Marathon De Sables

Last Thursday was another eventful day. I've been called up to cover the press conference of Cikgu Adnan, a 66 retired teacher who is also a marathon runner, which rightfully, puts many of us to shame in terms of physical ability. But that's another story all together.

The press conference was held at Celebrity Fitness, One Utama and the entire atmosphere was relaxed and casual, which befits the setting of this particular gym.

This time, he'll be attempting the Marathon De Sables, which happens to be the most gruelling race on earth, running across the Sahara Desert. Of course, this is not just another self endurance challenges like the KL International Marathon. Therefore, this attempt will also be a fund raising affair, in support to the Malaysian AIDS Foundation. Well, I do wish Cikgu Adnan all the best and let's be generous to this cause, shall we?





Getting acquainted


Red ribbons for everyone


The press conference Q&A session.


Having a light hearted moment with one of the corporate donor representatives.


Speaking to the media


Well, it was a fun and enjoyable event!

Denial Ain't Gonna Solve the Problem!

I came across this article from The Star this afternoon. As a practicing Catholic, I myself feel that this "no condom" issue against AIDS is so dated. Honestly, how can one actually still preach that celibacy is the ONLY way to fight against this dreadful pandemic. No doubt it is a sure way of controlling this disease, if you live in a sterile, isolated and controlled environment. But lets get real! We're talking about an entire human population here! In order to get to the root of the problem, we have to humanize the issue.

These people have feeling, needs - sexual or otherwise, and you can't deny or stop their daily activity when they don't even understand the consequences of HIV or AIDS. Essentially, education is still the core towards fighting this battle against HIV/AIDS, and the usage of condoms IS AND SHOULD be part of the education.

In the case of African Nations, where literacy levels are still relatively low, I'm sure it is very difficult to make these people understand the disease itself. I'm sure many don't even know what a virus or a bacteria is, simply because it can't be seen with the naked eye. Again, how do you educate a person who already don't fathom the meaning of a virus and what it can do to one's body, and tell that person not to have sex because he or she can get sick? Even if you show pictures of AIDS patients (I hate the use of that word victim), how do one explain that you can get sick from having sex? Before long, they will probably just brush it off as probably something to do with bad air or water and resume back to their normal activities.

This is sadly, a very real scenario, unfortunately, not just happening in the African continent, but also within South East Asia. I digress. Back to the article below, I've bold the parts and added my comments which I strongly oppose and feel that this backward mentality of which the Catholic Church needs to seriously reevaluated.

Wednesday March 18, 2009 - THE STAR

Pope in Africa reaffirms "no condoms" against AIDS

By Philip Pullella and David Lewis

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Tuesday reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS as he started a visit to Africa, where more than 25 million people have died from the disease in recent decades.

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd from his vehicle as he leaves the airport after his arrival in Yaounde March 17, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)

The Pope, who arrived to a tumultuous welcome in the capital of Cameroon, also said the continent's people were suffering disproportionately due to the global challenges of food shortages, financial crises and climate change.

"It (AIDS) cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, they increase the problem," he said in response to a question about the Church's widely contested position against the use of condoms.

(Does that mean that the problem will be decreased if they don't use any?)

The disease has killed more than 25 million people since the early 1980s, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and some 22.5 million Africans are living with HIV.

(This statistics itself speaks for itself, doesn't it?)

His words were some of his most explicit on the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS since his election in 2005.

The Church teaches that fidelity within heterosexual marriage, chastity and abstinence are the best ways to stop AIDS. It does not approve condoms but some Church leaders have been calling for allowing their use in rare cases between married heterosexual couples where one partner has the disease.

"The only solution is two-fold: the first is a humanisation of sexuality, a human, spiritual renewal which brings with it a new way of behaving among people and, secondly, a true friendship, especially for those who are suffering, a willingness to make personal sacrifices," he said.

(By "humanising" sexuality, one have to understand what sexuality means. In this case, how can one (The Pope) really understand sexuality, if he himself lives in a controlled condition of celibacy, let alone preaches on this subject?)

He called for "correct behaviour regarding one's body".

(Again, refer to my earlier comment above.)

Temper

The toe's almost back to normal - I guess tiger's penis does have medicinal effects. Muahahaha!

Anyway, I am experimenting on chocolate tempering, since it's been ages I've made anything that will trigger tooth decay. I hope to yield some good results for a decent photoshoot as well since it's been a while I've taken any photos with my DSLR. Wish me luck!

BTW, I am now a proud owner of a chocolate fountain! Ahhh... one can always count on senseless expenditure to feel good. Wonder how long will it take this time before I feel extremely guilty for my purchases...

Extra Ordinary

It was suppose to be just another ordinary afternoon at Mom and Dad's. Lazing around, doing nothing in particular and cramming my face with copious amount of sinful goodies that Mom usually lay out on the coffee table.

They (Mom and Dad) have left town for their usual romantic weekend getaway, leaving me to dog sit Stevie Baby.

So, there I was, sitting in front of the computer, staring at the same Facebook page for the last 12 hours, since it takes that long apparently to switch screens with Streamyx broadband. I never knew watching the cursor processing in its circular motion can be hypnotically fun.

I left the TV on but wasn't particularly interested to watch anything on it. It's just the thought of having the privilege of Astro over the weekend made me turn on the TV, just to make it worthwhile.

Out of the blue, Stevie Baby scrambled up from where he was laying near my feet; his ears all perked up. His tail swished back and forth, hitting my legs like a feather duster. Without further warning, he dashed out of the house like a mad dog - barking in full force, which was soon joined by the rest of the 10,000 neighbourhood dogs.

I peeked through the curtains of the living hall to see what the fuss was all about and saw two young Indian boys distributing flyers to each household. From where I was sitting, I could see the terror on their faces, while the neighborhood dogs rushed out of each household baring their canines and some foaming at the side of their mouth. Before long, I could hear gates crashing down and the medley of canine barks, ear piercing screams and the sound of rip and tear.

Geez! This is the third time I had to get the gate fixed since Stevie Baby has crashed it down! He sure is getting very strong. The screaming eventually stopped and peace was restored among our neighbourhood again.

Stevie Baby eventually ran back into the house all flustered but happy to be part of the commotion. He nonchalantly swagger himself towards the workstation and plonked right in front of me with a prize in his mouth. It looked like the jaw of one of the flyer boys. Fresh blood was still dripping from where the flesh was ripped off.

"Nice looking teeth this boy has, doesn't he?" I though to myself as I inspect Stevie Baby's prize closely.

Stevie Baby scurried to the corner of the sofa to savour his prize. Meanwhile, looking at him gnawing at the jaw, I was reminded that I haven't had breakfast. I glanced up to the wall clock and the time was almost noon.

I stretched lazily on the computer chair and shuffled my feet to the fridge to see what I could make for lunch.

Mom has about a million magnets on the fridge that we don't even remember what colour or brand the fridge was anymore. The one closest to my eye level is a framed picture of Stevie Baby, when he was just a puppy. He was gnawing on what looked like a human femur. It must have belonged to the postman many years ago. We were quite upset with Stevie Baby for what he did then, because we had to collect our mail from the main post office for the next six months, until the postal services could find another postman to service our neighborhood.

I opened the freezer and began inspecting its contents. The cold air gushed out and fogged my glasses for a few seconds. I then began scanning the contents of each package closely. It was kind of difficult to identify what mom has in the freezer with all the frost crusting around each content. I could see the outline of a crocodile's tongue. Next to it was a shapeless, frozen mass which I suspect could have been the leftover parts of a monkey's medulla oblongata. We had that for Chinese New Year recently. Wedged snugly next to it looked like the toes of an elephant's foot.

"Sweet and sour elephant sounds delicious," I thought.

But the thought of thawing the foot for the next 6 hours made me change my mind. I then saw a bright red package deeper behind the elephant's leg.

"Breaded tiger's penis! That's something easy to prepare for lunch," I though.

I immediately reached out for the package which was lodged frozen behind the elephant's foot and impala's intestines. I yanked hard at the package and suddenly, the elephant's foot came crashing down and landed on my toe!

Before I know it, blood was gushing out from my broken toe like a burst water pipe. I sat and stared at the pool of warm, sticky blood, which was filling every inch of the kitchen floor. I did felt a little light headed when my life flashed before my eyes and I saw a sudden bright light shining at the end of a tunnel. I could almost hear celestial trumpets beckoning me to come forward too.

However, my out of body experience did not last very long. Within a snap second, it felt like a vacumm cleaner that had sucked me back to my mortal body. I soon felt a ticklish tingle around my damaged toe and saw Stevie Baby now licking at the blood oozing out from it. I smiled and patted his warm fuzzy head and let him lick up the rest of the pool of blood.

I got up and proceeded to take the bright red package out from the freezer and stuffed the elephant's foot back into it's original position. I soon forgot about the painful throb on my now purple and swollen toe, and started to read the cooking instructions on the box of breaded tiger's penis. Yummy!

Writers note: This is a genuine incident that happened this afternoon, although there were some bits and pieces that was slightly exaggerated for drama and a good read. :-) Can you tell?