in the midst of insignificance...

Just one of those insignificant events - I parked my car, went to settle some matters/work, came out, approached by the parking attendant, he charged me, I paid, he issued me a receipt, and I was out of there.

But that day was quite different.... I was greeted by this much older man... Very old, his frame looked fragile. Very old you would imagine he would prefer to sit at home and relax in this golden years of his. Instead, he was all energetic and lively and seemed to enjoy his job. When he first approached me, I didnt know he was the parking attendant. He had the "friendly-neighbour" aura...

"Helllo Miss... going back already?" in a happy, joyful tone.

I was like "ermmm......" didnt know how to respon, huhu... a bit weird for someone u didnt know to be that friendly out of nowhere...ritee? to top that, I can't see his face clearly at that time.

"Going back? Do you have your car here, miss?" and as he asked and came nearer, I saw him taking out the parking ticket book from his small sling bag. Oooo.... parking ticket rupanya...

"Ooo just here... haa there..." pointing towards my car, 4-5 metres away. He followed me and took the yellow ticket and gave out a small laugh, "Haha, not very long...Hmmm, ok. that'll be only 30cents, miss"

uncle ni.... friendly and speaks english in a very polite manner..I handed him the coins and said thank you.

"Wait a minute ya, miss.. I will write you the receipt" wrote and gave it to me "Okeyyy, done...here is your receipt... Have a nice day, miss..."

"Same to you, thank you....thank you yaa" went into my car and lifted my hand as a gesture of appreciation and he waved back at me and then to the next car behind me, stopping the fella's car, to issue the ticket.... all with smiles and the consistent "friendly, happy" face :D

That uncle, he reminds me of the good old days... 15-20 years back, when people are friendlier... Well that uncle actually brings me back a lil more to the past, through colonial times, clearly shown from the way he speaks english which is different from our generation these days :P But above all, worthy of note.... is how his positive attitude made me smile that day :-)

From this so called insignificant event, I learn that if you are happy with what you are doing, or stay positive, you project positive energy to only to yourself but also people around you. Memang betul lah bak kata pepatah,

1. Senyum itu Sedekah
2. A smile is a curve that sets everything straight ~ Phyllis Diller

  

Penang Bridge Marathon 2010.

First time join a real Marathon.... Haha... I never thought of joining this year or anytime soon...Zue invited us to join her mission to run in this Marathon... and tup tap... here we go, with Kak Ilah and Mar.

Since we are all first-timer, we opted for 10km run...

(other categories: Full Marathon (42km),
                           Half Marathon (21km),
                           FunRun (10km but with no qualifying time/medal))

Those who manage to complete their marathon within the given time, they get a medal.
Full Marathon - 7 hours, Half - 3.5 hours, 10km - 1.5 hours.

and when Zue said she wanted to target the medal... I laughed.... and I told her, I will be lucky enough if I can finish the run.

The route map for 10km.... i edited a lil, coz there's a change in the route compared to the map they provided earlier. 

I walked for like 70% of my marathon :P coz

1. my stamina not that superb

2. I happen to have mild muscle strain at my right thigh joint, so i dare not stress out the muscle too much.

10km run started at 6.15 am.

as shown in the map... first part, we ran on the highway that goes straight to the bridge. At the fork towards the bridge, I bumped into Mar, and asked for the time and was told it was 6.30am. I quickly made some calculation, and figured I might be able to make it on time if I maintain the speed. But, my muscle started to sore a lil. Afraid I might end up hurt thus not able to finish... I walked, but in highest speed I could and berlari-lari anak a few times :P On the way, I asked 2 random people for time, just to check whether I was on the right 'track'. I maintained the same walking speed from the bridge towards the end. About 10 metres from finishing line, I ran :)) so that I won't feel like I did walkathon instead of marathon... miahahaha...

Finally, 7.30 am - I reached the finish line, took me 1 hour 19 mins. phewww..... Mar was just behind me in less a minute, then followed by Zue, just 2 minutes away. We bumped into each other a lot on the way... aku potong ko, ko potong aku, dan potong memotong sambil share ayaq :D Kak Ilah was nowhere to be seen, vanish into thin air gitue... haha... No lar, She finished earlier than us, took her 59 minutes oni...tak terkejar beb! :)) 

And all 4 of us managed to get medals.............. shared happiness is the best one ;-)

Thanksss u ollsss.... for various reasons i.e the invitation, lodging, motivations, jokes... etc etc

Hmmm... will I do it again? Hmmmmm...... we'll see... kalau ada kaki-kaki... maybe lah :P

p/s: PErghhhh... KAGUM lah.... those who did Half/Full Marathon.... cannot imagine myself braving thru 3-8 hours of marathon??? oucchhh

p/s/s: Adik-adik sekolah (junior category) sungguh incredible... they started 15minutes after us... but quite a number of them overtook us... ewah2.. mentang2 la metabolisme stamina korang masih tip top kan.... eksen nooh :P ahhahaa... cute nonetheless :D

Last but not least...

Tiring but Heppi!