My first 18

I know I should resume blogging about my Greece trip ... but I have gotten lazy ... sorry! Will try to resume when I feel like it lah ...

Anyway, I'm back to tennis lessons ... my first lesson on Sunday promptly demolished all the confidence I had in the sport. Going back to the intricacies behind the forehand and backhand was like learning how to drive a manual car ... too many things to look out for!

Didn't realise that I have been getting the basics wrong all this time. While I can hit past the net and rally sufficiently after a warm-up ... its not the 'correct' way to play tennis ... argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And on to golf ...

Did my first 18 holes today .... one word ... STRESSFUL!!! Definitely not leisurely ...

It was our first 18 holes game ... and on hindsight ... it was way too ambitious. We should have perhaps stuck to a 9 holes game instead ... cos by the time we reached the 9th hole, we were already tired out. Besides, MBGC is a tough course to manouvere, even for experienced golfers.

We were so slow at the initial stage that the golf marshall had to repeatedly hurry us to complete each hole. We even had to skip one hole to make way for the group behind us. If you see anyone running across the greens ... its probably us. With balls going haywire, time spent looking for missing balls, buggies going off course (cos' we weren't sure when the buggy was allowed on the fairways) and a near buggy accident, we wasted a fair bit of time.

All in all, it took us 4.5 hours to complete the course. Thankfully, the weather was perfect.

Can't wait for the next 9 holes ... at an easier course that is.

Sweating in Style

omg, this tennis outfit is sooo sweet!!! never mind if you can't play well. its good enough to distract your opponent *grin*

stella mccartney's new range for adidas

Tennis Gear

I've got my tennis racquet, tennis shoes, tennis balls, tennis bag ... now all i want is a tennis bracelet!

No, not one of those Lance Armstrong bands or sweatbands my dear ... a tennis bracelet is a row of diamonds that snakes round the wrist ...

Been eyeing one for years already ... mum can attest to that ... hehe ... but cannot afford lah ... it costs at least ten grand man ...

So I got all excited when I came across the zirconia version set in rodium (as opposed to diamonds set in white gold/platinum) by Charles Winston (apparently Harry Winstons' nephew) at Tangs ... funny, the two Winstons are poles apart!

The damage? $299

Tempting ... c'mon make my Sharapova dream come true ...

The Haze + The Marlboro Man

Today's PSI = Marlboro Lights

*grin*

Every conversation that i have had in the past 2 days touches on the recent haze problem ... and an interesting analogy on the haze situation came up ... linking the PSI readings with ciggies ...

Well, today's PSI was much better than Yesterday's PSI = Marlboro Red (at a high of 150 at one point) ... which allowed for the much awaited game of tennis ... yay!

It's been a month since i last played ... and i was aching to have a game ... mainly to try out my new tennis racquet ... ooohh yes, i *heart* my new racquet ... with a heavier head + tighter strings + firmer and more cushiony grip ... it allowed for more powerful ground strokes ... love the sound!

did i mention about the new tennis shoes too? :)

farewell + sports day!

Thursday 20.07.2006

the day has come ... Yvonne's last day with the firm ... *sobs* .... a very touching and heart-warming speech from the dear gal ... i had half of it recorded but its too huge to upload as yet ... so here are the pics in the meantime ...

the last 2 pictures were her farewell presents ... a handmade card done by Shimin (very creatively done!) penned with well-wishes from us all ... plus a new mobile phone ... the old and new were juxtapositioned for that added effect ... we went through much trouble to "steal" her old phone and to replace the new one in her drawer but the plot fell through at the last minute cos' she was expecting an urgent phone call ... otherwise the plot would have been perfect! oh well ... shall not go into details ... being an accomplice sure is hard work ...

prior to our first intermediate tennis lesson in the evening ... checked out the new Market Place at the basement of Raffles City ... chocful of changes! new shops and a wider variety of food to choose from (yes, Soup Spoon is baaacck!!!) ... settled for dinner at The Pizza Place ... ordered the Extreme Fiery Pizza + Meatballs on the side ... turns out that the pizza was a wrong choice as it was extremely fiery ... all our stomachs' were on fire ... and it didn't help that tennis lessons were more rigourous than usual that night ... with lots more running and tougher shots to return ...

Friday 21.07.2006

took half day leave to play baddie + tennis with the 'ees' ... with CJ joining in for the fun as well ...

thereafter, sinful dinner at the newly renovated Newton Circus ... it has a very commercialised feel to it right now ... nothing worth boasting about ...

Blame it on Johnnie

Saturday 15.07.2006

Lunched with Jas at Sanur - belated bee-day lunch ... am glad to meet up with the voice that constantly calls me yet again ...

Dinner at Giraffe (its this new place opposite Plaza Singapura, at the same location formerly occupied by BBoss) ... dining in a glass encased box ...very voyeuristic ... very chic ... heh ... can't really provide any comments on the food since I only had the Greek Salad which was palatable ... was disapppointed with the paltry selection of desserts ... just 3 to choose from! pathetic!!! but Alan's Malva Pudding was yummy!

Homecoming for Guoliang at Zouk ... cos he was raring to go linking and lancing ... his alcohol tolerance has improved by leaps and bounds ... very good!!! mine is deteriorating ... see next blog ...

:: Johnnie Walker Gang ::

Sunday 16.07.2006

its all Johnnie Walker's fault ... woke up with a mild hangover today ... nausea, severely dehydrated ... no appetite ...

lunched with Yvonne + Angela at Michaelangelo's @ HV ... well, since i could not have solid food at all (bread has never tasted so awful in my life!) ... therefore, i souped at M's ...

Yvonne is leaving the firm and the country for good ... relocating to decadent Amsterdam (yea, the land of sex + drugs) ... and I will really really really MISS Yvonne ... a great colleague who sits diagonally behind me in my aisle ... she is usually the first one to arrive (if I don't beat her to it) and the usually the last to leave the office (okay, I usually lose here) ... she is by far the most dedicated Senior that I have come across and I have great respect for her work attitude, knowledge, commitment ... a fantastic friend as well ... a listener to my stories (bitching and non-bitching), fellow food lover ... will definitely miss the company ...

:: Yvonne + Angela + me ::

by the time I left HV, hangover was gone ... and time for tennis!!!

big turn-out today at the court ... with Wilson, Guoliang (both survived last night), Jialun (the maestro) and the racquet crashing couple ... Chinyi + Vin Wee ... should have seen them crash into each other while receiving the ball ... damn cartoon ... hahaha

we have graduated!

Thursday 13.07.2006

... from beginners tennis! now its on to intermediate tennis next week ... yay!

last lesson was quite a short one ... covering the volley shot and another round of "proper" games ...

Friday 14.07.2006

dinnered with Chinyi at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe ... a modern char chan theng at Cineleisure, caught Pirates of The Carribean with the rest and headed for bak ku teh at Havelock Road (I can imagine the 'ee's nodding their heads now and saying ... "this is soooo lynn" ... haha) ... yea first time eating bak ku teh in sobriety ...

anyway, Pirates was hilarious!!! i didn't catch the first movie ... will have to get a dvd somewhere ... oh yes, EYE CANDY!!! Johnny Depp played his role so darn well ... love his niang niang qiang antics ... and those smouldering eyes with dark smudged eyeliner ... omg!

and there was Orlando Bloom of course ... i just love him in pre-modern/period movies ... again, i totally dig the intense eyes + chiselled face ...

ok, enough gaga-ing ... i'm off!

4th tennis lesson

simply a recap of the previous lessons ... had a go at playing a proper game with scores in place and getting to know the positions for serves ...

my serve has improved somewhat but i still can't get the forehand going, let alone the backhand .... *sulk*

argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3rd tennis lesson

today's lesson lasted longer than usual ...2 hours!

lesson concentrated on the serve ... kept getting the coordination all wrong ...

1st step : bounce the ball
2nd step : bring the racquet to the back
3rd step : toss the ball and swing the racquet forward

sounds easy? apparently not ... i can't seem to toss the ball gracefully enough ... while swinging the racquet forward to hit the ball at the right moment ...

the 3 of us also seemed to have forgotten about the basics already ... we need to practice, practice, practice .... so if anyone is willing to take us on ... or throwing balls at us to practice our shots ... we'd be more than happy to take up the offer ...

2nd tennis lesson

owww ... my left arm is aching ...

today's lesson focused on the backhand ... first using one hand, then using both hands to hit the ball ... had fun once again :)

coach forgot about our lesson today ... got put in a spot as our lesson clashed with another's ... which explained his 'stunned' look when we entered the court ... the look was priceless ... hahaha

we had to wait for our turn and we made use of the opportunity to play among ourselves for a good half hour .. hitting tennis balls like flying saucers ... wait ... that was just vin wee .... me? i missed the balls as usual ... although when it came to the actual lesson ... i advertently shot at coach's ... erm ... balls .... by accident ... a couple of times ... oops!

oh, and chinyi's moves are good! pretty graceful ... solid!

next lesson : merging the forehand + the backhand ... and maybe the SERVE ...

1st tennis lesson

my 1st tennis lesson almost didn't fruition ... fell sick last week ... and it threatened to rain today ... prompting another postponement ... but luckily the downpour happened much earlier and lessons kicked off at the courts at amrita spa ...

1st lesson was all about the grip, forehand, controlling the swing, footwork ... all of us had a lot of fun ... although vin wee seemed pretty angsty from the shots he delivered ... hahahaha ... work stress ...

coach kan was good ... very talkative + affable + encouraging + patient ... not like the stern PE teacher that i imagined him to be ...

looking forward to the 2nd lesson ... the backhand!