Review - Injinji Performance 2.0 Run Toe Socks

I have been hearing some good things about Injinji toe socks. The reviews I heard were for the socks used as a liner beneath thick expedition weight mountaineering socks. So I headed out and got me a pair of toe socks to use a liners for my upcoming expedition in the Himalayas. I also got attracted to trying a pair as my regular running and training socks.

So here is a quick review of the socks

I got the Performance 2.0 RUN socks, which is the newer line in their product range. I got the socks in mini crew length. The material was 55% COOLMAX polyester, 40% nylon and 5% LYCRA fibre.

I got these in original weight rather than the lightweight ultra-thin ones. I really didn't need to squeeze the socks into fitting shoes like the Vibram five fingers and I thought the ultra-thin ones were more prone to wear and tear.

These were selling online for USD 12 and I got these after a 15% discount at SGD 16, so I didn't pay that much more for the socks.

It takes just a fraction more time to align your toes properly with the toe pockets before pulling the socks up. However, once properly fitted, it was a new sensation feeling material between my toes. However, this was the mechanism by with material will be wicking away moisture and preventing friction between the toes which might cause blisters.

I got mine is size S which was US range 5-7.5. The socks wore true to size so if you are getting a pair, just follow the size recommendations on the label.

Watch out for my upcoming review of the Injinji Performance liner

Expedition Mera-Amphu Laptsa-Island 2014 - The 2nd Hurdle

The 2nd Hurdle - The Amphu Laptsa Pass

The Amphu Laptsa Pass, at the head of the Hunku valley, stands in the way as we head to Island peak. The pass, at 5700m in altitude, is formidable enough to constitute a third peak in this expedition.

The way up the south face of the pass involves some mighty awesome views of the Amphu Laptsa glacier with its huge seracs and crevasses. The altitude, steepness and ice on the pass makes it a formidable and possibly technical challenge.

The south side of the Amphu Laptsa pass source: blog.wuokko.org

The views from the top of the pass are rumoured to be fantastic. And then we descend on the wildly steep north side by abseiling.

Abseiling on the north face Source: blog.wuokko.org

This will indeed be our third 'peak' on this expedition

Expedition Mera-Amphu Laptsa-Island 2014

Mera Peak-  The first hurdle

Mera Peak Summit Mound Source: blog.wuokko.org

Mera Peak at 6,476 metres (21,247 ft) it is classified as a trekking peak. It contains three main summits: Mera North, 6,476 metres (21,247 ft); Mera Central, 6,461 metres (21,198 ft); and Mera South, 6,065 metres (19,898 ft), as well as a smaller "trekking summit", visible as a distinct summit from the south but not marked on most maps of the region.

The view from the summit is spectacular.  On a clear day, five of the six highest mountains on Earth. Cho Oyu (8201m), Lhotse (8516m), Everest (8848m) and Makalu (8463m) are all very close by, and when it’s clear you may just be able to see Kangchenjunga (8586m) on the Indian border far away to the east. Only K2 (8611m) in distant Pakistan is beyond your vision.

View from the summit Source: Summitpost

From Lukla, it is possible to approach Mera in a number of different ways. The quickest involves leaving the airport and joining the trail that heads east, stopping at Chutang or a neighbouring settlement, before crossing the Zatrwa La (4610m) and descending to Thuli Kharka and on to the Hinku Valley (3 days or less). We elected not to go over the Zatrawa La early on in the trek.

A second, much slower approach, is to trek south from Lukla and spent several days passing through Poyan, Pangkongma, Nashing Dingma, Chalem Kharka and Chunbu Kharka before eventually descending into the Hinku Valley at Tashing Ongma. We decided to do this remote and beautiful route up the Hinku valley to really see the country, passing through rhododendron and bamboo forest, up to grassy moorland and along high mountain trails. This provides a fantastic trek which for many will be as memorable as the climb itself.

Map of the route

This will not only give us a better taste of this part of Nepal, its countryside and its people, but it also provides a better acclimatisation programme. By slowly increasing your sleeping altitude from 2800m to 4200m it gives you an excellent chance to acclimatise and minimise your risk of developing Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and life threatening conditions such as High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE).

LOVING LIFE - My personal motto and direction

Dear friends,
I have thought long about my course of action in support of a cause which is close to my heart; in support of the community around me

The theme which I want to share is LOVING LIFE
We believe that all life is precious. That every life is a gift that is unique and has a purpose. That every life is to be lived to the fullest.

LOVING LIFE sets out to ensure that each life is accorded the dignity and opportunity it deserves. That each life be given the basic opportunities, be it in survival, education and even just fun.

As a start, we want to ensure that no young life is lost because the pregnancy is unwanted or the mother is in crisis or no support is available once the child is born. Through the work of Sanctuary House, mothers have an avenue of support during their pregnancies and after delivery. This support can make a difference in their decision to continue with or terminate a pregnancy.

I ask you to join me as I embark on this journey, this journey of LOVING LIFE.

It begins with my fundraiser below where I sincerely ask that you pledge $1 for every metre that I am going to climb in my expedition to Nepal in April 2014. I will be climbing a total of 12,665m in an attempt to summit two mountains, Mera Peak (6,476m) and Island Peak (6,189m), therefore raising $12,655 for my cause above.

There are a few ways to make your contributions

1. The link below leads to the my donation page, where there is a green button at the lower right hand corner of the screen. Donations can be done using your credit card

2. If you wish to donate in other forms. Please contact me for arrangements.

All donations will be update on the site to reflect the fund raising effor tot date.

I thank you in advance for your generous support and if you can make this cause known to others as well.

https://www.give.sg/TeamGIVE/AdrianTanChongBeng/love-life-because-every-life-is-unique-and-precious

These Alone Are Enough For Me

This is a really touching song which I have known for some time. However hearing it over the last couple of weeks really made me think about what it say

Take my heart, O Lord, take my hopes and dreams,
Take my mind with all its plans and schemes.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace.
These alone, O God, are enough for me.
Take my thoughts, O Lord, and my memory.
Take my tears, my joys, my liberty.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace.
These alone, O God, are enough for me.
I surrender, Lord, all I have and hold.
I return to you your gifts untold.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace.
These alone, O God, are enough for me.
When the darkness falls on my final days,
Take the the very breath that sang your praise.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace.
These alone, O God, are enough for me.
Hymn: “These Alone Are Enough,”
by Dan Schutte
These Alone Are Enough For Me

I hope this clears your mind about what it truly means to worship. Let go of all the externals and bring to the table what God truly desires

What is Daddy by EJ

Ej asked "where's daddy?" during lunch

Frances said: daddy's at work

He replied; "in the hospital". Frances asked him, what is daddy? He said "Adrian".

Frances: Daddy is a doctor

Then he said "NO! ADRIAAN!!!"

Our boy is so straight.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Singaporeans at Performances

My opinion of Singaporeans at performances has hit a new low.

Is it just me or have I been unable to attend a performance nowadays without picking on the good, bad and ugly present. Or rather bad, badder, ulgy.

So what have they done to get under my skin tonight at the Singapore Indoor Stadium? For a start,

Punctuality
The same old bug bear about Singaporeans. I am not sure why people pay good money for a performance they want to attend only to come 15-20 minutes into the show. Maybe they really have a valid reason, to top of their disrespectful behaviour, they sure make no effort to be inconspicuous when coming into the hall, standing in the aisle, cutting across the view of others to get to an usher and other such intrusive behaviour.

Disregard for Audience Behind
We attended a show for children. The Indoor stadium provided booster seats precisely to enable kids not to have their view blocked by taller adults. So we positioned EJ behind another child so he will not be blocked. And after a while, we noticed that most kids were all in the same column of seats precisely for this reason. 5 minutes into the show, the family in front of us decides to change the order of the universe and move their kid. Now we have a monster of a mother blocking EJ's view. To add insult to  injury, she decides to keep holding her camera up to take photos of the show.

People who do not Understand the Meaning of NO RECORDING
There was a sign at the entrance that read, " No video and audio recording". The number of people recording the show was amazing. There was a lady 2 rows in front of us who was recording a video of every single song of the show. From my view point, there was always a 2 hands a camera in my field of view. That is really irritating! And a lady in row 2, must have watched the entire show through the view finder of her camera. Why can't the ushers and security do something about these 'rule breakers' even after informing them, I do not know. These people deserve to have their cameras confiscated or their clips deleted on the spot as a form of punishment. It is precisely because they get away scott free that they never learn.

Standing
I can understand if the kids get excited an stand...but a parent? before the end of the show during the last dance sequence, the mother in front of us (again) decided to stand to get a good video shot of the proceedings on stage. This was with her hands raised overhead for maximum elevation. Even after I tapped her and indicated for her to sit down, she sat with her hands still overhead. This lady is both so inconsiderate and so dense not to realise that my asking her to sit down is to get her not to block our view behind her.

I must say I really hate to attend a performance in Singapore. Try it once and it is not difficult to understand why.

LOAC Day 2

Day 2

Woken up early to the sound of an alarm clock that was inadvertently set at the wrong time. So went for an early morning run at 0630hrs. It was light however at a much later time than I expected. The streets were empty and the air chilly. The terrain made the run more challenging than it should have, however, it was a good healthy start to the morning.

In the afternoon, we made an excursion to the town of Kandersteg. This was a small mountain ski resort a little more than half hour out of Spiez by train. The round trip costs 33 francs per person. The scenic route runs out of Spiez, making a total of 4 stops and there were 2 sections of tunnels, which on exiting, allowed us a view of the magnificent mountains of the Bernese Oberland. We did not have much time there however in the 3 over hours we had there, we took the Oeschinensee cable car. The cable car ride was short and costs 15 francs one way. We decided to walk the return leg of the journey. From the Berg station, it was another 20 minute hike along through meadows, alpine forests and all the way accompanied by views of the mountains and the sounds of the roaring river.

We were rewarded at the end of the hike when the end of the trail opened to the Oeschinensee surrounded by mountains and cliffs.  The Oeschinensee is a spectacular deep, blue water mountain lake. The sky was blue and numerous waterfalls accentuated the already magnificent and rugged landscape. The water was cold and crisp and it stung your face even in the bright afternoon sun.

For the return journey to Kandersteg, we decided to walk down the road along the river through the Oeschiwald. The return walk took about an hour, along steep mountain gravel mountain trails with bridges criss crossing the roaring mountain stream a couple of times.

See this link for a detailed look at the route.

*work in progress*

LOAC @ Spiez, Switzerland

Day 1

Met my traveling partner Austia at Changi Airport terminal 3. We were on the flight SQ 346 direct to Zurich on an Airbus A380-800 aircraft. We managed to get a seat on the upper deck row 81D which as right at the end of the upper deck.

Inflight entertainment was reasonable. Watched the following movies
1. Ironman 2
2. Shrek: Happily Ever After
3. Clash of the Titans
4. Sprinkling of other documentaries

Total flight time was 12 hours and we arrived at 0730 hrs at Zurich airport. Customs clearance was fuss free and in typical swiss efficient fashion. we collected our baggage was out of the terminal in half and hour. The temperature was a chilly 15 degrees when we stepped out of the terminal building looking for the train station.

Our connecting train ride to Spiez was scheduled for 1100 hrs but we found out that the ticket we got online was from Zurich HB which was the main train station in Zurich city. We paid another 4 francs for the connecting ticket from the airport station to Zurich Hauptbahnhof (HB). We then browsed around the terminal looking for good data SIM card deals. A prepaid SIM card form Swisscom costs an initial 20 francs. Data charges were 1 franc per MB capped at 5 francs per day. I opted not to buy the SIM card initially as I have yet to check out the internet arrangements and options at the accommodation. But seeing Austia happily surfing away on his iPad is making me reconsider my decision.

It stuck me that the cost of living here is extremely high with a McDonald breakfast costing me 11.10 francs for a Filet o Fish meal. My conservative budget of 20 francs per day has just been busted…but a lot.

We waited on platform 4, section C/D looking out for any signs of where seats 175 and 176 would be as the train pulled into the station. The train arrive right on schedule, really on the dot and they stay at the station for 3 minutes flat. They are extremely quiet and clean. Seating is assigned and there is a designated area at the end of each cabin for luggage.

In typical swiss fashion, our ride was waiting for us after we disembarked from the train at Spiez. We were brought to the Ausbildungszentrum or ABZ for short. This was a short 5 minute drive from the train station. We took as short walk to down to the water's edge of Lake Thun and round trip on steep slopes round to the train station and then back to the hotel was a pleasant 2 hour walk, including a couple of stops at the supermarket for groceries.

This brings the first day to a close. Eventful but tiring as I am still coping with the jet lag

Solar Power

Just had the most unexpected conversation yesterday about the use of solar power in Singapore, with the most unlikely of all persons. The owner of the battery shop decided he wanted to chat with me about solar panels and the works when all I intended to do was to buy a battery charger for the car.

It turned out to be a rather interesting chat and it has piqued my interest in the possibility of experimenting with this 'green' technology.

Instead of investing huge sums of money, the rough idea is to experiment first to discover the possibilities and practicalities before moving on and investing more heavily in it. I am not quite sure how much it will translate to in cost savings, however, one must realised that this is a mindset and commitment to go 'green' rather than to achieve monetary rewards.

The whole idea is still at the planning stage. So we will see how this pans out.

In the meantime, a site to tell you more about hooking your place to the sun

http://www.freesunpower.com/

Cameron Highlands 11-16 June 2010: Facts and Figures

For those with a fetish for statistics (namely me)

Start: 11 June 2010 0530 hrs
End: 16 June 2010 2345 hrs

Total distance: 1288km

Accomodation:
Cameron Highlands: Casa del la Rosa
3 nights, Room 308, 2nd floor
265 RM / night, total 768 RM

KL: One World Hotel
2 nights, Room 2111
total 690 RM

Diesel
1.7 RM/L
Total diesel cost: 268 RM
Total diesel: 158L

Touch N Go
Cost of Card: 10 RM
Total Top up: 220RM

Cameron Road Trip 11-16 June 2010

This started off as a simple idea. Landies with kids will make better travel mates. And so we rounded up Tim/Yvette and Jack/Eng Chin for a short easy trip to Cameron. This is with the assumption that we will all be more understanding of needs like: diaper change, feedings stops, toilet breaks etc.


We meet up at Tuas Drive West at 0530 hrs, just outside the entrance to Raffles Marina. Crossing over via the lorry lane was hassle free this time and soon we were on our way after an obligatory last minute stop at the Gelang Patah.

One new encounter was the need to purchase a Touch 'n' Go card from the first toll booth. While I did not like the idea of a stored value card, not knowing when it will be replaced or expire, it turned out to be quite a useful item as it did smooth out the journey, cutting down on the time wasted at toll booths.

The drive up was generally uneventful. The only real excitement occurred during our run up Cameron via the old road from Tapah. At one bend, before reaching the Lata Iskandar waterfall, we caught a glimpse of a while pick up tip over the end of the cliff and disappear from sight. We stopped to assist only to find the pick up at least 20m down a steep ravine. However, the 2 passengers were fortunately uninjured.

We stayed at the Casa del la Rosa, someway between Tanah Rata and Brinchang. Rooms were clean and adequate with a nice but small garden at the rear for a nice morning stroll the next day.

The 2 days were spent exploring the myriad of sights available on Cameron. However, due to the weekend and school holidays, we spent some time on the roads fighting traffic, usually against our favour. However, the best 2 activities was the visit to the Sungai Palas Tea Centre where we spent a lazy afternoon sipping tea and allowing the kids to play together. The views of the surrounding slopes of the tea garden was gorgeous.

We also had the fortune of visiting Jack's uncle's farm. This was a non-tourist visit to a farm, involving a short route of travel of narrow steep tracks to a couple of vegetable plots high above the main tourist route. We were thrilled by the off-road experience and also pleasantly surprised with the opportunity to pick and eat ripe tomatoes and strawberries right off the vine. It was an unforgettable experience especially for the kids. I am glad we shared the same philosophy that our singaporean children need to be exposed to the outdoors and other experiences far from the urban landscape. The drizzle made the experience so much more surreal. Jack's uncle was very generous and offered us vegetables from his plot. With the landies loaded with vegetables and pots of plants, we headed down the wet slippery slopes back to Brinchang.

Will follow on with another post on trip facts and figures

Touched from the Past

It never ceases to amaze me about how events in your life, sometimes do not appear as mere coincidences. Rather everything does happen for a reason.

Something special happened yesterday. Someone left a comment on my post "Holy Darkness" which was posted in 2007. Follow the link to see the comment left for that post. I am glad my decision to share this particular piece of music has just made a slight difference to the people who have heard it on my blog.

I only pray that what I do, may continue to positively influence or affect the people around me. I pray. Pray with me.

Taken the Plunge

I must be crazy.

But then again, I know I always have been... but my blog title says otherwise.

Its official. I will be attempting 84 km at the Adidas Sundown Marathon 2010 scheduled for 29 May 2010.

Will I succeed. I do not know but I will sure try to ensure I do not fail at this task. Check out details at the site below.

www.sundownmarathon.com

Now... should I run for a cause...

Test blog entry

From the iPhone app


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

All Saints Mass 2009

There was a line in mass that struck me yesterday. It got me thinking for a while. It goes roughly like this,

" The first, early Christians had to give up their lives for the faith. For us, in this day and age where we do not have to die,the best thing we can do is LIVE the faith! "

Two different times. Our situations are so different. Out forefathers had to endure persecution and risk of death, and indeed they paid the price for the faith with their lives. They did!

Yet for us, in our cushy world where we are not persecuted and enjoy the freedom to practise our faith, we often fail to live up to the example set for us by our early fathers. We had not been asked to die. We are best able to minister to others by simply living our lives according to the faith, as revealed by God.

So as we celebrate the All Saints' and All Souls', may the lives of those who have come and gone before us, inspire and remind us of the lives we are called to lead. May we ask the Saints above to pray for us and likewise pray for those souls who have gone before us.

Test

Warmest Regards
Adrian Tan

Sent from my iPhone

Little Red Dot

Singapore was once called a little red dot.

I hereby present THE little red dot. Try it. Its irritatingly addictive!



Put The Big Red Button on your site

O God, You Search Me - Psalm 139

Another beautiful song


O God, you search me and you know me
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down you are before me
Ever the maker and keeper of my days

you know my resting and my rising
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting you besiege me
In every moment of life or death you are

Before a word is on my tongue, Lord
YOu have known its meaning through and through
You are with me beyond my understanding
God of my present, my past and future too

Although your Spirit is upon me
Still I search for shelter from you light
There is nowhere on earth I can escape you
Even the darkness is radiant in your sight

For you created me and shaped me
Gave me life within my mother's womb
For the wonder of who I am I praise you
Safe in your hands all creation is made new

Open My Eyes

OPEN MY EYES
(Jesse Manibusan)

Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see your face.
Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see.

Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear your voice.
Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear.

Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love like you.
Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love.

I live within you. Deep in your heart, O Love.
I live within you. Rest now in me



Here is another version by Vanessa Morissey


Very simple song...but a wonderful prayer to do. Let us start today.