Nov 2016 - Perth!
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
♥ 1:51 pm
A long awaited trip to the down under with my colleague and friend, Kai Ling, after missing out on a trip in 2015 due to the job-hopping madness.
Some snippets as sometimes pictures paint a thousand words! Will add commentary once time permits (which almost seems to be NEVER!)
Day 1 - winery tour at Swan Valley, and a little bit around Perth. Too much wine!
Day 2 - Rottnest Island
Day 3 - shopping (and MORE food art).
Day 4 - Fremantle for markets!
And you have 1 day of settling in and that 1 day of departure, not documented. T'was a well-deserved break :)
October - another favourite month
Monday, October 31, 2016
♥ 1:47 pm
So, a couple of days before our 7th anniversary, my best friend asked me to marry him.
And of course, I said yes.
We had friends and my sis there who were present with us.
Watch out for 28 October 2017.
My favourite month of the year other than December.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
♥ 12:16 am
BIRTHDAY, annual leave, summer...
But BIRTHDAY wins. Or BURFDAE, as I like to call it.
I had a week long birthday celebration (taking it too far, in my mum's opinion but I think not hahaha, what better way to have fun in the spirit of me turning a year older (wiser)?
Kicked it off with Les Mis, and then chilling out (this is REALLY much deserved), IKEA + Saveur Art for birthday, JB (think mani pedi, awesome food and well binging as a whole), shopping and helping out with EE, and Company of Cats, and meet up with Michelle!
Was a good week and much needed rest. Glad to have enjoyed time with people that matter to me (:
Assisi hospice carnival was also this month and no prizes for guessing that I've welcomed 2 precious non-bear fur-toys to my TY collection. I've got Humphrey the camel and Tusk the Walrus!
That cute hippo toy didn't come back with me even though it was super cute! In an ideal world I'd take it back but OH WELL I've too many toys! :/
That's pretty much, June (:
April 2016 (backdated)
Saturday, April 30, 2016
♥ 10:35 pm
Not too much in April other than:
A day off from the never-ending work from the office and close brushes with being burnt out- the day off was spent with the family in JB with lots of eating!
Lack of success in BTO balloting (again) ):
Sis' birthday which was spent with a breakfast buffet at RYSC, and her taking off on a cruise to Malaysia.
Beautiful morning at RSYC!
Renovation at home to update the leaking roof and cracked walls.
Success in getting a COE for a new family car which resulted in us having to prep for a farewell to the poor champagne gold Camry.
First few netball sessions with some ladies from work as a start into ISCA games- it temporarily gave me a motivation to work out a bit more to get fit! Got myself another new cute pair of shoes from Adidas!
More to come in May!
March check-in
Saturday, March 19, 2016
♥ 12:19 am
It's been about a month since my last post and well this post has been quite delayed since this though of blogging for March has been floating in my head for quite a while already. Things have been busy (what's new), and just getting crazier (more about that), the past month can be said to be more emotionally draining in recent months and just hitting down hard on me.
It's peak season at work now so things have been running at full steam for weeks now. Frustration is inevitable but it's also the time when the awful, ugly truth reveals itself in the most unpleasant manner. Internal and external parties have made it super challenging and I guess being in the role that I am, the bullets get shot first in my face. Actually, it's really been the most challenging ever in my career thus far, and while anger raged in me a fair bit the last couple of weeks, releasing it out on 2 weeks back to the boyfriend took a load off my chest. I'm also grateful for being better able to manage the pressure thrown at me, cos after all, (1) what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and;
(2) words, papers and numbers don't kill you.
Relationships have also been put to the test this month, with family members coming down with cough and what not and the usual annoyances. Can't be helped but it's just trying to deal with it as it comes too. :/
In short it's been a really tough month so I think I'm kinda glad to head into a new month. Trying to let that go and to focus on the future, but it's something that can be achieved fully with time and effort. I'm trying to make a conscious effort to put things down when it should and do things that revive me. I've been fortunate to have the boyfriend, a couple of community members and a few closer colleagues that really helped lift my spirits up. Thinking back, it was kinda fitting that the 'suffering' this month really tied in with the Lenten season, which felt like a extended funeral period of mourning. Easter was just on Sunday, which is good cos it's a time for rejoicing and that itself is simple and enough to lift my spirits too.
Looking forward to the new month and letting the past be the past. Hoping for somemore me-time which lets me do artsy stuff like jewellery, music and painting (hopefully practice my new watercolour skills I picked up recently). Praying for faith, hope and love, and luck with our BTO application!
February!
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
♥ 9:34 pm
This post has been on my mind for almost a week now, and here I am, finally writing it!
February has been pretty fun I guess? With new experience and old traditions all packed in the last month.
So, I discovered the beauty of shopping at the NTUC Warehouse Club at Joo Koon! It's basically a warehouse-style hypermart spread over 2 levels, with loads of supermarketing stuff that can be bought in wholesale quantities and wholesale prices! Headed there with my team and it was really fun walking through the aisles of food and drinks, and finding things that you can't normally find at the regular supermarket. It was slightly sad, though, that my shopping was limited to what I could carry as I was relying on public transport to get home. Well, I already carried more than I thought I could and it was heavy! Whatever the case, it was a really fun time (2 evenings in a row, to mention!) and I scored some good deals!! Now to bring the family and boyfriend there to experience the greatness of the place!
Chinese New Year (CNY) follows and while it's a yearly tradition for all of us Chinese, this year's CNY was a little more interesting! Last year we had foosball, while this year we engaged in many games of daidi with the cousins and Aunty Mary. We rotated players since we had more people than spot needed for the game, with the loser exiting the game for some snacks. I'm proud to say that I played well enough not to need to exit the game! :D There were also some meaningful conversations and a faux massage parlour at home to boot! This CNY, Ernest and I went to each other's reunion dinner, which was pretty significant too, since it's the first time that we've gone for each of our familes' reunion dinner. So yeah, CNY this year has been pretty good so far, as festivities start winding down.
Valentines' Day was a couple days back and it was quite a sweet one this year! Ernest and I celebrated a day earlier because of plans at home on Valentines' Day itself, so it was a little easier to go on our dates without falling prey to the exhorbitant/cliche Valentines' Day set meals. Lunch was Peperoni's at Binjai Park (after taking a 20 min detour because we got totally confused with the layout of the new MRT stations on the Downtown line along Bukit Timah Road (more on that another time). That followed with a mid-afternoon stroll at Botanic Gardens (a new UNESCO World Heritage Site) and admired the bandstand and the ring of mutated rain trees surrounding the bandstand. Dinner was at Tomi Sushi, a new favourite and future Valentines' Day tradition (hopefully!) for us!
Ok this is a little disjointed, but for March, I'm really looking forward to the watercolour class that Ernest paid for me to attend as my Valentines' Day gift! (:
2016 resolutions
Monday, January 11, 2016
♥ 11:20 pm
It's been almost 2 weeks since we ushered in the new year and I've still not got my new year resolutions out. I've been thinking about it and a couple came to mind:
1. Practice more driving
I achieved this somewhat last year with a milestone- drove to Ernest's house a couple times (like literally I can count with one hand) on my own and that really helped me take a step in the right direction of being a slightly better driver. Need to head elsewhere now to 'expand my horizon'.
2. Help out more around the house- do more household chores
Cos I've not been pulling my weight at home since I got back from my UK holiday in July'2014. It's also about doing a bit more for the family!
3. Play less Tsum Tsum
It's quite obvious because playing too much of it the last few months. This has resulted in my after work hours becoming more unproductive, and is also part of a reason for number #2 above.
4. Shifting my jewellery making hobbies out of livejournal to Etsy
Yes this is actually pretty important because livejournal is NOT user friendly at all esp via the computer with some weird programming going on. No one uses livejournal now anyway, and besides YEL being a pain to remember, Etsy is a MUCH better platform for my jewellery making hobby to head somewhere (in the right direction, hopefully)! Lastly, it's about setting aside the time to do that and getting off my lazy bump as well!
5. Increasing my savings
I'm achieving approx $xxK in savings for the heat for that's really achievable according to my personal calculations. After all, it's definitely important to start saving early because it helps the money grow earlier. To add, Ernest and I are applying for a house together and need the savings to grow pronto! PRAY FOR US.
6. Get fit- physically and I'd think more importantly, spiritually.
Staying fit has always been a challenge, since leaving JC. I'm shamed to admit that I've been quite the couch potato and have led quite the sedentary lifestyle since university. The only reason why I'm kinda still in shape is many MANY thanks to my body's high metabolism rate! Apart from the guilty conscience, I can feel my body getting weaker than before, particularly with the lack of stamina to climb just some flights of staircases. Sigh, 2016 is really the year to find the motivation to exercise (shall I start with conditioning for my arms using my 'white elephant' of an armband?), and to take Ernest along with me, because 2 is better than 1 haha!
My spiritual life has been a little stale but definitely not dry. Think that 2016 shall be the year to try bring my spiritual level up- perhaps in the 'intellectual' side of things by going for more talks held by catholic organizations.. 2016 shall also be the year where I continue to place my faith in the one above, as He's been with me particularly last year in searching for a direction where my career is involved.
Here's to achievable resolutions, and a post to commit to these resolutions I've set for myself!
*Resolutions subject to upward (i.e. more challenging) revision when necessary.
