A Fallen Arch

Here's the thing, my mom used to say I walked weird; since a young boy, the heels of my shoes (parts that wear out over time) show the arches of both my feet collapsed inwards (so shoe heels always looked slanted) ... over the years, I've kinda corrected this ~ but only with my left foot. I look at my shoe heels now and the right one still looks uneven. Now, I kinda forgot all about this until yesterday when I was walking and I felt this very slight discomfort on my right foot, I actually felt the arch caved in with each and every step. Then the penny dropped. When I do the side angle pose during my yoga practice, while I can keep my left outer foot on the mat (as it should be), my right outer foot always flies off the ground. Initially I just thought maybe because my right leg is, like, somehow shorter (I know, ridiculous and ignorant) but now I realise the outer foot is not touching the ground before the inner foot naturally caves inwards. That, actually, could be one of the causes of my bad knee, too. 

Anyway, such is the beauty of yoga: it doesn't only heighten my awareness of my body (physical being) but I'm hoping the various asanas will now help me balance my right foot pressure again. I will become more mindful when I do the side angle pose in the future!

Hello Isabelle

Over on games land, I'm still grinding Valhalla Knights 3 for various unique armour sets that are not sold at the shops (so addictive, it's almost like Tactics Ogre LUCT all over again!!). After changing my main's class (from Prisoner to Shaman) after the Shaman job card finally dropped from a priest after hours of farming, I decided to upgrade a few other team members too: from fighter to soldier (a real tanker! it's like the knight/paladin class in TO), and archer (useless, if you already have a mage) to the newly released Hero of Legend class). I also swapped out my second female mage (useless) with Isabelle the Bunny Girl. The female mage (unfortunately named Bambiana ... and she really was a bit of a bimbo who got killed all the time) just wasn't worth keeping and, in the end, I had to sell her, even though I max-ed her skills) but at least I got a bit of dosh out of the sale.

So my new team, I think, is pretty balanced now. I have two magic wielders for AOE (Shaman and Mage), two healers (Priest and Bunny Girl), two tankers for melee (Soldier and Akatoki) and one magic + melee (Hero of Legend, which I still don't know how to use properly). The game, apparently, will release more classes in the future so will see what they are like. But, to me, the Shaman is quite the ultimate class  right now; it has pretty OP magic attacks + reviving powers. I haven't started post-game yet ... heard it's actually quite boring ~ even though I do find its main story not bad (just very, very badly told!) Will post a photo of my team later (now that I know how to capture screen shots with my PSVita!)

On tech land, I bought the new SmartWatch2 that is supposed to be a physical extension of my Sony Xperia Z (which I had since March this year) but have not opened it yet since it looks like it deserves some quality geek loving & attention, which I don't have for it right now as I'm in the midst of all the grinding *LOL*

Galaxy Supernova

Okay, here is another fun cover (since Wonder Girls' Nobody) of a J-pop commercial song (by K-Pop group Girls Generation) ... how do people find the time to learn these seemingly complicated steps?!?

(That tall boy in glasses is hilariously good...)

And above is the song from the ad -- (listen to how the Japanese pronounce "Samantha")

Thanks for Watching!

Flowing

Have been taking some vinyasa (flow) classes lately, which I find quite enjoyable. All the asanas are quite manageable but what is most challenging about this particular form of practice is that there are, obviously, no breaks in between. It's a bit like doing the (first half of the) Primary Series in one go; it really tests my stamina. Breathing - or mindful breathing - must be the key to this practice as that keeps the body energised. Yesterday's class was quite fun as we flowed for an hour (while doing a couple of head stands in between). We also did the Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (but with the bend knee behind, below) which I can do again after my hamstrings had healed. I love this pose because it works my pelvis/hip area.

Patrick Creelman @ Pure Yoga

As mentioned in previous postings before, the more I practise the more I feel the imbalance between my left and right side of the body. In a side angle pose, if my stand is too wide, the edge of my (left) foot would come off the mat, which is a little bit annoying cos the whole point is to have the foot grounded so there is energy channeling up and down the body, from the side of foot to the tip of the finger, in this pose. But having that awareness is good -- so I can work on pushing the foot down....  

On Game-land, I (randomly) bought the Valhalla Knights 3, which turns out to be quite a blast. What I like most about this game is that it reminds me of Tactics Ogre: Let US Cling Together because of its class/job system: Paladin, Priest, Mage, Shaman etc and skills ... this one has a Prisoner class (main character) which I'm grinding hard to unlock its mastery skill ... so, lots of fun. Then I think I will switch him to either Mage or Shaman ... magic in this game is, well, a blast! However it gameplay is a bit hard to navigate (have lots tonnes of money cos I didn't realise I was hit by a curse) and the loading time is just ridiculous. And it has something called the "sexy time" (category III stuff!) which supposed to reflect the Japanese hostess culture. Sounds totally pervy but am not holding my breath. But the "bunny girl" class does sound rather fun. Anyway, am grinding (!) away so no time to blog ;o)-