yesbashtiahwrites

So today is the first day of Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO)... 10th June 2020 to 31st August 2020. Came to think of it, almost 80% of the year 2020 we #stayathome #staysafe #kitamestimenang . It's actually DAY 83 today. We started with MCO, CMCO, and now RMCO... It has been a long journey, yes. Some changes in this phase are we are allowed to travel to other states (in Malaysia only), hotels will be opened, some sports are allowed, you can go cut your hair at a salon... BUT SWIMMING IS STILL A NO-NO. They simply put.... "Aktiviti dalam kolam renang" And that, made us swimming instructors outraged, just to exaggerate . But really, we are! The reason is because of 'Mass Gathering'. Like what....... Pfft. OKAY. I wasn't satisfied too so I made a post on Facebook stating my opinion. And I'm writing about it more here... Obviously I am not settled yet aha... Of course la MASS GATHERING . Because you think of the swimming pool as a place to main-main air...

On baby swimming. First things first, teaching a baby how to swim is wayyyy different than teaching children and adults. The facilities also differ. Because I wanted to expose Sofia more on swimming, when I saw that Hi-5 House of Learning  in Damansara will be conducting a workshop, I immediately signed up. And to make it more fun, I invited two other friends to join. My two friends back in uni. Lifeguard friends.  The  'How to teach your baby to swim' workshop was conducted on 28th August 2017. It consisted of a 30 minutes talk and a 30 minutes session in the pool. Pool session involved one parent per child.  The 30 minutes talk was very useful and I, despite being a swimming instructor myself, learned a lot of new things. The talk was given by Erika Peres, the owner/ founder of EPS Academy. She has a qualification in Children's Physical Development. We were briefed on the do's and don'ts, and also some exercises (in the water) to do with your baby. ...

MY VERY FIRST TV DEBUT! Yes, I'll be on tv! OMG seriously it took me quite some time to settle down. Like, to finally digest what happened few days ago. I was still anxious, excited, terkesima, what else? It still hadn't really occur to me that thousands of people will be watching me in my swimsuit. Yeah, I'll be on tv in my swimming suit. So if you wanna see me in action in my swimming suit, tune in to TV2 on Sunday 10am around May. Boom boom chiki chiki boom~ Seriously, I couldn't really believe it when mum said RTM wanted to shoot at our centre. Coz come on... We just opened our centre July last year. Belum setahun lagi and you wanna put us on tv? But well, yes. Alhamdulillah. They came to recce our centre, even came another time during class to see how we conducted our class. There is something unique about our training style that got them attracted. I NEVER EXPECTED TO BE THE ONE ON TV. Along the way, we IRenang team kept on discussing how our founder/ h...

I miss blogging. Ha-ha. Life has been more hectic than usual. Rushing here and there (in, around, and out of the house). I've started driving again, after months. I took one personal class out of the centre, at a public pool, a VIP client, but got so pissed ended up that was the first and last lesson I had with her. Anyhow, Alhamdulillah for the experience. Every student is different, every client is different. Asalkan mengajar ikhlas that should be enough. Just a side note, I didn't expect her to be like that. I didn't expect such words from her after teaching her wholeheartedly. She have back and neck pain, and also knee problem. See how challenging it is to teach her to swim? And oh, she's already 60 plus years old. Datang lambat to the pool some more. And I actually left Sofia at home just to teach her at a public pool. Sheeshhhh... Ugh and here I am rambling about it here. Not a big problem I guess since I didn't reveal who she is. If I do reveal it, m...

Motherhood is tiring and so challenging. It is a 24/7 job. No break...  Yes I love my husband and I love Sofia, but it has come up to one point where I needed a break. Sometimes I purposely spend more time in the toilet. But even so I still feel pressured when I hear Sofia crying, even when her father is watching her. I told my husband I'm stressed, I need a break. I want to swim. I NEED A SWIM. Alhamdulillah, last weekend I got the break I wanted.  I didn't change a single diaper, I didn't wash a single plate, I didn't cook a single meal, I didn't hang a single cloth. No we didn't go for a vacation. Going for a vacation would just add more work for me. Packing unpacking, balik rumah nak kemas rumah basuh baju lagi. While I had a good time swimming, he did all the housework. Before I went into the pool, I told him, "Kalau Sofia menangis, I buat tak tau je tau". Apparently Sofia didn't wake up until I'm done swimming. Lucky, pap...

Being a full time swimming instructor, here was how I survived my first trimester in the pool.... When I found out about my pregnancy, I just completed a two weeks intensive swimming program. Swimming classes every single day. I was already 4-weeks pregnant by then. "Rehat dulu dari turun naik kolam..." So they said. But I didn't stop going to the pool completely... Hahah. Degil. It was only because of this one moment that I decided to slow down a bit; I suddenly realized I could no longer take in rice. Just so sudden like that. I had the usual portion in my plate, but only satu suap , and then cannot go on already! I felt nauseous trying to eat more. No appetite to eat rice at all. I started living on biscuits, bread, fruits, and soup. Lack of eating resulted in lack of energy... I became sluggish. I still went to the pool for personal classes, but I rescheduled them. Instead of doing back to back, I limited myself to only one class per day. Alhamdulillah for u...

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...

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...

It seems that I might just find my soul mate at the swimming pool. Yesterday my mum said one my students' parents kept on asking her about me. Itu tak apa lagi... But, they asked if I have someone special already. Eh eh eh... Eh? And, they wanted to match me with my students' uncle .  "Tiah tu comel, pandai cari duit... Dia tu dah ada orang ke?" Comel? Eheheee... Thanks, I'm flattered. But, no. No way. Guess what my mum said? "Macam tu lah dia, memang tak ada orang pun lagi tu" -.-" Thanks A LOT, Mak. The man was present too at the pool. Apparently it happened that this guy had to drop off his sister's children. The parents and this guy here were good friends, it seems. The guy is sort of cute. Well, sort of.  An engineer, 30 something. Bujang. Well that's what they told my mum. Mum: Bujang tu Tiah... Engineer lagi! Heh. Eheh. Heh. Macam-macam~

Murid-murid pun akan suka. :) My students gave me presents yesterday. Last two weeks they(the two girls are siblings) told me they wanted to give me a present. I told them it's okay, they don't have to. Though deep inside my heart I was really really REALLY happy. Hahah... By the end of the class, they came to me: Student: Cikgu, cikgu... / Teacher, teacher...  Me: Oh, nak bagi sekarang ke? / Oh, do you want to give it(the present) now? Student: Eh tak, saya nak cakap terima kasih sebab ajar saya berenang. / Eh no, I want to thank you for teaching me swimming.  *salam cium tangan* MALU GILA. -.-" The following week they didn't came to class. So I thought it's okay... The best prize a student can give their teacher is their success. So yeah, I don't really mind if there's no present. Honestly. Yesterday the siblings came. They told me they wanted to give me something at the end of the class. Heh. I didn't expect much so ...

Although Bashtiah is a swimming instructor, she knew safety was important! HA-HA. Oh well, that's why when swimming, I always swim at the first lane which is nearest to the wall . Because you never knew what will happen. Who knows if suddenly my feet got cramped while I was swimming at the middle lane at the deeper end and the lifeguard on duty didn't notice me because she was so caught up talking on the phone? Who knows, right? I always told my students; even if they can swim, always choose the first lane. This is a reminder for you too, okay. For your own safety. Yesterday something happened at the end of the class. Starting from two weeks ago, at the end of the class, every student must be able to swim across the pool (deeper end, short lap). Thank goodness, syukur sangat, most of my students can cross the pool without stopping. Although their swimming strokes needed to be polished a bit but they did really well. :) As usual, all the instructors (includin...

12 students to 1 teacher. The students are all oh so so small children. Very active. Adding to the challenge, the pool is so deep even I couldn't reach the bottom. I have to stand on tip toes all the time! Starting from yesterday, the class was held at another swimming pool as like I've stated in my previous post, the swimming pool's pump is not working, which in return resulted in a dirty swimming pool. Honestly, I don't really like this new swimming pool. It was too deep. And at the side of the pool, at the pool's wall, there wasn't any place to hold. I mean, there were only flat tiles so it was hard for them to hang on to the pool side. Like yesterday, while holding on to the wall, one of my students slipped. Lucky thing yesterday I had my younger brother to assist me. A good swimming pool must have this sort of drain to hold on to it. Today my younger brother assisted mum as she needed him more. Mum's shorter than me, you see.....

Finally. i-Renang is registered already! As in REGISTERED legally, officially. Yay! Went to the Companies Commission of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur just now to register the business and OMG I was so excited and relieved! I think it's quite easy lah to register a business. Seriously! You only have to fill in two forms(which is given free at the counter) and prepare one IC photocopy. Pay RM70 and ta-da! The business is legal already! But like mum said, starting is easy, but keeping it going is hard. I think it's just like blogging. Starting a blog is easy, but maintaining it is hard. Don't you think? But somehow i-Renang have to be registered as i Renang as no dash (-) is allowed. While registering at the counter, a woman at the back(behind the counter are a few other workers) asked us if she could learn swimming while wearing hijab, the one which came with a muslimah swimming suit. Such a business minded person, I immediately said "Eh boleh, boleh! Memang boleh je!...

I had to take the LRT to class a few days ago as I went for an outing with my friends. I had too much fun with them that I forgot the time so I had to really really rush. By the time I arrived at the counter I was panting heavily. Termengah-mengah... There were two counters but as I was too tired and out of breath, I didn't realize the next counter was already free. The Ticketing Officer(TO) had to call me, only then I notice. I was blur and pointless for a few seconds. Me: *panting, out of breath* Sungai... Besi. TO: Berapa? Me: Huh?.. Oh. Satu. *still panting* TO: Macam nak cepat je... Kenapa? Me: Ada kelas pukul 4 ni! TO: Oh... Kirim salam lecturer eh. *smiling sheepishly* Me: SAYA cikgunya. *hurriedly left the counter* Upon saying that, somehow I felt a bit shy. He must have thought I'm a lecturer. When truth is I'm just a swimming teacher. Hahah... Oh, after all those adrenaline rush, when I finally arrived at the pool... PAM KOLAM ROSAK. ...

I was just wondering. Am I a good teacher? Tomorrow will be my third class with the cute cute toddlers. So far, a mong the lessons I've thought my students are: Doggy paddle, Patrick star float , mushroom float, monster crawl, Spiderman, Superman, Supergirl, berenang macam katak... I know. The terms are weird. Swimming like a dog sounded a bit offensive. Monster crawl? My mum said the term is supposed to be 'monster swim ' . I wonder if I'm teaching the kids the right thing?

Having been teaching adults for the past few months, when I had to teach a group of toddlers I was a bit lost for ideas. I was suddenly clueless. Tak nak duduk diam, asyik menguit-nguit dalam air... Main-main, lompat-lompat. Hampir lemas. Lepas tu terjun lagi sekali.TAK SERIK! For the first class, I didn't know what to teach these kids. Where to start? Bubbling? Floating? Gliding? They wouldn't listen, I tell youuuu... All they wanted to do is play. Play. Play. And they wouldn't focus for long. I would ask them to watch me first but before I even finished, they would all try it already! Cikgu cikgu, macam ni ke? Cikgu cikgu, tengok ni! Cikgu cikgu.. Cikgu cikgu.. Cikgu cikgu..! Mind this; MOST OF THEM COULDN'T REACH THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL. Jengket-jengket, lompat-lompat~ So yeah, potensi untuk lemas itu ada. Cikgu, saya takut la cikgu... Cikgu, kaki saya tak sampai... Cikgu, tadi saya lemas! (Err... Bila eh?) So, for the second class... I had a NEW strategy. * * * *...