Swim!

A very good swim this mrn. Pool was quite empty, and swimming under the early sunlight does make me feel good.

To many more good swims!

Lunch @ Saizeriya

Was looking fwd to this get-together as I haven't seen the gang for over 7 months. Think the last time we met was in 2009!!!

I've been MIA for way too long!

We met up over lunch and surprisingly the place was quiet and not at all crowded. Happy to see the familiar faces. Everyone looked just like before but Tz lost quite a fair bit of weight due to his 3 weeks of indigestion. A diet of bread and porridge sure helped one lose weight! Am i going to try it ? errr ... nope! I'm happy being fat !

I was so shocked to see A coz she also lost a lot of weight and she looked even more fabulous than before! Good for her! She definitely looked happier and more confident! *thumbs up*

The 2 happy couples still looked very loving together (good!) and Bitch & I still got loads to bitch about together hehe.

It was a very good catch up. We loaded on food (pizza, focacia bread, spaghetti, soup, drumlets) and free flow of drinks (can't imagine the cups of mocha, milo, juices) that we downed!

Our conversations were also free flowing and wide ranging, from races, events, world cup predictions by Paul & Mani, air tix and budget airlines to local news like the recent tragic case of the widow, flood, property prices etc. From C I got to know that there are organised tours to the local cemetries for desperate folks to seek lucky numbers for gambling! Really ?!?!?!?!

Very happy to catch up with this fun gang of people. Thanks so much to T for organising and THANKS everyone who turned up to celebrate A & my birthday in advance!

:)

S.I.C.K

This isn't the first time it happens as far as I can recall. I always fall sick on the first day back at work after the new year (either calendar or lunar).

Argh!!! Been feeling under the weather since Sat. Sneeze repeatedly, and then v itchy throat. Woken up several times by the discomfort. Downed several packs of the chinese herbal tea but didn't help much.

And so, I called in sick today.

What an inauspicious start to the year. PUI.

IPhone!!!

TWO long years ... that's how long it has been. I have wanted to change my phone like for the longest time and finally the wait is over!!! I didn't realise it had been so long until I searched back my blog and found this. Time really waits for no man.

Anyway, I rushed down right after work to wait in line for my new playmate for the next 21 months at least.

And now, I'm a proud & happy owner of this ...

Also, I've "defected" from M1 to Singtel. Been with M1 for over 10 years now and I just think they do not value their long-time customers. And I do not see M1 leading the other telcos anytime soon and with Singtel's firm stand in this market, I think I should put my money with Singtel. The last straw was that I was told by the M1 customer service (1627) that they have no corporate plan for their data line. The service staff showed no interest in retaining me as their customer even though I mentioned that I am keen to terminate my subscription with them. In short, it was just a very unpleasant experience. So long M1.

The process for switching to Singtel was smooth except for one minor administrative problem regarding my Singnet line and I was asked to make a $800 deposit! I was disgusted and told the staff that I expected a waiver if not I would walk out immediately. Thankfully everything was sorted out in my favour, thanks to the staff, and I got my iPhone.

With my iflexi Value, my 16GB iPhone 3Gs costs $248. With a $100 for new subscription and a $60 trade-in for my HTC touch, I only paid $88 for my new companion plus less than $40 for my red leather iphone case. Nice.

Slow Mo

So I'm back to work today.

After 2 days of MC, I think my brain sorta shut down, and I felt like its another torturous Monday. So Monday blues is inevitable ..... argh!

Ankle is feeling much better, but I still did not dare to risk it by walking my usual pace. Somehow it still bothered me enough to make me walk very slowly .... I felt like some preggie lady taking every step oh-so-slowly. Really not used to the pace, but I kept reminding myself not to hurt my ankle anymore than I already had.

Decided to not risk it by starting my spin class, but didn't wan to just lay off completely after 2 days. My attempt at swimming failed miserably and I had to stop after a mere 3 mins coz the ankle felt awkward with each kick and I could feel so strain on the loose ankle. My shortest swim EVER. Didn't feel good. Guess I just have to rest for a couple more days. I hope I can be back in action by next Monday latest.

Pray hard.

Doc vs. Sinseh

And so I woke up in the middle of the night with some mild pain, so I decided to ice the ankle.

When I again woke up at 6am, I concluded that I'm injured. The ankle looked swollen and obviously I couldn't walk without limping.

So made the necessary smses and emails to inform The Boss and fellow colleagues about my absence at work.

First stop was to visit the GP to ensure there are no serious injuries (i'm quite worried about the cracking sound when I twisted the ankle), or whether I need an X-Ray. Doc made me do some simple tests like stand on my left foot (I can handle balance), tip-toe and also stand onboth feet (I find that difficult as I will tend to lean completely on my right). Since I was able to do the above without serious pain, the GP surmised that there shouldn't be any bone fractures. He recounted his own experience (which sounded similar to mine, just that he ended up with a minor surgery! *shiver*), advised me to rest and that i should feel better in the next few days, failing which, I will need to go for an X-Ray. He dispensed some painkillers and cream for the ankle and sent me home.

Next stop was to the sinseh. I actually do not have any trusted ones but decided to give the one at Chinatown another try since I was thinking of heading back to office after the visit. This clinic was run by a family with the entire family (parents and son) being sinsehs. I was treated by the mother in the last visit and I wasn't impressed at all. Her bandage was so shabby a colleague commented that it was so badly done she thought I bandaged it myself. -____-"

Today I was lucky, the mom was painting the grills and hence the father was the one who treated me. He compared both my feet, observed both legs and concluded that my left foot's bone alignment was out. Wah, sounded serious. He said that the mis-alignment had caused some issues up to my knee and all the way up to my waist and back. Due to that, I was over-compensating with my right leg and hence my right leg also need to be treated. I have to say the whole treatment took less than 5 mins, and it was only the last 10 secs that hurt the most. Thankfully my mom was around to keep me company.

I guess my mom was impressed enough to let him treat her ailments too. He fixed her left arm today, but said to me that my mom has too many issues and will take time to fix one at a time. Anyway, i will have to go back tomorrow to treat my right leg. Let's hope I'm feeling better tomorrow. In fact I can walk a bit better now ...

Wishing myself and my mom speedy recoveries!

AGAIN?!?!?!?!?!

Just as I'm happy about my run, and on my way home..... I had to slip from the last step of the stairs, fell down and sprained my left ankle. The SAME ankle which I'm still trying to recover from!!! ARGH!!!! When I fell I could hear the cracking sound of something in my ankle. #*$U#@($#@

I wasn't able to get up for a while, both from the pain and the shock.

The first thing that crossed my mind was "SHIT!!! Again?!?!?!?" and the next was "F**K! I was just about to get back to my running routine!!!!! Now this?!?!?!?!? I can't run again?!?!?!?!?!??!"

Am really really really frustrated. Can't express the irritation and frustration I am feeling right now. Think the pain is slowing building up .... sigh ....

Wondering whether I shld go see a GP now, or just sleep. I am so tired .... don't even have the energy to go ice my ankle. Wonder whether the salonpas plaster I put on, which has that icy cool feeling can be a good substitute ?

Damn. And now I'm down AGAIN. Pissed.

Updates

I'm back!

Was away on a short trip to Bali from 20-25Feb.  No time to blog about it yet ...

Then was again away for my department retreat from 27Feb-1 Mar. With the bleak economy, we had to contend with a retreat in Singapore.  Anyway, as much as I hated the thought of going to these retreats, I had to say I enjoyed the place and the company of some of the colleagues.  A good chance to interact with some of them, and to get to know them better.

:)

____________________________________

Ok, been SLACKING.  Nuff said.

Only managed 2 miserable runs in the past 2 weeks.

Last Thur, was the usual run to office taking the Tues route.  Was a pretty good run.

Today did another run.  But outcome is vastly different.  I felt tired and had to stop to walk .... it got so bad I just dreaded the rest of the distance and hence cut short the route.

Did at max 11km today.  1hr 13 mins.

Hope the next run will be better.  *cross fingers*

Crap Run

Woke up late and decided to dump my stuff in the gym before heading out for a run.

My body just wasn't co-operating today right from the very first step.  I felt tired, breathless and totally out of form.

By the time I got to South Buona Vista I was feeling too winded.  After 30 mins of struggle, I decided to call it quits and walked back towards NUS.  Spent a lot of time walking.  The air is stuffy and still today, it still looked quite hazy.  The dust particles in the air probably hasn't cleared.

Anyway, a very lousy run today.  As good as not running.  Think I cover at max 6km, but all the walking and all took me over an hour.

Nevermind, till the next run.

No LSDs for the next 2 weekends ... ho ho ho... I'm so in trouble for my next LSD *shake head*

And so I decided to make up for it with a swim ... got to the pool and realised that there was going to be a class starting in 10 mins!  Typically the pool would be closed during classes.  I asked the instructress whether the pool would be closed, she kindly suggested I can keep to the side of the pool.  So I started swimming, but as there was another lady who came before me, the side lane got a little too crowded for both of us.  10 mins later I decided to call it quits.  So ... lousy start to my Sun.  Heaven's will ba ... to slack, eat, get fatter!

hahaha

ok, time to continue readin ... 

Weekend ... so far so good...

Had dinner with my 2 hilarious colleagues on fri nite.  One is back from London for home visit so we took some time to catch up.  This funny guy had me in stitches with his funny annecdotes & gestures.  Great company ... too bad it had to end early because of his some other prior engagements.

Later had dessert & drinks with another friend in Raffles Hotel.  Dessert at Seah Street Deli was disappointing.  How dare they charge so much for 2 small pieces of chocolate cake (which they claimed as brownies) and a miserable scoop of nondescript vanilla ice cream.

Eeeks.

And I think its the last time I would go to Long Bar.  The live band can only entertain people of my parents' age and before.  Drinks were of course exorbitant.  I pay $20 for a tin can of Kilkenny.  Geez.  Ok, but we finally tried Singapore's famous drink - Singapore Sling.  What's the big deal ? I seriously do not know. 

After that somewhat disappointing experience at Long Bar.  We were basically hoping places.  Went to the Loof - a drinking place on the roof top of Odeon Towers.   Really nothing much so we left without a drink.  Not sure what got to me but I then agreed to try out St James Powerhouse.  Aiyo a place that had been there for ages, but a place I have NEVER been interested in checking out.  Nonethess, went with the intent for me to "explore" the place and up my HIPness factor a wee bit :P

Places like dragonfly, firefly and what nots that play hokkien and canto-pop are seriously not my interest.  Beats me why there were young adults queuing up to enter dragonfly.  Finally we hopped to Movida where we thought we could agree with the music.  Place turned out ok.  Music was alright.  SADLY, the only person whom chatted me up that night was a gal!!!! AIYO, what a disappointment!  Cover charges for St James : $20 for men, $15 for ladies.  Cheap.

Sat mrn was spent in the gym swimming and spinning.  Good workout.

Then finally placed a deposit at the travel agency for my upcoming holiday.  YAY!!  So happy!

For the lack of sleep from Fri nite (only managed about 3 hours), I crashed at 7+ on Sat nite.  So tired I couldn't drag myself out of bed for my LSD this mrn.  Convinced myself that since I'm not training for any event, I could afford to slack.  Argh, hope I don't use this excuse too often!!!

Enough slacking, LSD next week!

 

Happy 牛 Year !

In another 4.5 hours, we will be welcoming the year of the Ox.

Here's wishing that ......

the economy will improve by leaps & bounds

there will be no layoffs (except as part of re-orgn to eliminate those dead roots ... especially those expensive dead roots :P)

everyone is happy & healthy (.. and the rest will follow)

I can have my bonus (heard that there is none *sigh*)

my resolution for 2009 will materialise

To a HUAT and SOON Ox year ahead!!!

Mad Rush ....

Planned to be on leave starting Thur PM.  Informed all relevant parties and had made many plans on the errands I gotta run.

But alas, there were just too many things i had to follow-up with that I decided to just cancel it.

Had mtgs and discussions til 12+.  Colleague then brought me to the Straits Kitchen near our office for nonya food.  Wow! I didn't even know there is such a gem hidden in CBD!  The place was quiet and the food was actually pretty good.  Had a very enjoyable time chatting with colleague.  That's a good thing that happened to my otherwise spoilt plans. :)

Managed to get most of the critical work out of the way and I hurriedly left to run some errands after work.  Even managed to squeeze in a hair cut!!! Hooray!  So happy.

Then had late dinner with a friend who needed some company.  We then originally wanted to head to Tong Shui opposite Great World City for some dessert but on our way there, our attention was taken by The Pump Room.  Against my better judgement (since I'm falling sick), I suggested we go for a few drinks at The Pump Room instead.  It was a very good choice afterall.  The place was quiet safe for a few customers and we had a few beers, cocktail and enjoyed the serenity while watching the Australian Tennis Open on ESPN.  There was even live band at 10+. We were agreeable with the music as they played music from the 80s :P  Nice.

I would definitely want to go back there again.

Ok, a nice end to a busy Thurs. 

To many more great days ahead! *thumbs up* 

Chinatown

Went to soak in the CNY festivities last nite @ Chinatown.

Some taiwan brand hand-made eggroll.  Done on the spot.  

1 pkt (3 pcs) for $2

2 pkts for $3.50

5 flavours.  Can't remember all .... think chocolate, seaweed .. 

As its made on the spot, you've got to have the patience to queue for the goods 

We waited quite a while for our turn

It was alright .... Thicker (not those paper thin types that you get from those factory made ones) and softer to the bite (it crumbles easily).  Ok lah, not something I would go all out to eat.  I'm contented with the usual cheaper versions. 

Crowded!!   .... and lots of CNY decorations, and the usual tidbits from Taiwan (muah chee, jellies, healthy nutes), dried sausages & meats that you commonly see during CNY, flowers, pomelos, cookies (nothing fanciful) ... all the usual ... nothing interesting that caught our fancy

This is the nian2 gao1 from Taiwan.  Different flavours such as coffee, chocolate, green tea etc.  Taste just like muah chee to me.  Apart from the novelty, nothing to wow about.  I would much prefer our traditional nian2 gao1.  But having said that, I'm really no fan of this sticky sweet delicacy.

All in all a good way to while away an hour or two soaking in the sights and festivities ... but really nothing interesting.  Not that you can't get any of these same goods elsewhere.  Am sure the same merchandises are available round the island.   So small wonder we ended up empty handed.  Didn't buy anything.  

Two more weeks to CNY.  Hooray! :D

 

R&R

I had a good massage and rest today at a spa .... 

I need the peace and quiet and some pampering to calm myself down ... 

Thanks to a friend whom I met for lunch, for reminding me about this place

I shall go back there soon

I Can't Live Without You ....

And so I didn't dare to run this mrn.  I didn't dare risk it.  The odds of injuring myself are too high if I pressed on without listening to my body ... 

So I rested today and I feel at peace for letting my legs rest.  Hope I'll be better soon.

*cross fingers*

I decided to heed The Gifted's advice and went to Mizuno shop to look for my one-and-only.  I'm so glad they had my size and it was on 40% off for World of Sports member.  So I signed up to be a member.  (Anyone who needs to buy from WOS knows who to look for in future :)   Valid for one year only)

The Wave Rider 11 in the older color (my fav purple) is going for 40% off while the newer color (which I didn't think was that fantastic) would not enjoy the 40% off.  WR 12 would be out in Jan (according to the staff) but since I will not be able to enjoy the 40% off, I grabbed at the chance today.

So here it is .... 

Though I'm spending $$$$$ on another pair of shoes so close to my Cumulus, but I thought it is better than to get injured and have to lay off running yet again.  The positives far outweigh the cost ba ? I will have to alternate between Cumulus & WR.  Hopefully my legs will get accustomed to Cumulus in time to come ... 

So presenting my new love ... 

and finally ....

I got myself a new pair of running shoes.

Been procrastinating a lot about buying a new pair of shoes.  Initially wanted to buy back Mizuno WR just that I couldn't decide whether to get a bigger pair coz I earned myself 2 black toenails lately.  

Then I just kept going in my existing pair, contemplating, mulling, vacillating until I discovered that my current WR is pretty tattered.  I have worn off my outer right sole and I reckoned I'm just risking injury if I continue on in this pair.  Especially when I was told previously that WR isn't for distances upwards of 20km.

So .... since my lunch appt was cancelled today.  I decided to rush down to get a new pair.

And so this is my new babe - Asics Cumulus 10.

This is a wider width pair of Asics.  According to the guy Asics is trying to re-capture those NB who bought because of the wider width.  Not sure how true, but he said this is the wider version of Cumulus.  Since I have wide feet and bunion problem, I know I will need as wide a shoe (and yet feel snug like my WR) with sufficient cushioning (to alleviate any shin splints).

I paid a premium to get the advice on what to buy.  I know there will be many who will scorn at my "stupidity" for buying without discount.  But I went with my eyes open.  I could do what many people probably do; go there, seek advice, and head to Queensway to buy at a discounted price.   But I just can't bring myself to do that.  Its not doing this guy justice.

 

And so I'll have the motivation to bring my baby out for a test run this coming Thurs.  Let's hope I will break into them soon enough with no pain *cross fingers*

Going Digital

Read in the papers yesterday about this newly opened Market Place (by Cold Storage) @ Fusionpolis.  Their trolleys are equipped with a monitor that will show info relevant to the merchandise that u r near ... 

Obviously this is nothing exciting to some other countries who already have such technologies for a while (according to the papers).   Not only could the monitor show such info (such as recipes of the ingredients u r near), it could also tally the total amount of the stuff in your trolley.

Anyway, I headed to the gym for a swim despite my dad's condition.  Yah, the unfilial daughter ha! So had my usual swim and headed to the Market Place for a look see.

Though I had nothing to buy, I wanted to try out this trolley.

This is a snapshot of the monitor on the trolley.  As I passed the aisle of mushrooms and stuff, it showed up a recipe for some salad. 

Anyway, not much useful info for me since I don't cook.  But well, a nice experience.

The place was rather empty saved for a few other shoppers like myself and I had a relaxing time just walking up and down the aisles and immersing myself in the xmassy mood.  Nice.

What If ?

Was on my way home earlier and as I was steps away from the traffic light, contemplating on whether to cross as it was still the green man (non-flashing mind u), a van just whizzed past and beat the lights!!!

I was momentarily shocked by what I saw.  The left and right-most lane of the road were occupied except for the middle lane.  So it wasn't that the driver missed the traffic light!  There were cars on either side of the road that stopped for the lights.

I was sooo thankful that I and another young gal just two steps ahead of me had not started crossing the road then.  Coz if we were, either of us (if not both) would definitely had been hit!  It was a very scary thought.  And it wasn't like the light just turned favorable for us, it had been the green man for a while, so you could imagine how reckless the driver was.

I couldn't help but wonder ... what if ? what if I had been walking slightly faster ? What if I had decided to cross the road, or run across so that I wouldn't have to wait for the next turn of the lights ? What if ?

I could only count my blessings that this time, I pondered and decided to slow down instead of picking up speed.

Guess this is also to remind everyone to be extremely careful while crossing the road, major or minor, zebra crossing or not, green man or otherwise.  You can never ever be sure.

Sunday Swim

Been under the weather lately .... think I caught the flu bug from niece ... She was running a fever for over 6 days that I brought her to the A&E pediatrics when the GP suggested so.

Anyway, she is well on the road to recovery *Thank Heavens !!!* and its now my turn fighting the virus.

Since I could feel some slight pain on my shin this week, and with my condition, skipping the run was (almost) a no-brainer.  I ignored the alarm this mrn, and slept til 8.  That sealed my decision not to run (yes, i'm a SLACKER!!! :P).  Thought I'll head for a swim instead.

That turned out to be a fantastic move because the pool was empty for most of my swim.  Yay!!!! I felt almost like I owned the pool.  It was very very relaxing to be taking it easy, just swimming and enjoying every minute of it.  Swam for an hour, then R&R on the deck chair by the pool, managed to sleep a little before an ang mo talking loudly on the phone woke me up.  So went back to into the pool and alternate between freestyle and breast-stroke.  Hey! I realised I could swim freestyle today.  Not good yet but at least it wasn't that laborious with every stroke!!! YIPEEE!!! *clap clap*

Did that for another half hour before I call it a day.

Fantastic way to start a sunday mrn.  How I wish the pool is always so empty and quiet :P

SMSes from An Angel

I received a sweet sms from an Angel this mrn while out running.  She has been giving me support the past couple weeks knowing that things had been a lil rough at my end.  I really really appreciate the kind tots and the support and company she gave.  Its the small little things that speakth the loudest.  I'm touched.

And what touched me even even more was when she remembered something I told her about sometime back in one of our conversations.  It really warmed my heart that she was listening to me, and that she remembered.

What an angel.  Thanks Angel for being there for me!! I really appreciate it.  *HUGZ*