Hedonistically Luscious

Cholesterol level hiked up one decimal place over the weekend! It’s been a fabulous weekend filled with ample supply of food and drinks! J I’m a happy chappy!

Started off with a B-day dinner on Fri nite at Café Café, almost endless supply of wine coupled with the delectable Wagyu Cheek in Burgundy sauce…. Heaven!!! I’m also a sucker for truffle scented mash potatoes… ended the night with some vodka back in La Bodega in BSC.

6 hours later I’m at the Curve practicing for the Jam launch… surprisingly fresh and perky, the Verbana shower Gel from L’Occitaine probably helped. Helped out a little taking some photos for the Pregnancy- Focus Balance Class before dashing off to participate in the company’s Treasure Hunt in One Utama. Before you can shout out “Jack Sparrow I’ll grind your marrow” I’m back in the Curve getting ready for the 2.45pm Jam class. Always a joy seeing members having fun and moving in unison during Jam! Simply PRICELESS J

45 min later… Sat Combat! This is my Favourite Combat Class (hereinafter be referred to as “FCC”), the crowd, the energy, the club set-up….. and to think that I almost give up on Combat a few months back! Thanks for the support guys!! You know who you are! Anyway, back to the class….Tried to coach the class on front kick and for some unknown reason it came out as “ Aim to the knee, kick and retract… your kick must be strong… and FIRM!” …. FIRM!! What was I thinking!!! Well at least this is not half as bad as the one I said in Jam (another anecdote for next time) …. :p

Fast forward to the evening…. Dinner hosted by FBB was simply fabulous!!!!! I was shameless enough to hum and “try” to sing some excerpts of songs from musical I love. Hrmm is that why some of the guests left early…. ;p

Neil Gaiman revisited

Was tidying up my room over the weekend when I found my collection of "The Sandman" and "The Dreaming" ended up re-reading them the whole evening. These are stories that one will appreciate more as you grow older. Mr Gaiman is one amazing fella! The story arcs are intelligently written covering a myriad of genres. The stories are weaved with a touch of film noir here, a dab of superheroes actions there; intertwined with murder mysteries laced with prickly topics on religion, sexuality and politics.... You also get generous doses of mythologies, histories and fantasies!

The Sandman is, in my opinion, one of the most original and sophisiticated comic series I've ever read. It breaks away from the conventional comic genre, the art is amazing (very subjective). Dave Mckean's cover are surreal and beautiful. The protagonist is Dream (a personification of dreams and stories). He's one of the 7 Endless. Each has names beginning with D. Destiny, Death, Dream,Destruction,Desire,Despair and Delirium (who used to be Delight).




There are hundreds of memorable quotes from Sandman, here are some of my favourites:-

"But he did not understand the price... Mortals never do. They only see the prize. Their heart's desire, their dream.... But the price of getting what you want is getting what you once wanted."

- Dream


"Have you ever been in love?
Horrible, isn't it?
It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens your heart and it means someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses. You build up this whole armor, for years, so nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wandered into your stupid life.... You give them a piece of you. They don't ask for it. They do something dumb one day like kiss you, or smile at you, and your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so a simple phrase like "Maybe we should just be friends" or "How perceptive" turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart.

It hurts . Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt,a body-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. Nothing should be able to do that. Especially not love.

I hate love"

- Rose Walker


Rose's quote didn't register much when I first read it back in school. Today, I thought to myself, Neil has capture the essense of the bitterness of being jilted/dumped/rejected very well.

Wickedly green and melodious

Still listening to Wicked! the Musical. Several songs just kept being stuck in my head apart from all the new Les Mills releases. This is the downside of learning new choreo, you'll be listening to the same songs to death while practising. By the time you start teaching them, you'll sick of it. It's always a treat when you get a releases that has great choreo paired with awesome songs. BodyBalance and BodyJam usually have that. Combat songs however are quite forgettable (IMHO) :p

Anyway, one of my favourite songs from Wicked is Defying Gravity. An uplifting song at one of the most crucial moments in the show. The lyrics reflected Elphaba's progress into her own independent woman (she's always been a tough cookie anyway..being born green and all :p)

Some excerpts from Defying Gravity :-

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleepI
t's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!

....

So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am

Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down

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Haha... Very Slippery hor!

“Hello! Anybody there?”, “Eh! The Tabula Rasa fella still around ar?” , “ An un-updated Blog is like an unused organ” . So here I am! Been very busy for the last few weeks. Was in Singapore before Merdeka for a workshop then back to lots of work and gym commitments (new launch coming up).

The Singapore trip has got to be one of my worst experience at the airport. Flight was supposed to depart at 1850, we finally left KLIA at 2330 and when I got there, one of my luggage is still in KL! Pathetic!! Workshop went pretty well but was intensive mentally and mildly strenuous. First day started 0830 on Sun and finally ended at 2215, was like a zombie after that. The next two days were better 0715 start on Mon and 0830 on Tues. Both ended early by 1800ish. Spent the new day lazing about at the gym and a bit of shopping to get my mind off work.

On Merdeka day; before I left for airport, yours sincerely glamorous strutted, slipped and fell right in front Paragon accompanied by the collective gasps of the crowd around me. There I was, flat on the floor, looking up at the sky wondering what the heck just happened. First thing I said was “ Haha… Very slippery hor!”… got up and just walked away J

Weekend was hectic, Sat combat class was fun and then off to entertain overseas friends. Lots to drink and eat that night, Sun was just spent lazing around. Had lovely Dim Sum ( I still prefer the non-halal version) brunch at EEST @ Westin. The evening was allocated to learning choreo for new releases (mainly Jam).

The week started manically with series of meetings, site visits, contract negotiations, classes & tuitions(Jam and Balance). Love the new Jam, the movements are different and the music is pretty cool. Balance this time round is challenging and the music goes pretty well with the movements. Love the Forward Bend song (can’t reveal it yet until the launch). I urge you guys to try all the programmes out when it’s launched at individual clubs!

Was listening to Don Mclean’s “And I Loved You So” earlier and got hooked on it all over again. Is it the way he sang it? the lyrics? I don't know. I supposed it's one of those being there at the right time and state of mind.

" The book of life is brief
And once a page is read
All but love is dead
That is my belief

And yes I know how lonely/loveless life can be
The Shadows follow me
And the nights won’t set me free
But I don’t let the evenings bring me down now that you are around me"


Enough drama mama moment and don't go speculating who the you is. None at the moment! Now listening to “WICKED- The Musical” , it’s hilarious, witty, dramatic and catchy! The book is a lot more cynical and sinister than the musical but well worth the read. A great twist to the Wizard of Oz story.