i miss ...

Twilight show on the Big Screen! I have been putting off watching Twilight since it came out. The excuse, wanted to finish the book first. After I did, then came Big Family Obligations, then work obligations yg kept me working past 7pm... After that, I was sooo tired that all I wanted to do is hit the bed.

But now..... it doesn't show in ANY Cinemas in KK anymore! Sob... Sob... Sob...

I guess I have to wait for the DVD Version to come out. But it's soooo different isn't it? There's no fancy effect of the vampires playing baseball and other thrill effect that you feel in the cinema...

So... moral of the story is: When given the chance to do something that you want, you have to grab it while you still can, because it may never come back in the future.*

*It's ok to be selfish while you still can
**Lucky me, there's a RM8 DVD!

oh end of the year....

After a long hiatus... I'm back to writing again...

Not so many things happened yet there are many things to be done...

I was away two times last week for work. Lucky me I got to be meet the RPIans on my very short trips. Of course one of them included a dine n bowl at Cineleisure. Oklah we weren't that great, but it's the company that counts right? Thanks Mel, Rozanna and Arep for a great time. Next time we rematch ? Lana and Sha, we meet another time yea?

I was at first excited the thought of jet-settings... But the truth is... It's quite exhausting. Not to mention time-consuming.. I mean the 5 hours spent at the airport (and in the airplane) could've meant crossing off 5 things in my to-do-list. Okay, that is if I were productive.

My flight going back to KK was quite a nightmarish. It was an airbus flight to Korea but with a transit to KK. Next to me was a guy who annnooooyed me to hell. Usually in the flight, I don't fancy chatting unless if that someone is somebody I know, exciting or extremelyyy cute (hahaha!). So, my trick is usually just plug in the earphone, shut my eyes, or read a book. Those are the absolute signs I gave to people to NOT DISTURB me. So, while I was gonna close my eyes, he started chatting. Chat about his work, his girlfriend, his problem with his girlfriend, and asked me to not sleep first before he goes to sleep. I mean, HELLLOOO? I have my own problem to think of!!! So, to make it clear, I gave the one-syllable answer to his questions-either hmmmm, yes or no... To avoid the conversations, I shut my eyes immediately after makan! Heheheheh...

Gonna continue later...

moldy cheese

I'm bored... In fact, I'm easily bored...

I need new cheese...

my cheese is molding...

(untitled)

It rained yesterday evening so I didn't get to jog :(

I needed to get my blood flow moving, and that was exactly what I did last Tuesday... I hope the wide-spread myth about regular-donors will gain weight is not true...

update:
"Hi! No, I don't believe that donating blood contributes to weight loss or weight gain. It does, however, cause your heart to replenish the lost blood with a fresh new supply which can be healthy in exercising your heart and giving your body a fresh new supply of blood to work with, which I'm told is healthy for you. Donating blood won't help you to lose weight, but it won't make you gain any, either and can help contribute to a healthier body in at least a minor way."

from here

I am in the pms-mood ever... I feel like chewing everybody's head off!!!

i need a loooooong run...

And those who know me might know what this means...

kiss and run...

from cartoonstock....

on (young) adulthood

I can't believe how fast time flies! I don't even realize it's been almost THREE years since I started working. Back when being a student, I can't wait to end the all-nighters crazy with assignments and exams. Right now, I can say that time was one the best time in my life. Cheh, dulu bestlah, thinking to start working , earning own money n get to spend on whatever you want (kononnyalah). But now, with the paycheck credited in the account mostly going out to expenses, bills and other responsibilities (sampai want to buy SKII pun fikir 20 million times)

I don't even go to shop much lately... Because I only droool on gadgets!!! Tops, jeans, shoes and bags are mostly out of the drool list because I only shop mostly when I go on trip - either KL or wherever. Despite how drooling the shoes in Charles & Keith- Yes, we have Charles&Keith in KK even before KL has it, tapi... just looking at the pointy 4 inch stiletto, I can feel how it's gonna kill my feet. I take the stairs mostly in the office because I think the elevator is too slow, so there's no way I'm taking the stairs with that stilleto or else I'll be at risk falling down the stairs and break some parts of my body, not to mention the unbearable embarassment. So don't care lah that I'm wearing flats when I'm around in the office, and the girls know this, we all have our flat slipper and '3 inch meeting shoes' which is the shoes we wear to meeting or out etc... But we can't deny how sexy we feels wearing those heels kan girls? Herda wrote about the price of wearing heels here.

On day-to-day: I have to keep myself busy or else I'll be fidgety n crazy. This is a typical taurus-ian. With this lifestyle and the stubborn-headed like mine, I might have to learn to love cats to be my companions when I'm forty. Suddenly I was reminded by a paper that we had to write in UiTM, it was on ideal man/woman and we had to do peer reviews. That time I was the peer for Aneem, and she wrote exactly the description of Wanzaw... Okay, maybe bukan exactlylah (can't remember pun the exact things), tapi mostly he fits perfectly in her ideal man. I mean how lucky is she?

Okay, I gotta dig in my old boxes and find that paper of mine!

Have a pleasant day everyone..

insomnia

Eh, do they actually call it insomnia when it's still early? For whatever reasons, I think the caffeine I consumed this morning is still in my bloodstream, so I'm kinda on the edge even by midnight.

I just finished up my things-to-do list for tomorrow (obsessed!!!).ERK, this live by list thing sometimes drives me insane, but without them macam lost pulak. I just went through my 2007 organizers, GaWd, didn't I write about everything! Tapi yang funny is... macam every month got this line "Start jogging"... Talk about unresolved resolutions (coz this year also got that line every month). Thankfully I didn't find any "eat only 1000 calories today", or I would've said I was a lil 'not right' last year.

Anyway, sports day was officially over yesterday, I only joined two events- a run and bowling. Don't mistaken me as a fit person just coz I finish half marathon, I wasn't really!!! I was gasping for air the last 200 meters of the run and almost seeing stars! Bowling though we didn't win, we did better than the practice, so it was all good. Maybe with proper training, we could reach the 150 scores (nothing wrong with hoping, right?).

I'm thinking to start running again after taking a break since last month, but running alone, alaaaa so boring... I need to hear some hot and steamy gossips to get my heart rate up! Hahahahha, that's what girlfriends are for... Rather than like guys who look so serious while jogging, and doing that phew-phew breathe-thing, we girls do it the fun way...

Oh yea! Times is having Books Warehouse Sale @ Asia City Complex until December 5th... I went to have a look-see on Saturday but didn't get to browse all the sections- SO MANY BOOKS! Will go and check it out again this week. Newer books are having 30% discount, while older ones you can get for RM10-RM15. Truth is, I get tired easily by reading some heavy novels (eg Margaret Atwood, Jeffrey Eugenides etc) meaning too complicated prose and vocabs. So mission is to find some light chick flick that can easily be finished in 2 hours and without dictionary in my other hand :)

4 more working days....

sports etc

So, staff sports day thingy is coming up... I'm trying out for bowling and also track.. hahahah.. sangat lousssy in bowling okaaaaay...

About one and a half year ago, ex-company was having bowling competition among staff, and I thought back then I wasn't suck, in fact I thought our group rocked (kan neth?? kan ulai??).. Hahahahha, perasan sendirilah this... But back then, we somehow got the rhythm right, now my ball always goes "ketaaaak-takkkk" (like I was basically slamming/throwing the ball on the lane, instead of doing the slow release/pushing way)...

Picture taken- we were the girls in pink ;)

Dulu rajinlah play, watched youtube on bowling tips, read bowling articles, and also played bowling computer game (at work... opsss).

Now to think about it... There's like gazillion of stuff to think about before throwing the ball, like how you hold your ball, thumb is facing which way (is it 12 o'clock or 9 o'clock?), the 4/5 steps before release, your hand, the arrows, your feet on the dots... Yikes! I can go insane with the details... Overthinking is justttt baddd...

I have plenty of things in my to-do-list before end of the week
1) Wash my car and fill air in tyre (280!)
2) Use up my massage voucher (yg expired tomorrow!). btw, helen beauty reflex in Centre Point is having buy 1 free 1 promotion for massage etc...
3) Spring Clean Room No.1 and No.2
4) Burn TV Shows on DVDs
5) Finish workplace's to-do-lists (yg never-ending tu!!!)

Allright.. at least I get blog crossed off my list!

DTR

That's the Defining The Relationship talk... I suddenly wonder why do we need this? Usually it's women who wanted to bring this up, and most of the time it's men who would avoid this conversation.

But now... in the era of "just-talking", "just-dating", "together but unofficial", "together but not serious" are totally different things- who wouldn't get confused, right? I somehow think in the beginning of a relationship, things are much simpler. Those are the times when getting to know each other, how every phone call is exciting and every day is such a mystery. But as time move on, when things are predictable and so stagnant, you begin to wonder as where's the relationship is going?

Okay, maybe this post is inspired after watching SATC episode for the x-th time... But relationship needs re-evaluations. Whether friendship or love. The best-est friends who you used to pour you heart out in high school might be someone who you feel awkward to now... Maybe it's human nature to know that two people are on the same page with what the future holds. Whatever it is... if it has to do something with your future, you must ask the question!

baby quilt

Few months ago, I bought this super-cute fabric from JKT for my expecting sister. It was abandoned in other tonnes of fabric. I kept imagining how cute it would be as baby bumper or baby quilt... My mom wanted to send it to the tailor, but I suddenly said.... sewing it won't be sooo hard, right? (Grrrr, this lady can't say no!) So I had to use my mom's sewing machine to get this Baby Quilt done... No patchwork because malas and don't know how... So I just sew blue border around the centre fabric.. This one is done based on my common sense and after watching some tutorial on youtube... So, everything main hentam only but surprisingly the finished product turned out better than I expected... So thanks to my assistant (sis) who helped me pinned, ironed and cut the fabric.

This is halfway into the project..

Voila, the finished product!

Up-close...Up-close 2

I think this would be my last (artsy-fartsy) project of 2008!

routine

I don't know whether i fancy routine or not... i still have love and hate relationship with it! i mean, i love how the paycheck is there at the end of month (who doesn't?), but the rest that comes with it, at times can be hmmmm agonizing?

(please bear the whining...)

This morning I spent 1 hour and 35 minutes to get to work, it was the usual crazy monday traffic. I bet if I had spent half of the time I spend on the road on the track, I would be sooo slim and slender right now. But I still got some flab on some parts, so you betcha I had spent my time driving... This can be totally my fault, I could've avoid the jammed area if I just wake up 1 hour early (but to wake up at 5am? I don't even wake up that early when I was in high school!)... You think 5 is early, I have friends who wake up at 4.30-ish on workdays!

On the note of routine, I'd just volunteered myself to join the selection for a workplace sports day! Gulp, me? Sports? Hahahahah... That's like a lousy combination of all! Okay, here's the picture: in high school, my role during sports day was stapling ribbon on marching girls' and guys' hand! So, what exactly was I doing on the track field? I guess it was just one of my effort to be hmmm more active and out-of-the-rut... Well, maybe this could be one of my phase...

I still have few unread books... I still have many (pretty) fabrics for some artsy-fartsy project... I got collection of papers, fancy whole punch, ribbons for my artsy-fartsy papercraft. Kilometer buildup schedule for marathon training. Coupon for a body massage (that I am supposed to use before 20 nov).

I know the list is a bit boring... Nope, I don't have list of fancy clubs/restaurants to go to (sy sangat boring okaay!)...

But I yearn more.. I don't know whether it's a good quality or not... I mean, to want more is supposedly good right? To dream makes you want to work hard and be more determined and persistant right? Isn't that what parents are telling us all along? Aim for the moon and you may land on the stars? So, it's okay to dream for some handsome prince to sweeep off my feet? To dream to travel the world and living a rich (and i don't mean money only) life...

Yada... Yada... Yada... I think if I'm paying off a therapist to listen to me, he would be living rich of my talking!

Well, i guess you have to bear with the lady w the big 'P'

*** Preliminary date for 2nd BIM is on October 11th 2009... The amount raised for the 1st BIM was RM33,000... So, care to join me running next year? Josie jommmm.....

jobs oh jobs

Few weeks ago, I met with an old friend (ohh yes, I'm old, thus having the 'old' friends status)...

So, she just finished her study, and in the midst of starting new job... She asked me the question, how does it like starting a job... Then, I immediately said ooh it's okay, it's surely gonna be easy...

But, thinking back, it wasn't thaaat easy... I mean, I've changed 3 jobs, and they're all different in a way... They all have their own challenges, and I must say they're not that easy...

There are all sort of challenges... For one, it could be how to stay sane in the midst of crazy work schedule... How to balance your life in the middle of projects that require you to stayback past midnight. How to deal with (protective) parents who called (at 10pm) asking whether you already got home when you were still in the office. How to deal with annoying colleagues. How to stay professional and at the same time be approachable. Or it could be ...how to be productive when everyone else is slow. How to be push people to act fast. How to deal with indecisive people. How to deal with bureaucracy. How to delegate.. How to be firm yet nice at the same time...and the list goes on foreverrrr... For one, they all require some people skills... With that, I must say, people skills go a loooong way than that 4.0 gpa.

And all I want to do now.. is sleep in on my comfy bed at home and reading a good book....

reading nook

Above was my latest purchase from Tong Hing Supermarket... Those who are book-craze, there's 50% sale going on ALL BOOKS at Tong Hing in KK (near HSBC)... I got these four books for half price.. Oklah, they're not in the current bestseller list... But I love my books despite how old they are! Also, the bottom one, the great american road trip, is a photobook of all places in the States... I'm thinking to start my own my Great Sabah Road Trip... because it's not the destination that count, it's the journey...

I want a reading nook! This one is perfeeeect!Variations of reading nook

But I love this the most!

wedding frenzy

It's November and in a month time, it'll be month of weddings... In fact, next month my cousin is getting engaged...

I always thought people who walk into marriage are brave souls. I mean, the thought of willing to take HUGE step of uniting two lives together are hard (and not everybody can do it), and to commit to one another is just simply amazing! In Malaysia, it's even more.. Because there's a saying say you married a man/woman, then you married with the whole family.

I for one - love weddings (marriage itself just simply scary!)...

How about this eternity ring as the engagement ring?

Or this bling as the wedding ring?

and OMG how about these elegant and beautiful vera wang wedding dresses?


and that final piece of Vera Wang Luxe Callalily is just so flowy...

okay.. gotta go back to real life now and start thinking of answers to give if I ever get "the question".. How about, "I'll wait until somebody can buy me one of vera wang dresses." I wonder if that'll be sufficient and they'll be scratching their head thinking who the hell is vera wang...

ambivalent

You know what's worse than feeling strongly about something... that's feeling ambivalent...

from mw:

1: simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action
2 a: continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite) b: uncertainty as to which approach to follow

it's like being in a limbo... You can't just feel something, and do the opposite thing. In the above case, if you're feeling ambivalent about something, how can you be consistent in your action?

The conclusion is.... If there's nothing on the table, just make attempt to put something there for yourself, rather than waiting...

butts-out

When I posted this entry awhile ago... somebody argued that cigarette butts are bio-degradable....

I found out that they're not, well... they are degradable but it will take decadess... So, it's no surprise you can see them practically anywhere...

"It is estimated that several trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide every year. That's billions of cigarettes flicked, one at a time, on our sidewalks, beaches, nature trails, gardens, and other public places every single day. In fact, cigarettes are the most littered item in America and the world. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate tow, NOT COTTON, and they can take decades to degrade. Not only does cigarette litter ruin even the most picturesque setting, but the toxic residue in cigarette filters is damaging to the environment, and littered butts cause numerous fires every year, some of them fatal."

from http://www.cigarettelitter.org/

pink ribbon tag

I was tagged by kim and herda .....

I had my first comprehensive medical check-up 2 years ago which consisted of full physical exam, x-ray, urine test, and also blood test... But lucky me, I didn't have to go through scary pap-smear test... Although my test did include between-neck-and-belly-button examination.. Awkward!!! But oklah... I was shown the proper way to do self-examination which is really important, and was reminded to do monthly ( i don't, coz always forget!!!!)

Its Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I would also like to show my support for this campaign here.

The rules to place this logo are pretty much simple. All you have to do is:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

pls pass this tag to support breast cancer awareness!

Pure Relaxation

Yesterday evening, it was raining super heavily... So me and sis decided to get some pure relaxation by getting massage before heading home...

Off we go to Helen Beauty Reflex... Good thing they had 11th year anniversary 'Buy 1 Free 1' Promotion. So.. I bought the RM60 aroma body massage (45 minutes), and I get another session for free which I have to use in a month.

I loved the smell of aromatherapy oil being used on me... I loved the pressure from the masseause... The masseause was this small lady, but her hand so kuat... I was screaming in pain when I said I wanted strong pressuree.. Cheh, konon-konon like I've been working hard....

I think this experience was much better than my last one...

My last massage (Scrub/Milk Bath/Massage) was during a trip in bandung, it was not good at all. Basically before the massage, the masseause asked me to strip everything, and the weird part was when she asked "do you want to buy our disposable underwe@r or n@ked?" Erkkkk, N@KED??? on a massage table??? N@ked on table and lying there like a fish??? Nooooo.... So I ended up buying their dispo underwear... But basically they don't cover you up like they practice here... Basically in 1 hour of lulur/massage, I pretty much feel very exposed...

So lesson learned: Go to reputable place, where the light is dim and you get to hold on to your own underwe@r. hahahahah...

So far I've had good experience in these places in KK: Cres Moment, Helen Beauty Reflex...

BIM picture

I've found my picture from photographers of BIM....

This one is courtesy of Disney of http://kangkudo.gombui.net/

This shot was taken during km17 --- note the vein on my forehead (I was on my way turning into hulk but of course still camwhoring, hahahha)

I'm canceling my run next monday... alasan: malas!

Also, I plan to get up early every saturday to go run with my niece, the longest she ran was 5 rounds (2km), such a stamina!!!

Let's see how long this phase will be here to stay...

dream oh dream....

dream oh dream....

I'm thinking of 2009 travel plan:-
1. Jkt/Bdg trip in February ( business trip)
2. KL trip (jalan-jalan, shopping, meet friends)
3. Penang trip (jalan-jalan, meet friends, and maybe finish penang international bridge Half marathon)
4. sandakan trip (see mel and maybe finish sepilok half marathon and eat lotssaaaa seafood)

i wanna go everywhere... but then again, money issues... sob.. sob.. sob... borneotrekker said, solution is find a man who is rich (note, the dollar sign on the eyes!!!), loves outdoor/travel and super-generous. But we can't expect men nowadaysss, can we? They probably would want to spend that money on gadget like 40 inch plasma tv, all types of console, gps, laptop, iphone and all sort of other gadgets.... So, work hard, earn it, and goooo travel all you can, because only then it's going to be worth it!

**i'm not exactly crazy about running marathon/half marathon... but since my friends are in penang/sandakan, so maybe I'll take the chance to do both, socializing and running at the same time... but I heard food in Penang is sooo good, I'll be too heavy too run then :(

I am currently reading this, The Gift of Travel, a book I borrowed from the library

1st half marathon experience

I am not exactly an athlete nor active person... My high school experience: never really into sports, and the 4.30-5.30pm "waktu sukan" was my lepaking time at the canteen... hehehehe.. . By looking at the list of tv shows I watch now, you can simply decide that I am actually a couch potato... except I watch my shows on my bed... make a bed potato then...

So, it's actually quite a shock for me/others when I decided to join the 1st Borneo International Marathon in the half marathon category. It was actually Borneotrekker who was playing with my head sometime in May, like joining half marathon is easy... But we've decided to sign up anyway just to get early bird special price, RM40...

Funny eh, when we signed up and introduced ourselves to the BIM organizer, we said..."oh, we're not joining marathon, half ONLY".... Eeeee, like half marathon is 100 metres race....

So, ulai and I signed up in May... My training seriously was inconsistent... Due to work commitments, there were weeks when I was working late, and I could not squeeze in training in between... There were weekends when I went home to parents home, where I had to babysit in the evening. Also, there were days when the weather was great but I was just simply lazy or use the excuse tired!

Running places: so far I ran at ums track field (4oomtr/round), around likas lake (~1km/round), and ums area (once, coz people were honking me, and I HATE that)... I think can have many potential running areas, eg. the new waterfront place in likas or alam mesra largest (private) park?

Frequency of training: 2-3 times a week when I'm rajin... 0 times a week when I'm lazy... But due to ramadhan month, i just simply too tired to jog/walk, so I only squeezed in two weeks training in ramadhan. I think it would probably help if I had a regular training routine before ramadhan month, then probably running while fasting is not gonna be so bad... Most of the time I ran in the evening, because I wouldn't want to sacrifice my beauty sleep for 1km of run...

The days before were quite nerve-wrecking, the thought of running TWENTY-ONE KILOMETRES seems so SCARY. Trust me, this is where preparations helps. The longest I ran in training was 9 kms and I never had long run in the morning... But when you're prepared, it's not going to be so bad... So it's quite scary to think of the unexpected... Worse, the big P came at this time! Yikes, goodbye energy, hellooooo cramps, mood swings and backache (i still don't get why i get backache/thigh ache around that time of the month)

free running vestchip all tied up on my shoe

The night before:
Pasta party.... the food was okay. There were many runners who look very athletic I tell you. They were from many countries, also kennysia and catwoman from singapore were there at the pasta party as well. I tried not to eat too much because I was afraid my stomach would be digesting too much while I sleep. Even though initially I planned to sleep around8.30-9.00pm, I only fall asleep at 10.45pm... So much for the excitement!

The morning:
I was awakened by a good luck wish at 2ish in the morning, and could't sleep after that. So while waiting until 4am, I watched my show on my bed to relax... Hehehehh... 4am- hot shower, breakfast and water, water and more water in between...

before the run: photo credit to http://81lions.blogspot.com

I got to the stadium around 5ish in the morning, and the others were already there. Saw sabah's own iron-lady fiona lim, kennysia, a lady who ran in catwoman costume, and also another lady with orange wig+tutu skirt... It certainly makes this run more fun and colorful isn't it? I went straight to warm up and stretch... Around 5.45 am, the runners for half marathon were asked to lined up at the starting line, as usual the slowest would be at the back, and the real athletes at the front... No need to ask me where was I, of course among the last ones...

The siren starting... the runners started running.. I for one, trying to control my pace, I wouldn't want to go so fast in the beginning and go pancit at the end... So slow pace for me, even though surely I was among the last ones... The first hour was pretty much okay, it wasn't too hot and slightly breezy, so running surely was easier... It wasn't long when I reached Jesselton Point, the 4km mark... I was still doing ok.... and still tried to mantain my pace....

So... next we went and passed the central market, wawasan plaza and headed to sutera harbor... by that time, the sun was out, I started to feel the heat, OMG, it was hotttt, I was sweating like crazy.... This was the time when sponging helps. There were few stations where they provided sponges soaked with ice-cold water... In that heat, it such a pleaaaaasssurree to sponge everywhere, from face, to neck, head, hand, body... basically everywhere where I needed refreshments...

Runners had to go into sutera harbor to pass the 10km marker which is basically halfway into the race... I decided to take my power gel there assuming BIM was gonna provide power-gel for the half marathon runners. But I was wrong, the power gels were only for the full marathon... Suddenly menyesal pulak to take the powergel so early in the race, if only I've known I would've brought two so that I can use another one at the end of the run. Starting from the 15km mark, I started to feel tired... I feel like I was weighing 100 kilos... My pace was slower, but I tried to run anyway... It was hoootttttt..... The toughest run was from km 17 to km 21, because the running path wasn't shaded and I can't tahan the heatttt.... and my feet was starting to feel heavy... I did walk a bit on my km 18 km to km19.5... But once I saw the stadium, I knew the finish line was there.... so I ran as I can... trying to remember the feelings... The feelings finishing up at the end of 21 km run... If this would be my last half marathon, at least I want to remember that excitement, the joy of finishing...

So..... I ran... I crossed the finished line in 3 hours and 16 minutes and got myself my FIRST ever finishing half marathon medal... At least 1) I didn't faint 2) I didn't quit half way even tho I wanted to 3) No significant injury (legs cramp) on the way and finally the most important one 1 FINISH!

me and herman showing off our medals

me and ms borneotrekker (erk, sunburn faces?)

Trust me, it truly is a mind over body thing... God, I used up all the motivation lines out there... From "you know you can do this uji" to "you can do this as long as you set your mind to it" to "don't give up now" to "your body can do more than what you think" to "you only fail when you don't try" bla bla bla... Now, I'm a certified motivational speaker. Hahahahha...

Had a free leg massage afterwards... That felt soooo gooooood... I rewarded myself with coffee bean carrot cake... and short nap in the afternoon... I woke up around 1ish pm, and started to feel nauseated... Like I-need-to-vomit-now nausea... I tried eating bread, and sipping gatorade but no luck because after that I vomited everything out (ewwwwww)... I think that was like the marathon hangover??

Post-Half-Marathon: Stomach was quesy but now is okay... Sunburn face.... quadriceps in pain, stomach muscles in pain and I'm limping.. erkkk... Note to self: Adequate training would've lessen the post-run muscles strain/injury....

But I'm glad it's over... So what to do with all the running gears? Am I running again? Yes, but not for another month... or maybe wait until the sutera harbor run. Heheheheheh...

For next time, what helps:-
1) Good preparation(including morning run)
2) Good night sleep
3) Power gels during the run
4) Training buddies
5) Schedule and sticking to it

Thanks for the luck wishes and also special "thanks" borneotrekker yang paksa me join in the first place... Now, buy me a free massage, my feeeeet is killling me...
Okay, now I've gotta rest my wrist and fingers

i survived!!!

I survived my first ever half marathon (21 freakin kilometres)!!!

I finished in 3 hours and 16 minutes... well, not quite a world record, and u know what... the best for half marathon is 1 hour and 11 minutes! it truly shows that there isn't a limit of what our body can do....

aftermath: my stomach and quadriceps hurt... but finishing feels great!!!

i will blog about it later with more pictures!

off i'm go

will be leaving in a bit for my run...


wish me luck!!!!

Test

Mobile blogging
***yeay! i finally get to blog from my phone!!!!

3R

Reuse... Reduce... Recycle...

To support the 3R.... I have bought few reusable bags, some more fancy (envirosax) and some less fancy (rm2.99 giant reusable bag)... Yes, fancy reusable bags are quite expensive, but it's fun and they're pretty.... So, what's wrong of wanting to practise 3R with fancy things right, it makes things more fun... I even bought jessie & lulu so my niece could use it when we groceries shopping together... Instilling green in kids? BTW, she loves this bag, and insisting on putting everything in here...

But imagine my disappointment when I was trying to use these bag @ Giant. The cashier said I MUST use their (super-thin) plastic bag that can bocor anytime on my way to the car. The reason is.... for security reason (like i would steal stuff!). Okay, that's my 1st experience... Then 2nd time, I bought their giant bag... that time I finally get them to put in my stuff in there... I went ahead and asked them whether it would be okay to bring the bag, and reuse that for my next purchase... And guess what she said, a plain and simple "No". So, I immediately pointed at the bag and said, "oh even tho in the bag it said reuse and recycle?". She simply shrugged. I think I will write about this and put my comment in the comment box...

It's such a disappointing thing actually, especially for big corporation like giant. I know in KL, places like tesco and jusco are already promoting less plastic-usage by their reusable bags. Tesco is selling their reusable bags for 99 cents, and if your bag is damaged, you can get a replacement for free...

I'm teaching my 4 yrs old niece to ask this question to cashier when the cashier insists to put stuff in plastic "But plastic cannot be recycled, and it takes 500 years to decompose. So what do you think?".... Let's see what are their reactions. hehehehhe...

Please click here on tips to reduce plastic (and paper) bag consumption

and be informed by these facts and figures regarding the true cost of plastic bags

I think I will only go to places which supports green.

raya photos

am taking the advantage of FULL carbo-loading during raya period... Rendang, ketupat, nasi himpit, soto, raya cookies..... all goes into my stomach without second thoughts...

Here are some raya shots

i think tisha looks angelic here.... ahahhaha.. but u should see her during raya, kept digging in the glass cookies jar...

BIM is days away

BIM is only days away, THREE days to be exact...

Borneotrekker asked me about my list... So here it is...

Before:
1. Buy gatorade, 100plus, 2 power gel (already bought 2:strawberry banana-1x caffeine & double latte-2x caffeine @GNC) (done)
2. (Decide and)Wash sports bra, shorts, socks to be used during the race and set it aside. (done)
3. Pick up registration pack (on friday-lunch break) (done)
4. Finalize mp3 songs for 3.5 hrs. Get rid of song that has lyrics like these "why am i doing this" or "time's so slow" or "i must be crazy" or "i can't go back in time"... (done)
5. Attach bib on vest. (done)
6. Attach chip on shoes (done)
7. Separate car key (leaving car alarm & 1 key only) (done)
8. Carbo-load... Carbo-load... Carbo-load... (done)


The day before:
1. Prepare post-race stuff in a bag: extra clothes, water, slipper, some cash.
2. Charge mp3 player to full
3. Charge phone to full
4. Drink plentyyy of fluid.... Aim: 1 ltr every 2-3 hours
5. Lay off running gears: top, running vest, shorts, socks, shoes, phone, mp3 players, powergel
6. Go to pasta party and carbo-load!
7. Sleep early

The morning:
1. Wake up at 4am
2. Breakfast menu: Strawberry wholemeal bread topped with peanut butter+nutella and half cup of coffee ( i know coffee is a no-no, but i can't start my day without coffee!)
3. Drink at least 500 ml fluid 1 hour before
4. Make sure I don't forget these: powergel, mp3 player, phone and post-race stuff!
5. Sunblock! Sunblock! Sunblock!

Pls let me know if I miss anything....

Eerrrrkkkkk, I'm nervous... Those who are available on sunday, plss come and cheer us up! And I'm all available if you want to give me good stuff to look forward to(eg, want to belanja me coffee bean after race or full body massage)...

Until next post...

makeup & skincare

Today's entry is for girls only... warning: product review!

I am trying Clinique 3-steps... Let's see if I'm rajin enough to follow the regime when I come home late at night. I'd probably just wash my face and go to sleep straight, and say forget-it to toner&mosturizer. Some says the combinations of 3-steps can be drying on certain skin. For me, the last time I tried the facial soap(bar), it was certainly drying on my skin. So to avoid flaky skin, I choose the mildest of all, facial wash extra mild and toner#2 for dry/combination skin, then followed with dramatically mosturizing gel (oil-free) courtesy of mel who bought it from faraway.

I so like makeup of jlo... Very natural, glowy healthy skin!
Basic makeup:-

Mineralize satinfinish: light coverage, dewy-looking(not matte) and it has SPF15. But... as I said, it's pretty light coverage, and doesn't last as long as studio fix, so sometimes skin can look oily esp on a hot day.


My fav concealer:Studiofinish perfect to hide blemishes/dark circles. The best part of it, I only need very little amount of this, so this one small little pot can last quite awhile.Select Sheer Compact: Hmmm, other than the color is perfect for my skin-tone, I don't think there's anything special with it. I encountered few powders which can look-whitish/greyish on skins (wrong color!), so this is perfect for me. I think I might try body-shop one next time...
I don't really do the perfect-matte-full-makeup, so my foundation which I bought in march last year is still not-finished. Even my concealer still not 1/4 finished.... So, I guess you know how ugly un-polished I look most days.

Advice to girls: i think foundation is the most important makeup, so picking the right color is important. Your foundation is like your face pallete. So, if you have a perfect blemish-free skin, you are truly blessed. To draw colors (eg eye shadows, blushers) on a clean pallate is much better right? So, to choose, we want a color that blends with our skin-tone (read: definitely not lighter or else gonna look like a mask)... Frugal tips: If you find a (cosmetic counter)'s foundation that suits you, maybe you can bring leftovers of foundation and look for the same shade in drugstore. The same goes with compact powder.

Sure, makeup is fun, the blending, the brushing, the mixing and matching... But the worst part of all is removing every little trace of makeup at the end of the day. Don't even mention if putting on eyeliner/mascara, it takes many-many cotton balls with (gentle) eye-makeup remover to get rid of em. I guess that's the reason, I don't even care putting those two on. I truly salute those yang never without makeup, meaning those who take-off makeup for prayer at noon, then put on makeup again after that, then take off again in the evening. That's plentttyyy of work!

So, girls.. have fun with your makeup!

hari raya

Hari Raya is tomorrow!

Yet, I am so freakin' nervous with my first and probably last half marathon everrrr NEXT WEEK... Blame it on borneotrekker who psyched my mind to join. Hahahaha.... Anyway, this week will be mostly tapering off my (nonexistant) training and hopefully my mind would be prepared for the unexpected. I mean 1 month of puasa (with few trainings in between) must count for something right.

Despite my (lack of) training, of course I must prepare the other stuff. eg, buy power gel and organize song list, decide what to bring on that day. And yea, I forgot the most important thing... deciding what to WEAR! hehehe.. trust me i think it is important, at least if I (hopefully not) fall, I'll be in my best attire ever. Heheheheh...

2 weeks of training left:
This week: wed: off**, thurs:off**, friday(7km), saturday(4km), sun(10km)
Next week:mon(off-because of makan2 at office),tues(6km), wed(5km),thurs(3km), fri(off),sat(off),sunday(Half Marathon)
**I'm from a family where girls are expected to serve coffee/tea, and probably I will be in charge of filling the cookies jar.

Anyway,

Selamat Hari Raya Everyone!
Maaf Zahir Batin

crazy over list

i am a list person... i have memo pads & pen in my car, so in the midst of crazeee traffic i can make my list. It can be list of things to buy, list of things to pay, list of things i have to do, list of shows i want to download, and the list goes on forever....

well... so what does a list person do if she/he has to run for more than an hour. make a list in my head! the longest i've ran is 1 hour and 30 minutes, and even by the end of it, i ran out of things to think. okay... okaay... i know running is supposedly to-be-something relaxing where you keep your heads clear, let the wind blow your hair, and enjoy the scenery (n also men in super-short pant with buff body). but i can't do that! when i don't think about stuff, all i could think about is the cramping of my stomach, pain in my leg, my super-oily face, dripping sweats all over my body(yikes)...

So i guess i have to make my list again today... places i wanna go visit... food i want to eat... things i hate about people... things i love about people... funny things i've heard over the years... friends that i'd love to see again... relationship drama... goals in life.. financial goals.. places i want to be in 5 years time...

and you know what, by the end of my 1.5 hour run, i am exhausted physically and emotionally! help!!!

cravings

I have craving for this....

Honeywheat bagel with strawberry cream cheese... I cannot find bagels anywhere in kk, except for maybe special order from whimsy's friend Janet who can make her own bagel! So, maybe next time I would have to learn to make my own cream cheeseMy favorite butter pecan ice-cream.

Lindor Truffles, creamy and absolutely heaven...

OK. Enough about food, I've got to jog 7km today... yikes... I think when I'm done, I gotta treat myself for some butter pecan ice-cream from tong hing ;)

info: running on empty stomach

Countdown: 17 more days....

Last week, I started running again in the evening because of fear that I can't cope with hours of running next month... So far, I sucessfully get to drag myself to go around the lake. Good thing is I never missed sahur in the morning around 4am. Bad thing is by 4pm, my stomach would grumble... I wonder if running on empty stomach is good or bad? Then, I found this article...

Quote:
"Exercising on an empty stomach does not force the body to burn more fat. In some cases, it actually forces it to break down more muscle to get at amino acids, which is converted into glucose and then helps supply the body with energy. Small amounts of glucose are needed to burn fat. (Supplying muscle to help move the body)."

"Exercising for more than 30 minutes on an empty stomach or at the end of the day is unhealthy and unadvisable since, without the necessary energy to fuel your workout, your body will start using your muscles as an energy source. This is not an efficient form of energy, and you may overexert yourself and experience dizziness or dehydration."

Habislah my muscles will be burned out... I wonder if I should continue with my training... Maybe just walking perhaps to get more endurance?

preparation

I can't wait for my off days! Three more working days until my super-long off days! Hooray.... Not that I'm excited for raya or anything. Celebrating raya when grown up is hmmmm let's just say can be energy consuming. Because if I could, I want to spend my last puasa (off) days by laying down on the couch while watching my long-list of tv shows rather than cleaning the house.

Speaking of tv, most fall tv is here even Heroes! Almost all shows are going to be back next week e.g. Dirty Sexy Money, Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Grey's and others. I think the oldest show I watch now is OTH... I sometimes think that the script writer must've been living in some sort of wrecked life and never had a truly fulfilling relationship. Somehow she/he came up with all the cheesy lines that if they're being said in real world, I think I would turn green. I watched the last episode where Nathan and Haley just got back from the doctor since Nathan's back has been hurting him. So, here what Nathan said to Haley:

Nathan: I played that game for you, Haley and you know what? I’d give it up for you too. Because as much as I love playing the game and the person that I am when I play it, I love being a husband and a father more.

I mean who would say that in real life??? The script writer's significant other might actually say this in real life.

Mr X: I do this because of me and you know what? I will never give it up just for you because you don't like it. Because as much as I enjoy this, I want you to be supportive with what I do. It's part of me, so if you don't like it, screw you.

Heheheheh.. Okay, maybe that's a tad passive-aggresive and quite cynical. I mean as much as I melt over cheesy lines, I still believe actions speak louder than words. Don't pay attention to what they say, because all matters are their actions. Practical and make sense?Anyway, I still enjoy OTH despite the melodramatic twenties years-old life and cheesy scripts. I mean, everyone is entitled to at least one guilty pleasure right?

On training, I did run(sometimes walk) yesterday for 5kms (including 2 km of warm up/cool down). My feet was (still) killing me, my head was throbbing, and no amount of "eye of the tiger" can move my feet any faster. So, I stopped early, and glad to be home then fell asleep at 9pm. This fasting month, normally on work days, I don't really go back to sleep after sahur. I think it would definitely help on my race day where I had to run at 6am (and i'm not even a morning person!!!).

Alamak, race day is coming close... I get anxious just thinking about it.

randomness

omg! my feet is killing me! Good news, I just got back from 1 round of warm up+7 rounds of walk/run+1 round of cool down. The bad news is I finished my 7 rounds in 65 minutes..... By the end of it, I saw many many many stars on the sky. And how am I supposed to run 3 times of that, I have no idea...

I received this email sent by borneotrekker who the last time I saw look pretty fit ;)

"

Hi Runners,

If you want to know how to mentally push through the later stages of your race, then this could be the most important message you will ever read:

As your body becomes tired and possibly fatigued towards the later stages of your race, then you may find that your mind becomes negative.

You will find that these negative thoughts leave you feeling even more tired and overwhelmed and your physical state will drop to even lower levels.

To over come this, allow your mind to dwell on positive events in your life. Times when you felt strong and unstoppable. Remember how you felt. The way you were breathing and how that felt in your body.

Allow these feelings to take over your way of being, until you are feeling these powerful feelings throughout your body.

The more you dwell on these positive and powerful events from your past, the quicker you will regain your composure and strength... particularly in the later stages of your race.

Warmly,
David Styles "

I'm gonna need plenty of extra positive ion in my mindset to overcome this.... I welcome anybody who wants to belanja me buka puasa, or gifts... Remember, you do want me to have positive events before my run right?

until next time...

fitness journal (including warm up/cool down)
*17/9 - 4km
*18/9 - 6km
*20/9 -2km
*22/9 -9km

two one

Nope.. I am not turning 21 years old- that ship had sailed a long time ago...

Anyway, I was reminded by a friend that BIM is going to be here in over 3 weeks. That's like 21 days... TWO-ONE days for 21 kilometres. And supposedly to finish up in 3 hours and 30 minutes... I am no where near ready(nor fit), and to hope that my luck is gonna just change that.. Mmmmm, probably never gonna happen.

So, after more than half a month fasting (and not jogging obviously), I force myself to jog after work as I finish work at 4.15pm every day. Rather than aiming certain kilometres (normally i can only do 4-5kms), I just aim to be active and moving as I can. I hope I won't fall and faint during the run. And if I do, I will make sure I will fall around cute hunks so they can carry me (hahahaha)...

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity"

crimes etc...

I read rina's entry on how she (her car) was robbed when she was getting her buka puasa food at bazaar ramadhan. I found it funny reading other people response; other people were mostly blaming her because of her kononnya carelessness of leaving laptop in the car rather than blaming the pencuri who was carefree-ly smashing cars and stealing stuff out of people car. Pencuri nowadays mmg not scared of anything anymore. I think we are more scared of them stealing our stuff than them scared of getting caught by us (eh, does this make sense?).

I think that's why I don't jog at tasik likas anymore because there had been cases where wallets/handbags/others were stolen. Some say the pencuri in tasik likas dressed up like joggers then smash car and steal stuff (even before dark). The few times I left them in the boot and went for a run, I was anxious of somebody's gonna steal stuff from my car (not that I was a worry freak). Because if I do lose stuff, I would still be blamed for being careless and "live-in-my-fantasy-world" where all people still don't take others' belonging.

On the same topic of safety, I am still getting many many many many many phonecalls everytime I am (driving) out at night (including when I'm working late). Not to mention if I want to stay alone in the house, that's like a big No-No. Because the excuse is... there's gonna be some penjahat/pencuri or other evil out there gonna come and get me. Why of why? The 3 years since I'm back, it's like I'm being brain washed that everywhere in KK is not safe (especially for girls), and somehow my brain is programmed that way. Does this only happen to me or maybe I'm just surrounded by over-protective people (whom I'm sure doing it because they love me).....

“…there is only one sin ,only one. And that is theft…When you kill a man, you steal a life, Baba said. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness”

The Kite Runner (17-18)

Well......good thing that puasa month I get to leave work early....

and we here in sabah get to enjoy off day tomorrow ;)

Until next time, have a safe week everybody!

happy birthday

My niece ayu turns FOUR today... owh, how fast time flies...

Happy Birthday!

ohhh yummmm

After awhile of using personal laptop for work. I've finally gotten my work laptop last week. It's Dell XPS M1330 in midnight blue. I'm not so fond of the blue color- blue was never my favourite color. Initially I wanted Red (super-hot) or pink (super-cute and sweet), but they don't have it in stock unfortunately. Okay, I'm not supposed to get excited over it ( since it's for work anyway, and when does work=fun?), but it does kinda cool since it has 2mp camera (for webcam-ing) and DVD writer
( i think im gonna test-try this)...

So, maybe I can take the opportunity to do ehemmmm *not* do backup files on DVDs while I still got the chance. So, first thing first, I've got to burn that 17Gb of picture files. Sayang lah these pictures, memories fade but.. pictures stay clear ( i hope!). Years ago, me and friends were soooo rajin to print out our pictures, not one copy but TWO copies of each roll of film. Printing pictures costs about $3.99 per roll, and to print double copy we only had to add $1, so apa lagi everybody printed two copies. So, what to do with the extra extra copies of pictures? In the end, we toss 'em out by the time we had to move out in May . hehehhe...

Soooo... I was doing some photo organizing (it's by year, btw)... Then I saw my travel pictures... (gazillion years ago) and at that time I was still using 2mp digital camera (hey, at that time 2mp is considered very cangggihhh one and other people were still using manual ones).

***for my travel buddies...

It's me, con and mel's trip in dec 2003 (5 yrs ago!)... This trip is surely a memorable one... To save cost, we had booked 1 occupancy room in hoping to squeeze the 3 (small) of us in the room. Unfortunately, we couldn't do that... Even though we tried to use the excuse "ooh, we're just gonna chit chatting, or come up for a bit", but the guy still said "no, you can't come up to the room" in his accent. Hehehehe... Only I could stay, while mel and con had to find another hotel room. It was a day before new year's eve, and most of the hotels were fully booked. Gettting around was hard enough in the city, and we had to find hotels? Good thing we found a hotelroom just nice for 2..

having breakfast in mel and con's room while con was getting ready... (this was us saving cost by bringing bekal to travel)


new year's eve and we did stay until midnight to welcome 2004... we left the place early to avoid cramped Vaporetti, but... we mistakenly rode one which went to the opposite way, in the end that vaporetti went back to the same place we came from and the crowd came in and filled the ferry anyway...


filling film on a manual SLR camera...that time bawa film sampai 7-8 rolls... hehehhe... after develop, took hoursss to sort out pictures...me and con... in that big bag was a big(quite heavy) tripod so that we could take picture like below =)

we took out tripod even in the middle of places.. hehehe... until other person realized and said "look at them, they have a tripod and everything"

okaaay.. enough with the travel pictures... i must say it's kinda therapeutic to look at old pictures... nowwww, i'm itching for a getaway....

until next update....