Tri Shopping
I'm having a jolly good time gathering information about all the tri equipment I need to get. It's a long list and I think the $$ dent is substantial for something I'm not even sure I'm going to like. So far I've invested in a pair of TYR swim goggles (only ones available at the club), private swim lessons (expensive but no choice) and group swim training (need it as it includes 3 open water sessions).
Next purchase is going to be a road bike, helmet, cycling shorts, cycling shoes, gloves, pump etc. That'll be about $2K. I'm going to go for a second-hand Giant with upgraded components Campagnolo Centaur. If I end up hooked on road biking, this will keep me happy for quite a while. I spend a bit more upfront but I won't have to incur upgrading costs from entry level stuff. If I really don't like road biking, I can still offload it. Sounds like a good plan.

Swim Lessons
Today was the third morning in the last 6 days that I'm up and in the pool by 7am! Doing laps....getting private lessons on correcting my front-crawl technique. Never even imagined I'd be doing this. Well, the discovery of the week is that the club pool water is actually warm. I always thought swimming in the early hours of the morning was torture because the water would be cold. Not at all.
At the first lesson, I was told I'm very 'buoyant' and that my arms look 'small'. That's putting it diplomatically. What he meant to say was that I have a big floating bum and puny, weak arms. Such were the obstacles to my quest for front-crawl skill and speed. He did compliment my breast-stroke by saying I had some 'potential'. Anyway, I worked hard.
At the end of my second lesson today, I graduated from the swim board. My technique is almost there. Just have to find a comfortable rhythm. For the first time in my life, I actually swam a few laps of front-crawl halfway decently. My goal is to be able to join the club Masters' swim training on Tuesdays. Put that together with the Triladies swim training on the weekend....and maybe a 3rd session by myself. That should build up my swim fitness. Hope to do my 750m swim in 15 minutes.....or less.

Triladies Triathlon - 23rd Sept 2007 @ East Coast Park

Yup....I've signed up for this. It's going to be the first Asian Women's Triathlon. I'm really excited. This is going to be a stretch for me. But I'm looking forward to the personal challenge. I'm doing the Sprint Distance - 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. Think it's pretty 'doable'. The Olympic Distance is double that so no go.....not yet anyway. Maybe never. Anyway, I've been wondering why I want to do this. What's my motivation? Well, one of my goals was to exercise daily anyway.....so this gives it more focus. Besides.....why not? Live a little. Take a risk. I was spending a lot of time in the gym looking for non weight-bearing exercise machines to supplement the weekly runs. Swimming and biking fit the bill.

There are a lot of obstacles to overcome. I tried to join the Masters Swim training at the club today but when the coach saw the way I swam front-crawl, he just shook his head. I need one-on-one coaching on my terrible technique. I was bashing around in the water most unelegantly and lifting my head at the wrong times. Taking big gulps of air like I was desperate. Sigh. Nothing at all like a shark that slices through the water with no wake. All these years I've been swimming breast stroke. Never really liked nor learnt front-crawl properly.

So my first swim class is this Friday at 7am! Stay tuned for daily updates on how I'm going to go from.....zero to hero! Ha!

That was my new car. Junction of Jalan Haji Alias & 6th Ave. Red light for me.....so I was stationary. I saw a black car on 6th Ave coming from my right skidding out of control. I was a sitting duck. I knew I was going to get hit but couldn't move anywhere. The other driver. Barely an adult. After she hit me, she hit the lamp post. The lamp smashed on the road & made the pole lean. She was driving too fast & lost control. The blessing - no one was injured. I was pretty mad as I had two of my sons with me. What can I say? These things happen. Now it's just a hassle. A real hassle.

Wise Words from Dr Seuss

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You're on your own, and you know what you know.
And you are the one who'll decide where you'll go.

Check this out!

This is a lungfish. It lives in Jakarta. It's about the length of my arm. It's formative years was spent in a bathroom in an office. The type of bathroom that has a tiled "kong" to store water where one bathes by scooping water out of it. According to the owner, nobody bathed with it but it had many visitors who used the bowl next to the "kong". Yes, the t bowl. This is a a really weird but wonderful looking fellow. One of the few fish that hasn't changed much from.....a billion years ago.

An email story you've probably read before.....but good to read again!
When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

An Honest Mistake....and a Very Generous Act of Kindness
The petrol kiosk fellow, after topping up my engine oil (actually unnecessary but I was silly enough to believe him) did not put the cap back on. So I drove around a day and the engine oil was going all over the place. Everywhere I parked I left a puddle of engine oil. Figured something was amiss but didn't have the foggiest idea what. Quickly brought the car into Kah Motors. Desmond cleaned up my engine, topped up my engine oil (2 small bottles) and.........did not charge me for it. God Bless the kind man....really....this is the most generous act of kindness I've experienced in a while.

Mizuno Mount Faber 10km Run

This was how we spent last Sunday morning. The fellow who took this pic of us is even nuttier than us. He runs marathons (42km) every month all over the world. Right now, he's in Vienna.

Anyway, we're all smiles here because it's pre-run. Post-run we all looked rather dazed. This run was tough because of the Mount Faber gradient and also because we had to run alongside lots of traffic & fumes. The traffic police had to 'man' so many junctions for us. I only enjoyed the bit going up and down the hill because I didn't care about looking good and chose to walk! I enjoyed peering into the lovely residential houses there and the lush jungle. The Danish Seamen's Church building was also very unique looking and I wanted to walk in and take a look.

I felt abnormally energetic all of Sunday and embarked on a furious home spring cleaning. Paid for it for the next 3 days as my posterior muscles just screamed at me in agony. I strongly believe I have never used those muscles before and they had been rudely awakened from their 41 yr slumber. I did entertain the delightful thought of having a nice muscular butt but.....no, think I'll just live with the one I have now.

When was the last time you questioned your perspective?

In the movie Dead Poets' Society, Robin Williams plays a professor who challenges his young students to the joys of literature and also, issues of life. I'm sure we all remember the part where an excited Robin Williams jumps up one of the desks in the classroom and imparts a chunk of wisdom.
He asks his students: "Why do I stand here?"
Then he answers his own question: " I stand on my desk to remind myself that we must constantly force ourselves to look at things differently. The world looks different from up here. If you don't believe it, stand up here and try it. All of you. Take turns. "
"If you're sure about something" , " he says as they take turns standing on the desk, " force yourself to think about it another way, even if you know it's wrong or silly. When you read, don't consider only what the author thinks, but take time to consider what you think......Risk walking new ground."

Risk walking new ground. Yeah, I like that. Take a risk. Live a little.

Trolley Glaring
I was waiting in line at Giant with about a dozen items in my trolley. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that lady in front of me was staring at the items in my trolley. It was a long stare......almost like she was examining each and every item I had selected. Next thing (and I knew this would happen), she looked up from staring at my trolley and looked at me instead. Like as if she was making a judgement of who I was and what kinds of things I selected. At this point, I really felt like sticking my finger in my nose and being totally gross just for her benefit .....but instead I continued staring into space. Now, why do people do things like this?

Education....or should it be entertainment?
I was asking my teenage sons about school today. Instead of the usual "Have you done your homework yet?", I asked how they liked the subjects they were learning. To me, learning should be life long. I'm excited about what I learn in coaching and I can't get enough of all the books, new tools, new ideas etc. I can't wait to apply what I've learnt. Most importantly, nobody has to tell me to study. I study because it thrills me and I don't consider it work.....it's pleasurable.

I know that's not the case for the boys. I've been trying to figure out how to change that. I don't like being 'chief nagger' and I think the key is to unlock their internal motivation. Anyway, the bottom line of the separate conversations I had with the boys was that they liked the subjects that were taught by younger male teachers who knew how to crack jokes. The subjects were social studies, geography, history and biology. I wonder why it seems that math is always taught by older women who have no sense of humour. Sigh.

I think teachers can make or break an interest in a subject. Most kids entering secondary school have no pre-conceived biases or notions about the new subjects they will be learning. That's a perfect chance to get off to a flying start. So my boys' favourite subjects are the ones where the teachers enjoy themselves whilst teaching and are able to share some humour with their students. So.... do we need to change the mindset of our teachers so they realize they are actually in the entertainment business?

Baobei Goes Sailing!!
Here are some pics from our 'whole' family outing to sea. We dragged the dog along. She doesn't look it but she's actually very happy to have been included. Never mind that she doesn't like water, got extremely nervous everytime the boat rocked, started to hyperventilate from the searing heat....and due to Tim's madness was also overheating because he made her wear a lifejacket.
So we spent more time getting the boat ready than actually sailing. There was no wind and the sun was blazing hot. We just about ran out of drinks onboard and everyone was getting rather grouchy. Then....a fish jumped on board and slammed against the sail. Dog and fish exchanged a few sniffs and licks. It was a moving experience and very special....not to mention, highly unusual!

What is your intelligence?
There are 7 different kinds of intelligences.
1. Linguisic Intelligence (the ability to use words)
2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (working with numbers and logic)
3. Spatial Intelligence (thinking in pictures and images)
4. Musical Intelligence (perceiving, appreciating and producing rhythms and melodies)
5. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (knowing the physical self)
6. Interpersonal Intelligence (understanding and working with people)
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence (knowing the inner self)
This is taken from Thomas Strong's book "7 Kinds of Smart".

Duh!
I'm reading John C. Maxwell's The Success Journey - The Process of Living Your Dreams. Good stuff. This is sad, true and a wake-up call for all of us.

Did you know that most people give more time to planning their vacations than they do to planning their lives? Based on the way people spend their planning time, you'd think they put in two weeks on the job each year and fifty on vacation.

Great Quotes
Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. Henry Ford.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. W.W. Ziege

Fear breeds inaction
Inaction leads to lack of experience
Lack of experience leads to ignorance
Ignorance breeds fear. John C. Maxwell

Think about this.....
If you had unlimited power, unlimited resources, unlimited time....how would you transform the world?
Ah....well, it's been done actually. It's available for all to read in the best selling book of all time...the Bible!

Great Advice I Read Today.....
Live your life boldly and with passion.
Make a list of at least 10 activities you would like to do but somehow never seem to make a priority.
Set a date by when you will commit to doing each one.