BlogPress is pretty handy, and so far worth the USD 2.99 I paid, although, it seems to be on a different world clock setting as my previous post seems to be uploaded and logged according to US timing (I think) - i.e. often a day earlier. Oh well, please bear with me till I figure this out - if I can. It's cool though that I can still use it while on flight-mode, so it is not wholly data dependent.
This last week has certainly been incredibly unpredictable, in a good way, and right now I'm on-board my very first A380 flight bound for Sydney, Australia, thanks to a very good friend and Godsista.
Just last Wednesday I was chatting with her on Skype (she's based in London at the moment), basically living through her and her travel stories when she asked me why I'm not using this time I have in between jobs to travel. Very uncharacteristic she said, and I completely agree.
The truth, I told her, is that I'm on a little (okie, maybe not so little :P) bit of a tight budget. Her answer? Transferring her frequent flyer points to me as a birthday present. Godsista knows best!
GS, thank you so so very much and you are always always close to my heart. I love you.
Come Thursday my flights were booked and today (Saturday) I am on the red-eye flight, seated on the upper-deck with a window seat (again, seats selected by GS, the attention to detail! :D). Pure bliss and excitement!
Since I have not figured out how to caption on BlogPress; photo of my dented yet dependable Hostelling International Klean Kanteen. Bought while hostelling in San Francisco and accompanying me on yet another adventure, this time on my virgin A380 flight:
Now for my second bit of pleasant unpredictability. Driving to my usual Vinyasa class, two unlucky fellows in front of me got into a traffic accident. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it did mean that I was too late for Vinyasa.
Desperate for some mat action, I signed up for the next class: Ashtanga.
I've always meant to give Ashtanga a shot, but we tend to gravitate towards comfort.
Nicole taught the class, and the first thing that came to mind was that about 40% of the class was male.
Not that I'm a perv (although, some were sans shirt :P), but I think that it is safe to say that, at least in Singapore, yoga classes tend to be pretty female dominated (although, I admit that I have noticed this starting to change).
These dudes were pretty good too! Headstands and all!
I really should do more research on Ashtanga, but what I learnt was that it is closely related to Vinyasa, which is nice - lots and lots of chaturangas - be prepared.
A chaturanga flow following almostevery pose!:
Apparently Vinyasa is a derivative of Ashtanga, and that a lot of the more modern-day interpretations of Vinyasa ultimately derive from Ashtanga.
I would not be surprised. I found Ashtanga to be pretty systematic and a lot more structured, almost regimental, compared to the usual Vinyasa. The fact that all the regulars had memorised all the poses and their sequence seems to support this analogy of mine. It turned out to be a 90 min class and Nicole often defined different variants of poses as pose "A" or "B", speaking as though she was referring to some textbook theory.
It might just be a personal observation, but I'm under the impression that the more traditional forms of yoga tend to more or less strictly adhere to a specific sequence of poses.
This is probably so as to maintain / respect the genuinity / tradition of the practice and a good example, for example, is Bikram yoga, which strictly follows a sequence of 26 asanas and claims to be the original hot yoga.
A picture of the 26 basic asanas (poses) of Bikram yoga:
This was just my first impression of Ashtanga, although, it could well have very easily been Nicole's interpretation of the practice. I will have to attend a couple more Ashtanga classes to be able to make a proper conclusion through comparison.
The third lovely bit of unexpected luck I encountered was when I Whatsapped my Sydney-based cousin Nic to tell her that I would be coming over. As coincidence would have it, she, my other cousin and a whole bunch of other aunts, uncles and more cousins will be going to Thredbo next weekend to ski and I would have just made it! Awesome!
I don't know how to ski :S, but I'm very very thrilled given that the last time I planned to ski in Sapporo, a major earthquake hit Japan. It would also be good catch up time with my family in Sydney.
Very happy right now and looking forward to touching down in Sydney after 3.5 years of being away!
What an awesome few days, just goes to show that sometimes people in your life help to open doors that take you to wonderful places and on wonderful journeys. Always be grateful and be open to these graces, never taking these wonderful people around you for granted and hoping that one day you too will be granted with the gift and privilege of being able to open the door for someone else. This is the true circle of life, one should never live life alone and (wo)man is not an island.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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