Ahh…the Humble Introversion Bundle turned out to be a rather cool indie gaming bundle, and if you are a gamer, you would be crazy to miss it. I just bought the bundle which consists of Multiwinia, Uplink, Darwinia, DEFCON, Crayon Physics Deluxe, Aquaria, and Dungeons of Dredmor. The last 3 games are made available to bundle buyers who pay more than the average price of USD 3.85 and all of the games run on Mac and Windows.

The bundle also comes with two tech-demos, Voxel Tech Demo and City Generator Tech Demo, both of which are Windows only. Bundle buyers will also have access to the SOURCE CODE for Darwinia, Multwinia and DEFCON! I think the bundle is a really cool bargain, and you’re doing your bid for charity and supporting indie developers at the same time.

Thank God I’ve subscribed to the Humble Bundle newsletter, otherwise I would have given this the skip instead. Check it out over here: http://www.humblebundle.com/

Phew, I ended my 2011 running season with a bang at Nike We Run KL 10K 2011. This year’s event took place at Padang Merbok and attracted 10,000 runners and it made for a really crowded race. The good thing about We Run KL 2011 was that the entry fee was significantly cheaper than most runs (thanks to the Buddy thing they had), and I can see a lot of newbies joining the race.

On the downside, the race was like any high profile 10K event, it was crowded with very poor observation of race etiquette and the narrow course was filled with people who don’t really intend to run. I guess that RM 25 entry fee is hardly any motivation these days to push one’s self to run, but I did see a number of newbies pushing themselves especially towards the finish.

I finished at around the 1 hour 5 minutes mark (gun time) while my watch recorded a time of an hour 1 minute, not bad considering I had to do a lot to get out of the “woods”. It was only after the 7 kilometer mark that the crowd thinned out a little, most likely due to the rise in elevation.

The finish line was located at a downhill portion of the course and it was really cool and fun watching runners zip pass each other to make up for loss time from the uphill portion. I must add that the finish area, unlike the course, was designed to cope with the high number of participants in the event, and I went through it (and collected a couple of bananas, a bottle of water, and the race souvenir thumb drive) with very little hassle.

I do however have a comment on those who “bandit” the run. That term is reserved for people who didn’t pay but end up joining the race anyways. In the case of Nike We Run KL 10K 2011, these “bandits” are very easy to identify, they do not have the Nike shirts which double up as the running bibs. Quite a number of these bandits showed up in the Putrajaya Night Run finisher shirts.

You know it’s fine that you want to run with the paying runners…but please leave the finish line alone, that is for paying runners only. The RELA members did a good job in stopping some of these bandits just before the finish line, but some made it through, running at top speed if I may add. Shame on you for being a bad example to people and no respect to both the organizers and those who actually paid to run in the event.

Anyways, if there’s one thing I would love the organizer to change next year would be staggered starts. The race course isn’t meant to handle 10,000 runners in one go and is in danger of being a walkabout in certain areas. New categories wouldn’t hurt either. Adidas has the 16.8 K AND 10K in the King of the Road race, so how about a Nike half marathon in 2012?

Here’s to the fastest death reversal in comic book history (I think), Bucky Barnes is not dead yet. In the issue Fear Itself 7.1: Captain America, Steve Rogers discovers that his friend and former sidekick and the current fella to hold the mantle of Captain America after his own “death” in Civil War, is actually still alive and kicking. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Bucky was discovered to be barely alive after getting pwned by Sin, and was subsequently revived by Nick Fury’s last dose of Infinity Formula. Several takeaways from this issue, Bucky’s “funeral” goes on with a LMD taking his deceased self, while he goes about tying up loose ends as the Winter Soldier. What will happen to Nick Fury since there’s no more Infinity Formula….are his days numbered?

Coming in 2012…Winter Soldier #1.

If you are wondering why the lack of updates yesterday, I’m actually in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, for a race this weekend, called The Most Beautiful Thing: Ultra Trail Marathon. I wouldn’t be running the 50K or the 100K but instead will be taking part in the 25K. All of the events are trail runs, so I can expect to get dirty this Saturday. One thing that is unique though for this race is that the organizers have put a picture of Steve Jobs on each of the running bibs that we are supposed to pin on the front of the runing vest.

According to the organizer, this was done to raise awareness on cancer, with Steve Jobs having fought the fight against the disease before succumbing to it. People may ask us about who is the guy in the picture (let’s face it, not everyone know who Steve Jobs each), and we are encourage to share his story and with that, help spread awareness about the disease. In other race related news, wish me luck, as I think the course is going to be tougher than the 42K road race I participated in earlier this year .

You’ll know when you are running in a foot race in Klang when a. the air stinks, b. the road stinks with garbage on the side, c. there are plenty of potholes on the roads,  d. there’s plenty of traffic and finally e. the sun is up and you are not even done yet. Not that I’m complaining, these hallmarks make any road race in Klang unique compared to other places, and being a Klang-ite myself, I can’t help but join them.

This morning’s Pink Charity Run at Harbour Place, Port Klang is not different. We started off at 7 a.m. from Harbour Place, a mall by the side of the main road in Port Klang, flagged off by a couple of celebrities (Yasmin Yusoff and the current Miss Malaysia), along with Pantai’s boss. The route was remarkably flat, devoid of hills and brought us through Pandamaran.

In the absence of traffic cones and with the free for all traffic, the role of RELA officers in directing traffic cannot be understated in this race, and those chaps did a remarkable job, so kudos to them. The 10 KM route went through Pandamaran before heading into Kim Chuan road into Bayu Perdana. From there onwards we ran into Taman Chi Liung and back to Harbour Place.

This was one of the more smaller runs with 1,200 participants and it was actually quite fun and there were plenty of familiar faces. This was despite the fact that the PJ Half was going on the same morning. The course wasn’t great, and at some parts downright smelly, dirty and the traffic dangerous, but like how some races are known for their steep inclines, to me, this is just Klang being Klang…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The inaugural Putrajaya Night Marathon back in 2010 marked the first time I participated in the half-marathon category, having just ran 10K all the while. It was a well-run race and it was a good thing for newbies like me back then. I don’t know whether it was due to nostalgia, but I signed up for  Putrajaya Night Marathon 2011 despite knowing that it would be just several days after I return from a long holiday in Hong Kong.

As such, I can say I was ill-prepared for the race with just the Adidas King of the Road (16.8KM) a forthnight ago, and a measly 5 KM training run on the slopes of Hong Kong island several days prior to PNM. So imagine my surprise when I crossed the finish line last night with a new personal best for the half marathon, clocking in 2 hours 24 minutes!

Again, this was due to a very nicely organised race and what would I call a really fast route. There were gentle uphill inclines and the downhill portions tend to flatter runners. I also had the benefit of having experienced several parts of the route in other running events like the Shape Run and New Balance 15K. The organisers went out of their way to provide a really cool experience for runners.

There were plenty of water stations, located every 3 KM, and there were taiko drummers, cheerleaders, marching bands, folks blasting music as well as guys dressed up as superheroes and even the silver-coated guys pretending to be statues (usually seen in Bukit Bintang), providing some kind of support/morale boost to runners.

The race did highlight several concerns though. Whose idea was it to print the half marathon distance markers with an unreadable black font over a dark blue background? More importantly, traffic control created a pretty safe race but at the expense of the residents in Putrajaya.

I’m guessing that Saturday night was a really busy night, and there were complaints on the event’s Facebook place about traffic control alienating the entire 5th precinct. Hopefully the organizers and the residents can come up with an amiable solution for the next edition of the run, as it would be a shame if both sides can’t work together.

I flew into Hong Kong for an 8-day holiday on the 5th of October. On the morning of the 6th of October, barely 5 minutes after wishing my fiancé Happy Birthday, I saw on TV breaking news on the death of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. The impact on Hong Kong news media was immediate and although I spent the entire day in Disneyland, I heard that the media, both print and TV had a field day.

The newly opened Apple Store at IFC is Hong Kong’s only official store. It is barely a month old and is now transformed into a part shrine to Steve Jobs. It’s pretty easy to understand the sentiment the people of Hong Kong have for Apple’s iconic innovator. Take a look around at the passengers in the always packed mass transit systems, and you are bound to find iDevices around you.

The iconic image of the Apple logo with Steve Jobs’ silhouette replacing the usual “bite” was created by a 19 year old Hong Kong student. It has now taken its place as THE ultimate tribute to the man, and at the same time has become a great source of pride for the people here.

I went over to the IFC today, to see for myself the shrine that came about. The atmosphere was one not unlike a celebrity’s funeral. There were post-it notes stuck to one side of the store, and even a wreath of flowers. Even before I managed to find the Apple Store, I over heard people asking where is “ping guo”? That’s Apple in Cantonese, the local dialect.

I snapped the following collage of photos, higher res ones to follow after I’m back from my holiday

It’s been a rather crazy first day at Hong Kong for us, having landed at HKIA 15 minutes ahead of schedule and then proceeding straight to the discount stores at Citygate. Wednesday was a public holiday for both China and Hong Kong, so in addition to the extra discounts on offer for branded goods such as luxury brand Coach and numerous clothing labels, there were plenty of nouveau rich mainland Chinese to gawk at.

Having spent a number of hours at City gate, we only made a move to our hotel in Wan Chai in the afternoon. Located on Hong Kong island itself, the hotel was a 10 minute walk from the MTR station exit, bags and all. Oddly though I found that the pace that Hongkies go about doing their stuff is not much different from Malaysians. I thought they would have much more in common with Singaporeans.

Anyways, another interesting note is that air-conditioning is crazy cold EVERYWHERE. I can go on a walkabout without breaking a sweat and this is quite different in Malaysia or Singapore.

We headed out to the Wan Chai ferry terminal to catch the boat to Tsim Tsa Tsui. From there we managed to get really nice shots of Central’s cityscape. Like everything else in Hong Kong at night, it was bright, colorful and full of neon.

Walking was the order of the night at Tsim Tsa Tsui. Arena of Stars was located nearby the ferry terminal. Basically it’s a tourist trap with these “professional” photogs setting up stalls and charging an exorbitant price for taking photos of you with a stunning backdrop of Central at night.

We had dinner in the area, basically it was roast goose and fried rice before heading to Mongkok. Here’s where things get even crazier. Argyle Street was playing host to street performers and folks selling anything from broadband plans, tablets and even writing what I assume to be protest notes on the STREET.

Street food was available in abundance here, having tried Stinky Tofu and fried pig intestines dipped in soy sauce! We headed back to Wan Chai via the MTR after that and we are going to have a busy Day 2. We are heading to Disneyland!

I didn’t take part in the Singapore edition of Adidas’ King of the Road race this year, but I made it point to run in the Malaysian edition that took place earlier this morning at Sunway Pyramid. This year marked the return of KOTR in Malaysia after a year’s hiatus, after THAT race in 2009 (race report from way back, here).

In any case, King of the Road returned strongly this year, with pretty much hallmarks to a well-organized race. The 16.8 KM event started at 6.45 AM, with runners running towards Subang before a u-turn bringing them back into the NPE. The New Pantai Expressway played host to the runners right up to the Templer interchange, where a u-turn brought us back towards Sunway Pyramid.

The fact that the race was held right next to the shopping mall meant that there was plenty of parking (but there was a terrible jam afterwards going out), and I guess that newbies would appreciate the abundance of facilities (toilets for one). The race itself featured water stations placed at regular 2-3 km intervals, you definitely can’t complain with the amount of hydration available.

The only problems with the race were more environmental then anything else. The weather was hazy and despite the lack of traffic (the organizers and the police cordoned off the entire highway, thus making us runners feel like Kings of the Road), there was a bit of smog, but I guess that’s a given running in the city (try the SCKLM full marathon route and you’ll get the idea).

I finished the 16.8 KM course in an hour and 51 minutes, it wasn’t a good time, considering the number of highway ramps in the way, and I’m not really good with u-turns. They mess with me head .

Two thumbs up for a great race Adidas, the turn-out was amazing. Hope to see you next year! Special thanks to all the marshals, water station crew, and the clean-up guys who you don’t normally see until the end of the event.

When my mum returned from the UK many years ago, she brought back plenty of books. One of the books was Richard Adams’ Watership Down. If you haven’t read it already, it’s an amazing book, bringing the story of a warren of rabbits to life into a tale that features heroism primarily with plenty of dark undertones of death and disease, only to end with a hopeful message for a brighter future.

It’s also a pretty good setting for an MMORPG. For those who have read the book, they would know that the structure of a warren isn’t that dissimilar to that of a typical MMO faction. There are different types of rabbits in the warren, and these match perfectly with MMORPG types like soldiers, foragers, bards, you get the idea.

So, in a Watership Down MMORPG, players get to play mini-games such as bob-stones (a game described by the book as being a traditional game played among rabbits) or explore other locales (otherwise known as dungeons in other MMORPGs) in the book such as the farm, the river crossing and even other warrens. Not only that, perhaps they can even engage in PvP combat among warrens…just like in the book!

Players will also get to uncover legends and stories, such as the one regarding El-ahrairah, the rabbit folk hero, and also the Black Rabbit of Inle. For flavour, the game’s language would be a mix of English, and Lapine! Imagine saying “Embleer Frith!” instead of “Dammit!”. LOL, while I know it’s pretty far fetch but I think this idea would find support from fans of the book. So what do you think?