Race Etiquette

Some cool tips from Dr Jia Jia for runners for this year SCMS. But hey it can applies to all races as well.

Emirates Stadium - The Home of Arsenal

Over in London, we didn't have much time to do much sight seeing but one thing I knew I had to do was do a pilgrimage to one of the Premier League Club's stadium and in London there is non bigger and better than the Emirates Stadium. Unfortunately as it is now, the team with the bigger better stadium is not necessarily the better team.

Enough of words, for all the Arsenal football fans, here are the highlights of the Emirates Stadium

A very bold declaration in a very understated manner

This is more like it!

Guess who is this fella? No no not that smiling goondu in the green jacket. The statue, the guy with the outstretched hands

Is this all there is to the Arsenal's haul?

A time capsule.  Wonder what went into it?

And finally, the very familiar sights to all soccer fans:

The tunnel to the field

And of course the beautiful pitch. 

I think the fellas from our sports hub need to come here and learn from them how to maintain the pitch.

And some places we don't get to see on the television:

The VIP dining room. There is even a celebrity chef to cook for the guests! Unfortunately we were not considered "guest" so no nice meal for us.

This is the physiotherapy room where the players get their massage and do their recovery

 

 And this is the hydro therapy pool. Only for the home team. Wish I can go soak inside too

The shower room. Why no doors and partition?

The Changing Room. The kitman will lay out the players's attire and everything else here

In comparison, the visitor changing room is so plain.

That's me, ahem, giving my end of game press conference

There is even an Arsenal Museum. 

Those were the days when policemen worn shorts and Arsenal was known as Woolwich Arsenal and playing in Division Two at Highbury.

Anybody young enough to have ever worn wooden soccer boots?

And do you know Arsenal ever had such a colorful top?

And a screen grab from one of the many videos featuring one of the greatest Arsenal star

Last but not least, a giant poster with the very best of Arsenal!

Love is in the Air - Swissotel Vertical Marathon

Maybe it is the altitude. Maybe it is what people call the dizzying height of love. But whatever it is, the top of the Swissotel Hotel, seems to bring out the love in people. On Sunday at the Swissotel Vertical Marathon, there were not one but 2 wedding proposals plus many couples getting all lovey dovey up in the sky. One exciting guy didn't even think it was high enough and had to carry his partner on his shoulder to really get the top of the world feeling!

Here are some of the lovebirds

The first wedding proposal

And a lip smacking kiss to seal the pact

The 2nd wedding proposal

Of course must sealed with a kiss

This one a chaste kiss

This one must be a top of the world kiss

No kiss for this couple but they just couldn't get high enough!

Congratulations to the 2 couples and to the others - may your love grow as high as the highest building.

Pernaton Gel

There has been studies out there claiming that glucosamine is not really effective for joint pain and treatment. But I have been using a combination of pills and cream since 2006 and I am a firm believer that even if it doesn't heal, at least it is effective in warding off knee pain. I have been running and now more than 8 years after my knee problems, I am still running without any major problems. Sure there are the occasional aches and pains but nothing really problematic like runner knees and I attribute this to my constant use of glucosamine.

Usually I am game to try new products and so when I was given a tube of Pernaton Gel to try, I was most happy to do so.

What exactly is Pernaton Gel. 

"Pernaton Gel is an unique massage gel, contains the original Perna extract and the vital GAGs extracted from Green Lipped Mussels. GAGs consists of naturally occurring glucosamine and other amino sugars"

In another word, Pernaton Gel is actually glucosamine and therefore suitable for the elderly to maintain joints mobility, sports people for joint maintenance and generally anybody with joint problems caused by osteoarthritis.

Most glucosamine extracts are from shellfish while a minority are from grains. According to the manufacturer, what set Pernaton gel apart from other in the market is that it is made in Switzerland and from mussels farmed off the coast of uncontaminated water of New Zealand and not manufactured in some "Asian" country with shellfish of unknown background! (My words - not the manufacturer)

According to the local distributor, many of her clients have expressed satisfaction with the result. This was especially evidenced in the elderly who suffered from osteoarthritis of the finger joints.

But the prove of the pudding must of course comes from the eating and after using it for the past 3 weeks (no I didn't eat it), did I see any results? Unfortunately to be honest, since I have not been experiencing knee pain, I really cannot tell. For sure, I like the nice smell and the non-greasy gel. I especially like that it does not have the strong menthol/campor  smell which a lot of other brands put in as a pain reliever. Another plus point for this product is that it is very reasonably priced if you buy it online from qoo10.sg/shop/pernaton. It cost more at the retail outlets though. 

For those who are experiencing knee pain or suffering from joint pains due to osteoarthritis, I highly recommend trying this out. After all, there is really no harm. It is cheaper than most other brands in the market costing less than the price of a dinner at a mid priced restaurant and if there is no improvement after using a tube, just move on to the next available brand. What do you got to lose?

Likes:

Non greasy, Nice smell, Handy size

Dislikes: Errr nil so far but a word of caution - it may not be suitable for those with seafood allergies since it contains extracts from mussels