yesbashtiahwrites

So I was the Gadis Pilihan for Dara.com magazine January 2015 issue. Felt a bit shy of blogging about it hence the delay... I finally decided I should blog about it to just remind myself of my achievements. So I'd be more thankfull... I didn't want to get stuck in past achievements, that's why. Because my fiancè used to say, their coach always reminded them to not let past achievements be their marking stone. But then again, I always feel like I haven't achieved anything when actually being featured in a magazine itself is actually a big achievement. So there. Here's a short post on the feature. Well, the journalist approached me in an unusual way. The first thing she asked was my age. It was around November last year I think, basically just a few months before I hit 26. The fact that I am 25 makes me eligible to be in the mag. Ha-ha. I really consider myself lucky as I found out soon (when I bought the mag) that Dara.com is targeted for girls until 25 year...

I was at the pool few days ago. While having a one to one session with a student, I spotted from the corner of my eyes, a lady with four kids. One girl and three boys, ranging about 6 to 10 years old, I guess. All 5 in proper swimming attire. The four kids were instructed to just sit by the pool. It was a 1.2 meter deep pool. The mother kept telling them to sit properly and to let their knees stay above the water. Well you know how mischievous kids can get... They would just suddenly purposely let their knees drop into the water and slide into the pool. Just like that. I know. Because I used to have a lot of students like that... Okay. Good precaution the mother did by instructing so. Though the kids looked so eager to get into the pool. Seriously! I can tell from their faces! The mother started to blow bubbles while facing her kids. They all looked at her in awe while at the same time mimicking her acts. Mouth open for air... On land. Then she started to float. Her childre...

I should remember these moments. Was enquiring about a business conference through a phone call earlier. "Tempatan ya?" "Ya, tempatan" *honestly I really imagined myself a local fruit or something... It's an international conference, by the way. The next question. "Dari mana?" *I hesitated. What do you mean by "Dari mana?".... Obviously I'm from Malaysia. Tempatan. Duh.. Ke nak jawab Selangor? So I asked, "Sorry?" "Dari mana?" "Er... Dari Bangi." "Oh. Tak, maksudnya organisasi apa. Individu ke?" Oooooooh.......... OMG... Hahaha! So I just agreed. "Ya, individu." When I'm actually representing I Renang.

Spend 3 years for a diploma. Another 3 years for a degree. Can spend so much time studying for exams. Khatam buku tourism geography, khatam buku tour guiding. Khatam buku anatomy, khatam buku sociology... Al Quran berapa kali khatam dah? Insaf. Note to self.

Just yesterday, I felt different. I finally feel like I'm in my own league. The big boss aka founder aka mak used to remind me now and then now and then (twice repeated as she really have to remind me a whole load of time!) our mission. I Renang's mission and focus. I Renang focuses more on water safety and water as a medium for wellbeing, not only swimming, but also other water activities. Your Body... Your Mind.  Yes. Exactly that is our mission. Nothing to do with high performance athletes etc... I have friends who are also swimming instructors. Like, duh.... Lifeguard friends, hi! Either they are full time or part time instructors. Freelance or full time. Under a swimming club, school, or operating their own swimming club. Many of them. Lately I noticed them attending swim meets to support their swimmers (Tq Facebook newsfeed) . Swimming competition. COMPETITIVE SWIMMING. I feel like I'm not IN. Because I didnt have a student or trainee to send to compete. But...

Public holiday in Malaysia for Thaipusam. Well today I managed to cross out one thing out of my 101 THINGS TO DO IN 2015! Learn to play basketball with Iz. Yes, I actually involved other people in my list. Hahah. Just because he played it as in really played in a tournament. And since I never get the opportunity to watch the tournament. Tourney by tourney... Not even one. I work on weekends. EVERY WEEKEND. Plus, I've always thought of people who played basketball to be cool. And because of the most common perception that ONLY TALL people play basketball. Ah basically I just feel like learning because I think playing basketball is cool. I learnt a lot. Not only how to play basketball, but about keeping an OPEN MIND. And also about being a trainee, a student. I've always been the trainer, the one instructing, the one teaching. Stepping out of the car, hearing the sound of the ball bumping against the court (it's called dribbling by the way), I felt nervous already. ...