A Recap of the week of 11 May, 2008

Too many things happening, bit in my world and in other people's world!

- My idol in Women Tennis Justine Henin "QUIT" tennis due to "burned out"! Despite being on the No. 1 ATP top spot for 61 weeks... she still decided to quit. Her score was way beyond that of Sharapova and Jankovic...It would take them at least a few more months to catch up with her... but at her peak of her tennis career, she still chose to quit! Just how much "motivation" can influence a person's behavior? For me and her fans, it was a pity, I can no longer admire her single backhand... sigh! Well?

- Roger, dear Roger... he made it to the Final of the Hamburg Masters after his earlier Qtr Final defeat to Stephanik in the Italia Masters. However he was not able to retain his title and had to lose to Nadal once again, 5-7. 7-6, 3-6. Sigh, hope the day will come when I see him beating Nadal in the French Open... I really hope for that day.

- Cyclone in Myanmar, Earthquake in Si Chuan, China... all these news breaks my heart, especially seeing the hundreds of thousands of people homeless, lost their love ones... sigh, very disturbing. Just hope things will settle and they do find happiness one way or the other.

My Life in Melbourne?

Well, it has been an eventful week as well for me besides the above news which affected me in some way:-

- Tried a new Dim Sum Place with Alex and Laura on Mother's Day! We wanted to go to Tai Pan, but since it's Mother's Day, I wasn't able to get a reservation at the last minute, instead, I found this Red Leaf Restaurant on Burwood Highway, which had quite good review...

The picture here is one of the dishes we tried, food's

ok, not very fantastic, still so many Chinese and etc.. crowded!

- Very good sessions with Tommy, 2 this week and guess what? They are all in the morning! 7.30am on one of the weekdays and 7.45am on a weekend...one of the sessions on Abs was so effective! Gosh.. felt good.

- At work, meeting after meeting as usual since there were so many initiatives by the various segments! Wonder when I'll really clear the backlogs?

- On my tennis season, it was our last games this week for both the Women Double and the Mixed. Not a good end to the season as we lost both days! We were trying to fight for our final position in the Mixed Final, but failed, our opinion was good, at least better than us. Next season, we'll try again... this means less tennis for me during winter which sucks, and also means I will have to try to fill up my Mon, Wed and Thur! it doesn't help to know that my Monday's Rowing will also end by the end of the month! What am I gonna to do? Will probably concentrate on my Running and my Golf this winter. Maybe...

- On a side note, just wanted to share and remind myself of how expensive things are here in Melbourne, and the exchange doesn't help.

A simple hotdog bun you see here (only about 3 inches in size - above) cost me A$1.30, i.e S$1.70! Gosh, and that was my pre-tennis dinner for one of the evenings. Amazing... sigh!

Next week? Another hectic week with the Boat Show to attend and some preparation to do for the EPSA's Marine Sales Conference.

A snap shot of next week:

- I had my 1st Golf lesson in Melbourne with Michelle at Burnley Golf Course. She was great...

- Updates from the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show

11 May, Sunday... 9.30am

Another Week...

Believe it was another good week at work, not so much socially.   You can't have both can you?

What's New?

Was busy earlier of the week preparing for presentation and etc... and participated in the International Truck Show from Thur to Sat. Yes, quite an experience even though this is already my 2nd Truck Show in Australia.  

Outside of work, I continued my Rowing on Monday night, it was fun as for the first time, we had an All-Women boat!   So, it feels good with the balancing and etc...  oh and the weather was nice too. 

Gym as usual with Tommy on Monday evening and Saturday morning.   Both were tough weights session, resulting in DOS after that on my quads.  (My quads are hurting as I am writing this...)

Other than that, Tennis on Wednesday sucks big time... I only managed to hold 2 serves of the 9 service games. Gosh, utterly pissed with myself, caused that resulted in our lost of 5-6 for one of the sets!  Sigh... nonetheless, I was glad I redeemed myself during the Mixed Games where we won 4 sets to 2, and I was serving fine, only lost my 1st service game.   Picked up the momentum subsequently and had quite good 1st serve percentage.   Hweeh!   A real relief.   For the sets I played, we did 6-2, 4-6 and 6-1.   Pretty damn good...  Our aim now is to try to get to the top 4 position so that we'll qualify for the Final!  

The only major disappointment this week was the fact that Roger lost to Stephanik in Rome, which I had hope he'll win the title after his wonderful performance and form after his last game!  Well, praying hard that he'll win at least one clay court title to boost his confidence for Roland Garros.   Feel so sad for his recent performances, and the drastic change in people's opinion and confidence of him... I realised that even in most of the commentators, try tone just change and they're really doubting Roger's ability. 

Next week... will be another crazy week.   Preparing for some project Business Case, preparing for meeting with Dealers on Friday and day-to-day stuffs.

The consolation is, I'll be doing my regular activities, Rowing, Tennis and of course Gym.  My next session with Tommy is at 7.30am tomorrow (Monday) morning!   Gosh, hope I'll have no problem waking up for that. 

4 May, Sunday - Lazy Sunday

Had been a good week?  

I believe so.  So much is happening and just needed time to pen them down and share.

My apartment is in a mess, the worst since I came.  All thanks to my terrible schedule and my laziness.  Had been in and out of the apartment, leaving myself not much time to really pack.

Friday, after a wonderful tennis session with Travis in Glenroy, I had to rush back and out to meet Celine (and Simon) for a drink at the Belgium Beer Cafe (St Kilda) for the first time.  We had a good chat and was too tired by the time I get home to do anything else... results?   All my gears, bags and etc... lying around!   

My bed is in a totally bad condition leaving only enough room on one side for me to sleep on.  The rest?   Covered with clothes that I need to fold/hang  and to put aside. 

So, today, is the day when I told myself to get these straighten out.  No activity, but just to get things right.   It's a commitment.   Then again, the weather turned out to be too NICE to stay at home!   Would love to go for a jog or something... really nice weather, around 17 degree.  

Believe this is gonna be one of those few nice weekends, the weather is going get colder!

We had a cold spell on Monday, which really reminded me of how bad things can get in winter... and I hate to think about it. 

Spoke about Rowing in the rain/cold last Monday, and as much as I was looking forward to another rowing session on Saturday, 3 May, I overslept!  Damn... was disgusted with myself really... the weather was BEAUTIFUL and the lake was CALM and I was very much looking forward to the session.  Sigh, had been having problem with my sleep lately.  Too lazy and not motivated enough to get my feet on the ground!    I was awake at 6am and then 7am... but kept telling myself I needed another 10 mins to rejuvenate!  

Nonetheless, I had a pretty good workout with my trainer that morning and my arms were sore!  Had 3 

rowing interval and I was surprised to know that my rowing (in the gym) did improve after I took up rowing!   At least now, I am using my quads muscles more.. so the technique is right and with that, I was able to clock about 440 meters in 2 mins!   Tired though... I am sure I can improve that further with more training and if my fitness continues to improve.

Another amazing event I went on Sat, 3 May.  The Argonauts Trivia Night at St Kilda Town Hall... guess I felt a little awkward when I realized that the gals that I rowed with, most of them are Lesbians and ... did feel a little out of place.   It was a night with close to 200 gays and lesbians and most with their "partners".  While, I was alone of course, but really amazed by this community of nice people.  Eye Opener indeed, but it did make me wonder if I should continue my membership.  Truthfully, I like the club, they are nice people with a passion for rowing, yet not overly competitive!  

Went to the driving range with Alex on Tuesday... did ok. 

But I am determined to take up more coaching lessons for my golf... as part of my plans here. 

Had 2 phone conversations with Paul, and that were nice... we are closer to our plan to meet in late September, hopefully in Singapore to celebrate our birthday together.  I really hope that will happened and very much looking forward to seeing him again.   :-> 

Also caught up with mum this week finally... had a good chat with her and Ron.   Do miss them and thought of them very often... 

Played in 2 games this week, and won all 3 in the women's doubles, but only managed to win 1 in the Mixed Doubles,  partly due to my double faults and I hate that.  Had Travis polished my serves this week during our training.   Hope that will helped reduced my double faults.   

This coming week?  Going to be a tough one as I had to prepare for a presentation and at the same time, play host to my colleague from Singapore.   Nonetheless, I will try not to miss my rowing and my session with Tommy tomorrow.    More tennis of course.  

Time to get down to the chores I aimed to finish... I only had less than 3 hours for that before I meet my colleague later in the afternoon.