6 Km Safari Zoo Run

Yesterday, I had my first running event for the year. The Safari Zoo Run is an annual running event held at the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari to raise funds for the conservation of animal wildlife and is a tribute to Ah Meng, Singapore's former tourism icon.


The first half of the 6-km route is in the Night Safari and more challenging because of the uphill and steep downhill terrain. There was also nothing exciting to see because most of the animals are in their hidden enclosures - resting before their stint later at night. The other half in the Zoological Gardens was better. Some runners who brought their cameras even took breaks to take pictures of the animals. The terrain was also flatter and easier.

I finished it in 53 minutes and 51 seconds.

When It Comes To Love, It'll Be Always Your Choice

I borrow this line from a t-shirt that my Malaysian friend is selling to raise funds for his organization named Choice.


The message of the design is that in love, anything is possible and that love is unbounded by anything including language, beliefs, race, nationality, or even religion. The boundaries are represented by the differences between the pig and the chicken and that love can make any person cross such boundaries, which resulted in the "pig-chick" at the back of the shirt.

A good example of this is the wedding reception I attended earlier today. The groom is a high school classmate who I think is the most faithfully-aligned among the boys in our class. He even attended the 1997 World Youth Day in Manila and that he had traveled before to the Vatican. Given his background, I don't believe that his family gave him a simple nod when he asked for their blessing to marry a Muslim girl whom he fell in love with after years of working in Singapore. He had to convince them of the love he's experiencing and why he's willing to convert to Islam and take the big change in order to be with the one he loves. Indeed, love knows no boundaries.


After enjoying a completely halal banquet and chatting with the other guests, we had to sibat or what we colloquially term as "Eat and Run".

I was with another high school classmate and before we parted ways, we stopped by a food court and had a couple bottles of Guinness while catching up.


On the bus ride to home, I overheard a pair of college girls who were talking in Tagalog with a mix of English but strangely in the fast Singlish accent. I'd like to call this new language "Singalog" or "Singsilog" in honor of the traditional Filipino breakfast and it's going to mean "Singlish na Sinamahan ng Tagalog".

Away from Home but Still Happy for the Holidays

My first time to celebrate Christmas and the new year away from home - far away in another country with different customs and practices.

Christmas, being a Christian holiday, was celebrated with fellow Filipino Christians - a little party with the tradition of exchanging gifts and some party games to make the night more interesting. Of course, there's drinking and karaoke to spend the night away. A few hours after midnight, my beloved and I had to leave ahead to rest. Christmas is a day of obligation and we had to attend mass and I don't want to be sleepy in church.


For new year's eve, we were planning on going to Marina Bay to watch the fireworks but my Malaysian friend attested to the size of the crowd that would also be there to witness the event. This lessened my interest and so we decided to watch it on live TV - better coverage and more convenient. Although not in person but I got a clear view of local artistes like Joanne Peh, Jeanette Aw, Jade Seah, Michelle Chong, Fann Wong, and Phua Chu Kang himself, Gurmit Singh. In the absence of TFC, I've come to know these artistes better and have even forgotten some Filipino actors/actresses. The fireworks were spectacular but are still not comparable to the ones we witnessed in Disneyland Hong Kong.

On New Year's day (or rather, New Year's night) we celebrated with a liter of Jose Cuervo Especial - bought from Duty-Free by my good friend and room mate who went home for Christmas. Unfortunately, he has to report for work later (only the 1st of January is a holiday) and he went to bed at the stroke of midnight - the bottle still half empty and just the two of us enjoying it - and I finished the pulutan of canned Gulong Stewed Pork by myself while watching The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King on MediaCorp 5 - the gay and disgusting Frodo-Sam and Merry-Pippin relationships, shield maiden Eowyn killing the Lich King, Denethor II trying to burn Faramir but got burned himself, and Aragorn cheating his way to victory in the battle of Minas Tirith with the help of the Spectres. It's a Saturday and he promised to be home early so we'll have enough time to finish the rest of the tequila.

It's past one in the morning and if you're wondering why I'm writing this entry, it's because I'm the most expressive when I've had enough to drink.

Spare me the criticism. Even in this condition, my spelling and grammar is still flawless. If you find anything wrong, leave a comment...

To my sober self, when you read this later, don't you ever edit this post.