My first full marathon

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2015 - bib and medal. I am the noob. 

My brother had done marathons, other family and friends had done them, but not me.

In 2014 I did the Standard Chartered Half Marathon in 2:07. At the time it felt like that was a simple achievement of mind over matter. Breaking through a mental wall.

Of course, adequate training was a big part of that breakthrough.

So I wondered; If completing a half-marathon is primarily overcoming a mental limitation, is the same true for completing a full marathon?

I thought about that for seven months. Then in July 2015 I registered for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore full marathon. 

A family tattoo saga

No one would have expected that my family would end up having a tradition involving tattoos, however my brother set the ball rolling which, after thirteen years, resulted with six of us getting inked on a regular basis, even sharing some designs.

It all began with tranquillity in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA in 2002.

This is how my brother's 'tranquillity' tat looks thirteen years later, in 2015:

First tat in the family

Origins: The Durian (more photos than words)

Durians at the source in Malaysia, before transport to Singapore

To enjoy durians in Singapore, the usual practice is to head into Geylang or Dempsey Road and do your best to negotiate a delicious durian for a good price. Enjoying them at the curbside seated on plastic stools at old card tables and tossing the shells and pits into big plastic laundry baskets is a wonderful experience shared by many devotees.

Singapore's Bermuda Triangle (a.k.a. Changi Business Park)

Anyone who has driven to Changi City Point knows about this, you leave via the main exit of the basement carpark onto Changi Business Park Central 1 only to be sucked into a vortex of serpentine roads rendering the average person's sense of direction useless and burning out all car GPS navigational devices and smartphone map apps. The signage is of little help, often only serving to intensify the sense of confusion. After seemingly endless backtracking and U-turns freedom is finally achieved and the journey home possible.

Behind the Singapore Expo in Changi, many who have driven in
remain lost to this day 

Thrill-seekers will likely continue to venture into this dark pit of confusion, however, today for the first time on the World Wide Web we will reveal a safer alternative that will protect your family and sanity.

Return to the Green Corridor/Rail Trail

For the unfamiliar, a while ago the old KTM railway was shut down, the tracks were removed, and the public was allowed to use this 25 kilometre track. There is lots of mountain biking, running, jogging, dog-walking, nature walks and photography going on there these days.

To make it easier for people to access and use the Green Corridor I created the Singapore Green Corridor User Guide in Google Maps.

The User Guide, with notes

Coffee: The DIY thing second try

Remember the last attempt - was only a few hours ago so I guess you do?

If not, that plastic thing was not great for shaking the milk, so this time I got a jar...

have a look:

Coffee: The DIY Barrista Project

Today I did it.

There was this 'things you should know about coffee' thing and part of it was 'never add cold milk but get a jar and shake up some milk and it's like a flat white' or some such. All because of...

KEEWATIN

(Yes, you know who you are)

So here is what it was:

STEP ONE

I did look for a jar. I failed. But this plastic food storage thing looked ok so I put milk in it. The coffee was just finishing up in the espresso can on the stove.