Tag Archives: Weather

A Change of Season

9 Nov

Suddenly the weather changed. The real monsoon is here and it looks like golfing days will be reduced. In fact, last Saturday when we had our usual morning game, we couldn’t complete 18 holes when the rain came down. My flight did 12 holes while hubby’s flight managed 11 holes only.

I am not complaining though. Rainy days may mean less golf but with the air being cooler, it’s more comfortable; definitely a welcome from the hot and high humid conditions that we’ve been having the past few weeks.

On a brighter note, it means more comfortable days ahead to carve up more Citizens of Gigglesville!

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Feeling the Change

10 Jan

You know the holidays are definitely over and Chinese New Year is around the corner when the heat has arrived. The weather has suddenly changed. Last week, it was still very cool and even rained. Heavily at it too.

This week with everything settling into routine, the girls back in school and us back to work, the heat has crept in. Yesterday at gym, the humidity and the heat was really stifling, even indoors. As a result, the session became very taxing.

On the home front, the garden is thriving. Birds of different species come together and eat the seeds we put out. And big birds would just lounge on the dry deck!

It’s heartwarming to see such harmony but the heat… getting unbearable. Sigh.

  
 

M2 snapped this huddle from the kitchen

 

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Cloudy with a Chance of Rain

17 Nov

I thought I would go back to golf soon especially after ceremoniously moving my gear to the BMW Golfsport cart bag. But with the weather being cloudy with a chance of rain every single day, I am still waiting for the opportunity.

When will that be, I wonder?

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Rainy Season

28 Oct

The weather has changed. I would say it’s the beginning of the rainy season. And when it rains in the evening, official pet number one does not get to come out to play in the garden, like last night. Poor fella. 

If it rains during the day, neither does the tortoises. The birds would also not get their food. Sad. Golfers too, do not appreciate this kind of weather. Hubby has had a couple of morning games delayed due to rain. I would be agitated too if caught in this situation.

But it sure is nice for me to be horizontal on the sofa in the living room. With a nice read in hand and my hot tea within reach, I actually enjoy such days because the temperature is just so comfortable to relax and not move. Most of the time, I would fall into a slumber.

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Wonky Weather

19 May

It was a dark and stormy night literally. On Tuesday night, the rain came down when I did the evening tuition run and it got heavier towards midnight.

By two in the morning, the skies were rumbling angrily and woke me up. Mother Nature was giving a pretty impressive lightning show and at times, it was scary yet breathtaking. Been awhile since I witnessed Mother Nature doing this.

Wet days are ahead, I sighed. We had initially thought we would go walk nine-holes of golf the next morning just to rid ourselves of the work kinks but we didn’t. The fairways would be soggy and play would not be a stress reliever. I foresee less golf days ahead.

And last night, the weather was good. Wonky weather I say.

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Survival of the Fittest

16 May

The two-day Annual Championship over the weekend was tough mentally. And the weather played its role to the hilt to challenge all those playing. It would rain the night before on both days and this made the course conditions soggy and soft. In turn, this made the game plan a bit awry as club selections became questionable.

Did I survive? It depends on how you look at it. There were ups and downs. I was prepared for the weather, bringing extra shoes and shirt onto the buggy in case the weather worsened. But this did not happen. What we had on game day itself was rather nice temperatures that turned hot only towards the end of the game. Although hot, it was not enough to dry the fairways on time.

Looking back on day one, I think I held up because I did not have any fear and stuck to my game plan to ‘play against myself and not the others’. I also managed the heat well, something I don’t do often. I now see that when you are playing against yourself and not your opponents, ego does not get in the way and the approach becomes more sensible. It stabilises the thoughts and the course management becomes better. So what went wrong? Several club selection mistakes cost me but my good putting saved the day. 

I think overall, the field of players struggled; maybe nerves played a role here besides the soft fairways. Of course the stronger players prevailed better than the rest. It was really survival of the fittest. 

The next day, the course conditions were the same. Play was slightly better but there were still problems like wrong club choice and unfortunately this time, my putting let me down. Sigh…. don’t know why I can’t have it all good all the time. 

My result on the second day was only a stroke better because my putting was not up to it. I think the problem came about when I started having doubts and fear. All the ‘what ifs’ came to mind. What if I was not firm or too firm? It’s a downhill. Hmm. Oh no, I missed, I need to charge back up. How much strength to putt now? All these zipping in the mind, playing mind games. It was not necessary but it happened. Self-inflicted I would say.

Thankfully when it came to crossing all the water challenges on my phobia holes, I did not allow fear to get the better of me. And I conquered all those holes. So what went wrong? It was when I doubted myself at chipping and especially putting that mistakes were made.

Mental strength and confidence are two very important aspect of this game, not just the physical or the course management. I can’t say for everyone who participated but what I learnt the past two days has gained me more insights to how I should play my game better. It was a good experience and made me look at a different perspective on how I have been approaching my game all this while. I do relish in the challenge although at times, the tension was not necessary, the camaraderie was just nice without being irritating and the laughter after the games was a good relief.

Will I participate again next year after all the ups and downs? It’s part and parcel of the game and especially more so when it’s an official tournament. I survived and would like to think I came out stronger from it so yes, definitely, I will participate next year.

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Playing in Wonky Weather

12 May

When I was in school dinosaur years ago, the choices we had for games were rather limited in an all-girls’ school. Besides track and field, which I was hopeless at, there was netball, table tennis, basketball and softball. 

And somehow in those days, rain or shine, we enjoyed our games. I don’t recall ever complaining about playing in unfavorable conditions nor do I remember falling sick. Weather back then was more mild compared to the weather now. My friends and I had even walked home on several occasions after school in the rain, something we don’t allow our children to do today. Ahh… those were the days.

A couple of years back, during a sports activity at school, M1 lamented that the sports teacher made them play netball in the rain after school, just like my good old days. But these girls besides fearing all sorts of disaster, groaned and worried about getting soaked and being tired out from playing three continuous matches. It didn’t help the team spirit that M1 told them that they would all die from the rain. Rain? Really… you mean lightning, falling structures or trees?

While I rolled my eyes when I heard my brilliant child commented on dying from rain, inwardly, I was glad no major mishap occurred from that outing save for a few bruises and scratches.

Nonetheless, we must be mindful of the lightning charge in the air before being too gung-ho about it. Maybe on that netball game day, it was just rain, no charge in the air so it was deemed safe to continue.

While playing in the rain is not something we would do or encourage due to the lightning charge factor especially, the weather these days compared to the good old days have changed for the worse. And I find that one falls sick easily if exposed to too much sun or soaked by a little rain. Global warming?

It has been reported our hot oven days will soon be over but not for the better unfortunately. The conditions are predicted to be replaced by rain and flash floods followed by haze soon after. One woe to another and then another! My goodness. For now, almost every afternoon without fail, it has been raining and this will worsen. 

Sigh… looks like no afternoon netball or golf until this spell clears. But when it does, the haze will swoop in. Yay. Great.

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Bundle Up!

9 Dec

Back in December 2010, we went on a family vacation to Korea and it was right smack during the winter time. And dang, it was cold! Seoul weather was in the low teens and sometimes in single digits even during the day. And when the wind kicked in, goodness gracious! Even the bones were not spared and chilled to no end.

It was the first time for M1 and M2 in such extreme weather conditions and I was worried for them. So I was constantly saying, “Bundle up!” to remind them to do so, every single time before leaving the comforts of the bus or the warmth of a restaurant into the cold blustering winds.

So much so, M2 started counting each time I said that phrase. The cheeky girl.

At the end of the eight day trip, M2 reported that I said that phrase 40 times! My goodness. Did I actually do that? I can be so predictable at times.

Then in November 2012, when we went on another family vacation, this time to the West Coast of the US, that familiar phrase was uttered again. However, as weather was not that extreme the whole time, it was mentioned only in cold places like Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon and San Francisco.

But the girls remembered! They would exchange knowing looks at each other and say out loud, “Yes we know… Bundle up!” Sometimes before I can even open my mouth, M2 especially, would beat me to it, “Mummy? Aren’t you gonna say ‘Bundle up!’?” Hrmph.

I cannot remember at the end of the three-week vacation, what my final tally was…

Now that M1 is in Japan during this cold season sans mummy, I made sure she has enough to bundle up without me having to constantly utter that now infamous phrase.

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