Dirty Countess Vice President as certified by the Pilates Institute Happy Fun-time Barbie

This week in Asia I am finishing up my final projects for my MBA classes, taking 15 hours of Pilates certification courses, competed for ANZA in the 100km Mountain Biking Race for BIKE ASIA 2008, was elected Vice President of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE) in Singapore, and I still had time for a pitcher of Margaritas.

http://results.dirtraction.com

go to RESULTS for the Mixed Quad!

We took 1^st place! I only had to get off the bike twice and I finished in 40 mins to keep our ringer’s lead. My main goal was just to get down the course without crashing. The trail had a little bit of everything from rolling hills, single tracks, a mud pit, jungle riding, demonstration obstacles, and an open bermed-up site. It ended with a short run through the pit stop where my legs felt like Jell-o and I was covered in mud.

There are not many girls in Asia capable of riding a bike, let alone a technical course with a bunch of guys. I was the ‘token’ for the Australian-New Zealand team (ANZA) and got to ride with an Australian mountain biking champion. The rule is to have one women cross the finish line in the relay. The morning before, I was suffering anxiety attacks, waking up every 2 hours, felling sick to my stomach. If I f*’d up, the team would be disqualified and I didn’t even have a bike yet.

Friday morning I should have stayed in bed, but went for the 6am training ride. Half-way into the ride, the monsoon rains hit and we got power-washed. I learned a new bike command - ‘car wash’ means a lorrie (that’s English for truck) is about to pass you in the flooded lane. It is equivalent to being hit by a tidal wave while riding a bike. It took a whole day for my cell phone to dry out.

Abs of Titanium
After the race on Saturday and all day Sunday I took fifteen hours of Pilates testing for my certification. FIFTEEN HOURS! Most people are sore after an hour, but 6 hours of Pilates after being dehydrated in the race, and then drinking a pitcher of margaritas to celebrate was a mistake. When I got up to go to the bathroom at night it felt like someone inoculated my buttocks. It hurt to breath, my core was so sore.

Mo & Bid in Asia
The past few weeks have been busy on site with the arrival of the modules and the second delivery has hit the port in Tuas. We have had many of the Genentech engineers out from SSF. Also visiting Singapore last week were my mom and dad, aka the Constanzas. Luckily the weather was good for their visit and while I was working during the week, they visited the Indonesian island of Bintan where my mom had an allergic reaction to some sea creature and has blood blisters still covering her legs. On their last night, they were able to meet my Singaporean friends in a traditional US BBQ. Bid brought four lbs of hot dogs and red hots from Chicago in his suitcase.

Jadoo
This means magic in India. The day after my birthday I’ll be taking off for my next adventure in India – traveling to Delhi, the Taj, Varanasi, Udaipur, and Jodhpur. I am hoping to practice yoga and meditation at an Ashram in Rajasthan, an area of North India. Literally the meaning of Ashram is 'work, volunteer and purify self'. The purpose of an Ashram is to complete the process of self purification under the kind guidance of Swamiji. Can anyone imagine me meditating? I can not sit still for a minute.