“Have a bias toward action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.”
Indira Gandhi quotes (Indian Politician and Prime Minister. 1917-1984)“People seldom see the halting and painful steps by which the most insignificant success is achieved.”"NO training, NO preparation, step by step?? Hantam Sajalaaaahhh"Mafiz Seth (KLTowerthon participant, 1976-????)
picture courtesy of Dr.M
The race took us to through the familiar hilly Bukit Tunku route. I had a comfortable race this time as I pace quite consistently till the end. I still face this occasional abdominal cramp whenever I ran over hill. I slowed down to ease the pain when everyone else was actually sprinting downhill! I must find a way to solve this problem. It's funny when I get to pass slow runners going uphill but only to be taken over again downhill. Baik takyah potong!
The target was to cross the line sub 1 hour. When I ran pass the Parliament building, I felt I could still push harder. In my past races, masa ni dah nak pitam dah! Not this time though. So that gave me alot of confident to finish in time. Unfortunately, as I reached the DBKL building turning into Dataran, I looked up the Sultan Abdul Samad clock, it was already 8.34am. Damn! Kecewa! I completed the race in 65 minutes.
My self and Dr.M felt we could do it this time. But Mafeitz, he had a different predicament. He had to settle some 'big problem' midway during the race! hahaha. However, I got to know that the actual distance that we ran was over 10km! It's closer to 11km instead! If that's true, I might have covered 10km in under 60 minutes after all! Hahaha...bagus!
keletihan disebalik senyuman kepuasan...
We were all tired. A bit more than usual I think. Perhaps the body was still recovering from last week's cross country event. But I have to recover quickly now. If I want to survive next weekend's KL Towerthon, I have to start climbing stairs to elevate my physical and mental state. Elevate??? Rasa ada yang naik elevator je hari tu! hahaha
My colleague Irene forwarded me this brilliant clip posted on YouTube. If you want to be inspired by what the new media can do in the education space, watch this video...
It was compiled from international experts speaking at the World Congress on Education held in Melbourne in 2008, sponsored by Telstra. An example of how a telco demonstrate strong sectoral leadership. Not just sponsoring telecommunication's forums and conferences!
I had to skip the Great Eastern 20km run in January due to gastric. So this 8.2km cross country is my first run for the year. Infact, I've not been running or training since the Malakoff 12km run in December! My only preparation; a week of carbo loading regime! hehehe
I met Azad at Dr. M's place in the morning and Dr. Kamal drove us to KL in his 5series bella. Ruslan and Halim joined us at the starting line..
before the race...from Dr M's camera phone..
after the race...
It's definitely different running in a cross country competition. But I never thought that we'd be running more than 1km in the jungle! Especially when we're in the middle of the city! There were too many runners and it created bottlenecks. We were reduced to walking for about 1km. It hasn't been raining lately. So that's good. If not, we'd be running ala Genting Trailblazer. However, we still ended up with soggy socks and muddied shoes (expensive running shoes mind you).
just before crossing the finishing line...
Finished the run just over an hour. With 8km to cover, I thought I could cross the finishing line in under 60 minutes. For the first 2km, I paced my run in anticipation of the unknown. They did warned runners to be prepared for obstacles but I expected them to be man made. What to do..tipah tertipu. So redah je laahhh. The good thing is we get to race under the shades! Next stop...10km KL City run.
He watches Ben10 on YouTube though...It's a bit of a problem for us because he doesn't know how to move the cursor and click on the icons. So whenever he's on the Internet, we have to help him type in the web addresses or google up his favourite pictures.
Btw, if you know how to make YouTube play the video continuously, please let me know. Our solution now is to look for lengthy video clips for Zidani to watch. If not, we'd be clicking on the same video every 1 or 2 minutes!
Today I took Raidi to a hobby shop in SS14. He has been persistent to build a scale model tank. So I thought it's time to expose him to the world of military model building.
At the shop, he aimed for the 1/35 scale models. A bit ambitious I thought. So I advised him to start with a smaller scale. After about an hour looking for the right kit, we opted for this 1/72 Swedish made main battle tank. I purposely chose this model because of its turretless design. It should be easier for him to build compared to conventional MBT.
Raidi assembled the model the same day we bought it. He did well on his first attempt. It wasn't really a clean finish but I don't put much emphasis on the end product. It's all in the process. It's in the attention, concentration and patience that he puts in.
Raidi complained that the 1/72 scale is too small.... kotak je besar!
assembling the wheels and track of an MBT is the most boring part for me....
Now he's looking forward to build his next miniature tank. It's getting into me as well. I want to build the Merkava MBT again...
I've been loyal to my Canon A95Powershot digital compact camera close to 4 years now. This camera captured majority of the pictures posted on this blog. In fact, I've uploaded close to 3000 pictures on Flickr from the same camera.
I'm upgrading to a DSLR. But I'm doing it with my own pace! hehehe..So I started off with the memory card first! hahaha... With 2GB flash card, I have 10 times the capacity of the original CF card! I'm tired of deleting unwanted pictures to save space. And no more 10 seconds video clips!
For a change, I took the boys and Ayu to a private retreat within the tropical rainforest. I told Raidi that we're going camping. He was excited naturally and wondered whether we should get ourselves a tent. Boy he was in for a surprise...and he wasn't alone in this!! Check out the photos and see for yourself...
our 2 storey glass shed...the upper floor is the sleeping area...Raidi standing at the front
masa siang...
masa malam...
the living area...
The glass shed that we stayed in is perfect. Accommodation is nestled right amongst the trees. Imagine being in the shed and listening to rustling leaves and running stream located just metres away. It's so soothing and relaxing. I've been to camping trips many times before but this place is like a luxurious forest living environment complete with hot showers, kitchen amenities and a swimming pool! It's just nice for a family outing looking for a bit of adventure without sacrificing basic facilities (basic is a huge understatement to my standards).
Atuk Seth and Uncle Harris entertaining the kids...
BEST!!
on the upper floor, complete with kelambu..
the other shed....made primarily of mud...yang ini siap ada aircond..
during the bbq dinner...Rizal busy mnaging the bbq pit..
No Astro, TV, no hand phone signal and no Internet. A perfect place to escape from your hectic daily routine. Raidi wasn't really happy as he couldn't watch YouTube and play games. Ayu was skeptical about the place at first and said that even Kutu can mati here. So I told her to bring along Stephenie Meyer the pontianak novel. I can't imagine any other better place for her to read the novel. Seriously, the glass shed reminded me of the Cullens bungalow in the movie Twilight. Zidani went back to Damansara after the BBQ. He was a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by tall and huge trees.
Before we went back to KL, we stopped by the Serendah waterfall picnic area located 5 minutes drive from the resort. Of course we couldn't tahan. So we had our final dip for about an hour before finally calling the day off.
We headed back to TTDI feeling recharged. It's a whole new experience even for me. I'm very impressed with the whole setting of the resort especially the glass sheds. Before we came to this place, I thought Ayu wouldn't really enjoy this type of 'outdoor' excursion. But during the stay, she did asked me this question "Nanti kita buat kita punya anniversary party nak dekat sini?". Strange, maybe she was being sarcastic..I dunno... But if someone like Ayu can value this piece of sanctuary, I wonder who wouldn't?? heheheh..
I can't wait to go back to Sekeping Serendah...
