Snacks with Love

Snacks prepared by sis ...

Yumz!!!!

Thanks sis! :P

Wise Words

hahaha .... had a very good laugh reading this ....

AMK FF

The first suburban Fitness First in Singapore opened at AMK last week. After some hesitation (can't decide which gym to go and what sports to do :P), decided to just give the AMK FF a try.

FF is located in the spanking new AMKHub. Its a small cosy gym packed with all the brand new equipment. They have the cardio wave machines that are now common fixtures in the newer FF gyms. Although small, it has 2 studios : one for the normal group classes such as Body Combat etc., and another, called Mind & Body (i think) is more for yoga classes etc. They even have Tai Chi classes on Sun mrn!!! Interesting. Will try it out soon :)

Thankfully most part of the gym is hidden or blocked from the prying eyes of the shoppers, except that some of the weights machines faced the FF entrance and so for some of the workouts I'm in full view of shoppers popping in to check on the club or just walking past the place. Not comfy for someone like me who treasures my privacy :P

Only grouse I have is that the club is showing all the Mediacorp shows on their tv screens!!! What is this ?!?!?! No cable ?? I sincerely hope this is because their cable subscription is not ready yet and not that because it is a suburban club they decided to do away with the frills *faint* Thankfully I was there on a Sat mrn and they were showing some fat-loss reality show on Ch 5 called The Biggest Loser or something, so its still quite bearable. Can you imagine working out to some crappy local production on tv ??? :P

The variety of fitness machines there are commendable. They are as high tech as those I have seen in RQ, where they have panels to indicate the number of repetitions per set. Very good indeed! Got to know from this trainer that they have sign-up 400 people so far and most of them will start their gym membership on 1 Apr. So I guess the floodgates will open then and AMKFF might be packed especially during the weekends. Will look see come this weekend and decide whether I will still head to AMKFF after Apr. Still have a few FF gyms I have yet to try out, but as they are in town (Paragon, Cathay and Millenia), the motivation for me to go is lower. :P

All in all, a nice gym, a nice relaxing workout ... very nice way to start my Sat :)

Habit

Following my earlier post about hard habits to break, some of you who has been reading my blog would have known that I've been somewhat religious in updating my "Days Off Habit" counter. As of today, I'm off the habit for 84 days. I'm glad that I've progressed this far without breaking the habit. I believe blogging about it played a very very pivotal role in keeping me off the habit. The fact that I blog about it, that my friends know about it, that I will have to explain about it if I break the habit, helps me to not go back to this bad habit of mine. With time, it gets easier to stay away from the habit and I'm glad that though sometimes I still think about the habit, the urge to go back to the habit has diminished significantly.

Think its time I take another step by not even blogging or updating about my progress. To take down this "Days Off Habit" counter from the blog. This is to help refrain me from being reminded about such a habit in the first place. And also to test my own determination to stick to not breaking the habit, without the blog's help. Do continue to wish me luck!

:)

Gold Class!

I had the privilege to watch the movie "300" in Vivocity GV Gold Class on Sat! All thanks to this shwee BOP who had FREE tixs to the show ... thanks to her excellent networking skills and kindly invited me to join her for the movies. THANKS BOP!!!!! *MUACKS*

Met BOP for dinner at Vivocity. The place was buzzing with activity and we couldn't find a restaurant that wasn't crowded or affordable enought to have our dinner. Ended up at the Food Republic which surprisingly we managed to secure a seat after a short wait! Food there looks interesting ... hope to go back there to try their other stuff ... prolly should go during the weekdays when hopefully it isn't so crowded ! :P After that we gals went to B&Js for our ice cream fix and between us we had a waffle cone with mint choc chunky & phish food. Yumzzzz! :)

We got to the cinema early and went to the lounge where we hung out with the rest of BOP's friends for drinks and food. It was relaxing to just chill and chat with this bunch of strangers over a drink, over some laughs. Hmmm should do this more often.

We then headed into the GV Gold Class theatre (fully booked by BOP's friend mind you, and because of that, he gets to choose the show he wanted screened in the theatre! at a premium of course ... wow! Whoever wants to hold a private function can consider this too!!! *hint hint*). This is one of the rare moments when I feel so high-class! We were just in awe with the plush couches awaiting each of us. The theatre is cosy with only 3 pairs of couches per row, giving each couple lots of privacy and space. The entire theatre covers 24 seats, means 12 couples can fit into the theatre.

Some of the people were already seated comfortably, couches reclined, footrest inclined and all when we entered the theatre. Both BOP and I gamely found our seats and started meddling with the recline/incline switches to get ourselves into comfy positions before the movie start. Though we were seated right in the front row, it was still comfy to watch the screen once we reclined our seats. It almost felt like you are at home lying in bed and watching a movie!! (ok, except that I don't have a movie screen at home, but the comfort is akin to being at home snuggling in bed ... SHIOKZ!!!) Can tell that BOP was enjoying herself and we were like two schoolgals having fun and new experiences ... its always nice to see BOP smiling and laughing and enjoying herself :) even more shweeee!!!!

Oh, movie was alright. I wasn't really excited about watching this show since I know its about some war, lots of gory stuff ... but then, who can pass off a movie at the GV Gold Class right ?? I didn't fall asleep (as I anticipated I would) during the show and well, we gals got to see lots of 8Ps in the show... *drool* Of course the guys felt more inspired to train harder to achieve those rock hard abs after watching the show hahaha

Once again, wanted to thank BOP for inviting me to join her at the movies! I've never tried watching a movie in GV Grand / Gold Class before, coz it just seemed too wasteful and too high class ... really a luxury reserved only for very special occasions ...

What an experience! :D

Busy ?

Not sure what I have been busy with but last week just whizzed past. Guess the early mornings didn't help as I would try to hit the sack early too to compensate for it ... that's why my life last week seems to revolve around exercise, work & eat haha! But hey! come to think of it, THAT's what my life is about most of the time! :P

Work front, lots of meetings ...
Social life front, lots of fine dining (the only thing that has slimmed down is my wallet!!!! & let's not even start on what has grown *CRYYY* )

These are what attributed to my weight gain hehe:

1. Ember Restaurant in Hotel 1929. A really small cosy restaurant with nice food with high prices to boot.
2. Noble House. Was there for a department farewell lunch. *sigh* Dunno why this colleague must choose such an expensive place to hold a farewell lunch. Food wasn't exceptionally good this time as they ordered an economical 8 person set (for a 10 person table!!! -_-") . But was told that their buffet is good. Must try some time :P
   
3. Merchant Court Hotel. Ended up there for a get-together dinner after our initial plan to have dinner at Brewerks failed because the organiser did not make a reservation !! Friday nite, dinner at Brewerks and he didn't even make a reservation!??!! Haiz .... where has this guy been living ? He conveniently attributed the level of "UNHIPNESS" to being a newly promoted Dad -_-" *yawn* The buffet spread is sad to say the least. Definitely not worth the $$ (but ok lah, for a dinner buffet it is considered cheap by hotel standards. Prolly explains the disappointing spread) I wouldn't even bother blogging about this experience much just that I wouldn't pay to go there again ... at least not in the near future ... But then again, I was told they are famous for their oysters & durian puree. Both of which I don't consume, prolly that's why this buffet is unappealing to me hehe
   
4. Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro. HOOORAYYYYYY!!!! Finally got to try out this much raved about place! Very nice cosy setup, but I was a little disappointed by the decor as I was expecting a tastefully decorated little restaurant .... but then again I guess I just have myself to blame. It's not named "Market" for nothing :P But food is good! Will try to blog about it when I have time ...

Its disgusting to have eaten all these fine food in the span of a week! and painful to calculate the amount of $$ I have squandered ! There shall be no such repeated episodes for another 2 weeks at least and in the meantime, I should just drink water and eat loti! hahahhaa .. yea right! :P

Another start of the week .... *groan* ... did u read the article yesterday by Sumiko Tan about "I hate Mondays" ? hahaha ...it said exactly how I (and I dare to say many others) feel about Mondays (and also the rest of the week...)

:P

Pursuit of Happyness

Great Saturday .... went to the gym and met up with BOP, Divey & Roentgen. Haven't seen Divey since KL Pacesetters! Been so long ... sigh, dun get to see her as often after she switched jobs so very happy to see her at the gym ... Even more surprised to see that the gals managed to persuade Roentgen to join in the spin class! Woo hooo!!!! I was late and was pleasantly surprised when I saw Old Bones on the bike happily cycling away beside Divey ... Aiya, forgot to buy 4D on Sat!!! :P

We later met up with Charmane, Cfred, Angelica_wonders & Renoh for the movie "Pursuit of Happyness" at Cathay. Wow wow wow! Such a long time since I met all of them too! (Think the last time I saw Angel was in SCSM while the rest was at KL Pacesetters too). Ever since I got injured I dun get to see the sgrunners gang as often as i would like to ... really miss those days when we could run and hang out ... aw well

Anyway, its really really nice to have this gathering with these young folks. Made me feel younger instantaneously! Nice yak over dinner and dessert. Interesting how our conversations flowed so easily, and got to know a lil bit more about Charmane's work, Cfred's lack of running due to his studies, Angel's dilemma on her area of study, that Renoh has a list of books to read that will keep him occupied for the next 2 years! *faint* Catching up with them really helps to brighten up my Sat and my weekend.

We had dessert at the Selegie soya bean curd stall and this is cute angel drinking Yuan1 Yang1 - haha, they didn't sell Yuan1 Yang1 so we bought 1 cup of soya bean and grass jelly each for her. So she drink from both straws to get the Yuan1 Yang1 effect - innovative eh ? :P

THANKS to Angel, Roentgen, Renoh, Charmane (aka bitch :P) & Cfred for the nice, warm company!

A very nice account of the day can be found here. Yet another well written blog entry from the lokun. :)

Lone Run

Took a nap after my fruitful day at the malls .... thankfully was woken up by an sms in the late evening and decided to head out for a short run before dinner.

Quickly changed into my running gear (before I changed my mind) and was trying to think of a route, distance, duration to run before heading out ...

As usual ... dunno where to run, so decided to just go with the flow do my usual anyhowz run, i.e. to run and decide where to turn at each junction.

This is the first time in so many months that I'm doing a road run alone ... didn't dare to be ambitious and told myself I'll run for 30-45mins ... and stop anytime I feel any pain. Ran towards Sengkang, wah, its soooo long since I last ran past Compasspoint ! Feel breathless very early on in the run and had to keep slowing down to catch my breath (ahhh .... fitness drop so much liao ... haha ... or issit just a sign of aging ? :P) I shall not attempt to describe the route that I took since DR (Directions Retard) basically just ran based on instincts and based on which direction she decides to turn at each traffic road junction. Several landmarks that I passed include Rivervale Mall & Rumbia LRT station.

Total time taken (with stop & walk breaks) : 1hr
Total distance covered : Dunno ... i suppose about 7km ?
Pain : So far so good .... had to remind myself not to pound on the pavement ..and to lift up my legs and try and land on my midfoot ... but that proved really difficult ... guess I'm not called kickjazz for nothing ... i tend to kick back then to lift up my legs .... is that right or wrong ? I really dunno ... but that's how I run ...

Feel a sense of achievement upon completing the run. Though the pace, distance, time covered is a far cry from what I used to be able to do, but frankly I just have to be contented that I can at least do a decent run around the neighbourhood without major pains. It beats trying to run and feeling the pain 10m into the run, and having to limp back to the starting point after less than 1km! (That feeling really SUCKS!!!)

I just have to remind myself to take it easy, not to up my mileage, to just keep to what I'm doing for now ... that at least I can run a little, rather than not be able to run at all. Just hope the worst of my injury is over ... and that at least I can enjoy the breeze and the running about from now on ..... really reminds me not to take the everyday things for granted. Running seems like something that everyone can do, we chase after the bus, the train etc. But when I was injured, I even had difficulty chasing after a bus! That was the lowest point for me. Looking back, I'm just glad I can now run a bit without pain and frustration :)

Hope it continues this way ... *crosses fingers*

Incidental Shopping!

Had a very good day today. Didn't manage to sleep in (sigh sigh) so was contemplating for the longest time whether to go to the gym or just continue to nuah in bed ....

As I had to go Bishan library to collect my reserved books, so decided to catch a ride with sis and family to AMK where I can catch a train to Bishan. Since family wanted to do some grocery shopping at the mega NTUC supermart in the newly opened AMKHub, decided to tag along to check out the place.

Wah! the place is quite happening! The line leading up to the car park was choking up the traffic (heard that it was free parking) and we had to find alternative parking nearby. The NTUC is like another carrefour or giant. Think I've been living in the "cave" for too long, always grocer shop in the nearby shop n save that sells very limited stuff ... so I was needless to say in awe of all the varieties of stuff there ... from the ice cream (Ben & Jerrys, hagen daz etc.), yoghurt, fruits, vege, snacks etc. etc.! How I wish I live just a walking distance from this megamart!!! :P Will feel super deprived from now on whenever I have to grocer shop in the nearby shop n save :P

Quite a number of eateries there like New York New York - surprised to see it there! can try it out next time, Soup Restaurant etc. Also quite a number of apparel shops that might appeal to the ladies ... not those typical franchise that you see in more of the malls (although the standard Giordano, Bossini are still available) everywhere .. so quite refreshing (though I can't say I like what they are selling haha) Did some shopping (yah, spent $$ again :P) before heading to Bishan for more shopping & books collection.

Ok, now that I have 3 books to read ... i better get some reading done (and less shopping & blogging) :P

Not feeling too well and although I'm hoping to get home as soon as I can, the very thought of "trekking" home via public transport really wasn't appealing .... thankfully colleague wasn't going to stay too late today and managed to get a lift home from her ...

Thanks to her, I now have something to blog about ....

Below recounts a conversation we had while on the way home

All names in this post have been changed to protect identities of all mentioned.

Straight-Talking Colleague (STC) : (exclaimed suddenly) "KJ!!!! When are you going to get married?!?!?!"
Me (KJ) : -_-" "Eh, STC. Such things beyond my control one leh ... "
STC : "Yah lah, but ... know you so long, how come you not even seeing any boy????"
Me : -__-" "Eh ..... I can't help it one rite ? hahaha"
STC : "Yah lah ... but you look at XX & YY (XX & YY are both young female colleagues of ours) ..."
Me : "Yah lah ... they are young and pretty mah .... "
STC: "Yes, and they are married already!!!! You are pretty too .... only that you are not ...*conversation trails off* let me complete the sentence for her ... young"
Me: -________-" "hahaha... well .... being married has its woes too what rite? "
STC: "That's true! Then no need to worry about being a parent volunteer etc."
Me: "Yup, and I can't even take care of myself. Can't imagine being a parent!"
STC: "Aiyo, you so OLD liao still cannot take care of yourself??"
Me: "........ (oops!)" :P (realised i can't win this haha)

And so this is what I have to endure to get a free ride home ... :P

Ok, so I tot I'm lucky not having to tolerate such bo liao questions during CNY .... but now i realise I have to tahan such talk on a day-to-day basis ????

This aside, in my daily work, I now recall being asked so many times by colleagues who DO NOT KNOW ME WELL, about the reason for my marital status!

A quick retrieval from my rusty memory bank ....

Incident 1
Culprit1 profile
Marital Status - Married
Gender - Female
Age - Younger than yours truly
Relationship with moi - Colleague, seldom talk, no business dealing
Scene - walking around killing time

Culprit1 : "KJ, are you married?"
Me : (shocked) "No"
Culprit1 : "Why you don't want to get married?"
Me : (wtf) "..."
Culprit1 : "Why you don't want to be attached?"
Me : (is this for real??) "..."

I concluded after this that this culprit who just created some noise is all vacuum in between the ears.

Incident 2
Culprits profile x 3
Marital Status - Married
Gender - 2 Female 1 Male
Age - All older than moi
Relationship with moi - Colleagues with business dealing
Scene - lunch

Culprit A : "KJ, you no boyfriend ah? Sure or not ??"
Me : "Yeah ..."
Culprit A : "how can it be ?? You too picky issit ?"
Me : "No lah ..."
Then all 3 of them started discussing about my marital status, in front of me ..... -_-"

Seriously ... I realise such conversation leads nowhere.... and they don't need my participation whatsoever :P So I became the listener while they analyse what could be wrong with me hahaha

Incident 3
Culprit3 profile
Marital Status - Married
Gender - Female
Age - Older than me
Relationship with moi - Colleague, NEVER talk, only said Hi/Bye probably once or twice
Scene - happen to be sitting at the same table during breakfast

Culprit3 : (suddenly leaning across the table to face me with her eyes wide open) "KJ, are you married?"
Me: "Nope"
Culprit3 : "Single and available or attached?"
Me: "Single .... er ... and available"
Culprit3: "Really?"
Another colleague chipped in: "Yeah lor, you have anyone to recommend to her???"

and once again I decided to extricate myself from the conversation by immersing myself into my plate of food ...

Thankfully I'm not affected by such queries (think my skin thick enough :P). I just find such talk very amusing ... and also what amazes me more is how direct some people can be .... does being married give them immunity to ask everyone and anyone whatever they like about WHY singles remain singles ? And what business is it of theirs anyway ? And more more importantly, what is wrong with being single ? I don't see anything wrong ? So don't ask the question as if being single make us any less of a human. I sometimes can even see that sympathy in their face ... oh puh-lease! Spare me that nonsense! I'm no feminist and I'm not about to burn any bras but pls! I really do not think that there is anything wrong being single and pls do not accord me any sympathy / empathy just because I'm single. Yes, it is good to have someone to turn to and though I wouldn't mind having that someone, but if I am not lucky enough to find one, that doesn't make me "handicap" in some way. And frankly, I'm not very envious of the married folks .... the kids, the families, the burdens, the committments ... guess what ? I'm happy just NOT needing to worry about any of those right now ... ok, so I will grow old alone ... but being married doesn't necessarily guarantee that you wouldn't either ...

Sometimes I just get irritated and griped about the current system .... yes, the Gov ought to support or offer grants to the families, the married folks etc. etc., but hey, I'm contributing to the economy too, and while the new mothers stayed at home to nurse the young (and thanks to them hopefully we can slow down SG's greying rate. And I applaud the moms for that dun get me wrong), we have to cover their duties above our own ... what do we get ? Hmmm ... no rights to our own public housing (until we are above 35 that is), no grants for singles (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see anything in this latest Budget that benefits the singles ?) But of course, I'm just griping ... others may have it worse ....
*shrug* ... I haven't done any homework with regards to what singles in other countries get ... so I really have no basis for comparison ... but as I grow older, and remain single, I just wish that the Gov can see us as equal beings too and cut us some slack ... we are contributing the same, if not more, just like any other married person ...

Aw well, so much for a ride home. My brain is now more active than it should be ... and I ought to be in bed 30 mins ago .... :P

A Little Sunshine

Sometimes you never know how your actions, no matter how trivial or insignificant, may be received by others....

sometimes it just takes so little to brighten up someone else's day ... and this post is specially dedicated to this someone whom, has touched and brighten up my days just by her sms-es to check on me after reading about my not-so-great days lately. We don't keep in touch much, and rarely get a chance to talk, but she took the trouble to drop me an sms to ask how i was, and to encourage me ... that really helps to cheer me up and reminds me that hey, it isn't so bad ... and also helps reinforces that no man is an island ... we all need someone, sometimes (if not most of the time)

To that, I would like thank her, for sprinkling those sparks of sunshine my direction when my world was looking a little too monochrome. Your acts of kindness didn't go unnoticed. Thank you, miffy.

:)
This also reminds me that little acts of kindness goes a long way. Reminded to be less self-absorbed in my own trivial problems, to be less self-centred. A little smile, a touch, a word of encouragement .... we never know who will be touched by this small little gesture.

Back

Yeah, back from my Penang trip since Sunday lah ... but been very tired and feeling under the weather ... and also been hit by this very serious no-mood-to-blog bug ... this explains why I haven't been as studious blogging .... hehe ...

so anyway, just a short post to say that I'm still alive and kickin ... :P (for those who even noticed my long absence!! wahahahahhaha! )

Away

Will be away for the weekend starting Friday (9 Mar).

Wishing everyone a fun weekend! Hope to have some fun stories or observations to share when I return :)

Happiness

"Practice choosing happiness as your first response to every experience in life."

—Barry Neil Kaufman

March already.... Don't think I achieve much in Feb *oops*.

Ok, at least I keep to doing my strengthening exercises. Though I didn't keep to doing it on alternate days, but hey, at least I'm still doing them ? hehe

Managed to cross the 5km mark on road running without much pain *HOOORAYYY* I'm still cautious and I will not want to push myself any harder than necessary. Keep reminding myself that its better to be able to run (albeit slowly) and short distances, than not to be able to run at all. I still enjoy being able to run out on the road ... it beats running nowhere, facing the tv screen in the gym. :)

Didn't manage to take up a course, but at least I have ear-marked the course to take. Must ganbatte and start my studying before I waste away haha

Now I have to start thinking of what I want to achieve in March. Hmmm .... so fast, is it Mar already??? Must plan stuff so that I have something to look fwd to ... else everyday is just like any other day and I just feel like i'm living a very boring existence haha :P Think people don't feel that way coz they always plan stuff, or have interesting things to do/look fwd to .... I have to buck up!

Til Next Year ...

I always love CNY, the mood, the anticipation ... so like a kid, its with a tinge of reluctance that I bade CNY goodbye yesterday, and till next year ! :P

Had the opportunity to finally visit FON's place as part of the CNY visiting and THANKS to FOC for making us yu sheng! Wow!!! So honoured to have someone make yu sheng (sans the yu haha) for us!! It was very yummy and all of us had multiple servings ;) But ok lah, very healthy stuff so dun have to feel guilty :P

Women & Men

To all the bachelorettes out there :)