I really envy the young boy in The Alchemist, not because he found his treasure of Spanish gold coins, but because his path crossed with wise sages, the king and the alchemist. How many of us will have the privilege to encounter someone wise, let alone to learn from the guru? My wildest dream is to be able to meet that someone whose words can blow my mind away, someone who is blessed with the most precious gift from God; the wisdom. Maybe someone as wise as Morgan Scott Peck or William Barclay? Perhaps then, I'll find the answer to the age old questions like Who am I? What should I be doing? Where am I going? What is happiness?

Anyway, here's a little toast to the year to come. I hope I'll grow a little bit wiser everyday. :)

Let me just summarized the Taiwan trip, so that people will stop asking me how it was. :) Due to my very short memory span, it's good to blog early too. Went to Taipei because MH had a business trip there. I love to tag along during his business trip because I'll get to stay in luxury hotel, 5 stars at least.

The flight tickets were confirmed very last minute, on Friday night and scheduled to fly off on Wednesday morning. Luckily my kind boss let me go despite the crunch period at work. I sms-ed him on Friday 10pm to ask for permission, while he was on his flight back to Singapore for the weekend. He replied "ok, but make sure viaROM done static timing analysis and documentation and DDR done documentation before on leave". And that's on top of preparing bRAM's 5 hours design review on Tuesday!

Fast forward, Taiwan is okay, nothing impressive, except for the girls. They are so pretty! If you have watched the Taiwan talkshow "Guess, Guess, Guess" on TV every Sunday night (MH's favorite TV show) and wondered where do all the pretty girls came from, well, they're all over the streets. Throw a stone, you can hit someone prettier than S.H.E and Jolin. No kidding!. Nevertheless, I still adore the classy and sporty Singapore girls more. Taiwanese girls are too "ka-wa-ii" in both their fashion and speech for my liking.

The next interesting thing would be the snack over there. Aplenty! To try 'em all, I snacked throughout the day. Some nice, some so-so, but all super oily. Will blog more with photos next time.

It's good to be back before I permanently damage my liver and my leg. So fatigue that we haven't even unwrap our Christmas presents yet. I walked way too much over there, shopping and sight seeing, by taking MRT (called Metro) while MH was working. MH was very tired too, from over simulating his brain, not from his work, but from the galore of stunning and breathtaking visual pleasure. ;>

Here's the itinerary of the trip:

Wed (19/12)
- Flight there PNG-SIN-TWN, with 5 hours transit in Changi Airport
- I shopped at Bugis, MH shopped at SimLim Square
- reached Taipei ~ midnight

Thur (20/12)
- Keelung Harbor
- Yeliou ( Queen’s Head Rock)
- Yangmingshan National Park
- Beitou Hot Spring Bath
- Jioufen

Fri (21/12)
- National Palace Museum
- Taipei 101
- Ximending
- Camera street & Taipei Main Station
- Shinlin night market

Sat (22/12)
- Shanxi park
- Wufengpu wholesale market
- Dansui
- Fisherman's wharf

Sun (23/12)
- Took 3 hours train to Taroko Gorge National Park (Eternal Spring Shrine, Swallow Grotto, Tunnel of Nine Turns)
- Chi Hsing Beach
- Howard skyline restaurant @ Shinkong life tower

Mon (24/12)
- shopping @ SOGO, Eslite Xinyi, Singkong Mitsukoshi, Mingyao, Breeze Center, East Metro Mall
- Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall
- Lungshan Temple
- Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
- Hwahsi Street Tourist Night Market
- Ximending
- Christmas eve mass at John Bosco Church

Tues (25/12)
- Flight back TWN-SIN-PNG

Merry Christmas to all my loved ones!

Tang Yuan - Glutinous rice flour dumpling

[Drum rolls] Presenting you the camera magnet! Ironically, this is the man who prefers to be behind the camera lens than to be in front of the camera lens, but always end up getting nationwide coverage.

(Newspaper clip courtesy of SC Su)

The first time he joined short run competition, he appeared in Kwong Wah Yit Poh.

The first time he ran for a full marathon (2007 Penang Bridge marathon), he appeared on TV3.

The rare shopping trip to MidValley shopping mall, he appeared in Sin Chew Yit Poh.

The only time he took bridal photos, it is used as promotional/sample album for Aspial Weddings.

A little coincident, or something more?

Gingerbread Man

This reminds me of how time flies. It has been 1 year since the last invitation. Had since grown accustomed to the regulars and the volunteers there. I'm their Thursday girl. I'm also their young sweet girl. :) Feel young among the retirees, some maybe in their 70s.

Thursday is my favorite day of the week. It's a carefree day for me. Due to the little "commitment" above, I've excuse not to OT at work and not to do any long run. Yeah, mind you, exercise can be a chore sometime. Above all, I love Thursday simply because Wednesday is over. ;>

Absolutely impressive!

Photos courtesy of MH, who was annoyingly snapping away while the rest of audience immersed in the beautiful music.

Another post on running, this blog will turn into a hard core running blog. But I'm sure you guys will not be interested to listen to me whimpering about the number of yellow cards I got from my piano teacher on each pieces that I scrambled through, either. Of late, it is this Chopin's Valse Opus 64, No. 1; a.k.a. Minute Waltz (rumors has it that nobody can finish this piece within 1 minute, except maybe Chopin himself), a.k.a. Dog Waltz (rumors also has it that this was improvised by Chopin on his friend's request after seeing a dog chasing its own tail).

Alright, no more a sentence on leg exercise and finger exercise! Now, lets "bimbo" a bit with photos, shall we? :)

With TL, SL, UJ, MH. SL ran a half marathon in SIM too. Oppsss.. did I just mention marathon again?


My favorite liver poison. Bought a few sticks in the attempt to sabotage MH's marathon. There goes the M word again!!


MH's masterpiece.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Finally, I’m back to Bukit Dumbar park after absent for donkey weeks. The chief physiotherapist must be too fed up with me asking when can I start going out again, so she ordered a pair of insoles for me and finally gave me the green light to start torturing myself. :p As the injury is as stubborn as I am; both of us know that I’m not going to walk pain free anytime soon, so it’s time to learn to deal with it. Did some slow walk today; hopefully will be able to join Starwalk 2007 next weekend. :)

The thing that cost ~RM200

Overseas race entry pack collection @ Suntec Convention Center


Race pack


ChampionChip


5am


Run your own race


Elite runners


Media


In no time, the elite passed 12km point, clocking 37:58 only


A sea of runners


SF Tsen did superb at 12km


MH very concentrated in running


PM Tey said hi


40000 participants


Pom pom girls




Just way too many pretty girls there


Finishing line


Ehem..


Need I say more?


SF Tsen did close to 4hours!!!



Here came the super fit girl, Chin Chin




Compare the girl's face and the guy's face


MH's final dash




Grinning from ear to ear


The marathoner and the photographer


Saw many many ppl wearing this finisher t-shirt in the same flight back, except me. :(