Running the Race and the Bull Run 2005

Had a glorious run in the Singapore Botanic Gardens this evening. How wonderful it was to ease the old body from its bland cramped fluorescent-lit hovel in the office, breathing stale recycled air to saunter and stretch in the setting sun, exploring that light green-lung-filtered paradise filled with the heady scent of frangipanis, trasversing its even pathways, past old trees full of inquisitive squirrels, siberian huskies trying not to overheat, bats in fruit trees, house lizards waiting for dinner and ponds of graceful swans...

doggie-eyed view of the path

lizard waiting for din-din

err..月亮代表我的心 (how would that work though?)

Thence to the Prata Cafe at Evans Lodge where the prata was almost as good as the Jalan Kayu one a decade ago. The kari ayam, maggi goreng, Milo dinosaur and teh-o-ais-limau under the transplanted frangipani tree weren't half bad either. Will return for the tissue and plaster prata and prata bom...

An after-dinner walk round the School of Physical Education track took us past the familiar basketball courts where we'd spent many heart-pounding hours. The courts themselves are nothing to write home about, but they're the only place I know of in Singapore where ice-cold sweat replacement fluids are literally placed in your hot sweaty hands, courtesy of an Indian national on a bicycle illegally peddling isotonic drinks from the depths of his suspiciously overstuffed black trash bag.

Alas. Some other runs/walks will have to take place in Smog Central the CBD. We were planning for this year's charity Bull Run when some bright spark, obviously seizing the opportunity to don some women's clothing, strongly suggested that the men run the 3.2km in skirts, bras enhanced with shredded document fillers and heels.

I suspect other people would rather suffocate in an evil-black-bull-with-nose-ring-and-ridiculous-toupee costume:

So much for running the race well by throwing off everything that encumbers... ;-)