Bike accident on Kesas highway

Hey, it has been a week since my fall on Kesas highway, while riding with Chai.

Due to my own mistake and carelessness, the front tire of the bike went into the drain cover, causing the bike to flip and me landed on my back, with big impact, landed on my right back shoulder and broke the right scapula.

Chai drove me to SDMC. Get into the emergency room. Nice nurse took care of me. Gave me a shot of pain killer. Not that I was complaining about the pain, but it was good.

Took couple of X-Ray and confirmed by the doctor on duty that the right scapula was broken. Doctor advised to stay overnight for observation and wait for the doctor for further diagnosis.

Had another stronger jab of pain killer and passed out. Still wearing the bike short and shirt.

Discharged the following day, doctor wants to know if I can stand the pain with just the pain killer pill instead of the jab.

Well, 3 weeks before I can drive (I think i will drive earlier than that) and 12 weeks of full recovery.

Fortunately I still can type.

I consider myself lucky that no major injury. What if shoulder bone, hip and worst, skull fracture. That will be bad.

Anyway, training put on hold. But will not abandon.

Tuesday dinner

Yesterday was wife's gym day. So, need to get home early after pick up Megan.

Went to Old Town coffee cafe in Taipan for dinner, but after scanning the menu, nothing there that I can order without carbo.

Decided to head home remembered that I got some chicken breast in the freezer.

Defrost the breast, slice into half, marinate with salt and pepper. At the same time, defrost green peas. Chopped up a yellow onion and a garlic.

Cover the breast with some olive oil and fried it on the grill. At another pot, fried the onion, garlic and green peas.

At the end, here is the product. High protein and low carbo. Instead of ketchup or chili sauce, I put Dijon mustard on top, zero calories. :)

Perfect dinner. 3 more portion of chicken breast at home. Same style, variation will be the vegetables.

Weekend ride

What an interesting weekend.

Saturday, me, Ee and some colleague of mine went riding at FRIM. 2 of them are new to FRIM. The weather was good to us, the only morning that has no rain, not until we are in the car on the way home.

The usual trail was done without much suffering. For the newbie, time to get used to the terrain, the trail and their new bike. All went well.

At our usual rest stop, we decided to take Steroid hill. It was really tough, for me, at least. My MRH (maximum heart rate) went up to 99%. Way above the lactic acid zone. It was really steep, slippery and challenging. I got down and push couple of times. Took a rest on the top, didn't go up to the heli-pad. The way down was pretty scary, steep as well. Took my time, ride at the speed that is within my control.

Muscle ache, but tons of fun. Picture above was taken after the downhill from Steroid. Saw a guy just fly down from the slope. Amazing.

The next morning, thought of doing a long recovery ride to flush out the acid from the leg, took my RB and ride on Kesas. From my home, went to LDP via Puchong, get towards Kesas. It was drizzling already at 6.45am. Thought of turning into USJ from Kesas, but there was no rain at the exit, decided to go forward towards Klang.

The ride was very nice. On the bike lane, felt safe. Just need to give way to motorbike. U-turn at the junction to Jalan Kebun because of the rain, and go back home via the Kesas exit at USJ. Need to go home to bring Megan out for breakfast and shopping at the wet market. Only covered 48km.

Next time will ride forward and u-turn at Sri Petaling. That will get me above 60km.

Excellent weekend. Felt good. No major pain. Lots of fun. I am happy.

Riding on Kesas highway

Been traveling on Kesas highways for years, always see some rider on the motor lane.

Sunday morning, start from my house at 6.45am. Took the LDP and exit to Kesas towards Sri Petaling. Made a u-turn (or rather, n-turn according to Megan) at the traffic light at Endah Parade and back on Kesas towards Klang. Exit to Puchong and back home.

Total distance is 36km, average speed of 28km/h. Took a small break at Petronas for 100+. Didn't take any water from my bottles.

Met a group of about 10 with mixture of MTB and RB.

Minor incident, almost falls because didn't notice the small hump on the bike lane, and also a dog chase. Nice almost flat road. No challenging climb.

987kcal burned. Sweet. Felt great. Not too tiring, maybe because is <40km.

Will definitely do it again, probably every Sunday morning. But will not exit at Puchong, but go straight towards shah-alam to get up to 60+km. Nothing less the 60km now for my usual RB ride. That is a promise.

Climbing Gunung Merapi

Wow, didn't know we can climb the mountain. Was there to visit the site, was pretty scary to walk on the hardened lava. But making a trip to trek up the mountain will be very cool.

http://eatfirstthinklater.blogspot.com/2009/11/climbing-mount-merapi.html

Definitely something I will plan to do.

Megan annual concert

She plays leopard in the jungle.

The play is "Wizard of Oz"

Damn it....slacking

BodyPump class cancelled this morning. Just my luck, possibly my last class in MBF before office move to Bangsar. No chance to say farewell to all the nice girls in the class.

Anyway, since I was there in the morning, did some mileage on the treadmill. 

Was running before the class, heard about the cancellation, start getting slack and stop at 1km run and then walk around. Did couple of push up and abs exercise before resume for another run. 10m of 1.5km run. 

Then slacking again, did another round of push up and abs exercise before climb up the treadmill for another 2km run. 

I can't get myself to run for 5km non-stop on the treadmill. 

I need some major kick at the rear. Damn it. 

Arrrggggghhhhhh...

Dukethon 22/November

Interesting, 5km run. May want to join. See how.

http://www.duke.com.my/media/dukethon.html

Is there a cow in our life that need to die?

This is an interesting article from my RSS FEED. I think all of us should read it.

Once Upon a Cow by Camilo Cruz, is a story about our own personal cows. The beginning parable is about a teacher and a student who journey to a small town, the teacher telling the student to look for the poorest home where they would seek refuge for the night.

The two men stopped in front of the most dilapidated little shack they had ever set eyes on.

The structure, at the point of collapse, belonged, without a doubt to the poorest of families. The walls stood as if only by a miracle, threatening at any moment to come tumbling down. Water filtered through an improvised roof, and all kinds of rubbish against the walls of the house.

The teacher and the student were invited to stay the night in the small home. A father, mother, four children and two grandparents, thin bodies, ragged clothes, sad faces and bowed heads left no doubt that indigence had taken root deep within them.

Curiously enough, the family had a most unusual possession. They owned a cow.

The animal was not much to look at, but the family's everyday life and activities seemed to revolve around it.

• Feed the cow.
• Make sure the cow's had enough water.
• Tie the cow up tight.
• Don't forget to take the cow out to pasture.
• Milk the cow.

You could say the cow played a prominent role within the family, although the little milk she produced was barely enough to keep them alive. It was the only thing that kept them from complete and utter misery.

The next morning, the two travelers set off to continue their journey. The elder teacher whispered, "The time has come for you to learn the lesson that brought us to this dismal place." The teacher walked slowly toward the cow, slipped a dagger from the sheath he carried.

The student watched in disbelief as the teacher sliced through the cow's throat in one swift movement. The fatal wound caused the animal to drop silently to the ground.

The story continues one year later when the teacher and student return to the home. They find the family flourishing and learn the story of how the death of the cow caused the change in their fortune.

We all have cows that need to die.

Build your self confidence like a leader

Great advice from Marshall Goldsmith

1. Don't worry about being perfect. There are never right or wrong answers to complex business decisions. The best that you can do as a leader is to gather all of the information that you can (in a timely manner), do a cost-benefit analysis of potential options, use your best judgment — and then go for it.

2. Learn to live with failure. Great salespeople are the ones who get rejected the most often. They just ask for the order more than the other salespeople. You are going to make mistakes. You are human. Learn from these mistakes and move on.

3. After you make the final decision — commit! Don't continually second-guess yourself. Great leaders communicate with a sense of belief in what they are doing and with positive expectations toward the achievement of their vision.

4. Show courage on the outside — even if you don't always feel it on the inside. Everyone is afraid sometimes. If you are a leader, your direct reports will read your every expression. If you show a lack of courage, you will begin to damage your direct reports' self-confidence.

5. Find happiness and contentment in your work. Life is short. My extensive research indicates that we are all going to die anyway. Do your best. Follow your heart. When you win, celebrate. When you lose, just start over the next day.

Terry Fox Run 2009

Got back home after midnight of Saturday, attended a wedding dinner, but started with beers at the hotel bar, and also adjourned with the beer at the same bar. Had about couple of hours of sleep before the alarm tell me is 5.30am.

Woke up, get the family ready to leave house at 7am to go to Lake Garden for the 2009 Terry Fox run.

This is the first time I took part in this event. 

I planned to run the 5km while the rest of the family do the family fun run.

Didn't manage to run from the beginning as the path was too narrow and with too many people. I just walked briskly on the track until I got enough space on the track to start running. Bumped into an old colleague and friend and chat for couple of minutes before pushing on. Caught up with the wife and mom on the way. 

It was a pretty fun run. The is the first time that I actually run among the crowd, since many many years ago. Still need to train much more and much harder to able to run beyond 10K.

About 40+ days to Malakoff run of 12KM.

Running log : 27/Oct/2009

Tossing and turning at 5am. Snooze waiting for 5.30am alarm to get ready for a run outside the house.

This time, after advice from my colleague, try to pick up the speed and do sprinting when possible.

Managed to shave about 4 minutes from my previous run. It was tough, very very uncomfortable and tiring. Almost throw up at the end of the run.

But this is far better compare to 1 month ago when I started running. This is definitely an improvement. I am happy about the process.

5km : 30m26s

Brilliant!!!!

Saturday morning OAH to GS ride

Saturday morning, managed to get 2 of my colleagues and Ee to wake up at 5+am and get ready to ride from Orang Asli Hospital to Genting Sempah. Distance of 32km on return trip. Nice hills to cover. First 16km are mostly uphill with the return journey mostly downhill. What a reward for the grinding going up.

Took me about 1 hour (excluding the stops waiting for the gang), will like to reduce that to 50 minutes next time.

Both of them love the ride and already planned for the next one.

Will do it once a month. Hopefully.

Sunday afternoon, forced myself to go to IOI for RPM class, Ken was the instructor, replacing Alvin. Really felt the tiredness of the legs, but it was good, flush out the acid, keep the momentum going.

Will see if I have the strength to go to today evening RPM class.

Wonder when is my rest day?

Weekend is coming close

Today is the rest day. Been doing some sort of exercise daily for the last 4-5 days. Need a rest, before the ride tomorrow.

Let's see

Saturday 60km ride

Sunday RPM class

Monday RPM class

Tuesday 5km run

Wednesday Bodypump class

Thursday 5km Run

I think I deserved a rest day :)

24/Oct/2009 : Riding from Hospital Orang asli, Jalan Gombak to Genting Sempah. Total distance will be about 32KM, that will take less than 2 hours.

Maybe will attempt to make a coffee cake tomorrow, taking the recipe from PioneedWoman. Here. 

Sunday maybe will bring the family to the mall. Haven't done this for ages. 

Have a good weekend. Picture of the saturday morning ride will be posted soon. 

T-Mobile Sidekick issue

This problems reminds me of the problem Sun Microsystems experience with eBay.

This need to be handle properly, even though one vendor may not be totally responsible for the cause of the problem. it does not mean it cannot benefit from handling the "crisis" as a partner of the customer.

Sun's top executive actually had conference call with eBay everyday, i.e Scott McNealy actually sit in the call. And Sun sent a team of expert on site to help eBay fixing their problem. I think from that experience, Sun gain the trust of eBay and also other large enterprise customer.

Well, learn from this.

Running log : 20/Oct/2009

Did RPM #44 last night at IOI, instructor was Fong. 3rd sessions after the release, was getting used to it now. Only suffered in track 7, really enjoyed track 6, the speed track and track 5, the interval training track. Not a fan of the song selection. 

Still suffer from the ache from the Saturday morning ride and the RPM last night, went out to run this morning at 6am.

5km : 35m20s.

Not a great time, actually been slacking. But need mileage on the leg. Suffered a little bit.

Next official run on 1/November for Terry Fox.

Gym log : 16/Oct/2009

Get into the gym early. Did a 1.5km run before the RPM class.

RPM release 44 is tough. Knees were shaking after the class. Track 6 and 7 was pretty nice. Getting to enjoy it a little more. Hopefully get to like all after some time.

After the class, felt like do some running, did another 1+km run. Just to get the feel of running after some cycling. 

Felt good. 

Tomorrow will do 60km around Putrajaya outer ring. If the weather hold. 

RPM and BodyPump Sizzler

Coolness. Taken from here.

RPM 45 Sizzler

RPM™ 45 is all about creating awareness of how to use resistance. Show your class how much resistance to use, how to find it, what it feels like and what the benefits are. Also coach your class to ride fast – find the working load and ride the beat! Set off on the open road to the uplifting classic Life Is A Highway. Your heart rate will pick up in Track 2 with three fast sprints and one small climb.

Use this track to find the right working load. Listen to the lyrics in Track 4! Take a leap of faith and close your eyes when you hit the fast sprints to All On Our Own by New Zealand band Midnight Youth. Power equals force times speed. The more resistance you use, the further distance you are going to travel and the more calories you're going to burn. So switch on to power up! Track 5 is all about razor-sharp attacks. Don't be fooled by the fun nature of The Prodigy's Piranha – this is intense and you will be challenged! Quadruple resistance turns and Standing Attacks will push your heart rate through the roof. Speed is the focus for Track 6. Gradually increase your leg speed to this iconic RPM™ track – Bruised Water by Chicane featuring Natasha Bedingfield. Switch from speed to strength in Track 7. Look out for the heavy Power Climbs!
Recover to The Man Who Can't Be Moved from Irish band The Script. Let the heartbeat drop before stretching and lengthening your muscles to Adele's beautiful Chasing Pavements.

BODYPUMP 72 Sizzler

BODYPUMP® 72 is all about making your class stronger,faster. How? By focusing on Bottom Halves and Partial Range movements, the rest phase is eliminated and the muscles are kept under tension for longer. Look forward to a challenging workout and an overall strength blast where active recovery is your only break! Brace your abs and prepare for more Bottom Halves than you bargained for in the Squats Track. Kelly Clarkson will motivate you to keep going with her huge hit I Do Not Hook Up. New Zealand's own Dane Rumble sings Track 3 – Always Be There. Bottom Halves and Slow Bottom Halves will put your chest muscles under tension for a little bit longer than usual. Ouch! The good news is this will give you results faster. The Triceps Track is sweet like Sugar! Again, Bottom Halves are the name of the game.

Challenge yourself and go a bit heavier than normal in the rocky and upbeat Biceps Track. The Bicep Row returns, attacking your guns from a different direction. It's back to the legs in the intense Track 7. The Lunges stick with the theme of the release – you guessed it – lots of Bottom Halves that will push up your heart and burn calories. The
Shoulders Track is a tribute to the legend that is Michael Jackson – make sure you watch the DVD for this one! The range of motion in the Singles has been shortened to ¾ Range. Grit your teeth and hang on! Ciara and Justin Timberlake will take you through the Abdominals Track with Love Sex Magic. The mix of deep, lower abdominals work and the Walking Hover will chisel your six-pack and at the same time strengthen your core.

Sunday morning ride at Putrajaya

Initial plan was to do one loop of the Putrajaya 70.3 bike route. But due to the weather, it was cut short and exist the loop at Alamanda on way to the car.

Need to start getting 40+km 3-4 times a week in preparation for Putrajaya Triathlon relay.

Running log : 4/Oct/2009

Sunday 4/oct : 5km run : 36m39s

Tuesday 6/oct : 5km run : 34m42s

Target : 6-8km until end november

Interesting traveling web site

http://www.yongo.biz/frame.htm

Anyone interested in going to Tibet next year 2/may?

Or eastern europe? Slovakia, Poland and Czek?

Running log : 2/Oct/2009

Very close now. 

Today's log : 4.8km in 34m27s.

I am very happy with the timing. Now I will focus on extend couple of hundred meters and then then increase the speed.

Well done!!! :)

Running log : 1/Oct/2009

After 1 week not running, determine to resume the training and got the alarm to wake me up at 5.45am. Muscle still a little sore from Wednesday morning 1.5km run and the BodyPump class.

Run from my house to 7-Eleven at PutraHeight. Estimated distance of about 4km.

Amazingly, I was feeling good for the entire distance, took 1-2 minutes of rest at the u-turn point. I was thinking of doing the 5km, but decided to pace myself.

Total distance : 4km
Time : 30m1s

Great. Estimated by mid of October I will be on 5km.

Well done!!!

3 Ways to Be a Loving Parent

Interesting read from Livestrong.com

1. Practice Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement encourages good behavior and discourages bad behavior while building self-esteem and confidence in children. How you communicate with your child partially shapes how he sees himself. Children who receive only criticism from their parents can develop negative self-images. On the other hand, children who consistently receive positive reinforcement become more self-assured. Reinforce good behavior consistently, even when it's expected. If your daughter did her chores without being asked, tell her how proud you are that she acted responsibly. Reward large accomplishments, such as making the honor roll. Don't, however, reward your children for ordinary achievements.

Disciplining a child can teach the difference between right from wrong, one of the most loving things you can do. Positive reinforcement can modify bad behavior by expressing your awareness of the child's feelings and desires, setting clear limits, looking for ways to compromise and allowing the child to express dissatisfaction. When condemning bad behavior, focus on the behavior, not on the child. Start a reprimand with reinforcement, and then follow by criticizing the act. For example, you could say, "You are a smart boy, but you acted irresponsibly when you didn't do your homework."

2. Listen Actively

Listening intently to your child is an act of love. Children who know that their parents care about their thoughts and feelings feel more secure and valued. However, listening actively requires more than just sitting quietly while your kids talk. Reflect what your kids say back to them, ask relevant questions and show empathy to indicate that you are really listening.

Help your child come up with their own solutions. Encouraging your kids to brainstorm different options to resolve their problems shows that you are engaged in what they care about while teaching critical problem-solving skills and independent thinking. Resisting the urge to tell a child what to do and helping him discover it on his own pays dividends in the end.

3. Learn How to Apologize

Children usually learn best by example. To teach your kid how to take responsibility for her actions, it's important to apologize to her whenever you are wrong. Kids need to learn that no one is perfect, not even their parents. Apologizing to your kids shows them that you are fallible and teaches lessons about forgiveness. A good apology should clarify what you did wrong, express remorse without making excuses and ask for forgiveness. Apologies show children that you love them and value their feelings towards you.

Time to register for a proper run

This is it. I will register for this year's Malakoff run. I need to push myself to train harder. The problem is that it is 1 week after Putrajaya Triathlon.

http://www.malakoffrun.com.my/

1)	DATE:	20 December 2009 (Sunday)
2)	VENUE:	Start/Finish – Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort
3)	TIME:	7.00 am for the 12km and 7.15am for the 6km
4)	ORGANIZERS:	Pacesetters Athletic Club, Malaysia

I need to do it in 45 minutes. That is the target I will be training for. 35 minutes...

Go go go....

Running log : 23/Sept/2009

Was early in the gym. Not open. The person in charge maybe suffering from hangover. :)

Since already there, not wasting time waiting for the guy to open the gym, decided to run around Jalan Sultan Ismail towards Raja Chulan and turn into Jalan Pinang back to the gym.

Total distance on the road : 1.4km in 9m4s.

Back to the gym and get on the treadmill to continue the run.

Total distance on the treadmill : 1.6km in 10m

Total : 3km in 19m4s.

Followed by BodyPump Class.

Cool

Running log : 20 & 21 Sept/2009

After a good rest day on saturday. Need to continue with the run training.

20/Sept (Sunday) : 3.2km - 21m46s

21/Sept (Monday) : 3.4km - 23m25s

Well, progressing..

At RMIT MBA graduation, Nikko Hotel. KL.

Finally. After 1 year. A closure.

Thoughts of the day

Make an island of yourself,
make yourself your refuge;
there is no other refuge.
Make Dhamma your island,
make Dhamma your refuge;
there is no other refuge.

Running outdoor

6am. Alarm buzzed. Look at the weather outside. No sign of run. Great.

Changed, had a glass of water and went outside.

From my house to the traffic light at Putra Height is about 1.4km. Round trip is 2.8km. It is tougher then treadmill because of the small incline. On treadmill, the incline was set to 0%.

Did the round trip, 2.8km in 18m19s (excluding 2 mini stop time). I am happy with the time, of cos it can be better. But small progress. Last time I actually run on the road was decades ago.

The return trip (mostly down hill) was actually enjoyable.

Will planned to a weekly run, gradually adding the distance till I can get to 5km.

Fantastic.

gym log : 16/Sept/2009

Was planning to run 2.4km this morning before the BodyPump class. But was slightly late because I was making a detour to the bank.

Can only spare 5 minutes before I need to go in to setup the equipment for the class.

Did 5 minutes of run on the treadmill at 10.5km/h. Feel comfortable on it. Get ~900m distance. Not great, but have to take that due to time constraint. 

Added more weight compare to usual during the BodyPump class. Need to get out of the comfort zone. Feels good. 

Running log : 15/Sept/2009 (3.2km in 19m20s)

Woke up at 5.30am. Finish off an email that I need to send to boss. Hope it went well.

Planned to run from my house to PutraHeight, total distance of about 3km. But it was drizzling.

So, quickly pack my gym bag, kiss Megan goodbye and rush to gym. 

Run on treadmill and focused on running without paying too much attention to the meter.

Run 3.2km in 19m20s. Not bad, for my standard. For someone who can't run 1km 3-4 weeks ago.

I am happy. Another 1.8km and it will be 5km. Imagine that. 

Picture from my Genting Sempah ride couple of weekend ago.

Thanks to Ee for the picture.

September 11

I was told by someone who run 15 full Marathon in 18 months. To train for running, bad idea to do it on a treadmill in the gym. Why? the stop button is too tempting. I have to spend a lot of brain power and will power to debate with myself about why I don't press the stop button.

Running on the road is good, because you don't have a stop button. Whatever distance you travel, you still need to travel back home/car.

In that note, I am going to a morning run tomorrow. I think the loop from my house to PutraHeight is about 3km. Will measure it tonight when driving home.

Have a great weekend everyone...

Running log : 10/Sept/2009

Didn't planned to run today. Woke up at 5.30am to feed Ashlee. Done by 6am. Too late to go back to sleep, too early to go to office.

Thought of either go to Pelita to have couple of roti banjil with eggs and a book I am reading now, or go to gym and run.

Decided that it will be better to run.

Didn't do well this morning. Struggling after 2km. Maybe lack of energy. Was hungry since 10pm last night.

2.4km : 14 minutes 45 seconds at 10km/h

While showering, thinking why can't I do another 400m. Just 400m, right? 

Anyway, all good. baby steps. Good progress.

Running log : 9/Sept/2009

Had a run before the BodyPump class.

Improvement again from the previous run.

2.4km : 14m30s, 10 seconds faster than before. (I am in the fair category).

That will be the baseline, I will aim to have this time moving forward.

This is good. I am happy with the progress. Everything on schedule.

Tuesday morning run

Had a good rest day on monday. After the saturday morning ride and sunday afternoon RPM class, my body was demanding a rest.

Hit the gym this morning for my 3 times a week run.

Managed to get up to 2.8km this time. Legs were tired, running out of breath a little. Not sure about the heart rate. Note to self, bring HRM next time.

The time I did this morning was good. Slight improvement from previous run.

2.4km : 14m40s (shaved 14seconds from previous run)

2.8km : 17m18s

I am happy. I ran 2.8km!!!!

almost perfect sunday

Woke up later than usual. No full american breakfast on the dining table, or else it will be a perfect sunday. Had coco-crunch with milk for breakfast.

The rest of the family went to a friend house for the day.

I was home alone. Perfect time to catch up with the new TV sci-fi series that I heard so much about.

12noon, lunch is a bowl of instant noodle with loads of frozen mixed vegetables and eggs for protein.

2pm, hit the gym and run a short distance on the treadmill.
3pm, RPM class, Kelvin's last day as an instructor, he is flying to UK for further study.

5pm, took at traditional thai full body massage at Thai Odessy.

6pm, TGIF dinner, BBQ chicken salad (don't order this) and a pint of guinness, with the family.

10pm, sleep.

Orang Asli Hospital to Genting Sempah and back

Woke up at 5am. Took some oatmeal and couple of eggs. Got coffee from McCafe before pick up Ee.

Drove all the way to Orang asli Hospital at Gombak for the ride to Genting Sempah.

Couple of groups already setting up by the time we got there.

The ride from OAH to Genting Sempah was very nice. Uphill all the way, but not too steep, with the right gear, it was actually enjoyable. I did it on a MTB with slick tyre.

Reached Genting Sempah McD in about 1h40m. Which is not really a good time, but my purpose is to enjoy the ride.

Had a big glass of coke light and a sausage McMuffin. Weird though, McD there ran out of fries.

The initial part of the return trip was painful, the uphill was horrible, regret not taking Boon's advice, u-turn at the car workshop.  Both thigh were burning while going up the slope, and had to get down and push at the last 10-20m. Just can't take it. Heart rate went up to 93% of my MHR.

After that, it was downhill most of the time. Pretty enjoyable, cooling, less vehicle.

Overall, enjoyed the climbing. Will definitely do it again.

Some data from my computer.

Exe time : 2h10m50s
Max HR : 93%
Average HR : 74%
In zone : 1h41m20s
Kcal : 1319
Distance : 35.9km
Average speed L 16.5km/h
Max speed : 47.9km/h
Average cadence : 64
Max cadence : 116

Planned to do this route once every 4-5 weeks.  Good exercise.

5KM running plan

Here it is. I am at week 1. boohoohooo..

Anyway, that is the plan. Will keep update here on the progress.

Is there any 5K run race in November?

Sub 15 minutes for 2.4km

Hit the gym this morning.

Able to shaved off about 30seconds from my run time on Wednesday.

2.4km in 14m54s.

25 seconds faster and I will be in fair category. Imagine that!!!

Watch this space. That will happen in before October...

Great!!!

Night out at Sid's Pub

Spent couple of hours with old friends, and a new one at Sid's TTDI. To unwind.

The crowd was mainly gwai-lo. But good atmosphere, drink was good. Overall, good evening.

Had 5 pints of Guinness, 3 pints of Heineken, 1 pint of Strongbow, pigs in blanket, chicken wings and fried sausage among 4 people

Had 4 pints myself. Should have stop at 2. Go Arthur!!!!

Slight hangover this morning. Good stuff.

Sid's Pub Sdn Bhd

34, Lorong Rahim Kajai 14,

Taman Tun Dr Ismail,

60000 Kuala Lumpur,

Tel : 603-7727-7437

I ran 2.4km

After the 1.6km run on treadmill yesterday, I was motivated to run again since I was pretty comfortable while running.

This morning. reached the gym 20 minutes before the start of BodyPump class. Thought why not do a 2.4km run to measure my endurance level.  Check out my previous post about it here.

So, i did 2.4km run this morning. Awesome.....Last time I run above 2km was years ago. Sad to say. I think because of the cycling, it help in building the stamina and giving me the confidence.

The time was really bad, I did it in 15m23s. With the first 1.5km only at 8.5km/h speed and gradually increase to 9.5km/h at the last couple of hundred meter. And the best part is that I think I can still continue, but have to stop to join the BP class.

When I posted the endurance test blog, I have two hurdles, one is to actually finished the 2.4km run, and second is to be at very poor level. I cross two hurdle today, and targeting 14m30s to reach the fair endurance level by this month. 

Awesome...I ran 2.4km..... Guinness tonight.....on me....all are welcome...all 2 of you :)

Awesome!!!!!!

5 reasons that I need a vacation

According to the blog from John Baldoni.

1. Break from the routine - freshen your attitude

2. Reconnect with the family - good for them, good for u

3. Get in touch with self - kick back and think

4. Let your mind ruminate - think, again

5. Smell the roses - sit and reflect

The key word? Think......

Ran for 1.6KM

Don't laugh, I haven't been running for ages.

This morning, woke up to feed the little one at 5.30am, she is not cooperating. Put her back down to the bed, pack my bag and hit the gym.

Run on the treadmill for 1.6km, timed myself, took me 9m59s.

I know this is not exactly a good time. But I am happy with it. Maybe tomorrow I will run the 2.4km to check my fitness level before the bodypump class.

Target is to able to run 4.8km 3 times a week for the next 2 weeks. 

I can do it!!!

Starting to run

OK. Need to start run training.

First, need to measure my fitness level, or the lack of fitness.

1. Walk as fast as possible, 4 laps (1.6km) and time myself

2. Run 6 laps (2.4km) and time myself.

For my age, here should be the benchmark (from here)

Very poor : 15m41s
Poor : 14m30s - 15m40s
Fair : 13m15s - 14m29s
Good : 11m45s - 13m14s
Excellent : 9m31s - 11m44s
Superior : <9m30s

My guess, i will be at OMG very poor level, maybe 20minutes? Will update.

Good saturday morning ride in Putrajaya

Woke up at 6am on saturday morning. My usual ritual. Had couple of peanut butter sandwiches and drove to Putrajaya, stop by the Petronas for some water and 100+. 

Did the putrajaya outer ring with additional route thrown in to extend 10% of the distance as wanted. The additional route was to go straight instead of turn right into PICC, did a u-turn (include a climb) and back to Persiaran Selatan and take the first left to PICC. One more climb up the PICC and then back to the car at the PM office. This add another 4-5KM in the loop, i.e the 10%.

Here is the stats

Distance : 45.5km

Average HR : 82%

kcal : 1421

Max speed : 50.7 km/h

Average speed : 25.0 km/h

Ride time : 1h49min

A bit disappointed on the average speed, as the target was 29km/h. But will continue to work towards that.

Is the first day of fasting month, only saw 2 other cyclist on Persiaran Selatan on opposite direction. 

Muscle sore for the next day, skipped Sunday 3pm RPM in IOI.

Climbing for Dummies : on a bike

This is cool. A lot of tips and suggestion.

From Pez. Summary below, in detail, click the link.

Tips

1. Go slow

2. The right gearing (make sure  you have gear to shift to in emergency, don't stay in smallest COGS)

3. Gear gain game

4. Down shift and stand (protect the family jewels)

5. Ride with weaker rider

6. Hand position game

7. Know the plan (know the terrain) 

8. Bonking is ok (get down and push to the top, never turn back)

9. Practice makes pretty good

10. Get thin

Tip #10 is just for me. :) All are good advice. 

Pitch in and help out

Read it from a blog. It happens to me.....

It seems noble to roll up your sleeves and pitch in to help out. It feels good. But if you continue to focus on production work at the expense of supervision work, you will fail. You will feel beat up and ineffective. As you are ineffective, you will get pummeled by customer demand, your boss and ultimately, your team will turn on you.

In the short term, you may get today's quota out the door. In the long term, you begin the death spiral.

Putrajaya ride

Solo ride this morning around Putrajaya outer ring. Saw 3 large group of RB.

Date : 15/August/2009
Ride time : 1hr 25m
Max HR : 168
Average HR : 149
Kcal : 1159
Distance : 37.8KM
average speed : 26.6km/h
Max speed : 47.5km/h

Average speed drop from last week. But this time with less rest time. and cadence maintain. I think can improve the average speed next week.

But 1155 calories burned....yes!!

10 things your boss hates about you

We all have a boss. This is interesting. Summarize from TheGuardian

1. Lateness

2. Lack of initiative

3. Too much initiative

4. Bitching and whining

5. Disloyalty

6. lack of passion/interest

7. Trying to be their best friend

8. Petty lying

9. Childishness

10. Wanting their job

Weight loss progress, or the lack of it

Not doing well. Need to really push more on the exercise and really watch the diet

5 RPM classes in 7 days

Since I can't do much weight training since the procedure, and due to the haze, not keen in cycling outdoor.

So, i went the multiple RPM classes

31/July : At MBF

2/Aug : At IOI

3/Aug : At IOI

5/Aug : At IOI

7/Aug : at MBF

Don't think I will go to RPM endurance tomorrow at IOI, 90 minutes (14 songs) of pure torture by Pat and Lilian, the crazy instructor.

But will ride at Putrajaya tomorrow morning. 30KM. Need to target 29km/h.

Use OpenDNS

To all TMnet user, instead of using the DNS server that provided by TMnet

which are

202.188.0.133 & 202.188.1.5 (these IP addresses have some sentimental value to me),

please use the following instead. Get your next door 10 years old boy from neighbor to help you set it up

208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220

More secure, more stable, better performance and not subject to arbitrary censorship from the guys upstairs.

Making bhajji

Lunch on sunday, wife made single pot chicken rice in rice cooker.

Found some brinjal in the fridge that was meant for brinjal pasta, but decided to make bhajji with it.

Recipe

Ingredient
1. 1.5 cup dhal flour
2. 2 mid size brinjal (cut thinly)
3. 1 tea spoon chili powder (i used mild mexican chili powder)
4. A handful of flat leaf parsley (chopped)
5. Pinch of salt
6. Pinch of pepper
7. 1 cup of water

Steps
1. Heat peanut oil
2. Mixed all ingredient (except brinjal)
3. When oil are hot, dip brinjal slice into batter and fried till golden brown.
4. Eat

Quick dinner fix

Got home from office at almost 6pm.

Planned to go to gym for 7pm RPM class. Searched the pantry, I have some leftover heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, some potato, which gave me an idea to make potato gratin. Get the stuff ready, pop into the oven and went to th gym.

Surprisingly, the RPM class was full (all 31 spinners). Stephanie was the replacement instructor, it was CK's class. I was easy on myself, since this was the first class since the operation. Everything is well.

Ingredient:
4 medium size potato (sliced thinly)
1 cup of heavy cream
Parmesan cheese
2 garlic (chopped finely)
salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of italian mixed herbs
Butter

Steps:
1. Sliced thinly the potato (without skin) and put in a oven proof bowl (I used Corning ware)
2. chopped Garlic and add to the bowl together with salt and pepper
3. Pour the cream into the bowl and add a handful of shredded cheese
4. mixed well (with hand or spoon)
5. Top with another handful of shredded cheese and some butter
6. Put in a pre-heated oven (210C) for 35 minutes (30 minutes with cover on)
7. Garnish with parsley and served.

Megan love it. It will be nice to serve with garden salad. Also maybe some bread crumb on top will be nice.

Picture of the gratin was not from me. Borrowed from here, a very nice food blog called "Living in the kitchen with puppies", Thanks Natashya.

PD Triathlon official result

Got this from Dinesh's website.

My team was number 819.

My official time was 1:29:31

My target is to get to 1:15:00 by 31/Oct/2009, Putrajaya Tri. Target average speed will be 32km/h.

First, need to change the pedal and get rid of the irritating sound from the crank. Major overhaul of the Trek 2000.

How true....

There's nothing to mourn about death any more than there is to mourn about the growing of a flower. 

What is terrible is not death but the lives people live or don't live up until their death. 

They don't honor their own lives, they piss on their lives. They shit them away. 

Dumb fuckers. They concentrate too much on fucking, movies, money, family, fucking. Their minds are full of cotton. 

They swallow God without thinking, they swallow country without thinking. 

Soon they forget how to think, they let others think for them. Their brains are stuffed with cotton. 

They look ugly, they talk ugly, they walk ugly. 

Play them the great music of the centuries and they can't hear it. Most people's deaths are a sham. 

There's nothing left to die.

--Bukowski

Sorry for the MIA

For the 2 visitors I have to my blog, sorry for the MIA.

Last friday, went through Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in SDMC.

Laparoscopic meaning keyhole surgery. Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of gallbladder. Basically the surgeon punch 4 small key hole (0.5-1.5cm) in my abdomen, stick some medical instrument inside and remove my gallbladder. It has been giving me pain and the long term solution is to remove the organ. 

Went in to SDMC at 8am and waited for an hour for admission. Got to wait for an hour before was sent to the surgery admission lounge. Did ECG, blood test and x-ray. All good. 

Got a room at around 11am, but the surgery was scheduled at 4.30pm. So, caught a movie (Sleepless in Seattle) and read few pages of my book (Evening is the whole day).

At 4.30pm, changed to the hospital gown and exposing the ass. Get push to the OT (Operating theater for the common people like us).

At 5.10pm, get push into OT#11, the anesthesiologists was dancing to the tune of "Hotel California" by the Eagles, I knew from the point I will be in good hand. Somehow...I don't know.

The anesthesiologists gave me a shot, and let me breath some weird gas, and I passed out.

I remember woke up couple of hours later, in the recovery lounge, vomited due to the effect of the anesthetic shot and passed out again.

So, now, i have 4 small holes in my abdomen, still covered and will be removed tomorrow after my visit to the doctor.

Anyway, doctor's advice, no heavy exercise next couple of weeks. definitely no BodyPump, which kind of suck. And I don't think RPM is allowed as well. Maybe I will do stationary cycling at the gym just to keep up the stamina without too much use of the abdomen.

Well, hopefully this will stop the gall stone problem I had.

This years has been eventful. 

Ciao for now

10 ways to get rich

Found this on amazon

The 10 roads, in a nutshell, are:

1. Build your own business ("the richest road") - and to build it either to sell or to last 
   
2. Become a CEO
   
3. Become a "ride along" - a trusted second in command the CEO needs and trusts who profits with the firm
   
4. Become excellent and successful at what you do (sport, writing, music) and famous - or better yet manage a portfolio of other people who are excellent and famous
   
5. Marry really really well
   
6. Steal it legally - become a Plaintiff Lawyer
   
7. Manage other people's money well, and both win
   
8. Invent income - create an ongoing income stream you own, from an invention, a song, a merchandising line, movie rights to stories, and other means
   
9. Become a real estate Baron
   
10. Save and invest wisely, consistently and effectively ("the road most travelled")

Got the list from here

Now, which one that I can relate to?

KL road safe for cyclist

Except the hot and humid weather, KL should be as nice to cycle as other city. Sorry, except those crazy bastard car and motorbike driver. Which appear in almost any city. Maybe KL one is just a bit more crazy.

Was traveling in a rented car in Brisbane and saw the flip side of the road tax sticker on the wind screen.

Nice touch by the Aussie govt.

PD Triathlin relay

Here are some report on the triathlon event.

Total ride time : 1:28.51
Distance : 39.9km (should be 40km according to the organizer)
Average speed : 26.9km/h
Max speed : 43.2km/h

The day started with some drizzle at around 6am. We left the apartment heading to the marina where the start/finish line is. Some miss communication causing us to go without breakfast. Fortunately, the kind captain of the Klang running group bought some bread and coffee for the team.

I took the bike to the road after 9.15am. The first few KM was tough because of the cold muscle. But it got warm up pretty good and the first 5km was done.

Fortunately of the rain in the morning, the air was cool and temperature was low. Did not consume a lot of water, and the ride was close th enjoyable. Maybe I didn't push too much, but the result was just below my target, which I am glad. Definitely can do better.

I overtook those individual participant, they are already tired from the swimming. My pace was pretty consistent. At around 16km, the left calf had some hint of a cramp, used the paddle to stretch a bit while keeping the pace. At the mid point u-turn water-station, stop and took a break for 30 seconds, took a power-gel, and stretch before push on. The return trip (last 20km) was pretty nice. Except about 9km from the finish line, right calf cramp, again, used the paddle to stretch and push on.

Saw about 3 punctures on the road, with one girl on mountain bike with rear puncture pushing on, maybe because no spares. Poor girl.

This is the route for all 3 events (swim, cycle and run), took during the briefing the night before.


People attending the briefing, they are voting for the interval time between each wave at the swim stage.


Here is the starting point for the swimmer. Took on the sprint race day, in the afternoon, low tide, longer distance to run, but shorter distance to swim.


This is the transition area where the cycle will be park. Must be over couple of millions ringgit of bicycle here.


My bike and jersey after the race. Ready to go home.


Above pictures were from my camera, there are plenty of other pictures from the supporters camera. Will post later.

PD triathlon

Today is the sprint day for the 2009 PD triathlon.

Came down to PD at around 3pm for registration and pick up my bibs.

our team is number 819.

Just had a so call carboloading dinner where almost everyone just pile their dinner plate with rice and pasta.

Now everyone just waiting for briefing.

Ciao, going back to the hole after the briefing for rest.

Quote of the day

People will forget what you said,

People will forget what you did.

But people will never forget how you made them feel

RPM Class wednesday evening in IOI FitnessFirst

Thought of trying different FF gym, went to RPM class Wednesday evening at IOI. 

I like the timing, I am already in Puchong after the class. No fighting traffice from MBF to home. and best part, there is a Wendy's right in front of the gym, they do have the garden salad to take out. Expensive, but healthy. Or go to TGIF, in the same mall. 

The class was conducted by Teng. Not too many people in the class. I like the bike, i think is a new spinner.

May change my schedule

Perfect vacation

Many of my current passion in life are related to cycling and cooking, especially Italian food, and traveling in new places is always things I look forward to. I already thinking of traveling to Tuscany and pick up some cooking lesson along the way.

Now, I found one that can fulfill my desire in one go.

Cycling and cooking tour in Tuscany. Perfect!!!!

It will cost Euro2300 for a 7 days 6 nights of travelling, drinking, eating, cycling and cooking. This is perfect, and next year schedule falls on my birthday. I am definitely going for it.

Who wants to join me?

Tour de France : starting tomorrow

Just got Astro to turn on my SportsChannel for EuroSport.

Need to stock up healthy snacks and "healthy" beers. :)

TdF drinking game, when ever the commentator mention Lance, take a drink.

Here is the schedule

Tour de France (Live)
Saturday 04 Jul 2130 Stage 1: Monaco
Sunday 05 Jul 1915 Stage 2: Monaco - Brignoles

Monday 06 Jul 2015 Stage 3: Marseille - La Grande Motte
Tuesday 07 Jul 2015 Stage 4: Montpellier
Wednesday 08 Jul 2015 Stage 5: La Cap d´Adge - Perpignan
Thursday 09 Jul 2015 Stage 6: Gerone - Barcelona
Friday 10 Jul 1945 Stage 7: Barcelona - Andorra Arcalis
Saturday 11 Jul 1815 Stage 8: Andora la Veilla - Saint Girons
Sunday 12 Jul 1830 Stage 9: Saint Gaudens - Tarbes

Tuesday 14 Jul 1945 Stage 10: Limoges - Issoudun
Wednesday 15 Jul 2015 Stage 11: Vatan - Saint Fargeau
Thursday 16 Jul 2015 Stage 12: Tonnerre - Vittel
Friday 17 Jul 2015 Stage 13: Vittel - Colmar
Saturday 18 Jul 2015 Stage 14: Colmar - Besancon
Sunday 19 Jul 2145 Stage 15: Pontarlier - Verbier

Tuesday 21 Jul 1845 Stage 16: Martigny - Bourg Saint Maurice
Wednesday 22 Jul 1815 Stage 17: Bourg Saint Maurice - Le Grand Bornan
Thursday 23 Jul 2030 Stage 18: Annecy
Friday 24 Jul 2100 Stage 19: Bourgoin Jallieu - Aubenas
Saturday 25 Jul 1930 Stage 20: Montelimar - Mont Ventoux
Sunday 26 Jul 1945 Stage 21: Montereau Fault Yonne - Paris

Watching what you eat

As I was saying, I need to watch what I eat. Here will be a good guide for that.

Project BiggestLoser

Not doing very well. It is so hard to lose 900g in one week. But still on track. At least I am not gaining.

Need to keep an eye on the food intake.

Quick dinner last night - Cooking without recipe

Back home with Megan. Felt hungry.

Search the pantry and the fridge and gather some ingredient and made a cold tuna pasta salad.

Below is the recipe, enough for 2 medium size bowl, for 2 adults as light dinner. 

Ingredient

110 grams Farfalle (bow tie pasta)

3 eggs (hard boiled)

1 can tuna (in olive oil, drained)

2 tea spoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Steps

1. put eggs in pot with water covering the eggs. Turn on the heat, once water boiled, turn off heat and put a lid on for 10-12 minutes. Take the eggs out, put them under running tap water to stop the cooking process and cool down the egg. Peel and put aside

2. Boil a pot of salted water for the pasta and cook pasta according to the package, take out from the water and put under running water to stop the cooking process and cool down the paste.

3. Mix mayonnaise and mustard in a bowl and put aside

4. Assembly time, make sure all ingredient are cold. 

5. In a large salad bowl, mix all the ingredient, the pasta, tuna, eggs (chopped into small pieces) and the sauce. 

6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Separate into two bowl

8. Sit on couch with daughter and enjoy, while watching Ben10.

Megan seems to like it, will make more often.

What can be different

1. Add in frozen peas (or frozen mixed vegetables) - no green in the salad, all just yellow

2. Use different kind of pasta (shell)

3. Try different kind of mustard

4. more pasta, maybe 140g

Sorry, no picture. 

Pasta with Roasted yellow Pepper Sauce

Toasting the yellow pepper

My turn of making dinner today. Since my philosophy of eating light for dinner, choose to make this.

Modified Pioneer Woman's recipe of red pepper sauce with yellow pepper sauce. Sorry PW. :)

Refer to the link above to her recipe and her fantastic photography skill.

Recipe copied from her site, ran out of parsley in the house. Hence missing some green in the presentation. But I love the sauce, nutty.

My version of the pasta. Note the missing green element (Parsley)

Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

3 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
Flat leaf parsley, finely minced
Fresh Parmesan, shaved or grated
1/2 to 1 pound pasta: orecchiette, penne, fusilli, etc.

Roast red peppers, then place in a Ziploc bag to allow to sweat. Peel the charred skins from the peppers, then removed seeds. Set aside.

Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet. Set aside.

Puree peppers with pine nuts. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a skillet or pot over medium heat, drizzle in olive oil. Add diced onions and garlic and cook until soft. Pour in pepper puree and stir together. Add plenty of salt.

Pour in cream and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, if necessary. Add cooked pasta, then stir together.

Place pasta into a bowl, top with chopped parsley and plenty of shaved Parmesan.

Megan enjoying the pasta.

Saturday Morning ride at FRIM

After a tough Friday morning RPM class in FF, and a nice recovery night ride at PCM, thought I will keep the momentum and head to FRIM Saturday morning for a little off road fun.

Woke up at 6am, have a cup of Joe and a sandwich with 2 half boiled eggs, pick up Ee a 6.45 and drive to FRIM. Always remember to pack the bike and stuff the night before, less chance of forgetting anything.

Weather was good this morning, and because we started early, less people on the trail.

Below is the statistic of the ride this morning.

Total exe time : 1 hour 13 minutes
Average heart rate : 129
Max Heart rate : 160
Total time in Zone : 1 hour 11 minutes (min 100, max 160)
Kcal burned : 690
Distance : 13.4KM
Average speed : 11.2 km/h
Max speed : 35.9 km/h
Average cadence : 61
Max cadence : 114

A little booboo happened at the first pit stop, I fell down due, lost balance, in front of a group of jogger. How embarrassing.

I am happy with this weekend ride.

See if I have time for a 40KM ride tomorrow evening. Or a 20KM one.

Song list for bodypump #70. Very cool

Here is the link to the page with the song list in #70.

Warmup: Don’t Leave me with the Light On – Danzel
Squats: It’s All Your Fault – Pink
Chest: Infinity 2008 – Guru Josh Project
Back: True Believer – E-Type
Triceps: Keeps Gettin’ Better – Christine Aguilera
Biceps: Gotta Be Somebody – Nickelback
Lunges: Raindrops (Encore Une Fois) – Sash! feat. Stunt
Shoulders: Thunderstruck – Hinder
Abdominals: Love Lockdown – Kanye West
Cooldown: If I Were A Boy – Beyonce.

RPM class this morning

Last 2 weeks for RPM #43.

It was good, able to push more by adding resistance. Can do a full attack at the end of song 7. Good ending for the week. Hopefully no more rain till tomorrow noon. Want to go back to FRIM.

The following is the song list for RPM #43.

Song #1 : Closer 3:59 Ne-Yo
Song #2 : Hot N Cold 5:18 Katy Perry
Song #3 : Spaceman 6:07 The Killers
Song #4 : Take Back The City 4:36 Snow Patrol
Song #5 : Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix) 6:06 The Prodigy
Song #6 : In The Darkness 6:29 Darude
Song #7 : Cry For You (Darren Styles Remix) 6:53 September
Cooling down, on bike : Broken Strings Featuring Nelly Furtado 4:15 James Morrison
Cooling down, off bike : Love Is A Losing Game 2:34 Amy Winehouse

Read from one of the posting in LesMills forum

"You'll leave the class exhusted but, hey, that's just the sensation of weakness leaving your body."

How true....

Here is the challenge and the target

Here it is. It does not looks difficult. Less than 1KG per week. The game is on.

Friendly challenge

Well, well, well. Seems like we have couple of friends who will like to shed couple of KG and what is better than a little wager among friends to see who can reach the target first.

The target : shed 10% of body weight (it is not the actual weight lost that count, it is the percentage of the weight lost, copied from Biggest loser)

Duration : 3 months

Prize : Dinner at Jarod & Rowlings (Beer, Wines, Sausages, Pork knuckles) - just to gain back the weight? :)

I will update here when I weight myself tonight and start the clock. 

Let the game begins.

Mistake to avoid in Management

This is interesting.

Asked myself the question, do I have any of the following?

1. Lack energy and enthusiasm
2. Accept their own mediocre performance
3. Lack clear vision and direction
4. Have poor judgment
5. Don't collaborate

Important question to ask myself, if answer yes to one of the behaviour, what could I do to reconnect to the purpose of my work?

Try to find one of the following and do it, with the help of the managers or colleague.

1. Paces himself/herself by building in regular breaks from work.
2. Manages workload so that he/she has time for unexpected problems or issues.
3. Spends less time using his/her functional skills and more time encouraging team members to use theirs.
4. Regularly takes time to step back and define or redefine what needs to be done.
5. Focuses less on day to day operations and more on identifying and taking advantage of strategic opportunities. 

From here.

How to be happy at work

Is it important? Hell yes, we spend more time at work than anything else, we should be happy at work.

According to this article, there are a few thing to do to be happy at office

1. Choose to be happy. While brushing your teeth or shaving, look at the mirror at tell yourself that you will be happy today.

2. Find something you love to do and do it once a day. It can be something outside of the office, such as a hobby or something. How about pick up cycling and join me on my ride? Chess? PS3? Stay away from alcohol and drugs, please. Other vice as well. :)

3. Remind yourself that you can choose your own destiny and path your career takes. Learn a new skill that will take you to your chosen career.

Making any sense? Message me.

Pasta with eggplant

Since PW said that this pasta is all she needs in life. I told myself I got to try this.

Missing some ingredient, fresh basil (yeah, yeah, garden project not started) and Parmesan cheese. But still good.

The original recipe was from here.

Pasta with Eggplant

Olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 medium eggplants
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
Fresh basil
1 1-lb package fusilli
salt & pepper
Parmesan Cheese

• Cook pasta according to package directions.

• Slice eggplant into round slices. Sprinkle one side with salt and allow to stand or 15 minutes. Turn over and repeat. Rinse eggplant and pat dry.

• In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil and cook onion and garlic until starting to turn color, about 5 minutes.

• Add eggplant, stirring gently. Cook for 8 minutes, or until somewhat tender.

• Dump in canned tomatoes and reduce heat to simmer. Add salt and pepper and simmer until eggplant is tender. Toss in cooked pasta and chopped basil. Stir in 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

• Garnish with shaved Parmesan.

It was pretty good, maybe cook the eggplant a little longer and have Parmesan cheese on top.

The grilled chicken breast came out dry. Not good.

Megan finish what was in her bowl and ask for second. I think she is Italian.

Sunday morning breakfast - scone

Woke up early today. Make some scones for breakfast. Took the recipe from JoyofBaking website. Here is the source.

Recipe:

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional)

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping:

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips). Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 12 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuits.

I substitute cream with milk, but should have add a little milk, a bit dry in the middle. Should have added raisins or even almond flakes. Plain is nice too.

Perfect for jams. Megan likes it, had a few.

Returning to FRIM

Before bike shower after the ride

Well, after 5 months, finally gathered enough courage to return to FRIM.

Last time we were there was when Ee has his right shoulder meeting the hard place and shattered the collar bone into 2 pieces.

Woke up at 6am, picked up Ee at 6.45am.

Start rolling at around 7.15am. FRIM has designated a trail for mountain bike, starting from the Melayu Tea house towards Steroid Hill. Something new since our last ride.

We took the trail, but didn't go up to the steroid hill (too early for beginners like me, give me another 3 months), made a U-Turn at the clearing.

One loop took me about 25 minutes, around 4.2KM. I know, i know, pathetic. Well, it is my pace. Did another loop after a short break sitting at the foothill of rover, looking at sweaty girls ran pass.

Here is the data from my Polar.

Exec time : 1:16:30
Distance : 13.5KM
Average speed : 10.6 KM/hour
Max speed : 29.5 KM/hour
Average cadence : 61
Max cadence : 109

Fun level : 7/10

Some dirt.

Definitely will like to get back to my playground.

RPM #43 at FF this morning

Something I look forward for the whole week. Always enjoy the friday morning RPM, maybe is because it is a Friday!!!!

Still have some muscle ache from the body pump, but need to training.

It was a good workout. I pushed real hard, even till song #7. And the last attack was really drain all the energy.

Good stuff. Ready for tomorrow FRIM ride.

Have a good weekend