Life Guru

The Kumano Kudo

2010-07-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

The walk of the pilgrims

through the arduous kii mountains.
A journey that cleanses sins,
removes burning desires
and purifies the soul.

Walking and praying,
the pilgrims call upon the spirits of the forest.
Messages from the ghosts of pilgrims past
echo in each step and in each breath.

The sacred 3-legged crow soars above,
showing the true path,
guiding the way on.

Honggu Shrine, Nachi Shrine

The Nakamechi trail,
through the Kumano Sanzen,
the walk of the 3 mountain shrines,
Honggu, Nachi and Natayama.

130km of mountain trail.
130km of time to think and pray.
From oji to oji, on and on they go.
the burning sun scorching,
the rain water pouring.

A test of endurance
To show that each step is merely a step.

So that when they prostrate themselves before God
The God of self
Ringing the bells in front of the temple doors
the prayers are pure
resonating from deep within,
in all pureness and goodness.

And prayers are answered,
not as a mocking reward for the painful journey,
but as a gift of self discovery
Because through the meditation of the walk,
the true self is revealed.

And we realize that what we want is what we already have.
That which is within and had been with us all along.

Two Rivers ~ One Sea

2010-07-09T19:20:00.001-07:00

Two Rivers

C G7

We are two rivers flow

Flowing to the sea

G7 F

I want you to be you

G C

I want me to be me.

Chorus :

We’re two rivers,

Flowing rivers

F G7

Rivers, to the sea…..

C G7

Rivers, flowing rivers,

F G

Journeying to the sea.

Sometimes our paths may cross

But sometimes maybe naught.

It’s ok cos you will see

That’s how it’s meant to be.

We are two separate beings,

Meandering to the sea

We’re together yet apart and

That’s how it’s gonna be

I wrote this song for someone I was seeing a couple of months ago (1st song I ever wrote and I was pretty pleased with myself!)

Whilst doing the Shikoku walk, there was a long stretch along the river and my Two Rivers song kept coming to me (yeah, it's such a great song with such a catchy tune.... haha). Anyway, I was singing along at the top of my lungs and then BANG, suddenly, the meanings of the words came to me!

I can't imagine what I must have been thinking when I wrote it! At that time, I honestly couldn't for the life of me understand why Mr M wasn't ecstatic with joy when I sang and dedicated this song to him. Needless to stay, that relationship didn't last very long. Mr M did not appreciate the "Let's be together yet apart" relationship and looking back at it now, I wonder if I had been more willing to be more "together-together", we would still be together! haha)

The rivers flow into one sea

One fabric ~ one ocean

All beings ~ All living things

To feel pain when you are in pain

To feel happiness when you are happy

To be one

Wisdom and compassion melting

as the diamond scepter penetrates the heart of the lotus flower

united as one.

The Pilgrimage of Life

2010-06-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

I did parts of 2 pilgrimages in Japan : The Kumano Kudo, a Shinto pilgrimage through the Kii mountains and The 88 Temple Shikoku pilgrimage, a Buddhist pilgramage tracing the steps of a Zen Buddhist Monk Koba Dashi though the mountains of Shikoku.

I love walking and hiking, but I tried to do these walks a little differently. A pilgrimage is not merely a walk, it is a meditation that uses all the 5 senses so that we can awaken the 6th sense (mind consciousness) and the 7th sense (ultimate reality). I read somewhere that if you can only hear yourself breath, you are walking too fast; slow down and hear Koba Dashi! For those of you who have hiked with me, you can imagine how difficult that must have been for me! But, walk slowly I did. Everytime I was tempted to break into a run, I heard Koba Dashi tell me "You will not be laughing when you fall and slip on the wet rocks!" In the mountains, there is no telephone reception and I'd walk 15km without seeing a single soul!

After a few hours I think I started to understand. I saw beyond what the eyes could see (mirages in the sky and reflecting off the trees - or maybe that was too much sun and exhaustion!); I heard beyond what the ears could hear (There was a lot of chatting with Koba Dashi, I heard birds chanting the Hannya Shin Gyo, rivers singing.... The songs of the mosquitos and flies in my ears where a little less pleasant at first, but even that became a friend by the end of the 1st day!); I smelt beyond what the nose could smell (There were times when I had wiffs of fragrant incense burning like in a temple. This was actually kindda creepy. As the smell came and went, it felt like someone was passing through!) I tasted beyond what I would normally taste (Parts of the route go through orchards and gardens and I was plucking and eating everything in sight- oranges, plums, prunes, apricots, berries (and it is not berry season I don't think!). Generally the fruits were delicious, but I tasted some pretty odd stuff. I don't know if I was eating things that weren't meant to be eaten or maybe they were not ripe.... but I have now experienced bitterness and sourness beyond what I have ever tasted before!) The sense of touch I am not so sure about; I think it is partly feeling the rootedness and groundedness with the earth, but also feeling the touch of the breeze and the rain mist!

I had 2 sutras (The Rishi Kyo & Hannya Shin Gyo) and some Koans (I think I am getting somewhere with the Sound of One Hand Clapping!) that I meditated on. Before I set-off on the Henlo (Shikoku Pilgrimage), I went to the temple with some friends and after 1 and 1/2 hrs of chanting the Rishi Kyo, I asked them what it meant. Makoto broke out into song "Everything little thing, is gonna be alright!" I guess Bob Marley understood the Rishi Kyo! The Hannya Shin Gyo is one of the most popular sutras (I guess it is equivalent to our Lord's Prayer.) Every good buddhist knows it by heart! I tried to learn the Hannya Shin Gyo, but it was too tough, so I focused on the last stanza "Gya Tei, Gya Tei, Hara Gya Tei, Hara So Gya Tei, Bo Ji So Wa Ka, Hanny Shin Gyo" and that basically means to "Go Forth"! So , my meditation was "Just Go On, Everything is gonna be alright!". Funny thing is, I already knew that! I was actually looking for "Where to go on to!!!"

Jokes aside, I think I did see some light! I used to think that life was a journey and it didn't matter much which path one took because it was the journey that mattered. Well, I think I see things a little differently now. Life is not just a journey, it is a pilgrimage. We walk through life with all our senses, completely in the NOW, but there is a purpose in the walk; a destination. Socrates said that Knowledge is the most important thing and the most important knowledge is to know thyself. When we know ourselves, we will know what our purpose is (our destiny)! Pretty good stuff right? I guess it is much better than just wandering through life..... you can enjoy every moment, but after a while, it is just pointless without that greater meaning!

The Kumano Kudo & Shikoku 88 temple are both pretty well marked trails but I had this uncanning knack of getting lost! And the reason I always got lost was because I turned off the trail when I wasn't supposed to. It seems pretty obvious that one should stay walking along the path unless told to do otherwise, right? Well, it isn't! Trail runners can tell you how we zone-out and very often don't even see the signs! But in my case, I think I got lost because I imagined a turn-off when there wasn't one! The sign would look like it was pointing off, or it seemed like there would be a village if I turned off, or the map looked like there should be a turning.... And if we take this learning into the pilgrimage of life, it works in exactly the same way! So often we beat ourselves up over having to make some decision or other... "so many roads, which should I take???" When in fact, making a decision is actually really easy. If something is meant to happen, the universe will work in such a way that it will be obvious (everything will just fall into place!). The road is very clearly marked and when it is time to turn-off, signs to turn off will be there! If you have to battle, fight and are not sure... better stay put on the path!

ZEN 101 (amended with new insight!) :)

2010-06-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

A Zen mind is a beginner's mind; Free of all judgement, preconceived ideas and open to all possibilities & opportunities.

I have spent the past 3 weeks trying to understand what I can about Japanese Zen Buddhism (with an open heart and a Zen mind), but it isn't easy. After many hours of walking, sitting, chanting and talking Zen, I am still not sure I am getting it! I read through my journal (many pages of a very thick book), and there are loads of different ideas but I feel like I am looking at bits and pieces of a huge jig-saw puzzle and am not quite getting the full picture.

Zen masters actually do not encourage the intellectualisation of Zen. I thought Master Osho (Head of the Hossenji Temple) was being mean and lazy when he refused to give me an english translation of the sutras we were chanting, but upon further reflection, I think it may actually be part of the training. If someone gives us a piece of paper and tells us 'This is a piece of paper', we have a pre-conceived idea about what the piece of paper is (what it is made of, what it can be used for etc... ) On the other hand, if we are given something and do not know what it is, we are not limited by the pre-given label and will take the pain to investigate into the true essence of the object. (the lines and texture of the paper, the fact that is was from a tree, the various possibilities of how we can put it to use etc...) Similarly, in the chanting of the sutras I guess we should first experience the sutras through the vibrations of the sounds and only when we start to be familiar with it (start to feel the stirring of the heart), then we can start studying the various translations. They say that Zen is an experiential practise and not an academic study!

There are nevertheless many books on Zen (in every temple and house) and I have been earnestly devouring all I can. Which is probably why I am so confused! The more I read, the more confused I get! Everything is a matter of perception and since there are no right and wrong answers, it is all a matter of how we look at things! If I were to stand in front of an elephant, I would describe him as having huge ears, a long trunk, tiny eyes etc...., but a person standing behind the elephant will describe it as having thick legs, a big bottom, a thin tail etc.... And we would both be right! It's all a matter of perspective! Well, my problem is that I want to see the WHOLE ELEPHANT, and in this whole elephant hunt, I am starting to feel like I am seeing pink flying elephants!

According to Chapter 1 of Buddhas teachings (which we covered Day 1 at the temple), life is suffering. Me, I don't get where this doom and gloom is coming from! Life is wonderful. Granted, some people may not have it that easy, but isn't pain & suffering, merely experiences given so that we can grow to reveal our true inner self and to develop greater compassion for others? I think it may have something to do with the Theory of Interconnectedness : Since we are all one, if there is anyone who is suffering, we feel and experience their suffering too.... hmm.... I honestly don't know how much pain & suffering of the world I can hold in my heart (or on my shoulders)! Gotta think about how to be compassionate (Ultimate compassion - Namo Avalokiteshvera Ayam) and still Be Happy!

I think I got a new understanding about the concept of living in the NOW that I am feeling pretty chuffed about though! Everyone kept talking about being present in the NOW and not dwelling in the past or projecting into the future... For me, that always had a sense of recklessness to it that I was not too comfortable with! If we live in the now and never think of the future, isn't that living a life of no consequence and isn't a life without consequence therefore inconsequential and meaningless! You know when Eckart Tolle (the guy who wrote The Power of Now) abandoned his life and was homeless for I don't remember how many years... Well, I never really understood that! The Zen Now, I found out, is not just about a single moment though, it actually encompasses all moments from the past (in this life and previous lives) and encompasses all moments of the future (including that of future generations), because every moment, every encounter, everything that happens, happens for a reason. Everything is interconnected and interdependent. The Zen life is therefore not the life of a libertine, but is a life of past and future karmic responsibility; for society, for community and for family!

PS : The above half finished note was written about 1 week ago. I have just gotten back from doing part of the Shikoku 88 temple pilgramage and after much chatting with "Saint" Kobai Dashi, I think my jig-saw is starting to take shape! All is not in vain! I need to go through my notebook and try to summarise my rambling-ons for the next post!

Gya-tei, Gya-Tei, Hara Gya-Tei, Hara So Gya-tei, Boji So Wa Ka, Hannya Shin Gyo!

The past year

2010-06-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a year since I blogged. So much has happened I don't even know where to start. So, some highlights :

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 was 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)....

To Blog or not to Blog

2010-06-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

I was looking up some information on this blog today (To be honest, I was checking out my man-list!) and ended up spending the past hour reading through all that happened these past few years! It was a really great read!

I stopped blogging last year cos I felt that I was telling the world too much about myself! So I stopped blogging, but journaled with traditional pen & paper instead. (The yogabodywork blog isn't really a blog since it only has boring yoga stuff on it!) I wrote all the "real" stuff in little notebooks and I now have 5 or 6 little notebooks filled with un-readable notes that I never go back to. The thing about writing a blog is that even though I was writing for myself, I still took the pain to do a minimum of editing. My pen & paper journals are filled with verbose rattling-ons that don't make any sense! And there are no pictures!

So, I think I am going to come back to blogging! WELCOME HOME!

I'm Moving...........

2010-01-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

www.yogabodywork.blogspot.com

AHIMSA

2009-07-29T02:46:00.000-07:00

I have not written anything in so long that it feels strangely like a homecoming! I am sitting in bed nursing an awful cold (and praying that it is not H1N1). Life has been speeding by at 100km/hr and I have been trying to keep up .......... ya, I am running around like a head-less chicken again. It is so easy to fall back into bad habits. Sigh. Well, I guess being ill is almost like a nice break: except that I can't breathe, have a massive headache and it kills to swallow! I had to cancel 2 yoga classes, 1 massage session and 1 SUPER meeting (that would have lasted hours). Pre-H1N1 days, I would have gone about life per normal; feeling like a complete martyr whilst I work myself into a zombie state. It was fear of being publicly chastised for putting other life's at risk that made me stay in.

Funny enough, I picked up an old copy of yoga journal whilst lying in bed feeling sorry for myself and chanced upon an article upon violence. Ahimsa (or non-violence) is a fundamental yogic philosophy and one generally applies this to non-violence to other beings and we seldom think of it as non-violence to oneself. There is the physical violence we put our bodies through and here I am thinking of my current ego-manic craze to complete a triathlon. I am not a natural runner, swimmer or cyclist and it takes a lot for me to be able to swim 20 laps in a pool or run 10km or cycle 60km.... (An easy feat for many, but not me!) To make matters worse, I fell off my bike about a month ago (I basically rode into a car!) and hurt my right knee. At first the pain was only in the knee, but now I have pulling in my achilles tendon and hamstrings on the right and ankle strain in my left leg. It even hurts when I do yoga. If I am well enough to do the tri this weekend, I promise to take a break and let my poor battered body heal!

There is also the mental torture which is even more subtle and much more dangerous : the self-doubt, questioning and beating oneself up over what had been or could be... I don't do much fretting in the area because I basically believe that what is meant to happen will happen so there is no need to agonise over the past or the future. There are no wrong choices after-all, there only IS.

Well, that is my bit of reflection for the day. Maybe if I don't get better by tomorrow, I will upload some photos of what has been happening these past few months!!!

The roller-coaster of everyday life

2009-05-25T22:18:00.001-07:00

It has been many months since I have written anything. So much has happened but everything is still the same....

"I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the Stern Face, the Sad Self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from."

Same-same but not the same! :)

My last entry was Bali with the Teongs. It was wonderful as it was our 1st visit back since we spent 1 month there in 2005 for my yoga teachers training. We loved it so much in our little house in the middle of the rice padi field, we were actually going to stay on. Alas, reality set-in and we came back to Spore.

Lahu village friend, Kerod, came to visit after Bali. It was great catching up with him and eye-opening for the children. Kerod is an advocate of the simple life and is very different from most of our Spore friends; he doesn't own a mobile phone, a computer, a TV or a car! The boys were astonished that people could actually live without what at their tender age they consider necessities in life already. I wish I had more time to spend with Kerod but I was busy"sorting out my life" and only had a few short hours to spend with him each day. We did however manage to squeeze in a couple of great highlights though.

Amma, the hugging saint from Kerala, was in town so we spent the weekend queuing up for Dharshan. I can't decide how I feel about Amma; There is definitely a positive energy around her and she does a lot for the poor and needy all around the world; hospitals, orphanages, schools..... I just can't get over the hundreds of followers and minders that follow her around (90% of whom are westerners!). Are they exploiting this simple Indian woman? There is a whole industry around Amma with the sale of Amma dolls, Amma mala beads, oils, teas etc... The money all goes to a good cause but it still feels quite strange.

Another great highlight was Pulau Ubin. We took Kerod on an off-road cycling trip on a little island off the little island of Spore. The cycling was quite limited as we had Stephan with us on his tiny bike and he found the slopes abit of a challenge. That being said, he did terribly well and we managed to show Kerod something of Spore that even Sporeans don't get to see very often (Bum boats, kampong houses.....) We didn't have much time to cycle as we had to rush back to sing Bhajans with Amma. The kids were a little sceptical but they enjoyed themselves.

Well, the Ubin trip sparked off some sort of interest in mountain biking and I have actually been back twice. I love the kampong feel, exploring the trails and the yummy coconut juice. Can't decide if I should invest in a mountain bike though. Afterall, I hardly use my road bike!!!

Oh, on that note, I did a 70km ride 2 weeks ago. I have not been on the bike since, but felt pretty chuffed that I survived it. I am really quite awful on a bike. I hate slopes, have bad saddle burns, sciatica pain post rides and complain non-stop..... I wonder how my friends put up with me!!! I try to ride with a group that ride Saturday mornings 6.45am from Longhouse and they are a really nice bunch of people and soooooo very patient with me. They are now training for the 320km ride for Mersing though so I don't think I will be able to keep up. Chin and the girls ride on Sundays at 8am and do the Coastal Road and I have been meaning to go, but there has always been some excuse of other. It is just so difficult to sort out a schedule; I have to take the boys to rugby, teach yoga, go to church.....

Well, the really really big thing about the past month is that I started work (and quit within the week!) I joined Outdoor Vetnure with very good intentions. I was supposed to do marketing and they gave me the flexibility to work 8.30am - 2.30pm at the office and do catch-up time at home after. Well, it all sounded very nice on paper, but it did not work out! I felt like I was working all the time (and the office was in bloody Kaki Bukit!). It would have been great as they had many fun brands to work with (Sugoi, zoot, Running Lab, North face etc....), but getting paid peanuts and working my butt off just didn't make any sense. Anyway, I was getting massive headaches everyday. Furthermore, I wasn't spending enough time on the boys and I had this awful cancer scare the same week. We had more tests done, and I am fine , but I asked myself what kind of life would I want to live if I only had a couple of months left, and that really helped me decide what to do. I am still working for Outdoor Venture now but on a project basis and just to organise The North Face 100 race. It is quite a challenge to do since I am not used to working without a whole marketing team of people to delegate to... haha

The ID Band business is pretty much on auto-pilot. Quantities are increasing steadily. I have been studying a new method of engraving. We found that the CO2 laser burning process was not as long-lasting as we had hoped and the fonts were fading after usage especially with the use of chemicals. We now have a new etched design which I find quite sexy!!! I now have to make a big decision to invest another couple of thousand dollars in creating new molds.......... sigh. Hope it will be worth it!

On the yoga front, I have a steady stream of regular students that I practise with. I generally do an early morning class and an evening class totallying about 15hrs a week. I find this work the most rewarding and am grateful for it. It doesn't leave me much time for self-practise but I try to practise even when I am giving a class and there is a special energy which comes from giving that actually has great healing effects for the giver! On the other hand, the massage work really has not progressed much. Tim bought me this super-duper massage table (extra wide with wooden legs!) I have only taken the table out a couple of times. I guess I am still trying to define my practise.....

Well, that's all for now. I am trying to slow down and stop running around like a head-less chicken all the time. SINGLE MOMENT SINGLE ACTIVITY!!!! I definitely do not want God to give me another wake-up call a la "Tsunami - God cut off my right foot" incident!

Bali with the Teongs

2009-04-12T03:30:00.000-07:00

This post is more than 1 month over-due. Have been so busy with work............. Will write about that on a seperate post!
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BL & I brought our boys to Bali for the March holidays. It was a bit difficult to decide on what we were going to do; Having not worked for more than a year, I was on my "austerity" drive and my very dear friend, BL, is more of a 5-star type of girl.... There was no way I was going to pay for villas at US$900 a night and I knew I wasn't going to be able to convince her to stay at the huts at Amed beach for US$3 / night!! After much debate, we finally settled on a small villa in Seminyak for under USD200/night. Things looked good on paper, but when we arrived, the place was completely "un-preped"! Cob-webs everywhere, no toilet paper, musky smelling rooms.... Sitting at Bali Deli, we decided to leave the villa and find alternative accomodation. It was really quite difficult to get anything since it was Galangan (Balinese Christmas / New Year) and many places were closed as the staff return home to their villages.

We finally ended up going to Mt Batukara and staying at a gorgeous place called the Mountain Resort Retreat which is run by a lovely Australian, Dutch couple. Rebeccae, Richard and their daughter Imogen were excellent hosts. The resort is literally in the middle of nowhere and was supremely peaceful. Days were spent reading, playing games and going on lovely walks..... With temple visits and cermonies every other day! We were treated like part of the village and participated in all the woderful festivities and were even invited to the home of a local Balinese family for some local delights.

Eng Guan came to join us at the end of the trip and the boys just had a truely wonderful time together whilst BL and I sat out on the porch indulging in loadsa port and girlie-chat!!!

The boys spent hours on end playing RISK!

Bali is a special place and being there for Galangan made it even more special. Next time, we are going to stay for Neypi (the day of silence so the bad spirits can't find their way back, after Galangan, where we made tons of noise to chase the spirits away. Everthing shuts down even the airport and people aren't allowed out of their houses and there is supposed to be no cooking or fires!)

Beautiful hikes in the paddi fields. Kids were a little grossed out by the leeches but we managed to convince em of the medicinal cleansing benefits!

Temple festivities

Balinese home visits after the temple!

Cycling trip : This was so much fun! It was down-hill on mountain bikes until we reached the main road and here, we had a little mis-communication with the driver and instead of depositing out bikes, decided to attack the last 10km to reach the beach. 10km is no problem normally, but little did we suspect that it was bloody 10km uphill in the middle of the day along a major express way! I had to get off and push my bike twice!

Playing @ the beach near Tanah Lot

Stephan's 5th birthday. He finally gave up his bottle in BALI! yeah!!!

Stephan is 5!

2009-04-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

Stephen celebrated his 5th bday a few weeks ago and had his 1st proper bday party with school friends and all.....

Steph wanted to have an army cake!!! eeks! I have no idea where that fascination came from.........

We organised a pool party @ Sunset Way and it was all great except there was a party there just before ours and all our dear guests had to melt outside by the pool under the sun until we could set-up in the hall.

It was a pool party after all, but there were tons of children that came without their swim stuff and I had absolutely no idea what to do with them!

I don't know what I would have done without mum's help. She brought food, organised for game organisers and helped control the crowd!

The yo-yo competition was a little too difficult for Stephan and his K1 friends but the older boys sure had fun!

We were in Bali for Stephan's real birthday on the 19th March. He asked Rebecca (our host at the mountain resort) for a spiderman cake and amazing, she whipped up a most amazing cake... spider-man and all!!!!

SICC Kick-board competition

2009-03-14T03:53:00.001-07:00

Stephan (and his cousin, Mark) both won a gold medal at the SICC kick-board competition. Unfortunately, the Steph only did one event before it got rained-out, but he was feeling quite chuffed! The last time Steph won a swim medal, there were only 2 boys swimming in his age group so he came in last and won a silver. This time, there were 6 boys swimming, so he really did do very well!

Kids Milo Tryathlon Nightmare

2009-03-12T04:08:00.001-07:00

This inaugrual event was really not very well thought out.

1. traffic jams getting into Sentosa

2. Bikes laid out all over the place with no security.

No racks; I was petrified that the bikes were gonna get trampled on....... or worse yet, someone was gonna just walk off with em!

3. No signage along the course & in the transition areas

The kids were running around the transition area asking where the run out was.......

Mat was 1st coming back into the transition area but took absolutely ages coming back from the run leg. We found out later that because there were no signs, he actually did 2km instead of the 1km for his age group!
4. No race briefing .................

After waiting for what seemed like ages, someone announced that the race was gonna be delayed for 1/2 hr but 2 seconds later, the kids were running into the water and someone decided that since the kids started, the 1st wave would just go ahead.......... how strange!

But, the kids had fun with their friends and I guess that's what counts!

Tim carrying Nic..........

2009-03-12T04:03:00.000-07:00

This photo is for Peng since she didn't think Tim could carry Nic.......... haha!!!

ACS (Primary) Class 4F 1st in class

2009-03-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's my baby Mathieu, Top student in class........ I am so proud!!!

I do believe that the Singapore school system may be slowly changing for the better; there is a move away from the "stick" to the "carrot". The boys now receive awards and commendations not only for academic achievements but for sports and other extra-curricular activities too. It's great for their morale and motivates them to do better. When Mat & Nic 1st returned to Singapore, they wanted to go back to international school. I debated it for a while as they both really enjoyed going to GIS in KL (they showed an enjoyment and eagerness to learn that was very much lacking in Spore). Unfortunately, I could not afford to put all 3 kids in international school so they returned to ACS. After the initial hurdles though, they both fit in fine and are coping in school. (With the exception of chinese from which they are now exempted!)

ACS is actually a great school; it offers our children a holistic education. The boys are given a good christian education based on "Wisdom and goodness" so that they can become real gentlemen and future leaders. What more can we ask for?

Tim in Singapore

2009-02-26T03:12:00.000-08:00

Tim spent 3 weeks in Spore (1st time back since leaving for America 1yr ago.)

When Tim's in town, no one needs to walk............. :)

Crazy acrobatics in the pool!

Hanging out at all the cool parks in Spore ..................
(Yes, that's Tim teaching the boys how to climb trees and look at Nicolas' muscles!!!)

Tim with his favourite lil Emma!

Tim doing a science experiment for Mat's school project; Mentos and Coke bottle explosion............. In the YouTube videos, the coke fountain went 2m high, ours bearly bubbled! Kids were so disappointed. sigh.

OCBC Cycle

2009-02-26T00:55:00.000-08:00

Tri-buddie Yen got me to sign-up for the OCBC cycle. It was only 40km so I thought, why not........... I have only been on the bike twice since the Osim Corporate Tri but I honestly thought it was going to be chicken-feet; Closed roads, no buses or lorries, early morning, riding with friends, no slopes...... Well, it was all of those things, but my wimp of a body decided to show me a thing or two. 1/3rd the way through the nice friendly ride, I developed the worst possible back pain; everytime I went over a hump, speed strip or pot-hole, I got a shooting pain up by back and down my leg. SCIATICA!!!! The rest of the ride was agonising; I tried to ride standing but since I am not very good on a bike, this wasn't really possible. Daniel & Yen Yen tried waiting for me but I was so slow that they gave up and went off. Yes, I spent the 1hr 35mins pretty much riding on my own. People on mountain bikes passed me, people on bikes with bloody baskets and bells passed me........... very sad. But, guess what, I finished it.

And all in all, it wasn't so bad. I came in 26th for my age group (yes, I belong in the over 35s group!) out of over 90 people so as Nic would put it "At least you made it into the 50th percentile!"!

I got a couple of things out of this ride :

1. I need to get on my bike more so this saturday, I am joining the Longhouse group!

2. I need to work on a better cycling posture; will speak to some specialists.

Tris and runs are much more fun though!!!

Daniel, Yen & I at the starting point

Race results can be found here :

http://ocbc.cyclesingapore.com.sg/media/40km_women_placing.pdf

ID Band Launch

2009-02-03T21:01:00.001-08:00

www.idband.net

As you may remember, I launched ID Band from an internet cafe in Laos sometime end of Nov08. It is a neat little product; worn on the wrist with the name of the wearer on the front of the band and ICE (In case of Emergency) details on the back :ICE contact, telephone number, ID#, blood type, allergies, long-term illnesses, medication etc...... There are other ID bracelets on the market ; Runners ID, Road ID, Kids ID, Medi Band, amongst others, but there really is no other product as good as the ID Band. I am not just saying it cos I came up with it, it's true!

When Tim used to go for his long runs in KL at midnight, I used to get really worried and upset cos he went out with absolutely no ID on him. I had images of him lying on a hospital somewhere all alone................ I searched everywhere for an ID bracelet that he would use, but there was nothing on the market. The only possible thing I found was the Road ID which is quite a cool looking bracelet from the US (@ about 29USD I think), but it is made of velcro & metal, is heavy and gets smelly & disgusting with sweat after just a couple of weeks!

Well, after I left Michelin, the kids and I started travelling alot and I saw another need for an ID product. Instead of stuffing pieces of paper into the kids pockets with my tel number (in case they got lost) I could just put it all on a band! So, killing 2 birds with one stone, I came up with the ID Band! I started doing research, sourcing for materials and machines from all over the world...... And after 6months of hardwork (with alot of travelling and interruptions in between), I decided to launch ID Band.

Things were kindda slow when I started end of last yr. Well, I was away in the US and Canada most of December & January, so that was understandable. We get back what we put in afterall! When I did finally decide to start working on ID Band in full force, (I had to, since I had no more money and couldn't afford to do anything else!!!) it was amazing what great results I got with just a little focus and attention! A couple of press releases, some phone calls and help from some wonderful friends and we had coverage in

- Straits Times Mind Your Body 29 Jan

- Singapore American Paper Feb issue

- Silver Kris Magazine Feb issue

-interviews on News 93.8FM Radio 2 Feb

http://938live.sg/portal/site/938Live/menuitem.09ade681f1a1a0358ace28101e1000a0/?vgnextoid=9d73638896593110VgnVCM100000e101000aRCRD&vgnextfmt=archive&mcParam=1233504000000&archiveDate=1233504000000

- Palico (Site for Japanese residing in Singapore)

http://sgreview.pablico.com/

etc.... and it is still coming (I hope)....................

I even have a Friends of ID Band facebook group

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?sid=863d31eb3f013cdff606ae5fa54e6f58&gid=50809620324

The orders are flooding in and I am really not set-up to handle hundreds of orders at a time! I am going to have to re-think the ordering process or I will spend all my days and nights doing this and nothing else!

Whistler Conclusion

2009-01-25T22:37:00.000-08:00

Good ski-ing

Great company

Fabulous Sunshine

Amazing House

Ski Whistler

2009-01-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe we have been in Whistler, Vancouver for 10days and it is now the last ski day. Sigh. I am here with buddies Craig and Daniel. Craig & I skied Zermatt about 4yrs ago and last time I skied with Daniel was almost 20yrs ago in Whistler. Daniel says that after all these years of ski-ing, I still ski like a beginner..... Guess it's lessons on the next ski trip. :)

Well, in my opinion, the boys are rather dangerous. I keep reminding everyone that we aren't 20 anymore, so we should ski safely, but the boys keep bombing down the mountain! Craig fell on his head the 1st day and had to spend the next couple of days recuperting from whiplash. Just when he recovered, he went off a cliff and tore something in his shoulder. Ya, we aren't 20 anymore! I have been popping anica and rubbing deep heat all over......... The body feels a little battered!

Whistler / Blackcomb has a huge ski domain. We had wonderful days of sunshine and the ski-ing has been great except for a couple of icy days.

Daniel borrowed a gorgeous house with 7 bedrooms, hot-tub, sauna and a kitchen to die for!

Lunch on the slopes (Favourite places : Whiskey Jack (Whitler mountain) and Crystal Hut Waffle Station (Blackcomb mountain).

With Vancouver friends, Kim & Sharon & the Dublin Gate Pub

The new peak 2 peak gondola takes you between Whistler and Blackcomb in 11mins. It's a great place to nap! There are 2 "glass bottom" gondolas but it really isn't anything special and not worth the wait!

With Uncle Harry & Aunty Ruth on the Gondola to the Peak

WHAT HAVE THE BOYS BEEN UP TO?

2009-01-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

1st 2 weeks of Dec : Nic & Mat went off to France to spend time with their French family and Steph stayed with me and had a wonderful time as a single child!
Steph with buddy, Bryan from school. He even did a sleep over!

Steph with friends Luka and Mia

Xmas holidays : Steph left with his father and his family to join the boys! I understand that after a week in Les Arcs, all 3 boys are now expert skiers! Their French hasn’t improved much though…………
Nic & Steph in Mamie Anne's garden in the Sth of France (Mat was behind the camera)

2009 : Back to School : It hasn’t even been 2 weeks and the Xmas holidays feels like a lifetime ago! Nic came back from the holidays a complete bookworm having finished all 7 books of the Harry Porter series in 1 month! He reads all hours of the day and night and doesn’t want to do much else! Mathieu's new year has been very exciting; he is buddying his cousin Mark that just started P1, was made vice-captain of his school house and is on the Rugby team. Both boys promised that 2009 will be a serious study year….. hmm…. Nic is doing his PSLE exams this year and has set himself all sorts of targets! I am impressed. Steph is having a whale of a time and enjoying his childhood!

Weekends have been pretty action-packed; Night Safari with friends from Mauritius, 7km Tree-Top run/walk @ MacRitchie with the Wongs, Teongs & friends, Playtime with cousins at Hort Park (This is a great park that joins to Kent Ridge.); Sean-Rai’s birthday party; Excursion to 1degree15 for the Volvo Endurance Race with the Fus (Ya, I am still trying to get my kids infected with the sailing bug so we can sail around the world! Haha!) ……… Busy Busy Busy.

Playing hamsters in WOOF Balls

With Malcolm & Mitchell on Segways

Mat answering questions about the Volvo Endurance Race

B0ys are now having fun with Nana whilst I am in Vancouver before they leave for Phuket on a cruise with their Dad. Ya, they have quite a life, don't they!

AMERICA - To go or NOT to go............

2009-01-13T03:29:00.000-08:00

The last post was supposed to be about my trip to the US and I don't know how I got side-tracked into a Tim & I romance story! Oh well...........

I think Tim wanted to show me what a great and wonderful place the US is to live in so we did a little discovery tour.

1st PORT : LAS VEGAS (Tim's adopted home for nearly 10 yrs)

LV is probably not the 1st place one would think of when moving to America ; casinos, strip clubs... sin-city of the world! Well Tim tried to show me another side of it;

a. Great outdoors : Hiking, camping, cycling & running @ Red Rock

Red Rock National Park

(We didn't actually do any of those things this time round as it was snowing and we weren't really equipped. The recce however showed great potential!)

b. Ski-ing @ Mt Charlestone. About 45mins away, there is a great little mountain with about 6 runs on it. (Very comparable to ski-ing in Club Med Sahoro). Perfect place to spend a day out!

c. Amazing houses : yep, we went house shopping and there are huge 4 bedroom houses (w/ outdoor and indoor fireplaces, 2 living rooms, place for a yoga studio/therapy room, mum's room when she visits, 3 bay garage......... ) all for USD400K!

d. Yummy Food. Many celebrity chefs have restaurants in vegas so it isn't a bad place to go to on un voyage de gourmandise! We went to Daniel Bouloud's restaurant @ Wynns (I think he has some Michelin stars), but it was expensive and not much to write home about! The Banana Cream Pie @ Emerald's in MGM is to die for though! The really good restaurants are however not on the strip. Jodie (Tim's flatmate) took us to a delicious little bagel deli out of town and we did a couple of really good jap restaurants that locals go to. The most yummy of yummies was undeniably the Krispy Cream Donuts that I am absolutely addicted to!

e. Shows galore : The great thing about being resident in LV is that you get to do the shows at local rates. $49 instead of the $100s it normally cost! We did Barry Manilow (Yes, Tim & I are closet BM fans!) and the sexy Cirque du Soleil Show, Zumanity (Very good, but not something you'd bring the folks or kids to, if you know what I mean!)

So far so good, but it is still SIN-CITY!

2nd PORT OF CALL : SEDONA ARIZONA

Tim always talked about this place and when I discovered that it was filled with Energy vortexes, we decided to pop over and check it out! Sedona is a bit of a New Age Hippie place for Energy healers, psychics and the likes of it. We did a couple of hikes to the Vortexes for meditation and it was very very nice. Sedona is a beautiful place; the color of the sky and mountain really takes the breath away. We stayed here much longer than planned cos it was so nice but I still don't think I would want to live here!

BOYNTON VORTEX : in the pouring rain all decked out in our ski gear and the most inappropriate footwear : Tim in his Prada's and me with my suede boots cos we had no walking shoes!

CATHEDRAL VORTEX

Little cottage we rented @ Oak Creek

Photo on the left by Tim (photoshoped sun!), Photo on the right by Elaine (all natural!)

Tim's brother Todd and his family live in Scottsdale Arizona so we hopped over for the day for a mini family reunion with Tim's parents! All very nice. It seems that there are some very good schools in Arizona and I learnt to my amazement that everything is free (school fees, buses, everything............) Now, that is tempting! If we can put the kids in a good school (one that does not cost an arm & a leg) and prepare for Nic to go to college paying in-state tuition fees, that would be good! Anyway, that is definitely something that I am filing away for future consideration!
Tim w/ niece Gracie. (Emma & her would get along like a house on fire!)

LAST STOP : CALIFORNIA

We had planned to ski Big Bear or Mammoth before heading to LA to see my best friend from boarding school, Armgard! But, we ran out of time and had to give ski-ing a miss. There was no way I was coming to Califonia and not see my darling friend Armgard though!

Armgard, Tim & I have quite a history too. When I was studing @ KU in 1987, Armgard came over from London to visit. We decided to do a road trip to Tennesse to visit Tim, got into an awful car accident that lead to my parents flying out to America to pull me out of school and drag me back to England. Yep, I was a very naughty girl! Anyway, Armgard moved over to LA a few yrs ago and now lives in a beautiful & charming historic cottage; biking & hiking and loving it in America! Listening to her talk, I couldn't believe this was the same Armgard that hid with me in the toilets to skive PE all those yrs ago! (Well, I guess the same can probably be said about me; who would have imagined that I actually exercise for fun now!) Well Armgard tells me that I HAVE TO MOVE TO LA; great for the kids, amazing weather, things to do, fun people............

So, Tim & I said we'd think about California. He is thinking about going back into the kitchen to do healthy cooking (yep, video editing wasn't his thing afterall) and I think doing yoga & massage in sunny California, might work for me!

We said we'd THINK about it! Spore is still such a wonderful place though. And the boys like it. And my mum is there. And my nephew and nieces. And my ex-husband would make my life hell if we moved. And And And..... sigh. Guess we need to meditate on this more.

Christmas with Tim

2009-01-03T02:30:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to spend the month of December in India whilst the boys are in France. I had planned some yoga & meditation time : Shivananda Ashram in Kerala, Ama Ashram, Osho in Pune...... After the bombings in Mumbai, my mother kept telling me not to go to India ; and though I adore my mother, I wouldn't normally pay much attention to such doom and drama. But for some reason, my inner voice told me I shouldn't go. So, I was debating if I should follow mum & dad on their Dubai holiday (but wasn't sure if they really wanted me along!); go with Chin and the girls to Hawaii and do the womens marathon (would have been great but I could not get tickets); or just stay here and learn to do nothing and be by myself!

Anyway, in the midst of searching for tickets to Hawaii, I, with no apparent reason, prior planning or warning, asked for a ticket to LA. 1 week before xmas, I managed to get a flight to LA on redemption miles on SQ. Either the recession is really bad or God thought that it was time that I made that trip to America to visit Tim!

Tim and I have quite the history. He's my very 1st boyfriend and we have a love story that spanned 2 decades and 4 countries : America 86-87, England in 2000, (where we both lived but didn't manage to get back together) and eventually in Singapore & KL 2006-2007! Tim returned to the US 1year ago and there was talk about the boys and I following, but nothing was cast in stone. 2008 was quite a special year for me though: My new spritual awakening, quitting my job ...... and the boys just seemed so happy and settled in Singapore that moving to America really didn't seem like the thing to do.

1986 in Kansas (Ellsworth Dormitory, KU)

1987 in Kansas (@ Cedarwood Appartments)

Nov 2005 in Bangkok (when we got back together again)

Dec 2005 in Whistler
Feb 2006 in Spore (when he decided to move over)

April 2006 in Vegas (when he proposed by the Bellagio fountain)
Sept 2006 @ Mum's Place (Tim's birthday)

Dec 2006 in Brisbane
Dec 2006 in our house in Bangsar
2007 Miso Ramen @ our favourite restaurant in KL
Dec 2007 in Spore (just before he returned to America)
Dec 2008 in Vegas (@ the Barry Manilow Concert! :)

So, here we are now; 22 yrs of history and living on 2 different continents!

Mekong Road Trip (and end of computer saga)

2008-12-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

The mini-computer that was blessed with milk is now out of the workshop with a new motherboard and reformatted hard-disk. To be honest, the engineers at the service center tried really hard to salvage the files and did actually manage to start-up the computer so I could retrieve my files. I brought the computer home and with good intentions, started transferring all the files to my Lacie hard drive. We had friends over that day though and I was so distracted that I thought I had transferred everything, but I had not. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I did not copy over my journal from the trip nor any of the photos! Fortunately, I had uploaded some photos onto facebook so at least we have a few low-res photos to look at........... SINGLE MOMENT SINGLE ACTIVITY. When will I learn?

We flew from Singapore to Bangkok and started our journey from here through Thailand, Laos, back to Thailand, to malaysia then Singapore. Trains, buses, pick-ups, taxis, boats....

The trains were by far the best mode of transportation. Clean and safe. We took 2nd class sleeper trains whenever possible and they were fabulous. The lower berths (marginally more expensive) are so huge that all 3 boys could sit and play cards on the bed! Trains in Thailand are definitely cleaner than in Malaysia. We could smell Malaysia once we crossed the border!
VIP buses in Thailand and Malaysia are pretty good too. (Try out the Green Coach from ChiangMai to ChiangRai!)

Buses in Laos are however a different story. They have VIP buses which are double decker buses and air-con buses which are slightly cheaper. We were going to do the 2 day slow boat down the mekong from HuayXai to LuangPrabaeng but were dissuaded by a tour agent who wanted to sell us VIP bus tickets instead. The bus ride was horrific. The VIP bus was NOT a VIP bus and was filled with village people puking away and spitting everywhere. The bus broke down after 1/2hr and it felt like the driver was on some sort of death mission to run us off the mountain. The bus from Luangprabaeng to Vientiane was not much better except this time we did it in the dark so we could not see the edges of the mountain..........

Crossing over from ChiangKong to HuayXai by sampan

Riding at the back of pick-ups and in jeeps....... much to the joy of the boys!

The most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. (LuangPrabang)

Temples galore........ I would normally be able to give you the names of all the temples we visited but they were in the journal; ya, the one that was erased! Well, the temple on the extreme left is a pretty famous one in Vientiane. I think there are 50,000 buddhas in the temple.

Our favourite past-time. Massages @ USD4/- were so irresistable; we had one everyday!

New found passion : Go-karting! "Almost as good as ski-ing"

Boys went to cooking class in Chiangmai and made the best curry I ever tasted!

Catfish in Nongkhe
Boys doing their bit for the environment by picking up rubbish along the streets in LuangPrabaeng! The "game" (who can pick up the most rubbish!) was introduced by Philippe from ThongBay and the boys quickly got into it!

Favourite places to stay : Baan Hannibah in ChiangMai. Beautiful teak house with gorgeous beds and fluffy duvets!

ThongBay in LuangPrabaeng with amazing views of the river and gorgeous gardens for the children to play.

Golden Triangle Thai-Laos Border

Remote villages in the mountains of Lao Akha Woman in Hilltribes of Thailand

LoyKrateong Water Festival in ChianRai (We released floats into the mekong and balloons into the air to wash away our sins and to ask for blessings.........)

Playing with tigers @ Tiger Kingdom in Chiangmai. (Don't go. It was very expensive and not worth the trip!)

We climbed up some hill in LuangPrabaeng (it was written in my journal.........) and saw Buddha's footprint. "Was Buddha a man? Why is his foot so big?" exclaimed the boys. haha

Waking up at 5.30am to see the monks collect alms in LuangPrabaeng. (It was horrific how the street vendors were hawking food and making the tourist buy stuff to "feed the monks". )

Our favourite cafe : Joma in Luangprabaeng. (Cinnamon buns, de-caff cappucino, warm sandwiches.......... yummy)

We visited our old house 138 Lor Maarof in KL and got the tour..... They built a pond in the front yard and turned the house into an office!

But the best part about the trip was all the people we met up with. old friends and new friends.............

PENANG- Jasmin (knight in shining armor), Shannon, Johan and Farrah visiting the site of the Tsunami!

BANGKOK-Having breakfast with Olivier (Shanghai) after yoga

KL - Michelin friends

LUANGPRABAENG - Pascal from ThongBay

NONGKHAE - Richard & Pum who picked us up off the streets and welcomed us into their home.

Train trip - Laotian American uncle with stories of war, prison and fleeing the communist!

Singapore Marathon - 1st Half-Marathon

2008-12-11T02:58:00.001-08:00

I ran my firt half marathon on Sunday and am very proud to say that I completed it; running all the way! Slow, but still running.........

I woke up at 4.30am to chow down a piece of peanut butter bread before heading off to get a ride from sister Peng and BIL Paul. My darling sister had bought me much needed equipment: body glide, gu-gel and a super thick pair of socks to protect my blistering feet!

We got to Raffles City before 5.30am and I still managed to be late for the 6.30am flag-off! I met up with galfriends; Chin, San and Lynette and we mucked about going to the toilet, eating bananas, drinking red bull and were 10mins late starting. The girls were so super-lapak about the race that we ran at snail's pace and chatted non-stop for the 1st hr. I have only run with Chin once before and found the chatting quite disconcerting since I normally need to be quite focused when I run! I am however very relieved that I ran with the girls this time because the chatting helped me pace myself and made the whole run go by so quickly!

I ran with my pedometer but the distance per the distance markers and per my pod were so different that it confused me. (At the end of the run, my pod read 24km!!! Think it is time to get it calibrated!) The 12km mark was probably the most difficult. Chin had been up since 2am recce-ing the site for work so was not taking the run seriously and Lynette had a bad knee and wasn't really allowed to run. Both girls dropped off at about the 10km mark and I pretty much ran with San all the way except for the last 2km. I was starting to hit the ceiling and needed to pick up speed to stay focused so I "abandoned" ship and went ahead.

I finished the race at 2hrs33mins (chip time), 11mins behind my alpha-sis Peng (that gave birth 4 months ago!) I could probably have done it quicker, but I didn't kill myself over the run and actually had fun! (995th place out of 3,000 people is within the 50th Percentile so Nic won't give me an ear-full this time!)

The champ of the day was Stephan though. He ran the 750m kids dash like his life depended on it. He kept telling me that he wanted to get the Gold Medal. I told him that everybody was gonig to get a Gold Medal anyway but I guess he didn't believe me! Honestly, I had difficulty keeping up with him!
Steph collecting everyone's race kits!

All in all, it was a great day. I felt so good after the race that I was ready to head-off to Hawaii to do the Marathon with the girls this weekend. I was all psyched up to go but could not get a flight! sigh.

Mathieu is 10 going on 40!

2008-12-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Mathieu turned 10 on the 3rd December and had a week long of festivities!

Joint birthday celebration with cousin Ysabelle organised by Nana.
Sleep-overs and get-togethers with God-Bro Tzen Wei and the Wong Kids!
Massive playdays with the Fus & Mas.....

Mat had super-duper bday presents; i-touch, polar watch & heart-rate moniter, mission mars lego, electronic building sets..... I was kindda envious of his presents!

Everything seemed a little too grown-up for me though. He had a grown-up birthday cake at Nana's (with 1 big candle instead of 10 little candles!), decided not to have a cake at home but wanted durian ice-cream instead, requested to have sushi for his birthday lunch. What happened to the boy who wanted Power Rangers Birthday cakes and remote control cars? The kids are growing up so quickly!

WHY I HAVE NOT BEEN BLOGGING + Summary of Mekong trip

2008-12-02T02:49:00.000-08:00

We have been back from our Thailand/Laos/Malaysia roadtrip for a week now and some of you must be wondering why I have not written anything about our wonderful experience!

I actually kept a little journal whilst on the trip (on the super-duper small Kojinsha mini-computer that mum got me), but Stephan spilled a glass of milk onto the computer at Starbucks in KL and the computer is pretty much fried! Photos and journal with it! Computer is now in the repair shop and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will manage to resurrect the computer from the dead!

In summary, the trip was great, but we went a little too quickly through the countries and did not really have time to settle down into a routine anywhere. It was therefore quite tiring in the end. The boys were really great on the treacherous bus and train rides but were not terribly enthusiastic over the temple visits.

LuangPrabaeng was of course the highlight of the trip and we stayed there for 5 days. Everywhere else was pretty much a blur...... chiangmai, chiangrai, chiangsen, goldentriangle, huayxai, vientiane, Nongkhe, penang, KL!

The 2nd highlight was Penang where we stayed with Jasmin (my knight in shining armor from the tsunami) and his beautiful family. Kids had a whale of a time with Johan and Farah! We went to the Penang Club for dinner (site of the big accident). It was a pretty windy day and Nic kindda freaked out and made a fuss about having dinner on the patio. :) LOL

We met tons of people on the trip. Old friends that we had planned to meet (Olivier in Bangkok; Joe in Chiangmai, Jasmin in Penang; David, Veron & Michelin gang in KL..........), old friends that we did not plan to meet (running into Molly & Rodriguez from Crete on the streets of Luangprabaeng was quite the surprise!), new friends that we made (the taiwanese-thai couple that are migrating to brazil, little pascal from ThongBay, Pom & Richard from Nongkhe, the American-Laotian and his war stories, the Thai boy that spoke chinese, Sheila and Neils from Holland and the countless people that welcomed us into their homes, gave us food, shared stories with us and played with us. I think the people that we met along the way was what made the trip so special!

Anyway, I hope that the computer man will be able to salvage some photos from the computer and I will be able to post them later. :)

The Virgin Sprint Triathlon

2008-11-04T06:56:00.000-08:00

Me with Tri-buddy YenYen

The afternoon before the race, I decided to take part in the Osim Corporate Traithlon, using the alias, Grace Ong (Bib #3130). Grace, Chin's cousin, was ill so she gave-up her slot, and me, crazy woman that I am, thought I'd just go and wing it with zero preparation and training.

In all honesty, it didn't turn out that badly. Firstly, they cut down the swim from 750m to 200m because the weather was bad. This helped tremendously as I really cannot swim and the plan was to do the breast-stroke all the way anyway. Chin and San had this great idea that we should find some fast ang-mohs so we could draft behind them (this is supposed to conserve energy). Anyway, it was a bad call because I ended up being pushed really close to the rope behind a very erratic swimmer and ended up tangled in the rope! Since it was only 200m, it really didn't make much difference with the time.

The 2nd leg was the 20km cycle. I have only taken my bike out seriously twice since I got it and I ride at a snail's pace of 25km/hr . I was also a little apprehensive since the roads were still wet from the heavy rains. Well, this was the tougest part. The 3 laps just went on and on FOREVER..... people were passing me right, left and center; including the handicapped who were just amazing with their stamina and guts. Boy was I relievedwhen it was over! My butt was hurting, my back was aching, my thighs were burning from rubbing against the bloody saddle!

After that, things could only get better! The 5km run was a little difficult to get into since I was still reeling from the torture of the bike, but once I got into it, it was actually the best part of the race. All my joyful running training helped! yeah!

Well, I (aka Grace Ong), finished 47th out of 73 with a time of 1hr and 31min (6.06m swim, 54min bike, 31min run). Not great, but respectable in my opinion. Mat, on the other hand, was a little harsh with "But mum, you didn't even make it to the 50th percentile!". Guess he gets that from me (sheepish look).

So that's it, my virgin sprint tri! Technically, I am still a virgin though as a sprint (and this is a cut-down sprint at that!) only qualifies as 2nd base........ the home-run will come when I do the Olympic Distance. The target is to do the OD before I turn 40 so I have some years left.....

SHIT! Flaws in Man-list........

2008-10-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

Oh no, Pei just informed me that we know someone that meets all the criteria on Man-List! The fact that he is unavailable is besides the point; the real issue is that I never once considered him as Dream-man material....... How can that be? Is there something missing from the list? Charisma? Attraction? Now I am completely baffled and am very worried. We have after all encircled the list in stones and burnt it. Better SMS God asap and put the man-hunt on hold until further thought!

PS : Mr "Dream-man" has to stay anonymous so that he does not get hounded by you crazy women and his girlfriend does not slaughter me! :)

If you kill it, you eat it!!

2008-10-26T21:23:00.001-07:00

The kids went fishing off the Asean lady yesterday and surprisingly caught a number of fish. (Less than the maids, but it was a decent catch!) Juven & I were a little upset at seeing the little fishies swimming in the blue bucket and resolved that if we are going to allow our children to kill, they are going to have to clean, cook & eat the fish. The crew looked a little horrified when we mentioned that we wanted to eat the fish. At first we thought it was because the waters off Raffles Marina weren't too clean, so they were afraid that we'd get sick, but nah....... it was having to put up with all of us messing up the galley that terrorised them!

My boys were completely useless in the kitchen, but Charlotte was amazing. She held the fish in one hand, a fork in the other and de-scaled the fish! My boys were squirming like girls...... Cleaned and gutted, the fish were steamed and served for dinner! Delicious!

Since we were at the Marina, we took the opportunity to visit some boats...... I told the boys we were going to sail around the world in a boat like this and they were unanimous with the "NOOOOOO"! Gosh they are spoilt! There were some really gorgeous catamarans there though........ Will have to look into this.

Sunset on the Asean lady. Boys wanted to go around the world on the Asean Lady instead! Ya, right! :)

The Man-List

2008-10-24T03:49:00.000-07:00

There was an abundance of single women at the circus; all beautiful, intelligent and amazing. Most yogis I know are however single and seem to be quite happy that way. Anyway, we did loads of girlie-talk and there were quite a number of theories about getting the “RIGHT” man. Since coming home, I have been giving this some thought and figured, hey, what’s the harm in trying this out. Don't get be wrong, I am perfectly happy being single (not that I don't miss Tim, cos I do), but there is a certain freedom in single hood, that I am just starting to enjoy!

STEP- BY-STEP GUIDE
1. Write down all the qualities you want in a man. (Don’t be shy; be as specific as possible)
2. Ensure that you have all the qualities first (This gets tough….)
3. Put down the name of a man you know that already possess each quality (Sabine feels that knowing that the qualities already exist in people we know will make us feel less incomplete. I think it may be depressing….)
4. Put the paper in a circle of stones and offer it as a burning sacrifice to God.
5. Wait patiently for man in question will manifest himself...

I told Rachel about my THE LIST the other day and she scoffed at me! Told me to try internet dating instead! Now, where is the romance in that? Anyway, 1 bottle of Raki, 1 bottle of port and 1/2 a bottle of sherry later, I convinced her otherwise! We went to the park at the witch's hour, encircled our list in stones and burnt it ceremoniously........ So, all there is to do now is wait patiently!!!

By the way, if anyone fits the bill, we will be holding interviews in major cities around the world with a global jury (filled with very hot women!). And if you know of someone, there is a Referral Fee plus we promise to name our 1st born after you!

Elaine's MAN-LIST

Yogi – meditates and does not kill flies!
Gives amazing massages
Artistically inclined in some way or other (I wanted a painter or sculptor but Rachel edited it out .....)
Sportive – Triathlete or an athlete of some sort; Runs, cycles, climbs, skis or is passionate about some sport (bowling & golf do not count)
Loves children – adores my boys and wants a gazillion children
Is financially able to support the gazillion children (but not rich!)
Loves and adores me; but isn’t going to put up with any of my crap (and definitely not for 13yrs before blowing up!)
Spiritual – loves God but not necessarily into organised religion
Has rhythm and likes to dance (especially the salsa! Or tango!)
Anti-consumerism (has no clue who Paul Smith is and thinks Ferragamo is a type of cheese. OK, does not have to be completely swaku la!)
Completely Apolitical
Musical – can sing or at least play the guitar, drums or piano
Loves food – can cook, eats healthy (vegetarian but feels that rules are made to be broken so is happy to indulge in a succulent wagyu steak once in a while!)
Easy on the Environment– sorts his rubbish, walks rather than uses the car (but owns a car!)
Adventurous and loves to travel – as comfortable at the Four Seasons as camping in the jungle!
Well read – We can have different taste in books but he must love Gibran at least half as much as I do and be boy enough to appreciate the Alchemist!
Is a family man – or at least understands that I need to be close to my family
Exceptionally good in bed
Has a strong value system – I know what they say about men not able to be monogamous, but still, I think fidelity is quite important!
Has a beautiful voice, good conversationalist but not full of himself and does not talk incessantly.
Preferably not Ang Moh, but I am not really racist, so I do not know why this is coming on the list ??
Somewhat good-looking would be nice but must have a hot bod! (6 pack)
A nice guy.

FYI, no one I have ever been out with comes remotely close to this!!

LIFE AFTER THE CIRCUS

2008-10-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

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!)

Why God Chopped off my right foot!

2008-10-15T00:12:00.000-07:00

I actually wrote this entry 1 month ago when we covered FEET at the circus but was reluctant to publish it on the blog cos I thought it was kindda personal.

Craig & Sharon asked me last night why I wrote a blog.

"Cos I like to write!", I exclaimed.

"Ya, you can always write but why do you feel that you have to publish it for the whole world to read!", they rebuked.

OK, that got me. I don't know. Am I an exhibitionist? Narcissist? (I had to look that one up and according to dictionary.com, it is an "inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love, vanity") Or maybe, I am trying to reach out to someone out there who will read my stories and go "Ya girl, I know exactly where you are coming from !" haha

Anyway, I will give this somemore thought and check in with sister Peng, the blog guru, to have her take on this!

OK, back to publishing this Foot story. I figured it is something akin to going to AA. If I can say it out loud (or in this case, publish it on a blog), I am on the way to getting healed! So, here it goes...

I am Elaine and I am a controlling, self-righteous, psycho-bitch that emasculated the men in my life. (Notice the plural!) Wow, the ex-husbands, ex-fiances, ex-boyfriends will have a field day with this one! Eerr, I kindda thought I would suddenly feel this great weight lift off my shoulders after that declaration, but alas, no such luck!

We worked on the feet on the 1st day. The feet is a very special part of the body. The whole body can be represented in the feet, both physically and emotionally. I am not going to go into the details about all the lines and points, but I want to share one learning.

Our right side represents the masculine side of us, the Yang, and our left, our feminine side, the Yin. Well, as some of you may know, my right foot was pretty much chopped off during the Tsunami. My Achilles tendon was completed severed together with 80% of the nerves in the foot. The tendon was re-sewn back, but I still have very little sensation at the sole of my feet and the last 3 toes.

After Rod, The ex-husband left in May 2004, I quickly got very busy re-constructing my life. I made a bunch of new friends, and went about life at 120km/hr …. Working, looking after the kids, partying, tennis, horse-riding, wake-boarding, trekking….. Bear in mind that I gave birth to Stephan on the 19th April 2004. I don’t remember the details, but May & June where probably trauma months. We moved out of our flat (to eradicate some of the memories), and moved into a rental flat close to my parents. I was trying to cope with being a single mum, and being close to my mum was the only way I knew how to do it. She has been my pillar of strength and support.

Breastfeeding and caring for a new-born baby was no easy task, but I had to handle the 2 older boys too, who were traumatised by Rod leaving and by my psychotic behaviour! When I told them that their father had left, Nicolas could not stop crying and screaming…. Mathieu did not shed a tear and without a word, went to bed… Each had their own way of handling the situation. I remember when we were packing to move out of the flat, Mathieu wanted to find his dinosaur. This was no special dinosaur and I do not even re-call him having any particular attachment to it, but he could not find it and he would not stop screaming and scratched himself all over until he bled.

I guess it was a trying time for everyone. Nic had asthma attacks and Mat was covered in Eczema from head to toe. (It was awful!) It wasn’t until we went trekking in Gua Musang that both were healed. We were in this special place without running water, no electricity and no toilets. And we found our peace and healing, in August 2004. Well, at least peace at some level.

Anyway, back to the story of the foot. Well, I was everywhere and doing a million things at a time. I guess that was my way of coping. I don’t think I slept much during those months. After Gua Musang in August, we went away with Chin & friends to Desaru, then horse riding in Malaysia, then Phuket with the Teongs in November, then Zermatt with Craig, Sharon, Teongs & friends, then to Penang in December with the family.

BUT, God had other plans! On the 26th Dec, God decided to make me STOP. He chopped off my right foot! (The male side of me!)

You need to know that one of the reasons Rod gave (other than the lame excuse of “I need to go and find myself”), was that he felt emasculated by me. Well, I don't think "esmasculated" is in his vocabulary but there must have been some French equivalent! I always needed to be right; it was my way or the highway. Worse, I wanted to do it all and have it all! Be a good mum, a top executive, still have time for charity work, teach Sunday school….. And I wanted a man who could bloody do all that and more. I guess, for the 13yrs that we were together, he fell short of the mark and I made no qualms about letting him know that. I was angry that he was not who I wanted him to be, and that was not fair. It does not forgive the fact that he left me for another woman, but I take my fair share of the blame…..

So, God cut off my right foot, and since nerves can never be 100% repaired, I will have to live with having a numb foot, for the rest of my life, to forever surpress the masculine side of me! I wonder if it is working? Well, I am now job-less and penniless so I must be on the right track! LOL

The Ghost from Crete

2008-10-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

I hardly slept a wink during the month in Greece. I had nightly visitors from the other world.... or at least I was pretty convinced that they were from the other world.
Anyway, I have spent almost all my time since coming back in bed catching up on lost sleep, and it was all great until last night. I was knacked and couldn't wait to get into bed but once I got in, I could not sleep. Shit, did the ghost from Crete follow me all the way here?

Well, I did not see him, but I did think about him a whole lot and I came to a sudden realisation. The man in black texting next to me was the Black Coffee Spirit and he was trying to communicate to me to tell me to stop bloody drinking coffee! I finally got the message! Whilst in Greece, I picked up a pretty bad coffee addiction. (and I do not take any caffeine normally!) Those daily visits (sometimes twice a day even!) to Scala were deadly! Last night, Sharon & Craig suggested coffee after dinner and I could not say NO. Alas, the culprit to all the sleepless nights this past month!

Lessons in Detachment

2008-10-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yohann in his tent before the unfortunate incident.

I believe we can see the stolen bag in question at the side of the tent ....

I witnessed the most amazing demonstration of Detachment today. Yohann had all his luggage stolen at the Paleochero bus station; computer, video camera, all his clothes, books…. Everything. It could very easily have happened to me, and I can just see myself yelling, screaming and crying! Well, Yohann did none of that. He calmly searched, investigated, sat down to review what was lost and got on with what had to be done. From the outside, he looked kindda worried and troubled, but not a hint of anger! I was in absolute awe! I mean, this is a guy who lost thousands of Euros worth of equipment, all the data on this computer (photos, email contacts, job bookings…), and he had to leave for a 3 week roadshow around France this weekend.

I lost me silver pendants in Anidri last week and even though I kept saying that it did not matter, it still ate at me! I went up to the Taverna twice to look for em. Makes me feel kindda ridiculous in light of things!

Coincidentally, Rachel was carrying a book called “Letting Go” when all this happened. We found out later that Rachel lost everything she owned in a fire a couple of years ago and had her lesson in detachment then. Jayne has all 40 years of her life in 10 boxes! I have moved more than 5 times in the past 4 years and each time, I need 2 20ft containers! I wonder what that says about me! I am afraid I have issues with Letting Go and am not ready for anything more than homeopathic doses of Detachment. I hope that God continues to give me my Detachment lessons from the 3rd party perspective! :)

Greek Circus – So, it’s over!

2008-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

The 4 Agreements

Playing with bones

Playing with each other

Discovering our bodies

Dancing on the beach (yes, this was class time!) Great!

The month with the Greek Circus is over and I am now on my way home. I am so happy to be going home to see the boys yet half of me is so scared of going home. Responsibilities, decisions, bills to pay…. For one month, the only decision I had to make was whether to take a morning siesta or go to town for coffee. It was great, but life has to go on, I guess.

Many circus mates were taking stock; How much they have learned; Was it worth the time and money. Well, I have been asking myself the same questions. I had a marvellous time, but concretely, how has it made a difference? Could I have gotten more out of a month trekking in Nepal or sailing the Greek islands instead?

Arnaud doing the banana stretch on Anastasi

Kathy flying Stella @ the beach (non-class time!)

Stella 6 mths pregnant @ our pre-natal class

Until the last moment at the circus, I was still awaiting some grand illumination from God that will show me the way…. Alas, Malaka, there was no bloody enlightenment this time round. (For more information about my Enlightenment experience at Lahu village, check out the Apr 08 blog entry!) I learnt so much during this month but I have no idea what to do with all this! I came to the circus to learn massage, yoga & meditation… and I did, and much more. I am all body worked-out; 8hrs everyday; every imaginable type of yoga (Ashtanga, Yin, Anusara, Dance), Capeiro, Silat, QiGong, Dance, Chinese meridian stretching, Massage….. But, has my practise improved? I don’t know!

Stella & Adriane - Assisted child pose?

Tina & Stella doing the Frog.

Adriane & I - Frog on overly flexible people!

Assisted Upavistha Konasana?

Itzhak doing the side stretch on David.
Yohann & Panos Tango-ing.

Yohann and Adriane- tango twist combined with side stretch.

Tina flying me

Pei doing the cobra (no4) on me

In the last week at the circus, I panicked and decided to put in extra practise hours outside of class. Disaster! I had all these wonderful intentions and I gave horror massage after horror massage! Of course, I was there to deliver a Thai Yoga Massage…. So, I start off with a little Russian Dance to get into the rhythm of things (following Kaline’s advice about the practise being a meditative dance), then I throw in some dynamic harmonic work a la David (i love the rocking movements; it’s so calming), then I think, hey, let’s do some flying, then, how about some cranal-sacral work (it’s cool and new!), then oh, I just remembered that the patient mentioned she has knee pain, so I attack the 6 knee points, turn her over and do acu-pressure on UB40, oh, but I can see Spleen 6, so let’s do some work there, and next thing I know, I am on stomach36, GB34 and working the Chinese meridian points and doing shiatsu……. 1 ½ hrs later, I still have not reached her shoulders and she told me specifically to work her upper back when she arrived!

You get the idea? We had a gigantic buffet of body-work techniques this month and glutton that I am, I over-ate and am suffering from a serious case of indigestion! The problem isn’t only with the massage though. I am trying to figure out how to put in QiGong, Chinese Meridian stretching, Dance, Caipero etc… into my yoga practise! I loved them all and want to integrate it into my practise. My students will be in for some fun (or they will be looking for a new teacher!). haha.

Rachel & I @ my Evaluation Massage

I did my Evaluation massage on Rachel before leaving the circus and even though there was no big bright light, I did come to some very important conclusions.
1. The massage is a meditation. When I am 100% mindful, the massage takes on a new dimension.
2. No planning and sequencing. Let the body tell me where to go next. If I start planning what I want to do in the massage, I get bogged down with techniques and moves and the massage looses its magical qualities.
3. I need to enjoy the massage as much (and if not more) than the Receiver. The massage should be relaxing and fun; Any tension I hold in my body will be transmitted to the Receiver through my hands. (Yes, I will always remember David slapping my fingers telling me to relax. Tomorrow, I will go out to buy some tomatoes and practise massaging em!)

CONCLUSION : Amazing month. Learnt a lot. (and Arnaud, I am not just saying it to earn brownie points, even though earning credits for Laos may not be a bad idea…). It has been so wonderful that I am planning to do the Laos Circus in Feb then the Acroyoga Thai massage circus in Spain in June! Yes, I am hooked! Haha. Now, someone needs to tell me how to make money whilst doing all this!

Dancing @ the Yoga Shala

Monkeys? (I am just jealous cos I can't walk on my hands or do a cart-wheel!)

Yes, these are our teachers!! :) I guess they don't call this the circus for nothing!

Time off

2008-10-11T19:29:00.001-07:00

On the Road to Anidri
Lunch & Dinner @ Anidri Taverna

Girls jus wanna have fun (Tina, Adriane, Lena, Kathy & I)

Boys playing goofs Yohann & David, Me with Xavier, David & Kaline dancing

Kaline & I with Terry, Irish musician silat kungfu fighter moonlighting as busker at Anidri

Celebrating Rachel's bday

me on James, Fanny, Corinne & Panos

At this gruelling circus, we only get 1 ½ days off a week. Wednesday afternoon and Saturdays. But heh, who really needs to have a day off from doing yoga and getting massaged all day!

Anyway, we were going to trek Samaria Gorge on Saturday but we partied too hard on Friday night and I didn’t think I could do a 6hr walk with a hang-over. So, we took a boat to a nearby beach instead. OK, I know what you are thinking…… PARTYING? What kind of yoga retreat am I at? Well, to be honest, it is quite strange to be with yogis that drink coffee & alcohol, smoke cigarettes and eat meat. Very refreshing, if a little disconcerting!

Quite a number of people were leaving the circus this week so we had a little party at the Anidri Tavern then headed down to Paleochero to boogie…. And boogie it was, to Madonna and other 80s wonders!
At Elafonissi.

Stella carrying Valentine to the island because the dog does not know how to swim!

Elafonisi is a beautiful little island separated from the mainland by shallow water. We took a 1hr ferry then waded across the water to get from the port to the beach. The beaches are pink (Ya, but I just noticed that I didn’t get any photos of the pink sand.) It was an awfully hot day and all the ang mohs were out sun-bathing. I was covered from head to toe in SPF60 sunblock, long sleeve shirt and pants so that mum doesn’t tell me off again for turning black!

Since I am not much a beach person, we pretended that we were at the gorge and spent the day walking instead. It was gorgeous. We found a chapel in the mountains, an execution ground where 600 women & children were killed by Turks, a lighthouse.....

This photo was actually supposed to have a beautiful naked body floating in it. But alas, I was stopped by the Photo Police. aka Mr Kodak Moment Annihilator Yohann. Something about it not being proper to take photos of naked people. Anyway, it would have shown up as a little speck! Oh, did I mention that most people are naked on Greek beaches. I felt kindda odd 1st time I went to the beach (I was clothed from head to toe), but I did not know where to look. Everywhere I turned, I saw ugly naked bodies. Eeks.

Girls do girl things! Tina & Kathy getting ready before an evening out @ Anidri Taverna

Fontini & I raided the kitchen and made ourselves gorgeous face packs with Yoghurt, cucumber & honey. We did a Facial Meditation after and it was amazing to feel the pores open and the moisture entering the face and just be really focused on the tingling sensations in the face. I will definitely do this again. Tina explained the Manicure Meditation and I think I will give it a try too. I guess anything can be a great meditation if one does it mindfully!

Massage anytime, any place....

Kaline giving Yohann a massage on the ferry, Fontini giving me a head-rub on the boat, Stella & Adriana giving Panos a massage at the beach, Jayne, Fanny, Panos and Harris doing the massage circle @ Scala..........

At the beach with Greek buddies Harris & Fortini

Sitting @ Scala

Having a non-Anidri dinner with Jayne, Adriane & Lena

The Circle

2008-10-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

This poem (my first ever) is dedicated to my teachers at the circus.
Arnaud – The Ringmaster
Kaline – The flying acrobatic dancer
David – The Lion Tamer, who is really more a Lion than a Tamer… But I thought I'd try to refrain from calling him an animal lest there be repurcussions in class tomorrow!
Itzhak – The philosopher-thinker, but since they do not any of those at the circus, he can be the tight-rope artiste (cos he looks so earnest)
Anasthasi Babaji – The contortionist yogi pretzel
Takis – I couldn’t decide between clown or flame-thrower, so he can be flame-throwing clown
And the visiting teachers Biff, Terry & Jonas.
But most of all, my fellow circus-mates because learning is mainly done on the mat through practise.

The Circle
A meeting of East and West
Where science and art become one
Dancing to the rhythms of Shiva and Shakti
The Sun and the Moon
Itha and Pingkhala
Yin and Yang
Coming together to find that gentle balance
that brings us just a little closer to God
Searching yet without strife
Surrendering to the sweet embrace of mother earth

This is our Sangha
Playing and praying
Singing and dancing
We feast on the scrumptious buffet of fascia latas and koshas
Crying out the names of Krishna, Jesus and Buddha
In unison
We are one
Like lotus flowers
We rise up above the murky depths to lie above the water
Basking in the glorious rays of God’s sun

In mindful meditation
We play with each other’s bodies
Prana flows to the music of the massage
and the melody of the dance
Vibrations ripple through the body
The triumphant symphony awakens
Giver and Receiver are one
The gentle imprint of each embrace marks the body and touches the soul

Alas, it will soon be time to say our Good-byes
But Good-bye it will be not
For when the church bell rings and the temple gongs sound
We will stop and pause
Inhale, grateful for the moment
Exhale, sending love to one another
And until we meet again
In this life or another
I pray brothers and sisters that
The blessing of God be upon us
Flow through us
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Thai Yoga Massage Circus in Greece

2008-09-25T00:11:00.000-07:00

Everyone looked at me rather strangely when I told tem I was joining a circus in Greece. Well, this is no everyday circus: There are no clowns; well, there are, but none with red noses and painted faces; no acrobats, but we do fly and practise acro-yoga; no tents, except for the tents of the brave souls that decided to be one with nature and rain instead of staying in a room); no animals, other than Valentine, Stella’s dog who manipulates all our mats and the mountain goats……

The “Circus” comes from the Greek word Kiklos which actually translates into Circle. The circus is actually a sangha, a community of yoga teachers, massage therapists, energy healers and what some might call “New Age Hippies”, who have gathered together to practise with each other, learn from each other, sing, dance and just have fun!

It was started by the disciples of Asokanda, A German monk that brought Thai Massage to the west by marrying this ancient practise with modern day methods and techniques. Asokanda did not teach massage as mere bodywork, but as a holistic practise using the pillars of yoga and meditation.

So, here I am, in an eco-lodge in the mountains of Crete with 19 other circus members and 6 senior teachers. The knowledge of all these people put together is extraordinary; Osteopaths, physiotherapists, yoga teachers, martial arts experts, zero-balancing therapists…….. And we also get visiting friends and teachers that come and share their practise.

Me with teacher Itzhak!

The practise is quite intense. We start the day at 6am with Vipassana meditation followed by yoga at 7am. There is a short break for breakfast after yoga then we do massage from 10.30am till lunch break at 1.30pm. Siesta is till 4pm then we re-start with yoga and massage till dinner break at 8pm. Some evenings there is meditation or chanting from 9pm to 10pm. In any case, we are supposed to observe the “Noble Silence” from 10pm till 8.30am. I guess it should not be too difficult to do since it is sleep time, but I have been rather naughty…. Chatting to my room-mate, Kathy, till wee hours of the night. Ya, it’s late when we sleep at 11pm.

Well, that’s all about the circus for now!

28 again...

2008-09-19T05:11:00.001-07:00

We already did a joint bday do with Daniel & Cynthia last week and a family bday @ my favourite restaurant, Akashi, on the day I left, but when THE day arrived, I surprisingly felt quite home-sick and sad about being so far away from home . :(

Fontini, Jane & I with my bday present!

My new friends in Crete had a little party for me though and it was great! Birthday cake, ice-cream, balloons.... all very nice (and thanks to Jane)!

Best yet, they almost believed that I was 28..... but alas, some smart alec did the math when I told him my son Nic was 11!! haha.

Sept bday babies (Daniel, Cyn, TeckYen & I); Bday lunch @ Akashi with the family

Paleochero and Anidri

2008-09-18T00:15:00.001-07:00

We had the afternoon off yesterday. I was going stay in and work on ID Band but decided to visit the town instead. Paleochero is 3.5km and we set off at 3.30pm in the blazing sun! It wasn't so bad cos the road was covered in certain areas since we were in the mountain.

When Jane passed by in her super cool hippie van though, no one said "No" to getting a ride .....

Yohann & Thomas in Jane's hippie van!

Paleochero is a sleepy little town on the coast of Crete. It doesn't look like much happens here.

Anidri is an even sleepier town. We visited a beautiful village church with 14th century murials. I started taking pictures but was told off by Yohann for using the flash and damaging the paintings...... oops.

Me chasing the mountain goats....

Jane & I

Yoga Massage Class.... Will write more about it later on the other blog. (Kids : It's Itzhak at the back of the class.... will get him to pose for a photo later on!)http://www.yogabodywork.blogspot.com/

Yoga Massage Circus in Greece

2008-09-16T05:00:00.001-07:00

The 24hr journey to MetaCom at Anidri Village in Crete was nothing short of a nightmare!! The Singapore Airlines flight to Athens was a breeze but I had to wait 6 hrs at Athens Airport to catch a domesetic flight to Chania, then take a taxi from Chania airport to the bus station, then take the bus to Palechora before taking another taxi to Anidri..... And to top it off, the taxi driver refused to drive me up the slope to MetaCom because he was afraid that it would damage his car!!!

My 1st impressions of Greece were none too positive. 3rd world country charging 1st world prices comes into mind!! Things are old, dirty and smelly..... people smoke everywhere; including in the taxis and buses, toilets are KL standard, signs are in Greek, men on the streets are aggressive and the taxi drivers do not give you back your change!!!

Now that I am at Anidri though, everything is soooo beautiful! I have a beautiful little room with amazing views of the mountains, attached bathroom, delicious farm food..... So serene.

The classes have been full-on since I arrived. We finished at 10pm last night and were up at 6am! Loads of revalations. Will write more soon.

VIEW FROM MY TERRACE

THE VILLA

MY ROOM

Ironman Massage Seminar with Dr Myk Hungerford

2008-09-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

I just attended a most amazing sports massage therapy and osteopathy course with Dr Myk. Hungerford. This 80yr old lady is not known as the Mother of Sports Massage for nothing. She was therapist at the white house and to the US Olympic team......... Talk about experience!!!

I was new to most of the techniques and found the idea of "No Pain" a little difficult to get used to. Dr Myk's philosophy is to work the body in a non-invasive manner thereby causing less trauma and stress to the system ("the patient is already in pain.... that is why he has come to see us, so don't inflict more pain!" )

1/ identify area of muscle soreness / tension / pain.

2/ bring the patient to the Point of Comfort (ie : the muscle is relaxed, loosened) then hold for 90seconds so that the brain gets the signal. It is somestimes quite complicated to get the POC (you need to understand how the muscle works, where it origins & inserts, how to adjust the body applying extensions, rotations, compressions, traction etc....), but the POC is the main gist of it! Don't get me wrong, some of the stuff was really quite difficult so I am not doing Dr Myk's work justice with a one-line summary, but the POC was the key take-away for me.

3/ we learnt to do compression work on the muscles to release adrenalin and histamines (mainly for pre-races), applied swedish style effleurage strokes to release tight muscles (great for post-race), thai massage stretching, vibrations, thalamotherapy (for insomnia), chest work to improve the respiratory system, counter-strain to release kinks in the muscle.......... A whole new bag of goody techniques!

Problem I have now is to integrate all this into my Yoga Massage work. I really enjoying giving Yoga Massages (and don't think Sports Massage will give me as much satisfaction), but it is amazing to see how her techniques actually work! Peng had a neck problem and I followed Dr Myk's counter-strain technique (put the neck into POC with extension, side bend, rotation & compression and hold for 90secs), and it worked! But the experience was not "shiok" (That is singlish for feel good......... You know how when you work on an area of tension, it generally hurts, but it is a nice releasing pain that kindda makes you go aaahhh........ well, you miss out on that with counter-strain!

I am off to spend the month in Greece with Arnaud & Itzhak, my yoga massage gurus, next week, so maybe I will come back with more ideas on how to marry all this into one practise!

Stephan's School Concert - BRMCK Ugly Bug Ball

2008-08-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have 3 kids and have been to my fair share of kids plays and this was definitely the most INAPPROPRIATE children's play ever!!!

The story was about an ugly little bug that was rejected by all the other insect creatures because he was not good enough and so he went from one group of insects to the next and was turned away....... How depressing is that? Then he descended into the underworld to dwell with the evil cockroaches but it was too smelly and disgusting. Eventually a beautiful angel appeared to tell Ugly Bug that it was ok to be rejected because Jesus died on the cross for us. ??? eerrr, what??? Stephan asked me to explain the story to him and I did, but I hope sincerely that not many of the children really understood the story. What crazy adult would write a kids story like that?

To make it worse, it was so full of big words that even Nic & Mat were asking for explanations! "Avante Garde Fashionista", "mysticism", "credentials", "iniquities", "transient", "finding solace".... And they were making little 4 year olds recite these big complicated lines (in chinese and in english!) Those 4-5 yr olds were memorising words and had no clue what they meant!

The icing on the cake has to be the performance by principal Ms Leong. The whole show was basically put on by the principal to show-off her own singing and piano playing with no focus on the kids at all!! She was the only person that performed, the kids were merely her props! The children were decked-out in the most gorgeous costumes (that we parents paid highly for) and were merely prancing back and forth on stage. No thought was put into showcasing the talent of our little ones ..... Are we saying that no pupil in BRMCK could play the piano, or sing, or dance (and the wiggling they did on stage was NOT dancing). The only thing that played showed was that our children could memorise long sentences and big words that they must certainly did not understand!

Is this the kind of school Barker Road Church Kindergarten has become? We miss the old days with Ms Jean Tang.

Stephan was a very cute ant though and Mark was so amazing........... He recited a really difficult piece in Chinese.

Cakes Galore

2008-08-29T08:03:00.001-07:00

I suddenly got into a cake-making frenzy 2 weeks ago ..........

Think it started off because the boys were going on about how great their Dad's Tiramisu was and I just know that mine is better! (We have the same recipe, but I have the special touch!) Since I hadn't made Tiramisu in ages, it took me 3 cakes before I got it to perfection. I forgot how bloody expensive Mascapone was though!!

ok, Nic's cake was not very beautiful........ I still need to work on presentation!

We are now in the ice-cream cake phase. Nic asked for Ice-cream cake for his bday and I have been trying to perfect this.... I think we had 4 cakes this week and I have created the best cake ever!!! THE BANANA MUD-PIE EXTRAVAGANZA. We're talking oreo cookies, chocolate, pound cake and vanilla ice-cream topped with banana and digestive crumble! How can that go wrong?

Unfortunately, my waist-line (and Nic's) is telling us it is time to stop! I think I am going to start cooking again though. I kindda stopped cooking (when we stopped eating meat) but I think there might be some new possibilities in the healthy food arena to explore .......

Yummy Mummy on the Run

2008-08-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Facebook Group : Deliciously sexy mummies, godmas and aunties that are cooler-than-cool and hipper-than-hip; hot mamas that love the feel of lycra and the smell of sweat; girls those little monsters can't keep up with and the kids won't be embarrased to take out..... getting together to run, bike, swim.... or just to have fun!!

I have been trying very hard to get a training program going but it is tough!

I am petrified of cycling and the 1st ride I went on was with the Joy Riders........ I got picked-up by Winnie the Sheperdess @ Bikehaus and was tricked into believing that they were a nice and easy group to ride with. Woke up at the most ungodly hour and went down to the LongHouse with my brand new Felt Bike and started what can only be considered a NIGHTMARE.... I was soooooooooo slow and sooooooo bad that I had to turn back. 1 1/2 hrs and 35km later, I decided that I had to re-think the cycle. Friends suggested getting a trainer at home to get my speed up and Desmond even helped me find a couple of 2nd hand deals, but something about it just doesn't seem right........ So, I am still trying to find a solution here!

As for the swimming, I thought I kindda found a solution here as I was bartering massages for swim tips from Jong and supplementing with classes with David from Yellowfish. Well, Jong decided that he had better things to do (which is very understandable) and those Yellowfish classes kept eluding me! 1st I was supposed to wait for a new term, then I was gonna start with the Thurs group, but then that got too crowded, so it was the Fri group, then classes were cancelled cos of rain, then it was cancelled cos they were off to Desaru........... Anyway back & forth we went until I eventually came to the conclusion that those classes were probably just not meant to happen. So there, swimming training is still a big question mark.

Now Running. This should be a no-brainer right? Well, it would be except that I suck at running. As Peng & Paul said last night, "Got no talent!". I honestly don't know why it is so hard. I started off with 2km runs and after months, can only get to 7km! Suli did 6 1/2km on her virgin run and I hear Ruth did the half marathon with zero training! What is wrong with me? Anyway, I decided to sign up for the 1/2 @ StanChart. I have no idea how to get from 7km to 21km but hey, I've got nearly 4months to figure it out..........

This long tale is to supposed to tell you about how I got around to forming the facebook group "Yummy Mummies on the Run". I figured I needed some motivation from other sources.... (or maybe I just wanted some buddies to go shopping for new running shoes with?)

Nicolas' 11th bday pig-out fiesta

2008-08-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I can't believe my little baby is 11!! Soon he'll be off to college.......

Guess what darling Nic wanted for his birthday? Pig-outs!!!

The 1st request was for an ice-cream cake. So, good stay-home mum that I am, I made him a cake for his bday (even did the icing.....) and invited the family over for tea on THE day.......... The cake wasn't too good. "Not enough ice-cream and too much cake" according to the boys, so we re-did a different ice-cream cake the next day.

Nic invited his best friend Tzen Wei and god parents BL & Eng Guan over for dinner on Fri and requested for Teppanyaki / steam-boat and ice-cream cake........ which I kindly obliged. We had a huge delicious pig-out!!!

The final highlight pig-out was on Sunday at the Line (Shang Hotel buffet brunch). We all ran 6km in the morning @ the Safra bay run so as not to feel too guilty......... Still felt ill after the meal though.

Now that bday is over.......... we're back to the strict diet!!! :)

SAFRA Bay Run

2008-08-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

Boys and I did the 6km Safra Bay run with the Wongs today. It was a nice stroll in the park and even the boys want to take on a longer distance next time...... Should have signed-up for the 10km instead! haha. It's the 1st time either Mat or Nic has done more than 4km so i was amazed at how well they did.

Mat and Shaun took off in front of the pack but kids being kids, they ran out of steam after 2km. Nic did a good job and walked/ran the whole distance in less than 50mins (with no asthma attack!) . Mat calculated that we did about 40mins which is really pretty good for me (I am such a turtle).

Can't wait for the next run...... It's so fun!! I believe there were about 70,000 people running the various distances today and there is special buzz in the air that is quite indescribable. Must be something to do with the energy and sweaty hot bodies rubbing up against each other.

Stephan really wants a baby sister

2008-08-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

We weren't allowed to bring Sophie home so Steph had to make do with Catie-Cat instead!!!

Steph feeding Cate

Kids in Action - ID Band

2008-08-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

We had all the kids out on a photo-shoot for the brochure of ID Band. What a nightmare...... Nobody would listen to any instructions and it was a mad-house. Beautiful kids, all dressed-up but did not want to be photographed!!! Goodthing there were a couple of natural talents (Shannon & Mathieu) AND God-Pa Craig is super-talented so he still managed to put together a portfolio of photos that we could work with. :)

The Family Reunion from across 3 continents

2008-08-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

Mum organised a KONG family reunion (My mother's father's side of the family) and we met relatives that we never even knew existed.............. The boys were so tickled by the idea that we had thousands of relatives out there that we don't know!!!

We are quite the multi-racial family! Predominently chinese, but with English, Malay, Swiss, "Dubi-ans" (What are people from Dubai called?).

Hope we don't have to wait another 30yrs to meet up again!

Baby Sophie

2008-08-04T03:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, sister Peng has popped and I am now a proud Mamu to baby Sophie. Little Sophie was 1 week late, a huge 3.5kg and very very cute.

The boys want to share baby with the Chews..... we borrow ya?

The battered family

2008-07-17T20:09:00.001-07:00

I fell off my new bike!!! Stupid really cos I was playing with the gears and was trying to look at the gears changing whilst on the move. I was afraid that I could not ride the 10km back to the car cos I landed on both wrists and they were killing me. (Mat said that it was quite an impressive fall!) A nice man from the National Parks helped massage the hand and though I was screaming in pain when he was working on me, no pain after! The elbow and knee were a different story though. I hurt myself the day before the tri and miraculously, did the mini tri without any discomfort. I even taught yoga immediately after the tri. I don't know what happened, but I woke up on Sunday morning and could not walk ; the knee was completely inflamed. After some icing, self-massage and yoga, I am now back in form again!!! Just a big boo-boo on my elbow!

Mathieu has a huge black eye cos Nic wacked him in the face with a light sabre! Told them not to play fight a million times!!!

Osim Triathlon 2008

2008-07-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah, WE DID IT!!!! OK, it was only a mini (200m swim, 10km bike, 2km run), but that is still quite a feat for me. The boys set me a target of 55mins and I actually did it in 44mins!! I thought the swim was going to be the really tough part but it was actually the run....... I was so tired by the end of it that I could hardly breath and had to run. Guess I need to do more cardio work!!!

Tri-buddies (Emily, spencer, Yen, Shaun, Shannon, vicky, tzen wei, Nic, Mat & I). The "real" OD tri-athletes were taking part the next day so they aren't in this photo........ Thanks for coming to support though. Infact, a big thanks to the whole family too for coming to be with us and looking forward to cheering Mark & Emma next yr!!!

Time = 3.33 swim, 28.38 bike, 11.51 run

I was so thrilled to have Yen to train with......... We didn't really do much, but just having the moral support was great. (Went bike shopping together, tried out the sea together, Called her crying when I fell off my bike....... Thanks YEN!!!) We were pretty much pacing each other all the way and came in exe-co 17th & 18th!!!

The boys did amazingly well too. Nic came in 43rd in his category (10-14yrs old.... and he is 10!!!) and Mat came in 12th in his (7-9yrs old). (Mat had such an awful cough that we were telling him not to participate but he wanted to.....) Good job!!!

Coming out of the water!!! Some awful person pulled my leg during the swim and the championchip nearly came off!! I had to stop and re-fasten the band!

Can't wait for the next event!!!

Egypt - End of story!!!

2008-07-13T01:54:00.001-07:00

It's now been almost a month since we returned from Egypt and I have been super-absorbed with getting settled back into everyday mundane life that I have not had the time to finish our travel tales. Sister Peng will probably have something to say about this half-assed attempt at up-dating this blog, but heh........ I'm trying!!!!

Ananda Camp was wonderful but the daily dose of falafel got really tiring quickly. On the last day of the course, the boys and I went to Zaman Castle for delicious slow food.

Touted as the best food along the coast!!!

Boys with their scrabble buddies Dalia & Rex and Henny, the owner of the castle (who is looking for a massage therapist to work at the castle....... boy was I tempted!!!) Dalia had some amazing stories: she actually went and visited all the places in the EAT, PRAY, LOVE book!! How cool is that?

Don't think Henny is too into kids.............. Stephan was not allowed into the pool as he was deemed to be too young!

After the meal, we started on a new adventure! We rented a little car to drive to St Katherine's Monastry. Roads in this part of Egypt are really deserted and it is basically straight roads through the desert! The police stops along the way are kindda intimidating though; I forgot to get an International Drivers license so was driving with a Singaporean license and was petrified that they would hold us at the police post. All the worries were unfounded and we breezed through with no problems (especially after meeting up with Amr who holds a military special ID that got us through everywhere!!!)

Mt Moses was really amazing. We did the 3 1/2hr climb up and slept up in the mountains under the stars, much as Moses might have done after seeing the burning bush!!! I am not sure if God spoke to us when we were up there, but it was beautiful. The climb up was a little tough especially on Nic & Steph. I forgot Nicolas' inhaler and he had altitude sickness which made the end of the climb extremely difficult. The poor boy was puking and shitting his guts out. Anyways, without going into the ghastly details, we survived the night, saw the sunset and sunrise and did the trek down the mountain. Stephan was truely amazing though..... he climbed all the way and hardly complained. Everyone was sooooooo proud of him! Mathieu, usual Mr GungHo complained that the mountain was too easy and wanted to take short-cuts. Silly mummy that I am, I listened to him and got into some horrible scratches with the mountain sliding from under our feet!

Mt Moses is truely a holy mountain. Muslims, Christians & Jews together, all praying in the same place.

I learnt a great lesson from this trip..... whilst downloading the beautiful wonderful photos from the mountain, I accidently deleted 100s of photos without saving em. I started on my usual rant & rave and Amr stopped me............ "DETACHMENT", he said........ even from photos. And you know what, I breathed deeply and let it pass. I still wish I had some of those beautiful shots I took (and they were pretty good!!), but heh, the memories will always be there and guess what, I was there with friends with cameras and they took great shots too!!! :)

Now, the last part of the trip was DAHAB, and it was here that we really fell in love with Egypt. We spent 5-6 days here but it felt like we were living there for months........ and we could have; we'd wake-up, go for a swim in the sea, have breakfast, sit by the pool or a cafe to read, have lunch with friends, go shopping, visit land with Amr, chat with Lucy, hang-out at the internet cafe, chill @ 7 heaven with the divers, went diving (even learnt to free dive), water the plants with Sam............. It was SOOOO nice. Leaving was really difficult after that!!!

Boys @ their Initiation Dive!

Sam from Fightin Kangaroo and the boys

Being invited home to Mohammed's (from 7 heaven) place in Cairo was such a treat!!! Mama was soooo nice to us and fed us like kings!!!

Egypt - Ananda Camp (Taba / Nuweiba)

2008-06-26T09:23:00.001-07:00

The next part of our journey was THE reason we were in Egypt; For me to attend Itzhak’s Yoga Massage course!

The boys and I took a courageous 18hr bus ride from Luxor to Dahab. The bus wasn’t all that bad except for the fact that it did not stop for food and we were absolutely starving. Upon arriving at Dahab, we were exhausted and decided to check into the Hilton for a 1 night reprieve from back-pack fatigue.

The 10 days at Ananda Camp were amazing; time just flew by. The boys had a great time playing with all the people at the camp; Isreali & Egyptian friends - selling sea-shells, painting, chopping up the fence for a science project, catching crabs, fish and digging huge man-size holes!!!! The camp was really isolated and Amr would take them to the gas station (22km away!!!) for a treat to buy ice-cream if they had been good............ haha!!!

I, one eye on the boys, the other on Itzhak, as I did my 3rd massage course in 6 months!! I know, I am probably going a little OTT, but the course was great. Going back to basics was essential; after learning all the fancy technical stuff at Arnaud's course, it was really good to be reminded about the philosophy behind what we do and understand why we practise this art....... to give in humility to others, to treat the physical body in order to give balance @ an emotional / spiritual level.............

(For more details about this part of the trip, check out http://www.yogabodywork.blogspot.com/)

Nile Cruise - Aswan - Luxor

2008-06-24T21:02:00.001-07:00

We took the overnight train from Cairo to Aswan to start our journey along the Nile on a 5 star cruise ship. Needless to say, the 1st class trains in Egypt are awful. (But still much better than the 2nd class wagons that had no lights, people piled on top of each other along the aisles and overflowing from the compartments!!!)

The boys were so cute carrying their back-packs! (They didn’t think it was so cute to be walking around with em though!)

When we got to Aswan, of course we were not brought to the ship we booked; that would have been too simple. We were given some story about the ships being over-booked and being up-graded……. Ya right!!! Anyway, we had already paid, so we thought we’d make the best of it. I am not sure what the 5 stars were for, but we had a largish bath-tub on the upper deck disguised as a pool, a pretty comfortable room and all was good.

Our 5 star cruise ship, THE SERENADE!! We actually booked to go on the L'Aube du Nile...

Sound & Light Show @ Philae Temple

The walls of the temples were like giant size comic books. I believe this one told of the story of Horus taking revenge and defeating his uncle, the brother of Osiris for killing his father. In this pictoral, the evil brother was depicted in the form of a hippopotamus. He can also sometimes be drawn as a snake, donkey or.......em, I think crocodile.....

The walls are truely amazing. There are some that are medical journals (Enemas where already really big in those days), calendars etc....

It was a good thing that we decided to visit the temples with the cruise cos the temperature in Aswan, Edfu and Luxor was in the 60s. Yes, it is not imaginable……. We could hardly breath!! Anyway, there was only a Lebanese couple on their honeymoon and us in our group so the visits were nice. We did all the temples…… and all the temples pretty much morphed into one………. Since I am writing this more than 2 weeks post-motem, I can’t remember most of it anymore! There was the Temple of Philae (in honor of Isis), where we watched the astronomically over-priced and kitsch Sound & Light show, Kom omo (in honour of Sobek the evil crocodile God) and Horus, son of Isis, The valley of the kings, karnak temple, Nefretitit temple…………. It was all supremely interesting but I don't remember much of it.....

The sacred Scarab-beetle represents eternal life cos it is the only insect that is asexual (I think that is what it is when they have both male & female in the same body and are able to auto-reproduce.) This beetle was either in Luxor or Karnak but it is a very special beetle. Go around the beetle anti-clockwise : 3 times for luck, 5 times to be married, 7 times for children and 10 for money. Our little typical Sporean boys of course ran around the beetle 10 times!!!

The largest Obelix in the world - Temple of Karnak!!! (By Nephretiti, I think).

The famous Obelix in Paris was taken from the Temple of Luxor. There were actually 2 of matching obelix here. Mohammad Ali sent over one of em as a gift to France and you know what the stingy french sent to Egypt; a crappy clock that is now in the citidal in Cairo. haha.

@ Aswan Dam - the 2nd largest dam in the world after the one in Brazil (Don't ask me which one cos the guide couldn't remember...)

Anyway, the Dam was built with help from the Russians and this created the largest man-made lake, Lake Nasser. Thanks to the dam, the lands along the Nile are no longer as fertile as they used to be and the best......... they flooded AbuSimbel, Philae Temple and a bunch of other historic stuff. Unesco had to come and rescue the temples and move em to higher ground brick by brick.......... The things that we do to our environment in the name of development!!!

Boys sailing on the Felucca. My original plan was to sail the Nile on a Felucca. This would have meant 5 days on a boat with no toilets, no showers, no fans, no aircon and camping out under the stars............ I think it was a good thing we took the cruise considering how the kids took turns being violently ill that week. (Mixture of food poisoning, unbearably hot weather and the fly vomit from the week before??)

Egyptian museum & Bahariya Desert

2008-05-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

Day 3 – Egyptian Museum
The lonely planet claims that you need 2 days to do the museum and we did it in 45mins! The boys said that they were completely overwhelmed and there was too much to take in, so asked to go for a long lunch instead. There was tons in the museum and it would have been very interesting had we had a guide with us. We focused our attention in the Tutankamum rooms. The mask of death was the must see item. It was amazing what these guys had in their tombs with them. It reminds me of our Taoist traditions a little. They go to the Netherlands or the underworld after they die and they bury with them things they need to help them in the after-life; including statues of servants and overseers (365 servants for everyday of the year and 36 overseers for each block of 10 days (I think)). Mathieu was of course super excited about quite a lot of the stuff as he studied it in school last yr. It was cool to see the jars in which they kept the organs and the different mummies. The mummies of the pharaohs were kept in a special area that cost another 100 EP entrance fee so we decided to give it a miss. I will probably have to come back to see it another time. The rest of the day was spent at Fafela restaurant and hanging out at the hotel........

Day -4, 5, 6 Bahariya Oasis
Karim, the hotel owner, organized this trip for us and came along with us. The boys were of course thrilled and he was good company if not for the smoking and the incessant Egyptian music. He claimed to have given us a special rate at 300USD but we found the same at a travel agency down the road and this was before any bargaining and with private car transfers instead of the pubic bus. Knowing that it wasn’t the best deal, the boys still wanted to go with Karim as they felt that he was a friend. I guess service is still more important than price.

Anyway, the 5hr bus trip to the oasis was uneventful except for Stephan having the runs and us having to stop the coach numerous times.

We stayed at Bahir Sahara Camp the 1st day. It was charmingly rustic and we would have liked to have stayed a few more days if not for the gazillion flies and the primitive bathroom. The flies came out in swarms and literally covered the food. The boys of course could not eat and Nic was only too clear about how disgusting flies where and how they spat out poison on our food so that it would make the food ingestible for them (and this would cause food poisoning).

Boys making targets for target practice at the Oasis

The temperature is so hot that it is difficult to do much. We still had an eventful afternoon climbing sand mountains, swimming in hot springs (Only Mat got in the water. The rest of us where too hot and too grossed out by the mould in the cement tank to swim!), visiting the salt water lake etc…. It would have been nice to have a geologist with us to explain how all these amazing things are formed.
We saw mountains of crystal, sand corals (guess it must have been the sea before), white desert of chalk formations, black desert of volcanic deposits etc…….. It really was wonderful. I am ashamed to say that we were not very environmentally friendly as we took some stones with us when we left. (The Egyptians encouraged us to take a souvenir…. But I know, it is no excuse!)

"Kryptonite" mountain according to the boys!!

Making sand angels (angels have not started flapping their wings in photo yet...) and drawings........ amazing what we can do!!!

I was ill the night we camped out in the white desert. I had such a bad cold that I took a flu tablet and crashed out, missing the glorious sun-set and the starry moon-lit night. I did make the sunrise though and this was spectacular. Somewhere in my drug induced sleep, I re-call the kids freaking out over the foxes that we were circling our camp-site waiting to eat our dinner scraps. The way back was rather tedious with 4 hrs in a 4x4 to get out of the desert followed by the 5 hr ride back to Cairo. This time, we did not have the luxury of the coach but had to take a micro-bus. We were packed like sardines and I had Stephan on my lap throughtout the trip. There was some disgusting odor in the bus that made us all want to puke and to top it off, we were stopped at the police check-point and not allowed to cross because tourist are not allowed on micro-buses. Someone paid some bachess after a good 15mins of raised voices…….. and we were allowed to leave.

Travel around Egypt is very restricted with police check-points in almost every town. We have to write a declaration that we do not require police escort to go from place to place if not, we would have to pay for the police to be with us. The worst scam is the tourist police that are supposed to be there to protect us but are in fact colluding with the tour guides and companies so that they have a cut of the pie too.

Meditation in the morning was glorious (but V V cold) Yes, finally a meal without any flies.......

Flower corals -> fossified corals........ beautiful!

Nic had his nose in his book (Eragon) ALL the time!!! I really love the fact that he loves to read but not to the point of being anti-social..........

Us in the Cold Spring (Cold = 38 degrees which was still quite disgusting, but cooler than the 45 degrees air temperature!!!)

Egypt - Day 2 Fagnoon Art school and Saqarra

2008-05-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Having breakfast and doing homework in the common room at the guest house

The boys woke up at 5.30am as we are still completely jet-lagged. After a simple breakfast at the hotel followed by 1 hour of homework (The 2 older boys are working on French and handwriting skills and Stephan is still trying to get his 1,2,and 3s right!) , we headed out on our little adventure. The taxis in cairo are really in a bad state; Old Peugeot 405s without air-conditioning or seat-belts!

The 1st stop was to Fagnoon Art school which is a great place for children. The boys did pottery and some sand paint art-work. We were covered in mud after that but it was super-fun. Think we will be giving away some pottery to our new friends in Cairo since there is no way I am lugging those things around Egypt.

Tired and without lunch, we decided to attack Saqarra pyramids. There is much more to see here than at the Giza pyramids. Saqarra pyramid, the 1st pyramid, was built for the pharaoh Zoser by chief architect Imhothep. It is in fact the 1st ever stone structure and was built in step form. (we keep debating whether it is 5 or 6 steps. The books say 6 but Niv counted 5!) The area around was extremely interesting. We went into a few of the tombs and actually descended into the Pyramid of Teti. The kids took quite a lot of coaxing before they agreed to go in though……. I do not know what those chickens expected to find in there!! The heliography and inscriptions on the walls were beautiful but I was too cheap skate to pay for a guide so we have no idea what was on them…….. (nah, I wasn't cheap, but the kids were being a pain and we pretty much ran through everything because they were tired and hungry.) Guess I'll have to do some post-visit reads to find out more.

The most spectacular of all the tombs was that of Mereku, son-in-law and most senior of Teti's overseers. There was even an intact statue of Mereku in one of the chambers!

Day ended with shwarmas, falafel, pizzas and sheesha downstairs. ( We have eaten in the same place 3 times in a row!!!)

Egypt - Day 1 Pyramid of Giza & Sphinx

2008-05-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

Boys and I arrived safely in Cairo and have already spent an eventful day at the Giza pyramids. We are staying at the Bedouin hotel which is really a family run guest house with 6 rooms. We were all really apprehensive when we 1st walked down the tiny alley up those broken down stairs in that dilapidated building, but once we are upstairs, it really feels like home. The owners, staff and fellow-guests at the hotel are super cool with the kids and they are running around from room to room as if it was their home. The hotel is clean, with wifi and ensuite shower & toilet. What more do we need?

The visit to Giza was a real rip-off though. I trusted hotel owner, Karim, who said he would take us to good stables so that we could get camels & horses to visit the pyramids. The stables, animals and guide were great but we paid more than twice the going rate. I was furious at 1st but managed to put everything in perspective. It was my fault for not verifying the price before leaving and it was a great 1st lesson. Richard & Janice warned me to be careful and this was a very good reminder!

The pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx were altogether not as impressive as we had anticipated. There are a total of 9 pyramids : the largest being Kheops (aka Khufu), followed by those of his son, Khephren and his grandson, Macerinus. There are 6 smaller pyramids for the wives and sisters of Kheops and Macerinus. Kheops looks smaller than Khephren as the top of Kheops was shot-off by Napoleon Bonaparte and Khephren is situated on higher ground. The 1st layer of stones of the pyramids have all been removed already, except for the tip of Khephren. These beautiful stones from Aswan (granite, limestone and alabaster) were taken by Mohammed Ali (Turk that came to invade Egypt and was the 1st king of Egypt) who used it to build the Mohammed Ali mosque and citadel. Did you know that no one knows how the pyramids were built as the kings killed everyone that worked on the pyramids after they were completed. There are therefore 100s of thousands of dead builders near the pyramids. The Sphinx (face of a man, hair of a woman and body of a lion) was built to protect the pyramids. The original name of the Sphinx is Amon-Ra meaning sun-god as it faces the east. We all thought the Sphinx was puny, but when we were told it was chiseled out of 1 solid piece of rock, we were slightly more impressed!! Well, the sphinx is nose-less as napoleon took his nose off and brought it to France and the Brits came and carted off his beard and it is now at the British museum. Haha. Are you impressed with all this knowledge?

Club Med Bintan

2008-05-23T23:39:00.001-07:00

There is no way I can come up with a spiritual explanation for this trip, so I am not even going to try. The extended vesak Day long weekend in Bintan was nevertheless brilliant! The boys and I were there with 3 other families: the Teongs, Wongs and Sims. This is the 1st time in 6 years we have all been away together. We used to do a couple of trips a year with the group (pre-divorce days when we were still the “Pros”): Our kids were all about the same age and we used to golf and mahjong together so the 4 couple thing was perfect.

I was a little apprehensive at 1st since I would be the only single mum on this trip and wasn’t sure how it would feel being one wheel short. The group made be feel completely at ease though and everything happened naturally. I am glad that I am now able to reach this new milestone where I can comfortably embrace single parenthood and hang-out with normal families without reservations.

There were 11 children and 7 adults on the trip and it was just amazing fun. There was group-time playing pool captains ball / volley ball; there was alone-time spent reading and working on my swim drills; there was girlie-time sipping margaritas on the beach; there was adventure-time on the swinging trapeze, kayaking and sailing…. And we were only there for 4 days believe it or not!!!
mat on the flying trapeze

The only bad thing about the trip was Nic’s little drama over a Jelly-fish bite. There were colonies of jelly-fish in the sea which brings to question : "How wise is it to actually be swimming in Jelly-fish infested waters?" Well, after much debate, we came to the conclusion that we should not live in fear. Let’s take the analogy of mosquitoes for instance. There are mosquitoes everywhere and mosquito bites are bloody itchy, they scar and worse yet, mosquitoes carry dangerous diseases like Malaria and Dengue. Does this mean that we should not go out? No, we just need to take the necessary pre-cautions and be ready to live with the consequences when something does happen. Well, the same for swimming in the sea. Jelly-fish were not going to scar is away from swimming in the sea! We can wear full-body suits (or at least swim shirts), have vinegar on hand, be prepared to pee on ourselves and eventually have a telephone number to call a doctor if the reaction gets too bad!!! Nic, BL, Tzen Wei and Sebastien were all stung and they all lived to tell the story. Nic being the drama queen that he is completely over-reacted though, He started screaming about not being able to breath and his lips hurting. I, of course, freaked out and called in the docter that was going to give him a anti-venom jab and since Nic is afraid of jabs, he refused the injection. Anyway, the super-drama meant he had to stay in and miss dinner and breakfast to have some quiet reflection time.

Nic's jelly-fish sting

The kids had a great discussion regarding punishment following this incidence. Most of the kids have experienced THE CANE, and were discussing where and how it hurt most. (Butt, hands, legs??? Over or under clothes?? ) Well, it appears that the most painful is where there is no flesh so the palm of the hands definitely works better than the butt!!! Tzen Wei’s response to all this was the classic though: “I am not afraid of the cane, my mother’s words are the most painful……” What a well-trained kid!!! I am still trying to find the best way to discipline. I hate using the cane because I do not think it actually works, and I fear that I am only venting my own anger. I feel that reflection time is important so Stephan is generally made to stand in a corner and the boys are either made to run 5km around a track or write a discussion paper about what they did wrong and how it should not happen again. I do not like to associate running with punishment so this punishment is dished out quite sparingly. I am not sure they are reflecting on the right thing on their run anyways. The discussion paper works but I fear that they are not putting enough thought into it as the quality of the work is generally very mediocre. Stephan’s time-out in the corner most definitely doesn’t work as he just plays with himself and apologizes without any real remorse. I have resorted to the cane with Stephan but this is only temporary until I can find a more appropriate solution or hopefully he becomes less naughty.

we tried checking the kids into kids club but that lasted all of 2hrs cos they were "so bored"... those little spoilt brats!!

The boys loved it so much that Stephan keeps asking to go back to Bintan (not knowing that his friends are no longer there though) and Nic & Mat want to give Egypt a miss and hang-out with the Teongs & Wongs in Bali instead. Guess we will have to organize another trip soon. Phuket for the tri (after Yen & I train.....) & diving on the Black Manta in November?

Steph with little Nicholas

BL & I

stephan & spencer @ movie night under the stars...

Hammer-head Hunt

2008-05-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

A school of 40 hammerheads in front, another school of 70 below, 20 manta rays sweeping around during the safety stop, dolphins swimming by the boat on the ride back… Sounds amazing doesn’t it? Well that wasn’t our trip. That was what we wanted to see, what many had planned to see and what almost every other group saw, except us!!! Nevertheless, we had a much better trip than the group that went the week after and had 2 non-dive days due to bad weather. (And trust me; there is absolutely nothing to do in Lalang Layang if you don’t dive!)

I actually had a brilliant trip despite the limited sightings. I decided to join Rachel & Daniel last minute, not really prepared and not expecting anything in particular. I only found out later that divers go to Layang-Layang on a mission: To swim with schools of hammer-head sharks!! That being the case, nearly every dive was a drop to 35-40m followed by 40mins of swimming in the Big Blue till one spots the infamous hammerheads or runs-out of air!! 90% of the diving was hence nothing but blue and bubbles. In fact, we were staring so hard into nothingness that I often thought I sighted hammerheads to have them miraculously transform into flying pink elephants!!

I wasn’t the only one having hallucinations though. Chin, my endearing room-mate and newly found soul sister was on a completely different plane all together. Chin saw things that no one else saw and didn’t see any of the same things we saw…. We had feared that these were nitrogen induced delusions but were relieved to learn that our house-bimbo had in fact got her left contact lens in her right eye and vice versa!

Frog Fish

Reef Shark

Nemo

Anyway, we sighted a total of 7 hammerheads in 5 days of diving. Not quite the schools of hundreds that the group expected. That is the problem with “Expectations”. The rest of the diving wasn’t really all that bad. On our 2 non-hammerhead dives we saw in total more about 40 other sharks (white-tips, black tips and even a trasher shark or was it a shadow of one??), schools of travelleys (truly amazing), turtles, lionfish, frog fish and tons of other really beautiful stuff.

I had never done any deep blue diving prior to this. It is not all that different from other dives (despite Daniel freaking me out about safety and danger prior to the trip). There was only once when I felt a tad bit uncomfortable. We were out during very bad weather with poor visibility and the group got separated. Buddy Daniel was worried about sister Rachel and went off looking for her; signaling for me to wait. (Yes, all alone in the deep blue ocean.) After a few minutes, I lost sight of Daniel, Richard who was initially not far in front swam off after Janice and I found myself looking at nothing but blue; never-ending blue in front, bottomless blue below and nothing but blue everywhere I turned…….. The blue started closing in on me and that was freaky. The claustrophobia lasted merely seconds but the thing that was really disconcerting was loosing all sense of direction and orientation. I had no compass and no idea where we were so could not swim towards any particular direction, no ‘sausage’ (orange floatie thing that divers release so that the boat can find us when we surface) therefore I was not about to surface and find myself in the middle of a storm and choppy waters, so I stayed put and waited for Daniel to come back, and he eventually did……. Phew!!

It was pelting down with rain so badly that we couldn't even take a photo!!!

That little incident aside, Daniel was a great dive-buddy; especially when it came to yelling at me to get the hell up since I had a tendency to sink towards dangerous depths and was completely oblivious to the bippings of the dive computer. I never knew that one could yell under-water through a regulator, but Daniel could distinctly yell out my name, which he did at least 2-3 times per day!! In fact, Daniel had another interesting noise-making antic………. The Island Warrior Shark Call, which resembles a chest thump Tarzan style. The sound resonates quite far if you have a hollow enough chest.

There are many possible shark calls but evidently, none of them were very effective.
The Smacking Fish Shark Call involves removing your regulator, pursing your lips to imitate a fish breathing. Kindda ridiculous and abit of a hassle. The Fist Thump is easy to do (clench one fist and hit the base of the fist against the palm of the other hand), but I think the fish may get offended since it resembles a rather rude gesture. Anyway, my theory is that everyone was bored senseless so they were just inventing things to do!!! We even practiced under-water yoga…

You must be wondering what I am doing on a diving holiday when I was supposed to be taking a year off on a spiritual journey. Well, diving can be quite a spiritual experience; there is loads of quiet reflection time (when one is not making Shark Calls), and the long deep breaths is perfect pranayama practice!! The whole searching for hammer-heads experience is also a great lesson about contentment and not having expectations.

In the same way as Yogis are fixated with taking a dump, divers have a fascination for pee……. Peeing on one’s jelly-fish sting is quite common and not terribly exciting despite what can be excruciating pain. Real adventure is derived from peeing in one’s wet-suit. Yes, it seems that peeing in the wet-suit is quite a ritual with divers. I had previously thought that this was reserved for emergency occasions only when one cannot reach a bathroom in time, but that is not the case. Some divers actually hold their pee until they get out to sea specifically so that they can pee in their suit! The excuse for this ghastly behavior is to keep warm. The urine is supposed to circulate under the wet-suit and keep you warm. Grossness!!!

The sequel to the pee discussion is even better; The pee evacuation debate. Yes, I am puzzled, I thought we were peeing so that the pee could keep us warm, so why the elaborate process to get rid of it? Anyway, once you pee in the suit, it is not easy for the pee to get out as the wetsuit is skin-tight and it is not easy to flush out the pee. The obvious method would be to pull the wet-suit away from the body by grabbing the suit at the chest and letting water flow through the neck of the suit. This however would be too obvious. Diving etiquette allows you to pee in your wet-suit but you have to be discrete about it. So, the Island Warrior Chest thump was actually devised to allow divers to subtly place their hand to their chest to camouflage a pee-evacuation!! The Germans, have a more complicated solution which involves purging the octopus down the neck of your wet-suit and using air to evacuate the pee. Ya, those are Germans for you, they have to be all high-tech don’t they?

In addition to the pee-ing, we also get to spit in public. Cool! At the start of each dive, we get to spit into our mask and rub the spit ceremoniously around. This is supposed to stop the mask from fogging-up. And even though there are de-misting sprays and gels that do the job, many still relish in the good ol fashioned spit!! There are after all very few occasions where one can legitimately practice what would normally be considered socially unacceptable behavior.

All that being said, I think my re-initiation to diving is complete and I am itching to go again….

Dive Group : Daniel, Rachel, Chin, Richard, Janice with new faces sexy Dr Ben (Moody and plays the bass), hilarious funny "Heman", shark Mark (with 3 lawyers in the group, no wonder the sharks stayed away! those hammer-heads knew there were bigger sharks than them in the water!)

Rachel and her super-duper cool fins......

He-man herman showing us the hand signal for turtle (or was that a ray.... can't remember)

JP Morgan Corporate Run

2008-04-28T01:08:00.001-07:00

Representing Michelin for the last time......:(

(BTW, Michelin won the beset T-shirt design contest!!!)

Inter-school Aquathlon

2008-04-28T00:57:00.001-07:00

The boys had great fun @ the inter-school Aquathlon.