Sensational SYDNEY!

Those 10 days which included 2 weekends in Sydney was my first-ever girlfriends-getaway. I worked hard, played hard and spent even harder! We all did. There’s so much to do in this city that 10 days did not get me far enough.

Linna, Jasmine, Li Leng, Jennifer, Ning and I all stayed just minutes-walk away from the Paddy’s Market, Chinatown, Darling Harbour, the Railway Square Central train station. It was so convenient. We walked ALOT but pleasant walks, took buses and trains quite a bit too. We bought a one-week train-bus-ferry pass for $46 for unlimited rides. What limo??


Bondi was on the top of our 'must do' list on Day 1 after a pole session with Jamilla. While Ning frantically walked the entire junction looking for an ATM, and Jasmine went after her after a while, the rest of us, Li Leng, Linna and I just sat by the roadside and watched people and dogs go by.
......or rather, let people watch US :D Now we can all say we've BEEN THERE (Bondi) DONE THAT (this)! Ning still never got her cash from any machine but she was all smiles anyways... as usual.
No chance to go to Manly Beach up north which is apparently less crowded and more beautiful than Bondi Beach, or The Blue Mountain, not even The Rocks (Ning went though.... bad girl. She skipped pole classes to go sight-seeing!) Whatever time I had, we had, we shopped. Hardly ate, but yeah, shopped! A helluva lot.
The shopping in Sydney is awesome. So much so that we, Ning and I came prepared to go home with a brand new luggage bagged with brand new things. (Errr.... correction. Ning went home with 3 new luggages as a matter of fact...). Easter was around the corner so how could I possibly go home without a few kilos of my favorite Cadbury Cream Eggs, right? Guess what, now they even have mini bite-size ones too!

Heh, definitely need all of THOSE to do THIS later....

Ning and I also made it to the Oceanarium at Darling Harbor, on the 2nd Sunday when the other girls flew home. Sunday in Sydney is H.A.P.P.E.N.I.N.G. The atmosphere at the park, the harbour, the streets was just amazing.


As it was my first time to Sydney, I made a series of discoveries. First, there was Krispy Kreme (thanks to Linna). Never quite a doughnut fan, but WOW, those original glaze ones are really the best! Oh my god, makes me salivate now just thinking about it!! Then there was Supre - every big city has such a store - for affordable fashion clothing and sports wear which we were all too happy to have discovered (it's located near Castlereigh St/Queen Victoria Building). Although we chose to not discover the notorious Kings Cross, we did not come all this way to miss out on some clean fun...seriously. So we dropped in at Man’s Gallery (boring), then watched strippers pole dance at Minx (a little better) and bought a lap dance after (only $30). During Earth Hour, we ate at the famous Doyle’s fish and chips at Watsons Bay as suggested by Ning (very expensive dinner!); learnt to lap dance from the very hot Candice (Miss Pole Dance Australia 2007),
couldn't get enough of the cheapy-cheery Paddy's Market we went to almost every morning (from fresh Turkish Delight, Sex-In-The-City dresses to hair extensions) as well as the factory outlet stores at Market City; learnt to do the famous ‘Deville’ from Jamila (Miss Pole Dance Australia 2005) yayyyy! ;

Ferried pass the Opera House under the bridge; rode 16 stops on a train to watch Bobbi pole dance (and 16 stops back - we goofed around and had to play charades to entertain ourselves);
Spent one entire beautiful, sunny Saturday shopping at the weekend Paddington Market on Oxford St, where we found some amazing things;

....even walked 'into' the Australian MTV Awards at Darling Harbour on our way to dinner one evening!
Learnt tricks from the very animated Suzie Q whose super-strong bod doesn't quite match her bubbly, child-like persona; finally, we braved the fear & embraced the fun while we learnt to contort like an aerialist on hoops for 2 days.


During this whole time, I discovered something extraordinary about myself. Every morning, I
struggled to gain a semblance of consciousness as we bend, stretch, kick and gyrate to upbeat warm-up instructions from some of the world’s best pole instructors. Not especially a keen morning- workout person to begin with, this nasty flu that suddenly hit me made the sessions harder to endure. My brain screamed through a throbbing fog every morning and every time I had to go upside-down or spin on those brass poles. But thanks to the hot morning showers and

the myriad of medicines available, my painful throat was numbed, sinuses cleared, fever suppressed and my muscles didn’t even recognize the aches and pains from both the sickness or the exercises.
But I tell you, thank god the weather was sunshine-fantastic. March and it was warm...god must love me. And thanks to my gals...for good company & great motivation. They must love me too.

I pulled through a physically-demanding and mentally-challenging 10 days battling a virus which would usually send me vegetating in bed. I did it. I went beyond me! Pretty certain all my gym sessions with Andrew and the pilates and the cardio classes plus the excessive amounts of antioxidant Acai cocktails – which I swear by – did their magic. Hey, NOT ONE DIVA MOMENT ok… no kidding, not a single whimper :D
Affirmation - I know now, what I thought I couldn’t before, I actually could have.
Advice - Keep your spirits high (more so when you’re sick) and you can do anything. It works like a dream... like an energy bar☺

BOBBI THE BOMB

The highlight of all discoveries for us, however was meeting Bobbi. As it turned out after a few sessions with her, she totally became the purpose of our entire trip to Sydney. We walked into

Bobbi’s studio for the first time one morning in March, gawking with excitement as we watched the end of Sassy’s pole routine class. Linna, Jasmine and I exchanged looks right away, telling each other that we’ve come to the right place.

I, while overwhelmed with compulsive anticipation, also recalled feeling unusual emotions at this point….euphoria or depression I couldn’t quite tell. I didn’t quite know why either. I was suddenly transported back to some months back when I felt frazzled by the demands of my everyday life... Must be the pills.

Bobbi led us 3 through her instructions. I followed intently as I pressed both hands firmly on the studio's wooden floor. I immediately felt a tremendous weight...my shoulders suddenly felt heavy with burden. I knew then my demons were back. Now?? Why now?!... must be the pills.

Just as I focused on lifting this nonsense offa me, my hips opened and I felt my legs lift from under my center. They wobbled a little to gain balance but I kept my shoulders pressed hard as my legs continued to lift till they reached the top. I was elated. I just did a handstand develope! Demons vanished, heaviness lifted, my sisters cheered, Bobbi praised. I felt a sudden peace.
And that, was my moment with Bobbi.

Everyone in the world who pole dances, knows Bobbi. Her grace and her amazing execution style is undeniably phenomenal. She takes charge of the pole so effortlessly she made even the most insane move look easy. And she takes her time... to fully extend each move... and to feel the pulse of the music. There's nothing more sensuous than a woman who takes her time... god she's SMOOTH. The only metaphor that comes close to describing her is shaving cream....so smooth and light and so very very CREAMY.

Watching her pole dance for the first time on those thin, spinning brass poles made my self-esteem tumble like I probably would in those vertiginous heels she wears. How Bobbi flies on the pole like a willow in the wind, ever so composed yet so electrifying and without even looking like she was trying just seems superhumanly. How is she aerodynamic like that... as aerodynamic as her 5-inch stilettos! What does she eat???! Forgot to ask.

Anyway, Bobbi found it interesting that we don’t teach with heels. We watched, she mounted a strapless glassy number with red glitter and strutted across her teaching platform as easy as she breathes. Sky-high heels make a woman’s physical structure look so incredibly sexy, but dancing in them is SCARY. One must first learn to walk (in them) before you can fly (in them) no?...heh the possibility of my ankles snapping made me faint with terror already.

I’ve seen so many women in my life but none looked more stunning nor strutted her stuff quite like Bobbi.

Bobbi is super lean and lanky in person – she kinda reminds me of Bo Derek – not super tall though maybe 5ft 8” max, but she does have legs a mile long. Once she mounts her ‘Sasha Fierce’, Bobbi is further stretched to gravity-defying heights. Talk about being in your element...

Bobbi turned out to be such a swell gal. She's very inviting.... very generous. A good person. She taught us so many great tricks and moves. Not once was she hesitant about lending techniques or teaching us stuff we wanted to learn. Sometimes, awesome dancers may not necessarily be awesome instructors. That said, we felt so lucky we got our chance with Bobbi.

She then went and scored even more cookie points for inviting us to watch her live performance in Cronulla on a Thursday night where she not only blew our minds but worked the stage FOR US. She demonstrated tricks that she had taught us earlier, displaying them in combos we could learn later too! Now how cool of a pro is that?! We screamed and cheered at this sportsbar like a bunch of asian groupies :D Well, can’t say we aren't!

It was such a privilege to watch her pole. Eh, can’t say you HAVE because you’ve watched her on video or youtube… it doesn't count. Affective yes for sure, but no way near as affecting as a real-life experience.

Not only did she give us her time of day (as she admits to hardly ever do privates with people she didn’t know), Bobbi said something so significantly flattering, and so powerful that we, The Butterflies, left Sydney famished for more Bobbi time.

Well, the good news is we won’t be famished for long! Bobbi and her sister Kim are hitting town for this year’s APS (Asian Pole Summit 2009). Lucky you pole enthusiasts who are reading this, you’ll get the chance to not only meet her in person (and hopefully they’ll perform too), but learn to dance pole-liciously like them☺ I can’t wait! This year, we’re bringing SLAP (Strip/Lap Dance) worksops to you too! Dates are set so mark your calender ladies!

Date : November 19th – 22nd
Venue : Jitterbugs Swingapore (Singapore)

You may of course sign up through here if you like. Just write in and I'll forward your registration to them!

So there I have it, I returned from Sydney feeling renewed and although a little broke, I'm awfully happy! And inspired:) BIG TIME!

I have loads of videos to post so be back to watch!