Auckland Day 4

The highlight for me for Day 4 is that I finally had some good luck at the casino. I managed to win in both my afternoon and evening sessions.

This was also due to the fact that I had an incredible string of luck in the perfect pairs at the Blackjack table. Not only did I hit pairs several times, I managed to get 8 perfect pairs in the two sessions today. Unbelievable. The unfortunate thing was I only participated in 3 out of these 8 occasions. At odds of 25-1, a $5 bet would yield $125. A fellow gambler spotted my luck today in pairs and proceeded to follow my bets and he made even more money from pairs than I did.

Lynn has been nudging me to go out and participate in some outdoor activity, but I am enjoying myself at the casino. Two rules I abide by - I don't play on credit, and I limit myself to a certain amount of cash I bring out, so that if I lose everything for that day, that's it. I consider it 'entertainment fee'.

Now, sandwiched between my 2 lucky casino sessions was a visit to the LM gym for class. I had wanted to attend BC by Dan & Rach (as printed on the schedule) but I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't them and it wasn't the BC39 rehearsal. It was Nathan, but I had fun too in a different way.

Nathan was joined by Angie, another instructor on the stage, so after doing 6 tracks, he made a call to all the international instructors to join them on the stage for 2 tracks. I hesitated at first, then in the end I went up. Who knows if I'm ever going to have a chance to go up the stage at Auckland Studio 1 ever again?

I think there were about 10 of us on stage, and there was more than enough space, so you can imagine how big the stage is. And because of the massive size of the studio, I couldn't even see the faces at the back clearly. We did BC3707 - Let The Beat Control Your Body (one of my favourites) and BC2308 - Retro Rush. Nathan made a mistake in Retro Rush and he punished himself with some pushups. It was hilarious.
Being on the stage was really hot (pun intended). I had fun and enjoyed it.

So after BC, I popped down to Studio 2 where they were doing the BB44 rehearsal (I didn't know!) and they were more than halfway done. So I joined for the last 3 tracks. I must say the hamstring track (T9) is just so beautiful... Lift Me Up by Kate Voegele.

After BB, there was a BJ session and they did a warm up which I hadn't seen before. Could it be the warm up from BJ47? I also saw Nathan join in.

Oh and to sidetrack a bit... for yesterday's BJ48 filming... guess who was doing JAM... DAN! Yes, Dan the Man from BC. What I really liked about the LM culture is that the instructors support each other for filmings and classes.

And the reason why I couldn't stay for BJ was because I arranged to have dinner with PJ! Yes, finally had the chance to catch up with him after so long. The first time was when he did my class at the old PF Far East Square Wed 7:30pm, and the second time was during Global Summit when I came down to Auckland earlier this year.

After dinner and a very nice chat, I headed back to the casino again! I think what made the difference today was I had some discipline. When you gamble, there is bound to be periods when you are lucky and periods when you are down. The trick for me was the moment I won some $, I stashed the chips away in my pocket. Capital preservation first, winnings bonus.

The night was not without a scare too. I changed my usual $150 and it was wiped out within 3 rounds of Carribean Stud. Unbelievable luck from the dealer. When I had pairs for the first 2 rounds, the dealer had a larger pair. When I had a King Pair for my 3rd round, the dealer had THREE OF A KIND! I was there no less than 10 mins.

Left with $100, I decided to abandon the game and pursue Blackjack. That was when my incredible run of perfect pairs helped me so much that I not only recouped, I made too.

Discipline. Discipline. I must remind myself...

And I wanted to add one thing, was playing blackjack halfway when I heard some wild shrieks. Some lucky woman struck jackpot. $85,000! So lucky!

Now to bed early for 8:30am BC tmr. Hope I can wake up.