Day 1 - Athens

So we landed early in Athens.. 7am to be exact.. and to my eager self, it was already 12pm (Kuching time).. I was raring to go.. but dreaded the thought of immigration etc.. and to my utter surprise.. there was none!  Our bags came out early (thanks to priority business class checkin!) and we walked straight out.. no passport checks, nothing.. guess Greece is hard out for tourism eh!

The rest of the gang took longer than expected.. found out it was because some suitcases were wrecked and they were complaining.. I was dying to get a move on.. to see PrincessBling again.  It would be another 30 minute ride before we were reunited. 

Me and Phong

When I stepped out of the airport.. the first thing I noticed was HEAT (it was still early.. so the sun wasn't shining harshly yet).. and by the time we hit Hilton to pick up PrincessBling.. the sun was hurting!  OMG.. no sunblock!!!!

Gorgeous Sun Rise

Our first stop was to the Acropolis and Pantheneon.. first thing we all did when we arrived at the Acropolis was purchase a bottle of ice cold water.. only 50 cents Euro!  Daddy insisted that I wear a cap.. even though it clashed hideously with my outfit.. oh well, better than the witches hat my second sis Jo loaned me for the trip.. which I never wore! hahaha But man.. was the view exhilarating!!!

View of the Acropolis

For those wondering, Acropolis just means highest point.  Check out the amphitheater on the left side of the picture.  Once there.. we took our pictures and moved on to the Partheneon.

The Partheneon

The Partheneon was under construction when we were there.  But look at these great columns standing tall that weren't destroyed.  And look at that magnificent sky.. not a cloud in sight.


We called it a day at 6pm and had our first dinner in hotel.. not very Greek.. as it was international food.. haha.. but we were exhausted.  Our first lunch was at a seafood restaurant, but the food was rather disappointing.  Mussels, baby calamari.. the main course was cod with sundried tomatoes.. but it was clearly overcooked and left to sit for too long.


There was some hoo-hah with the rooming situation (I was supposed to bunk with my parents but there was NO WAY we could fit a cot in the tiny room..) so I ended up with a room all to myself.. needless to say, I scared myself silly and ended up sleeping with all the lights on!


Ahhh.. thus my first day in Greece...

Take Off to Greece!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so excited that I woke up early and started finishing my packing and was waiting in anticipation for everyone else to get up and finish their packing.. can you imagine that we each had a HUGE suitcase for a 2 week vacation?  Hey.. I had to pack of every occasion you know!  Who knows if it's hot, cold, formal, semi-casual etc.. 

Came downstairs to find out that someone had jumped the fence and stolen my dad's golf set which was sitting outside the house.. wow.. can't imagine two people on one motorcycle carrying a golf bag wouldn't attract much attention.. oh well.. good excuse for buying a brand new set..

Went for breakfast and then it's off to the airport!  My parents had upgraded to business class.. so I was left lonely in good ol' economy class.. luckily I was seated with the rest of the traveling group that hadn't upgraded to business class.  We had 12 hours layover in Singapore so we went out shopping.. unfortunately, not at Orchard Road but this new shopping mall that just opened.. nothing nice.. much preferred to have gone to Orchard Road.

We then continued to my Grandma's house where I took a nap and then it was off to dinner and off to the airport!  I traded my boarding pass for a window seat with one of the group members.. didn't know aisle seat was so popular.. should have auctioned it off for a fee! hahaha

The flight was uneventful.. no annoying people cos I was seated amongst friends.. and I even managed to get a good night's sleep!  Of course, had to wait until after they served dinner. Yum.. Love airplane food (I'm not being sarcastic!)  In no time, we landed and we had to drive to Hilton hotel to pick up PrincessBling and Hubby!  So excited to see them!

My first view of Athens?  Well, it was disappointing to see so many abandoned shoplots.. and what's worst.. most surfaces were ruined by graffiti!  Shows that the unemployed are definitely bored.  What took me was that the roads were NARROW and I'm so amazed at the skills of the bus driver.

Our tour started straight away after picking up the two of them.. and we visited the Acropolis and Partheneon.. I wish I could show you pictures, but my camera was clumsily left behind (yes.. by me) in Santorini.. but let me just say.. the ruins were beautiful.  This is the part of Greece that you see in Discovery Channels.  It's so historical and being there just made you feel as if you were transported back to the ancient Greek times.. and the ruins were so well preserved that you could imagine the outline of the real thing!

What I noticed that Greeks are very proud of their heritage (and they should be!)  There's a guard always on watch to make sure you don't steal any rocks, deface anything.. and definitely not take derogatory pictures that could ruin the image of the ruins.. like this example.. a couple was taking a picture where the boyfriend carried his girl in his arm.. was told to put the lady down by the guard.. and THEN he asked to see the picture in the camera and made them delete it!  It was shocking.. but I understand that it's a holy place and they didn't want anything to destroy that image.

One thing about traveling to Athens during July.. the HEAT!  OMG.. it was like 40 degrees out there.. by the time we returned to the hotel, I was burnt to a crisp.. I didn't put on any sunblock because it was packed in my suitcase.  To make it worst, I was wearing a long black skirt (for warmth on the airplane) so I was pouring in sweat.. luckily I had a cap.. which totally didn't match with my outfit.. but hell.. I needed that shade!

So now I'm back in Kuching.. I'll blog about my days in Athens, but I'm just giving an overview of my trip now.  It was a GREAT holiday.. my favorite island has to be Mykonos for the clear blue beaches and shopping.. not to mention night life!  The cruise was definitely a new experience for me and Turkey is beautiful, with their old churches and mosques.  The flight home again was uneventful, except for crying babies left right and center.  If you thought Asians were impatient... the Greeks were worst.. they were standing up in the plane and taking out their luggage from the overhead compartment even before the plane has stopped!  But overall.. I enjoyed my trip so much and have fallen in love with Greece.. I will definitely be traveling there again one day.. and Turkey.. but definitely not Istanbul.. hahahaha

5 more sleeps to go!

Yes!  There's 5 more sleeps to go before we take off to Athens!  I am more than prepared.  I bought my summer dress, found the perfect bag at Roxy to complete my beach look and to top it off, I found another pair of denim skirt to wear on the trip!  That's it!  I'm done spending.. until the holidays.  Not going to waste my money on junk though.. so I better be careful on what I spend my money on.  I'm definitely going to get a memorabilia for myself.. and spend the rest on food! hahaha

I didn't get a chance to exercise yesterday.. was a last minute inclusion for dinner with Credit Suisse.. *yawn*.. I had no idea what the speaker was going on about.. but at least it was good networking there.

I'm not going to get a chance to exercise today either because I have to attend another dinner!  And I'm not going to exercise tomorrow cos that's my planned drinking outing day.. OMG.. I feel so guilty for not exercising..

This is a real change for a girl who was once a gym junkie.. who became anorexic and stopped going to the gym.. to someone who views the gym as the gates to hell.. to now wanting to go back to the gym again!  Well.. I've come a full circle I guess! hahaha I still do believe that endorphins are overrated.. but at least now I'm working out to be fit and healthy.. not overly skinny.  At least that's what I tell myself now :)  Of course I'm hoping for the weight loss that comes with it.. but what I'm glad with right now is that I'm toning muscles.  Gonna get loooonnnggg and lean :)  And of course, it's fueling my love for marathons.  Can't wait to be building stamina that I can actually run 5km or more without stopping and walking.


I hope I won't become a sloth in Athens and come back and view the gym as the gates of hell again.. but working out has definitely increase my metabolism.. and I find myself not being so lethargic and tired all the time!  How awesome is that!  There are benefits of hitting the gym after all! hahaha


Wow.. seems like most of my blogs these days are about marathons and working out.. I better find a life :)

Countdown to Greece!!!

OMG OMG OMG.. there is exactly one more week until we depart for Greece.. I am so so so so sooooooooooooooooo excited!  I'm already debating whether I should start packing now or what!  I'm taking a super big suitcase and my super cute baby blue cabin bag.  Why so many bags?  Well, we have a 12 hour stop over in Singapore next Tuesday.. so we're planning to leave the airport, do some shopping then end up at my grandma's place for dinner where we can have a shower as well!  Don't worry folks, I shall take lots of photos of Greece and post it up in my blog.. wondering if I can do it while on holidays!  But if not, there shall be a two week hiatus from me!


Now come the critical question.. what bag shall I carry?  I definitely want a sling bag.. questions is.. do I have as sling bag?  It's a little too late for me to buy online, although I saw a really cute one in Roxy's website.. kinda beachy.. which is the style I think I'm going to go for in Greece.  Better rush down to Roxy at the Spring to see if they have the bag.  PrincessBling bought a new Marc Jacobs bag just for the trip!


I got my two new pair of Roxy bikini (one black and one orange) and I got my jumpsuit and maxi dress from Victoria Secrets ready with PrincessBling. Also bought a new pair of denim shorts from Mango and this really cute black dress that's backless from Mango!  Kinda the style I was looking for ever since I saw Taylor Swift wear this dress..

Her's is totally backless where as mine has criss cross lines.  Which means I'm now on the hunt for stick on bras!  Or as PrincessBling calls it.. "Titties stickers".. I am more looking for boob stickers though.. hahaha


I'm also going to get this summer dress I saw in Elle that I thought was quite nice.. nice and short.. good enough for summery days.. 


Now what shoes am I going to bring??  Definitely going to bring my Ipanemas.  Think I'll bypass fancy high heel shoes.. hahaha.. I'll bring my sketchers as well as my gym shoes.  Gonna bring at least a pair of gym gear in the event that they have a gym on the cruise.  Don't plan to get fat in this trip!


This week is solely dedicated to exercising.. going to limit the drinking to one day only.. damn it.. girl.. I want that bikini body!!!!!

Another Round of Randomness

So I'm at work right now and I suddenly found myself with nothing to do, and that is dangerous for me, because then my mind starts to wander/wonder :P and it can either take me to a good place or a bad place.. I'm like an elephant.. I can't forget the recent events in my life.. Although I must admit, I don't recall much of my childhood at all!

Anyhoo.. look what just got delivered by soft copy?
Sundown Marathon Achievement Certificate 

I tried putting the picture but I don't know how to make it from a PDF to a JPEG file.. I hope the link works!

I signed up for another marathon on 18th November 2012.  10km for the Penang Bridge International Marathon!  It's a run across the longest bridge in Malaysia and I can't wait!  I get to explore Penang while I'm there as well.. which was what I wanted to do since I've never been to Penang!

And I'm signing up for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon sometime in December 2012.  Yup, doing another 10km there.  I pray that I come in before the cut off time because baby .. I want that finisher medal!  And that means I have to train.  I realized from my last marathon that the motion of the elliptical is very different from running.. so now I'm going to do both the elliptical AND the treadmill for training.

Guess where I'm going in 2 weeks time??  I'm going on a cruise to Greece!  OMG OMG OMG.. I am so extremely excited.. I've always wanted to go to Greece.. I mean.. look at this..

How is it possible not to visit such a gorgeous place like that?  And what's best is that PrincessBling and Hubby (hers.. not mine) will be flying down from USA to meet us on the cruise and Inland tour.  Can't wait to see PrincessBling.. it's been months!

We're going to fly to Turkey and stay for a day before heading on our 6 day cruise, then going for another 6 day Inland tour of Athens.  How exciting is that?  I already got my bikinis ready.. and I'm going to bring my largest suitcase!  Time for sun sun sun.  Don't worry.. will bring SPF50 sunscreen.. not to mention will be continuing my usage of SK11 whitening for my *ahem* freckles!

How am I going to get back into shape after 2 weeks vacation where I'll be sure to be stuffing my face?  Well, I hope that the determination of finishing 10km in less than 1 and a half hours will push me through.. knowing that there's only about 3 months of training will get me there.. I hope.  Here's my plan.. 20 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes on the treadmill, my usual 200 sit ups, 60 leg lifts, 40 butt lifts and 10 pushups every day and on weekends, I might just run on the road to get the real feeling of running.  Might just go to the reservoir and do laps there.. wonder if I can bring Hunter!  Nah.. he'll be dragging me around the course!  Well, wish me luck with my exercise regime will ya? :P

What about my alcohol intake?  My doctors (psychiatrist AND psychologist) have both advised me STRONGLY to cut down on my drinking.. to which I always do.. for a week or so.. and go back to my binge drinking again.  Well, for the sake of my marathon career.. I've decided only to allow myself to binge twice a week (rather than every other day) and that includes weekends! :D  Recently a parent of a friend passed from Liver failure, and that's enough to scare me off. But ohh.. how to resist the temptation of an ICE COLD BEER on stupidly hot days that we're having lately?  SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.............

Ah well, thus ends my randonmess thoughts that I will write down.. hehehe.. other thoughts are too raw to be written down.. in time.. in time.. 

SPRING LIVE ACTIVE RUN

So I've been absent on this blog for a short while now.. mainly because I've been busy exercising for the Spring Live Active Run! Since my last blog on the Sundown Marathon, I have been addicted to Marathon's.  I love the thrill of finishing a good run.. to be rewarded with a medal after (hey.. every effort deserves a reward!)

So on 17th June 2012, I participated in the Spring Live Active Run.  Now, I only joined the 5km fun run as I signed up before the Sundown Marathon and wasn't feeling particularly confident about doing such a long run.  But after the Sundown, I couldn't wait for this marathon!  I was so excited!  I woke up bright and early (or should I say dark and early!) at 5.30am and got into my running gear and made my way down to The Spring shopping mall.  I was genuinely happy to see many other runners already down there raring to go.

Flag off was at 7.30am for the 5km fun run.. and there were around 600 participants there.  Oh the exhilaration of being in such a big group.. it's kinda ironic, since I really enjoy the solitude of running alone!  Anyway, off we go and I made my way on that 5km journey.

This is me and Ai Fen Goh after the race, where we both completed the 5km Fun Run.  It was a long journey, with the sun beating down on my face (can you say.. oh no.. PIGMENTATION!) so I was definitely slower than the Sundown Marathon.. infact.. I cleared 5km in an hour.. kinda disappointing when I was hoping for 45 minutes.  But nevertheless.. proud of myself for completing yet another marathon!

Everyday I'm Shuffling....

Here's a picture Jeff Jong took of me crossing the finish line.. wasn't sure why my arm was swung so high.. haha... Just had to run in front of those two couple!

Another great marathon.. next one I've signed up for is the Penang Bridge International Marathon in November 2012.  Can't wait for that.. will definitely be doing the 10km marathon in that one.. so it's time to start practicing!

What you looking at?

Parent's 37th Wedding Anniversary

My parents have enjoyed 37 years of holy matrimony and I'm so inspired by their love for each other.  I hope that my marriage would last as long as theirs!

I decided to throw a 'surprise' 37th Wedding Anniversary party for them at Heritage Restaurant, with menu comprising of Sio Tu, Sharks fin soup, Cantonese noodles and of course, dessert of Korean pancake!  Why did I put quote marks around 'surprise'?  Well, it started out as a surprise.. it just didn't end as a surprise.. hahaha.. I had to tell them that I booked a table at the restaurant and straight away they asked 'who did you invite'... so I guess they realized it's a party!

Well, naturally, it was time for me to get my pretty on!  I decided to wear my red Herve Ledger dress which I so love because it's a bandage dress and it sucks all the fat in.  Put together with my Sereni and Shentel head band and my falsies and I was ready to go!

If you're wondering why I always line the inside of my eyes in silver, I find that this gives more depth to the make up and makes my eyes look bigger :)
 

Check out that length of my falsies!

Dinner was a success, with 30 people.  Few latecomers but that didn't spoil the mood of the dinner at all.  We ate til our hearts content.. I of course was ready to attack the Sio Tu as it came!

The finishing touch to the dinner was a two-tiered red velvet cake that we had a friend make to mark the special occasion.

Isn't it gorgeous?  The decoration and frosting was all made out of cream cheese, and the cake was so delicate and moist.  An overall success.. I shall get this friend to do all my cakes from now on!

After 37 years, I'm glad my parents still have love for each other, and the sparkle in their eyes will always remind me of it.  I love you mum and dad!  Happy Anniversary!!!