Earth Hour 2009

.:: 8:30pm, your local timezone ::.

On the Yoga Experience

March is due and marching in shall be the 4th month of 2009. How time flies. Received emails of "you ok?", "no longer actively blogging?" and such. Thank you all, but I've been busy of late. I don't know if I should put that as an excuse or a fact but that doesn't matter anyways, because I'm right here, in the blogosphere.

On the topic of Yoga, I've to admit I've always been the "what's up with yoga, anyway?" kind of person when it talks about uniting the mind, body and soul. However, that all changed. Few weeks back I was given the opportunity to try yoga. For free. (hehehe...somehow I just needed to highlight that "free" word). Was given the "pass" to try out the different types of yoga.

My verdict? Well, I'd consider it therapeutic. Helps me become more aware of my body's posture, alignment and patterns of movement. True, yoga's intensely physical but concentrating so intently on what my body's doing has an effect of bringing calmness to the mind. And like I was sharing with my best gurlfren and Felix, experiencing yoga just feels soothing and searching...like it's some kind of sensual domination, if I might just put it simply. :-)

To count I've so far been for Hatha, Hot Series, Gentle, Body Combat and Ashtanga. And after every one-hour session, it pays off pampering myself in a hot steam room. 15 minutes later, I'm all rejuvenated. So what's in store for me this weekend? Yogalates - a fusion of yoga and pilates. Would it be something to look forward to? Oh..definitely.

Yogamania 2009

Date: Saturday 18 April & Sunday 19 April

Venue: Singapore Flyer

Time: 9am onwards

This carnival is for all ages.

Registration is open till Sunday 5 April 2009 at:

www.yogamania.com.sg

Valkyrie: From my perspective

The movie opens with Stauffenberg (Cruise) penning in a journal his thoughts about World War II, and how he feels Hitler's destroying Germany.

Personally, it works that the opening dialogue's a voiceover of Tom Cruise speaking in German and to see his writings flow smoothly in German, I can't help but wonder how much practice did it take to (finally) write eloquently? Were there any missed vowels, diphthongs or consonants? I seriously and knowingly doubt so but somehow, it would be something to ponder on - especially when you're one who has no idea what's being written in the first place! (read:ME)..Moving along, I'd say the opening from German to English allows the viewers to recognise that the characters are German and that's a point to keep in mind throughout the whole film.

There were reviews that Tom Cruise shouldn't be playing this role due to his obvious American accent, as well as it devalues the authenticity of a historical production to have him in a Nazi war uniform ---- Errmm...I can't understand what's all the fuss about the accent. It's simply irrelevant. The accent shouldn't be detracting from the film at all. It's the history that you should be interested in, not on how he or any of them speak. To me, so long as the speech's clear and makes sense, then there's no reason to be making a big hoohaa out of it.

_______________

At the end of all this, true enough Adolf Hitler was, without doubt, an influential individual of the 20th century. Was he evil? Well, that depends greatly on the people but I'm not sure if "evil" is the word for him. Mentally ill maybe. The way he went about killing millions of innocent lives, he seemed to me as someone with "extreme" views and power hungry over other things. To me, Operation Valkyrie seemed to be all about saving Germany and its people and with that, Stauffenberg has revealed himself as a noble German and a hero.

Because the movie's still on screen, I don't want to be spoiling the details or elaborate further for those who haven't seen it. As what I had mentioned once, "Valkyrie I'd say has shown a truth-based story that simply deserves to be repeated. True enough it's interesting on the expectation of an action-thriller wartime movie..it touched me on how much the conspirators had sacrifced in order to try and change their nation for the better. I teared on the last part, obviously."

Smile for a Reason, For a Season, For a Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason. They've come to assist you through difficulty, guidance and support. But most of the times, they're there for the reason you need them to be. And in whatever ways it may be, they never fail to add in smiles to your life.

And here I shall smile - in good times, bad times, all times. It's not easy but nobody said it's impossible, even if it's from a distance.

Here on Malaysia's land

Arrived De Palma Hotel close to 2am. Checked-in. And CRASH, I was already heading into Malaysia's dreamland.

Headed for the hotel's breakfast soon after - filled with laughter and never-ending jokes around the table. Visited Uncle Mazlan's - sure nice to see them again. Stayed till afternoon, knowing that we'd still return for Nadiah's big event. Then it was a 45-minute ride to Kuala Lumpur. Since it was daytime, Ma drove.

Destination: Berjaya Times Square

The shopping centre's super huge. Never knew it has an indoor theme park. Abah said it's by far, Asia's largest. There was an IMAX 3D theatre as well but the movies weren't that interesting so we skipped it.

Caught on The Chicken Rice Shop and so, that was where lunch took place. Filled, walked around (SHOPPING's the word) till it was unwind time at Starbucks.

新年快樂...It's been sometime, hasn't it?

I've been away for awhile now. 2009..Goodness! What are my new year's resolutions? When I was younger, I would religiously write a long list of my commitments - trying my best to fulfill them.

But as years go by, I kind of put resolutions aside. Simply because, it'll just disappoint me when I don't get to meet those "requirements" when December 31st arrives. So for this 2009, I'm just going to take things as they come - enjoy every minute and be concerned with quality and not just quantity. Perhaps more socio-centric like being more economically or environmentally responsible.

Another bunch of friends from Dubai came over. 7 guys - 3 Scottish, 2 British, 1 American & 1 Greek. It's been a year plus since we all last met and for them to come visit is really a nice one. They'll be here for 2 weeks, and again it'd be another domestic tourism for me.

Singapore has officially started its 4-day break, all thanks to the Chinese New Year. As of today, I'll be leaving the 7 Dubaians in Singapore while making a road trip up to Shah Alam - "Huh?? Where's that?". I got to know that we're heading there to attend Papa's bestfriend daughter's wedding. On top of that, to do some relaxation and family bonding which quite honestly, I had missed out on quite a bit.

Apparently, Shah Alam's a city in Selangor, Malaysia, about 25 kilometres west of the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur. Papa and Ma will be taking turns to drive up north. Will be back on time for New Year's and that's when my ang pow will start coming in. *smiles*

Will share on how my road trip goes but till then, take care and to all Chinese --

Xin Nian Kuai Le

Wan Shi Lu Yi

Xin Nian Zhing Bu

Xin Nian Gai Ge