1. I organised The North Face 100 ~ The 1st 100km off-road ultramarathon in Singapore. It was bloody hard work but I loved it! It reminded me of when I was in Michelin and we were creating stuff (new tyres, new events, new ads....); well I got to create a new running event from scratch! (The sad 300pax event they did before I came aboard doesn't count!) The people were great fun and running the trails was just amazing. To come up with the race route, I pretty much ran all the possible trails in Singapore (legal & illegal); a lot of it was done on my own so good alone-time there. This year's race is going to open next week so I am going to have loads of work coming up........
2. South America ~ Nov / Dec 09 was spent traveling through Peru & Bolivia. It was absolutely perfect; hiking, ice mountain climbing, cycling.... I was alone for most part of the trip but met up with Rachel to cycle down the Death Road (where I nearly killed myself and still have scars to show for it !) and a bunch of Spore friends to do the Inca trail hike to Machu Pichu. I think I am going to save this trip for a separate blog post!
3. Kids ~ No little girl yet, but the little men I have are growing up to be superb little beings that I am super proud of! On the academic front, Mat was 1st in class two years in a row, Nic came in 3rd in class, scored amazingly well for his PSLEs and got into ACS (I), Stephan is slowly learning how to read, but definitely making progress! On the sports front, Mat's in the ACS Rugby team and they have been winning all the championships, all 3 boys ran their 1st 10km race (doing it in 1hr 15-20mins!), Stephan swam in his 1st inter-club swim meet (but didn't win) and participated in his 1st Biathlon, Nic started playing soft-ball this year........ Pretty amazing boys! I can't help but think of something Ajahn Brahm said though: "If your child is in the top 10% or bottom 10%, you are a BAD PARENT!" According to the Buddhists, it is only in taking the Middle Way that we can find true liberation. ie : Nothing in extremes, everything in moderation! Does being in the Top 10% make them arrogant? Will it make them complacent? I am afraid that there might be something in that as I look at my boys now...... This is definitely to be monitored closely!
4. Yoga ~ This is my little stash of gold dust! When I started teaching, I had little time for my own practise and I think I really suffered (without realising it!) It was only in the past 6 months that I have re-found my passion for yoga. I realised that I cannot just practise on my own, I need a Sangha, a community where there is support and sharing of energy, of love and of knowledge! Erika & Tim have welcomed me back to the Oasis family and it is so comforting to know I can go there to practise with other teachers,to go for meditation sittings, attend intensives...... The group do free practise twice a week and I generally try to dedicate one morning a week when I do not teach so that I can practise with them (and have breakfast after!) They practise Iyengar which I am not too familiar with, but it is definitely putting some discipline into my own practise!
urdheva dhanurasana ~ my antidote
I go for Contact Improvisation every Monday night; this isn't yoga per se, but it is definitely meditation and is playing a big role in my yoga journey. The breaking down of barriers, letting go of frustrations, the building of trust, awareness and contact with other beings! I love it!
I have also started doing "Osho-style" Active & Dynamic meditation with Singa Sanga. I have been for 2 sessions this week and I think I may be getting it! I found the cathartic releasing a bit difficult to begin with, but once the lights went out, I could scream, shout and cry till my hearts content and wow, that w
as cool! The free dancing, jumping around was all very refreshing!
I was given the chance to do some AcroYoga recently, thanks to new friend, Marc. It was so amazingly fun that I wish I could find people to do it with all the time. Alas, Marc has left and I'll need to see how I can develop this into something!My yoga journey has taken on new dimensions and it is all deliciously exciting. Namaste!
Massage : I give a couple of massages a week and it is a nice meditation. I think I do some good so that makes me happy! :)
5. Diving Similan Islands - The boys and I were in Phuket last month. The boys took their Padi Open Water and I finally did my Advanced. We had a marvelous trip with our friends aboard the Black Manta~ The Teongs and The Wongs and a bunch of new friends that we met on the trip! We saw a manta, sharks, moray eels, beautiful stuff...... Then the boys and I spent quality chillax time (just us) going from beach to beach along the coast of Phuket.
Trekking to the beaches and loads of playing!!!!
6. Me & Sports - I decided to go easy on the triathlon training. My body was feeling awfully battered : painful knees & ankles from running, tight shoulders from cycling....... I managed to conquer my fear of swimming by swimming 35laps non-stop, decided to do a Biathlon on my own (this was me not wanting to sign up for the official biathlon cos I did not want it to be an ego trip, but I think it was also because I am so slow I didn't want everyone to know how bad I was) ~ 30 laps in the SICC pool (44mins) followed by 11km loop around MacRitchie! (1hr 10mins) That accomplished, I decided to give it all a rest. That was about 3 months ago and my body feels great! I ran a half marathon last weekend (unplanned, with zero training and very slow 2hrs 45 mins ~ good 15 mins worse than my previous time!), but other than a little pain in the knee the next morning, I was absolutely fine! I can't decide what to do! I get this urge to put on my running shoes whenever I see someone else running...... sigh
.Can't recall which race this was! Family Race with sis Peng & Sis-in-law jasmine
7.Me & religion ~ A confusing place. I recently joined the Buddhist fellowship (If you know my mother, please don't tell her!) and actually enjoy going for the talks! I like the people, I like what they say...... BUT, I am still a christian! haha. I tried going to Chinese church recently. It was really quite good : My chinese is really poor, so I had to concentrate really hard to understand what the pastor was saying. And having to concentrate so hard, left me no time to argue with the Word of God! In my normal church, I feel like I am always arguing with my pastor in my head. He'd say something like "Fear God" or "No one can enter the kingdom of God except through me" ("me" as in Jesus!) and it would really tick me off! Why should I fear God? I love God, He loves me.... we have a relationship based on Love, not Fear! OR Why must you believe in Jesus to go to Heaven? My Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim & Hindu friends are going to heaven too! Anyway, there is only Heaven (I don't believe in Hell)..... and the debate goes on and on in my head and I have no idea what the pastor wanted to say in the 1st place! So, religion and I continue to be in a difficult place.
8.Me & Men ~ Well Tim and I finally managed to break-up. It took 1 yr of complete radio silence for us to move on. He will always hold a special place in my heart but I am happy to say that we are both in a better place now! So, I have been dating, and it is all very pleasant but I haven't brought anyone home to meet the boys and mum yet! And who knows.....
And I am happy! Supremely happy! I look at my life with complete gratitude for everything I have and I am bursting with joy! (And no, I have not taken any San Pedro lately, so this is REAL! :))
PS: Oh, and I finally got a tattoo.Spirals of life : representing the cycle of life & impermanence in everything
3 spirals : for my 3 beautiful boys
The vine : The spirals give birth to Beauty & more Life (& Happiness)....
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