nuffnang
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Free way of advertising your website, blog, anything!
I've personally used it for 2 days, and to be frank, it's pretty addictive, basically, your intention is to try and get as many people as possible to view your profile. BTW, you can view mine here
If that wasn't enough, I found another way of generating great traffic to your website. Its some marketing gizmo called T-2000. You can see the advertisement as below;
I'm still testing it out, so can't really comment much. Oh yeah, if you can, do me a favour and sign up for T2000, it'll help my traffic flow hehe.
Christmas ride with Newbies
Started by waiting for Daniel and Rachel at 7am. We need to meet Gavin and his wife about 1.5 km away, in Sri Petaling, to tune their bike. They have just bought a LeRun Solaris from KSH the day before, and it seems that they had trouble with the brakes after fitting in the wheels. Well its more of inexperience than nothing.
Uncle Michael cycled from Summit, about 13km away, and met us on the way to Kesas from Gavin's house. We had a pretty slow ride, averaging 16kmh only. Gavin and wife ware very occupied with gear shifting, its a whole new dimension for them, having 21 gears at their disposal.
At the 14km mark(my meter), I decided to pull out my camera and take some shots of the group.
It took about 1 hour to reach Summit, that's pretty slow, but it was fun to have newbies joining us.
We took a breather at Summit;
Took us some time, but we finally decide to continue to Shah Alam.
"No worries,"
I said,
"Got a lot of taxi on the way..."
The ride was routine, slow and steady. The weather was good, explains why the newbies could cope! The only complain they gave was,
"Backside pain la!"
Yeah, if you are new to cycling, aching butt is pretty normal. Anyway, we made another stop at a petrol Kiosk. This stop was particularly long, Uncle Michael took time to explain to Gavin and Sandy about the proper cycling position, so we spend time tuning their bike, the saddle height, techniques, and so forth.
After that, we journeyed home. Uncle Michael turned to home when we reach Summit, and the rest of us went ahead towards Bukit Jalil. We made a final stop at another petrol Kiosk. I made a sprint, so waited about 10 minutes for the rest to arrive.
While resting, Rachel noticed something funny;
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, if you're going to wear a helmet, please make sure there's enough padding.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Putrajaya, 12 December 2007
It started with only 7 of us, meeting point, Petronas station along Kesas highway. Our aim was to meet up with Uncle Michael in Summit before 8am, but delayed by Rachel's malfunctioning tire. Took us 1/2 hour to fix her front tire.
Michael(newbie), Samuel Chin(newbie) and me. The ride to Summit was a zip, fast and furious, unpaced paddling to make up for lost time. The newbie did well, considering what happened to Michael the last round he joined us (barely made up the 12km mark).
Once we touched down Summit, got lost looking for Uncle Michael's house, another 15 minutes wasted rounding the housing. But things started to flow when Uncle Michael lead us through Subang, connecting to the Puchong Highway that leads straight to Cyberjaya. The newbies were starting to struggle after the 20km mark, they were slow up the slopes. Of course me, being a nice guy (hehehe) encouraged them, waited for them, shouted for them to speed up, make sure they have enough fluid, and of course, rested while waiting for them (explains the energy level).
My cyclometer's reading was a little bit out that day, so the actual distance covered was a grey area. I reckon, the journey from Summit to Putrajaya was about 30km++. Upon touching down Putrajaya, Samuel encountered the first problem, his crank fell off. Though we tried fixing it, with an alankey and stone, the problem persisted, and it caused much delay to our schedule.
Nevertheless, we made it to Prescient 2, all of us.
We loitered around for a while, and decided to head home.
What a bummer, Johnathan suffered a puncture. Thank God uncle Michael had the tools for a quick change of tube, using his Zefal CO2 inflator, he inflated the tube in less that 5 secs!! WHOA!!!
That small little thing held by Johnathan is what inflated the tube!
Anyway, Samuel's crank was really ticking uss off, so Daniel, Rachel and uncle michael went on home, while the rest stopped to help him.
Things got unbearable, so we stopped at a petrol kiosk before the Puchong toll for a break. Michael gobble down a hot dog bun and chocolates, while Johnathan and Samuel stopped a taxi to go home.
After that, it was another 20km cycle home. Michael Ong, uncle Vincent and I made it safely.
Quite a satisfying ride, considering the fact it was my first ride in a month, a little less than 90km in total! Great workout, and nice fellowship.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Auto Cleaner
Just a preview, it is a vacumm cleaner that moves around the house by itself, picking up small dust and particles. It will automatically return to its cradle once it runs out of power.
Monday, December 10, 2007
This is not a sad post
Task included, buying drinks, sapu sampah, mop the floor, shift some furniture, prepare the guest tables, buy kacang and so on.
Took some pictures during a break;
The sitting and funeral wasn't all sad, as we all found out that Uncle Congo has gone on to his great reward.
Took a timeout, headed to Putrajaya with Anne to collect Uncle Congo's death certificate. We saw an IC (identification card) reader and decided to check it out.
To our horror, the system encountered an error thus Anne's IC was stuck inside. We alerted the security guard who laughed at us, pushed a button at the back and ejected the IC. Though the system was corrected, I dare not try it anymore.
We spotted a nice bridge leading out from the government department, decided to follow that route.
The bridge is a beauty! Makes me wonder;
"What happen to bridges in KL??"
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Crazy night
Just last night, her family was bubbling, waiting for his return home, something he has long yearns for since being hospitalised a week ago, yet, our Almighty God has his plans for him, his discharge was held up because of his physical condition, and there were moments I thought he had passed out and needed some medical attention.
It all started yesterday evening, when Anne and I drove to UH to discharge her father, after the paper works were done, we wheeled up a wheelchair for him, and thought he could walk on his own. Upon standing, he immediately collapsed, thank God uncle Chong and I were there to help him. His face turned pale, his voice was breaking, yet he stood firm wanting to be home. None of us understands his demand, and we needed the doctor to advice him against his will. After some persuasion, he oblige, and his wife agreed to stay the night with him.
So Anne and I went home to pack a little stuff, sent it to the hospital, and went home for our night sleep.
It was 3am when Anne woke me up, she said her mother sounded desperate and wished for us to be in the hospital. We rushed there, to be greeted with tears, and a body, lying peacefully. Aunt Geraldine (Anne's Mom) had a hard time accepting the news, so much so she wept every time she glances his body. My heart sank, I pulled her out and seated her at the couch nearby, she cried and cried, until her family members were all there to console her.
Anne was strong the whole time, her emotions were kept bare minimum, she shed a tear or two, signs of her love for her father.
I took time to speak to the doctor in charge. It seems his heart has suffered multiple minor heart attacks, what's more, his diabetic condition, and water retention did nothing but compounded the problem. They've tried everything they could, medication, everything to increase his fledging heart beat, a mere 30 bps was not enough for blood to circulate the whole body, no wonder he suffered mild hallucination, disorientation and sudden outburst.
I'm glad his family has come to accept his departure, my prayers are there for them.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Tiring
Anyway, payed a visit to the doctor to take on Thursday, she took my blood pressure 3 times! I really didn't know why, all 3 times yielded different reading, but she finally took the highest reading and said I have high blood pressure! Told me to take a 2 days rest and then see her again on Saturday. Yeah right, must be her "Gain easy money from oblivious children" trick. Anyway, I gladly took the MC and totally neglected her scheme.
Come Friday, I had an emergency call from the company, needs me to station at a client's site in KL. There goes my MC!
My health was fine then, but because of work, I neglected the fluid intake, and started feeling drowsy and heavy on Saturday. What's more, it was a fasting day for me. So I endured on and slept early on saturday. Sunday was very much the same, this time, my body was heating up really fast.
I sideline all the "signs" and proceeded to have a session of futsal. Had a great game, scored multiple goals, and enjoyed the game. But it started to take a toll on me, I felt drowsy, my back muscle soored, my legs were killing me, and the thoughts of having to go to work scared me!
Anyway, things went on as normal today (Monday), woke up feeling fresh albeit the sore legs, and since my girlfriend's father will be discharging today, I'll be able to continue my exercise regime from now on! Yeah will try and do 150 laps swimming by month end! Wish me all da best
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Vogue Cafe
Anne and I took the opportunity of an AGM meeting on Friday night to pay a visit to Vogue Cafe, located inside Renaissance Hotel.
I've got a free dinner voucher for 2, so it is time to fatten up!
Seriously though, the food is nothing to shout about, most of the main dishes were cold and not appetising, so I'll not go in depth.
I wanted to start with some light stuff, but their starters wasn't that appealing to me, too westernised. So jumped straight into the main course. Took very little rice to go with the lamb gravy, tasted alright, I'd give 5/10 for the main course.
The Japanese selection were way better, the California rolls are prepared on demand, the sashimis and sushis were fresh, the mussels and oyster were also good. Due to fears of aphrodisiac-ness of oysters, I only consume 2, mixed with lemon juice and a tinge of Tabasco sauce. Up to this point, Anne and I were too busy eating to be snapping pictures, better rating at 8/10
One of the best option we had was Caesar Salad, we threw in extra bacon and cheese to spice things up, and it tasted heaven! MUAHAHAHA !)?!) ... opps 10/10
The deserts I had to say were by far the better lineup. By now, we were so filled up, we took time out and snapped some pictures
We had a great time, its fun to get out once in a while and enjoy free food! A minor advice for those who wish to dine at a buffet dinner;
"Take public transport, it forces you to walk and thus helps digestion!"
Sorry for the lack of visual evidence, and yeah, I suffered terrible diarrhea the next couple of days, not sure if it was this buffet or not :p
Monday, November 26, 2007
My 83km ride
We prepared the route via hill count, we will conquer 3 hills this time around, starting with Tekali -> Genting Perez -> last but not least Ampang Hill.
Of course, we woke up late, couldn't really sleep because...... the trumpets were noisy....
We set the alarm to shout at 4.45am, but ended waking up at 5.30 when Daniel called me. We rushed to prepared, and that was when I realize the lausai symptom were starting to plague me, had a terrible spell at the loo, hope Aunty Judy won't mind. Still, had my morning prayer, prayed that God will keep my stomach intact, and braved on.
We took the long route to Ulu langat this time, reasons? To cover more distance. The ride was fairly easy, but my high gears were making funny noises, and the lausainess were starting to drain me.
We reached the foothills of tekali and took a breather. Actually, was pretty much tempted to release, but couldn't.
Jus prepared me well for the climb, according to him;
"Ah this hill very easy wan la, sure can wan"
Of course can la! For him! hehe. Anyway I really pushed my heavy frame (bicycle + body very heavy) up that hill, and made it to the top with only 1 stop. Yet, Jus complained he waited for me, TRY CLIMBING WITH 100KG!!
Of course it wasn't a problem for Daniel and Jus, but the long, winding climbing roads really drained me. Every turn I see, you would pray and hope it is the last, but the next turn seems to shoot you down with another apex that is curving upwards. To aptly described the feeling, "IT SUCKS!".
Yet all is forgotten when you're up there, the pure satisfaction, knowing that many had tried and failed, YES THAT PURE SATISFACTION!!!! By this time, my lausai syndrome subsided a little.
We zipped down, knowing how fast my Free Wheely can go, I decided to tap the brakes lightly, staying at least 20m behind Daniel who in turn was behind Jus. Still, I hit the highest speed among us all, told you Free Wheely is fast!
We stopped by Semenyih Damm to snap so me pictures;
Next up, short flats towards Genting Perez. By now, my lausai syndrome started to kick in again, this makes the hill felt like a mountain! The slopes aren't really that steep, but the climb was a daunting 10KM!!!!! For this climb, I literally took my time, peddling at a mere 10-15kmh, speeding up a wee bit at the flats.
Took a leak half way through and had an encounter with some wild monkeys. Those buggers stole one of my sneaker bar (I think). So continued on, even though my back ached so much, my stomach felt so bloated, and my butt was so uncomfortable (due to the lausai syndrome), plus the lack of sleep is starting to play a major factor now.
Was at the 8km mark up the hill when daniel called, I told him I'll continue, NO GIVING UP NOW! At this point, every turn was playing tricks on me, my eyes would tell me that I've reached the peak, yet it all seems just a mirage when yet another turn leads to another one and another one, it seems ENDLESS!!!!
Once again, all the pain and suffering disappeared when I spotted a sign that says "JELEBU"! WAH!! I REACHED THE PEAK!!!!!!!!!
That felt great, yet another hard earned victory!
We wasted no time, going downhill from here, I went really slowly this time, back was really hurting and my legs were numb. This time, my greatest fear started to unfold, I was running out of juice, my water bottles combined was left with less than 100ml. It was pretty worrying, but I had to go on nevertheless.
The ride home was disappointing, so much so I had to rest 2 times, buy a bottle of excel, push my bike about 1km up ampang hill, suffered cramps,...... lets not talk about it.
But all in all, I managed to reach the peak of Ampang hills, and there, Jus was sooooooooo tired, he looks like he was going to sleep (tired of waiting). That's about it for the so called "100km" ride.
I really hope to make it with minimal stops the next time
Heroes
Which Heroes Character Are You? | |
You are part Hiro. You are everyones favorite Japanese tourist. Your time is well-managed and you make sure things get done. On top of that, the girls always want a second chance with you. | |
You are part Jessica. You are a two-faced bitch most of the time. Friends are friends, and enemies don't want to be your enemies. No one messes with you. | |
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com |
I AM A NICE GUY!!! but weird, how can someone be nice and nasty at the same time?
Friday, November 23, 2007
Crappy technique
There are five strokes in competitive swimming, one of which is the
freestyle swimming stroke, known to be the fastest stroke. In freestyle swimming
competitions, the swimmer can use any stroke. The most popular freestyle
swimming stroke used in swimming events is the front crawl, which combines
alternating arm strokes over the waters surface with alternate up and down
flutter kicks.While many think of the front crawl as synonymous to the freestyle
swimming stroke, technically speaking, freestyle swimming means swimming in
any style. It depends on the particular freestyle competition whether swimmers
can use only unregulated strokes or regulated strokes such as breaststroke,
backstroke, or butterfly. However, because the front crawl has proven to be the
fastest swim stroke, almost all competitors use this as can be seen during the
Olympic Games where it remains the preferred freestyle swimming stroke of
Olympic swimmers in freestyle events.Here are some things to remember when doing
this popular freestyle swimming stroke:* Maintain a horizontal position in the
water. Always keep your head aligned with your spine.* Kick strongly so your
legs will not sink behind you but not too strong that you are making big
splashes. Your kicks should be powerful but not forced. With practice, they
should come natural to you including how to adjust to a high beat kick from a
low one.* Try to stretch out every stroke as much as you can and keep up the
non-stop windmill motion of your arms.* Loosen your forearms. Let them hang from
your elbows. Stiff forearms will make it harder for you to swing them forward.
Your hands should be in a firm cupped position with the fingers just slightly
apart. It is important to not, however, that firm does not mean rigid. It is
vital that you remain relaxed from your elbows all the way to your fingertips.*
Avoid breathing while swimming. You should breathe by turning your head to one
side as your arm extends out of the water. Except when breathing and your head
is to one side, focus your sight on the pools bottom always keeping your head
down.The freestyle swimming stroke requires speed, which demands not only muscle
strength but also the use of correct swimming techniques. One can achieve all
these through proper and diligent workouts and training, which is necessary in
order to become a powerful and successful swimmer.
I'm Speechless. The actual artical can be view here
Life's worth the living
Swimming/Slimming sanctuary
Was joined by my dear, Anne, and the ever determined Rachel. Anne did 20 short course lap, while rachel did 40++ x 25m.
We started a little bit late because of the horrendous traffic at Federal Highway, anyhow, we only needed an hour swim. So we started at 8pm ended at 9.
Amazing, 103 1/2 laps! WHOA I felt great later, sneezing nonstop....
In total, 4 breast stroke laps, 1/2 butterfly.. muscle pulled la ok?, and the rest freestyle. Besides that, all of us had a mini competition, where rachel and anne will do 2 laps on the 20m side and I will have to go 2 laps on the long swim.
Rachel completed her 40m almost the same time as my 50, but lagged behind by a second or 2. Anne, well, she punctured after 20m.... Looks like she needs more BKT and training for now!
FELLS GOOD!!!!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Bz life
"FYI, ants are busy creatures"
Have been busy on and off working hours. As usual, work drains you mentally and physically (because you are mentally drained, you fell physically drained too), but the juicy part is always after work, yes, literally "JUICY", so juicy I couldn't find the time to post anything on my meagre blog.
Just to keep my log going;
- Went to Vogue Cafe for a buffet dinner with Anne last Thursday. Took a few picture, but it is still sitting pretty in my phone.
- Met the youngsters at Carl's jr in Midvalley on the same day.
- Overnight at Jus house in preparation for the "100km" cycling trip we planned. Couldn't really sleep because the trumpet would blow once in a while.
- Saturday, 17th November, woke up at 5.30am in the morning, prepared and started cycling.
- Felt 1/2 dead after the trip which lasted 5 hours and only covered a mere 83km.
- Slept after that
- Sunday, 18th November, celebrated mom's bday in the afternoon at Vietnam Kitchen, played futsal at night, and celebrated Mary's bday at McDs at night.
- Monday, thought of blogging..
- Tuesday, I think I posted something??
- Wednesday, found out someone commited suicide and left a nice human mark the the grass field. Went for Meikey's wedding dinner at "The Royal China Restaurant" of something, ate alot.
- Lunch time in office.
Well that's about it, makan, makan, makan, .....and makan.
Good thing Rachel called Anne and I out for a swim tonight, or all the cycling, and swimming, and this and that will be go up in smokes.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Victory!
It has been a hectic, gruelling, punishing weekend for me, but I've capped it all up with a 2km (80laps x 25m) swim just now!
Was joined by my SPM bound sister, Rebecca aka Munehneh, who completed 20 laps.
Would really like to elaborate more, but the pictures from Jus are not out yet. So stay tuned
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
52 Laps
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Free Wheely
Since the mavic have served me so well for the last few rides, I've decided to name it "FREE WHEELY".
Oh yeah too bad it looks nothing like the orca from Free Willy
Monday, November 12, 2007
First swim...
Yeah came along was Anne, dearest, here's the breakdown of the session;
Starting with the swimming pool, 25x20 m, of course I'll only take the longer path! In total, covered 32 laps which means 32/4x100 = 800 meters. Yeah, I know you can calculate by multiplying the length of the pool with the number of laps, but I'm just doing it to train my maths power ok?
4 laps of breast stroke, 2 laps of butterfly, and the rest freestyle. Done in 1/2 hour, broken into 2 session, first one consisting of 15 laps and the rest later.
Anne was still a newbie to freestyle, so she had 4 laps of leg kicking, 3 laps of right hand pulling, and another 2 of left hand pulling, not bad right?
That's my first of many swims from now on!
Could have gone much faster if my frame is still that lean 85kg, but, well, some things have to give, and some have to go, looks like weight given, and speed went....
Disastrous first day
Noticed I spelled Duathlon as "Duethlon" in the last post? It is done purposefully
Well there goes my first day of training, rain stopped me from swimming.
.
.
.
.
.
.
yeah I actually woke up late but HEI! It rained!
Duethlon
To start with, I shall swim every morning at 7am. I've already got a good swimming background, and an extreamly hydrodynamic body, so we'll see how it goes
Friday, November 09, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Day Trip to Gabai
Just a shot of my bike and uncle vincent's bike.....
As usual, we started out from Justus' house, apparently, justus had to do gardening (what he claims) at PD (from what I hear), thus he was unable to join us newbies; and headed up Ampang Hill towards the lookout point. This is my 3rd time going through this hill, and a first for me doing it without stopping, averaging 13.7kmh.
This picture clearly shows Eman as the last rider reaching the peak, though he tried to claim otherwise, John was just a few seconds infront of him. Well poor john, his first ride up with a racer, and suffered he did.
His back aching la! He still pushed on though, kudus to John!
Daniel and Rachel taking a breather
After the ampang hills, it was downhill, this time around, I hit my personal best of 67.4kmh. Really could have done 70, but had to react fast as my bottle cage became loose and fell off. Thank God managed to catch the bottle in time, and had to ride down with only 1 hand, the other wan holding the bottle.
We took a leisure ride, averaging 25kmh at ulu langat going towards Gabai. After a while, it dawned upon us that EMAN IS MISSING!! So we stopped and waited about 5 minutes, apparently, his chain fell off (better than crank falling off)
The ride was pretty much routine, except the part when a little malay girl, riding a racer stopped and fell down, she forgot to unclip her shoes...OUCH!!!!
After about 28km of cycling, we reached Gabai waterfalls. We were greeted with fleets of cars parked by the road side, and a group of friends who travelled by car, which include, Wesley, Mavis, Joanne, Katherina, Brian and last but not least, my lovely girlfriend, Anne.
Anne and I had a nice natural foot massage;
While Wesley and Mavis were enjoying themselves by..... enjoying themselves
Most people enjoy themself with food, same can be said here.
Anne and I later made the climb to the peak of the waterfalls, there were alot of people there, some were even cooking!
Of course I couldn't resist the temptation of trying out the natural slide, DON'T LAUGH!!!
After that, it was a routine ride towards Cheras. The hardest part was the Ampang hill again!! Made another personal record when I only stopped once to wait for uncle vincent and Rachel, right.... was actually tired too hehe. I think we waited almost 1/2 hour for Eman and John, yeah this time Eman beat John to the peak, I guess his back ache isn't a fake at all!
Left shortly afterwards, nothing interesting happened, except when Uncle Vincent's chain fell off.
Well that's about it, a wonderful < 60km ride
On the other note, Anne and I noticed how much cycling can help you loose weight!
BEFORE (img courtesy of Jus where he tagged her as "Queen of Ulu Langat"):
And AFTER:
Interested? Do not call me, I don't have the authority to reveal other people's personal information! hahaha