HomeMade Energy Gel

Last year, i prepared bottles of homemade energy gel with low GI.

It powered me through the whole IM and i supplement it with some food that i could chew on.

This year won't be any different. The cost of branded gel are just too high and usually, one would be consuming a pack every 30-45minutes. That's a whopping 30 packs if you choose to do so (should be enough to make you look like Yusran :P)

Making your own gel are more economical and much more delicious.

This year, i find it difficult to find brown rice syrup as the organic shop i bought this last year went bust.

So, i found this in Jusco, almost as good, but maybe better (due to the sodium content).



A bottle of this makes about 24 fl.oz of gel. That's about 42grams/fl.oz. PowerBar PowerGel is about 1.44ounces which translate to about 41grams/pack.

Cost wise, the Rice Syrup is RM18.90/500gram and add in some flavouring in the form of Hersheys choc syrup, it's at most anohter RM11 (with extra to put on top of your fav icecream). 24 packs of PowerGel will set you back to about RM120 (at Rm5/pack).

You can clearly see how my miser mind works.

What i will do is add in a pack of ORS (Oral Rehydration Salt) into each bottle to beef up on the sodium.

I will also be taking kurma or dessert dates for my races this year.

And the money i saved on the energy food, i am able to send my bike to TBB to be shipped to Langkawi and i don't need to worry about it a single bit (like boxing it up, fixing it back, lugging it to and fro airports...you get my driftla)

15 days to IM09, i guess i'm just getting anxious - not so much of excited like last year. Just anxious.

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One Potty Trained, One With Teeth

How time flies. Ryan is now 2 plus and Nadia is already 8 months.

Just 2 weeks ago, Ryan Miracolously learned how to tell us when he needs to go.

OK, maybe not MIRACOLOUSLY as we've been trying hard to potty train him. But 2 fridays ago, he sort of take it upon himself and demanded that he wants to wear "the superman" underwear and viola!

He has learnt how to hold his pee but not his shit (pardon the language, with kids, you just have to be graphic).

Fastforward to 3 days ago, he learnt how to sit in the toilet and pang-sai-ed.

Damn proud of him.


It's tiring to hold them in papa!

By the way, he placed the sunnies and cap himself and feel asleep soon after.

The other heart fruit (Buah hati - or should it be buah jantung?) is Nadia.

She has learnt to crawl and she is moving fast. She also has the guts to fight with the brother for stuffs. But of course, she will lose as Ryan would usually just palm her off (much like Rugby, when you run and stick your hands out to the other person's face).

And just about the time Ryan learnt to potty himself, Nadia's first 2 teeth emerged.



She has been sharing the porridge we cook with Ryan and she is a ferocious eater.

Just like her brother, Nadia could hold her own bottle and feed herself. Wifey sort of trained them to do so at 4 months old and both has proven to be successful.

We have a feeling that Nadia will grow up bullying the brother. I do not have an issue with that as i know Ryan loves his sister to bits.

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Double Yolks Miracle

Ever chance upon an egg with 2 yolks?



Well, i am five times lucky with this as Barath gave me 5 eggs with 99% chances of being double yolk.

Here is a size comparison to a sized A egg.


A on right, freaky mutated double yolk, left

How did it happen?

Well, according to egg-fiando Barath, this happen with young nubile fertile chics.

The probability of these young nubile fertile chics to lay double yolk in their maiden laying session is really high.

Fear not, the chicken aren't given any antibiotic of banned growth substances or enhancer, it's genetically built into them chics.

And i found out from Barath that there is no such thing as FREE RANGE chicken eggs anymore.

What you find in the market that claim is free range are nothing more than a difference species of chicken (in this case, those that lay "free range" smaller and whiter eggs) being reared to lay eggs very much like the other "brown" eggs you see in the market.

These "free range" chicken are also confined in the same space as the other commercial eggs chicken and given the same feed.

So, don't be fooled.

There is also a lot of other assumption that i was told by Barath. Those eggs spiked with DHA or Omega3&6 are nothing more that just addictive added to the chicken feed. Infact, the golden orange colour of the yolk in some eggs are nothing but expensive colouring!

I'll stick to my normal "brown" eggs for now - but if you see the brown eggs to have shades of white, avoid at all cost, as those are eggs from old chickens with weak immune system. Also, eggs with chicken shit on them are normally "rejected" eggs...

I never knew there is so much to learn with regards to the chicken eggs trade! My hats off to Barath!

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Nike Air Zoom Elite 4+ & Ergonomic Socks Road Test

Received a pair of this trainer before Chinese New Year and did not have a chance to break her in until last Saturday during my ambitious OD SBR.



I was made to understand that the previous version of this Elite series has full air bed. But because of the inclusion to insert the Nike+ Ipod accelometer, the airbed are now confined only to the heel portion.

At first glance, this shoe weren't as bling as the others i have been using from Nike (bling-est, some says BENG-est) were the LunarTrainer, with it's floro green-yellow spring like sole (story already covered previously la, so no need to ah-beng-fied this entry ok?)

I was told that this Elite series was a fav amongst a few runners and a few triatheletes and i guess the verdict is really in trying on a pair to make a judgement with.



Elite is made for people with neutral to low arch and will lend good support for such legged runners. I only found out i am between no arch to low arch using one of those heat sensitive board that works better than somethingy that make you run over and be captured on camera. Back to basic, as they says it.

I did two runs with this shoe. The first one a fast 5.5km over undulating roads in Hartamas. First thing i noticed different was the transition from heel strike to take off.

Damn kaw smooth.

Some shoes are missing this portion of "ooomph". Upon heel strike and at take off, there are two separate event. That leaves the arch "stretched" and the muscles in the feet, tired. I'm not sure how to better represent what i am saying, but the Elite 4 allows one to have smooth transition between heel strike and take off.

So smooth you think the sole are curved and you are just rolling upon heel strike.

It did not happen as smoothly for Triax and Pegasus as both the shoes has distinct differences between heel strike and take off.

Infact, comparing to Adidas Supernova 7 (Lets call it S7), i realised that there is no transition in S7! If you have been following my exploit, you will know that the S7 has the most distinct heel strike because of the Formotion heel pad. Again, that story has already been told.



The weight of this shoe is also lighter than Pegasus and Triax (somehow, i love Triax more than anything, maybe because this shoe is so seasoned, it sort of mold to my feet). How much lighter? I reckon a 100gram ligther in total. But i'm no grams granny as it makes no differences to me due to my body weight (a good 80kg now - i was 73 during last year's IM) and my running strides (small steps - high cadence).

The material was also a much improvement compared to Triax 10+ (they have 11+ now) as the "light test" (where i shine light into the shoe to see it's permeability - corny, i know) will not lie.


Before


After receiving enlightenment

You can just imagine the amount of pespiration that mgiht ooze out from your feet with those highly permiable materials.

One more time?


Starship Sweaterprise

The short 10KM i did with the shoe on Saturday made me smile and happy that i could possibly use this for IM09. The acid test, as they say, would be on longer run.

So, on Sunday, I ran 20Km with Jabir. Just like the day before, i pair the shoe up with the new Nike Ergonomic socks (side specific).



That would meant my transition will be slower by a couple more minutes as i fumble through to see which side of the socks goes to which leg... :P

So, what's so special about the socks?

The socks has thicker padding at specific places where the pressure are potentially higher. That would meant places like heel and forefoot would have extra cushioning. The arch is also supported by having a tighter fit to it.

Here is a pic of the bottom side of the right side of the socks.



Noticed the orange portion? Those are the thicker part of the socks. The darker shade of grey is also thicker and meant to pamper the forefoot portion in relation to the smaller toes.

The almost hourglass shape in the middle portion were made from different material to lend support to the arch.

And apaprently, this socks has some "technology" build in which may make you more aerodynamic.

OK, but that's tooooooo much marketing hype.

Socks that makes me run faster? Sorry, that sounded too wrong!

The out of the world claim aside, the socks are sold at the same price as the other common Nike Socks, so that should be a motivation to shift to this one for a change.


Diff material for diff parts of your feet

So, how did the shoe hold up for 20k?

Pretty well, except the toe box a bit narrow and i almost had a blister forming on my right top edge of my right toe - the socks might had just saved me from that actually!

The shoe transition from heel strike to take off as expected and very very consistent as per the 10km run. Infact, it would had been great if not because of the blister threatening to form...

At this point of time, i'm not entirely sure if taking this shoe to IM09 would be a good idea just incase i get the blister at km30...

But since my whole purpose in life on 28th February is to complete before cutoff time, i guess a lil blister might not be too bad - at least i already got myself one excuse why i can't run faster ;-)

Elite 4+ retail at the store for RM359 and the Ergo socks (only black, unfortunately), RM22.

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Final Volume Work, Tapering Starts Today

Saturday - Did a O-distance swim (about 35mins), covered 20K bike in 30 minutes (ave 40km/h) and a subsequent slower 20K. Then ran 5.5km fast in 30mins and slow for 4.5km. Covered the whole O distance in sub 3 hours.


Tri Rift - charm!


Ordu that is askign to be shod with 56-44 chain rings


Mediocore run

Sunday - 20k odd run from Hartamas to BNM and back via the GE30K route with Jabir. I swear i was trying to keep up with Jabir. 3 months ago, he was struggling to keep up with me, now, it's my turn.



And i managed to put in some mileage into the new gear - Nike Elite 4 (write up to follow)


Great midfoot transition


Monday - did a 45mins swim in the pool. Still splashing around. Can't wake up to bike to putrajaya. I guess i was just too tired. Not a good sign.

18 days to IronMan.

I just want to complete the race.

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Think Like A Race Horse, Train Like A Bee

There is a good quote from Joe Friel's Triathelete Training Bible: "Think like a race horse and train like a bee."

Bees should not be able to fly - their wings are too small for their bodies and in the wrong position. It's a good thing no-one told them that. Never focus on what you think you can't do. In short, they defy logic, physics and aerodynamics.

Then the Race Horse - do you think a race horse looks at the horse next to him and says, "Wow that horse's legs are longer and I bet stronger, there is no way I am going to beat him?" That race horse would just go and feel the excitement around him, and he runs the best he can with everything he can give that day and that is all.

"Think like a race horse and train like a bee."

With 26 days to IM, i believe this phrase will live in everyone's mind.

It is in my mind for sure.

I'm not made to swim, and i'm making miserly progress in the pool by splashing about for 30 minutes yesterday (an improvement from 20 minutes the day before). Better start to train like a bee.

I'm not made to cycle and run too, but i've been doing considerably loads of mileage and recent accomplishments in clocking new PB for 1 miler and doing Broga Classic at a very enjoyable pace and state of mind, i should be thinking like a race horse.

Yes, i'm at "that" state of mind again, where i cast doubt into my own abilities. Where i start to make judgement on myself and my capabilities.

I am really just as good as the next person starting the race on 28th February.

And i am really just as prepared as the next person when the gun goes off that morning.

Might be a bit early, but GOOD LUCK to all of you returning IM and IM hopeful. Getting to the starting line is already an achievement itself.

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Swimming : Getting Back The Feel

22minutes of non stop trashing about in water of what appear of me to be swimming.

But in actual fact, i was struggling.

I was trashing about in water.

Must swim everyday now to get the feel back.

On another note, Ryan is sick. He has ulcer in his throat and this hardy boy had fever and was really really "manja". Me and wifey had to do our best to understand his pain.

On the plus side, doctor gave him license to take only COLD stuff.

Gave him one ice cream yesterday, and he was so suprised we let him have a whole stick. Half way through, he gave it to me telling me he prefer water instead.

So, it was COLD ice water.

Then COLD iced milk.

And he wakes up frequently at night, taking our sleep away with him.

And this morning, i woke up with aches on my shoulder and arms from yesterday's trashing about in the water....

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Last Kopek Long Distance Ride : Broga Classic

Firstly, Kudos to Arif and Senn for being crazy enough to ride HOA-Frasers-HOA and Broga back to back within 24 hours of each ride. With 300 odd KMs under their belt, langkawi should be more enjoyable.

Secondly, well done to IM Hopeful Barath for completing Broga Classic on his first attempt on a very very respectable timing of 5:45 (his meter showed 6hours, wonder what he did for 15 mins).

Here is the ride report.

We started off from Batu 18 at 6.45am on Saturday. Barath definately feeling jittery as he is totally unsure what he will be facing for the rest of the day.

I set a rather high standard for him to complete Broga in 6 hours. I recalled my first attempt for Broga took me in excess of 6:30 actually.

My PB for Broga classix is 5:15 and last i heard, Julie did a 5:05. Crazy!

The morning went on not too well for the both of us (yes, only me and Barath).

First punture at 5km mark near Sg. Gabai (still dark) and second punture right after the first downhill at Semenyih Dam (damn it, 20km done in 1:30???)

We spent almost an hour to fix the puntures, mostly focusing to ensure that the tires has no more sand/stone that would risk anohter. Only had 3 tubes and one more puncture the ride will be called off.

Barath has been putting in good mileage on the bike (900 odd almost 1000Km in less than 2 months) and the tires are wearing out. There were a slight cut on the front tires, which explained how the road debris got into the slit and caused the punture.

We got onto the Notingham U highway and headed to Broga. It was then the phrase of the day came up.

Barath : Dude, why my sunglasses fogged up?

Stupe: You are not cycling fast enough.

That shut him up for a while.

He sort of reminded me about myself (and others i shall not name) attempting my/our first IM. Egoistical. Over confident. Loud.

Those energy are best saved to complete the training ride and the IM race itself.

The ride yesterday was my 7th time on Broga. Completing a bulk of it in 2007 in preparation for IM08 and yesterday was my second this year.

Somehow, with some experience, i'm a little bit more composed and know what to expect.

The Bukit Tangga after Lenggeng that would make me saliva like a dog running up a hill was tackled with so much ease i even wondered why i struggled through it the last 3 times.

The Jeram Toi highway hill, which was in itself a long climb, was almost a stroll in the park.

Barath, on the other hand, learnt the lesson the hard way.

Bukit Tangga hit him really hard. But i had enough chance to tell him to STAY on his seat while climbing. And i guessed it helped him a bit when going up Jeram Toi.

We reached Kuala Klawang after 5 hours of riding (moving time : 4 hours), which was really average and slow (23km/h).

A quick refuelling at the station, we were off and upon 100km near Petaling, Barath started to feel a cramp coming up in his left inner thigh.

And that did shut him up a bit.

The last climb will not be kind to cramping thighs and calves.

I know for a fact as i never forget how this back of Peras broke my spirit 2 months before IM08.

"bro, the climb infront will be so slow, you will have time to see all the trees and name them", it was my words to him.

"look, it is a flat infront of us...NOT! Every bend here is a climb!", i added.

That really pissed him off and drove him onwards to complete the last huge long climb.

And what a long climb it was for him.

At 1330, Barath emerged victorious at the peak of Peras.

"overrated la this Broga", he acclaimed.

Perhaps he should have the homemade gel i gave him to thank for (we had nothing but the gel made from Rice Malt syrup with Hersheys choc syrup)


Victorious

The rest of the ride back to Batu 18 is a breeze. We finished the ride at 1415. Total covered was 137km with average of 23.5km/h.

Barath's max speed was 72km/h and i did a 66km/h (getting old, balls also smaller, which explained why i don't get chaffing there as often anymore).

Along the way, Barath took a pic of me, which i thought reminded me of how fat i looked.


Can't see the fatness?


HERE - love handle galore


And HERE - love handle upfront

I know, the pics are disturbing. People will be laughing at all these IronMan and IronMan hopeful that we are making a mockery out of the race and the brand name.

Whatever happened to men with 6 packs?

Or you IronMan or RotiMan?

It's not the physical attribute that makes an IronMan mind you.

It's the heart. It's something inside, not outside.

With less than 26 days to go to IM09, conquering Broga route is definately a morale booster.

Barath - just cycle faster next time to avoid your sunnies from fogging up. ;)

Here are 2 pics taken by Shazly when we were on our way down from Peras.

I must say it hid all our love handles really well!


imbarath.blogspot.com


I am IM and IM Hopeful

For any of you that still has not engaged a photog for your IM, it's still not too late to book one. Just contact Shazly. He will do the rest.

To the rest of you reading this and gonna do the IM, remember to train smart and rest smart for the rest of the weeks.

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CNY Holiday Break Updates

Been busy, here is some updates for you all.

CNY EVE : HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: NADIA STARTED TO CRAWL! (video to be uploaded separately next week)

1. First day CNY - Melaka to the century old temple for some praying and blessing. Whole family was out, first trip for Nadia and Ryan with my parents out of town.

2. Second day CNY - open house and was attended by the usual suspect. Made whole loads of Muffins but wasn't well received due to the other more delicious (and not cooked by the family) food available.







3. Third day CNY - visiting as usual. IQBAL BECOME FATHER AGAIN - BABY Girl NADINE RANIA came to the world! Congrats Iqbal and Lenny!

4. Fourth day CNY - Visited Iqbal and Lenny and Baby Nadine. Dinner later with sis future in law.

5. Fifth Day CNY (ie today) - not sure yet. :P

I've been clocking in everyday for 2 hours in office to clear off emails and attend to work. Not very very holiday eh?

IM is now 28 days more. Preparation? i'm just hoping to finish this year's race in 17hours with the amount of prep i put in.

Tomorrow will be Broga classic with Barath. Sunday a short run with him.

this is like some last minute exam prep la...

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New PB : 1 Mile : 7min 11 Seconds

Went out to do my best 1mile last Saturday.

My previous best 1 mile was 7mins 55 seconds. When i clocked it, i knew i could had done it better.

I Ran my heart out (and eyes closed as the sweat was blinding me) on Saturday. Should had chosen a cooler morning (so air has denser oxygen) but took it head on at 11am. Stupid.



No love was lost. I clocked my best ever 1 mile run (that's 1.6km) in 7 Min 11 Seconds.

I then went on to run a slow 4.1KM and call it a day.



Not too bad la eh?

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Gong Xi! Gong Xi!

Happy Niu Year and have an Oxpicious New Year.

May all your wish come true in the year of the Ox.

May you and your loved ones enjoy endless health.

May you ride on the Ox for a wealthy year.

From all of us at home.

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Photog Service for IronMan Langkawi 2009 - Part II

These are just samples of pics taken over the GE30K by the service provider. :) Here is the link to the Part I

Too bad i pirated the race and thus, did not have any pics in the series.

Here is a pic of Zabil


And here is Abu


and here is AJ, Arif and Yusran


There are still spaces if you wish your pics to be taken. RM450 might sound excessive, but hire one photog yourself and it will be RM3K/day/event.

Leave a comment in the comment box below so SK and Jim could pick it up from there.

Again, let me stress that i am not getting any discount for doing this. Just helping out!

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Tea Break Joke.

Got this from a colleaugecolleague.


A farmer named Lakbir Singh was overseeing his herd in a remote pasture in Bolehland when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young Malay man in an Armani suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the farmer, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

Lakbir looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within mere seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data is stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he
prints out a full-colour, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the farmer and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Lakbir.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then Lakbir says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

"You're a graduate from Oxford and a Member of Parliament for Umno," says Lakbir.

"Wow! That's correct," exclaims the yuppie with the customary Umno's Wow Factor, "But how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required," answered Lakbir. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, and to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter you are, and you don't know a thing about cows. This is a herd of sheep.

Now give me back my dog."

One of the many reasons why the majority Malays in KT didn't vote for UMNO/BN

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Photog Service for IronMan Langkawi 2009

Two friends of mine has recently proposed that they take pics of anyone interested and immortalised the pics into a A4 photobook.


SK


Jim

Having just went through a photo session with Covershot at RM280 for 11 5R pics in a B5 sized hardcover photobook, i would say what Shazly and Jim is offering at RM450 that includes an A4 hardcover of 20 pages a bargain.


Covershot

Yes, that's RM450 for whatever pics they could get of you during IronMan Langkawi 2009, fit into a 20 pages hardcover photobook to immortalised the whole race.

Now, compare that to RM150 for some 4R sized photos (usually a minimum of 4 pieces, max of 7, depending on your luck) taken by the official photographers that are badly composed (with you in the background, and not the subject, so you are potentially sharing the pic with at least 2 other IM, if you know who the other chaps are, then it is ok, if not, what's the point?)

If you are doing IM for the first time.

Or the second time.

Or the 16th time, i guess RM450 is a very very reasonable price to part with to capture the moment.

SK and Jim will have a couple more photog helping out at various point of the race. They will be there the full 17hours of the race. They will even be snapping away way before and way after the race for more dramatic effect.

if any of you IronMan and IronMan hopeful that want to engage their service, please drop a comment in this posting below and i will forward this to the both of them.

Bear in mind, i get nothing in return from this, i will be paying the full prize for this.

My motivation is that last year's IM, i had nothing really great to remember by. I don't even have a finishing pic!

So, learn from my mistake. RM450 is really nothing compared to the whole year preparation you put yourself through to compete in this gruesome 17 hours race!

Hurry, as i was made to understand they will limit this to a certain number so that the shots will be held in utmost quality.

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Neighbourly Love - Duex

Chao Ah Beng put up a signboard outside his house warning everyone not to park at this spot.

For your info, the flower bed above were constructed by him to further deter neighbours from putting their cars infront of Chao Ah Beng's house.

I waited for him to come back yesterday and he did not do so until past midnight.

I really wonder what man don't need to go to work in the day time, and then dissappear before the wife return from work and comes back after everyone sleep.

He might be a DVD seller. Perhaps even a taikor. Maybe an Ah Long.

If he is one of the above, he surely is one hell of a balless DVD seller/Taikor/Ah Long.

No one put a butterfly sticker than look like a tattoo behind a nice white ESTIMA!

Damn Kaw Ah Beng, and a smelly one at that!

I've been getting some suggestion to get him to come talk to me, short of creating blood bath, i am considering a few options.

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Neighbourly Love.

Had some neighbourly dispute last Friday.

My mum in law's car were vandalised and damaged by a neighbour.

Received a call from my wife that a neighbour that stays opposite at the corner house damaged the car's side mirror just becuse we parked on the roadside, infront of his house.

Not only is this neighbour (i will lovingly call him Chao Ah Beng - thin long hair tattoo guy) with 2 young daughters damaged the car and was caught red-handed by my visiting Sister In Law, he had the cheek to walk up right at my SIL's face and shouted profanities at her.

And he was shorter than my 5'5" tall SIL.

I supposed this Chao Ah Beng is well educated as he could afford a Merc CLK, Estima 2004 and a Honda Jazz. He also have a Bar Council emblem on his CLK's number plate. But i can't understand how someone this well educated is so - uncivilised!

To equate him to uneducated ah beng is not doing justice to those uneducated ah beng that i grew up with and that i know and come across.

I rushed home after i received the call to confront this Chao Ah Beng. But unfortunately, he had sped off in his CLK before i could reach home (i think i might had created a PB for 800m).

I rang the doorbell but no one answered the door.

So, i went home, wrote a note and demanded the Chao Ah Beng to call me.

I was furious.

But as expected, for someone like that Chao Ah Beng to bully an old lady and my sister in law, he would not have any balls to call me to talk to me.

Infact, wifey had a word with his wife much later in the evening and apparently, Chao Ah Beng's wife knew about it!

Chao Ah Beng most probably told his wife what happened.

Luckily, the wife is more understanding and are more reasonable.

She apologized, but not without trying to defend her husband.

Do tell me. Is parking on the roadside, outside someone's house, is encroaching someone's property?

Well, Chao Ah Beng's anger was because he almost ran into the car when he was coming home and that my mother in law's car was in the middle of the road in his property. Keep in mind, this Chao Ah Beng rev his car the moment it leaves his front gate and drive fast in residential road. I was once cut off on the road by him near Eastin - and he was only back 2 minutes before me (by the time i reached my house, his front gate just closes). Infact, some neighbours is in agreement with me that he drives fast unnessasarily.

Look, just because it's outside your house, it is not your property, the road is under MBPJ's jurisdiction.

Up until today, this Chao Ah Beng has no guts to call me.

He bumped into me yesterday but went into his house when i stared at him.

Coward.

Those tattoos on his arms must be stick on.

Those hairs must be pampered in saloon.

And those puny arms are not bigger than my wrist.

And if you are reading this, you Chao Ah Beng.

CONFRONT ME. Not hide under your wife's armpit.

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Pirated GE 30K Run

Started my run from the opposite direction.

Hartamas - Bukit Aman.

Took the usual Bukit Tunku route and did not know that the run took the runners through the double hills.

Saw majority of the runners near Bank Negara and U turned after i saw what was most probably the last runner out of Lake Garden.

Bumped into Mac, Levin, Doc M, Shazly, Chief Kutu, Jabir, Yusran, Senn and my colleauge Ying!

I did not manage to stop and chat with a numbers of them as i was chasing my own cut off time as well (9am - to go back and help wifey with kids)

I started the run at about 0545, hoping to catch everyone on the run towards Hartamas or bump into them as they U turn near Petronas.

I completed my 22.95km of run in 2:19. Then, i double back along the Hartamas route towards Matrade to accompany a few others and to cheer them on.



I would had covered enough distance and hill work running up and down the road infront of Plaza Damas.

I only managed to take Senn and my colleague's pic.

FYI, Ying, my colleague, is from China and she works in the office in US of A. She is on 3 months work placement in the KL office and this is her longest running distance ever. She has not ran any distance further than 10km previously and she wrongly signed up for 30K. She intended to do 20K only.


Ying


Senn

I had a good workout. Yesterday's run was more than my usual run. I did my intended distance of 20odd km, and put in some leisure run to soak in the GE30K excitement.

To all that clocked good timing and completed the distance, well done!

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Are You Ruumz?

I'm not talking about the branching out of anohter well known club in KL but i'm specifically talking about the newest social networking website with a difference.

Welcome RUUMZ.com!!!

It was launched officially yesterday and the crowd at the venue were simply fabulous!


Ruumz at Mist

This website does more than your usual Friendsters and Facebook. It has other capacility like a radio, movies, mobile application and a host of other items not available in Facebook.

And best of all, the content is localised and we don't see things that aren't relevant to us (how many of you want to know if Bush is gay anyway?)

So, join me and the rest in Ruumz.

Just click on the link below and sign up!

Then look for me at : Stupe @ Ruumz

And don't forget to sign up with Advertlets, Malaysia leading Blog-tistment!

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Nadia - 7 Months going 8th

My little princess is progressing really well so far.

She could steadily sit unassisted, even move from lying down position to sitting down herself.



She could open and close her hand and fingers when we sing "twinkle twinkle little star" and she would oblige with the occasional clapping of hand when we demostrate to her what it is.

She loves the water as well. Having kicking and splashing the bath water when she is having bath. We brought her to the pool last two weeks for her first ever bikini wearing session (pics to follow soon).



Just two days ago, she learnt that she has a shadow and she couldn't stop playing with the shadow - at 4am in the morning. She was screaming and laughing to her shadow and constantly flaps her hand and bump up and down.

It will be a matter of time before she could crawl (in a few weeks maybe!) and we could see at least one tooth coming out soon too.

Simply adorable. No doubt about that.

She knows her name when we call for her and she always will charm you first thing in the morning when she wakes up with a big warm smile.



Ryan has grown fond of his sister. He will look for her if she is out of sight.

I couldn't ask for me. Really. In times of uncertainties, family is almost the surest things i could count on, and it's worth more than money and material itself.

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Hidden Charms In Kluang

I was down at Kluang on Sunday with wifey. I have to take a drive down to Kahang to issue a "Permit To Work" to my engineers at site.

Wifey was there to accompany me as i did not have enough of rest the same morning. Nadia was down with fever and she was cranky. We left at 5am in the morning, leaving the kids with my mum in law which we picked over to help out with.

The work was uneventful, except that it reminded me 2 years ago when i rode into the National Park via Kahang (to Kampung Peta).

After the permit issuing, we drove back to Kluang town as Barath brought me to the original Kluang Station - just that it is not called Kluang Station like they do in KL.

Infact to equate the kopitiam that sits right next to the railway line in Kluang to Kluang Station is an insult to the original establishment.

First thing i noticed at the kopitiam (known as Kluang Rail Coffee) is that sittings are really limited - but that is due to the large crowd!


Original condition

We shared a table with 4 travellers "on transit" at the station. I could see from their sign language that they are really enjoying their meals (they are deaf/mute).

Second thing i noticed is that the coffee/drink maker is a chinese man in his early 40s.

We ordered all the toast available and they all comes with the homemade kaya and a slice of butter. They did not skim on both the ingredient.


Sinful Delights

Proud to say that the eggs used to make these kaya comes from Barath's farm!

I had a sip of the famous coffee and it was an OMG experience.

Never had i tasted coffee so rich and so fragrant that smelling it was as good as drinking it. You know how coffee are, they can smell great, but they taste less than desirable. The coffee from this place is not just your Aik Cheong or your Sin Sing or any of those local coffee mixture.


Pic does not do justice

They do have the usual stuff like Nasi Lemak (wrapped in newspaper - 70sen each), Penyet (local kuih - also 70sen) and mee siam (70sen each too!)

It was worth the money and it is really really an "uplifting" and "shaking" experience. You see, this place is literally next to the railway line. When the train comes-a-calling, the whole platform shakes and rumble. It gives a whole new meaning to authenticity of KLUANG Station - something the chains of kopitiam in klang valley would not be able to come close, or even match.

Me and wifey then bulk purchased some coffee powder and kaya to bring back (and to make).


500grams (RM10) of satisfying stimulants

After that, we left the station for the next compulsory things to do.

Visit Barath's farm.

This is my first experience in a chicken farm that produces eggs. It was kinda exciting.

Unfortunately, i won't be eleborating much on it as i believe Barath would appreciate a certain degree of privacy with regards to how he run his farms.

In that short hour, i've learnt so much about the business and the amount of hardwork he and his brother put in to cut down on cost and to make things more profitable for them.

The literally build and repair the coup and farm themselves! How's that for inspiration?

We were also lucky as he just bought thousands of day old chics and i get to rekindle my childhood memories when my granma used to buy these chics to be fed and later to end up on the dining table.


staying warm

I was also told that you can determine the sex of the chic by just controlling the incubation temperature. That's like playing God!

But of course, for the chicken to rear eggs, they got to be female chicken, ain't it? So, these chics you see above and in the farms are all female.

Talk about estrogen overrun.


Where got heart to serve on table as dinner?

We were also shown the automated feeding system, the automated eggs grading machine, the home build ventilation cum natural air conditoning system and how they prevent the chicken from pecking and breaking the eggs they laid.

We were also told that the chicken typically takes 28hours to produce an egg. So, don't go waste that egg you see, that's bloody 28 hours to produce!

And the best of all, we were shown the "pondan" chicken.

Well, shit happens.

This pondan chicken is actually a chicken that resemble a female chicken, but has larger combs that usual and if you are a chicken expert like Barath, could just feel the distance between the pelvic done to know if the chicken is male or female. In short, this Pondan gets to be pampered and gets to eat for free and don't need to lay any eggs.

He is the most "man" in the whole coup la, so to say.

We were also introduced to two dogs. Both a rott.

Both scary and big.



I'm not gonna mess with a dog where even the owner think twice about patting ok?

We left the farm with 30 A and AA eggs (each). It has been some time since i've seen AA graded eggs. They are huge and obscenely fresh (literally within the hour of laying)

It is no surpise that breakfast yesterday morning was egg sandwiches - i've added in tuna for more protien.

It was a really good experience. Thank You Barath for the site-seeing and great company!

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