it is such an unbearably hot night.
Read More!Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Saturday, June 26, 2004
Nasty Brutish Short
That was the phrase that went through my mind while i was ploughing through 4 Lonely Planet books on Australia - a book on the East Coast, one on Victoria, one on Sydney and one on the Great Barrier Reef.
It is past midnight, seven hours before dawn, twelve hours before nightfall, twenty four before the darkest hour, perhaps three hundred and seventy six thousand six hundred and eighty before I die.
Three Crosses. I took this picture in a cold graveyard in Farnborough, UK in April 2003. I like it because it is like the three crosses at Golgotha. 
Friday, June 25, 2004
blink blink
alright sleepyhead, you can get up now. it is after all 2:20pm in the afternoon and the sun is streaming in from the window, enticing the bald plant to grow more shoots. "grow more shoots! replenish your luxuriant leaves! i'll work my sunny disposition and convince the sleepy block to give you lots of prophylactic fish water! heck, maybe a fish will die and get buried by your roots! we can dream what we want can't we?"
we can dream what we want can't we?
erm, actually, no. sorry. you may not; you have not been cleared for access; you failed the qualifying interview; you are not cool beautiful awesome spectacular gifted perservering loyal determined smart lucky enough; you can however, if you wish, get an application from us for an ordinary sized dream. Hurry, 'cos Applications close in the next 26 seconds.
25..24..23..22..21..20..19..18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..
10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1
time's up baby.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
breakfast
buttered toast with melted cheese, sliced tomatoes and chunks of sausage, and a cup of coffee. heavenly. :)
i would post a picture but i ate it all up already. hee.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
echos
I've had the house to myself the last three days cos the parents are out of town. It has been quiet - my thoughts seem to echo off the walls.
Last night, I sat in front of the TV with a bottle of red wine and a bowl of instant tom yam beehoon. I still have no idea what was showing on TV. I think all I did was just to stare into space and listen to the silence. By the time I got off the sofa at 1:30am, the ground looked wonky. Interesting sensation. I've never gotten high before, and still haven't. I've got a long way to go.
I was thinking the other day what a conservative gal I am. I'm not into body piercings at all, or bungee jumping, or scuba diving, or all night partying, or wild drinking, or free sex, or anything like that at all. All I do is read, hang out with a few close friends, work, sleep, run, eat, and GO TO AUSTRALIA TO RUN THE 10k!!! hee. I had to put that in caps just for the effect.
Gosh, the paragraph above just proves the point.
fly away blue!
blue bottle fly!
Did you know that the last animal brought to court and finally executed by the church was a cow? Unbelievable. It is said that a certain St Bernard unwittingly wiped out all the blue bottle flies in an area by peevishly saying "Be Thou excommunicated" to a fly that was irritating him by flying around his head. What is this??? The locust (the woodworm in "The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters") was also excommunicated in 1338.
It is hazy outside today - it is that time of the year. Singapore has four seasons - hot, hot & wet, hot & humid, and hot & hazy.
Yesterday I ran for 30mins around Barker Road. Surprisingly, it felt short. :)
I've also started a new blog titled "Afterthoughts".
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
training for the race
the thought of being able to complete 10k gives me a high. This evening I will work on my endurance. I tend to hit a psychological barrier at the 15min mark, 30min mark, and the 45min mark. A few minutes before I hit the barrier, I start feeling really really tired and I think that my heart is beating much too loudly, and that I ought to stop running. Then I get to the 16th, 31st and 46th min and then I think I can run for another 20mins at least. It's weird. I will have to get over the 45min huddle this evening. Maybe 50mins ;) Which means it will either have to be a slow level jog (say Botanic or MacRitchie), or a very very slow Barker hilly jog (oh awfulness!).
I just calculated my run the day before yesterday. I did 5.85km in 37mins 10sec at Barker. That's at a pace of 9.44km/h! Cool :)
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Tim 4:8
Wouldn't it be interesting if I worked at godliness the same way I worked at training for the 10k? When you run, it gets easier and easier after each training cos of the muscle and endurance you build up. I wonder when you "practice" at godliness, whether it becomes easier and easier to be more paitient, loving, kind, self-controlled, joyful, peaceful, good, and gentle?
I was at the receiving end of an unexpected kindness today. This lady from Wesley MC bought me lunch from the wanton mee store with the words, "It's the first time I'm meeting you." When I protested, her friend said, "Auntie wants to buy for you.." It touched me.
If I was giving a sermon, I'll end with this proposal - Let's test the hypothesis. Pick one fruit of the Spirit you want to work on (say kindness). Train at it and see if it becomes easier and easier to be kind to others. Maybe one day you will become kind.
Maybe one day I'll become a runner :)
Shit happens. I think the easiest way to get through life is to just clean it up and try your best to keep further shit from falling on you. Sometimes it's big, sometimes small, but mind you, it always happens. Where does God fit in this resigned theory? He would say, all shit happens for good, which comes down to the same message - wipe it off, get up, smile, and carry on. We are mere human beings who will never be able to comprehend fully the situation we are in, or judge what is fair. We only know what is, is.
The is-ness is a Buddhist concept is it not? But doesn't the "is" also contain the fullness of its past and the potential of the future? Doesn't that become Christian then? Because at any one point of is, I am the sum conglomerate of my past experiences as a forgiven sinner, and look towards the perfection of all things, even as I fully engaged in today because it says that his kingdom is here.
Monday, June 14, 2004
a bush in a pot
j's overgrown plant
everytime i run at barker road, i think i will never be able to complete the 10km on 4th July 2004 in Australia. :( i'm tired by the 10th minute, panting at the 15th, and absolutely peng1 san1 (want to faint) at 30mins. the hills do me in. i also have serious doubts about my stamina. oh dear me! i've already registered for the race!
7km in 45min 53sec
I ran at a pace of 9.2km/h. Treadmills give you more info than you care for - calories burned per hour, heart beat, laps, speed, incline, etc. The treadmills at bayshore work better than those in YCK - less creaky and more "high-tech". I like. :)
Met a Know-it-all at the gym though and he irritated me by his smart-alecky remarks. I would have told him to F- off, but it wasn't in my character to cuss. (Does thinking it constitute saying it though? Like the man in the gospels who looked at a woman lustfully and hence committed adultery? Skewed thinking will conclude that you might as well do what you are thinking then, since you are going to be punished for thinking it anyway, but that is like the "Should we keep on sinning so that grace may increase?" argument.)
After running, did some weights, swam, and went to eat Char Kway Tiao at Marine Parade with T and A. :) Good Saturday!
Thursday, June 10, 2004
YCK gym
How far and fast did I run at B the last time? Was it 5km in 31mins? I didn't do so well last night. Only 4.53km in 30mins. The treadmills at YCK has a built-in timer on them. It stops automatically after 30mins, that's why I didn't finish the 5km. Felt a little woozey - either cos I started too quickly or because of the aircon. I finished the 2.4km in 14:35. Must do better.
YCK was intimidating. All these guys with rippling muscles. There was a fair share of scrawny looking guys too though. Very few females. Which means that the toilets are really clean and empty! They have hot water! I was standing in there and thinking the shower alone is worth the whole $2.50.
I could have done more, but it was crowded and I didn't know how to use a lot of the machines. There was this pull-up machine that looked like it was could hang someone easily. It had all these warnings on it, about getting stuck on it, the possibility of serious injury etc. etc. etc. The next time I go I'll try it ;)
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
an arial view
sometimes it helps to step outside yourself and make an unflinching evaluation of your life.
personally i think it isn't an easy skill. I spend so much energy trying to cope and be happy with my situation in life that sometimes i completely miss the forest for the trees. I'm so easily appeased by the comforting scent of the Monday morning coffee, the familiar view from my office cubicle, and the wonderful company of a close friend.
This morning I managed to sneak out of my skin for a moment.
Monday, June 07, 2004
Important Telephone Numbers
Lost EZ Link Card 1800 7674 333
M1 Customer Service 1627
Singtel Customer Service 1626
NTUC Income Travel Insurance 6334 4345
Friday, June 04, 2004
Spottiswoode Park Road
This road is named after the merchant, Charles Spottiswoode (1812-1858), who lived in the area. Charles Spottiswoode, together with John Conolly, started a merchant firm in Singapore in 1824, called Spottiswoode and Conolly. In 1849, the company changed its name to Spotiswoode and Company, with offices in Change Alley, In 1854 there were three Spottiswoodes listed as partners in the Company: Archibald, Charles and William. Spottiswoode died in Singapore on 13 June 1858 and was buried at the Christian cemetery in Fort Canning. His tombstone continues to stand sentinel in the cemetery.
Victor R Savage & Brenda S A Yeoh, Toponymics: A Study of Singapore Street Names
Familiar Pics
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Macritchie loop
I would like to post a picture of the sun setting at Macritchie Reservoir, but my camera is with my father at Mt Kinnabalu at the moment.
If you can imagine it, the light is slanting its way through the sky, making the clouds and water pink and orange. There are monkeys on the wooden ramps that i'm running on, and you can hear the water underfoot. You keep your pace, afraid that you will be swallowed by the darkness of the forest when the pink disappears. You've never run so fast and so long before.
The quickly changing colours make it surreal, even with the surity of your steps on the wooden ramp and your deep rhythmic breathing. You could be in a dream at this very moment, caught between slumber and wakefulness, dreaming of the end of the day before it has even begun. You could be the monkey scrowling at the intruders, then changing your mind suddenly, backing off and falling into the water unobstrusively as the joggers keep going. You could be the lean golden retriever, loyal, curious and hungry. Or the quiet reflective water that will eventually find it's way to over a million households through a labyrinth of plumbing.
You spot the end of the trail; you shake off the dream; and run. It is night the next time you look at the sky.
This is a Title
changed my design template today. thought i could do with a minor change in one of the more obscure details of my life. nothing major or earth-shattering (do the angels stop to listen when a human decides to repent?), but enough to make somewhat of a difference to no one in particular.
i feel like Marvin in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
I'm reading a new book now that I've finished the "Trilogy in Four Parts" (?!). It's by Michael Cummingham, who also wrote The Hours, which is an excellent thought provoking and heart rending book. This one is equally captivating - I think it is called A Home at the End of the World. Cummingham specialises in unconventional relationships and making them completely believable to the average joe. Very readable.
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