My daily routine during Circuit Breaker + Potatoh’s anniv wedding photoshoot + About Time + 킬미, 힐미 + The Phantom of The Opera + Love Never Dies + Frankenstein
6/4/20 Mon onwards: Never tried "stopping work" (about 80% of my time at home was spent on activities outside of work...) for such a long period of time ever since I start to work full-time in the corporate world in 2013. This "Circuit Breaker" has taken many of us aback, but one that's pretty much the key to curb the spread of COVID-19. The initial CB was said to last till May 4, but with still a large number of cases seen in the foreign workers cluster mostly, Singapore's government had to further extend CB till June 1.
While some "non-essential" businesses are slowly being allowed to re-open now, Singapore Turf Club, being an entertainment venue, remains one of the few that I reckon can only open its doors again after June. I don't know how the mode of operation would change by then (but surely there will be changes), but let's leave that for later.
The minute CB period was announced in the news, I got down to fixing a "daily schedule" for myself for the first month (and now, the second month as well). Idling and wasting my time away sounds really bad, so I decided to pick up new skills, as well as refresh my memory of Thai and Korean language that I learned back in my school days.
All studios and ActiveSG outlets are closed for now, my aerial yoga and kickboxing lessons are thus suspended. Ever since I started exercising regularly, it has become my "de-stress" channel. I am determined not to stop it just because I cannot attend classes (though the nagging pain in my left upper back still niggles now and then~ haiz). I got my Fitbit Inspire HR last October for "free" to track steps for Healthy 365 Challenge and also to understand my heartbeat pattern, i.e. during exercise, rest and at sleep etc. Users are required to sign up for one year of Fitbit Premium package (you pay $9.99 a month for 12 months), which is the Fitbit Coach (https://coach.fitbit.com/) under this Live Healthy SG package (https://livehealthysg.com/). I did not "utilise" the Fitbit Coach app at all for the first five months, so I thought it was time for me to act on it.
I like how users can choose either the male or female "main trainer" for yourself in the app, and they have so many video and audio workouts available. Users are required to take a "pre-fitness test" to determine their physical level and then it's onwards to many workouts on the platform. You can search for specific set of workouts that are focused on certain groups of muscles, the duration of the workout and the intensity. I started out my five days workout by freely choosing some short duration warm-up workouts, then go into one or two longer workouts that focus on different muscle groups that I want to work for the day, and lastly do a simple 10 minutes cool-down that I'd find on YouTube:
Very clear instruction and good cool-down moves. I also incorporated a few more moves taught by my Kickboxing instructor Kelly into my cool-down routine. It would usually take me an hour to finish the whole workout in the afternoons. Fitbit Coach would then require you to rate each and every move you did in each of their workout sets (i.e. if you can keep up with the duration or the number of sets to do) and then give you "badges" to "level up" every time the app reckons certain muscle groups of yours have improved. Just one or two weeks ago, I signed up to their "Get Strong" program in the app, which requires me to complete at least three sets of workouts given to me in a week. I reckon as the level of strength in each muscle groups get stronger, the app would then modify the intended workouts given to the user for progressive exercise.
I'm about one month into the app now and I do feel my legs, core and arms getting stronger (still weak in push-ups though haha~), and also more flexible than before. There are times I feel some workouts are easy, but many a times they challenge me, and I do feel very tired once in a while after the workouts.
On Saturdays, I only do simple stretchings (including Mandukasana, the "frog pose" which I will try to do a few more times in a week from now on) and core exercises (https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/12-minute-core-strength-sequence-real-people). I mean... I tried to work with Fitball before on weekends but it's hard haha.
I will try my best to stick to the routine as much as possible even when work resumes. Also, I noticed that working out in the day time is better as the sleeping heart rate somewhat went down and the ideal "hammock" heartbeat graph is often seen in my Fitbit app.
I took time to revise basic Thai language that I took as a Unrestricted Elective module back in NTU. I can still remember how to say certain phrases, the tones, the numbers but my grammar is bad and I gave up on revising how to write the Thai characters. *I "marvelled" at how well I wrote them last time sia~* It's pretty much the same for Korean language, which I learnt for a while during my exchange in Hangzhou back in my poly days, and then also at CC after I started working. Well that's the thing with languages... one has to constantly practise and keep at it to maintain your level of familiarity with it. For Korean language, much as I watch Korean variety shows and dramas, I still am confused about their formal and informal language use, until after I start to refresh the basic grammar rules did it help a little. *I'm still in the midst of revising Korean language~* Oh yeah and I actually also learnt one course of basic French lessons in CC a few years back... erm... 都还给老师咯LOL! I reckon until the day these languages are required in my field of work or somehow in my daily life, I doubt I will spend much time in perfecting them la haha. *Still, knowing basic phrases are useful when it comes to travelling! I am happy when I can use Korean or Thai, and even Kyrgyz and Russian to converse with the locals. Maybe I should consider Japanese next since I think I would love to travel there more often if situation permits in future.*
I read through a set of "Origin Point Therapy" （原始点疗法）notes that I took from online. Origin-Point Therapy treatment is a special massage technique developed by a famous TCM doctor from Taiwan, Dr. Chang Chao Han. OPT considers the cause of pain or illness is due to injury at Origin Points (set points on the body) which may be different to the actual sites of pain. Therefore, this therapy is focused on treating the origin source of pain. Treatment involves deep massage at the origin points on the body, warming pad, and ginger tea. I merely browsed the notes, and did note the Origin Points, but without real practice, I'm afraid one wouldn't dare to anyhow perform the treatment on anyone. For now, I still do my daily acupressure and finger massages to maintain my health.
Thanks to Potato whom gave me a set of basic chords to learn for Ukulele, I finally sat down to learn it. Though I have learnt guitar tabs and chords before (all forgotten lol~), my fingers are still not used to pressing hard on the strings as it's been a long time. I tried to spend 10 minutes or so daily to play the basic chords. The problem with beginners like me is always the moving of the fingers from one chord to another while playing, so I am still doing my best to smoothen the change as much as possible. Potato assured me mastering strumming and plucking could come in later as the "gan jeong" spider in me wanted to do that well too keke. What's more! I want to be able to sing along to the melody too haha!
Randomly found some ukulele chords for张悬's《宝贝》and四叶草's 《好想你》, showed it to Potato, and he simplified them for me to focus on practising the change of chords first. Learning my first musical instrument at this age is definitely not as easy as when you are a kid, and it will be a long journey, but I will practice as and when I can! *I know my husband will make sure I do too LOL.* In future? Hopefully I get to guitar（因为会弹吉他的人很帅哈哈！）, drums (whatever kind because I like the sound of drums) then maybe keyboard or piano if I have the time... saxophone etc instruments that require me to "blow" into it我就暂时没打算学了呵呵。*Ooi I still remember my recorder hor! If not, give me a simple one like triangle to play also can haha~*
I saw YJ's number painting artworks since I visited her place a while ago, and she shared that she got them from Taobao like 10 years ago lol. Sadly, a few Taobao sellers I asked said that they can only ship it to Singapore via ship as the paint is flammable, and that would take quite some time from my own experience, so I'm also worried about the paint drying up. Hence, I bought two of it from Qoo10 for about $12 each. I have always been poor at drawing, colouring, painting etc artwork-related activities, probably because I don't have the patience for it. I can vividly remember back in Sec 1 or 2 at one of the Art exams, I had to colour on an apple I drew, and as I was colouring, my then Chinese cum PE teacher Mdm Wong walked past and she stopped to look at my artpiece, and she commented something along the line: "Why you colour so uneven one? Got white spots here and there..." Essentially, the colouring is ugly and lazy la lol! I admit I have never taken a liking to art because I just cannot draw. *Need to find other creative ways to train my right brain la~* BUT! I love admiring beautiful things. Not that I know how to appreciate famous art works, but seeing such paintings can be therapeutic at times. Also, as I age, I felt like the more I should at least have a feel of doing everything. Till now, I have attended pottery making, coaster making, accessories making and floral arrangements with friends, and I must say though my final products are not exactly pretty by commercial standard, I still felt happy，因为成品出自我手啊！All the more so with the extended CB period, I decided to try my hands on number painting. Unlikely that it will turn me into Picasso or earn me a livelihood in future, but it's a good time to train my patience and get away from my phone and the computer.
I'd been painting for an average of four hours each day since last Wednesday on this "Walking in the Rain" picture. I love the "free silhouette" that the paint creates, but I must still say the eyes do get rather tired and I'm not very strict even if say one colour accidentally paints into another colour's area haha. Can't wait to see how it turns out and have them displayed in PotaTOH's new home!
16/4/20 Thurs: CB has forced PotaTOH's to go into "LDR" during this period of time. So, I took the time to reminisce some of our wedding photoshoot moments on our anniversary day!
19/4/20 Sun: Met up with Potato, MIL, MM and Andre on Zoom after dinner. Just a quick update, nothing much. I myself am not a fan of "online meet-ups", it simply lacks the "human touch" while we sit in front of the camera. I'd rather talk on the phone if I have a choice, because sometimes just hearing alone forces us to listen more attentively to the caller on the other side.
I also have my regular e-tuition classes with Gideon, Adi and Eshan weekly. Still prefer seeing them face-to-face but it calls for such measures in trying times. I also played Skribble with Potato and his friends, and also Ben and Jess, as well as had "KTV" session in my bedroom using the全民party app with Ben, Lance, Mag and JM haha. It's fun to sing with friends and it's been such a long time since I hear my own voice so closely again. *Randomly downloaded a coding app called "Mimo" to learn the basics of coding for fun.*
I spent time to blog about my trip to Kyrgyzstan last year and also watched lots of Korean dramas and variety show during this CB period. "집사부일체" is one show featuring이승기, 양세형, 이상윤and육성재as hosts and I'm pretty much enjoying their interactions with different "masters" on the show up till now. *I might start on정글의 법칙 (Laws of the Jungle) soon too because the comedian김병만has way too many survival skills one has to learn from!*
Staying at home also made me think that I should start to look more into the food preparation process done by mum all the time. It's all家常便饭, but there are certainly some dishes that I love, like花生鸡脚汤、毛瓜木耳虾米炒冬粉、酸辣魔鬼鱼etc. I'm slowly familiarising myself with the basic knowledge of cooking, and I am sure I will put it to good use someday, especially after PotaTOH's house is ready!
30/4/20 Thurs: Have been adding avocado to my daily diet, sometimes having it plainly for lunch. Decided to add it into the sandwich with scrambled egg and
fried fish fillet.
1/5/20 Fri: I got the idea from "집사부일체" where they had fried egg with manuka honey and butter toasted bread in New Zealand. Tried my own version with added avocado (had honey with avocado in Chiangmai previously)... but maybe the honey was a bit too much eh? Too sweet overall haha.
At night, 我和妈妈一起包云吞！She doesn’t like to eat wanton, but as I wanted to try, she still bought the skin and prepped the料! 云吞甲鱼面线汤! Dipping the wantons in red chilli light soy sauce and lime sauce tasted really good!
Finished watching "About Time", starring이상윤and이성경.
Choi Michaela is a musical actress who has a special ability to see a person's life span. She meets이도하, the chief director of a cultural foundation who has an ability to stop her life-clock, and the two fall in love with each other.
Other than the female lead's mysterious ability to "see people's lifespan countdown timer" factor in this drama, expect nothing more.
Rating: 3/5
Watched "킬미, 힐미" because the male protagonist Cha Do-hyun has dissociative identity disorder, and six other characters "lives" in him.
지성 was good in portraying the different personalities haha.
Rating: 3.5/5
Due to COVID-19, Youtube broadcasted "The Phantom of the Opera", the Royal Albert Hall 25th Anniversary version, featuring Ramin Karimloo as Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine Daae. It's my first time watching this famous play by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I was, at some point, captivated. I guess it's true when people say how these stage actors pour emotions into their acts... audience can feel it and see it from their eyes. Love this.
Rating: 4.5/5
Love Never Dies is the sequel to The Phantom of The Opera. I enjoyed Ben Lewis's singing in the opening a lot. Anna O'Byrne sings well, but I prefer Sierra Boggess's voice, even more than the original Sarah Brightman's. Again, the visuals were attention-grabbing, especially the part where Phantom brought his son to explore "the dark side".
Rating: 4/5
This is the 2011 play "Frankenstein" where Benedict Cumberbatch portrays the Creature and Jonny Lee Miller is Victor Frankenstein. The play started showing the Creature "just born" and making his appearance onstage while struggling to figure out movements or stand up. This alone was interesting. Cumberbatch's acting was convincing throughout.
One cannot help but to take pity on the Creature's plight. Yes, he did not choose to be born. But since he is born, why abandon him?
Rating: 4.5/5
Entering the extended CB phase now and may we all gain new insights into life despite being stuck at home. Family time is something most of us'd been neglecting all these while. I hope not to just be "physically" with my parents, but to get to know them just that little bit more. *rRandom tThought: we all live by our individual "timelines". Much as I feel "rushed" at times, I constantly remind myself to be patient and focus on my life now instead.*
While some "non-essential" businesses are slowly being allowed to re-open now, Singapore Turf Club, being an entertainment venue, remains one of the few that I reckon can only open its doors again after June. I don't know how the mode of operation would change by then (but surely there will be changes), but let's leave that for later.
The minute CB period was announced in the news, I got down to fixing a "daily schedule" for myself for the first month (and now, the second month as well). Idling and wasting my time away sounds really bad, so I decided to pick up new skills, as well as refresh my memory of Thai and Korean language that I learned back in my school days.
All studios and ActiveSG outlets are closed for now, my aerial yoga and kickboxing lessons are thus suspended. Ever since I started exercising regularly, it has become my "de-stress" channel. I am determined not to stop it just because I cannot attend classes (though the nagging pain in my left upper back still niggles now and then~ haiz). I got my Fitbit Inspire HR last October for "free" to track steps for Healthy 365 Challenge and also to understand my heartbeat pattern, i.e. during exercise, rest and at sleep etc. Users are required to sign up for one year of Fitbit Premium package (you pay $9.99 a month for 12 months), which is the Fitbit Coach (https://coach.fitbit.com/) under this Live Healthy SG package (https://livehealthysg.com/). I did not "utilise" the Fitbit Coach app at all for the first five months, so I thought it was time for me to act on it.
I like how users can choose either the male or female "main trainer" for yourself in the app, and they have so many video and audio workouts available. Users are required to take a "pre-fitness test" to determine their physical level and then it's onwards to many workouts on the platform. You can search for specific set of workouts that are focused on certain groups of muscles, the duration of the workout and the intensity. I started out my five days workout by freely choosing some short duration warm-up workouts, then go into one or two longer workouts that focus on different muscle groups that I want to work for the day, and lastly do a simple 10 minutes cool-down that I'd find on YouTube:
Very clear instruction and good cool-down moves. I also incorporated a few more moves taught by my Kickboxing instructor Kelly into my cool-down routine. It would usually take me an hour to finish the whole workout in the afternoons. Fitbit Coach would then require you to rate each and every move you did in each of their workout sets (i.e. if you can keep up with the duration or the number of sets to do) and then give you "badges" to "level up" every time the app reckons certain muscle groups of yours have improved. Just one or two weeks ago, I signed up to their "Get Strong" program in the app, which requires me to complete at least three sets of workouts given to me in a week. I reckon as the level of strength in each muscle groups get stronger, the app would then modify the intended workouts given to the user for progressive exercise.
I'm about one month into the app now and I do feel my legs, core and arms getting stronger (still weak in push-ups though haha~), and also more flexible than before. There are times I feel some workouts are easy, but many a times they challenge me, and I do feel very tired once in a while after the workouts.
On Saturdays, I only do simple stretchings (including Mandukasana, the "frog pose" which I will try to do a few more times in a week from now on) and core exercises (https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/12-minute-core-strength-sequence-real-people). I mean... I tried to work with Fitball before on weekends but it's hard haha.
I will try my best to stick to the routine as much as possible even when work resumes. Also, I noticed that working out in the day time is better as the sleeping heart rate somewhat went down and the ideal "hammock" heartbeat graph is often seen in my Fitbit app.
I took time to revise basic Thai language that I took as a Unrestricted Elective module back in NTU. I can still remember how to say certain phrases, the tones, the numbers but my grammar is bad and I gave up on revising how to write the Thai characters. *I "marvelled" at how well I wrote them last time sia~* It's pretty much the same for Korean language, which I learnt for a while during my exchange in Hangzhou back in my poly days, and then also at CC after I started working. Well that's the thing with languages... one has to constantly practise and keep at it to maintain your level of familiarity with it. For Korean language, much as I watch Korean variety shows and dramas, I still am confused about their formal and informal language use, until after I start to refresh the basic grammar rules did it help a little. *I'm still in the midst of revising Korean language~* Oh yeah and I actually also learnt one course of basic French lessons in CC a few years back... erm... 都还给老师咯LOL! I reckon until the day these languages are required in my field of work or somehow in my daily life, I doubt I will spend much time in perfecting them la haha. *Still, knowing basic phrases are useful when it comes to travelling! I am happy when I can use Korean or Thai, and even Kyrgyz and Russian to converse with the locals. Maybe I should consider Japanese next since I think I would love to travel there more often if situation permits in future.*
16/4/20 Thurs: CB has forced PotaTOH's to go into "LDR" during this period of time. So, I took the time to reminisce some of our wedding photoshoot moments on our anniversary day!
I spent time to blog about my trip to Kyrgyzstan last year and also watched lots of Korean dramas and variety show during this CB period. "집사부일체" is one show featuring이승기, 양세형, 이상윤and육성재as hosts and I'm pretty much enjoying their interactions with different "masters" on the show up till now. *I might start on정글의 법칙 (Laws of the Jungle) soon too because the comedian김병만has way too many survival skills one has to learn from!*
30/4/20 Thurs: Have been adding avocado to my daily diet, sometimes having it plainly for lunch. Decided to add it into the sandwich with scrambled egg and
fried fish fillet.
Finished watching "About Time", starring이상윤and이성경.
Other than the female lead's mysterious ability to "see people's lifespan countdown timer" factor in this drama, expect nothing more.
Rating: 3/5
Watched "킬미, 힐미" because the male protagonist Cha Do-hyun has dissociative identity disorder, and six other characters "lives" in him.
Rating: 3.5/5
Rating: 4.5/5
Rating: 4/5
One cannot help but to take pity on the Creature's plight. Yes, he did not choose to be born. But since he is born, why abandon him?
Rating: 4.5/5
Entering the extended CB phase now and may we all gain new insights into life despite being stuck at home. Family time is something most of us'd been neglecting all these while. I hope not to just be "physically" with my parents, but to get to know them just that little bit more. *rRandom tThought: we all live by our individual "timelines". Much as I feel "rushed" at times, I constantly remind myself to be patient and focus on my life now instead.*
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