GYMNASTICS 101

As you know by now, from my previous blogs, I will be following gymnastics during the Olympics, as I am a BIG fan! I’m pretty excited to see our Aussie newbies go up against the Russians, Romanians, Americans and Chinese. Before the events start, I thought it’ll be good to give a quick intro on this sport and what to expect during medal tally.

There are 4 apparatus for women’s Gymnastics, which are floor, vault, beam and uneven bars.

For each apparatus there are 1 head judge, 2 judges mark technical content, 6 judges mark execution. The highest and lowerst score of the 6 is discarded and the average taken for the remaining marks which are out of 10. Although there has been discussion about the new scoring system which may be introduced at the Olympics this year. It’s the new perfect score of 17!

Anyway, one preliminary round determines who qualifies for the 3 competitions (medals) - which are 1 team event, 1 all-round event and finals on each apparatus.

1. The top 8 Teams (countries) of 6 gymnasts each, of which only 3 team members competing on each apparatus.

2. The top 24 gymnasts from the preliminary round compete - with a maximum 2 competitors per country.

3. The top 8 gymnasts compete on each apparatus - with a maximum 2 competitors per country.

The floor exercise will consist of 70 secs of speed and agility to produce a sequence of jumps somersaults and twists.

As for the vault, well, just hope that the competitors don’t miss the spring board and run into it – head first. The vault has been replaced during 2001 and it’s now positioned differently to minimise any misses!

1min 30 secs on the balance beam, which is only 10cm wide!

And lastly, between 70 – 90 secs on the uneven bars.

Now that you’ve brushed up your Gymnastics 101, be sure to catch the exciting action!

LION DANCE

Ever wondered what those Lion heads are made of? I’ve done a lot of Lion Dance during Chinese New Year and I can tell you that those Lion heads can get heavy after awhile. During my trip to KL, I visited a warehouse where they specialise in making Lion heads. This place is very famous in Malaysia for their production of handmade, top quality lions (to withstand the vigorous movements in very crowded areas!)

This is the skeleton of the lion head, made of very thin rattan (cane). It’s tied and shaped together neatly by small pieces of fabric string.

Then they cover the skeleton all round with very thin pieces of what looks like muslin cloth (but don’t know what they’re actually made of!) soaked in a sticky paste. Kinda like something we do in Kindy with making paper-marche.. Once dried, it forms a hardened shell. Then the artwork begins. The 2 photos above are artwork ‘stations’ where the first base colour and glitter paper goes on after the ‘paper-mache’ dries up.

Check out the paint that they use to mix and match. This is how a typical paint table at every artwork ‘station’ looks like.

This lady here looks after the finishing touches. After all the paint dries up and all the glitter paper is glued on, she applies some kind of sealant all over the lion. Someone pointed out to me that the lion that this lady is working on is a lion specially made to perform on wedding occasions. If you look closely, on the front of the lion head has the word ‘Hei’ in red? Which means double happiness (for the couple)

Once the finishing paintwork is done and all the fur around the eyes have been glued on, they hang it up on the wall in a row..

Here’s a couple of striking designs that I liked..

WHOT THE..?

My trip to KL was fantastic. Short and sweet and shopped all weekend! Like any tourists with their cameras ready at hand, I was snapping some pictures of rather unusual business sign boards. Check these out:

This was taken at a coffee shop where their specialty is delicious toasted bread with kaya (caramel spread) & butter. I guess they thought this slogan fits into their product, only thing is that we can’t just TAKE their bread, we have to pay for it!!!


This is such a copyright infringement! This shop sells all hair products, including hairsprays and hair gels.. Go figure..

Talk about advertising!

Moving on to somewhere else outside of shopping malls, I came across this very old and tattered sign. Eww.. I’d say, bring your own trunks and you wouldn’t wanna wear their swimshits!!

Another sign on our bathroom wall, taken in Beijing. I know things could get slippery when you run hot water in an enclosed bathroom but didn’t realise it effects the land beneath us too!!??

SECOND BEST

Ah, so the Tour is finally over. And sad to say, wasted… in the overall standings, Cadel came second behind the yellow jersey Sastre by 65 secs. Sigh.. well done anyway. We haven’t seen the last of Cadel yet, there will always be next year’s Tour de France. Now we focus on Beijing Olympics and will start cheering for Cadel again!

LE TOUR UPDATE ON THE YELLOW

Aiyah… wasted! As of yesterday’s Stage 17, our Cadel Evans slipped to 4th place and is now 1min 34secs behind the leader Carlos Sastre. What do you think, is there still hope for the yellow jersey? It ain’t over yet, don’t forget, there is still the Individual Time Trials in Stage 20 this Saturday – which will become the race of truth! I’ll be watching Stage 19 LIVE from KL tomorrow and will most definitely be glued to the TV on Saturday as well! So join me and follow The Tour, wherever you are..!

OLYMPIC MASCOTS

Having just visited Beijing last November, I can say that China is well on their way in preparation for the big 8.8.08. This year, Beijing is introducing 5 mascots for the Olympic Games! Let me introduce to you BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, Ying Ying & NiNi. This picture was taken at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

Beibei is the Fish, JingJing is the Panda, HuanHuan is the Olympic Flame, YingYing is the Tibetan Antelope and NiNi is the Swallow. When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni means "Welcome to Beijing". I’ve read that each mascot has very specific (and elaborate) meaning and symbolic purpose. Let’s see:
BeiBei carries the blessing of prosperity. The fish is a symbol of prosperity and harvest. BeiBei is known to be gentle and pure. She represents all in water sports and she reflects the blue Olympic ring.
JingJing the panda makes children smile and as a national treasure and a protected species, pandas are adored by all. As such, JingJing symbolizes happiness. Jingjing is charmingly naïve and optimistic. He is an athlete noted for strength who represents the black Olympic ring.

This is me with HuanHuan! I fell in love with Huan Huan, I wanted to bring this home! No wonder I was attracted to the ‘red flames’ of this mascot, as I’ve read that HuanHuan is a child of fire, symbolizing the Olympic Flame and the passion of sport. Huanhuan is the big brother and stands in the center as the core embodiment of the Olympic spirit. And while he inspires all with the passion to run faster, jump higher and be stronger, he is also open and inviting. Huanhuan is outgoing and enthusiastic. He excels at all the ball games and represents the red Olympic ring.

YingYing is fast and agile like all antelopes, and can swiftly cover great stretches of land as he races across the earth. A symbol of the vastness of China's landscape, the antelope carries the blessing of health, the strength of body that comes from harmony with nature. Strong in track and field events, YingYing is a quick-witted and agile boy who represents the yellow Olympic ring.

NiNi's figure is drawn from this grand tradition of kite flying designs. Her golden wings symbolize the infinite sky and spread good-luck as a blessing wherever she flies. Nini is as innocent and joyful as a swallow. She is strong in gymnastics and represents the green Olympic ring.
So, which is your favourite?

AUSSIE OLYMPIANS

­­­­­­­­­­­­I can’t wait till the Olympics Opening Ceremony. I have full confidence in China to come up with a massive, culture-rich choreography and I bet there will be loads of Wushu on display. Mark my words! But on the sidelines, I will be cheering on our Australian Gymnastics team. This Olympics, I’ll be keeping my eye on our very own Western Australian girls Daria Joura, Lauren Mitchell and Olivia Vivian. 16 days and counting!
Meanwhile, back at the Tour De France, no rest for the Aussies who will also be competing in Beijing right after the Tour finishes on Sunday. On Road race we have Cadel Evans (in Individual / Individual Time Trial), Simon Gerrans and Stuart O’Grady (both Individual). A non-competitor at this year’s Tour (but certainly not a stranger in past years) Brad McGee will compete in track racing Individual Pursuit 4000m and Team Pursuit 4000m. Good luck boys!

LE TOUR UPDATE

Darn it, looks like Cadel has let the yellow slip off his back and onto a well deserved Frank Schleck at Stage 15! Although Cadel’s position has now slipped to 3rd place, 8 seconds behind Schleck, I still have hopes for our Aussie – it ain’t over until Paris!
It was a gruelling Stage 15 filled with riding tactics and bone breaking crashes and Cadel finished relatively unscathed. But the not-so-lucky Oscar Pereiro was a victim of a nasty crash and suffered multiple fractures... and he's out...
Well at least the pressure's off Cadel for now, perhaps a good strategy to concentrate on the mountains later in the week. Stay tuned!

WUSHU-MANIA!

Well, apart from Le Tour there is one other sport that supersedes it to be my passion in life. WUSHU! Yes, I live & breathe Wushu and I can’t imagine myself not ever doing Wushu. Just a quick WUSHU 101 for my fellow readers out there, before I continue with this entry. Wushu (or modern Wushu or Contemporary Wushu) is referred to as a modern exhibition sport based on traditional Chinese martial arts, created in China.

Practicing Wushu and competing in world competitions have been my life for many years and although age is catching up with my survival in such a competitive elite sport, I’m finding myself moving on to expand further in teaching and studying of this sport. I’ve slowed down a lot the past couple of years, post-ACL injury, and have discovered the internal art of Taiji Quan. My particular area of study is the Chen Style Taiji.
Anyway, here are some of the highlights of my competition career and other candid Wushu shots.. Enjoy the photos! We continued with our competition training over the weekend and this morning at work, I walked like a cowboy who’s been riding on a horse for miles. Get your mind out of the gutter! I meant my thigh muscles are so sore, made walking real hard this morning. My training started with some running to warm up, after I asked Sam to drop me off at the end of the road and I ran all the way to school! Then did some stretching, basic plus nandu kicks (combo of difficulty movements + kicks) and some weight training. Legs, calves and arms. And then more floor stretching. This time our residential stretch master (my Sammy!) folded me in half and pressed me down for a few sets. Then it’s the side-splits stretches. Again, was folded in half and pressed. I found that I can do a low balance with leg inserted behind much easier now! Here’s how it looks like.

This was taken about a year ago, but now I can go slightly lower than this. Should’ve taken a photo of it yesterday! Would you believe it this is a difficult movement in Taiji?? Yes, this is the highest scoring low leg balance.
I hope to bring my camera to one of my training sessions and post some more updated photos..

LE TOUR

I’ve always wanted to blog about the Tour De Fance but I guess its still not to0 late to do so – still around 7 stages to go.. Although the Maillot Jaune is not determined yet (with only like a nail biting 00’01” of a second ahead of 2nd place so far!) but I’m hoping for our Aussie silent achiever to keep the yellow till the end. Go Aussie!
I have to admit that The Tour was dead for me along with the retirement of Lance Armstrong. I’m a huge fan of Lance and he made the tour special for me. But although I’ve stopped following it closely post-Lance, I’ve made a point to catch up with this year’s tour, this time rooting for Cadel Evans!
But I am really impressed to see sprint legend Erik Zabel in the starting line (again) this year, would’ve thought he would retire by now perhaps?? In very recent years, saw him being beaten by some notable Aussies like Robbie McEwan and Stuart O’Grady in the sprint finish, which as of today Oscar Freire is looking good in Green at 219 Pts, with Erik in 3rd place and Robbie on 8th place? Although, I can’t seem to find full list of standing for Green Jersey on Le Tour. Anyone knows, can post me a comment.
Anyway, back to Cadel. Clenching the Yellow at such an early stage (10th), will see him work extra hard to keep it on his back all the way to Paris. No rest for the wicked, I say, and I read in the web that all he wants is just a good night’s sleep before the L’Alpe-d’Huez later in the week! That’ll be THE test and I’m definately looking forward to catching it LIVE. Well, LIVE as in on TV of course. Although it’s been my dream to visit France in summer to follow the Tour and bask in the fields of sunflowers. (even if it does hell on my sinuses, its all worth it!)
But, yea, it will be interesting to see how our Aussies fare in this year’s Tour. Watch this space for more updates this week.

BATMAN JUST GOT DARKER...

We just couldn't wait for the weekend and went to watch The Dark Knight on Thursday night. We thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly watching Heath as The Joker. In my opinion, he stood out the most in this movie and he brought out the psychotic character which just effortlessly overshadowed our hero caped crusader. Made Batman look moody and emotionless, who I suddenly noticed speaks with a slight lisp! Actually both The Joker & Batman look like they have cotton wool stuffed into their cheeks. But I applaud Heath, he did a fantastic job, won me over Jack Nicholson any time. Storyline, kept my attention 100% throughout. The question from The Joker still haunts me though, "Do you know how I got these scarssss?". Well, you'll just have to go and watch it yourself... I didn't mind it being over 2 and half hours in duration but my only advice to all is to have a good wee before the movie!

ENTERTAINING THE POPE

All that hype about World Youth Day and Pope BXVI visiting Sydney! There were celebrations throughout all the states leading up to his arrival. And even though Perth was not in the man’s itinerary, we did have a good day of celebrations on the 10th and many ‘pilgrims’ from all over the world came to join us at The Esplanade. I am proud to say, as a representative of my parish, I performed at the World Youth Day celebrations in front of some really loud and supportive revellers! We had loud cheers and everyone loved us and we had so much fun and the energy was really high! Not your typical solemn religious gathering surrounded by priest, nuns, vicars, talbots and brothers!
And what caught my attention this morning when I was watching the morning show on TV was the rapping priest from the Bronx! How cool is he, imagine, rapping the Gospel to the Pope? Well, if it was me and I had a minute with the Pope, I’d like to teach him some Tai Chi! :) That’ll be awesome…

GIRLS' BEST FRIEND

Can’t afford diamonds? Or simply turned off by diamond trading after watching Blood Diamond? Whatever your reason may be, you can’t deny yourself a little bling in your life. My good friend in Singapore told me about Diamond Simulants like Moissanite (or Silicon carbide) which she believes that you can hardly tell the difference when presented next to a real diamond! Well, I did a Wikipedia on Diamond Simulants and read up about its gemological properties and I think if I’m ever looking to shop for some bling rings, I’d probably consider Moissanite.
Let’s talk price here… hmmm I guess it depends on the manufacturer but so far I found the more affordable one is Gordon Max. I saw some classic rings that were under USD$200, well within my budget. And they have stores around Australia, Singapore and also one in KL. How convenient for my trip there next week! **All smiles** Will see if I end up buying any diamonds and will post it up on my blog then!

YONG TAU FOO

Ah hah! Alas, I found a fantastic Oriental Supermarket that sells YONG TAU FOO! But damnit, they are expensive here man! Something like $12.99/kilo. I just miss my YTF laksa, my YTF korn-low (dry noodles) in sweet sauce.. Hmm, so much cheaper to eat in Malaysia. But let me tell you, YTF has now evolved into all kinds of shapes, sizes and ingredients! I swear to you the other day I bit into what looks like a fish ball but then cheese starting squirting out. Cheese! In my fishball, can you imagine! What would they think of next.. But hello, look at these variations of YTF other than the regular stuffed brinjal, bitter gourd or ladies fingers:
So instead of plonking it into some soup the way YTF is usually served, I came up with another delicious idea on preparing it. I fry all the YTF in a little oil and once it’s a bit brown I dish it out. Then I drizzle a little Kecap Manis on it and there you have it, yummy (dry) lightly fried YTF..
Kecap manis is a dark brown, syrupy, Indonesian soy sauce. It has a sweeter flavour than normal soy sauce. It usually contains star anise and garlic, in addition to sweeteners such as palm sugar. Kecap manis is often referred to as Indonesian soy sauce. This bottle of kecap manis is like the standard essential item in any Indonesian household. My partner’s mum swears by it and uses it in practically every dish she cooks. Love your cooking, mum!

CAESAREAN BIRTHING EXPERIENCE

Recently I've gotten in touch with some of my old classmates through facebook and MSN. Ah, technology! It was great catching up with them after 17 years and finding out their progress in life. Apart from reminiscing about good ol' times, they were also starting to swap baby stories and sharing motherhood experience. Seems like a third of my old friends have kids of their own now and blissfully became stay-at-home mums!

Then came the sharing of labour experiences.. Some had lots of pain, some loved the experience, some wanted to kill their husbands for causing all that agony, and some just didn't feel the pain. One of the girls in the discussion group is about to have a baby and is choosing to have a caesarean. Then she started a discussion on C-section, in preperation for her own labour.

I did my own research, maybe one day I might have a kid and would probably choose C-section myself. Who knows.

There's a friend who had her son two years back under Caesarean and posted the video footage of the whole entire procedure and posted it on her blog! She has kindly invited us to link that footage so we can share it with those of you out there who are curious in knowing what this procedure entails. Very interesting actually. Enjoy this wonderous Caesarean birthing process! (Please click on the hyperlink)

MAKAN-MAKAN

I’m always looking for recipes to try and quite frankly, I kinda like cooking/baking nowadays. I was never one to cook, it has always been take away or eat out! There is this website that I’m a member of, Recipes4All - you can click on the name and it will bring you to a website filled with exotic Asian recipes!
The recipes are simple to make and exotic and is just a click away. How easy is that. You can also share your own recipes with others by registering and posting it on the website.
Think I’ll try some Indonesian food today – Soto Bangkalan & Nasi Gurih sounds yummy!

RETAIL THERAPY

Sigh.. So I had a bad day yesterday and I went for a late afternoon retail therapy… Damn, I hate to say it but it works! I felt sooo much better after that, grinning from ear to ear carrying my bargain find! I bought a fantastic turquoise dress with plunging neckline. Tried it on and went Wow! I gotta get this – price tag $50.. Then I spotted a ‘Lemon’ top and thought, well, I though this will be perfect, in preparation for summer!! :) Then I looked around the store and found this chunky bling bracelet –3 shades of blue shiny beads set on a gold base. Hmmm.. goes with the dress – why not!

It’s on sale too anyway! ~ I'm a happy girl....