Finished the Marathon... 21Km!

runpix.com FINISH ORDER

Last week, I ran the Singapore Marathon. First ever long race (More than 20 km) I've ever ran. In a single word, it was AWESOME experience.

I would strongly recommend to anyone to run at least half marathon. Is challenging, but achievable, you get some discipline in your life while training and looking after what you eat; you get some nervousness at the starting line, especially when starting with top runners on the front line; and you get the excitement of thousands of people next to you to feel what I called: "the flavour of achievement"....

Check the link for the funny stats and my results.

Cheers!

US & MEXICO here I come!

Bye bye Singabloodyhot! :D

Pita's Wedding - Sintra & Lisbon, Portugal

Lisboa (263), originally uploaded by luisrene.

Amazing how the union of 2 people, one from Kazakhstan, the second from Portugal, this couple of friends brought half the world to a beautiful town, Sintra, 30min from Lisbon, to enjoy one of the nicest weddings i've attended, with elements of the multicultural experience love can get together. 3 languages when saying speeches as the tradition goes in Almaty. Wonderful.

See all pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luisrene/sets/72157594210096388/

CONGRATULATIONS, ANNA & PITA!

ENJOY.

LR

ColdPlay Live - Singapore

A cool concert of ColdPlay in Singapore! You should've been here! They're going to Hong Kong and Osaka soon, in case you're hopping on and off around these places....

Cheers!

LR

If I wasn't a Muslim....
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With all respect to my muslim friends, a sarcastic song which shows some untapped reality in some of the cities in europe...

Have fun...

ON IRAN - shocking article...

I just read this article in TNR, which provides the background and a glimpse of past history and radical thinking in Iran, which has “nurtured Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's worldview”.

A CHILD OF THE REVOLUTION TAKES OVER

During the Iran-Iraq War, the Ayatollah Khomeini imported 500,000 small plastic keys from Taiwan. The trinkets were meant to be inspirational. After Iraq invaded in September 1980, it had quickly become clear that Iran's forces were no match for Saddam Hussein's professional, well-armed military. To compensate for their disadvantage, Khomeini sent Iranian children, some as young as twelve years old, to the front lines. There, they marched in formation across minefields toward the enemy, clearing a path with their bodies. Before every mission, one of the Taiwanese keys would be hung around each child's neck. It was supposed to open the gates to paradise for them.

Continue here…

A triggering question: Would this spin off the war against the “axis of evil” including Iran/North Korea/Lybia? What would the world then expect from this Basiji martyrdom fanatic Ahmadinejad?

More reference here.

Kota Kinabalu - 3 peaks in 12 hours!

Kota Kinabalu - Sabah, Borneo, originally uploaded by luisrene.

If one day you feel like there's no tomorrow, just go away and discover how much your body can do:

Day 1:
07:00am-Going from hostel in Kota Kinabalu towards Kinabalu Park, 2 hours from KK, home of the 1st UNESCO protected site in Malaysia.
10:00am-Started the trekking of 8.5 Km from the base of the Mount Kinabalu towards Laban Rata, the point at Km 6 where people sleep.
12:22pm-Arrive to Laban Rata after 2 hours and 22 minutes, breathless. 99% of the path is VERY steep.
13:00-Lunch:Chicken soup and nuts with lemon tea. Temperature 11C.
15:12-Quick decision on going up to the Peak instead of waiting in Laban Rata. Start Trekking for the next 3.5 Km.
16:44-Sneak into the Peak zone without a guide with the ambition of climbing UGLY SISTER, the east peak of the mountain. Reached there by 17:12 after literally grasp the rock to avoid falling down the cliff.
17:25-Suntan in the top of the Ugly Sister. It's cold, so suntan doesn't last more than 3 minutes.
17:32-Found the biggest bumblebee ever, and try to eat it. I was hungry and thirsty. No water to drink.
17:48-No more fun. Ugly sister defeated me, at 10 mts above me, equipment was necessary to go to the top. Go back home.
18:00 Descend commenced back for dinner.
18:42 Arrive back to the hostel for some light dinner and prepare mentally for next climb.
19:20 Went to bed (not with any ungly sister)

DAY 2
02:00am Wake up!!!!!! & Toothbrush breakfast.
02:42am Start the second climbing towards the LOW PEAK to see sunrise.
03:20am Crossed the check point at Km 7 and say hi to the forest guard.
04:10am Reached the tip SOUTH PEAK, which I thought was the Low Peak, cause it's lower than the rest. Wonderful View.
04:15am Decided to have a nap, waiting for the rest of the slow people.
04:35am The 'slow' but smart people went to the RIGHT PEAK and left me behind. I saw the lights going towards LOW PEAK, which I missed.
04:45am Descend of the South Peak to go up to the Low Peak and meet the people with the sunrise.
05:22am A thin line of sunlight in the horizon meets me reaching the tip of the LOW PEAK. Temperature: 2C.
05:33am Sunrise is coming and coming; Full sun came at 05:48am.
06:00am Explore, enjoy and picture the area.
07:30 Descending commence back to hostel.
08:30 Proper Breakfast: Chicken soup and nuts.
09:30 Descending to base of Mt. K. 6 Km back.
12:45 Reaching Final Destination with no legs in mind.

ASTONISHING EXPERIENCE.

THERE ARE MANY MORE TOMORROWS TO COME.

LR

El Huarache Veloz....

Well, apparently I have been quite busy and haven't posted in ages, thanks to high exciting mobility rates. Here some journeys after Zhong Guo Gonxi Fai Cai:

But a quick summary of what has happened in past weeks:

I ran a 10.5km mini marathon in Thailand.

I went to Rawa twice within 3 weeks cause the BBQ on Saturday, the snorkeling and the laziness is quite attractive in this small island of the Malay east coast.

A cool friend of mine from France who was my trainee back in MX visited for first time SEA and took her to a city where at certain point they spoke more than 80 languages in the city Melakka and Rawa.

Last week I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia attending a national sales managers meeting, which was great, my role: taking minutes and sometimes be called (the new pedro). I got introduced to the astonishing Angkor Culture, which srikes me how similar gets to Mayan or Incan cultures in terms of architecture, astronomy and calendarization.

Few days ago: Passing by Tokio taking Narita Express, and took zero pictures, doesn't give any food to share besides the pain of my bump sitting more hours on a plane than the actual hours spend in the metropolis. The same will happen tomorrow heading to Taipei.

This weekend: 3 movies in a row, the best: (Apocalypse Now & The Interpeter)

Looking fwd to meet Cliff again in PEK. See you next weekend my Chino friend.

LR