skin stuff

Earlier this year I discovered that I have a basal cell carcinoma on my nose. As part of the medical stuff that ensued from that diagnosis, I went and saw a skin specialist - awesome guy, Dr. Doug Duthie. He recommended a "chemo" cream for my arms and face to prevent any other cancers forming.
I decided to make a cream of my own, based on a variety of natural ingredients. After discussing it with a colleague, I formulated a beautiful golden yellow coloured cream.

I'm going to have to see a plastic surgeon about the cancer on my nose as it's right on the margin of my nostril and will need some finesse to make it look how it was before the op.

2011

Well, it seems that I just post yearly on this blog! In line with that, here is something for 2011.
I thought I'd post a photo of my furrypurry fellow. He's 11 now and still a delight. Man I got lucky that day at the RSPCA!

long time no speak!

well, what a time I've had in the last little while!
Most significantly, we hosted SEALS in late June and it was amazing.
We had a core group of 4 as our steering committee and a working group of about 10 people, each with task "portfolios". We also had a group of 8-10 people responsible for transporting visiting delegates to the seminar each day and extra events we arranged after hours.
There was also a lot of fund-raising done beforehand - we raised more than $5000! And we got a $2500 grant from our local government.
The training was awesome and really detailed, a lot of our instructors were 7th degree black belts! And the Kwan Jang Nim (Grand Master) taught us too.
The connections with practitioners from around the world was awesome too, lots of new friends and consolidation of existing ones from our trip to Limbang in 2008.

update

I feel like the new year has finally started.
It started on Sunday when I did my first Sunday training of the year.
There is a dedicated group of Dan members who do their own training early on Sunday mornings and when I can drag myself there, I join them.
For some reason since going away to SEALS I have felt lacklustre about training.

Zarna is visiting at the moment, I'm seeing her today for a cuppa at the Cool Spot cafe.

I'm taking Dick out for a fancy dinner on Friday the 13th to say "bon voyage" as he is heading off for possibly a year - or more!

We are having our first committee meeting of the year for Region 1, and we'll have a lot to discuss as we are going to have a HUGE two years ahead. Both years we'll have our tournament, this year we are hosting the National Camp and next year we are hosting SEALS.

My little (term of endearment and no actual reflection of size) purrbag is fat and fluffy and very happy at the moment. He keeps losing his collars though! Annoying as they are expensive.

SEALS 2008

Before Christmas last year I went to Singapore and Limbang (the latter is in Sarawak, Malaysia on the island of Borneo). I went to Limbang to attend the South East Asian Leadership Seminar for Soo Bahk Do World Moo Duk Kwan. I spent a good part of four days training with Moo Duk Kwan practitioners from around the world and with our Grand Master (Kwan Jang Nim). I met some great people and the highlight was doing a training drill with the Kwan Jang Nim himself and being praised for my crescent kick.
I was in three countries during the course of one day! Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore - what a hoot!
The food was fresh and tasty and the people were really friendly. The most unusual thing I ate was a jungle fern called midin and it was really good. Mee goreng for breaky and rice with some sort of meat and some sort of greens featured for lunch and evening meals. Lots of Chinese tea as anything else always had a tonne of sugar in it!
In Singapore, I stayed in the Fragrance Hotel Ruby in Geylang which is a Malay area of the city and also the red light area. The food was good and cheap and the hotel was clean and comfortable. It was a short walk to the closest MRT (Mass Rapid Transport - Singapore's subway system) station and from there you could be anywhere in singapore within 20 minutes.
I've got myself a phrase book for Bahasa Malaysia and one for Manadarin in preparation for when I return!

Welcome to my blog!

I hit forty last year and I think it's time to get serious about what I want out of life.
Although lately I've just been watching tv series on dvd!
My new year's resolutions (yes I know, cheesy, but they work for me) for this year are to eat more vegetables and to train like I mean it.