Wow Wii Fit

I finally opened up my Wii Fit last night. I had pre-ordered it and picked it up on May 21.  Since then, it's been sitting unopened in a corner of my living room.  With my busy schedule and ankle surgery, I hadn't given it much thought.  But last night, I felt I was up to a little physical fitness after being relatively inactive for about two months due to the delay of my ankle recovery.

I guess I didn't expect much.  I had only read and heard that the Wii Fit was fun and worth looking into.  I knew that it was created by famed video game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto.  The Wii Fit offers many different interactive exercises utilizing an innovative balance board.  It's supposed to be a fun way to get fit.

So with this information in mind, I opened and set up my Wii Fit. Setup was a snap.  Just had to install the batteries that were supplied and push the reset button inside the battery compartment and in the Wii console.  Once I turned it on, the screens were very interactive and walked me through each step.  It allowed me to choose my Mii alter ego and answer some pretty simple questions including birthday and height.  The computer asked me to step on the Wii balance board and calculated my weight.  By following some simple instructions while standing on the balance board, the computer determined my center of balance and BMI (body mass index).  It told me how my weight and BMI fared against my age, weight and height.  It then calculated a Wii age (that was almost 2 years younger than my actual age).  It also recommended that I try to reduce my current BMI and asked me how much weight I would commit to lose in 2 weeks.  I entered 5 pounds but it told me 3 pounds was more realistic.  So, I did as it instructed.  So far so good.  It did feel like I had my own fitness instructor in my living room.

The system tells you that each minute of exercise you do will be tracked and you will earn fit credits that unlock more exercises and activities.  I found this to be quite a motivator.  It gives you the feeling that there are hidden presents to open as you spend more time exercising.  When you start out, each category only has like 3 or 4 activities.

Next, I started to play around with the activities within the 4 main categories including yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games.  I started with the yoga category.  Before you begin, you choose a male or female yoga instructor.  I chose the fit looking male.  I've never done any yoga before.  The first Deep Breathing activity was ok.  But the Half Moon, Tree & Warrior poses were a little more challenging for a first timer.  After each activity, you receive a score and a rating.  You can quit and move onto something new or can always retry the last activity.  All of the minutes you spend get banked and go towards your fit credits.  The yoga exercises were definitely challenging and I can tell will require more practice.  But I noticed the stretching did feel good for my back so I will definitely revisit these exercises.

The strength training category was a bit challenging since it requires coordination and does use parts of your body that I'm not accustomed to.  I tried the Single Leg Extension and attempted the Push-Ups.  I will need to go back and work on these for sure.  The aerobics category was certainly my favorite.  There are some very cute activities that get your heart pumping.  I started out with the hip twisting fun of Hula Hoop.  Then I must have played the Basic Step at least 4 times.  At 3 minutes each, that helped me bank more exercise time.  It's like a step aerobic game that you do alongside other Miis to the beat of music in front of a cheering crowd.  Very infectious fun.  Finally the Basic Run was great.  You literally run in place as you watch yourself run through a park on trails and other terrain.  The balance games like Soccer Heading and Ski Slalom require you to lean your body from left to right while keeping an eye on the ball or the slope.  These were also challenging for the first time.  I finished my session with a total of 33 minutes of exercise.  Not too bad for my trial run.

Overall, the Wii Fit seems to be a fun way to keep tabs on your personal fitness while getting in some physical activity.  I guess how much success you attain depends on how frequently and how long you spend doing the exercises.  The system certainly helps track your daily progress and prods you with the appropriate questions and encouragement.  I think the Wii Fit is a great idea and will probably pave the way for more products like it.  How much it can actually help someone get into shape is up to the individual.  But that's true of any exercise equipment or program.  The Wii Fit isn't supposed to perform miracles.  But at the very least, if you are planning to spend time playing videogames, you might as well invest some of that time with the Wii Fit.  It can help put you in the right state of mind to track your physical fitness and keep you active.

Hotel Room Horrors

I remember how I used to get so excited about going on vacation and staying in a hotel room. I always regarded staying at a hotel as a treat. It would always conjure up a retreat to a luxurious and special place that accompanied a visit to a memorable and often new location. I can't remember if I was much less observant back then or just better able to block out bad experiences.

Well these days as I become more aware of germs and grime, seems as though the thought of staying at a hotel is no longer a treat for me. I've stayed at a lot of hotels now throughout the years. From modest accommodations to swankier resorts. What seems to be clear is that there are many of the same things lurking in most of the hotel rooms out there. There have been plenty of undercover investigative news segments done to prove that hotels and their housekeeping staff are cutting corners that could put visitors' health at risk.

ABC Primetime went to 20 well known hotels throughout the U.S. armed with a black light and searched for evidence. What they found was that regardless of cost, lab results showed traces of urine or semen in every room they tested. I guess it's not too hard to believe this. One certainly cannot see what is on the walls, carpet, bedspread or furniture and let's face it a lot of people are not the most hygienic especially when they figure they are not in their own home anyway. Most hotels only do deep cleaning at most 4 times a year. So it is very likely that you will encounter some form of this in your hotel room. Of course, unless you carry a black light with you, you will never quite know where these unwanted stains lie. I certainly avoid touching, leaning up against, and sitting on anything if not necessary. And personally, I plan to wash every article of clothing I wear on a trip anywhere.

This leads to the most germ laden thing in the room... the bedspread. Unlike the linens, the bedspread is too costly for most hotels to wash after each guest. Not surprisingly, this is also where a lot of semen can be found. So, first thing one should do is to remove the bedspread. But there are still other creepy crawlers to be aware of on and in the bed. Look for rust colored stains on sheets and bedspreads. If you see these, you can expect that bedbugs are present. They are small insects with no wings. They are flattened and reddish brown and feed on the blood of warm blooded animals (meaning you and me). Since they are flat they hide in cracks, crevices, and in furniture. So definitely pull back the bedspread and examine the sheets. Check for bedbugs in the bed frame, mattress and box spring. Also do not leave your clothes or luggage near the bed as you can bring home some unwanted guests. Never ever just jump under the sheets. Always check and examine the condition to make sure you don't see any unwanted stains or elements left by someone else that you would not want to brush up against.

Moving right along. Next area to check is the carpet. Never walk around barefoot in a hotel room. I always bring along a pair of slippers or flip flops. What I do is walk around the room in these and before I leave the hotel, I slip them into a ziplock plastic bag and take them home to be cleaned. Take a look around the room and look in the corners. Of course check for the obvious, like bugs, pests and other creepy crawlers. I've been to a hotel near Disneyland that had flying roaches roaming the kitchenette. Needless to say we bolted out of that joint at 3 a.m. Excessive dust in certain areas may also give you a clue as to how good a job housekeeping is doing. Always travel with sanitizing wipes. Make sure you wipe down objects in the room that people touch a lot (including the phone handset and touchpad, headboard, light switches, door handles, chair armrests, tables, hangers, tv remote control, etc.). You can also bring extra ziplock bags and throw the remote control right into one. This will save you the time to wipe it down. Try to avoid using the drawers as bedbugs can live in them. I usually keep all my clean clothes in my suitcase and zip it up when not in use. I keep a plastic bag to carry all my worn and dirty laundry and keep it separated from my clean clothes. Try to keep your suitcase above ground on the luggage rack. As soon as I get home, I wipe down the exterior of all my luggage before I put them away.

Last but not least is the bathroom. Inspect the bathtub and/or shower and make sure you don't see mold or mildew. Look up in the corners and walls and make sure you don't see mold growing. Check the shower curtains by looking at the bottom for black dots. Lift the toilet seat and check to see that it has been cleaned. You should also check the wall behind the toilet and the immediate floor around the toilet. Check for uncleaned urine stains. Of course look for hairs and old soap that have not been cleaned up properly. Now around the sink area, I would wipe down the hot/cold water handles and the sink/table if they don't look clean. Avoid using the drinking glasses and coffee cups at all cost. Don't be fooled by the white paper caps that may be covering them. As many of the undercover investigations have proven, these are the biggest issues in many hotels as they often have not been properly washed. Evidence has shown that housekeeping staff have been caught on tape spraying these cups that we drink out of with window cleaner, rinsing and drying off with dirty used towels, or handling the cups with the same gloves that they are wearing to clean the toilets. Best thing to do is bring your own paper cups. But if you forget, plan to wash the glasses you are going to use to brush your teeth or drink out of with soap and hot water. Cups that aren't properly sanitized can spread disease even salmonella and E. coli. The proper way for them to clean is to send down to the dishwasher but chances are this is not being done in many hotels.

Well that covers the major items to look out for. Probably the most important thing to remember above and beyond what has been mentioned, is to wash your hands as much as you can. You should also know that experts say that the risk of getting sick from hotel germs is relatively low so if you follow some of my tips, you should be ok. Spending some time to choose your hotel wisely can also help. But let's face it, there are no guarantees that each and every hotel room will be as clean and well kept as it should be. Be ready to take some additional actions if necessary. Always be armed with hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, and prepare to befriend housekeeping. But trust your instincts, if the place just doesn't smell and feel right, be ready to move to another hotel. Hopefully, my next hotel stay will be a treat again.

Mah Jongg is Fun!

Mah jongg is certainly something that is a big part of my family background. I remember my grandfather used to watch me when I was really young. From what I was told, there was often a mah jongg table set up in our apartment and he would show me how to play. I was probably around 3 years old. But this probably wasn't odd in Chinese families. I remember my parents used to bring us to all day weekend mah jongg games where we would fall asleep on their friends' sofas and be carried home in the wee morning hours. This apparently was not terribly abnormal either. I still hear about how my grandmother used to play all night long and my mom would barely even see her growing up. My parents still have a very active mah jongg social calendar these days. Not a week goes by when they don't play at least 2 or 3 days. Those who play usually have played for decades of their lives.

Mah jongg has been described as seductive and thrilling. It brings people together connecting them to a rich social and cultural history. From my past, I certainly agree that this game has been weaved into my own life. I've been a part of this social community from childhood through adulthood. I have witnessed and heard the intimate conversations that four people have during the limitless hours and days that they spend together. I remember starting out sitting on a parent's lap trying to learn the right strategies and graduating to being allowed to play a hand whenever someone had to take a bathroom break. It has always been such a treat for me to get to play.

The beauty of this game is that it transcends time and cultures. The origins of the game date back many years (there are different legends that date similar forms of the game back as far as to 2350 b.c or 500 b.c). Today Japanese, Filipino and Jewish (just to name a few cultures) play the game. There is skill and luck involved. The style of play, rules and etiquette differ from one culture to another. Countless millions of people play this game throughout the world. The game is sophisticated, fashionable and very addictive. Games are played in homes, mah jongg parlors, at tournaments and even aboard cruise ships. The tiles are equally rich with history. Mah jongg sets have been crafted from bone, bamboo, bakelite, wood, ivory and nowadays even plastic.

So how does this all pertain to me now? Well about a year ago, I'm guessing, I mentioned mah jongg to three of my coworkers. They all expressed an interest in learning this game. I didn't think much of it since none of them knew how to play and had never seen it before. Plus they were non-Asian so I probably doubly didn't think they were serious. So we planned a Mah Jongg Party on a Friday night after work. I prepared a cheat sheet of all the Chinese characters for them a week prior to our meeting. Most of them had done a pretty good job of memorizing some or all of the characters. We had cocktails, appetizers and dinner before. Once food was out of the way, we began. It took about one hour for me to explain to them the rules of the game and go through the motions of running through trial runs of the game. But by the second hour, the three of them were on their way. I was very proud of them. They needed some guidance on which direction play goes and required reinforcement of some of the rules, but for the most part they were 3 highly performing players. Play speed was dialed down quite a bit but I wouldn't have expected any different considering this was the first time they had played the game. That night we all had a lot of fun, chatting, laughing and learning the game. At the close of the evening, we talked about doing it again. I didn't expect we would play again.

Well, since then, we have had 3 more games. 3 more nights of cocktails, food and laughs. Each time required less time to refresh their memories from the time before. More importantly, each time there was less effort concentrating on the game and more time spent chatting about work and life. Mah jongg succeeded again to dazzle and bring people of all kinds together. Hopefully the game will add fond memories to my friends' lives and they will now be able to pass on their experiences of the game to their family and friends.

Girls Gone Golfing

Several months ago I was getting an afternoon coffee with a coworker. We made a detour on our way back since she needed something from her car. When she threw open her trunk, the shiny golf clubs immediately caught my eye. I believe I immediately blurted out "do you play?" I think she sensed that something was going to happen too. We probably looked and sounded like two giddy teenagers talking in rapid fire all the way back to the office. In those 10 minutes, we essentially created a group and made plans for future golf outings. I think we were so excited we were talking very long term not just planning for the first game. We both seemed to want this to be more.

It didn't take long for us to discover that both of us had been playing off and on for years. Always wanting to play more but never having time or really a dedicated group to go with. We shared the same stories of how we go with our husbands and maybe their friends but always longed to have a consistent group of girls to go golfing. We had the same thoughts of meeting regularly on early weekend mornings, starting out taking in leisurely 9 hole games, improving our game, chit chatting about things that were on our mind and having a nice cup of coffee afterwards. It became clear that this was going to be exercise, therapy, friendship and anything else we could justify.

So now that we had started our little group, there was no stopping us. The excitement was in the air. But two didn't form a group. As we started to think of who else could join our group, as if on cue, our third member walked right by us. We remembered her telling us recently that she had been golfing. It didn't take long for the three of us to come together and plan our first outing.

Within two weeks, we were doing just as we had envisioned. We met at a local course on a Saturday morning at 8:30am. Our tee time was around 9:00am. We got in some time at the driving range and off we went. All of us were a little rusty but the weather was perfect and we soon realized that we were very compatible. We are at similar skill levels with different strengths and weaknesses. The three of us are very well suited to play together. We are all courteous and pretty even tempered people. It wasn't long before we started talking about our next outings.

That morning was the first time I had ever played with "girlfriends." I love playing with my husband and other guys or even other couples but there was something very exciting about being a part of a group that wants to play the game regularly. We are also very well matched in skill level and enthusiasm. The fact that the three of us have a love for this game and each have a desire to improve our game is not enough to make this group successful. Alone each of us would probably still play the game as we did before. For me, it was always once in a while when the stars aligned and someone asked me or if we could manage to set something up. Each time I would go, I would tell myself that after this time I would go more often.

What will make this successful is that we now have three people who have the same love for the game and will play the game regularly with each other. At the very least, we will always think to call upon each other first whenever golfing comes to mind. At this time, I don't think we care if we hit birdies or have to maneuver our way out of a bunker, we're just excited to play the game and have some fun in the process. Now that summer is here and my ankle is almost recovered, we will certainly be adding tee times to our weekend plans. What's next? Getting ready for 18 holes.