G-OGRAPHY: a southeast asian lady travels...

This was me last year at the 2008 Nautica Malibu Triathlon. I was smiling so much because despite of my half-ass training I was able to finish swimming 1/2 mile. Uhu, I did the swim part only since I was in a relay team. It was perfect since I never have been a serious athlete. Granted it took me 30 minutes in a surf wetsuit in the cold ocean water to complete the swim it still felt like an accomplishment.



This year I decided to try the whole thing over at Redondo. So I signed up for the mini-sprint: 1/4 mile swim 3 mile bike 1 mile run. I did prepare and train for it a bit this time =p More importantly I had fun with it!



Minutes away from Start of Race
I met Pam during the Triathlon 101 clinic they had a week before (I like it when I randomly get to connect with cool people). She's awesome coz as a first time triathlete she placed in her division and age group!



Swim
The most dreaded part of the race is always the swim. I love the ocean and I love to swim but I have been struggling to overcome my anxiety over ocean swims. There's just something about the thought of not having walls and floors around you that makes me fear being swept away at sea. However, it was a short swim and fun group so I can truly say that it was my best ocean swim so far! I felt calm and collected...what a breakthrough! This bodes well for future ocean swims. Oh and I bought a real swim wetsuit this time which made a lot of difference! It's a Rocket Science one. I'm so in love with this suit.



Bike
So the guy behind me on this picture crashed into the girl in front of me. He didn't notice the red line on the which requires the athlete to dismount before the transition area. The bike ride was easy except for the uphill part where I suddenly stopped to walk the bike. Hehehe I require more training obviously and a lighter bike!



Run
Gawd. Again a newbie mistake I made was not being able to control my bladder. Seriously how do athletes keep themselves rehydrated without needing to go to restroom? Well that is what I did...the run course was along the pier and I just happened to sneak in the public restroom during the start of my run. I may have also washed my face a bit- the ocean water got to my contacts!! LOL. I know I'm ridiculous.



The Results
Well according to my results I ranked 7 overall in my age group. By the way I am only 30! I guess they round off your age to reflect current year. Surprisingly my swim was the best time! =) Love it. My transitions sucked! I was all over the place and just taking my time. What was I thinking? Oh yeah to finish...good to know my competitive side is still alive. This is good motivation really because I want to do the full triathlon once I become serious with training. It's simply inspiring to see athletes and supporters in this type of event. You hear so many stories and it just makes you want to become better, faster, stronger.

I was browsing our website www.disney.com for some muppet videos and came to discover Pepe the King Prawn. You should watch this video of Pepe at the Drive thru here. It's funnier than the one below. If you scroll down the website he has a collection of "Life Lessons" with a Spanish twist. Oh and here is his bio.

I was fortunate enough to attend E3 since I work for an awesome company within the industry. For those of you living under a rock E3 Expo is a trade show for computer and video games and related products. E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Below are some of my personal highlights from the event. Today was the last day by the way so I'm glad it wasn't as crowded. There were less freebies though but the last thing I need is more clutter in my apartment.

Oh and there were a number of excellent parties along downtown LA last night =) In fact, I am still recovering from excessive intake of free alcohol. Folks better remember to eat before binge drinking and have a designated driver assigned!!!



Playstation

I liked how they built out their area to look like a mini-pod city.

Activision

They had big screens all over which was wicked. Most of the games I have on the Xbox are from Activision. Not really by choice I just know the geeks that work on these games so by default I get to mooch on their employee discount. I like Call of Duty and Guitar Hero the best!


When I got to their area I was in time to see them demo for DJ Hero. I was impressed by how clever the mechanics of the game were and how great the tracks sounded.

Disney



My peeps! I am proud to showcase our new cool game Split Second. Click here to watch a short interview about the game.

THQ

Definitely like the gaming pods.

Mini Ninjas

I have no idea what game they had but their set-up was soooo cute!

Sega

Some of the more decent booth babes.

Nintendo



Mario! Enough said.

X-box

I was very impressed and excited with what Microsoft is doing with the Xbox. I own one and I love the cool dashboard features on Live. Oh god and the avatar...I literally spend hours changing my outfit, my hair, my makeup. Totally addicting. So I sat down and actually saw the demos and all I can say is that Microsoft is gonna kick console ass. The Xbox team spent a lot of time developing some very innovative features that I only wish Microsoft can apply to their PC system. I can't wait for fall when they start releasing the awesome upgrades. Watch this video below to see how they plan to change how people play video games:



Oh and did I mention that Xbox gamers can start connecting to Facebook and Twitter? =)


Some snapshots straight from the LA Convention carpet! As you can see the interface is pweeetttyyy.

Twitter


Facebook


Oh and I almost ran off with these...except that they had this lady guarding them and she started giving me the evil eye because I was hovering over them for too long.


All in all it wasn't a bad first time to the event. I kinda still like Comic Con but that's because I didn't get to meet Chuck and Morgan from NBC's Chuck like my friend did!!!! Grrrrr so jealous! Oh the perks of living near Hollywood.

Next on the list is...TADA...

Yes motorbiking! I just found out that I can take a Basic RiderCourse Training over at MSF: Motorcycle Safety Foundation. It is a 14 to 15 hour program, which provides classroom and actual motorcycle operator training in a controlled, off-street environment.

No this is not a thrill seeking attempt at creating daredevil stunts like a willie (eyes rolling). Rather I am very much inspired by Ewan Mcgregor and Charley Boorman's motorbike journey round and down the world. I'm talking about the documentary travel series they shot back in 2004 and 2007. Check it out over at wiki: Long Way Round and Long Way Down.

I have always been passionate about traveling and just watching these two made me realize how wonderful it would be to do it on a bike! There was this part when Ewan and Charley were in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, to meet up with their personal hero Ted Simons- the granddaddy of global motorcycle bike riding. They were in the public market looking for Mongolian riding boots and the scene cuts to Ted where he begins to tell the camera what it is about the road, the bike and the journey that fascinates him. For him it was all about the freedom, the loneliness, the feeling of being in something rather than watching it through the TV screen that is the car window. It is one man on two wheels and the open road.

I can't begin to tell you how hardcore this dude is. For four years he travelled over 64,000 miles (103,000 km) through 45 countries in a Triumph Tiger 500 cc motorcycle. That's the bike below with Bob Dylan...



Anyways, I plan to take it next month. I hope to use my motorbiking skills when I travel to South America this fall! That is another NNP in the making so stay tuned. If any of you are bike riders I definitely want to hear back from you! I need a lot of tips!!!