See you next year...
Leaving the house at 6pm to meet Desmond for Trinity's Watchnight.
Somehow, festive eves and countdowns have stopped being important to me. I value such periods more for their lull time nowadays. Several days of no work which I use to catch up on sleep, shop, have a couple of nice meals and meet up with friends.
Was at home the entire day today - sleeping and watching part of the last service of the year online. Went for a midnight movie (*Blood Diamond) last night and reached home only at about 3am - not enough sleep. I was kinda drifting in and out of service, dreaming that I was backstage at church and my pastor was really making an effort to befriend me - kinda nice feeling but so weird. Didn't wake up properly until 3pm.
Sleeping too much gives me a headache and leaves me feeling all achy - found out over the Christmas break when I was sleeping a lot too. Shall endeavour to sleep less and try to spend my time more constructively - Spring cleaning perhaps...
But I tend to get distracted halfway. Also, I think I develop too much attachment to my belongings - books, photos, clothes, softtoys, old cards, wrappers, plastic bags, etc - so I usually end up throwing very little and re-packing everything away.
I think I have the Aunty Syndrome but I really hate to throw away things that are in perfectly good condition. It's such a waste and what if I need to use it tomorrow? Or next week?
I dream of living with the bare essentials, having a really neat and clutter-free room with items that I can count with my toes and fingers but it is not possible.
Just like how it is impossible for me to travel light. I just cannot bear with the thought of having not enough clothes to wear and my list of what-ifs stretches on and on - so I always end up packing way more than enough.
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Finally visited Lonsdale at Vivo City - they are having a 30% promotion until 1 or 2 Jan. I also found out they have another branch at Velocity when I went to check out Lorna Jane. Bought a pair of black and white Lonsdale weights training gloves for $20 (UP $29) in the end. Also bought a pink tank top from a shop called Animal (also from UK) for $15!
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*Blood Diamond - Didn't plan to watch this movie but it turned out to be really really good! It's set against the backdrop of true events (civil war in Sierra Leone, harvesting of conflict diamonds, village shootings and recruitment of child soldiers) which happened so recently that it's shocking and scary. Really makes you consider how protected we are in Singapore and how disadvantaged the people in Africa are in comparison. Go watch it!
If you are touched and would like to know how you can help improve the living conditions of people in third world nations, check out:
World Vision -
www.worldvision.org.sgWorld Food Programme -
www.wfp.org/english/Concern -
www.concern.ieTo Russia With Love -
http://www.torussiawithlove.ie/
27 December 2006
(1430 hrs)
Just had lunch – dad cooked red cargo brown rice, salmon, stir fry turkey, broccoli and celery. Did an hour of circuit, climbing the stairs, doing leg raises, knee push-ups, lunges and crunches shortly after my last entry. Yup, I’ve showered too so I’m not smelly - but my arms are still itchy… maybe it’s my towel or blanket. Am going to wash them again.
Going to work in about half an hour. Meeting Des to watch Borat tonight - definitely something to look forward to.
(1200 hrs)
Guess I’ve more or less decided that I am moving on. It’s just a matter of time and I’m officially giving myself until the end of 2007 to make a full switch. Might not really take that long though. It all depends on how comfortable I feel. Will start attending service and care more regularly until I feel ready to uproot.
Have been experiencing achy joints (especially in my neck, fingers and legs) the last couple of days on top of the rash. Too much sleep? Or is it because of the cold weather? Maybe it’s from lack of exercise. Des thinks it’s from running too much in the past. I think it’s because of the cold. Used to get rashes back in Aussie too. Maybe a combination of both. Anyway, will have to start working out no matter how achy I feel. Otherwise, I’ll never start…
Where work is concerned, I have decided to just take it easy and use the rest of 2006 to relax, recuperate and prepare for next year instead of worrying about my declining sales and sessions. Coz come January 2007, I’ll be going full steam ahead and sowing a lot more time at the gym.
Have you heard of goal-setting SMARTER way?
SPECIFIC – List down your goals specifically
MEASURABLE – How would you measure your success?
ACTION PLAN – Describe your action plans
REALISTIC – Are your goals realistic and attainable?
TIME FRAME – What is your time frame for these goals?
EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT – Under what circumstances will you consider adjustments?
REVELATION – Write a promise or verse from the Bible that supports these goals
Specific Resolutions for 2007
(Based on 8 categories for a clearer picture of my needs and wants)
1) Spiritual - Make a full switch to TCC by the end of the year
2) Spiritual – QT at least once a week
3) Spiritual – Learn to be wiser and more discerning of situations and people
4) Family and Friends – Work on Building Friendships
5) Family and Friends – Learn to have Unconditional Love and Relentless Belief for and in people
6) Health and Fitness – Shed 5 kilos
7) Health and Fitness – Tone Arms, Abs and Thighs
8) Emotional and Psychological – Better control over depressive mood swings
9) Emotional and Psychological – Be more generous and have compassion for the lost and needy
10) Education, Intellectual and Professional - Take up and complete two fitness related courses (AOK and RHM) + renew CPR
11) Education, Intellectual and Professional – Re-read some of my tertiary texts on Psychology, Literature and Journalism
12) Material and Finances – Save 20K (at least)
13) Material and Finances – Shop less (maximum quota of one item and $50 per month)
14) Leisure – Travel to Phuket and Taiwan (Bali and HK too if possible)
15) Creativity – Dance again, Write more, Practice more on the Keyboard
Conveniently Forgotten
My lovely mama at our Christmas Candlelight service last Sunday!!
Kinda belated but didn't get a chance till now...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
I love Christmas :O)
But I hate Orchard during the Christmas and New Year season. It's like a mad house. Streets and buses packed with shoppers throughout the day. Fortunately, I didn't have any appointments the last 3 days so I've been able to stay out of harm. Heard from some people that they took over an hour walking from Orchard to Somerset. Siao...
Weather has been cold and wet lately. Nice when you're at home sleeping but kinda inconvenient when you need to go out.
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Bought an Adidas Original jacket recently - it's the limited edition Rio De Janeiro blue and white one with a picture of the famous statue of Jesus in Rio. Wanted to buy it earlier last week but decided not to cos it was $129 then.
Not so expensive that I couldn't afford but I felt it was over-priced. And I never buy over-priced items coz then I'll feel ripped off and I won't enjoy my purchase as much. Anyway, I thought long and hard for a couple of days (that's what I usually do) and finally decided to go back last Friday for another look. And guess what! There was a 30% storewide discount! Boy was I glad I didn't buy it when I first saw it!
I was trying on the jacket when from the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar face! An old friend from Ngee Ann! Who is now working for Adidas! Gasp! In the end, I got a 51% discount and paid only $73 for my jacket! What a steal! Praise God and thank you KS :O)
That really made my day!
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Have been getting rashes on my hands and feet the past week and it's spreading to my arms and legs. My mom thinks it's because of the baking...
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23 December 06 (1500 hrs)
Having endless afternoons with nothing to do can be really frustrating, especially when you have one early morning and one late afternoon appointment, leaving a 6 to 8 hour gap in between. Should I stay in town to shop and workout or waste 2 hours travelling so I can spend a couple of hours at home?
Was feeling quite down recently and began seeking solace in the form of baking.
On Wednesday afternoon, I started experimenting with my first batch of Quaker oat and Cranberry cookies. The oat cookies tasted pretty much like plain cookies – not much texture. Desmond liked the Cranberry ones. I baked about 48 in total – they were warm and soft when they were fresh out of the oven but by the time they cooled, they were all rock hard.
Had a sudden burst of inspiration and progressed to cornflake and chocolate chip cookies on Thursday night. These turned out much better - softer. I used a slightly different recipe and added more flour – the dough was a lot dryer and firmer compared to the first try which was wet and lumpy. Baked 62 cookies altogether – but ended up with 8 burnt ones cos I was momentarily distracted with packing my cookies into containers.
They take only 7 to 8 minutes to bake coz I have a special oven-toaster with only one temperature - HOT (the recipe indicated 20-45 minutes on moderate heat). My friends reckon that's why the cookies turned out so hard.
I decided to try something else other than cookies with different fillings this morning...
BANANA WALNUT BROWNIES!!
They’re divine :O) At least I think so and they're not hard! Haha.. probably because of the self-raising flour. In fact, they were a little too soft and crumbly at first but after a day of sitting, the texture became more brownie-like.
I love baking!
Henceforth, I shall be referred to as Grace the Brownie and Cookie Whiz :o)
Here's the evidence that I really can bake...
Chocolate Chip and Cornflake Cookies
3 containers worth of brownies - Desmond got one container
Brownie fresh from the oven :o)
I was right…
That just totally proves my point. I am invisible. I mean nothing. Not that it really matters to me but after all the contribution and after being around for donkey years, you would have thought they would at least try to be nice. People who have known me for a shorter time have made more effort. People outside the family have shown more kindness. Perhaps this was the sign I needed in order to decide to move on to a place where I am truly wanted. I am no drama-mama. I am neither hurt nor disappointed. Just enlightened. I shall make myself scarce.
Mom thinks it’s because I have no time for people or relationships but is it really the case?
DecemberSuch a quiet and slow month with cancellations left, right and centre. Don’t feel like working much anyways. I am starting at 2pm today and I finish promptly at 4pm :o)
It is a beautiful month!
Tonight, I am finally meeting up with a girlfriend whom I haven’t seen in ages. An opportunity to catch up and exchange pressies for birthdays and Christmas :o)
We’re also watching Open Season.
MoviesWatched Dejavu and Happy Feet last week.
Also Ice Age 2 on DVD.
Dejavu is a must watch so if you haven’t seen it yet, go. Very exciting and fast paced. Val Kilmer looks terribly out of shape and old – kinda reminded me of Bruce Willis in a recent movie where he played a down-and-out cop – 16 Blocks.
Happy Feet was pleasant but forgettable and it was also way too unrealistic - especially the bit about silly dancing Mumble altering the humans’ decision to plunder the food supply of the penguins. How about a cartoon about saving the poor fishes from the evil penguins next?
Friends and clients highly recommended the new Bond movie but I only managed the first 10 minutes (on pirated DVD) and my personal opinion is that it is worth crap. Thailand copies are lousy by the way – so muffled you can’t hear the speech and subtitles that are 90% wrong (they can be really funny though).
Phuket
Booked a 4 day 3 night trip to Phuket with Desmond on Jetstar (they were having a $10 promotion last week – one way) but it’s not til March that we go. We paid about $250 per person – quite a steal.
Wish we could go away now though. Or some time in January – maybe a short weekend trip to KL or something. I really want to go to Sunway Lagoon.
Feel kinda sick – of everything. I have lost much steam and focus.
By the way...I have no patience for sulky faced individuals who dislike me for no good reason and having a crush who got along well with me certainly does not qualify.
I shall endeavour to stop acknowledging utterly rude people who do not even bother to return the courtesy of a smile.
Is she really a "nice girl" as someone once claimed? Perhaps only to certain men (and a select group of girls) because I have never (not once) experienced her "niceness" and I do try to be quite nice (or at least polite) to most people.
Praise God IT'S OVER!!
I am so glad the Standard Chartered Marathon is over!!
And I completed it in approximately 5 hours 20 minutes :o)
I'm quite proud of myself and I guess you could say it was a good attempt. I ran most of the way but had to stop to stretch and walk every once in awhile after about 20km.
The weather couldn't be better. Was worried that it would get quite hot from 9:30am onwards but it was rather cloudy and even drizzled a little towards the end of my run.
Have decided that this will be the last time I participate in a marathon coz satisfying as it was, it was more torturous.
Around the 30km mark I started questioning my own sanity and wondered why I was putting myself through this crap year after year...
1) Waking up at 4am is also not much fun :P
2) In the long run, running is also pretty bad for my hip, knee and ankle joints.
3) This year, training for the run has entirely screwed up my diet and strength training.
Now I can properly focus on getting my physique back. I just need a day or two to recover from my achy heels, joints and muscles...
Yes it is quite bad - so much so that I feel like an invalid. And I've been walking around like a penguin just so I won't have to move my joints and muscles too much :P
Developing Habits
Recently, I have been waking up 30 minutes earlier in the morning for my Quiet Time and according to Rick Warren's "How to have a Meaningful Quiet Time" which Desmond lent me, I need just 6 weeks to turn this into a habit!
To develop a habit (William James):
1) Make a strong resolution
2) Never allow an exception to occur until the new habit is securely rooted in your life
3) Seize every opportunity and inclination to practice your new habit------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The photos I posted earlier were taken with my handphone. I've got more photos inside my Digital Camera but I'm having some difficulty uploading them :P
My computer can't seem to be able to detect the camera :o(
Will try again when I have the time.
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One day to the Standard Chartered Marathon - 5 hours +++ and 42 friggin kilometres!!! Why do I put myself through this??
I'm going for Brazillian Churrascaria tomorrow for Carbo loading :o)
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Have decided never to shop for myself ever again in Singapore... (haha)
Bangkok...
Finally, a photo of us :o)
Gasp!! Ferrari showroom on the 5th level of a high end shopping mall - Siam Paragon!!
And they've got the Lamboughini, BMW and Maserati showrooms there as well!!
Check out the high-class Siam Paragon Foodcourt
You get to enjoy such a nice view while eating. How cool is that?
Close up of fishies
At the zoo...
Emus in the Australian Outback Field
Funny looking elephant
Penguins in their air-con tank
Silly penguins standing in a row
Fat, Ugly and Lazy Crocodile :P
