老板啊老板。。。

一直都非常羡慕SAP高级经理有一个好老板。至少在我眼中他是。一个会尊重下属的意见或决定，既又能给于看法及分享经验的上司，遇上了，真的是三生有幸。

记得在一次的脚车远行，他对我说如果我会离职的话，可以考录到他那工作时，我是非常暗爽的。现在，应该是大迟特迟了。不过，我是深信鱼与熊掌不可兼得的道理。不后悔。

现在，在自己的事业上已是到达了某个瓶颈点。要更上一城楼，虽然有人可帮忙推荐就遥远的鬼佬地方，但，离乡背井，是我一直不想的。Take it or leave 是我对工作环境及老板的态度。

好老板，真的是可遇不可求。。。

I read many books abt leadership before. Lance Amstrong, Jack Welch & Winston Churchill to name a few. Truly, a bunch of fabulous leaders and I was once, got obsessed with such great leaders and I expected the same quality from my bosses. But, come to reality, they are not many of them. Worse, some are impostors ;-) We still have to live with them, or worse, working under them.

After all, it's a corporate world. Welcome to the jungle, where the fierce and strong rule.

Who is my dream boss now?

Barack Obama - Restructuring the world.

Steven Gerrard - To achieve the ultimate goal, 'that trophy' &

Micheal Jordan - To be in the sure win team ;-)

CCG 2.5KM x 4 relay - 25.10.2009

The competition route at Bedok Reservoir.

My timing & pace.

For the past 4 wk, I had been following a training pgm from a colleague. Seems it really improves my sprint. We got 2nd overall in Mix Team category with 41min23s (2.5KM x 4). 1st place is RBS with all angmo lineup at around 39min+.

Well, we will be back next yr for a vengeance.

Eunice reminded me that I only have exactly 6wk for StandChart Marathon! Gosh, I have totally neglected any long distance training. Im in deep shit indeed ;-(

PAUM-NUSS alumni games - 24.10.2009

We are sister campus and will be holding similar event annually. We will compete each other in games like soccer, golf, squash etc to get our campus name stamped on a trophy. Met my fellow UM compatriots for the badminton games. With some talented foreign players, NUSS is a tough opponents to beat. A match between our top pair against theirs was very fun and thrilled to watch. The deciding games ended in 28-26, NUSS won it. Nonetheless, we did OK and won 5-2 overall in badminton.

Me and Yik Siong reached a milestone too! As a scratch pair, it's the 1st time ever we stretched the match to the max and won it at 30-29! Unbelievable.

At the end, UM managed to edge over NUSS by 4-3 in overall games.

At dinner time, NUSS's hospitality permeated into every member in the Kent Ridge Guild Hall with a fabulous dinner. Free flow of beers, fun entertainment and great foods. What an event that I wish to join every yr. Next yr would be our 25th anniversary. See you all at Melaka!

Hope UM can organize an event that could match NUSS's standard though.

Gn Korbu - 18-21.09.2009

It's been a long awaited trip since my last visit to Gn Batu Putih. My changing life has keeping me away from the mountains.

18Sep09
Departed from PJ at 430am. A highway jam & Tiger's forgotten shoes caused us to be late but luck was very much with us. While we started our journey at Sultan Abdul Aziz Dam , 1145am, SKeng showed us what she did best in europe, hitch-hiking. A 4WD indeed stopped for us and drove us to the start point. It's a flat barren wide area where the construction to deepen the riverbed for the dam is undergoing. That saved us a precious 1.5hr by foot. Knowing a team of 40 ppl were heading off for the same peak earlier did made our goal to reach the Korbu & Gayong became bit uncertain. I did foresee we will be competing for space.

We rushed ourselves to Seroja Camp in 4hr. 13 tents + some 'preoccupied' space were there! Full house. An eye opening for such large scale hiking troop. When I found out how they organized their trip, I was amazed. They are not really a team but it comprises of groups and individuals where look-after-yourself manner was being practised. No permit, no guides. Wow... Choose not to be overzelous to give comment to them coz it might just backfire ourselves. Knowing it's imposibble to squeeze the camp site, KM ordered us to go on full speed for the next camp site, Kijang camp. The tent bearers attacked the steeps at full force with aim to setup the tents asap b4 the rain and nite come.

We reached Kijang Camp at 515pm. The trail was infested with leeches! I really bothered by it. The men did a 'bare all healthcheck' to each other. I shouldn't wear a to-be-thrown underwear. The grip is important to prevent those quirky leeches from COMING IN! I've got 3 hits at sensitive part! 1st time! Darn... Other than that, it's a nice camp site for 3 tents with the stream just besides us. Taking bath at higher altitude really test my guts coz of the icy cold water. But the feeling of wanting a clean body overwhelmed the doubt. And it really felt great after that.

As usual, ALing led the kitchen. Can u ever imagine having herbal chicken for dinner while camping? Then GW showed off his dessert skill with red bean soup. YUMMY! At the dinner, captain KM decided that we should be realistic and abandoned Gayong attempt coz the team as whole, wasn't moving fast enough. I can see why and respected that. Gayong summit is another 2hr back n fro from Korbu summit. I poked Tiger we should go for it ourselves. He grinned. We both know thats a joke! Im no more the person who MUST conquers all the G7 peaks. I enjoy more hanging out with the gang as a OX reunion. The latter is surely more fulfilling spiritually.

The nite was kind. No rain but the temperature in my tent did heat up with 5 ppl. Leong unzipped the tent's cover for air flow when he couldn't hold it anymore, but that also invited the notorious sand flies. My legs & hands are still with their itchy redish love bites.

19Sep09
Next morning, KM had instructed Tiger & Leong together with an Asli to lead Jason & Nicole for the peak with aim to balance the team's summit arriving time. The Asli is the most helpful guide I've ever seen so far. Im sure Nicole appreciates still to Jawavit coz he really led her at every step to the summit. The rest was left behind to clean up & pack up at the site. We only moved at 10am and it was all steep ascents! At the same moment, a lady from the 40ppl arrived at our camp site. She was the pioneer/infantry for the 40ppl group. Her task? Plotting papers with a fat man pic on it while she passed by some tricky paths that need to be clearly indicated as the route to the summit. I think that really help the rest of her group from getting lost coz they don't move in group.

At last water point, after all of us filled up 3L, KM passed me an additional fly sheet to carry. Just abt to start my grumbling, I swallowed it back instantly as I learnt he was going to volunteerly carry 5L of water! Salute. TBK and I then really pushed ourselves to chase the front pack to regroup. Managed to meet Tiger & Leong back at botak hill point in 40min. Then, it's all up up up & puff puff puff thru the mossy forest. The terrain is really challenging with some dangerous steep climbs. Some parts, we have to step on slippery tree brunches with rope in order to overcome a 3M high rocky slope. Sort of rock climbing stunts. Some teamates did struggle with what KM dubs it '5 star' rated routine.

At last, the tent bearers reached the top at 245pm. And, we have every luxury time to choose a camp site for our team. We settled down a site with all the plants fenced us around. That really blocked the chilly winds at nite, not mentioning a perfect privacy. All teamates reached at 4pm. Weather was unpredictable with dizzle and sunshine exchanging role. Not a huge issue anymore by then, coz all tents and the kitchen were ready. Just checked in! The chefs cooked curry chicken, lady fingers, warm hearted soup for dinner. Damn nice. Surprisingly, it was a stary nite but still windly. The nite almost freezed us at 12C. I wonder how did 40ppl squeeze themselves with the limited camp space. Well, I was sure the dust will settle eventually though. Some of them even arrived as late as 6pm!


20Sep09
Today, we plan to decend all the way to the starting point. A 9hr walk. After regroup at Camp Kijang, KM imposed a speed limit to us so that we all moved in group. That made me uncomfortable mentally & physically. Mentally, I really want to reach the next camp asap to rest earlier & physically, im not used to walk in slow pace and stop too much coz that actually added more pressure to my toes for too much braking while going downhill. Not to complicated KM's decision, I comply but was moody along the way. Nonetheless, I know captain was doing the rite thing to safeguard everyone. 630PM, finally, we were back to the barren construction field, a perfect place for camping, with a shallow river aside for water & bathing. Yes, bathe!!! It was a fun nite as everyone as in relax mood. Throwing out jokes & teases at full force.

21Sep09
Oh man, 1.5hr walk out. Weren't we so lucky to meet the uncle who gave us a free ride on day 1. Thank God. Everyone is safe. It's a perfect way to end the trip. Later, a group of us went for Tualang Prawn. Another authentic Malaysia food. Very nice at a very reasonable price. I would rate Korbu the 3rd toughest peak. After Tahan, and Chamah.

Running shoes vs muscle cramp

At Sundown, I ran with Asics GT2130. My feet were sore and my both thighs cramped!

At the recent to-be-improved SCKLM, I wore Adidas Supernova Glide. My calfs and a very seldom heard muscle set (it was either Adductor Longus or Gracilis muscle) cramped! Even, there was a mild contraction at my face muscle, around my jaw area (buccinator I guess). Funny...

My running posture got to be a constant. So, it's down to my shoes. Perhaps, how both shoes absorb and distribute the impact to our legs are very different.

Which shoes is better? I believe it's by individual. For now, I will personally stick to Asics & Adidas still.

My SCKLM 2009 Official Result - Whr's My Official Split Time!

The blunder continues. Only finishing time is stated. Then, what for each runner went thru the DAG stations ler...

And the event is getting HOTTER too from media. But I still hopeful for a better marathon next yr. I will be back.

SCKLM 2009 - My Best at the Worst

Woke up late. Then, took me 15min to put on contact lenses. Gosh, eyes too small, hard la. The lenses are as big as my eyes liao.

Then, heavy rain poured at 415. We are dead, I murmured. Relieved when I reached Lake Garden. It's a dry road. It was 450, gotta speed to starting line. So, techinically, I have been running 43.125km that day ;-) Heard the gun shot when I was 200m away and drizzling. So, it's quite cool to be the last person to start from the finishing line.

Saw Tey, then Kenglu, joey, joey's dad (he was bz looking back for his daughter, so I didnt interrupt), songxiang, malcom, leelee before I crossed the finishing line.

iPod earphone gave me problem this time. Lost the music at 2oth k. So lonely after that. While at 30th, found a runner who ran at my pace. We paced each other till the end. Forget to get this name. Many thanks for his pacing. It's the 1st time that I finish the run strongly.

Forget abt 1 of the worst running event, this is my best finishing, period.

Split time: 10k-20k-30k-42k is 1:02-2:07-3:05-4:22

Oh ya. I also earned a free dinner in Spore too! Thx Tiger.

Ranting on SCKLM 2009

By now, all complaints are flooding facebook network. To call the organizer Octagon as OtakGone, is classic!

What do runners want in a running event? SAFETY, WATER, SMOOTH RACE KIT COLLECTION. Those are basics expectation but the organizer screwed it up big time.

Since nobody died, runners can't complain that it's not safe. Maybe, even the JPJ is powerless to control the drivers in Msia. In many occasions, even traffic police stops them, the drivers will still drive bases on their on judgement. 'Oh, the runner still 10M away from me, let me cross 1st. Can, I just pickup!' Vrooom... they took off 5M in front of us.

Above is an old story. It happens in every BIG running event in KL. That's KL marathon is abt. To show you the true KL! KL, truly Asia...

But at least, after Octagon took over to organise, we the runners are expecting something different. Maybe comparable to Spore. They end up nowhere near.

It started to impress me by offering ONLINE registration with credit card pymt & some good advertisement around Msia. Good start.

But then, the stink choked us at Race kit collect & water station. Nobody likes to Q long under a hot tropical weather. Nobody likes to feel a-fish-out-of-water where all the precious liquid 'ransacked' by those 10K (and 5k???) at the last 2 water stations! That's me who clocked abt 4h30m. I can't imagine those timing who are later than me where number empty water stations grows. Pity.

Pissed me off further is, once I crossed the line, me, a god damn thirsty marathoner still have to walk far, fought Q with 5/10K for a cup of 100+!!! And, where the hell is the promised complimentary massage station!!! I can't find it!!!

Damn.

My Official Sundown Timing

Crazy man! Really overspeed at the 3rd 10KM. 51min! But, in order to get sub 4, I think it was a promising timing at 30KM. Obviously, lack of longer run training.

Lowering down my target in SCKLM. 4hr15min ;-)

Sorry for those who want/wish me to do sub 4. Just being realistic. NO TIME TO TRAIN la...