Runners' Lingo

I read this completely random guy's blog every week, because it's his running training diary, and an inspiration and motivator for me. Sometimes I have no idea what I'm reading because he appears to be using some sort of code language reserved only for the super serious runner.

People comment on his posts, even on the ones that only contain said language, which confirms to me that such a language does indeed exist.

Random Guy's most recent post has inspired me in several ways:

1. He sure can get a message across in a succinct way - the post has only a title and no body text, and that title only has four characters in it (one of which is a space): E 8K

2. Wow, I must be picking up on "Runner's Lingo" because I actually understand what this means!

3. This year, my main running achievement was completing an 8km race. However, Random Guy ~ whose real name is Martin ~ runs 8km on his easy days ("E 8K" means "Easy 8km") and about 20-25km on a normal day. One day maybe I'll be doing that too...

Martin, you will probably never know I am reading your blog, but thanks for being able to inspire little ol' me with two letters and one number (and a space, of course!).

Silly me

For two entire weeks now my most recent dream diary post has made a fool of me to the entire world, and not one single person told me... until today.

I meant champing at the bit! James is sitting right in front of me now laughing his head off.

On a blog roll

Four lengthy posts in two days. Can you tell I'm on holiday? In the meantime, James has advanced about ten levels in Ultimate Alliance on his new Nintendo Wii.

I've been productive, at least in the sense that I've produced a lot of internet stuff this last few days. Fixed up the layout of my MySpace Music site. Uploaded some new stuff on my Multiply site. Done a lot of catch-up reading on various friends' sites on Multiply. Listened to my new CDs that I got for Christmas.

I think I'm just about all blogged out... well, for two days at least. At times I have to consciously make the decision to stay away from my blog so that people can at least keep up with reading without having to log on daily.

I've taken lots of photos and videos lately so it's time to leave the blog for a bit now and upload some stuff.

I have this ulcer in my mouth that makes any form of eating or drinking highly painful because it's in a really bad spot, under my upper lip. James has one too in a very similar position. Between the ulcers and being caught up in blogging/uploading and Nintendo Wii respectively, we've not really been eating proper meals when we get hungry because a) it's painful to eat, and b) we're too distracted by other things.

Old Friends, Old Times

Just before arriving at the shops on Boxing Day, I received a text message from my friend Dave:

"hi fi, merry christmas to you and j :) sorry i've been so bad at trying to meet up this year. anyway, if you're free me and my mates are having a bit of a musical jam tomorrow at my parents place, [address]. 11 onwards :) cheers"

How random was that!

Dave and I go way back to the days when we were both year 8 students at Caulfield Grammar School (CGS), over a decade (!!!) ago. You know what's scary about that one? Chris, who was with James and I at Carols by Candlelight on Sunday night, graduated from CGS only last year!

Dave and I first met in math class. I sat next to him, initially because he was smart (still is - he's a doctor now!) and I could get help with my math, but eventually because we were (still are) friends. Thinking back to those days, I think that he might have thought I was smart too, but all the rest of us knew he was (still is) the smartest, even if he didn't (probably still doesn't) know that himself.

Dave is one of the only people from CGS that I am still in touch with because after I moved to Hong Kong he was one of the few who kept in touch with me. That was back in the day when email was not as prevalent (I'm dating myself aren't I?) and snail mail was the main form of intercontinental friendships. So I was delighted to discover yesterday that Dave has a blog! And just like his letters, his blog is heartfelt, witty, highly intelligent and definitely a read recommended by me.

Dave, you were always several years ahead of me in maturity, and your writing shows that you still are. ;-)

Needless to say, I didn't need much convincing to join Dave and his mates yesterday.

It is at this point that I have a confession to make: I must have become too Australianized or something because I was totally expecting Dave's mates to be Caucasian and thus found myself internally reacting with surprise that everyone at Dave's place was Asian. Then again, maybe it was the use of the term "mates". Do Asians have "mates"?

James' comment to this is that maybe I'm racist... hmm, wouldn't that be an interesting dilemma to find myself in every time I look in the mirror.

Funnily enough, I should have felt like I fit right in, considering that for the first time in a long time I was not the only Asian person in the group. Instead, I felt like the odd one out. Do you want to know why? Because everyone there had black hair except me, so I felt like I didn't look Asian enough! LOL.

After a while, this didn't matter, because it became evident to me that Dave's main intention in inviting me to said "musical jam" was to get me to sing stuff. Yes... stuff. This exercise quickly unveiled my sorely lacking knowledge of music in general. I often know a song, but can't sing any lyrics, let alone tell you what it's about or who sings it. However I can hum or "la" along.

This is why I don't want to try out for Oz Idol ~ choosing a song to sing every week would just be way too stressful, and anyone who watches that show knows how often Mark Holden stresses the vital importance of good song choice. Waaaaay too stressful.

The result yesterday's hanging out in Dave's parent's garage stuffing around (ah... how cliche... and what I would give to be 17 again... ) was this one song recording. Not an original, just a cover. Yes, yes, I know you want to hear it. The link is on Dave's blog.

Boxing Day Bargains

I am a happy chappy, I've done it all this year. Christmas Eve carols, Christmas Day lunch, and now Boxing Day shopping! And it doesn't end there... we've still got New Year's celebrations to come, yay!

And so the Christmas Season Saga continues...

I wake up on Boxing Day morning excited to hit the stores. My December allowance has barely been spent because I have been too busy with Christmas shopping and card writing. There is no better day to spend it ~ a day when all the stores are having sales, a day when my $$ is going to go further than any other day!

So I arrive at Knox with an agenda in mind ~ I am ready to hit the stores in search for a denim skirt. I've been looking for one for over a year now. Something about going shopping with my husband James makes me less likely to wander through clothes racks aimlessly looking for any random item of clothing that I might like, so of course we find a denim skirt (chosen by him out of the selection I've tried on) in the first store that we visit, which happens to also be one of my favourite clothing stores.

I go on to purchase two other tops... not long after purchasing these three items, I re-evaluate my position, only to realize that not a single one was a sale item! Such is the hype of Boxing Day shopping. Lots of stuff may be on sale, but there also appears to be an underlying ploy to get aspiring sale-hunters into the stores ~ because once there, these shoppers will madly buy other goods that they see too without realizing they aren't even on sale!

This means that I have to find proof that a good bargain can be picked up. Where do I head for such proof? To Australia's Biggest Stocktake Sale, of course! So James and I head to Myer to check out their wares and see if their sale really is as big as they claim it to be. Are all the stories I've heard over the years about fantastic bargains and $1 fridges true? Is there really a good reason to line up 7 hours prior to opening time in order to get a prime entry spot into the store and grab the best deals?

The lines at Myer are so long, both at the registers and the changing rooms. But I decide to brave the changing room line in the women's wear section... for a total of about 10 minutes. Every woman in line has 4 to 6 items to try on, and in the space of 10 minutes two women have entered the change rooms. There are still 6 more ahead of me. Based on my calculations, that means an additional 30 minutes of waiting (not including the line for the register) so I give up, return my items to their racks and leave.

Not ready to be defeated, I head out of Myer in search of a store containing a bargain worth the crowds of Boxing Day. I find it at BnT! This is, of course, another of my favourite stores. The lines for changing rooms and registers are equally as long as the lines in Myer, mainly due to my impeccable timing ~ whilst waiting in the long line for the changing rooms there are only two people waiting for the register, and by the time I am ready to line up at the register it is the longest line I have seen in the entire 1 1/2 hours I have been in BnT. But it is worth the wait. Myer was boasting 30% of marked items, and in BnT I have received a discount of just over 50% on my purchase, a fi-nominal deal for items which in my (and James!) opinion are prettier than Myer's wares.

And of course, finally, I stop in briefly at another favourite, Diva. About half their already well-priced goods are 50% off including a gorgeous pink necklace that I've had my eyes on for months. I have a gift voucher with which to purchase said necklace, and so don't even spend any money on it - double bonus!

All in all, my nomination for Best Boxing Day Sale Store goes to BnT. Valleygirl and TEMT didn't fare so well ~ they had no sales in addition to their usual any-other-time-of-year sales ~ but their prices are always so reasonable anyway that I have no complaints and they still remain on my list of favourite shopping stores. As for Myer and David Jones, well if you can bear with the lone lines I've overheard plenty of conversations that commend their stocktake sales greatly ~ maybe when I'm a little more grown up and buying for my household, these department stores will hold greater value for me.

A Very Snarey Christmas Lunch

The Snare family doesn't busy themselves with silly debates about whether an Aussie Christmas lunch should involve cold seafood platters or hot roasted meats... we have a simple solution that does away with any form of argument ~ we serve it all!

James waiting ever-so-patiently for his lunch ;-)

By "we", I mean James' mum Kerry and his aunt Evelyn of course!

The cold seafood platters featured Prawns, Crayfish and Oysters topped with yummy Seafood Dressing ~ I need to get that recipe from Kerry!

The hot dishes featured freshly carved Ham and Roast Turkey, accompanied by Gravy, homemade Cranberry Sauce (containing home grown cranberries!) and lots of yummy Roasted Veggies.

And I forgot to take pictures of dessert! Silly me. Who could forget the individual Plum Puddings (Aunt Evelyn, you outdid yourself this year!) , Contreau Ice-Cream, Brandied Butter, Fruit Salad Cheesecake and Champagne-soaked Berries?

Lunch was fabulous. Apart from the cole seafood, which I rarely get to eat and therefore helped myself to plenty, I was pretty good about watching my portion sizes. Even James, who was sitting next to me, didn't think I ate very much - and yet my stomach told me a completely different story ~ by the end of the day I had eaten so much that my stomach hurt and sitting in the car to go home was decidedly uncomfortable.

However, based on my observations around the lunch table, at least one or two people ate more than double what I ate... what baffles me is how on earth did they fit it all into their stomachs? Even people who are double my size surely don't necessarily have double the stomach capacity! What a marvelous skill to possess.

Carols by Candlelight

My first time at Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl!

Before my family moved to Hong Kong, we spent every Christmas Eve sitting together in our living room with all lights turned off except for those on the Christmas Tree, gathered around the television watching this annual event together and singing along with carolers with the aid of the printed lyrics in the Herald Sun.

It was such an exciting moment in my life to be able to go for real!

The event did not start until 9pm, but the lawns opened from 5pm, so James and I met our friends Chris and Sarah early for a picnic dinner at the lawns.

Unfortunately it rained that afternoon and evening! So I was a little cold and tempted to be miserable too, but Chris and Sarah had such a great attitude about the whole thing that I couldn't help but be influenced by their great example.

So we sat through the bouts of drizzle and occasional shower in our ponchos. Thankfully the rain was not heavy enough to soak through our blanket.

My favourite part of the blog - the photos of course!



Just to prove we were actually there - as if you doubted me for a moment!













Happy couples together on our picnic blankets.















The lawn area was pretty filled with people, in this photo not everyone has arrived yet.












You can't have Carols by Candlelight without a candle!


















View of the stage at night - we had such an awesome time despite the cold and rain.

Note the fashion of the evening - brightly coloured ponchos can be seen on the happy couple sitting in front of us. We had ours on too, of course!

Camping in the Living Room

Last night, when the temperature barely dropped with the setting of the sun, James and I knew we would have trouble sleeping, because opening the windows in our house would not cool it down in the usual way.

Thankfully, we have an air-conditioner! However it resides in our living room and therefore was no use to us when we wanted to cool our bedroom down last night. So we moved our mattress from our bed to the floor of our living room, blasted the room with lovely cool air, and slept there. It was kinda fun.

We've decided that seeing as we're not going to be having people over in the next week or two over the busy Christmas and New Year's season, we're going to leave the mattress in our living room and sleep there, at least for the rest of the year.

I'm actually half-seriously considering switching our living room with our bedroom. It seems like an impractical idea but that air-conditioner is oh-so-tempting, especially as the temperatures will continue to stay high over the rest of the summer months.

Random Thoughts

***You never know who could be reading your blog. Pastor Rona preached today's sermon in church and she mentioned that she read on my blog that Brett & I are starting a running group. That was unexpected. Thanks Pastor Rona!

***I miss my old house. We went to a birthday party last night in Mulgrave, the suburb I grew up in and hence the location of my old house. The party was in a different part of Mulgrave to my house. I had hoped to drive by my old home for a visit but it didn't end up happening.

***Lots of people seem to be born in December. Is there something really good about March and April?

***Right this moment, James is asking me a bunch of questions that I don't know the answer to. It's almost kind of annoying... now I know how it feels when I do it to him, and I definitely do it way more than he does.

***I really dislike packing for vacations. I think the thing I dislike the most about it is that I have to decide what to bring and what not to bring. The ironic thing is, I absolutely love going on vacation! My brother and I were weaned on annual family vacations. They were always my favourite part of the year ~ family time, no business trips for Dad, having each other all to ourselves. Sure, there were the "occasional" disputes but I would much rather spend too much time with my family and argue with them then not get to spend any time with them and not argue.

***Funnily enough, I love unpacking ~ I am the sort of person that, no matter how tired I am, I will unpack everything as soon as I arrive somewhere until things are in the place where I like them to be. It's probably because I am anticipating having all my things back in their normal places in my home... it's interesting that the anticipation of this is enough for me to want to unpack, and yet the anticipation of going on vacation is not enough for me to want to pack.

P.S. If you are interested in joining the running group or want to join the mailing list for this group, leave a comment or email me. I don't want to post the email address here because I hate spam and so don't want to risk listing any emails I use in a public forum.

Running Group

My friend Brett and I are starting a running group. Well, Brett is starting it ~ I'm the one getting the people along... so I guess we make a good team. :)

One day, he and I will compete against one another in the ultimate competition of all time - his Blue Team against my Red Team in the Biggest Loser Australia! I think Bob and Jilian are absolutely awesome, but it would be fantastic to have Aussie trainers on the Aussie show.

Funnily enough, I'm Chinese Australian and Brett is South African... maybe by the time we're Blue and Red Team trainers, Brett will have a more Aussie accent and the Aussie population as a whole will be even more ethnically mixed than it is already.

Of course, before that happens I need to get fitter because Brett could probably complete a marathon and then run backwards from the finish line and meet me halfway.

You'll find us at 4pm every Sunday starting on the first Sunday of 2007. We're meeting in Burwood on that first Sunday and the venue will change from time to time to keep things varied, so email or pop me a comment if you want more details!

Come on, join us and start fulfilling your New Year's resolution from week one!

A final word on Blogger Beta

Blogger Beta is in action! Four days ago, I hesitated to press that button. I regretted this not long after, because the link allowing me to switch to Beta did not appear again until yesterday!

For almost 3 entire days I was logging on to my dashboard every few hours or so to see if that link had reappeared. Every time I logged on to discover that it had in fact not yet resurfaced, my resolve was further strengthened ~ as soon as that I saw that link, I would click the thing without a moment's hesitation.

So here I am on my day off, still in my pyjamas, sitting on my bed, working on my blogs. I have been waiting for the new beta functionality to be available to my old blogs so I can customize them ~ whilst I have learnt enough HTML to be able to edit blog layouts in the old version, beta is just so much more convenient!

So I re-introduce you to my new-look, old blogs, now available in beta!

~ The Snarchives - the layout of which is a tribute to our beloved football club
~ My Dream Diary - I opted for a cool new look, actually I chose this layout only because of the look of the title bar

Now and I am relatively happy with the basic layouts of these things, prepare from some major posting action on all blogs!

How Ironic

The irony of having a dream diary is that if you are busy living out your dream, you may not have time to write in your dream diary.

I have been busy at work training the girl who is taking over my position. This week I came to the sudden realization that yesterday was supposed to be my last full-time day in the office with her ~ next week all staff are required to be at a 2007 planning retreat, at a location 3 hours' drive from Melbourne, and the following week is Christmas so the office is closed until the new year.

So in January, instead of making the clean break I had hoped to, I will still be at the office part-time (one day a week) to tie off the loose ends in the training process.

How ironic that I need to work part-time in January 2007, because I couldn't finish training my replacement during 2006, because I was required to be at a staff retreat, the purpose of which is to plan for 2007.

On a brighter note, I spoke on the phone today to the CEO of the training school with which I will be studying to get my fitness qualifications. Nice guy. The course starts in February ~ hopefully I won't be so busy tying up loose ends at my old job in order to move a step forward towards The Dream that I don't have time to submit the application form I need to submit to be allowed to take that step.

I can't wait to move on. I feel like a horse biting at the champ, waiting to start the race...

A special note...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!!

Happy birthday also to Shayne, Ken, Kundai and Eden.
I love you all too, but Brian is my brother so he gets the extra special wish ;)

Heat Wave

This past Sunday, we residents of Melbourne endured our hottest December day since 1953, according to news headlines. The temperature hit a maximum of 42 degrees Celsius at about 3pm. A cool change then swiftly took place not long after, causing the temperature to drop 12 degrees in about 30 minutes.

Anyway, I'm not really here to report on the weather today. After all, James and I missed the experience because we were driving home from a weekend getaway in Daylesford ~ more on this later this week ~ and the cool comfort of my air-conditioned car. Thank God we weren't driving in James' car!

Although we didn't experience this heat first hand, we definitely felt the disastrous after-effects of it. Last night, I discovered, much to my horror, that all the chocolate in our house had melted and re-hardened.

I was mortified.

If you have ever tried eating chocolate that's melted and re-set, you'll know that the chocolate is not nice anymore ~ it loses its lovely creaminess and becomes dry, brittle and sometimes tasteless. It's all to do with the couverture or something like that.

I haven't even taken a peek into one of my many unopened packets of Tim Tams that I keep stored in the cupboard for special occasions.

New house rule: when Springtime arrives and hot weather is imminent, transfer all chocolate from cupboards into refrigerator.

Blogger Beta... yay, yay, yay!

The day that I have been waiting for is finally here! My blogger dashboard is telling me that I can switch my blogger account to the beta version. That means I can finally only have all my blogs on a single dashboard. Yay, yay, yay!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am the Queen of increasing efficiency through streamlining systems and processes. So the thought of having a single dashboard now rather than two give me the goosebumps. ;-)

So what am I waiting for? Well, I guess I am a little nervous to do it... what if it totally mucks up all the hard work I've already put into my layout? Even worse, if it does muck it up it could take quite a while for me to fix it, given that my brother helped me a lot with it due to my limited knowledge of HTML.

I can't believe that after writing an entire post on how I can't wait to switch to the beta version, I am now hesitating to push that button.

I wrote a song!

Entitled Praise Your Name, I wrote this song back in May. It's a fun, rocking praise song and my main goal (apart from praising God, of course!) was for people to have fun singing and jumping along to it.

We've already sung it in church a couple of times. It was also included as one of the tracks on our church's first Praise & Worship album, Consecrated, which was officially released two days ago.

Why am I telling you this now? Because I couldn't tell you about it with you not being able to hear the song! So now you can actually listen to it! Check out the MySpace Music site for Consecrated, where you can hear a selection of four out of the ten songs on the album, including my song, which is the second one listed. I also started my own MySpace Music site which has an additional song from the album, written by my friend Keira and sung by me.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the CD, let me know. They're AU$19.95 each plus postage and handling.

Fi-isms...

Today is my parents' anniversary, so happy anniversary to you both, Baba & Mummy!

Here's a random thought (otherwise known as a Fi-ism):
Earlier this week was my Dad's birthday - 27 November. This morning I was thinking about how he and I have something in common ~ we both celebrate our birthdays close to our wedding anniversaries. My birthday is on 25 August, followed not too long after by my wedding anniversary on 5 September.

Fi-ism #2:
James' birthday is 6 July, the month prior to my birthday month. So our two birthdays and our wedding anniversary take place over consecutive months ~ July, August, September. That means that when we start having kids one day, I would need to birth them either between January-June (excluding April) or October-November, in order to spread our celebratory occasions evenly over the year. I exclude April and December because they have Easter and Christmas. In case you're wondering, for the purposes of this Fi-ism, my definition of "celebratory occasion" is anything involving presents. This is, after all, my primary love language.

Fi-ism #3:
The funny thing is, I have thought Fi-ism #2 many times already, including every time we've celebrated a birthday or wedding anniversary (that's six times in the last two years). It's just that only today I've published it in a public forum for the world to read.

Another friend of mine who also thinks a lot of random things told me yesterday that she used to set aside time each day to just think. For people like her and me, that's probably a great idea. It would probably help someone like me to sort through my mind and prevent me from imploding due to too much random brain activity.

I still remember a specific incident when I was younger ~ I was going somewhere in a car with one of my cousins. I was thinking all these random things and told her one of my thoughts out loud. Her response was, "Fiona, you think too much!"

My First Race!

I did it!

Yesterday, I ran an entire 8km race without stopping once... in fact, I even ran the second lap faster than the first. My time was 48:11.35 ~ so now I've got an official time to work with and improve upon.

According to the official race results, I was in position 571 at the split (halfway) and overall I came in at 523. So somewhere in the second lap we overtook 48 people - some because we picked up the pace, and others because they walked for a bit.

What helped me the most was having Daniela by my side the entire time. The conversation (between breaths) passed the time and she was so encouraging. Dan also pushed me in the last km to run as fast as I could to the finish line ~ when there was about 300m left to go I felt like I couldn't breathe, but she kept telling me I could do it, and I did. It also felt good to overtake the 10-12 people we overtook in that last km. =)

Signing up for this race made a huge difference in my training and exercise regime, just as Daniela told me it would. Because I knew I had to be prepared for yesterday's race, at times when I felt like stopping mid-run, I kept going.

The next race I plan to participate in is a 6.7km race ~ Portsea Twilight 2007. It's just over 5 weeks away, giving me plenty of time to focus on a new goal - improved pace. The last 1.5km of this race is on sand (which is much more difficult to run on than pavement) which will add an additional challenge to the mix.

My husband James and my friend Devi will be joining me. We plan to head to Portsea in the morning and spend the day there prior to the race, which doesn't start til 6.30pm. Fish and chips for dinner after the race, of course! If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch with me.

I leave you with a couple of pre-race photos James took before I left home. It would have been a little difficult to race with my camera, and even more difficult to take pictures of myself whilst racing (I can multi-task, but not THAT well!) so these will have to do.

Encouragement

Today a lady from my church who has three young (and gorgeous) daughters, and whom I admire very much, approached me after the morning service.

She shared with me that she, too, has had an interest in working in the fitness industry. However her own internal voices told her that she doesn't have the right personality for it. Since learning that I am moving in this direction from the beginning of next year, she has been inspired to re-visit this dream of hers, do some research, and possibly do a course next year too.

It is such an encouragement to me to know that simply by daring to pursue my dreams, and sharing this pursuit with others, they are being encouraged to do so too!

Pre-race prep run

I know most of my posts lately have been focused on the 'fitness' F. I guess that's what's on my mind most with the race now less than a week away (this time next week I'll have finished it hours ago).

The run yesterday was not bad. I didn't really know how to pace myself and so of the 8km I ran about 7km of it and walked a bit in the middle to work a stitch out of my side.

Afterwards I did a little naughty - I ate McDonald's for lunch. However, it was in support of McHappy day, so it felt nice to see the follow up ad on TV today and know I played my small part in helping to raise $1.7 million. The scary thing is... that means yesterday Australia bought (and therefore probably ate) 1.7 million Big Macs.

It is nice these days to eat McDonald's and not feel guilty about it afterwards. I would never support eating it regularly (even once a month is too much in my opinion) but the odd occasion here and there is okay.

I also went for a run this evening ~ I am getting better at this! Ran my normal route, but usually I would walk the final 1km home to cool down, today I ran all the way home instead and even picked up the pace.

Little by little... before you know it, I might even be going for a half marathon one day!

Running Notebook

You may notice a new link that i have listed in Fy-berworld ~ my Running Notebook.

This Google Notebook, another of my new toys from Google Labs, is where I will be storing any information online that I find with regards to running, including upcoming events, places to run, races I'm doing and those that I'm considering. If you have been inspired to start running, check it out!

My friend Devi asked about doing a race with me the other day. Wow, I haven't even run my first race yet - only one week and one day to go! - and already others are wanting to come along!

That, my friends, is the purpose of the fitness posts in my blog. Regular readers will already know that fitness never came easily for me. 18 months ago I couldn't even run, and next Sunday I am running an actual, real-life race. This is a huge achievement for me.

Trust me ~ if i can do it, YOU most definitely can! Ask anyone who knew me in high school.

Today I'm heading out to the banks of the Yarra River to run around the same track that I'll be running on race day. I want to know what to expect, at least in terms of the run itself. However, there's probably not much that can prepare me for the super-charged butterflies that I know will take up residence in my stomach as the race approaches.

Daily Exercise...

Check out this video on my friend Lowell's site.

It features a series of advertisements by "The Health Promotion Foundation' in Thailand. I don't know what scares me more - that the producers of these ads appear to be completely serious (i.e. these appear to be actual promotional tools, not someone making them as a joke), or that this is the tool being used to promote an active lifestyle amongst viewers of the ad.

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Giant Gelati

I also posted in my other blog today, the one I share with my husband. If you like ice-cream, read on to find a fantastic $$ deal.

No turning back!

I registered for the 8km run option for the Spring into Shape 2006 race today. I know I already said a few weeks back that I would do it, but now the deed is official... so there's definitely no turning back.

Even though I hadn't officially registered until today, the verbal commitment I made a few weeks ago to my friend Daniela has certainly made a difference in my training since making that commitment. I have had a tangible motivation to push myself - that motivation being a combination of a desire to be prepared as best I can, and a fear of not being prepared enough.

Yesterday I ran 6.5km on the treadmill, the furthest I have ever run on a treadmill. And if that wasn't enough, today I upped the stakes and ran for 7km. This morning, the only thing that kept me going beyond the 5.5km mark was the thought that in less than two weeks I have to run 1km further and on a footpath, not on a treadmill, which is more difficult.

I am pleased that this new level of motivation is already showing through in the results I am getting.

Health & Fitness workshop

Last night at my church's youth group I conducted a health and fitness workshop. I have been excited about doing this workshop ~ it was a small opportunity for me to give some input into these young peoples' lives.

When I was a teenager, "fitness" was very daunting to me. It was more of a burden than an enjoyment, and "being fit" was something I felt I couldn't achieve... so I didn't try. Because of my own experience growing up, the main message I wanted to get across to the youth last night is the same message I want to get across to everyone: we each have a personal responsibility to maintain our health and fitness. As a Christian, we do so to honour God, and as human beings in general, we do it for the sake of our families and ourselves. But it doesn't have to be boring or difficult or scary ~ it can be fun, and anyone can do it. If you've never started a fitness or exercise program before, you just have to start somewhere, start small, and gradually build up your stamina.

My favourite part of course was the practical stuff. We started with some aerobics, and whilst the boys were initially unimpressed or surprised by this idea, they did us all proud!

Unfortunately a lot of the pictures came out quite blurry because of all the jumping and running around we were doing, but I managed to find a few good pics.

Leg squats:

Lunges:

Everyone's favourite ~ sit-ups! :

And finally, here they are - the toughest youth in all of Melbourne!

They did such an awesome job, and did me proud!

P.S. More photos are available at my Picasa web album.

Yummy breakfast

Mmmm, pancakes for breakfast this morning. James is truly a wonderful husband. And look at how perfectly he cooked the the stack!

Hats off to our friend Chris who presented us with this lovely gift a few weeks ago - official, delicious buttermilk pancake mix from the Pancake Parlour!

On friendship - husbands take note! Sometimes i think James could run a very successful training school on how to be the best husband in the world.

On food - friends, even though I sometimes come across as a fitness and health food freak, here is photographic evidence that Fiona does, in fact, like to induge. She's just learning to do it in moderation, not every day. Our God is the God of tastebuds so let's use them!

And whilst I'm on the topic, ice-cream makes a great breakfast food ~ maybe not from the most nutritional perspective, but it certainly tops the scale from a yumminess perspective.

Fitness Instructor Courses

I got information for fitness instructor courses in the mail earlier this week. The next course intake commences in February. It seems like so long away, I almost feel like I can't wait that long because I'm so keen to get started now.

However in terms of my current job, I must finish strong and it will probably take until the end of this year to train the girl who is taking over my job. So really, with that in perspective a February start is quite good timing.

The Ultimate Jewellery Stand

I made a fabulous purchase today: The Ultimate in jewellery stands.

Yes, of course I have a photo to show you! But before I proudly display it for you, please allow me to introduce you to my space ~ not MySpace, but rather, my real-life you-can-actually-touch-it space, located in a corner of our bedroom:

I love my special space, it is like a haven to me.

It took me much thought, arranging, rearranging and more rearranging to get it just how I wanted it.

As a result, it comes complete with any girl's basic desires, including a mirror (of course ~ two actually!), ample shelving and storage space for makeup brushes, makeup, various other facial and beauty products, fragrances, and even some decorative ornaments to add a little touch of personality.

One particular thing to note about my special space is that I have several storage spots for my jewellery:


An earring stand I bought several years ago.

The ladies will appreciate how handy something like this can be - because I no longer have all my earrings just stuffed together in a box, tangled about and difficult to sort through, I don't have trouble finding a matching pair of earrings anymore.

An acrylic jewellery box my mother bought for me many years ago in Hong Kong. This handy little thing is not only able to store both hanging and stud earrings, but has a little drawer at the bottom where I can keep my rings.

And finally - one of the best buys I have ever made.

People often ask me were I got this little baby, saying that it is such a great idea to hang necklaces because it prevents them getting tangled or becoming bent out of shape from poor storage inside a box.

This wonderful item cost me only $8 because it is not a jewellery stand, it is a mug tree! How's that for a great jewellery storage idea for all you out there looking for a better, yet cost-efficient alternative to shoe boxes?



Now that you have seen my jewellery storage techniques, here is my exciting story.

About three months ago, my brother told me about a purchase his girlfriend Carina made at the St Kilda Esplanade Market - a really awesome jewellery stand. Being male, if he says it's awesome then it really must be something! Well, he sent me a photo of this item and ever since I've been thinking about heading to the market to find one for myself.

Today, I got my opportunity to go to the Esplanade market. It was not long before I found the stall I was after, admired the items on display (a variety of types and sizes of handcrafted, metal jewellery stands) and purchased myself a jewellery stand very similar to and possibly the same as Carina's.

I know, I know, you want to see what is so good about this jewellery stand. Words just cannot describe this amazing piece of handiwork, so here it is ~ drum roll....

If this amazing display causes you to want to head out to the Esplanade Market in search of your own ultimate jewellry stand, some things to note:

***This particular stand was the biggest one for sale. As you can see I had no trouble filling it up with jewellery because over the years I have gathered quite a collection. Be not alarmed - there are also smaller ones available. This large size was great for me ~ everything from my mug tree, acrylic box and round earring stand and more are now located on to this one, beautiful stand.

***The metal look is quite simple, and when you first look at the stands you may think they aren't very nice looking, especially compated to the array of beautiful-looking doll-like stands now available at places such as Bevilles Jewellers. When I first look at the stand at home, I had some doubts because the metal finish didn't even look that nice. But noe that my jewellery is on the stand, it looks pretty darn amazing. Simplicity is the way to go because the attention is then focussed on the jewellry rather than the stand.

And finally, a picture of my now updated special space:



Isn't it just lovely?

*sigh!*







P.S. the cost of this stand was $50 ~ in my opinion, a good bargain, especially compared to those doll-like stands at Bevilles which cost $30-$40 and don't hold even half as much as this baby! Smaller stands from this stall started at $20

Thai Style Caramelised Pork Steaks - an update

A quick follow up post on the trial meal I made at Meal Magic.

James and I had it for dinner a few days ago and it was absolutely delicious! I knew it would be but here is the confirmation - tried, tested, and definitely highly recommended by both James and I.

Spring into Shape 2006

It's one thing to declare my readiness to fight a battle and win, it's another thing to be faced with the actual challenge and have to make an actual decision about what to do.

This week, Daniela emailed me about the Spring into Shape race which takes place on Sunday 26 November. There are two race options - 4km and 8km.

So I have a choice to make, and to be perfectly honest, I'm too scared to make it! Argh!

I am able to run 5km on a treadmill. This would suggest that with 3 weeks' training I should be able to complete an 8km run. To choose the 4km run would not really be challenging myself. According to advice I've read, as a beginner, my aim should be to complete the run. However, I know I can finish an 8km run if I push myself, especially with a few weeks' preparation.

I just don't want to finish last! That is my fear. I mean, right now I'm even feeling scared to do the 4km run, let alone the 8km one!

It's a New Season

If you noticed how late I posted that last blog and also this one (around the midnight hours) it's because I've been a very busy bee lately. This week Kellie, who will be taking over my job, started her training with me at the office.

That's right, it's official! She's taking my job, I'm training her to replace me! Wow, I'm actually training someone to replace me. Which means I'm working myself out of a job. This job. Which means that weeks from now, I won't be working in this job. Wow!

HOW EXCITING!! It's a new season, it's a new day, a season of power is coming my way!

But this training season is oh, so daunting because I never realised just how much I do and know... from nothing, I created and developed many of the systems I use and because I created them from nothing I understand them intimately and now have to explain not just how to use them but how to understand them to someone else, something I've never had to do before. I've been "doing" much of it for so long that now I really do run on autopilot.

In only two days I am beginning to realise how big the task of "passing the baton" on is going to be.

However it's also exciting ~ I can already tell that Kellie is going to be great at this job, and probably even better than me! It will truly be a win-win situation for everyone involved. Yay

...finally the post you've been waiting for!

Okay, I am really, really, sorry! It's been 3 weeks. Thank you Vicky for the gentle reminder!

It just goes to show how quickly time can fly... we need to start acting upon our dreams today, not tomorrow and certainly not next week. Otherwise before you know it, your life will have flown by and your dreams remained unrealized.

But to my dream... or more specifically, to the meeting with my gym manager, Glen.

In summary, my meeting with Glen demonstrates just how little I know about the fitness industry in Australia, because one major thing I learned is that most fitness professionals don't have a "full time" job with one gym, but rather a series (I guess two or maybe more) of part time jobs with several gyms. The main exception to this is those who work their way up to a manager level. Most also work to build their own personal client base. So all in all, in this industry employment means having a combination of several part-time jobs and also working for yourself through gaining personal training clients of your own.

Our discussion was all very interesting, educational and completely foreign to me. But I liked what I heard.

Where to from here? Well Glen told me that if I am good there will be no end to the number of gyms that will employ me. I am feeling quite optimistic about my prospects because I have the passion and desire to excel and be one of the best in this field. This is not going to be just a job to me. I even have a medical science background to get me started (pop trivia about me: at University I got an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science) which means I've already got a bit of foundation into the workings of the human body, and I plan to learn more and know my stuff well, not just enough to get me by.

Whilst I know this probably isn't quite the exciting news you were expecting to hear, one thing is for sure. I am definitely excited!

For those of you who are thinking, "yeah, yeah, but what is the outcome of all this?" - my hunch is that Glen would be willing to take me on board his staff once I get my qualification. As for when I will be getting said qualification, I've inquired with the training school and their next class intake is February. I could start earlier if I do it by correspondence but I really feel that I want to do it in a classroom setting and learn from others in the industry whilst also making some friends.

Also, Glen is still willing to book me in through his gym, and has even kindly offered to help me out with anything if I get stuck in my studies. Isn't he awesome?

Stepping up to the start line

During my visit to Meal Magic yesterday, I spent well over an hour talking to my friend Daniela, who is the head chef there. It was great because she's been so busy setting up the systems for Meal Magic, which only officially opened to the public this week, and we have a number of common interests.

One of the things we were talked about was my running progress. My fitness is now at a place where I physically can run a good distance, but often it's my mentality that limits me. Thoughts such as "I'm tired" or "I'm in the best shape I've ever been, so I'm already doing good... especially compared to lots of people out there who don't exercise at all, let alone regularly" start to creep into my brain at the 15-20min running mark. My current ideal running goal for a workout session is 30min and these very thoughts quite often keep me from not going the full 30min. I won't even talk about what happens if I start getting a stitch when I'm running!

That's when Dan suggested that I enter a race (as in a running race) - maybe a 5km or 7km one. She said that this would give me a goal to work towards and a solid incentive to increase my workout intensity.

I am scared and yet excited at the thought of entering a race. 18 months ago there is absolutely no way I would have considered entering a running race... I couldn't even run for two minutes back then! And now here I am, not just considering an entry, but actually going for it because tomorrow Dan is going to bring a list of upcoming races for us to look at and choose one together.

New levels, new devils... come get me, because I'm prepared to fight to fight the battle and win! I think... thank God for friends like Dan and a husband like James both of whom I know will play significant roles in encourging and pushing me to (and through) this next step!

Meal Magic

Thai Style Caramelised Pork Steaks
Lean and succulent pork medallions in a mild, sweet marinade with fragrant, steamed Jasmine rice.

This is what I made yesterday afternoon at Meal Magic.

If you want a healthier and cheaper alternative to fast food, I highly recommend that you check out their website and pay them a visit.

The head chef and creator of all the meals on the menu is my friend Daniela. I have experienced her incredible cooking first-hand at one of her dinner parties, so even though I have not yet tasted my pork medallions, I anticipate that they will be absolutely delicious. Dan is also very much against the use of anything unnatural, including preservatives and artificial sweeteners, so all the ingredients will be full of natural, wholesome nutrients.

The concept is simple ~ Meal Magic provides an alternative to takeaway food when you need a quick, easy meal. You choose from their menu, which changes regularly, and when you've selected the meals you want, you head to the relevant meal assembly stations. All the ingredients for your meal are pre-prepared and ready to go. You just have to follow the simple instructions at your station to put your meal together.

Your assembled meal then goes into a ziplock bag with easy to follow cooking instructions on the front and you then take your meals home and pop them in the freezer. The next time you are pressed for time you just pull out a meal, defrost, cook and serve it up. Like magic!

I'm already completely sold on the concept. James and I will taste our first meal this week and I've already decided that I will book us in to make some meals together. Whilst we wouldn't eat Meal Magic meals every day, due to our busy schedules we have to cook a heap of food every now and then and freeze it in preparation for days when we don't have time to cook. Meal Magic is great for us because of the variety of food choices on offer.

I know you're asking, "how much will this set me back?" Surprisingly, the meals are very affordable, and certainly cheaper per person than most fast foods. However, if you are on a tight budget, you need to plan ahead. The cost benefits are greater if you can buy more meals in one session, so you might end up paying something like $99 for three meals, which represents approx. 18 serves, or $5.50 per serve.

Also, the experience in itself is great. The staff are so friendly and helpful, and their aim is to not just provide easy, healthy, affordable meals, but to encourage you to have fun assembling them. They even have a place to sit and have some tea and coffee and sample some of their delicious food. So if you plan to go, don't just schedule in the time it will take you to make a meal, set aside some time to rest, relax, and be sure to bring a friend with you so you can enjoy the experience together!

Handy suggestion:
If you have less mouths to feed in your household, split your meal into the correct portion size before you freeze it. Have extra ziplock bags in your cupboard ready to do this.

Also, if you go, be prepared to head straight home or somewhere where there is a fridge or freezer to store it in until you go home. You can't go shopping with your girlfriends right after Meal Magic ~ where are you going to put your food?

An Early Morning Workout

This morning I took James to the airport. He's going to New Zealand until Saturday. When I got out of bed at 4am today to get ready for our 4.30 drive to the airport, it felt like I had not even been to sleep in the first place!

Last night I was trying to decide what to do with today. I had two options - return from the airport to my bed at home for another short sleep followed by a late morning start at work, or head straight from the airport to start my day early and finish work early. I chose option #2.

As a result, this morning I found myself going to the gym at 6.30! It should have been 6am but I won't go into an explanation of why I started half an hour later than intended.

As I approached the gym I began to reflect upon 6am gym-goers. Who are these people? Was I about to encounter a gym full of people who only fall into the "elite" fitness category? Were there even going to be any people at the gym? After all, it takes a lot of dedication and discipline to go to the gym at 6am. I struggle most days to make it by my ideal time of 8.30!

As I surmised the parking lot I could only deduce that there were, in fact, quite a few people at the gym. There even appeared to be more parked cars present than at my usual 8.30-9am start time. I suppose that makes sense; if only one or two people were going to the gym at 6am then surely the staff would open the gym later.

I hopped on the treadmill just after 6.30 for my run and was done by 7am. Per my typical Wednesday morning routine, I then headed upstairs for weight training. 7am is my usual waking time so you can imagine the sense of accomplishment I felt at having already completed my run. By 8.30 I was finished, showered, hair dried and off to the office.

Is the 6am atmosphere different to the 9am one?
For sure. 6am is a when those who want to exercise before work come. 9am is the when the Mums with the gorgeously cute little kiddies come because creche opens at 9am. I found the 6am crowd to be very focused but not particularly sociable, whereas the 9am crowd sometimes seem to come to the gym to work out their vocal chords more than their muscles.

Both times have their advantages and disadvantages. I can't say which I like better. I can, however, say for sure that I definitely prefer these times to the horribly busy peak hour, 5pm post-work time, when all the machines are in high demand so that you have to factor waiting time into your workout if you don't want to be late for dinner, and the place stinks because there are so many sweaty people everywhere!

If I were more disciplined and focused, perhaps I would try more often for an early morning workout. I mean, it's 11.30am right now and i feel like my day is more than half over when it's nowhere near!

However, between my love of sleep and my desire to put God first such that it is imperative I spend time with Him before I head to the gym every day, regular 6am starts will not be a reality in my life. At least not until I figure out how to get to bed by 8pm! Not impossible, but highly unlikely.

In the meantime, I'll just wait for the next 4am drive to the airport.

Three Simple Things...

The beauty of food, fitness and friendship is that you can mix and match them in any sort of combination to achieve many wonderful things.

For example, today James had his first law exam for this semester. So in the morning I decided to spoil him a little with some feel-good food... pancakes! That, my friends, is food and friendship combined.

Now the combination of food and friendship is quite common ~ we all like to catch up over lunch or dinner, coffee or cake. It's an essential relationship-building skill to be able to combine the two.

But there are more ways to combine food with friendship than just eating or drinking together. How about making a meal together? On Friday, my friend Tatenda and I are going to Meal Magic to trial making a meal at their facility. Something new to try and we'll have some pretty awesome food to show for it! Tonight, James and I are making pies together. I will post updates and photos on both of these.

What about combining friendship with fitness? I've recently started going beyond my treadmill sessions and getting out into the real world for a run around the neighbourhood with James. I used to have a hard time keeping up with James and even though now he still runs a bit slower than he normally does, I'm doing better each time. Better yet, we are getting two for one - quality time together and getting fit!

What creative ways can you think of to combine food, fitness & friendship?

I LOVE GOOGLE!

I absolutely love Google. I know they have a reputation of trying to take over the Internet and maybe that's why some people don't like them to much. But as a consumer, I must say that if they continue to churn out products as fabulous as what they already have then they deserve it.

Disclaimer: Google is in no way paying me to write this post. Maybe they should! I just want to reflect on how wonderful Google's products are and show my support through word of mouth advertising to you, my friends.

James loves to laugh at me when I get excited about new products, be it a Google product, an advertisement I see on television or a new catalog in the mail. According to him, I'm a "marketing company's dream consumer". I can quote TV and radio advertisements from memory far more easily than historical facts and scientific figures. For example, according to the radio, you can buy good wine cheap (not cheap wine) at stores in Forest Hill and Carlton.

The google products I use:

1. Google search engine
This is where the journey began for me and probably for you too. Did you know that "Google" is now an official verb in the Oxford English dictionary? Can't remember where I heard that, but I checked out some sources online which confirm that it was added as a draft in June 2006, although I am not sure whether this draft was accepted or not but can't imagine why it would not be. A company who is able to make their name into a dictionary word is what I would deem to be successful. I wonder if I'll be able to do that one day!

2. Gmail
When I found out that Google provides an email service, of course I was sold. Looking for an alternative to my junk-mail infested Hotmail account, I made the switch. I had 1GB of storage space allocated to me when i first signed up. But it gets better ~ this has since increased to almost 3GB ~ and counting (yes that's right, there is a storage space meter on the gmail login page that goes up every second).

3. Blogger
In a world where blogging is becoming very much the norm of the current generation, this was of course the next logical step to take, although at the time I had no idea blogger was part of what I like to call "the google group". This one's pretty self-explanatory ~ after all, you are reading my blog right now!

4. Beta Blogger
However, what you may not know is that this blog, unlike my others, is done in beta blogger which ROCKS. Better features, easier page customisation, and it's getting better every day! I eagerly anticipate the day that I can transfer all my other blogs to this version.

5. Picasa
A wonderful photo editing program which is idiot-proof. By this I mean that if you edit your photos in Picasa and hit the 'save' button, your original photo remains unchanged. You need to actually export your edited photo out to a new file to get a photo with the edits on it. For anyone who has accidentally hit 'save' rather than 'save as' like I've done many times, this could be very welcome information!

6. Picasa Web Album
Of course this is the next natural progression from Picasa. It's an online photo album with 250MB free storage which can be upgraded for a fee. This is still in 'test' version having only recently been launched but I anticipate more features will be added as the wonderful, wonderful google developers continue to work on it. You can check mine out too if you haven't already!

7. Google Reader
This is a must-get for anyone who checks friends' blogs or online news or both regularly. I have had it for 2 weeks now and loving it. Google Reader informs me of updates to any blogs, hence I don't waste time checking blogs with no new posts. Furthermore, I am more up-to-date than ever with my friends' lives whereas previously I would have to wait for a couple hours' free time to scan the Internet for all my friends' blogs.

8. Google Calendar
My newest toy! If you get one, let me know. The great thing about this is you can also see friends' Google calendars if they let you, thus comparing schedules to find times to hook up. There is also a function that enables you to send invitations to events from the calendar to anyone who has an email address and they can RSVP to your calendar so you know who's coming and who isn't.

9. Froogle
I also have a Froogle wish-list out in cyberspace somewhere but I haven't quite figured out how to use this thing yet, although I figured it bore mentioning because this service does exist. I think you can look mine up using my email address, although it's pretty sparse. I welcome anyone who has it figured out and can help me with it. I do like presents, "gifts" is my primary love language. :) How was that for a completely un-subtle hint? LOL.