Blazing Sunday morning. Lazy run on an empty Jl. Imam Bonjol, Jakarta. A tall, lean white guy with a black dog on a leash was running towards me. He was followed by two Indonesians. One was running in a long sleeves shirt and jeans with a walkie talkie in his hand. His face were all red. He hardly could keep up. The other was in a big SUV with a CD15 license plate, driving oh so slowly and smiling oh so victoriously.
One humid early Friday morning in GBK. Easy recovery run. Passed a crowd of a synchronised work out. All dressed in whites. A middle age lady stood out in the crowd because her hair was done in the most stylish and intricate up do I've ever seen. Her hair stayed like that no matter how she moved. I could definitely picture her singing The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
One lovely nite in a crowded bar. A group of pretty women dressed to impress sitting together. All were busy uploading recently taken pictures of them and updating status and replying comments or like on whatever social media platform out there. All were busy connecting with people in a virtual world and disconnecting with people in real world.
Learn history through his story. That's what you get when you read a Michener book. How I wish history was this exciting when I was in high school. Why can't history be more of a story telling than memorising facts? It's definitely a page turner.
Just because I love running doesn't mean I am motivated at all times. There are plenty of time in which I rather go back under a blanket and continue dreaming than catching up with my running schedule. I read an article that says to keep me motivated I need to be creative with my goal. I'm going to run everyday for 100 days in a row. I think I can.
A motorcyclist actually stopped and motion me with his right hand to cross a street! Must be my lucky day! It was a miracle! Wait a minute. It wasn't even a street. It was a small zebra cross in a parking area of a mall and the guy came out of a parking basement for motorcycles. Maybe it was too good to be true. But still, I have to give the guy some credit for being polite. Unlike most J-Rex.
I've been whining about how unfriendly and unsafe Jakarta is for pedestrian. Hazardous sidewalk, polluted traffic, lunatic motorcyclists, rotten public transportation, this and that, bla bla bla. Am I turning into a half-empty-glass-person who spit only negative words out of my mouth? Oh NO! Just walk! Senayan-Kota Tua. By foot. 12,7K. Around 3 hr. About 28.000 steps with VivoFit. Love the city in which you live. Happy birthday Jakarta!
If I already think I can't, I probably can not. Do not underestimate and limit myself. My biggest enemy lives inside my head. I am what I think. I think I can. I think I can.
Long transit in Frankfurt Airport. Observing travellers in a huge lounge with giant window looking at a runway. A middle age guy with a binocular busy watching aircrafts take-off and landings. He didn't have any carry on luggage or backpack that indicate he was going somewhere. Just him and his binocular. For hours. Some people collect stamps. Others go to airports with binoculars to watch aircrafts.
Pedestrians and traffic lights in Stockholm are not best of friends. Most of them don't like to wait for the light to turn green for pedestrians. Whenever they see fit it's safe to cross the traffic they will disregard the red light for pedestrians. Some even jaywalked!
To have a non-running friends who go to a race just to see you cross a finish line is awesome. To have your family travel a great distance to cheer you at the finish line with HEJA! cards and yellow rose medals is super Awesome. Wolfgang Oey you are one fortunate guy!
Asics Stockholm Marathon 2014. I couldn't believe I passed 5:00 pacers! Keep Going. Keep Going. Keep Going. I psyched myself up. I didn't know how many times I repeated that two words when I saw from a distance a white Garmin balloon with 4:30 printed on it. No way! I picked up my pace only to see a little girl on the side line holding the white balloon. I laughed so hard a guy ran next to me gave me a concern look.
Residence of Stockholm is awesome. Stockholmers went out to cheers runners of Asics Stockholm Marathon 2014. Not just the elite runners and the fast runners, the crowd waited and cheered until the last runner reached the finish line. Not just at the finish line but along the 41.195K course for hours screaming and shouting, "Heja! Heja! Heja!" That's a verb in Svenska or Swedish for cheering. I felt like in a herd of charging bulls. A personal best by 00:29:36! Woo-hoo! \(^_^)/
One cold and rainy day in Frankfurt Airport. In a bus to take passengers to an aircraft en route to Stockholm. Everyone wore at least two layers of clothing. A scarf here, a pair of boots there. Anything to keep warm. Except a woman who was in a short and a sleeveless top. No coat. No sweater. No boots. No scarf. I guess if you live in North Pole, a 10 degrees rainy weather is like a summer breeze. I guess she was on her way for a toy shopping spree for Christmas. I guess I have too much of imagination.
I don't get it. There is no federal speed limit on parts of Autobahn. Yet the accident rate is low compare to other countries that applied strict speed limit on its freeways. My wild guess is when I am deprived of speed limit, I would be recklessly tempted to steal an opportunity to speed. But when I am given the freedom to have no speed limit, I would be responsible because I don't want to loose this privilege. I wonder if this applicable to other matter in life.
In a car en route to Bonn. A big man and a little man pushed their bikes to cross the street. When our car approached them and stopped, Big Man was already on the other side of the street. He waited calmly. Little Man waited for our car to pass. When my driving partner gave Little Man a sign to cross the street, he then proceeded, stopped right in front of our car, looked at us and nodded his head, then continued crossing the street. How sweet!
At least 2 hours before departure at CKG. 8 hours flight to DXB. 2 hours transit. 7 hours flight to FRA. About 2 hours ride on a fast train to Aachen. How I wish I could say "Beam me up, Scotty!"
Coming from a city with a population close to 9 million with all its hustle and bustle of a mega city to a city with population of just under 300.000 is such a fresh of breath air. Literally. No malls, no traffic, no motorcycles, no pollution. Plenty of trees, little shops that close on Sundays, quiet neighborhood and quiet streets. Aachen, my kind of town.
After two weeks of Mac Diet I lost plenty of blogger's block. My notebook saved me from deprivation of right brain nourishment. It's full of notes, stories, sketches, doodles, gibberish and well-thought nonsense. I should be on holiday for life.
