5 weeks and I am still very much alive.

I don’t how to describe this training to you guys, but it is INTENSE.

Going to yoga classes at 8.30am and 5pm is the easy part.

Staying awake for the lectures in between seem to be the challenge for me. There are nights we are kept up after lectures to watch a series of Indian history till about 3 in the morning. Then we sleep 3 hours and soldier on for yoga in the morning.

I hope everybody is doing fine. I hardly have time to even practise guitar so I guess writing any new songs while I am here might not even happen. There’s the teaching dialogue that I have to learn and it’s really quite a challenge. I have to say this has to be the longest song I will be made to memorize.

We’ve had an amazing speaker Dr F Trapani who wrote the book, Our Food Dilemma, he was with us for two weeks and guided us through anatomy, I THINK I passed. This coming week there will be more medical experts coming for lectures so I’d better make sure I STAY AWAKE! As you can tell, it’s been a long time since I left school.

There have been countless visiting teachers from all over the world who are here to help us along and guide us through. I met this awesome dude who teaches in Seattle and is a DRUMMER too. I miss you, Brandon!

You’ll all have to excuse me for shitty updates, I quite admire some of them who are able to update everybody with a yoga blog. As I said, there can be no words to describe what we are going through unless you actually go ahead and DO IT. However ridiculous it might look, we are walking around looking like mad people as we go over our dialogue out loud (talking to ourselves) or grabbing other yogis or other guests in the hotel to ask if they could be our demonstrators, right there in the hallway, by the pool, or just wherever, so that we may get the hang of delivering the dialogue. Whatever it is, we have to get prepared for the real world, which is the studio, wherever we may find a job.

After two attempts at trying asian food in Palm Desert, I have given up. It’s SHIT. On the weekends, we go out to find reasonably priced places to get a decent burger, or just a foodcourt. Last night we celebrated one of the girls’ birthday at a ribs joint. It was awesome, I now have leftovers I can eat for lunch today. Heh. I miss every single SIngaporean dish you guys can name! For now I am surviving on hummus, carrots, celery, salsa, peanut butter, nutella, crackers, tuna, turkey ham, cous cous, rice, salads, yoghurt, fruits, fruits, fruits and nuts. I have recently discovered cooked chicken breasts. They sell them in packets at the supermarket, it’s pretty much tasteless but you dump it into your salads or rice just to get the meat factor during the weekdays.

The lunch they serve us at the hotel, mostly wraps and sandwiches with cold ham or tuna mayo or salmon that tastes just like tuna mayo, or rice with BEANS and some kind of vegetable stew, is getting kinda yucky. Most of the time we take it to our room and pick out what we want to eat, or we don’t eat them at all. It’s been 5 weeks, we are SO OVER THE BEANS. I think there has been a slight misunderstanding on the hotel’s side on what kind of protein they should feed us. Try some real meat sometimes, man. Not ALL yogis are vegetarian.

I can’t believe I finished a bottle of peanut butter in four weeks. I don’t even really eat that back home.

Starbucks at the hotel is not very impressive. They messed up my caramel machiatto by putting the caramel at the BOTTOM of the cup. A note to the band, please say hi to the Starbucks crew at Suntec for me.

There will be a talent show at the end of the training. There are a handful of very gifted musicians among the 320 odd teacher trainees. It’s going to be FUN.

So there. Emotionally I’ve had challenging days where I start missing the band and I would literally CRY, right there on the mat. My thought also go out to everyone who contributed to the Yogini Bear Fund. I am so grateful to be here at this training, and I would not have been able to do it without the help of you guys. Not forgetting the best brothers in the world, who have helped me a great deal getting me here. FYI, my dearest, sweetest mom paid for my air-ticket to LA. I was very lucky to have contacted one of the fellow yogis who was driving past so he picked us up from LAX and drove us TWO HOURS to Palm Desert. His name is Shawn Taylor and he’s my buddy now, his room is right above mine and he helps me shave the sides of my head.

So this is where I am, guys. Palm Desert, California. No longer in LA. It was nice a brief, I will only get to see it again when I fly back to Singapore.

4 more weeks to go.

I look forward to starting my journey as a yoga teacher. I would be honoured if anyone so wishes to come take my classes when I am back. In the meantime, I am also looking forward to getting back together with The UnXpected. I hope the shows have been fantastic, and I hope everyone will be a little patient with me when I get back. It might take a little while for me to adjust.

Be well, everyone.

Hi guys,

One more Wala, one more Timbre.

A quick update. I am leaving 25th April too early in the morning on SQ12. That means no sleep after Timbre, with just a few hours before arriving at the airport at like.. 8am? tsk.

Anyway I guess I could be a little more specific about my whereabouts. I am flying into LA, and driving to Palm Desert to stay at Desert Springs JW Marriot Resort and Spa. A tad posh, you guys might add. Well Bikram decides where to hole us all up in the same place, so nobody has any excuse for being late for class. Even the US citizens have to stay there, EVEN if they stay across the street. The word ‘mandatory’ was used a lot in the application process.

Our Daily Schedule (there’s 300+ people signed up for the course..)
8:30am - 10:00am Monday - Friday: Bikram’s Basic Yoga Class
10:00am - 12:15pm Monday - Friday: Lunch Break
12:15pm - 4:00pm Monday - Friday: Posture Clinic/Lectures
5:00pm - 6:30pm Monday - Friday: Bikram’s Basic Yoga Class
6:30pm - 9:00pm Monday - Friday: Dinner break
9:00pm - ??? Monday - Friday: Posture Clinic/Lecture
8:00am - 9:30am Saturday Bikram’s Basic Yoga Class
Sunday Day of Rest

A typical day at the Teacher Training starts at 8am and lasts until at least midnight including two daily Bikram Yoga classes.
Mandatory attendance is required at all classes, Posture Clinic and Lectures.

Thank you everybody for all your well wishes. And thank you for those who showed up on Monday for the little fund-raiser. I am happy to announce that we did hit the targeted $5,000. This means I will not go hungry for 9 weeks.

As for the USD10,500 tuition plus accommodation. That’s going to take a looooooong time to pay back…

I am going to miss you guys. But I sure am going to have a hell of an experience. I will not have extra time to sight see etc. I go, train, I come back. Maybe I get to visit Joshua Tree National Park cos it’s not far from where we will be staying. I may not have internet all the time, so please be patient for any other updates.

Thank you everybody, see ya soon.

Ok boys and girls,

Here is the list of singers who will be helping us out while I am away. I am really grateful that some of them are actually sitting in on their day off!

Surath (Reverie)
Lily Anna (Soulitude)
Chris and Zsa (Zsa is standing in while Simon is away on reservist)
Vanessa Fernandez

Surath is the lead singer of Reverie and has sat in for me on numerous occasions. He’s one of the nicest guys we know! Catch him with the band on Tuesdays from 28th April to 30th June.

Lily Anna (or Nuris) is a power-packed singer who is also a vocal coach, she will be sharing the Wednesday nights with Chris and Diana( the lovely husband-wife singing team) from 29th April to 24th June.
Some of you caught Chris and Diana on Thursday during the last set. We are so fortunate they actually just dropped in for a drink to hang out with Joey (our funny happy hour dude). I had contacted them earlier but they weren’t sure about their schedules then. You guys will be seeing Chris on Thursdays and some nights Diana will be joining him!

Vanessa Fernandez is the woman with an amazing voice. You can hear her on the morning show on 987FM. When Rozz told me about Vanessa’s interest in sitting in, I didn’t even have to think. I knew the band would love her, and I know you guys would too Catch Vanessa with The UnXpected on Fridays and Saturdays from 25th April to the last week June. There are two nights that she is unable to make due to her work commitments. So on those nights you will be seeing The UnXpected in full force, without a frontliner and just playing their hearts out!

There you have it, I’ve tried my best to line up the best singers we could find. We are indeed blessed that these wonderful talents have stepped in to help out.

Thank you

Dear boys and girls,

It has been quite a journey for myself and the band. We’ve been in Wala Wala for a while and it’s our SEVENTH year. I have to say that this is the most kick-ass gig I’ve ever had, where the band gets full control over the kind of music we play. Many years in the entertainment business, I have played in other joints that simply just want us to play what the crowd wants, especially if it’s on top of the charts. We maintain our stand; if we don’t feel the song, we probably won’t play it. And yes, we also like to try to make our repertoire a little different from the other bands that play the same places we do, to give the crowd a choice. You can choose to go to a radio-friendlier gig, or you can choose to come to ours, open your minds up about music and let us feed you stuff you don’t get on radio anymore. If you come regularly enough, you’ll know that we DO slip in quite radio friendly stuff, just to keep the balance.

Where else can we play Killing in The Name of, Master of Puppets, and totally get away with it?

Thank you for being an awesome crowd, for bringing your energy to our gigs.

I made a simple announcement at Wala tonight, which got totally lost in the crowd as certain members of the audience were very rowdy and were kinda rude. Guys, I’m not a singing machine, I’d like to have a chat with you sometimes during the gig, just to get a good feel that you are WITH us during the gig.. but anyway..

So here it is. I will be taking a journey for 9 weeks (26th April to 28th June 2009) in Los Angeles, USA, to get certified as a Bikram Yoga Teacher. I often get asked this question, ‘What do you do during the day?’ I guess you guys are curious about whether I have a day job. I have been a full time musician almost all of my music journey, with the exception of a part-time waitressing job in between my last gig somewhere else and the beginning of The UnXpected.

My answer these days, when posed the question, is ‘I practise yoga.’

I have been practising Bikram Yoga for a year now, I have to say it has been the most amazing thing that I have committed myself to. Never has anything made me want to learn so much more, my main passion as far as I can remember has always been just MUSIC. I now have yoga, and it has helped me in so many ways I cannot begin to tell you. Beyond the physical benefits, I have learned to find a balance in my life. I started doing my research about teacher training since mid last year, committed myself to almost daily yoga practice and am still learning, everyday.

The Bikram Yoga teacher training will take place in LA for 9 weeks. Certification is required for anyone who wishes to teach Bikram Hot Yoga. It is an intensive course where we practice yoga twice a day (sweat bucket-loads) and the rest of the day is filled with lectures, tests and posture clinics. The only day of rest we get is Sunday. I am not, I repeat, not going on a holiday! I am going to do something that I know will help me spread the benefits of something that has moved me to take the leap into sharing this beautiful, lifetime practice with others. I want to come back a good yoga teacher, and I want to come back to do more music as well. I want to have that balance in my life.

Please be assured that I WILL be coming back to my gigs. During this 9 weeks, the band will be carrying on with the many replacement singers that we have lined up. Of course it will not be the same, but we seek your open-mindedness in checking out how The UnXpected can be a strong band backing up any singer we put on that stage. It is going to be a challenging time for them, and they will not be able to do it without your support.

The past 3 months have been quite a scary ride for me, juggling the gigs with the preparation for training. Some nights I get about 4 hours sleep before I wake up for yoga. I am trying my best at the gigs so that we will not disappoint you, we know you pay good money for your night out, we know you want to have a good time, as do we. There are some nights when I simply am losing it, but when I see you guys pumping your fists in the air during the crazy rock numbers, dancing along to the fast tracks and singing along with any song, I know it’s all worth it.

You may check out a little about Bikram Yoga at http://www.bikramyoga.com/

This is a full on thing I have committed myself to. You may compare it to like, well, me furthering my studies. The fees (some uni students will agree with me here) are killing me, in fact, I honestly have a bit of a financial difficulty regarding the fees, the daily expenses and my flight there. Some of you may ask, why do it when you don’t have the money? Because I believe now is my time, and I believe that if you might understand why this yoga is so important to me, you would be behind me in any way you can. Most importantly, I would appreciate your well wishes

If you feel that you might be able to help me along, in any way you can think of, or have any creative suggestions, please email me at info.shirlyntan(at)gmail.com

There has been a suggestion about holding a one time ticketed gig to help me along, but we’ve been so busy I am struggling to find time to sort out a date before I leave.

I will be booking a flight for 25th April, which makes our last gig before I leave 24th April at Timbre (Substation).

Thank you for reading, it’s kind long, I know. I could go on longer about Bikram Yoga, but I shall stop for now. More updates will come along.

I am grateful for The UnXpected for saying yes to my decision to take this 9 weeks off to go to Teacher Training. On behalf of the band, I’d like to thank each and everyone of you who come to our gigs, sharing your wicked energy with us, night after night.

See you at our next gig

Shirlyn Tan
The UnXpected

That title makes no sense.

Anyhoo, there’s been a lights off/power trip incident since last thursday at Wala. It happens on the first set, after around 3 songs, in the middle of a song. Times like these the only person the crowd can really hear, is, none other than Brandon Khoo.

His ability to pull off extended drum solos keep the crowd from getting bored/walking out. The amount of sweat he, er.. sweat was enough to keep a few guppies alive in a small bowl.

I don’t know the full extent of why the power trips happen, but for those who think it’s part of the show, we are not so free to think up something like that la.

I likened the power trip incident to an old man needing some Viagra halfway through sex.