okay i'm trying this out - blogging through email, because china doesn't allow access to blogger and although jolie's told me to RELAX and find a way when we get there you never know, and i don't want to part with this blog for five months.

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Real people. Real questions. Real answers. Share what you know.

never again

but of course, i might change my mind once i can walk properly again. because there's nothing like running down the CBD with the wind in your hair, watching the sun rise. next time i get to see the sunrise in the CBD it'll probably be because i was stuck in the office overnight.

and there will never be anything quite like a good run.

i had an extremely enjoyable time, and surprised myself by really enjoying my own company for 39 km or so. the first 4 i was running with chao qin and his friend bomby (he has a cool french name which i don't know how to spell, i think that's a short form, it was on the back of his shirt) and when i detoured to the first water point they left me behind.

oh well! i decided not to hero hero and chiong with them - guys leh - and do like the posters said and run my own race.

everything lasted fine from the waist up the entire distance, and i was also pretty surprised that i didn't feel breathless or anything. what's making me think never again is the fact that i am in excruciating pain, waist down. i can't walk properly, and i don't think i can walk for long distances (no shopping yet, BOO!) so please come to my house and visit me for the next few days at least, if you're dying to see me.

oh and i have abrasions too. the pain, when i take showers.

i finished in 4:56:56 although it really, really REALLY hurt to do so. that's the time on my watch anyway, and i know i definitely finished sub-5 because the official clock showed 4:59 hurhur. but i only reached the starting point after 0530, see? couldn't feel the pain in my legs (or feel my legs, for that matter) the last 200m or so - and i was sprinting like anything and wondering when the padang would appear.

well, it did, and i finished in less than five hours like i wanted to and - we'll see whether i'll go through this madness again next year.

i'm very thankful for the lovely weather, and for the sense of camaraderie - the atmosphere was a lot better than AHM. it was nice, when we passed this bunch of poor schoolkids who were there to cheer us on (at 0645), and one of them started singing if you're happy and you know it and the passing runners very obligingly clapped their hands. it was also nice, meeting old friends along the way.

i also saw a couple of philippians 4:13s and i couldn't agree more.

i can do EVERYTHING through Him who gives me strength.

the thing about having friends from all over the place is that you finish exams earlier than they do, or you're free when they aren't. last night, after coming home from a salty lunch and even saltier dinner in JB i was dying to eat cookies and cream ice cream from island creamery. but quents had cell, i have no idea what jon (wr)ong was doing but he said he was sleepy and wanted to sleep, and shannon was my only hope because he was at church which is at adam road, near serene centre.

but he finished later than he expected, so i had to eat slightly lau-honged peanut butter oreos and a bit of lindt pistachio chocolate to satisfy my cravings for something sweet after ALL THAT SALT YUCKS.

anyway that's not the point. to top it off, i seem to remember that shannon rang me at around 0117 - that's the time shown on my phone, anyway - to apologise for not being able to eat ice cream. and i seem to remember muttering sleepily "i'm sleeping huh it's okay and i wanted to eat cause im running on sunday" or something like that before hanging up with another "i'm sleepingggg."

there is perfect running weather as of now, and i can't go for a run, which is frustrating. it better be cool tomorrow morning.

vaguely emo mood
if i fell in love with you
would you promise to be true
and help me understand
'cause i've been in love before
and i found that love was more
than just holding hands

that's the best part of the song i think, because the rest of it, though lovely chord progression and tune wise, is not very lovely lyrics-wise. kinda sounds like some guy wants to get back at an ex-girlfriend, or maybe not.

okay la it's quite sweet, but WHY did john lennon have to add "i hope that she will cry when she learns that we are two?"

minus those bits it is currently my favourite song. thanks sean for remembering how the "if i fell in love with you" parts went, at the very least - because you couldn't remember the rest. surprisingly, or not surprisingly, it was my dad who remembered the rest of it. he's been on a george harrison/eric clapton roll of late, good on him.

it hasn't even been two months, and i feel like a pine tree. pine-y.