clementine

001. Hello from the Oustide

Anyone in here?

I am having a sudden burst of inspiration to come here today. My password had to be changed. I checked that the last post was in 2019. Guess what ... it's 2023 now,

I survived 3 years of pandemic (boy 2020 was totally blindesided us, huh?). Life pretty much almost return to normal (except for the mask that we still have to use in public transportation). I got all my family and friends (Allah has been the Most Merciful because we are all still here). I traveled abroad again (to Turkiye in 2022, to Thailand in 2022, also Singapore and Seoul/South Korea this year). I did a LOT of walking tour in my own town - I LOVE doing that (I have only discovered walking tour organizer in 2022).

Work has been pretty interesting because I'm now working hybrid - meaning if I don't feel like it, I work from home. I use to hate bringing work to my home, but now I also adapt. I have this small table I consider as "workplace", so when I put that aside, my home is well, private again.

That's pretty much the last 4 years (since I posted anything here) in recap.

clementine

009. Running Race Again...

I decided to register for another 5K running races. Scheduled in September and October. I figure maybe I can try to enter at least one race each month. I can understand the feeling of being addicted to it. There's something so freeing when you are crossing that finish line, you know?

So I didn't run for 12 days because I'm fasting (it's Ramadhan); and it's virtually impossible to run in the morning because I cannot drink anything afterwards, also I have to leave earlier to the office. AND I cannot really do it before/after iftar on weekdays as well since a) I haven't reached home before iftar and b) we have other prayers to do after iftar. I can only do running before iftar on weekends. I did that last weekend and BOY, did it feel good. I can't believe I am ever saying this but I miss running for that 12 days.

Anyway, I'm on my period now, so I can pick up my running shoes and do morning run tomorrow before I have to leave to the office :)
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the x-files revival

004. The X-Files Revival: My Struggle

To be perfectly honest, it is not one of their best. Heck, it's not even of of their good ones. It felt stilted and off, and Mulder definitely looked exhausted. Having said that, the reviews for the next two episodes are coming in and it's exactly what I've been actually predicted; that the monster-of-the-week theme is going to be better than the mythology. So yes, I want to believe. And I still believe.

Because it has been 20+ years, and Mulder/Scully is STILL my #1 OTP.
clementine

003. Music in 2015

Well, I don't really keep track of music to be honest. I mean, sure I listen to songs, mostly because they're soundtrack from TV series I watch, or I listen to it from the radio (in those RARE times I actually listen to the radio), or I check Billboard Top 100. But I couldn't really form a top ten list of songs. Having said that, I do have 5 albums released in 2015 that I listened more than ten times *LOL*.

TOP 5 ALBUMS IN 2015



 

I think I have listened to Adele'2 25 for 100 times now *LOL*. Seriously, during the first two weeks after the album was released, I must've listened to it at least 5 times a day!!
clementine

002. Movies in 2015

So, I watched 31 movies in 2015 ... that is like 10% higher than last year *LOL*. Of course, out of the 31 movies, only 22 movies are released in 2015 *hang head in shame*. So I couldn't make a Top 10 List. Instead here are my Top Six movies ... the criteria is the movies I rated at least 7/10.


TOP MOVIES 2015 (released in 2015)





LEAST FAVORITE MOVIES (released in 2015)




Seriously, everyone talked about how GREAT Mad Max: Fury Road was, the female character, the action, etc. etc ... and all the while when I watched it I was BORED TO DEATH, and ended up playing with my phones. It was one of the most overrated movies I've ever encountered. Yep, 2 hours of my life I couldn't get back. Wish I spend it reading a kick-ass urban fantasy instead. You know, like Kate Daniels instead of Furiosa. Jurassic World was also BORING, gah, so uninspiring, totally unnecessary sequel. And The Man From U.N.C.L.E ... I was this close to sleep throughout the movie!! Henry Cavill is NOT the actor for me, after starring that Man of Snooze (borrowing malicat 's term).

Hopefully I'll do better in 2016
clementine

001. Happy New Year 2016


As always, I am not going to make a lot of New Year resolution stuffs -- I learn a long time ago that sometimes it's easier to go with the flow, and make adjustment here and there instead of making a list of resolutions. I'm flexible that way *lol*. I think my biggest achievement in terms of personal thing is being able to run my 5k and shed around 9 kilograms, by doing it right (rather than going on strict diet, which never works).

So the only goal that I know I want to do this year is running a 5k events. Other than that, well, let's see what 2016 will bring...
clementine

015. I made my running goal!!


See that, that is my fastest 5k run so far. Under 35 minutes. So I could marked down one goal this year (ha!). So next year, I am totally going to try running on events. I want to be able to collect those finisher medals too!
clementine

014. Another Update on Running


So on Sunday, I hit another achievement in my running exercise. About a month or so since I ran my first 5k, I was able to run my FIRST 6K!! Whoo hooo. Go me!! On top of that, my average pace was also the faster ever (I have never been able to run below 8 min/km). I am so proud of myself. One kilometers at a time, Ami! And I know that I can hit that 10k in the future.

In the meantime, I found that thinking about running definitely geared me up in the morning. I mean, nowdays, I think about how long should I run today, or which route to take today, or whether to hit a distance goal or a time goal ... my brain is busy planning and it feels good. I can understand why people can say that running is addictive. I still have my rest days of course, or time when I feel too lazy to pick up my sport shoes and go outside. But always a day after that, my brain is thinking about running again.

You know what, this actually brings me into a goal that I want to achieve for next year. I want to enter a 5k running race :). I can do it, right?
clementine

013. Running Progress


Endomondo (the app I used to track my running progress) emailed me this -- apparently in September I have run 63 km. Wow. For someone who hated running before 2.5 months ago, who couldn't even run for 5 minutes straight, this was pretty good, right? Let's see if I can improve in October. I sure think that it's time for me to increase my distance. This morning I ran for 5.2 km -- it was my 6th time running 5k and what I noticed was that after 5k I actually felt that I could run a little bit further. I just didn't because my goal was for 5k.

But yeah, maybe it was time to grab that 10k training app which could help me running a little bit further than my usual
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himym || quote blog

012. Losing Weight

I have been doing my exercise for the past 2+ months as well as trying to manage my daily calorie intake... and well, I have lost 9lbs now. I think the determination for losing weight came to me about 3 months ago when a friend of mine showed me a link of a blogger who has lost a lot of weights. The blogger did a much more strict eating plan (which probably why she lost way more lbs than I did in the same time frame) but that wasn't what inspire me. She said she began running regularly after downloading a Couch-to-5k app.

THAT was what inspired me -- the idea that ME, this couch-potato girl could run for 5k. So I followed up the app instructions, and yes, I ran my first 5k two weeks ago. I have ran 5k three more times after that. I run 3-4 times a week now (not each run is a 5k run though). I'm building my speed and try to run faster (my target is by the end of the year, I could run 5k within 30 minutes instead of 42-43 minutes like I do now).

I guess that's what help me losing weight as well. I still eat pretty much like I do before. I have my 'indulge' days where I can eat more. BUT I also try to check out my calorie intake, so if it's too much, I try to shed the calories by doing a little cardio at home (I downloaded the short low impact cardio from Youtube).

Overtime, I hope that this is just a beginning of my trying to live a healthier life. I can't stop eating what I'm eating now. I love food way too much to stop eating junk food or meat or indulge on those chips *lol*. But now I just need to add exercise on my daily routine, right?