A swollen ankle and "looks like" another a weekend at home :/

Well just about a week ago i.e. Friday the 25th of March whilst in Ben's aerobics class at Virgin Active Vodaworld, Midrand i rather stupidly twisted my ankle. :( The stupidity narrates as follows...

Ben, after some usual aerobic moves went onto making us do rigorous 'stepper' based moves. Now usually, he instructs without tandem usage of dumb-bells; but this time, he wanted accompanied movements on the yoga-mat using these as well. So we sort-of semi snatched/grabbed our required dumb-bells and kept 'em safe (lest everybody picks up one and one ends up with nothing)! Almost everybody kept one on the yoga-mat and one near or under the stepper. I kept mine under the damn stepper. Caught up in the moment of following steps on the stepper, i didn't notice my darned stepper move or perhaps slip front or back and subsequently my dumb-bell peeked its neck out. :/ And then, as one could expect i misjudged a step and my foot fell on the dumb-bell and i twisted my ankle...... Sigh!!!...... where are ones brains at times like these???!!!!!!!! WHY did i have to place them there when such a thing was bound to happen sooner or later?!

Thankfully i atleast knew i hadn't broken a bone, which is a very very plausible occurrence! Sprained the left ankle bad enough to be stuck at home for almost a week now huh! 

So, moral of the story - please use common sense in the gym... those equipments can hurt and lead to some severe damage as well if one is not careful!!!

"Going Dutch in Beijing" by Mark McCrum

My latest read is this non-fiction by Mark McCrum ( an author whom i haven't read much about - but thats hardly a criteria considering i don't stick to specific authors often enough...) called "Going Dutch in Beijing", which is an information overload on cultures across the world  -The faux pas one should avoid and basic essentials to know about people from various countries. Considering its one of my first reads on a global-travel non-fiction series, i don't know how to compare it with some other author or some other novel. But i immensely enjoyed reading this!

Well, but if you have any interests in traveling around the world or if perhaps your work takes you to places, i recommend reading at least a few books on various cultural practices; goes without saying it will help you bridge borders and more importantly get business deals! 

N5 certified!

Considering the long gap after which i am typing in, goes without saying i need to bring my blog up-to-date!! First up, i happen to have cleared my Japanese language exam (JLPT), level N5 yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! :D cleared it with a good score as well!!

The evaluation is across basically 4 sections, 2 of these are clubbed for lower levels i.e. N5 and N4. So overall i had 3 sectional scores to clear and an overall score as well. Essentially, if you flunk in sectionals but get through the overall, you are still considered to have failed!! So, you have grammar/vocab, listening and comprehension. And thankfully i got through all of them. Last year i didn't do as well, having flunked by 1 mark :/... so now, all's well that ends well - and you get a relatively happy blogger there!! Now i am preparing for level N3 ( skipping N4 as it is something that i am well versed with - evaluated and stamped so by my Jap teacher) :D

N3 is challenging, you have a truck load of Kanji's ( those graphic strokes you see on Chinese and Japanese manuals, text, shops etc.) to handle, memorize and reproduce time and again. And a lot more conceptual understanding of grammar. Johannesburg amazingly and rather sadly does not conduct these JLPT examinations. I find that immensely amusing coz this specific exam is conducted world-wide! Surely South Africa is significant enough to have it here! But, its not so.. and that's that. Also, i have to travel all the way either to India or Egypt, Kenya or Morocco to appear for the next level. I still have some time to decide on my centre so that's fine i guess...  :/ .... :) let's see what happens!

U2: 13th Feb 2011 - Live in South Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Location: The erstwhile soccer city stadium in Johannesburg

My first view of the concert area :)

The famous claw structure

Me and my husband

The timer started... building up the crowd expectation!!

Finally!!!

A rare moment of enthusiasm from the crowd.... crowd behaviour = disappointing...

I tried capturing the moon with the stadium, looked splendid!!

Milkyway!!! :D