Haunting.

By a local poet, shared by an acquaintance. 

#hauntinglybeautiful

Screaming muscles.

My muscles are going to scream tomorrow. That, I’m pretty sure.

I like my Wednesdays’ routine – breakfast, prep to leave house for gym, gym, lunch, coffee, work – wait for the boy to be done with work, dinner.

Today I attempted the following at gym: bodypump express + hardcore + zumba.

I swear, my limbs felt like dropping off during zumba when we had to swing our arms in the air. I almost wanted to walk out of hardcore, then I looked at the clock and reminded self that hardcore was only 30 minutes long. Instructor almost thought I was no novice to hardcore, until he suddenly remembered I ran out of class immediately after intro to bodypump last week. The look of recognition on his face when it dawned upon him, was amusing. Had a good chat with the zumba instructor post session – she teaches salsa professionally in the evenings! Hence she’s teaching zumba fitness classes in the day, and she just started. She did divulge that she’s considering moving to the US for more opportunities as a dancer. I really like her sessions – am going to miss it when school starts!

My muscles are going to scream tomorrow. That sentence can’t leave my head.

Am still very cautious about the whole gym idea – I don’t know how I can sustain it during school term and I have to find some way to do it. My mum is amused – she asked me to buy a second sports bra (to counter the whole ohmigod I need to wash the sports bra tonight so that I can wear it for tomorrow morning’s session) and I’m hesitant. I don’t know why I’m being hesitant but I am just being extremely cautious. I don’t want to start buying attire and I don’t sustain it in the future. For now, any old clothes + the ff attire would suffice. I actually quite like the ff shit, but I prefer my own fbt shorts, have got more than enough for that.

I’ll consider getting a second sports bra.

It’s been a productive wednesday, as compared to monday and tuesday. I was behaving like an absolute sloth on both days. This means I’ve got to get out of the house to avoid slot-like behaviour.  This means I have to spend more money. Not the best thing, but if it gets me to be more productive, perhaps.

The holidays have officially moved into double digit december. Am already starting to feel the shit-my-holidays-are-ending emotions. Need to get out more.

Self, stop being a sloth and spend 75% of the day in bed.

Get up, get out and get moving.

In the last month..

I’ve been rather quiet. I can’t quite remember the small little things, but I do remember the big ones.

1. We went to Sydney! (Y)
2. School holidays started (approximately 3 weeks back actually).
3. I signed up for a gym membership!

My body is aching like it has never ached before. I need to get in shape – I recognise that I am extremely unfit and I have to do something about it. This should keep me going, at least for December. We’ll definitely need to work something out when school term starts.

Sydney was real good – the food the places and the locals. I haven’t quite decided if I prefer Melb or Sydney more – it’s always that debate, isn’t it.

L’s ROM.

Twelve of my favourite shots. 

Lovely hair.

The couple.

Attempting to look afar.

Looking so sweet!

Flowers & rings.

Rings.

Cheeky.

Fave shot #1

Having tons of fun.

Very sweet.

Fave shot #2

Very pretty hair.

I’m actually very happy with myself – the final shots and the post-editing process. I thought about how the photos needed to be processed, thought about how the colours should look. As it turns out, the couple loved the pictures. I loved having close friends love the pictures – especially when L’s a designer and has the eye for photography as well. 

This makes me crave for new lenses – and the boy surprised me tonight with a 35mm f1.8 lens. Super sweet. :)

The boy and I make an awesome team! 

A first.

At the specialist centre, with a referral.

I really don’t like how the body has been breaking down one too many times this year.

This time, it was the ears. To be more specific, the right ear.

So, all sorts of tests were done on my ears and I particularly took delight in the audio test – I think it had more to do with putting on the headphones and testing if I could hear the different frequencies in both ears. It’s the audio geek in me, I swear.

Also a first, getting examined by medical students. It was a rather interesting experience, watching the medical student rack her brain thinking of all possible questions she could ask me, before she presented my case to her supervisor (i.e. my doctor). She was definitely nervous, and she definitely was the extremely studious sort.

As she sat in front of me asking all sorts of questions, I tried to imagine my doctor friends in that position, knowing full well that they’ve done something similar before. It warmed my heart a little, oddly – while I obliged to be the case for the medical student and tried to give her as many details as possible. Felt like I was doing my part to help them, indirectly of course.

Age is catching up with us – the second last time I saw my GP, he was subbed by a doctor who was probably just a few years older than me. Reminded me of WH actually, and we had a good chat about Gravity before we went on to talk about my ear condition (he asked if I was recently exposed to loud noises and I wondered out loud if Gravity had any loud explosive scenes and he answered my aloud question for me. As it turned out, we both watched the movie on Hari Raya Haji.)

One day I’m gonna walk into a clinic, and have an acquaintance smile back at me. We probably would’ve went to school together a long time ago, we’ll try and put faces to names and we’ll probably ask which classes we went to, or try and catch up awkwardly – but it’ll eventually become a doctor-patient relationship, if such scenarios ever happen.

Taking the time now to check out the new Starbucks at Metropolis – it’s really cosy and nice. However, it bears the same problem as the Starbucks @ Rochester – its overwhelmed with students from the neighbouring schools, one in particular. It’s really nicer when there’s less people.

Addiction.

To the RT, the Ender’s series and Spotify/8tracks.

Once you start, you really cannot stop.

I don’t know how I’m going to survive without the RT after I return it. I really have no clue. The RT + the touch cover has demonstrated to me how relevant it is to me with my tech usage habits. It has shown me that I can get used to using the touch cover, even though the type cover will probably be easier to pick up on first use.

I really might just get the Surface 2 when it comes out. I don’t even need to make sure it has tons of space because of the USB3.0 port. I just need thumbdrives. I should see if I can run programs off my thumbdrive. Won’t it be amazing if it can? Beams.

Have been recently extremely addicted to Twisted Sisters’ We’re not gonna take it.

I can’t put my finger on why I’ve been this addicted to the song, but many a times, I catch myself changing the lyrics to “I’m not gonna take it anymoreeeeee.” Speaks volumes about my current work environment.

I really do wish there were more official apps in the store though. I really wouldn’t know what to do when the Nexus 10 comes out. Somehow I never quite saw the Android/Apple tablets as productivity tools, unlike the RT. One wonders why.

I can’t put the Ender’s Series down. Currently reading Ender’s Shadow and laughing to myself like a weirdo at Starbucks Rochester. Trust me, Starbucks Rochester on a Sunday is no joke. Though you can actually observe the habits of the young ones here – I reached at about 1015 and there were quite a fair number of seats. Most of the patrons then were parents, or middle aged. The young ones only turn up at about 11 and they crowd around looking for seats, oblivious to the fact that the seats are taken up by the older generation (yes I put myself in that group now). They make a heck lot of noise disturbing people and I really don’t know if they’re here to work or to socialise. I get the feeling that they’re here to be seen, and not work. Too much talking, too much hi-byeing and too much dressing up for a Sunday morning.

I really wish the Starbucks at Metropolis is open on a Sunday morning. I didn’t want so much buzz on a Sunday morning you see. All I wanted to do was to listen to my music, read my book and use my RT.

Need to search for nice quiet spaces within the west for some reading like this morning, instead of spending the entire morning in that black hole of my bed.

I’m really amazed at how fast I can type on the touch cover now! It’s amazing!

Beams. I’m really gonna miss RT so much when I return it in two weeks time. Meh.

Spotted.

By an ex-school student (whom I didn’t teach before) when I was buying Krispy Kreme. She told an ex-student of mine and then he gleefully texted me.  I actually thought for a moment that he was there, but he couldn’t have – because had he been there, he would have made certain that the entire world knew that I was his teacher, and the entire world would know my surname. Perhaps, full name even.

Yes he is THAT loud.

The remaining conversation with said ex-student over whatsapp cheered me up, after a gloomy day in school.

Conversations with the League, the 3 girls and the ex-unit make me miss the people very much. That easy camaraderie we had and still have, the common interests that we shared and the intelligent conversations we could have with one another, together with the nonsensical silly ones that we would have as well.

After finishing reading the Ender’s Game yesterday, I wished I was going to see Tom today because I know I can go to him for anything sci-fi related – games, movies, books and anything under the sun. I wish I could talk to him about Papers Please because I’m on Day 2X and I want to bounce ideas and spoilers off people, without having to google for the answers myself.

Thank goodness I’m meeting them for dinner next Friday – though I have to get to JP in time for our late night Thor movie, which we have already booked tickets for.

Ender’s Game with the boy, Catching Fire with Roo. Reminder to self – reread The Hunger Game series before watching the movie.

Am currently halfway through Ender’s Shadow, because I read that the upcoming movie is not entirely out of the Ender’s Game itself. It merges details from both Game and Shadow because they run parallel to each other, just from different perspectives. Oddly, I’m enjoying Shadow more than Game – perhaps I can empathise with Bean more than Ender himself.

Will get back to reading, while waiting for the boy to turn up with dinner. I can’t wait to start the marathon of comedies tonight – I really need something funny to get over this extremely depressing day. Even Krispy Kreme couldn’t work its magic.

Krispy Kreme

Woke up dreaming of that, amazingly. Makes me wonder if it’s a sign that I should head down to town today at 1230, just to walk around and get some.

It’s the second day of the #ohpleaseclock4hourseveryday period and I’m almost bored out of my wits. I would like to clear my station, but the only thing that needs clearing is my worksheets cupboard that should only be touched after the paper on 7 Nov. Everything else is pretty much cleared, because I’ve got that neat freak in me.

Am extremely reliant on the typing sounds in RT to help me with typing. As a result, instead of listening to Spotify this morning, I’m listening to 8tracks instead on the RT, because there is no Spotify in the app store. I recently realised that you can tell the general users of the music applications by looking at the available playlists in the apps. Recently I tried to look for rock music, more specifically arena rock, in 8tracks and I couldn’t find any, not a single one. All I could find was indie rock, indie music, indie indie and more indie. Not that I mind indie music, but when one craves for the classics, one needs the classics. Thankfully, I have my usual providers on Spotify to keep me occupied.

I suspect most of the 8tracks users creating playlists are young people, people who are wannabehippies hippies. As you can tell from the no mention of the iPod, I’ve long left it aside. I need to bring less gadgets around. Might revive it for the Sydney trip, me thinks.

So to help me tide through the 4 hours today, I’ve brought things along to read. I’m 20% into the Ender’s Game (the boy has been going on and on about it every time we pass by the movie poster) and I’m determined to finish my Time and EW (with JGL on the cover squee!) during this time. I’ve also got my RT with loads of magazines in Zinio to occupy me if I want to read, and I could always watch my guilty pleasure on xinmsn (horrors!) if I want to. I just need to remind myself that I have things to occupy me, instead of listening to conversations around me that I’m not interested in.

I am really considering that Krispy Kreme outing (plus I love taking 502 to town and back – gives me chill time to listen to my music and read my books).

Behind these seemingly random and aimless talk, I worry about my tinnitus problem, which I will see a specialist next Wednesday afternoon. Am rather freaked out by it, with the constant sounds happening in the right ear. Then I wonder if I can claim the fees from insurance. Something to remember for the next time I guess.

Went for Zumba yesterday with Ling and it was fun! Halfway through I got really winded (says very much about my current fitness level) but it was still fun letting your hair down to the club-like music played in the dance studio. Golden Mile Complex is really very inaccessible. Meh. It was a good workout, but it doesn’t work out your muscles as much. Good for a get-your-butt-off-the-chair routine, but for more serious exercising, it might not be that good a choice. The boy was observing the class from the outside (he only made it for dinner) and he commented that it really depends on the amount of efforts you put in for yourself.

Oh wells, should check out the ones in the west – they have a few sessions at Bukit Batok and Clementi.

Time to get started on something – I sure hope 4 hours fly by faster today, as compared to yesterday.

Blogging from my RT.

Technically, it’s not my RT. I wish it was though. I’ve been falling in love with the RT for the last few days, despite the misgivings Roo has with Win 8 and her Office.

I found the WordPress.com app in the app store today and I am currently trying it out, typing it out with the type cover. The words appear slower than my typing speed. I like the autocorrect that comes with the tablet though – this means that even if I may mistype due to insufficient pressure on the keys of the touch cover, it auto corrects my words, which makes it similar with typing on my phone.

I seldom blog from my phone though. Swyping a blogpost doesn’t feel like blogging, typing it out makes it feel more real, oddly.

I really really adore the sleekness of the Surface RT – it is extremely well built and it feel solidly good in the hands. It’s the kind of device that just feels right, for no reason. Doesn’t help the fact that I have a guilty love for the metro design – I like the typography, the layout of the tiles and the colours used in metro – it just feels right to me. It might also be due to the fact that I’ve been on the look out for a new tablet and I’ve been waiting for Nexus 10 for EONS. It feels like it’s never going to come.

Now we have another contender, the RT.

Now, if I really just want a tablet with the occasional work purpose, the RT is actually just fine. I’m not sure if I need the Pro for that, despite my love for powerful gadgets. Sometimes I feel like I need to ask myself if I truly require such powerful machines. More power is always better than less, but the prices always go up with more power. Besides, the RT has a USB port that I find truly useful. I can just plug any old thumbdrive in and work from there! Of course, I wish Dropbox came up with an official app for Windows 8, even though I know I can use the browser version.

I do miss my apps in Android, but surprisingly not as much as I thought I would.

I’m supposed to lend my RT to the boy for him to try for a few days so that he can provide some feedback from the researcher’s point of view. However, I don’t know how I can bear to part with it, as I’m supposed to return it on 8 November. I know I’m going to miss the RT already. The new versions are coming out soon, but I don’t know when exactly. I know I’ll be on the lookout – and funnily I think I might hold back on the immediate Nexus 10 purchase. Will probably compare it to the Surface 2/Pro 2.

I really really adore the RT. It does have its flaws, but you just can’t explain love, I guess.

It’s been a while since I’ve fallen head over heels for a gadget – the last time this happened, I think it was my Nexus One. That was a long long long time ago.

Fall Movies to watch out for.

After a depressing afternoon (coupled with a venti mocha that I finished in no time) and a soothing dinner with my parents, I decided to analyse the EW’s fall movies issue and watch the first season of Breaking Bad at the same time, find out what the fuss is all about. The boy has mentioned that Breaking Bad might not be my cup of tea (I would’ve agreed with him two years ago) but recently I’ve found the stomach for heavier shows.

I would usually default to the lighter, girl-ier shows to destress (so that I didn’t have to think so much while watching tv). However, recently I’ve found myself watching shows that have meatier plot lines. I still go through almost everything, but I usually fall back on shows that are more heavy. The flavour of these few months has been Person of Interest – I felt the emptiness when I finished both seasons and the third season hasn’t started (it only just began two weeks ago). Subsequently after finishing Person of Interest, I moved on to Suits and Covert Affairs. They have been largely more crime and procedural, something I would’ve definitely avoided two years ago. This afternoon in my depressed state, I actually watched S3E02 of POI to perk myself up. Hence I thought it might be a good time for me to go on a Breaking Bad spree, considering I can binge watch all five seasons at one shot.

Anyways – moving on to the fall movies to note (I always adore the EW’s compilation of the fall movies and tv shows issues!) – movies labelled with the asterisk are on EW’s Oscar watch list (because they fulfil the default Oscar movie criteria)