Gym 1.21 and a vivid nightmare

30th December 2011: Ben's aerobics class attended after AGES really! He stretched it for 1 hour 30 min and I was completely out of breath to say the least. A splendid work-out nevertheless...

After a longish time I had a vivid nightmare... which I am not sure was a nightmare at all or not. I have been reading a book about a city I am very fond of - Mumbai, India - which as everybody is pretty aware has a gangster problem - the 'underworld' and well, we - as normal everyday people don't get to know much about - except when there is a bomb blast or a high-profile murder etc. Here I was reading this awesome book named "Maximum city" on the same topic, just before sleeping (as I normally do) and my dreams were also a vivid gangster-ish type. .... Understandable... I do have a hyper active imagination.... 

Then somewhere in between sleep and a very awake consciousness (subconscious playing hoola-hoop perhaps) ... I heard a distinct very soft knock on our main-door. I remember it was clear and I KNOW I heard it. 7-8 soft rapid knocks.... I don't know whether I was partially asleep or what... Coz I sleep light and am generally very awake with hyper awakened senses. I know I know I know I heard it... and I remember telling myself 'Go to sleep, ignore what you heard'.... Then I also remember telling myself 'Check the house, whatever the problem - you will HAVE to face it'. So I walked out and checked the whole house from inside - remembering to walk quietly - and there was NOTHING. I peeped out the key-hole and NOTHING... eh.. BIG BIG sigh of relief.... But I feel stupid now. I heard I KNOW... eeesh! My heart-beat went off the roof and I couldn't sleep for the next 1/2 hour... post that I forced myself to sleep ( trying not to disturb the hubby much). weird weird weird. :/ ( though I also know the folks living upstairs tend to move stuff and make some noises quite late at night... its not bed-room sound :P... stupid nocturnal people).. Who know what I heard. Just a narrative here ...

Gym 1.20

28th Dec 2011:Ok... it seemed precariously like a day of missed training... But yours truly dragged the better(? :P) half to gym in the evening ... post his office and post my day schedule. That's an achievement really!

29th Dec 2011: Guilt sometimes is an awesome thing. I went and did workout for 1 1/2 proud hours :D... The usual - cardio; stepper, bike, rowing, tread-mill and cross-trainer.... then walked back home. It's not worth waiting till 2012 to extend training hours ... :) .... Halleluiah!

Gym 1.19 or lack thereof.... :/

22nd Dec 2011: Yoga at home

23rd Dec 2011: Yoga at home

24th Dec 2011:Walked around the complex

25th Dec 2011: Ooo no exercise

26th Dec 2011: Lazying no exercise

27th Dec 2011: Shame of all shames... zero exercise

I am becoming a classic case of "preachy person" without following what I am supposed to do myself/self... not others' but Meeeeeeeeeeeee :/.... I don't want my New Year resolution to again be 'Lose weight'... its been so in 2010, 2011 ... ewwww.....

Gym 1.18 and a health note.

20th Dec 2011, Tuesday: Walked 4 rounds around the complex. Didn't even attempt to jog... eh.

21st Dec 2011, Wednesday: Katabox at Virgin Active - Ben's class.... oooh yeah! :D... (even though i had to tag along a massive umbrella as well as rain shoes - just in case it rains on my head).

Health Note: Cancer is such a common disease - seems more so nowadays. This I do not know is due to more medical revelations than in earlier times or due to the fact that people really do seem to be getting affected by it more. Its such a sad thing really (I have relatives and friends getting affected more and more) - coz medicine does not seem to have found a complete and 100% cure to it. In such circumstances, even though everything is not avoidable - but some known precautions can be taken, aye?! Like smokers can stop themselves in time and rehabilitate themselves just so that they don't get lung or throat cancer.

In general, exercise as a habit (and not just to lose or gain weight) and drinking water and eating more healthy stuff. Is it really that difficult? I know, preaching is easy - but I am trying to push my folks into these simple things as well. Simple habits, simple living and simple thinking. I try to adhere to that.

Gym 1.17

18th Dec 2011, Sunday: :D Yes, I went .. and Yes even though it was a lazy Sunday we did stuff for 1:30 hours. (#Pats own back!)... So, started monkeying around on the tread-mill (a lady next to me asked me why the heck I wasn't running and only walking at a pathetic 5.5 kms/hr rate... I had to narrate my knee story and she was sweet enough to tell me a few stuff that would help and which I intend to try soon). Anywho... soon Ben came around and there was a longish weekend 90 min class of his (I think all those who attend it are extremely motivated and slightly mad, really ...) ... but on an impulse I went into the studio and did 1 hour of Katabox and Aerobics combo... post which I was panting like a mad drooly dog and had to come out in 60 min rather than 90 min (# no stamina :/ )... damn... Hubby did toning and kept a biggish distance from Ben's class - ended up promising me that he'd join in next Sunday @why-suffer-alone :D

19th Dec 2011, Monday: Talk about Monday bluezzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz... didn't go to gym BUT jogged (?).. no walked around the complex - 3 big round and came back home to do yoga - breathing exercises (20 min) and sun-salutation (just 2 sets i.e. 4 times - poor score that).

Gym 1.16

16th Dec 2011- Friday: Missed Gym... It was a public holiday - "Reconciliation Day" or some such and I tried my best at dragging Murali off the bloody bed - but it seemed he was stuck to it with his claws in and refused to part from it and called me a "Nag" ( umm.. not really :P, he grunted in a manner that said so) - hence, I decided to fume at this perceived non-existent name calling - and looked out for a solo jog. Hmm.. too much sun-shine and multiplying weird concocted stuff in my head and I got too hungry to think of exercising. :/ Day wasted really @I-can-be-incredibly-stupid-sometimes.

17th Dec 2011- Saturday: Yeay.. went and did Cardio ( yea.. yea.. a lazy hubby in tow)... Stepper, bike, tread-mill and cross-trainer. Peeked into a class of Pilates going on in an adjacent room and made a mental note of joining in sometime later. :D

Zero plans for Christmas - nothing concrete apart from a guilty wish to bake a rum cake and later watch an ice-skate dance or something so that we don't end up sulking at home. 

Zero plans for New Years ... and weirdly I am not complaining. :D

Finally,...I start jogging....

No gym today coz of a technical glitch in the credit card attached to my gym membership... Gotta sort it before I resume... So, I finally do what I have been intending to ... Jogging and brisk-walking around my complex. 

Considering people mention its not safe for anybody apart from blacks or natives to walk on the streets here in SA (I find that very irritating really as I love to roam around roads and markets and walk on the roads freely) - but fear psychosis being contagious I know I might not be any time soon be walking around or jogging on main roads as I'd want to (there are numerous stories of mugging and attacks on non-natives). So I see the vast expanse of the complex we live in as a good substitute - its huge really... and I ran 4 biiiig rounds all around the fringe of the complex.

Amazing how in a complex of minimum 500 people - I do not see more than 4-5 people outside or hanging outside their houses/units on the paths around. Beautiful complex this, and such few people to enjoy! :)  - I do sound negative here, but that's just a fact and my observation.

Back to Gym :D

Ahh hail this day... It rained in the morning but I was determined to resume gym ASAP post returning from India trip - hence, fetched my umbrella and heave-ho made it to Ben's wednesday class of Katabox. 

14th Dec 2011: Ben's Katabox class. No yoga and not yet started jogging around the complex. Starting slow basically.

In this trip to India, I didn't fit into a lot of clothes I used to an year back - disgusting really. Donno what I am doing wrong - so visiting a nutritionist or dietician is on my list of 'things to do'.

Stooped in tradition - Chennai

Every trip to the south of India makes me wonder WHY most people are drowning in tradition to the point of being stifled by it. I don't agree and it makes me wonder more and more... I might be wrong, but I do not see too much reason in praying and praying and praying some more .... being scared and praying more n more. 

As always, most of my thoughts have a flip side. Forever on an analysis mode. I wonder if sticking to traditions like mad, keeps on an 'overall' the traditions of ancient India intact - like nowhere else in the world (like I know anything much about most parts of the world :P). Maybe older people in other countries go mad sticking to their roots and traditions as well. Who knows :)... I do know, that some of it is without much reason - even to the people following rituals and mindless routines- and I do have a problem with 'blindly following whatever is being asked by the community'.

South India also has a heavy chauvinistic tone to it. You would find it hard to miss the male bastion-ish undertone to almost everything. Woman put up with it - out of habit. I disagree to it too... quite much. 

The incessant noises of India

And lo! we landed in New Delhi, the capital of India - full of sentiments on returning home.... only to quite abruptly starting to feel the jarring noises and traffic and people who forever seem to be jostling each other... sigh :/ ... instant reminder of why 'being abroad is not such a bad thing after all'. BUT then you see your folks, immensely overjoyed at seeing you return :) - and voices in your head vaporize temporarily.

When you drive in Delhi, there is a character transformation that takes place - you really really really get mad at people on road - at first, you might be one of those who says 'you first sir'; Give yourself say 3 hours doing that  - and perhaps you'd be changed for life! Chivalry and Delhi drivers DO NOT and I repeat Do Not go hand-in-hand. Nobody would return your courtesy and be considerate and let you take some of their space. That's just not how people here are wired up. I solely blame it on the brash, showy, 'me first' behavior of the mixed culture especially induced by the nuvo Punjabi's in the city. I don't mean all Punjabi's are like that, but most of them are very showy and blingy - and hence their attitude which reflects on everything. There is something very lecherous about the Delhi male - if you are a neutral observer, you'd feel they are not getting much action at home or have an insatiable sexual appetite perhaps. Whatever it is, its disgusting!! 

What I looovvveee about the city is also numerous. I love Gulmohar trees - most of my childhood is attached to it. It bears wonderful red flowers and they look awesome - and story bookish! I also miss the 'Adhan' by the muezzin in local mosques all around Delhi! - 4 times a day they do the service, screaming "Allah uh Akhbar" - the sound of which is imprinted indelibly in my subconscious memory. I cannot describe how lovely it sounds to me!

More on my stay in Delhi later.... I gotta rush right now...

- Later!

:O Practicing Kanji's

Damn damn damn damn damn damn ... too much to do... damn damn damn damn damn damn damn damn

Impending Jap exam :O - JLPT N4

O.K. time to keep the gym on the sidelines for approximately a month's time as I am off to my home country - India!!!! But this upcoming trip is a hectic affair - what with weddings in the family and my Japanese language exam all mixed into one biggg mess.

If you are a Japanese language student you would know how maddening it is to cram Kanji's and keep it there - in ones memory circuits! .... I think it's the ONE perfect thing to drive me completely crazy. I have journals after journals filled - file after file, diary after diary filled - with Kanji strokes; considering there is practically no other way of getting these registered in ones head. Any other way is a temporary memory - no kidding.

I agree my literal absorption of these Kanji scripts have gone up multi-fold as I literally spend 5-6 hours doing strokes - its mind numbing sometimes - but thankfully I do remember stuff now :)... familiarity perhaps.

I was to give JLPT N3 as my teacher felt I was good enough for it - but as it turns out my study portion could not be finished  - and semi-finished course is a recipe for disaster, in language examinations atleast! So instead of wasting money on going all the way to India and flunking JLPT N3, I decided to give JLPT N4 ( which I was earlier going to skip) - And really I don't deserve to skip levels  :D - Japanese ain't no waltz at all.... It's HARD work!

Another major annoyance for me is the complete lack of facility to give these JLPT examinations in South Africa. I mean, these exams are conducted in most of the countries - so why not SA? Sometimes I do feel that people in SA not interested in learning off-beat things. :/ ( maybe I am wrong... but I don't see many students of Japanese in Johannesburg and even less teachers or language school for Japanese, eh)!

If I do teach Japanese here sometime later, I hope I do find people interested in learning it. :)

Gym 1.15

1st Nov 2011: Attended Ben's stepper class, after a gap of 4 days of not going to gym ( which could not have had been helped as we tripped to Pietermaritzberg). So Stepper for 1 hour and a nice long walk back. No yoga as its been an immensely sleep deprived week-end dragging into the week.

Gym 1.14

28th Oct 2011: Ben's aerobics class attended today. Came back home did yoga breathing exercises and Sun Salutation. :) It feels so good in class now and when Ben pushes really harrrrd, I have discovered that if I start imagining things in my head - it helps. Here are a few sample imaginations I use... quite often:

I imagine being chased down a dark alley by say 5 thugs and I have to protect myself - so kick kick kicccckkkkk assss!! :D

I also sometimes think say I am in some karate or judo competition and I am say kicking the hell out of my opponent - so push, kick, jump.... more more more,... again again again....

Another situation that helps in my head is say picturing a zen master champion of shaolin practicing harrrrrrrrrrrrrd all the time, every time... non-stop.... (try to think its you and not somebody else who is that expert).

The last situation that is seriously cool to imagine is say you are thrown in the sea and you have to swim hard to save your life. If you stop, you die :D....

I run new things in my head, all imagined ... but you see... I perhaps would be doing a few reps extra just coz of 'em, instead of stopping and huffing and puffing.

Gym 1.13 and Diwali!! :)

Yesterday was Diwali as I mentioned in my previous post, and here are a few pics of this lovely festival of lights!

Rangoli that I made at the entrance to my house

The decoration inside the house :)

So in celebration to a widely celebrated function in India, we feasted on loads of home made sweets by yours truly! :)  - Its just special to know that I can make most of the delicacies my mom does!!

Ok now Gym update:

No gym Tuesday or Wednesday ... that was bad, I did take the excuse of Diwali...

27th Oct 2011: Ok took up cardio today, ideally would have done Toning. So did 6 min stepper, 20 min biking, 5 min treadmill (and my knee started paining a tad) - so went to cross trainer did 15 minutes, then back to tread mill did roughly 10 minutes more. Hmm.. not a very planned gym routine today, guess its still better than nothing. Came back home, a tad too hungry to do yoga. So that's that for the day!

Gym skipped and a very Happy Diwali in advance!!!!

HAPPY DIWALI!! :)

O well, I missed Gym today ... but that's not what this post is about  :D 

I remember forever learning in school - Diwali , an Indian festival is a 'festival of lights'! And it is indeed, this year it is on the 26th of October i..e tomorrow! Indians wear new clothes, eats LOTS n LOTTTSSSS of sweets, decorate the whole house ( more or less the time to completely de-clutter and beautify the house in the run up to the festivities), lights lots of candles and especially diyas i.e. small earthen cups/ in which we put oil/ghee and with a small wick light some of the most precious looking things! They look bright and full of hope! We draw rangoli's i.e beautiful patterns at the front of the house - right in front of the doorstep and in front of the temple/prayer space inside the house as well.

There is a lot of mythology and cultural significance and prayers and rituals that go along with the festival of Diwali - but for me, being quite deliberately uneducated on the hyper ritualistic part (I am not proud of the fact that I don't know, but quite comfortably ignorant) - I am, all the same just happy doing the superficial part i.e. decorate the house and myself  :D, eat sweets, burst firecrackers (though its been many years' since I did that - It pollutes and is bloody expensive - and its heard that poor unprivileged kids make them and get dangerous diseases because of it etc. etc.). All in all, its good fun! 

I know, that Diwali is basically in honour of the return of Lord Rama (in the Ramayana - An Indian mythological text of great significance) from his exile in the forest back to his kingdom - read the Ramayana to know more, its an interesting story - fable or not, donno really! All I know is, I always loved being with family (It's an essential holiday in India) on such special days and even more immensely happy to eat all stuff mom made. 

Now, in South Africa obviously few Indians celebrate and some Indian cultural thing happens - but hmm.. I am not too keen in exploring (some noisy dhin-chak Punjabi jumpy music and staring at what other people are doing I am sure won't be as much fun)... BUT I do make some of the sweets just like my mom did/does. :) Murali ( my husband) loves it and that too makes the making enjoyable! If I do everything good, shall post in some pics!! Till then, think of things BRIGHT and make yourself some happy food and sweets!

Gym 1.12

22nd Oct 2011: Rest day... 6 days a week would be too much :P

23rd Oct 2011: Sunday....Shopping and sleeping day .. no gym... :D

24th Oct 2011: Ahhh Monday... Ok Cardio- day it was... 6 min stepper.. 20 min bike... 15 min tread mill... 15 min cross trainer... umm... walked back (maybe the 20 min walk back home I should discount). OK.. back home, did yoga as usual... breathing exercises and few sets of Sun Salutation.

Gym 1.11

Oct 21st 2011: Today was Ben's Aerobic class for 1 hour... which I enjoyed.... I like aerobics, though people do tend to think its just a sequence of jumping and limpy steps... I beg to differ, you go through a whole flow of motions and it looks enjoyable and non-rustic and its rhythmic, all those twists and turns burn fat. 

As usual after class, came back home and did Yoga - breathing exercises and Sun Salutation. The good this does to me is more about feeling very calm and after a couple of months people tend to mention  - that my face is bright and glowing. It takes time though for that 'glow' to reoccur, as now I restarted Yoga after almost an year. 

Today it felt as though my body is a little more strong than say Jan this year, when I started Gym in SA, though don't know why my weight scale doesn't say anything pleasing and neither do I look thinner. :/ I want those cosmetic gains of exercising as well :(.... 

BUT, I shall keep on (I decided that long ago) bcoz even if I end up looking like Rambo forever, I'd still be strong and would be able to kick butt (If ever required... hope not) :D!! anyways... TGIF!

Gym 1.10

20th Oct 2011: OK... another good workout day today :D... 5 min stepper... and day of toning exercises and machines like leg press, leg curl, triceps, abdominal exercises etc etc etc , interspersed with 5 to 10 min tread mill in between. Came home and did Yoga today as well... 20 min breathing exercises and a few sets of Sun Salutation... After all this, I got massively hungry and tried not stuffing myself with a lot of food. .. which i didn't .. thankfully.. :) Ate moderate after a small break.

Gym 1.9

19th Oct 2011: Went to gym... attended 'Katabox' after quite a few sessions missed... followed by Yoga at home... Breathing exercises and Sun Salutation... It feels immensely fresh if Yoga is done in serene setting and deep concentration and ... possibly a blank mind...which is tough for me...

"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

I am in the finishing stages of reading "The Hobbit" , introduced to me by my better half - as he is a mad fan of the 'Lord Of The Rings' trilogy and all... He has, it seems (for a change really) read something well and is in a position to recommend... So I started out reading in politeness ... even though my favorite reads nowadays are about drug cartels, mafias and stuff (its more realistic and I am fascinated with their business sense and ways of solving problems and dodging legal routes and police and what not... everybody is corrupt so it hardly matters where ones' sympathy lies - like it or not.) ... But in all seriousness I completely utterly enjoyed reading this very easy read! ... I am sure people already know the story of 'The Hobbit'... it is the prelude to the 'Lord of The Rings' and you are introduced to all the main characters - Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, the dwarves, the Gollum, Beorn, Smaug (the dragon) etc etc ... 

It tells you how the ring came into the picture and how does this whole adventure really start. Murali was/is quite jumpy about the movie which might release sometime in 2012 I presume (as a random google search told me)... and in all earnest now, I am eagerly waiting too!! :)  - A lovely fable always manages to take ones mind away from all issues - real or material! ..... If you are reading the same, Happy Reading!!

Gym 1.8

Oct 16th 2011: Declared it a lazy Sunday and stayed in ...coughed and coughed till I really did want to pull all of my throat out.

Oct 17th 2011: Coughing marginally reduced and hence decided to take it slow... skipped gym.

Oct 18th 2011: Tuesday i.e. Today... finally... back to gym... Stepper for 1 hour at Ben's class. :D

Gym 1.7

Oct 15th 2011: Even though now my throat has conked like mad and I sound like a frog who sneezes I went to the gym... Did stepper 5 min, bike 20 min, tread mill 20 min and cross trainer 15 min ... along with Mr. hubby.

In the evening we finally saw "Riverdance"  - traditional Irish tap-dancing. It was AWESOME and jaw-dropping stuff... and I was also quite glad that i didn't cough and sneeze in the Tiatro area ( theater area i.e.) of Montecasino here in Joburg!!!! A splendid Saturday ( minus of course my throat)... :D

Gym 1.6

Just when I was about to go on a self-righteous drive of "O see how many times I go to gym" n stuff... BAM God gives me right on my bum... I am so miserable in this bloody onslaught of cold and cough ...and I have so self-righteously stuffed myself up with garlic, that I stink to high heavens ( while my poor hubby makes polite haste in getting over routine hugs n kisses...) eh... :D.... I  mean, I don't wanna be near myself right now.. poor guy! hehe

And I cough all the time like an old hag and my nose looks red and there is toilet paper all around the house ( I finished a Whole Big stack of decent face tissues) so I have moved on to finishing up toilet paper rolls to save up more stacks of face tissues... :P 

O well, ACCCCHHHHHOOOOOOO to u too .. humph! ( No bloody gym 13th and 14th Oct :'( booohoooo) ....

Gym 1.5

No gym, bloody cold not gone yet completely and I hardly slept... still atleast 50% better than yesterday though...

Oct 12th 2011: Missed Ben's class 'Katabox' ... :/

Cold virus, Me and Garlic...

If there is a common disease I hate with a vengeance and a MASSIVE one at that is the common cold. My father forever believed that if I were in India and somebody in Antarctica caught cold, I would too... I mean I am so prone to it, its not funny! 

Medicines don't work on me anymore, and hence I have invented (along with my dad of course, who is a obsessive compulsive cook who likes inventing new dishes) many a remedy from natural ingredients rather than popping pills. 

I have caught cold again now and this reminded me of writing what I do to cure it. 

Spinach and garlic soup:

Ingredients:

1.) 1 bunch spinach

2.) 2 or 3 cloves garlic ( use 2 if u really can't stand garlic)

3.) 2-3 green chillies (reduce if you can't stand even little bit chillies)

4.) 1 inch garlic 

5.) 1/2 a normal sized onion.

6.) Salt 

7.) Pepper ( a fist-full, powdered or crushed)

8.) Vinegar

9.) Water 

Method:

1. Take the spinach bunch and remove the central thick white portion of the spinach leaves ( coz it is very fibrous and will ruin your soup).

2. Boil spinach leaves well in little bit water (I like to boil all leafy and green and most other veggies as well.. One cannot be sure of what is lurking in it... worms in mean) - also boiling softens it.

3. After it is well boiled, remove water and  put it in a blender or mixie and put in the chillies, garlic, ginger, 1/2 an onion cut in lumps for easy grinding and little bit water.

4. Grind it well... till it looks all soupy... add water if required , if its too thick i.e.

5. Pour out in a vessel that you can microwave or boil. Add salt to taste and pepper.... 

6. Heat the soup till it becomes warm and get it off the gas/microwave..... and in the end add vinegar ( little bit).

Hence, one of the MOST effective remedies for common cold is made!! :) I also do fermentation ( i.e steaming my face/nose) along with it and dunk myself under the layers in bed having rubbed vicks on my nose. So all in all, either in a few hours or the next day morning  - most of the cold ( the worst part of it atleast) is gone!! 

Hail garlic really, if i could I would frame a pic of it and pray it ... :D....

Gym 1.4

Again slight doubts of head ache and g's and 'lemme sleep' in the morning... and I imagined I am a robot and am programmed to Go To The Gymmmmmmmmm... mmmmm... dragged self + again complainin' hubby.. and reached our Tuesday class... :D

11th Oct 2011: Ahhh a 1 FULL hour of stepper , Ben's class...  ( sometimes I think he is mad... and really I am more than happy to be mad as well.... but FIT) :) hehe... a sleepy brain thinks such stuff I guess!

Gym update 1.2 and 1.3

Ahh... Sunday started with no electricity and a need to laze... so went out everywhere and explored 'China Town' in Joburg... and went hither and tither ... except gym... came back home 4 ish to find no electricity.. so went out again to check out "The help"... awesome movie! :) ... 

came home late and hence less sleep... and consequently no gym on Monday 10th Oct as well... :/... will compensate at home. Lets' see! ... Weirdly happy for a Monday, no reason at all! ..

Gym... errmm 1.1 :P

Oct 8th 2011: Yippee I got up and went, drag or no drag while getting up from bed.. :D... ok today I did 6 min stepper warm-up, 16 mins bike, 20 min on the tread mill ( cant run full-on, I have a pestering right knee), then I did cross-trainer for 15 mins roughly and finished by v v slow walking cool down on the tread mill again. 

Hubby also didn't complain getting up, the trick was a full good nights' sleep... early mornings' are a matter of sustained habit - still can get .. umm.. not tiring.. but yea, its a habit 'to be inculcated'. :) Happy Saturday everybody!

Laziness....Missed Gym

Today the battle to peel myself outta bed was unsuccessful .... The bed won, and after staring at my kitchen slab for 5-10 minutes ( I don't know why I walk upto kitchen and stare at stuff on days when I miss gym.. as though they are gonna encourage me to go eh...) I went back to bed. 

7th Oct 2011: Missed Ben's class ... :/

Will try compensating by doing something else later... hopefully...

5:50 pm and I managed to salvage non-gym day by doing 600 skips at home , along with plank exercises.... phew!

Gym - 2

I don't know how many g's getting up at 5:20 a.m. in the morning induces... today it felt like 4g's .... :P ... I had to peel myself out of the bed and wonder how'd I boast about going to gym if I don't go at all ... :D ... Hence, the need to show-off pushed me to go and exercise. 

I also religiously drag my husband, who in turn everyday religiously complains 'It's too cold out', 'I have a headache coz of lack of sleep', 'What if I faint in the gym coz of sleep' and more such .... :D And like a true-blue wifey I do some yodeling, sing out of tune songs, threaten, nudge and sometimes simply literally drag one of his legs out of the bed to get him going. :D ( Utter and pure torture I know .... hehe)  - my pleasure! 

6th October 2011: Did cardio ... 5-6 min stepper warm-up, 15 minutes bike, 10 min treadmill, 15 min cross-trainer and another 10 min of rowing.

Gym update...

What better to do with a blog than update certain routines that if listed out in public can be self-motivational to be persisted, hopefully everyday. 

So I will list what I did with my gym or exercise routine, in hope of some several billion years' down the line of losing some sort of weight.... as of now the picture is bleak.. after 9 months of umm regular (?!... 3-4 days avg in a week) gymming my weight has actually increased. I frantically searched the internet and some say its muscle increase  - hopefully it is converting some flab into muscles.. else I am in a state of alarm :/.... I don't have a very responsive or easily workable constitution... it takes time and I know that quite well.

So, I am randomly starting updates from TODAY.. I went to gym yesterday as well.. but the updates are gonna be today and henceforth kinds.. 

5th Oct 2011: Attended Ben's class 6- 7 am at Virgin Active: 1 hour of Katabox (its like kick-boxing but not exactly the same).

Why keeping ones mouth shut is sometimes the most intelligent thing to do... :D

Its best to shut up! ... I wish I could end this post at that... sadly I feel the need to blabber more than required, and sometimes the need is pretty persistent (and hence my blog?!).. :P.... Well the thought reiterated back into my head on a recent visit to a certain persons' house where the host refused to regale me (my hubby was stuck with the hosts' better/worse ...umm.. definitely worse...half being forced a hard drink down his throat) whatsoever. I was bored and wanted to kill myself, or at the least doze off with my mouth open. I wish I had! 

The Mrs. host was busy with her kids and didn't seem to know much about responding or conversation or subjects in vicinity of the same.. sigh... I don't blame her, she might just not be into talking.. :/ ... (not that my sympathy got any better, I still decided to go ahead and hate 'em instantly)...  And stayed sitting with a oh-so-visible fake smile for umm.. 4 hourssss!!!! .... The event is gone now, and hence, I shall stop ranting :D ( also coz I made a solemn promise to not enter their house even in the event of being pushed or dragged there ... thank god for my weight - that won't be easy any case!) :P ... And I also decided to let off steam randomly by giving off a massive scream (with the husband pre-warned mind you just in case he falls into shock under my vocal force) as soon as we got into our car and the window's were well pulled up tight ... though I am not sure people can hear someone scream standing out of a closed car, can they?! :P ... Well, if they were hanging around , they might have heard my instant feedback... .. pheww... not that I care now!

Oh and the title of this blog is also coz of more people in that gathering with whom my will to do sound conversation left me wanting to plaster my lips shut... like forever... I also don't care about that anymore :D... I will stop ranting on this topic.. NOW. 

-Polite smile :) 

PPG or Powered Para-gliding and my 1st wedding anniversary!

Well another occasion and another opportunity to do something interesting presented itself on our first wedding anniversary... and considering we'd been looking out for stuff to do - we noted down information on PPG from a bill-board on the N1 highway towards Johannesburg CBD from Midrand.

Now PPG or powered para-gliding is your simple plain-vanilla paragliding only using a micro lite aircraft to fly you up and around the flight zone. Here in Jo'burg, it seems you don't really have a mountainous area to jump-off as one would expect normally; so you power your way up - rather than jump down!

So we met these instructors called Tony and Riaan at their club area called "Grasslands Sport's facility" (the board that announced the same had apparently been blown away by wind) -under the banner of 'Flying Unlimited'- and followed an unpaved road to the Xcitor micro lites all up and ready to go. Got into our flight suits and helmets, followed basic precautionary instructions on how to brace oneself if god-forbid the worst was to happen, what to expect on the flight up, about and finally while getting back down etc.  Took numerous shots of the Xcitor and ourselves and I went tandem with Tony while my husband with Riaan. Here are a few clicks.. :) ... 

The Xcitor I flew in...

 This was very chilled and non-scary as compared to hang-gliding, you sit and smile (and of course keep some customary butterflies in your tummy for a 'just in case' situation!) :D, so even though the microphone on the helmet between me and Tony wasn't working I am sure he heard me go "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" sitting behind him (and him being polite didn't say anything :P)... Murali (my husbands' microlite apparently did some stunts by suddenly swerving down then correcting up which gave him a slight lurch in his stomach) still we had an awesome time looking at stuff below and being in the air! ( for 20 minutes perhaps, not more).

Murali's microlite

Post flying - Murali and Me :)

And as for the Anniversary, I baked... umm.. went crazy & lost it a bit... baking out of over flow of love :P... more pics....

I still pat my back for all my 1st time bakes :D, but you gotta try doing it once to realize how MANY calories go into everything and thou shall quite patiently wait for some far off ( trust me quite some years' far off) occasion to beckon you to bake ever again :P... Can't let self-torture in gym go to waste; not when I am 30 billion years minus 6 months from losing any sort of weight ... sigh :/..!

"City of Djinns" by William Dalrymple

A thoroughly enjoyable and well written narrative of the authors' 1 year stay in one of the most ancient cities of the world - Delhi. The place I was born and brought up in, yet due to the rigmarole of 'life' never ended up knowing its history or origins .. really! There were times in school during history classes when we were kind of forced to read about all the kings, queens and battles and really, in all earnest, I didn't give 2 hoots on the subject. History and boredom was indeed and perhaps still is a hand-in-glove cliche!

    But in reality I always liked a good story, thanks to my dad ( who was and is an awesome story telling machine ...literally). And so, I read a lot ... started with fairy tales and fiction and slowly progressing on life stories, biographies and also a little bit of history. :) 

    So when I picked this, well recommended book (thanks to my mom-in-law) I was sure I would learn far more about my hometown than I knew - and I did! I liked the personality of the author himself - a happy and down to earth, observant person who shows an immense capability to learn about a place so completely off a White persons' comfort zone. ( Really, my notion as an Indian about Westerners/ Whites are as people accustomed to extreme luxury and spending lives in pretty posh conditions - even if you keep aside the ghettos of NY and London etc. which never surface in the news and the austerity brought on by tough economic situations etc.) .. still.. so I completely appreciate Mr. Dalrymple for his efforts.  This was written in the late 1980's - I was just a kid then of 5-6 years perhaps - reading it now perhaps a tad less than quarter of a century later!

    He takes you through the eras of emperor Shah Jehan, Humayun, Aurangzeb, Tughlak, Nizamuddin etc. and through the stories behind all the old monuments in Delhi and its outskirts that I conveniently ignored forever even though I have passed by them countless number of times - like the Red Fort ( I have vague memory of staring at it from outside, but if you don't know its history it just looks like a very reddish big fort and nothing else), even that old and common site of Qutub Minar and the inside gullies of Old Delhi - Chandni Chowk ( where one only visits on instances of marriage and to eat some old world delicacies and sweets) - it is after all reputed for some intricately brocaded wedding attire that you just might not find anywhere in India ( this though may not be completely true now coz if you pay a lot more than what its worth, you would find intricately done Indian wear in most plush malls all over New Delhi- only they charge a bomb!) - so shell out and buy anything! 

    Also, he goes through most topics unique and lovely about New Delhi - how still the people inhabiting the capital of India are in many ways more superstitious than one could have possibly imagined - considering how certain superstitions started like a million years ago, how chauvinism is a part and parcel of life there, how you still find a lot of yogi's (more fake than genuine) on the banks of river Yamuna (which he interestingly keeps calling Jumna) fasting and meditating, how seasons are always extreme, how people living in Delhi still reminisce about everything having changed for the worse every year every season every generation. He also talks about eunuchs and beliefs behind them and their way of living, also touches upon the old ritual of pigeon owning, training and pigeon flying that still happens in Old Delhi - along with cock fights and bettings. Seriously I thought that used to happen in the era of the kings and not active now. 

    He talks about Vedas, and how still the oldest and longest manuscript of the hindu religion the 'Mahabharatha' is still widely read, learnt and taught to every new generation. He also goes through a lot of archeological evidence of the existence of the past and all the proof lying around that people have completely lost interest in!

    I am soo soo intrigued now, I really feel like going back home and visiting all that skipped my eyes and understanding - I also feel like literally digging down deep into the history of Delhi and knowing a few things about my race a bit more! I recommend the book to people interested in the city of New Delhi, India!

"Just Letting" - Estate Agents in Jo'burg - Avoid Avoid Avoid!!

So we shifted on the weekend and month-end of July, 2011. A certain J. Leboho was the agent who showed us the new house, he is employed with 'Just Letting' Halfway Gardens in Midrand, a supposed well connected and large estate agent in the Jo'burg area and possibly in all of South Africa.

There were strong initial signs from the behaviour of this fellow that we shouldn't have continued his guidance in finding a house. Say, he would be curt while showing the houses - a tone that says "take it or leave it, I will find someone else" kind. The most striking trend was how he would show a new house and mention it in a light which was always positive ( which is normal for any agent to do) but would give a distinct comparative analysis of how better it was compared to the last one he himself showed. I mean, it leads one to believe that every new house has something better than the previous he showed and suppose you end up selecting whatever he is showing you currently, there ought to be something he is not telling you as well! Information that could be critical and useful on what is 'wrong' or something essential which is just not there. Finally after being weirdly dodgy he showed us a place which was located ideally, seemed fine but with a few fixtures needing repairs - which he promptly shrugged off as something he would 'obviously' take care of before we moved in!

He managed to bluff for a whole month on the repairs and ended up doing nothing, followed by repeated calls to him and to the house owner etc. He would also not let us re-inspect the house without him being there, pretty much afraid of us contacting the previous tenant. It only begs you to suspect what he was trying so hard to hide!

In the end, he did nothing and the house owner came and repaired every single fixture that needed attention. Calls for one to wonder what Just Letting is in the middle for?! They hardly perform any of the functions that an agent is paid to do! 

This agent had managed to put us down, irritate and cut calls on us.  So on the day of move-in, even the house was not ready or cleaned and we had to wait till it was done ( by the house owners' personal maid lol... the agency didn't even bring in their own cleaners!). With no agent to talk to as we arrived on shifting day, I was hopping mad with anger. We had a strong verbal altercation with this Leboho chap who was on his worst possible behaviour! No manners, no sense but a weird air of snobbishness for god knows what reason! Now we refuse to deal with him on any account and have requested the house owner to change the contact person - which well we don't know whether he has done or not - but thankfully haven't heard from this s&%%$d fellow!

So if you are in the Midrand area, you might just do some good for yourself by avoiding Just Letting completely! All the headache absolutely not worth it!

Shifting houses - Seems like all pain and a slowly disintegrating gain :/

Since the time I lived on my own I have had numerous experiences shifting residences... Just about till the point where I was ...WAS... gonna declare myself an expert!... Only just.. If you deal with agents the number of times that I have had to, its gotta count as some sort of expertise for sure!

Following are some basic and handy thumb-rules you have to know before you deal with house agents:

1. They are A******s...! 
2. They are trained to bluff (no 2 ways about it).
3. They are on the look-out for idiots... complete and utter ones; and if you show hints otherwise - they will  be downright rude, and the language eventually be something equal to a boxing mid-fight talk.
4. They are after your money. The moment it goes off your hand, kiss it goodbye!
5. Security deposits are weapons of threat! It is not just a measure of covering damages inflicted by the tenant on the house; but more importantly and especially ( if you are a sane tenant whose left the walls, equipments and fixtures of the house intact) its a motive for both landlord and agents to start using imagination in a WILD manner!

To counter the above, prepare yourself with the following:

1. Give back what you get. (Has worked EVERY time for me!) - If the agent yells, yell in a manner that he would need hearing-aids next (or simply ask him to mind his/her tone) - if he threatens you, threaten back - sometimes if they are being unreasonable, just walk out beforehand ( if you still are to sign on the lease). And if fighting it out is not your scene, seek out alternate agents from the agency itself - and if they also do not help; just find other accommodation!
2. Read the lease agreement with a magnifying glass! - Do NOT , not not not sign it until you know what you are getting into. Clarify all points and bug them numerous times even if they show signs and indications of extreme irritation. Else, the moment you default on anything - you surely shall be made to remember the sneers when they point out things from the lease they can screw you over for.
3. Clarify ALL deductions that might possibly be done from the security deposit. ALL! 
4. Know your alternative solutions (in case of extreme necessity) - police cases, legal issues for example. 
5. Discount everything an agent says by 60%.
6. Check on the plumbings, fittings, cooking gaskets, the heater, water supply, security and check whether the door/windows, grills etc work smoothly without getting stuck.
7. Know dead-lines for payments and do not default. Date and time!
8. Never take shit! Do not be meek and never ever hesitate to ask a zillion questions that are related to their handling of situations, previous tenants, news on the area etc. ( Even if they mention that its non of your business - coz it is!)

Now, why am I writing this post?! I am shifting residence in South Africa from one area of Midrand to another. And we are dealing with a really weird/difficult house agent. I am sure to write about him soon, once things are done. Do look out! :)

:O didn't write anything in July

Ahh I kept wondering and contemplating topics to write on ALL July! :O ... not mere procrastination but just a general sense of auto-editing on what might be appropriate to write. And today it hit home that perhaps considering its MY blog and hence, completely MY domain... I should be able to blabber whatever I want, whenever I want ... and two hoots to anybody who thinks whatever they want to think( errmm I brewed up a weird concoction in my head about what all can be thought by others)  :D ... hehe... so well.. Hello again nameless readers ( don't tell me your name just yet, I will automatically start wondering what is/must be going on in your brain .. :D..)... I am a girl, what did you expect :P... Here, I'd like to say that I am kidding.. but I am not sure.. maybe I am / maybe not... who knows. :)

:D

OK I was getting super bugged being alone at home Fri evening :/.. hence changed the look of my blog :D... I know, it radiates the need to wear shades when looking at it :P... but it is providing immense amusement for the moment and hence shall keep it! 

Oh also, I started reading "Ground studies for pilots", "Treasures of the Pharaohs" as well as "Essentials of Financial Management" all at the same time. Don't ask me why! :)

"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins

Just finished reading this extraordinary book, a tell-all tale of a guy who worked as an 'Economic Hit Man' (EHM) for the United States and went about helping the US screw countries like Ecuador, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Iraq and Venezuela (basically oil rich countries). He was trained to, and asked to make humungous growth forecasts for these regions and convince their respective leaders and world lending banks into letting the US infuse money in the name of modernization; wherein money was lent by US based organizations and the all round construction work finally granted back to a corporate from the US itself. 

Hence, lending and routing the money back to the US and in the process of which they would laden the region with debts that the latter cannot handle. Further favours would be granted to the US by these countries because of the debt and hence slowly US would try and take over the region itself or try to etch a deal which would solely benefit USA and its foray in being the most powerful country in the world.

 ..... Makes one imagine how less we know as naive citizens of other countries staring at the glossy image that media paints. Donno whether citizens in the US itself are aware of what happens in the political circles of their country, the inside details or are we all totally misled in just about every aspect of life. Leave alone the US, maybe all other countries are also up to such stratagems. Just about makes me more cynical, than I already am! 

Religion and me

My folks got me into a convent Christian school for my junior school studies, and hence before they could properly get Hinduism ingrained me, I was introduced to Jesus! :) Now, my folks are reverent to Indian Hindu gods and do their chants and prayers and ceremonies without fail etc. etc. but they are not obstinate with that at all... thankfully! So, though they encouraged me to know Hinduism, they didn't thrust rituals.... That let me free-float with what I thought should be my sort of god! ..... The initial days were a bit scary for my mom, I know. I would learn all Christian hymns and sing 'em out in front of Hindu gods such as lord Ganesha, goddess Saraswati, goddess Parvati :D and well a zillion more gods... I would be corrected by an 'almost' panicky mom but I am pleased to inform that she would more or less burst out laughing rather than cringing in non-acceptance!

With this leeway, I grew up observing and making notes on various religions and conclude towards my potentially final deity to follow ...... goes without saying, I am nowhere close to that! :)

Religion I would say got summed up in a quote I read which goes went more or less like this : Prayer may not cure a problem but it heals the soul. ( I am very sure I messed it up - the quote i.e. - but it was something like that).

Well, here is what I think about it : 

Religion is just something which holds us together and channelizes positive energy throughout our body, mind and soul! - Short but simple... only it seems nobody understands it, or tries to decipher the meaning. For this purpose we invent figurines, images etc. for the masses to comprehend it. But it is just not that now, is it?! People stick to the outer commodity, the story invented to make-believe the idols - The concept itself, not the meaning in it.... I am very sure, majority of the Hindu's in general haven't read the Vedas, nor have the Muslims read the Quran, nor have any Sikh read the whole Guru-Granth, neither the Christians read the whole Bible ............ So, how did they really make opinions on everything? - Answer: From hearsay and complete lack of brain usage!  - I am mentioning the majority, exceptions ARE there, and if they are, they would have already understood what my premise is!

But the ONE thing I think religions achieve to do (even if not understood in its entirety) is to get people focused. It is known, that concentration improves when we think on a single track. It also soothes our frayed nerves to know that apart from out own efforts, there are external forces helping us in our cause! - Now, that is a comforting thought! 

There was a time in Mumbai ( when I was working in that city in India) when I accompanied a dear friend and also my flat-mate to Church ( This was not my first time, my junior school had a chapel and I along with my sister have visited Churches in gen - no bias, just reverence in faith in gen and loads of curiosity). What I really enjoyed in the sermon ( majority of which was simple preaching) is the act of showing at least one acknowledgement to the person standing on left and right they do somewhere in the end of the sermon. That was really nice - its an act of acknowledging someone else with a positive move! 

I have also visited a "Gurudwara" which is a place of worship of the Sikh's in India. What I love about their culture is the fact that they worship  a book - not a person or an idol or something which is just a fable for all its worth. They revere a Book which tells them what is right and wrong!! I agree with it as well...

Buddhism is immensely attractive to me... but I should confess, I don't know much about it. But from the looks of it, simple meditation sounds a 1000 times better than anything else.

I conclude this by my eternal feeling of window-shopping for my sort of god... I'd rather watch from a distance than get in half-heartedly. Coz faith for me is just not disturbing a single other soul, its about protecting my interest without harming anybody else. Its also just simple believing in ME!... 

I also wonder, how would my personal concept of faith help me if someone tried to harm my loved ones or something very wrong befalls me. I guess the answer would be somewhere in the lines of being proactive and helping where I can positively, of holding myself together and being a force to stem the negative. Sounds too big aye?! :) I guess being smart and not stupid is a part and parcel of believing in oneself. I also should confess, the concept of revenge is something I am yet to sort completely in my head. Sitting passively is not in my book, but neither is simply harming someone who harmed me. I donno, I still have to think more on it ...

(PS: I know i acknowledged far few religions and gods in this post. But its just what came to my mind at this moment. I am sure, if I sit around and think about it, i will come up with more of them). - Again, hope none of it offends anybody :) Peace!

My splendid Easter holidays :) - Part 1

I have never thought much about Easter, considering i am not a Christian and hence for me it holds hardly/no significance (with all due respects and no offense to religious folks) except it used to be sometimes an off day from work... (sometimes = hardly/don't remember :D). In India, i did not get these offs considering how stock market companies mostly adhere to national holidays only and more often than not skip even those! So here in South Africa, where the obvious religion seems to be Christianity, Easter is a big thing and is sandwiched between "Family Day" and "Freedom Day" and "Labour Day" and many such happy happy holidays :P. One of the 2 long weekends and offs here in SA, we ( I and my husband) decided we ought to put em to good exploratory use, And we DID !! :D ... 

We explored the beautiful province of Mpumalanga ( name that means "East" or literally "the land where the sun rises" in Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi), situated towards the east of Gauteng ( thats where i live) and took approximately 4 hours drive to Nelspruit, which is the capital of Mpumalanga. In Nelspruit, we know of this lovely B&B ( Bed and Breakfast) place called 'Bavaria Guest House' and its very friendly and helpful hosts Roger and Louise Higham; where we decided to stay in. Roger is quite knowledgeable of sights to see and places to visit along with timings etc. He also provides maps and routes ( as perhaps many B&B in the area do). But he is a courteous person and takes personal interest in the needs of his guests which is quite nice to experience! ( By the way, i feel the whole B&B concept is a very smart business idea for people who have lavish housing and have numerous rooms; on a daily charge of Rand 500 per room per night with breakfast, it is a very very smart concept indeed if someone has say 6 rooms and is an ideal touristy location!!) 

View from our room - Bavaria Guest house, Nelspruit

Anywho, we spent day 1 lazing in the guest house considering we reached late evening and were tad sore from the drive. Our whole purpose of visiting the province had been to check out "The Panorama route" which is pretty breathtaking as the word goes. On day 2 though there were low clouds and mist, so checking out the view couldn't have happened. Hence, upon Rogers' reco we visted the Nelspruit Botanical Gardens. I imagined the place to have loads of well lined bushes, trees, grass and flowers etc with tags and names that i had tried memorizing in some Bio-chem lecture in college ( its an impossible task i think). Pleasantly it was anything but boring! It had water-falls and pathways made of wooden logs that i felt was out of a jungle movie! So lush green, typical rainforest, plush and Beeeooooteeefooool!!! :D Loved it.... Check out the pics, i had to select sparingly and still it is quite much!!

I think this post of mine would need a part- 2 ....