Day 335 - "Human, your death will be slow and painful" and REALLY surviving Bikram yoga

1. HAHAHA hilarious, thanks for the early morning laugh Soon Yang!



2. I can't believe I'm thinking this, although I'm probably jinxing myself for acknowledging this, but I went for my 3rd Bikram yoga class tonight and it felt.... 'easier'?!?
   
   Third time around I'm starting to embrace the heat of the room and actually find comfort in it (SHOCK HORROR), and embrace the fact that torrential rain of sweat is just constantly going to flow down my face for the next hour and a half and there's nothing I can do about it. Somewhere, somehow, amongst the intense stretching, sweating and breathing, something happened. My state of mind became clear, still and centered. I had somehow broken through the mental barrier of Bikram yoga. It was such an incredible feeling after class - it felt like I was crossing the finish line at a marathon! I felt fantastic! Light headache again afterwards (I've narrowed it down to heat exhaustion or detoxification), but no more throwing up this time. Huzzah!
   
   But now that I've said this, I'll probably struggle and pass out during my next class.... eeps. 

Day 333 - Nice guy on the tram and surviving my 2nd Bikram yoga class

1. My Dad once said to me a while ago with all the kindness in his heart, "You always seem to attract all the weirdos."


In no way am I saying he's wrong, because he's absolutely right. For some bizarre reason unknown to me, weird strangers REALLY like approaching me on the street and talking to me. I must seem like a friendly approachable weirdo?!? There have been what seems like hundreds of requests for directions, a few "What are you doing tonight? Do you want to come to this party?" types, "What is that you're holding? Do you want to get a coffee with me? Where are you going? I'm just going to follow you around ha ha just joking", and even "I think I've seen you before, where do you work? Do you have e-mail?". I've had so many encounters with random weirdos that it now seems completely normal for a stranger to speak to me.

I was at the tram stop today when a man who was carrying several bags of groceries - from what I could see it was lots of beer and some bread and fruit - asked me if I knew which way the tram was going. He then followed up with some questions around purchasing tram tickets. I asked if he had coins to purchase the ticket on the tram, he said he did, but he wasn't sure which ticket to get. I offered to help him buy his ticket for him and he flashed me a warm smile. He looked like he was in his late 30s, the bottom half of his face was covered in stubble, his light green eyes glowed and he had a slight slouch. I wondered whether he was going to drink all that beer himself.

We boarded the tram together and I bought him his ticket. I looked around and groaned - the tram was full of rowdy school kids. Then, a boy about 10 years old looked up at me and asked if I would like to take his seat. I was too stunned to respond so I just smiled back with no thanks. A young boy with manners, who would've thought! The boy then proceeded to ask the groceries-carrying man if he would like to sit! I almost passed out from shock!

I then had a chat with groceries-carrying man.. he seemed totally normal so far. He explained that he was from Sydney so he had no idea how to go about Melbourne's public transport as he usually caught taxis, and that he was in town for a conference. When the tram approached his hotel, I told him this was his stop to get off.

He thanked me profusely and said, "You are very nice. You are very, very nice", then blew me a kiss before getting off the tram...!?!?!?

I burst out laughing. As the tram moved along, I saw him crossing the street. He waved goodbye madly at me.

For the rest of the tram ride, I pondered about how social interaction, relationships and connections between people, even between two random strangers, so strongly contributed to one's happiness.


2. Dave decided to give Bikram yoga a go, so I went along for my second class. I gotta say, it was better this time around. I knew what to expect, I tied my hair differently, and I made sure I was properly hydrated. Sweated like a stressed horse from start to finish, it felt gruelling but I could see the light at the end of the hot and sweaty tunnel. 

I did develop a slight headache after class, but I didn't throw up this time!! Fist pump! Success! I survived you Bikram!

Day 328 - Surviving my 1st bikram yoga class (kinda)

Rob and Peter somehow managed to convince me to join them for a bikram yoga class after work. Bikram yoga has always been categorised under 'what the?', 'are you crazy?', and 'out of the question, I'll pass out and die' in my head, but I had always been curious to find out how the classes were actually like, and reading testimonies of "First you feel like you're dying, then after the class you feel reborn" helped push me into today's 6pm class.

And can I just say - yes, the room is fucking hot and humid. It's a fucking 40°C sauna. There is no joke about it, IT IS FREAKIN HOT.

After a few minutes in the room, I thought to myself, ok this isn't too bad I can handle this, it feels like I'm back in Malaysia and I'm walking under the hot sun. The instructor comes in and starts barking orders, military drill style. I looked around in confusion - everyone seemed to know what to do - so I just followed one of the other girls. 10 minutes on, I can feel beads of sweat sliding off my body. You're doing ok, I told myself. About another 10 minutes later, I start seeing white spots before my eyes and I'm feeling light headed. Uh oh.

So I kneeled down on my mat and sat out a few poses. When I looked up, everyone around me was contorted into human pretzels with their knees and arms wrapped together like rope. I'm thinking WHAT THE. Meanwhile the instructor keeps barking instructions. "Kick higher! Kick higher! Higher! Higher! Higher! Now hold! Hold it there! Hold! Absolutely hold! Now relax!"

The next hour and 10 minutes was brutal and challenging, both mentally and physically. I was conscious of the heat, my body felt like it was burning, and I was sweating bucketloads from every inch of my skin. I didn't know my eyelids could sweat!

Via: The Iron You: The Awesomeness of Bikram Yoga

The end of the class finally came. Ah savasana (corpse pose), my all time favourite pose. As I relaxed on the floor amongst a sea of sweaty bods, I ran through the session in my head - I had managed to stay in the room the whole time and was able to do a large majority of the 26 poses. I was elated - it was Bikram 0 Sammie 1, I had survived!

So did I feel born again after the class?

Sadly, no. I felt like I had just run a marathon in 40 degrees heat in Vietnam. It felt like the biggest workout, I looked like I had gone swimming in my workout gear. Even after a shower I was still sweating.

I also had a massive headache. I knew I had tied my hair up too tightly (which always gives me a headache), I was probably dehydrated, and my body just doesn't handle heat very well. The headache soon escalated into a migraine. I couldn't even stomach dinner - when Sammie doesn't want to eat, something is very very wrong - and on the way home I threw up.

Bikram 1 Sammie 0. Bikram, you win big time. But at least I've now had a taste of Bikram yoga, and it tastes like sweat, Gatorade and water.

Day 172 - Feeling refreshed, spooning Snowflake and Melbourne earthquake memes

1. I woke up today feeling refreshed for the first time in possibly months! Thank you valerian root!


2. And when I opened my eyes, I found myself spooning Snowflake with my face buried into her back..?!? How did this happen?! 

I gave her a cuddle and she just continued purring blissfully. Then she turned around to face me, as if to say "okay my turn now to be the big spoon..."



3. There was an earthquake of 5.3 magnitude yesterday evening in Victoria. I love how Australians always see the bright side of everything.

Via: Music Feeds - The Best Of: Melbourne Earthquake Memes

Day 138 - Sick comforts

Stayed in bed for most of today to try and come out on top of this damn cold.

I felt dreary and crappy, but it wasn't all too bad because...

...Snowflake kept me company and made sure I was nice and warm in bed...


...receiving a postcard from Pe Yang, sent from Taichung, Taiwan, had me lost in the clouds for a good few minutes...


...and being delivered homemade soup, juice, lozenges and get well soon flowers from Brett is just downright lovely!

Day 137 - Having mothers at work

Being sick is no fun.

But having the ladies at work fluff and worry over me like a bunch of mothers, even shooing me out the door to make sure I go home and get some rest sure made me smile.

Day 115 - T-Rex hates chaturanga, Hoppípolla and Planet Earth, dancing in the rain and a steaming bowl of pasta

Man, what a day. Work has been incredibly busy and stressful for the past few weeks and today was no exception. It was 9 degrees when I left home this morning... and there was so much rain!

After spending most of today huddling in my scarf and gloves (both outdoors and indoors), and being very confused while trying to sort out calculations that even boggled our supplier and vendor, I had a great yoga session where the instructor really pushed us. Repeatedly having to hold chaturanga dandasana (aka one-sided push up in slow motion) for a few breaths was no fun (she even heckled, "Everyone's favourite pose!" as the class grunted) but I think I needed the extra exercise.

Oh and here's a yoga funny I came across:

Source: Yoga Dork

Post-yoga, I was warm, calm, relaxed and in a state of zen as Sigur Rós' Hoppípolla started playing on my iPod. I started to mentally watch this video in my head...


...and as the scenes flashed through my mind, I couldn't help but smile and think how amazing this little blue dot of a planet we lived on was.

I grabbed a green tea latte on my way home (it was too cold for frozen yoghurt) and laughed as rain started to drizzle down on me. It was a strange night - the streets were wet and deserted, and with so many roads closed off due to roadworks I found myself dancing in the middle of the street in the rain... just because I could!

Once I got home, I tucked into a big steaming bowl of spaghetti bolognese. Ahhh comfort food on a cold night.

Day 107 - Bermuda Triangle likes bean bags, hipster cat, fro-yo, Lifelounge interviews Taylor and Kelly Smith wall is complete

Here are a few things that made me smile:

1. The Bermuda Triangle's appetite is insatiable!
   
   Bye bye bean bag, the Bermuda Triangle (or some poor, unfortunate person who hasn't realised you're very stinky) has you now. 



2. A cat wearing a beret = hipster cat.

Source: Fail Blog


3. Treating myself to a yummy frozen yoghurt after a gruelling yoga session. I think I'm going to do this every time now!


4. I chuckled while reading Lifelounge's interview with Taylor Hanson.
   
   "This two hour conversation revealed to us that maybe Hanson holds more of a place in our hearts than we ever realised. Their 1997 debut Middle of Nowhere sold over 10 million copies, they were nominated for three Grammys and plus, whether or not you knew what sex he was, the middle one was really good looking..."


5. Stage 8 of Project Home is complete! About 35 more stages to go...... 

Day 86 - Hobo sighting, downward dog is "fun" and Pellegrini's spag bol

With the past and the present and the future, and faith and hope and charity, and the heart and the brain and the body, it'll give you 3, it's a magic number:

1. A hobo used to live in the little alley behind my apartment (which we have affectionately nicknamed "Hobo Alley" in his honour). True story. He lived there for years. But then one day he moved away.

Now and then, I would bump into him on the streets. He drives me wild with fascination - he's always wearing different clothes which always looked clean, he doesn't smell like a hobo, he's always sitting on a bench people watching, and for a hobo he's REALLY chubby!

I saw him today after not seeing him around for a few months, and excitedly sent Brett a SMS to let him know.

Me: I just walked past hobo on Swanston St! He was carrying a Jack London bag?!
Brett: Wow maybe he invented something and is now a rich hobo?!
Me: Hahaha he was wearing bummy clothes but again did not smell bad at all
Brett: Maybe he doesn't want to be outcast from his hobo friends and wants to blend in...


2. After about 40 (no exaggeration) one-sided-push-ups-in-slow-motion, 40 upward dogs, and 40 downward dogs (with many more to come), the class was groaning. The yoga instructor was leading the class through the sequence and calling out each pose when she heard us groaning, and went, "..adho mukha svanasana... this is great fun isn't it!" I couldn't help but burst out laughing while steadying myself in my downward dog stretch!


3. After a long and gruelling yoga session, I treated myself to a big hearty bowl of spaghetti bolognese from Pellegrini's. Helloooo carbs!

Day 66 - Being a yogi again

Early 2009, I threw myself into the world of ashtanga yoga. It was one of those things I had always wanted to do, and I enjoyed it so much that I kept up with my downward dogs, upward dogs, warriors and sun salutations for the whole year. It was evident that yoga improved my posture, gave me great flexibility, core strength, toned arms and a calm mind. However when 2010 came around I started to get lazy and started going to classes less frequently, always blaming the weather. But hey, I was still going. When 2011 rolled in, I had completely surrendered to laziness - I could count the number of times I had gone to yoga class that year with both hands.

I carried the guilt of not practising with me for a long time. I wanted to get back into it, I really did... but yoga was one of those things that brutally kills you once you've stopped doing it for a long period of time.

But today, still feeling the after-effects of my indulgent, gluttony weekend, I got changed after I got home and headed off for yoga class with Jon's advice of "Don't think, just do" echoing in my head.

To my surprise, I soon found myself powering through the poses, flowing through the sequences smoothly - I couldn't recall the order of poses in my head, but my body seemed to run on auto-pilot and took on a life of its own. Just 10 minutes into the sun salutations I was already cursing at the number of times we had to do the caturanga dandasana (I call this pose the "one-way push up in slow motion"), and 15 minutes on my body was trembling as I held my poses. With every standing, sitting, inverting and back-bending series, my spine and limbs were contorted and stretched in all directions, and my body was screaming, "What the hell are you doing to me woman!"

It was hard work, yet I couldn't help but notice the intense stillness in my mind throughout the entire series. I truly breathed deeply and appreciated the moment.

And at the end of it came my favourite pose - the relaxation shavasana (corpse pose LOL). I look forward to this pose every time, heck I begin looking forward to it when I'm on my way to class! It is pure bliss. Pure. Bliss. You lie on the mat after the long and tiring session, and every part of your body feels like it weighs a ton as you sink into the floor with your body still warm from vinyasa. Sometimes I doze off during this 5 minute pose!

On my way home, my body felt heavy yet strangely lightweight, both at the same time. I was overwhelmed with relaxation - in the past I often mistook this bizarre feeling as exhaustion, until I realised that I wasn't overly tired, I was just extremely relaxed!

Looking forward to a good sleep tonight, but not looking forward to being in a world of pain tomorrow.

Day 65 - A beautiful sunset in exchange for some light exercise

After indulging in way too much tasty, tasty bacon over the weekend, I felt both sorry and guilty for my clogged arteries and hardworking heart that I thought I owed it to myself to do some light exercising today.

So after work, I lined up a whole bunch of TED Talks videos on my phone and headed off to the park for a walk. An hour of brisk walking later, I was rewarded by the breathtaking sight of sunset, which I would have otherwise missed.




Whoever said exercising was good for you was onto something.

Day 34 - A tinge of hope, soup and domestic sillies

Last night was weird. I went to bed shivering, heck I was even shivering while taking a ridiculously hot shower, and I was feeling very light headed and nauseous. When I woke up this morning I was hot and sweaty... but the biggest shock came through when I realised I could breathe freely through my nose! My sinuses were completely clear! I lied in bed with a big smile on my face as I inhaled and exhaled deeply.

Of course, this relief was short lived, as I was soon coughing up bucket loads of phlegm. Bleh.

Yesterday, I drank 2 packets of Yuen Kut Lam's Kam Wo tea, which Chan swears by. It's composed of 28 different Chinese herbs, and inside the tea's packaging, it claims to be "Effective remedy for fever, head-ache, intoxicating, plague, vomiting, purging intermittent fever, inflammation, pain in the bones, indigestion, and cold. It can also heal the affection by the sun and allay thirst in the summer." The plague, for chrissake! I didn't feel instantly better after drinking it like this dude, but I definitely think it's doing something to help me feel better. I now, however, have a headache. Apparently this tea is pretty potent stuff and I later realised from reading the instructions written in Chinese that you should only have a packet a day. Uh oh.

So I had some more tea today (just 1 packet).


What an appetising black concoction! I'm glad my senses are whack and I can't taste a thing.


Brett dropped off some soul-soothing ABC soup he cooked up for me, which helped to appease my grumbling tummy.


For the past few days I've been eating congee which has been reheated to the point where it starting resembling gruel. Nasty!

Later on at night, as I was leaning on my dining table chair feeling miserably sick, the chair fell apart (it's kind of an old chair that's been sat on a lot) and I literally fell off it. Apparently I was flapping my arms on the way down. It was all quite funny, and I found myself lying on my side on the carpet asking Brett, "What the hell just happened?!"

I also got Brett to help me refill the bean bag, as my previous attempts have been quite disastrous as demonstrated below.


After we filled the lining with all 4 rubbish size bags worth of beans, we realised we had to somehow stuff it into the bean bag cover through its very small opening. It took a good 10 minutes of pushing, shoving and endless fits of laughter over "that's what he said" "that's what she said" jokes.

The next time Snowflake pees on the bean bag, I'm throwing it out and buying a new one!

Day 33 - No more sore throat and super comforting Snowflake

Ugh being sick sucks big time! It's been a while since I've been this sick, and it's times like these we realise how much we take for granted how great it is to be normal and healthy. Jon P nailed it when he said, "When you're sick, you start to forget what being normal feels like."

Though I'm still down with a nasty flu, it's hard to put into words how elated I was when I awoke this morning and realised my sore throat was gone! Just yesterday the simple act of swallowing felt like it was sending every cell in my body into shock. And is it just me, or is it normal that when your throat is sore, you inadvertently swallow a lot more frequently than usual?!

Meanwhile, Snowflake has been incredibly affectionate and showering me with loads of TLC - it's like she knows I'm sick!