Running update

Just a quick post on what's keeping me busy.

The past two months ramped up my training for my first full marathon on 27 November.  It's back to back half marathons almost every weekend! 

One needs to practice on tired legs and low energy levels, often called 'accumulated fatigue".  It means that the fatigue from a hard workout accumulates, builds up and transfers to the next long run.  One, then, is always starting a long run still tired and worn out from the previous running session.  But this actually helps build muscle endurance and helps prepare one for the much longer distance of 42km run!  

Since last month, I've been perennially tired.   My body hasn't fully recovered yet and still I need to run.  The fatigue has reflected slower finishing times for the past 21km runs.  But since my goal is to accumulate more distance, slow and steady long half marathon runs have to make do.  

October runs

8 Oct - HSN Half Marathon, KL

23 Oct - Great Eastern Bubble Dash Half Marathon, KL

30 Oct - Penang Island Run Half Marathon

November runs

6 Nov - Cassia Half Marathon, Penang

13 Nov - Great Eastern Women's Run Half Marathon, Singapore

(2 taper weeks with shorter runs around Penang)

27 Nov - Penang Bridge Full Marathon -> D DAY!!!

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8 Oct - HSN Half Marathon, KL

HSN 21km run at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

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Great Eastern Bubble Dash 21km at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

Stage area after the run

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Penang Island Run 21km at Espalanade, Penang

Starting line

Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2016

Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 2016

August 7, 2016 at Merdeka Square

21.1km completed at 2:40:14, my second fastest half marathon.

Twinning!  SCKLM 21km medal in front of the actual Petronas Towers :)

My Instagram post.

Start/Finish line at Merdeka Square

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~


It was a family event this time.  We drove from Penang to KL straight after work last Friday.  We reached KL about 9:30pm and checked in at our default (and favorite!) service hotel, Somerset Ampang.

Saturday was spent meeting friends.  Ravi met with one of his best friends, Guga, at Bangsar Village while I took the girls with me for a long lunch at Italiannies Pavilion Mall with the Varilla family.

Brunch before we went our separate ways to meet friends

Long lunch with the Varilla family at Italiannies Pavilion Mall

The same evening, I left the girls and Ravi at Somerset and checked myself in at The Explorer's Guesthouse, which was a 5-minute walk to the race venue, Merdeka Square.  The road in front of Somerset was part of the 21km route and was closed to traffic, as well as most streets around Merdeka Square.  Taking a cab or uber at 4:30am to reach the race venue will be crazy, hence the hostel stay.   

I got one last slot in a 4-bed female dorm, my first experience sharing a hostel room other than family members.  I slept early, around 9pm, and didn't meet my dorm mates although I heard them when they all came back to the room later in the night.  Sneaked out of the room at 4:30am to shower and head for my run.  When I came back from my run, my room mates have already gone out.  As I was leaving the room to check out, one of the girls came to check out as well.  We had a friendly albeit quick chat before I left. 

The hostel was pretty clean, had a good vibe all around and was the perfect location for my purpose.  I've actually booked the place again for an October half marathon.

Sunday.  

Ravi took both girls to Petrosains inside Surial KLCC mall.  The kids enjoyed the place too much they didn't want to leave yet even though they've spent 5 hours already!  

I checked out of the hostel, took an uber ride  back to Somerset, packed and loaded our things in the car, checked out the hotel and went to Suria KLCC to meet them.  After a stopover at the Kinokuniya book store, we bought baked goods, headed back to Somerset to get the car before driving back to Penang.  It was a full weekend but everyone loved it.

Playground time and obligatory shot with the Petronas Towers

 

Finally caught up!

Whew!  Recently, it was a spurt of very late posts of our Japan trip last year.  Yep, last September 2015 to be exact. Blame it on procrastination haha

It became a necessity to post those trip reports to give way to our more recent Tokyo trip.  We loved Japan so much we went back in less than a year.  This trip, it was just me and Sarah while Ravi went solo to UK.

More Tokyo posts in the next few days!

Sarah and her Minnie popsicle

Japan 2015: One night at Osaka

From Tokyo, we had to travel back to Kansai International Airport for our return journey.  It was another shinkansen (bullet train) ride from Tokyo to Osaka, an overnight hotel stay and a speed train to the airport.

After checking in late afternoon, we explored the area nearby.  I purposely chose a hotel near Dotonbori for easy access as we didn't have much time in Osaka.


From Wikipedia:

Dōtonbori or Dōtombori (道頓堀^?, pronounced [doːtomboɽi]) is one of the principal tourist destinations in Osaka, Japan, running along the Dōtonbori canal from Dōtonboribashi Bridge to Nipponbashi Bridge in the Namba district of the city's Chuo ward. Historically a theater district, it is now a popular nightlife and entertainment area characterized by its eccentric atmosphere and large illuminated signboards. One of the area's most prominent features, a billboard for confectionery company Glico displaying the image of a runner crossing a finishing line, is seen as an icon of Osaka within Japan.

Our return shinkansen ride from Tokyo to Osaka

Scenes in and out the bullet train

Cross hotel is just round the corner of Dotonbori.

Street food dinner - dumplings and takoyaki 

Standing-only ramen store

Osaka at night

At the bridge of the famous Glico Man sign

Dotonbori area where the Glico Man is

Clean and no-smell riverbank

Shopping stores left and right

Street food area

More shops to thin down wallets

Preparing food right by the sidewalk

Selfie time

Didn't have time to go through shops inside

All lit up at night

Headed back to the hotel after this shot

Good morning Kansai International Airport!

We loved our 2015 Japan trip!

Japan 2015: Tokyo Disney Sea

A day at Tokyo Disney Sea was a magical one for Sarah and me, made more special since this is the only Disney Sea in the world!

Disney Sea attractions are ocean inspired and geared mostly for older children and adults.  Unlike other Disneyland parks, Mount Prometheus is at the park's center instead of the classic fairy tale castle of Disney princesses.

It was a holiday weekend on our visit which resulted to crazy high crowd levels despite the gloomy weather and eventual rain late afternoon to park closing. Lines were long not only at the rides but also at park restaurants.  I expected this and came prepared, buying our snacks before we came in.  We ate our sandwiches/bananas/boiled eggs/pastries while waiting for our (mostly kiddie) rides.

With my 4 year old daughter in tow, we have to skip the high-speed thrill attractions.  As I passed by those rides, it was stunning to note the scale, attention to details and elaborate designs that meticulously went into it!

We stayed mostly at the very colorful Ariel's Mermaid Lagoon where most of the family friendly rides are.  Got more of our money's worth with the parades and shows.

Hopefully when Sarah is older, we can come back for the rides we skipped such as the Journey to the Center of the Earth, Tower of Terror, Storm Rider, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, even Toy Story Mania whose Fastpass tickets finished within an hour of opening!

Boarded the Disney Monorail to Disney Sea.

Not much queues yet to Disneyland.  It was a very cloudy and chilly day, with rain showers in the afternoon till the park closed at 10 pm.

Disney park monorail station

The mother looks more excited haha

The park was decked in Halloween festivities.

First look at the massive park area

This looked like a face about to swallow Sarah :)

A fountain of gold coins

No Fast Pass tickets to this ride, look at her sad face haha

Standby time was over 2 hours!  Not worth the wait in my opinion, there were other areas to explore.

Contented herself with a donkey ride near the Toy Story Mania =)

The Mr. Potato Show was unfortunately only in Japanese, we didn't enjoy it as much and left early.

The Tower of Terror.  Skipped this because I think Sarah would not be able to handle the 'elevator drop' yet.  

Toyville entrance

Popcorn break, with Mount Prometheus at the background.

The Tokyo Disney Mira Costa hotel, behind Sarah, is located right inside the Disney Sea park!

Queues, queues, queues

Approaching Ariel's Mermaid Lagoon

Very cool play area for kids

Still at Ariel's play area

About to enter King Triton's world

Jelly fish lamps inside

Luminous sea creatures on the ceiling

Queued up for this fantastic show where Ariel flew above us!

One of the sights while waiting inside the Mermaid Lagoon

We didn't ride at the Blowfish Baloon Race, looked fun though.

The Whirlpool, a kiddie spinning ride

Spent quite a bit of time here at Ariel's Playground

Two storeys of underwater playground

Ursula comes out in one of the magic mirrors

Dashing Prince Eric

The details are amazing.

Minnie popsicle break

Horse ride at the Caravan Carousel

In front of the Magic Lamp Theater. We had our lunch break here, where other families were doing the same.

That dome houses the two-storey Caravan Carousel

Long queue time for the show.

This is a waiting area inside the Magic Lamp Theater.  

Gloomy skies

This queue is not for a ride, but for a restaurant!

Genie did not grant us any wishes that day, he didn't have his magic lamp with him =)

We waited for these ladies to finish their group shot before Sarah took her position.

She got her turn :)

"Mama, take my picture here."

Wefie!

Bored at the queue

While the parents queue up, the kids entertained themselves =)

Tried her luck at a fair-type game.  She got Disney character clothes pins even if she didn't win.

With the naughty Abu, Aladdin's monkey 

Entrance to Sinbad's Storybook Voyage

Let's join Sinbad to the Cave of the Giant.

Starting our sea journey.

Bird island

Treasures galore!

Sinbad atop a whale!

Jasmin's Flying Carpets

Sarah enjoyed her magic carpet ride.

Looked like real boats on a dock.

Snack time at the Sultan's Oasis - yummy Chandu tail!

Creamed chicken filling inside. 

Gloomy skies at the American Waterfront

The US Steamship boat

Sarah with the Jack-O-lantern

Water fountain in front of the Tower of Terror

Still a huge crowd at the Toy Story Mania attraction.  Rains do not deter well-prepared park visitors, umbrellas and ponchos just come out =)

Rain started to pour down.

At the park's Venetian Gondola ride.

Inside one of several Disney stores.

Nice lighting at the Tower of Terror.  We can hear the riders' screams from where we were standing. 

The Big Band Beat Broadway show was super cool!

Milk break before The Big Band Beat show started.

Waiting for the show to start.

Full rain on.  Chilly night.  Amazing day.

It was an amazing, unforgettable day, even if I wasn't able to go for the thrill rides.  We rode only 4 family attractions and watched 3 shows.  The holiday crowd, rain and the sheer size of the park were against my park target but it was a great experience to be inside the only Disney Sea park in the world.