Macao Bridge Half Marathon

First run of the year. Really enjoyable race, along the 55 km Macao-Zhuhai Bridge, this Half Marathon takes you 11 km across the border and then brings you back. Fun course, not oversubscribed, long declines, challenging climbs. Sunrise, and airplanes. Only issue, it's an early start. Get to Asia World Expo by 6 to get a bus out to the start line. What more could you want?

Mis-timed my fuelling, was on PB time until I bonked around the 18 km mark, 4 gels not enough. Official time 1:45:25. Happy with that all things considered.

 

Taipei

Pseudo Tokyo, because well, traveling to Japan for New Years was just way too expensive. Ended up traveling to Taipei, for some hot springs in Beitou, hiking in Yangmingshan, night markets in Taipei and New Years around 101. Icing on the cake, a nice upgrade on the return flight home. Not a bad plan B. 

Sydney

MBL. Mandatory Block Leave. 10 days where an employee is forced to be out of the office and removed from operations. The idea being that the employee is forced to take a break, and from a risk management and compliance perspective, removes any single point of failure from operations. It's been a while since I've been "forced" to take 10 days of annual leave from work. Sydney would be the destination. Christmas and end of year would be the occasion. 

Jam, jam, jam. Quite a busy time of the year. Catching up with people, health check ups, errands. Blessed with an amazing summer, although there were some stinkers (read 40 degrees).

KL

I've been thinking more and more about the concept of cousins. The idea that the person closest to you (at least from a genetic sense) is your siblings, your brothers or sisters. So when these siblings have kids, the concept of genetic overlap exists. Maybe obvious, but has been something I've been thinking about more and more. In my head, siblings want to have their kids, continue being part of their siblings kids (ie. cousins) but in reality this may not always happen due to circumstance. More so than when friends, want their kids to be friends with the parents kids. 

On that note, I have cousins that I am close with, and cousins that I am not so close with. I don't think it's a result of any conscious decision, but it is due to circumstance and interactions. So one of my cousins, that I'm not close with is getting married. It makes me wonder if it's ever possible to move from 'not so close' to 'close', but again unless those circumstances change, I'm not sure?

In any case, they are still my cousin. Decided to head to Petaling Jaya for the wedding. Lots of fun, seeing relatives, and so many faces from times when I was kid. I forgot how good Malaysian food is.

Bangkok

A weekend of many: Loy Krathong, crypto conferences, jeh o chula

 

Best of Hong Kong

 Nice little stretch of not traveling - it's good to be in one place, especially as the weather starts to become cooler.

Sydney

It's her 40th. I'm dating a middle aged woman.