My 2009 - A Year of Personal Growth

Year 2009 was a very meaningful year for me. I experienced a lot of personal growth and wisdom, simply because I was willing to let go of the status quo and willing to risk into the unknown.
It was all worth it.
For the year ahead, I hope to have another safe, healthy, happy and fruitful year.
Looking forward to 1-2 more vacations with friends/families, continue enhancing my new career, continue having fun in great gym classes, spending more time with family and continue showing appreciation and kindness for the people around. Lets have a great 2010!

Things get better through whatever

Yippeee

I had a great time in the Jam class today.

Such fun, and I also corrected my techniques after paying absolute attention to my coach's cue.

This week has been a fulfilling week at work and gym as well :)

*muaks muaks* to life

Gratitude Journal Entry for Today

I suddenly realised it has been a long time since I sat down and be grateful for what I have. So I shall do it today.
I am grateful for....

• having health
• having a job with the role that I asked for
• having a nice family
• having hobbies that keeps me feeling alive and happy
• being able bodied enough to drive, to work out, to enjoy food, to sleep well
• having friends
• having a good gym coach
• being alive! :D

Me...camwhoring on Sunday morning

Itching to go Gym

After a relatively sedentary lifestyle over the past few days/2 weeks...I am soooooooooooo itching to go to my favourite gym classes againnnnn.

Here's what I did over last week...

• Friday - Attack, Jam


• Saturday - Balance, Jam


• Sunday - Pump, Balance


• Tuesday - Combat


• Saturday - Attack, Jam


• Sunday- Balance


• Monday - ITCHINGGGGGGG FOR GYMMMMMMM

Coming soon...muahahahah

• Tuesday- Jam


• Wednesday - Jam


• Thurs- attack/combat


• Fri-attack, balance


• Sat - attack, jam


• Sunday- pump, balance

muakakakaka

Yippee

Did pump yesterday. And felt pretty ok today! Yeahhhh
perhaps due to the sufficient 15 minutes cycling warm up , or my body is getting slightly used to it... Good good

I am so glad!

So glad that I went to Pump today after sooo long. It was so sore, but it reignites my interest for Pump. Perhaps need to thank my friend for kept pestering me to go.
On the other hand I am happy that I will be able to go to my fav classes at least two of the weekdays from now on .
Really glad I took the plunge to ask. If I didnt ask I would never know :)
And oh, thanks to my other friend for encouraging me to ask.
<sighing blissfully> so many little angels in my life. I am fortunate!
Thanks to everybody & Buddha :)

Feel Crappy

Feel a bit crappy this week.
Only one good reason.
Process of elimination goes...
1) Enough sleep - yes
2) Enough good food - no - horrible canteen food for lunch. But will have to live with it. No other choices except for driving out sometimes.
3) Enough fun classes - NOOOOOOOOOOOO..zero classes since Monday till now...helppppp helpppp
Nowadays my working hours ends around 6. Considerably early compared to my previous working hours.
But, I am not able to make it to my favourite classes anymore. By the time I reach gym, the class is already half done. I have to wait 40 minutes for the next class.. Siennnnnnnn
But judging from my pek-chek-ness this week I think I may feel better walking on treadmill watching tv for 40 minutes, and attend the later class at least on alternate week.

At least i dont have pent up energy and mang-zhang-ness in me screaming to be released..
I SO SO SO need a good attack class followed by balance class later......

Feeling Grateful

Suddenly overcome by a feeling of gratitude for all that I have.

My family-my supportive and ever helpful daddy, my loving and understanding mummy, my witty and funny brother.

Our home

Our health

And our destiny and fate to be family together.

I love you all! Muaks..

May we be happy and healthy forever together :)

Stay safe, may our wishes come true.

Hows's life?

Things have changed a lot lately.

Just started on my new job. Learning to adapt to the new working culture here.

Reshuffling my gym schedule to fit the new working hours.

All's well :)

Weekend @The Good Life

Saturday ---- brunch with mum, went to hair salon for rebond, cut and treatment....dinner with mum@ taiwanese restaurant...facebooking till late night

Sunday --- Japanese buffet with family-->read some books in Bookshop while waiting for mum to get her haircut--> chilling out at home--> porridge dinner outside with family -->watch tvb series i got from TVB king... --> itemise to-do list to get my next week sorted out :) --> pack up gym bag for my next Gym session

Short points that I must get off my chest...just ignore me.. i am talking to myself

• next time I will do pin straight rebonding instead of natural rebonding.... seems like am very anal about straight hair and for some reason feel kiasu that my rebonding is not straight enough hahahah
• can take leave for next rebonding session - saloon more likely to be empty during office hours weekdays..probably take leave on a Wed/Thurs...
• next visit to the salon = 20% discount for rebonding & treatment! yayyyyyy

Quote of the Day

Learn to adjust yourself to the conditions you have to endure, but make a point of trying to alter or correct conditions so that they are most favorable to you.

~William Frederick Book

Taming the Perfectionist Streak In Me: When Good in Good Enough

Taming the Perfectionist Streak in Me : When Good is Good Enough

New Haircut

Went for another haircut today.

So far this is my 4th experiment with different stylists since December last year.

Today I went to Sunny @ Shunji Matsuo NG saloon in Desa Sri Hartamas.

Quite like the haircut at first sight. Will give it a few more days - hope that it will still look nice after I wash it myself

I miss the peaceful yet good-workout Klev's balance classes

Misses Klev's Balance class. Will I ever be able to enjoy the tracks 17Again, We'Re running out of TIme and Show Me Heaven the same way agn?

I remember vividly...

- for the song "17 again", when we did the 'tabletop' pose, he will ask us what we wish to do if we were 17 again.

- for the song "Running Out of Time", when it comes to the chorus, for the back track, he will asked us to take off our hands from the floor, and he will say "Look! No hands!" (in a childlike fascnination tone)

- for the song Show Me Heaven - he sometimes will sing along

Sigh, choowie said that I am too emo. But how could I not be? After 5 and half years, the classes, the amazing feelings have become a part of my life. How can I easily tear it apart just like that?

I shiver at the thought that one day, other regular instructors like Keny & Manja may leave, just like that.

WOW.

IF that really happens, it's hard to enjoy gym classes the same way again, ever.

But like what Klev said, it's time to move on.

A Sudden Change

I found out today ( a little too late) that Klevin's dropping all the classes for good.
Managed to talk to him after his Pump, right before my Attack class.
Asked if the news were true.
Seems like it is. Permanently.

Many thoughts were circling in my mind when I was doing the bodyAttack class.
I just missed his last classes - pump, balance..yes, especially balance.

As I was doing the warm up track for Attack, my mind went back to the days in Maxis, when I discovered his late Thursday classes. And how he always managed to make the class fun & challenging and yet peaceful & destressing at the same time. And how the fire drill always seemed to fall on Thursdays, disrupting our meditation & relaxation session.

Time flies. It never occurred to me that one day he will stop teaching. At least not this soon, not this sudden. I will be hard to find someone who can give us the aura of peace feeling, and a good workout at the same in a Balance class.
And for some reasons, he has also disappeared from Facebook... :(

What a pity.

Perspective

Exhilaration of life can be found only with an upward look. This is an exciting world. It is cram-packed with opportunity. Great moments wait around every corner.
Richard M. DeVos

Just because things are not going perfectly does not mean they are not going well.
Al Groh

Some nice poetic quotes I came across...

Overdose of Fruit

Lately I have been hit by the shopping bug... to buy fruits. Each time I pass by the fruit stall after lunch, I was so attracted to the myriad of fruits the have there. Wow.. so nice.... so fresh.. looks so pretty.. the water chestnut, the jackfruit, the honey dew, the guava.. Everything looks so tempting.

I end up buying 2 packs most of the time.

And most of the time, I cant finish it , and keep if for the next day.

And the next day, I got tempted again and bought 2 more.

So today in my office fridge I have like.. 3 packets :S

Must get more rational next time ahhha. Dont go ga-ga over the fruits anymore......

Everything Will Be All Right

It's such a peaceful feeling to know that you will be allright no matter what is going on in your life right now. Like all the things that you used to think made up your happiness, now you realise that with or without them, you are still OK.

Because the joy comes from within. :)

So Glad to Be Back!

Glad to be back!

I enjoyed my 2 weeks break immensely.


At the same time, I am overjoyed to be back!


Ah, at last back to all my beloved things... my beloved Malaysian Food, my coffee, my milk tea, my REAL dimsum, my beloved gym classes....

London - Day 2& 3 in brief

Day 2- 16th March Monday
Breakfast - prawn salad sandwich. ( I still feel squeamish when I think of the raw prawns although it tasted ok, probably masked by the mayo sauce).
Joined a day tour to Windsor, Oxford and Stonehenge. It was nice but as all packaged tours are, sometimes it's a bit of a rush.
Dinner - instant Maggi mee with eggs and salad vege (should have bought curry/tomyam flavour instead of this plain chicken flavour). Finished off with one nectarine (still wondering why the nectarine is a bit hard, not juicy and sweet enough

Day 3-17th March Tuesday
Breakfast - 2 slices wholemeal bread toast, with 2 half boiled eggs, 1 cup white coffee. Don't know whether it's just me or what, but the eggs back home seems to taste better...
Visited British Museum. There's so much to see but I got a bit tired physically and mentally after just 3 hours in the museum.
Left museum and hunted for the famous Fish & Chips - this time I tried the shop Fryer's Delight - which is supposedly one of the better ones. They use beef drippings as part of the oil (i.e. quote and unquote from Wikipedia-Dripping, also known as beef or pork dripping, is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of cow or pig carcasses. It is similar to lard and tallow.Dripping, also known as beef or pork dripping, is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of cow or pig carcasses. It is similar to lard and tallow.)

Sounds pretty unhealthy right? But apparently this is the true traditional way of cooking fish and chips. The waitress recommended Cod fish. The fish was quite nice, although the chips were a bit too much. I would have prefered if they served only half of the amount of chips, and the other half, substituted with green veges... Anyway, it was still a nice experience.

After lunch, wanted to head back home to rest and do my laundry. But came across the sign for Sir John Sloan's museum. He is one of the famous architect in london. Since the museum is only 10 minutes walk away, I decided to pay it a visit.

On the way back home, stopped by to buy 1 box of grapes. I am making a point to try all the fruits here which i could not easily get at a reasonably price back home - like nectarines, plums, strawberries etc.

At home, I opened the fridge and shifted my bag of nectarines to make way for the graps. Alas, I solved the 'mystery' of why my nectarines dont taste nice. Plastered on the bag, a small note says "To be left to ripen at room temperature at home"!!! Hmm, no wonder. Took them out and now they are sitting on the kitchen counter. I shall wait for it patiently to ripe....

Dinner tonight will be most likely something light as I am lazy to go out again. Besides, I have some laundry to do....Oh tomorrrow I have an interesting breakfast! I will have wholemeal bread, with tuna & edamame salad as filling (bought from Marks and Spencer). Sounds interesting. Hopefully it will taste as good as it sounds! :)

London Day 1

London Day 1:
Woke up very early today - 5am due to jet lag. Surfed net for a while before going back to sleep at 6am. Managed to nap for a few more hours before waking up.
Visited the local day market and bought Chicken Curry Rice and Lamb Samosa, with coffee for brunch. Brother was eyeing the food I brought so decided to share some with him.
After brunch, headed to Oxford & Regent street for some shopping trip.
At the end of the day - bought a spring coat and cap.
Dinner was roast chicken drumstick, soya bean milk, 2 bites of BLT sandwich and 1 mini nectarine. Bought it from Tesco nearby. Sandwich was a bit too salty. Soya bean was mysteriously creamy but I am happy that it is only mildly sweetened - just right to my taste.
Tonight I shall aim to get an early night sleep for my day trip tomorrow!

Sat...Sun...Mon...

What a nice long weekend.....
Sat- went for nice dim sum brunch and headed to gym for beloved Balance and Jam classes...

Sun - went for nice fish head noodle brunch and went to Attack class

Mon - started the day on the right note with Klev's Peaceful Balance class followed by Combat... had lunch with my gym buddy and went shopping...went for hair trim (my stylist was so courteous and pleasant although I just went for a fringe trim - he actually bothered to consult me before he cut it)... went home for home cooked dinner.....

Obsession with Skincare products

Since Dec last year I have been on a Hair-Care and Hair-Style fever.

Dont know what possessed me to spend tonnes on products for hair care and hair style as well as expensive hair stylists and treatments.

Lately I felt slightly relieved as I have started toning down my obsession.

Today I realised that it has morphed itself into another obsession- Skin Care products!!!!

Over the past few months I have bought TONNESSSS..

Most recent purchases today

1. 3 tubes of Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream

2. Skin Food Aloe SPF20+ BB cream

3. Face Shop Quick and Clean BB cream

4. Skin Food Black Sugar Mask Wash Off

Will stop will stop. Before my room turns into a storeroom for products. :S

Quote of the day

“We spend too much time living in the what if and need to learn to live in the what is.” - Rev. Leroy Allison

New haircut by different stylist

Last Dec, I went to Shunji Matsuo for haircut by Min (Korean International Director). He gave me a blunt cut with minimal layers and a side swept fringe. What I liked most about the haircut was its sloping side.

Have been thinking of getting another haircut for over a week now. Since I am free today, decided to pop by to Midvalley and try another saloon. (Lately I just feel like trying different stylists each time for a different cut)

Went to EP for cut by its Japanese stylist. He asked me what cut I have in mind. I just described to him roughly the fringe that I would like to have and ask him to thin the hair.

As for the length and style, I asked for his recommendation. He recommended that I keep my length at the back, but make it more graduated at the side. And the top layer of hairs will be one length, while the inner hair will be sheared and layered to remove the bulk.

Here's the outcome... side view attached too ^^

Book Review and such

<1>The most recent book I read was "On Form". It was describing how people should take the high performing athletes as example - to intersperse periods of exertion, growth with periods of rest and recovery. In short, the most memorable quote I took away from the book was "Is the life I am living worth what I am giving up to have it?"

Casual Friday: Trench Coat belt used as Jeans Belt

This morning while getting dressed for work, I was trying to search for a suitable belt to wear with my pink top and blue jeans. Suddenly felt like using a different belt.

So used my belt for trench coat-top as jeans belt instead. Not bad - quite comfy due to the cotton material~ tied a ribbon too..hahahaha

Resolution #1 - No Caffeine after 2pm

Nice Article! :)

http://www.thebridgemaker.com/how-to-stop-trying-so-hard-or-just-be-who-you-are/

Suddenly finding Jap food a bit *blah*

For those who knows me well, you will know that I am a big fan of Jap food.
Yet today after dinner of tenjyu *cant even manage to eat the rice ... in the end just ate the tempura, and sushi ... suddenly feel a bit Phobia of the jap food.

Sorry mum, no jap food buffet for me next month.....:S

Quote of the Day

"Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal." --Elbert Hubbard

Training Week

Next week I will be away - attending training.

So one week away from the ordinary - away from work and gym.

Hope that it will be a fruitful and fun week for me ahead! Wish me luck. :)

Gifts of Life

As I was driving to work today, I had this thought:

Each of us are presented with a big box of 'gifts' in our life - be it career, personality, looks, likes, dislikes, family, friends, strengths and weaknesses.

Too many times, we lament the lack of certain gifts so much that we forgot to appreciate the ones that we have been bestowed upon.

2009 I will continue to open my gifts of life one by one - as each day unravels - opening up my mind and heart to embrace the possibilities, to participate in what life brings! :)

* muaks muaks* to 2009!

Native American Proverb

As you go the way of life you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.-- Native American Proverb

Less Picky Now...

My favourite instructors are away for sooo long!!

Kenny, Klevin, Teoh,Cyrstal....they are either away on vacations or recovering from injury :( ...

I was very stubborn for the past few weeks... Threw a "trantrum" and boycotted gym for a good part of the past few weeks. Only went when they are around although I had to wake up at 8 am on holidays like Christmas and New Year.

But last Friday, it finally dawned upon me that i have to be less picky (or "snobbish" :S). Actually maybe I was picky because I have been lucky enough to be spoiled by great instructors.

Being used to be pampered by instructors with great cues, spirit and motivation who keeps reminding me that we are stronger that what we think we are.

Then suddenly have to adapt to other instructors is not an easy feat for me.

However, now that my fav instructors are away for SO long, I can possibly just sit on my butt and throw "tantrums" forever.

So I decided this is perhaps a great chance for me to adapt to different instructors, and learn to take the focus away from the instructor and more to my own workout. After all, there are people who are working out on treadmill by themselves without and cheerleading instructors by their side, and they seem to manage just fine :).

So, I took the first step yesterday. Went for pump, balance and jam although they were not Klev and Keny's classes. To my pleasant surprise, I managed just fine. Maybe because I had already set my expectations correctly.

Today, my usual Attack instructor is not teaching. Dissapointed? Yes. But will it stop me from going today? No.

Because today's workout is for ME. :)

I was watching the series - Gem Of Life lately.

There was a particular scene in the movie that caught my attention - the mum telling the youngest daughter "Dont think about anything at the moment- just focus on the fact that you are doing this at the moment".

Adopting similar concept, I now will use this as my life compass in 2009 -

什么都别想， 只要是对自己好的就去做吧！