Red Alert! Lappie Down!

"What?", you ask?

You heard right. No Internet for me 'coz my dear little laptop's not feeling well.
Her wireless hardware has um, broken loose? fried itself? ran away? I don't know. And neither do the 2 techies I've brought her to. =(

They asked me to bring her to a professional but that's probably going to take over 2 days! How would she survive a night without me?!! Sigh. But it is for her own good. And for mine. I'm DYING without PS... Hehehe!

So yeah, total silence for me in cyber world until my lappie sees the doctor. Thank God E said I could use her lappie whenever. =D

PS = Pet society

I Only Did What I Though Was Best...

and the next thing I knew,
PLOP...

A Real Adventure!

All my life I've only spoken of & dreamed of doing things that I see on TV:

• Bungee jumping
• Sphereing/globe-riding/zorbing
• Para-sailing
• Sky diving
• Jungle trekking
  
• Exploring caves (Oh wait. I've done that one. Gua Tempurung's cekap Tour 4. Must try!)

But well, since I came to Sabah, I must admit that I haven't been through half of what most of my friends have experienced. So, I finally did something super amazing...

White water rafting!!!

Even after hearing scary comments about people drowning and dying from hitting some rocks, I knew I just had to try this at least once. (And also the fact that all my friends who's been there made it back alive-lah)

Even the journey to Padas river was amazing. We took a 2++ hour bus ride, followed by a train ride on one of the most ancient steam engines ever! We started 'conquering' the river around 1 but praise God it wasn't a very sunny day. It even rained half-way through. (Knew I should have worn my contacts) There were hilarious moments e.g. when we were having our raft battles with other rafts. And then therewere plain scary times when it felt like we were all gonna 'lose' to the river's rapids. But our raft's guide - Misol was just this really calm and fantastic dude with an amazing voice, an admirable knowledge of the river, and a penchant for pushing people, especially yours truly, off the raft. Only when we were at calm waters of course, no worries. I did NOT almost die. =) Thank God I didn't end up as another statistic on the 2009 Padas river casualties.

The intensity of the rapids were varied with some level 3's and level 2's along with way way too much of calm waters where we trained our biceps and triceps during paddling. (Note: to any physically not-so-active-girls who want to try this, either go during rainy season to reduce paddling, or share your raft with 6 other strong, valiant guys with big biceps and are willing to endure your screaming). We paddled what seemed like a never ending length of Padas river but which was in fact only about 19km with a break in between for a yummy buffet lunch. But perhaps we were all just so tired already that a break and ANY food would seem like a 5-star gourmet meal. :p But to do the food some justice, it really was finger-licking. =) Except the mee-hoon.

The final 9km after lunch was especially excrutiating for me, what with a full tummy and well, I guess the note in the previous paragraph was actually meant for me. My raft had 4 guys albeit not so muscly ones, and 3 girls including myself. Eeleen did just fine with her being so fit and all. But KS and I took turns with the workload. It was a great team though. With about 20 hands reaching out for each other every time the water got a little rough and the cekap singing sessions during the endless paddling. It was hilarious how the singing automatically transforms into screaming when we reach the rapids. It goes something like "It's a love story, baby just say ye-argh!!!!"

For pictures and more accurate details, please refer to my dear friend and raft-mate Eeleen's blog. I can't be bothered to load all those pictures, even if they're only pictures about one of the most cekap things I've been through. :p I actually do think I might go experience it again, some time when it's raining cats and dogs, making the water level much higher and thus giving the rapids a more dangerous feel... And increasing chances of the raft capsizing! =D

Here's ONE picture for my very long, rambling-fied post.

Notice how the people in front are screaming? That's because they can see how terrifying it is. But I say why worry right? I'm at the back trying to look for fish in the water.. ;)

See you again some day Padas!

And now, for some advertising: check out http://www.borneoultimate.com.my/2009/?tag=padas-rafting

Twenty two

It's been an interesting week.
Full of laughter and good times.
=)

Monday:
Birthday celebration makan at Hilltop together with the VIPs (the cat, dog and cockroach).
And of course the VVIPs, PC and me!

Tuesday:
Met up with my cousin Eta and R. =)

Wednesday:
Makan again at Sushi King although it was pouring with rain outside.

It's the company that really made my week. =)

Though I was falling sick, and in serious pain from my cramps,
you girls just made me smile and laugh until I forgot the pain and discomfort.
Hugs! Thanks girls!

Of wounds, blood, & trust

How often have we seen this particular scene on the screen:-

Boy meets Girl,
Boy gets a scratch on his knee (probably while trying to save Girl),
Boy & Girl finds a first aid box at his place/her place/some quiet playground and tends to his wound,
Boy looks at Girl in wonder at her gentleness (I'm just guessing though.. I'm actually not sure what a guy would think at this point),
Girl looks up, they lock eyes, and ta-dah!

They fall in love...

The real point behind this little story is to point out the trust Boy would need to have to allow Girl to tend to his wound. I mean, would you let a total stranger deal with your raw and extremely painful flesh? What if she screws up and forgets to clean your wound properly before bandaging it? That would probably lead to a very nasty infection and well, more pain on your part. =S

Of course it could just be that Boy was already super infatuated with Girl and hence would allow her to do practically anything to him.

But that aside, in reality I think you would find it pretty accurate if I made a general statement saying that you only allow people you trust to help you, in the more serious matters. Correct?

So when you do NOT allow someone to help you, it would have to be because you do not trust that person right?

That's what came to me one fine day when I was not allowed to help. =(

Breathing

Something many, many, many of us take for granted,
even though it is something so vital in our lives...

~Andrea Boydston~

Didn't really think about it much too, until I was forced forced myself to really push my limits when I went jogging for the past few days. I just can't seem to breathe properly while undergoing physical strain. =( My diaphragm would start hurting and then came the numbness in my hands. After awhile, I would begin to see little white lights. Next would probably be me sprawled unconscious on the ground but no, I didn't push that hard... =P

Honestly? I freaked out at first. Hahahaha. Wouldn't you?
It all started last saturday evening, during the Sutera Harbour organised 7km charity run. (which ended up as more of a 3 km run +4 km walk for me)
I was enlightened on the breathing thing by the ever caring E, who stayed by my side the whole time even though she must have probably been thinking "aiyo, so slow...". Sorry E! Anyways, she said she used to have breathing probs too. And it really slowed her down. Apparently, the trick was to control my breathing from the beginning, and not only when I was beginning to feel like I'd die of asphyxiation.
But hey, we made it! I made it through the entire 7000 metres of toe-torture! =D

Then the very next day, But then we were supposed to be jogging in a group around the lake and it got pretty obvious that I couldn't catch up. I finally told Shawn my hands were numb. And he said, "lower them awhile, let the blood flow." =)
Conclusion: My blood circulation's really bad.

So in a sudden fitness frenzy, E n I have been jogging (Well, E's doing most of the jogging. I just try hard to catch up) almost everyday. Maybe today's going to be an exception since it's getting dark and the blue-coloured lump is still fast asleep on the floor behind me. Hehehe.

Before signing off, (probably for another very long spell) here's a cekap quote related to breathing:

Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life.
~Giovanni Papini~

Muff-muffs

Muffins, muffins and more muffins.
Then there were the muff-kies (thanks to Haziq) and scone-fins. ;)

8 days of pure muffin baking and packaging was, for me:
-(as expected) repetitious
- insightful
- fun
- thought-provoking

Weird huh? Hahaha. I do know that I never want to end up working in a factory line. But I have also learnt that having the right attitude can make the most monotonous job a super enjoyable one.

I experienced that fatigue one gets when working your arse off at that time of the month. Guess I've always used it as an excuse to slack once every month. Haha. Tired was an understatement.

And boy, I think I got a glimpse of what Mel felt last year. It's not only the physical strain but also the mental pressure...
*Salutes* To everyone who's been in charge of any project involving a dateline, the efficiency of your team to succeed, and a target result that was not confirmed until the last minute. (That's you too Deb!)

Pressure is not something I work very well with. But I truly praise the Lord for giving me a wonderful team of people, nay, friends to help push me up every time I felt down.
The worst was when we got negative feedback... Thanks Deb for convincing me and helping me feel better,and not just give up. (Though it was just SO tempting)

I got to know many beautiful souls, and I got so much closer to many of them in my team.
Thanks for spending all your time and energy with me for the past one week.
Thanks for the encouraging smiles and the perseverance.
Thanks for all the ideas, both accepting and giving.
Thanks for sharing a little bit of yourselves with me. =)

It has been a super, super tiring week, and an even more super memorable one.
3 cheers for the Muffin Team!

And to those who haven't been here physically but have been keeping us in thought and prayers,
mom, dad, eeleen, whee, mel, sue, and all you others... A huge thank you too... =)
I wouldn't have managed to retain what little sanity I had left without your concern and care. Hugs.. Thanks for the prayers..

I'm so proud of the SSMP Muffin Baking Team 2009/2010!