Backbend

I don't tend to have problems with backbends i.e. Urdhva Dhanurasana until recently, which could due to the fact that I have been slacking off but I now sometimes even struggle with 3 full backbends let alone 5. I have also learnt that gradually I should be able to see my feet even though I don't see myself progressing that further in the near future! Well, with my current practice routine, it might never come!

However, I do urge any of you out there who practice backbends, it is absolutely essential to do the counter pose afterwards i.e. Paschimottanasana as it really is important to stretch the lower back before progressing onto the next posture.

Until next time...

नमस्ते

fasion faux pas or fashionista

YES, apparently they were THE jeans to have in Japan!

Well, are they uber trendy or complete disaster? You decide!

because

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I am veritably speechless

My 29th Birthday

I know, I tried but I failed. Yes I am talking about updating my Dubai trip and yes it was back in June!!! Well, at least I still remember it - looking at the upside!

The Dubai trip was a birthday present from T and guess what? We still talk about it like we were only there yesterday. Anyway, so here are some of the pics taken on my b-day, my last twenty-something birthday!

Posing in front of the infamous aquarium at the lobby. And look at us, our rigid smiles!

Here is another one of me, under one of the many chandelliers

At the Skyview Bar, having a quick cheeky drink before our dinner

The beginning of our 'splendid' culinary journey - the so-called three minute 'simulated' submarine experience and T can't seem to keep his eyes open already!!!!!?????

To be honest, the food wasn't all that but the ambiance was quite extraordinary. I think most people just go for the experience than anything else. The aquarium is just amazing! Unfortunately no photographs are allowed within the restaurant.

This is back to the hotel room after the dinner and there was a bottle of bubbly waiting for us!!

and rose petals around the bath tub!

the bathroom

and yes the bed, too! Courtesy of T and the hotel!

Flowers from T, which was quite incredible considering neither of us are really the flower-type of persons. More cakes and fruits from the hotel.

Oh and the best bit was that T proposed at dinner and bless his cotton socks - his face was as red as a lobster and I think it was more of a nerve thing rather than the influence of alcohol... or could it be the latter? I don't know but I know he didn't really enjoy the meal as he was contemplating the timing and so was fidgeting the whole time!

Anyway, it all ended very positive and I say positive is because we were both rather 'merry' after a few drinks but one thing I do remember is that I said YES!

So there....my 29th Birthday.

Oink Oink

Um hum, that's right! You are looking at a PIG! But it's not just any other pig; the ordinary stereotype. I saw this pig while I was in Taipei two weeks ago and I was stunned by the skin colour! If you look closer, its body has a large black swath while the rest of the skin is pink with two beautiful grey bands.

Since then, I've tried to research the name/breed of this pig but the best answer I have come up with so far is that it is called miniature pet pig. Please do let me know if anyone knows THE real name of it.

Apparently, this type of pig doesn't just have the 'look' but it smells like milk! As it is the year of pig, miniature pet pigs have became one of the most popular pets to have in the Far East. Most of us know that pigs are actually very hygienic creatures, according to its owner, the pig would stand by the door all day long waiting for the owner to get off work and it would never ever rest on the streets. As a matter of fact, the pig has it's very own blanket and that's the only place where the pig would rest and sleep on! So it seems that pigs are not just clean but very smart too! According to research, pigs are smarter than dogs. They are, in fact, among the smartest of all mammals!

Oh and did you know that pigs do not actually have functional sweat glads, therefore the way they cool themselves is by using water or mud during hot weather. Hence the old saying of 'sweat like a pig' isn't exactly accurate!

Hey, isn't it wonderful that we learn something new everyday?!

One Night Feast Hangzhou-nese Style

Stir-Fried Lotus Roots with Sugar Snap Peas

Roasted Spicy Pigeon

Fried Cod with Grapefruit - Light and Fluffy

My Absolute Favourite - Rice Cake in Chinese Dates

Hangzhou Style Pancakes

The 'Star' of the Evening - Braised Duck in Chinese Herbs

Edamame Beans with 'Stinky Tofu'

Fried Shrimps & Eel - interesting texture

Fragrant Hair Tail - A kind of fish, which tastes lovely despite the blackened skin!

Hangzhou Style Smoked Fish - A Real Delight

Hangzhou Lenten Goose

Together we had one other noodle dish and rice! As one can imagine, we all went home happy and very very full indeed!

The meal was scrumptious and set me off a good start in Nanjing!

Marichyasana D

Woopi! Our guru is back and my, she looks trimmer than ever! and gosh, it's so good to have her back, the class yesterday was just like the good old days apart from me struggling to cope!!! Partly I guess it’s because I hadn't been practicing since ..um..whenever, but also it was back to the old pace and dear, it wasn't easy to get back to the rhythm after three months of not pushing myself and all those sleepy classes! Okok, I know I have to let it go and I promise it’s the last time that I whinge about it.

I couldn't get into Marichyasana D and Iling seemed to be surprised and so asked how I managed to 'lose' it as we were supposed to be practicing and improving?! well, we barely did Marichyasana B or C, let alone D! Anyway, it was good not to skip any postures.

After the class, my legs were shaking but I felt really good. I promise that I will be going to yoga class at least three times this week and I WILL make them!!!

नमस्ते

Pindasana

Yes, surprisingly I managed to spare an hour's lunch time on Thursday to go to yoga class. And it was not because I had been slacking off but people just preferred lunch time meetings before winter arrives so that we could still lounge in the sun while enjoy a macchiato or a glass of vino, or in my case, a rosé or an extra spicy virgin mary!

I did find the class difficult as it had been two weeks since I last practiced yoga and having had to do five Surya Namaskara A and yes five for B just made it harder even though that's exactly how you should warm up and it probably actually did me a huge favour!!!

This time we had another different teacher and she was equally good. She told us various techniques which she came across when she was learning/trialling and I thoroughly enjoyed the class. When we did finishing postures, I found backbend challenging. Normally I could do five backbends straight without any hesitations but this time I struggled with the third one. However, I somehow managed to do the full Pindasana even without trying!!! (I was finally able to wrap around my lotus) It's all true - when your body is ready, it will get into the postures before you realise it!

Anyway, hopefully I will get to practice at least once more before I leave for my Far East trip on Friday! (to be honest, I am not really looking forward to it as I sense it could be a rather stressful one especially when it comes to my dearest dad!)

नमस्ते

Animated Yoga? how does that work?

The yoga class on Thursday was actually quite enchanting. (ok, it was last Thursday but as I promised to update my cafe as often I could, I would still like to share the rather intriguing experience) The teacher was very animated and would guide the class through by visualising each postures using animal features, i.e. imagine there were two elephant ears when getting into Janu Sirsasana C etc, which was really fun and there were constant laughter throughout the class. It was just refreshing and it also showed how distinctively different each teacher could be. I guess this goes back to my previous comments on emphasising the importance of finding the right style with the right teacher for each individuals.

Work is still manic but I feel more dogmatic and can be more firm when it comes to awkward cases. Sadly I haven't had a chance to go to the gym nor yoga classes this week as I have been indundated with meetings. I so look forward to the bank holiday weekend as I am in serious need of some decent sleep! I shall also hopefully get some time to update my cafe!!

I Am Still Here.....

Gosh, it's been exactly three weeks since I last updated my blog and I have to say that I feel almost ashamed with myself. The longer I put it off the more amusing my plight and it was just a vicious circle.

Anyway, here it is and I will try to update my blog as often as I can.

Right, so what have I been up to in the last three weeks? um, apart from being absolutely snowed under at work, I have been sipping quite a few vodka and tonic lately. Okay, it's not as I have been drinking like a fish, but let's just say that I am pretty good at it! And these drinking sessions, or should I say a way of networking as it is what us, people in this industry do. We meet up with clients/candidates and more than often the more 'sophisticated' kinds would have a glass or two of vino and before we know it, we would be on our third bottle! oops, did I say bottle, sorry I meant glass.

And this is where arguments/problems begin. Your better half starts to think there is some sort of drinking issues going on and the next thing you know, you are an alcoholic? huh? pardon me? where did that come from? anyway, so this is how the story goes....

Interestingly enough, I just came across this quote as I am writing:

''An alcoholic is anyone you don't like who drinks more than you do.''
- Dylan Thomas

It just takes the words right out of mine!!!

Anyway, they are only some of my thoughts...

I went to my yoga class today, a first in two weeks and it wasn't as bad as I expected. I was still able to do all the postures but just with very tight hamstrings.

नमस्ते and I shall keep up with the good work so far even though it's only Monday!!!

Breath Again

For some peculiar reasons I have not been able to get into ujjayi breathe three classes in a row now and I am starting to get a little bit concerned. I can see that I am progressing with some postures but not being able to utilise ujjayi breathe does worry me a little as it’s one of the fundamental elements. I can’t help but think whether it is to do with the fact that Mr B counts every breathe so slow that I can’t regulate mine?! Okay, I know I had BEEN having rather biased views on the new teacher and the reason I am using past tense is I have realised that there is no point to dwell on the negative sides of things and life is really too short. I have learnt just to get on with it and let things go. Therefore I have been doing what I would do in the class and I can sense that he kind of grasped the hint not from me but from few of us and so he tries not to skip postures but still talks a bit too much and therefore we don’t get to do as much postures as we should. But hey ho at least that’s an improvement. Having said that, he actually is quite good when it comes to explaining new postures and he is one patient man. (well, I have to try to discover some positive things about him, don’t I?)

Anyway, I can now grab hold of my wrists instead of my fingers when I do Marichyasana A, B and C and although I can’t take my wrists when I am in Janu Sirsasana A, B, C but I can interlock my fingers. I can definitely see some progress when I practice, slowly but I know I will get there one day.

नमस्ते

Talise Spa

Here are some more photos from our Dubai trip. After the awe-inspiring, exhilirating birthday dinner - specially planned by Mr T (definitely will do a separate post on that and I will try not to take another month to write that up!!), we decided that we needed a bit of TLC for our mind, body and soul! Well, any excuses really. So off we went to the beautiful Talise Spa which is again, conveniently located within the resort.

This is the back view of the hotel, taken on the abras (water taxi).

On the way to the Spa. There are 3.7 km of working waterways with fully operational abras (traditional water taxis) which transport guests from their rooms to the restaurants, beach and the spa.

Inside the spa and this is just one of the many areas where you can relax and chill out.

After our massage treatments, we went to the vegetarian retaurant next to the spa for lunch. Someone clearly needed a bit of fuel as that someone snored throughout the treatment and we all know how snoring burns off calories!

They are complimentary bread from the chef and can I just say how tasty these are!!! Warm walnut bread on the left and rosemary bread on the right, served with pesto sauce and tomato butter.

Another complimentary starter - beetroot jelly with mango sauce. Really light and those two flavours compliment each other very well.

This is T's starter - flower & herb salad with three dressings: yoghurt & advocado; balsamic vinager and orange & pomogranate dressing.

my starter - roasted artichoke with topinambur puree, marinated tomatoes, rosemary and thyme oil served with topinambur crisps.

T's main - spinach pimento risott with roasted asparagus, moreles, deep fried parsley leaves and parmesan sauce

Mine - pan fried millet tofu cake, minted green tea puree with hazelnut oil baked cherry tomatoes and pak choi

T's desesrt - passion fruit delice with exotic fruit potpurri with coconut cream

Mine - iced cardamom coffee cream, fresh figs in vanilla grapefruit syrup, chocolate cake

This is just another one of the many reasons why we absolutely adore Dubai!

New Postures

Despite my previous complaints about the new teacher, I still have been going to the classes. The pace is still very very slow, and I mean really slow! In fact, two girls said that they were sure that they fell asleep one time during the class! Yes, falling asleep in an ashtanga yoga class. Anyone who has done ashtanga yoga would know that it’d be difficult not to sweat during the class, let alone falling asleep!!! The new teacher still skips postures in between but decided we might be interested to learn new postures! So he demonstrated Bhuja Pindasana Vinyasa in and Bhuja Pindasana.

Yes, I know! We all thought it was utterly madness! He thought we might find lotus/half lotus postures too hard but it was fine to do something new which I have no problems with but I am not sure if we were ready for them yet. We haven't done anything from the finishing sequence for a long while, either.

Anyway, I've decided that I will still continue going to the class as I worked hard to get where I am now and I am not going to let someone spoiling it. Though I have to be honest that I feel like I am losing the momentum with yoga because of this teacher but I will try hard to be persist with my practice.

नमस्ते

Parisian Feast

We decided to go to the Parisian restaurant within the resort we stayed on the first night for dinner and I have to say that it probably was one of the most enjoyable meals we had. Not only the waiters/waitresses were super attentive and friendly, they also made some very good recommendations!


Complimentary fresh herbal salad with feta cheese

My starter - Grilled aubergines with yoghurt and mint

T's starter - Pistachio soup : silky, smooth, really delicious!

Hammous (a kind of fish) fillet kebab with pomegranate rice, grilled tomatoes and pita bread. The portion was huge, I could hardly even finish the fish, let alone the rice and bread! However, the fish was really beautifully cooked, very moist and tender.

T's gigantic shank of lamb with herby rice and chilli sauce. According to T, it was one of the best lambs he had and just look at the size of it....I don't need to say more!

Rose petal tea - absolutely divine!!! It was so lovely that I had two glasses of them!

desserts made from chick pea and pistachio - they literally melt in your mouth!

After dinner, we had a quick drink at the hotel lobby.

I had a Loulabelle (left) - 'an exquisite mix of strawberries, rose & white grape juice shake and topeed up with lemonade

Mr T opted for a Camingo (right) - 'A refined combination of fresh strawberries, vanilla and the Arabian touch of camel milk'. Camel milk actually doesn't taste as bad as we thought, in fact it doesn't really taste of anything, apart from it's more cloudy than normal milk.

It was a perfect end to the day and evening before we retired to bed.

It must be one of the very few nights that I had a really good sleep!

Here It Comes

Right, here comes our much-anticipated Dubai trip.

When we arrived at the hotel, the room wasn’t ready yet so we decided to go for the grand buffet breakfast and we were there for almost two hours while waiting to check-in our room. We were both so tired that I literally passed out on the sofa in the hotel lobby.

This is me trying to keep my eyes open in the lobby.

An hour later, the room still wasn't ready, so we decided to take the hotel shuttle bus to Mall of the Emirates for some retail therapy.

This picture was taken in the bus just outside the hotel.

However, we didn't spend too much time in the mall; not just because we didn't get any sleep on the plane or being slightly jet-lagged, we simply got bored in there. They have all the brands you can think of there, even my favourite Harvey Nichols but the stuff there just weren’t the same.

Just as we were thinking where we could go next, the hotel called to say that our room was ready.

This is the picturesque view from our room...I can honestly look at it all day long!

From another angle

more pics to follow!..please bear with me...