Home Sweet Home

A trip to IKEA over the weekend made me realise that, amidst my over enthusiasm for gym, I have neglected my plans for mini home makeover. No doubt my apartment is puny but still, a home is a home, right? I have been repeatedly reminded that I should feel blessed that I own a property, regardless of space size and less than ideal environment. Yeah, I should give thanks indeed. Feel so guilty about the endless bitching. A small roof is better than no roof...

A lot of my mini home projects have been shelved because fitness took priority. Well...I admit that lack of budget is part of the reason too but lately I have been spending based on wrong priorities and now I'm kicking myself. My home is liveable but it is not as furnished as I wished it to be. At a time like this, wouldn't it be nice to be picked for a home makeover TV show ala Astro's Casa Impian.

I think part of the reason why I have procrastinated a lot, besides using gym as an excuse (poor thing..), is that I absolutely hate furniture shopping (exception given to IKEA). I have developed a phobia from visiting too many furniture and lighting outlets prior to shifting in. It also doesn't help that my living space is small which makes planning a whole lot tougher.

As nice as IKEA is, I am not 100% sold on all their items. IKEA, in my opinion, is not so great in the furniture department. I should know, since I own an IKEA sofa. Their strength is their ability to come up with many creative designs. I absolutely love their kitchen accessories. The temptation of all those household items are just simply irresistable.

My immediate shopping list:

1. Bed frame - I still do not have a bed frame....how pathetic is that? Sigh....
2. Wardrobe - Need the additional space.
3. Glass Shelf - I owe it to my 100++ shotglasses to get a proper display shelf.
4. Coffee table - I am still in search for the right coffee table.
5. Posters - I hate to buy generic posters from IKEA but I may end up doing exactly that.
6. Cans of Paint - What is makeover without repainting right?
7. Gigantic size mirrors - Since my apt is so damn small, maybe fixing huge mirrors all over the place will make it look like a bungalow?? No? OK, just kidding....

My "will buy if hit lottery" wishlist:

1. Leather sofa - Did I mention that my IKEA sofa sucks?
2. Aircons in every rooms - Who cares if electricity rate for service apt is higher than condos.

3. Change to darker tints - Stewpit me never realise that hot air rises...duh. Anyone in search of saunas are welcomed to my place. Free of charge. Available 24 hours. Bring own towel.
4. New PC - OK, this is not considered a household item but who cares...this is my wishlist.
5. New car - See item 4.

Somehow going to the gym seems so much easier. Who would have thought...exercising is more fun and motivating than doing home decor. Sheesh.....

Stop before dislikes turned into hatred

Since I skipped gym yesterday due to my headache, I thought it would be a good idea to catch some early sleep. I managed to doze off at 11.30pm after an hour of restlessness on the bed...ok, not exactly early but I did manage to sleep for 5 continuous hours...an achievement by my standard, considering the difficulty I've been having lately. At 5.08am, I was rudely woken up by a sms from an unknown number asking me how I have been recently. It was then immediately followed by a call from the same number, which I did not bother to answer.

At 7.41am, I received yet another sms from another unknown number. The message is a bit too personal for me to reveal here. Anyway, this isn't the first time these sort of messages have come my way. I think I know who it may be although am not 100% sure since those numbers always changed.

To 016-8562556 & 014-6987772, I dunno if you are the same person but all I want to say is....this has been going on long enough. It's time to stop this antics.

www.stickgal.blogspot.com

Unofficial system engineer

I have been having headache for 3 days now and it just won't go away...taking Panadols didn't help one bit.....sigh.

This is what I've been doing this whole week in the office...post sales work..which involved carrying & opening stacks of heavy PC/monitor/speaker boxes, tagging, software installation, doing barcode scannning, sandblasting "HAK KERAJAAN", re-packing the boxes, etc etc. That's a total of 291 boxes. Without a proper staging area in the office, moving equipments around became much more difficult than they need to be. This isn't my job scope but I was asked to help out due to insufficient engineers available. I tell you...some of the guys in my office are really no gentlemen at all...all full of excuses came time to help out. Blardy fools...

It was very tiring, long process and boring as hell. By the 3rd day, I was having body ache from bending up and down too much and worse of all, terrible headache. Ever since I had fever two weeks ago, my body hasn't felt the same. I had never fully recovered (maybe cos I was too stubborn to go see doctor then)and I tire easily. I haven't been sleeping well either....this one really bugs me.

Broke one nail in the process of doing labour work....and to think that I just did manicure a week ago...damn! Now I have unbalanced finger nails. Looks so handicapped.

Sigh.....I got driver duty this weekend.

Lessons learnt

Gym log.

If there was a lesson to be learnt yesterday, it would be.... never skip lunch on a day I intend to do Pump and definitely, never leave office 20 mins before class starts. Big big mistake. Due to my inefficient time management, I had to rush like mad to get to the gym. Almost encountered a near accident too...which btw, if it did happen, would not be my fault since that idiot driver turned out from a junction without even looking. Ingat ni bapa you punya jalan kah?? Luckily my reflex was quick. Then I almost rolled my ankle as well from walking too fast coming down from the bridge.

It was basically a total disaster from the beginning. I reached in the nick of time but the class was already quite full so I had to be satisfied with a place at the far end corner. I suppose it was a blessing in disguise. I was already sweating buckets by then so the warm up session seemed so insignificant. Tried my best to focus but my eyes just kept wandering off. I think I was in a world of my own last nite. Apart from flashing a big smile at FPI during warm up, I totally could not get myself to concentrate on what she was saying the rest of the class.

I think my body doesn't agree with Monday nite Pump anymore, lunch or no lunch. All my intentions to increase the weight carried flew out the window. I had to stick back to my normal weights which for some odd reason, seemed to weigh tons heavier than usual.

I declared myself very unfit for yesterday's BPump. Would have love to stick around to chat with FPI after class but I was more interested to rush home and filled a growling stomach. Never mind, next week's session will be much better.

Tales of wedding....not mine la

If there is ever anything that I am guilty of, it is definitely me not attending the countless wedding invitations from friends and colleagues in recent years. Very very guilty of that. Very very bad of me. I don't know if it's a phobia symptom or if it is just plain laziness on my part. Maybe I just hate weddings. That must be it.. Sometimes I wonder if my friends think of me as being arrogant for not coming. I think I've came up with every imaginable lame excuses. One thing is for sure though...I hate dressing up for weddings. Somehow I never know what to expect...should I keep it simple or should I dress up?

I'm not sure about weddings in KL but back in hometown, attending a wedding reception is like attending a ball. This is the time when the ladies bring out their best fashion collection and show off their jewelleries. You can just see gold glittering everywhere. The guys usually come in shirt and tie, some with coats. Children? Apa lagi...dressed up like entering a pageant...damn cute. Wedding receptions are usually held in restaurants or hotels.

I attended a former colleague's wedding in Penang about 7 years ago. It was in a small restaurant and everyone just dressed normal. Nothing fancy. My biggest culture shock that nite was when several guests went up on the tiny stage for karaoke session. Karaoke?? During a wedding??

Then there was my sister's wedding in KL many moons back. Guests came in jeans, t-shirt, shorts and slippers. Dressings are all very cina ah pek type. Another shocker for me. Weddings in West M'sia are like that kah?? The other thing that I'm not used to is having wedding receptions in the home. Is this wedding or family gathering? You know what irritates me the most about home receptions?? Whether it's wedding receptions, birthday bash, full moon or whatever la.....the tent sure extended until the road side, blocking traffic. Wei...this is a housing area la. What right do you have to block off part of the road just so you can have your makan-makan??

Why am I suddenly talking about weddings? Well, I have made a decision to attend a friend's wedding in July. Booked myself a 6 days return flight to Land of the Hornbills. Hmmm...weddings near near don't want to attend...want to go far far pulak. Actually I'm killing 2 birds with one stone la...since already there, may as well balik kampung lor. My greatest fear is not attending the wedding at the last minute...knowing myself, I have a tendency to do that. Between now and July, must go make a dress fit for a grand malay wedding. My friend and her fiance are anak orang kaya...connections to VIPs....so guarantee their wedding will be damn grand. Surely I cannot turn up in a simple baju kurung that looks like pasar malam rejects. Buat malu saja. Gaya mesti ada la. So, I've to go shop for the right material, search thru fashion mags for the right design and go hunting for a tailor. Aiyo...what a hassle.

See.....this is why I hate to attend weddings. Banyak leceh la...

Not quite there

Gym log..

I decided to attend BPump yesterday to test my energy level and needless to say, I was clearly unfit throughout the entire class. Trying to finish the class was one big struggle and I could hear myself huffing and puffing away at every tracks. Even the warm up track seemed like a huge challenge and I was already having difficulty keeping up. Thank goodness I was at the far end of the class; so I can escape FPI's eye contact. Tried my darnest to do the best I possiblly could, which by my standard, wasn't good enough.

During clean & press, FPI sidetracked a bit to show a newbie the proper technique and she kinda forgot the rest of the class was watching and following her. We all got a bit lost briefly there. Everyone was like...is it 4 continuous clean & press...or is it 1 clean & press + 1 deadlift?? Confusion...confusion. 10 pushups for FPI as punishment. However, all was forgiven when she apologised and explained the reason for her action...eyes popped open and jaws dropped when she replayed the mistake made by a newbie. All I can say is, if you are new to a class and the instructor shows you the proper technique before the track starts, you should be paying attention. All eyes should be on the instructor.

On a work related note, I was assigned back into the pre-sales technical team which means my schedule for gym won't be as regular as a clockwork anymore, especially come second half of the year.

My failed "serious" week

Earlier this week, I realised that I have been happily driving and going places around the city with an expired driving license of 2 weeks. Shocking! Quickly went to renew, paid RM152 and guess what...I was told that I had to go elsewhere to laminate the new license cos this post office's machine rosak. WTF!

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Gym log....

It has been a mixture of good and bad week at the gym. I decided it was time for me to get serious this week cos for the past 2 weeks, my concentration was lacking big time....in almost all the classes. Body there, mind tend to be elsewhere. It got so bad to the point that I sometimes got lost between left and right, front and back. Then I got even more confused because I did not understand why I was having such a hard time focusing.

Attended two classes by FBI this week cos she did replacement class for BPump and her own BBalance class. I think she has some sort of effect on guys cos during BPump, a few of them were groaning really loud and one regular was singing loudly to Belinda Carlisle's Summer Rain track....it was a little annoying but at the same time, amusing. FBI was graceful in one class, tough in the other class....both classes equally enjoyable. 2 thumbs up.

Turned up for usual BCombat even though I wasn't feeling too well. Well, almost 50% of my office mates were sick in this past 2 months so I knew it was just a matter of time before my turn came. Despite feeling a bit under the weather, I did well in BCombat. Body there, mind also there. Felt a little groggy towards the end though but nonetheless, 2 thumbs up.

Decided to skip gym the rest of the week cos my fever kicked in full force. Besides the much needed rest, I thought it was time to catch up on outstanding errands that I have been procastinating. It wasn’t a good ending to my supposedly planned "serious" gym week. I guess I’ll start over next month with the new releases.

Workout before the long holidays

As if Sat's back-to-back wasn't enuff, I decided to go for another dose of back-to-back on Monday. Anyhow, 90% of the office staff took leave on Mon so the office environment was pretty much like working on a weekend....real quiet; only 5 of us were too dumb not to apply for annual leave. Arrived at the gym earlier than I had anticipated..traffic was smooth. Judging by 2nd FCI's look, I think she was slightly surprised to see me in her BCombat. What can I say...I'm a sucker for BCombat.

I was a little distracted in class so didn't really focus well...what a waste. Made numerous mistakes throughout. Even 2nd FCI can't help laughing. Dunno what happened but I was quite tired towards the end as well. Despite this, I continued on to BP anyway. FPI spotted an almost underwear like short :-). Did well initially but halfway thru tricep, I was almost dying. Aiyo....what's happening to me these days? Suddenly seemed to have less energy already. Luckily managed to finish the class. I wonder how FPI can do this week in and week out. Must try to dig out her secret formula....maybe it was the free flow of champagne she mentioned. After the disappointing margarita I had, champagne sounded very tempting to me.

Since today is a holiday, I went for Yogalates this morning but came out even more tired. Morning exercise is definitely not for me. But it was good to get birthday greeting from the frontdesk though....thumbs up.