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Shanghai Living

Life on and off the yoga mat

7/19/08 08:13 pm

My LJ is friends-only from now on...

11/7/06 06:26 pm


* I think I'm getting old. I'm constantly talking about weather. It is freaking cold today, btw. Or maybe it's simply because I'm down with a cold.

* I should change the subtitle of this journal, for I haven't been learning Mandarin since Aug 2006.

* There's a new bar in town (well, not exactly that new) with a cool band playing last Friday. Super good looking (and talented) Spanish brothers. Somehow, I wish Deb was there to share the ooh and ahhs.

* There are hell a lot of dances and ballets in Shanghai this month. I can't decide which to go.

* Found a new place for belly dancing - 5 mins walk from home. Maybe I should start to shimmy again.

* I told my boss that I recently watched a super hilarious movie - The 40-year old virgin. He replied that sounded like him. Opps!

* I'm having double vision today. My new soft lenses won't settle on the right focus. Wish I could go home and sleep.

* I miss the girls' night out, Friday dinners with the girls and gay boys and Kayu nasi kandar (Had a horrible sweet and soupy beef rendang yesterday, how gross).
Current Mood: sick

11/5/06 03:48 am - Life is back to normal



Originally uploaded by xiao ling long.
Parents are gone and home is clean! And I've finally got some time to run some errands, including sending my Lijiang photos to scan. They are now up in my Flickr and you can probably see why I'm dying to go back for Xmas.
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10/31/06 12:42 am - Back from Spore


chicken run
Originally uploaded by xiao ling long.
I'm done with all the travelling for the month. Phew. But I still have my parents and sister in town to entertain. Trust me, that alone is almost a full time job! I have to plan their daily itineries or they will be lost in SH.

Fortunately, I don't have much to do in office these days. Found out today that we have no Xmas holiday. Company policy. Only in China, I guess. Anyway, I think I'll take some days off to re-visit Lijiang. It was beautiful and visiting with colleagues on a company trip is no fun.

I've finally loaded all my fav pictures of Yongding, Fujian in Flickr. Flickr has been down for a long long time so Lijiang photos will have to wait.

10/11/06 05:55 pm - tis a season for office slacking...

I'm extremely slow at work this week. And here I am wasting corporate bandwidth, updating my journal.

Am still in holiday mood for sure. HK was great. Went lulu-crazy. Now I'm fashionably equipped for my next yoga lesson. (I had my lululemons reserved in advance from Shanghai, yes...that crazy.)

Yongding was awesome - a place unspoilt by tourism. We spent 2 nights living in a shabby hotel and pampered ourselves to a luxurious night at Sofitel Xiamen on the last day. I only wish I could bring Sofitel's bed home. Now I'm back to sleeping on the hard sofa bed at home (it is way too noisy in our room in the morning).

I'm leaving for another awesome location this Friday. Lijiang in Yunnan province. Company trip. And then I'm going to Spore next week. Yay yay yay!
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Current Location: office
Current Mood: sleepy

9/24/06 04:01 pm - Survived...

2 full weeks of morning mysore! My initial plan was to go for classes every other day but eventually I got hooked. Today's the final class with Chad. A little sad, really. I'm not sure if I'd be motivated to pull myself out of bed in the morning for self-practice tomorrow onwards. And then there's the one week holiday. I'm just afraid of losing it all in no time.

In a strange way, I'm not sure if daily morning practice is any good for me. For instance, I've been particularly grumpy at night when I don't get to sleep at my ideal time (which is 10.30). My boss commented that I look as if I ran a marathon every morning when I get to work. My back is still hurting and Chad commented that I'm a warrior when I continued to complete the full primary series. In fact, I went a little into secondary series today despite bad back. He's now convinced that I'm ready for secondary series. So what I really need now is a teacher to lead me into that but silly me, I've just signed up for an expensive membership at a yoga studio with many beginner level clientele. I guess at worst, I'll stick to my David Swenson's dvd.

Here are some photos taken last week:
Vogue anniversary Jazz at Le Garcon Chinois
Tea Market Corporate Avenue
Clockwise:Vogue 1st anniversary in China; Jazz at LeGarcon Chinois - a real cool restaurant we discovered last week; Tea market in SH- also relocating very soon; My office building - since weather has cooled down, I'd probably pack a sandwich and eat by the lake one of these days. That's how healthy I've gotten.
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Current Mood: exhausted

9/16/06 07:20 pm - a little obsessed with yoga

I've been waking up at 6+ for the past four consecutive days to go for 2 hours of morning mysore before work. Call me crazy but it was worth it. There's an experienced visiting teacher in town, Chad Herst and boy, it was a pleasure to learn from him. I've learned so much in the past 4 days. Almost every single posture was corrected and my forward bends have been much deeper than before. My back is now aching from gaba pindasana and my arms are aching from the proper vinyasa jump back but to think of it, it's not that bad after all considering that I was practicing almost the entire primary series. Now I have to start memorizing the opening prayer. Can't wait to go back for more tomorrow (today's rest day, he was teaching Ashtanga led today). At least I won't have to worry about being late for work during shavashana.

Chad
Current Mood: rejuvenated

9/10/06 06:27 pm - goodbye summer, hello fall?

Temperature dropped to about 22 degrees today. Just when I was getting rather used to the hot weather...bummer! Went swimming today. Outdoor pool. Water was freezing cold and it was so freaking windy! I'm so not looking forward to fall. Fall is generally very short, one month max. I'm so not ready for winter. I have no working clothes and shoes for winter. Sigh...

While technically my focus should be on shopping for winter working clothes, but I'm obsessing over yoga clothes and accessories at the moment. A new yoga mat, that is. My grey old nike is starting to shred apart to the point that I'm starting to get distracted in between asanas and had to stop to pick those grey confetti off my body. I have yet to decide between a Manduka PurpleLite or an Ecoyoga Mat. They are both expensive....plus shipping and all, maybe I should just get the Stella McCartney Mat I found at Adidas shop today.

Love these:
orlakielysweatybettyCalmiaadidas
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Current Mood: hungry

9/3/06 11:43 pm - Project #1

Went to the fabric market today after 2 hours of yoga, 2 hours of swimming and 2 hours of lunch (and 1/2 hour on Osim) - The effect of being left home alone. Were supposed to be shopping for fabric but got a little carried away in this button shop. Pimsai came up with the idea of making a cling pouch with buttons. The only pouch I really need is one to store my sanitary pads so I could carry them discreetly to the toilet at work. So, I bought some buttons and ribbons to make a cute patchwork on a plain sleeveless top instead. I'm lousy in bargaining and shopping with Pimsai doesn't help (she has the word "foreigner" written across her forehead). They are not expensive, but I'm pretty sure I've been ripped off. Gah!

Now I've to go hunting for a plain sleeveless top!

:) buttons
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Current Mood: artistic

8/27/06 06:16 pm - Summer in SH

Flea market, right in Shanghai -the only place you probably won't feel like you're in Shanghai. Held only once a month, I'm glad I've made it there before it's gone, along with the summer. I love flea market and for some strange reason, I'd have the urge to set up a stall too. Only problem is, I don't know what to sell.

Current Mood: lazy
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