Lights out!

It's very common to bump into occasional black out here. Considering Bangalore a more advanced city, the duration in a blackout is shorter than the off-city places. Most house are equipped with a power generator, a backup supply for electricity. But, not in this Hitiki house am staying.

Last night was a great one, i was looking into the mirror; and suddenly i disappeared in total darkness. Each of us sourced for our own back-up "generator"--- torch lights, mobile phone and lit-ed candles. I kind of like it this way, that we groped around the house, just like playing the game of Blind Man Fold.

A humble look candle in the daytime, turned into such an elegant lady in the night.

Being so comfortable in Singapore, where the night is almost as bright as the day; and i sort of have forgotten the feeling of how darkness engulfs us, and how light can guides. Of course, one may realised that once our sight is blinded by total darkness, all our other senses awake, amazing! We start to listen with our ears, feel around with our touch and move with our heart.

Without the mind hinders, its a good time that we ignite our instinct; where we respond instead of react.

Lick ice-cream, the Natural way

Someone asked me if I'm on a trip like with Elizabeth Gilbert had done on Eat, Pray, Love. Somewhat there, but decided to drop the idea of moving from Italy, India and Bali--- with my limited budget.
What's first on her list--- Ice-cream litaliano. And I've never thought of wanting to have any ice-cream in India; the desserts are famously known for its extreme sweetness.

Naveen brought me to his beloved ice-cream store: Natural. When it all started from this fruit seller, who loves fruit so much; that he started this franchise ice-cream parlour in Mumbai and spreading across India.
Highly recommended for its Tender Coconut and Watermelon, and of course with some other interesting combination of flavours--- i'll have couple of weeks to taste them all.

Stepping out of DC Books, i saw Natural. Oh... why not have a cup of fruits? Got myself a double scoops of Tender Coconut and Watermelon once again. If you were to ask about the sweetness, it'll be the sweetness of the fruits. Mild and refreshing. I especially like the bites of the flesh of the coconut and watermelon that does not make an ice-cream boring enough to eat.

What's more, will be the burning little passion for the love of fruits; that evolve into such big idea.

Want to know more? Visit them at: http://www.naturalicecreams.in/

It's a book affair!

Feeling a little restless these days, with not much interest battling the traffics in the city; i decided to take a walk around the neighbourhood, Koramangala 1st block. Somehow, i feel that something is missing. Ah! There across the street, i see this DC Books store waving at me. Its books, its probably time for me to start chewing pages again.

Since last trip, i realised that i love the bookstores in India--- they have a wide range of good books, from economics to spiritual studies; with very affordable tags. The store was quiet, just the shopkeeper, a customer at the bookshelves and me. Everything seemed to slow down in pace, being aloof of the ever-crazy traffic at the street.

I started to search for some of my favourite authors: Paulo Coelho, Robin Sharma and Osho; brought back each of their masterpieces.

Shirly used to laugh at me, maybe she still does. That i'll read through the books before giving it away as a present of my trip. One can said that its a second-hand present; but i take it a positive way--- i know what i am giving you as a present, its not the book but the knowledgee i want to share with you. Knowledge is not for storing in the bookshelves, but in the hands of a worthy man. Pass it on! 

A road to remember

What makes an exhausting day would be the haggling with the auto rickshaws drivers. Straining my ears, trying best to make up the words coming out of their mouth; with me not able to speak their language at all. Probably have to execute some hard stares at them when they try to double or triple charge a trip. Sometimes, i just find myself talking loudly and arguing with them, when my limit was pushed.
A smile to them, is being cruel to myself. I thought.

Worst of all, i got pretty frustrated with my bad sense of direction. Even if i knows how to drive, the road signs and left/right lanes just freaked me out. I sometimes do get myself lost in Singapore, forget about not getting lost in India. People told me about landmarks and all, but i just got them all mixed up. Terrible, i do hope i got a GPS installed in my brain.

Traveling on the roads in Bangalore, is a very challenging task, at least for me. I've to keep extra alert mode, with the constant digging into my memory for images of landmarks...phew!

Day time is not too bad. Today, i tried the evening "lonely planet" on auto rickshaw, not gonna do it again! 

Bangalore, night out!

Bangalore, a happening place, where young promising people come together--- work, training, students, internship... not quite of a holistic i would say. The whole city is pretty much like the CBD town area of Singapore, in a much expanded land scale.

It was an experience exploring the night scenes this weekends. Very much like Singapore, most people will have a list of parties to follow through after they end their working week. Interestingly, the fun will start at about 7pm and end at 11.30pm ( strictly). And police will start streaming to disperse the crowds. And the "black market parties" starts--- meeting up at a person's place for private parties.

I went to HINT with a group, located at a rooftop of a building. A nice open terrace over-viewing the cities, and a glass compartment separating the dance floor where people were dancing in estacy. Forget about talking, i practically had to shout into ears; and using body signals and eye contacts to communicate.
If you want to experience "sardine packed", visit HINT.

You've got to check out the Bangalore Oktober Fest @ Ground Palace. Its a festival started in Germany which was said to be a real  big event. Here, a stage far away was playing some loud Sufi music, and on the vast ground were people grabbing a Kingfisher and enjoying their One Moment of Glory, Nice!

I was chatting with a friend that how irony some things can be. During most of the days, people wear proper; Indian ladies especially are more conservative and demure. When the sunsets and the moon rises, we were pretty amazed that the ladies seems to be more overwhelming than the men in the clubs. What's that " you've got to wear covered clothes" had somewhat vanished in the thin air.  

Was this the result of suppression? Rebellious. 

Not becoming. Being.

I was bumping up and down at the back seat of an auto rickshaw. The motorbike next to me was probably just a few inches away. Many of the time i thought the auto rickshaw was gonna bang into the car at the front; just waiting for it to happen. It did not.

Driving to them is like walking. They can manipulate the vehicles so well, that it as already become part of them. Everyone is moving towards their destination, snaking in between spaces without hindering the progression of others. They probably has only one rule to follow--- no rule, yet with full awareness of what's going on on the road.

Don't ride the bike. Be the bike.
Don't sit on the chair. Be the chair.
Don't do yoga. Be the yoga.
Don't dance. Be the dance.
Don't talk. Be the words.

"Falling in love you remain a child; rising in love you mature. By and by love becomes not a relationship, it becomes a state of your being. Not that you are in love - now you are love."
"We all cling to the past, and because we cling to the past we become unavailable to the present."~ Osho

Breakfast,The Indians' Way

Anita brought me to her usual breakfast place before starting her day at work. Just two streets down, along the lane.A traditional eating place, where the Indians will have their breakfast standing up. It was 9 am when we stepped out of the house; a bustling morning with constant honking of the vehicles.

The order was made at the counter. With the receipt, we collected our breakfast at the open kitchen counter. And this is probably the first time, their service was such a speedo! From the start to the end: within 8 minutes. Whether the food is safe enough for my tummy, i did think about it. The last thing i want is to screw it up. Anita has been eating for the past one year, every morning; nothing has happen as yet.

One thing to note that, the Chai has to be boiling hot when served.

Idli, are steamed white rice cake; Vada is the bring donut-like. It's very commonly seen in any Indian food house. Accompanied by some curry to spice up the taste buds and coconut chutney to counter it.

Chai, are like teh-terik in Singapore. It's slightly sweeter, and is serve in a small cups ( half the cup of what we usually have in a coffee shop) 

Chow Chow Bath. I particularly like this dish, just because of its cute name. The white rice lump taste slightly salty rice flour, with some spices and nuts The yellowish lump taste slightly sweeter. I'm not sure about the exact ingredients,  the closest taste i can think of is pineapple. It can be eat separately or by mixing the sweet and salty together with the coconut chutney.                                                      

Pay: INR22 ( SGD0.60)

Bangalore, full of dreams.

This trip was probably planned with gusto, wanting to experience India on my own. However, from the time i step into this land... it started shrinking. Flight was good though, the bumpy car ride gave me some motion sickness, which i kept spraying mint into my mouth to prevent any puking.

It was cold. A home-made ginger chai from my friend was great to at least calm my nerves. Precautions was mentioned to me, especially for a Chinese lady moving around. And after reading a news article on how a man was robbed and stripped on an auto rickshaw in a broad day light.
Fear. I felt emerging helplessness.

I woke up, back on mat. Without my friend around, getting back on the mat is probably one thing that can keep me rooted. I was alone in the house, all other went off to work; decided to hit the streets for some vegetables. Prepared a pot of vegetable soup, which i used to do it in Singapore.
Couldn't believe that i actually find another source of my comfort through this pot of soup.

Chat up with my housemates in the evening, and followed one of them to a meeting a local Bangalorean, Mash ( if i didn't get it wrong). An artist-- photographing, sculptures, paintings... travelling around for opportunities for his passion. One thing that amazed me, that he was previously looking after a local garment shop for his family. And decided to chase after his dream of being an artist; which he's not bother about not earning any income from it for the past 2 years.

And for me, i am going to explore India by doing the things that i am good at. Yoga.

Clean yourself Inside Out--- Colon cleansing

Most of us must have known about the recent lost for the respectable Dr Balaji  ( 55 year old), Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs. The main cause of such loss: Colon Cancer. Which triggers me to draft out this blog post.

Colon cancer is the top cancer cases in Singapore. People around me may have heard me talking a little about it; and this incident is a great chance for us to really have a thinker.

Couples of years back, if we still recall the hypes of clinics providing colon cleaning services in town. Where a machine is involved, by in- putting caffeine liquid to relax the colon muscles and later suck the  body waste into the machine. Due to some complication, the regulation of such services has tighten... and only come clinics are providing such services.
Hey! WHy do we want to pay such high cost and have somebody to clean our colon, when we can actually do it ourselves?

Colon cleaning is one of the traditional yogic method that has been around long time back; which most people thought its a modern service. This method is Basti. The simple equipment is Enema set.

Whenever i mentioned about my favorite basti, i get crumpled faces with two huge steps backwards.           " What! you clean your own colon?" Gulp!

Yes. Why not? It's very economical , i don't need a stranger to do it for me and i can clean my own dirt. The fact is, no matter how fresh our food are, which detox plan we are following; whenever we put anything into our mouth and into our body system... we're already welcoming tons of viruses and bacteria. Not to say that Singaporeans loves hawker food plus increasing rate of constipation problem.

Our colon is like a water pipe. The inner side of the pipe gets dirty, and some may even get stuck at the folding. If we don't clean it, more dirt's accumulate and the pipe gets block. In the case of colon, the waste matters will harden and turn toxins--- colon related problems occur.

I've been happily doing Basti for coming 3 years. I used to have this rashes and itchiness on my arms, and acne's on my skin. After experiencing the effect of basti, the rashes and itchiness was gone! My sis was surprised and now she's using it too. 

Even if I'm on a vege-based diet, i do get expired waste in my system. For those who loves to dine out ( whether its hawker food or fine dining) and who has bad constipation problem. Please, start doing something. 

Some people may find it disgusting still, but the baseline is " The dirt is out of me, and you're still storing it."

Where can i get the Enema Set?

http://www.tirisulayoga.com/



Clean yourself Inside Out--- for Nasal problems

Cleansing and detox....cleansing and detox. These two words are always floating around the market when we're referring to gaining back a healthy body system. Besides getting into good diet plans, we need to have frequent habits of internal cleansing. Whether its in a yogic way or modernised method, different type of detoxification techniques have actually been around for a very long time.
Let me share with you two of my favourite:

Jala Neti ( water nasal cleaning)

Typically when this method is mentioned to a random Asian, the first reaction is a squint in the eyes with a step back away from this idea. It just sounds mission impossible to pour the water in one of the nostril and let it stream out from the mouth. Nasal cleaning is not anything new, just that this practice is not as wide spread in the Asia region.

However, Nasal cleaning is very popular in European countries.... which they call " neti pot or nasal pot". One can easily grab one from pharmacies. I reckon its due to the freezing weather, that causes bad sinus, viruses and other nasal problems; unlike the weather in Asia. 

These couple of years, I've been hearing people wheezing and see red-nosed rein deers. Thanks to the unpredictable weather (global warming effect?) and the quality of air has dropped. Surprisingly, many of them prefer to battle the mucus flow to doing something to stop it.

Personally, I've been using this method for coming 3 years. Am breathing well still and have not get into nasal problem since ( not in the future too!).

This lady came to me 2 years ago with very bad sinus and breathing difficulties that have been her long time friend. I introduced her Jala Neti; she learnt it with a little fear. She was tired of doctors and popping pills which gave temporary comfort; the pills has been giving her joints and gastric problems.
And so, decided to give it a shot to this yogic way of cleansing.
Her nasal problem has improved, breathing without having to fight the blockages makes her a happier person.  

where to get this net pot? email to: info@satyayoga.com.sg

* check out another of my favourite self-help cleansing technique in the next post!

Unknown plans

Gosh...! I'm already started counting down for India; like how a kid's been longing for the holiday.

Just waiting to break out of my routines... its definitely a good thing that 2010 has been moving especially fast. These days of waiting period has already giving me some " hallucination". I've been dreaming of the stays in Mysore with Shirly... chatting till we both dozed off.
Waking up without having to look at the clock, or to check my messy little schedule book; thinking that there's no class for the day.

What a delusion!

After noting my mum about the dates, she whined, "  You are so weird. Of all places... why India?" After all, she's sort of given up telling me that how frightening India can be. Ironically, no matter how bad some others says about India; the fact is... they have not been there. And, usually like to take Little India in Singapore as reference.

One interesting point i get from visiting India--- no expectation. When I've heard so many negatives, that i was "force" not to expect too much from there. And which actually had made the entire trip much more fruitful.

Let say if we were to make plan for a trip to a Europe country; we probably will expect: good service... clean air... good facilities... politeness everywhere...and the trip may be full of disappointment if that does not happen.

Some likes for India because she organized in a chaotic manner. She's very colourful and vibrant. There's just something about her that sort of shares the same smile as Monalisa. The kids are very small sized, with the dristhi on their cheeks. She shows the huge contrast of the poors and the riches openly; that brings me right to the reality of life.  

I must really say that sometimes we do not know what the Supreme has planned for us. I've been always curious about India since i was a school girl. Where's it? what's so bad about India? Are they all baddies?

From a girl who never like sports and sweating; who takes eating as her main part of her enjoyment; who had been fighting few great wars over weight problem....and to be in touch with yoga. A once carnivore to a herbivore, that pooped  few eyeballs of others... and fulfilling my little dream to discover India.

It's all planned...that's happening over a decade.

My space

Space pervades us. Whether it can be seen or felt, it is a place where we can reconnect ourselves. Can space be seek? I'm not sure as yet. But i prefer to create them.
In any relationships ( family, friends, spouse,); even the relationship with ourselves--- we need space. Or some people call it the Bubble of Privacy.

My space. Seen as the size of the yoga mat at the corner of the living room. Feel as the vastness of the roofless sky.

I like to enter my space bubble during dawn; when all others are still smelling the pillows; when there's minimal movement that i can hear the footsteps of the lizards.

Spending good duo hours to struggle my way through the tightness of the morning body; as i witness the gradual contrasting colour of the sky as the sun rises.  

The most blissful of all--- lying in corpse pose savasana as long as I'm ready to open my eyes again. When i enter into another level of space, between me body and self purusha. What really is happening in this space, i find no word to describe it.

However, each time when i exit this space, i feel so grateful to be here. For what i am doing. The relationship with my family and long-time friends, in this small island, for the guidance of my teachers and the people I've met. 

I allow nobody to step on my mat and respect these spaces in creation. A place where i can find the original me, without any hypocrisy.

My dad used to thought that he heard drillings from the construction site; it was actually me doing the ujjayi breathing. They were so worried that i may break something at home; which i did broke a vase from Ikea. Fortunately, they have decided to leave me alone.
In any case, my ujjayi breathes is just as loud as the snoring behind closed doors.