Second Day Back

So I landed safely in Thailand. I'm still trying to adjust to the time change, a very huge time change indeed. It's 7:25am here right now, but it's 5:25pm back in L.A. So you can see, the day is basically flipped for me. I've been falling asleep at around 9:00pm and waking up at like 6:30am. Way too much sleep I know, but I couldn't stay awake past 9:30pm if I really want to, and I have nothing to do if I wake up before 6:30am, which I usually do.


Aside from the weird sleeping schedule, I still haven't really gotten my appetite back yet. I get hungry all the time, but once I take the first few bites it's like I'm full. A breakup is a bitch, isn't it? Time goes by so slowly. I'm gradually getting better though. :)


Moving on to fun stuff. I swear the weather makes me run slower! It's like 90-100 degrees here (freakishly hot I know!) and I sweat just standing outside. Thank goodness for air conditioner, right? But jeez! I went running around the house, and it should be the regular one mile round trip, and guess what time I got? 15 friggin' minutes! I run 9 minutes a mile back in the states. It was so sad. I had to stop to walk two times. :((( So really, my goal right now is to just run without stopping. It's like the heat just sucks out my energy. I got tired real quick and sweated a whole lot more than usual. It's probably because my body was physically tired from the plane ride, too. I'll keep trying.


Did I mention I found a climbing place here in Thailand? Well, I did. And the company is called Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures. They offer courses on rock climbing, too, which is awesome! I actually just booked a few courses yesterday. I'm planning this 10 day trip to Chiang Mai (a city in the Northern part of Thailand, I have to fly there). At first I wanted to do their 3 day intensive caving course, but by the time that I will be going it's the start of the rainy season so it will be dangerous. Oh, well. Maybe another time.


This trip will be from June 3-15. And I booked the flight back to the States on June 21st. So this is my schedule for the trip so far:


          Sun   June 3:                   Arrive at Chiang Mai & get fitted for gears
          Mon  June 4:                   Technical Top Rope Skills
          Tue   June 5:                   Basic Mountain Biking
          Wed  June 6:                   Introduction to Lead Climbing
          Thu   June 7:                   
          Fri     June 8:                   Boulder at the gym
          Sat    June 9:
          Sun   June 10:                 Technical Lead Climbing Skills
          Mon  June 11:                 Oil massage course-day 1
          Tue   June 12:                 Oil massage course-day 2
          Wed  June 13:                 Oil massage course-day3
          Thu   June 14:                 Introduction to Multi-Pitch Climbing
          Fri     June 15:                 Leave Chiang Mai for Bangkok


Looks super uber awesome, doesn't it? I still have to transfer money to their account for them to actually open up the course. Will go do that today. And I also still have to call and reserve a room for this trip. The hotel is gonna be right next to the company. Imagine this: $10 a night! When I told my mom she looked at me all weird. Hahaha! She probably wants me to stay in a more expensive place, just to be safe because I'm a girl. It's actually quite surprising to me that she's letting me go on this venture alone. However, I don't know how my grandma is gonna take it when she finds out. Whatever, I'm going and doing this my own way either way.


Then I still have to call and ask about the 3 day massage course. See if I need to book the course or not. This is gonna be sooooo awesome! I'm happy Tony introduced me to rock climbing. I will be better next time we go climbing together again. Anyway, I'm hungry. Gonna go eat, shower, and get ready to seize the day.


Carpe Diem, everyone! :D

Back and Running!

Wow! I haven't written in here since October of last year?! What happened??? Hahaha! Life happened, I guess. A lot happened actually. I went on a lot of adventures, and I love it! I went day hiking around the Santa Monica Mountains and backpacking. But lately, I haven't been doing much though. I can't really explain why, I guess I was just caught up in many things. And I forgot to enjoy myself.


I don't really want to write anything too personal in this blog, but it's such a big part of me that I have to say it. Coming out of a relationship is such a hard thing to handle, and an eye-opening experience all the same. You think you're settled and you become a slacker, next thing you know you realize a relationship is a two person game. I let myself sit. And now I constantly ask why I would ever let myself do that.


He meant a lot to me. He still is. It breaks my heart that I don't mean the same to him anymore. I didn't see it coming, and I know I am at fault. I could have done so many things, but I chose not to. At the same time, it motivated me. It showed me what I've been lacking, and how I can change that. And by change, I mean genuinely change. Change for the better. Change for myself.


I will go on more adventures. I will be fitter. I will be happy. That is my goal. And it will happen this summer while I'm away for two months in Thailand. I promise myself. And we'll see where that takes me.


The two songs I listen to for motivation at the moment:

1. Stronger - Kelly Clarkson
2. Maybe - Ingrid Michaelson

So, moving on to what I came here to write about. :) I made the best Apple Blueberry Crisp ever!!! It was REALLY good. I couldn't stop murmuring in pleasure when I ate it for the first time. Hahaha! Tastes of like apple pie, but sooo much better. Juicy and all. Mmmm. The leftover is at Tony's right now. Hopefully he eats it before it goes bad. Actually it's been a while since I made it. :S Maybe he should throw it out(?).

Oh, well. I made caramel custard, too! I think some people call it flan here. Anyway, I've made them before, but it's extremely good. Yum yum! Probably because I use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar. Anything with brown sugar is good. ;p

Apple Blueberry Crisp!
Hah, the stove is so clean (it's usually not that clean).

The cut-up product.
As you can see, I was trying to get artistic with it.

Too bad I don't have pictures of the caramel custard. Maybe next time I make it I'll try to remember to take one of it. Wow, that sounded somewhat like a run-on sentence and a lot of repetition. Lol.

Moving on away from food. I'm starting to run again. I've actually been keep a log since the middle of this month. How far I'm running and how long it takes me. Originally, I started the log so I have a goal to improve myself on and also to maybe showoff to my boyfriend after some time of my progress.

I'm not that strong yet; I'm kind of embarrassed to put down my time and distance. But I will definitely get better. And it was definitely a bad decision to run right after I had dinner. Ughh... that gave me the most horrible stomachache ever! Like something is twisting in there.

Today, I ran from the family apartment on Wilshire Blvd. over to Santa Monica Blvd., then back. It was around 1.8 - 2 miles (I used Google Maps to help me calculate the distance; first it said 1.0 mile one way, then when I looked again it said 0.9 mile - weird right?). It took me 18 minutes-ish, which is pretty consistent with my running time for a mile back on the track at Pepperdine (9:15 minutes).

But dang! I didn't realize how hilly the neighborhood behind the apartment is! I was mostly running downhill and zipping my way through on the way to Santa Monica. And then I realize I'll be running uphill on the way back when I would actually be more tired. Hah! It was a good challenge. I'm so proud that I actually didn't stop to walk (okay, maybe this one time when I was crossing an intersection and thought that a car was turning my way).

I'm also proud that I make such a good time compared to when I was in high school. I feel like I've told this story before, but we have this thing in P.E. called the mile run. So you basically run a mile and the teacher times you. Guess what I used to have? Like 18 minutes!! Jeez Luis! Was I just walking? Wth?!

Anyway, so I fly tomorrow night. Sad times. I couldn't figure out earlier today about what I want to do when I get back. I'll probably be busy the first half or so of the month because I'm helping with an ensemble cast for a musical. Then I have free time and I'm not about to waste it. There is literally nothing to do around my house. NOTHING! Except for running around the neighborhood.

Then I found it! I'm gonna try to go climbing in Chiang Mai! :D Here's the site. It looks really good! I'm actually super excited! I will come back to the States a stronger and more knowledgeable climber, yay!

So I'm getting tired and it's late. Will be heading to bed. Hopefully I sleep better tonight. Like I said, dealing with the end of a relationship is hard. I would wake up and not be able to go back to sleep for a long while. And I've been waking up around 6:30am every morning. That run earlier should have helped though. :) Good night!