Denise's first visit to the Dentist

Denise came by to my clinic this morning.what a pleasant surprise!
i have not seen her since i came back from the US.
She has grown more pudgy!!

today she is in a good mood.so we decided to give her a dental check up.
she mumbled to me in her baby lingo " Go easy on me doctor!"

at just 4 months,she still doesn't have any teeth.
"gugu Dentist fiona...when will my choppers grow? i want to eat some chicken fried rice!"

Bruddah Iz~White Sandy Beach

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (legenda)

every time i visit Hawaii, i like to buy new CDs.Hawaiian music is mellow,breezy and totally chilled out.
The music tunes are light reggae types which i absolutely enjoy.

this trip , i collected more CDs.

I would like to share with you my favourite Hawaiian singer IZ.
he has a beautiful voice which i admire. i practice singing alot in the showers but it never turns out like his.hahaha!

IZ has passed away ...but his soulful voice will always be in my heart.

Post race treats

i love ice creams and smoothies.
post race, i treated myself to quite a few ice creams.
the best one i had was at Cold Stone Creamery.
i had the Cheescake fantasy : Cheesecake icecreams plus fresh blue berries and strawberries and graham crackers pie crust.
CALORIES !!!

Honolulu

post race, i flew to Honolulu for 2 nights.
i rented a very cheap mountain bike and rode around the city.
it is very easy and convenient to cycle in the town.
not much traffic as most people take public transport.

Hawaiian Gekkos

the gekkos in Hawaii are cute and brightly coloured!

Race Check in

On Friday afternoons, i lined up to check in my gears.

Snorkelling in Kona

i brought my own Snorkel to kona. there are many small beaches around the island and they are ideal for snorkelling.
the water and the beaches are very clean.the fishes are beautiful. my favourites are the honu turtles.

this is Kahaluu beach. the sand is grey because it is mixed in with eroded lava.

Powebar breakfast

there was a Powerbar breakfast for all the sponsored athletes on Thurday morning.it was nice to chat to the other athletes.at the end , they gave out a Powerbar goody bag.

JUNK food

if i weren't an athlete and if i were living in America, i would most definitely be one of the victims of widespread obesity in the US.

everywhere you go at the ABC stalls, the KTA shopping malls and other drugstores, there are just so many rolls and aisles of junk food enticing you.

everywhere there is big value meals, super value meals, buy one and get the next one at 50%, or buy 3 get one free! too many gimmicks!

the trouble is , the tortilla chips and chocolates and doughouts taste so good.

thank God i was only there for 10 days! mostly i bought fresh food from the market. i ate out afew times with Taro and Matsu at Taco bells and also with Ira the german athlete at Sushis and Chinese .

athlete registration

i registered myself for the race. weighing in at 51kg.
post race i lost 5 pounds. i looked drained!

later i went to visit the expo.there were many new gears to see and try.

alot of the the athletes went crazy over the Newton shoes.but they were very expensive .retail at US 150 a pair.
the other gears people buy alot were compression socks and aero helmet.

i noticed a huge number of cervelo bikes.

Dig Me beach

this is the pier..where the swim start begins.
it is called the " Dig Me Beach".

every morning during race week, athletes are allocated 7-9am for swim practices.
after every swim, each athlete is given a free Gatorade bottle and free Gatorade drinks.
so take a guess how many times i went for swim practice during the week.hahaha!

there is a bike mechanic section where poeple just dump their bike cases there and let the mechanics assemble the bike.
i found out basic tune ups is US25.every little thing costs in the US. major rip off. you have to pay to use a trolley,you have to pay just to tune a gear or two.

luckily Razani taught me well to be self reliant on all things bicycle. i can tune my own bikes pretty well.

my rented house in Kona

this is where i stayed during race week.it was self contained and very cosy and comfortable.there were two other German athletes who also stayed there.