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

You Never Know

I know I should never take things personal in this industry but sometimes I just can’t help getting upset with those stupid ruthless rude individuals. This guy I spoke with yesterday was just unbelievable – he actually hung up before I could even finish my sentences! Hence I was in a foul mood the whole afternoon. On the way back home, I got a voice mail from this boorish guy apologising being so cold earlier as I caught him at a bad moment. Yes, mister but aren’t we all have one of those moments but you don’t take it out on others, especially at workplace and I was being extremely polite and reasonable and he should know better as he is in the same business!

Anyway, he wanted to talk and was in fact very keen to talk!

Long story short, you never know what you can expect and the best way to put it is that life is full of surprises!

ooo, Mr all-of-a-sudden-ardent just called AGAIN as I was composing this 'thought' for my café. He would like to meet ASAP! Talk about eager and some are just super fervent, eh?

Strata's First BBQ

It was very kind of John for inviting us to his humble mansion for the first company BBQ given that we all live in our small tumble down houses. He really couldn't have picked a better day as it was an absolutely gorgeous day on Saturday!

Ruster was fashionably late as usual, only this time he was two and half hours late! Er..because he couldn’t decide which pair of jeans to wear, out of the 20 pairs he owns?! Though it was undoubtedly a very good party and it was so good that we couldn’t remember how many bottles of wine we had! Bear in mind, we all each turned up with a bottle and the boss bought two dozens PLUS 40 cans of beer AND two champagnes and according to John there were only three bottles left at the end of the evening!!! Ummm, that’s just put it this way; I had a splitting headache when I got home! T and I passed out the minute we got home and the next thing we knew - it was already 12 midnight and we were on the sofa....

Personally I really appreciate the fact that I could actually sit down and have casual chats with them on the weekends as some of you might know that the experience I had with my former employer was atrocious, let alone seeing them out of office hours!
The guys I work with now are bunch of decent ones but most importantly, we have a laugh.
I don't wake up in the morning dreading to go to work, instead I look forward to it.

Anyway, hope everyone had a good one too!

Problem in the Bedroom

I have not been able to sleep for a few days now and it is starting to take a toll on me. Therefore I decided to do a bit of research to see what I can do to help me to get back to the old me….fall asleep like a baby the minute I hit bed.

Apparently the old trick of counting sheep doesn’t really work - Counting is stimulating. Not that I do this when I can’t sleep but I remember that’s what my mum used to tell me to do when I was little.

On top of that, reading or watching TV in bed is also not a good idea – well, this used to work for me but not anymore unfortunately.

One thing that has worked every time is for T to tell me ALL about economics and I kid you not, I would fall asleep the second he starts! Hahahahaha

One thing I am thinking to do is to get back to body combat classes. I have to admit that I do miss the empowering cardio workout where I always get totally unleashed and feel really good afterwards. The problem is that I’ve been to a couple of classes led by different instructors and Janet is by far the best, and I mean THE best! She just does the moves so much better and she knows how to motivate the class and not to mention her toned/sculptured body. She just doesn’t do body combat at the gym I go to anymore…

In any case, I shall look into my new workout regime when I am back in two weeks!

firmology

I have been feeling rather weary this week but still forced myself to go to yoga classes. I was not certain if I should practice today, not just because it was raining and bitterly chilly but my body was not well, in the sense that I felt really drained. After two minutes of hesitation, I thought I would feel better afterwards and I was WRONG!!!

I don’t know how I managed to get a few bruises on my legs and the ball of my right foot was awfully painful. Therefore I couldn’t do vinyasa in properly and it just went downhill after Purvattanasana. However, the finishing postures were not that bad and the backbend seemed to have progressed, I now could have my hands and feet closer.

Also I can’t believe how this week has gone pass by that it’s Friday tomorrow!
I am looking forward to the lie in on the weekends even though I know I will end up getting up really early again.
Will also check out the latest addition, COS (Collection of Style) on Regent Street – an extension of H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, a first flagship store outside of the USA…..not really interested in their clothing but the six-pac hunks standing at the doors! Yum!

p.s. Oh and this is the latest Benefit product I discovered. Being a devoted Benefit fan, I sure will try this out to see if it does what it says – ‘’a toning & smoothing serum leaves skin radiant and silky to the touch!’’

Beverage Of the Month

I’ve been drinking quite a lot of rooibos tea lately and I just looove the sweet & nutty taste. I know in South Africa it is usually served with milk and sugar/honey but I love the flavour just as it is.

I did not know drinking rooibos tea can help health problems such as headaches, colic, asthma, hay fever and insomnia and it’s also good for skin conditions such as eczema! I had some rash near my collar bone and I could really see it was fading out as normally it would take quite a few weeks for it to disappear - in my case.

I’ve tried a few different brands and I have to say that my favourite so far is the Dragonfly Rooibos Earl Grey. The bergamont and rooibos just go so well together.

And one other good factor is that rooibos is organically grown and so here is one more reason that people should drink more of it!

The Bloody Vehicle Clampers

Saturday morning started off nice and easy; the sun was shining; put on the tangerine top I bought; enjoyed the buzz of early spring feel and was looking forward to meet up with friends. Everything was going so well before we decided to go to the cinema to watch The Queen. It was then I found that my car was clamped! Yes and the penalty was £141!!!!! I was absolutely gobsmacked. The place I’d been parking for the last 5 years decided to charge cars parked on the premise without permits! What permits? The porter was off over the weekend and there was no way to obtain one. Long story short, we paid the fine but are trying to make an appeal. So we didn’t go to the film and the day ended with a huge cloud over my head.

So I decided to pig out on Sunday and hence we made some dumplings. Yes, dumpling…one of my favourites, they were juicy and comforting and almost healed the pain until I realised I had too much chilli in my dipping sauce!

It was certainly a bloody expensive lesson to learn as well as a dear weekend but hey ho, that’s life and life is tough.

Auto Marque

I am no automotive expert but somehow I just can’t get my head around with Lexus. I know they are reliable and relatively cost-efficient compared with their German/U.S rivals, but I simply can’t seem to apportion the infinitesimal love I have for cars to Lexus. So when daddy mentioned that someone is getting the LS 460, I was rather perplexed by the ‘new’ design because to me ,it comes across as an attempt to mimic the lines of the BMW 7 series rather than the dubbed ‘’L-Finesse’’. I know I can’t judge a book by its cover since it’s somewhat a showcase for the latest in automotive technology, from the radar-based cruise control system to the advanced parking guidance system which helps parallel-park the car (I must admit this is great news for me..who have tremendous difficulties in parking OCCASIONALLY!) – the driver controls the speed and it does the steering! It even uses body heat sensors to maintain cabin temperature. For now, I think I will just stay focused on the things I know or rather, I am interested in/love (like the pair of those dashing babies above) so that I don’t get chastised by those car gurus.