Penguin

Lately, my daughter has been learning about the art of learning and her teacher asked her to understand how each person has different preference to learn.

She came home and interviewed me last night, throwing me questions like something I've done that I am most proud of.

"Hmmm, I would say start learning to run at the age of 46," I told my daughter and pondered what else can be better than this answer.

I soon realized that giving my daughter such answer is akin to telling teacher her daddy was caught smoking pot. "Daddy, another answer please. Isn't it too embarrassing to tell Mr. Yiu your age?"

I didn't push and respected her feeling, of course. But what if I'm really serious to elaborate on my first answer?  The best justification would then be showing my daughter the book I've been reading: An Accidental Athlete. That's a witty memoir of John Bingham, known as "The Penguin" for beginning to run at age 43, overweight, saddled with a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoking habit, and then completing over 45 marathons. When you start running after decidedly middle-age, as what the Penguin did, it's easy to forget that while the activity is brand-new, your body isn't. In the end, though, it's all a matter of wit and grit.

The Penguin has true grit. That's what I've learned, and continue to learn, from him.

Moments

We have had one of the best family summer vacations. Immediately after the long-haul journey in Europe, our daughter will start her fourth-year school the next day.

Saying goodbye to our trip inevitably means tear drops for Jasmine, whereas the first day of school gives her much excitement in buying eraser and packing the school bag.

I was reading the last chapter of John O'Leary's On Fire on the plane when Jasmine wept over the end of our trip. John O'Leary talked about the never-ending enthusiasm of kids who are fired up for their first day of school, first train ride, first dance, first time on a plane. They are totally in that moment, beaming at every landmark they pass, widening their eyes at every tunnel. Sadly, this is not the case for adults, whose enthusiasm saps out. And boredom seeps in.

I nodded when I saw the way to learn from children to live every day fully alive and fully engaged.

Ageless

A big part of preparing the family travel is packing our bags. We aren't going bush; we are going to Germany and Switzerland. That's why we are supposed to keep it simple, or buy much of what we need at our destination.

The bulkiest items ended up to be my daughter's reading materials. Not out of boredom or ritual, but we've learned that our daughter loves reading, and when she does, we try to nurture her habit.

We found ourselves bringing thirty-something books to Europe. Most of the books - but not all - are paperback editions. Good enough to build a reading corner, if not a library.

We're not advocating to replace the smart phone screen completely by paper - not now, not ever; it is not going to work, believe me. My daughter also stares into screens like zombies, and more so when her friend is teaching her new video games on the road.

But what I mean is that no matter how entertaining the digital world can be, no matter how quick the technology is changing the kids' way of learning, my daughter remains loyal to her favourite book series. She has finished quite a few story books during our trip. I expect you want examples? Of course you do. Handful of them Junie B. Jones books, few more stories of Princess Mirror-Belle by Julia Donaldson, plus novels of Beezus and Ramona. In case you haven’t realized how long the joy of reading can last, let me tell you the Ramona book series were first published in 1955.

Newbie

Running during family vacation, too naff? Not always.

We runners pride ourselves on calling the activity itself an addiction, and rightly so. Which is exactly why I find it somewhat difficult to balance with the special time with my loved ones.

This summer, our family are having vacation in Germany and Switzerland, easily the most charming lands straight out of a picture book. Running on vacation should not take a bite out of the precious hours during this irresistible trip, I hear that little voice in the back of my head.

But luckily, things are easy to get around. And fast. I prepared my running clothes before bed and then got up really early next day. Off I go for running first thing in the morning. I didn't even have to pack my running shoes for my trip; I run with my usual footwear. Another advantage of being a newbie is the short running distance. I used to head back after 5 km. That's safe enough before I get lost in a foreign country - in case my GPS gets hiccups.