It's a funny thing when you start dating someone. For me, at least.

I have this thing I do where I observe people around very often. And when I come across a couple, staring lovingly, longingly into each others' eyes, hands clasped over the other pair of hands, or laid on the other person's lap, or playfully stroking her hair, I find myself grimacing, and thinking "They must be new". I wonder how could these people be so oblivious to the watchful eyes of the public?? I personally despise seeing it. I do not like public displays of affection.

But then I'm out with D and the next thing I know, I'm doing one (or all) of the above without a care in the world. Let them see. Suddenly I'm Sandra-Dee, all starry-eyed, giggly and stupidly happy, and I couldn't care any less if anyone saw me this way.

I'm a hypocrite since I became somebody's girlfriend.
So the next time you hear me go "pft, look at those two, they must be new", you know that what I'm really thinking of is D. =)

here's to 26 months, babe.

weddings.

they turn me into mush.

The Singapore Marathon

Sorry this is, exactly, 10 days late. I have been doing a little globe trekking with the family, and my free time is spent doing house chores, yumchaing with my friends (all the many groups), and stealing cuddles from the boy. =) Oh and training my one and only client, Kenneth. heh.

But i'll try my best to bring the hype back!

So the much anticipated blindfolded run came! To be very honest, the 2 weeks I had in Malaysia before the race, I only did probably 2 runs and neither of them hit 10 km. To say that was me tapering would be a joke because I don't even train enough to taper off. Ask my brothers, they'll scoff.
But I wasn't aiming to nail a 4 hour marathon again. I was aiming to run 42.195 km without seeing anything and not get bored. To help me do this, I had Isaiah and Ralph, who I prayed were entertaining enough to keep me driven throughout the race.

I pulled the blindfold over my eyes exactly underneath the Start archway. Just like last year, it took us probably 5 minutes or more after the gun went off before we could cross the start line. There were some 70,000 runners that day. And in the first 10km or so I think I kicked, elbowed and literally ran into some few hundred runners. Yeah, even with Ralph and Isaiah on either side, it was quite a task trying to steer through that crowd.

I'm not gonna launch into a whole race report because all I saw was pitch black. I didn't cheat, I swear. Except for a short moment I took my blindfold off for a toilet stop.

I reckon running blindfolded isn't quite the same as a blind person running. Because someone who is blind, assuming he/she has been blind for some time, would've developed their other senses quite well. Their sense of smell, hearing, balance and just intuition would've been more profound due to their lost of vision. And that was something I haven't developed. So, running blindfolded, I reckon, felt a whole lot harder. And the first thing I had to learn was to just trust my running guides wholly. That, surprisingly, took me not too long. Perhaps because I've already decided that I was gonna have to lay all my trust onto the guys if i were going to have a comfortable race. And having said that, I just ran assuming nothing was in front of me unless otherwise stated.

And I guess the same went to Isaiah and Ralph, who are both not trained to guide the blind. So to be completely and utterly aware of every single detail of the environment was quite impossible, and what they managed to let me know was pretty amazing. When you can't see, it isn't just what's in front of you that you need to know. You need to know if the ground is even or uneven, if there's an uphill or a downhill coming right up, if we're about to do a u-turn, or just a zig-zag. And to keep your head in the game, you'd want to know what's going on around you, whether the sun's coming up, whether there are heaps of supporters around you, whether the traffic is heavy next to you, whether the atmosphere is that of hyped up runners or people slowing down to a walk, whether the immediate person in front of you is from your category or another, whether the next km marker was 100m away or 10m away. I stumbled and twisted my ankles a few times but I had already decided from the beginning that I was going to finish that race by hook or by crook. So I kept going.

For the first half I was in a pretty good set of mind. It wasn't until I realised that I will never be making the 4:30 time, and no where near the 5 hour time as well, that I started to get really frustrated. By kilometer 30 my patience was wearing thin. I was admittedly rather frustrated with the littlest things and the aches and pains in my toes and legs started to become more and more defined. I was irritable and it became a lot harder to stay smiling and remain cheerful, for my own sake.

But Isaiah kept me calm by diverting my attention to a lot of other things. And when another runner hopped onto our train and started to guide me as well, things become a little more lighthearted and less strained.

Crossing the line was the single most liberating moment of that day. I felt like I have gone through quite a journey. A whole 5 hours n 26 minutes journey.

I think that it was pretty amazing what I had experienced. I don't think I want to do it ever again, truth be told. But I urge anyone who wants to achieve something pretty awesome to try running blindfolded. Definitely not as easy as it looks. =)

Additions to my wardrobe

When i came home a couple of weeks ago, I looked into my cupboard to see what I've got to wear and I found a bag of Powerbar goodies. Having been away for the past 9 months I have completely forgotten about the perks of being in the Powerbar Team Elite. The bag consisted of an array of socks, t shirts, and more stitch on badges. But the best thing I found in that bag was this.
A Powerbar cycling jersey. Isn't it just...awesome? Man I look pretty cool. It's just a pity i don't ride anymore. I don't even have a bike! boo...so I've made a promise to myself that the moment I have a little more financial freedom, i.e. when i finish my degree and start earning some real money on my own, I'll buy myself a cool bike and go into the tri scene again. In the meantime I'll just have to find someone to loan me a bike, and a group of people willing to take me on a "fun" ride because trust me, I am really really slow now. I need to start RPMing again, dammit!

Also, today I met up with Uncle Choi. He is also a contributor to my cause. He has given me a little token of support, a Running Skirt. This is what I'll be wearing for the run.
Yep, I'm running blind...in style! =) Back in my gymrama days, Mrs K taught us a very important lesson that I remember till today. Even when you fall, go down in style. Hee~!

On to the battlefield!

p.s.: check out my new Fuji Finepix waterproof camera! :)

7 days

I'm HOME! heh. =)

I've been home for 7 days now. And despite sounding like a sexy frog princess, I have been out hunting down my favourite local delicacies one by one. I've been pretty productive, striking off about 1/3 of my To Eat list. The past 7 days have been yuuUuUUUMMmMmmMMMMMmm!!

The first few days was spent just springing surprises on various people. My family's reaction was priceless! I'm so glad I pulled it off. Because if I didn't I wouldn't be able to do this again in future. The next day I waltzed into Ju's house without her knowing. Luckily her mom was cool enough to let me in to surprise her. I surprised Lyn by free-riding on Shiau Sang's plans. heh. Pity Shiau Sang had to be sidelined just because I came back! haha...ah it was great to see everyone again.
I hung out with Julie, Ven Nee, Weng Lum, and Han Yang. I hung out with Lyn and Rosie. And I hung out with the tri-fanatics at the Ritz presidential suite. I ran blind folded with Isaiah. I took Kenneth Yee running. I had dinner with Yan Yee, Joey, Nick, Jayson, Grace, and Daniel. I hiked up Bt Gasing this morning with Steven and his girlfriend.I can't believe a whole week has passed. I think I'm bumming too much. Gotta get on my feet and start making some money now. When I stop melting. Man, what is WITH this Malaysian weather?!?!?!

Anyone keen on a 10 week personal training program? Affordable and effective. Drop me a line here. =)

I want to go camping wei!

While shopping in Dress-Smart yesterday I compulsively bought myself a sleeping bag. This is the Coleman Global 5 sleeping bag and it was going for $80. I reckon that's cheap. I guess at the back of my head I've always wanted a sleeping bag that can withstand colder temperatures because my RM19.90 one from Carrefour probably can only withstand 20 degrees. This Coleman one claims to keeps me warm up to 5 degrees. And it rolls up into a far more compact pouch than my old one too! I love that its a unique bronze colour because I'm sick of the usual blue. I've been playing with it all day zipping it up and down and wrapping myself in it...it's like my new toy!

I am so gonna organize camps next year in Auckland! I really want to go camping! I miss it so so so much! Li Fu says he'll organize a waterfall hike slash camping trip for me! Yay Li Fu!!! I cannot wait!

summertime

Man, I haven't blogged in a week! Which can only mean I actually have a life here post exams. Boo-yah!

I finished my last paper on Friday. It was alright I guess. I don't know. I'm a little over it to care too much. Overall I think I generally did alright, except for maybe one paper which I think was pretty tough. But my internals were quite high for that one so I should be able to pass I guess.

And then it was my last full day at work at Configure. For the year at least. I think it's safe to say I still have both my jobs waiting for me when i come back here next year. Which I think is kinda cool. =) After I finished up work I went for my inaugural manicure experience. My first ever time having my cuticles pushed back and snipped off! I actually was quite shocked when I saw her snip off the first nail cuticle. I never knew that was necessary.
And then it was off to Paihia with Ruth and Erin! I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was short, only 2 days, but i had quite a bit of fun. These 2 girls are so laid back and easy going. I am actually feeling quite emotional about having to say goodbye to them. I know I'll still be able to see them next year, but i don't know if we will be flatting together anymore. People tell me it's not easy to find good flatmates. I want Ruth and Erin to flat with me again. =(

And so with about 10 days left in Auckland, I have been buying bits of souvenirs each day for my favourite people back at home. I've also decided to sell Shrek. Because as much as I love the little green thing, it is making me pay through my nose to maintain it simply because it's too old. Sometimes we have to let go of material things to make way for new ones, aye? I found a buyer already and the best part is he knows everything about cars and I have told him straight up about all the issues I have had with Shrek. So I'm clean. and he still wants it because he thinks he can fix it up. And i'm selling it for as much as I bought it for, which is AWESOME=)

And I'm so undomesticated. Spent a couple of days roadtripping and not cooking any of our meals, and suddenly I don't like cooking any more. When I have a job and my own place, I am going to get catering.

Teaching me how to love you

Her name was Sarah Jean, it was a night like this
In front of the Dairy Queen, she gave me my first kiss
I was just ten years old, so I never knew
She was teaching me how to love you

After the high school dance, in my ol' man's car
Holdin' Carol Ann, I tried to go too far
When she said "no", I didn't have a clue
She was teaching me how to love you

Every hand we hold, every bridge we burn
Every story told was another lesson learned

A few years ago, I met jill one night
Man I loved her so, but I didn't treat her right
When she left me there with my heart broke in two
She was teaching me how to love you

Every hand we hold, every bridge we burn
Every single story told is another lesson learned

So if I should glance in your rearview mirror
At every failed romance that brought you here
Honey, I can't be hurt by what I see
They were teaching you how to love me
They were teaching you how to love me

Blaine Larsen

Thanks Jon, for the song recommendation. =)

just 2 more

2 more papers. C'mon Karen! U can endure pain in your knees and burning sensations at the ball of your feet and heels for 3 hours but u don't have the will power to patiently study for 2 more exams?

i've honestly been studying quite a bit, for my standards. i put in a solid 2-3 hours every day since Wednesday. That's saying a lot coming from me. But nothing's making sense to me. I look at the past year questions and they're all completely foreign to me. So i'm getting quite frustrated at this point. heh.

i think i really go on Facebook way too much. It's just too convenient a way to take a break from studying. i guess studying in front of my laptop is quite bad as well. but i can't live without the internet. i honestly think i can't.

anyway, this time next next next week i'd be warm and toasty in good ol' Subang Jaya. that thought alone is enough to make me smile myself silly.

ok...time for bed. tomorrow it shall be 18 more days.

clouded

Clouded are my thoughts
Frazzled and blurry
And unorganized to say the least
For bits of the past
Are strewn around
As if chewed up by a beast

Mangled are the memories
That lie in my head
Like a pile of photographs on the floor
Images of times
That once made me laugh
Of times that made my heart soar

Taunting are the words
That were once whispered in my ears
Words that now pierce through my heart
Songs that were sung
To remind us all
Of the good times that happened before this part

Feelings of touch
Once warm on my skin
Feelings I find hard to rekindle
Of love I once felt
That surrounded me whole
Now as questionable as a riddle

Wishful thoughts
Now fill my days
With utmost uncertainty
Nervous, unsure, restless
Afraid and hopeful
I anticipate what lies ahead of me

A beautiful mess

You've got the best of both worlds
You're the kind of girl who can take down a man,
And lift him back up again
You are strong but you're needy,
Humble but you're greedy
And based on your body language,
And shoddy cursive I've been reading
Your style is quite selective,
Though your mind is rather reckless
Well I guess it just suggests
That this is just what happiness is

And what a beautiful mess this is
It's like picking up trash in dresses
Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you write
Kind of turn themselves into knives
And don't mind my nerve you could call it fiction
But I like being submerged in your contradictions dear
'Cause here we are, here we are

Although you were biased I love your advice
Your comebacks they're quick
And probably have to do with your insecurities
There's no shame in being crazy,
Depending on how you take these
Words I'm paraphrasing this relationship we're staging

And what a beautiful mess this is
It's like picking up trash in dresses

Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you say
Kind of turn themselves into blades
And kind and courteous is a life I've heard
But it's nice to say that we played in the dirt oh dear
Cause here we are, Here we are
Here we are
We're still here
What a beautiful mess this is
It's like taking a guess when the only answer is yes
Through timeless words, and priceless pictures
We'll fly like birds, out of this earth
And times they turn, and hearts disfigure
But that's no concern when we're wounded together
And we tore our dresses, and stained our shirts
But it's nice today, oh the wait was so worth it.

-jason mraz

yes I can!

When I ran my first marathon last year in KL, I targeted 4:30 with my weekly mileage barely hitting 16 kms a week. The people around me kinda laughed and gave me a "she has no idea" look. I ended up finishing it in 4:52. My legs felt like they were run over by a bus. But i was proud as hell because everyone said a sub-5 hour time for my first marathon was quite a feat.

Then I ran my second marathon 9 months after that in Singapore. I figured, flat route, inspiring competitors, plus a little more training under my belt during the 5 months I spent in Auckland before that (32 km off road mountain challenge included), and boyfriend support too, 4:40 should be a good target. I completed it in 4:27. My legs felt like they were stomped over by elephants. But i was still proud as hell because that's almost a half an hour improvement from the last one!

Yesterday, I ran my third marathon, here in Auckland. I thought, well, Singapore was real flat, and Auckland has some hills. Plus, it's gonna be cold. Sure I've had a little more training than last year, but I didn't want to be too eager. And I had only decided to do it about a week ago. Oh and I only had one Powergel left. So I targeted about 4:25.

I had a bowl of Vogel's cereal with soymilk for breakfast at 4.30 am. I boarded the 5.20 am ferry across the shore to Devonport where we will be doing about 18km of the course before we run across Harbour Bridge to the city center. I was really psyched. Weather wasn't actually too bad, was about 15 degrees. I managed to have a go at the portaloo, something i don't usually do, but what the heck. I went to the start line and did some stretches. And then it was gun off at 6.10 am.

I had my ipod with me with a new songlist I created the night before. It kicked off with Marvin's Ain't No Mountain High Enough. =) I felt pretty strong. Started scoping the surroundings of someone to pace with, but decided on just running this race by my own pace. The first part of the route was undulating with hills but not very steep ones. Either that or my 3 times a week run up the hill from Mission Bay back to my house has really paid off. My first 10km split was 53:34 . I thought, okaaay, am I going too fast? But I'm too stubborn to listen to even my own conscience. So i kept at it.

Second 10km split was 55:14. Had just run over the bridge and it was quite exciting! I wonder if Penang Bridge felt that way too. I was feeling slight aches in the arch of my right foot, and under the ball of my left foot. But I tried not to think about it too much. The scenery was too good!

Then I saw the 4 hour pacer man. And I thought to myself, maybe I should just run with him. And see how far i could go. If i find his pace too fast I would slow down. Or not...=) I ran with the 4 hour pack and what'dya know, I was breezing through. My third 10km split was 56:29. At this point I hadn't even realise that I had lost the 4 hour man. Whether or not he had gone ahead of me, or I had overtaken him, I really didn't notice. I was on a roll! I was in my own world really, silently singing to my music, and feeling really happy about the fact that i was still clocking under 6 min/km times.

At about km 35 I saw the 4 hour man again as he ran past me. Which meant I had overtaken him earlier on. And I must be slowing down. At this point I decided I was going to do sub-4 if it meant sprinting to the finish line 1 km away. The plan of action was to keep up with this 4 hour pack till 40km, then break away and nail it.

At 38 km, my impatience got the better of me. I really really wanted to finish this race in under 4 hours and tell everyone about it! So i thought "Screw the 4 hour man, let's bring this home!" And I ran. As fast as my really aching legs could carry me, I ran to the finish line. And made it.

I'm still trying to believe that I actually ran a marathon in under 4 hours. Because that goal wasn't supposed to be achieved till perhaps next year. My legs feel like...well the pain is indescribable. But like my brother said, maybe I finally ran at my fullest potential. And yes, I am still in a state of euphoria till today. And i think I will be for the next few days.

For full results visit here and for more photos and videos visit here.
Oh exam this morning was pretty good. Milo was right. Badan cergas, minda cerdas. Take home message of the year. =)

dont.wanna.study.

Man I've got it bad.

I am fidgety, restless, edgy, anxious, hair-pulling, jump-up-and-down, just-wanna-scream, exams-be-gone, hate-hate-hate, let-me-go-HOME-already!!!!

Really can't bring myself to study. I'm sure I will get into it if I only picked up the book and START. But yeah, I've definitely had it worse than last year. Guess recent events have made me want to just be with my family and friends at home. Like now. So many things running through my head. Heh. Definitely not my finest Spring.

It's Labour Day today so my working friends here are free! And these working peeps, man, do they treasure their public holidays. So Navin and I went for a tramp with Zhi and his pals. 6 guys, a gal and a frisbee. =) Had a great time, really. I loved it. I loved the tramping, the sun, which then turned into rain, the sea, the beach, the picnic food. Absolute loved it. Oh but I suck at frisbee. As usual.

Auckland Marathon's in 6 days. Exams in 4. Exam's over in 18. Home's in 32.

Come on, Time. MOVE.

Wear shorts. They make you happy.

I forgot to blog about this important bit of my weekend that made my entire weekend.

Summer's inching closer here, which means I can finally wear shorts out without freezing. So yesterday when we went shopping in Dress-Smart I was strutting around proudly in my shorts.

This girl in General Issue comes up to me and said "I know this is random, but are you like a runner or a gymnast or something?" and I stood there thinking was this a trick? Where's the camera? Funnily enough I actually found myself wondering whether I should say "yes I run" or "yes I was a gymnast" or "yes i did both!"

"Yea I'm a runner", I figured I should be current.
"You have awesome legs. I could tell. =)"

And that was how wearing shorts made my weekend. =)

Because it is time to update the blog

I have had a pretty awesome week actually. Or maybe it is because I handed in my very last of assignments and did my very last of presentations for the year. Which resulted in full on liberated relaxed feeling from Friday onwards, when in fact, I haven't even had any exams yet. heh.

For the record, I did a presentation on Patellofemoral Pain and got 25/27 for it. Not bad aye? =) It was a proud moment, I must admit.

So, due to lack of photos, which is due to the lack of enthusiasm to snap photos, which is due to the dysfunctional camera button on my phone, I do not have photographic evidence of my awesome weekend. But I shall recount them as best as I can. Warning, this is going to be a little dry and report-like.

On Friday night I made lamb chops for Yee Lyn, Wensze, Irvin and Navin. I had bought extra for the flatmates but most of them weren't home except for Andreas, who was lucky to have some. It was good, I must say, for a first attempt. Lemon, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and a dash of merlot. Oven-grilled to perfection. well, almost. =)

Then we had ice cream, walked around Auckland city, caught the last remaining minutes of the Lights with Telecom at the Viaduct. Yee lyn was flying off the next day so she was a little emotional. she didn't want to leave! I'd kill to be in her position!

Saturday was spent at work as usual. I biked to work because Shrek is in the workshop (again!). well he's getting a new radiator put in. I am a lot stronger now. I seem to cycle faster and faster. What took me 25 minutes back then now takes me a little aver 17 minutes. Awesome huh?

After work I came home to an empty house. So I got Navin to go out again. We went to the Chocolate Boutique which is awesome, as always. Then we went walking around. And I came home by about 10.30. Spoke to my parents, and went to bed.

This morning I was supposed to run to the French Market. It was only 8.8 km but it started to rain when I ran out so I ran back home, showered and got Navin to come and pick me up. The French Market was awesome. Lots of nice gourmet food. Albeit, a bit expensive. I bought myself some turkish borak, and a packet of paella. They were alright. I've had better. But the setting of the market was cool. And I foresee going back. =)

After the market was lunch with Navin and his friends at Spices Thai. I always make the mistake of ordering very common food. Simple stir-fried beef n veges and rice. I should've taken paad thai. owells.

Then it was Dress-Smart for shopping. I had promised myself not to buy anything. Instead, I just went window shopping for trail running shoes and found some pretty nice ones. Thinking of getting myself a new pair to hopefully be worn during the next Perak Ironbound Challenge? haha...*dreams*.

I've got 40 days to home. The anticipation is killing me! =)

Diwali

Have you ever been to an Indian concert? I haven't.

Till last night.
I went to the Diwali Festival here in Auckland and it was really quite impressive. I never knew the Indian community here was so huge! I've never really attended any Diwali festivals back home either so I can't really say I know much but I reckon it was comparable.The Diwali Festival here is a 2 day long annual event and it had foodstalls, henna tattoos, performances, bollywood dance competitions, fireworks, and of course lots n lots of lights. It was quite an eye opener, and I really wanted to try a lot of the foods but me being typically Malaysian, wasn't really prepared to pay so much for food I know definitely didn't cost so much back in Malaysia. Seriously, $5 for dhosai? You've gotta be kidding me. Eventhough some of the food i probably couldn't get back at home, those authentic Indian foods. Then again, I haven't explored Brickfields much so I wouldn't know. =)Anyway, the funniest part I thought was when Navin decided we should join in the crowd at the concert. Everyone was jumping up and down with their hands high up in the air and before we knew it we got pulled into the center - Yee Lyn, Wen Sze, Andreas (my flatmate) and myself. 3 chinese gals and a white guy. haha...the Indians kept saying "Put your arms up! Put your arms up!" and imagine the thickest, most pronounced Indian accent you can imagine. it was good fun. =)

Was definitely a change of scene here in Auckland. Who would've guessed that I'd attend my first Indian pop concert here in Kiwiland.

pink & purple

Dianne, the massage therapist who works for Configure in Sylvia Park walked in with a bright pink & purple top with loud flower prints on them and a huge bright purple headband in her hair. She always had a sunny character, but even this was a little over the top for her and I kinda assumed it was in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month here in NZ where everything turns pink.

"You're looking like summer today!" I smiled at her, glad to see such brightness in the gym on a rainy day. and she said to me, "Would you believe me if I told you I just came from a funeral?"

I was quite surprised. She smiled but with just a tinge of sadness, she told me she had just attended the funeral of a friend's daughter who died at the age of 11 because she couldn't get a heart transplant. Her favourite colours were pink and purple and she had asked everyone to wear that on her last day of her life.

She was born with multiple complications and was waiting on a heart for a few years now that she had come to a stage where even if she had a heart transplant it wouldn't do her much good. Her organs were pretty much dead and she was surviving on life support. So she had decided to pull the plug where she would survive for about another 20 hours. In that last day she played Foosball for the first time, painted butterflies, ate ice cream and had all her friends and family spend the entire day with her in her ward. She sang and clapped along to songs and when she knew she was ready to go she told everyone she was going to bed.

She was 11. And her favourite colours were pink and purple.

I guess when life weighs you down, brave souls like hers give you a little boot in your bum to remind you how lucky you are to be walking and eating and laughing and singing and driving and dancing and doodling and running.

Even if you could do only 2 of the above, you're still able to do 1 thing more than that little girl.

Make use of it.

Wear my badge!

My cousin, Caryn has kindly made me a badge to further promote my Running Blind Cause. So if you've got a website, blog, myspace you can put this badge up on your site.
Now if you're wondering what I mean by Dream manual, because a few people have been asking me, it's just a manual on how to dream. u know, like a driver's manual? Yeah. And the whole purpose of me running blind for the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation, is because I'd like everyone to have the opportunity to have dreams...dreams that you and I were fortunate enough to be given the chance to pursue simply because we were born able and healthy.

So the dream manual encourages people to dream. and not just dream...but dream BIG. and chasing it. Which is why I run this race with a blindfold across my eyes. Dreams begin from imagination. From seeing yourself in a cognitive visualisation. And for most of us, to begin dream, we have to close our eyes, block out the barriers, and let our minds go wild.

Here's the code:

<a href="http://www.ammado.com/community/109444" target="_blank"><img style="width: 180px; height: 280px;" src="http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/6448/170x278.jpg" alt="Dream Big" border="0" /></a>

Hamilton Half Marathon

I was quite happy to sign up for the Hamilton half marathon because I haven't been to Hamilton (about 70 minute drive from Auckland) and because I havent had a race in a while, so my training was starting to get a little purposeless. I need the constant race environment to just keep me in check and ensure I keep going.

So when I woke up on Sunday morning and saw torrents of rain pouring down, i knew it wasn't going to be fun. The weather was about 12-14 degrees and as Tegan, Sarah and I drove along the motorway heading towards Hamilton, the rain only got heavier.

Standing in the rain at the start line, shivering and soaked to the bone before the race even started, I had one thought on my mind. Daddy. If this were in Malaysia, and I had signed up with my dad, I would've woken up to see a piece of paper underneath my door saying "Raining, girl, go back to sleep la, Love, Dad". And I would've gladly concurred, as i bury myself deeper underneath my fleece blanket at home.

But nope, when you're in hard out kiwiland, u become a hard out kiwi. 21km, 14 degrees, pouring rain, doesn't warrant going back to bed.

It took forever for me to warm up. I kept feeling like I had to pee. I tried to run faster to warm up more. My shoes squeaked. I was so not enjoying this race at the start.

But then the rain slowed down a little after about 6-7ks. And I felt like I was just the right temperature to run. I had Tegan in sight and was wondering to myself whether or not I can keep up with her. I could tell I was running at a pretty fast pace, faster than I usually would for 21km. But I don't know if it was the cooling rain, or the fact that I have been training my hamstrings and glutes, or both, but I felt a lot stronger. I wasn't tired going this fast.

It was a lovely route along the Waikato river and in the Hamilton Gardens. I loved it. If only it wasn't raining. I hit the turnaround 10.5km mark in about 56 minutes. I was thinking, man, this could be a PB!

It started to pour heavily again. The second half of this race was dedicated to keeping up with Tegan. She was an extremely strong runner and I wasn't sure if i could keep up. But I tried anyway. I made the gap between us closer, but it took effort. When I was close enough to overtake, I wondered if she'd try to overtake me as well. I always have this fear that if I overtake someone, they're gonna try to up their game and overtake me too. Then we'd both be racing at a pace too fast to keep up with.

So I think I ran behind her for a km or 2 and finally overtook her about 4kms from the finish. I figured if she came up next to me I could race for about 20 odd minutes. But she didn't. Which is good for her as well, because this was her first half marathon and she showed that she could pace herself well. Giving in to temptations to race was something most amateurs fall for and end up burning out. not trying to be an expert, but i've been there. :).

so i completed the 21kms in 1 hour 50 mins. Really great timing for such crap weather. Really great timing even on a good day! Tegan came in about a minute or 2 after me. Sarah did her best time as well. I say we're all pretty cool to have gone on with it even in the cold pouring rain.

yay us! :)

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!

Go Blind

In my effort to procrastinate and avoid doing my last article review, I have decided to promote my cause a little bit more. And I'm hoping you guys, you with blogs, can help me out.

Help me promote my cause by posting a post with a photo of yourself blindfolded! You can do it any style you like.

Work it ANTM style.
Or take an artistic shot.Or just make a fool out of yourself.Here's the link of my fundraiser page:
http://www.ammado.com/community/109444

So please please please help me out! I know you guys get WAAAAY more hits than I do on this blog. Half the hits I get probably come from myself. =)

Thanks! I owe you big time!

Running Blind for a Cause

So I don't know if you've heard. But I have decided to raise funds for the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation and I'm gonna do so by running the Standard Chartered Marathon in December.

And...inspired by Lily and friends at Life, I am gonna be doing the full 42.195 km with a blindfold!

Yes I have given thought to how dangerous this could be. But I will be running with someone. Once I FIND that someone that is. I'm looking for a running buddy to hold my hand/for me to hold so that I can be directed and guided the whole way.

Anyway, that is another matter altogether. For now, fundraising has BEGUN! So if you want to support me or my cause or just wanna tick off that charity on your New Year's Resolution list, please go to my fundraiser page and do your bit today! =)

I did something quite spontaneous and brave (in my humble opinion) yesterday. I signed myself up for a bouldering competition. Yes, I did. Zhi had asked me if i wanted to take part in it because there was a beginner's category and there were spot prizes to be won. So I, with my 3 month work experience in Camp 5, 1 Utama, 4 year Outward Bound School Course Assistant experience, and the random, occasional try-to-impress-my-friends-and-score-some-points-with-those-boys-at-the-gym trips to Summit Rock Climbing gym, went ahead and entered myself in the bouldering competition. Nevermind the fact that I have absolutely no skill, no upper body strength, and my worst event in rock climbing is in fact bouldering (I honestly don't suck thaaat badly in top-rope i promise).

But having said that, I opened up my eyes to the world of rock climbers, and some of them were real eye openers, if u know what i mean ;). I had a good time. I woke up this morning, my arms weighing like bricks though, but it was good fun. I completed 2 "problems" out of maybe 25, but i'm getting there. =)

There's round 2 and 3. And I might be able to train up for those 2. Maybe complete 3-4 the next time.

Ah...chin up....here i come baby!

gravity

Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do, I still feel you here 'till the moment I'm gone.

You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.

You loved me 'cause I'm fragile.
When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while and all my fragile strength is gone.

Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.

I live here on my knees as I
Try to make you see that you're
Everything I think I need here on the ground.
But you're neither friend nor foe though I
Can't seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down
You're keeping me down, yeah, yeah, yeah
You're onto me, onto me and all over

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long

Sara Bereilles - Gravity

just because it is too early to go to bed

i'm blogging because it is only 10.48 pm. i feel that any time before 11 pm seems too early to go to bed. although, admittedly, I have crept under the covers at about 10 plus before in the past. and i did so with no guilt whatsoever. just switched the lights off, went under the duvet, and went to sleep. almost instantly. such is my night time nowadays. because the friends at home come online far too late for me, and the friends here do not go online. because facebook can only entertain you so much in a day. because my internet isn't the greatest anyway. because i can't download songs, thus i'm sick of my song list.

***
i'm feeling fat. i admit that i sometimes do feel fat. and it is due to excessive binging. today i finished up the bag of corn chips, i finished up my bag of chocolate peanuts. and i finished up my pasta which was supposed to be for 2 meals. when i can no longer see the lines of my abs, i feel fat. it could potentially be due to water retention because it is that time of the month again. but either way, i'm feeling fat. and the scary thing is i'm not really in the mood to go running. heh.

***
i'm aiming to do a chin up by the end of the year. the target it to be able to do 2 successive chin ups (because one could be a fluke). my upper body strength is shocking. right now i wake up, hop onto the floor and do 12 push ups every morning. i'm gonna hit 15 next week, 17 the week after, then 20...and so on and so forth. u reckon that alone will help me do a chin up? or do i need a whole lot of pecs strength training as well?

***
i'm starting to miss u. quite terribly.

***
woohoo. it's 11. goodnight, world.

beach-tramp-sunny-outdoorsy-day

So the forecast for Sunday was sunny and fine weather and Ruth really wanted to be outdoors. So Erin and I decided we should all have an outdoorsy day as well!

We took Shrek to Karekare beach out west of Auckland. I have to say, Shrek went through a lot that day, but I'm proud of him nonetheless. =)

The weather was indeed glorious to be out at the beach. It was about 16 degrees but i stripped down to my bikini in the end and jumped into the freezing sea! It was good fun! =)

We also decided to go on a tramp so we changed into our trainers and started trekking onto some random path. Got a little lost for a bit, it was supposed to be a half an hour tramp, but we took nearly 2 hours in the end. haha...was a good route though. I thoroughly enjoyed it! =)

Fun times like these make me lazy to study. Also makes me feel slightly sad that I'm saying goodbye to these girls quite soon. =(

Patrick Swayze, Del Potro, Shrek.

My gosh, I haven't rhymed in yonks! I tried the other day seeing that grief used to be my best genre, and I have been going through quite a bit of grief lately, but it became too personal in the end to be posted up on this blog. And I'd really like to put up a strong front so this blog shall not be grey and blue! Behold, random thoughts of the day in no particular order!

• So Patrick Swayze died today. I am honestly saddened by this. I like the dude. I thought he was rather hot, in my humble opinion. And Dirty Dancing was a cool movie! so was Ghost, but I prefer Dirty Dancing. Our world is losing so many talented males, it's tragic!

• Del Potro is 2 years my junior! Man is that boy young! And already a title champ. When I was 21 I was...single...and in a green dress at a restaurant whose table clothes were the colour of my dress. The exact same green. heh. Anyway, awww...i wanted Federer to win!! Because he da man! =(

• Shrek, my lovely little green machine is BACK. after 2 weeks and 2 days my car mechanic/dealer had kept him in rehab. He's driving great now on the road. Except the brake fluid lights are on and I don't know if that's really a concern, or it's just because the guy had earlier emptied some fluid stuff and changed some hose ring thing and the car just hasn't really "sensed" it has been refilled. *shrug*. Will try to find that brake fluid reservoire tomorrow morning and see if it's really running low. Shouldn't be that hard to find. :P

there goes my holiday

2 weeks of semester break whizzed by really really REALLY quickly. And I must say having Weng Lum and Anne over made it a lot more exciting than I had planned. I actually have been very lucky to have so many visitors. I think my flatmates are jealous of me. Haha...well, who's next? =)

After they left, everything was at a standstill. It was as if you could hear the sound of crickets in the air. And so, with a sudden burst of quiet time, I had a lot of time to think about some of the things that have been clouding my mind lately. I thought of the things that initiated the issue at hand. I tried to trace back to the time it all started and who committed the first flaw. I tried tying in memories of a year ago with memories of 3 months ago. I tried to comprehend my actions and yours from as objective a point of view as I could possibly manage. I tried to be professional. I tried to leave my emotions aside and just see things from a 3rd party's perspective.

I failed. In so many degrees.

I honestly think I'm incapable of making sound judgements when it comes to you. Every decision had a flipside to it. There was none that was absolute. Nothing is ever clear cut when it comes to thoughts about you.

I hope things get better. I honestly do.

I hope we can start anew.

with Weng Lum and Anne

With Weng Lum and Anne over in the past 7 days, life fast forwarded 3x its regular pace. It was fun. There were a few setbacks which were really untimely, and possibly because I've been moody and grumpy for a while now, hence attracting some negative energy, but on the whole I'd say there were definitely many many many more high points than low points. Which is good. Considering I am trying desperately to shift my focus.

my extremely successful Merdeka Day night at my place

Sitting on the flying fox at Cornwall Park

I am, until now, still laughing silently to myself about the silliest words (English, Malay, Maori, Chinese) which were thrown around by Navin, Hanizah and Weng. Ahh...fun times.

I spent heaps of cash but it was well worth it. Weng Lum and his DSLR and his silly nonsensical chatter with Navin and Hanizah and the great blue sunny skies and the awesome new sights...that's what I call a holiday. Friends, fun, sun.I've got so many photos I don't know which to publish. I can't even decide which photo to use as my Facebook and MSN profile pictures. HAHA! I think imma gonna alternate them for a few weeks. Just because I can. =)

As I did the day Julie left, I am sitting here wondering what to do with myself today, feeling a little lonely, and wishing that Weng Lum and Anne didn't leave. I have a couple of assignments and readings to finish before school starts again, but I can't bring myself to do them. Not right now anyway. Will get to them soon enough.

***

On other things. I'm fine. I think. well, not really. I think I almost broke down that day karaokeing with the guys. But i recovered.

I can't help it. It's possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. I think I finally understand the many other incidents in the past where I had to console a friend with a broken heart. No amount of "there there, it's ok" will ever make things okay. And neither would "Come on, be strong, I know you are" make me feel any better. Honestly. I can only heal with time. And chocolate.

Except that I've decided to not spend a dime for 2 weeks to recover from the wallet burn in the past couple of weeks. So I'm doing it without chocolate this time.

heh.

Test

I think, I'm not as strong as I'd like myself to be. I think that when I see an uphill while running, I increase speed and pummel on and I go "Huh, I'm pretty tough". But when Life throws me an uphill test, I panic and wish with all my might that I can turn around and run the opposite direction. Or in this case, in the direction of home.

Life has been quite a test this past week or so. And I think I have found out roughly where I stand on the toughness scale...i.e...not very high up.

But I believe that with every test thrown my way, I do come out a little stronger. I progress slowly, but surely.

But after all that's said and done, a large chunk of me just can't wait to be home right now. And surprise, you're still the reason.

I got mugged.

SO, for those of you who follow my tweets (yes i’ve succumbed to twitter too, just so i have ONE more thing to do every day now, yay) you would’ve heard about my little drama story.

I got mugged.

Yep.

The story goes like this. I was walking home from work, at 9 pm. Yes, I have a car now, but I have been doing a lot of driving and very little walking and I kinda missed the moment of solitude I get when I meander round and up the hill to my house. Plus, I’m all about saving petrol and burning some calories.

So I walked. Two guys approached me from the opposite direction, but being in Auckland where everyone smiles and greets you on the street, I smiled and greeted them. And they greeted back. I carried on walking through them (they both stepped aside so I walk through the center). Now, coming from Malaysia where snatch theft is not uncommon, I had always been alert while walking, and especially when dark, I have trained my ears to just listen out to change in steps or whatever. I pretty much have thought of the possibility of passersby turning around and grabbing me. And...Guess. What. Happened.

No more had I stepped forward 3 steps after they passed me by, did I hear a shuffling of footsteps coming towards me from behind. And in a split second there was a big force tugging my hair from behind.

“Gimme the bag” Thief 1 said with a low, hush but intimidating voice. To which I responded with a loud “HEY!”

Let me just hit pause at this moment because as fast as the it took place, maybe 15-20 seconds, a billion emotions were running through my head at this point.

My very first thought was “They’ve got me. YELL!” But I couldn’t. I was SHAKING.
Second thought, “Save your handphone! Throw a punch , grab your bag and RUN!”. But I couldn’t, because I was TERRIFIED.
Third thought, “Shit, I think they’re gonna hurt me!”

Play. Thief 1 was still going “Gimme the bag NOW” a little louder but still rather hush. I actually said “Ok ok!!” and slipped my hands back and allowed them to grab my bag. And then, I RAN. Like the wind. I heard car doors slamming and a car speeding away but I had this sudden panic attack that they may be driving towards me to KNOCK ME DOWN. Afraid to look back, I just sprinted even harder. Almost reaching Aunty Jane’s (which really was just about 20m away) I looked back and realised their car was in the opposite direction. All I saw was that it was silver/white and it was a low sportscar-ish thing.

Trembling, I rang the doorbell at Aunty Jane’s, rattled my fist on their door and tried really hard to maintain my composure.

Uncle CK came to the door and I went “Hi, um...um..sorry...um...i just got mugged and...they just went off...and we need to go chase them...and they got my stuff and...omg...omg...i...um...” and it went on like that with Uncle CK ushering me into his home, but I was reluctant to because I really wanted to jump into another car and HUNT THEM DOWN. Next thing I know I was sobbing profusely in the sofa next to Aunty Jane, still shaking like crazy. I think it was only after a couple of minutes did I realise that there were about 10 other people in the room, Aunty Jane must’ve been having a dinner function in her house. One of them rang the police. Uncle CK and some of the other men, drove out and when they came back they had my bag pack, empty of course, and my pencil case with all my stationery all over the place. They had found it about 300m round the corner.

After this it was exactly like u see on TV, except that the police took an hour to come. I gave them a second to second narration of what happened, described the two guys, and even had my photo taken.

Shaken, and extremely unsettled, I found my fear subsiding but the anger in me rising. A million should have’s started to come up. I should’ve just bolted, they would’ve lost grip of my bag and I would still have my stuff. I should’ve screamed louder and maybe someone would come out and help me. I should’ve THROWN A FEW PUNCHES. But nah...I know that what I did was probably the best thing.

I finally got home to a bunch of very worried flatmates (coz I told them about it) at close to midnight. I showered and jumped into bed. Oh and I talked to mum and dad about it. I had an exam the next morning at 8.30, and I had just lost ALL my notes. This is where lady luck had BETTER work.

I couldn’t sleep obviously.

The next morning, I had a crappy exam. The irony of it was it was Sport Psychology and it was all about physical activity as a stress coping mechanism and how exercise can increase the rapid fight or flight response and how it increases recovery of it too. Bah. I felt like crap. I was exhausted and still extremely upset about losing all my stuff.
I went around the entire day getting new bank cards, a new wallet, a new handphone, new student ID and all that stuff. Before I went back home, I drove along the street to look for more of my stuff and sure enough I found my water bottle, my food container, my car keys…all scattered along the road.

When I got home, my housemates went “WHERE HAVE U BEEN?” Apparently, Aunty Jane had been desperately trying to get me, because my parents were desperately trying to get me, and because some guy named Calvin was desperately trying to get me, because some other guy named Matt was desperately trying to get me too! Whoa!

To cut the long story short. Calvin had found my handphone in his car which was broken into on the same night. He called the last called in number which was my dad, at 8 am NZ time which is 4 am Malaysian time. Matt had found my keys with my thumbdrive on it, and had gotten my number from a file saved on my thumbdrive, and called it. Calvin who still had my handphone picked up the phone, and told Matt that he wasn’t a girl named Karen and that he was trying to get in touch with me too because he had my handphone! At this point I think I had just stirred up quite a bit of action around the Saint Johns, Glen Innes and Meadowbank suburbs in Auckland. Which probably doesn’t happen very often.

So there was a little more involvement of the Police force, but to put it simply, the police were pretty useless, I got my phone and my keys back by myself in the end. Oh and then, the police rang me, after putting me on hold and transferring me here and there for ages, to tell me someone had handed in my driver’s license….I KNOW!

So pretty much those pathetic muggers got nothing out of me. HA! But they caused quite a lot of anxiety. And that is not good. *shakes head*

It’s been a bizarre past 3 days. I’m exhausted from all the drama. And still a little shaken. And extremely paranoid now.

playlist

I have the most jiwang playlist. Period. And it's ironic because I get most of these songs from you. And as of late, you are the main cause of my jiwangness.

I'm blogging because I'm lazy to study. I really think I should, but i can't be bothered. I've read through some stuff this afternoon. To me, studying once a day is good enough. But the voice at the back of my head is telling me I've still got heaps to cover and my mid term is in 2 days. Sometimes I think I'm such a superhero. Sigh.

Back to my playlist. I have a playlist which I have been listening to every single free minute of every single day. And ever since I found out that the internet plan this house is on has a 2GB limit, I have stopped downloading music. And for that reason, I am utterly sick of the songs in my playlist. Majority of which are given by you. It's got your style written all over it.

Listening to my playlist day after day after day makes me miss you. And when I miss you I feel a tad depressed. And when I feel a tad depressed I fail to do some of the things I had planned to do for the day. And really, the only way to remedy that is if I manage to talk to you that day. But seeing how communication is a major problem between us, talking doesn't happen very often. hmm...talking doesn't happen. period. and so I am a tad depressed most of the time. And I miss you like every single day too.

See my problem?

But my flatmates are awesome. They help me miss you less every day. But what I really want is for the day I miss you just as much as you miss me, to come.

Because I think that will be the day I am depression-free.

Retail therapy. That's my excuse.

After my chaotic Saturday at work, I decided today shall be my chillax day. So, Erin and I went to do a bit of shopping. I brought Shrek (yes it has a name!) out and he was an absolute darling. =) No more smoke, ran like a winner. =) He's getting a new gasket put in on Tuesday. So that would hopefully fix the leaking.

We went to the James & August warehouse sale. I think James & August is a kiwi brand. I bought some knickers. Then I brought her to Dressmart, and I, once again, fell prey to the crazy clearance sales.

I bought a dress and a top from Glassons and almost bought a polo t from Cotton On. But I decided against it. Enough shopping for the next few months I reckon.

Then it was lunch from the Meadowbank bakery where i bought the yummiest smoked salmon bagel ever. I need to learn the art of making awesome sandwiches. My sandwiches always taste cheap, and boring. Sigh..

I should model my new buys and post photos up, but I'm too lazy to move right now. It's 10.30 pm. I'm feeling sleepy. I'm just waiting it out till it's a slightly later/cooler time to sleep.

heh.

splish splash

I just had the worst day at work. I was refilling the water dispenser. I went out to continue my *ahem* chat with someone special on the computer, and guess what? I completely forgot about the water. Next thing I know, a member comes to the reception and says "You've got water coming out from one of your rooms". Oh boy.

I had left the water running for about 15 minutes and the entire room was flooded. And this was the staff room. With laptops, and stereos and other electronics in it. I absolutely freaked out. I stopped the tap, grabbed every towel I could find in the gym and tried desperately to soak up everything from the carpets. I shut down every electrical appliance. I contacted the owner. She didn't seem too pleased.

What seemed like 10 minutes after that 2 mall security guards appeared at the front of our gym. The hallway beneath us is leaking. OH BOY.

I was desperately trying to clean everything up. Then the owner appears. And she goes OH MY GOD. I'm screwed.

More mopping. More wiping. More cleaning. Turned every heater on. Rushed around the gym like a mad woman trying to attend to clients and conducted a circuit class and an abs class and ran around a bit more and cleaned some more, and mopped some more, lifted stuff, rearranged desks, cupboards, chairs, stereos. CHAOS.

On the brighter side, work went by extremely quickly today. And the owner wasn't really pissed in the end. She was quite nice to me. Now I just feel extremely guilty.

And exhausted.

Moral of the story. Long Distance Relationships cause more harm than good. Trust me.

the little engine that could...not

*edit* Added photo of My Mean Green Running Machine=)

So, let me see. Whoa it's been a few days since i last blogged. Well, it wasn't because I didn't have exciting enough things to write about. Quite the contrary actually. Have been quite busy throughout the weekend with many many highs and one low.

Let's start off with good stuff. My flatmates and I finally managed to make our Chocolate Boutique flat outing come true. The cool thing about my flatmates is that we've got this massive calendar sitting on the dining table which we pen down just about everything that goes on with us (including couple anniversaries :P) and sometimes, in fact quite often, we fix specific flat outings. And it's been really fun! So the Chocolate Boutique has been shifted around quite a number of times, but hey! We finally made it there, all 5 of us, on Saturday. =)

Me with my Steamed Chocolate Pudding and Iced Mocha

The bunch of us

Then it was Yin's Big Two-Five birthday party, where I contributed an oreo cheesecake and played some rock La Bamba on guitar hero. That was fun too. I think when I'm earning enough money, I will buy the Guitar Hero set.Yin, the birthday girl

And on Sunday...*jeng jeng jengggg*....I went with Navin and Ahmed to The Ellerslie Car Fair and...yup, u guessed it...bought one. I wasn't expecting to make a purchase so soon honestly. But the moment I laid eyes on the little green thing, I fell in love! =) It was adorable, it was cheap, and when we took it for a spin it ran perfectly. I walked on to check out other cars but after seeing that one, every other car seemed dull, boring, expensive, normal. So I went back to that little green thing.
It's a Suzuki Alto 1985 model. Yeah, it's older than me. But it apparently has only ran 69,000 km. The car was in great condition, barely any dents/scratches, no leakages, everything works, it seemed like the perfect choice! So after Navin and Ahmed both spent sometime checking it out, shaking it about, revving the engine, lifting bonnets and kicking tires and what not, I started to bargain with the dealer. We got it down from $1195 to $900. Not bad I'd say. =)

Happy with my purchase, and even happier that the car comes the next day, I went all excited.

Today, I went to collect it. I signed the papers, shook hands with the dealer again, and got into my little green thing. I was happily driving it back home, feeling like I had bought my very first car with my own money, and then something went wrong.

Clouds of white smoke started coming out of my bonnet and I was in the middle of a very busy crossroad. The white smoke conitnued to escape. When I stopped at the next lights, the driver in front came down and told me to stop at the next gas station. I was a little worried, but I was consciously checking the temperature level and it wasn't going up real high so I decided to just head home first. I had to go to work anyway.

When I got home, I rung the dealer up and told him about it, but he thought I had driven with the choke pulled out. I didn't. Anyway, disappointed but still excited over my new toy, I took it to work. After work, I took it to the city to see Navin, Ahmed and Ben. And when they all gave their 2 cents engineer's talk, my heart sank deeper n deeper. I couldn't quite grasp what they were saying, but all I know is there's apparently a leakage somewhere and I'm burning engine oil.

Right now, I feel a bit sad, not because I think my car's was a rotten buy, but because I had trusted the seller quite a lot, and maybe I was naive and he was being cunning, but I really thought he was being very honest. I didnt find him the least bit shrewed at all. He came across as someone who was genuine and honest. Sigh..

Anyway, I'm bringing the car back to him the next time I'm free. I'm hoping he can do something about it. I hope everything will turn out good. I still really really like the car.

one of those posts

It is 7.35 pm. I've just had dinner. Pretty good dinner I must say. I had skinned and de-boned 2 chicken drumsticks, sliced them up and marinated it with lemon juice, pepper and salt. I then proceeded to boil the pasta. Then i chopped up some garlic, and stir fried the chicken with the garlic. For sauce, I beat 2 eggs with 2 spoonfuls of sour cream, and half a cup of soymilk.

And I ate my dinner with relish. Because it was unexpectedly good. Like seriously. I had a little more than the half portion I had planned to take. So I'm left with a small portion for tomorrow.

And now I'm here. I've always had a free night, where i don't work. But i don't know how come I feel like I've been working for the past few days non-stop. And tonight I feel extremely free. It's a nice change.

I just had really long random conversations with some friends online. They're all amusing and intriguing. I feel myself understanding myself, my life, a little better as i go on talking to them.

Tonight's one of those "whatever" nights. And i'm enjoying it. =)

There goes one weekend. It was a fun-filled one though. Hmm...a filled one at least. half of it was fun. I had work from 8-4 on both Sat and Sun and it just took away my entire weekend. It's a good thing Monday's off for me. So I'm taking this opportunity to sleep in (but i woke up at 7.15 anyways), and to skip running (it's really windy outside, and I've got Bootcamp class tonight anyways), and to lounge around in my pj's the whole day. =) Sometimes I think my flatmates are envious of me, because I'm the only undergrad in this whole house. 1's doing PG Diploma, 1's doing Masters, and 1's doing a PhD. And they're all 22 and 23 year olds. Crazy huh? Who said Asians were the crazy nerdy geeky studious ones? haha...

Anyway, the non-working bit of my weekend was spent having good Peking Duck with Hensen and friends. It was really awesome. I don't remember having such good Peking Duck before in my life.Then yesterday night, my flatmates and I decided to make Tandoori Vegetable soup. Just because I had Tandoori paste. It was pretty delicious, aye. I really loved it. We ate it with baguettes. yum.

After that I went to the Flying Moa for Lily's farewell. I spent most of the night chatting with Lily's family. Haha...i felt so grown up, drinking tap beer and talking about the economy. But it was good, the place is quite nice. And I kept wondering whether my farewell would be quite as "felt" as her. Sure I say this now, because I'm dying to go home and be with my family and friends. And maybe a part of me would feel sad leaving Auckland another 2 years down the road. Or maybe not. Because this just isn't home. Doesn't seem like there's much to miss here. For now at least. *shrug*

bargain hunting at its best

click image for full size

i'm bored.

Kiasuism

I can't believe I have my flight back to Auckland in February 2010 sussed out. I haven't even flown home yet! But when you play the kiasu game, you just gotta get them quick before they sell out. I am flying Air Asia to Melbourne from KL. Then Virgin Blue to Auckland from Melbourne. My flights are both so amazingly cheap, though.

But, really, I don't want to be thinking about coming back here, when I haven't even finished thinking about going home this summer. I have so many things I wanna do when I get back, it's a teeny weeny bit dampening that I have a concrete deadline now.

On a happier note, I finally sussed out my student visa as well! The requirement for a renewal is that I have NZ$5 grand in my account. I had my dad sent me some cash to make the number, but because I went to Aussie, and I took part in some races, and i bought a text book and all those stuff, I kinda struggled to keep the balance at 5 grand. So for about a month I have been trying really hard to cut back on my spending just to accumulate my pay and make the number. And now that I've got my bank statement printed and stamped and sent my application on its way, I feel a lot more free to spend. *phew*.
As a celebratory gesture, I bought myself a $15 knit jacket (which was $45 before discount mind you) and I bought my flatmates a tray of chocolate muffins from Foodtown. Simply because they've been awesome. =)

Tragic

It saddens me to learn of the news on a fellow young runner's death at the annual Adidas King of the Road race last weekend. I received a text from Lyn this afternoon saying that her friend's brother took part in the 22km race on Sunday, collapsed from dehydration, and then later on went missing. The police search and rescue team found him the subsequent day, dead. I really don't know how to respond to this except to feel a deep sense of loss. I don't know him, but he was young, born 1987 according to his IC number, and he was a runner in my hometown. And to lose a young runner, who chose the healthy lifestyle, and took part in the 22km run, is really tragic.

While sudden death due to cardiac arrest happens, it doesn't happen very frequently to runners and most definitely not to youths under 25.

To Gary Leon Robert, may you rest in peace. To Gary's family and loved ones, my deepest condolences. I am extremely sorry for your loss.

To read more, go to mStar or runwitme's blog.

Best $20 I've Spent All Year

Yesterday Ruth, Erin and I went to The Food Show in Auckland. It. Was. Awesome. I had never seen so much variety of delicious food before! Like seriously. It beats even hotel buffets. Well, it's a lot cheaper, that's why. =)
I paid $20 for it, and at first I thought that was quite a lot considering all we get were free samples and you still had to buy the food. I just thought it was another experience to put under my belt in Auckland. If there weren't much to shout about, I just won't go next year. *shrug*

So we went in, bright and early, at 10 am when the doors opened. Boy, where there a LOT of food and wine! It was amazingly delicious. The first bite of sausage I had was pure heaven. And then the wine. And then the tea. And then the chocolates. And within the first hour, I was already a pretty happy girl. We went to watch the Donna Hay No Time To Cook cook show and it made me want to cook! (and have kids to cook for). By the 2nd hour I had already figured my $20 was worth it.
Then Ruth said "Ok, shall we move on to the next hall?". There was another hall? Here's a picture of the floor plan. It turned out, Hall One was the smallest hall out of 3! Oh, boy. I think that moment of realisation completely made my week!
So we ventured into hall 2, arms linked, with Ruth as our Navigator and Captain of our Plan of Attack. And the first stall I saw in Hall 2 was this. 42 Below Vodka. Ah...$20 very very well spent. *giggles with glee*And so it went on. There were biscuits with the widest selection of dips and pesto you can think of. Cheese from all over the world. Goat cheese too. NZ Natural ice cream, absolutely FREE. Big, generous chunks of Rocky Road chocolate. More wine. More vodka and irish cream. Most delicious hot chocolate ever. Even more smoking hot sausages. Barbecued lamb. Amazingly tasty Indian cuisine. Superb pasta. Even mussels!
There's no saying how happy I was. =) I was absolutely stuffed. With free samples! I was floating by the end of it. Probably from all the alcohol. But really, I have made a promise to myself to do The Food Show again next year. And the year after if I am still here.
At 5.15, when we finally decided we cannot stuff anything more down our throats, we finally left the show. And we left as 3 very very happy, very very blissful girls.

*grins big and wide*

For more photos, click here.