Schmerk.

So it's my first day back at work since the week-long hiatus as a result of my wisdom tooth extraction, and one gloomy non-gluttony Christmas.

It's 720pm and I'm still at work.

My mouth is still hurting - still at that same level of pain (not subtle enough to ignore, not over-whelming enough to write home about).

I had porridge for lunch, and bought some curry tapioca chips from the man who parks his van opposite Amoy market. I know I really shouldn't be having spicy or crunchy food at this juncture, but I couldn't help it.

And it was so yummy.

Before I knew it, half the bag was gone and I was left with a still throbbing left cheek. I can't decide if it's throbbing more after the chips, or if it's still the same.

I just want to go home.

Traffic Jam.

I think I spoke too soon when I said I was on the road to recovery. I'm not even in the slow lane - or maybe I am, and there's just a horrid horrid jam causing traffic to come to a complete standstill. In fact, I think I might even have rewound and backed up a little.

My cheek is still swollen like a puffer fish. I've developed an ulcer under my tongue. And the side of my face is bruised.

Beat that.

So how do I want to spend the last minute of 2008 ?
Hmm. Let me see.

Getting well perhaps !?
Or just with my boo.

There's been an almost constant pain in my face the past couple of days. It's the so-annoying-but-I-can't-quite-put-my-finger-on-where-it's-coming-from type of pain. Not throbbing enough to make you go ouch and cry. But yet not subtle enough to ignore.

*bawls*

And there's work tomorrow.

Woe.

On the mend.

Happy to report that it's Boxing Day, aka day 5 post-surgery and I'm still in one piece. By that I mean something yellow and gross hasn't exploded out of the side of my cheek like a scene out of Aliens (except it's my cheek instead of my tummy).

Aside from the queasy tummy - Christmas Dinner last night at my colleague's place (I've been on a steady diet of porridge since the extraction, and it was all spicy Indian food last night. Need I say more?) - and the still swollen-like-a-puffer-fish-cheek, I think I'm on the road to recovery (the slow lane with the traffic jam).

Christmas Eve.

I opened my eyes this morning to the sound of the rain coming down hard and fast outside my window.

I didn't quite want to get out of bed, but I couldn't quite lie there forever either because I had a check-up at the dentist in a couple of hours so instead, I rolled off to the side to grab my laptop for a quick update to the blog.

There is much to do pre the dentist visit - like brush my teeth for starters. I haven't done so since Monday when they sedated me, yanked out two of my wisdom teeth leaving a gaping hole, and stitches (sutures?) where they used to sit. Don't judge ! I'm told it's perfectly normal not to do so (not brush your teeth that is) for the first couple of days because you don't want to rip the stitches - brushing one's teeth being quite a vigorous exercise aferall. So instead, I've just been rinsing my mouth - gently of course.

Today feels nothing like Christmas eve. Could be partly due to the fact that I've been holed up in my room since Monday, and partly due to the fact that I'm not quite so looking forward to yet another day of porridge and potentially some grape jello (if I'm lucky).

If I was living in a country which snowed - would it be the gently plod plodding of snow I hear dropping gently onto my roof and yard and covering everything in a blanket of white, as opposed to this angry pounding I hear now ?

Would that make it feel any more festive ? I wonder.

Anyway, have a very Merry Christmas ! I leave you with some naked baby pictures - they always make me smile :)

Caelynn at 4 months

Cara at 4 months

Yvette at 6-8months

Ryan at 6-8months

Hungry.

I'm watching 'makan places lost and found' on Channel 5 now, and feeling mighty hungry. The stall being featured now is one called mien and specialises in pasta - carbs, yums !

It's only one day post-surgery and already I'm sick of my porridge.

Give me something else. Now !

Ouch.

My mouth is sore, and my head is pounding.

I wasn't built for this kind of pain.

Going under LA and being sedated for a good 2 and a half hours has left me well and thoroughly spent.

:(

Pre-Christmas Celebrations

So because I'm having my wisdom tooth (teeth ? it's two that's going you know) taken out on Monday - leaving me in a swollen, painful, drooly state - we had our 'Christmas' dinner last night at the Ichiban Boshi at the Esplanade.

I love going to Ichiban Boshi because they have such interesting and fun sushis, compared to other revolving-belt chains (Sushi Tei and Sakae Sushi). We tried one with cheese, mayo and corn yesterday, and another that we couldn't even identify - we only know it had chewy bits and green bits. They also have great set menus which are usually so huge, they're a meal for two. Very good value for money!

We went there with one goal, and one goal in mind. That is, to fill up my tum tum beyond the normal ranges of 'full', in preparation for the week of starvation ahead. Over the Christmas period too, mind you. But it was either now, or next year - and even though it's just a month away to next year, I know once I start procrastinating I'll never get round to it so I decided to just be an adult about it, suck it up (not that I'll be able to do much sucking post-surgery) and get it over and done with.

I feel like such an adult now that I'm doing this.

"Yes, i'm getting my wisdom tooth taken out. Mm hmm."

Doesn't it sound so terribly like an adult ?

My, I feel I'm growing up right before my very eyes.

We took a short stroll along the promenade after dinner, and then sat by the river to talk. We talked about starting up our own agency one day, what it would be called and most importantly - what our philosophy would be. Derailed. I'm not sure if we'll ever take that leap, but for now, I think our more immediate plans are outward-bound.

Anyway, monday. *gulps*

In a state of frump.

I've been feeling particularly miserable at work this past couple of weeks - but yet I can't decide if it's the work that I don't like, or just a particular dementor that's getting me down.

It's silly that I should let someone make me hate my job - a job that I worked so hard to get. An industry that I proclaimed to love barely two years ago, when I was fresh out of uni.

I've been toying back and forth with the idea of making a career switch lately, so I spent 15minutes surfing around the jobsdb website. But there was nothing on it that really inspired me, and it got me back to thinking that I do love the inudstry that I'm in - at least for now.

It just really irks me that all it takes is one mean-spirited person to make me hate it so. I just want to pull my hair out and stomp my feet.

!!!

I hope I find my way out of this frump soon.

*big sigh*

Race completed!

I'm feeling really pooped now, but proud of myself all the same that I finished my first half marathon so I thought I'd do a short update whilst waiting for my Maccas to arrive.

Double cheeseburger meal for me, and a Mega-mac meal for him.

We started the day in a panic. My dad dropped us off at the train station because all the roads surrounding my place were blocked off (or so I thought), since it was part of the race route. Got to the train station, realised it was closed - CLOSED ! It was 540am, and our flagoff time was at 630am, giving us not a lot of time to get there, check in our bags (with 50,000 other people) and then make our way to the starting line.

I was afraid we'd be late, because then we'd be considered a non-finisher, even if we ran the entire race. And damn it, I wanted that medal !

So anyway, couldn't get a cab from there - well there was one, but the guy was parked there sleeping in his cab. Called daddy again to the rescue. He came down, picked us up and dropped us at the old Parliament House. We deposited our bag (in a very muddy tent - mud and shoes with holes for ventilation don't really go, I spent most of the race feeling like my feet were damp and fermentaing) and then I realised my bib that I was affixing paper clips to had suddenly disappeared ! One minute I was holding it, the next I was taking my ishuffle out of the bag and then it was just gone !

Honestly, it amazes me how feather-brained I can be. I let go of things without even realising.

I retraced my steps and thankfully found it just outside the baggage deposit tent. So baggage - deposited. Bib - found. Shuffle - clipped to my shorts.

Off we went in search of the starting line, along the Esplanade.

3hr 04min was the timing (based on the gun time) when I crossed the finish line - but my actual running time (discounting the long walk before I actually crossed the starting line) according to runpix.com is 2hr 59min - just under 3 hours was my goal, so I'm quite pleased!

I know we could have done better though because we had all these stops along the way:
1. walking (quite a lot)

2. pee break (him - long queue!) - that was probably one of the most trying 15minutes of my life because he decided to stop for a pee break at the halfway point, which incidentally, happens to be literally right outside the start of the road that I live on.

3. drink stops (on the way back, we were counting how many cups were strewn on the roads - there must have been at least a 100,000 given there were 50,000 runners and each had at least 2, but most, like myself, had at least 6-7)

4. deep heat stop (my ankle and knee were killing me at about the 13km mark so I grabbed a glob of deep heat from one of the volunteers and just smeared it all over both knees - couldn't reach the ankles - and for the next 3km it was burning! but at least the pain from the knee stopped, although my ankle and foot are still hurting. very much)

The boyfriend was incredibly supportive and with me every step of the way, even though I know he's hugely competitive and was dying to press on after the people who were over-taking us. He cheered me on, waited for me and kept me hydrated with his hydration belt in between the drink stations.

Particularly so on the home stretch - he wouldn't let me stop to walk. The last 750m, he was just screaming in my ear to keep going so I ran down past St Andrew's Road, past Old Parliament House and almost threw up once I crossed the 'Finish' line.

But it was a good feeling. And I'm glad we did this.

What's next :)

Talk about getting backed into a corner

Last night at dinner, my nephew (who's 4) and his parents (my sister and my brother-in-law) had the most amusing conversation.

little boy: I can't eat my rice, I'm sick.
mommy: oh no, you're sick ? what should we do then daddy ? *looks at daddy*
daddy: oh...you know what that means don't you..no ice-cream and desserts for a month !
little boy: *big saucer-like eyes as the realisation sets in*
mommy: oh yes, that's right, no ice-cream and desserts for a wholeee month !
little boy: urm...no..actually I'm not sick.
daddy: you're not sick ? but you just said you were sick.
little boy: no no no..I'm not sick anymore.
daddy: but you just said you were sick. Does that mean you were lying ?
little boy: urm...*sensing a trap*
daddy: so are you sick or are you not ?
little boy: *weighing up the pros and cons....ice-cream....desserts...mmmm...is it worth it?*
little boy: urm...yes...I lied, I'm not sick.
daddy: you lied !?! mommy, what does that mean if he lied !!
mommy: ohhhh no....if he lied, it means he has to stand in the corner !
daddy: oh yes. That's how it is right. If you tell a lie, you have to stand in the corner.

At this point, I think I just burst out laughing.

Ichibantei @ Liang Court

We went for ramen at the basement of Liang Court yesterday. They've taken over the space next to the supermarket that used to be Tampopo (now upstairs, bigger, brighter, more expensive), but haven't renovated so it looks exactly like the old Tampopo used to look.

From the soft serve cone machine and the ramen menu, I initially thought that this was a branch of the Robertson Quay ramen place - but then I looked through the menus (they had 3) and saw that they had a much wider variety of sashimi and sushi than the Robertson Quay ramen place, so I thought I must be mistaken. Then I looked at the cover of their loyalty card (you know, the one where they give you stamps) and the name printed on that is Yu Sai Shoku (I don't speak Japanese, so I don't know what it means but I took it to be the name of the restaurant) - and that confirmed it for me, different name, different chain !

Or so I thought. Until I came home and saw the name card that I picked up - they are indeed one and the same. This place has an identity crisis - are you Yu Sai Shoku or Ichibantei !? Make up your mind already. Or maybe Yu Sai Shoku is Japanese for 'loyalty card' ?

Anyway, on to the food.

The texture of the ramen is chewy and springy (quite unlike that icky instant noodles-type texture you get at Sushi Tei) - just the way I like it. The soup base for both of ours were a little on the salty side though, but it didn't faze me because the ramen more than made up for it. And of course I was also busy getting distracted by the half boiled egg - I wanted to add 2 eggs to mine, but the waitress got confused and only gave me 1 (and since I'm trying to stop gorging my face, I accepted it as fate). I still ended up with 2 though, because the boyfriend gave his to me - so it's a good thing the waitress got my order wrong, otherwise, I'd have eaten 3.

I love these eggs - they've been left to soak in some kind of shoyu base, so the whites are tasty but the yolks have that perfect, yummy gelatinous texture. It's really good !

His: Tonkoktsu Ramen

Hers: Shoyu Ramen

I ordered the exact same thing at the Robertson Quay branch, and it didn't come with any meat but it did at the Liang Court branch.

Address: Liang Court, #B1-50

Price: About $28 for the both of us ($$)

Rating: 7.5/10 (I would go back)

Crazy hours

The past month or so, I've been working crazy, erratic hours at work. I've been leaving past 10pm most nights and by the time I get home, I'm always out for the count.

Surely that's no way to live ?

So today, I decided to start a new routine.

In to work by 8am (or 815 - give or take a little), and out no later than 7pm.

It's only day 1, but I felt tonnes better than I have in a long time.

The peace and quiet when you get in bright and early - before the rest of the crowd, before the torrent of emails start flooding in (and another day of crisis management) - is great.

I'm lovin' it (the Maccas way).

Runspiration

Earlier this year, I decided it would be my goal for 2008 to complete a half marathon.

The thought sprang out of nowhere really - it just came to be. So the boyfriend and I began on our training regime. And I use the word 'training' and 'regime' very loosely because by that, I mean we trained once every fort-monthly or so.

It wasn't really our fault though (or so we kept telling ourselves), the weather was just horrid ! We couldn't do weekdays, because our working hours are erratic. And then come weekends, it would just pour cats and dogs non-stop.

Last weekend though, I decided to pop by the Stanchart Marathon website just to check out the race route - and there, blinking right back at me from its perch on the top of the page was the countdown timer.

39 days xx hours xx min it said.

I gulped and then called the boyfriend in a panic.

I insisted that this weekend - come rain or shine, we'd be covering the full distance even if I had to walk, crawl or drag myself.

And we did, we did, we did !

It took 3 and a half hours to complete 22km, but the point is - we finally covered the distance ! Or rather, I finally covered the distance !

I'd like to say it was a huge sense of accomplishments, but I'm still aching (2 days on), and finding it hard to dig up the energy to rejoice.

Looking forward to the next run :)


Tip: You can go to mapmyrun.com to see how far you're running if like me, you don't have a fancy schmancy digital watch that has an in-built GPS or some whizz bang gadget that fits snugly into your shoe, and no doubt costs the same price as a pure-bred puppy.

And my baby (slash slavedriver, when we're running), he turned 25 on Monday.
Happy birthday boo !

My 24th Birthday

The boyfriend gifted me with 99 roses at the office, and my boss said to him, "you've earned yourself a whole lot of brownie points with that one".

Oh yes he did, indeed.

Thanks baby !

Rain rain rain.

I went down with the boyfriend this afternoon to Big Splash for lunch. After lunch, we went browsing round the Car Boot Sale that was happening - I love love love flea markets ! Plus I have no qualms about buying second-hand clothes (it's only second-hand shoes and bags that irk me).

Anyway, he stayed with me only for about 5 minutes before heading off for another appointment, so I was left to look-see on my own. Unfortunately, 1 top ($15), 1 dress ($10) and 20 minutes later, my phone rang.

Him: are you still there ?
Me: *sounding distracted as I checked out another top* yup..
Him: it's raining, go home !
Me: *still distracted* mm...it's only drizzling

As soon as I said that, it started pouring..

Me: *watches as people started packing up their wares* ok ok...I'm going home.
Him: good, call me when you get home.

I felt loved. :)