Getting injured and Covid before my Marathon in Japan

Imagine you spent a whole year planning towards a massive race only to be hit by not one but two strings of bad luck - a knee injury followed by Covid all within the two months window of the marathon. 

And every runner knows those are the important parts of the training programme. 

[A KLSCM Feature] Remember the Battle against Cancer

Many of us run for various reasons. Be it as a way to get healthy, drop the weight or to relieve stress. But to others, running is so much more than just a hobby or an excuse to eat more. Running is an escape and therapy. For 43 year old businessman Adrian Yeo, it has become a way to honor his mother who had passed away from cancer. 

Growing up, Adrian had always been close to his mother and was known as the Mommy's boy in his group of friends. Most weekends were spent with his parents. He recalled, "My fondest memories of my mother were when we were travelling for holidays together. She was always smiling and excited."

Functioning with Depression

 This is what people thinks depression looks like: 

but in reality...

My Bedroom Makeover: Trashbin to Green Haven

If there was one good outcome from MCO for it, it would be that it finally kicked my ass into gear to do a total bedroom revamp/makeover. During lockdown, I found myself spending a lot of time in my bedroom as I was working from home. On top of that, I was playing a lot of Sims 4 which had my wannabe interior designer juice flowing.

My Thoughts on AirAsia Unlimited Pass

Updated 12 May 2020: Pass Validity has been extended until 30 June 2021! 

I bought the AirAsia Unlimited Pass on its launch day and have used it already so I think that alone puts me in a greater authority to comment on it than half the "analytical" netizens out there. Initially I had no intention of doing this post but the more misinformation I saw on the Internet, the more triggered I became.

For an understanding of what the AirAsia Unlimited Pass is, go to the announcement post here.

Sayonara, 2019. Hello, 2020

Ah, what a busy year 2019 was. Even though I travelled abroad less in 2019, I gained so many more opportunities to discover myself through my work.

Travel 2019 - More Japan (DUH)

As we bid farewell to what was a turbulent year, we welcome a new year once again. In 2018, I travelled. Boy, did I travel. My bank account is at an all time zero as proof of that. But as stressful as it is having literally no money on a day to day basis, I realised I regret nothing about my adventures.

5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Visit Japan in Autumn

People say that Japan is beautiful all year, all season round. I disagree and I think that autumn is the worst time to go to Japan. And here are 5 reasons:

Random Thoughts of Epiphany in the 30s

Here's something not many writers will tell you. We don't usually produce a single article in one seating. Very rarely do I have the attention span to sit down for four straight hours constantly churning out sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph. Sometimes the inspiration just didn't strike despite me staring at the screen for hours on end. And other times, the inspiration would hit me at the most inconvenient time and place.

TV Series Review: Siren (Blue Ant Entertainment, Ch 473, unifi TV)

Move aside vampires and wolves, make way for mermaids. Or rather, a new supernatural TV series features a bisexual, polyamorous mermaid - and it is pretty addictive.

Throw in a mysterious government body, a couple of sympathetic humans and one murderous mermaid searching for her captured sisters and you get a captivating TV series. Produced by Freeform, Siren follows the story of Ryn, played by Eline Powell, a dangerous and alluring mermaid who mysteriously appears in the small fishing village of Bristol Cove and starts making her mark. The mysterious visitor catches the eye of local marine biologist Ben Pownall, whose interest on the strange woman arouses suspicion from fellow marine biologist, Maddie Bishop.

GE14 - Negaraku Malaysia

When I was in primary school, we had to write a short letter to our then-Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir on the back of a hand-drawn Jalur Gemilang. My teacher told us that our letters would be delivered to the Prime Minister himself. I remember wishing for peace and prosperity. Back then, I looked up to Mahathir. After all, he was the man who put Malaysia on the map.

I knew not of Barisan National or the opposition party back then. I was always taught to be pro-government. It wasn't until I was in university that I was taught to question our government. I was lucky to have had lecturers who taught us to read in between the lines and to really study and observe our media. Things weren't all flowers and daisies with our government and in fact, were deteriorating for the worst. I studied at Taylor's University College in partnership with University Sains Malaysia for a degree that was phrased out simply because students only wanted foreign degrees rather than local ones. Such is the mindset that had planted itself in our nation. That foreign is better. All because our government is slowly but surely driving our country into the ground. 

Starbucks Malaysia Celebrates VD with Limited Time Specials

Is it just me or is the seasonal drinks at Starbucks Malaysia becoming boring? While Starbucks Japan has also introduced an interesting version of the mocha for the chocoholics for Valentine's Day, Starbucks Malaysia has instead brought back a "returning favourite" - Chocolate Black Tea with Earl Grey Jelly Frappuccino.

Source: coffee.yowazzup.com

Travel 2018 - Horsing around in Japan

Welcome 2018!

I hope you won't suck as badly as 2016 and 2017. I went on a major rant about 2016 here with vows made and all that. Well, guess what. I am a woman of my word and I do tend to stick to my word.

Where to Next?

Where to next?

That seemed to my theme of 2017 so far. At work, in life, in my fitness. Where to next ie: where do you go from here? Say, wasn't there a song that had that line?

The answer is quite simple. Japan. Everything falls down to Japan. Maybe not work wise because lord knows that getting the work visa there is a bitch. Everything I've done this year has all led me to finding myself and my place in the world in...Japan.

So from 18 to 29 October, I'll be in Tokyo for three monumental things.
1) A Spartan Race Super
2) Yet another tattoo
3) A potential future in Japan? We'll see.

And oh, I also got the ballot for the Nagoya Marathon. I am open to sponsorship right about...now.

Bye.

OCR News: Spartan Race Malaysia Changes Date AND Venue for Beast

So just to quickly make sure everyone is on the same page on what I will be talking about - Spartan Race Malaysia was supposed to have its Spartan Beast on 8 October at a tbc location in Kuala Lumpur. The key details here being: 8 October and Kuala Lumpur.

This has been promoted and pushed in their offers, partnerships and promotional materials including the APAC poster.

And then...two months before the race, we learnt that Spartan Race had decided to move the date to 9 December and the venue to Johor Bahru still at an undetermined address. It will be a three race-event consisting of an Ultra-Beast, Beast and Sprint now and is also part of the Singapore Beast leg (well, seeing as they have literally no room for a Beast on that island...)

Quick Update: OCRs and Mount Fuji

Okay, so things have been a bit quiet on the blog. Work has been 'bitch be cray cray' crazy. I have picked up my creative writing once to deal with the stress hence the lack of updates here. Sorry about that.

Tokyo Marathon 2017 - I got mail

3 more weeks to go!

And I just got something in my mail today. Good old traditional mail, all the way from Japan! It was my race pack information. In it were several important information for the race kit collection for the Tokyo Marathon 2017 consisting of:
1. Number Card confirmation
2. Start and Finish Map
3. Important info for the race.
4. Health checklist.

Good riddance 2016

Let's face it. 2016 sucked big time. So many iconic celebrity deaths, Donald Trump winning the USA election and the overall economical downturn face by Malaysia which has left us at the mercy of much stronger currencies.

Personally, 2016 wasn't my best year in everything except maybe fitness-wise. People leave, new (annoying) people enter, things change, responsibilities shift. I feel so mentally and emotionally drained that calling it quits seems like the way out. I lack the drive that 2015 gave me and which 2016 promptly shuffled out. No drive, no motivation. Just cruising through my everyday life in a total half-ass mode with resting bitch face on.

Maybe it's time I upped and left the country too. Maybe it's time for change. For me to change.

Yes, I've decided 2017 would be a year of change for me. A year to explore, find and discover myself as I hit the big 3-0. A year to just do what the hell I want (as if I haven't been doing that already) and not give a rat ass about what anyone else thinks (again, as if I haven't been doing that)

2017 would be my year to take a leap (as cliche as that sounds) and to finally pursue my true passion (oh god, why so cliche and yet so true!)

Goodbye 2016. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, asshole.

Bright Spartan Trifecta Weekend 2016 recap

Well, I have done it. I managed to completed not one but two Spartan Trifecta this year. Once a distant dream, it was made possible with a lot of planning and the willingness to make small sacrifices like buying less clothes and going out less. So much less...I have no social life now outside of my bootcamp and work groups.

A Weekend in Beautiful Hell

It seemed right that my first Trifecta for 2016 had come from Malaysia and very appropriate that my second came from Australia, the land where my Spartan journey started. The journey to these Trifectas has been nothing short of memorable.

My Spartan medals since 2014

Four Years on...

Sigh... it's quite bad that I missed my own blog's anniversary. And here I was wondering why people were congratulating me on LinkedIn. 

But yes, it has been four years. It's my blog's fourth anniversary and of late, I have questioned and pondered the direction of my creative medium amongst other other things. 

Four year ago, I started this blog to allow me to continue writing as I used when I was a writer at a magazine. It was quite simple then, the content potential unhindered and unbound but eventually I realised things were changing.

Things have changed. I've changed and those changes reflects in the way I write and what I write about on this site. From general lifestyle to food and travel to its current status - fitness, OCR and travel oriented.

It has been a long journey but I finally found my passion, my niche. I've been blogging about OCR when it first landed in Malaysia with Viper Challenge leading the way. Alongside the growing OCR scene in Malaysia, I hope to see this site grow with it.

Happy Anniversary and Happy Halloween, blog. 

Cheers, 

Tania