Have any plans for the weekend? Maybe sleep in? Catch a little of the Tour de France on the telly? If you're feeling particularly energetic you might even take a little evening stroll around the block? If that is your plan I'm about to make you feel very bad about your life choices.

On Sunday, endurance athlete Sean Conway will begin an epic swim that will run the entire length of Britain. He'll start at the aptly named Land's End in the south and will proceed to swim north, passing Devon before crossing over to Wales along the West Coast. After that, it is onto the Isle of Man before proceeding to Scotland, where he'll continue north until he reaches the distant village of John O'Groats. If successful, he'll cover approximately 1000 miles (1609 km) along the way.

Of course, swimming a thousand miles in a swimming pool would be tough, but Sean will be doing it in an ocean. He'll have to battle turbulent waters, rough waves, cold temperatures and Britain's notoriously bad weather.  That can take a hefty toll on the body to say the least, particularly when it happens day-in and day-out. He estimates that it will take a minimum of nine weeks to cover the distance, swimming eight hours per day, every day of the week. He also believes he'll burn roughly 800 calories per hour, which will make it extremely tough to maintain weight and keep energy levels high. Fortunately he has been training for this incredible challenge for some time.

Sean has decided to take on this swim in an effort to raise funds for War Child, a non-profit dedicated to helping protect children from the effects of conflicts, and help them recover from war, in some of the most dangerous countries in the world. He hopes to raise as much money as possible through his efforts on the water.

If successful, Sean will be the first person to swim the entire length of Britain. There aren't many people who have managed to swim this kind of distance before, so in order to get some advice, he visited his friend Dave Cornthwaite prior to setting out. You may recall that Dave swam more than 1000 m iles down the Missouri River last year, so of course he had some thoughts on Sean's endeavor. You can see the two adventurers comparing notes in the very funny video below.

Good luck Sean!

TomTom, a company that is well known for its GPS devices, has announced that it is throwing its hat into the GPS fitness watch arena. The watches will come in two different models including one specifically designed for runners and the other for multi-sport athletes.

Both versions of the watch will feature large screens that are designed to be easy to read even while on the go. An innovative single-button control will make it easy to navigate through menus and options too. Each of these watches has the ability to track runs both indoors and outdoors and can sync and share that data through a variety of popular fitness websites. TomTom promises an ultra-slim design that will be comfortable to wear on just about any wrist and Bluetooth technology will link the watches to optional accessories such as heart rate monitors or a cadence speed sensor on a bike. The multisport model will also feature a built-in swim sensor for tracking laps and will come with a dedicated handlebar mount for cycling.

According to the press release from TomTom, these new watches will also include QuickGPSFix technology which allows them to connect to satellites faster so you can get started on your workout sooner. The company also says that data stored on the watch can be imported into social fitness sites such as MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPeaks, MyFitnessPal and their very own TomTom MySports website. Battery life is reportedly about 10 hours, which is a little low when compared to some of the competition, but we'll see how well it actually performs after its released.

The two watches will be released this summer and while there are no prices announced yet, TomTom says that they will be competitive with similar watches from other companies.

To find out more, and sign up to get more information as it becomes available, click here.

One of the most inspiring expeditions we followed last year was Dave Cornthwaite's 1000-mile swim down the Missouri River. It was the latest phase of his Expedition 1000 project, during which Dave is undertaking 25 separate journeys, each of 1000 miles or more in length, without the use of motorized transportation. In the past, he's done such things as skateboarding 3618 miles (5822 km) across Australia and stand-up paddleboarding along the length of the Mississippi River.

While each of those expeditions were challenging in their own right, nothing prepared Dave for the challenges he would face on the Missouri River. Day-in and day-out, for 58 days, he dove into the murky waters of the Missouri to swim 12+ hours per day in order to cover the 1001 miles between Chamberlain, South Dakota and St. Louis, Missouri, where he eventually pulled himself out of the river for good at the famous Gateway Arch.

Much of Dave's journey was captured by filmmaker Miguel Endara, who has now put together an amazing 8-minute short film of the Swim1000 expedition. That film gives us a very personal look at the journey down the Missouri, which took a physical and mental toll on our intrepid adventurer, who was shadowed by a support team that paddled along the entire way. To watch the video click here.

And when you're done enjoying Miguel's wonderful short film, read about Dave's fund raising efforts for CoppaFeel, an organization dedicated to the prevention of breast cancer through early detection. A cause that we can all agree is a worthy one.

Adventurer Dave Cornthwaite has faced his share of challenges while pursuing his Expedition 1000 project, in which he is attempting to complete 25 non-motorized journeys of a thousand miles or more. For instance, he once spent 156 days skateboarding across Australia and another 82 days stand-up paddle boarding the length of the Mississippi River. But last summer he undertook his most challenging expedition to date, 1001-mile swim along the Missouri River. During that time, we followed Dave's progress closely, getting regular updates from his support team and cheering him along. But over the course of that 58-day excursion we rarely heard from the man himself, so we never really got a sense of just how difficult the swim was. That is, until now.

Dave has posted a debrief of his Missouri swim and it puts the reality of his undertaking into grim perspective. In the article, he talks about the physical toll that this journey took on his body, getting to the point in the final days where he couldn't keep food down, despite the fact that he was burning 6000 calories per day. Swimming from sunrise to sunset, day in and day out, sapped his strength and spirit, pushing him to the very edge of his limits. It is a very personal account of a person who is completely at the end of their rope, but refuses to give up on his dream.

Reading Dave's account of those final few miles to the finish line are not easy. He clearly had pushed himself further than even he thought possible and yet as he neared the end at last, it still wasn't nearly enough. Of course, we know that he did manage to complete the swim, but Dave describes the days that followed as "darker than any other post-expedition experience I care to remember." No doubt, that was the result of complete physical and mental exhaustion he felt at its completion.

Now that some time has passed, Dave's attention has turned to the next phase of Expedition 1000 – a 3000-mile (4828 km) journey around Europe on ElliptiGO bicycles. While this is a completely different kind of mode of travel, I'm sure he'll take with him some lessons from the Missouri River.

If you want to know just what an ordeal that swim was for him, then his blog post is a must read. It will definitely give you even more respect for what Dave, and other adventurers like him, have accomplished.

26th June - It's Denver's 7th Birthday and Hubby decided to take the children to Jurong East Swimming Complex for some water play. They enjoyed the pool and slides at Anchorvale CC and this is a surprise visit for Denver. :)

Jurong East Swimming Complex

Address: 21 Jurong East Street 31 (609517)

Contact No: 6563 5052, 6565 2297

Operating Hours: 8.00am - 9.30pm (Tuesday to Sunday & Public Holidays), Closed on Monday

Weekday entry fee: $1.50 (adult) / $0.80 (child)

Weekend / public holiday entry fee: $2.00 (adult) / $1.00 (child)

We have never go to the pool at Jurong East since it's too far from our home and it is a long drive for Hubby... but the kids are looking forward to it. Since it is our first visit, we parked our car and entered through the South Entrance.

Climbing up the long flight of stairs and towards the swimming complex entrance.

Denver & Gladys screamed when they saw the pool.. :) Best part of all, they aren't a lot of people too. Is 9:45am too early for play time? ^_^

There are many facilities within the swimming complex to keep us entertain for the next 2-3 hours. It's setting is pretty much similar to Wild Wild Wet at Downtown East. Comparing between the both of them, each has their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of admission price, slide facilities, size etc..

Although Jurong East swimming complex may not have the big bucket of water that splashes down nor the mini slides for smaller children, it has a cheaper admission charges compared to Wild Wild Wet. For a swimming complex with such complete facilities, it is definitely a big plus point and attraction serving the neighbourhood.

Once you enter, you will not miss the 3 big slides (Blue, Pink, Yellow) standing tall which are for those who love speed and excitement. Only Hubby and Denver are game enough to have a go at the shortest yellow slide which doesn't need the float to slide. Hubby said it was too fast and they did not dare to go for another try. :)

Wave pool is one of the main attraction. The man-made waves will be activated once every hour and last for about 15 minutes. The waves are so BIG and strong as though we are in a stormy sea. Hubby and Denver 'venture' out to the deeper ends while Gladys and I stayed at the shallow end. Even so, the waves keep hitting us and pushing us further and further away. Really super powered waves. Gladys was shocked by the wave effect and clinged on tightly to me.

Here comes Lazy River. It goes round the Wave Pool and along the way there are water jets and sprinkles. Before entering, you have to rent a big rubber tube at $3 (Pay $5 for each tube and $2 will be refunded upon return without damage). The only thing is there are no smaller floats fit for the younger kids. The big ring tube seems to be too big for Gladys and she has a harder time resting on it without sliding off through the hole.

Nevertheless, we rented the floats and Hubby pushed Gladys while I hold on to Denver's. We walked round the Lazy River a few rounds and it was a good workout for my legs. :)

Kiddy Fun Station is suited for all children to play. Simple setting and it is a great hide-out for the younger kiddos.

Kiddy Bubble Jet Station is just situated beside the Kiddy Fun Station. The waters are shallower at about 0.35m and this is the perfect, comfort resting zone for Gladys. :) Dipping herself in the waters, playing with the water jets, enjoying and relaxing herself. Shiok oh.

I didn't get a chance to try out the Jacuzzi but I guess the wave pool already gave me too much messaging effect. :p At the other end, there is also a competition pool for the usual swimmers.

After more than 2 hours of water play, we are all very HUNGRY! We are really glad to see there are KFC and Pizzahut counters here. :) It has been a worthwhile trip here and Denver surely enjoyed spending his 7th Birthday at Jurong East Swimming Complex. ^_^

Today is our first visit to the swimming pool at Anchorvale Community Centre, 4 months after it's offical opening on 1st August this year. Actually we went there yesterday but hubby forgotten that the pool was closed on every Monday!! The children were sooo disappointed and Denver cried. So today die die also have to come despite a heavy rain earlier. The children are so happy and eager to play with the waters. Gladys keep saying "游泳pool" and keep jumping around. ^_^

Anchorvale CC is just a couple of minutes ride down from our home and the children were so happy to see the poolside. Simply can't wait to go in. :p

The swimming complex is quite good with baby pool and mini slides. There are also bigger slides for the adults and older children similiar to the ones you can find in a theme park. :) On both ends, there is a covered indoor lap pool where many people are having their swimming lessons and also an outdoor olympic size pool. There's also a very neat warm pool where the public can sit, relax and get massage by the water jets. It is especially comfortable after staying in the cold waters for too long.

Denver and Gladys are busy with playing with the waters and slides. Poor Daddy and Mummy have to look after them :p Denver is attending swimming lessons so we are not too worry about him. It is our little princess, Gladys that keep 'running' around shouting and of course drinking a lot of water. :) As Mummy cannot swim, so my job is to take nice nice photos for them.. hahaha..

Denver and Gladys love to slide down! They went up and down so many times keeping our Daddy really busy. Daddy has to release Gladys from the top while I catch her from below and she keeps asking for more! Tiring!!

It was Fun for the children and I'm sure they are very reluctant to go. But it's getting late and the night is getting colder. We'll come visit again next time for sure. ;)