Equatorial Musings

It’s been a while since my last blog entry in late 2014.  Since then, I’ve changed jobs and things have been rather hectic at work.   But it’s also because I seem to be losing momentum in recent years.   I can’t quite pin it down, but it could be that I’m getting old or lazy, or both.   Murakami said that while some writers seem to have an endless well of ideas to draw upon, it’s not the case for him.   To him, writing is something that he has to work on, and it can be tough depending on whether the creative juices flow.   I’ve read his first few and later novels, and I never felt that he had to labor over his work.   Somehow, he has a way of putting across his ideas in simple but impactful ways.   True, his earlier works can seem plotless but he more than made up for it through his punchy writing.   And some of his work are very complicated and hard to understand, such as Kafka on the Shore which I didn’t quite grasp.   I’m not comparing myself to accomplished writers like Murakami.  

For as long as I can remember, I have always liked the idea of writing.   When I was a young boy, I really thought I could write a book.   In fact, I was so taken by the idea that I pestered my mother to buy me a typewriter.   Truth be told, I did not need a typing machine, not even for school.   This was back when everything was hand written and our main source of knowledge came from books.   But I believed that having the right equipment would allow my creative thoughts to flow better.   And I tried putting fingers to keys, hoping to translate ideas into stories.   But it turned out to be harder than I imagined, especially with the pressures that a high school boy had to endure.   There were so many things fighting for my attention: school, homework, games, sports, television etc.   And the list went on.   It was just not possible to quieten down and write a story, although I tried.   I recall writing one about a dog fight involving fighter planes, but it never took off.   In

I've been driving since 2005 and have owned 2 cars since, the latest being an Audi A4 which is a delight to drive.  Truth be told, I do love to drive and sometimes I resent the fact that Singapore is so small.  It really doesn't take very long to drive anywhere for anything in this island state.  Still, I managed to chalk up 30 over thousand km since my wife and I bought the car in October 2012.  I guess the fact that we drive everywhere to find good food has something to do with it.  When I got my first car, a Ford Focus, I was a newly minted driver eager to taste the thrills of driving.  And I did drive somewhat recklessly with little regard for my passengers.  I remember an ex-colleague from MINDEF telling me that I drive much better now.  She was being nice as it was a tactful comment on my less than nice rides in the past.  Over the years, I've learnt to be more considerate and to consider the comfort of others when they're in the car.  But I still succumbed to t

Happy new year to one and all!  This is my first post of 2014 and I've got something hilarious to share.  For the first time in my life, I joined a group of like-minded individuals determined to work out during lunch.  Yes, this was in a studio where most of the participants were women and what I went through was 2 Xtend Barr at Upside Motion.  It's touted as a workout at the "ballet barre for a heart-pumping, calorie-sizzling dance workout that will change your body as you know it".  Thankfully, I wasn't the only guy there.  Another of my male colleagues was also there.  For reasons that defy explanation, we allowed ourselves to be convinced by 6-7 female colleagues that we should join them for the 1-week trial at Upside Motion.  At the first class, which went on for 1 hour, the guys and some of the girls were rather apprehensive.  Not knowing what to expect, we went buoyed by unrational enthusiasm and supported by peer pressure.  We started off with some w

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, especially since I wanted

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 and 10 secs.  Eve