Weekend No Enough

This weekend was a fruitful one.

On Saturday, I finally completed my first 15 km run! Woke up at 6 am, lazed around till 6.45 am before I decided to step out of the house. The run down Orchard Road, SMU, Clarke Quay was pretty good as the weather was quite ok. The thick clouds did help to filter off some of the sun. Great.

Then in the late morning, I went to Chinatown to do some toiletries shopping. I was very happy to find our TV finally in working condition when I came back. Yeah!!! One week without TV was a torture for a TV addict like me. Glad that my life is back to normal again.

Met up with MQ for tea at Royal Copenhagen. It was an intellectually stimulating session. I learnt a lot from her. She shared her corporate experience with me and gave me some advice on how to survive. It set me thinking. Perhaps, I have been too idealistic and have been living in my own fairy tale all along. Ha, she said she bring some Mister Donuts back from Taipei for me. So sweet of her!

After the tea session, I went to meet YQ and Ban for dinner at Citylink. We tried the Xin Wang Taiwan Cafe. Not bad. The guys went to the Book Fair at Suntec while I went shopping. At about 9 pm, I met up with YQ again and we went to visit ZW at his studio.

We had a long long chat till past 11 pm. It's been a while since we last saw him. The last few times were just "hi-bye" sessions. Our dear friend has changed a lot. Guess fatherhood and the career switch have both made him a different person. I miss those days where we would text each other to complain about the education system; the days where he would drop by after marking at SEAB and the get-togethers during school holidays...

He drove us home and we stopped by Happy Valley for a quick supper before we parted. I wonder when is the next time we will chat again...

Holiday Mood

I have no mood to go to work tomorrow.

Firstly, it's a Monday. I usually dread going to the office on Mondays.

Secondly, it's the first day of the June holidays. I MISS the school holidays A LOT!

Thirdly, there is a big heap of "rubbish" awaiting me to clear before I go on a short break from work. Sian!

Last but not least, it's GSS now! I want to go shopping!

I hope the next 5 days will pass quickly. But after that, there is nothing to look forward to ...

能不能给我一首歌的时间

没有电视的日子真难熬，只好开电脑，“听”Youtube。

最近YQ迷上两首歌，所以书房里老是萦绕着江蕙的歌声，不是唱着《家后》，就是《落雨声》。有点“台”，但是我喜欢。在这样的气氛中，容易幻想自己身在台北，不知道Mark和R现在是否正喝着春水堂的珍珠奶茶，或是吃着渡小月的虾卷？

转眼五月就要过去了，这是我最喜欢的月份之一。时间是谁也抓不牢的，不管有多喜欢，终究无法紧握在手里。这或许是这个不公平的世界里唯一公平的事……

那天和XY吃饭，才意识到身边的好友，随便屈指一数，都是十几二十年的交情。哇，原来我的人生有超过一半的时间是和你们一起走过的。虽然不一定全程参与，但至少在人生的某个阶段，我们曾经一起精彩，更重要的是，我们还维系着这难得的友情。我想这叫幸运，更是幸福。

早前，Mark送了我们Hello Kitty吊饰，感谢我们这九年来对他不离不弃，我差点笑翻，从椅子上跌下来……

上周突然记起，那群第一次爬山结识的朋友，然后一起在Kilimanjaro生死与共的患难之交，转眼相识已十载。按捺不住发了简讯给他们……

还有传薪阁的那些好友，眨一眨眼，十五年就这样过去了……

当然，还有木麻黄下十九年来不断包容我的姐妹（和一个兄弟），因为有你们，我的人生才有色彩……

常想我的葬礼会是怎样的……若你们都能来陪我走完最后一程，我肯定会很开心，很开心！

Tea Break

The weather this afternoon was too hot for comfort. We decided to hide in some shopping malls and as usual, we went to our favourite Ngee Ann City. There's a sale at Kinokuniya so what more do I need to say?

Affter our shopping spree, we went to Royal Copenhagen to have some tea & coffee. Luckily the queue was quite short.

I gave the cakes a miss as I am on vegetarian diet today. Will come back for them on another day. :)

End of My World

The lights went off... I was "trapped" in total darkness in the bathroom...

S**T! Power failure? I don't think so. The lights along the corridor was still lit.

After some investigation, we found the source of the power trip...

I HATE to conclude that the root of the problem is my beloved TV!

My world crashed... My TV can no longer be turned on... I am devastated!!!

For a long long time, my world has not been so silent... What am I going to do for the next don't know how many days?

"Summer-Cleaning" - In Progress

How many weekends do I need to "burn" in order to clean:

1. Study
2. Living Room
3. Kitchen & Toilet
4. Master Bedroom
5. Empty Room

Isn't our house supposed to be tiny? ...

I really regret some of our purchases...

I wish I can just close my eyes and dump everything...

Alternatively, I wish I have a magic wand. When I wave it, everything that is lying around will find its way "home"...

Gluttony is a Sin

Managed to cook a simple dinner - fried rice. Used only 3 types of ingredients, namely rice, eggs and cabbage. No meat as we badly need to detox! We have been eating too much meat and seafood lately and I am beginning to worry about our cholesterol level. We are no longer that young so we better start watching our diet.

Ha, so much about diet control. We gave in to our sweet tooth and this is what we had for dessert. This is going to stay at the top of my favourite dessert list for a long long time. Even YQ says it's heaven!


Now, I am considering giving in to another temptation. It has been lying in our fridge since Friday...


It's an excellent substitute for Munich Dark!

How to go on a diet like that???

Monday Blues...

Why is Monday here again? Sad...

I need to find something to look forward to. The next 2 weeks are going to be very tough...

I hate to think about the sea of red that I need to clear tomorrow morning...

Maybe I should start planning for the end of year holiday... but it's too early to do so! How? How?

Nua-ing...

I did the laundry, packed my things (but forgot my camera. S***!) and now I am at Starbucks, eating breakfast, reading newspapaer and surfing! Triple-tasking!


This is the first time I am writing a blog entry using the wireless@sg network at a shopping mall! Don't normally lug my notebook around as I prefer to "travel light" when I go shopping. Thought maybe I should do something different today.

The crowd is getting bigger. Most of the customers sitting around me are either expat-looking ang mohs or tai-tais. I certainly don't qualify for the first category. As for the latter...maybe I should add the words "part-time HDB" before "tai-tai".

It feels great to be able to sit at Starbucks at this hour on a weekday! People watching is actually quite interesting... I wonder why so many people don't need to work. Are they all on leave or the economy is so bad?

The orange lighting and the music are making me a little sleepy...

Where should my next stop be?

Time Out

Woke up 20 mins later than my usual time, although I am on leave today.

I had planned to go for a run but my nose started running before I brushed my teeth. Looks like I will have to shelf it till the evening.

What should I do today? I had some ideas initially but now I am reviewing my itinerary for the day. Take it slow? Maybe.

It feels so good not to be working! Perhaps, I should go back to those "nua" days again.

想念是一种病

去年的现在，我刚卸下行李，准备到士林夜市排队买豪大鸡排。

转眼一年就这样过去了。

很奇怪，等待的时候，时间总显得格外悠长；回首往事的当儿，却又觉得时间飞逝得太快。人类本身就是充满矛盾的动物，在这个除了有黑有白，还有更大一片灰色地带的世界里挣扎存活。

今天一整天，心都在台北。从喜欢到不喜欢到眷恋，我也说不清间中究竟发生了什么事，起了如此不同的化学作用。或许可以这样说，那一个星期，装载了太多的记忆——太多平淡无奇，但却难以抹掉的记忆。

想念台北的空气、台中的文化气息，还有大大小小诚品的书香……

这种疯狂的想念，我想已近乎病态。

Monday Blues

Feeling really blue now... Why do I have to work tomorrow???

Took a break from running today. Was feeling very lazy and slightly "burdened" by my running schedule. I think I need to do some re-alignment. Shouldn't allow my life to revolve around running.

I really need a break badly...from work and from the monotony...

Weekday Resolution

Came home earlier than usual today as my external meeting ended early. When was the last time I reach home before 6.30 pm? I can't remember!

I was tempted to slack at home and rot in front of the TV but I suddenly recalled what I had for lunch - crispy fish pasta and then, I had a siew mai, har gao and half a scone during the meeting... I looked at my tummy and immediately changed into my sports attire.

The weather was cooler than I expected. Quite a few people were running at the park connector already. Isn't this a weekday? Don't these people have to work? I wonder... I am getting lazier these days so my weekday runs have been reduced drastically. Time to buck up! Run at least on 2 weekdays per week? I will have to put in more effort to achieve this.

It's finally Thursday and the weekend is nearing! I can't wait to NOT go to work! My office to-do-list is getting longer, the things on my table are piling up and my boss is coming back next week to haunt me... Cham liao! I'm turning into Smurfette even before Sunday!

Thoughts Running Through My Mind

I finally understood some of the things Murakami meant in his book "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running".

One thing that struck me was greeting "fellow runners". Probably due to our Asian culture, it is quite "abnormal" to greet strangers. Saying "hello" and "good morning" to passers-by would sound pretty lunatic to most people. The recipient of the greeting would probably stare at you and think to himself, "this guy is nuts!"

Things are slightly different when you meet fellow runners. It is not an everyday thing that you are greeted but at least, it's not seen as an insane thing to do. I noticed that 2 groups of people are more likely to say "hi". One is the veteran runners. By that, I mean the super-fit "uncles", probably in their 50s. The second category will be the "ang mohs". I have concluded that this is a result of the so-called "cultural differences". It is less surprising to find them waving at you, despite the fact that they are running in the opposite direction, at the other side of the road.

On Friday morning, I was greeted by an "ang moh". I was pretty stunned and hence, my response was delayed. I probably failed to return the nice gesture in time with a similar greeting. I vaguely remember smiling back at the guy. But honestly, this is not good enough. I should learn to be friendlier (which is not very me), open up but most importantly, open my mouth.

I have also started to recognise some of the runners who run at the same park connector. There is this lady who usually runs with her few friends, this guy with slightly long hair...

The park connector will be undergoing some construction soon and I may have to change my running route. This is going to pose some problem as finding a route with miminal traffic lights is going to be very challenging. Resistance to change? Maybe...

Time to explore the neighbourhood again!

Afternoon Tea

We had afternoon tea at Royal Copenhagen today. The restaurant was packed with people, perhaps because it's Labour Day today.

We ordered one of the afternoon tea sets which consist of the following:

2 scones...

...with orange marmalade

Green tea tiramisu and Blueberry cheese cake

2 "open" sandwiches

2 slices of Quiche

We enjoyed the food! It would have been a perfect afternoon if there were fewer people, less noise.