A brief snap of the great SM Mall in Clark.  After getting off from the airport cab, we got on to  the Suzuki Highlander belonging to Regore's Travel. Off to busy Manila! 

Couldn't resist. A Roxy boutique, all on her own.  Bought a few shirts of course. Didn't have enough moolah and time to drop by Quiksilver + Roxy store, which was only a few doors down.

Tidak sah go to Manila if I didn't try the balut. Ate two.  Taste-wise, it was not bad
if you can disregard the look of it.

My Christmas give-away to cousins .  Girl cousins only.  I quite forgot about the males when
I went shopping mad in Manila.  

Birthday and new year gift for myself.

Right. Forgot to realign the position this pic.  Birthday present from good friend Mona and Cody. 

2012 passed by so fast, blinking seemed like a walk in the park.

Going to be a hectic 2013.  Just hope I can keep my head above water.

The Bicycle Story

At Spring Trading, Kg. Air was where I bought my second set of wheels.  Not another car, but a bicycle.  Who'd've thunk?

Now I'm not the best of cyclist..yet (yet.. mayhaps I'd grow to be a more competent cyclist).  I am not too confident of my motor balance.  I don't have any problem getting on one and pedalling off.. however, i have this fear that  I would embarrass myself in falling off a bike while applying the brakes to slow down or to stop.  Not enough hours put in the cycling process maybe..no practice..therefore no perfecto..

So far I have joined my friend Freddie on two road cycling outings. I decided to venture out on my own and cycled in the vicinity of my neighborhood.

With XDS aluminium frame, Fork : Rock shox, Cassete : Shimano Deure, 10-speed. I'll try not to let this baby sit like a furniture in my house.

Funny how sometimes opportunity pops into your door.  Danum Valley is one of THE place that I fancied visiting.  It is in my list of must-go.  I was offered a place in a limited Environmental Education Course participation from the 11th-14th this month.   Actually I was called in to replace a friend who couldn't attend.  

My luck.  

The planned activities were interesting, on paper.  However, due to unforeseen circumstances, most of the activities were not carried out.  There was early morning bird-watching session.  And oh.. the 3.2km hike to Tembaling Waterfalls.  

With Japora inside the hostel

At Tembaling Falls

(picture courtesy of Mona and her amazing Canon camera)

***************

The Annual Staff Dinner was held in Grand Borneo 1B on the 2nd November.  I did my best scouting for a red dress to wear during the dinner since the theme for this year is Glamorous in Red.  Hah.. mine is color closer to orange.  This was the only 'safe' design I could find that fit my size.. (cuz dang.. I put on some unwanted pounds)

I had decided to go to Ramlah's for the make-up and hair.  Just felt like looking different that night.  And I did look different.  With the fake eyelashes and the curled hair, I felt like a retro HongKong artist. :)

There was lucky draw that night (which I think shouldn't be dubbed so, as all who attended went home with a gift).  The only lucky element in the lucky draw was the kind of gift that you won.  Some went home with tupperware containers, some with stainless steel cooking pans, hampers (foodstuff) and the most expensive was a night's stay at Berjaya Palace.  I went home with a hamper.

Oh well...

Moshi moshi

I was really holding on tightly to my purse just now..lest I make purchases of wants rather than needs.. I went into the Nike store and my resolve was almost immediately thrown out the tiny window of wants by this pair of b-e-a-yutiful fuchsia running sneakers. 

"You just bought Ms. Boombastic Blue last month!" I scolded myself, or so I thought..because it sounded more of a consoling tone rather than a reprimand.  Smiling at Ms Fun Fuchsia, I left her at her pedestal and went round the store, browsing at other probable items. My purse safely untouched, my feet automatically brought me to Roxy Quiksilver next door. 

"Hallo miss. This one here buy two free 1.  This one buy 2 1 hundred." said the passable good looking lad with the slightly crooked front teeth as he quickly spread his left and right hands by way of pointing over the shirts.  He was quite stingy with the smiles.  Do I unnerve him with my guise? I was wearing an orange Roxy top, black knee-length pants, my Roxy flip-flops and a red hat. With my handbag slung sideways over one shoulder with the bag sitting snugly on my behind, I knew many would think me as either a Japanese or Korean tourist.  I knew he thought so too, which could be the reason why he spoke to me in that version he imagines to be Orang Puteh talk.

"Oh yea?" was just my response to him.  I wanted some.  By golly I wanted all but of course one can't have the wants over needs all the time. I was smiling slightly, just to show him I meant no linguistic harm, as I let my fingers do the talking, perusing through the multi-colored shirts. 

A few minutes later I held out two Roxy Girl shirts (an info which gnawed on my conscience.  Girl? I am hardly that)- a white shirt with a whimsy Roxy emblem on the front, and an orange shirt with a couple of Roxy lettering on the front.  I thought of just buying these without trying when Mr. Salesboy said," Want to tried?" 

A bane or a boon? A boon, being in the profession of  language teaching, being able to distinguish sounds and having to correct them when spoken incorrectly - in class.  A bane, having this ability, and having to hear mangled sentences then in that store, and not able to correct it.  Mind you, I am not a stuck-up, high and mighty, oh I am the greatest in the universe English speaker.  It's just a habit I guess, making correction.  I am not so silly as to make grammar correction to everyone who mangles and strangles the Queen's English.  And I did understand what Mr. Salesboy meant.  So I said, "Ok".

Long story shortened, I didn't get to the counter to make any payments, thank goodness.  Guess I overcame my impulses today.  Arigatogozaimasu.

Sporty Saturday

75 year old uncle throwing the javelin

Yupp..nearly 6pm and prize-giving ceremony was still not done.

Saturday was the date for the 2nd Sabah Masters Athletic Championship.  It was an open event where anybody over the age of 35 (35 is now considered a veteran oledi..) could participate and

• show off how even after the age of 35 you have managed to maintain your physical prowess
• model your sports attire
• defend your title (last year's event)
• win some medals in your age category ..so plenty of them 
• just have fun (which was what I did)

Each participant can join up to 4 events and to register, you'd have to pay RM10 per event.  I decided to just take part in the javelin and shot put.  I had no ambition to win any medals initially since practice pun teda.. I just had two javelin practices before Saturday, and none for shot put.  However, after looking at the list of participants in my age group, I thought, ah-ha.. there's a possibility.

So, anyways, for both events, I managed to win the silver.  I am loathe to mention the throw distance since they were so pitiful.  But boy did I have fun. Even though we were only given 1 try and 3  throws, thus making the competition less than a half hour event, I enjoyed myself (cuz I wasn't in any pressure to outdo the others).  I enjoyed watching and cheering my other teammates running and throwing and jumping.  I didn't even mind the sunburn (which is odd cuz I don't sunburn easily).

I think I'll take part next year and this time, I'll come prepared.

To better jog with

What was I thinking when I bought this pair of Lunarglide? That they looked dang hot on my feet and that I needed to replace the Adidas pair which was ruined during my trek down Gunung Tapis. Haven't ventured outdoors with these bluesis.. indoor jumps and Zumbas only..

The Mamutik Episode

I got my Open Water Diver license in 2005. The underwater world fascinates me so but somehow through lack of planning and perseverance, I've only managed to dive only twice since then.
So, in an effort to revive this interest, I've decided to go to Mamutik Island for a fun dive, tomorrow.
I am almost ashamed of myself. A self-confessed water-baby and I don't make the effort to do justice to this title?
Oooo.. tomorrow's going to be interesting!

This is a copied image from the net. Mamutik Island, smallest of all 5 Tunku Abdul Rahman Park Islands, and the nearest to the mainland as well.

Cake Maker

Cikgu Yus passed me this recipe for steamed choc cake a few weeks ago see.. Raving about how easy it was making this cake and how unbelievably delicious fattening the cake was.
I had already mastered Tausa Piang, and so I thought, why not try this steamed cake thingy.. I didn't have an oven (been meaning to get one for ages but hadn't), I didn't have a mixer but I thought I could do with some muscle work and do it the old-fashion way..by beating the hell out of the batter.. So, tried the recipe I did.
Consfood made finding the ingredients so easy...and the recipe itself was..for want of a funner phrase..outrageously easy.

The steamed Supermoist Choc Cake was DELICIOUS!.. I just couldn't believe I had successfully produced this mind-bogglingly delicious cake that I had to make it a second and a third and a fourth time. All tasted amazingly good. Made two a few weeks ago, one for my faithful eaters..(my sis and bro) and brought one for my colleagues to taste..(rave reviews aitelyu!) Felt so awesomely amazed at the deliciousness of the cake and that I, moi, me, and not a bakery produced it, that when Herlina asked for the recipe, I gave it there and then.

Then I made four choc cakes a few days ago, left one for the family, combined two into two layers for a baby cuz's birthday do, and brought one to Kudat for friends to try. Pun sedap, they say.

The Steamed SuperMoist Choc Cake with Choc Ganache.

Humbly I say unto myself, proud I am of the cake, but what other cakes can be made through steaming eh? Pazidah gave me the push actually. She said, bringla a cheese cake next time. Same cooking situation, no oven, no mixer.. Could I perraps make a steamed cheesecake?

Surfed youtube for one and found one which looked manageable. Found the ingredients at Consfood and proceeded to make one last night. And voila! This happened.

Steamed Raspberry Cheesecake

Not bad... not bad at-tall..

Introducing..

Nah.. my most recent acquisition. Nike Flywire H20 Repel..US size 8.. LoveLoveLove.. makes Walking, Strutting, Jogging, Running, Skipping, Zumba-ing much more fun and exciting..

10km run BIM

I am a 10km finisher for this year's Borneo International Marathon. Never mind others ran faster or ran farther. I'm just glad I followed through what I said I'd do earlier this year.
Two days before, I had felt the tell-tale flu signs coming out. Sneezing, blocked nose, greenish nose mucous.. and mild fever. Ate some flu meds to try and halt the attack. My period came early as well..dang.

Small matter, said I to myself.

Slept around 9 pm last night and woke up after clicking off the snooze alarm TWICE on my mobile phone. Got ready and drove to Likas Stadium. Wah..what a sea of yellow-shirted runners! (yellow being the NB sponsored running shirt).
Saw Dr.Khairul(one of my Oral Surgeon who did my jaw surgery), Dr.Fatimah (my orthodontist), said 'hi' and they took pics with me. Saw JJ and Ian (Hitz.fm dee jays), and had an IanWright moment.. Cuaiii..



Chuckled when I overheard this dialogue from a participating runner somewhere to my back.
"hey, i see JJ and Ian."
"yah, they running oso."
"Which one's JJ ah?

Whaaatt?.. So obvious didn't know who from who.



I was standing probably 15feet behind from the starting arch so when the horn was sounded to indicate the start of the race, plenty of runners had an early running start. I adjusted my own Casio wristwatch and clicked on start to mark my run. Wah..this is it! I thought. Jog jog jog... Saw runners pass me by, some were impatient (or ate too much energy gel?) and ran along the grass on the road dividers. The only reasons why I would jog a bit faster was to escape halitosis from front runners or of course, the runners in front had slowed down.

By the 4.5km mark, I had begun to feel cold from the morning city breeze.
jog jog jog...
pass the drinks counter..
"water...water...water..."
Grab
"100 plus..100 plus..100 plus..."
Grab

Saw some radio friends standing on the roadside.

Me : OTO -san!! *wave* ..OTO-san!!...OTO-san looked a bit lost..then as recognition came, smiled.
jog jog jog..
Me : Kilo Zulu Mike!! *wave*
KZM : hai Nat!! *waves back*

Jog walk jog walk...

By the 5km mark.. felt relief.. 5km more to go..
I heard Skylar Lane's song "I'm Coming Home" playing in my head.. wheeee..

by the 6km mark.. i was frothing at the mouth and the nose..I think..
I had loosened the laces of my right shoe earlier..now I had to loosen the one on the left.. are my feet swelling?
My knees also had started to tingle and I could feel mild pain.. Oh gawd..my knees are unhinging themselves..

Jog jog walk walk..

Saw this older Indian fella in front of me and decided to make him my pacemaker.. Tsk tsk.. and I thought..If old Uncle Muthu with the swollen (bandaged) right knee can run.. why can't I?

Walk jog walk walk jog..

I'd jog pass Uncle Muthu..walk..and Uncle Muthu would catch up..and I'd jog some more.. till Ahhhaa.. passed Uncle Muthu definitely.. (D-uh.. pacing with an old uncle)

Walk walk jog jog... jog dammit..jog.. knees so pancit!!

Aaaaanyway.. when I passed the finishing line..got my 10km finisher medal..i looked at my watch..timed out at 1hour 28minutes..

Not bad.. not bad at-tall.. for someone who hadn't had much practice run. :)

April.. not uninteresting.. * felt my blood actually boiling upon finding out some unsavory truth. * MSAM in Komplex Likas.. * Bought me a new pair of Nike Running shoes (love love love), running pants.. * spent one whole night composing a speech/report text and read it out ala2 sports report.. and enjoyed listening to the mixed reactions/ reviews from friends.

Storm

Kem isn't what it used to be. I used to relish the idea of going off to Kiulu for a weekender outdoor duty. The mere thought of going there would banish any stress currently being faced.
Bugger them.
Jog jog zumba zumba swim swim..
still... i love being alive.

With partially runny nose I jogged without pause for 1.6km. Walked and jogged for another 800m before finishing with some stretching. 19.30mins of jog + walk. gots ta.. gots ta..
My nap just now wasn't a smooth one. I kept waking up for no apparent reason and later I noticed that I was woken up by the intensity of my heart beat. It was racing. Weird..

Even though I went out jogging only once before the Fitness Test the other day, I think my stamina and endurance (minimal as it were) are due to the Zumba sessions I did at home. Thank goodness for Youtube and Zumba instructors who were generous enough to upload video clips of their Zumba routines..with lots of choices.. extremely fun songs to dance to.

Went swimming yesterday morning. Managed a clumsy 1.5km.. or thereabouts. My work schedule is so tight these days.. and is going to be more hectic in the weeks to come. Gotta keep on.. if not swimming, zumba-ing then..

Fitness Test 2012

Thank God for a misty, breezy, sun-less Saturday which made for an easier Fitness Test weather condition.

I partnered up with Ati for the push-ups (no problem)and the sit-ups(never was good at this). I later carried her on piggy-back for the 25m angkat beban slot. For the 2.4km run(read jog), I plugged my ears with some fast-paced tunes, the likes of Danza Kuduro and Jlo's Let's Get Loud, with the hope that the tunes will lull me into a continuous run/ movement. It worked well enough. *phew!* 18mins 23sec was the time shown on my stopwatch at the end of my jog.
Not bad..considering I hadn't actually gone on jogs. I relied on my Zumba sessions for the cardio side of my exercise repertoire. And oh.. wore Red Flywire for the jog. My feet looked daaammn pretty!! Love'em..just love'em..

Doing my warm down.. doesn't Red Flywire look pretty.. (ignore the dude behind..don't know who he is)

Note to self : Must consider doing jogging sessions at the stadium. Better running surface.

The 200m swim was done at a comfortable 5mins 41secs which was approximately 1 minute faster than the record I did 2 years ago. Didn't succumb too much on nerves and peer pressure (the swimmer next to my lane was a helluva swimmer, I could see him glide further and faster than me) and was able to do a regular pace without straining on the breathing.

Overall, I'm pleased with my performance this time. I coulda done better, but with the efforts put into the training, I am satisfied.

Took Red Flywire for a jog the other day. Felt light, felt like I could run and run..till my breath ran out.. *giggle*.. which was (suprising to me) farther than I had expected my first run to be. I'm sure it was just me but I felt all eyes on my feet when I jogged by. Oh I smiled.. and smiled..A teeny step to a longer mile..

My thigh muscles burned that night and my sleep was not a sound one. After tossing and turning for half and hour, I got up to find some ointment and rubbed them all over the front of my thighs. It felt much better afterwards but it wasn't enough to keep me in dreamland till morning. Yupp..that was expected. A little each other day hopefully will bring me farther the next jog around.

okeh... apart from hoping to revive my diving hobby.. Moi would also (dare I?) would really really love to... do a bungee jump.. dive off a cliff on a paraglider.. do a 10k run on the Borneo International Marathon.. and ...die with a smile on my face.

All are do-able... 'cept for the last...

The year of the Rabbit has scampered back into another 12 year hibernation, making way for the Water Dragon to rear its magnificent head. yadayada..

The biennial Ujian Kecergasan for the trainers at PKKS is coming up soon. Angkat beban, push-ups, sit-ups, 2.4km run and 300m swim. I think i've got the swimming down to pat, but doubtful on the running part. Swam a distance of 2.3km last Sunday morning. Came out of the pool with an unexpected sunburn, considering I've swam under hot 2.30pm sun before and only darkened my tan. I also went swimming yesterday. I managed a halfhearted 1.5km only. I figure it was because I had gone into the pool with a full stomach and swimming in such condition isn't fun a-tall. I felt like Shamu with skinny arms for paddling. Even turning my head for air was a chore. Swallowed some of the pool water too. Pathetic!

My Nike Flywires are still in almost pristine condition. I've only donned them twice, indoor, for home Zumba-session. So sayang to have them treading the outdoors just yet.

Progress rep

1 hour on Thursday afternoon was spent swimming at the Penampang Pool. At 3.00pm, the pool had zero occupancy!! I had the pool all to myself. Did 80 laps for around 1 hour and a few minutes. There is something not quite right with my swim stroke.. I feel it. And I can feel numbness creeping down my right hand from elbow down by the 1.5km mark. Wonder why that happened..

On Friday, I arrived at the pool before 3.30pm. My friend, Ooi wanted to try and swim 2km with me. As he hadn't arrived by 3.30pm, I started off on my own. On reaching the 12th lap, I saw Ooi coming through the gate. I paused the stopwatch on my watch and waited for him to join me in the next lane. Together we swam to our own tempo. Ooi's longer and more practiced strokes led him to quickly catch up with my 300m. We reached our 80th lap almost at the same time. I made 56minutes. Hurray for me!! I forgot what Ooi's time was. Hmm... having a buddy helped with the speed I believe.

Yesterday I arrived at nearly 4pm to an already occupied pool. No matter I said to myself, the serious swimmers intent on working out will stick to their lanes ( I hoped). I had been watching a few video clips on Youtube on correct/proper freestyle swim stroke and I was eager to try out the strokes. After some stretching, I started out in a fast pace, trying out the strokes I had seen on the video clips. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had no problems keeping up with the fast pace using the slightly improved technique. At 300m mark, my watch recorded 7mins 15sec. I did 600m in 15mins 36secs. Upon reaching the 80th lap, I looked at my watch in disbelief...52mins 9secs. Interesting... I did lapse into my old swim stroke somewhere after a 1km swim. I noticed the lapse when I felt a strain in my arm muscle. I needed to visualise the swim as though I'm watching myself from above to correct my stroke.

I haven't fully quit on smoking though. Bad habits are the hardest to quit..so they say.

'Tis the second week of 2012. Endeavoring to maintain fitness will be a challenge..
Yesterday my 2km swim was done in one hour, though the last 5km was done with the help of a pull buoy. Must remember...speed doesn't come overnight.. (i do think though, my freestyle technique needs tweaking). I had reached Penampang Pool by 3pm to discover the pool with zero occupancy. Bliss!!
If I can't make it on time for swimming sessions, there's Zumba. Gots ta do it...just gots ta do it...

2012
apocalypse year..so said the Mayans...

until such global catastrophe happens..
i'll just have to deal with catastrophes closer to self..
if any crops up, that is.. (which comes with the territory of being me)

play with water, surely getting wet is in the agenda..
play with fire, then..expect to get burnt..