Act 5, Scene 3: Slump

I saw a squirrel on Wednesday! =) I went to meet Princess at Buona Vista MRT to go home together then she was talking to her cousin, who coincidentally was there too. So in my boredom, I usually just scan my eyes around and, there on a tree in front of me, was a little squirrel munching on some sort of fruit. It was sooo cute. Haha. Notice the lack of succeeding 'O's in 'so'. I don't wanna appear more gay than I already am.

So anyway yesterday I sent my parents off in the morning. Was hilarious la the whole episode. We were supposed to leave home at 630 but at that exact time, my mum knocked on my bedroom door and I opened it and immediately went back to sleep. By the time we were ready, it was close to 730.(I lost my toothbrush ah so I had to go hunting for it)

Then when we reached Terminal 1, we discovered their flight was at Terminal 2. So already we were late (it was 810; usually advised to check in an hour earlier), now we were rushing to Terminal 2. Haha. So anyway they had a sfae journey there but Mum said that Sarawak looks like JB and its constantly raining. They took a river boat ride or something but not too many details coming over. Haha. Hope they're having fun though, since I was the one who put them on a plane there. I'd actually wanted to send them to Bali or Jakarta or even Christmas Island(my Dad was born in Christmas Island so..I AM part-Australian..Hahaha)but my Dad said he wanted to go to Sarawak cos he's always seeing shows on Borneo and Orangutans and he wanted to go see.

Anyway this is not the first time I'm left alone at home.(actually not alone cos my sister is here but pretty much left to my own devices) I was alone when the whole family went to France last year. But I usually have no problems living alone. Haha. Anyway I rarely pick up the home phone when it rings. Haha.

I was planning to go to Sabah in May during the term break this year. I wanna go see Mount Kinabalu. I guess its just a challenge for myself to go travelling since I havent done much over the years. I haven't found anyone to go with but I guess I will soon. I like spending time in nature and just let the surroundings envelope you. It's a release from the dreary life we lead everyday. I guess that's why I go swimming too. Haha.

I usually swim an average of a mile each time I go (it translates to 1.6km). A mile's no joke cos even the Olympic Triathlon distance is just 1.5 km. And when I mean a mile, it means a mile NON-STOP. So three times a week translates to 4.8km. Why am I torturing myself? =)

I wanna take the NSSA test in December. NSSA stands for National Survival Swimming Award. It's this award that's given out to people who have proven that they would be able to survive considerably better in a watery environment. What does it entail? Well, here's a breakdown for the Silver award that I am gunning for.

Attire:
Men: Long Pants, long-sleeve shirt or pyjamas and Tshirt.
Clean Trunks must be worn underneath clothes (you'll understand later)

Test Items:
1) Straddle or tuck jump entry from side of pool and swim 100m in 4 minutes.(To simulate jumping from a vessel or a sudden forced entry into water)
2)Demonstrate ability to 'drown-proof' for 1 minute. (Drown-proofing may involve treading water with arms only or legs only and may involve dunking into water and pushing off from the bottom of the pool)
3) Tread water using one arm, with one arm at the back of the body for 1 minute.
4) Immediately after, tread water using both arms for 3 minutes (Treading of water is different from drown-proofing as treading will not involve the head going under the water, this is probably to simulate being visible to rescuers)
5) Undress in water, make float with attire and use it to swim 25m using legs only.(Now you understand why we need to wear trunks?)
6) Swim 200m using backstroke, 200m using sidestroke, 400m using frontstroke( breast/freestyle). (I guess this part is to test your endurance because if you havent noticed, it's a 800m swim in total)
7) During the course of the front stroke, the candidate must execute 2 dives: 1 head first and 1 leg first (Candidate must swim submerged for at least 5m during dives). (This is to simulate being trapped and needing to dive underwater and swiiming through obstacles)
8) Climb out the deep end of the pool without the use of steps or assistance.

That's it. In case some of you are now saying, 'Oh..that's not too bad.' Here's the catch: THE TEST SEQUENCE SHALL BE CONTINUOUS, in the order set out AND WITHOUT PAUSE. Bad enough for you?

So in the end, a successful candidate must have been able to swim 925m, of which 800m are continuous, 100m is timed and 25m is after undressing and drown-prrofing and treading water for 5 minutes. That is why I'm training with 1-mile swims. =)

Hmm, also on top of my swim regime, I hit the gym about 2-3 times a week. I know, I know. I don't look it. Haha. But I'm not the type of guy who wants to be reed thin. I like being big. And I know I have the strength to back me up when I need it.

Anyway, I'm meeting Nur later again after she meets her on-off boyfriend. I won't go into what happened between us but I realised I rather have her as a friend than not have her at all. I do hope from time to time, but if it doesn't, I'm fine with it too. Tonight, we're going driving! Haha.

I met her yesterday too. Then I went to Northpoint by myself to walk around. There's actually a lot of cool stuff there too. I never knew. Haha. I spent nearly an hour in Popular bookstore. Then I got this bunch of coloured pens to replace my markers. Haha. The salesperson tried to get me to buy in a set but a set of 10 costs $9.65 and their colours weren't the ones I wanted. So I bought a loose set of 12 at 95 cents each..the lady tried to cheat me...Haha. Plus I got the colours I wanted. =)

Oh well, it's the end of the week and next week is e-learning week so there're aren't lessons except for Wednesday morning. I'll see how everything goes..haha. Most probably I'll step up the swimming regime. =)

I'm happy, Nur.