speck of heart
february 20, 2005
^ j is one lucky guy
a long weekend isn't a long weekend without meeting up with friends. so i ventured out to sea harbor in rosemead today for some dim sum with some gal pals and some of their significant others in tow.
dim summing on sundays at 11:30am is the peak of any dim sum hour. the crowds are enormous and the decibels are off the charts. even though we only had 10 people at our table today, i had to strain my voice to its max in order to get any conversation across the table. two and a half hours later, i would like to trade in my voicebox for an upgrade thank you. i haven't seen some of these gals since october and since then, i haven't been able to make it to our montly get togethers. so this was a get together, long overdue.
i tell you, i have such wonderful & beautiful friends who have been there for me through thick and thin through the years. it's just, i've been in my own little nightmare er...world these days and haven't been able to unlock all these thoughts to really pour out my heart to anyone, except for 1 or 2 people. i feel bad for not being as honest as i can be with everyone around me at this time. but i think in given time, i will break out of my shell and be more forthcoming about everything. it's important to not jump the gun and pace myself for the time being. although i feel like i want to just scream and let it all out, i know this is not the time.
i'm sure if anything, my friends who saw me today probably didn't notice anything wrong or different about me. i laughed, i joked, i talked heartily and even engaged in a lively conversation with a new person today. i've always been very good at putting on a veil and masking any hurt underneath. and maybe, being around friends just allows me to release myself to forget the pain, even temporarily.
i didn't really take any food photos to talk about today except for this dessert dish made from bittermelons. usually bittermelons are...bitter but from what i hear, they encrusted the sesame seed paste mochi with a fried bittermelon batter. it was really green. and it was really good. and it wasn't bitter.
like any dim sum meal that i partake in these days, i limit myself immensely. i always end up feeling ill or really out of sorts everytime i eat this greasy shit. but i don't think anything compares to an outing for dim sum with friends. there's just something about yelling at the top of your lungs across the table that gives it a whole different feeling than say...a frou frou brunch where everyone is so....oh...proper. :p
and finally, some of the dim sum suspects:
^ love this pic of g & h (and no, they are not a couple :p)
^ first time meeting m & m today
^ j & j
^j & s
:: :: ::
^ snowbie digging the mags as much as i do
went to my weekly JKD class yesterday. i never knew how quickly 3 hours can fly by. but i must be enjoying my classes immensely if i don't mind pouring out the blood, sweat and tears. and let's not forget the PAIN. after last week's class, i was sore and stiff for a good 48+ hours. i walked funny, i was wincing with everyone movement, i could not even turn over in bed. i wasn't able to feel normal again until tuesday - literally, every part of my body hurt.
so i wasn't really sure what to expect when i arrived yesterday. there was a good number more attendees this week than last - i of course was still the new face being the only adult female there but a lot of the guys introduced themselves to me - perhaps it's because they respect a woman for being serious and passionate about martial arts. or perhaps it's the fact that their testoserone filled room now has a wee bit of estrogen in the balance? regardless, i was surprised at how nice they all were to introduce themselves and to say hello to a newbie like me. i would have thought that in this forum, most men would be threatened when a woman has entered their domain. or am i thinking too 1800's here?
as i arrived in the pouring rain yesterday, i didn't expect a class of 20 inside ready to go. and as i was setting down my gear, someone hit me on the back and when i turned around, it was my sifu handing me a stack of inside kung fu magazines. he said "read these and catch up." for the rest of the day, i wondered why he gave me a big stack of stuff to read. i have to admit, the content is really good and it may be something i have to subscribe to but i couldn't help but wonder if the sifu saw some potential in me and saw how serious i was about the training? maybe he saw that i wasn't just one of those chicks who said they will do something, try it out and quit because it got tough.
to give you an idea of what takes place in the confines of 3 hours, here's an outline of sorts:
run 1 mile
ab training
push ups (5 kinds of them)
stretching
speed bag
punching bags
footwork training
kicking drills w/ mat
punching drills w/ focus gloves
blocking & attack using various forms of martial arts
balance training
more abs and push ups
i found that each week, there is some consistency in what goes on but the martial arts training varies greatly and everything gets rotated. i've found that i've become much more focused and disciplined already. and my temper is for the most part, better. maybe it's because i'm taking out all my frustrations on the punching bag and on the kicking drills. you get to exert a lot of pent up anger when you abuse those things.
my body isn't feeling too bad - but i won't lie - i am sore again today but only slightly. i guess that is somewhat of an improvement from last week. i'm just hurting more from where the different sifu's twisted my arm and hit the nerve areas. eeck. yes, i am paying for this pain.
