Saturday, September 30, 2006

I am sorry for not updating

I woke up and first thing this morning had a wholly unhappy phone conversation which drove me back to sleep until 2.45pm. Then I woke up again and felt all no I do not want to go to Metrotown when yesterday I was all I need to geddoutuvthehouseandgosomewhereduringtheweekendorIllgocrazy. That's when i realised how much work I had to do, and it all collapsed on me like a gypsy bath built on spindly sticks of wood. I am one hundred and four percent sure, or is it ten-ish, or less? Not more though.

But I promised Gilbert and so I'll go. Besides, we need to get groceries and I need to get comfort food. I'm already halfway into hibernating, winter is coming, and I need chocolate. I have three beds in the house; my own bed in my room, and the two couches downstairs for my afternoon siestas. I sleep a total of 12 hours a day, or somewhere about there anyway.

It doesn't really help that David in the next room plays sad-sounding music with happy lyrics which thumps through my wall to confuse my moods. Or happy music with sad lyrics. It's all good music though. And that one day, he played the song from Amelie over and over again, which just made me miss home a bit more.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

The Grouse Grind Mountain Run Walk/Crawl

I stood at the bottom of the mountain and didn't think it'd be such a big deal. Even though it was like a huge green wall that stretched up as far as I could see, I never imagined it to be so steep. I only learnt that after they flagged us off and I jogged over to the base of the mountain. Grouse Mountain is (200X Peng Kang Hill/Macritchie/Bukit Timah Hill combined, and 2X Crazy). To make it easier to understand, this are a picture to illustrate. Enjoy!



The Grouse Grind Mountain Run Walk/Crawl was afoot!

The Walk/Crawl was precisely that; a walk/crawl. I walked because I couldn't run. I couldn't run because it was too steep, and because there were too many people blocking the route. I overtook some people, not many, but those were rare instances. I walked because the person in front of me walked, and I crawled in two senses; I moved slowly, and I had to touch the ground with my 4 extremities because the terrain was exceptionally steep in some places and I have a slight psychomotor coordination problem.

When I got up to the top after about an hour of climbing steps, I was treated to the most beautiful view I have ever seen in my life. It was a clearing, and there was a chalet, and from there, I could see Stanley Park, many other mountains, (maybe downtown Vancouver) and all the trees I climbed past.

The Grouse Grind Mountain Walk/Crawl was a great experience; I'd definitely do it again, I'd go through all that pain once more to feel the same way I felt at the finish line this time. It was much better than completing 21km, or even getting up Peng Kang Hill in record time. It felt more than that; it felt like pride.

I was proud that I didn't stop no matter how much I was tempted to. Proud that I actually completed the race. I was proud that I, like 600+ other competitors (this year), knew this was going to be painful, and actually went ahead and did it because we wanted to. When I leave Vancouver, when I finally am forced to, this event will stay in my memories as something I knew I might not have the possibility of finishing, but which I did.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Grouse pre-run jitters

I am scared again. I signed up for the Grouse Grind Mountain Run on Thursday or Friday, and today, I went down to collect my race pack. It took me about 2-3 hours to get there by bus(es, I had to transfer thrice), and on the last bus, as it ascended the road leading to the base of Grouse, I knew I was in really deep shit. Grouse Mountain came into view, and it was so high that my mind couldn't really comprehend how huge it was. When I got off the bus, I knew I was in really, really deep shit. I wish I had a camera, so that maybe we could all share this feeling of me being in really deep shit, but I didn't bring one.

I shall bring a camera tomorrow though; the view from the top is bound to be beautiful.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

I got lost again

One of the scariest things you can do while you're overseas is to get lost. It's not that bad getting lost in the city, but getting lost on the highway is the worst, and about 45 minutes into my run, that's where I was - getting lost on the highway. Thankfully the sun was up and it wasn't too cold.

Eventually I found my way back, and found that Google Earth, while useful, is not the greatest tool for mapping a running route unless you know an area intimately. This (in yellow line and red dots) is where I ran. The little green dots at the bottom of the route is where I started, and the other little green dot is where I ended.


I was supposed to meet Gilbert at the bookstore in about 30-35 minutes, but I was unable to because I was in Locarno Beach by that time, trying to figure out where to make the turn as indicated by the blue line and the words "Turn Here". So Gilbert was worrying about me, and I was worrying about me and also worrying about him worrying about me. In the end, this is the distance I ran according to the handy Google Earth "Measure" function.


Like balls lah! No wonder I'm so achy all over. I think other than my very nice long-sleeved t-shirt, I must also buy Deep Heat.

One thing I will miss about Vancouver when I'm back in Singapore will be the squirrels, fir cones, and acorns. I saw a squirrel an arm's length away today! He saw me a couple of his arm's length away today! We stared at each other and then he ran away.

Oh, and also the getting-lost-while-running routes.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Google Earth!

We, and by we, I mean I, have downloaded Google Earth! I downloaded it once, just to look for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, but I deleted it because I thought it was causing problems for my computer. I also tried to find my house but I couldn't because it was hidden behind a huge cloud; this time though, I found it but I was going, "This isn't my house! It doesn't look like my house!" and it really didn't even though it was my house. No, it doesn't look like my house at all.

But this time, I wasn't so interested in looking for Osama as much as in the running routes I could find to get ready for the New Balance Fall Classic.

So now we, and by we, I mean Gilbert and myself, have just used the "Measure" function on Google Earth, and mapped a 16km route from UBC to Stanley Park which we will run one sunny day so that we (hopefully) can get ready for the half marathon distance. Personally, I feel a little cheated because the half marathon is just 2 rounds of the 10 km distance and a little bit. And that just means running around UBC and its surroundings twice. Nonetheless, I think it'd be a cool idea to complete 21km in Vancouver which is why, even though the 21km is bound to be boring during the second round, I'm (hopefully) going to do it.

In other news, it's been raining the whole of today and we, and by we, I mean Gilbert and I, have had a discussion on this topic and come to the conclusion that 1) he needs to get a water-resistant jacket, and 2) walking is the better option of getting from point A to point B when it rains than cycling because you get less wet walking.

In other, other news, there is going to be a Grouse Grind Mountain Run this Sunday! It is 2.9km and tough going because Grouse is a mountain, and we know that mountains go up and up and up and up and then down and down and down and down, and the 2.9 is unfortunately on the up and up bit. But, as is the case with most races here, the prices are steep; it is 29.68CND just to sign up for the run, and an additional 34++ for a technical t-shirt. It might not happen because the Grind has been closed, although it has been reported that the Grind will be open in time for the run. I want to try running up it (if, and when, it opens)! What is a trip to Vancouver without a trip up the Grind?

The rain in Vancouver

The rain in Vancouver is a tricky mother's son. First, it starts before you wake up so it makes the weather conducive for sleeping in, and you wake up hurriedly, gobble down breakfast, pack your bag and walk out. Then you walk back in, remove your boots and run up the stairs to take your rain jacket before running out again. You end up in class slightly late.

When you finish your class, you walk out and the rain is out there waiting for you. You shrug your bag off your shoulders, put on the jacket, put the bag on and pull up the hood. The hood is stuck under a bag strap and you have to tilt everything a little to pull it back out.

After you pull the hood up, you walk to your next class and the rain cuts in at angles, instead of pattering down, as if it were trying to get past the defences of the rain jacket and into your base layer. It blinds you because the hood doesn't extend that much past your eyes and you have to keep adjusting the hood, your glasses, your posture. Then when you reach the next class, there is a yellow sheet of paper taped to the door stating that your lecturer has cancelled his class. You pull up the hood and walk out into the rain.

The rain turns soil into sludge, and fields become slick; danger traps all these. Boots work but jeans don't, not for long-distance trudging from the SUB to Tbird. Jeans become wet too, and when you reach home, all you want to do is take them off because they're sodden and cold, and put your hands over the heater because the cold makes it so that you can't feel your fingers. You think about how the next time you go to the big sports shop, other than buying that very nice long-sleeved running t-shirt, you are also going to get waterproof pants, gloves and a thermal hoodie. And then you wonder whether it is a good idea because you live on the equator.

It really isn't, but I really want to. Because the rain, that tricky mother's son, tells me I should.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

An indignant post

You can imagine my indignation when someone tells me "no need to study so hard" and attempts to direct me to do certain things which exchange students are "supposed" to do i.e. "not just to explore the place, but to interact with the people!". And after that, to apologise for being judgemental, but you know what? The damage is already done. As you can tell, I'm pretty much still seething over what someone has said about what we should do during exchange.

I don't think people should have a right to prescribe what other people do on exchange. They can go on drunken rampages of debauchery if they so wish, or mug until their eyes bleed, or take the middle lane. But is that your problem? You can have certain "rules" of what exchange students should do, especially exchange students who S/U their modules (like me), but these rules do not necessarily apply to me or to any other exchange student.

I'm all for exploring the city. I like exploring new places, and not so new places. I like exploring places which are rooted deeply in my consciousness, like the public library in New York. The movie Spiderman was a big part of that for me because it showed me New York and I wanted to know if the notion conveyed by the film, and the notion I kept in my head of New York i.e. my memory of what I think New York is like, and the place itself i.e. New York, converge. The process happens like that for most of the not so new places I want to explore but which I have in my head.

Vancouver, notwithstanding its not being a large part of my consciousness, is very interesting too. I've seen the largest sports shop I have seen in my whole life with gear oriented toward whitewater rafting, running, hiking, climbing and the like. And them other places, oh look at them other places. A couple of days ago when the weather was fine, I ran from UBC to the beach, down a slope, and there I saw a mountain range peeking over the trees, and a field of dandelions and daisies, and when I reached the Spanish Banks, downtown Vancouver sparkled with the reflections on skyscrapers' mirrored glass of the setting sun. Dogs swam in the ocean, and runners ran by with astonishingly good postures. It's a new experience, and all I had to do was observe.

And bollocks! to you if you think that by exploring the city, you aren't interacting with the people. When you are by yourself and new to a place, you don't wait for people to interact with you. You go and make conversation with them because you don't know how to get to Yale from New York, and you just need the confirmation. And that was how I met Steve the Korean who hates the Japanese for the war in the Pacific, 1939-1945. That was how I knew what to visit in New York because he very kindly drew a map of Manhattan for me. Yet, you can also wait for people to interact with you. In Vancouver, you just have to stand in a corner with a map and look lost and people automatically gravitate toward you and ask if you need help. So much for interaction with the people being something you have to actively pursue.

Nonetheless, while I actually do my own little bits of exploring and interacting, does it mean I have to do it on the scale that you dictate? Does that mean if you say that exchange students must do so-and-so, we must follow what you say? Isn't that being totalitarian about an experience that is supposed to be created of my own volition and in the way I think will best benefit me, not of how you think I should create this experience?

This is how I feel I want to create my SEP experience: I want to make it meaningful and for me, "meaningful" would be runs to the Spanish Banks to see the mountains, trips (not too expensive, or not whale-watching) to places within the city and outside, and studying for my modules because I want to 1) learn stuff while I'm on exchange, and 2) understand how university education in Singapore and Vancouver differ, or are alike. I like observing as an experience rather than actively going out and creating a situation that I can deem as an experience, and that's what "meaningful" is to me, and if that's how I enjoy myself, then you don't have the right to make me enjoy myself any other way.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Because Vancouver rains (or so I have heard)

I have a ton of readings to do in the next 1.2 days, and then I realise I'm on exchange but that still doesn't make the panic go away because...I don't know why! It's just that I want to put in effort in whatever I do, so when I die maybe my children or wife or someone will put on my gravestone "He put in 100% effort 100% of the time".

Which is not really true. Take running for example; I can't put in 100% because of some reason which I learnt in SPT (but I was sleeping during that class, after they said "There is absolutely no way you can put in 100% effort for physical training".) Speaking of running, I went for 4 runs in the week, three down to the Spanish Banks which is down the slope, north of UBC, (we got lost on the last Spanish Banks run but found our way there), and one in the gym because it was raining bollocks-ish.

There is about 3-4 days' difference between the rain in Vancouver, and the weather report about the rain in Vancouver. From Sunday until Tuesday, I was anticipating wet weather, and it didn't come; some days it was sunny, and some days it was cloudy, but it didn't rain. I stopped believing the weatherman even though it was cloudy one of those grey, dry days. Then, on Wednesday I had a lesson which ended at 9pm (!! Yes! That's how chao pia I am!) and when I got out of the classroom, I knew the weatherman was right at last. There was a hard drizzle and I was dismayed because i brought along my green hoodie as protection against the cold, not the rain. So I ran 1.2km back to Thunderbird in the rain and was soaked. Luckily Gilbert and Laura (a Singaporean law student living 2 doors away) had heated up soup for me, those two nice souls!
Thankfully, we have only had 2 days of rain thus far. But, one thing that makes Vancouver's rain more enjoyable than Singapore's is that you can get caught in it and, given a little time, still come back dry in the end because moisture just evaporates so quickly. In Singapore, you perspire when that happens and you stay wet because of the high humidity.

I have taken precautions against the rainy weather though. I bought today from Main Street and Granville Island: 1 X Track Pants, 1 X Longer Running Shorts, and 1 X Thin Jacket. All these, as you can tell, are geared towards running. More specifically, they're geared towards running in the rain. OK, the boring part is over.

Now, for something totally different. Today, I was in Granville Island with the usual gang + 1 (a girl named Hui Ping) and we went to the Granville Public Market and Kid's Market. We bought strawberries from the market and they were soooooooooooooooooooooo good! And we were stuck in the Kid's market for a damn long time because all of us were so fascinated by the toys and games. It's like Toys R' Us X 10000000 for us! (I bought the Thin Jacket from this island peninsula thingy place).

Then we moved on to Robson because I wanted to check out the sizes of the shirt for the New Balance Fall Classic (and not make the mistake I've made 3 times in a row, namely choose the wrong size for the T-shirt). There, I tried on this long-sleeved running T-shirt which I know I will probably never use in Singapore, but which has SO COOL THUMB HOOKS and it feels sooooooooooooooooooooooo good! It is the same price as long-sleeved running tees in Singapore, and I might buy it because I loves it so.

And then the group split up, Sulynn and I went to Main, I got my shorts and pants, and then we went to Gage and I got files from her and I went back to Tbird and I am here typing. This last paragraph is necessarily short because I want to hit the books. For Gilbert's part of the story, I shall direct you to the taupok's blog.

Bye!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The Who

Other than running, Vancouver offers me a multitude of opportunities to do things that I enjoy, such as going to various concerts by choice acts.

From September to December, bands and singers like Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Black-eyed Peas, The Who, Paul Simon, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Keane (last I heard, they cancelled the tour, but I might be wrong), Elton John, The Killers, Jamie Cullum, Goo Goo Dolls, James Blunt, Dixie Chicks and John Mayer will be performing in Vancouver, BC!

I'm thinking about whether I should part with CND$140 to watch The Who, but if I do that, I'll get it left right and centre from my parents (We paid for you to go overseas to study, not to go and watch people sing!) and I'm also too stingy to part with my money. I'd prefer to save it for when I go to Seattle (there is something planned, but it's not confirmed) and also, for my run(s). If, and only if, I happen to find CND$50 on the floor, I'd consider going for the concert, but my runs take priority over all else.

Anyway, if I do go, The Who else wants to go?

Monday, September 11, 2006

I am a horrible tourist

I am a horrible tourist. I go to New York, I look at buildings. And then after that, I go on wikipedia and find out how much I've missed. And then I try to console myself that 5 days isn't enough to check out the whole of New York.

And then I realise that I really, really want the very iconic I Heart NY t-shirt which sells for 10 for US$10 at ubiquitous souvenir shops (which I didn't buy, of course) only when I'm in Vancouver. I am a horrible tourist.

Natural Selection

So.....I was supposed to be reading my Darwin book again but I got sidetracked. I was thinking about how good a run I had yesterday, and how my cousin who I always run Real Run with told me how good the weather in Vancouver was for running before I left Singapore, and how I decided that he spoke the truth. Because of these running-inclined thoughts, I felt that I needed to go and get into a race or two before I leave for Singapore, and I also decided Races First, Darwin Second. Call it natural selection if you will.

After much frustration, I found a catch-all site for races, and I have decided to go for at least 2 runs, if I have the cash for it.

The first is:
2006 ING James Cunningham Seawall Race
Oct 29, 2006
9.5 km
But the registration fee (and this is the killer) is 18 for the run. That sounds ok right? And 25 for a technical shirt! And I am very gian to get the t-shirt. Thus, my registration fee is 43 dollars in total. Which really, really sucks.

The second is:
New Balance Fall Classic
Nov 19, 2006
either 10k/21k distance
And it costs 45 for the 10, and 60 for the 21. If I were hard pressed for cash, I'd choose this race because 1) I know New Balance oh-so-well, and 2) I don't know who James Cunningham is. Oh, and on top of that, I like the idea of running in November.

But ideally, I'd want to run in both. Because running makes me so happy. Also, running makes me tired and sore, but that's besides the point. Because, the point is, running makes me so happy.

There's also the Turkey Trot which takes place on Thanksgiving Day here, October 9, 2006. It happens on Granville Island, and it's 10km, but it costs fif-freaking doo dah day-ty dollars.

In my mind, all three are probably equally good runs, but I'm certain that the Turkey Trot and the Seawall Race have the best views. Nonetheless, in my heart of hearts, New Balance Fall Classic holds the key to happiness. Because running (the New Balance Fall Classic) makes me so happy.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

The Man in Van can cook

I have now joined the ranks of Olivier Bourdain, Miss Koh, Chelsea Ting, Bryan Lee and my mother! I am now a person who can cook! Woohoo! I cooked pasta in about 20 minutes, and it wasn't half bad.

And I also just realised that I should have taken a picture of the food before I ate it. But I realised that too late: I have deflowered my culinary virginity, and that moment in history will never be repeated.

In other news, the weatherman is wrong and I shall never trust him again. I have been anxiously awaiting rainy weather for the last 2 days because according to the weather report, it was going to rain on Friday, and then Saturday. Today is Sunday, and while it drizzled on Friday, it looks like my wet weather is going to be postponed until Wednesday which sucks because Wednesday is a school day! That means I have to walk for 20 minutes in the rain. That sucks even more than it not raining on a Saturday.

In other other news, I went for a run from Thunderbird up to a little beach called Acadia (Beach or something like that) which is near the Spanish banks, and back. It took me the greater part of an hour, and there was a very nice slope down to Acadia which gave me a great view of downtown Vancouver and the mountains behind it.

The run back from Acadia was good as well because the slope wasn't too steep and it was a pretty relaxed run back up the slope. The best thing is, I hardly broke a sweat. Now I feel all sleepy but I still have 60 pages of Darwin to go, and 2 other readings. So I shall stop blogging like the silly sot I am, and get down to Natural Selection.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Balls to UBC Food Services

This is what happened to me.

2 weeks ago: I got to UBC and subscribed to the Dining Convenience Plan which the lady said she'd already set up for me.

2 days ago: I went to buy a meal with my Dining Convenience Plan and the card didn't work. I went to Ponderosa House and the lady said that the system was down. That's fine.

Yesterday: I went to buy a meal with my Dining Convenience Plan and the card didn't work. I went to Ponderosa House and the lady said that she just set my system up that afternoon. And she also said, "You know computers..."

Balls to that UBC Food Services lady!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The Man in Van

We cleaned out the house at last, now the Lebanese dude has left! They (Gilbert, Matthew and the-other-David) are my housemates, and they cleared out some of his stuff after he left, and I joined them on Monday in cleaning up, the day after I reached Vancouver from NYC. The house is now in more-or-less clean and tidy conditions (less my room which looks like Ernesto missed the whole of America and just came to Room A, my apartment, Thunderbird Residence, UBC).

School has started and I've had two modules to go for. I nearly forgot that it started on a Tuesday and I looked at my timetable for Monday before Gil reminded me that Monday was Labour Day. I hate school; it's not the subjects or the learning part...it's more about the competition part. I hate the idea that I'm pitted against other students just to get a good grade but that's just the way it works, and I have to live by that.

Anyway, UBC's less lonely because I've found more Singaporeans and Malaysians and Indonesians there! There's Gilbert (my housemate) who was a PTI in the batch before mine, there's Sulynn who's Boob's friend, and there's Huey who is a Malaysian, but who studied in Singapore all his life, and Simon who's Indonesian but, like Huey, studied in Singapore as well. And then there's Sun/San who's Singaporean/Indian. At least that's how they introduced him to me.

I can't really comment on the lessons now, but I can comment on how they're split up into various parts so that each module takes up 3 hours per week. So you can have module A for 1 hour, 3 times a week, or module B for 1.5 hours, twice a week. Tomorrow, I am going to suffer. I start at 9 in the morning and end at 9 at night. And Residence is so far away from the northern part of campus where my lessons are held that I don't think it's worth the effort to walk back and sleep.

Anyway, the weather report today according to prophecy is that Ernesto hasn't hit us yet. With any luck, it won't hit us at all. Actually it's almost impossible because we're on the west side of the continent and Ernesto is going around the east. There are no clouds in the sky during the day and I've become so acclimatised that I can walk around comfortably in a T-shirt and jeans in the day (because in New York and New Haven it was raining 2 out of the 4 days I spent there, and the weather was colder there than in Van, oddly). I hardly perspired when I went on a run with Gil and Sulynn, and the view from the Rose Garden in the northern part of campus is amazing (these two statements have no link). Just row after row of mountains beyond the sea (this statment is linked with the second statement of the last sentence). Wow (this is just an exclamation because I don't know what to say).

Anyway, Van is great even though I miss New York. Oddly, when I was in New York, I missed Van. But wherever I am, I miss Singapore, even its sweltering weather. That is the most Singaporean thing I can think about in this multiethnic city I live in at the moment.

The Man in Van has to leave now because he has school tomorrow. Goodnight.

I Heart NYC

NY was outstanding! I travelled a lot, saw many things, and met up with a couple of friends from Yale. I was in fact living on the

Yale campus
and travelled to NYC by Metro-North 3 hours a day to and fro. I don't want to just list what I did, even though I think that'd be a good idea considering my forgetfulness, but I'd just like to say that I visited a couple of museums -


the Met,


MoMA
and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, visited a couple of buildings -

Chrysler (my favourite),


the Empire State Building,


the Flatiron (my other favourite),


Grand Central Terminal,


Rockefeller Centre,


St. Patrick's Church,


the Public Library of New York
and went to Central Park, WTC site, Wall Street and saw


the Statue of Liberty and


Ellis Island.

Too bad I didn't see John Lennon's grave because I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT!!!!!! Balls! What sort of Beatles fan am I?

I think my stay in New Haven complemented my New York experience. While New York has buildings packed close to each other, and these buildings are built up,
and up and UP and UP,

New Haven is built s p r a w l e d across the land, so you can really see the noticeable landmarks like Harkness Tower. And while the buildings in NYC are of all sorts conceivable, Yale in New Haven achieves architectural unity with its Gothic and Georgian buildings so you know where Yale ends, and where the rest of New Haven begins.

Also, New York has this toughness and grittiness which has acquired mythic proportions. I thought that was all bullshit, but when I was walking in NYC, I felt it. It exudes out of the New Yorkers, exudes out of the city and the buildings. It feels a little Singaporean, actually. We're different from New Yorkers, but we're the same (even though I have to say something about my generation of Singaporeans, myself not excluded of course); I suppose that's what happens when you have immigrant workers who need to protect their interests.

But lest you think New York is all about killing a rat by looking at it, you
have got to go and see the Statue of Liberty. I was a cheap tourist so I didn't take the ferry across to Liberty Island; I just saw the statue from the opposite bank, and on that bank, there was a copy of the famous poem which has "Give me your huddled masses" carved in stone, and I felt that that was what NYC was about. The legendary New York toughness is what most people see, but they fail to see what New York really stands for, or what the Statue of Liberty symbolises. I think the way people look at the Statue of Liberty is that it's an icon which represents New York City and America to the world, but it doesn't represent what New York means.

I love NYC. I love NYC because of its buildings. I love NYC because of its museums and sites. I love NYC because of the sense of history its buildings convey. I love NYC because it reminds me of my friends in New Haven who helped make my trip there hassle-free. I love NYC because of its legendary toughness. I love NYC because it is the capital of the world. I love NYC for what it is supposed to represent. I love NYC because I learnt about myself.