I started out a bit anxious as I still couldn’t do many of the elementary moves properly, let alone start intermediate! But turning up to class, the anxiety was replaced by excitement and adrenaline!

We ended up learning many new moves like the boomerang (which was harder than imagined), the full Jamilla (spinning tuck), and the Angel… And some combo stuff for our routine (I was freaking out cos 30 seconds in and the combo had 4 or so moves in it, and everything was moving so quickly!).

Class turned out to be tiring, challenging, but so much fun!!! It left me very high and I’m super psyched for the next class!

Two posts today, but Mr AG just sent me this pole dancing video that I thought was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Oh my, what incredible strength and talent! Such a captivating performance!

A big-ish early weekend for me… Much of a catch up with friends, many things were done, and much were consumed… Spent Thursday night with my RC buddies, Friday night with my girls, and today was another big day.

First stop, dragged Mr AG accompanied me to feel more groomed (aka threading my eyebrows and upper lip) before heading to the City for lunch at Gumshara. On the way, I met a person in a giant bear suit! Like the many kids lining up, I ended up taking a photo with him! =]

Me with cute bear!

After lunch, despite our headaches, I dragged Mr AG we headed to Nevermind nightclub at Oxford Street to watch a pole competition hosted by the Pole Dance Academy. Naughty or Nice was the theme. I took shots and videos, but I’m not sure if I can post them up, so here’s a pic of the empty(ish) stage! =P

 It was a fun but long night, with many naughty and nice and fantastic pole dance performances! ♥

They are totally gonna bruise tomorrow! Pole dancing hurts… But that was totally worth it!!!

Exhausted, but still feeling the excitement running through me!

So, I popped into High Heels in Surry Hills before my pole lesson at 1 PM, looking to buy some shoes to start elementary off next Wednesday.

I was served by a lovely lady who also did pole, and we struck up a nice conversation while she showed me what shoes were available. Many of the pairs I wanted to try on wasn’t in store, but she kept assuring me they can order in any pair of shoes, and will arrive shortly.

However, she did show me a pair of black Delight, and I instantly took a liking to it! She told me it was probably one of the better pairs to start off with. I tried it on and it felt right, so I ended up getting them…

I got to pole with a couple minutes to spare, and we did the warm up. And then our routine, where I decided to wear the Pleasers. I found that I couldn’t control the stopping of some spins… and was worried with tripping over, but the instructor kept telling me to leave them on.

Fast forward to the performance, and I was shaking visibly. There was only the three of us today; everyone must’ve bailed! Apart from a few minor mistakes and nerves, the performance went okay. The elementary routine was very pretty, and the instructors’ performance was reeeeallly awesome! Then we had a chance to take some photos for a while, which was a lot of fun!

With this, we have “graduated”, yay!!

P.S. My shoes already have scratches… I guess that’s normal, but I didn’t expect it to have scratch marks in the same day I bought them… All’s good, I still hope to get a lot of use out of them!

This whole week, apart from focusing on my work (deadline is 16th Aug), I’ve been searching for platform heels for pole dancing (I signed up to elementary last week!).

After browsing, I’ve pretty much decided on which type of shoes to get.

1. Brand: Pleasers
2. Height: 5 to 6 inch heel
3. Colour: Black on black, black on clear, or red on clear.

Come Sunday, and another perfect day for soaking up the vibrant sun either shopping, listening to music, or just chilling somewhere…

But instead, I didn’t know what I was doing in the morning (okay, I do know; I threw the laundry into the machine and then bludged my morning away), was almost late to my pole lesson at 1 PM (which is quite a poor effort considering I couldn’t sleep after getting up at 7 AM), and just didn’t know what was going on after pole.

I did meet up to Mr AG in the City afterwards though, and he was really good at steering me in the right direction (rushing me when I lagged… just in case shops close and all).

First stop was to the Alannah Hill boutique at the Strand Arcade. I was served by a very sweet and patient lady there, carefully helping me with this and that even though the store was busy with customers waiting pay for their items (which she excused herself politely to do so before coming back).

I wanted these boots in the black in size 7, but she told me she only had that size in the pale pink (which was super cute as well). I asked her to let me try the pink for size, and if it fits well, I’ll hop online to buy the black pair if it fitted well. She did not hesitate to continue her great service, and didn’t judge, seeing that I was dressed in semi-workout clothes (for pole).

After trying it on, walking around to try for comfort, and doing random things, the lady came back apologetically and told me she has found a few more boxes of the boots, and that she’ll check for my size. She returned with a pair of size 7.5, and asked if I wanted to try them on. I was really wanting to get the boots in store, so I gave it a shot.

At the end, because of her brilliant service, and also because I really like the boots, I ended up getting them from her =]

Oh, Perfect Star boot

And then there was food! I was starved but content… but starved. So before my haircut, I had to get some food! Ahh, sweet food! We had some Japanese “fast food” at Ton ton (since we didn’t want to go to restaurants for a while…).

Ton Ton: My spicy miso ramen, Mr AG’s vegetarian udon, and a drink

And the last stop of the day was to Takeshi and Team for my long overdue haircut. I was served by Takeshi himself, and he was very pleasant, polite, and skilled. At first, I asked him for ideas, but he was giving me ideas for a normal kind of cut, so Mr AG told him to do something “weird” with my hair. At that point, he chuckled, and got the point, and told me his plans.

After I was happy, he proceeded to dry cut my hair until I was happy with it, gave me a wash and blow dry, and fixed little things here and there (and he did so for quite a while, being meticulous about every strand). The end result I was very happy with; it was exactly what I wanted a hairdresser to do – do something different/borderline drastic that suits my needs, and without having to shave half my head off (I’m daring but not THAT daring!).

So once again, I ended up with another asymmetric haircut!

I had pole dancing today, but that’s not why this post is entitled as is…

As I had mentioned, I went for my first pole lesson on Sunday… I loved it so much that I signed up for the Sunday beginners classes… it was only after I told Mr AG that he reminded me I had a date with my girls on the following Sunday, so I decided to take a make-up class tonight. Because of this, I got to witness something very interesting…

I got to listen to my colleague having an interview, and learnt some new things about him that I wouldn’t've otherwise known/asked. Sounds creepy, but I work in the same area as he, and he thought he was distracting me rather than me being distracting. He also stopped to ask me a few things, which I thought was a strange move… but he is a strange guy anyway, in a neutral way.

Anyway, back to pole.

I got to there at 7:45, thinking it was at 8… I actually stopped doing some work at uni just so I can make it… turns out, the class was at 8:30, so I spent a chunk of time waiting on their lounge area… sigh! But it was worth it, as class this week was a lot of fun =D

We recapped on last week’s class and learnt a few moves (including the sit spin)… Here comes crampy legs! >_<

I can sorta do some of the moves in the practice time (not properly yet but still)… Still having trouble with “sniffing the floor” as my instructor lovingly call it, and with some spins where there are different directions we should be positioning our hands and feet, I need to do it a few times to get in the hang of it…

The problem with that is, all through the routine, I’m still finding myself unable to follow… to the point where I stop, and get into the position of where I’m meant to be. My instructor said it was okay, and that some people are just better at choreography, but by 8 weeks, we will all be fine.

We’ll see about that…

I wake up, reach over, and….

Owwww!

But! It hurts so good, the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).

Didn’t think I did a lot in pole yesterday to trigger this… and perhaps I didn’t actually do that much at all, just more than usual (which is like… nothing at all).

But yes, pretty much everything is hurting!

Shoulders, scapula, gluts, abdominals, quads, obliques, arms…

Surely this has to be a good thing…

So so excited to write about this!! I went for my first beginners pole dancing class at Pole Dance Academy (Bondi Junction) this afternoon!

The instructor got straight into the warm up when the hour started. The stretches were already so tiring, and that was when I started to feel really unfit and inflexible! It got so tiring that I couldn’t even do some of the warm up exercises… Even worse, everyone continued doing the warm up without giving up while I was idle, watching the instructor. So unfit!

Anyway, she told us to grab a pole and started showing us some moves, asking us whether we remembered it from last class. That confused me, as this was meant to be my absolute first class… I wondered whether I got into the wrong class (elementary and beginners was on simultaneously).

After not being able to do one of the moves at all (spinning on the pole and sliding down… I just kept spinning and got stuck up there while everyone was on the floor), I made a remark to hopefully clarify whether or not I was in the wrong class; “I feel I don’t belong in this class”. The instructor assured me that it’s okay if I couldn’t do some moves, and that I’m definitely in the right class for the sympathy points. Ok, it does sound like I was in the right place, though I was still wary.

She left briefly, and I quickly had a chat to the other girls; apparently, this was in fact only the second class, so they’re only one class ahead. When the instructor came back, we started on our routine… the class only got tougher from here on. We kept practicing our routine up to what we’ve learnt, and then had a cool down session (which was, in fact, more like a warm up for me! Another girl and I exchanged looks of pain… So I know I’m not the only one!).

But yeah, pole dancing was so tiring and hard, but it was sooo fun! I loved it so much I signed up for the beginners class (8 weeks). Can’t wait to learn more!

Mr AG felt like having yum cha, even though it was 2:30, and the yum cha finishes at 3… so yum cha it was.

Tropical fruit mocktail

Tropical and fruity, it’s nice in small doses

Pork dumplings (siu mai)

Average tasting

Prawn dim sim (har gow)

Too prawny, a little unfresh

Calamari

Too salty. We didn’t end up touching this too much

Har cheung fun

Just not very great

Peiking duck

A few things about this one.

Firstly, the pancake is a bit stiff… In all fairness, it could be that they’ve been sitting there since morning, or it could just be made that way. Either way, not soft and doughy at all… and I did not enjoy this.

Secondly, the cucumber. I know cucumbers are very expensive at the moment (currently not in season), so that’s probably why they were a bit stingy on the cucumber… but I paid $13.80 for this, so I did expect a little more in return.

Thirdly, there was’t much sauce. However, it was so bland I gave it up to Mr AG after a few bites, so I probably didn’t get far down enough.

Soft shell mud crab

This tasted alright, but a bit greasy.

Mango pancakes

Mr AG had them both. It’s just pancake filled with cream (with a bit of mango pieces here and there)… and apparently was quite enjoyable.

Food was very average actually, and very overpriced! Mr AG and I ordered the above and a fanta, coming to a little over $83, whereas when I eat at Hurstville (much fresher and tastier) with my family doesn’t even amount to this price (and my family is notorious for eating a lot!) . But Mr AG wanted it, and we’ve tried it now, and now we know not to eat here… so I’m just counting this as an experience.

Kam Fook
500 Oxford Street
Bondi Junction NSW 2022
Phone: (02) 9386 9889

Map:

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So afterwards, we went shopping for a bit. First stop was Chanel; I went to the sunnies area and spotted my beloved 5171′s. Gorgeous!

I tried it on and really liked it, and wanted to try on the 5170′s for comparison before I make a decision. I went to ask the saleslady whether she had “the bow pair, 5170″, and she took a pair out of the draws that looked exactly like the 5171′s. So I told her, “but they look like 5171, not 5170″ to which she stated as a matter of factly, “I don’t remember all the numbers of everything.”

Okay, that’s fair enough. BUT, the number was right on the box she just took out, clearly stating it was “5171″… was that so hard?

Anyway, I began to explain to her the difference since it seems she wasn’t aware, and she just stood there and said, “that’s all we have here.”

Then some exchanges happened and I walked out empty-handed…

Next stop was David Jones, and I spotted them both! Score! I asked a nearby lady whether I can try it, and she informed that she wasn’t in charge of that department and that I had to ask somebody else… so I was going to, but that somebody else was serving another customer, for a tad longer than I wanted so we just left.

So, no luck continued when I walked into Myer either; they didn’t even stock Chanel sunnies… And I thought, I give up for now…

And then I wandered mindlessly. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Until Lovisa. There were so many cute pieces there! *_* And ended up getting a few prettiful things!

Very cute bag, I thought. I also got a jewelry cleaning polish cloth…

Eiffel tower earrings

Ok, I don’t have ear holes, but I had to get these! I don’t know, maybe one day, I’ll get them ear holes! But for now, I’m just gonna look at them haha

Owl necklace

Ahhh, there were so many adorable owl items there!!! I really wanted them all! Thing is, a lot of them came in the gold colour, not many in silver… I just don’t suit gold, so I ended up choosing this one!

Owl ring

So hard to find rings that fit, and thanks to the stretchy band on this one, it fits quite nicely! Yay!!

Went to Dotti and resisted so many things there, for example, there was a very lovely looking skirt in the camel colour… just thought that maybe I’ll hold out for it. I did randomly pick up a simple waist belt… I think it’s because it was red.

Red waist belt

Anyway, did not buy much else… or anything else actually. Quite disappointed with this shopping trip to be honest!

Since Borders was having a closing down sale, and it was the last shop to be closed (it was about 6:30 by this stage), we decided to browse… Indeed, a big cut (60-70% off sale)…

Yes, everything was on sale (with small exceptions)

Even the fixtures

The Signs (there were also labels, price tags, eftpos rolls for sale)…

…and even pre-loved stationery!

This made me a little sad… and made me appreciate how much is invested into each and every thing in a store… Since even second hand fixtures cost that much, how much did a brand new one cost?

Anyway. My day didn’t go according to my grand plans (To Bondi Junction to shop, then pole dancing, shop a bit more, then go to the City to visit Zara and the other shops, and then go for a haircut and then Din Tai Fung)… and now that I reflect on it, it seems like a rather hectic plan! Oh well, there’s always next time!