Ok ok I KNOW salsa is all I can talk about lately but I can't help it!!!

First time performing overseas with my beloved team! Woot!

Now if I can squeeze in 15min x 3 sets of jack-knives + squats a day, I might actually get abs (ok la, defined upper abs and NO paunch) like this:

Michelle @ Bailamos: think her figure is just nice :) somewhat toned and still curvyyy

to pull off a top like this:

Toilet @ Amara Hotel @_@

A very enthu Sarah waved both tops at me one day and made me promise to wear the one I picked (white) together with her during the SSC. Bunch of Siao :p

Full Dress Rehearsal TONITE!!!!! *bounces off

Many thanks to all who've shown interest and concern on how I'm doing =)

Departure: 28th February January, 7.30pm
Arrival: 2nd February, 9.30pm

Both are on Quantas which doesn't have the best record for safety... so I heard from Mum.
Please keep us all in prayers for safe flights with no mishaps heh. Thanks in advance!

It's gonna be packed back to back from tonight onwards.

Hope friday's last prac with Anand will go smoothly, saturday's performance at the singaporeswimmingclub will show us mistakes to clear and polish up on sunday morning's final prac. Controlled eating over the CNY period, final runthrough with Anand in Sydney on what he missed on sat & sun and then it's show time.

It's been sucha long time since I last saw the cell group.
As I last recalled, there were closed to 40 of us crammed into Gershon's place. Now probably 20 W328ers... Hope everyone is doing well =) see you all after I come back on 2Feb yah?

It amazes me how quickly yet quietly God moves.

Amidst the distractions and moments of (okok I know I promised myself 2009 is going to be different and as soon as I said it, I had a relapse) self-doubt if I can really make this work, there was a split second when I ask thought "God, I need another match. The fire's dying out...." which was chased by "Heck, no point asking for a match when I don't have a spark to light it..."

That, my friends, is a horribly timed thought to have when you're barely starting out.

It took a 5min MTV program, a 2min msn chat and a basics of design, layout & typography book to kick my ass out of a zone that's not even comfortable to linger around in the first place (to make it worse, I don't even know what am I doing there).

That's when it dwelled on me that God just answered by poking me to get back on track and stop allowing myself to be distracted by fragments of the past comforts.

I don't need a match. I need self-discipline to keep the flame burning. Groan.

Nemesis List
Idleness
Self-doubt
Vodka
Rum

PS: Happy 26th Birthday my fren =) Thanks for reminding me about that one book that got me daring to step out in the first place. May God watch over your journey as you work towards your goals in 2009 =)

I dig the lady on the left (before they changed sides). Just check out her form and styling... 1:40 is just madness la... now that's what I call a professional dancer.

Seriously wonder how long will it take me to get to her level when I'm still working on my hammerlock CBLDT (cross body lead double turn) for the choreo. Mmmm...

I forgot all about these pics until recently:

SISF 2008
All following pictures courtesy of SalsaSingapore.sg
These are just a fraction of the pics with me inside ;p See if you can spot me!

Learning to roll over the guy's shoulder after the flip


Fwah!


Focus focus



A flurry of trigger-happy people


Not ready la!


Group Pic


Pout again?! :/


Jaime Jesus & Little Liz Shines Workshop


Magna Gopal's Spinning Workshop


The Last Nite when Frankie sings for us =)


I hope salsasg sends someone to take pics in Sydney hahaha ;p

We might have a pre-Sydney performance on the 22nd but it's unconfirmed. By the looks of last night's prac, I don't think M will b agreeable. Poor guy's super stressed and stopped prac halfway. I'm just crossing my fingers that we don't have another breakdown in the studio *shakes fist at LK haha j/k* 3 more pracs should do it for all of us.

My tentative schedule in pink:

SSC upped the ante by having 30 more workshops than SISF! Woot!

Trying to balance the needs of the team (styling + On2), the girls (styling), A (that guy cant get enough of bachata!) & me (styling for chacha, bachata, salsa) so hope everyone comes back with some new skills and a renewed vigor in dance =)

I'm getting a veeeery good feeling about this... WOOT!

Oh the sweet smell of peace that justification brings.

Time is still needed for everyone, esp the girls, to forget about the incident but nevertheless, the worst is over and we are all chill.

Most importantly, we're clearer about the objectives of the performance team and that keeps everyone in check, regardless of what personal goals they harbour.

In the beginning, it was never about ourselves & all about the team. And the speech is clear enough - anyone who's not a teamplayer, the studio has no quelms to remove him/her from the team. Irresponsibility and selfishness will not be tolerated. That being said, it makes me respect Z even more.

Sydney is looking to be more fun now ;p



We'll try not to burn the stage floor if we can help it ;p

I dun like to go on and on abt something if I cant resolve it.
Being conflict-adverse, one entry is enough to tire me and I just wan to focus on getting the job done cos ranting about it within the group spreads seeds of discontent, anger & disunity.
It's just making things worse.

I cherish the bond that the team has built up over the 2 years (1 for me) of practising every week. The bond is even greater when we've to cram 3x a week nearing performances.
And this is the first time we're having so much tension... and for the first time, I'm dreading the one thing I'm looking forward to every week.

I hope S stops her tyrannical ranting. I don't understand why must she get so worked up when (a) she doesn't know what really went on and can only make assumptions, wrong ones at that (b) she's not even involved.

I can't be bothered to justify myself but I will do that to S cos I really treasure our friendship and this is the one thing that is really draining me. And I shall put aside the hurt that she didn't bother to find out what happened on my side before ranting at me. How childish it would be if we allow something like this to spoil what we all worked hard for...

To end on a good note, yesterday's 4 hour prac went faster & better than I expected. M is a quick learner and he got 3/4 of the choreo in his head. Leaves us with the fast salsa and correction of finesse and showmanship. No wonder Z's not worried.

Z's gonna talk to the team tonight abt what LK told him, to quench their need to know what really happened, to stop all the gossip. Not too sure about whether it will uproot those seedlings but... I'm gonna pray about it.

Some quiet time worshipping with the guitar should help. Later.

Well... at least that was supposed to be the case for Jo.

I'm just trying to tone down that fiery red into a more mellow brown so that my hair don't scream for attention under the spotlight.

Part of our cost savings plan for 2009... muck around with your BFF's hair instead of gg to salon =P



Uber tak glam, I know. There's a good reason why these pics are on my blog instead of FB o_O If Uncle had seen these, he would have said "A bunch of siaos"... -_-

Hmm I seem to resemble the tattoo artist in Spider Lily...
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OK OK forget it, I take it back.
Totally macham auntie gg to market while people look melancholically plofexxional carving into other people's skin.

I take pride in knowing we do tie more interesting hairbuns than The Little Genie:



See what I mean? Jo, we're good la can ;P



If we don't say no one will know there has been a dye job booboo (oops). But looks seh rite! I added some blings on Jo for s-peh-cial effect. Think my hair was still a tad damp when we took the pic, very shiny.

It was a fun afternoon. Something to take our mind off some very pressing issues.

:)

UPDATE 12 Jan:

I approached Sunday prac all hyped up, cheery sunny and ready to get things going... only to end up 4 hours later walking out of the studio with angry tears pouring down my face and a barrage of words I'm ashamed to have let loose in the ladies in front of E & A.

There were just way too many mistakes that should have been recognised, rectified, corrected and committed to memory 1 month ago and now with only 6 practices left, we look pretty much set to screw up on stage in our blindingly bright costumes.
Not helping how he is close to tears everytime D & Z barked at him,
Not helping how he didnt voice out his discomfort at my backleading or at the way I talk to him,
Not helping how he demands to choose who he partners,
And definitely not helping how he gives an attitude that shows his selfish and irresponsible character.

But that doesn't give me the excuse to be overwhelmed by panic and storm out of class. I should not have let my emotions get the better of me and I should have initiate a discussion with LK and get ourselves on the same page before even starting on the choreo that day. Different expectations, goals and working styles, confirm clash...

And clash we did... Big time. The whole saga ended up with LK asking to be taken out of the perf, Z saying he wont allow anyone who quits 2 weeks before a perf to join the student team and Z apologising profusely to me after hearing my sobbing account for putting in all that effort and that he knows its unfair, that I deserve a partner of my standard.

It didnt end there. Later that night, S msned, then called me to rant about how disappointed she is in Z, LK and me handling the situation, how she thought this team is about friendships and would it kill me if I were to fall on stage or to talk nicely to LK? At 2am, I was too tired to really explain. Friendships like ours are especially precious in the salsa scene and is the glue bonding the student team but that's the thing with performance practices - you just cannot take instructions too personally and after class, it is understood that no hard feelings are harboured. Z kana-ed from her too... and almost flared up and entertain thoughts of handing over the team to D for future performances!

Drama with a capital D. Sorry, should be Disasterous.

Just got a call from Z to come down for about 5 times a week to prac with M who got pulled in to partner C and mayb E, and that I can partner A back since LK is out of the picture. I don't mind the sacrifice so long as we all share the reward. I just hope that the morale of the team will pick up and that at the end of the day, we can move on like adults and stay friends.

And weirdly enough, I got this from the D&D on Saturday...


Guess I have alot more to learn in this department.

Extremely heavy-hearted... I should arrange a time to talk to LK, to properly apologize for what happened.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ironically, this happened straight after thanksgiving cgm.

With our 3x a week practice, I had to sit out this one on Friday. The one prac I missed and they have to pass the decision without me. Turns out that my partner and I probably wont be dancing together for the bachata and fast salsa part. As I recalled, we both decided to go Sydney cos we want to dance together.

Situation goes like this: C was originally to partner LK but her overstrained knees are busted and the doc warned that if she injures a particular part further, she can forget about dancing... ever. To make matters worse, dance is her career. Apparently LK has been knocking her knees during prac and she's in a lot of pain. Solution: change partners to one who doesn't hurt her.

Problem is, LK is simply not strong enough to lift most of the girls for the stunts and this narrows the choices down to those below 50kg: C & me. Go figure who is to partner him.

Why am I so worked up? Oh it's nothing, except that I've been working my ass off for the past few months for this... this which could well be my first and last overseas performance and the last thing I want is someone screwing up our finesse cos my knees hurt like hell too everytime I dance with LK. Don't even get me started on the $ I had spent for this trip.

And right now when we're just days away from the performance (and you know how I'm like when I want things done), don't anyone tell me to baby a grown-man with frailing confidence cos we don't have the luxury of time to go "it's ok you just need more time". Screw it dude, JUST DO IT! Train ur muscles! Run! Crunches! Don't come and tell me sorry, just friggin' do it! We all started out at the same time so don't tell me you're still at intermediate stage when we're in the friggin' performance team. Great, so now I have to change objective from looking excellent to try-not-to-screw-up on stage. And we're performing to a crowd of over 2000. Swell.

There are a few things in life that I want to do with a bang and unfortunately this is one of them. So God help us. If he forgets again to move my face and push instead for that part, help me NOT to scream at him. 5 hours on Sunday. He better not waste my time.my money.my efforts.

Argh!!!

Song lyrics | Lamento Boliviano lyrics

Trying to pronounce spanish by listening to songs & reading the lyrics.

At least I can sing as I dance on the dancefloor. How cool is that ;p

My Life, Your Song - CHC Band Acoustic Cover


Today - City harvest church - by Christian City church CCC


The 2 songs that resonate within everytime I sing.

It's more than lovely tunes, more than tingles down the spine.

It is a redeclaration of a promise... to stick to Him no matter what, to let my life be a story of His love for broken ol' me.

So... no more running wild.

(sidenote: I cant WAIT for thanksgiving cell this friday!!!)

My precious keepsakes from Asia Conference 2008 :) Still gives me a tingle whenever I see that picture... one branded into my mind on how God is always right on time with His answers.

Was browsing through the notes from the electives and recalled lessons that in turn spurned these resolutions:

Social Entrepreneurship reminded me of how we are created to restore what's important to God: His people. But before doing that, we have to renew our mindsets, strip off what could hinder breakthroughs and open our eyes/ears to His Words.
My resolution: To continually pray for creativity and stay interested in everything, yet be focused on tasks at hand.

Debt Management chided me to start being responsible with what God has given me and until I prove that I can manage my finances well, the blessings He gives would only be wasted.
My resolution: To establish channels of passive income by 2009, repay study loans, meet "needs" before meeting "wants".

Starting A New Business gave me crucial insight to what skillsets are necessary to build my foundation for my business... and that if I am desperate enough to do something about my career like those before me, He'll direct my plans and ensure that they'll succeed when I execute them (see Phil 1:6)
My resolution: To never let a day pass without being productive to my business and to stop wasting time.

Adversity Quotient and Emotional Quotient showed me how I must stop building walls and learn to be in touch with my emotions without being emo everytime adversity happens... and that I am fully in control of my attitude.
My resolution: To remind myself to stay positive and not dwell on something for more than 5mins before getting off my ass to find solutions.

From now on, I shall be unapologetically real. And I don't mean that in a defiant manner, more like getting my facts straight about who God is and live life like He's standing right there in front of me (and He is) and not according to what I perceive others want me to be. Finally, I know the desire to want to make Him proud of me.