Zumba By the Park!!

My girlfriend, Charlotte organised an awesome Zumba Fitness event on the 14th of May 2011 at the Hort Park, Alexandra in Singapore. The 2.5hr event comprised of a full team of 9 Zumba instructors, 100 people, 30 dance tracks including an introductory Samba performance by Gali, a combined group dance battle and a final surprise birthday song with cake for some very special birthday celebrants. There was catered food, professional photography, a fashion contest, a lucky draw and sale of Zumbawear at the event too!  The event was a complete success!!! Great job Charlotte! 

My team consisted of Angela Grosse and Manthony Gerald and I think we rocked the stage that night too! It was extremely sweaty and everyone was coordinated with their deconstructed Zumbawear for each set. I presented 2 tracks of my own, was in action for a total of 11 tracks that evening either shadowing my team when I wasn't instructing or pushing the dance battle on the dance floor. The 9 instructors for the night were made up of Shannon, Zuri, Rhomeiny, Siew Siew, Angela G, Manthony Gerald, Vanessa, Gali and myself.

One of my favourite tracks "Baby come Back"... done for the evening...

Part of the dance battle below where we have as much crowd interaction with each side dance battling and grooving to the beat. Plus the final part where Charlotte & friends made a surprise entrance with a huge chocolate banana cake for birthday celebrants Shannon (pink pants), Gali (dark orange pants) and Siew Siew (light orange pants, 2nd from the right) for the evening.

One of my best Zumba instructors in training, Pek Gan also came to give her support. Pek's style is extremely high impact and is something truely to look out for if you need that cardio kick. :) If you ever see her name on a Zumba class schedule, do check her out!! You'll really love it. 

Group picture with some of the instructors that we managed to grab before everyone left to mingle and eat for the night. It was awesome!! More Zumba Fitness events to come!!

ZES Masterclasses - May/Jun/Jul 11

Zumba Fitness ZES (Zumba Education Specialist) Masterclasses over the past 3 months! Marta Formoso (ZES Spain) on the 31st of May. David Velez (ZES Singapore/China) on the 14th of June. Michael Thomas (ZES Australia/S.E.A) on the 17th of July. I've been busy busy busy with my classes and these 3 classes have been a wonderful highlight for inspiration over the past 3 months... 

Marta Formoso is an absolute firecracker! Her classes always shockingly high energy and there are always so much style techniques to learn from her each time we meet. Love it!!!  Marta gave 2 back to back masterclasses in May and I attended both. :)

Picture of Marta and me... and another picture together with the sexy ladies from the American club (love u chicas!!)

As always when we get together, its picture taking time and we tried some dark shadowy profile pictures by the glass window by the studio for fun... and a picture of Angela Aiken and me all hot & sweaty after 2 hours of Zumba...

Then there was Davids' Masterclass. He came back to Singapore again for a few days from China and held another masterclass on the 14th of June... theres another one coming up in September 2011 where he'll be back for a very short trip again... If you haven't already registered for it, its probably already fully booked by now. Alas, its good to catch up with him from time to time since he was the one who trained me from knowing absolutely ZILCH in dance to training me in my certifications for Zumba till who I progressed to be today...

With years of all his group X experience under his belt, his classes are always energy packed and the sense of familiarity is welcoming to me whenever he returns for a masterclass in Singapore... his style is so definitive so its hard to achieve that kind of style essence with any other instructor here in Singapore... who else can teach a cumbia and a bachata with such style like Senor Velez? I haven't seen one yet. Have you?

As you can tell, its always a sold out event. 

And my Zumba chicas, Angela (orange), Hang (blue) and Alida (Pink) will never miss a masterclass if we could help it... Viva La Zumba! Picture below of my friend & "mummy", Jenny who also has a daughter named Pamela so I'm now her adopted "Zumba baby", Grace who helps to organise events and coordinates classes at Zumba Scape, David just fresh off the airplane and another instructor girlfriend, Airin who also teaches freelance in Singapore. 

And then there was Michael Thomas's Xtravaganza Masterclass and Zumba ZIN 32/33 training on the 17th of July. Unfortunately we all realised too late that we didn't take a group shot for this training so we only have action shots for this day. It was still amazing as usual. All Zumba ZES are of the highest quality so any class with them are always an awesome experience.

I found this picture amusing because the perspective made it seem like I was a toy that Mike was carrying around the studio but we were in the midst of a dance move here. Grace caught me skipping into the studio with my "I'm so happy to be here pose" as we entered before class started.

And again, it was packed from wall to wall! Picture below of my fellow instructor girlfriends - Pek Gan, Charlotte and Yvonne while we rested outside in between ZIN training and the Xtravaganza class to begin... Taking the time to breathe... breathe... breathe...

And a final shot from ZIN training earlier that day with my girlfriend and fellow Zumba instructor, Angela Grosse... her style is very high energy,  tribal + hiphop and her smile is always on her face just like mine simply because we love what we do... :) You'll find classes with any one of the instructors you have seen here in this post all over Singapore and with each instructor, you'll find a different style but in the midst of it all, you'll find that we all have a passion for Zumba... we all love what we do and thats all that matters...

PEACE LOVE ZUMBA ZUMBA ZUMBA!!

Sunflower Surprise!

On Saturday, 11th of June, a group of Zumba instructors and myself took part in a dance competition to feature Zumba as our presentation. More about that in another upcoming post but that day itself was crazy crazy with the many classes I ran earlier in the day and having all 10 instructors in my Zumba class rocking the dance floor before we all adjourned to the locker for a makeup-dressup frenzy. And in the course of all that chaos. I lost my ipod and didn't realise it. 

It was only the next day when I was prepping for another dance class where I realized that it was missing and had to use my daughter's ipod temporarily. It was a flurry of calls to everyone and to places where it could have been lost and I spent the day moping for my lost ipod who seemed like it could never be found. I suppose I was really depressed over the loss and something came via delivery to cheer me up! Imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang...

My girlfriend, Charlotte was being a darling and decided to send me a little ray of sunshine to pass me a smile and lift my spirits. It was such a lovely surprise! 

Excuse the non-makeup, I was trolling about the house whining about my lost ipod and then this came! Thank you Charlotte, it was very thoughtful and sweet to have thought of sending this to me. :) Even Misty - my kitteh thought the green foliage was tasty too! *munch munch munch*

Thank you for the flowers and thank you to those who offered to chip in to buy me another ipod!! Eventually 3 days later, it was recovered and is now safely back in my possession. Whats an aerobic instructor without her music right? Tools of trade for sure. (hugging my red ipod now with a big label w my contact number on it)

Celebrate with me!

Yeah, I know its a little early but I know alot of people are going away for the summer or going for company retreats during this time. If you can make it, come celebrate my birthday this July with me together with the rest of the Awesome people in my Zumba Fitness class and its a potluck again!! Anyone is welcome if you can make the time to come down and celebrate with me. I'll have the drinks, cutlery, a surprise or surprises and a cake. Please see details in the above image - click to enlarge and RSVP please with your confirmation, number of people attending and food item. Thank you!

Zumba Fitness Launch at the AC!

Finally after close to a year instructing various classes at the American Club Singapore. We finally get licensed for ZUMBA FITNESS! and officially I get to start donning my Zumbawear with much pride n happiness.

We had an awesome launch party on the 6th of May and 40 other ladies *some not present in this group shot* rocked the Dance floor as Rhomeiny in Orange (my team teach partner for the morning & other Zumba Fitness instructor teaching at the AC). It was a crazy high energy rockin' booty shakin' morning with everyone who attended complete with discoball n spotlight that was specially installed for the launch party.

Rhomeiny is a pretty fantastic Zumba instructor! And it was an honour launching the program at the club together with him. We sizzled the dance floor with the crowd and everyone later adjourned for some complimentary protein juice shakes, cakes, strawberries with cream, viet rolls and vegetables n dips as we mingled in the aftermath of a great class..

So much was the energy output that morning that it had me flat out for the rest of the day! My legs were jelly and I had to reschedule classes and personal training clients while I took the time to rest and get my legs rubbed back to life at the foot reflexologist.... Hahahah!! BUT... it was all worth it as the launch went fantastic! More Zumba to come people!! Check out the Lifestyles schedule at that club if you are a member there for class timings with either Rhomeiny who is taking over my Friday morning slot or with me on Sunday or Monday afternoons. :) Unfortunately however, you can only attend if you are an AC member or if a member signs you in and helps you pay for your class. 

If you're keen on taking Zumba with me, click on that link you see on the left column here on my blog for more details on my publicly available class at the Raffles Town Club. Yep, that big Zumba circle thing on the top left... yep! That one.. click on it.. :) ZUMBA! ZUMBA!! ZUMBA!!!

Zumba Fever Party @ TAB

With reference to this preview video of the Zumba Fever party, here are the pictures from that amazing evening... my gorgeous Zumba lover girlfriend, Lisa Kong organised this event and I helped to get a sponsor for some NOMU black pepper grinders for the goodybag which everyone loved!! Lisa invited David back to Singapore for this event and the logistics of this practically drove her crazy. Kudos to her to have pulled off such a successful event and everyone is looking forward to the video that she and Melvyn are creating right as we speak.... *excited!*

Check out the video if you haven't already done so and preview the crazy antics and floor burning moves we did on the dancefloor at TAB @ Orchard Hotel.

TAB @ Orchard Hotel was a great club location for the event and it was indeed a party to remember. The lighting was great, it was sufficiently ventilated, finger snacks and a complimentary gingerale or soft drink was provided, along with phenomenal company of my closest instructor friends, dance students and of course, who could forget the man who taught me how to shimmy shake the way I do, David Velez. Who now lives in China btw.. if you were wondering where he disappeared to... 

The outfit for the evening? Outrageous Red! Black lace top with my coral Zumba pants and a short red wig... bling bling crystals and crazy long long dramatic lashes... no one recognised me till I greeted them in the face only to be received with a scream or a hug. The exhibitionist in me totally LOVED it! And I had to put this picture in here simply because it was too "act cutesy" for a middle aged woman like me with 2 pre-teens to be... *slaps self*

I had to pull off the wig right into the first set of the dance for the evening as it was slipping off and did the rest of the dance segment without it. Hard to miss my coral pants though.. and I loved that I was right smack in between the powerhouses of Shannon Lupian and Angela Grosse... we three totally rocked the dancefloor!!! If you want to know how a bootyshake is done, put us 3 together and it'll be a nosebleed.... wahhaahahaha!!

The dance floor was packed at the sold out event all the way to the bar and even up to the second level of the club as all that attended grind and bumped the clubs walls down... the atmosphere?! crazy crazy crazy... but then again.. its Zumba after all... its supposed to be crazy fun..

   

 

Ahh..and trust that David would give us that monkey monster face before we jabbed him into submission for a nice shot together... and finally he succumbed and said "okay.. here's a pose"... tada!! Zumba burning the dancefloor!! Zumba Heey!! Zumba Haa!!

Tonnes of pictures taken that day and I've only put some favourites up here for keeps. Group shot with organiser, Lisa Kong (front kneeling in green & green/orange top & a shot glass). A large majority, perhaps even more than 60% of the participants are licensed Zumba instructors... and that always makes for a great event..

Picture with my hot colombian chicka, Alida... love this shot! The blue lights make it so psychedelic!! *loves!*

Groupshot with my girlfriends - Sharon, Tosca, Charlotte with "Rasta-man" Terence and "Super Zumba Ella!" to the rescue!!... 

Another group shot with Emily and Azmy added in too!! Zumba!! 

One of my favourite persons, Sharon.... love that she came! She's new to Zumba and slowly.. I will convert her.. slowly... *evil snigger*.... ~hiak...hiak... hiak...~

I'm not sure about Azmy (in yellow) but the 3 of us here - Charlotte, Terence and I came from very fatty backgrounds. My 34kg weightloss story has always been a feature on my blog, Terence who was one of the successful winning contestants in our local TV weightloss programme, Lose to Win lost BIG!! He used to be really huge!!! and look at him now... exercise fanatic and yes yes yes!! newly licensed Zumba instructor too!! Charlotte - one of my dearest blog readers, dance student and friend also lost a great amount of weight to look as hot as she does now... she recently took the Zumba instructor course wih Terence too and she's also the founder and advocate of the Singapore Weight Watchers group.

Go check out her website HERE!! And register today.... Free regular membership for a limited period only so go check that out! 

More group shots with even more instuctors (Shannon L. to my left in gray) & Zumba Fitness fans....  and below Angela G. to the right most with her uber toned abs.. *whoots!*

And somemore as the evening goes by... can we ever get enough of posing in our Zumba gear?! NEVERRRRR... Wahahahhaaha! People say... "you Zumba people must be rich huh? everything on your body is Zumba this n Zumba that..." and Zumbawear doesn't come cheap.... so understand this.. we're NOT rich.. we're just passionately frugal... Wahahahhaha!!! (Now you know what to get me for my upcoming birthday people.. ZUMBAWEAR!! I wear a size M for tops, a size L for bottoms (equi. to a size 12) and a size 8.5/9 for shoes. Thank you.. *cough.grins.cough*

And again.. can we EVER get enough of Zumba events?! NEEEEVERRR also... so the next one coming up on the calendar is ZUMBA by the Park organised by Charlotte. (My girlfriend in pink hair in the first picture of this post). Details can be found HERE and Registration too. Space is limited but the Fun will be unlimited!!

And good news is that apart from Shannon (on the poster below), I will also be team teaching with her on stage so come burn the sexy dancefloor with me on the 14th of May 2011 at the Hort Park... we'll be there with a group of other fabulous instructors to buzz the bees right out of the park. Avoid disappointment by registering NOW & pay to secure your place... NOW!... yes.. now.. go.. now... what are you waiting for?!

Thank you!... Zumba Zumba Zumba!!! Olé! See you in the Park!!

LNY Mineral Makeup / TShirt Deconstruction Workshop #1

The much requested Tshirt deconstruction workshop was finally on the way and I had the support of my dear friend, Jo Lim from Lolita New York to run a combined workshop for both her Mineral Makeup products and the sexy shirt deconstruction demo. This is the first of a few workshops depending on the demand for this workshop.

Quite a number of my dance students this time round was not able to make it due to some being affected by the Japan crisis or being sick that day so another round of this workshop will be held on the 9th of April 2011 at the Raffles Town Club again for those who did not make it this first time round. Those that did come are welcome to attend again. Details for the next workshop can be found at the end of this post.

We had our dance class as usual and after freshening up. We proceeded to our workshop room where Jo started off with her introduction of her company and herself to our group of lovely ladies for the day.

We went through how to analyse our skin type to be able to choose suitable products for our skin tone. Image above showing Jo explaining what kind of color corrector shade would be suitable for my kind of skin...

Jo demonstrating how to apply the color corrector with her customised makeup sponge.

Jo demonstrating how to use their special makeup sponge to apply a smokey eyeshadow look with her mineral makeup colors....

Explaining further on the different products such as their finishing powder with her customised dispenser that sets the makeup on your face, contours your face shape and shows how it brightens your face with its use... she also went through tips on how to reduce eye puffiness and water retention with her special facial massage technique and how to properly wash your face all while toning your jawline so you can avoid a double chin!

My smokey eyeshadow look with Lolita New York's mineral makeup range. Eyes half done.

How it looks like with my face half done.

Everyone then were placed in groups of 3 and everyone was given a pack of full set mineral makeup kits to experiment with. From blending their own shade of blusher to attempting to recreate the smokey eye look with the products supplied.

Some of the ladies with some hands on makeup interaction with LNY products. Learning how to use Jo's special makeup sponge and experimenting with the colors and contouring products.

When that was done, everyone was gifted with the makeup kits that Jo provided which they split amongst themselves in their respective group.

We then moved along to the shirt deconstruction segment of the workshop. Everyone brought 2 of their own shirts with their scissors and were all ready to slice n dice their shirts from Old to Sexy... I layed out some of the previous designs that I experimented with and everyone listened intently ready to wield their scissors for some destruction... haha!

I introduced the 3 basic designs that I was demonstrating for the day. The back tie, the back weave and the corset and everyone got started as they listened with my step by step instructions.

Me demonstrating how to cut the shirt up.

Everyone working on their own creations. And then we finally reach the point where I did the final demo. for the corset design. Picture here showing me hunched over (Do I need spectacles now?!) showing how to snip the holes for the strings.

Everyone still hard at work with their own tops...

At the end of it all, everyone left with their own new sexy creations from their old tops. Knowledge on how to create those tops again and again for future use and a generous full sized Mineral Makeup kit goodybag provided by Lolita New York for their participation.

The next workshop will be held on the 9th of April 2011. Please RSVP at honeymeow@gmail.com if you are keen to attend. Click on the image below for more details. If you are keen to run this workshop in your company or club, please email me for more details on how to arrange for this workshop at your location.