tomorrow, I shall walk away a free man.

AHM (A "Hiong" Marathon)

And so I completed my first ever (and probably last) marathon. Oh all right it was a HALF marathon, if u wanna be picky. It was one hell of a marathon. And it wasn't because of the impeccable timing of the date (doors closing soon!).

I reached Padang on a wonderful Sunday morning with a lil' drizzle, around 5.30AM. Wonderful if you're still in bed, snug and comfortable with the blanket drawn over your heads. My first step into Padang was welcomed with a very satisfying *splat*.

That's right, the Padang had turned into Pa-dung overnight. Great way to start a Sunday eh? It was pretty dark (it WAS 5.30am) so I wandered around like a lost child before I finally found a bunch of people wearing the same singlet as mine. Met Ben and JH, before we started to hunt for a place to dump our bags. Funnily enough, all the bag deposits refused to let us deposit our bags (even the paying ones!). After running around like a bunch of confused chickens, we found some familiar faces and put all our bags together.

Thereafter was the start of the 21km run, which yours truly took part in. The run itself wasn't that bad. Hmm. Typo. The run wasn't that bad until I crossed the halfway 10km point. Up till then I was still sane, listening to my mp3 player, mouthing lyrics, looking at all the interesting people running past me, overtaking the slackers who were walking even before the first water point, and in general feeling rather good.

Once I turned the 10km corner in ECP, my left ankle screamed out "dude! this is the furthest I'll go!". My brain failed to heed its warning and told my legs to keep running. After awhile the pain dissolved into plain numbness, as I tried to concentrate on the music. Then around the 12km mark civilisation turned into wilderness as we wound through the forested area that is Marina Bay. Suddenly marathon wasn't an approprate term for the run anymore, x-country more likely. Mud! Uneven tracks! More mud! Potholes! Everyone slowed down during this segment. I think I went crazy and just overtook as many people as I could. Maybe it was the fresh air coming from the forest.

After crossing the Marina Barrage (around 15km), my knees started to complain. 16km. Thump thump thump. 17km. First sign of cramping. Ok, slow down, chill, don't use the calf muscles. 18km. ARGHHAGFHG where the hell is 19. 19km. OMFG finally 2km more. CRAMP. Ouch wtf. Ok lets walk then. walk walk walk. damn everyone is overtaking me. 20km. oooh yeah. F*** it just run. Run run run. 20.9km. AHA I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE! *drools rabidly*. Run run run. 20.98km. CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP. Why are my legs dragging? wtf not now. hobble hobble hobble. Beep. Hmm I crossed the line? cool. am I supposed to feel euphoric?

That sums up the run. And I'm still having chui legs, ankles and knees.

SILVERRRRRR

I've never felt this heng before.

First IPPT test of the year. 2 days after a sort-of-intensive 2.4km practice run. 1 week after I pulled a muscle in my left arm for doing too many pull-ups.

SILVER!!!

10 chin-ups! first time in history!

1 second under the silver cut-off for 2.4!

Like I said, sibeh heng ah.

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Anyway I found this site where everyone can share music (legally!)

Muxtape.com

Its so simple! Here's mine - asuna.muxtape.com

Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-0!

I'd say Mr. Bennett helped us score those 2 goals in the 2nd half by sending off Mascherano for being a loud mouth. He was really Liverpool's best player, blocking shots and making tackles, if only he could keep his mouth shut.

Update: I'll be going to India this October! The land of the perfect naan and curry! LOL.

Will be supporting Charlie battery for 23 SA's live firing exercise in India. Not exactly looking forward to it, since taking over from Kevin will entail lots of tedious paperwork, anxious standbys, tiring outfield exercises and preparation work. I'd definitely prefer to shake leg in Singapore and wait for ORD, but of course, as boss puts it, "You can't call yourself a gunfitter if you haven't seen the gun fire."

Not that seeing the Pegasus fire will be exhilarating (I heard it looks absolutely hilarious). But working with the Peggys will be one of my motivations for this trip - love their stupid looking, mosquito/tortoise shape. And that coughing engine sound with the rattling exhaust! Really sounds like an ancient motor car. I'll probably laugh throughout my work LOL.

Ok all that crap about motivation is fake. Everyone knows my REAL motivation will be that perfect plate of crisp, yet fluffy, yet abit chao da, authentic naan!

http://www.youtube.com/abottchen

Even if you're not a fan of Ayumi Hamasaki, you gotta check these guys out - they do piano covers of her songs. And I dare say some of the covers sound better? Or at least much more soothing than her rock-ier songs...

Back to camp for the past few days, quite relieved actually, to see the guys again and do some work on the guns. And to eat canteen food again!!!! Strangely I feel this attachment to the canteens of Khatib Camp and NSDC. Quality aside, its this raw feeling you can't get from sanitized cafes, fast food outlets, restaurants and home-cooked food. Even hawker centres don't evoke the same feeling.

Having received 12 years of education in institutions that operate old-school canteens (think dark, gloomy stall interiors, grimy floors and bird-fecal-matter-stained tables), I naturally feel at home. I still remember how I was probably the only guy in class who actually liked to eat the Indian food in VJC. *snigger*

sigh.

Uncle! Chao fan jia dan! Jia ji rou! Ling karly zhi! Xie xie ah!