Sunday, August 30, 2009

Being 'Away' .....

Another wkend spent away from my family, I can already imagine/expect a certain woman screaming in my ear... Don't worry, this woman ain't my SO, but my sister.

Mat's a staunch believer that the family should sit down at least once a week for dinner with my dad. Its her way of trying to keep the siblings close and updated. But then again, we all also have our own lives to lead and it can sometimes be difficult to adhere to this 'tradition'.... This is the part where the screams would come in, at least in my ears....

Its not that I'm trying to avoid the gathering but she needs to understand that while I can come home most of the time after my wkend gym sessions for dinner, I do sometimes have programs on both days and need to absent myself.... Each time this happens, she would go "Can you please don't treat your home like a hotel? Don't just leave your dad to the maid, can you please help monitor her too?"

I know what I'm doing and I need some space... Please accord me some, thanks!!

PS : The above entry was composed using my iPod Touch...


Update on 31 Aug 2009 : Mat, surprisingly, didn't scream in my ears... in fact, she didn't even mention a word of what I was expecting to come from her. :p

Friday, August 28, 2009

Return of the Good Old Days...


It's been quite a few months since i last thoroughly enjoyed my BC class all thanks to the Instructor Course that was coming up at that time, stressing us all out! But with the course over, BC stress-level is back to near zero :)

I attended J's class on Wed and the feeling is entirely different... It reminded me of being back in the past where i would be under no pressure to 'perform'... I could fight at my own intensity and not be under the instructor's watchful eyes!

Going forward, I'm really not sure if i wanna advance my BC Module grade from 'Withheld' to 'Pass'. Since I have no intentions to teach, having a 'Pass' or not isn't gonna make any difference. But then again, having a 'Withheld' just seems abit the not right....

Maybe I should go for just one attempt to get the 'Pass', failing which I'd then just let it remain as per status quo?

Any suggestions? :D

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

3 Gruelling Days + 19 Awesome BC Fanatics = ??


The answer is : An Unforgetttable Experience...

I attended the long-awaited BC Instructor Course over the weekend from 21 - 23 Aug and I'm sure the title of today's posting tells the entire story of the 3 days... I must admit the course indeed IS fun.... but the stress level is there too due to the 4 presentations that we have to do.

Day 1's pretty much about theory and technique work. Don't think this is chicken feet... we did the same moves over and over again until we got it. Its either this or we had to hold the moves in position while the trainer goes around to check.... By mid-day, we were allocated our presentation track for Day 2. As luck would have it, I was assigned Muay Thai Track just as Jo had predicted! Not that I hated this track, but MT tracks are usually the most intensive tracks of the release. By intensive, I mean in terms of strength, voice and tempo. I was petrified when allocated because I've never really like this track and also due to the worry of not being able to match the intensity required.

Day 2 started off with plenty of aches for me in the butt and shoulder areas. I guess this is what everyone else in the course is feeling too. The day started off with the 1st of 4 presentations we had to do in total.... As my turn draws nearer, my heartbeat goes faster, my hands turned colder and my feet became heavier. It felt worse than my first time being on stage in the XXX SP Auditorium presenting my presentation on Spams Prevention.... When my turn inevitably came, I took a really deep breathe and told myself : "You've signed up for this... now go out there and get the job done. You have nothing to lose.... Just do a good 5min show and you're 1 down!"

The feelings at the end of the 5mins was one of one of relieve and elation. But my throat and shoulders ain't on such good spirits... they're screaming for help for I've actually unknowingly went all out with my shouts and descending elbows. There were more theory lessons after lunch before the 2nd Presentation in the late afternoon. This time, however, we were only expected to present 1/2 of the track. Again, I took another really deep breathe and took the plunge again. 3mins later, 2 down! Yeah!! However, my throat now is not only screaming, its ICU mode now! I dread to think how I could have presented my Exam Track the next day had I not bought Strepsils on my way back.....

Day 3, we had theories again in the morning b4 the 3rd presentation of the course. This time around, my allocation was a Power Track (T3, Sweetheart). When my turn came, I was much more confident than yesterday partly due to the previous 2 'exposures' I've had and it also happens that Sweetheart's one of my favourite track of BC40 besides Set Me Free (T8). Again, this presentation's a 1/2 track.... I'm pretty satisfied with my performance for this round as I've managed to remember and presented out most of the things I wrote down during scripting.

Actually, the reality was that I copied down 80% of what Tanya Walker (the LM Presenter of Sweetheart in the DVD) said in during the 1st half of this track. You should have seen the DVD, she's such a GOOD presenter! She's so informative throughout the presentation that I simply couldn't stop myself from 'lifting' all her cues. I copied quite a far bit that for once, I thought I'd be sued for plagiarism!

We finished off the 1st half of Day 3 with the much-feared Combat Challenge.... Initially we all thought it would be like a 1hr circuit training kinda programme but it turned out to be about 30mins only. The intensity is not that high either, at least in my context. The only thing which caught me out was the pushups and the kicks that we had to execute while lying on our sides. These 2 segment made me recall those days back in the army during BMT where the PTI (the most hated/feared trainer) would make us do pushups like crazy and run around touching things like monkeys.... Just like what Ben said : "We'd earn our lunches."

There were some final bits of theories after lunch... then came the defining moments we've all prepared so hard for... THE FINAL PRESENTATION!! I managed to finish off my last presentation without much hiccups in the choreography but I've not been able to cue/coach as much as scripted. However, I've managed to add in quite some impromptu feelings and motivational cues which I've plagiarised from Sue. Not too sure if the cues went down well with the folks but from the looks on their faces, I guess it ain't that bad :p

The look on everyone's face after the last person had present was one of extreme relief and elation! With the final 'exam' outta the way, 'Camwhoring' is next! Everyone got into the camwhoring act while Ben's giving out the training results to the individuals in private. I can imagine the anxiety within everyone of us as we approach him for our results.

For me, I won't say I'm entirely pleased with my results because I didn't actually attain the mark I've set for myself. Maybe I've expected too much from myself.... Nevertheless, I'd happy to have endured the 3 gruelling days with 19 awesome coursemates. I shall proceed with more practice and see if I can work towards my expected result.

These 3 days had been most rewarding for me in a long while as I've made plenty of new friends and could feel the strong bond amongst us due to the 'blood' and sweat we've all been through together.... Oh, and not to forget those impromptu unified shouting & singing-along of certain parts of the tracks each time that track was played.

We've our very own group in FB now and I really really do hope that we will keep in touch, meet up often and attend workshops/quarterlies or even the FILMING together if possible! I still remember how we were still pretty much in our own 'factions' at the end of Day 1 to now all bombarding each other's FB with messages and postings, starting threads on organisation of trips to upcoming quarterlies, etc..... I guessed this is the so-called camaraderie-ship....

I'm honoured and proud to have attended the training with you ppls!

At the end of the day, what many of those who had attended the course said IS true : "Don't stress yourself so much, just go there and enjoy the 3days!!" I DID enjoy my 3 days....

Anyone keen to go for the next run in Sept 09 @ TF?

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Bloopers....

With compliments from XXX/OD/CI/SID/eOS....

Wah... how come the dept abbreviations is sooooo long? Wells, lets slowly break it down :
1. XXX = Cannot tell you what it means
2. OD = Organisation Development
3. CI = Corporate Information
4. SID = Systems & Infrastructure Department
5. eOS = eOffice Support

FYI, eOS was my ex-team, helmed by you-know-who... Well, there's this recent ban of thumbdrives in the company and in its place, they implemented something called the Clearing-House so that users can copy out their files from the secure network via this place. I shall not bore you with the technical aspects.... Bascially, by the day the ban comes into effect, there were still many problems out there, esp. with the Clearing-House itself....

Damn it, not that I wanna slam them now that I'm outta the team, but I cannot understand how come the shit comes over to ITSec when its not even our idea nor job to roll this Red Green Shit (System, actually) out...

Somehow, I felt as if I've joined the Sai Kang Team instead....

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Random Thoughts

21 Aug is drawing nearer with each passing day... whats so special about this day you might asked? Well, it may just be another start of the wkend to the average person but for 5 of us from TF and maybe 10 more from the other gyms, it signals the start of 3days of 'torture' whereby the end result is a certificate granting you entry into the Les Mills' Instructors circle.

Yes, 21-23 Aug is the long awaited BodyCombat Instructor Training Course that I've been eagerly (nervously) been waiting for. No doubt many in the circle told us its difficult to fail, but I just can't help worrying about it... I hope everything can turn out well, REALLY...

The past 2 weeks had been real hectic for me at work. 2 weeks ago, I was dealing with the testing of some new HDDs solution which XXX is deploying... so I needed to conduct testing and preparations work. Last week, I was involved in the series of seminar which we (ITSEC) conduct around the various XXX locations to bring awareness and information of these new HDDs to the end-users. At a rough count, I think I've been the presenter for half of the 8 sessions so far. This is good for me because :
1. helps me overcome the fear of presentations
2. gets me exposed to the organisation
3. allows me to get familar with the new implementations
4. somehow helps me prepare for my BC Training too :p

I do not mind doing presentations actually.... but at least I must be familar with what I'm presenting. I cannot imagine presenting slides prepared by someone else and passed over to me to do unless I myself am familar with the topic presented.

Anyways, that's all over for the moment. I shall just continue to do my job, projects, tasks and learn whatever comes my way....

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Return of the Cram Days

Back in the past, whenever an exam is imminent, ppls around me would be cramming their books, hoping to score well. For me, I usually take it easy because I'm lazy? Not really but its more of I don't enjoy memory work. I'm a hands-on person. But then again, somehow (I also don't know how), I'd be able to do fairly fine for the exam... Maybe not the top marks but at least 60-70%. My feelings prior to the exams would be one of extreme anxiety, low in confidence and can't wait to get it over. Yet I can't be bothered to do any serious, hardcore cramming.....

I've handled it in this manner all the way until my Uni days were over... Since then, there hadn't been any exams which were able to exert such an influence on me. Not even the CCNA which I was attempting some years back. FYI, I didn't get that certification lah... But all these feelings suddenly all came flooding back over the wkend......

The 5 of us had our first 'combined' practice session yesterday. That was when reality sinks in! All along I had thought I'm going along fine.. it was until yesterday's session that I found out I've got loads to catch up on. This morning's sessions merely made me even more nervous about the entire thing. Yet nearly everyone whom I talk to about this tells me : "Don't think so much, just go there and enjoy the whole thing. It'd be fun...."

Seriously, in the early days of signing up for the course, I still have some hopes of having fun during the 3days but as time goes by, these hopes had all but evaporised into thin air! Right now, I'm basically cramming all that I can whenever, wherever I can.

I really do wanna fulfil my KPI for 2009.