I slipped again this morning. This time in my home. Again I missed the last step and landed heavily on my already-injured ankle. Freakin' painful! Had to lie there on the floor for a while before I even dare to stand up.
I had an important tender presentation this morning. So can't take the day off.
Anyway I can't take time off. Too many people behind my back. I had to put off some work to prepare for the presentation. Now that it's over I need to clear my outstanding work so that I can pass the weekend in peace *sigh*
Already made appointment to see a Chinese sin-sei later this afternoon Better have some 'professionals' to massage it or it's going to haunt me in my old-age.

My two friends Sophia & Jean talked me into joining True Yoga with them. So now on top of my regular gym, I have yoga lessons too!
We were given trial pass for the 1st month and we can go for any lessons we want. Sophia is flying back to Australia late October and the 2 have been going for 2~3 sessions each time almost every weekday! They've tried almost everything.. from yoga to pilates to belly dance to fusion dance to sun salutation.. they are crazy!

But I can't! I've got to work! These two are tai-tais, so they have the luxury of time *sniff* Anyway I've reshuffled my schedule to include the yoga sessions. Now my weekly morning schedule starting this week looked something like this,

Wow! Even I'm impressed with myself! hahaha

The most difficult part is to keep to this schedule coz I have to attend meetings or rush for projects. But I'll try.

Gym on Tuesday was tough. Syafiq made me do like a total of 130 leg raise/crunches. SMSed him a while ago complaining about my aching arms and abs. He replied saying more aches more fun. He's a sadist. Shouldn't have given him the durian ice cream yesterday (which, btw, he and his fiancee liked very much.)

Today's Power yoga was too 'power' for me too. I always thought yoga was just stretching and is fairly relaxing. I've tried basic yoga and it was ok. But today's session was tough. I think I'm going to ache even more tomorrow.

That's me.. a pic of my poor ankle. I was at Esther's place for the ice cream workshop this morning. I had to leave earlier for my drum lesson at 12.30. But in my rush, I missed a step at her front door and landed badly two steps down. Sprained my left ankle. Careless me!

Luckily I'm driving an auto. Else I really don't know how I'm going to get out of the place. It was painful, no doubt. But I wasn't too bothered by the sprain since I was still able to walk.

The pain got worse in the afternoon and there was swelling around the ankle and I could see a patch of bruise formed above the ankle area.

I still made it to Akie's guitar lesson. But by the end of his lesson, the pain was really bad and I could barely walk. I couldn't rest my weight on the left leg.

So after dinner, Hubs took me to the nearby hospital, TTSH. He dropped me off at the A&E and went off to park the car.

This is my first visit to an A&E. Not sure what I was supposed to do. I limped towards the registration counter and was immediately greeted by a staff. They were rather efficient and within minutes I was already outside the X-ray room in a wheelchair. I had no chance even to call Hubs coz telco service was cut off near the X-ray room. Hubs finally located me and was complaining about the security refusing him entrance. He didn't realise he had to go through a temperature scan before he could enter the A&E area.

Well lucky for me. No fracture. Just swelling in the ligament.

I never been on a wheelchair before. And I had a bit of fun maneuvering the thing while waiting to collect my medication. Hmm.. i was given Anerax..that's paracetamol..guess my case wasn't serious enough to warrant something stronger.

It was a bit of a challenge going up the stairs in our home. Told Hubs we definitely have to move out when we grow older. There are just too many steps in the house. Not senior-citizen-friendly or handicapped-friendly at all!

Last week I stepped on a dead bee. I was very sure I pulled out the sting. But for the last few days, after the swelling & pain subsided, the local area began to itch.. very very badly too. It wasn't a continuous itch. But when it started, OMG! I felt like I could scratch a hole into my sole. Happened a few times while I was driving and I couldn't scratch it at all.

I thought there might be remnants of the sting left behind in the wound which caused the itch. So last night I went to see a doctor. He cut the skin and created a larger wound in order to check. But found nothing. Got some medication for it. So far so good. no itch. yet. stupid bee.

Feeling kinda burnt out for the last few days. While having my breakfast coffee this morning I started listing out the projects I'm currently working on.

17!

No wonder I'm feeling so stressed up. I've got so many people behind my back chasng for reports. Phone's been ringing non-stop too. Everybody's asking for theirs to be given priority. wtf! Maybe I ought to tell them whoever brings the check first will have theirs attended to first.

Shit! never felt so tired. and this bladdy headache just refused to go away.

yup.. today is one of those 'down' days.

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Although.. I doubt so. Already have 4 meetings lined up. Was hoping to go to the gym tomorrow morning. looks like I'll have to miss it again *sigh*

Not when you learn something new.. and in my case.. 2!

First I went for my trial belly dancing class this morning. Usually I'm quite apprehensive when I embark on something new or unknown. But not today because I'm not alone. Sophia, Jean and Sandra were there too. Sandra started a year ago and she's been trying to get us to join. So today was our trial lesson. And? I love it! . All those willowy arms and undulating pelvis moves... it was fun. And since Sophia, Jean and I were such newbies.., we kept breaking down in laughters. Especially at the shimmies, when I discovered new layers of blubbers round my waistline previously unknown to me! hahahah. 

The instructor, Kumar (yes! a guy! ) put us gals to shame. Boy! can he move! He kept us moving continuously for an hour and it was a great workout. I definitely am signing up. Sandra looked sexy wearing that sash covered with coins. The clinking coins went well with the music and the movements. I'm going to get one of those once I get a hang of the movements.

Next! Ice-cream lesson. I went with my neighbour to a ice-cream course. I found out that the ice-creams I love weren't difficult to make! I sampled 8 homemade ice-cream flavours.

There were Orange Sorbet, Yogurt, French Vanilla, Hazelnut Gelato, Death-by-Chocolate, Coffee Khalua, Black Seasame and Durian.The best thing about homemade ice-cream is that I know exactly what went into the ice-cream. I get to control the amount of sugar and fat. Now I can eat ice-creams without guilt. I'll need to re-arrange the kitchen and freezer a bit before I buy the ice-cream maker.

I'm already into my 40s... that dreadful stage of onset of the clockwork, universal, midlife crisis when fortysomething individuals suddenly shed spouses and act like adolescents. hmmm...

I googled to check whether I'm exhibiting any of the characteristics of a person going though midlife crisis. Let's see...

- search of an undefined dream or goal
- a deep sense of remorse for goals not accomplished
- desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness
- need to spend more time alone or with certain peers

Leon mentioned a futile 1.5hr wait at a 24-hr clinic. Happened to me before too.

I've always wondered what do doctors do in-between patients. Very often, after a patient comes out of the consultation room there's a long break.. usually lasting longer than the consultation itself. It can't be for writing out medication. I see doctors scribbling down medication on my consultant card while explaining what they will be giving me.

Anyway just last Thursday I went to see a doctor near my office. Developed a cough because of the stupid haze. I was there early, at 8.30am, because I wanted to avoid long wait. I was the 2nd patient in the line. The 1st patient left the room and it happened again... 15 minutes passed before my name was called.

I went in, sat down. Before I could say anything, a nurse interrupted and said there was an in-coming call. I waited while the lady doctor took the call. Moments later I realised it was a personal call and she was discussing her upcoming trip.. blah..blah..blah..

I didn't want to stay there and listen to her. So I waved to her and indicated that I would wait outside. And guess what.. that call lasted 20 minutes. By the time I saw her there were like 15 patients waiting already.

She was apologetic when I finally was called in again, said it was a long-distance call. I wasn't interested in who called her from where. She ought to get her prorities right.

That visit took me more than a hour.

My time with the doctor? 5 minutes *sigh*

Oh.. almost forgot... HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had loads of fun last Sunday at the drive-around treasure hunt. Didn't know what to expect since it was the first time we took. We arrive at the starting point (Orchid Country Club) at around 7.00am and already most of the participants were there decorating their cars. Some of the decorations were pretty outrageous.

Ours were quite simple. We'll do better next year. Well at least we made an effort to dress up our car. Some didn't even bother to put up anything at all. Guess they were going for the prizes.

There were 3 sections that we were supposed to solve within a span of 4 hours. Upon completion of the 1st section, we had to return to the country club to collect the 2nd section and then back again for the 3rd. Our timing started at 8.41am so we had to finish everything by 12.41pm. 1 penalty point would be given for every 1 minute late and we would be disqualified if we were more than 15 minutes late.

Our first game took us to Yishun Ring Road. There were about 18 questions and the answers to which could be found along the Yishun Ring Road. It wasn't easy since we weren't familiar with that area. We spent about an hour and decided to return to base. That was when we found out we had to complete a brain-teaser questionaire. We were running late by the time we collected our 2nd assignment.

The 2nd section was the most fun. We were given a map with the road names blanked out. There was a picture showing a partial of a road sign. Gu recognised it to be Seraya Crescent immediately. We solved the other 2 puzzles soon and identified Targore and Upper Pierce Reservior as the other 2 places we were supposed to cover in the 2nd section.

As for the 3rd section, we had to cover another area and solve a crossword puzzle. I concentrated on the crossword puzzle while the rest of the gang worked on the area. I wasn't paying attention to the guys so i had idea where we were, Bukit Panjang & Night Safari/Zoo, I think.

We ran out of time towards the end and it was a mad rush to get back to base. Never seen Gu speed before. Too bad his effort was wasted. According to our watches (all four of us!) we were less than 15 minutes late. But according to the organizers, we were 20 minutes late. So we got disqualified. We were disappointed, of course, but we decided not to argue with the organizers. After all this was supposed to be a charity-drive event and we did have fun. We'll have a go at it again next year!

I'm still waiting for Gu's photos. Will put them up soon.

Yesterday was my 1st session in more than 12 years and I'm feeling the effects now. I'm aching all over. Which is in a way good. It shows that I'm working those stiff muscles. Actually, I felt pretty good after the session. I have drawn out a simple exercise plan. I'll be doing a combination of aerobics, in-door cycling, outdoor brisk-walking and in-line skating on a weekly basis. I think this is much better than starving myself.

It's not too ambitious so I think I should be able to adhere to it. Wish me luck!!

That means I've got to be one of the most interesting women around! *LOL* *ROTF* oh boy!

I'm not lazy. It's just that I'm so tired at the end of every day that I really don't want to spend that last, precious couple of hours cleaning the house. Often when I get calls from friends saying they would be poping over, it would be a mad rush bringing all the unfolded clothes from our sofa into the bedroom onto our bed. Then it would be another mad rush around the house, straightening stuffs, stacking dishes back into the cabinets, a quick dusting to get rid of the layer of dirt covering the TV and everything else. But usually at the end of it, the house becomes reasonably presentable (so long as my guests don't open the wardrobes).

Then again, there are days when I go into a cleaning frenzy. I'll be scrubbing kitchen, cleaning toilets, vacuuming the entire house and all that washing. So overall I managed maintain the home in some tolerable level of cleanliness

I'm not a very organized person. My books are stacked up on the floors because my book shelves are overflowing. My CDRs are mostly unlabelled, and stacked in those plastic 100-CD containers. I think the only organized items in my house are my photo equipment, all arranged nicely in the 2 dry cabinets. Even then, the other accessories, batteries, cables, chargers are all stuffed into the drawers. Sometimes I'm really amazed that I could even find anything. No wonder I have a hard time getting the kids to clean their room.

My hubby doesn't complain but lately I've been feeling rather guilty. So last night I started out sorting through my stacks of CDRs. I've a lot of CDs containing stuffs I downloaded, my digital photographs, video clips and more than half of the CDs are unlabeled. yikes! I don't know what got into me but I stayed up still almost 2am this morning sorting through them. So now I've a 2nd well-organized spot in the house. Tonight I think I'll tackle my book shelves. Let's see how much things i can get done before my feeling of guilt goes away!

I kept hearing the same thing from friends everywhere. Everyone's telling me I've put on weight! I was in denial and somehow i managed to convince myself it's just temporary...hahaha.. yeah right. Finally i have to face the truth... i am getting fat! I could not fit into the pair of jeans i bought just a couple of months back. And the weighing scale said I've gained like 4~5kg. Shit!

Tour de France is now on. After watching it for the last one week, I decided I want to take up cycling. It looks fun and it's a good way to burn of fat and increase fitness. My husband owns a road bike and was supportive of the idea. So on Saturday, we went down to his regular bike shop to check out the bikes. The lady owner was very helpful and in no time, we picked out one that's suits my height.

The bike was fitted and delivered to our house that same night. I was so eager for a test ride. But within one minute, I ended up on the kerb, with a skinned elbow, scratched palm, bloodied knees and a bruised ego. I'm totally not ready for a road bike.

Moral of the story.... Tour de France is hazardous to health.

We won the Tiger Cup!! I was at the National Stadium. I was there and saw the two goals made by our players! Yahay!!

A couple of days back, Fang told me he got 2 Grandstand tickets to the Tiger Cup match between Singapore and Indonesia. I'm not a soccer fan. I don't know any of the players. In fact I wasn't exactly keen to go the next day being a school day. I even considered giving away the tickets. But finally I decided to go. Why? Because it was a match whereby Singapore already has a 3 goals aggregate lead. Because tickets were totally sold out and I would probably get stoned if someone finds out I give away mine. Because this was probably the last major event at the National Stadium as it'll be demolished soon.

Well, it's the 1st time for me. Never been to any soccer match before. And there was only 1 word to describe the mood... Electrifying! I was getting all excited as we walked towards the stadium. The seas of reds was enough to get my adrenaline going. The sight of the stadium covered with people in reds was awesome! You have to be there to feel it!



It was real exciting watching the game at such close range. I was totally caught up in the soccer-fever, singing the Ole song, doing the waves, cursing at the referees, cheering and screaming. The whole stadium was alive! And everyone was having a real good time! I did feel pity for the visiting Indonesians. Must be pretty intimidating for them.

The Singapore goalkeeper did a great job! And I'm not surprised he's the Player of the Match. The performance of the Indonesian team was kinda lackluster. In fact I didn't see any worthwhile attacks from their end during the 1st half. The game got a bit rougher in the 2nd half. Luckily the Singapore team still managed to keep a tight leash on defense.

I totally enjoyed the game. Very glad I decided to go. So am I a soccer fan now? Probably not :) Too rough a sport for a l'tle old lady like me. heehee.