The Mamutik Episode

I got my Open Water Diver license in 2005. The underwater world fascinates me so but somehow through lack of planning and perseverance, I've only managed to dive only twice since then.
So, in an effort to revive this interest, I've decided to go to Mamutik Island for a fun dive, tomorrow.
I am almost ashamed of myself. A self-confessed water-baby and I don't make the effort to do justice to this title?
Oooo.. tomorrow's going to be interesting!

This is a copied image from the net. Mamutik Island, smallest of all 5 Tunku Abdul Rahman Park Islands, and the nearest to the mainland as well.

Cake Maker

Cikgu Yus passed me this recipe for steamed choc cake a few weeks ago see.. Raving about how easy it was making this cake and how unbelievably delicious fattening the cake was.
I had already mastered Tausa Piang, and so I thought, why not try this steamed cake thingy.. I didn't have an oven (been meaning to get one for ages but hadn't), I didn't have a mixer but I thought I could do with some muscle work and do it the old-fashion way..by beating the hell out of the batter.. So, tried the recipe I did.
Consfood made finding the ingredients so easy...and the recipe itself was..for want of a funner phrase..outrageously easy.

The steamed Supermoist Choc Cake was DELICIOUS!.. I just couldn't believe I had successfully produced this mind-bogglingly delicious cake that I had to make it a second and a third and a fourth time. All tasted amazingly good. Made two a few weeks ago, one for my faithful eaters..(my sis and bro) and brought one for my colleagues to taste..(rave reviews aitelyu!) Felt so awesomely amazed at the deliciousness of the cake and that I, moi, me, and not a bakery produced it, that when Herlina asked for the recipe, I gave it there and then.

Then I made four choc cakes a few days ago, left one for the family, combined two into two layers for a baby cuz's birthday do, and brought one to Kudat for friends to try. Pun sedap, they say.

The Steamed SuperMoist Choc Cake with Choc Ganache.

Humbly I say unto myself, proud I am of the cake, but what other cakes can be made through steaming eh? Pazidah gave me the push actually. She said, bringla a cheese cake next time. Same cooking situation, no oven, no mixer.. Could I perraps make a steamed cheesecake?

Surfed youtube for one and found one which looked manageable. Found the ingredients at Consfood and proceeded to make one last night. And voila! This happened.

Steamed Raspberry Cheesecake

Not bad... not bad at-tall..

Introducing..

Nah.. my most recent acquisition. Nike Flywire H20 Repel..US size 8.. LoveLoveLove.. makes Walking, Strutting, Jogging, Running, Skipping, Zumba-ing much more fun and exciting..

10km run BIM

I am a 10km finisher for this year's Borneo International Marathon. Never mind others ran faster or ran farther. I'm just glad I followed through what I said I'd do earlier this year.
Two days before, I had felt the tell-tale flu signs coming out. Sneezing, blocked nose, greenish nose mucous.. and mild fever. Ate some flu meds to try and halt the attack. My period came early as well..dang.

Small matter, said I to myself.

Slept around 9 pm last night and woke up after clicking off the snooze alarm TWICE on my mobile phone. Got ready and drove to Likas Stadium. Wah..what a sea of yellow-shirted runners! (yellow being the NB sponsored running shirt).
Saw Dr.Khairul(one of my Oral Surgeon who did my jaw surgery), Dr.Fatimah (my orthodontist), said 'hi' and they took pics with me. Saw JJ and Ian (Hitz.fm dee jays), and had an IanWright moment.. Cuaiii..



Chuckled when I overheard this dialogue from a participating runner somewhere to my back.
"hey, i see JJ and Ian."
"yah, they running oso."
"Which one's JJ ah?

Whaaatt?.. So obvious didn't know who from who.



I was standing probably 15feet behind from the starting arch so when the horn was sounded to indicate the start of the race, plenty of runners had an early running start. I adjusted my own Casio wristwatch and clicked on start to mark my run. Wah..this is it! I thought. Jog jog jog... Saw runners pass me by, some were impatient (or ate too much energy gel?) and ran along the grass on the road dividers. The only reasons why I would jog a bit faster was to escape halitosis from front runners or of course, the runners in front had slowed down.

By the 4.5km mark, I had begun to feel cold from the morning city breeze.
jog jog jog...
pass the drinks counter..
"water...water...water..."
Grab
"100 plus..100 plus..100 plus..."
Grab

Saw some radio friends standing on the roadside.

Me : OTO -san!! *wave* ..OTO-san!!...OTO-san looked a bit lost..then as recognition came, smiled.
jog jog jog..
Me : Kilo Zulu Mike!! *wave*
KZM : hai Nat!! *waves back*

Jog walk jog walk...

By the 5km mark.. felt relief.. 5km more to go..
I heard Skylar Lane's song "I'm Coming Home" playing in my head.. wheeee..

by the 6km mark.. i was frothing at the mouth and the nose..I think..
I had loosened the laces of my right shoe earlier..now I had to loosen the one on the left.. are my feet swelling?
My knees also had started to tingle and I could feel mild pain.. Oh gawd..my knees are unhinging themselves..

Jog jog walk walk..

Saw this older Indian fella in front of me and decided to make him my pacemaker.. Tsk tsk.. and I thought..If old Uncle Muthu with the swollen (bandaged) right knee can run.. why can't I?

Walk jog walk walk jog..

I'd jog pass Uncle Muthu..walk..and Uncle Muthu would catch up..and I'd jog some more.. till Ahhhaa.. passed Uncle Muthu definitely.. (D-uh.. pacing with an old uncle)

Walk walk jog jog... jog dammit..jog.. knees so pancit!!

Aaaaanyway.. when I passed the finishing line..got my 10km finisher medal..i looked at my watch..timed out at 1hour 28minutes..

Not bad.. not bad at-tall.. for someone who hadn't had much practice run. :)

April.. not uninteresting.. * felt my blood actually boiling upon finding out some unsavory truth. * MSAM in Komplex Likas.. * Bought me a new pair of Nike Running shoes (love love love), running pants.. * spent one whole night composing a speech/report text and read it out ala2 sports report.. and enjoyed listening to the mixed reactions/ reviews from friends.

Storm

Kem isn't what it used to be. I used to relish the idea of going off to Kiulu for a weekender outdoor duty. The mere thought of going there would banish any stress currently being faced.
Bugger them.
Jog jog zumba zumba swim swim..
still... i love being alive.

With partially runny nose I jogged without pause for 1.6km. Walked and jogged for another 800m before finishing with some stretching. 19.30mins of jog + walk. gots ta.. gots ta..
My nap just now wasn't a smooth one. I kept waking up for no apparent reason and later I noticed that I was woken up by the intensity of my heart beat. It was racing. Weird..

Even though I went out jogging only once before the Fitness Test the other day, I think my stamina and endurance (minimal as it were) are due to the Zumba sessions I did at home. Thank goodness for Youtube and Zumba instructors who were generous enough to upload video clips of their Zumba routines..with lots of choices.. extremely fun songs to dance to.

Went swimming yesterday morning. Managed a clumsy 1.5km.. or thereabouts. My work schedule is so tight these days.. and is going to be more hectic in the weeks to come. Gotta keep on.. if not swimming, zumba-ing then..

Fitness Test 2012

Thank God for a misty, breezy, sun-less Saturday which made for an easier Fitness Test weather condition.

I partnered up with Ati for the push-ups (no problem)and the sit-ups(never was good at this). I later carried her on piggy-back for the 25m angkat beban slot. For the 2.4km run(read jog), I plugged my ears with some fast-paced tunes, the likes of Danza Kuduro and Jlo's Let's Get Loud, with the hope that the tunes will lull me into a continuous run/ movement. It worked well enough. *phew!* 18mins 23sec was the time shown on my stopwatch at the end of my jog.
Not bad..considering I hadn't actually gone on jogs. I relied on my Zumba sessions for the cardio side of my exercise repertoire. And oh.. wore Red Flywire for the jog. My feet looked daaammn pretty!! Love'em..just love'em..

Doing my warm down.. doesn't Red Flywire look pretty.. (ignore the dude behind..don't know who he is)

Note to self : Must consider doing jogging sessions at the stadium. Better running surface.

The 200m swim was done at a comfortable 5mins 41secs which was approximately 1 minute faster than the record I did 2 years ago. Didn't succumb too much on nerves and peer pressure (the swimmer next to my lane was a helluva swimmer, I could see him glide further and faster than me) and was able to do a regular pace without straining on the breathing.

Overall, I'm pleased with my performance this time. I coulda done better, but with the efforts put into the training, I am satisfied.

Took Red Flywire for a jog the other day. Felt light, felt like I could run and run..till my breath ran out.. *giggle*.. which was (suprising to me) farther than I had expected my first run to be. I'm sure it was just me but I felt all eyes on my feet when I jogged by. Oh I smiled.. and smiled..A teeny step to a longer mile..

My thigh muscles burned that night and my sleep was not a sound one. After tossing and turning for half and hour, I got up to find some ointment and rubbed them all over the front of my thighs. It felt much better afterwards but it wasn't enough to keep me in dreamland till morning. Yupp..that was expected. A little each other day hopefully will bring me farther the next jog around.