- facelift -

my house is undergoing massive repainting. like really major change. So much so Roshida drove right passed my house today twice before she called me to ask for my house number. hehe...see that's when you know a person's house too well, you fail to note the house number. =)

these painters that my mum hired are real morning people! they come at like 8 am! on the first day, Keith woke up and was startled to see the silhouette of a man outside his window with a "gun". haha...it was those high pressure thingies to get the old paint off. there were men right outside my room for a couple of days too. made me a bit uncomfortable at first, so i drew the curtains. but i could hear them loud and clear. They're hakka and i'm beginning to understand why they say hakka people are loud. hehe *no offense* but they are. and i'm a pure breed Banana so God knew what they were jabbering about just inches away from my face. All i could do was blast my mp3s and pray they don't mind my taste in music. hehe...

i would say i had a rather productive day as i doused myself in Business Communications in the afternoon and Marketing at night. I never thought i'd say this but i wished i hadn't skipped all those Monday BCM 101 lectures. haha...but no turning back! I'm just glad that i'm perfectly literate in English.

went running with my mum at the lake today. The Malays are back from their Raya. Nike free guy was back too. So was the girl with the red shoes. hehe...i did 4 rounds, which comes up to about 4.8 km. And i am proud to say, that i am finally within the region of my former fitness level, with an average of 6:40 minutes per round. Funny thing was when this chinese guy, whom i've not seen at the lake before, ran passed me and showed me the Thumbs Up. I have this chauvinistic, egoistic habit of disliking being overtaken by people and then being praised just immediately after. it's a bad habit i know and they probably just wanted to lend some encouragement and support. but i tend to take it as they're trying to act all nice and humble when they know perfectly well they've just beaten me in my own imaginary race. ah...if it's any consolation, it does drive me to push harder. *shrugs*

and so i did. i pumped more juice into my legs and pounded the road a little harder. my left knee bailed. it sent this jolt of pain from the knee up to my lower back. i don't know why, but it went away after several minutes. after a round i caught up with Mr Thumbs-Up. well, actually...he had stopped running and was just walking to cool down.=) as i gained on him, he said to me, "Ni de jiao yao la khai yi dien". woah...ok let me interpret this to the best of my Banana ability. Correct me if i'm wrong but i think it meant:

"you must pull your legs wider apart" (Use bigger strides).

i gave him a friendly smile and nod, and i really did try to take his advice. thing is, this isn't the first time someone has commented on my stride. My korkor used to say i do things as opposed to others. When i pace i have small Kimono steps. When i sprint i take long far strides. Then one of the Malay uncles also said to me "You ni kena lari keras sikit!". Which i gather as put in more energy, thus have stronger, further strides. So yea, it's about time i did something about it.

I tried. and it lasted...for about 10 strides. haha...will work on it. I have a feeling i'll cover more distance with less energy spent if i have longer strides...and that's just what i need - energy conservation.

Today's friday. Friday means the last day of the study week. It means that there will not be any more consultation hours. It means i only have the weekend left to absorb whatever i can on my own. and considering my entire Sunday will be spent in Holiday Villa emcee-ing for the Gimrama Grading and performing, it looks like i only have tomorrow. And tomorrow morning is spent in Kelana Jaya coaching the swimmers for their performance...

i really should think things through before i agree to take the job next time....