Oops! My bad...

In the last few weeks, I've normally taken the following strategy when going for my weekly swimming routine. This normally takes about 40 minutes to complete:

- 2 laps of breast stroke
- take a breather and do some stretches (in the pool)
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 2 laps of breast stroke
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of breast stroke
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of breast stroke

Last week, I managed to use that same format and squeezed in an additional 2 laps

Today, I decided to try this:

- 4 laps of breast stroke
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a longer breather and do some stretches

Things were looking real good at this point since I've managed 8 laps in 20 minutes... so I tried to get to 12 laps again... and continued on by doing:

- 1 lap of freestyle
- take a short breather and do some stretches
- 1 lap of freestyle... err... then this happened...

A slight tug in my right calf muscle told me that a cramp was setting in halfway into my 10th lap. Luckily I was swimming on lane 2... which is pretty near the side of the pool... and doggy paddled all the way to the side of the pool where I could hang on too while I massaged the stricken muscle.

I finished my other half of a lap using the breast stroke and without the kicking action. It was super slow to reach the end of the lap doing this... but that's the only way I won't totally sink into the water since the calf muscle needed more rest time. Exerting it would mean a lot more pain that would extend all the way to the base of my right foot.

I guess I should have taken a longer breather and enjoy some stretches before I jumped into swimming my 10th lap...

So I've learnt my lesson. Even when the going is good... one needs to pace one's self according to one's physical ability at a certain point in time. Don't go beyond your limit!

The best Friday in a long while

Gluttony Session #1

It all began with a team lunch with my colleague's at OXO (Queensbay) to celebrate 2 birthdays and 1 farewell. Here are a few photos of what we had (wasn't quick enough to snap a photo of some of the other dishes before the food was attacked)...

After the main course, there was desert... and yup... I didn't take a photo of that either.

Anyway... gluttony session #1 was pretty good. We enjoyed the food. However, I must say that the waiters have to be a bit more alert since they didn't even know how to clear the butter plates without being prompted.

To be fair, as a considerably new outlet, OXO probably needs a little more time to get their staff up to speed in terms of service skills.

Gluttony Session #2

Dinner was at Spice Market, Rasa Sayang Resort, Batu Ferringhi. This was with my parents to celebrate the 31st Anniversary of their ROM. Among the stuff that we ate included lobsters, scallops, plenty of fresh sashimi, oysters, mussels, yabbies (crawfish), and etc. This was accompanied by at least 2 glasses of wine each.

We had so much food that we needed to take a breather before going for the desert. So while just sitting around, I decided to take a photo of the table deco-piece: spices on a stone plate.

After some time, we headed on to get some dessert from the buffet line. While we were having our 1st coffee, the Rasa Sayang staff surprised my parents with this:

It tastes as awesome as it looks. So yummy! ...and with all that chocolate goodness, we decided to have a 2nd coffee.

After dinner, we decided to go have a nice long walk up and down the Batu Ferringhi night market. That really helped to ease off the feeling of being utterly bloated. *phew*

The Sing Song and Drink Beer Session

Ho ho! It's not yet the end of my very long Friday night... it goes all the way into 4am.

When I got home, it was about 12:30am but I am in no mood to go to sleep yet. Joce was pretty much up to going out and about too. She found out that her friend was in Red Box and does not mind extra company.

So we headed to Red Box, sang a lot and drank a few bottles of beer each.

The best part of all was it was raining when we were leaving! We giggled like little kids as we ran to my car (it was parked in one of the public parking lots along Gurney Drive)

Seriously... running in the rain was kind of a dream come through. It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to run in the rain ;)

Of course... by the time I got home... it was a must to at least take a shower... because I surely do not want to catch a cold.

In short, it was a way incredibly awesome Friday!!!

Hot, hot, hot day out!

The day started early enough for me today... mmm... say like 7:15 AM... so that I could go for an early morning swim with my dad.

Before leaving the house, I remembered to send a message to wish my buddy (Hun) good luck for the Penang International Dragon Boat race... and a playful note of caution to not walk into anymore gaps in the ground. In reply: aside from a laugh and a note of thanks, I was asked to go back to sleep... bugger that!

Anyway, I finally got about to my swimming around 8:30 AM and I must say that I'm pretty happy with finally managing to squeeze in 12 laps (in a full Olympic-sized pool) within 40 minutes. The most important part is I could walk out of the pool without feeling that my feet would give way... you know... as in the jelly-legged feeling... when your leg muscles totally refuse to hold you up anymore.

This surely is quite an improvement from about a couple months back when I could barely squeeze out 10 laps in about the same amount of time without feeling all jelly-legged by the time I got out of the pool. Getting back into some kind of weekly exercise routine from an almost no exercise routine was kinda tough... but it had to be done to drive up my energy level (and hopefully my immune system too).

Anywaaaaay, when I got out of the pool... it seemed that I may not have a chance to go to the Teluk Bahang dam to be a spectator at the PIDB race. Seems like everyone who originally planned to go decided that they didn't want to go after all. That's kinda sad really... I've never gone to check the event out even after saying that I'll check it out next year in every year for the past few years.

Then I just chanced to ask Chin if she's already there or planning to go watch the race... and it turns out that she's planning to go there after lunch. So we decided to have an impromptu lunch together at about 1:30 PM before heading up to the dam.

Boy it was hot, hot, hot! Luckily we brought a supply of water to drink. As a precaution, I had also made sure that I had applied some sunblock before going out today... best idea ever... if not I would suppose that I'd be sunburned to a crisp!

Ok, so Chin headed first towards her ex-team. She used to row but have now shifted her attention to competing in marathons. Then we went to see the next race that was running.

I even had a butterfingers moment... dropping my bottle of water. Dang... 60 degree downward decline! Thank god I was wearing my sports shoes and that I am pretty good with hiking. Climbed down to retrieve my water bottle... the precious ambrosia that I probably couldn't do without on a day like this.

As the races were going on, Chin told me a lot more about the stuff that normally happens during a DB race. Not bad... learnt something new today. Spotted Hun as he was walking back to his team's tent after a race so I waved to say hello.

Chin and I did a lot of walking from the viewing area to her ex-team's tent. We normally walked to the teams' tent area in between races ^_^

Other people I managed to spot at the race included Jibby (the photo-sniper); and Azmy and friend. It so happened that Hun and his brother were walking back to the team tent area (one of those occasions) when Azmy was spotted... so we all had a little chat session.

It all finally ended around 5:30 PM. Ahh... my water supply was depleted by then... I must say it was rather interesting... though I'm not so sure that the best was done to get people up to the dam to view the race. Maybe there'll be more people there tomorrow as the International races are scheduled to commence throughout tomorrow...

Oh I have to say this though... the poster design for this year's PIDB is really nice!

Hope...

Though I know that we may never be
what I hope we could some day be
Does it matter that I care for you still
when all I can see is a cold empty void
where there should be more soul in you?

You may never know what I feel for you
I was never brave enough to tell you so
I can see you when I close my eyes
and smile to myself when I remember
something silly that you have said or done

Wistfully I hope against hope
but it's a dream I can never hold on to
So I tell myself it's time to let go
be thankful of what I have in front of me
and yet hope has a life of its own
I can only hope that time will lead the way

*sigh*

The more I think about it, the more my head hurts.
So why do I think about it?
I might as well flick a switch to forget about it!

*Sigh*
But as usual...
Things are easier said than done.

*flush!*

Nope... that didn't work either.