So I’m back sooner than expected thanks to my special someone for bugging me to re-open my blog hehee. Well what have I been up to since 6th of November. Let’s seeeeee …. let’s start with the most recent news.

29 November 2006: My office has shifted to Red Hill! There’s still renovation work going on though. The new office is nicer, newer and bigger!

A picture of the new office (that’s only half of it).

26 November 2006: I got myself tattooed! I have been thinking about that for months and I finally did it. My initial choice was a big phoenix on my lower side waist. After some deep thinking, I opted for a small tribal tiger on my ankle! I am in love with it hehehe. I got the tiger (with red eyes) from the net. My tattoo artist was Sean of Sean’s Tatz at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre. It costed me $120. How did I feel when the needle went in? Painless!! Yes I am not kidding! I was expecting the worst case scenario but to my great surprise I did not feel any pain at all. Maybe because I did it on the ankle i.e on a less sensitive part of the body. What I felt was like an ant biting me. I kinda enjoyed that feeling :> I could even fall asleep. Serious!

Here’s a picture and a video taken on the day itself.

1.5 weeks after:

19 November 2006: Had a late birthday dinner at sis’ last week. I ordered a chocolate cake from Choc.a.Bloc. The cake was nice! I ate like 3 slices man!! I enjoyed the food that sis prepared – baked salmon, fried tuna macaroni, satini, salad potato and friend beef. Here’s a group photo. You can view more photos in the gallery.

November is a special month for baby and I. This year is our 5th <3<3<3<3<3 year!

11 November 2006 was the day that I ran 75 laps (30km) at the stadium track and I managed to do it within 2hr52!! The first 15 laps (10km) was okay. The mental torture started after the 50th lap (20km)! By then, the sun was already high up in the sky and it was indeed hot! I wanted to stop at 25km but I’m glad that I did not!

Speaking of running, former sprinter Carl Lewis is coming to Singapore tomorrow and we are gonna meet him this Saturday! Also, this Sunday is the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2006. As you know I am not running the marathon but I’m gonna pace my friend for his last 10km. His target is to do a sub 4 hr.

Cat News: Mikey is on a diet. I brought him to the vet a few weeks ago for a general health checkup. He is in good health but he is advised to diet! He weighed a whooping 8.3 kg back then! So currently I’m feeding him with ‘light’ cat food which is low in fat and calories.

I tried to bring Mikey out but he was scared to go outside.

That will be all for now. Tata!

Philip conducted a free of charge 20m shuttle beep test on Sunday morning and six of us from sgrunners did the test. It’s basically running over a length of 20m in accordance to a series of beeping sound. Till date, this is a very accurate out-field test for VO2max prediction and possible performance next to actual measuring of your Vo2max on the treadmill.

My VO2Max was 49. I stopped at Level 10 grade 6.

Message from Philip: Carine – Despite not racing for this entire year, you manifested a really good VO2max which I dare say your current standard might have exceeded your peak form last year.

This may be a shock to some! I blogged about wanting to get a tattoo some time ago. My initial choice was a big phoenix which I wanted on my lower side waist. After some deep thinking, I opted for a small tribal tiger on my ankle! No regrets of course. I am in love with it hehehe. My tattoo artist was Sean of Sean’s Tatz at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre.

What does my tattoo mean?

My tiger has red eyes. “Eye of the Tiger” is a song performed by the American rock group Survivor. It was released on January 1, 1982. “Eye of the Tiger” refers to a line in the movie Rocky III, meaning “killer instinct” or a desire/propensity for aggressiveness. The “eye spots” on the back of tigers’ ears serve to confuse predators and reduce the risk of attack from behind, and they are probably most useful for tiger cubs. In the wild, seeing the “eyes” of the tiger signifies death, because right before a tiger attacks, it turns its ears forward so that the spot on the back of each ear faces nearer its prey. Hence, once someone sees these “eyes”, the tiger is about to attack.

How did I feel when the needle went in?

Painless!! Yes I am not kidding! I am myself quite amazed! I was expecting the worst case scenario but to my great surprise I did not feel any pain at all. Could it have felt painless because the tattoo is on the ankle i.e on a less sensitive part of the body? Well I won’t be able to tell unless I do a tattoo on another part of my body. What I felt was like an ant biting me. I kinda enjoyed that feeling :> I could even fall asleep! Weird isn’t it!

Eye of a Tiger

Risin’ up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I’m back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the cream of the fight
Risin’ up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watchin’ us all in the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin’ tough, stayin’ hungry
They stack the odds ’til we take to the street
For we kill with the skill to survive

Risin’ up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I’m not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

The eye of the tiger (repeats out)…

UPdates:
27/Nov/06 – Removed the bandage. The tattoo looks great. No pain. Doesn’t seem to be infected. It seems that it’s drying already.
28/Nov/06 – Went for spinning class during lunch and washed the tattoo (without soap). So far no problem.

Some common english idioms taken from this website.

CHARACTER & APPEARANCE

1. Bald as a coot
   A person who is completely bald is as bald as a coot.
2. Barefaced liar
   A barefaced liar is one who displays no shame about lying even if they are exposed.
3. Bark is worse than their bite
   Someone who’s bark is worse than their bite may well get angry and shout, but doesn’t take action.
4. Hard as nails
   A person who is as hard as nails is either physically tough or has little or no respect for other people’s feelings.
   
   Plain Jane
   A plain Jane is a woman who isn’t particularly attractive.
5. Keep up with the Joneses
   People who try to keep up with the Joneses are competitive about material possessions and always try to have the latest and best things.

COLOURS

1. Black sheep
   Someone who is the black sheep doesn’t fit into a group or family because their behaviour or character is not good enough.
2. Green-eyed monster
   The green-eyed monster is an allegorical phrase for somebody’s strong jealousy
3. Grey matter
   Grey/gray matter is the human brain.
4. Off colour
   If someone looks off colour/color, they look ill.
5. Under false colours
   If someone does something under false colours/colors, they pretend to be something they are not in order to deceive people so that they can succeed.

ANIMALS

1. Ants in your pants
   If someone has ants in their pants, they are agitated or excited about something and can’t keep still.
2. Big fish in a small pond
   A big fish in a small pond is an important person in a small place or organisation.
3. Bird’s eye view
   If you have a bird’s eye view of something, you can see it perfectly clearly.
4. Bird-brain
   Someone who has a bird-brain, or is bird-brained, is stupid.
5. Cat among the pigeons
   If something or someone puts, or sets or lets, the cat among the pigeons, they create a disturbance and cause trouble.
6. Cat nap
   If you have a short sleep during the day, you are cat napping.
7. Cat got your tongue?
   If someone asks if the cat has got your tongue, they want to know why you are not speaking when they think you should.
8. Dog days
   Dog days are very hot summer days.
9. Dog eat dog
   In a dog eat dog world, there is intense competition and rivalry, where everybody thinks only of himself or herself.
10. Dog’s life
    If some has a dog’s life, they have a very unfortunate and wretched life.
11. Donkey’s years
    This idiom means ‘a very long time’.
12. Eat like a bird
    If someone eats like a bird, they eat very little.
13. Eat like a horse
    Someone who eats like a horse, eats a lot.
14. From the horse’s mouth
    If you hear something from the horse’s mouth, you hear it directly from the person concerned or responsible.
15. Herding cats
    If you have to try to co-ordinate a very difficult situation, where people want to do very different things, you are herding cats.
16. In donkey’s years
    ‘I haven’t seen her in donkey’s years.’ – This means for a very long time.
17. Let sleeping dogs lie
    If someone is told to let sleeping dogs lie, it means that they shouldn’t disturb a situation as it would result in trouble or complications.
18. Lame duck
    If something or someone is a lame duck, they are in trouble.
19. Like a fish out of water
    If someone feels like a fish out of water, they are very uncomfortable in the situation they are in.
20. Pigs might fly
    If you think something will never happen or succeed, you can say that ‘pigs might fly’ (or ‘pigs can fly’ and ‘pigs will fly’- the idiom is used in many forms)
21. Rat race
    The rat race is the ruthless, competitive struggle for success in work, etc.
22. Sick as a dog
    If somebody’s as sick as a dog, they throw up (=vomit) violently.
23. Small fry
    If someone is small fry, they are unimportant. The term is often used when the police arrest the less important criminals, but are unable to catch the leaders and masterminds.
24. Smell a rat
    If you smell a rat, you know instinctively that something is wrong or that someone is lying to you.
25. Strong as an ox
    Someone who’s exceedingly strong physically is said to be as strong as an ox.
26. Stubborn as a mule
    Someone who will not listen to other people’s advice and won’t change their way of doing things is as stubborn as a mule.
27. Take the bull by its horns
    Taking a bull by its horns would be the most direct but also the most dangerous way to try to compete with such an animal. When we use the phrase in everyday talk, we mean that the person we are talking about tackles their problems directly and is not worried about any risks involved.
28. Top dog
    The most important or influencial person is the top dog.
29. Wolf in sheep’s clothing
    A wolf in sheep’s clothing is something dangerous that looks quite safe and innocent.

BUILDINGS & CONSTRUCTIONS

1. Behind closed doors
   If something happens away from the public eye, it happens behind closed doors.
2. Bring the house down
   Something that brings the house down is acclaimed and praised vigorously.
3. Burn your bridges
   If you burn your bridges, you do something that makes it impossible to go back from the position you have taken.
4. By the back door
   If something is started or introduced by the back door, then it isn’t not done openly or by following the proper procedures.
5. Castles in the air
   Plans that are impractical and will never work out are castles in the air.
6. Charity begins at home
   This idiom means that family members are more important than anyone else, and should be the focus of a person’s efforts.
7. Drive someone up the wall
   If something or someone drives you up the wall, they do something that irritates you greatly.
   Feel at home
   If you feel relaxed and comfortable somewhere or with someone, you feel at home.
   Get in on the ground floor
   If you get in on the ground floor, you enter a project or venture at the start before people know how successful it might be.
8. Good walls make good neighbours
   Your relationship with your neighbours depends, among other things, on respecting one another’s privacy.
9. Have the floor
   If someone has the floor, it is their turn to speak at a meeting.
10. Hit the ceiling
    If someone hits the ceiling, they lose their temper and become very angry.
11. Hit the roof
    If you lose your temper and get very angry, you hit the roof.
12. Hold the fort
    If you hold the fort, you look after something or assume someone’s responsibilities while they are away.
13. Ivory tower
    People who live in ivory towers are detached from the world around them.
14. Light at the end of the tunnel
    If you can see light at the end of the tunnel, then you can see some signs of hope in the future, though things are difficult at the moment.
15. Mend fences
    When people mend fences, they try to improve or restore relations that have been damaged by disputes or arguments.
16. Off the wall
    Something that is off the wall is unconventional.
17. On the factory floor
    On the factory floor means the place where things are actually produced.
18. Proclaim it from the rooftops
    If something is proclaimed from the rooftops, it is made as widely known and as public as possible.
19. Round the houses
    If you go round the houses, you do something in an inefficient way when there is a quicker, more convenient way.
20. Sit on the fence
    If someone sits on the fence, they try not to support either side in a dispute.
21. Something nasty in the woodshed
    Something nasty in the woodshed means that someone as a dark secret or an unpleasant experience in their past.
22. Take someone to the woodshed
    If someone is taken to the woodshed, they are punished for something they have done.
23. Through the ceiling
    If prices go through the ceiling, they rise very quickly.
24. Through the floor
    If prices go, or fall, through the floor, they fall very quickly.
25. Up the wall
    If someone goes up the wall, they get very angry.
26. Water over the dam
    (USA) If something has happened and cannot be changed, it is water over the dam.
27. Water under the bridge
    If something belongs to the past and isn’t important or troubling any more, it is water under the bridge.
28. Wipe the floor with
    (UK) If you wipe the floor with someone, you destroy the arguments or defeat them easily.
29. Writing on the wall
    If the writing’s on the wall for something, it is doomed to fail.

AND now there are five. Don’t panic, say docs.
The latest victim of a sudden cardiac arrest is a 35-year-old Singaporean man who was working in Xiamen, China.

On Saturday, the 35-year-old director working in a manufacturing business suffered severe chest pains and died before he could be brought to the hospital. Like the others before him, he was a healthy individual. This means the number of young men dying suddenly of heart attacks has risen to five in the last three weeks.

But while the numbers may seem alarming, there is no indication that this reflects an increase in such deaths, known as sudden cardiac deaths, said cardiologists.

“In general, the trends have remained about the same,” said head and senior consultant cardiologist at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) Dr Ho Kheng Thye. “The apparent increase in the trend may not reflect an increase in absolute numbers of patients dying, but it’s reached the collective consciousness more effectively,” he said.

According to a study by the National Heart Centre, about 300 people aged between 18 and 60 die suddenly every year between 2001 and 2003. It was not known how many had died in their sleep. Most deaths were caused by cardiovascular conditions, while 3 per cent of these cases had no known cause.

It is this report that many doctors refer to when asked about the recent deaths. However, some members of the public are asking for more updated figures.

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By Dr Stephen Juan
Published Friday 22nd September 2006 13:55 GMT

Optimal stride

What makes an optimal stride? It seems that nobody knows for sure. According to Kevin Beck of Human Kinetics, Inc of Champaign, Illinois: “It would be great to answer that question, but in fact, no one knows.”

As a general rule, taller runners with longer legs have longer optimal strides. On average their optimal strides are 1.4 times their leg length (while running seven minute miles). However, on an individual basis, height and leg length are poor determinants of optimal stride.

In a study of 10 experienced runners, the subject with the shortest leg length had the longest self-selected and the longest optimal stride. The runners, on average, chose strides just four centimeters from optimal.

Beck adds that “most experienced runners select a stride length that does not differ dramatically from the ideal”. This implies that overall running experience has something to do with the capacity to self-select an optimal length of stride.

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I had a foot analysis today at Vivocity Adidas store. Well I had to run and step over a matt. The result shows that I have a neutral left foot and a right fore / mid foot strike type (which is labelled as ‘efficient and elite’ type as there are only 20% of runners who are mid foot type). However my right left pronates a little bit (could be because my right leg is slightly shorter than my left leg) which explains why I occasionaly have tight IT band etc. Dar also tested his landing and his is fore foot strike type indeed. His has neutral foot too.

I also chose my free Adidas running gears – a dry fit T-Short, a running short and an Adizero CS (cushion). I think I will like the Adizero CS. It feels almost the same as my current Nike pair. Spent some time chatting with the sgrunners and Rameshon (fastest marathon runner of 2 hr 24 min 22 sec in Singapore). Darling knows him and they both chatted for some time.

Had a late birthday dinner at sis’ yesterday. I ordered the chocolate cake from Choc.a.Bloc. The cake was nice! I ate like 3 slices man!! I enjoyed the food that sis prepared – baked salmon, fried tuna macaroni, satini, salad potato and friend beef.

We called home after dinner and chatted with mum and dad. Haha dad was concerned about the chocolate cake. He said it’s creamy and fatty. Dad dropped from 67kg to 61kg. He’s maintaining his weight now. They are eating healthier and less salty food at home now, which is indeed great. Mum is taking a computer course (4 months) paid by the government.

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