Lists, Plans and The Challenge !

It’s been a bit of a crazy week at work, and Ms. Control Freak in me has been trying to well gain control through her infamous TO DO Lists. In the process of trying to organize my Google Calendar and sync it with my phone, I had the funniest discussion with the man on Tuesday. Seems he is getting the hang of this PLANNING concept, and seems to be nudging me out of the control seat. Though he has a very interesting definition of planning – with something called a ‘PLAN’ and ‘REAL PLAN’.

Anyway, the zeal for running has morphed him into this unknown being – who is now planning our race calendar for 2011. YES – 2011, and we are only approaching the month of MAY 2010. His philosophy for 2011, long races outside Malaysia; short, short preparatory races close to home.
So RACE CALENDAR 2011 looks something like this :
o January 2011 – New Balance 30k
o February 2011 – Koh Samui Marathon
(This is where I got in the fray and took things one step further)
o July 2011 – Gold Coast Marathon
o December 2011 – Singapore Marathon
In between we may squeeze in KL Marathon, Penang Bridge Run and maybe the Angkor Run ! Haven’t decided the distances on these though.

Then came trying to get organize my work travel schedule and the numerous meetings with government agencies that miraculously get postponed 2 hours before we leave the office. We have figured best to try work out short breaks around my travel plans; so HOLIDAY PLANNER is now :
o Singapore May 29th – 31st : To coincide with the long Wesak weekend and a meeting I have in Singapore on the 31st.
o Ho Chi Minh City August 6th – 9th : We were planning to go away for my birthday, and looks like I have to conduct a workshop in Saigon on the 7th, so…..

And as we were doing our daily on messenger, the man threw open the gauntlet with THE CHALLENGE !
In the quest for that hot, hot body (which I think he already has) he suggested that starting May 1st, we go on a sugar-free, white-free, processed-food-free diet. His idea was to start shifting some of those pounds. I (as usual) took it one step further and suggested, why not look at it as a wholistic lifestyle plan – to get ourselves fit, healthy, hot, etc etc. To think of it as a lifestyle tune-up, wellness improvement programme.
Result : The man promptly took it up as a Challenge !
Goal 1 : To loose 10kg within the next 3 months. (The August deadline coinciding with my 35th – and the whole point of this blog!)
Goal 2 : To develop healthy eating habits for life.
Goal 3 : To maintain this weight and lifestyle for life.
Goal 4 : To get fit so we can race more effectively.

Given my issues with sugar – he had now been deputized as official Food Enforcer. I am in charge of designing this PLAN – given my love of lists and SOPS, as well as being the official Exercise Enforcer.

GAME ON !!!(Not to worry will do regular status updates on the Plan and Progress !)

Movie Marathon Weekend !

This weekend marked the 3rd Saturday in a row that I was running a workshop. Can’t wait till next weekend – when I get a full 2 days off before the crazy schedule starts again ! Whooppie!!!!!!!!
That said – I enjoyed the Saturday workshop, because I was demonstrating a product I really really like – Big Books, Picture Books and Literacy !!

And also got some information on a potential investment project. Am keeping my fingers crossed to see how things work out.
Anyway, after the workshop headed off to SA to chillax the remainder of the weekend with the man.
We set somewhat of a record this weekend! Firstly, we ran the 10k loop at the Lake Gardens on Sunday morning. First time for the man, a return for me after a 6 month hiatus.

The route details courtesy of Mr. Endomondo !

Post run – the man knocked out !!

Also – in keeping with the chillax theme – we watched 4 – YES 4 movies within the span of 24 hours at home.  According to the man 3 ½ cause we were continuing Up in the Air.
Anyway my humble review of the 4.
Movie No 1

Did not see the twist in the plot coming with Alex married. I thought it was quite realistic about life for once. None of that usual Hollywood fairy tale ending. Good acting.
Movie No 2

How can anyone go wrong with Morgan Freeman acting and Clint Eastwood directing!!! I liked the way it dealt with the politics and social challenges of South Africa in such a nuanced fashion. This could have gone all over-the-top feel good, but it wasn’t. Loved the realistic relationship between the body guards. Morgan Freeman’s accent and enunciation was spot on Mandela. This movie also started our ‘Sport Weekend’.
Movie No 3

Action Movie interlude. Fast and furious, it actually was a good easy watch for a girl who generally does not like bang-bang movies. John Travolta had excellent comic moments in this one. Quite worth a watch I would say.
Movie No 4

And to round it off, The Blind Side. This one was amazingly good and funny. Sandra Bullock did an excellent portrayal of that typical pushy, domineering southern white woman with a heart! She deserved the Oscar I think !
All in a great, relaxing and restful weekend with the man!

A Domestic, A Helper, A Maid.

Picked up our new Cambodian domestic helper / maid yesterday. A first for this family, who were brought up by my mother on a diet of “I-am-not-your-maid-we-all-live-here-can-wash-up-after-ourselves”. We have always have had part-time help who come in 2 – 3 times a week, but finally with grandma’s rapidly progressing Alziehmers and mom having to run the office full time after dad’s sudden passing ; here we are we our little domestic helper. From the get go, mom had been resistant to this entire idea, but I pushed and pushed- seeing it as the best solution in a bad situation, and secretly joyful at the idea of never having to wash another dish in this house ever again!!! The challenge – at so many levels; from intellectual, to everyday.

The newest addition to our house

Let’s start with the easy ones.

The Learning Curve @ Training the Maid
Our girl is very enthusiastic and sharp, however her English is patchy to say the least. Right now I am at the show and point stage, which we are doing at an ok level. Am attempting to teach basic words and using the Cambodian-English dictionary. Mom has just completely decamped from this. I think she feels like her role in the house is being usurped.

The Daily Grind
As silly crazy as this is, having a maid does make you stop and ask the questions you never would have though to ask. For example - What do we give her to eat? How does she wash her clothes ?
House- Assistant/ Domestic/ Maid
Just where do we draw the line ?? Do we justify that we are providing a dirt poor village girl from a 3rd world country a job or is this just the 21st century version of indentured labour??

A human being
For someone who so believes in emotional wellness, and being true to your spirit, I find it rather disconcerting to think that we have to treat this girl as an emotionless being. I think it makes it easier on the human psyche to disconnect from the fact that this young thing has most probably made the hardest journey of her life ever – from leaving her family, getting into an airplane, being shuttled off to new people into another house that she has to take care off. We can barely speak to her, let alone ask her if she is homesick or misses her family. Jeez I would want to curl up and cry, yet here we are asking her to do a whole bunch of domestic chores that I don’t want to dirty my hands with. I am not sure how to deal with this yet. I know of some people who insist that their maids wear a uniform. Doesn’t that fly gobsmack straight into the values that I preach about individuality and developing ones identity ?

Family Dynamics
We have brought a complete stranger into our home. I am wondering how this is going to affect the family dynamic. Will we find it intrusive ?? Or has this girl come for a purpose ???

For all the potential ease that a maid brings, I think we sometimes underestimate the impact it has on household.

Roadbump

Had a roadbump with the man last night ! (the 2nd serious one for the record)  Having just come out of a really rocky marriage, followed by a year of random flings with multiple men, the situation I find myself in with the man is something of a challenge. For a whole range of reasons –  (and here comes the infamous LIST)

1. My fear that the man is going to bail (given the experience with ex-husband) because I am – take your pick – not pretty enough, not think enough, not smart enough, not rich enough, too demanding, too whiny.
2. My needs, desires and dreams will be too overwhelming for him, thus requiring me to change.
3. That the overarching “values” will stand in the way of me pursuing what makes me happy.

Suffice to say – what started as a relaxed lets-work-out-together evening, quickly turned into an awkward “I am irritated with you” degenerating into an sms argument that continued online this morning. Granted to a significant degree, I had mouthed off and behaved in a way that prickled him up completely. To some extent – he is sensitive to certain things, and doesn’t yet quite get where I come from. But that’s what working and building a relationship is about isn’t it??!?

My take-away from this ….
o I must not judge
I can’t let my previous experiences cloud my thinking and opinions. I should look at each individual for who and what they are, appreciate and value for all that they are unique. Holding my tongue would also be a value-add in these situations
o I must think through what I do
Sometimes, I can get a little bit overbearing. More importantly, I don’t seem to realize how ridiculously inane and a waste of time some of the things I insist on doing are.
o The man is still here standing with me.
This is a BIG one for me. He has said it before, and I have only now come to internalize it. However pissed and irritated he is with me, he is still with me. Last night, he still sat with me for 45 mins, although he was in no mood to talk to me. He texted me through the night – and finally did engage with what was the matter. He is talking to me and has not bailed. That is what its’ all about – I may be the one who makes a bit boorahoo talky talky talk about everything – his actions speak volumes.

The Biggie that brought the argument full circle this morning (over msn)….

Anu : i still sayang you - u know .. and thats what drives me nuts...
Man : is worth to sayang me...im very sensitive...
wont blast everyday...once blast it will be long argument..
Anu : yes it is worth it !!!
because all of us have out trigger points .. and just this one thing does not mean you walk away from someone...because all of us have our downsides - but to me - the whole of you is so much more amazing
and besides - the way i see it - these arguments - its part of life - makes you learn and understand about the other person better...
the question you never answer - which i never ask ..
for all that anushia irritates you - is it worth being around her ??
Man: yup...
alot of same interest between u and me...more things to share talk..spend time compare to small2 irritates
even most of irritates i can just ignore if only involved both of us...anything involved other person...i wont just keep quite...

That said it all!!! It’s a journey isn’t it – trying to build a relationship with another person. The bottom line – are you willing to stand there and do what needs to be done to make it work !!??!?!

Sunday Run

The race calendar for the year looks something like this right now…

March 27th : Energizer Night Race – 10K √
May 16th : New Balance 15K
June 27th : KL Marathon 21K (1/2 Distance)
December 5th : Singapore Marathon 42K (Full Distance)

For the record, I did not even have such a think as a race calendar till last year, so this one is definitely a new one for me. To add to the focus and commitment, the man seems to have taken to this running thing with a bit of gusto as well. Nice to have someone special to share these things with !!!

Anyway to get moving again – finally pushed past the 10K mark on Sunday. Did 3 loops around Damansara Heights – 13.8K. I must say, I really started to feel it on that 3rd round, past the 1 hour mark. Everybody talks about muscle memory – nobody remembers to tell you that the muscles remember the pain first.

Surprise, surprise – I just only hit 1000 calories for that distance. I remember the days when I could easily scorch 1000 cals inside the gym. Trainer says it’s a good sign, am getting fitter; but I must confess I am addicted to the cheap thrill of the numbers. Akin to my addiction to the weighing scale. Other surprise – post run muscle soreness was minimal – by the night felt fine. Was tired – and knocked out for an hour during my weekly manicure-pedicure, but felt generally ok after.

Am now thinking that I need to push on for the 21K, that should be ok – and the greater goal the 42K full marathon in Singapore in December seems to be just within doable! (YES – I AM OFFICIALLY NUTS!)

Am also so proud of the man – he has not done anything beyond 10K recently , and he pushed to complete that 3rd loop. Can’t imagine what it must have taken him to do that. Am a bit worried though, his knee seems to be giving him some trouble. Had to ice it last night for him and its still sore today. We have to plan and strategise his workout.

Other exciting thing, being the tech geek that he is, the man keeps downloading and testing some new phone apps for running every week. Sometimes I think that’s the only thing that motivates him to get up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning…. I wish I could say it was chasing my butt, but I sincerely know it ain’t !!!
Anyway – from our very unscientific testing – best app out there for sports right now is Endomondo!
It keeps track of your distance, speed, is synced to GPS so you can view your route map after the run. Best of all it talks to you every km – to update you on your performance.

Check it out at http://www.endomondo.com/

For the love of cupcakes!!!!

With my addiction to chocolates, cakes, desserts and generally anything of the sugar laden variety, cupcakes are my latest fave item! Apart from the girls in Sex and the City who made it so chic to eat cupcakes, they just somehow feel like such a wickedly girly treat !!!

Generally don’t have the patience or skill to make cupcakes on my own – so my go to place has always been Cupcake Chic.

The range and flavours are good. Solid and nothing OTT fancy. My all time fave - Fatal Attraction

Yesterday, colleague brought the prettiest little cupcakes into work! From a place called wondermilk café in Damansara Utama.
I am a convert !
The cupcakes are smaller then Cupcake Chic, but moist and tasty. The flavour range more extensive and the decorating is just so right. Had a chocolate chip – orange cupcake which had a chunk of orange fruit in the center. The plain vanilla one below was just right- not overly sugary !

Weekend in Penang

Took a short trip to Penang over the weekend, for work, but I managed to get the man to tag along, so it became something of a little getaway for us. Our second weekend away, which turned out to be as good as the first, save that spot of work I had to do the better part of Saturday.

Took the ferry across to the island- which I have not done since I was like what 6 years old !!!!!!!!!

Wating to board the Ferry

I don't like the smell !!!

First glimpse of the island!!!!

Penang is always fun with the promise of good food …
Checklist Dinner Night 1 : Gurney Drive
• Assam Laksa
• Fried Oysters
• 10 chicken satay
• Claypot Chicken Rice

Checklist Dinner Night 2 : Tanjong Tokong Food Market
• Penang Hokkien Mee
• Char Kuay Teow
• Char Hor Fun
Have decided that Tanjong Tokong Food Market is now my fave food place in Penang. The prawns in the noodles were so HUGE!!!!!!!!

But the best part of the weekend was the time spent with the man. Without getting all mushy mushy, there were so many things that he did over the weekend that just blew me away. Apart from insisting on doing all the driving, having lived in Penang he knew all these places that he knew I would like.

One of the prettiest trees - to have in my future garden!

I am a nutter for old historic buildings or anything ancient and antique for that matter. And after my workshop on Saturday, he drove me to Fort Cornwallis, where the first British colony was established when Francis Light landed on the island. Was just such fun walking around and sitting on the old cannons!

In front of the original lighhouse and flagstaff

Not amused by the need to pose of piccies!!

Later that evening, I wanted to drive down Batu Ferringhi beach. Suddenly he parks and says lets go walk. Seems that he knew where the break between the hotels were that would take us down to the beach. And his secret plan …. to walk on the beach and watch the sunset.
On the way back we took the trunk road through Kuala Kangsar and had an interesting time getting lost with the GPS in Ipoh. It was a bit of an adventure but we got lucky and chanced upon the most amazing chicken rice shop at 3 in the afternoon! Sorry though no piccies of that great lunch - the hungries attacked before I could think about taking pics!!!

Starting the Journey

I had been toying with the idea of starting a blog for the longest time, and resisted for a whole variety of reasons – ranging from lack of time due to work commitments, the fear that my writing would not be good enough, to the emotional inability to express my deepest feelings, to this weird belief that I had to say serious, proper stuff if I wanted to blog.

As much as the voyeur in me enjoys starting her day by reading the daily escapades of my nearest and dearest or the struggles of absolute strangers documented for the world; the notion of exposing myself in such a manner found me swinging between excitement and sheer dread.

Looking back at the curveballs that have come flying my way the last 18 months and with my 35th birthday fast approaching, I have decided to take the plunge. Maybe blogging will turn out to be a cheaper alternative to therapy. Maybe I will finally figure out my life. Maybe, maybe, maybe….. so here goes !

At first I thought I wanted this blog to document my weight-loss journey, my relationship with food and the weighing scale being a lifelong epic battle. It sits right up there with my issues with men and my family and money management; one gets the drift. Then I decided – that would be way to narrow, and a completely inadequate reflection of who I am, what I stand for, my dreams in life and all the funny bits and bops that make me up… so …


To start off – I have decided to do what I do best. MAKE A LIST !!!!!!
In honour of the blog title – Counting 35

TO DO by 35

August 2010 : My 35th Birthday
o Reach Target Goal Weight
o Financial Plan in place

December 2010 : Mid –way 35
o Complete Singapore FULL Marathon : 42K
o Complete Concept, Design and Prototype for Learning Kits


July 2011 : End 35
o Launch the Learning Kits


But the billion dollar question, how do I quantify and TO DO all the other things that are so really important to me – to put me first and make choices that will bring me happiness, to be strong, confident and at peace with myself, to find love that will complete me.


Lets see where this road takes us...