dinner 1 cup of pasta sauce with 2 cups of cooked pasta
3 slices of garlic bread
2 glasses of cordial

Late Snack toasted muffin and jam
500ml sports drink

This sample plan provides ~ 14,200 kJ, 590 g carbohydrate, 125 g protein and 60 g fat.

While this is a Westernized menu, you can replicate it using the local cuisine. The important thing is to simulate the quality and pattern of the above diet and to avoid any junks going to your body.

-----------

After the race, please feel free to pig out as a reward cool_grin.gif . One guidance that I always follow is from Naoko Takahasi 2000 Olympic marathon champ who said that "after a marathon race, while everyone goes for a 5 mile recovery run the following day, I normally rest and go for a 5 day buffet"

Good luck and enjoy your own race ! smile.gif

The diet plan is not only for elites, but for everyone. Actually, if we look at it one extra level deeper, it's quite easy to replicate using local cuisine. One thing to note is to simulate the QUALITY of the sample menu above - which is lean and rich in carbs. So avoid laksa and fried stuff from Old Chang Kee for a while.

7am: cereal/quaker oats or toast + milk + juice
10am: kaya/peanut butter toast + sports drink
1pm: subway sandwhich or yong tau foo + yogurt + iced tea
4pm: ice milo + banana + biscuits
7pm: mixed rice (1 meat, 2 vegies) + juice
10pm: bread talk + sports drink

Timing: People typically start carbo-loading on Thursday or Friday before a Sunday race. I like to start on Friday because I take a lot of gels on race day and I don't want to be far away from my racing weight.

If you click the weblink above, there are more info which I copied/pasted below:

'Carbohydrate loading' is probably one of the most misunderstood terms in sports nutrition. People commonly think anyone involved in sport needs to 'carb up' and the way to do this is to eat 'flat out' in the days leading up to an event. Read on to get the facts on carbohydrate loading.

Does carbohydrate loading improve performance?
Muscle glycogen levels are normally in the range of 100-120 mmol/kg ww (wet weight). Carbohydrate loading enables muscle glycogen levels to be increased to around 150-200 mmol/kg ww. This extra supply of carbohydrate has been demonstrated to improve endurance exercise by allowing athletes to exercise at their optimal pace for a longer time. It is estimated that carbohydrate loading can improve performance over a set distance by 2-3%.

How was carbohydrate loading originally achieved?
Originally, carbohydrate loading involved a depletion phase. This required 3-4 hard training days plus a low carbohydrate diet. The depletion phase was thought to be necessary to stimulate the enzyme glycogen synthase. The depletion phase was followed by a loading phase that involved 3-4 days of rest combined with a high carbohydrate diet. The extra carbohydrate combined with the now-activated glycogen synthase was shown to boost carbohydrate stores beyond their usual resting levels.

How do modern-day athletes carbohydrate load?
Today's endurance athletes use a modified carbohydrate loading method. Ongoing research has demonstrated that the depletion phase is no longer necessary. This is a bonus for athletes as the depletion phase was very difficult. Australian marathon runner, Steve Moneghetti has described the depletion phase as making him feel like "death warmed up". Today, 1-4 days of exercise taper while following a high carbohydrate diet (7-12g/kg body weight) is sufficient to elevate muscle glycogen levels.

What are the common mistakes made when carbohydrate loading?
Research indicates that many athletes who attempt to carbohydrate load, fail to achieve their goal. Common mistakes include:

Carbohydrate loading requires an exercise taper. Athletes can find it difficult to back off training for 1-4 days before competition. Failing to rest will compromise carbohydrate loading.

In order to consume the necessary amount of carbohydrate, it is necessary to cut back on fibre and make use of compact sources of carbohydrate such as sugar, cordial, soft drink, sports drink, jam, honey, jelly and tinned fruit. Athletes who include too many high fibre foods in their carbohydrate loading menu may suffer stomach upset or find the food too bulky to consume.

Carbohydrate loading will most likely cause body mass to increase by approximately 2kg. This extra weight is due to extra muscle glycogen and water. For some athletes, a fear of weight gain may prevent them from carbohydrate loading adequately.

Athletes commonly use carbohydrate loading as an excuse to eat everything and anything in sight. Consuming too many high fat foods will make it difficult to consume sufficient carbohydrate. It may also result in gain of body fat. It is important to stick to high-carbohydrate, low-fat foods while carbohydrate loading.


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SCM 08 - Dec 7 Race Pack collection

Race Entry Pack Collection

The Race Entry Pack Collection will be held on:

Date: 4, 5 and 6 Dec 2008
Time:

12pm to 8pm (4 – 5 Dec 2008)
10am to 5pm (6 Dec 2008)

Venue:

Singapore Expo Convention and
Exhibition Centre, Hall 5
1, Expo Drive #01-01
Singapore 486150

Runners are reminded to bring their Race Confirmation Slip, together with the Identity Card/ Photo ID, to collect the Race Entry Pack. If you have misplaced the Race Confirmation Slip, you can go to the event website at www.singaporemarathon.com/en/regs/reprint.asp to print out your Race Confirmation Slip.

If you are unable to collect your Race Entry Pack, you may appoint your relatives, friends, or representatives in Singapore to collect your Race Entry Pack on your behalf with a Letter of Authorization. Note that your relative, friend or representative in Singapore is required to produce his/her Identity Card/ Photo ID, along with your Letter of Authorization and photocopy of your NRIC/Photo ID upon request from the counter staff.

Each appointed relative, friend or representative can collect up to a maximum of six (6) race entry packs including his own race entry pack if he is a registered runner.

Please note that no changes in t-shirt sizes and race category will be entertained during the Race Entry Pack collection.

The service for runners to update their particulars will end on 29 October 2008. Request thereafter will not be acceded.

SCM 08 - Dec 7

Event Information

Date: Sunday, 7 December 2008
Start Point: Esplanade Drive, The Esplanade Bridge
End Point: St Andrew’s Road, The Padang
Website: www.singaporemarathon.com
Enquiries: + 65 6248 6033

Race Divisions

Individual Categories
Start Time
Marathon (42.195km)
Half Marathon (21.1km)
10km - Men
10km - Women
Wheelchair Race (10km)
Kids Dash (750m)
Between 10 - 13 Years Old
Between 7 - 9 Years Old
Between 4 - 6 Years Old*
3 Years Old And Below*
5.30 am
6.30 am
7.30 am
8.15 am
8.45 am
10.30 am
10.45 am
11.00 am
11.30 am

Counting down to SCM 08

Checklist for your final countdown:

1. Get ready your race attire
2. Tie your champion chip to your shoe & secure it
3. Race bib pin( x 4 pins) to your singlet top or secure to race belt.
4. Sunglasses or cap or visor (if you want to wear a cap to block strong morning sunlight)
5. Bring a 500ml bottle of water or 100plus and drink along the way there
6. Set alarm clock at 2am on Dec 7
7. Breakfast (don't try anything new for breakfast)
8. Powerbar /Gu gel (atleast 2 packs) You should have taken them during your training run and not last minutes buy from GNC you never try before
9. A event bag for deposit. Put all your belonging into a small bag and then the small bag into the event bag.
10. Put a tag or color tag you can identify with to your event bag. There will be thousands and thousands of event bags at deposit area. Help you to identify your bag in case got mixed up
11. Relax, sleep early on Saturday night. Preferably sleep at 8pm. Atleast 6 hours sleep
12. Close your eyes and mentally review the route and count the number of foot strides you will take for 42.195km. By then you will sleep already.
13. Don't go online to SGRunners.com at 9pm.
14. No SEX between Friday to Saturday midnight
15. Write your particulars wif water proof ink or ball point at the back of your bib
16. Treat this race on Dec 7 as your training run and have fun

All the best.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Chin Hwee Birthday

The Tabby cat n u looks the same.... Tats y, it was dressed like you... Haha... Anyway, it was a shared gift.... You know who they are from... Dun have to list them out unless u one blur blur guy

Birthdays

Happy Birthdays to all my friends born in the month of Nov and Dec...

Too many for me to list...

Nevertheless Happy Birthday. Wishing you guys Happiness, Success, Healthy and wealth in you future endeavours...

For those attached, pls get married asap... Dun wait for me... Mine is till long way to go okie...

So dun keep the girls waiting less the they disappear

And for the girls, dun keep ur guys too far apart... Give them a chance and get hitched okie

Monday, November 24, 2008

Exams are over

Finally, my exams are over... Phew.. Hopefully thats the end of my degree course...
Pending submission of my Final Year Project.

Have submitted a request to change my topics for the final year project. Be doinga analysis on depreciation and what is the preferred method of depreciation for manufacturing companies in Singapore and whether changes in depreciation method will affect their operating income.

My supervisor is very strict and doesnt like me at all... He aint very co-operative with me... Well, i do hope he will approve my topic... Hahaha

Pls approve my topic... and i will submit to you my litreature review...

There are a lot of birthday this month... GOsh i going broke soon...

I am getting very worried... The job markey is getting very bad... Will i be emplyed soon? ONe by one, i am getting rejected....This is the longest time i am unemployed.... sigh
pls god help me.... let me employed soon... asap....

;-(

Monday, November 3, 2008

My Cousins Wedding 021108

Today was the wedding reception of my cousin. A simple wedding reception but decors wise, it was nicely done but the food as average.

It was more of a gathering for all of us: uncles and aunties, cousins and great nieces and nephews. We were all hanging around the reception waiting for each other to arrive and chat and tease each others especially my auntie.

My auntie in the centre is in wheelchair. I do hope she will have the strength and determination to get well soon as it has been 2 years already and she is showing slow progress.

Family Foto of my uncles and aunties

My younger bro wif our god granny

Me @ the wedding.. Oopps near the wedding

Thursday, October 30, 2008

bad patch

I met up with my FYP supervisor on 29 Oct 08.
It was my 3rd meet up with my FYP Supervisor.

Was expecting that my progress was good. but apparently, it aint, at this jucture, my supervisor told me tat my topic aint good enough and if i am to continue this now, i will failed my FYP.

Was sad and pissed off. Totally pissed of. I pitched this idea to him in the first place and he said it was okay and it was gd. Afyer doing so much research on it, he now tells me the other way round. I mean he could have told me this from the start like my other class mates but he just told me after spending one month on it.

i am in deep shit

what am i to do?

I am now looking for a new topic?

What am i to do?

Lossss

Friday, October 10, 2008

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