Christmas 2011: Inbetween Days

Last gym session of 2011 today.

Treadmill: Intervals of sprint and walk for 12 minutes.
PullUps - Deadlifts - Bench Press - Box Jumps - Thrusters - Rolling Dumbbell extensions - Plyo PushUps with Dive Bombers to finish off.  Was pretty good workout and certainly broke a good sweat out of me.  I still didn't feel 100% today but better than yesterday at least when I was coughing and it sounded pretty rough that even Caroline the PT said "Oh that doesn't sound too healthy(!)".  I laughed it off and said, "Yeah trying to fight it here!"  =P  Got a compliment from a guy at the gym when I was at the cardio suite.  Went over to shake his hand (as you do when you greet buddies and wishing a good Christmas and New Year) and he said he had been eating everything this Christmas and will want to head back to full training again from January.  He commented that I was looking good and look leaner compared to when he last saw me in the gym (just a few weeks ago).  Must be the top I was wearing.  Haha!  Anyway, yeah, I am glad that I started the ATHLEAN-X training program back in May this year.  It has certainly helped me lose lots of bodyfat whilst building and maintain muscle mass.  It is generally each to do both at the same time, hence bodybuilders go through the "bulking stage" when they pump iron whilst eating lots and lots and get big (gaining lots of muscle and fat along the way), then they go for the "cutting phase" and do lots of cardio in place of eating lots and hope to lose the bodyfat, revealing the muscle they built up during their bulking phase.  It sounds easier than in reality as the bodyfat will never be shifted away completely or the level we'd like, at least not naturally.  I've been through that stage of the game before and I can say it was fun whilst it lasted but now I train in a much more smarter way, training like an athlete, lots of bodyweight exercises along with free weights and generally get more body parts involved to increase anabolic and metabolic rate and the results speak for themselves.  =)

The above picture was a random idea when I was in the changing room getting ready to leave.  I had my shaker cup at hand whilst mixing my protein supplement after my shower.  I took this picture because I wanted a record of how I look at the end of 2011 and I want to use this to better myself in 2012.  I have great aims for 2012, spiritual and physical goals.  Talking about physical goals, I don't like the picture above: I would like to build up my trapezius muscles, they look pretty flat compared to my shoulders.  Also there is still too much bodyfat around the waist and I need to do more to burn away the stubborn layers.  (Doing ab exercises alone will NOT do anything btw, that is called spot reduction - does not work!).  Cutting away sweet stuff (apart from my supplements and stuff like yoghurts) and lowering carbs in the evenings will help too.  So when it turns 2012, in less than 48hrs, I will be lowering my sugar intake whenever possible.  I will still have my vitamin c drink of course (orange taste), but will be abstaining from sweet empty calories like sweets, chocolate etc.  Please, do not offer such things to me.  I will let myself some freedom when it's Cat's wedding (July/ August) and really celebrate then, especially in Singapore!!  =D  One final thing, I want to build bigger calf muscles.  This one I am NOT looking forward to, even as I type this, I would rather work anything else but these stubborn stubborn muscles.  But I know if I want bigger calves to look better in my kilt then I better get to work.  Lol!  So again in January I will start training the calves specifically.  There are so many different exercises and believe me, these weak muscles will always ache the few days after the workout.  LOL!!  So these are the three physical goals I have for the new year.  I will share my other goals next time :)

Last day of work tomorrow (Hogmanay!).  Three lessons: 0930-11AM, 11-1PM then 330-5PM and then I'll be done!!  Off work for a whole TWO days!!  Haha!!  Not sure what's happening for New Year yet.  Might be a very quiet one this year =)

Christmas 2011: Inbetween Days

It has become somewhat of a tradition of mine that every year I listen to this song Lonely Christmas by Eason Chan at this time of year.  Last occasions have been the week leading up to Christmas.  This year has not been that lonely cos it was spent at church service with the whole family of God and later in great fellowship in Aaron's place.  However, this song is always nice to listen and sing along to when feeling 'emo' this time of year.  Haha!  This is the full version video but does not have lyrics.  Lyrics are in Chinese anyway and hard to find translation.  However, with the help of Google Translate, it has managed to come up with something like what's below... bad grammar but hopefully the meaning is still there.  I think the rest you can catch from the video...  Enjoy!

Lonely Christmas - Eason Chan

Who is riding a sleigh flying, forgetting to drop down a present for me.

Tonight the lights shine the brightest, but they reveal my loneliness.

Who is kind enough to kiss me, from the lips can verify that I was once happy.

The overhead snow wants to land my shoulder, eventually it has to leave too.

Merry, Merry Christmas
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Want to speak sincere words to you among so many people, but you just want to listen to a joke
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas
Lighting must be removed tomorrow in exchange for a cheer.

Who is kind enough to kiss me, from the lips can verify that I was once happy.

The overhead snow wants to land my shoulder, eventually it has to leave too.

Merry, Merry Christmas
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Want to speak sincere words to you among so many people, but you just want to listen to a joke
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas
Lighting must be removed tomorrow in exchange for a cheer.

Tomorrow comes will not remember who we hugged whilst drunk.

Still giggling but you also know I want to cry.

With whom I bump into, not afraid of strangers.

Would rather get drunk and vomit.

Still with a headache, cannot hear the chorus of the song.

Merry, Merry Christmas
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Want to speak sincere words to you among so many people, but you just want to listen to a joke
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas
Lighting must be removed tomorrow in exchange for a cheer.

Merry, Merry Christmas
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Want to speak sincere words to you among so many people, but you just want to listen to a joke
Lonely, Lonely Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas
Lighting must be removed tomorrow in exchange for a cheer.

In exchange for a cheer.

Christmas 2011: Inbetween Days

So after yesterday's impulse purchase at Hollister (haha!  forgot to mention that did I?) I have decided I will no longer be pursuing after the Samsung Galaxy S2.  For the past two weeks I have been online searching for the cheapest sim-free version so when my Vodafone contract expires (March 2012), I can ask them to give me discounted tariff if I don't take a phone off them.  Does that make sense?  So far the lowest price I can find for the smartphone is on eBay at £379.95, but this has now increased to £384.95.  I had thought about getting the handset itself and then getting cheap tariff from Vodafone whilst trying to maintain my current credentials: 600 Anytime Minutes, Unlimted SMS, 500MB Internet and Stop the Clock.  It will be hard to get anything like that for anything cheaper than £17.50 though, so that means if I buy the phone and get another 18-month contract with them, it might add up to £695 for eighteen months.  If I settle for getting the phone from Vodafone I would expect my tariff to go back up to £36 a month and that will mean 18x36 = £648.  Yes it will be cheaper by £47 but the phone MIGHT be tied to Vodafone after it and I might have to have it unlocked later. Unless it only "appears locked" like I discovered recently!

That's the phone issue settled, kinda, for now.  Just awaiting the call from Vodafone to ask me if I want to continue my contract with them and then I'll try my best to get the handset for free AND try lowering monthly tariff.  Could both be possible you think?  Haha!  We'll see!

Phone issue sorted, now next item on my "to-think" list is: Singapore.  The time is drawing near for me to start looking for flights to Singapore for Cat and Nick's wedding banquet in August.  The actual date is 4th August so mum and I will need to get there at least a few days before the 4th and anticipate fighting off any jetlag.  We didn't feel any jetlag back in 2008 when we went to HK, so don't expect to get any this time either, but hey, you never know.  Both mum and I have aged since then, haha!  =P  So trying to get the cheapest flights of course and more importantly, we should consider/ discuss visiting neighbouring countries like Hong Kong and/ or Malaysia, possibly elsewhere?  There is a small issue: mum does not want to be off work for that long.  She wants everything to be done and dusted and back to work within her two weeks annual leave.  She doesn't want to take any more than two weeks off work.  I, on the other hand, see this as a great opportunity to go travelling, sight seeing, eat great food, see friends, take photos, try new things etc.  You get the drift!  However, I cannot leave my mum to travel back to Glasgow on her own of course.  So... how long shall we stay in Singapore?  Will ten days be enough?  If I wanna go travelling and mum does not, will she be ok staying in Singapore whilst I travel around then come back for her and we fly back to UK?  Questions, questions....

Christmas 2011: Inbetween Days

Today was the last day of me taking antibiotics.  The five-day course has came to it's end.  I took the last two pills just before leaving the house for work in the morning.  And I hope no more pills again for a long time.  I can't actually remember the last time I had any medication for being ill.  Actually I think last winter I had Beechams Powder to eradicate cold-like symptoms (sore throat, slight cough etc).  Guess this year I was not quick enough in taking action against the symptoms and they took over.  Haha!  So after taking this course of antibiotics, I do feel lots better.  At least I managed to return to work for the second day today.  There were moments when coughing got in the way, like during my second lesson and I was teaching the Left Reverse manoeuvre for the first time to a pupil and had to talk lots to explain everything.  The itchiness of throat with the weakness of lung and feeling of breathlessness made me cough more than a few times.  =(  Again, always covered up and followed up "pardon me!".

The coughing also irritated me after work.  Even when I was talking to Oz when we were hanging out, at the shopping centre, at Hollister, at the cinema and during dinner.  =(  I am really glad Oz didn't mind, and glad that I can be myself, although it was embarrassing speaking half a sentence and stopping halfway to cough!  Haha!  It was good to catch up with Oz.  Enjoyed "Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and then had nice dinner at Nando's, the second attempt at getting our chicken.  The first branch we discovered was CLOSED because the ovens was broken down!  Haha!  Gosh!!  I'm glad we got to the Xscape branch with an hour to eat before closing time.  Lol!

And tomorrow it will be time for the gym!!  Looking forward to it. Yesterday's gym session was my first visit in over a week and was a pretty lethargic experience and disappointing.  I still don't feel my lunges are at 100% capacity yet with the occasional shortness of breath when gasping for air, the nose being runny and the need to cough when throat feels tickled.  Had to refrain from coughing as much as I could cos it would not leave a good impression coughing so much in front other gym users especially when we all share equipment etc.  Anyway, I really wanna fight these germs and bugs and really want my focus back tomorrow!!

These days inbetween Christmas and New Year are the strange days for different people.  Some are still on holiday mode.  Some are back to work.  Even those who are back to work are on holiday mode!  Haha!  So I hope everyone is enjoying this very relaxed period of the calendar.  Once New Year comes and passes, everything will be "back to normal" and then we'll slowly forget these "happy days".  But at least we will have lots of new things to look forward to, lots of hopes and dreams to realise, lots of targets to meet =)

Christmas 2011: Boxing Day

Came home quite late last night from dinner at Aaron Sam's place.  So after getting home, shower, opening Christmas presents and going online, it didn't leave much time to sleep before today's Boxing Day Sale.  Just before bed I found out, via responses on my Facebook status, that the Next Sale was scheduled to start at 6AM, not the traditional 7AM like in previous years.  That gave me a little dilemma.  Mum was due to start work at 7AM on Sauchiehall Street, so I promised her I'd take her to work by 6:45AM, drop her off, drive along a little further then park up and go to Next Sale.  Win-win situation.  However, if the sale were to start at 6AM then I'd have to work something else out.  Gave it a few moments of thought then decided to go to bed and had alarm set for 5AM...

5AM arrived and the alarm went off.  Only once this time as I didn't snooze.  Good boy!  Then I got up, got ready for going out, had porridge with a banana (no muesli this time), had a cup of tea with two croissants AND two antibiotic tablets.  Then I left the house at 5:45AM and headed out for Next to meet Xiaoling.  It was her first time checking out the Next Sale at opening time, and this was the earliest at 6AM!!  Haha!  Hardcore stuff man!  So I went to get my essentials, underwear and socks and whilst looking for something for Kenneth I came across a plain white shirt also and grabbed that in excitement!!  Paid for my stuff (three-figure sum??) then headed home to pick mum up.  Oh yeah, before I left Next I took a picture of the shopfloor at 6:20AM.  Check the picture out here (if you are my Fb friend).

Got home, dropped my stuff off, took mum to work in plenty of time, then went back out to Next to meet Xiaoling.  After Next was River Island, after River Island it was 8AM and I had to move my car from a single yellow line road (outside Cineworld) into Chinatown carpark, hoping for free parking if there were no parking attendant guy in the cabin box thing.  Nope, no guy there.  Great!  Walked back out to town, this time to Frasers, then Zara.  Bumped into Vivian Lai in Frasers then Danny and Candy when queueing outside Zara.  Again another stampede took place once the doors of Zara opened.  This time not as bad as the Buchanan Galleries one cos this female security guard was huge!!  =P  Zara Men was disappointing again.  Nothing there suitable to me.  I tried one thin wool top on: L was too tight.  XL was too loose.  Fail!!  Haha!  Went for breakfast at Costa Coffee back up at Buchanan Galleries and bumped into Joey.  After our break Xiaoling went to meet Alethea for girly shopping whilst I went to Cineworld to watch "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows".  It was quite a good film.  Funny, witty and often very clever ;)

After the movie I was beginning to feel tired so decided to go home.  Took a slight detour to visit the nearby HMV first before really going home.  Mainly looked at the blu-rays section and dvd boxsets but didn't find anything worth getting.  Saw this guy holding all four seasons of Heroes on blu-ray though.  Had a really tempting moment there.  But when I went to check out the shelves, only seasons one and four were left, at £15 each.  Doh!  Never mind!  I got home and went online again, checked some stuff out, Play.com being one of my sites, then checked out reviews on mobile phones, football scores and later it was time to cook the turkey for dinner with mum when she got home.  The turkey took quite a long time.  1hr 50mins initially, remove foil, put in another 30mins basting it occasionally then recover with foil and sit for 30mins.  So it was about 6PM when we started dinner.  I washed up after dinner, unpacked all my shopping, showered and tried on my white shirt.  Guess what!!  I actually later found out that my shirt was NOT part of the Next Sale!!  It was a non-sale item but somebody had slotted it into the 16.5ins shirt tray with everything else, and in my excitement I grabbed it.  No wonder it came to triple figures!!  LOL!  Ah well, I really liked the shirt.  Next Signature brand.  Even the collarbones are metal and there are two spares also!  Haha!  Hard to find a white shirt that fits AND is not see-through, so I'll keep it this time =P

So there you have it.  Eventful busy morning but a quiet and unexciting evening.  And now I'm feelinng tired although it is only 10:30PM.  Usually still 'early' for me, but I think after this I will brush, floss and scrape then head to bed.  Back to work tomorrow.  Still occasionally coughing but nothing like few days ago.  Voice still a little hoarse (noticed by people yesterday and this morning) but nothing like few days ago.  Two more days of antibiotics to finish and I really hope I will be fully fit again.  So... working tomorrow 10AM-3PM then gym after that.  Really wanna get back into routine now.  Have not stepped into Greens since last Saturday I think (17th!!)  =O

Christmas 2011: Merry Christmas!!

Hey guys!  Had such a good day today!

So much to write about but I'll head to bed first.  Need to get up for 6AM sale tomorrow!!  =D

Christmas 2011: Christmas Eve!!

Currently busy watching "Young Bruce Lee"... brb

Young Bruce Lee was very good.  It was uploaded on Youtube through eleven parts and I watched it all.  Mum was tired from work so only managed to stay awake until the sixth part and then fell asleep.  I guess she'll have to catch up next time.  Haha!

Well Christmas even was pretty boring to be honest.  I was not well enough to work not go to the gym.  So was pretty gutted I missed out on the 90-Minute Body Attack class which Cat and Iain went to.  So sad!  =(  I could not string 3-4 sentences without coughing like crazy.  Really felt like something was tickling the walls of my throat resulting in coughing fit.  If that was only talking, then think of how much coughing would result from rapid breathing in response to face paced exercising!  And also, how much coughing from talking lots during the driving lessons.  =(  As a result I had to cancel my two lessons as well.

Spent more time in bed.  Slept till midday before getting up for brunch, medication, then went online, did devotionals, listened to more worship songs on Youtube and then burned an MP3 cd for the car.  It wasn't until after dinner in the evening that I suggested to mum that we watch the Young Bruce Lee movie.  She was a little reluctant at first because she said she was uber tired from work cos McDonald's so was uber packed due to the last day of shopping for most people and they was crazy rush to town to get those presents.

Before we knew it, it was midnight and Christmas arrived.  We greet each other a Merry Christmas and I went on to tidy up the computer to TV set up as I had linked it up for the movie.  Think I got to bed about 1AM after being on Facebook and reading lots of different, yet the same, updates full of Christmas wishes.  Haha!  Will be a long day ahead for Christmas Day.  Church service then dinner at Aaron Sam's place.  =)

Christmas 2011: Two days to go!!

Woke up this morning just after 8AM and felt terrible.  Rolled around in bed until 8:30AM then got up to make two important phone calls.  One was to the DVLA making an enquiry about driving licences and secondly a call to the local GP to see if they had any free slots available.  Was given 9:40AM.  Those phone calls were so tough, especially the DVLA one, cos my voice was like sooooo rough!!  Argh!!  Was tad bit embarrassing but hey, it had to be done and I didn't have time to call later once my voice "warmed up" because the place shut at midday due to holiday.  Ah well, I'm sure Cathy who answered the phone has totally forgotten about me now anyway as she prepares for her Christmas =)

09:30AM I made my way to the doctor's surgery and dropped off a bag of stuff for the local Salvation Army store.

10:30AM I had my first antibiotic tablet.  Was given a ten-day course, two to be taken daily.  Here's hoping it will help me feel better for Sunday =)

11:30AM I was in Tesco getting stuff for Christmas and getting two more little presents for my little ones ;)  The place was packed full of people!

12:30PM I prepared lunch: reheated leftover roast chicken with rice, gravy and Tabasco sauce.  Maybe not best to add spicy stuff considering my throat, but it were only a few drops.

1:30PM Hoovered the whole house

2:30PM Started looking for songs to download to make an MP3 cd for the car.  Mainly Christian songs so far.

3:30PM Was reading Nutrition and Fitness articles

4:30PM Early dinner, prepared by Cat.  I washed dishes afterwards.  Mum had a relaxing time at home after her busy day at work.  Extremely busy day.

5:30PM Did some exercises on the mat with my weights.  Wanted to try a few exercises out.  Was good.

6:30PM Was on Facebook for a while and checked out some funny videos too like this one which made me think of Secret Santa reactions.  Haha!  =P

7:30PM Started watching "The Romancing Star 2" on Youtube.  Then later discovered there is a "Young Bruce Lee" movie uploaded also, which was released last year.  That is now on my 'to-watch' list.  Haha!

9:30PM Started watching "Initial D" dvd with Cat on the dvd.  Wanted a break from the computer.  Haven't watched "Initial D" for such a long time.  I forgotten about the ending as well.  Oooh, very open-ended for a sequel.  Actually... has there been a sequel yet?!

11:30PM Logged on to blog of course!  Haha!

Right now I have topped up my honey lemon and just sipping that whilst typing this.  Oh yeah, had my second antibiotic tablet at 10:20PM.  Throat is still quite croaky and I cannot seem to string together more than a few sentences without feeling the urge to cough.  Seems my lunges have weakened, or there is something tickly around my throat that makes me cough kinda thing.  Not sure how I will manage to teach tomorrow.  OR how I can manage a 90-minute special Body Attack class at the gym!

Ok la, time for bed.  Will see what happens tomorrow eh!  Goodnight all!

Christmas 2011: Three days to go!!

Just three days till Christmas and I am still unwell.  I couldn't get up this morning for devotions and exercise.  The alarm went off at 7:15AM and it was my second time getting up.  First time was around 3:40AM when I got up for the toilet.  In fact I woke up cos I felt I couldn't sleep.  Think maybe the temperature was too hot or something.  I suspected fever, but thankfully no more signs of it through the day.  Anyway, I silenced the alarm the slumped back to bed.  I couldn't handle getting up and just wanted to give my body a rest.  A little rest turned into a long rest and I sprung up at the discovery of the time on my phone, 9AM!!  I had half an hour to get myself ready and out of the house for my 10AM lesson at Maryhill area!!  Gosh!

Made it on time for the lesson but I sooo wasn't in the mood for work today.  Gah!!  My voice had gotten much rougher through the night and it was not clearing today.  So each time I spoke it was very coarse, very croaky.  I didn't like it.  =(  First lesson was two hour long, after which I had a lunch break before second lesson of one and a half hours.  I was sooo relieved at the end of the second lesson.  I went home to get changed and then had to decide given my condition did not improve through the day, that it was not worth going out to Henry's birthday dinner.  It would be unfair of me to spread any germs around my friends.  Not a very good nice birthday gift for Henry either.  So I had to text him to apologise.  =(

I have a day off tomorrow though and hopefully I will get a long lie in.  Might get up 8:30AM and call the local surgery and see if I can get an appointment to see the GP.  Might need some antibiotics for this if there is so much bateria in me.  =(  Meant to be resting tomorrow but already I have a few things I plan to do: read, collect stuff to give to local Salvation Army shop, hoover the house, iron a new shirt, call the DVLA to make an enquiry (must call before noon when they shut!), select songs to burn onto an MP3 cd, and last but not least, contact Vodafone to ask if they can give me an unlocking code for my HTC Magic.

Oh!  More on that last point!  I made a really cool discovery, just moments ago!  I was searching on Google for HTC Magic unlocking codes.  I wanted to see if I can unlock the phone from Vodafone so it makes it more flexible for use with other sim cards, like UK networks or even abroad to HK or next year, Singapore.  I remember I called up Vodafone for unlocking code for my K800i waaaaay back when as I came to end of contract with them.  They gave me the code no bother.  So I was curious whether technology has advanced since then (2007?) and I might get a code off the internet instead.  Whilst searching I came across some websites asking for IMEI numbers before they sold you a code for about £10-£20.  Among the searches there were also threads that discussed unlocking codes and someone said that Vodafone don't tend to lock their phones anymore, that some phones are just branded Vodafone but works with other network sim cards.  So.... I was very intrigued by this and thought to try my Orange PAYG sim card on the HTC Magic.  And... it WORKED!!  It took a few moments for the sim to be picked up and a signal established.  Although the startup screen displayed Vodafone as per usual, the Orange signal was strong and I was able to call "453" and it told me the account balance of my Orange sim card!  Whoo-hoo!  How cool is that?  That's one less item on my to-do list for tomorrow!  Haha!!  So now it seems I have two sim free phones at home.  Will be handy when travelling abroad or when there are visitors in Glasgow who require a phone I can lend them either my Ericsson K810i or HTC Magic, but for the latter, would have to warn about lagging etc.  Haha!  Nah, won't be that bad after a I perform a handset reset.  Oooh yeah!  Will do that once I get a replacement phone.  Lol!

Christmas 2011: Four days to go!!

Meant to be in bed right now, but have been tempted/ distracted by a website: Vodafone.co.uk.

My current contract expires mid-Feb, Vodafone allows upgrading up to 90 days before contract ends.  It was almost a year ago when Vodafone offered me Half Price Line Rental for a 12-month term, meaning I was due to pay £17.50 a month and still get the full benefits of my tariff - 600 Anytime minutes, Unlimited text messages, Unlimited Data usage and Stop the Clock.  The 12-month is running out soon, and although I was previously told I would get nine months at £17.50 and the last three at full tariff, out of goodwill (and my miscalculation), I called up Vodafone and they kindly discounted my tariff again in November AND December bills.  Praise God!  =)  However, now I know it is definitely time to get a replacement phone.  My phone (HTC Magic) has lost it's magic.  Coming up to being two and a half years old, it is running uber slow, the contact name/ number often don't display when the phone rings, camera takes ages to load and process pictures, even turning the phone back to the welcome screen (pressing of home button) takes such a loooong while to refresh.  I can no longer use the quick way of Google-searching things which this phone was designed for also, due to the loooong lagging delays.  As you can imagine, this has bad effects for when running a business and of course for my social life (Fb, texting, Whatsapp etc).  Oh yeah, I cannot seem to view video clips that people send through Whatsapp either!  Grrrr!!

So I have my eyes set on another Android phone.  I have grown attached to having my Google accounts linked directly to this phone, having everything at my disposal.  So the Samsung Galaxy SII is something in my focus.  But I'm trying to figure out which is the best deal to get with Vodafone.  I will not look to end this contract, cancel, then restart a new contract.  Will not take any tricky routes or try any loopholes as such because I do not want to port my number across or anything that might disrupt my business calls.  So... I think I will be busy these next few days trying to figure this out and calculating.  Haha!

Missed the gym for the third day now.  Still managed to do some workout at home after my morning devos, but just not the same is it?  Well, can't be helped really.  My 'cold' or 'sickness' has not gotten any better.  My voice has gotten rougher in fact and was today teaching whilst clearing my throat very often to make sure I am heard and that I don't sound too 'froggy'.  Sake man, how frustrating.  I am meant to go to Henry's birthday dinner at Prezzo tomorrow evening as well.  I finish work at 2:30PM, so hopefully no more coughing fits either.  We'll see how I feel after work before I finally decide.  I need proper rest, but haven't taken a day off so far as any cancellations made less than 48hrs before will be charged, meaning I will the pupil a lesson.  So I called my Friday lessons off today and explained I was not well.  Thankfully the Friday lessons are for pupils who saw me in my sorry state on Monday when I was coughing like crazy then as well.  I'll see them next Friday instead.  That way I will not risk giving them any more of my germs =(

Ok, to bed I go!!  Goodnight!!

Christmas 2011: Five days to go!!

Five days till Christmas and there is no snow, there is a forecast of 11C for Glasgow on Thursday AND I've still got this cold!!  Argh!!  More coughing today during lessons; covered my mouth of course!  But later on I started sneezing as well.  NOT a good sign!  Here I was thinking I was getting a bit better. Sigh... Maybe this is 'bad' before the 'good'.  Currently struggling to breathe through my right nostril.  Gah!!

Anyhows, better get to sleep soon.  Only up this "late" cos I just finished watching an old Chinese movie with mum through Youtube.  Connected the laptop through to the TV and played all ten parts of The Romancing Star, a 1987 movie which we had not seen before and I only watched the first part two days ago when I was randomly searching for Eric Tsang funny stuff.  Haha!  It was a typical Chinese romantic comedy with lots of laughs mixed with mistaken identities, chasing of girls and typical tongue-in-cheek moments.  It was nice to watch this movie with mum as it meant she was in a relaxed state on the couch as opposed to being busy in the kitchen etc.  =)

Looks like I'll be missing the gym for yet another day tomorrow.  It's horrible.  But at least I still got to workout at home a little.  Managed to do workout yesterday (joined by Cat) and this morning myself.  Then morning shower and breakfast and I'm ready to start the day.  Home workouts are great.  Not necessary a lot of floor space required for an effective workout.  I am storing up / learning good new routines that will come in handy for those days when I'm snowed in and can't even drive to the gym.  Lol!  Yup, better plan ahead.  I'm currently also testing out a workout program for a brother in Christ and by keeping accountable we're doing the exercises at the same time each morning, after we do devotions.  It's a good way to maintain our spiritual and physical health.  Both are equally important.

I thought up a slogan for this: "Devotion to God.  Dedication to fitness."

If this idea is successful and we might even get more brothers (possibly sisters?) involved, we could start a good healthy club going.  Will definitely be using that slogan then.  You know where you've seen it first!!  ;)

Christmas 2011: Six days to go!!

Aiming for bed at 11PM, so it means I will be hopping back into my room after I type this up.  Just had my shower and now sitting here with some honey water.  Not honey lemon as it's too late for that, too late to make a fuss of cutting lemon slices etc so just honey water for now, to help soothe my throat.  Was coughing a lot this morning.  Coughed through the night.  It's weird how I could be sleeping one minute then the next moment my throat would itch so much I'd cough and wake myself up!  Argghh!  How annoying.  Phlegm has started coming up, which according to Cat is a good sign, because it's the bateria/ germs etc rising up with the mucus and it should be signs of recovery.  Should be.  Haha!  Hmm... I might say Haha! here, but having a coughing fit during this morning's driving lesson was NO laughing matter.  Was quite embarrassed at one point.  Have you ever had such bad cough where you felt your throat tickling a lot and every time you open you mouth you can't help but cough??  Well that was what happened this morning at one point during a lesson.  And I could not say anything whilst keeping my mouth closed and refraining from coughing and splurting.  My face turned rosy (not as bad as yesterday's chairing of EM service!) and could feel tears forming =S  Ah well, the pupil was understanding at least =)  I really hope I get better soon, better drink up my honey water and get to bed!!

Lacking

I know I lack two things: proper hydration and proper sleep.  I don't drink enough fluids through the day and this is mainly due to my work lifestyle.  If I drink too much water, I will constantly need to look for a toilet for comfort breaks, even during lessons.  This would cause too much disruption to the pupil's lesson and maybe even the lesson plan/ route itself.  If I were to hold it in and just carry on with the lesson until it finished, I would disrupt and possibly damage my own internal waterworks system.  Lol!  Believe me, holding in the urge for a "number one" is very uncomfortable and can get very risky!!  Haha!  I used to drink so much water when I worked in the office: constantly topping up my water tumbler from the kitchen and sitting down by the computer doing my tasks.  But now water intake is reduced to once every two hours on average and that's not much much either, something less than 200mls at a time (I know because my 750ml KOR water bottle) never comes back empty even after a full day of work =(  What can I do then...?  I guess I should try to drink more right after work, replen my fluid levels because I would lose fluids through sweat (hot days or scary situations), through my breath (my job involves talking a lot) and through natural excretion.  I hope my body has not "gotten used to" such low levels of water.  Must keep hydrating!!

I also lack sleep.  "We are a plane of sleep deprived people" - Scooby.  His definition of "sleep deprived" is when an alarm clock is needed to wake you from your sleep, then you are sleep deprived, because your body is not ready to awaken and has not finished it's essential 'housekeeping' to maintain itself and recharge for the next day.  It's quite an interesting way of looking at it.  Because I am one who often turns the alarm off in the morning and just roll back into bed, even though I know it would be time to get up for the gym, work or for other tasks.  I guess that's my body's natural response to telling me that it is not "fully recharged" for the day ahead.  A bit like my HTC Magic phone currently which takes like a looooong time to get "fully charged 100%" battery status despite being charged overnight.  Signs of age I think.  So yeah, I know not having enough sleep will affect a lot of things: black eye bags (panda eyes), dull skin, dry skin (also linked to hydration), lack of concentration and possible mood swings for some people.  In terms of health and fitness, lack of sleep is detrimental to muscle building.  You work hard at the gym where your muscle fibres break up and need to build and grow.  But it can only do this when you are sleeping.  It is during sleep that the muscle building work happens and your hormones are also regulated.  So... lesson to be learnt here... get to bed earlier Gordon!!  Gotta have more self control over Facebook.  Cannot be tempted to stay on longer to check out people's statuses, respond to comments, idolise over pictures etc haha!

Christmas 2011: One week to go!

One week till it's Christmas.  This time next week I'll be wishing y'all Merry Christmas!!  =D

Really, time does fly by huh?  Today at EM Service we spent some time reflecting on the goodness of God in our lives in the year of 2011.  A few people have shared how they felt God's blessings through new birth in their families, through God being in control in all aspects of their lives, how God bless them through encouragement and accountability from others.  Not everyone jumped at the chance to share, but I am pretty certain inside that God had touched each and every person in the room (and more!) at some point in the last 365 day.  I myself feel so blessed by His guidance in my life.  At the start of the year I was still recovering from an incident from end of 2010 which took time to get over and time for me to get my head around.  That settled after a while of prayers and forgiveness from God and ourselves.  Then the highlight of the year was when I left the AA Driving School franchise and became an independent driving instructor, truly working for myself and under my own "company".  This is always a "risky" move because once independent you do not have any back up of a driving school to give you support or advice etc.  You have to rely pretty much on yourself from sourcing pupils to maintaining pupils and recruiting more later.  I really thank God for blessing me with experienced driving instructors who would give me words of wisdom and who pointed me in the right direction.  I was and still am blessed with instructor friends whom I can liaise with whenever I need that listening ear and we help each other out too.  I feel this has been a big important yet successful move for me but made So Easy, but only because of God =)

Have just checked the Glasgow weather for this week.  So far no signs of snow.  Ok, that's a good thing, although it has turned really cold nowadays.  Last Friday (16th) we had overnight snow which stayed till the morning and I was off work again.  The snow this time was not as bad last the snowfall previous Monday, but due to health and safety it was better not to have lessons with those scheduled pupils.  As for that reason I am seeing them tomorrow.  Will be starting at 11:30AM and finishing at 4:30PM.  Not a busy week ahead, which is just as well, seeing as I am not very well either.  Have developed a cough in the past few days.  I think I got it from my mum who got it from her workplace.  Or did I get it from pupils who were not well during driving lessons.  My jobs means I get more exposure to more people.  Hmm...  either way, being unwell means unfit to train which is a biggest bummer.  I will still work, because the cough is not that bad, and I try to open the window to get more fresh air in and also not let any germs (if any) breed in a stuffy environment.  See how considerate I am?  =P  Let's just hope my voice is sustained and does not go all croaky again!  Will not be fun!

Christmas Eve

So I finished up for Christmas today.  Only had one driving lesson between 12-2pm and it went quite well I think.  In fact I was meant to have a driving test first thing in the morning followed by this driving lesson, but when I woke up this morning I got a text from my pupil saying the test was cancelled.  I called him to ask how he knew so soon and he said the test centre called him around 7:30am to tell him his 9:37am test was cancelled due to icy conditions.  Not too surprised it was cancelled but very surprised the test centre called the pupil as I was expecting to call them on his behalf since English is not his first language.  After speaking to my pupil I went back to bed.  Yep, I could have gotten up and went to the gym but I was pretty tired and struggled to face the coldness outside.  So I was thinking... would this be my last gym session?  Not quite.  Cos I will still get to workout next week at some point.  Either at the hotel when I'm away on my wee trip or at Greens if I get snowed in and cannae fly.

Wee trip

It just dawned on me last night that my wee trip is only a few days away.  The flight is at 11:35am which means I should be at the airport at least an hour beforehand, but might not know if my flight is going ahead until possibly on Monday morning when I will check the flight status online.  Oh my!  There are reports of snowfall this Sunday and Monday (Boxing Day and the 27th December) but I hope the snow doesn't affect the trip.  However it also makes me question, what if I got out there but can't get back in on time for New Year?  Haha!  Ok, might look funny here, but I don't think it will be quite so funny if it really happened.  Cos although I have the week off work it doesn't mean I want to be away from home that long.  Haha!  Guess what?  When booking the flight and the hotel I only took the insurance when booking the flight, but didn't take it when booking the hotel.  Cos I was thinking the flight insurance should/ would cover the hotel stuff as well.  Now I'm a little doubtful cos I am not sure if the flight insurance will cover all cancellation related changes if the weather causes my flight to cancel.  The worse case scenario would be if/ when the snow hits us again and my flight is cancelled.  According to the airline website I can get a refund if the flight is cancelled.  That's fine, without or without insurance I should get my money back.  But what about the hotel?  Well I contacted Alpharooms to ask what would happen if my flight got cancelled due to the weather and here's their response:

"In normal circumstances, any cancellation within 14 days of travel would incur a 100% cancellation charge, however due to the weather situation in the U.K at the moment we are trying to remove or reduce charges wherever possible.

If your flight is cancelled, please let us know as soon as possible. We can then contact our supplier and let them know you will not be arriving. Should they offer a refund then of course this will be passed onto you, however please be aware that if the hotel/supplier charge for the cancellation we would have to pass these charges onto you."

So I've to contact them on Monday morning if my flight is cancelled and just keep my fingers crossed that if I cannot make it over there I will get some sort of refund for the hotel.  But I wouldn't hold my breath because it would be very spectacular for the hotel to refund money after a booking but hey, you never know eh.  Anyway, I wouldn't want the flight to be cancelled cos it would be more hassle than anything else, but I'm also scared in case I get stranded there and not make it back for New Year.  Nooooo!!  But having said that, I did take the first step in getting myself ready for the trip and I went to M&S and got myself some Euros.  Not much, just £100 worth.  Should be enough to last me for the first day over there.  And I'm sure the rest will sort itself out.  Now travel money is sorted, it's just a case of waiting to see if I can fly away :)

Ready for Christmas

It's Christmas Eve now and I've done all my shopping, written all my Christmas cards, wrapped all my presents, made sure my admin is all up to date.  I will be leaving all things driving instruction related from this moment onwards until I start back again on Monday 3rd Jan.  I wonder how long this can last though.  Lol!  Pupils are bound to call me at some point to ask stuff or reschedule etc.  One thing that I cannot avoid is my office, which I require to get me around even when I'm off.  And I still need to clean it as well.  Haha!  I'm looking forward to this week off.  It's so much different from the two weeks off when I was snowed in because then I had to call pupils to confirm or cancel lessons and had to constantly check the weather forecasts etc.  Now I can truly lay them all aside and just enjoy myself.  Looking forward to time off without being on edge.  Hopefully not more ranting.  Haha!!

So what's planned for this Christmas?  Well I will get up tomorrow and get all spruced up before getting Nick and bringing him over to our house.  We shall have brunch together before we hang out and possibly open presents, watch Christmas tv or possibly a movie, or play card games, or arm wrestle, or sing and dance.  Gonna have a big dinner I hope and get stuffed on turkey and lots of veg.  Will try to have an early night because we plan to hit the Next Boxing Day Sale on Sunday morning. I think the stores open at 6am so we shall try to go there as early as possible (the early bird catches the worm!) before coming back to pack and send Nick off to the airport.  Guess it'll be my first of two trips to the airport, so at least I will get an idea of whether my flight can take place the next day =)

Ok feeling really tired now.  Gotta go guys.  Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!  =D

Greens anniversary

Apparently I joined Greens Gym Glasgow on the 16th of December 2009, which means I have just passed my first year anniversary.  Pretty cool how time flies eh.  I was reminded of this date when I called up this morning to ask to downgrade my Greens membership from full access (access anytime between 6:30am-10pm) to off-peak access (access only between 6:30am-5pm and all weekend).  The reason for this is because since May this year when I started my personal training program with Ally, I have only been going to the gym in the mornings before work.  I haven't stepped foot in the gym after 5pm, yet still paid for full access for seven months.  Due to my working lifestyle, I have no time to go to the gym on weekday evenings, because I am usually teaching till 9pm, especially around summer time.  So it would be pointless for me to keep paying extra money to get nothing extra in return.  Haha!  So from February 2011 I'll start paying £36 a month instead of £42.50.  Will save £6.50 a month which will come to £78 a year.  Ooh yeah!  Gonna need to think of ways to save money as the New Year is just around the corner, and I'll need to find ways to save money wherever I can.

Are you game?

Oh yeah, a fortnight ago Greens Gym sent out Christmas cards to its members to say thanks for their membership as well as to advise of the rise of new monthly membership.  Along with that came several vouchers that were pretty cool.  Stuff like 'Two Guest Passes', 'Free Sunbed session', 'Free personal trainer session if you buy training worth up to £50' and '£10 off if you buy £30 worth of fitness gear'.  I found the 'Two Guest passes' the most appealling and was pretty glad there were four of these vouchers.  This means I can sign two guests into the gym with me four times between now and the end of January.  But I am not sure who would like to go.  I spoke to Kerry once a while back who expressed an interest in visiting Greens to check out it's swimming pool.  James is also quite interested but we have to find a suitable time and date.  Is there anybody else who'd like free access to Greens for the day some time between now and 31st January 2011?  =)  To give you more information on what this gym offers, check out the link here.

For those who'd like to visit after church one Sunday I am willing to arrange something in the afternoon like 4pm-6pm as the gym closes 7pm at the weekends =)  Just drop me a comment or text or something =)

Remember I am not really promoting Greens, but purely promoting to importance of health and fitness.  Actually FREE health and fitness.  Some forms of exercise can be quite expensive, certain sports require equipment and membership fees etc.  But going to this gym with me you can attend classes, try new equipment, just have fun with friends, everything at your own pace.  It's all good!  =)

Back to work

After my rant last week, it didn't actually snow anymore.  How ironic.  In fact, the snow was kept hidden until yesterday afternoon when it snowed during our church service.  The morning started off really chilly and frosty, but no snowfall until around 2pm I think.  By the time I left church at 4pm we had around 2cm of snow on the ground everyone started driving slowly again.  Haha!  I thank a friend who asked me if I were ok after my rant.  Haha!  Yes, I am ok now thank you.  In fact, I managed to work Thursday, Friday and this morning too.  I am meant to be teaching right now (5:05pm) but I am here blogging because my 4-6pm pupil cancelled me at 3:30pm saying he was unwell.  Technically I have the right to charge him for his full lesson because he has given me less than 48hrs notice.  However, since it is his first "offense" I will mark it down only and let it got this time.  Sitting at home means I lose money and we cannot have that, especially in this weather, know what I mean?  At summer time when I am rushed off my feet I occasionally welcome the break from lessons and am not that disappointed from occasionally cancellations.  However, at this moment, every penny counts.  I did manage to do one lesson this morning 10-12pm and I have a 8-9pm planned for this evening.  Fingers crossed that will go ahead ok.  =)

Final touches

So just some final touches as I get fully prepared for Christmas.  My last Christmas present came through the door this morning (phew!) and I can wrap it up and that's all presents done.  Then I have one Christmas card to redraft (gonna be in Chinese so I will have to be extra careful to avoid writing the wrong thing - thank God for Yellow Bridge!).  I have a letter to redraft as well, in English this time, but will need to avoid any spelling mistakes or anything.  And I think that's me then.  No!  No!  One more thing.  Need to buy food for Christmas dinner!!  Ooh!  Most likey go to Tesco for that as tradition has it.  Probably go on Wednesday afternoon or something and stock up for a lovely Christmas dinner with Nick coming round to join us =)  That's it then.  It seems to be all sorted.  I've made more effort this Christmas in fact, with buying presents, writing Christmas cards etc.  Only for a few people though, mainly family and one for Secret Santa.  Haha!

Secret Santa

Yesterday I received a Christmas present from my Secret Santa, someone from the English Ministry in my church.  The Christmas bag contained three presents an a Christmas card.  The first present I was was a Sci-MX protein shaker cup (excellent!  had considered getting a replacement cup since I've used my current one for well over a year), a Nivea Men travel pack (fantastic!  everything is under 100ml which means I could take through airport for my week trip away next week!) and an Autoglym Hi-Foam Interior Shampoo which I was very impressed with especially after watching the video of how it works.  The Christmas card also contained a very nice message encouraging my walk with God.  So this person seems to know me very well, for a few years in fact (stated on the message inside card) and really knows my passions: Gym/Fitness (shaker cup), Vanity (Nivea men products) and Cleaning my car (shampoo).  Haha!  Ok, I was joking about vanity, but I do moisturise.  The most important thing is, these Nivea products are travel size stuff and are amazingly handy for taking on board my flight!  Is this a sign from God saying I can still go after all these airport problems due to the weather?  Haha!  Who knows, but I do know I am thankful for this person whomever he is.  Yes I shall guess a guy cos it seems like a guy would know me that well.  Right...?  If it's a girl, that's kinda dodgy!!  Lol!  =P

Where's the snow??!!

I'm so peed off that I want to blog before I do my admin and other more "important" stuff.  Have been in a foul mood the whole day, but that's only on the inside.  Nobody was to see it, especially not pupils.  What have I been upset about?  The bloody snow!  Or lack of in fact!!

I woke up at 8:15am and expected the great outdoors to be totally white like on Monday or Tuesday of last week, but was only greeted with a brief twenty minute sleet/snow shower that melted as soon as it landed and turned into rain basically.  During those twenty minutes I was on the computer checking the weather forecasts from both BBC Weather and Met Office but both now changed their story and claims sunshine through the day with low temperatures.  What the heck... where have all the stories and reports and rumours and the scare-mongering gone?  The whole nation was talking about this snowfall which was due back Thursday and Friday this week with a vengeance.  But why did the sleet/snow stop??  So should I teach today or not?  If I teach, will I have enough time to get through my lessons before the snow comes?  If it snows during lessons will my pupil(s) be able to handle it?  Will we be stranded somewhere?  All these sorts of questions ran through my head as I sat at the computer between 8:30am-9am.  I then decided to call my 10-11:30am pupil and asked her what the weather in Anniesland was like and she said was fine.  So I said I'd meet her.  Off I went to get ready for work: shower, get changed, sort out the day's paperwork and have breakfast - all in half an hour!  I hate rushing!!  =(

I had a driving test scheduled for 1:03pm today at Anniesland as well.  So I reminded my pupil to call the test centre this morning to check if the test was going ahead.  At the end of my lesson I checked my phone expecting a text saying it was off (all of my driving tests since 28th Nov have been postponed due to this fricken weather).  But the text message from my pupil this morning said "Yes they said the test is on!".  So since his test was 1:03pm it meant I had to meet up with him 12pm.  The car wasn't washed, there wasn't enough fuel and I had no lunch!!  Was expecting to go to the gym after this first lesson, even had my gym gear in the boot!!  So, although surprised at the news, I set off to get the car washed, fuel topped up and grabbed a snack and get back to the west end, all within half and hour!! The snack that I got was a Boost bar duo and a Mars Refuel.  Not exactly healthy I know but really my stomach was really empty and was on the verge of growling which later would result in stomach cramp if I didn't get any food in.  Boost bar is full of glucose which would have provided me with some instant energy to last a while and of course Mars Refuel is a chocolate energy drink thing, looked "healthier" than a Yazoo! milkshake anyway.  I hate rushing!!  =(

Total disappointment

The driving lesson hour before the test went as it usually does.  Whilst driving around I commented how certain parts of the roads were still quite icy and definitely not suitable for manoeuvres, but it was still a good thing we had this chance to sit the test despite so many cancellations thus far.  My pupil was psyched up for his test and we both hoped this would be a nice early Christmas present.  So after we prayed together we walked towards the test centre.  On route we found certain parts of the pavement very icy and resorted to walking the 100 yards or so on the road.  I joked saying I wondered how the examiners would walk to the tuition vehicles and if they found it slippery etc.  As we approached the stairs leading up to the DSA building we were greeted with three people who walked back down the stairs and whole told us the driving tests were cancelled!!  Noooo!!  So we walked towards the office and an examiner told us they conducted the first two tests this morning (0820hrs and 0917hrs) but when it came to 1044hrs a driving test candidate slipped and fell on the pavement and hurt her knee.  Although the sun was out the temperature dropped and the moisture on the floor turned to ice.  So they decided to call off all tests because the was some black ice on the roads as well when they took a drive around certain routes.  Sigh... imagine the disappointment on the faces of my pupil and myself!!  We were so looking forward to this test and thought today was the day we sit and pass the test against all odds, but in the end it was not meant to be.  Sigh!!  I didn't charge my pupil for that one hour lesson cos I felt sorry for him and myself.  After I dropped him off home in the west end at 1:17pm I was faced with a dilemma.  Go to the gym then have some food before my 4:30pm lesson?  Or go home and have a proper sit down lunch without rushing and relax before next lesson?  In the end I chose the latter, but I was very frustrated at the waste of time and rushing around between 11:30am-12pm for NOTHING!  Also, at 1:17pm I felt I would not have been able to relax and enjoy my workout without thinking of my next lesson if I'd finish with enough time to go back home for something to eat before lesson in east end.  I don't like feeling "lost".  I like things in order!  =(

So I got home and had a lunch of leftover pizza, reheated boiled rice and reheated baked beans, all dumped ito a plate and devoured with fork and knife in front of the tv whilst watching The Apprentice through BBC iPlayer.  During this time my HTC Magic prompted me to install the latest software update for the phone.  It was it's third notification of the day as I ignored previous two in the morning.  After pressing Install Now the phone restarted and it started doing it's thing.  However, after like twenty minutes or so the phone looked different and almost everything ran really slowly.  The sync'ing icon appeared at the top of the phone and stayed there for another half an hour or so as the phone attempted to bring all my data, emails, text messages, contacts, photos etc all up to date.  For a moment I thought I broke the phone or installed a virus or something and it had me worried.  Fortunately shortly after The Apprentice and a shot of the PES 2009 the phone managed to run a little smoother again though it has a different look to it.  It looks not bad actually, though texting takes some getting used to.  By 4:05pm the weather had gone really dull and gloomy and I was expecting the snow to fall any second as I drove to my pupil's place for 4:30pm lesson.

As you can tell, there has yet to be anymore snow fall after the initial sleet/snow shower in the morning.  Inside I feel very disappointed and even a bit angry at the new Transport Minister for talking a lot of crap saying we're getting prepared for the heavy snowfall.  Actually, no, come to think of it, it's not exactly his fault.  He's just acting on information given by the Met Office and BBC Weather etc.  Those "weather people" who seems to know it all, actually know jack all!  I wish they would give us accurate information for a change and stop messing up people's lives.  Argh!!  It better snow tomorrow and snow really badly!!  I mean it.  People should deliver what they promise.

Why?

Why am I ranting so much?  It's only snow right?  I should be happy I was out earning and not snowed in, right?  Well, yes and no.  I tell you why I am feeling this way and why it has affected my mood the whole day.  I feel all this hype or sh*te about snow really pressed up the nation.  It made everyone really scared and started to think how they'd avoid being caught out by it.  Let's not talk about other people, let's talk about me.  I feel to be told for a bloody week, "It's gonna snow on Thursday and Friday" and "The snow will be back with a vengeance.  Will be worse than the previous two weeks." that has put fear and terror into my head.  In my mind I was ready to sit at home today hibernating, resting, doing my chores and going through my list of To-Do (I had already planned what I'll do when snowed in, right?).  But when I woke up there was no snow?  How crap is that?  Utterly terrible!  Here's how I can describe my feeling...

It's like being told by a doctor all week, "An illness is going to bestow upon you on Thursday and Friday and you'll be bed-ridden.  You can't escape this.  Be prepared."  So hearing this everyday through the news, media, word of mouth, it really makes you unhappy, but you come to terms with it and finally sleep on Wednesday night expecting to fall ill badly on Thursday morning.  But through the whole day there has been no illness at all!  Not even a cough or sneeze!!  But it might come anytime!  So... What's the bloody point in saying that?????  Just tell the truth or apologise for getting people confused!!  I have been hanging on edge all day, frequently checking the weather and looking out for the snow but nothing appears.  The bloody Met Office keeps sending emails telling me there will be Icy Conditions today, tomorrow and next few days through till Monday.  And there's meant to be Heavy Snow a few of those days as well.  However, I don't even know if I will believe their crap anymore, you know.  Just totally disappointed guys.

Sorry if I have surprised anybody with my rant, but this weather crap has really gotten onto my nerves.  I think I will unsubscribe from Met Office emails as they are not realiable.  I'll just take each day as it comes...

Christmas Countdown

My Microsoft Office 2010 keycard finally arrived yesterday!  I thought it had gotten lost or something and had planned to notify Play.com after 21 days from delivery (according to it's policy).  But it got here yesterday and I was so happy.  With Microsoft Office 2010 installed this new Samsung laptop is now fully functioning and the Toshiba laptop can be used as a backup now, or possibly be used if/when travelling.  The Toshiba runs fine, but I wanted a new laptop, one with bigger screen, webcam, more RAM and the blu-ray player makes it much more future-friendly.  I think it was a good investment and I made the purchase before the rise of the VAT.  ;)

Midday gym

I went to the gym in the afternoon, between 12:30-2:30pm and it was busy!  Hadn't been to the gym any later than 8am since around May or something, so was a little surprised to see so many people there cos usually people are are work.  A few of the guys talked about the forthcominng snow which is due tomorrow and meant to last through to the weekend as well.  I guess some of the people turned up to the gym to get a workout before being snowed in again.  Haha!  I did squats, shoulder press, dumbbell rows and finished off workout with floor wipers.  I can finally do proper floor wipers on a bench without fear of toppling over.  I think using a heavier barbell (35kg) really helps stabilise your upper body and so you can totally focus on the core and keep it tense throughout the exercise.  Ooh the burn!  ;)

Christmas Countdown

So there are only ten more days till Christmas and I'm just about 80% prepared.  Have still got things to do, like buy a few more presents (actually one of them is a Twenty-first birthday present), I have to wrap all my presents and write all the cards.  I also have to think about getting food for Christmas Day itself.  We usually have a nice big Christmas lunch together and then stay in at home with our bellies stuffed, open presents, watch tv, nap and then we eat again come dinner time, but the appetite is no longer there cos we're still stuffed!  Lol!  This year we'll probably change to have a special Christmas dinner instead and just have an ordinary lunch at home, invite Nick over to join us.  If one of my blu-ray movies arrives in time then we'll watch that.  So looking forward to that!  =)

If I'm gonna be off work again, I will definitely need to make up a food shopping list for Tesco, just like every Christmas =)

It's a Sunday!!

Good morning all!  Literally just got up ten minutes ago and the first thing I wanted to do was sit at the computer and blog.  Haha!  Not that I have a lot to say, but at least a wee update on what's been happening.  Haha!  It became very cold again yesterday evening time as I headed home after worship practice and I knew something was not right.  Temperature did not match the forecast given by BBC Weather nor the Met Office, both reported dry and mild temperatures above zero.  However it is -4C outside now and there is frost on the rooftops of buildings as well as cars.  Oh my... I hope the "nice" weather (above zero temp) isn't going to leave again.  I hope it is not three days of +ve temp in exchange for another week of -ve temperature or snow!!  =(

Back to work

So after Thursday's thawing of snow and ice, the roads were in a much better state to teach in.  I managed to go out on Friday and teach two lessons.  1-3pm and then 8-9pm.  The first pupil was still a bit of a learner.  In fact, being a middle-aged Cantonese speaking wifey she is a bit of a slower learner, so having her on the roads was ok cos she was allowed to go slower as there were still some snow at the kerbsides etc.  Mainly stayed around an estate doing junctions to the left and right and also even managed a Turn In The Road manoeuvre which she managed quite well.  Traffic was increasing as people felt a bit braver to venture out onto the roads, well those who could get their cars out that is.  Some roads were still quite snowy and slippery, however, I thank God the roads we were on were at least 80-90% clear and I even let her drive home slowly and did a reverse bay park at her place =)  The evening lesson was 8-9pm after my pupil finished work.  I finish at 9pm you see and there are times when I used to let the lesson run over (at my expense) but on Thursday I couldn't let that happen, cos these days are cold, dark and wintery.  I long for my bed and don't wanna be out that long!  We did a recap of MSPSL, stayed on the main roads, did some roundabouts and taught him the Emergency Stop which was good because the weather conditions also got us talking about skidding etc.  At the end of the night I was pretty thankful God has given us nice enough weather to go out and for life to resume as normal, at least for the time being.  Though there's still some slush around and a hellofalot of grit spread everywhere, people are back on the move now.  Let's hope all transport systems and delivery systems are running well as well, so people can get their Christmas presents on time.

Slept quite late last night.  After 2am, because I was writing a birthday card and the Christmas card for Secret Santa.  I'm glad the two cards are now written, but it wasn't easy thinking of what to write.  I always seem to draft my message on a spare piece of paper, make edits and then write carefully onto the card, making sure I don't make mistakes.  Does anybody else do that?  Lol!  =P

Long day

So yesterday I taught another lesson in the morning 10-12pm then went home for lunch and to watch The Apprentice The Final Five and then spent the rest of the day at Church Centre.  I had a PEB meeting between 2:30pm-5:30pm then after a short dinner break (bought Char Siu and Chicken rice from Asia Style!) there was worship practice with Kerry and co between 6:30pm-9pm.  Was a pretty long worship practice because it was the first time some of us worked together we had to adapt to each other's styles as well as learning how to sing a particular song for the first time.  We will have practice again this morning at 11:30am, so I better get going after this.

For today I have worship practice 11:30am.  EM service 1:30pm.  Nick's Farewell Dinner at China Blue at 6pm and then hopefully I can resume my "bed by midnight" routine as I hope to get back into training after missing out on the gym for a week.  I went to the gym on Friday, did a run, deadlifts, worked on my shoulders then so couldn't be bothered and wandered down to the jacuzzi and sauna.  Was quite tired and couldn't really focus on the workout.  Hopefully that will go and I can refresh my head come Monday morning.  The only challenge is to get up on frosty mornings now!  Haha!

What a Whopper!!

Look what we have here! A Burger King Double Whopper Meal!! What a change to my usual dietary habits eh! Lol! Aye, I had a sudden urge for 'last junk food meal' of 2009 as I don't plan to have anymore fast food in 2010.

But even though I had this meal, I was careful not to go "full out" and go for a soda. Instead I had a hot tea, because I did not want to solidify the fats and oils with a cold drink. Haha!

I had this meal with Ming at the Buchanan Galleries food court. The place was busy as it was lunchtime for all those post-Christmas bargain hunters. I had forgotten how good a fast food burger tastes like actually. I had thought of going to McDonald's for my 'last junk food meal', but then Cat reminded me of the fries in Burger King. Yes, those King fries which are different from McDonald's or KFC fries in that they have a crispier skin which keeps them hotter as well. So I went for the Double Whopper as that has more meat. Yum!! =9

Last week I looked through the videos I had uploade on Facebook in the past year and came across this one taken from McDonald's in May. Yes, fun can be had at fastfood joints. Haha! Maybe I'll have another Whopper one day! Haha!


(Video was recorded in Cantonese, May 2009)

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Last day off work

Had a day off work today, in place of the Boxing Day which fell on a Saturday this year, so the public holiday got pushed to the next available working day - today =)

Spent most of the day with Matt my driving instructor friend who showed me around the training areas for Shieldhall test centre, Paisley test centre and parts of Anniesland test centre. We covered a lot of ground and there are lots to take in, so I will need to sleep over it and let it all sink in. After which I will need to go back and visit certain areas as I prepare myself for taking on three more pupils in January. Challenging yet exciting times ahead =) I am thankful to God for Matt's kindness in offering up his time to help me and show me around (for nothing in return!) when he could be spending time with his family at home.

After we finished up I went to the gym and attended my first Body Combat class. This is the third class I've attended in Greens and I'd have to say it was not very challenging compared to Body Attack (tired me for four days!) and Body Pump (almost killed me as I had done a weights workout beforehand). This class I expected something similar perhaps, and so I only did some warm up stretches before going in. I was the only guy in the class!! Haha! So I went over to talk to Angela who has been in each class I've been to so far. She's hardcore man! Almost attends every classes every day! Been a gym member for three years she says. Anyway, it was better to train next to someone I knew rather than feel like a lamb to the slaughter! Haha! The 45mins wasn't very tough and before I knew it we were stretching off and I headed in for a shower and came home for lovely dinner. More turkey and rice!! More protein and carbs!! Yummy ah!!

I am working a full day tomorrow, as a favour for my team, to cover David's annual leave. After work I will go to my first spinning class (fast cycling on stationary bikes in a studio). The receptionist whom I spoke to last week said she tried it once and couldn't sit down for two days!! Lol! That intense meh? Haha! I hope not la! But at least it'll be a great cardio workout and the following two days I will focus on weights training only. I really need to bulk up man. An auntie from church told me yesterday that I looked slimmer; that my face looks thinner but that it was good-looking. I thanked her for her compliment but told her I'd rather bulk up. Haha! It's true! That's the second Sunday that someone in church said I looked thinner. I don't want to look fat, but I want to be more muscular. I don't want to look srawney and weak. I want to look powerful and strong and look like A MAN!! Haha! =D

Boyakasha!!

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