I am quiitteeee happy with my job lah

Are you?

http://www.blogthings.com/shouldyougetanewjobquiz

Hmm....The conclusion.....I shall be contented and look no further for the time being......

The King & Queen is here

For the past 2 days, it has been a shiok morning as it started to rain at 3am and lasted till around 7am. Shiok for those who is in bed. Definitely not for those ready to go to work and because of that, we actually had to cancel our monthly east side run on Sunday....:(

Haiz.... I went back to bed on Sunday morning after my alarm rang at 6am. Woke up at 8am and it was still drizzling!!! Win already loh...cannot go run.... By the late afternoon, the king & queen is here. Yeah...it's my dad and mum. So I can't go for evening run also loh. Dad and mum is here for this week to help me put on weight...haha.... I probably have to workout harder for I surely have a sumptious dinner this few nights. Dad called this morning and already let me know what's the menu for tonight :-

- bitter gourd with chic
- home made sharkfin soup with mince chic. It's vegetarian shark fin lah but it's as good as real one loh.

But before that, I got to go burn the extra cal before I head home....:)

The Spirit of Marathon

http://www.marathonmovie.com/home.html

This was indeed a truly inspirational movie clip. Probably it’s even more appealing to me as I’m working towards a similar goal. I am not mentally prepared to take up a marathon at this point of time but I truly understand the emotional struggle that one have to go thru throughout the 42km that will probably last for at least 5 hours as a non elite. Because……this is exactly how I felt on every of my long distance run. You are tested on your endurance of pain, cramps, emotional struggle……. But.. the after effect of running...you will have to try it yourself. It's simply 'high'..

One of the comments from the clip: “When you complete the marathon, there is nothing in life that you can’t try to do after that”.
I would probably want to agree to that to a certain extent. You will definitely be a stronger person, not only physically but mentally. I can never believe that I can run a 10km 2 years back. On my first attempt to do a 10km run in 2005, you can never imagine the excitement and sense of achievement I had upon crossing the finishing line.

“When you cross the finishing line, no matter how fast or how slow, it will change your life forever”..... I'm yet to find out myself….. I may not even have the guts to make the decision...:)

I always try to associate running a marathon & giving birth. Every woman who has been thru labour before will surely comment that it’s the most painful experience they have ever had.

Some similarities that I’ve been thinking about:

The 10 months of pregnancy is something that you may not enjoy (water retention, backache, lethargy…)
The training period prior to the marathon (strict diet, intense training schedule, abrasion, blister, black toe nail)

While in labour, the pain is beyond description. You swear that you do not want to go thru this again.
The pain and struggle you went thru in the 42km run. Cramps, stitches, emotionally and physically worn out. You question yourself why are you going thru this.

BUT

When you finally see your baby and holding close to you, you felt that you’re the most blessed person on earth. Month later, you’ll probably consider to have another baby :)
When you cross the finishing line, you felt that you are the WINNER, overcoming all fear and struggle. There’s no other thing that can stop you. You will want to do it AGAIN!!!

THIS IS SO TIME CONSUMING!!!! I gave up....for the day.....Wait till I'm free and feeling bo liao...I'll beautify the blog ok......

Siao Liao....happily hand itchi go change this template...now got to dig inside the code where to place back my shoutbox and hit counter :( ke kiang lah!!

I'm getting a little bored with my blogs. Not much pictures, theme is boring.

I'm lazy...Anyone want to volunteer to help me revamp?.....free meal from me :) Or at least...point me to some site that can help me do it with a few clicks lah. I search also lazy....:(

Being a "Tang Jia"

In my past experience, when our bosses are not around be it on leave, on mc, all of us will be utterly happy. The whole department will be a “boh jing hu” department. Things are never the same again ever since I join my current company. I have a strong bonding with my boss. She is the best among all the bosses that I’ve had before. As she is currently away for 2 weeks, ‘semi’ officially, I became the “tang jia” of the department.

It was a little stressful but I guess I’m doing well. How are you able to respond to certain situation in a professional manner, ensuring that you are not offending anyone and is not giving an impression that you are running away from responsibilities and at the end of it, you gain respect from ppl….Hmm…..that needs quite a fair bit of experience as you go along…. Cannot learn in school loh….

Last year, I had an agreement with Calvin Chin that if I were to go for a half marathon at this year end SCSM 07, he must go for a full marathon. I guess he must have never thought that I will go for it..hahahah…. On Sat night, I received a sms from him asking if I wanna to join him to run at east coast. Well…I was considering quite a while with the fact that it’s in the evening and it’s at east coast which I’m not so in favour of. Also, he is going with his girlfriend who have just started to run (maybe it’s because of him :)) and could not run far/fast. And they both need some motivation to run long distance. After a bit of hesitation I agreed to meet up with him, requested that he pick me up from Bedok.

Looking at his gf, my first reaction was…..this is a typical Calvin Chin type of gal…J If I were to see this gal by the road side, I do think that CC would like this kinda gal…99.9%. Anyway, STOP commenting abt ppl’s gf. And so we started off our run somewhere near MacDonald toward the seafood restaurant, which is merely 1.5km. U-turn back and head all the way up to Fort Road. I have no idea how far, maybe just less than 5km one way. I dunno what happen but my performance sucks on the day. I was pacing CC for the first 3km and he soon departed further from me and chiong his way to the front while I slow down to do some stretches and enjoying the breeze along the jetty before I start to run again. I just dun have the ‘feel’ of running that day. Nevertheless, I continue to do a slow one towards Fort Road and bump into CC when he is on his way back from Fort Road which according to him it’s about 200m away.

I decided to u-turn and follow him back. He looks tired but continue to move on while I continue my slow pace back. Got stopped by a siau mei mei standing right in front of me with her arms open wide to stop me asking me to take a group pics for them. I was like……&E*#^e*#^e#r^(*!!!!!! Cannot see I running izit?!?!?!? Break my momentum only!! And so…I walk towards that group of siau mei mei, unwillingly snap a few pics, return them the camera and run my way back. I heard a few ‘thank u’ here and there but ANGRY….dun want to say “welcome” leh!!! Give them a black face..hahaha….. The fact that there are sooooo many ppl strolling along the path….of all people out there, why approach someone who is running!!! AIYOH….siau mei mei…..haiz……

We ended at McDonald again. Checked my time, it’s merely a 50 mins run. Given the pace that I run, I doubt we hit 8km…probably less. Hmm…..not a good and enjoyable run for me. CC looks very tired. He hasn’t been running that far. I’m feeling alright cuz I did not put in much effort throughout J Hmmm…sometimes running also must depends on mood…cannot means cannot. Just hope that I won’t have this kinda ‘mood’ on any upcoming raceJ

Satisfying run

I am demoralized on Tuesday when I happily changed my work attire to my running attire, head up straight to Tanjong Pagar to meet the running kakis for our usual Tues CBD run. Having high hope that the drizzle will stop at 7pm by the time we start our run. Who knows…..it’s getting heavier and heavier as I reach TP. It was still bearable, still can run when I met up with the kaki and hide underneath a shelter. But by 7pm, it started to pour….don’t talk abt run. Walk out also a bit difficult. Our spirit drops…..wanted to give it another 5-10mins before we decide to call it a day. Haiz….we gave up by 7.10pm and head off to Marina Square for makan. Not happy loh L

Feeling real dissatisfied, Michiy asked if I’m free on Wed. I say yes. And the question pops up, “Wanna run?” **Wink wink***…eyes open wide…Of course!!! Cut the story short. To replace the CDB run, we met again on Wed at Suntec and start our run towards Marina South.

Suntec -> Sheares Bridge -> Sundial -> Steamboat area -> Jetty -> Tanjong Pagar (DBS building) -> Esplanade -> Suntec.

While Michiy is nursing a mild flu, she took her time for a slow one while I was slightly infront of her, trying to chiong a bit and to improve my speed. Not forgeting to check out from time to time to make sure that she's alright. It was a real satisfying run:

1st, there’s only 2 of us of similar speed. There is no speed monster in front forcing me to chase after them and ended up panting like nobody business and ponchet half way.
2nd, nice weather after a slight rain.
3rd, for whatever reason, I am so into the spirit of running on that day. Dunno why.

No ache, did not run out of breath, in good form, we completed an approx 11-12km in 80 mins. Not a fantastic timing…but ultimately…I feel good!! Woohoo!!!

I have been earnestly looking at other ppl's blog every day without fail, not realizing that I haven't been updating mine for quite some time :P

The past 3 weeks at least have been a real busy week for me. At work of course. Where else can I get so busy... It's always the trend. When u get busy, suddenly everything seems to be coming together. When u start to slow down a bit, you literally have nothing to do throughout the day.

Being a public holiday today, went up to the pool at Suntec for a swim. Wuahaha!!!! shiok ah..I had the entire pool all by myself throughout the 45 mins. The sun is blazing right on me which is what I wanted. I like to swim in hot hot weather :P Being very new to swimming (since there's no one in the pool), I tried something silly. So that I am the only one who can laugh at myself...muahahahaha....!!! I tried to swim free style. Yeah..u knew it. All I know is just the froggie style and I still haven't master it. Now, trying to be a little ambitious, I'm trying free style :) Since nobody around, I can just twist and turn whichever way. My last few attempts in the past doesn't seem to give me any results. 1st, there are ppl in the pool. I pai seh lah. Secondly, water seems to get in to the nose right after the 1st stroke.

Anyway, cut the story short. After a few try, I managed to swim just 1 lap in free style without stopping. Quad super tied!! Don't talk about posture, stroke whatever lah..I know, I can feel that it's pretty awful. My body is crooked while doing the stroke..hehe...need more practice. But it's a good start :)

I have been eating too much!!! I better behave myself and self discipline!!!! Our VP is here this week from our HQ office and offered us lunch-in treat. Me being an initiator as usual (call myself being kepo lah) I asked boss if she would like me to help order food. Guess she is more than happy that I offer the help. It was a treat from my VP but boss passed me $40 and requested that I paid the balance. She will then pay be back. So with 4 extra-large Canadian pizza, 20 chicken wings, 50 sushis, I forked out another $100 on my own pocket money and still haven’t got reimburse today….**sob**sob**…I hope she wont’ forget me :( $100 I can buy a lot a lot of meals leh....

With only 10 pax to feed, you would have imagined how much leftover we had. Having 2 large pizza, 2 chic wing and some sushi is really too much for my lunch loh!!! As I was really looking forward for CBD run in the evening, lo and behold…………it started to rain!!! The cloud was dark by 5:45pm…Slight drizzle at Suntec. I sms WC if it’s raining in TP. He replied the cloud was dark!!! I stood in the middle of the road for 5 mins deciding if I should take the risk to head down to TP for CBD run (in case no rain leh) or should I head back up to Suntec gym to work off those pizza from my waistline. As I was contemplating, rain drops gets heavier. That’s a sign…… I head back to Suntec and join the combat class for an hour, punch and kick as hard as I could, followed by a 10 mins run.

Still….I felt that my stomach is a bit bloated till today….Urgh….I hate the feeling of bloating…

BG Run #1

It was my first BG (Botanic Garden) run with the sgrunners gang. Lead up by Sotong, we did a route that is out of BG this time round.

Old-SMU -> Evans Road -> Bukit Timah Road (towards clementi) -> Clementi Road (Turn at King Albert Park) -> Ulu Pandan Road (Turn at the Army Dogs Unit) -> 6th Avenue (slopes!!!)-> Bukit Timah Road (towards SMU -> Old-SMU.

It was approximately 14.5km.

Being the first timer for BG run, I doesn’t want to missed my way, so I set of early, leaving home at 5:50am. NOTE: it’s 5.50am on a SUNDAY!!! I couldn’t believe that I’m doing this!!! Used to think that it’s such a silly thing to do but somehow, I wanna to do it this time. I want to get my butt off and start moving to burn off the excess I have from the previous day. And I believe that it is so much easier to run in a group rather than doing it on your own. So, here I come.

Being the 1st to reach old SMU track, I bump into Tiwazz at the main gate. Shortly after, Charlotte arrived. We set off at 7:10am. Right after turning into Clementi Road towards Ulu Pandan (that’s abt 5.5km), the fun started. It was slopes all over again and again. I think there’s at least 5 slopes in all. Being pretty weak at slopes, I was trying all sort of running position and technique to ‘evaluate’ which one helps me to perform the best. Well….I’m still figuring out. I think I found one but I still need to give a couple of try again :) Took a break at Jelita Cold Storage to get some drinks and off we set to 6th Avenue (10km)….slopes again.

As I was reaching the junction turning back to bukit timah road, my legs are getting heavier, my calves are tight but I insist to do a slow jog and not letting myself to walk. It was pretty draggy though as the sun is shining hot by that time. Finally, a good close to 2 hr run……I saw old-smu entrance. I’m glad I completed the run without any abrasion or discomfort, other than a pair of tired legs.

We headed off to brunch at Botanic Garden food court AND…… after all the sweat and hard work burning off the excess, I pump in a whole lot of carbo and sinful food!!!! (giving excuses to reward myself after the hardwork) I ate 2 prata!!! One of the most sinful, fattening and unhealthy food!!!!! Soon after, Sotong gave me a ride to Aljunied and off home to Zzzzz again….Such a pig!!! But got to replace my beauty sleep in the morning mah…:P

Workout summary for week 26 Feb - 4 Mar

Hmm....This week wasn't as active as I would like to be. The week seems to zooommmm past pretty quickly though...

Mon: Relax day
Tues: CBD run 6km
Wed: No run. Dinner with Darren, JC, WC and Derek
Thurs: Weight training (30mins), Run 5km, cross train 15mins
Fri: Slack
Sat: Church
Sun: Run 8km

CBD Run 27th Feb

When it’s Tuesday, it means CBD run. WC joined me for the 2nd time. I had initially told him that I will follow the rest to do the longer route (the steamboat route). If he’s comfortable, he can tag along, else he can do the normal 6km Jetty route.

WC asked me to go ahead as soon as we hit the junction towards Marina South. I ran according to my normal speed with a group in front and a couple of them behind me. I took a peek a couple of times at my back to ensure that WC is still within sight and that there’s someone with him. As we reached towards the Jetty which is about 3km, everybody seems to have overtook WC. But he is running pretty comfortably on his own pace – OTOT no stress. Unlike the 1st time he joined me following my pace, he was panting pretty hard and couldn’t last as long as this time round.

I turned around before hitting the U-turn point and directed WC to join me. We ran together for a while. I was still going strong and continue my pace to catch up with Angie who is about 50m in front of me. As much as everyone of us need, I gave Angie a "Jia You" as I approach closer to her. As we reach the junction towards the 9.5km route, I gave a signal to WC if he wants to go for it or the other way back to our starting point. He pointed his finger towards the front direction. That will be the usual 6km route back to TP. With not much ppl left at the back and mostly have make their turn to the 9.5 route, I decided to go back with WC and Tiwazz who had some injuries during last SCSM. So it’s slow and easy for him too.

So, we were the first three to get back to the starting point since the rest are going to the steamboat route. Nevertheless, it’s a recovery run for me after Sunday’s CV route. WC stamina seems to be improved a little, being able to run throughout the 6km at a slow and steady pace.
Kudos!!!

Workout summary for the week of 19 - 25 Feb

Mon: Still in KL, but did a 30min swim
Tues: Slack at home
Wed: Reach S'pore, tried to run but no stamina, no energy with all the goodies. Did only 2km
Thurs: Run 8km (gym)
Fri: Cycle Spin 30mins, Run 1.5km
Sun: Run 15km

Pasir Ris -> Changi Village

While JC is going to have his marathon this coming Sun in HK, this week will be a relaxing week for him. No intense training. We decided to go for a relaxing run (for him, definitely not for me) in the morning. We set off at 7am, after a short warmup and stretches.

Time: 7am
Route: Pasir Ris Blk 511 - Loyang Ave - Changi Village and back
Estimate mileage: approx 15km

Having to run with JC for the first time, he asked me to start off first since he is following my pace (that's obvious). I can die following his 4-5min/km pace. He started to pace with me shortly after I take off. I was panting pretty hard the 1st 5 mins. Dun understand why (Uh..maybe I'm stressed to run with him. haha). After 10-15min, my breathing was back to normal. I just need more time to warm up. Off we went on a 6.5-7km pace.

Our initial plan was to run to Changi Village, take a short break, I will take a bus home while JC will continue to run back. We didn't know the exact mileage from PR to CV so our guess is 10km one way. I can't possibly follow him to do a 20km for 2 way.

Once we hit the junction of Loyang Ave, off we went for the slope going towards the Loyang industrial area. JC is asking if I can take the slope. It was a short one and it was like 20mins after we start. I still have plenty of energy. So chiong ah!!! After chionging the slope, it was pretty comfortable going thru the industrial area and flat terrain, weather is cooling. Until we reach the Air Base or something like that there are a few small slope here and there. I told JC I hate all this long small slope. I would rather have a higher slope and choing all the way. He say, dun worry too much of these slopes . Without you knowing, you already run over it. And true enough..... I was looking down instead of looking ahead. In a short while, JC ask me to look behind, the slope is now behind me...haha....talk about mind game :)

I started to see sign board, towards "Changi Village". Yay!! I'm excited. Slowly and steadily, maybe another 1km upon seeing the signboard, we make a left turn towards CV where the famous nasi lemak is. That is approx 45-50mins. It's definitely less than 10km. Probably about 8km. JC went for toilet break while I did some stretching. We went towards 7-eleven for 5 min water break. JC asked if I'm ok to run back, else he will go on his pace while I wait for the bus. I was still feeling pretty ok at that time, so I decided to run back, with the intention to stop half way and let him chiong his speed back.

Run and run and run until I hit 1 hr 20 mins or so, my feet started to feel weak but my breathing is still ok. JC say to let him know when I'm not ok. I asked, how do I know if I'm ok or not. He said, when everything is not right. You want to vomit, you feel giddy...then that is not ok. Being tired IS OK!! it's now all on my mental power. We are back to the industrial area, coming to a final slope before we reach the junction to PR, a slope that everybody claims to be a killer. I decided that I will run back and not to take a bus. Let's see how far I can go. I'm weak, my leg has not much strengh left, what's more having to climb a slope. I did it very very slowly, struggling a little. But I did it! Once I hit the top of the slope, it all downslope now towards PR - Downtown east direction.

By this time, my sole is giving me some discomfort and my thigh is a little stiff. I slow down my pace so much so that I wanted to stop. I think a brisk walker is faster than me at this time. No More Energy! I told JC I want to stop. He said, do it slowly until the traffic light. Slowly and slowly, I see Downtown east infront. I said I will stop there. OK! the time now is 8:40am. We have covered approx 15km by the time we reach Downtown East. Yay!! My PB (personal best).
With about 500m more to go, we did a walk, jog and chiong back to blk 511.

Feeling satisfied with myself, walk back to the void deck, did a cool down, home, shower, off to breakfast, sleep, wakeup, start to blog :)

CNY Break

All I could say is, my trip back to KL for CNY is all about eating and sleeping. Uh... I didn't really eat THAT much but I'm munching on CNY goodies like every hour!! URGH!! Sleep...... is the ultimate one. On average, I think I slept about 13 hours guah..including my afternoon nap..hehehe....

I'm not sure if this is a good sign or not, but the moment I went home, I felt like coming back.. I'm counting down every single days how many more days before I get to come back to Singapore. I dunno why. Probably 1st, I have nothing to do at home. Yeah..everybody tend to say shopping loh. But really, I don't find stuff in KL cheap anymore. Simple thing can easily give you a 3 digit figure. 2nd, maybe I'm just not used to the environment there anymore. 3rd, ppl on my age group in church are all new faces, maybe just a couple left. But distance and time draws away the relationship, don't u agree?

Anyway, it's good to see my family and relative again. When my nephew called me from Australia, he wishes me "Happy New Year", "Gong xi gong xi" (I doubt he understand what's the meaning :) ) and asking me to give him ang pao next year. I could hear from the background voice that my sis is teaching him that :P

Summary for the month of Jan

I was trying hard to recall hard what's happen in the month of Jan. Perhaps, the most significant steps that I've made in Jan is officially joining a running group. Hmm...officially.... sounds very serious woh!! Nah.... since I'm working in Suntec, I'm joining them every Tuesday to do a CBD run around Marina South area, ranging from 6-10km. Weekend run...depends on mood loh..

It was real weird the first them joining them running in a CBD area. We started off at 7pm at Tanjong Pagar MRT -> Maxwell Road -> Marina South - Jetty and back giving me a good start of approx 6km. You could have imagine that there are tonnes of ppl around TP at that time. I felt weird to be dressed up in running gear in that area. But well.... I'm used to it by now. Who cares :P

Time changed

Yesterday evening, I received 2 suprised sms in a row.

1st Message
========
Bizi, I want a barbie toy, not stationary. If too expensive, then nvmd.
This is my hp no........Mei Mei

Within a split of second, I received the next

2nd Message
=========
Bizi, I want bionicle Piraka or Toa Inika. This is my hp no.....Boy

This two messages are from my niece and nephew, age 11 and 12. You got my point?! They both had a hp at this age!!!! I'm like "WHAT??" you got a hp? Mummy (who is my sis) bought for you?

Ah well..they are using their dad's old phone and my sis is getting them a prepaid card. I'm just thinking.... what gadget I had at that age. Hmm....five stones? Monopoly? Mayyybeeeee I had those gigantic cassette tape walkman.... :)

How like that?

I was on a phone conversation with a consultant from Beijing last week. Yes, he is from China and you could have imagine his chinese speaking is "chimology"! I spoke to him in chinese obviously with a mixture of english and requested him to send me some screenshots. This is what I get......



This.....is one of the screenshot from an Exchange server properties. IT illiterate people, Exchange server is an application that host all your corporate emails. This is where you configure it to have your email as xxx@company.com... blah blah blah...

How am I supposed to read this screen leh... Nevermind, all I need to know is which check box is ticked and compare it to mine which is in english...hehehe This is just the beginning, I seriously hope that I do not need to deal with Microsoft product in chinese :(