shaunt_SY's Xanga

Kleenex

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:01:07 GMT

It's white. It's soft. It smells nice. I could probably sleep in a bed of it. Why have I not come across you before?

I am talking about Kleenex's Eucalyptus n Aloe 3ply tissue paper. The length of the name itself means something - it means luxury, elegance and class. Kleenex - a brand name implying positive hygiene. Eucalyptus - something a koala will chew on all day. Aloe - it's good for you. 3ply - this is over my head but is obviously some sort of hi-tech tissue talk, probably meaning "thick", or... "multi-layered". Now - say it with me - 'what a name'!

All this talk of a name. Does it, in fact, match the product? Why, yes it does! This is a soft fragrantly luxurious product. Which is probably why I have not come across it before. So, I was a little hesitant when Yin introduced me to this product. Even now, it does not seem like the sort of product I would want to ... soil. And then discard. But I have used it, and I have enjoyed it. I was so surprised by it that, lo and behold, here is a blog entry about a shopping product :O Oh wait, this would be.. the second... in a row.

So anyway, 'Kleenex's Eucalyptus n Aloe 3ply' - a great treat for the nose! A product that Stan the Man would use!

The RedBull Energy Shot

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:51:44 GMT

Today, I had an energy drink in the new shot format - 60ml. It is apparently the new trend. V and Demon are other energy drinks that now have shots. These shots are $4.50.

The first time I saw someone consume a similar bottle was in District 9 ... and the result was .. lets say, for a non-spoiler, a little bit alien (okok, so, in the movie, it was not an energy drink, but rather, space ship fuel).

So, I wanted to see what would happen. The drink had a strong Red Bull smell. I expected it to be quite thick (I've had a similar drink before) - but it was actually very liquidy. I sipped it slowly, but within a few seconds, the 60ml of "dietary supplement" was gone.

Here is my diary of events.

2:13pm - Consume Redbull energy shot

2:16pm - I felt a little bit light headed.

2:20pm - my head was spinning a wee bit

2:30pm - hmmm... head still spinning a wee bit

2:45pm - maybe I'm feeling a bit odd.. there is a glow. I'm definitely glowing.

3:00pm - Shaun has transcended the boundary. He is now aware. Concentration is as concentration does. Reaction speed is enough to dodge speeding bullets. Shaun is vigilant.

Shaun views the world's problems. A mere trifle. Yet, too complicated for the brain processes of mere mortals. No, let them handle the problems themselves.

Shaun reaches out into the ethereal zephyrs of the paradise birds, to catch a flowing strand of colour. This action ignites a radiant burst of ribboned rainbows, each brighter than the last. Here is peace as was intended. Here is Shaun.

~~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~         ~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
       ~~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~         ~~~~~~~~~~        ~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~     ~~~~~
    ~~~~~~~~~~~       ~~~~~~~~~~        ~~~~~~~~~     ~~~~~~~~


Actually, that was only what I was hoping for. In the end, I got nothing out of it. In fact, it may have been the reverse. I actually grew sleepy. Another workmate who had one after me also became sleepy during the afternoon.

Interesting.

I will not be buying this again. Not for that price. Not for that amount. Not for that effect.

Boomerang

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:40:54 GMT

Man, I hate it when I am so daft - how can I not have thought of this before???

I came up with the most impressive way to make money this afternoon.

Kittens!

I will start raising kittens and cats!

And sell them off on Trademe!

Everyone knows cats can find their way back home over long distances. So, I will sell the cat, and then rely on it coming back to me! What an awesome plan!

Ofcourse, there has to be some reason why the cat would return back to me. Normally, they go where they are well fed. And.. if you bought a cat on Trademe (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-animals/Cats/Cats/mcat-0004-3319-3324-3332-.htm), you would probably feed it well. Maybe.

But that is beside the point. My plan would revolve around hooking my cat to some addictive substance. Just a wee little bit. The cat will be hooked to it. So, there will only be one source where it will be able to get the drug. So, the cat will have no choice, but to return to meeeeeeeeeee!

Timeline (I think I can roll this out within a week):

Day 1: I sell it - to Trademe user (who then gives it to her small daughter).

Day 3: After a few days, the cat becomes all strung up, with withdrawal symptoms.

Day 4: The cat makes its way back to me.

Day 5: Pump cat up with drugs

Day 6: Sell cat to new unsuspecting owner.

Here is my would-be new cat, which I will call, hopefully rather appropriately, Boomerang :)

~~~~

The cost details must still be worked out:

Initial Cost of Cat (ICC): -$100
Weekly Cost of Drugs (WCD): -$75 (the type of illicit substance used may have to change if not powerful enough)
Cost of Food (CoF): -$25
Sale Price of Cat (SPC): $100
Cost of Little Girl's Broken Heart (CLGBH): Priceless (hence this does not have to be factored into equation)

Australia

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:46:47 GMT

The past 2 weeks have been epic and action packed, and just so awesome!

Kayaking in the Milford Sound, skiing with real snow falling all around and sampling 7 types of beer at the Speights factory were some high lights!

Then we came to Australia! Yin met us here. My first time! Sydney was a massive city. Massive. Then, I guess we did the regular things - go to blue mountains, touching koalas and feeding kangaroos!

Gold Coast - we spent 5 days there. Ooooo, the beaches were.. picture perfect. Even if it was a bit nippy. I don't think Adrian, Ed, Yin or myself expected to have so much fun for two days playing at the beach - frisbees, soccer balls, and building massive sand structures which held up against multiple waves, but never survived.

Then Yin had to go back :(

After that, we went to Australia Zoo - home of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. The number of types of animals was the smallest I had ever seen. And the price was high... twice of Auckland Zoo. Yet, it was the best zoo I've ever been to! The animals have MASSIVE spaces to roam around in. Also, we touched - koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats (yes, they took them out walking), a baby crocodile (so cute), a blue tongued lizard, an elephant (fed it) and tiger (just kidding).

We didn't go to any theme parks. I am opposed to Sea Worlds, and other such types which keep dolphins in small lakes (even if they seem big to us) - so that was ruled out, and the other theme parks.. were just theme parks. No, two days at the beach was easily that much fun!

Then Adrian left :(

So, Ed and me made our way over to ... Cairns! And this is our first night here. We hope to go on cruises for the next two days. So... we'll see how it goes!

Pictures later... or go to Facebook where the guys have put photos up already!

NOOOOOOOO! 2.5 weeks gone, only a few more days of holiday!!!!

Wellington Half Marathon

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:39:09 GMT

I'm in an internet cafe in Christchurch right now. How did I get here?

On Saturday Yin, Ed, Adrian, Nick and I flew out from Auckland on Jetstar at 7am. Actually, the flight was delayed an hour due to fog. We then met Ying Swee who flew in an hour later. We had flown into Wellington for the "the Shoe Clinic Harbour Capital Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K". Yin ran the 10km, and Nick, Swee and I ran the Half Marathon (21.1km) race.

We wandered around Wellington for bits of the day. Pasta was the theme, so we searched around Wellington for pasta places. We did this for a long time, finding several closed ones, before deciding to eat other stuff. We then went to a supermarket to buy pasta for dinner. We bought two large packets and sauce. That night, we stuffed ourselves full of pasta! So much pasta!!!!!!!!

The morning of the marathon, on Sunday, was perfect. No rain, not much wind - which for Wellington, is quite amazing.

Race Report:

Goal - definitely under 1hr 50min, and as near to 1:45min as possible. i.e. trying for 5 minute kms the whole way.
Previous personal best: 1hr 56min
Closest training - 20km at 1hr 46min.

We started just outside of the cake tin (Wellington's stadium). I started quite near the startline - so, had a good start. The race was mostly flat, as it followed the coast from the stadium, around the water front and out past the airport. I was aiming for speed control - which I achieved, running around or just under 5min kms most of the way. I picked up a very constant speed for most of the way. Around 3-7km I trailed an African guy. Towards 7km, the 1hr40min pace group passed me - so I attempted to keep up with them, but they eventually passed me - although I left the African guy behind. For almost the rest of the race, I followed an old man - this guy looked like he should be on a walking stick, but I could not pass him, so I trailed him. Thoughts on the first half - I kept questioning why I was doing the race, and cursing the long way to go - while concentrating on the path.

I have almost no memory of the first half of the race besides this, because I was concentrating so much of finding the quickest path though the windy roads. So, on the way back, during the second half of the race, when I looked up and around, it all looked new to me! I was put off a bit by the distance markers, which went from small signs on the road, to massive ones (saying full marathon). So, I ran almost the whole of the last race a bit confused, and not quite sure of the exact distance remaining. Knowing this, I attempted to keep up an aggressive pace. I realised the distances only within the last 3 kms of the race. I was starting to feel a bit dead, but still not so bad. I was still trailing the old man. Thoughts on the way back - YES, more than half done, and not feeling too bad. And nice view.

The last 3 kms, I fell further behind the old man. There were a few runners toward the last km, which was annoying as they took up most of the pathway, and required dodging. I was so happy to see the final 1km sign. However, half way up, I needed to run up a ramp to the stadium, which I attacked viciously - this left me dead, and running slowly. However, I sprinted the final 100 or so meters.

And ... I stopped my watch at 1:44:47!!!!!!!! I was sooooo dead tired, and puffed out, so could not celebrate this awesome time.

But yeah, I was and am extremely pleased with this time! This is the first time I've had 3 months of unbroken training (broken by injury or laziness). Finally!

Gun time - 1:44:59
Race(real) time - 1:44:47

WAHOOOOOOOOOOO!

We walked and limped around Wellington, including Te Papa for the rest of the day and night, and I was sooooo exhausted by the end.

Then, the next day (today, as of writing), we (Ed, Adrian and me) woke up at 6:30am, and had to rush of to the ferry. It was raining and pouring and soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo windy!!! So glad we didn't run today. Yin and Swee remained in Wellie, as they were coming back to Auckland.

The ferry was real horrid, but I enjoyed it at first. It went up over a wave, then down... crashing, and giving that falling stomach feeling. I had to eventually take a couple of sea sickness pills. The ferry was 3 hours from Wellington to Picton (North to South island). We then took the Trans Scenic Train from Picton to Christchurch. The train was good, but I was sooo tired. We at least had some good views, even with cruddy weather. And, we saw several colonies of New Zealand fur seals.

After arriving at the station, we walked 2-3km to the backpackers. Normally this is good. But with 20+kg backpacks full of shoes and winter gear... and after a race the day before... argh!

We had an Italian dinner, then went to MacDs... hahaha, where we had even more food.And now, after MacDs... I'm writing this rushed blog.

And...... I'm looking forward to the next 3 weeks of HOLIDAY :D We're heading to Queenstown tomorrow, then Dunedin, and heading to Australia next Monday, for 2 weeks!

Insane runs

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:33:37 GMT

The above picture is the course profile of the 10km run at Milford in the North Shore. Theres elevations there spiking between 5m to more than 40m. That is INSANE!!!!! Just looking at this graph makes me tired :O

Also, there's an area in the middle somewhere of a few hundred metres... which is on the beach! I hate beach running - its so tiring cuz your feet just sink in. And you get sand in your shoes.

Despite the, I repeat the word again, INSANE amount of uphill, I still managed to get my 2nd fastest time ever (and 2nd only time under 50 minutes) of 49 minutes and 11 seconds - including a sprint finish over the last hundred metres.

Below is a picture of the small group of Malaysians (Karen, Ying Swee, me and Yin) who ran this course on the 31st of May 2009!

The race was ... not a sane one! I kept thinking I'd die on every uphill ... but I used them to push even harder, and on every uphill, I made sure I over took as many people as possible. At the end...... MATI!!!

And after all that........ we rushed to play netball :O

Later in the week, on the usual Mission Bay training run, I also managed to shave 3 minutes of my old PB for 17km (1hr 29) down to 1hr 26min last Tuesday - it took a month to shave that off (achieved the old PB at start of May) - and if I want to achieve 1hr45min in the Wellington Half in less than a month - then I will have to run faster than that, and maintain for another 4km. PHEW! :O

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Wed, 20 May 2009 18:48:13 GMT

Wow, its the 3rd week of April already! WHat have I been up to recently?

Awaiting Ed and Adrian from Canada...... c'mon.. just less than a month!

A couple of weeks ago, due to Aaron's influence, I started to listen to French podcasts. Oui, I want to learn French. But don't have the time - so... one minute podcasts! But perhaps, in the long run, I'll need something more solid.

Training for my next run is ongoing. Three of my last four runs (10km, 14km and 16km) have been personal bests, while the fourth was a personal putt-out. The 14km and 16km runs came after lots of training, and a change in attitude. Before that, I was getting NOT looking forward to getting up at 5:30am, and running by 6:30am in the dark, cold and rain. Dark? Heck yes. Cold. YES! Rain... its winter.... But then, I motivation and resignation kicked in.. and Shaun's your uncle. Good times!

I was also not very motivated for Sunday netball the other day - this lack of motivation lasted about... 1 minute into the game. And what a game we had! Haven't enjoyed myself that much in a while! Close close games!

Shaun's weather forecast for Auckland. It'll be a sunny day! Very sunny! With an average of 3 minutes of occasional rain, sleet and hail for every 2 minutes of sun. How did I come up with this magical deduction? Taking the trends of the last three weeks into account.

Coffee Weening Experiment

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:02:20 GMT

Fragment of video recording sent to Coffee Vampires:

<bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz static-filled black and white screen turns on >

<camera is moved by a hand and finally focuses on an empty chair>

<Shaun sits down in front of it, staring intently at the camera>

This is Shaun Tan. Talking about the Coffee Weening Experiment, day 14 - I have only had coffee on maybe only five or six days in the last two weeks. And now, I have gone the last 4 days without any caffeine whatsoever!

My eyes do not appear to be as blood-shot as expected.

The animalistic craving urging me to repeatedly attack the vending machine for coke or to chew raw coffee beans has subsided for now... and no one has been hurt... today anyway.

<Shaun looks up to the right of the camera, and moves his hand to do something in that region... WithOut You starts playing>

This helps... Mariah Carey's 'The Ballads'... it soothes ... soothes.....

This experiment, this research.. I know, is banned in many countries. In some, it is even considered cruelty to animals.

But I must press on. And ween myself off this ... this... thing.

<Shaun reaches around the camera, and it goes off>

Stan VS Big Green Coffee Monster

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:57:10 GMT

Our intrepid hero, Stan, surveys the scene in front of him. Fire, destruction, perilous foot holds, crumbling tracks, big green monsters - oh wait, is this Dragonball Evolution? Stan surveys the scene, and holds his head up in defiance - declaring that ... he will get through at least two of the next four days with no coffee what so ever! By doing so, he will be able to kamehameha Piccolo, the big green monster (it only takes one night's practise to learn this amazing skill).

KAMEEEEEEEEEEE HAMEHAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!Go TEA!!!!!

Circus

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:37:33 GMT

Last week, the Taupo Circus act came to town. I had a free entry into the front row, and a behind the scenes tour later on.

It was damn awesome! Except for the contorsion people - thats scary. But they had lions jumping through fire hoops, and acrobats doing daring stunts! I will put pictures up later.

But I think it was ... one of those life changing events. You go.. and you never view life the same

EVER

AGAIN.

So I made a decision there and then. I thought "Yup, thats it. I've had enough. Work work work. Boring mundane life." - I have left it all behind. The circus master was all friendly and all. I mean.. how often do you get to talk to someone... of my caliber. I am a university graduate for Pete's sake!!!!!

So, I did it... and now.... I can say.......... I have joined... the circus!!!!!!

The lights, the action!!!!! The lions, the tigers!!! The mad guy with the whip! And me!!!! ----> The human cannonball flaming torch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's me! I will be the first person ever to be both a human cannonball AND a flaming torch! That's awesome!

Here's a picture of me... in a practise shot. I do not want to put up any pictures of the flaming torch part - you must pay to come into the circus to see that!

Is it dangerous, some ask? NO! It is not dangerous at all! I am protected by the ultra technology of the skin-tight, crotch-outline-revealing, mega suit! I feel damn sexy wearing it - even if it only attracts tall, dark, musclebound, bald men looking for a good time.

I know what you're all wondering... what about Yin? And I would say "Who??? Don't you mean... THE VIOLET RIDER OF YIN AND YANG???? Mistress of the 20 flaming motorbikes inside the steel cage?"