I have listened to the Les Misérables CD for more than 2 decades, and watched the musical live. But still, the latest movie version has not lost any appeal. In fact, the movie even led me to pay attention to a lot of details which I had missed in the musical years back. The impact of  the story lines was magnified, through  shaky-cam, wide-angle lenses and vertiginous crane shots, all designed to please the mainstream audience, including myself.


In recent years, one of my favourite songs which I would play over and over again, especially when I am in need of a boost of courage, is "One More Day". There is one line of lyrics which I can always remember, "I did not live until today". In fact, I never learned to truly appreciate this musical until today. I never realized that Jean Valjean's encounter with Bishop Myriel was so powerful. Bishop Myriel touched his soul and bought his soul in the name of God:

"Yet why did I allow that man
To touch my soul and teach me love?
He treated me like any other
He gave me his trust
He called me brother
My life he claims for God above
Can such things be?
For I had come to hate the world
This world that always hated me

Take an eye for an eye!
Turn your heart into stone!
This is all I have lived for!
This is all I have known!

One word from him and I'd be back
Beneath the lash, upon the rack
Instead he offers me my freedom
I feel my shame inside me like a knife
He told me that I have a soul,
How does he know?
What spirit comes to move my life?
Is there another way to go?"

The ending with the reunion of souls, Fantine and the Bishop is another example of how the movie version has a grander and more definitive impact compared with the other iterations in the past.

"To love another person is to see the face of God." How could I have missed this line for the past 20 years?

I live alone in a small apartment, smaller than B-612.

I have been living alone ever since university graduation and I don't recall having friends staying with me for more than a couple of days during all these years. Recently I offered a new friend to stay in my place while he was in town for a few weeks.

I was very humbled listening to his experience of growing up, the difficulty and the pain he went through.  There was also a fun side, listening to his adventurous past. Living in Hong Kong, I have always considered myself outside of mainstream. And having heard him talking about his life, I feel that I am not even close. In Hong Kong, a person's occupation defines him or her. If I apply the same theory to this friend, his path is certainly one of spiritual freedom, choosing nomadic travelling above mainstream ordinary life.

This friend is so different from what he appears to be. Beneath the quiet and reserved appearance is a kind, caring, gentle and yet misunderstood soul. It breaks my heart to see someone going through so much suffering since childhood, physically and mentally. I also have a lot of respect and admiration for someone who despite all these challenges, is not crushed and still has the determination to move on. It takes talent and lots of inner strength.


I remember in The Little Prince, the fox said, "Bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." ("One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.") He also said, "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" and "It is the time you have devoted to your rose that makes your rose so important." Don't know why these quotes came up when I was thinking about the time we spent together.

A few months ago I thought I would only sign up for Gobi March 2013 when I feel my body is ready.

I finally got myself to sign up last week. I was sitting in the office and in-between tasks, and suddenly a thought came up. It's really not so much about the body, but the heart. I realized that the time when I really felt like signing up was the moment when I finally decided on my fundraising goals. I was finally able to put my wish list together. That was a wish list which made me feel a greater sense of mission, a wish list which would propel me to persist with training in the next few months.

As for the body? I can't help but remember a beautiful and cute all time children's classic which I found last year at Bring Me A Book.

A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill. "I can't; that is too much a pull for me," said the great engine built for hard work. Then the train asked another engine, and another, only to hear excuses and be refused. In desperation, the train asked the little switch engine  to draw it up the grade and down on the other side. "I think I can," puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train. As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."
As it neared the top of the grade, which had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, "I—think—I—can, I—think—I—can." It reached the top by drawing on bravery and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself by saying, "I thought I could, I thought I could."

 The underlying theme is — a stranded train is unable to find an engine willing to take it on over difficult terrain to its destination. Only a little blue engine is willing to try and, with hard work and courage, overcomes a seemingly impossible task. That has been my mantra for the past few months and it really kept me motivated when I was about to die at the Action Asia Lantau 27k trail last week. I think I can.

This morning I woke up feeling really happy with lots of gratitude, even though I also felt the pain and swelling everywhere…

The Raleigh Challenge 2012 is my first ultra. When I first received the flyer of this race, I thought it would be an ideal distance for a first ultra, 78K. It turns out that distance is not an indication of the level of difficulty. As one of the runners put it quite well yesterday, “I can’t even begin to describe what this race is about…”

The mountain ranges of the Wilson Trail are paced in such a way that one has to deal with the toughest challenge at the most exhausted and weakest moment.

I got a lot out of joining this race. I started training from almost zero in July to finishing a race after 8 weeks and saw improvement of my physical ability and mental strength. The race also compressed a lot of interesting experience in some 20 odd hours. 

 

There were two weakest moments when I almost cracked. We were done with about two-third of the distance but by then it was already past 2 am and I was completely exhausted. The remaining distance to be covered was the Pat Sin Leng. At that point, sitting in the park, I really felt that I had no energy left, and to have to handle one of the toughest mountain trails in Hong Kong was almost unthinkable. But looking at my teammates, thinking about their encouragement and support over the past months, I couldn't get myself round to say withdraw.

 

As I was making my way up Cloudy Hill, I started to remember how Sam took me to do a first hike there two months ago. Up till the time of the race, I still was not able to piece all the different sections of the competition trail together. I went up the stairs and started to realize how everything finally came together at that point of time and it was a perfect moment of completion. 

There were also iconic moments. It was 6 am when we arrived at the entrance of the Pat Sin Leng country park, along with a few dozens of runners. By then everyone had been running for almost 20 hours and were almost dead. Everyone just laid flat on the ground, motionless and it was almost complete silence. It felt like the scene of a disaster movie where everyone had died. By 6:45 am, the runners were up one by one like zombies, dragging their heavy bodies up Pat Sin Leng.  

It still amazes me as to how I managed to have this wonderful mix of team members. I am so grateful to my teammates. Each one offered me something unique, and helped me improve my physical ability and the mental preparation for handling the race.

Thanks Sam for friendship, care, support and expertise and for taking me through this journey in the past few months, helping me with training, preparation and crisis management. I still think that it was an act of God that you decided to join our team, purely to test your patience in waiting and sleep deprivation. But I really appreciate and enjoyed every moment of it!

Thanks Bo for being a great and caring training buddy, helping me improve physically and my mental strength. Also thx for your patience in waiting and for helping me with details (coz I am very weak on details). Again, your fitness levels belong to a different league, but then I guess you didn’t know how slow I was when you first signed up.

Thanks Yellow for exploring the Wilson and other trails with me earlier on, and for going through the toughest stage of this race with me when I almost cracked. I will always remember the two of us limping through the Pat Sin Leng and the last 8K together, supporting each other.  

The encouragement and support of all three of you was what got me going and the experience wouldn’t have been awesome without you. I have also really enjoyed the interesting conversations during the past few months of training. I owe you all a lifetime of good cooking!

As much as it is a monster, there is something fascinating about the Raleigh. Someday, I might want to be back to do a night race or to attempt under 22 hrs.

I feel as if my new life as an ultra junkie has just begun. 

If I have to describe this movie in a few words - I would say "rich texture and intense flavours", the words I would use to describe food or wine. Rich texture because it feels like the weaving of fabrics. Using food as a backbone, the stories are divided into three segments -  breakfast, lunch and dinner. A number of the characters cross from one story to another, some even play the role of linking up all stories. Intense, because of the cinematography. The shots were very close and dynamic and there were some heavy emotions expressed through some of the characters.


The film explores the human relationships behind the 18 meals. There is some discussion on the food itself, but much less than I expected. The narrative at the opening sets out the theme clearly - that food not only opens the appetite, but opens our souls.

When I was small, my dad used to say that good food brings the family together. I was certainly brought up to understand the value of good food and the importance of family values, but probably those values were separately registered in my system rather than integrated. Good food has always been a matter of family obligation and practical necessity ever since I was small. As I grew up, graduated from college and moved away from my family, it ceased to be a matter of obligation. I realized that I had a choice, on what to enjoy, when to enjoy it, how to enjoy it and with whom to enjoy it etc.. It then became a matter of personal enjoyment and passion, and above all, the obsession with quality. The concept of family does not exist in this equation.

My parents' ageing eventually brought me back to cooking more at home, and I began to have a deeper understanding of the relationship between food and family. Cooking becomes a labour of love and compensates for the inadequacies of verbal communication. But something has changed over the years. Whilst my dad enjoys my cooking, he doesn't care much about the food anymore.

For me, there is no doubt that food is a life-long passion, a major sensory indulgence, and a powerful tool allowing me to express love and artistic creativity. Modern society is a lot more complex now. Whether it is fate or luck, having a family is not a must for the younger generations. Yet, good food has not lost its appeal, because its importance has elevated to binding and enhancing all kinds of human relationships.



“Desserts are like mistresses. They are bad for you. So if you are having one,
you might as well have two.”
 - Chef Alain Ducasse

“I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts.”
- Graham Kerr

"When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we have ever eaten. Food is never just food. It's also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be." 
- Molly Wizenberg, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, 2009

 

 

One can learn a lot about compassion and wisdom through crisis.

Saw this on the news the other day. Some tourists from mainland China were asked what they thought about the ferry collision tragedy off the Lamma waters. They thought that the whole incident, whether the people who helped, the attitude of the government all showed a very human touch.

I consider it a very fortunate thing living in Hong Kong. When disaster happens, rescue is available within a very short time. The government is quick to react and provide relief to those injured or families of victims. People are generally kind and helpful to one another.

I remember it was May 2008 when I heard from the news about a cyclone in Myanmar. But since there was not much transparency, I could only imagine the impact. I later got calls from my local colleagues who heard by word of mouth that the delta area was almost like living hell. In a few days, it was clear that almost 130,000 people had died overnight and tens of thousands of corpses were floating along rivers.

By the time I arrived in Myanmar a few weeks later,  I was shocked by the extent of damage done by the cyclone, but strangely I couldn't feel as much grief in the people. There were probably many reasons explaining this. In a developed city, if there is a major natural disaster, the rescue efforts would stir up people's compassion and emotions. In the delta, huts were built with the most primitive branches and leaves. A cyclone with a magnitude higher than a typhoon no. 10 would mean that people were literally blown away and disappear. No drama with rescue efforts then, not to mention that the government didn't even care about rescue or collecting the dead bodies in the rivers. There were many monks who tried to collect the dead bodies were arrested and put in jail. So basically no rescue, no grief, no drama, but mostly fear.

But from interacting with local people, I was able to share their grief. However, the grief was only minor, I learnt so much from their compassion and wisdom. There were days when I couldn't find a guest house to accept me. The disaster zone was a restricted area and foreigners were not supposed to be there. Military and police check points were everywhere and people were generally terrified. Whenever I showed my passport at a guesthouse, I was fearfully and politely turned down. A Catholic church kindly took me on, as they were generally off the radar. I was talking to a Catholic sister who was the only survivor in her convent. She saw everyone blown away that night but she was able to hold onto the power generator and saved her life. I could feel a lot of sadness but I was very touched to see that she had devoted all her energy to restoring the convent and the orphanage.

Another day I took a long 5 hour boat ride to one of the islands. We helped this village to rebuild houses and fishing boats. The island was beautiful, peaceful and quiet. But it was also probably because 900 were swept away by the cyclone and died. I met a young man about 18 years old. He was one of the carpenters who helped us to build fishing boats so that villagers could return to normal life. He told me that he was the only survivor in a family of 8. Even though he felt very sad, he channeled his energy to building fishing boats to help fellow villagers to make a living. His family used to own a piece of land which was a few thousand square feet but he felt he didn't need it anymore. He donated it to a family of 6 which had survived the cyclone and he was contented to living in a small wooden house. He said life and death was only part of karma and he was able to find peace.

I will always remember the time when I was working there. In a place where there is literally no electricity, running water, life comes down to the very basics. Enjoy working when the sun comes out, take a shower when there is rain, and families just sit around a burning candle every night for an hour sharing love and happiness and that's the only entertainment one can have. That was my major lesson on contentment.

  

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey.

Let's see if I can come up with my own menu of celebration....


1. Be a child
 
2. Watch "the world is just awesome" on YouTube over and over again

3. Help others and make others happy

4. Be loving, kind and caring

5. Nurture family relationship and friendships

6. Go hiking and enjoy the freshness of the trees and plants

7. Buy all sorts of lovely flowers and bring them home

8. Photography

9. Cook a hearty meal

10. Yoga, meditation and prayer

11. Music

12. Read

13.Watch "When Harry Met Sally" over and over again

14. Enjoy every moment

15. Have a cup of tea



This is not a long list, but by now I am so grateful since I am doing the things that make me very happy all the time. I'm so glad that the things that make me happy are just small and simple things.

The beauty and the little secrets of life are all about being simple and being human.

The Peanuts characters have been my buddies ever since I learnt to drink with my mug, and the mug is still with me. In fact the mug means so much to me that I stopped using it 20 years ago for fear of breaking it.

In his last years, Charles Schulz suffered from Parkinson's Disease. As a result, he experienced hand tremors that made his linework shaky. He admitted that the tremors sometimes were so bad that while working, he had to hold onto the side of his desk with one hand to steady himself. In addition, he had to reduce the strip from four panels to three to reduce the amount of drawing. Charles Schulz died in his sleep at home on February 12, 2000. The last original Peanuts strip was published the very next day. When I saw the newspaper headline with the characters all in black waving goodbye, it was as if I was saying the last goodbye to a dear old friend. A dear old friend who lived his one dream, one passion and one job to the day he died.

This is a quiz designed by him. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

1. Name  the five wealthiest people in the  world.

2. Name  the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name  the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4  Name  ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name  the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name  the last decade's worth of World Series winners.


How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are no second-rate achievers.

They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies..

Awards tarnish..

Achievements are forgotten.

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.



Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:


1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?


The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.

They simply are the ones who care the most

 

I decided to do more hiking training since I came back from Gobi. Since then, every weekly session I had hiking with friends was an interesting journey.

The past two weeks was really a training of mental strength. Last week it was Maclehose sections 3 and 4. This week it was the Pat Sin Leng. After I finished the two sections at Maclehose last week, I was wondering whether I really had what it takes to finish the whole 100 km. This week too, I had serious doubts (especially when I was climbing the ups and downs) whether I can even finish the Raleigh 78 km.

The name Pat Sin Leng means "Mountains of the "Eight Immortals", who are famous "xian", or transcedents/fairies in Chinese mythology. The eight peaks symbolize the eight peaks along the Pat Sin Leng mountain range, each named after a different Immortal.

The format of the hikes I went through these two weeks were quite similar, but there was a greater sense of achievement hiking Pat Sin Leng as you can look back and see the spectacular landscape or challenge that you have completed. 

An amazing thing happened when I was having a victory late lunch with my hiking buddies near the Plover Cover Reservoir. I suddenly felt that I could probably finish the Raleigh, albeit slowly. But whether I will get to do the competition really doesn't matter. Just going through one year's training with the greatest training buddies is already a rewarding journey in itself. The rest is a bonus. 

Today is a special day. I wrote a letter to a complete stranger but it was written with a lot of heart that I want to keep it.

Dear Mrs Kao,

Hope you are well.

I stumbled onto the website of your foundation while doing some research on the internet. I was never a sportswoman but this year after I came back as a volunteer from an international sports event called Gobi March organized by Racing the Planet, I decided that I want to join as competitor for 2013. This is a 250 km 7 days 6 nights self-supported ultra marathon across the Gobi Desert and there are about 200 athletes from all over the world. A good number of athletes run for charity and I am training hard and hopefully can be one of them. I was researching on the internet because I was thinking about my cause for running. Of all the good causes I can think of, Alzheimer’s is one which I feel most connected to.

My mother had Alzheimer’s in 1998 when she was 50. She was just an ordinary civil servant and was about to retire. Right after she started her post-retirement life, our family started noticing the deterioration of her cognitive abilities. Within a few months, we took her to the doctor but only to see her brain the size of a pork bun through the scan. A year after, she was pretty much functioning like a 5 year old child, except that she was on heavy dosages of medicine.

Back then I never really enjoyed hiking but my mother had always loved it. So I started hiking with her at the early onset of the disease. I was hoping that even though she could not manage anything intellectually, she could at least walk enough to stay healthy. Also, there was just me and her and mother nature. Nobody would judge her by her uncoordinated and unexplainable gestures and language. But even that luxury was gone soon. After my mom lost her mobility, so did my dad since he had to take care of her 24/7.

It has been 14 years since, but I have lot to thank God for. My father has learnt to be a patient, sensitive, caring (and even romantic) husband which he has never been. The disease has also strengthened my bond with my parents. In all honesty, we should feel very lucky since my mother is still physically well enough for day care and both my parents are government pensioners and so medically everything is taken care of.

But I understand that there are many carers who are burdened with tremendous physical, emotional and financial burden as a result of someone close suffering from this disease, or the patients themselves who are neglected because the families themselves are without adequate support. I understand that in some parts of the world, carers are given much more support whether medically, psychologically or even financially from the government. As Hong Kong’s population is ageing fast, a lot more work has to be done. I am so glad that you are the face and the voice for this cause, and the Hong Kong society desperately needs someone like you.

As for myself, I started working as a lawyer 14 years ago and then moved on to a WTO project doing trade capacity building with developing countries in the Asia Pacific region. After that contract, I joined a small charity foundation and spent time working in Burma on education, disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction projects. I am currently with one of the largest textile and apparel manufacturers in the world. I spend about 80% of my time on business and the rest on managing the group’s charity arm. I often travel to Xinjiang, Vietnam and Sri Lanka overseeing education projects. While working on Xinjiang projects, I have got in touch with Racing the Planet and knew about their competitions.

To me, joining this sports event is an inspiration reminding me to give the best of myself for others, and especially to devote this to my parents, to thank them for giving birth to me and for raising me to become a courageous and compassionate person. They both loved travelling before my mother had Alzheimer’s, and so I would like to think that I am carrying their hopes, dreams and aspirations with me as I walk the desert. Hopefully I will be fit enough by June next year and do some modest fundraising for your foundation. I will keep you informed of my progress.

In the meantime, if there is anything I can help on a volunteer basis, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please keep up with the good work and take care.

 
Here's from one of my favourite adverts:

If you are, you breathe;
If you breathe, you talk;
If you talk, you ask;
If you ask, you think;
If you think, you search;
If you search; you experience;
If you experience, you learn;
If you learn, you grow;
If you grow, you wish;
If you wish, you find;
If you find, you doubt;
If you doubt, you question;
If you question, you understand;
If you understand, you know;
If you know, you want to know more;
If you want to know more, you are alive.

That's right. Live Curious.

The other day I was having a chat with my friend Leong on what comes to our minds when we are running.

Yesterday, I decided to go out on my own as I wanted to find my way from Shing Mun to Tai Po for the Wilson Challenge. It was just after heavy rain, and there were very few hikers. For hours, it felt like I was the only person living on this planet and I had a dialogue with myself. But the dialogue was not based on reasoning, it was just a clear voice coming from within and there was great clarity of the mind.

The questions on life choices which I have been pondering for a while became simple and clear. The perspectives became direct. I then realized that my passion and sense of purpose were the answers to my questions and they came straight from the heart with no "but" or "if". Of course there is an unanswered question of "when", but that is a question which I can comfortably surrender to God.

 
 

Francis won the 10 Outstanding Young Persons Award in Hong Kong earlier this year and I was so excited to know that he has just been nominated as one of the finalists for the Outstanding Young Persons of the World.

Let me see how should I describe Francis. I first met Francis at a dinner about three years ago. Anyone first meeting him would be impressed by his genuineness and his passion in making the society better. At that time, I didn't have much understanding about social enterprises and so I considered him just another NGO friend who lives his dream and passion, but in a world quite separate from mine.

Eventually I joined SVHK's activities from time to time and I saw how their work and team mature and flourish. I saw SVHK growing and making more meaningful impact to society day by day. I began to sense the massive effort he has put into SVHK's work.

Francis came representing and fundraising for SVHK at this year's Gobi March. He doesn't look like a super athlete, but he did better than our colleagues who were 12 to 15 years younger, and those who had prior experience of military training. As timekeeper, I have seen him crossing the finishing checkpoint on several days, his eyes so full of determination no matter how many hours he had been running out there.

It was destiny when one day I decided that I wanted to set up a social enterprise for middle-aged unemployed women from our former factories. Francis was my support from day one. The preparation work has gone on for more than a year now and I would have dropped any day without his encouragement and mentorship. Through him, I stepped into a new world which I found a new sense of purpose, a whole new territory of creativity and possibilities, not only in myself but also in the people I want to serve and help. I started to realize Francis is the type who cannot last a day without moving someone. If there is only one person, he would move one by one, few by few, or sometimes more strategically, move the critical movers who can help to achieve a critical mass.

You are such an inspiration mate!

It is important to learn to see life from different perspectives.

I was so happy to see my friend Stephanie in Hong Kong and our group of Gobi friends had so much fun at Soho. At some point Stephanie and I were in a debate about whether we can have a roving race in Burma. She and I are on two opposite ends, hers being "absolutely no no" for a long time, and mine being "anytime".

The discussion made me want to reflect more on this topic. I guess there is no right or wrong, but from what perspective one is seeing life from. IOs have lots of access to information, official and unofficial. No matter how hard the Burmese government is trying to advertise its reforms, it remains to be seen whether the reforms are genuine and even if they are, it will take a long time.

But from my humble experience of working with IOs for a few years, I have always felt that something is missing. Behind the objective and well-researched information and analyses, I have always felt a lack of understanding to what the locals were really thinking and feeling.

It was a blessing to have the opportunity to work at grassroots level. Most of the time I was lucky enough to stay outside of the government's radar and did our own stuff. At the grassroots level, the rules of the game are different. You have to live the local way in order to understand their culture and needs.

This is taken from the Irrawaddy Delta disaster area back in 2008. I spent quite a lot of time travelling in and out of the delta working on relief and reconstruction projects. I will always remember the learning. Our priorities are completely different from the locals. You may think that after the cyclone, a bed or a tent is important for them. But actually, they were more desperate for fishing boats so that they can continue to make a living. Accommodation wise, they could do a pretty good job with palm leaves, bamboo thatches what have you. As a result, I have seen tens of thousands of tents donated (with good intentions) by IOs lying on the outskirts of Yangon serving no purpose at all.

And what about the moral dilemma that we are giving credit to a government which doesn't deserve it? I was privileged to have met Reverend Sitagu-Sayadaw (see below). It was certainly an enlightening experience talking to him, but seeing what he has done on the ground has changed my life forever.

I never expected to have the opportunity of meeting Reverend Sayadaw in person. He was once an opthalmologist and gave up his job to become a monk. His organization is a registered charity in the US and he spends time travelling all over the world fundraising for worthy causes. He has built numerous schools and hospitals in different parts of Burma. That day, I was only intending to deliver a small amount of construction materials as a donation and I was completely amazed by the resources that he was able to mobilize. I saw fleets of hundreds of boats and thousands of people working for him as volunteers. He saw me, a non-local, and came to talk to me. He said, "the government is not doing its job and so we take matters into our own hands." He knew I came from Hong Kong and said, "please keep up with the good work. This country needs you." Even now, I still have a clear impression of him - his inner strength, wisdom, courage, compassion and influence.

 
From the past 12 years of working as a volunteer in different parts of the world, my humble two cents is that it is all about the people I want to serve. My values and moral judgment simply don't matter. When I interact with the children and families who are in need of help, to be able to talk to them, to look into their eyes and see things they way they see...that for me is to be in touch with real life and that's all that matters. Politics has no place there.

But I must concede, the reason why I think it's really difficult to have a roving race in Burma any time soon is really the logistics. Because of the embargo, every cab in Yangon is made of scrap parts. The handful of new cars are owned by a small group of the super privileged class. I find it hard to imagine getting together enough 4 by 4s for a roving race. But having said that, the beauty of living in Burma is that it is very similar to Cuba, people make the best out of what they have. So you would often find the coolest vintage cars. I was privileged to have been driven around the country in this.

How do you get the best of yourself out?

This morning when I woke up, I saw Tristan's post on Facebook. I met Tristan at the Gobi March this year. It was very touching and I was in tears.

So I started doing a little bit of quote search. This is one which I quite like:-

"The answer to the big questions in running is the same as the answer to the big questions in life: do the best with what you've got."

I never really hiked much until some 10 years ago. My mother used to enjoy hiking but I hadn't been much of a company. 15 years ago, she got alzheimers' and I started to hike with her at the early onset. I was hoping that even though she could not manage anything intellectually, she could at least walk enough to keep herself healthy. Also, there was just me and her and mother nature. Nobody would judge her by her uncoordinated and unexplainable gestures and language. But even that luxury was gone soon. After my mom lost her mobility, so did my dad since he had to take care of her 24/7.

I was born anaemic and blood pressure is lower than most people. When I try to run or go uphill, I feel dizzy. This mental programme is deeply embedded in me for decades. For some reason, I felt a big urge to break these rules this year. I decided that I want to train myself for running. I don't know how I can get rid of the feeling of dizziness and weakness, but I have signed up for competitions, signed up for a coach and started reading books about marathons. I really want to give more than what I've got. But why? I guess the more I think about my life and how fortunate I am, the more I feel like bringing out the best of myself or more than what I think I can achieve. Or perhaps it is not about myself, but an inspiration reminding me to give the best of myself for others. If I can bring out this energy in me, I will be able to give more meaningful service for the rest of my life. I also want to devote this to my parents, to thank them for giving birth to me and for raising me to become a courageous and compassionate person.

Follow your heart and it will take you to where you belong.

This is Bagan, an ancient city located in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day.

Mary Gadams said Myanmar is the kind of place where Racing the Planet would like to have a roving race. Destiny has first brought me to this country since 2008. The experience I gained from working here and interacting with the people has to be one of the most enriching life experiences I have ever had. From building schools, disaster relief, post-disaster reconstruction, I have seen beauty, love, happiness, compassion, kindness, patience, wisdom and inner strength. This country has never ceased to amaze me. I would be so happy to help organize a race to share all these with the RTP community. It's also a coincidence that I finally have bitten the bullet to start my own micro project there, working on a holistic village model benefiting both education and livelihood in rural villages.

The feet are going to where the heart is.

I was chatting with Gavin, one of our Gobi March volunteers, who runs a travel agency business in Kathmandu, Nepal. I was telling him how I had spent the weekend, hiking in the mountains. I said I had enrolled in a 78km challenge in October and plan to do another 100km next February and see if I could handle. If yes, I might consider signing up for Gobi March next year. 2013 is the 10th anniversary for our Foundation as well as for Racing the Planet events, and it would be very meaningful if I can join and run for charity. Gavin said that since I have a plan, it will happen. I said whether that happens or not, is God's plan not mine. Gavin said if I have God in my heart and mind, that is my plan too. I said yes. You got me there, young man.

Inspiration From My Friends

From Francis:


石頭城夢
 
倦雲躺雪嶺，
廕庇石頭城，
城載千年夢，
牧民享地靈。

*************

疆地間
晨霧散，炊煙起，
牛羊趕赴青草地，
終日埋首三尺地；
雪嶺燃，朝日中，
人若雄峰天與地，
不為名利站高地。

From Johnson:

將欲取天下而為之，吾見其不得已．
天下神器，不可為．為者敗之，執者失之．

夫物或行或隨，或噓或吹，或強或贏，或接或隳．
是以聖人去甚，去奢，去泰．

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譯文

想用人為的努力去贏得天下，我看達不到目的。

天下是神的器具，不是人為努力就能得著的。
人為努力的，必然失敗；人為持守的，必然 喪失。

世間是這樣：
有佔先前行的，就有尾追不捨的；
有哈暖氣的，就有吹冷風的；
有促其強盛的，就有令其衰弱的；
有承載的，就有顛覆的。

That will be all for 2012 Gobi March. Time to pursue my dreams for 2013 Gobi March. Here is the most memorable day and moment of this event and I am going to remember this image for a long long time. For now, the journey goes on.

This photo will remind me of an unrealized dream. Anyway, this is a good fun way of wrapping up my thoughts for this event.

"Yes"- Top 10
 1. Try my best to train for next year as competitor
2. Bring a very good compact digital camera and DSLR (dc for the race and DSLR for afterwards)
3. Milo and salt tablets saved my life
4. Buy better gear
5. Pack smart
6. Bivvy blanket and gloves are so useful
7. Coco pops, gummy bears, Japanese sausages
8. Sew nicely and flags properly
9. Train with walking poles from now on
10. Alcohol gel and alchol wipes are awesome


"No" - Top 10
1. Volunteering
2. Overstock food
3. Snickers
4. Nuu electrolytes tablets - coke flavor is disgusting
5. Freeze dried Asian noodles - too spicy
6. Hydra Pak - no space in the bag
7. Running shorts - lots of thorn bushes
8. Running shoes - no grip
9. Socks liner - useless
10. Fear

Of flip flops and Crocs - "whatever works".

Day 4 was a long day. I was on duty at the final checkpoint. Given the difficulty of the terrain and the distance, many competitors only returned after 8 hours or more. But there was one I particularly remembered. This participant came back with one running shoe on one feet and a flip flop on another. Chased by a dog was already traumatic enough for him, but that was not all. He lost one of his running shoes while trying to clean it in the river. I thought he was going to withdraw, but ended up he was lucky. His tent mate withdrew earlier and game him his pair of hiking shoes. While I was telling Ralph Crowley about this,  he gave me a better one. There was a girl in an earlier race who lost her shoes in the luggages. She managed to borrow a pair of flip flops and finished day 1. For the rest of the race, she managed to find a pair of crocs, wore them all the way through, and finished top 50. Later, while I was having a chat with Mary, she told me an even better one - Crocs had once sponsored one athlete to do the entire race on Crocs ;-)

This is a story about the changing sports culture in China.

Meet this team from Shanghai. It started with one guy who loves triathlon and who has problems finding enough choices for gear. So he decided to open his own shop selling gear. The shop eventually attracted 3 loyal customers and fans, and the four of them decided to join competitions everywhere in the world. "The sports culture in China is too focussed on cash prizes and athletes are very competitive". "Here, while every competitor's goal is to race, everyone seems to be having lots of fun". "We want to be pioneers and help change the sports culture in China".

But what they didn't talk about was how heroic they were on the night of the Long March. The regulations require team members to stay within 25m from each other. Unfortunately, one of their team members was very sick that day and collapsed on the way. The 3 of them carried the sick member, running miles and miles  back to camp. A new generation of impressive ultramarathoners indeed.

This is where we had the Gobi March opening ceremony, a region called Kezhou. The local government was very supportive of this event and in appreciation to their support, Racing the Planet has agreed to donate computers to schools close to the competition trail. In fact, every year, RTP would make donations along the trail, as well as supporting medical or other projects benefitting local communities. Esquel Group and the Esquel Foundation are proud and happy to be a partner of RTP in buying and delivering the donations to the intended beneficiaries every year.

This does not need a lot of words...suffice to say, sheer inexperience and bad craftsmanship on my part but a nice spontaneous attempt on the part of my friend wearing this. If I ever get to participate in Racing the Planet whether as a competitor or volunteer, the first thing I will do is read the regulations and sew nicely. My sincere apologies to my friend who has to bear with this for 7 days.

What is sportsmanship? Tomiyama-san can tell you all about it. At 65, he has run the Aso Cardella Ultramarathon 21 times, and also the MDS, the Great Wall Marathon, Cheju Ultramarathon and he also summitted Mount Kilimanjaro. Having such achievements in life, Tomiyama-san would not let injury, pain or fatique stop him from crossing the finishing line, all by himself. I never understood why I signed up to be sweeper on the last day of the Gobi March as I initially thought it was boring. Now that I looked back, I was there to witness the power of determination, the meaning of mind over matter, true sportsmanship and the admirable qualities of so many competitors who came up and cheered for him during the last 2 km. It was an honour to have walked with this gentleman and hero - salute!

There are some people whom you won't remember their faces after a while, but some you will remember for a long long time because of their distinct persona.

Mr. Spiderman has been in full suit during the 7 days of the competition. When the race began, I thought he was just being funny. But as the race proceeded, it seemed that he derived certain strength from living the persona of Spiderman. But he is Spiderman with a twist, occasionally taking out his bible for a boost of faith. I really had a good understanding of what this identity meant to him on the final day. I was sweeper he was in front of us. Along the competition trail, despite fatique and pain, he went through the ritual of putting on a pair of stretchy hot pants with the words "Iron Man from Ginza" written on the butt. After walking for longer, he had to put on his Spiderman boots and Spiderman cape. Most people wouldn't understand what he is doing, or what kind of faith drives him. But to have the faith to persist to the end of this race is no doubt strong faith.

Too bad I was too busy being a volunteer and no time for pictures. Pam, I hope to meet you again soon and promise you a nicer photo next time. This photo isn't doing her justice. You can't see her charisma and her courage here, which naturally overflows when you talk to her one on one.  You simply cannot be more touched when you hear her talk about her lifelong passion as a runner, her strength and courage in facing substance and alcohol abuse, her determination in running for charity and inspiring so many lives along the way. When I first saw her, I noticed her T-shirt with the words "www.runwell.com" and I thought she was running for a pharmaceutical company. In a way, she really is in the business of healing people, or helping people heal themselves, and much more. When you meet her, all you want to do is to give her a hug and a kiss and say "the world is a better place because you have helped to change so many lives!"

I truly agree with what Mary said about joining Gobi March - it's either life changing or life-enhancing.

One of the reasons has to be meeting lots of inspiring people. I was asked to contribute feature articles by doing interviews with some of the runners. Meet Stephanie Case. She is a UN Volunteer/Human Rights lawyer working in Afghanistan (and 1st runner up female in this race by the way). The competition trail was close to the Kunlun mountain range separating China and Afghanistan. She told me she felt sad because the world is so different over on the other side. Here, she has been running with absolute freedom along the competition trail. Over on the other side, she is confined to the military zone, which is a tiny section of Kabul. Most athletes can train almost anywhere they want, whereas for her, she would be running round and round the military zone for hours a day, hearing gun shots at the same time. "The mental training is quite good though, and you can train yourself on how to face fear." We talked about how we could make Afghanistan a place for running freely. "30 years", she said. I told her, "we both have plenty of time to make this happen".

What do you do after the longest day and longest night?

Stage 5 of the race was toughest since competitors had to finish 80 km under 27 hours. Certainly doesn't sound very daunting, if it is a standalone race. But in this race, competitors have already done 140 km in the few days before. After completion of this stage, there was a day's rest for competitors to recover. Me and my friends spent an afternoon doing nothing and just looking at this. Not exactly doing nothing...this environment actually inspired us to think and talk about broader issues in life. The magical thing about this breathtaking scenery is that we seemed to have lost our sense of time and found peace of mind.