My Sister's Keeper

My head feels heavy like lead. The cold is so bad I can't even breathe properly, it feels like there's superglue stucked in my nasal. I have tried blowing my nose, but feels like I'm blowing half my brain out everytime I do it. The goo is stuck! I have been told to drink plenty of fluid to keep hydrated which is what I have done the whole of yesterday and today, making plenty of visits to the loo. It feels pretty frustrating unable to get rid of the cold. I have made promises to friends I will visit them during 'hari raya'. Have to cancel them now, don't want to sneeze and cough all over them. Suppose to be spread the cheer, not the germs.

Then again, it's not been all that bad. I had time to catch up with my last read on Jodi Picoult's book called,"My sister's keeper". I didn't get to finish it when I was in Langkawi with all the yoga activities taking place. So, I decided to put my comfy socks on, snugged in bed, with my cup of lemon tea nearby, I continued reading where I left off. The book tells of Anna, a donor to her sister's unfortunate illness, leukaemia. Anna has been born for the purpose of saving her sister's (Kate's) life, as her parents have told her, and have been so as she grew older to age thirteen. Anna's mum, Sara has her life revolved around her daughter's illness. Then there's Jesse, Anna's older brother. He's rebellious and a troublemaker. Sara's husband Brian tries to keep the peace in the family. He's supportive of the family's decision, he tries to be. The story tells how Anna comes to a decision that's both heartbreaking to herself and her family in regards to her sister's illness. Jodi Picoult has written the novel so well in ways when you read, you could self relate yourself to each and every character in the book. It's hard to take anybody's side while reading, all the characters have their reason to everything they do and why they do it. This book is a very good read and very hard not to continue reading till the last page. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something real and heartfelt.

It felt as if you were so close to the characters, as if you were listening to their conversations closeby. I learned to love each character, no matter what they think, say or do. They were real in the book, they probably are in real life.

The issues in the book are things I haven't thought of in relation to a donor's opinion, or in an opinion of a sick mother. Not in the depth Jodi Picoult has written.

I would definitely pick another Jodi Picoult book any day.

My cold's a bit better today then yesterday. But don't think I can make house visits. Have text message my friends. Peter's home with me but fast asleep. He sleeps much more than I do. Although he would argue he doesn't have enough rest most times. I think men just generally need more sleep than women. Perhaps we'll just take it easy and just watch a bit of TV. Peter will probably fiddle the playstation 3 he borrowed from a friend. As long as he doesn't sit and play at it all day long. Hopefully.

Selamat Hari Raya

To dear friends and readers,

Wishing my muslim friends a blessed 'Hari Raya'

Langkawi Retreat 2008

Geopark hotel in Langkawi


Aqua yoga

Tracy having a break




In deep thoughts....





Froo relaxing at the waterfalls.... :)

Froo Froo took over my place in the cable ride.

Back on dry land safe and sound. :0) Love to travel, just not to crazy about flying high in the air. The trip was good fun and it was great to see Wei Ling and Paalu again. Unfortunately after all the adventure in Langkawi, I caught a very bad cold and sorethroat.

I think it was all the travelling in and out of the plane, and having to wake up early in the mornings. The start of the journey was already pretty tiring. I arrived at 12.15am at Boulevard Hotel, Mid Valley in KL. The hotel was very nice and cost $175 RM per room per night. The room was spacious, clean and the washroom pleasant enough to sit in and read the papers during the 'business' hour. I stayed with Tracy in the same room, pre warned her about my tendency to talk in my sleep plus snoring. She was too tired to think what I told her. All she remembered when I spoke to her was how she was upset on losing her IPOD before falling back to sleep again.

We woke up early shortly after my arrival at 4.30am. Our taxis were arriving at 6am sharp for our 8am flight. So much for my holiday snooze! We dragged our feet to the lobby and all we could think of was bed, bed, bed, bed.....

The flight to Langkawi was okay. I've been to Langkawi before and thought it was pretty okay. At least we had a programme to follow on arrival. Paalu and Wei Ling was there to receive us. We drove to GeoPark Hotel, on arrival the cable car hanging in the clouds caught my attention. Heights, flying in the air and cable cars are not my strongest points in life. I felt nauseated looking at the cable cars riding to and fro in the air. The girls started teasing me and said I had to get on it. I just told them they'd have to knocked me out and tie me up first.

GeoPark hotel was surrounded by little retail shops,lovely gardens,various restaurants,a small size swimming pool and animal pets. The rooms were pleasant and clean. We started the afternoon off with an introduction to every body in the group. The attendants were yoga teachers and students, all with either 1 year or a few years experience in yoga. After the yoga session, my sorethroat was feeling all itchy and tight already. I had to miss going out in the night. I don't think I missed anything since the girls came back with just a few buys and some dried goods.

We had another early night and woke up at 5am for the 6.30am ashtanga vinyasa at the beach. The things we do for yoga!!!!! Luckily my throat felt better that morning. Thinking I had fully recovered, I decided to join the group. It was a lovely beach and lucky us, there weren't any sandflies!!!!! It was very different to do yoga on the beach. The sands kept sliding into my yoga mat and within 15 minutes, I had sands all over my hands and legs. But having to do it by the sea was so nice. The sound of the ocean waves was soothing and blue skies were amazing. It was definitely worth it! Paalu got us to do a few yoga moves that I haven't seen before but it was fun. One of students was a professional photographer, and the shots he took were amazing. There was a shot where we had to do headstands near the shoreline. That was hard!!!! We were doing heandstand on a slope close to the seashore and trying to kick the legs up was very challenging.

For the rest of the day, we studied numerology and how numbers (when you calculated it accordingly) affects our destinys and characters. Very interesting! After that we did more yoga asanas (Okay, I think as a yoga teacher I was at MAX doing all the yogas for the week!!!) and then aqua yoga. I was achy and my cold returned in the evening. I shouldn't have gone into the pool. As the saying goes, 'No pain no gain'.

We left Langkawi the next day. I felt the weekend was over too quickly. Can't believe I'm back in Brunei already. Felt like I never left!

Back in KL, we just went shopping. What else other than to eat and shop? Bought more yoga CDs and books. Didn't get to go to Kinokuniya (Is that the right spelling for it?) as I was in KL for a night only.

So, back in Brunei now with a very bad cold and sorethroat. Had to cancel my classes and stay in bed. I did think I was better last night but woke up early this morning and sounded worse than a toad. I was croaking and would have sounded like a dying frog if I tried to conduct a class. Sorry guys! But hopefully I will see you soon after 1st day of Hari Raya.

Ps. Tracy finally found her ipod in her 'kamsumui' bag. I have no clue why she left it 'there'.

Flying to Langkawi Retreat

I don't like flying. A few more hours to go before I board the plane to KL. I can feel my tummy churning, palms all sweaty, feeling nauseated. I have gone on the plane a thousand times and yet I have had these symptoms a thousand times too, right before heading down the airport. Even when I have Pete with me, I still feel all worked up.

Was trying to decide which book to bring on the plane with me. It needed to be something not to depressing, not to unreal, not too bloody or too scary. I picked 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult. Read the first few pages and seems interesting.

Packed away most of my yoga clothes with me and a few informal wears. The bags feels light. Brought my yoga mat along. It looks as if I'm going on a golf trip with my yoga bag hanging off my shoulder. And yes, I have taken Froo Froo (Seraphina's mascot) with me. It'll be his first trip to Langkawi. Lucky me, he's lightweight to carry in my gigantic handbag.

Sigh. Wish Air Asia didn't have to fly so late at night. Feels a bit strange not to be teaching this evening till next week. :0)

White Rabbit

All those white rabbit sweets I have been consuming! Sorry guys! I feel bad that most of you guys had some in my studio. Okay, let's put it this way. I had lots when I had the bowl of white rabbit sweets at my desk. Tapping away at the laptop and scoffing them down while pondering what to write. So, if any body's kidneys is going to kaput, it'll be mine first. I hope that's a consolation to those who are worrying about it now.

While we say our goodbyes to White Rabbit sweets. Here is a walk down memory lane of White Rabbit Sweets history from Wikipedia.

"White Rabbit Creamy Candy originated at the Aipixi Candy Factory of Shanghai in 1943, when a merchant from Aipixi tried a milk candy from England and thought that its taste was not bad. After half a year of development, he then manufactured the factory's own brand of milk candies.

The first Aipixi milk candies were packaged using a red Mickey Mouse drawing on the label, and were named ABC Mickey Mouse Sweets. As their prices were lower than imported products, they became widely popular among the people.

In the 1950s, Aipixi became state-owned. Mickey Mouse was seen as a symbol for worshipping foreign countries, so the packaging was redesigned to feature a naturalistically-drawn White Rabbit and an artist's paint palette with Chinese and English hand-lettering in a colour scheme of red, blue and black against a white background. The result was a distinctive candy label design that became instantly recognizable around the world. The packaging and brand logo have changed over the years: When the candies were first marketed, the White Rabbit on the outer packaging was lying down; however, this was changed to an image of the rabbit jumping. Currently the trade mark animal on the outer packaging has been given enormous neotenic, forward-facing eyes in the style of Japanese manga, while the inner wrapping retains its classic art deco look and naturalistic rabbit.

Initially, production of the candies was capped at 800 kg per day, and they were manually produced. In 1959, these candies were given as gifts for the tenth National Day of the People's Republic of China. In 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai used White Rabbit candies as a gift to American president Richard Nixon when the latter visited China. Today White Rabbit candies are China's top brand of sweet.

Although the White Rabbit brand already had some history, its populalrity worldwide has grown with the economy of China. Cities and agricultural villages' demands are increasing, especially during the Chinese New Year period, when many families provide White Rabbit sweets among other candies for visitors. In 2004, White Rabbit candy sales hit 600 million yuan, with sales increasing rapidly by a double-digit percentage yearly. "

Bye, bye White Rabbit Sweets..........

Seraphina Students at Berakas Beach

Lovely muffins made by Candy C.

Margaret in Surya Namaskar

Warm Up & Stretches with Lizzy S.
Adho Mukha Svanasana

Ardha Naukasana (Half Boat Pose)

Ikuyo and Peter

Candy C. side Crane Pose

Pictures taken by Devin Kho

Surya Yoga

Here we go again. Alarm got us up as early as 4am. I was dragging my feet to the washroom and Pete rolled over from bed to floor. "I think I feel feverish. Don't think I can do yoga this morning. Can I be excused?"said Pete. "Not unless I'm excused too. Nice try. You're still coming." He mumbles something I can't hear. Maybe better I didn't know what he was mumbling under his breath.

Even my parents got themselves ready and dad was keen to cook his 'pisang goreng' for the students. "Dad, I did say 'wholesome' food." He looked at me puzzled,"But it is 'wholesome'. It's freshly fried bananas ." I couldn't argue with him. I have to reserve my energy for the rest of the morning.

In my head, I was praying the gatekeeper wouldn't have forgotten to open the barriers at 6am. We needed to drive in and prepare the area for the students.

The skies were still dark and Pete, for some odd reason was wide awake. I looked over and asked, "Are you okay?" Pete had a grin on his face,"I think it's going to rain. I think we might have to go back home." I looked up at the skies and it looked clear. "If it starts raining, I'll make you do the 'anti rain dance' on the beach." He mumbles under his breath again.

At 5.50am, we arrived at Berakas Beach Forest Reserve and the gates were OPENed. I was happy. We droved in, my mum and I walked down to the beach and starting burning stick incense and mosquito coils.

WHACK, WHACK, WHACK......My mum and I were already hitting ourselves silly. We were on the breakfast menu for the sandflies. Then mum started mumbling in chinese. "Ma, you okay?" I asked.

"As if being in child labour wasn't enough, I have to bitten by sandflies because you want to do beach yoga. Can you please choose air con next time leh?"

The sun was just rising up when the students started arriving at 6.15am and within half an hour, we had 29 students sitting cross legged on their mats. Brunei Times reporter Qistina Rangga watched from a distance while Saiful the reporter took several shots as we started off surya yoga with a bit of meditation and then proceeded on to sun salutations.

Shoosh, kwwwssssh, qssssssh, .....sands were sliding into the students mats each time they went into Downward Facing Dog. Decided not to give them any difficult twists.

The yoga session was a smooth flow of Warrior I, II and III. Every student flowed in and out of the pose with grace and focus.

We ended it in less than an hour and some of us went straight to the picnic table. There was so much food!!!! Lots of fruits (dragon fruits, watermelon, bananas, fruit cocktails), salad, mee hoon, chicken wings, satay, pisang goreng, kelupis, muffins, donuts, yam cake, egg sandwiches, fruit juices. And Candy made cupcakes with pretty decorations. She made cute little slippers and yoga mats out of icings on top of the cupcakes. Very nice!

We played some games after. Yee Man's little girl Hazel enjoyed the Blind Man's bluff game. I think Pete and Alan did too. They fought between themselves for the last pressie.

Just want to say, 'thank you' for being there at the beach and thank you again for all the donations and food. See you all again soon.

Beach yoga: Getting closer to nature by Qistina Rangga (Brunei Times)

As MANY AS 29 barefoot men, women and children sat cross legged on yoga mats, eyes closed, hands resting on their knees, palms facing upward and ears focused on listening to cues from the instructor.

Jac Fang,31, spoke calmly to instruct her students, but she had to project her voice even through a microphone, over the sounds of the waves breaking at the shoreline, about 10 feet from the yoga class. Nearby, a dozen people were having a picnic by the shores and others splashing around in the water.

But the 29 yoga students seemed oblivious as they moved into a "downward facing dog", while their teacher circulated among them to adjust their positions. Why the beach? It's to bring the students closer to nature, she said. The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere peaceful.

Moreover, the sequences they were doing were called sun salutation." That is why the yoga session this morning was called Surya Yoga. Surya means Sun in Sanskrit."she said.

It was also a great opportunity for students to get to know the others better. Her number of students have been steadily increasing.

Yoga has so many benefits as it's great for stress release and relaxation, and contributes to overall well being, she said.

Fang, a registered yoga instructor, has been teaching yoga lessons since March this year. Before becoming a full time yoga instructor and manager of Seraphina Studio in Kiulap, she was an intensive cardiac nurse at Gleneagles JPMC."My passion was more to yoga, so I opened my own studio to teach others,"she said.

The class started off with five members, and the word of mouth spread to the members' friends, she said. Today, the class has 100 members.

The Surya by the Sea is the second class conducted outside her studio in Kiulap, with the first one held at the Tasek Lama Recreational Park.

The classes are open to all levels and with a fee of $10 per class. Each day, she conducts 4 to 5 classes.

Many students drop a donation into a donation box. The money riased so far was initially supposed to be donated to the Blind Association but the president was not able to attend the session yesterday morning.

According to the philosophy of yoga, the eighth limb of yoga is about moral and ethics, and hence the charity work, she said.

Fang also shared some of the benefits of practising yoga session, where the basic poses such as warrior is designed to help strengthen and stretch the legs, she said.

When the arm is lifted all the way up into the air and then the shoulder blades are squeezed to the back, it opens up the chest.

"This movement encourages people to have confidence in themselves and good for people with mild asthma,"said the instructor, adding that it helps them with their breathing techniques.

People with lower-back injuries and those playing sports also gain benefits from yoga.

"Yoga is a low impact workout which strengthens the body muscles and it detoxifies the body,"she said.

Intermediate yoga students at the Seraphina Studio, Rozana Yunos,29,is delighted to share the many benefits she has discovered from practicing yoga.

Physically, yoga increases flexibility and circulation and helps improve balance, she said. Emotionally, it helps to release tension that we hold inside our bodies. "And you can find peace and focus,"said Rozana, a BAG Networks'employee.

She encourages those who have the idea that they cannot get a full body workout from yoga or one has to be flexible, to try the yoga at least once.

The Brunei Times

Weekend Treat

It was a nice weekend. Treated myself to a crystal/hot stone massage. My cousin used clear quartz crystal for the body and rose quartz for the face. It felt cooling, soothing and relaxing. Crystals are supposed to be beneficial due to its healing vibrations. Apparently Clear quartz contains all colors of the spectrum and heals at all levels. While rose quartz helps to soothe the skin. So, if you like to know more about crystals, go to http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk

My weekend ended with Candy's mooncakes for dessert. That went down a treat down the tum tum. :0) Now,it's payback with yoga sessions for the week.

Surya Yoga on 21st September 2008

I have checked Berakas Reserve Forest Beach for the upcoming event and it looks good. The beach is really clean and the surroundings are amazing. If you haven't confirm your place, please do so as soon as possible. Also, do be on time at 6.30am. Please bring your own yoga mats and sun block . Don't forget to either dress in black or white (hmm, thinking and humming M.Jackson's song now......) We will do an hour's flow of Hatha Vinyasa Yoga. Beginners, intermediate and advanced yoga students are welcome. See Ya!