Ok so the title pun has been done 1000 times before.  Following my eye test I’ve needed to get glasses and today Kathryn and I went into town nice and early to see what we could get.

Turned out Vision Express had a special Oakley day on which meant that, unusually for Oakley glasses, they were available at a discount.

I ended up going for two pairs – one pair of normal spectacles which will be for everyday use and a second pair of sunglasses which also have my prescription in.  They’re the Lance Armstrong Livestrong brand so I think I’ve probably donated some money to charity too – they may even help my cycling!

I’ve got to wait for the sunglasses as Oakley make them up themselves but the normal frames were available on a one hour service so I have them now.  Putting them on was very strange as everything went into a sort of tunnel vision but in the centre of the glasses it was like changing from Standard to Hi-def TV.  I’m trying to keep them on now so I can get used to them.

On Tuesday Chris and I entered this 4 mile race around the village of Redwick.   I’d set myself a target of 33 minutes with 32 minutes being an optimistic bonus and I ended up coming in in 31:27 which was, for me, a great time and about the fastest pace I’ve run any sort of distance in a good while.  Chris and I went round the first of the 2 laps together and then I pushed on for the second lap and finished just under a minute ahead but most of that was probably down to Chris’ ongoing asthma issues.

We missed the first race of the 4 race series but you only need to do 3 of the 4 to get an overall ranking so I’ll try to do that although one of them clashes with cricket.

We’ve actually been doing quite a lot of running recently including some off road, on Friday after work for example we got lost and ran the wrong way a few times before completing a respectable 10.5K in just over an hour.  To aid my running I went along today for a foot assessment (my first since the op) at the excellent Run and Become in Cardiff and after much searching and testing it turns out that my current Asics Gel Cumulus are actually about the best for me even though my two feet are now markedly different.

Must throw in a thanks to Kathryn for driving us both down and supporting and roll on the 14th July when we get to do it all again!

1 careful owner (Kathryn), one slightly less careful owner (Me).  Have a look here.  For those two lazy to click the link this is what Darlows have to say about it.

Offered for sale is this stylish 3 bedroom dormer style semi in Rumney, well presented throughout this property would be ideal for those families looking to upsize, an attractive price completes the package!.

The last 2 days have been spent in Singapore.  Once we departed the ship we went on a quick tour of the island before checking into our hotel which is excellent.

We’ve done the hop-on hop-off tour for a day and a half and have seen loads.  A nice feature is many of the hotels and malls are all interlinked so you can get around without leaving the comforts of aircon.

We’ve eaten well too and last night went to a fancy restaurant where you get served your steak (or in K’s case tuna) and they give you a hot stone for you to cook the meat yourself.  It was very good and the starters and desserts were excellent.

Singapore is probably our favourite place on the whole trip and a place we’d certainly consider returning too – Kathryn’s even looked up the Singapore Marathon as a good excuse to come back.  Incidentally our hotel is smack bang in the middle of the F1 track – the track goes past the front and back of the hotel and we’re about a 3 minute walk to the pit buildings.

We’ll be leaving the room soon to checkout but we’ve still got 6 hours till the airport transfer so we’re going to continue to enjoy.  Ciao!

This is the last of our at sea blogs as we depart Cambodia for our final destination of Singapore.

After I last posted we went to watch the magicians escape act and in my eagerness to get a front row seat I ended up being dragged up front to help with the chaining and checking of the padlocks.  They were definitely proper padlocks and the chain was very heavy.  Having seen him get our of a straight jacket though I don’t think it was any more difficult except perhaps that he was at the bottom of a 6 foot deep pool.  He escaped after 2 and a half minutes underwater but in all honesty I think he was out within the first 90 seconds and staying down for effect.

The next day we got to Thailand near the beach town of Pattaya and from there we got a bus ride to Bangkok where we decided to do the city on foot.  Bad call on my part that as by the time we got to the Emerald Temple and Giant Buddha everything was closed up to tourists – we were even given a friendly warning by a tourist policeman that we shouldn’t hang around that area too long.  We had managed to see one of the main temples though and went back to the shopping!

Many people were staying overnight in Bangkok but we headed back on the bus and the next day stayed more local to the port and visited the Tiger Zoo.  The Tiger Zoo is home to hundreds of tigers, over 100K crocodiles, elephants and a mix of other animals.  There were some demonstrations of the animals, Kathryn wasn’t keen on the guy who spent most of his time trying to get bitten by crocodiles, I was quite impressed by the elephant who could play darts!  The tigers were the stars though and I even got to hold and feed a tiger cub.  Special mention should go to Kathryn’s favourite animal – the flag waving pig.

That afternoon we had a relax by the pool which was rudely interrupted when Kathryn wrenched my book from my hands and entered me into the “Mr Legend” competition.  Despite 2 Welsh girls on the judging panel I still didn’t win – I can only assume it was down to my reluctance to be there. That and the fact I can’t dance or do press-ups!  I will have my revenge on Kathryn for that one!

In Cambodia we visited a beach town and had a mill around the local market – think Splott Market but with twice as many stalls crammed in and add numerous sewing machines and scorpions on sticks.  From there we hopped on a Tuk Tuk to one of the many beaches and spent a couple of hours just walking in the surf and sitting back watching the world go by.

Tomorrow we’re at sea before we arrive in SIngapore.  Straight off the ship we’re having a tour of the place which should help us we’ll get to know the place before exploring solo and we’d probably be too early for check in anyway.

Long overdue blog this one but we’ve just been so busy the last few days – breakfast, pick up trip ticket, get off ship, get on bus, drive, race around city, take photos, back on bus and repeat. back on bus, drive back to ship. get ready for evening, watch show, eat dinner, bed – and then do it all again on the next day in a whole other city!

Since we left Hong Kong we sailed to the Chinese town of Sanya where our activity for the day was to the hot spa resort – a park full of loads of hot water pools.  Highlight of the day for me was the Fish therapy pools , otherwise known as the nibble fish ponds.  You sit in a big pool of water filled with various fish from 2-4 inches long and they proceed to eat your dead skin until it’s all gone or you decide you can’t stay in any longer!  I submerged myself almost totally but drew the line when my ear was getting nibbled.  It was such a strange experience.

Sanya was our last Chinese location and we then travelled to Vietnam where we’ve been for the last 3 days.  First day was in the town of Hoi An where we went on a walking tour of the old historical town and browsed the markets.  Next was Nah Trang which is the most popular beach resort in Vietnam and finally yesterday we visited Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon).  It’s such a sprawling and busy city that we were constantly on the move and barely getting a chance to think before we were onto the next location – any slower though and we wouldn’t have seen half of what we did.  In fact the only thing slowing us up was the dozens of street traders trying to sell us postcards, caps, T-shirts etc as you got on and off the bus.  They weren’t too pushy though and would never try to stop you if you weren’t interested.  In Vietnam the temperatures have been consistently around 90 degrees with very high humidity.

On the ship we’ve been keeping busy too eating some excellent meals alongside our table-mates from South Africa and enjoying some banter with our Head Waiter Nilesh.  I’ve had a couple of excellent Lamb meals and Kathryn’s just enjoying the chance to have 3 courses every night.

I’ve been running round on deck (or in the gym) most days and the humidity really makes you feel you’ve burnt a few calories.  It’s even like an obstacle course at times trying to avoid people wandering aimlessly around the designated running track.

Also I’m apparently now a genuine stalker – we saw the magician show one night and he sat next to us at breakfast the next day and I had the cheek to say hello and tell him how much I enjoyed the show.  SInce then we keep bumping into him around the ship and Kathryn’s convinced I’m stalking him – he’s doing an escape act from chains in the pool today which should be good to watch.

Kathryn’s looking forward to the formal night tonight as we missed the previous one on the night where the sea was particularly choppy – the first time we’ve had actually designated “rough” waves on a cruise meant that many people missed dinner that evening.  Neither of us felt particularly good that night but it’s been fine since.

Tomorrow is Bangkok for 2 days, followed by Cambodia and then on to Singapore!

On Sunday I did the Pembrokeshire Duathlon – also known as the Welsh Duathlon Championships.

As I’m not long over the op I’d set this as a target for myself and I must admit I did wonder if I’d bitten off more than I could chew.

We travelled up the day before staying in the Cleddau Bridge hotel (who incidentally were very accommodating regarding my bike and my request for a late checkout so I could pop back after the event).   Went over on Saturday for a reccy (signs were going up as I was driving it) and to preregister.

However not being out on the bike other than on a turbo and not having used my clipless pedals before I was a little nervous about being able to complete the initial climb and following a sleepless night worrying I was almost on the verge of pulling out. So glad in the end that I didn’t!

Really enjoyed the atmosphere and had lots of people chatting to me and my nerves were soon settled.   Did well on the run and managed a decent enough time for me especially as I was taking it easy knowing the hill was to come.  The cycle was well marshalled given the numbers out on the track and as usual the support around the course, although limited, always helps you get around.  Traffic was well behaved on the fast section at the top and I think I only had one car pass me on the hilly section.   The long downhill at the end could have been smoother – I think I rattled half my teeth loose on the way back down!

In the end I came 30th in the Open Male category, which to be honest sounds more impressive than it actually is.

I’ll get some photos up shortly.

This evening Kathryn told me a story.  I say a story because it was obviously a work of fiction – she had been duped by a joke on the radio about how fish get a bad press due to their name – FISH – and it’s because of this that we’re quite happy to eat them.

She can be a little naive and I told her that it was obvious someone was winding her up and I went online to prove it.

It was at this point my head exploded when I found the following article – http://www.peta.org/Sea_Kittens/index.asp.  Before you head there I’ll quote a small paragraph that sums up the idiocy of it all

When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it’s time for a serious image makeover. And who could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten?

Basically the gist of the entire thing is that eating fish is cruel and if they were called sea kittens nobody would eat them.  Quite frankly if Garfield tasted as nice with chips as your average peice of cod I’d happily eat him too.

I really do dispair sometimes at how stupid people can be (in this case I don’t mean Kathryn).

Hello!  First post of 2009 albeit 9 days in.

I’ve been off work since 28th November following my ankle op and I’ve not been back to work since.  Turned out to be a lot more complicated than originally thought and I had quite of lot of work done in there.  However I’m walking now albeit with the help of a boot that looks like something robocop would were (sans gun in leg).  Still not allowed to drive though – Kathryn has been having great fun being designated driver – especially over Christmas.

On the subject of Christmas, despite being imobile, it was very enjoyable this year and we had some presents we really liked – Kathryn got an Ipod Touch, a Nespresso coffee machine and Rock Band for the PS3.  She loves them all.  Among other things I got a Garmin Forerunner 405 (a gps watch for running and cycling) and a turbo trainer (for converting a bike into an exercise bike) so I’m wondering if people are trying to tell me something?!

We also got a Tefal Actifry which might not sound too impressive but it makes great chips! We never used to have chips so it’s a real treat.  I’d have chips 5 times a week but Kathryn doesn’t approve.

Also had a pile of games but for some reason I’ve not played all of them yet despite my mass of spare time – have played Call of Duty Modern Warfare a lot though – really is a great game seeing as I don’t normally enjoy FPS games – the quality and cinematic feel of the game is excellent.  I’m struggling at the moment with the online play – I think I get killed about 5x for every kill I get.

I’ll try to blog more often (yeah, yeah, heard it all before) this year and provide things of more interest – we’re working out this years holiday plans at the moment so that always provides good blog fodder.