An unplanned sports day

I was lying on the sofa after I got back from church, feeling sad about how badly my Sunday School went (it was a little chaotic today with a large group of kids and I was zombie-like from the lack of sleep), wondering if I should nap the whole day...

... when my WhatsApp started blinking with messages from Jo.

That was the start of the most spontaneous sports day of my life.

Fifteen minutes later, we were down at the Marinas Point driving range watching Vic and the Leows in action. I wasn't even in proper sports gear because I just wanted to check out the place for my parents. (The driving range is decent enough and the price looks OK too - $14 for 148 balls.)

Then as we were about to leave, I got a text from Jasmine asking if we want to play volleyball. Of course! I love volleyball!

Since the estate has volleyball, basketball and tennis courts, the whole lot of us at the driving range headed back to my little den to munch on nuggets, chips, garlic bread and mini burgers (yes, leftovers from brunch!) while waiting for the 'team' to arrive.

We ended up playing basketball, then volleyball, then tennis until the sky was too dark and we were all too hungry.

Just like that. We exercised the whole afternoon in a totally random manner. It's too hilarious.

And our reward? Awesome Korean food at Soon's Tofu.

I may be biased about the place because I was starving, but I think the food was really yummy and the service was excellent. I love the banchan (side dishes) and chapchae (stir fried sweet potato noodles). The only thing is, I should have asked for very spicy ramen sundubu!

Friday madness

It's so chilly today! Quite unusual since we had warm weather the past few days. Normally I would curl up in bed and not wake up until lunch time. But I surprised myself by accomplishing much.

First, the girls came over in the morning and we had an extremely fun tennis session. Then, we had a fabulous brunch! Check out the spread. It was meant to be a small brunch after exercise, but one thing led to another and we eventually had jumbo scallops, mussels in white wine source, garlic bread and mini burgers!

After the girls left I did the laundry (gasp!) and vacuumed the house. Then I went to the gym to do another 2.4 miles on the machine and some exercise with a medicine ball. I need to get back to my 3.2 mile mark soon!

Next came the overdue manicure. I had bought a tube of gold glitters from Jo Ann (it was only $0.99!) In an attempt to be more festive, I painstakingly arranged these tiny gold flecks one by one against a red background. By the time I was done, it was 8pm. But hey, I'm ready for...... Christmas?

I'm now waiting for my hair to dry. And while waiting, I'm going to do my last task for the day.  That is, to start preparing for this Sunday's lesson. Time to quieten my heart after a day of activities, and experience God's presence.

I saved the best for the last, hein?

Biking across Golden Gate Bridge

Eight miles didn't sound like a long ride, especially when the brochure said it would only take us about 1.5 hours to get from Pier 39 to Sausalito. Plus, it'd be cool to tell our friends that we biked across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Well, that was what drove us to take up the biking challenge.

The plan was too simple: bike to Sausalito, have lunch there, take ferry back.



Ready to take off!

We donned our finest sports attire for the occasion (for all the photos we planned to take, of course!) and rented bikes from Blazing Saddles.

It was an exceptionally foggy day, but it made an irresistibly great picture for the Golden Gate Bridge. Despite the short distance from the Fisherman's Wharf to the bridge, we took an hour to reach the bridge proper because of the endless photo stops.



So near yet so far!



Still not there yet...



Reaching... reaching...



Goofing around for the last time!

The uphill slopes along the way were quite a killer too. They varied in the degree of steepness, and made us work those muscles like crazy. On more than one occasion, we were left sweating and panting like mad. Nonetheless, we soldiered on with wobbly legs.

And then finally, we are on the famous Golden Gate Bridge!

On the GG Bridge

Enjoying the great view

Yay! We finally made it across the bridge!

Once past the bridge, we had to make a rather confusing detour due to construction works. We had to carry our bikes down a long flight of stairs and cross under the bridge, before moving onwards to Sausalito. A couple more gentle slopes await us.

Down and under due to construction works

You can feel the tremblings from the cars above

Seeing light again!




Onwards to Sausalito

When we finally got to Sausalito four hours later, we were quite relieved to be able to peel our butts off the bikes. We were practically starving, so we had huge scoops of goodness at Lappert's ice-cream, followed by yummy hamburgers and hotdogs at this famous hole-in-the-wall shop called 'Hamburgers'. Burp.




Finally reaching at 3 plus... now where's our lunch stop?

Ice-cream cures all things!

We almost could not make it back by ferry because it was fully booked. Just as we were starting to panic, the ferry company decided to add one more timing to the schedule. Thank God.

Carrying the bikes on and off the ferry was quite a hassle though. It was a tad disorganised and everyone milled around the deck while waiting for others to claim their bikes and load them off the ferry. In spite of the mess, we made it back in time to return our bikes.

All in all, it was a day of amazing achievements. I never thought we could cycle this far! The tiredness is sinking in now... And the satisfying sense of muscle pain will become full blown tomorrow!


Basket!

I was inspired to find new ways to keep fit. The jogging and muscle toning/stretching exercises were getting old and as a result, the daily push-ups and crunches had given way to half hearted leg lifts while we watched Warehouse 13 on Panda's MacBook.

In comes Basket, our new friend, freshly purchased from Sports Authority. I had an sudden motivation to shoot hoops cos I figured that it would help tone up the arms and solidify those bye-bye fats. Plus, I could do it while Panda is at work vs. playing tennis at night when it's freezing.

Coincidentally, Panda's boss brought him to watch the NBA games last night. He bought two Golden Gate Warriors jackets in support of the home team. I know nuts about NBA but still it's cool to join in the fun!