~*angie's lil reverie*~

Goodbye Chin Chin

We are not the best pet owners he could have but he is definitely our dearest chinchilla. He loves to hide in his mushroom house and sleeps in it.

Most chinchillas stay in air con room but not him. Yet, there is no complaints from him. He eats every treats you feed him. We have gotten him a violent wife who doesn't really like him, he bears with it and even gives in to her. He even gave his big house to her and he stayed in the small metal cage. He was even hurt by her.
He has been so strong even when he could no longer jump like normal chinchilla.

To us, he is definitely the most handsome chinchilla in the world. Good bye Chin Chin! May you have a better afterlife.

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I was told that Chin Chin is not looking too good this morning. Immediately, I rushed back to SK. True enough, he was laying there motionless. I tried to feed him with his favourite food but he totally ignored me. I carried him in my arms and helped him to stand on his feet. He struggled for a while before he collapsed again. I helped him to groom and cut hair and put him back to his cage to rest.

He passed away peacefully at 12pm today. =(

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Angeline winks
at |10:50 PM| 0 comments

Sunday, November 02, 2014

My Husband is an Ironman

Some people ask me how is like to be at races supporting my husband. They would ask isn't it boring to wait for him at the races as supporter? My longest record is 16 hours for his Ironman race. To others, it may seem boring but I always enjoy myself as a supporter for all his races. In fact, I would feel left out if I couldn't be there to support for his races. And I always wish I could do more as a supporter for his races, like providing iced cold drinks and cheering loudly for his races.

For those who know me since I was Primary School, they would know me as a sick child who has asthma. Even in Secondary School, I was one of the most slack student during PE class. I would find all sorts of reasons not to run or take short cut during PE class.

My husband is the one who has introduced running to me. Our first race together was Mizuno Wave run 2006 (10km). This is the reason why we make it a point to participate Mizuno Wave run no matter how ulu the race venue is.

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He encouraged me to run my first 10km. From there, I moved on to my first 21km at AHM and then full marathon (Sundown). To date, I had completed many 10km races and half marathon and 4 full marathons. From a non-runner to a "seasoned" runner, that's quite an achievement and I would be moving on to my 10th of running next year. He would always encourage and push me to my limits. Thanks to his encouragement, I've achieved my personal best for 10km (1h1min), 21km (2hr27min) and full marathon (5hr45mins) within these 2 years. :)

I admire his determination and perseverance in sports. He has this Can-Do attitude in him. When he told himself he wanted to do a triathlon, he went to buy a bike (Che Che) and that's it. He did triathlon and to date, he can be considered as a seasoned triathlete.

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His buddy, Che Che getting ready for Western Australia Ironman 2013

And when he saw an Ironman video on TV, he told himself that he would want to complete an Ironman race. He started all the planning for 2 years before he completed his first Ironman in New Zealand in 2011.

Ironman is an endurance race and to me, to be able to complete an Ironman, it's a great achievement. To complete an Ironman race, you need to swim 3.8km (that's 76 laps! I always swim at most 20 laps!), cycle 180km (OCBC cycle's 24km is enough to kill me) and run a full marathon. To me, this is insane. How can a person do all 3 sports in a day?

His number for Western Australia Ironman 2013

He did it. This is definitely not possible without intensive training for at least 9 months. Every week, he would go swimming at least 2 times a day, cycle 2 days on weekends and run at least once a week. And when we talk about cycling, that's cycling at least 60km on each day. When I was still sleeping on weekends, he is already up and cycling at Lim Chu Kang. Whenever he is training for Ironman, I would push myself to train harder too as I would tell myself that he is cycling 60km and so my 8km run is nothing in comparison. My good friend, once asked me if I ever feel left out when he's out training because he told me that if he were to do that, his wife would definitely kill him. For me, I would do my own training and use the time to do housework or buy lunch so that he can have a good meal after his training and rest well.

Watching him train so hard for each race, you just want to be there to celebrate his success at Ironman. As supporter, I would get real excited whenever he finished a leg. Swimming is never his forte, so whenever I see that he has survived the swim, I would be very relieved and happy for him! And it's a joy to see him running to the transition area to move on to cycling. That's the time I can see him cycling like a pro (so handsome and cool) and of course, there are many other eye candies too. :)

Doing his swim trial before race at NZ Ironman 2011

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Cycling @ Western Australia Ironman 2013

180km is a long distance and usually he would take about 7 hours plus. You may ask how do i spend my time since I can only see him at u turn point. Oh well, I will take this time to cheer for other athletes. It's a joy and nice feeling to see all these athletes being so focused in completing the race. Of course, if the hotel is near, I would go back to have my meals or take a break. Compared to the athletes that are racing since morning, as supporter, I am considered very comfortable and happy.

At times, you see them getting injured but they never thought of giving up. There was once, I saw a lady who probably got injured while cycling and her arm is all bandaged. Instead of falling out, she continued her full marathon and at the end of the day, she completed the Ironman race too. When you go to such races, you feel very inspired by their sportsmanship and determination. You will think back of those times that you wanted to give up when you experience slight pain in your legs and you start to feel guilty. Even for Jianhui, he was hit by another cyclist in Western Australia Ironman. He experienced back pain but he went on to complete the race. For them, they have trained so hard for this Ironman, nothing can stop them. Not bad weather and not even injury. They just want to complete the Ironman.

I don't feel tired at all supporting him at races and I feel that if I am tired, he is feeling much more tired than me. Given that for an Ironman race, he never eat much except power bars, water and chips for 16 hours.

Though I still cannot differentiate a road bike and a tri bike, at least because of him, I know what is an Ironman race, Cervelo bikes, P4, disc wheels, etc. I've learnt a lot about this sports and this has become one of our many common topics. In fact, if you read up more about those pros athletes like Craig Alexander, Cameron Brown, Miranda Caffrey or Chrissie Wellington, you will be inspired by how they race and how they win races with their determination and perseverance.

My first signboard for him For NZ Ironman 2011.

Post race day NZ Ironman 2011

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Pre-race day at Western Australia Ironman 2013!

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Happy day after race

At Putrajaya half Ironman 2014

My husband is an Ironman. My inspiration. My idol.

Jianhui, I will always be there as your No. 1 fan! We will continue to race together and on days that I am not racing, I will always be there to cheer for you and to support you! =p

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Angeline winks
at |12:29 PM| 0 comments

Busy October

We are into the 2nd day of November 2014. It's scary how time flies and I simply can't believe that we are in fact approaching Christmas which will in turn means that we will be marching on to a brand new year 2015. SCARY. It's so fast that I find it hard to catch up with time. Time is just too precious.

October has been a very eventful month since I came back from Taiwan. We had a simple party cum housewarming at Austville's function room for Gwyneth's birthday. It so happens that her birthday falls on Deepavali and so we could have a gathering in the afternoon till night.

The theme is Frozen since this is the popular thing for kids nowadays. :)

Beautiful balloons!

Cute!

With our princess!

Princess Gwyneth!

Happy family!

Then, we went to Alive Museum on 25 October 2014. We got the free tickets from Straits Times Run 2014 but we had to top up $12.50 as the free tickets were only valid on weekdays. Since we were already there, we topped up to go in anyway.

It was really crowded inside the museum. You had to position yourself nicely to take nice photos. And we realized it's not that easy to pose actually. Haha. Also, it seems easier to take nice photos using camera phone instead of camera.

Some of my favorite photos at the museum!

Help me!!!

Washing my hair...

I can do headstand! Don't play play!

Saving the penguins!

I am so TALL! Yeah! Dreams come true!

It's definitely a busy and evenful October. October is always my favourite month as it is my birthday month. No fancy birthday party this year for me. But, I'm happy that people remember my birthday and thanks for all the wishes, blessings and presents. I'm thankful.

I'm 31 this year. First sign of being old is my white hair which seems to multiply each month. Oh well, I take it that it's also the sign of wisdom and knowledge. Haha. Age is just a number. What mattes is making good use of each day and live my life to the fullest!

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Angeline winks
at |10:55 AM| 0 comments