Time flies..

Phew... its gonna be Chinese New Year already... that was fast, really really fast... In a blink of an eye, we moved from xmas, to New Year (english one) then Chinese New Year... I'm not too sure if the Indians celebrated theirs in the midst of all this, but in the less than 3 months since Jan 1st, more than half of the population of the world would have celebrated their New Year's, including the Muslim population with their Awal Muharram. Interesting thought, huh? heheh...before I start shooting off the wrong path, this entry will NOT be about New Year's Resolutions.... tried that trick for many years now, and the only thing I have to show for it was that I HAD a resolution . :).. no no no no no , this entry will be about how fast time fly, and really, how much I can actually crap before finally reaching my point..

Ever notice how you get from point A to point C without passing over point B... hey, some even bypass everything and hit point H, L, Z even before it hits them in their face. Really, this happened to me last week.. Started out with a quiet Monday after the Sunday's race.. Okay.. make new training programme to include more swimming this time (thanks Chai for the swimming tips). Reached home the usual time around 6pm, and started off swimming.. then went for a short run... Came back, chatted online, sleep... - Chcked... Monday over... then Tuesday... repeated what I did on Monday, but started earlier at 6am cos of the lecture at 7.30 am at SSC... chcked - Tuesday over... Wed??? Busy preparing for my presentation on Friday... then ran at night... Wed- over.... darn... so fast and half the week has disappeared... next Thursday - swam at night, reread through presentation... Thurs - over again... Finally Friday - did THE presentation... :)... not too shabby...TGIF TGIF running through my head... phew...can rest in the weekend..Sat - ran and blade in ECP - got sunburnt.. then shopping with Jerry in the evening , bye bye Sat... and finally Sun - slept in and watched DGrayMan - nice anime, btw,... and ran at night... ta da... one week over... whoa... what just happened??!! My life in a nutshell!!? Am I doomed to relive this over and over again??... hahahaha.... it really just hit me how fast time is flying.... this and the fact that my gym trainer, Edmund, reminded me that to finish the Ultramarathon in May, I'll prob need to to run a 42-50km long trail at least once a week... but still...

Imagine you have only one day to live (sounds cliche, ya) and in that one day, you get to do anything you want to do.... what will it be? I realised that if that were to ever happen, I wanna spend my time with the people I love... be it my family, my friends, or whoever it is that has even the slightest impact in my life...and you know what... in that one week in my life...probably only 10-20% was spent doing what I just said (mainly cos family all in Ipoh for now). I need a change, and I'll start with the upcoming CNY... time to head home after many years of abscence... :) .. so I hope to see all the Ipoh-ans when I'm back there.... except mebbe Ivy, which I'll probably see again soon, knowing how much I love KL as well... so to all out there, sometimes life throw us non-stop oppurtunities, sometimes it just gives up heaps of trouble... take a look back in that one week that just passed... and ask yourself.. if I have only one day to live, what will I do?.. you'll realise what matters most to you... and sometimes, hitting each and every point in your life is a good thing, although it just takes a longer time to reach there...

so trudge on, my friends..

haha....just realised this is another crap blog insert of mine... :P

Busy weekend...

Hmm..accidentally posted this up without the contents...age really catching up on me already. Last weekend was spent in KL, torturing myself through a 30 km hilly race at Taman Tasik Perdana. It all started one fine day in December, after the Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore, that I came to know of this race in KL. Signed up for it without a second thought (the usual Jonie style of doing things), and voila... ended up in KL on Saturday. The trip down with BK was fun.. visited the Pavillion (KL's latest and second poshest shopping mall) and walked till I almost dropped from ?2pm to around 9pm (from Berjaya Times Sq, to the Lake Gardens itself for Bib collection, then all the way to the Pavillion) when Ivy picked us up at KL sentral station. Then, went to mamak for the last carbo loading dinner before heading back to nap nap. (darn, cant find the DVD's I bought, but I know its in the house). The next day began at 5am, when we all woke up . Ivy, the Osama of the Roads (thanks a lot), dropped us at Taman Tasik Perdana. The race started at 6am, and phew...was darn hilly!!! Every km was a hill... almost die-ded... but the last 10km was not too bad, had a amazing chat with an Ironman triathlete.. got quite good tips from him.. Finally finished the race after 3hrs.. with a speedy sprint the last 500m. Yayy!!! The finishing area was full of people, doing the Malaysian thing- eating. After getting my medal, straight to the PowerBar booth to meet up with BK.... And... surprisingly I also met up with Fairus (friend from the prev Climbathon in Kinabalu last year). He looks buffer than before though :). After grabbing enough chow and drinks, went to Bukit Jalil Stadium where Ivy picked us up. The Sunday ended nicely, but tiring with the trip back to Singapore. Reached at around 11pm, tired, but managed a dinner with BK before calling it a night.... Nice nice trip... need more trips like this to invigorate my adventurous spirit... Thanks again to the Chai-ster for putting up with BK and me... :) .... till the next KL race then... (which will prob be the KL International Marathon in March) ... trudge on, fellow friends...

Men....just men...

I wonder, what do guys do when they go to toilet... some guy came forscreening today. Went for urine testing ... akks..after urine microscopy - sperm and blood in the urine.....ackkkssssss what was he doing in the toilet??!!! in that short 5 mins while collecting urine...sigh sigh sigh

Blisters

Got a blister after rock climbing - the rock climbing shoes were 2 sizes smaller than normal shoes.. plus, I forgot to cut my toenails.. in conclusion - alw cut your nails before wearing small shoes.. that or go for surgery to shorten the 2nd toe.

Ambitions...

Ambitions.. something we used to have when we were young, but somewhere along the way it gets skewed with reality. I've known people who had, all their lives have only wanted to be an engineer, but ended up doing something else- life sciences research - in the end. I've also known some who have always wanted to be a doctor, but ended up hating the job once they're stuck with it. The noble idea of altruistically helping someone else gets mixed up with the reality of hopelessness, that the only thing in mind is to finish up and go home at the end of the day. How about those that never had a fixed ambition. The ones that changes their answer everytime you ask them what they wanted to be.. I was one of them...

I've fancied history - anthropology, sociology - more than medicine itself. Was always into the way things work, the fundamental ideas that govern the laws of the world, and never had a problem with maths, hence physics was fun to me. I liked to work with my hands and was ever so eager to unscrew watches, plug equipments up... just to see how it works.. Can never draw but loved to write, stories, poems,....whatever that tickles my interest then. Arguing is fun, when it is to prove a point (hate to argue over minor matters, feels that its a total waste of time) ... so a lawyer maybe? How about my love for the outdoors... love trekking, breathing in fresh clean air only accesible way out from the big cities... so where does all this put me?... Am I in the right profession? Helping people - check. Learning about how amazing the human body is - check. But listening to others whine about their day - cancel that check. Trying my best to cheer them up after a bad day only to get complaints later on - cancel another check. Or how about working nonstop for 2 days without lunch, dinner, breakfast, toilet breaks, sleep, etc etc etc..only to have people complain against me, piling more work on me - hmm.... don't know what to say already. For now, life is good where I am, but will it remain so in the next few months?

Hmm.. this has been plaguing my mind for the past few weeks as the next posting selection process is going to close in another 2 weeks time. In the long term, I don't think I'll stay on after my bond (just another 5 yrs), as I need to feel free again. That's the only thing that I'm very sure of myself, that I need to be free. Who knows, maybe by then I would find the right person to give myself to, or I might be travelling and enjoying the highlights of the world that God has created (free-thinker, btw) :)... Life changes all the time, sometimes for the worse, other times it gets better. In the end, it's not what you wanted in the beginning that counts, its not what you get in the end that really matters, its about what you learned about yourself in the journey of it all. It's how you adapt to the changes, (or for some, it's how you make the changes adapt to you) and finally how you affect others. So, for now, I'll just suck it all in and stick with my life. It'll move along, and I'll be the star in my life (or till I find some sad poor soul to share it with)....
Till then, move on...

Small things to brighten the day...

Small things have been happening to me the past few days that taught me to appreciate the lighter side of life. Been weird, cos only nowadays I noticed how special I am.. (haha..another bragging session). I've always maintained that others are special, and they bring me joy in my life, that I've neglected to feel special for myself as well. This doesn't mean that I'm downgrading how much I love my friends, family and almost everbody else I know, just that I'm starting to fall in love with myself once again...

The past 2 weeks...
2 words: Cute footballers!!! (and nice asses, six-packs....etc etc)

Then, on Saturday...
After a really really tiring day, the night was spent at Wala wala with my fave band playing... thought I caught one of the cute band guys smiling at me (hehe...or how I wish he really was)...

On Sunday...
the cab driver was wondering why I was smiling when looking out from the cab.. He said I was smiling from my heart and thought I won the lottery or sth... I told him that I was just happy that day, and that I wanted others to share the smile with me.

On Monday... (yesterday)
Had a fantastic 20km run in PR of 1hr50min, then went out with housemate for a fantastic dinner at Crystal Jade.. had porridge, and a great time chatting with her. Been a long time since we had dinner together at the restaurant.

These may seem like small unimportant things to many other, but to me, it just made my days felt complete.... So look around, you might some small things here and there that you just take for granted. As in the lyrics of a song that keeps playing in my head nowadays- "take a look at the ordinary... don't need to look for paradise,... you might just find, an angel in disguise......"

Wala....wala....

Wala wala, to those who hasn't heard about it yet, is a small little restaurant/pub at a corner in Holland Village, nearby where I stay. Downstairs is a normal innocent looking restaurant, and upstairs is a crowded pub featuring different bands daily. It's a great place to get together with friends, listen to great live music and well, just chill . Almost a regular there now, been there twice this week, once on Friday night and again , yesterday night. Was full house last night, and had to wait almost 40 mins before finally going upstairs, but the wait was well rewarded, with my fave band, the uneXpected, playing. Oooo...love it when Brandon, the drummer, sings.. hehe.. especially when he sings 2 become 1 in a rockish tune.

Food at Wala wala is good too, but somehow I get the feeling that the chicken wings have shrunk (and it's happening islandwide to other eateries as well). The pizzas are thin crusted, not the doughy pizza hut ones, so its not very very very very filling, but just right. ooo, not forgetting the calamari rings... nice.. a must have when hungry while chilling.

The drinks can get quite pricey as well, but then again, its the same almost every else in Singapore as well. They have 5 different choices for Draft beer, my fave now being the ?Konig Ludwig. They do have other drinks - cocktails, wine and the non-alcoholic drinks in their menu as well. During weekdays, its free entry to upstairs, but on Fri and Sat nights, cover charge which is a drink, is imposed. Still not too bad, eh...

It's been mentioned in some of the more famous blogs by now, and it deserves it's rave recommendation by them. So whenever you're in Singapore, make a note to drop by Wala wala. You might find me there, especially on Thursdays and Saturday nights ;)...

Got shot!!!

ughhh... feel weak now.. fingers trembling... will I ever recover from this traumatic incident...

It happened yesterday afternoon, but I could still remember it very well, as though it just happened a minute ago. There I was, just hiding innocently behind the sandbags, awaiting for a chance to display my skills, well honed at the arcades playing Time Crisis 1-4(R), when out of no where, a pellet hit my fingers...my left fingers to be exact.. and out I was... left to deal with my wounded fingers (but mostly pride) arrghhh.. it was a dramatic moment, where the seconds turned to hours... when I realised that I had to leave my team mates to fend for themselves. With sadness and regret (more like scared of being shot again), I walked out (more like ran out too)... never turning back (but I did continue to watch the game from the starting bunker)....

hehe.... the whole department went for a paintball game yesterday. The centre was closed for half a day but as expected (and also cos we couldn't find the place), we started late, almost an hour late, but that didn't deter our ever rising spirits to shoot one another. I think most of us had someone in mind to shoot at, but in this game, everyone except your team mates are your enemies. We started out with a short briefing session, where we were taught on using the 'marker' aka gun and the rules of the game. Apparently, there are paintball competitions held worldwide!! and with great vigour too , do all the contestants participate. We were divided into teams, which were changed in every game (we played 3 games altogether). Then off to the firing range to try out the weapons. Seems that its easier to shoot by roughly aiming the gun, than to use the sight to aim. The battle then begins...

The grassy pitch was wet from the rain in the early afternoon, and our shoes were covered in mud once we stepped into the battlezone. Looking at the bunkers there were, strategies were whipped up in the last few minutes before the games begin.. I was in team 1 throughout.. with Brother and Unker and the dietitians.. Name : Team Brother..very generic name.. haha.. our strategist was Unker, who opted for passive aggresiveness, and it worked..we won the first game. Second and Third game, I was in Boss's team, with Boss as the boss of the team.. It was in the third game that I got shot...by my AC, right smack on my left fingers while trying to peek out and get a good aim..eww..the paint was sticky..

The game turned out to be a blast, with some free shows as well (Fawzi with his... err.. pants coming off was the butt of all jokes). Later, we adjourned to dinner, buffet style. Food was goooooood, liked the ?Mongolian sauteed prawn. Had a free ride home after that thanks to Unker.. :) .. turns out he stays nearby.. hmm (evil smile coming along) ....

phew, it was a long day indeed... was dead tired by the time I got home, and totally knocked off after showering. hehe... this is really going to be one trully memorable day ...

Total damage of the day:
Pants and shoes, Left fingers, Pride...

PS... call me out if anybody gg for another round of paintball... ;)

Brazillian bods..

ahhh...just seen 2 hot brazillian soccer players... with chiselled six packs and all... hot hot hot... darn shoulda taken their pics.. hehe

First blog, in over a year..

Life, sometimes I wonder if it's worth living through it. Ever since I was a kid, I've always wondered how I would be like when I'm all grown up. And now that I am grown up, I wonder if I'll make enough for the next bill payments, the rentals, the loan repayment, whether I'll meet my socalled life-mate (yes, not soul mate), have kids, and finally whether I'll ever get to retire, and finally what will happen after I die. Wow.. big jump from idle fantasies to real time messes. I guess everybody makes that leap, some takes it on gradually, and other's its like a rude awakening. Looking back, mine was like a rude awakening cushioned by the help of friends who previously had they're own rude awakenings. Unfortunately, when i had my first solo encounter with "growing up", it ended up bad.. but I realised that it made me stronger than all other encounters I had before, with someone holding my hand and leading me slowly. I guess, the best way to learn, as all others have said is to just jump into the deep end of a pool... and try your best to swim out of it before you drown. On the way up, you'll definitely swallow more water, you'll gasp for air, you'll try to claw your way out.. sometimes you see a helping hand that pulls you out a little, sometimes not.. and when you finally do... it feels great to breath in fresh air again.. I'm glad I pulled through... but I have to give thanks to all the hands that were there... YY, BK, KM, DRK, R3BW, CW, KL peeps mommy, daddy, bro and all colleagues at work... i would've drowned, but you all just wouldn't let go... thank you, for not letting go.. now its my turn to return the deed to all out there.. for a good deed needs to be passed on.. and I guess, that's my reason for continuing living a somewhat meaningless life at times..

Friends from my past said that I have changed a lot. One was surprised that I'm not as ambitious as I was back in Ipoh. Heck, she was even more ambitious than me for that matter. Maybe I've mellowed, maybe I've finally found my priorities in life. I feel smug saying this but I feel at times that I've achieved a lot in the past 5 yrs that I never thought I would have accomplished. I've also learned that it's not how much you have, how famous you are, or how many people you have worhipping you that counts. It's how much you can care, love and help others that matters. Am I being to idealistic here? Maybe, maybe not. Think about it..give it thought. Is living forever that important? Is owning that next LV bag the next big thing in your life?... Or is putting a smile on someone else's face more fulfilling? Or is that warm rush of blood through your head when you love someone and that person loves you back feels better? I'd take the latter 2 options, anytime, anywhere.. hmm...yup...i've mellowed down... a lot :).. don't get me wrong, still not mature yet though... I'm still a kid inside..

Blogging @ work is fun...but it ends when lunch time is over.. hopefully this blog will last at least one post more than my last one (which was around 2 posts only)... ciao for now..