#FitnessWednesday - What's Your Body Type?

It's been a while since I've last done a fitness related post and I thought perhaps it's time I do some catching up.
And so, I've been doing some fitness research randomly when I came across a video on youtube, talking about weight loss for different body types. 

First up, let's talk about the Ectopmorphs, which I guess should be the dream body type for all ladies... Well, at least it is my dream body type. Why? Because Ectopmorphs are our typical skinny girls who faces problem putting on weight. They eat and eat and eat and yet, no weight gain! How can this not be the ultimate dream of all ladies?

Typical traits of an Ectomorph:

• Small frame and bone structure
• Flat chest
• Small shoulders
• Typically thin
• Fast metabolism
• Finds it hard to gain weight (both fats & muscles)

An Ectomorph typically has a small build with small joints and lean muscle mass. They usually have long skinny limbs with stringy muscles. Due to their fast metabolism, Ectomorphs find it extremely hard to gain weight and needs a huge amount of calorie intake to do so. 

Your typical Ectomorph celebrity - Cameron Diaz

Next up, we have the Mesomorphs, which you can roughly say as having the best of both worlds?

A Mesomorph typically as a medium to large bone structure, with large muscle mass and a naturally athletic physique.

Typical traits of a Mesomorph:

• Medium to large bone structure
• Athletic physique
• Well defined muscles
• Generally strong
• Tend to have retangular shaped body with flat stomach
• Gain muscle mass easily
• Gain fats more easily than Ectomorphs

Mesomorphs generally find it quite easy to gain and lose weight, and gain fats a lot more easily as compared to Ectomorphs. Due to this easy-gain nature, a Mesomorph will need to watch her calorie intake and cultivating good eating habits is an important factor for a lean and healthy looking physique. Mesomorphs are naturally strong, which is the perfect platform for building muscle mass. They respond the best to weight training and gains are usually seen very quickly, especially in beginners. 

Your typical Mesomorph celebrity - Halle Berry

Finally, we have the Endomorphs, whose body type is typically solid, round and soft. Endomorphs tend to have big stocky build, has slow metabolism and gainst both fats and muscles very easily. Not the best news for ladies aiming to be lean and slim, huh?

Typical traits of an Endomorph:

• Soft and round body
• Generally short
• Big, stocky build
• Slow metabolism
• Gains muscles and fats very easily, more on fats
• Finds it hard to lose fats
• Muscle mass usually not well defined

Endomorphs are usually of a shorter, stubby build with thick arms and legs. They also do tend to be stronger in their legs (thick thighs, no oh!) and generally find themselves stronger in leg exercises like squats. As they tend to gain both fats and muscles very easily, they tend to bulk up when it comes to training. A good combination of diet, weights and cardio training is required for the Endomorphs to remain lean and healthy. 

Your typical Endomorph celebrity - Kim Kardashian

One important point to note is that these body types aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, most people are a combination of the body types with the more prevailing combinations as Ecto/Meso or Meso/Endo.
Intrigued by these information, I did a quick test and found out that I'm primarily Mesomorph (erm, yay?). If you wish to find out what's your body type, check out the quick test HERE.
But do take note that if you're a typical sized Asian, you probably will always have some Ectomorph traits due to the wrist test, but sadly that doesn't guarantee you a fast(er) metabolism.

Till then,
Mia Foo

Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Analog Hostel

Yeah, I know. I'm always going to Bangkok. But with cheap fashion apparels, cheap (and good) food and tons of interesting cafes, why would you not return to this sweltering hot land of smiles?

As we're traveling in a pretty large group of 5, and yet not that willing to accommodate to the non-standard check in/check out time from certain airbnb apartments, we decided to go 'budget' for our accommodation just so we can all squeeze into 1 room. 

After some searching online, we chanced upon Analog Hostel, which looked as good as any other boutique hotel and also has a 6-bedder private room with ensuite bathroom available. 

Looks good, right? 

Analog Hostel is located in Sukhumvit area and just 5 to 10 minutes walk from Phrom Phong BTS or Asok MRT, right behind Sukhumvit 31. Locating it for the first time might be a little tricky as it's seated in the small alley with no obvious signboard, and even Google Map wasn't able to give us a very accurate direction (It kept prompting that we've arrived when we're at Sukhumvit 31).
To get to Analog Hostel, walk past Sukhumvit 31 and further down until you see the flashing signboard of a pizza restaurant and turn in at the signboard of Oranges Massage. Analog Hostel is right beside the massage parlour.

There's tons of cafes and restaurants in the vicinity, along with convenience stores ( 7-11 and Family Mart) and even a supermarket that littered the streets around the hostel, so you need to worry about food at all. For a little more luxurious shopping experience, there's also Terminal 21 (with Wacoal, Jelly Bunny etc) at Asok MRT and EmQuartier (with Uniqlo, Zara etc) at Phrom Phong BTS and a Naraya shop right across the street from EmQuartier.
As if all these are not enough, the ever so popular restaurant on IG, Karmakamet Diner and the hippie night market, Artbox (now closed), are all within walking distance in between Phrom Phong BTS and the hostel.
There's also a cheap and decent massage parlour, Manja (green signboard) right outside.

Best of all is, there's two resident French Bulldogs housed at the lobby to greet you when you arrive! If you're terrified of dogs, there's no need to worry as these two cuties are housed inside the reception counter and not free-roaming around the hostel.

And now showing you what to expect at the lobby...

And then at the level 2 common area...

There's also a TV set at level 2 for you to watch some TV programs. I'm not sure about the channels available though.

Our room was just awesome with 3 sets of bunk bed and 6 individual lockers. The bed is extremely comfortable and every bed has a night light and electrical point for you to charge your electronic devices. The room opens to a veranda with a wash basin and links to a pretty big bathroom with standing shower. Towels, basic toiletries (shower gel and shampoo) and a hair dryer is also provided.

I would say everything about this hostel was great, except for the fact that they do not have a lift, and our room was on the 5th floor! Given the fact that most of us ladies travel to Bangkok to either buy back the whole Platinum Mall or Chatuchak Market, this was really a bit problematic for us, especially for our return (lugging all our belongings down 5 stories). But then again, we survived and given the chance to travel to Bangkok in 5s again, I would probably choose Analog Hostel once again.

For booking of Analog Hostel, visit booking.com, hotels.com, agoda.com or expedia.com for better deals!
My first post on my Bangkok 2016 Travelogue regarding widespread flooding across Bangkok is up HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Widespread Flooding in Bangkok

Hello people! It's been a while since my last post as I've not only been busy with work, but also with my foodpanda curator's network collaboration for the past month and then a short weekend trip with the girls, to Bangkok! Apparently, the months of June to July marks the rainy season in Bangkok and true enough, our 4D3N stay in Bangkok was an extremely rainy one, ranging from comfortable light drizzles that cooled down the extreme heat to extremely heavy downpour that flooded the streets in mere minutes.
Set to return to Singapore in the evening of the 20th, we were lucky enough to only experience the very beginning of the heavy downpour that caused the widespread flooding across Bangkok early Tuesday.
Staying at Analog Hostel located in Sukhumvit area, we first flagged a cab at EMQuartier Mall to return to our Hostel, which is actually a 10 to 15 minutes walk away, when we saw the heavy rain. After getting into the cab, the driver quickly turned into one of the Soi and his worry gradually intensified into pure panic when he realised that the water level on the road was getting higher and higher, swishing around dangerously close to the exhaust pipe of the car we're trailing behind.

-credits to nationmultimedia.com-

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" was all we understood from the cab driver, who barely spoke English and his worry was easily understood from his constant attempt to reach out to fellow cab drivers who drove past us from the opposite direction, asking on the road conditions up ahead, to which some of them simply shook their head vigorously at him.
Eventually, he took the risk of driving past a seemingly "too deep for his car" submerged spot after seeing all the cars going through unscathed, and dropped us back at EMQuartier, repeating, "FREE! FREE!"

Now, it's our turn to panic as our agreed meeting time of 2pm with our airport pick up service, Mr. Udon, is near and he has been calling us to remind us of even slower traffic due to the heavy rain and flooding road conditions. Left without a choice, the 5 of us braved the rain (and shoes ruining water on the streets), armed with only 4 umbrellas and hands full of last minute purchases from Naraya, and finally made it back to Analog Hostel. A huge sense of relief washed upon me when I saw Mr. Udon's silver van parked right at Analog's gates. He has arrived at 1:30pm, half an hour earlier than our agreed pick up time and waited for us to show up.
Upon seeing us, he quickly helped us load all our luggage into the van and whisked us off to the airport, making some lighthearted joke at the then-current road flooding conditions, saying in another hour's time we will need to be travelling in a boat.

On hindsight, we would have been in serious trouble if Mr. Udon had decided to save his van from the rising water levels that started off from the sois (like the cab driver) and ditch us, especially when we couldn't adhere to the agreed meeting time of 2pm. Not only did he waited for us, he also helped with all the loading and unloading of our luggage in the pouring rain and charges reasonably at a rate lower than what came up in my google search for airport transfer.
I guess we do share some sort of affinity as we actually met Mr. Udon during our last night at Bangkok while he's taking the cab shift for his relative and we somehow decided to seriously consider his offer of an airport transfer on a private van (we're usually more wary of overly friendly cab drivers asking for our holiday schedule) and eventually hired his service. Owning 20 vehicles, Mr. Udon not only provide airport transfers but also private tours around Bangkok.
He doesn't seem to have a website, but he does have whatsapp so if you're keen on engaging him, do drop him a message.
There's no need to quote my name or whatsoever as this post is done solely out of my appreciation for his good service.

And also, do stay around for my Bangkok's cafes reviews that's coming up real soon!
Meanwhile, my review of Analog Hostel is already up HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo