|
 | Mousey is on the Move!!! | Jun 30, 2005 |
Hello!!! and Welcome!! My thoughts, the sights, sounds and tastes of my travels for my family and friends to keep in touch with me. Drop me note and we'll catch up! |  | La Maddelena is small island north of Sardegna island. Our friend decided to have us stay overnight on the island. He loves the island and he has a friend there whom he would like us to meet. From my previous post, I did say that Garibaldi had a house on another smaller island off of La Maddelena which has just been turned into a museum. It seems that you could have just walked right in and looked at his him and his stuff as it was left without having to pay to get in. but now that it is a museum, they took away all his stuff and left the house almost empty. So, if you were to visit it today, it will most likely be just an empty shell of a home. All this I heard because we were there late and only did the island tour thing after dinner.
I found it strange that no one thought to do it before because he is Garibaldi after the all. The man who united Italy. The idea to change it into a museum came after the fact that 2011 was the 150th anniversary for the unity of the Republic of Italy by Garibaldi, the man himself!
When we arrived on the island, we made a beeline for the travel agent in the centre to pay for our tickets. Walked around a little more and I bought a horrible chicken nuggets snack because I was dying of hunger. Then we made our way to the hotel. When we got there, we found out that the hotel was still closed till 31st of March which was that day itself! It would open again for the summer literally tomorrow! What a laugh, I had! We then made our way back to the centre and checked out Excelsior Hotel. We got a very good deal too! A 4 star hotel at €85 a night with breakfast. If you want a seaview it would be €95 including breakfast. These are the rates now in March/April. In full summer season it might be vastly different. I suggest you double check before booking.
After freshening up, we headed straight out to dinner at a local restaurant. I totally forgot to get the name of the place. The food was amazing!! There was a mixed grill platter that was totally divine. There was a bacon like piece of meat, if I am not mistaken is pork, which was totally divine. I must have been tired because I can't remember any names nor to take any photos. I only took some of the food and just enjoyed the dinner. :P
After dinner, Saverio's friend took us on an island tour. I found out that La Maddalena is a Navy Cadet training centre. I saw quite a few smartly dressed Navy ladies and men making their way into town for the Saturday night. M was supposed to be here for his military service but somehow he managed to get himself posted to La Spezia which is so much nearer to home. He got to go home almost every night (with a lot of craftiness on his side) if not almost every weekend. After driving around for a while we went to search out wildlife. By that I mean, we went to look for the baby wild boars that roam the island. There were many rabbits too! So cute! Once hunting season was open and allowed on 1 side of the forest, it seems that the wild boars all moved to the other side of the forest. LOL!!! You can't say that they are stupid. :P
After all the adventure, we went to turn in for the night. Then I found out our high tech shower didn't have hot water. The reason? The boiler was down for the night. Had to wash my hair only the next day. Because the air conditioning system was "switching" between winter and summer, which just means it was down, we had to leave the window open for the night. Which also translates to no cold shower. I might just catch a very unwanted cold. I was too tired to fully blow dry my hair after the icy cold shower. I decided against it.
After a good night's sleep. We were refreshed for the next day. We had breakfast which was surprisingly good. They had ample selection though nothing like our Asian buffets. After breakfast, a little walk around the port which was right on the doorstep of the hotel. Watch our ferry come right into port. Then we were off again for the main Sardinian Island... :) |
| | Last weekend, the 30th of March till the the 1st of April, we mad a trip to Sardegna. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinia) I didn't know much of Sardegna before I went and I still don't but I look forward to more visits come summer.
It was my first trip and I was excited. Though in my previous post, I did say that we were doing a road trip on a bike but in the end we went in a car. Our travel partner decided to take his car instead of taking his mini truck/van so there was space for the 2 of us. Instead of riding the whole 140km to Porto Cervo, we decided to go all in one car.
That started our journey. We left when our travel partners arrived here in Genova (Genoa) from Torino (Turin) around 7.30 pm we made our towards the port for our 8.30pm, 12hr overnight ferry ride to Porta Torres, Sardegna. We got cabins for the night which was a lifesaver. We try to get cabins whenever we can so that we can have a good night's sleep, wash up, have a shower and go to the toilet when we want, and not worry about our belongings throughout the night. Of course, you can also just buy tickets for a passage way and sleep wherever you find a spot or bring along a sleeping bag and sleep along the corridors and passageways to save money. Like I said, we were lucky to get resident tickets so we paid less but one way is about €180 for a vehicle (ours was for a motorcycle of 300cc, so it was cheaper compared to a car) and for a 2 persons cabin with a window. Cheaper for if you asked for a windowless cabin.
We had dinner on board, which was not bad. I had worse food before. Then to pass some time we even went to the cinema on board and watched "Beastly" on the way there and on the way back we watched "Drive Angry". Both movies were something I probably would never have thought of watching of my own choice. Then went to bed and they woke us up an hour before we pulled into Porta Torres which was good. Normally they would wake us up 3 hours before and expect us to leave the cabins and then laze around till we arrive at port. We were told that the breakfast on board sucks big time so we decided to have breakfast in Porta Torres.
We went into a pasticerria cafe and had amazing pastry with coffee. I didn't take a photo of that though. However, someone there recommended that we try an Sardinian Easter only pastry made of cheese called formagella. So cute, cause the name actually tells you that it is made with cheese (formaggio) :) I had the first chance I got and it is GOOD!!
Then we made our way toward Porto Cervo. The reason for this trip was to scout for a shop space for this summer. So we made our way straight to Promenade Du Port at Porto Cervo. A little walking around, scouting, talking, a lot of agents later we stopped for lunch. I had a yummy pasta a Baggarta (not sure if I remember the spelling correctly) but it a type of fish. A strawberry with cream dessert and not forget a speciality bread of Sardegna. Almost like a roti tisu from our mamaks drizzled with olive oil. Very addictive and dangerous cause you don't feel like you are eating bread!
After more talking and more agents, shop hunting and house hunting, we made our way to Palau to take the ferry over to La Maddalena island for the night. The island is also very near where Garibaldi has an island, where he lived and died and his house is now a museum. La Maddelena is for the next post. :) |
Link Very interesting list. I have to continue my exercise, Nu Skin Galvanic spa, training my brain and do all the rest. Because I want to age gracefully!!   | | The title in itself is really self explanatory. This is a post I have been meaning to write for quite some time already but never got round to doing it. Also because I have to sift through a lot of photos and determine whether I want to translate or not the huge amount of magazine write up about this adventure. In the end, I have decided on my version on events.
All this madness started last year in March when my husband had the bright idea to enter a rally. He called a friend up at 10pm and told him why don't we enter the Pharoans rally with vespas, something a French team did 30 years ago with vespas but in the famous Paris-Dakar cross country rally which by the way, they didn't finish. His friend thought he was just joking, said good night and slept on it. The next day, he called back and said yeah, why not? So there begins the adventure of a lifetime. This friend Andrea (A, for future short reference like M for Marcello my husband the other mad hatter in this adventure) said he knew the organiser who is a friend of his and will broach this idea to him. He spoke to them, the were interested and arrangements were made to find the vespas, get sponsors and get things rolling.
A lot of searching and researching went into getting the right vespas, the amazing sponsors and all the work in transforming a road vespa for the deserts of Egypt. May rolled by and they were fully signed up and finally they found the vespas. They decided on the new PX 150 commemorative vespas that PIaggio has decided to relaunch back in 2010 for the 150 years of the Italian Republic. A lot of haggling and back and forth and finally in August the got their 2nd vespa. They each bought their own. M was the first to get his so he has already set about transforming them and testing them to my chagrin. He wanted me to ride it around town, back home and every chance he gets he wants to "test" it out. I hated it. They had special exhaust pipes made and they were NOISY! I hated having to ride that especially when I was going home at 10+ and waking up the entire neighbourhood. Thank goodness, I could avoid that by just giving him the obligatory pleasure of seeing me on this vespa doing a few spins round the office.
August came, and he got the vespa down to Calabria with us for our summer holidays. I'll give you one guess what he wanted to do there. He tested them out evening after evening on the sand dunes of the beach. Of course at the secluded areas while I photographed him and our mechanic listened and watched out for what needs to be done or repaired or made better. In the evenings, his engine an exhaust is so loud you can hear him roaring away announcing his arrival. All this preparation did not prepare him enough for what was to come.
September rolled in and the preparation kicked into high gear. They had to send the vespas with the van to the Venice port by the 19th of September to be shipped to Egypt. They themselves arrived in Cairo on the 30th and prepared to collect their vespas and van from the Alexandria port and bring them back to Cairo. In this entire adventure, they had 2 highly qualified mechanics who know vespas inside out and they are Salvatore (Salva) our own mechanic extraordinaire, he works for us and Stefano (Ste) a friend who also loves vespas.
1st of October marked the first day of the adventure. All the competitors have to take their bikes, cars, quads and trucks in for inspection and to be fitted with the road map, GPS signaling and tracking system. Instantly, our Team Vespa ai Faraoni captured the attention of all present. While being surrounded by the huge ass motorcycles, their was like a midget among beasts. Rows after row of 400cc and above BMWs, KTMs, Hondas, etc...and THEN there are 2 vespas. :)
No one expected them to finish the race. In fact no one thought that they could even last 1 day but finish the race they did!! They came in last but out of over 96 motorcycles, (the others, cars, quads and trucks are all in their own categories) only 52 finish the race and no. 51 and 52 are our 2 riders!! Whoot!! *puffs up chest* I am the proud wife. :D The rest didn't finish because they either got lost in the desert, got hurt really badly or their motorcycles gave out on them and they have to step down.
The guys did 6 days of almost 1800km in the desert out of the 2000+km because there were certain terrains that the vespa could not do and got penalised. But even with the penalisation they finished the reace!! You can get a better picture of their adventure on the Pharoans Rally official site. http://www.pharaonsrally.com/en/. You can see them in the 1st and 4th videos and a few others. We also have a video of all the press coverage and interviews done by them. I might upload it later but it is all in Italian so not much use to non-Italian speakers. Do you want to see them? We also have our own site but again in Italian. http://www.raidvespefaraoni.it.
The guys had so much fun and acquired some diarrhea along the way. Salva and Ste worked throughout the night every night to repair and put the vespas back on the road. A & M rode tirelessly 9-12 hours a day just to finish the race everyday going the max 60km/h. Only once in 6 days did they need to be towed back to camp while only 2 kms away from check point.
I couldn't join M for this adventure this time round but he is already preparing for the Africa race next year. And for that race I intent to be there in the driver's seat of the 4x4 following the team!! So watch out for their next adventure.
Enjoy the photos! |
| | Two weekends ago, we had to make a last minute trip to Barcelona. It was only for a night so it was a whirlwind trip. Our adventure started early Sunday morning. Half asleep but ever watchful for the bad weather that we might encounter on the way Malpensa, we made our way slowly. We got there around 1pm and made our way to our hotel NH Constanza which I thought was the best choice as it was connected to a shopping complex. BUT.....I forgot, we were in Spain after all, it closes on Sunday. I chose this hotel for M, Mr. Ants-in-the-pants. But in the end it turned out for the better.
Because of this, we got ourselves a cab and asked him if there were any shopping complexes open on a Sunday. He drove us to La Rambla Del Mar. Beautiful area, it was on the marina with boats and yatchs docked. Right in front of the entrance was a beautiful bridge. It was quite a nice place. But we wanted to just pass some time so we walked around a little aimlessly till my stomach hinted to me and I growled to M that I was hungry and it was to search for food. A hungry Ann is not a happy Ann. :P
We made our across the bridge ignoring the few nice looking restaurants along the marina because M wanted to go to La Rambla. Bleh....I was hungry...but lucky for him it was just across the road and we found a place immediately. The food was not bad.
Then came the highlight! We were trying to walk off our dinner and get some souvenir for our niece and nephew when we stumbled upon Escriba! What caught my eye was the shoes on display. They were so beautiful and they are made of chocolate!!! Though I am not a huge fan of chocolate, at that moment, I wanted some. The shop looked beautiful even from the outside. On another of their windows they had jewellery made out of chocolate and candy.
I just HAD to walk in. I practically dragged M in and said I change my mind about dessert. I want dessert here. Went in and stared at the display and decided that the cheesecake was calling for me. hehehehe! I was sooooooo good! I miss cheesecakes. I can't find them in Genova or I just haven't found them. If anyone knows where I can find some drop me message. Please....thank you!
ahh.....my evening was done. All wrapped up in a bow. After that we went back to the hotel and snoozed away. I spent the rest of the next day in bed except for the breakfast wake up call by M till our meeting at 4pm. Right after the meeting we flew back.
The worst part of the trip was the freaking airport that EasyJet operated from. The whole airport, I think it is terminal 2 sucks! They have ONLY 1 cafe and they monopolise everything. We got 2 baguette sandwiches with ham possibly Serrano ham, it costs €7 per baguette. If that is not a rip off, I don't know what is. M bought another later on it was like €4 with a different type of ham. If I can avoid Barcelona's Terminal 2 I will. Like a plague! I don't recommend it. If you are ever there, don't make the same mistake we did. We thought there would be restaurants there. We were wrong. We should have eaten a nice dinner outside before. Plus there was nothing to do there, so we wasted 3 hours. I have my books with me always but for M it was torture.
Escriba has their website!!! whoot!! http://www.escriba.es/ Check them out! They have such a cool site. I wish I knew about them when I was getting married, then I could have gotten a really out of this world cake and not a traditional Italian cake which I still had to fight the chef for.
Besides dissing, as they say in America, the airport I wanted to gush about Escriba. Too bad I didn't get more photos, especially of the jewellery they made. Next time, I will definitely make a beeline for Escriba when I am in Barcelona. If any of you are in Barcelona, try it and let me know what you think.
Toodeloos!! |
Hi All!!! Mouseytong has a 2nd Home!! An update from my last blog post. I have created a new blog at WordPress. Come visit me at www.mouseytong.com. No worries I won't be abandoning Multiply. I like how Multiply keeps my photoblogs. Something I don't find anywhere else. I am a lazy blogger but this year I told myself I would be a better blogger and twitter-er if there is a word. I am on Twitter too! @mouseytong if you are interested. With iconic Milo as my profile picture.  So see you guys around!! Or rather to change or not to change. It is not the first time but my mum called me the other day to tell me that she couldn't access my blog post. It always happens to her. She being a tech moron way worse than I, I naturally said "did you click on the link in your email or maybe your office's internet connection sucks!". Proceeding to laugh at her predicament. What is interesting though is that she actually signed up for Multiply too. Something I didn't think she could have done on her own. Now the scary part is that she reads my blog! Well, she attempts to at least. :P After numerous similar encounters with other friends (making myself sound so popular...self praise...bangga!) I am pondering the idea to switch my blog to either Blogger or Wordpress. What'ca think? I am a little reluctant to leave Multiply completely because I like how they intergrate my photo albums with my lengthy ramblings. But I also want my Twitter to be connected which can't be done yet. I am thinking that i should do some cross posting when posting photo albums and blog entirely on my new blog platform. Sounds good? Now, what is left is just to decide between the 2 and decide how I want it to look and feel. Look out for it! Ok. Got to go. Boarding NOW! :) Sorry if I have been confusing you with the different backgrounds and layout each time you "drop by". Actually how may of you do drop by I wonder. Since the last blog was decided more than a year ago, I decided it was time for a new look. Started browsing around what was available cause I am a tech moron and can't make my own page layout, I found an interesting animated hummingbird theme. It looked nice when I clicked on the preview. After I decided on it, I went back to view my site again. While scrolling down, I got a huge shock of my life when the video post window was the size of my entire screen. I have a 21" screen in the office and I went literally "what the f*@k!". It was so in my face!!  But....I thought "I like the background and everything else. Maybe I should sleep on it and decide later". Which I did. Each time I looked at the page, I felt something is not right. Again, I went on a search for a new theme background. after browsing and browsing, I finally ended up with the tree branch thingy. It looked nice. Just a little narrow but nice. THEN.......I got a reply on one of my old photoblog post. I went back to look at it and immediately I hated the way the post was laid out.  Now, I am on a quest for another background theme. I have settled for the moment on this gray metallic looking one. Not o happy with it. Note to self: get your ass out there and learn some CSS or html or whatever it is that you need to make your own site. Sigh...I am a tech moron. Can anyone help me speed the learning process? Any zapping things to fill my head instantly with all that knowledge? It sounds so daunting I dare not start. I guess it is all in the mind, right? It is a matter of mind over matter. I tell people is is easy to crochet! No problem to sew this or that. I can't make clothes though as I can't measure. I have been taught but for the life of me my sieve-like mind retains nada. I knitted a sweater once and that was the extend of my clothes making. Even that had to be re-knitted by the pros after I was done with it. *shy* ok, enough of my incompetence. Anyone willing to teach a sieve minded tech moron how to do some CSS or web whatever. See, I don't even know the proper term! I am so screwed! Wait...whoever wants to teach me, they are the ones who are....ahem..ahem...mind my language. I wish them all the best! Do teach me anyway...please! pretty pretty please.......  This song popped into my head when I was reading a friend's blog. Somehow reading her blog makes me happy, motivated and definitely interested in the world around me. I suck at googling, so after several (in actuality a full 30 mins. I told you I suck at it) dismal attempts at searching for the lyrics of this song by the Carpenters, I called in for help. My sis came to the rescue. Oh, what would I do without you, my darling, my light and my soul!!
Everyone, this song makes me happy and this is how I feel now! Is there a dancing icon??? hmmm...ok my tech moron side has just come out to play...
Such a feeling's coming over me,
There is wonder in most everything I see
Not a cloud in the sky
Got the sun in my eye
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream
Everything I want the world to be
Is now coming true especially for me
And the reason is clear
It's because you are here
You're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen
I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love I've found ever since you've been around
Your love's put me at the top of the world
Something in the wind has learned my name
And it's telling me that things are not the same
In the leaves of the trees and the touch of the breeze
There's a pleasant sense of happiness for me
There is only one wish on my mind
When this day is through I hope that I would find
That tomorrow would be just the same for you and me
All I need would be mine if you are here
I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love I've found ever since you've been around
Your love's put me at the top of the world
 It is snowing as predicted. More than Sunday. If it is snowing here like this it means that further north and in the mountains it is going to be really bad weather. I am enjoying the snow though. Maybe because I am "siao Ku" being from a perpetually warm country. I do however appreciate the fact that I live in Genoa and not in Turin or Milan or other cold cities. It has been snowing since this morning and no signs of letting up. Not going to work so I am at home warm and cosy catching up on the new BBC's Sherlock. Which by the way is really good! First time blogging from my mobile. Can't wait to check it out later on the com. Toodeloos!  I have been in Italy for almost 6 years. After this year, it would be longest I have lived in another country other than my own, Malaysia. Why am I reminiscing about this? Well, since I have been "back" on the blogging scene (meaning just stalking others' blogs) I was hooked on one particular blogger. An American-Japanese lady who got married to a Japanese and has been living in her adopted country for 33 years! I have been reading her blog and going backward and realised how good funny she is and how good she is in explaining the differences in cultures, ideas, thinking of the Japanese people and Americans. She even blogs about the heated toilet seats and how her son was surprised that it is only a phenomenon found in Japan when he went over to the US to study. LOL!!
Makes me feel so lacking in my blogging. Though it gives me a idea of what I should blog about from time to time besides the places and the food. I encounter the differences in cultures and views everyday with my colleagues and in-laws. I do get irritated some times when they imply that in my country (Malaysia) we let our kids run wild while here they keep a hawk-eye over them here. This came about when we discussed about our niece's inability to get into her own swimsuit without help at 9 years old! Which she always pipes that she is a big girl now. This was because my SIL might have to work in the afternoons and won't be able to take her daughter for her swimming lessons. So, she said that FIL could bring her there but after that she said on second thoughts maybe not. My niece panicked when her card didn't work at the turnstile and she couldn't change on her own which is where my FIL is not allowed into the ladies dressing room. That was how the discussion started. I found that ridiculous. Why couldn't she get into a swimsuit on her own? She is 9 after all.
Then, Tanya's blog shows me how independence is really taught and Italians in my view, smother their kids. I might get a backlash for this but this is really what I think. The Japanese kids were taught to sharpen their pencils with a penknife at 4/5, taught to serve hot soup to their fellow classmates and even carry a tray full of food with hot soup to the principal's office for lunch at 4/5 years old!
But all this will fall on deaf ears with my in-laws. Another beef I had with them was about Milo. My poor darling has been scratching like mad almost the whole of last year. I spoke to some pet shop sales person in Malaysia and they told me that it is probably food allergy. Very common for pure breds and especially Frenchies. Usually it is chicken. Since my MIL feeds both chicken and beef to him. I told her we should eliminate both for a month to determine what he is allergic to. She kept insisting that she doesn't feed him meat and he won't eat anything else. She cooks specially for him if he snubs any food she puts in his bowl. He doesn't do it with me because I have to break his habit each time he come back here and I only have dry food for him. She also says this is the most troublesome dog she has had and she knows how to take care of dogs as she had them before. All in all, I had more dogs in my short life than she did but of course I am not going to say that to her.
So in the end we couldn't stop Milo's itching nor figure out what he was allergic to till we got a vet to tell it to her face that she has to stop giving him meat cause he is allergic to it. Can you imagine how I felt? I wanted to much to gloat and and say, "I told you so". I did do that to M. hahahaha!!
She knows how I feel and I am not about to complain and insist too much since Milo stays with her and it is only right that she takes care of him how she sees fit. I love her! She is great and I am lucky to have great in-laws. My disclaimer sentence. hehehehehe!! But I really do love them and am very thankful for them!
Just a random picture to start the post and to make me feel all gooey and relaxed. Friday is on us again. Actually it is already winding down. It is the weekend!! Here I go again...because I have been meaning to blog more. I have so many blog posts all in my head. I compose one almost every night and then.....I get distracted...by....others' blogs. I know...I am shameless that way. But..they always seems to have more interesting lives and they write so well that most of them make me laugh out loud. Ok, I am reminded by my darling sis, that I do have interesting parts t my life too. Then, I realise, it is just my own lazy ass that stops me from blogging about them. Hahahaha!!!! Such irony.
Had a very good evening yesterday at a friend's birthday bash at Tao's. Dinner was Japanese from one of the best Japanese restaurants in town and this magical place becomes a damn crowded disco after 11pm. Been there are few times and yesterday was the best night. The other times were REALLY boring! Maybe it was the crowd or maybe I had quite a few drinks already, making me all happy and chirpy. Most probably the latter. LOL!!!
Things are looking up for us in this early month of 2012 and I am glad. Though I should be more reserved as it looked promising when we went into 2011 but it progressed painfully. What is important was we survived. So, for now my usual warning to every new year... "2012 be good!" May the Dragon be the final straw that breaks this economic crisis' back!!!
It is really interesting to see how small and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. Maybe we shouldn't worry so much of trivial matters where worrying will not help.
Beautiful video to help keep things in perspective. At least for me.
I can't sleep. Then I started to compose this in my head. Which in turn is actually keeping awake. Vicious cycle they call it. So I better pen this down and see what happens next. Will sleep waft over me immediately after this? Who knows.
It was in September last year just before M was shipping his vespa out to the deserts of Cairo for the Pharaons Rally, we were gathering at his rally partner's place in Turin to go over the final details of their upcoming adventure, that I saw those books. While wandering around his home, a warehouse/loft like living space, gawking at his antiques and other collections, I chanced upon a row of books on the windowsill. They look totally forlorn and covered with years of dust and dirt. Some edges were yellowed by signs of water damage. They look old. They had those olden binding. I didn't think much of them but since I love books I decided to have a look at them. Who knows what treasures I might find. And, treasures they were indeed.
I thought that those books could be new and of no value seeing that they were just left there to rot. You know how some books now have been purposely binded the old way to give them an antique feel. Boy, was I wrong! I skimmed their titles and immediately I recognised them. Victor Hugo's Les Miserable was among them. So I pried it away from the rest, careful not to destroy the other books as they were all stuck together from the water damage and sun. Started flipping through it an realised that it is in old Italian which is much like Shakespear's English. Though I understood a little, it was still hard to read. old Italian had words and spellings that i could not recognise.
Out of curiosity, I started to look for where it was printed, it's printing company and in which year. Flip, flip, flip....and I gasped! Blardy hell!!! Excuse my French here. It was freaking printed in 1879. This was my first time holding a 100+ year old book. At least to my present knowledge. Besides the sun and water damage, it was still in good condition. No pages falling out. Binding was still intact. It broke my heart though, to see it languishing away on that windowsill with its other contemporaries.
Then, I told my friend, "do you know that these books you have here are really old and quite rare?" his answer? "yeah, I know. I have many more at home." I asked whether he intended to leave them as they are? Yup, he says. Arrggghhh....!!!! such agony. :(
I wish I could bring them home with me. I may never read them but I think I might treat them better. Possibly not like any museum but better. I wished, I had the courage to ask for them. :P Do you think he would give them to me? He has many more and a whole lot more of antiques. He might not miss them, will he?
A strange thing happened today while I was running on the treadmill. While I was happily running, i decided to up my running pace to 10. 200 meters into the run (this is after 3.2 km on 8.5 pace) the whole treadmill just died on me!! Was it strange to change my pace midway?? I just stopped dead! Luckily, I didn't fall flat on my face considering I was so into the run. :P I could get it to start up again either. No buttons functioned. After a while it switched itself off. Did I put it under too much stress?? Is there even such a thing? Or maybe it is time to change the machine. LOL!!! Yes, yes, I know. You guys are probably wondering, "Eh, she is running??" I wonder that myself too. So far I have been quite consistent. Every 2 days I run about 4kms and then some weight training. Strange for me but I am doing it. I think I will do better running outside instead of in but since it is winter now, the cold wind gives me a headache when I perspire. It freezes my head. Much like a cold drink giving me brain freeze. I do have those beanie things but I do sweat buckets, literally, so after a while those beanie things gets all soaked up too. Then it feels like ice on my head. I am half afraid of even writing this here. I might just falter and go back to my lazy self. This time I have a motivator. I made her a promise and so far I am keeping to it. This is like my way out, finger crossed behind my back thingy, if I don't keep it. I hope I do. Not by anyone, just by myself. 2011 was busy and hectic and I refuse to blog about how it went.
There were memorable times that did not make 2011 all bad. My most important people are all safe and healthy and that is what that matters.
Which is how I feel. I have wrote and re-wrote this entry a hundred times in my head and about 5 times on this page. Just starting this entry took 3% of my battery power. :P
What made me finally put my thoughts onto paper (figuritively speaking, of course) was a phone call from a friend. We spoke for more than an hour, and with her infectious laugh, she managed to inspire and remind me of my initial plans for myself for this year. Something I have been working on for some time and hopefully will see it bear fruit this year.
Inspiration aside, I have been trying to figure out the reason for my uneasiness or tension. I noticed this because I have to consciously tell myself to unclench my teeth every so often that my jaws hurt even I get up in the morning after a good night's rest. I must have spent the night grinding my teeth to its roots. It couldn't have been that restful if I was clenching a grinding my teeth. Even when I chew I have to remind myself to relax. I feel like I trying to gnaw my way through an imaginary bone of a problem but not getting anywhere.
In fact, I am doing it right now. Relax......
It is 4 am. I am hungry. I should get some sleep.
My mind is so disconnected, I wonder how I functioned in the day?
I think that I am not meant to post anything on my blog. This entry was started yesterday the 24th of Jan and now I have decided that I shall try writing it in word and copy paste it to the blog later. Hopefully it works. My adventure for this post went like this. I signed in and got the photo I wanted to start the post with, and just as I was about to type Safari decided to “quit unexpectedly” as they always do. Fine! SO, I started it up again and then the auto updater flashes to tell me about new updates. Scanned through them and decided, well, maybe I should just update these few items. Next comes the flashing that says, “need to restart to start update” …I said ok. Left them com, went to get myself a cup of coffee. Wandered around a bit and came back. And again, just as I have just chosen the photo, started to write, the phone starts ringing. M : “Come for dinner!” Me: “For the umpteenth time…NO! I don’t want to.” M: “No…come. You don’t have to cook later. I want you to come.” (repeat the above a few times) Me: “aarrrggghhhhh…….OK! you won’t leave me alone anyway, right?” M: “hehehehehe…no. Come now. We are at Folcone.” Me: “Sigh…ok. Coming.” That was how my attempt to post an entry ended yesterday. I shall try to post another post later. Something I had in mind earlier. 
After being MIA for more than 2 months, I am marking my comeback with an utterly mundane post about my nails. This was Anna's design for me. A little cobweb Halloween inspired nail airt. I know..we were way beyond Halloween by then but who cares!! They look nice!
I will try to fill in the gaps in the next few days but don't keep your hopes up. I am lazy that way. The new year has come and it has not made me any less lazy than I was before. What to do! :P
I have been busy with year end work and finishing hand made Christmas presents. Between work, travel, knitting and crochet-ing for the mad rush of Christmas and New Years, I had utterly no desire to update my blog. The thought of organising my thoughts and writing them down into a few coherent paragraphs was too much to bear. So silence is golden.
Welcome 2011!! No grand resolutions and wishes. Just a hope that the worst has gone and the new year brings with it great news, new beginings and good health, great wealth and amazing success and prosperity. One can hope, can't they? :)
 | Guestbook | |
|
