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First Game of the Year

9 Jan

After a two-week break from golf to recover from the nasty cough, I played my first game of the year this morning. The cough is at the tail-end, and I might as well go ahead and play to get some exercise. So, how did I fare?

It was more of an outing to catch up with friends and get some sun, but the sun was not even out! The morning was gloomy, peppered with light rain now and then. And when the sun did peak out, it was darn hot! Sigh.

A two-week break causes a lot of muscle memory loss. I could not swing my clubs well because my rhythm was way off. The tee-off was erratic, the long game was short, and the short game was off the mark. And the putting, I won’t elaborate further. Oh well, I expected this outcome. I take heart that although the rhythm was out, I did not lose a single ball, a small positive consolation.

Maybe once I’m back to playing more regularly, my golf mojo will return to normal. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this to happen sooner rather than later. I play my next game on Thursday, and we will find out the performance then.

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Limping, Not Leaping into 2024

2 Jan

Several days before ushering in the New Year, I was out with a nasty cough and flu. It was most depressing. Even the New Year fireworks at midnight could not lift my spirits.

You could say I limped, not leaped into 2024. I have been sapped to the core, nursing a watery nose and teary eyes. The sneeze just cannot come out! Ugh. What a weak start to face the new year. I’m just hoping for a speedy recovery.

The good thing about this misfortune is the sudden weight loss. I have been trying so hard to shed some pounds towards the fourth quarter of last year but have failed miserably. With so many occasions and birthday dinners, it was hard.

But with my current situation, I have no appetite, and going out is too much of an ordeal. And the pounds are gone! It’s nice to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I will recover and face 2024 head-on.

Happy New Year everyone!

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Goodbye 2023

29 Dec

We have two days left of 2023 before we bid the year goodbye. It has been another eventful year for me. As we count down to the New Year, I reflect upon the past 12 months, and here are some highlights of the good times and not-so-good moments.

The biggest highlight would be the two weddings in the family! My only sibling’s twins got hitched within three months of each other. It was a very happy occasion for the family.

Before the weddings, I started 2023 with a bang, getting myself hospitalized for kidney stones. I thought I pulled a back muscle from gardening, but it was more than that. I can laugh about it now!

After that scare, my diet changed to one that is low-oxalate. It took a while to adjust, but I have gotten used to it now. It is always best to stay healthy than to have a recurrence.

The year also saw me having a constant battle with putting. I suffered putting yips every so often with the many rounds of golf I played this year. The musical chair with my Peanut Putter, Scotty Cameron Squareback, and TaylorMade Spider Mini putter choices was a regular practice. Towards the end of the year, I had to retire my Peanut Putter because the grip was disintegrating. Boo hoo hoo. For now, the Mini is in the bag.

There were no family holidays this year as both girls are working, but I’m okay with this. Instead, hubby and I made several golfing trips with friends, locally and abroad. As a result of the constant golfing, my craft work suffered. I slowed down building miniatures, and the latest DIY project, number #32, is incomplete and collecting dust at my workstation. Sigh. Perhaps I can revive it at the beginning of the new year. We shall see.

2023 was not all fun and happy or frustrating. There have been scary moments that I wish not to be repeated. We experienced two spine-chilling episodes with friends after golf, but quick thinking and action saved them. However, no amount of action could save the loss of others due to other issues. Unexpected and untimely, this is the cycle of life, and we have to accept it. I avoid elaborating much on these occasions because I feel it’s best to remember these people in happier times than upon their deaths. Peace be upon their souls.

What will the new year bring for me? It would be materialistic to wish for this and that. I will be practical and say better health more than anything else. With each year passing, the body cannot take the strain regardless of what I do. This dinosaur is getting old!

Well, 2023 has been happy and sad all rolled into one, to sum it up in one sentence. Goodbye 2023, thanks for the memories, and a toast to the year, now stored away as I await the New Year with an open mind.

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Merry Christmas 2023

26 Dec

Merry Christmas, everyone! It has been a low-key festive time for us because of the wet rainy season. When it rains constantly, the mood is not there to do anything! Luckily, we did most of our Christmas shopping online, capitalizing on the 11.11 and 12.12 online sales blitz, and there was no need to go to the mall at all.

As usual, the family had our Christmas dinner on the Eve, and it was a good spread of choices. I baked a pork tenderloin and called it a ‘Pork Log’ because of its sheer size to feed 16 people!

The Pork Log process. I cut off a portion to fit the Pyrex!

Initially, I was fickle-minded about what to make, as recipe ideas kept popping up on my Facebook news feed. The final dish was my third choice after two earlier attempts at something different.

Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful time, and let there be peace. Merry Christmas once again!

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Chinese Winter Solstice Festival

22 Dec

The Chinese Winter Solstice Festival, or Dongzhi Festival, is today, and the family will celebrate the occasion with a meal together. Typically, the highlight of the occasion is the Tang Yuan, the glutinous rice balls dessert, and not the dinner, which is usually nothing too extravagant.

Over the years, our family’s version of Tang Yuan has evolved in taste and color. It used to be just the traditional white and pink balls, but more colorful ones have appeared over the last few years. In terms of taste, besides serving the balls with piping hot sweet ginger syrup, we have crushed peanuts with sugar sprinkled over the colorful balls. However, we hardly make them with sweet fillings, such as black sesame or red bean, because it’s too much work.

Another thing about this festival is the occasion being everybody’s birthday. When one eats a glutinous ball, you are officially a year older. When I was a kid dinosaur years ago, eating one was never enough. And I worried about eating a dozen glutinous balls because I would have to add a dozen years to my age. Hahahaha.

Here’s wishing everyone good health and happiness during this Dongzhi Festival!

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Almost a Brilliant Idea

19 Dec

Recently, we bought some round magnets with the numbers zero to nine on them. Hubby thought they would make excellent ball markers on the green when we play golf. With so many available, we will not run out of them! Add in its magnetic feature – it’s the perfect golf accessory.

The perfect golf accessory?

Although I planned to cut down my games for the remaining days of 2023, I played one game last Sunday and brought three magnets with me, numbering three to five. I figured they would make excellent markers for the Par 4s and 5s when I placed the correct number to indicate my strokes upon reaching the green. Brilliant, right?

Then, as an afterthought, I added the number one and two magnets to account for the Par 3s. But things didn’t go as planned!

The fairways were soggy, and it was hard to stand firm. Even the roughs were soggy. We were only at the third hole, a Par 5 when the game went downhill; I could not get my ball out of the rough. Put it this way – I was not hitting my ball but chopping grass and splattering mud on soggy grounds.

It took seven strokes to land on the green, and I did not have a number seven marker. My flightmates had a good laugh over this! It never crossed my mind that the remaining magnets, numbering six to nine, are equally necessary! Hahahahaha. After that hole, several more holes also required a higher-numbered magnet than the ones I had in the pocket.

That morning, the golf game was more of a laugh fest with friends. It wasn’t even a decent round for the four of us – clearly, the course condition was unplayable, with the constant rain making the grounds soft and soggy. Sigh.

The numbered magnet is almost a brilliant idea for now. But it is only possible to use magnets number one to five when the course condition improves. Until then, perhaps it’s best to wait out the rainy season and enjoy the golf downtime.

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A Touring Pro?

5 Dec

Over the weekend, hubby and I attempted to do the unthinkable – playing four rounds of golf like a touring pro! Did we succeed? Well, almost.

The drive in one car with our friends to Sri Menanti Golf Club was pleasant, as there was hardly any traffic. The weather was cooling, and although our one flight teed off at almost 9.30 am, we did not feel any heat.

At 9.00am, the temperature was cool with the low hanging clouds at the clubhouse

The golf course was a gem of a discovery. Narrow, undulating, and unexpected, it was an enjoyable golf course. The best part – buggies were allowed on the fairways. Nice.

After the game, we had a hearty local lunch near the course before heading to Malacca for the night.

Come Sunday, the rest of the group arrived, and our second game was together with them at Ayer Keroh Country Club. Yet another round with the buggy on course, I didn’t feel the pain of walking because I didn’t walk that much! Such conditions help the body not to exert too much and be able to go on pain-free the next game.

The third game at Tiara Malacca Golf & Country Club was a taxing one despite being buggy on the course as well. The fairways were dry, the roughs were nasty, and the sun was a scorcher. Everyone felt the heat to the core.

I was constantly going into the bunkers, and it annoyed me to no end. Adding to my frustration was my erratic putting with the Spider after doing so well with it for the past few games. Sigh.

The three-day schedule pales in comparison to a touring pro’s. I hardly felt like one anyway when we had buggy on-course games. Despite this advantage, the will to go on was there, but the body and mind could not. We gave up the last game. Sigh. On a brighter note, we had good food each time and plenty of friendship bonding time.

Professional men and women golfers are remarkable athletes. While I aspire to be like them, playing several games in a stretch, if I cannot even handle three days of buggy on-course games, what more walking long golf courses for four days in a row? Hats off to them!

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New Fruits

1 Dec

After waiting for what seems like forever, the new papaya tree has finally matured and is fruiting! Yay. I miss eating home-grown papayas, and papayas bought from the stores can’t beat the taste of the home-grown fruits.

Before this new tree, the old tree gave us a lot of fruits to enjoy. It was a bumper harvest period until we had to give away to family and friends. But once that phrase was over, we were papaya-less for some time.

The wait period is over now that the new tree has stabilized and fruiting. Unfortunately, the garden squirrels got to the first fruit ahead of us. Hrmph. Looks like we have to start protecting our papayas from the uninvited guests. Otherwise, we will not have the opportunity to enjoy the new fruits.

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Going Down South, Part 2

13 Oct

We went and came back from the Forest City Resort Golf trip. It was an enjoyable but tiring trip because of the journey both ways. Waking up at 4.00 a.m. to take the bus with the rest of the group was not fun but necessary for the 12.30 tee-off. But we were delayed along the Plus highway with a traffic crawl due to an earlier accident.

Thankfully, we arrived on time at Senibong Golf Club. After a quick catered lunch, we teed off. I have never played speed golf before. The game at Senibong felt like a race against time! There were three of us on our flight, and buggies were allowed on the course. We found ourselves racing and chasing every shot.

The weather was cloudy, and unexpectedly, rain clouds were threatening. And when we heard thunder, the race to complete the game became more evident. We finished that game in three hours and thirty minutes! What a record.

That evening, we checked into Forest City Resort Golf. The Hotel seems to have lost its luster. Our room did not have a luggage rack. The TV did not work, the furnishings had scratches, the bathroom amenities were minimal, and they wouldn’t issue a second room access card. What has happened?

Luckily, the golf course was pristine and top-notch. The fairways and landscaping were excellent. However, the greens on the Legacy Course were frustrating. It was slow, making putting difficult. I recorded 38 putts compared to 30 putts at Senibong.

Drinks after game

The next day’s game was at the Classic course, and the greens felt better. But being a more challenging course, the return score could have been better. Oh well. The weather was a scorcher, and I don’t think I could have played any better.

Would we return to play again? I wouldn’t mind playing at Senibong, after it was our first time there. As for Forest City, perhaps we should play one course twice instead of both.

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Going Down South

10 Oct

The timing to travel south to Johore for golf is, unfortunately, not the best with the haze. But the trip was mooted before the weather conditions changed. Oh well.

We woke up at an ungodly hour of 4.15 am to meet at the club to go on the bus. At least we don’t have to drive because there are enough people to charter a bus.

On the bus now, I can feel the impending headache. Ugh. I hope I can play decent for the afternoon tee-off at Senibong Golf Club. We will find out.

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