Happy new year!

Wishing all my blog readers a very happy new year! May this year bring you many awesome returns! We're already 3 days into 2016, time really flies!

We had a good 10 day break in Malaysia. It wasn't that relaxing though. Christmas and New Year holidays are always jam packed with activities. But it was definitely good fun!

Cousin's wedding in Penang. Pity we couldn't stay long enough to savour the yummy hawker food!

Family portrait shot. We never do things the conventional way!

My little sister's Registration of Marriage in Thien Hou Temple

Meeting up with friends, some whom I've not met for many years!

And still managed to sneak in a training session or two

I'm just a few hours from boarding my flight back to Brisbane. Time to get back into the routine again. I'm definitely looking forward to 2016! As some of you may know, Li-Ann is pregnant and we are expecting our first child - a baby boy in late April! Triathlon training would be taking a back seat but I'll try my best to fit that in. It would be challenging but also exciting times ahead!

Revisiting Perth

Last weekend, .we did a whirlwind trip to Perth. Well, I did anyway. Li-Ann had her PhD graduation ceremony which I unfortunately missed as I couldn't take time off work. But I arrived a couple of days later, it was nice revisiting the place we called home for 10 years or so, even though I spent less than 48 hours there.

We went to Sorrento Beach 3 times during my short visit. Something we have always taken for granted that the beach is about 15-20 minutes drive away. Of course, I had to throw in a 10km run with my partners in crime - Sam and Dennis.

Photo credit - Dennis Tan. Visit his page at Paparazzi on the Run

Blind selfie!

Pizza lunch with our friends from university at Theo & Co pizzeria in Victoria Park. Newly opened, we were regular customers of the Little Caesars franchise. Now, the original owner Theo has opened this new branch. It was Li-Ann's birthday that Sunday and there is no better way to blow candles than on a dessert pizza!

Photo credit - Jessie Yeow

Photo credit - Natasha Jalani 

Capping off with a dinner at Good Fortune BBQ restaurant and another mini birthday cake for Li-Ann. Thanks Sam for dropping us at the airport.

It was a very short trip with plenty of good food and the company was even better! Thanks guys for all the laughter. We miss Perth dearly and hope to make some more trips in the near future.

G'day mate, where the bloody hell were ya?!

So I mentioned previously that I was returning to Australia. Though I didn't specifically mention which part of Australia on this blog, many of you would have already known through Facebook and Twitter. It's none other than Brisbane, in the sunshine state of Queensland!I was really excited as the last time I came to Brisbane was over 16 years ago, and it was only a short stopover on the way to Gold Coast.

Arriving at Brisbane airport and being greeted by the customs officers in their thick Aussie accent, was a bit of nostalgia for me. I don't know whether the accent is thicker here or it's just that I haven't heard it for a while. Never mind that they were annoyed with me having to lug through my bike box through the zig zag lines!

I'm currently renting a room in Holland Park, about 10kms south of Brisbane CBD. It's one of the cheapest on Airbnb but it's not that close to the main shops if you are moving around on foot. And as public transport is pretty expensive here, I did travel A LOT on foot! But it worked out for the best, as I just landed a job in Logan Central, located another 20kms south from where I'm at. I wouldn't need to go through Brisbane CBD in peak traffic and I'll be going against traffic as well.

Meet Louie and Larry, two other residents of this place. They're so active, I could barely get them to stay still for a picture!

 

As much as I enjoyed walking 2-3 hours each day, I couldn't be any happier getting myself a car. And what better car than the same one as I used to drive in Perth! I managed to score a great price on a pre loved 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer ES, in sexy metallic red too! Next thing to do is to get myself a toll tag... we didn't have tolls in Perth. For the time being, I need to be careful to note which are the toll roads.

I've joined a local tri club - Reddog Triathlon Training. In fact, I signed up even before I got here as I need the Triathlon Australia membership to register for some races. Talk about getting my priorities right! I joined the club a swim session at the Yeronga pool. Took me 70 minutes of walking each way, so yes I'm very glad I have a car now. Head coach Trent Patten seems like a really nice guy, so I'm looking forward to more of their sessions. I did a couple of runs around the neighbourhood too. Boy, is Brisbane hilly! Plenty of steep climbs and fast downhills, all within a 5km block around the neighbourhood.

Club rules - no sticker, no ride. As all rides are sanctioned by Triathlon Australia, only members can join the ride.

So I'm settling in quite nicely. Things would become routine next week when I start working and start joining the club sessions more regularly. They don't call it the sunshine state for nothing. Sun rises before 5am here and many of the sessions start at 5am so I got to get used to sleeping early and waking up early. Li-Ann would arrive in about 3 weeks. I still need to look for a permanent place to stay... perhaps one REALLY close to the swimming pool, so I can minimize my travel time and maximize my sleep time? Hahaha.

Just like uni days again... $4.95 pick up yo!

2013... another chapter

Today is my last working day for the year. Only a couple more sleeps before Christmas and just over a week before the year ends.

2013 has been interesting to say the least. Moving to Canada early this year, the other side of the globe with a time difference of over 12 hours and climate difference of over 40 degrees Celcius during winter. The snow has been coming and going. Yesterday was a first where although it didn't snow but we have crystalized ice all over the roads making them into skating rinks and the car was frozen with a layer of ice that I could not break. I stayed home a while more and went to the gym later when the ice have thawed.

Having a new job at the hospital on a contract basis in the finance division and dealing with physicians' finances was another experience. I have less autonomy and there is more red tape than my previous jobs but I'm getting used to it. Took me over 6 months just to get to know what's going on and I'm still learning as I go. Only another 9 months more in my contract and I doubt I'll be able to know everything at the back of my hand by then, but hey, that's the way contracted work goes. Just try to do my best in the given timeframe.

Starting my small coaching service for fellow triathletes back in Malaysia was something I've been thinking about for some time. So I'm glad that things took off pretty well with the athletes I coached achieving their goals with flying colours. And I hope to build on this next year, as I'm competing in Ironman Malaysia myself so it would be exciting going through the same training cycles with my athletes and racing on the same course with them on the day.

On the side of my own training, it has been fun training with taskmaster Coach Sheri and Team Sheri athletes. The dynamics of the group is very diverse compared to the Break Your Limits team back in Perth. Not better or worse, just different. And I look forward to training with Team Sheri once again in summer - Splash N' Dashes, Megadays and Niagara camps, can't wait!

We'll be off to Li-Ann's cousins this Christmas and then to Niagara Falls to usher in the New Year. So my next blog post will probably be in the 2014 year.

Until then, thank you all for reading this blog for another year. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Re-fuel

I thought I'll start off this post with a picture of me digging into the deluxe vermicelli at Que Huong Vietnamese Restaurant. We decided to have something different than our usual western diners... although we did have dinner again at Maxwell McCoys nearby on Friday night where I had another serving of a full rack of BBQ baby back ribs :)

So on Saturday I rode with Peter and Greg from Lambeth to the Fingal and Shedden area. A superb ride with a mix of flat roads and undulating terrain. We even had a couple of scares from un-chained dogs chasing us. We shared the load well, there were times when the winds were blowing against us. 114km covered in just over 3.5 hours, with an average pace of 31.5kph.

The guys were baffled that I only had a 600ml bottle of plain water throughout the whole ride... and I even had some water left - at least a quarter of the bottle, after the ride. Yeah, I guess I don't drink much... probably not enough too. It's not that I don't sweat. You should see me on the indoor trainer - my towel will be soaking wet after just an hour.

On the bike, I usually take a sip every 20 minutes or so. For some of my longer runs, I've done up to 2 hours without drinking. Of course on hotter days, I'll be drinking more frequently. And lately it has been pretty humid so I'll definitely be increasing my fluid intake. I'm not advocating my method or style of taking in fluids or nutrition. It's just something I've gotten used to. More from a lazy habit of taking the time to drink during workouts. . But I do drink plenty of water throughout the day, everyday. Ask my wife, I'm constantly filling up the water kettle to boil!

This week's training was pretty fun. Though it doesn't mean it wasn't hard. We had the first Splash N Dash for the season - a swim of about 1600m at Lake Whittaker, followed by a 5km or so run. The run hurt like hell, I've been too used to running long and slow. Still, I was glad to run a 4:08 per km pace average - good preparation for Guelph Lake OD in a couple of weeks time. The next day, we had a group ride of 40km and Coach Sheri came out to join us. Riding under the watchful hawk eyes of the coach always adds a bit of pressure.

And I had three pretty long runs back to back from Friday to Sunday - 1 hour 15 minutes / 1 hour / 2 hour 15 minutes. Glad I survived that, clocking 16.6km, 13.6km and 28.9km respectively.

Busy bee

So I've just finished 3 weeks of my 18 week structured Ironman training. I can't deny that it's pretty hard work. The volume is more or less the same as I'm used to, but there are a few long runs which are scheduled midweek which knocks me out at the end of the day. Thankfully, we live close to work, so we spend less time commuting and I have more time to myself.

My former colleagues - Derek and Mark, from KPMG came to visit on Wednesday night. They attended the Warren Buffet AGM in Omaha and did a US trip before dropping by. They would visit Niagara Falls next and probably the other side of US again before returning to Australia. Thanks boys for dinner and drinks, and coming all the way to visit, it was good to catch up!

The warm weather took a turn this weekend. Unlike last Saturday, I had a nice group ride in the 20 degrees warmth with a couple of guys from the London Triathlon Club. We rode to Lakeside and did two loops before heading back. All in, it was a 120km ride. There were plenty of cycling groups out that morning too. This weekend however, I was the only idiot out there. The temperature was about 8 degrees, but with winds blowing at abouve 25kph and a bit of mist in the air, it felt like sub zero degrees. I called off my ride after 2 hours, I was shivering so badly I could barely steer. Li-Ann came to rescue me, it was her first time driving here, so I was a bit worried about her too. Thankfully, there weren't many cars that morning.

I did make up for the remainder of the ride on the trainer that afternoon. It was after a run review session with coach Sheri. The session was really helpful and pointed out many of my imperfections that I never thought about. The next day I did a swim review and Sheri picked up quite a few things I should be working on to make me a more efficient swimmer. Like an old dog learning new tricks, many of these things are long term habits and would take a while for me to un-learn them.

That evening, I did a 2 hour run covering 25.6km. I nearly got blown off the road by the wind! It may seem a bit earlier to be doing 2 hour runs - in a week's time, I'll be doing 2:15 and soon, 2:30. But I've disciplined myself to start off slower and paying attention to the tempo work in the middle of the runs, and finishing strong. Previously, I used to just hold onto a constant average which may seem cruisy at first, but find myself struggling at a later stage.

I've started a small online coaching service for triathletes in Malaysia. I've had my first client signed up this weekend, so I'm pretty excited! I'll be keeping the numbers small so that I can manage the personal approach to each client. If any of you are keen and would want more information, feel free to drop me an email at kevinsiah (at) gmail (dot) com

Happy Easter!

As it was the Easter long weekend, Li-Ann and I took a drive down to visit her relatives in Markham, about 200+kms drive away. The freeway was pretty busy, what would usually take us 2.5 hours, became close to 3.5 hours that day. But we were greeted with delicious home cooked meal - BBQ pork, salted vege soup and many others.

The next day, we took a trip to Niagara Falls, which was about 2 hours drive from Markham. We first had picnic at Niagara On The Lake. Li-Ann's cousin cooked chicken curry - my favourite! And it was well complimented with roti canai which we bought on the way. We then headed to Niagara Falls itself. By the time we got back to Markham, it was close to midnight. A long day out, luckily we didn't do any of the driving. The trip was totally worth it as the view was captivating.

In addition to the chicken curry and roti canai, we had lots and lots of other snacks!

Beautiful pictures taken by Li-Ann's niece. If you stand close enough to the railings, you actually get wet from the water droplets and mist.

Finger licking good! Enjoying Beaver Tails in Clifton Hill just minutes walk from Niagara Falls. Clifton Hill is a street of amusement park with Madam Tussauds, Ripleys Believe It or Not, Dracula's Haunted Castle, Fudge Factory and many others.

The rest of the weekend, we did some shopping for our home supplies. Markham has a lot more variety especially in Asian food. We even went to Ikea in North York as the closest Ikea to us is more than an hour's drive away.

Thank you, Li-Ann's cousins and nieces for the wonderful weekend. We truly enjoyed ourselves and were very well taken care of (and gained a few kgs too haha) during this trip. Will definitely drop by to visit again sometime.

Bon Voyage

In about 10 hours time, I'll be on board a plane to start my journey to Canada. Yes, it would be a long travel   - close to 30 hours, and I'll be stopping by Tokyo and then, Chicago. My flight ends in Toronto but I would be taking another 2+ hour bus ride before I arrive in London. I have to say, I am pretty excited - this would be my first time seeing snow (the REAL deal, not those man made ice shavings in Mt Buller). At the same time, I have this somewhat daunting feeling of what awaits me in the next few months or so.

The last one week has been pretty awesome. I caught up with family and friends. I barely paid for my meals, thanks all those who treated me! I did my first long ride of 150km since Ironman WA, it was a big group of nearly 40 people. The sun was scorching hot when we returned and I was toasted by the end of the ride. The day after, I rode an easy 40km with my sis up Genting Peres. I think this is the first time we rode together actually. Fun and eventful outing it was.

Yesterday marked the last day of Chinese New Year. I enjoyed the company of relatives, as after all isn't that what Chinese New Year is all about - family. This is also the first year for Li-Ann and myself to be giving out ang pows rather than receiving them! Took us some getting used to. Perhaps it's time for us to get the process started so that we can reap some return on investment soon *wink*

Although it's farewell... it would only be farewell for now. I'm not sure when is the next time I'll be returning to Malaysia or Australia. But I'll keep on blogging... just in another side of the world and in another timezone!

Kiong Hee Huat Zhai

A  bit belated but here's to wishing all my blog readers a very happy Chinese New Year! May the year of the snake brings you peace, prosperity and lots of happiness! Week one of my two week break has just flown by and here's what I have been up to.

Chinese New Year at my dad's hometown in Raub. The last time I went back to celebrate was 3 years ago. It was also Li-Ann's first time celebrating it with my relatives.

My turn to celebrate Chinese New Year with Li-Ann's family.  This picture taken with bro in-law's camera and I borrowed his T-shirt too (which later was given to me hehe) as I did not have anything appropriate to wear.

Dad's belated birthday lunch - delicious buffet meal at the Majestic Hotel KL. We couldn't resist taking a picture with  the doorman dressed in colonial costume.

A ride from Putrajaya to Port Dickson with an awesome group of people. Thanks to  those who organized it and supported us along the way. You can see we were well taken care of... with plenty of food at each stop! Pictures courtesy of Nik Raiha Kosai.

Did a 6km open water swim the day after the ride. It wasn't a race and the buoys were small and far apart, making it difficult for sighting. The final buoy was removed partway through the swim as it was faulty. I stayed with another lady and we turned back early as the final buoy wasn't there anymore. According to her Garmin we swam 5.9km, which was close enough and a personal record for my furthest swim in the open water.

Mum and Dad joined me for a short getaway as well as to watch me swim. It's always nice to have them supporting by my side at these events.

Donated blood for a friend in need. I've been quite selfish in the past, keeping myself away from the blood bank, thinking that it will affect my training. Now that I'm on holiday, there's no excuse.

One more week left before I embark on a new adventure. Let's make the most of it!

Farewell Perth...

In about 20 hours time, I'll be boarding my flight back to KL for just over 2 weeks before I head off to Canada. My feelings are somewhat mixed... excited to embark on this new adventure, but sad to leave this place at the same time. Perth has been my home for the past 10 years. I will miss running along the Swan River on Mounts Bay road... taking only 15 minutes drive to the nearest beach to catch the sunset... watching the city skyline from King's Park... fish and chips by the harbour in Fremantle... Little Caesar's pizza at Hillarys... riding up the hills in Mundaring... and many more!

Most of all, I would miss the people.

Instagram photo by Natasha. Farewell Chinese New Year lou-sang lunch and very touching farewell gifts, thanks guys! 

Paparazzi Dennis in action. Drinks at The Garden and dinner at The Burger Bistro, Leederville. Thanks boys for the treat!

One last run in Perth, starting from King's Park

I have a full day of packing to do, so that will keep me from reminiscing too much. Perth, you have been really good to me for the past 10 years. I probably don't give you enough credit, much less than you deserve.  We may or may not be back after our stint in Canada. But I do hope for the former.

See you Perth... and may we cross paths again in the future!

Aussie Day weekend

What better way to celebrate Australia's birthday - by doing a sprint triathlon! There was one already formally held in Point Walter. But we decided to have our own at Sorrento Beach, without the hassle of registration fees and all that jazz. Thanks Dennis for organizing and taking our pictures. I stayed with Sam throughout the course and it was good that he pushed the pace during the run, we actually clocked 4 minute km for the last 1km! 

The brave 7 (one more person came later) who turned up that day

Running into transition with Sam

With our race director

I didn't head down to the city to watch the fireworks display this time. Without a car, it was going to be a bit of a hassle. I had an early night in and woke up the next morning for a ride in the hills. It was quite windy and I rode a bit slower than usual, but not much. Luckily I started my ride early as the weather got hot pretty quickly.

I sold another big furniture today. The bed and mattress is now gone. I'll be sleeping on the sofa for the next 10 nights or so. The fridge will be picked up next Saturday. At work, my successor started on Monday, so he already had five days of work. Trying to hand over as much information as I can without overwhelming him too much. 

Not long now until I bid farewell to Perth.

Transport challenged

It started off with a bit of drama over the weekend when I locked myself out of my car. I closed the boot with my car keys left inside. Paid a costly $150 for the locksmith to open it, took him less than 2 minutes! And I didn't have my phone with me, luckily Sam was there as I just finished the final session of his study.

I have sold both my cars now. The second sale I was paid in cash and had to frantically find an ATM which allowed me to bank it in. It was a feeling of uneasiness and paranoia when I had someone else within the same room, waiting for their turn to use the machine. The sale took place in Leederville and I wasn't able to deposit the full amount. I was meeting the boys for dinner in Northbridge after, walking there with the remaining cash was nerve wrecking, luckily I was able to deposit the it when I got there!

On my first day without a car, I ran to work. Well, most of the distance anyway. Running with a bagpack was harder than I thought. The bouncing motion was uncomfortable and the straps were giving me a bit of chaffing. I had to take some walk breaks in between, every now and then. The whole distance was 13.7km running through the shared paths, just a couple of kms further than it would have been if I drove straight down the freeway. It took me nearly 90 minutes including the walk breaks. In the afternoon, I was able to use the pool car from work to go home. I'll probably do this a couple of times next week and run every other day too. It's not a bad idea, I only need to get up at 6am instead of 5am, and I'm at my desk at 8am, rather than 9am, and I get to put in a workout session too.

Another week...

Another week into the new year, and another week closer to my departure from Perth. This week started with a Jacobs Ladder workout in King's Park with the boys - Sam and Dennis. Down and up the 242 steps plus running a circuit of the steep hill on Mount St, 5 times through. That workout left me handicapped for most of the week. I was limping when I walked and I had to skip all the run sessions that I planned for. I was still able to ride and swim though.

Papparazzi Dennis Tan took this picture

Saturday I did the second sprint tri simulation test as part of Sam's study. My right quad was still feeling a bit tight. It affected my bike time but not my run time, which was a bit weird. One last session next week. In the afternoon, we planned to watch the TV coverage of Ironman Western Australia 2012 but midway through, the power supply went off. It didn't go off completely but it seemed to be really low on power. The stand fan was turning slower and slower and the TV kept flickering on and off, as though the power was generated by someone running on a treadmill! In the end, the power only came back on just 15 minutes after the show finished!

Sunday I did a ride in the hills this time. My usual route of Mundaring Weir via Darlington and John Forrest National Park. The winds were blowing from the east, so it was a bit tough going into the hills but I had a nice tailwind coming back. I'm glad I completed the ride in well under 3 hours, which is similar to the times during my peak. The overcast weather helped too.

I managed to sell some more furniture from the house. I now have to bend down while eating my meals off the coffee table and try not to spill food all over my laptop. I've pretty much closed the deal on selling one of the cars, just waiting for the cheque. The other car, I'm still meeting interested buyers, which is also a good thing, as this means I still have a car to drive around for the time being.

Something new...

So we're already a week into the new year. I truly enjoyed my week off at home, catching up with family and friends. Even raced a 25km run, which I clocked just a minute slower than the year before. I've been back in Perth for a few days now. Slowly getting back into the routine. Trying to start myself on a consistent training regime again, mainly to shed the extra kgs I gained over the festive season and also to bring back my fitness to where it was. But I'm in no hurry. Just enjoying the flexibility of unstructured training... for now.

I did a simulated sprint triathlon as part of my friend Sam's sports science study. 750m swim in the pool at a controlled pace of 82.5% effort, which is 1:54 per 100m. It was rather difficult actually to slow myself down that much and I could feel myself almost sinking in the pool. The 20km ride was done on the wind trainer. It was a bit of a mental test riding at hight intensity with no other competitors to chase. On to the 5km run, thank God it was around the UWA campus, and not on the treadmill. I averaged 4:25 per km and finished in just over 70 minutes for the lot. Pretty happy with the effort. I have 2 more trials to do in the next 2 weeks.

On Sunday, I did a 100km ride down the Freeway South bike path. I thought the many mind numbing long rides down the path before Ironman WA will put me off riding that route for a while, but it's the most convenient way to put in 100kms without having to stop too much for traffic. I struggled on the way back into the headwinds, the return journey took me an extra 15 minutes. Obviously still not quite there yet in terms of my endurance, both physically and mentally.

I have quite a bit of packing to do, to vacate the place to be rented out. I've listed both our cars for sale. Not much time left, hopefully there would be some interest, otherwise I'll have to bring them to the used car dealers and I probably won't be able to get much there.

You've got a friend in me...

In a few days, my good friend, Eric, will be leaving Perth for good, heading back to Malaysia to start a new chapter in his life. Eric was like a brother to me, and it's not just because we have the same surname by coincidence. It was Eric who introduced me to the small circle of friends we have in Perth through the UWA International Student Service. In fact, if it wasn't for Eric, I wouldn't have met my wife, Li-Ann.

Eric was always there to lend a helping hand since my days as an opportunistic uni student, being seen at almost every workshop or seminar, just to grab some free food... up until the days of my wedding, when he was a dedicated heng dai going through the obstacles given out by the ji muis. I've also tried to convert Eric to be a triathlete, an attempt which I did not succeed very much, but he did do a sprint triathlon and later, a half marathon, which he very much enjoyed... I think.

Springfeast at UWA Multicultural Week in 2006 - Eric 4th from right

Celebrating mid autumn festival - we lit the lanterns indoors as it was too windy outside

Chinese New Year open house at Eric's

Power Station tri - the poor guy got stung by a jelly fish on his first tri, which left a big scar                     (physically and I think, emotionally too haha)

Japanese dinner at Shun - Eric's glasses were blank. He wore them to look more intelligent haha

The beer mile challenge at my buck's - it was an epic day!

Eric helping me negotiate ang pow with the ji muis. He said I was too honest

Eric, we in Perth, will miss you very much. We wish you the very best in your future ventures! Take care, good friend.