Just when you think this blog is dead, Part II

Blogging seems to be second nature to some people - they faithfully go online daily, weekly, monthly or whatever, and update the virtual world with what's going on in their lives.

Not for me. Nuh-uh. It's pretty obvious when June 2007 was the last time I updated this blog. That counts as an age in internet years. Back in June 2007 I was still enthusiastic about off-season land training with my dragon boat team. Well, that kinda petered off when things started happening and training got put on the backburner. Things like illness, and problems with the boyfriend. Things like good friends visiting from overseas, and a new boyfriend.

Anyway, this blog has time-warped its way from winter, skipped over spring, and landed in summer (the southern hemisphere summer, anyhow). There is less than one week to Christmas, and today is my last day at work until 2008. Dragon boat training has resumed, and I am back on my road to fitness and shedding that winter chub.

So here I am, trying to maintain this thing called My Own Life. Thank god I haven't jumped onto Second Life. Real life is hard enough as it is, without having to keep tabs on various alter egos, avatars or other online personas.

P.S. Just realised that my alter ego is not that different from me after all. So, unlike Bruce Wayne-slash-Batman, "alter ego" might not be such an apt description. I would say that Ima is almost like the twin sister I never had. Almost.

The weekend that almost never was...

I knew I was going away for the weekend, but I had no idea where we were going. It was like this last minute, mystery getaway where I just had to pack my bags and hope that I had brought everything that I would need. The only thing I knew about was that it was somewhere in the country (duhh...) and that it was for a birthday (Josh's grandfather's).

Well, I cancelled my hair appointment on Saturday and packed my thermals. I left two things at home that I wish I didn't - my Kathmandu jacket and my camera. I was dressed for the weather but was hardly dolled up for the occasion (we were going to arrive and jump straight into celebrations). There was a lot of hoping for the best.

Turns out the party's in the historic town of Maldon, about 2 hours west of Melbourne, near Castlemaine. Got into the car, fell asleep (as you do), and woke up in Derby Hill Blue Light Youth Camp.

They had booked out the entire venue for the event. How cool was that?!?! There was an obstacle course, mini golf, a pool room, basketball courts and table tennis. There were rooms with bunk beds, and we had name tags. It was just like at camp! The best thing was that the entire party was like 90% adults, so to imagine them sleeping on squeaky metal bunk beds was quite funny xD

Festivities were well underway by the time we got there (all 4 adults and 3 kids - it was like a scene out of any National Lampoon movie), as guests had started turning up at 11am. There was a big bonfire and pre-dinner drinkies outdoors in the BBQ area, guests milling around everywhere. I got hurled right into the middle of it all, and it was so fun. Getting to meet Josh's extended family for the first time, trying to keep my head straight after two glasses of champagne and keeping up the light banter. Also had a go at mini golf, but it started getting dark and we couldn't see the course, so we gave up.

After dinner us young 'uns decided to head to the local pubs to play pool, i.e. get away from the parentals. The two local pubs in Maldon that we went to serve only their basic purposes - give people a place to drink, eat, watch sport, play pool and gamble. The pool table at the Maldon Hotel kept eating our balls and not releasing them, so we headed over to the second drinking hole, which was on the verge of closing for the night. There was a couple of guys at the bar nursing beers, the footy was on (Collingwood vs. Sydney) and the pool table was deserted. I wonder where the local kids go to party on weekends here in Maldon?

Maldon is a beautiful place. The fresh country air, wide open spaces and friendly locals. The town has retained its heritage shopfronts, and there were awesome little antique stores and a lolly shop. We walked past a cafe that sold yabbie and scallop pies (!) I bought the cutest little redgum table from Wheel and Loom, an antique/secondhand dealer. Photo to come! It's nice to be able to come away from places you have visited with something to remember the trip by.

So, for a weekend that almost never was, it turned out to be pretty successful after all.

Embracing the pain of exercise

My arms are still hurting from gym training on Monday *ouchies* I don't think I've ever been this sore from training before! All this 'reverse weight-lifting' has really given them a workout.

If you're wondering what 'reverse weight-lifting' is, well, it's what I have decided to call Monday night's gym training session with our crazy coach. After the usual 1.4km run, we did a series of exercises - chin-ups, bench presses, bench pulls, twists and 'snatches' - in reverse. For example, a regular chin-up involves pulling oneself up to the bar. For this one, you start at the top and lower yourself down...slowly. Argh. We also had to use maximum weight for the bench presses and bench pulls i.e. if you could lift the bar up by yourself, it's TOO LIGHT. Jeez. With the bench press we had to lower the bar slowly to our chests, instead of pushing it up like we normally do. Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch.

And guess what, we'll be doing it all again tomorrow. Woohoo. Can't wait! :P

Now you might be thinking, why the hell would I (and the rest of the team who are going to these sessions) subject myself to all this pain and then whinge about it? Well, it's all part of the fun of training and the quest to be gun dragon boat paddlers. To me, anyway. Besides, training is addictive. Maybe it's all the endorphins that are being released during exercise. If I skip one or two sessions, I feel all sluggish and yucky, and I really start to miss it. Sounds crazy, I know! But since I started exercising in earnest and working on improving my running, I feel so much better. It's true. Everything they tell you about the benefits of exercise, it's all true. Which is why athletes always seem to be on this constant natural high. I have more energy and feel so much healthier (*images of the Energizer bunny abound*)

And the best things is, I can pretty much eat what I want now (within reason) and not feel guilty about it :)

Pictures!

Thought I'd post some pics from Canada, just for fun (looks like I'm joining the legion of "people who have too much time on their hands"!)


LAX - a truly depressing place (see my previous post, titled "Random thoughts...") Can't believe I survived being stuck here for 6 hours while waiting for my connection to Calgary o_O
How I whiled away those hours - sleeping, reading, walking around in a zombie-like haze, sleeping, going to the toilet, shopping in their single duty-free outlet, using the expensive internet kiosk, going to the toilet...any longer and it would've done my head in.



The view while hiking trail up Sulphur Moutain in Banff, near Calgary. Took me a little over 2 hours to hike up that damn rock.



Quebec's old city - so beautiful.



Montreal - the coolest place in the world (that I've been to!). If only it didn't rain continuously for all the three days we were there.



My favourite coffeehouse in Toronto. They serve real coffee here. As in espresso coffee. None of that filtered dishwater :P



View of Manhattan from the top of the Empire State Building.

Just when you think this blog is dead...

Well here I am, again, after a long hiatus from this blog. Think I just gave up trying to update it while I was in Toronto - it was too hard trying to blog with limited internet credit - and it was all downhill from there!

While I have long since returned to Melbourne, this little blog has been left to languish in the blogosphere (aww!) I've also since become a Facebook junkie :P Which means that it's a good time to revive this blog and begin my World Wide Web domination (mwahahahaha!)...or not.

Anyway, I've finally gotten around to sorting out all my photos from Canada and the US, and putting up on the WWW. They can be found on my Facebook page, haha (where else?) You have to join FB in order to view my photos, which shouldn't be a problem for most of you out there whom I call my friends :) If you're not on FB and refuse to be sucked in, just let me know and I'll share them with you (i.e. give you access to my Picasa web albums, when I figure out how to do that!). At the mo I'm too lazy to be posting pics on this blog, considering I have already spent countless hours uploading them onto FB, but who knows?

Hello again, everyone. It's nice to be back.