One of the best things i love about working in RP, is the fact that my office is at the Sports Complex, i.e. having an olympic-sized pool at my doorstep! I went for a lunch-time swim with some colleagues (another bonus: colleagues for company!) since the day was too beautiful to not be in the pool. Finished a 50-lap swim and I feel GREAT!

Swimming has got to be the most boring sport in my books, but I’m addicted to the after effect of feeling really taut and toned after a long swim (even though it only lasts until after the next meal). After a long run, i just feel like jello and after a stairs session, the only thing I feel is this overall soreness and bloatiness which I attribute to having a hip belt pressing down and ankle weights weighing down on me.

Perhaps if I invested in a nifty underwater mp3 player (it really exists by the way), long swims will be less tedious.

xxxxx

For the first time in two weeks, I had some spare time for myself last night. In between the conclusion of one meeting over beer at the Penny Black and waiting for Kyo to meet me for dinner, I had half an hour to myself during which I didn’t have to rush off to meet someone, do something, be some place or get somewhere. What a luxury.

I took a nice stroll down from Boat Quay to the Esplanade and at the park area near the waterfront, there was this couple that was walking towards me and all of a sudden, the guy just stopped and pulled the girl down in a totally exaggerated Hollywood-style kiss that can only happen in the movies.

If the couple caught up in the acrobatic liplock had bothered to surface for air, they would have seen me walking past with a quizzical frown. Don’t get me wrong though, I wasn’t furrowing my brows from the perspective of a prude, cuz god knows what I’m guilty of, but it’s the fact that such acts of spontaneous romance can still exist.

I think I have unconsciously become a romance-cynic.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the nice things like a lift home after a long day at work or a  sandwich waiting for me after training, but it’s the entire stable of that romantic spiel of flowers, candy, hallmark cards, hot air balloon proposals and related “grand gestures” that just inspire a raised eyebrow.

Just what is the deal with “romance” anyway? We’re sold bucket-loads of it every year during Valentine’s Day. And from all that lovey dovey blitz that I’ve been bombarded with over the years, I am supposed to feel as unloved, unwanted and undesirable as a three-legged cat with a flea infestation and one eye, if I am not wined, dined, given hallmark-approved “surprises” and the like.

Anyone with enough time on his hands to execute some (pretty standard) planning can be romantic. A large part of the romantic appeal is that “Oh! I didn’t expect this!” factor that comes from being spontaneously surprised, but isn’t romance just a small word for one big premediated effort? If you ask me, lust can be spontaneous, love is nurtured and romance is well, just premediated.

I think life is too short to be wasted beating around the bush. Which is essentially what romance is all about isn’t it? Showing love and appreciation with the help of flowers, cards, bears, limos, dancing gorillas, gondola rides and sky-writing.

By my standards, true love only comes in one form and it doesn’t involve surprising grand gestures: when your boyfriend doesn’t make the choice between beloved PSP or girlfriend time and instead, gives you the PSP to amuse yourself on the commute to work. =)