strongest man in my life

For the past couple of weeks back home, all i've been hearing on the radio when they announce events was "Catch the strongest men and women in the world as they pit against each other in the upcoming Langkawi Ironman 2009!" And though that sounded pretty corny, and slightly off-tangent (because it's the fittest not the strongest)...i was actually pretty darn proud that I knew people who were taking part in that race.

And especially so since my own brother was there. I was initally a little sad that I couldn't go and watch him compete and complete this impossible task. But thanks to Ironmanlive.com I was able to track his progress and i must say it is pretty thrilling going in and checking back every 30 minutes to see how much he has completed.

And if i was so anxious about the race just by watching some numbers come on the screen everytime it refreshes, i cannot imagine the intensity in Langkawi.

This is he.

Strongest man in my life right now.

Toughest, leanest, most dedicated athlete I know.

Completing the Ironman Langkawi 2009 in a gruelling 11 hours 15 minutes, a time far better than he had targeted.

My brother the Ironman.

Congrats kor!

wow...i can tumpang glamour man. =)

Karen in Auckland 2.0

Forgive me if this post turns out slightly dull and melancholic because I don't think I myself have quite fathomed the fact that I am back in Auckland and my 3 month summer had just whizzed past me faster than I could say FUN.

So I am back here. I took the MAS direct flight because my mom worries I might once again get stuck in some foreign airport and she wouldn't be able to rescue me. I guess i shouldn't complain since it is helluva lot shorter - only 10 hours compared to 13 hours on Thai Air. MAS food was kinda lousy though, but then again it could be because I was terribly homesick at that moment that my appetite was probably at its lowest.

I reached Auckland yesterday 12:55 Auckland time. Weather was gloomy and wet, which was exactly what greeted me last July. Auckland must really love me...

I am now staying with Aunty Jane and family. They've been absolutely lovely to me, really makes leaving home a whole lot better. Was supposed to be looking for another place to stay, found one pretty neat place, but Aunty Jane's offer to let me stay here longer term kinda sits at that corner of my mind screaming "You're free from cooking!". I don't know. As much as I'd love the warmth and company of another Chinese family, I really thought I should toughen up and get out there. Be independent. Stay with people of different cultures. Tolerate. Learn to adapt. Survive. All that jazz. But that bratty pampered princess side of me seems to be winning that mind battle. Sigh.

Owell, on a brighter note, i went running! And it was pretty bad. But at least I've got my engines fired up a bit. SHould be able to keep it up once the wet weather subsides.

Alrightey then. I'm happy. Pretty thrilled to go back to uni. No seriously. I am, honest. =)

Till next time.

time to go

After 91 days (could've been 94, no thanks to Bangkok) of convenient 24 hour mamaks, cheap delicious hawker food, daily yumcha sessions with friends, good ol' mega sales, high (wrongly) pitched karaoke songs, mummy home cooked dinners, rough and tumble with the brothers, long chats with daddy, and heaps of cuddles and pecks from the boyfriend...it is finally trime to go.

It was a great summer of 08/09, one that would make leaving tomorrow night really really hard to bear. But that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself this summer. I did things I had planned to do, and things that I didn't expect to do. Met up with almost everyone I wanted to meet up with. It's a pretty nice feeling you get from these little reunions. And that is the one consolation I derive from studying abroad that keeps me motivated - the sweetest taste of a reunion.

I am a little edgy, a tad nervous, slightly excited, almost thrilled, but tremendously heavy-hearted. Tell me it's normal...=)

Owell, here's a snippet of a the things I've been drowning myself in...

See you guys in Auckland! =)

Bukit Tabur (Klang Gates)

So I've heard of this pretty cool hill just outside of KL city, of which the impression I got was that 'twas a generally easy climb with very seasoned tracks and a great view to boot. It was as close as you can get to a free mountain climbing experience, I guess.

before.

Yesterday morning, Dennis, Jason, Steven, Melody and myself went to affirm that. We were supposed to get an early head start but we were being extremely Malaysian so we only started at about 8 am. I had done some reading up on this climb beforehand and from what I gathered I definitely wasn't prepared for what lay ahead of us. Seriously.

Some people said it was dangerous, but as always, I took comments like these with a pinch of salt because I always think it can't be that tough if so many people frequent the hill every day. Well, I stand corrected. There are 2 sides to Bukit Tabur, the east and the west. Right now, it escapes my memory whether we climbed the east or west side, but if you were looking at the dam, we climbed the right hand side of it. Not by choice. By coincidence. We didn't know there was another side till we were halfway up.

still standing.

And that climb was a tough one. Though I have a few mountains conquered under my belt, I am no where near a veteran when it came to mountain climbing. So when I say that it was quite a challenge for anyone between absolute first timers to people like me (climbed a few mountains, does minimal rock climbing and adventure racing).
It was indeed a pretty dangerous climb, and it requires one to be very careful and cautious especially when on the rocky slopes. You'll definitely have yo dirty your hands, bum, knees if you want to climb safely.
But the view was quite a sight. Who knew that this gorgeous lake existed just right outside the hustle bustle of our KL city? And that, to me was the beauty of that climb. Stumbling upon something I never knew could be found in my city till yesterday. What more, it was absolutely free. And I can revisit it any time because it's so near! =)

after.

I had a great time. Got a bit dehydrated because I didn't bring enough water. But absolutely loved it! =)

(Almost) free dinner for Valentine's

*edit* This is my 1000th post! =)

Now i bet some of you are wondering what hopelessly-romantic moi was up to with my hopefully-romantic-of-a-boyfriend on Valentine's? Ok, if you aren't, humour me. =)

We went trekking! yes yes, we went to Pisang Falls which is located off Karak Highway. I have been there before with Ati, Dektos and Ronald a while ago. Seeing that it was rather easy to trek in, and how the last time we went, there weren't many people there, I figured it would be the perfect romantic getaway ala Survivor! And Dennis suggested that we should make each other lunch! It'll be a surprise!

And though he warned me that it wasn't a competition, I kinda got a little carried away, and wanted to outdo impress him. Lunch didn't really turn out the way we planned, but all in all, it was a pretty perfect Valentine's Day. Sitting in freezing fresh stream water just hanging out with him just overwrote every thing that didn't go right that morning. yes, even the fact that the once quiet Pisang Falls that was etched in my head had people going in and out like a public bus stop was no biggie.

Totally forgot to snap photos, so this should do. =) We closed the night with dinner at Bella Italia in SS12...

V-Day didn't end there for us though. Because the following day, we were asked to go to Sunway Pyramid! See, D and I took part in this Valentine's Day contest where we had our hands printed on a wall there, next to a message we carefully constructed. Mind you, we walked around Pyramid for no less than 30 minutes, trying to come up with witty one liners, cheesy statements, or anything that would turn heads, grab attention and melt hearts. So it was quite thrilling when we were the top 20 finalists. Even more so when we turned out to be top 3!Click for larger image. Ours is the postcard looking one. The one right beneath us won first place
First place was a pair of diamond rings, which quite honestly wouldn't be of any use to me if we did win it. I'd probably start worrying because then i'd be tempted to marry the boy! haha! Ok, i think my parents are starting to worry now. =) So, no, we got 2nd place and didn't win those duamond rings. Dennis thinks it is because we kept saying we didn't want diamond rings. So, as sore loser as this may sound, we were actually eyeing 2nd place because 2nd place was a free dinner for two at Itallianies! Which we got=)

Read more here...

Tonight, for our Thursday do, we went there for dinner. It was actually a RM100 voucher. Dinner wasn't absolutely free. I was surprised how easily RM100 can be achieved. Tsk tsk...fine dining....owell, dinner was well earned. =) Other prizes we got were Sunway Lagoon all park tickets, make up set from Bodyshop, Clinique makeover vouchers and some Metrojaya vouchers.

So from a string of pretty sad, lonesome Valentine's in the past few years, we celebrated V-day with quite a bang this year. *happy sigh*...=)

how did my 3 months become 7 days in just a wink?

v.day.