Best of 2013

I usually browse through my blog entries in order to do my yearly reflection. But not being religious in posting blog entries here since early in the year (Read: 1-3 post a month) as well as decided to terminate my self-domain when it reached its 6th year anniversary, there's nothing much to reflect from my blog.

But.

I do Instagram!

Most of my best moments were captured and posted on Instagram. So, I can safely say that my reflections are mostly documented there.

Here's 5 snapshots of my best moments on Instagram.

They pretty much conclude what I have been up to this year.....
My love for dressing up, yoga, relationship and my dog, Bam Bam the Mini Pinscher. Although, I'm positive my Cerita Kuku would have topple the rest cos they always get the most likes. Too bad I have removed them from my personal account to another account on Instagram.

Another year passed by, with many bitter and sweet memories, experience learned and hope and faith for the future.

Au Revoir 2013 and Happy New Year 2014!

*hugs*

Ring the bells, Emmanuel has come!

Blessed Christmas to all!

From:

Mr & Mrs Alvin Ting

XOXO

Baton almost at the end

Bersawang sudah sini.

Anywayssss... Two more weeks and we'll bid 2013 au revoir. So fast eh? Cliche. I know. My birthday is in few days time too. Will officially turns 35 comes 21st. I always say 'officially' cos when the year changes, I always think my age starts changing on the first day of a new year albeit having twelve months ahead before the number changed.

Funny how age makes you think the world spins too fast. The time ticks as if there's another unit quicker than a Planck time (And yes, I googled that cos I didn't know what is the smallest measurement of unit in time other than nanosecond. You can say it too, "Now I know".) Light and darkness pass by like strangers. By the end of the day, you'll end up saying "but I am not done yet".

It's true right? You feel it too.

Perhaps, that is due to age catching up and the fact that, upon reaching the 30's and going up you start realizing that even if you live up to 30 more years, it is still a short period. Why? Cos when you look behind, there's always this feeling of missing the ol' glorious years of being young, reckless and at the top of the world. And when that feeling creeps in, you start thinking how you have aged...and living 30 years since birth is (really) just a blink of an eye. So, what more another 30 years?

Geez, I sound pathetic up there.

I remember a quiz from one women's magazine; Do you feel contented with your life?

I used to say that I am.

After a while (and I blame the aging process), I feel a little bit less of content about the life I'm living now. As if, there are more to achieve. More to be done. More can be done. More. More. More.

And they say, be grateful with what you have.

I guess, I am not as grateful as I think I am.

But then again, trying to be grateful is better than  not be grateful at all, yes?

So yeah, I will not stop trying to be grateful. To feel blessed.

This is my advance birthday rambling cos don't think I'm able to write this long on my birth date. Gonna be somewhere deep in the jungle. Ha!

On a different note, Christmas is around the corner. Here's our 2013 Christmas tree; Toy themed tree!

gDayX in KK!

Hello to everyone who's made it to this blog.

Google Business Group (GBG) Malaysia cordially invites you to gDayX
event in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Date   :    24th November 2013 (Sunday)
Venue:    GSC Hall, Suria Sabah
Time  :    9AM to 6PM

gDayX is a community-organised event that is supported by Google. This

event brings together Google employees and influential voices of the

industry to engage with Google users, the students, startups,

entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals, to learn and share

insights on web technology and Google tools.

*A special showcase of Google Glass, first time ever in Sabah will also
happening on the event day.*

 



 Here's a video for you who are still clueless at what's a Google Glass is.

Whether you’re looking for networking opportunities, want to know more
about Google tools and what it can do for you or leveraging Google
technologies for online presence and business expansion, this GDayX is
the perfect place to get it started.

The event is free of charge but requires online registration at:-
http://gdayx.org/gdayx-kk/register/



Seats are limited, register yourself today!

With a Purpose

NOTE: Rant post


In life, almost everything we do comes with a purpose.

Why do we eat?
Why do we cry?
Why do we get married?
Why do we have children?
Why do go to school?
Why do we work?

There's always a reason behind our actions.



"Tambah kurus lah kau ni, beryoga-yoga."

"Cukup-cukup lah pigi berlari tu, nanti tinggal kertas ja badan ko."

"Patutlah kau kurus. Pigi Zumba lah..futsal lah...jogging la...yoga lah..."

I am slender. I know.
My stomach is flat. I know.
My body fat is around 20%. Normal. I know.

But what YOU must know, I am blessed with all the above even without exercising. Thank you Lord!

So no, I don't exercise to get slimmer. It's my heart that matter the most. You know, that blood pumping organ on your left chest that ensure you to stay alive. Well, technically it's about in the middle of your chest.

Now, why do I put effort in doing all these muscle-stretching routines?
Well, besides the general reason of taking care of the heart... it's the surge of adrenalin rush that makes me feel on top of the world, seeing sweat roll down my forehead and all over my body. The blood that pumped into all my body system making every sensor in me wide awake.Not forgetting the euphoric feeling when I can do things beyond my own expectation. i.e. do a headstand and hold for 30 long seconds!!

Don't get it?

Heh.
I couldn't care less to explain more.
Go find yourself a time to exercise and find that experience I mentioned above.

So the next time you tell me that I do not have to exercise cos I am already a lean meat, be prepare to get this...

"Ya, kalau orang gemuk mau exercise tapi tu hati tidak bersih, sama juga tu tidak pandai kurus."

That is, if you understand what sarcasm is.

Til next post!
*hugs*

Ticked off...

So, in my previous post I mentioned that I was going to join a 10KM marathon. I did.

I REALLY did it!

It was a  thrilling experience for a first time runner like me. I did my run training on a standard (boring) track where I only ran round and round until I reached my target distant. But running on a real marathon, on a road with cars passing by and runners next to you... the feeling is totally different from my training. Heck, I didn't even stop in the first 2km of the run cos everyone was running and I was not going to let my ego down and stop (like I used to do during my training ; 400m run 100m walk). It's amazing how I didn't feel tired and was rather enjoying my run. Well, not until I had passed the 7km distance lah. Seriously.

Initially, I jumped into the running fun cos I wanted to tick off 'ran a marathon' in my yearly list-to-do. So, I did tick if off. But, I didn't realize how the post-run effect could affect me this much.

I am already looking forward a longer distance run!!

Aside the first time experience, I am grateful I decided to join the run. Running gives another meaning to my life. To appreciate my body, inside out.

I have never done a constant long distant training run before. But joining the marathon, I had to kick my butt off the bed as early as 6am, thanks to two weeks of school holiday prior to the run. As I ran into my second week of intensive training, I felt so much energized to get up in the morning and go for a run. Not just because of the run date was closing near but I wanted to feel the sweat, the sore muscles and the good feeling of stretching my muscles with yoga practice after a run. And most of all, morning run and yoga keep me energetic throughout the day!

Now that the BIM 2013 is over, and after a week of rest, I am yearning to run the track again. So, I went running yesterday. I just couldn't explain in details how ecstatic I felt when my heart pumping vigorously during my run. Or how contented I was when sweat rolled down my face profusely. I guess, you have to be in my shoes to comprehend my feeling.

So, the run?
I clocked 1 hour 15 minutes to finish the 10 kilometres run.

It was way better than I had set on myself when I first registered.
Hoorah!

Eh, gambar?
Ada bah... Sikit lah.

 

Some friends I met during the event.

 

Noy, Maslight and I.

We met via blogging!

 

Daniel Chiam of room8five 

 And it wouldn't be complete without my fav Standing Bow pose.

BIM 2014 anyone?

^___^

Something to tick off...

I am participating in Borneo International Marathon 2013.
As a runner!
Duh.

I have thought of it since last year but was not courageous enough to sign up cos I was never a long distance runner. I do not know how far I could cope with running more than a 400m distance (that's the furthest I ran for a competition). Yet, knowing that I would never know my limit and capability if I don't give myself a shot intimidates me. I would not have joined this race if the run was not postponed to three months later though. So when it was postponed and my friend, Maslight gave a shout out about it... heck, it's now!

I had roughly two months to train but Miss Sloth in me always came in between. In the end, I only have two weeks. My last training was yesterday. I managed to clock a good time for a 10km distance. I am happy. At least, I know I can do this.

So yeah, this Sunday, August the 25th.... Chegu Carol is going to run a marathon. Never mind it is only a 10km marathon. I hope to be able to strike 'Run a (10km) marathon' off my list this year. 

God's willing.

Siapa-siapa yang join tu BIM2013, jumpa di sanaaaaaaa.....

Til next post!
Hugs.

Yoga Progress: Standing Bow

Standing Bow pose has been one of my favourite pose from the first day I started practicing yoga. I just feel deeply mesmerized by the position of the body, the curve of the back, the elongated one leg up and the balance the whole body gets by simply stretching one end of the hand and the other leg. It just look so elegant. No wonder, it is also called a Dancer's Pose.

When I first started, I didn't know how to place my legs and abs properly.

On Day two, after throughly studying the pose, I managed to properly lift up my leg and align my torso.

Coming to Week Two and after pretty much digging details of the pose, I was able to get into some proper form of it. And I must admit, I kind of love the progress.

On the following week, I was aiming to get the back leg straighter and torso more aligned with the floor by arching the spine more. I didn't get much progress aside maintaining the posture I achieved from the week before.

Unfortunately, I was too ambitious the following week when doing Intense Side Stretch pose. I injured my left back thigh causing intense pain whenever I tried to stand straight on it.  It's been a week and the muscle is showing sign of recovery but VERY slow. I couldn't wait and so I trained my other leg to be the standing leg. This is as much I could do with my left side. Back too stiff to arch. *sigh*

Praying that my injury will get better as soon as possible. However, I feel good about the overall progress. I have been very religious with my practice and started to do yoga on daily basis from the 4th week.

How do I stay put?

Let's just say, Instagram and the people in it makes me motivated. Ha!

Till next post!
*hugs*

Down memory land recipe

Among other things that I remember most about my late father, is definitely his significant dish called Ikan Asam Jawa (Tamarind Fish).

When I was in lower secondary school, we were in the afternoon session. In the morning, I would go to mom's vegetable stall to help her and by mid morning (around 10.30am), dad would picked me up from the stall to bring me home to get ready for school. Usually, it would be dad's duty to ensure I was fed before going to school. That means, he would cook lunch.

So yes, Ikan Asam Jawa was one of the simple home cook meals dad would cooked for us during lunch. He never really taught me how it was cooked though. But it was a good thing I kept my observation tight that time. Besides, it is a very simple dish to prepare and so kind of easy to come up with the recipe. The only different is, the dish simply doesn't taste the same to that my father cooked. Close, but definitely not the same.

These are the ingredients needed for this simple recipe.
1. Fish
2. Tamarind juice
3. Onions, garlic and shallots
4. Oil
5. Water
7. Corn flour/starch (optional)
8. Salt and sugar to season

The thing about my cooking is that, I don't really have the exact measurement for each ingredient. It is more like 'agak-agak', the term widely use by our older generation when cooking.

So yeah, the tamarind is more like agak-agak according to the quantity of fish I was preparing. The only thing I can tell you is that, this dish serves for 5 pax.







 So, agak-agak lah ya...

Method:

1. Clean fish and cut into two (optional).
2. Soak tamarind in warm water to get the juice.
3. Cut onions into wedges.
4. Pound garlic and shallots.
5. Deep fry the fish till golden brown. Set aside (to toss on the excess oil).
6. On a clean pan, pour 2tbsp of oil.
7. Saute onions, garlic and shallots til light brown
8. Pour in the tamarind juice. Add 1 cup of water (or agak-agak) and bring to simmer.
9. Add salt and sugar to taste.
10. Pour corn flour diluted in water to thicken the sauce. (optional)

And voila!

Have you tried this before? Any other variations?

Til next post!
*hugs*

After a week...

Update on my Yoga progress.

My favourite pose, Standing Bow Pose or the Dancer's Pose. I think I am progressing well with this pose.

 

And of course, some other poses I've been practicing. I even bought myself DVDs for Yoga beginner. I reckon that I need more insights to Yoga than just practicing the pose via images found on the Internet. I must say, I look forward to dig deeper. To understand the reason why I do all the poses and the benefits yielded from doing yoga daily.

 

Namaste.

 

 

Slowly piecing in...

If you have been following my previous blog at carolchs dot com (which is now suspended), you could have read several posts regarding my dream house. In that particular post, I mentioned that, I could only picture the back yard to my dream house. Other than that, the layout of my dream house was still vague.

As I was driving back to my hometown last weekend and thinking about having my own house, flashes of images; starting from the backyard, slowly going into the patio, to the dining hall and by the time I realized it, I have somehow 'built' up my dream house. Well, not the entire structure but yeah, I am able to see how the layout of my future house will look like.

I wonder where did these pieces came in?

It feels like whenever I think of that layout  (and I am thinking of it now), I am actually inside my house wandering every corner of it. You get what I mean? The only thing that ain't finish is how it will look like from the main door towards the outside of the front porch.

It delights me knowing that I could possibly  have a design of the house that I am going to have one day. It is just a matter of when and how my budget stretch is going to help materialize this dream.

Since I can say the layout/design of my future house is roughly 80% in my head, I hope to put a timeline as to when I can start putting aside moolah for Dream House Budget.

God's willing.

Here's the non-artist impression of my dining hall. The first corner of the house that keep popping in my head once I decided to have a spacious back lawn similar to that of the back lawn in Marley & Me the movie.

Achievement unlocked

Here's more story about my Yoga journey...well, im only on day 5. It is still a journey kan considering I am still at it. Unlike last time. ^__^

So I've said in my Instagram that this is one of my favourite pose in the 26 poses of the Bikram Yoga when I first started.
 


On day 2, I managed to pull my leg up a bit.


On day 3, I did not do anything so as to get the muscle rest.

On day 4, I was only trying to strike a pose when I did this pose. And look how much I think I have progressed. I mean, I surprised myself that I was able to pull up that much of my leg. And I didn't really feel the strain that I had on day one and two. Perhaps, the rest I had on day 3 kind of helped ease the sore muscles.
 

So, have I unlocked any achievement? Well, not exactly. But I think I am on my way to unlock something beyond my imagination.  I am ecstatic to see how far can I go with this pose comes Day 30.

Fingers crossed!

A Yogi?

I tried Yoga back when I was still teaching in Keningau. It was part of wanting to try what form of exercise appealed me for my evening workout. However, I wasn't keen. In fact, I only went to the class less than 5 times. The stretching and what not bored me. Heck, it made me sleepy. Or perhaps, I wasn't doing it right. Hence, the lack of enthusiasm.

Surprise, surprise!

Am back on it. Well, after some blogger friends (Read: Wyne_Mouren and StellaClaire) show fascinating trending of Yoga photos and they are filling up my Instagram timeline everyday. I was skeptical at first. But look who's joining in the bandwagon? Ha!

Great thing is, even hubby gives encouragement albeit subtle by telling me that there are apps on iPad regarding yoga for beginners.

Here's my first pose of the Dandayamana-Dhanurasana or the Standing Bow Pose, the 6th pose of the 26 basic Bikram Yoga Pose.
 A long way to go before I get the correct pose and posture.  

After I did a half an hour of some of the poses, what I noticed is that I get some slight headache post-exercise. I gathered it was due to the blood circulation or whatever that has gone through while I did the yoga process. But then again, it could be due to the incorrect postures and breathing throughout my exercise.

Today, I shall improve on the breathing first and has been doing bit of revision on the 26 Bikram Yoga.

Update again soon.

******
I read HERE that it is normal to feel dizzy when first starting yoga due to the body not being used of having too much oxygen in the system. A ha!

Double Cheers!

Last January marked my 8th year tenant in the government service. With that, I was qualified to be promoted to another level.
Level up, and so does the pay.
I feel blessed.


At the same time, my school selected me and some others as recipients for 2012 Excellent Service Award. And that makes me a thousand bucks richer.
I feel blessed.


Getting a promotion and at the same time being recognized for what you have done is certainly something to be happy about. Something to remember for a long time.

So I decided to commemorate these two events by buying myself a gold chain with pendant.


At least I can look at my necklace and said, "This, for some happy moments in my life".

I feel blessed.

In time

In the past couple of months, I thought life was miserable (for me) when things didn't go my way. No, it has not reached the point of giving up. Not yet. But yes, I felt miserable. And when this feeling bug me, I blamed EVERYTHING around me except myself. Of course, I know better not to announce it on the radio.

I believe in yin and yang. Good things will come after bad and vice versa. That, I learned from many years of subscribing to Lilian Too's Monthly Feng Shui handbook.

Ever since I stopped reading Feng Shui stuffs, by choice, I sometimes feel lost. And that occasionally gives me the urge to revert back to the book to guide me in my steered path. However, my faith teaches me that relying too much on Feng Shui book is committing number dos sin in the Catholic's Ten Commandments.

And so I pray.
Prayer is powerful.
No doubt. Cos God ALWAYS have mercy on His people.

I have received multiple good news recently, having gotten my work promotion (resulting in salary increment) among others. Yet, I don't want this round of good news to end.

Not yet.

Cos, I yearn for that one good news.
That one good news.

I shall wait for our time.
In time, that one good news will come knocking our door.
Have faith.
Pray.

Amen.

A not-so-new beginning

Removing all my treasured rants from carolchs dot com to here.

How do I feel?
Not great.

Leaving behind things that have been with you for years. Attachment they call it. Not great at all.

But change should be viewed in a positive outlook.
So here I am.

Starting a new leaf. Here. Free (and that's the only great thing about this for now).