fruchee

A week to be proud of!

It was a week of good deeds and achievements... 

On Wednesday evening, I helped MH and her 2 roommates move their stuff to their new rented apartment... There were quite a few heavy and bulky baggages, and I perspired alot, but it was worth the effort... It's not easy for a girl to leave her home at a young age and cope with the expenses of living while coping with studies, and have to rent a room with 2 other girls... You can't help but admire them for doing that for almost 3 years!

And it was pretty heart warming to see how the new landlord treating them like her own grandchildren... Even though MH could not understand Hokkien, the landlord still held her hand and tried to talk to her in a mix of Chinese and Hokkien (",) The previous landlord was a nice lady too, because she had helped them wash their clothes and cook for them occasionally!

Standard Chartered Half Marathon...

It was rather hard to believe that I managed to complete the whole journey when I was struggling to complete even 8 km last Sunday! Jason's (my Department's Unit Manager) advice was indeed useful! I bought a power bar and GU2O powder from GNC (and registered as a member) and ate the bar before my run... Amazingly, I can complete 10km at a comfortable pace in under 63 minutes even though I walked from the 9th-10th km in order to avoid stitch after indulging at the water point (",)

It became progressively harder towards the end though... Before reaching the 16km mark my left calf was cramping and I have no choice but to continue walking... Just when I was clearing my 18th km my right thigh and calf went cramping together! I told myself that even if I'm incapable of running back, I have to walk back! Before the last 300m, I stopped now and then to do some stretching before jogging myself back to the finish point (no choice, must look nice for photo shot mah! =P) 

There was a slight surge of emotions after the run, because I have completed 21.1km for the 2nd time in my life! Although my timing wasn't as good as my previous attempt, I know that nothing else matters so long as I did not give up =)

I am going to sign up for the marathon again next year... I may not be capable of completing 42km but I should be at least joining the 21km run again!

Nice gathering with JX and MC today too! My 2 BMT buddies had completed 42 km and they were still suffering from slight cramps even when we meet up after the run! Really have to salute them!

May the next week be even better!

My Week...

Actually, I should have done a few entries but everyday after I come from work, it was either too late or I'm just too plain tired to remind myself to blog... This was what happened to my week so far:

Tuesday - KTV cum YL's birthday celebration with my intern friends! It was a very fun evening indeed, we sang/shouted/screamed during singing and on top of that, XZ bought a Belgian Chocolate cake and KW made a photo album with the photos we took and our birthday greetings for YL... So at the end of the day we all had sore throat and tired...

Wednesday - Had a meeting for our group presentation before the end of our internship.... And as if there's not enough chocolates, we went for a chocolate shopping spree after lunch because there are vendors from outside selling chocolates... I bought a can of macadamia nuts and a Remy Martin Milk Chocolate bar, and of course some of my friends and colleagues bought even more chocolates than me! Have to thank Mabel for the Rum and Raisin chocolate, KW for her seashell chocolates and last but not least, to MH for the mint sweets though it was not bought from the stall =)

Thursday and Friday - Nothing much going on, but I have been chatting on the company's MSN while doing work =P

Today - Going to watch Dim Sum Dollies tonight, and I won't forget the timing and location!!

Sunday - Going for Uncle Elsen baby's full month celebration, eh but I really forgot the timing and location!! Just smsed Uncle Joseph for help!

Time really flies...

It seem only recently that we interns were recruited into MSD... But 20 weeks of internship had already went past! It's seems kind of ironic that everyday passes, and yet each week passes by so quickly.... Officially, our internship will end in another 4 weeks time, but I have already made up my mind to extend my internship, hopefully to just before my next semester.... Wonder how I'll feel during the very last day of my extension though...

Hit the target!

I clocked 59 min 47 seconds in my 10km run (continuous, except for a small distance in which I have to keep my mp3 player after the battery went flat) yesterday.... To me it wasn't a bad run (considering I have struggled to complete even 5 km without walking for the past few runs)... But the chicken murtabak I had after the run was ultra sinful!!

Ok, shall stay focused on my training in the hope that I can

1. Finish 21km without giving up;
2. Lose some weight and narrow down my waistline!

Oh Yes!!!!

I just realised that I get to the car on the big day (Standard Chartered Marathon) because my sis will be in Laos from 27th Nov - 12th Dec!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I'm Back!!!

Yes, I am back by popular demand (actually it was just Chris, one person only!)... But ok, maybe there are other friends who have also persuaded me to continue haha!! Anywayz... Here was what happened during the past 3 months (nothing much happened though):

1. I have made alot of friends in MSD;
2. I went for 2 KTV sessions with my IA friends (3rd one coming soon!);
3. I have dyed my hair;
4. I went for my company's D&D... It was a super fun event!

And we took alot of photos! I am not going to blog about it because "a picture spells a thousand words"... You can see how much we enjoyed the event from the smiles we had during the night! If you are interested to look at the photos, feel free to drop a comment and your email so I can send you an invitation!

I hope I can finish 10km without stopping tonight... It's just 3 more weeks to Standard Chartered Half Marathon!!

New Balance Real Run Completed!! Wooooo!!!

After weeks of intensive training, I am proud to say that I have completed the 10km challenge!! And I'm even prouder to say that at the time I signed up for the run about a month ago(thanks to the psycho-ings from Ryan and XZ), I struggled to even complete 3 km! It's by no means easy to increase your running distance by 1-2km everytime you train, but everything's worth it because I feel sportier, healthier, fitter and more tanned... Totally different from the time when I was deprived of sports activities during my FYP(sportier lazier, UNhealthier, fitter fatter and more less tanned)... I am now eagerly waiting for my cert to be printed out so that I will know how long I took to complete the run ('',)

And yesterday was a super siong day! After the 10km run, I went for lunch/chill out with XZ while waiting for her friends (SL and Jane) to join us for a roller blading session... Yes we were crazy, cos we bladed for about 12km (2 x the distance from Fort Road to Bedok Jetty)!! We started out at Marine Cove, went all the way to Bedok Jetty and rested for a while, and went all the way to Fort Road before heading back to Marine Cove... SL was slower so she made her way to the hawker centre first while Jane was too fast and was well heading back to the hawker centre before XZ and I can reach Fort Road! The pain was really setting in after we U-turned at Fort Road and I'm beginning to blade like a beginner, wasting more energy to glide struggle my way back to Marine Cove. Lucky XZ saved me us from walking to the hawker centre and we ate at Marine Cove instead, before my sister came and drove us home... Phew! Siong but shiok day hooooooo!!!

The Next Ultimate Challenge: Standard Chartered Run?

Just when leg exercise is the very last thing I need now, Ryan dropped the bombshell today... He suggested we go join the 21km run! Another series of siong trainings coming up? I'll think about it! 

Siong and siow? Is it worth waking up super early again to go for another long distance run?  Is it worth the effort to regain my tanned looks, fitness and slim down? LET ME THINK ABOUT IT!!

At last, 2nd ICT down!

Ironically, it was my slackest week in June! It was damn stressful on the night before I have to report to camp because I have to submit my updated my updated thesis to my project supervisors as well as going for haircut, while thinking about having to wake up early in the morning to pack my stuff...

Thankfully this time, the low key training wasn't as siong as I thought it would be... Unlike the first low key ICT, when we have to "wait to rush, rush to wait" and getting tormented by our trainers (who happened to be cmi Lieutenant regulars who are destinied to hengtak taki), this ICT was essentially body maintenance, having naps and canteen breaks etc. There was even a combat shoot in which a detail can get marksmanship (and $200 each) if they can hit 144 targets out of 180 rounds in total. 

Coupled with my NS pay of $118 and my winnings from Singapore Pools, I pocketed almost $400 in the slackest week of June yay!

Talking about the World Cup, I think past results between 2 teams really play a significant part apart from their current form and the players they have. I'm not joking, just bet on England and Sweden draw, France and Switzerland draw and Holland failing to beat Portugal will win you some extra allowance. But it would be totally foolish to throw your bets on your teams without doing some homework, that is to look at their current form, injuries, world cup history and, for Togo's case, team unity. Looking at the wage dispute in Togo's national team, it's not surprising to earn some allowance by betting on them to lose all their matches. If you look at form, betting on Ivory Coast, Ghana and Ukraine to win their final group matches are clever moves especially when the odds offered for them to win are pretty high (1.92, 2.00 and 1.57 respectively). As for world Cup history, never bet on teams like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia to win... Other than Iran's 1998 win over USA, I couldn't really recall when was the last time they won a world cup match.

I'm happy to say that after losing money over Germany, Italy and Czech Republic on half goals against Poland, USA and Czech Republic respectively, I have won all my 9 bets on win/lose/draw, including last night's England to win and Ecuador +1.5, reaping in a profit of $60 (all my bets are $10 or $5) over the last week, and overturning my defecit of $10.30 to a net gain of $49.90 in process... Perhaps it's a reward for me for having to go back for reservist when I was so busy haha!!

Finally, here's my prediction for the upcoming matches:

Italy to win Australia 2-0. (Can bet on Italy win, but half goals on Italy will be a bit risky)

Spain and France to draw.

England and Portugal to draw, and Portugal to advance to the semi-finals (for 2 reasons: England is really unconvincing, and history favours Portugal, just like how history favours Portugal so much more than Holland!!!).

Germany and Argentina to draw, but Germany will go through (sorry Argentina, you may be one of the best teams so far but Germany has home ground advantage).

Brazil to go through, Ghana to go home... No comments.

Switzerland vs Ukraine... A close call but I think the Swiss can get into the quarter-finals.

Best bet:

England and Portugal to draw in the quarter finals.

A real big surprise...

I couldn't sleep well last night. Perhaps it is right to say that the results of the final 2 semesters won't help much in improving my CAP score, and hence a better grade of Honours degree, but I still yearn for a good result. Waking up every 10 minutes from 8am onwards isn't really an enjoyable experience.

For the 4 modules that were graded, 3 of them were within expectation, but the paper I thought I'll fare worst turn out to be my best module.

It was a good surprise after all =)

So near yet so far...


Thierry Henry and Arsene Wenger: Their expression tells everything.

That was the sad story of Arsenal in Paris last night. They biggest prize in Europe eludes them again but I’m really proud of the team for putting up a heroic fight. Down to 10 men with 72 minutes to go, they showed their fighting spirit instead of giving up and even stole a lead for almost 40 minutes. Obviously, such a feat against a team with the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Deco and Ronaldinho is not easy. Many teams would have been slaughtered long before the match ends. Arsenal was defeated by, credit to Barcelona, a class team and fatigue. Things might have turned out so differently if they could play with 11 men for 90 minutes.

I am lying if I say I’m not disappointed. Like most Arsenal fans, I would love to see Thierry Henry lift the Champions League Trophy and show the world that they, as one of the best teams in Europe, deserve to win the biggest prize in Europe. It’s just a great pity that such a great team never have the chance to win the tournament before. On the overall picture, I guess Arsenal have overachieved in what has been speculated as a “transition season”.

 

While finishing 4^th is not a very proud achievement in the Premiership, given that they have not finished lower than 2^nd place in every full season when Arsene Wenger is in charge, it was commendable given that Patrick Vieira was sold and Francesc Fabregas, at only 18, had groomed to become a world class midfielder. At least, they qualified for Champions League next season.

 

In their best ever Champions League campaign, they are the best English team. Who would have expected them to brush aside Real Madrid and Juventus and progress to their first ever semi-finals? And they did one better by beating Villareal for a place in Paris. It is just too bad that they couldn’t win in the end when they were just 14 minutes away from glory. 995 minutes of clean sheet is no joke.

 
Next season, they will definitely do better in the Premier League. As for the Champions League, they are capable of winning it if they continue to play like this season and, have a bit of luck. Now that Thierry Henry has pledged his future to Arsenal, it looks like Arsenal may not be the loser after all.

A Proud Moment for Arsenal Fans....



UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Villareal 0 Arsenal 0.

Arsenal win 1-0 on aggregate.



Magnificient Lehmann saved a 90th minute penalty from Riquelme.

10 consecutive clean sheets, 15 hours without conceding a goal. New Champions League Record. 



A good 10th anniversary for Arsene Wenger and the perfect farewell gift for Bergkamp.

The last tribute to Highbury and the first tribute to Emirates Stadium.

The final push for their first ever Champions League Trophy. 



Make it a magnificient 11 Arsenal! See you in Paris!