billy tricia hamburger

We had burgers for dinner.. each burger only costs us $1.30 ($0.60 chicken patty, $0.40 burger bread & $0.30 - cheese) it turned out pretty yummy..healthier and cheaper than fast food chains!

new watch!

dearie bought me a new watch on sunday. it's a seiko criteria =) it's an advanced birthday present! haha. i'll use it for my exam this saturday. this watch has everything i want: proper marking (1,2,3...i've been struggling to tell the exact time with my dkny watch) and also DATE! woohooooooooo!

on top of that, it has chrono features..it's a stop watch! =) very blessed..thank you dearie!

if i strike 4d this wednesday, i promise to buy you the hugo boss watch. promise! =)

lazing around & having fun

foooood...

our weekend trip up perak

pa's new drool-worthy peugeot 407

leaving on a peugeot 407

1500km – the total distance we covered over the long weekend. and much of it on the new 407 pa bought.. this car packs the WOW factor!

We spent a large part of the holiday traveling from place to place. although the traveling was tiring, it was made up by the sumptuous meals we feasted on.

There were many firsts during this trip. First time to an estate. First time to teluk intan. First time trying soft chicken biscuits..yummy! First time traveling soooooo much in a car!

Shall post up the photos soon..and let it tell of the journey.

Back to reality. Work on Monday is made a lot more bearable with ag away and tpl on medical leave. It’s a pressure-less Monday after the long weekend.

Time to get back into running form after the pigging out. classes start this weekend and I do have to accelerate on my revision and assignment.

The sooner I finish this 2nd term, the better it is. that means I’ll be getting a breather pretty soon.

worth the plunge

After taking the plunge into financial statement analysis, i am now pretty convinced it is the right choice to make.

1. I heard sebastian rant about treasury mgmt and his experience 2 terms back when dogan took the class. Not a student's favourite kind of lecturer.

2. Now I can go for MR25 cross country marathon! woohoo! after the dnf last year due to my hamstring injury, i hope i can do better this year. isabel will be going for it too, so there is someone i can try to keep up with.

3. Perth City to surf marathon is down the pipeline. Dearie made the ticket booking during the week and we are planning towards for the event in august. wow..it'll be my FIRST overseas marathon (excl. malaysia) really looking forward to it! timely as a reward for 2 terms of hard work.

I've hit a personal weekly mileage record for 2009 this week. 70km. My personal best is 75km in a week, during 2007. This 70km is alot tougher than the 75km in 2007 as it includes track training and hard 12km run at macritchie.

I ran 19km with yanni today and spending the 2 hours chatting as we ran made it really enjoyable. The suffering of the run was alleviated because of a fun companion. Hope to run with you again soon, yanni! =)

on books and roads

Received an email from the school informing us that the fis exam will be postponed till 25/04/09. good news as it means we’ll have more time to go through the materials and get ourselves more prepared. Bad news because it’s on the same day as equities class. That actually means from 9-12noon we’ll be having exams. 1-8pm we’ll be down for class. In a nutshell, some of us will be strapped in school for almost half the day. bleah.

Nevertheless, I’m just thankful now I have a decent amount of time to thoroughly go through the chapters in MPP textbook..and understand the questions in the tutorials better. At least I can sleep in peace now.. I’ve been tossing and turning in bed; mind full of worry about the fis exam.. to be honest, I was even prepared to fail the fis exam and redo it again. so for the postponement, it may be a good thing for most of us in class.

After the fis class with prof dogan, I have switched from treasury mgmt module to financial statement analysis instead. it’s an elective which we have to pick either one. I gathered feedback from lester that the odds of failing is pretty high as tm module is pretty ambitious – lots to cover in a short time. it just leaves me feeling more uncertain on top of prof dogan’s teaching.

Hence, yesterday I took the plunge for the switch. Corp finance will be pushed back to term 4. term 2 will be equities and fsa. It doesn’t sound too bad an arrangement because if things go smoothly, I will still be in time to graduate by Dec..just a week later than my previous plan.

Last Sunday I picked dearie up at Changi airport as he returned from his trip to Penang. The thought of driving felt daunting as I have been always reliant on dearie to ferry me around. He’s a fantastic driver and I would just sit back and relax all the months since I’ve obtained my license. On Saturday, I frantically flipped through the street directory to find bearing in the myriad of ‘e’s (expressways). Kje..bke..pie..sle.. good thing dearie called me that evening and guided me through the journey down.

Sitting into our car felt different as I embarked on the longest drive I’ve done so far in my driving life. I was off to a lousy start as I missed a turning to woodlands road..but as I drove down the empty sungei kadut road, I gained more confidence. Making a u-turn, I was getting more warmed up. the drive was enjoyable and I didn’t feel the least intimidated when many cars were just speeding up and overtaking me on the expressway. I kept looking at my speedometer. I was cruising at 75-80kmh, very well in the 90kmh limit. Not too sure what the rest of the cars were going at, but I decided not to step on my accelerator hard as I was comfortable at that speed. i was impressed at how well marked changi airport roads are. so I got to the arrival hall fairly easily. The whole trip took me 40mins. =)dearie took the wheel on the return trip.

I do think I should drive more..especially parking.. before it becomes a lost art to me.

oh ya..did i tell u dearie got me yummylicious GODIVA chocolates! woohooo..i've been gorging myself on it and now i have 3 freshly popped pimples that have erupted.=X

too good to throw away

remember my last entry about the old shoes i've washed and put into them insoles? i've brought all 3 out for short runs and it was torturous running in them!

insoles are horrendous invention of the century. they are really uncomfortable to run in when you are on tarmac or road. imagine running barefooted on a marble tiled floor. that's how they feel in my view.

i'll be wearing my old shoes to the trails instead. tempo is more than 85% gone. ds trainers 95% gone. gt2120s, probably another 15% to go as well. i'll use them for mr runs because in the trails..because i can afford the shoes to feel stiffer so that i don't have pebbles poking in my soles. on the tarmac, stiff insoles just make my feet scream out loud!

i'll stick to my mizunos for now..and once i clear out 1-2pairs of my old shoes, i'll launch my cumulus! =)

zzz monster

The whole process of mugging for exams has taken much toil on me. Having plagued with headaches and migraines, it’s been a tough term for me. I broke a personal record of getting medical leave 2 days in a work week..thanks to a series of headaches that has broken me down physically.

I’m just glad I got around all the online tests for ofrm module; albeit not doing too well for the final one. The paper on Saturday was a killer - a fatal headshot.

Training has been affected due to the lack of sleep and medication. I hope to move out of this phase soon.

Keeping my fingers crossed, should I pass last sat’s module, I’ll be officially half way through my course. 5 modules down out of 10.

Next sat is the last exam for the term. FIS. It can only spell trouble because the professor who taught us is not the one setting nor marking our papers. The progress of the assignment to date is nil. Bad.

Went shopping with mum yesterday and I always enjoy spending time with her. Will aim to do more of that after exams..and I’ve also committed to helping her move her accounting work onto myob and take charge of tax matters.

I need more sleep..as I’ve lost a lot of it for the last 2 weeks. Without sleep, the mind and body are at the verge of breaking down.

After this round of exams, dearie and I are going to Malaysia for a short break over good Friday holidays. And we’ll probably travel to see pa’s new place at south of perak! Woohoo! We can do some housewarming maybe? =)

tricia cries out

the intensive over the weekend left me intensively tired. The Sunday run was given a miss and it left me feeling something was missing from the weekly routine.

Exams are fast approaching and the pressure has moved up by another notch. The migraines are acting up again.. and I took a day of medical leave today. I treasure this time out of the office as I got to do quite a bit of house work and also got around organizing some things at home which I have been putting off for a while.

2 modules this term is a huge burden I’ve chosen to take up. It’ll be another 2 next term and I’ll be putting myself to the test again. The first half of this year has been expected to be extremely hectic..and it’s proving itself to be so.

I just hope to clear all the modules by this year and complete my studies as quickly as I can. Like dearie would put it “quickly get it over and done with”.

I like getting the house cleaned up. Changed the bed sheets.. vacuumed and mopped the floor..washed the toilet.. put naphthalene balls in the waredrobes.. the whole place smells fresh and clean. =)

The fis module is worrying. I walked out of class not understanding what prof dogan was rambling about. It’s all up to me to read and attempt all the questions now.

Don’t give up. I’m already almost ½ way there. Don’t give up now, tricia.

i'm a scrooge with races

Something I can’t fathom is the rising prices of races – they just get more expensive year after year. there are races which coach has indicated he wants the team to participate in but I am just scrooge-y about the kind of value I am getting from what I pay.

Tricia is such a cheapo you may mumble under your breath. And yes I am! I boldly admit to that.

In many ways, races in Malaysia draw my attention more than those here. Unfamiliar terrain may be daunting but at least I am not paying to run at east coast park, which I can do it on any day of the week.

The only reason why I would pay for local races is because it can be jointly participated with the rest of the team. Not everyone in the team can and will want to travel out of Singapore for a race as it takes time and incur extra expenses.

The best races I’ve done in the past few years were those that took place in Malaysia. Some of the best to mention: eco-xtreme with dearie. eco-xcapade with dearie and Isabel. Pacesetters’ 15 and 30km runs. Malakoff and powerman duathlons (where I met dearie at) and of course, the most unforgettable Sabah Adventure Challenge. These are races Singapore can never nor dream of emulating..because we do not have the natural landscape nor are there sponsors who will support races in scales seen in Malaysia.

wow weee new shoes

dearie just bought me new shoes.. these exact same ones u see in the photo on the left.

asics cumulus 10. he paid $151 for it and expects me to run a 1:51 half marathon in the coming ahm. i'm pretty apprehensive on how i am going to achieve that but i'll try my best nonetheless.

the target is to hit sub 2 hours at least and i have another 5 months to build up. that's my target in the next 5 months - to make sure i will go to ahm and be fully confident of bagging a sub 2 half marathon =)

thank you once again dearie. i have only bought u a cheapo mizuno aero but u've generously gave me a pair so much better.

the weather was really good and i took the chance to scrub up all my old shoes; 3 pairs in total.


gt-2120 .. it didn't last me very long; i wonder why often. perhaps i have not fully expended it. will try to use it again these days, perhaps for short track runs.


ds trainers 12: i love this pair and used it well for about 9 months or so. got them at nearly half of it's usually price during a promotion at rl. these are pricey shoes to own.. which i sometimes find the life of the shoes does not justify its price. these will be retired for monday core exercise sessions.

adizero tempo: these are undoubtly my favourite pair of adidas i ever owned. mine are in pink..but i can't find those on the net. got them during end of 07 i think and really love them. it's the best adidas pair i've ever worn..and i think these will be the last adidas i'll ever wear. they've discontinued the tempo and replaced it with the tempaya for fore-foot runners. i've tried the tempaya..feels somewhat like the tempo, yet not exactly the same. these will be retired to use for track workouts as well.

i somehow find these shoes are such waste to be discarded and i will try to slip insoles into them and continue to use them on track. =) make sure nothing goes to waste. hee. money hard to earn so we learn not to take things for granted.

oh ya..and u know what..shortly after i washed the shoes and laid them to sun dry..it started to rain. oh drats =(

holding things together

The week that has just past had been relatively hectic. I didn’t achieve a tremendous lot but it did take out quite a bit from me.

Friday we presented the proposal – something that has been suspended in the air for a while, finally got that settled with the credit going to dearie. he was the one who put up the a huge part of the proposal and presented it. His spirit kept me going; telling me to take it as a learning process and at least we tried, no matter what the outcome.

Leading a group is an uphill task because it’s not just running in the front and expecting the rest to follow behind. I’ve come to realize it’s turning around and telling each one why we do the things we do and running side by side together.

Last Sunday was the Newton run at macrit and I am really thankful for those who responded to the call for turn up. Although dave, brian and ee chuan could not come in the end, I would like to thank them for responding to the call. I understand races take a lot out of us =) Vincent, Eric and Isabel came for the run..and if I could I would have given them all a hug. Thank you guys for the support. That was the first time I have made a call out to the team for support to a run..and thank you all for responding to it. Though I am not sure how much it will go to impact our proposal, but believe me, every bit counts. In fact, sometimes, it’s the little things that count.

It’s knowing I have passionate team mates that make the hard work worth it. Putting up the proposal was challenging…and we stayed up 2 nights to do it..but now as I thought about the friends in the team we’re doing this for, it’s worth it =) I’m not sure how many of the 13 will continue to hold through..but as I penned down the names, I have 9 persons on my mind I felt strongly will hold on till the end.

My mummy and I had an outlandish experience on Sunday. I felt it was foolish in simple terms, because putting a bet to earn $10 at the expense of $600 was not worth at all. Moreover, she didn’t think we’ll walk off like that. C’mon, it’s recession, of course we want to get the best deal. For now, I’m pretty put off by her dishonesty and poor foresight of the consequence. I’ll rather bring my money elsewhere and avoid this shop for a period of time.

Oh yes, look on the footer dearie created for the proposal on the left. it's nice isn't it? and he did it all with PAINT! =D

My Newton Run HERO!

My baby did an amazing sub-40mins for the Newton 10km Run held on Sunday.

Wooooohooo...my hero! because he way outperformed the 43mins mark I have set for him. to think he was grumbling on how crazy 43mins is a goal to set... he has done way better than that =)

I did within expectations too - sub 53mins, as dearie has targetted for me.

Most of the runners from Runfanatics did exceeding well too. Really proud of them and we thank our Coach for guiding us through since 2007. Certainly hope he is glad with what we have came back with.

21km,..that's the next mark to reach.

destress stress

The accruals problem has got the better of me and my patience is running short on it. after working on it for the past 3 days I am faced with a big question mark on how the 790+k came about. There’s a missing piece which I am struggling to locate. It’s been frustrating and i seem to be trying to grapple something in the dark. I need someone to guide me through this, just like I was on my wits’ end trying to find a mentor during my obu research.

No one. There is no one here who’ll stretch out a hand to help. You are very much on your own.

I find solace and comfort from having company of dearie and running. I just rant on and on about the day’s frustration..and going for runs helps give me mind a break.

There’s a assignment to be handed in by Friday and I am facing problems to sit down and do my reading. Much compilation of notes is required but I am no where there yet.

Everyone has their share of stress and frustration..and it’s a choice we can make to be defeated by it or be over and above it. I have a whole long list of assignments, revisions, work..etc.. waiting for me. the list is looongggg.. work is not always at its best either..because I’m like a garbage collector doing everything.. and investigation work is sometimes crap work with no leads and no guide.

Despite it all, I am girding myself to face to challenge. what is the fun of life if everything simply falls from the sky? There’ll be no sense of achievement if everything is easy within reach.

I hate assignments..i hate the tons of reading I’ve got to do.. yet when I look at it.. it’s during these times growth thrives. A person is not strengthened unless he/she is once broken. We won’t know how fast we can run until we try running fast.

I can very well identify with a kin who faces stress in her own realm of life too. my word to her is to not let stress get the better of you. take stress by it’s weakest spot and tell it that you are over and above it. stress is created by ourselves and can very well be overcome by ourselves too.

Do whatever makes you happy..have a long bath..go out for a walk..eat your favourite food..or talk to someone.. anything. After that, stand tall and brace yourself to face the challenges again.

For me, I’m going for a slow long run. After that, it’ll be assignment and reading for me. haha. can’t run away from it!

on a final note..i hope dearie gets a place at nus to do his masters!! i think the learning bug rubbed off onto him! =)

valentine's dinner

on this year's valentine's day, dearie cooked me dinner - terriyaki chicken =) here are the photos!
dearie the chefwaaaa..chicken fillet so fast turned golden brown liao!?

oooooohh..flip flip...

the final product - tenderlicious chicken with droolworthy terriyaki sauce..ooooh..slurpo!

i did my part by making pineapple cocktail as dessert

it was a simple yet meaningful way to spend the day together. well, no need for bouquets of flowers nor fanciful presents. the meal meant so much more.

thank you dearie. =)

life with no challenge is boring

There is a gargantuan universe out there I’ve been oblivious to all these while. Taking the option module opened my eyes and my mind to markets I never knew existed. I’ve been a tortoise in my shell for more than a quarter century.

There is so much to learn from marilyn and I’m thankful to have her as team mate again. having worked with her for the past 2 terms, we have generated some form of synergy in the process. Sharon is a new addition to the group.

I’m going to give this assignment a good shot and hopefully help secure a decent credit. Indeed, the modules starting from this term on are leaps from the core modules we’ve had in the last 2 terms. Fixed income starts next week and I am eagerly looking forward to discovering more about the financial markets.

The biggest word that sticks out like a sore thumb during studies is – volatility. Everyone wants to measure it.. everyone wants to use it to their advantage. But this is the “A factor” in market investing. People study the trends.. candlesticks, broomsticks, ice cream sticks.. we came up with black scholes to create a perfect risk free portfolio.. but we can never beat it.

I think that’s why some academias like to say investing is more of luck than analytics. If you are lucky..you can blindfold yourself, just throw a dart at a share or derivatives..buy it and make tons of money from it.

Okies. So much for ranting about my studies.. it is really hyped now as I’ve got to get a delta neutral hedge out by tomorrow. I wonder if this really works! We shall see!

Work continues its course. I’ve been taking on more; which includes “inheriting” the crap accounts. I have yet to understand why I’ve been asked to take this on but I am not asking. It’s mundane but I’ll do it nonetheless. This is part of how I earn my keep. Like what dearie says..it’s better to be doing more than doing less. If you’re doing nothing, that’s bad. Imagine if your work is ploughed out to others.. unless you’ve been given a promotion or transfer prior to that..else that might mean you’ll get the boot very soon!

I’m telling myself..If I can do a better job out of what the predecessors did, it’ll be a good proof of my capabilities. =)

Time passes fast these days because there is a lot more to do. so that’s not that all a bad thing..despite I don’t get paid for doing more. Haha!

Training has been more fulfilling these days. I can see my stamina picking up gradually from how I manage long runs. I can go easy for 2 hours and still feel I can do another 10km.

Weekly mileage is still below 60km currently but I foresee things should move up yet another notch soon. It’s not that bad..because running and training are already huge parts of both dearie’s and my life. these days dearie is standing in as coach for me as well – assisting me to achieve better timing.

Later this evening will be a time trial for me. it’s to gauge where I stand and if I can perform according to the split timings laid out by dearie.

Wow. I’m already looking forward to finish work soon and zoom back home..prepare dinner..run out to track.. do the time trial with dearie.. cook dinner and enjoy it with dearie.. then work on assignment..and sleep! My day’s packed but I’m glad I’m learning, challenging myself and sharing life with dearie =)

black-scholed tricia

Research for options assignment has begun. The assignment was posted up by the prof yesterday and my team mates shot emails out for discussion.

I’m more than 75% done with revision of those topics covered in the 1st intensive. It’s quite an ideal time to work on assignment as I foresee more reading required.

Intuitively I googled the key words of the assignment and the whole world opened before me. Downside of that is the overload of information and the need to filter through for the relevant points.

This whole assignment is much about black-scholes .. binomial..and arbitrage volatility. While the underlying concepts are not that complex, application is. To spot the under or over priced option is the first challenge. In that market swarmed with numerous options, how to sieve out the gold from the pebbles?

We had a department lunch at tung lok yesterday. Food was pretty impressive and so was the price that came with it. Not somewhere I will treat myself to, so thankfully the bill was foot by the fc.

During the meal, ag went around the table and asked us what we would want to work as upon retirement. 2 wanted to start a f&b outlet, 2 wanted to enjoy life of a tai-tai, 1 wanted to open a fruit stall..1 wanted to open a handicraft shop..etc. my reply was simple. I wanted to trade.

“trade what?” ag asked.

“shares” I replied.

More than shares actually. I found no need to elaborate then and there.

I wanted to manage a portfolio. Trade a spectrum of shares and derivatives; putting what I am now learning into use.

Somehow, I feel trading will keep my retirement days alive as it will require me to keep abreast with what goes on in the world. From there, I must deduce how it will impact the market and how it will react. And of course, all of that requires some luck too =)

For now, back to learning the models and Greeks. It may not beat the market but at least it helps me make sound decisions. We don’t live by rules but they help set boundaries for us, isn’t it so?

cny break

We had a well-deserved break during Chinese new year. we were away for a week and during this time these were briefly what we did.

- we picked pa at senai airport on Friday evening. Senai airport is undergoing some major construction and the temporary area set up looks a tad rundown for an airport.

- we ran ah-gu route with pa, john and wendy. It was just pleasant doing it with family =)

- dearie took me along to kl for the site survey. We went to mid-valley for a few hours and we both managed to buy some things for ourselves. the highlight of it was the yummy-licious penang laksa we had. Wow.. it is the best I’ve eaten..nothing like those I’ve tried in Singapore. Dearie promised to bring me to the best penang laksa in Malaysia, located at Penang of course!

- ma cooked us wonderful meals that we could not stop eating: pork ribs, curry rendang, meatball soup.. I’m trying to pick up some of her culinary skills so I can feed dearie as good as she does it.

- we slept in late every day. napped through the noon heat and gambled at night. =)

- first time I traveled back on train back to Singapore alone. Nothing eventful because I slept through the entire trip, oblivious to what went on around me. in a train, what exciting thing can there be? Terrorist attack?

- first time in our lives we distributed ang paos. Hehe. I confess we were kind of scroog-y with them this year. we don’t have a lot to spare but we’ll try to be more generous next year. with the completion of my studies and hopefully the betterment of the economy, I believe we would have more to go around.

- we caught several good movies on dvd. I enjoyed both the kite runner and the reader immensely; ip man follows close. The Korean hunk show was a dud.. like some airhead bimbo flick. Transporter 3 was visually entertaining but lacked depth. The passenger had a good plot, similar to the sixth sense, with the unexpected twist at the end. Ponyo by the cliff was cute..simple little mermaid story.. but not many in the family were drawn to cutesy cartoon. I’ve still got juno and true heart to watch and I’m down to the last few episodes of true heart already! =)

- I concurred with dearie that cny this year has mellowed down significantly. We can’t put our finger on what the underlying reason might be. Perhaps the bleak outlook of the economy..perhaps the fear of retrenchment.. perhaps there just isn’t as much to celebrate about any more.

- oh yes, first time i tried mee bandung. mee tastes weird when it' s sweet...=X

On a separate note, options class started on Friday. The prof is really good, giving us detailed explanation and patiently going through some of the quantitative fundamentals we ought to already know. There was not a single dull moment during class; learning is always enriching.=) assignment is pretty challenging though. Personally, I am giving myself 3-4days to run through the notes in order to digest all that’s been taught. I’ll start on my computation and research on Friday. The monitoring and analysis must start by next Monday as the time span we are required to do is 2 weeks. So at least I have a few days buffer to tie the loose ends with Sharon and marilyn before submission.

The pair of ds-trainers has bided goodbye and tempo is soon on its way too. fortunately dearie bought me the pair of trail shoes for the mr training. nonetheless, when tempo is gone, I will have to get a new pair. The thought of spending on a new pair of shoes really puts me down. long gone are the days when I splurge on training equipment. I am unwilling to spend $150 on a new pair of shoes because they don’t last me very long. in addition, I don’t get good discounts like I used to. gee, why is running getting so expensive these days? =( maybe I should soon become a bare foot running advocate for nike; not because it works but because it’s low-cost (provided you step on nails and broken glass!) =P

back on wheels

i haven't biked for almost a year. this morning, dearie and i got up at 5am and went out for a ride.

my legs felt much like 2 anvils..and climbing upslope was particularly challenging. it was pretty disheartening to realise how much bike fitness and handling skills i've lost.

if time permits, i would love to bike at least once a week to cross train between run training.

the feeling of the wind blowing against my face still feels great..like it always has.

with all the twisting in and out of the cleats, the top of my left foot is hurting again. icing it now as i type this entry.. hope to do a short 45mins run later this evening to complete the given workout for the week. =)

only 4 of us turned up for mr run yesterday..but i'm glad we did. the weather was marvelous.. and chatting along with isabel made time pass fast. we completed whatever was required, albeit going pretty slow. at the end of the run, we kind of concluded we still prefer running mr in the morning because it leaves us more time to do other things for the rest of the day.

the future of runfanatics seems a little uncertain.. and i'm a little worried how i can hold things together. starting something is always, it's the sustaining that's a challenge. i'm not sure how and where..but i was discussing with isabel that i hope we can gather a couple more committed runners to join the team. perhaps some working adults will be good to have..because in a way, age does affect maturity; maturity to commit and stay with it.

i'll try my best to do whatever i can. dearie told me this yesterday as i whined about it, "baby, don't worry. i'll definitely support you." thank you dearie. i know i can always count on you. well, even if no one turns up for training, that's fine. because we will still run anyway..right? =)

piano in black

When I was in primary school, I took the school bus that ferried me from my home to school. Every morning without fail, after picking peasant-class tricia from her 3-room hillview hdb estate, it will then trudge through high-class estates along bt timah road. The bus went deep into the estates where all the gigantic houses are located. Those were mammoth-sized compared to our humble 3 room flat.

Vivid in my memory after 2 decades is this majestic black grand piano placed right at the front living hall of a house. The house had full length glass windows which allowed people to marvel at the furnishings. The piano stood with grandeur at the entrance, a centerpiece that cannot be missed by any visitors of the house. The cold white marble floor contrasted starkly to the timbre piano’s black.

The presence of the piano awed me and I have secretly resolved that one day, if I own a place huge enough to house a grand piano, I would place it in exactly that manner too. (the photo on the left which I found on gettyimages looks pretty much like what I saw in the house)

This little dream dwindled away over the years as I stopped piano classes and playing in the church band. recently,Dearie sparked my interest to play the piano again. now that I am playing again.. this dream of owning a grand piano..placing it in my home as a centerpiece is once again rekindled.

Ahh and yes, piano ,in any colour other than black, is a mistake. To tricia, pianos should all exist in BLACK, because no other colour brings out the grandeur of a piano better. =)

all in a chord

In this year, I took on a new responsibility of captain to the team I train with, Team Runfanatics.

We started with a blast in May 08 and we made it through together till now. some can no longer be with us due to other commitments, nonetheless, we did have additions to the team too.

Upon taking on the role, I now understand better the difficulties our managers face. It’s a challenge to gather a group of people, especially when all are from varied backgrounds. Unlike in school, everyone adheres to a similar school curriculum. In the team, some are working while some are studying..some have kids, some are singletons. As much as all are passionate for running, but every individual’s degree of passion differs from another.

it’s good we did some groundwork; to find out individual’s level of commitment and goals for the year. by knowing where everyone stands, I managed to sift out a core group of roughly 7 people out of the team of 20+.

Weekly training now stands about 5-6 people. I have started a little spreadsheet that keeps a full name list of the team and attendance sheet with remarks on the training and weather. Personally feel it’ll be helpful to keep a log of what we did. I’m not trying to keep tab of who comes and who doesn’t..but more for the purpose of observing if there is a trend in attendance vs performance. In addition, it also helps us find out who we can gather to form groups to join races.

I hope those who opt to be in will continue to stay in..while those who are out at the moment, may one day want to opt in.

Work has been a bit of a drag these days. Despite making through 2008 into the new year, it has not lifted my morale significantly. i am just counting my days down. First milestone was the change of year – that I endured through. Next in line would be my 2 years’ mark in the company – another 3.5months to go. after which, I reckon it’ll be the completion of my studies, optimistically by 1^st week of dec – 8 months after.

I ought to be thankful I still have a job and getting paid for my time. count my blessings, not my worries!

And yes! My piano has been tuned! Thank you mr lim for coming by yesterday. now it sounds better..and I’ve been practicing the entertainer tune a little a day. hope I can play it properly for dearie soon. Subsequently, I’ll refresh on some easy sonatas before getting into chopin again. I should get into playing form in a year or so, cross my fingers =P

life's a balance

Why does good time seem to speed pass in the twinkle of an eye?

Dearie and I spent 4 delightful days together, away from work and just doing things we enjoy.

Highlights of this much needed break were:

1. dearie engaged movers to shift my piano over to our home! =D

2. we played piano together and dearie mastered almost half of the piece “the entertainer”

3. we revised through some music theory. Hope I didn’t confuse dearie =P

4. we brought my acoustic guitar over and got it tuned up

5. dearie composed a song.. played the guitar and sang along. It only has 2 verses at present..i’m waiting for the chorus!

6. we ran macritchie twice. Once on Friday..which I suffered badly due to the foot injury.. the 2^nd time was on Sunday with our team. It was a blast..coz I really enjoyed running with Isabel. We discussed on how we will pace each other for the ultra at year end..we’ll need to strategise and work with coach so that we stand a better chance to win this year.

7. saw the doctor on my foot injury. It was a long 1.5hours of wait..and a simple procedure of pricking 4 needles into both my foot.. yet it enabled me to run 14km on the next day. =)

8. we had nice garlic-ky meals together. Both of us love garlic and I cooked a few meals with nice fresh garlic mixed with ma’s home made chilli.. woooohoo.. heavenly! Running out of ma’s chilli soon.. we’ll have to stock up with 2 bottles when we return home for cny!

9. we went shoes shopping. Had wanted to get a normal running shoes..but both of us ended with trail shoes. I think it’s perfect for the cross country runs we’ll be doing. =)

10. dearie picked for me a nice pink flowery dress for Cny. Now I must ensure I stay slim to fit into it!

I lied in bed wishing the 4 days didn’t have to pass so swiftly. Nonetheless, I understand there is a time for everything. As I sit at my work station now, I need to work to survive. My consolation for the day is my supervisor is on medical leave. At least I won’t have to deal with her breathing down my neck on a blue-y Monday morning.

Looking on the brighter side of things, we’re merely 3 weeks away from cny. It’ll be another round of feasting and fun with the family!

In a way or another, I lived through the patchy 2008. weathering through the many bouts of wanting to quit, I am still at this job. dearie taught me to set my sight afar; to look at my priorities and not let little fusses distract me. I secretly still hope my supervisor dissipates into thin air many a times.. but projecting far, I want to hold on till I complete my studies. Those words spoken by the finance director of FX still ring in my ears sometimes. And whenever I get really frustrated, dearie always help me put things in perspective..and of course, curse my supervisor for me when things are unjustified.

There are many things aside from work worth looking forward too. snuggling with dearie.. training with the team.. swimming in the pool.. playing the piano.. working towards a goal in a race.. studying hard to achieve good results.. spending time with my beloved family..

Life’s an act of balancing – balancing things we like and dislike is one.