Day 120: An April That's Been Worked Out!

I have been keeping a log of my exercise plan since October 2009 and I realized that this April has been my fittest month since then!

I exercised a total of 19 days out of which 12 were spent in hot yoga - which is like my gold standard for exercise. My previous best record was 19 days out of which only 9 were yoga, which was a few years ago.

So this is a clear win!

Feeling oh-so-cool about it! 

Day 119: Drama Talk!

A friend of mine wants to do a play in Malayalam and is currently in the very initial stages of the production. He gave me a ring to know whether I would want to be involved as part of the cast. As much as I would have loved the experience, with a heavy heart I had to decline the opportunity because really, regular rehearsals are not something I can commit to at this point in time.

But as we spoke more, it struck me that sure, I can't be part of the cast but why not the crew?! I could be in the backstage which will require time commitment only for a few days prior to the performance dates. It would be a few days of intensive commitment vs. regular commitment required over a longer period of time as with the cast. It seemed like something I could totally do!

I got super excited and shared my thoughts with him. I suggested that maybe I could be his stage manager, I have enough experience and can easily work with the sound and lights. He was totally happy with the idea and before we knew it, we were rattling away about all sorts of production details! It was SO awesome!

I really hope the production takes place - he is still trying to gather the cast, get an afffordable venue and put all the the nitty gritties together. If it does, I will get to be the stage manager and do something that I have been sorely missing for a few years now! My last production was in 2009, which was really too long ago!

Am not sure where this will go, but for today, just discussing about a theatre production has got me so very excited! Beautiful! 

Day 117: A Weekend of Discovery!

27 - 28 April, 2013

This was my third weekend after I got back to work post maternity leave. And for the first time, I realized how much I am missing out when am at work!

Each hour, I was discovering something new by the little one. It ranged from her new expressions, her new ways of crawling, sitting, "talking", how she rolls her bottle right and left while feeding, how she loves to be in the playground pretending to slide down the slide and ride the wooden horse, how she interacts with other kids, how she is jealous and starts to scream when I talk to other kids and how she puts up her best behaviour in front of strangers but readily transforms to a terror the minute she is inside the house. So many fascinating new things!

A part of me feels bad about missing out on these as and when they happen, but the other part was super thrilled to keep discovering one new thing after the other during the two days. This journey is surely gonna get increasingly fun and increasingly harder but for the time being, am happy with it just as is! 

Day 116: Until 1:30 am!

That's how long the hubby and I chatted away with a close friend.... until 1:30am!

This, of course, would not have been anything special a while ago but ever since the little one came along, we get back home latest by 11:30pm or so.

But today, we stretched it a while longer.

It all started with dinner at my favourite place Maggie Thai followed by a movie. The movie was rather boring, so we left at interval point and decided to spend the rest of the evening chatting away.

Best decision ever!

Over cups of Starbucks drinks (mine was a Mocha to help me get through this rare late night), we chatted for a few hours straight! About life, dreams and happiness in general.

It was the perfect night out.

Before we knew it, it was 1:30am and we took our leave. We got back to a fast asleep baby, thereby missing out any play time for the day, but I realized that I really needed this night out. I was beginning to miss it, i.e. spending time as and how I liked it, vs. having to plan every single detail out before stepping out of the house.

So this helped me appreciate everything a little bit more - the good evening, the company of a wonderful friend and the joy of getting back to my own little one! 

Day 115: DVD Workout!

As much as I love my yoga classes, it is terribly hard to make my way to one. The whole process - i.e. the commute, the 1.5 hour class itself and the post class shower, takes about three hours in total. These days with my work as well as desire to spend time with the little one, squeezing in three hours is getting increasingly difficult. So I was looking for alternative ways to get some exercise. Sure, there are always options like swimming and walking etc. but with Singapore's weather conditions, these are not really guaranteed. And no, the gym isn't an option either. For some reason, I absolutely hate going to the gym.

So I decided to check out some workout DVDs. I wanted something that was high impact but that doesn't take much time either. It is hard to make three hours to go for yoga classes, but it is even harder to take more than 30-40 minutes if I am working out at home, because the little one makes her displeasure loud and clear, if I do not pay her enough attention.

And I found what I think is a perfect fit! I came across this DVD by Jillian Michaels called 30-day Shred which is three levels at 27 minutes each of pretty intensive workout, as per its numerous reviews on the internet. I don't have much weight to "shred" but its combination of strength training, cardio and abs workout looked promising. So I got myself a DVD from Amazon.

Today, I did my first level 1 workout, following the DVD!

It was hard, sure... but not as hard as what the reviews were making it out to be, which is good. It basically means I am not that unfit. But it definitely got my heart rate up and my muscles sore, which is awesome!

The recommendation is to do the routine for 30 days at a stretch (and hence the name) with 10 days for each level. I will not be following that schedule surely, because Bikram yoga is still my first priority but this is a great replacement for days I can't make it for yoga! Plus it is short, so there is really no excuse for not doing it.

So yes, am indeed very happy with my latest discovery of a workout routine and actually working it out! 

Day 114: Cobra Pose - Check!

Whew! This is really something! The last time I got any kinda appreciation for my cobra pose - one of my least favourite poses at Bikram Yoga, was sometime in 2010, as per my 1000-day blog! So getting a "Good One!" on this today made me feel on top of the world! There's still a long way to get to my previous form, but am definitely making very, very slow but steady progress in my postpartum yoga practice! 

Days 108 - 113: So Much Happening!

I really wish I had the time to write individual posts for the past few days because there simply seems to be much happening these days! But I am too caught up and my bullet-pointed highlights will have to suffice. So here we go!

a) Housewarming - My brother-in-law and wife bought a new apartment in Singapore and had their housewarming. The hubby, the little one and I were there for this very special moment in their lives. It is always lovely to see people's dreams come true and I know that this was a big one for them! It felt really good to be part of it!

b) Farewells - Both my mom and my father in law left for India over the last few days. Farewells are never nice but the upside is that you really treasure the last few days and hours spent together! It was no different this time as well and I thoroughly enjoyed the quality time that we spent!

c) The Pool - This is a real big one! The little one took her first trip to the pool and it was nothing short of awesome! Initially when I placed her on her floating ring in the water, she started to wail, probably due to the cold. So I took her out and got her to dip only her feet in the water. After the resulting acclimatization, she seemed to enjoy a lot better. Before we knew it, there she was comfortably settled on her floater ring and thoroughly enjoying her "swim"! All my maternal instincts came out and I felt oh-so-proud of my water baby! Of course, she spent more time trying to eat the floating ring than playing with water, but let's ignore such small distractions for the time being. I had the best time with her and after her time in the pool was done, it was my turn! My last swim was two days before delivering the little one, so it's been a while now. But my first postpartum swim wasn't bad at all. I managed to complete eight laps, which is a decent average for me. Loved the water, loved the experience, loved the evening!

d) Compliments - Who doesn't love compliments! When someone comes and tells me that he/she likes something I had worked on, I am immediately transported to cloud nine. And over the last few days, I was told by one person that she loves my blog and by another that she watched my film Mausams for the second time and by yet another one that she loves all my films so far! Not one, not two but THREE! Which means triple trips to cloud nine! Very thankful, very humbled!

e) Duxton Hill, Lucha Loca & Auntie Kim's - These are my discoveries over the last few days. Duxton Hill is a pretty "happening" place in Singapore and the not-so-happening me had never been there before. But I really liked it. It had old shophouses that have been converted to pretty nice retaurants. I had dinner at a place called Lucha Loca which was pretty good too. I absolutely loved their grilled fish which came up with an awesome spiced sauce and their housepour red wine was great, unlike the watered crappy stuff that's usually served. Another discovery was Auntie Kim's Korean restaurant on Thomson Road. It looked like pretty authentic Korean food. I had noodles with fried meat in soy bean paste (which is black in colour) and it was super yummy! I love it when I make such discoveries...it's great to have a few new very promising places to go to!

f) Work, Reading & Schedule - Work's progressing wonderfully and I am really enjoying myself. I had two late night calls and by late night I mean schedule like 7 - 10pm and 7 - 11pm on the two days. It's crazy but I am still enjoying it because I managed to squeeze in a yoga class on one day and play-time with the little one on the next, so I really can't ask for more. I am also managing to get some reading everyday especially  during my commute to and from work and sometimes during bedtime, once the little one has slept off. This is something I am enjoying a lot too. During the weekend, I also managed to watch a few movies (the Tamil film "Pizza" was my favourite!), which is of course, an activity that I always enjoy. I am still a long way from having a regular routine but for now, I am at peace with things just the way they are.

Like I said, too much happening. All exciting, all beautiful!