The Big 4-0

This April, I celebrated my 40th birthday. Yes, I've hit the big 4-0.

So much white hair have appeared on my head that I've given up looking for them. But no, I've yet to experience mid-life crisis (or maybe I'm there already?).

I celebrated my 40th birthday with my colleague Kenneth Lok and some of my swimmers and ex-swimmers, namely, Weng Tatt, Eusoff, Elyas, Sean Pang and John Lee. We had an excellent dinner at Seoul Garden in Queensbay Mall, and then we spent the time reminiscing about the past, about PISA Swimming Team, and about absent friends.

After dinner, we adjourned to Starbucks for a drink and some cake, but had to end our activity early as the following day was a school day.

That night was an wonderful night for me. It was the best time that I've spent with my swimmers in years. For once, I felt loved and appreciated by my former and current swimmers. For once, I felt that my existance on this planet actually impacted other people's lives.

When I got home, I opened the birthday present these guys got for me. It was a Casio Edifice analog wrist watch.

And it even has my name engraved on its casing.

 

I was so very moved and touched by this gift.

As corny as it may sound, but I've always wanted a wrist watch like this. All the wrist watches that I've ever owned are imitation and fakes bought from Jelutong market or the Lorong Kulit flea market. By far, this is the most valuable wrist watch that I've ever owned, not only because of its cost, but also because of the sentimental value and because of the love and gratitude packaged with it.

To top it off, the watch's bracelet actually fits my wrist perfectly. This shows how well my swimmers know me. My only regret is the enormous cost it must have set these non-earning kids back to get this expensive present for me.

To all of you, I say "thank you, thank you so very much".

I must also express my appreciation to the Chang family, who although had only known me since a few months earlier, took the trouble to organize a birthday-do with cake for me in their apartment. I was thoroughly embarassed but admirably touched by your kind and thoughtful gestures.

Here, I've learned and experienced something new: "Swimmers come and swimmers go. But as long as you're appreciated and remembered, you'll live in their hearts forever."

Happy New Year 2013

Nope, you won't find any photos of fireworks in this post. I welcomed in 2013 from the comforts of my home.

For me, 2012 started out with uncertainty and ended with much unhappiness, worry and disappointment. I'm sad to note that I'll be entering 2013 with the same feeling I left 2012. To top it off, I'll be hitting the big 4-0 this year.

I'll be a year older and hopefully a year wiser. I like to think that I'm like the old saying ... that like wine, I mature as I grow older. Sadly to say, that has not proven true for the last 39 years.

But I'm hoping that this year will be better than the last. It has to be. I pray that it will be.

Happy 2013 everyone!

Merry Christmas!

As the title suggests, Merry Christmas everyone!

This year, I celebrated Christmas in a very humble manner. To start with, I missed Christmas eve dinner with my family. I was with my swim team; coaching, teaching, solving problems, working.

Luckily, my family was forgiving and left some Christmas eve dinner for me.

I had chicken, turkey, lamb, potato wedges, cranberry sauce for the turkey, and salad. The turkey was quite good this year, but the lamb was a bit tough and the chicken a bit dry. But then again, who am I to complain?

Christmas lunch was even more scaled down ... I had fish broth, and for Christmas dinner, my Mum and I had duck broth with mee and koay teow.

A humble Christmas for a humble year. Things can only get better.

MASUM 2012 in Sarawak

From the 9th to 16th April, I accompanied the Universiti Sains Malaysia Pusat Kecermerlangan Sukan (USM-PKS) Swim Team to Kuching, Sarawak for the National University Games, or more commonly known as MASUM.

My stay in Kuching was not a comfortable one. My room at MyGalleria in Kota Samarahan was very dirty and dusty and the apartment itself didn't have any running water. I learned later that some of the athlete's apartments didn't even have mattresses.

The moment I checked into my room, I developed an allergy problem due to the dust. As a result, I ended up in the UNIMAS Hospital Emergency Room on my very first night in Kuching!

Fortunately, the USM Secretariat went into action and found everyone better accommodations the next day. But I swear, I was prepared to buy a plane ticket home after my dusty experience at MyGalleria.

The MASUM meet was similar to all other meets that I had attended countless times. But during this meet, I felt like a fish out of water; I didn't notice any other coaches with stop watches taking splits and stroke rates on the deck.

The team officials didn't seem interested in how well their swimmers performed, but rather, how many gold medals their team won. This got me thinking.

Overall, the USM swim team won 4 gold, 9 silver and 11 bronze medals as well as broke 3 meet records. This is an admirable achievement and credit must be given to the Team Captains / Coaches Lim Ben and Mandy Yeap for this success.

To be honest, the meet itself was boring for me. Each day's events ended by 1:30 PM and personally, I just couldn't wait till lunch where I could enjoy a good meal and a good shower and return to my bed.

When the MASUM meet ended, the USM team had to stay an extra two days in Kuching. This meant we had two days of nothing to do and we had to come up with our own forms of entertainment. Luckily, being in the company of resourceful young adults, we managed to rent a few cars and even had a short tour of Kuching.

We visited malls, notably The Spring and Boulevard, and even watched the movie "Battleship" at MBO Theatres at The Spring Megamall.

The movie was loud and full of CGI. The storyline was not realistic and not something you would remember in 6 months' time. But it was entertaining nonetheless, and something needed to pass the time.

We also visited the Cat Museum and the Kuching waterfront.

We made trips to Kueh Lapis shops where everyone feasted and enjoyed themselves on the free samples.

We also had an excellent seafood dinner at TopSpot Kuching. There, we sampled the paku pakis dish - a Kuching speciality.

This vegetable dish looked very much like the paku pakis fern leaf that you'd commonly find anywhere in the rain forest. Cooked with belacan, this vege dish was very delicious.

Towards the end of our stay, we visited numerous souvenir shops and undoubtedly boosted the Kuching economy with our many purchases.

Honestly speaking, the best experience that I had during my stay in Kuching is the food. Most notably, Kueh Chap from Chinatown. This dish was introduced to me by Lim Ben, the Captain and Coach of the USM Swim Team.

Kueh Chap is strictly non-halal and is made up of a broth with oversized kueh teow (hence the kueh in the dish), pork fat, pork innards and pork bits. Not something for the weak-hearted but very tasty and had me coming back for more.

Another of Kuching's favourite dishes that I enjoyed is Kolok Mee:

The above is the halal mixed seafood Kolok Mee bought at the food court in The Spring Megamall.

Kolok Mee is similar to Penang's Wan Tan Mee, but without the wan tan or dark gravy but with different seasoning. It can be dry to some, but when stirred and mixed thoroughly, it is very tasty. The above picture shows Kolok Mee with pork and pork satay.

Another memorable experience that I had was our visit to Jong's Crocodile Farm. The crocodile farm has hundreds, if not thousands of crocodiles either captured from the wild or bred from captivity. We were lucky to reach the farm in time to see their "crocodile feeding time" or "jumping crocodile show":

These crocs reminded me of the one in the movie "Hook".

Some other pics of the residents of the crocodile farm:

This guy was in a bad mood and was ready to lunge at us. Note those beady eyes staring at me ...

Looking at this picture, I can't remember getting so close to this monster. If he had lunged or snapped at me, I would probably had screamed and ran away like a girl!

All the crocs in the farm appear well-fed. They spent most of the time basking in the sun.

Cooling off. Either that, or waiting for his lunch with the camera (me!) to come closer.

One of the oldest and largest crocs in the farm. I was told that some of the crocs here were man-eaters. I'm not sure if this is one of them.

Some non-reptile residents of the farm.

I left Kuching with some mixed feelings. I can't exactly say that I haven't enjoyed my time there, but I still feel that the 8 days spent there was too long.

One thing that I will miss from Kuching is the Kueh Chap. I also didn't get to try their famous Sarawak Laksa or the Kuching Tomato Noodles. Maybe on the next trip ...

But meanwhile, it's good to be home.

Jealousy

 

... or too old ... 

The ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus wrote: "It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered."

Today, I experienced this first-hand and from a least-expected "friend".