21km Army Half Marathon

I am running again....

Here is the route marked in blue...

A father's chronicle (Hair for Hope)

I wanted to do something different this year. One of my wish list came true today. I went for the Hair for Hope event and supported Children's Cancer Foundation.

As I was not able to register online, I was one of the walk-in shavees. I arrived before 10 am, just in case I missed the chance to do this meaning activity.

(Extracted from a form of HFH 2010)

The shaving of heads represents each child's ordeal and fight against cancer, as treatment of cancer, including chemotheraphy, can cause hair loss. Through this symbolic gesture, CCF aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. Create awareness of childhood cancer in Singapore

2. Demostrate to children with cancer and their families that they are not alone in their fight against cancer

3. Boost the self-esteem of children with hair lose by sending the message that there is nothing wrong with losing their hair or being bald

4. Raise funds to help children with cancer and their families

5. Build a community of support for children with cancer and their families

Here are some shots that I took.


That's me.... before...



That's me... after...


I was walking with Theophilus... and here is a snaplet of our conversation.

Theophilus: Dad, I will do what you did when I grow up.
Dad: Why only when you grow up? You are afraid of being tease at in school?
Theophilus: Yup, I think so.
Dad: It's OK. When you grow up, you can make your own decision and you can do the same when you really want to do it, OK?

I know he has been thinking a lot of what I have done today.

A christian father's chronicle (The Sorrows of Fathers and Sons)

Just read this. I think it has a ring of truth: it reveals a kind of bond between fathers and sons that is the foundation of pain, not its removal.

Preparing for a journey this year (A father's chronicle)

There were many things that I wanted to do when I was young. I wanted to do research. More specifically, I wanted to do computer simulation of drug effectiveness to Leukaemia - and only for children.

I do not think I can do that now. There was once, I wrote to a local university and they just drop the idea of having me to do my PhD. I am "too old".

Anyhow, I want to prepare for another journey this year. I want to embark on a journey with my family (especially with Theophilus). I wanted to volunteer in Children's Cancer Foundation. I wanted to bring joy and laughter to children who are suffering from cancer.

Yan is so wonderful. She passed me a pamplet from CCF (Children's Cancer Foundation) tonight knowing my heart's desire to embark on it this year. I am delighted. Thank you so much, Yan!

I wrote in to inquire tonight... I hope they will respond favourably and that I will do what my heart is drawn to do. To open a new window for Theophilus - the world is more than just earning money, studying hard and getting all the good things in life.

We can love. We are fully capable to love people.

When he was young, I have already taught him: Don't love things. Love people. Now, we are going to move from internalization to externalization.

A father's chronicle (Letter received)

I posted the snail mail yesterday, and Theophilus received it today.

He was so happy. Came into my room and gave me a big hug. I noticed that he wrote a message at the bottom of the mail - "Me 2!"

Yes, my last sentence....

Remember always - I love you the way you are.

A book

I have just completed a book over the holiday. OK, I took quite a while since it was a good book to reflect on so many things within. A very thin book.

 

This is really a book worth reading. I have been reading many of such genre.  Old man sharing about life. But this one is good. I can identify with so many of the things that he wrote. I wished everybody will read it.

I have highlighted many parts of this book. There is one in the chapter 'Being "Productive"' that I want to share:

We live in a world that seems to be lacking kindness and compassion..... How many people in the audience bring pleasure to the lives of another living being every day? ... So what does it mean to be productive? ... But what if we just sit with someone and show compassion? ... I don't need to change the world. But the day is better when I am able to share an intimate moment with someone, listen in a way someone has not been listened to before, or tell a story that gets someone thinking differently. Then I feel my day is productive, and I feel grateful for having lived it.... When you show compassion - and when you receive it - you are being productive. I hope no one will be able to convince you otherwise.

We ought to read and think about these words.

A father's chronicle (A tradition to be handled down)

Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year. It marks a milestone for me. I am beginning a tradition. A tradition of writing. Writing from a father to his son. Not the electronic form, but the old-fashioned hand written letter. Posted. Snail mail.

I have been wanting to write to Theophilus for quite some time now. Like what I wrote in my letter to him:

I think it is a strange thing to have a father writing to his son when all he needs to do is called out his son's name. But, I think writing is a very precious thing. Our writing shows our inner character and thoughts. Even the strength of our hand writing protrays or betrays our many emotions.

So, I have started on a new journey. A journey of words. A journey with my son. And hopefully, from this point forth, he will hand this tradition down to our sons to come. Letters between father and son. To share on our thoughts, our world view on so many topics. Of our struggles. Our failures and success. Our hopes and our prayers.

Today, I started a tradition.

A christian father's chronicle (Proverbs 12:1)

Last night Yan was reading Proverbs to the children.

Proverbs 12:1 (New International Version)

¹ Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

       but he who hates correction is stupid.

The last word caught Gracia's attention. She has been disobedient the whole day and when the word was read, she cried! Literally, she could not contain it. She does not want to be stupid. She wants to clever. A clever girl. And she wonders whether she will be 'not stupid anymore'.

We prayed together as a family and seek God's wisdom to love discipline. When we love the discipline that God place in our lives, we love Him. Not that we will enjoy the discipline while we go through it, but we have the safe assurance that He does it for our good and it will turn out that way in the end.

A father's chronicle (Joining a club)

Last week, Theophilus went for an assessment. I guess it must be very popular to join the Robotics club that's why they need the children to go through an assessment.

Anyhow, he went through the test and I must say that he came home quite devastated.

They said very plainly that since there are limited number of places in the club, those who didn't pass the test should "get lost". That hit him quite hard and I guess were really quite a cruel word tool to other children as well. He cried when he reached home recalling quite a few of those questions he was unable to do.

I sat there quietly as Yan relate the incident to me. I guess those questions must have needed his spatial imagination quite a lot. Anyway, we comforted him and assured him that if he is serious about it, we could always do Robotics on our own (yes, we do have Lego Mindstorm and I even developed an IDE for him so that he can program the brick). Furthermore, we could even sign up as independent contestant to compete with his school too. It all depends on how determine he is on this learning.

This evening, I received a suprise message on my mobile.

Dad, igot accepted in2 robotics.

A short SMS. He wanted to share with me his joy. I rejoiced too. It is what he wanted.

Just before he sleeps, I asked him

So, you want to learn computer programming?

And he said 'yes'.

Being in the IT line, I really do not like the idea that my kids end up in this line too. Then again, I wonder whether I should block the way entirely and not leave it to his heart's desire.

Congras, son. I am happy for you.

A father's chronicle (Drawings)

Gracia has been drawing quite a lot these days. Most of them have a common theme - family. They depict her happy childhood and fun time with family. Here is one of her sample:

No prize for identifying where is she standing. It is interesting to note that she is drawing herself besides Theophilus. She used to draw herself between Yan and the brother (the place that I am standing now). I guess she has finally found confidence in our love for her and no longer feel a need to be near Yan.

Yan has done a great job in bringing them up.

Why do we pay to "abuse" our bodies?

It is an inevitable question. I knew it will be coming. It is really silly. Yan read it in one of the magazine. The editor who used to run in marathon actually commented that people who do the full marathon run is: crazy!

So while having a farewell lunch today for a college, who incidentally going for the full marathon this Sunday like me, a friend commented: Why people pay money to torture themselves like that? 

Well, I can't say it better than what I found in the "The Mystique of The Marathon" which appears in Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. You can read it here.

Overall, it is the enjoyment of knowing myself through the training. There are fears to overcome. I must admit that there was an occasion in my training, I actually gave up in one of my long runs. It took me a week to overcome that fear and prepare myself adequately for an even longer run (just to prove to myself that I can do it, and it was just due to fatigue or inadequate rest in the night before).

A father's chronicle (ASHR 2009)

By now, not only does Theophilus gets enrolled into Kumons. Gracia is also enrolled into Kumons for Maths.

Today marks a new chapter for both of them again. Gracia's first bronze medal for Maths and Theophilus' first silver for Chinese.

Gracia was the first one to collect her medal.

She is too excited, and could not sit still.

Kudos to Mr. Yang (Chief Instructor). He spoke little, but what he spoke about makes good sense to me. We gathered to show to our kids that their achievement meant something big to us. Something important. Something worth celebrating about. By the way, very seldom do we see him in tie. He really dressed up for the kids. That is such a nice gesture.

Ah, that's my girl!

The signature smile and "V"

And now Theophilus' turn....

Well, done my boy! Well done.

 

Taking some shots just outside of the auditorium.

Brother and sister celebrating today

 

Gracia would not take her medal off... she is dozing off soon...

As for Theophilus? Well, it is his first silver. He has gold before, so this is unique to him.

Overall, it was a wonderful time celebrating their success. Theophilus wants to go for the gold medal next year. It will be a lot of hard work. Lots of hard work.

A christian father's chronicle (Worrying reports)

It has been with me for a week. A conversation with a fellow parent. A parent of my son's friend. She has brought me a  report about an unexplainable exodus of preachers at Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School. I sat there motionless and speechless.

I queried anxiously of the reason behind their departure. Theophilus came home one evening, I recalled, and mentioned that one of the preacher is leaving. I didn't realized that that was the second one to go, and the last one leaves when the school terms ended.

Needless to say, I am concerned. The primary reason why we have chosen this school is because of its rich christian influence. Chapel sessions. Verses on walls. Last year, I wrote on this.

I am left wondering whether are there other parents who might have similar concerns. What is the reason behind their departure? Why all of them are leaving? I am a little upset that the leadership of the school (including the board) did not address this area through writing to the parents.

I hope they address the root cause of this exodus soon, else we (as parents) will need to do something about it.

One more week to go...

After preparing since August, it is only left with seven more days to the actual run.

Ten days ago, I received a pleasant surprise - I won the chance to collect my race pack one week earlier! So, this morning after sending Gracia to church camp, Yan and I drove down to Marina Bay to collect my race pack.

Here is my race bib

Yan will be pinning this on my top later, how wonderful!

Preparing for marathon

OK, many things happened between the last blog and today. Gracia's birthday, we went for a break overseas, work went crazy once again, etc.

Now, with only 45 days to the marathon, I have been preparing for it regularly. I must admit that it is a wonderful learning experience of my body and mind. I have been gradually increasing my distance and time on the road. And, yes, I did get my black toenails. For those who are worried a little about black toenail after your runs, you might want to take some comfort from a fellow runner (including myself).

Today, Gary showed me a cool application which can be downloaded to a Nokia phone. It is the Sports Tracker. It is a wonderful thing. I wished I have one to run with as I clocked my timing and distance.... but this is a luxury, since I use google maps to plot my route and measure the distance of my route. Anyhow, I must admit that it is very wonderful piece of application. Well, at least it is better than the Polar sport watch. You can't speak to a watch yet unless your are wearing one of those James Bond stuff, right?

Right now, I am only doing two half-marathon runs per week. I doubt I can complete my full training prior to the actual run itself. I might be able to do a trail run just a week away from the actual, but I will see how it goes. I just have to leave the rest of the training to the actual day as part of my endurance bit. I should be upping my distance soon (while cutting down on my timing). I did manage to shave off 10 mins from my last half-marathon attempt. I hope to shave off some more minutes tomorrow. Changing my shoe lacing too to get a better foot secure to the shoe.

Looking forward for a gentle ramp down of my training after next week to a few 10 km runs with good timing targets.

Yan has been supportive of my runs. We bought a new pair of running shoes for me. We have been strategizing on how I should attack the full 42.1 km. I gotten a Northface hydration pack. Hydration is one of the important factor for sustain performance for long distance. It is really water discipline. The hydration control is really something that each runner will have to learn about his own body, I guess. And this is one of those part that I enjoy about my runs. I get to learn how much water I need at a particular distance, and when will the hunger comes in.

That's all for now, I hope I will enjoy the run tomorrow.

Let me go home

It has been a very busy period of six months. If you notice, I left off my blogs since middle of January. That was the time my team back in office starts to restructure and I am still at the tail end of this restructuring. It has taken a lot of my energy and time - not to forget adding on more thinking and worries.

I hope to get back to my blogs. And perhaps, back date some of my post. Along the way, many things happened. I made friendship. We celebrated National Day as a family. I bought a camera - something that I wanted for a long time.

I am back after a long trip out to Oakland, California. My wish is to come home. To be home.

Home to those who I love. Friends, family members. I miss them all. Not to mention the food in Singapore!

Ah, I have signed up for the year's end marathon. Looking forward to it and trying to squeeze in time in between my current schedule for the training of this event.

A Christian father's chronicles (What I like about his school)

I am back from work.

Yan brought to my attention an interesting card she gotten from Theophilus. They are giving such cards out to the students. Here is a sample of it:



I am really amazed at it. Theophilus likes this card. We like it too. It contains a cartoon with a little prayer. A prayer. A prayer which he can follow with all his heart. In honesty. The words expressed his desire.

I am so happy that we have opted for this school. If you have read my previous blog, you will know the reason we choose this school. Now, I am just beginning to realize the fruits of our decision and thankful to God for supply him the opportunity to study in such an environment.

Bless those who prepare this. It ended in the hands of a child. It ended in the heart of a child. A seed sowed.

A father's chronicles (Gracia's drawings)

Thought her drawings were really great, and she was having so much fun drawing me and her brother Theophilus....



Errr... I could not fit the full drawing into my scanner... so the lower right portion got a bit of "un-scanned". Oh, yes, she draw everything ... including the words.

And here is his mental picture of her brother...



Again, the top part of it could not fit into my scanner... apologies.

She was having so much fun with Yan. We "pin" it up on our walls. They are her latest master pieces.

A father's chronicles (Brave and Courage)

One of the good thing that came out of Theophilus' good appetite of reading is that I get to read some of his books too. And I must admit that we are quite good at getting nice books for him. Reading is a very sensitive thing. We feed our brains with tons of things, and if we get poor quality content books, the result can be quite destructive.

Anyhow, the book that I read was Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. You can find it here.

Quite a nice book - you got to bear with the slow moving start, but it moves better subsequently.

Here is an abstract of it which I find it very good.

"But," he went on, as his hands moved with their sure and practiced motion, "I will tell you just a little, because you were so very brave."

"Brave?" Annemarie asked, surprised. "No, I wasn't. I was very frightened."

"You risked your life."

"But I didn't even think about that! I was only thinking of - "

He interrupted her, smiling, "That's all that brave means - not thinking of the dangers. Just thinking about what you must do. Of course you were frightened. I was too, today. But you kept your mind on what you had to do. So did I....."

Well, I often asked myself whether that is bravery or courage. To some, that is nothing but semantics, and perhaps it really is.

For Aristotle, courage is dependent on sound judgement, for it needs to be known whether the end justifies the risk incurred. Similarly, courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to feel the appropriate amount of fear.

To me, courage is really doing what is right in spite of fear. I often do not see "Brave" having this notion, even though above passage puts it that way. In fact, most of the time, I do have the picture of "recklessness" for bravery, which I do not feel in the fabric of "courageous".

I admit I am not a good student of language, so I should not be too dogmatic about this.

Whatever it is, I want my children to know that doing the right thing does not mean that there is no fear. As a father, my role is very important. The first step is not to teach about bravery or being courageous. The first step that we should embark is: teaching them what is right.

Without knowing and understanding the truth, our sacrifice could be wrongly directed and misguided.

A father's chronicles (Zoo again)

We renewed our Zoo membership (again)!

I guess this is one membership that young parents are usually armed with. My company do have weekend tickets to the Zoo, but to queue for the opportunity to get the ticket will take far too long. So, a renewal is inevitable. Anyhow, it can be quite fun. Theophilus has been to the Zoo for so many times that he recognized most of the corners by now. Well.... almost every. The good part of the Singapore Zoological Gardens is that they do upgrade it ever so often. That to me is really good value.

Here are some pictures taken in our recent trip.




What do you think the giraffe is doing? He got really nice eye-lashes...



Taking shots of feeding that tall fellow can be really tricky, you got to do it really quick.

Sometimes, it licks your hand too...



The new play site is up. The kids took a little ride.






Overall enjoyment points: 85.