Soy Joy's Latest Ads = Totally Hilarious!

I'm sure you would have seen the latest Soy Joy commercials on local Singapore TV, I find them TOTALLY HILARIOUS! Kudos to the team for casting such excellent expressive talents. She really made me feel the agony! *Ouuuch!!!* I could almost feel my thighs and butt cramp just watching.

If you don't watch TV or are not in Singapore, here they are for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!

I love this office squat one the most. The next tattoo one is also a riot! Hahaha!Did you find it funny? I feel funny commercials like these excellent advertising. It really hit the spot! Much Effort! Little Effort! I so totally can relate. Can you?

Instructing Aqua Fitness in Singapore

In Addition to my Aerobic & Group Exercise Instructor certification, I also have Aqua Aerobics Instructor certification too! I'm very excited about this as it gives me an excellent balance of high impact land vs low impact water options for people joining me for classes.

I took my practicals last Thursday and passed with excellent reponse from the judges with my performance. *pleased* I'm looking forward to planning and launching my first classes in the coming weeks and anyone who may be interested, join me for my classes! Email me!

I love the fact too that there is a great interest for Aqua Aerobics in Singapore and that there are NOT alot of instructors trained in this area locally. Aqua is great for all ages and all genders and no, you don't need to know how to swim but it can help if you do.

There are so many things you can do in the water and it can be a great cardio workout too! When done correctly, it can surpass cardio burn on land depending how your instructor planned the class! For those not only looking for a cardio workout, you can work on muscle toning, flexibility and not to mention it can be great fun!

Shallow-water aerobics takes place in mid-chest level water where your body is protected from impact but still has enough weight and leverage to control your movements. Deep-water aerobics, on the other hand, gives added resistance and protection to your body underwater and allows you to engage more muscle mass.

For starters, I will be focusing more on shallow water & light resistance work. I am leaving deep water work and rehabilitation for later where I'm much more experienced and comfortable with my students.

I'm looking forward to purchasing my first sets of noodles! Whats a noodle? Well as seen below! I love this bc its so versatile and it really works so well for all ages.

And finally a group shot of all my course mates *unfortunately of which only HALF have passed the program and those who didn't would have to retake at a much later time after some serious mentorships and reviews*. Pity. But it was a great training programme and everyone was really fun. An excellent group really. Perhaps we will cross paths again someday for those really serious in embarking on their own Aqua fitness programs in future.

And before I forget everyones name. Here's everyone from left to right, front to back.

If any one of you are reading this, it was a great pleasure meeting and training with you. And if for some reason, I've named you wrongly here. Please EMAIL me and let me know.

Mei Xuan, Jov, Renu, Vicky, Diane Haslam, Susan, Adelyn, Amabel, Antoinette, John, Cecilia, Pamela, Lisa, Darren, Sumalini, Jek Huay, Linda, Matilda, Nikhil, Sara, Isa & Thomas.

Please Do Not Waste Food..

Time and Time again... and our mothers would tell us at the table.. and if you're a parent now too.. you would hear yourself saying.. "Don't waste your food sweetheart, there are people who don't have any... don't waste"...

And little reminders come to us from time to time like this and it reminds us to be mindful of how lucky we are instead of complaining all the time.

When you complain that you are sick of ironing, that just means you're lucky to have clothes on your back and more..

When you complain that you don't want to mop your floor, that just means you're lucky to have a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in and a place you can call your own.

When you complain that today's meal is too salty/sweet/sour or bitter, give thanks that you even have a choice of an abundance of food.

And when you complain that your internet connection is lousy, and that your favourite blogger isn't updating her blog, be thankful that you have the luxury of having a computer and very likely a mobile phone too.

Give thanks for in many ways, you are blessed.

Baby Steps towards being an Instructor...

After procrastinating for some time and just revelling in the enjoyment of being a class participant in the many group X classes that I take throughout the week with David and Rashidah over at California Fitness.

I finally embarked on a plan towards gaining my instructorship.

I'm proud to say that after the past 3 weeks of core programming, intense indoor & outdoor training, lecture immersions, burning under the sun, sweating like an animal, floating in various pool depths, playing with pool equipment, doing Qi Yoga sessions, hanging on classmates bodies with body weight exercises and stuffing my face with heavily carb filled food in between sessions *because I was so darned hungry, I didn't care if it wasn't low carb*.

With the program running from 830am all the way to 630pm for the training days. I am amazed and am thankful that I survived! And I didn't even lose weight! Hahahaha! I'm still 69kg!

I've finally gotten my Aerobic & Group Exercise Instructor Certification which has been awarded by Federation of International Sports, Aerobics and Fitness.

I have to give my utmost gratitude for my mother who sponsored this program to see that my desires for running classes of my own becomes a reality. Heartfelt love to my mother in law who without complaints took my care of my girls completely without me having to worry about them at all. With me running out of the house at 640am and only touching back down between 9-10pm each evening. Her support was godsend, without her, I would be seriously worrying about my kids during training.

Love love to CJ too who went without me the past 3 weeks without complaint and grief and pushing me to stay awake to study and run through my choreography over and over again even though I was dead exhausted and completely zombified. Thank you for loving me and bearing with my loss of consciousness each night where you would push me to bed where I knocked out into dreamless sleep. Without you, I would have crashed in bed without all that prep just out of sheer mad exhaustion.

Special thanks too to my Zumba instructor, Rashidah who had inspired me to go down this path and also for her choreography which I used for my practical demonstration. Without those sets, which made me look OH-SO-GOOD and that much less stressful prep. with having to think up of new moves with an exhausted body/mind. Thank you all.

So this is it. Certification is just a step. Next will be my first aid certification and then the real challenge comes when real time classes actually start and I start to mold my own persona as an instructor... Wish me luck.. this is going to be fun. :)

Mushroom Meatball Cheesy Baked Rice

Today's lunch is Mushroom Meatball Cheesy Baked Rice. A relatively simple dish to whip up. Very carb filled and takes less than 30 minutes to put together and can sit on the stove till its ready to be eaten within half the day.

Whats in it? (Makes 2 pans of baked rice)

Half a pot of cooked white rice. *Est. 3 cups of rice*
Sliced Hotdogs *1 pack of 10 dogs*
Meatballs* *30 balls made from $5 worth of lean pork, molded & toasted till golden brown in convection oven*
10 large Fresh Shitake Mushrooms *large*
1 large yellow onion *diced & cooked on low heat till clear and soft*
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup *diluted with 1 can of water*
16 slices of SCS butter.
1 block Cheddar Cheese *grated*

Meatballs seasoned with white/black pepper, paprika, salt, a little light soya sauce, a tablespoon of bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon of cooked onions.

Prepare all ingredients, line base of pan with rice, lay hotdogs and mushrooms evenly and lay 15 meatballs around each pan. Place sliced butter evenly around pan & pour soup to cover all ingredients and cover generously with grated cheese.

Pop in oven for 20 minutes on low heat or till cheese is golden brown. Take out & serve.

An easy satisfying lunch for a family of 4 that isn't taxing on a seriously sunburnt, tired me. Enjoy!

So You Wanna be a Gym Instructor huh?

I do! Dreaming Reality hasn't been updated as regularly in 2009 as last year but its because I've been busy busy busy! And this year has been filled with more quality interesting discoveries than little wonders... discoveries that take up more time to experience and do.. so do kindly forgive me if you came and refreshed and refreshed only to realise.. eh! Still same post! How come?!... but don't worry! More to come in the coming weeks. Keep me on your favourites list! :)

So what have I been up to the past week? I've embarked on fitness instructor training! Yep! My mom very very graciously sponsored the program for me! *love love*

Finally I'm on a training course towards being a certified instructor as opposed to only volunteering my time and efforts at the gym *since I work out there so much anyway* just because I didn't have the relevant paper certifications and fundamental knowledge to be one officially. Very soon, it will be a different path for me where I move from being a enthusiastic participant to leading a group class of my own and I'm damn bloody excited!!

I'm now undergoing a Fitness Instructor Core Course conducted by Fisaf which is required of all fitness professionals in the industry to ground themselves with the basics such as body physiology, ie muscles/bones and how the body works, human kinetics, exercise methodologies, communication guidelines, exploring the various types of teaching methods and personal training methodologies etc...

And it was conducted over 5 full 830am to 7pm days. For personal reasons, I was only able to commence on day 2 but I was given a one-on-one session to cover the topics I had missed on day 1 and caught up without a hitch.

I was expecting lectures obviously and perhaps some demonstration work and practicals but I was NOT expecting the course to be literally BOOTCAMP STYLE.

Frankly, I have not worked out for SO LONG and SO MUCH in my LIFE. Even when I went for 3 classes a day, it was not as intense as this. And the first day literally shocked the hell *and a hell of alot of calories* out of me. It was like doing 6-8 hours of continous workout with a smattering of 1 hour of lecture & discussion that was inserted ever 2-3 hour intervals of exercise. At the end of each day, we were all sticky and EXTREMELY smelly. It was hilarious how we all used jackets to "try" to mask our stink but we all knew.. the PONG from our group WAS A KILLER.

Throughout the day, we ran around the stadium tracks, did core muscle work, worked out with various types of resistance equipment, bands, balance discs, swiss balls, bosu *which is those semi circle ball like equipment that you may see at the gym, practiced body weight resistance, did 4 point circuit training and balance training.

I was practically DEAD on the ground at the end of that day! Insane!! My legs literally wanted to detatch itself, drop off and run away and never come back.... *sobs*

Other than Diane Haslam who was the master trainer and the person who represents and trains all Fisaf certified instructors, various other reputed fitness professionals also came in to take and lead certain topics. For day 2, we had Joan Liew who is a National Body Builder and also runs Fitness Factory. She covered Nutrition topics.

Above are my classmates with Joan. Having gone through the program with them, I wish them all the best of luck towards their career in the fitness industry. Perhaps one day you might have one of them as your trainer! They're all nice people.

From Left to Right:
Sophie, Annie, Michelle, Ashton, Me, Roy, Joan.
*I forget her name bc she only came for 1 day & had to leave because her father died that very day*, Sarah and Raohan.

Day 3 was filled with a group exercise class which was really my kind of workout. Did some dance, did some aerobics. Worked with some floor exercises and did many group discussions throughout the day on various body functions like the heart, respiratory systems, dietary systems, blood pressure calculations and heart rate calculations.
The man below in blue was with us for 3 days conducting theory segments of the course. His name is Luc Tai and has an impressive built! He even SOUNDS like Arnold Schwarzeneger with that accent. And he personal trains national and international athletes! I was very impressed with his level of competence and knowledge that he was able to impart to us and not to mention.. he is pretty hot.. hahahaaha! *smacks & blinds self*

Day 4 was just as challenging workout wise but still a huge workout day with Aqua Aerobics all morning, sprints and hill runs where we literally strapped ourselves with our partners and sprinted up and down slopes and hills with the bands on our waist. *Can die larh! Pant! Pant Wheeeze! ~thud~* then we had the rest of the afternoon till late evening in the weights and machines room doing personal training analysis, weight training and spotting methods and learning the correct use of equipment.

Day 5 was exam day. I was dragged up from the sofa where I passed out from exhaustion the night before, CJ cleared up the table and turned on all the lights while he amused himself by watching me study "so funny lah! this reminds me of when you were doing your "O" levels!".... -.-'' That was like.. SO MANY years ago can!

We had a light morning of further theory on energy systems and further group discussions before we had a session of Qi Yoga/Pilates with Antoinette Chang and her son, Theodore. While I am sure the various types of yoga/pilates is gaining popularity, this session confirmed that I will never be a yoga practitioner. Not because of flexibility, I'm quite flexible due to my regular dance classes and stretching sessions. But also because it was just so S....L....O....W.... *snore*

I am not a person who would like to take in holistic healing or slow therapeutic movements to heal my "inner organs" and "balance my Qi". Seriously now.. I'd rather shake my Qi all over the place and go for a massage instead. Me + Yoga? = Not in this life baby... Pffft...

"do you feel relaxed? can you feel your body as one?" NO. But I won't mind taking this time to ....*zzzzz....snore...*

And with that, I'm pretty sure I passed the exam, I learned SO MUCH the past couple of training days and now I'm waiting for the 5th to the 10th of April 09 for the commencement of my Group GX Aerobic Instructor certification training where I would be immersed in the dynamics of a group class with its structure, planning and execution and then its ...

COME SWEAT N'SHAKE UR BON BONS with PAM SESSION! It'll be fun! Check out the video of the creator of Zumba Beto Perez and his master trainer, Tanya Beardsley below and you'll see what I mean by ZUMBA ZUMBA ZUMBA!!... if you don't know how to booty shake.. you will after a few sessions with me. :)

Any takers? EMAIL ME! or leave me a message and I'll keep you on the list when I start classes! That being said.. I have a Hotel Review Package coming up at the end of this week and news on Group X training after I've completed it! Wish me luck! :)

Gentlemen Style by Indecent Obsession

Back in the 90s, this was one of my favourite songs.. Gentlemen Style by Indecent Obsession and for no reason whatsoever, I recalled it tonight and did a search for it and was pleased to find it online again.. so here's sharing it if you don't know it.. and for those who don't know it.. perhaps you might like it like I did. :) Enjoy...

Rare picture & Grandmother's Birthday!

My mom is in town! Together with my other sister too! This is a rare pic because we're all together in this picture and my mom *hates* taking pictures!

Whos in the pic? Alexandra *youngest*, Me *eldest*, my mom and Jacqueline *2nd*. They have joined me in dance class a couple of times already too but will be leaving SG by month end.

And yesterday was my Grandmother's 78th birthday dinner! We celebrated at Jiang Nan Chun Chinese restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore. On the way there, we saw a rainbow! How lovely!

There have been quite a number of rainbows lately... must be a good omen yea?

And the birthday woman and myself!

I love it how we always get this kind of shot where I grab my camera and camwhore together and her first shot is always with a puzzled frown like below while she tries to figure out what the heck I'm doing and then realises... "ooohh! like that also can arh!" then gives me such a sweet smile after.. and she wants to see each and every shot after! Hahhaha!

*click* "Lemme see! Lemme see!" *click* "Lemme see!! Lemme see!" So cute lah! I love my grandma!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!

Kitten Musing....

I came across this picture of this kitten today and I can't stop staring at it. Its so cute!! So cute!! I want to keep it on my blog for all posterity hahaha! It looks so nua-like.. and so soft n fluffy... Awwww!! I like!

Aqua Aerobics @ Katia's!

We had a session of Aqua Aerobics at Katia's condo. yesterday at 11am. It was conducted by Kayla *the one in black shorts* who had choreo-ed the sets for an upcoming fitness convention.

While it was fun, it was HOT! Weather hot that is... I'm not burnt totally but I'm mighty dark at the moment...

It was a small group of ladies with a mix of several other California Fitness group instructors.

Who's above?

My 2 girls *Lauren joined the session too! She can do it and enjoyed it tremendously!*, me, Kayla, Felicia, Gail with Katia and her boys, Etienne and Philippe.

It was filled with music, laughter and hoots! but we don't have a picture of us smiling in the water as the sun was bright and water was in our faces... our next scheduled session is in 2 weeks time!

I'm looking forward to it and learning more about water dynamics and using water for resistance exercise...