Standard Chartered KL Virtual Marathon 2017 Pre-Race Preparation #Brunei

“This virtual race is brought to you by the official SCKLM and 42Race. You can now run anytime, anywhere, with anyone on 21 May 2017 to earn the exclusive Standard Chartered KL Virtual Marathon medal. First 1,999 Entries will be awarded with Free Running Bandana (worth S$9.90, posted with finisher medal).” — 42Race.com

You can forget about the free running bandana offer. At the time of this posting, 2078 runners have signed up for the virtual run. You can also forget about the Free Medal Engraving because the offer was valid till 16 Apr 2017. Good news is you can still register for the run which closes a minute before midnight 16th May 2017, and earn yourself an official SCKLM (Virtual) 5K, 10K, 21K or 42K Finisher Medal and Certificate. Head over to 42Race.com to sign up if you haven’t already done so.

Finisher medals images from 42race.com

Here in Brunei, I have a small group of participants comprising of family members and friends that have registered for the half marathon distance and we’re going to accomplish the mission using the 21km route that I’ve mapped, taking us on a Padang Arena Seria to Panaga roundabout to Mumong roundabout loop with specific turns on the return leg as detailed on the map provided below.

Yesterday, on 23 April 2017, we had a route familiarization practice run to experience the route first hand and we had a great time and along the way learned a thing or two that morning about our route, parking venue, hydration needs among other little things such as sun protection. We welcome anyone who wishes to join us on 21 May regardless of whether you signed up for the race event or not.

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A post shared by Jan Shim (@janshim)

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A post shared by Jan Shim (@janshim)

Memorable Fundraiser 7 Years Ago

Seven years ago today on 17th April 2010 I donated this 27″ x 23″ wood framed cardboard mounted photograph of a glorious Kampong Sungai Bera sunrise to the Panaga Helps Earthquake Fundraiser event as a lucky draw prize.

This picture was selected by event organizer Liesbeth for the auction she themed: “This sunrise piece represents the new dawn for the earthquake victims of Haiti and Chile as generous donations pour in from all over the world to help rebuild their lives.”

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A post shared by Jan Shim (@janshim)

‘I framed this shot from my kitchen balcony. Beautiful landscape moments like this was what made getting out of bed easy. Fast forwarded a few years, however, such views along with the iconic trees got lost to neighbourhood housing development and everything quickly became a distant memory.

Seven years on, Facebook prompted this reminder which I shared on my timeline only to receive a surprising comment by the lucky draw winner, Sanne Van Grinsven-Braakman … “I was the winner of the Panaga Helps auction 7 years ago and this pictures hangs now on my wall in New Orleans!”

From Brunei to USA — Wow 😍

Fire and Rescue Estimates Over $7 Million Loss in Historic Seria Landmark Fire

For majority of residents in oil town Seria, Millimewah Department Store is their go-to place for everything — although mostly catering for the budget conscious, they’re the only complete department store in town. While it’s debatable whether Soon Lee or Millimewah had more inventory, Millimewah was the only outlet that had a floor dedicated to selling clothing for kids and adults, men and women. At least they were up until the moment the entire premise was burned to the ground in a matter of hours. Electrical overload is believed to have been the cause of the fire according to Fire and Rescue’s assessment. I happened to be in the vicinity when fire broke out though I wasn’t anywhere near enough to hear what passers-by described as an explosion.

I had a busy afternoon shuttling the kids to and from tuition classes so that explains the near and far photos I shared on Facebook during the drive to and from home several times. The intensity of the billowing smoke seen from the Shell refinery and the field opposite Anthony Abel College (I took those routes to get home) very quickly turned turbulent increasing in volume and density.

Related: Seria landmark fire causes total loss of over $7 million

All images: Samsung Galaxy Note 5.