The Ankle Part 2

It had been 5ish weeks since I injured my ankle. The swelling is almost gone and I can almost walk and go down the stairs normally. I thought I can jog a little too when I had to speed up a little as I rushed for the green man or jaywalk. Lol. 

I really, really missed the gym classes. It had been non-stop elliptical workout for the past month and it is getting very boring. Earlier last week, I tried the treadmill but there was some pain when I stepped and I thought I better not risk it. It is not very fun to become a real life gym fail. 

On Friday, I tried again. I started really slowly like the speed when I 1st getting active and onto a treadmill. Then I sped up, not bcos I was pain-free or very fit but I set a 3km target for myself and it was taking such a long time to close the distant at such a low speed that I got so bored. I stopped at every km to check in the ankle. The pain was very minimal especially after the ankle warmed up and I hit the target. Yay! I think it would take a while to get back the same kind of speed and distant pre injury.

On Saturday, I went for a ride with WWF. I already rode with them 3 weeks back, which was also 1st ride after the injury and managed well with normal shoes. I figured out that I wouldn't fit into my cleat shoes with the ankle guard and very much doubt I would be able to unclip. 

With the recovery, I decided that it was time for the cleat shoes and taped my ankle for more stability. It seems to work fine until I had to unmount my bike to go down a flight of stairs at the beginning of the ride and I realised that it hurts to unclip. 

Did.I unclip? No. It was too scary to attempt. What I ended doing was to remove my foot from the shoe, carried the bike down with the shoe still hanging on the pedal and wore it back thereafter. Lol. 

I did that whenever I had to unmount, which was only a couple of occasions and I survived!

It was a tiring ride. I think my legs were screaming for rest after the 1st treadmill attenpt the day before. It is OK, I survived. Hoho. 

Mummy Lim

Losing to the Ants

In our previous homes, we had no problems at all with ants. Maybe bcos they are mostly new (or fairly new) units. The block that we are residing now is the same age as I am. While the unit is very well kept and maintained, it is an old (very old) block. Disclaimer: the block is old but I am young. 

When we 1st moved in, we saw lizatd droppings even when it had been vacant for a while and thus no food. Then in the 1st week, Daddy Lim sighted a cockroach. He said that it looked full grown or at least a teenager. Eeeeyyyy... I hate cockroaches especially those that fly and if they can reach the 19th floor, I am quite sure they can fly very well. Sob. 

Bcos it is an old unit, the rubbish chute is in the kitchen. When we were living in Centris, it was the same and Popo almost never use the chute, opting to bring the rubbish down to the common rubbish bin. I am not sure if this is feasible for us. I googled and came up with this genius idea. 

I got the kids' book wrapping plastic and velcro tape to create this "cover". Whenever we need to open the chute, we have to "unzap" the plastic cover, then zap back again. It works perfectly! I is clever. 

We received a notice 2 weeks ago informing about the chute fumigation. We were advised to seal the chute to prevent cockroaches escaping. Eeeeyyyyyyy. We did that and the plastic cover works as a double protection. We found mini roaches escaping the 1st level of protection and trapped in the plastic covers. T.T

So we prevented the cockroach from chute issue, and we haven't seen enough lizards to have us plot against them. Our problem left are the ants and I am losing my battle against them. 

As you can guess, we rarely cook and thus there is little food lying around in the house. I half suspect that the ants are stealing the neighbours' food and using our home as a base. Not long after we shifted, the ants attacked Mochi's food when he takes too long to finish his food. 

We bought the combat ants trap and solved the problem for a while. By right, the ants are supposed to carry the bait "home" and slowly kill all their friends. We did see some dead ants in the track but instead of a wipe out, the ants simply changed their track. Zzzz. 

As a result, we have so many of these combat traps around the house - the kitchen, then the toilets, then near to Mochi's cage.

Recently, I found them in my bedroom and had to stick 2 of these onto the wall/ ceiling. 

I am quite sure that we have no food in the bedroom. I have no idea what are they looking for.

Just when we "eradicate" the ant tracks in the bedroom, we now found them on the kitchen countertop and bcos they are black against the white countertop, they are so obvious and we can see so many of them. Arrrgggghhhh..  

It feels like a losing battle. I think the ants have a strong command center and I can already imagined their generals sitting at the round table discussing their strategies.

I duno how. Auntie S was suggesting the ant gel. I think we will attempt that, since we have used up all the combat ant trap too. Haiz. 

Mummy Lim

A Different Kind of Business Trip: Shanghai Part 2

I woke up early to use the gym. I was told that the swimming pool is on the same level and wondered who would swim in winter. 

There were... bcos it is a heated pool.

I hit the gym and could only use the elliptical bcos of the lousy ankle. There were 3 of them but only 1 working properly. Chey. 

The gym is huge but empty and I am not sure if the other equipment were working properly. 

All done. 

Then to the buffet spread! Very nice. A good spread and alot of food. 

I headed to the office, met some colleagues and was treated to a good lunch, like dome royalty. My China colleagues are very hospitable. 

Then it was more meetings before moving to the annual party. The party was held on a cruise! It would have sounded like a super grand and expensive affair if that had taken place in Sgp. My China colleague assured that such in China is very affordable. Wooooo... 

I had checked the weather forecast before the trip and the weather was comfortable despite being winter. I didn't bring my heat tech, they are all nicely washed, folded and stored away and I really hate to disturb them. All I brought was the winter jacket, that I haven't washed from the Tokyo trip. 

The party ended at 9ish and it was almost 10pm by the time I arrived back at the hotel. Again, I traveled like some royalty, with private car back to the hotel. 

For all my work trips, I rarely stayed the weekend bcos I want be home with family. This one is different. My China colleague has asked that I stayed over the weekend, mentioning that she would bring me to the site and then some sightseeing. I did that. 

The sight visit was short and then she brought me to "I don't know where" actually. Lol. But I felt like a tourist and didnf mind being one. 

We had dinner before heading home. Lol at the size of the pig trotter! Oink, oink.

My flight was on Sunday 1.50pm. My colleague again very nicely brought me to the famous CBD area before I headed to the airport. 

This trip, I definitely felt more like a tourist than to go for work. 

Getting home was easy. The flight was crowded but still good. 

They served us ice cream this time. Hoho. 

The trip was all good. The weather was nice, and it wasn't a work too hard trip. The only issue was that the house was messy when I arrived back home at almost 9pm on Sunday night. Mochi's litter box smelled so badly but yet seems to affect nobody. Zzzzz. 

Mummy Lim

A Different Kind of Business Trip: Shanghai Part 1

I haven't a chance to visit our China's office as China is under another colleague's charge. Not that I am keen to travel for business to China, I never thought traveling for business is fun. 

It was their annual New Year party. For the last few years, it had been virtual bcos of covid and I enjoyed attending the virtual party. With things returning to normalcy, China has planned for a large scale physical party and I had the honor to be invited. 

I have visited China 2x. Once for leisure back in my uni days to 九寨沟 in Sichuan and another time to Qingdao for recruitment. I have never been to Shanghai or Beijing and couldn't remember much from those previous China trips too.

The intention was a 4-day trip. I chose to take an early flight, hoping to head to the office and meet some colleagues. Ended up, I had to go directly to the hotel bcos some calls got moved, making it senseless to go to the office. 

I fretted over the 手礼. I mean, what is there in Sgp that isn't in China? Apparently, Bengawang Solo pandan cake. 

Bcos CNY is around the corner, I also managed to grab a few tubs of CNY goodies. 

Maybe bcos it was an early weekday morning flight or there are too many flights to Shanghai or not many people are traveling to China yet, anyway, the flight was very empty. There were maybe only 30ish of us. The 1st segment of the plane was half full. In my segment, there were only 5 of us. It was this empty. 

Bcos there were so few passengers, we received so much attention from the air stewardesses, who stopped to chit chat. It was so weird. Pls leave me alone. Lol. 

Bfast!

Landed!

I was happy bcos the flight was good; I stole a nap and the weather was great! It was in the mid 10s on the day that I arrived. Zaky was so jealous and said that it wasn't fair that I got 2 winters. Hoho. I was told that I would be enjoying nice weather in the few days that I would be in Shanghai. Just the week before, it was super cold. Ya, I no need super cold. 

The immigration was a breeze. I was very well taken care of and a car was arranged to bring me to the hotel. I started calls in the car and continued at the hotel lobby. The room wasn't ready until almost 4pm and I had to comfort myself. 

The room was nice. I was at Marriot Shanghai Riverside. I think 5 star. Hoho. No, I didn't have time to use the bathtub.

The calls continued to 7pm and I realised that the room uses solely warm light and I had trouble reading my notes, even with my glasses. Old already. 

I had in-room dining. 

Also finally found time to admire the views. My room was located in the correct angle. I 赚到. 

I am not sure what bridge is that but it changes color. 

Sleep wasn't difficult. Everything was good except that when I logged on to the WiFi, many of the apps like WhatsApp, FB, IG, etc. wouldn't work. It was quite painful, like I was going through a social media detox. 

Mummy Lim