Remember my last post about toning up? Guess what, I managed to take out my back not long after that. Here is what went down.

20 Sep

I went for a 5km jog, to prepare for a 10km race I was training for. After the run, I stopped to do some cool down stretches. Oddly, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. I figured ok, stretch a bit more and walk home. I managed to make it home, the thing is, the bf's place has lot of steps, the first flight from the basement to the living room area was bearable, the next flight, from the living room to the kitchen, started hurting more, the last flight up to his room, I was in so much pain it was a bit surreal. 

I went down again to the study and decided to stretch it off, in the study while he continued to work but nope, it kept getting worst. Post dinner, I could not sit down or stand up without feeling an intense pain. Lying still in bed was bearable, but turning in bed made me wince. Thankfully there was no pain radiating down my leg, 

21 Sep

The next morning, the boy whisked me off to the doctor. I think I provided a source of entertainment as here you have a girl in her early twenties, barely able to walk and definitely slower than any 80 year old grandma.I got a jab and a lot of pain killers, and instructions to return in 3 days if the pain didn't subside, as it was a suspected pinched nerve.

22 Sep

The next day was spent lying in bed, and sitting up for prolonged periods to work on my computer was definitely not working out for my back. Fortunately, it got better. I still was a bit sad because it was going to be my birthday soon, and here I was, unable to walk without pain. The boy did sneakily come by at midnight, to celebrate my birthday with me!

23 Sep

I turned 24 :O

The pain improved a lot, and you know it reminded me that no matter what God is in control. He alone dictates what happens, God is in control! It reminded me of this verse : "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." and then along with that, " In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps."

It's so easy to decide, I want to achieve this and that, and forget it is God that gives us the ability to do anything that we might be able to do, not by my might but by His. I would say I struggle to be a good Christian. Temptations abound, and often times, it's hard to fix your eyes on the eternal, not the temporal. But it's a process and we keep pushing on, with his strength and not mine. 

I'm so thankful the pain has gotten much better, but I did get recurring episodes of back pain in October, so by Mid October, my GP referred me to a Physiotherapist and I've had 3 sessions in total so far. So I'm in the midst of working on my back, and my fitness in general, to protect myself from potential further back pain and get back to toning up. 

I'm going to compile a list of Pilates Studios that I'm considering to pick up Pilates as part of my recovery plan, stay tuned!

It was the Hari Raya Weekend and we haven't had a break in a while so we decided to go on a relaxing holiday nearby. The criteria was

- Less than 2 hrs away from SG
- Beach Holiday
- Not overly priced

We evaluated and elimnated the following:
- Beaches in Malaysia (Contenders were Langkawi and Redang)
- Phuket (too touristy) and Koh Samui (too expensive)
- Vietname (Danang - too far)

I happened to check on Tigerair and found a decent deal for Krabi, and we had corporate rate for the Sheraton and the reviews seemed good so we went for it.

As it was the off peak period, we also figured we won't have to jostle with the crowd.

Turns out, it was one of the best holidays I've had.

We were picked up promptly from the Krabi airport and upon getting to the Sheraton, we were brought to the Club Lounge to check in. Turns out that we got upgraded to a huge suite plus had club lounge access for our whole trip!

The room was lovely, and the bathroom even had a hot tub.

We didn't plan much to do for the holiday so the Sheraton Tours were perfect. We just picked whatever was available on the tour menu and went for it. We went for elephant trekking, kayaking through mangroves (that in itself deserves a post) and the rest of the time was spent at the spa, in the pool or just in our suite!

It was the perfect relaxing break and I would highly recommend Sheraton Krabi for people looking for a short break from Singapore, especially during the off peak season as there wasn't any crowd, group tours essentially became private tours and promotions for both the room and spa!

This is essentially a short list to track what Movies we've watched together so far in 2014

Godzilla

X Men days of future past

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Divergent

Maleficent

Transformers: Age Of Extinction

How To Train Your Dragon 2  

The Fault in Our Stars

The Expendables 3
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Equalizer
John Wick

For the second half of 2013 there was

Marvel's Thor: the Dark World

About Time ( Major Favourite!)

The Wolverine

Swan Lake

Frozen

Elysium

I really like watching movies at GV City Square, mostly because it's new and it's a lot easier to get seats compared to Shaw Lido or The Cathay. Plus I'm looking forward to getting the HSBC Black movie card :) $85 for 10 movies. 

Unfortunately I've been lagging in blogging namely because my macbook has died, so I'm pretty reliant on my iPad mini and it's not the best device to type on, plus I haven't managed to upload most of my pics onto my ipad. On a side note, that must have been the best purchase of 2014 for me. 

So during the day, I play the role of a management consultant. Most of the time if I'm not in meetings, I'm often behind my laptop, churning out decks and other deliverables. This has resulted in aching shoulders and back, hence the preference for frequent massages.  I love massages as they are so relaxing and I fell energised after. Unfortunately, I'm hooked.

So from the start of the Jan 2014 till May 2014, I've managed to try 4 different full body massages.

Qi Mantra ( Holland Village Branch)

Healing Touch (Alexandra Branch)

Traditional Javanese Massage ( Sixth Avenue Branch)

Aramsa Spa (Bishan Park)

I've also done neck shoulder back massages and a few foot massages at a few places in TT quick Massage, Comfort Zone and Ashi Reflexology.

I'll be writing about the various experiences in the next few post.In the mean time if you're looking for a few massage places that aren't too expensive, the places listed here are definitely worth trying.