Extenuating circumstances

Enfant Terrible and I haven't gone running since last Thursday because of the haze. This year's might be the worst I've ever seen since 1996. I was still in secondary school then, and I remember how dim and smoky the field looked from my classroom.

So, we've been watching The Strain and Fear of the Walking Dead. What I've seen so far of FotWD is good. It's intense but less nerve-shredding than The Walking Dead, if that makes sense.

As I've read The Strain trilogy (the quality of which sadly declined from book 2 onwards), I have mixed feelings about the TV series. Sometimes it feels like the only things they kept from the books are the character names. Everyone, including The Master, looks different from how I imagined them (doesn't that always happen), and don't get me started on the new characters.

On the other hand, the series should be judged on its own merits because you don't compare apples to oranges. So, as a TV series, it's quite good, though some of the medical talk, which was probably expositioned for the benefit of a layman audience, did make me twitch.

Anyway, watching monster apocalypse productions during this weather is probably not the best idea. In both FotWD and The Strain, the powers-that-be are either hiding information from the public, or are somehow responsible for the events and are hiding information from the public.

If you've read The Strain trilogy, it's not difficult to imagine that our current (real-life) weather conditions are a literal smokescreen for something more ominous.

Maybe there's some serious terraforming shit happening at ground level. Maybe law enforcement outposts are quietly being put into place under the cover of smog for nefarious purposes. MAYBE the vampires ARE involved in this and are enjoying free rein right now in the diminished sunlight (we know that the older the bloodsucker, the more tolerant it is of sunlight... or is it the other way round?).

Maybe I have cabin fever.

Or MAYBE that is what they want me to think.

Trying to compute

I've been holiday-sick since I got back from Kota Kinabalu. It's like being homesick, but you yearn for the holiday place instead of home. Of course, I got a little homesick when I was in Europe, so you can't really win that game.

I've also been thinking of getting another laptop. The idea came about when ET and I were discussing quite seriously the idea of being traveling freelancers. From what I've read, it seems to be mainly a white people thing at the moment.

(When I was in school, I imagined I would be a vagabond, living in a van and washing up at petrol stations and cooking over a camp stove. All my belongings would fit into a rucksack. I have a rucksack. I have a camp stove. I have a... sedan. The idea still intrigues me.)

All I really need to work is a computer, electricity, and an internet connection (doesn't almost everyone?), and it's possible for ET to conduct music lessons over Skype, though that isn't really a thing in Malaysia yet. Maybe we can make it a thing elsewhere.

The thing is, the working holiday I took in KK made me realize that my current laptop is uncomfortably heavy (almost 2 kg, maybe more because it's got so many files stored on it, har har) and too big to just shove into any old laptop sleeve. It also has a shit battery, so it's on DC power all the time.

I don't actually need another laptop, or so I thought, but my current one switched off on its own a few days ago. I lost an entire manuscript! And yet, right now, I wonder if it had overheated and whether an overhaul might refresh things somewhat. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, it's just old. (One day someone will say that of me too, I think.)

A new laptop would be nice though. It would be smaller, lighter, and more portable. It would run faster, until it doesn't. And then I'll get another one. And so on. We'll see.

TMBT 2015: A race report of sorts

Introduction
Technically, only participants write a race report. Still, "race widow report" doesn't have the same ring to it, you know?

(I know "[hobby] widow(er)" sounds morbid, but it just indicates you've "lost" your spouse to their interest. You don't even need to be married; you qualify if you have a significant other!)

So, first: TMBT = The Most Beautiful Thing, referring to the Sabah landscape. TMBT can also stand for That Murderous Bloody Trail, or Terrible Muddy Ratched Trap, or Treacherously Mindbending Running Torture, and other more descriptive terms. I could go on.

TMBT distances this year were 12, 28, 50, and 100 km. The last 2 are ultra-marathon distances, which I'm sure need not be explained (they exceed marathon distances).

As you know, trail races are more difficult than road races because the terrain is uneven, and you might run into trees, get stung by bees, and/or fall into a river (I have not experienced the last). You'll definitely get dirty, especially if it rains/has rained.

Every year, it's as if TMBT organizers ask themselves what the most difficult route could be, and map that out. Naturally, hundreds of runners, if not a thousand or so (this year), sign up for it. Some even pay for a hotel package. All this for a route that can involve uphills of ~15k or more.

Trail running and haze

Today's haze was especially bad. We decided not to go for our run as a result.

The usual advice applies: Stay indoors when possible, keep doors and windows closed, and stay hydrated.

I was curious about it, so I looked up "running in hazy conditions". All I found was a Singaporean running site. There was also a 2012 run report from the USA, where the writer and other like-minded psychos ran during smoky conditions that had reduced visibility to fog-like conditions and necessitated the use of headlamps.

However, I found nothing on being in the trees during a haze. I'm not sure I want to report on that first-hand, even though we're virtually haze ground zero. So far, my throat is a bit sore and I'm sniffly and bleary in the morning. Lethargy holds sway in the day, and not even cold showers relieve the lassitude.

Running these past few days has been very warm, humid, and generally uncomfortable. Even the energizing effects of exercise are dampened by the haze, where your skin feels sticky and dirty all the time. I can almost feel the dirt landing on me. Ironically, the post-run endorphins are superseded by the tendency toward crankiness.

Ice cream only fixes it for 5 minutes!

Right in front of me

This is what most people do when they start an exercise regimen: buy exercise gear they don't really need eat. It's natural, because you feel good about your effort and exercise makes you hungry. It's also silly to starve yourself when you want to lose weight, as that is counterproductive in the long-term.

Anyway, when we took up trail running, I was 100% unprepared for how much more I had to eat. Eating 6 small meals a day? A recipe for sadness. The same went for eating more protein/less carbs. I had to accept that you need the calories when you do 10-12 km trail runs a day. Enfant Terrible took to the idea with frenzied joy, though he usually eats more than I do anyway.

So, I've been eating almost triple (!) my usual servings of rice, and I'm still hungry between meals, but manageably so. I snack on fried dal and raisins and dried pineapple (I also eat these things while running). The only problem is breakfast. The hunger is actually painful after breakfast, come to think of it.

I've tried white bread and brown bread spread with peanut butter and topped with bananas, oatmeal, eggs, rice, noodles, and all that, and am ravenous and sad an hour later.

A few days ago, I finally realized what I'd been doing wrong. I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner. I should have doubled my breakfast servings. OBVIOUSLY.

People on trains: A comparison

Biggest pizza I ever saw in my life (VivoCity, Singapore)

Singapore
EVERYONE is watching some serial or playing a game on their phone. Candy Crush appear to be the top game, followed by Jewel Saga (looks like), Fruit Ninja, et al. Others FaceBook, Instagram, or er, look up sex advice (as seen over someone's shoulder). Outfits run the gamut from pasar sloppy and laborer dusty to high-end night out (because Singapore public transport is just so damn good).

L'Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris)

Paris
People read stuff like Balzac and Voltaire. French men actually wear those boat hats. No berets in the summer (obviously). Clothing tends to be various shades of white and brown (white people), and brighter colors (other ethnic groups). But everyone looks effortlessly light and chic and ready for summer. Unlike the tourists, who just look frazzled.

Concorde Metro stop, obviously (Paris)

London
Every stop we went to just served to demonstrate why London is considered one of the most fashionable cities in the world. Immaculate style and incredible range (corporate, corporate casual, smart, smart casual, street, smart street, and other looks whose names I don't know). All ladies had their warpaint on. Cat eye makeup is still in. People read (book or e-book), work, or stare into space. You need wellies (rain boots) even in the summer.

ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture by Ashish Kapoor (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London)

This one was too purple to leave out (Covent Garden, London)

Strangers you meet

[A bus stand in Abergavenny, Wales]

The bus we want is scheduled to arrive in 40 minutes. We wait right at the bay, seated on the pavement. A pudgy guy in a tracksuit joins us. He has an Aldi's plastic bag.

Pudgy pulls his phone out and checks his messages and social media, then plugs in his earbuds. The he rummages through his bag, and winds up emptying it. I can see a 1.5-L bottle of Coca Cola, more bags of crisps/potato chips than he needs, and some household miscellany.

Pudgy puts the bigger, heavier items back in the bag first, then the smaller, lighter ones. He pulls them out again. He repacks the bag. And again. I guess he's trying to pack it efficiently, but you can only do so much with a 5-L plastic bag.

Suddenly, one the two old ladies who had been sitting on a low wall across the street from us strides over. Pudgy doesn't even notice her, only looking up when she says:

"I've come to save the day, love!"

She hands him another plastic bag! A bigger and sturdier-looking one!

Pudgy looks up, and a big, happy smile spreads across his goofy face.

"Aw, thank you, darlin'!" he says. His heroine smiles back and rejoins her friend.

*Pronounced "abergavoni".

How to do nothing in Kota Kinabalu: A 6-day account

Day 1
- Arrive from KL; register at TMBT counter; check-in to downtown hotel; chill until it's time for early dinner (Mad Ben: mussels in white wine with spaghetti [fab], lamb burrito + fries [best ever], thin-crust lamb pizza [excellent though small]); sleep.

Waiting to cross the bridge to the start point. Only 10 people per crossing!

A minute of silence and self-loathing

I really really really really really liked the Constantine series. No one was as highly strung, self-loathing, and sour as Matt Ryan's rendition. (Although the only other screen version I know of is the Keanu Reeves version, so...) He was all sharp edges and tics (and tic-inducing).

Of course it was cancelled about 2 months ago. After 1 measly season, or series, if you're from the UK. There had been 13 episodes.*

ONE season. But what a season it was. I barely remember any filler episodes. It seemed like the tension was turned to 10 all the time, even when apparently nothing was happening.

The last episode was a cliffhanger. And hearing that it'd been cancelled left me on the precipice of despair.**

The network said the show didn't garner the eyeballs to justify renewing its contract. Fair enough, but also unfair when you think of how series such as Arrow and The Flash are still filming. (But I also see their appeal.)

On the other hand, we downloaded the episodes we watched, so I guess we were responsible for the insufficient eyeballs too. It's hard not to take it personally when you think about it like that.

Now that's it's apparently going to be screened on the FOX channel here, it just feels like a cruel joke.

*A bad luck number if there ever was one.
**It's funny because John Constantine featured in at least one episode in The Sandman series, and one of The Sandman's sisters is named Despair, and, er. Yes. Well.

BioZ vs. Mosi-Guard mosquito repellent

If you spend any amount of time (like 30 minutes or so) in the Malaysian outdoors, and I'm not talking about sprinting across the carpark through the pouring rain and inside the mall, you will usually need insect repellent.

Specifically, "outdoors" refers to any setting where there are trees, grass, shrubs, whatnot, i.e., flora, which is accompanied by the according fauna, i.e., flies, gnats, ants, MOSQUITOES. I have a (sensible) horror of getting bitten by mosquitoes because I could contract dengue. And I would probably need hospitalization. And I would shrink from the illness. As I weigh 50 kg (half of which is probably teeth and hair) and stand at 5 feet 4-ish inches in my bare feet, that would be a bad development.

Staying indoors isn't even a surefire way to avoid getting bitten.

Tip (if you didn't already know it): Mosquitoes will attack when you slow down/stop while running/exercising. Therefore, keep moving!

But people get tired, and have to stop anyway. Which is where roll-on mosquito repellent becomes a godsend. Apply it on all exposed skin, even your ears if you need to (I need to, but I don't!), and reapply when you stop. This has 2 benefits: it keeps you moving a bit so that mosquitoes don't land on you, and you refresh your anti-mosquito layer.

I stopped using the spray-on repellent because it stings like a fucker if it gets in your eyes. I also feel that with sprays, most of it gets in the air rather than on your skin, which is stupid.

Compared to its spray-on version, you have more control of where you apply the roll-on Mosi-guard to, but it's so thick and you have to reapply anyway if you sweat a lot (like me), so you don't feel like you're getting your money's worth.

Enfant Terrible says "you get what you pay for", but he also gobbled down the cheap Malay snacks we got a few weeks ago, so forget him. This is my idea of a lead up to saying that we tried the Bio Z mosquito repellent, and we're going to stick with it for the near future.

For one, it passed the taste test (er, heheh), and you'll never get any in your eyes (unless you're extraordinarily stupid) because it's solid. I like that it's in a pushup tube like a deodorant, so you can gauge the remaining amount. I'll probably have to get a new tube next month, which is reasonable, considering how much it costs.

If you must, it probably also emits less carbon emissions as it's from (gasp!) Singapore, whereas MosiGuard is made in the UK.

Briefly:

Safety: Both are DEET-free, therefore kid-safe.
Active ingredient(s): Mosi-guard, Citrodiol/lemon eucalyptus oil; Bio Z, lemongrass oil and citronella oil.
Taste: Mosi-guard tastes bad (Bio Z does not) and you (I) always accidentally smear some on your (my) drinking hose (but I don't with Bio Z).
Price: Mosi-guard, ~RM28; Bio Z, ~RM7.90.