annjayelle

How Trekking Benefits Us (Me).

It's been awhile since I last travelled & trekked.

I used to travel at least thrice a year when I was still a full-time student, be it with my parents, with my trekking buddies, or my BFF whom I do almost everything with. Now that I've started my full-time job with my dad (which I kinda dread about it because I CANNOT stand desk-bound work, also explains why am I here composing this post), I do not have the luxury to travel as and when I would like to.

Trekking is a hobby (not exactly a cheap one) that aids you in gaining insightful experiences which definitely, cannot be learnt from books or in school at all.

I only started trekking with friends when I was still studying for my diploma, that was the period where I made a group of awesome and steady friends and I was not residing with my parents due to the long hours of travelling. I was slightly more independent...

We (I) started travelling to Malaysia for treks in a big group for our CCA activities, which somehow made me think that, if everything is well-prepared, problem can always be minimized. Of course, you gotta have the right mentality, and at least, physically trained for a higher mountain to be conquered.

Progressively, after the cross-the-border treks in the neighbouring country, a group of us would fly to somewhere a tad further for higher mountains, for instance, Taiwan, Indonesia, etc...

All these overseas trekking trips taught me invaluable lessons, like from the basic, how should we prep ourselves for such trips:-

1. Planning & Research

2. Budgeting

3. Itinerary

4. Safety Issues

5. Fitness

6. Equipment List

Something to admit, I really have a bunch of indispensable friends, they are the ones who would do all the planning and itinerary for overseas trekking trips. Without them, I could not have been to mountains/summits to view the breathtaking scenery, sunrises, experiencing the morning coldness with them, staying cosy together in the tent, having breakfast/lunch/dinner in the mountains, going all-commando style when having to relieve ourselves, etc...

There are always bound to have paperwork to be done before any trips, and it might sound boring but as you are preparing for it, the information found online, from the forums, from anywhere will definitely help you in climbs as such. This is something that you will gain from organizing a trip. The more you organize, the more you know how to budget for a trekking trip, all the required docs to prepare, the packing-list, so on and so forth.

Trekking trips have made me into an even more organized person. The way I pack my backpack, I would make sure my clothes are rolled up nicely (to save space), chucking smaller items into a mass tin or containers to fully-utilize the space, AND COMING UP WITH AN EQUIPMENT-LIST is a must for me. I would share them with my friends so we know, the issue of forgetting certain items can be minimized (I actually do it for all the trips, not just for trekking ones).

Trekking with friends also allow you to know more about one another, their characters, temper, personalities, which could help to bond and forge a strong friendship. No matter what, the effort we have to put in prior to the treks, in this case, I am talking about the time spent for trainings (some are the shitty ones whereby we will feel that our legs are gone after a day of training) will always leave a positive mark. There are also occasions where each and everyone in the team will always give out their helping hands to pull you up during the ascending or descending of the mountains.

I have no idea if you can understand the feeling of going through all the craps with fellow friends, and finally, everyone makes it to the end, TOGETHER. This is probably one of the best feelings in the world and something you will get in return from preparing or going for trekking trips. Not to forget, the events whereby we have to endure the icy cold water for our showers in the guesthouse, or waterfalls together. The feeling of coldness is out of the world, never once I had to shout in the bathroom for each shower. These dumb and funny memories will definitely be etched in our minds, and it is really something you are not gonna get while staying put at home.

Trekking trips really allow us (or at least me) to see things in different perspective. Not every time, we have to go by SOP. There are always situations whereby you have to alter your course to make things more favourable in due time. Following SOP might be a safe bet but it would not always be the best bet. Though, one must always know how to react to situations.

Keep Calm & Think.

Keep Calm & Carry On.

If everything else fails, just be glad that you are still alive.

Nothing is as bad as being dead.

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, by annjaylim

Random

Soul & Body - Disconnected

It's been almost 2 months since I came here for a blog post.

Not having the free time to post is not the excuse... It is actually the super mundane life I am having now makes me so uninteresting that I've got nothing to post. Life really sucks when you have to get summoned back to work for your family... (Not exactly VERY meh, but it just gets boring... There are still some pros in it thought). In this case, I got back to help my dad with his business.

It's almost into 1 quarter of the year for me, helping my dad in his company and I AM SERIOUSLY DREADED FOR DESKBOUND JOB. Everyone's telling me," haiya, you are the daughter of the boss, can just apply leave and don't go for work one what..." BITCH PLEASE.

Just because I am the daughter of the boss, I have all the obligations to serve the company well and not applying leave whenever I feel like it... It's just that, I don't want people to see me as the daughter of the boss and so, I can do whatever shit I like. I would rather work from the small fry post to gain recognition and respect when just to abuse the "authority" or the position in the hierarchy I am currently at now.

So people, please stop telling me stuffs as if I really can go for work only as and when I like. It doesn't work this way, I draw monthly salary, which in turn, makes me an official staff in the company, someone who is working for my Dad AKA the boss. I would really attend to work freely IF I AM MY OWN BOSS.

On a side note, I do not wish to stay in my dad's company forever as well. The work scope is pretty boring and I really do not want to get stuck in this cage forever. Ever since I got back to Malaysia, I'm losing my love life (HAHAHA) and social life pretty much. There's only weekend for me to meet up with friends and sometimes, I would get too lazy to go back to SG on a weekend as well. Sighpie.

If I were still a student, I would probably be in some countries right now, enjoying my well-deserved vacation after the exams... The last time I backpacked was last Oct man, when I went to South Korea after my exams. OMG, I need to relive life like this again...

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, by annjaylim

Random

When you work, you learn.

I totally went hiatus for a good one month…

It is not entirely my fault but I have officially started my full-time job… Working for my dad.

So for the month of March,

I was still just an “intern” at my dad’s company, he was asking me to help him out while I wait for the calls for job interviews since he thought that I would have nothing to do at home so might as well drag me to the office with him…

First few days were disastrous, I was at the purchasing department DOING NOTHING, literally a life of an intern. The girls were all super busy because it was the peak period of the month (the mid of the month) and none actually had the time to teach me how to use the software program and stuffs. The clock ticked so slowly, it felt like forever…

I sat there and be a pretty flower vase but it felt so awkward like customers who walk in and see, definitely think that I am just some useless crap hired to waste the company’s resources… BUT, that is not my style of working, I cannot stand doing nothing so I told my dad and few a couple of days, I went up to the accounts department and helped with paperwork.

Nope, not a fan of accounting. I hated accounts since secondary school but never once, I can get away from it. I took accounting instead of Biology back in secondary school, then chose a course which SEEMED to be fun… and THOUGHT that it didn’t require maths (accountings) and sciences but NO, we learnt everything. Hence, I had to do accounting for a semester as well… Then, for my degree, I had to take different kinds of accounting for two semester omg, #killmeplease. Surprisingly, for both my diploma and degree, I secured an A for my accounting mods hahaha but the managerial accounting which I undertook in university, I thought I would do well but only gotten a credit.

Back to my boring work life, I spent a week or so at the accounts department, at least… I had more things to do and help. I grew closer with them, and they treat me quite well, forever passing me snacks during high-tea time. I am still not close with people from purchasing department even up till now… I scared it’s just different working environment, comparing the both departments.

Finally… Until a day in March, someone asked the HR cum Accounts big head who helps my dad a lot for dealing with the staff and company’s accounts… Someone from purchasing department asked her if accounts really short of hands because purchasing side got really busy and they needed me. This is how I got summoned back to purchasing dept but now, I still run both sides, just like a management trainee.

After an official one month of working in the office, I have finally getting on track with how things work in there. It’s still messy like crap, the way staffs handle orders and invoices… *SMH* (Shake my Head). They jot down the OOS items that need to be followed up but never once, they would ask around if the items have arrived… Until someone informs them. They don’t have the urgency instilled but if that order is under me, LOL I pester the one who orders stocks every 2 days to ask if my items have arrived.

Just recently, I was kinda pissed with the people there. They also do not have the habit to double check, triple check their stuffs. When I am the one who takes over their orders and helping to do the follow-up, because of their initial mistakes (which I don’t even know it’s a mistake until the client informs us), it gets me into trouble again… It happened… AT LEAST three times already, no idea why am I THE LUCKY ONE. Damn.

Sometimes now, I feel sceptical whenever I gotta handle their work but such is life and the OOL (Old Office Lady) from the accounts department just told me today that… Human should always learn from mistakes and that is when they REALLY learn. #truestory but anyway, I do hope they can minimize all the mistakes and increase the efficiency. They are also one bunch of staffs who never fail to leave ON DOT. SERIOUSLY. The ones who VOLUNTARILY work till 8pm EVERY NIGHT are the ones (3 of them) who work for 20 odd years for my dad.

My working hours depends on my dad. I follow him to work, lunch, and home every day. We normally reach the office at 0800hrs, lunch for 15mins (1/4 of official 60mins), and go home only at 1800hrs. So if my dad is a workaholic and sadly, he really is… It affects me as well. I spend approximately 10 hours in the office and for the first two weeks, everyone was so surprised that I returned so fast from lunch.

It felt like being as the daughter and my dad was kinda hoping I can work for him (because there was one he asked me to not go for my interview and help him attend a briefing/meeting) and I actually did that for him. I feel that I have the obligation to help him as much as I can to reduce his burdens and stresses but I only can management tiny bit of it now… Hope in more months to come, I can do more and release his burdens. Needless to ask why am I not complaining to leave office late every day.

Sometimes, work is fun… When you have a lot of things to cover and clear, time will fly but gradually, if I am desk-bound, doing mundane paperwork, it really can put me to sleep and losing all the motivation. In order to tackle this, I always look forward to lunch and dinner, then the weekend! Otherwise, I really concuss super early at night, UNKNOWINGLY. For 3 nights in a row this week, I slept at 8 – 9.30pm and had to wake up because the TV volume was too high and also, to bathe.

Life is tiring… When you start to work full-time.

Next thing, I am a boss of another company in Singapore!

I am a partner together with my dad’s close friend. We registered a company so we could officially extend the sales in SGP and we are doing all sorts of printing (bills, leaflets, brochures, books, letterhead, wedding invitations, calendars, catalogue, manual, envelopes, etc.), as long as the paper/ material is not thinner the receipt papers you see in the cash bills. We also supply stationeries (from my dad’s company) as well.

We do the printings in Malaysia (it SHOULD MOST probably be cheaper than the printing shops you engage in SGP), and deliver it to you. Our motto is, “We Print It More For Less” so you get me.

If you all need any kind of such products or services, please do feel free to approach us or me (since I can’t really remember my partner’s email address and too lazy to check for now) at annjaylim@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading, and hopefully… You guys can support me by helping me to venture out my business!

Godspeed.

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, by annjaylim

Race

What Adventure Race Has Taught Me

As a *quite* frequent participant for various competitive adventure races... I realized, each time I join an adventure race, I gain a lot of insights.

Adapted from:
The Adventure Blog

What has adventure race taught me?

Before the race:

1. Teamwork is important
With no team dynamic, there won't be motivation to carry on with the race. If you wanna be solo flyer or one-man army... You should just join races that are cater to individuals. It sucks to be in a team where teamwork is nowhere to be seen. Can you imagine, in a group of 3, there will always be one of them who is so far in front, and the rest of the team members will feel like shit, thinking that they are such a heavy burden for the team. Truth be told, the "slower" team member will inevitably feel very demoralized, and that's the last thing you want it to happen during a race which could affect the progress of the team.

2. You wanna win? You gotta train
No pain, no gain. As simple as that. When it comes to races, any type of race or competition, if you wanna win, you gotta put 101% of effort in trainings. Clearly explains why, national athletes, Olympians take years to train, and they train everyday in order to win during the race/ competitions. For team races, it is important to train together so you know where to improve, who to improve, how team members can achieve better results by helping one another.

3. Only use your already seasoned equipment
One does not simply buy new running shoes and use it during a race. Your feet will end up with blisters when it is too new, so it is essential to only use your already seasoned running shoes for the race. Even if your current pair is wearing out, make sure you get a new one ASAP and wear it for trainings at least a few times before you eventually use it for the actual race. You don't want any regrets.

4. Be prepared with essential items for the race

What are the essential items you need for an adventure race? The most basic stuffs you need to have are actually a water bag (that fits your body size), energy bars & gels, hydration salt, compass & maps, pens & notebook, ziploc or waterproof pouch, running compression tights, and muscle rubs/spray. These items are important... No joke, race can last you up to 8 hours, without all these, you might be in trouble. Dehydration, not enough salt, muscle cramps and whatnot. It's best if you can wear a cap and shades for the race as well. Sometimes, the sun is undeniably scorching hot.

5. Get enough rest
The night prior to the race, it is advisable to get ample rest. For instance, sleeping early and get at least 7-8 hours of sleep. Training should come to a halt for a couple of days before the race so your muscles can recover and get ready for actual event.

6. Eat the right food
Eat well such as low glycemic carbohydrates (oats, apple, bananas), and make sure you have good breakfast as least two hours before the race. If time is a factor, eat a light meal an hour before the race, also, hydrate yourself well enough so you won't be dehydrated just when the race has kicked off.

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During the race:

7. Hydrate yourself whenever possible
While others in the team are figuring out the next location or waiting for the rest to complete their parts for the station, it is good to be drinking water whenever you realize you have nothing to do. Do not drink water only when you feel thirsty because deprivation of water will make your muscles cramp. Doing such adventure race often exposed you to the burning hot sun, you will perspire a lot which makes you lose your body fluid pretty fast. Nothing to do during the race? Drink water.

8. Energy bars/ snacks, hydration salt
When you feel light-headed or totally out of energy, it's time to do some snacking. Or, allocate your energy snacks intervally. For instance, after 2 hours into the race, it's time to consume the snacks. Another hour later, consume a pack of hydration salt, make sure you are well-fuelled in order to carry on with the race. As usual, without sufficient salt, your muscles will give way... It happens to me A LOT of times, making my whole freaking quads so tensed, I couldn't even bend my legs.

9. Use the right motivation phrases

Jiayao who was one of my team members, he was also used to be my ex-trainer... The way he motivates people are way different from others. He motivates while teaching us how to run better, aside from those typical,"EH, YOU CAN DO IT!!! COME ON, JUST RUN! DON'T GIVE UP!!" This kinda motivations, the person who uses it definitely deserves a big tight slap on the face. It's annoying and demoralizing... A few phrases Jiayao used on me during the recent adventure race are:

"Don't stop, just maintain at this speed is good enough."
"If you are feeling tired, distract yourself... Try to daydream or focus on your breathing or learn how to navigate from the map *passes me the map & teaches me how to navigate*"
"Smaller steps, faster pace!" - The rational behind this is because, if you take wider strikes, you feel more tiring... So he asked me to take in smaller steps but at a faster pace.
"Whenever your legs are cramping, stop and walk... There's no need to force yourself and injure your muscles. Run only when your muscles are ready to take the impact.

10. Read the station instructions carefully
Instructions to complete the task are important. You need to understand it before you undertake any actions... Provided that the instructions given by the organizing committees are not misleading as well. Do not just hastily skim through the instructions just because you want to head off first... It may backfire.

11. Refill your water bags wherever possible
Bottles of water are normally found at all stations for runners. When you realize your water bag is getting lighter, you know it's time to refill it. WATER IS IMPORTANT... Also, if there are bananas or energy gels/ bars given, do not hesitate to get some. It will be a life saviour.

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After the race:

12. Rest and recovery are important
Muscles are terribly sore? It is time for the muscles to get their well deserved rest. Get enough rest, no more strenuous workout on the muscles. Dipping into cold bath works as well, or getting a massage. It's good to head for a swim after the strenuous race since swimming goes easier on the joints rather than a recovery run.

13. Eat the right stuff
After a race, it's good to replenish the nutrients which are lost during the race. You can eat grilled chicken for its lean protein and carbo, salmon with sweet potato to since salmon provides joint support and sweet potato can replenish glycemic carbo. Chocolate milk for carbs and proteins recovery as it replenishes the fluids lost as sweat, calcium, sodium, and sugar during workout/race. There are many other varieties of post workout/race food, just google it up!

Basically, these are the few pointers I've had learnt while doing a race... & hopefully, I am joining more races with my fellow usual teammates so I can still be learning and share my experiences with everyone. I'm just an amateur racer but each experience is truly memorable.

All the effort, time, and sweat we put in for training, and the journey from the pre-race to the end of the race deserved to be recorded.

Xx.

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, by annjaylim

Festival

Happy Horsesome Year!

It's my favourite festival of all year!

It's CNY!

Seriously, how can one do not like celebrating lunar new year, when all (singles/ kids) have to do is to EAT, and eat, and more eating, exchange a few auspicious greetings to the adults and viola!!! ANGPOWS MANY MANY. Plus, you get to wear all the new clothes, shoes, accessories, & whatnot. It's always a fantastic season of all, like every single one of us will gather for a few days, enjoy meals together at the table, joke around, play around, and also, meeting the favourite cousins!!

This year, we finally get to celebrate it at our new house!

There's a marina at our estate, since it's located at the sea, so there's this dock to berth boats and 1st day of CNY was pretty mundane. We had nothing to do, and I even took a nap after breakfast, in the afternoon. We didn't even bother to bathe and change into our CNY clothes until we heard someone came to our house for a visit. It was my neighbour next door actually, they came back from somewhere and saw our cars are at home so paid a visit before going back to their house.

It was then, the Lim siblings (my two brothers & I) decided to bathe and change while waiting for dinner at relative's house. We were all dressed up but were stuck at home, doing nothing. I watched the encore telecast of Mediacorp CNY Countdown in my room though hahaha and my brothers never failed to infiltrate my room... So anyhow, my dad saw us all dressed up and the first thing he asked was,"why are you all dressed up? We are at home now leh..." HAHAHAHAHA

I DIDN'T WANT TO PUT MY CNY DAY 1 OOTD TO WASTE.

I urged my brothers to dress up as well and so, we could take photos together. I wanted to take a few decent family portraits but my mom went out to my relative's house, not sure what she did there, I guess to show some face and interact with them since my dad doesn't really talk to his siblings a.k.a my uncles and aunts. Without my mom, obviously, we couldn't take a family portrait together.

What we did next was surprisingly hilarious.

Not sure what my brothers were thinking, probably trying to get this 'Running Man' style outfit. Both of them were fighting over with their new pairs of shoes, one with his Nike, another one with his NB. They were trying hard, very hard, to pull off the look you always see in the RM shows. The casts would always be in berms/jeans, with running shoes.Yes, that's how my brothers were trying to dig that look but LOLOL still far from it.

Here's my brothers, both trying to wear the shoes:

My big bro really has the brightest and loudest shoes of all, with his stripes patterned socks.

We then headed out to the broadwalk and took some pictures, using my Nikon J1, self-timer, and a tripod. Once and for all, none of my brothers can take decent photos... All my solo pics, asking them to help me with it, turned out to be out-of-focus. Le sigh, but I took rather good photos of them man.

HAHA 2nd brother.

I was pestering either of my brothers to pose at that spot since it really gives out a FEEL.

Here's a few pictures we took at the marina:

TRYING TO BE FUNNY

I asked him to pose & in the count of 3, he suddenly possessed the soul of Charlie Choplin.

The only missing item was, an umbrella.

As they grow older, they started to resemble each other.

Round and round.

Oh hi, here's the Lim Siblings.

I know, this photo looks awkward with the weird poses.

It was taken to create this:

Hahaha, having to see so many photos on the Internet with people mimicking the past photos for a present one, we decided to give it a try as well. #closeenough

Some commented, EVEN THE POLE GREW BIGGER LOLOLOL didn't realize until people commented it hahahahaha.

Here's me with my CNY dress from HollyHoque!

Should have gotten the S size for it, it fitted me good enough for M size but it's kinda loose at the waist... I have to rectify it with a belt, otherwise, I'd look really weird.

So, CNY day 1 was pretty boring.

In fact, CNY gets more and more boring each year, for instance, house visits get lesser, more relatives are not going back to maternal grandma's house as well (for day 2). This year, we only managed to see my mom's siblings, the 3 aunts and 2 uncles... We see them quite often in a year so, it's nothing really special about seeing them again during CNY, but we get to play with their kids so not too bad.

A sad but true fact, we are not really close with paternal relatives and cousins also, pretty much explains why first day of CNY was and would always be kinda boring... My dad doesn't even talk much to his siblings, and most of them are located in KL, so we don't see them so often at all, probably only during CNY and on the tombsweeping day whereby we need to gather and offer our prayers to our ancestors. We would eat at my relative's house for reunion dinner... and then, my family will sit together, outside, rotting away. That's my CNY eve for you lolol standard reunion dinner with nothing much.

As for the 1st day of CNY, like I said, we slacked at home... My dad was asking my mom to get the relatives gather at my house instead, at least there would be much more space and seats for everyone, also can serve as an open house since most of them haven't really visited our new house before. Later in the afternoon, my mom came back w the relatives and they toured the house, the estate, while my brothers and I decided to take pictures hahahaha.

The day ended... After some photographs taking session and we went over to relative's house for dinner. THAT'S ABOUT IT hahaha.

AND REALLY, the Chinese in Malaysia seem to be celebrating CNY for whole 15 days man, I woke up early this morning to fix my dimsum cravings but the shop is only resuming on the 13th Feb, like seriously?!?!?! I told my mom to go for the famous kway chap near Pelangi Plaza, and WAHLAO, like what my mom said, it should be closed for CNY also. Damn, she was RIGHT. In the end, we settled at the dimsum shop opposite (we used to patronize it every morning at 5am when my mom had to send us to custom during school days) and god, it was filled with a lot of customers as well.

To my horror, many of them were still in their CNY clothes, ready to start their house visiting after breakfast. IT WAS LIKE THE CHILDREN, THE PARENTS, EVERYONE IN MALAYSIA DOES NOT HAVE TO WORK WHEN IT'S ALREADY THE 6TH DAY OF CNY?!?!?! How is that possible?!?! My mom said most of them should be taking leaves for CNY, but wahlao eh, the 6th day already... Erm, talking about this, I just realized my 2nd brother hasn't start working also lolol.

IT'S THIS THE PERKS OF WORKING IN MALAYSIA???????

& having to wake up early for breakfast...

I was so tired, I napped in the afternoon until a phone call came and talked to me about job interview. Maybe, I should get back to the events industry...

I was so tired... That I knew the part-time maids came but I just continued sleeping, even when they vacuum the room. I am a light sleeper and if I could sleep through the noise, I am probably dead tired.