After a whole year..

Always a long hiatus, and then I get bored and think about writing again. Writing has always been a part of me, a huge part. I enjoyed writing a lot just sometimes, don’t have the time to do so. Not quite an excuse I guess but oh wells. Priorities in life does not make time for writing.

So let’s see how long I can keep this up again, I don’t think for long but one can always try.

So a whole year huh? I won’t say a huge lot has happened except a change in my career. I finally am able to work in the field I’m familiar with, or so I think. Choices and decisions made. Sometimes I always think, how do you know if what I’ve decided is the right decision? How do I know if that’s what I want?

Nonetheless, once a choice is made, one has to stick with it. And make the best out of it I guess. Well, here’s to an end of my tai tai life, per say and onward with the daily grind. I’ve had the luxury of having time off after finishing a job and now i’m ready again.

Here’s to a new beginning. :))

All hail the Air Conditioner!

How can the air conditioner break down in a weather like this? *sighs* One can only hope that it will be fixed asap. It was such a joy to see Shanghai’s weather to be 5 degrees, although I know I’ll be bitching my ass off about the cold weather but anything beats this hot sticky weather!

Anyways, griping aside. Played poker over the weekend. I won’t say I am a good player, in fact everything I have is usually due to plain dumb luck. Which of course I will never complain, I usually last in the game up to the top 3 places and thats when my luck/patience runs out and I just give up. Seriously just give up. Every single time, I get tired, I lose concentration, I run out of luck, I have bad cards, all the excuses to cover up my lack of patience. I wonder how some can play it professionally, sitting through 100s of games a day, doing the same thing, for so many hours straight. But I guess that is me, impatient. 😦 Needs to change that though. Sighs.

Watch what you eat!

If you’re a P driver that is. Was watching RBT yesterday on TV, you know the show where Australia glorifies their RBT system and justifies every single little fine they give out. The most absurd one I saw was a bloke who was on his ‘P’s who registered an amount of alcohol % of 0.017. That’s a tiny amount but yes, ‘P’ platers have zero tolerance on their licenses.

The police woman who tested him got all upset that the guy was lying about how much alcohol he has had. So he had to be taken aside for another test. So another police officer asked him what he had for dinner and he started listing it down. It turned out to be possible alcohol intake from a TIRAMISU cake his girlfriend’s mother made. And in a very serious chiding tone, the officer told the boy:” You’ve to watch what you eat.”

I just shook my head in disbelief. So today, I went and read up on the effects of alcohol in food. Apparently, alcohol in food usually stays in the mouth and it generally goes away after 20 mins. So in other words, for 0.017 alcohol percentage, the only thing the boy has done wrong is not have rested enough before heading home.

If Australian Police glorifies that, then maybe tell Jamie Oliver not to recommend so much alcohol in his very yummy dishes.

The long winding road

Ever thought about the road that one has to take in life? Whether it is going to be a straight forward path or a long winding road? Or how is it that others have a clear path, but yet you have a long winded road?

Today, this questions bombarded my mind. Same form of situation, but yet different roads presented resulting in a different result. I always find that I end up taking the long road. I seem to need to always take the long way around to achieve what I need to achieve, when others in the same boat do it in half the time. In my studies, in my career, in everything really. Sometimes I wonder if it is the decisions I make that are bad (and they always seem bad) or am I just constantly in a patch of bad luck? Can’t attribute it to anything else, so always blame self. That’s the best, and that’s all I can say.

I should’ve.

 

The feeling of carrying something everyone else isn’t

What’s important isn’t what didn’t happen, but what still happened. A dozen pink roses, sweltering under a 38 degree weather, well worth carrying it on the train.

It was a rather beautiful way to end my week before the weekened started.

As we get to *coughs* this age, weekends are no longer about partying it up, but rather winding it down. On weekends, I would love nothing more to just sit at home in the air-conditioning and watch my HK TV series. It of course also helps that I have a 300odd episode drama to watch. Sounds really like a waste of time I know, but I’m working 6 days a week. And the one day that I can relax, I really want to just do nothing at all. And to be honest, at the end of the day, I am actually quite contented, achieving nothing at all that day. Sounds rather silly I know, oh wells. This feeling, is very hard to explain. =)

But this weekend, I had a home style Korean BBQ dinner! Basically, it is just BBQ with meat marinated with Korean sauces. But because charcoal BBQs are not common in Australia, it is quite amusing watching the Aussie trying to set this up. Absolutely clueless I tell you. But nontheless, it got started and I tell you, marinated Korean meat is one heck of a dish!

And yesterday I went for dinner with a few of my oldest friends in Perth, technically we were friends from Brisbane, hence why they’re my oldest friends in Perth! We were from the same uni in Brisbane, studied Psychology there as well and now have moved on in different aspects of psychology. Now one of them would be going back to HK for good, just makes me feel if all these PR/TR nonsense is worth it. I think I have lost the initial meaning/motivation in staying over here. I’m not sure why I am doing what I am doing anymore or is this just a ‘must-do’ thing because I’ve been here for so long?

Blog Stalking

I blog stalk alot. But most of the blogs I stalk, they are people who well, wish that more will read their blogs. Mostly, these are celebrity bloggers, people who make an actual living out of blogging by a few methods, some model clothes, some do advertorials for products that they have been approached to test. Basically, I read these blogs on a daily basis (yes, I’m a no-lifer I know). There are 2 main blogs that I consistenly follow, one based in Perth and one based in Singapore. I find it interesting that even though both write differently, in a different environment, their blogs are equally as popular. Then it strikes me, it is what appeals to the readership in that particular place.

The blog that I stalk in Singapore is Xiaxue‘s blog. Known for her very direct way of speaking, and mostly not afraid of opinions, and firmly sticking to her own beliefs. Looking at her, most would not believe that that she is the author of that blog, but I am sure after so many years of blogging, everyone has confirmed that fact. In addition to her thoughts about daily life and what nots, she does advertorials as well for certain products that are selling in Singapore. Shamefully, because of reading her blog, I have now a horrendous long list of things that I want to buy back home! Well that’s cos she often reviews very affordable products that are of a good value but yet does wonders.

Or there are bloggers in Singapore who get sponsored by blogshops in Singapore, which literally means they don’t need to spend any money at all on their nails, hair, shoes, bags and clothes. All they have to do is to always wear these clothes out, blog about what they wear in while going about their daily life! I mean, how unfair is that?

There’s also Karen Cheng in Perth who is also a professional blogger and gets invited to all these fashion shows around Australia and the world. She too reviews heaps of online blogshops, and that is not just limited to Australia blog shops but also Singapore ones too.

What I really like is that they’re able to mix life and work together. You know how we always say we need to learn to draw the line between work and personal life, their jobs mix both together, formulating a fantastic result. Of course there are 2 sides to everything, can we really 100% believe what goes on online? Well, I think it doesn’t really matter, as long as their blogs continually to be interesting and continues to introduce to us products that will appeal to us. =)

This is Home Truly

Kit Chan’s version of the song was my favourite National song since well I heard it. Think they did a remix of it recently, allowing 39 artistes to play a part in this song now. Either ways, I think this is a beautiful song, where it really shows that this is home truly. 🙂

P.S. I love you.

I once went to watch this movie on Valentine’s day. Outdoor. I think that was one of the most romantic ones I’ve ever had. Although, it was me who planned, of course it was romantic. *credits myself*

Most boys reckon that valentine’s day is overrated, on a certain level I agree. One day every single year, the prices of flowers jack up double, restaurants start to offer packages for 2, everything is counted in 2s all of a sudden. Every year, for one day. So does that mean, for the rest of the 364 days, flowers are not important, everything can be singular? Hm… Of course this is an exaggeration on many levels, but the hype on Valentines Day was starting to get to me.

Yes you could say that I am a sore loser cos I didn’t get anything, but still! Girls carrying flowers on the streets in the city, on the train. It was, I think the word was overwhelming. Although I do think that the day itself was overrated, somewhere in me, a small little part did wish that I had something, doesn’t have to be big, just something small. Ah wells.

Well at least I am comforted by the fact that I made someone’s day over east. Just like me, alone on Valentine’s Day. What’s better than to receive a pot of flowers at the end of the day after work, dinner and what nots. =)

At the end of the day, yesterday was not just about showing who has the best flowers, but showing appreciation to the one you love.

And spending good quality girl time. =) Ooops + one lucky man.

The woe of a girl (I think woman now) in her late 20s.

*clears throat* Yes, girl in late 20s, ok fine I would like to think woman (hopefully), and yes that’s me. Sadly. Ok no not sadly, I need to embrace my age with grace. I finally understand why women at my age take a longer time to get ready in the morning, or at anytime at all, and why we spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year to maintain ourselves. The skin of a younger person is so much easier to maintain. In my teens, I only needed products that can be bought from general phamarcies, like Watsons or Guardian. When I turned 19, I went to Taiwan for holiday and came back with extremely dry skin, and so I started my Sheseido regime. It was still just using the ‘youthful’ regime back then.

Just about a few years after, I think about the time I hit 24, I realise that the Sheseido facewash was drying out my skin completely and the moisturer wasn’t working as well as before (meaning the hydration wasn’t enough for my skin). That was when I started using milk-based facewash cos I needed hydration from the start of the face maintenance process. At this stage, I was still in the basic 3 steps: cleanse-tone-moisturise. I use a basic moisturer for my body and just lip balm. Still relatively basic, still not that pricey yet. Oh I haven’t talked about my hair. Well it was much simpler in my younger days, I was using the same Redken shampoo for about 4 years, up to the last couple of years.

In the last 2 years, I have realised more and more imperfections in my skin and source for products that can help correct these problems. I’m not sure if this is a psychological problem or do I just have to admit that I am getting old and require more things slathered on me to help maintain my skin. But right now, I am using so many products to maintain myself that it is getting riddiculous. What’s worse is that I am looking for more, it seems to me that these 1001 products give me a sense of security, that if I don’t put these products on day and night, I am convinced that my skin is going to be horrible. Not to mention, the amount of money that goes into these purchases!

Sighs, the woes of getting older.

Of hitting reality

Couple days ago I attended a friend’s graduation. Undergraduate graduations, always full of young people, fresh and eager to get into the work force. Or looking forward to what life is going to bring them. Basically, people buzzing with energy. Kinda reminds me of when I first graduated 5 years ago. Seems like such a long time ago! Yes time flies by really quickly. Amidst all these energetic people, part of me wants to say, Hey! Welcome to the world of  being unemployed. Harsh I know, especially on graduation day. But yet so very true, studying was all I ever knew for the last 5 years and suddenly there was the requirement to go out to work, earn money, support oneself, pay bills, etc.

I remember I had a teacher in JC who once told us, the hard part is getting into university. Thinking back, we were all taken in to work really hard for our A levels to have an ‘easier’ life in university. Another lecturer in university told us, this would be the hardest part in our lives, once we get a job, everything would be smooth sailing from there. Sometimes I wonder who allowed for such thoughts to be imprinted into our head, to let us believe that the grass will be greener on the other side, whereby once we go past this ‘hard’ parts, everything will be awesome.

Looking back, despite being poor, despite struggling financially, despite having constant sleep deprivation, university days are still the best years of my life. I met people who do not judge you for the job you hold or how much money you’re making now. I met people who will be friends for life, who up till now still provide support, unconditionally. I always felt that I was much happier when I was still a student, I guess having less responsibilities was probably the main drive of this happiness. My only responsibility then was to study hard, rather try to study hard.

Now in the working world, life has become routine, life has also become about 看老板脸色. I no longer am as happy as before. I think what’s worse is when I look at these graduating students, I think to myself, welcome to the big reality wake up call. Who wants to be more mature/grown up?