Kuching Marathon 2015

For the second year in a row, I flew all the way to East Malaysia for the Kuching Marathon this past August. It's also my second event after the Reach Out Run 2015 just before Ramadhan; which probably means I've reached my annual quota. Haha.

Anyway, this time around I had some other drama that pretty much ruined the whole trip for me. I had booked a room at Pullman (a hotel I really like because of the convenient location and service standards), but as I was driving to the airport, I received a call from their staff to say that they had "technical issues". She was spouting something about water supply being disrupted, but as I eventually found out, these were just LIES to cover up the fact that they had overbooked the rooms.

So their proposal was to transfer my reservation to another hotel for the first night only. I protested and tried to look for other alternatives, but I just couldn't find better options. As such, I had to put up at another hotel, which wasn't that bad, but was in the middle of nowhere. So after my arrival, I could only stay in the room watching TV and later on had my "carbo-loading" meal at a mamak place. Ugghhh.

Anyway, the morning of the event, Pullman did send a van to pick me up along with my stuff to the hotel. After leaving my bag at the concierge, I walked to the Start line to see a good crowd waiting for the 10km to start.

Overall, the run was more or less the same as what we went through last year. The weather was good, and the route was pretty flat, except for a bridge or two.

 I did a decent time, and the medal was definitely nice and unique.

After the run, I went back to Pullman, BUT they couldn't check me in yet, and I still had to wait till 2pm. Double ugghhhh.... I went to the pool area for a shower and with aching limbs and all, had to go out to "jalan-jalan" and kill time before I could get a room.

After finally checking in, I was just too annoyed to enjoy the rest of the stay. I watched a bit of footie at night and by the time I reached the Top Spot seafood place, the stalls were closed!

Ah well, I guess it's time to "retire" from this event. Thanks for the memories, Kuching Marathon!

Three Years Ago Today... #ThrowbackThursday

I simply love the Facebook feature that feeds you "on this day" memories on a daily basis. They usually put a smile on my face, followed by "where did the time go?' musings.

And today, Facebook fed me the photo below...

Reading people's comments about me looking like an "innocent" student really made my morning. It was three years ago today that I started doing my certificate in filmmaking at Central Film School in London. It was a big decision, really. But with my family's support, and a grant from Mdec, I applied for time off from my job at Media Prima, and just basically did it.

And it was a great experience, really. Going back to class, taking notes and having group discussions and stuff. And being in London was not to shabby, either. Haha.

Every morning, I would walk from my apartment to the school in East London that included crossing the famous Tower Bridge.

And this was practically my breakfast almost every other day. : )

I left Media Prima about six months after coming back from the course, and since then I've done a couple of different things, including production full-time. And since then too, I've had two of my scripts made into feature films, executive produced one telemovie and three series, and co-wrote another two.

And recently, these works earned me two awards (for the whole team, not personally though), at the Anugerah Lawak Warna 2015.

Not too shabby indeed. So, thanks for reminding me of those "good 'ol days", Mr Zuckerberg!