Interest(ing): Carbo Loading

This is an article I found on sgrunners.com about carbo loading. It's an issue which I have always wanted to know about since I started running a lot. Now I see that I have not been doing very correctly but still if Stanchart mention something about carbo loading for the entire week, I think there might be different versions of carbo loading. I shall find out more. For now, this will suffice. 

Carbo Loading for Marathon?

Posted on26 November 2007.

Introduction

Muscle glycogen provides a key fuel for training and racing a marathon. The term “hitting the wall” is really referring to the overwhelming fatigue that an athlete experiences at a later part of an event when muscle glycogen stores are depleted. Hence, carbohydrate (CHO) loading can enhance endurance/marathon performance by allowing the competitor to run at their optimal pace for a longer period before fatiguing. 
Classic VS Modified
- The classic model (Ahlborg, Bergtrom & Brohult, 1967) follows a 7-day process which involves 3 to 4 days of depletion phase of hard training and low CHO intake follow by a 3 to 4 days loading phase.
- This is not practical as it can result in more fatigue and hence over training.
- Modified model only requires simply 3 days of high CHO intake while tapering for your event w/o any prior depletion of glycogen (Sherman, Costill & Fink, 1981).

Guidelines to a successful CHO-loading
- A CHO loading regime will involve 72 hours or CHO intake between 8 to 10g/kg body weight while keeping fat intake low (20 to 30g daily) and protein to 1g/kg body weight.
- Avoid high fiber product such as wholemeal or wholegrain as it is difficult to consume a large quantity of it to meet the demands of the loading.
- Athletes who struggle to meet the loading demands can utilize refined CHO such as soft drinks, jelly, pudding, candy etc. to supplement their intake.
- It is important for the athlete to know that CHO loading is likely to be associated with a weight gain of about 2kg. This needs to be viewed as positive reinforcement that they have significantly increase glycogen stores.

End of text references
- Ahlborg, G., Bergtrom, J., & Brohult. J. (1967). Human muscle glycogen content and capacity for prolonged exercise after different diets. Forsvarsmedicin, 3, 85-99.
- Sherman, W.M., Costill, D.L., & Fink, W.J. (1981). Effects of exercise-diet manipulation on muscle glycogenand its subsequent utilisation during performance
- International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2,114-118.

Rambling: I Help Because I Am Obliged To Help You, NOT

Obliged.

v.

1) To constrain by physical, legal, social or moral means.

This is the definition according to thefreedictionary.com.

Yeah you read that right. According to the definition, I am not obliged to help anyone. I am referring to the Singapore Kindness Movement's strong urge to Singaporeans to lend a helping hand to people around you when kindness is needed. From ever since I remember, I always open doors for people, even if they don't really need it, I always give up my seats for the needy. But I have never feel bounded by some physical, legal, social or moral reason to help them. I just... help them, you know?

Herein lies the big problem, with me. I don't smile. Okay, actually I do. But when I smile, other people say I am not smiling. When I don't smile, people tell me that I look like they owe me a lot of money and I have a knife in my hand and I am eyeing them a message which goes something like "you better f***ing pay me my money now or i'll chop off your limps and burn your house down." So sometimes I have to tell myself to smile "hard", which then makes me look like a retard. Anyhow, the point is, whenever I open the door for someone, and the other party says thanks, I either ignore (because I think its lame to thank such a small gesture), or I say no problem and smile. Yes, smile, which looks like me looking at them as if they owe me a lot of money and I have a knife in my hand and I am eyeing them a message which goes something like "you better f***ing pay me my money now or i'll chop off your limps and burn your house down," EXCEPT that I also said no problem. This doesn't bother except when I saw the appreciative smile of the other party coming off their faces when they saw my expression.

DO NOT discriminate me. I am born like that! I did not want this face of mine. So please do not think I am obliged to help you due to some physical, legal, social or moral grounds. I am not obliged to help you. Go judge the other guy who slammed the door in your face please.

Event: Happy Birthday

Ok so like its been a month and its about time I actually post something about my 21st birthday. I think I might have forgotten what I wanted to say here already...

Being 21 is overrated. I didn't feel any difference on the day I turned 21. Okay maybe except a tinge of sadness cause compared to everyone else turning 21 this year, I have an awfully few number of well wishes. But oh well its okay, that's because I didn't put my birth date on Facebook. In any case, the birthday song that my girlfriends sang for me at 10am in the morning through phone was the best. They said they love me so much. HUR HUR. Too bad, it was Liyue and Yinning, LOL.

21st celebration is pain in the ass. It's like, everyone's doing it! What's the big deal? But if you don't do it, you'll be the odd one out, for the bad reason. So anyway it took me a long time to consider whether or not to hold a celebration bash thingy. First, its troublesome. It's expensive. The host have to entertain the guest, resulting in less quality time since you have to invite quite a number of people. Oh and you have to be careful when you're inviting people. You can't invite one big gang and leave a few people whom you don't like out, or there will be questioning. And boy, do I have to wonder this very strongly, some people don't understand how birthday parties are for the people who are turning 21 in question and thus they have every right to choose who they want to invite. Though I can choose to just ignore or "hide notifications" like in Facebook, it still can get quite annoying and upsetting. Oh and for some "groups" of friends, I just had to totally not invite cause its too much of a hassle to leave out people whom I am not too close with. Last but not least, you get blamed if you hold the bash in a place without aircon and without enough seats or food for your guest. Extremely troublesome, period.

But having it had its good sides too. I can totally imagine myself having a good time (though I also can imagine myself having a bad time). I havn't met a lot of my friends for a long time and it was a good way to meet them again. It was also a good way for some groups of my friends to treat it as a gathering. This bash also reminded me of what good friends I have. 

Where else do you get friends whom you can force to prepare your food?

Where else do you get friends whom you can force to help bring the food to the venue?

Where else do you get friends who help to get the present that you want?

Where else do you get friends who went to cut their hair just because you told them that you don't want to see their ugly crops of hair at your birthday bash (okay except Kay Siong, at least Shaun styled his hair properly)?

Where else do you get friends who cab from another ulu part of Singapore so that they can reach my party in time?

Where else do you get friends who helps you QC all the food until he gets a stomach ache?

Where else do you get friends who helps you start the fire, failed to do so, and get blamed (by me)?

Where else do you get friends who forces you to sing so as to make it memorable for you?

Where else do you get friends who tries to get your darling to kiss you during the photoshoot (but still fail)?

Where else do you get friends who drives to and fro different places which need them and your birthday bash?

Where else do you get friends who wore red because you told them to? (actually i was very surprised by how many people actually really turned up in red, but i was also unsurprised about who did not come in red)

Where else do you get a bunch of guys who are totally nuts about arts, and still came up with a perfect, memorable, sweet 21st birthday gift which will (probably) never rot?

Thanks, all (especially to the 3 boys who did so much, boys because they're all younger than me). It was memorable.

thanks to all those who contribution and the collector Danny for my ULTIMATE GIFT the Zune HD 32GB

thanks Joshua for the gift, nicely wrapped somemore

thanks Wilson, its a really nice gift!

thanks Shang Long and Shaun Yap! i know you're trying to make me pick up the good habit again. i will!

i pestered, and i hinted, and my army friends got me these earpiece. really nice, strong bass, extremely powerful tweeters. thanks guys.

the best gift. all my friends are told to write their well wishes for me on a slip of paper then the 3 boys helped me fold them into stars and the smart boys chose to put them into the most fitting container of them all, my favourite Starbucks! thanks Danny Leonard Edwin and everyone!

TechieEat: Saizeriya

My pals and I went for a "budgetless within our means" dinner the other way at Saizeriya in City Square Mall. I had suggested to go for a buffet dinner at some hotel which cost 70 bucks since its supposed to be budgetless but apparently it has to be within our means. Anyhow the food there was cheap, ranging from 5 bucks to 7 bucks a dish. There is a great variety of Italian food however one should take note that the portion is small. Thus we bought 8 dishes to share amongst ourselves. There's also free flow of drinks if you pay 2.50 bucks for a drinks bar. Its pretty worth it. The pizza was nice. What I personally really like was the pork for the Pork and Ham. The roast duck was not bad too and the spicy sausage could be more spicy. Service was only so so, with the waiter serving us having a expressionless face most of the time. But oh well its cheap so what can I ask for?

We totalled about $65 for our meal and there were 4 of us. So that's about 16 bucks for one. With 8 different dishes, there was enough variety but due to the small sizes, was just enough to fill our stomachs.  

Saizeriya - City Square Mall

Ambience - 3/5

Food - 3.5/5

Ramblings: VOTE FOR ME PLEASE

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11952805&id=191921700135&ref=mf

Starbucks Singapore is currently holding a Vote For Your Favourite Starbucks Moment competition. The top ten entries have been selected and mine is one of them! Please do me a favour and vote for me!

First go to the main page at http://www.facebook.com/StarbucksSingapore and become a fan. Then click on the link above to go to my photo and "like" the photo. Please do not like the link or the album, else I won't get the vote. Thanks a million people!
Edit*

Sorry people but the voting system changed due to some lame Facebook regulations. All previous votes have been disregarded. Please vote for my photo again by emailing your votes by the end of 18 April to marketing@starbucks.com.sg and state your chosen picture (contributor's name) in the email subject. Meaning email marketing@starbucks.com.sg with the subject "Lee Wen Qin". Please help me spread around as well. Thanks for the trouble!

P.S. Frankly, I don't really think that all the photos fit the criteria of so-called Favourite Starbucks Moment. My caption is "Love going to Starbucks to hang out with my friends. Great atmosphere plus I get to taste all my friends' wonderful Starbucks drinks!" Showing that I love to go Starbucks and my favourite moment is when I get the drinks for my friends and I get to taste all of their drinks. While everyone has a nice photo, I think one should take some time to consider the requirement before voting for anyone. 

Brain Storm: Why I Love Being The Head Of DB (after graduation)

Whenever I go back to Xinmin, I always notice one thing. The Head of DB 2005 is around. The Head of DB 2006 is around. The Head of DB 2007 is around. And so is the Head of DB 2008.

It has been 4 generations. The Excos of Xinmin chosen to become the Head of Disciplinary Board for 4 years  are always together, always going back to support the school. I started realising that no other committees are like this a while back. I must say I was lucky. I chose the right people to join DB and the right people wanted to join DB. I told them I'm glad to have dedicated and capable juniors like them. And they being my cheeky, cute juniors said "yeah! of course!". Lol.

I like to go back to Xinmin, and know that my successors have done a good job, and know that they still come back to school to help out, and know that they loved being the Head of DB and that we all share a bond, a kinship that only we know. As we grow up, the gap between us as seniors and juniors start to melt and we became more like close friends and buddies, though we only see each other a couple of times per year. It's a relationship I appreciate.

And I swear I have been trying hard to not talk to them like juniors anymore. Hah.

Brain Storm: Don't Be Evil

“Bullshit.” That’s what Steve Jobs of Apple think of Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto. But I think it’s brilliant. Google’s early employees came up with that and it is very much just an informal principle that Google follows. Google was smart to come up with this for many reasons. The motto is extremely broad and can cover many issues like Google’s approach to doing business and within Google’s rules for its employees. The motto is catchy. Despite not being in the Google’s official ten principles, many consumers know about it. It is high profile enough to make Steve Jobs call it bullshit. The motto being informal means Google cannot be attacked frontally for not following it and Google can twist its meaning when there is a need.

It’s amazing how Google is tackling the world by not being evil. The informal motto took roots and helped Google to rise to where it is. By keeping most of its services and products free, it managed to benefit many yet grow larger as a company by day. When I first heard of Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto, I was intrigued by how it really fits into all that Google is doing, despite the motto sounding totally delusional. I felt the idea was a wild dream and sounded like a perfectionist. Yet the idea of Google trying to be nice to me, and the fact that it really is doing so, made the concept of “Don’t Be Evil” like a dream come true for both Google and the consumers. The solution that Google came up with to target enterprise rather than consumers was a good one. Although I knew that such a solution probably only worked for an advertising company, the concept was attractive and showed that nothing is really impossible.

The idea of not being evil encountered many issues. In order to be nice to consumers the Google way, it is natural that copyright laws will soon be infringed, since Google’s goal is to organise all the information in the world. When the concept was challenged, Google started fighting against corporations. While one may think that it is evil to change laws and override rules through sheer force and influence, I think that as a consumer I do see it as a compromise that has to be made if the consumers are to benefit. With Google and its ideals, many old, outdated laws met revisions. The way Google tackled problems and insisting that it is the “good” party opened my mind. Out in the world, there is no real evil or good organisation, we only categorise them under helping the consumers or taking advantage of them. Therefore as long as the consumers speak, the corporations listen and we don’t feel cheated, I think we win, and that’s being not evil. Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” makes people want Google to be around, so much so that it is not far fetched to think that Google may take over the world soon, in a way, though that does sound evil.

When Google went against its “Don’t Be Evil” policy to go into the China market with censored search results, it argued that the real evil is to rob the Chinese of any chance of the Google goodness. While I agree with that, it also makes me think of how long this idealist concept can keep up with the world and the pace which Google is growing. Still, I would like to believe that it is possible. And thus my dream is to join Google one day, and continue its “Don’t Be Evil” legacy.

I hope I didn't write out of point...

Tech Speak: Improved Comment Collapsing for Google Buzz

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/improved-comment-collapsing-for-google.html

Well done Google. I knew you aren't that retarded. You have no idea how irritating it was to scroll through hundreds of comments with no way to collapse them. Thanks for restoring my faith, Buzz Team.

Google Buzz has improved quite a bit over the months. More of my friends are using it as well. Check it out if you havn't. Now if only they have a desktop app for it...

Brain Storm: The Little Decisions That Wrecks Your Life

Don't you just hate it when a small little detour you decided to make, or a small little action you decided to do, made a big negative impact on your life? While it may not seem all that big a deal to outsiders, but when we look at it comparatively to the other things that happen in our lives, it suddenly seems like the small little things are ridiculous.

Like last friday, I was supposed to attend my friend's 21st birthday. It starts at 5 and I was supposed to have tuition until 6pm. However my student cancelled the tuition and I decided that I have enough time to head back home first. On my way home, Angeline asked me when will I reach the party and said she can't stay long enough due to work. Thus, I can't pass to her the present that I owe her. Then when I reached home, I decided to put on my contacts (which I wouldn't have put on if I went straight), and that night, my left eye become red and quite painful. It's been 3 days and it's still like that. I was supposed to go home to put down my heavy bag so that I can have an easier time later on. But everything screwed up.

The impacts aren't that big? Now I have to meet up with Angeline another day, AND I may have to go see the doctor. Screw this.

Interest(ing): April's Fool Conclusion

Google forgive me, for I have missed out almost every single April's Fool jokes made by Google. I only saw it in a lifehacker article today. Nonetheless, I'll blog a few here, just for the fun of it.

1) Google Translate For Animals

Introducing Translate for Animals (beta): Bridging the gap between animals and humans

Making the world's information universally accessible is a key goal for Google. Language is one of our biggest challenges so we have targeted our efforts on removing language barriers between the species. We are excited to introduce Translate for Animals, an Android application which we hope will allow us to better understand our animal friends. We've always been a pet-friendly company at Google, and we hope that Translate for Animals encourages greater interaction and understanding between animal and human.

Translate for Animals is an application for Android phones that recognises and transcribes words and phrases that are common to a species, like cats for example. To develop Translate for Animals, we worked closely with many of the world's top language synthesis teams, and with leaders in the field of animal cognitive linguistics, including senior fellows at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

2) Vowel Outage at Gmail

If you logged into Gmail over the last hour (or visited the Gmail homepage), you probably noticed that something looked a bit off: all the vowels are missing. We realize this makes things difficult for all of you who rely on Gmail — whether at home or at work — and we’re incredibly sorry. We take morphological issues like this extremely seriously, so we want to let you all know what happened and what we're doing about it.

Brain Storm: Not Too Many Friends Please

I used to think that people with many friends are cool. Some people are just inherently popular everywhere they go, thus they have plenty of friends. I always wonder how great it would be if lots of people swarm towards me when I make an entrance, and how wonderful it'll feel to be well liked by many. I have never been a social animal. I don't like to meet new people nor make new friends. If there is no need to talk to strangers, I won't. Yet I want to be popular. But they say nothing comes without effort.

Then one day, I realised, it might not be well to be too popular. In the first place, I think everyone needs their own set of so-called "closest friends". These people should know most of what there is to know about you. And more than anything else, these people should genuinely care for you, and WANT to care for you. If not, no matter how superficially popular one is, he or she is truly lonely.

I looked around me, the people, and the things that happen. I suddenly do not want to have too many friends anymore. Having too many friends whom I am not very close with kind of defeat the purpose of having friends. If you have tons of friends, but none is willing to step forward and help you, or, go out of his way to tell you that you suck, and then still hang out with you, then isn't that very sad?

Isn't it sad if you don't have somebody to pour out your soul to?

Isn't it sad if you don't have somebody to enslave when you need helpers?

Isn't it sad if you don't have somebody to sit and look at each other for a long time, without feeling awkward at all?

Isn't it sad if you don't have somebody whom you can call a friend with a smile and knowing that they think the same, with a smile?

Youtube: Lady Gaga's Telephone

I just realised that I FORGOT to post about Lady Gaga's Telephone music video. I deserved to be punished by Gaga. Okay that sort of brings in wrong ideas. Whatever.

I read up on Gaga's Bad Romance music video last time at http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=2737 and it sort of makes a lot of sense about how Gaga kind of relates to demon worshipping, and many inner meanings with the music industries and her fans. I was surprised to find out that Telephone may be a continuation of Paparazzi's music video since scene started with Gaga being in jail and in Paparazzi's music video, Gaga poisoned her boyfriend at the end of the video. Makes sense. The same website attempted to interpret Telephone as well. I'll say it makes sense to a certain extent but everyone should take it with a pinch of salt. http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=3423

Brain Storm: The Flow Of Time

I spoke to Leonard just now (ok, on msn i mean), for like, 3 hours plus. We talked about many things. Our topics jumped, literally so, from relationships, maturity, growing up etc. It ended with me saying "given 4 or 5 years ago, we couldn't have this conversation. this is a sign of maturity".

Time passes. It can never be "time passed" because time never stops flowing. It's been 7 to 8 years since I know my closest group of friend. I daresay we've watched each other grow up. Some of us got into relationships, some of us are still spouting vulgarities around (like me, ok i meant one of us). With that, we started talking about how it'll be like when we find the "one", and how we will act like. Funny isn't it. We've known each other for years. We had classes together, sat beside each other, went to camps together, slept on the same beds, talked through the night, shower-sang together but there's still so much to know, still so much to grow.

When years have gone by, from time to time, I like to look back. Looking at photos, reading chat logs and blogs, these things bring me back. I like to go from segment to segment, time frames which describe my own growth, my development in my heart, my soul and my personality. I wonder if my friends noticed my change in personality. I wonder if they saw that I have mellowed, from an angry kid, who used to flare up over little things, who used to be weak, seeking attention all the time, to someone who can stand the wind, who walk the rain alone, knowing that yet I am not lonely, convincing myself that there's more than just me. Or have I? Growth cannot be ascertained by oneself. How naive can I be, to try and tell myself that I have changed and have grown up? There can be no absolute terms. Mellowed I may have, but still the wind gets stronger, still the rain gets heavier. I wouldn't know, I couldn't. Maybe everything is based on a spectrum. Maybe everything is not the same as how you see it compared to others.

Maybe the spectrum is stretching till never ending. Maybe the flow of time is never forgiving.

Rambling: The Legend Lives Again

Okay so goes the legend that "techiewen does not look like someone who has a girlfriend".

It might just be a curse that will not be lifted in years. I have no idea why I heard the legend 3 times previously. But I just heard it again.

Dear Leonard said "it would be really interesting to see u in a relationship to be honest".

NOW, I have absolutely no idea why it would be interesting. Okay, so like, I am vulgar, extremist, and cranky. But there are times when I am nice too!

What's so interesting about me having a girlfriend?

Do my friends think I'll change 180 degrees when I get attached since I am usually "evilish, nonsensical and weird"? I have my romantic times as well...

This is illogical to me. Period.

Interest(ing): Top 10 Harmless Geek Pranks

http://lifehacker.com/373817/top-10-harmless-geek-pranks

Take from lifehacker.

Configuring your friend's computer to show the Blue Screen Of Death as a screensaver, making your office printer (HP) show the words (insert coin) etc. Fabulous. I'll try it on my friends next time.

Interest(ing): Starbuck's April's Fool Day Joke

http://www.starbucks.com/blog/10113/starbucks-listens-to-customer-request-for-more-sizes.aspx

Way cool. 2 new sizes. I would love to drink green tea latte's from the big one.

Remember I post about Starbuck's April's Fool Day joke last year? They invented a usb device that allows Starbucks to transfer coffee over the internet.
http://infinitelyme.blogspot.com/2009/04/senseless-stuff-aprils-fool-day.html

Event: Happy 21st Birthday!

So like, more and more of my friends are turning 21. I think I have a one way love-hate relationship with 21st birthdays. I love them cause I like seeing my friends fall into the eternal darkness of old age with me, since I have already reached the dreaded adulthood myself. I also hate them since they burn a big hole in my pocket. But oh well, nonetheless I enjoy meeting old friends at 21st birthday parties. I'm surprised how everyone changed, yet everyone still remained the same. It's a wonder of life. 

happy 21st to Angeline! hope you stay pretty and always be the 开心果 everywhere you go!

Tech Speak: Google VS China - The Showdown

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html

Google has finally come to a conclusion for its take on China. Early this year, after Google was cyber attacked by the Chinese, Google has announced that it can no longer censor its products on google.cn. Even though there were many times between now and then that Google tried to uncensor its search results, and failed terribly (reports show that Google uncensored then censored again, repeating this for a number of times).

Google first broke its "don't be evil" mantra when it sealed the deal with China to allow Google content in China. Though it claimed that small evil deeds sometimes are required for the greater good, in this case to bring content to the Chinese, it is still widely recognised by most that it has betrayed the motto for its own benefits. That said, who wouldn't want a piece of the large Chinese market?

With Google's decision to deliver content to the Chinese through their Hong Kong servers, Google hopes to make everyone happy. However, no matter how I look at it, I don't see why China will just let Google announced that the Chinese can access uncensored content through another means. Even for the consumers, competing with the Hong Kong people for bandwidth doesn't sound like a good idea either.

China will block google.com.hk. Wanna bet?

Brain Storm: Loyal To My School

Have you graduated from your secondary school/junior college? (sorry poly folks, I'm not sure if you guys have a school song)

Do you still remember your school song?

2 weeks ago, I went for a musical put up my by alma mater. It was nice to see so many juniors supporting this (ultra expensive) musical. I felt age was really catching up to me, since there was a time when I knew almost everyone at a concert but now I know almost no one at all. The musical was also part of the celebration for the school's 65th anniversary. The last concert I went to was meant to celebrate the school's 60th anniversary. My gosh, 5 years have passed. Did I have these wrinkles on my face back then?

I shall not talk about the musical in detail. I will just say that next year onwards I'll just buy the ticket and donate it to the school for students who can't afford it. My dear juniors should consider rehearsing for the gift presentation to the VIPs next time, at any rate.When the concert ended, it was time for the student audience

Brain Storm: Nick Name For A Love One

Okay, so I admit that I have been a promiscuous bastard. I have many lovers. Okay, I lied. I mean I have many so called "lovers" who were all forced to be called intimately by me. I call them affectionately with lovey dovey nicknames.

A few days ago, it struck me. If I were to really have loved one, what remaining words can I use? I mean, I already used "darling", "honey", "girlfriend" and many others.

Promiscuous bastards like me out there, be careful. I don't think you want to be forced to re-use a word. It'll seem so insincere. Darn, gotta start thinking.

Guide: How To Prepare For A Race

On 14th March, I went for the second race in my life. North East Run, as the name suggest, was organised by the North East Community Development Council (CDC) and was held at Pasir Ris Park in the morning. I participated in the 16km race and clocked 1 hour 31mins. It's not half bad, but not good either. Oh well. I took this race way too lightly, and paid for the consequences. A race, no matter the distance, needs ample preparation in order for one to run to the fullest of his potential, as well as with as much as comfort as possible. So here I put a guide, done by myself. This should be taken only as a non medical advice by a amateur-marathoner-wannabe.

Before the race,
1) Training - depending on the distance, you may need to start training one to three months in advance (based on a 4 times per week training schedule). always start with small distances. make sure you train for a certain distance a few times first before increasing the distance you run. for eg. run 2km 2 or 3 times before you increase to 4km. then run 4km a few times before increasing to 6km. do not try to double your training. instead, have a proper and realistic increment value, such as 1km or 2km. personally my increment is 2km and my starting pace is 5.5mins per km. if the distance is not very long, you may consider only training up till half of the total distance for the race you are participating. for races such as a full marathon, do consider training more.

Brain Storm: When I See You Again, 5 Years Later, What Do I Say?

During a barbecue I organised on Sunday, my army friends reached the pit and one of them asked me, "so what now?"

I was shocked. Did that question ever came across my mind? "What do we do now?"

Gatherings have a good purpose. Some don't see it immediately. Gatherings are meant for us to gather. Duh. When humans gather, they interact. And when we do, I think the easiest and most likely thing for us to do is talk. From the last time we last saw one another, I'm pretty sure many many things happened. If you had chosen to gather, there must have been a reason. It might be due the the fact that you were bored, or that amongst the gatherers lie some of your better friends. Either way, you will want to fill in your friends on each others' lives, won't you? People change, and people do things. Sometimes they change drastically, sometimes they do very different things (like how my very obedient friend who used to be a very reserved girl goes to club often nowadays). As friends, we want to know, we want to talk, we just want to see each other again.

Was it so hard that we need to think about what to do?

I don't think so, it'll be so natural, we just know what to do.

To my friends, 5 years from now, I'll see you again. From morning till late night, till the next morning, we'll be beside each other, catching up on each others' lives, till no end.

My friend tweeted after my barbecue. She commented about how amazing it was that when we talk to our Xinmin friends, we just picked up where we left off in secondary school, as if we didn't graduate. It struck me that how much my friends pull me away from the harsh reality, about how much they make me feel better. 5 years later, we'll still be the same, friends forever.

Interest(ing): Duct Tape - Saviour Of All Soldiers

http://lifehacker.com/5478624/a-celebration-of-duct-tape-our-favorite-duct-tape-diys

Any soldier or ex-soldier will recognise this. It's all too familiar (though we aren't so hard core to use duct tape).

It's the ultimate item. It's on par with the final quest item you have to get at the end of a RPG (except we get it at the start) and it seems to have infinite ways of using it to deal with things.

Lo and behold, it is our black tape.

Admit it, we celebrate it, we're forced to use it, we can't live without it. The almighty power of the black tape allows us to use it for many different purposes, from taping blank attachments to taping loose ends of your backpack to taping the mouth of that faggot beside you who just can't stop blabbering nonsense. We love it so much that we restock it every so often.

I remember during BMT, my sergeants always say black tape can be used to solve everything. I didn't understand it, until one fine day. I realised that I had multiple cuts on my hands and legs due to outdoor training and I didn't bring plasters. You've guessed it, I used black tape. My commanders saw me and they were awed. I thought I did something wrong until they just kept laughing hysterically.

Black tape. The most powerful piece of item on the planet. When you're wearing green that is.

Tech Speak: Cute Video On Google Chrome

Chrome has come a long way. It is a very much customisable browser with its themes and extensions (much like the firefox). It is indisputably fast and user friendly as well.

That said, Chrome is not fully compatible with every single website, even including popular sites like Facebook and its own site Blogger. I have learnt to live with it though since the bugs are minor. Chrome's cold start speed is remarkably slow on my computer. But look beyond all that, and you have a blazingly fast browser.

Brain Storm: Birthdays Galore

Yesterday, I saw one of my friends status update on Facebook. It says "so and so birthday today, so and so birthday today, so and so birthday today. so and so birthday today, so and so birthday today.. etc" He was exclaiming about how there's many people whose birthday falls today. It struck me that some people have an over reliance of tracking their friend's birthday using Facebook.

This year, majority of my peers are turning 21 years old. Earlier in the year, I had a resolution to remember as many birthdays as possible, and to wish them an awesome 21st. But alas I was naive. After seeing my friend's status, I remembered that there are people who don't have Facebook or do not put their birthdays on Facebook. Why, I am the perfect example. You won't find my birth date anywhere in the cloud (techiewen: Cloud refers to the internet, for eg, if you use gmail or hotmail, your emails are stored in the cloud rather than your PC). Despite this, I didn't realise it. Tsk tsk. Tonight I shall scan through my address book thoroughly.

Aside from that, there may also be times when you do not log onto your Facebook often or you may be too  tired to notice that a close friend's birthday is up and coming. In some cases, it would also be ideal for you to remember a friend's birthday way in advance if you need to plan a surprise or get a gift for your friend.

So do you totally depend on Facebook to remember your friends' birthday? Or do you have other ways to remind yourself, such as a diary or handphone reminders?

Brain Storm: You Wife Should Be 27% Smarter Than You

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10463132-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Okay this article is funny. This excerpt from the article really made me laugh.

Still, let me tell you about one of these guidelines: marrying a divorcee makes it far more unlikely that you will be happy. I know, I know. It doesn't seem fair, does it? But science has spoken. And when science speaks, you bow your head until your nose tickles the frigid floor tiles.

Lol.

Still I resent that. There is no need for anyone to be smarter, though I do feel that both must have a similar intellectual capacity. If one party can't even speak proper English, or can't even comprehend basic physics, I don't think I can very much communicate with her.

Ramblings: Doraemon Jigsaw Puzzle (3D)

Ain't this cute? I'll get one to put in my dorm next time. But it's expensive. The small one cost $40 over. I can't imagine how much the big one will cost.

Tech Speak: Street View

This is old news. Okay it's not even news. I did use it before but today was the first time that it helped me so much. I showed my dad the street view of my school because he needed to go somewhere near it but couldn't remember how the road goes.

To use street view, either click on Terrain view or just scroll to zoom in until the highest level. And darn I just realised that you can jump to a place further in front of you by clicking. (cause I was retardedly pressing up again and again) Nifty.

http://maps.google.com

Ramblings: I Like You List

Frankly, I didn't know that Facebook has a very in depth privacy setting option until about early this year. Even after I knew, I couldn't be bothered as it was very troublesome. You can tweak such that every single person can be customised to see what you want to them see.

Last month, I finally decided to do something about my settings after some arsehole stalked my account like a book. The general settings are allowing different preset group of people to see different sets of items on your account. The preset groups are Only Friends, Friends Of Friends, Everyone and Customise. For Customise you can just choose a few people from your friends list, or you can use a list you have already set up. For example, I have a list of all the people from my platoon, from the Student Leader's Board etc.

First I set from default settings of Everyone for everything to Friends of Friends. After a while, I thought it's not good enough so I changed it to Only Friends. Last week, I created a list called "Closer Friends" which only excluded a minority of people so that a few people I have on Facebook yet I don't really know them won't see my wall. Now I've had it. So I'm going to create 2 new lists. One is "I Like You List" and another is "I Don't Hate You List". The I-Like-You-List is done. It's as below.

You qualify to be in my I-Like-You-List if:

1) I look at your photo and I don't say "who's that?"
2) I look at your photo and I don't say "how did we know each other?"
3) You see my Wall, you put in constructive and/or funny comments.
4) You are already in my Close-Friends list.
5) I don't have the urge to beat you up when I see you.
6) I've known you for years and you still remember my name.
7) You ask me to go for your 21st birthday party and I say "yes" without hesitation.
8) You havn't irritated me so much before until I squirm at the sound of your name.

How this list works.
Some people fulfill certain criteria yet not others. For eg. Some people say very constructive comments but I can't remember how I know that person, or I will hesitate to go for his/her birthday party. For this case, he/she will still be in my list. Such situations will be on a case to case basis.

You qualify to be in my I-Don't-Hate-You-List if:

1) I don't hate you.
2) I don't feel like slapping you (whether I was reminded of you or not).


This blog post sounds so self centred. I don't have many friends. And I guess I ought feel grateful if people don't dislike me. But oh well, many things on Facebook shouldn't be shown to half the world. It has to be done. I suggest you do it soon too.

Event: Platoon Dinner @ City Link Mall

Yesterday I met my platoon for dinner. It's been a long time since we came together as a platoon (well not everyone was there but...). The feelings' kind of different too. It's hard to describe. It's weird. Anyhow we had dinner at Niwa Sushi in City Link Mall. At first it appeared to be cheap, and the food seems pretty good. But it appears that there wasn't much quantity in the first place. Sadly Ben bought the last pack of bento and for some reason they refuse to cook anymore rice so the most value for money menu is out. I got the seaweed soup udon and a couple of sushi. Frankly the taste is only so-so.

Then we went to Starbucks as usual. There was this guy who was wearing exercise attire, a RJ PE tee and some spilt shorts. Now, we don't see that everyday at City Hall and he was sweating. Weirdo. We also saw someone with a LJ face with a bunch of flower in his hands. My friend was commenting about him. Sounds bad, but it was quite funny nonetheless. Shaun Lim ordered my favourite Green Tea Latte but iced. I tried it and frankly it was quite good too, though the taste isn't that full bodied. Shaun and Kay Siong spent a good amount of time trying to decide what ridiculous present to get for me. And I am so glad they didn't go into New Urban Male to get it. I'll rather not get any present at all. Geez.

Niwa Sushi - City Link Mall
Ambience - 1.5/5
Salmon Sushi and Beancurd Sushi - 2.5/5
Seaweed Soup Udon - 2/5


Starbucks - City Link Mall
Ambience - 3/5
Green Tea Latte (Iced) - 4/5

TechieEat: Ding Tai Feng

On 26 Feb my gang and I finally went for our reunion dinner. We met at Ding Tai Feng at Junction 8 since Danny only ends at 7 odd at somewhere near Serangoon. Anyway the fried rice was good. Nothing beats a good meal with your closest friends. NOTHING. :) 

Ding Tai Feng - Junction 8
Ambience - 3/5
Egg Fried Rice With Chicken Floss - 4/5

Tech Speak: A Joystick For A Mouse

http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/product-guide/view/5256/review/first-looks-3m-ergonomic-em550-mouse

This mouse has its scroll at the side, and the clicks at the top. It's supposed to relieve stress injuries from prolonged usage. Interesting.

Senseless Stuff: Grocery Shopping At NTUC

I like to shop for grocery, especially food and drinks that's meant for myself. Usually I get my stash of milk, juices, tea, crackers, tidbits, ice cream and other personal hygiene stuff myself.

Here's what I bought yesterday.
1.5 litre Pokka Carrot Juice
900ml Dutch Lady Banana Milk (i hope no melanine anymore)
1 litre HL Chocolate Milk
1 litre HL Fresh Milk
2 litre Peel Fresh Powerberries Juice
1 litre Peel Fresh Apple Juice
1.5 litre Seasons Ice Lemon Tea
1 litre Yeo's Soya Bean Milk
4-pack Gillette Power Shaver Refills (techiewen: I can never understand why this thing cost $25 when my shaver itself cost $15)

Total: $45 (what!!?!? 45 bucks for all this shit? stupid shaver refills)

Brain Storm: Chance(s)/Experience(s) Are But Once

When I went to NUS to meet my friends, a gloomy topic came up. They mentioned how they wished to can attend my batch's orientation. That's when I remembered that they were going for overseas attachment for a year. Gosh, it's going to be one year, they said. They wanted to be school mates with us once again. It's been what? 4 years since we were school/class mates. The weird sensation that we would spend time together in our second home is a nice one. But unfortunately, we can only be school mates for one year.

Time passes too fast. We all agree. In the blink of an eye, they're going to graduate. They don't want to, I don't want to. The bonding and friendships we have in school are far too fantasy-like. The society out there is too realistic, it is too harsh.

When we were school mates, we never thought such a relationship will come to an end. Yet it will, and it is nearing. As we grow old, some experiences and chances will never come back.

Forgive me, for bitch-slapping you in front of you, for giving you nonsense every single minute, for calling you bastards and bitches, for showing you middle finger all the time, for being whiny and arrogant, and for throwing tantrums and being selfish. From now on, I'll still do all these things, but I'll savour every moment of it, and I'll appreciate every action I do. Promise.

Brain Storm: Say No To Suicide

It is incorrect to discourage the idea of suicide by saying that it is but a shortcut to solving his problems. Humans are selfish. They think of themselves only. And a shortcut sure is tempting, no? On surface value, everyone would think that they lead a tough life, maybe even the worst life amongst their friends. This is how superficial it can get, for when we say no one is ever the best, since there's always someone better, the same is true for no one ever gets the worst, since there's always someone worse off. One who has not seen the world cannot claim that suicide is the only way. Even if you're the one and only person to face such a devastation in your life, it is still possible for you to be the first person in the world to every conquer it. When Helen Keller became deaf and blind, that didn't prompt her to suicide, that didn't stop her from success, and she had no role model to look up to either.

Many people don't realise what they leave behind and what they take away when they commit suicide. There'll be holes left in the hearts of the their loved ones, the parts they took away with them when they die. And they will never return. The holes are permanent. It's stupid to wonder who will cry for you when you die. There's people who will weep for the loss of you, and then there's people who will be depressed for others' loss of you. Maybe people do realise. But they cannot or refuse to comprehend. Like I said, humans are selfish creatures.

I heard that somebody committed suicide in NTU. She happened to be my friend's friend's girlfriend. And my friend said, there was a period of time when that guy's facebook status was "hey bao bei, where are you? come back..."

:'(

Think not of only yourself, fool. Once you die, you will never come back.

TechieEat: Full Tea Latte @ Starbucks

This is still quite new. Starbucks is offering a new series of full tea lattes. Previously they only had chai tea I think and I heard it's freaking bitter. Now, I like my coffee and teas slightly bitter but anything without milk is a big no no. I went to the counter, pointed to the poster and stupidly asked if they offered that many different types of tea lattes as the words as such "earl grey, mint" etc were on the poster. She explained that those won't really flavours but ways to customise my drink. I chose Earl Grey over English Breakfast and I think that was downright a big mistake. The vanilla taste was strong. I didn't really understand what's the sweetness until my friend who's a barista explained it to me. He mentioned that English Breakfast tea latte will be less sweet. Despite all this, I shall do Earl Grey tea latte justice. The latte is has subtle tea flavour, with strong and fragrant vanilla aftertaste. It is sweet yet the tea has its gentle characteristics. This is not for the bitter-hearted such as myself, but if you love tea yet prefer it to have some the-liked-by-all-vanilla taste, Earl Grey Tea Latte is the way to go.

Oh by the way, they let me try their new Earl Grey Cream Pot as well. It's truly amazing how tea can be made into cream with such full bodied taste, much unlike the Earl Grey tea latte. Fascinating.

Starbucks - Fusionopolis
Ambience - 3/5
Earl Grey Tea Latte - 3.5/5 

Event: My Trip To NUS

I call it the quarter-life crisis. It is the most difficult choice I have yet to make. NUS? Or NTU? Which is the university meant for me? Although I asked my friends out for a dinner, I didn't expect it to be in NUS itself. The tour to Prince George's Park Residence (PGPR) was a bonus which I hadn't planned in advance either.

So there I was, taking a bus into NUS. It's odd. I was like a child going into the known, unknown. I had been there before, I walked around the place a couple of times. The place itself is really no big deal. But I felt excitement. Knowing that I am to become a student here soon, knowing that all these people around me are going to be my school mates soon, it made my heart beat faster. Okay, maybe it was because I sprinted 50m to catch the bus after drinking 3 tall size tea. And I was quite disappointed with the influx of nerdy looking people near the entrance.

We went to the NUS Graduate Club for dinner. After waiting like eons for Yinning to fetch me at Central Library (so much so that I spotted Limin running and spoke to her for a while), we took the shuttle bus to the Guild House and met Liyue there. The new business school is really quite new and cool. The food there was not bad. Above all, the price was decent, if you're a club member that is. The ambience there was really good. We sat outside in the open. Though there was live performance inside, the feeling outside was better. The bar inside looks gorgeous as well. No doubt I will go there to try someday.

After chatting at the restaurant, we headed back to PGPR. They brought me to see the study room, sofa room etc first. Then I went into their rooms. I saw the blueprint of the rooms before and I thought it looked really small. So I was surprised to know that it exceeded my expectations. One more point to NUS. They also brought me around to their guy friends' rooms. Incidentally, all the guys' rooms look way more spacious than my gal friends. I reckon its because it's way more tidy. Tsk, girls.

The table was bigger than the one I had back when I studied in the Sengkang Community Hub's study room. It had space for me to put another 23inch monitor. There's space for a fridge as well. I was pleased to know that there's enough space for me to do my sit ups and push ups. I'll be looking forward to it. Thanks, girls for the trip!

Bad lighting, but fear not for my camera has manual settings!

Fish and Chips

Hawaiian Pizza

Grilled Beef, medium well

This is the club's chillax area, heard there's special programmes on Fridays, got to check it out!

NUS Graduate Club - The Guild House

Ambience - 4.5/5

Food - 3/5

Brain Storm: Weakness Of The Heart, Show Me Not

Recently I was strongly reminded again of how I really hate people who are weak in the heart and mind, and show it publicly. The way they sought attention by changing their statuses on Facebook, MSN Messenger etc, is plain disgusting. That is so, because seeing it I am reminded of myself. None of them were bad compared to my previous self. Reading my chat logs, my old blogs, my old smses, I could never imagine why I said those things, why I wanted people to look at me as a weakling. Sure, everyone has their problems, everyone has their weakest links, everyone has their time at the bottom pit. But I don't see many others grumbling like the whole world just bullied them, I don't see them telling everyone how pitiful their lives are.

Yet I cannot say I hate certain people, simply because they are my very close friends. All I can say is, you're wrong if you think the world is against you. You're wrong if you think you have it worst. And you're definitely wrong if you think no one cares of you. (Okay disclaimer, that last statement applies to my friends, but I can't really see how it'll apply to some scums I know who are nothing but whiners. Do they even have friends?)

When I was in Junior College year 2, something really bad happened to me. I was absolutely down. Then suddenly this insensitive bastard smsed me a generic message (no worries, insensitive bastard doesn't read this blog). It says something like "whenever you are down, always remember, you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think". I wasn't particularly shocked then, we're close friends after all. I'll admit that it didn't help me much spiritually back then either. But looking back, yeah, someone cared.

It wasn't that bad. You're not alone. You're stronger than you believe. Have faith. Have strength. Walk through. There's a bunch of people waiting at the end. They're your friends. They may have forgotten, they may have overlooked, they may have been busy. But they'll always be there.

So don't be weak. Be strong.

Songs: 温柔 - 五月天 (DNA Live Version)

I've always like this song. After all May Day is my favourite Chinese band. The song is about letting go. The DNA Live Version has an additional part which just involves the lead singer talking. But that part is seriously the nicest.

走在風中 今天陽光 突然好溫柔
天的溫柔 地的溫柔 像你抱著我
然後發現 你的改變 孤單的今後
如果冷 該怎麼度過

天邊風光 身邊的我 都不在你眼中
你的眼中 藏著什麼 我從來都不懂
沒有關係 你的世界 就讓你擁有
不打擾 是我的溫柔

不知道 不明瞭 不想要 為什麼 我的心
明明是想靠近 卻孤單的黎明
不知道 不明瞭 不想要 為什麼 我的心
那愛情的綺麗 總是在孤單裡
再把我的最好的愛給你
不知不覺 不情不願 又到巷子口
我沒有哭 也沒有笑 因為這是夢
沒有預兆 沒有理由 你真的有說過
如果有 就讓你自由

如果你對我說 你想要一朵花 那麼 我就會給你一朵花

如果你對我說 你想要一顆星星 那麼 我就會給你一顆星星

如果你對我說 你想要一場雪 那麼 我就會給你一場雪

如果你對我說 你想要離開我 那麼 我會說 我會對你說

我給你自由 我給你自由 我給你自由 我給你自由
我給你全部全部全部全部自由 oh.........

這是我的溫柔 還你一個自由 這是我的溫柔 還你一個自由 oh...

不知道 不明瞭 不想要 為什麼 我的心
明明是想靠近 卻孤單的黎明
不知道 不明瞭 不想要 為什麼 我的心
那愛情的綺麗 總是在孤單裡
再把我的最好的愛給你
不知不覺 不情不願 又到巷子口
我沒有哭 也沒有笑 因為這是夢
沒有預兆 沒有理由 你真的 有說過
如果有 就讓你.....
如果有 就讓你自由
自由....這是我的溫柔 (這是我的溫柔.這是我的溫柔.這是我的～
溫柔....)
讓你自由...oh.......

Senseless Stuff: Starbucks Love Story Winning Entry #2

http://www.facebook.com/notes/starbucks-singapore/your-starbucks-love-story-winning-entry-2/358528346263

This is the reality love story writing competition that Starbucks held in line with Valentine's Day. Winning entry #1 wasn't so sweet, but the photo attached sure was.

There I was-I grabbed her small hands on our second date while crossing the road. It almost seems like I was trying to re-enact those scene we often see in love drama. "Your hands are very warm", she said. They still are; here to keep your cold hands warm. 

Oh my gosh, I'm a hopeless romantic and I really feel that sentence is so sweet.

Brain Storm: Brush Past And Be Forgotten

Do you used to be able to remember the class register number of your classmates? Maybe not all, but you would have remembered some at least right? Do you still remember all your primary school classmates' names? Do you remember how the important friends of yours back then influenced you and made an impact in your life? Can you recall the memorable times you spent together with them?

I met up with my primary school classmate on Thursday. It was kind of awkward at first, since we havn't met for 7 years. We tried to recollect all the things that happened when we were in primary 5 and 6, and we're surprised to find out that we forgot a lot of it and at the same time surprised that we remembered so much.

We sat there, we tried to remember. She asked, "Who else was there in 6/1?" I answered, "Oh yeah there's so and so." Then silence. And I asked "Which other girls were in there 6/1?" She replied "Oh you know recently so and so..." It repeats. Before long, we got half the class out (but we couldn't remember all). And it was amusing how we actually did connect with our classmates