Yoga Teacher Training

Have signed up for a 200-hour 24-Day Yoga Alliance accredited teacher training programme @ my local studio this week. Very exciting and excited. It will be held, thankfully, in two parts: October and January 2015. My yoga instructor friend told me that if it was a month-long intensive, students would get injured towards the end because, understandably, the course is physically very demanding. Mentally too, I'm told. Hmm, that sounds a bit scary.

Anyway, I think after 6+ years of practice I'm ready to take it a bit further and deeper. Though the longer I practise the more "issues" I discover I have with my physical body: hips, knee joints, shoulders and my spine ... am hoping through the training I will learn how to deal with these issues as I'm pretty much stuck with this body the rest of my life LOL. I'd also like to meditate more. At the moment, I can sit down for about 30 mins without fretting ... think am still a LONG way off before I can sit down and meditate, say, for an entire afternoon (without falling asleep). Ironic that this may sound but it can be quite exhausting just sitting down and not moving (!)

To prepare for the course, I will have to read up on quite a number of set texts... probably need to start learning Sanskrit *gulp* and write a couple of essays (which is fine, since I blog about my practice anyway). For this particular training programme there are four compulsory texts: Bhagavad Gita, Light on Life, John Friend's Anusara Teacher Training Manual (since the trainer Patrick Creelman is Anusara-trained I guess) and a book on anatomy, which should be interesting. I think I will get these books as soon as I can from the studio. 

But before I do all that, I think I will need to think hard on the reasons why I want to do this course (other than the 50-word sentence I sent to the studio for the application). Is it for personal advancement? Is it to satisfy a curiosity? Is it to do with achieving a life goal, is it about learning a new skill etc etc. I'm glad I've started this blog since I can put my thoughts down in writing in the coming months ... it does help to focus the mind. 

A Miscellaneous Posting

Have reached the final boss in Natural Doctrine but think will play some other games now. Apparently with ND, the end of first playthrough will take me straight to New Game, with nothing being carried over (yikes!), there is no way I will grind for those accessories and weapons again. I've done quite well in unlocking some goodies so I think I will pause right here. Have the say the game design is a bit naff ... why give us these accessories and weapons so late in the game while you can't really use them? And why can't we carry them to NG+? Anyway, can either return to Final Fantasy X-2 HD, which I still haven't finished, or continue with Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, which is extremely slow moving (am still at the stage when all FIFTEEN characters are being introduced (before they get bumped off one by one). Weird game but it was one of the top games (in Japan) in 2013 ... so maybe will just keep playing it ... for the rest of this year LOL... am sure once the action starts it'll be interesting and gripping (like with Persona 4: the Golden, I hope).

Almost forgot, a friend has asked to help post this link, so here it is below ... sounds like a very interesting and meaningful project:

#Myanmar # Burma

I want to share our Myanmar project on the country’s ties to China (Patrick Boehler wrote and I filmed) with you as well as a little anecdote about our time there on assignment. 

It’s still unclear how dangerous it was but sometimes you have to insist on doing things when you are covering a story. This was a calculated risk.

Patrick and I wanted to go see the site on the Irrawaddy River where China was building Myanmar’s largest dam before construction was halted. Standing at the edge of the river across from the empty construction encampment, we asked around to see if anyone would take us. But, no one would responding that the area was off limits to non-locals.  And, they didn’t want to be seen with us if caught. With my darker skin tone, I could fit in, but I was holding a camera, filming. Patrick, on the other hand, would stick out no matter what so the locals offered him a hat.  Now, in a country like Myanmar, where the military ruled with an iron fist for decades until recently, you don’t argue too much when you’re told something is off-limits. But, we were in the middle of nowhere, and we just wanted to go just a little downstream to see what they had built so far. What could possibly go wrong? 

Eventually, we did find someone who would take us downriver, and as you can see in the link(s) below, the reporting trip was well worth it. You can watch it on any mobile and desktop device, and if you’re watching on Internet Explorer make sure it is about version 9. 

Direct link to project:

http://www.scmp.com/infographics/article/1520445/china-myanmar-dragon-doorstep

Shortlink for Twitter: 

http://sc.mp/c3dzs

A Couple of Reviews

Just posted this on a game forum re: my experience with Natural Doctrine:

Okay, now that I've spent some time on this game, I can say I belong to the fraction who enjoys it v much. Yes, I seldom make it through a battle without Game Over-ing at least once but what is a game without any challenges, right? I'm now in this battle in which there seems to be an endless reinforcement of enemy gunners (so I need to keep everyone alive) while at the same time trying not to accidentally kill certain key characters on the battlefield AND to get to a couple of goodies chest guarded by these lizardmen...

I think I'm getting the hang of the link/chaining system but a good part of this game is also about strategising (getting as many turns as you can and physical deployment of team members). I agree with the criticism that, in some battles, you MUST do it the way developers want you to do it or else it's sayonara. That is a bit frustrating cos it might take several attempts (and many hours!) just to work out what the "correct" strategy is.

EDIT: I'm still trying to learn how to chain more than a dozen moves in one turn (which apparently is possible)... one skill also enables chaining of members scattered around the map...

I actually am enjoying this game. It is certainly much, much harder than Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together because there is no second chance. If you blew it, you blew it. You cannot reverse your move (as in the "chariot system" in TO) or revive any dead party member. Once someone on your team is killed, it's Game Over. I mean, just how unforgiving is that?! Just read on a strategy site how the "chaining" system work in this game and it is very complicated... Am surprised I got this far without fully understanding how the mechanism works. But I think I've reached a point in the game I must learn how to get as many moves as I can in one turn. 

JJH with her pink Samsung Note 3

On Tech-land, I just renewed my (two-year) contract with my mobile service provider -- and got a "free" Samsung Note 3 Neo out of it. I got this phone mainly because the brand was featured (prominently) in a super popular K-drama called He Who Comes from the Stars and, let me tell you, product placement totally works for someone susceptible like me *LOL* The one I got is green in colour (yeah!) and I've costumised it so it looks like a Stars phone. But compared with my Sony Xperia Z, I think this phone is less solid and it's WAY to sensitive to touches; i.e. in Instagram, before I hit the snap button it'd already snapped! Which can be extremely annoying. And it really has far more fancy little functions than I'd care for. Still, it didn't cost me anything so I'll just stick with it. But it does mean I now have to carry to big phones PLUS my Blackberry cos I don't wanna centralise all functions onto one phone (so Xperia Z has Whatsapp while Neo has Line) ... all very cumbersome but what is a phone geek to do?  

Natural Doctrine (Part Two)

Wow, this is a very unforgiving game! Just rage-quit ... needs to take a break. I'm already on Easy mode (I think) and am going through one dungeon that is extremely tricky and annoying. The worst part is the challenging part comes at the end -- so Game Over after already spent 15-20 minutes on clearing the earlier enemies is very %$%^$. Really need to think more carefully how to tackle this one ... and I hope to beat this dungeon relies not on luck but strategy! I'm still trying to grasp how the turn-chain works ... like, if the enemies chain together 10 attacks, then it's highly unfair on the player who only has five characters >:    

Natural Doctrine

Though this game won't be localised until this autumn (boo-hoo), Natural Doctrine is just too good a SRPG to pass up right now! Released this month in Japan, this turn-based strategy game is like Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (one of my all-time fav games) and Valhalla Knights 3 only its battle mechanism (esp its chain of turns) is more complex. I've already spent some time grinding levels and farming accessories and am totally loving it. This is not hack and slash and a lot of thoughts go into each move so one game can last about 30 mins! The only downside is, unlike TO -- when you kinda know whose turn it is next (the "lightest" characters always move first) -- here I never quite know who will take the next turn and sometimes I stare in horror when the enemies chain up to a dozen attacks (this basically spells Game Over). But I certainly will be spending much time on this game this week.



I finally bought the disc set of this year's super popular K drama called You Who Came From the Stars, which stars one of my fav Korean actresses Jun Ji-hyun. It's totally predicable and totally addictive. So when I'm not gaming this week I will be watching/finishing this 20-episode series (am on Episode 12 now!)

Some Romancing

So I've made another crack at playing Sangokushi 12 (or Romance of Three Kingdoms 12) this weekend and I think I'll have to give up playing it (for now). It's just too complicated a game to play in Japanese. So far I've been building up my cities (just acquired a third one without entering a battle) but I'm not sure I'm playing it right (it looks far too simple). The game requires players to invest a lot of time fiddling with the tiniest details (like, are ensuring soldiers are getting fed and pay rises...) The thing is I accidentally pressed the wrong button last night and the game decided to go on auto mode and have a life of its own -- various battles were entered and played out with laborious details though I had no idea of what's going on ... well, I think it just showed how different warlords were trying to conquer China and it went on and on and on (one long battle after another). The only good thing is now I have a better idea on how these battles are fought and the strategies used.  

This game has been slammed by those who'd played this series before, notably criticising it for not being as good as its previous instalment (RoTK 11); but since this is my first RoTK strategy game, I find it quite interesting though I wish it was either in Chinese or English so I can understand it better. 

Think I'm ready to move on from Final Fantasy X-2 is well ... but the question is: which game shall I play next? New titles like Soul Sacrifice Delta and Deception IV: Blood Ties are just not really my thing (way way too bloody) and I much prefer strategic games than hack and slash. Will keep looking ... 

Hip Opening Poses

Just a quick note before going to bed. Took a stretch class this evening and all the poses were targeted at hip opening. To test how open your hips are; sit down, open up your legs and see how far your knees can go. If your knees can be pushed all the way back they form one straight line with your hips, Congrats, your hips are extraordinarily open. My knees open up at an angle (90 degrees), hence, very tight hips!