NOTE: Yes, I know that it has been more than a month. But I've been busy. New job, new office location, birthday celebrations, short trip to Bangkok. Like I've said many times, Blogging is hard / harder work than I expected.
But I'm not going to give up!
Esp. because the Beebs has given me a new
PowerBook MacBook Pro for my birthday! Yey! I have something new to blog on! Once it's all set up I will have no excuse. For now, I'm still blogging on my iPhone.
Anyway...back to business!
I WAS yondering downunder and blogging...and a good part of this post was written in Melbourne...until Sydney / Threadbo / Bangkok and of course Singapore took over and I procrastinated finishing this post and posting it.
As I was saying....
In Melbourne...some time back...
I'm waiting for the airport shuttle to come pick me up, and it is moderately cold. The sky is clear and there is sunshine.
Here is a picture:
Just as I take this picture, the shuttle cruises by - you can just see the back of it on the front left of the picture. :P
Damn. It looks to be a good day. And I take a few more quick snaps on my iPhone from the shuttle.
Here's a
funny one :P
And on a more serious note, my last glimpse of the Yarra River:
Okie, enough of being cheeky :P.
Yesterday,
Day 4 or Wednesday 29th June was a pretty awesome day.
It started with a guilty 10am start followed by a reunion with Ness, the long lost childhood friend I mentioned in my last post.
Together we walk to
Breathe Wellbeing, a yoga and Pilates studio in the city.
Here is a picture (ignore the girl waiting for the lift, that is not Ness...). I think "Breathe" is a pretty cool name for a yoga studio.
Stepping out of the lift, I am immediately drawn by the openness of the studio.
I should have taken a picture, but we were running just on schedule so there wasn't time to spare.
HANG ON....
Oh dear. A quick distraction from Day 4...Right off the shuttle and am confronted by this:
Hello old friend. How could I have forgotten you. Should I?...
Hello hello hello! And help! Glossy temptation!
Bagged!
Sweet and crusty deliciousness. Mmmmm....After all, anything that starts with "Kris" must be good :P. *
Playful snigger*
Anyway...I'm 2 hours early for my flight back to Sydney so, with Krispy Kreme donut safely packed into my stomach, I'll continue on Day 4 :p
Lets get down to yoga downunder! (FINALLY)
I have never done yoga anywhere else but in Asia and Breathe is a refreshing change from my usual yoga experience.
Wooden flooring, white walls and crisp natural lighting give the studio an atmosphere of airy serenity. I feel almost ethereal upon entering.
The studio is not very large, actually smaller than Pure in Singapore, but there is a greater sense of spaciousness.
It is indeed very different. I keep on using this word, but I have to use it again. It is
quaint.
There are no lockers, which might be a bit of a scary thing, but it seems to suit everyone just fine.
Instead, there is a change room that has all four walls lined with different colored coats. Bags of all shapes and sizes litter the floor.
It is this little display of individuality, instead of the usual rows of numbered lockers, that gives the studio character.
The class is a welcome relief from days of no yoga or exercise. The Vinyasa is relatively similar to the Vinyasa I know; starts with three Omms, lots of Chatugangas, the usual warrior poses and ends with three Omms.
The interesting part is the
fashion! There is great variety on the mat...leopard print tights, a T-shirt with a printed bow-tie motif tucked into loose balloon track (?) pants, a tie-dye T-shirt tied into a knot at the midriff...the list goes on. It's cold, so there is lots of layering going on - so unusual to my eyes used to just the usual sports tank tops and pants.
There is also a good sprinkling of Lulemon wear (myself included), but what I do notice is that there is not a spotting of recognizable Nike. Strange.
The air is also different. It feels lighter, easier to breathe, and is powered by nature. No air-conditioning, yet no humidity.
At the end of the class something else interesting happens. The students file to the back of the room picking up spray bottles and cleaning cloths from a basket.
Strange...what is going on? I wonder. They walk back to their mats and start spray wiping their mats clean.
Ah! I get it!
I follow suit, telling Ness that in Singapore, every class is followed by a team of cleaners who rush into the rooms to mop and disinfect the floor and mats. People are just in too much of a hurry in Singapore! Both of us have a bit of a chuckle about this.
As we walk back down to the change room, the friendly yoga teacher, a very alternative bright red head comes to ask how I went as I am new to her class.
We have a bit of a chat and I learn something new! The word
Vinyasa really just means "flow" in Sanskrit and so any class which involves "flow", or what I interpret as lots of fluid movement instead of just static poses, can be called a Vinyasa class.
Therefore, contrary to my
previous post, Ashtanga is a form of Vinyasa and not the other way around.
She agrees with me that Ashtanga depends a lot on a specific series of poses, but does not agree that Ashtanga is the "original" form of Vinyasa. Perhaps one of the
earlier forms she says, but it can't be clearly defined as the "
original" form of Vinyasa.
Another interesting observation she makes is that with Ashyanga you often start your sun salutations raising you hands upwards by your sides (as if you are bird stretching out its wings) while in most other Vinyasa classes (or at least hers) you start by stretching your hands in front of you and reaching forward.
Interesting. I will have to find out what others think.
The next stop is lunch, and Ness takes me out for a good old Australian pie. Simple but comforting.
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| Meat pie lunch. |
I wish I could tell you where we had pie, but the truth is that, to me, we walked through a labyrinth of tiny side-streets and all that I know is that we were somehow somewhere off Collins Street. Such is the beauty of Melbourne, anything good is in some small alleyway.
After lunch we head to Koko Black, a specialty chocolate cafe where I have a latte and a walnut chocolate that did not last long enough to get its photo taken.
We have a good catch up chat and then decide to go for a little bit of shopping.
Crazy end-of-financial year sales! Yippee! But also "oh no...." :P.
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| Melbourne's GPO (General Post Office) Building. |
My first purchases are two pairs of Sass and Bide jeans from the GPO (General Post Office) building, both were marked down. This is followed by two funky work skirts from CUE. Awesome!
The sun soon starts to set, as is usual for winter in Australia, and Ness and I settle for a coffee and snack at
Brunetti - a popular joint right under the shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral and overlooking the famous Melbourne Town Hall.
As sun sets, Ness and I have our last bit of chat, a hug and she hurries home to cook dinner for her fiancé - a perfect conclusion - I feel - to a much delayed reunion.
After Ness leaves, I whip out my iPad and start blogging while waiting for Dina to finish work and meet me at at Brunetti, It is a perfect time for me to catch up on blogging, I tell myself -
but we of course all know that I failed terribly in the end, seeing as I am only posting this entry today.
What I do remember is that it starts getting pretty cold, and my fingers are numb as they clank against the hard glass screen of the iPad. I finish typing my blog entry about the day before, Dina soon arrives, meeting me with her usual warm hug.
We walk a few blocks before we walk past the
Regent Theatre. I have many times teased Dina at uni about her obsession with the Phantom of the Opera, and what is showing at the the theatre is pretty apt.
It is
Love Never Dies; Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to the Phantom franchise. We're very lucky, and given that it is a weekday evening, we score pretty good seats at the stalls for just $45.
We have a little time before the show starts, Dina takes me to yet another small Melbourne joint hidden in an alleyway. This time it is a very swanky bar called
Spice Market. We have a few quick drinks and finger-food while indulging in another good catch up session before we hurry back to the theatre.
I will not go into
Love Never Dies too much, because I honestly did not think too much of the storyline. It all seemed a bit too far fetched to me and came across as a commercially-driven stretch of the Phantom franchise...although, perhaps this is just theatre I don't understand. There were also some pretty irritating and repetitive songs in the production ("It's so beautiful...so beautiful...!!) that ring in your head for a good length of time after the production. I do, however, have a lot to say about the the costumes and set; which were marvelous.
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| The set and costumes at Love Never Dies were beautifully elaborate. |
Nevertheless, Dina and I had a wonderful and memorable evening out together; and for a good time after that we continued to tease each other with Facebook wall messages saying "It's so beautiful...so beautiful..."
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