2019 year at a glance

December 31, 2019 by tongtong in my insider and tagged #alwaysmakingprogress, #ankleproblems, #apex, #betterme, #dowhateverittakes, #flightclub, #getstronger, #goals, #grow, #keepgoing, #masterofmyworld, #mystory, #neversaynever, #olympiclift, #optimize, #progress, #rebuild, #recovery, #review, #selfdoubt, #taekwondo, #weightlifting, #yearatglance, #yearend | Leave a comment

the recap of the past 365 days could easily be all negative, but instead of going down the rabbit hole of saying everything that went wrong, i also want to recap on all the things that went right. sure, my ankle injury cost me nine months of the year to diagnosis, but it didn’t stop me from carrying out the things i can still do. weightlifting was a big plus this year for i joined apex and dove back into olympic lifting. i got pretty good progress despite the many physical road blocks; a seventeen kilo improvement and making the yellow plates for a personal best. in the mere two months i was introduced to clean and jerk techniques, i’m happy to be just shy of the blue plates. tricking has caused me the most grief. there were so many flips and tricks i wanted to land, but couldn’t mostly because my injuries didn’t allow me to do things i should be able to. i’ll have to accept the fact there’ll be some specific moves i’ll never be able to do again, forever. i had a serious debate inside telling me to quit because everyone has given up on me, even me. at one point i had a deadline in mind to land one of the three moves i’ve been working on. low and behold, i did not land one, but i’m urged to give it a little more time because i’m really close. taekwondo became really stressful having to train a new set of teaching staff. i never once thought i’d test for my fourth degree, especially not with the ankle i was on. sports aside, i also traveled to europe, met some new people, got rid of toxic ones, changed departments and tried new things. i had some very low moments throughout this year where i really wanted to give up, but i kept my head up as hard as it was. i told myself because i never have up, 2020 will be the year for me where everything will fall into place and it’s my year to shine

day 2342 – evo ankle

December 31, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #anklebrace, #ankleproblems, #apexthegym, #brace, #dowhatican, #evo, #injuries, #last, #ligament, #newyearseve, #parisorthotics, #physio, #prepared, #snatch, #stability, #strong, #trymybest, #workout | Leave a comment

i went out to apex for my last workout of the decade and did a bunch of snatch work. the good way to end off the year off strong and be well prepared for more in the new year. i delayed this for long, but i finally went out and got the evo ankle stabilizer physio prescribed. i’m not sure when and how i will be using this. i honestly don’t know if there’s anything that can prevent the motions my ankle can’t take, but everything is worth a shot at this point

optimizing 2020

December 31, 2019 by tongtong in my insider and tagged #2020 #newyearresolution, #cleanandjerk, #decade, #dontcountmeout, #dowhateverican, #dowhateverittakes, #familyandfriends, #fitgoals, #fitness, #flip, #goals, #goalsetting, #grind, #grinddontstop, #injuies, #injuries, #masterofmyworld, #neversettling, #newyar, #obstacles, #olympiclifting, #optimize, #passion, #rehab, #snatch, #stayambitious, #staystrong, #taekwondo, #trainhard, #work, #workhardplayhard

2019 presented me with some of the biggest and scariest obstacles thus far. i am relieved this difficult year is drawing to a close and can now look forward to the turn of the decade. what i had endured this year far exceeds anything i could’ve imagined. my world changed drastically since the thudding landing of a roundoff back tuck attempt that went undetected. it was confirmed nine months later that it was a fully ruptured ankle ligament and the future of my many hobbies are on the line. though operating far below one hundred percent, i did manage some accomplishments that made me proud. i picked up one of my old hobbies at the start of the year – olympic weightlifting. from struggling to snatch twenty-eight kilos when i first started training at apex, to ending the year strong with a personal record of forty five kilos. just as i thought i was done with all my taekwondo tests, i somehow got persuaded and tested for my fourth dan. it was rather a risky thing to do given my ankle condition, but of course it wasn’t something i told many about. one bright spot in tricking was getting comfortable with my back tucks, and even tried two different variations. frankly speaking, i’m disappointed with the lack of progress in my other moves and scared to find out if i can even kick. i have at some point considered quitting if one of the three new moves doesn’t happen within a given deadline. there was no shortage of injuries throughout this calendar year which also affected taekwondo, hockey, dodgeball, softball and tennis. my skillset at work has had notable growth, but not to be overshadowed by the stressed that comes with it simply because of the toxic people. removing the toxicity has led me to grow my friends circle within other departments

with the new decade approaching, there’s really no place for injuries in 2020; i’m going to try my hardest to deal with the ankle problem while staying as healthy as i possibly can. i expect to get my fitness back and work my hardest to grind through whatever it takes to be the best version of myself. the next three hundred and sixty five days will be all about bigger goals, greater happiness, less pain, stronger relationships and being more focused for everything i’ve ever wanted

stay healthy and injury-free #gethealthystayhealthy
training consistency #fitgoals
eat well #eatsmart
accept myself for who i am #selfcare
love my family #familymatters
reconnect with friends #friendscircle
finance and budgeting #budgetlife
travel the world #roamtheplanet
career advancement #careerdevelopment
setting my priorities #prioritiesincheck
new skills and new knowledge #foreverlearning

2020 is my year to conquer and i’m going to become the strongest version of myself

day 2341 – multi screen

December 30, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #binge, #boring, #deadlines, #entitlement, #episodes, #holidayseason, #home, #monitors, #multiscreen, #multitask, #netflix, #pretend, #princeoftennis, #random, #remoteaccess, #screens, #series, #sloth, #work | Leave a comment

this is my holiday season, the break i’m entitled to just be a sloth. however, there are some unfinished business at work that needs to be done. ever since i came across this edition of prince of tennis, i have been crazily addicted. i’m binging this series day and night, and staying up until 3am hoping to finish it before my holidays are over. meanwhile, though my work is visibly there on the other screen, i’m doing nothing to it

day 2340 – century snatch

December 29, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #100, #celebrate, #century, #chasingyellowplates, #finally, #fruitful, #giveitmyall, #goals, #gooddays, #gym, #happy, #makeithappen, #nash, #neversaynever, #noshame, #olympiclifting, #snatch, #surprise, #weightlift, #yearend | Leave a comment

hit a high of forty three kilo snatch back in august and been stuck for the longest time. i matched that a couple times but couldn’t surpass it no matter how i tried. my goal of snatching the yellow plates was pretty much done for once the final week of the year rolled around. i walked in this morning thinking i’d give it one last shot and i’ll accept it knowing i gave it everything i had. i worked my way up to the century mark and took four attempts before i made it. good thing i didn’t pack it in before i succeeded or i would never have felt how fruitful the outcome was

day 2339 – burnaby museum

December 28, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #bbt, #binge, #bubbletea, #burnabyheritagemuseum, #christmas, #coldoutside, #drizzle, #episode, #festive, #free, #friends, #hangout, #holidayseason, #latenight, #netflix, #pictures, #princeoftennis, #random | Leave a comment

gave up on aurora winter festival for burnaby heritage museum because the admissions didn’t make it appealing. i went in with little expectations considering it’s free admissions. there were a bunch of picture worthy backgrounds. it was drizzly but the weather cooperated for the most part. we took the pictures and left for some bubble tea. i finished off the night with a few late night episodes of prince of tennis

day 2338 – nacho christmas

December 27, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #awkward, #byob, #christmasparty, #christmastree, #dessert, #fashionablylate, #foodoverload, #girls, #group, #nachofriends, #potluck, #takehome, #team, #teammates, #weightlifting, #whiteelephant | Leave a comment

i showed up fashionably late to nacho friends christmas party after my weightlifting session. it was a potluck dinner with a white elephant exchange. we also played playstation nhl and a couple board games. there’s was so much food leftover because everyone brought way too much to the potluck. i ended up taking home half the things i brought and then some. i don’t really know how i feel hanging out with some group – it’s no longer the same feeling

day 2337 – shopping damage

December 26, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #bestbuy, #boxingday, #cardigan, #damage, #expenses, #impulse, #lululemon, #monitor, #onlineshopping, #reebok, #saving, #shopping, #spendingistooeasy, #splurge, #wallet, #walmart, #wantsandneeds | Leave a comment

boxing day made some damage to my wallet. i went all out this year after saying there’s nothing i needed to buy. i bought a computer monitor from bestbuy, a cardigan from lululemon, jackets from bench, shirts and shoes from reebok and some board games from wallet. all of which were discounted, but still adds up to a pretty significant number. i sure hope my paycheck covers for this sudden splurge. i also did a declutter of my wardrobe to make room for my new clothes and justify that i need to update some things

day 2336 – tong’s christmas

December 25, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #annual, #cheers, #christmasday, #delicious, #familytime, #famjam, #fatty, #feast, #flightclub, #foodoverload, #holidayseason, #ironchef, #lovedone, #merrychristmas, #specialoccasions, #tongsfamily, #train, #turkey | Leave a comment

the annual christmas dinner at tong’s residence never has any shortage of tasty food. as a tradition, mom makes a delicious stuffed turkey every year. this year, to complement the turkey were cauliflower pancakes, roasted bacon wrapped enoki, turmeric salmon, baked rice and green salad. a special day is meant to be shared with the special people in my life. thank goodness it wasn’t a full day of eating with no exercise. it was nice to step out for a couple hours to train a bit at flightclub

day 2335 – fondway cafe

December 24, 2019 by tongtong in my 365 and tagged #apex, #cafe, #catchup, #christmaseve, #coffee, #coworkers, #fondway, #girls, #goodlaughs, #goodtimes, #grassjellymilktea, #halfshift, #hospitalitydesigns, #snatch, #snatchwave, #storytime, #timeflies | Leave a comment

didn’t want to work at all on christmas eve, but good thing it was only half day. i rushed off to apex for a full session only focusing on snatches. all makes in my snatch wave; it really helps that i’m practicing more frequently the past two weeks. after a quick lunch, i hit up fondway cafe to catch up with old coworkers. it’s always fun hanging out with the two girls because the best stories come out. we had a lot of good laughs all the way to cafe’s closing

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Monthly Archives: December 2019