initiation

that's it.

i have arrived at auntie-dom.

that was my thought this morning as i stood and watched this lovely sunrise at the east coast park, waiting for the rest of the ladies to turn up for our first exercise class by the beach.

you know, you see those groupies of geriatrics exercising tai-chi, qi-gong and what-not in the mornings? by the sea, in the park, the botanics and you tell yourself, no, no, no, it's really not for me. 

it's for the middle-aged, the has-beens, the not-so-cool aunties and uncles.

after all, you are the gym-rat, the new age pilates sort who cavort in nike dri-fit ensembles and sip isotonic drinks.

but as you watch that lone sweeper going about his work so serenely, so methodically, you tell yourself: hey, it's not so bad. if breathing in fresh air and getting my qi to flow once a week means more sea and sun, i really don't mind.

after all, who am i kidding? an auntie oredi, just donwannaadmitit.

{a little diversion: have been addressed as xiao jie, da jie and auntie by salespersons, esp those at the wet markets. no prizes for guessing who gets my business :)

but one cheeky fella who sells veg who thinks he knows how the minds of aunties work takes it a little too far: he addresses everyone as xiao mei mei.

every female, mind you. 

until one day, i heard this very annoyed, wrinkly granny hiss at him: blind ah? no big no small

haha......}

it all started yesterday before pilates class. PH was saying that the type of exercise she has been doing, which originated from hong kong, works up a sweat for her. she demonstrated a few moves -hey, easy-peasy we all said - and one by one, we agreed to try it out.

turns out that most of us are east-coasters so that's convenient.

anyway, how did the session go?

'nuff to say we were inspired to want to meet again next week at the same time and place.

so that's it. my membership into auntie-dom is sealed :)

you would have thought that would be enough sun for me, this puteri lilin, for the day, no?

once every few months, nora and i get into this fierce gardening upheaval where pots are moved around and plants re-potted.

this morning was another such day.

the dragon pot in the middle has a leak so the thalia had to go into the new blue pot in the background. 

the heaving and the yanking were not as bad as the digging of our hands into the muddy and smelly roots of the plants. 

boy, was the plant heavy.

finally, the thalia in its new home.