Lessons in Life

Well, I have now officially joined the 30 Club! (Just type 'turning 30' in google and be entertained!) It's something that I am the first to do among my close circle of school friends. Not the first time I am celebrating a birthday without them by my side, not the first time I am spending a birthday without my family by my side but the first time I am celebrating a birthday without a man by my side. (To feminists out there who are already yelling ‘You don’t need a man to be happy’ or tuning in to the PussyCat Dolls song ‘I Don't Need A Man', yes I know I don’t need a man to be happy but for better and not worse ((hehe)) I would prefer to have the one I love by my side). And for something that’s not happened in the last 17 years, it took a little getting used to.

But anyhoo, it was a very nice birthday. I had a great confirmation of love and respect from my team members at work – now for those of you who remember last year, the atrocities I used to grumble about regarding work, they’ve all taken a turn for the better this year and I am so grateful for it. I couldn’t bear to take on personal and professional problems together this year of the Dog 2006! And I had like a million friends who all took the time and effort to remember my birthday and wish me – props to Lisa, Melinda, Thing May, Janice, Mum (but not DAD!!!!), Shanthi, Liz, Sookie, Anizah, Adzam, Kong Wai, Fungky, Cynthia, David A, Anita Abdul Rahim (whom I have not heard from in AGES!!!!), Mark B, Elene, Mei, Chitra, Sri, Ayn, Trish, Sherine, Shamini, Ashifa, Amutah, Logs, PY, Audrey, Jim, Shanthi N, Amy, Wendy……………..

It’s like I told Anizah, I may have lost 1 person but its opened up a whole new world of friends to me. I am blessed to have the friends that I have and for them to come out in full force to show me the impact I have made on their lives is greatly fulfilling.

I also see a difference in my appreciation of my friends these days – I used to be completely wrapped up in 1 person, my life revolved around him, my schedule revolved around him, my habits and hobbies revolved around him but now, I do charity work, I go clubbing (sometimes), I go to the gym, I read more, I do my laundry more regularly (hehehehe). I get to make the time to do what I need to do basically, instead of trying to steal time from my time with him to do normal stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret it, I loved spending time with him but being without him now, gives me much more opportunity to do what I want to do and what I need to do. I’m sure my employer prefers it more this way too – since I don’t rush off from work the moment I can, to go home to him.

Sure it gets lonely or boring sometimes but you win some and you lose some eh?

So I had some birthday songs, a cake, some gifts, some cards, it was fantastic. I was rushing around work a lot too – everybody needed something done……, so it felt like an extremely fruitful day which makes me feel GLAD TO BE ALIVE AND 30!!!!!!!

Yesterday too, the Corporate Social Responsibility Club organized an AIDS Awareness Week at the office and I helped sell quite a bit of merchandise of which the proceeds go to the Malaysian Aids Foundation – MAF. Our Club also wants to print up our own AIDS Support t-shirts for sale and some of the slogans we came up with/found, I felt were so fantastic I would have bought every t-shirt design. For example:

Don’t Be A Fool, Cover Your Tool
Stigmatisation = Discrimination
Support Malaysian Agriculture, Use a Rubber

These are just some.

I must confess a Boo Boo I committed when helping out at a Charity Sale for the Spastic Children’s Association of Selangor and Federal Territory. I was looking for a plastic bag to pack all the merchandise this woman had bought from us. I found one ratty looking one under the table and I wondered aloud if she would mind it being a little ‘cacat’. She took offense (albeit very gracefully and politely) at the word ‘cacat’ because apparently her daughter was afflicted with a “Big Head”. She called her daughter ‘Special’ and I guess that is the politically correct term.

I felt terrible having used the C word but looking at the other side of the coin, I don’t think it actually matters that much what people call it (the condition). What matters most is what your loved ones and yourself think. For argument’s sake, (and I know I may get a lot of hate mail for this but bear with me and reserve comment for now) if people deem it a cacat condition, then yes, fine, cacat. What is so wrong or bad about this word? Poor word I think, because it was coined for everyday usage, never intending for itself to be a pariah among other words but its maker (people) has made it so.

(Killing myself here but) Some definitions from online BM dictionaries:

Cacat =
defective; handicapped; deformed
disabled, defect, flaw, blemish

I think the more people accept a certain condition and accept that ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’, we would live easier lives. A word is a word is a word. There is nothing good or bad about it except the connotation and definition that people give to it. Everybody has flaws and defects – however, of course, there is the severity of the defect that is important here and how much it impacts the quality of life of the inflicted person. But still, a flaw and a defect is a fact of life. You cannot pretend it isn’t there – just like AIDS and TB and Leprosy…..- the best thing you can do for people who have ‘special’ conditions is to accept them as they are, treat them as you would everybody else and help each other when help is asked for.

Laziness is a flaw, lying is a flaw, inconsideration is a defect, having a ‘heart of stone’ is a defect……see my point?

FYI: Did you know that in some parts of the US, ‘special’ means dumb or mentally slow, but used as a slang word?

(A word to all those who are now itching to comment on my blog and give me a piece of their mind – I will not be responding to your comments because I have said what I have to say and I believe in it. As is my motto always, there are only a handful of people in the world whose opinions I really care about.

I did not intend to disrespect anybody with my thoughts and comments above and I am appreciative of and sensitive to the conditions some people are in – however, I think physically challenged people do get on with their lives very well and they have come to accept themselves, perhaps you ought to too!

I am never sure when to offer help and when not to though, because sometimes you can get your head bitten off – “Why would you think I need your help???”)

Amour

I'm in Love!

The past two times this has happened, it's come more slowly but this time I just saw and then the first thought that came to my mind was "I'm In Love!"

I love this book called Bet Me by Jenny (Jennifer) Crusie. The way it is written is fantastic - I love the way the two leads spar with each other and the wittee repartee keeps you turning page after page after page. I tried to get my then-boyfriend to read it (as part of a "let's try to read a book the other found fascinating to further build our bond of understanding and closeness") so that I could in one fell swoop, do the above paranthesized as well as get him to talk to me the way Calvin talks to Minerva (funny name I know).

Anyhoo - he didn't get around to it. And I had my own 'Off Limits' books because he had tried to get me to read this 'love letters from a man in harvard/oxford or something' which started off really boring.

Anyhoo (2) in 'Bet Me', both Calvin (male protagonist) and Min/Stats (female protagonist) has Fate telling them, drumming into their heads "THIS ONE!" whenever they see each other. You see, they keep trying to ignore and deny the delicious pull the universe has placed on both of them. Cutting the long story short - when I saw this one, Fate didn't say "This One" but "I'm In Love".

Up to you to decide which one is better!

[Big Smile now]

All The Men In My Life…..

It’s only been recently when I’ve had the full force of charming men visited upon me. Not the first time in my life a man has turned it on for me but the first time I’ve realised the effects of personality + charm + confidence at the same time!

Two men are involved here – both different but both confident in their own right and charmed the pants off of me (not literally though!!!) One is sweet and quiet (when it comes to sweet-talking me) and the other is outspoken, aggressive and rough! (My God! Now everyone will be wondering what the heck I’m talking about)

So anyways, the soft sweet one (whom I shall refer to as W henceforth) usually sits quietly beside me, which should be an indication in itself because he can be quite raucous and flirty. He quietly privately asks me how I am, if I am cold, if I need anything, if I need something to eat (I think it’s a Malaysian thing – if you care about someone, feed them). Which is all well and fine, but man oh man, when he starts the sweet talking – LOOK OUT! And he ‘whispers’ these sweet somethings with such quiet confidence and stability. The other day, when he was sitting beside me again, he asked, “What perfume are you wearing?”

“Miracle”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you are one”

I was completely bowled over!!! It wasn’t exactly WHAT he was saying (because people can say all kinds of tacky things) but the way he said it. I got the impression he was so sure of what he was saying – like he absolutely believed it and therefore, so should I!!!!

BIG DISCLAIMER:
I am not saying this guy has got the hots for me or anything like that at all – but just needed to demonstrate the effects of someone’s charm/flirting/personality/confidence..

Now the other one – god! Was a train that knocked me over and made me blush!!!! Now, if you’ve seen me before, you’ll know I’m quite tanned – so it took some heck of an effort to make me blush!

Anyways, I met him (P) at an important gathering – this is a guy I’ve met before whom I thought, and shared with my family, was good looking. It’s been a few years since and we both actually didn’t recognize each other. But then we were introduced……….

He started to take pictures of me – made a point of asking me if he could (which is cool) and didn’t over do it at all (which is cooler). Then during the wedding, he came over and wanted to share a toast with me. It didn’t help that his dad was sitting with us (if you know what I mean). Anyways, I saw him headed in my direction and being the shy one that I am, I looked away. He strode purposefully towards me, leaned over and raised his glass. Dad said something embarrassing of course, as parents often do when their child gets together with someone of the opposite sex!

He said (something like), “Errolyn, will you drink with me?” looking straight at me like nothing else in the room mattered.

“I don’t drink …..” while raising my glass of ice water.
“Come, let’s share” while he tried to pour some wine into my glass (granted this was gauche but maybe he wanted to dilute the wine since I don’t drink eh?)

Drops of wine fall onto my brand new dress –

“Oh, I’m so sorry” and used his hand to wipe away at the errant 3 drops of wine on my thigh.
“Let’s drink”

And so we did.

And then the night went on. At goodbye, he clasped my hand and the first thing I thought was “Damn, his hand is rough”. I like it when a man is a man and the rough hand and confident, almost cocky attitude, made me think terrible thoughts! HAHAHAHAHAHAH.

So there you go, W and P, such different styles but applied with just the right amount of nerve and sincerity that it comes across as perfectly enticing and heart-warming. I don’t advocate that men go out on the town and do this to every girl they come across, of course – unless they want to get the girl!!!!

Another thing that is wonderful, is when P held my hand at goodbye and would not let go even though I was trying to get my phone to put his number in!! He did the ‘no one else in the room’ look again and I giggleddddddddd!

Sorry though, it won’t work for every guy – because sometimes the girl is just going to go: get your bloody hand off me!!! But these guys had it perfect and I just had to share the knowledge around because so many men these days do not know how to get it right!

Some men just don’t inspire you at all but are comfortable so you continue to hang out with them sometimes, some make you feel all sexy and it seems like all you do is flirt outrageously and some just make you understand why they are still single!!!!

Oh by the way, of course, the disclaimer goes for P too.

And if W or P is reading this - thank you guys for a wonderful experience!

And oh yes, P definitely invaded my space but for some strange reason - I enjoyed it!

P.S. For the men who are still blur - the italicised phrases are the actions that got to me!

A Red Bomb....as the Chinese say....

On Wed I attended a friend’s wedding. You know how people always say weddings are joyous occasions and how it’s fantastic that two people are now joined in their love for eternity in the eyes of God and Country? Well, this was truly a wedding epitomizing the sentiment – and I’m not being a mushy cry baby (the way I usually am… at weddings….)

This was a simple beautiful ceremony with lots of white roses and the bride swathed in a luxurious cream and maroon brocade sari which sparkled with the lights. Although none of them sparkled more brightly than the bride. Her relief when sitting down on the stage was apparent – it came out as a deep breath and a look of : “Aaah, I’m finally here”. And then the Shania Twain song, “You’re Still The One” starts playing and I immediately find my throat constricting and the tears pooling.

It helps when you know the history of the couple – especially this one who have been together for 10 years and finally getting to the altar was a big momentous giant step for them, the family, the friends and even the Bahai’ community. As the father of the groom said, “So many delegations have come to us to ask for this union to happen”. It is always joyously heartening to finally have a union happen.

Marriage isn’t always good. I have seen so many marriages fall apart and I firmly believe it is because the parties involved did not put in as much as they wanted out of it. Many a time, naïvete fools individuals in love into thinking that love is enough to make a marriage work – it isn’t!

Marriage is WORK and you better believe it. Marriage is also RISK and no one can guarantee that it will be good. What can be promised is that you will work at it. It’s too easy to give up nowadays – divorce lawyers abound, ‘friends’ who are looking to ‘help’ you out, impatient parents. It could all very well be well-meaning but sometimes married people just need a good kick in the ass!!!!!!!! Wake up and look at what you’ve made your marriage into – oftentimes a JOKE, that’s what it is!

You promise to love and honour and (ahem) share mutual decisions with another human being; if you haven’t been doing that 120%, then the marriage falling apart is YOUR fault! Do not blame others!

But when a love (and all the other parts of a successful marriage like respect, admiration, humour, chemistry, passion etc) is good, then Marriage is wonderful! Granted, I have not really come across a rarity such as this but I’m sure it is good. Even though I have not experienced a good marriage, but I have experienced good loves.

So, coming back to my initial story – This was one wedding where the love of the couple and their family and friends was so apparent, it would have been a shame not to have shed a few tears of joy for them. It was also touching that there could have been a hall of at least 80 people who were overjoyed that this couple could finally be together to build a life and a family. So many people can’t be wrong if they believe that your love is true and you are (nothing as tacky as being meant to be together) the best possible match for each other.

Mmmmmm……I feel it again now.

Congratulations Jothee and Taraz! My bestest wishes with you.

Manila - Land of the ????

I’ve just returned from Manila, the Philippines and I shall not return again. (Only smart people can make sense of the preceeding sentence!)

Yes, I spent 5 days, 4 nights in Manila, first in Simpaloc, then in the Ermita. Simpaloc is rather out of the happening radius so after spending our first night there in a prebooked room, the 4 adventurous girls moved to Stone House Ermita. It cost us RM17.00 each. I shan’t bore you with the details of the rooms but needless to say the 4 girls decided, “Heck! We’re managers – we can afford to pay more than RM17 for a nice room and so off we trudged…..yet again….in search of a RM50 room.

We found this in the CityState Hotel which seems to be a hub for ‘strangers in the night passing each other blowing horns and letting off steam’. Hahaahahhaaaa. Seems like lots of mat sallehs like having 2 Filipinas with them to eat breakfast.

Things I have done in the Philippines:

1. Visited world’s smallest active volcano – Taal Volcano located in Taal Lake.
2. Drove around Tagaytay (where Taal is located) approximately 2 hours looking for Leyla Restaurant where our packaged lunch is.
3. Shopped in Divisoria Market where 168 Shopping Mall is.
4. Changed accommodation 3 times in Manila itself.
5. Rode in a taxi, bus, jeepney (think long tut-tut) and tricycle
6. Got cheated by vehicle (taxi and jeepney) operators in our routes to hotels and airport.
7. Shopped in a souvenir shop called Tesoro near the CityState Hotel.
8. Had somebody tell me I was beautiful in Tagalog.
9. Had a bell boy look at me like I was in one of those perfume ads (where the guy tries hard to continue to stay and look and smile while a friend tries to pull him away)
10. Had almost everyone in Manila start speaking to me in Tagalog (my standard answer is: “No Tagalog”).
11. Changed USD to more pesos.
12. Ridden horseback up a mountain in a cut in sleeveless tank.
13. Get tan lines
14. Ruined my hair in the Hard Water.


Things I have not done in the Philippines:

1. Eaten Balut.
2. Visited Intramuros, Rizal Park, Cathedrals, Churches….
3. Lived the good life.
4. Experienced the night life.
5. Visit Boracay Beach.
6. Visit Casino Filipina.

Guess it looks like a pretty worthwhile trip huh? But still I wouldn’t go back. I don’t mean to sound arrogant or elitist or anything like that but it was poor, dirty and even scary at times.

Poor:
· Woman and 2 children sleeping in a tricycle by the wayside reeking of urine. The children are clothed but have no shoes and are asleep in that half closed eye manner that a lot of lost children have.
· Men, women and children living/sleeping at railroad tracks near Divisoria Market.
· Men huddled around a couple of fried fishes in the dark eating rice with their hands.
· Teenage boy coming up to you and following you aways to beg for the food you ‘ta-pau-ed’, ‘bungkus-ed’, packed from dinner.

Dirty:
· Woman and 2 children sleeping in a tricycle by the wayside reeking of urine.
· The unrelenting heat and sun making you sweat gallons. I FELT DIRTY AND STICKY so much of the time that I will always associate that with Manila.
· Open jeepneys and low-slung tricycles expose you and your skin to the air, smoke, dust, grime and god knows what else (trying very hard to not sound like a skincare ad but……)

Scary:
· Teenage boy coming up to you and following you aways to beg for the food you ‘ta-pau-ed’, ‘bungkus-ed’, packed from dinner.
· Men on the street calling you their girlfriend and/or sister.
· Getting lost among the market stalls in Divisoria and not knowing where is North, South, East and West, the Main Road, Taxi Land…….and having a million tricycle men telling you they can get you to wherever you need to go.
· Hand carrying 2 huge plastic bags of shopping and not knowing where your hotel is.
· Running out of money for shopping.
· Phillipine Idols auditioning everywhere – I MEAN everywhere – the market corner, the road side, eating places…….people just singing at the top of their baddish voices – I mean there aren’t too many Lea Salongas there from what I heard!

Manila reminded me of Old Delhi, electric cables abound, all tangled and exposed. Some parts of Metro Manila look war-torn, pillars half-broken off and jeeneys fighting for space on the roads. However, the good thing is that in spite of the jams and spewing black smoke, nobody curses or yells or shouts at another driver. It’s either that they’re so used to the situation already or they really are the HAPPY people they are claimed to be. It seems (from a native Filipino’s mouth) that they’ve gone through so much, poverty, political instability and etc. that nothing seems as bad as it may look.

By they way, Filipino definition of:
Butterfly – GROs who flit from man to man.
C*ck – no definition here but they have keychains shaped like the male appendage, ashtrays with it sticking right up in various sizes and god only knows what else. I never did find out the fascination with C*cks though.

…… :)

So....what is Manila the land of?

I KiLLED SomeONE

Just to let you all know that one week ago today, I committed Involuntary Manslaughter of a Biawak's Tail.

I confess to the crime but I plead temporary insanity.

At 10.23am last Friday 7 Aoril, I was driving my car at a steady pace below the Allowed Speed Limit on my way to work. I was happily humming a tune (the name escapes me at the moment) and had never before nor then entertained thoughts of murder.

Then, I suddenly saw this medium sized biawak (read: giant/monitor lizard) in the middle of the road. He was sunbathing on one of the dotted white lines down the middle of the winding road. And this is when Insanity set in!

Of course, being an animal loved, I turned the steering wheel to avoid the biawak. However, as if in a dream, I saw myself turning the wheel TOWARDS the poor guy! I gasped in horror but the deed was done, I felt the da-bump, and that was it.

My hand was at my mouth, there was a short scream of guilt.....and I continued driving towards work.

I put him out of my mind until later that night, when I confessed to a colleague, that I had committed Involuntary Manslaugther of a Biawak's Tail.

~head hangs down in shame~

PPS Pinging???

Alright, just registered to ping Project Petaling Street - to no avail. Can't ping it - think maybe it's me browser who's screwing up and not knowing how to apply the credentials the way they should be.......if you can tell that I just copied that verbatim off the error message, you know me too well!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, nothing much to update - except me ab muscles are building up, me gluteus muscles too - OOH LA LA! Today is Sunday, tomorrow is Monday and DAMN IT!!! I need to get to work again! Shite - by the way, if anybody is willing to pay for an extra pair of hands to help them out with business, proofreading, etc, let me know.....saw several pairs of LOVERLY (meaning Lovely and Sexy!) shoes at Nose yesterday but didn't buy any! Aggrrrrhghghghgh! The last time I bought shoes, it was January.....I think!

Nose shoes are fantastic - the designs have gotten better and better and their prices keep rising of course. They are officially now my favourite brand of shoes as compared to Vincci! (Hey John! Are you reading this??)

I can still remember the time I bought this pair of leopard spotted stilletos and asked my boyfriend, "But don't they look sexy??? Doesn't it just make you want to......???!" (By the way, a word of caution, not everyone can carry off a pair of leopard spots!)

So Errolyn now has 40 over pairs of shoes in KL - cool but you know, when is it ever enough? There are so many shoe stores to conquer out there and so little .........money! Aldo is another fave - what's not to like???? Stilletos, pointed toes, sex appeal written all over!!!!

On to another topic, contrary to what a friend said, M The Opera (I heard) was lousy beyond redemption! (What do you call a girl who uses too many exclamation marks?) A work colleague went and walked out and I find it funny when my friend said "it was a full house every night (until the interval, at least)." Glad I didn't get to buy a ticket - yes, I was told it was all SOLD OUT!

Anyway, very much looking forward to Grease in May, I'll be chilling and rocking away!

Sing along with me now:

I got chills, they're multiplying,
And I'm lo-o-sing control,
There's a fire, you're supplying,
It's ELECTRIFYING!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!

P.S. I think some silly man in Damansara, tried to rob me just now as I was stepping into the Internet Cafe. Asked me where the nearest barbershop was - the freak! If he thought I was going to come walking over to him, he's got another kick in the B@@LLS coming!

P.S.S. Very upset with all the people who have got Ipods and Creatives and Zens and whatever little tiny mobile music players! Gotta get me a computer and internet conncetion man, if I'm going to stay at the forefront (LAUGH!) of the music scene.

P.S.S.S GOOD LUCK TO JANICE IN AMAZING RACE ASIA!!!!!!!!!!!

When is it worth it to KILL?

(This happened 28 March 06)

Last night I had a cappuccino. Then I couldn’t sleep until some wee hour of the morning, then I had a bad dream where a fortune teller was telling me my life would be full of sadness and he was so taken in that HE started crying.

So, I couldn’t sleep again and decided heck I’d come to work early. And guess what – on my way in Puchong I got stuck in a long long jam.

Apparently there had been an accident early in the morning and 4 people had died – a colleague saw the bodies on the road (I think she’s got to mandi bunga or something cos this is the umpteenth time she’s seen dead bodies on the road!!!!!!!). Anyway, I came across a poor little kancil all beaten up and smashed and crumpled and folded and cut about. It made me think that which ever poor soul was in there, would have kicked the b*cket for sure!

Of course I don’t know if the kancil was in the wrong, doing something reckless or plain fell asleep OR if it was the innocent party in a road journey gone awry. But it definitely gets me all riled up and I howl ‘UNFAIR’ when I think about the many innocent parties who don’t reach home due to somebody’s selfish, inconsiderate, irresponsible act of mayhem. Why do we not call road terrors terrorists? Because they sure as heck act on purpose and they spread terror and pain and fear like the plague.

Ever since growing older, I’ve had this great fury in me for people who have been wronged – people who have died because someone else couldn’t care less. I wonder if these terrorists feel shame or responsibility or pain? I wonder how the rest of a victim’s life carries on – his family, his friends, his pets, his hobbies, his loves.

I’m still thinking about this and on the way to Cyberjaya when I see a black car zoooooooooooooooooooooming at high speed along the road cutting in and out between cars trying to get to work as soon as he can. He’s just seen the same accident I have but that hasn’t taught him anything or made him realize arriving late to work is nothing compared to never seeing your family again and nothing compared to making somebody else not see their family again.

When will people stop and stare and learn the lesson life is trying to teach them?

Errolyn's Big News!!!

Haiya! It wasn’t frightening at all! Everybody exaggerated about it the fear and the pain and the agony and the indecision (albeit they did also talk about the joy of it) …….and in the end, I just went and said “Yes” and it wasn’t fearful at all!

Wheeeeeee! It was so exciting and I am a bit surprised and not surprised at myself and the swift decision I made. I mean after all, it is a life long commitment! I have always thought about it on and off for some time now and then recently of course, the desire was very strong and I kept telling myself I will just go out and do it. I will just make the decision and commit. Then the desire would ebb but come again, people would talk to me and I would think, ‘hmmmmmm’. But then, one day I woke up and I thought, that’s it! The new Errolyn is going to do things differently from now on, live life more and experience more and my first step towards that – is making this commitment.

Strange and a little ironic – the first step to my ‘freedom’ and experiencing life free as a bird is to make an emphatic decision to be tied down to something for the rest of my life. And it isn’t even a small something!

But I am happy and am now in the throes of wonderment – my first few days of walking on air and checking and looking at it and checking and looking and going ‘mmmmmmm, FINALLY’!!!!!!!!!

I know people are shocked, friends and family – they never thought I’d just jump straight in and do it but I have now and there’s nothing I can do to change it anymore so:

LIVE LIFE AND BE HAPPY!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ERROLYN and her new……….!

When Life is Funny When It Shouldn't Be!

Ok, it is not funny when I see women twice my age ‘jogging’, ‘running’ ‘climbing the hill’ furiously and (it would seem) effortlessly on a stationery bike in a Spinning Class, when I am struggling to continue to keep my legs pumping!

It would look like the only floor space that’s not been rained on by sweat is the radius around my bike! Gosh, 1 hour of spinning is enough to make you lose 3 dinners I’m sure. And moi has to endure it because moi hates the treadmill with a passion. I try and I try, but I can’t sustain the interest in the staid old treadmill when I could be dancing away in Line Dancing, stretching away in Pilates, huffing away in BodyPump or even just plain old working out on the machines……..

I know, I’m running like an old record already with my misadventures in the gym, time to write about something new huh?! Well, before I leave the gym topic, I’ve got two more things to say:

1. Seen a few GOOD LOOKING guys in the gym; but of course way too shy to even really look them in the face!

2. Joke: Conversation trying to introduce a colleague named Jim to my gym,
“So, is Jim with a gym?”
“No, Jim is not with a gym.”
“Oh, is Jim with a Hank then?”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alrighty then, let’s see what else has happened – petrol price has gone up by a dastardly 30 sen, making me have to sacrifice at least 2 pairs of beautiful shoes a month (I’m sure!).

Discovering and lamenting that grocery shopping for one is painful and self-sacrificing. I can’t buy anything that’s too big or comes in too much quantity – waste not, want not! Once, I couldn’t buy bananas because they came in a full comb and I knew for sure I wouldn’t be able to finish the whole thing before the maggoty enemies came along!

Also, I’m buying loaves of bread that I can’t really finish and I’ve not bought eggs in a carton because I’m trying to buy individual ones from the nearby kedai runcit. It’s so sad!

Anyway, can’t really believe but it’s been 7 months since the fateful day when I became single again – it sounds like such a long time but oddly, it doesn’t feel as long. However, thinking back on some episodes that have occurred since then, it makes me wonder how the heck I lasted so long doing what I did.

Adios for now – stay tuned for the next exciting adventure of (Ta! Ta!!! Ta!!!!!!!) Gym Girl!!!

Btw, planning a really exciting event in my life – rather frightening but definitely exciting! Can’t wait!