withdrawal symptoms

It's called the Post-Travel Withdrawal Symptoms. That's when after returning from a trip, I find myself looking through my travel pics over and over again, and googling for sites on places I visited. It happened before in the weeks following my other fabulous trips with friends, and it's happening again. Pining!

Lately I've just been googling for (what else!) Routeburn and Greenstone sites. It's so nice to read others gush about the same places that I gush about. And although I vividly remember myself telling myself that 'ok, this will be the last major hike i do because my knees are just dying' while tramping the last day, well, it's probably not going to happen. (this is not the first time i've 'promised' myself that anyway. i'm still breaking that promise. lolz.) That's what I call the Mountains Withdrawal Symptoms. Once you've experienced the exhiliration that comes from being out there smack in the middle of the mountains... it's hard to ever retire from trekking.

Might i add that I read in an issue of Wilderness (NZ's outdoorsy mag) about an 85-yr-old lady who completed a guided tramp (no need to carry heavy backpack) on the Queen Charlotte Track and I was extremely inspired? :P

The kiwi style of tramping kind of trekking is an even better option, cuz it's not really done with the purpose of conquering any peaks. Just pure walking, along with the pure enjoyment of just being out there. I'm not a peak-bagger and don't really aspire to conquer various peaks. I really just want to enjoy being out there.

But... NZ is expensive lah. Oh well... at least I can indulge in photos from trampers on the net and imagine myself in the pictures. =)

weighty issues... not

ok, so i'm back home in sg. =) yes yes, everyone is commenting on my chubbier cheeks and general weight gain. but hey, only a couple of kilos mah... and i like to think that after my miles and miles of nz tramping, some of that weight must be due to muscles and not all just fats right? (remember muscles are heavier than fats.)

Quotable quotes from various pple:

my hairstylist: "so u know why i can't cut your fringe to be too short...??" complete with an evil wink. (cuz a longer fringe can frame and therefore slim my face down...)

my colleague: "well, i don't know if your feet are swollen or fat lah, but it's bigger lah." [clarification - swollen lah. really. see previous entries for reason.]

my sister: "do u feel more cramped in a foodcourt now??"

so, am I just trying to laugh things off? Well, i think i'm more assured of myself than to do that. i won't deny that sometimes i get paranoid about the whole thing. but when i take a step back and look at things in perspective, hey, i am not even anywhere near an unhealthy weight. my bmi is right smack in the healthy range. i exercise 2-3 times a week and eat tonnes of fruits n vege. and best of all, for once in my life, i'm not anaemic anymore. Yes!! previously i had to eat meat and liver the night or meal before I even try to donate blood and even then, half the time my haemoglobin level would fall short of the minimum level (12.0) and I'd be refused as a donor. but guess what? when i went to donate on wed, even after i only ate popiah for lunch and bread for breakfast... my haemoglobin level was 14.4! 14.4 leh! wah. that's super high lor. my blood pressure which is usually on the low side is finally in the normal range too. i'm pleased as pudding regarding my haemoglobin level above all, because being slightly anaemic all the time is not fun. always feel like fainting when i'm standing too long, or feel dizzy when i get up from sitting/squatting down.

psalm 139:14 says that i am fearfully and wonderfully made by God. King david praises God - "Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." i am immensely thankful that i know for sure that as a wonderful creation of God, i don't need to find my assurance and confidence in being as skinnythin and of a certain body shape as what society and media would have me believe. this body is not my own, but is a temple of my living God. my job is to keep my body healthy.

well, admittedly i haven't kept my skin and feet in the best of health the past months (feet, overused. skin, overly sun-tanned at times) and i'm humbly trying to make amends for that now... heehee. but other than that, hey, i thank God for my [improved] health man!! =)

p/s. Enjoy the new song i put up. i found it so apt after seeing God's awesome creation in nz! praise God.

anticipation

i realised that 'taking cold showers' sounded worse than what it really was. well, to clarify, the water was warm in all the places that i stayed in lah (nz's backpackers standards is superbly high). but it's juz that... some places were cold enough for me to tremble uncontrollably the minute i turned off the warm water to towel down and get dressed. and yes... i totally dislike the feeling of going into what i call my 'cold convulsions'.

anyway, a nagging worry at the back of my mind since i finished the Routeburn is that i suspect i might have damaged my feet quite badly. :( i suspect a case of collapsed arches of my feet. long story, but... i'm worried enough to go see my podiatrist friend when i go back to sg. my poor poor feet...

the anticipation of returning to sg grows everyday! chatted with a friend yest who returned to sg abt 3 wks ago. she said that if not for the fact that she had to claim her baggage and stuff, she'd have practically run out of the airport.

i think i can identify with that! haha. globalisation has lessened the impact of living overseas considerably i must admit. after all, i can get pretty good wanton noodles and nasi lemak here. but there are other stuff like kway chup, mee siam, dunman duck rice, roti prata and gd old authentic soya bean milk that are irreplacable.

and familiar foodstuff is just the beginning. what about juz being at parkway parade, at a fren's house, at charis... oh man - what about being juz behind the drums and the keyboard again at charis' musicians' pit!!

i never thought i'd see my hamster Raisin again when i left for melb. he has a long life, woohoo!! i hope you remember me, dear. haha.

and yes... to be able to shower in a gd temperature range again. =P

blistered, bitten and bruised

before anything else, i need to give a tribute to my poor feet. yes, this entry's title is in relation to the state of my feet now. heavily blistered, badly scarred by sandfly bites, and my bruised toenail remains. *sigh* I've totally not cared well enough for my feet the past month and now i'm paying the price, having to walk with a limp more than half the time to relieve discomfort.

but my feet have brought me across the amazing landscapes and terrrains of nz's south island over the past month, and so for that, this tribute is to... my feet!! haha...

Anyway, it was a gd month spent exploring south island. backpacking is fun for sure, but there were times when the nomadic lifestyle did get a bit tiring. having to stay at a different place almost every night IS tiring, i assure you!

my fave moments of the trip: walking the Routeburn and Greenstone Track, meeting new people, having fun at Puzzling World in Wanaka, celebrating christmas and new year with old friends and new-found ones, and definitely horse-trekking!

miserable moments of the trip: TAKING COLD SHOWERS rank as number 1 for that. And number 2 is the last few hours of tramping when I was seriously tramping every step in p-a-i-n (cuz of really disgusting blisters).

phew. i'm done with travelling for a while now. all i want to do is to go home soon, and i'm definitely looking forward to it. 3 more days! NZ is gorgeous, and Melb is nicely familiar, but home... nothing can replace being truly at home.