| NAME: | CHEW JUNE |
| EVENT: | Women 10Km |
| DATE: | Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 |
| BIB/DIV: | 62498 / F3034 |
| TIME: | 58m:35s (gun) / 56m:17s (net) |
Being quite egoistic here....
but I was actually the top 3% for the 10km Women's run!!! Of the total 5636 female runners who completed the 10km race, I clocked in at the 140th position!!!
We managed to make an early dinner reservation at Hotel 1929's Restaurant Ember for Christmas. It's situated on this very charming street in Chinatown district... where many shophouses were restored into small but super chic boutique hotels with loads of character.
Dinner at Restaurant Ember was fabulous... I can understand why I can't seem to make a dinner reservation there previousely. The Executive Chef is Sebastian Ng (formerly of the Four Seasons and Raffles hotels) who was named Rising Chef of The Year at 2004 World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence :)
Here's what was on our Christmas Eve menu! Check it out!
After dinner, we headed out to Balaclava for some drinks, dance and countdown to Christmas! We've not done this for a long time... you know... just the two of us... so it was really nice!!!
So.... wanna know what my christmas pressie is this year?
Plus 3 sets of very pretty PJs!!! :) How nice!!
It's CHRISTMAS EVE!!! I'm so looking forward to spending some alone time with Dave! We'll be heading out for dinner later.... and I still do not have his present with me!!!! No, no, no, no.... I've ordered the present, it's just that I don't think I'll receive it till later this week! Not going to elaborate.... cus I'm soooo proud that until now, Dave is still clueless as to what I've gotten for him! We aren't exactly good at keeping secrets, so it's an achievement! Anyways.... thank goodness there're 12 days of Christmas!
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!
May everyone still stay healthy amidst the festivities!!!
For the Hari Raya Haji public holiday yesterday, we hung out with my bro and sister-in-law.
Decided to try out the mala steamboat Joanna has been raving to us about, and what perfect timing, cus the weather was simply perfect for it! Thursday was very breezy with greyish skies and constantly threatening to rain.
We met up at Ting Yuan at Liang Siah Street. It's a very small, no frills eatery... nothing like the ambience of Coca... but don't get deceived by the appearance, cus it was really very good! The mala soup base was so much better than the one we had in Taipei.... maybe it's been tuned to suit our Singaporean tastebuds, but we were the only locals in the restaurant!!! From the sounds of it... the rest of the patrons were from mainland China!!! So I suppose it must be very authentic! and definitely value-for-money at $16.80 for free-flow of food!!!
Based on Joanna's tradition, we're to have ginger dessert to clear up the stomach after the mala... but I think it got re-fired up! Hah hah!
Last night was the first time we attended a wedding at The Regent. It's a Four Seasons Hotel, so naturally there's nothing to complain about.
Hung out in the bridal suite for awhile and it's just so plush! The complimentary chocolate cake for the couple was too delicious. Looking at the pic again, I wished I had not shared my slice with Edrea!
I was appointed to help out at the reception area... easy job... done it countless times;) plus I get to people-watch which was really fun!
The usual 9-course dinner was great (other than the shark's fin; way too starchy)... and service outstanding. Loved the ballroom and the theme Florence chosed; elegant yet cozy.
Congratulations to our dearest Florence... aka Mrs. Kin!
Sunday morning. Florence's getting married. I cut short my India trip for this. It was defintiely a sound move! Hah hah!
She looked gorgeous! Managed to take some pictures.
Just returned from my India yoga retreat on Saturday morning. It's absolutely wondrous to be back home.
The first half of the retreat was spent travelling around the northern part of India. We did some sight-seeing, but it was generally a very yoga-focused kind of vacation.
Day 1 (4th Dec): Flight departing from Singapore was delayed (no... it was not an SQ flight). It was almost 8pm when we arrived in Delhi. Stopped by for (vegetarian) dinner at Udupi Restaurant. Accomodation at Sahayog Anubhuti Yoga Centre. We 4 girls had to share a room... and queue up for the toilet. What a bathing experience! First, I had to mix the hot water and the cold water in a pail before I could start my bath... and because hot water runs out... it was basically a very stressful bath for me! Plus all this done squatting down ... definitely good for my thighs!
Day 2 (5th Dec): Drove to Gwalior. Visited Manoji's home followed by Gwalior Fort. Went to the ashram where Manoji spent 8 years doing his yoga studies. Tailor-made a saree in town. (Vegetarian) dinner at Manoji's sister's home. Overnight at Manoji's friend home. I had a horrendous experience of having a black-out in the midst of my shower. Felt like crying.... wondering why I've got to put myself through this.
Day 3 (6th Dec): Drove to Agra to visit THE Taj Mahal. This was definitely the highlight of my trip. The sight of it took my breath of away. Long drive back to Delhi. Managed to see the India Gate. Yummy home-cooked (vegetarian) dinner at Abodh-ji's home. Ivy arrived late night.
Day 4 (7th Dec): A day in Delhi. Had a glimpse of village life. Visted a boring Botanical Gardens' version of The Garden of 5 Senses. Made a prayer at the Lotus Meditation Centre and had a good time at Akshardham. Camp-fire dinner at Abodhji's house.
Day 5 (8th Dec): Day trip to Jaipur, also known as The Pink City because of all the pinkish salmon coloured buildings. We hiked up to the top of another fort there which reminded me alot of Beijing's Great Wall. Jaipur's famous for its blue pottery... and we had some fun shopping before another tiring drive back to Delhi:(
Day 6 (9th Dec): Set out early for Rishikesh. I was really looking forward to this place cus it was supposed to be a yoga town... and I wasn't disappointed. On the way there, we stopped by at Bhayala Yog Mahavidhyalaya (the ashram where Charat's from) to meet his Great Yogi Guru Sri Rajpal Yogacharya. We had a ayurvedic cleasing diet!
We left for Rishikesh town and checked into the Swami Dayananda ashram... the place we'd be staying for a night. Went to watch a nightly ritual called Aarti before heading back to the ashram for (vegetarian) dinner.
Day 7 (10th Dec): Woke up early for breakfast, and took a (feet-)dip in the cold cold Ganges. Even managed to smuggle The Ganga water back home to bless everyone at home:) We did some last minute shopping at Rishikesh town (went crazy buying lots of Yoga books and cds!) before heading to VK's home for lunch. Then we took a trip to Mussoorie... which was absolutely NOT worth it.
Reached Delhi at 2.15am!!! Had to pack for our flight to Bangalore which leaves at 5.50am. Did not sleep.
Day 8 (11th Dec): We missed our flight. We were refused check-in at 5.25am. Had to purchase another ticket for the next flight out at 7.40am. Seemed ridiculous to have to sacrifice our sleep. Super pissed (om). Ringku picked us up from the airport at Bangalore and brought us to Coffee Day! Ahhhh.... finally a decent place with decent coffee. Ringku is now everyone's best friend... cus there is no generation gap! Settled down in our room.... Ivy, Aya and I decided we rather stay together than have our own single room. My Yoga Conference began. Managed to attend a Meditation class, got indroduced to Rope Yoga and had a boring lecture on 'Spectrum of Consciousness' before dinner.
Day 9 (12th Dec): 2nd day of yoga conference. I was feeling quite depressed....extremely homesick. The next day was our 7th year wedding anniversary. Lectures as usual. 2 more days to go.
Day 10 (13th Dec): 3rd day of yoga conference. Feeling very tired. It's been almost 10 years since I had to rush from class to class... can't wait to go home. Started packing for tomorrow's late night flight! hooray!
Day 11 (14th Dec): 4th day of yoga conference.... but I only attended an early morning lecture. The school planned a day trip out for Aya, Ivy and me. It was fun. Visted The Art of Living. Plus the main shopping shopping street (M.G. St) and had the best lunch EVER!!! Meat! I finally tasted meat! Heavenly!
Being home had never felt this good. I missed Dave so much. I guess I'll need to take some time to comtemplate on the whole trip. In the beginning, I thought I could do it, but when I was there, the trials of each day can be very testing. Anyhow, no experience is ever really that bad.... I'm glad I did it with this group of fun and like-minded friends. Don't ask me if I'll do this again.... right now... I'm just glad I survived it.
It's back to my usual routine of yoga practice today.
The post-10K run was nothing like the runs I did in Sweden! (I remembered I could not walk for almost 2 days after my half-marathon). This time, there were hardly any aches. Even managed to prepare my Yoga sequence yesterday after the run for my class tonight.
I swear Yoga brings down the recovery time!
Tonight's class will be my last at Wasabi for the year. I'll be heading out to India for my first Yoga Retreat tomorrow and will only return in mid-Decemeber. Will spend the rest of the festive year with family and friends. Can't wait!
I woke up at 5am this morning.... had my usual intake of fruits with banana and cereals with milk. Nope... no coffee... cus it dehydrates? I dunno.... but I didn't want to risk it... but I wonder if any cameramen caught me yawning; I was yawning allllllll the way until the race began... even while queueing up at the Start line!
The temperature was burning hot when the women's 10km started at 8am.... I should have brought my cap... but I can't complain... cus 'There is no bad weather, just weak minds'. Geez, I don't want my mind to be weak... so I persevered on.
By that time, the top full marathoners were already back!!!!?!?!?!? It was amazing.
I managed to complete the run in less than an hour.... probably about 55min <pat my back>. Will have to check the Singapore Marathon website for the exact timing once it's updated.
The big question now is.... "Am I up for a Full Marathon next year?"
