ASK + Angels & Demons

Boy and I went to see Angels & Demons yesterday at the cinema. But first, we had dinner at Ask. Here are pics of our nom nom noms!

Calzone di Pollo e Pancetta

That's what I had. The menu said it is "A folded pizza of sliced chicken breast, pancetta, sauteed leeks, mushrooms, mozzarella and our classic pomodoro sauce, brushed with garlic butter and sprinkled with grana padano cheese and served with a salad garnish." Sounds about right, and it was gorgeous. I even loved the soft, light, buttery crust... extremely yummy dipped in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Stuffed Chicken Breast

That's what Boy had. A special for that night, no description of what it's stuffed with, but it looks like pancetta and cheese and mushroom to me. I had a bit of his as well (because I'm a greedy cow!) and the chicken was so tender it melted in my mouth! Served with French beans, buttery herby mash and mushroom in sauteed leek cream sauce? Dunno. Haha.

The movie was pretty true to the storyline other than some stuff being taken out to make it into a movie that isn't 3 hours long. But I can't say this with 100% certainty given that I read the book years ago, before I started university. Of course, knowing the storyline spoilt it a bit for me, but it was good nonetheless. I did find that the clue-finding part of things were too rushed, since that was what I enjoyed most from the book, the whole explanation of how-they-got-there. But I suppose that would've made it too draggy for people who are only there for the blood and gore. I think Boy enjoyed it though, even though halfway through the film we argued about who is the instigator of the whole plot against the Vatican.

I did admit later on that I cheated because I read the book years ago so I knew about the ending anyway. :P

All in all a good night.

Another update: the non-pub crawl, lazy Sunday, and general laziness.

So yesterday's night out didn't turn out the way I expected it to, but nevermind. The best time I had the whole night was sitting outside the pub in the cold with Boy, talking to T and J. We could actually hear ourselves talk without having to shout or talk in someone's ear, so you can have a normal chat over drinks instead of having to repeat it 3 or 4 times. Plus, there were several drag queens running about the streets providing ample cringe-worthy entertainment...

Anyway, yesterday aside, today started out as a lazy day. Eyes hurt and puffy as expected, but thankfully no panda eyes as I actually removed all of my makeup the night before. When we got hungry at around 1pm, went to Tesco to get fuel and food for tonight and then got a 10-piece bargain bucket from KFC. We curled up in front of the TV watching School of Rock on DVD (didn't finish it because it was too embarrassing to watch after a while... definitely one to watch whilst drunk because that's the only way to get through it!), and the chicken smelt lovely and tasted fantastic! <3 Boy made quite an attempt in eating his share of the bargain bucket before giving up on the 4th (I think) piece. I was quite impressed; he usually has such a small appetite that he would be stuffed with just 2 pieces of chicken. :P

LA Fitness called to say that I'm due for my 6-weekly checkup and for me to book an appointment, but I cringed when I heard the voicemail because I know I have been very naughty and skipping gym a lot and eating too much. *sigh* I don't think I lost any weight in the past 6 weeks! So much for motivation, eh? I need to stop being such a lazy arse. I slept for 4 hours in the evening today and woke up at 8.45pm! And speaking of LA Fitness, we went on Thursday to do some swimming and I forgot how to stay afloat again. :'( Relearnt it by the end of the session, but I bet I've forgotten about it again by now. And they say you can't forget how to swim! LIARS.

We also watched Marley & Me last week on Wednesday. The whole cinema was in tears by the end of it... talk about heartwrenching. The movie did not spare anyone, not even the blokes. It was a good film though, even if it was difficult to watch.

You know how I said I can't swim?

Wooo. We went swimming today because Boy decided that he's going to teach me swimming. He was planning to even when we went to Tunisia, but we were so busy there that we didn't even get the chance to hit the pool or beach, so ever since coming back, he said, "We'll go to the swimming pool on your next day off and I can teach Pei how to swim then."

Which just so happens to be today because I've been working another six-day week. T_T

Before we went there, I said that if Boy manages the impossible task of getting me to swim, we could look at going for a vacation to one of the islands off the coast of Terengganu, like Redang or Perhentian, since I've never been to either island despite living so close to it for so many years because I just can't swim and the whole purpose of going to those islands is either suntanning on the lovely beaches (which I don't do because it's too hot!) or something to do with water (swimming, snorkling, diving, etc) because it has awesome coral reef and marine parks (apparently). Unfortunately, all this will mean is that I have to first save up for enough money for the tickets to Malaysia and then enough money for a mini-stint in one of the islands as well. The problem is that I know the islands are pretty popular places to go to during the summer months, so booking a place is going to be near on impossible if I don't do it soon... :(

Boy was like, "Ok, sounds like a challenge!"

Anyway, the fitness centre that we go to for gymming is the only one in the city centre with a swimming pool in it, so we went there today. I had my black swimsuit from 3-4 years ago when M was trying to teach me how to swim in 6 weeks (that wasn't too successful, by the way). It was a 36E (from Bravissimo, on sale, I think it was a Freya swimsuit but I could be wrong) and it definitely doesn't fit all that well nowadays because the wires in the centre (of my boobs) are jutting out by an inch or so. :( I was going to get another one, but I cannot justify getting another swimsuit when a) I don't go to the beach that often and, b) I can't swim.

I would get a bikini (there are so many nice ones!) if I were skinnier and have less jiggly bits... um, nevermind! :P I shall spare everyone's eyes.

The pool is 1.36m deep. Getting into the pool was not a problem - I have no fear in getting into water, and the water came up to my chin. There were actually a lot of people there, families with their kids on a Sunday, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised since it was Sunday afternoon.

Lesson #1: Dead Man's Float

First thing Boy tried to get me to do was the Dead Man's Float. Even that is difficult because I kept tensing up and sinking, so he tried to get me to tread water. That didn't work either because I kept sinking and my feet kept hitting the floor.

So I clung on to the side of the pool and let the rest of my body float up to the surface. Then Boy stood next to me and supported me from underwater whilst I let go of the side and told me to relax repeatedly. Once he was certain I was fully relaxed in a sleeping position, he let go... and then I was floating.

I WAS FLOATING!!

I opened my eyes in shock, panicked and immediately went underwater with lots of spluttering after.

That was smart. :P Anyway, we tried that again, and each time I held the position (if you can call it holding a position when it requires no effort other than not to panic) longer and longer. After that, he said I was to get into the Dead Man's Float position by myself, with no assistance from him. Again, that took some doing. Actually, I managed it the first time, but then panicked after around 5 seconds and went under again. So that took some time to build up confidence to the point of just floating and not tensing up at all.

Lesson #2: Moving in one direction (Cheater's backstroke)

So the next thing to do was to try to get me moving in one direction rather than just floating around getting in everyone's way.

First he tried to get me to kick my legs, but only my feet without tensing the other leg muscles and going underwater, which was near impossible. Then he said I could use my calves as well, but when I tried it, he said I was moving my whole legs and there was too much movement and muscle tension to keep afloat that way. So we tried it with assistance again, and it was okay... until he let go and I was sinking again...

So he said that I should try it with arm movement as well. After experimenting with various types of arm movement and him telling me how much movement I should do, in which direction, etc, I finally managed to stay afloat and move in a specific direction!

YAY!!!

Oh, and after some practicing, I could do it by myself now, even though occasionally I still cock up by tensing far too much and getting a noseful of water in the process, but it's not too bad now. ^^ We spent some time in the jacuzzi as well, and that was weird. My back was really red and itchy after it.

After that, it was back to some more practicing, and I managed to swim almost a complete length of the pool just doing the cheater's backstroke. So now I'm not completely hopeless on this swimming thing, and back of my throat tastes like chlorine. Roffle.

Boy is a pretty good teacher. Very patient, and he didn't mind staying with me at all times to make sure I don't drown instead of going off on a swim himself whilst I drown in a corner of the pool.