29.9.13

October x 30 days challenge

I haven't been feeling great and well the past days. Caught some bad flu bugs and lost my voice. Took almost a week off from my studio practices, am just glad I'm finally recovering!

September is coming to an end in another 2 days. With the last quarter of the year to go, I felt inspired to set a new challenge for myself. So, this October, I've decided to sign up for a 30 days challenge, something which I have been contemplating about for quite sometime & that is doing a..


30 days hot yoga journey

Whatttttttt? Yeahhh, #yogaeverydamnday. I was initially apprehensive about the physical and mental challenges I may faced. Working 9-6 meant I have to get myself to studio after work almost everyday or even before if I have important stuffs on. On top of that, with the rising peak at work... that will kinda leave me with really little weekdays rest time. I would really love to try this out and since I'm not sure when would be the next journey, I told myself there will be no hard forces :) if I can't complete this journey, 25 out of 30 days is already some accomplishment. and after all, it's all about moving with ease and comfort in yourself right?

Not only I'm excited bout this, I'd also like to see how transformative can 30 days be :) With that, here's what I'm hoping to achieve:

1. Practice better - I hope to bring my yoga practices to a higher level - to pick up more tips and posturing cues. Get greater focus, get better.

2. Practice commitment - "It doesn't matter what you decide to do tomorrow as you go to sleep in your comfortable bed - what matters is what you do when the alarm clock goes off in the morning" ~ Max Storm. We are creatures of habits. Breaking old and creating new habits is by no means easy feat. How many a times we aimed to do something but ended up not because of road blocks in life. People procrastinate in nature and I am of course one of them. Thinking of getting to studio daily is easy, but this requires lots of self-discipline... we'll see when the time comes :)

3. Practice fun - yoga is all about fun time too! I love stepping into my mat. Sometimes, it's just not about getting into asana but enjoying the process. It's a great place to destress, loosen up and relax yourself. It also helps one to be calmer and positive.

I'll try to post updates on my 30 days yoga challenge and a little on how I feel. Hehe so with that, I'm looking forward to an awesome new month :)

28.9.13

Breakfast x Berry Banana Oatmeal

what more can I say about this bowl of delicious nutritious goodness??

More than 5 years ago when I was first introduced to the taste of oats, 'yucks' was the first word that came out from my mouth. It was nothing yummy but tasteless, plain and boring. 'How could anyone eat that for breakfast???', I thought. But if not for my parents, I wouldn't really have knew about oats since 2007-2008. 

It then slowly got incorporated into my life since then. From a mouthful, to once a week and at least 3-4 times a week now other than my PB bread (another quick to go fav!). I'm lucky because my mom cooks it during the weekdays so when I get out of bathroom, it's ready for me.
I'm not a fan of creamy oats so I don't usually cooked it with milk. I tried once and hot milk tastes quite horrible to me :/ I do the plain way, with water and then I add milk, fruits and nuts to it. Cold milk tastes much better :)

Berries somehow are also always found in my fridge. Every Sunday, I'll make sure I topped them up! We  also make sure to restock our nuts every few weeks too!

There are many types of oats i.e. rolled oats, steel cut, quick/instant and I prefer the first one

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Nuts / Fruits for toppings (any of your choice)
  • Milk for topping

Steps:
  • Bring water to boil and then pour the rolled oats into it.
  • Leave it to cook & stir for about 10-15 minutes
  • Scoop to bowl, pour in cold milk and add any toppings of your choice
  • Toppings: I usually have berries/walnuts/almond nuts/raisins
  • Ready to serve!

If you're peanut better lover like me, add a tablespoon on it and enjoy!

19.9.13

✈ 4d3n @ HCMC, Vietnam

"Wan-der-lust:
noun
a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about."
Jack & I found some great deals on Jetstar 3 weeks before we flew. $0 return flight ticket from Vietnam can you imagineeeeeeeeeee???? :) So we booked an impromptu trip and spent the last weekends of August roaming about this foreign city.
Vietnam was nothing like Singapore. The road's messy, the architectures are old.
We reached our hotel at 1030am and managed to get a early check-in!
Famished by 1130am, we walked around our area in search for food and happened to chance upon one of our itinerary recommended food hunt. Two things that came right to my mind was Coconut Drink & Pho! We also ordered two spring rolls - a chicken and another pork skin but the latter was really not to our liking :/

Nha Hang Ngon
160 Pasteur, District 1, HCMC

At the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral. The group of Japanese that helped us took a picture insist we wear the Vietnamese cap haha
Central Post Office
While walking back for a nap, we chanced by another cafe we wanted to go. Decided that we needed coffee, we went in to have a drink & tart. Cafe L'usine is in my opinion the best and most beautiful cafe around Vietnam. We both like the ambiance of the place, the coffee and lemon tart! :) We also went back on the 3rd night for dinner.

Cafe L'usine 
151/1 Dong Khoi St., 1st Flr., Dist. 1

Baguette at Paris Deli for dinner which was unplanned. After we woke up from our nap, it started pouring heavily at night! We had no choice but to stop by Saigon Center. Not too bad though :)

Daily buffet breakfast spread for the next 3 days. I love PB & breads! but somehow, the PB tastes differently.
We took a 1-day tour with an agency to Cuchi Tunnel and Cao Dai Temple. The bulk of the time was spent travelling, our bus ride to the temple took about 3 hours!
Clear blue skies & temple
We had one of the best home-cooked styled food at a random shop along the highway by the tour guide. Love the sour spicy soup!
Cu chi tunnel and I was dead tired at the end of day
We ended the night with a zi-char style dinner at Ben Thanh Market. There were so much we felt like ordering but we could only have 3 dishes for 2 max! I loveeeeeeeeeee the bbq fish! If you're thinking of dropping by, go after 7pm when they set the stall up :)

Day 3 of the trip can be found here.

4d3n is just perfect for a short trip there :)

17.9.13

Medz

Birthday celebration for my girlfriends whom I've known for more than a decade. We had a delish dinner at Medz, a dining concept similar to Marche and it was more than great :)

The night ended with some drinks, desserts and usual girlies talk at Oriole Cafe & Bar. 
It was such a lovely Saturday night spent catching up with these girls <3

10.9.13

✈ Yoga Living // Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

 I found Yoga Living few days before my trip and was glad that they were offering classes on weekends. There were limited studios in Vietnam and I thought I had to forgo the thought of trying a practice there. Yoga Living has 2 studios - one located at District 1 and another 1 at District 3. Since we were only free on Sunday, we took the morning Ashtangah class.
We were greeted by an extremely spacious and clean place and 2 friendly Vietnamese who guided us a little. The studio was huge and there were about 20+ of us in the class. It was my first time doing a non-heated class, and also my first doing Ashtanga and I pretty much enjoyed it. We had the class with Eswar, who is an Indian and his class was pretty much easy to follow
The only thing the studio was lacking was mirrors. I was so used to having fully mirrored room but that doesn't really matter. The class ended shortly 1 hour later and I was happy with the practice. Anyway, 1 class costs 5USD and mats & towels are provided at no charge. Shower rooms & lockers were available too :)

Yoga Living
19 Vo Van Tan, District 3

Since we were around District 3, we roamed around and looked for Hoang Ty, which was famous for their Banh Trang, Vietnamese wrap. We ordered a set for 2 and it comes with a platter of green vegetables, pickled carrots, cucumber and raw bean sprouts.We had fun wrapping and it was definitely an experience!

Hoang Ty
70-72 Vo Van Tan, District 3

Coffee & Chocolate Cake at Highlands coffee, very common coffee place before we went for an 1.5 hour body massage at Cat Moc.

How I miss my Sunday now!

9.9.13

Graduation Photoshoot

One day, I would look back on these pictures and think, "how time flies".
Memories for keep definitely :)