With only just over a week until I travel to Hong Kong with my fellow bloggers, it's time to let everybody in on a little secret.The last few days has seen a steep curve in the training schedule for the International Media Bathtub race to be held on the 25th July (as part of the much larger Dragon Boat Festival).
My preparation for this event has not been without its challenges.
Firstly, on Sunday I had the contractors come in to hack the training tub out of our bathroom... as you can imagine, my wife was none too impressed to lose our brand new bathtub out of our newly renovated bathroom (nor were my neighbours very happy - HDB do not allow any kind of noisy renovation-type works on the weekends).
The stringent training regimen starts off each morning - the alarm starts buzzing at around 5:00am... I then tie down the bathtub to the roof of my Toyota Wish and head off to Marina Bay to begin a two hour paddle. It's actually very difficult, because as you can see from this picture, I can't put my OMY Blog Awards trophy down for long enough to pick up an oar. So really I just float around in the bay in a piece of porcelain for a couple of hours.
Then it's back home again for a quick change of clothes before heading off to hit the pavement in a 'Rocky' style 5km run. It's not uncommon for all the young kids heading off to school to join in behind me and offer me encouragement - "Jia You Aussie Pete!! Jia You!!". With the 'Eye of the Tiger' sountrack buzzing in my head, it culminates with a fist into the air - of course I'm still holding my Blog Awards Trophy!OK - of course, I jest... there is no Bay Paddle nor even a morning run - and if you try waking me at 5:00am, expect a very grouchy Aussie Pete!... and there's no way that my wife would ever consider allowing me to dismantle her beautifully designed bathroom.
Having said that, I am concerned with how we're going to perform in the Bathtub event in Hong Kong. From what I've read on the website of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and from people I've spoken to, this event covers around 100 metres and may take about 40 minutes to complete... Huh!!? 100 metres in 40 minutes?? How tough is this particular activity, I wonder? Also, given that we're representing OMY, is the expectation to actually win this race or is it merely just to be able to finish with the bathtub still upright?
The next challenge I've got, is what to wear. Darren Ng (Celebrate Life) will be also competing with his blogger counterpart, Violet Lim. If you've visited Darren's website or seen him on RazorTV, you will be no doubt aware of his very 'hunky' (as I've heard the girls put it) physique. My team mates from the Singapore Wombats Aussie Rules footy team have been daring me to wear just a pair of speedos - should Darren and I both do that, then I've definitely lost even before the race has begun!!
The official finalized itinery for the four day trip to Hong Kong is almost with us, at which time I'll be able to decide what some of the extra activities and sites I'd like to do and see - I've been to this wonderful place many times, but it's always been for work (with no time to play). The HKTB has been extremely helpful in ensuring that we are fully armed with as much information on the many things available to us while we're there - stay tuned for my detailed itinery!! (one outing will definitely be shopping - my wife has given me a 'leave pass' for the four days on the proviso that I meet her shopping list requirements... she tells me that Hong Kong is a hub for branded handbags etc - thank goodness for the 'Visa Card' competition. I think I'll need to win the grand prize of HK$500,000 just to pay the credit card bill!!)I'll post here again as soon as I've finalized my itinery. In the meantime, I've been researching other creative ways that Geck Geck and I might be able to win this Bathtub race. I think I've found the solution - check out this video below:
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