Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2011 Review

Joined the men's open, the field as compared to Sundown half marathon runners are much faster & stronger. Sundown half marathon runners are more recreational i guess.

A great day, I had finally acheived the goal of running a half marathon in under 2 hrs. Well 1hr 59 mins! Since 2004 when i did a half marathon, it had been 7 years! A happy day indeed.

the 20th year, 70k runners signed up for the race

The race flag off at 5:15am. My goal was to run within 2 hrs 10mins. I didn't really put in much effort before the race, the most i did in a training run was around 10km, we are supposed to do 2 sets of 5.6km (11.2km total) but it was cancelled on both occasion because of rain. Knowing there was an uphill at Fort Canning Road, the race course is much more challenging than Sundown Marathon. I didn't have much expectation, RELAX, just here to enjoy the run, once the race started i stick with my running mate Hong (he was having slight flu), a better runner than me, my goal was to keep in pace with him. His endurance and stamina drop slightly as he didn't really prepared for this race.

At 6km mark the time was 34mins, within the 6mins pace (what we usually did in training). At 7km it was 40mins. I checked my watch again at 9km, it was 51 mins. At 10km mark the time was 57 mins. After which i didn't check my watch that often, at around 13-14km, i stopped and stretch my right leg for around 20-30 sec. There was slight strain in my right knee again (the usual problem). The weather helps, it was still early in the morning and there was no heat. Looking in front of me, there are really a lot of superb runners in Singapore, only experience runners with certain mileage in training can run under a 6 mins pace, i was trying to keep up with this group of runners.

We carried on running, at 18 km mark it was 1 hr 40 mins. At 19km, i took a cool water sponge and wet my neck & shoulders, it kind of lower down my body temperature. I knew i can make it within 2hrs, today is the day! 20 mins to cover 3km, that's not too difficult. Slight pain in my right knee again, but i just pick up pace and forget about the pain (when you don't think about it, hopefully it will go away). In the last 3.1km, i was running at 4 min 28 sec per km.

Finally 1hr 59 mins! I joined the under 2 hrs group after 8 years and on the 7 attempt!
2004 SCSM at 2 hrs 9 mins, 2006 SCSM at 2 hrs 13 mins, 2008 SCSM at 2 hrs 13 mins,
2009 Safra at 2 hrs 18 mins, 2010 Sundown at 2:06 mins, 2011 recent Sundown at 2:06 mins

Running towards the line at the gun time of 2 hrs, i'm at the most right behind (half covered), this is the only picture. These guys running within 2hrs are all good runners.
Photo by runevent shots

results from runpix, comparing with sundown runpix, the experience & serious runners are mostly here :)

increased my pace in the last 3 km, overtook almost 150 runners (learning from the earlier sundown experience, i need to run faster in the last few kilometers in order to get under 2 hrs)


Overall it was very well orgainized (the army guys always did a good job). Each water point was having sufficent guys (mend by each combat unit). The cheering, local bands, belly dancers gave the much needed motiviation and inspiration. The only thing to note on the aid stations was that they should use deep heat instead of having the spraying stuff (like those used in soccer match, not much use for me).

The last time i ran in the army half was back in 2009, comparing it with the Sunday run, they had made a huge improvement in overall logistic, race route (less uphill) and support, and the best is i got a PB :)

Sundown Marathon 2011 Race pack collection (Fri)

Collection of race pack at Expo on Friday, an easy and fast collection.

Checking out the new NB running shoes, looks like a unisex running shoes.

lastest bike on display

Hivelocity started orgainizing Sundown Marathon in 2008 (first), in a few years it expanded to more than a dozen other races. Very good profit indeed, with race fees increasing every year.

2008 Sundown Marathon records, in the 4th year now

The event will on the coming Saturday, check the blog for more updates shortly.

Workers' Party Rally Serangoon Stadium 29 April

Hedgehog is never a political blog, but a snap shot of what is happening around me in Singapore. From the earlier post on YOG, the first hand pictures on the opening of the casino, the pride as a Singaporean when i attended the national day parade 2 years ago and when the local YOG soccer team brought us happiness and together as Singaporeans. This strong response was felt at the Serangoon Stadium rally last night. Here are the pictures i took last night.

I can felt the heartbeat of our people, when all of us came together after a hard day work, it doesn't matter who you are or what is your position in the society, it even doesn't matter if you are late, we gather at the stadium.

people continue to stream into the stadium even when i left after 1.5 hour, it's just too pack inside

how big is the crowd last night?

went up to the 11th floor of a HDB flat to snap this picture

workers, singaporeans on to their way to the stadium... 2 hrs after 7 pm

Nobody can belittle us, each and everyone of us is talented, by believing in yourself and removing the fear factor, we can achieve what we set out for. It doesn't mean we complain & keep complaining, but we find solutions to solve the problems, taking it as a challenge. What matters is the struggle we encounter in life, and by overcoming them, we made our lifes meaningful. The people can tell what is true & what is false, it's never emotional. When we vote, not only do we vote for ourselves, but we do so for our family and children, we will vote for a better Singapore.

Evening at Esplanade Theatre

Art work on display inside the Esplanade

Taking a quick walk before the show

Inside the theatre

Performance include the Miao minority (miao zu) from China, singing in a unique voice, they are dressed in their traditional costume. This is one of the challenging picture, as the two audiences it from of me kept moving their heads..

The Symphony Orchestra

Quick snap taken from my seat, this is the advantage of a digital camera, not too much attention

The end of concert and a round of applause that lasted more than 15 minutes

Last evening, I attended a concert at the Esplanade, it was the first time I visited the place since it's opening. My mom was part of the singing group performing.

During a marathon we will always run pass the Esplanade, since it's opening back in 2002, it was part of the end route towards the finish line at the Padang. Can't believe this is the first time I'm stepping inside in 8 years.

No photography was allowed inside, anyway I used my digital camera without flash to snap a few shots. The place is nice, good music and a great evening. Readers might like to visit the theatre during a trip to Singapore.

The official site of Esplanade: www.esplanade.com.sg

YOG football: Singapore beat Montenegro 4 - 1 and wins the bronze

The candid photo taking after scoring the 4th goal.
Photo: SPH-SYOGOC/Seyu Tzyy Wei

The Singapore boys had won the match and clinched the well deserved bronze medal in the YOG football match. The match was telecast live at 6 pm local time. This will go down as one of the most amazing match for Singapore football.

Singapore scored the 1st goal in the 6 minutes, however the joy was shortlived, 2 minutes later, Singapore captain suffered a bad cut on his face from the elbow of a Montenegro player, he had to be replaced. And within 2 minutes Montenegro equalised to make it 1-1.

Singapore's captain, Jeffrey Lightfoot bleeds profusely, after colliding with Montenegro's Lazar Lalosevic (right in white).
The match was won in blood, sweat and tears.
Photo: SPH-SYOGOC/Seyu Tzyy Wei

The match ended 1-1 at half time.

In the second half Singapore scored 3 goals to win the match. Hanafi scored the 2nd goal from a cross, a penalty taken by Midfielder Ammirul Mazlan made it 3-1. Hanafi's scored again in the 65th-minute freekick into the Montenegro net to make it 4-1.

The team line up before the match against Zimbabwe. Such colourful boots.

A great day indeed. This young football team has great potential in the future, I guess we will be following the team closely. Today we are so proud of them.


Bolivia won the gold medal after thrashing Haiti 5-0 in the final match. The Bolivians played with 10 men after Rodrigo Mejido was given a red card in the first half for throwing an elbow.

Ewok Cartoon Production Cel Collection (Part 1)

Now back to cartoons!!

As a vintage Star Wars collector, I recently added something interesting to my collection, cartoon production cels. Cels collector market is mainly concentrated in US, but I guess I might be one to own them here in Singapore.

Readers knew one of my passion is cartoon drawing, so I guess why not combine both Star Wars and my favourite cartoon together. As a fan of Ewoks, my collection involved all the 1980s Return of the Jedi Ewoks figures and mint on card figures.

The 1985 Star Wars Ewoks cartoon series. Readers can read more about it here:

Cartoon Ewoks

There are a few series avaliable on youtube, just search ewok cartoons :)

This is the tiny scene picture found on the folder cover. With the scene description.

Production sheet, there are Chinese Character on it. Chinese animators had been working for Lucas back in 1985, the folder has a name of a girl named Lim Sew Fong written in Chinese character.

This scene is wicket explaining to his tribe, on the sightings of a comet.

Malani (a baby ewok)

Malani Production Cels

This year is the 25th Anniversary of the Ewoks cartoon, I guess it will be great to own a piece of history.. and it is very unique as each production cels are one of a kind. This is a 2 part series, I will upload more pictures in the second part.

Resort World Casino Singapore - Feng Shui

Received an interesting email from a friend last week, sharing here with everyone. You might like to read more on Resort World in my earlier posts last month, have not been to Resort World Casino, but will probably visit at a later date. The written English is quite funny and I just left the main content close to the original. Apologise if you find it difficult to read.

If you are thinking of having a 'crack' at the RWS Casino, beware of what you are up against.... believe it or not !!!

A fengshui master. He said RWS's casino is full of 'fengshui' arrangement that it's very strong to trap anyone's money when going into the casino. From the moment you enter (if you asked the cab to drop you at casino entrance), you will see the lobby has one strange sculpture.... the elephant.

1. The elephant refers to you, or to someone that's rich, all mighty and with a lot of cash. The legs of the elephant are long....and high up, meaning high rollers will visit. But the top body of the elephant has a pyramid metal structure that can be found replicated at 6 spots on top of the fountains of wealth atop the casino entrance. The pyramid represents RWS.....sitting on top of you, the elephant. No way you will not follow the 'qi' of RWS presented to you....

2. Going down the LED lighted arcs escalator...the LED panel's resemblance of knives. Not just a normal knife but a shining sharp one.. there are a total of 4 panels. The picture on the LED is fishes swimming then followed by fireballs. The fireball represents RWS. Fishes are customers. All swimming to the casino. You are distracted by the light and sound. No one will think of those knives, which will have cut you into pieces even before you start gambling.


3. Down at the path to the casino...a lot of criss-cross arcs with water like lightning.... like a net....trapping your money.

4. In front of the casino, there is a double 'ba qua' opening looking up with light shining in...that is a strong fengshui..on top of the ba qua opening is the fountain of wealth with giant lotus plants and leafs curling out from the water, meaning growing well. Balls and multiples pyramids are located at fengshui location. The water of the fountain all fall down into the casino direction, meaning money keeps flowing in. The casino is build underground at the deepest location of the resort, directly under and behind the big Merlion.... deep down into hell!

Your 'qi' must be strong to gamble there....the fengshui arrangement is more 'shiong' than Genting Highlands. MBS is also....casino deep down in Marina Bay, the Lotus shape museum aka praying bowl with a center hole collecting rain water...water flowing from the lotus flooding the museum (the moat design) and the three towers represent something I need not say if you are a Chinese.....

ba qua - A Ba Gua is one of the tools used by a feng shui master, along with a luo pan (feng shui compass) to help determine preferred locations, in the home or office, for certain functions; such as wealth, health, fame, love and more.

RWS - Resort World Singapore

MBS - Marine Bay Sands, the three towers look like tombstone to some people. (see the pictures on my March 4 blog post)

qi - In traditional Chinese culture, it is frequently translated as "energy flow".

shiong - a Hokkien dialect commonly used in Singapore, meaning "damaging".

Lego Prince of Persia.... Coming April 2010

Lego Prince of Persia 7569 - Desert Attack

Lego Prince of Persia 7570 - The Ostrich Race

Lego Prince of Persia 7571 - The Fight for the Dagger

Lego Prince of Persia 7572 - Quest Against Time

Lego Prince of Persia 7573 - Battle of Alamut

LEGO PRINCE OF PERSIA REVIEW

Here is a sneak preview of the coming new Lego to be released next month.. new characters and animals, including camel and ostrich.

Prince of Persia is an action-adventure game created by Jordan Mechner back in 1989, it spawn a new disney film Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time to be released on 28 May 2010.