Auckland Day 6

I think by now everyone who reads this blog will know my daily schedule in Auckland, so I will just write about the gym stuff first.

I have officially given up hope of attending a BP class in Auckland because I woke up at 1pm today and I didn't manage to go for Hernan's BP class at 11am. I have no idea what happened to my alarm. It is alarming me that I am not waking up to it. Haiz.

Anyway today I went for 4:30pm by Chris Richardson. This man sure can dance. I must say I enjoyed his class very much. He may be a white guy but he sure can carry off the hip-hop and gangster style very well. He did 2 huge blocks today - both house.

The first was from BJ44 and the second was from BJ45. I really loved these 2 releases as it was the time when I started BJ. I did BJ45 at the Global Summit, and also did BJ44 with Gandalf for my first BJ class. Then when I returned back to Singapore, we just launched BJ44, so I had many memories for that.

After BJ, I stayed for BB44 rehearsal for the last time. Filming is tomorrow! How exciting. BB is a program where you need to feel the music. I know the classic argument by the yoga purists about how this program sucks, but to each his own.

I remembered a conversation with Dr Venky a couple of years back when he just came over. He said that Singaporeans are obsessed with achieving 'so and so' poses in yoga when the true essence is about the mind. But Dr Venky is a smart guy. He told me he will cater his class to his target market. If poses are what they want, he will give it to them.

I'll tell you what BB works for me. It's not really the stretches, or the poses or the workout, but the emotional feel of the music when doing the exercises. Which is why I need a few classes of the same BB release to really get into the songs. And the more I do this release, the more I love T8 and T9. It really makes me look forward to the end of the class just so I can hear these 2 songs. Weird isn't it. But it's just the way it is.

During relaxation/meditation, Dr Dave tried something new, and it felt really good. I do not know if he will do it for the actual filming. I noticed for today's session, he actually had a piece of paper with him.

Now to my casino stuff. I'm pleased to say that I've finally recouped all my losses and I'm standing on a grand profit of NZ$22. Hahaha. If anyone is wondering why that figure is so odd, it's because of that dreadful $1 commission wager we pay for Carribean Stud, which I gave up after my cards just wasn't right. I'm beginning to think... what if I hadn't had that horror showing on my first three days, in particular the second day... Regardless, I'm just happy to have won three days in a row.

I'm grateful for my luck. In fact, I even broke my own golden rule today. One of my 'self-imposed' rules is that once I lose everything I bring, I stop. But in the afternoon session, I changed $200 of chips, and that was gone in less than 20mins, no thanks to a series of shocking outcomes which nobody could have saw coming.

Down and out of luck, I had a whole 1.5 hrs to spare before hitting the gym (Yes, today I even packed my gym stuff so that I can save time going back to my apt as its not along the way), so I used my reserve money first. Hahaha... So much for my rules right.

Anyway, must say thanks to Li Hua and Jean. Thanks to them wanting me to help them buy some LM clothing, I actually reserved the cash in my bag (and not in my wallet for obvious reasons) and today I had my bag with me! I took out $100 to play and managed to recoup everything. Then with half an hour to go, I told myself enough was enough, and I walked away and headed for the gym. Breakeven.

The evening session was a strange affair. I started out in a similar fashion, I was down almost everything within half an hour, and with that few chips I had in my hand, I got my lucky break. The pairs started coming in. I even had quite a few perfect pairs. The moment I broke even, I walked away and changed back my chips. In the end I managed to recoup all my losses for the first 3 days.

For this trip, most of the conversations I made were at the casino. Fellow gamblers who I see almost everyday. Some on vacation, some locals who are clearly addicted, some who came here just on a gambling trip. There was the usual acknowledgement when we see familiar faces, people who've shared the ups and downs in this short period of time.

Tomorrow I will not spend too much time at the casino, as it is filming day. I also need to pack my stuff for the return trip back. My trip is going to come to an end soon, but I have enjoyed every moment of it so far - be it gym or casino. It just feels great to get out of home once in a while.