FCI'S BIRTHDAY

What? : FCI's early birthday celebrations. (REAL DAY, 24th MAY)
Where? : His place
Why? : Hmmm, long story....
When? : Saturday Night
How? : Through brilliant planning

Well, pictures paint a thousand words, so this post, is equivalent to a pHD thesis. I slaved over this 2kg cake only for him to ask me, how much? RM50 ah? Find me a 2kg cake for RM50 and I'll show you something that's inedible. The ingrate.

At least someone appreciated the food.

Sucking in belly to look more streamlined.

I dont wanna be lonely no more

That's hard

Something must have really tickled them.

It's Been Awhile

I can't remember the last time I attended FDI's combat class in the Curve on Saturday. He himself has been on a somewhat long hiatus, and I got a hilarious sms from him saying that he had pulled a back muscle while stretching. Peering through the glass, (actually no need to peer even), we could see that FSI's normally packed Body Step class was rather empty. Wonder why? So FDI assumed that his class would be empty two, but no, his fans were there in full force to welcome home the missing diva. And not only that, there was even screaming/shouting in the warm up track oridi.

Sunshine was there, but really, apart from her, I dont really know anyone in the Curve. Yes, there's ladynina, lilo, etc, but I cant really say I know them well. So really, it is out of sheer loyalty to FDI that brings me there every Saturday.

Warm up was from release 20, apparently. What release are we up to now? No idea. Some of the songs were from the same list as FCI's. Field of dreams,......, hmmm, I thought it was more than that. Very spirited class. Lots of shouting.....

Anyway, this was the complete tracklist, courtesy of FDI.
Warm Up : Slave to the Music
track 2 :- living on a prayer,
track 3 :- field of dreams
track 4 :- sexy
track 5 :- bad reputation
track 6:- bring the noise
track 7:- we will rock u
track 8:- heartbeatz
track 9:- stop the rock
track 10: - breathe easy

Oh, it's stop the ROCK. I always thought it was stop the ROT. Thought it was a BN theme song. No pushups.

One Big Happy Family

I think you know you've been going to a gym too long, when you kinda know everyone around you in a 2 person radius. FCI's class yesterday was one such class. It was one of those classes where everyone was there....Lionheart (who doesn't even usually do Combat...the fler had done TWO pump classes that day itself. Howwww does he do it!!!! Where does he get the energy!!!!! What is his secret? SHARE WITH US, OH MIGHTY LIONHEART!), Sunshine, Megs, Shanti Combat and Bernsy, Ah Girl, Certifiable Steve (FCI exhorted him with shouts of encouragement, "come on steve, you're gonna be an instructor soon"), Merv, and even that young boy Alvin, who has been missing for quite some time, and seems to be plumper from the absence.

I shan't even bother listing down the abuse that I got from FCI, but it was enough for Megs to proclaim that the day he doesnt pick on me, she's gonna buy a lottery. Warm up was that old old track, that reminds me of the Thursday lunchtime combat under Sop Fan. Final Countdown again, ....for some inexplicable reason, I keep yawning in classes. Not only FCI's, but almost all the classes in the MJH studio. Does that place lack oxygen?

Field of Dreams...one of my favourite track 3s. Reminds me of that golden era of Body Combat, when the place was flooded with all my favourite instructors... like exFCI... I have to say the Rock Me Amadeus is my favourite track 4, though obviously I have never quite attempted that evasive sidekick. At my age, I can't afford risking knee surgery for broken knee caps, etc. Didnt enjoy track 5 at all. Very forgettable. Track 6... something about I'm not your entertainment that one...very short track. Muay thai was the 64 knee one again. Loved the We Will Rock You conditioning. I'm sure Freddie would be pleased to know that so many sweaty bodies are writhing in unison to his music, and pumping up and down, and lifting all sorts of orifices.

My all time favourite cooldown... the Last Samurai and May It Be. It reminds me of Nikeboy. I recall him telling us, oh, this new cooldown will make you feel very special. One of those strokes of genius by the choreographers. How come no one does the crane and claw cooldown anymore huh? My 3 favourite cooldowns are probably Last Samurai, Breathe Easy, and Now We are Free.... oh, and Bohemian Rhapsody too.

After class, Lionheart disclosed some rather upsetting news. Apparently the powers that be are going to ban the use of old tracks, as the emphasis on technique(? is that what i heard) has changed. HOWWWWW CANNNNNNN???? WE LOVE OLD TRACKS. Anyway, I hope its just a rumour. Lionheart has declared his stance on the matter should such a thing take place. Sunshine, on the other hand, was bemoaning the exodus of ahem, macho pump instructors to other gyms. She say one ah, not I say.

Don't Judge Them By Their Age

It's interesting to see how people take such an interest in FCI's life...so much so a matter of fact fleeting reference to his "girlfriend" was actually picked up from yesterday's post. Heh heh. Ah well, the life of celebrities. The glare of the spotlight, the flash of the paparazzi. Mere mortals like us can only live vicariously the lives of these gym equivalents of the brad pitts and jennifer anistons of hollywood. We have afterall, got our own Leon Lai, Wong Hei, Linda Carter, (wonder woman), Wayne Knight. Can we link the rest of our dear instructors to celebrities? Surely FSI must look like some Hong Kong star? What about the sweet demure Richelle?

And what about Young Instructor? With the mixed Sino Japanese parentage, .....Ken Watanabe? (40 years ago?)

Talking about YI, this young lad's classes, inspired by Lionheart, are getting harder and harder. I cant even finish the chest track. And mind you, it's the same puny weight I've been carrying since time immemorial. Long time absent Jay returned from his hiatus, and his usually beastly squats weights were reduced to the same as mere mortals. Of course, Lion was carrying his usual "can get hernia" kinda of weights. For the clean and press, he had 15 kg on each side, from the chest track, and he picked up a donut, so I thought he was gonna add to it, and gasped in horroration (cross between horror and admiration), but actually, he was taking out the 5kg and replacing it with a donut, hence making the weight a bit more down to earth 11kg. But still!!!

Biceps was a killer as well. And lunges!!! Hard to say I'm sorry ...when it ended.

Note to self: Must attend pump classes where got no lions....

I'm Sorry YOUKH Isn't Teaching Today

Yup, the first thing FCI said when he got on stage, and donned his mike, was "I'M SORRY YOUKH ISNT TEACHING TODAY", very obviously looking in my direction. I had to spend most of the class avoiding his gaze, for fear I might burst out laughing. And he kept bullying me with all kinds of remarks, so much so, his girlfriend, standing next to me, sympathetically said, "it's going to be a LONGGGG class for you".

I lodged a complaint with FDI afterwards, telling him that FCI is bullying his student. Nyuck nyuck nyuck. But, that aside, it was a great class as usual. I called him (FCI ) to check if he really was replacing FDI (who is in Bangkok), and then made my way to the Curve. Miraculously, there was a car park quite shortly after I entered. No familiar faces were present, except for Lady Nina and Lilo. Sunshine, sidekick, etc all nowhere to be seen. FCI did bring with him his own support troop though, a group of six amazonians, who occupied the right hand front corner, all very coordinated, and all very gung ho. Like energizer bunnies they were. Giving the class the much needed shouts, when no one else seemed to have any energy to shout.
He did his trademark Color of the Night, Final Countdown, and that muay thai with the 64 knees. Of course I heard him remark in my direction that the knees are not body step.

Missed Richelle's class on Friday coz had dinner with in laws.

In preparation for heavy dinner for mother's day, ensured I did the 5km bukit kiara track yesterday. The weather after the unexpected afternoon thunderstorm was lovely.

Congratulations LionHeart, and Just Heavenly

It must be a good day to start business. Let me congratulate Lionheart and Mrs Lionheart on their exciting new retail venture, Belle Belly. No, it's not for overweight guys who need the gym, but for that category of people who basically are displaced from normal fashion for about 9 months. Presenting, their new maternity wear shop in Bangsar Village 1, on the 1st floor, near Toys R Us.





The other friend, well, maybe should work hand in hand with Belle Belly, fatten up your clients so they need to wear maternity clothes, is Nigel Skelchy who has just opened their new outlet of JUST HEAVENLY PLEASURES, luxury cakes of all shapes and sizes (their sugarcraft is exquisite), in Plaza Damansara, opposite chef and brew. Check out their website here.

Non Gym, Gym Day

Why the strange title? Well, coz I didn't go to the gym, but had a lot to DO with the gym folk. I was all poised to go for combat, when at 5.45pm, the fan stopped rotating, and the time on the astro box disappeared. Being the trained rocket scientist that I am, I realised, oh, a blackout. But I wasn't sure of the extent of the blackout. A routine check showed that the fuse box hadn't tripped, so I headed outdoors, and noticed the neighbour couldn't get her autogate opened....

But I of course, am more organised, and have the autogate key. Click click turn turn....hmm, cannot open. The realisation that I was trapped was too much for me. The thought of missing combat with FCI YET AGAIN!!!!!! Twas like a spear through the heart. Then, to my delight, I got this sms from SC.

So, it looked like the blackout was quite extensive. Called evil twin to find out if where he was had a blackout, but turns out he was in New Delhi. Not much use. Bangsar apparently was not affected, as a Bangsarian sms-ed in reply saying, "of course got electricity la, Bangsar is a classy area, not like Damansara".

I then sms-ed FCI, telling him I was trapped as autogate won't open. He thinks I'm brilliant enough to conjure up such unique excuses, and replies, "GOOD 1 LA". Anyway, I asked SC if it was possible that class will go on without electricity, and this was her reply.

Meanwhile, yhsmom was bemoaning the fact that her freesex class in Millennium was also scrapped for the same reasons. I told her about the possibility of FCI singing the entire track, and this was her response.


Anyway, as fate would have it, electricity came on just before the class was due to start, by which time it was too late for me to go, and anyway, SC warned me that the parking was chaos and mayhem after the blackout.

Then, it was time for dinner with Gorgeous Woman, who's in town for the quarterlies. Missed seeing Big Ben, legendary instructor from the republic down south, this round. Anyway, we met up for dinner at Siu Siu.... after a flurry of emails, I found out that my original venue, Siu Siu at the end of the Sg Besi Airport runway, was closed on Tuesdays, so we had to revert to the original Siu Siu in the Jungle, in Robson Heights.

Twas nice to have the usual suspects there. Mr & Mrs Lionheart, yhsmom, FDI, FCI, FGXC, PFPI (probationary favourite pump instructor), aka Richelle, and of course, guest of honor GW from BKK. Shades smsed at the last minute to say he had been taken ill..... these are also the quartelies for updates on gym gossip. FSI and Boy Robin couldn't make it.










Well, I had a great time, and it was wonderful to see everyone again.

Monday pump with YI was great. That boy's class is getting progressively harder. And with hardcores like Lionheart in the class.....well, what can I say. For a 4.45pm class, it is rather packed. Don't these people have to work?

The Week That Was

Further to my waning interest in Les Mills classes, ...and blogging, I was too lazy to blog about the day to day classes, mainly because, ...erm, I hardly went for any. Okay, last Monday, I missed YI's pump. Why? Oh, because it was the eve of a public holiday. So? I probably was running late. Though I probably did intend to go. Tuesday, I did want to go for Mr Cool's RPM, but it was at lunch time. That put paid the plans. Ended swimming 1km (20 laps x 50m) when I brought the kids swimming. Been awhile since I swam, arms ached.

Wednesday, which was still a holiday, the BODY ATTACK class in Axis caught my attention. 1. I hardly get to go for BA, 2. Since my passport is only used for the Curve, I thought I might as well head to Axis, 3. Teaching BA was 2nd FSI, and I was curious to see how his BA class was.

I dunno if BA's popularity has actually dwindled since its launch, or was it just the public holiday. The class wasn't very full. But BA is always a great workout. By track two, I can feel my butt aching like hell, and I wonder how I'll survive the rest of the class. Surprisingly the time passed quite quickly. As usual, by the end of it, I could barely grip my legs for the cooldown, coz of the sweat.

On Thursday, hmmm, probably did nothing, or did I imagine going for a jog? Oh dear!!!!

Friday, ah, if there was ever a reason to love les mills, this would be it. Gorgeous instructress, reunion of friends, tough class, complete with the drama of overbookings, and having to read out the registry. Megs had kindly signed in for me, (I was actually already there) as FBB. But I struck that off, and replaced it with real name, coz I foresaw if there was a reading of the register, I didnt want Richelle to be in a spot and say, FUH BUH BUH....

Yhsmom, Mr & Mrs Lionheart were there of course. Took Mr & Mrs L a helluva long time to get from carpark to the gym, which made me wonder....hmmmm.....(wink wink nudge nudge)....Richelle had a team teacher with her, a guy called Jason. He certainly has the physique of an instructor. He taught the chest track. Okay, feedback. I think for the chest track, of all tracks, crisp clear cueing is highly necessary, coz we cant really see the instructor. And not everyone knows the tracks at the back of their heads like Lionheart does. In fact, I dont understand WHY Lionheart doesn't become an instructor. Not that he needs the moollah, but if he's gonna be attending so many classes, and correcting choreo, ....he might as well earn something doing it.

Ya, back to the team teacher. I'm sure he'll make a fine instructor, but for this chest track, he could have cued a bit more. I was quite dazzled by all the weights that were being carried. Newman lead the fray with his 20kg a side squats, tailed closely by Lionheart, with 17.5kg. Team Teacher was also carrying impressive weights... I think it was like 12.5kg for clean and press. Anyway, as usual, it was a great class. I'm still aching.

Saturday, had every intention of going for combat at the curve, which was replaced by FCI. Alas, failed to make it on time, coz was stuck in a massage. Had earlier that morning jogged around lake gardens, so exercise quota for the day was more or less met. Did the Kiara Walk on Sunday, with daughter managing to complete the 5km loop, for the first time. The two boys, who have the constitution of taufoofah, managed until the crossroads and headed back downhill with the mother. Heh heh, okaylah, granted that they are younger. So I guess even 2km, of which 1km is uphill, is quite a feat.

Planned gym classes for this week: Monday, Pump with YI, Tuesday, Combat with FCI, Wed, RPM/Body Step, (Herny or FSI), Thurs..... rest day, Fri, Pump with Richelle, Sat, Combat With FDI, Sunday, outdoor jog/walk.