May 2009: Awful did:
+ Yoga 12 times
+ Muay Thai 5 times
+ Ran 4 times, total 20 km (?)

Awful also purchases 2 padded Nike sports bra (upon the ‘request’ of Siew), 2 Everlast shorts and loads of FBT nonsense.

This week was Awful Exercise Marathon. I am amazed I am still standing.

Monday: First time Muay Thai
Tuesday: Hot Flow with Copper
Thursday: Muay Thai
Saturday: Muay Thai AND Hatha with Vikram
Sunday: Run at Lower/Upper Pierce Reservoir

I am so pleased I did the double duty on Saturday, I always wanted to try 2 yoga sessions back to back or 2 activities in one day. The human body is amazing. And granted, I was not punching that hard for Saturday’s Muay Thai (tired already).

The Laney was so kind (to torture me) and drove me to Upper or is it Lower Pierce Reservoir where we ran. Up and down slopes. Like what the hell? But according to his Nike Plus thing that is NOT accurate, it said we ran 7km plus. But upon further detailed measurement and the fact that it is not physically POSSIBLE for Awful to run 7km, he decided we ran 5km plus. That’s nice. In 40 over minutes, a little similar to Crawling. Oh well. But it was great! Like after everything of course, Not during the run.

Work…….. I try not to think about it. Procratination is Awful. The long weekend is good. I went back on Good Friday or as Jasmine calls it Jesus Dies Day. Hey, I am not the one who said that. And I brought back work to do so I do not have to go back today and tomorrow.

I am watching Saturday Night Live reruns on TV now and there is a young Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin. Old TV is so good.

Boys are great. Everyone should have one. I agree. The laney got me the Mac Hello Kitty bracelet and the makeup bag from Amazon.com because they were sold out in Singapore. Yes, sometimes they are quite useful. I did want the bracelet very much and upon further inspection, Hello Kitty is wearing booties. Yes. Such detail.

As mentioned earlier, I spend loads more during peak because spending money is totally distracting from how crap I am doing at my work and how much I hate it. And I also exercise more too. I did finally fall ill last last week, (high fever) and MIAed from yoga for almost 2 weeks (though I made it 12 times to yoga in March). Actual physical pain is also more distracting than the mental pain that comes from work.

So Missy Teo and I signed up for the Army Half Marathon or Sheares Bridge Bay Run or something. 10 km first in August then 21 km in December with the Standard Chartered Marathon thing. I am so fantastically bloody ambitious and Oblivious to my athletic prowess. Yes to you all, I do realise that I am going to die.

But first of course I need Shoes even if I am going to cry and run and cry while Missy Teo whizzes past me with the rest of them. Of course Asics will do because they are Ugly and have cushioning to protect my knees. No Fugly Nike polka dot prestos, no Adi Bounce. Just Extremely expensively and Ugly Asics. God never made anything far did they? Anyway I have not got them yet. I will. Like I will start running. And crying. How I like the way running (jogging, crawling) makes me feel. Like I am so happy to be able to breathe and do not wish to die like that.

With new Shoes that I have not got yet, of course I need a new running outfit. Whilst looking through running tanks and short shorts and running shorts that are high cut with netting (I never understood the point of netting in women’s running shorts, we are not Boys, we Will wear undies with our shorts, so why make netting? I have nice undies I do not mind flashing, plus netting gives me netting burn, I have big thighs), I find this short sleeved, pink and grey striped Nike hoodie. Of course I bought it. And of course I cannot wear it running.

And I found Lula in Kinokuniya. It is freaking Twenty Six Dollars but it is a coffee table book. It may be the most expensive magazine that I have ever bought but flipping through the first few pages of Advertisements, I could tell that it was more or less worth it. And Chanel Iman is the cover girl.

Jurlique has not been helping my face. Yes, I used to be one of those girls who had flawless complexion even though I did not eat vegetables. Unfortunately, times have changed, baby and late nights and not enough sleep and not eating vegetables have come to bite me on the ass (or rather the face). I have not been to the new Sephora at Ngee Ann City until today. And walking into it, I was so excited and within one minute, I held the Boscia Clear Complexion Kit in my hands. Hell, if organic does not work, maybe preservative free will. Hope is free. Skincare is not. But hey, whatever works. If not, I could invest in a very good concealer and start learning to put on makeup.

January always kicks off the year optimistically. You do things at the frequency you believe that you can keep up for the rest of the year.

Case in point: I have been to yoga for 12 times this month. I have braved the new peak with 2 nights ending around 2330 hours till 0000 of the next day. I have met up with friends more often. I have a new look for my blog (courtesy of The laney’s IT help of course). But more prevalently, my first month has been a blur of office, Pure Yoga and back home for sleep. No, I agree, it is not exactly healthy.

Although yoga has been tough on me. Though I doggedly trudge to the studio for lessons. I have to start sleeping earlier and start waking up earlier on weekends. As much as I do not wish to pack my weekends, I have to because All Work and No Play, makes Awful a dull and bitchy girl.

We had a CNY gathering at Leng’s place earlier tonight. As Addy signed up for Sundown with Auntie Shufang, I talked Missy Teo into joining the Stan Chart run at the end of the year with me. And in her trademark insistent ‘You have to do it’ manner, she talked me into doing the half marathon instead of the 10km. I promptly thought I had gone mad as she started on her plan for our training beginning in June. Oh well, she is not my tennis doubles partner for nothing. Coordinating outfits here we come again. Heh. Time for new shoes and a new ‘training for the marathon’ outfit. Shups asked me whether I even run. I said no and said that Missy Teo was better. To which she promptly quipped with a quick yes. But if she is going to make me run for another bus, I will throw my new shoes at her.

By the way, Missy Teo, my knee is hurting just as I am thinking of running again.

I am not athletic by nature. Do you know just how many hours I have spent on the tennis court, hitting fuzzy yellow balls one after another, doing drills, mini tennis, shuttle runs, running on the treadmill, lifting weights? Whatever the other people could do, I had to spend a much longer time learning how to do it. When it comes to doubles, the other girls could volley with their natural instinct, I am hopeless at the net. I remember during training once when we were practicing overhead smashes and I kept hitting myself instead of the ball.

I still managed to be okay at it. But today when we were learning about netball, I could remember how it was like, being on court. But instead of the taunts from outside the tennis court, people were encouraging. I did not get it but I tried, at least I did not trip over my feet at all. It is tough still, when you anticipate the ball slower than others and your feet move slower than others.

* Crispy M&Ms Splendered Eggs (Easter series, thank you Seow!)
* Japanese assorted rice crackers
* Organic (but sweetened) cereal

This is what I ate in office after yoga. So much for exercise.

I went for yoga three times last week and played tennis with Sam, Hsing and Jeryl. On the exercise front, I guess I am doing well. Though I have not played tennis since last August and my strokes are totally lost. I got five blisters on my right hand. Sam asked why I did not bring my glove. It is a laugh, sometimes I wear a golf glove to play tennis. As long as I do not get blisters. The weather was brilliant, it was cloudy overhead and then it began to drizzle.

I had lunch with Sam at KFC at Bukit Panjang, then we went to Daily Scoop at Sunset Way. We had nutty macadamia (yum!), lychee martini and chendol (er..). Catching up is always a treat, especially when we have not seen each other in some time. That is something I have always taken for granted, especially living in hall when my friends were only a few steps away.

But the other stuff on my plate is overwhelming and some really distasteful. I am so so so so tired of everything.

I just signed up at Pure Yoga yesterday. I went for two trial classes. One Hatha was bad. The following Power was good. It is not as taxing and tough as the ones that I am used to at Kryoga, especially Yvette’s classes. But the new place that the other Kryoga teachers are teaching at is in CBD but not that near to be a walking distance away. The other place that Yvetter is teaching at is really far too pricey for me. Afterall, I am not one of those ladies of leisure. And my one time experience at True Yoga with Miyuki was quite tragic.

I just need a place to do yoga, somewhere not packed like a wet market. After all, yoga should be practised in a zen like place. Plus, they stock Lululemon clothes at Pure Yoga.

Am looking forward to begin doing yoga more regularly again. Hopefully, it will lift me up from the funk I have been in this few weeks.

I went ‘running’ (more like jogging, walking, crawling) yesterday at Sembawang. As The laney drove there, I commented twice that I would ‘run’ less than the time taken to drive to Sembawang. And I was right. I did jog, walk, crawl faster than it took to drive there.

But we got to see all the ‘colonial houses’ near the wharf where all the US Navy (?) people live. And the big big houses where some of the expats live. Swimming pools, basketball hoops, large expanse of space, if it was not for the humid weather, I would think that we were in ang moh land. We walked past (yes at this point I was walking) a house with scarecrows perched on the gate, the occupants of that particular house having conveniently forgotten its existence after Halloween. At another house, in a distance from the road, there was a half built patio with wooden beams still lying on the ground with a small swimming pool. A boy child was playing by himself with those floating sticks and shouting to someone who we could not see. And at one point, there were two golden retrievers barking at us and running along the length of the fence and the opposite side was a Lassie (I forgot the breed) doing the same. As we walked past an area, suddenly I heard a hiss and some slithering. It turned out that there was cobra. That was my walk on the wild side.

It is nice being ‘out’ there and I could see where Chiam was coming from when she explained how different Canberra was and how she lived a lifestyle there. But I am still a city girl. I like to have my convenience store within walking vicinity. But of course it would be nice to live in the country sometimes for a very short time.

As he drove back home and I looked out the window, especially along upper Thomson where all the food is, it really looked nice to live out there. I never go out to eat there because of the parking but there is all these little places to chance upon. However, the thing about going out to eat at these places is the parking. And the hordes of people. But so many things to eat…

Anyway, the point is, I have tried it and running is really not for me. No matter how much I try to ‘motivate’ myself (i.e. buy running shoes, shorts, clothes, Nano carrier), I end up feeling horrible after the exercise. And my knee. Man, did it hurt last night. I am running out of options here. (Pun intended)