i can see clearly now...

merdeka weekend has come and gone.
my birthday has come and gone too.
so what's been happening & what's new?

let's start with merdeka weekend. due to the dry spell in july and august, i was totally looking forward to merdeka weekend. not only it's a public holiday, i was even more excited because i was going to penang again with my family - with my 7 month niece in tow - and it was a great holiday. a tad too short a holiday, but a holiday nonetheless. upon arrival, it was food... glorious food all the way. on arrival lunch itself, i couldn't decide if i missed laksa more or fried koey teow more... i ended up with both on my table! went back for a nap, and about 4.30pm, it was off to padang brown for my must-not-miss-when-in-penang lok lok. i was so bloated from all the food. the following day was about the same, with chee cheong fun for breakfast, laksa & fried koey teow again for lunch, mua chee for tea and don't know what else for dinner. i gained a good 3 kg from that weekend.

about 2 weeks later, it was my 29th birthday. well, it would be my 30th birthday according to the chinese calender. no big celebration, just an extravagant gift i got for myself - brand new eyesight. yes... i went for lasik and good bye glasses and contacts!

i'll start my training for singapore marathon again this week. would really like to start swimming again too, but due to the lasik, i have to stay away from the pool for a month. well, at least i can still run and go for my rpm classes.

25th August 2007, 12.40am

the day marks the passing of one of my favourite cousin - yew koko.
you'll forever be in my heart.
rest in peace.

where have i been?

yes, i’ve been slacking with my blog (and my running) and i owe my royal readers a mega update on what’s been happening since my last entry. be prepared, this might be the longest entry ever!

i’ve been slacking with my bloging and my running because i’ve been traveling. i missed the much anticipated penang bridge international marathon in june because i was away in bali. frankly speaking, i was ready to give bali a go but my parents and colleagues thought i was insane to choose the run instead of bali. anyway, to cut the long story short, bali won the vote. the one thing that i was very keen on doing while in bali was to go paragliding. unfortunately, you need 2 to go, and i was the only wacko that signed up with the tour agent there. boo-hoo again. overall, it was still a fun trip – with partying, drinking, some shopping, getting a temporary tattoo, spa, manicure, lovely barbeque seafood at jimbaran bay, fresh air in kintamani, beautiful sunset at tanah lot.


about 4 days after arriving home from bali, i was packing up again, to istanbul this time around. this trip was such a last minute arrangement, that i got my air tickets only the day before i left, and i only managed to go to the money changer and get a copy of lonely planet while in the airport. istanbul is so rich culturally and historically, it’s just fascinating! not to mention, expensive too. but hey… it was worth every cent spent. in euros mind you. i was such a champ there, 2 days upon arrival; i was taking the public transportation there like a local. buses and trains was the way to go and kebabs were my meal. when i was there, i was quite tempted to purchase a ticket to athens, as it cost only 90 euros return. but with the amount of loan i took from my parents for this trip, i needed a job to come back to. istanbul is a melting pot of civilisation and religion; with christians, muslims and the jews all living together. i was being a kiasu tourist and visited all the top 10 sites and more during my 1 week stay in istanbul.



then it was off to kuching for the 10th annual rainforest music festival. how much drama will one experience, since it’s only sarawak right? i tell you, the drama started upon my arrival at KLIA. my flight was scheduled at 11.45am and when i arrived at 10am, all excited and happy, i was told that the flight has been delayed until 2.45pm. gosh! i was about to rot in KLIA, luckily i bumped into a lot of other people i know who were on the same flight. do we started bitching. the flight only took off about 4pm!!! i was so close to getting off the plane that time. it is also this weekend that i experienced home stay – long house style! this is no joke! i shall say it was quite an experience. 16 people in a long house with only one shared bathroom & toilet. considering that i paid RM250 per night for a long house stay, i thought it was such a rip off. but what to do? every other hotel is fully booked out.

hence, it was 3 continuous weekend of traveling and no running. darn. i’m so over weight now. however, i’m still going to proceed with my adidas king of the road half marathon on 5th Aug and the star PJ half marathon the weekend after. i think i’ll most probably drop dead and die while attempting to complete the race. oh well… never try, never know. wish me luck.

where are you heading?

i'm depressed.

i'm depressed because people around me are experiencing life changing moments, both professionally and personally, and i seem to be the only one stuck in a rut. actually, not so much of 'stuck' but more like i'm not being able to change gear... not even into a second gear! don't get me wrong, i'm happy for these people... yet somehow i'm jealous and sometimes it makes me feel jaded. what make things worse is the fear of losing them:

losing my aussie buddy to canada.
losing one of my girlfriend to her job due to her huge promotion.
losing another one of my girlfriend to a town 2 hours away.

tick tock

this week is passing by way too slowly for my liking and besides work, it has been quite an uneventful week too.

New Balance Pacesetters 15km Run, 20th May 2007

can't you tell that i had such a good run last sunday? still can pose for the camera man! hahahahahha. having said that, although it was an enjoyable run, it was also a tough course because there were 4 hills to 'climb'. i think my fuel belt was really useful as it kept me hydrated and energize me.

crossing the finishing line... quite disappointed with my timing. i was aiming for a 01:30:00 timing, instead, i finished at 01:40:05.

joy ride

many years ago, i used to drive my pregnant-with-triplets boss to all our meetings in town, and whenever i had her in my car, i get all stressed out. i’m doubly aware of the surrounding, maintained speed limit, double check before cutting lane with the indicator lights on and no swearing. how can you swear in front of a triplets bearing lady, right??

anyway, moving on to last weekend, i had my niece riding in my car for the first time. we were all going out for a simple mother’s day dinner at shakey’s outside my house. it was the most stressful 15 drive on my entire 11 years of driving. although my car comes with dual-airbags and abs breaking, it doesn’t mean shit as the other reckless motorists made me upset. i had to keep myself super alert, driving at no more than 60km/p, with indicator lights switched on for every turn i made, 15 mins felt like forever!

we had a good time out and here’s a photo to prove it.