Wondering how my progress went with my Nicolekiss is all in adidas challenge?

Well I've recorded a video!! (read on)

Before that, here's a recap of the outfit I've picked out for my second day of ice skating lessons.


Or click on the link above to go to the post with all my camwhore photos of the outfit


And I know it's pointless (since I'm ice skating) but I just have to show off my brand new adidas pink and black sports shoe; I have another exact pair but silver in base color.




You would be able to see it if you follow my Twitter account. I used it to climb Mount Cook!!


Back to learning to ice skate.




Can you spot me in the photo?! I'm so colorful it's impossible not to. I love colorful clothing. ^^


This is my coach, Carmen.




She's really nice and am really patient with me even though when I'm obviously the worst 20s something student she ever had. I have like the worst balance for any form of sports. T_T




Btw do you realize she's wearing an adidas jacket?

Do you know that all ice skating coaches wear adidas jackets by default, because it's sponsored. OMG JELES! What a coincidence too! I swear I did not know this when I was signing up for the lessons.




There I go sidetracking again. @_@

Anyway I learnt a lot of moves and tricks to ice skating, not that one needs if one is already good at ice skating. It's just really useful for late learners like me to pick up the sport.



the kid was mocking me with her lightning speed. T_T


One thing after all these, I never knew ice skating could be so tiring. @_@




And the thing is, the moment my feet gets tired, I can't, even with all my might, skate properly. I will be tipping over at every glide/turn/slide, because it's using muscles I don't normally use when I walk, sleep and eat.


"Do I really need to skate more? I'm so so so so so so exhausted." Pleading at carmen the coach.


Here's a video on my progress, I also edited out the tricks and tips so that it becomes a tutorial for those who wish to pick up ice skating, take up an adidas challenge like I do.




I know I know. I'm still pretty shit. Will I really be able to finish my challenge? It's almost a month now and my aim was to achieve "passable" within a month! o.O

Am I setting myself too high a challenge? OMG kill me.

Still got one more week left. Will be TRYING MY BEST!

Today I received an email with the most phenomenal story. I just had to share it.

I don't normally blog about forwarded email, but something in the story struck me as me and I thought it could change a little in me today, maybe it could change a little to those who I can share it too.

So enjoy.


It was titled:
Make your choice today - Duck or Eagle.......

No one can make you serve customers well.
That's because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, Harvey read the card.

It said: Wally's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It .
Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck.




Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''




'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally.

'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it.

You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I
was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

I've been feeling like a duck for the longest time, a year? no, maybe more.
The story really changed my view, today and hopefully longer than just 'a while'. I hope it has changed yours too and made your day as it did mine. :)

Let's all be eagles. :)

So yesterday I gathered up my courage and went for my second lesson with my coach.

It's pretty scary considering I only had one practice on my own between the first and this second lesson. And it's essential to practise a lot after a lesson because during your session with the coach, you picked up all the skills and then you execute them on your own during your practices.

But before I get to that, I want to show you the new outfit I got!!




In order to practise in conjunction with adidas new campaign "adidas is all in", I came up with my very own challenge called "Nicolekiss is all in" lol shameless :p




I got a pink top AND a blue training jacket. It's so colorful! MAD LOVE.







I don't know about you, but I think adidas has some really neat designs this season. They're all so colorful, funky, modern, chic, futuristic and everything wonderful I never thought sportswear was possible to achieve.


And check out my new shoes!








Happy face.


Few more poses.







Check out the back.


sexy back ^^


With the blue jacket.










Nice or not?

I bet you want to get hold of these brand new collection of adidas apparel right now. :p
Poison you. kekeke

And this was me right before my battle.




Hair tied and ready to skate~!

Bring it.

I do consider myself an odd ball.

I have very different ways of thinkings compared to most peers. Not sure of the actual reason for this behaviour, but it must've been triggered since a long time ago.

I'm not saying I'm different. I'm just saying I'm odd.

And I am very odd.


When I looked at this photo it cracked me up. LOL


Like when I am doing something/looking at something/or just thinking, I tend to block out all disturbances around me: noise, people, colors, cars, even the conversation I'm in. Hence for those we know me very very very well (actually, only one person so far knows me that well), I zone out very easily.

You could be carrying a conversation with me and halfway through I would enter this zone out phase and shoot out my own questions before realising I was actually having a conversation with you.

It's annoying to a lot of people. And unfortunately, I find it really hard to control this zone-out habit of mine.

I suppose it's harmless, however it has, in its past, offended a few people, like severely. :S


But that's just one of the many characteristic of being odd.

To some, you could be even call me an introvert. I know, it's almost unbelievable since I meet so many people all the time during my travels and I have never had a problem striking a conversation with a random stranger.

But most friends of mine don't realise was that I find it hard to CARRY a conversation, too.
It's like my way of thinking and opinions are vastly different to how most people's minds operate. Different wavelength you might call it.

And I only realise how often this has happened, in the past or present, in recent years.

I'm like a modern day geek. Only I don't look the part.


I have my own little dark humour and jokes that most people don't get.
And my own aloofness that most people find ignorant.
Or my own seriousness that people normally would find intimidating.
My own sense of justice that some people find unreasonable.
My own definition of adventure that people find ridiculous/stupid/torturous.
My impulses/spontaneousness that almost all people find pointless.
Sometimes, my own polite-ness that people find rude. :SSS




It's hard trying to fit in growing up. And in some ways, I'm still doing so.

However, I have already come to accept me as me and my baheviour as part of me.
Learning to cope with my odd common sense in this seemingly odd world to yours.

So this was my journey thus far (written).




Leaving Spain behind, after Madrid and Seville, I ventured into Portugal.

I knew nothing about the country except that I onced almost dated a portugese mix, ate portugese egg tart and drank port.

So it was a delight that I landed myself in one of the most pleasant hostels I've ever stayed in.




This was my room, called "White Dream". Perfectly suited for me since I'm a pieces, dreamer at birth. LOL





love the writings on the wall... enticing~





Met up with a friend who flew from London and this was his room. Super love as well! Though I still prefer mine. :p










It's so neat, clean and pretty that it didn't feel like an ordinary hostels, more like a boutique hotel, with the advantage of a cozy living area and kitchen where people actually USE.





I could walk into the kitchen and make myself some free toasts with jam and some milk tea. Felt exactly like home, in a foreign land, with a foreign weather. lol


I also loved this odd barber's chair sitting at the corner seemingly so out of place.




In most evenings, there would be one guest picking up the guitar and started strumming in the leisure room, and everyone would sit and hum or sing along.




It's such a surreal feeling staying there, in winter in a foreign country that I knew nothing of and speaked none of its language. But yet it was perfectly alright, and perfectly at ease.



Living Lounge Hostel in Lisbon, Portugal.


However, on a whole different note, I do know one thing about Portugal.

You know all those authentic portugese egg tarts most Malaysians have been claiming they've eaten in Macau?

Honey, it ain't authentic if it ain't from Portugal.

It's called PORTUGESE eggtart, d'oh.




Originated from Lisbon, Portugal in fact.

Where I was at. Where I ate one.







Now that's... one good tart.

I was invited to Twinings tea pairing dinner by a friend of mine.

How could I say no? I love teas, and I love Twinings. I love most things English. Some people like Japanese culture, some people follow Korean Pop culture... Well, I'm a tea-drinking English girl at heart.




There was a workshop talking about making the perfect cup of tea, which was REALLY enlightening. Maybe I'll talk about it in the next post - on how to make a perfect cuppa.




Stephen Twinings was there too, yes you guessed it, he's related to the founder of Twinings - Thomas Twinings, back in the 1706 when the first Twinings tea room was first open in London.


Stephen Twinings is the 10th Generation of the Twinings empire.


It's amazing to meet someone from such a land standing legacy.

He talked a lot about tea, drank a lot of tea too.

One of the most strikening news was that Earl Grey tea is only legit for Twinings, since Early Grey tea was commissioned to Twinings by an EARL, named Charles Grey, and the tea was so welcomed it was named after the Earl. *surprised!*







I never knew tea pairs well with certain food, like wine, but it didn't surprise me that it could. Afterall, certain tea does taste better with certain variety of food.




Like black teas are good with scones, tiramisu and quiche of the sort.



My guess is that they're better with savory or slight savory desserts: some also say it's good with veal, chocolate macaroons and cheese.


Or like the green tea is best served with light food, like finger sandwich, seafood and salad, etc.




Now you know your tea, enjoy a cuppa.










Yum.

Find a cozy/scenic place, your tea will taste even better.


haha I actually got dragged out here to pose for cameras. wtf so random.


Anyway, thanks to the event, now I have enough tea to last me for the rest of the year.

Unless of course I drink it everyday then it would only last me for four months.




Dinner was held at Saujana hotel - Senja restaurant where we had tea, and wine ^^, during our evening meals. YUM.





my favourite dessert of all time!!! for now.





My favourite drink that night was the Strawberry and Mango Infusion, it's by Twinings and not exactly a tea. But really yummy when prepared with sugar.

I had like five glasses that night.

OD-ed T_T