5:09:25

Ha, ran 30 minutes slower than last year but hey, I'm just happy that I was able to finish. My left knee is hurting a more than last year but it'll probably get better in a few days.

Lots of interesting people this year. Saw a married couple dressed up like sharks to protest the eating of shark fin soup. The real kicker is that despite their oven-hot costumes, they were running much faster than most people. Amazing. And there was another guy who ran the whole thing barefoot. 42 kilometers! BAREFOOT!!! Plus there was that old guy who runs every year. I can only hope I'm in as good as shape as him when I reach 80.

It was also nice to see several pairs of Blind & Guide runners. I guess they were inspired by Henry Wanyoike, the blind runner from Kenya who started running here a couple years ago. Just goes to show what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it. Respect.

What wasn't so great were all those newbies who were in the race just to screw around. People stopping all over the place to shoot photos, other with babies/baby carts. I mean, come on! You want to mess around, do it somewhere else on your own time. Don't muck around when others are taking the race seriously and doing their best to finish. Plus, I'm no expert, but bumping up and down in a baby buggy (or worse, on daddie's back) for 2 hours in hot, humid weather probably isn't the best way to treat a baby. Plus, these people were basically breaking the rules. Marathon bylaws stipulate that only registered runners, with racing chips and number tags are allowed to participate in the race. I'm pretty damn sure that none of those babies met these requirements.

On a sad note, I saw a young man lying unconscious and deathly white near the turning point between the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Ting Kau bridge. Ironically, this was practically the same spot were the man who died last year had collapsed. As of 18:00, of the 43,000+ people who ran the 10K, Half and Full marathon, there were some 6200+ people who felt sick, 35 hospitalized with 1 in critical condition. I hope that history doesn't repeat itself.

Anyways, here are some pics.

Right before baggage check-in. How naievely sweet, I still had the silly hope of finishing in 4 hours:

New arrangement this year: no public allowed at the finish line. There were lots of people bitching about this saying they wanted to shoot their friends/family crossing the line. Oh well, guess everyone will have to look for their photos at http://www.marathon-photos.com/index.html.

Oooh, a bag full of bananas and other goodies:

Afterwards, went to have a gut busting burger at a nearby restaurant (it's a bit of a tradition for me). Then stopped off at a dessert shop at home to have some sweet dumplings (literally translated as "soup balls"). Today is the 15th day of the Lunar New Year (aka the First Full Moon, aka Lantern Day) and it's tradition to eat dumplings.

It might look kind of gross to anyone who's never tried it, but trust me, it's super tasty. This is a bowl of Sea Coconut, Aloe and Black Glutinous Rice soup with seseme filled soup balls. Yummy.

The Night Before

Well, this is it. In a about 10 hours I'll be running in this year's HK Marathon. Because of this month's extended work hours I've barely exercised in the last 2 weeks and both my feet are still hurting from having to stand all day. And since this year's race is starting a month later, tomorrow's temperature will be 21-25C with 95% humidity.

But you know what? None of that matters because come 7:40 tomorrow morning everything is going to disappear from my mind and the only thing I'll be aware of is the sound of my breathing and the hundreds of feet stomping beside me in unison.

See you on the battle field.

Just some random pics...

Saw this sign while waiting for the subway to arrive. I probably have too much time on my hands, but I thought that it was pretty neat how the shadow below the sign looks like an extension of the dress on the model:


Couldn't sleep so I took some snaps using my compact Casio. Here's my take on Francis Bacon:

And on Edvard Munch:

Disturbing, no? So here's a cutesy pic to balance out the gruesome-ness from above. It's a bit of an annual tradition for one of my aunts to give out Lai See packets to my "pets":

Yep, definitely have too much time on my hands.

Happy CNY

Finally, a day off from work. Slept until noon and it felt damn good.

As usual, went to the big Chinese New Year bazaar in Victoria Park. And as usual, the place was jammed packed:



Inflatable toys have been become an annual staple so there was no shortage of supply this year:

You gotta hand it to the entrepreneurs in HK; they don't let any opportunity to make money slip by. You miss the old Central Pier Clock Tower? Well for 40 bucks you can take one home with you!

These fish bowl balloons were pretty cool:



You know, I don't think it's such a good idea to play with roasted pork toys during the Year of the Pig. Don't want to spit in the face of Karma:



Speaking of which, sticking a pole up a poor pig's butt probably isn't the best way to make friendly with it:



Saw this creepy cigarette toy a few times. Who in their right mind would want something so disturbing in their homes?

Only in HK: 交剪腳

These traffic posts were also a popular item. But where the heck would you put these big eye sores in your home?

Ah, the ever popular ink colored pussy willows:

And the freakish "5 Generations" plant. I'm sorry, but it really looks like an alien pod.

My favorite "butterfly" orchids (although I think they look like falcons more than butterflies)

Anyhoo, didn't go home empty handed:

And for the sake of tradition, I bought another Chinese banner (the last on on the right) to add to my yearly collection. I'm not going to bother with a translation since you either know these or you don't.

Have a Happy Year of the Pig!

1 down...

Well, Hell Week #1 is finally over. It started with a 6:30 - 21:30 shift on Monday and then gradually "improved" to a 7:00 - 19:30 daily shift from Tueday onwards. Then I got a lucky break on Saturday and only had to work from 7:00 - 14:00. Of course, that's also when we got the call that this Seven to Seven shift would last at least another 2 weeks. Fun.

I guess I shouldn't complain though. At least I get to report to my normal office as opposed to going somewhere far like Yuen Long or Sha Tin (then again, those offices only open until 17:00). Plus, my officer in charge is nice, as opposed to some of the horror stories I've heard from other colleagues at the branch offices.

Sigh...with this sort of schedule, I guess I can kiss my chances of improving in this year's HK Marathon goodbye. I basically have no time to train so the outlook for March 4 isn't looking too good.

Anyways, I managed to fit in 3 hours of running today, and as usual lots of random thoughts came to me. Like the current presidential race in the US. It'll be interesting to see who will win the Democratic seat since the 2 top contenders are (relatively) minorities. No matter how much the US prides itself on being open minded and Equality For All, the fact is that a significant portion of the country is still very ultra conservative (to put it nicely). Some probably still can't fathom the possibility of having a colored man in the oval office, let alone a woman. So in light of these conservative views, we can look back the historical succession of power to see how things may turn out.

Traditionally, the path has usually been White Male, Black Male, White Female, which seemingly gives Senator Obama the edge. But on the other hand, there's this name. I know it sounds shallow, but I don't think that the US is ready for a President Obama. Correction, President Barack Obama. I think that many would find that his surname and given name don't sound American enough. President Clinton on the other hand, has a nice ring to it. It's comfortable, it's familiar, hell, it was used in office for 8 years already.

Personally, I think both are great choices, but I really want Hilary to win mainly for the gimmick factor. Like the fact that she'd be the first President who was also a First Lady, and that both and her husband would be addressed as President (since Bill Clinton retains the title even after office).

And what exactly would we call the President's husband; the First Gentleman?

Mountain Ocean Sun...

Yama Umi Taiyo is Japanese for Mountain Ocean Sun, the concept being "as high and noble as a mountain; a heart as deep and wide as the oceans; affection as warm as the sun."

What the hell am I talking about? Moutain Ocean Sun...or MOS for short, as in MOS BURGER!!!!

Yeah baby, I finally went to the Citysuper food court in APM and tried it out. It's been years since my last MOS burger (I think it was Tokyo, 1999) and I've been dying to get another taste. Mmm, as good as I remember. I ordered the MOS burger original and the the Scallop Tempura Rice Burger:

Hmm, doesn't really look so good in the photos (sorry, all I had was my dinky phone camera) . Let's see what MOS' homepage has to offer:

Ah, much better. BTW, the pic on the left is actually the Seafood Rice Burger, but you get the idea.

If you've never tried a MOS you need to get one in your mouth, stat! Especially the Rice Burgers. Those pale imitations at McDonald's can't hold a candle to these.