Productive day

My cheek is actually even more swollen than yesterday. I called up NDC and the lady told me that it's normal and that it may even worsen tomorrow! Sigh. right now, the wound in the mouth does not hurt that much, but instead it's the cheek that is painful! I cannot do any vigorous movements, for it will hurt the cheek! *SIGH*

It has been quite a productive day. Got down to doing stuff today. I managed to clear quite a lot of notes out from the shelves. Notes from NYP days. Yup, they were not so long ago. Still very undecided whether to throw out those psychology and sociology notes or not. And much of the other related notes to work no... Geez. It will be another round of spring clean before they would get cleared.

I finally threw out the 4 books of C mathematics which I have kept since graduation from JC. I really hate Math and the reason why I keep them is because of the memories that they bring back. Mrs Tham, my Math tutor, has put in so much time and effort for me. I am really grateful to her for that. I'm just such a sentimental person. There are still 2 Math books from JC2, the whole lot of biology notes and practicals and one whole think file of Chem notes. Btw, the biology notes take up 3 files! And yeah, they are collecting dust and dirt in my room. The files are rusty, and the notes yellowish. I may never need to look at them for reference ever again, for the Internet is such a wealth of information, not forgetting our national library. But all because of a sense of sentimentality... :p

Arranging photographs into their albums was another item on my agenda for this few days of leave at home. I got down to doing it for my Iran photos! Although I only got to 2 albums so far, but the memories that flood back are certainly tremendous and wonderful... Some bad, some good... Overall, it was a time to indulge in those beautiful ones... And get lost all over again as I wandered through those streets of Tehran, Qazvin, Tabriz...

I decided to go for a walk in the CCK park. It was actually meant to be yesterday, but I decided to postpone it to today. It rained very heavily from 5-545pm. And then it stopped! Leaving a trail of coolness in the air. I brought along my receiver, camera, a book, and some water to the park. It was not that early anymore, and I did not sit down to read my book. Instead, I took some pictures of the park which I first did my long distance run in. It was in this familiar surroundings that I used to run round after round, clocking up to 15 rounds at the max once. That should amount to about 10.5 km? Since each round is estimated to be about 700m.

It's a small park, but full of greenery and birds and bull frogs, especially after the rains when u can hear their low croaking. There were not many runners/joggers around and it was very peaceful. I walked around aimlessly and lifted the logs. I always do this as part of strength training after my runs. Since I cannot run, I can lift weights. :)

I saw a jogger, a young girl, probably around 17-18, running round the park alone. I have met her last Friday when I ran there as well. Running is indeed a lonely sport. I wanted to say 'hi' to her or maybe just nod my head to acknowledge her presence when she ran past, but the fear of her not returning my smile made me give up the idea. For her age, I must say she is quite a determined girl, for when I arrived at the park at 6.35pm, she was there jogging. When I left at 7.15pm, she was still at it. I wondered what her motives for running are. At her age, I hated running. And only did so because as part of physical training for Judo. I have never looked back ever since I started long distance. I love it.

Today is also the 1st day I went out after I came back from the surgery on Tuesday. Although my face is swollen and red, I had to go to Lot 1 to borrow my Iran LP guide in order to arrange my photos. I think I did attract several curious stares, but I don't care. This is my life!

Went down to NTUC to get canned soup as well, probably for lunch tomorrow, to go with bread. Sigh. My diet is all soft food so far.

I wonder whether this swelling will subside tomorrow. I'm supposed to go out with my friend to Little India and Bugis area for an exploration and photo taking session. Aiye. If it gets worse tomorrow, I might have to forgo the entire trip! Sigh! But I want so much to do it! My friend is not feeling too well either, for she had messaged me earlier saying that she is feeling feverish... Well, let's see whether our bodies allow us to get out tomorrow or not!

We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them. We say we love trees, yet we cut them down. And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved.
~Author Unknown

Along the way... Note the mist that has formed due to the rain earlier... 

On the way there... 

a wide open field in the centre of the park 

Part of the run route 

My favourite causuarina tree in the foreground! 

A cloudy sunset 

Cheek still swollen

Ahhh.... I did not get a very good sleep last night. Woke up once in the middle of the night to find myself drooling in bed cuz my mouth was not closed and 2nd time to go toilet at 630 in the morning. Geez. Finally got up at close to 9!! That's late! Even though I slept at 1am last night, I was expecting myself to wake up earlier at 8. Tsk tsk.

My left cheek is still swollen. Yes... Don't feel good at all! Darn. How am I suppoed to go out like this tomorrow?! And I actually want to eat Indian food with my friends! Mmm... I might still be ablt to, but only the naans and pratas, tore up into small pieces and stuffed into my mouths. Remember, I have to eat like a dainty, young lady for this period of time? Hah!

I found this article on sgrunners.com forum where someone actually cut and pasted it there. I watched this on the news last week and found it amazing. However, the runners are saying that it's very harmful to the growth of a child who's only 3 years old. True. He's going to be burnt out in a matter of time. Geez. But he's simply amazing.

3 Yr old marathoner out to set world record
Budhia Singh runs seven hours at a stretch, sometimes as much as 48km. And he does this everyday. And he is only three and a half years old.

Budhia is now eyeing the Guinness Book of World Records, which lists an eight-year-old boy who ran 52km without resting. Budhia plans to run 90km without resting, the BBC reported.

He can now cover 60km. At a recent athletic meet in India, he completed a 25km run.

The boy, who is the yongest of four children, comes from a very poor family. His mother, a widow, sold him to a man for about 800 rupees (S$330).

But the boy caught the attention of a judo coach, Mr Biranchi Das. He told the BBC that he noticed Budhia's talent when punishing him for being a bully."Once, after he had done some mischief, i asked him to keep running till i came back,"

Mr Das told the BBC, "I got busy with some work. When i came back after five hours, i was stunned to find him still running."

Mr Das, who is the president of the residents' association of the area where Budhia used to live, summoned the man who had bought Budhia and paid him back 800 rupees.

Then he put the boy on a strict diet and exercise regimen that sees him getting up at five in the morning and running for seven hours. He runs again from 4pm to 7pm. A few kilometres are added to his daily run every few days.

In place of a few lumps of rice that he used to get at his mother's place, his diet now consists of eggs, milk, soya bean and milk.

Talk about stamina eh?

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.
~Author Unknown

ECP on 25th Aug, Sunday. Beautiful day out at the beach with Minghui. Totally recharged after that. 

Swollen cheek

I woke up this morning to find a very swollen left cheek. It was not so bad yesterday when I went to bed. So bad now. The time now is 12+ midnight already and the inflammation did not seem to lessen at all, even though I have taken my Danzen. RAAA.... I even iced it just now while watching 'Amazing Race'. Geez. How to go out like this on Friday if it still do not subside? Furthermore, every step I take hurts my cheek... #$%^&*()(*&^% *grumbles* I have to land my foot very lightly and make sure the impact is not so big. I tried bending over and the pull of gravity seems to make it more painful! Darn! I wonder why?

Eating has to be in small mouthfuls and on the right side too. I have to make sure that I do not let food cross over to the left side, for fear that it would irritate the wound. Argh. Hence, I tend to tilt my head sideways whenever I feel the food going over. I eat so slowly now too! So demure! Haha! Mum looked at me with such a pained look and she told me not to eat the bean sprouts if they're too hard. Yeah, they were. :p

I wonder if it's cuz I chewed too much on my food yesterday, and hence resulting in a swollen cheek. A lady from NDC actually caleld me in the afternoon to check if I feel any numbness in my tongue or lip. I asked her if the awollen cheek is normal. She replied, "We have told u before." I'm not blaming her or anyone. She sounded quite defensive, I thought. Gotta wait for a few days before it fully subsides, she said. And also it is at its maximal swelling now. Argh.

Oops. Not a very productive daya ctually. Read a bit. Dozed off every now and then. Especially when I was reading in the morning and afternoon after my meals and medication. It's not like immediate after I took my medication that I read, but I do feel sleepy so easily. And best, I dozed off in front of the TV just now. Hence, I do not know which team was the last and being kicked out at the end of the 2.5 hours I spent in front of the telly. Argh. Perhaps it's cuz they are still in America that I find boring. Simply driving from one state to another. *YAWN* I wanna see them fly to other exotic places.

My cheek hurts when I laugh and when I yawn. I cannot open my mouth too big too. Mmm... I have to take small mouthful of food as well. Sigh. I cannot wait for the day for normality to return. It's far too painful a thing unable to live out your life normally. These 5 days of MC certainly do not come easy. I gotta be more constructive tomorrow! :p

I dream of hiking into my old age. ~Marlyn Doan

Wisdom tooth OUT!

The time now is 4.10pm on a hot sunny afternoon. Oww... I have just undergone my molar tooth extraction in the morning at around 11am at NDC. My 2nd surgery in my entire life so far! Below is the account of the whole day...

I arrived at NDC only at 920am although my scheduled time for the surgery is at 9am. :p I actually took my time to have a very good breakfast as I knew I would not be able to eat hard food for the next few days! Registered at the counter and then proceeded in to the surgery area after donning on paper caps and shoe covers and keeping my bag in a locker. Waited for about 30minutes (I did not have my watch with me as I was told to keep it away) before my dentist called me and then we went through one last check before finalising on extracting just the left lower wisdom tooth. I queried about removing 2, the upper and lower one. But since the upper one was not causing me pain or any problem, we shall just proceed on as planned earlier.

I was being ushered into a room and sat on the reclining chair that's so characteristic of a dental treatment room. The dentist washed his hands and gave me 2 jabs after the nurse 'sterilized' my mouth with some bitter antiseptic and saline. I know it was a gun filled with the local anesthesia(LA), but closed my eyes when the needle went into my mouth.

When the doctor injected the needle into my gums, I could feel the prick of my gums as it went in. A total of 2 jabs. I heard the gums 'pop'. Yikes! I tensed up. My feet especially. I simply detest the idea of sharp objects piercing through my skin. Argh. I have had this fear of needles since young. Although it seems to wear off a bit by this age, till this day and time there's still no way I can stand such actions.

I was relaxed all the way until I sat on the chair actually. As the dentist jabbed me, I had this crazy thought to run out of the room and go back to work! The reality of them cutting into my gums dawned on me finally and I really did not want to do this, I told myself. This is the 2nd time in my life that I?m having a surgery, albeit it's a small one, but it still involves using sharps to cut open a part of my body! And it?s totally unnatural! Ahhhh!!!! I have known this all along, but the importance of having a healthy and fit body further impacted me as a reminder. An operation has so many side effects and it can be so traumatizing too. Make incisions to the body certainly is not a natural act as that totally goes against Nature.

After the jab, they left me alone for a while to wait for the LA to take effect. I waited and looked around. The nurse soon came in and she was a very sweet lady who kept telling me to relax and also what she was going to do to me, such as cleaning my mouth and covering my eyes with a cloth. And the kind of feeling I would feel during the procedure. I have had a small operation to remove a piece of something that was blocking my front tooth from coming out when I was 11years old. So the entire setting was not totally alien to me. I did start to feel a bit nervous and she kept telling me to breathe normally through my nose. I was! I asked some questions and as she covered my eyes, I suddenly felt a bit more nervous and wanted so much to run out of the room again. :p

After about 20minutes or so, the dentist came over. Dr Lai. He asked me how I felt and I told him my tongue and gums and lips were feeling numb. He said it's alright and that that should be the way. If I should feel any pain during the procedure, I should just wave my hand. Yup. I pray not.

They did not warn me when the scapel was coming down, but I could feel it somewhat cutting into my gums. I think I imagined it too much. The nurse kept telling me to relax and think of pleasant and happy moments. The pressure was there. I could imagine the slice into my raw gums and blood gushing out. Argh. Ok, time to think of pleasant moments. I tried to think of Turkey, Istanbul, Iran, my friends that I met there and the travel scenes... However, with the pressure down on your face, there?s no way u can indulge in those beautiful memories. They just would not surface that easily. Hah.

The pressure was greatest when I felt the pulling and yanking of the tooth out of its site. There was a hand pressing against my lower mandible(jaw) and then the dentist pulling with all his might. Argh. Horrible feeling. It was at this time that the nurse told me to relax and think of other happy times even more. I tried! But had to split my brain between the memory of Istanbul and the present moment. Hah. It did not work basically. :p

It's over in about 20minutes? I could feel the stitches going throught he wound as they swept past my left cheek. And I heard the dentist stand up from his seat and left after telling me that it was over. The nurse tended to me and cleaned me up. I was given a gauze to bite to stop the bleeding. Then it was off to the resting area for observation.

After sitting there for 30minutes, a nurse who was really bubbly and friendly came over to me to teach me the 'what-nots' and 'to-dos'. As with all surgeries, I have to lay off from running and swimming and any other high impact exercises in order not to stimulate the bleeding. As exercise heats up your body, the increased blood circulation would result in the wound site bleeding. I heard from a friend that it would impact on the wound itself also, and it may rupture. Yikes! I cannot even stand thinking about that!

I made my way home after purchasing my medication over the counter. There's painkillers(Ibuprofen), antibiotics(Amoxicillin), anti-imflammatory(Serratio-Peptidase), Antacid and a mouth wash. The nurse told me not to brush my teeth today if I do not feel like doing so. And not to rinse my mouth as that may wash the blood clot away today. So, I would only resume my mouth cleaning routine from tomorrow onwards.

I took a sip of water from my bottle on the way back and thought that the cap was broken in half. Actually, it was just my numbed left half of lips that could not feel anything. The left half of my tongue and gums were numbed too and I had to drink the water with my right side of the mouth, otherwise I would choke. Gee. I had the experience of what a paralyzed person would feel like while eating. It's sad and you feel so helpless.

I came home and started having lunch at 2.10pm. It felt completely fine until the anaesthesia wore off at about 2.30pm after I just finished my lunch of wholemeal bread and tomato soup. Argh... I could feel the pain slowly coming back... It felt horrible. I could have taken the painkillers earlier but they are for consumption only after meal. I immediately popped 2 Ponstan which I have leftovers at home instead of the Ibuprofen which they gave me as the nurse told me that the painkillers need 1 hour to take effect. Ponstan was supposed to take only 30minutes.

Pain, pain, pain... The pain from was at its peak from 2.30 to 3.45pm when it finally diminished. Maybe it was the Ponstan working, or maybe it was just normal. I could finally be myself again and started doing things.

For someone whose threshold of pain is quite high, I'm not sure if I would ever allow myself to go under the knife again for the other tooth. It's painful and expensive. Like what my friend had said, this 5 days' MC certainly don't come easy!

The sun is setting as I'm typing this. How I wish I could go out for a run. It turned cloudy at 5pm and it was windy as well. Sigh. A big no-no. I want my gums to recover fast. I would opt for hikes instead. Just for this week. Going to feel so uncomfortable missing my work-outs.

Yikes! My wisdom tooth! They had to cut a bit of my jawbone and break the tooth to extract it! It's fully embedded in my gums, since it's still 'young'. Sorry if this pic is a bit disturbing to some of u out there! :p

A comparison against a paper clip! :p

A comparison of the wisdom against my 1st finger!

Wisdom tooth extraction on the way!

It's been a busy week. I was on the 8-530pm shift last week from Monday to Friday, with Saturday off. However, it was so busy at 'A' corridor from Monday to Wednesday that I was so worn out by mid-week. I have been putting in lots of time for my work-outs as well and by the time I get home each night, I simply just need to unwind.

I went for a swim after work just now. It was a rather short day at work from 8-430pm. And I am going to be on MC from tomorrow onwards! For a total of 5 days in a row. That would mean my whole week would be free from work! Haha. Well, that would mean some pain as well as I'm going to National Dental Centre to extract my wisdom tooth tomorrow! The surgery is scheduled at 9am and I got to arrive at about 0845. Never thought that this day would come. I always pray that my wisdom teeth would never come out. Who needs them anyway? They are simply extra molars that only cause pain and money. Argh. Gum infection in the lower left last month(just before NB Real Run), went for an x-ray and dentist recommended pulling them out! There is a 'pocket' formed between the last molar and the gum where plague can form easily. Since u would never know when the 'pocket' would be formed, only when the plague accumulates and results in an infection, only then would u know that damned tooth is coming out.

I have been faithfully flossing my teeth once every 2 nights. I have sought advice from friends and colleagues who have done theirs. 'Once and for all' seems to be the common idea here. Yeah, get it out and get over it. The pain? Only temporary and u gotta get 5 days' MC... Haha. I'm certainly looking forward to that! My tired body really needs a break to rejuvenate itself. There's so much I can do at home for the next few days!

However, I have to lay off from running and swimming for the week also! :( Gee. Will hope to resume asap. Body would not feel good not getting its limbs and trunks moving.

I have no feelings about the surgery tomorrow. I am just treating it as another procedure. Well, I would certainly not behave like this last time. When? Maybe a few years ago? Right now, I have grown up. I have learnt not to worry about issues in the future as there's so many things I need to be concerned with at the moment! Take things as they come. Just hoping I can eat as normal soon after the op.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just thought I want to add this in. I met a very rude and idiotic swimmer at Delta just now. Argh. He thinks he occupies that lane is it?! I have been swimming in that lane for the past 1 hours and he just started swimming there and did not even bother to give way to me when we were approaching each other! Argh! I was already warming down doing my breaststrokes and could see him head on. He kicked and drew his arms with such brute strength that if u were to be kicked by him, it would hurt for sure! Not a relaxed swimmer, for sure. Sucker. And I have to give way to him! What a 'GENTLEMAN'! Pui. There were times when I kicked his sole and his fingers brushed my knee and his feet almost kicked me! What a L-O-S-E-R! Cannot stand such EGO man. This one is not even ego. He's simply downright RUDE. Just like the 2 old fogeys at the pool every Monday who are so inconsiderate. Ugly Singaporeans. Pui.

Delta would be such a nice place without them.

Get mad, then get over it. ~Colin Powell

Not quite. Just think he's a loser. :p

Inside the box! 

Heh... Something naughty from 'Victoria Secrets'... 

A travel journey! She knows me too well! :) But I wonder when i will get a chance to pen down in this book? *Dreamy face* 

16th Sep: The souvenirs and elated bday present that Minghui got for me from United States! 

Terry Fox Run (supposedly)

Sigh. 6.15am: I was waken up by the sounds of heavy rain. It was time to wake up anyway. Supposed to go for Terry Fox Run at Sentosa. I have already packed my bag and froze my 100PLUS and even got a bottle of honey drink chilled cuz I planned to do 2 loops of the run, making it 15km in total. However, all my plans went to naught due to the rain. Sigh.

If only it had rained yesterday instead. I stayed in the entire day at home to get lots of 'errands' done. It was such a hot day. Extreme humidity last night as I was up and about doing my stuff. That explains the humidity last night. The rain in the wee hours. Yeah, I had stayed in the whole day yesterday.It's been a long time ever since I have done that. Used to only stay in at home during the exam periods to mug and not stepout of the house at all! 1st time ever since I started work.

I can choose to be a hermit crab and stay at home today, for there's still so much things to do at home!The judokas(my batch) are meeting up. But PangTsung only informed the guys! He forgot about the girls!Liting and Limin cannot make it. Only left me and Minghui. Aiye. I do not fancy going to expensive restaurants nowadaysfor the food are not worth the money and definitely do not possess the kind of nutrients I seek in my diet.What's more, the service standards are sometimes what u get when u are in a coffeeshop! So why should I pay for so much extra for such poor attitude?

Another thing being the artificial 4-walled builind that I will be housed in. The weather today is extremely good, and I want to enjoy it. Hence, I suggested to the guys that we should go to Bugis where I know of a good place where we can sip teh tarik and eat Indian-Muslim food by the roadside. And hence take full advantage of the beautiful weather! I don't know if they would like it, but it's budget, and the food is grrreat! Why not?

I still hope to go for a run at the end of the day, though my adrenalin levels would not be as high as I would be if I had gone to Sentosa instead. Sigh.

Just hope that it would not rain on the day of the Stan Chart Marathon.

10th Sep (Sat): It was supposed to be a PI_Cambodia gathering, but it turned out to be only the 4 of us! Well, at least we managed to meet Uncle Simon who's leaving for London this Sat! 

3 of us almost reaching MacRitchie! We took a short cut through the 'steep' slope that we used to run during our sec school days up to the main road and hitched a bus ride to go to Toa Payoh straightaway!  

Part of Lili's shoe dropped out! 

"O.... Turtles!" 

"Eh!What's that?" 

What a beautiful trail! 

Beside Singapore Recreation Club. The golf course. 

4th Sep: Hike from Bt Timan Nature Reserve to MacRitchie Park (a day after my aquathlon!) 

Runs, swims, lightning, thunder, Nature!

They're at it again... When I came home today, I knew it was coming when she flared up at me Sigh. Things just do not seem to get better. He's so nonchalant about matters, while she thinks too much to the point of getting stressed out. I'm stuck in the middle,not knowing where to go. But I know how I am feeling. And it's definitely not very pleasant. I have to do something about this soon...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went running after coming home from work. It's one way to escape from the ugly realities that's bugging me, another way to release the pent-up frustrations. I'm not letting the stress get to me, otherwise I would not be able to function as a proper being. Running allows me to get away from it all, though the troubles do whiz into my mind every once in a while and how I wish I can punch someone. Punch someone hard in the face to get him to wake up. Otherwise, I was enjoying my run.

It felt good. The air was cool, and there was a slight breeze as I ran. It is not humid like it was on Sunday! After all, this is the evening, approaching the nighttime. The skies have been cloudy and the sun hidden behind them in the late afternoon. I did not want to push myself too hard today; a 45-min run would suffice. However, my legs and body felt light today, perhaps cuz of my new shoes as well! :-) I took a different route to Yew Tee.

Wore my new shoes for the 2nd time, and I can really feel the difference. The shoes still feel squeaky new inside and shiny white outside. Too bad I ran to 'Green Haven' for its maiden journey on Sunday and there were oil slicks there. Hence, there are spots of oil on it!!! Heart pain! :-( as a result, I chose to run to Yew Tee today where there would be no mud and no oil slicks. All on concrete and tarred ground.

I have not ran this route for quite a long time. There are a few stretches that I liked a lot on this route. One is the route on a gentle down slope towards Sungei Kadut, another is when I crossed the bridge which spans across a highway and I can see the MRT track and CCK stadium in the distance. Construction has finished on a certain stretch that runs just between Sungei Kadut and Yew Tee flats and all the metal 'walls' have been taken down, so I can see the industrial area from where I was jogging and the canal as well.

I ran to Keat Hong Park and did 2.5 rounds there before proceeding onto CCK Park. Met an irritating uncle who refused to give way to me and I almost banged into him head on! We were so near and I had to step aside! Bugger. Then when I ran past him again the 2nd time, I simply "AHEM!" very loudly, partly to show my dissatisfaction and secondly, to clear my throat. Best lor... guess what he did when we ran past each other again. He actually dunno coughed or sneezed at the point when we past each other and I think I felt his fluids. RAAAA... What an irritating man. It caught me by surprise as I was deep in thought and did not even notice him running towards me as there were some other runners around him as well. Disgusting. Talk about a gracious Singapore. I was hoping to see for the next round but what a coward. He has already excited from the park. L-O-S-E-R.

Ended my run at CCK Park. I have not finished my run at CCK Park for a couple of weeks already. I have always loved this park for it was the very 1st place where I ran my long distances in. Did it in the comfort and security of a park before I dare to venture out. I would do 14-15 rounds around the park without getting sick of it! Amazing. I dunno if I can do that now again!

The greenery, the light breeze, the sounds of insects, the bullfrogs' deep croaking in the distance, the slight whiz of cars speeding past on the highway beside, the faint smell of frangipani as I ran past the trees and the entire surroundings of the park simply had such a therapeutic effect on me. I do not need any aromatherapy oils to clam my senses down. Going to the park in the evening as the sun is setting or has set is an absolute ecstasy. It's the type that will not have u jumping up and down, but that which releases its magic in such a way that your senses are jolted into a recovery state after a long and hard day. Your senses would be fine-tuned to the surroundings as they take in the sights, sounds and smell. The mind is relaxed and need to be focused on the environment only. Total rejuvenation.

I love the solitude that comes with entering this kind of state. Especially at CCK Park after night falls. There will not be many joggers, and the park is quiet. A very good place for reflection. I did my weight-lifting of the logs and crunches before cooling down on the patch of grass. Standing on the grass, it seems to give out a very cool feeling. Even when I walked back, there's some wild greenery enroute and I can feel the coolness that they give out. It must be respiration of the plants going on...

I'm so awake now. Because of the run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12th Sep 05 (Monday) : I went for a swim after work. It was a tiring day, cuz I did not get enough rest the night before. Monday blues hit me as I kept yawning throughout work and the doctor I worked with in the morning was rather slow(but very nice) and hence the morning passed very slowly... I had to take a 40min lunch only.

I did not push myself for the swim, as my legs were somewhat aching from the run the day before and from the standing the whole day at work. The dark clouds were brewing in the distance as I swam my 30th lap. I had the strength to complete my usual workout of 50F.S and 10B.S! however, it was cut short as the rain poured down at my 40th lap. Normally, Delta would allow swimmers to continue even though if it's raining. But there were thunder and lightning, so were all called up.

I will never forget this night as I had wanted so much to stand in the rain one day and observe Nature in action. I got to do it on this night. The rain was light at the beginning, but the skies were really dark. It was only 6.21pm when I got out of the pool. The lights at the swimming pool were turned on and the skies were so dark and forbidding as it contrasted with them. I have always like the ominous feeling that a thunderstorm brings. Especially with the cumulonimbus clouds rolling in, covering up the bright sky. Call me morbid or whatever but it never fails to remind me of the 3 witches in 'Macbeth':

"In thunder, lightning, or rain, shall we meet again?"

Hope I have not remember it wrongly!

Hence, I stood in the shelter watching the clouds making their way across to the skies above me and watched the rains pelt down, lightly at first, but heavier as time went by. There was much lightning and I caught a few long streaks across the sky. BEAUTIFUL! I find lightning one of the most stunning creations of Nature. So many people fail to appreciate its beauty and power as it strikes across the sky in that millisecond and lit up its surroundings. Just in that split second, it has managed to provide such a powerful display of its might. Too many people cowered at what's to follow: thunder. What a shame to miss out on one of Nature's best.

The heavens seem to unleash its anger in that moment when the rains came down real hard. The skies were totally dark and if not for the lights from the swimming pool and from the HDB flats nearby, it would be dark at 6.30pm. I looked around to the streets and the streetlights were not even on yet. I tried to imagine the roads dark with the rains pelting down hard. I recalled a place when I was in such a situation.

Sri Lanka. Dec 2004. Eileen, my travel partner, and I were in Nuwara Eliya for the 1st night. It's a town about 2000m above sea level. Cold. And yet, when we arrived that evening, it rained! Making things worse. We rushed out at night to buy something from the supermarket and some funny incident happened along the way. Oh dear. How can I ever forget that? Hah. It's something that Eileen and I vowed never to forget and not to share it with anyone else. The streets were dark, with no street lights, and it was raining rather heavily. Only lights? From the vehicles and the surrounding hotels and houses? What a memorable night. My private travel snippet that I cannot share here, but one that I will never forget.

There are too many scenes in my life from my travels that I treasure dearly and would hold on forever, just like how I used to hold on to memories from the Judo days. :)

Yeah, and so I stood and warmed down and looked up at the skies and the surroundings as the rain continued. The blocks of HDB juxtaposed against the dark background(skies) simply made them stand out so much. When the rain got heavier, they were blurred out, becoming a mirage. It was time to go and bath as well.

I must have looked weird, seemingly waiting for the rain to stop (at 1st), always looking up at the skies and 'wowing' each time a lightning struck across the sky. I must have looked even more like an idiot when the rain got heavier and the lightning strikes more, and still refused to make my way to the bathroom when 2 other guys near me already gave up hope and walked to the bathroom. BUT I don't care. No one can really understand the kind of respect I have for Mother Nature and how much I appreciate the makings of Her. Even on the way from the pool to the MRT station, I was constantly looking up at the skies, and I saw some of the longest streaks of lightning in my entire life. They are the most beautiful too. It's the night when I have ever seen so many lightning streaks in my entire life as well.

There seems to be a record high of lightning and thunder last night, even though the rain has stopped. There was a report in the papers today that a certain area of Singapore was struck and the power supply was cut off. What a night to behold.

Conservationists and environmentalists have been called 'fools' and other names before. That's because they know how to appreciate the little things in life and hence work on their beliefs towards making the Earth a better place. They can observe, listen and smell the minutely conspicuous things around us which others have failed to do so. They can take pleasure in the simplest form of life around them. With that, I take my hat off them. I would hope to be hailed as one below their ranks one day, with no proper training though.


The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
~Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life, 1923


Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology.
~Alan M. Eddison

Check out the sole of the left shoe! 

My old pair of W716 which has served me well over the past 2.5 years. 

the soles of the shoes. :)