No more please

Ok, I had lost sleep for the past two nights. It took me a long while to toss and turn in bed before I drifted into my sleep.

It must be the 3 cups of O'cha that I had at Iciban on Sun; I still cannot find the culprit for last night. Maybe I was getting too anxious to fall asleep - it was already past midnight and I know what a torture it would be for me when I woke up next day early morning. Maybe I had too much soft drink yesterday night, i.e. too much caffeine again?? *scratch head*

Whichever, no more of this please… I am already a walking zombie most mornings. :(

"The Last Lecture"

Have you read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch? I had... with thanks to DT who t-loan the book to me.

Randy was diagnosed with metastasised pancreatic cancer, and he gave this "last lecture" to inspire people to live to their fullest, and to leave behind some teaching messages for his three young kids. A recording of it was uploaded on YouTube and millions had viewed it. He is also the co-writer of the book, which is still on the top list of best sellers.

The Last Lecture was an easy-to-read book - all about realising your dreams, how each step leads you to where you want to be, injecting creativity and having fun along the way.

I had joy reading this book, just that I found it to be a little too dry at the last few chapters, where the content was getting a little too short to drive across thoughts meaningfully. If there is a need to compare, I would still prefer "Tuesdays with Morrie" - a moving book that show profound insights about living life to the fullest. Yet, there should be no comparison, isn't it? It is just a different style of writing.

Randy just passed away last Friday at an age of 47. Grab that book if you have not read it, or view the video on YouTube if you want to.

Madness?

Yes, I have signed my life away again for Standard Chartered Singapore Run 2008…. Past year runners still have 30% additional discount off the early bird registration fee… Ya, right… such good deal, isn't it? *cynical snort*

Certainly, "life is an enrolment game". Cos the best news is I managed to drag 2 other people to be with me in this Dec 7 run… Did you see my devil horns? Together we should suffer… Muahahaa…

Depending on how you see it, it is time to create another new relationship between time and result:

1. Every run like this means improving the previous recorded timing and thus result, or

2. Three months is a short time to train for a marathon if you have been lazy in running or you have not been running longer distance at all… Is it stretchy? Yes. Is it possible? Yes… So it is an achievable goal afterall (with lotsa sweat, pain and effort!). More time doesn't mean you will be more prepared or ready anyway. Quoting Adidas "Impossible is nothing"…

Oh yes, I must be insane...

Back from Manado

8 days in Manado just zoomed past… Time seems unstoppable..

We spent 6 days diving, with 5 days around Bunakan and 1 day in Lembeh Straits. Lotsa of beautiful wall dives around Bunakan National Park, but we were just drifters - we drifted along with the underwater current from wall to wall after awhile…. We were totally dependant on the dive guide to find the water creatures for us… Oops… haha...

It was fantastic muck diving at Lembeh… We all love Lembeh for all the weird creatures spotted. Oh yes, we felt more sense of achievement as we went around spotting heaps and heaps of creatures by ourselves. Too bad that we could not make another day trip there – we could not make up the minimum number of eight to go. Otherwise, we could only be more thrilled.

I must say that Eco-divers are really professional in their dive trips - well organised, experienced, thoughtful and hassle-free. I have never seen a dive operator that runs dives so smoothly before. All thumbs up for them!

I took hundreds of underwater photos! You see, I am not a steady photographer, neither do I have a solid camera, so of course I need to take more shots of each so that I have higher chance of getting it right. *shrug*. Some shots are really crappy, I must say… And well, I am laid back - I did not screen through all of my photos nor did I try to organise them properly yet though I am back for 3 days already… So no photos for viewing till I get down to doing them...Opps again.

All we did during the past one week were eat, sleep, dive + talk cock… (Too much eating in fact...No wonder my weighing scale seems to be giving way...) Totally relaxing... Indeed, my companions were hilarious. I simply could not stop laughing most of the time. And yes, each of us committed many stupid yet funny hiccups during our gearing up for dives that we just fell flat on the floor laughing at one another. We are new divers la… haaa….

I cannot wait for the next holidays to come... Should start planning now. Where is my calendar? :P

Manado

In a week time, I am heading down to Manado, Indonesia. What else but for diving? I am very burnt out recently, thus this break is badly needed.

Will be staying at Tasik Ria, and diving with Eco Divers based there. We will be making trips down to Lembeh Straits as well, as that place is well known for their macro life. It will be a pity to miss it when Lembeh is so close to Manado.
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Another week of eat, sleep and dive! Sun-kissed beaches, fascinating underwater life, relaxing days + 3 other bubbly fun diving kakis!

I can’t wait! :)))