千九百五十二： BBB

New lens!

BBB = Buy Buy Buy!

Spent alot of money yesterday. You know when suddenly you just feel super reckless about spending money, especially when your bank balance is on the decline you feel the "oh heck it!" feeling & spend even more money. it was like that yesterday. Had to pay taxes (around S$1.2k as 1 of the quarterly instalments) which burned quite a big hole in my pocket, & already spent money in Taiwan, & also bought some stocks in JP, & payday is like next week but I was selling my Nikon 35mm next week so i HAD to get a replacement by then (excuses!). But I did want to get a F1.4 after trying out my friend's one at lunch so it was just a matter of time. the only affordable F1.4 was by Sigma (Nikon's one cost S$1.9k) & had pretty good reviews from the people using it (especially this photographer in JP : http://dacafe.petit.cc/. His photos are so tranquil! Hopefully I can get there in future (his skill level). So I couldn't wait, went to Yodobashi to check the price, which was same as the online price, then thought *heck!* & bought it on the spot. (^^)v

I wanted to open up the box at the restaurant, but was eating alone, didn't want more eyes on me (poor thing why is she eating alone..) so just slowly ate with my iphone & then 忍 all the way home before opening it at home. Tried a few shots : http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157627508107358/ The background is so blur! i like! Hopefully I have a chance to go out & take more pics with it soon!

Finished up CTT stuff early (today) so had some time to do random stuff that was hanging in the air. Found a way to backup / view all the instagram pics to flickr - Check this site out if you want to do the same. http://instaport.me/　You log in with your Instagram account & you can choose when you want to download until / from & the site will export all the fotos you uploaded into a ZIP file for you to download. After you get your photos you have a backup! :) Here are the photos in flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157627513766072/

& remaining tasks / want to dos for today - at least finish up the seams of the cushion cover i'm trying to sew up. My mind is everywhere - so many things i want to do! I want to finish the book i'm reading now too! argh..

千九百五十一： I'm on Etsy!

I have just set up an Etsy store after much deliberation. :)

Here's the link : booboogal in Etsy!

I will be putting up more items for sale, all items order made - please drop by to show your support! For now it's just the Kindle case, if you want a case for any other objects please let me know as well!

千九百五十： Back from Taipei

this t-shirt totally cracked me up; it says "Playing dead is prohibited"

Ok I'm totally behind on my posts now :x

I've just been to Taipei over the weekend with Ryo & I haven't even blogged about the Gold Coast Trip. Or the long weekend when I went to see the sunflowers. argh.

To remind myself, here's what's missing from this blog from then till now.
1. 15-18 July - Stay at Meriken Park, Visited Sayo sunflower fields, & went to see the 鉄人 at 長田。
2. 22 July - Appbank dinner at DD House
3. 29 July - 3 Aug - short trip to Tokyo, met Shuping & Maya & Fukushima-san & Manami-san. Went to the dino expo too.
4. 6 Aug - Yodogawa Fireworks
5. 7-Aug - High School baseball at Koshien
6. 10 - Aug - Morning High school baseball at Koshien
7. 13 - 17 Aug - Taipei with Ryo.

At least the photo in this post is updated, saw it in Taipei. As you can see, almost every weekend was packed since the last post, either travelling or doing something with Ryo, which is a good thing because we have been so apart the previous months with work / travel separately. Weekdays are crazy with work due to the quarterly release period again, and only got a chance to breathe end of last week & start preparing for Taipei & clear some of the errands/housework piling up.

I enjoyed Taipei alot, it was the closest I could get to Singapore so far from home. & also because i haven't actually had a chance to travel with Ryo since Feb when we went to Singapore. Singapore didn't really count cos I wanted to meet friends & we had to spend alot of time with family. In Taipei, everything was just cheap cheap cheap! when you can enjoy local food and transport for such low prices, travelling becomes 10x more fun, cos you don't have to keep counting how much the thing costs in your local currency & can just eat/drink w/o much consideration. Even so, we spent less than S$400 in total, around S$340 in fact for 5 days, and that's the total for 2 of us :D I guess we covered most of the costs by picking the hotel at Ximending, which covered most of the transport costs since it was central to everywhere. But generally the hotels costs as much as SG if not more, might as well settle for an OK one at OK rates. Which was lucky for me because if i had had to walk back to a really far hotel with my injured food at the end of each day I would have died. The pain almost killed me by the end of Day 3. Don't even know how it got so bad. Sighz.

Back to work tomorrow. Can foresee OT all the way to end of next week. The price I have to pay for a short vacation .. (T.T)

千九百四十九： Long time no blog

handmade kindle case of felt

I haven't been blogging for a while, and was actually still in the midst of writing about the GC trip but it was taking too long I thought I had better just do a intermittent write up of what I've been up to.

Got myself a Kindle after seeing my cousin's one, around USD139 b4 shipping it's so light & convenient! Have been reading alot more thanks to it, & handsewn myself a felt case for the Kindle (as above). pretty nice huh? :)

I went to Gold Coast for the GC Asics Half Marathon during the end of June and we went to sightsee. More of that in the next post (if i ever get to finish it). Anyway, here's my favourite picture of the trip:

The Sheep @ Paradise Country

they are so cute! but pretty stinky.

after i got back, it's back to work. Work is starting to get hectic this week & I was pretty nua / tired last week from the vacation so didn't do much except go for Run Club on Sunday. Finally unpacked my stuff & everything, finished watching most of my recordings from May til now, CSI, House, Bones, etc, and getting myself back to the working mood. (still not very in the mood but getting better) & also not much mood to run, which is a problem. Maybe I'll try cycling instead, just to do something tomorrow. Discovered a seaside park about 3km away from my place, it looks nicely big and quiet (a little too quiet in some parts, I was thinking what if i meet some robber/rapist and it caused me to speed up in my run) but then I wasn't feeling too well still until the day b4 so i need to get back being active soon.

Going to Taipei in Aug & Italy in September!! pretty excited about the upcoming trips :)

千九百四十八： The Lack of Discretion

I know I should be sleeping at this hour but I just came back from a dinner and I just have to get this off my chest!

I accidentally saw 2 people in the group who are married (to other people respectively and the lady has kids), holding hands under the table; the guy was also resting his hand on the girl's thigh etc. wtf!? I don't have a problem with you having an affair. I have a problem with you not bothering to hide it! It's one thing to be speaking about your wife and the next moment you are stroking the thigh of the girl next to you (am very glad i took the seat further away from this guy). At least have some discretion right! Tonight was the first time i met some of these people in real life, and having heard some things about you, i thought hey, nice story, even though he strayed once he finally met someone he was going to commit to (married 2x already) and now he's fondling the girl beside him?! Have some consideration for the people around you! I mean if we are openly knowing you 2 are having an affair ok, fine, act openly. But I was feeling kinda mad and disgusted after that I just felt my mood sour and couldn't look the 2 people in their eyes at all for the rest of the night for being so .. indiscreet. Does that mean that .. people who stray will always stray? That it's actually really part of their character that will never change?? that these people will always always be looking around for someone better for themselves?

Maybe this is really what the ugly world is like out there and I had thought i had experienced most of it already.

千九百四十七： A Marathon & A Wedding in Singapore

my mum's bazhang is the best!

Long time no blog! Because I was
1. Training & running the sundown marathon,
2. Working my ass off for some dumbo project where the manager likes to have pre call sync up calls and post call syncup calls.
3. Too much activities meeting up with friends in Singapore

I'm back in Kobe for this week and next and then jetting off again :)

Sundown was quite hellish. actually it was ok until around 17km when i pulled something again at the back of my left knee and it got worse and worse until I had to stop and walk til I dropped. or until 30km. I was doing ok until 13km, did my best to slow jog until 17km when even a jog was impossible and limped-dragged my feet all the way to 30km before deciding to give up. it took me around 3 hours to reach 21km, i guess 1 hour for the 5 km i walked and another 2 km for the 9km.. :x Luckily the volunteer was kind enough to lend me his phone so that I could call HW who managed to pick me up or I would have been stranded at ECP until the next morning. I guess it was a good experience in the sense that I kinda realise how far the distance is.. Will attempt to complete the whole marathon in October instead. sighz.

so the first weekend was taken up by the marathon (Saturday night run, Sunday - Jimmy's baby shower and then went home to rest/sleep) then the next weekend was Hawx & Owl's wedding. Got roped in to be the emcee, and helped out as a calafare photographer in the morning. I'm very happy for them, and although it was exhausting, it was a great night as I got to meet the 61 pple and catch up. So many people are having babies! Feel abit disconnected from all the baby conversations though.. Forgot how funny and easy it was to be around them and just be myself .. i guess old friends are your best friends after all.

Finally the last weekend was a trip to St John's Island & Kusu Island with James & his photography friends. They are quite an interesting group, and most carry Ipad2 already! It was a pity about the wet weather, else the photos might have turned out to be better. The islands are really tiny! first time for me on Kusu Island and we learnt that tortoises are NOT SLOW! they also seem to like eating mangoes and were really aggressive in fighting for food.

Mom left for London with my youngest sis and it was kinda lonely the last week w/o mum preparing dinner for us (my dad & me) we had to figure out what to eat every night after work and got tired of eating outside food the whole week. Made an effort to have dinner with dad more during the week since Mum wasn't around, hopefully it was enough. He was kinda sad when he sent me to the airport on sunday, I think, he even asked me when i was coming back to SG. we are not expressive or talk much to each other but i guess Dad tries hard to show his love but all the little things like driving us around, taking us for dinner and just small questions.

I almost missed the flight due to a series of unfortunate incidents at the airport (murphy's laws, all my lines I queued in were the slowest, the guy in front of me at DFS tried to pay with an expired credit card etc) and when I reached JP, my luggage fell apart (trolley handle broke, wheel dropped off) and i left my pocket wifi on the plane & had to ask the airport staff to search for it and bring it to me before exiting customs. Then the connecting flight to Osaka from Tokyo was delayed by a full hour & we waited in the plane w/o any information until the plane took off an hour late and the pilot apologised for the delay due to some problem with the left engine. which was kinda alarming whenever the plane starts to shudder due to turbulence or something. FINALLY reached Osaka at 9.45am which means I just missed the bus back and had to wait 40min for the next bus. sighz......... after all these bad luck, finally reached home around noon. not a great flight.

Off to get a new suitcase today, & found a really good looking bag to be my travel bag. Hopefully I don't have to bring around a backpack & the camera sling bag around anymore. :)

千九百四十六： 21km

a fallen pine cone at Rokko

It was a pretty good golden week holiday for me, despite Ryo going to work most of the days and I had work as well some of the days. Took some time out to go trail running (walking for most of it) with some of the run club friends, and also a run club activity yesterday. Met my goal of running 21km last week - with a run club friend giving support by joining me at the last 10km. Basically I had no time to be bored or lonely throughout the past week :D

Trail run gave me super bad muscle ache in my thighs from the climbing uphill i guess, but felt super good when we managed to reach the top of the mini-hill we were climbing and see out into the distance. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, so didn't manage to get good photographs.

21km run was completed on Saturday morning. Started out at around 7am.. made my way w/o a map towards the meeting point, got a little lost for about 2km but managed to complete the whole thing in 2.5hours despite all the red lights and checking roadside maps :D

Run club was on sunday, day after the run & I was surprised i had no muscle ache from the 21km. Krispy Kreme donut for breakfast, then managed to do another 8+ km on sunday morning, we then headed for udon lunch and yoghurt again after that :D after that we just hung around the shops for a bit.

Work work work today, & then French starts again tmr & will be headed to Tokyo tmr night. Have to do a 30km this week!

千九百四十五： Run Club

Dandelion in full bloom (Tampopo in Japanese)

Been focusing on some other stuff this month so haven't been blogging much.

Work for one. Had to take over teammate's projects because he got pulled to something else, which I am glad it's him and not me because it means having to work EOC hours. But it also means stretching myself quite thin when I had wanted to spend more time on less work and more me time this month after working until the wee hours so much last month.

I managed to go for hanami (or just a walk through the parks taking pics of sakura) over the weekends but haven't had the chance to sort out the pics much. Maybe it's just laziness, but just haven't found any pictures that I particularly liked out of all the shots I took.

I accidentally discovered an old schoolmate was a friend of a Japanese friend in Tokyo, how small the world is! Everyone looks just the same as they did, maybe we are just really lucky to be the batch of kids who never ever age at all? :D

The Nike Run club people had a celebration party last weekend and despite having only joined 3 sessions before their 1 year anniversary, I was invited and had quite a good time talking to people and making new friends. I think things are finally picking up, suddenly I have this bunch of friends I look forward to seeing every 2 weeks, even if the running is actually just chatting along the jogs, we get to have lunch and chat after lunch and everyone is sooo passionate about running that I feel secretly inadequate. They run almost daily, they wake up before work at 5am to run, they join so many runs.. Of cos I try my best, have finally clocked 100km of running distance this month! Finally been able to run past 10km for my training runs, I've to get to at least 15-20km by next week! At least I get motivation from seeing the others train so hard, & of cos with the Osaka Marathon that I actually managed to win a spot for. hohohoho!! out os 171000+ people who applied! it's almost like winning the lottery - since I don't usually get lucky for any sort of lucky draw at all.

Feeling pretty happy with life nowadays, work is busy but I don't feel as lonely as the last 2 years. I miss Singapore, I miss people at work, I miss my friends, I miss having the photo outings they take and the runs they are joining but I don't feel the urge to go back so strongly now maybe because I finally have sort of a friend group here with the run club.

Went to Tokyo for a day on Monday to say goodbye to Akane who is going to go to Canada for good. (or she might not find a job and come back to Japan) I hate good byes! & good times are always so short! i haven't seen the people in tokyo for so long, it was great to just say hi and it really sucked that I had to go back home because I have french lessons the next day and can't stay overnight. i'll just look forward to the next trip in May and take lots of photos then!

Golden week upcoming next week, as usual it's a work week for Ryo due to deadlines and me to meet the project signoff date on May 11. I better start thinking about what I'm going to do this weekend.

千九百四十四： 桜

Sakura at Shukugawa Park

Signed up for French lessons today (kinda fast even though I was still deciding last night). And got myself a new pair of running shoes from Adidas to replace my current adizero Breeze, which has its soles coming apart - to a pair of adizero Mana 5. I tried running with it today - feels pretty good! It was a good price too; I had around 2500yen off from a discount card, so got the shoes at around S$100. It's quite scary buying running shoes because I always dunno what's the right size. I thought my adidas size is 24.5 and Nike is 24, because I bought a pair sized 24 from adidas and it turned out to be too tight for running.. (or my toes grew longer?! can't believe how come I could wear it at the store) and today's 24.5 turned out to be too big (almost slipping off my feet when I ran) and I tried on size 24 and it fit.. but was quite traumatized by my pair of mana at home that i couldn't wear... so bought it half reluctantly.. Luckily this one turned out to be ok (Lesson learned : always leave a half toe space in the running shoes you buy!).

Am running a little more daily to try to cure/rehabilitate the ITB problem, seems to be working, it hurts in the morning when I wake up but the distance I can run daily until the point where it hurts is increasing too. Hopefully by next week it will be 10km?? looking forward to the Nike Run Club session this weekend! & i signed up for the Gold Coast Marathon (half marathon) - no confidence for full yet, but since I can upgrade the run category at the race expo, will evaluate what I can do again after sundown.

Not much work mood these few days.. feeling quite sluggish. Maybe partly due to the pain and the running - i realise pain takes up alot of energy... hopefully this negative energy sapping pain will be gone soon!!

千九百四十三： 6 years

last place in the Yodogawa half marathon

Yesterday marked the start of the 7th year with Ryo. doesn't feel quite like 7 years (maybe cos half the time we are actually in different countries).

it's been a crazy few weeks in March -
1. been super busy with work, working until 3-4am for the past 2 weeks helping out on a project that finally launched on April 1st (kept thinking maybe its a April Fools' joke)
2. completed my first half marathon (came in last place cos the back of my knees started to hurt after 10km and then i walked 10km but at least i didn't give up!!) & 10km is super super super damn far to walk when your legs are in pain and u are dragging both feet.
3. made new friends at the Nike Run Club, everyone is so into running it's really quite motivating.

April is here, a quarter of the year is gone so quickly. in April - thinking whether to continue french classes since there's so much activity these 2 months including travelling here and there. trying to train up for the sundown marathon as well.. thinking now if I was mad to join...

千九百四十二： Still Sick

The mascot of a shop named 'Squirrel'

I'm still sick. with cough and symptoms just get worse in the evening even though I feel better towards the afternoon. At night, I start coughing more, throat hurts more, head hurts more as well and I start feeling woozy. maybe it's the lack of use of my head that's why i'm getting headache (work's been a little slow recently)

Manami & Akane came to stay over the weekend & we visited Ayaka's mom & Ayaka's grave. We didn't stay long, but even the simple act of lighting the candles and burning some incense for her brought tears to our eyes. Her mum visits her everyday, everyday after work. She didn't know that we had visited the cemetery ourselves last year, and finally the mystery of the secret visitor to the grave was cleared (to the mum at least) I guess she didn't think anyone would make a visit so far by themselves.. Maybe everything is just fate, that I will live here and be just 30 min car ride away so that I can visit her or to bring friends to visit her every year. She gave us a reason for gathering every year, 1 less member this year, I think we might have one less next year depending on situation (i hope she comes back to Japan).

They stayed over on Saturday and Sunday we went to Kitano (北野) in Kobe. it's an area in Kobe with lots of colonial buildings and colonial culture so even now it has many many French and Italian restaurants and steak houses. We had a late lunch at Komatsu　and it was pretty good. But after that, it started raining when we left the restaurant and I had no umbrella, so just walked in the drizzle... and think that's how I got sick.. when I reached home I was getting headachy and throat started to hurt.. and that's how I am still sick today. sighz.

hope to get better next week or I wont be running my half-marathon le... :(

千九百四十一： Flu

white plum blossoms

Alone for this week - Ryo was back for a day on Saturday after Tokyo and left for NY on Sunday morning 6am? :s

Yesterday felt like the longest day I ever had to spend by myself. After Ryo left, I went to Shinsaibashi to join the Nike Run Club's run, which is held twice a month. It was around 7km but with the people around, some runners started chatting with me while running, it actually didn't feel that long. Plus we weren't running that fast to begin with as I was having some weird pains on the outside of my left thigh/knee. will definitely join the next run again :)

Last week is kinda blank in my head, I can't really remember what I did. Last weekend I ate french food & went to NakazakiCho. Sunday was some work thing at Shinsaibashi for Ryo Work work work for the first 4 days, went to buy my macro lens on Friday and ate Ippudo Ramen, Saturday was just french class and lunch and then just hanging out at Starbucks. Ryo went off around 6am on Sunday, I went to the Nike Run Club at around 7.30am, then came back for a shower and change before I went to take pictures of plum blossoms (梅　ume) at Sumaura park.

The view from the top of the mountain at Sumaura Park was breathtaking, but it would have been nice to have had someone to share it with. I saw some couples, both young and old, sitting on the benches taking in the view, taking a breather from the climb and was feeling a little sorry that no one will ever be seeing this view with me (because I am never going there again). There was a teen who had jogged up (from his jogging attire and towel) who was taking a rest there as well, our eyes met, and I thought he wanted to say something, but I wasn't really in the mood to chat with anyone, so I just looked away and moved on. He was quite cute though ...

Got flu or some sort of flu that results in a stuffy nose, hope it gets better by the end of this week. Looking forward to seeing the girls from Tokyo this weekend :)

千九百四十： Lethargy

Flowers at Sentosa

Relaxed week this week finally - got to do abit of my own stuff and finish up stuff that I wanted to do and meet up with some friends for dinner as well. Wanted to start running but the first run I finally went for after a 3(?) week break was a painful one. I think I didn't stretch enough and the old pain in the back of the knee came back and I had to walk 4km home :(

Of cos the pain carried on at least 2 days, so I stayed at home and strived to do at least 30 minutes of Yoga daily instead. I think it's working because my arms are aching like mad from the yoga and legs alittle too but I can finally touch my toes. First half marathon on 20th March. 1 more month! argh!!!! maybe i will die at the run.. :x Planning out next week's training now, hopefully I can keep to it.

Made chocolates for the first time this week, the problem is that it doesn't harden, i read and re read the recipe and i couldn't figure out where I did wrong.. does anyone know why??

千九百三十九： Chinese New Year 2011

a Tabby cat searching in a shoebox for food

Ryo's first time back to SG after the wedding, his first time here during CNY as well. this week was soooo short, half taken over by me trying to clear work early in the day and late at night, but thankfully for great colleagues who help to back me up for the past few days.

1 week in sg is too short, there isn't enough time to meet up with everyone i want to meet and meet more with other friends too. and not enough time to eat the food i wan to eat too.. since it's CNY.. have to spend priority time with family first then friends. at least managed to take lots of pictures.

back in japan now, the cold is killing me. 2degrees today! (T.T) wish I'm back in sg..

千九百三十八： Numb3rs

The address is 1-1-1

I love taking pictures of signboards, of road signs, of mailboxes, of numbers and words.

Why? Maybe cause when you look back they tell you where u have been, where you have left your foot steps etc. Especially when your memory starts to fail you, the pictures won't. my MIL is the best example. She travels alot, maybe 3-4 countries a year, Switzerland, Greece, Rome etc, but when I tried to help her sort out her travel pics in the PC, she had no idea where the places in the pics were. -.- I was thinking omg, wats the point of travelling when u dun remember all the sights and sounds that you went there to experience, even looking at the photos you took, you don't remember where you went. because not a single road sign or signboard to identify the place, just scenery shots. what a waste... (like bringing kids /babies to tour and its a waste of money cos they can't really remember the place after they grow up.. )

Been taking alot of pictures lately - because Ryo works on the weekends and I have to spend the weekend fending for myself and finding interesting stuff to do. Basically decided to explore the city & take pictures, after French class, usually i have lunch with Ryo & then we split up ..

so I went for a walk around Osaka (shopping streets) - http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157625903122948/

the Historical CBD areas : http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157625817509537/

The previous run on 23 Jan at Takatsuki City : http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157625817234289/

& had a gathering with some Singaporean ladies here i got to know at the SG embassy lunch a few weeks ago, for some Dim Sum at Kyoto: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157625943751466/

I haven't been to Kyoto since August when my family came over; it was pretty much the same except the weather was VERY COLD. apparently Kyoto is in a valley, so all the winds blow through it. The bad thing is when Ryo finally joins me sometimes to walk around, he really irritates me cos all he does is complain: *i'm sleepy, i need coffee, i'm cold* ... I want to go out and take photos since we rarely go to Kyoto! and then i just think damn it, i'm too used to travelling around by myself liao, it's nice to have company but it's so troublesome to accommodate someone else. I'm fine with having a coffee/drink but i'm not ok with the supposed companion continuously being so negative behind/ beside me. The only good thing was at Starbucks, this quite cute guy who was sitting outside, finished smoking and came in to escape from the cold and to finish his drink. He saw the few seats beside me was empty, our eyes kinda met and he kinda gave a hesitant smile and started coming in to sit down. I wasn't sure if he was asking are the seats empty, but the whole row was empty except for me & Ryo beside /behind me cos i wanted to look at the sidewalk so I was kinda turned away from Ryo & looking outside (hence able to see the cute guy) and i wasn't really sure I wanted him approaching me with Ryo behind me and i was just thinking sighz.. why am i married ... so when he came in, he gave a hesitant smile again, and i was like like half nodded to try to say ya, the seats are empty, but refused to make anymore eye contact after that even though he kinda half turned around like he wanted to get some courage to chat. I think he finally gave up when he saw me turn back to Ryo when Ryo said something to me. sighz....... what a waste .. even if just to make friends... but then i really don't even want guys to hv the chance to get the wrong idea or to have any temptations since i'm alone so much. :(


Will be back in SG next weekend onwards for a very short week though. Looking forward to having some chicken rice and KOI everyday :D

千九百三十七： Impulse

my favourite ラーメン from 一風堂！

It's been another long week. & it's the 3rd night this year that I'm home alone. 3 nights in 3 weeks - 49 more to come?! sighz. but I'm kind of resigned to the fact that Friday will never be date night in Japan because friday is Tokyo day for Ryo. I'm swamped with work 4 projects in total & I've barely anytime for myself.

On some sort of weird impulse while discussing the GC marathon, I signed up for Sundown full marathon. I wanted to sign up for half marathon to prepare for GC.. but it was already full registration.. then J said join full lor.. and i was like .. ok wth, GC will be full marathon anyway, I should be ready by then.. and i did it. Meaning that I have to be ready to run a half marathon by March! & i signed up for one in Osaka today as well. on the spur of the moment. sighz. well... what's done is done, at least I have all the time i want in Japan to train with not much of a social life. Good luck to me!!!

At least work is the only thing on my mind during my waking hours; tu me manques..

千九百三十六： Long week

can you believe that this dog is a handphone strap!?

what a long week.

what a long week.

i think next week will be longer..

i'm feeling so exhausted this whole week from the barrage of questions i face everyday & from coordinating so many things at the same time that i think my brain just shuts down around 9pm and i don't even want to go near the laptop cause I feel kinda repulsed by it.

The worst of the questions are things I've said b4, did training for so many times for the most basic work, the supposedly 'senior' people come to ask me again how to do. I don't mind people asking me stuff, i'm willing to help if I'm quite free but when i'm not, and i'm dodging arrows left and right and still have to teach you to do stuff and make decisions for you, should I get 20% of your salary?? Or people asking questions that are not even in their duties to check, I'm thinking just do what I ask u to instead of doing so many extra things when you haven't finished your own work !! can really strangle these people...

what a long week.

Photos of my first ever winter run here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157625784164288/

It was a great experience, especially to see how events are held in different countries and how different cultures behave at the same kind of event. It rained/snowed a little during the run, super windy for most of it, sunny for the most of it too.. at first it was really hard to stand around in the cold, but actually with all the adrenaline and jumping around, it was really that bad despite the temperature being around 5 degrees celsius.

Got 2 big ulcers in my mouth now, worst thing is 1 is on the left and the other is on the right side of my mouth and is about 2cm long. Hurts like hell when I eat..

ok.. am exhausted now too... am going to grab some dinner (alone for the 4th time this week) and stone at the couch.

千九百三十五： First week of 2011

the shrine's 柴犬 sniffing around - why do dogs do that??

It's been a hectic first week. I'm feeling a little like the dog in the pic, sniffing around alot cos of the cold and feeling kind of lost.

I've been piled too many things on for work and I'm starting to get tired of idiots who refuse to learn / step up. But as I'm typing this, I remember Xinhuan's philosophy about not writing negative stuff cos why should we put down the bad things in our blogs and remember these bad events for eternity?? so I am now trying to think about good stuff that happened this week.

1. Snow snow snow! First time I seen so much snow in Kobe/Osaka. Snow that actually you can feel on your face! but of course it's too weak to pile up so no snowman pictures..
2. Signed up for french class - I don't know if it was a good move because it means I can't sleep in on all Saturdays from now on. But at least progressing on my resolutions for the year.
3. Managed to run almost every alternate day, at least 18km this week since 10km on sunday upcoming? This is really hard, because it's so cold that the natural thing to do is just nua in the house under the blankets in your fleecewear and to get changed into running clothes is already a feat by itself. I'm quite excited about sunday, but half regretting it because i didn't expect it to be so cold. Weather forecasts says highest degree is 10degrees I hope no super cold winds is good enough for me.
4. Only a few more weeks before I'll be back in tropical Singapore! We complain so much about the heat when we are in SG, but seriously, I would rather have a Singapore day over this killer coldness anyday.
5. Bought around 5 books at Kino's New Year 20% off Foreign books sales, at around S$7 per book!

I'm hooked on CSI / CSI:NY these days, CSI:Miami sucks, the police just looks like they aren't taking everything seriously. Signed up for cable TV and enjoying every minute of it :D at least there is something to occupy me when I'm home alone.

ok am superbly hungry... going to go home now..

千九百三十四： 2011 Resolutions

2010's resolutions:http://booboogal.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-year-resolutions.html
Let's see how many i have achieved.

1. Run alot more. Working out at home do not help me get rid of fats on my thighs. - ran ran ran alot!
2. Find more time to myself & work less. Need to get a better work life balance, esp when working at home you lose track of time & just work work work until no night no day. I want to start doing more craft stuff, learn to bake / cook better food, and trying very hard to keep in touch with friends in SG.
*edit* resolution to knit/crochet a red & white checked muffler for myself this year at least. saw the girl in Nodame Catabile drama wear one and it looked so cute. - fail
3. In accordance to Keeping in Touch with friends in SG, i guess I overdid it for some people, so I'll try to keep less in touch with these people who feedbacked. - failed. will do this next year. how fast time flies, the same pple complained of too much contact again.
4. Keep in touch with Family more. - visited my sis / they are on watsapptoo
5. Save up money for D5000. Last i saw, it was 80000yen. Hopefully some waiting will drop it's price. - Bought D3000!
6. Clean up the house regularly instead of doing it during the yearly spring cleaning. - hmm FAIL!


now for 2011. I think i can make more concrete resolutions this year.
1. Running - 80km monthly, Run a half marathon by June, a Full marathon by end of the year.
2. Photography - Improve on skills with all lenses.
3. French - Take classes and get to finish book 1 of the text book.
4. Spend more time at home in JPN. seriously need to improve variety of food i can cook. & to try to wake up earlier...
5. Read /write more. & love myself alot more..

千九百三十三：2010 reflections

The year of 2010 just flew by in the blink of an eye when I can still remember the previous year so clearly. Perhaps it's because it's so eventful that when I think back, I can still remember clearly what I did each month in 2010, almost each week.

A Recap of the year:
January: Visited my sister in London, and went to Paris and Sweden as well! Realised the travelling alone is a lonely lonely thing, but i survived -16degrees celsius.

February: Wedding anniversary at Kinosaki Onsen, ate crabs until I was pretty sick of them. Found out I was allergic to crab sashimi.

March: A loved one hurt me very badly. 1st death anniversary of Ayaka, the ladies came down from Tokyo and we had a good get together.

April: Bought my first DSLR & watched my first soccer game live in Jpn, went to SG - v-jimlim left MS with kelly... but good food and good friends all around :)

May: Went to USS with Xinhuan, went to Melaka, went to Tokyo, met up with friends :) Baked my first (& only) buns.

June: Quiet month, mainly prepared for JP wedding & took Vik around Osaka/Kobe. Ran outdoors for the first time.

July: World Cup finals, & went back to SG for 2 weeks for wedding stuff and alot of food again,

August: JP wedding finally over (8-Aug), family gathered at my place for 3 weeks & was busy with wedding & sightseeing and work. followed through the high school baseball tournaments, got very tanned as a result. but the passion they provided is unforgettable.

September: Went back to SG (again...) Lots of birthday celebrations in SG, with both family and friends & turning 28, probably finally grew up alot more as well.. F1 for the first time and I realised that car engines are my lullabies..

October: Supported runs (Real Run, North Face), joined my first run (Nike!), and GE run. ILight , eMcee-ed at Adrian's wedding, sixoneder gatherings, XQ came back to SG

November: BMW World, went to the museums, went to Kukup

December: Christine's wedding, Jimmy's unexpected wedding, went to support a (few) marathon participants.. got hurt again. Went to Guam, thought through alot of things, decided it was time to stop being an idiot.

There. my 2010.

Jampacked with activities, came to the realization that i need to be more aloof. I put in too much of myself for people I care about but then that's me, why would you want to do things halfheartedly? No one forced you into anything, rather than regret bad decisions, what's done is done and just put your heart to it and you might enjoy this alternative route that you had thought was wrong.. I guess i want to just say, stop sweating over the small stuff, life is not that long, u never know when's it's your last. I would rather die knowing i put in my best for the people I loved than have treated any of them shabbily and regretted it.

Spring cleaning yesterday, today was just abit of last minute clean up and then later to the temple for the 初詣 at midnight.　To give thanks for 2010 and to look forward to 2011. It will be a better year because I will make it better, and not just because I hope it will be.

Happy New year everyone!