Rocky!
He's my brother's pet Schnauzer puppy. But my brother says it is currently, at age of almost 1 year, at its maximum size. Anyway it's damn hyperactive - I took like 40-over shots and the above 2 are the only decent ones, which are not very clear anyways.Well I like animals, and have an affinity towards them. However, I will not get myself a pet, as I do not want to willingly spend thousands to get a liability - a liability because time is needed to shower the animal affection, take care of it, feed it, etc.etc.etc. It's a double-bad investment. But I have plenty of animals planned in my retirement - both Jiefang and I wanna go rear horses and goats in the Mongolian plains in our elderly years.
Anyway one other reason I went home that day was to head off to the airport from there later that night as Jie's flight was touching down at 1am, and it's faster to go from hougang than from bishan. Having nothing much to do at home that day, I just set off at 9, reaching there at around 10, and reading around the budget terminal. Will be there tmr night again to fetch Jie's sisters and mum.
Anyway, they arrived late, which was pretty consistent according to Tiger Airways' track record, and all of them were happy when I gave them each a Rice Dumpling made by my grandma. They had a 75% good time cos the waves were unusually big, and many of them got seasick at a certain point or another.
No matter, they said it was great to have some time off from their routine life, and even better as a graduation trip as they haven't been on such trips in a really long time.
Xiaoyu, Jie, Sun Yang and Yiran
Jie and her bestie Xiaoyu in the middle of a clear-watered mangrove swamp.
My gift from Jie - a Honky. Quite a funky name for a wire-frame roadster bike.Anyway after her return, I was busy from Tues to Sat cos of Jie's 2nd Sis' visa. It was rather frustrating, cos both her mum and youngest sis got approved the day after we applied, but her 2nd sis' was rejected twice. A lot of trips to ICA, at least 6 or more, multiple appeals, etc. totally burned up my week. In flames man... when it finally got approved on Sat morning 11am, after we came home from another appeal attempt at 8am the same day, a certain joy gushed through us. It might seem a rather empty joy, but our efforts paid off. All we wanted was for all of them to come here together, and didn't want anyone to be left behind in any case.
And we did it with some perseverance.
Lots of packing and cleaning for Sat, Sun and Today, but took a break off for MJ on Sunday. Actually, it was quite a long break. from 1.30pm till 12mn. But well we had fun and that was what was important.
And we did it with some perseverance.
Lots of packing and cleaning for Sat, Sun and Today, but took a break off for MJ on Sunday. Actually, it was quite a long break. from 1.30pm till 12mn. But well we had fun and that was what was important.
Today morning was gym-swim session, where I was rather lucky. Twas raining when I arrived at gym, so I went for a run and weights first; when I was done, rain had miraculously stopped. I changed into swimwear, and went for a good swim (which I had missed for an entire week due to the visa episode).
The staff was kind enough to ask me whether I wanted to have a swim before I changed into my swimwear, and I said yes, and he said he would heat up the pool. It was a really nice gesture, as they did such a thing for me even though I was the only one using the pool.
Yes, the pool has an internal heater, I'll blog about night swimming some other time. To whet your appetites, it even has jazz music played underwater, which is quite a wierd kind of luxury - can you imagine swimming laps with music underwater? It's kind of like *bam ba de bo bum* *pause;breathe* *bobum* etc.etc. Quite funkily silly. But it's possible to enjoy the music at rest, by just leaning back with your head looking at e beautiful sky, and ears submerged in the music. That's a slice of heaven.
The most lucky thing of all was that the dark clouds looming above didn't give way until I finished my swim, and once I stepped into the hotel main lobby, down it poured like cats n dogs. lucky lucky. Anyway on my way to meet Jie for lunch, I saw this:
The MJ Fanatic's furniture.Guess what it is?
......
*drum roll*
A lamp!~!Quite funny furniture. Anyway after lunch, went to buy some stuffs like mattress and clothes hangers, and blasted home for more housekeeping.
I was in a state of depression for the whole of last week, that I lost my temper at Jie once for a very unjustified reason. I am blessed that she understands my problems and doesn't hold it against me. Anyway the depression prob started with Jonny making me realise a certain loopy thing that I'm doing, which is kinda like wall-banging, knowing it hurts, I bang again. A big hurdle for me to overcome.
But today, during the swim, I've found the answer.
Anyway, today's swim started with me counting laps; then I let go. Then I swam and swam and swam, thinking lots of thoughts along the way, until I my mind was finally clear, and I stopped to relax. It was a great feeling. I remember how I started swimming laps; one casual statement by Mr. Jeffrey. In his words:
I didn't know how to swim last time. One day, my grandfather told me to swim a hundred laps, I ask why? he didn't answer, but told me that I will know why after I do it. I struggle at first, and it was a disgusting sight, a 120+kg guy struggling in the pool, but after 10 laps, I got stable. By the 50th lap, I was swimming much faster than before. At the end, I finally understood his words.
He never mentioned what the lesson was, as he says that the lesson cannot be taught with words, but can only be discovered by following the directions. And so I did. After I returned from Taiwan, I went to the pool a week after, and I did simply that. I swam from morning all the way till the sun scorched above, until the clouds hid it away. My brother and his friend coincidentally went to the same pool that day in late afternoon, and saw me do what I did, and when I was done and positively inspired, I was probably seen as crazy by my brother, his friend and everyone around me; but it didn't matter at all.
Since then, I've been more keen on swimming than in running; but it is actually less efficient in calorie burning. But I've grown to love swimming, that I've actually signed up for a mini-triathlon as a rep of Jie's company as a "spouse". lol.
Rewind!
I used to love running, but I've lost the love for it, maybe cause of an environment where I feel like a fish out of water. I used to be able to do 10 clicks on the treadmill easily in less than an hour, and could do 10 in the hills behind my camp.
The camp route was one of the reasons I got to love running. It extremely well-spaced: A 200m straight road, turn, a 1km uphill road, a 3km per lap stadium, back down the 1km downhill road, and a final 200m straight road. I could do a warm-up(0.2), power run(1 uphill), stamina (any number of 3km laps), cooldown run (1 downhill) and a final sprint (0.2) which I really liked. Organisation was what I liked best about the route - I could plan and organise my workout. I could do a 5km run if I wanted, or a 8 or a 11 depending on my needs. The critical plus point - when I run in the dark at 7pm, it's totally serene, with forests on both sides of the route; and the occassional dogs.
Sidetrack to reminisce the dogs. There used to be a pack of dogs roaming the stadium grounds, which was a plateau. The first time I met them, it was a shell-shocked introduction. They chased me in fury - I made sure I didn't show any fear. They followed uncomfortably close for some time before the first made an attempt to chew on me. I turned and gave it a volley kick it will remember for eternity, and that particular one whimpered away. After the second one ended with the same fate, the whole pack stopped giving chase, probably resigning to the fact that I'm not a very good dinner to catch.
Second and third time, they ignored me, letting me do my run without disturbing me. on the fourth time, they came and followed me, a distance behind. Eventually, they came closer and closer, until one day, they just followed by my side, and I was running with the whole pack of dogs. When I finished, I played around with them abit, wrestled some of them in good fun, and I was initiated into the pack. Since then, they've always been great company on the lonely moonlit nights, wagging their tails and all. Wish I had taken a picture of them. I do miss them sometimes, like when I'm running or swimming, or when I'm just plain lonely. I never counted them cos their numbers changed quite often, with some disappearing forever, and new young ones popping out once in awhile. But the number was somewhere around 12 of em.
Un-sidetrack.
Yeah. That was the running experience I loved. Back in sg, I ran around hougang area along an approx 5km route for about half a year; I tried doing it at various times; early in the morning at 5plus, at wee hours like 1230am, or at evenings at 7 or night at 9plus. None suited my liking. There are the people at the bus stops, walking around, the cars et all, I just didn't feel comfortable. Eventually, I stopped. Then on, I could only do the treadmills. Even so, I can only do 5 max. Gone are the days when I could do 10 easily and enjoy it completely; cos I think of the dogs when I run.
Hope they are fine back in tw. But that's just a silly thought; they will always be fine, born to the wild, living in the wild. They are prob more accustomed to living in the world than I am.
So I should just worry about myself. haha..
"Today is a good day to fight. Today is a good day to die."
- Chief Crazy Horse in the American Civil War.
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