Melbourne & Sydney!! I LIKE!!

Hey Guys,

Sorry for the late update. I was waiting for the pics to be put up and sent over to me. its year end...so everyone's a little slack on the workfront! =P

Well I headed off to Melbourne on the 17th of Nov for a week and a half to work and then to Sydney for a holiday to catch up with old friends!! I only got back to Singapore on the 7th Dec. Was quite along trip but a trip well worth it!! =)

Once again the trip was organized by my Scottish friend Keith and the guys at Dominance MMA gym. I was working and running the classes at Dominance over the week and then heading outside of Melbourne to do some seminars for the gyms out there.

Arriving in Melb, Im not sure if it just happens to me but....they ALWAYS have such loonnnnggg queues through the immigration, there were only 2 counters open for like god knows how many flights.....and it feels like forever before you get out of the airport coz of the checks and all. After a flight with not much sleep....all that is never pleasant!!

Stepping out of the airport into blue skies and sunny nice weather was much nicer than the last trip where it was about 9 degrees and freeezing!!! Hard to believe that it has been 6 months since the last time I was in Melb!?! once again trusty, Keith was there to pick me up from the airport. Once again all smiles and laughs from there on. Keith is definitely one of the funniest guys I know!! Hours of entertainment with him!!

I was staying with once again Dave who is Co-owner of Dominance along with, Cam that I had the pleasure of hanging out with abit more this time. Living smack on Bridge Road and basically a 10min walk from the gym was pretty awesome!! Didnt have to get too confused with public transport and all.

Bridge Rd was a pretty cool area with nice cafes all around and lotsa factory outlet shops too. So during my time off I was never bored.....always walking around window shopping or eating!! God I'm so Singaporean when it comes to these two things!! haha Maybe Keith is also Singaporean!! Coz we did ALOT of shopping and eating!! Every cafe you went you were pretty much guranteed good food, good coffee and pretty damn good service!!!

Can't tell you how many cups of coffee I had in Melb!!! And just a random cake shop on Bridge Rd that made a GUCCI bag cake!?! haha

This was actually my first time working in a gym in Australia, so I actually wasn't sure what to expect. Running seminars are different. Seminars,I come,I teach and I go! I gotta admit that teaching in Dominance was alot easier!
1) Majority of people are in shape or train or do outdoor stuff!!
2) The students hold pads for each other. Which is in a way ALOT better and efficient. Coz that way I get to walk around and give everyone attention!! Correcting and giving tips, making sure everyone is doing it right.

Early morning 630am class.. yes 630am!!

Another thing that really impessed me about working there was the dedication, determination some of these guys had!!! 2 guys I knew would drive down almost an hour every other day for the 630am class and then drive back another hour to go to work coz they didn't work in the city!! Then they'd do it again later for the evening class sometimes!! And they weren't even fighers!!!!! They just loved the sport so much...and they just loved the gym alot...I mean what was not to like about it, it was a really nice and friendly gym with good trainers and facilities!

Students class, the future warriors! Fighters training as I show them a few moves to practice.

Over the weekend I went to do seminars in 3 diferent gyms outside of city central. Headed out to Nothern MMA in Greensborough, SMAC in Frankston & Top Tier in Geelong. I really enjoying doing seminars, I get to meet various gym owners and also get to see the different gyms and their trainees and the way they teach muaythai. It was really cool to see the changes or people really moving,kicking,punching or whatever differently...and that they did take away something after the seminars! Hopefully they don't forget what I taught them...well if they do I'll just have to come up again and teach em I guess =)

Seminar at SMAC and Top Tier MT.

Top Tier MT group photo.

Sorry for the lack of photos from the seminars. I left my camera at home and Keith and I were busy with teaching so didn't really had much time to take lotsa pictures.

After all the work and seminars, it was time for abit of Rest & Relax down in Sydney!! I never been to Sydney and have been meaning to go there for a looonggg time! I had some Personal Training clients of mine who moved back to Sydney, they were really close friends I'd say... I even attended their wedding in Noosa, which is in Brisbane,Australia. I haven't seen them in 5 years!! So it was good to finally catch up again rather than doing it over sms and facebook! =P

My mates lived on Manly which is the more posh/family and has alot of hot brazillian babysitters! That's what everyone tells me!!! haha The moment I say,"I wanna check out Bondi." People all go,"You're in Manly...it's where all the hot brazillians are!!" So guys...you read the inside news here on zigzach.com...if you like brazillian girls (and waxes!) you should try Manly in Sydney!! =)

Manly Beach! It really was a nice place! Very very chilled and not as busy as Bondi. Didn't see any brazillians (girls or waxes!)

From Manly, I had to take the ferry to the city. It is a REALLY amazing view!! Abit of a pain in the ass to travel back and forth on it ...BUT...seriously VERY VERY cool!! You literally go past the Sydney Opera house and the Sydney bridge. The first time I was on it I was like....DAMN IT IM ON THE FUCKING WRONG SIDE!! and people were infront of me...and couldn't get a good shot....but on the 2nd trip........I wised up and managed to get in some pretty nice shots! =)

Right,so I can now say.."been there,done that!"

Sydney is is TOTALLY different from Melbourne. Melbourne is reallly laid back... people are chill.... it feels like a giant sub-urb. Everything looks old and just feels sooooo relaxed!! but Sydney is like....hustle and bustle... you really feel the difference!! I guess coming from Singapore where it's hustle and bustle all the time for me...Melbourne's laid back, chillaxing attitude was really more my thing...I mean for a change!!!

I hit up Bondi Beach with another mate from Sydney, we walked around shopping and eating .....again!! The weather was pretty grey and it drizzled abit so there weren't that many people out on the beach. But loads of people at the cafes and all. What I really liked at Bondi was this place called Icebergs. They had this swimming pool carved or made into the rocks. The tide would come in and it would cleanse/change the water....It was so fucking cool and the water just looked sooooo amzing!!!

How beautiful is that??

What I did like about both places is the vibrancy....the people.....the energy......liveliness!! Another thing that always impressed me was the service at most places were really good! People were usually happy or smiley....they knew what they were doing. They actually kinda almost make you think that they really enjoy working!! (even tho we know no one really does!!!!) I mean, sadly its not something you see very often here in Singapore. I mean, sometimes you can't blame the staff, when you find out what the fucking hourly rate they get paid to work at restaurants, hotels and whatever is....you'd be like,"fuck....no wonder he's moody!!!"..

Apart from just the usual sight seeing, I didn't really get to do much partying and all while in Sydney. My mates there were all couples...married with kids....boooooorring! =P heheh but it was still cool I hadn't seen them in ages and I really wanted to just have some quiet time. We went up to Palm Beach which was supposed to be the posh place of Sydney, we went to my mate's in-laws place for an early Xmas dinner.

I had met the in-laws in Singapore when they visited my mates, and again at the wedding in Noosa. It was really lovely to see them again after soooo long!! The father in-law was an American, and he was a Vietnam war veteran. He had done not one but TWO tours in Vietnam!! I remember talking to him many years ago and he would tell me stories and stuff about the war. I mean that is something pretty amazing yet pretty scary to be apart of. He made a very big impact on me when we met and chatted on both occasions. He struck me as just a very very genuine person. Something I think the world really lacks nowadays.... just simple, honest, sincere and genuine people. I think it's a virtue that one learns, maybe from having gone through hardships in life. So for him to retire and be happy in beautiful Palm Beach makes you realize that every cloud has a silver lining! =)

The view from his amazing house in Palm Beach =)

So I'm writing this two days before the end of 2010!! It has been a crazy fun year and also some not so fun stuff.....but Im looking forward to doing the re-cap in the next blog entry!! Also sharing my 2011 goals and resolution!! Its time for Zig Zach to re-evaluate and re-plan conquering the world!!

I wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! May your dreams and wishes come true!! 2011....BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LaterZ

Zig Zach