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Greetings from Incheon, Korea!
Posted on September 29th, 2009 7 commentsWhy hello!
Just a short update before I jet off to look for lunch [hungus!!!!].
Flight was ok, food was edible [yum yum omelette!], aside from the turbulence and the earthquake seat that I received [idiot male behind me kicked my chair and kept on grabbing my headrest for some reason].
Ok, let’s just put it this way : a group of mainland Chinese with bad bad bad personal hygiene occupied the area where I was seated. Add in feet odour that smells like a chunk of rotting cheese atop a rotting carcass, tobacco breath, loud and rowdy behaviour, talking, lack of respect for personal space [as we were disembarking this guy had the nerve to invade my personal space, how would YOU feel with an old man's belly prodding your bag?] – which I promptly fixed with a few violent swishes of my pink yoga mat [I KNEW there was a reason I brought one along!!!] .
Basically, it could’ve been a great flight was it not for the horrible people. hmph.
I am now in Incheon International Airport, Korea and I must say that the airport is FABULOUS and AH-MEI-ZING. LOTS of shops, oodles of things to do! Have you ever heard of a CULTURAL museum in an airport?! The toilets are freaking clean [there's an etiquette bell in every stall -not quite sure what it's for, but I'm afraid of pressing it just in case some random SWAT team breaks down the door].
So what’s there to do on a 7-hour layover in Korea?
Here’s what I did :
- Painted a traditional Korean hand-held fan
- Blog [the FREE internet service here is on a MACBOOK - weeeee awesome!]
- Twitter
- Send out a few emails
- Nap [ungraciously with my mouth hanging wide open]
- Took heaps of pictures with Domokun
- Attempted to take a crap [I'm so bowel shy, stupid bowels]
Now excuse me, I gotta jet off and look for food before my flight to LOS ANGELES!
M*
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NOW NOW NOW GO GO GO
Posted on September 29th, 2009 4 comments4 more hours.
Have I packed everything but the cats in yet?
Passport – visa – e-tickets – change of clothes – yoga wear – CHECK CHECK CHECK.
SQUEAAAAAAAL!
M*
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Fears & Tears
Posted on September 27th, 2009 3 commentsAs most of us know, ustrasana is one of the postures where one experiences total emotional abandon. You come out of it, weep, cry, sigh, and acknowledge whatever negative repressed energy / memory / bad juju you’ve kept hidden for so long. I’ll admit, I’ve cried a few times coming out of camel, once after locust and once during the standing series.
On that note, it WILL be interesting what sort of emotions / forcibly repressed memories will bubble out in week 1/2 – and whether I’ll start sobbing in class, post class or before class. Yes, I’ve got a tonne of [emotional] baggage that I’m carrying around which I hope to shed – ASAP!
Lately, I’ve been having [rather irrational, I know] thoughts such as, “Will I make friends at training?”, “Will people like me?”, “What if they don’t understand me [my accent / brand of humour]?”, “Can I get RICE from trader joe’s?” … to “Who’s gonna drive you home toniiiiight?”
But I suppose, a little bit of anxiety thrown in with some anticipation is a heady cocktail that goes straight to your brain. You may not even register it, but I suppose that your brain’s sending out super signals that go “ONLY 2 MORE SLEEPS TO VEGAS”.
M*
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Tick, tock…
Posted on September 26th, 2009 6 commentsA few numbers since Jakob brought it up during class…
- 9 weeks
- 100 classes [AT LEAST!]
- 145.5 hours [AT LEAST!]
- 43ºC [AT LEAST!]
- 70% humidity
- 300 yogis
- 3 Malaysians [and counting...]
- 2200 backbends *groan
- 8 days more
- 3 more sleeps …SQUEAL!!!!
*skip skip hop hop jump jump
Kissy kissy hug hug
M*
p.s : I’m still struggling to pack everything but the kitchen sink in. I hope Michelle / thedancingj don’t kill me / laugh out loud at the ridiculous amount of baggage I’m bringing…
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Of Dreams & Aspirations
Posted on September 25th, 2009 6 commentsA friend recently posted on Facebook and Twitter, “There are exactly 98 days remaining for 2009. What have you accomplished this year?”
His question putforth was very interesting indeed, for he recently migrated to Singapore in hopes of greener pastures. I would think his accomplishment for 2009 is just living to the fullest.
On my side, it has been quite a ride this year. I first thought of attending Bikram Yoga teacher training late last year. After one class, I took one good look around, and could not help but feel envious of the teacher. Here he was, standing on top of the podium, helping people realise their full potential, gently encouraging us to “Kick up higher, kick up harder” and telling us that “All the suffering in here, it’s all mental and only temporary”.
BAM. It was then I realised [after going through other work-related and personal stuff] that YES, I want to be a Bikram Yoga Teacher. I want to teach, inspire, and hopefully some day be able to help individuals with chronic health problems.
Not to mention I was having a crap time at work. The pay was crap, the hours were crap, the clients were crap, everything was crap [except my wonderful colleagues!]. And if I did overtime, that meant no yoga, which meant that I am not a happy camper.
After a few rather… fortuitous / coincidental occurences at work, I abruptly quit my job April 2009. I didn’t exactly burn bridges, but let’s just say it wasn’t very… nice, the things I called my boss when I handed in my letter [I've got a relatively short fuse and a foul mouth to boot]. A-ha, I thought. I can freelance and work on my practice, I thought.
But freelancing did not exactly earn me a lot of money, and during the economic downturn, freelancing jobs were hard to come by, especially for a copywriter that specialises in digital [I don't feel too comfortable writing press ads / tv / radio ads anymore]. I sold stuff on the side, but that did not earn me enough. I had cats to feed and bills to pay and of course, Teacher Training tuition to pay! How the heck was I going to cough up enough money to live and go for TT the same time?
Luckily for me, my parents supported me financially [a little] during my 6 months of bumming. The last month before training, two big and monstrously huge copywriting jobs were offered. Oh boy oh boy! I had a little more money to spare!
Right, I guess all I wanted to say after that long and tiresome rant [failed copywriter I am indeed!] is that no matter what your dreams – how big, small, ridiculous, out-of-the-world ludicrous it may seem – just go out and do it. Manifest positive thoughts, don’t sit on your ass thinking “Oh, I would like to someday…”. Instead of being passive, be proactive! Do whatever it takes to get to where YOU want to be!
I say this because a good friend of mine feels that he has yet to accomplish anything. To him, I say – you are young – do what you want to do. Never ever ever feel like you have done NOTHING, when in retrospect, you have done SO MUCH in your life. You’re one of the most inspiring, heartwarming, intelligent and funny person I know and I am so proud to call you my friend. You may feel like you have lots to do / accomplish, people to meet, hobbies to do… but take one step at a time, soak in all the experiences
and I GUARANTEE you, when you look back – whether it be 5,10, 20 years from now – you will NEVER look back in regret. 
Another friend also wished to just drop EVERYTHING and go learn Dutch, climb mountains, live in Europe. To him I say, DO IT. Who cares what people think? Who cares whether family or friends whisper to each other “Is he CRAZY?!”. It’s your life, your experiences, do it before you hit 50. I truly believe that in life, you have nothing to lose – except for the regret you feel 10 years down the road when you think to yourself “What if…?”. Contentment breeds complacency which in turn, breeds regret. Never settle for less or what you have – always strive to aim higher and harder!
Yes, it has been a rough ride for me to get where I am today. People wondering if I’ve been dropped on my head too many times during class [no, we don't do advanced postures in the beginning class!] as I suddenly want to leave a cushy job and be sweaty *sniff sniff, do I stink class?* the whole day.
And with that, I’d like to advise everyone to “Do what you like, like what you do. Work for a living, play for life”.
M*
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Hydration Tips
Posted on September 23rd, 2009 5 commentsSince I’m stalking the lovely Fall 09 Bikram Yoga Teacher Training facebook group Yes, there IS a facebook group, I’m LOVING all the tips past trainees / teachers are giving us! I think it’d be super rad if ALL of us can meet up and take 1 big group photo, and WHERE are all the yoga peeps on twitter?!
But I digress. Here are some awesome hydration tips from Shawn, who’ll be coming down to rock with us Week 6 / 7.
“Hello fall 09 trainees! Just wanted to take a sec to pass along some hydration tips to help get you through training. I was pretty damn nervous about the whole 2 classes a day in the desert thing when I went to training. Im one of those dudes that sweats like a freakin pig in class so if you are like me at all and lose a lot of water, these tips are for you. Here is the science.
Week one I bought a cheap scale from wal mart. I drew some art on it and brought it to the hot room everyday so everyone could use it to weigh in before and after each class. It become a fun ritual I highly recommend it. I wanted to see how much water weight I was losing per class to help with the hydration.
Average class was 3-5lbs
If it was a scorcher in there 7-9Lbs no joke.
I told you I sweat like a damn pig. I wasnt the only one.
The group in general seemed to lose anywhere from 2-5lbs of water weight on average per class.
One gallon of water weighs 8lbs-in the hot classes I was sweating out over a gallon, sounds gross but very liberating thank you.Your electrolyte\water mix is a delicate balance that you need to figure out.
It took me a few weeks to really dial it in but heres what I came up with.
There are a lot of different options out there and around week 2-3 its like a big electrolyte mix convention, everyone is so siked to let you try thier concoction of home brewed super gatorade or whatever.First thing you need to do is just go ahead and buy an Insulated one gallon water tower of shame. Just do it, trust me. The early you accept the fact that your gonna practice with this one gallon monster next you, the better.
Pretty much everyone had one by the end. No shame sister!You cant just drink a bunch of water and think its gonna work because you need electrolytes which you lose when you sweat. In particular Potassium and Sodium. Once you get low on those, you cramp, get headaches. no fun.
You can also drink too much thats why you need to experiment. You wanna always stay hydrated until your pee is clear but only to an extent. Sometimes youll drink a ton of fluid at training and not pee for hours cause your body is playing catch up. Hate to keep talking about pee, but hey just wait to see all the stuff you guys are talking about around week 6. Your pee is your best guide to your hydration. Keep it on the clear side.
I tried several recovery drinks weeks 1-3. I tried endurox R4 which Id take right after class but it has too much sugar in it.
I always drank coconut juice during and after class but needed something way more awesome.Heres my mix. (this was per class)
One gallon water tower of shame.
2-3 Zico coconut waters (potassium, natural sugar for glucose stimulation)
2 oz of Organic Aloe Vera juice(allows your body to absorb nutrients 200 times faster and hydrates your internal organs)
One lemon and One lime cut into the slices youd stick in your Corona or Pacifico.
Slices of fresh fruit, watermelon, pinapple, apples,oranges, switch it up each day
Two teaspoons of Sea Salt(Himalayan is a good choice)
a little over half of the jug would be filled with ice-after everything was added, top it off with water.During class I only drink at the common times. Party time, 1st savasana and then a sip or two around camel. I would drink the bulk of it after class and then you can open the lid and eat all the ice cold fruit, share it with your friends and stick around and stretch, try new yoga tricks, I miss my after class peeps!
Once training was over, I had gone through 42 cases of coconut juice.
Its the nectar of the Bikram Yoga gods and you should drink a ton of it. Its Natures gatorade.So yeah, like I said, there are lot of different combos for electrolyte replacement but you should try to get these naturally. Avoid powders, sugars and all that other crap that you can get from good ol mother nature instead.
I wish you all luck and will see you around week 6!
Hope this helps,
Shawn”Thank you Shawn! These past few days I’ve had rather… “juicy” ie sweating like a horse classes and have been getting rather light-headed. Time to up the ante on electrolytes! I wonder if I can bring in my huge tub of himalayan pink sea salt and not get hell from US customs [I got it for cheap!].
Tick tock tick tock.
Now, to figure out whether to bring a tatty yoga mat there or just buy one and chuck it after I’m done…
M*
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Step Right Up, Ladies & Gentlemen!
Posted on September 19th, 2009 2 commentsCome on down, ladies and gentlemen! Come on and see the GREAT and a-MEI-zing PACKER at work!
Circus tune whistling, doot doo doodle doodle doot doot doo
See how she packs THIS :
into THIS!
Yes, my tampons and my panty liners and a smattering of toiletries.
FABULOUS! AMAZING! ENTERTAINING! JAW-DROPPING SKILL!
Watch how she DEFIES aviation laws and fits EVERYTHING IN but the kitchen sink! [And the pets].
Stay tuned!
M*
p.s : This is by no means my complete luggage. More clothes to pack in, and don’t forget my bajillion pairs of underwear! And toiletries! Aauugh!
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Super Thanks!
Posted on September 18th, 2009 2 commentsTo my awesome genius friend, Foo, for helping me out with the rotating banner and other wordpress-y things. HUGS!
You, my dear, are the best.
M*
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Sweat Presents an A-mei-zing Funraiser!
Posted on September 18th, 2009 No commentsBeing a student is tough.
Remember YOUR life as a student?
Yeah, the days of queueing up in the quad for cheap lunch deals [ $1 chips!], buying RedBull / V in bulk so you can save $2, dashing into the library / theatre room [I don't care if they were lecturing metaphysics or geology] just to get to a hot room away from the winter wind … you get the idea.
As I embark on another chapter in my life to become a Bikram Yoga teacher, I shall again, become a student. A student undergoing nearly 150 hours of Bikram Yoga, added with anatomy, posture clinics… all in the wonderful city of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fun? You betcha!
But alas, like a student, I will be living like how I did in uni. However, instead of surviving on jumbo chips, large cokes and $2 pies [wee!], I need proper nutrition lest I fall sick / collapse / dehydrate during training. Let’s not get started about the fees! [Dust bunnies don't even have the luxury of hanging out in my account].
I am so fortunately that the kind and lovely M has graciously started a fundraiser [or, a FUNRAISER] to help raise funds for my Teacher Training.
For every special edition sweat tank top / shirt sold, you will be helping out TWO yogis in the process! Plus did we mention, you get to look cool and rock the top IN and OUT of class? [just make sure you don't wear the SAME top post class...] How awesome is that? It’s like a… a… (2×2) + 2 deal!
These tops will ONLY be available while I’m at bootcamp er, Bikram Yoga teacher training, so get yours quick! In fact, if you spot someone else post/pre/during class rocking the same top, you both can do the secret handshake thing. Uh huh, you know what I mean, wink wink nudge nudge!
Click here to find out more about these special tops!
M*
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Packing ‘Light’
Posted on September 17th, 2009 2 commentsAnyone who knows me or has been on a trip with me knows that I don’t exactly pack light all the time.
My recent trip to Singapore to catch Lady Gaga in concert warranted a trolley bag, much to my mum’s shock. “What are you packing in there, BABIES?”, she asked. My gracious host and good friend Foo poked around my bag, wondering what sort of things I packed. I think he was marvelling at the fact that I really needed everything in there for a night’s stay! I can’t help it, really. All my toiletries can’t fit into a backpack! Enough jokes about me packing to survive a nuclear holocaust, because I can survive that catastrophe and still look FIERCE!
So here’s my list of stuff I have to pack for this coming Teacher Training :
For obvious reasons :
-9 pairs of yoga shorts
- 10 pairs of yoga tops
- 4 pairs of pants for posture clinics
- 2 pair of long snuggly long pants for movie torture Bollywood nights
- 4 sweaters
- 1 thermal [or should I make that 2?!] <-see, packing ‘light’ indeed
- scarf
- Kathmandu down jacket [I have a 23 hour stopover in Korea, absolutely no choice for this!]
- 3 pairs of socks [or should I make it 5?!]
- 1 pair of ridiculous toe socks for snugglies
- 1 pair of jandals to walk to and fro class
- 1 pair of Ecco suede boots [Korea!]
- 1 pair of Ecco walking shoes [I HEART Ecco!]
- About a bajillion pairs of underwear
Wow, the list just gets nonsensical as it goes on.
Toiletries
- Face wash
- Toner
- Day lotion with SPF
- Bio-oil as my night moisturiser and anti stretchmark / scar cream [I have lots of them, stretchmarks and scars!]
- Moisturiser
- Shampoo [using body wash from Hilton, hah!]
- About a trillion pads and tampons
- Nail clippers [!!! VERY IMPORTANT!]
- Scrub
- Lady razor [I don't want to wake my flatmate up with the deathly whirring of this contraption]
- Cotton squares
Supplements
- Multi-vitamins with minerals
- Electrolyte recovery [buying more pedialyte and emergen-cy there!]
- Vitamin C?
Make Up
- MAC Blusher
- Eyeliner [liquid]
- Mascara
- 1 lipgloss out of the 4078 I own
* All for AFTER TT, obviously!
Now to decide what dress to pack… and what shoes / pretty bag to go with it…
And I AM SET!
M*