Day 1 @ Tampines Sports Complex's Gym

Urrrrrrgh...got dragged out of bed by Mommy Alonso at 6.45am today for an hour or so session at the gym. It was for thyself's own good, she said. And we had to take the bus, no less, because Dad took the car to work. So, eyes at half-mast, I carried Mom's plastic bag of sandwiches she made for sales at the mosque.

Since Ghufran Mosque only but a minute's walk from the complex & we had to send Fatty Nini to school, I decided to wait at the food stall for Mom to finish her Parent-Volunteer duties before heading off. Besides, we had to wait for Mom's good friend to arrive on bicycle as well.

As I sat stoning at the stall, various aunties who worked there enthusiastically exclaimed, "Ooh, jogging??" So-called lahh, was my wry reply. It was either that or, "So, your hair is natural, izit??"

No lahh, I went for Ceramic Perm. Pehh...

Half-conked as I was, I helped around a little at the stall while waiting for Mom, assisting with the sales & all. The place was usually bustling in the mornings when parents were sending their kids to school & also when the kids were done with their classes. Although the things there were considered cheap, it still couldn't beat NYP's chicken nuggets which were sold at 5 pieces for $1. At Ghufran Mosque, they were sold at 4 for a dollar. *snickers*

Other than that, the variety of food available there could make your head spin. Which was partly one of the reasons why I hung around the place quite frequently. Heh.

Hey, if one can't have ALL the food laid out there, one can always just SMELL the food. Furthermore, most of the food were freshly cooked on the spot, others were brought by some suppliers in the shape of mothers. And the company all around the tent was not too shabby, either. They were all warm & friendly to me & it seemed as though they knew all about my crazy life. From my school to my work, it became apparent that Mom had been embellishing on my so-called achievements, or lack thereof.

Apart from this girl who's a little older than me, that is. *rolls eyes* Yech, if people say I've got a huge AP, they should meet her. Especially in the mornings. Apparently, this girl wasn't from a secular school. Meaning, she was a Mosque kid albeit not a Ghufran one. But she didn't complete her studies & gave up in Primary 5. Until now, she still has 'dreams' of becoming a doctor. That, despite not going to school after Primary 5 & only taking some private lessons, thus blaming her mother for enrolling her into a non-secular school.

Like, okaaaaay.

Like, is it going to help you get a doctorate if you keep saying that you wanted to be a doctor since last time?? And let's be realistic here. So what if you were from a mosque?? There are doctors out there whom originated from mosques & they're successful now. It doesn't matter where you go to study, does it?? Guhh...

Mom once told me not to be proud & make friends with her because she didn't have many friends & since her education level was low, therefore she was just being defensive with herself. Uhh, yeah right. How can I be amicable with someone when that person refuses to make eye contact with me?? Either that, or she'll be sliding me with glances thinking I don't feel it. Like, I didn't do anything to you, what's your problem??

Although it seems that I'm not the only one she treats that way. It's like, she's kinda crappy in the morning; she doesn't say Good Morning to people & others -meaning, the older aunties & uncle- will have to be the ones to start a greeting after which she'll give a somewhat indifferent, heck-care acknowledgement. And when some kind of wind hits her, she'll like, ignore people & even when she goes away from her stall, she doesn't have the courtesy to at least ask if someone could help take care of her stall for her.

Like, whatever; psycho, rude girl. Jeez...Inilah namer nyer Budak Melayu.

After Mom experienced it herself, she told me to forget about being nice to her & just ignore her -including acting normal, without showing unless she thaws by herself. *pumps fist in air* Go, Mom!!

Anywayz, after Mom was done, we headed towards the gym with Mom's friend, Auntie Sabariah & first weighed ourselves. I was the only one who balked, shaking my head non-stop & Mom nearly had to haul me before I sulkily went over to the dratted weighing machine. Before getting on it, I resolutely told Mom to keep quiet once the digits showed or else I'd be walking out.

But it was a pretty good thing that I didn't walk out because my eyes pretty much popped at the figure shown to me. Dammit, how did I get so heavy!?!? Ohh, I know why. It's all because of the free food I've been getting from the stall at the mosque. Did I mention that I get free food almost everytime I go there?? And even just before I left, one auntie slipped me a transparent plastic bag containing 2 currypuffs. Weeeeeee!!

So, instead of walking out like I planned if Mom uttered a single comment, I stayed on & we did some stretching before proceeding to the treadmill. Yeah, it was the first time in my life that I got on the treadmill; Mom adjusted the settings for me & off I went at a jogging pace. Although in the end, I wasn't jogging; more like briskwalking because the stupid machine was trying its best to match my heartrate with the speed of the mill. And for 20 minutes, I walked like how I did to my bus stop everyday, with the guys beside me using the machine as though he was training for a marathon or something. Jeez, I felt like such a loser beside him.

After my time on the treadmill, I burned a mere 84 calories & ran -or in this case, walked- a puny 1.1km. Pooh, talk about progress. Disgusted with the machine & myself, I went over to where Mom & Auntie Sab were treadmilling & suffice to say, their progress was far better than mine.

Auntie Sab finished first so she taught me how to use a few of the gym's equipment. My last stop was the bicycle machine & I gotta say that the distant I cycled was much better than my treadmill distance even though the calories I burned were slightly lesser. But bloody hell, I damned near injured myself while happily cycling my way through.

What happened was that while I was pedalling, my legs weren't spread apart wide enough & my left knee was jarred against the almost sharp-edged bottom of the LCD display. It wasn't a scar or a scratch, it was more like a piercing of the edge into my knee-cap muscle; the same battle-scarred left knee that has seen more scars in my entire life than any other part of my body. So, you could imagine the temporary agony I had to endure & the permanent mark I'm going to carry for the rest of my life.

It was bad enough that my left knee gave me problems sometimes by creaking all by itself even when I wasn't doing anything to it, just mere flexing. And even as I type, the knee's been twitching lik nobody's business. I swear, I think after that incident, my left knee has been rendered useless. Barnacles...

So, the next time anybody sees me, you can come & count the number of scars I have on my left knee, okay??

Pushing the day forward, we went back to the mosque for breakfast, which was of course, the favorite part of my day.

FREEEEE FOOOOOOOOOD!!

And yes, I did get a nice styrofoam package of delicious fried Bee Hoon. The kind of Bee Hoon used for Mee Siam, only that there wasn't any gravy. No sweat, I'm cool with that. At that point, anything that SMELLED good was okay by me. Yes, Mom did have a short leash on me by limiting my food items consumed, which I grudgingly submitted to. Well, I had a little work to do to be thinking too much about food, so serving the customers kinda occupied my mind for awhile as well as the company I was in. The aunties who were everywhere just created havoc by their ongoing conversations, it was hard not to be drawn in by them.

Dad picked us up after Nini came out from her class & since he & Mom wanted to go over to the new house to see how the renovations were going on, they dropped both of us at home where I was supposed to cook a pot of rice, feed Nini, help her with her homework & whatever that had to be done at home.

Although my rice contained a tad too much water, the kids claimed to like soggy, sticky-like rice despite Mom complaining about it, thinking I hadn't measured properly.

In the early afternoon, I couldn't take it anymore & just slumped myself in bed, contacts & all, waking up only a little after 6pm aching all over.

That is what you get for failing to exercise regularly, that is the norm. And now, Mom has pestered me to go for another round tomorrow. Oh God, save my poor soul. And my knee...

Laterz...
Lenny GodGilla Xabs