CMC buffet @ The Malayan Council Fullerton + Neck, shoulder and back yoga @ Platinum Yoga + Aerial Flow (Beginner) + Hatha yoga + Gyrotonics + Aerial Flow (Basics) & 手拉手北京烤鸭w family + Inside Flow + Chair yoga

5/7/24 Fri: Took Sharon’s car down to Fullerton hotel for hi-tea buffet at The Malayan Council Fullerton. Honestly meh. Potato’s homemade ebi Okonomiyaki was so much yummier haha! *Brain fried after third lesson of basic Japanese language~ omg the numerals…*

6/7/24 Sat: Went for neck, shoulder and back stretch class at Platinum Yoga at Westgate this morning. The studio was on the 26^th floor~ but I wasn’t there for the views lol. There were 25 students in class and although the stretch were good, I couldn’t stretch out sometimes because of space constraint.

Potato cooked lotus root soup, cabbage with mushroom and carrot as well as teriyaki chicken and sausage for dinner~ shiok. *Don’t know if it was the cabbage or the milk in the mango blend I drank this afternoon because I had really smelly farts at night LOL.*

PotaTOHs also made ajitama at night~ I tried my best to peel but still “spoiled” two eggs~  

8/7/24 Mon: Pilates reformer this morning was cancelled, so I signed up for Beginner Aerial Flow class with JR at night instead.

Saw the doctor at BB Polyclinic this afternoon and was told to remain on 20mg of Rosuvastatin even if my LDL is under control now, but I’ll cut down on my iron dosage from 200mg a day to 100mg a day from October onwards till before my next blood test in November. If all is well, including further improvement to my ferritin levels, then they could take me off iron.

Attended Aerial Flow (Beginner) class at night but I was a bit unhappy because JE over-ran the time at her earlier wheel class by 15 minutes. The moves were similar to what I learnt in Aerial Yoga last time but it was in longer flow sequences. Couldn’t really do the backflip at start but I think I got the “technique” towards the end but basically had to work the core a bit harder to flip. The second set of flow was easier but because our wrists and forearms were already tired after the first flow, we couldn’t complete the whole flow haha. *I feel the challenge in class but I do think such classes will train me up further in time to come.*

9/7/24 Tues: Tried Hatha Yoga at D Fly Fitness taught by JE too. I thought it would be a better and easier stretch for me tonight but no~ granted they were all yoga poses but holding them were difficult, especially doing the back bends given my back’s pretty stiff lol. Also, my palms were so sweaty I had a difficult time holding onto my ankles while doing a all-fours stretch… should consider a pair of yoga gloves next time!

10/7/24 Weds: *The DOMS on the arms and hamstrings next morning oh man…* Had my second Gyrotonic class but at Paradigm Wellness this time. Stacy was very welcoming when sharing her experiences and the founding of their studios before the start of my Group class.

There were only three students in class, one experienced, another one who came for a class again after a long time and the “beginner”, me haha. The instructor from UK was detailed in her explanation for all the moves and I could see why Gyrotonics helps in the mobility of the spine and body due to its dynamic movements all round. I was very focused on my breathwork throughout too and there was once when I almost “disturbed the flow” because some thoughts disrupted my mind. We stretched the back, arms, legs and also used core to hold ourselves during the exercise.

Gyrotonics classes are more expensive than Pilates reformer classes in general, but I think one can see the benefit in the long run. I personally enjoyed the class because the pace was good and the ambience was lovely… peaceful. Mentally, I was in a good space in that hour.

Took some time to revise Japanese and cooked hot udon for dinner. Potato helped me with cutting of the sweet corns, cabbage and Chinese chives and he steamed the sweet corns before adding butter and salt to it. I oversaw the stir-frying of the marinated shrimps and cooking all other ingredients and the udon. Overall, it was a bit salty for me but also a reminder to myself here not to get the same brand of udon again because it’s thin compared to the usual Japanese udon, hence the texture wasn’t as nice I thought.

11/7/24 Thurs: *Not sure if soaking the feet the night before helped but my DOMS were much better this morning!* Also ate Korean spicy chicken soup for lunch with AK at Yew Tee Kopitiam for the first time after so many years here in STC.

Potato cooked honey soy garlic-sauced drumlets for dinner~ so nice! We also had oyster mushroom with napa cabbage and cabbage with carrot soup too!

12/7/24 Fri: My heels ached a little, but I enjoyed Bungee Fitness class this morning! It was fun “flying” around but I do think my bungee cord was a bit loose so it’s tougher on my arms when I try to do push-ups as compared to two weeks ago. Nice to try a “half-handstand” with the cords too!

13/7/24 Sat: Potato used the frozen prata as carbs for dinner and had salmon cubes, sausages, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cabbage, oyster mushrooms and miso soup with tofu and carrots to go along~

14/7/24 Sun: Attended Aerial Flow (Basics) class with Francis this morning. We did 20 minutes of warm-up and simple flow with music. I thought he taught the class pretty well given there were three totally new to Aerial yoga among the five students. I managed to complete the flow a few times but still not in sync with music nor elegant haha.

Then I ate lunch with Potato at Blk 303’s coffee shop. We had prawn dumpling noodle and the noodle was very springy and yummy. The curry vegetable was too spicy for us though.

Treated dad, mum, bro, Potato, 三舅and小舅to dinner at手拉手北京烤鸭restaurant at JEM. We ordered半只北京烤鸭+白菜鸭汤+锅贴set、酸辣土豆丝、豆苗、蒜泥白肉、酸辣汤、海鲜羹and红油抄手 ($166.30). Nothing really stood out but the土豆丝and蒜泥白肉was not bad. As usual, they only took less than 45 minutes to finish everything on the table lol. After that, Potato, bro and I walked around Don Don Donki and ate green tea mille crepe at Lady M… damn it’s close to $15 after GST and service charge nowadays! The taste wasn’t as good as before already though.

15/7/24 Mon: *Damn the Ticketmaster system that kicked me out of Mayday concert’s queue for nothing twice! Got to try again on Thursday lo.* Had reformer Pilates with Chisa this morning but it’s sad to hear her last day at Options Pilates will be end of July~

The auntie that sold the $3.50 chicken rice at JE coffee shop sounded pek cek when she took orders… the chicken also anyhow chopped by the guy… not nice. Wanted to close my Maybank Saveup account but because there’s still a GIRO transaction for my credit card that’s uncompleted, they advised me to go back another day… oh well.

16/7/24 Tues: So not in the mood to do the interview this morning but still had to do it for Derby week. But strangely after I started to write… I realised I enjoyed crafting my story! Not that’s it’s a great article but the fact that I liked telling stories gave me further assurance that being a journalist is for me.

Headed straight for Inside Flow, also called内观瑜伽after work. XT teacher was on time and she finished her class on time too… I like. She introduced Inside Flow as a modern Vinyasa yoga that incorporated music and breathwork. Throughout the class, she mentioned names of the poses as we move from one pose to another. I sweated a lot in her class as well because we were moving continuously but even so, the moves were not difficult and all we need was 100% focus. *There’s one point of time I felt like closing my eyes and just moving to the music but realised cannot… I cannot remember the moves by heart yet lol.*

The song we danced to was called “Perfect For Me” and she said we could practise at home… hopefully I still remember the moves lol. Probably what I didn’t like that much about was the timing of the class… had to eat late dinner at 7+pm at my mum’s after that. I’d rather have dinner first then go for exercise for night classes.

17/7/24 Weds: Tried Kerin’s chair yoga class for the first time and I was late for five minutes for the class. They did deep leg and back stretches before we tried to “fly” on the chair. It was not difficult to get into the pose but maintaining the head and legs up with the arms bent was not easy.

Kerin suggested we try assisted-headstand with the chair and I was a bit hesitant at first because I’d always have the issue of arms floating up when I did it with wheels last time. She lifted my legs this time and somehow, I managed to find the balance for a short while but she said my feet and thighs were too tense the first time, so I did a few more rounds before I managed to stay up for about five seconds by myself. Cannot really remember if I had my back fully on the top of the chair but I think it was minimal, which is good. It’s a pity I cannot attend this class regularly though because of my online Japanese lessons on Wednesday nights normally.