case of the crazies

"tonight i feel ambitious, and so does my foot" - eve6 (open road song)

i reckon i've always been crazy. but lately it seems like i've gotten even crazier.

latest in my crazy racing is that i've signed up for a half marathon at the end of the year.

yes, that would be 21 km of pure torture.

my furthest training run is 5.2km. my furthest race distance is 7.3km. what am i even thinking?

well i'm usually hardly sane so why start now?

i guess this is just one of my crazy moments where apparently i think i can actually survive it.

hey like i always say... i can always walk...

but i'm gonna still try and train my best... and i know that when i cross that finishing line after approximately at least 3.5 hours, i'm gonna end the year with that big bang that i always wanted.

and the training begins again...

"to the path that i should take, it's just too real to go ahead and fake, every step that i make" - trapt (new beginning)

a second time doesn't necessarily make it any easier.

i'm just as nervous as i was the first time.

i just signed up for my second race. 10km. and this time, i really do think they mean 10km as opposed to 7.3km masquerading as 8km like in the case of my first race.

i know i'm crazy... 'coz a particularly bad sprained ankle left me outta running commission for the last 3 months. and i only started getting back on the road again last week with a pathetic 2.4km. the ankle didn't seem too bad but my calves and hamstrings ached after. expected i suppose since my long hiatus. but just as i was looking forward to another run, that got halted by me catching a flu bug. i so need to get my training on.

but apparently this is what i wanna do. so as scary as it is, i'm just gonna do it. through the pain, even if i have to walk it through for part of the way, i'm just gonna do it.

and it will be another personal achievement for me at the end of it.

the trip to taiwan

"we're travelled like gypsies, only with worse luck and far less gold" - fall out boy (sophomore slump or come back of the year)

last thursday i went to taiwan on a company trip and only got back late on sunday. it was a retreat of some sorts so it was good to finally have some sort of a break even if it was a short one.

taiwan is certainly a place for food. there was just so much food available that it was crazy. i was just eating, eating and then eating again.











the first night it was pig's innards noodles. the unique point of this shop was that everyone had to stand to eat. it was pretty yummy.











then we went to another place for some large desserts.





















and yes, i'll have you guys know that i had almost all of that on my own for lunch!











taiwan is also known for it's fried food...











... as well as it's smelly tofu. the tofu not only smelled bad but it tasted terrible as well. it was like licking a garbage truck. not that i would know...











there was also a lot of fruits...











and really huge ones at that...





















to work it all off, we walked it out in the many night markets till my feet and back ached...

i'm not really one for shopping (yes, shocker!) so i was the only one who come back home with the same amount of luggage as i left with. but everyone else seemed to spend loads of money and came back with extra luggage. i didn't really think the prices were all that cheap and i guess most of the stuff there wasn't really suited to me.

that said, on the whole the trip was good.

the grey areas

"i love you too much to ever start liking you, so let's just let the story have an end, i love you too much to ever start liking you, so don't expect me to be your friend." - lobo (don't expect me to be your friend)

i've always believed in the grey areas. nothing is black and white. it's all shades of grey.


but maybe some things are more black and white than i like to admit to. maybe it's really all or nothing. and you can't really have it all... all of the grey area that is.

i think either way, it's hard. especially if all is not exactly the ideal path but nothing kills as well.

where is that happy middle to it all?

a nut in a nutshell

"i spent so long trying to fit the prototype, kept a stick in the gears and i never got it right" - amy studt (misfit)

i know it's been ages. but lately i just haven't been feeling like writing.

so what has been going on in the world of jo?

well a whole lot.

but in a nutshell there's been exams. there's been a new job that's stressful and fast paced. there's been a new change in hair color.

i've officially gone orange. and i do believe that just bout completes my foray into all colors of the rainbow.

so i got tagged by cindy...

i'm supposed to state 6 weird things bout myself and then tag 6 friends. since i don't even have 6 friends here, whoever wants to can do it.

1. i like hair colors not found in nature

that should be pretty evident haha!

2. i require music to function and am lyrically obsessed

i have to search for lyrics of every song that i like. and i'm usually pretty quick with remembering 'em

3. i like to eat sliced tomatoes, eggs, carrots etc in pairs

and no, seeing one slice and then cutting 'em into two does not work

4. i've been known to have an appetite that can sometimes rival certain men's

there's an infamous story that my ex boss man likes to tell bout me ordering a huge plate of noodles while all the guys at the table ordered a small plate

5. i can't stand to see my food alive and then later dead on my plate

i guess fishing and prawning is out. unless it's catch and release. that said, i'm a meatasaurus

6. i joke to my mom bout what to write on her orbituary

i'm just a lil warped like that. but she has a sense of humor. gotta love her.

next stop: the future

"i had better end it quick, or i could lose my nerve" - matchbox twenty (rest stop)

it's been a long time coming... but finally it came to this day... a day where i made the decision to think bout my own future instead of just being contented with being happy despite a lack of growth.

but it's also kinda scary. stepping outta my comfort zone. moving on to something new.

i know that this is the right decision for me at this moment. but it doesn't make it any easier. nor does it make me any less sad. i've somehow grown very attached to this place and it makes me cry to think bout leaving.

i can only hope that i can still keep in touch with the people i've felt were so much a part of my daily life. people who i've learnt to call friends. and maybe someday our paths will cross again.

first race report

"and i can see my life is waiting, now i know i'm living for who i am" - smile empty soul (who i am)

i survived my first race.

all 8km of it... okay well the exact distance was 7.3km but who's counting haha!

my timing was bout an hour which isn't all that great but given the surgery and then a recent bout of illness which left me outta running commision for 3 weeks, i suppose i'm reasonably happy with it all.

most of all it was indeed an achievement.

i have never ever run 8km (or really 7.3km) before. and i admit that i was really worried. the beginning 2.5km of the run was relatively easy. but by the time i hit the loop at possibly 4km, i was starting to really feel it and slowed down considerably to walk. bear in mind that my usual runs are 4km. the rest of the run was tougher. the hot sun shining was tiring me out and my legs were starting to ache. in between walking it out, the running took all my prayers and mental endurance.

but when i neared the finish line, i darted in and out of other runners and sprinted my way through.

despite some physical pain, the feeling was amazing. i felt almost euphoric.

i made it. that's all that matters.

and i can't wait to make it even better in more races.