To the Middle East (2-8 Apr 15) - Cheapskate's Guide in UAE

I had actually 2 agendas while in UAE (United Arab Emirates), to participate in the Nissan Triathlon Festival in Dubai and also to attend Tanya, my cousin's wedding in Abu Dhabi. Well, unfortunately for me, the race got postponed due to a sandstorm :( My cousin's wedding still went on smoothly, thank God for that. Unlike other posts, I think I shall attempt a different format, considering I'm pretty lazy to post nowadays - let me offer you some tips and guide to where to go in Dubai and Abu Dhabi!

Things are pretty expensive in Dubai and Abu Dhabi so hopefully this would help in you saving some money!

1. TRANSPORTATION 

• Cheapest way from the airport to Dubai city centre is via Dubai metro (AED3-7, depending on which areas you stay - although it might continue to increase again). 
• From Dubai to Abu Dhabi, the cheapest form is to take a bus (Al Ghubaiba/Ibn Battuta Bus Station), takes about an hour and half, depending on traffic. Current cost is AED25, pretty worth it considering the seats are comfortable and free WIFI onboard.
• Getting around in Dubai is mostly via metro/tram/bus (not sure) and if it is too out-of-the-way; cab. Walking is possible but unadvisable. As for Abu Dhabi, I used the cab most of the time as there is no metro and the bus system is ??
• The abra, a traditional water boat (now operated by motor) cost AED1 and it's the most fun and cheapest way to get from one side of the Creek to the other

2. SHOPPING

• In my opinion, Dubai/Abu Dhabi is like a HUGE mall with both international and local brands - but not cheap; even with sales :/
• Things native to the UAE that are WORTH buying are; dates, coffee (with cardamon), fruits (pomegranates, grapefruit...etc), flat bread, tahina (sesame paste) and hummus spreads, honey, figs, nuts, spices
• Supermarkets offer pretty reasonable prices for takeaway salads/meals
• The annual Global Village is like a mini-World Expo with lots of interesting things to buy

3. ATTRACTIONS in Dubai

• New Dubai Area: Ibn Battuta Mall (a huge mall divided into 5 continents which Ibn Battuta the explorer travelled to. They even have a mini exhibition with artefacts for curious visitors!), The Walk at JBR ( a short area of beach and filled with many al fresco dining areas, been there in the day but not at night, which I understand that it would be more happening), The Palm Jumeirah - yes, I've been onto the world's largest man-made island! (you have to CAB or take the monorail which costs AED22 for 2 ways in! An exclusive place which I had mistakenly tried to run in but was stuck near the entrance and had to look for a cab :( Nothing much unless you want to dine in some atas restaurant or look at the Arabian Gulf..hurhur). Dubai Marina merely offers a good background for profile pictures but don't spend time walking along the area.

• The Burj al Arab Area (Malls of the Emirates metro): I didn't get to go there because you need a reservation at the restaurant/bars but it would be the global icon of Dubai. Walking down Umm Suqeim Road also leads to Souk Madinat Jumeirah, a place I would consider visiting the next round - modelled after an Arabian town.
• Old Deira: Al Fahidi Historical District (one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Dubai) and Bastakiya Quarters (see the old restored wind towers, look through the small shops, visit the Coffee Museum to try the various coffees and see how they are prepared, go for the Jumeirah Mosque visit - AED10, 945am daily except Fridays)

• Bur Dubai: Heritage and Diving Village (walked past but didn't look around much, except stopped to have a coffee by the road by one of the camel owners), traditional spice, gold and grand souks (a mix-mash of Little India?), Dubai Museum (AED3 but one of the best maintained museums around)
• Inner Suburbs of the Creek: Wildlife Sanctuary on Oud Metha Road
• Deira City Centre: Perfume Souk (didn't spot it), Fish and Vegetables Market (they have pretty good buys there! Iran dates going for AED5/kg), Naif Museum (old police station), Al-Ahmadiya School museum, Heritage House (all free, worth a short visit because they are very small and not very well-retored)
• Downtown Dubai: Dubai Mall, Souk al Bahar, The Palace and Fountain (pretty impressive fountain shows daily. The Dubai Mall is a really HUGE place, also links to the Burj Khalifa and houses the Underwater Aquarium)

4. ATTRACTIONS in Abu Dhabi

• Malls (again)  -We visited Marina Mall, World Trade Centre (with a pricey Shake Shack), Al Wadha Mall - got pretty sick of these extravagant huge places, although it provided a respite from the heat
• Emirates Palace - It is actually a hotel but looks so grand like a palace. Note that it only opens to visitors from 10am onwards and in order to get through the security to the outdoor area, walk all the way to the end and look for a resident's entrance. You will be amazed by the immense extravagance of the place - long pristine (man-made) beaches, green lawns, even camels available for rides!
• Abu Dhabi Heritage Village - only "cultural" place in the Washington-like administrative state. Gives you a glimpse of traditional crafts like pottery, carving...etc and of course, camels are available for photos!
• Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan Mosque - the most opulent mosque you've ever seen. Vistors can borrow an abaya to enter as you are required to cover up. The mosque is a functioning mosque so I think at certain times, they don't open for visits. There are free daily tours conducted with a guide (we were late so we didn't have) so we walked around on our own. The architecture and details of the carvings and interior are breathtaking. Somewhat equivalent to a Chinese palace or European church. 
• Other attractions include Yas Island and Ferrari World...etc but are really pricey so we didn't bother

5. ACCOMODATION

• Stayed in an AirBNB apartment in Jumeirah Lake Towers (SGD50/night), the cheapest form of accomodation in Dubai. Hotels are pricy
• In Abu Dhabi, because my cousin paid for my hotel, it was a way to save costs for me. Centro Al Manhal located beside the bus station and Al Wadha mall

 THE WEDDING

Was held on Nurai Island, a private island that required us to take a speedboat across. It was really fun and was my first wedding by the beach! There was first the traditional Chinese tea ceremony, followed by the exchange of vows, then dinner (which was AWESOME) and dance.

My cousin also brought us around her place - St Regis Serviced Apartments on Saaiyat Island, a rather chill environment with many high-end apartments and hotels.

The next trip to Dubai is in October. Overall, it was a little disappointing because it wasn't as good as I expected - not a lot of cultural places and mostly seems like a money-making artificial city..Hopefully I will be able to visit the deserts in Dubai and Al Ain!

HK Trip - 24 to 27 Jan 2015 : Back to Nature

Haven't had the time to blog for so long but I just had to share about my trip to HK (the second one in 2 years) but this time, I went with Dwayne, Darren and Ken and we visited Chen Peng and Ying Hao there.

This was a much shorter trip but I spent quite a bit, because of the accommodation. We stayed at BP International Hotel, which is a pretty good hotel, conveniently located beside Kowloon Park. While it was four times the cost of my bed at Chungking Mansions, it was so much more comfy (and definitely private) - spent SGD216 for 3 nights (approx $70 a night).

I arrived in HK in the evening at 5:30pm and for some reason, the place feels super familiar to me (probably because the previous trip was too recent). Took the bus down to Mongkok (cost HKD14.70) and it was a nice trip, watching sunset around HK. However, due to the jam around the city centre, the bus ride took about 1.5h. Thereafter, it took about 20min to walk down to the hotel.

We went over to The Sweet Dynasty (Tang Chao) at Hankow Street for dinner with Ying Hao and CP. Honestly, despite all the raves online about the restaurant, I felt it was too overpriced and the place does seem a little dodgy due to the dim lighting. Also, they stopped serving quite a bit of dim sum after 8pm so we didn't get much choices :( If I'm not wrong, it is famous for its beancurd, which was interestingly served in a bucket.

After dinner, we went to walk around - down the Victoria Harbour along the Avenue of Stars where we tried to capture some of the night lights. I was pretty glad to meet up with CP after so long! We wanted to head down to OZONE bar at Ritz Carlton (Austin Road) but it started raining (and my feet were killing me), so I convinced the guys to head back - maybe we should have gone that day because we never did get another chance :(

Change of design of 1881 Heritage - the prettiest mall

Cityscape of HK

The next day, we had to abort our plan initially because Dwayne fell ill - food poisoning. Ken and I decided to go look for medication for him and we did a short run to look for the earliest opened Mannings. Interestingly, we managed to catch Ying Hao and CP at the start point at 0930am. Just that we didn't manage to catch them again at the finishing point because we decided to trek the Dragon's Back in the day and come back for Dwayne to go up Victoria Peak in the evening.

The Dragon's Back is an urban trail located on HK Island and it is simply a must-go trail in HK (if you only have time for one). It is rather manageable but do wear shoes that are comfortable and have good gripe so you won't have any danger of slipping. The view for the start is pretty breath-taking but towards the end, it got really boring, that we had to resort to music. It took us about 2.5h to finish the trail, plus all the photographs and we ended up on the Tai Long Wan beach at the bottom. 

How to get there: It can be easily accessed via MTR to Shau Kei Wan and bus 9 from the terminal.

Difficulty Level: 5/10 for the average person (for fitter people it should be much lower), approx 8.5km

Towards the end of the trail

Tai Long Wan

Surfboards!

We had a late lunch at one of the shops on the beach and headed back to Shau Kei Wan. Apparently, this is one of the surfer's paradise in HK where they loan surfboards and offer lessons. We headed back to Shau Kei Wan where I wandered around the market and the guys went back to pick Dwayne up. I kind of like wandering around on my own, to soak up the local atmosphere. I bought some oranges and almonds (HKD55 for about 600g), as well as some HK dessert and pao. Headed over to Central MTR to meet the 3 guys for our Victoria Peak outing. Initially we wanted to go to the Bank of China to view but it was closed :( So we headed directly to the Victoria Peak Tram Station. We waited for ages just to board the tram. Well, there is a way to walk/run up but I guess the guys were too tired (and sick) to do that. The cost of the two way ticket was about HKD80 (minus the viewing gallery cost) but the waiting time was crazy.

It was an experience itself to board the tram as it was packed.The ride was pretty scary because the tram was moving 45 degrees upwards. The view was so-so because of the packed tram and that it was getting dark. It took about 10min to reach the Peak. It's been ages since I've been here, I don't even recall the Mall at the top. Well, the view was good.

View from the Peak

Dinner was at Lin Heung Tea House 蓮香樓, a traditional old-school teahouse on Lan Kwai Fong area where the waiters were wearing white shirts and pants but they went all the way to provide good service. Heard the dim sum there is good too but too bad they don't have it at dinner. The food was not bad, big portion and affordable but be prepared for a long queue (we waited 1.5h without a reservation).

Typical sight on HK Island

So traditional right?

By the time we got back, it was too late to do anything else so we turned in.

I started day 3 with an hour of easy run and some dynamic workout along Victoria Harbour. Really pretty and windy.

hehs..not much of a view

Thankfully, Dwayne was feeling slightly better so we headed to Sai Kung to do another trek - MacLeHose Trails. We took the MTR to Hang Hau (where HKSTU was) and took a mini bus to Sai Kung town. I took quite a bit of time to research about Sai Kung but it turned out pretty accessible. Sai Kung is a pretty seaside port and is along the east coast of HK, near the many tiny islands, famous for its fresh seafood and also geological formations. There are many sections of the MacLehose trail but we took an easier but longer one (about 12km). It was...interesting. Took us up the mountains and down all the way to the sandy coasts and mangroves. The trails are well-guided, and surprisingly paved. So danger scale is like near zero, unless you do something that the signs warn you against. I'll let the pictures tell the story. Oh, do bring food and water because there isn't along the way. Except for a small seaside store which we stopped by somewhere 3-4km on the trail.

Cute red bean pie from Macs - reward after the hike!

Fishing port

 Dinner was back at the hotel and I finally tried a HK traditional dessert :)

Last day was pretty hectic too..Couldn't wake up for any run (legs were aching from the hikes) so I decided to head down to HK Island to do some last minute shopping. Finally took the tram, which was super cheap (HKD2.50), and efficient. Bought some wife biscuits, took some photos and went to the airport to catch my flight. Till another time, HK!

Took the boat out  - HKD4.50

The tram

Music Stages

I realised I've been through different music stages of my life.
Upon reflecting, the choices are really varied and each seemed to bring out a different emotion, mood and interest in my life.

1. Oldies: Teresa Teng, Celine Dion & Mariah Carey - this was my dad's influence since he listens to them on a daily basis. My childhood was filled with fiddling with the CD player. And I remembered I watched plenty of Michael Jackson

2. English Pop Culture: In primary school, I don't know if it was the influence of my friends but I simply adored listening to 98.7FM & 91.3FM. I spent my savings getting LIME magazine, Smash Hits so that I could read about bands like S Club 7, Westlife, A1, singers like Gareth Gates, Shakira...etc. And yea, my brain cells were used to memorise lyrics!

3. Mando/Cantopop Tide: This was certainly because of my class and also a certain someone whose ringtone of Jay Chou's "Yuan You Hui" made me fall in love with Jay Chou (I'm still a big fan, but not as big as before). I stopped listening to English radio due to the influx of techno & overly "popped" songs which started turning thrashy. Bands like FIR, SHE, Fahrenheit dominated my cupboard poster space, some of which are still there! My Chinese improved tremendously because I started watching Taiwanese dramas and listening to YES933 :) Mandopop saw me through Secondary School and JC and I started listening to Cantopop too

4. KPOP Wave: Strange that I skipped the phase of JPOP but KPOP rocks and accompanied me through uni. It started with Wedding Dress by Taeyang..Don't ask me how, I don't actually remember but it is STILL my favourite KPOP song! Started watching Korean dramas and learnt Korean, though i totally sucked at the subject :/

5. English Country: Seems like my favourite Kpop artistes aren't actually making much songs and I'm facing a dearth of new Kpop songs to keep my interested. I'm turning to Country!The MV I posted here by Lucy Hale reflects why..It reminds me of travelling on road trips - the one to Adelaide and the later one to Dunedin actually made an impact in my life.. Here's to visiting the outbacks and farmlands again!

Back-to-back Racing July-August - My First Olympic Distance Triathlon experience

10 August 2014, my first OD triathlon done at Port Dickson

Avillon Admiral Cove Hotel

Swim Start

Carbo-loading

Finisher Medal!

Our team of about 20 of us went up to Port Dickson over the National Day weekend (how patriotic we are!), most of the team were doing the relay races, a couple of us, did individual sprint/OD triathlons. I had to admit I was feeling super worried and scared because it was my first OD triathlon. I've done individual races leading up to this to prepare, but doing everything together is different altogether - such as the Trifactor 3km swim, 5-20-5 KM Duathlon (first for my category!), 36km bike ITT at coastal the week before (1:03 PB) and of course the run races, latest being Run for Hope. :S I think tbh, confidence is a HUGE issue for me...

Run on KM Duathlon

Participants of KM Duathlon

Team NUS at KM Duathlon! (plus Jason Loh)

"favourite course" on KM Duathlon

Read my KM Duathlon post on Trititude!

Although I was feeling lazy to write a post on this race and that I wasn't too proud of the race results, I thought it would be good to do a post-race reflection, as Coach David has always encouraged us to. This would not only serve as a physical reminder of what I thought I did well and what needs improvement on, something to look back to when I feel discouraged, and most importantly, to THANK all who has been helping me one way or another :)

2:38:40 - didn't hit my goal but at least not worse. Just nice it fell into 10th placing.

SWIM (plus a 800m beach run) - was 9th in my age group, off my watch out of the water it was a 27min. I guess I couldn't ask for more because it was one of the rare times that I felt that I was actually moving in the water. Drank a lot of salt water, got kicked on the face too but it felt good drafting. Time to work on my power and techniques, hopefully I can go much faster soon! 

BIKE - I really did enjoy the bike course although I was pretty much worried throughout the course that I might crash - a bad habit I must kick. It was a nice course despite the rolling hills, the roads weren't too narrow and scenery was pretty. It was my first time riding in such a huge pack of 20-30 in and out and it was certainly a much easier ride. There was a kind guy who helped to pull me to catch up with another pack, and I must say that I never expect anyone to do that for me! One regret was that I stopped at the U-turn point because I was still uncomfortable to turn clockwise, causing me to lose the pack and having to cycle a lot harder to catch up. Something I really need to work on.

RUN - The run route was interesting but it was my most disappointing segment because it was the time I gave up on my race and myself and started walking. I wasn't even panting hard but somehow my brain just kept telling me to slow down and stop. Finally i relented and found it harder to continue. This was supposed to be my best segment but somehow this was the part I SHOULD HAVE done better. So much more to work on for this, especially my willpower. Time for more bricks and harder runs...

Just would like to thank my coaches for so patiently encouraging me, correcting my swim/run positions and not giving up on me - Mr Ghana and Mr Robin Tan, as well as Uncle David. I will continue to train hard so as not to disappoint you! Thanks for inspiring me :D

The NUS Aquathlon team - JJ for taking the trouble to organise this trip up to PD :)) It was really fun to spend this holiday period with the team! And for all those who went up, the trip would be nothing without the jokes, the support during races, the countless selfies (especially Sherlynn - you never fail to excite everyone!) and most importantly, all the tips and encouragements offered to me, who was actually quite scared and nervous before this race,especially Justin, who reminded me to take it easy and enjoy the experience. Thanks Debs for doing this OD with me and congrats on completing your first OD too (WELL DONE YOU!) Thanks Jon (Tan) for your awesomely light wheels - psychologically & physically they helped :P

Not sure when my next OD is but hopefully, I'll be able to do this again next year, with a much more satisfying timing. Good job to all friends who completed the race too - going out to Andrew, Dave, Diana, Jason and Inn Inn from RD, Clement Chua, Nuo Shi, Khai Leng, Rui Mei, Yan Ling (thanks for the draft on the bike).Swee Hong, good job on your first tri and pls recover well-don't be discouraged ok! Congrats Jason (Loh), Sher-JJ-Josh & Aaron-Dwayne-Dex teams on winning too :) 

A week after PD, I did the 5km Shape Run, thankful for a 7th placing even though hitting a 23 min on my run isn't anywhere close to my PB :( It was quite a mentally painful run (which I need to break) - looks like I need to race more often. Meihui, on the contrary, is improving. Her 21min plus was one of her not-so-good results. But still, happy for her. I really need to find out what's wrong with me.

Great Eastern Women Pacer :)

Having fun post-race with the Shape Run RD Pacers

Me & Meihui 7th and 6th at SHAPE RUN 2014

Prize Presentation at SHAPE Run

Supporters/participants at Sing Tri

Oh yes, I was involved in Great Eastern Women's Run pacer programme too! Free Adidas jerseys & New Balance Shoes for me..hehehes :D Watched the Elites race at Singapore Triathlon too, pretty inspiring too..Hope I can reach that level someday...

Have to work hard on this road of doing better!

Watch this space for updates on AHM and Trifactor tri!