Histrionic Personality Disorder

Guys.....a little educational post here about Histrionic personality disorder.

I'll explain why we're doing this "teaching" later.

Histrionic personality disorder (as per Wikipedia) is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a personality disordercharacterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriate seductiveness, usually beginning in early adulthood. These individuals are lively, dramatic, enthusiastic, and flirtatious. They may be inappropriately sexually provocative, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and be easily influenced by others.

Diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV-TR = 301.50) - I believe in DSM-IV rather than ICD-10!!!

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a widely used manual for diagnosing mental disorders, defines histrionic personality disorder as a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention
2. Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior
3. Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions
4. Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self
5. Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail
6. Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion
7. Is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances
8. Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.
9. Compulsiveness

So.....why the sudden interest in personality disorder?

Because these "friends" of mine at work have "diagnosed" me to have Histrionic Personality Disorder!!!!

And I refuse to accept this diagnosis.

Fine....let's just go over the "symptoms" again!

The symptoms (again copy-pasted this from some website) include:

• Exhibitionist behavior - really? me?! oh c'mon!!!
• Constant seeking of reassurance or approval - I DON'T think so!!!
• Excessive dramatics with exaggerated displays of emotions - I'm FEMALE!!! It's normal!!!
• Excessive sensitivity to criticism or disapproval - I am NOT!! Constructive criticisms are welcome!
• Inappropriately seductive appearance or behavior - Oh, I NEVER!!!
• Excessive concern with physical appearance - not anymore after I started running....
• A need to be the center of attention (self-centeredness) - it's an ONLY-CHILD thing!
• Low tolerance for frustration or delayed gratification - I'm ALL for delayed gratification
• Rapidly shifting emotional states that may appear superficial or exaggerated to others - you guys think so?!
• Tendency to believe that relationships are more intimate than they actually are - I'm commitment-phobic.....period!!
• Making rash decisions - it's called spontaneity!!!

Feel free to challenge my beliefs regarding my own personality or whatever faulty personality traits you'd think I'm having....(frankly I think obsessive personality is more my thing....)

Whatever...

Later!!!!

Don't I Have A FULL Marathon To Train For?!

I'm SO over the Shape Run last Saturday where I had a *ahem* "personal-meltdown" halfway while running.....

Yes....not always good to harp on the past so much.

And YES I do have a FULL marathon to train for.

Borneo International Marathon is on 11th October 2009.

It's REALLY upcoming......*starts hyperventilating*

You guys hang in there.....I NEED to breathe in and out for a while!

Anyway, this dawned on me today while at work (you'd think it would have occurred to me long ago that I've not done any long run over a half marathon distance.....), and I sat down and started doing some simple math calculations.

I don't have sufficient mileage in my "running bank" to actually run 42km.

Quick.....free lunch to anyone who can guess what I did next without reading on to the next paragraph!

You cheated...you're already READING this paragraph!

I NOW have a real freakin schedule on how far I should run each day until the supposed monumental running event rolls by.

Yup.....I'm in awe of myself as well....(you can now pick your jaw up from the floor ok!)

I've even scheduled in my "defunct" running week for when I go diving after the Safra Army Half Marathon in Singapore on 16th August 2009.

I WILL have enough distance run before my 2 taper weeks *sigh* approaches.

Let's see how adherent I am to this schedule.

How long did I take to come up with this timetable?

Erm......

Well, I kinda like my timetable in neatly drawn tables and columns....and I had to double check when the public holidays are, then factor in my on-calls days, do a double take on when my other shorter distance races are (coz there goes another opportunity for long runs)....AND on which weekends I'm heading home (coz no one wants to go slow long distance with me when I'm in PJ/KL in the wee hours of the morning....and that is WHY Ipoh running uncles are such gems!).

I think it took about an hour.......(I'm a little obsessive and slightly perfectionistic when it comes to nitty-gritty "unimportant" matters in life such as this!)

YES I do have real work to do AT work....

But real work is so NO fun....THIS is MORE fun!

Anyway this morning while running, bump into Uncle Frank.....again.

Found out that he's doing the morning brisk walk thing with Auntie Frank and then come back in the evening to run.

Apparently that routine helped him lose 6 pounds in 3 weeks......

No....I'm not THAT far off the edge......yet. But I admit....I DID think about doing the twice daily run thing after he mentioned it.

It would really help the mileage and if the pounds comes off....then MORE eating for ME!!!

Quite a win-win situation, if you ask me.....

Anyway I went off tangent for a bit......sorry.

Well, Uncle Frank and I had "on-the-spot tutorial" regarding tempo runs.

Add on yesterday's late night, I was SO tired after the run this morning....but extremely determined to make this speed thing work for me!!!

Alrighty....will hit the sack early.

I have an appointment with my "boyfriend" RUNNING for a 13km slow run at 5.15am!

(because I plan to cheat on my "boyfriend" with my other "lover" EATING.....which I plan to do a lot of!)

I'll save the fast running for Thursday.

Later!!!!

Shape & Men's Health 11.5km (25th July 2009)

Erm.....

I wanted to run this race below an hour.

I don't get why my legs have to turn to lead during the race.

I don't understand why my gastrointestinal system has to go on mutiny while my legs are already protesting.

I really don't comprehend why anyone would call this route FLAT.

Then again maybe it's just me.

But actual running aside, the whole event of the pre-, peri- and post-race was actually very fun.

I would like to thank the people who I was running with for THAT FUN!

(Thanks guys!!!! And I would like to thank Emmy for driving us to Putrajaya where the race was held!)

Anyway for information only (for you factual-philic people out there), the race was suppose to flag off at 8pm in Putrajaya in front of the Palace of Justice.

We started "fueling" rather early.....like at 4pm early.

So the whole group of us (more like those Subang Jaya people and us, "others".....suddenly I feel like the "unmentionables"!!) gathered at the supposed local watering hole, 'Snowflakes' (for the factual-philics again: Snowflakes faces AsiaCafe and serves Taiwanese Icy Desserts.....and FYI, I'm a convert!)

* this is us fueling up for the race....4 hours before!!!!

* yup...all "fueled" up for the 11.5km

Yea...not exactly the ideal pre-race fueling regime but I guess one gets to be young, nonsensical and stupid once in their entire lifetime.....so icy desserts it is!

And we hung around until about 6pm to push off to Putrajaya.

FYI......I've been to Putrajaya ONCE before (dad drove, I sorta navigate...poorly) and got hopelessly lost!

So I'm thankful there were 2 other people in the car that could become human GPS...(who needs technology when you have the power of the human brain?!)

* lacing up our running shoes and sorting out our bags

* alrite guys.....smile your best pre-race smile for the camera!

* Wendy....my skirt wearing comrade.....yes, still wearing the skirt UNTIL it becomes mainstream!

* the parking lot...ample parking space!!

* PG's running gang! I want one of those shirts too!!!!

Anyway, we got there early and I kinda lost the rest of the group after I suddenly decided I needed to relieve myself at the porta-potty before the start.

I blame the bladder for sending the information LATE to the brain telling me that I need to pee.

* hold it in CS!!! Why is Emmy hogging the porta-potty?!

Since I lost the gang....I wandered around rather aimlessly in the holding area until I bumped into Wendy. I feel that I keep bumping into Wendy whenever I'm wandering aimlessly after I've lost the people that I came to the race with........(Ipoh Half Marathon comes to mind!)

* walking to the start

* the starting line.....

Also....the irony of it being a night run, I was already sweating before I started doing any running!!!

And I started feeling very bloated for some reason!

Yea yea...icy desserts 4 hours before race doesn't seem like such a great idea at that moment.

During the actual running itself, the first 15 minutes were alright.

And then it was kinda went downhill for me after that.....as the route started taking us on the first uphill! (oh the irony is killing me)

This was the conversation I was having with myself:

Puisan: I wanna walk!!!

Brain: Think POSITIVE!!!

Legs: Let her walk...PLEASE!!!

Brain: You whinies are pathetic!!!

Legs: You're not the one carrying the rest of the body weight onto you, y'know!!! We're low on fuel and we need to walk!

Brain: What d'ya mean you're low on fuel!? We've been overeating....FINE, carboloading if we're trying to make Puisan feel better.....since Friday itself!!!! 

Puisan: .....that banana-oat crumble with ice cream on Friday night was SO good wasn't it.....

Brain: OMG....she's losing it!

Legs: Well....we're kinda losing it as well!!!

Brain: Just hang in there....we're ALMOST there...

Legs: You're such a BAD liar...

Puisan: Guys, look.....water station......

Legs: Hell with the higher functioning level.....we're walking to drink!!!!

Brain:....*inaudible grumbling*

Anyway I did stop to walk around the last few kilometers...I think it was the last 3km!

Oh...and I would like to thank running uncle C3233 (I think..) for the encouragement to keep running at that moment.....but the tiny up-slope between 1-2km made me walk again!

I gathered whatever willpower I had to give myself a little push to the end when I finally saw the finishing line!!!

Praise the Lord for the finishing line is in view!!!!

I finished in 1 hour 9 minutes and 41 seconds.

It's almost a good 10 minutes over an hour.

I was no. 31 in Women's Open category.

I feel like throwing up.

I feel like fainting.

I feel like shit!!!!

* Awww.....don't cry CS.....you'll get a medal next time around....but in the meantime, can I have my medal back?!

Y'know......they say to suffer is to feel alive....well, then YES I FEEL FREAKIN ALIVE!!!!

Luckily I saw Emmy and CS and they were shoving water to me in between congratulatory comments between us.

* yup...feeling so freakin ALIVE aren't we?!

Anyway......my essential aim for this race, which was obtaining a medal (top 75!!) was achieved.

Congrats to Jamie for her no. 18 placement and to Deon for being the only dude in the group to get a medal!

But no hard feelings guys....you all did swell!!!!

* pose for the camera....you're all FANTABULOUS!!!!

Oh.....and I FINALLY met one of my Facebook buddy, Raymond. 

Yup....we've finally progressed from cyber-buddies to real life ones......(frankly, as long as you meet the person and shake their hand, I consider that real life buddies....don't argue with me on it!)

* yup...FINALLY met Raymond....(previously my Facebook buddy)

I'm not gonna harp on the bad running for race last night.

I'm gonna look forward to KOTR Half Marathon at Shah Alam next week.

OK that's actually a lie.....I'm not looking forward to running that route.

(Uphill....downhill.....a roundabout....repeat many times)

I've done the 10km version of that race last year and it was excruciating and not exciting!

But as always....I psych myself up for the challenge.

So I'm running it next Sunday morning!!!

I am NOT gonna aim for a terrific timing.

As long as I complete the race within 2:15...I'm happy.

I'm gonna try and do better at the Safra Army Half Marathon!

THAT would be such a great start to my one week holiday!!!

* us and Sham from MixFm

As we were walking back to Emmy's car and heading off for dinner (or supper depending how you'd look at it), I spotted Sham, the MixFM Deejay.

So decided that we'd all take a picture with him.

After Sham left and we were left there to take more random pictures of ourselves (we're getting a tad bit narcissistic.....but it's totally forgivable when you're still in your 20's), the rest of the gang asked me who that "bald dude" was and how I knew him.

Well...I don't KNOW him....I know OF him.....

Apparently no one listens to MixFM, take note of the deejay on the radio....or ever watched 'What Women Want' (a reality TV from a couple of years back).......

Oh nevermind, guys!!!!

I'll see you guys next Sunday for KOTR!!!!

Later!!!!!

TGIT - Week in review

Thank God it's Thursday!!!!

Let everyone sing praises to His name for He has ONCE AGAIN brought the week to the second half!!!!

Gosh I LOVE Thursdays!!!!

I love it even more than Fridays.....(which I always feel were a little overrated)

And I LOVE it lots more when I have the Friday off and I get to go back to my "hometown" of KL!!!

Yup....I took Friday off again for "Save-Puisan's-Sanity" effort.

So far these "mini-holiday" has been working like a charm to keep myself from pulling my hair out (trichotillomanic?) and screaming profanities into the night!!!

Anyway....my week so far has been GREAT!!!! (well...more or less)

I've reverted back to my usual early-morning-before-work running schedule....y'know, before the so-called Influenza H1N1 striked and left me out breath for almost 2 weeks.

Speaking of influenza, "rumour" (most solid ground-breaking news start from rumours!) has it that we have one positive H1N1 case at our hospital (as detected from the throat swab I told y'guys about)....

Unfortunately it wasn't me!

(Imagine...if it WAS me, my immune system is all ready to take on the future-mutated-more-virulent strain!!!!)

Back to the running.......I am happy to report that I am no longer choking on my own nasal secretions and can breathe just fine!

My mileage.....erm.......

Well, let's just say I'm working on it.

Will get back to the 60km week thing by next week......(I reckon I should achieve that since I have a half marathon next weekend!)

But I am really really ecstatic that I am running daily since the start of this week!

I'm ALMOST back to my old self!!

And.....I'm excited, coz I have a race this Saturday.

Yup, it's the Shape & Men's Health 11km night run at Putrajaya.

And, I really really REALLY wanna finish that race within 60 minutes......asking for too much?

I am hoping the route will be flat as a tack!

Work wise, it has been somewhat good.

The masters students are a delight to have around.

It really reduces the workload for us in Forensic Psychiatry......coz y'know, EVERYONE will start claiming that they have a freakin mental illness after being caught red-handed for their crimes, so you can imagine the admission rate we are facing!!!

However, my 348(i)s and (ii)s are all relapsing and pissing me off with their psychoses!

Quick....what's the next BEST antipsychotic out there!?

Oh yea....the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on 6th December 2009 is open for registration.

And yes....I've registered for the full.

(I don't wanna jinx myself before BIM in October so am not gonna talk too much about running a full marathon just yet!)

Also, anyone interested in running the Hong Kong Marathon late February next year?

I'm looking for takers!!!!!

(no....I don't think I'm being overly ambitious. I'm just looking for another reason to go for a holiday. And no, I don't think I'm being obsessive about this running thing. I'd like to think of it as passion!!)

Later!!!!!

Siemens Run 10km (19th July 2009) - short report!!!

I had fun for this race.

And to think I was having second thoughts about running it.....geez!!!!

I didn't make the 58 minutes that I wanted.....

I got in 59:05.

Acceptable I guess......but still........sigh.

You guys hang around while I go slap myself out of this negative aura that I managed to get myself in over the weekend!

Alright....I feel better now! (even though cheeks kinda hurt)

I turned up for this race with Vern (go get Facebook, for crying out loud!) and Emmy (who ran with CS's number...gender "upgrade" to Men's Open category)

* Congratulations to Emmy on her SECOND 10km race! She came in 1hr 13min!!! She didn't get a medal though since she ran in the Men's Open category....erm, don't ask!

* Vern, no worries about the lack of medal. The goodie bag was pretty good rite?! (he came in 55min.....Men's Open always runs out of medals SO quickly!)

And it was a really good race.

To think I ONLY paid rm10 for the whole thing!!!

I got a decent shirt (which I've made up in my mind I'd wear to go sleep in!), the race had enough water stations with even one stocked with isotonic drinks, it was a less hilly route than usual, I finished before an hour and got a freakin medal and cert, I was stuffed with chilled Milo and 100-plus AND I got a goodie bag.....

* Thanks to Tey for the picture! I'm a running skirt convert!!

C'mon...what else can I asked for?!

* My apparent achivement......will do better @ next race!!!!!

Anyway......can't wait for the Shape and Men's Health night run this coming Saturday.

Oh ooohh........I'm heading for Singapore for the Safra Army Half marathon on 16th August 2009 (trying to get a bit of running during my week off from work!)

People......if you're reading this and WE actually know EACH OTHER (even if just a Facebook friend), feel free to drop me a line and meet up while in Singapore ok?

I have a feeling I'm the only person THAT I KNOW who is running this race....anyone else?

After the Singapore weekend (will be flying down Friday), will be heading to Perhentian Island to get my diving certificate! (will someone remind me to get all the bookings settled soon?!)

See.....I did say I will get this diving thing done before this year is up!!!!

After the diving thing, will settle the bicycle thing (to sort the dualthon thing)......and start SERIOUSLY training for the full marathon thing....

OMG, October is just around the freakin corner!!!! *hyperventilates*

Alrite....I HAVE to go now....

I NEED TO BREATHE IN AND OUT OF A PAPER BAG!!!!

Later!!!!

Room..did you miss me?!

I'm back!!! (home, that is)

Gosh it feels like it's been FOREVER since I last came home to my old room.....OMG I miss this room SO much!!!

It always feels a little awkward coming back home....it's like getting to know your room all over again.....

("Room....we NEED to get some bonding time!!")

I dunno....just awkward, that's the only word that comes close to describing the feeling.

Anyway I got a nice little surprise when I walked into my room yesterday night.....

I found this letter addressed to me...(I usually address most of my "important" letters including stuff from ebay and lelong.com to the hospital) sitting nicely on my table.......(mom's really good at sorting my mails...not that there's much to sort through to begin with....)

The bumper sticker from iRunFar.com finally came!!!

* i...Run....Far....ok ok, Ultra next year!

Well.....iRunFar.com is actually this blog that I accidentally stumbled upon while I'm blog-hopping to kill boredom.....(No.....not while AT work, obviously)

I got to the page that was giving out free bumper stickers and I asked Bryon (the blog dude) on the comment page whether he'd send me a bumper sticker even if I live half way around the globe....(y'know, I like asking.....you'd never know until you've asked!!)

He was like, sure thing...

I was like, way cool!

And after that I totally forgot about the whole incident until I came home after 2 continuous weekends in Ipoh, and found Bryon's letter!!!!

SO FREAKIN COOL!!!! I got a free bumper sticker!!!

I suddenly felt that I don't deserve to stick this at the back of my car....coz technically, Bryon's blog is ALL about ultras and I've NEVER done one yet!!! 

(yes...my first full is coming up in October.....my preparation...erm.....)

Sooooo.......this is MY plan....

I'm suddenly VERY extremely determine to run (maybe run-walk-walk) an ultra before the end of 2010.

And AFTER that, I'll proudly stick this bumper sticker on the back of my car.....

I will not let Bryon's effort of posting this sticker to me be in vain!!!!

Problem now would be NOT misplacing the sticker before the aforementioned time comes.

(Yea....I tend to be very forgetful.......I'm almost FAMOUS for being forgetful!)

Well, if you know me well enough, you'd know that if I'm psyched-up enough for something as crazy as wanting to do an Ultra by 2010, by-golly I'LL GET IT DONE!!!!!!

(So...who wants to run-walk-walk 84km with me next Sundown?)

Oh yea.....

Am running the Siemen's Run 10km tomorrow.

I'm not prepared.

I'm not ready.

I actually feel a tinge of nervousness......

I've been NOT running enough for the past 2 weeks...

(I blame laryngitis....DARN YOU LARYNGITIS!!!!)

I've not done any speedwork.....(yes Uncle Frank, will work on it....erm, NEXT WEEK!)

And I, erm.....overate. But let's not harp on the overeating part...shit happens!

I'm trying to psych myself up for fast running tomorrow.

I really REALLY wanna run it less than 60 minutes.

I think the last 10km race I did (probably the KL City Day 10km), I managed to run it in 58 minutes and probably 55 seconds.....

Alright Puisan.....you can do 58 minutes!!!!

Imagine it.....

Believe in it.....

Send out positive energy and the universe will grant your wish!!!!

Yes yes.....besides overdosing myself on Vitamin C chewables and antihistamines, I've also overdosed myself on New-Age-y motivational books!!!! (can't you tell?)

I'm such a sucker for these kinda books......

* I realized that Reebok has been doing a lot of race shirts lately......what happened, Adidas?

Anyway, I don't really want to wear the shirt that was given for the race (although the information leaflet does state that runners have to wear the provided T-shirts).....

You know me......I don't like wearing something for races that I've never ran in before.

It's like jinxing yourself before you even start the race!!!

Ahh....I'll see how it goes tomorrow morning when I roll out of bed.

Later!!!!!

Who's Paranoid NOW?!!

Try not to mention to me the fact that I've not been running much for the past 1 and a half weeks.

It is depressing enough to think about it.

It is very difficult to breathe while running....

Stupid laryngitis....

However, it did get me 2 days of MC to get my extra Zzzzzz (which I need since the cough mixture makes me so freakin drowsy!)

But today I had to get back to work for a while to finish up some loose ends and I figured I'd get back to my slumber before lunch time.

So did my plan worked out?

Nah....

It never does......(sigh..)

I got called up for a "special" Influenza screening and I was one of the "special few"  who had symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection and was in somewhat contact with a "suspected" possible H1N1 carrier who returned to work after having a hell of a good time in Thailand over a week ago.

And someone in our hospital got REALLY paranoid about the spread of the dreaded virus and listed down several names of doctors who was in high suspicion of being ILL with the virus.

Yes...lucky me, I was in that stupid list!

So I had to endure the history taking, the physical examination and the wait for the health side inspectors to come and throat swab me....

.....and the worst part.....they informed me that they are no longer "extremely worried" about H1N1 and is now just keeping a record for Influenza-like-illness (ILI) thus no 7 days of quarantine!

(drats!!! there goes my 1 week holiday!!!)

Anyway....not too optimistic about this Sunday's Siemens 10km run....

Oh whatever.....I'm too worried about tomorrow's on call anyway...

Later!!!

p/s: my Macbook is REALLY low on battery and my charger went to Mac heaven (don't ask..) and I have only 6 more minutes of battery time.

So not enough time to upload pictures....if you have Facebook, go look up the photo album on this "hilarious" event!!!

Suffocating run.....

Not only am I doped up on Vitamin C and Diflam gurgle, I'm also 'right-there' with the anti-histamines which by the way, AREN'T working at all!!!!

(I am NOT abusing medications!! The absurdity to think that I am!!)

My voice is almost non-existence (but the brilliant thing was that I still managed to work last night at the Casualty locum room. I'm not quite sure if the patients that I saw understood what I was TRYING to tell them.....) and my nose is perpetually blocked with thick purulent mucus (I still REFUSE antibiotics, my throat ain't inflamed yet!) and I have to constantly consciously clear my throat or else I may actually choke on my own viscous mucus and DIE!

(oh, just let me be dramatic....I don't get sick everyday, y'know)

The only exercise I managed to pull in for the past 2 days was swimming....coz for some reason, it actually helped unblock my nose!!!

(also, someone commented on Dailymile that my swimming was rather slow, so I'm really determine to work at it....what?! I take constructive criticism VERY well!!!)

Anyway my last run was on Thursday (TGIT?) and I was itching to run.....

I miss my "boyfriend" RUNNING........see, time does make the heart fonder!!! (go on, roll your eyes!!! I don't care!!!)

So this morning, upon waking and peering out of my window, I saw a PERFECT running condition!

Cloudy, drizzling, chilly........(in this country, THIS is perfect weather!)

I HAD to run......I just have to.....

So what if I'm still sick?

So what if I had to pop several paracetamol and anti-histamines prior to running?

So what if my right hip might protest? 

So what if swimming helps better in clearing the nose?

I DON'T CARE....I WANT TO RUN!

Well...serve me right. I should have gone swimming instead! (in retrospect, obviously)

It was the most suffocating 5km I've EVER done.

I thought the running might help relieve some of the 'blockage' symptoms but it just made me feel more shiteous!

I couldn't breathe through my nose and I felt like I was gagged in the mouth!!

(I'm feeling oxygen deprived at the moment.....)

I only managed a 5.3km in 33 min 42 sec.......and....wait for it....I HAD TO WALK IN BETWEEN because I could not breathe!!!

No...not the 'wheezing, gonna have an asthmatic attack' sort of cannot breathe, but more of the 'someone's covering my nose and mouth' sort of cannot breathe!

You know, I'm not one to give up easily.....I'm not one to sit back and let the laryngitis win (yeah, I know that's a con more than a pro....I should take the opportunity to rest)......I'm not one to go with the flow....

I WILL TRY AGAIN TOMORROW MORNING!

Die die I will run my 10km tomorrow morning!

(alright, I'll compromise with the body and just run a minimum of 5km....can always swim after work!)

I will NOT let laryngitis win!!

I will overcome this by tomorrow morning....hopefully!

(gosh...maybe I'm more ill in the head than I initially thought I was!)

Later!!!!

I LOVE this post....(I kinda stole from living-vegan)

I was surfing the net on my very boring Saturday (coz I've lost my voice and I can't talk and to those who know me well enough, it is VERY difficult to be Puisan without talking!!! Fine, I talk too much!!!)

Anyway I came across this really cool Singaporean blog called LIVING VEGAN.

Was scrolling to their previous postings and I came across this one article which I thought was FANTASTIC.....

I have the same feelings to the things that was discussed and I'm just gonna copy-paste it on this post...(I'm sorry....I know plagiarism is wrong)

So here goes:

Are you one of these people? By Maneka Gandhi

(btw, Maneka Gandhi is a politician, an enviromentalist and an animal right activist for 'PEOPLE FOR ANIMALS'......

Being a vegetarian is fun. If you do not harm, you will not be harmed, is my philosophy. But there are some people that really make me ill.

1. People from vegetarian families who, tucking into a meat airline meal, say , I never eat meat at home.

2. People who say, yes, we are vegetarians but when we go abroad it is so difficult to find a decent vegetarian meal so we eat meat.

3. People who say I can't stand meat so I usually take the vegetables out of the meat stew and eat them.

4. If I say I don't drink milk because it is really bad for the body, people who ask, what about paneer and dahi?

5. People who say, its only one life, you spend it sacrificing everything, eating only ghaas phoos. You have to have real food.

6. People who remark when you say you are vegetarian ," but you look so healthy".

7. People expect you to be humorless, strident, and out to convert them. They will bring up the subject themselves and then say you are obsessive.

8. People who say , food is a personal choice, it should not be discussed or condemned ( I wish they'd ask the animal !)

9. People who serve meat at Indian weddings.

10. People who think that you have to be a radical or extremist to be vegetarian.

11. People who are asked whether they are veg or non veg reply " both".

12. People who say ," I am gradually leaving meat as I grow older."

13. People who say " I want to be vegetarian but my in laws won't let me."

14. People who offer you salad dishes as an alternative to meat. People who offer you steamed carrots with peas and baby corn as a main dish.

15. When you tell someone that you're a vegetarian, they tell you that they really want to eat healthier and then go into all the reasons why its hard and they can't. But you weren't interested in having the conversation go that direction, and you can't seem to get them to get off it.

16. People who tell you that they are vegetarian on Tuesdays.

17. Lots of times I am just standing somewhere, minding my own business, and a meat eater comes up and start arguing, saying that pork isn't cruel, blah blah blah!

18. People who think that you must be very religious if you are vegetarian or that you can have no hobbies or interests apart from the promotion of vegetarianism. Sports – totally out!

19. People who make the lunch you bring to work the topic of conversation...EVERY DAY! People who make your vegetarian lifestyle the big topic of conversation at EVERY business dinner you ever attend.

20. People who point out that vegetables are alive too!

21. People who make me restrain myself every time I hear "I couldn't do it" as the closing argument on every discussion of the merits of veganism.

22. People who argue that "But the animals would take over the earth if we didn't eat them!" (oh well, we are not over populated with human even when no other animals kill us!)

23. People who attempt to be scientists and economists "It is obvious that a plant-based diet is good for health and the environment, but the economy would suffer greatly and people would lose their jobs if everyone stopped eating meat."

24. People who say that , if we didn't eat animals, they would die from starvation anyway.

25. People who apologise for eating meat in front of you and carry on eating anyway.

26. People who suddenly back away from you when you mention that you are vegan in polite conversation, the way they do when avoiding beggars.

27. People who lapse into an awkward silence when you finally get around to mentioning you're a vegan.

28. People who ask " What about soup, what about chocolate till they go down a whole list and use up all the time you have.

29. People who use doctors who supposedly said that they have to have eggs and meat to stay healthy in order to buttress their own appetite for meat

30. People who say : but animals were invented for us to eat

31. People you eat out will get exasperated when you try to determine what exactly is in the food you are ordering. (If it were an allergy, it would be fine, but since it's a choice, it's weird.)

32. People who hear you are vegetarian, he says, "Oh, what about your son. Is he normal?"

33. People who tell you that when their children decided to be vegetarian they put only meat on the table because once they just tasted it, they would realize meat was okay.

34. People who accuse you of holding animals in greater regard than humans because you are vegetarian. People just don't understand that caring for animals doesn't mean you think they're more important than humans, just that they are AS important.

35. People who say that cows like to be milked (would YOU liked to be milked by a different species and separated from your young after they are born?)

36. People who say "God told us to eat meat."

37. People who serve a meat and veg dish and then say "You can take the meat off and eat the rest of it".

38. You are afraid to give any bad impressions, because everyone you meet will tell somebody else, "I met a vegan. She seemed snappy and unhappy to me."

39. People who "used to be vegetarian" but "outgrew it" (i.e. began to find it inconvenient).

40. People who tell you that they are "nearly vegetarian".

41. People who expect you to be an authority on all types of health concerns, exercise, yoga eastern philosophy, agriculture and medicine and special diet restrictions (I am but that's another matter!). "Oh, you're a strict vegetarian. Do you know what causes acne?" or "What can I give my celiac and lactose intolerant daughter to snack on?"

42.Your friends introduce you as a vegetarian sometimes before your name is even mentioned.

43. Vegetarians whose little children are allowed to eat meat because "I cannot make choices for them" but will make choices about their school, clothes, friends and everything else.

Are you one of these people ?

Just between you and I, I've been through most of the pointers stated above!

Well.....it comes with being vegetarian for so long...

"Wow....you've been vegetarian since you're 17?? But you look so normal....." 

(I still have NO idea what THAT is suppose to mean!)

Later!!!!

p/s: thanks again to LIVING VEGAN!!!

p/p/s: I've done veganism for 2 years before reverting back to being vegetarianism. Don't ask...

I've lost my voice!!!

You know.......I've been borderlining on falling ill for the past 2 weeks.

Started having a bit of throat discomfort since SCKLM.....

Then tried to "not fall into the pit" by fully doping myself up with Vitamin C and a lot of Diflam gurgle.

Then throw in a bit of antihistamine and paracetamol here and there for symptomatic relieve...

And I thought I was well....

Then after the race in the rain for Ipoh Half Marathon, it was almost inevitable that THIS should happen.

I've officially fallen ill and now.....I can't quite vocalize!

(but at least the overdosing on Vitamin C helped prolonged the onset until the weekend)

I've got green goo coming out of my nose.....I feel perpetually tired.

Well....at least I don't have the fever yet.

(if only I had a H1N1 contact.....)

Sigh....

On the somewhat brighter side of things, being "out and down" means I have an excuse to be outright lazy.

(but I don't like being lazy when it comes to my workouts....)

I've realized that I've only run 3 times this week.

Trying my darnest not to think about my puny mileage this week.....

THAT thought gets me really down!!!!

(and then....I realized that 2 out of the 3 runs this week were in the rain.......hmmmm)

Argh...I'm so annoyed and restless!

It's a Saturday and I'm ill.....bummer!

I wanted to go run this morning but I had a lot of trouble rolling out of bed.

Hoping to feel better later to go for a swim...(where's the sun when you need it!?)

Oh....and I've got to sit down and deal with my mortality report later. 

HATE doing mortality reports.....especially with a questionable cause of death given by doctors at the general hospital!!!!

Double sigh.

Later!!!!

TGIT - Shoe Shopping Day...(but for once it ain't me!)

Thank God it's Thursday everybody!!!!

I know.....it's that time of the week again....everybody, give a sigh of relief that the weekend is 24 hours away....(my weekend officially starts on Friday...at least it does in my head!!)

Anyway I'm glad to announce that I survived another on-call in the land of the mentally disturbed. I know.....big pat on the back!!! (alrite alrite......go on and roll your eyes)

Despite only having slept for 3 hours the night before (key word being SLEPT....I never miss those 33 hours non-sleep on calls ever back in the general hospital), I manage to pull a 5km run after work.

I actually aim to complete it within 30 minutes......

The weather was perfect!

It just rained and was drizzling mildly......it was windy and chilly.....

The kinda weather MADE for running fast!!!

But I made the 5.2km in 31 minutes.

I'm gonna put all the blame on the lack of sleep from the night before (it's really difficult to sleep when the phone would not stop ringing....).

......and also my temperamental right hip!

Well, enough of my pathetic attempt to run fast.

Let's move on to something more TGIT-worthy.

Let's talk about SHOE SHOPPING!!!

It was Jusco member day........(look, there isn't much of a night life in Ipoh, ok.......so don't be so judgemental!)

......and they were slashing prices on almost EVERYTHING like The Great Depression is gonna occur tomorrow and re-write world economic history!!!

And we found out that Brooks running shoes were going at 60% off!!!

(yes....those shoes again....those are FANTASTIC shoes, so no more jokes about it!)

We (Wendy, Keon, yours truly) just had to go.....

To be honest, I wasn't exactly looking for a new pair of running shoes.

If you guys are able to recall, I just bought a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS a week before SCKLM on discount.

It would be very greedy of me to want another pair of running shoe...wouldn't it? 

(come to think of it I still have another pair of Adidas sitting in it's shoe box under the bed back home in PJ and it's been there for the past 6 months....WHY? Because I forget that it's there!)

But what double-X chromosome containing homo sapien could resist the allure of 60% off!!??

You guys should have seen the CROWD!!!!

I can't believe there was sufficient Oxygen for us to breathe!!!

(maybe there wasn't......and that's the reason why everyone was going nuts over shopping......blame the cerebral hypoxia!!)

But our main aim was shoe shopping.....FOCUS!!!

* decisions....decisions....

I think Wendy was the one who's more keen to buy a pair of runners.

Last season's Cascadia (trail running shoes).

I LOVE the green....(my favourite colour)

Unfortunately they didn't have our sizes.......

* the previous version of Cascadia in the all-time favourite green on the right (that is a size too small), the previous version of Cascadia in a not-so-popular grey (available in our size but only one pair left) and the latest version of Cascadia on the right (which only had 30% off.....but it's STILL green!!)

It was a little frustrating to not have a shoe in the size you want....and at the PRICE that is to die for!!! (ok, maybe to die for is a little severe....)

* this would be MY choice!

But I also kinda like the latest version of Cascadia (if you guys are feeling charitable, I wear size female US 9....thanks in advance!)

But it's only 30% off.....I can get that with KRI club discount.......no need to rush the purchase.

Not that I've any trails to conquer anytime soon.....

(although to buy now for Genting Trailblazer is a little TOO planning ahead of time...)

* finally.....getting the previous version of Cascadia in the not-so-popular grey....but at least it's mud resistant which is a very important criteria for Genting Trailblazer.....We're SO planning ahead.....

Anyway......I didn't buy any.......(can you hear my wallet rejoicing??)

But Wendy did!!!

All in all....it was a great way to spend post-call!!!!

Yay....TGIT!!!!!

Later!!!

p/s: Fine....I did buy something.....I bought a new swim top coz my current one is a little loose...

You know.....when people lose inches, they always hope for it to be their tummy or thighs or whatever....but I lose my......sigh!

"Huh? I have to do speedwork? Erm...can't I NOT?!"

Sigh.

Today while doing my morning run (I only manage 9km....I got up late again), I bumped into Uncle Frank...

By the way....Uncle Frank was the FIRST running uncle EVER to sort of inspire me to run.

Uncle Frank was the FIRST person who told me that I could run a 10km.

And after completion of my first ever 10km race, Uncle Frank was the FIRST person who told me that I could do a half marathon....

Well...as you can guess, after my first ever half marathon, Uncle Frank was the FIRST person who told me that I should start aiming for a full.....

That was one year ago......or more precisely, 7 months ago!

And my first full is on 11th October 2009.

Not bad huh.....

See, Uncle Frank....you've single-handedly created a running junkie.

I don't think my parents will ever forgive you for that!

Anyway Uncle Frank went off to the States for 6 months and in his absence, Uncle PK took over the "encouragement" job.

But Uncle Frank is BACK!

Saw him this morning and got my first dose of "coaching" (after 6 months hiatus) while I'm trying to log my mileage.

(I'm still trying to get that 60km this week)

According to Uncle Frank, I'm not running to my best abilities and in order to "advance" in my racing. 

I should do more.....*gulp*......SPEEDWORK!

He says with the added speedwork that I'd be doing, I'd shave minutes off my current half marathon time and thus achieve the aim of sub-2 and also do better in my racing category....something along those lines......

(he also gave some outlines on how to proceed with the speedwork......but I'll figure that out later)

Yea yea.......I know........

I should.......

Runner's World has dedicated pages after pages in its magazines on the importance of speedwork...(and you thought I only buy it to look at cool running shoes!!!)

But speedwork sounds like...so much work!!! (or at least...so much MORE work!)

Sigh.....FINE!!!!

Will do speedwork!!!!!

I mean, people at work already think I've gone too far off the brink of "normality" to be saved with all the running I've been doing....(apparently THEY don't read other people's running blogs....you know, those that log like 100km per week sort!)

Besides.....I really really REALLY wanna beat the boys in the next race!!!!

Ok-lah.......Uncle Frank, will take your advice AGAIN.....I WILL DO SPEEDWORK!!!!

(I'll start NEXT week....I wonder if Wendy is interested in doing speedwork as well......don't you guys know MISERY loves company?)

Alrighty......on-call tomorrow.

Please don't bug me. Dr. Puisan is predicted to be in a bad mood tomorrow until proven otherwise!!!!

Later!!!

Sshhhh....I'm SUPPOSED to be working!

Mondays are never my favourite day of the week.

Maybe that's because I almost never run on a Monday..(eventhough common sense suggest I should to counter the crappiness of the dreaded Monday blues)

Not that I'm lazy or anything.....(well, maybe a hint of it)

But usually Mondays are rest days......coz Sundays are usually long runs or race days!

And honestly today I REALLY needed the rest.

My right hip returned to being like a full fledged tantrum throwing hormonal teenage girl who was denied extra pocket money to snag that must-have item of the moment.......

(...but not that I was ever like that....I swear, I was like a saint growing up....REALLY!!!) 

But yea.....it hurt pretty bad when needing to flex the right hip....so having to lift the entire right leg at the hip joint was a chore itself....(getting in and out of the car was kinda bad as well)

Thank heavens for pain killers! 

(I highly recommend Volteran...works like a charm every time.....abuse medication, ME?! NEVER.....)

Anyway like I've mentioned before somewhere in this blog, I wasn't really looking forward to today because it's only me and blue-turban buddy at the forensic psychiatry frontline.....

My immediate boss and 6 masters students had gone up north for a court case.

I SO wanted to go...

Yea yea......I am the green eyed monster now!

Blue-turban buddy and I agreed that we're gonna pretend that we don't "exist" today and we were gonna lie LOW!!!

Good idea.....don't go seeking trouble until trouble really seeks you!

Which by the way worked really really well.......coz at certain period of the day, I really didn't think I was working at all!

(Gosh....I really hope Red-Turban isn't reading this!)

And you know what......during clinics in the afternoon today, my staff happily informed me that I have a pretty high patient default rate on days that are really packed!!!!

In fact today, it stood at 1 attendee out of 6 listed in the appointment book!

I mean....that's a good thing.....well, for me anyway!

(but then I'd probably see them all during my walk-in clinics......back to square one!)

Anyhoo.....this all amounts to a lot more time to sit in my cubicle and prop my legs up for more REST!

 

* I took this picture while RESTING in my cubicle.

I promised myself I'll fill the entire 4 walls of this cubicle before I get deinstitutionalized!!!

And after the short swim after work....my right hip has finally outgrown the tumultuous, fluctuating hormonal teenage years and is now a sedated adult hypnotized by too many hours of staring at the computer!

(gosh....is that WHAT I'm becoming?!!)

Alrite alrite.....before you guys get too jealous, I DID do some work.....

(I mean I have to do something for the government to pay me)

It wasn't all about sitting and doing NOTHING......

It just happened to be a very cool, calm, collected and chill Monday...(very unusual indeed)

Now I can't wait to run another 10km tomorrow morning!!

Let's see if the right hip will coorperate.

Besides, I need to bolster enough endorphins to carry me through Wednesday.....because I'm on-call Wednesday....sigh

(Dr. to Patient ratio still stands at 1:1500)

Suddenly thinking about my impending on-call (33 hours non-stop of being in a mental institution is NO fun....trust me!!!) I don't feel so good anymore......

I'm SO taking myself out for ice cream and tiramisu tomorrow night!!!!

Later!!!