Blogging @ Work …

is NOT a cool thing to do … but I am doing it anyway because I honestly have nothing to do right now and I think I can spare 15min being completely irresponsible. It isn’t my fault that the system is down for maintenance, and I am the only one in my department that is in office right now. So besides attending to emails, there really isn’t anything for me to do today. And I am gonna enjoy this freedom

So, I think I have been incredibly antisocial lately.  It was Halloween 2 days ago, and the same day last year I was having a blast @ Velvet. But this year? I was home in bed with my laptop. The ENTIRE day. Yeap, how super happening eh?

I haven’t been feeling very good recently. Physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. I get tired easily, and I lack interest in most things. I want to feel excited or enthusiastic about stuff, but I just can’t. I am not grouchy or sulky or anything like that, I just feel … well, neutral I suppose. Kind of like a yeah-whatever state of mind.

I hope I snap out of it soon. This is seriously detrimental to my social life and probably my mental health in the long run.

I think the only person that I can imagine spending lots of time with right now is my best friend. Well, and my godson of course. I am not really sure I can stand being with other people for an extended period of time without feeling irritated or just plain bored. And the idea of noisy company in a large group is just so so unappealing. I have always preferred one-to-one time, or small intimate get togethers to loud gatherings (with exceptions, like when I am in a party mood or feeling like a social butterfly). I still think that I can be uber sociable, I have no problems talking to most people, I am totally comfortable with having random conversations with people I don’t know very well, I can share jokes with complete strangers, and I think I can even have fun while making frivolous chatter with others. But I also realized that I am now a lot less inclined to want to do stuff like that, even when a “good reason” (such as expanding my social circle) exists. I’d do it (and not resentfully may I add) if required, or I’d gladly do it if networking at a particular function is what my work entails, and I’d do it without complaints if it is a favour to a friend to help out at a party. But to do it for my own personal ‘benefit’? I think I’ll pass. For now at least.

I wonder if I am just getting increasingly hard to please or am I looking at the wrong places at the wrong time. I just can’t seem to find anything, be it an activity, an object or a person, particularly interesting. Everything is just ‘ok’, ‘alright’, ‘not bad’ or ‘I don’t know’. 

It sucks when everything is so bland.

Pure indulgence

Indulgence is dinner @ Shimbashi Soba with your best friend,  your Godson & bestie’s sis-in-law.

Indulgence is chilling @ Royal Copenhagen having chocolate cake and drinks.

Indulgence is an evening of good conversation, good food & good company.

Indulgence is holding a bundle of joy close to you and breathing in his powdery baby scent.

This is indulgence.

Day 14 :)

Today is Day 14 of my Lose-Weight-Mission.

So far so good

Hopefully there will be fairly significant results by the time I get to Day 25 or so.

This is going to be a slow and steady journey. Not expecting nor aiming for drastic weight loss which is likely to be temporary anyway. And I definitely don’t want to look pale and haggard at the end of this because that would really defeat the purpose of losing weight. The skinny druggie look is so not what I want even if some people might find that appealing (you know, in the starved-supermodel way).

Anyway, my ThinPrep Pap Smear came back all cleared! Wheeeeeee! Normal results finally!! Very expensive to do so many tests ok!! *relieved*

I am having a massive craving for Japanese food right now. I want juicy sticks of yakitori and lots of delish sushi. But right now I can only THINK about them. Eating them would spell disaster.

Control is key!

Run.Ran.Running

I bought my first pair of Asics a couple of days ago Congratulations to me!

It is the first step to committing myself to regular runs. Afterall, the shoes are incredibly expensive (to me at least, I normally spend <$100 on workout shoes seeing how mine tend to wear out faster due to frequent usage) and they are *ahem* ‘REAL’ running shoes. Or so people who run claim.

The goal is to run 2 or 3 times a week, not more than an hour each time.  I’ll be satisfied if I can keep to that for the next few months. Perhaps in time to come, I will be able to run more without hurting my knees.

I googled and found a pic of my new shoes! Nice?

It’s time …

I have decided that it is time I get 100% serious about losing weight.

The amount of weight that I have gained over the last 2yrs is just obscene. And “working out regularly” and “eating healthy” are no longer good enough. Such vague dieting concepts may be effective for most people, but sadly they ain’t good enough in my case.

It is time to focus and enforce even more discipline and put in place a more defined plan.

I have to do this.

I need to do this.

I will do it.

Touched by a Bus Ride

This morning I took a 10E to work and a number of stops before the bus reached Raffles Place, it started to get cranky. The driver had trouble getting the bus to move whenever we stop at a red light. I think most drivers would ‘declare’ a break-down after several attempts, but this driver didn’t. He restarted the engine many many times, dragging the bus slowly along the crowded roads and tried his best to prevent the bus from stalling. I believe he wanted to make it to Raffles Place before telling the passengers that the engine has broken down seeing how 90% or more of the passengers belonged to the Raffles Place crowd.

Usually I feel a tinge of annoyance when the bus screws up, but this morning I didn’t. On the contrary, I was very touched that the driver tried his damn best to get us as close to Raffles Place as possible. Despite his best efforts, the bus finally died when we were on the bridge just past Esplanade.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that far a walk to get to work for most people, so I think most of the passengers weren’t too annoyed. The driver was apologizing to everyone of us as he refunded us for that trip and issued a ticket for a free trip next time round.  I thought it was excellent service on his part, and it was particularly commendable in my opinion that he did the best he could to get us as far as he could, rather than giving up after a few attempts. If he didn’t try so hard, I think some of us would have ended up  taking a cab to work, or be very late for work should we opt to wait for the next bus (which is likely to be packed by that time!).

Excellent service in Singapore is rare. And it makes my day to experience such awesome service when shit happens.

Happy mid week everyone

Feeling … limited …

Work is busy busy busy. Leaving at 6pm is impossible on most days. Am happy to be able to make it for 740pm gym classes.

And for the first time today, I went for a 7am BodyPump class. Will try my best to make this a weekly affair.

There is no time for anything else  except work and gym.

But I think it is okay. Because they are all I wanna do these days.

A Raffles Place girl once again!

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be back at work at Raffles Place! It has been almost a year since I stopped taking Bus 10 to Raffles Place 5times a week. I am looking forward to rejoining the frenzy there once more, and getting used to going to the gym at Republic Plaza 2.

我是怪人！

I wonder if there is anyone else who loves eating and/or drinking on a bus. Because I really enjoy doing that. Be it a Starbucks latte, a hastily prepared sandwich from home, or a steaming hot bao from the nearby kopitiam, I derive unexplainable pleasure from eating/drinking during a bus ride. Mostly I’d be reading something while sipping or munching away, sometimes I’d be people watching (or blatantly ogling at some weird/hot/interesting character on the bus), and other times I’d just be staring out of the window. It is not cheap thrill nor some weird satisfaction that I get from this, a more accurate word to describe that feeling is probably contentment. Even if it is just for a short 20 or 30min, I have this sense of quiet contentment which makes me happy. I don’t care that it is short lived happiness, because that is better than none at all. 小小的幸福不管多短暂也是一种幸福！

This morning I went for Collin’s 7am spinning class. It was an Intervals ride but my legs felt heavy so I did an Endurance ride instead. Even though it wasn’t a high energy level workout for me, I am satisfied. Sometimes I think my expectations of things are getting lower and lower. Did a bit of my own light resistance training after that before making my way down to Raffles Place for my appointment with the gynae. I was too early, and she was a little late, so I ended up waiting for almost an hour. Fortunately, the sofa seat was comfy enough for me to snooze while waiting. Heehee! I should have gone to grab breakfast instead to appease my growling tummy, stupid me!

Anyhow, by the time I was done, it was about 11am, and I decided to allow myself a little treat and went to Juiced bar at Republic Plaza to da bao a salad. I say ‘treat’ because I find the salads at Juiced overpriced. The quality is there, but still … I think they can afford to be a little more generous in terms of portion. Nonetheless I love the salads there. In fact I used to eat there at least once or twice a week when I was working at Raffles Place.

The bus ride home was a pleasant one. I got a good seat away from most of the other passengers and away from the blazing hot sun, and spent the 30min or so eating my salad and reading my book. I know it probably sounds a little inconsiderate to be eating on the bus, but I always make it a point not to drop bits of food on the seat, and to avoid any strong smelling foods so as not to annoy the other passengers.

Oh and for those who love celery like I do, Mr Bean makes a pretty good celery soy milk drink. And if you are not a huge fan of celery but don’t mind it, it is still  worth a try because the celery smell/taste is not overpowering. On the other hand, if you are into a sweeter and thicker drink, try the papaya soy milk. I wanted to order that earlier but they ran out of papaya. Boo!

Better go prepare for my interview now. I NEED COFFEE!!!

A slack week!

Thanks to my right knee which is giving me problems again, I didn’t manage to go to the gym on Wed and Sat! 2 days which I normally get very ass-kicking workouts! Grrrrrrrrrr……..!

Fortunately, my Sat was salvaged by some friends who very kindly popped over to my place to play mahjong with me. First  it was Fiona, Pearl, John & myself (while PY entertained himself playing DOTA), then John had to go for his dinner appointment, so the rest of us went off for dinner at Aston’s. And one round of MJ is never enough. So we called Wai Leong, and at 9pm, we resumed MJ-ing (while PY resumed DOTA-ing) and we played another 2 rounds

Fi was the big winner overall, I lost about $13. Not too bad really. I was actually kind of surprised that I lost under $25 because I barely won and I kept drawing crappy tiles. So even though I didn’t win any money, I was still very happy with the whole MJ session. At least I didn’t waste my Sat stoning away or lurking online.

Hopefully I will get some workout done on Sunday. I am so so so craving for a good spin. I know it sounds totally mental but I miss miss miss spinning and pumping!

Yes I am a psycho gym addict!