Supergirl is Down with a Limb, 어떻게?

Thank god for this lovely view from my office... sure brightens up my day a little

Woke up early this morning with a slight sore throat and running nose and still looking forward to my 7.5 km run. But it was not to be… as I stepped out of bed, pain shot up my ankle. But being the tough gal as my coach calls me, I was confident I could do my run. Yep, I thought I was Supergal and made of steel.

I had to run for two reasons – train for my first competitive run this Sunday and to feel less guilty for my incessant snacking. Anyhow, I went down to the track and boy! My ankle was so painful that I had to jog really slowly – timing was BAD and I could only do 3.6km. I decided that I should ‘listen to my body’ (as my yoga teacher had always said) lest I have to give up my 8.4km MILK Run this Sunday.

Frankly, I should have expected this – after jogging on a 45˚-sloped beach two months ago and falling down a month later, I've never rested my legs properly. Sigh, I’ll just have to adapt to the situation:
1. Stop the incessant snacking (I think the best way is to throw away all the fool I have in the office and at home)
2. Change my exercise routine – go swimming or to the gym instead

Yep, life is but about changes, isn’t it?

A Long Saturday Morning

Tic-Tac-Toe anyone? Green Tea Sugee emerges as the winner!

I woke up at 3am this morning to watch my World Cup team play soccer. Yes, it was Korea vs Switzerland. This is the first time in this World Cup that I was willing to shorten my beauty sleep to watch 22 men chase after one ball. But it was an important match as it will determine if one of my two favourite teams can get into next 16. Alas, it was not fated to be and Korea lost. Since France won Togo, France get to go into next round as they have one more point than Korea. It was a sad moment for me and I guess the Koreans must be devastated.

Since I couldn’t go back to sleep, I decided to bake cookies and I baked not one, but two types –Banana Cinnamon Chewies and Green Tea Sugee Cookies. I’ve been dreaming up the latter recipe for awhile but simply couldn’t find the time to do it. With the President’s Charity coming up soon, I need to build on last year’s success and bake some new cookies to sell. I think my new invention was not bad but I could cut down on the green tea powder. Shall try a black sesame version when I can find time... but I'll need to find more guinea pigs to spread the fats around. Or I'll be as round as my sugee cookies ; )

After baking, there wasn’t any time left to clear my work as I had to go for tennis, followed by lunch with a friend, a Korean movie and dinner with another group of friends. And tomorrow will be yet another busy day – tennis, lunch with parents, shopping to buy furniture for my new flat... where in the world am I going to find time to clear my work, settle my bills, study Korean and cook my pumpkin soup? And yes, I was supposed to buy my Digital SLR this weekend too… sigh.

I really need 48 hours in a day. Or clone myself. Period.

내 주말 (My Weekend)

Chanced upon this sexy little shop in Kuala Lumpur's biggest mall - One Utama

친구: 지난주말 뭐 했어요?
샌디: 콸라 롬폴에 갔어요.
친구: 콸라 롬폴이 어디 있어요?
샌디: 말레이제도에 있어요. 싱가포리 외에 있어요.
친구: 누구 갔어요?
샌디: 100동료 사무실에서 갔어요. 우리 많이 스포오츠 쳤어요.
친구: 그래. 재미있었어요? 뭐 쳤어요?
샌디: 네, 재미있었어요. 정구 과 달리기 했어요. 그리고 우리스포오츠두이겼어요.
친구: 축하합니다.

____________________________________________________________________

With the first lesson for my Intermediate Korean Course starting next week, I thought I better do some revision. Instead of the usual prose format, I chose a conversation format this time round to talk about my weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur.

This is the first time I go up to play games with our Malaysian counterparts. I took part in two events – running and tennis – and won both! It sure builds up my confidence as I’ve always thought I’m not cut out for competitive sports (except for running). This is because I get too nervous and make lots of unforced errors.

The other great thing about the trip was I got to know a lot more people. Sat with this group of guys who taught me how to play cho dai di – a local card game, I think. Sure reminds me of college days when I’m usually hanging out with guys.

Read more about it on my travel blog… visit next week ‘cos it’s still under construction!

제 아버지 (My Father)

No, no, of course my dad's not that ugly...
though he's quite fierce, he's very shy too,
just like an iguana, camouflaging and merging with the environment __________________________________________

To my dad:

A tall figure he used to stand
But now a hunched old man
Springs in his steps we used to see
But now a weary drag in his heels

Bald as he may be
Petty as he may seem
I love him as he is
For the sweetness that's in him

Cold wars there may have been
'Cos of the male chauvinist he is
Dad's still the greatest man I've seen
His little girl forever I will be

“Happy Father's Day, Dad!
Thank you for all that you've done for me.
May you continue your journey in life
With laughter, great wealth and excellent health.”


남변없어요. 남자칭구없어요.
하지만 나는 남자사람을 정말사랑해요.
이분이 아버지 입니다. 물론.
아버지없어요. 샌디없어요.

“아바 고마워. 진짜 진짜. 나 사랑해요”

_________________________________________________________________

P/S: The world will celebrate Father's Day this Sunday, 18 June. Since I won't be in town, I'm dedicating this to my dad in advance. But no words nor poem can describe how I feel. I owe him alot, alot especially during the period when I was really down and out.

남자낯선사람

제 집 정원이 엽에 있어요. 매일 아침에 정원에서7.5km 조깅하겠어요. 통상 6시30분에 남자낯선사람 걸어가 겠어요. 그리고 사람은 “Good morning” 인사하겠어요. 하지만 제 진짜 안 좋어해요. 왜? 이분이 안 알아요. 그리고 그는 나 빠사람 보여요.

[Translation: There’s a garden beside my house. Every morning, I’ll jog 7.5km in the garden. At about 6.30am, there’s usually a male stranger who will walk by. And he will always greet me with a “Good morning”. But I don’t like it. Why? I don’t this person. And he doesn’t look like a good man.]

Well, that’s besides the point really… why can’t I be left alone to jog in peace? The fact that I ignore him every morning shows that I’m not interested in befriending him. I find it quite irritating actually. But well, who cares? Shan’t let a stranger affect my mood every morning.

Photo: A stranger taken in Korea when I was there this year... probably another tourist but he does look kind of mean to me, no?

청춘만화 – Almost Love – 영화가 진짜 좋아요

오늘 한국영화 –청춘만화-- 봤어요. 제 친구 영화 좋았어요. 나 도. 권상우아주 잘 했어요.

[Translation: Today, I went to watch a Korean movie – Almost Love. My friend liked it. So did I. Kwon Sang Woo (the lead actor) did very well. (Much as I would love to spend time figuring out how to write a longer Korean blog, time is really short what with World Cup and lots of work to do… so…)]

Yep, this is a really good movie, the best Korean movie I’ve watched this year. Nope, it’s not because of Kwon Sang Woo, the lead actor, for I’m not a fan of his. And he doesn’t look as good as he did in Stairway to Heaven. But the story was really touching.

It talks about two childhood friends who grew up to be really good friends. Or so they thought. Kwon Sang Woo plays the chicky and happy stuntman, Ji Hwan, who wants to make movies like Jacky Chan. Kim Ha Neul plays Dal Rae, an actress wannabe who’s studying drama but freezes each time she goes for audition. Both students share many great moments together including a secret garden where Dal Rae buried her dead squirrel many years ago. Subsequently, both found their own ‘partner’. When Ji Hwan lost his leg because of an accident, he became depressed and left home. Dal Rae regretted not treating him better in the past. While Ji Hwan was always there for her, she did not know and could not do much for him then. As all romances go, both ended together eventually. Dal Rae finally became an accomplished actress and Ji Hwan overcame his disability and worked as a coordinator on the set.

What moved me? The part where Dal Rae went to the secret garden and confessed to ‘god’ that she should have treated her friend better and prayed for his recovery. I'm reminded of a good friend, someone who treats me really well but not vice versa... Hmmm, I'm usually not like this but this is a long story... anyhow, I've decided I must live according to my principle -- one where there's no regrets. So...

World Cup Widows? 아니요!

One more day to the long awaited 2006 World Cup and I can just hear the women lamenting that they are going to lose their boyfriends, lovers or husbands to a ball! Well, this ain't any ordinary ball. It happens to have black and white hexagons on it. Yep, it's a soccer ball!

Surprisingly, I'm quite excited even though I have not watched a single match in the last 4 years, including the last World Cup. And I spent the last 2 weeks searching for a team to support. I finally made my decision a few days ago. In my humble opinion, the team with the most number of cute guys is SPAIN… yeah! But since I’m quite crazy over anything Korean, I thought I must support the Korean team too. They may meet each other after the first round. Then I won’t know who to support.
Back to soccer widows, I used to feel this way some years ago… and could not understand why men can get so crazy over a ball. So in the end, if you can’t beat the ball, join those who love it. So, I started watching premier cup. But stopped for four years when something happened.

But now, I’m all geared up for it. Planning to watch it with some girlfriends over drinks during weekends… Will have to see how I survive the weekday matches though as it’ll be tough taking leave this month. Just hope I don’t put on weight with all the titbits I’ve bought as midnight snacks!

Last but not least, hope one of my teams will make it into last 4 – I’m not too greedy, am I?

한국 점심 어때요? (How was my Korean Lunch?)

오늘 제 칭구 집에 왔어요. 점심이 요리했어요. 칭구도 한국음식 좋아해요. 그래서 6요리 했어요 -- 멸치볶음, 김치찌개, 떡볶이, 순두부 (cold with spicy sesame sauce), 해물파전 과 생선불고기. 나 주방장 잘 못해요. 어제밤 야채를 베야 핬어요.

칭구는 멸치볶음, 김치찌개, 떡볶이 과 순두부 좋아해요. 맛있어요! 하지만 해물파전 맛없어요.

[Translation: My friend came to my house today. I cooked lunch. She also likes Korean food. So, I made 6 dishes -- fried anchovies, kimchi soup, spicy rice cake, cold beancurd with spicy sesame sauce, seafood pancake and grilled fish. I’m not a very good cook. So, I had to cut the vegetables last night.

My friend liked the fried anchovies, kimchi soup, spicy rice cake and cold beancurd. They’re tasty. But the seafood pancake wasn’t nice.]

Guess it's not too bad scoring four out of six. Being a lousy cook and one who does not step into the kitchen much, I'm quite proud of myself. Not only did I complete cooking four dishes in one and a half hours (two were prepared in the morning before I went for tennis), I also kept my mom and friend entertained seeing how clumsy I was.

Regardless, it was a great way to end the week. After so much feasting this week, I'll have to go on diet again next week.

P/S: When can I blogged in Korean just like the way I blog in English? 15minutes to write a posting without any errors nor reference to the dictionary?

한국말 어려워요? (Is Korean difficult?)

오늘 지난 한국말학과 있어요. 3월17일에, 학급은 20학생 있었어요. 지금 7학생 있어요. 그래서 학생은 한국말을 어려워요. 저는 도. 하지만 난 한국말 좋아해요. 그래고 진짜 재미있어요! 지금 조금 말해요 과 천천이 읽어요. 그럼 아직 잘 못해요.

우리 6월 30일 Intermediate Class 시작하 겠어요. 내3주 많이 공부어야 하겠어요.

[Translation: Today is the last lesson of my Korean class. On 17 March (when class started), we had 20 students. Now, we have 7 students. Therefore, to the students, Korean is difficult. I, too feel the same. But I love Korean language. And it’s very interesting. I can speak a little and read slowly. Well, I’m still not good.

We will start our intermediate class on 30 June. I’ll have to study hard during the next three weeks.]

Finally, I received my Certificate in Basic Korean! Our Teacher call us 'survivors' because we made it to Week 10. But Teacher said I must study harder because I cannot remember all the phrases taught. We almost thought we couldn't start the Intermediate Class immediately because there were too few students. The challenge now is to revise over the next 3 weeks instead of 'returning everything learnt' back to 성샌님. 화이팅!

Photo Caption: Can't wait for the Intermediate Class to start! (Meer Cat taken at Singapore Zoo.)