mass call 2011, incidentally post #200!

"I can think of perhaps 2 other occasions in your lives that will rival this day in terms of significance and honour. One would be the day you take your marriage vow and the other, the day you become a parent and hold your baby in your hands for the very first time..." - excerpt from speech by Vice-President of the Law Society Lok Vi Ming, S.C

was called to the singapore bar on saturday 27th august and am very glad leave the profession, ironic as that is, on a high note. having finished what i started, it was fine and fitting closure to a good five years. enjoyed every moment of lawsch and have been incredibly blessed with wonderful people along the way. pupil-ing on the team i pupil-ed on was a privilege, and hand on heart i can say the chances of ever working with an (almost) perfect team like that again are very very slim :(

grateful for the mentorship i've received, and even more grateful for the support and encouragement of those i respect. my lawsch dean was my referee for medsch applications and i am convinced i was accepted because he wrote so nicely. yay to the close of one chapter and the beginning of the next. i leave in exactly two weeks and am excited beyond belief.

"This is a profession that leads you to be involved in the lives, businesses, the hopes and aspirations of people from every level of society; from the weakest to the most powerful among us; because the law is part, and rightly so, of every aspect of our society. This is a profession that allows you to be a teacher, a counselor, a protector, a healer and a friend to people who seek your help and to people you are paid to oppose." also from Lok S.C.'s speech.

 

 so with that, it's goodnight but not goodbye.

p/s on an unrelated note, 27th august was really a day of milestones seeing how i also voted for the first time! 

p/p/s have a soft copy of the law soc veep's speech so if you were at call and are interested, drop me a line and i'm happy to send it over.

the W word

is still something i haven't quite gotten my mind around. 

but after being granny's +1 at the thanksgiving service and vow renewal of this lovely couple, i do think i'm a step closer to understanding what goes into a long, happy marriage.

it was a moving ceremony, with tributes from their daughters and what struck me most was how love is about letting go. a very deep concept for after lunch on a lazy saturday afternoon.

curry drama

this genius invite landed in my inbox last week and i couldn't resist sharing it.

There's never really a need for a reason to get together and chow down, but in the event that you do require an explanation you'll find it over here:

Reason #1 is located over here http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110808-0000102/Number-of-neighbour-disputes-hit-high
(Now whoever heard of such a preposterous thing!)

Reason #2. is located over here http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=254441147918239
(A good excuse to cook and eat in good company if I ever heard one)

trust ashie, hostess extraordinaire, to throw a politically aware dinner party!

i, for one, was completely oblivious to the curry going-ons. however, this alternative viewpoint, as voiced by the voice of reason (naturally), was that perhaps it's all a storm in a teacup (curry pot?)

understanding the furor a bit better, it seems like netizens were unhappy with the indian family being told to restrain from cooking curry when the sensitive-nosed chinese family was at home. however, this arrangement must've been suggested by either party and agreed to by the other. i.e. it must've been mutual and consensual. so there didn't seem to be a need for all the anger at the result.

for the uninitiated, mediation is never about a one-sided outcome and because it's not binding. this is unlike a court order which is 1. determined by the adjudicator and 2. binding. thus, the mediator's role isn't to decide the outcome based on the facts presented so any angst towards the mediator is misdirected. the mediator's role is to be move the parties towards a mutually beneficial solution.

there you go, mediation in a nutshell i.e. me clinging desperately to what little legal knowledge i can purport to semi-possess.

that said, we really don't need much of an excuse to eat curry nor to party. what a great way to share curry appreciation and champion tolerance.

if you're curious as to how the party went, clickety click to ash's right here.

be a man

 

way too funny not to share. 

courtesy of wow funniest posts and my darling sister, who hears my nightly face armour removal and mocks me for it.

it takes so little

 but means so much.

summer reading

should probably be the mountain of medical textbooks i've been gifted with, and piles and piles of seniors' notes (thanks pra!) but seeing how i intend to specialise, once i start studying i'm never really going to stop. theoretically, anyway. so i'd like very much to linger here in this blissful pre-med place where i am very much aware of my ignorance and inadequacy, yet deliberately not doing anything about it.

and yay i can finally read proper. in the habit of reading a bit before a sleep every night, something i picked up on holiday a few years ago from my more sophisticated friends, believe it or not. there i was all ready to crash after a long but leisurely day, and i spied books on their bedside tables, and noted how they wound down with some reading before bed. my former pre-snooze routine was reading online because goodness knows i spend wayy more time on the www than healthy but i'm slowly but surely returning to the wonders of the printed page.

plus i've two dear friends* who have been conscientiously feeding me with books, even going so far as offering to meet up to discuss them after. these self-styled book gurus of mine are people i also respect very very much and it's about time i took them up on the offer. but oh hey, i'd need to actually get down to reading first. the added benefit of receiving books is that they've been quality controlled by the giver and so chances are they'll be worth the effort.

clockwise from top:

1. the undercover philosopher by michael philips

2. who are we? by gary younge

*both from a long time friend of my mother's. he's averse to travel but likes receiving postcards so i send him one from every city i visit. while he does not write back, he's very sweet to give me books every now and again, and a whole box of penguin classic covers postcards at christmas. if you can't tell from his choice of books, he's into philosophy with a hint of existentialism.

3. home cooking with master chef murata by yoshihiro murata

from a superwoman mom-of-six who takes time to cook and bake with each child individually, and is evidently concerned that i will waste away in the uk.

4. gifted hands by ben carson

from a lawyer i interned under when i was 19. he had always felt that i'd be a doctor one day and when he learnt i was off to medsch, he sent his congratulations along with this book.

5. playing darts with a rembrandt by joseph l. sax

*from a friend who runs a highly-successful photography studio to pay the bills, but is an artist passionate about intellectual property at heart. he also gave me seven days in the art world, that i read while on holiday in goa to great effect i.e. people thought i too was artsy. oh wow! what a con :)

Home-to-be

I woke this morning to an email that I’d been eagerly anticipating for some time.

Relieved to know that I got my first choice for accommodation – a single room with en suite bathroom in a flat of 6 rooms. It’s 240m from the library (yes I’ve google mapped it because I’m OCD) and less than five minutes walk from the nearest tube station. Whew!

Now to start applying for my visa.

Oh and I’ve gotten my gym membership too so yay to exercise and all its associated benefits. Snigger.

lifelong learning

85 and getting acquainted with facebook all by her very own self.

amazing!

almost home free

TGIF!

one "last day" with the dream team before i start a three week corporate rotation. fingers crossed it won't be too intense. semi-hoping for some down time and have heard positive things about rotation so far :) after that, it's back to the team for one final week then i'm DONE DIDDLY DONE and can kiss the industry goodbye forever and ever :) 

despite not hating my job, the mere thought of july 25th and the sheer freedom that follows sends shivers of glee down my spine.

have been asked many times whether my current job is all that bad and the answer, plain and simple, is no. i like it very much and adore the team i'm on. but at the same time, there's just this other avenue to pursue, independent of what i'm doing now. i think it's a calling, one i've given plenty of thought to. had to check check double check that i was 101% sure of myself, that this was absolutely what i wanted to do and nothing else would suffice, that i wouldn't regret starting career #2 just when my peers are being made junior partners. a second degree had always been on the cards, so it didn't come as a shock to my nearest and dearest when the opportunity presented itself, neither did it surprise me. was going through my 2009 journal last night and randomly chanced upon an entry plotting my way to medsch while still in law3. i remain vaguely envious of the lawyers who were born to be lawyers and eat breathe and sleep law. they figured it out early on, and are now milking their gift for what its worth. awesome!

so hurrah to being young, to having options, and to not settling for something that (sadly) doesn't fulfill me 100%. looking forward to one day being in a place where i wake every day to do best what i like best.

the comprehensive raffles place lunch list

To those who’ve wandered into InternshipLand, or have found themselves clueless at lunchtime – this is just for you.

When we started our training contracts, we had no clue where to go for lunch. The practice trainees would meet in a huge group outside the building and when we reached a critical mass, we’d follow the first person who spoke up and amble to said lunch place. Needless to say, this usually wasn’t very appetizing and after leaving Banquet (underground food court with non-existent ventilation system) reeking of food exhaust one time too many, we decided to explore Raffles Place on our own. We’ve listed out almost every place we’ve lunched at in the past 5 months and asterisked those we really liked.

Most of the options are unexceptional but it’s just lunch and we just have an hour so the places listed have been included for accessibility and variety rather than quality. Of course, we’ve not listed any truly terrible places (like Banquet…) but don’t expect a Michelin starred experience either. We’ve also been relatively budget conscious in the compilation of this list, budgeting about $5 per person for a one-dish lunch on average, unless otherwise stated. Happy eating!

XJ and J xx

p/s If there’s anything you like that we’ve missed – please leave a note. We’d like very much to know!

Coffee shop style i.e go armed with packets of tissue to ‘chope’ your seat

Philip street

Tom yum* / regular fish soup 17 Phillip Street #01-01 /02 Grand Building

I usually ask for “sao la” (less spicy) so I can enjoy the flavour without having to drink a reservoir after.

Fish soup and roast meat 15 Philip Street #01-00 Tan Ean Kiam Building

Good for bigger groups because the boss reserves the tables upstairs for big group walk-ins

Hans at Great Eastern Building 1 Pickering Street

Also able to accommodate big groups

China Square

Da Lu Prawn Noodles* 22 Cross Street, #01-54/55 China Square Central

Don Pie shop also sells, surprise surprise, great claypot pepper crab bee hoon

20 Cross Street, #01-34/35/36, China Square

Puay Heng Fish Ball Noodles/Bak Chor Mee 23 China Street

Nam Seng Wanton Mee/Hor Fun/Fried Rice  25 China Street #01-01 Far East Square

Hock Lam Beef Noodles 22 China Street some of our friends go more for the cute waitress than the noodles…

    

Market Street Food Centre 50 Market Street

sit on the third floor, easier to get seats, less smelly.

Tiong Bahru Wanton Mee #02-32

Transit Market Claypot Rice* #03-13 the chicken with lapcheong is divine

Seng Lee Cai Fan is $2+ #03-17

Nurnanmi Nasi Padang* #02-07 the chicken goes superbly with the achar

Mei Xin 50 Market Street #01-32 (food court on ground floor of Golden Shoe) for dinner to go. The porridge is very smooth. A bit pricey ($6) and long queue but really yummy.The ban mian is not bad and I swear by concoctions no. 10 and no. 4 at the fruit juice stall.

Cafes

Market Street

Bao Jin Tian (Bao Today) for noodles and dimsum 55 Market Street #01-01

Kiraku Japanese restaurant below Bao Today (pricey, the beef salad is about $12 and that’s about the cheapest item on the menu)

  

Coffee Shop Style

Arcade

108 Eating House #01-08

Bak Chor Mee

Laksa

Chicken Rice

Hup Lee Cafeteria* #01-35

Fish Soup – my low-carb option is sliced fish soup without noodles / rice.

Arcade Fruits (next to Hup Lee) Fruit and Fruit Juice. The lao ban niang is a PR whiz. Every time I buy juice, she’s such a sweetie I tell myself I will forever remain in juice monogamy with her. The avocado milkshake is decadent, and I usually have the carrot apple ginger juice.

Chinese soup to go ($4) if you’re in a rush. There are a few shops with vats of soups on display.

3^rd floor coffee house (E-something) has great horfun but awful service

Cafes

Clifford Centre

Platypus Test Kitchen* for pasta #02-02 always something new.

PiNK NutriDeli Cafe for set lunch with brown rice  #02-05

Chevron House 30 Raffles Place

Wang Café* #02-37 Chinese style kopi / the and simple lunch time food like laksa, macaroni soup etc. Once asked the smiley Filipino cashier for a “hot iced lemon tea” and he had the decency not to laugh in my face. +points for customer service!

Cedele* for soups, salads and sandwiches I like the Soup Set A ($10 for big soup and small salad) #02-34/35 and the days when they have pumpkin and apple soup, I’m extra happy J

The Sandwich Shop  #02-07 good option for a light lunch. The “All Day Breakfast” in sandwich form is yums, as is the ½ sandwich option if you’re not very hungry.

Joe & Dough #02-05

Black for coffee and sweets (Drew employees get 20% off!!!)  #01-11/12

Dimbulah for soup and wraps #01-31

Green Bar* the smoked duck salad is a winner, as is the chilli crab salad

The Soup Spoon for more expensive soup – cheaper Chinese soup option at the Arcade

#01-37

Chevron House Basement

Subway

Yoshinoya

Mos Burger

The Well dimsum

Sun & Moon – they’ll juice the fruit you pick on the spot

The Palace (Korean Restaurant – only hazard if desperate at night

Boat Quay (more expensive)

South Bank Authentic Thai Restaurant 35 Boat Quay

Thai food! Decent set lunches about $12. if x is the number of diners (x must be >1), you’re entitled to x+1 dishes.

Penny Black for pub food 26/27 Boat Quay 6538 2300

Red Dot for Green Beer (!) and Bar Food 33/34 Boat Quay

Moomba Tuckshop for sandwiches and salads 4 Battery Road, #B1-01 Bank Of China Building

Circular Road

Sinar Pagi* 13 Circular Road

Awesome Nasi Padang – if you’re in a big group, call in advance to book a table (seats upstairs for bigger groups) and pre-order. The tauhu telur is AMAZING. Also like the beef rendang, sweet potato leaves, curry chicken (very good!) and sambal prawns.

Molly Malone’s 56 Circular Road 6536 2029

tcc 51 Circular Road

Cafes

Raffles Quay Underpass

Chopsticks Asian Kitchen - The simplest option is the $7 char siew noodles (with gravy), and if you're feeling extravagant, the $14 crayfish noodles in milky stock is delicious.

Cedele

Restaurants

Marina Bay Link Mall  8A Marina Boulevard (pricier, at least $15/person or more depending on what you order)

Standing Sushi #B2-51 6634 7068

Ding Tai Fung #B2-05/06

Youmenya Goumon for Japanese Pasta #B2-03 good value pasta sets and a salad bar (1 serving only) in the middle

Munch* for salad from an extensive salad bar with generous servings and soups #B2-19

Republic Plaza Basement (pricier eg iFreshCo set will come to about $13)

A few restaurants “food court” style but more atas. I like iFreshCo* for fusion Japanese food without MSG. There’s also Asian Kitchen!

Coffee for that 4pm drowsiness

Chinese style eg kopi / teh, not the Americano type

Coffee&Toast Raffles Exchange 5 Raffles Place #B1-17/21/22

Fun Toast One Raffles Place (OUB Centre) #B1-13

Teh Tarik Cartel 1 Raffles Place OUB Centre #B1-04

Arcade ground floor on the left as you walk in from Raffles Place

Dilys’ Creation at Clifford Centre ground floor

Stall between Dilys’ Creation and the glass doors opening onto Collyer Quay has yummy toast with home made peanut butter too!

Western coffee i.e Americano

Black**

Dimbulah**

Starbucks at Singapore Land Tower

Coffee Bean at Republic Plaza

**see Chevron House above

Sweet Tooth Satisfaction

One Raffles Place (OUB Centre)

Once Upon A Milkshake #B1-03E

Brownie Factory #B1-01B

Famos Amos Cookies #B1-02A

SwissBake #B1-01

Arcade

Dessert Hut* #01-06

Mao Kong Bubble Tea (opposite Dessert Hut)

Chevron Basement

Yami Yoghurt #B1-K1

Each-a-cup #B1-06A

Royal cake shop with sliced cakes

Mirana cake shop with sliced cakes

Republic Plaza 9 Raffles Place

Awfully Chocolate chocolate ice cream and cake #01-16

TWG macarons #01-22

Oriole (also sells coffee) #01-23

Eskimo Café & Fruit Dessert Bar 146 Market Street, #01-32A

Post-work Drinks

Five Izakaya Bar 16 Collyer Quay for cheap shots

Roku (6) at 146 Market Street

Harry’s Market Street

Level33* at Marina Bay Financial Centre for high altitude al fresco drinks

Oosters China Square for Belgian Beers

Lantern* Fullerton Bay Hotel

Post Bar* Fullerton Hotel

OneAltitude 63-64 floor One Raffles Place (OUB Centre)

Nueva Cuba Customs House #01-03

OverEasy* One Fullerton

The Blarney Irish Pub Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1

Boat Quay pubs (again, Red Dot is good)

The Atas Section (some have set lunches for $30++, all more upmarket)

Customs House

Sabai Thai #01-02

Kinki #02-02

One Fullerton

Sansui Sumiyaki & Bar #01-05

Forlino #02-06

Marina Bay Financial Centre

Rock great steaks and chic interior

Far End of Boat Quay (nearer South Bridge Road than Raffles Place)

L’Operetta Italian cuisine cooked with deft touch of Japanese chef. Chef trained extensively in Italy, and is interested in opera, too. Hence the name. Suggest ordering a pizza set and a pasta set then sharing between 2.

*our pick

jan 2012 edit: have since left raffles place for the rolling hills of the united kingdom. if you'd like to swing by, the blog continues over at http://doctorlawyerindianchief.blogspot.com

:)

the voice of reason lighting gramps' candles 

a cake in the shape of his most prized possession

there i was, happily traipsing around europe by myself and absolutely reluctant to cut short my joyride to make it home for gramps' 88th on the 17th of june. seeing how the graduation ceremony was only in july, i planned to max out my gradtrip and return on graduation morning.

thankgoodness for the voice of reason, who managed to persuade me to come home on the 17th, so i could be at gramps' birthday dinner that night. you know how the golden oldies are - celebrate their birthday on the day itself, or not at all. so i hummed and i hawed before reluctantly rescheduling the flights and dragging my sorry backside back.

and guess what? the voice of reason was right to trust his instinct and risk fire and brimstone by almost insisting i came home. fast forward exactly a year and i cannot even begin to describe how relieved i am to have been with gramps for his last birthday, and the few happy months after.

(note to self: always listen to boyfriend)

whoa

1. my mobile / facebook inbook / email has been going crazy containing the outpouring of good wishes. THANK YOU FRIENDS. i really appreciate the encouragement :)

2. i'm going to medsch on my own. for avoidance of doubt, the +1 is staying put in the +65. my goodness. didn't realise that by sharing the good news about my completely derailed legal career, i was inadvertently derailing his too. without going into too much detail, we've spent more than half our time together apart and ironically quite enjoy the space that LDR affords. so there. please cease presumption that he's leaving the firm. he's not. he will remain a legal eagle, and my cash cow...

3. a fortnight ago, i finally told the team that i wouldn't be staying on. however, nothing has changed and i'm currently the busiest i've ever been, save during trial season. it's awesome that the seniors are as nurturing as ever, correcting my work, giving me plenty of learning opportunities and doing all they can to see to my self-improvement. there's really nothing in it for them, and all the more i appreciate the precious time they spend mentoring me knowing full well that i'm of no long-term benefit to the team. the fear of being handled with kid gloves and being put into the pasture once the team found out i wasn't going to join them went unfounded, just like shoo said it would. i really should've known better :) mad props to the dream team.

4. savouring what's left of my time as a trainee and desperately trying to learn as much as i can before bidding the system adieu. plus the work i'm doing now is relatively fulfilling. today, i structured a trust for someone in a permanent vegetative state, and drafted a doctor's letter to be included in a friend's divorce affidavit. both heart-wrenching in their own way, but constructive nevertheless.

it might not happen often but for now i'm relishing having my cake and eating it. fingers crossed this lasts awhile!

(photo from the wonderful universe that is tumblr)

booked my one way ticket

and...

 

(card and photo credits to the extremely talented kelly of paperexploits)

if you're a regular, you're probably massively annoyed at me right now for constantly alluding to that dream thing or that dream job or that bigg bigg something that's supposed to happen this year. i'm truly sorry for being such a tease. however, so as not to derail my fledging legal career before it even started, i did have to keep this exciting bit of news on the down low for awhile.

so, here goes. i'm going to medical school to do a second degree.

sometimes, i feel like the world's biggest clown and/or the posterchild for confused children. but most other times, i'm besides myself with glee to have been given a second bite of the cherry. i get to be 19 all over again! isn't that absolutely awesome cakes? grateful for the university scholarship, and for amazingly supportive family.

for those who want the gory details - took the medsch entrance and singapore bar exams simultaneously (talk about hedging my bets!), started my training contract in january 2011 and found out two months later that i'd gotten into medsch. funny story: my medsch interview was on the exact same day the bar exam results were released! God sure has a sense of humour :) also, while we're talking about God - i've never been as humbled as i am now by His sheer goodness and grace. WOW.

and oh right, back to that one way ticket. guess i've to come home at some point, but there's this inherent romanticism in buying a one way ticket*, compared to a return. suppose i'll have to cross the how-to-get-myself-home bridge when i come to it!

this is the plan for now on! six weeks of training contract to go (done 25 july!), get called to the singapore bar a month after (27 august) and start term exactly a month after being called to the bar. gotta love the way the timing dovetails ever so beautifully :)

*truth be told, it's hardly as spontaneous as it sounds. just that an open draw return ticket on cattle class was S$3k but i managed to milk my miles and score a one-way ticket on saver for 29k miles.

the luxury of walking

was on course this afternoon, and thankfully it finished earlier than anticipated. this left me with the happy problem of not knowing what to do after. hadn't made plans but was relatively near chinatown so i hazarded the koi queue before visiting a friend.

the wonders of googlemaps told me to take 970 to said friend's house and it's a luxury to be able to take my time. one of my worst habits is being overly ambitious and trying to squeeze 101 things into my day. my second worst habit is being wired to be punctual. these two habits combined see me in a general tizzy, rushing from one place to the next. it's really not as hip and haps as it sounds.

so you can imagine the elation welling up inside me when i realised i'd no plans and could take my own sweet time because i'd all the time in the world to queue for koi. and then i could take the slow, meandering route to my friend's. didn't need to cab from A to B because there was no hurry. being able to deliberately choose the slower option like the bus is a luxury, never mind that i'd to walk in 2km from the main road (again, this is what googlemaps tells me). as luck would have it, i alighted at red house (the bus stop right after east sussex lane) and was overcome with nostalgia. took the bus home from that same stop in jc and looking at the red house resplendent in her newly painted glory brought me back in time. i like how she still looked the same :)

and as i trekked in, i walked slowly so as not to break a sweat and to check out the very beautiful houses that lined the road. caught wafts of dinner as it cooked, someone was going to have laksa, someone else was having fried chicken. the scent of the tembusu flowers intermingled with the smell of dusk and i was secretly pleased to be young, footloose and fancy free.

word.

besides myself with incredulity and disbelief that 1) i actually did and 2) it's really not.

a race a week

in hindsight, this sort of looks like a makeshift memorial... but yay to surviving a race that neither of us trained for! and for completing it in 37minutes (brag brag) without stopping. in the grand scheme of things, we probably aren't very fast. and relative to vidz and her weekly 15km runs, we're certified unfit. however, surely there's something to be said for last minute stand ins...

quite unfortunately, cubby buddy's fit (doctor) friend had a nightmarish call and still had to vote post call. so cubby buddy called me, her unfit fellow pup and i thought, 'what the heyy...'. famous last words! the weather was ghastly! blistering hot heat and i'd a headache from the sun before we even left the figurative starting blocks. it was solely pupil solidarity that got me through. as i thought of all our late nights holed up in the office, i figured physical exertion is no sweat compared to the mental marathon that is work. 

so we huffed and we puffed and we made it to the finish line, and then proceeded to cam-ho in true pseudo-teenage fashion on the top of marina barrage. props to xj for doing so fantastically well despite being swamped with trial after trial, and having to be on standby for a superimportantabsolutelymustsucceed matter this weekend... respect!

 

plus, for the rest of the week, i get to brag that i've done 2 races in 2 weeks. teehee!

uncharacteristic

so this year, i told myself i'd try new things. something i've never ever done before is run competitively. actually, i don't even run, but that's another story. am still perplexed as to how i somehow ended up representing singapore (!!!) in a cross-country race. ok, tell a lie. it wasn't really the olympics but hey, i did run for singapore against our malaysian counterparts.

knew i was in trouble when the brisk walk from parking lot to starting point left me gasping for breath. 

V, my race buddy gifted with long indian legs and lightning speed, was the 3rd faster female runner whilst i was very proudly 3rd from the back. however, even completing the race was an achievement! after the dust had settled, i found out that my steadfast, stalwart V was surprised i outran the malaysian machiks. she was also afraid that i'd collapse half way and only have my remains discovered by an overenthusiastic group of girl guides months later. in the alternative, she pondered the possibility of my drowning in the reservoir, subsequently to be devoured by the resident crocs. 

needless to say, can you imagine my complete mortification when she spontaneously ra-ra-ed a bunch of (much faster) participants to cheer me on at the finish line? there i was hoping to slip past unnoticed, a good half hour slower than the rest but noooo... when i was in the throes of physical agony and existential angst, questioning my judgment and masochism, i was greeted by a personal cheerleading squad telling me to run like my life depended on it. paisehhh maxxx...

the only plus point, besides winning of course, was carbo-loading with truffle fries the day before. 

because truffle fries make everything right with the world :)

now to get off my behind and do some prep for that 10km run i signed up for in july...

oopsY!