Lovely Afternoon in Sydney by the Harbour - 20th April 2017

20th April at the Rocks, Sydney Opera House in the Background

       My colleague and I first arrived on 19th April at Sydney and took a connecting flight to Canberra. Its been 13 years since we were last in Australia (my family had 2 weeks in the Gold Coast in 2004) and 15 in Sydney. I must say that this short visit to Sydney really gave me a good feel of the weather in Australia, although it can fluctuate quite a lot in the day and dip by almost 10 deg C by evening time. 

      My colleague and I arrived in Canberra on 19th and had a day visit. After that, we checked out the beautiful city and the surroundings by car. Canberra is  the capital city of Australia and the Federal Government has its parliament located at - you guessed it - in Canberra. More about that in a later post.

                                          Sydney Opera House in the Background 

         

       20th April was a fine sunny day in Sydney. Upon arrival at Kingsford airport, we took the Airport Express down to Circular Quays, and finally, Wynard  station. Our hotel was conveniently located at Pitt Street and literally just 2 minutes walk from the Wynard station. Upon checkin, we proceeded to the Rocks and Harbour Bridge. The afternoon was just as what the brochures and postcards displayed, picture perfect. There were lots of tourists visiting Circular Quays and the Harbour - many of them from within Australia and many parts of Asia too.

One for the Memories 

We spent a good hour just wandering around the harbour area taking in the sights, sounds and colours. I must say, the fine mild weather (4 seasons), the variety of foods and the free wheeling democracy has attracted many migrants from Asia to Australia in the last 20 odd years. Some friends and classmates of mine have migrated since the mid 80s and while I am tempted, my heart is set on Singapore. It has so much convenience and accessibility to the other parts of Asia, which has seen almost 4 decades of economic growth with some years experiencing 1 maybe 2 years of recession (negative 2 quarters of economic growth).

        There had been not alot of development since I was last in Sydney, although that can be debated to no end. The Sydney metro is prompt, clean and on time. The Aussie young seem to be working hard now with the influx of Asian immigrants and competing for their jobs.Home prices in Sydney have doubled in the last 7 years - surely not a good sign for the young, as affordability of housing is critical for a stable and happy society.

360 Panoramic View of the Sydney Harbour 20 April 2017 

       Food prices, such as dining in restaurants are quite on par in price with Singapore and service standard is quite abysmal, about the same as in Singapore. So globalisation has many drawbacks and many threats to the millenials from Sydney to Singapore. HIgh paying jobs are few and far between, many top ranked foriegners are working and earning a good income, locals (as in Singapore) are finding it tougher and harder to remain relevant in this disruptive new economy.

      Well. I hope my business in Australia gets a foothold. I would love to return here on a regular basis and observe the social standards and local aspirations from afar. It is indeed the 'Lucky Country'.  

Rave Run - Nassim Road 5.45 am ; Mark's Marathon Training Plan

      






These are the pictures of Nassim Road Singapore, where I used to run 10 years ago, in 2007. The distance is 4km for a loop from the Evans Road entrance all the way down to Orchard Road entrance,including a small detour at Lermit Road. Its wide,car free most of the time and I wish I could wake up more times at 5.20am to run this loop !

     This training route is one which I had been religiously training 10 years ago when I was on fire to finish as many marathons as I could in 1 year (sadly or happily, it was only 1 per year). I was normally there at 5.30 to 5.45am to run 2 sets of loops,a total distance of 8km.This was my initial training for the marathon sometime later part of this year. Later in the training program I would add on more loops and until maybe 1 month or 2 weeks before the main marathon, I would be doing as many as 7 loops, 4 x 5km and 3 x 4km. A real workhorse way of getting the body accustomed to the 40 km terror which was called the marathon. 

      My plan then : every 1,3,5 and 6. Starting week : 6 -13 June. Start Time : 5.45 am. Except every 3rd week where its my turn to take the carpool for the boys to school (30th - 4th July) ; this was when my elder boy Noel was in ACS Independent and I had a rotational thing with 2 other parents to fetch our children to the school which was some 30 minute drive away from our housing estate. 

     I plan to restart the old 'engine' for 1 or 2 more hurrahs. The overseas marathons are beckoning me. Beautiful and scenic routes with friendly and jovial supporters. Paris, Berlin and Gold Coast marathons await.

    Join me anyone ?

Mark

Jay Chou - Ai Wo Bie Zou

I like the younger set of Chinese xinyao singers. Jay Chou is one such singer. His rather laid back aproach to the camera and his easy going vocals make us want to follow his renditions. 

Oh United ; What a Massive PR Disaster !

Even Joan of Arc could not stop the hordes of angry people on social media ; especially the Asian travellers 

     By now, this world wide event whereby one poor passenger from United Flight UE 4711 from Chicago to Louisville was singled out and literally dragged out from his seat, and out of the plane has made the headlines from Kentucky (USA) to Kilimanjaroo (Tanzania) - thanks to the newest and most powerful media, the social media platform where billions of ordinary people like you and I are potentially brand ambassadors, critics and market movers for so many consumer products, services, food and travel experiences

     The worldwide technology revolution led by the smartphone in the last 20 years and its myriad of features like High Definition Camera, Digitial Camera, Voice Recorder, Internet access to games, cashless payments, movie and restaurants reviews, bookings and takeouts of food, household products, electronic goods have totally remade the way ordinary people eat, shop, and even find a potential life partner. So many paradigm shifts have occured in such a short time, max 1 generation (25 years) it is shocking for the older generation people like me (Baby Boomers - those born from 1946 till 1970), yet it is deemed so normal for the Millenials or people born in the late '90s till now. 

     Last Sunday 9th evening, United Airlines UE 4711, was scheduled to depart from Chicago to Louisville Kentucky, on time. However, as the plane was full (even overbooked), and there were 4 United employees who were  special passengers (crew or employees) needing to go to Louisville. As such, the airline employed firstly, the option of offering people to volunteer up their seats for (UA) cash rebates, the amount was $400 and then bumped up to $800.  After 3 people were "re-accomodated" by offering them free United money points, they were asked to de-plane (thank you Oscar Munoz). The 4th, a doctor from Kentucky (birthplace was Vietnam), Dr David Dao, who objected to leaving the plane. Well first, the flight attendant made very clear that 4 priority United passengers (read employees) needed to get on the plane and "the plane was not going anywhere until we have 4 people off".

     What crass. What gall. What a shambolic display of supposed customer 'service'. It harks back to the day when the economy class was called the 'cattle class' whereby hordes of bodies were transported from Point A to Point B in the cheapest way possible and wham, bam ; get off my plane ! 

     Dr Dao objected to being ejected, and then the United crew called in Chicago Airport Security ; so the situation was spiralling downhill. Unyielding customer who was aware of his rights (or so he thought) ; the airline - in its fine print of sale of tickets, has the right not to fly him to his destination apparently, based on several factors ; then again, conventional wisdom is always based on trial and error. Who (except a minority 2%) reads the fine print on anything ?          

    So after much talk, the situation became quite untenable ; the good doctor unyielding, and the airport security had to do their job ; so one staff manhandled the doctor, (he apparently hit his head on the seatreast), and dragged him out in full view of the rest of the shocked passengers. 

    I must say the bystander effect was indeed shameful ; if you see a gross indignity being inflicted on another human being, don't just stand there, do something, compassion calls for acting  when necessary even at the expense of your personal dignity and safety. It is your human right as citizens of a free country.

   Within the same day, the United CEO came out on twitter and defended his people's actions citing the passenger as being 'angry and belligerent'. He doubled down and stated that the airline did no wrong. The social media clip of the doctor being dragged out like some drunk from a bar, sent people from China or many people of Chinese origin into sending nasty and mostly negative comments on how the US treats Chinese people. 

   So now, the battle lines are being drawn up. Its sad that such a simple act of negotiation to entice a paying passenger to reschedule to another day was messed up BIG TIME by morons acting in the capacity of employees.

   United ; Your Time has Come to Face the Music. 

My 10 Rules on Running ; (first written on 14 June 2008) this blog - a reprint.

Beautiful East Coast Parkway at Early Evening

After almost 25 years of running and 8 as a committed runner taking part in races and marathons, I thought I'd list down my 'Rules' to assist newcomers who want to pick up the sport. These 'rules' or habits have been cultivated after reading running magazines like Runners World,many books on running and just plain trial and error. Here goes :

1. Run against the flow of traffic - If you're running on a road,run against the flow of traffic. This seems logical as you can see the oncoming vehicles and take evasive action by jumping aside into the drain or road shoulder.

2. Wear bright or Reflective Clothing - Another no-brainer.Ideally wear running tank tops which are loose and allow for quick drying. No one likes to run with a soggy sweatshirt especially in our humid
weather.

3. Run Tall - I am guilty of this, but constantly remind myself. The great Emil Zatopek was the epitomy of running with his body erect. Firstly,good posture is beneficial in minimising stress on your backbones and back muscles. Secondly,you can see whats out there in front of you !!

4. Pose Running - Dr. Nicholas Romanov has been touting Pose Running in his much acclaimed book, its very effective and in a nutshell is this. Running well is practising a series of poses just like in martial arts,ballet and yoga and then making the poses dynamic. So, lean forward like you're going to fall and with the back straight, move ahead with the legs hitting the ground on the ball of the feet. More of this in another post.

5. Stretch - This has been argued by many people, but stretching loosens all muscles and preconditions your body for the activity at hand.It also minimises the chances of pulling or cramping your muscles. I stretch BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the run.

6. Tank Up - Drink lots of fluids before and after the run. For me, the ideal is Gatorade Rain or the recovery drink Powerade by PowerGel sold at the Running Lab in Velocity . Both have electrolytes, some calories and other minerals very effective in muscle recovery.

7. Time yourself - Why ? To benchmark your pace and possibly improve on your time for the same distance.

My favourite watch is the Timex Ironman 30 Lap with Chronograph and Split Times.

8. Smile - You're enjoying yourself right ?

9. Warm Down - Stretch, Cool Down.Slow your heartbeat.Walk some more,regulate the bloodflow after the workout.

10. Build up the Distance - Many new runners are not into this; the distance you run especially once you run beyond 1 hour or longer should be respected as it is taxing on any body. Do not push yourself over the limit but have a regulated plan and run slow and short at first before progressing to a longer distance.

Log on your kilometers in a log.

A really cool song from the super talented Ed Sheeran

This song is about his youth and his carefree days running from the law and breaking his leg. Also it sadly reflects how tough life has been for these typical Millenials. 

Enjoy this fast paced 'sad song'. 

The Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom