Ending the year 2009

It is the time of year again when the new year is approaching and I'd look back and think, "Gosh, another year have come and gone. What have I been doing for the past 12months?"

One thing I can be sure is that in year 2009, I work hard, play hard and a lot of times, I listen and follow my heart.

This year was a year with a lot of outdoor activity. Despite the economy downturn, it was also a year I lost control of my spending. Too much traveling and purchasing and accidents.

Traveling
Backpack to Perth for 1 week. It was very lucky of me to be traveling at these times because AUD dropped to as low as RM2.40 per 1AUD. I didn't get all my conversion at this rate but in average, my conversion was around RM2.60. It was really un-smart of me not to buy a lot of AUD because it now goes back up to RM3.10. Wasted an investment opportunity :(
I enjoyed this trip very much, Western Australia (WA) is a nice place to visit. Definitely an eye opening trip, also because this is my first backpacking experience, staying in dorms and hostels, rented a car and driving on dark deserted roads where wild kangaroo and raccoon may jump out any time, a lot of walking. Fun fun fun...I like driving so much, I was given a chance to be the driver there.

Diving in Manado. A fully dive trip, didn't do much other than diving whole day long for the whole duration we were there. Luckily I didn't pay a fortune to see dolphine in Perth, I get to see them for free in Manado. All in all, it was not a very satisfying trip.

Workouts
It all started with the thought of me wanted to run the Standard Chartered (Half) Marathon. I was determined to do it and I did it.

From there, I get to know runners, meet new friends, do more running, exposed to even more activities and there are no stopping anymore. Other than running, I am now swimming as well as cycling. Thanks to a very kind and generous friend, I can cycle. A decent road bike is not cheap and thanks to Wei Koon for borrowing me his cool classic bike. It was a bike of the 80's but is in a very good condition.

This year, I've done 2 half marathons. SCKLM in June, completed in 2hrs 43mins. PBIM in Nov completed in 2hrs 21mins. Also participate in the annually held Penang Starwalk, completed 10km in 1hr 14mins.

End of the year I'll be doing the Malakoff Interstate Fellowship Ride, a 2 day cycling event covering 149km on the first day and 71km on the second day. As I've only had Wei Koon's bike for a short period of time, I only manage to do 3 long rides prior to the Interstate Ride. The first and second ride I did it back in Taiping, starts at 30km and second training increased to 50km. Just recently, I did the longest ride of all, 100km in Penang. Riding with friends is so much more fun than doing it alone.

The bad stuff
Other than all the happy and fun stuff, I've been through plenty of unlucky incidence and unhappy moments too. And work too...they are terrible. If it's unhappy why mention right? I don't want to remind myself of those dark times...

We are entering a new decade...2010!! Happy New Year...