Been There, Done That

I've completed my first 10 km marathon! Exact timing is out --> Tada.. 1:17:07. My ranking --> #1464. My clocked time is 2 minutes more than my targeted time :'(

But then, it was definitely an experience worth remembering. For a first-timer, there is no so-called best time, or record to overcome. So I went there, quite confident of finishing it, and just wondering how will I fare.

I've been training for the past 6 months or so with labmates CK and KC. I think I owe CK a big thank you for keeping the motivation up in me. I would've given up halfway if not for his companion. So I gladly made a deal with him, whoever runs slower has to treat the other, knowing well that I can never beat a guy. So CK, look forward to your pizza treat!

Of course, there was my supporter, Mr. N, who woke up early and accompanied me all the way :)

We reached around 730 am, just in time to witness the champion of full-marathon running his last distance to the finishing line, and gasped in awe at how fast is his record! I had not even started mine, and he was back! The crowd cheered and shouted for him!

All ready to run after I emptied my bladder, warmed up, stretched and prepared my MP3. You can see my pink Kuma-kuma hanging there. She accompanied me throughout the whole race. Now, who says tortoises can't run? Hehe..

Mr. N thought the event T-shirt for ladies was quite sexy at the back. So I asked him to take a photo of my "sexy" back and show me =P

And off I went to the starting line! There was already almost 100 metres of human sea in front of me! I heard the gunshot, and started a slow jog amongst the many beautiful shoulders and slender legs... The crowd was scary, I could hardly find space in front..

It was almost 1km when the crowd dispersed. I ran constantly for the first 8 km, stopping only for 100 plus, and slowed down a bit up till 9 km (kept telling myself I can slow down, but not stop). Then I gave my 100% for the last km!

A photo with my running mates, Ke Chang, and Chiew Keat. Met a junior, Choy Kien who happened to be in same category as Chiew Keat. The Padang was filled with sweaty blue genies.

Medal + T-Shirt + Bib = $45. Satisfaction = Priceless :)

I like how the slogan goes, "Run Your Own Race". It applies to many aspects of life. The race may be just 1 hour ++, but you gotta put in countless hours of training before that. When you are on the road, you run your own pace and finish your own race.

So there, another life experience. Sweet :)

16 Days to My Maiden Marathon

Sorry for the lack of updates! Sorry to you (all), if any, who still bother (s) to drop by.



It's been a crazy one month for me, for the usual issues : more experiments lead to more problems.



To add (a lot of) salt to my wound : two weeks of coughing, one week of an inflammed toe, five days of food poisoning.



So I slept myself blur last week, coming to lab only 50% of the usual period I spend.



So! Back to the topic.



Only 16 days left to my first marathon. I'm back to my usual fitness level (not that I'm usually a very fit person), after a two-week hiatus.



CK is very nervous, he keeps pushing me to go for training at any day possible (except when he has to go "teach tuition" in AMK).



Heaven seems to be playing tricks on us though. When I was down for the past two weeks, the sun was up and shining so brightly that I think a continuous good tan of one hour can leave anyone with skin cancer.

Now that I try to ramp up my training, it rains cats and dogs, hens and ducks, CK and CL almost everyday!

We attempted our first outdoor (out-of-stadium-track) jog two days ago around NTU, only to be caught in thunderstorm 2/3 down our intended route.

One hour ago, we attempted again (after the long rain finally subsided), and we did it! We = CK and I, plus KC and CW, all from Sensors Lab, wahaha..

I was last in Open Category, and first in Female Category, cause the above-mentioned are all handsome guys (ahem... is CK...).

Our timing? 45 minutes for a 5.6 km path. We took the largest loop around NTU. Not a fantastic timing compared to KC's 35 minutes (and of course, to many season runners out there) but it exceeds my own expectation.

Only two weeks left for training! Hopefully we can improve further =) Wish me luck!

Btw, can any experienced marathoners tell me whether the actual route has many inclined parts? The slope from NIE to SBS almost broke my knees just now!

Cooking, Baking, and Goodies

For the past 2 months or so, my housemates and I were set into a baking frenzy. Here's one satisfied product of mine : Pizza! The crust is made of wheat flour, which is a healthier choice compared to normal flour =)

My lunch yesterday was cold Soba (buckwheat noodle), courtesy of pretty lady, She Mein. It was flown in from Japan. While shopping for the soba sauce, I realised we can actually find many varieties of Soba in Singapore. Paiseh ah Shimin, added trouble to you when I can find soba easily in Sg =P

Cold Soba + Sauce

Cold Silken Tofu

Mushroom and vegetable dumplings, overcooked.

Shaved honey chicken ham

Sumptuous lunch!

Here's my Mid Autumn goodie from Uncle. He gave me a Swensens voucher to exchange for four ice-cream mooncakes! Yums~~

It's a shame I collected the mooncakes at the very last minute. Out of 8 flavours, only 3 were left. This one's Hazelnut Latte. The ice-cream tastes great, but the skin is really so-so...

Anyway, you don't get to enjoy Swensens' ice-cream everyday, right?

Especially shiok on a hot afternoon!

Because It's Been 10 Years!

In 3 weeks' time, I'm gonna be attending my 10-year-graduation reunion dinner!

Reminds me of those movie scenes where everyone needs to figure how to dress to impress, how to show-off your partner, kids, career, etc!

10 years! Gosh.. Plus the 11 years I spent in dear ol' Convent!

Blengy, if you see this, please respond to our email la.. Hee..

Can't wait, can't wait!

****************************************************************


Hi fellow "busy bees" of the Convent 99 batch :)

It's been 10 years since our last year in Convent Muar (gosh SPM was a decade ago! :P) and we feel it's about time we met up to talk about the good ole days!

Please feel free to spread the word to ANYONE in the 99 batch, even those who only joined us for a few years in primary or secondary school.

Invitations are open to you and your spouse & children :)

We need YOU to confirm if you can make it on the proposed date of Saturday, October 31 so please respond to this immediately by emailing conventmuar99@gmail.com.

Please give your email and tel number too. Thanks much!See you soon! :)

On behalf of the Planning Committee
Janet Han
Coordinator

发牢骚

因为老板的一句“Money is not a problem, help me spend the money”，我最近好像变成 purchasing manager。实验室里的人都大买特买，好像 great singapore sale 又回来了！





痛苦的是，钱。。。 不是我的。



痛苦的是，我的 project 是 under 这个 funding。也就是说，什么鬼东西都要用我和一位 research fellow 的名义购买。



痛苦的是，高高在上的 research fellow 才不会笨的背上这些吃力不讨好的烂摊子。



痛苦的是，少于 SGD 200 的要我先付钱，然后再填表格 claim 回。



Fyi，我现在的 status，有将近 500 块的 cash　还 claim 不回，下午还会多一单 86.20!!



更痛苦的是，多过 SGD 200　的要写一份死鬼麻烦的purchasing request，然后联络 vendors　跟他们讨论细节。讨论一次，改一次，让老板过目一次。



Fyi，我现在还在改着一份已经改了 M 次　(比 N 还要多次）的 purchasing request。这单三万多 purchasing 已经搞了将近半年。



前两天，火山爆发。



在赶着 Quarterly Report，又被逼为那死了都不会负责任的 Research Fellow 背黑锅。



我几乎都不骂粗话的，但那天真的很想当面骂他　What the FFFK!!



很想告诉老板，炒掉我吧！！！



M 的，佛都有火！更何况是人！





**************激动与冷静的分界线**************





真的很显。。。



Research 没有进展，又被这些无聊东西缠上。



鸡蛋糕！！！



唯一安慰是最近来了新的 Research Fellow，看样子比较有料。



希望他真的能帮得上忙，不好像那些骗吃骗喝不要脸的鸡蛋糕。。。。



明天我要去 Bugis 拜观音。



希望接下来的日子会好过一点。

Do you dare to try this?

I am not really a durian fan, but I find this special durian amusing. Not only is the outer shell yellow (instead of the normal green), the flesh is red! Blood red!

It's a wild species of durian, found in Sabah jungles. I don't think I will dare to sink my teeth into it. Makes me feel like Dracula. Haa..

Photo and info : The Star

Long Weekend

原先不打算写的。

结果发现原来有人比我还不期待来临的 long weekend。

你没有看错，是不期待。

昨晚，我差点就要火山爆发了。

突然发现，充满期待的长假根本就不存在。

想出去玩的计划 + 心情瞬间蒸发。

三年了，我忍了三年。

有时我都很佩服自己的忍功。

有时我也很怀疑我还能忍多久。

无形的第三者，已经是第 N 次搞破坏了。

记得第N-1次（也就是上一次），我忍着泪水把晚餐啃下肚。试着缓和气氛，让大家乐观一点。

结果，又这样忍了多一次。

昨晚，抱着一肚子气睡觉，好不容易才入睡。

一睁开眼，又想起。

在巴士上听着 F.I.R 的 《You Make Me Wanna Fall In Love》，气消了。

刚刚决定要 SMS，就先收到了。

大家各让一步，还是可以很开心的。

反正，这会是最后一次。

不开心的，始终会过去。何必一直耿耿于怀，让自己继续意志消沉？

你说我每次都很叽喳，每天都有很多精彩的事告诉你。

其实，我只是想说一些，做一些琐碎但好玩的小事，让生活不要太单调。

**********************************************

今天，和舅舅一起吃早餐。

舅舅买了很多（真的很多！）小小的包子。大概一个小孩的手掌一般大小的小包子。

吃完还可以打包回 lab tim~~

可惜靓仔立回家去了，要不然他一定口水直流。
（嗯。。。 Audi Auntie 问我你的家乡在哪里 wor，我不小心讲 Jalan Wirawati，希望Auntie 不要long weekend 跑去 KL 找你啊~~~）

谈到生活压力，舅舅说人生难免会有压力，只是看你怎样应付。

“大家都有不一样的 threshold”

我想，这threshold 应该是一个 variable 。

不是与生俱来，而是靠生活的磨练不断增加。

我们都没有办法相像其他人所承受的压力。

但至少，如果可以的话，好好对待家人、朋友、同事、下属。尽量不要成为他们压力的来源。

生活是有很多无奈的事，可是开心与否决对是可以选择的。

现在的不开心与无奈，是为了交换明天的美好吧？

不要忘了自己一开始是为了什么而努力。

半途而废，很不值得。

守住你的信念，keep your faith。

It will not fail you。

Can't get enough of Picoult

Jodi Picoult totally won me over with this bestseller. Never had any novel moved me to the verge of tears. And its ending was heart-wrenching. This novel has been adapted to a movie recently. I'm not sure when it will go or whether it has gone on screen. Looking forward =) This book is a Picoult classic, must read!

My next favourite is Change of Heart. The cover says : Your daughter needs a new heart. The only match comes from a murderer. What would you do? I read how the characters and their fates intertwined together. The dilemma. What was right and what was wrong. The unexpected truth. The chapter when it happened, I felt my heart stopping too. Not to be missed!

This novel tells about the love of a father. The extent he would go to protect his daughter from harm. I found the story a big draggy at times, but Jodi Picoult successfully merged my emotions with that of the parents, the child and the other victim. I found my mood swinging with the chapters and characters, and the heave of relief that finally daddy's got his girl back safely.

If you are a parent, this book leaves you with a question, "Do you know your children?" A supposedly beautiful love story with fairy tale ending turned into tragedy. The struggles of two families to unravel the truth. It reminds me that many things are not what they appear like on the surface. Life, sometimes, is really beyond our control. How do we let go and move on? Even if we do, will things be the same again?

My current read. I'm full of anticipation. Picoult's books are hard to put down! (which partly explains why I hardly updated my blog last month.

Compared to John Grisham, I like Picoult's straightforward potrayal of emotions. I cry and laugh with her. Brother John is way too dry? And serious? I made two unsuccessful attempts to digest his winning novel The Last Jury. Maybe I ought to give it another try. Afterall, he does have many critically acclaimed bestsellers on the shelves.

But right now, it's Jodi before John, muahaha!

All pictures taken from www.jodipicoult.com