愛笑瑜伽領袖課程-台灣站

愛笑瑜伽領袖課程-台灣站

2017年5月2日

2017年4月15及16日的愛笑瑜伽領袖課程已在笑聲不絶的氣氛下圓滿結束。心裏極度感謝總笑長、大笑阿麻、得意貓及其他笑長門的總總安排和悉心照顧。

喜歡笑的我，在出發前只抱著多笑無害的心態參加，再者可以同一班好友一起到台灣吃喝玩樂更是一件賞心悅目的事。以往我對愛笑瑜伽認知不多，感覺上大致是玩玩笑笑，跑跑跳跳跟著又再笑笑而已，應該沒有深度可言吧。

但是這兩天的課程和活動，完全改變了我對愛笑瑜伽的想法！這是一種帶著笑聲並結合了呼吸的運動—沒負擔、沒壓力，只有歡笑，但也要對自己的領袖身份負責。課程內容也真是非常豐富又認真，不但包含了多方面的原素，而且意義深遠。有實踐，有理論，還有理據。在許多題目中，最喜歡的就是WOOP、亂語、內觀和靜心。這些都是課程完了之後還會繼續堅持和努力硏究的好課題。

我在未曾訓練前是完全沒有把握帶領大家體驗愛笑活動，但經過資深的總笑長、好好笑笑長和沙拉笑長指導下，加上考核後，現在的我應該可以了吧！

其他的得著就是能吃到這麼非一般棒的健康、美味可口的便當；在很美的陽明山賞風景、聽蟲鳴鳥叫；還有同一班好朋友在晚上睡在木地板加睡袋，真是既痛苦又十分難忘的體驗及回憶。雖然那晚都沒睡好，但那時亦是給我做靜心的好機會，所以第二天都不會頭昏腦脹。這些一切，都是會令我一直惦記難忘的愉快事情。

Jeremy dumped his girlfriend

(Seen on Sep, 28, 2015)

A female voice suddenly shouted on a quite night in HK, “Jeremy!”  A tall man dashed across a crossroads, chased by a woman with a Cantonese accent.  “Jeremy~!!  Jeremy!”  It sounded as if she was shouting to her naughty son in an annoying, high-pitched voice, “Jeremy!”  He was a foreigner, lean and fit.  When the man reached a traffic island, the woman caught up with  him and stretching out her hand, caught hold of his arm, to stop him from walking any further.  Both of them were now on the stage facing together.

She was in her 30’s, short and plump, and wore a long slip dress.  Her hight was below his shoulder-high, it looked like a little girl standing in front of her father.  She looked into his eyes full of love.  Her eyes begbed him not to go.  Not for a moment did he look at her, instead he stared into space.  His face was expressionless.  Not a word did he say, but raising his hand, he pushed her away.  The woman took two steps backwards, and tried not to lose her balance as she stood on the kerb, but inevitably she fell back into the street.  She grunted, “Ouch.”  She was upset and felt hurt by what he had done.

He has unexpected given her a hard push as if he had been learning kung fu and doing too well.  His conscience told him to give her a hand, but he hesitated and then walked away.  She was aware he wanted to help her to get up and also thought he still had feelings for her deep down in his heart.  Watching him turning the corner, she put all her unhappiness behind her, and got up quickly.  Hurrying towards him, she kept calling his name again and again.  No sooner her voice and body faded away than the street became quiet again.

Wu-fong-ci Falls (五峰旗瀑布) at Jiao-xi (礁溪) , Yi-lan (宜蘭)

October 2011

One of my friends was bored with the rain, which had fallen almost continuously since we had arrived, and was keen to do something in Yi-lan (宜蘭) before we went to Taipei (台北). Her wish was to be fulfilled the next day; when we got up the next morning, we realised it had stopped raining. So three of us decided to go to a hill nearby where there are three waterfalls which are popular with tourists: the Wu-fong-ci Falls (五峰旗瀑布) at a place called Jiaoxi (礁溪). The others thought this was dangerous and decided they would rather wander around again near the hostel.

A taxi took us to a point half way up the hill from where there was a footpath leading up to the waterfalls. It was only a few minutes’ walk to the lowest waterfall. Actually, we were not sure it really was one of the waterfalls as there was nothing much to see: there was no water falling from a great height, it was just running down the stream over some rocks.  

The sun came out when we reached the second waterfall. This time we knew straightaway we were in the right place. It was quite impressive with the water falling some metres. There was also a covered viewing point next to it, but you still got wet even when you stood inside. We thought the large amount of water had come from the rain the night before. We had come at a good time and it was certainly worth a visit.

While we were walking along the path to the last waterfall, we saw a sign warning of rock falls and fallen rocks. It was discoloured with age, but we decided to go back. We wanted to see waterfalls, not rock falls.

Soaking at Yi-lan (宜蘭), Taiwan

 

October 2011

During my trip to Yi-lan (宜蘭), sometimes it rained heavily with strong winds. On occasions this caused flooding; and once, while we were exploring the farms on foot during such a storm, the water came up to our knees. A friend had advised me to buy a rain coat and this was a very good idea; it kept me dry and warm, and it also protected my belongings against thieves. Some of my friends only had umbrellas and they got wet from head to toe.

Unfortunately, I could not keep myself dry for long. I took off my rain coat when we had lunch. I was sitting in a narrow place behind a wall. One of my friends almost upset the table as she got up, spilling a glass of warm tea onto my shorts. I was wet through and had a big wet patch on my jeans now. Luckily, it was raining so I thought people would think this was because of rain rather than other possibilities. When I stood up to show everyone my wet jeans, they laughed.



The entrance of the restaurant, Yi-lan (宜蘭), 2011.

Have you tried jellied soup (糕渣)?
Yi-lan (宜蘭), 2011.



Chef recommendation, Yi-lan (宜蘭), 2011.

We were wet and cold. We did not want to go back to our hostel but at the same time, we didn’t know what to do as a lot of the tourist attractions were closed. So we put on our swimming costumes and went to have a hot spa, where we had a nice long soak together in the warm water. 

Spa rooms. 
We're wearing swimming costumes &
took pictures out of a spa room. Yi-lan (宜蘭), 2011.

This is Jellied Soup (糕渣),
but we didn't know what kinds of food they cooked in jelly. 
Sorry, this wasn't what I likes.
Yi-lan (宜蘭), 2011.

A Spring Onion Pancake in Taiwan

October 2011

Yi-lan (宜蘭) is an area of intensive farming on the northeast coast of Taiwan.  My first impression was of a peaceful, beautiful place with fresh air.  It is famous for its spring onions.  There are bigger than my finger, and twice the length of the ones in Hong Kong.  There was a small exhibition devoted to the cultivation of spring onions.  This was quite simple, but interesting.  I never knew spring onions could be used in so many different ways.


The small exhibition, Yilan, 2011

Inside the exhibition, Yilan, 2011

Spring onion pancakes are one my favourite savoury snacks in HK.  When I saw they were popular over there, I tried many of them from corner stores or street vendors which I passed along the street in the first two days.  After trying lots of pancakes, I found the best ones were sautéed in oil, not deep fried or burnt.  Eventually, I found a street vendor in Taipei, whose pancakes were delicious.  His handcart was surrounded by people, and he grumbled at a man for taking pictures of him.  I wanted to do the same thing, but I was anxious he would object.  Fortunately, he did not get angry with me, but smiled instead.  I thanked him for making good food and gave him a thumbs up.

The best pancakes in Taiwan, 2011

 

A Malteser Lover

An extremely fat man got on the MTR. He must have been three-hundred pounds. He was so big he took up two seats. He was carrying a large white plastic bag and holding a box of Maltesers. The box was a new design; the opening was just big enough to get one Malteser out at a time. Eating is not allowed on the train, but he ignored this. 

Evidently, he was enjoying the chocolates and he stuffed them into his mouth one by one. He had eaten them all by the next stop. He threw the empty box in the plastic bag, and took out a new box. When he finished that he took out another box. Who knows how many boxes he ate. He carried on his journey gobbling down his delicious Maltesers.

I could not see how many boxes there were in his bag, but there seemed to be about half a dozen. How many boxes had he had before he got on the train? How many boxes had he bought? How many times a week did he treat himself like this?

Maltesers boxes with new design, HK, 2015

A wad of $1 notes

I was sightseeing in New York, and I wanted a taxi. I saw one stop nearby and a couple got out. They left the door open, so I went to get in. When I bent down, I saw a wad of bank notes lying on the seat. I immediately thought one of the couple had forgotten it and I should give it back to them. I grabbed the money and walked towards them, saying, 'Execute me'. They did not realise I was talking to them and kept walking towards a building. I knew I would be late if I did not get the taxi, but I could not keep the money or take it to the police station. So I hurried after them and tried to stop them. Fortunately, the man turned around, but he did not see me at first. He looked down, and I said, ‘You dropped some money in the taxi.’ I held out the notes, and put them into his hand. Then I got into the taxi and got Broadway in time for my show.

When I got back to Hong Kong, I told my family what had happened. My brother asked how much there was. I had not checked. I had only seen the first note was a dollar, but I had seen the edges of some of the notes underneath were not the same. He thought the man might have been puzzled why a stranger would give him money; perhaps the money was not his.

An ex-millionaire

A man spoke in a loud voice at the end of the MTR train. He walked from carriage to carriage, asking the passengers a question one by one. His question was, ‘How much money is a lot for you?’ Some of the passengers held their heads down, or pretended to be sleeping. Some walked to the other carriages. The man was in his early thirties and plump. His shirt was hanging out, so his gut was faintly visible. 

The train began to fill with people and he had to stay in one place.  So he started asking the same question to the people around him. Since nobody answered, he started to talk to himself. He clearly believed he had won the Mark Six at some time, and on this theme he rambled on from one subject to another: his manager had upset him by asking him to pay attention to his work instead of the Mark Six prize money; his landlord had asked him to find money to pay his rent if he wasn’t going to win the mark six again; if he was rich, his friends would not criticise his ideas and personality; he had given one or two million dollars to his father, but his father had spent it all; he shouldn’t have listened to his father’s advice, he should have bought a house rather than putting the money in the bank; he had won nothing on the Mark Six since 2009.

He must have won several million dollars on the Mark Six, but he was young, so he can’t have managed his money very well or else he had wasted it. Whatever, there was nothing left. Maybe he thought he could win the money again rather than using his hands to make his millions.

A review of Lamb to the Slaughter

A happily married housewife, Mary Maloney, is six months pregnant and is waiting for her husband to come home from work. When he arrives, to her horror, he wants to get a divorce. Stunned, she takes a leg of lamb from the freezer, telling him there is lamb for dinner. He stands with his back to her, and tells her he is going out. She hits him over the head with the leg of lamb and kills him. Then she puts the lamb in the oven and turns it on, calms down and goes to a shop to buy vegetables. When she returns, she cries over her husband’s body and calls the police. The police search the flat for a murder weapon until late at night. When they are tired and hungry, Mary offers them the lamb for dinner.

The story is short and simple, but has an amusing twist at the end of it. Also, Mary is an unexpected character. At the beginning of the story, the couple seem to love each other, but the wife is betrayed and left by the man she trusts. And, the pregnant woman moves slowly, but she has the strength to kill her man. While she is sobbing, she waits for an opportunity to tell the police to eat the leg of lamb, the weapon. At the end of the story, she sniggers because her improvised audacious plan has worked.

A review of The Sensible Thing

A young man, George O’ Kelly, wants to get money and success quickly so he can marry his fiancée, Jonquil Cary. For this reason, he quits his job as a construction engineer, and moves from Tennessee to New York City to work as an insurance clerk. He gets fired when he applies for some time off work to visit Jonquil. While they are together, they have a quarrel, because they do not have enough money to get marry. So, they split up and this is the sensible thing to do it. After this, George goes to Peru, and he becomes a successful engineer. A year later, he goes back to the girl, and he realises that he can have her now, but his feelings for her have changed.

Maybe F Scott Fitzgerald based the story on his own early relationship with his wife, Zelda Sayre; George’s love for Jonquil parallels his love for Zelda. George puts love before practical matters, but he is rejected by Jonquil, because he does not have enough money to marry her. At the end of the story, George has become more mature and sensible, and his feelings for Jonquil have changed. The author probably wants to say George still has a chance to decide whether Jonquil is suitable for him, whereas the author has regreted his marriage; if he had not married Zelda, perhaps he would not have had serious health and financial problems. Another point of view is people want things more if they can’t have them; when their relationship is possible, George’s feelings are not as strong as they were before.