My second half marathon at Great Eastern Women's Run 2015

My second half marathon finish, completed in 2:51:06.

For my second half marathon at the Great Eastern Women's Run at Singapore, I finished 2:51:06!
I couldn't believe it, a 14 minute improvement over my first half marathon last June at the Penang Second Bridge with a time of 3:05:14!

What makes this surprising was my insufficient prepation (only 4 out of the recommended 12 weeks of training).  The Penang haze drastically shortened outdoor running and I was resigned to getting a poor finish.  My goal was just to complete the run under 3 hours 30 minutes so this result makes me feel great!

I'm so pumped up for my next run this coming November 22 at the Penang First Bridge.  My next target is 2:45:00.  Fingers crossed!

Somewhere along the 15km route

A very quick stopover to capture this haze free skyline.

Selfie at the finish line

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Backstory #1
This GEWR almost didn't materialize.  Five days before the event, Singapore's haze levels were still under the hazardous levels (150+).  The advisory was that only if the haze level falls below 100 will the race continue, otherwise it will be cancelled.   Great thing the wind direction blew the haze away the next day until race day so the run commenced.

Backstory #2
During the Carnival Day at Sarah's school, I left early to catch my flight to Singapore.  Checked in solo at Marina Mandarin hotel, chosen for its location which was just behind the starting line. Bought my supplies (banana, bread, energy drinks) at the adjacent Marina Square mall and crashed early to bed.  Woke up at 4am, took a bath, ate breakfast and walked to the assembly starting point.   Was able to catch the breakfast buffet before it closed, had a hearty brunch then checked out at noon.

Enroute to Singapore

Upgraded to Executive Room, yey!

MBS Laser Light Show at 8pm, viewed from the balcony.

Singapore's business skyline and the Esplanade all lit up

As mentioned, this particular weekend was a crazy one, full of activities left and right.  But all in a good way.

Trick of Treat 2015 at Straits Quay

For Halloween this year, Sarah's costume was Snow White and Reena was in a pirate girl getup. Ravi accompanied his girls to Straits Quay for trick or treat, the second year we've joined the mall's event. Apparently this year's attendance was almost 3x more from the previous year.  Halloween trick or treating is getting bigger in Penang, hopefully more malls will celebrate next year.

I bought the Snow White dress second hand from an expat family a couple of years back.  It already fit Sarah this year so that became her costume, easy peasy.   Reena's pirate costume idea was researched from google.  Good thing we had a cowboy hat in the house, I DIY'd it to become a pirate hat then chose a red striped shirt with black vest to complete the look.  I forgot to buy them treat bags so last minute had to DIY at home.  One was decorated as a mummy while the other had orange felt paper wrapped around the bag with a simple jack-o'-lantern drawn on one side and a couple of pirate signs printed and stuck on another side.  They didn't mind, they were focused on getting it filled up with treats haha

Ravi took just a few photos, no surprise there :)

They met Sarah's friend, Raine and her family, trick or treating there as well.  Raine and her younger sister Daphne were dressed up as Princess Elsa and Anna, respectively.

Reena as a pirate girl, Raine as Elsa and Sarah as Snow White (more like Snow Brown!).   I DIY'd the kids treat bags since I forgot to buy. 

Three princesses - Anna, Elsa and Snow White (or Brown =))

United Nations Carnival Day

The Filipino booth.
Fiesta theme with decorations of native basket and hat, a pair of abaca slippers, bayong bag and a Barong Tagalog.  Images of scenic destinations were pasted on the board.

Last Saturday, Fairview International School celebrated United Nations' cultural diversity with a fun Carnival Day.  Each countries were tasked to make a short presentation and prepare a booth showcasing the country's food and culture.  The booth sale proceeds benefited 3 charity organizations chosen by the school.

Boy, were the Fairview mommies an excited bunch!  A flurry of Viber app exchanges and meet ups resulted in a simple yet successful Filipino booth display.  Apparently our booth also sold the most number of vouchers, which we attribute to the surprise hit "pabitin".

The lovely Filipino mommies - Mel, Tina, Mileth, Cherry and Nancy.

These pretty ladies did most of the hard work, cheers!

 A song and dance number to the tune of Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut) was the choice for the kids' presentation.  Dressed in baro't saya, a traditional Filipino costume, the kids held baskets of real and plastic fruits and vegetables as they danced.  They learnt most of the song lyrics and lipsynched parts they failed to memorize!

Bahay Kubo song and dance presentation by the Pinoy kids

Baro't saya, a traditional Filipino costume

Native Filipino foods were offered for sale.  We sold suman and biko (rice cakes), puto cheese (steamed spongy rice flour cake),  sapin sapin (layered glutinous rice and coconut dessert) and kwek kwek (tempura style quail eggs deep fried in orange batter).

Suman - rice cake cooked in coconut milk and steamed wrapped in banana leaves.  Usually eaten with a sprinkle of sugar.

Biko - rice cake made of glutinous rice, coconut milk and brown sugar.

Another pan of biko.

Puto cheese - steamed spongy rice cake, with added food coloring and topped with a slice of cheese.

Sapin-sapin - a multi-colored layer of glutinous rice and coconut milk.

Close up of the fiery orange kwek kwek, yum!

  

The pabitin mentioned earlier is essentially a lattice of wooden sticks strung with goodie bags of candies and toys. Decorated with colorful paper strings, the pabitin is lowered up and down for the kids to jump and catch the goodie bags.  Of course, the fun part is not to make it easy for the kids t, they have to work for  the prize by jumping high.

Initially planned to be a free game, there was a last minute decision to charge RM2 voucher for the chance to try it.  This was where we made a killing in sales :)

Kids practicing their jumps!

Fun jumping and good laughs from everyone.

Kids looking up the pabitin.

Sarah and I by the banana tree.  Sarah celebrated her Filipino heritage this time around.

Parade of the small Filipino community at Fairview International School

Crazy haze this year

Same balcony view - with and without haze.  No filters for both images.

2015 will go down Penang's history as the worst haze year.  Air Quality Index (AQI) last October 22 reached a record high of 280, nearly breaching hazardous levels.  

Table of AQI levels.  

Schools were cancelled for a couple of days.  People were on self-imposed house arrest.  Outdoor activities were kept at the very minimum.  N95 masks were sold out.  The moment a door or window opens, smoke assaults your nose and waters your eyes!

It was more than a week before the wind direction changed and blew the haze away from Penang.  I cannot imagine how the Indonesians coped (and still coping!) with the haze right smack into their lives.  Reports said that haze levels reached 3300 in Kalimantan!  Unbelievable!

I fervently hope the Indonesian government solves this trans boundary haze issue the soonest, for the sake of their own people's health as well as their neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore and even Philippines.

Just a quick post update!

Haze free view from our balcony!

October came and went by in a flash!  The last weekend was pretty hectic, with the weeks leading to it full of practices and preparations.

In a nutshell, there were 4 'big' events over the last weekend:
1.  United Nations Carnival Day at Sarah's school,
2.  Halloween Trick or Treat at Straits Quay Mall,
3.  My half marathon at the Great Eastern Women's Run at Singapore and
4.  Our new kasambahay (househelp) finally arrived, yey!

Life truly passes by very quickly.  There's a lot of late posts, but for me it means that I'm living in the moment.  I'm posting here only when I have extra time to spare from both work and home life.

I haven't even started doing posts on our Japanese trip from September!  And there's a lot to post from that one.

I'm glad to have this space to document this fast-paced life as it passes by.

Traffic-free weekend at Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands
September 4-6, 2015

Ravi impulsively rounded us up for a weekend trip to Cameron Highlands last month.  Reena was able to join us, her mother allowed her to skip her Saturday tuition class.  We drove right after work that Friday and reached the Smokehouse Hotel around 11pm.

Ye Olde Smokehouse  - our favorite place to stay at Cameron Highlands

Charming English style building with lovely gardens

A hearty breakfast started our Saturday morning.

New experiences made this trip memorable for everyone.  There was a great strawberry farm very near our hotel.   Previous farms we visited were on the small side which didn't have a lot of fruits for picking.  We came early to beat the weekend crowd and ended up having the strawberry farm to ourselves.  Reena and Sarah loved it!

Clockwise from top: Neat rows of strawberries, ripe berries, new fruits coming out.

We drove up to Gunung Brinchang, the highest mountain in Malaysia accessible by car.  Admittedly the road condition was pretty rough on some parts but we made it alright.  We climbed on a wooden viewing platform and saw the surrounding hills and valleys before the fog set in.

Clockwise from top left: Mount Brinchang at 2032m signage, the wooden viewing tower, Reena at the top.

Valley views.

Sarah at the viewing tower.

The fog crept by pretty fast, blocking the surrounding views!

We had a stopover at the Mossy Forest on our way back.  An elevated walkway within the forest stops after a few hundred meters and the more adventurous continues on foot to explore more.

Signage by the entrance.

Roots as stairs.

Well maintained walkway, thumbs up!

Some parts of the mossy forest look spooky.

The next day was spent at the hotel gardens and at Boh Tea Center before heading back.  We reached Penang safely by 8pm.  A great weekend escape!

On the way up to the tea center.

Cliff-side Boh Tea Center

Very scenic plantation view from the tea center.

Sarah and Reena among the tea leaves.

Tea time at the center's restaurant.  

Reena and Sarah exploring the restaurant area while waiting for our food.

Poster information all about tea.

Buying tea products.

Picking tea leaves on our way back.

See you next time Boh Tea Center!