Equatorial Musings

I know it's been close to a week since I ran the half marathon, but I've been busy with work and more importantly, nursing my bruised feet :)  For some reasons, my Saucony Kinvara, while light weight and comfortable, didn't provide enough cushion during my run. Consequently, in addition to having somewhat agitated knees, my feet hurt like hell.  Even now, my right foot still complains each time I put weight on it, especially on the outer side.  And the pain spreads upwards to my calf.  Maybe it's because I didn't warm down properly.   Enough about my feet.  Now about the run.  To be frank, I almost didn't go.  First, I slept at 1 am, which to my credit, wasn't because I didn't try to sleep early.  I did, as my wife would testify, but I just couldn't do it.  Maybe it was because it was too early since I rarely hit the sack at 11ish on a Saturday night.  Or perhaps I was excited about the run, which I had written about, especial...

Tomorrow, I'll join more than 50,000 runners in taking part in StanChart's annual run event; the Singapore Marathon.  When I first started participating in the run, it was in the modest 10 km category, which if memory serves, was in 2005.  Looking back, I was quite fit then because I clocked about 55 mins for the run, which translated to less than 6 mins per km.  For someone on the wrong side of 35 then, this was quite a feat.  But then again, I was training more frequently then and I had stopped smoking for a while.  But I stopped running thereafter and picked up smoking again when my life went through a bad patch.   And while I've written about starting to run again, I'm sad to say that I've never quite regained that level of fitness and stamina I used to have. Anyway, fast forward to 2013, and I've been in a few more runs since, although not all organised by StanChart.  I did my first half marathon in end-2011 and clocked 3 hrs 16 mins an...

Notting Hill is one of those gems of a movie that has a place in cinematic history.  I just watched another re-run on cable, hence my post.  I can't remember how many times I've seen it, but it never feels old or dated.  I love the movie for a host of reasons.  First, it has a good premise with likeable characters who obviously have onscreen chemistry.  Second, it was a movie watched with important people in my life, in particular 2 of ex-partners.  While what we had have come to an end, I do cherished the times when our paths crossed.  This movie, for some reason, is like a time stamp on my past relationships.  The irony is that for a movie that has a good ending, it marks episodes in my life which didn't pan out this way.   Still, it's a movie that carries hope even though there was little to warrant it initially.  Will, played by Hugh Grant, inadvertently meets a famous actress, Anna, played by Julia Roberts.  They bumped i...

I got hitched again in end-2012 and it was not without questions and doubts.  After my first marriage failed, I wondered if I could do better and hold up my end of the bargain, so to speak.  Of course, there were those who asked me why I was willing to do it again, especially those who went through the same thing as me.  I did it because it felt right and instead of just letting emotions drowned me, it also made sense to settle down with someone who share my faith and values.  Of course, the fact that she stood by me for many years helped, but it was more than that.  It was love at a level I never experienced before.  I've encountered the heady kind of love, the kind that caused one to lose their sanity and believed they can conquer the world.  But such love, if not moderated by logic, is a potent mix that often results in disaster.   But this was love that my faith had taught me about; self sacrificial love that I can count on and not head...

I've always wanted to get back to writing my blog, but as my life settles into a good rhythm, I find it harder to take the time and effort to do so.  From hindsight, I think I wrote more in the past because I was going through tough times in my life.  Writing allowed me to verbalise my trials and testings in a way that was cathartic. and necessary for my healing.   You might wonder why I titled my post 'Giving Thanks'.  It's because I want to thank my God for rescuing me from the valley of hopelessness I was in.  When I was going through it all, I didn't think I could make it.  But He was there throughout and he brought a wonderful lady into my life; someone who stood by me through the years that it took me to recover.  And all the time, He comforted and cared for me as I lapsed in and out of negative and depressed thoughts.  I've never understood my faith the way I appreciated it when I was down and out.  Perhaps it's true what they sa...

I just finished watching The Majestic, a 2001 show starring Jim Carrey and Laurie Holden.  Most of you would know Carrey from his earlier and much less credible flicks like The Mask and other equally forgettable shows.  And of course, who can forget his penchance for over acting.  However, in this show, his acting is more mellowed and nuanced.  Not that he's getting an Oscar anytime soon, but he actually tried acting out his character.  And I must say he did a very decent job. And while it was set in 1951, i.e., some years after World War II ended, it had a good plot.  That war ended in 1945 for those who're too young to know this.  In the show, he played a Hollywood writer who's accused of being a Communist.  Suddenly, he lost his career, girlfriend and basically the life he had.  He went for a spin in his car, got into an accident and promptly developed amnesia.  He then stumbled into a small town where he was mistaken for a l...

I like to write as though we're already in a conversation and I'm just about to share something.  So, like I was saying, I've earlier bought a Sony SLT camera and have been experimenting with the 3 lenses I have.  Yup, I've 3 lenses.  Talk about jumping into photography in a big way.  To be fair, the kit lens (18-55 mm, f3.5-5.6) that came with the camera didn't count.  Neither does the complimentary prime (50 mm, f1.8) that I got from Harvey Norman, which the salesman threw in to sweeten the deal.  In actual fact, I only paid for the 3rd lens, which was a wide-angle add-on that comes with a macro.  I know for the uninitiated, the above doesn't make much sense, so I'll try my best to explain. The kit lens is a bit of a zoom lens that is your general purpose walkabout lens.  It comes with the camera, so it's cheap but quite good for those starting out.  The prime has a fixed focal length, so you need to move back and forth to fit the scen...