Como Ama Una Mujer

Went to the Velocity gym with Bose today. Focussed mainly on lower body exercises. Did 5 sets of 8-10 reps each of leg extensions, leg curls and leg presses, then did another 2 sets of 20-25 calf presses. Did 3 half-reps of lateral deltoid raises with a 3 lb dumbbell, and then called it a day. Will take some time to build up the muscle strength...

Bought some Tropicana fruit yoghurt afterwards to replenish my low blood glucose level, and also purchased a Jennifer Lopez Como Ama Una Mujer music CD for $18.90.

Keloid

Was told today that I may have this: keloid. Which may explain why the scars on my hands and feet still remain even though my bicycle accident happened so many months ago, and also why my shoulder joint is not healing properly (because the tissue inside has gotten keloid-y). Well, everyone learns something new everyday.

Will try to go back to the gym tomorrow with Bose. Hope I can get a good lower body workout.

岁月的痕迹

Thanks to my dear friends for the birthday greetings through emails, private messages, SMSes and cards. Thanks especially to Brokie, Balasing, SV, Bee, Tiwazz, Roonz, Ripley, TLR, kops21 and Sotong for the very lovely and thoughtful birthday card which was delivered personally to my house (even though I was still slogging away in the office). It really made my day when I got home the following morning. I'm really thankful for friends like you guys.

Work has been very challenging of late...more than usual, I mean. I feel like I've aged years when I look into the mirror now. I have eye bags huge enough to rob banks several times over. I'm hoping things will get better soon.

My shoulder has still quite some way to go to recovery. Had hoped for a miracle on my birthday, but it didn't happen. Worse still, at my last physio session, I was told that the muscle wastage has continued. I wonder how long this can go on. But still, I must be thankful that the range of motion around my shoulder has seen marginal improvement. Better than nothing, I suppose :)

One of the best things that happened this week was when an Indian stranger woke me up to board the bus to work when he caught me dozing off at the bus-stop. It was amazing.

决心

I must come back to the running scene soon. I must recover. I must.

哑吧吃黄莲

At last and at least the weekend is here, and I survived. Next week will be even more hectic though. What can I say...

Deepest thanks to all my friends who have brought me good cheer through your SMSes, emails, private messages and blog comments.

Wishful thinking

Had made many plans for today - go for a short 3-4 km loop at the BG Run, have brunch, hop over to the gym (for my first time in 3 months) and then grab a movie and coffee afterwards.

But all it took was just a slow jog of about 200m for me to realise that I just could not run with my arm in its current condition. It felt like it was in the wrong place and going to fall off. I had to walk the rest of the way. I dread to think that I'm probably to continue like this until at least the end of the year, when the doctor will review me once more and assess if I need operation.

When the rest of the running gang came back from their 12-14 km run, they were glowing with healthy perspiration and talking excitedly about the latest running gear and tips on stretching and injury-prevention. I had nothing to say and I didn't feel like talking. This was followed by a rather unappetising brunch, after which I bade my farewell to my friends and went home. I was in no mood for gym or movie or coffee. I just wanted to sleep and hope that all this would be over when I wake up. But it's wishful thinking on my part.

I look at myself in the mirror, and I don't know why, but I start to a bitter anger rising again.

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Update as of 2115 hrs

Chatted with some friends on MSN. This particular message from one of them stood out from the rest. It's so profound and true. I'll need to think about it some more and see how I can adapt.

"Just because our lives come to a temporary standstill doesn't mean that your friends' have to too."

Bi Bim Bab

Had dinner with tktan, doraemon, george and fennel at a Korean restaurant along Mosque Road, followed by some dessert along Upper Cross St. The company was great, the food was fabulous and the post-makan jalan-jalan was eye-opening. It's been a while since I explored night-time Chinatown. Many thanks to tktan for the invite and the treat and for lending me his copy of Thud by Terry Pratchett. :)

With Hope

Was remind by Roonz about my Steven Curtis Chapman collections, and I was listening to the music, and just found myself falling in love with this song all over again...

With Hope

This is not at all how we thought it was supposed to be...
We had so many plans for you, we had so many dreams,
And now you've gone away,
And left us with the memories of your smile...
And nothing we can say, and nothing we can do...
Can take away the pain, the pain of losing you...

But we can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope,
'Cos we know that our goodbye is not the end, oh, no...
And we can grieve with hope, 'cos we believe with hope...
That there's a place by God's grace,
There's a place where we'll see your face...again...

And never have i known anything so hard to understand...
And never have i questioned more the wisdom of God's plan,
But through the cloud of tears, I see the Father smile and say "Well done!"
And i imagine you where you wanted most to be,
Seeing all your dreams come true...
'Cos now you're home and now you're free...

And we can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope,
'Cos we know that our goodbye is not the end, oh, no...
And we can grieve with hope, 'cos we believe with hope...
That there's a place by God's grace,
There's a place where we'll see your face...again...
We'll see your face again...

We have this hope as an anchor...
'Cos we believe that everything God promised us is true...

And we wait with hope...
And we ache with hope...
We hold on with hope...
We let go with hope...

Meet the Robinsons

After a hectic work week, I went to watch "Meet the Robinsons" with Roentgen, Teelee, SassyRunner, Angelica_Wonders and Kickjazz at VivoCity this afternoon, then had dinner with them, cfred, Junie and Charlotte at a small eatery called Hooked on Heads in the Sin Ming area. As time passed, I realised that I had nothing much to contribute to the chit-chat besides my work and my injury, but these were hardly delightful subjects for conversation, so I elected to stay silent most of the evening.

The movie wasn't exactly bowl-you-over spectacular, but I found myself getting drawn into the story and empathising with the young inventor Louis. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about him that I identify with. I don't know what though. I wonder what the future holds for me. In the meantime, I guess I just have to keep moving forward.

Olive's Ocean

Olive's Ocean was an easy read. It's written for a juvenile audience, and I knowingly decided to borrow it home from the library anyway. It is a simple story about a young girl called Martha Boyle whose classmate Olive Barstow dies in a freak road accident. The two girls had never been close friends, but as Martha finds out after the tragedy from a page from Olive's diary, they actually had much in common. With the heavy thought of Olive weighing on her mind, Martha sets off with her family for a holiday at her grandmother's place by the ocean, where she is confronted by issues of life, death, love, betrayal, aspirations and dreams that can never be fulfilled. It's a short and thoughtful book, worth 6.5/10.

This makes it my 11th book for 2007, the other ten being those shown below. Not a bad accomplishment. :)