LIFE AFTER THE CIRCUS

I have been back 10 days and Greece feels like a lifetime ago. It was difficult the first couple of days; I missed my friends at the circus, the quiet and peace, the hours of bodywork….. and of course, I was going through caffeine withdrawal!(*) (Yes, I am almost completely weaned off coffee now.)

On the other hand, I am back with my boys, mum, family and friends. And it’s wonderful! The boys are having exams now so it has been a little stressful. My math isn’t really up to scratch and I have spent the last week struggling through Primary 4 and 5 maths problems….. I eventually had to call in help from friends. Yep, I am hopeless! Like Aunty SuLi said, can someone remind me how we use calculas and algebra in everyday life?
Friends helping Kids with Maths night before exam!

Other than that, we have been un-packing and getting settled into the “new” flat! Ya, a little renovation, and we get tricked into thinking it’s all new! Great! The boys love their new room. The skylight leaked during the heavy rains the other day but uncle Clement has come to fix it! And me, I am enjoying having a gigantic Princess & the Pea bed! I have slept on the floor for the past 3years so this really is a nice change!

Nic, Mat & Steph in their new room and beds!

Me on my Princess & the Pea Bed!

I have gotten into quite a nice routine. I am up before sunrise whether there is class or not! I give a yoga class several mornings a week then I do 1-2hrs of self practise; Meditation or yoga dance, which is my new thing; thanks to Sabine! Unfortunately, in my over-zealous enthusiasm, I sprained my right wrist doing a back-bend fall-back whilst gyrating to the rhythms of Krishna Das! Ya, and my right hamstring still hasn’t recovered from all the yoga-dancing in Crete! I don’t know if my body can take much more of this!

A couple of times a week, I try to squeeze in a run in between meditation and yoga. The ½ marathon is a month away and I have no idea how to get from 8km to 21km!! With my new running philosophy: Mindful running focusing on the present, my runs are now joyful runs. In the past, I found running hell. I enjoyed the post-run; the cleansing of the pores, the sweat, the tingling sensations, but I hated the run itself! I think this is because my runs were always riddled with disappointment. I was always targeting to reach the end of some hill or some road, but in the end, there is always some more hill and some more road…. Now, I just enjoy the moment of the run until I don’t anymore, then I stop. Which is where the problem lies; how to break the 8km ceiling whilst maintaining the joyful run?

Well, by the time I finish all the yoga & running, it is 9.30am and I start doing some real work; going through the countless bills, checking on the shares, working on ID Band… I lost all our living money in the stock market this past month so I hope God gives me some kind of quick get rich plan soon or I will have to look for work

There is some income coming in from the Yoga and the massage work but it is hardly enough to live with and I am reluctant to start too many new classes as we are off to Laos then India in a month.

I started working at the Orchard Residences Spa with Dolphin Network last week. It’s a lot of hassle and it doesn’t pay very well to work outside of home but the experience was nice. They have a gorgeous massage platform by the pool to work on! I think my massage has improved; there has been quite a number of repeat clients (within a short 2 week time frame) and patients are asking to extend their sessions to 2 and 2 1/2hrs.

I did a Chinese Meridien Stretching Class with Mum and her friends Uncle Suresh and Aunty May the other day. I pretty much followed David’s instructions and it seemed easy enough, but there were loads of cries of aches and pains the next day. Guess their Meridians have not been stretched in a while!

Belinda & Myra

3 generations of friends & family! Uncle Suresh & Aunty May (from Canada), Aunty Maggie (the boy's god-ma) and half the TAY gang.

I have been trying to practise “Single Moment Single Activity”, and it is very difficult indeed! Whoever came up with that is obviously not a mum. We, mums, multi-task and it’s our forte; the ability to prepare dinner, check on the kids homework, teach a yoga class and design a website all in one afternoon’s work!

(*) Note : I may be off the coffee, but I have now developed a much worse addiction! SUGAR; Ice-cream and cakes after each meal.... It is awful! I am at Daily Scoop, the ice cream shop down the road, everyday, so much so that the waiters know me! And for those of you who have not been initiated to the best home-made ice-cream in Spore, you have to come and try Daily Scoop @ Sunset Way. The Durian and Cempadak flavors are to die for!

We celebrated my grandma's 3rd death anniversary. (It's only been 2 yrs but they add 1 more yr to confuse the spirits I think!) Ah Mah has been speaking to various members of the family requesting that we buy her a bigger house because she has to share a room and for some strange reason, she requested for a handphone (not that she ever used one when she was alive!) Anyway, good filial children that we are, we bought her a mansion and 6 handphones (but with only 1 SIM card so that she does not get mixed-up! LOL) There was a little ceremony with a priest, loads of chanting in cantonese that no one understood then we burnt everything up so that she can enjoy it in the Afterworld.

It has been 2 weeks of birthdays (and loads of cakes)... Emma's 7th bday (I lost the photos so will need to get them off Peng. Tim, you would have been so proud of Ems. She had her party at BakerzInn and was all decked out in a chef's uniform.).... Myra's 3rd Birthday..... Tzen Wei's 11th bday.... Oliver Khye's 1 month (That is Craig & Sharon's new baby & the boy's new god-brother! We had some super pictures of the handsome baby but I can't find em! Anyway, the proud parents decided not to celebrate his one month but celebrate his 2nd month instead. So original!)