Standard Chartered Half Marathon

I have not blogged in a long time, but i must record this momentous event in my life- completing 21.1km, the half marathon, held Dec 6, 2009. Although I take long jogs rather regularly, I have never exceeded the 14km mark- simply because my leg muscles would cramp up and that I felt bored. So when I decided to sign up for Standard Chartered Maratho earlier in June, I thought I should train for it- obviously I didn't.

Despite all the ill-preparation, I thank God for literally giving me the strength to pull through.

I woke up at 3.45am only to go back to sleep because 'I still had time'. Ended up taking a cab from my house to the start point- because I subsequently woke up at 5.15am and the the standby time for my event was slated at 6.15am.

We were flagged off at 6.50am at the start point located next to One Fullerton by a few ministers and important people such as BG George Yeo and some CEO from Stand Chart Bank. The entire crowd pretty much started to dash even though it was barely 100m into the race.

I joined in the frenzy and was running at 1.5x my regular pace- all I wanted to do was to get past the marina bay and highway portions of the race early in the morning before soot and exhaust fumes reach intolerable levels from the morning traffic. Initially, I thought I covered a good 6km into the race, but the signboard said ‘8km’, which I presumed was the distance I covered- that was false hope. The following signboard just about 10mins from that signboard read ‘6km’, and I was rather flustered because I was pacing myself based on wrong distance readings. I was almost gutted but sth inside me did hint, for me to just trust God that He will give me the strength to continue whatever dist I had to cover.

And so I did. I didn’t stop per se, but I did walk for about 20m as I grabbed my cup of water at every drinks station which was located 3km apart. I didn’t know how far I had covered because each step became heavier and the road seemed never-ending. The mid-way point of the half marathon was somewhere near Kallang, where there were many adjacent paths which really compounded the ‘it’s-not-ending’ thought in my head.

Now, I’ve heard from my friends, that a first time runner just had to be able to cover 14-15km and he/she can just rely on adrenaline to cover the remaining 6km. I’m not sure if that advice applied to me, because all I knew that when I reached the 14km mark, I told God, ‘Jesus, the remaining 7km, is yours.’ By then, my legs started to ache- it is not the best feeling when you still have a third of the dist to cover.

Funny thing is, although my legs were aching, I was still breathing at a regular pace, my heartbeat did not increase as much, neither did I perspire a great deal (at that point in time)- what I was wearing probably contribute to the rapid rate of heat loss.

As I completed the Kallang and Mountbatten parts of the route and headed back towards the city, I located some lone runners to pace. Did try to encourage a couple of them to ‘push’ (as the supporters would always yell), but they fell back in the end.

You could imagine my excitement (and exhilaration) when I saw the 17km mark- I thought to myself, ‘it’s just 4km- I won’t be fazed by that.’ Boy, was I wrong. As I made my way towards the last drinks station (18km mark), every inch of muscle in my legs were revolting against my mind. The struggle between mind and body became really intense as I threw my last (empty) cup on the ground- to fully prepare myself for the last 3km.

2km. That was what the board located next to the Esplanade read.

‘Push!’, ‘C’mon runners, a bit more!’ screamed the suporters at the sidelines.

‘Runners, raise your hands in the air if you’re still alright!’ yelled the Flying Dutchman (Radio Deejay from Class 95) at the Stamford Bridge.

There I was, trying to maintain my pace, at every step of the way, searching for clues of the ‘Finish’ point.

And there, in the distance, was the Padang and that oddly familiar banner with the words proudly printed in all caps and in bold font, ‘FINISH’.

Oh the strides I took to complete that last 100m, and look up at the clock which read 2h 11 mins – half marathon finisher.

When I past that finishing line, I felt like I could accomplish everything in the world at that time- except the full marathon.

keeping the 'Ohaiyo'

Lots of not-so-great things have happened since the last post.
P&G and BCG rejected my application and I didn't get selected to go to Worlds at Turkey. This was despite reasonably hard work that was carefully planned.

But, unlike last year, I didn't break down and cry. Instead, I decided to give praise to God.
It goes against human understanding and reason to praise God when something you've asked for earnestly did not come to past. Yet, I know, that God is faithful and His word will never return to Him void.

To reiterate what Pastor Lian shared on sunday, God's thoughts are not my thoughts and His ways are not my ways, for His thoughts are higher than mine and so are His ways. This is great news because God promises greater things for me.

This few incidents are a humbling experience and though it is difficult to swallow, I know that whenever someone is exalted by God, a humbling process must have preceded it.

So, I'm ready, by Jesus's strength, wisdom and favour, to seize the new day that God has given into my hands. For He feeds the birds of the air who do not sow nor reap and cloths the lilies in the valley with greater splendor than Solomon and will be thrown into the fire the next day, so is His favour on me, the child whom He loves.

I'm keeping my big smile on, just like the two potato munchkins in my Snoopy value meal at Universal Studios Osaka.

Until next time, Ohaiyo!!!

amidst drafting cover letters and resume

I am overwhelmed. I find it difficult to write something about myself which separates me from the other person. My grades aren't fantastic, I don't read a lot of books and as I surf the net for cover letters, I sense the immense competition for the same jobs I'm looking at.

I can't really say that I enjoy these high pressured situations, but I am still going to give it my best shot and believe that God is my rewarder.

Moaning about the past is not going to change things for the better, so I need to force myself out of my bubble of self sympathy and charge on forward to new places.

Afterall, no pain no gain right?
On that note, I'm gg to chin up and take in everything with a nice and big laugh. *v*

Happy 35 months!!!

thanks for remembering today darling!
you are the greatest blessing that God has given to me!

Missing you here...

XOXOXO

money issues

There have been a massive reduction in my savings because of the bills and other necessities I have to pay. That means I'll have less money to spend for my trip to Japan.

In an effort to save as much money as I can, since money making opportunities are scarce for now, I am going to:
a) have as many meals as I can at home
b) never take taxis anymore
c) do not visit shopping malls or related places
d) increase my tithe

I know that Jesus has provided for me. I'm just going to believe in Him! Amen!

face paint

I attended a series of etiquette and grooming workshops recently and found each session to be particularly useful. Sure it was not one-to-one grooming, but the trainer offered personalized attention to each of the attendees. And the image consultant company is....

Jill Lowe International!

I think Jill is a fantastic and versatile lady who has had a challenging life but is now a self-made career woman. I learnt many things from her, including grooming, dining, verbal conduct, styling, hair maintenance and about life.

But today's focus is mainly on face paint.

Say whatever you want, but I am not a make up person. I experiment with my M.A.C foundation and loose powder when I have to go for events, interviews and special occasions. I am terribly awful in applying eye shadows and blushers and eventually remove them before I step out of the house.

My frustration and impatience was blatant during the make up session today because I had to keep re-doing my eyes in my select shades. It did not help that I had oily skin because my eyeliner started to smudge in less than thirty minutes of application .

However, I have kept the faith and fought the good fight and emerged victorious, with an 'Ok' from Jill. So I moved on to blushers. Now, blushers are very effective in highlighting a lady's cheeks but are similarly capable of transforming cheeks into baboon bums. I was recommended (told rather) to use tanner blushers because of my skin tone. And surprisingly, I looked very good after two to three simple strokes of the fat arse blusher brush.

So, what should one do when one has all the knowledge to apply face paint? Purchase the necessary items! I spent close to three hundred on make up products which included natural fur make up brushes (about 7 of them, with blusher brushes, eye shadow brushes, eyebrow brushes -why need so many brushes?- lip brush etc.) and a customized colour palette (according to my skin tone- autumn/winter- warm), two lipsticks (base colour and highlighter), eyeliner and lip liner. I think a seasoned make up consumer would find the above value for money but remember that I am a student (for now). But hey, if these can land me an awesome job, why not?

Was encouraged to purchase facial cleanser products and acne control creams but the make up has truly burnt a hole in my pocket and I would need to ask my mother for financial support.

Do hope everyone especially my darling will love my new look when we meet in person again!

Japanese food

I have an inherent fetish for most things Japanese. And I'm not alone.

If you were to walk around basement 4 of ION Orchard, you will observe that the stores with massive queues are the Japanese ones. The presentation, taste, packaging and service draws drones of people to their booths.

Along with my sister and our mutual friend, we hovered around the stores before zooming to our select stores.

We started with the okonomiyakis. Okos are from Kyoto (correct me if Im wrong) and are made from a dough mix of cabbage and meat. It is generally topped with brown glaze and mayonnaise. Some stores garnish okos with fish flakes and other offer flavoured okos. Popular flavours include cheese and squid, ham and bacon. We went for an original and cheese and squid mini okos. Every bite filled our mouths with fresh seafood with the wonderful taste of cheese.

We headed over to the tori-Q type of booth, where they sold meat on sticks. We went for pork belly and oh boy was it sinful. The Jews got that right. Enough said.

Lastly, we accousted a dango store. Dangos are rice balls sold in four on a stick. It is a popular snack in Japan despite its humble origins from Hokkaido. The modern version of dangos come in a multitude of flavoured toppings. Cream cheese, red bean, mango, banana, watermelon, sweet potato, sesame and sweet soy sauce. Sis and I purchased six sticks of dango after the chef kindly offered us sample of dango with our choice toppings. It helped that there was a huge discount on purchasing all things japanese to begin with.

As we left the Japanese sector, I casually looked over to the non Japanese stretch of food booths, and almost barely saw a crowd. There were your typical sausages, crepes and the like, but there is something about Japanese food which draw crowds. (ok, the peking duck store had the longest queue even when compared to the Japanese stores, but that is an anomaly.) It's tough to run a food business. I guess it's even harder to run a food business when you are up against the Japs.