Look of the Day

22 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Fashion, Travel Tags: ,

Despite the heat in Bali, a girl’s always gotta look good, whether it be at the beach making sand-castles, chillin’ out at home or just riding on the motorbike, with the cool wind in my hair 🙂

For those who’ve never been to Bali, I would like to introduce you to the infamous ‘Bintang’ tank-top! The vacationing Aussies are the ones that sport these popular Singlets the most, and we’re not just talking about the boys. The girls wear them too…

How can you blame them – They’re comfy, they’re available in many different colours and they can be worn in several ways to create a special look, depending on your mood of the day. And of course, they promote the local beer, which apparently is the most ‘affordable’ drink here. I wouldn’t really know since I am quite content to stick to my milk and the occasional smoothie! However, with the crazy amounts of empty Bintang bottles and cans I see, I wonder if it wouldn’t just come up to the same or even cheaper to take 2-3 ‘fancier’ drinks…but then, it may not be as fun? Maybe one day, I’ll understand…

Although, the Bintang tanks have been associated to a slightly ‘un-cool’ factor (just imagine a bunch of 10 loud Bintang tank-top-clad dudes and dudettes, who have just finished an equivalent amount of Bintang beers EACH and who are ready to PART-Y, and to cause some trouble!) Let’s just say, you wouldn’t automatically stack this piece with the fashion-chic items in your wardrobe…

I love my Bintang tank-tops and here are two simple ways to Up the ‘Cool’ factor to make them more Stylish:
1- Get a longer version and wear it as a dress – It’s best when it hits mid-thigh for a mini-dress to show off those sun-tanned legs…I’m still growing into mine. I would also recommend a thin belt to accentuate the waist (for those who don’t have a Sumo-belly like me)

2- Get a loose version (like the one that can be worn as a dress), and tie it at the hip, and wear over some ‘tight’ shorts – Makes the look a bit girly with the knot on the hip, but still tom boy cool to be able to run to the beach and brings back a bit of the 80s.
Note: the locals also wear Bintang tank-tops (mostly the boys) over Camo-shorts…Camo seems to be very popular here!

How to get the Look:
Bintang TankTop: Sold at souvenir shops in Legian & Kuta or Oleh-Oleh’s on Jl. Sunset Road
Camo Shorts: Zacasha on Jl. Kunti, Seminyak
Hair: Natural – ‘Just went Surfing look’

I feel the earth move…well, not really

21 Oct 2011 1 Comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Travel Tags: ,

October 13th, 2011 marked a very eventful day for me. It started out like every other day, with a nice slice of peanut butter toast, a big glass of milk and of course some yummy Bali fruits…

After breakfast, my normal routine was shot out the door. My parents pleasantly surprised me by taking me out for a spin on the motorbike early that morning. But little did I know what was waiting for me at our destination…

I should’ve suspected something was wrong as soon as we arrived in the sterile environment with too many people wearing white lab coats. I was fully aware of the situation when they brought me into the small little back room, where they perform the torture sessions far from any watchful eyes…They started pointing the red laser light into my eyes, then they tried to wrap some ribbon around my head and along the length of my body, then they tried to put me on some metal plate with electronic numbers on it (probably to give me an electric shock to calm me down), and finally they tried to get me to stick my finger into some plastic gadget with a wire connected to it…Were they going to start by cutting off my fingertips so I wouldn’t be able to defend myself?

I had been here before… I tried to block it from my memory, but I was starting to get flashbacks of the last time I was here. They were 2 trying to hold me down and 2 others poking me simultaneously on the thighs. There’s no way I was going to just sit there and let them torture me again this time around. Don’t know what they injected into me last time, but here’s what I looked like after they finally decided to let me go…For some reason they put some bright yellow stickers with Big Bird and Cookie Monster on the torture spots – so I would forget what they had done to me?? Sad to say, but it sorta worked…

Oddly, they seemed to let me go without even a scratch this time….so I thought! In fact, they weren’t finished yet. They were transferring me to the 2nd floor, probably where they perform the more extreme torture sessions?? Now I was really starting to get scared. What were mom and dad doing anyhow? Why weren’t they protecting me? Come to think of it, they’re the ones who actually brought me here!

We arrived into another small room with a person (in a white lab coat) waiting for us. She had a sweet face, but I KNEW this was BAD NEWS! Mom and dad tried to distract me as best they could, but I could clearly see that they were preparing their ‘equipment’ and they were out to get me! What was I supposed to do? Even mom and dad seemed to be on their side. I was on my own…Although I can walk now, there was no way I could make a run for it now that the door was already closed. I had no choice but to surrender and defeatedly accepted my fate…

With mom and dad holding me down, they proceeded to perform the same torture moves – but this time they attacked both my arms 😦 It must have been a sound proof room, cuz I screamed from the top of my lungs and nobody came to rescue me. Life is definitely cruel sometimes – and I still have no clue what I did to deserve this! Luckily, my memory is short and I’ve already started to forget all about it…

When we left the building, I saw the letters BIMC!! To all my little friends out there, beware the next time you see a big sign with these letters. You might be in for a nasty surprise!

As we were riding back home, traffic suddenly stopped and there was a sense of panic all around us. People were staring up at the sky and pointing up as if there was a UFO in the air, but nothing awkward could be seen. It turns out they were pointing at the rooftops, afraid that the tiles or bricks from the buildings would crumble down from the 6.8 earthquake which had just shaken the ground beneath us. Luckily no one around us seemed to be hurt and the effects were ‘relatively’ minor given the size of the shake. In my case, I didn’t feel a thing since I had fallen asleep in mom’s arms on the motorbike – I guess whatever they injected me with knocked me out: “Thy drugs are quick…”

The earthquake shook up our house a bit, as we’ve noticed about 5 new cracks on the walls and ceiling. Here’s a shot of one the cracks:

Cracked wall - Bali Earthquake Oct 13, 2011

Looks like I wasn’t the only one marked by the events on Oct 13th… Unfortunately, the house’s marks will last much longer than mine…

 

BIMC Hospital Bali
Open 24 hours
Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai 100 X, Kuta 80361, Bali, Indonesia
T: (+62 361) 761263 F: (+62 361) 764345
info@bimcbali.com
http://www.bimcbali.com/

What do I want to be when I grow up – Segment 2: Yogilates Instructor

07 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Cool Stuff, Travel Tags: ,

It seems like it’s one of those latest trends to get kids started on activities early on, starting at only a few months. I remember, that at less than 6 months, I already had a weekly agenda to keep track of all my activities:

Baby-swimming classes, Baby-massage classes,…all this in addition to my regular daily activities: Nap time, eating time, Tummy-time, learning to roll-over or crawl time, bath time – and changing diapers time was not negligible either.

On top of all this, I had to accompany mom to her Baby-Cardio Classes, grocery shopping, and other ‘so-called’ meetings that she may have…

I know that baby-yoga and baby-dances classes are all the hype now.  Before I start complaining about yet another class…mom has actually started teaching me a few yoga poses and Pilates exercises at home and I’m having a blast! Every day, I now look forward to my little Yoga/Pilates sessions. Who knows what this will lead to in the future for me? Perhaps, shall I consider becoming a Yoga/Pilates instructor?

So far, although I’ve not mastered them yet, I’m practicing the following poses/exercises:

  1. Cat pose
  2. Child’s pose
  3. Tree pose
  4. Boat pose
  5. Open Leg Rocker
  6. Double Straight leg raises
  7. Leg slides on small Pilates ball
  8. Cobra pose (which I’ve been doing since I was 3-4 months old, don’t mean to show off or anything…)

Since I’m having such a blast learning new moves, I won’t complain about my weekly swimming classes and my daily yoga/pilates sessions. My schedule doesn’t seem that hectic afterall – besides we’ve truly adapted to the Bali-Beat (of taking things nice & easy!)

It actually feels good to move my body – gotta learn healthy habits early on, especially considering the amount of food I eat. Really should burn off those calories somehow…might as well, have fun while doing it!

I gotta ‘keep fit’ (as the Chinese folks say) if I don’t want my belly bulge to keep growing….out of control! If I keep at it, perhaps a few years from now, I’ll be able to offer Yoga/Pilates classes to others 🙂

Here’s an image of my first Yoga/Pilates ‘Studio’ in Bali – Fully equipped with Big Ball, Small Pilates balls (or Bola, as I liked to call them à la Bahasa Indonesia) and the Pilates Circle…And finally some traditional Batik mats for that Bali feel! Don’t ask my why everything is purple??

My first yoga/pilates studio in Bali