This Week in Play

July 23rd, 2010 § 0

Deathspank, Monkey Island 2 Special Edition, Limbo. Will get them the moment I’m not too lazy to connect my Xbox to the internet.

Random Unicon Photo

July 20th, 2010 § 2

I found this picture from Unicon XV in New Zealand from the 10k race. For some reason, I have that permanent pained expression in EVERY SINGLE race whether on foot or on wheel. I think I need to develop a standardized camera-friendly face for use in such situations.

This is How I Roll

July 19th, 2010 § 0

Eat your hearts out. My 95mm contact ball has arrived. Unfortunately, the shop was out of clear ones so I took up a blue one. I’d really be partial to a ebony one but I was afraid that scratches would ruin it. It’s very much heavier but the butterfly seems to benefit from the additional weight. It’s very intimidating though and I keep getting this bad vision of dropping it and having it smash a hole in the marble floor in my room. Or shatter my bookshelves. Or both.

And might I also add, my replacement glow balls have arrived. Shipping costs way more than I’d have liked but I’ve now got 8 glowballs including (at least) 2 faulty ones. I’ve yet to charge the new ones but I’m quite inspired to get a bit of filming done with these after seeing Thomas Dietz’s new trailer.

This Week in Running

July 18th, 2010 § 0

This has become such a norm that my mom now asks on Friday what time I’m leaving for my run the next day.

Today’s exercise was supposed to involve 16 X 400m laps but ended up being a pretty pathetic 8.

I was to run 400m in between 2:15-2:25, follow it with a 200m recovery run and then a 1min (or so) break. It really shouldn’t be as strenuous as it turned out to be. My regular 2.4km pace is about 2min/400m and my 10km time would be around 2.5min/400m so the pace shouldn’t be too tough.

Next time round, I should really target a 2:10-2:15 lap time.

Visa Vie

July 17th, 2010 § 1

Last week, I found out I actually do need a visa to visit Mongolia so I had to visit the Mongolian Embassy to get one made. My travel plans are very sketchy still at the moment and I’m a little puzzled why I’m not worried at all. I’m speculating that the trip just hasn’t sunk into my consciousness yet.

Still, I’m preparing. This week, my backpack has finally arrived in the mail.

Backpacks are pretty pricey in Singapore and I found one on a US site that is – very importantly – a women’s fit, the right size, 35liters, and about $20-50 cheaper than similar ones here. I like how it’s got a top and bottom loading unit, hoops for my  helmet and has enough options on the straps to customize for comfort.

I now need a unicycle bag and a new tire for my wheel. I’m trying to wear out the current one before the trip and believe me, I’m getting close.

I’ve emailed the right people, hopefully, about room reservations for my first and last day in Ulanbaator but I’ve 2-3 days at the start of the trip with no destination. I’m very VERY interested in Murun but that’s a US$170 plane ride (one way) away. Terelj seems more realistic and is likely to be where I’ll end up in. The one thing that worries me most at this point, I guess, is traveling alone without a guide in a place I can’t speak the language of. In Japan, it wasn’t an issue because I was almost always in cities and in any case, can read a fair bit of kanji to make my way around. This time though, the chances of getting lost in the middle of nowhere seem to be very real and the internet yields relatively little information about the country.

14 days more.

1-2-3-2-1

July 11th, 2010 § 0

I was introduced to interval training today for running which is supposedly the fastest means to set me up for a 50min 10km pace. The idea is to run 1 minute at a fast pace followed by a minute at a relaxed pace, then 2 at a fast followed by 2 at a slow, then 3 and 3, then 2 and 2 and finally 1 and 1, hence the terminology 1-2-3-2-1.

I started off with a 1km warm-up run at a 9kph speed before launching into a 12.2kph run. My slow pace was set at 8kph which is really slightly faster than a trot. The hardest part of the workout was not so much physical as much as mental. Especially at the 3min stretch, the run felt particularly tiring and I found myself rationalizing that it’s not likely that I’m as tired as I feel since I’ve done a full 12 minutes at that pace before. I ended the run with another 1km run at 9kph.

This feels like a good routine so I’d probably want to do this more often.

Very Eggs-citing Stuff.

July 11th, 2010 § 0

Daiso doesn’t sell any of those minimalist white cups unfortunately so I got these instead. I don’t really know what’s really in chawanmushi since I’ve never been bothered to look for a recipe but this looks and tastes pretty similar to the better ones out there so I’m concluding hence that a pretty container is an essential part of your recipe.

I think I can use these cups for creme brulee…

Reading About Reading

July 9th, 2010 § 1

A few chapters into ‘Next’, I’ve come to remember why Michael Crichton remains one of my favorite popular authors. I like how his books get into geeky details about science and technology in a manner reminiscent of how a 10-year-old who’s suddenly discovered a new dinosaur book would rave about his pet subject. It’s very endearing.

Meanwhile…

July 9th, 2010 § 0

… my iPod Touch is going to be replaced because the headphone jack is spoilt. My warranty ends in September, proving once again that ANY electronics in my hands would inevitably self-destruct before their warranties are up.

Wit’ The Flo’

July 6th, 2010 § 2

Last week, I was at Wavehouse at Sentosa to have a go at their Flowrider machine which is basically this -

And yes, we all fell like that too although I’d like to believe that I’m a lot more stable than that after one or two attempts. It’s insanely fun but on one of the attempts, possibly when I tried to jump, I fell awkwardly on my shoulder which strained my neck. It’s a week and I can’t look up properly when I’m standing up and my neck feels very tight, though painless when I look to my right. But this is definitely worth another try though because look at this vid:

Will bring my cam the next time.

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