Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts

Our first aqua workout!

Baby Bria and I had our first aqua exercise yesterday at K's serviced apartment in Raffles Place. There is a small pool area with decent exercise equipment inside the water, so I have been bugging K to bring me there since last week... I had my lower back massage with jets of water, walked on the thread mill and cycled on the machine for 15 minutes each, while K took pictures for me and soaked in the jacuzzi.. It was a great workout.. i actually felt tired after that! = )

That's me enjoying the water massage on my lower back, and me on the thread mill..
K and I met up with a few of the Miata club folks this morning for breakfast at this coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio that sells really good kuay chup.  We ordered the dishes to share, and since all of them enjoys pig intestines, I ended up eating only braised eggs, tau pok and pickled vegetables..
During breakfast, the group was chit chatting as usual, and somehow, the topic of discussion changed to traveling and then to batam, and just like that, we all decided to book a 2D1N package to batam next weekend.. haha.. talk about being spontaneous!
After breakfast, the group of us decided to go over to take a look at the house of one of the couples.  It was a landed property in Ang Mo Kio.  Totally individualistic with all kinds of weird items adorning the house.  They even have a hydralic elevator for the elderly and immobile, a water slide that is 2 storeys high, and a small garden area with plenty of rabbits and guinea pigs running around.  But it's not my type of house.  I did however, enjoy playing and watching the rabbits and guinea pigs.  I even fed them with baby carrots...  They are so adorable, especially the baby rabbits and the way the furry guinea pigs eat the carrots with their little buck teeth.  haha..  

Posted in , ,

20 June: Sports Day!

K and I had planned to laze around in our motel today, since we are both not working.

But as usual, K's natural alarm clock woke him at before 9am, and he was already watching videos on his laptop when our handphone rang. It was Ming and Adreana. Apparently, it had rained this morning, so work at the vineyard was cancelled. They were supposed to do pruning work at another vineyard cause the one we worked at yesterday had no work over the weekend.

And so 1.5 hours later, Ah Ming and A came over to our place, and we drove over to Napier to spend the rest of the day.

Our plan was to have Asian for lunch, but when we drove to the restaurant that Ah Ming and A recommended, it was closed. So we had KFC (which was next door) for lunch instead. We ordered a big feast meal of hot and spicy chicken, 1.5 litre Pepsi, coleslaw, buns and whipped potato to share. We chatted, Ming spilled Pepsi all over the table, and i enjoyed the piping hot buns. I loved how the buns here are so hot and soft, unlike those in Singapore, which are usually cold and hard.

After lunch, we decided to play a round of 18 hole mini golf. One game cost us $8 each, and that took us 2 hours to complete. We had agreed that the overall winner will get a free ice cream treat from the 3 losers. Ming won with the least number of hits and a hole-in-one. I was the overall loser, all because of one stupid hole, which took me 19 hits to get the damn ball in. There is this slope on the green, and the stupid ball just keeps rolling downhill.. = (









After our mini golf game, we went back to Hastings for a quick dinner at this place called Noodle Canteen, which had franchises all over New Zealand. K and I had curry laksa, which was horrible.

We were supposed to have an apartment viewing appointment at 6pm, so we kind rushed through our dinner which started at 530pm. We drove to the place, met the agent Jim, and viewed the 2 bedroom apartment. There was one other Caucasian guy in the apartment talking to Jim. We didnt really like the apartment, cause firstly there was no furnishing, and secondly, the neighbourhood didn't look too inviting. The Caucasian guy eventually took the apartment and everyone was happy. Jim told us he had another unit across that has 3 bedroom and fully furnished, but he had to arrange another day for us to view. We agreed.

After the viewing, we went back to change clothes. Michael and a few china men had organized a badminton session and Ah Ming had invited us along. We were supposed to play table tennis and basketball as well. I was totally looking forward to that. = ) We drove about 20 minutes and reached a school building where the badminton courts were.

First, we went to the table tennis place. It was very crowded. Michael kinda waved us along and assumed that me and Adreana were playing table tennis. Then he went to check out the badminton courts. Like he has a pre conceived notion that girls can't play badminton. I told Ah Ming i wanted to play badminton so we followed Michael to the courts.

There were 4 courts in total, but all were fully occupied. There were so many people there that i got all hyped up. Haven't seen such a sight for a long long time.. = )

We each paid $5 to play. Rackets and shuttlecocks were provided. And they were of much better quality than the ones we had in Auckland. There was a rotating timetable, where each court will change players every 15 mins. So after 15 mins, a buzz will sound, and the next group of people will play. K and I played with Ah Ming and A, while Michael played with 3 other China men. They were quite good, and i was secretly hoping to play with them, but didn't have the chance to. Until the last 5 minutes where the person in charge gave us extra 5 mins. Michael asked me and Ah Ming to play a game with him and another china boy. Although it was short, it was good. K, Ah Ming and I then played a bit of basketball while the in charge cleared up the courts and keep the nets and poles etc. I actually perspired, but it was a very good work out.. A said i looked much more radiant and energetic when i exercise. = ) I definitely want to play again! Unfortunately, they only have the games every Saturday. Can't wait!

Posted in ,

DAY THREE: 14 March 09

This is it! The final battle! Today is our last match against our host Malaysia.

With the home ground advantage, the bets seemed to be on Malaysia. I was determined to win my ladies doubles. First of all, i still couldn't get over my defeat to Thailand. And secondly, i didn't like one of my opponents. I played with the same girl 3 years ago in the previous games, and she is just so snobbish loh!

As usual, ladies doubles was the first match. Before that, I brought Keson's racket to re-string and also changed the grip of his racket. I did some self-motivation within myself, and then got ready for the match. I went all out, but still lost. I even changed rackets and shoes after the first match, but to no avail.. On hindsight, that was rather dumb. Not that i am trying to push the blame, but even until now, i still think we would have won if my partner put in more effort. We didn't even reach the 6 points mark. I was so devastated by the defeat that i actually went to the washroom and cried. Alone. I don't think anybody knew. I knew that it was all about making friends, that it was a friendly match and all.. but i don't know why i just felt totally lousy that i couldn't be better than the Malaysians, that i wasn't better than the snobbish Malaysian girl. That match meant a lot to me, that's why. I felt that i had let my team down.

The rest of the matches were much more exciting than mine. In fact, i think i was more nervous watching the match than the players themselves.. haha..

Luckily, we managed to win. A close 3-2 triumph over Malaysia. = ) It was a glorious win nonetheless.

While i was waiting for the rest of the games to end, i shopped at the sports shop inside the sports club. Bought 2 YONEX polo tee-shirts and changed my racket grip to the rubber type. I also walked around the courts and watched a training session being held at the courts beside us. It was a kids training session and a really adorable sight.. I was actually quite happy to see so many kids interested in the sport.


After our victory, we headed back to the hotel, and met for lunch at the famous Bak Kut Teh restaurant. Then me and the other 2 girls headed to Chinatown to shop. But we met with heavy rain, and couldn't really enjoy our shopping experience. We took a cab back to the hotel less than an hour after we reached Chinatown.

Back at the hotel, my room mate and I went to check out the hotel gym. I was actually quite impressed by the gym. It was one of the largest hotel gyms i've ever seen. But the staff there (as expected) had no customer service at all. I asked one of them what the opening hours of the gym were, and she could just ask me to refer to the sign on the door. Best!

At about 5pm, i headed to the ballroom for the full dress rehearsal for the closing ceremony dinner. Me and my partner had been "arrowed" to go on stage to perform on behalf of the Singapore badminton team. Because we lost the most number of matches.. As if i didn't feel bad enough.

Anyway, I had to wear this super tight cheong sam as part of the performance. It was so tight i had to change just before we performed, otherwise i wouldn't be able to sit down and have dinner. The cheong sam would tear if i sat. It was that tight!

Among the 4 countries, I think Singapore had the worst cultural performance. we only had 2 days to practise, and almost all the people in the Singapore team went up to perform. It was a rojak performance where we sang songs in the 4 major languages of Indian, Chinese, Malay and English.

The rest of the countries chose to select a handful to put up much better performances. Malaysia even hired professional dancers to perform, so it was not the sportsmen who were performing. Overall, i enjoyed the Thai performance the most.. They danced to a fast Thai number and one of the girls, who played mixed doubles, could really dance! = )

After the Singapore performance, i thought i could change back to more comfortable clothes and continue eating my buffet dinner, but they had to do the prize giving ceremony for badminton immediately after our performance. And so i had to receive my gold medal in the super tight cheong sam on stage.. Super embarrassing!!

Dinner ended with our club president receiving the overall champion trophy on behalf of Singapore. Everyone cheered. It was a good feeling, triumphing over all the other 3 countries once again.. = )


Malaysian professionals dancing to a Sally Yeh number.. impressive!


The super tight cheong sam i had to don on stage..


Cultural performance by the Thai contingent


The entire Singapore team with our trophys and medals!


The champion badminton team..


The fruits of our labour..


After dinner, a small group of us met up at the hotel lobby and headed straight to Bukit Bintang for drinking and dancing. We ended up at Aloha, a Thai pub which was super crowded and popular because of their house performers, a trio of Thai girls and a handsome Thai bloke. Apparently, they could sing in Chinese and Cantonese as well. Impressive. I literally danced the night away. It was rare that i wore crocs to go clubbing, so i could manage the whole night of dancing without my feet aching! Although i don't know most of the people in my group, i must say we clicked rather well that night, and i totally enjoyed their company. One of the guys got a bit drunk, and he made me laughed until i cried. I haven't laughed so hard for the longest time...
= )

We went for supper after Aloha, and that was where he totally knocked out. He would talk to us, babble something, and then doze off to sleep.. then repeat the cycle again.. It was just so hilarious! We walked back to the hotel after supper, talking loudly and singing along the way like a bunch of drunkards.. it was so funny.. What a way to end the last night! = )






Posted in , ,

DAY TWO: 13 March 09

Today is Friday the 13th. And the battle starts today. Singapore vs. Indonesia, and Thailand vs. Malaysia.

I woke up a 630am and headed for the hotel's buffet breakfast. When i arrived, all my team mates were already eating.. Breakfast was nothing special, just your usual international buffet spread. We boarded the bus and headed to the racket sports club at 8am..

Upon reaching the club, we were stranded outside together with the other country contingents because the person in charge with the key had not arrived yet. Best..

we waited for about 15 minutes before the doors opened.. Everyone streamed in.. did the usual settling down, stretching before someone started to gather everyone for the safety briefing..



This was followed by group photo taking with the badminton players from all 4 countries.. Indonesian players in blue, Malaysians in red and coincidentally, both Thai and Singaporeans in orange.. I must say this year's attire sucks.. So ugly.. don't think i will wear the tee-shirt again!

Here are some pictures of my team, and the only 3 female badminton players in the Singapore team.. The girl on the right is my partner for the ladies' doubles.








The Singapore team managed to trash Indonesia 5-0 for all 5 matches: Ladies doubles, 2 Men's doubles, mixed doubles, and veteran above 45 men's doubles. It was a good start. We had lousy chicken rice and muffin for lunch, then headed to the nearby Jusco shopping mall to walk around before the next half with the Thailand team. We had like 2 hours to rest. I spent less than 30 minutes walking around the 2 storey complex. Totally boring. Ended up buying a McFlurry Oreo from MacDonald's, and then taking a nap on this really comfortable couch at Starbucks where the guys had gathered to chit chat.

So when our lunch break was over, i was totally rested and geared up for my 2nd match with the Thais. I was worried, for i knew the Thai ladies doubles are very strong. And me and my partner were no match for them, plus we had no chemistry between us. Anyway, we got trashed by the Thais. 15-0 and 15-2. Totally no mercy from their end. Sigh!! So that kinda ended my play for the day. The rest of the team did well, and we won Thailand 4-1, the 1 being my fault..

The ride back to the hotel was uneventful.. My room mate and I took our showers and then headed down to the function room for the Opening ceremony event.

We saw the huge-ass champion trophy for the first time during the opening ceremony dinner.. Some big shot did the official opening by striking the gong thrice, and then there were lots of cultural performances by some professional Malay dancers..

Dinner was actually yummy.. Fragrant tomato rice with side dishes presented in a huge stainless steel plate. There was chicken and beef rendang, spicy prawns, sweet & sour fish, pan fried vegetables and white rice for those who didn't want the tomato rice.

Dinner ended around 10pm, after which i headed back to the hotel room to sleep and prepare myself for the next day..







Posted in , ,

Drama Mama Strikes Again..

Last Friday, me and 3 other colleagues went to Bukit Merah CC for badminton. What started out as a simple weekly activity turned out to be another dramatic episode for me.

I had booked the court online last week, and the system did not allow me to make payment (not the first time). So i called the CC and confirmed that my entry had been booked and i could make the payment in person on Friday. I did not think much of that as it was not the first time this arrangement was made.

Me and one of my colleagues took a cab to the CC for $10 and started playing. 20 minutes later, a group of ladies arrived and claimed they had booked the same court we were playing on. A dispute started and I decided to go down to the main office to check. When i walked in, there as absolutely nobody in the office. By then, my other colleague and his wife had arrived. They had brought their baby boy along. A lady was there in the office, but she was not dressed in uniform. Apparently, she had just finished her shift at 6pm. She started to call her colleagues who had disappeared and kind of told them off for skiving on the job. She was not comfortable attending to me without her uniform, but she nonetheless did so as there was nobody around and I was getting impatient from waiting for some uniformed staff to appear.

Not long after, the other girl who booked the same court as me came downstairs to make payment. To cut the long story short, the system had cancelled both our bookings. But when we both called and asked the CC staff, they had confirmed our booking and advised us to come down personally for payment. There was no way the lady could help us. 15 minutes passed, this old man in uniform appeared, and his female colleague updated him on the situation. He started to order her around to check in the system and do stuff. I interrupted him, asking him first why he was not in the office, and secondly why he is not the one doing the checking since it is now his shift, and not his colleague's shift. The lady smiled at me, but the old man kept quiet.

The whole thing just went back and forth for 1 freaking hour, but no solution. Throughout the one hour, the old man just kept repeating to me the problem without giving me a solution. He kept saying in future, if the system doesn't allow us to pay, it means there is no booking, that we need a receipt in future, blah blah blah.. I got so pissed off at one point i raised my voice, asked him to stop telling me the whole damn problem cause i already KNOW what the problem is, and GIVE ME A SOLUTION!! I had spent $10 on my cab fare, and my colleagues had rushed down to the CC to play. Every minute was precious. Halfway through the arguement, i told the other girl to go ahead to use the court from 6-7pm, and i will try for the 7-8pm slot. I was informed the CC's badminton club had booked the court from 7-10pm, so i wanted to request for one hour to compensate for my lost time.

By then, the other uniformed staff arrived. He was like 45 minutes late for his 6pm shift. When he arrived, he too was updated. And he too, repeated to me the problem, and ordered the lady to do some checking in the system. By then, the lady was doing 45 mins of overtime. Idiots. When i asked him to stop repeating the problem, he said he was just making sure i understand the facts. So i told him i do not need to understand the facts, i just need a solution. He asked me what exactly it was i wanted. So i told him that i wanted the slot from 7-8pm. I was determined to play since i had come all the way here. After much hesitation, he called the badminton club people, who of course rejected. Because the way the stupid men asked them made it seemed as if I was the one at fault for making the wrong booking, and I am requesting them to give us one hour of the court! I was at boiling point when i hear the way they spoke to the badminton club people. I told them that they are not trying hard enough (only one phone call), that they are irresponsible to leave the office empty during peak hours (an empty office in the CC after work hours at 6pm!), and that they had completely wasted my time. And not once did the 2 men apologized to me. Only the lady did.

By this time, a lot of people had gathered inside the office for other queries. And the only person attending to all of us was the lady in plain clothes. The other 2 men disappeared halfway, going inside the office to hide (mainly from a very angry me). I was totally disgusted with their behavior by then.

Eventually, i got a refund of $10, and one hour free court booking the following Friday. Before i left, i asked the lady for the full names of her 2 colleagues. She asked me what for, and i told her i wanted to complain. And you know what her response was? She pleaded me not to, cause they were after all her colleagues. OH MY GOD! After what they did to her, she can still say that. Sigh... no wonder she gets bullied by them.. she's too nice!

I ended up having dinner with my colleague, his wife and baby. It was a good dinner, but i'm still disappointed that i missed one hour of badminton because of some stupid system error and 2 totally incompetent men!

Posted in , ,

Another day in my dramatic life..

I am eating instant cup noodles at 1219am.. Yes.. and that's because i didn't have dinner at all. Today is yet another dramatic day. K says I am like a drama queen, always attracting drama. So i kinda provide constant entertainment for him.. Sickening.. Then again, i can never understand why he said i attract drama when i never do anything at all to make my life so dramatic. Funny things just happen to me it seems. So here i shall try to analyze if i am really "attracting drama" in my life. = )

I left the office at 530pm today to head to Choa Chu Kang stadium for badminton training with my team for the KL games next week. It was the first time i trained with them, because Choa Chu Kang is simply too far for me! Even the past few competitions, i did not train with them. Nonetheless, i told myself that i need to make the sacrifices if i want to have a glorious win at the games (and not by luck or because my partner was strong) this time..

Yesterday night, i had checked on the internet on how to get from my office (Harbourfront) to the stadium. The results recommended the following:

  • Take North East line from Harbourfront to Outram Park
  • Take East West line from Outram to Jurong East
  • Take North South line from Jurong East to Choa Chu Kang
  • Take bus 307 from Choa Chu Kang MRT to stadium
For some reason, despite the recommendation, i ended up doing the following (Maybe that's what K mean by i like to attract drama!) :
  • Take North East line from Harbourfront to Dhoby Gaut
  • Take North South line from Dhoby Gaut all the way to Choa Chu Kang
My way was like 18 freaking stations, compared to the recommended 11 stations. I got so tired of sitting in the train i thought i would puke. = )

Then.. the North South line had to terminate at Yishun, so everyone had to get out. And who did i have to bump into but K's aunt from UK, who HAPPENED to have come to Singapore recently for a 1 month visit (how coincidental!). When i saw her, i called her by the wrong name. First blunder. Then we had the most awkward conversation all the way to Marsilling station. We even talked about the weather! She told me she was heading to her sister's home in Woodlands. So when the train stopped at Woodlands, i said bye. But she said she was getting off one more stop ahead at Marsilling cause it's nearer. She must be thinking i am rather weird, because i should know very well where her sister's home was, given that i had been there many times during Chinese New Year, and K's grandmother's wake was held there! Second blunder. I could have kicked myself. The minute she alighted, i called K to complain.

Upon reaching Choa Chu Kang after a long and painful hour or so, i headed to the bus stop to wait for bus 307. It was 625pm by then. After 5 minutes, the bus approached, but zoomed right past because it was totally packed with people. I cursed under my breath. I asked for directions to walk to the stadium, and was told it would take 15 mins. So i started to walk. 3 minutes later, my legs started to ache from the high heels + walking, so i decided to hail a cab. My goal was to reach the stadium by 7pm so at least i can play for 2 hours until 9pm. While waiting for a taxi, a young girl in school uniform walked past, and i asked her how far the stadium was. We ended up walking together and chatting as she happens to live near the stadium.

Halfway through, it started to rain. Can u imagine?! = ) Lucky got umbrella. By then i was totally pissed off. I asked myself why the heck did i come in the first place?? My legs were suffering, my gym bag was heavy from my gear and water bottle, and i was tired from the long train ride. After 10 mins of walking i finally reached the stadium.. I changed and waited for about 10 mins because there was no empty court for me to play.. sigh..

When i finally got the chance to play, it was 730pm. So i didn't stop until 9pm. I asked around to see if anyone stayed in the east. Nobody. Initially, one guy said he could drop me off at Clementi, which was on the same East West line as Eunos. But after that, he said he wanted to go for dinner. So i got a ride from another girl to Yew Tee. This time round, i did the route my research suggested. But still a very long journey.

Don't think i will do this again, unless i can get a ride to and back. Next week, the training will be at Delta, much closer to my office. At last, after my numerous attempts to get them to do so!!

Posted in ,

Dragon Boat Race Carnival

I actually woke up at 7am this morning to go to my company's 5th dragon boat race carnival..
Haven't woke up so early for a long time.. think the last time was when K and I were still going to JB to pump petrol.. = )

The carnival was at Lower Seletar Reservior, and because K was not around, i had to make my way there myself. So i took the train from Eunos ALL the way to Khatib station. Again, can't remember the last time i took the MRT to somewhere so far away. Think the last time was when i was still in NUS, and had to take the MRT all the way from Simei to Clementi. I kinda enjoyed myself already. = )

Upon reaching Khatib, i asked around for directions, and ended up taking a bus to the reservoir.


The reservoir park was super busy with all the hustle and bustle and cheerful ho-hum of a carnival that had just started. As i started to scout for my colleagues, i was greeted by the mascot. Cute.


For some reason, when i saw my colleagues standing in a group with their dragon boat team tee-shirts, i just run towards them, and got all excited... haha.. That was the first of many times i felt a sense of regret for not joining them for the race! = (

Our department did not get into the finals.. although we did rowe twice because we got in third place in the heats. There were plenty of races this morning, and a lot of dramatic finishes where boats in the third place suddenly charge ahead and end up as the champion. Totally fascinating. It's a bonus too that we got a super energetic emcee to host the event. He was so energetic that he screamed and shouted throughout the whole event from 8am to 2pm.. and he even went to stand at the edge of the reservoir to provide amazing commentary on the finals!

Plus, there was plenty of good food.. I had bananas, plenty of water and iced milo, and roast chicken subway sandwich for lunch.

I enjoyed myself tremendously today.. Didn't regret waking up at 7am. I think it was good fun and great bonding with all my colleagues.

I got a lift from one of my colleagues to Toa Payoh MRT station and headed home from there. It was a whole morning and half an afternoon of non-stop "sun-tanning" for me today, so by the time i reached home, i immediately took a shower and slept till 7pm.

Woke up to an empty house, had apples, hung the clothes to dry, and headed downstairs to buy my favourite fried noodles. Received a surprise phone call from my JC friend to invite me to his solemnization two weeks later. On the way home, i got caught in the rain. Run all the way home and was totally wet from head to toe. What a day!! = )












Posted in , ,

Gym..

I went to the Gym yesterday after work.. The promotion that California Fitness had with UOB Ladies card was ending this month, so I told myself i would use the free entry at least once before February ends..

As usual, when i went to the UOB Ladies Card (instead of the members') section to sign in, i was approached by one of their staff and asked if i want to join their membership.. It happens almost every time i go to the gym.. Nonetheless, the very "experienced" me turned them down without much effort... = )

Did an hour of kickboxing.. somehow, i feel there are too many people in the class.. and the air con didn't seem to be working.. the whole room felt very stuffy and smell of perspiration halfway through the class..

K picked me up after class. By then, i was not feeling very well.. Actually, the whole day i was feeling very cold in the office.. Like going to fall sick kinda cold.. but still went to the gym. I went home and popped the flu medicine before sleeping at 10pm. Haven't slept so early for a long time already. K slept with me. We slept for 10 hours!! This morning woke up super refreshed, and felt okay except now got muscle ache on my arms and legs.

Hai.. if only everyday can sleep for so long !

Posted in ,

104th Months..

Today marks the 104th month that K and I had been together..

We woke up early to go East Coast Park for a run / roller blading with Gary and Pui, but was played out at the last minute because Pui couldn't get off the bed.. = )

But K and I decided to go anyway since we were already awake. So we went to the beach, sat down on one of the stone benches and discussed about the marketing strategy and corporate identity for K's corporate travel business.. It was a nice change having the sea breeze and fresh air while working vs. working in our living room. K suggested to do this more often.. We managed to come up with a company name and tagline for the business..

About an hour later, Gary called and said he will be coming over to join us with Pui. Apparently, she had woken up. The boys jogged, while Pui cycled and I roller bladed.. After that, we had lunch at "Old Town White Coffee".. I had Nasi lemak.. not too bad.. can consider going there to eat again.. After lunch, we then adjorned to Carl's Junior for drinks and talk cok for another 1 hour. All the while, K and I were persuading them to join us for our New Zealand trip.. but to no avail.. sigh..

We spent almost 6 hours at East Coast Park today.. But we exercised, did some work, so it was a very constructive day.. If only everyday is like this.. = )

Posted in , ,

I'm in Love!

After nearly 1 month of slacking, my colleagues and I finally got back to playing badminton and basketball today.. As usual, had to chase after them to pack up and go.. Today we had 2 courts to ourselves cause another colleague of mine booked the same community center as us. I just found out recently that she has also been playing badminton every week with colleagues from other departments. And one of them happened to be this pretty girl that my colleague had a crush on.. So... because there is such a strong motivation, this colleague of mine went with us today. = )

We played a few matches, totally not on form today.. I'm beginning to worry how i am going to play at the sports meet in KL next month. And because the team was seriously lacking female players, i thought i might find a few good female players with this new group. The pretty girl is actually not too bad, not sure if she would be keen though, probably ask her tomorrow. I paired up with this other girl, nearly died.. She's a nice girl, but when it comes to badminton, she is soooo fragile!! She doesn't run for the ball, and when she hits it, it's ever so lightly.. my god.. And there i was, running around and smashing the shuttle like a crazy girl. There were a couple of times when i just couldn't take it, so I asked her to please run and use more strength to hit the shuttlecock, although i said it with a smile.

We continued with basketball after our badminton courts were "hijacked" by the next paying customer.. It was a good game on the basketball front.. We had fun, and we even smashed a light tube that was lying on the wall near the court.. The whole scenerio was quite funny. Somebody threw the ball, it flew too far, and went straight into the light tube. The tube fell and there was a loud smash. Everybody turned and looked at us. We were stunned for a while, didn't know what to do, so continued to play. Nobody from the center came out to investigate. About 15 minutes later, this China man came over and sweep everything up. Evidence destroyed.. haha.. = )

After the game, K and I went home to take a quick shower, change and have a quick dinner before heading to the wake of the grandmother of our secondary school friend.

That was quite an experience. First, when we arrived at the house, we were shocked to see just how large scale the entire funeral was.. there was a jam, and we couldn't find a parking space. I think there were at least 50 tables of people at the funeral. Our friend stays at an old bungalow and there's a small park in front of her house so he funeral was kinda set up in front of her house and on the park. It was the biggest funeral i have ever attended in my life. Apparently, her grandmother had 10 children and many god-children. Her family was a 4 generation one too, which means her grandmother had great-great-great grandchildren. Something like that.

That's not all.. At the funeral, i played with my friend's 7 month old baby boy, Hikaru. . My friend is really into Japanese culture and all, so she gave her son a Japanese name.. = )

The last time i saw him was at the hospital when he was just born. I fell totally in love with this baby.. He's so adorable!! Very "kuai" also, and easy to play with.. and he has a lot of expressions on his face. My favourite expression is when he just stares into space, like he's stoning.. And sometimes, he will just babble non-stop in baby language.. Plus, he smiles and chuckles easily. I never laughed so much at a funeral before! I love the kid so much i wanted to take him home with me. Playing with him just made me want to have a baby now! I hope i will get a baby boy like him! I told K i wanted to visit our friend and her son more often before we go to New Zealand. This baby just makes me so happy! I took some photos of him, wanted to take a picture WITH him, but didn't get a chance to. So sad.. K did though! I thought the baby looked a bit like K .. haha..


K with baby Hikaru


One of his many expressions..



My favourite "Stoning" look!


Chuckling and smiling away..

Posted in , , ,

Interesting Cat Names

Yesterday morning on radio, Glen and The Flying Dutchman were listing some interesting names that people gave to their cats.

There was "Rosie-Posie Sparkle", "Eighty Bucks" (cause the cat cost eighty bucks!) and my my favourite was "Sir Lickalot". Thought that was hilarious! = )

I did not exercise yesterday. Totally broke my regime, as it was the only day in the entire week that i did not exercise. I had planned on going for kickboxing after work, but K texted me in the evening and told me that EK and S were coming over for mahjong. So i gave in to Mahjong. Guilty!! Then i told myself i will go for a jog below my block after mahjong. But mahjong ended at 12 midnight. By then, i was $5 poorer and too tired to jog. It's 2 hours before i fly off to KL for my training. I am determined to exercise doubly hard over the weekend to make up for yesterday!!

Posted in , ,

Just another day..

I did not go to the office today.. woke up feeling totally crappy with minor cramps, and slight flu. Must be the flu vaccination i had yesterday. So ironic, one of the side effects of a flu vaccination is flu. So in order to prevent flu, i need to first suffer from it!

So then i decided to work from home. There was nobody around in the office anyway, and i had my laptop with me. I also wasn't really in the mood for make-up today. It's one of those days when you just want to wake up, not shower, not smear on make up, not comb your hair, and just start your day. Basically, it's one of those days when i wanted to be au naturale (i.e. look ugly!) =- )

I stayed at home for most part of the day. Did some work, cleared my mails, did accounts and sent out a quotation for Vivatech.. I even went online to apply for the 2010 US Diversity Visa lottery. This would be the second time K and I tried our luck at the lottery. Hopefully, we will get it this time round!

The whole laziness vibe got to me so much that i didn't even head out for lunch. Instead, i chose to dig up some ingredients from the fridge and ladder and made myself some cold pasta with celery, tuna and crab sticks. Tasted pretty good! I prepared too much, so will bring the leftovers to office for lunch tomorrow. So far, my resolution to lead a healthy lifestyle for the next 2 weeks has yield some results. For one, i feel much healthier and lighter. And there are no new pimples on my face!

In the evening, i met up with mom and sis for dinner and also to visit my grandma in hospital. Initially, they wanted to eat at Han's restaurant, but i rejected the idea, citing that the food there was too unhealthy. We ended up eating at the coffee shop beside the MRT, and i had vegetarian Kuay Chup. = )

We missed the free shuttle bus after our dinner, so ended up walking to the hospital instead. Uncle David was there when we arrived at the hospital. Grandma looked perfectly fine now, just not very mobile. The doctor did a review on her condition 2 days ago, and mentioned that she had early stage dymentia. Which i'm not surprised, since she had been calling us all by the wrong names. She would call my sister my uncle, me my cousin etc etc.. There was a short discussion on the alternatives for Grandma once she gets discharged: Nursing home or get a maid. We sounded Grandma out on the idea, and it was not surprising that she preferred to get a maid and stay at home.

Grandma told us that she had a dream last night. It was funny yet disturbing at the same time. She said she dreamt that a deity had brought her to the community center below her block, and asked my uncle to bring her home from the hospital. The deity and her were eating at the community center. When we asked her what they were eating, she said they were eating shit. I'm not sure whether she was talking in a literal or metaphorical sense, but either way, it's disturbing.. = (

Mom and Sis took a cab home after that, whilst i walked to the MRT station. Along the way, i decided to do some grocery. Ended up buying two packets of egg biscuits, one box of cornflakes and a packet of high calcium soya bean milk for the flakes. That will be my breakfast tomorrow. K reached home an hour after me. By then, i had cleared more emails and booked my Basic Theory test on 26th Nov. K and I went downstairs for our run shortly after. It was a good run. = )

I'll be going back to the office tomorrow. Hopefully, i will not find any excuses for myself to not go to the gym (either during lunch or after work). I'll be flying off to KL this saturday, and then it'll be another weekend of "feasting" and "lazing", so i better work doubly hard tomorrow and lose all the fats and calories i can !!

Posted in , , ,

My North Indian dinner with K

Today was a super busy day.. My quarterly reporting is due in 2 days time this Thursday, so i'm kinda finalizing all the numbers now.. After my bad experience yesterday where i had no time to lunch after my 1 hour workout at the gym, i decided not to go to the gym during lunch today. Instead, i will go after work. So i bought fish porridge and some fruits back to the office, and ate with 2 of my colleagues in the huddle room.

After lunch, i went Vivocity for a walk. I was looking for cheap promotions for eye-lash perming. Hate the eye my eye lashes are long but not curly enough. I figured if i can perm it, i will look nice in photos for my Perth trip even without make up cause the curly lashes will make me look more "awake". I wanted to shop for winter wear as well for my Paris trip, but the designs at the shop were all butt ugly. So i went back to the office empty handed. Then it was work and calls all the way till the evening.

K picked me up from work at 530pm. We headed to Holiday Inn for some North Indian cuisine. There goes my resolution to go to the gym everyday!

I had been to this restaurant before earlier this year when my boss visited with a few other colleagues from Fairfax. This place is called Tandoor. They serve pretty decent food. They were awarded the "Wine and Dine" certification almost every year as well. The decor is nothing impressive, but i loved the golden plates that they had set on the tables.



K and I had a complimentary voucher for their set dinner for 2. We had chicken drum, fish and nann for our appetizer. I certainly didn't feel it was an appetizer! So filling already!

For the main course, we had this huge white plate with a whole line of small dishes that formed a semi circle on the top of the plate. From left to right: Prawn with curry, mutton with curry, chicken with curry, cauliflower and peas with curry, and the right most one is lentill soup sauce. And then there was saffron rice, and of course, more nann to go with the curry. It was total carboh overload!

For dessert, we had their North Indian fruit ice-cream with strawberry and all kinds of nuts. Trust me, it doesn't taste anything like ice-cream. In fact, it taste like everything BUT ice-cream. I took a bite of mine and didn't touch it after that.. I guess it's an acquired taste.. i don't know! But i don't like it.

To complete the meal, we were then given 3 types of condiments (mint and spices etc) to cleanse our tonsils. Didn't really try much of those also..


On the way back, we dropped by Sheraton Towers to pick up our handphone chargers which we had left in our room when we checked out on Sunday. There was a perfect full moon today, and this is my futile attempt at capturing it in static mode. This totally does not represent how beautiful the moon was tonight.



Shortly after we reached home, K and I went for a run below our block. We did the same on Sunday, but today, i was even more determined to jog off all the carboh i had piled on from my North Indian dinner! Besides, i was guilty for not going to the gym during lunch. I think i am freaking out! I guess i really don't know what else to do to get back my nice complexion and stubborn fats! SIGH..

Posted in , ,

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)