Own Time Own Target

Went to C&C over the weekend to check out the KIA cars, picanto and rio specifically.

Unfortunately none of the picanto or rio models come with airbag (not even driver airbag) OR ABS. The 2 features that I am unwilling to compromise upon.

More laughably, the picanto models do not adjust for height on the driver seat, which means I will have use cushion(s) on my seat! Great, like I need to be reminded of how small I am every single time i step into my OWN CAR... grrrrrl.

On a lark, we decided to drop by the Mitsubishi showroom in the same building to check out the Mitsubishi i. On first look, E was like, "eeeee.... so ugly!" because there was no overhang over the front wheels. But when we checked out the interiors, he thot the car was really cute, except for the lack of overhang (which cant be helped you know? the engine is at the back, and the whole front is a crumper zone!)

anyways, i am in LOVE! there is not a straight line in the design of the car, all cute sexy curves. red seats, circular motiffs, hidden tissue box, chubby holes galore, high headroom, snazzily designed knobs, single front wiper (E was somehow impressed by this), TWIN airbags, ABS, EBD, all in a 659cc-turbo charged engine package for the price of S$46k with sports rim + reverse sensor (I know hatch back no need reverse sensor, but i feel better having them whether or not i use them) thrown in. OMV is surprisingly high at $12k~ $13k though, even higher than some 1.6 litre car, but thats because almost everything in the i comes factory fitted.

Went for a test drive, the little turbo-charged car was more powerful than i expected, driving like a 1 or 1.2 litre car. It cushioned well when driving over small uneven roadworks, and didnt whine much when i rev it above 4000rpm to hit 86km/h. Good all round visibility too. It is so narrow that i expect that it will be a breeze to park.

The low down however, it is a slightly 4 person car, enough for 2 man or 3 very small ladies behind. The brake is a little spongy and i had to brake hard, but that could be taken care off by understanding the engine break (not much) and braking much much earlier. The other worry will be the after-sales maintenance, there wont be any workshop except back to C&C, and no parts except back to C&C.

I'm so in love...

Labels: to Drive

Had my first piece of mooncake this mid-autumn season.

a mini baked one-yolk in lotus paste affair, cos those traditional 4-yolk ones are so difficult to find.

anyways, pure disappointment. The skin was crumbly, the paste not sweet enough and too dry, the yolk not salty and too dry.

why do they bother if this the type of food they want to turn out? pure wastage of resources, not to mention my hard-burnt calories. *rolleyes*

$2.40 per piece. thank goodness i only bought 1 to try.

Labels: to Eat Drink Party

on a brighter note, i'm going be test driving a new car tomorrow.

ahhhh... i can anticipate the new car smell.

Labels: to Drive

Supremely overwhelmed at work, juggling too many balls, and dont even have time to look down to see where did those balls i've dropped rolled to.

concentrating on clearing 1 item at a time, but more work keep coming from all direction till i finally had to tell my boss to stop and let me finish those that are due yesterday first, which unfortunately includes those balls that another colleague had dropped and did not bother pick up before going on leave today.

10,000 phone calls, the first time i'm experiencing a flat handphone before sun down.

had to curb the urge to lash out at the next nearest unlucky victim as it is within my power to do so, but i dont have time to blow.

so tired i want to cry, but i dont even have time for that.

so i take a minute to blog.

and laugh a hellish laugh to clear the system and back to a life of the urban stressed.

Labels: to Despair

Signed up for another run, this time the GE 10K on 29 Oct 06

paid $38 for 10k with a promo code even though early bird is waaaaay over (otherwise it would have cost $50). still too expensive IMHO. They must be suffering from a pathetic turn out if they still havent met their target of only 5000 runners for both 5k and 10k by now. Must be extremely underwhelming for the organisers.

but i can use the tune up for my half marathon, and for the novelty of seeing my nick in the bib. if it is of good quality, i just cut it and use it on the bibs of my future races.

Labels: to Sweat

start 1130pm. 35 min 3680 strides 665 cals
stretches, push ups, sit ups.

self delusion is an art.

you delude yourself that you arent too tired. not too tired to work out for, say no more than 15min. At 15min, you say 20min. At 20min, you say lets hit 400cal. At 400 cal, you say 30min. At 30min, you say 600cal.

And then you really want to stop at 35min, the longest eliptical session this year, and you quickly hop off before it hits 666 cal, just in case.

Labels: to Sweat

After much heeing and hawing, unsure about plan #3, and then deciding between 10k or the half marathon, i've finally taken the plunge and registered for the half marathon.

A tale of misopportunities really, it took me awhile to decide on the category:
- 10k the easiest, most attainable, but will probably leave me wanting more at the end
- 21k just a little bit daunting, but it may be possible to log a PB here
- 42k impossible based on my self-awareness of my form and the amount of time i can commit to training.

by the end i did decide on the half, the early bird registration was closing and the online registration crashed for a few days. After that, i was disheartened and guessed that maybe it was divine intervention telling me not to take part this year...

But the temptation to check into www.singaporemarathon.com is just too strong, and i saw the end of registration when they hit 30,000 participants looming ever closer; first with a media reports of 5000 places left, then 1000 places left this monday, then 500 left this morning.

Again, the online registration crashed spectacularly... see! the wait-to-rush mentality...

In the end i went to register at Bukit Gombak Stadium (which i found out is NOT the same as Bukit Gombak Sports Center) during lunch time amidst a great downpour. Unfortunately it was only at the counter that i realised that they only accept cash payments... so i trooped over to Bukit Batok MRT in the rain and drew some cash from the atm...

it was $58 for the half marathon....

i'd better make a PB.

Labels: to Sweat

Received Discover Hennessy invites from Leng for 13-9-06, this time featuring a German band called Jahcoozi & The Tape who plays a mix of Blip Hop, Ragga-tech, R n' B Punk and Click Pop Electonica (the media's description of their sounds).

I wasnt crazy about the rap but it was nice that the band was interacting with the good-sized crowd and even got people dancing. I had downed a few of the free-flow Hennessy Shanghai (Brandy with Ginger Ale and a lemon rind) and passed on the Hennessy Miami (Brandy with lime juice) which was too sour for me.

We hit the dancefloor as the music and beat got more grove, and we were duly rewarded when the lady vocalist, Sasha Perera came on. She was coolness in definition, sleek vocals and moves, plus she played a mean trumpet.

check out their very danceable music in their site in myspace

Unfortunately the night ended early, too early for me. I was too involved with the music showing off my moves and my pants split right down middle in the back, and i had to beat a hasty retreat. My top covering all but 2 inches of the split, thank goodness for dark grey pants and black undies :p

Labels: to Eat Drink Party

Had an errand to run in Maxwell Road in the morning, and decided to drop over to the renovated Maxwell Market for breakfast.

They must have completed the renovations 3-4 years ago, but I've not had an occassion to drop by till today. The whole place feels cleaner and brighter, some how more regimented and same as everywhere esle, compared to the dingy dark and wet market of yore when i still worked around there. Oh well, times change, people move on, and markets renovate.

It was too early to have the boneless chicken rice and other famed dishes, so i settled for poridge. There were a few that were opened, the 1st i saw faced directly to Maxwell Road, but I settled logically for one with a queue, right in the middle of the market. Zhen Zhen Pork Poridge. It was only while queueing up that i noticed the recommendations from Makansutra (Rating: Die Die Must Try) and that now defunct channel U Foodie show.

I ordered a $2.20 century-egg poridge + $3 raw fish. It was probably too much, but I had to have raw fish if and when i see it... Good call! The raw fish was freshly scrapped from the bones that morning, and loaded with shallots, fried shallots, sliced ginger, lime juice. YUM YUM YUM.

The poridge was good too, but pale in comparison with the raw fish heaven, loaded with pork, century egg and shallots.

Think I'll skip lunch today...

Labels: to Eat Drink Party

Between a whirlwind of work due yesterday, exercising (including the "trying to" and "hoping to"), unending housework, family and kids, i've been almost a wreck physically the last 2 months. And that's without having any kind of social life...

But a good side-effect is: I've never fallen asleep this easily, ever.

I try to finish doing whatever I was doing, and peel myself off whatever surface I was on, stumble to the bedroom, check on the kids, lie down on my pillow, snuggle into a comfortable position, and then...

i fall, like a rock down a crevise into the deep unknown, so deep that there is no bottom.

with nary a thought in my head or an urge to scratch at some itch or the wondering if i should call the police for some distant strange noise.

and before it was too soon, it was time to wake up.

I'll hang on till night falls and wait the lure of dreamless sleep.

Labels: to Despair

Received this email:

The innocent victims of Internet child abuse cannot speak for themselves.

But you can.

With your support, we can eradicate this evil trade.

We do not need your money.

We need you to light a candle of support <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com>.

We're aiming to light One Million Candles by December 31, 2006.

This petition will be used to put pressure on governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organisations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies who have the power to work together to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse.

You have the power to get them to take action.

Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com> or send an email to light@lightamillioncandles.com.

Together, we can destroy the commercial viability of Internet child abuse sites that are destroying the lives of innocent children.

Kindly forward this email to your friends, relatives and work colleagues so that they can light a candle too.

Child abuse is one of the worst thing that humankind can inflict on themselves, whether verbal, physical or the worst of the worst, sexual. Literally distinguishing the light in the eyes of children, who are our future. Even worst then that, sexual exploitation for profit... how can man go so low?

go on, click on the webbie, you dont have to leave a email/ name/ country whatever if you dont want to.

Labels: to Read Think

The moon was exceptionally oval tonight. yup, oval, not round.

It had just the right orange hue to remind me of a perfect salted-egg yolk in a mooncake.

A perfect traditionally baked 4-yolks lotus paste mooncake to be precise.

Not even knowing that a piece is worth 945 cal is going to stop me from getting one.

I'll just wash it down with a steaming hot pot of chinese pu-er.

and promise to run more.

and errr..... no, i'm not crazy. I'll eat only a quarter per night, maybe plus a quarter of a durian snowskin one :D

Labels: to Eat Drink Party

Why does running makes me so happy? i literally had to tell myself not to smell at everybody when i start my run, especially not those D.O.M.s who are sitting on the ground starring at girls' legs as they run pass...

300 m warm up in 5min
6km jog in 47:05 min (1st 2km in 15:30, 2nd 2km 14:25, and 3rd 2km 17:10 including 2 x 2min walking breaks)
200 m warm down in 4min
and then 17 min of stretches, and push ups.

my pattstrap ankle strap came in the mail on monday, it was just a little too small even though i bought the right size for my foot size. sigh~

and then i forgot to pack it in my gym bag as i was trying it with my work shoes, and when it proved too uncomfortable (too big to fit into my work shoes properly) i took it out and packed it in my work bag... double sigh~

anyways, the run didnt trouble me too much, i decided to go for 6 km instead of playing it safe with 5km, and maybe ran a little faster as E started later and i didnt want him to overtake me :p

Rounded up the training session with a climb of 13 storeys + 10 storeys. didnt bother with timing, lets just concentrate on stamina to last 73 storeys for now ;)

Labels: to Sweat

It started when i felt a nagging pain in my right foot when driving last week. I was aware of it only when i stepped on the pedals or when i flexed my foot, just at the metatarsal (if it sounds familiar to you, it might be because you heard about David Beckam fracturing his a couple of years ago...).

I dont remember falling in anyway that might have sprained it, and what a strange location it is to suffer a sprain.

I thought nothing of it and went for the CCF walk-a-jog on Sunday anyways.

By Monday afternoon, the foot was tender and i could not walk fast or flex it much. By the same night, the foot has swelled to 2 sizes larger width-wise and I could hardly walk when carrying the kids.

By Tuesday morning, when i woke up, the foot was even more swollen and the pain was so intense that i walked with a real limp. The swelling was extended to a larger area and i could no longer flex/ arch my foot or toes. Even the big toe had swelled so much that my toe nail felt like it was bursting at the seams. The whole area went warm to touch and the pain has radiated to the lower calf.

Went to the doc as soon as i could, walking gingerly and so slowly that ah-mahs with their shopping trolleys were tsk'ing at me for blocking the way.

Thankfully, it was a short wait before the doc attended to me. He first thought it was a sprain by the way i walked, but after examining where the pain was most severe, he said "gout, because the big toe is the most common joint where it attacks"
"no! i'm too young for gout! besides the pain is lower than the big toe"

he smiled kindly "well, it is unusual for females to have gout..., have you been eating a lot of nuts?"
"no...." the last time i had any was maybe 2 weeks ago when i had ikan bilis with peanuts
"peanuts, walnuts, any kind of nuts"
"no..." i know what nuts, in any form or shapes are....

"have you had a lot of seafood lately?"
"no... not more than usual anyways, once or twice a week as a side dish"
"hmmmm... sotongs?"
"no..." i know what seafood are too

"i'll say it is acute arthritis, and hopefully it is a one-off incident which will go away by itself in 2-3 days. In the mean time, stay away from seafood and no vigorous exercise for 3 days."
vigorous exercise? sheesh, i could hardly WALK...

"er... am i going to get a shot for the pain?"
"no, i'll just give you some strong painkillers, any allergies to painkillers so far"
"no shot? ok. no allergies"
"i'll give you more, so that you can keep the extra for the future"

faintz

Spent a very different Sunday on 3-Sept-06.

E's company needed a rep to attend the 5km walk-a-jog for the Children's Cancer Foundation fundraiser at MacRitchie Reservoir, his company had already donated money by purchasing some tulip pins (more expensive than the handmade silk tulip). Unfortunately the volunteers were not forthcoming, but i suspect it's because the HR told them it was a 50km walk-a-jog. E, jumped at the opportunity, volunteer the WHOLE family.

E & I had no prob tackling the event, and what more for a charitable cause. But hauling the 2 kids with us was a challenge to say the least.

We started logistics planning and packing the night before, preparing food, drinks, stroller (1 instead of 2, cos the track may not be stroller friendly), breakfast etc

Woke up at 545am to feed and change the kids, ordered and wolved down McDonald's breakfast. Barely made the schedule of leaving the house by 640am, and managed to parked at Mount Avernia Hospital at 7am. Took a loo break there too.

Got to registration at 715am and changed into the CCF Event T-shirt.

Khoo Cheng Mun was the MC for the event and it was a poignant moment when she talked about her own experience as a breast cancer survival, and how the children with cancer gets it so much tougher than adults who have cancer. I said a quick prayer for my kids to grow up strong and healthy.

at 8am the 44 walkers who had started the walk to cover 70km 24 hours earlier in the 24hours-Walk With Me event reported back and they were cheered amidst the songs "Chariotts of Fire" and "Eye of the Tiger". Corny choices to say the least...

Speech, warm up and Flag off and leading the 5km walk-a-jog by Prof Ho Peng Kee at 820am.

I pushed Kiddie E in the stroler and E carried Baby J for the 1st 1.5km, until we met the start of the trail. It was getting rockier, so I let E pushed the stroller while I carried Baby J. It was tough going at first due to the bottlenecks from groups of pp walking 3-4 abreast, and indiscriminate parking in the early part of the walk. But we soon started building a good rythm.

We came across monkeys during parts of the trail, and we took the opportunity to talk about stones, tree roots, leaves of different shapes and sizes, living trees, dead tree trunks, flowers, fungus to the kiddies.

Baby J wanted to walk at the 2km point, and she lasted slightly more than 200m in the uphill climb. We persuaded Kiddie J to get off the stroller and walk, so that the poor babe can take a rest. Kiddie J had no hesitations hopping off the stroller after a group of walkers laughed heartily that the bigger sis was being pushed while the young one (with a pacifier in mouth) was walking.

Kiddie E lasted maybe 400m, and demanded to be carried. As we were in rough terrain, where the stroller sometimes could not be pushed at all and had to be carried, I carried Kiddie E while E took care of the stroller with the sleeping babe who had passed out from exhaustion.

It was only when we reached Lornie Road that we exchanged kiddies, by then my arms were aching from carrying the wriggly and giiglilng 13kg girl for close to 1.5km, and my ankles were wobbly from tackling the hills. Pushing the stroller packed with supplies and a 9kg babe was no piece of cake, but much easier than carrying the elder.

The walk was mostly pleasant, with the canopy of the forest protecting us from the sun, but it was slightly marred by runners who were probably doing a time trial with MR25 who shouted at the walkers to KEEP LEFT, without a "please" Not only it was not the easiest thing to do when you have lots of pp, kids in strollers, kids walking, old pp walking, VERY OLD pp walker with support from younger pp, but the reservoir is a public place and nobody had the right to demand the right of way unless the route was closed for an event for them.

We completed the walk at 950am, 1 and half hour after we started, and half an hour longer than we had expected. The first question that ran through our mind was that distance was probably closer to 6km then 5km. ;p

There was entertainment and free drinks (mineral water, juice in cans, 100 plus etc) and free food (biscuit, bananas & apples), even a milo truck offering free milo ping (iced milo). The sponsors were not stingy in this area.

We stayed awhile to refuel while watching the entertainment, and the presentation of a S$400k cheque to the CCF, a larger than expected amount from the modest $250k target the foundation had set. It seems that while the effects from the NKF fall out is still being felt all round, most people just cant say no to children who are suffering, and thank goodness for that too...

Chanced into Meteor when we were leaving and we chat a little, both kiddies charmed her by giving her flying kisses as we left. :)

When we got home, ate an early lunch and showered, all of us crashed. Kiddie E for 4 hours from 12noon, E & i for 3 hours, and Baby J the least since she caught a nap during the walk already.

I have a feeling that i wont be making the running session i had in mind for the evening...

Labels: to Sweat

didnt really like driving before today, having felt that it was a chore.

like
- having to babysit and bring the car home,
- worry about unfamiliar routes, lane changing,
- worry about fast and furious traffic
- parking woes

today i reached a new milestone. the longest km logged, and the most destinations.

E's Office at MacPherson --> Jurong office via PIE --> lunch at Jurong Point --> office --> Henderson office via AYE --> Jurong office via AYE --> Potong Pasir via PIE --> Home at SengKang

i cant say that i've fallen in love with driving, but i'm feeling more confident of my abilities in handling the car, and practice makes perfect.

i am glad i didnt pass on the chance (challenge? ;) ) to take the car for a day.

Labels: to Drive