The Seven Minute Workout

There's an app that I came across the other day that guides you through a series of short, simple exercises which takes a total of seven minutes to complete. The science behind it is that this will get your heart beat going and raises your metabolism bla bla bla.

We downloaded the app and never really did anything about it until Saturday, when +3 suddenly asked, "Do you have seven minutes?" and started doing jumping jacks.

So I joined him in the exercises- jumping jacks, wall sit, push up, crunches, planks, leg steps, running on the spot with high knees, lunges, tricep dips, rotating push ups, and side planks. All for 30 seconds per exercise with a short rest break in between.

The exercises are easy enough, but considering our fitness levels, we were huffing and puffing towards the end. You do work up a good sweat though, and today I ached in places I forgot existed.

We did the seven minute workout again today, and all I can say is sorry to our downstairs neighbours for the sounds of elephants stomping on their ceiling. Lol.

It's good though and hopefully we can sustain doing this more often. Do you have seven minutes today?

Happy Weekends

Been really lazy to write here, but here are some happy stuff that happened in the past few weekends.

- Paint! We bought a small piece of canvas and decided to paint together one day. I must say +3 is a really good teacher, explaining concepts of light and colour and going through the basic steps. We decided on a painting of a sunflower, and I got to draw the flower, paint the base colours, and mix the paint. I'm really bad at the details though, so he took over and made my flat sunflower come to life. A couple of hours later, a masterpiece was born.

- Walk! We realised that our weekends were beginning to get increasingly inert, and decided to make more of an effort to get off our arses and walk. Plus, what's the point of living in the city if you don't get out to enjoy the convenience of its location? So while home cooked brunches are awesome, going out to jalan jalan is also just as fun and it gets us out and about.

- Juice! Went to the TCM cos +3 had been having some stomach cramps. Turns out it might be a stomach ulcer and the poor guy has had to cut coffee, spicy foods and sour stuff from his diet. It was recommended that he also take lotus root juice every other day, which is apparently good for the stomach. Bought a juicer and we've been juicing. Not just lotus root juice, but fruit and vegetable juices as well. Yummy!

It's already March! 2 months down, 10 more to make a fantastic 2014!

Die Worms, Die!

Had a chat with +3 about worms. Specifically intestinal worms, and he shared his first experience pooping worms after taking some de-worming medication. Since then, he used to take the de-worming medication regularly when he was still living in Indonesia.

Anyway apparently most of us have worms, but living in sanitised Singapore, it's probably not too serious. However, +3 reminded me of my trips to the Philippines, India, Indonesia and Malaysia and suddenly the idea of having these creepy crawlies in my gut just got a bit more real.

The medication he used to take is called Combantrin but they don't carry it in Singapore. A quick check at the pharmacies produced Zentel, another de-worming medication also quite commonly used.

Spoke to CH about it and got her paranoid enough to take Zentel, especially since she has traveled to more exotic places than I have. No visible worms on her poop though. Phew!

+3 and I just took our dose of Zentel and will see tomorrow how its. Hoping I don't have anything too gross coming out of my bum tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Done and Done!

Ahhh it feels so nice to cross out items on the to-do list. +3 and I had a couple of things planned for the longest time that we never really got round to doing.

First was going to Universal Studios Singapore. My workplace had a promo on tickets to USS so I asked +3 if he wanted to go. This was way back, way back when we weren't even officially going out!

I collected the tickets and we kept saying that we'd go, but never really made it happen. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I looked at the tickets again and saw that they were going to expire on 28 Feb!

Nothing to motivate you more than a couple of soon-to-expire tickets, and we headed down to Sentosa on Sunday.

USS was pretty fun. The rides were interesting and the queues weren't as bad as when USS had first opened. We had a great time and even had 20 bucks off our food purchase, thanks to a food voucher that came with the tickets. Score!

The other item on the to-do list was to stuff face with crab at Mellben Seafood. I bought a groupon voucher and only got round to making reservations on the day before the voucher ended. Heehee.

We ordered crab bee hoon, salted egg yolk crab, and sambal kangkong. OMG so much food, so much yum. Everything that came was so yummy, and we were licking our fingers and rubbing our bellies at the end of the meal.

The only downside was that food took a really long time to come (an hour or so) but entertained ourselves with a drawing contest lol.

Anyway it was fun finally doing these things that had been planned months ago. But lesson learned, pre-planning is not one of our strong points. I think we'd be better off with impromptu plans instead.

Dong Dong Qiang!

It's the eve of the eve of Chinese New Year and boy, do I feel festive. Maybe it's the in-store music, maybe it's the bombardment of all that red everywhere.

Nonetheless, it's great to celebrate so wishing everyone a prosperous year ahead. Huat ah!

Things I Learned This Weekend

It's been a great weekend spent with my brother and his family, and I'm glad I decided to come over to Penang to catch up with them before they go back.

It was a little different from the type of holidays I'm used to though.

For one, holidays with children means that food and activities will be centred around what they will or will not eat, and what will keep them entertained.

They had booked themselves in a hotel that had a big-ish pool so that the kids could play in the pool in the afternoons. The downside was that the hotel was a little far from town, and nearby food options were quite limited.

My first meal in Penang? MacDonalds. Lol. Which, of course, the kids loved. We had tze char from the nearby coffee shop for dinner that day.

The plan was to explore the street art along Armenian Strert in Georgetown so we booked a taxi to head down. It was a very nice and pleasant walk around, looking for the street art and exploring the town.

After having roti canai for breakfast, we walked around and took the free shuttle bus, and went hunting for the famous Penang assam laksa.

The shop was packed and we had assam laksa, rojak, char kuey teow and cendol while the children ate bread buns.

Took the bus back to the hotel, an hour's ride but really convenient. Spent the rest of the afternoon napping while the kids played in the pool again.

Dinner was at a nearby western restaurant because the kids wanted spaghetti. Lol.

Had dim sum the next morning while my brother went to MacDonalds to pack breakfast for the kids. Then we headed back to the hotel to pack.

I had originally booked an extra night in the same hotel as my flight was the day after my brother left. But after chatting with +3 we decided to book me in a hotel that was actually in town so that I could easily find food and walk around easily. (Gotta love +3!)

Took the bus to town again and checked in. Am so glad that I changed my room! Walked about, had the assam laksa again, went to the market, got back when it got hot. Went out again in the evening, had a ramlee burger, and back.

Location really does make a difference hehe. I enjoyed my walk about last evening- there are so many beautiful old buildings around.

Anyway I am having the hotel buffet breakfast now, leeching off their wifi, and planning my day. Back home today!

Penang!

I've booked my first trip of 2014! Was chatting with my brother (who is *still* on holiday) and the last leg of his trip will be in Penang over the weekend, before they all head back to Perth.

It's been a lull period in the office and I've been itching to book a trip so decided to join them in Penang.

How exciting! I'm so pleased that I will be able to see the kids again and I don't think I've been to Penang, unless it was when I was a child.

Looking forward to the good food and playing with the kids. Wheee!