Christmas Lunch

Cinnie did it again, feeding us hungry, scrappy, but oh so pretty yoginis at her beautiful home. The food was scrumptious and the conversation, never-ending. Lily brought powdery, plump, translucent pouches of yummyness for dessert, which pretty much shattered the concept of "creating space" in my life. There was no space in my tummy. I was soooo full. 

After eating, it was gift giving time. Yay!

 I have no gifts to give. Instead I gave them the news of my ladies day! What a friend! Ladies, I promise to give your gifts when I get back. 

Here's me enjoying my gifts and trying unsuccessfully to look chic. 

Thanks ladies for the gift of friendship, and more importantly for the gift of good food! Love you!

Oh Urdhva Dhanurasana!

These past few weeks has left me occupied. Alex Medin was in town and I attended his weekend workshop and the 2-week Mysore class. It was intensive and there was a fervent energy in the air. Mysore in Yoga Mala totally felt different. In these two weeks my backbend was fully challenged, and it's already challenging enough for me on a "normal" day of practice.

Me practicing Urdhva Dhanurasan at home.

My Upper back radiated. It wasn't pain. It was more like a burning, shining feeling. Although I'm sure the only thing shining was my face and palms from sweat. Backbends have always been a hard asana for me to do. Given that my anatomy isn't reconcilable with this pose, I die every time I do it, but I do it anyway. The crazy things we do for yoga! 


My journey with this pose has been long and agonizing, and that "radiating" feeling is a milestone, microscopic to some people, but nonetheless a milestone for me! 


Really, sometimes we have to bend over backwards to see the bigger picture in life, to be more understanding of things that are different from us, to be more compassionate to others and especially to ourselves. 


Keep bending baby!

The Box

Frodo loves sleeping in boxes. He found this particular one very cozy. He went right to sleep after checking this box out.

Barney is a smart ass. He knows that the box has become a special place for Frodo to sleep in. So on this particular day, the moment Frodo left the box, he went to try it out himself. 

FRODO: Dude, that's my box.
BARNEY: Well, I'm using it now and I'm not leaving until I get bored with it OR until        someone offers me food.
FRODO: Dammit dog! Get outta there! My kidneys are failing so I have special privileges and that includes sleeping in a box!
BARNEY: Sorry feline brother, but you just have to wait.

Enter Sita. 
FRODO: Man, why on earth did you let her take it?
BARNEY: You crazy? You know how she is. If I don't give it to her, she'll slap me silly!
FRODO: What a sissy boy.

FRODO: Sis, is there any chance you'll be leaving this box soon?
SITA: Uhmm.. Let me think.... NO.

FRODO: I miss my box.
BARNEY: Get over it.
FRODO: Dweeb.

The next morning.
BARNEY: Good morning!
FRODO: Get out of my box!

END!

Birthday Girls

Winky and I celebrated our birthday together last Saturday. The ladies congregated at my place for some strangely diversified chow (prepared by me of course!), chit-chat, scrumptious cake (from Cinnie, of course!) and close contact with wildlife. 

Look at the faces on us as we opened our birthday cake! Thank you Cinnie! It was truly delicious and decadent.

The cake was so good that it quickly attracted one of the fiercest predators in Discovery Bay.... Barney the Pug. Check out his googly laser eyes honing for the grub.

Here I am preparing to cut the cake with my very fancy Agnes B. "cake" ribbon fashionably tied on my head. Micha being known for having an expressive face shows what I can only describe as her she's-out-of-her-mind! face. 

At the end of the day, after all the chocolate and coffee plus too much contact with Barney, Lily stole the show with this voguish cake hat cover (cue Micha's face). 

What can I say, it was a great afternoon. Thanks ladies!

Mr. Snail

Very interesting the things that you see around Discovery Bay, dogs, babies, mommies, babies, babies, children, babies, dogs...... then there's this very quiet mollusk. Mr. Snail!

It's very refreshing to see a giant snail glide slooooowy in front of you. Leaving behind it a trail of sticky mucus, just like when Hansel and Gretel left behind trail of bread hoping to trace their way back home. Thankfully though this particular snail doesn't have a bad parent who's intentionally leading him to get lost in the woods. 

Instead of getting into trouble with the witch with an eating disorder, it crossed my path and I took it home for a while to have its photos taken. This particular one is quite photogenic I should say. Very good with close-ups. Here's Mr. Snail being investigated by Frodo. 

I chose to call him Mr. Snail, although it's a known fact that snails are hermaphrodites (how sexually convenient!) because he does produce mucus-like drool like men do and boys are less moody. Here he is positioning himself on top of the ruler. I wanted to measure him.

Mr. snail is almost 6 inches long, and this when he's not even stretching out. Here he is relaxed next to the ruler. Of course I have to say goodbye to Mr. Snail. I don't think I would want to keep him in the house with his mucus trail all over the floor. I don't think I would want to keep those two bratty lost kids with the bread crumbs either. END!

Purple Haze

This happened once before, and every time a purple haze envelopes the sky outside, it rains heavily afterwards. On this day, everything was so still, hot and humid hours before the rain poured. 

Wongy

Let me introduce you to another family member, Wongy! He is a Parakeet, loves to sing and hates being held. 

4 years ago we found him and his late wife, Midori perched in their tiny cage abandoned at a bus stop near our place. The owner left them there with a note saying that he is moving and that he cannot bring them with him, what an ass! So my husband and I brought the budgies home, got them a bigger cage, some toys, fed them with tiny colorful seeds, treated their scaly beaks and they were good and happy again. 

Here is Wongy with his late wife, Midori.

Midori died a year after we brought them home. I took her to the vet but the vet was unsuccessful diagnosing her disease. She kept on falling from her perch. A month after the vet visit I found her dead on the floor of their cage. Sigh...

Wongy took it hard and was screaming and restless for a couple of weeks until I got him a mirror. Now he thinks that his reflection is another bird, He sings and chirps to himself everyday thinking he is singing to another bird. If it was a human doing that, either his coo-coo up there or just plain narcissistic. 

Oh! Hanumanasana

OMG.... This is really painful. Okay close your eyes and think of happy thoughts.... oww, my psoas feels like it's going to rip.... My poor hamstrings...... 

Breathe.... Inhale, exhale.... So far so good. Now if only I can ground on my left pelvis more.... Ouchies! Nope. Not today. It's not going to happen. Breathe.... Let me try to raise my arms then... Hhmmm... it seems to be working....

There, my arms are up. Yay! Breathe.... Oh, the pain... That's okay it'll be over soon. Inhale, exhale... Good job! Now the other side. Dang!

Note: Notice the curly tail next to me in all the photos.

Peanut Butter Buddies

Barney: Hey! Can I have some of that gooey thing that you're eating?

Frodo: Sit down dumb ass. You know they won't give us food when you're sitting like a kangaroo.

Barney: Fine! You always think you're sooooo proper.

Frodo: Well I am proper, after all I am British (wink). Now behave yourself and hypnotize them with your googly eyes.

Frodo: Yummy. Mmmhmmm....this is shhooo good! Arhmmmm....mmmm....

Barney: Don't bogart that spoon, man. Gimme!

Frodo: Shooooo good. Just a couple more licks......

Barney: Man! You're such a peanut butter glut. Gimme some of that. Here comes my tongue!!!

Frodo & Barney: Mrmmrrmmmm......yummm-mmmy.....

Kitchen Cat

Frodo was happily lounging on the kitchen counter top one day when I realized, he matches the kitchen!

Silver, black and gray makes one handsome cat.

Shaye and Barney

Shaye works hard in yoga class and in private sessions she works even harder! She has no choice because otherwise she will get spanked by the teacher. Spank! 

I owe a lot to this girl because she is my ultimate guinea pig. After coming back from Koh Samui, I badly needed to practice my technique and verbal cues on someone, and that someone became Shaye. She patiently stood on her mat as I stammer and confuse her with my verbal cues. Sometimes she would offer better words or phrases for me to use, which normally makes more sense than the stuff that's spewing from my mouth.

Here she is hovering in chaturanga dandasana. Stay for 10 breaths!

She's getting married on Sunday to Robo, yay! And leaving Hong Kong on Monday to fly back home to Australia. Sob, sob... No more guinea pig for me!

Navasana. Ooohh nice straight back.

Shaye works hard, but Barney works even harder in soiling her towel. 

I can't recall if Shaye wiped her towel on her face after this shot was taken....

Cinnie's Birthday

It was a Tuesday afternoon at the Four Seasons Hotel Lounge where five extraordinarily attractive females gathered to celebrate Cinnie's 28th birthday (wink, wink). These normally scrappy looking group (I'm speaking mostly about myself) donned dresses, shaved their legs, applied make-up and brushed their hair especially for the occasion. 

The ambiance was good and so was the coffee. The tea probably tasted like tea, how on earth can you go wrong with tea? Sad to say though that the little cute food on top of the silver three tiered serving tray was, ho hum.... 

The sandwiches, as Winky would later say was, hard and dry. 

Thankfully I'm surrounded by good company and good stories.

The best story was Kit's divalicious interior designer, who made Kit's life problematic and full of stars. Here she is recalling the ghastly anecdote of this super magnificent designer. I caught the emotion that she feels for this person on this shot. *%*&^%$#@$$%%^!!!!

Quoting her, "I have to courier $300?!?".

After decompressing from that story, the girls were back and ready devour a chocolate cake with their utensil of choice.  

Unbridled enthusiasm and an enormous capacity for food makes this group worthy of my admiration. Just look at them!

Who's the Boss?

Barney's got a new bed and look who's using it. 

Barney may be extremely dominating to other dogs but when it comes to Sita, he's a push over. Clearly he has no say in this situation. So he's left to wait on the floor until his majesty, Sita decides to get off his bed. 

I wish he would behave like this most of the time. He can be such an ass! His sheer willfulness brings tears to my eyes. 

Reunion of the Monday Yoga Lunch Ladies

After a three week respite from our Monday lunch after Lily's class ritual, the group finally had their schedules parallel with each other. Lily's class of course was great, especially having our hips "opened" and "stretched" in Ardha Chandrasana, it was only fair that we all celebrate this wonderful moment with a BIG lunch. 

We all packed ourselves into a cab and headed to Jaspas somewhere up the hill, where I immediately stuffed my face with bread generously slathered with butter. Afterwards, we were all ordering the main dish, while the waiter patiently repeated the starter selection of either soup or salad. That's why they call it starters, we start with it! Hungry la! 

While we were munching away, Lily told us wonderful stories from her meditation trip in France, where she ended up teaching yoga to a very large group. I can't blame those people for asking for more yoga sessions from her, she is a phenomenal teacher. Here she is energetically retelling her trip to us.

Just before dessert was served, Lily's friend Johannes arrived just in time to take this photo. You can see the after meal glow on our faces. 

Then chocolate pudding was served. Attack!

New Bed

Larry and I went to the Pet Expo yesterday to check out the crowd. It was a big event, I got a little overwhelmed with all the booths and pet stuff that was on sale. I felt panicked in my heart as I try hard not to grab things that I know we or our pets don't need. After combing through the aisles we found this booth with a very pleasant lady selling doggie beds. Look what we got, a new bed for Barney!

Very nice material, removable washable cover, all for HKD160! Good price, nice lady, happy day!

I think Barney likes his new bed too. Here he is this afternoon chilling out on his bed while chewing on his Nylabone. What a life!

The Absolute Poolside Madness

Being in yoga boot camp for a month and enduring physical, mental and emotional, but mostly physical exhaustion, one has to wonder where all this crazy energy came from. 

All hell broke loose at the poolside of Absolute Sanctuary as my classmates and I went totally unhinged as we posed, played and scampered around as the sun went down slowly on our last day of teacher training.

Me, Steph, Roslyn, Alisa, Ayumu and Winky strike a pose. 

Jessica and I head-butting in Bakasana.

Roslyn, the super bendy and strong, and me in Pincha Mayurasana. Thanks Helene for putting us in the pose!

Love triangle between Jimmy, Roslyn and me in Bujapidasana.

Olympic canon ball divers taking the plunge!

One of the best moments in my life. Happy to have met all these wonderful, inspiring people. Namaste guys!