Strike action.

My teachers are on strike.

And no, I’m not kidding anyone. Ah well, that’s fine because I don’t have to go to class but not so fine when I know that I have paid them to teach! Since last Friday, I have been informed that one by one my classes for today are cancelled. Superb, aye?

Anyhow, I don’t feel right (in any possible way) saying this but I think he’s cute:

Um… yes, if you remove Zhang Ziyi! I’m kidding, fo sho.

I know, I know, he doesn’t fit into the mould of what constitutes ‘hot’ and whatever synonyms you can think of. To each his own right? Anyway I admire how this guy fends off the press, although his mysteriousness is creepy in some ways.

I’m waiting to go for a run now but it is pouring. Not that I mind but that does not help someone who has not run in what, five days?!? It really boils down to laziness, I’d say. I mean, yes, if you are tired, rest. But if you know that you can probably run but choose not to in the morning then it’s no excuses. In this way I get pretty anal about myself. Oh well!!

PS: YES, PHOTOS COMING UP!

So Drama.

Okay I know I owe you guys photos from the carnival, but I am too lazy to upload them today. Next post, promise!

Anyway this week has been both laughable in two different ways. At the start of the week I found out that almost everything that my neighbor (remember that crazy girl?) had told me was a BIG FAT LIE. Everything. She is not paying her own rent, she did not take the initiative to confess about her theft, she probably lied about her race times etc etc etc. I was pissed because firstly, she told me a half-truth knowing what a difference in impression that it would give me about her. Basically she told me how she felt so guilt-ridden about stealing that she confessed to the landlord. Truth is, she was caught BEFORE admitting RELUCTANTLY. It was only after the landlord threatened to get the cops in that she finally told them that she was the thief. So yes, technically she did admit to her theft, but by telling me a half-truth she took advantage of my compassion and misled me into having a different impression of her. Secondly, she used her so-called ‘independence’ as the basis of her arrogance towards me. By telling me a COMPLETE LIE that she works part-time in order to pay her own rent, she used that as her justification to act like she knows much more than me and how much ‘tougher’ she is. 

I can go on forever about how she FORCIBLY used my money to join a race and how she may not be as fast as she claims to be. So, remember how she threw hissy fits the last time? I did not know that she was that unpopular in the lodge. Everybody knew that she was a liar. Because I did not bother to check whatever she was saying, being new to this place and not knowing everyone that well, I didn’t even know that everyone suspected her of stealing even before she told me!

I really wonder how she still mustered up the courage to throw those hissy fits at me and even give me the I-so-want-to-kill-you stare when she sees me when the basis of all that SHIT are lies, lies and more lies. Has she got no shame? Honestly, after finding out how she was doing all these to try and keep me as a ‘friend’ I find her extremely pathetic. So pathetic to the point that the next time I see her I will NOT, I repeat, NOT look away but look at her straight in the eye (and look at her up and down so that her anorexic brain starts shaking with self-consciousness. Lol.) knowing that she is a bag full of lies. I have no sympathy for her.

On to something that is actually funny! 

Recently this English guy moved in next door, and I’ve been told that he’s the really happy sort. Oh yeah, he sure is! Anyway at about 2:30 one morning he phoned me saying that he’s been locked out. Ummm…. okay. Dude, I am sleeping! Haha. So in my drowsy state I stumbled downstairs hoping NOT to fall down the narrow stairs and found him standing outside, EXCEPT that he was dressed only in his undies! HAHAHAHA. Seriously, I so wanted to laugh but nah, my brain was not awake at that point. What happened was that he went to his car, left the door open and the wind slammed it shut. And if you are here you will know that being dressed only in your undies with the chilly wind blowing at night is no fun. Thankfully his personality is outgoing and jovial, so I wasn’t too creeped out by that! By the way he’s pretty hot, so that’s a plus point Oh, and a polite one too. He left a note of thanks the next morning! And remind me to ask him why he was only wearing his undies. LOL.

Have a great week everyone.

Ca-car-carnival!

I’m about to head off to a carnival! Hopefully there are some cute bric bracs although I probably wouldn’t get anything. Other than that I headed out for 5 miles in PERFECT temperature today and ran towards a finishing line meant for some Father’s Day cycling event. Heh heh heh. Superb, I know. 

I’ll update this post when I’m back!

Hello spring

G’day. Winter has officially ended! Spring is LOVE. The leaves are green, there’s ample sunlight and although the bone-chilling wind here threatens to negate every inch of sunlight out there, all’s well and good.

I haven’t been feeling the best recently. A tired mind and body do not do well for running around campus and well, running (of course!). Before I bore you with my running stuff again, I’m just gonna let you guys know that I am going back home this summer. Woot! Can’t wait to see everyone again. But before I go back, the ‘rents are coming over. Well, you know what that means apart from having to contain three overly excited adults who think that going overseas is a big deal. OKAY, KIDDING! I am however, inclined to hand in my final essay early because of that. Not that I mind but that just means working harder and getting it over and done with early.

Meanwhile though, the school’s elections have just concluded! Let’s just say I voted ‘independent’ Partly because my friend is running for board member but partly it’s because of my own belief that political parties should not be part of school politics. Not going to bore anyone with the details here but things are really different here. From a Singaporean who will probably never get to vote in her life point of view, it was pretty novel to vote for once. 

Other than that life has been pretty much constant. A few weeks ago with the internet downtime I’ve managed (actually, forced to) be more focussed on my work. The result? Better results! (at least for French) Next week I may be involved in some marshaling event for the Vice-Chancellor’s Cup. A fancy sounding name for inter-faculty race. Hey, at least it involves running- students and professors (gasp) alike. And one more running related stuff. Promise. In two weeks time I’ll be doing a 12k “race”. I wouldn’t really race that because to be honest my legs are not in best shape. Did I mention how my left IT band started to hurt a while ago? first it started out as sore and then on Monday I had to walk a little towards the end of my run. Not cool. I don’t even want to talk about what happened on Thursday. Damn those legs seem cursed. Whatevs!

Have a good weekend everyone. 

P.S. I’ve found the easiest recipe out there for chocolate chip muffins, and have memorized it. You can say I’m enjoying my loot right now.

Self-fulfilled prophecy

It’s a Friday evening and I am in the library, except that I have/am:

Ran out of precious internet quota

Doing research for my history essay

With the said history professor appearing out of nowhere doing his research right beside me

THIS IS STRESS.

Okay, so basically I have no idea how the quota got used up so freaking quickly. I was merely browsing a few forums yesterday and *poof* It was gone!!! Seriously, it was a huge shocker. Ugh.

Edit: History prof is gone. Can breathe easy now.

That leaves me with the option of carrying my laptop to uni or using the computer suites. Both are fine, except that you don’t get much privacy in the suites. Blogging is obviously out there! As if the library’s better off! It is quiet now because I am in some obscure part of the library and it is a Friday evening. 

Anyways, in my absence (about 2 weeks till September!) I shall leave you will some l’activites, or shall I say quasi nerdy endeavors? This Sunday I will be helping out in the uni running club stall because it is the uni’s open day! Other than that I have pretty much too little time to NOT do my work. Okay, this semester is more challenging than the last but ya’ll know, you just have to keep going. Roll baby, ROLLLLLL!

N Day.

It was yesterday, but I didn’t watch the parade or whatsoever. It was just like any other Sunday- quiet, rainy and cold. Was it miserable? No. Well at least I didn’t feel miserable because I had to get quite a bit of work in anyway and there is practically nothing to do in this little town. 

Anyways, I’m too lazy to post up my past week’s mileage. This week I’m taking it easy though.

Strangely enough I have been seeing The Crazy Neighbor a lot more this semester. I can be walking along the streets and ta-dah! She appears. Whatevs. Her face is black as hell. Ugly? Yes. Do I care? No. Weirdo.

And oh, about the fridge. In the end I’ve decided to postpone the job till my September break or end of the year, since the ice is not going to affect the fridge very much anyway (at least that’s what I’m told!). I think I am going to bust my internet quota this month too, if I”m not careful. Yikes. So… if I don’t post, you know the reason! 

By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SERENE!!!

The days are getting lighter.

Total distance: 16.3 miles

Total time running: 2:58:08

Total time XT: ~ 40 minutes

So! The first week of uni is down. Classes are okay- I got back my French tutor, but didn’t get the wonderful tutor from a previous course. My tutor’s a really funny and interesting guy, but I kind of miss the ‘previous’ one! My new classmates are alright I suppose, but because of our individual timetables my French class has become less noisy. While I find myself learning better in the less noisy classroom, I do miss my previous classmates! The workload this semester is more heavy, but I’m not surprised because my previous courses, except for politics were pretty slack.The weather this week has been crazy. While forecasts put it as cloudy and/or sunny everyday it still rained! In turn I have come to see that clouds= rain. Stupid clouds. 

I was also stuck in a major food rut this week. Had the same thing (lentil sandwich or beef on pita bread) almost everyday. I nearly puked by the time I finished the week! This week’s groceries is more interesting though. So far  this weekend I’ve had you mian with prawn wanton, brown rice porridge with butternut squash, homemade pizza (except for the dough and sauce) and a cheesy scrambled egg! Mmmm hmmm… variety is da spice of life yo! I haven’t been using the stove very often and I think I should. After all I paid rent hey! 

Running wise all’s been good, except that I haven’t been the most diligent in stretching and icing. Granted, on weekdays I have to rush to class after my morning runs but that’s NOT an excuse! Sometimes I get so tired that I forgo my bedtime stretching routine. Eeeks. Should work on that. Because of that my shins hurt like a mother today. Oh! I ran 5 miles for my “long” run today  

Does anyone know how to de-freeze a fridge? Ice has been accumulating and an avalanche may occur soon. 

And finally, the sky becomes pitch black at a later time which means winter is ending. Yowza!!!

We shall see what happen to the fridge next week. Till then.

Weekly run down: 20/7-26/7

Total Distance: 15.7 miles

Total Time: 2:39:31

There are a couple of highlights this week. Firstly, on Wednesday I recorded a PR in terms of temperature! It was 3 degree celsius out in the morning and I didn’t know what to expect out of this run. In the end I wore a long sleeve top, gloves, muffs and shorts. Yes, shorts baby! Reason being I hate having anything on my legs while running and my legs are pretty resistant to cold weather. When I came back they were a little red but I didn’t feel anything wrong. I also recorded one of my fastest runs of the week then. Maybe it was from feeling cold? Hmm. Secondly, an update on the orthotics- I am still wearing them in the 2140s, which is a stability shoe. I think they ended up overcorrecting my feet as the IT bands (on both legs, dang) felt tight. Of course, I was off to the running store! I’m really hesitant to go straight into a neutral shoe though, as I do have a periodic problem with tight calves. After spending a helluva time in there and even going face to face with the podiatrist there (!) I left with this baby:

Beautiful ay?

Welcome onboard, Brooks Infiniti!

It is less stable, but not totally neutral. One step at a time, I’ll say.

Thirdly, and definitely non running related (NRR), the ‘rents are coming over in November! They’ve got their air tickets to Perth (not yet to Adelaide though) already even though I have no idea if their coming will clash with my exams *cross fingers*. My aunt is also joining them. We shall see what happens then. I MAY go back to Singapore either at the end of November or the first week of December which brings me to the next point- should I sign up for SCSM? Don’t think I will go for anything further than the 10k because I will end up roasted. Yikes. A polar bear here? You betcha! Oh, and the race is friggin expensive!! WTH? 

Anyway, uni is starting tomorrow. UGHHHH! Damn, where did the holidays go? Thankfully the courses are somewhat more interesting than the last:

French 1B

Introduction to International Politics

The 20th Century: A World In Turmoil

Asia and The World

Also, bearing in mind this blog. Even if I don’t blog during the week I will make sure there’s something up at the end of the week for your entertainment. Cheers.

Thailand/Vietnam 09

Hey all! I’ve touched down in Adelaide 2 days ago, have done the laundry and other necessary mundane tasks. Right now my heart is still a long way away. I continue to miss waking up knowing that we have somewhere interesting to head to, seeing other travelers on the road, packing and repacking my backpack, picking up my guidebook for interesting places to see and good places to dine as well as the fact that life is as structured as you make it out to be. 

In other words, I miss traveling. 

This trip has been fantastic on so many fronts. Apart from the fact that those museum visits are going to be of great use to what I’m studying, it was the adventure that makes me dread going back to start another semester of uni. First there was the James Bond motorcycle adventure in Bangkok. We missed our train at Bangkok station, and the four of us did the inevitable- we each hopped onto motorcycle taxis to race against the train. At it’s fastest we were probably going at about 120 km/h. We were speeding through traffic in downtown Bangkok! To add spice to the fact that we had to hang on for our dear lives by the side of the motorcycles, we met with the infamous traffic jam and had to weave in and out of traffic. I shall also put in a special mention that the bike helmets DID NOT fit at all. 

Next would be the beautiful, and my favorite place in Vietnam- Ha Long Bay. It was a very welcomed cruise to my battered lungs which decided to react violently against the heavy pollution in Hanoi. Okay not quite- people smoke on the boat. BUT it was still a whole lot better in general. The sun was out, which made me want to kick myself for bringing a wetsuit instead of a bikini (we are no longer kids! Plus, everyone wears it, so nothing new here), the scenery breathtaking, friendly fellow travelers and the opportunity to kayak and dive into the waters of Ha Long Bay. It was a huge pity we did not swim a whole lot because none of us wanted to risk a jellyfish sting. Instead, we took turns to dive off the boat. That was good enough though. Oh! And not to mention the smoking hot Europeans sunbathing at the top deck of other ships. It was ogling time baby!

I came home a new woman.

And then who can forget the runs in the morning of which I nearly suffocated under the heat, humidity and pollution? I regretted not abandoning my run and joining in the Tai Chi sessions around the lake in Hanoi. Maybe I would have a better morning. There were also the days of living like a king, having dirt cheap alcohol and ice cream (I had at least either one of them everyday), being grabbed by female shopkeepers in Ben Thanh market, ubiquitous “Uncle Ho” portraits, obvious contradiction of wealth and power in Vietnam as well as throwing off people who try to rip you off. 

In Thailand we had the opportunity to have a Thai friend, Dui, to bring us around. In fact, we cheated and got the local ticket price in Ayutthaya and got treated to a family lunch fare! Having a local friend certainly has its perks too. He helped to explain many of the cultural nuances which would otherwise have gone unnoticed, taught us Thai and made getting around easy. Many thanks, Dui!  

If Thailand was a James Bond adventure, then Vietnam would be a perfect place for it to all happen again. Bearing in mind the infamous traffic situation in Vietnam I was nearly knocked down twice in Saigon (HCM city) within minutes of each other. The Grim Reaper has it tough again- I’m one lucky kid All in all I will say that this backpacking trip was awesome, and I do admire some of the travelers out there who actually drop out of school, earn and save up a sum and travel. How many of us have the guts to do that? Or what about the creativity of the locals who made the most of what they had? Sometimes I wonder about their lives after we leave, such as that beautiful girl working on the cruise ship. How long is she going to stay there? Is she going to school? 

Maybe that’s what traveling is about too- brief meetings. I wish I have all the time available to know everyone on a deeper level. In any case though, I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly and I thank my wonderful partner from Japan! Yes, though sometimes communication was hard, but we still made it through in the end. 

Thailand/Vietnam 09: The James Bond Adventure.

Had to end with another photo of Ha Long Bay. I love that place so much!

Weird weird wordpress and VACAY!!

You may have noticed that the sidebar had an “about me” section which was written a really long time ago. I didn’t put it there but it just appeared. Weird.

Anyway, just a quick update about life here. 

1) Running with orthotics. Those guys are painful! The blisters now better be worth the pay off later!

2) I’m leaving for Thailand and Vietnam in less than 12 hours from now. Nervous? Yes. Backing out? No. 

3) Annoying neighbour FINALLY got the message that I didn’t like to hang around her. It’s not convenient to write about anything here so I’ll leave it at that. But one word about the whole situation- you brought it upon yourself.

So apart from that incident with annoying freak neighbour, I’m going to enjoy this backpacking trip! Can’t wait to meet up with da sistah and her colleague in Bangkok! Thank goodness my travel buddy is a really nice girl too! Therefore, annoying neighbour or not, we are going to travel and learn  

Till then folks!