Competing Emotions

Unwinding down to the core of my true self. Paradise lost? A battle of clashing emotions and feelings to the point where I’m completely lost and broken apart. I don’t even know if the proper terminology to express what I’m feeling now is lost. Lost and confusion. That’s better. Confusion. What does it mean to be confused? Lost, confusion, and frustration. Extremely frustrated with myself, an out-of-body experience.

My facade hides all, but I’m about to break through it. The lingering question is “Who am I?”. Closing in to the point of a breakdown. All the emotions just need to flow out once and for all. Tears falling…

Locking away and never coming out.

A drop of life: What you carry for a few hours, they carry for life.

Yesterday morning, Sandy and I (under team #makeitcount!) joined the Aveda Walk for Water in their 23k challenge team division. Even though this was tagged as a walkathon, it was still quite the challenge,. We had to carry 4.5L of water on our backs to experience the hardships and appreciate the existence of running water in our lives. It’s a great cause and makes you realize how lucky we are to have such a simple yet luxurious resource.

Cute, matching ‘Be Amazing’ team outfits!

This walkathon wasn’t your normal walk in the park (pun intended). We braved through a sudden rainstorm that drenched us from head to toe. The route consisted of forest trails, steep stairs, and insane inclines. The killer ones were near the end of the walk, the last 2km. Sandy and I were only a minute apart from the second place ladies’ duo team but we couldn’t catch up to them because of the hills since they were impossible to run.

I would definitely do it again with my amazing partner, but it’s such a shame that I won’t be able to next year (oh FIT… why do your classes end so late?!). It’s great fun for everyone, and for those folks who just want a lesser challenge, join the ‘loving team’ which is the 4k walk with the 4.5L water backpack!

Post-walk/jog/whatever! 

The mud (battle) scars!

Go team #makeitcount! 

Wish you were here…

Repulse Bay

The beach is truly a place I could never get tired of. Sunshine, friends, open water… what could you ask for more? I love how in such a metropolitan and urban city like Hong Kong, you can still find an actual beach and be able to swim in the (pretty) clean water.

Beach girls!

Blissful, carefree moments

And then back to the land of skyscrapers

Citicorp Showroom Team!

Another tiny update is that I’ve recently joined the Hong Kong showroom for Lululemon Athletica as their seasonal educator! I’ve been there for almost a month now (scary how fast time goes by!) and my last day with Lululemon will be on June 30. Working at the showroom has been a different, but crazily fun experience, in comparison to my past two internships. Even though it’s tiring, not a day goes by without loud laughter being heard in the showroom!  

Saluting the sun, namaste : )

Round the island we go!

Unlike normal people, who sleep at normal hours, a bunch of crazy runners and I took part of a challenge that was very unique and insane at the same time. The challenge was running around the Hong Kong island, but in the middle of the night with the chance of thundershowers. This 38km run was seriously no joke because of all the unexpected inclines in the Shek O/Stanley/Repulse Bay/Southern HK island area and the torrential rainfall. Needless to say I was completely soaked by the end, but the feeling of accomplishment was unreal. This is now my longest run to date, pushing my half-marathon back in February out of the picture now. It was so much fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Running at a crazy time with amazing friends is the greatest feeling ever. Since this wasn’t a serious race/run, we (the amazing group of girls I was running with) took a picture at every checkpoint. It’s pretty cool looking back now at all the different places we passed by.

The run started and ended at St. John’s College (University of Hong Kong), the hall that organized this annual run. The students in that hall are mandatory to run it, but insane people like the Nike team I was part of just registered for fun. Love those guys to death, such amazing people. The fact that our entire team finished was awesome. So proud of you guys!!

Go Nike Team! 

Bunny runners!

Checkpoint #1!

Checkpoint between Repulse Bay & Deep Water Bay!

Ocean Park, check!

One of the final checkpoints!

All smiles at the end! :)

After a grueling, long run, it’s very important to stretch out those leg muscles and the lower part of your body, so a special yoga for runners class at California Fitness was arranged for the UMT (Ultimate Marathon Training) runners. I can finally walk down the stairs somewhat normally now!

My next challenge will be running a full marathon and I know it will happen very soon.

Namaste! : )

I ♥ Yoga!

I always love introducing yoga to my friends who have never done it because it’s such an amazing complement to all sports and workouts. It doesn’t matter if you can do a handstand or one of the insanely advanced poses; it’s the yoga spirit and attitude that counts! Once a yogi, forever a yogi.

Tonight’s special community yoga event was Ananda Night, a complimentary yoga class offered by Ananda Yoga (in Sheung Wan), partnered with Lululemon Athletica Hong Kong Showroom. It was great to bring my friends who have done yoga before and friends who were completely new to it as well! Lululemon HK regularly offers complimentary classes in the showroom on Saturday morning (and sometimes in the afternoon), so definitely check them out if you are in the Hong Kong area! They also recently started a run club held every other Thursday. The next one will be this upcoming Thursday (April 26).

Support from amazing friends!

Namaste : )

Will run for free

After a few days of rest from the Wednesday weekly run, I threw myself into two different activities today: a 10k run along the waterfront in Tsuen Wan (with the added, but main focal point of eating roasted goose in Sham Tseng) and the weekly Nike Training Club at California Fitness.

I joined this group of hardcore runners (me not so hardcore though) that are training for the 38k Round the (Hong Kong) Island run, organized by a hall from the University of Hong Kong, for a 10k run this morning. The running scenery was amazing, with the beautiful harbour view, but it was pretty hot and humid today. I guess I have to get used to running in HK summer weather again!

Scenic…

Post-run Feast!

After our running excursion in Tsuen Wan/Ting Gau, we headed to the Nike store in Mong Kok to take on the Nike Free Challenge, to promote the new Nike Free Run+. The challenge was to do as many ‘high knees’ (basically running on the spot with knees high up) wearing the new Frees. My friend successfully persuaded me to do it with her, even with the exhaustion from the 10k run. We are crazy.

Hyper speed

Everyone is a winner!

Then at 6pm, it was time for NTC at California Fitness (‘L’ Place location)! This week’s NTC was kickboxing, and it was sweaty amazingness. I forgot how much I loved kickboxing because you get to release so much stress and tension from punching and kicking air. It was one of the best NTCs I’ve attended so far, even with the tired legs from this morning’s run and afternoon’s challenge. The instructor, Tina, was so great and motivative. I love instructors that don’t take themselves too seriously because it’s important to have fun while exercising.

Side kick!

Tomorrow is a pretty big day for me… will reveal in the next post!

Namaste : )

Tokyo, I’m back!

ただいま！It feels amazing to be back in Tokyo, one of my favourite cities in the world. This is my first time coming in April, so it’s pretty exciting to see the beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom around the city. I planned to visit Tokyo last July, but because of the Tohoku Earthquake, I had to postpone my trip indefinitely. So I was super happy to find time to come during this lovely Easter break.

I’ve been to Tokyo many times, but it always seems like there’s an endless amount of things to see and eat (haha!) One of my family’s focus point is an eating tour around Tokyo. I’m definitely going back to Hong Kong a few pounds heavier at this rate! Mouth-watering delicious food around every corner!

This morning, I went on a short run with my running buddy (my dad hehe!) and we ended up seeing cherry blossoms, different shrines, and Tokyo Tower along the way. The hotel we are staying at (Conrad Tokyo) is located in Shiodome (near Ginza), so it’s pretty close to the core of Tokyo. We discovered many different places for photo ops of Tokyo Tower in the most obscure places, such as parking lots, shrines, and open parks.

芝公園 – Shiba Park 

Mmm tasty water…

It is my first time staying in Shiodome, which is part of the CBD, so there are many headquarters located in this area. Next door to Tokyo Shiodome Building (where Conrad Tokyo is located from floors 28 to 37) is the Nippon Television Tower, one of the main television stations of Japan. Being a Japanese drama/tv buff, it’s pretty exciting to see one of the familiar places where all the magic behind the screen happens.

日本テレビタワー – Nippon Television Tower aka Nittere-kei

I’m planning to go for a run around the Imperial Palace Saturday morning since it’s one of the best running spots in Tokyo. It’s a pretty short run (5km around the entire palace) and it’s quite popular among locals. They even have running stations set up around the circular route (with changing rooms, washrooms and vending machines). Should be quite memorable and serene.

Bringing my running spirit, everywhere I go!

‘Be(ing) Amazing’ energy, even in Tokyo!

I’ve realized a great way to explore a city is by jogging around, finding hidden spots and pretty cool ‘cracks in the wall’. It’s good to have a running companion that is as curious, adventurous, and hungry for something new. As Steve Jobs once said, “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” guys!

Ciao : )

Be who you are.

“Makeup is a way for woman to look and feel like herself, only prettier and more confident.” – Bobbi Brown

100% makeup free, fresh face

As a frequent user of cosmetics, it’s quite liberating to go makeup free, giving my skin a break from all products. Some days you want to just walk out of the house, not caring at all about how you look. But how many of us are actually willing to be comfortable in our own, flawed skin.

After attending a Bobbi Brown makeup class today, I realized that the allowing your natural skin to shine is the most important, but of course cosmetics help enhance our best features. The best makeup application is as if you aren’t wearing any at all: beautiful, flawless skin. I personally don’t go walking out the door without eyeliner and mascara on, the number one must-have in my cosmetic bag, but today was an exception.

Natural makeup requires more than you think.

You’d never expect how much goes into creating the perfect natural look. We used six different products to create our ‘natural skin’ (the colors I used are in parentheses): corrector (medium to dark bisque), creamy concealer kit (beige with pale yellow powder), natural finish long-lasting foundation SPF 15 (warm sand), skin foundation mineral makeup SPF 15 (light), long-wear cream shadow (sandy gold), and blush (apricot).

We first covered up the dark circles (under our eyes) with the Corrector, and then brightened them up with the Creamy Concealer. After, we applied the liquid foundation to areas with uneven skin tone and redness (mainly the sides of the nose, cheeks, and chin). Then, we used the pale yellow powder in the Creamy Concealer kit under our eyes to set in the corrector and concealer. The mineral makeup powder was used in the same way, but for the entire face. After, we applied the Cream Shadow in our natural skin color, on our upper eyelids to even out the skin tone. The very last step was blush; the way the instructor chose the color was based on the color of our lips. We used brushes for application, which meant there were six different brushes since the size and design of the brush differ for each area of the face. Brushes are essential tools in every makeup bag. 

The most vital makeup tip of the day is ‘less is more’. When applying any sort of face makeup, using less is definitely more effective to achieve the ‘au naturel’ appearance, none of that ‘cakey’ feel.

So girls, it’s important to be who you are and be amazing! Go out and embrace your individual self & be comfortable in your own skin!

Namaste : )

Early morning energizer

After a night out on the town, what better way to rejuvenate yourself than with an early morning session of yoga. Lululemon Athletica offers many different complimentary classes every Saturday, and I opted to sign up for the Ananda Flow class this morning at 9:30 am. Ananda Flow focused on doing the yoga postures in a blissful and peaceful way. Their classes are usually offered in their showroom (located on the 27th floor in Citicorp Centre, MTR Fortress Hill Exit A or Bus 118 – Gordon Road stop). Lululemon provides yoga mats for all the participants, but of course you can bring your own : )

Being a Lululemon enthusiast, I just had to try out one of their classes.

There were 10 people (including the instructor, Master Lakhi) in this class, which is quite small but the showroom isn’t that large either. I believe Lululemon wants to emulate the aura of a yoga studio in their showroom; really helps create the peaceful and zen environment. I enjoyed the way the instructor taught the class, using a very soothing pace for a morning start. He explained the importance of awareness in yoga and clearly described how we should do each posture correctly with the help of imagery.

We started off with some neck warmups and hip openers, then transitioned into sun salutations. After that, we did asanas such as warrior I/II pose, tree pose, triangle pose, chair pose, and tree pose. The asanas we did weren’t high in level of difficulty, but we held each pose much longer than usual so we had to use more strength in that sense. For example, we held our final round of chair pose for 15-20 seconds. Near the end, we finished with a moment of relaxation in my favourite pose: corpse pose.

After the morning classes, Lululemon provides light refreshments (apples, granola bars, yogurt, orange juice etc.) as breakfast. The make-shift yoga studio then turns back into a showroom, very cool and good use of space. The clothing racks get wheeled back out and the display mannequin gets pushed back into the centre.

Next Saturday (3/31), it’s time for Pilates! I recommend that you email/call the showroom well in advance if you want to attend their classes because they get booked up FAST! It’s great that they offer these complimentary classes for everyone and definitely don’t miss out on them!

Hehe I like how the manifesto poster is in Chinese

Remember to always be amazing, guys! 

Namaste : )

Running through the night

I rarely run at night because… well it’s hard to find people who want to run at night. Plus I’m a morning runner since it gets my body energized for what’s to come later on during the day. Call me crazy, but I do enjoy my 7:00 am runs. But I made an exception for tonight.

This Wednesday was the first time I joined the weekly Wednesday night Harbour Run from the Hong Kong Harbour Runners gang (also sponsored by Nike Hong Kong). It’s so much fun to just run with a bunch of other people and you also get to meet so many new friends as well.

Another ‘push’ for ladies to join this weekly run: a free NIke tee in this awesome neon yellow colour (love me some fluorescents!).

This week’s route (they alternate between Central to Wan Chai and TST to West Kowloon) was from the Clock Tower at Star Ferry in Tsim Sha Tsui to West Kowloon, mainly going through the West Kowloon Promenade, and then back to the Clock Tower. The entire route was approximately 6.7 km, so it was a nice light breezy run. It was a little chilly in the beginning with the wind, but once you get running and the blood pumping, you’d be regretting the running tights (I was…).

Around 80 people showed up today, and this was a record high turnout. I heard from my friend that the number is around 10-20 usually, but the last couple of runs have been very popular. After the run, a bunch of us, mainly the core members of harbour runners group, went to Outback Steakhouse to chow down on food. I mean you need a little prize at the end after the run!

Can’t wait to join more of their weekly runs! : )