From bungalow to terrace

This will be a busy week of packing office files & equipment cos we are shifting to a different level in the building.

I'm being put in charge to co-ordinate this whole exercise. My biggest headache? Getting all the male cows and monkeys to chip in and help. Always have 1001 excuses....

Sore abs = good workout?

Feeling a bit sore around the abs area. If the pain translates into effective abs workout, then I say bring on the soreness. I need some sign that says I work out my abs correctly. I need to lose at least an inch. Before any jumps on me and tells me I'm thin already.....yes, I know that...I'm just not ok with my tummy.

I'm still not impressed by Body Pump 65. Neither am I impressed by the new Body Combat release...what version already?...dunno, after a while, I fail to keep track of all these versions. Haven't tried new Jam, so no comment yet. Maybe I'll be impressed after a few more tries. After dropping Body Balance from my gym schedule, I believe Body Jam may be next to be chopped off. See how la...

There's a opening for a part time job..and I think I might inquire about it. Inquire only hor...RM10/hour...that's not bad....but odd working hours. See how la...

Mom's specialty

Homemade acar....very high demand for this

by family + relatives especially during CNY.

Nice to eat with keropoks

Impiana Resort Cherating

So I'm back from 3 days office trip to Cherating. 13 of us. Left on Thursday (20th) morning. The journey, with breakfast + lunch stops, took about 4 hours. Arrived at 1pm..exactly right on the dot. We stayed at Impiana Resort Cherating, a 4-star hotel, which is located in Kuantan, Pahang. Not far from Impiana was of course, the 5-star Club Med Cherating...which I had initially proposed going there but that idea was shot down. *sigh*

The drive in Cherating was filled with not so scenic views. There were many broken down houses, empty houses....messy views indeed. The only thing that saved this town is the clean sandy beaches. Unlike PD, I was glad that the beaches here are clean.

Our 3 days in Cherating were filled with quizzes on office mates and the work we do, games at the beach, nite karaoke, lepak-ing by the pool, group lepak-ing in the room and of course, makan-makan. What is vacation without makan-makan right? I think in that 3 days, we over-stuffed ourselves to the brink of near explosion.

Satar, sotong celup tepung (fried calamari la), seafood, otak-otak, pais, coconut drinks, keropok lekor...these are some of the local delicacies we attacked. Not forgetting the food we ordered for lunch/dinner -- the seafood tomyam, kerang bakar, telur dadar, kailans, water melon juices, ikan celup tepung, siakap fishes cooked in many varieties....we ate like there was no tomorrow. Seriously...

On the second nite, played pool with few office mates at The Pub. After so many years of not playing, my game was extremely rusty. Worse still, I got beaten by a couple of novices.

The highlight of the trip was the lucky draw, which we did on the 2nd day. 13 of us. 15 prizes. Guaranteed 1 prize for 1 person...plus bonus 2 extra items to be drawn. Me? I got myself a multi-function non stick pan (can use for steamboat la) and a CD player...muahahaha! Talk about luck. On top of that, each of us got a Body Shop product.

Of course, this trip was not all play. We did engage in some heart-to-heart session with the boss. Some expressed feelings to the max. The trip would of course be incomplete if it was without gossips...which we have plenty...ahaks.

The last day was spent more on shopping. Boss was very kind to buy each of us a t-shirt and then gave each of us RM50 to splurge on keropoks. Syiok! Before heading back to KL, we dropped by Teluk Cempedak, another local beach located about 5kms from Kuantan. Left Kuantan about 6pm. Reached home almost midnite. Drop dead tired next day.

Next vacation?

Sunrise in Cherating

I cannot explain this

Ok, so this is weird. Last nite, another gym instructor (whom I shall not name here) appeared in my dream. This is like the 4th instructor who has make special appearances in my dreams since last year. Everytime this happens, I woke up prematurely from my slumber only to find myself unable to fall back asleep again. Can't recall much details of last nite's dream except that it involved menses. I shall not elaborate further.

Last week I was tempted to inform one of these instructors about the dream appearances but decided to hold back....don't want to freak anybody out even though those dreams are harmless.

Kelly rushed to the gym yesterday only to find that Body Pump will be by Mimi, and not Mr. Mat Salleh. I'm guessing they are taking turns doing the class. I was impressed with the weights Mimi carried this week. 6kg/side for chest, 11kg/side for squat, 5.5kg/side for biceps (which was later reduced to 4.5kg). On the contrary, I only carried 2.5kg (down from my normal weight of 3.5kg) for bicep, 8.5kg for squat and 2.5kg for biceps. Since these days FPI (fav Pump Instructor) carries the same weight I do (or sometimes less), I was thinking maybe Mimi can be my new inspiration, for now. But then again, we have different body size...so maybe not la.

I traded in Yoga for Body Jam after the Pump class. A big regret because most of the tracks that we did were those that I hated, because I suck. Skipping Mr.Yoga's class last nite is actually the start of skipping his other 3 classes for this next 2 weeks (due to outstation trip, public holiday and personal agenda). A shame.....considering that I have made some "progress" last weekend.

I'm looking forward to this Sat's Combat. I dunno why but I just do. Maybe I'm back to the "die die must do Combat" mode.

If I get another dream about another instructor (fingers crossed that I do not), I'm gonna tell each of those instructors about it. Beh tahan....

Yet another love at first sight

Nissan Latio Sport 1.6 ST-L (A) - RM92,900.00

I wonder what is wrong with me this week....

I fell in love with this

... and I can't stop thinking about it.

Adidas Originals Women's Superstar II (white/red/silver)

Of unwanted body part size and others

The visit to the ENT did not materialise last week, mainly due to busy work schedule. I shall pay the doctor a visit this week instead to get my medication. Work was a little crazy this morning but I managed to get everything wrapped up for a tender submission before noon. I had planned to come back to the office on Sat but then decided against it. Instead, I stayed back late on Friday nite to finish off as much work as possible.

Weekend at the gym was an interesting one. Did not see the usual suspects in Saturday's Pump. My guess was that, many were still not back from voting. Received a number of comments from Isaiah during the class, as usual. Week in, week out. This is the only class that I get that many feedbacks from the instructor. It's cool when instructors know your name. It's cool when an instructor call your name during class. But it can get kinda embarassing when an instructor calls your name once too often in a class.

From Pump, it was Combat next. During one of the tracks, FCI (fav Combat Instructor) commented that I needed to get my legs wider because I have bigger thighs. Bigger thighs?? Did I hear that right? Me...big thighs? For someone who has been skinny her whole life, I find this comment amusing. It stuck on me though cos' the comment kept ringing in my head the entire weekend. So much so that I started to be very conscious of my thighs. Kept checking them out. Seriously...are they really big? Too much of squats and lunges perhaps? Hmm...must clarify with FPI today la. Or else tonite cannot sleep....ahaks. I think must also ask fellow friends if my thighs are big.

On other notes, I bought a Calvin Klein sunglass on Sunday for a fraction of its original price of RM540. Clearance sale. It's not the latest model but then, who cares. Been wanting to get a new sunnies since I lost my RM29 sunglass, which was stolen. Pity the thief. He stole something which he thought was expensive. But I must say my ex-sunnies had that expensive look and feel to it. Alamak...rindu pulak.

Celine Dion is coming to Malaysia in April. I've always said that if any of the 3 divas (Mariah Carey, Madonna & Celine Dion) were to do any concerts in Malaysia, die die I must go. I missed out on Mariah's concert.....Mads has no concert plans here.....and Celine is coming. I hope I can make it to Celine's big party. Looking for kaki to go with.

With the election over, now everyone's talking about the election results. Suddenly everyone are politic experts. Suddenly everyone has plenty of views to give. Ok...so I'm a little behind in terms of political gossips. Speaking of electoral results, I just wished BN hasn't won that big in Sarawak.

I don't have a title but this is about gym

It seems like my body is screaming for another visit to the ENT clinic. I need to get my supply of nasal spray. I have been sneezing far too many times since this morning that I'm beginning to feel drowsy and my body is begging for rest time in bed. My hands are cold and my nose hurts. I'm having difficulty focusing on my work. I have so far taken one pill for allergy and a Panadol. I guess that wasn't enough. Maybe I'll pop another one after lunch. The office's cold air-con only makes things worse for me.

I just hope I will get well in time for this evening's Pump and Yoga classes. Yesterday's Combat was ok. Somehow I feel like my technique is slipping a little. I dunno why but I feel like my form isn't up to par. Was it because I have skipped far too many Combats in the past few months? Or perhaps my techniques, particularly upper cuts and hooks were incorrect all along but I failed to notice it before? Back in Dec, I attended Jason's class and he pointed out some of my mistakes....it was then that I realised I wasn't as good as I had thought. I guess this calls for more Combat...practice makes perfect, no?. I casually mentioned to FCI (fav combat instructor) yesterday to do a non-stop class ONE day. She agreed but only if all the members in the class are regulars. Hmm.....every class will surely have a 1-2 first timers la. I guess that day will not come so soon.

The Les Mills new release launches will be on the 22-23 March. That's the weekend I will be away in Cherating. FF IOI isn't one of the outlet that the launches will be done, so for me, not attending this event is not a big deal. Afterall, all members will get to try the new release for 3 weeks after it's launched. Plenty of time to learn and get used to the new choreos.

I have been missing Body Jam quite a lot as well, due to CNY and partly because I usually skip class when FJI (Fav Jam Instructor) goes M.I.A. The effect is that, I'm also slowly losing interest in Jam. Last week was a clear example why I dislike replacement instructors. FJI was M.I.A and the class was replaced by 2 new instructors...both not quite in sync and errors were spotted occassionally. Not that I'm an expert in Body Jam but I can tell when instructors make obvious mistakes. Not that they have to be perfect but it would be nice if they can compensate their "not so great techniques yet" with better and crisp cue-ing. Afterall, members pay for the classes. We like to come out from the class feeling satisfied even though we don't do so well in the class ourselves. In view of FJI's abseenteism on the 16th March, I have scheduled myself for high tea with friends...ahaks.

Speaking of gym, I wonder why I no longer get the thrill out of gym-ing...the way I felt the first 1.5 years. Monday nite Pump doesn't churn out the same feel anymore. I missed the frequent eye contact with FPI. I missed going for Tuesday's Body Balance under FBI (fav Balance instructor), who has since left for a different position within FF. I missed seeing some familiar faces in my regular classes...members who have either terminated or freeze their memberships. I missed having the occasional chats with Mr. Yoga on Sundays before class starts. Now that he has another class before that, we no longer get a chance to sit down and chat. My mission for this next 3 months is to attend classes with minimum absenteeism.

I will make today's gym-ing satisfactory, even though I'm a little under the weather. It's Thursday so I know definitely there will be plenty of chaturangas in Mr.Yoga's class. Tough! Plus, Mr.Mat Salleh, Frank is doing today's Pump so I bet there will be tracks of olden days unfamiliar to the members. A welcome change, no doubt.

I am looking forward to Sat's classes because I have skipped so many Saturdays before. Now...if only I didn't have to return to the office on Sat evening. Work is...oh well...I won't even bother going into that.

PU vs OSU

It was pure coincidence that on the day I was on half-day leave, ASTRO is showing PU (Purdue) vs OSU (Ohio State) Big Ten basketball game. To say that I was excited is an understatement. Really. The last time I watched a Purdue game was back in college days.

This season, PU is one of the top team (tied with Wisconsin for first place) in the Big-10 Conference; and with a group of freshmen and sophomores in their roster (they only have 1 senior player), I say this is very very impressive. OSU is ranked number 5 in the Big-10. In the AP (Associate Press) Poll, PU is ranked 15th while OSU isn't ranked.

The game is scheduled to be aired at 8am so needless to say I was already up by that hour. But some live football game went into OT and so the game that I was anticipating was also delayed. By 8.45, ESPN was able to air the game. Was very very excited. The game was already almost towards the end of the 1st half by then. Never mind....PU went into half-time with a 3 point lead. Yahoo!

I had read a lot about the good reviews given to this group of young team and needless to say, I couldn't wait to watch them play. But then, what I saw was sloppy plays at times and the inability to hung on to the lead. In the end, PU lost 77-80.

Sad...

OK, so I don't really care if PU will drop its ranking or if it didn't win the Big-10 title...but to lose to an unranked team?? wtf!

Karting no go

It's been a long time since I have woken up early on a weekend. 6am, to be exact. That was the time I woke up on Saturday. The reason? my-Kart Round 3 DRIVERS 2008 Series event at Shah Alam. No, I wasn't there to race. Not going as a spectator either. Rather, I was there as a volunteer for the event.

My company's sports club has requested for volunteers for Saturday's event and in return, the teams sending volunteers will be rewarded with points for participation. You see...our sports club has cleverly divided the staff into color coded team (...just like back in school days) and each time there is any activity organised, the respective teams will be rewarded with points for members participation. As added bonus on Saturday, we, the volunteers are also allowed 10mins track session on the 80cc stroke karts after the race event ended. Yahoo! Anyway, back to my earlier story....

My office mate picked me up at 6.45am and we headed over to Citykarting at Shah Alam Kart Circuit. Am so not used to being up and around with the sky still dark. The place was not even organised when we reached there so we just stood around...since we had no idea what we are supposed to do anyway. Volunteers mah...

Went over to speak to Mark Timms, our contact person from my-Kart whom I found out is also from one of our subsidiaries...ahaks. Mark himself admitted to being disorganised and asked that we hang around first. Racing members started coming in slowly. A few office mates arrived and we received our first duty notifications. 2 persons needed to help out with merchandising, 1 person needed to input race results and 1 person to help out with kart grid line-up. I decided to choose the 2nd task :-)

I guess God didn't intend for this event to proceed because it started raining....drizzling at first...then heavy rain. Or maybe God didn't want us to work so hard on a Saturday morning...ahaks. Everyone just hung around waiting for the rain to stop. There was announcement by the my-Kart team later that certain categories (K1 & K2) of the race had to be cancelled due to insufficient time. Seemed that the whole race had to end by 3pm. 5 hours are needed for the race which means the race had to start by 10am, at the latest. The track required at least 30mins for the rain water to subside which means the rain need to stop by 9am.

See...sky dark dark

While idling around, I chatted with one of the racer, Rizal Hamid who also worked as a stuntman for the local film industry. I wasn't interested to hear about the racing bit. Rather, I got some very useful tips from him on fitness and gaining weight.

The rain didn't stop by 9.45am so the race was cancelled. Racers are allowed to go on the track if they wish but there will be no championship points. Most of them packed up and left. The race will be postponed to March 16th, Sunday. Will not be able to volunteer on this day....anyway, it didn't matter...our team already got our maximum points. Yahoo!

Everyone hanging around waiting for the rain to stop...