Joined the gym

I had some big plans for this weekend, most of which I managed to fulfill. This was the first weekend in a while where I wasn't going anywhere, have anyone visiting me, or forced to work overtime. I did go back to the office for a little bit but only for a couple of hours.

I usually mop around the house during weekend mornings until I get sick of my room. Google+ was acting up and it got frustrating to keep trying to reconnect. I tried to post on my Facebook that I wanted to hang out with people on Google+ and FB wouldn't let me post that message. I didn't think much about it because it gave me an error that said to come back later. So I came back later and posted another status that did not include the Google+ part (accidentally) and it went through. Hm......

I paid rent early this month since the 15th falls on an early part of the week. The last two times I was a bit late but they don't seem to mind. I basically walked around my neighborhood and did a few errands during the early part of the afternoon. Then I ventured to sign up for the gym again.

There are only a couple of big gyms in HK, one of them being California Fitness. There are a lot of smaller gyms but they feature only one location and are very, very small. Everyone I've asked so far about gyms have joined California Fitness so I went there as well. Last time I tried to join, their deal didn't seem very good and they wouldn't let me have a one week free trial. But after talking to another friend, who seemed to have gotten a much better deal, I went to another branch and haggled again. It seems like haggling involves knowing what to say (as opposed to just being persistent). Last time, I said the name of a friend who was referring me but her membership is only for one club location so that's what they tried to sell me. This time, I went in and said that a friend of mine is paying for access to all the clubs and that I wanted the same. I told them that I have friends who liked to use different gyms so I would be going to different gyms during different times of the week. The guy didn't even try to bring up the one club only deals. At some point, I agreed to a deal for access to 3 gyms and then he came back saying that since I have a HSBC Visa Platinum card, they can give me access to all the gyms at the same price. I always walk away from these things feeling like I've been cheated or missed out on some deal. Whatever, let's just hope I use the facilities enough for this money to not to go waste.

They tried to sell me on all sorts of things once I paid for the actual membership. Apparently you can rent a shoe locker and get different plans to train with a personal trainer. I was like no thanks and left without even trying out that gym. I was actually feeling pretty hungry since I hadn't really had lunch and it was getting close to 5pm.

I got some bread and went back to the office to do a few things, including watching a video on some geotech software. I would have stayed to read the papers that were referenced in the video but the office was really hot. And I had a headache. The rest of my team was there as well. Sometimes they're a distraction though.

I went to the gym in Mong Kok and did some running and some ab exercises. It took me a while to find a shop that sold locks and I managed to get one where the instructions are all in Korean. Anyway, it's red so it's easy to identify. The gym provides towels and has showers with soap, shampoo, and conditioner. This is very nice since it means I don't have to head home right after working out. They even have hair dryers. I might think about bringing my own shampoo and conditioner though since I have a preferred brand. I swear, the showers stalls are larger than my bathroom. I went to a nearby mall and got rendang with rice from a Singaporean place. The food wasn't very good. My jaw was getting tired from chewing on the beef.

I decided to go check out the branch of the gym that has a swimming pool on Sunday. It took FOREVER to get there. Forever in HK means over an hour. It didn't take too long on the MTR but you had to walk a long ways through a couple of malls to get to the shuttle station. The mall that this gym is located in is not right next to an MTR station. And the line for the shuttle bus was really, really long. Lots of families going to the mall. I found out later that this mall has several with play areas for kids. I would have just walked but it was super hot outside. So it was better to wait in line. Good thing I downloaded a book on my Kobo and had something to entertain myself with. I'm currently reading: The Invisible Bridge



It's about a Hungarian-Jewish guy who is studying architecture in France right at the start of WWII. I just started and it's a pretty interesting book so far. The main character is from a small town and it's the first time out of the country for him.

Anyway, I had planned to go swimming and then go watch Harry Potter. I really should have gone to see the movie first. I ended up getting to the theater a little bit too late. The pool was also a disappointment. It was super small and very crowded. They had two lanes set up for slow swimmers. There didn't seem to be rules for the rest of it and there were just too many people. I tried to follow someone so that I wouldn't be running into oncoming swimmers. But people were swimming too slowly for me to follow. Anyway, poor timing on my part. Next time I'll go earlier.

I walked around that mall a bit and got really tired. I came back and napped in my bed before going to buy groceries at a nearby mall. The lady at the checkout was really slow. Must be her first day or something. I find that I really like the supermarket at my workplace. It has a lot more international brands and choices in general. So there goes another weekend. Time to get ready for another week!

Halfway through fall quarter already!

Totally slacking on keeping this blog up to date. There's just too much happening these days. Unlike when I'm traveling, there's not really a coherent theme to things. Speaking of traveling, I opened a SmartyPig account to save money for my after-graduation-Asia-trip. They have better interest rates than my Discover Bank account O.o!

Did laundry, vacuumed, and cleaned my room yesterday. Didn't manage to do very much homework or studying. One of our geomech friends who graduated last year came back to run the NWM and came down to campus to visit us yesterday. So we spent some time chatting with him. I'm feeling very behind on my classes though. I mean, I'm not actually that behind on doing the homework. But I usually like to read the notes before I start on doing problem sets. I need to read the notes a second time, at my own pace to absorb the material. Looking forward to later this week when I have time to do this.

I want to write a bit about last Saturday because it felt like an epic day. The DFI conference had ended Friday afternoon and my flight out of LAX was at 2pm. So I had some time to chill before the flight. One of the guys I stayed with made pancakes for breakfast. We sat around talking for a while and then decided to go to an In N Out that is really close to the LAX airport. This place is apparently very well known in the aviation industry because you can sit outside and watch the planes come in. It was super cool because the planes were really close and you can even see the vortex and air condensing on the wings. And there were planes landing every few minutes. This would be such a cool place to bring a family for lunch and easy entertainment.

And then I went on a plane myself. The security line was a bit annoying because it was a big bottleneck and took really long. And it felt a bit chaotic. After the security line, it was great. I boarded the plane right away so there was no waiting. I really thought my backpack would get lighter after the conference because I had packed sandwiches and such. But actually I ended up collecting a lot of stuff at the conference and LA.

Once I got to SF, I started calling my friends to figure out what's happening with the marathon. I managed to miss the BART leaving the airport because the people in front of me on the escalator were blocking the entire thing and not feeling urgent about catching public transportation. Anyway, it gave me time to call people and I got to the race package pickup with plenty of time to pick up stuff. The line for the race packet pickup was super long but moved pretty fast. I met up with Mahalia and Ben on while standing in line.

I came out of the tent with another bag to carry. I was already carrying my backpack, sleeping bag, and another bag with clothes. At this point, we really should've gone and dropped off stuff (as planned) but we decided to go for dinner instead. I was all for going to Chinatown because I wanted a haircut (wasn't all that interested in getting food there because I don't know any places). Anyway, we ended up dragging our stuff all over town and got to friend's place after they left for dinner. So we didn't see them until the next morning.

Since I started the LA trip, I've been having a lot of dream filled nights. They've stopped after I got back to Stanford. I guess there's just a lot going on and I literally feel like my brain is working 24/7. Anyway, really glad to be back in my own bed now.

I feel like this quarter I've really gotten more involved in student organizations, especially ones that start with ES(something). I'm not sure how all this happens but I seem to find myself volunteering for a lot of things.

Another half marathon!!

Currently in recovery mode! This will be a short post because I need to get some sleep. Ran the Nike Women's (half) Marathon today. Finished in 2:19. Not entirely satisfied with the time but at least I ran the entire way. Hopefully I can still walk tomorrow! I got some pineapple juice today. I hear it's good for soreness; breaks down the lactic acids.

Really need to catch up on life. Need to do laundry, do some cooking and cleaning, and homework! I have junk everywhere. The good news is that I don't have any plans for this weekend. I don't think I even have to go grocery shopping because I went with my roommate earlier tonight. So I'm going to really looking forward to being able to focus and do some quality studying.

B2B: a San Franciscan race

I ran Bay to Breakers yesterday! The course is 12km (7.45 miles) long. I managed to run the entire way because I was running with a friend. We had planned to take the Caltrain up to San Francisco but managed to get a ride. Normally, it is impossible to be in the city by Caltrain on a weekend at 8am. But Caltrain decided to run special services just for Bay to Breakers (B2B). The Caltrain was packed like crazy! I think they should've ran the newer trains because they have more room for standing. The trains were probably over capacity.

It was pretty chilly the whole day, around 50s and slightly windy. Once I warmed up, it was fine. We ran at a steady pace of 12 min/mile the entire way. I think I would've been able to speed up after I warmed up (2 miles) but after 2 miles, we hit the Hayes hill. That hill got pretty steep at the end. But we keep manage to hold a steady pace all the way up to the top. It was all downhill after that. Actually, at the end, I was kind of surprised at how fast it all went by. The end of the half marathon seemed to drag on forever. This race just had us exiting the park at the Great Highway and the finish was right around the corner. I spent a minute or two debating whether the big orange thing was actually the finish line.

Extremely sore today but otherwise, I think I'm doing fine. I felt fine cardo-wise. I think I was breathing only through my nose half the time. No panting or feeling short of breath at all.

There were a lot of crazy costumes. There were some middle school aged kids running as a centipede (tied together). They were cute. There were also many families. Definitely more diverse than the usual road race crowd. There were 33,000 people registered and probably around 60,000 people actually on the course. So crowded! We had were constantly dodging and passing people.

I ate a huge lunch when I got back and slept for a few hours before finishing up two homeworks while being bombarded by people on gchat. Getting up early for B2B was good because I have been getting up later and later on non-work days. This makes me feel tired when getting up for work, which I don't like. Only 3 more weeks left at work. 4 more weeks until the quarter is all over. These last few weeks always seem to drag by with no end in sight. It's worse this quarter since people at other schools are out for the summer, graduating, etc.

Half Marathon Count: 1

I just finished the Kaiser San Francisco Half Marathon today! It was intense. I finished in 2 hrs 20 mins. I was aiming for 2 hrs 10 mins but my knee was not feeling well at the end. But I think this was a good race to start out with. It was relatively flat and a lot of it was actually downhill. Anyway, let me start from the beginning.

I went up to San Francisco on Saturday night. I could not concentrate the entire day on Saturday in anticipation for this. I brought a couple of bananas, granola bars, and nuts with me so I was well prepared. I got up at 6am on Sunday morning and got to the race area at around 7am. The race started at 8am so this was actually just in time. It took a while to walk through the start area to get my sweats checked (they had a pretty nice setup) and use the porta potties (long lines). I lined up pretty far behind the start line since it was really crowded and I didn't think it would be worth it to go fight my way through the crowds. And I wanted to start out slow.

I spent the first two miles warming up at a 10 min mile pace. People were really chatty and there were many groups so it was not bad. The course started near the De Young museum which I had recently heard a presentation from a structural company about. So it was nice to get a chance to see it. But then the course took us on a small loop that came back to the start line and back to the museum. That was a little disappointing because you realized you haven't traversed the length of the Golden Gate Park yet. But there was a lot of change in the scenery as we went along one side of the park, which helped. Not that I paid very much attention. I was just on the lookout for mile markers and water stations!

At miles 6 and 7, I was feeling really great. I had managed to speed up to a less-than-9-minute-mile pace. I had allotted 10 minutes for each mile and at one point, I was 6 minutes ahead of this goal. But then at around mile 8, we hit the Great Highway. Approaching the Great Highway, we saw the ocean and big waves breaking, which was nice. But then for the last 4-5 miles of the race, we had to go down the Great Highway and come back. Which meant that we saw all the runners coming back on the other side. That was really depressing. I think I was well in the middle of "the mob" when we hit this part. There was no shade but a nice breeze from the ocean. And even though we were right next to the ocean, we couldn't see it. So around miles 10 or 11, I started feeling really tired (mostly mental) and started walking. Big mistake. My knees had been doing fine up until then (I was surprised). But as soon as I started walking, my left knee started hurting. I managed to walk/run the last 3 miles but it seemed like it took forever! The finish line was also on top of the only substantial hill in the race. Who thought of that?!!

I managed to run the last 100 meters or so across the finish line. After the finish line, there was a pretty big post-race expo with sponsors handing out drinks and snacks. I got the goodie bag and immediately consumed the mini-Cliff bar. I was really hungry. I was disappointed that they didn't have any bananas or apples. Only snacks from sponsors. I got my bag at the end of this expo and went back for more snacks.

It took me a while to get back to the Caltrain station. I was kind of slow since I was amazingly tired. I was also not feeling so well because I took some joint medicine in order to expedite healing of my knee. But the medicine is supposed to be taken with food and I guess energy bars and nuts don't count. When I finally got back to Market St, I realized I could change and use the bathroom in the SF shopping mall. This was key because I had brought a change of clothes but didn't wanted to change in a porta potty and couldn't find anywhere else to change. It was nice to be in clean clothes and had the chance to wash my face. I really should've used the bathroom that was in the Bloomingdales instead of the food court. I knew that was is much nicer but didn't have the energy to search for it.

On the Caltrain, I set an alarm for myself in case I fell asleep. I even called one of my friends to come pick me up from the train station because taking the shopping express back would've taken a long time. So now I'm recovering. I'm totally wearing the race t-shirt to class tomorrow!

Other tidbits. There were a lot more girls running than guys. I think it's because a lot more women like to run for charities and in groups. It was surprising kind of surprising at first to see all these women coming in groups. The men either came alone or with their girlfriends and wives. We got these tiny sample size bottles of olive oil and vinegar in our goodie bags. It's from STAR, the expensive brand. I thought it was some sort of energy shot at first. But I guess I have olive oil and vinegar next time I make bread... FRS, an energy drink company, that uses this antioxidant called quercetin instead of caffeine was giving out bottles of their drinks. They were giving out their low-calorie version which really bothered me. I mean, after a race, I think we need as much calories as possible!

Anyway, it was a good experience overall. I think I need to build up more muscles if I'm ever going to run a marathon. I think my cardio health is very good. I can also recover very quickly cardio-wise after an uphill stretch. But I don't seem to have very much going in terms of muscles... So now I guess I'm halfway there in terms of achieving my new year's resolution to run a marathon. But now I'm intimidated by the thought of doing a full marathon. I mean it's like doing 2 half-marathons back to back.... hm....

Time to go brag about this! haha.