Imagination Running Wild

The race is two days away but here I am wide awake at 2am brimming with excitement and anticipation with a dash of anxiety. I believe most people get the pre-race jitters, me included, and I don't think I've ever had a good night's rest before all the races I've participated in. It doesn't help much that races usually start at the ungodly morning hours. It's always the same scenario on the eve of a race: me lying in bed tossing and turning, adrenaline coursing through every veins, the mind playing imaginary clips of me running the route especially in the last few kms when it's all about the mental toughness, and finally when I triumphantly cross the finish line in a respectable time or even chalk up a new personal record.

I doubt it'll be any different for the upcoming Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon (SCKLM). This race has an added sentimental value for me since it'll my first time running in a hometown race. I wish that I had registered for a full marathon instead of the half marathon I'm in now since I feel that I'm physically and mentally ready to go the whole distance. Oh well, there'll be plenty of other races for me to make my full marathon debut. As for SCKLM, my target is to finish the half marathon (21km) under two hours. In my last half marathon about two months ago my time was 2 hours 14 mins. To shave 15+ mins off in such a short period of time is a tall order but can certainly be done. In a 15km race about a month ago I posted a personal best of 1 hour 24 mins, which translated to a pace of 5:38 min/km. It means that if I can somehow maintain the same pace for SCKLM I can barely squeeze in under 2 hours (1 hour 58 mins to be exact). That 15km race in Putrajaya was the best run I've had thus far and I hope to have a repeat performance this coming Sunday. Boy, I can already imagine running down the home stretch on Jalan TAR toward Dataran Merdeka with the throngs of crowd cheering me on and the finish line within sight. Anyone who's run a race before knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about where to run my full marathon debut. I had wanted to do it in Berlin since my arrival there nicely coincides with the Berlin Marathon (last Sunday of September) but by the time I found out that I'll be going to Berlin the registration was already closed. What a bummer! Berlin Marathon is one of the premier races in the world and it's where the current world record was set in 2008 by Haile Gebrselassie (2 hours 3 mins 59 secs). What other options then? At the top of my list right now is to run the original marathon in Greece from the town of Marathon to Athens but I have to find out when exactly is this race and if it overlaps with my stint in Europe. Other options will be to do either Rome or Amsterdam Marathon. If I end up staying in Berlin longer then I might do the London Marathon in April 2012. Or I might even find an excuse to go back to the US and run the NYC or Chicago Marathon or the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. If all goes according to Plan A, which is to move to Australia by March next year, then I can definitely see myself running my debut marathon in Down Under. In short the options are aplenty and it's up to me (and my financial wherewithal) to choose the best one to pop my marathon cherry in.

But first things first. This Sunday will be my third half marathon in three months, which means that I already have the experience under my belt and know what to expect. It's not just about finishing the race but to do it in a decent time. I also think that it's now the time for me to start running the full distance since it's the natural progression and I have to bite the bullet sooner or later. I'm hoping for sooner. Anyway, I'm so psyched for this coming Sunday!

Postscript: After a brief look online now I'm torn between the original Greece Marathon and the Amsterdam Marathon but I'm definitely leaning toward Greece. The Greece Marathon will held on November 13 while the Amsterdam one will be on October 16. Either way I'll decide next week after I run the SCKLM tomorrow.

Helen of KLCC

Honestly, physical criteria play a secondary role in my own law of attraction but I'd be disingenuous to say that it's something I can easily dispense with. We are animals after all, regardless of how far evolved we are, and like other animals we rely on specific physical attributes to look for mating partners that can best continue our genealogical line. In other words we want to mate with somebody who can give our future progeny the best chance to survive, and therefore, according to some evolutionary biologists, a set of certain physical criteria can serve as an important indicator whether our prospective mate is able to provide that guarantee or not. I guess it's not just all about personality then.

As it happens I saw this girl the other day who is a barista at one of the coffee shops in KLCC - and she has turned me into a stalker of some sort. Her back (and her lustrous long black hair) was facing me the first time I beckoned her to help me with the WiFi password. There she was as she stood before me a face so dripping sweet that it can almost inflict instant diabetes on someone just by her merest glance. Wow is all I could say at the time. I've always considered myself an aesthete who does appreciate beauty in its superficial form but as far as my personal preference for the fairer sex goes I tend to go for the sweet unassuming types with a touch of radiance and innocence to boot.

Boy, did my heart skip a few beats faster at the time! Since then I've been going there several more times and found out what her work schedule was. The extent of my interactions with her have so far been limited to occasional exchanges of smiles and some inane remarks from me about the hectic nature of the place. Well dumbass, it's the KLCC for crying out loud! So far there hasn't been a lull long enough during her shift for me to initiate a more meaningful and longer conversation with her. Also, the irony is that my constant presence at the coffee shop has instead attracted one of her female co-workers and she's the one been chatting me up all this time. Maybe that's one way to get closer to her!

This whole stalking venture reminds me of my younger days when I used to pursue this girl from Convent Bukit Nanas Girls School (CBN) here in KL. I used to have the hots for Chinese girls who wear baju kurung school uniform, and this girl was all of the above. She lives in Ampang, which is where I live, and we always take the same public bus. CBN girls usually wait for the bus in-front of the old AIA building on Jln. Ampang and for hot-blooded testosterone-laden boys there's no better place than there. She has the sweet angelic face and long wavy black hair quite similar to the KLCC barista. The thing that really turned me on was that she never latched the button at the top of her baju kurung, which then partially exposed her milky smooth upper chest. The slightest sight of it is enough to fire up the imagination of any hormone-ravaged teenagers! One time I remember vividly when it rained and she was a bit soaked to see the transparent white linen of her baju kurung clung ever so tightly to her very suggestive black bra. I almost exploded, in all sense of the word, right then and there! I trailed behind her many times while she was walking home to see where she lived. I also exchanged smiles and coy glances with her across the bus stop but that was the extent of our interaction for quite some time - that was until I mustered enough courage to talk to her. She turned out to be really cool and we actually dated for a while until we got separated by our post-high school life choices.

In short this KLCC barista reminds me so much of the CBN girl of my youthful romantic exploits, at least from the physical point of view and the way I'm stalking her and trying to make my presence gradually known to her. I really feel as giddy as I was twenty years ago standing at the bus stop staring with mouth agape at this sweet and warm-looking baju kurung-wearing Chinese girl. If Helen of Troy is the so-called "face that launched a thousand ships" then this barista is the Helen of KLCC: the face that melts the hearts of a thousand coffee drinkers!

Running to Lose Weight?

The uninitiated usually think that the only reason to run is to lose weight. Well, to a certain extent they're right. People (read: non-runners/athletes) ask me all the time why do I need to run and exercise vigorously when I'm already looking fit and lean? Why wake up at 5am on a Sunday morning to go on a 20km run when you don't even have an ounce of fat to burn? Simply put, why do a person go through the physical and mental torture of long-distance running when there's no real tangible reward to be had in the end (finisher's medal and certificate notwithstanding) i.e. losing 3 inches of one's waistline?

A lot of runners I know first started out as overweight people (and smokers), and running is one of the most efficient ways to slim down (and regain stamina). It begins as a necessity and ends up an addiction. That's how it always goes. People in general have an innate sense of competitiveness and the desire to challenge one's physical and mental capabilities to their limits. Running triggers this need for constant self-improvement and test of wills. A runner might start off barely finishing a 3km run - or walk for that matter. But as time goes by, one's fitness level increases and the fat melts away, the runner feels a 3km run no longer poses a difficult challenge. One then ups the ante by increasing the distance to 5km to provide oneself with a hoop to jump through. 5km turns to 8km, 10km, 12km, and it finally hits you: it's no longer about losing weight anymore - one presumably has achieved the ideal weight by now - but it has become a test of will to see how far one can push one's body and mind to the edge. Plus, the endorphin high one gets after an exhausting workout certainly plays a part in this addiction.

For people who's constantly looking for ways to challenge themselves long-distance running is a very effective and convenient way to do it. It requires minimal investment in equipment, no special places to do it, and there are plenty of running events out there when one finally feels ready to be challenged. It's a very egalitarian and democratizing sport, which practitioners range from the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to the poor kids in Rift Valley, Kenya (the ground zero for all top long-distance runners in the world).

Of course, once one has a few marathons under one's belt, then one might crave a bigger challenge, which comes in the shape of ultra-marathon. Ultra-marathon starts at 50km (normal marathon is 42km) and can go to 50 miles, 100km, 100 miles, or 24-hour non-stop, so on and so forth. Or if one seeks a different type of challenge then triathlon might be worth a shot, and this is what I'm planning to do next year. The fact is that it's all about challenging oneself and to see how far one can push one's limits, physically and mentally. This is the answer I give people when they ask why I run.

p/s: The act of running long-distance in itself is a pure torture, unlike other sports like football, basketball, tennis, etc, where the enjoyment comes from actually playing the sports. The bliss of running long-distance, I think, comes from finishing the race. It's the proud sense of accomplishment to know that one has enough physical toughness and mental fortitude to complete the run despite the torture one has go through during the race. Therefore, unless if one is an elite runner who competes for prize money, most runners are essentially competing against oneself, whether to run one's personal best or simply to finish the race. This is why we run!

Lean Mean Machine

As I was lacing up my running shoes for my regular 5K pre-breakfast run my sister's Indonesian maid commented: "Udah kurus ni...lagi ngapain mau lari?" (Why run when you're already skinny?) If I have a dime for all the comments I get about my "skinny" physique I'd be a thousandaire by now! The people at my office made similar remarks too. Even Kak Amnah, the HR person in my department, told me how concerned she was of how I looked and asked me if I had any personal problems I wanted to share (this happened about two months ago). On a separate occasion, her assistant, Dila, went even further and said that I looked much better with a bit more fat on me!

I believe this misconception on what constitutes as "looking healthy" can be chalked up to cultural perception and norms. Whenever I met with my American/European friends I've been told how "ripped" or "fit" or "lean" I looked. "Ripped" was the exact word used by my former professor, who's an American, when I saw him in KL a few months ago. The prevailing perception within most Asian societies is that one's girth positively correlates to one's wealth and status in the society (up to a certain point). In other words, the well-to-dos lead a much better life with more than enough resources i.e. food to survive; ergo, a robust body circumference. Poor people are skinny simply for the fact that they cannot afford to consume as much, which it's true to some extent.

This perception was pervasive in the West for centuries. A cursory look at the old Renaissance paintings would bear out the fact that the rich back then were simply overweight because they led such a good life i.e. idleness and debauchery. There's a reason the word "Rubenesque" is used in the English language as an apt description of this particular cultural phenomenon. As if one needs more proof of Renaissance-age food orgy one can look no further than the infamous polygamous fat slob Henry VIII.

It seems like the West in general has moved past this cultural stereotype as its societies are now comfortably esconced in the post-industrial/post-material world. Sadly this perception still persists here in most parts of the East. I've seen little kids being fed all kinds of junk food so they would fatten up and "look healthy" and befitting their family's social status. Even my dad told my sister once that either she's not feeding my nephew enough or he's not eating enough that he looks like a skinny kid from a poor family. He's obviously eating enough with a robust health to match; only that he's a hyperactive kid, which explains his lean physique.

Back to the people's comments on how I look all I can say in return is that I do a heck a lot of exercises, which is why I look the way I look now. For example, I burn about 1200 calories on an average 10K run. Also I eat healthy and balance diet (most of the time) that also helps in maintaining my lean physique at currently about 9 percent body fat. If I feel a bit charitable I'd try to explain to them the differences between being athletically lean and unhealthily skinny. Honestly, there's a alarming level of ignorance and misinformation out there, especially in Malaysia, when it comes to knowledge about healthy living and diet. Alas, there's still a lot more to do!

p/s: The Star had a front-page headline a few days ago that screamed "We Overeat." The "We" being Malaysians, of course. One interesting bit buried in the feature article was the recent figures from the Ministry of Health that reported 30 percent of Malaysians are obese, while another 30 percent are overweight. If it's true then this certainly counts as a national emergency! 60 percent of Malaysians have the BMI over 25? Scary thought, isn't it?

The Hooligan vs The Casanova

Triumph Street Triple 1050 (The Hooligan)
Ducati Monster 1100 (The Casanova)
I still deeply regret not bringing my motorcycle back to Malaysia considering how expensive it is to buy one here. Truth be told I needed the money more than the bike at the time but now when I think of it money comes and goes but the bike still remains a memory. FYI, depending on the bike, the price difference between the US and Malaysia can be double or triple (cheaper in the US, of course). For example, the ever popular and reliable Super Sport (600cc) bike, Honda CBR600RR, which I used to ride costs about USD 10,000 brand new (about RM31,000). But in Malaysia the same bike costs about RM74,000 (USD 24,000) as I last checked at Naza Motors. That's a whopping 140 percent mark! Basically with the same amount of money, you can buy two bikes in the US, modded with aftermarket parts like Akrapovic carbon full-exhaust system, and still have enough in the bank for a nice gourmet dinner in a 3-star Michelin restaurant.

So now I'm taking off again, first to Germany then maybe Australia, which means that I'll surely, most definitely, positively get a bike to bring back to Malaysia. No more excuses this time! I still have that one (or maybe two, I'm not sure) AP I haven't used, which allows me to bring the bike back into Malaysia with minimal tax. Ever since I got the offer from Germany I've been dreaming about what bike to get. Well, I've always had preferences, and I least prefer easy riders and touring bikes like Harleys and all those big lumbering leather-clad machines you see roaring down your local highway. For me the biggest joy of riding a bike is to carve the corners like a surgical knife, which effectively rules out the big cruisers with their low ground clearance, leaned-back ergonomic and heavy weight. But see, superbikes like the Honda CBR600RR or Yamaha R6 is not exactly a practical daily ride. It's kind of hard to scan the traffic around you, and also not too add, much less comfortable, when you have to hunch over the tank riding in that aggressive ergonomic. As much as I love the sleek and powerful superbikes I would have to rule them out for my daily commute. It means that a bike I choose must strike a perfect balance between power/thrill/fun/fast and everyday riding practicality. It means that the riding ergonomic has to be more upright for better view of the surrounding and less stress on the back, which essentially narrows down the list to either Enduro/dual-purpose bikes or street-fighter bikes.

If you've seen the BBC TV series "Long Way Down" and "Long Way Around," which features Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman in their motorcycling adventures, then the kind of bikes they used are dual-purpose (in this case, BMW F1200GS). Well, I love to own of these bikes someday especially after I watched the series. I seriously felt like selling everything I own, quit my job, buy a dual-purpose bike and just ride into the wilderness! Well, that obviously didn't happen but it's still a dream I have and I intend to fulfill it one day. But for the time being I need a bike that excels in ALL categories: comfortable ergo, friendly in low-speed riding but can turn into a beast when the need arises, stable and fast at high speed, sharp and precise around the bends, and all the while looks cool and unperturbed. The street-fighter bikes, which are specifically designed for urban riders, are the clear choices. I've whittled down my options to basically four bikes after a much agonizing contemplation and comparisons, and they are: Ducati Monster 796, Ducati Monster 1100, Triumph Street Triple 675R, and Triumph Speed Triple 1050.

My top two choices are Ducati Monster 1100 and Triumph Speed Triple 1050. I feel that I need a bike with bigger displacement (1000cc) for that extra oomph down the highway, and also I think I've outgrown the smaller cc bikes. Truth be told I haven't seen either of these bikes in person yet, so I'm not sure how it feels exactly to sit on them. On paper, the Triumph triumphs, hands-down (bad pun, I know). It's a highly rated bike that consistently wins awards and gets rave reviews from around the world. But so does the Ducati to some extent. But what the Duc lacks in features it more than makes it up in the styling and design department. Also it's a Ducati for Pete's sake! Simply put, it's to motorcycle what Ferrari is to cars. Owning a Ducati is not just about having in one's possession a sublime objet d'art and an engineering marvel; it's also to be a part its and illustrious history of motorcycle racing. In short, one becomes part of the select group of Ducatisti. Though Triumph also has an equally glorious racing tradition but there's no such thing as Triumphisti (not that it needs one). I think that a Triumph simply lacks the alluring mystique as the Ducati, that X-factor, though in Triumph's defense, its street-fighter and supersport (Daytona 675R) models are actually designed by an Italian firm.

Right now my mind is pulled toward Triumph but my heart is drawn to Ducati. Sometimes, if nothing else, I feel like I just want to own a Ducati for sake of owning one, regardless if the Triumph is superior to it in every category on the specs sheet. The best analogy I can come up with is to liken the Triumph to a (British) hooligan and the Ducati to an Italian casanova. The Triumph oozes with raw power from its three-cylinder engine and always ready to create havoc on the streets. It's fun, exciting, and wild! The Ducati, on the other hand, is sleek, sharp and refined with a well-concealed aggression and brute (it has a V-Twin engine after all). It's like a handsome Italian hunk dressed in a bespoke Armani suit who whispers sweet nothings into your ears, turns into a wild stallion in bed and then fixes you a nice truffle omelet breakfast the morning after. The Triumph is like your beer-swilling buddy, a bon vivant who's loud, full of dirty jokes, bursting with joie de vivre, highly likable, fun to hang out with, and seems to be perpetually going through life at 200km/h. So who do I prefer? Right now I just can't really make up my damn mind. Oh how I wish I'm rich enough to be polygamous and get both!

As the curtain falls...

How time flies! Yeah, I know it's a cliche but it's especially so for me in 2010. I've achieved quite a number of things in 2010 as I keep finding ways to challenge and improve myself. One huge milestone was to quit smoking. As of today it has been 5 months since I had my last drag of a Dunhill. I would rank this achievement high up there along with other major milestones in my life. 2010 has also been a witness to a much fitter, healthier and stronger me. I'm in the best shape of my life - at least for as long as I can remember. I ran my first race a few weeks ago - the Malakoff 12km race - and was awash with the sweat of pride and achievement as I crossed the finish line (in a respectable time I might add). I never thought for the life of me I'd be able to run that far (without stopping even once) but I did it. Physically I can see myself transforming too - for the better. I've never really had a six-pack abs before but now I have one. I've been receiving compliments on my physique from people especially at the gym, which certainly helps in keeping up the motivation to do better.

Professionally I feel like I'm on the right track finally. I'm starting to fit in comfortably with my faculty and my colleagues have accepted me as their peer. Teaching went smoothly and I relish every opportunity to stand in-front of the lecture hall and engage my students in the enlightening topic of the day. I also finally finished my long overdue research proposal, which I sent out to a few academics and gotten very good feedback and encouraging remarks in return. I'm especially delighted about this research proposal since it took me a while - more than a year to be exact - to come up with a solid research question and hypothesis. I'm also doubly delighted that my proposal is well-liked by the people I'll be working with at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Yeah, it has been a pretty good 2010 for me. So, what is there to look forward too in 2011? First off I really need to finish my PhD and right now it's either going to be in Australia or Germany. I also hope that USM's budget will improve in 2011, so I don't have to rely and beg for outside funding. My current research proposal might need a few tweaking but I think overall it's pretty solid and almost ready to be implemented out on the field. Physically I'm ready to run a much longer race. I'm targeting the half-marathon (21km) in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon on June 26 and maybe a full marathon (42km) by year end. Recently I've started flipping through triathlete magazines and it seems like a very worthy goal to shoot for. It means that I have to work harder on my swimming pace and endurance as I've already had a good head start on running and biking. To finish a full marathon is a HUGE accomplishment in and of itself but to finish a triathlon... right now I can only dream and I'll cross that proverbial bridge when I get there.

Here's to a fitter, healthier, and more challenging 2011. Happy New Year y'all.

The embodiment of my [no] life

They say dream is like a movie playback of our subconscious mind, our deepest fear, our secret longing, our unattainable hope. I also happen to think the dreams one dreams of is a good indicator what kind of life one leads during the waking hours. And to be honest, I have no life!

The last couple of dreams I am able to recall involve my two only preoccupations at this time: politics and working out. Last week I had a dream that Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition leader in Malaysia, came to my gym to give a talk about protein supplement, dish out dietary tips, and - brace yourself for this! - show the proper technique and form for deadlift. For a guy who is known to have a serious back problem, among other physical ailments, from being tortured in prison his deadlift form was simply mind-blowing! Anyway, it was seriously weird, to say the least.

This afternoon, while indulging in my regular siesta, I had another working out dream. In this one I was rebutting my brother's claim that doing dumbbell flyes (a form of chest workout) is bad for one's arms when it's combined (supersetted) with other chest exercises such as bench press, barbell press, etc. I told him that it's simply not true because flyes require the exertion of pectoral (chest) muscles to move the weight while minimizing the use of one's arms. Hence it's a perfect exercise if one plans to superset it with other chest workouts in order to completely exhaust the pectoral muscles. The reason being one's arms muscles (particularly triceps and forearms) are much smaller than one's pectoral muscles, so they tire out first before one's pectoral gets a full workout. The ultimate goal of working out is to completely exhaust the muscles, so they can repair themselves and get bigger and stronger. That's why it's good to occasionally do supersets (doing two exercises consecutively without rest) to completely "destroy" the intended muscles.

The funny thing is that while I was explaining all these stuffs my dad walked into the room - and I immediately stopped talking, as a sign of disgust (refer to September 25, 2010 post). I then resumed talking once he left the room. I also remember talking in a very raspy, sand-papery voice as if I'm under the weather. But then it hits me that I just got an sms from Leen, who is currently back home in Johor after contracting dengue. I guess my gravelly voice is a way for me to empathize with her predicament, as the voice symbolizes my sharing of her suffering.

In all I think my dreams aka my subconscious mind is trying to tell me that I basically have no life, which is true. Right now my two obsessions are politics (teaching and researching) and working out (at the gym or outside running). I also go hiking in the Penang National Park almost every weekend, which in a way can also be counted as part of my cardio workout - though in the fun factor it beats 20-minute treadmill running by a mile. I guess overall I'm pretty happy and satisfied with my life as it is though I could use a bit more motivation to produce more academic writing. And also maybe a big bike like a Triumph Street Triple 675R to tool around town.

p/s: Towards the end of the second dream a man (presumably a gym instructor or a dietitian) came in to talk to me. He told me that my body fat is 19 percent, to which I vehemently replied impossible because the last time I checked it was around 11-12 percent and it's not like I've been gobbling down jelly doughnuts and fried chickens all this time. I guess this goes to show how obsessed I am now with my physique and fitness level, so much so that it even haunts my dream. By the way, my target is to get my body fat percentage down to single digit.

I have NO father!

The title above is the literal truth. People who know me well know how strenuous my relationship has been with my dad, but what he did last night was simply beyond the pale and completely erased whatever little goodwill I have left for him. This two-timing son-of-a-bitch decided to tell the whole family that he wanted to take on a second wife!! Well, I wasn't there in KL but the rest of the family was. My brother stormed off in the middle of the announcement and immediately called me.

Right now it's just impossible for me to describe how angry I am and how much hate I have towards him. That decision to take on a second wife is so wrong on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin. My whole body is shaking with rage and anger that almost makes me want to drive back to KL tonight and punch this cheating bastard in his smug-looking face. As of tonight, I officially disown my father! Yup, I have no father and I will tell people that I'm an orphan or that my father died when I was really young and I have no memory of him at all.

Okay, here are the facts that make people wonder what the fuck is wrong with this degenerate fucker to ever decide to do something stupid like this. He's 64 years old this year. Yup, that's not a typo. Sixty-fucking-four years old! It's the age Malay people would call "kubur dah panggil mari." The woman he plans on marrying is our Indonesian maid, who is a 30-something year old widow with two kids. I'm not sure if this woman has agreed to his demented wedding proposal but if she has any shred of decency then she has to refuse it. But the most fucked up thing is that this is NOT the first time he's ever done something like this. As far as the family knows this is his third betrayal. The last one, which happened just a couple of years ago, he secretly married our former maid from Medan. This went on for a while until the lies and deception became too obvious to be covered up. He has never once apologized to the whole family for his indiscretions and only told my mom he had divorced that woman. Who the fuck even knows if this is true or not. What's even worse is that he had the temerity to quote Islamic teachings such as helping out the poor widows, qada' and qadar (fate) and others to justify his lust to have a much younger wife.

What really gets my blood boiling is the implication on my mom. This is the woman who has tolerated all his bullshits and shenanigans for the past 38 years. The woman who never once shirk her wifely duty such as cooking, cleaning the house while working a full-time job. The woman who tended to his every whims and stayed with him when he was seriously ill in the hospital (car accident, kidney stone operation, double bypass heart surgery), The woman who has never demanded any material luxuries such as gold, diamonds and fine clothes from him because she has her own career as a nurse with her own income. The woman who is quite a looker even in her golden years. The woman who has the patience of a saint. In short, the perfect wife! What men in their right fucking mind would ever cheat on a woman like my mom??? Fucking ungrateful bastards are what they are!

I talked to my mom yesterday about this issue (we all knew that he had been cheating behind her back) but I never once thought that he had the gall to make his perverted behavior official and a public knowledge by announcing it to the whole family. We originally thought he had intended to apologize for his past indiscretions when he called for a family gathering but boy, were we so wrong! He was goddamn lucky that I wasn't there in person to bash his face back into his asshole. Anyway, I still haven't had the chance to talk to my mom and will call her first thing in the morning. My only advice to her is to move out of the house back to my grandma's (her mom's) village in Melaka. Just leave that fucker alone in the house to feed himself and wash his own clothes.

I'm so mad right now that my hands are shaking and I can barely type on my laptop, much less putting a coherent thought in a post. I don't even know what to do with this fucker anymore. We barely speak to each other as it is and I don't think cursing him out is going to change much. The first thing is to try to get my mom out of the house. My brother has already decided to stay with my sister or his friends. The maid in question is currently staying at my sister's place taking care of my 3-year old nephew. As for me, the only reason to go home is to get my stuffs in the bedroom (mostly books) and I'll probably come back after midnight so I don't have to see his sex-crazed face anymore. As of today I don't have a father anymore!

Off the cancer sticks for good!

Let it be known that as of today, Sunday, August 1, 2010, is the day I'm quitting cigarettes for good. Yep, you heard right. No more puffs for me. Honestly I've never tried to quit smoking before but I have a feeling that this one will go smoothly. Like I said I had been smoking about 3-4 cigarettes a day for the past few months, so I guess cutting down to zero shouldn't be too difficult - I hope! Anyway, it seems like I tend to quit one vice every ten years. I stopped drinking alcohol almost ten years ago in October 2000, much to the surprise of some of my (American) friends. They got used to it after a while especially when I told them I would still hang out at the bars with them shooting pool and playing air hockey but only that I would be drinking juices or Coke instead.

My immediate goal now is to be as fit as possible and ultimately be able to run a half-marathon (26km/13 miles) in decent time. Another goal is reduce my body fat (BF) percentage to single digit. My current BF percentage is about 12-13 percent. One thing I don't want to do is to lose fat at the expense of muscle development. It means doing cardio at the appropriate time (preferably after weight-lifting or on non-lifting days) and take in enough protein and slow-burning carbs to prevent the catabolic effect (when the body devours muscles for extra energy and makes them shrink).

My mom will be so ecstatic when she hears this news but you know what, I'm not going to tell her (or anybody in my family) any time soon. I'll probably wait until my birthday in September (after Idul Fitri) to break the news to everyone - unless, of course, if they've already known about it through this blog post.

Today is the dawn of what I hope to be a much healthier, fulfilling, and productive life. Man, I feel much younger already!

A gym rat, or the equivalent of it

I guess I'm officially a gym rat now. Yes, I'm addicted to working out at the gym. Well, I've been going to the gym on and off over the years but only in the past year I've started spending serious time there. I've always preferred playing sports and other outdoor activities as my means of fitness but life in Penang does get a bit boring and lonely sometimes, which leads me going to the gym more often.

I've certainly had the motivation for being a fitness addict now. As I've stated previously, I've lost about 14 kilos since October last year and I've never been in much better shape than I am today. I can run 10km without huffing my lungs out and my muscles are more toned and defined. Heck, I can even see my abs muscles now though only the four squares of the upper abs; the lower ones and the obliques are still slightly covered by the stubborn subcutaneous fat.

This new development makes me feel a bit reluctant to go back to KL as frequently as I used to. Going home to KL means a disruption in my workout routine and uncontrolled diet. I feel bad for my mom because she cooks the most amazing food in the world and I either eat little of it or pick and choose the dish. But I believe that my mom is somewhat used to it by now after listening to my endless lecture about good and balanced diet. The only exercise I get at home in KL is running around my residential area for about 5km, which I do enjoy quite a bit since it makes me aware of the little things I've missed while being away for so long.

Yeah, I'm pretty serious into this fitness/workout stuff now. I watch my daily protein/carb/fat intake and - brace yourself for this! - I'm down to my last pack of smokes, by which I mean the last pack before I quit. I've been smoking about 3-4 cigarettes a day anyway, and to tell the truth I don't miss smoking all that much. The question now is why do I need to offset my hard work by continuing to puff on the cancer sticks? The target now is to be able to run at least a half marathon (21km or 13 miles) within a year, which I think is highly doable.

Personally I prefer weightlifting over cardio, and too much cardio is actually not good for muscle development. But at the very least I want to be fit and able to compete competitively in sports. Even at the gym right now I only do a short 10-minute cardio for warming-up and later after the weightlifting session I would run or bike for about 20 minutes or so. I guess it's just enough cardio to burn fat but maybe not enough to make me truly fit.

Anyway, contrary to what many people believe, lifting weights can help tremendously with fat burning depending on what kind of muscles a person is working on. If a person is working out his/her biceps then obviously not much fat is going to be used because biceps muscles are small and the body doesn't need to convert much fat into energy for training that particular muscles. But if a person is doing squat, the king of all exercises, then much more fat will be burned because the body needs a huge amount of energy to move the big lower body muscles like the quadriceps, thighs, glutes (butts), and calves. That is why the most exhausting workout day of the week is always the leg day. I'm always out of breath after an 8 reps x 4 sets of squat and my legs feel like jelly afterward - in conjunction with other leg exercises such as lunge, leg press, calf raise, leg curl, etc.

Why is it an addiction then? Well, I look forward to go to the gym all the time and if I somehow can't make it I feel restless and lethargic. I also literally get high after an intense workout session - I believe it's called the "endorphin high" or something like that, only that this is a good kind of high. Also I've been getting compliments from other gym members on my lean physique and that definitely serves as a strong enough motivation. Even some gym members cannot believe how old I am considering how well I look physically. Nothing makes an old man happier than that! Alrighty, then. Now I have to go plan my workout for tomorrow.

Missing the point

I tend to blaze through my workout routine but sometimes I do sneak a peek at what others are doing in the gym, mostly for inspiration but occasionally for sheer entertainment. There's this Indian guy who only does upper body workout and nothing else, which makes him look like a very buff Mr. Potato Head: bulging pecs and arms complemented by a pair of reed-thin legs. There are also a couple of Indian guys who always work out in tandem. Both are obviously overweight with the belly to show for but never once I see them do any cardio exercises. They always monopolize the abs crunching bench, much to my annoyance, and pull up their shirts in-front of the mirror after every abs crunch set to see if there's any reduction in belly fat. Today, one of the said guys actually pulled up his shirt while twisting his body on the oblique equipment. He was facing the mirror, of course. And later when I went down to have a drink of my usual 100 plus at the mamak place I saw them both each ordered a big helping of nasi dalcha and fried chicken. Yep, that's just what you need for a post-workout nourishment! There's also one scrawny Chinese kid who does the rounds on the weight machines in rapid succession without any regard to what specific muscles to focus on. He'd start his lightning-quick round from the various pecs machines to lat pull to shoulder press in maybe less than 10 minutes, and repeat it for a few more times.

I'm not sure why some people do what they do at the gym - and do it without any clue whatsoever. Maybe they're just too proud to ask for guidance from the instructors, afraid of looking less "macho" in-front of other gym rats. This is after all a place where you can almost cut the testosterone-laden air with a knife.

For the two Indian guys trying to work off their belly fat they are missing on a basic fact of human anatomy: fat and muscles are two totally different types of tissues. Abs crunches only stimulate the abs muscles, not the subcutaneous fat that covers them. Yes, the abs muscles will become ripped and stronger after many, many crunches but they will be well-hidden behind the fat. The only way to blast those fat away is to sweat your ass off on the treadmill or the stationary bike or the rowing machine or do any of the aerobic workouts. Also gorging on nasi dalcha right after the workout is never a good idea.

As for the skinny Chinese kid building muscle mass requires focus and good planning. One should divide the weekly workout routine into various muscle groups in order to maximize the results. Usual 3 days a week routine, and mine as well, is as follow: pecs/triceps/delts (Monday), lats/traps/biceps (Wednesday) and lower-body (Friday), along with two or three cardio sessions (30 mins or so) and the requisite compound workouts like squat and dead lift. I also do abs crunches at the end of the overall workout.

This is not to say that I'm better than some people at the gym. It's just that if one wants to do something then do it right. Equip yourself with the knowledge and the know-hows. There are plenty of resources out there, so take your pick. Doing it blindly will only be a waste of your time and money with nothing to show for at the end of the day.

Losing it

Quite a few people commented on my "thinness" recently. I guess that's an encouraging sign. October last year, right after Idulfitri, I weighed 94 kilos (207 lbs), which was the heaviest I've ever been in my life. By the way, I'm about 6 feet tall (1.83 meter), so proportion-wise I still looked okay. But then I was feeling bloated and some people even mentioned how "chubby" I looked. I really let myself go when I came back to Malaysia, eating anything and everything under the sun with callous disregard for nutritional value and calorie count. I had no one but myself to blame. I love food too much. I had maintained a weight of around 88 kilos (194 lbs) for the past couple of years, which is not bad but not that great either. I know could do better.

The reason I was able to maintain my weight in the US, despite regular consumption of junk food and irregular eating habits, was that I had an active lifestyle. I rode my bike everyday and everywhere. I played soccer, basketball and tennis regularly. I swam at the university's pool and hit the gym occasionally. When I came back to Malaysia early last year my life all of the sudden became sedentary. I was eating much more than usual and exercising much less. There's no other way to describe it. I was a pig. Nasi lemak, roti telur, briyani gam, teh tarik, nasi kandar and all the great yet heart-clogging Malaysian food were the order of the day. I ate from breakfast until the early morning supper the next day. I didn't even think twice about when to eat or what I eat. Eating had become a full time pursuit of unfettered pleasure. It culminated in last year's Idulfitri when my weight finally hit its all-time high, and I decided something had to be done to stop this madness before it became more serious.

I joined a gym near campus last October as this guilt of obesity started to become overwhelming. I think it's paying off as evidenced by the weight-loss and the compliments from others. Today when I weighed myself at the gym the scale tipped at 83 kilos (183 lbs). It means that I've lost 11 kilos (24 lbs) in the last six months. That's not too shabby I'd say especially considering that I didn't spend that much time at the gym anyway. In a given week I might go to the gym 3-4 times for about an hour or so of workout. There were also times when I didn't go for 2-3 weeks especially when I'm traveling or back home in KL. But when I work out I tend to do it seriously and with a clear sense of purpose. That's why I don't spend more than an hour at the gym. I blaze through my planned cardio workouts and weight sessions for the day and be done with. I don't spend much time admiring my sweat-glistened muscles on the mirror like some of the guys at the gym. Just a quick 60-second pause between sets then off to another weight or cardio session.

Another major contributor to the weight-loss is the balanced and highly nutritional diet. I very rarely drink soda and eat fast food, so avoiding these types of junk food is not a problem at all. I do find myself cooking and eating at home more often, which is the best way to watch one's diet. Be sure to stock up on a lot of veggies, lean meat, fish, chicken breast, whole grain anything (pasta, bread, oatmeal, cookies, etc) and fruits. Also I've been eating less fried food and more steamed or roasted stuffs. I even bought a steamer recently. Healthy and balanced eating goes hand-in-hand with exercises and work outs. You cannot do one without the other. Do these often enough they will become a habit and your body will start to adapt to this new healthy lifestyle - and this is what I'm shooting for right now. Well, I still do food binging once in a while so as not to completely deprive myself of the great pleasures in life. What's the point of living in Malaysia if one cannot enjoy its world-renowned food!

I fucking swear!

There's this interesting article in the NY Times that discusses the topic of cussing. I personally don't cuss very much especially as I get older. I still remember my young careless days when I used to cussed like a rum-soaked sailor. Not so much anymore, but when I do cuss I tend to do it with much gusto. One of the writers in the article mentions that a person finds it natural to cuss in his/her native language. It makes me wonder what language do I usually use when I cuss. The cuss has to be spontaneous and un-contrived. In other words it has to be naturally expressed, and I notice that I tend to do a lot of cussing when I'm driving - like every other driver on the road, I guess. Since driving in itself is a neutral, non-verbal act it means that any spontaneous verbal outburst would be expressed in one's own native language, as the presupposition goes. It got me thinking. I find myself cussing in both Malay and English when I'm driving, which, I guess, effectively makes me a bilingual native speaker. I realize that I have no control of what cuss words that come out of my mouth. It can easily be "pukimak kau" or "stupid motherfucker" for all I know. It then leads to another curiousity: in its natural resting state what language does my mind use? Do I dream in Malay or English? But then again, what the fuck do I know?

It makes it all worthwhile

One of the greatest feelings of being a teacher is to be told that you are a source of inspiration and the spark that sets ablaze the burning passion in your students. Getting comments from my former students in Indonesia about how I inspire them to become better in English and to encourage them to be more confident in speaking the language makes the whole teaching endeavor worthwhile.

Last week I chatted with one of my former students on Facebook and he said that thanks to me he now has become more confident in speaking English in public, so much so that he even approached a couple of Australian tourists in Borobudur just for the sake of wanting to have an English conversation. Today I chatted with another former student of mine on Facebook - yeah, I have a whole bunch of them there - and he told me that he's going to the university for a TEFL degree - he plans to be an English teacher. But interestingly he said that he wasn't really interested in becoming a teacher, much less an English teacher, until I started teaching at the school. He mentioned how well I mix humor and creativity in my lesson plans and how I make the language seems easy for the students especially in using the Indonesian context to explain difficult English concepts and words. Seeing me teach has inspired him to become an English teacher, or in his word I'm his "inspirator."

Nothing fills a teacher with more pride and a sense of self-worth than getting these kinds of feedback from the students. It really puts into perspective as to why I teach in the first place. It validates my raison d'etre and confirms my existential being. It's the engine that propels me forward. Gosh, I love teaching!

Nak jadi orang Penang ni...

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang called me up this morning to ask when can I start teaching there. Actually they called me with two news. First was to tell me that I will not be going to Australia for my PhD this year because the quota is already full. This academic staff training program seems to be based on seniority and I'll have to wait for my turn next year. But in the mean time the university offered me an adjunct teaching position in the Social Sciences department. So I guess it's good news overall. I'll be teaching at the university and still get to go to Australia next year to finish up my doctoral study. Plus, I'll be teaching my most favorite subject of all, politics. They haven't told me what political science courses to teach but who cares? I'll be living in the enchanting island of Penang this coming August AND I will be doing something I'm most passionate about, that is teaching. Can't beat that! Boy, life is good.

p/s: Nicky, clean up that spare bedroom of all your shit! I'm moving in.

Nowhere to run...

There were times when I was growing up in KL that I couldn't go anywhere in the city without bumping into people I know. It happened all the time. I guess KL is not big and the fact that I do know quite a few people. It could also be that we all hung out in the same places. But nowadays I can usually spend the whole day in the city by myself without seeing anybody who recognizes me or people I know.

I've been living abroad for a long time and a lot of my old friends simply don't know what I look like these days. But thanks to Facebook I get reconnected with most of them, so we all know what each other looks like in the present time, which generally follows an inevitable downward trend: receding hairline, burgeoning belly, smattering white hair, and chubby cheeks.

So there I was yesterday walking along Jalan Bukit Bintang from Jalan Tun Razak on my way to KLCC when I heard my name being shouted from one the cars stuck in the evening traffic jam. "Fido!!" I looked around and found out that it was from a guy in a black Satria in the middle lane. After dodging swarms of speeding kapchais weaving in and out of the traffic I managed to get to his car and he turned out be an old college buddy of mine whom I haven't seen in nearly ten years! It was simply mind-blowing the fact we could have met anywhere but ended up seeing each other in the midst of a gridlock.

To be sure, we reconnected on Facebook last year but never actually made plans to hang out. Plus, I was still in the US at the time and only recently came back to Malaysia. But through the wonders of Facebook he knows what I look like nowadays and without hesitation decided to call out my name when he saw me walking. In a way he's taking a chance but there is no doubt in him that it was me. Physically he hasn't changed much over the years - except for the receding hairline! - and it took me less than a nano-second to recognize who he was. I immediately hopped into his car and we went to a mamak place near my house for drinks and long reminiscing.

Gosh, I do enjoy one of these life's little surprises!

What I want for my birthday...

I've been dreaming a lot about motorcycle lately and have been mentally charting my next grand road trip around the mainland Southeast Asia. It sucks living in Malaysia where the price of high-powered motorcycles is simply beyond the reach of most people due to high import tax and excise duties on foreign vehicles. For now all I can do is to go Naza Motor showroom and drool over myself at the sight of a beautifully-sculpted Ducati 1198R or the menacing-looking Hypermotard. I wish there's a way for me to get my hands on these Italian objet d'art without having to sell my soul to Satan!

But realistically-speaking, the bike that I REALLY want is the 2008 Triumph Street Triple 675 (see pic above). It's a mean, lean beast of a machine as it basically shares the same 675cc engine with its highly-rated superbike brother, Daytona 675. I'm a huge fan of the naked bike and I'd pick the Street Triple over the Ducati Monster 696 any time of the day, as much as I love and adore the Italian engineering marvel.

I don't know how much this bike costs in Malaysia since the Triumph brand is not carried here - the closest is in Singapore. In the US the brand-new Street Triple costs around USD 8,200, a little less than the Monster 696. If one is to go by the price of Monster 696 in Malaysia, which is around RM 75,000, the price of Street Triple should be in the low RM 70,000. Too goddamn expensive if you ask me!

My only hope is that if I do get to go Australia for my PhD, I'll most probably buy the Street Triple there, which is around AUD 10,000. In the mean time, I'll keep on dreaming and salivating...

Academic Hypocrisy?

Yesterday I had an interview at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang for the Academic Staff and Training Scheme (ASTS). ASTS is a university program, funded by the Malaysia's Public Service Department (Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam), that sponsors academics to pursue their Masters and/or PhD in overseas and local universities. Upon getting their degrees, academics are obligated to teach at the university for a minimum of seven years.

The program, I think, is a good fit for me since I do plan on finishing my PhD and teaching at USM Penang. But I felt a bit bad since I had to somehow fudge the truth in order to look more preferable in eyes of the selecting committee. You see, my academic area of specialization is Southeast Asian politics and I plan on devoting my academic career in researching, teaching, and writing about this region.

A few months ago, when I was contemplating on applying to ASTS, I had a meeting with the head of the Asian Studies Department at USM, who asked me if I can instead specialize in East Asian politics, namely Chinese politics. This is because the Department needs lecturers who can teach courses on East Asian politics and help develop the East Asian Studies program within the Department. But he then sensed my apparent discomfort in being asked to do my PhD research on a region I'm not that passionate about, so he compromised a bit and told me that I can still do my dissertation research on Southeast Asian politics as long as I'll be willing to teach a course on Chinese politics later. He said that the university doesn't monitor my research and only cares that I come back to USM to teach after finishing my PhD.

I don't mind teaching the course at all but to devote the next three years of my life researching about a country I'm not all that enthused about is simply torturous, and not to say, unthinkable. He also suggested that I talk about my interest in Chinese politics during the interview to better my chance in getting the sponsorship since the funding is given out based on the departmental needs. To add, he is also part of the selection committee that interviewed me yesterday, which made his suggestion even stranger.

So, during the interview yesterday I talked a bit about my "research proposal" to study Chinese politics: my tentative topic is "China's new-found prominence on the global stage engenders hyper-nationalism among young Chinese." Fortunately the committee didn't ask many questions about my "research proposal" and instead focus on soliciting my opinions in how to develop a strong East Asian Studies program at the university. It also meant that I didn't have bullshit too much about my "interest" in studying Chinese politics.

Still I feel a bit remorseful for telling the committee something I knew wasn't sincere. I still plan on doing my PhD on Indonesian politics but at the same time I will also have to deepen my knowledge in East Asian politics, particularly China, which means taking up relevant academic courses and reading more about the region. Most probably I'll also have to learn some rudimentary Mandarin in order to lend my regional expertise an appearance of legitimacy.

I wonder what would happen if during the interview I told the committee that I'm not interested in studying China for my PhD and insisted on doing Indonesia instead? In other word, just be honest about my academic plan. Will I still get the sponsorship if I did that? In the end I succumbed to my craven and cowardly self and decided to be a hypocrite. I hope to atone for this grievous sin later by being the best damn teacher of East Asian politics the university has ever seen! Geez, that sounds kind of pathetic. I guess I'll just do what's needed to be done and let the chips fall where they may.

Indonesian L'amore

Many Indonesian idiosyncracies endear me to the country, and oddly enough, one of them is the need for Indonesians to match-make any single, unattached people they meet. They are generally curious, if not a bit perplexed, when you tell them that you're single especially when they think that you're the kind of person who shouldn't have any trouble finding a partner.

Here's what happened to me at the airport earlier. While waiting for my delayed Air Asia flight to Jakarta I struck up a conversation with two forty-ish Indonesian ladies. They were on a girls-only vacation to KL without their husbands and children. When the conversation topic touched upon my marital status they were surprised to find out that I'm still single. They looked at each other, nodded with some sort of implicit understanding and a mischievous grin that signaled a devious plot that seemed to have me as the central character. Oh no! I knew that look because I've seen it many times before. One of them immediately told me that she has a niece in her mid-twenties who is quite a looker and most importantly she's single. And of course they wanted to set me up with her!

They made me promise not to leave the Jakarta airport without telling them first and it so happened that the very same niece they were telling me about was coming to pick them up. So I waited with them outside of the airport while itching to get on a taxi to go to Jeremy's place. Fortunately for me, the so-called niece got stuck in the notorious Jakarta rush hour traffic, which meant that it would take her forever to get to airport. I used this as an excuse to escape as I told them I had to rush into the city to have dinner with my friends. But before they let me leave I had to give them my Indonesian hp number and made me to promise to have dinner with them and the niece when I get back from Kalimantan next Monday. Oh Lord!

I'm not sure to call this a blessing or a curse but one thing for sure, it's very typical of Indonesia. I used to get so many match-making offers when I was living in Kalimantan that I lost count of them. It's flattering for sure to be deemed as a prospective partner for their close relations but at some point it does get kind of annoying and invasive. For now I'm just going with the flow - just for the heck of it.

No Cars, No Worries

This article in the NY Times today really caught my attention. Imagine living in a car-free environment where there's only electric tram and everybody bikes everywhere. And if you need to use a car, you can buy a parking space in a municipal garage situated at the edge of the city or you can carpool using the shared-cars fleet.

As a year-round cyclist it'd be my dream to live in a place where I can ride my bike anywhere. The closest place to it is the city of Madison, Wisconsin where I had lived for two years and where even the mayor rides his bike to work though not during the winter season. But is it possible to create a car-free city in the US, much less in developing countries like Malaysia and Indonesia? I know Jakarta has a car-free day every Sunday afternoon for its two main boulevards, Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman, but I'm not sure if the program is still in effect. A friend of mine, Yosef, used to ride his beat-up bicycle from his house in south Jakarta to his office in the city center and had brushes with death every single day in his commute! I have a lot of respect for his courage to be an urban cyclist in the mad city of Jakarta but then Yosef has spent many years studying in the US, so his Indonesian (in)sensibility is pretty screwed up!

Truth be told I do like the convenience of having a car. I did own a car in Madison and though I didn't drive very often it was still good to know that I had a car if I ever needed to use one. I guess the issue boils down to the age-old debate of individual rights to choose vs the collective good of the society. Americans are known to be fiercely individualistic (in some sense it's actually a good trait to have) and their individual rights are irrevocably enshrined in the first ten amendments of the US constitution. To ask the American people to significantly give up their right to drive a car is like telling them that they cannot own guns anymore, especially when driving a car, like gun ownership, is part and parcel of its culture. It's simply not going to happen. This is after all the country that used to own more than 90 percent of all the cars in the world when Ford Model T first came off the production line in early 1900s. Americans' love affair with automobiles is well known and well documented.

What about Malaysia, or specifically, Kuala Lumpur? I used to ride my late grandpa's bicycle around KL all the time when I was younger and later my mountain bike before it was tragically stolen at a video game arcade. Admittedly back then KL wasn't as busy as it is nowadays but the bike rides were still pretty treacherous. Now I would think twice about taking my bicycle out for a spin in the city unless if I have a death wish! Some people mentioned that I can always ride on the sidewalk but I believe that sidewalk should be reserved for pedestrians only.

But you know what, I actually do enjoy riding my bike in a bustling city. I guess you can call it my secret pleasure although it's not exactly a secret when it's being done out in the open. I did have a lot of fun riding my bike in major American cities like Chicago, Washington DC, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco and others. Maybe one of these days I should try biking in Jakarta or KL just for the heck of it...that is, right after I have my will prepared!

Note: Above is a pic of my bike in Madison parked at the Sentry supermarket in Hilldale. Gosh, I miss my bike very much!