A Healthy Homemaker

I spend my days now in the luxury of having time on my side.

In the past week, I had a game of badminton and tennis, a swim and two jogs. Filling time around these activities would be housework:

• Mopping the floor in instalments -- filling up the bucket with water and leaving it till a couple of hours later when I feel in the mood to begin mopping.

• Doing the laundry -- I'm beginning to find this very therapeutic . I like watching the water fill the tumbling drum and in the middle of the washing, I'll open up the lid to watch the clothes being spun about in the water (which would have turned a little darkish by then) to appreciate the cleaning effect. I like watching the clothes swirl with each forceful twist of the washing drum, stopping for a brief moment before getting swished the other way.

• I like hanging up the clothes in the balcony in angles that would maximise its sun-exposed surface area. I love taking down clothes which have been sun-dried, not just wind-dried. These clothes are crispy and they smell better. Interestingly, they seem cleaner too.

My right arm muscles are getting tauter with all the racquet games. My complexion and stamina has been improving. I'm feeling happy and pretty. I think the next sign of health is a ferocious libido. I think doing sports releases those hormornes. Those footballers seem to alternate sex with their matches.

YouTube "Les Miserables"

I caught on to YouTube a little behind our time, but in the last two days, I've been spending several hours watching videos of my favourite musicals..

Yesterday, it was "Jekyll & Hyde". Today it's "Les Miserables".

I sat in front of the monitor and speakers, and cried and cried.

Even the bad video quality can't mask the overwhelming effect of these two musicals.

Here's Eponine's (Lea Salonga) "On My Own"

This happens to be my favourite audition piece too. I used this for the "Memories of a Red Autumn" audition last year.

Jekyll & Hyde

From Jekyll & Hyde the musical. I have never watched the musical, but I love the soundtrack. I was overwhelmed by this YouTube video. The lady in white is so captivating. I can't understand why I cry watching good performances.

link

An Inconsequential Entry

The exams are over. My 3-month holiday has begun.

I woke up in my bed in my own home today, on my own body's natural alarm at 9AM. The sound of traffic didn't wake me up this time, unlike at hostel where my room faces the main road. The manual taxis and super buses "vroom-vroom" (I can't remembe the proper English term for it.. 'ralf' or something like that) their engines up the slope from 7.30AM.

Using a straight tip screwdriver, I popped out all the keys from my two keyboards today and cleaned up the insides. You'd be amazed at what lies under those keypads. I have no idea where all that grime comes from. Try it yourself!

I watched "Desperate Housewives" live last night with Ly. Usually, we catch taped episodes (2-3 at a time) when I return from hostel over the weekend. It was so enjoyable sitting through the Peugeot and Lee Hwa Jewellery advertisements (instead of fast-forwarding them). Hahaha.. Cheap thrill. Ly and I spent the advertisement break figuring out the catches on my ancient CPU so that he could install the new DVD driver he bought me for my birthday (a guy's practical sense of gift-giving.. last Christmas it was a red Microsoft ergonomic mouse.. this year for no apparent occasion, he got me a second-hand LCD monitor to replace the CRT I use in hostel).

I vacuumed the entire house too and put my hostel blanket into the wash.

I applied a face mask and sat on my throne naked (didn't want the goo all over my clothes) while waiting for the ingredients to have its promised effects on my skin. I finished the excreting activity in an unexpectedly prompt 5 minutes and washed everything off in 7 minutes. I really have no patience for these beauty products that require sitting and waiting.

That's all I did. It's already 6PM. Nine to six -- a full-working day for most and that's all I did. I love the lavish amount of time I have now and the sinfully luxurious way I spend it. (But this joy in the abundance of time won't last long. I'll get itchy for activity again and overcommit myself.)