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)