My first Coach!

Thanks to Tian who helped me get this during her work trip to Minneapolis! :D

Yippie to long weekends!

Bedok Reservoir, with the sun set in the backgroundFluffy running back to me, and Daddy in his wheelie a little farther away. Good exercise for Papa Mama :)

This evening it was a trip to Bedok Reservoir with Mama, Papa and Fluffy. It was sun-setting time, the best time to catch the rays on the reservoir waters and to join in with the joggers. Been a long time since my last jog at the reservoir; I prefer the neighbourhood park these days.

This morning WW and I were at Burghley tennis complex sweating out over a game of tennis. Wah, we recalled our games at NUS tennis courts, where after our game we could just crossed a road to our hostel for a bath and a nice meal outside or cooked in hall. Then, I was also lamenting how our stamina just didn't seem to be the level it used to be when we were in Uni.

Yeah, tomorrow it's my leave day and Tuesday a holiday. Fortunate me don't have to handle non-routine work and no one will likely disturb me on my weekends or leave days. This is unlike a lot of other occupations where staff are easily reachable via BlackBerry or just a phone call on mobile. So the next two days are going to be nua days somemore! Yay.

Yummy 爱心面

爱心面

This evening we were supposed to run along Esplanade and Marina Promenade, but my dear kakis were waiting for the commencement of an important meeting and the dark clouds loomed too. So off I went to the neighhourhood gym - Tampines gym - and worked out on the machines. First up was 25 mins of treadmill-running, add a little speed and a little gradient, then resume and faster speed again. Then it was the machines to work out the biceps, triceps, calves and abdominals. Tried the cycling machine and almost let out a loud groan. But overall, it was a great workout!

Then I went home for maggi mee (actually it's 初前一丁brand) dinner cooked my mama with love. It was with ikan bilis soup base and with a half-boiled egg. Yummy!

Beauty comes with a price, a high one

So, the lady has gotten vain, being proactive in seeking treatment in a bid to rid of her uber-dark eye circles. She got for herself a whitening eye essence, a custom-blended soothing eye cream and a dangui (read: 当归） essence that was to be applied to the under-eye masks made of plant extract - no cotton. It was interesting, trying out new products and hoping they would work.

The consultant recommended treatment by an equipment which would direct current and light at the problem area, but this treatment is no cheap affair, costing around $200 with each use. With the recommended frequency of treatment of once every fortnight, you would need either a tai-tai or a career woman to sign-up. What's more, going for the treatment does not mean you can forgo your essence and cream, which already make up to quite an amount.

The price of beauty.

High on Swiftness

It started raining at about 3pm, which spoilt the planned cycling trip then but I knew the rain would stop and the sun would be out later. And true, come 430pm we were on our wheels and off to some exploration in the neighbourhood.

We started off by rounding half of Yio Chu Kang swimming complex, then went downslope all the way into the road leading to Upper Paya Lebar, did a right turn into Serangoon Road and towards Bartley Road. WW was riding on his dad's oldie bike which kinda scared us when a handful of the spooks of the front wheel broke. Good thing the remaining didn't give way.

I like cycling for the swift feel, the wind in the face, sun in the eyes and the chance to explore new places and to absorb the sceneries. And of course, the sweat it induced, though it wasn't comparable to that of running (high running!). There were many beautiful houses we saw along the route, alongside the contrasting old townhouses which eluded such a rich flavour.

The nature, especially the sun, appeals so much to me that I may adapt my lifestyle to be more involved with it. Never know :)

Dizzy daze

Sometimes I feel as if in a daze. These days during lunch there’s this floating dizzy feeling in me leaving a detached me to deal with the real world. Wonder if it’s the lack of meat, especially red meat in my diet? Or perhaps it’s the low blood pressure. But somehow I feel good about this levitating feeling.

There was numbness in my shoulder blade and stiffness in my lower back in the past two days, which led me to wonder how much damage our body was going through by such torture driven by work. I’ve seen friends gradually weakening in stamina and immunity and facing health problems when they approach 30 plus. But that’s such a young age to be bogged down by health issues and forego on other leisure and joys of life. So, is the corporate world a place to be for long?

Wed evening we had dinner with our CEO; one of those catch-up sessions to hear us out and let us know we’re not neglected in the organisation. On the whole it was insightful when he told us of some of the business theories and of the industry’s direction, even though I couldn’t fully appreciate them. And there was a topic on how the PAs under him learnt a lot, built up heaps of confidence and became changed persons. There was a part where I lost him, where he talked about how certain traits of one transformed, which certainly sounded like psychology to me. We do appreciate his attention especially during this time of personal “turmoil”.

I think it’s true that at some stage in your life, you start to follow your age group’s behaviour and adopt its mentality. Like how sis and I started checking out Coach bags recently (and I’m asking her to get one for me in her work trip to Minneapolis, woohoo). How we are taking up beauty and massage packages, applying mascara every working day and treating our skin with dedicated care with night creams and daily moisturizers which we didn’t used to believe in. And I’m excited about the MTM skincare appointment tomorrow, which may cost me $200+ depending on the effectiveness of the custom-blended sample.

Last night I dreamt about sis leaving me out at a spa cum gym place. We were there with a few other friends, prepared for some spa or exercise sessions when sis and the others decided to go for an-hour yoga session without informing me. At that point I felt cheated, abandoned and slightly angry thinking she no longer cared. And weird that it was not the first time I had such a dream as there was another similar-themed one around one week back. Could it be that we are drifting further away in our life paths? Never quite occurred to me that way, but underestimate not the power of the subconscious mind. =P

My Happy Moments

The moment when I was lying down on the mat, after a glowing sweaty session of hot yoga, with the night breeze lifting the heat off my body. There was even a mist of fragrance in the breeze.

The moment frozen in time, when I opened my eyes from a nap to see WW by my side, looking at me (and my less-presentable sleepy face?).

I am starting to take note of little moments like these more, subconsciously. =)

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The weekend just came and past. But after close to 3 years in the corporate world living a routine work life, I come to treasure my free times during the weekends very much. Sometimes I decide to take Sundays to rest and nua at home, but turn a little uneasy letting the day slip by without some activity. Thus most of the time I'd be on my bike with Fluffy in the basket, riding off to a nearby park or all the way to East Coast Park.

Then there were Sundays which I wanted to utilise more, by meeting up with friends and going under the sun. Like yesterday, where me with the Feng gang met up, both to celebrate Ivan's birthday and as a farewell to him before he left for Dubai again. We had a good two hours of chatting, eating and catching at Werner's Oven. Then together with sis & bf, me went to CoffeeClub and fell asleep there! Jialat man. Good thing WW came to pick me up before I started resting my head on the table.

Now it's back to another work week... and counting down to the weekend!

Hop a little hop

The first half of the workday was lighter with me hopping a slight bit in my steps. Feeling empowered, almighty and ready to face the new work week.

If only everyday can be this light-hearted and good-feeling. But this feeling doesn't seem to last long.. as it was almost reduced by half come afternoon-time!

Fluffy Walks

Today, it was a cycle trip to East Coast Park with Fluffy. It's a trip more for myself, to unwind, ease up my nerves and indulge in both freedom and melancholy (although both are totally opposite things). The skies seemed to spell out my mood then. Or could it be the skies inducing those emotions?

No picture of Fluffy today. She didn't cooperate by giving me a good angle!



Two weekends back, I brought Fluffy for a walk at Bedok Reservoir.

Some things in life are just... weird

Just look at this building opposite my office building. Where did the Oscar figures come from? Reflections from my building? Freaky!

Oh sweet moments

The break arising from the two-day course and the Good Friday holiday was good. It felt free and light not having to report to work for these few days and to be out of the maddening buzz, though I’ve just installed the VPN and Lotus Notes client application on my personal lappie. Well, for the sole purpose of clearing my emails and being able to pick up work fast on Monday morning.

The course “Making Great Presentations” held on last Wed and Thu was interesting though it needed preparation work. Each of the nine course participants had to give two presentations of their own, one in each day. My topics weren’t as interesting as some of the others, which included a proposal to hire two renowned football strikers in a bid to recover their team’s S League position and an informative sharing session on personal finance and investments. But still I managed to get good feedback from the audience (my other classmates) and the course instructor. We even had our presentations recorded in a DVD for our personal review.

Thurs night after German class, WW picked me up and drove to Paterson Road, the private residential area for my dinner. Dinner was ah balling from Queensway hawker where WW bought it during his dinner with a friend earlier. I thought to myself, this made a romantic scene, as if in the movies. A warm loving feeling swamped my heart, but of course, being the shy me I didn’t tell that to the man. A mental picture of lo bo biang and teh surfaced too. Oh those uni days. :)

Recently there had been unusual matters and somewhat shocking news, sending punching reminders to us on some of the more important things in life. It made us stop a step or two to reflect, ponder and worry. But I suspect by the middle of the coming week, we would have been submerged in our work and busy life once again that the reminders slip our minds. But well, there may be some good in that. Sometimes, not knowing gives you more comfort and less cause for worry. Just hope things be fine and luck be with us.

Work should always come after Health

I thought my work was bad enough with the amount of workload pouring in. Only after I hear of how the man has to handle life-threatening risks at his airbase and to answer for every major and minor incidents, do I realise mine isn't the worst and how much stress he's under. I can't do much than to hope things are okay and to encourage him to plan for his transition out of that very scary place. Anywhere else without that heart-crunching pressure would do fine.

Give me what I want

Why don't I go get what I desire for? We live only once in our lifetime after all.

At least it won't turn bluish.

What can I say?

Today, a long-sleeved business shirt.

Gone.

Yah, I earn so much that I can afford to throw after one wear.

I can't wear whites :(

Because Mama always turn my white clothes into bluish ones.

Like the white skirt she mixed with a running-colour blue top in the washing machine. That wasted my matching white jacket.

Then the poor white knit top from Ness that got the dripping rusty water from our water heater in the kitchen toilet. So much for my hand-washing. Tried to repair the damage by requesting Mama to soak it in rice water, which she did. But she did something more – mixing the then-salvaged white top into the washing machine with home-wear clothes, including a running-colour navy shorts. So now I have a set of matching bluish white knit top and similar-coloured skirt.

Grrr.

Still, made the remark “Why you wear white tops?”

!!!

Not that I have not reminded her, umpteen times, not to mix my whites with any other colours. My dear Mama..

A friend in need is a friend indeed

Friends whom I can turn to in times of need, whom I don’t feel shy to approach for help. They, I feel, are true pals. The slight panic on Sunday made me realize the importance of having trustworthy friends. And that no man is an island. Gotta thank WW for his generosity too. I can go shopping shopping, wahaha!