I recently came across a theory called the “Heartbeat hypothesis”. It basically suggests that every living creature has a limited number of heartbeats before death/failure occurs. Also, several studies have shown that a lowered basal heart rate equates to longevity.

Some people have taken this heartbeat hypothesis and applied it in a very interesting way.

“So if I don’t do any physical activity and keep my heart rate low, I should be enjoying a longer life! Exercise like running increases my heart rate to crazy levels over long periods. I am sure to die earlier by exercising!”

The above does sound rather logical but it doesn’t take into account the lower basal heart rate that fit and healthy people enjoy. We also don’t really need a lot of time doing exercise anyway.

I had a rather sedentary lifestyle in February and didn’t run at all for 6 months before that.  As for now, I am running an average 271 minutes a week, which is tougher and way higher than the health ministry’s recommended 150 mins of moderate-intensity cardio exercise.

Here’s a simple but fair comparison of myself to find out the amount of beats my heart had over a period of 30 days.

There are many real world factors that can influence both numbers in bold, but most of them only make the gap between the two larger. For example, walking used to raise my heart rate to about 110 but I hover around 90 now. Same activity, less effort.

Increase fitness also made my heart recover to resting rates much faster. A 800m dash to 178 beats per minute (bpm) would have needed 400m of light jogging before I recover to 136 bpm. Now, I get to 136 bpm in 150m.

So if you do believe in the heartbeat hypothesis, why not pick up a good cardio exercise like running and watch your resting/basal heart rate plummet in the best of ways?

About 400,000 years ago, the first ancestors of the anatomically modern humans appeared. These humans needed the means to hunt and to survive. Since weapons were not invented till about 200,000 years later, they gathered every day to do push-ups, lift heavy rocks, and did pull-ups on low hanging branches. After gaining a lot of strength, they wrestled animals to the ground for meat and punched predators in the faces to survive.

Haha! No.

We hunted by running. We survived by running.

Without weapons, we can only get animal protein by scavenging carcasses. That wasn’t enough as the other scavengers are much stronger than us. We can’t run as fast as a cheetah, but over long-distances, there is not one animal that can beat us. We ran animals down and ate them for protein to evolve our brains and body.

There was nothing to use for defense except for sticks and stones, and that wasn’t much. We survived by running, climbing and hiding.

We ate just enough to fuel ourselves and kept our bodies lean. Being lean ensures that you don’t waste energy carrying excessive weight in fat or muscle. Being lean makes you faster. Being faster gets you more meat and keeps you alive.

Everyone ran. The men, the women, the children and even the old. You had to or else you wouldn’t be able to eat or to stay alive.

Even after the first weapons came about, you still had to run to club or spear an animal to death. Tools are useful, weapons are clever. They made our lives easier but they also slowly took away the very reason why we survived.

It is simple. You and me, us humans, survived as a species because we ran and we were bloody good at it too.

Go. Run.

(This article is not intended to make fun of weight lifting. Weight lifting gives nice bodies and strength. I’m trying to say that running was and is more important in the context of survival.)

The 2.4km run. The bane of many SAF regulars, NSFs and NSmen. It’s pretty much the most hated segment of the IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test).

“Why can’t I run fast enough?” is the question that most ask.

It’s also the question that leads to people treating every training run like it’s an IPPT test.

“If I run as fast as I can each time I train, I should be able to run faster.”

What if I said that it’s not your speed that is the problem?

It’s not as straightforward as what I am going to say below but do hear me out.

Any untrained individual can probably run 100 metres in 15 seconds or less. Let’s just say that you are really that slow and can only manage it in 20 seconds.

2,400 metres / 100 metres * 20 seconds = 480 seconds = 8 minutes.

So you, the “slowpoke”, can theoretically run a 2.4km in 8 minutes! In case you have been living under a Singapore rock, 8 minutes for 2.4km nets you a Gold award in every category.

You don’t lack speed. You lack stamina. You lack the stamina to maintain a pace of 20 seconds per 100 metres for the distance of 2.4km.

So, work more on your aerobic ability and not spend all your time on anaerobic runs! The long-distance running guidelines are perfect for the IPPT run. 80% of runs should be done slow. The other 20% can be spent on your fast runs like intervals, tempos and fartleks.

Of course you still can improve doing fast runs all the time but you risk over-training, injuries and most of all, you waste efficiency.

Good luck for your next IPPT!

For as long as I can remember, I preferred to run at night or in the evenings. Waking up is a chore and waking up early to run is a bigger one. It’s also perpetually summer all year-long where I live – in sunny Singapore – so it’s comfortable to run at night.

So why do I run in the mornings now?

#1 – Fresher Air

Parks are irritatingly small for distance running so I run a lot on roadsides. The air in the mornings have lesser vehicular exhaust, dust and whatever impurities that is kicked around after the rush hour in the evenings.

#2 – Backup Plans

There are times when it’s impossible to run safely due to thunderstorms or haze so it’s so much better to plan for a morning run and have the choice to switch it to a night run if the weather is really bad.

#3 – More Energy

We all know how tiring school or work can be, and even if you overcome the mental barricades to step out for a run after a long day, your body might not perform well for the run due to fatigue. I know I can do runs up to 1.5 hours on an empty stomach and if I need more fuel for a longer run, I just wake about 30 – 40mins earlier to consume something.

#4 – Better Diet & Sleep

Having to wake earlier means having to sleep early and you don’t have to read much to know that it’s good for the body.

Post-workout nutrition is important so I used to end up having late meals after a night run. It’s quite unhealthy and difficult to sleep early with a full stomach and a post-workout body state.

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day and what better way to indulge after a morning run?

#5 – Getting it Out of the Way

This has to be the biggest reason for me to switch. I spent as much as 2 hours each time, running about 4-5 days a week and that means sacrificing time with my fiancée; and she wasn’t too happy about it. Having my runs in the mornings ensures that I have a “normal” life to do things in the evenings. To her, it doesn’t even seem that I am not around on the weekends as I finish the runs before she wakes up.

It’s tough to wake up early to run in the mornings and depending on your work or school, you might even need to wake up at 4 – 5am to squeeze in a run. I realize that waking up early is not the most difficult thing about this change; sleeping early is. All the electronics that I use before bedtime keeps me up and I have to overcome it by having a routine to make myself sleep earlier.

Good luck if you are trying to make a switch! Do share any tips to help with waking or sleeping earlier.

Meat. It’s controversial and yet plays a very big part in almost everyone’s lives. Fact is, it has been a very big part for mankind since the beginning but it has only been controversial in modern times.

Let me set things straight first by saying that I love meat. It shouldn’t be so but meat forms the 2nd largest base of my food pyramid. Besides the nutritional value and the availability, it’s just absolutely fucking delicious. Char Siew (BBQ Pork), Roasted Pork, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Seafood, Beef stew, Lamb Kebabs, Steaks…; glorious bloody steaks.

Vegetarians and animal activists will be scowling at the above but if I was knee-deep in restricted waters, I’m diving right into it from the next paragraph.

I’m already ingesting all these animals, why shouldn’t I consider eating dolphin, dog, cat, rabbit, or even a nicely grilled hamster? Why is it illegal to sell/consume dog meat in my country when the equally intelligent pig is sold by the tons? Is the difference due to domestication? Go search YouTube for “pet pigs”. Don’t get me started if the reasons are nutrition or taste because I will bet my last dollar that almost every animal you don’t eat can be comparable in both areas.

I personally don’t eat dogs or cats because I see them as cute friends/pets. I remember reading about the consumption of dog meat in Korea and China as a young teen. With my pet, Junior, a Maltese-Shih Tzu looking at me, I expressed a shared disgust with my Mum at how horrible these people are. How can these humans eat dogs? Why would they even do that to such loving, smart creatures?

We then probably sat down to a meal of roasted meat and other delicacies.

Here’s my point to this whole blog post. As long as I eat meat, I am a murderous human being. I am the very reason why billions of animals are killed each year with many in cruel fashion so that they end up on my plate. Blood is not on my hands but it might as well have been.

The best thing I can do as a non-vegetarian is to shut my big mouth up when I hear of the consumption of animals that I will never eat. I plead for you omnivores/carnivores like me to do the same.

If you see or hear someone who consumes dog meat, don’t be a hypocrite and call it cruel/disgusting.

Former meat eaters who turned vegetarian because of animal cruelty are awesome. It’s really not easy.

Will I every turn vegetarian? Maybe, but I am being honest to say that it won’t happen soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lyedj6o6FU

As early as 2011, I’ve been thinking of ways to propose to Ruifang and I finally decided on how to do it about 5 weeks before the marriage proposal date on 18^th August 2012.

There hasn’t been a doubt that she will say “Yes” to marrying me as I do believe that I speak for the both of us when I say that we have a rock-solid relationship. In fact, we did the Singaporean thing by applying for a HDB flat way before the proposal. That is part of the reasons why I wanted to make this a big proposal so that she deservingly feels the romance despite the realities of getting a flat at an opportune time.

She had been hinting and sometimes even half threatening me about asking for her hand and her friends will nod their heads furiously in agreement about her readiness for marriage. I knew that she will expect it if I didn’t plan this correctly so I had to throw multiple bluffs/lies at her.

“We are going to get married anyway, so why do I need to ask?”

She knows that I don’t really believe in marriage so it was easy to plant the idea that I won’t ever propose since there’s no point to it. 2^nd August is our anniversary so I purposely planned the marriage proposal date to be after that.

I knew her very well so I manipulated her into thinking that it was her idea at the very start to model for my fake project for Oasia Hotel. I just said that my “client” needed non-professional models for a corporate online video and she almost immediately volunteered herself and her two great friends, Josephine and Reena. This set-up ensures that she will be filmed for the whole time without the need to hide cameras. Using this approach, it was also easier for me to set up meetings and arrange for logistics for the video shoot. It was half the truth after all.

Josephine & Reena were let in on the plan and they took it upon themselves to bring Ruifang on a roller-coaster ride of emotions as they pretended to be disinterested or have cold feet about the video shoot from time to time. They were also the one who managed to get her ring size for me. At one point in time, Ruifang was so angry at Reena for having cold feet that I felt really bad but I had to pretend to be all business like.

Ruifang and I live together at her parents place so communications was the biggest worry for me. We don’t look at each others phones but we know each of our passwords to them and to our email/social accounts. My iPhone was also a huge concern with the pop-ups of text and emails and I didn’t want to hide them to arouse suspicion.

I created a new email address and found a way to lock specific apps with a special way to unlock them so that there is no way of her stumbling onto the emails. Communications with Oasia Hotel, MINI Habitat (Story here), JannPaul Diamonds & all our friends and relatives were almost all done exclusively on that channel.

The biggest challenge of it all was to get 40 relatives and friends to attend the proposal without her finding out at all. Two weeks before the actual date, I contacted the guests and set very specific instructions to where and what time they may arrive at the 22nd floor of Oasia Hotel. An accidental text or Freudian slip from any of them could have foiled the whole plan but everything went well despite a few hiccups. I still had many sleepless nights though.

There were other bluffs I threw like having a staff at the hotel send her an official email of work engagement, casually looking around at ring designs to show that I have not even bought one and asking friends to check if she had plans for the proposal date.

The Marriage Proposal Day

I barely slept for 3 hrs but I knew I was in good hands for the video and photo coverage with Derek Foo, Song and Melvin Ho leading the shoot. After doing a “car scene” at the hotel, I pretended to leave for another event so Ruifang and the crew went upstairs while I waited at the lobby till they are in the room.

My Mum & Aunt came too early and spotted Ruifang from afar and headed in the opposite direction. Later, I was extremely lucky to catch them before they went up. I also had another group of friends who drove by too early and amazingly, Ruifang found the car familiar but did not think that it was her friends in it.

I wanted the beauty of the sunset for her walk-in but the clouds didn’t help me that day. Nonetheless, it was fair weather and I am grateful for that.

She took a lot of time before she realised what was going on and at my sight of her reddening eyes, I couldn’t help but teared uncontrollably even before she stepped onto the platform where I was.

I did plan what to say but my mind was blank and I could only say what I really meant while struggling hard to not choke on my own tears. The premise was simple; Love before marriage. Marriage is empty without Love but Love is never empty without marriage.

Our vows were taken before marriage and that is “to Love and Honour each other till the end of our lives.”

I am thankful for all the extra miles that Oasia Hotel put in to ensure a smooth execution. I have countless queries from friends on where the venue was and how pretty it is. The venue is perfect for ROMs and small weddings. (Contact for the Oasia Hotel here.)

I am thankful for all the relatives and friends who had to keep such a big secret and act along.

I am thankful for the wonderful photos that Melvin took (My future bro-in-law). He not only captured wonderful moments of the both of us but also of my guests. (Melvin’s Facebook Page, Melvin’s website.)

I am thankful for the expertise of Derek and Song who refined upon my ideas for the video and added so much more dimensions and story telling to it. (Derek’s Facebook Page)

I am especially thankful for finding a woman like Ruifang and her appreciation for all the little things that I do for her.

This “big” thing was my gift for my fiancée, my dear Ruifang.

Way before I met my fiancée, she fell in love with the MINI Cooper ever since she saw the movie “The Italian Job”. She is also a big fan of convertibles so I knew I had to get a MINI Cooper Cabrio for her engagement surprise.

I hooked up with the folks at MINI Habitat and they kindly provided me a sexy red one for the proposal!

I have never considered buying a MINI before as I am rather practical (and broke…). Most models sit 4 but only have 2 doors and how will the back seats have space for passengers? After a weekend in the MINI Cooper Cabrio, I am totally a fan of the car now. I had to pry my own hands open to return the key to MINI Habitat on Monday.

I don’t have to say much about its looks. The style and design makes it a head turner even if the one I was driving had another colour. I felt the need to be dressed up at least moderately well to even drive out to the wet market.

The centre switch is the one you’ll be always dying to flick.

The insides are just as aesthetically exciting with the huge speedometer on the dashboard and all the mechanical flips and switches. Every detail exudes class with an interesting mix of classic and modern touches.

The most important thing that totally bowled me over is how it drives; the power of the engine and how it handles the road. Bear in mind that I wasn’t even driving the Cooper S version. The acceleration is fantastic and simple things like how it throttled the speed when I let go of the accelerator ensures that I have a smooth ride without the need to use my brakes excessively. I found myself wanting to go faster at corners just because it handles turns like a knife through tofu (Updated expression. Butter can be quite hard you know).

It’s small but packs power in your hand that can be controlled and unleashed if you wish.

I am grateful for my fiancée’s dad’s sedan that I get to drive around often but boy I am missing the MINI Cooper so much.

The front seat and head room is spacious for a 1.77m dude like me but I still think the back seats are impractical. The locations of some of the switches are really strange, like how the side window switches are at the bottom of the dashboard instead of the door side but I don’t really care now.

It’s a car that you conform to for its style and statement.

The way it drives will make you want to head out for no reason at all.

It was supposed to be for the fiancée but if I ever get one again, I’m going to be holding the key tightly.

Drool at the MINI offerings here: http://www.mini.com.sg/

It has been a nerve-racking 5 weeks of conceptualising, planning, meetings, secretive emails/texts, lying and living in fear of being exposed but it all turned out imperfectly perfect at the end.

Ruifang and I are now engaged!

It might have been overly elaborate but her joy and appreciation of it all was all worth it. (she’s still crying happy tears now and then.)

At least 50 people were involved and I owe it all to the folks at Oasia Hotel, Josephine & Reena (Ruifang’s two best friends), Melvin Ho (Photography), Derek & Song (Videography), MINI Habitat, and all the loved ones and good friends who made time to come for the big surprise. It wouldn’t have worked out if not for the fact that everyone did what was asked and more than I wished for.

There’s a lot of details but in short, Ruifang was tricked into thinking that she was doing a corporate video for the hotel. While she was happily being a “model” (and totally oblivious), family, friends and I were waiting for her at the beautiful 22nd floor to give her an unforgettable surprise.

No stress to Derek and Song but I can’t wait for the video so that I can explain everything in detail and not forgetting about the gorgeous engagement ring I bought from JannPaul Diamonds.

Meanwhile, Melvin has already did a quick video of stills which I adore for all the emotions he captured of our guests.

Link to Video

Thanks for all the well wishes on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & texts! I am trying to thank everyone properly but it’s overwhelming for now and I do apologise if I missed anyone out.

Till later!

Saw a man making a scene at SingPost (Ang Mo Kio). Apparently, he was expecting a package weeks ago and till now, he has yet to get it.

He channeled all his anger at the staff there and said pretty nasty stuff to a personnel servicing him but she took it rather well.

Unfortunately for Singpost, another colleage said aloud and along the line of, “If you want to complain, write in to complain!”. That sparked another customer to shout, “Do your job and we won’t have to!”

Singpost could have showed great customer service by continuing to be apologetic and helping the man find a solution but an idiotic colleague spoiled it all.

The customer could have reeled in his anger since the staff there had little to do with his late package and having a good but stern attitude could have helped him get things done willingly and easier.

So much for customer service and common sense.

If I encountered this once, I might attribute it to an honest staff but I actually experienced this thrice from 2 different outlets in Singapore over the years. On all occasions, I was ready to buy a product but the staff readily suggested that I wait for an upcoming promotion in a week or so.

Maybe it’s just me but my general shopping/dining experience in SG is that I will miss out on an upcoming discount or worse, a current card discount promotion if I do not ask the staff about it.

Kudos to the staff of FANCL Singapore, especially to the ones working at the Jurong Point & the Bishan Junction 8 outlets. Great honesty and awesome attitudes when serving customers!