Great Eastern Colour My Heart Run

8am last April 19, Sunday

Esplanade (Padang Kota Lama)

Over 2,500 runners of the Great Eastern Colour My Heart Run had a fun morning being showered and showering others with colorful powders along the 5km route within George Town.  The insurance company collaborated with the Heart Foundation of Malaysia for this event, where a portion of the registration fee was channeled to the foundation.

There were five tents along the way called fun zones where participants were supposed to enter and be showered with different powder color.  I skipped most of the tents, only went in on the last tent near the finish line.  

For the runners' protection, the organizers provided shades and face masks in the goody bag.  There were Milo and Revive stations for hydration.  A nice medal, a big banana, more Revive drinks and a small plate of Malaysian kuih (bite sized snacks) welcomes the finishers.  Overall, the event was very organized and well thought of.

Early birds at 6:30am

Waiting to start, saw the sun slowly coming out

Program started at 7:30am with two lively radio DJs hosting the event

VIPs at the stage before the run commenced.  

Early finisher!  Ran the 5km under 30 minutes.

The following pictures were taken from the official Great Eastern Colour My Heart Run Facebook page.

A few minutes before the run started.  That's me at the bottom right :)

Colorful blast off!

Purple zone

The red zone with color crazy looking folks!

The yellow zone is the only zone I bravely went through.

Saturday lunch date

Saturday morning, we found ourselves at Island's Hospital for Sarah's check up.  Her cough and colds have been lingering for a couple of weeks even with medications.  Her pediatrician, Dr. Hwang, prescribed new medicines for her to try this week.  (Note: The new meds worked, the cough & colds are on their tailend!)

For lunch, we went to Gurney Paragon Mall and had sushi. Strolled a bit and picked up some nice chocolates before we headed back home.

Waiting for her turn at Dr. Hwang's office

Lines, lines, lines and a cheeky monkey

Strolling around Gurney Paragon.

She chose some Easter Eggs and bunny chocolates.

Paying for her purchases.

A visit to Sarah's Tata

A couple of weekends ago, we visited Ravi's uncle, Raju.  He is one of his late father's younger brothers.  A grandfather in Filipino is called a lolo; in Tamil, it's tata.

Sarah's Tata Raju lives in Sungai Petani, a little more than an hour's drive away from Penang.  We took him to a pretty nice Indian restaurant for lunch.

Sarah and her Tata Raju.

Uncle Raju, Ravi, Sarah and my mother-in-law Thanam

Kuya John at Penang

Kuya John, a cousin on my father's side, came to Penang on the same week that Chris did (see previous post).   He teaches religion at La Salle Greenhills back in Manila and their faculty staff  had a visit to Penang's St. Xavier's Institution.  

I stayed with Kuya John's family during my last semester at Meralco Foundation.  Their house's proximity to my school was very close and it greatly helped cut down my transportation costs.  We took up his parents' offer and I am forever grateful for that. 

We met Kuya John and several of his friends for drinks at Via Pre.  Initially Ravi and I planned to bring them to a beach bar at Batu Ferringhi but their 10-course Chinese dinner lasted more than a couple of hours, something they didn't expect! (The record I experienced was 3 hours for an 11 course Chinese lunch during Chinese New Year!)

It was pretty late by the time they were available so a nightcap at an Italian bistro was the next best thing.  It turned out pretty well - good conversation with 4 empty white wine bottles, a pizza and a big hors d'oeurves platter.

Kuya John is on the left.  The other guy was the school principal, Rheal.

Nice meeting you all - Kuya John, Rheal, Ria, Rey and Roy!

Bali Hai dinner with Chris

Met Chris for a sumptuous seafood dinner at Bali Hai.  He was a previous colleague, now based in Intel Vietnam, who came to Penang for a two-week business trip.

There were lots of things to catch up on and reminisce but Sarah was turning to be a cranky monster as the night wore on so we had to call it a night.  Nice to have some visitors from time to time :)

We bring paper & pens whenever we go out.  This keeps the little one occupied during idle times.

Caving at Gua Tempurung

Gua Tempurung Cave at Ipoh

Vishnu and Reena's week long school break was almost over and we decided last minute to bring them somewhere before the school grind starts again.

Belum Rainforest was the first choice but accommodations were too expensive, RM650 for 1 room and we would need two rooms!  Plus the resort activities such as forest trail, round island cruise, fishing, kayaking/bamboo rafting, etc all need payment on top of the accommodations.  It was just not practical so we ended up caving at Gua Tempurung and spending a full day at Lost World of Tambun.

Caving at Gua Tempurung turned out to be pretty awesome.  There were 4 types of tours depending on your level of fitness and choice of adventure.  I'm planning to come back with no kids around so I can go for the more adventurous tours.

We chose Tour 2: Top of the World, which will take 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Entrance rate for adults is RM9, while children 6-12 years only pay RM4.50.  Last tour is at 3pm.

Tours 1 and 2 are the easy levels with walks to up to several hundreds of steps. The pathways and stairs are well lit so it's not too dark, and one can enjoy the majestic views of the cave.

Reena carrying a boulder inside the cave :)

The girls' team

Paved walkway, dramatic lighting inside.

Family pictures inside the cave.

The stairs are on the bottom left side of this shot.

Sarah was scared, she kept hugging either me or Reena

For those seeking thrill and adventure, take Tours 3 and 4.  These wet tours will get you wading through underground rivers and crawling through small holes, climbing almost vertical walls, and such.

How to get there?  Take the Gopeng exit (Exit 135) as you head towards KL.  Turn left after the toll gate, then another left turn at the big sign of Gua Tempurung.  Parking is aplenty, food stalls are available, toilets and showers are available for a fee.


Note: All pictures are taken by a smartphone.  Lately I'm very lazy to bring out the bulky SLR :)

Dental visit

Last month, Sarah visited the dentist for a check up.  

The friendly dentist did not find any cavities and praised Sarah for taking good care of her baby teeth. Sarah told the dentist she mixes her fruity toothpastes because it taste nicer.  She'll combine a strawberry flavored toothpaste with a green apple toothpaste or do an orange-apple mix, depending on what she likes.

Afterwards, she asked me for vanilla ice cream for her prize :)  

No cavities hurray!

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