Nostalgia strikes

This apartment is so close to the school(s) that I heard all the words to the songs they played for their sports' day today. Faithless have been around for at least 15 years! 

Come to think of it, my last sports' day was almost that long ago too. We concerned ourselves with things that were far too trivial back then, though they were of paramount importance at the time. 

Doubtless, with the benefit of 100% hindsight, I'll look back at this period and chide myself from concerning myself with trivialities such as a pasta sauce that was more orange than red.

Never-ending story

Am currently in week 3 of a 4-week staycation and it feels like the days have melted together. I'm not even sure when exactly my holiday began anymore.

Staying in an apartment is still a surreal experience for me. I'm in a building, but I'm also above ground level. I walk around this fifth-floor unit and the idea that everything might just fall over and I will die is the farthest thing from my mind right now.

Well, now I'm thinking about it a little. That and what dead silence will sound like when I'm back home. There's a kampung right next to the apartment block (it was here long before the apartments, obviously), and the insomniac inhabitants' main mode of transport is noisy scooters.

It's a working staycation though, so my brain hasn't turned completely to mush, though that can't be very far ahead in the future.

(I've been eating a lot of pasta.)

I don't know when the novelty of just doing what I usually do, but in a different location, will wear off. I don't think I want it to.

A whole new world

I never thought it would happen to me, but I'm now a (probationary) member of a private club. Generally, people are nice. Maybe club byelaws demand it; maybe everyone really is that nice. In any case, aggrieved parties are entitled to file a complaint against offenders; penalties include simple apologies, suspension, expulsion, and banning.

Other than the marvellous giant park nearby, the ladies' locker room is my other favorite place at the club. It's practically a lounge, only you get to walk around inside in your towel. Phone usage is barred, obviously. I forgot this on day 1 though (no one caught me)!

I could definitely get used to the tropical rain-type showers there, though I suppose I should be a bit leery of the shared shower slippers. Even rich people might carry toe jam...

Marital discord

It takes a great deal of honesty and maturity to admit that sometimes you say things to start a fight because you want some attention. Still, I suppose "Star Wars is daft" was quite sad and ill-advised.

Learning something new

As it turns out, WPBlogger accepts html, so that's the paragraph and text formatting taken care of! What I should be able to do next is memorize .jpg links so I can theoretically paste images here too. Or just, you know, log in to the site itself. Whichever is niftier.

Primer for out-of-town races

This is what I've learnt when participating in an out-of-town race:
1. Book your hotel early. Do it once you've confirmed your race participation. Don't show up the day before race day trusting your luck. The hotels in the vicinity will tell you they're full. You won't want to shell out for a 4-star room. At least most towns have a 24-h McDonald's or Starbucks now.
2. Eat 1-2 bananas per day starting at least 2 days before race day. You need to prime yourself to answer the call of nature before it even rings. Whatever distance you run, exertion-induced shit cramps are never welcome.
3. Prioritize proper eating. Out-of-town races mean reconciling travel eating habits (usually haphazard) with the necessary proper nutrition. You've trained for the race all these months; it doesn't make sense to risk your prospects with that aromatic meal from that rickety stall in that shady alley (you know the type). Save it for after.
4. Give yourself time. Arrive early enough to get a feel of the lay of the land, collect your race pack, investigate local attractions, and rest. Stay for a day or two to make the most of your mini-holiday.* Friends and family will loathe you for planning things so well.
*Hopefully, you'll have enough annual leave days and funds for the "actual" holiday season as well.

Safety in (relative) obscurity

Yesterday, I got to know a girl who used to be a lawyer, and her boyfriend, who is a pilot. Together, they've fielded more than their fair share of asinine questions only slightly related to their jobs. Did you know that there are many aspects of law? A lawyer who specializes in conveyance might not be able to give you the information you need for your divorce proceedings.

As for the pilot, social events have become a nightmare for him after MH370 went missing. I'm sure he wants to know what happened as much as everyone else does, but he's not an aviation forensics investigator, so asking him where he thinks the plane might be is an exercise in futility. Besides, it's probably the hundredth time he's heard it, so I wouldn't blame him if he made up an improbable story just for laughs.

As for me and Enfant Terrible, no one can fathom what a medical editor does, and there are virtually no scandals involving music teachers, so we get to smile and way as much cake as we can without anyone noticing.

Limbo

A strange inertia takes hold in the hour after it rains in the morning. I want to go for a run, because that's what I woke up this early for. Yet, the sky is grey and heavy, and thunder still rumbles somewhere over the treeline. Is the far-off susurrus a west-east wind moving the leaves, or more rain approaching? I have no idea; I've just been sitting here. But the thunder has grown louder and lightning has just flashed, so I might wait and see a bit longer before (instead of) doing anything.

Facilitated brain farting

Am mucking around with a mobile blogging app (WPBlogger). It's convenient, but the paragraph breaks don't show up, and you can't insert tags or images. Posting fails on the first go, and you have to restart the app as a consequence (no posts have been lost yet). AND if you have to email the app writer to notify them of errors that occur while posting, you get a delivery failure message anyway. I guess this is what happens when you have an earlier Windows phone, considered the stepchildren of the app world. That said, it's quite fun and serves the purpose of writing on the fly.

Hitched!

To mark our tenth year together, Enfant Terrible and I got married. At first, I thought of posting this on 06 June, which would've been our 1-month anniversary, but timing is not my strong suit.

Anyway, married. With a ring and all that (not my idea). Have put pen to paper and made honest people of each other, as they say.

What is it like to be married? I didn't expect this bliss, certainly. I didn't think that it'd be possible to be even happier to have him than I already was. I wonder how long it will be before the novelty of calling each other "wife" and "husband" wears off. (I was still referring to him as "boyfriend" a few days after we got registered.)

Anyhoo, there's still the sticky issue of the reception. Some people don't consider a couple "properly" married until they have it. To such people, I'd say, "Go mooch elsewhere."

Of course I want to celebrate the union though, but it will be on our terms, which might see a few Rammstein songs being played. Cool.