An Update

Just realised I haven't blogged for awhile, and since the last entry I have ... yes, gone back playing Dissidia 012: Duodecim, which I bought in 2011. The first Dissidia game I really enjoyed and I remember I only stopped when I could no longer grind for one v rare item/ accessory (was it "side by side"?)

Dark Kain vs Kain

012 is, I think, an even better game. Some of the more OP characters in the original (strangely, a sequel) have been nerfed (hello Terra) though the new additions, notably, Lightning, Yuna, Firion, Vaan are pretty powerful. Back then, I max levelled Lightning, Vaan, Yuna, Kain and Terra ... probably cos they are the most easy to learn and have spammable skills *lol* Recently, I went back to level up Warrior of Light and Cecil (latter from Final Fantasy IV, which I'm still playing, on and off) as well as Firion, Onion Knight, Gilgamesh (yes!) and Prishe. WoL and Cecil are now Level 100. But the real "breakthrough" is that, after a long impasse (I was stuck with some really crap weapons), I went into one of the gates (in Scenario 000) and grind the hell out to get enough "KPs" (Kupo points!) to buy the Heike set (Ex Mode 100% but -50 duration); and with that better set I was able to get more KPs and now got the legendary "Iai build" Mwahahaha! Yes, I can use a Level 1 character to beat a Level 120+ enemy. Which makes playing 012 more fun ... i.e. I don't lose all the time. Now I can really play the FF characters I like and have fun with that.

Currently, my favourites are Cecil and Kain (yes, have become a FF IV fanboy!) followed by Lightning (I like her Paradigm shift) and maybe Vaan (haven't played him for awhile). WoL is good for grinding, thanks to White Fang (lightning) + Heike set. Think am giving mages Yuna and Terra (spamming) a rest, while Tifa is not as good a puncher as Prishe. Like Firion, Gilgamesh is okay to play but will max level them later. Hmm, that's about it. I quite like Onion Knight but, again, not as fun as  Cecil and Kain.

But will probably put this down for awhile (next mission, maybe, is to go through the highly challenging Labyrinth) cos I REALLY should start working on my yoga sequencing. I find students get bored if it's the same sequence week after week...

Final Fantasy IV

Clockwise from bottom: Cecil, Yang, Cid, (Elder), Edward, Palom
and Porom in the centre 

Well, it has taken me a good 47 hours just to reach this point in the game when I can swap party members ... in Final Fantasy IV players are forced to go through the storyline with a rotation of setups (otherwise there will be no coherent narrative)... which is both good and bad. Good because that forces players to strategise -- though inevitably you always end up having a hitter, black mage, white mage/healer and a quirky character fighting along side the protagonist (Cecil). Bad because I like to stick with certain characters and it's a pain to have to keep switching them in and out...

Anyway, am now able to party-switch because the rest of this game is pretty much just taking different party setups to farm items and exclusive equipment, which I hope isn't gonnabe too tedious. So far my favourite characters are: Cecil (no choice here, but as a Paladin, at least he is interesting and has high stats); Rosa, cos she is Cecil's love interest and a fantastic white mage, with range attack capability; Rydia is fantastic, not only cos she is lovely looking and she is also a powerful summoner (Bahamut, come on down!). The other two favourites (to make up the team of five) will either be Edward (just cos he's different, having a harp for a weapon!) and maybe Edge (the ninja) or Yang (the fist fighting monk who has a wife!). Kain, though a main character, somehow is a bit lacking in this game (keeps dying on me), and neither Cid nor the Porom and Palom twins are that impressive (when compared with the others). 

So my next destination is Mount Ordeals ... think will take that on next week... 

Meanwhile, I can do drop-backs against the wall now, which is Brilliant!!! 

A Sore Lower Back

So I was having teacher training withdrawal syndrome *LOL* and got up at 5am yesterday morning for a voluntary morning intensive practice, which wasn't too hard. Instructor Patrick took us through the universal principles of alignments (mostly muscular energy and organic energy) using the basic sequence, which I enjoyed since there is no pressure now that I'm a teacher :-) I have grown to really like doing parsvakonasana and trikonasana (so opening) but less so with virabhadrasana II ... but what really got me feeling sore was the series of 10 urdhva dhanurasana ... we kept going up and down into the wheel pose ... followed by drop back, which is super intense. I'll be taking hatha 2 this afternoon just to work on the sore ... definitely need to do quite a bit of stretching through out the week if I am to keep my body supple. 

I just LOVE this love theme for final fantasy IV

Meanwhile, as I type I'm farming "sirens" in Final Fantasy IV (the complete collection) on auto ... this item is supposed to be very useful later on in the game. The question is, do I really wanna continue with this game... It was first released back in 1991 and has remained a solid RPG game (the music is just brilliant) but without a walkthrough you wouldn't know what to do. And I'm getting a bit tired reading walkthrough ... I'd also unlocked the rarest item in Final Fantasy X-2 last week. The amount of grinding (on auto or not) can get kinda tedious. So, am contemplating what to do next with these games. I don't particularly have an urgent to finish X-2 or IV, so maybe I'll just leave those as is. I wanted to unlock a rare persona in Persona 4 the Golden but the amount of work involved I don't think I'm ready to tackle at the moment. There are at least four more games on my PS Vita but none of them I wanna play right now (maybe Dissidia 12, which I still play occasionally). So this calls for maybe another visit down the game store ... maybe there's something there that's worth getting (hopefully a game that doesn't rely too much on following a walkthrough!)

Tech-wise nothing much is happening on that front. The Blackberry Classic I bought is okay ... it's a necessary upgrade but I really miss the Bold 9900, which is smaller and more simple to use (and it was white!). Nevermind. I am (surprisingly perhaps) still using Sony Xperia Z, which is great for photos and social media (WeChat, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Facebook/ Messenger, Line etc). Battery remains a minor issue (it's on since around 6am and lasts until 8pm-ish if on heavy use) but other than that I still really like its colour and functionality. 

A Yoga Teacher Certificate

YEAH!! I've completed my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and am now a certified yoga teacher!! On the last day of the course I held a headstand, away from the wall, for five minutes!! That was quite a thrilling experience ...

Now I will have to find a mentor and keep practising and keep practising and keep practising ...Abhyasa !!!

A New (Year) Entry

Happy New Year!!! I often wonder if people still blog! Just noticed my last entry was back in November ... and part two of my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training is already fast approaching (mid-January). At least I've done my written homework this time: 1) a presentation on our understanding of a Yoga Sutra verse, and 2) answers to nine questions related to The Bhagavad Gita. However, I've been less successful with the daily meditation (oh, don't ask) and the weekly 30-minute practice (don't ask either). Needless to say, I cannot hold my headstand for more than a couple of minutes, let alone five! Though I have been teaching the one-hour sequence once a week. 

It's hard to tell whether I'll be certified as an instructor (not dead!) after the training but at least I've put some effort into it. What's more, it's really, really been great to meet fellow yogis from all walks of life, some of whom have become good friends. And it's great to be able to put aside BS in our professional lives (mine has been one roller coaster ride in 2014) to concentrate on something we all like and enjoy. 

Yesterday we went outside and practised under the sun -- it was a glorious experience. The sheer joy we shared is hard to express in words but suffice to say we had a bloody jolly good time. Then the champagne was popped and we laughed, we chanted and, well, drank until we got kicked out by another party *lol* (It was kinda embarrassing cos I was still semi-sober). This coming Saturday we'll meet again for another practice session - ahead of our teacher training - so hope the weather stays nice and brilliant. 

I'll post more images here ... but after five years of (occasional) blogging, I think I will slowly wind this blog down (I notice my cousin Grace, who inspired me to start this blog in the first place, is doing the same)... it's like, with other mediums like Line, WeChat, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitters, Google+ and, of course, Facebook, it's easier to record and share moments/ memories with others more immediately, and readily. Blogging appears to be something of the last decade. Anyway, will go with the flow and if I do come across anything that worth writing about, will continue to post here. 

Elsewhere on Tech-land and Game-land, I've bought the new Blackberry Classic to replace my old, faithful and reliable Bold 9900 (actually, I wish I didn't upgrade it but I guess we have to move with times...); and while having dabbled with a host of Vita games, I'm returning to play Final Fantasy IV - The Complete Collection. Bought the latest Gundam game (Breaker 2) but hack and slash is so NOT my thing!

AND CHEERS!!!

A Morning Intensive

It's been awhile since my last entry ... just keep getting caught up with, well, life (and Monster Monpiece *lol*) and my plan to meditate just 10 minutes a day (homework!!) has gone a bit pear shaped. But I'm determined not to let things just slide (at least I've been holding one class a week) and have booked five morning intensive classes the next fortnight (yes, getting up @ 5.30 am! Commitment!) It was nice to see some of my classmates this morning (and our moody instructor was warm and welcoming, which was also v nice). 

Wow, this was taken a few years back

The practice itself was fine (early days!) and I'm very happy that my hips seem to have opened a lot, hamstrings loosened, so Trikonasana is no longer a problem. Though I still need to work very hard getting my bending knee into 90 degrees when in Virabhadrasana 2. Urdhva Dhanurasana was tough cos I haven't been practising *head down in shame* But I'm now looking forward to the rest of the intensives as they will get harder next week ... and even the upcoming 100-hour training in January.

Yoga Teacher Training ~ Day 11

Completed the first 100-hour yesterday. Phew! It really was tough. And this is only the first half. Only yesterday morning when I was on my way to the studio (around 6am) I was contemplating on not returning for Part II in January ... to be honest, I wasn't looking forward to another "morning intensive" and, err, "test" later in the day. Like, why am I putting myself through this? Is it necessary?

Flying Pigeon

Then I got on the mat and course instructor said the morning practice was to focus on arm balance poses ... I was, like, okay cool ... I prefer these poses (most of which I can perform) than, say, parsarita padottanasana (standing wide legged forward fold)... no, my head cannot touch the floor and it's quite painful to hold this pose for, like, a min, let alone five... anyway, we went from one pose to another (a bit of a blur now) but apparently we did at least 15 arm balancing poses. For me though, the high point was when I could do the eka pada galavasana (well, kinda doing it...but I can now hook my foot onto my arm!) because I couldn't do that only a week ago. So what happened? My guess is because the regimental routine had helped build strength as well as perhaps I had a better alignment. I felt my body was so ... opened ... that, yesterday, I could do a lot of poses that I'd previously thought v challenging... it was as if I wasn't in my own body (isn't that totally weird?) But I have to say by the end of the day I was COMPLETELY exhausted (hence I didn't blog last night). The challenge ahead is definitely how I can maintain this physical and mental form until, like, next January.

Well, the programme does ensure we continue to practise in the coming three months: we have to practise at least twice a week (which is fine) in open classes, at least twice privately as well as teach at least ONCE a week. There is also a lot of reading to do.

And because course instructor was quite encouraging when we said our temporary good-byes, so I just might return to Part II next January (all depends on whether I can wholeheartedly do my homework in the next few months....