Aching in random places

I am sore. Colleagues noticed me walking like a duck today. Why? Cos somehow my butt muscles have decided to take up arms and rebel against the acrobatics lessons that the lindy hop performance company had yesterday.

Which was a whole another sage in and of itself. Trying to do unsupported handstands, cartwheels, and other stretchy bendy balancy things was not easy, especially for someone who can't even balance on a bike :) Still, i must admit that it was fun in hindsight, and it seems fun even now. It was refreshing to challenge myself to try and do something i had always been terrified of doing before, even if it was with a shoulder strain and a 13+km run the day before. Who knows? I might even try getting back on a bicycle :P

Part of the reason I can't do acrobatics is cos I'm quite inflexible. Well, really REALLY inflexible is probably a more accurate description. So that's something I want to work on. Strangely enough, that's the reason I have problems with ankles and knees when I run. That's what the sports doctor said (yes, i finally managed to make my way to the sports clinic 5 months after hurting my ankle while running :P). So now I have to do lots of stretches every day. Still, it's a relief to finally get a diagnosis and something I can do to make my running injury free.

One thing that struck me was how the sports doctor reacted so differently from my General Practicioner. My GP admonished sternly against running too much, and said I should not run more than 3km at one time. The sports doctor, on the other hand, said it was alright to keep running 10km 2-3 times a week as long as it didn't hurt. Not surprising, given that the sports doctor's goal is to help amateur and professional atheletes exercise in an injury-free way. But still, tells you something about how an organisational vision and mission can shape the way one perceives an issue or problem.

Ok enough about work. Time to go munch on my mom's yummy Chinese New Year tarts.

Ajantis is sated on pineapple.

Run fun bun hun

Couple of random rants.

Why is it that it costs 400 more bucks to go from Singapore-Tokyo-Detroit, instead of Singapore-Tokyo-Detroit-New York!? It seems so ridiculous to fly to New York and back to Detroit for 400 bucks less!

Argh. The vagaries of flight pricing really bug me. And of course, this is all taking place on Northwest (or Northworst) as they call it. Which is descending rapidly into bankruptcy as we speak, taking all my frequent flier miles with it. Ok, I exaggerate, but my anguish stems from the fact that despite having flown to Detroit on Northworst umpteenth times, stupid me has yet to convert ANY of those miles into free flights. So i feel the urgent need to, like some idiotic squirrel, quickly save up and use the miles before they disappear completely.

Just got back from workplan retreat for my department. It was an interesting experience being the most senior person there, that everyone kinda instinctively defers to. Made me feel a deep sense of responsibility for leading the team, but that should sound familiar to anyone who knows me or who has read this blog. The more interesting tidbit is that i think my colleagues all probably think of me as some spasmodic person who likes to make an idiot out of himself. Ok that's pushing it a little bit much, although I have to admit that laughing hysterically while chasing cats into a bunch of my female colleagues in order to make them shriek in panic was a little cruel of me :P No wonder one of my colleagues has told me that I must have been one of those boys who liked to pull the girl's pigtails in class (which is kinda true)

B's wedding was nice, and thankfully un-traditionally Chinese. No tacky ice swans with pink backlighting, no wedding slideshow showing how both partners were destined for each other, no tearful thanking of the parents-in-law for bringing such a wonderful wife/groom/partner(insert) into this world. While it is completely appropriate to thank one's parents-in-law, it seems a bit much to make it seem like they should be thanked for giving birth to someone!

It was sweet to see B and K getting married, and equally sweet to see them sharing their joy with us, especially when they had that first dance. Made me think a bit about what I want at my ceremony (even though we're already married). And H knows what i want. I figured one dance, and one song by H (Billy Joel's And So It Goes). H thinks i'm evil, but i don't think so.... muhahahha.

Ajantis is rubbing his hands with glee.

And the new year arrives

Sounds so cliched, but it's never easy saying goodbye. And you somehow get wiser and sadder as you get older. H and I talked, and we decided that it would be best to start making the move in end 06 for various reasons, but that means not moving till end 09. It was sad that what we agreed to made so much sense.

Seeing H off at the airport is never easy. Well it gets easier when you wake up from 1.5 hours of sleep and work non-stop from 630am till 8pm. Heh.

Bangkok was fun. Walked around a bunch, checked out the malls and shopped my butt off at Chatuchak, which is the one place i enjoy window shopping. Only sucky thing? Didn't get as many thai massages as I wanted, and my digital camera was stolen from H's pocket. Oh well. At least i got a whole new set of outfits :) Gotta go back again sometime

Here's the travel itinerary for this year (tentatively)
- Late Mar - Michigan and New York for 2 weeks
- Mid Jul - Herrang! and Europe for 2.5 weeks
- Late Dec - Singapore with H and either Thailand or Vietnam for 2 weeks

Resolutions for 2006 :
1. Run a marathon
2. Lose 3-4 kg
3. Do more nice things for H

:)

ajantis is zoning