The Fox Legacy Runs On

February 12, 2011 at 12:13 pm | Posted in itchy backside | Leave a comment
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Last month, Itchyfingers ran my first 10km of the year. It was also my first in nearly three months after the Great Eastern Women 10k Run in late October last year. Since then, had been climbing stairs and running shorter distances before falling sick for the whole of December…In fact, I only registered about three weeks before the run! So I wasn’t expecting to run particularly fast this time since I was kinda ill-prepared. But I wanna be part of the run because it is a run to commemorate the 30th year of the Terry Fox Run.

I remembered the Terry Fox Run used to be a regular yearly event, but it stopped for some years for some reasons. This year, the Canadian Association finally brought it back. And I wouldn’t want to miss it.

For those who are wondering, Terrance Stanley “Terry” Fox (1958- 1981) was a Canadian athelete who lost his right leg in 1977 due to Osteosarcoma, a cancer in the bone that usually develops during the period of rapid growth that occurs in adolescence, as a teenager matures into an adult. In 1980, Terry began the Marathon of Hope to embark on a cross-Canada run with his prosthetic leg to raise money and awareness for cancer research. He had hoped to raise one dollar for each of Canada’s 24 million people. Terry ran for 143 days and 5,373 kilometres before the spread of his cancer forced him to end his quest and ultimately cost him his life. But he helped raised millions of dollars, and his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy. The annual Terry Fox Run started in 1981, and has grown to involve millions of participants in different countries, raising millions for cancer research in his name.


The mood on the day was relaxed since it was a non-competitive run with
no running bib or time chip. There was no registration fee – funds were
raised from sales of tee-shirts and through donation


Saw this participant, who like Terry Fox, has his right leg amputated…
our Singapore Terry Fox…


Have no idea where would we be running since the route was not mapped
out during registration. This was only a rough guide…but only one water
point…


There was no official starting point or time. But the serious 10km runners
were flagged off first at 8am…Itchyfingers being not so serious runner,
decided to wait..hahah…


The mood was so relaxed that when the High Commissioner of Canada
announced the start of the run, no one ran! Probably cos the stage area
was a distance from this starting point…


…so it was funny to see a delayed action from the runners after about two
seconds later…haha…


Apparently there was another event going on…

Then the rest of the 10km runners were asked to start any time we wished…haha…si bay relaxed! 😀


It was already getting a bit warm…Tisu Girl starting her run while some
people were still taking their own sweet time gathering…Tisu Boy didn’t
join in as he had a flu


Decided to bring along the camera to shoot since I was not ‘rushing’ for
time…hahah….


There were few groups of mainly senior citizens doing their morning exercise


At 3km..I was about a minute slower than my usual timing…it was getting
hot…was expecting to see some water point somewhere here though the
rough map didn’t show…

Luckily I am not a fast runner, so there were always some people ahead of me to follow…but I kept wondering where would be the halfway point…


Ran past the rows of seafood restaurants and saw these guys pulling cartons
of bottled water. For a moment I thought these were for us, only to be
disappointed as I ran closer and realised that they were volunteers for the
other event…Feel like asking them for one bottle…hahah…so thirsty…

Then we ran past the hawker centre. There were a couple who just came out from there, each with a ice-cold canned drink in their hands, happily sipping away while continuing their run. Damn…really regretted not bringing money along…Got to quickly run past them in case I rob them of their drinks…haha…


Finally ran to this stretch near the bicycle rental booth…gotta pass through
this starting point for the Singapore Duathlon…felt so strange…haha…this
was the same place where I did my first run, the Passion Run last year

By now there was still no sign of any water point…I was so thirsty…really should have brought my bottle…finally we made a u-turn back and passed through the finishing point for the duathlon….still no water! At 6km, I asked the volunteer about the water point and they only said, “There should be one in front.” Water…I need water…where is the water?? 😦


Passed by this water point but again it was not meant for us! I could only
stare at the cups of 100plus while running past…

In the end, the much appreciated water point only appeared at around 7km (?) Lost count…but we were given water in bottles…gotta stop and walk while drinking but couldn’t finish up all at one go so have to run with it…


Finally one last kilometre to go! See how hot it was?


Finally made it!! But my time sucks…hahah…1hr 18min…hahah….around
the same time as the Shape Run…hahaha…


We were rewarded with snacks like bananas, apples and more water…


The best of which were these cookies! Very yummy and healthy! Very nice of
the organiser and sponsor!

While waiting so long for me, Tisu Boy kept himself busy shooting photos of other runners…


You are welcome to run, walk, wheel or ride for the Terry Fox Run…certainly
a very pro-family activity


A good excuse for a stroll in the park!


Kids also joined in the fun!


Cheeks turned red running the 5km fun run..Cute…


Er, look where you are walking… hahah


Er…the ground got gold must keep looking down? Hahah…Actually it is
recommended that you lean your body slightly forward with eyes looking
ahead while running

Tisu Boy captured two ladies with very interesting tee-shirts…


Wow! Where to buy this Adidas t-shirt? Is it still available in store? Hahaha…..


Well said! Adidas tee again…? It’s a blessing to be able to run…


Just look at this happy face!


Smiling all the way…


Another happy runner…


Great to run!


Cheese….she looks familiar…


Wise of these folks to bring their own water…


This (1 litre?) bottle looked a bit too heavy…but he has already finished
three quarters of it! So hot!


So hot you need two towels…


Good way to keep cool…


So hot that you gotta take off the shirt… :p


Another one!


Or roll up your tee…Hahah…

Among the abled-bodies, we also have the less fortunate ones, nonetheless displaying the same running spirit..


This lady chose to walk with crutches instead of her wheelchair…


Thumbs up!


Among the runners was Singapore Blade Runner, a long distance athelete.
Wow missed seeing him in action! I dun think I can ever catch up with him!


The gentleman we saw earlier doing his run…I think he did the 5km run…


Amazing feat!

About 1,200 people participated in the Terry Fox Run, raising S$40,000 for the Cancer Society of Singapore. Not too bad since it was not a very well publicised event. I guess maybe cos the organisers were not professional sports event organising company. But the effort was well-worth, cos with a relatively small number of people, we did our little part in helping to raise some fund for cancer research. The Terry Fox legacy will continue, as long as we have like-minded people getting together….


“Even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue. It’s got to keep going.”
Terry Fox, 10 July 1980

Also see related posts:
> First Marathon
> Scaling New Height
> Taking Baby Steps
> Life is Great – Great Eastern Women 10K Run
> The Ultimate X-Terrain Challenge – New Balance Real Run 2010
> Ten Ten Ten Ten – The Prelude
> An Uphill Task
> Getting into Shape
> Stepping Up @ NLB
> Tortoise and Hare

How the Rabbit Turned into the Cat

February 8, 2011 at 9:25 pm | Posted in itchy mouth | Leave a comment
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As Chinese around the globe welcome the Bunny for the Year of the Rabbit, Vietnamese is purr-fectly happy being the odd one out. Why? Cos they are celebrating the Year of the CAT.

So, how did the Rabbit turn into a Cat?

It all began as a misunderstanding – The Chinese word for rabbit is 卯 (mao), which sounds like ‘meo’ in Vietnamese, meaning cat. So while others celebrate the Year of Rabbit, Vietnamese will celebrate the Year of Cat. Hahah…Apparently, the Vietnamese have no interest to change it now. Since most of Vietnamese people are farmers, they prefer the cats as they can kill rats that threaten their crops whereas rabbits are the ones who will eat the crops!

Haha…interesting right? A pity Itchyfingers are not in Vietnam now, cos it would be nice to see decoration of the cats all over the street. For Chinese who celebrate the Year of Rabbit, we have red packets with bunny design. So I guess for the Vietnamese, their choice of design will be the cat! 😀


Itchyfingers happened to see this set of 招财猫 (Fortune Cat) red packets…


Called Maneki Neko in Japanese, they are also known as the Lucky Cat,
Fortune Cat or Welcoming Cat…


These do not cost much and has six design in a pack. The back of the red
packet is not left empty too…


Initially we had thought if these were sold last year for the Year of Tiger,
at least it is more related as they are both from the Cat Family…


Then we thought the 招财猫 is a lucky symbol itself so it is appropriate
to use on the red packet..haha


But now we know that the Year of the Rabbit is the same as the Year of
the Cat! Hahaha…

Happy New Year to all!

Also see related posts:
> Museum Hopping for Bunnies
> Gong Xi Fa Cai! – Taipei, Taiwan Trip #4

Museum Hopping for Bunnies

February 5, 2011 at 12:02 am | Posted in itchy mouth | 4 Comments
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As the Bunny hops in, visitors at 39 participating museums and heritage galleries can collect complimentary red packets as mementos for the Year of the Rabbit. This is an initiative called the Museum Roundtable led by the National Heritage Board to encourage more people to pay the museums a visit.

When Itchyfingers saw the news on the tv middle of last month, I was attracted by the Asian Civilisation Museum’s red packet design. But after checking the website for more details, it seems that to collect all 39 design is not really possible. Why leh? Firstly, most required visitors to pay admission fees to the museums or galleries. Er, not that they are so expensive that we cannot afford – the tickets range from $3 to $10, with only the Mint Museum of Toy charging $15. But if you wanna collect all, it means you will have to spend over $100 for admission! If you are not interested in a particular museum, it will make no sense to pay just because you want to collect the free red packets. Secondly, some museums are a bit out of place, with opening hours only during office hours in the weekdays. So there is no way a working person can visit them. Thirdly, some galleries which do not need admission, require you to be on a group of at least 15 persons for their guided tours. For an individual visitor, you will have to call prior your visit to register. But not all visitors know about that. Of course, it is up to the galleries to set their own terms and conditions. But the funniest thing is, the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall is on the list of participating galleries when it is now under renovation! How to visit then? It was only later that they announce that the Memorial Hall’s design can be collected at the Philatelic Museum. Obviously an oversight by the organiser…Actually I always wanted to visit the Memorial Hall but find it a bit out of place…will try to visit when it reopens.

Well, despite the above mentioned points, I think it is still good effort of the organiser to encourage the museum-visiting culture in Singapore. And I certainly appreciate the cute designed red packets! These are some of the designs Itchyfingers have collected so far…


Sir Bunny Raffles – our first design was from the National Museum of Singapore
when we visited the Pompeii: The Final Moment. Had wanted to visit it earlier
but only found time two weeks before the end of the exhibition. Was surprised
to find that it was the Open House, so we got to view it for free…


The Little Bunny Nyonya from the Peranakan Museum. This is among one
of my favourite designs so I didn’t mind paying admission. Currently on
show is Ramayana Revisited: A Tale of Love & Adventure, which Itchyfingers
will try to write about before it ends on the 27 February


Mr Bunny Postman from Singapore Philatelic Museum. Too bad when
we were there, they haven’t announce that the design from the Sun Yat Sen
Nanyang Memorial Hall can be collected there too…So we missed it…the
design is quite cute but..too bad lor…


Bunny Bookworm from the National Library Singapore. Viewed an
interesting photo exhibition: Not All’s Lost, with 25 portraits featuring the
motivations and inspirations of 27 female volunteers for the Hair for
Hope (HfH) event, who shaved their heads to support children with cancer


Bunny Explorer from Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. They
really deserve a bigger and better gallery space for all the rare specimens
that are now in the backroom!


Finally visited Reflections at Bukit Chandu as it was the Open Day
and got Encik Bunny! History buffs will love this place


And I finally got this Emperor Bunny from the Asian Civilisations Museum!
My favourite of all the 39 designs! :p Thought it would be one of the first
to be out of stock!

I think I will not be museum hopping around anymore for more designs, unless I happen to be at the area, although there are some more which I also like – Army Bunny, the two Bunny Samsui, Mata Bunny…But no time to travel around liao…If you are interested to collect all or some of these bunny red packets, head down to the participating museums and galleries listed here. You have until 13 February to do so, while stock last! 🙂 Oh, for those who really want to collect all but cannot visit all the 39 venues, you can get hold of the whole set of design printed on gold paper for $18 from the National Heritage Board booth at the River Hongbao at Marina Bay too!

Let’s look forward for next year’s Dragon red packets! 😀

Also see related post:
> > Gong Xi Fa Cai! – Taipei, Taiwan Trip #4

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