Valorous Halcyon

I hated running. I'm sure you know I was fat and every run was dreadful to me. Ask my younger self to run even 500 metres and I will be complaining. But I was challenged to improve 1% every day, in one area of my liking. I was challenged by myself. So I decided to change a little on my usual routine last Wednesday. Instead of playing badminton in the evening after work (there was a volleyball match going on at the same venue), I decided to do something similar - running. Just like badminton, running is a type of cardio but was deemed as a more boring type of cardio, so I thought. But I was proved wrong later.  What I normally do with my workout session is to run for 10 minutes then proceed to free weight training. Last Wednesday I decided to push myself and try to run my first ever quarter marathon (5km). Big deal, because I don't even do 2km on a usual basis, more like 1.5km. So the first time I touched 5km line, I clocked 33 minutes 45 seconds. I was on top of...

The first time I heard of this word was from junk food. I loved eating junk food when I was growing up. Mamee Noodles snack, Twisties, Mi-mi, Doritos, Cheezels, Double Decker, Walkers, Lays and so on, you name it! I have probably tried them all, if not most. Over time though, my concern for health started to develop although that was just back in college not very long ago (about 4 years ago). I came to a realisation that I was overweight, and being overweight is probably the last place I will put myself at these days. The story of how I managed to turn over my entire lifestyle from being overweight into where I am today shall be left for another day. Although being overweight was not entirely due to junk food and (junk) soft drink, but also coupled by lack of exercising and messed up lifestyle, junk food and junk drink (soft drink in this case) definitely contributed a huge portion of the factors. That was when I chose temporary short term gratification over long term benefits and ...

So I have finally finished reading "Winning the Game of Life" by Adam Khoo last weekend. To summarise the entire book into one or two primary ideas seem to be degrading because there are just too many insights on steps to achieve success. Today I will focus on just one key idea - Loving Yourself. How is that a key idea? Many times we claim to be loving people around us so dearly, and by loving them it means wanting the best for them, helping them achieve their goals and live a happy successful life. But often we tend to settle less for ourselves, set a lower bar/standard so that we can easily achieve the goals, only to realise we have not really achieved anything significant. Why? Here is a person you have been living with for your entire life, wouldn't you want the best for this person, standing right in front of you when you face the mirror? Loving yourself is one of the first and foremost quality one must possess to position him/herself to success. As the adage ...

It's been such a long time since my last update on myself! So yes people, I've finally finished my A-Levels wooohooo! xD Such a huge burden being lifted up from my shoulder, yet another great journey is about to start soon in 3 months time! As most of you know, I've firmed City University London (Cass) to read BSc Actuarial Science. According to my friends who are studying there, it's really not an easy degree to study. Every week they have tests and assignments, but I guess it's almost the same for everyone else. I know I can do it, as nothing is impossible with God! I have so so much to write yet was irresolute on where should I start it from. It has to start somewhere I realised so here we go, back to the my last personal post where I mentioned about potentially losing my A* due to my Economics Paper 4. I was counting on Paper 3 to at least pull back my deviated vehicle from its course towards the attainment of at least an A, and had one whole week to prepare f...

Happy Easter Day people! I know I'm a bit late this time round as I went for badminton just now with awesome brothers and sisters in Christ after lunch! I just reached home not very long ago and I'm dead tired now! But I will still update my blog for the sake of sharing the wonderful Easter sermon shared today by Pastor Kenneth, and also some very touching experience I had today in church! The sermon today was relatively shorter than any other Sunday services, but surprisingly there are many bible verses quoted by Pastor! I had one of the most memorable experience which I will share it with you later! So here it goes, the Easter sermon shared by Pastor Kenneth! Bible verses: John 4:16, John 15:13, Acts 2:38, John 14:15-18, John 16:7, Luke 24:14, Acts 1:4-8,                     Daniel 11:32, Luke 19:8-10, Acts 19:18-19, Acts 4:32-34, Romans 8:11 - Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! - We no longer need to suffer/sacrifice f...

It's been really really long time since the last time I played basketball on daily basis. I was in Form 4 by then, and studied most of the time when I was in Form 5. College life started after 6 months in June 2010 and again I was busy accustuming myself with yet another new chapter of my life. Basketball totally went out of my mind and I haven't been playing it for quite some time, until few days ago when my junior asked me to join his basketball team representing A-Levels students in conjunction of Scholars' Sports Day! What? Sports Day? Last year I didn't join and doubt I would have ever participated this year. I eventually agreed to join his team since not many A-Levels guys know how to play basketball. I planned to practice playing basketball these few days but eventually the plan failed due to raining mostly in the evening. Everything was against my plan and I felt so discouraged to join the Sports Day yesterday night. Oh before that, yesterday I wanted to com...

To all my friends whether you're celebrating or not, Happy Valentine's Day! I've learnt something more significant today that Valentine's Day is not only constrained to showing love to your loved one, but rather showing love to everyone around you. But this is a very common misconception that 80% of people make, that Valentine's Day is only reserved for couples to show their love towards one another by buying extravagantly on roses and chocolates (mainly), not for others. Well I was part of the statistics above before this. Thanks to Alicia, she acknowledged me by keeping herself busy yesterday night just to wrap up nicely some Valentine's gifts (Ferrero Rocher) for friends around her. Valentine's Day is simply a day to spread love to everyone around you, not only your loved one. She's just that lovely haha! =)) God bless her always! The message above is indeed very true and shall be the first message for Valentine's Day. God loves us so...

It's been more than a month since my last consumption of fried food. Since I started to control over my diet, I completely cut off all fried food and started to eat good food. What is meant by good food here is those enriched with protein and preferably low carbs, and high in fibre with considerable amount of good fat (peanut butter, olive oil etc). Today my mom's friend Justin came over to visit my house. He's a big guy, a bit fat though, and he has known me since I was quite small and even back when I was still staying at my old house in Taman Sri Rampai (Setapak, Kuala Lumpur). He's a security manager who could easily earn RM10k monthly as his base salary, just by specialising in everything regarding security. Err, yes security here literally means protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime, rather than security as financial instrument. Somewhat unbelievable but it's true story. After around an hour of talking and gossiping with my mom (haha yes every...

Hello people! Sorry for the hiatus as I got very lazy to update my blog lately after a whole day of classes and gym training (again on alternate days). Happy news! I've dropped 0.1kg in 4 days! Well not that impressive, but my bodyfat percentage dropped from 28.9% (on Monday) to 27.6% (on Friday), which is surprisingly lower than that before CNY (28%)! Good progress I think, lose fats but gain muscles to accommodate the weight lose. My dinner for every weekday is just as simple (and healthy?) as follow: 1 apple, 2-3 small bananas, 2 slices of wholemeal bread with peanut butter spread and about 200ml of low fat milk.  That sounds a bit like my breakfast, without eggs. I'm done with my dinner. =) Yes I might get hungry when the time passes 11.30pm, so I would usually drink some low fat milk or maybe just plain water to kill my hunger temporarily. And I will sleep early, usually around 12.30am. Biological fact about hunger is, to my amusement, hormones balancing between lepti...

I'm ALIVE! And the chestpain hitting me yesterday has subsided, though minor pain still can be felt occasionally. The bliss of living another day enlivens my day with gratefulness; appreciating every single moment through. One of my friends told me the primary reason for not having new year resolutions is, due to highly probable restrictions faced to sole new year resolutions and no further plans. For new year resolutions are deterministic and impromptu plans are pure randomness. 'Live up the day as if everyday was the last day you have' was what my friend told me, and I fully concur with the implication of contributing significances to the society by practicing such wise advice. Well I'm back to the library! err, yeah college's library if you are wondering. There lies many memories of mine, particularly college life, for the past 19 months. It's been more than 6 months now since my last staying back in the library, mainly after I started joining gym back in J...

As the title stated, I bet you guys remember I experienced chestpain (if you have been following my posts since before CNY) when I drank cold Coca-Cola at a very fast speed. Well, this pain persisted until now although the medicine prescribed by the second doctor did alleviate the pain slightly, to the extent of not bothering me; and eventually I stopped the consumption of the medicine altogether. Till now, I can still feel pain at my chest occasionally, although not that severe to the extent as if a knife stabbing at my chest. Yes the pain is that intense when it strikes and I definitely do not want it to happen in whatever circumstances. I can feel the slightest pain when I inhale, when I wake up from bed, when I carry heavy weight and particularly when I stretch my upper body (chest).  So what inspires, or causes to be exact, me to write a post about it in my blog? Just now I went to gym after one week of CNY holidays and I started working out as usual. After 30 minutes,...

January 2012 is coming to the end soon and it's time to reflect what I've done thus far. So far my new year resolutions are still remained intact, although I've breached one of them such as diet (especially during CNY week). I could resist myself from all the food temptation in the first 2 days of CNY, but starting from third day I literally ate what were on the table, without self-control much. -.- As the result of eating everything on the table, my belly is back! Well maybe not as bad as I thought, but still it would take me at least another week to cut it off. Why do you love me so much, belly fat? =( I don't love you and wish you wouldn't come back to me ever. This time I must send you further to somewhere more isolated haha. =p 10kg weight loss wouldn't sound impossible if I'm determined enough. What about study? CNY mood was so overwhelming that I hardly think of studying. Kids were playing firecrackers everywhere, and again tempting me to join the...

Wooohooo!!!!!!!!! yea I'm having lots of fun during this Chinese New Year! And the bliss of getting an Internet connection is so overwhelming throughout this period! I'm now back in Penang Island (Balik Pulau, to be exact) and here locates my grandmom's kampung house. She is 70+ year old this year, but thank God that she's still here. In fact, she's my only living grandparent, and I never had the chance to meet my dad's side grandparents. =( Anyway, they are now in Heaven with the Almighty One! =) The pretty boy with his two pretty sisters! =p  On the first day of CNY, we visited my dad's side relatives at Bukit Mertajam (also in Penang, mainland though) and as a young boy I am, I never actually cared much about the most up-to-date gossips in town but rather, getting ang-paos!!! Well I believe most younger generation do (too bad for those who has married). What about those older generation? Keep talking about gossips. Gossips, gossips and gossips. It...

Hello people! I'm back from a week of classes before Chinese New Year! Wait, YES Chinese New Year is coming soon! Excited? I bet you are, if you were a Chinese. Anyway, there are lots of things for me to update here! So ready? Here it goes. Saw that or not? Yea that's right! As you might have guessed, Taylor's College SJ actually invited a lion dance team to college, just to perform on our ECA Recruitment Drive. I was so freaking excited when I was watching lion dance performance, considering that it's been years since I watched lion dance performance for the last time. Ah, the bliss of childhood memories rushing all over. I literally cheered for the lion dance performers after they finished performing. =p (like a kampung boy haha, I know! -.-)  It was held yesterday, giving opportunities to new students to join new clubs and societies. When I looked at them choosing society by society, I suddenly thought of myself when I was in my first semester, back in Jun...

That's freaking impossible I thought, but I just did! =O I couldn't believe it but last week when I weighed myself, I was 87kg. Guess how heavy am I now, yes you're right. I'm back to 85! I hope the rate of detraction wouldn't stop right there just before joining gym. I've been weighed 85kg for over 5 years, and I want to break the record of having weight more than 80kg. As you may have surmised, yes I did it by implementing healthy lifestyle (eating good food and start exercising). I did not expect that rate of decreasing weight but the way I'm using somehow proved its reliability. I had a huge belly with fats surrounding my waist, and my main objective was to cut down my belly fat. That was my main objective and what I did was controlling my diet. I've written the healthy way of eating before in previous posts and I'm going to write it once again. Eat healthy food. No fried food, minimise sweet food, no processed food (mee and kuey teow included)...

Hello people what's up! It's been a few days of chilling at the beach, enjoying the sea breeze like nobody else's business, in Kuala Terengganu! After 9 hours of travelling on the road, wooohooo finally I'm back at home! =p The infamous year 2012 is coming tomorrow! Yes it's tomorrow! Are you ready for it, to face the year full with devastating myths that the world is coming to an end, pushing human to the brick of extinction? The upcoming of the year 2012 tomorrow also literally means that today is the last day of 2011! What will you be doing on the last day of 2011, so that it could end the year perfectly, memorably? For me, I will probably just stay at home although I wish to go out somewhere and join the mass to count down, welcoming new year! =) Who says you can't stay at home and count down at home, with your dearest family? =)  New year resolutions, something seems to be outcast to me, suddenly struck me recently. I thought I should make a list of...