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.

 

28 April, Monday

Amazing what TIME can do...

It has been 2 weeks since my last shitty week/post!   How time flies and how things changes, just thought it will be good for me to take a moment to recollect the good stuffs this time round.

- Rowing Experiences

 Gosh, I am beginning to enjoy rowing, I have been rowing on the lake 5 times over the past 3 weeks. Not quite there yet technically, but I am enjoying every bit of the experience.  Today, we had only 1 boat out (only 4 turn up), because it was about 10 degree and raining!   Cold, but indeed a rare experience.  Who in the right frame of mind would be rowing in the cold autumn rain?  But we did, even though we had to turn back after 30mins, it was a very enjoyable attempt!

- Horse ridding!  

When down to Mornington Peninsula with Hwee Kuan and Yonghao for horse-ridding. 

It was a pretty challenging week for me.  Arrived from Perth on Friday morning 5am ... I was dead tired, slept throughout the journey.  Took another 2 hours nap and headed out for our trip.  Couldn't wake up to meet them for breakfast as planned and I wasn't in my top condition.  Sore throat, toothache and etc... just not 100%.   We lost our way a few times and were late for the 12noon trip, however we negotiated for an 1 hour ride,  which turned out to be a blessing in disgust.  My shin would have swollen otherwise and I know I wouldn't have enjoyed as much if it was longer.  Just wished I can grasp the trotting technique better... didn't quite get it, and did had a bit of problem standing.  My feet kept coming off the pedal!   Overall a very nice especially.  

- Golf

Finally, after 13 months in Australia, I picked up my golf clubs again and on 24 April, played on the Vines golf course (Perth) with Warren Mckenzie (Goughs); Bassem; Robin; Robin's friend Typhoon; and KK of ADC.  I paired with KK on one flight and the other 4 were on another flight.  It was a beautiful afternoon, with temperature around 20 deg and partly sunny.   Perfect weather for golf, in fact, for anything!  :->  I didn't do that badly at all, and scored about 126... not bad taking into account that I have not been playing for awhile.  It all ended well, with us drinking up about 7 to 8 jugs of beer after that!  Never had so much beer in my life! A little too much unnecessary calories I must admit.

- Tennis 

Playing a lot more now... especially these few months with the Autumn season still in play.   At least 4 times a week, 1 practice session with the team, womens doubles, mixed doubles and of course 1 or 2 session with Travis (my coach).  And on a good week, I may get to play with Alex or Hendro and Lawrence since last Sunday!   It's all good, and I am seeing myself improving, still having problem holding my serves at crucial points but, I am getting there... at least better than what I used to be when I first came into Australia.

Dragged thinking about winter though cause that's where a lot of these will stopped.