Friday, December 29, 2006

Blogger's block

so i've hit the inevitable blogger's block. with nothing interesting to write about, coupled with the immense decrease of interest in taking photos and camwhoring, so to speak, i don't seem to have stuff to talk about anymore.

which is odd because i've been out and about almost every day watching the cash in my wallet deplete with every transaction. but that's the thing, i go out, i have fun, but it's nothing more interesting than what-i-had-for-breakfast tales.

so let's see. what's up with me? i'm still running. almost every morning. with my brother around i'm miraculously able to push myself over the limits by clocking times i don't think i have done before. hopefully, by the time the GE 30 km comes running that sorta distance would be a breeze...

Oh! and i'm totally hooked on Prison Break. That show? Is genius! it took me a while to warm up to Mr Micheal Scofield, but that was coz i was still lingering on the thought of Lucas and Nathan Scott, which, for some unknown reason have stopped coming out. But now that i've gone deep deep into his amazing blue eyes...yes, i'm 100% hooked. and everytime someone does something to someone (like burn, punch, cut of body parts!!!) i cringe and gasp and cover my eyes. it's almost disturbing. ALMOST. but not enough to repel me. seriously. I got it bad.

what else? that's about it i guess. I'm leaving for my hometown in Pahang today with the family. I'll be back on Sunday itself, to usher in 2007. I don't know what my plans are yet, so if you've got any, let me know aight? :)

Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas!


another year another Christmas
but what have i learned thus far?
perhaps i've grown a little stronger inside
a little less tendency to run and hide
from those who'd left a scar

another year another Christmas

how much more have i gained?
perhaps i've grown to love a little more
and hate a little less for sure
friends whom ties with me are strained

another year another Christmas
how does this year differ from last?
perhaps i've grown to talk a little less
and try to listen at my very best
to those who share tales of their past

another year another Christmas
another year older and wiser
perhaps there is more that i yearn
much more that i intend to learn till
another Christmas another year....


Here's wishing all my dear readers a Blessed Christmas, and a fruitful New Year for everyone to grow a little stronger, love a little more, listen a little more, and yearn to learn even more...:)

Friday, December 22, 2006

chong ar!!!!!


paintball rocks! :)

and the running begins...

yup...my daily morning runs with brother dearest have begun. at 7 am the past 2 mornings, i have been sweetly woken up by Anna Nalick's Breathe, thanks to the oh-so-fabulous hand-me-down 3G-mp3-walkman-watchamacallit handphone my brother gave me. and for the past 2 mornings, ive been feeling pretty good. :) so i hope to continue this routine of mine and hopefully by January, i'll be ready for the Great Eastern 30km run. Yes, a guy called Meng whom i met at the NCS run somehow drove me to participating in a 30 km run. so...bring it on....:)

***

i met up with Jerry and Terry and Iiko (yes i know...interesting names, interesting people) in 1 Utama today. Jerry came from Singapore, so i decided to bring them to Chilli's for lunch. More because i was craving a good western meal. But a good, delicious western meal cost me a lot of money today. but owell, it's a sunk cost now. i had a good time, i enjoyed my meal. :)

the funny thing was, as i fetched Iiko out from ss2, i received a call from Chiat, strangely. who would've guessed that my funky white sunnies can be recognized even when i'm driving the new Myvi. hehe...:)

oh! and we tried out the batting cage in 1U!! it's so fun! and not that pricey too! ha...i could get used to cheap physical fun. :)

i'll wait for Iiko to send me the pics...:)

***

today we met our external director for our Grease Musical Production next year. It's gonna be so much fun! now why wasn't i blessed with a singing voice??? you know what they always say about singers? everyone loves a crooner. you can be ugly as hell, have a stinkin attitude, and yet people love you the moment you open your mouth to sing. you dont see people getting too thrilled when a little miss runner comes around. haha...

well anyway, i hope i actually get to be IN the play, and not in the stage crew...actually i wanna be Rizzo! haha...

***

the G5 class of 2004 gathered at my humble abode today. some of which i have not seen in 2 years. it's amazing how time really flies. but it's always good to see old friends again. i especially loved the christmas present/souvenir/2 years of missed birthday presents which Kevin gave to me. i still cant believe he gave me a hydra pack!

Kevin Hui if you're reading this, thanks again! i really really love it!

well, another gathering, another ending...it's not so painful to leave some of these guys, coz i know i'll see them again soon. but for the rest, i guess there's just no telling when we'll ever meet again! I miss them already. haha...it's not like we were really tight, but it's just the mere thought of probably having to wait for another 2 years that kinda dampens my spirits.

anyway, i didnt really have time to take pictures. so here's a group pic. :)

Sunday, December 17, 2006

NCS Charity Run

yup, it seemed only right that with my brother back from Perth, the entire family would once again march onto the battle field as one where runners combat in an endurance feat to find a victor amongst the rest.

Well, actually...i just needed my running fix as i've laid off running for a long long time. thanks to the sprained ankle, and the ever so hectic schedule of OYP/ACC 6 devoid of PT (physical training) time, and the immense post OB behaviour which consists largely of long bumming periods and even longer sleeping periods.

but i've pulled through. So at 6.30 am, the entire Siah family was found in Kiara Park in TTDI, stretching, lunging, chatting, warming up and bracing ourselves for the treacherous uphills and slopes of the Kiara Park route. 7 am, the veterans were flagged off. this consists of runners aged 40 and above. 7.05 am, the adults were flagged off, aged 22 and above. and finally at 7.10 am, the young adults, consisting of those aged 12 to 21 were flagged off.

My younger brother and i were in the same age category, which was a disappointment...to me. because that meant we flagged off at the same time. and try as i might, i wasn't able to keep up with the young lad, even when if i pride myself to be OB trained to tackle those hills. however, the poor guy has a handful of African/Kenyan runners to compete with. it was hard keeping a steady pace when i have had zero training since the Powerman. nonetheless, i persevered.

slowly but surely i overtook girls who were in my category. Adele was somewhere along the way snapping pictures. finally as i veered out of the park and into the finishing line, i was quite shocked to learn that i have emerged First! my first reaction was ecstasy of course. but when Uncle Stan's little girl came up to me saying "woh hen sin tong! woh nah di si ming!" (I'm so disappointed, i got 4th place!) my heart went out to her. then Keith came up to me and said he came in about 3 minutes before me, and got 15th place. now i feel like a big bully. depriving little kids of prizes they deserve for their efforts.

i promise i shall share every single box of cornflakes in that hamper with Keith.

in a nutshell, it was a good run. :) i feel a tad healthier now.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

all i want for Christmas

all i want for Christmas is a BD harness, a belay set, a pair of Saltic shoes and a nice BD chalk bag. oh and a Deuter haversack would be great too...yea...oh wait, also a brand spanking new Lerun mountain bike...yea...i think thats about it.

not too much to ask right??? :)

Thursday, December 14, 2006

if you knew

if you knew
that every time i saw your car
parked inside your front porch
a flicker of hope rises in me
lighting me up like a torch

if you knew
that every time you fail to show
i feel my heart sink a little deeper
that every time you can't make it
i feel my hopes grow a little thinner

if you knew
that every time that i'm alone
i wonder what you were doing
and whether or not i was ever
apart of your daily pondering

if you knew
that very often i wonder
if you've ever looked back
or whether or not i am
completely taken off your tracks

if you knew
all that i wish for now
all that i wish to see
all that i wish to happen
what would u say to me?

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

this just in!

okay something else which tops the powerbar team elite news.

My results are in! and i have to say i'm pretty darn proud of myself. :)

that's 2 Distinctions and 2 Credits. so...yay me! :)

Hello, Karen please?

I was gonna write OB novel when another incident occured which for me now has priority over any other issue...

I got a phonecall today from...get this...Powerbar Malaysia!! I'm going for an interview tomorrow for Powerbar Team Elite!!!!! I'm so psyched about it that i'm a nervous wreck! i don't know how i'm going to appear as deserving as the hundreds of other far better athletes who applied. i mean, what am i going to say to them? Hey, I'm Karen. I got last for the recent Powerman Lumut. and IF i get in, i have this fear that i may not be performing up to par. scareddddddd......

***

ok. now for the OB story.

It was always exciting to anticipate my going back to OB. every year i look forward to it like a HUGE early Christmas present. This year was no exception. I was counting down the days to OB and when the day i left for Lumut finally came, i was the happiest soul ever.

Alongside Mel and Eugene we stepped into the grounds of sweet Mother Nature and was instantly reminded of all the great fun and crazy moments we had in the previous years. meeting the new CAs and several new instructors was a treat. However, much to my dismay (and Mel's) Project Trust has once again sent female participants.

Lucky for us, SIA course was running at the same time. So in those brief moments in which our paths coincided with the SIA pilots, we were granted short ogling periods. Or at least i was. Mel claims there was none that qualified as eye candy.

I kick started OYP/ACC 6 (which is the name of the course) with a bang! On the day prior to the start of course, i had to steal everyone's limelight (except Rameash's) by spraining my right ankle playing football. The silly thing was, i wasn't even kicking any balls. I was doing a throw in. yes you got that right. legs were stationary, ball was in hands, and yet i was somehow able to trip over and land precariously on my right ankle. see, i wasn't kidding when i said time and time again, that i've got absolutely no ball sense. :)

as much as my pride would not allow it, tears streamed down my face not out of pain but out of sheer disappointment (i now understand how my brother must've felt when he sprained his ankle before his race). last year's OBS had me quarantined on the first couple of days because of the conjunctivitis scare. knowing that history was repeating itself made me ever so frustrated with myself....lucky for me, i was only partially disabled for 1 and a half days. and because a sprained ankle was not contagious, i was allowed to go down and meet my participants as long as the activities they did required minimal movement.

my participants were a friendly lot. various characters and personalities. i was totally awed by the girls of Cedar Girls School. I was tickled by our local boys. I had fun. One hundred percent fun. My instructor, Azirin, was just amazing! I enjoyed every day being her CA. Including the somewhat special duties that she had me in charge of. Not like im complaining *wink*. I'd willingly watch over muscle bound, tanned high school teachers, free lance personal trainers and part time models anytime. :) And Amin, my partner in crime, Azirin's other CA...i swear i laughed so hard my sides now ache permanently. the guy has this animated face and an insane sense of humour!

this was the first time i was having my period during OBS so that, too, was an experience. Trying to balance on a sprained ankle behind moderately tall bushes to take a piss and change the pad is an act every girl should master. I reckon, if you can do that, you can do anything. haha...

and the new CAs i befriended were awesome. They know just how to make a 20 year old feel old. Xiang, Mel and Amin just made Group 2 simply explosive! haha...the new instructors are way cool. Ijan was this guy who helped me with my ankle when i sprained it. Lifu is such an angel, that we all bullied him like mad. and the others were just people i'd never regret meeting.

even the little chickadees of the Children's course had touched our lives in one way or another. you cannot believe how maju little 10 and 11 year olds are these days. And how sweet and adorable they can be, even in their smelliest dirtiest attire.

The last day, bore lots and lots of tears as the Singaporeans went up their buses and left us all with heavy hearts. I felt this pang of sadness too when Mel and Eugene were taking their last pictures of everything. I wish they would change their minds and go with me again to OB.



It's true what they say. You can never really leave Outward Bound. Once u step into it for the first time, whether or not you hated it at first, you're bound to leave with the intention to come back again. signing off, i'll leave you with this...

Group 2 yeng...Group 2 keng...Group 2 CAs mou tak teng!!!!
-Melanie Ho, 2006