The Blue Mosque

 

Lisa (my travelling doll) is at Istanbul, Turkey. Behind is the blue mosque of Istanbul. I arrived on the early in the morning and could not check in to the hostel till 11am so I took the doll for a walk.

Aya Sophia

 

The Aya Sophia is a magnificent building. Currently a museum, it used to be a church and then became a mosque. Inside you can still see the remnants of both influence. Cannot really describe it appropriately, it is just a majestic building. As I went in, chills went up my spine not because the building creeps me out but because it was so grand. The floors are covered with marble (I think) but some are so old that the floor edges have smoothed and rounded out from time and all the people that have stepped on them.

My new GPS toy

View Larger Map

I am trying to test a post of a map of a run I did recently. This map was created by the GPS watch software. It tracks where I run and how far I move. For a beginner runner like me, it is quite fun because it makes me want to go out to run more. Moreover, it tracks heart rate and so I know exactly at each point of the map what my heart rate was. Overall, I think I have to train more because in this run my heart rate was 48 minutes above the 90% heart rate zone which means I was really pushing myself even though I wasn't running very fast. If you are looking for a heart rate monitor, I would recommend the Garmin Forerunner 305 because it is about $200 SGD cheaper than the equivalent Polar that gives you distance and it comes with a GPS receiver.

This place, Macritchie reservoir, is currently one of my favourite place to run in Singapore because of the outdoor terrain. Also, it crosses the entrance of Singapore's longest tree top walks.

Hopefully the map will be viewable as this is my first time posting a google map.

Boo Hoo, just turned 25

A few days ago I just turned 25. (sob sob) I remember when I was only 17 and energetic. Suddenly I am 25 and matured - ready to start a family and everything. I know I look slightly older than 25 but it's the stress of working in Singapore that's to blame. Unfortunately, I am still as single as ever. I got to celebrate my birthday with some friends at work and some friends at church. My friends are absolutely a blessing from God. My family called me as we are scattered across Asia. I am so happy to have such a loving family so when I go back I'll have a belated birthday meal.

Also I spend globs of money and bought myself a video game, books and a GPS watch. Of course my Turkey holiday could be considered a pre-birthday gift. Naturally, I am not limited to only spending money on myself during the birthday months. I just had to give myself excuses to splurge. As they say, you are only 25 once. (In my case, I might have lost count after my 24th birthday.) I skipped my Chinese class on my birthday night because I did not want to be sitting in a 3-hour long chinese class. Sometimes I think I pamper myself too much.

If you want to Fedex me birthday presents, let me know. I always look forward to gifts before, during or after my birthday.