If you aren’t starstruck already, prepare to be – by yourself (or your husband). The filming has commenced for the British Series Indian Summers in Penang and they are in need of extras, especially of the Caucasian male variety. I went for a hair and costume fitting recently and it was super fun to see behind the scenes, plus to think of myself on TV…exciting!
Call or email San for casting: castingindiansummers@gmail.com 016 321 6999
I’ve waxed poetic on this site about Penang’s own Warrior Bootcamp, but what if you can’t make it out to Straits Quay three times a week? I found myself in this situation, and then found a solution!
Karen Shopoff Rooff of Balance Personal Fitness Training out of Austin, TX offers an 8-week virtual bootcamp that will get you in shape right from your living room. She sends you a workout via email every Monday, Wednesday and Friday that you can perform with only a mat and some hand weights. The workouts take less than 30 minutes each, and are interesting and balanced. The cost is $50 USD (about 150RM).
I went through virtual bootcamp last year, during a very busy time, and loved the flexibility it provided. There was a private Facebook group where I connected with other folks doing the training. Karen even modified the time the emails went out so I got mine 5am Penang time (just in case my son had me up anyway, might as well exercise!).
And to prove what a nice person Karen is, she’s gifted a Virtual Bootcamp registration to one Penang Momma. If you are interested in participating, please answer the question: What do you love/hate about exercising in Penang? in the comments below and I will randomly select a winner on Thursday March 27 at noon Penang Time. Good luck! (You don’t need to be in Penang to comment and enter)
You’ve likely seen the green apple on the first floor of the Fettes Park strip of shops, it’s right next to the No Eyed Deer restaurant. Last week, I finally made it into myTESOL to see what was going on in there. What I found was a calm space of learning and culture: maps on the wall, and teachers and students representing at least 6 different countries being industrious on a Wednesday morning.
MyTESOL operates in two areas. One, for those who would like to improve their English, they offer English Communication classes of all levels. Two, for those who would like to be certified to teach English as a Second Language, they offer an English Teacher Training course with a CAP diploma program that provides a certification recognized all over the world in English language centers. Or you can use your certification to teach right there, at myTESOL.
For expats in Penang, this means opportunity. If you’ve always wanted to improve your English and finally have time for it, this is an easy and comfortable environment to do so. For anyone who had to leave a job to move here, it’s an opportunity to maintain a professional aspect to your island lifestyle, and learn a new and marketable skill. For everyone, myTESOL is a community, and a place to connect.
Hours are very expat friendly: Mon-Thurs 9-12:30. Pop in and see what they have for you!
“I am Nga, everybody knows,” our style professional starts our afternoon session. Over the next four hours, two friends and I will explore our tastes and scrutinize our features to learn how to dress to look our best. Nga obviously knows her stuff; although her hair and clothes choices were simple, she looked polished and gorgeous. Originally Vietnamese, she trained and worked in London with Colour Me Beautiful, one of Europe’s two most prestigious style companies. Here in Penang, she offers her services out of her home on Gurney Drive.
We started out with a short quiz to determine our style personality. While I had expected to come out with “laid back Island mom” style, I was pleased to have a more fun name for it: creative/natural. As Nga explained about this style, I connected with many of the points. This was a theme for the afternoon; it was a time of self discovery and appreciation for personal likes and appearance. Putting a name to it and understanding what suited best is meant to help in choosing clothes and accessories. So I can whip through the shops even quicker!
From there, Nga assessed our face shapes and talked about everything from eyebrow shape to hair style to jewelry and eyeglasses. Moving down, we talked neck, shoulders, down to the toes before she gave a general term for each of our shapes. This is useful for selecting clothing that will be most flattering. We had been instructed to bring some things from our wardrobe that we liked and even some we disliked. Nga gave comments on them, explaining how our preferences were related to our style and shape. One item I brought that I did not wear often she suggested a different styling that improved the look.
The four hours passed quickly and we could have stayed a couple more talking about such a fascinating subject – ourselves! It was truly eye-opening and recommended for anyone who needs to dress professionally or even just enjoys dressing up for a night out. Besides the group style consultations, she offers makeup lessons, personal wardrobe consultations and colour analysis. Contact Nga at laitongahue at yahoo dot com or via mobile 010560 3264.
I hadn’t done a triathlon in more than 5 years, but when I saw a post about the Penang Urban Triathlon something inside me clicked: I used to love this stuff! So I borrowed some books, dusted off (oiled and pumped up) my road bike and trainer and started training. Laps in our apartment’s 20m pool, biking in my computer room watching episodes of Downton Abbey, and running, running, running.
I was nervous leading up to the race. Nervous and anxious and excited. Packing my things the afternoon before, I forced myself to calm down and just enjoy it, keep the expectations low. It was my first race in a long time, since becoming a mother, since becoming a trainer myself, first in Penang. Also, one fact about Penang kept playing in my mind. Contrary to what “doing triathlons” means in Austin, Texas where it seems everyone does one of the hundred races a year, triathlon in Penang is pretty unique. Its a small group, and up and coming. That means Fun!
I slept well before the race, and arrived at 5:30 for body marking and lining up. The race was small, with about 150 athletes in tri and 200 in duathlon. The swim was a seeded start in a pool, one swimmer going off every 15 seconds and snaking up and down 8 lanes for 800m. Based on estimated time, I seeded 11th (of 150! yikes!) and was the 2nd woman in the water, the first being on the Malaysia national team. Eek. Despite this, I was passed only once and passed two people before climbing the ladder to the transition. The bike was 20km on a double loop course and was pretty uneventful as I carefully navigated traffic, dogs and burning hamstrings while realizing I really didn’t train properly for this part (I had only ridden on the road twice before the race, the rest being slow pedals in front of the TV. oops). I quickly got my running shoes and hat on for the final leg and headed out with high expectations for my run. I was certain I had trained well here, but my backside from my waist to behind my knees was jelly for about the first kilometer of the 5k run due to the effort on the bike. I felt like I was leaning backwards and hardly moving! Finally I loosened up and was able to finish strong.
All day I had been smiling, through every event, and crossing the finish line, I felt fantastic! I do LOVE this stuff! It was such a good time, well run, the crowd was small and it was fun to meet people and cheer on friends. The nature of the course made it very difficult to be competitive – staggered start, bike loops, intermingling of tri and du – made it very easy to just relax about what everyone else was doing and just push myself.
This would be a perfect race for anyone new to triathlon, there is even a youth division for 12-17, and I know they are planning on it for next year. If you can’t wait that long, join me! I’m already registered for the Penang International Olympic Distance Triathlon in March!
Earlier this year, I took the above weekend course through Fit Malaysia. The course bills itself as a preparation for the ACE personal training certification, but I found it to be much more than that. In the 60 hours (spread over 6 weekends), we followed the well-developed material through in-class and practical sessions in a gym. Instruction was clear and well-balanced. We even got to work out during class! By the end I felt not only ready for the exam, but ready to create personalized goal-oriented exercise programs for both myself and others. I am now CPR certified and have a great introduction to the fitness industry. I would recommend this program to anyone interested in exercise, work as a fitness professional, or (as for me) a peek into a new career. Contact Faud for more details (fuad@fit.com.my).
There are sixteen spots available, and if you happen to nab one, please tell them Penang Momma, Laurel Stelzer, sent you!
Be Fitter, Faster, Tougher, Stronger.
Sounds good to me. The above is the tagline for Penang’s Warrior Bootcamp, run by former Military Special Forces instructor Conor. Sure, he may bark at you, force you to do pushups if you come inside the cones on your lap, but he’s a sweet guy underneath who will convince you that you CAN DO IT, plus you’re in the company of friends! Bootcamp offers a social environment for punishing your body into shape in a great environment – the great outdoors! All levels are welcome, and newbies are quickly indoctrinated into the style of working out with clear instruction and help from other members. Most people are hooked after their first session.
Warrior Bootcamp offers drop-in style workouts around the island and has a full schedule offering mornings, evenings and weekends to meet your needs. The session I attended was after school drop at Straits Quay and was full of other moms. Check out the well-run website for complete details. This is a great place to meet new people and meet your fitness goals at the same time!
Crossfit is the fastest growing fitness trend right now, and the fad has reached the fitness community in Penang. Tucked up on the 4th floor of Midlands Plaza, Blake Choe and Randall Westwood recently opened Super Heroes Gym, a personal training studio equipped with pullup bars, kettle bells and Olympic rings, everything you need to learn about getting fit in a non-traditional gym setting. Add to that the patient and knowledgeable instruction of the owners, and you’ll be a WOD-master in no time!
The model works like this: purchase sessions at Super Heroes, and you (alone, or with a couple buddies) have the use of the equipment and guidance of a personal trainer for the hour. Blake and Randall will do a full fitness assessment, then start you off on a workout program to help you reach your goals, whatever they may be. They offer functional and crossfit style workouts for strength, conditioning, weight loss general fitness and even body building!
Super Heroes Gym (Where Real Men & Women are Made), 488 B-4-17 One Stop Midlands Park Center, Jalan Burma, 10350. noon-10pm daily. Contact 012-587-4914 (Blake) or 016-436-4495 (Randall).
This fantastic list of yoga options in Penang was compiled by Emma over at dogfriendlypenang.com. Namaste!
Elaine Ng practices Iyengar style yoga in her built-in yoga studio below her Tanjung Bunga home. She offers classes for adults almost every day of the week. She also teaches pre-and post- natal classes as well as a Friday afternoon kids yoga session for 3-6 year olds. Contact her via email for class schedules and fees at eng1london@hotmail.com
Sunalini Sunder (Su) also practices Iyenger style yoga and offers classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at varying times. She has based out of a studio in the Permai Village area of Tanjung Bungah. Contact her via email for class schedules and fees at bsunalini@gmail.com or visit her Facebook page.
Karen runs two free morning Iyengar style sessions per week in the lounge room of her Sri Pangkor apartment. Her classes are pretty full but you can contact her on 017 469 1325 to confirm availability.
Penang Sports Club Wendy offers a Yogalates class at the Penang Sports Club every Wednesday night at 6:15pm. You need to be a member of the club to attend. Classes are 15RM and are billed to your account.
Gyms Most of the gyms around the island including Xtreme Fitness, Fitness Studio, Absolute Fitness and offer a variety of yoga style classes like Body Balance, Yoga and Yoga Swing.
Dharmikarama Burmese Temple This Burmese temple located on Lorong Burma offers a free meditation class every Wednesday night at 8pm.
There are also a few others around the traps like Inner Peace Yoga Circle in Pulau Tikas, and Yoga Club at Tanjung Bungah.
I recently went for two cooking lessons at the Tropical Spice Gardens (TSG). This was fun for me as a foodie, and a great experience for my visiting guests. The class starts out with a tour of the gardens. We had a different guide each time, one abbreviated tour and one more in depth, and I really enjoyed seeing the spices and ingredients growing. After a quick stop for herbal tea we were off to the cooking school for our lesson.
The instructors work on a rotor basis, each doing 1-2 classes a week, and there are no lessons Mondays. There are Malay, Hawker, Chinese, sometimes Western, and Nyonya lessons available, the latter being taught by Penang’s famous Pearly Kee. The space is well equipped and supported. The dishes we cooked came out beautifully and we all shared lunch in a hill-top open air covered eating area within the gardens. Bellies full, we enjoyed the gardens for a while, sliding down the massive slides & ladders course and swinging on the Giant Swing (new favorite spot in Penang!) before heading home, dinner set with the leftovers from our cooking.
As you can see from the above photo, I had a little sous chef with me. My son, 3, attended the class. At first, the instructors were unsure of how having a child in the kitchen would go, but in typical Malaysian style began to fawn over him and soon he was our class mascot! I’m not sure how happy TSG would be with me promoting this as a child-friendly activity, but for the 2 times I went, it worked out perfectly. I will postscript that by saying Miles is passionate about cooking and will easily spend hours in my kitchen with me cooking and baking. Consider your child, and don’t discount them when planning for the cooking classes. For me, it made the experience even that much more special.
Penang Momma 