on holiday high

i woke up this morning 545am, thinking it was 645am. i quickly vacuumed and mopped the floor, rushing to finish by 705am so that i could shower for work.

when i pulled my mop out, i realised, hey..why is the sky still so dark. chey. it was 6am, not 7am.

that was silly. now at 650am (the correct time) and i am typing this entry before i get ready for work.

nice. our home is a little cleaner now, before we go back home to segamat for the long weekend.

attempted to make half boil eggs(2nd day attempt) for dearie but ended cracking it when i popped it into the pot. gosh. when am i going to get this right.

i'm all packed for home. packed for training. packed for work.

high on caffeine now.

safra training tonight. yay! running feels fun again, now that we are with safra.

half day work. half day meeting. safra run. go home. sleep a couple of hours. and it's home to family and alot alot of good food. yayyyy!! high on holiday!

beef noodles

When I was young, my parents would bring us to this beef noodles stall at beach road, fortnightly.

Because we did this so often, I can almost remember the sight, smell and taste of the beef noodles till this day.

The gravy was thick, gooey and dark in color. There were generous servings of beef in each bowl. There was a lot of crunch with the bean sprouts in them.

It looks nearly similar to the one in the photo here.

I’m not sure why, but I suddenly missed the beef noodles I savoured as a child. Maybe I miss being a young girl and how I eagerly waited for my parents to order that bowl of beef noodles for me.

Strangely, I stopped eating beef some years ago. Probably I felt eating beef is fattening and doesn’t help in my diet. I have this thought stuck on the top of my head that beef is hard to digest. Food that is hard to digest will stick onto my body as an extra piece of flesh.

People change with time. Preferences change. But family doesn’t change. =)

climbing coconut tree

I like the post on yahoo that highlighted the guidelines nwc recommended on sustainable wages.

Quoting from yahoo news: “The National Wages Council (NWC) is recommending companies to award sustainable wage increases to employees, taking into account their performance and prospects.”

Scrolling downwards you will find a whole list of comments posted by the public.

Remuneration is a weird thing. I never understand how management places a value on skills and qualification. It differs from company to company, industry to industry.

There will always be a wage disparity. People who can afford 7series BMWs while others cram on public transport.

Having a chance to understand business situation from the management in my company, one issue that plagues the company is manpower/wages. If the company is doing fantastic, the company may not hesitate as much to rewards its staff. However, if the company’s survival falls into the doldrums, then paying as much will only add to the financial burden on the company. But if the company doesn’t pay, people leave and it is hard to hire replacement.

People always compare. Like I will compare my package with my friends’. Wow. Variable bonus of x months. Wow allowances of $X00.

Who doesn’t want more? But what makes us worthy to have more?

So while I wish I could earn more, I also understand the get more means I must have the necessary skill set and experience to command that. If I am going to stay the same, refuse to learn and take up more, I certainly don’t think the management will find it justifiable to pay me more. While we lament why pay has stayed relatively the same for years, maybe it’s also time we examined if we have made much effort to move ourselves one step ahead to deserve more.

It’s a weird thing to see in the economy. While some lament they struggle to pay off the loans of their hdb, I see a long queue going into lv boutique. I see more bmws on the road than a decade ago. Perhaps the crux is the distribution of income. Wage disparity? Rich are getting richer. Poor are getting poorer. How to tip the balance over? We see exponential increase in taxes on higher income earners. But we don’t see very significant balancing.

Life is never fair, that’s the universal truth.

For dearie and I, we live by simple principles. Live within our means. Keep improving and moving forward. Keep learning. Save more. And treasure the time we have with our loved ones.

I like to envisage myself underneath a tall coconut tree. People are looking and pointing at the coconuts saying, “waaa..coconut. weather so hot. Can drink one so shiok.” Sure, I will like to enjoy a nice coconut drink too. But instead of looking and pointing, I want to start climbing up the tree. I believe, slowly, I will get to it. =)

staying awake

The pay adjustment came as a surprise, which I am thankful for.

Our equities are slowly picking up again, after going down into a trough. Let’s hope the rise is sustainable.

Christin will be heading off to Japan next month and I am green with envy. I miss Japan and will love to go for a holiday somewhere. My only consolation is the upcoming long weekend, during which we will make a trip home to Segamat.

We’re experimenting with mixing morning runs with safra evening runs, alternating days. Sounds weird. Feels weird. I wonder if our bodies can handle that. We laid off running in the morning last week (we were feeling tired to wake up early)..but started the routine today again.

I was fresh this morning, but somehow started to feel sleepy by noon. I succumbed to making a 2nd cup of coffee for the day. I’m sipping it while writing this entry. I know it’ll make sleeping difficult tonight but I’m just slipping into this standby mode if I don’t get my caffeine shot.

We’ll make our way home to Segamat on Fri morning, so we’ll still get to join safra on Thursday evening. There is no training on Sunday as many runners will be down at sundown. Good for us, coz it means we won’t be missing training with them. Meantime, we can still do our own long run at home =)

I find a lot of joy joining safra. Last Sunday, I was the only lady among 9 other guy runners. They were really patient, waited for me and so I never felt left behind.

i wonder if I was dreaming but as I ran this morning, I felt my strides get a little lighter. Haven’t felt like that in a long while.

Think I should get dearie to do some static exercises tonight. Chia reminded us all the static exercises we used to be grilled to do. They do make us stronger runners.

I still have 2 things on my list to work on. Analyzing the gp report and segregating the costing report. Closing will only take place next week, so I can still find some pockets of time to lay back and plan a little for the week.

We are still contemplating if we should join scsm. The only pull factor is that most, if not all, safra runners will be joining this event. Training with them towards this race seems the most natural thing to do.

But I’m more inclined to do overseas races, to be honest. I thought my money is better spent on a different experience. Even racing in Malaysia will be nicer than doing a local race which will bring me through familiar routes. Gee, I’m torn.

Seremban half will be nice to do but I’m not reading much about it yet. The Star covered it today on its online news. I reckon registration should commence soon.

I’m not seeing much of others we can join. Newton run at KL in sept? don’t see myself picking up biking anytime soon, so duathlons are still not within consideration. Penang marathon? But it seems not fantastic from what dearie experienced last year. Hmm. Will discuss with dearie on this soon, so we can plan training towards the races.

Want to plan for holiday next year too. I so need one. Taiwan. Korea. Japan. Anywhere.

This post is so haphazard. my thoughts are simply random. i guess you will understand it, somehow.

pant pant

run with safra jurong yesterday was good, although there were just 7 of us. i haven't ran a fast 9km for a long while. my 8km runs at the park connectors are more than often leisure ones.

i panted hard near the end and i could feel myself struggled down the last 800m or so. it was an uncomfortable feeling, but strangely, i actually liked that. i missed having that feeling in fact. the last time i experienced it was during the days with mileage.

the ice cold drinks provided was a pleasant surprise. the night was so humid and i gulped down a few cups of drinks. the hot shower was another good thing we had too. we met with 3 other runners and went for dinner near pioneer mrt. it was simply fun chatting with them and one of them offered us a ride home. thank u, eng hua(if i never spell your name wrong).

i felt satisfied from the run. it was like a push for me to get my inertia for running again. nice people really made the process easier. and for now, we will try our best to settle into the new running group.

today's friday and i feel pretty laid back. my 2 staff are on leave and i'm pretty much on my own. looking forward to a nice rest over the weekend..and long run on sunday with the running group again! =D

thorns

there are bound to be irksome people in every company. i have learnt the fine skill of blocking tai-chis. don't think you can always push work, which is rightfully yours, to my department.

i'm thankful i have staff who stand with me, united. at least when we block, we block it together. don't come and try walk all over us. i will deal with things at my level, because i won't stoop low to try and make u look bad in front of our bosses. I want to let time be the judge for abilities.

i overlooked on a fine detail to the signing of the legal documents. i felt my face hit right smack on the wall. i hope my boss doesn't deduct my pay for the extra we might have to fork out to get the lawyer come another time. =(

dark rain clouds loom the sky (again?!). seems like chances to run tonight will be slim. backup plan: skipping and play wii.

gee. the whole day feels so gray, like the sky outside.

the sky's playing a joke on us

the weather has been like a wailing baby. it cries once in the morning and once in the evening.

we travelled down to boon lay yesterday, only to find the place raining. we made a u-turn back home and the sky started to clear. upon reaching yew tee, there was not a single drop of rain in sight.

this morning we woke up at 5-ish and got into our running gear. grabbed a few biscuits and headed out. plitter platter. the rain started to fall again. again, for a second time, we retreated home, vowing we will have to catch up on our mileage this evening.

after breaking my 50k weekly mileage mark last week, i'm going to do badly this week. with mon, tues and wed morning gone due to rain, my 50k mark is falling beyond reach.

i hate the rain. it spoils my plans and makes me grumpy. and i hate how it makes my leather shoes all soggy.

will the sky stop playing jokes on us?

treading with fear

Expectations at work have been scaling. More is required. More work is given. Responsibilities have increased significantly too. I feel somewhat lost because I don’t know where to start.

Help to check and balance the operations? Taking control? Am I in a position to do so? I am but a mere accountant. I am probably just that little dwarf behind the FC. Probably the director meant the fc should be taking more charge. I am merely an assistant. But from the kind of workload she already has, her plate is nearly full. I just feel inadequate to execute those tasks that were discussed in the quarter review yesterday.

I feel somewhat overwhelmed and fearful. Dearie tells me to take one task at a time. Each task feels big. It’s like hugging a big tree whose trunk I can’t wrap my arms fully over.

Big tasks present big opportunities. However, are these big hats too big for my head?

I cast a lot of doubts on myself. I still can’t frame myself beyond the accountant’s scope. I have barely scaled the hill and I am told I have to climb a mountain. Yet I know well, if I took the challenge and made a good climb, I might reach the summit of the mountain..and what lies ahead could be better than what I have bargained for.

Yet for now, I am still struggling with myself. How do I keep up? I am fearful of taking a wrong step and end up in the deep end of the pool.

up and running

the run with safra jurong on sunday was great! it's been a while since we ran with a group and the turnout was a gregarious bunch. there was a lot of laughter, runners enjoying the company of other like-minded ones.

running with people helped me forget of the blistering heat. i just tried to keep up. there were people i could keep pace with and i'm glad i didn't get dropped behind. there were a couple of pit stops, of which were photoshoot and drink stops.

there was even a breakfast spread prepared after the run, which came much as a surprise.

the route was pretty interesting; going into ntu and around jurong west.

i thought the organisers did a fantastic job and the runners were orderly and their spirits were kept high throughout the entire 2.5hrs.

I enjoyed meeting all the friends, both new and old. =)

It made me miss the days i trained with mileage. i miss evelyn, michelle, jan, gabor and many others..they are a very nice group of friends whose company i've enjoyed.

This will be another new chapter in running for dearie and i. We will be joining other upcoming runs with safra jurong =) A new chapter is nothing without the commitment to hold through the journey.

american breakfast at home(yew tee)

this was saturday's american breakfast at home,yew tee. hehe. i think bb liked it quite alot and it was very easy to make. =)

i feel like a million dollars

i got my confirmation today! yayyy.. an early one. probation is 6 months but i got my confirmation on the 4th month.

had a good talk with my boss and there is really so much i can learn from her. she is really one gem boss to have. Interestingly, i was emailing with my 2 ex-colleagues and 1 of them who is still with the company ranted about my ex-boss. She will be the last of our three-some gang to leave the company, coming start of next month.

my current company is small, not very cash-rich and not some big mnc. but i give thanks i have a good boss and nice colleagues. =) so that's really something to be grateful of..coz i have been through worse days with my ex-boss.

I made another $27 from equities. I was too fretful to hold it through the weekend. not too bad, enough to bring dearie and mummy for a treat to celebrate my confirmation.

I'll be trying out a new recipe tonight.. istimewa..on my guinea pig dearie.

Ah... i feel like a million dollars! (or maybe, 27 dollars)..

better person

For 4 consecutive days, we pressed on. We were out before 6am and we ran. We ran for 4 mornings in a row. I’m so proud of us!

It takes a few repetitions to get the hang of it. I’m enjoying the morning runs. Actually I kind of prefer it over evening runs. I am usually very tired after a long day at work. Often, I have to work overtime and that will disrupt my runs. By the time I get home, run, have dinner, wash up and finally settle down, it’s already 11+pm. The night is too short for so many things. If possible, I will love to stick to this new routine. Let’s see how long we can hold this off. =)

Dinner has been very healthy too. After the yummy chicken and veg dish we had on Tuesday, we had veg and eggs yesterday. We skipped the rice, cutting down on the excess carbo.

Ahh..i’m feeling better as a person already! Hahaha.. I want to cross that 40k mark this week. It has been far too long since I've last done so.

i'm never alone

I had a long day+night at work yesterday. I dragged myself home at 915pm, feeling lethargic. When I got home, I smelled the fragrance of cooked garlic. Stepping in, dearie dished out a plate of colourful stuff which I could not quite make out what it was. When I sat down and rummaged through the colourful pile, I found generous chunks of chicken with carrots, garlic and onion. I loved it, every bit of it. Thank you for the wonderful dinner, dearie. It really brightened up my entire day.

He has been very forgiving with the things I do, though he does not always agree. I made some wrong decisions but he still stood with me through it.

He made a trip down to lot 1 to get me some tonics, knowing the monthly ordeal was tormenting me badly.

When I have a bad day, the one thing I crave was a hug from him.

I cannot imagine a day without you. =)

blue monday made blue-er

i am angry with myself. i accidentally deleted my entire investment folder from my thumbdrive last friday. it's gone. all gone.

i tried to recover the files with the file recover software. the first one could locate the deleted files and seemingly recovered them but all were not able to be opened.it had some file format error message.

then i downloaded 2 more file recover softwares but running the scans, the files were not located at all. =( it might be due to the first software?

i don't know. i feel so lost. i hate that feeling. now i got to start from scratch again. our bond investment calculations. our shares investments. my mum's investments. all the calculations were inside. all my formulae. all. gone.

ahhhh..what a lousy way to start the morning and week. oh man. someone give me something to smile about..please =(

mum, run, holiday

Yesterday was mother’s day. dearie and I went to the shop to have dinner with her. i’m glad we went there despite of the heavy rain because I think spending time with her was the least I could do.

Happy mother’s day, mummy.

We went for our run this morning, instead of doing so in the evening. I like the coolness of the morning and sleeping early the night before meant I actually felt pretty fresh. I’m not too sure if dearie enjoyed it because he kept perspiring profusely after the run. He continued to drip even after we got to the mrt. We do need a huge freezer to cool him down after the run and stop him from perspiring so much.

We will be joining safra jurong for its launch run this coming Sunday. I am looking forward to run with other people. It is also a motivation for me to speed up, as I know I have slowed down tremendously since Tokyo marathon. My runs have become slow jogs these days. Good thing about jogs is I don’t sustain injury from them. I don’t feel my muscles tangled up in a tensed mess.. I don’t feel my knees in pain. =)

I think we will see some familiar faces in the crowd..and it should be more leisure than competitive to join safra. It’s a good change for us. A new group to join. New friends to make. Maybe gain some momentum..and have like minded people to push the distance with. With safra jurong not too far away, I am also tossing with the idea of joining them for the weekday runs too. Not too sure if dearie will want to do so..but we’ll join Sunday and see how it goes.

I am planning for a holiday next year..but it seems that to plan for one is hard. I have to consider about audit.. agm.. quarter reporting.. conso.. all the stuff I need to do at work. Eliminating all those, I have barely much days left when I will not be strapped. Ahhh..i’m going to plan for one nevertheless. Taiwan.. korea..anywhere. I deserve one holiday every year!

hippo and her waist

oh no oh no..i need to lose weight! dearie bought me new dresses..and they are pretty small..i'll cry if he brings them back and i can't squeeze into them. =(

hippo needs to find her waist.

i can imagine the horror i'll be getting after i get my weighing machine and step and them. -braces herself-

i'll buy a weighing machine tonight. i'm going to step onto each of them..and try them out. the one which reflects the least weight will be bought! =P (i live in the world of self delusion)

pink lipgloss

I lost my pink lip gloss on Saturday. It just disappeared and I can’t find it.

I sold them off today, shoring up lesser than what we could have gotten last week. But it was a gamble. Either we got more or lesser from it. But thankful at least we got some.

The other one is on a downhill slide. I’ll just hold it for now. It will take a long while before things turn around.

I made mistakes at work and I feel unhappy about it. Stupid tricia. Just when I thought I made one step forward, I took two steps back.

I feel engulfed with flesh. I want to get a weighing scale to help me start getting back in shape.

I want to go for a long run tonight. Just run till I’m tired so I can quickly fall asleep. The bed feels so empty without dearie.

I’m trying to imagine I’m at Disneyland too.