New Year Resolutions 2008 31 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Slice of Life.1 comment so far
New compact powder, new blusher, new bag. That’s what Dear2 bought yesterday, and excitely packed in preparation for the new year, much like a student getting her school bag ready for the new academic year. Hee…
As we bid farewell to 2007, it’s time we lay out the rules for 2008. That’s what people commonly call New Year Resolutions.
Dear1 and Dear2 reviewed our 2007 resolutions during the “Retreat” to Bintan. Out of the 5 Joint Resolutions, we fulfilled 2 of them. Hmm… Nice try, gotto work harder the next time. And for the Individual Resolutions, we are proud to announce that we have fulfilled 100% of them. Congratulations.
Tomorrow is the new year, and with a new year, let’s set new goals for ourselves.
Joint:
1. Hold the customary wedding
2. Achieve better timing for Half Marathon and more
3. Complete 2 model robots
4. Do sit ups/ weights 5 times per week
5. Find a source of passive income
6. Get golf licence
7. Go for body check up
Dear1:
1. Clear all academic requirements
2. Be focused in work
Dear2:
1. Be a leader
2. Maintain sunshine personality
New year resolutions are all but goals or motives that keep you in check of what you want to be or do. There is a reason why they are penned down, and not verbalised only, for resolutions act as focal points which you keep in view while steering the ship. Let’s all have a bountiful 2008! Cheers!
- Dear2
Washing cushion covers 31 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Around the House, Dear1.add a comment
Part of our spring cleaning effort involves washing the cushion covers. We have 2 sofas in our house, a regular 3 seater sofa and a sofa bed. These cushion covers, delivered straight from the factory, seemed dirty. So it only make sense to wash them before using. After all, we’re going to sink our clean bodies after a warm bath into these sofa seats and enjoy some tv programs every night. That’s what we did for the sofa bed in the study room, but we didn’t do it for the 3 seater sofa in the living room! What an irony! So we’ve been sitting in this ~dirty~ sofa covers for the past almost 10 months. Yucks! It’s about time we washed it.
After our dry cleaning experience with the sofa bed, we decided to try a different company of dry cleaners to check out any differences in pricing and quality. We decided to give White Wash a shot since they put a brochure in our mailbox. They offered some online services and also free delivery service so it seemed rather attractive. We rang them up and described the sofa that we had and got a quote of a whooping $55 estimate. Actually price to be confirmed on collection. Remembering how we spend $18 on our sofa bed, there’s no way we’re spending $55 or above for this same seating capacity sofa.
Next, we got a quotation at a shop in West Mall, called Kleenwash. Omg, they quoted us $75 after we drag the entire set of covers all the way to West Mall for their inspection. No way we’re paying that money. So we decided to return the same dry cleaners that did our sofa be. But alas, luck is not on our side, they’re closed for the day. Anyway, we suspected the quote will be in the $60 range too. So what the difference between these 2 sofa covers? These are what we think. The sofa bed cover is made up of 2 large pieces, so the washing is charged as 2 pieces. However, the living sofa cover, although same sitting capacity, is made up of 2 large pieces, 2 medium pieces and 5 small pieces, which make the quotation so expensive. Dry cleaner dun go by weight or volume or area of the cloth. They go by pieces. So if the entire cushion cover can be sewed into 1 gigantic piece, they’re just charge us the price of washing 1 large piece. Interesting find.
Back at home, we remembered one criteria we had when shopping for sofas. The covers must be machine washable. Yes, both our sofa covers are machine washable but we are unable to wash the sofa bed ourselves becos they material is too bulky and our washing machine is too small. The living room sofa is a different story though. The material is micro-suede, so it’s not so bulky and there are many small pieces so we can split the washing into smaller loads for our washing machine. And that’s exactly what we did!
We divided the covers into 2 washes, by their colour, light brown and dark brown. We used delicate wash to avoid harming the material. And always remember to wash inside out. Also, spin dry at a lower speed. With the semi dry covers, we hang it out to dry our a warm and sunny weekend. The result is a clean, soft and fluffy, seemingly new sofa covers. Hohohoho… And we saved a potential $75 spending. Now we can truly enjoy our clean and smooth post bath skins on our clean and soft sofa. :D
-Dear1
Spring cleaning 27 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Around the House, Dear1, For Him For Her.1 comment so far
So tired! And we’re not done spring cleaning yet!
Dear1 and Dear2 did the long over-dued spring cleaning on Christmas Day. Yes, Merry Christmas to us. Let’s just do a simple recap of the layout of our house. We live in a 3-room HDB flat. There’s a living room with 2 panel window, a kitchen with 4 panel window, a study room with 2 panel window, a bedroom with 2 panel window, a storeroom with no window and 2 toilets with the standard ventilation panels.
We started the day with furniture cleaning and wall cleaning. Dear2 was the Chief Operations Officer for this event while Dear1 was the assistant. So Dear2, equipped with 2 pails of dettol water and 2 rags, cleaned all the surfaces that required wiping, like walls, window grills, cupboards, tables, some interiors of cupboards, etc. Dear1 performed the supporting roles like changing the dirty water, clear the surfaces of objects to prepare for wiping and other things to make Dear2’s task simpler. Dear1 also cleaned all the glass surfaces because they required a different solvent to remove the built up oil stains. Finally, Dear1 swept the floor using the static duster and Dear2 finish it up by mopping the floor.
For some reason, our house have a lot of insects, tiny little wall crawlers and some spiders. We have no idea where they come from, but we do have some theories. Theory 1: We live near forested areas, so they came from the forest. Theory 2: We live near forests, so the air is more humid and this resulted in mould growing on our walls and so the insects were eating the mould, and the spider came to eat the insect. Hmm… That would also mean that our paint isn’t really mould-proof. Since we dunno what is the cause, the only way we can solve the problem is to clean the house more often and open up all the windows frequent to ’sun’ and ‘air’ the house.
After a day’s work, we still haven’t finished cleaning, there’s still the 2 toilets unwashed. But it’s late and we decided to leave it to another day. It’s already dinner time, so Dear1 and Dear2 prepared a sumptuous and healthy steamboat dinner for Christmas night in our clean living room while we relax with some local tv programs.
The next day, both Dear1 and Dear2 felt aching muscles all over. Didn’t know that spring cleaning can be such a physically demanding task. It’s not as tiring as running a marathon but it certainly takes the same amount of time (the whole day) and it takes a lot of muscle work. The result is that we have a sparkling clean environment to live in that can lift our spirits. The air feels fresher, the floors no squeaks, the wall bright, the mind satisfied and the heart proud.
Thank you my hardworking dear. Together, we can do anything. Muck!
-Dear1
Poor elevator AI 22 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Around the House, Dear1.add a comment
I’m really quite irritated by the control and response system of the elevator system in my block. I’ll call it Life AI (Artificial Intelligence) from now on. Even though my block is over 20 years old, I don’t expect the logic programmers to be this lousy back then. There are 2 lifts in my block, Lift A and Lift B. My block has not undergone the main upgrading project yet so it’s still using the 20 year old lift, but the AI is really poor. Oh, and my lift is the type that stops on 1st, 6th and 11th floor only, response logic should be simple enough right?
Imagine this, I’m at 1st floor and I press the button. Lift A is not moving on 11th and I just missed Lift B which is currently going up to 6th now. Basic logic says that Lift A should come down and serve me, but this is what happened. Lift A remains still, Lift B reaches 6th. Lift A starts descending. Lift A reaches 6th and stop there. Meanwhile, Lift B reaches 11th. Next, Lift B descends to 6th while Lift A still stops there. Finally, Lift B comes back to 1st while Lift B is still at 6th. What kind of a flaw logic is this? The lift that I just missed goes to the top floor and back down to pick me up while the other lift does nothing!
Second incident. I’m on 1st and press the button. Button lights up but lifts did not response. Lift A on 6th, Lift B on 11th. Press button, nothing happens. Again, nothing. Lifts are not even moving, just staying there. The down arrow light is not even lighted, meaning its not even responding to a call from the 1st. Finally, the down arrow lights up on Lift A. When the door opens, a lady steps out. It was a passenger boarding that brought the lift down. If the lady had not board the lift from the 6th to 1st, I wonder how long it is going to take for the lift to respond to my call.
What can be so difficult about designing a simple and effective lift logic for such a simple 3 stopping floors system? Even if it was difficult for engineers 20 years ago, what is so difficult about updating the logic and change the controller chip during their periodic servicing? The lift operating company simply can’t be bothered.
Let me propose some simple rules which I think can work. Let’s define some terms. 6>1 means lift moving from 6th to 1st. Similarly, 1>6, 1>6>11, 6>11, 11>6 and 11>6>1. 6 means idle at 6th. Similarly, 1 and 11.
- When idle, both lifts wait at 1st floor.
- When 1st calls and no lift at 1st, 6>1 respond, followed by 6, then 11>6>1, then 11.
- When 6th calls and no lift at 6th, person most likely wants to go 1st, so 11>6 respond, followed by 11, then 1>6, then 1. 1 is least priority because it is better to leave it at 1st to pick up passengers.
- When 11th calls and no lift at 11th, 6>11 respond, followed by 6, then 1>6>11, then 1.
I think these simple logics should be able to serve the system pretty well. In programming, it’s just going to be a long batch of IF…THEN…ELSE statements. And some simulations can be conducted to test the effectiveness and the overall waiting time for passengers.
-Dear1
Packaged deals 18 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Dollars & Cents, Shop till you drop.add a comment
What are packaged deals? It’s something like 1 curry puff cost $1.10, but if you buy 10 curry puffs, it won’t cost $11, instead it’ll cost only $10. That’s a packaged deal. Basically, it means that if you buy something in bulk, then you are considered a valued customer and the company offering the product or service will normally give you a bulk discount. See? It’s so worthwhile to get package deals, especially if it something that is consumed quickly and frequently. My stand is, as long as we, as consumers, stand to gain from a packaged deal, why not? Let’s take a look at some of the packaged deals we’ve signed so far.
- Movies – 10 movie passes for $50, valid for Mon to Wed.
- Foot reflexology – 10 sessions for the price of 8 (or was it 12 sessions for the price of 10). I only remembered we earn 2 ‘free’ sessions.
- DVD rental – Buy a $50 credit voucher and earn extra 2 ‘free’ DVD rentals.
- Facial treatment – 12 sessions at a discounted price plus 6 sessions ‘free’ diamond peeling treatment.
- Hair treatment – 5 sessions full hair treatment for the price of 4 plus ‘free’ rebonding and ‘free’ colouring.
Hmm… That’s all I can think of at the moment. Maybe there are some I’ve left out. Looking at all these freebies that we’re getting, it seemed quite worthwhile getting these packaged deals. But of course there are some catches. Most of these services require that you pay upfront in full. If you dun have the cash to spare and end up owing credit card debts, then it defeats the whole purposes. So rule #1 is, never incur credit card debts to buy packaged deals.
Sometimes, if you think about having to part with $1000 at one payment seems rather heartbreaking. But if you work out the costs, and find out the per session spendings, if it’s still reasonable, then it’s alright. It’s just like paying in advance for the services. Think of it this way, the money is spent over several months and you don’t have to spend a single cent the next time you visit the place. Package deals are good, but do compare prices and be sure you’re getting a good deal.
One other thing to consider is the necessity of the item. If there are some greater needs (i.e. buying milk powder), then that should be the first priority. Most of these packaged deal things are leisure items and should only be purchased if there really is some spare allowances to indulge in.
On the same note, it also makes sense to purchase a membership card or the like for products and services that you frequent. In the long run, it’ll really help to save a large sum of money. But before signing up, make sure to do your sums and make sure that you indeed will spend up to the amount that will recoup the card membership cost. It’s no point splurging on the last day before the card expires just for the sake of ‘recouping’ the admin cost, you’ll just be forcing yourself to spend unnecessarily. The best would be lifetime memberships with only a upfront fee and no annual fees.
End of the day, spend within limits. Then maximise your goods within this limit.
-Dear1
Movies during the holiday season 15 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Moving Pictures.add a comment
Dear1 and Dear2 have been watching quite a few movies these few weeks. Quite a few by our standards since we aren’t really movie go-ers and its quite rare for us to watch more than 1 movie every month. But within the last 2 weeks or so, we’ve caught 3 movies, 2 of which we used our Eng Wah movie pass which we bought for $5 per ticket some 8-10 months ago and 1 free movie complimentary from working associates.
Something I realized from these movies are that, holiday movies are really quite meaningless. Their plot tends to be rather thin and focus more on light hearted comedy aimed at creating a holiday mood. And the main factor that drives people to watch these movies are really a happy holiday spending mentality that is more likely to reply “Why not?” when considering whether to watch a movie. Movie go-ers also tend to be more forgiving when it comes to plotline loopholes and sub-par special effects and so on. So these movies really are tapping on consumers’ good mood and cashing in on some lucrative year end bonus spendings. Not that the movies are of poor quality, in fact some are quite entertaining and does indeed infuse a feel-good factor when you leave the theater. Let’s do a quick recap of dear1 and dear2’s movie spree.
Enchanted
Nice! A good mix of good old Disney style cartoon and new shading technology. Great costumes in the live action part of the movie too. Story is simply but the scenes are quite cinematic. There’s quite a good dose of humour in the movie and I find myself laughing away heartily after a relative slow start. Maybe my only complain is the ending when the witch turns into a dragon. It’s just a little overly fantasy-like, spoiling the balance demonstrated throughout the film. For example, singing and calling pigeons, rats and cockroaches to help out in the housework is a nice blend of fairytale and city life. But a dragon crashing out of the a ballroom window is definitely not. Still, it’s a movie that I didn’t regret going to the big screen for. 4 out of 5 popcorns.
Fred Claus
Well… Santa Claus runs a toy making and delivery business and is subjected a regular compliant checks from the relevent authorities. Fair enough. Santa’s elder brother, who is on bad terms with Santa, arrives at the North Pole for a reunion but ended up jeopardizing the whole Christmas. Santa breaks down from stress and it’s up to Fred to save Christmas. Fair story. Again, there’s a nice mix of clockwork and crystal ball technology with the latest in LCD monitors and NASA style operations headquarters. I really liked how they portray Santa’s flying sleigh as a turbulent jet-like supersonic open-canopy flying machine. The ending is highly predictable but that’s the ending everyone hoped to see anyway. Humour is ok but can get a little old and overused sometimes. The flow of the movie isn’t really quite smooth and I feel some scenes seemed a bit forced and out of place. For me, this movie is just o-kay. 3 out of 5 popcorns.
Mr Macgorium’s Wonder Emporium
This is the free movie we went to. Luckily it’s free. I would have regretted it very much if I needed to pay for this. Plot summary? I dun even know how to summarize its lack of any apparent plot. Ok, let’s try. Mr Macgorium has decided that he wants to leave (die), so he passes his emporium to his shop assistant, Mahoney. Mahoney doesn’t want Macgorium to die, refuses to take over the shop, but eventually still does and creates the magical emporium. I thought the story began well but it got all so draggy towards mid movie. And just when Mahoney seemed to have rediscovered his talent, the show ends abruptly. Hmm… Plot, pacing and storytelling, fail. Special effects, good enough since realism is not a criteria here. Humour, erm… I dun even remember laughing. Touching scenes, none for me. The worst part of the movie for me is really the ending. At the very end of the movie, when the mood is finally building up and I anticipate it’s the start of a climatic final third of the show, the credits start to scroll. Luckily it’s free. 1.5 out of 5 popcorns.
And there you have it, our holiday movies escapade. Merry Christmas. Hohohoho…
-Dear1
3 Days Stay at Bintan Lagoon 13 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Shop till you drop, Travel & Discovery.3 comments
Dear1 and Dear2 went for a short getaway to Bintan the last few days. Dear1 and Dear2 has been going for short and cheap getaways the past few years, and for 2007, as we are happily settling down in our twosome house, we kind of forgot that we have not went out for this year. So when the Simply Her Third Anniversary Promotions phamphlet came, Dear1 and Dear2 compared the promotional price for 3D2N Bintan Lagoon Resort, versus the usual package. Hmm…. A few tens of dollars in savings only for the $300 deal, considering that the promotional package does not include ferry tickets which cost up to $40+ per person on a weekday. Okay lah, since Dear1 and Dear2 needs a break anyway.
Off we went to Bintan. Dear1 and Dear2 took MRT to Bedok Interchange, where we had a full breakfast and then took bus 35 to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. The ferry leaves at 11.05am, so we targetted to reach at 10am. Surprise surprise, the bus stop was just right outside the ferry terminal! And Dear2 thought that we had to walk a distance. Heehee.
The 1 hour ferry ride was supposed to be a plus point for Singaporeans who want a quick getaway. Afterall, what other forms of travel takes only 1 hour? The cheap Genting Highlands getaway, though cheap, requires at least 6 hours of bus ride. Anywhere else, time taken to travel to the destination takes at least half a day. Mind you, for the sea-weak, brace yourself for choppy waters. The 1 hour ferry was hell for Dear2. How am I going to bear the return ferry back? Groan…
We reached Bintan Lagoon Resort at 12+. The hotel staff were quite seasoned for early check-ins, with many tourists checking in before the official 3pm. We had to wait a while before the room can be ready though, but for the ‘free’ early check-in, the half hour wait was worth it.
As in Singapore, December seems to be a rainy period for Bintan as well. For the 3 days that we were there, it rained 2 days. Lucky for Dear1 and Dear2, Day 2 of our stay was relatively dry. We managed to play frisbee by the beach, went archery, driving range golfing and had high tea at the Horizons Cafe (the latter 3 were complimentary from the Simply Her promotion) all on the second day. Dear1 and Dear2 kinda enjoyed the 40 balls free on the driving range, it being our very first time experiencing golf. We wanted to go back on Day3, rental of $6 for 80 balls and $3 per club, but Day3 was raining the whole morning until we left Bintan, so just too bad. Else, what better chance to do all the malu things in the unpopulated driving range in Bintan, where nobody knows you? Heehee…
One very bad experience with Bintan would have to be the shuttle bus to Pasar Oleh Oleh. We took the 3.30pm bus to the Pasar, but had to return via the 4.30pm bus back to the hotel. And that is because the hotel does not allow buses to enter at night. Fair enough, but the attendant should have informed us when we enquired about the bus schedules. The Bintan Resorts Management ought to update the bus timings on their tourist brochure as well. So misleading!!!! Lucky for us, since Dear2 had been to Bintan on 2 previous occasions, we quickly ordered our zi char for takeaways, bought $10 worth of 6 packets of tidbits ($4 per pak in the resort, which we had during the half hour waiting time) and 3 cans of beer at $5, and were ready to head to back to the hotel. Period.
Overall, the trip was okay, not exactly fun as there really wasn’t much to do. The Simply Her promotion was worth it – we calculated about $50 in incentives that we utilized, include 1 beer and 1 soft drink at the Silk. The amount would have been more if we had used the 10% off spa and hair services, and Buy-1-Round-18-Holes-Free-1 promotions. The Live Band performance at Silk was sn eye-opener as well, with the strong vocals, strong drums, and strong band of 7 people.
Dear2 will not want to go back to Bintan again though, after 3 visits now. The choppy waters proves to be a deterent, though you just have to 1) endure it for 1 hour, or 2) stay focused on the TV mobile, or 3) go to sleep, or 4) read a book , or 5) a combination of read book and sleep. Food problem is a problem too in Bintan, where you either dine at the expensive restaurants on the resort or bring your own cup noodles and snacks (that’s what a lot of people do – we asked ourselves during check-in, are they going picnic or what?). Or you may considering having pizza at Silk – resonably priced and yummy with super fresh seafood. Oiishii…. (Or are we simpy too hungry?)
- Dear2
Our first marathon in 7.5hrs 9 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Sports & Health.1 comment so far
Standard Chartered Marathon 2007 is over last weekend. Dear1 and Dear2 participated in the full 42.195km and we completed it together. Phew! What a journey it was. And I’ve always thought that going out shopping one whole day from 12pm to 7pm on a weekend was tiring. The results of the run were out. It’s official, results are out, we covered the full marathon, running and walking with our very tired legs for 7.5 hours.
I remember telling myself before the run, “Dun worry. If I run out of stamina, I’ll just walk the rest of the way back and cross the finish line.” It turns out that things aren’t as easy as it seems. Even walking back is a great challenge by itself, and I’m glad we have each other for support and for encouragement all the way to the end. For people out there who say, “I’ll *just* walk all the way back.”, you’ll appreciate this statement even more when you join this event next year.
Let’s do a short recap of all the events leading up to our first ever full marathon.
- Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2006 – Remember this post from last year? Our first ever running event and we ambitiously challenged the half marathon. With hard training starting 3 months before the actual event, we overcomed it. Also, for the first time, we experience what it feels like to be in an actual running event. We started thinking about challenging the big one…
- Saucony Passion Run 2007 – We set running at least once a week as our 2007 New Year Resolution in preparation for our intended full marathon this year. However, as with all resolutions, we didn’t start running until a wake up call came along. We participated in the 5km run and very quickly ran out of breadth. We were in very bad shape.
- Mizuno Wave Run 2007 – Gathering ourselves, we make more effort to have regular jogging sessions and felt ready to give it our best for the 10km run here. But weather was against us and we were unable to complete the run. Oh no, it’s already July and we’re still struggling.
- Singapore Bay Run 2007 – We had initially wanted to run the half marathon in this event prepare for the full marathon, but in the end took part in the 12km run instead. Luckily we did. Clearly we didn’t have sufficient training to tackle the half marathon yet. We completed the 12km in ‘ok’ time, it was a good morale booster.
- Shape Run 2007 – This is a ladies only event, so only Dear2 took part. And Dear2 was in sensation form that day, coming back in record times, both her personal best and our jointed best. This run really inspired me to work even harder. We are ready to take our training one step further.
- Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 – And here we are.
Where shall we go from here? We can continue to participate in the annual marathons and try to out do ourselves. Or there’s another idea that I’ve been thinking of, that is to travel overseas to challenge marathon courses around the world. Why not?
Good run my dear. Muck!
-Dear1
A Heartfelt Experience of Marathon 8 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Sports & Health.add a comment
It’s finally over! After weeks, nope, months and months of training and preparation, the BIG DAY was finally over. Let’s do a recount of the whole marathon episode.
It all started last December , when Dear1 and Dear2 did our new year resolutions. We penned down that one of our goals for 2007 is to participate in at least one marathon. So that’s what we did, registered for Standard Chartered Marathon when the flyer for early bird registration came.
Preparation includes starting to embark on running sessions around our house and participation in various runs. We did the Passion Run (5km), Mizuno Run (never complete, so not counted), Sheares Bridge Run (12km), and Dear2, the Shape Run (10km) as part of the preparation. For the running sessions, we started with 5km, 6km, 7km, and it stayed stagnant at 10km. Nearer to the actual day, Dear1 and Dear2 realized that there was totally nil training during the month October due to too busy, bad weather, dining sessions with family etc. So much for consistent training ya?
Comes the final big day. We stayed in on Saturday, to conserve energy and to prepare for an early night. But Dear1 and Dear2 were too excited to sleep. The usually hit-the-bed-and-sleep Dear2 surprisingly could not fall asleep immediately. Dear1 also had to resort to reading a magazine to inculcate the sleepy mood. It turned out the Dear1 still did not feel sleepy even after finish reading the mag. I wonder if Dear1 and Dear2 will be this excited on our actual wedding day? I guess not, hee.
Dear1 and Dear2 flagged the run at 5.55am, 25 min after the actual flag off time. The 4:30 bus from Bukit Gombak stadium reach the starting point at 5:10 (how can the event-chartered bus be so slow?!), the baggage deposit was damn disorganised (how come there are no queue barriers?), and the toilets queue was so super long. Groan.
The early morning run was pleasing. Our 10km training paid off well, and we were consistent and steady. The downing of fluids the day before gave us no stitches, and the spirit was high among the runners during this stretch. But alas, the cough that Dear2 was recovering from earlier came back, and the persistent cough irritated the throat and abs so much that Dear2 have to stop at practically every water point.
By 7.30am, the sun was up and Dear1 and Dear2 have reached Marina area. The spirit was still high, except that you start to see the half marathoners in our midst. Oh no, are we slowing down enough for the half marathoners to catch up with us? Yeppee… We finally reach the first banana point, but thinking that the energy was still good, we decided to forgo the originally planned bananas. Wrong move, cos after this point, the next banana point is at 20km away. Last minute stocking of bananas will not save the fatigue body anymore…
We ran and walked for the next quarter of the distance. The sun was coming up, and you start to regret for cheating yourself during the trainings earlier. There is bound to be sun during a marathon that starts in the early morning, cos even the normal faster runner will complete at 12noon, hot enough weather. And you thought that the 10km runs during the training, in the night is sufficient? Oh groan!
Comes the second U-turn point for the half marathoners, which also signifies that if we had done the half marathon, the run will soon be over. But alas! An amazing phenomena occurred just after the cross-over line. Before the line, people were running, nevermind that it was with much effort. Immediately after the u-turn point, everyone was walking. Surprise surprise. Sure, Dear2 has heard that the full marathoners tend to slow down after ditching the half-runners, but this sight is too kua zhang. I mean, huh!?!?
So we reduced our pace and joined in the walk. By this time, you start to feel the heat of the sun, probably also because there were less people (minus the half runners), haha. Oh my, how hot is the weather. Oh god, my feet seemed to be aching. Oh really, I can’t go on anymore. Oh, I just want to be at the finishing point now! Regrets, complaints and sorrows were constantly flooding through Dear2’s mind. What happened to the “With the finishing line as the goal in mind”, and the “Just run” motivations?
It was a constant struggle for the rest of the distance. Every step you take reminded you of the pain in the sole and the ache of the thigh and calf muscles. The scorching sun was first shining down on your right shoulder, then left shoulder. Oh good, you knew that the left shoulder will be more severely burnt than the right as the morning stretches further into noon. It was a total dread, and you just felt like giving it up all – the enthusiasm and motivation is completely out.
Out from the toilet break, Dear2 suddenly remembered that she believes in “Mind over Body”. That’s right, why focus on the pain, when you know that the ignoring of it will make the journey less painful? The mind controls what you feel, so, keep walking, and stay walking!
Dear1 and Dear2 seriously walked from 16km to completion. That’s more than 30km in walking! Unbelievable, we actually walked that distance. Before the run, we used to say that 42.195km can surely be completed, run, if not, walk. Boy, walk, it may be done, but with the hot sun and heavy and aching legs and dispirited atmosphere and no more power bars and deep heat and curses and swears and regrets, and oh, the aching abs through the persistent coughing, the walk back was indeed very mentally trying.
We completed the marathon. That’s right, we completed it. The 7.5 hours timing was not glamorous, but at least we did it. Many people shun at the thought of doing a marathon, but we believe that only the courageous dares to attempt it. Are you the couraged one?
Congratulations to all who completed the run.
- Dear2
Cotten quilt for cuddling under 6 December, 2007
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, For Him For Her, Shop till you drop.add a comment
Hohohoho… It’s the winter season in the northern hemisphere. For Singapore, at least, the weather is getting a little rainier and cooler. It looks like a great time to invest in a quilt!
Looking back, we’ve been hesitating on whether to buy a quilt cover or not. And then we finally bought it. But remember, it’s only the cover. And that’s exactly how we’ve been keeping ourselves warm for the past few months. To tell the truth, it’s actually quite warm and cosy just under the quilt cover, without any quilt in it. So we were rather satisfied. Of course there are some discomfort, such as the lack of weight. The quilt cover on its own is just a piece of cloth. So sometimes you get the feeling that you aren’t really sufficiently covered around the whole body. There are these empty spaces caused by the quilt cover bridging across from my raised shoulderd to Dear2’s shoulder. It’s kinda like the blanket doesn’t provide enough ’sense of security’.
So a few weeks back, while we were casually shopping in Causeway Point, a bright 40% off signage outside and Aussino outlet caught our eyes. Hehe… We went in, initially wanting to get some cheap bath towels or the like, but 40% off a cotton quilt from Aussino is just too hard to resist. The original price was $89 (iirc), after discount we’re only paying around $50 for a king sized cotton quilt from Aussino, good deal! The quilt is cheaper than the cover, so we bought it. Yay!
It did not disappointment. Nowadays, we sleep so well, falling asleep earlier than usual and refusing to get up in the morning. Haha… It’s cosy without becoming exceedingly hot. But that’s considering the cooler weather this late in the year. I sure would like to find out if I can still tuck myself under the quilt during the hot April and May. The quilt also added weight and provided the security and added cosy-ness that feels like someone is hugging you to sleep. This cosy feeling also enticed me to cuddle my dear a bit more because it is just so cosy under the covers.
There are some drawbacks though. Again, it is the weight. It’s really heavy and Dear2 have difficulties pulling the quilt into position if she is using only 1 hand. Also, the quilt tends to slide off the bed due to gravity and quite frequently touches the floor, and it really takes some strength to pull the quilt back up from an awkward lying downing and half asleep position. And if on some nights, one person ‘rolls up’ too much of the quilt, the other person will be left with insufficient quilt area and it can be quite difficult to retrieve the robbed sections because everything is just so big and fluffy and volumious and heavy. >.<
No need to fight for the quilt my dear. You take your corner, I take my corner. If not enuff quilt, just pull, ok? We sleep closer a bit, surely got enuff quilt one. Pillow and bolster never cover nevermind. Gee…
-Dear1
