Planet Yoga in Hong Kong

I've been meaning to b*tch about this for a while, but didn't get to till today. For anyone planning to sign up for a yoga membership in HK, I hope you find this information useful.

I am a member of Planet Yoga Tsim Sha Tsui, and I highly regret it. Please don't make the same mistake as I did. I strongly advise against Planet Yoga because of the following reasons:

1) Phony yoga classes (I'm sorry, but Yoga Combat, Yoga Punch, etc. are not yoga classes, they are just aerobics/taebo -ish classes!!) You can't just attach the word 'yoga' to anything, geez.

2) Over-emphasis on INDIAN instructors. Planet Yoga loves to tell prospective customers "Over 80% of our instructors are REAL INDIANS!!" But, just cuz they're Indian doesn't mean they are the best Yoga instructors. In fact, their English is quite bad, so instead of hearing inspiring words of encouragement during ur practice, you just get, "Up, breathe, more down, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1" repeated a gazillion times, making you feel absolutely BORED AS H*LL.

3) Extremely hard salespeople who keep selling to you everytime you come in. REFER FRIENDS!! WIN PRIZES!! GET A FREE UGLY ORANGE BAG/BOTTLE for doing so!! (Um hello, I DONT GIVE A SH*T!)

4) Lukewarm "HOT" YOGA classes. The temperature should be 38-40 degrees, but in their hottest class called Agni Fire Hot I swear I hardly break a sweat. It's outright yoga for wimps.

5) Never being able to get in a class! So, you're supposed to book each class by calling in, but 90% of the time, they're full. That means you gotta go in, get changed, stand in a line and *hope* that someone didn't show up. But let's think about it. If there are 20 spots and the class is full, why do you get 30 people to queue up in the waiting list?? Obviously 10 people aren't getting in, so just tell them to go home!

Problem is they keep signing up more and more members, and the classes get more and more full, so it becomes a major hassle to a) actually take a class and b) try to use the showers or 1 of the measly 3 toilets inside of the ladies' change room.

I suggest you try a place like PURE, where the environment is serene, clean, professional and pleasant. I'm not sure how their classes are, but already I think it's worth the money to NOT feel like you're walking into a cage of monkeys everytime you go to yoga.

Image courtesy of: Planet Yoga

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Mong Kok Handless Head-Writing Beggar

This next beggar is a very talented and skilled individual. I saw him last Saturday night in Mong Kok's Sai Yeung Choi Street outside the Broadway Cinema, writing inspirational messages on a scroll.

For some reason, this beggar does not have any hands, just a bit of forearm on both sides. He uses them to support himself as he proceeds to write inspirational messages in beautiful, perfect Chinese characters upside down. He does this by taping a paintbrush securely to one side of his glasses.


At first, I did not notice what he was writing, but upon closer inspection, I slowly made out enough characters to realize he was writing about how life was a gift, that it was short, and that you should take every opportunity that you have.

He truly was an inspiration as he didn't seem to be bitter at all about his situation, and even took the time to look at and thank every person who had dropped some coins into his hat. Definitely someone to give a nod to the next time you are in MK!

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Synchronicity

My mom once told me that if you paid enough attention, you could notice at least 6 incidences of synchronicity a day.

What's synchronicity, you ask?

This:


















Cool, huh?? :)

Synchronicity on Wiki

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Red rubber gloves

Last Friday, I was super hungry in the afternoon so I went downstairs and crossed the road into this little shop selling (bad) bubble tea and other snacks like sausage-on-a-stick.

I ended up ordering one of my latest addictions - Peanut Butter & Condensed Milk Toast - and stood by the open kitchen to wait. I was a little spaced out but eventually my eyes focused on a woman who was even more spaced out than me.

With half-closed eyelids and a painfully bored expression on her face, she held a thick piece of toast on her left palm while spreading peanut butter on it with her right.

The thing was, she was wearing these big red, rubber dishwashing gloves, and there was nothing separating the piece of bread from her sloppy wet glove.


"That's okay..." I said to myself. "Maybe they wear those gloves in the kitchen only to handle food, cuz y'know, bubble tea is wet and all...or maybe that bread isn't even for me..."

The bored lady then chucked the bread into the toaster oven, picked up a dirty rag, and walked into the dining area. I kept my eyes on her as I watched her wipe tables (still wearing those rubber gloves), pick up someone's leftover bowl of noodles, her thumb deeply submerged in the noodle soup, and walk back into the kitchen area with soup splashing all over her hand.

She then proceeded to open a can of condensed milk with the red rubber gloves, no doubt getting the sticky substance all over her hands, and then used it to slather over the toast. Finally, she put it in a box, pulled a rubber band around it and gave it to me.

At this point, I was thoroughly disgusted and there was no way I was gonna eat that, so I told another woman there (who seemed to be the bosslady), "Uhh.. your staff's wearing those rubber gloves to make food AND clean the restaurant.. don't you think that's just a *LITTLE* unhygienic??" (not sure if she got my sarcasm there)

She replied, "Oh, they only wear those gloves in the kitchen-" but I snapped back, "I SAW her use them to wipe tables just now!!"

The bosslady said "Okay okay" and told another girl (also wearing red gloves) to make me another one, this time without gloves. So she peels off her gloves, and then used her moist, stinky and mildewy hands to make the toast again...

Ugh!! ~_~

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