Shoes, Baby, Birthday, Brazil...

After the Bukit Gasing Race on Saturday, Wifey and me went to Curve to check out baby stuff. Time to buy already la! Can't wait too long or risk last minute purchase and buying the wrong things.

Shen gave me a link to her friend's blog(Thanks PL!!!), which listed down thingy that you might/will/should need. And so, armed with lil knowledge and so called wise shopping skills....

Items bought over the months:

Could be used from birth until baby reached 13kg (Bassinet) and up till 3 years old for the pram.

Graco Passage Travel System
This would be placed in either one granma's house when the baby goes visiting/day care...

Graco PlayPen Compact - we got the blue one, not this Ah Beng kaler...

Baby cot for room, which was made of solid wood and could double up as bed until the kiddo reach 3 or 4 years old.

Latex pillow and mattresses for the wooden cot.

Got all the item above on sale from Boss' wife, which own Safe 'n' Sound in 1 Utama. :)


Avent Bottles - 4 in 1 pack - RM70 for the 260ml bottles after discount

Reason why we bought Avent, though it's really pricey for feeding bottles was because it could reduce Colic.

An average baby bottle would only cost RM7.90 to RM11.00 for ranges like TollyJoy, Pureen or Anakku. But Those weren't as hardy as i recalled buying 1 every month for my baby sister when she was a baby. So, in longer run, Avent might prove to be a smarter ROI.

Bought 4 sets of babies clothing which are one each of long sleeves shirt, long pants, mitten, booties, short sleeves shirt, shorts, sleeveless t and shorts to go with sleeveless T.

Flannel to wrap baby in will be done by wifey's mum. Mum in law also bought 5 sets of socks for baby, which could be worn until 6 months old.

I've checked and the cotton diapers in Jusco are still the cheapest at RM19.90 (with 10% discount) for 10 pieces, will grab 2 bags of these. Now surveying which disposeable diapers to buy, Back 18 years ago, Pampers were the premier brand and nothing come close, nowadays, there are so many out there which will make a mockery out of your technical knowledge even in cars.

After that, while walking around curve, i went to the Brooks's shop. The sales assitant recognise me as the chap from Explorace. She say that the nestle girls came here too, to buy their shoes for the races. Wah...twice in a day i was caught by the public. An indian man came to me while i was walking to Rajoo's with Amir after the race and asked me how was my race.

I blurry thought he meant the Bukit Gasing run, only to be told that he saw me in Explorace.

Still, these don't get me free shoes or free lunch la!


Anyway, at the Brooks' shop, they were offering an obscene 70% off selected shoes! My Solomon and New Balance are totalled already. What better reason to buy new one at 30% of the price???

Now, having a big feet is bad because instead of buying the shoes i like, i had to settle for SIZE first, then design...

I was lucky as there was a multi terrain shoe my size and cost RM80 after discount. It's called Gecko.

It has HydroFlow ST technology which i think will make me swim faster.

So, wifey bought it for me la! Thanks Darling! (it pays to be a domesticated husband, no?)

Now, i can retire my Solomon and my New Balance. I have with me now, 3 pairs of sports/running shoes, A Brookes Targa2, Brookes Gecko and Mizuno Wave Precision 6.


I like Blings Blings on shoes...sucker for reflective material!



More Blings on the shoe!!!

I got the Mizuno for RM100 at Bali. It was also on 70% discount!

Then i have my 6 stud Adidas fitted with 15/18mm aluminium studs for Rugby (which was suprisingly nice to step people with in rucks, mauls and scrums).

Nice to step people with...

Then, yesterday, i went to my late grandad's house. My Aunt, the youngest of the lots, came back for good. She and her family was in Brazil for a decade or more. Based in Rio itself. Her wedding shop in Brazil is still being operated by another Malaysian. It's her daughter's second birthday and what more other reason anyone could use for one major family reunion?



Family Ties
I love reunions. Happy chattering and kids running around definately are loads of fun!



Food Ties
Food, as far as my dad's family are concerned, they are vegetarian and what you see here are just one of the many other dishes served! There was vegetarian sate, dumplings, spaghetti, macaroni, meehoon and more food enough to feed 8 extended families...



Chocs and Cake Ties!!!
Brazillian chocs in both white and dark chocoloate with orange sponge cake and fresh cream...yummy...



The Chocolate Fondue Dance
My cousin, which grew up with my family. His sister is the cheeky girl in yellow you see all over this entry!

Ribbon cheese, as my aunt calls them, that she brought back from Brazil. Simply delicious eaten as it is, or stir fried with vegetable or even fried rice!

Not a fan of chesse but this was too deliiciousss

And the coffee was simply...simply...coffee-fying!

:)


Pilao or Pilai or even Pulau..whatever...the aroma was damn kaw nice!

This morning, i received an email from Sony Pictures Entertainment that me and Azly are in this weekend's AXN Amazing Mall Challenge! More camwhoring coming up?

YOU BET! _{(but kenot bring camera to the race la...)}

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Bukit Gasing Green Challenge 06

This race was organised by Core Zone and it was really nicely organised with minimal people! Well Done and Kudos to you babes there!

Me, Amir, Ming and Dirk from LnE was sponsored by Nomad Adventure for the last weekend race, together with a few hardcore more experienced-always-winning-team that we usualy see in any other Adventure Races. On behalf of the rest of the guys and girls sponsored by Nomad, We thank you for your generosity!

Sponsored runners were: Amir & Stupe, Ming & Dirk, Nasdani & Suet Fong, Li-Ann & Kyeuong Koo

Steph and Chiah was there too, doing the mixed relay. The usual babes like Ashley, Zeus and their band of merry babes were there as well...now we all felt threatened....


Nomad's Booth, promoting a lot of activities

And so, on Saturday, at 6.30am, we left Amir's house for La Salle PJ and was told by Wye Yim that only 6 male teams signed up for the Relay and there are prices for 5 teams in each category. Now, all we need to do is break one of the other team's leg.

Before the race was flagged off, there were some warming up session done by last season's Explorace babe, Lyn. Me and Amir decided to stay behind and see the other babes move their butts (actually, we can't coordinate for shit when it comes to moving legs and arms together).

And There goes STUPE!
At 7.30am, the race was flagged off and the runners all ran in frenzy. I tried pacing with Dirk on the tarmac but this chap has the advantage of leg length. I was trailing behind him and i was over taken by youth 15 years younger over and over again.

My break finally came when the trail lead to the off road trail of Gasing.

I ran and ran..and ran. Everyone was slowing down. Nevermind the roots catching hold of my legs a couple of time and almost running into rubber trees on those high speed downhill trail, it was fun to overtake less experienced runners.

Only thing i could be happy about is the other stronger runners were mostly second runners. I'm talking about strong Ashley and Nasdani.

I did tried stopping Suet Fong (which partnered Nasdani) from going to the wrong course right after the wooden bridge, but she did not hear my shouts and turned left, instead of right at one of the junction.

Soon after that, it was the steep climb like Eco-X Hulu Langat PLUS Kinabalu like steps(nature made staircases) after 8,000 feet. I aptly name this section Batu Caves.

I saw Dirk right infront, about 15 meters away, placing both my hands on my quads to help myself climb those trails, i found my heart rate was running past maximum. The adrenalin and the thoughts that i might be in contention for placing was very very good! (At the check point i was told i was 11th Overall! and was later upped to 4th because teams were getting lost in Gasing at the meeting point)

As i exit the trail, i could see runners running in the opposite direction, those were the second runners and i know that i was doing pretty well as i only saw 5 or 6 runners passing me. Last i saw was Ming, signifying Dirk was back at meeting point.

I entered La Salle and passed the rubberband to Amir and off he went!

it was a good 32 minutes that i ran and i couldn't be happier.


I ran the blue trail, Amir ran the yelow trail...

Amir Kiasu King - His side of story...
It started off well. Dirk, Ming and Stupes were at my place at 6.30am. We then did a slow jog/ warm-up to La Salle school which was only 1km away. Met Wye Yim from Nomad who gave me a Nomad T-shirt to wear for this race. Special mention to Nomad for kindly sponsoring the 4 of us for the race. Thank you again!

Hung around the stalls which were selling/ promoting all sorts of adventure stuff as well as a few others from the various nature societies e.g. WWF, Nature Something Something, etc.Stef, Chiah, Ashley, Zeus and a few other familiar faces were there as well.

So too was the Kiasu girl who Azmar and I met while on the rescue boat at the Raja Melewar Challenge. (Her team gave up on the kayaking section due to exhaustion but they ended-up getting 3rd because they were penalised only 4hrs when most who actually finished the kayaking did so in more than 4hrs).

Later came a warm-up led by some Fitness First instructors. Stupes and I chose to be at the back (typical RMC attitude) and watch/ laugh at the rest. It also gave me the opportunity to check-out the better-looking runners.

Start time was about 7.45. It was a relay race where the 1st runner would run a route (about 5km, but hills) and come back, then the 2nd runner would go a slightly different way. Stupes, Dirk and Chiah went first. Ming, Stef and I stayed back.

The first runner came back about 27-28mins, I think Dirk (he's quiet, but boy can he run!) came in about 30 mins followed by Stupes about 1min behind (apparently, we were 4th in the Mens' category at that point). I had told Ming to go earlier, thinking that with her painful foot (from running 34km last weekend), I could catch up. Wrong assumption no. 1! She was so fast I never got to catch up.My run started off with a gentle tarmac hill climb towards the entry into Bukit Gasing. Then came a medium to hard climb up the slope of Bukit Gasing. It rained the day before but the terrain wasn't slippery. Managed to run till about halfway and then fast walked.

It felt a bit funny as I never passed or was passed by anyone during the run. After about 15mins, came out onto a tarmac road where there was a water station and some MRCS members who were kind with their encouragements. Then followed another climb up to the temple where there was some construction going on. After the temple came a short trail downhill to the massive reservoir. At that time I was still on course but heard later that some people took a right when they were supposed to go left (they also got lost but not miserably so). The correct route led to another stretch of tarmac where the checkpoint was. Got my coloured rubber band and continued on. Next came a right turn into the forest again towards a stream, where my 2nd challenge started..

Saw a Yellow arrow telling me to go up the hill after crossing the stream, which I did. Ran a few metres when I realised that there weren't any markings anymore. Kept on going, wishfully thinking there would be another arrow up ahead. Just ahead I found this 11 year-old boy called Teva who asked "Uncle, where to go?". Told him to follow me. Didn't have a clue but thought if we remained calm we'll find a way out eventually, which we did.. to Pantai Dalam.. which was easily 5km from where we were supposed to be and back over the last hill. Ayo..

Still didn't give up. Asked a few villagers there the way back to PJ, as I definitely didn't want to go back up the hill again. They told me to walk and follow the road which would lead to a main one, which we did. About 200 metres later Teva pointed to a Green arrow which I knew was part of the route for the next day's Individual race. We went up the steep hill thinking it would lead us back to the correct trail. Wrong assumption no.2!

This time the trail looked a bit less well visited. Sharp thorns everywhere and more slippery. Teva was sitting down every 20 steps or so at this point but I forced him up with some `gentle' encouragement each time. We walked another 100m or so when we spotted some rooftops from a clearing. Finally, PJ section 5, I thought! Wrong assumption no.3!

We fast walked down the bushy trail to come to some TNB/ Telecom single-storey buildings, then saw the road signs Kg. Pantai Dalam!! This was Raja Melewar Challenge all over again

So we walked through the village, me cursing myself for packing my IC and some money before the race but then putting them in my camelbak which I left at the start point!

Teva then pointed to a bus and asked "Uncle, can we take the bus?". Good idea boy, but uncle here doesn't have any money, thinking it was only a short run and he would never get lost in PJ!

So, on we walked, passing some drink stalls, none of which we could buy. 5 mins later, lady luck smiled in the form of this Pakcik on his kapcai who I stopped to ask for directions (Teva had decided to sit at a bus stop further back at this point). I can't remember exactly how (but it must have included some made-up story about Teva being ill and all and couldn't get back to PJ walking) but then to my surprise the Pakcik said he would send us back to PJ on his motorbike (he was heading to Old Town, PJ), sweat and all, even though he didn't have any extra helmets! I was so relieved!

You should have seen us on the motorbike. There couldn't have been better evidence of Malaysian `muhibbah'ness Malay pakcik on a motorbike, Chinese (looking) pillion and Indian boy squashed in between. He took us through the kampung roads to avoid the police. It took at least 15 mins on the motorbike before we reached the start point area again. About 100metres from the school, a van stopped us. They were the search party who were looking for us! Apparently, Teva's parents had even gone up Bukit Gasing looking for him when he didn't return after 45 mins. I was just overwhelmed by what the Pakcik had done for us. All I could do was tell him my name and where I worked and that if he ever needed to, to look for me there. Dumbass, me!

Stupes, Ming and Dirk were at the finish line, waiting. I had taken off my race number at Pantai Dalam earlier as I didn't really want the added attention. Finally signed in at the finish about 10 o'clock. Must have been more than an hour off the expected time. Most had gone home by then. Stupes had collected my goodie bag for me which included a nice t-shirt and a Powerbar. Embarrassingly, Wye Yim was also there and I had to explain how I had come in last when sponsored by them.

All the L+E people then went to Raju's for some well-earned thosai breakfast (and banana leaf rice lunch later on as well!). Ming and Dirk got 3rd in the mixed category and went home with medals and lots of Nestle stuff, well done! All said and done, it was a good race and I'll definitely do it again (I wish I could blame the organisers for poor signage, but since no-one else got lost..).

Oh, and look out for the boy called Teva, I bet he'll be winning races soon.

Lessons learned:
1. always carry money (at the very least, if not also IC and HP) during a race you never know when you might need a ride back/ ring someone/ give token of appreciation.

2. there are still some very kind and unselfish people out there. Be kind, because every now and then something happens to make you realise why you need to. Pakcik, I am very grateful.

3. choose your partner well some people (even in L+E) get all too competitive during events and forget that we're all in it (most importantly) for fun. Do not be patronising if things don't go your way. Thanks for not being any of the above, Stupes! (Stupe say: My pleasure dude...now, don't make me blush

4. shit happens. If things could have gone better, they could also have gone a lot worse. We'll have a better race next time.

5. not all routes up Bukit Gasing lead you back to where you started.

Amir

What Stupe, Ming and Dirk Was Thinking
The 3 of us LnE thought Amir might had fell somewhere and most probably left to die/rot. But me, knowing how careful Amir are, knows better that he won't be jumping over ravine Cliffhanger style or attempt some abseiling MINUS the ropes.


Amir Stallone

Dirk was asking me to go with him for a search party and Ming was getting worried. Steph and Chiah was getting worried as well when the oldest participant, Uncle Foo came back and Amir wasn't in sight.

Then, came the announcement from the Organisers that A002 was missing. I went over and say A001 was missing too.

At that point, i could only laugh at how/what happen, or might had happened.

Dee Lu was calling the marshalls to search the area for fear that the Big Foot in Johor might had made Gasing their home and kidnapped A001 and A002 as stepkids...(Dee Lu handled the situation really well - sign of an experienced adventurer herself!)

Everyone, literally, was waiting for A001 and A002 to come back.

And they did after more than an hour of the expected time.

All i know was, i was glad he was safely back...and he was such a hero, for bringing the boy, Teva back to his parent's as well. Cayala Amir!

Apparently, Dee Lu said one of the youth runner took BACK with him, ONE OF THE ROUTE MARKER!!!

Dumbass. (and that's a capital D)

And that was how Amir and Teva Got lost!

The next day, Dee Lu briefed the extreme runners NOT TO REMOVE ANY MARKINGS. I sure hope no one did that...but one thing for sure, the lil boy and the man that got lost was on everyone's lips yesterday....

Congrats!
Nasdani & Suet Fong had placing in the Mixed Relay and Ming & Dirk was placed 3rd in Mixed. Li-Ann & Kyeuong Koo did pretty well as well. Only casualty was me and Amir. We maintained the standard of Light And Easy by ensuring we DNF.

The next day, the Extreme race was on. I would like to congrats Suet Fong for coming out second, after Ashley(yay!!!) in the women extreme race.

I saw Karen as well.

So, here are the compulsory picture spread la!


Wye Yim signing up a participant for Perhentian Island Challenge

Me and Doc raced in this one in 2004. One of our first race actually. Results could be viewed : HERE

And my Report is in October 2004 archive(in 3 freaking parts...), pics were missing because i used to load my pics onto a friend's server...sigh...but now i found lifelogger...it won't happen again, ever!


Click Here for INFO!


Sharon of CoreZone demostrating a water filter device...*pump pump pump*...


...and SMILE!!!!


Numie and Saiful - two of the people i know because of adventure racing!!!


Mrs. Stupe, Stupe Jr and Ashley - congrats Ash for winning the women's extreme race! (Got rub Mrs tummy to give Jr some of you racing strength or not?)

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Friday's Musing

I didn't know yesterday's Explorace episode was such funny episode to watch. I mean, looking back, i could actually laugh at everything that TV3 made all the participants do.

The final 3 teams are already at location somewhere in the middle of the world (not middle earth la ok, there is no battle to fight there). I supposed they will be slogging it out in a foreign land tomorrow. There will be a lot of head shaking while talking kinda thingy la, if you get what i meant.

Also, yesterday's episode showed everyone where the semifinal destination was.

Me and Azly's guesses were right even before the round started. It was in Thailand(duh...i was there what!), Indonesia and Indo-China.

Should be fun to watch the semifinal races!!! The official website has pictures of what happened in Bangkok.


"i tried really hard to stop myself from killing the taxi driver", Stupe tells Bandit.

On the same musing breathe, I skipped runing 10km two days ago. But i did it at 3pm yesterday! Boss wasn't around, so, i snaked my way to do my 10km. The gym was deserted! I did some leg extension and calf raises right after my run. Bukit Gasing Challenge should be fun this weekend, i hope.

Also, there were a report last 2 days about a minister saying and telling the "urban chinese to raise the national flag" as the urban chinese are falling behind the rural chinese when it comes to this practise.



Now, since when i became unpatriotic by not raising the Malaysian Flag? Didn't he know that draping the national flag on a car is a no-no? As much as it's a no-no to drape the flag over a naked model? There were specific guideline to fly a flag. Anything less than that are considered a flag desecration. Where's the etiquette?

It makes me wonder if this is some sort of money making opportunities where flag manufacturer will tender for the rights to provide the government with flags to be...err...distributed to urban chinese like me?

Every national day, i see cars with mini flags stuck to the screen and top of the car. Some mini flags flew off the plastic pole and ended up being rolled over by cars and traffics.

Every national day, i also see cars with flags draped over the car bonnet, supposedly to tell Malaysian that they are patriotic.

To me, that are plain bullshit. Read the bloody etiquette i googled here, here and here!

Then there were a play about Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat and who actually killed Jebat. Now what i read in Sejarah back in school are kinda shaken. You meant they didn't fight for 3 days and 3 nights before Jebat was killed by Tuah? where can?

Some forum even say that all the Hang's are chinese! Now, can anyone say King Arthur and his Oval table are real? They are mythical at best. So, what if they(the Hang Clans) are chinese?

Does that make Malaysia a part of China? I do not think so certainly.

Does that give the Malaysian Chinese an inherent right of sovereignty over the land that is Malaysia?

Why do Malaysian Chinese want to make such claims?

it is all about arrogance and ego!!!

If Chinese are so called righteous people, then, why not instead, admit that Hang Tuah has a role in welcoming the Chinese to Malacca?

And to the chinese, prove that you are worthy of Tuah's welcome, worthy of living in the land of your birth, but not your roots!

Everyone has their own agenda when they want to dispute these things. Why make it a racial issue, especially when Merdeka Day and Hari Malaysia are around the corner? We hear this year in year out...much alike the Haze that come visiting once a year, thanks to our friendly neighour!

Infact, place Tuah as worthy as Kuan Kong and Kuan Yin at the ancestral worhshipping altar as i believe Tuah has all the qualities much like both these two chinese deities! (fyi, my parent's home has both of these deities, they represent courage, righteousness, compassion and forgiveness).


Guan Gong, Peace be upon Him


Guan Yin, Goddess of Mercy

I then chance upon this blog when i was searching for Tuah's story...check out the europeanised version of Hang Tuah, a prefectly welcomed satire when everyone is so penned up about racial sentiment.

On anohter note, my search to understand the background of Chinese Deities has actually brought me searching for them online. No better place than Wikipedia, really.

Check out these links:

Malaysian Chinese Deities
The Eight Immortals
Romance of the Three Kingdom

OKla, enough musing for today. It's weekend, almost.

Extra! Extra!
After gym yesterday, i found out a 3 series double parked infront of my car, making me unable to leave the parking lot and go on with my life. I noticed there were a phone number stuck to the screen, but i refused to call the number.

And so, i did the next best thing. I hit the horn. The first 10 seconds of honking, 3 person, which also double parked their cars came out to see if it was their car blocking.

The 10 seconds went on to 1 minute. And only after 3 minutes of honking (i kept count), the driver came out.

"Why never call the number?", she lambasted me.

"What if i don't have a phone?", i answered.

"This never happened before to me", she said, getting into her car.

Well, a sorry would be appropriate lady.

You double park your dumbass big car, but obviously your ego is too big for you to even say sorry for causing other's inconviniences.

It's an offence to double park, by the way, be it you placed your phone number or not!

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Phiten & Bruxism

I did a 5km run yesterday before my shoulder and tricep exercise.

I ran and ran and i meant i really ran.



Started with a 5:27 pace and proceed to up the pace by 1kmh per km ran. So, i found myself running faster and faster from 5:27, 5:00, 4:36, 4:16, 4:00(for 500meters) and ended it with a heart stopping sprint of 3:52 (15.5kmh).

Heartrate started at 90bpm after some minor stretching and hitting the 175 mark by the 4th KM and maxing out at 183 (that's 96% for a good 90 seconds) on my final sprint home.

I finished the 5km in 23.57, only 13 seconds faster than my previous 5km run which i did a 24:10.

I'm now more convinced that Phiten might had work to an extend. There was no pain no whatsoever on my legs - quad, hams, calf. No pain and it's as if i got a fresh legs today.

Usually, after some hard run, i would be either limping slowly in recovery the next day. But today...i felt fine, i felt like i could try anohter "best 5km time" again. but today is a slow run in Gasing with the guys of LnE.

I'm yet to test it out on 10km run, which i think i would need to clock in at least twice before Desaru in September.

I then did my shoulder and i pumped it like how i do to my other part of my body.

Shoulder Press, Arnold Press, lateral, side and back raise, tricep pull down, tricep push down...left the gym feeling like my shoulder has just been scuplted all over again...as if.


Arnold Susunegar doing what he does best...doing tris like him won't gurantee you having his tris...you can only TRY!

Af is because everytime i look into the mirror, it's still a fat ass body staring back at me.

Damn, i think i'm getting obssessed with my own body again!


Ron Coleman - I think i better realign my own goal to try to look half like him, even

Also, yesterday was a perfect night to test if Phiten works nicely on wifey. She has bad backache and shoulder ache. The night before, she did not sleep well at all and yesterday, with Phiten on, man, she was sleeping like a baby. Soreness in the morning was also not very pronounced but she did ask for back massage from me, which in my sleepiness, could only muster that much strength to do so before i dozed off again! What a useless me!

On a separate note, I went to Tong Woh in PJ and bought myself 400mg supplement of Magnesium (USRDA Reccomended Daily intake), Vit B complex and BCAA.

The Vit B Comp and Magnesium is more for myself to try to see if it helps with my teeth grinding at night. Vit B comp are known as stress buster and magnesium is actually muscle relaxtant. Both will benefit cardiovascular system as well. Magnesium are also known for it's calcium blocking properties. It could prevent calcium from calcifying in the blood vessels.


Maybe instead of a proper dental gumshield, i would use my rugby gum sheild instead...


...And i might wake up looking Playing rugby like Tana...

Just got a call from Amir, today's run at gasing cancelled due to some reasons.

So, looked like i'm going to Gym today to sweat it out again...today's back day. Will clock in 10km before doing my back exercise...

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End of 2nd trimester - 25th Weeks

How time flies.

When i found out that wifey was pregnant in March this year, we went to FMCG for the antenatal check up to verify that there is something growing indeed.

We chosed this place, though it was a little more pricey compared to other OB clinic was because of the location and also under Sis in Law's reccomendation. She did the Dumex 1-2-3 show and she told us to look for Dr. Raman in FMCG.

And so we did.

Here is the initial stage of the pregnancy.


Nothing but a dot at week 7. This is a 3-D Scan

Later, we found out that this particular doctor with his colleague penned a book called : Is My Baby Normal and that he is some celebrity's doctor.

Oh well, that explain the more expensive consultation anyway.

We were told to come in every other week for check up for the first trimester. So, in and out we went from week 7 onwards.


Fetus at 9 weeks old. Growing from a small dot to 1.9cm now!

At Week 9 too, Dr. Raman checked for fetal heartbeat which was beating at 171bpm! That would be like my 5km run at 5:00 pace! Looked like Jr will be very much a fit fella!

Everything was normal and Dr. Raman was very reassuring. Who won't when he has been an OB all his life? I spoke to him and he told me he wanted to be a Pilot. He told me he knows 33% of the plane's instrumental panel and where it was. But luck has it that he became an OB.

FMGC specialises in problem during pregnancy and they have the experience to deal with it, offering from A-Z of anything pregnant and gynae related.

After Week 12, we only need to check in once every month for check ups.

At week 16, blood sample were taken from wifey to check the content and for STD screening. The baby was also checked for Down Syndrome and also other birth defects such as cleft lips and also hole in heart.

Everything was fine and normal and we couldn't be happier. Wifey is one of those that do not go through any pregnancy symptom! She has no craving and no morning sickness! After the first 4 months, chances of those happening will be greatly reduced, if there is any of those symptoms.

Every visit was well anticipated and we look forward to it. It's our chance to see the baby!


Week 20 - check those feet out. Wifey is hoping it won't end up like my paternal side where everyone's feet is big!

Supposely at week 16, we could actually see if it's a boy or girl. But the doctor's explicit explanation is that "at this time, the penis and clitoris can't be differentiated as yet".

But the real reason was because the baby was actually being shy and covering his/her genital and do not want to show us at all!

And so, at 20 Weeks, before the check up, i whispered to wifey's womb and ask the baby to "spread it out wide".

And he/she(at that time la) did exactly that at week 20.

And so, it was a boy, as Dr. Raman then bluntly put it "there, it's a kukubird".

At 20 weeks, the baby was 300grams heavy and about 8 inches CRL. Constantly jumping and headbanging like how Shen would say it to be.

Me and wifey knows a girl or boy does not matter, for as long as the baby is healthy. Doctor checked for cleft lips and also hole in heart again and verified everything was a-ok.

You see, we did have a scare or two initially. While i was away in Bangkok for Explorace, wife called and told me she has some bleeding. I was worried of course, but she went to see Dr. Raman the next day and told me everything was ok. Nothing to worry as sometimes, polyp in the vagina burst or when the fetus push itself into the placenta, it will cause some bleeding, as long as the bleeding is not bright red, it's nothing to be worried about. Looking back, it's not bleeding that we all know, it was more of spotting.

Last week was the 24th week of the pregnancy and the urine test wasn't the best thing that happened actually, as i found myself googling for all the wrong reasons.

So, yesterday, Dr. Raman SMS us and told us everything is normal. There were like a huge heave of relief when we heard that.

And so, today, we went to see Dr. Raman again. Asked him about choices of pain relief for delivery and also admission procedure for labour. He reassured us everything will be ok and even offered to check see the baby to make sure everything is ok.

And so, his warning was "don't be scared ah, at 6 months, the baby looked like alien as the skin wasn't fully formed yet".

Alien it might be to him...but to us, me and wifey, it's the best thing that ever happen to us...well, apart from knowing and marrying each other la!


can see the eyes, nose and lips... so wonderful...

edited - silap...week 25th is still in 2nd trimester, 3rd trimester starts at week 27...silly me...title changed for this posting!

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Phiten Day 5 and beyond...

Been almost a week i've used and tested this stuff.

On saturday, i did a quick 1 hour workout purely on weight.

Did squat - 90lb warm up x 15reps to get the blood pumping in.

I then follow up with 140lb x 12 reps, 180lb x 10 reps, 230lb x 8 reps, 270lb x 6 reps and ended it with 320lb x 4 reps.

Did one last set of 90lb until failure.

Haven't puke but leg was almost jello by the time i placed the barbell on the squat rack. All weights above are plate weight, not incl of the 7 feet 2.5inch olympic bar which weight 20kg or 44lb.

I then moved on to 45 degree leg press. Using 270lb x 12 reps, 360lb x 10reps, 450lb x 8 reps and finishing it with a 540lb x 6 reps. I usually could go on until 1080lb for this exercise but decided that i shouldnt' after doing the squat in the first place.

I then lowered the weight back to 360lb for calf raise using the leg press machine. Doing 5 sets, each to failure of about 15 reps each.

After that, i went straight for the leg extension machine to work those vactus medialis. It's my archilles heels actually, giving up on me during PDIT and on a few duathlons i did.

I felt fine still. 45 Minutes into the work exercise and i'm still standing, though i was sweating like some pig. I love legs exercise. many weightlifter in the gym chose to shy away from it and this has resulted in most of them having chopstick legs with huge upper body.

Anyway, i spent the last 15 minutes in the gym doing bicep. Heavy sets. Went for 4 sets of dumbell curl. 20lb x 12 reps, 30lb x 10 reps, 40lbx 8 reps and 50lbs x 6 reps. I then did 4 sets of concentration curls of 20lb x 12 reps, 25lb x 10 reps, 30lb x 8 reps and the last set of 40lb for 6 reps was literally squeezing out every single muscle fiber i have.

That night, wifey complained of shoulder ache after ironing clothes. I gave her the Phiten to wear after and soon after, the aches were gone! Of course, she slept with the thing that night as well.

Then, on sunday, ie day 6, i woke up...legs were jello...slight ache on the quads and hamstrings. It actually felt good, i flexed my quads and i could feel the muscle separation, it's like when you found out you could move your boobs with your chest muscle!

It was a rest day for me yesterday.

So, what do i reckon?

I guess Phiten works to a certain extend.

Where cardio activities are concerned, it might had helped me pushed a bit harder and furhter. Then again, i also attributed this to the mind. So, in a way, both mind and Phiten did perhaps, work in their own strange ways.

Where upper muscle recovery is concerned, it works almost like magic, easing the soreness and speeding up recovery.

But where lower body are concerned...i think Phiten better give me some sample to try out so i could actually tell the public here what i find out. (_{hahahahahaha...do you hear me out guys at Phiten Malaysia?})

It did occur to me as well, why it worked well when i was doing cardio and my legs were still feeling fresh even after running a speedy run. I guess it was because the cardio workout, which was aerobic, compared to the weight lifting workout, which was anerobic was the reason. In Aerobic exercise, the blood, which i would assume *spiked* by Phiten's properties goes all over the body as my heart pumped at 90% Max HR.

But then again, all these do sound like rocket science to me, some people would say it's just like snake oil...

Whatever it is, i'm keeping my Phiten and the real test for races would be this coming weekend's Bukit Gasing Run. We'll see how it help me perform under duress.

This afternoon, boss was asking me about the Phiten, apparently, a few golfers that he knows are using them and according to them golfers, it helps with their pain management.

rocket science or snake oil???

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MGC/TKCOGA Bowling 2006

Before i go on, just let me reiterate that RMC-OPA did not join the Bowling competition not because we have NO balls. To the contrary, we had too much balls that we don't think we need to prove anything by sending up till 3 teams (_{That school from somewhere in Perak la..}) to show that we have balls.

It's a given that RMC boys has balls.

Anyway, It was a fun outing, organised by the Malay Girl College/TKC Old Girl Association yesterday at Mega Lane in Sunway Pyramid.


The organising OGA checking out the results before making it official

The champ was MCOBA 3 for the Men team and SMSS won the Women's Team. The best bowler for both men and women were from SMSS, heck, even the players with most strikes for both sexes came from SMSS.

At this point of writing, an independent unit has been set up to check if SMSS has any shares in Mega Lane Sunway. We suspected foul play. But that of course, was my own personal opinion. The organisers said since it's a friendly game, no complains or protest would be entertained and the results, final.


SMSS in red. Maybe they did some VooDoo on the lane the day before.

SSPOGA won the best cheering team award and Old Free Association won the Best Dressed Competition.

TKC, as usual, was a heap of fun and more fun. Their committee did a very good job in ensuring no balls were flung from one lane to the other and the girls had more fun out-bowling the male counterparts.

SSP came about and gave all participating teams a token of appreciation in a form of brownies nicely wrapped in box.


Old Free in matching baby blue polo T for their games

The next Bowling competition, trust us that RMC-OPA will send in enough team to show all the girls and boys that we have enough balls to conquer the lane.

Thank you TKCOGA for the wonderful evening of camariderie and fun!!!

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Phiten Day 4 Gym

Was in gym yesterday, as usual and pushed for my best 5km time on treadmill.

This time, the incline was set to ZERO and no warm up.

Stepped on the machine and pressed GO.

Starting speed was set to 5:00pace(12kmh) for first 2km. At 2km mark, i set the pace to 4:48(12.5kmh) and ran it for the next 2km before firing a 4:36 pace for the home run.

I was still feeling good at the 4.5km mark and decided to try doing a 4:00 pace (15kmh) for the final 400meters when my sweat all confused the build in sensor for HR and refused to let me top my speed.

So...i ran the whole final stretch at 4:30 pace (13.3kmh - frantic pressing of the machine only allowed me a 0.1kmh increment and i managed to up it by 0.3)


I finished the 5km in 24:10.


HRmax was 175


and average was 159.

I know i could do better and sub 24mins on this 5km, but the machine wouldn't allow.

What i noticed is that i was not struggling at the 175HR which lasted for a good last 2 minutes. I was still breathing through my nose and every now and then through my mouth. I wasn't drinking any water the whole 5km.

Perhaps, Phiten did some work here, but then again, it might be the mind doing this magic. I know when i touch HR 175, i could not possibly sustain it for long. (175 is my 92% effort of my Max HR of 190 already).

Also, this is the second day i pushed myself this way on the threadmill.

I then moved on to do my back exercise. As i was short of time, i didn't fully torture my back. So, to compensate, i did 10 sets of 10 reps of Seated Cable Row.


Seated Cable Row - ppic from www.exrx.net

I max out on the 5th set with my own body weight of 80kg, of which i only managed 4 reps. I usually does this until 60kg and feeling great at set 3, i went for 70kg on set 4, which i felt strong still and went for set 5 at 80kg, which i couldn't pull it anymore after my 4th rep. I should had settle for 75kg. But then again, it's good experimenting and pushing myself.

I then pyramid down on the last 5 sets.

I moved on to another variation of back exercise using machine, of which i did anohter 10 sets. I didn't carry heavy on this as i usually uses this machine to cut/define the back upper muscle.

Lastly, i did tricep pushdown. One of my fav tricep buster. Doing 5 sets, each sets to failure on 15kg weight, i replace the straight bar with rope, which forces the hand to straighten to the side of my thigh. Feel the burn!


Tricep pushdown with straight bar - pic from www.exrx.net

This whole weight exercise thingy took up a good 20 minutes. I was out from the gym in less than 50 minutes i was there.

As usual, there were minimal rest between sets and exercise and only 5 minute of rest between cardio and weight.

Of course i was sweating profusely.

So, this morning, On day 5. I woke up. I have no ache. Legs felt strong and i feel like doing a good 10km run, only thing is, there is a dinner to attend tonite which i have to go. So, it's rest day today.

My back felt great, no ache despite doing the high sets of exercise. Actually, so is my whole body, i usually subject them to high reps once every 2 weeks cycle. Meaning, i'll do a 2 weeks of heavy lifting with low reps and set (max of 5 sets with max reps of 12) and 2 weeks of moderate weights with high sets and reps (max of 10sets with max reps of up to 15).

So, does Phiten works?

I think my mind is playing game with me.

I slept with Phiten on yesterday and this morning, i was refreshed. sore pain in chest gone but i was still grinding my teeth (have to look for magnesium supplement next) and surprise surprise...wife woke up this morning with lower back ache.

Hmm...will let her use Phiten to sleep tonight and see if the back pain goes off tomorrow morning.

As for me, the experiment continue. Tomorrow will be a hardcore day of leg exercise. I usually does legs until i nearly puke. Which makes me wonder why i'm still having cramps on the bike!

Damn You Stupe, You weakling!

I'll Go Heavy tomorrow...or I'll go HOME!

Update:
My bodyfat is now 20.7%. My weight as per today's lunch is 84.5kg. Take 2kg off from clothing, i'm still fat! damn!

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Explorace Season 3: Kelantan

It's On tonight at 9.30pm on TV3. Don't miss it, the final 1st round race of the season!

Excerpt from TV3 Website

Old traditions and culture still live on in Kelantan, and all girl contestants Masitah & Misbah and Yuhana & Irene definitely experienced it here!

After flag off in the bustling Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah, Masitah and Irene ran off to face Route 1 while Misbah and Yuhana took on Route 2.

Masitah and Irene’s first task was to perform the traditional Dikir Barat at Istana Jahar so they can move on to their very creative task waiting for them at Ishak Batik. Both girls had to learn how to stamp batik using the Explorace batik stamp and complete the whole process of producing batik successfully… Their finished products were very eye catching! The task at Nespure bird’s nest was very slow, time consuming and strained both of their eyes… some of those bit’s of feathers are really small!

On Route 2, Misbah and Yuhana first experienced the traditional skills needed to play the Gasing at Pantai Irama Bachok. It was very obvious both had not done this before! Misbah could barely tie the rope and Yuhana’s gasing spun really slowly… At Kampung Pachakkan, both managed their tasks of pushing boat and categorizing fish well, but the heat from the scorching was torturing. This heat continued to affect Yuhana’s performace while she was catching lokan. She had to return to the water 3 times!

The meeting point was at the Pusat Imigresen Pengkalan Kubur. Masitah and Misbah managed to meet there first and left for their next task at Kampung Ketil. Yuhana and Irene were trailing behind as both teams struggled with the heavy loads of processing budu.

The heat was not abating as the teams approached their final task at Infogaleri Sungai Golok Tengku Anis, and both teams were really suffering because of it… but one team does make it to the finishing point first…


To find out, don’t miss the Kelantan Race of Explorace – The Extreme Journey on Season 3, on air Friday, 4th August 2006, 9.00 pm exclusively on TV3.

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Field Report: Phiten Day 3 & 4

Day 1 and Day 2 report here

Now, where was i?

OK, yesterday's was my cardio and shoulder day.

For Cardio, i did an interval training. Nothing too strenous as i'm easing back into the groove for Desaru Tri.

So, i did a 5km run.

1km @ 6:40(9kmh) pace warm up - max HR120 (slow pace)
1km @ 5:42(10.5kmh) pace - max HR135 (fast pace)
800m @ 5:00(12kmh) pace - max HR155 (slow pace)
800m @ 4:48(12.5kmh) pace - max HR160 (fast pace)
400m @ 4:26(13.5kmh) pace - max HR 165(slow)
400m @ 4:16(14kmh) pace - max HR170(fast)
200m @ 4:07(14.5kmh) pace - max HR172(slow)
200m @ 4:00(15kmh) pace - max HR175(fast)
100m @ 4:00(15kmh) pace - max HR178(slow)
100m @ 3:45(16kmh) pace - max HR180(fast)

Average HR - 151 - 79%
Time taken - 27:54
Incline : 1 Degree on Star Trac Elite Treadmill

It was initially funny to have something bouncing up and down on your neck. My usual gold chain do not bounce as much as Phiten. Maybe because this sports necklace was made of elastomer and well, it bounces. The initial uncomfy feeling of the necklace jumping about was a bit bothering as you are concious of it being THERE. As much as i love to cam whore, but i do not like to draw attention to meself unnessasary.

After the first initial 1km of warm up run, i noticed the necklace centre point(with the word Phiten) shifted to my left side. I didn't bother to adjust it to ensure it's in the middle.

OK, lets just assume it's physcological effect again. But i swore on days while i was training for KLIM, interval training was a chore, almost. It's like i hate to have my heart pounding like it will dislodge from it's position. But then again, it might be over training back then.

Nevertheless, at my 200m interval, i was still feeling good. Usually when i touch 172bpm, i start to feel dizzy, but this time, i was still breathing through my nose. 27:54 was hardly a record to start with for 5km, my time for MMDS which is 52minutes max for 10km means i could do 26mins for 5km on average.

But i did put in the factor that i actually ran 2km with a max pace of 5:42, lets just say average of 6:00 pace. Which ate up 12 minutes for the first 2km. Meaning i did a 16minutes on the last 3km which average out to about 5:30pace. Also, it's noteworthy to notice i ran it on a 1 degree incline. I usually run flat.

Apart from running from killer dogs, my heart rate has never breached the 175bpm in any trainign i did, no matter how hard i pushed. But yesterday, it did, though it was on the last final 100m sprint(to my standard la!) I touched a 180(that's a 94% effort of Max HR) and my recovery over 5 minutes set my heart rate back to 90bpm on a slow walk.

Perhaps it did help? I do not know, i would need to judge it on a flat and not on a 1 degree incline as i did yesterday.

After that, i went for a 30 minutes blitz on my Shoulder.

8 sets Press Behind neck. Pyramid up from 50lb set 1, 100lb set 2, 110lb set 3, 120lb set 4 and Pyramid down from 120 till 50 again. Reps going from 12-10-8-6-6 and 6-6-8-10-12. i usually max at 110lb. For experiment purpose, i add on extra 10lb.

Press behind neck - pic taken from www.exrx.net

Then, it's lateral raise for side delts, front raise for front delts and rear raise for back delts. Anyone worthy of their salt would know how painful/burning/tortorous to be doing shoulder raises.

Front Raise - pic taken from www.exrx.net


Lateral/Side Raise - pic taken from www.exrx.net


Rear lateral raise - pic taken from www.exrx.net

I ran the rack again, from 5lb till 25 lb, maintaining a rep of 10 each with increment of 5 lb dumbell. And from 25lb back to 5lb. I was grimacing in pain on my final 10 reps of 5 lb...looked funny!

Despite the burning sensation, i was FINE! recovery was fast and i do not have the lactic acid build up for long to linger there. Mind you, usually, bodybuilder LIFT weights before doing Cardio. I went the opposite way, burning my glycogen storage and risking my muscle being burned for this lifting activities.

But i felt fine.

I ended the shoulder exercise with 8 sets of EZ bar upright row. Lifting from 10lb till 60lb (plate weight, not incl of olympic bar) with reps from 12-6 and from 6-12 again.

Upright Row - pic taken from www.exrx.net

And so, after 30 plus minutes of fast paced lifting with minimal rest...i went for my shower and exited the gym.

Yesterday night, i let Wifey use the Phiten for sleeping again. She was awaken a lot of times this morning, to go to the loo, she said. She must had drank tonnes of water yesterday. Other than her hand feeling numb and painful, her shoulder and back was fine with no ache. Actually, this is the longest she has been without telling me she has backache and shoulder pain.

As for me, this morning, i awaken with NO SORE from yesterday's workout. Legs felt fine. Shoulder felt fine. Usually, after doing shoulder, i will have ache on my delts for at least a day. But non of those were there. Only pain was some soreness i have on my chest and my trapezius muscle.

Funnily, Phiten failed to lessen the soreness on the area where the necklace is nearest to.

Today is Day 4, i'll be at the gym, hopefully, clocking in 10km of run in 60minutes and then hit my back with some deadlifts, bend over row and machine row. Lets see how it all add up tomorrow.

So, does this Phiten really help?

I guess after 2 days of using it in the Gym, pushing myself a bit harder than usual where the total weights are concerned, it does. I do not feel as sore the day after.

As far as reduction of pain, where wifey is concerned, nope, it doesn't help where i think it should. But to be fair, her backache and shoulder pain was virtually not there, or not as prominent as usual.

So, for those intending to buy this, perhaps, this few days testimony might come in handy to a certain extend, as i'm not sponsored by Phiten, nor did i get any good deal to write this in return for a second set of Free Phiten. For that, i shalt dream on.

As for me, i will continue to test this out, so far, as far as recovery and also strength is concerned, i did feel a bit of differences, and of course, some might just say it is purely in the mind. Some would say it's the product. Lets just wait up, i intend to push myself for 2 weeks on this product to see if it's the mind...or the titanium beads.

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MMDS #2 Results

The results are out here: Results

Well done to Zabil and Soon for the extremely good time.

Breakdown For LnE/Poser Gang:

Zabil - Run - 49.38, Bike 1:54.35, Run - 32.26
Overall: 64/228(men) 21/75(men 30-39)

Soon - Run - 49.20, Bike 1:58.42, Run - 33.55
overall: 77/228(men) 25/64 (men 18-29)

Ee-Van - Run - 51.54, Bike 2:20.26, Run-41.58
overall: 159/228(men), 51/75(men 30-39)

Ben - Run - 57.08, Bike: 2:20.12. Run- 39.34
Overall: 168/228(men), 55/75(Men30-39)

OP Zubir - Run - 58.06, Bike - 2:05.43 (he overtook me on the bike near precint 16), Run - 43.16
Overall 146/228(Men), 12/18 (Age group 50-59)

OP Fadzil - Run - 58.15, Bike - 2.25.00, Run - 47.21
Overall:193/228(Men), 16/18(Age Group 50-59) Newcomer!!!!

Kim Whitehouse (Vicky's friend from UK) - Run - 25.34, Bike-57.34, run-18.12
Overall: SPRINT CHAMP FOR WOMEN!!!!!(5-25-3 DISTANCE) Newcomer!!!!!

Vicky Jones - run -30.57, Bike - 1:09.28, run 19.36
Overall: 6/23 Women Sprint!!!!

Well done to all of you!

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Field Report 1: Phiten Day 1 and 2.

Report (Duh!)

I bought the necklace with the notion that RM130 is not that expensive to spent on something that has the potential to heal/help/reduce pain. If it doesn't work, i'll end up RM130 poorer, which would usually be easily spent on race entry fee and getting to the race venue.

As you all know, i got the Black sports version that has yellow lines. Don't ask me why yellow, you can say i crave for attention and yellow is one way of showing it. You can say i'm a dirty fellow, but that won't change what i think about you as well.

With the cut out coupon, i managed to get one bracelet, which was supposed to be use and throw type, but the sales person was kind enough to give me a tip or two to actually turn the bracelet into something more permanent. This is so, since the bracelet does have the titanium on them, and taken care properly, might very well perform just like it's other siblings.

By the way, the use and throw Phiten i got cost RM90 for two, so, essentially, i got a discount of RM45 from my RM130 purchase.

OK. So, i went home, the intention was actually to ut the Phiten to good use, but since i was supposed to go home to my parent's place for dinner early, i scraped the idea. Excuse for me not to train and treat Monday as the rest day.

But i did put on the necklace when i reached home.

Some people tell me the effect is almost immediate.

"you will feel slightly dizzy/disorientated, it shows the thing is re-aligning your bio-electrical function"

OK.

30minutes on, i didn't feel a thing.

And so, that night, i let wifey use it to go to sleep. Some people that tried it actually tell me they sleep better with it.

So, the next day, as i claimed my Phiten back from wifey, i didn't ask her if she slept soundly.

Well, i for one know, she did sleep soundly that night. Unlike the other nights where she will toss and turn and find the right position and sigh and kick and stretch (this is not an attempt to discourage you future mothers that is reading this and these kung fu in bed is not gonna happen to every pregnant mother)


Actually, Wifey was spektical about it.

So, later in the evening, i use Phiten while i was in the gym. It's my Chest and Bicep day.

i was spektical as well, of course. I mean, if this necklace can perform miracle, athelete don't need to train so hard anymore, heck, might as well inject them with titanium (CAUTION: do this at your OWN RISK. Writer are not responsible for any death if you do inject yourself with these)


I lifted as usual. Doing my 5 sets. 1 warm up and 4 working sets. Weight started at 100lb for warm up for 15 reps and pyramid down to 150lb for 6 reps. For good luck, i did ONE extra set. I top up 160lb for 6 reps.

Bench Press - pics taken from www.exrx.net

For the first time in years, i managed to touch this weight again (my PB was 220lb for 4 reps - that is history)

Ok. Feeling good, i went on to do incline press and dumbell fly. Both 4 working sets and i threw in an extra set of 6 reps for weight i never lifted for years. I breached 150lb for incline and i used the 60lb dumbell for fly.
Dumbell Fly - pics taken from www.exrx.net

Feeling still good. Damn. I felt like i'm on some drugs.

So, i moved on to biceps.

I ran the rack up from 5lb to 40lb, each set in increment of 5lb for 10 reps. And then, i ran it down again from 40lb to 5lb with the same numbers of reps.

Bicep Curls - pic taken from ww.exrx.net

Feeling lucky, i did a final set of 6 reps on 45lb dumbell.

Shit - what happened, it seemed so easy!!!

I then moved on to barbell curl where i do the system 21. where i do 7 half reps(half way down) - 7 half reps(half way up) and 7 full reps. This is ONE set. I did 3 sets of these on a 20lb plate weight(not counting the olympic size EZ bar)


Barbell Curl - pic taken from www.exrx.net

I'm still...err...strong.

So, i went on to do concentration curls. 5 sets of 10 reps each. Weight from 5lb till 25lb.

Concentration Curls - pic taken from www.exrx.net

Total time spent, 1 hour. I always believe a workout should be "fast in and fast out". It's just me and the weight and other factor (incl Ninie walking past) should be shutted out. In the same note. I absolutely loath those that talk loud and talk a lot in gym, exercising their mouth more than their lungs or muscles.

Then later at night, i asked wifey is she slept soundly yesterday. She stopped and think, and then look at me and say...

"ya la...i didn't crack my head this morning like i usually do, shoulder also not stiff when i wake up", she said.

That to me is good enough for the money spent, if it did help her sleep that soundly. So, i let her use the necklace again yesterday.

This morning, i woke up thinking i'll get sore all over from my overly excited workout.

Truth is, the chest was a lil sore, but it wasn't as sore as usual! my bicep was 100% ok, it doesn't feel sore at all. Not at all.

And so...today...as i'm writing this, i just got back from Gym, it's shoulder day today and i did shoulder after running 5km. It's interval running day. I shalt update on this tomorrow.

Lets see if i still feel the same like i did this morning tomorrow!

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Phiten - Titanium Necklace

There is a lot of hype surrounding this item.

Phiten USA
The Original Site is in Japanese, hence, going for the next best url

A few athelete is now sponsored by Phiten in Malaysia. Great product placement i must say. What more, those were names that had made the country proud in more than one way.

But of course, they train in more than 10 ways that i did.

Anyway, back to the review.

I googled "titanium effect health" and the first match was the properties of the metal. Useful start to a understanding the benefit of what Phiten is all about.

At the website, Phiten is essentially carbonised titanium embeded into fabric(using phild processing) and other items that will give health benefits.

This Phild Process is actually patented!!!

Heck, it is even used in Profesional Hair Care!!!

Of course there are people that say that this is all a hoax.

I bought my Phiten Sports Necklace at their shop in 1 Utama for RM130. The Classic one, which is actually titanium embeded into the fabric are selling for RM105 each (irregardless of length).

And so...there i was, 2 days ago and bought a sports necklace for RM130...

What better way than to buy it and test it yourself and see if it really as good as it claimed to be, right???

More report soon. Stay Tuned.


I know, i do not have F1 driver's neck

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MMDS pics and worries

:) Enjoy.


Getting out from transition - thanks Azwar for the pic!


came back from Biking and both 130 and 132 not back yet! - thanks to Z's friend for the pic...


Leaving for the painful 5km run -thanks again to Z's friend...


why did i give the thumbs up??? - thank you Aini for the pic!


It's because i'm star strucked! it's Kimbeley Yap next to me!!! - Thanks Azwar, for the pic!

The doctor check up yesterday showed my baby boy growing well. He is now 600gram and 30cm long. Grew twice his size from the last visit. All hands and legs and facial features were fully develop and tummy, kidney and heart are all a-ok.

I keep telling myself that i felt surreal and it's a miracle life could be growing inside wifey's womb!

Only bad news is that her urine sample has 3X protien detected.

Immediately i went online and searched for the implication of this issue. Turned out, it could be something that we don't need to worry...or something that might contribute to a premature birth (because of pre-eclampsia).

We sure hope everything will be alright.

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