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Ha ha Mee Mee said l am a bad girl, expected la........

I think l will write in both English and Mandarin alternate days.

Today l want to share a little bit of fitness. What is fitness ? I think many people have wrong concept on this, they thought to sweat is fitness, to exersice a lot is fitness, to show muscle is fitness.

NO NO NO !

In fact your body will work on burning fat for energy, if you do cardio for at least 20 minutes---no matter you sweat or not. Some people can hardly sweat due to genetic, but they can still feel the heart beat increasing when doing cardio, means it is working. But , of course, if you simply move your body without any impact, you will not sweat, and your fat is not burned as you do not need extra energy . I always tell my members : do you think sweating under sun will help you losing weight ? So people will lose weight without moving in summer lo ? No, what you lose is just water, you are still that fat , and dehydrated ! So don't ever thought stay one hour in sauna will make your fat disappear, that is not making sense !

But, we need to sweat, it is a wondeful feeling. After sweating, you feel like' let go ', 'release'. I enjoy the feeling of sweating but l know it is not related with 'burn fat'. If you are that kind of people who can hardly sweat, train it ! Yes you can train your body for that. After doing more exercises, you will start enjoy sweating like falling into a pond. but you need to be patient, don't simply give up after a few lessons, then you will  not sweat for whole life!

Have to go class now, to be continue ya........

Mee Mee 一直说我的英文好烂哦， 我说， 好， 那我写中文， 让你看不懂， 哈哈气死她， 谁叫她是香蕉人 !

不过写中文好麻烦啊， 单单拼音找字都会让人抓狂。不过这是我的母语， 再麻烦都得写的。。。。。。

很多年以前， 我一直都有投稿， 阅读与写作，是我继舞蹈之后的另两件重要事情。可这两件事情都需要时间，有时太忙碌了，就会把他们给互略。有一天当我老得舞不动了，我会全力进行这两件事，现阶段舞蹈对我来说，仍是太重要的事。

写中文，让我感觉身心舒畅， 毕竟我可以畅所欲言，不像写英文般卡住卡住的，不过这只能怨我自己英文不够好，不能怪自己是中文太好了吧，哈哈。。。。。。

今天是星期天，比较没有这么忙碌，不过待会儿还是要去教课的。 昨晚看了ASTRO 新秀大赛， 今晚我们也有自己的新秀大赛，哈哈。很久没唱歌了，今晚我们要唱个痛快。今年新秀大赛的素质不怎么样，或许是因为节目安排得不好，让新秀没得好好发挥。最让人看不过眼的是那个什么莫名奇妙的司仪文康，好心啦，主持功力这么差，又一直说错话，让人怀疑马来西亚没有人才了吗？为什么叫他来煞风景 !

外面又再烟霾密布，马来西亚的天空几时才能恢复蔚蓝啊 ？

I supposed to be very busy today, luckily one of my private lesson was cancelled as that student was out station today, so, ha ha good for me, at least l can take a break. But no break also la, l have to do a lot of choreography recently.

Tomorrow l will start teaching zills [ finger cymbal ] in my belly dance 's advance class, l have many homeworks to do for that, zill is very difficult, we must first undersatnd the basic rhythm of belly dance's drum beat, then have to practise playing zills, then only coordinate dance steps with zills, this takes long time to practise. In fact l did not practise zills for quite sometimes already, have been busy with veil and drum solo, so l myself have to practise more for the class. Today after finished teaching at 5: 30pm, l started my own practice with zills, then at 8 : 40pm, l taught  jazz class with an umbrella. [so my hands are numb now, somemore have to do typing , woo............]

Ha ha , yes , with umbrella, l started teaching classical jazz for Friday class , we use umbrella instead of stick. But before l started , l told students some skills of doing jazz. My students have no energy when doing the dance, they look weak. All these years, l could hardly find a student with energy, most of them are very soft, l hope l can give a little bit of my power to them, just don't understand why they can't put their energy in movements.I think this is because of our enviroment, we don't start dancing from young, our kids are too busy with all tution class, computer class,or music and drawing class, or what what talent class. They don't move !

Some of my children class ' parents treat dance class as something ' extra ' to their kids, they always stop coming for exam, for any schedule changed or for any reason. Basically, to them . dancing is something not important at all. Though the class is only one hour in a week, they will still stop dancing for whole year as they are in UPSR or PMR, funny right ?

If one of the students not perform good in exam, she might disappear from the class, because of this one hour dance class, she is not able to study hard for her exam ! Can you believe that ?

Many parents told me, dancing will not make money la, why waste time here ?

It is WRONG !

Dancing, will definately help the kids to boost their power of mental and physical. If a child is able to control his body, he is able to control his mind too. Many research have prooved that [please check from our 'dance classes 'on website ]. nowadays, most children are very lazy to move as they do not need to move. There are many over weight chidren, stiff children and pale children..........

Do you think they will definately make big money in the future?

Parents, dancing is good to your children, when they grow , they will appreaciate you of sending them to dance classes. Many of my adult dance class students told me : unfortunately their parents did not allow them to dance when they were young, it is regretful to them.

Don't wait until you cannot move, then only think of moving your body, it is too late..........

Of course if a child do not like dancing at all, we cannot force him. But at least we should cultivate his habit in exercising for his health, from young.

They are able to make big money only if they are healthy right ?

Come back to the topic of jazz. Many years ago, l had a pretty girl student- Kerry in jazz class. She was quite good in class as she could follow the steps, but she is too soft. She performed with us before, well , she looks pretty on stage but she just can't control her body properly. Few years ago, she left us as have to proceed studying in US.Last year. she came back. I knew she attended hip hop class in US, so two months ago, she started teaching American hip hop in Zero.[ I purposely put this name for her class so that students can differentiate her special style ]. Like a miracle, she is great nowadays, very powerful and has beautiful control of her body.

She told me, when she was in US, she was scolded seriously by her dance teacher due to her weakness in energy . American dance from young, they have this enviroment so everybody is dancing. They are very energetic and dare to perform. So Kerry practised hard for her dance, and she did it !

From her, l see ' hopes ' in my dance classes' students. But l think l am too good to them, l did not scold them so they don't practise seriously for the dance, l should scold them like Kerry's dance teacher in US, so that they will not take advantage of me.[ ya lo, they always bully me as l am too friendly liao ! heh heh ! I want to revenge from tomorrow !]

Hmmmmm......students, be careful! l will put on my  mask of fierce.......

 Eh ! Please remind me if l forget to act serious ya !

I share this with belly dance intermediate 3 's ' students last night.

Less is more, when in intermediate class, l want my students to feel this. When perform belly dancing, we should know how to bring the universe 's energy to our body, and not throwing our energy out from the body. It is all about our core and  chakra's power. I did a workshop before, talking of chakra in belly dancing, it is about our inner strength. If your inner strength is strong enough, you are able to show a 'clean', sharp and amazing movements even you just move a little bit. This can be seen especially in doing undulation, it looks so soft and smooth, but the inner power is very strong. If you don't practise inner power, you will move like a duck for undulation! 

Graceful in appearance, but inside is strong, this is belly dancing, and what a woman should have for character.

A lady from other state approched me for her private lesson in belly dancing. She wants to start teaching but her experience in belly dance is very limited. She is very nervous, she wants to finish the course in short time and keep asking me how long can she finish the course and start teaching........

I told her, l cannot give you an answer. A person without dance experience need to practise belly dance at least three years for the techniques. If the person has talent in dance or she has very strong dance background , then may be one and a half  year.We cannot rush for that.

But l know many ladies from Northern Region ' don't care ' whether they are joining a proper belly dance class or not. They only go for pricing, that place is cheaper mah so join lo, despite of the teacher is with big tummy and moving like a duck, or even doing all wrong techniques to cause injuiry. They pay less now, but gain more pain in the future-----Less is MORE also hoh.........

Some told me never mind la, l just want to sweat out. Then why don't go to workout class? You will sweat like falling into a pond . Then some will say, we want to wear the coin scalf mah, ding ding dang dang, cool ! So they put on  a coin scalf , wear sport shoes [ or with barefooted also ], and then follow the big tummy teachers, one two three, shake shake shake, shake your whole body ! [ A professional belly dance teacher will not ask you to shake whole body, instead it is about isolation, and how to control other parts of your body when doing shimmy ].

If this is the standard of belly dancing in Northern Region, when Egyptians came to visit us and found that their culture has been twisted seriously like this, l think they will cry !

Please be professional a bit la, both teachers and students, it is not like going to pasar to buy fish [ even buy fish also must go for quality isn't it ? ]. But this is our enviroment----' cin cai ' la, anything also ok la, as long as it is cheap la. So in the end we all become cheap cheap lo.

sigh..................................................................................

Do you want your next generation become that cheap also ?

We have just finished our tribal's rehearsal. Next weekend we will perform in KL, have done a little bit changes just now, hope this time will perform better than in Singapore.

What will you do when you are not feeling well ? I am not feeling well today, sore throat last few days, then started to cough, now flu a little bit. But l am still teaching, don't think l need to rest for whole day because of flu. But l know many people are very weak, sick a little bit only cannot work, cannot move ,can do nothing. In fact, if you are just not feeling well, move and sweat a bit will even help you  feel better. I remember many years ago, l had serious fever up to 101.6 degree and l still taught yogarobics, that day was my birthday, after finish teaching then l went to see doctor, then celebrated my birthday with  good friends somemore. Am l that strong? No pe, but l have no choice. I cannot cancel class for workout as students could attend any class anytime, l did not know who will come who won't , and it is impossible to contact all students.

And my good friends reserved their time for me that night, l have to go out with them. So that is my unforgetable birthday. Ok so l did not rest for whole day but l did not die woh, l am still alive up to today...............

You are not that weak like what you think, right ?

All these years, l never stop teaching due to sick. Only one time, l had chicken pox [ even that morning also still teaching], so l stopped teaching for 2 weeks.

I am not that strong but to me that is just no choice. It is always like that, when you have no choice, you will be stronger.

Luckily most of my instructors are not that weak too, if all of them want to cancel class due to not feeling well a little bit ,then l will die first. Trust me, when you are not feeling well, move and sweat a little bit will not make you collasp, you will feel better. Of course l will not 'hentam' when not feeling well, l will tell students of my condition before the class start, tell them l will slow down that day. According to my experience, none of my students angry of this before, they even appreciated my responsibility, people can understand one mah. I did mostly floor workout when having high fever on my birthday that time, students still followed, no complain at all.

I try my best not to cancel class as l know this is not fair to students. For dance classes, we will inform at least 2 weeks earlier if the class has to be cancelled. If we have to cancel the class at last minute , we can still call students to inform [ of course we hope not to do that to students].  But for workout is very headache, if instructor called up last minute to ask for replacement and l could not get replacement for her, and l myself has other class, then we have no choice besides to cancel class. But it happened in Zero twice only in 3 years time. I hope not to do that unless it is really in the worst situation. 

So hope members understand that Zero is very responsible, we will do the best of what we can, but sometimes the situation is out of our control.

Well, hope it will not happen in the future, God bless me please........

My laptop is with me,finally.......

So l do not have to rush for writing blog in studio, but at the same time, l will sleep late again......

I was very very busy last few days, and will be very very busy for next few days too. Classes, classes, classes, and the management, and this , and that..........

The studio has put up nicer 'make up ' so now l have to start paying for it. Everyday, there are invoice from different parties, the aircon la, the electricity la, renovation la, flooring la, furniture la, gym equipment la, printing la....... Oh God ! Really scared to see invoice again !

money money money, how l wish if l do not have to worry of money at all.......

 In fact l do not have to rerenovate studio again, but l hope to provide a better enviroment, and l can see that, members are more comfortable with the place now, and all staffs, instructors and me as well. It is worth it , but l have to work like a 'cow' again lo.......

Never mind la, once and for all,worth it!

Hooi Ling and Emily , my two lovely and supportive friends wrote me  excellent comments, l am so touched. Thank you so much my dear friends, and don't worry l will not listen to any rumours, my ears are only for truth and compliments now ha ha.

Emily does very good job in teaching nowadays, she really shows very good 'tae bo' spirit now. Thank you Emily for your effort,feel proud of you !

Yesterday two pretty ladies came to studio and asked for a dance choreography for a performance, they wanted belly dance initially, but l told them : if you do not care of the quality of  your performance, l can teach you belly dance. But if you do, better go for other dance that you are more familiar..........

 Why did l say this ? Because they did not have any experience in belly dancing at all. Belly dance has to be performed with  a lot  of internal power, if without this, it looks very weird especially on stage. I do not want to teach a weird dance. I understand that there are many belly dance teachers which they themselves also  don't know how to control the inner strength, they only do shaking..... most of them just attend few classes then start to teach liao ,sigh....... Many people thought belly dance is very easy -----shake shake only mah ! If you think so, come and join our new class on next Thursday then you will undersatnd what l said.

So today the two pretty ladies came with another pretty lady and we do jazz, well l will combine a little bit simple belly dance steps to them may be, a little  bit belly  dance 'feel' is ok. They look quite ok in jazz, hope they will do a good performance.

Nowadays, we read many criminals , robbery and rape cases from paper. Sigh, Malaysia ! Malaysia !  Why ? Why? All these happened because we are too careless ? We, the normal citizens that giving chances to  criminals? everytime when seeing  people collect money illegally for parking, and nobody take action, l start to understand  why these  scary criminals  happened. Small small thing also nobody incharge, big cases who wants to take responsibility? Besides telling ourselves to be more and more careful, what else we can do ? Malaysia, what else can we do ah ?

Can we pray and pray and pray more to ensure Malaysia's safety ? Can we ? If praying helps, let's pray together.No matter what religion you are , or free thinker, let's pray, no play play !

I went to a pharmacy to buy something just now. Everytime after buying things in pharmacy, l will come out with hard feeling! You know, they will approach you and say : Oh look at your skin, you need this product la.....Look at your hair , so dry ! try this one la, we are also using it......You look so pale, have to take this vitamin la.....blaar blaar blaar !

 Is this a good selling skill ? Why nobody provides a good training to them ?

 Of course not all pharmacy like that......

 To be continue, have to go for class now..........

 Recently, l started to give a ' love letter ' to my belly dance intermediate class students. In the letter, l share of the essence of what they are learning, the spirit of this art, and most important is how are they going to perform this dance. Perform does not mean has to be on stage, whenever you dance, you are performing. Last Saturday my advance class students told me they can only perform well when they are familiar with the steps,hmmmm........l do not agree with this. I told them, once yoy start moving in dance, you start to show what you think to people, whether you are happy with the dance, you are sad, you are frustrated or you are in peace. Normally when you see a dancer doing movements in 'big bones', example like trying to throw all his energy out from the body, this is a person without a proper dance philosophy.

When you dance, you are just dance, you are 'NOT' trying to tell people : look at me ! look at me ! I am excellent !  When you dance, you are ' INTO' the dance, you are a person who stays peaceful with your mind and body. You are smooth and graceful, and at the same time, you can be dynamic and powerful--through the total image you perform in your dance, but not how strong you are or how high you can jump or how fast you can shimmies.

When l see a person who dances with a motif, l feel 'pain to watch'. Why think so much? just dance la, enjoy the feeling how you communicate with your body and  enjoy exploring your body's potential. If you understand that, you can dance for whole life, noboy is dare to give you any bad comments, as they feel peace to watch your performance.

OK this is my experience and  very personal opinion, it is alright if you do not agree.

So l told my students, the two secret elements in performing belly dancing are : Relax and concentrate, from there you will  dance better, and create better life in your future. How does this happen? Come to be my intermedaite class students la, then l will tell you ha ha. In fact, if you do not practise the dance, l am not able to explain it to you too, you will not understand..........

If you don't like dancing, then exercise la ok ? Don't only work and sleep and eat but never communicate with your body. Move ! Sweat ! Laugh ! This is life !

That was my answer.......

I supposed to explain in this sentence : If you don't love me , you lost ! But hoh, l was too panic until l did not realize that l did not say the word " don't ", so the sentence turned to : If you love me, you lost !

Ha ha so it was very quiet after l said this.......

I lost a good opportunity to explain why l have this dance, so sayang....never mind la , l will share with you all here.

The first part's music is from the famous song ' Carman ' in Mandarin version, the lyrics is about a lady who has rich experience in love,trying to define love as a game, she does not trust men and she does not allow herself to fall in love with men instead she just want to 'play'.  l believe she is a very pretty lady so she makes men crazy of her. She is so confidence on herself and she keeps telling men that : If you love me, you will be suffered; but if you don't love me, you lost !

I hope l did a correct translation, it is really difficult to tell leh. By the way, this dance is my tribute to old Shanghai, l like the feeling of old Shanghai, it is so mystery and impressive. And l like belly dance so much, so l made a fusion on this two dances. To me this two different types of dances are so similar, they are both feminine , sexy and sensual, so l 'blend'  them lo. I think l did it well, many people like it. I even taught the dance in Shanghai in my last trip, hopefully they have started perform it. But this dance is so personally, l know it is not easy to perform. Well, to me, l just went back to it's origin and share this with the ladies there, l told them you girls should be the one who dance this la as you are from Shanghai, you should have more feel then me. But they told me l look more like Shanghai ladies then them woh, many of them are very westernized already.

Well, talk about love, that is another ' deep ' topic.In fact l found  that Egytians are very sensual, most of Egytian guys love women and they treat women as ' engrave of God '. That's why most of the Egytian songs are about love, love love love, so when do belly dancing, it is a must to know how to express love. The classical Egytian belly dance are mostly in love stories which required  very strong expression . Well, to follow steps is easy, but to learn expression is the most difficult one, but  this is a must if a dancer wants to show an ultimate performance. The dance is without soul if it is not performed with 'feeling'. It is not considered dance even, but just 'showing steps'.