masterwordsmith-unplugged

The past few days have been incredibly hectic and enjoyable for me and largely because my dearest friend Angela was up in Penang for a couple of days.

On Thursday, I picked her up for squash and thereafter a swim at golf club. I thought she had membership there and likewise she thought I was a member there when in fact, hubby and I were members at another golf club. Both of us did not know each other's membership status. *choke*

Upon arrival there, I discovered that she had a reciprocal membership which did not allow her to use the squash and pool facilities and thought that I could sort it out with my membership. *gulp* Now the joke is this - I thought it was her sterling acting skills and tried my best to put on an Academy award winning stunt but er...to cut the long story short, in the end, I clocked in as a guest of another friend.

After this and that, we finally ended up at the squash court. I used to play everyday during my varsity days but my interests detoured to bowling and other pursuits. It had been three years since my last game whereas Angela plays every week. I thought the difference in stamina would be considerable but not THAT disgraceful as I am more than ten years her junior and she is undergoing chemotherapy.

I was wrong. VERY WRONG indeed!!!!! *faint*

The Squash Game that Squashed Me.

My forte in my game has always been my service thanks to a girlfriend's coach who used to tag along whenever I played with her after my graduation. He helped me to refine my game and would probably deny ever knowing me had he seen me play that day :-).

Most considerately, Angela assured me that I would not fall splat on my face as I prophesied and promised that she would send the ball to me :-). Well, Angela plays golf, does line dancing, swims and goes gardening whereas yours truly only started her real physical workout on June 22nd!! I think if not for that, I would have collapsed in the court that day.

The sweetheart kept her promise and tried to make it 'easier' for me. Her stamina, grit, strength and aggressiveness is totally AMAZING, AWESOME and MOST INSPIRING.

After forty minutes, I 'surrendered' as I felt that my legs would collapse. Many times, she snickered and politely muffled her laughter hehehe but I still love her very much *grins* !!! She declared that it was not a game but a ball picking session...eh not that bad - I was lazy to get the drop shots :-) even though she kept shouting "LUNGE! LUNGE!" OK. Gimme 6 months to get back into shape...er hopefully not in my dreams.

Thereafter, we went for our swim. She went ahead while I spent some time looking for my goggles. By the time I finally started, she was into her 4th lap and when we stopped, she had done 14 laps while I did a miserable 8 laps in the Olympic-sized pool. Gone. Gone are the days when I could do 20 laps non-stop....Those were the days but I will get back my fitness level.

Then we had dinner with Ted at Roti Bakar and I spent Friday afternoon snooooooozing and trying to recharge for the next day.

On Saturday, Angela, Dr. Murali, Dr. Chee. Teik Lim, Richard Loh, Ching Ling, Calvyn, Lucia and 60 others attended the eLawyer - EXABYTES PENANG BLOGGERS & LAW FORUM 2009 which was held at USM. Sadly, Encik Shamsul was unable to make it and Mr. Foong Cheng Leong and Mr. Steven Tan held the fort. Thereafter it was food again when we lunched with Eddie Law, Foong, Ching Ling, Dr. Murali and Angela.

After a short rest, it was tea at Winter Warmers where Dr. Murali treated Dr. See, Angela and me.



I really had a great time the past few days. Er...too great. Apart from all the fun, laughter and learning, I also had a lot of gifts from friends...including

* 2 boxes of 'chai kuih' from Sungei Bakap compliments from Angela

* a big bottle of home-made kimchi from Alex

* a box of exquisite liqueur chocolates from Eugene (sorry no pics cos I devoured it in 1 day) that had my favorite Cointreau, Drambuie, Vodka, Grand Marnier, Whisky etc etc

* a box of Duc d'O Belgian chocolates from Dr. Murali (Mumu I tell you this is sabotage for my diet but I love it LOL!!!)

* a packet of Famous Amos Chocolate Chip + Pecan cookies from Dr. Murali for Nick


* a box of my favorite Crystal Taro cakes all the way from Taiwan from Jackson whom I taught for 11 years. He is back for summer vacation for three months and is the sweetest, most loving, respectful student with the best mom, dad, granny and sis anyone can have. He visited me last night with his mom and sis last night and we chatted for hours on end.


* Last but not least, a pack of my favorite Hsin Tung Yang beef jerky from Taiwan which Jackson gave me last night. It is so YUUUUMMMILICIOUSSSSSSS!!! For those of you who can eat beef, believe me - this beef jerky is the best in the world!!! And if you love jerky and have never eaten these before, ah - you are missing out in life!!!!

Thank goodness my family and I went hiking yesterday evening. This time round, I took 22 minutes to reach the top - much better than the 40 minutes I took last week. Coming down was a problem as I had forgotten my hiking staff and always have to cope with my phobia of hiking accidents.

Perhaps now you can understand why this post is called an uphill task for a downhill trend. I am trying desperately to lose weight and it is absolutely a monumental task with all the goodies and treats I have been getting :-). Nonetheless, I am delighted with these gifts haha - no complaints :-).

To be honest, I told my husband that I would like to go for a brisk walk with him this morning but alas, I woke up at a disgraceful hour @ 9.30a.m. only because of an outstation call from Hobart's mom, Elaine.

Ah - it is a beautiful life to be lazy for once in my life :-) like today. After all, my whole body is aching...Whatever it is,, I am determined to continue to feel as though I am in my 20's, try my best to look like I am in my 30's when in actual fact, I am in my 40's LOL!!!

After I click the publish button, I am going on my exercise bike and then cool down on my treadmill before I do my weights and then shower and ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz....and then I willl blog again later n the afternoon.

Have a nice day folks and wish me luck as I continue my Get Fit program before I go for my medical check-up.