In search of yoga props

The value of props as a tool for all kind of alignment in yoga poses (Asanas) is indeniably beneficial for yoga practitioners.

During these 2 years of yoga practice, I know I need to get myself a pair of yoga blocks especially for my jump through and back poses. Whenever I pass by any sports or yoga store, I will peek at whatever accesories they have to gear up my yoga collections. But end up, I will just walk away with empty hand, and keep on delaying on buying one.

Until one day, my instructor recommended a shop that she usually get yoga products from, exxe.

There are 2 outlets in Singapore, one is at Velocity and the one that I went is located at the Orchard Central. At first, I have some doubt about the stuffs with Hello Kitty cartoon on it as it would be too girlish and pinkish for me (not my kind of style though).
But, when I first laid my eyes on the endearing light pinko Hello Kitty blocks,
I was yelling: " Sooooooo cute! You guys are coming home with me!"

Awwwwww..... Aren't they cute?

The Hello Kitty performing a Upward Facing Dog pose - Urdhva Mukha Svanasana.

Once again, it's super ccccccuuuuttteeeeee....

They even match with my Ikea's little pinky stool! (Sorry for the messy mussy room).

I'm so going to bring over this Nike yoga mat and HelloKitty block for my up-coming YTT, Yaaayyyyaaa!

Now what? I need to get a yoga strap to accessorize my yoga gear.

Just another week

Just another one more week, I will be back to my beloved hometown, Kuantan for a week, and then starts my whole new exciting journey to Byron Bay, NSW for whole month!

Imagining myself chanting Om (Pranayama-breathing exercise) every early morning at 6am, practising every single yoga poses and adjust my alignment with a bunch of yoga lovers, lunching and dining with full vegetarian at Tallow beach houses, taking a brisk walk along the coastline at the most easterly point in Australia. I can't pen it all down as I'm way too excited about the whole trip as this would be the very first time I would land in huge Oz's mainland!

I think it's a time whereby I can really think deeply without any disturbance adn figure out what I really want for my future, explore my ownself, clear my mind and keep my brain from racing.

"The most important things in life are invisible."

Call me the Wave Hunter!!!

Right after the day of Mount Kinabalu trekking trip, we headed over to the Padas River Whitewater Rafting. Initially, we were a bit skeptical about whether we could make it all the way for another ultimate challenge after 2 continuous enervating hiking days. I was grumbling about my achy legs and it's hurt really bad for just walking up the staircases to the hotel room. They all even told me that we will be just using our hands to paddle, nothing to do with our legs.

I was utterly speechlees!

Then later at night, OTC got a call from the river guide, saying that we have to wait for his call in the morning at around 7 o'clock to confirm the rafting as it has to be determined by the weather and rapids on the day itself. Thus, if it's raining or raining the day before and cause a high turbulence rapids, we can't go for the whitewater rafting.

Luckily (or unfortunately), he called early in the morning and we all packed up and carried our exhausted soul and physical body, hopped on the van at 8am sharp, proceed to out next destination, Tenom, a small town located in interior division of Sabah. It took us about one and a half hour to reach Tenom and towards the whole journey, I was dragging myself the whole journey until we reached a village near Pangi at 11am.

I totally have no idea how much fun I was about to have!

We were all geared up with helmet and life jacket, we were ready to go... So excited!!!

From left to right: CCE a.k.a WILD BOAR, OTC, CLY, Ben Lai a.k.a MONKEY KING, Clovern & Yang.

A series of hilarious jumping poses directed by the river guide.

Could you notice the railway track on right hand side? Supposingly, there is an antique old train that takes passengers to Beaufort, but now is undergoing some sort of repair work that will take about 2 years time or even until the 10MP (10th Malaysian Plan) regarding to the river guide. He was so funny!
They are so smart, the alternative way of channelling

from place to place would be this.

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The Flintstone style .

7 of us plus our refreshment a.k.a watermelon were pushed by
2 macho guys on a trolley up to Pangi.



At the beginning, we were getting thrilled by scenic ride along the Padas river.
After half an hour, our back and buttocks felt numb as we sitting cross-legs
in such a packed area but we still managed to squeeze a smile.

Finally we arrived at the starting point after 1 hour plus of trolley ride.

Light refreshments served in the middle of the village.

Again, we were asked to do some jumping poses prior to the real wave hunter began.

Hoooraay...

It's very important to have a safety briefing before the extreme excursion begins.

Apparently, we would be carried by the raft, the inflatable boat that made from rubber and PVC containing pressurised gas. Neh, the kind of boat that use in Titanic movie to rescue people when the tragic accident really happened.

The river guide then explained to us how to get balance by sitting down on the edge of the raft and paddle in the same time. Don't play play, water rafting can be quite a dangerous and high risk sport, we required to fill in the indemnity form in case anything happen to us.

Bye! *sobbing* Daddy, jie, Billy, Arion, Jasmine and mummy, bless me!

Then, something thrilled happened.....

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Exhilarating adventure shooting through rapids started down the Padas River
( Level III to IV ). Level III to IV means experienced paddling skills needed for rafters as there maybe large waves, rocks, and a considerable drop and waves.

7 of us were guided by 2 experience river guides, without them, we were doomed!

Uh-hoo.... Attacked by the violent splash of whitewater.

The 30km white water rafting journey, makes the longest in Borneo itself and it will take around 2 hours to reach the ending point.

And it holds 7 exciting and tough rapids such as Merry-Go-Round Rapid, Break Point Rapid, Scooby Doo Rapid, Cobra Rapid, Curve Rapid, Lambada Rapid and Head Hunter Rapid.

Keep on paddling! Don't ever stop propelling!

Heading towards Cobra rapids.

We made it through the level III rapid that require significant maneuvering.

See the river guide (black shirt) behind me. He was trying to lift me up and throw me into the river. I quickly kneeled down and cried out loudly. LOL.

Yet, another fast and furious ripple awaiting us.

There was no turning back! Awww.....

Can't even see me here!

We pierced through the wave.

Down!

Most powerful wave ever!

Yes! Yes! Yes!
My adrenaline was pumping and rushing to the max even upon reaching the ending point, Rayoh. I want to do it AGAIN!

We were famished after the whole mind-blowing extreme sport.

Fingers-licking-good on the boat while transferring back to Beaufort town.

Easy-breezy Pantene commercial break.

Why my eyes closed again?

Monkey king-1, Wild boar-0

Counterattacked!
Monkey king-1, Wild boar-1 (DRAW)

We were indeed having way too much fun for the whole KK trip, thanks OTC and CLY for organizing this wonderful and eventful trip.

When is our next trip?

The future architect

Introducing my beloved brother, Billy.


He's such a rebellious teenage and now taking architecture degree in Taylor's College.

This is some 3D work that he did for his 3rd semester.

Just want to share with you all about the 3D work that he had been working for because I'm impressed!

I'm actually kind of computer-thicko when it comes to all these software related programming.

Hehe!

I defeated 4095.2 (Part II)

It was 2.30am in the morning, and we all sat in the cafeteria, freezing (I think it was about 5 to 8 degree celcius), trying to nibble some bites before heading to the second phase of our journey. All of us were drained off from the previous day hike. But still, we were in a high spirit of wanting to conquer the highest peak of Southeast Asia. We got ready by putting on our gloves, headlamp, layers of clothes and beanie. At around 2.45am, we were well-prepared.

Get set, go!

Climbing up an almost vertical slope by pulling the rope back to back, in the totally dark situation. The only light of source was from our own headlamp. Along the route was a series of man-made wooden ladders, some tree roots and branches. As we ascending up, the air was getting thinner and colder, these really make the trekking much more physically and even mentally challenging. After one hour plus of hiking, we reached the Sayat-sayat check point at 3668m for registration. We have to show our name tag in case we get lost in the mountain. From there, the trekking was getting tougher and my legs were getting heavier. Each step taken was effortful. The journey continued with steepy slippery silver black rocks, I counted every 10 steps, and rested to catch a lungful of Oxygen. It was really tough.

My devil-mind told me to surrender, it's enough to suffer my own body. But my angel-mind said, just keep going, it's just 1/2 km away and you can do it!

And slowly, the sky turned brighter as time goes by.

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Ahhh.... The breathtaking breaking of dawn with the velvet sky.

We finally made it!!!!

From left-top: Boon Pin, Tze Chein, Lai see

From left-bottom: Me, Ling Yue, Yang.
There was 7 of us but 1 of my climbing mate (Chee Eng) left behind.

The tour guide did mention explicitly that we have to reach the low's peak at least 5 minutes before 6am to catch a glimpse of dawn. And I could see the sunrise from the halfway of the low's peak! I was a bit late, late for like 10 minutes to the low's peak. Arghhhh.... Wasted!

From where I was standing at the top of the Low's peak, I could see the grey granite slabs stretch endlessly deep down and it was like 90 degree of slanting line.

Behind was St. John's Peak (4090.7m).

We were contentedly basking in the warmth of the morning sun.

This was something extra-ordinary that I have never seen before. On top of the opposite peak, there appeared the almost full-circle of rainbow in the middle of the mist. According to a Taiwanese climber on the spot, they called it as "kuan yin circle".

At 6.45am, the morning fog seemed like going to blanket the view of the surroundings and we all decided it's time to head down.

With our guide (and also porter) at the mark of 8.5km.

Could you notice the white lines on the rock? It is so-called the aplite dyke.

Good shoes bring you to good places, indeed, I believe so!

We were actually having fun playing around with the
distance and dimension of photography skills.
" I'm literally holding the South's peak!"


With the 2 cute little native guide whom brought us all the way up to the summit.

It was really cold and breezy up there.

At that paricular time, it would be PERFECT if there were a Starbucks ground brewed coffee + freshly baked walnut muffin!

Descending down from the plateau of Mount Kinabalu with clear blue sky.

Pitstop: Ribena, the hiker's energy booster!

The 8km mark with South peak at the background.

Tell you what, I was wearing multi-layers of clothing. I was really fear of cold. Even I couldn't stand like Genting that kind of weather.

Top, from in to out: sport bra, long john, long sleeve shirt, t-shirt, sweater,

wind-breaker (rented RM10 from laban rata)
Bottom, from in to out: breifs, short pants, long john, yoga long pants, and track bottom.

We were taking our own sweet time to really feel the fresh air and the wind-blowing on our face.

With the sun beaming in our eyes......

Sitting at summit plateau.

The Donkey's Ears Peak was covered by the think fog.

At last, 7 of us got into the picture at Sayat-sayat hut. We are the climber!!!

And, the stunning scenery continue along the way....

Kundasang small town at the backgroud.

At some point, I was totally clueless about how I got up from here?

Getting down carefully from the precipitous cliff by holding tightly of the rope.

Awwwwww.....

Some weird-looking leafless tree.

Heading down and it's getting hotter as the sun rised.

It was quite scary when you look all the way down from the wooden staircase.

Step by step, we get there.

The green hut was Guntung lagadan, where we'd stayed the previous night.

At 10.30am, we were actually running kind of late and consider the few last groupies that still packing and taking breakfast at Laban rata resthouse. Everyone else had started to make their way down. So, without any delay, we made it back down again with a lot of heavy groaning,

" Uh, Ah, Ouch, Help!"

My calve muscles and knee joint were killing me and we have another 4 hours, to be exact, 2500 steps to go via Timpohon route. The last hour had been daunting and it hit my limit as I really wanted to just roll down the hill. Slowly, at 4.30pm, I planted my feet at the timpohon gate. It was great to reach the bottom finally!

No. 001 to 007

My sore legs, it was torturing!

I've got the color certificate! And my dream come true!

I'm so proud of myself and this wouldn't be my last trip to all those adventurous expeditons, I will keep on crossing my own threshold, beat myself,

I can do it, when's your turn?