Setting a Trap by the Land Transport Authority

On the little island of 1°17′N, 103°51′E, news reported in the media that the Land Transport Authority is now clamping down on errant vehicle licence plates. Not that I'm a fan of such phnaleria, which I consider as posing (see earlier post), but the timing at which such offences are being enforced hints of sneakiness. I thought the authority was getting lenient. In fact by announcing the non-conformance to these standards are in breech of the law & stating the subsequent penalties it's like setting a trap & waiting for the unknowing to be snared. Does the authority have to wait until there are more offenders having non-conforming number plates? It was already a growing problem which enforcement could have been earlier. So who benefits? The workshops who not only gained a bundle earlier for the new-fangled plates but now also will have business through making the proper plates. The authority also will gain through apprehending the offenders & slapping them with fines. The authority should had acted earlier knowing that there's already a problem. What is the garmen upto?

Another Bunch of Posers

I came across the current LSE Alumni (http://www.lsesingapore.com/page.php?3)

Almost all the members use their workplace emails as contact info. Upon further inspection, these emails belong to reputable organisations. Oh come on! Are they trying to advertise their prestigious jobs? I'm sure a more run-of-the-mill accounts from yahoo or hotmail would suffice. Moreover, wouldn't such personal emails flood their oh-so-important workplace accounts?

Furthermore, I always wondered how many years of study should a graduate clock-up in a particular university before being allowed into the alumni committee. Even any ex-student would be welcomed with opened arms into the committee, the member should be gracious enough to know that a single year studying in the faculty is insufficient to grant committee status. ONE pathetic YEAR!?! Come on! As though you know so much about life as a student.

Singaporean Girls are the Uglist Asian Females

A newspaper article recently ran on Singaporean females' purchasing larger bra sizes. From my personal observation those around me don't seem to have grown. Of course baring their hooters would help in the verification.

I presume that it's only those ladies who already have tits have grown in size, but most have none at all.

Digressing, I think that Singaporean Females are the ugliest asian orientals in the world. Our ancestrial roots do not help much as our forefathers hail from mainly southern part of China, where inferior to the northern neighbours.

Singaporean females also have ugly legs with hideous knees, remember my GP teacher in A levels mentioning that singaporean girls should not have their uniform skirts above their knees because they (the knees) are too ugly. LOL

Looking around, singaporean girls have also bad dress sense, bad complexion & anorexic. Most after childbirth, just let their appearances rot away. And these is just the physical outlook.

A New Ride for my Dick

Just changed my bike saddle today. To cut a long story short, to preserve my future generations, I though it was time to take the tingling sensations coupled with numbness in my dick seriously. I decided to change my Fizik Arione for one with a much more generous cut-out – the SMP Evolution. The cut-out is more substantial than the previous Selle San Marco Aspide Aerohead.
As saddle purchases are largely a personal choice as well as a gamble, I went 2nd hand. I managed to land a good deal with year-old one, used used once, still packaged with the silica gel at less than half the cost.
When I purchased the Arione, it was based on numerous praises from user reviews and all the marketing hype; wing flex, more contact area. But this site takes the cake - http://bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/arione.shtml. In it, the author sings high praises for this saddle, just like all other products reviewed. I’m sure he can sell combs to monks. He claims that the centre anti-skid strip is made of a less dense material. No where in the manufacturer’s site or web site to that matter ever mentioned a word on this. Somehow I think kissing the manufacturer’s ass might get him a better retail deal. Anyway, the Arione’s raised centre strip actually attributed to some of my numbness where the sun doesn’t shine. I hope the SMP Evolution will help the evolution of my species.

Smokers are Losers

Posers are Losers, so shall we call them PLosers?

I aim to identify losers of all kinds & no one bets smokers. Smokers are major losers. If you don’t respect the air others breathe, likewise I have no respect whatsoever for you. A big ‘L’oser for you puffing chimneys.

Losers / Posers in Road Cycling

Cycling is a good sport & hobby. It gets people to cover distances under their own power not at the expense of the environment. What strikes me as posers to the sport are roaddies (people who ride road bikes) packing their bikes & heading off to a another location for a training ride.

Firstly, in a small country about 4ox30km with easy assessible smooth roads, driving with a road bike stashed to a gas guzzler totally defeats the purpose of exercising. It's forgiveable if one is one the way to a race start. Otherwise, these people are softies. In addition, transporting one's grand-worth bike on external vehicle storage systems is a clear sign of posing. Treks, colnagos, Pinarellos & the like are meant to be ridden at 40+km/h not strapped to automobile roof tops or dragged sideways at 90km/h on the expressway.

The guilty are almost like soccor fans who never kicked a ball before, but that's another story.

Losers / Posers in Running

In races, it is prohibited to run bare bodied (topless) for men, of course. But there's evidence of some of these posers everywhere, not only in the parks, jogging track but on the road too. The police should apprehend these blokes for indecency.

They must be too poor to afford any garments to cover their upper torsals. Or too stupid to know that modern running tops are more efficient at wicking away sweat & keeping ones cool., or just too vain of their frail bodies. Maybe showing off their heart rate monitors.

Live Strong Forever

What happened to those LiveStrong wrist bands which were so fashionable. The intention of buying and wearing them (original ones, that is) is good as it supports a noble cause. Then imitations started proliferating into the market.

Posers, please don't jump into the rubber band wagon (pun intended) making a mockery of the original intention of the Yellow Lance Live Strong Bands. Wear it, wear it with pride, wear the real ones, wear it forever.

Saucony Sinister Review

I purchased a Saucony Sinister just a month ago & used it for 2 runs (5k & 13k). It's marketed as a performance trainer, suitable for the runner with a neutral gait. According to the catalogue, it has this carbon flexion plate which is suppose to get the runner faster onto his toes. But natural physics would dictate that every action has an equal and opposite re-action; if a force in the shoe is bending such that it's trying to straighen itself into the vertical plan, shouldn't it also react backwards to force the shoe onto the horizontal plan or in the opposite direction. This means that effort is required to overcome this force before the shoe even gets into its toes. All these marketing hype & I bought it. So far the road tests have not been too encouraging, using a heart rate monitor, I recorded that I require more effort to cover the same distance in a slighly longer time than another performance training - the Gel SpeedStar II.

Also I noticed that the extra cushioning that Saucony shoes portrait comes from the thicker than normal insoles. The grid system seems to be a piece of plastic glorified through marketing.

At least it looks wicked with a wicked name too. What looks good must perform good, but numbers do not lie.

The Grinch should Steal Christmas & all the other Holidays as well

Pardon me for being a wet blanket.
The reason why people welcome festive seasons is more due to the break than the reason of the season. What I wonder if why does everyone have to do the same thing at the same time. Crowding, humans or traffic at the same places. No wonder tempers flair & germs spread. If you really like someone, you don't have to wait till Christmas or Valentine's Day to display your affection. Gift exchanges? The only one smiling is the store keepers, all the way to the bank. In addition, everyone has to accumulate their leave till the end of the year together. Just like a bunch of lemmings.

Even Chinese New Year, family reunions stem back from tradition when families were larger & worked/ stayed over longer distances (like our ancesters from the mainland). But now it's more like gatherings with obnoxious relatives. Not to mention the locally-concocted "Yu Sheng", which doesn't even feature in our hertiage but only in the recent decades out of some enterprising retaurenteur idea of making money out of guilable locals. Imagine a group of rowdy adults elbowing each other & contaminating the dish with their saliva tainted chopsticks. Neaderthals.

Celebrate Everyday!

Another Loser

This is another typical . Just when we thought road rage & bullying was tailing off.

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,150906,00.html

In summary, the car in front can do practically anything he/she wants. Blaring your horn is just provcation. And jumping on their bonnets is utterly childish.

Two wrongs don't make a right. If some one wants to be an ass, just let them be. Following the idiot will only make one likewise.

Guo Tian Fu, if you are reading this post, you are the loser of the day.

Kindly isn't Kind

I came across enough use of the word 'kindly' almost all in indicrimately places.

(extracted from http://www.goodenglish.org.sg/)
Did you know that ‘kindly’ is not a very polite word to use in your correspondence?
Below are common examples of the word ‘kindly’ being used in emails, letters and notices to colleagues, clients, customers and business associates:
‘Kindly complete the reports in time for the meeting’ , ‘Kindly pick up your parcels by 7pm’
‘Kindly send me the cheque by this week’ , ‘Kindly pay at the cashier’ , ‘Kindly take off your shoes’
But did you know that 'kindly' isn't the right word to use in the above instances?
Avoid Using The Word 'Kindly'
When you use the word ‘kindly’, it often means that that you are annoyed with the person you are writing to.
Using the wrong words can confuse or anger the people we are communicating with.
It is better to use 'please' instead of 'kindly'.
Replace the word ‘kindly’ with 'please' in any of the above examples and you will sound friendlier and definitely more polite.

A word a Day

I came across a word while reading F1 news. It's 'irascible' meaning easily provoked to anger; very irritable which was used to describe Jacque Villeneuve.

I think it's also a fitting description of Singaporeans, as I think that they (myself included) are losers.

Festive Season Lets Spread Germs

Remember SARS? It was just a recent memory that a simple sneeze or cough would send one into the quarantine camps. Proper hygiene was inculcated widely. Even public act of spitting was criminal.
Since the global efforts to subdue this deadly virus, everyone is now removing their masks & coming out into the open. It's very sad to see that all the civic mindedness & hygienic practices all gone to waste. People are back to their old ways. Over-confident that it's just a mere flu bug. But a bug is still a bug & we should keep it to ourselves.
Come this festive season, more people are becoming sick & the change of weather is blamed. It's more likely the increasing instances of concregation & the inconsideration of ill people. They spread more than just gifts but sickness as well.

Stupid & dirty Singaporeans

Patience, you must learn patience

Many a time we see acts of impatience, we, myself included are even guilty of such behavior. But I would just like to bring up 2 examples of simply lack of comprehension of timings combined with impatience.
Ever crossed a road partially while a vehicle is travelling along in your face? The extra little inches will help us reach our destination more swiftly, the hospital that is. Obviously this is dangerous, but also goes against our original intentions. The driver of the vehicle is invariably slow down when faced with imminent danger of pedestrians crowding the road.

Another situation is people rushing for a croweded lift at the lobby where there are more in service but pending reaching the ground floor. The lift is just going to stop at more levels before reaching your destination. Instead, simply wait a little longer for the next empty lift, there will be less people (if any) & less chances to catch germs from some sneezer (in a coming post).

Stupid Singaporean behavior, just do the maths

The 6th C

The loose catagorising of most most commoners aspire to possess are the 5 C's of : Cash, Car, Credit card, Condominium, and Club membership. Cash is subjective, even a penny is considered cash. Even a jalopy like a proton is a car. Club membership of course excludes those term health memberhips. Condominums are more difficult to come by thesedays in light of the rocketing property prices. Finally, most banks would love to deliver a credit card in hope of having the subscriber seeing even their soul to loans.


One last C which I would like to add is 'China girls'. I'm sure most would shudder or roll their eyes at this thought. Afterall haven't we all had enough or heard enough bad press. The fact is just that, 20% of the rotton eggs make up the basket. There's more than enough reports of guys getting hit or cheated to go around. But it takes two hands to clap. If you are robbed, don't blame the robber for lack of security measures taken.


So far, I have been vigilant, skilful or just plain lucky. Have you had your nails trimmed, by a female? Your mum's don't count. China girls just know how to make a guy feel like a real man. They are also better at maintaining a decent conversation. They are able to discuss topics on-the-fly. Singaporean girls would just bitch about their jobs, the weather or shopping. Of course there's a lot more.

In fact, I might even marry one today.

A new pair of shoes

Bought a new pair of running shoes, even owning 2 other pairs. But this is my first pair of Sauconys, having my last 4 pairs of Asics. The current 2 pairs of Asics are good shoes, but showing signs of poor durability. The Nimbus 7 is actually seperating at the midsole & the Speedstar is loosing its outsole despite only using it in 3 races & a handful of tempo runs after a few months.

I made my selection from the web & my foot type. It was the Sinister I wanted, a performance training shoe. My choices towards lightweight trainings are after deliberating that I'm a runner of average to lightweight. Over-built cushioning shoes like the Nimbus are going to be overkill. The difference between the Nimbus & Speedstar is 300g for the pair, which is substantial considering the rate of impact a foot sustains during a training run. Also if I were to wear the most protective shoe, what would overweight runners wear? Also, I love blue shoes.

I went to the Saucony agent at Kaki Bukit & spotted the Sinister for the 1st time in real life. The salesman mentioned that it's dubbed the WRX, with reference to the Subaru car. I could not

agree more, in terms of it's deep blue colour & type of running it was designed for. At the retail price of $189, I had a 40% off, paying $116. A bargain for a top of the range new release. It's also loaded with gadgets without being bogged down.

Can't wait to take it out for a spin.

What irritates me

Many things irritate me, if it's you, the coincidence is not intended.

I don't have to take the public transport to have their ringtomes pierce my ear. It's in fact more irritating in the office. Fellow officer workers, or even worse, cleaners with handphones blaring out tasteless chinese sing, baby's wails & some stupid jingle.

Stop it, please. Spare my ears & the traquility of the office working environment. It's as though the owner cannot tell when his/her own handphone ringing. Daft fucks.

Back to Basics

How often have you seen or even ourselves from putting in our physical utmost during exercise. In fact almost all believe it's the only way to train - the no pain no gain syndrome. We blast ourselves to our last ounce of breath to the finish line or in this case a training session.

One thing I have learnt from my supervisor - Back to Basics. Don't run if you can't walk & crawl if you have to.

Let's use jogging for example. Such training intensities are in face mediocre. At tempo pace (runner's jargon) it's too slow to be counted at interval, thus not enabling the athlete to reap the benefits of these sessions. On the other hand, such speeds are too strenuous to maintain for proper endurance distances. Training intensities that fall into 'No man's land," are either too easy or too hard to reap the benefits you want. As quoted from writer Jack Daniels; You are not, as may sometimes be assumed, achieving the purpose of training the two systems on either side of the chosen intensity. What you are doing might be termed, "Quality-junk" training. At the least, it is training aimed at accomplishing an unidentifiable purpose. Always have a purpose for every training session; ask yourself the following questions: "What system do I hope to improve by doing this workout,' and 'What am I really trying to accomplish?"

Let me share my development after smarter training. I was an above average runner compared to my teamates. After just three months are taking a step back, not literally, of training at lower intensities, to engage fat burning; I managed to feature a top 3 position in a race I was usually just scraping the top 10. I was able to hold onto the hard initial pace & still follow through & finish with a strong kick. There are only 2 speeds one should train at; so slow snails fall asleep and so fast your eyes bleed.

Am I afraid the reader would use this method to outrun me? I just hope to share what I have learnt & I'm not worried. Most of the others are too dim, stubborn or lazy to change their methods of training. Remember, the fastest in training may not be the fastest in the race.

The Death of a Fun Run (updated)

in Finally the day came. Two company recreational clubs (rec clubs) locked horns on their annual sports friendly. One of the 10 events is cross-country. However the victor would be the winning team out of the majority of the 10 games. No prizes for indivitual winners.
This fun run was meant to generate participation & held on the relatively undemanding 3km female route at MacRitchie Reservior. However the weather was less than kind & opened it's gates. Runners were treated to a mud bath on the lower half of their bodies & so will be their shoes. I was reluctant to even start this run. No prize, no glory & all fun.

Off we went, starting half an hour later for the weather to clear, but the ground was still a pig's haven. We started from the parade square carpark. 2 of the opposition team runners took the lead at an easy pace. Once we hid the dirt trails or rather mud trails, I assessed the condition & looked at my pristine shoes. It's only 500m away from the start, I was following the fast pair with ease & I was not even red lining, unlike other similar races. Then I closed my eyes & stopped. No way am I going to risks an injury on the slippery trails or dip my shoes into the mud puddles. I walked back against the flow of runners, who were bewildered at my decision, I just smiled. I've never dropped out from a race before. But wait a min, this is just a fun run & I stopped voluntarily. On my way back I learnt to appreciate nature from a different view.

The winner completed in 18min30sec over 3.5km. I smile again, knowing that I'm capable of 17min-ish. But I'm clean.

Aftermath:
When the results were released, if I came in first (which also meant knocking the other runners down by a position each), both teams would had tied on points. Which goes to show that my team needs me. LOL