KFit – Lara's Place (Section 17, Petaling Jaya)

Right after the first Zumba session at 360 Active, I joined another Zumba at this place. Yes, you must have thought whether I’m crazy to do two Zumbas in 1 day. I’ve done it before last time, 2 hours of Zumba and even once 3 hours of non-stop dance class back-to-back, so this should be easy-peasy for me. And besides, the first Zumba session, it’s not tiring and for the first time in my two years of Zumba, my towel was half dry… I don’t believe it myself.

Lara's Place is located at Section 17, surrounded by housing estates, away from the main roads. It’s situated above Organic Leaf Restaurant and the parking there is very difficult. I have to park in back near the housing area as there’s no parking at all.

The first impression of this place is, there are a lot of kids, I mean this is a learning centre for kids and adults, but I’m surrounded by kids age 3-12 years old. I saw shoes lying in the corner of the walkway and some on the shoe shelves, so I thought I had to remove my shoes as well. I already thought how to Zumba without my shoes, but well, I just brush it off and enter the centre.

The reception office is very small, and I need to register first. There is no changing room, just one toilet, and there’s no hook to hang your bag, so you have to put down the toilet seat to place your bag there. I’m starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with this place. Then I went outside and I saw an Indian-looking guy wearing a Zumba T-shirt and pants and I thought this must be the instructor I saw on the Zumba website. And he’s wearing shoes, so I quickly went to ask the admin staff if shoes are allowed to wear in the studio and she said of course. I quickly went out to grab my shoes and wore them in the studio.

The studio is very small, with a large mirror in front, a small window on the sides and a flimsy curtain hiding the props in the back corner. It’s well-lit and air-conditioned. I think the studio can only fit about 5-6 people. I thought I was gonna be the only one who’s gonna dance, but thank goodness, another woman came (she’s one of the mother whose daughter/son is having an art class in the centre) and joined the class.

The instructor asked if we have experience in Zumba, but she immediately voiced out that she’s a beginner, who do not have any experience in Zumba. The instructor looked at me, and I humbly told him that I’m a beginner, too. And the class began. The instructor, his name is Vernon (I Google-ed and looked him up on the Zumba website) told us that during warm-up and cool-down, he’ll be facing the mirror, however, during the dance he will be facing us. This is something I dislike. I will get very confusing. Another turn-off for me. And again, it’s not tiring and my towel was half dry… *Sigh* I should have reused the same towel instead of using a new one…

The Lara's Place only allows KFitters to go up to 3 visits per month. However, this one without a doubt, I will not consider signing up for the class.