A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy was the gem of their eyes. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for office so he asked his wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in the kitchen totally forgot the matter.

The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle fascinated by its color and drank it all. It happened to
be a poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child collapsed the mother hurried him to the hospital. He died. The mother was stunned. She was terrified how she was going to face her husband.

When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just five words.


QUESTIONS :

1. What were the five words ?

2. What is the implication of this story?


Scroll down to read....






ANSWER

The husband just said "I am with you Darling".
The husband's totally unexpected reaction is a proactive behavior. The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother. Besides, if only he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not have happened.

No one is to be blamed. She had also lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her. If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer problems in the world. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears. And you will find things are actually not as difficult as you think.



MORAL OF THE STORY


This story is really worth reading. Sometimes we spend time in asking who is responsible or whom to blame, whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we know. By this way we miss out some warmth in human relationship.

Have a nice and blessed day ....

B&W

Feeling extremely lousy .... everything seems not to be working well and everything just seem to hit me at this very moment. Feeling so frustrated, so bleak and the whole world seems to be grey (or black & white), monochrome, not color.

First a door opened for me which I gamely wanted to enter only to have it slam into my face when I was right at the doorstep.

At the workfront, I was just thrown into the choppy waters without knowing how to swim and the people in the boat nearby just decided to row away leaving me to sink and still dare to tell me to make sure I swim over to save a dog and if I discover any issues, to report to them immediately. Without knowing how to swim, with those a** foresaking me, with the dog sinking and the waters getting more choppy and the sky threatening to open up and release its wrath, I just feel so abandoned and yet having to save the day.

All this just leads me to think about my life, my career (or the lack thereof), and what a bummer i am ..

Its times like this when I feel most alone, and most vulnerable and when I truly miss having the comfort of ....

I need to scream ...

WTF

1st Anniversary

My first SGRunners event was the CBD run on 28 Feb 2006.

So today marks my first anniversary with the SGRunners! *whistles*

And that also mean I have known some of the SGRunners for one year liao!!!!

Still remembered the first few people I talk to was Loti & Meteor.

Wow!!! Happy Anniversary to me! :P Great to have known you all !! To many many more great years ahead! :D

Nought

Everything came to nought.

All the excitement, happiness, anticipation, preparation ... all came to nought with just one phone call.

How not to be disappointed ?

Overdrive

So many thoughts swimming in my head. One moment I may be thinking about this and the next my mind has switched to thinking about another. The little cerebral is all messed up right now, with too many jumbled up thoughts, too many worries, too many unknowns (about the future) and too many negativity. This little cpu is on overdrive and overclocking right now ... probably explains why it isn't thinking straight ...

How I wish I can just take the brain out, sweep off all these unnecessary "banter" going on inside, do some serious house-keeping and remove all these unwanted, uninvited "visitors".

I'm lost, confused, uncertain about some stuff, and yet I'm at the same time excited (though also apprehensive) about some other new changes in my life.

aw well, such is life ... i just need to have more control over my head. There are some tots and emotions i just CANNOT afford to entertain

Long Road To Recovery ...

Time really flies. Been tracking my recovery for the past one over month. Decided not to carry on publishing my recovery on my blog. Will just record in my own log from now on ...

I have decided there is no point in rushing, no point in pushing. So I will just take it easy. I will not be doing long runs from now on (bye bye LSDs ! :P) and I will not be even considering anything longer than 10km for now (AHM? Maybe not liao). Thankfully I came to this conclusion without must frustration and surprisingly I feel at peace (haha). Don't wish to torment my legs anymore than I should. Increasingly feeling that the way I run contributes in big part to my injuries ? So unless I can make a concerted effort to change my running style, I really should NOT continue to run (incorrectly?). That explains my decision.

So for now, I'll just run short distances and the only event I will take part this year (in the foreseeable future - I don't think far anyway) will be the upcoming JP Morgan (which I will at least get a free ice cream? :P the thin bouncing guy who always say he is fat pls remember hor hehe).

Now I need to find a training programme for recovering runnners and stick to that plan so that I wouldn't be running too little/much :P Whoever has a good training programme pls share share with kj :)

Wish me luck in my recovery!
:D

JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge 2007

Finally, I managed to successfully registered for the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge 2007!

Date : May 3 2007, Thursday
Time : 6pm

88 Mins Spin Challenge

CNY Day 2
After a very sinful brunch with the gang at Jalan Kayu (filled with egg & kosong prata, chicken murtabak & ice milo), BOP & myself headed to the gym for a special CNY class - 88 mins spin challenge. I wasn't confident in completing 88 mins with my current state of fitness but since BOP is game to try, I thought just do what I can and leave anytime my legs give way leaving her to complete the 88 mins while I wait at the lounge for her. We failed in our attempt to convince cool dude to join us at the gym despite our endless cajoling, enticement (of cool babes at the gym -__-").

We met up with Balasing, the distinguished guest of BOP, at FF Raffles Quay. There were some minor glitches with the class, it seemed to be over-booked with more attendees than available bikes. Thankfully for the two chivalorous guys (Ali - one of the FF trainers, and Eddie - the former RL guy) who gave up their seats (although Eddie was the FIRST to sign in - I know coz I registered and saw his name there) so that two other ladies who didn't manage to register (but subtly insisted on joining the class) could attend the class.

The trainer (Faye) briefed us about the spin challenge and reassured us that there will be sufficient breaks and we could pull back anytime we feel tired. Knowing that I sometimes couldn't even last more than 30mins before panting like a someone who just ran up 88 floors, I didn't dare to turn up my resistance too much nor push myself too hard. Really have to kow tow to Faye for leading the class, shouting instructions while spinning and keeping the energy level of the class up. It surely is a feat! She reminded me of this trainer (Sun) back in my Planet days, who would conduct 2 spin classes back to back every Wednesday. These gals are just amazingly fit!

The last 10 to 15 mins of the class was really something. Faye let us have a taste of what it was like that the trainers had to go through during their "spin clinics". They would go through rounds of hard spin peppered with short rest breaks - basically to challenge the body and to push it over its limit. I don't really know how to describe the programme, so I wouldn't even attempt to. Anyway, by then my legs were almost jelly and I could just try to do what I can to finish up the spin challenge. Both BOP & Balasing seem none the worse for wear (kow tow) and if I was not mistaken this was Bala's first spin class *eyes popped out from sockets*

The class started at 1pm and hence ended at 2:28pm. What an auspicious number yeah? 228, that should mean yi-yi-fatt in cantonese which loosely translates to easy to strike it rich ? HUAT ah! :P

I replenished with 100+ right after the class. Its one of the rare times that I would quench my thirst with 100+ rather than plain water right after exercise coz I always think drinking water is more than enough for me, considering I don't exercise much. But I just thought 88 mins of spin does allow me a little reward and oh boy, 100+ never tasted this good :P

The three of us rested and nuah-ed a while at the lounge, chit chatting away before we showered and left the gym. Our plan of going for a swim went out the window as it started raining during the spin class. Aw just as well coz I don't think I'll be able to swim either haha :P

We headed to Cityhall for some drinks & food and more chit chat. Seldom get to talk to Bala much, so all thanks to BOP that I got to catch up with him a little over tea. Good to see Bala again and hopefully we will get to catch up over some other spin sessions in the near future. haha

Happy 大年初一 = GOOD !! (Part II)

While still waiting for DOP to join us for the movie at 5:08pm in The Cathay, we decided to head there to hunt for any open KPJ (kopi-joint) to hang out and nuah some more.

We went floor to floor to check out which shops were open but sadly most of the shops weren't and the only kpj that was open was Starbucks but it was packed! We didn't think such a noisy place is conducive for nuah-ing. Right beside Starbucks was this Billy Bombers and by stark contrast, that place was EMPTY. Though we saw the staff preparing salad or something, we just couldn't be sure whether it was even open for business yet ! Anyway, ended up it was and we were like their only patrons around, I wanted to order some dessert but nothing there entices me so ended up we just ordered a basket of onion rings and some drinks to again pig out and nuah. Had a good chat with NOO at Billy Bombers over onion rings about travel, families and anything under the sun. We were getting worried that DOP might fly us aeroplane and was just about to sms her when I spotted her with a hunk crossing the road *raised eyebrow* :P *wolf whistle*

Just Follow Law
We wanted to catch this movie since watching the trailers many weeks back. Think all Singaporeans will be able to assimilate with this movie, especially those formerly from the public sector (yours sincerely being one of them haha). Movie was alright. Agree with DOP that this isn't the best of Jack Neo's production (come to think of it I don't really watch his movies :P). But all in all, an ok show and interestingly the movie made me laugh over many of their silly little antics. And for someone who didn't like Fann Wong, I have to give her some credit for her role in this movie. I wouldn't say excellent acting, but have to commend her for daring to deviate from her usual glamorous portrayals and play the part of a men in a woman's body and acting that part semi-convincingly.

Right after the movie, we decided to work off a little bit of our guilt (from all the non-stop pigging out on sinful food) with a walk to Esplanade Park to catch the fireworks. Didn't really enjoy the place, it was like a massive food fare with all the little stalls selling everything that you normally see at Pasar Malams, including 2 stalls selling Ramley burgers! They even have a built-up area selling steamboat! Not one who like jostling with the crowd, I'm just glad that we left the place shortly after without waiting for the fireworks. As it was about 8+pm by then, we thought it was auspicious time for a good dinner :P So we walked back to Clarke Quay (for NOO and I, that was like the 3rd time we were walking past that stretch that day! :P) to hunt for an eatery that will attract us.

We reached the end of the stretch of eateries available and hence settled on this thai restaurant. Shortly after settling down at their outdoor dining area, we heard the loud blasts of fireworks from the Esplanade park. I feel very lucky that we were able to enjoy the fireworks in comfort, without having to squeeze with the rest of the crowd. Though parts of the view were blocked by the museum across from the river, we were still able to marvel at the spectacular view from where we were. Its interesting how things turn out sometimes, you never know what you gonna get :P We thought we wouldn't get to see any fireworks and look how lucky we were! Another GOOD sign to a GREAT year ahead! (hahaha, yes lah, me just being very silly, trying to find little things to symbolise a good year ahead. But nevermind lah, for the fun of it, and to keep our spirits up mah! No harm anyway :D)

We finished our dinner (which by the way was really lousy), walked back to the car to collect our stuff before bading farewell to go back to our respective home sweet homes. By then I was sooooo beat but yet extremely happy and contented with a well-spent lunar day 1 doing interesting stuff and having great company with friends who don't mind my company.
THANKS so much to NOO & DOP for the nice, warm company! :D

To many more great days in the year of the oink :)

BlessedJazzy

Happy 大年初一 = GOOD !!

I had a FANTASTIC & really enjoyable 大年初一!

As I don't need to do any CNY visiting nor have to stay at home to wait for relatives to visit, I always have the whole CNY to myself. Interestingly this year I found two other friends who share the same luckury :P (CNY lah, everything also must be lucky lucky haha :D). We didn't think anyone else would be free to join us on 初一 and hence we decided to spend this joyous day together to just visit, nuah, jiak, workout (yes yes, workout! to dispel at least 8% of the guilt of CNY bingeing :P), and more nuah & jiak.

Due to some pressing matters that cropped up at the very last minute on CNY eve, DOP was not able to join us for the morning activities that were initially planned. So some changes were made and NOO & I decided to carry on with our morning plans before DOP were to meet up with us.

8:28:58am. Met up with NOO for a short run. After my long stretching (nowadays I try to stretch more before starting any runs), we started our slow jog. Just few steps after we started the run, I saw this spanking new school building that turned out to be my primary school! I got really excited and trotted up the little slope to get a closer look at my school. Wow, the school is now so big ! Seeing the big school logo really evokes so many old memories of my life back in primary school!

We ran and even managed to run past the site of my old primary school. The buildings were still there and didn't look any older than what my impression of it was. What a treat to be able to see both the old and new school buildings all in a morning! Both NOO & I had fun just reminiscing about the good old school days ... funny how the school looked so much smaller, how the road leading from the school gate to the assembly area seemed so much shorter than what I remembered it to be :)

I am soooooo glad to be doing a road run on CNY day 1! Hopefully this run symbolises more good & painfree & injury-free runs for the whole year. :) A BIG BIG THANK YOU to NOO for running with me at my slow-slow & short-short distance!! *big big bow* And THANKS for reminding me to slow down my pace at some point, and to allow me to extend my run a little to reach 5km in all! Yippeee! Finally cross 5km!! Can strike off one of my wish-list for Feb liao! *super broad smile*

10:18:08am. Next up, our first visit to the new spanking Fitness First club at One Raffles Quay. DOP was originally suppose to join us at the club for some workout and had made prior arrangements for NOO to visit as a guest.

Wow! The club ...
is ....
AWESOME!!!

Its HUGE & so new, with all the new gym equipments, rows and rows of treadmills facing the waters, rows of LCD TVs, a cool corner with sofas and chairs and magazines to nuah & relax (with a wonderful view to boot). We were both in awe!

After our own conducted tour of the club, we started our respective workouts with NOO trying to build up his muscles with some rowing, while I gamely hopped on this Cardio Wave elliptical trainer thingy. I first tried out such a machine during the Mizuno Wave Run last year. Even had a pic of me doing that back then. That elliptical training takes a little getting used to. Instead of going forward like in a running motion, this one goes sideways, so it exercises a different part of your muscles. I was feeling the lethargy on my adductors very early into the workout (GREAT!) and managed to up the speed bit by bit. NOO saw how I was enjoying myself and joined me after completing bulking up his upper body (haha). I called it quits after 20 mins feeling that I have warmed up sufficiently to go for my resistance training.

I was just soooo impressed with the weights machines! They are all brand new and they even have this panel attached to each of the machines to show the number of reps you do. Later DOP told me that these machines also allow you to record your training and to customise the training accordingly ? Not sure how that is possible since it only has an (+) & (-) button only. Nevermind, I'm sure we will find out more in due course.

We were expecting the gym to be peppered more with Ang Mos out on their workouts and less of chinese (since most should be out visiting?). But what surprises us was that majority of the gym rats were chinese and only saw a handful of ang mos out pumping iron.

I finished my workout with my typical HIP strengthening exercises. Wow, even the mats are brand new and I didn't have to suffer smelling all the sweat that had soaked right into the mat when I lie face down to do some of my strengthening work. Shiok!!!

Haha, can tell NOO was just as excited as I was at the gym! He said he almost felt like a boy in a toystore with all these new gadgets to play with. I couldn't agree more! I was having loads of fun exploring the equipment too! Later NOO came over excitedly, while I was doing my strengthening exercises, to tell me about the cool Kinesis equipment that the club has. I saw those machines but had no clues what they were until NOO explained to me how they worked. Its really cool! A quick google explained what the Kinesis Equipment does:

• This revolutionary new system is constructed of four panels with unique cables, grips and weight stacks that allow movements to be easy, natural and without restrictions


• Kinesis is a unique human-centric, resistance-based training system. It is not a machine but four panels of grips, cables and weight stacks that allow for 360-degree, three-dimensional resistance-based motions


• The objective of Kinesis is to re-establish the correct balance between mind and body resulting in a better quality of life

Again another new thing that I wasn't familiar with!!! (think we very suaku because later DOP told us that FF is one of the last clubs in SG to have this equipment! -__-")

We then just nuah-ed at the club "lounge" to enjoy the beautiful sights & sky while waiting for DOP to contact us and also to plan what to do next before our movie at 5pm. We nuah-ed till our stomachs protested and guided by our growing hunger, we washed up and left our newfound toyland in search for jiak.

Not knowing what or where to eat, we decided to just walk til we find some place with food that calls out to us. Sadly, most of the shops along Clarke Quay were closed and those that were open seemed either too upmarket or not something our bak tors (though churning like a busy washing machine by then) were interested in. So our stroll for food turned into a trek and we finally found this quiet little restaurant in Robertson Quay that serves Turkish cuisine. It was quiet enough (with only 2 patrons) & neither of us had tried Turkish food so we were game to try. Our bak tors both hoorayed in unison as our food came and we finally tucked into a good relaxing lunch close to 1:08pm.

Next up .....

Onion Rings & Just Follow Law ....

Blessings from the Temple

This is the scene outside the Guan1 Yin1 temple at Waterloo Street minutes before the arrival of the Year of the Boar. This is the second year in a row I was at the temple with my sis and family to celebrate the cross over to the lunar new year, to pray to the Goddess of Mercy (Guan1 Yin1) for good health and happiness for the entire family.

Somehow we didn't think it was as crowded as the previous year (probably the result of many people celebrating their CNY overseas ?) Everyone was jostling (some order was in place due to the many policemen controlling the crowd) and waiting for the clock to strike 12 to place their burning joss-sticks into the urn.

We counted down to 12, offered our prayers and left. To a wonderful year ahead!

:)

Pose Method ?

T di di is super nice. After reading all my whinings about my leg pain and problems in running, he took pity on me and took time out of his busy schedule and jio me to go to the stadium on CNY eve. Why ? To look at my running gait and see what could be causing all my pain, and to suggest improvements.

So we met at 7am and after some stretching, we found a spot (inside the area of the track) and we started the serious work. Several pointers he gave:

• My heel landing is very pronounced. To land more on my feet, with the weight distributed more at the fore to mid-foot
• To not kick back my leg when running but to lift it up (lift ankles up vertically) slightly (this is really difficult, i realise i kick my leg not lift - wah, so fitting of my name hor? :P)
• To lean forward not at the waist but at the ankle (this one reminds me of Michael Jackson dance moves where he could lean forward at the ankle - i always tot that was camera tricks. No ? :P)

As I'm quite retarded (seems like this isn't limited to just directions! :P) about sensing where the stress or tension is when I run, T di di suggested i removed my shoes to try out the running style so that I can feel the ground better. After many many repeated attempts, I think I still have not grasp the full concept ... not easy to change. Will need lots of time & practices ... T di di even videoed the way I run and we agreed that my left leg kicks & lands in a really awkward manner as compared to my right. No wonder I have so many problems with my left leg!!!! -_-"

We were suddenly greeted by a passing shower that led us to take cover (primarily for his digicam lah). After that he went ahead with his interval runs while I decided to go for my track jog. Unfortunately, I was just feeling totally whacked that day and after just 1 lap, I was just feeling so unwell that I decided to abort the idea to run.

Stretched some more and waited for T di di to finish his interval training before we headed to the nearby kopitiam for breakfast. Those shops that were opened still on CNY eve (and some already put up signs to say they will be BAU(Business As Usual) through the CNY period! Wow! No need rest ah ? Anyway, they had all jacked up their prices and the usual $2.50 per bowl of lor mee now costs $3.50.

In all, THANKS to T di di for being so kind and patient and offering to help me with my problem. *super big bow* Will try out the method bit by bit, and try to observe my running style more and slowly adjust based on T's suggestions.

;)

10 more hours

... to 大年初一!!

I'm all excited about CNY, the festivity, the fun, the goodies (jiak jiak and more jiak! *throwing myself into the sea of pineapple tarts, peanuts, love letters, kueh bakit, kueh lapis, spicy emping, assorted crackers, bak kwa etc.*, the renewed hopes, the wishes for the new year ...

May this year be filled with fun, love, happiness, good health, great prosperity for everyone :)

恭喜!!恭喜!!

Wishing one & all
步步高升

身体健康

心想事成

HUAT ah!!!!!!

Back On The Road

I wasn't feeling all too well yesterday and was also very very lethargic. So I procrastinated going for my run during lunch thinking I may go after work. But was feeling even more dead after work and hence decided to give myself one day off (v relak hor? :P) and skipped my planned run altogether.

Still feeling tired today. Was online, planning to go for a run later (with waning determination & motivation) when Teelee msn-ed me. Wah! Was really surprised to see him online coz he has been so busy at work. So last minute asked him whether he would be keen to run at the stadium. Teelee, in his usual style, said ok (HOORAY!!!) .

As luck would have it, Teelee got to the stadium and found that it was closed for a soccer match! Half of me was like thinking "Yay! Got excuse not to run!" but the other part of me was like "Oh no! No run again ? Not good! CANNOT!!!"

After a couple of sms exchanges, we decided to run on the road. So Teelee ran to my place, did some stairs training before we headed out for a road run.

As this is gonna be my first road run after so long, I had to be prudent and wanted to keep my distance to not more than 4km. Dear Teelee, the ever patient and accomodating dude, just kept to my pace and ran alongside me while we covered the stretch towards AMK (still far from it of course) and then made a u-turn back to my place, stopping at the food centre near my block for dinner. Total time taken was about 30mins so Teelee figured it was about 4km. I trust this human foodpod :)

We jiaked & chatted over a long dinner, catching up with what he has been up to in camp and his upcoming races & plans.

So glad to be able to run on the road after such a longggg break! Can't even remember when was the last time I ran with Teelee in HSP (Just checked my blog entries, the last time I ran with Teelee was 22 Aug!!! Half a year ago!!! I dun believe this!!!)! Though the distance covered is meagre, and I was like sooo not in shape that I was panting after a short distance, it felt good! really good to be out and running! Though it would be a very long time before I can join any SGRunners organised runs as I'm still too slow and out of shape, but I guess this is nonetheless a good start!

THANKS Teelee for agreeing to run with me, at my slow slow pace, at such a short short distance (paiseh!) and the wonderful company throughout! *super big bow that forehead touched the floor* :D

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!!
:)

CNY Goodie Shopping

Went Taka last night for some CNY goodie shopping. Wanted to buy some goodies for happy snacking/pigging/munching during the CNY period and so tot to check out the Taka CNY fair. Surprisingly the place wasn't like packed yesterday. Crowded lah yes, but at least it wasn't arm-jostling kind of pack, so my friend and I was able to leisurely walk around.

There were quite a number of stores set up, some that I could think of Rasa Sayang, Pines, Amethyst, Bengawan Solo, Raffles The Plaza, Xi Yue Tang, Lavendar and many many more. So we went around trying out the various cookies and stuff, and I realise they all taste about the same to me. Maybe I was having lots of expectation about all the yummy stuff so was a little disappointed when we walked around the atrium like twice and I still couldn't decide on what goodies to buy. Nothing really stand out for me to just grab and pay for it ? :P

Also met Roentgen, who was there doing his own CNY goodie shopping! Haha .... he seemed just as lost as I was but later told me he was "conned" (yeah right! :P more like charmed ! haha) into buying some pineapple tarts from some young gals. He showed me the pineapple tarts and wow! they are HUGE! Big square blocks! What kind of pineapple tarts are those ?

We were tired from all the walking and sampling and by 9pm we were beat. So I ended up buying this atom peanuts (an indonesian food stuff) from the Rasa Sayang store. Also bought some chocolate wrapped in golden foils in the form of coins and gold ingots for my family.

The Amethyst store was selling the pineapple tarts like hot cakes! The baker was baking there on the spot and when we asked to sample the pineapple tarts, they said that they no longer offer the tarts for sampling!!!! (Wah!) and even if we want to buy their pineapple tarts, we will have to place our orders and collect on Friday (wah wah! so popular ??) Anyway, knowing that all pineapple tarts probably taste about the same to me, I didn't see a need to join in the crowd to order pineapple tarts. Anyway their tarts look a tad small, don't think its worth the while also.

Left the mall feeling super drained, and super jelat from all the CNY goodie sampling. In fact, I seem to have satisfied my craving for all the CNY goodies and right now, seeing another tart or love letter or even just the thought of it, makes me nauseous ! *puke*

No more CNY goodies for now ? Let's see how my body feels the next time someone offers me a CNY goodie :P

JelatJazzy

&#^@(*!)!

Just rushed to ICA during lunchtime to collect my new IC.
Rushed back to office, decided to grab a salad from the cafe in the same building. Got there, and they were closed for a private function!
Was sooo darn ARGHHHHHHHH!!!! *(#$&)(&$(*$#@()$ especially after a super irritated morning at work.

Ended up bingeing on unhealthy food to fill my stomach.

And now I'm feeling crap & guilty & fat ! And I can only blame myself for being such a pig!!! with close to nil discipline !!!

LumpOfLardPiggieJazzy

Control & Choice

Just finished this book from Paulo Coelho (The Devil and Ms Prym). In it, one of the main characters (Ms Prym) recalled a story about the encounter between a saint (Savin) and a villian (Ahab) and how the encounter brought about a change in Ahab. One conversation they had was as follows:

The villian challenged the saint:
"If, tonight, the most beautiful prostitute in the village came in here, would you be able to see her as neither beautiful nor seductive?"
"No, but I would be able to control myself," the saint replied.

"And if I offered you a pile of gold coins to leave your cave in the mountain and come and join us, would you be able to look on that gold and see only pebbles?"
"No, but I would be able to control myself."

"And if you were sought by two brothers, one of whom hated you, and the other who saw you as a saint, would you be able to feel the same towards them both?"
"It would be very hard, but I would be able to control myself sufficiently to treat them both the same."

Savin and Ahab had the same instincts - Good and Evil struggled in both of them, just as they did in every soul on the face of the earth. When Ahab realised that Savin was the same as him, he realised too that he was the same as Savin. It was all a matter of control. And choice. Nothing more and nothing less.

I read half of this book several years back on my plane ride back from New Zealand, but never got around to finishing the story until today. An interesting read.

My New Beau

Been contemplating buying myself a new mobile entertainment device since Dec (for my own xmas gift). But kept putting it off coz I couldn't justify getting a new one when my old ipod is still working though I have a few grouses with my existing ipod - its big & bulky to be used for running, its old and dirty and its getting cranky.

The big break came when one side of my earphones died. I'm actually very impressed with ipod earphones. This is the first pair of earphones that can last me for a good 2+ years before one side died. The rest of my earphones always gave up after few months of use! With the demise of the earphones, I finally have a valid reason to part with my $ for a spanky new ipod nano. I was lucky coz my good friend, who was helping me choose my new entertainment device, happened to have a friend who just won a 2GB ipod nano in a lucky draw and wanted to sell it at 25% off the retail price. Since the price of a pair of ipod earphones will cost an upward of $50, I thought it very wu hua to just buy the ipod nano from him. 2GB is definitely a far cry from my 15GB ipod but then, I don't really need 15GB lah.

So thanks to my good friend Allan, who kindly delivered my new beau to me on Tues nite and I've been using it since.

KJ is a contented gal now with a new mp3, with a color LCD (wow! what a breath of fresh air from my old ipod!). Now KJ just needs to get some new clothes for her new beau. :)

iPODJazzy

AquaFit

Been wanting to try out this AquaFit class ever since I joined the gym. However, always couldn't make it or too lazy to go :P

Already planned to go for the class after my physio session. The session @CGH ended later than I expected and I had to take a cab down so that I could make it for the class. Thankfully got there and was in time for the class! whew!

When I got to the pool, noticed that 3 lanes of the pool had been cordoned for the class while the remaining 2 lanes were left open for the swimmers to continue with their swim. A HUGE group of women had already congregated, chatting & laughing away while waiting for the instructor to arrive. Everyone seemed to know one another and needless to say, I was the odd one out and feeling extremely uneasy.

Started the class with the instructor making us run around the pool. All the ladies were chatting away and frankly, it felt like a market. I know I shouldn't feel this way but I really felt so darn out of place & embarrassed to be in that class! They were making such a din and it really felt like a public pool full of aunties (and one uncle) when this was suppose to be a gym!! So auntie lor the whole atmosphere!! -_-" But having said that, the class seemed to be having loads of fun just laughing with the instructor (they seem to be very chummy with the instructor, prolly attended many of his classes). The effiminate instructor, with a really beautiful smile (what a waste! haiz :P) was just coaching us from the side of the pool most of the time, shouting (in a strict yet fun manner lah) & blowing the whistle at us while commanding us to kick and jump etc. Many times we had to pair up with a partner who will hold on to a foam roller while we administer our kick or jump. Everyone was so enjoying themselves while I just find the whole thing a little bo liao lor -_-" *yawn* Many times I contemplated just getting out of the pool to grab my goggles so that I can go for my own swim, but I felt pai seh to leave the class half-way, so I just grit my teeth and hung on til the end of the class.

All in all not a class I truly enjoyed, but I *might* go for the class again coz this could very well replace my running and kick-boxing classes. I think there are still some impact coz some of the exercies require us to jump up and down but the impact is definitely much lesser. I might just schedule myself to go for this class once a week or fortnight ...

Oh yes, I was surprised to see Fennel doing her swim !! Too bad I was at the class and couldn't stop to chat with her. She left before I finished my class. Hope to catch up with her some other time at the gym.

Physio 10

Yes, today is my 10th physio session. Really questioning why I'm going still ...

Anyway, saw the physiotherapist, updated her about my running mileage, my pain etc. She also enquired about what other activities I did etc just to find out more about what could have contributed to my pain. She couldn't find a pattern but after seeing the mileage that I run, she said that i increased my mileage too fast (from 1.X km to 3km) and that spinning might also contribute blah blah.
She said the only way is to start from ground zero, and slowly "load" (either increase speed or time but not both) so that we can ascertain what could be the contributing factor. I told her point blank (politely of course) that I'm not keen to start all over again from scratch. She said its up to me and that that was what she suggested and she understands how I feel, but her wish is for me to get better.

Getting better is obviously my biggest wish too, but sometimes, we just have to balance between getting better with some reasonal amount of activity, and getting better conservatively. I think I will choose the former. I have opted for the latter for the past few months and yes, it helps but not totally. Anyway, I hear what she said and I will be more careful and also establish a proper pattern in my running mileage. She agreed that I need not go and see her coz I can record and monitor on my own. She said she wouldn't discharge me but will put my session as an open-date which I was fine with.

Next up, appointment with the sports doc. Judging from the x-ray he said that my bone is better and healing (HOORAY!) and that the current mild pain that I feel (he did some examination of both my legs, finding out where it hurts when he pressed down lightly) is probably the actual shin pain. I also briefly repeated what I mentioned to the physiotherapist. He did some assessment and decided to observe my running gait again. Lots of things he said but I shall not try to repeat them here (coz I oso can't remember liao). Anyway, gist of it is:

1. My ankle /calf lacks the flexibility and hence i wasn't able to bend my ankle far enough to form a 90 degrees angle without much of a force. What this means is that I am not able to run i think efficiently or properly lah .. dunno what.
   
2. My adductors are not strong and hence when I run, my knees tend to move inwards thus making my knock knees problem more pronounced. Considering that women are built with wider hips, so my problem seems more acute that my knees sometimes brush against each other when I run, especially when I'm tired.
3. So doc suggested stretching of my adductors and lots and lots of stretching on my calf to ensure i can do (1). I thick-skinly asked him how to stretch my adductors (coz he sound like I ought to know), then he was shocked to learn that he has not shown me the 5 stretching for runners. So here they are:-
• Calf & Deep-calf stretch - (Calf Stretch) To stretch your calf, stand a little way from a solid support and lean on it with your palms. Bend one leg and place your foot on the ground in front of you, leaving the other leg straight behind you. Slowly move your hips forward until you feel a stretch in the calf of your straight leg. Be sure to keep the heel of the foot of the straight leg on the ground and your toes pointed straight ahead. Hold an easy stretch for 30 seconds. Do not bounce.
  Stretch other leg.
  (Deep-calf stretch) - In the same position as the calf stretch, shift your weight farther onto your back leg and bend your back knee until you feel your heel wanting to raise off the floor. (Keep your heel on the floor, though.) You should feel the stretch in your Achilles tendon.




• Quadricep Stretch - Hold left foot with your left hand and gently pull your heel towards your backside, keeping the rest of the body straight. Feel the stretch in the quadriceps (thigh) muscles. Repeat with the other side.






• Hamstring stretch - From a standing position, put one foot on a chair. While keeping this foot flat, slowly straighten this knee until you feel a stretch. To increase the stretch, slowly lean forward from the waist while keeping your back straight and chest out.



• Adductor Stretch - Seated, put the soles of your feet together. With your elbows on the inside of your knees, gradually lean forward and gently press your knees toward the ground.


• ITB Stretch - with left hand on the wall, left leg straight and left hip towards the wall, slow lean towards the wall and lift the right leg and place it in front of the left to lend support.
  According to Runner's World, this is the best ITB stretch in the world. But this isn't the one that my doc demonstrated to me though.
  


(pictures plugged from here)

4. To consciously run with the knees facing outwards (have to stretch out the adductor muscles so that the knees can do that)
   

Doctor said that he will keep the follow-up session as an open-date (HOORAY!!!) and wished me good luck.

I saw MM Lee!!!

Yes, I kid you not! I saw MM Lee while I was waiting for my X-Ray films @ CGH.

The X-Ray ward was very quiet on Saturday and I was the only one there. First time I didn't need to wait (though I qualify that I never need to wait long each time I went for my X-Ray at CGH) for my turn. So while I was waiting outside for the films, I heard someone standing next to me and talking. I looked up to see this man with a earpiece stuck to his ear and talking away seriously, before I knew it, an entourage walked past me and there in the middle was this figure talking away with this really deep voice. This figure, is none other than MM Lee! He really has this aura around him, that just makes me sit up a little straighter, and just so full of respect for him :P He went into a room leaving behind some of his bodyguards loitering outside the room. Too bad my brush with MM Lee was just for that brief 2 seconds but well, was still quite a treat to be so close to someone whom played a humungous part in moulding this island into what it is today. I know this sound extremely silly but I was playing inside my head how if I could just go up to him and shake his hand and talk to him a bit :P hehe ... if I ever dare to muster enough courage to do that, I think I would have been restrained by his bodyguards & remanded in prison before I could even extend my hand for a handshake! :P

After collecting my x-ray, i returned to see the physiotherapist & the doc. More information here

Powerful Quote

"Happiness is something that multiplies when it is divided."

Got this quote inside one of Paulo Coelho book. Wow, very true indeed. Simple yet powerful message :)

Stadium Run

My first outdoor run in as many months!!

Wanted to do a test run on the track just to see how I would feel. I planned to do that last sunday but weak-willed me didn't execute the plan. Worried that I would again default on my plan, I asked whether Teelee would be keen to run in the stadium. Since I figured we can run our own pace and my slow 3km run duration should be sufficient time for him to do his interval training. And I would be more inclined to stick to my plan if I have arranged with someone to go to run together.

So on Sunday morning, after a few smses to confirm that both are still keen to run, we met up at the stadium near our area. Teelee was already running around the track while I reached. Think all the training / swimming that he is doing lately is doing him a lot of good, somehow I thought Teelee has grown more muscular ? *whistle* well done cool dude!! :)
After some stretching, I started my own slow run. Geez, I knew that it is very different running on a treadmill and on the track/road, but I was still unprepared for how I would feel after laying off road/track running after so many months. I felt completely drained less than 1 km into the run (and I was going oh-so-slowwwly!!!). Felt a little demoralised and disappointed but I pressed on. The disappointment was thankfully made up for by the kind weather. It was really breezy and cooling and I'm still glad to be out doing this short slow run. The nice breeze really helps to brighten up my day ... ah, I almost forgot how wonderful it feels to be out on a weekend morning doing a run :)

I again felt some slight shin discomfort on my right leg towards the 3km mark and so I stopped after 8 laps round the stadium and did a slow run and walk to cool down. There is definitely still a long road ahead before I can be back to my old running routine (or will I ever get back to that state ? I dunno) but right now I guess I just have to contend with running such meagre distances ... well, better than nothing I suppose ? And I do not wish to push myself and start running longer because I'm very sensitive to pain right now, every little twitch/discomfort and I get obsessively worried. I just don't wish to risk making the situation worse.

Well, just have to look on the bright side. I got some fresh air this morning and also more significantly I managed to meet up with Teelee ... its like sooo many months since we last have a run together. Though today technically doesn't count as a run "together", but still its good to be able to meet up with good old kaki ... it almost feels like the good ol days :P Just sadly can't run together, Teelee tried to run with me lah, but I was way tooo slow and I just didn't have the heart to torture him so I insisted he carry on with his run hahaha :P

Last but not least, THANK YOU Teelee for agreeing to join auntie here for a run or more accurately, to keep auntie company. THANKS !!! *bow* :)

Nauseating Lunch

Read about my nauseating lunch here :P

Yucks

Just had a lousy lunch .... read all about it here

Physio 9

After 3 weeks break, finally went for my follow-up physio session. Initially wanted to reschedule so that I can coincide both the doc's appointment with my physio session, but wasn't able to book a slot.

Since took half day leave, must fully utilise it ... target to do a swim and then head to vivocity to window shop a bit before heading to the hospital. Anyway, to cut the story short, didn't have time to do both so only did one - swim. Practised my swim, still very breathless and tense. Need more practice!!! And its funny how people around me were swimming leisurely and yet so much faster than me!!! They covered two laps while I was still struggling with my one lap! So embarrassing! But i kept reminding myself that its alright, that I'm just learning :P But its good to be able to relax by the pool while everyone left the pool to return to work ... so I was able to enjoy the pool all by myself for a little while ... nice :)

Physio session - as usual. Told her now I'm having right shin pain. She did some assessment and found that my right leg is now weaker than my left *FAINT* and that when I do my one-leg stand, my right ankle now wobbles more than my left *FAINTx2* haiz .... I dunno what to say about myself ... and she noticed that my knees tilt inwards each time I do my one-leg bend. So many problems hor ? So anyway, I will have to resume my one-leg stand exercises and she also prescribed me hip strengthening exercises. This would mean I have to be more disciplined and do these exercises more religiously. Will I ? Frankly, knowing myself. Answer is No. Yes, so who can I blame that I'm not recovering well ? :P

Did my run on the treadmill and she said she noticed my left foot kicks out more obviously than my right. I told her the doctor mentioned this in his very initial assessment of my running ! -_-" aiyo ... is this therapist for real ?? Anyway Darek also came over to ask me about my progress and asked what I did to be better. I said "Nothing. Just rest". Think everyone is as puzzled ?

Physiotherapist commented that my calves were very tight, warned me to be mindful. I hence requested for deep tissue massage. So after my hip exercises, one of the trainers helped to massage my RIGHT calf. Yes, right. Coz now the therapist found my right calf just as tight -_-" Wah! I'm definitely not used to be massaged on my right!!! The pressure he placed was unbearable that I had to stop him several times! Torture!!!!

I was wincing in pain with every step while making my way to the shower and heading to the counter to make payment :P and only felt the muscles loosening after the short walk to the train station (waited a good 10 mins for the shuttle bus only to find that it was packed and some people just thick-skinnedly jumped queue and board the bus! so gave up the wait)

Maybe one of my Feb goals is to tell myself to be religious in doing the hip & ankle strengthening exercies.

Already ??

Time flies ... its Feb already ?!?

Though Jan seemed to have passed by in a flash, but looking back, hey, I shouldn't be complaining since I achieved quite a bit last month.

1. I passed my exam
2. I picked up swimming and at least now I can go and practise my swim on my own
3. I resolved to kick (still kicking lah :P) a bad habit
4. I signed up for a new gym membership
5. Resumed short running on the treadmill
   

Realised (yes yes, it took me sooooo long to realise this ... a bit slow but well, better late than never) that its good to set small little targets and work towards it. At least I have something to work towards ...

So now I got to set some new ones for Feb to keep me going. But what leh ?