que sara sara

woohoo..i'm going to be an AUNTIE soon.. i hope i'll get a NIECE. i like gals.. hopefully my bro n sis-in-law would let me train her up to be the next young triathlete! wheeeeeeee!!

before they left, they asked me to get the new baby an uncle. -gulps-..sis in law said that the new baby wants to get some hong baos from me. -double gulps-

sis in law also added..you not young liao.

wa lao.

sometimes i guess it's not within my control.. i haven't exactly met someone whom i can have that sureness in my heart that he is the one. the only person who has ever made me feel that assurance of a life partner is not exactly here anymore. i wonder how he is getting on now. has the case settled? what is the outcome? does he still think of me sometimes?

anyway, that part of my life is over. i do ask these questions when i think of him. but those are answers i will never get.

a frequently asked question friends and family ask.."what kind of a guy are you looking for?"

searches the back of her mind.

the usual answer from tricia is, "eh....erm..i also don't know leh." o_o

to list it feels really tough.

i don't actually have a checklist. but i do know i will know when i meet him.

so i do know what kind of a guy i am looking for? nods rather unconvincingly. i probably do.

again i repeat to myself the same old song often hummed whenever this topic arises..

"Que Sara, Sara. Whatever will be, will be."

another ordinary working sat

having my tang hoon lunch while typing in this. strange obsession with tang hoon recently. simply boil it with water..mix in ketchup, chilli and soy sauce..it's good enough to feed tricia for a meal.

i mixed in souk heng's left over tuna..yum yum..not bad at all!

tomorrow's nus ace adventura. gathering from yesterday's 15mins briefing..feels like a fun and easy race.. let's see how it goes..will report on the race again.

chum's new endeavour got me reading up a little on whey proteins and supplements.. might start to take protein shakes to aid my recovery as well..as i'm finding my recovery a little sluggish.. the muscle aches tell it all. on top of that, i'm not very much a meat person..i don't take alot of meat..so i doubt i intake suffice protein to build those muscles.

really ought to start going gym.. trying to piece it into my training schedule.. do have to start some where.. -determined look-

do want to bring neon out for a ride.. not sure if daniel is still in for a ride.

i went to the news stand a while ago to look for the latest copy of men's health..

aunty manning the store: 小妹。。来来。。要什么? teens? teenage?

tricia: 呃。。我看看。。 (browsed around for men's health..but don't seem to spot it)

aunty turned the row of teens/teenage/seventeen..: 这里这里。。要哪一个？

tricia thought for a moment if she should ask if she has men's health but later dropped the idea in case aunty starts to wonder why is a gal getting a men's mag.

tricia smiled and walked off hurriedly. $6 saved for the day.

1.5hrs more to knock off. after which i'll bike home as warm up. go thru a short relaxed circuit training. finish off the night with a niceeeeeeeee massage on isqueeze and the spinex.

slow jogging down to start point tomorrow. it's going to be a fun sunday!! =D

making progress

ok..tricia didn't quite finish her circuit training yesterday.. her abs ached so badly from the sit ups.. that she had to stop at the 2nd set. mum was screaming away when tricia wheeled her bike out..coz tricia didn't eat anything and was training like a mad gal. so after to bike ride and bicep curls, she stopped there.

managed to pull herself out of the bed to go for a 4km run and did 3sets of 15 push ups. cycled tania to work only to find the right cleat stuck on the pedal.. it was not removable coz there was only 1 screw left on the cleat itself..and when tricia tried to twist it out, the entire cleat twisted along too. idiot cleat! in the end she had to remove her right shoe and walked into office with 1 shoe.

then it dawned upon her that with the stuck cleat..how is she going to bike to the pool later?? uh-ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.....o_O

option 1. find someone in bt panjang with allen key. borrow allen key, fix bike.

option 2. bike home later to get allen key during lunch.

option 3. buy a new allen key from rodalink during lunch. since i've been wanting to get one with a chain breaker too.

therefore, executing option 1, she quickly messaged david and mokhtar for help. unfortunately mokhtar was having swim lessons... so that's one hope down..

to her relief...david was at home..so she biked na na down to petir road, pick up the allen keys and came back to office. (ok..that's the good thing about leaving 1 extra bike in the office..hehehe..erm..it's no choice actually..mum doesn't allow 4 bikes at home =( sigh)

yayyyyyyyyy...david's allen key saved the day!! tricia transferred one of the 3 bolts from her left shoe to her right shoe. so she has 2 on each shoe. tightening them with all her might..this time it better DON'T come off again. grrrrr!!!

tricia is really the handy-gal for the day. after fixing her cleats.. she popped over the hardware shop to pick up 4 batteries and a pack of cable tie.

2 of her tail lights are battery-flat. task: replace batteries. not too tough.

she broke the rubber band on her topeak light. task: replace that with normal rubber band and fasten it with a cable tie. now that light is PERMENANTLY on tania..until the cable tie is cut off.

actually have to fix the 725 bike mount onto tania..but she left the bike mount at home..so..hmm.. that'll be done later tonight.

got to get the training programme sorted out later..download all the details into the watch and stuff... so.. after finishing her work for the day, tricia will proceed to do that.

good..tricia is making some progress already. gambatte!!!

i am picking myself up

i slept. bleah. hahaha..but with alot of restedness..and comfort.. because i spoke to my Father. the peace that washed me through from head to toe was refreshing.

jannah msned me just now. thanks gal.. glad you are having fun at the science centre.

the youths never stop to bless my heart. somehow moving away from this job would be seemingly tougher than i thought. but i told God, i'm ready to move on. if it is His will, i pray for His providence to open doors ahead of me.

exchanged a couple of emails with amy yesterday. i can never explain why i am so drawn to her..but sharing with her always put me so at ease. she's just someone i can be just myself with.

restarting my whole training regime starting this evening. nus race adventura is just a stone away.. next sunday..following that would be mizuno wave run and mmds II. time is short and i really got to start pulling my socks up. to get it all started, i'll be trying out a circuit training programme which i found on the papers 2 weeks ago. i am just aiming to complete all the items on the list which including the warm up and cool down would take me 5hours. i will finish my night off with a good massage.. tomorrow morning i have planned to hit it right with bike and run training..then the usual life saving at night. if i'm able to pull it all off and complete it well, my pact with chum will fall through.

1/2 CADBURY HAZELNUT FAMILY BLOCK!!!! (yea..only 1/2...i will share 1/2 the sin with chum..since i think he can afford to put on the flabs)

henceforth..tricia my dear..please don't let me down.. i want my chocies!!!!

feel like biking down to queenstown pool..but can i do it with tania?? maybe bike down with david perhaps? xiaojie needs servicing badly..with its front wheel untrue and all the noise its making whenever i crank hard.. i feel like a slug on it. got to find a day to bring it to rollite for servicing.

i got a new project at hand. not another bike, worry not. it's something i want to do for myself..time to start saving for it.

biking is still such a lonely activity to do. i really got to start getting serious with working with my 725.. and get the training programme working.

finally starting to find a smile on her face once again.. picking up the pieces, tricia, she's ready to journey forth once more. =)

i am so sad i don't want to sleep

it's not helping. sleeping is not helping at all.

i do need a holiday.

i wanted my pia with LOTUS PASTE..idiot tricia..why did u take the KOSONG one. it sucks..sucks big time.

i don't want to sleep tonight.

wait and see. i am not going to sleep tonight.

i am sad so i sleep

felt real lousy the entire day. there wasn't a single thing that could put a smile on my face at all.

somehow the commencement of job search created some anxiety within me. as i pored through the papers everyday, the same question kept bugging me, " what kind of a job am i looking for?"

honestly, i'm not too sure either.

christin brought the cut out of the obs instructor advert and showed it to me. i reached into my pouch and pulled out the exact same advert which i had earlier cut out too.

i remember trying for the same job some years ago but never got it. faced with the same questionnaire once again, i find myself crippled with the same incapability to answer it.

as i pedalled home, i really wanted to talk to amy. she has always been a kindred spirit to me.

flu buggy has finally left me.. i'm just left with a slightly phlegmy throat.. energy level isn't fully back as yet..but i hope to fully recuperate by tomorrow. i've dropped my run so that i can rest more. sleeping early tonight again.

yea. going into slumber does keep unhappiness at bay.

neon adventure

i've been down with the flu buggy since thursday night. it was so bad that i had to give osim a miss. elvia kindly gave me her slot at no cost, but i was just too sick to go.

friday i collected neon..got to bike boutique feeling totally crappy. runny nose, coughing non stop. knowing that riding neon back would be quite a task i had intended to get some help from friends to help me with transporting neon back. however, it seemed that no one was able to lend me a hand. it was just untimely coz adrian chum was in camp serving his reservist..else i know he would definitely help me out with it. he is one reliable friend whom is always helping me do crazy things.. (eg..moving na na up and down buses from woodlands all the way to senai airport).

anyway, i decided to push myself to ride neon home, when i got to spottiswoode park, some ting ting ting sound made me stop and give lynten a call. he asked me to ride back so that he could do a check..which i did. after arriving back at bike boutique, lynten checked n confirmed it was just the front d rubbing against the chain. not an issue..i just had to push the shifters a little to eliminate the friction. phew. nothing serious, that's good to know.

on the other hand, the flu bug was getting the better of me. i was literally lying on the couch like a dead fish.. on final resort, with no other means to get home, i headed down to dad's shop to look for mummy.

i must have looked pretty bad..coz the moment i got to the shop, my mum asked, "u are not feeling well ah?"... she made a hot flu remedy drink for me...got me hot porridge to eat..and just let me rest my head against her.

we took a cab back later that night..and i just dropped dead after fumbling with the horizontal dropout thingie. (heng bin zai gave me some instructions which i didn't know how i made out of it.. and by just pushing it here n there, i got the rear wheel back in again.)

lesson learnt: adrian is number 1 chum . mummy is the best. having flu sucks.

Now Officially Cousins! 

swim swam swum

ke wei made us do pyramid training.

1 lap in 1 min
2 laps in 2mins 3osec
3 laps in 4mins
4 laps in 5mins+ can't rem how many secs
5 laps in ( i can't rem how long)
4 laps in 5mins + can't rem how many secs
3 laps in 4mins
2 laps in 2 mins 30sec
1 lap in 1 min

thank goodness xiu li and i made in back on time to clear it and didn't have to repeat any sets.

alot of swimming this week. my brain will be soon chlorinated.

mon: swim training with ke wei
tue: shifu swim training at spe
wed: life saving
thurs: shifu swim training at spe
fri: life saving

hoping i can squeeze into shifu's swim class in july..

oh ya..i was comparing my last 500m timing with that when i first started with shifu..i improved by a whole 40sec! thank you shifu!!!

Races!

Update of race calendar for July

Jul 16 : NUS Race Adventura (with Neo and Chew)

Jul 23 : Mizuno Wave Run

Jul 30 : MMDS II Putrajaya

still apprehensive about the AHM and Real Run in Aug..if there'll be complimentary passes, i'm in. hehe.

the lineup for the rest of the year.

Sep 3: AAC Singapore
Nov 11: Powerman / Eco X-treme
Dec 3: Standard Chartered Marathon
Dec 10: AAC HK

and after AAC HK, my next training goal would be towards IM Busselton! (Dec 2007)

Collage of Punctuality Kidz Camp 

neon's coming

after all the deliberation on what next bike to get.. ti? carbon? alu/carbon?

the verdict has been made.

lynten set it up on a trainer and as i got on it, i could immediately drop my arms onto the aerobars and it felt woooooooooonderful!! i didn't even have to stretch forward, i needn't sit forward to get onto the nose of the saddle coz i can't reach the aerobars if i don't..

the colour is great..black..black...black..

and it's name? Neon.

all i need now is a new helmet to match.

a giro helmet would be absolutely perfect. atmos, better still.

neon!

first the pedals..
add the wheels...

add the pedals and the wheels to what you see here!

捧腹大笑

christin had 1 WHOLE pineapple for lunch a moment ago and nick(nelson's son) seeing that, started to tell her about the 小孩不笨2 movie. inside the movie, a primary school boy thought he fathered a kid with his classmate.

as the conversation went on.. nick (whose chinese is really..erm..not that good) continued,

nick: i see the subtitles in the show. the teacher explaining it to the boy said, " the worm meets the egg." worm..虫子 and 蛋。

josh: it's called 金虫子 in chinese la.

tricia：o_O no la! it's 精子。

nick: ohhh..why is sperm called 镜子？（yes, he said it as jing4 zi3)

christin： laughs.. hahaha..the sperm sees the mirror and becomes a baby!!

tricia: huh!?!?!!?! 镜子????!!!!!!!??!

my bf and my friends

my 8 best friends

1. pool buoy
2. swimming towel
3. swimming cap
4. goggles
5. running shoes
6. fbt shorts
7. running singlet
8. portable radio

talk about social circle? this is it.


tricia the fighter says: i'm getting a new bf soon..
tricia the fighter says: soon..i hope..heaheahehea
efrem! says: oh, you just decided?
tricia the fighter says: but i just can't decide if i shd get him in carbon or alu
efrem! says: haha....
efrem! says: had me there..
tricia the fighter says: or maybe a mixture of carbon n alu
efrem! says: what's wrong with your current ones?
tricia the fighter says: they dumped me
efrem! says: literally?
efrem! says: haha...
efrem! says: i find it strange to have a relationship with a bike...maybe that's why i don't give them names/ call them my wife.. haha..
tricia the fighter says: coz u have someone special in ur life. i don't...so i fill that space with my bikes

wow...tricia the fighter..u do sound kind of pathetic!

lousy tau sa pia spoils my day

next race up the pipeline would be nus race adventura. gotten xiao niu as team mate..and we are still short of 1. he'll be asking around for another one. tony and richard would be away for their ranger course starting 1st week of july to mid september.

penang marathon clashes head on with mmds II putrajaya..and i've decided to take up the latter.

ke wei cancelled swim training for tonight, hence i shall take the time to run down to bbdc and register for my basic theory. and if i'm feeling good enough, probably run back home as well. however, the trade off for running home would mean i won't be able to spin. so.. so... hmm.. let's see how it goes.

i am reluctant to part with $18.90 for the ahm and another $25 for real run. the entry fees to local races are scaling upwards every year. remember those days when i started to do ahm, it was only $5 for non competitive runners. as the hype caught on, it just went up..up...and away!

trying out this brand new marathon training programme to build myself up towards standchart in dec.. i particularly liked the way they build the mileage base for the 1st 3 mths before going onto speed work from week 13 onwards. BUT..BUT.. as i was trying to fit the programme into my timetable.. simultaneously i was converting the programme from miles to kms..and.. i found it almost impossible to fit in so much mileage.. to my horror! when i summed up the mileage for WEEK 1, it was an appalling 92.8km! holy moly!

henceforth, tricia came up with a bright idea of taking all the MILES as KMs. so instead of 58 MILES (which is equivalent to 92.8KM), i'll be starting my week 1 with 58KM. well, i call that adapting to our own needs. -sniggles-

time to start biking again. i haven't rode on my road bike since the accident. gee. time to hop back on.

bought myself some tau sa pia from swee heng this morning..and oh man..it sucks! the skin is so freaking thick.. and the tau sa filling is tasteless. bleah. someone get me good tau sa pia!!!! lousy tau sa pia spoils my day..hahaha

true north!

woohoo! true north came in 5th for open category. -chuckles-

thru crap, True North

ntu atc completed! true north was a blast! race was hideous. bad organisation, poor safety precaution and almost zero first aid support. race was totally crappy. in comparison to last year's atc, this year's atc is pathetic. nonetheless, xiao niu, richard and tony were totally great team mates. team O13..true north!

after the 4 blur musketeers missed their wave and had to do a mad 10mins chase, xiao niu and tricia capsized near the shoreline the moment xiao niu hopped into the kayak. we were struggling to get it going the way we want it to.. along the way we were just.."eh? eh? why we keep going to the left?" (though we were peddling harder on the left) i shall just leave out all the lousy planning of the race..but we had plenty of fun together as a team..with the grumbling of the cramp by richard.. tony laundering his shirt and shoes at the sea side while waiting for the launch off. tony kept saying he smelled like shit after the mud crossing..even gatorade smelled like shit. hahaha..i thought probably the mud went into his nose or something =P we were waiting at the bball court for richard and xiao niu.. when other teams came in looking clean, he was just lamenting.."wa lao! how come they so clean..surely never cross mud." richard and xiao niu came back looking pretty clean and tony was just wide-eyed about it. xiao niu explained they sat in the river scrubbing their shirts during the river crossing..and that was something tony and i didn't do..no wonder we looked like 2 pigs just done with their mud bath. bleah.

hopefully i can get at least tony or richard as permanent team mates.. xiao niu has alot of potential and i do know chew is going to rope him into aac soon.

we took 6:30+..i think it was almost 6:40..but that includes the whole lot of time wasted on waiting for launch off of the kayaks. so they better do accurate adjustments to the timing..

had to rush down to work after the race (without showering)..and then settled for putting my head under the tap to wash my hair and legs up onto the pantry sink just to wash them. i look really uncouthed. but who cares..i was stinking dirty.

in retrospect, i can't agree more that suitable team mates are crucial. like the race was sorely crappy, but because i had a great team, i enjoyed my 7hrs with them thoroughly. we pulled through the crap together! way to go, True North!

follow the True North

team True North has some major shifts..and now comprises of : Tony, Richard, Neo and I.

found out this qx person who was initially asked to join the race, is a real snob head. bleah. attitude problem lor.

well, at least in place of him we've got tony instead.

Richard's bo ge and i'm pai ka. Make Tony and Neo do all the running. The 2 patients can ride all the way..hehehe.. tall hope.

was a little disappointed chew and eng had to pull out as they wanted to join the saca race instead. nonetheless, up till this point, from my scarce interaction with the 2 new team mates, they seem like nice people. this is Tony's first AR and i heard from Richard he's a strong runner. Keep our fingers crossed, i hope all things go well for us.

Go True North!

friday jo would be removing the stitches for me. as i cleaned it today, one side of it still isn't looking too good. hope it will heal well by friday. aunt has gotten me fish essence and i've been religiously taking them for the past 2 days.

contemplating if i should pick up my dip again. after the long talk with james, the piano tuner, i do agree it's a waste giving up so easily just because i failed. pride issue again..how am i going to go back to mr ng?..i really disgraced him ..i must be one of the few students under him who fails. sigh.

yea. i bidded imca goodbye. still finding it hard to swollow and my heart still aches. perhaps let it remind a dream in my life..which i might once again attempt..in the years to come.

to ease the pain, i'll be building my ti bike. ho ho ho!!

pride lesson

i had a heated arguement with my mum just now. i asked her if it was ok if i painted my room today and she gave an insistent no. even as i tried to cajole her into letting me to, her reply still stood firm. "no, 1-2 days more".

i was infuriated by that and i demanded to do it today.

"today! i want to do it today!"

slam. my mum slammed my phone.

that left my heart, mind and spirit in turmoil. should i just stand by what i want to do and go ahead with it? or should i let down my pride, i pick another day?

i wrestled with my stubborness until i gave in and told the Lord, "Father, teach me what to do."

immediately, i felt a sense of peace that calmed my spiritman. and i heard words resounding in my heart like it was speaking right next to my ear.

"there is definitely another day you can do it."

"is it so hard to let your pride down?"

"if you can teach your youths submission, why aren't you doing it yourself? if you can't be teacheable, how can you teach your youths?"

"there is a win win situation. only if you choose it."

i struggled. yes, i really struggled. tricia is a fighter, but she is letting her pride down again. she is allowing the Lord to mould my pride all over again.

i told God.

"Yes, there are other days i can do it. But, wed n fri evenings i want to go down to the pool to observe lifesaving...u know.. (i tried to give myself reasons to substantiate my point. yet for a moment i stopped. and it felt all nullified)"

"yes, it is hard to let down my pride. but Lord, teach me how i can do it."

"i want to be teacheable. teach me so i can teach my youths."

"yes, i want to choose a win win situation. i want my mum to be happy. she means too much to me."

then eph6:1 came to mind.

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

i picked up the phone wanting to call my mum, but only to put it down again.

struggles again.

i already know the answer. i will do it on wed. i can wait.

picked up the phone and called my mum.

"mummy, can i do it on wednesday?"

"wednesday? yea..i can consider that."

"wednesday la. ok?"

"yea. ok. meantime you don't move around so much. tomorrow we're going to the hospital. remember that. eat your lunch ya?"

"thanks, mummy."

i feel so happy in my spirit, i can't describe it. i feel so happy, so loved and so relieved.

it feels i passed a test God put me through. i learnt another valuable lesson. i know i have taken another step to maturity.

yes, there can always be a win win situation, only if we choose it.