Epic weekend snow trip

16-19 August 2013

Few months ago, as the weather got colder, all I was thinking of was, I really wish I'm at the snow! Every morning when I walk to work, all I can imagine is me, in the cold, walking along the street near the mountains, on the way to the snow.

And so, I gathered a group of friends from dragonboat and started planning a weekend to snowy mountains. The plan was to drive 5-6 hours on Friday after work, hit the slopes on Saturday, drive back on Sunday. I knew it was going to be tiring and so I took a day off on Monday. We were so organized that we even bought vouchers so gear hire. $49 for $100 worth of gear hire. Haha!

Came the snow weekend, we left Sydney at 8.30 pm, arrived Jindabyne at 2am in the wee morning after getting lost halfway and had to drive through this eerie gravel road. But hey, what's a road trip without getting lost right?

Stayed at Discovery Holiday Park here we booked a 6 person villa. Pretty cosy, own kitchen, toilet and small dining area. After arriving, it was straight to bed after a long drive. I couldn't really sleep though as I felt like a small kid again, feeling really excited. The whole week leading up to the trip, I was constantly checking the weather forecast. Was a bit gutted because it forecasted snow showers over the weekend. And hence, I prepared myself for a cold, windy, snowy experience at Thredbo. 

Day 1

Woke up to a sunny morning the next day. Clear blue skies. Took awhile to get our gear and co-ordinating everyone. Some were just taking their own sweet time with breakfast and just getting out of the place. Managed to squeeze in all the gear in my awesome Prius and hence didn't require a roof rack.

By the time we got to Thredbo, it was already 10am. It's so different compared to Ruapehu. Even at the carpark, you can't even see any snow! Was thinking, where am I going to board? So many trees, I don't see no snow. 

After walking 100 metres or so, finally saw some snow! The last time I boarded was 3 years ago. Putting on my snowboots and getting on the snowboard again felt so different. I had difficulty getting around. Didn't want to waste anytime at the beginner's area and hence headed straight to the chairlift to get up. After a few falls and crawling around, finally recalled how to brake!! 

The ride in the morning was just simply awesome. It wasn't windy, it wasn't snowing, snow was soft, it was actually quite warm!! Haven't boarded in such condition before. Attempted to brake with my toes but kept falling forward many times. In the end, I just decided to just brake using my heels and just have fun.

In the afternoon after lunch, we decided to go even further up. There was a green trail called the Village Trail (green is easy trail, blue is medium, and black trail is the hardest) that's 5km long. I figured it will be a good one to practice braking with my heels and toes. We took a chairlift up and according to the map, to get to the very start of the Village Trail, we need to board down to the T bars, catch the T bars to the very top. And so, we decided to do that. Note: I never ever could ride the T bar. But I was so confident for some reason that I will be able to do so. So anyway, when we got to the T bar, surprise surprise, I couldn't make it. Kept falling  after 2-3m or so. I figured, screw this, I am just going to board down. The catch is.... The only trails down to the base were all Black trails!!! And to walk all the way up to where we started, it is a very steep climb. So, I had three choices: 

1. Keep trying the T bar and make a fool out of myself and probably won't ever succeed

2. Take the black trails and put my life in danger

3. Walk with my boots and board up the snowy slopes

I chose choice number 3. How bad can it be right? It will guarantee me getting to the top, just takes time only. And it sure as hell took  A LOT of time. As I started walking up, it started to snow, well, more like hail. There was a blizzard. I was walking against the wind, uphill, through snow, with my snowboard. I had to use my snowboard and anchor it to the ground so I can walk up and not slide down. Small baby steps, eventually I will get there. But, it came to a point where it was all icy, no snow. there was no way I could even push my board into the snow. It came sliding, it was so slippery, I can just picture myself sliding all the way downhill back to where I started. I didn't gave up though. I went on all fours, and slowly crawl up. It was such a torture but pretty hilarious at the same time. Everyone else on the T bars must be thinking, what an idiot! There were a few points where I had to use my board to shield myself against the blizzard. 

Eventually, slowly, but surely, I managed to get to the top. Took at least half an hour. I was exhausted, all I wanted to do was go back down. All of a sudden, walking on flat snowy ground felt like a piece of cake. The ride down wasn't too bad. Apart from the fact that visibility was pretty poor at one point that I almost ride off a cliff!! 

By the time I finished the run, it was already 4.30 and all the chairlifts were closed. So I pretty much did 4-5 runs for that whole day. It was good fun but just felt like it wasn't enough. Wasn't satisfied. But then, a lightbulb moment happened!

3 out of the 6 of us decided, let's to another day tomorrow. We'll just drive down in the evening and arrive Sydney late at night. Besides, I got Monday off, Su Yi doesn't work on Monday, Chern works Monday night. And so, it was set!! Perisher next day!

Dinner that night was hotpot. 2 additional people showed up. Bernie and Tuan drove all the way down to Jindabyne just to have hotpot and stay a night with us. Super awesome!! 

Day 2

The 3 of us got up at 7.30 and was out the door by 8.15. Super efficient!! We decided to try Perisher as we heard it was better. Took us longer than expected to get to the top. It started snowing, cars were crawling, it was windy, we had to stop and put snow chains on. Cut the long story short, weather was crap the whole day, all chairlifts were closed, only T bar and J bar operating. 

But since we already made it up there, might as well right. I tried the T bar several times but there was a very long queue each time so I decided to just go to the J bar. Initially had trouble with that but eventually mastered it. And so, I just stayed at the beginner's area, determined to be able to brake with my toes whilst Su Yi and Chern took the T bar up to the very top. 

The whole time I was wishing and praying the wind would calm down and the chairlifts will operate .... but... it didn't happen. But.... thanks to YouTube, I managed to finally brake with my toes at the end of the day!! I am one step closer to looking like a pro!!! Thighs were less sore and it just felt so natural. Super satisfied despite the disappointment of not being able to ride the T bar. Well, at least I tried.

We were one of the last to get off the snow field. It was 4.30 by then. Got changed, returned out gear and then it was back to Sydney. 

The journey didn't end here.

We decided to stop by Canberra for dinner. By the time we got to Canberra, it was 8pm. Met up with Grace, Su Yi's friend aka the girl who let me bunked at her place during my half marathon trip back in April. Chern called his sister who's staying in Canberra and then.... we all decided, might as well stay in Canberra for the night! It's late, we are all tired, she was so nice to let us crash at her place. My weekend holiday have been stretched even longer!!

Day 3
Free and easy around Canberra. Chilled, went to a cafe for brekky, walked around the town.... ended up buying myself rock climbing shoes :O (it was cheap!!!)

Went to some sort of lookout I don't even remember the name.... and then... headed home.

It didn't end there though. Seeing that I've bought my rock climbing shoes, and also bought myself a harness back in Sydney because it was on sale.... We decided.... rock climbing!!!!

Was pretty exhausted after but.... it was definitely an EPIC weekend!! 

Kathmandu Adventure Series - 25th May

Apologies for the dead blog. Time to dust off the cob webs. Here's a delayed race report for my very first adventure race back in May... Got $50 bucks from Kathmandu my writing this race report. Haha!!!

A few months prior to the race, I was just browsing Facebook and came across the link for Kathmandu Adventure Series. Out of curiosity, I clicked it to see what it's all about. It's an adventure race that involves orienteering, mountain biking, trail running, kayaking and rowing. As this was the sprint series, it's only a short course that will only take a few hours. There's the longer series that could take up to 12 hours and there's even a 24 hour race!!

I thought to myself, this will probably make it a step closer towards doing a triathlon if I do this race. And so, I sent out an email to a few people in my dragonboat team to see who's interested to be my race partner as the race is done in teams of two.

Got a reply back from Chern and so... Team Terrain Terror was formed!!

We were pretty enthusiastic about the race and the prep. In the end, it was more talk than do. We were discussing on how we should do a trial race - hire a kayak and do 3km, take our bikes and cycle 20 odd kms, and run 7km off road. We'll do them all in 3 separate days and then one full thing on another day and see how long it takes us to complete.

In the end, our prep consisted of a day of 3km+ kayak, a day where we ran the spit to manly route which was a decent 10km off road.... and came the day for our bike trial, we were planning to ride from city to bondi... but approximately 3km into our ride, Chern's bike broke and so we had to drag it back to the city and went for brekky. That was the amount of training we had for the bike portion. In the end, we did not even did a full mock race.

A week before the real race, he finally got a new mountain bike. We picked it up on Saturday and was meant to go for a ride the next day but it didn't happen. Which means, he will be riding his mountain bike for the very first time during the race itself!

It has been raining the past few days in the lead up to race day and I was just praying for good weather on race day.

And so... came race day...

Team Terrain Terror left Sydney for the Royal National Park at 6 in the morning. My Toyota Prius did an amazing job by being able to fit two bulky mountain bikes.

Stopped by Maccas halfway to grab some brekky. Took about an hour to get to the bike drop off area. After we dropped off our bikes, we went to the registration area to collect our maps and started planning our race. Or should I say "plan". As we walked back to the car with our maps, we saw other teams reading the maps so seriously and writing notes. Some even pulled out their picnic chairs, sipping cups of coffee whilst planning their race. As for us, we got back to the car, took out the map, grabbed some highlighters and pretty much just trace the lines on the map. We were done in less than 5 minutes. We spent the rest of our time fixing our bandannas and shoes. Chern had a "talking" shoe to start with. We ended up fixing the shoes with rigid sports tape. The race have not even started. Talk about being prepared, huh?

We got to the starting line with our maps feeling so excited for the race. Checked out the pop-up Kathmandu discount tent and had a quick chat with the man over there. We asked him if the tent will still be opened after the race and his answer was: "Depends what time you finish the race." We answered him :"Should be back by 12 of course!" He asked us if it was our first race and we said yes. He chuckled.


9am, the race starts. First part of the race we were given a rogaine map. We had to pretty much collect 5 out of 6 checkpoints in any order. The strategy was to go to the checkpoint with least people first even if it means it's the further away and then make our way back. That, was our strategy. We were pretty good with that. Following the rogaine, it was a steep climb up the Honeymoon trail to our bikes. When we got to our bikes, there were many bikes left. That meant we must be doing pretty well, being at the front half of the pack.

And so, team terrain terror set off on their very first mountain bike journey! It started off pretty cruisy, it was en enjoyable ride. But after checkpoint 3, there was this really steep hill. Having no experience in mountain biking, I was just all over the whole bike trail from right to left, lost control but did not want to brake too much as I knew I would fling myself off my bike. I pressed my brake bit by bit but the bike wasn't going any slower, instead it was going faster and faster because it was getting steeper and steeper. I was on the road to a broken collar bone or a leg, or maybe a head injury. I panicked, my foot came off the pedal, I lost control, but still refusing to brake. A "George of the Jungle" stunt lighted up and I figured, I should just hit a tree and stop. And so, I steered towards a tree on the way down, hit the tree and came out fine. My buddy along with other cyclists' jaws dropped. They were all really friendly and asked if I was fine. We decided to come down the bike and walk our bikes down and carried on in our races.

Throughout the ride, we saw so many people turning back as they missed their checkpoints. You get a 30 min penalty if you miss a checkpoint. And so, we made sure we did not miss any checkpoints. The mountain bike leg of the race involved a lot of pushing the bike down or up any steep hills. My thighs were killing me. Halfway throughout the mountain bike leg, we had to park our bike and do a 2 km run and then it was back on our bikes again.

By the time we got back to the bike drop off area, we hardly had a spot to park our bikes. Most of the bikes were back. This could only mean one thing - we are one of the last team in the race. Everyone caught up to us in the 20 km bike leg.

Next leg, a 5 km run. At this point, we were low on energy. Legs were cramping, we were running low on energy. We didn't pack any food apart from 5 packets of GU gels to share between the two of us for the whole race. It took us over an hour to complete the running leg as we ended up walking most of it. Chern was really running low on energy, no joke, no chant could psych him up. I was worried we won't even make it to the finish line. As we ran pass the bike drop off area and ran down the Honeymoon trail, a burst of energy came out of nowhere. We were speedy Gonzales as we ran downhill, towards the rowing boats.

Got to the rowing leg. It was the only leg where we managed to catch up to a few other teams. We were cruising through the water, nice and easy, gently down the stream. I guess the dragonboat training paid of a little. After parking our boats, we ran 500m or so to the kayaks. We started off rather gung ho and was going at a rather fast pace. For about 100m or so and then died. We got to all our checkpoints and then headed back to shore and it was a 100m sprint to the finish line!!

Crossed the finish line with a time of 5 hours 1 min. Overall placing 136, category placing 33/46 teams. Crossing the finish line was a huge relief. We actually did it and came out alive!! Best compliment of the day? I'd have to say the moment we handed in our checkpoint chip and the lady said to us : "Congratulations, you completed all checkpoints and did not miss any!"

And guess what? The Kathmandu pop up tent was still there! But it wasn't 12pm, it was 2pm. Haha!! Now we understood why the man at the tent chuckled before the race. Because we were simply a bunch of jokers who underestimated what an adventure race was. You are crazy to even think you can complete the race in 3 hours, especially being first timers. It's not your standard road running, road biking race. It is called an Adventure Race for a reason!!

Would I do it again? On first thought, NO WAY!! You're crazy to even ask. But as I woke up the next day in agony, looking back at the experience and the crazy stories coming out of it, of course!! I'd definitely do it again. But next time, much more training will need to be invested. Team Terrain Terror will be back stronger and better next time!

20 km Narrowneck Night Run 16th November

Last trail run for the year in terms of racing. Another race I thoroughly enjoyed despite the crappy weather. Was looking forward to catch some AMAZING views with the sunset and starry night with this night run but... it was bucketing rain during my drive up to the Blue Mountains. At the start, it was drizzling and all foggy. You can hardly see anything. Everyone was all in their wet weather race gear - rain jackets, beanies... and not forgetting, the mandatory head torch.

Didn't really require to turn on my head torch only towards the halfway point. You had an option to turn around the 7 km mark or 10 km mark. I signed up for the 20 km run. That was before knowing about this crappy weather. But when I started the race, 3-4 km in, I was so tempted to just turn around at the 7 km mark and make it a 14 km run instead of 20. The rain was on and off, it was hot and cold. I had to take on and take off my rain jacket several times. Was contemplating the whole time whether to turn around.

But by the time I knew it, I have actually missed the 7 km turn around point and I was actually at the 10 km point. Well, guess I am doing the full 20!! It was dark by then and I had to turn on my headtorch. Being a cheap 20 bucks headtorch from Kathmandu, it wasn't bright enough. All I could see clearly is 5-10m ahead of me. I tried to stick to several runners as they had brighter lights but some sped up, some slowed down. I was alone by myself for the last few kilometers.

At one point, I actually ran into a bush because the path was curving to the right and I didn't see it. For a moment, I panicked, I did a quick spin, which I shouldn't have... and lost my orientation. It was pitch black and that headtorch of mine was rather useless in all the fog. When I finally found the path, I didn't know whether to go left or right. I might be heading away or towards the finish line. I waited for a minute or so and then saw some lights coming my way. It was then where I knew which direction to head towards to.

Crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours 17 mins and a lucky draw prize waiting for me.

Came 6th out of 19 females. Pretty stoked! In a way, I really enjoyed this night trail running experience in the rain and fog. Pretty surreal. It's so dark you can't really see what's ahead of you, whether or not there's a steep slope coming or flat ground. I tend to slow down when I see a steep slope ahead but because it was dark, I just kept running until I actually hit the slope and feel it. It's good in a way and it just makes me keep running.

Will I do it again? For sure!!! And am keeping my fingers cross the weather god will be kinder the next time :p

Woodford to Glenbrook 25km trail run - 8th September

PB attained!!!

Time in 2012 was 2:23:45, this year, it was 2:15:48. Came 6th in my category :) This year, the race was shifted to September as it was cancelled in June due to the rain. It was good racing weather condition and am glad they actually postponed it. Loved this course.

No blisters this time, no sprained ankle. Just very sore legs after the race. Glad I took the Monday off. Could hardly walk even right after the race. Looking forward to another PB in 2014!

Holes

When you think it's all getting better... when you keep telling yourself and others that you are fine.... And then reality kicks in.... you find yourself still struggling and trying to adapt... 


"Well sometimes you can't change and you can't choose
And sometimes it seems you gain less than you lose
Now we've got holes in our hearts, yeah we've got holes in our lives
Where we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on" - Passenger

Just gotta carry on, eh? 

The truth is...

Sometimes the truth hurts, but knowing about it makes it easier to letting go. There are many If only's, but we just have to leave it at that. Learn from our mistakes and move on with life.

Progress

Still unable to take down the photos stuck on my wall. Part of me is unwilling to let go just yet.

But progress is when you managed a week without having watery eyes when you think about it; when you are able to talk about it without choking; when you are able to finally change the wallpaper on your phone.

Baby steps...

Suffocating

Each time i think about it, or try to talk about it, my eyes just fills up with tears, and I just choked. It's so hard to get over this. Still in its early stages. Still waiting for some good to come out of this. 

Maybe I should run more and get my mind away from this all. 

Australia Running Festival in Canberra - 14th April 2013

It's already mid year and I have been pretty slack, I'm worst than last year. I have not even made any race reports entry despite having pretty good stories with my races. So here I am... attempting to post up my race report for the first race of the year.

Australia Running Festival in Canberra - 14th April 2013
Did the half marathon for this. It was a rather full on weekend. Woke up on Saturday morning rather early and couldn't sleep so I went to Eveleigh Markets. Walked around and bought some snack for my trip to Canberra. And then, headed off to dragonboat training followed by lunch with the crew before I set off on my lonesome drive down to Canberra. Left Sydney probably around 3pm.

Despite driving alone, it was rather fun. I was just singing to the radio at the top of my lungs as if I'm in my own world. And when the radio went fuzzy, it was back to songs back in the 90s - Avril lavigne, M2M, Britney Spears and so forth.... I really enjoyed it. Haha! Got to Canberra around 7pm, popped over to Coles to grab my dinner- ready made pasta salad from the salad bar (it tasted rather awful... but hey... need to carbo load!). Stayed a night at Grace's (a friend's friend) place. She was so nice to host me despite not knowing me at all nor met me before. Saved heaps on accommodation and am really thankful for that.

Got up rather early on race day. Couldn't really sleep because it was quite cold that night (should have brought my sleeping bag). Changed, got into my car and drove to the starting line.

As I got there early, I decided to take in a quick power nap. Got to the starting line and it was 7 degrees. Freezing cold wearing just singlet and shorts. It's only Autumn! How can it be so cold? Gulped down a packet of energy gel with some water before getting to the starting line. Ran the first 2 km under 5 min/km. Got worried decided to go a bit slower as I do not want to burnout. After the 4km mark, I rolled my ankle. Hobbled a wee bit but was back to my normal running after. Slowed down quite a bit and couldn't maintain by 5min/km pace. Was sitting on just under the 5:30 pace which I'm pretty happy with. My goal was to go under the 1 hr 55 min mark. It was a good sign that I will be able to make it.

The route was pretty flat and running in a foreign place just makes it way much better. There's so many things to see, you get distracted on how far more you have to go. It's like having a tour of Canberra whilst running in a race. Really my definition of getting the best of both worlds :p

Crossed the finishing line with a time of 1 hr 52 min 57 sec, with a pace of 5:21/km. Very happy with the time. Am so glad I didn't walk for the very first time in a half marathon and went all the way. Finally hit under the 1 hr 55 min mark!! Rushed to the port-a-loo after and did a really big dump. Had a rather sore tummy during the run. I think the pasta salad the night before was the big culprit. Next time, only home cooked pasta!! If I have to cook it in Sydney and bring it down to Canberra, I will!!

The amount of training I put into this wasn't as much as the full marathon training. If only I did, imagine how much faster I would have been. Nevertheless, am really happy with the race.

Went back to Grace's house after the run for a quick shower before heading back to Sydney. Was dozing off during the drive back and had to pullover twice by the road to take a nap, and once for a stop at KFC to reward myself after a KFC ban for a month. Hehehehe....

All in all, a really fun road trip for myself and I. Definitely a good, fun experience. A race that I'm very proud of. Would definitely do this drive and do the race again next time!!! The sense of personal achievement, beating your ownself and becoming better ... one of the many reasons why I can't give running up.

Sleepless nights

it's my own doing anyway... it has to be the right thing... it has to be... it's only in its early stages.... i'm sure some good will come out of it one day... soon... hopefully... Afterall, everything happens for a reason.

It's so hard to erase it all.. it's hard to even erase anything. Where do I begin?

I know the answer. But still unwilling to do so. Still unwilling to move on to the next step.

Unknown world

All of a sudden it just feels so empty, so quiet.. It all feels so foreign, so unfamiliar... Clueless on what's next...

Time... Is all we need.. To get used to the unfamiliarity.

16km Great NOSH Footrace June 2, 2013

This was the first trail run race for the year. Went with my cousin in law - Phil. Mum, dad and cousin were waiting for us in the car/cafe whilst we two crazy people ran in the rain.

Throughout the whole run, it was bucketing rain. Can't believe the race was actually still on. Despite the rain, it felt really good at the start. Was going at a rather good pace. Running under the rain somehow felt rejuvenating. Wasn't tired. The course was was rather technical but not too technical. At some point, we had to jump over waterfalls, and ran through puddles that were up to knee height. Good fun!!

Towards the end, when I started to fatigue, I sprained my ankle 3 times. It was pretty bad and that was what slowed me down. Keen to do this again in 2014 to get a better time. Need to get this ankle sorted out!!

Time taken to complete: 1:58:42

You can check out the waterfall we had to cross in this video (it's the waterfall featured at 0:41s):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCmTfspo4W8

What hurts the most...

What hurts the most is seeing the person you loved getting hurt...  And then you decide to give it all another chance.... That's when you know, you still love that person and not ready to let go just yet....

2012... what a year you have been

Ok, I actually typed most of this in January.. it's already end of March now.... just took me awhile to make it all nice and pretty....

2012... what a year you have been to me

You went by too quickly. I don't know whether to be sad or excited now that you are gone. Very hesitant to you let you go, but at the same time, I am looking forward to the many things in 2013.

Career
I didn't do too well here. Still in the same job. So many people at work have left. Mainly because the management isn't treating us well. Taking us for granted and not paying us well.

Did not attend as many courses as I wanted to. Only did a plastering course which at the end, I found wasn't too useful in my area since we hardly do plastering. Only on the odd occasions. Not frequent enough to practice.

Attended a few webinars online but did not consolidate much. Just did it for the sake of logging in those hours. Somehow I just wasn't interested. Left things aside to consolidate later but it did not happen.

Did not read any journals at all like I have planned. And only made ONE presentation at work. Reading through my 2012 New Year post, looks like I really didn't progress much in terms of my career.

Hoping 2013 will be different. Did some reflecting at the start of 2013 before writing this post up. Have signed up for a dry needling course. Hoping to be able to use it at work. Cost me a bomb so I really need to make it worth my money.

Will really need to make my professional development one of my priorities this year if I want to get a different job. It's one of the main things why I struggle to re-write my CV. I have nothing much to write about. Didn't have any achievements whatsoever. So yea... gonna try to make a change this year!

If I can stick to a training regime for a marathon, I am positive I can be disciplined enough to make a change in my career.

Fitness
Did well in this. Reading through the minor posts I had for this year, the majority are about my runs. Might have actually neglected other aspects of my life because of this.

1. Did a PB in my half marathon, however not very convincing
2. Ran 10km with a sub 50 (48 min 32 s). Couldn't believe I actually did it!!
3. Completed a full marathon - sacrificed quite a bit for this. Didn't want to go out much on the weekends simply because I need to run the next day. Stayed away from alcohol for 10 months and KFC for 6 months in the attempt of trying to stay healthy. Everything I do was based on my training regime. I am so happy to have completed this. The preparation journey itself have taught me quite a bit. I have came to realize that if I really want something, I can achieve it as long as I put my head and time into it. On top of that, I have raised NZ 1726 for the Heart Foundation. Thanks all!

4. Did my very first trail run in Australia. And it wasn't a short run either- 25km. Suffered from massive blisters but got hooked into it and did another trail run in the later part of the year up in the Blue Mountain at Wentworth Falls.
5. Continued dragonboat and even bought a AUD200 Trivium paddle!!! Raced in Darling Harbour during the CNY festival.
6. Tried wakeboarding for the first time, went surfing another time, and participated in another mud run/obstacle race called Raw Challenge.

What's there to look forward to in 2013? Will be taking a break from full marathon. May consider another one next year. For now I want to work on my speed and I need to spend more time in other aspects of my life. But who knows? I might not be able to resist the temptation and start training again just because I can't help myself.

Family
Went back to Malaysia and Singapore to celebrate grandma's 85th birthday. Grandma's birthday was massive, it was so good to have everyone gathering together. Better than chinese new year! Cousins from all over the world flew back just for that one night for grandma.

Main reason why I decided to fly back was actually for mum's birthday. Have not celebrated mum's birthday with her for quite a few years. It was so great to be able to celebrate it with her this time :)

Also, had our annual family trip. This time, it's to Thailand again but to a more untouched island - Koh Lipe aka Maldives of Thailand. Very nice place but getting there was a hassle. I reckon' it's worth the trip for a quite relaxing holiday. Great time with the parents, brother and aunt. As we are now all over the world, I'm really glad we all make it a point to spend time together at least once a year. It's moments like these that are so rare these days.

And to add to the list, my beloved cousin sister got engaged and then got married this year!!! Super happy for her... and I got to be the maid of honour... another first for me!!

And to more good news... the bro proposed this year!!! 2013 is gonna be so awesome as I'm gonna get myself a sister-in-law!!!

Social life
Despite me being anti-social in terms of being alcohol free... I'd say my social aspect of life isn't too bad this year. Got to know the dragonboat team better and made new friends.

I could say my weekends were less boring than before but I still enjoy the ME-time weekends where I just lie on the couch and do nothing. It was very rare as I'm usually out and about running. Had friends who went running with me and inspired me. When I am in my 30s and 40s, I want to still be able to run like them. Still so fit despite their age... I have no excuse to say I'm getting old and can't run anymore. haha!!

Met up with the wise ones when I went to Singapore in March. Was a great catchup. It's so long ago so I can't remember what we talked about but it's always good to meet up with the wise. Makes me feel wiser :p

Went back to Auckland twice this year too. One in March for a birthday surprise for the significant other, and one in October, for the full marathon. Auckland to me, is somehow still HOME to me despite being away from it for 4 years. Yes, it's been 4 years already, can you believe it? There's always this warm, welcoming feeling when I head back to Auckland. Used to have that when I went back to Malaysia last time but not anymore.

On a side note, I have never driven so long in my life before. Not sure where should I put this section but perhaps under social. Did the longest drive this year to Young which took about 4 hours. Plucked cherries and strawberries and drove back to Sydney which is another 8 hours on the SAME day. I'd say it's a rather big accomplishment, don't you think? 8 hours driving in a day... travelling over 800km....Woop woop!

Relationship
This has definitely been another roller coaster ride this year. There were so many points where I doubt our relationship. There were moments where it was at the tip of an iceberg. This long distance thing is not getting any easier. I really appreciate what he have done and how much he have sacrificed for me. But realistically, how long more? I fear that even if we do get together finally, can we even handle it? We are so used to living apart... maybe we won't even get used to living together. It's always all these doubts that comes to my mind, especially when we are apart.

But... when we meet again, even just for a few days, that feeling we call "love" just puts the doubts away. All the frustration, anger, doubts... it all just disappears and that warm, fuzzy feeling just comes back. It's weird. Maybe it's normal for it to be weird? Life, huh?

What will 2013 bring? I'm sorry to my readers (if i do still have any) but I really cannot tell you. Will leave it as it is right now and really just go with the flow and see where it leads us. Eventually, we need to really TALK about this and really find out which page we are on and if we are on the same page.

At the start of 2012, I made a list... a list of things to do. I never made them. I made it for the very first time... so now let's see how I have faired...

The must-do's:
Get a car - Checked. Got a Toyota Prius in May for $15,800 but mum and dad helped me forked out $4800 :) Pretty stoked with this. I have named in Pickles! Thanks papa and mummy for spending the time to hunt for this car and get a pretty good deal. Loving it and everyone thinks it's brand new! hahahahaha! 
Complete a full marathon - Checked!!! :)
Attend courses for professional development - Half checked. Attended a plastering course. 
Present at least 1 in-service at work - Checked. Would have liked to do more. 
Pay rent - Checked!!! Can't say I'm liking it. Managed to convince my cousin once to let me pay the Strata fees. And ever since she moved out in October, I've been paying the Strata fees and all the bills. Savings have definitely gone down. Need to do more Saturday work!

The Maybe's:
Do a snowboarding trip - either to Melbourne or go back to NZ - Not accomplished.
Meet the monkey in Gold Coast and do the full marathon together - Not accomplished. Did the full marathon in Auckland instead. 
Get a weekend job - Not accomplished. 
Do a PB in a half marathon or a 10km run - Ohh yeaa!! Checked :)
Make a trip to Adelaide to visit Shaleeni - Not accomplished. 
Dive - Not accomplished. 

Looks like I've done not too bad. Though I wished I done more. I'm so satisfied with my sporting accomplishments this year. But other than that, I'd say I'm a wee bit disappointed on the others. 

Somehow, I really do not know what 2013 is going to be like. I really want to do well as a physiotherapist, I really want to improve my skills but that laziness is still lingering. Other than that, I don't really know what I want to accomplish. Well, actually, I just have to make sure I bungy jump and skydive either this year in 2013 or early 2014 whilst I'm still 25 :p

As for doing new things, making it count, reaching new heights... I don't really have anything in mind for 2013. So let's just play it by ear and see how things fair, eh?

I can't promise to blog more this year but will definitely take more photos so I can have a better recap of the year.

Famous last words for this post? Don't really have one this time. I think it's because it's March now and I'm trying to get this posted as I do not wish to delay it anymore. And hence, I'm going to just re-post my famous last words from last year...

Don't be afraid to make plans, don't be afraid to dream, don't be afraid to aim high. Sometimes, you gotta live on the edge. Make plans and do, do your best in everything you pursue in. If you fail, smile. Because you did the best you could. 

Love, unconditionally, like there's no tomorrow. 

Happy New Year to all! I hope you guys a have wonderful 2013!!!