I'm almost there.

My morning glory has been struggling to finish her flowers in the chilling air. Last week I finally got heat in the building, but still haven't taken out winter clothes. Tomorrow morning is the marathon week kick-off event in the Central Park. In the last minute for the time I ran for Staten Island Half, I made it to the Local Elite list for the marathon, and will be starting at the front of Green Start next week. This year we have three 'wave start' with three different start time that will stretch the length of the entire race. I hope it won't be so cold for the spectators who may be on the road a lot longer than us. I posted my arrival times here. Look for me in your neighborhood!
on october 25, 2008 @ 11:49 pm [link]

Last battle

On Sunday, I stood on the front deck of Staten Island Ferry enjoying the beautiful ride. It was the last of Half Marathon Grand Prix, and I was going to complete all five for the first time. I love this ferry ride to a race, either for this half marathon or the New York City marathon- it feels so proper that we head to our battle by ship. I was getting into competitive mode, although my cat kept me awake half the night. It felt just so wonderful to be standing on the deck, dividing the wind. It was warm but dry morning, and I ran the best half marathon of the year. The course was fairly flat and beautiful, lots of views of water, and we had nice support from sideline including extremely enthusiastic young kids who were shouting out each runners numbers. I ran steady and strong, and brought home an award for third place in my age group. Another ferry ride is due in two weeks and a change for the big marathon. My registration for the race arrived in the mail today. My number is 8402. No more three digit numbers.

I was pretty tired but I ended up watching the whole re-run of the presidential debate last night after I came home. It was held at Hofstra University in Long Island, where I spent first two years in America. That was where I experienced American collage life, living among frat boys and sorority girls. So I had to watch it. I thought it was pretty good debate; I was a proud Democrat watching our candidate winning and winning. My mother recently told me about 'Obama City' in Japan, a sleepy little fishing village, which decided to give full support to Senator Obama simply because of they share the name. And it gave the city nice boost because they became famous for being Obama City! They got t-shirts, Obama song, bean cakes with his face on them. The mayor sent Senator Obama a pair of chopsticks made by local artisan, and they treasured the thank-you note they received. Pretty funny. How did I miss this story ?
on october 17, 2008 @ 12:23 am [link]

blame it on Mercury

I had a bit of lag in my blog entry, which is all because Mercury is in retrograde, not that I had much to write about. Working in my restaurant 12 hours a day is just like being a cast of unscripted reality show of a glamourous life of owner/chef. The big race is now only a month away, and I'm enjoying the cooler weather. The soup season is upon us. I've been coming up with great new recipes: buckwheat soup with shiitake mushroom, red bean and pumpkin soup, corn and tomato soup... The vine that started growing outside of my window turned out to be a real morning glory, different from the flowerless weed we had downstairs by the door. I've been enjoying flowers every day. The flower begins to open up by the time I come home, and in the morning it is fully open. The sadness of this flower is that it's open only for a day. Neverthless, a pretty blue flower or two for me every day. Something else to look forward to.
on october 4, 2008 @ 12:26 am [link]