Gym Class Monster

Last week, I went to my first Xtrain class at the College. According to the gym's website, the class is "a combination of aerobics routines designed to improve muscles and cardio fitness". It sounded perfect for me so I decided to give it a go.

Friday evening, I got ready for class. It was hard to get out of the house but it was well worth it when I arrived at the gym to find a very enthusiastic instructor waiting for me. I mean us, the students. Mr D, who appeared to be in his late forties wasn't what I expected at all. Yes, he was very fit but I had imagined someone a lot younger and more appealing. Someone like Christiano Ronaldo.

A girl can dream right?

At exactly 5.30 pm, Mr D started the class with a low-impact routine; march - side-step - leg curl. He used an upbeat disco music from the 70s which kept everyone entertained. Well, everyone except me. I can't stomach tunes from the 70s so the songs were kind of nauseating for me. Having said that, I did enjoy the workout.

Four routines and five disco songs later, Mr D stopped the music. What a relief! I watched as he changed the CD and waited patiently for what I hoped was a song from this century. When he finally pushed PLAY, my brain almost exploded.  It was Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Staying Alive, Staying Alive.

As you can imagine, I felt like killing Mr D. 

I know I should have casually left the gym, but I didn't. I kept my cool and stayed for the next routine. It wasn't easy, I assure you. This one involved a bit of jogging and lots of squatting. The squats are tricky cos you need to go down low and squeeze your butt cheeks together, tightly. Seven minutes in, my knee started acting up. When Mr D noticed that some of us weren't doing it right, he boomed "common! tighten those muscles!" When that didn't scare us, he threatened to check our butt cheeks.  Damnit! I had to put on a show and squat like I've never squatted before. When I was done, my calves felt like jelly.

After that gruesome routine, Mr D decided to continue the torture. He divided us into 2 teams and placed us on the opposite end of the gym. Team 1's job was to squat as many times as possible and high-five the runners  from Team 2. Our job in Team 2 was to run to the opposite end of the gym and high-five the people in Team 1. We needed to do this for the entire duration of 5 minutes, going back and forth, back and forth until Mr D blew the whistle.

This was worse than the squatting act cos I had to run non-stop. I huffed and puffed, cursed in my head, huffed puffed, cursed in my head, huffed and puffed and cursed some more. My muscles were aching but I continued to run. My ego wouldn't let me quit.

At one point, I was running  shoulder to shoulder with a Kiwi girl 3 times my size. I was comfortable at that pace but I decided to kick it up a notch by getting ahead of her. When I eventually did, my heart soared! YAY!!! Now I wasn't the slowest runner anymore! She was.

30 seconds later, all that changed. I had to stop abruptly  cos I got these really bad cramps across my stomach.  I went to a corner and bent over to ease the pain. Now if you've ever watched one of the initial episodes of The Biggest Loser, you'll probably have seen those contestants who were pushed so hard that they broke down and cried. It wasn't that dramatic for me, but like those contestants, I felt like dying. I was panting for air and taking deep breaths. When Mr D saw me, he shouted "Common..Keep running!" That got everyone's attention. My face felt warm with embarassment but I wasn't budging. I ignored Mr D and the rest of the world.

After a few minutes, the cramps eased. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 6.15pm. Great. Ten more minutes before it's over. I concentrated as the Psycho started a cool down routine - lots of stretching and bending etc. The music? An epic song from the 70s of course. He'd play the same tune  till hell freezes over. Oh! You know what else he did? During the cool down bits, he sang along to the music with the microphone turned on. O-M-G. It was the most annoying thing EVER. I hated it as much as I hate Jacob Lusk's over-the-top performances.

When the class finally ended, Mr D thanked everyone and told us to attend the next session on Monday. Though it sounded excitingly suicidal  and FUN, *eye roll* I decided to pass. I didn't want to aggravate my hypertension.

This week, I'm attending a Zumba class conducted by a very cool instructor.  She plays music from this era and she doesn't use aggression. Thanks to Mr D, I can now tell the difference between good and bad instructors.

Bliss

Hi everyone! I am feeling ecstatic today because my mom is finally here!!!

Do you know what this means? It means that I can now spend more time writing my thesis. Yay!! Hubby and I can now go on a date without the kids. Yay!! I can finally take long showers without having to worry about Alden pulling Vava's hair. Yay!! What else? Oh! I can probably make an appointment with the hairdresser next week! Yay!

I am so happy!!! To help you understand the extent of my ecstasy, I present you this awesome video. Enjoy!

Wild Wild West

About 10 days ago, we drove 220 km to the West Coast of the South Island in a 2-car convoy. We were joined by Abdullah, my colleague from the College, and his cute little family. The trip turned out to be one of the best we've ever had cos we got to do some exciting stuff in the span of four days.

The thing that prompted this adventure was Ken Ring's earthquake prediction for Christchurch. This man claims to have predicted both New Zealand's major earthquakes and warned Cantabrians that another killer quake would hit Christchurch on March 20. Initially, I wasn't convinced but after seeing how everyone else was reacting, I began to freak out too.

So. On March 19, we fled Christchurch and headed to the West Coast on State Highway 73.  The weather was a bit cloudy at first but as we drove further, leaving Christchurch, things started to look up. As always, the journey along the Canterbury plains was nothing short of spectacular. My favourite sight was the picturesque sheep farms I saw along the plains. There's just something about those sheep that makes me go gaga.

After an hour's drive, we stopped at Lake Coleridge, a nice picnic site overlooking the Southern Alps. We stretched our legs, took some photos and had a quick Sushi lunch. The place also turned out to be a perfect rest stop for the men cos the bushes gave them enough privacy  to answer the call of nature. Those without the extra bits (like me) would need to suck it up for a while.

The next stop was Castle Hill. Our January trip to the hill was quite recent so we weren't that excited to see the limestones or pose in front of the rock formations. Other than our attire, everything else would have looked the same cos the change of season from summer to autumn is not apparent yet. Because of that and the fact that we were lazy, we decided to stay behind while Abdullah and his family went on a hike.

After Castle Hill, we went all the way to Hokitika, the 'Gateway to World Heritage and Glacier Regions'. It is located on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, beside the Tasman Sea and the Southern Alps. The town is full of awesomness cos there are heaps of stuff to see and do. Lakes, heritage park, boat cruises, glow worms, jades and glaciers are some of the attractions this place has to offer. Find out more here.

We spent 3 nights at Hokitika Holiday Park, a cute little place close to the town centre. It's not posh but it's clean and cosy. It was quite late when we arrived so we just spent the rest of the day relaxing and barbequing.

The next morning, we drove to Shantytown, which is 20 minutes away from Hokitika. Shantytown is actually a replica of an old west mining town in the 1860s. It looks quite ancient cos there are lots of old-fashioned buildings and memorabilia. Highlights at the park include riding the steam train, gold panning, and having an old-fashioned portrait taken as a momento of your visit. Alden's favourite was the train ride.

The train journey ended at the old saw mill. From there, we walked down to the gold panning area where we panned for gold. I was eager to do it cos it looked fun and the brochure said a small find is guaranteed for all 'prospectors'. After watching one demo, I was ready to strike gold! I panned and panned and panned but found nothing. After some time, I got bored so I asked hubby to take over. Within minutes, he got his, I mean our flakes of gold! Yay!

So tiny, you can barely see it

After our gold panning success, I took Alva for a stroll while everybody else went to that gold sluice thingy. Don't know what that's about but it has something to do with gold mining. *Yawn* Our last activity was taking photos of the old town buildings. It took us an hour to soak it all up and by the time we were done, everyone was tired. These are some of the pics we took.

Losing all track of time amidst the fun, we forgot all about lunch. We rushed back to the hotel and finally called it a day. A very wonderful day.

*As prophesied by Mr. Ring, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake rattled Christchurch that night. 

Unambitious Baker

I've been stuck at home for more than a week now and frankly, I'm getting  restless. I mean, it's great to spend time with the kids and watch cartoon all day long but when I think about my thesis, I get so uptight and worried.

To keep myself occupied, I decided to try my hand at baking. When did this happen? Two days ago, when I almost killed myself watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Before last week, the invasion of Yo Gabba Gabba in our household was minimal because the kids didn't watch a lot of TV. Now that the school's closed, they're getting heaps of YGG.

source

Okay. Let me tell you why I hate it. The show is about 5 monsters and DJ Lance going around teaching kids some positive stuff. The teaching part is fine but the rest is NOT. First of all, the songs are so monotonous and annoying. They get in my head and give me the worst migraine ever. Especially that song "party in my tummy". The person who composed that number is a total moron.  Second reason. The way DJ Lance talks to his entourage is so annoying. His giant teeth and silly glasses are so damn annoying. Period. How about the five monsters who sing and dance with DJ Lance? A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G. Now, if there's anything in the world I can't stand, it's this show. I don't know why the kids love it so much. Whenever it's on, their eyes are glued to the screen in a hypnotic manner. It's kind of scary.

If you've never seen Yo Gabba Gabba, you should count yourself lucky.

Now where was I? Oh yes. Baking. I had so much fun baking last week that I wanted to do it again and again. To impress hubby, I decided to bake cute litlle cupcakes all by myself. This means, getting a recipe and  starting from scratch. I planned to do exactly that but when I thought about the pain of measuring the ingredients and my tendency of going overboard with the baking powder, I decided not to take the risk. At this stage, my emotion is so fragile, a cup-cake disaster could crush me.

So I did what's sensible and bought this.

Since I didn't own a muffin tray, I had to get one from the supermarket. I was about to purchase a $29.90 cupcake tray and a mixing bowl when I suddenly ask myself,  how often do I bake anyway? The fact is, I'm not really into baking and the last time I did was two years ago. Based on that reflection, I decided to scrimp and get my supplies at a thrift shop. The charity shop at Blenheim Road was a perfect place to start.

My mission was to get a muffin tray and a round cake pan but when I got there, my shopping list multiplied. They've expanded the store and added  heaps and heaps of stuff! For someone whose mom is a hoarder, I found it so hard to resist. 

After an hour  of scavenging, I decided to buy these...

 

A cake pan and cookie shapers



An old cup cake tray and another cake pan

A serving dish

  

Everything for $10.00. After that very theurapeutic session, I went home and started baking. Step 1 was mixing packet A with water, butter and egg. Step 2 was pouring the batter into the cupcake liners in the muffin tray. Step 3 was popping the muffin tray into the oven. And then I was done. The best part was spreading the icing on the cupcakes.  

The batter

All done!

Alden getting impatient

Yeah. I had a lot of fun. It kept my mind occupied and it made me forget about Yo Gabba Gabba. I think with a few more practice,  I could pull off that lemon cheese cake recipe Carol was telling me about. Now wouldn't that be something!

This Too Shall Pass

It has only been six days since the big quake hit us, but already it feels like weeks. At the moment, things are picking up in Chirstchurch, with water and electricity back on for 75% of the population. The Mayor is doing as much as he can to speed up the recovery of the whole city and I must say he's doing a commendable job so far.

Day 3, 4, 5 have not been easy for Cantabrians. With the city now closed, lots of people have lost their jobs and are surviving on government support. The death toll has risen too. No one has been pulled from the wreckage alive since Wednesday afternoon. The official death toll at the moment is 145. That number will definitely increase as there are still hundreds of people missing in the CBD. And the fact that it has been six days make the chances of survival rather slim.

The development in Christchurch so far

• There are still more than 200 people listed as missing
• More than 600 rescue workers are searching the region
• 62,500 residents remain without water and 100,000 have no sewerage service.
• Thousands of the city's inhabitants have left in droves, flying, driving, even walking away, with no plans to return any time soon
• Experts predict the exodus from Tuesday's killer 6.3-magnitude earthquake will continue in the weeks and months to come
• There is a cruel prediction by some that another big one will come on March 20

source: 3NEWS 

That's what I've gathered from the media. Some days, I just ignore earthquake-related news cos it's just depressing to watch. It's sad to see how people are suffering, having lost their loved ones and livelihood. One becomes paranoid and emotional you know. My solution to this is to turn off the news for a couple of days and just focus on what's in front of me. Things like what my kids do, what we're having for dinner, when to do the laundy and when I should continue writing my thesis. Basically, things within my control.


Most of my time were spent with the dynamic duos...

Watching her eat is a joy 

Alden was bored

so he decided to bully Alva

I cooked rendang...(from a packet)

and baked a chocolate cake ( from a box)

I did the laundry whenever there's sunshine

So that's what I did on Day 3 and 4. On Day 5, I decided to check my uni's website and email. Yoda sent me a message asking me how I was doing. He's not affected by the earthquake cos he's living in a suburb quite far from the city. After replying his email, I continued reading the message from the College's Dean. One of the announcements caught my attention.

Te Pourewa, where my office is located has suffered significant damage and it will be some time before we can access it. This came as a shock because the building seemed sturdy to me. When I thought about my data and research files in my office, I felt paralysed. I regretted not taking them with me when the quake hit. I replayed the scene over and over again and the more I thought about it, the more obssessed I got. Hubby snapped me out of it when he saw me crying in front of the computer. 

He said I am not the only one affected and surely I'd be able to get my data when the engineers have inspected the building. He's right. From that point onwards, I decided to apply a SO WHAT attitude to overcome my earthquake-related anxieties. So my office might collapse. SO WHAT! Kusai's passport is in there too and I'm sure he's freaking out like me. 

SO and WHAT have now become my two favourite words.

On Day 6, we went to have a drive around the city. I thought it was a good idea to get out of the house cos all of us have been cooped up at home for almost a week. When we got closer to the city centre around Moorhouse Avenue, I was shocked to see how much it has changed. I knew what to expect  but seeing it for myself was kind of surreal. A lot of roads are damaged, many buildings have collapsed or are on the verge of collapsing and policemen are patrolling all over the city. Like I said, it looks like a warzone now.

At Moorhouse Ave

Damaged warehouse

Don't know what this building used to be

Effects of liquefaction

A church along Bealey Ave

Burger King

A body was pulled from the rubble of this bookstore

Liquor selling cheap

All this for $25



This 4-bedroom house belongs to hubby's colleague, Martin. He's now renting a 2-bedroom apartment



Those are the effects of the big quake. Although it looks pretty bad now, the Kiwis are relentless on rebuilding their great city. Thousands of volunteers  from around the country are helping with the clean up, from kids as young as 12 years old to adults and senior citizens. They also include university student volunteers who call themselves Student Army and farmers who are described as Farmy Army. These unsung heroes are working around the clock to clean up after the big quake  and some are assigned to distribute supplies to residents of stricken areas. The disaster was Christchurch's darkest moment, but it certainly brought out the best in people.

I'm optimistic that things will get better in Christchurch. Like the mayor said in his speech "This too shall pass. It can only improve".