On Saturday, I ended up going to an MMA event: Night of Champions! lol. This was my first time going to such an event and I don't watch these kind of sports on TV, but Chris was going with the guys from his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym and he invited me to tag along. Not exactly my usual scene or crowd and I felt a bit out of place amongst all the testosterone, but I had a surprisingly good time.
The best part was when the contenders would strip off their shirts to reveal their ripped torsos. O.o If only I had my glasses with me so I could get a clearer look! dammit. I don't usually care for macho buffness, but I'll admit that I fully appreciated their bulky arms and rippling abs.
rolling around...
As for the fighting itself, it was actually a lot of fun. At first, it was really shocking and jarring to see people punching and kicking each other in real life. Even though we were up in the nosebleeds, we could still hear the sounds from the fighters getting punched or kneed in the gut. cringe! But I got de-sensitized fast enough and by the end, I was yelling for more action like everyone else. I blame mob-mentality. Oh, and yes there was blood. Bloody noses and scratched up faces. But amazingly, after the fight, the loser would get up and give the victor a handshake or even a big hug. What the! If someone repeatedly punched me in the face, I think I'd take it personally. I don't know how they do it, but I think it's kinda cool.
For snacks, I brought some cookies and gluten-free carrot bread which the guys ate up. I'm always grateful for any opportunity to pass off some of my test batches. Glad my friends don't mind getting my scraps. haha.
Here's the GF carrot bread in better lighting. This was my first gluten-free baking attempt! And it was edible! :P I've gotten several requests from people asking if I can include some gf stuff on the bake shop, so I've been wanting to learn more about this method of baking~ It's really a whole new and intimidating world and there's so much to learn and discover... I'll do a separate blog post on this soon, with more details on GF flours in Korea, etc.
Anywayyy, back to MMA. I have to say that by the end of the event, I was really motivated to get buff and kick some booty! Honestly, with the weather getting cold and not having found a good gym in my new neighborhood, I've somewhat neglected my running routine. So with the lack of physical activity, I've been feeling really antsy these days. For the past month, I've been looking for a decent gym but all of them are crusty-old. But then today, I came across this jiu-jitsu/kickboxing/fitness gym that just recently opened and it's only 5 minutes from my place! Ahh~! I really wanna sign up. It's a bit pricey but I think it will be so much fun! And they have treadmills, so I can still run when I want. jackpot.
Here's something random I ate this weekend. I bought some canned pumpkin puree in the hopes of making pumpkin pie, but for some reason, the puree was really watery and thin. Bummer. So instead, I ended up making a spicy savory soup using minced garlic, diced onions, smoked chipotle pepper, salt, black pepper, and some soy milk poured in at the very end.
And since Christmas is coming up soon, I'm going to make a boozy Christmas fruit cake! I bought whiskey the other day (couldn't find any rum at E Mart) for my dried fruits to get good and drunk. They've been marinating for over 24 hours now so they're fat and plumpy. heheheh... You can't see me, but I'm making an evil grin and drumming my steepled fingers together. >:)
Hope everyone had an action-packed weekend~