Alright, first post of 2013!!! (terrible of me >_<)
Well good thing for you is you ain’t gotta read about my NYE and New Year resolution crap and jump right into some pole action stuff!
This is my second time in Australia and quite coincidently, both trips happened around Australia Day! This time around I am visiting Canberra and Brisbane, two cities which are generally harder to fly directly out of Malaysia from (-___-”) but the Pole experience has been worth it.
In this post, you will also see how a typical Malaysian has to survive in a country where everything is multiplied by THREE *faints*
So if you’re used to me talking about them fresh foods and green smoothies and awesome non-processed meals – get ready to feel a little disgusted with this financial adaptation.
First city to stop at properly was Canberra (not including the stop over cities of Perth and Brisbane). A quaint little town where cafes close at 4 o’clock in the afternoon was where I stayed in. That is one thing you would never hear of in Malaysia -> cafes closing during the day. Some don’t even close – at all! OK fine, they’re the Mamak kafes but stiiiillll, money don’t come easy man!
Anyway, being in Canberra forced me to read a lot. Since I did not have internet access where I stayed and it was just sickening having to walk to McDonalds and patronize just for the sake of wifi (which didn’t even have a good signal). Mind you! It wasn’t the walking I loathed, it was the fact that I had to buy something from McDonalds after working hard on avoiding fast food. There was a print shop with computer & web access on the way to McDonalds but do you know how much they charge? 2:50AUD for the first FIFTEEN (15) minutes, then it’s something like 59cents (in Aussie cheese) PER MINUTE after that. Fark, with the load of time I spend online I could have probably paid my meals off for 3 days in Malaysia, just to use half an hour of internet at that shop.
Back to my point, I spent a lot more time reading, boiling eggs and watching hotel TV.
You can imagine my joy when I get the chance to train at the studio and even went for a run at a park nearby. (Running in an unfamiliar town with no grasp of your bearings AND no GPS access may result in a lost & frustrated Malaysian gal)
This is what you may call “poor people salad”. I got a bag of Baby Spinach for 5AUD and managed to spread that out for over a week. I got two apples which I managed to spread an apple out through 3 meals. Sliced up a small packed of Baby Carrots which also spread out over a week and lastly, I boiled 24 eggs to last me through almost every meal for 6 days. Carlie and Elizabeth ended up paying for my dinner despite me turning down some social dining for two nights after training, which was so sweet and life-saving of them.
Aerial Pole Academy is owned and run by Elizabeth in Canberra. Beautiful studio equipped with 28 spinning brass poles, a stretch studio and a space for lyra and tissu classes (aerial silk and aerial hoop). I was happy to be jamming with the girls there and trying out these funky stuff on spinning poles. Now I can’t wait to be back at Viva Vertical trying out Elizabeth’s “tornado” on spinning CHROME pole! *stares at bruises from brass pole*
That bruise where I lost skin wasn’t caused by the pole being on spinning mode but just the material itself. Different from the brass poles at Viva Vertical, poles down here are made from the actual metal instead of the x-poles you see coated with brass finishing. The word down here is that X-pole will be making new brass poles with the actual metal instead of a brass finishing. oooooohhhh I’m just cringing at all the drops to be done on that metal… >_<
Susi teaches the aerial arts programs at APA and is also known as Aurora when she snagged the Champion title in Amateur category, at last year’s Australian Pole Championship. I was immediately drawn to Susi and wanted to train with this former Cirque Du Soleil artist from Italy. Such a lovely lady and so freakin’ fit for her age! Imagine being over 40 and still doing backflips!
That’s Elizabeth, the only person I’ve ever met where I had to really concentrate on keeping up with in a conversation. This girl can talk FAST but she can still smile through it. I love her energy <3 !
A super diverse group of participants at the IPDFA Pole Dance Fitness Instructor Course from Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney. Everybody brought their unique strengths to the table and it was good to have everyone share their feedback on the last day. Carlie was definitely a well known name here and she demonstrated quality leadership skills. ROCKIN’ GROUP!
The cutest travel polar bear that Carlie named after the world famous George St. Pierre <3
Will be updating about Brisbane visit next!