Don't get me wrong, there are lots of nice parks (much more than I expected) with lakes to run around however it just seems contradictory to have to hop on a xe om (motorbike taxi), breath in smog, and weave through heavy traffic (and pray that you aren't going to get into an accident) to get some healthy exercise in. I suppose I have been spoiled by Elm Street where I was able to go to the Plant Bath around the corner for a swim or go down the street to go biking and running on the NCC pathways. But I have been feeling a bit groggy and out of shape and have been eating a little too liberally that enough was enough, it was time for me to get some physical activity into my routine! Or perhaps this drive for exercise is because when I was getting some clothes made I had to step on a scale - not sure why that matters for a skirt and a pair of pants - but I was quite unpleasently surprised, moreover because all the seamstresses around me were probably all under a 100 lbs ...
Hoan Kiem Lake, near the Old QuarterSo in the last week, I tried a series of activities to see what would be fun:
Wednesday - Sarah and I decide to go for a run in the Botanical Gardens and we happen to get there at the beginning of an aerobics class. We say 'hey, why not?'. We caused quite the stir that people who were there walking would stop to watch us and the more experienced participants, who wore brightly coloured bodysuits with leggings, went in the row in front of us so we could follow their lead. It was a lot of flapping our arms in the air and pelvic thrusts or pelvic circling (and we were in a public park) to techno english music we never heard before. Result: good arm workout, but didn't really break a sweat that we still went for a run afterwards.
Friday 6am - I decided to check out Steve's gym, which is a local gym. We get there nice and early and there is a step class going on which I get really excited for. I enter the gym and get ready to join until a lady comes over to me asks if I have a membership. I tell her no and ask if I can just pay for the day to see if I like it but she insists I have to buy either a 1-month or 3-month membership. I try again to explain that it is my first time here and just want to check it out before committing. She does not let me participate in the class, even though it is 6 in the morning, I am more than willing to pay for a day pass, and there are only 3 people in the class in this huge gym (so it is not like I would be taking someone's spot away). I call it aerobics snobbery and it was really probably because I did not have my own bodysuit ...
So I head to the workout gym instead in a bit of a huff, and decide I will just run it off on the treadmill. I go onto the treadmill and see it is not on. I look for the electrical cord to plug it in to find out that there is not cord - it is a manual treadmill! I tried it for about 10 seconds and it was way too much effort. Oh yes, I should add I am the only female in the room so I am trying not to stick out. The equipment was all really old and some I did not even recognize so I ended up just doing crunches in a corner of the room for the rest of the hour.
China dragon - this dragon is a statue completely made of china plates in a park in SaigonSunday - I decide to try rugby and luckily it is touch rugby. I never played rugby before, so I did not know the rules. But, I had a very patient team and even scored a try. I really liked playing, so I finally found a physical activity that I am going to stick with except ... it is changing practice times next week and will fall on the same time as ultimate ...agh! Even worse the rugby and ultimate fields are next to each other, so I don't know how I am going to choose one without insulting the other. Worry about it when I have to, I suppose.
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