movie

I just watched this at Chadstone Hoyts today and although I originally tune out when watching asian movies (or not watch them at all even when they're free to access), I actually found this one quite interesting.

It is in both Cantonese and Mandarin with Chinese and proper English subtitles, making it easier for an ABC like me to understand the storyline.

The story of the movie is based on the Revolution of China and how people sacrificed themselves to protect the millions of people in the country. It is a true story, and partially fictional with some action packed kung fu and comedy scenes. I must admit, I got emotional and shed a few tears close to the end because it was so touching and sad. Otherwise, overall, I reckon it has a good storyline because it keeps you engaged as to what will happen each day leading up to the arrival of some special dude who seems to hold the knowledge to saving China.

I'd give it 8/10.

...I cringed everytime someone got stabbed violently, especially for the tall giant guy who was surrounded by knife wielding freaks and endured endless stabbings. Poor guy.

last before departure

First of all, exams are over!!! (since last week for me) ...and I still have another semester left until I graduate... noooo~

The good thing is, I'm off to Vietnam in a few days!

22 Nov 09 -- 13th Dec 09 (back in Melb on the 14th)

We might also be checking out other surrounding countries too, perhaps HK or Taiwan? No idea what will happen but it'll be exciting! The plan is to hang out with family there, visit mum/dad's hometown (not sure who) and check out the beach hehe. Other than that, the usual shopping experience and cheap food :D

Also, planned (and confirmed) for after graduating uni is a trip to LONDON!! I was able to grab cheap return airfares with Emirates just last week. I can't waittt! The plan is to also visit other European cities, perhaps Paris, Amsterdam... actually, I'd love to go check out Venice in Italy because of those gondolas! Hmm, where else...?

June 29th 2010 -- July 22nd 2010

Bye Bye! (:

such a long day

Friday 30th Oct -

Work went from 11.30am - 3.30pm

Shopped for an hour around the shopping centre before heading home

Got ready to go to Caulfield uni library to study with friends

Sat outside in the cool breeze on the lawn chatting with friend

On the way to buy snacks, an old man who looked like he was asking for help approached my friend and I. He first asked whether we were internationals in which we replied no, then kept speaking to us in a robotic-like rhythm about how he had bought a new house in Malvern and that he needed 'company' (aka go for coffee, 'hang out'). Obviously, you can imagine where this leads to... requiring phone numbers. He attempted to do just that, but fail, we're not that stupid to give them out to an old man. Still trying to convince us to keep him company (him doing all the speaking in a creepy way), we decided to just make a run for it. Not literally because we didn't want to come off as mean but in a sense as to lie and be in a mad rush in order to continue with what we were meant to be doing, and that was to buy our lovely snacks. In doing that, I pulled my friend with me and walked away.

What made us even more freaked out was that he touched my friend's shoulder (which we think caused a rash) and was holding a bunch of loose notes with numbers on them. The thought of him being successful in grabbing (real or fake) numbers is just ...I don't want to know anymooooore!!

So after this first encounter with an old man who really needed help in which we definitely could not help with, we finally got our chocolates and my vitamin water (with which I nearly forgot to pay for... woops) Once walking back to the library, we were high on alert and rushed back to the library.

Studying for my first exam that starts next week went from about 6.30pm to 11.30pm, with breaks here and there of course. After coming out of the library, the weather... was intense. It was pouring non-stop with lightning flashing everywhere... like the sky was switching its lights on and off to annoy us.

Luckily, one of my friends parked just metres away so I was able to hitch a ride in it back to my car. It took several attempts to actually run to the car because the rain wouldn't even stop! Even when I did get into my car, driving home was insane! Mass puddles everywhere along Princes Hwy, along with continuous lighting and to make it worse, loud thunder and non-stop pouring rain. *sigh*

Back home when I thought I would be getting a good night's sleep, my dog suddenly rushes to greet me but in a way where he wanted to be protected from the sky. In approaching the house door, he queues up first and uses all his energy to successfully enter. By this time, he's all soaking wet and so because I rather not him get sick, I decided to really dry him off in the bathroom. Despite the mess, he was normal again but was still suffering from the after-shock... poor thing.

It was already way past midnight now. I should've already been asleep an hour ago but I guess not since I'm sitting here recalling what my day had been like... long, creepy and exhausting. My dog is still next to me, resting in his own indoor bed and slowly drifting to sleep without the sounds of rain or thunder to make him feel more afraid than before. He's so cute...I think I can see him twitching in his sleep, awwww. At least he's chilled now... hopefully my foreign music isn't of nuisance to him.

Was meant to have a full day at work tomorrow to replace someone but thank goodness I don't anymore... nor did I want to work in another department of the store because I don't have the capacity to learn something new as my brain is already occupied with exam studying. It would've been good to learn new skills though. I guess there's always time in the future to achieve this if given another opportunity.

So tired now! Been in the library for 2 days straight and it still feels like I haven't learnt anything, even though I've gone through most of my notes and the textbook. Gotta keep at it, because after all this, I'm off to Vietnam and other places, perhaps Taiwan/HK for a 3 week holiday, woohoo :]

PS. My dog is sleeping so soundly, it'll be mean if I took him outside now. :(

beginner snaps

One day after visiting Camberwell market, my cousin and I decided to randomly visit St. Kilda. I wished I'd brought a camera along but at least with my phone, I was able to take some pics!

They don't look too bad for 3.2mp quality images...


Also, here's a pic of what I saw early morning at Caulfield before work at my uni awhile ago. I like the contrast of colours and the hierarchy effect.

...I want a pro DSLR. ;(

time to chill

After 10 weeks of non-stop uni, there is finally a week break! Although it's good to take time off (despite it being so close to the end of semester), there's hardly much that can be done because it's so short! Oh well, I'll just treat it as time to catch up on myself such as going to the gym and spending time at home. Speaking of home, I was bothered to actually bake some things.

1) Chocolate chip cookies (from Aunty Kath's pre-made cookie dough)
2) Apple and Raisin Cupcakes


They're not too sweet, but they're pretty fattening (with 150g of melted butter used).

I got the recipe from the following cupcake recipe book I recently purchased online:

There are so many awesome cupcake recipes in here... I might consider make a few types when actual holidays come. Will have to upgrade on the decorating bit... :)

Thoughts

Week 7 of uni already and it feels like I haven't learnt much. Mid semester break is literally at the END of the semester... (after week 10)... why?!!&*!^*&

Although I'm only doing 3 units now, the workload is the same as doing 4. It's all because of planning, like omg, tute work takes more than an hour to do and it's worth 1%... and the quality of answers has to be good... FOR JUST 1%. That's why I keep delaying my tasks for the marketing plan back because of this obstacle... arrrgh. I have the tendency to do my work well so that's why I'm killing myself over getting those tiny marks. And also with branding, the amount of academic journal articles to read every week is another pain...

So much responsibility here at home too... lots of things I need to do for myself but can't... there are things the dog needs taking care of as well yet I haven't found the time to do them...lots of things to be done for the household... bills, visas, taxi-ing, cleaning, food prep., essentially what a servant's duties are :(

Was hoping to bake some things as well but even buying the ingredients takes time... have to locate green tea powder first. I recently bought a cheap piping bag set with some nozzles so that would be interesting for decorating cupcakes. Need to use up the kilo of strawberries from Costco as well - ah, that place is so cool... weird for me to say this but I got myself membership, woohoo. Cheap to buy many thing in large quantities... anyone like a tub of vegemite? :P

Recently been going to the gym with my girlies as well, 2-3 hours at least where we do a bunch of random workouts, and also lazing in the sauna for close to half an hour... intense sweating is so much fun. I now realise that I eat more than used to ... ah, food is love :) The negative side effects however are aching muscles and joints because of forgetting to stretch again after doing weight training... :( feeling that now actually. But at least it's a sign of ...progress? XD

Not many hours at work these weeks, could be a good thing because I can work on what I just wrote about... but hoping for more when free time becomes available. :)

Tired, stressed, hungry, sleepy, blinded by laptop glare, energy drained... and hungry. The feelings of now and until I actually fall asleep.

Went to one of my close high school friend's birthday all day yesterday, which was fun! She's a Taekwondo addict now so whoever messes with me, you mess with her first ^^' Haha... memories of her taekwondo-ing the piniata... hardcore (although it took a few tries and eventually when the thing broke, lollies hailed down on us... really, that's what happened, because the rain followed right after.) The cake was massive, and so good... so was the fruit jelly made by her uni friend...such a good cook I swear.

I don't know what else I can write about that's bothering me in my mind at the moment... maybe next time. Procrastination ends here.

Existence.

I totally forgot about this, or have I? No, really... I just can't keep up with it anymore!

Maybe because I can't be bothered typing boring stuff about what's going on in my life for the virtual world to read...

Maybe because I'm just still not used to it yet...

Maybe because if I blog about a brand they'd stalk my blog... it's something I learnt from 'Electronic Marketing'

Whatever it is (obviously the top factor being laziness OR being overwhelmingly busy...), I'll try to overcome it and write about my trip to Sydney, my months left at uni or just random shizz. Should be interesting, or maybe not. I'M TIRED.

(why is it that I usually type blog posts at midnight...)

latest purchases.

I've been on a shopping spree after the massive spend on my new laptop, which I should say that I'm loving! Although a free backpack came with the purchase, it's too big for my liking since it's actually for a 17'' laptop rather than a 15.6''. After much browsing around online and at the shops, I finally bought this that I've been eyeing for quite a while.

Lacoste Messenger Bag - "Prince of Wales Plaid" $249 @ Myer

Expensive, but I like the durability and also the looks of it. There's a compartment for a laptop too. Oh, I also bought a beanie from General Pants for $25. So prettyyyy....(no picture).

I went to Moorabbin DFO today and got myself a bag from Kate Hill ($60), was $80. No picture since I can't find one online and am too lazy to click a photo of it. Also got two Puma sneakers, in total, $72 (FOR BOTH)!!! The Puma outlet store is having a 40% storewide sale so you can tell why it was even cheaper than what it originally was for.

Puma 'The Key' - Black (was $90, got for $54)

Puma 'First Round' - Pink/Black (was $30, got for $18!)


I'm a sucker for sales, especially now since it's the end of the financial year and tax returns are soon to be due. Also because of a 'bonus' I surprisingly got as well... hehehe.

holidays!

Finished all my exams early so I have myself close to a month's break! :D Time to relax, forget about studying, and move onto doing things that put less 'strain-on-the-brain'. The problem is, what should I do?? I do have a few things already set, such as working to keep my finances stable and continuing with my usual stuff. Ah, I didn't mention this but I'm off to Sydney to check out JC's concert. Although I'm not like a fan or anything, some of his old songs are pretty good! I can sing to 简单爱 like 80% of the time. woo... other than that, it's just exciting to at least escape from Melbourne for once in awhile. Let's hope I can do this every now and then during each holiday, need to explore the outdoors more!!

From watching 1N2D (1 Night 2 Days), I've found out that sleeping outside in a tent on snow can be exciting, hiking up a massive mountain until you want to give up not even half of the way up can be exhilerating and that eating special foods from places they orignated from is the best type of food there is!

From watching FO (Family Outing), I've found out that fishing out on a boat and touching live sea creatures can be fun, cooking dinner from ingredients found around the farm can be the best experience and that playing games early in the morning after waking up can be such a motivation to start exercising... or not.

But anyway, yeah! hopefully I will continue to draw up some things as time permits... I've even thought of just heading to somewhere like a park, sitting down with a sketchbook and just drawing what I see. Of course that will depend on my mood, company, and definitely the weather! I think that came from an old movie or something... back in the old days when cameras hardly existed and drawing was such a fad thing to do.

One more thing, my greatest purchase to date, my next baby! ...Dell Studio 15 lappie. hehe.


Specs in brief:
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.4GHz
- 15.6'' HD + WLED (1600x900)
- 4GB SD RAM Memory
- 500GB Hard Drive
- Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
- Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/g/n)
- Wireless Bluetooth
- 6 cell battery
- Plum Purple Colour with Black U-Trim

+ Free 17'' Backpack (Belkin - Pitch Black Soft Grey)
+ $100 cash off and 15% discount

...very happy indeed. Just anxious about delivery for now that's all. Heard a month from order until delivery so see where it will go from here. Ordered on 12 June 2009... expecting it by... ???

some viscom drawings.

It's surprising that I still have my VCE (year 12) unit 4 Visual Communication portfolio. I graduated in 2006 so it has been about 3 years. Not anytime soon will I be letting this go as it shows the growth in my creative abilities but also what I had left behind (not completely) after entering uni.

At times I'd wished to pursue a major in Vis Com but because of decisions concerning the 'reality of the future', I chose a Business degree - with a major in Marketing, which of course slightly incorporates the creative aspect. The thing is, even with this major, I'm clueless to what career to take up. Worse comes to worst, I'd find a career with my minor in IT. :) Hopefully it works out.

As follows, here are three hand-drawn observational drawings scanned straight from my portfolio (size altered, photoshopped a bit because of the dodgy scans).

whatever the title may be.

...can't trust computer repair shops to do a good job for my money's worth. need to build up my own knowledge about how to rip apart my stupid computer that's old enough to be replaced. seriously, even i could diagnose the problems that's making me pissed off (if only i had the resources and the willingness to risk destroying my computer). *sigh* am thinking of a new laptop... but firstly, will have to make another phone call to see if i can get further repairs done with little to no costs at all ugh. not like they fixed the thing properly to begin with.

1. Fix stupid computer so fans are working without noises
2. Do a spring clean with mass stored files
3. Invest in an awesome laptop (hopefully...)

funny how i can rant on about technology, such a geek am i. oh how i could study more IT units. :P

Anyway, exams are approaching... fast. 12-16-18-22. Study, study, study whilst working! then working somewhere else (if i'm not fired for taking a month off) then roadtrip and anything else that i can't remember at the moment. my english sucks. see how i go with wording my answers in the exams, gg. zzz.

the family's youngest sibling.

it's alive!

The handcrafted purple bunny transformed into its 2D equivalent... much resemblance?
... the outline was drawn last year, coloured in photoshop in 10 mins. can you say... rushed? (:

The mega-sized version looks WAY better... thus, click to enlarge.

shrinkage-to-fit rule... lame!

worn out.

WHY DOES IT GET SO MISERABLE DURING THE LAST FEW WEEKS OF THE SEMESTER?

... 5 group assignments. With one unit having two assignments to do at once. Like really, is doing the same thing in two assignments but with different organisations reasonable?? = =

Then followed by that are my four exams... the first starting just on the 2nd day of the official exam period. WTH.

I feel as if I haven't learnt anything at all.

Ok. The more I think about how much work I have due in, the more depressed I'll be. Got to just do the damn work, get it over with... hand it in, pray for a good grade and own those exams.

Woop Woop. Then holidays!

Hwaiting ! ^^

kpop sarang.

SNSD - Gee



Since the first time I heard the song 'Milky Way' by BoA, I realised that korean music was awesome! It's not that I understand what they are singing about (nor do I get what some English songs do mean either) but the way they construct their music is so unique, addictive and FUN to dance to. Wasn't there a korean wave or trend that happened (or is still happening?) I thought I was the only one (or one of few) who discovered a 'sarang' for this music but in actual fact, many people also knew about it and enjoyed it as much as I do.

At the moment, I have 5.65 GB of music, 95% is korean, 3% is chinese, 1.5% is english and 0.5% is japanese. Woow. Even I'm amazed by the figures... well, sort of. It's not always that I listen to kpop though since I have phases of my own where I tune into other sorts of music from my cultural music list. There was a time when I only listened to chinese (canto and mando) songs, whereas another was only listening to english and ...house? music (stuff like from Cascada, DHT, Groove Coverage...) BUT that was only through playing DDR. Oh, and I did actually find DDR songs to listen to after playing the game on PS.

I wonder if it's dull with this post being about music.

Anyway, here's a brief list of what songs I currently like (random order and are all kpop hence the title):

- SNSD : Gee
- Super Junior : Sorry Sorry
- Bae Seul Ki : Tiresome
- Big Bang : Sunset Glow

- Boys Over Flowers OST (the songs remind me of the drama ...*hearts*):
-- SS501 : Because I'm Stupid
-- SHINee : Stand By Me
-- T-Max : Paradise
-- Ashily : Lucky
-- SS501 : Making A Lover

Here's some links where you can find kpop (and other media) - the places I usually go to first:

• bww2.com
• z-degrees.net
• bww2 forums

On another note, korean variety shows are the love as well! :D

It is time for il bak ... ee! (1 night 2 days) to those clueless about my infatuation with 6 guys and travelling/camping around South Korea in any weather, condition and location possible. ;P

annoying little things.

First of all, woohoo, it's the easter break! And all I have at home are Reese's Peanut butter cups and fererro rochers in three kinds, which concludes that... easter eggs are expensive!!

Just thought I'd post a list of things that I find irritating.

1. Driving behind slow cars when a long truck is driving at the same speed as the car in front on the next lane (meaning there's no friggin way you can overtake...)

2. Discovering that there's no food you can immediately eat at home when you're at that peak of starvation (food that requires no preparation) ... and therefore you starve until dinner where a banquet awaits

3. When fuel is close to empty and you have no choice but to go fill it up (i really cbb...seriously, especially when it's not a wednesday with the cheapest fuel price)

4. When a partner assignment was already given out to find that your partner already left the unit (still does pisses me off, but at least that work was done with extension given.. n_n)

5. Browsing fb and not being able to find the link to 'events' anywhere... am I just blind? (it only pops up when there's an event coming up)

6. When daylight saving comes and goes, I have a wall clock, digital analog, watch, mobile phone, mini alarm clock, ipod, ds and car clock to friggin fix... (i really do own them all by myself.. shows how time is very precious)

7. When there's no spot to park for buying a $320 blue permit (more permits than spots... really, it should be one spot per permit and when events are held, where's the fairness on us? i get fined for not parking within the lines when there's no room AND when an event is on, asjdhkjasdasd... good reason to skip classes then)

8. When swapping phone companies takes the 3rd employee to really get it processed. (there are 2 main phone companies, easy to figure out who it is... I WANT MY ADSL2+ with the top provider that uses your friggin' infrastructure, hurry the f* up, PLEASE)

9. When driving to uni at 8.30am and driving home at 4-6pm becomes a b**ch (I skip my morning lectures because of it. yay.. it once took me 45 mins to get to uni when it normally takes 20 mins)

10. When you think it's already midnight and the time says 11:00pm (I blame daylight savings... I need my dose of videos during offpeak!)

11. Having to print things at home when you've been freeloading it at work (I understand what you are all going through now, cartridges are killing my savings)

12. Overdosing on one type of food only because there's nothing else to eat, even if you go looking in the fridge (I always happen to open my fridge, somehow wishing magically there will be something there for me to devour on - I'm sure this happens to most people)

13. When assignments are all due at dates close together and also on the side with working 2 jobs (that's part of life eh.)

14. When you like to keep things clean and tidy, you get pissed off at whatever is the opposite and unintentionally go fix it up (yes, that's me, if I really can be bothered cos I'm a neato freako haha, not to the extreme)

15. When you browsed all you can on the net and have nothing left to do (what happened to the things real life needs working on... chores, walking the dog, hobbies, going out etc)

16. When you buy books (could be textbooks or just the usual novels) and don't read them (reminds me, I should read the books I bought for $5 each at the advertised 'massive book sale' even though it's not my style, haha)

17. Spending money on sushi or snack boxes only when avoiding to spend (food is becoming unaffordable, time to brush up on them cooking skills)

18. When you get praised for doing something well one day, and are given long lectures when not doing something the next (give me a friggin' break, I'm the middle child... I'm stereotypically meant to be invisible, no? seems like the stereotype doesn't work with me)

19. When you open a new account somewhere and the first thing you check out are the options (such as to perfect the layout, font colours etc before starting to use it properly... I immediately had to make my layout for this blog awesome before starting to post crap)

20. When you want to do the things you want to do, but can't (can be due to the weather - it affects my mood to do things, laziness, knowing that it's really not the holidays yet when there's a whole week's break, taking all the things needed out to make something but having to clean everything up again after, it costs money, i might be wasting my time on something that might not get me anywhere.....)

As much as I want to continue, I should be doing other things that require less depth in thought, aka eating. Hmm time to open the fridge for the 5th time today... maybe a large seafood buffet is waiting.

dog... food.

dinner @ margo's in crown. meat and seafood platter, with grilled fish and fries :D

logo inspiration.

Fascinating, aren't they? From existing corporate logos transformed into financial crisis inspired masterpieces! Obtained from http://abduzeedo.com/impact-financial-crisis-logo-designs

Much appreciation for the artist who created the 'after' logos. These logos are for fun only; in no way are they to discriminate against the companies who created the initial logos.

art at its best.

German artist Edgar Mueller and his 3d pavement art. They are massive optical illusions captured by a camera lense at a correct angle to create that dimensional look. It took him 12 days to finish one piece with only acrylic wall paint.

Examples of his work:

The crevasse: Pictured at a one point perspective; featured in Ireland.

The giant fissure: 12 hours a day, 5 days a week for completion; featured in german town of Geldern.

The giant fissure: Passerbys posing within the artwork to create a fuller realistic view.

His inspiration comes from the British 'Pavement Picasso' Julian Beever who previously had done 3d street art.

Examples of his work:

Both are truly amazing artists with extraordinary talents. After checking out more of their work, I can't help but wonder how much creativity they have to think of exactly what to draw. In particular with the first artist, it would've been very difficult to keep referring to the image seen in the camera to present a perfect one point perspective. Street art is NICEEEE. :)

into the world of marketing.

I came across several websites that linked to other websites about graphic design, ads etc and stumbled upon these interesting concepts. Despite majoring in the field of marketing, I personally liked these print ads so I wanted to share.


They're both from 'Brantano: Shoe City' and have the same idea going on but with different sneaker brands (aka Converse and Adidas). What caught my attention were details put into creating the hand reaching out from gum and a puddle respectively. So freakin' awesome!

I also came across this hilarious ad featuring an obese man and the clown of Maccas.


Changing the phrase 'Fast Food' into 'Fats Food', how clever. Although it may not be 'proper' in the English language, it still is pretty effective when you can imagine the correlation between the phrase and the image displayed.

material things continued.

Arriving by mail:

From left:
- Tablo: 'Pieces of You' English book;
- half transparent white jelly watch
- half pink/white jelly watch.


Yeahhhh, I can't wait.

About the book:
"Skilled in rapping, songwriting, instruments, and acting, Epik High leader Tablo is no doubt a person of many talents. Pieces of You allows fans to appreciate the writing talent of Tablo who holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing from Stanford University. This English-language book unveils a collection of short stories Tablo wrote at Stanford during his undergraduate studies from 1998 to 2001. No true fan should miss Tablo's literary work. - YesAsia"

So basically, Tablo is a 'PRO'! ^^ ... despite his height, his talents sure make up for it! Chingu will probably love to read this too, right? From what the reviews have said about it, it's surely a great book to read. Yay!

material things.

Bought:

On the list: JUST GOT:

The end results:

• A permanent hole in my bank account
  
  
• Working twice as much to recover money spent
  
  
• Not spending money on such expensive things again for a few months (or until I see something I like again..)
  
  
• Happiness! ...until the day the goods are replaced.
  
  
• ...forever grateful for being able to buy something I finally want after the endless summer trend of gladiator shoes and hobo/hippie clothing (which I'm not fond of.)

today

It's obvious. Today is Friday the 13th (...and my friggin birthday!!) and I don't know whether to be ecstatic or depressed. It's funny how birthdays are celebrated despite the fact that we're actually growing older by the year... such a misconception but that's reality.

I can say that I'm in a comfortable position however as I only turned 20 today (not 21), whereas some other friends of mine are already turning 21.

Anyway, so being 2 decades old already, what will being in the 20's be like? Graduating uni in the early 20's (for me, it'll be at 21 most likely) and working a full-time paying job... becoming even more independent and continuing to realise that nothing in this world is for free... meaning to support the family in anyway possible especially during this economic crisis and parents having to struggle with jobs... being a great elder sister for my younger cousin as well as a middle sister for both my younger and older sister... and whatever else I can't think of right now.

On the context of today...

'Friday the 13th is a superstition about a day of good or bad luck.'

The fear of Friday the 13th is called 'paraskavedekatriaphobia', a word derived from the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (meaning thirteen), attached to phobía (meaning fear). This is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a simple phobia of the number thirteen, and is also known as friggatriskaidekaphobia. - wikipedia.

Of course there are other fridays and other people's birthdays that fall on the 13th as well, but I wonder... if there had been any good or bad incidents that happened on someone's friday the 13th birthday. So far for me, there's only the occassional birthday wishes through fb (like if that didn't exist who knows how many birthday wishes I'd get) and through sms', which I'm thankful to all for. And since I've just celebrated my day already a day ago, I feel like I should just take it easy and catch up on things left undone or needed to be done at home. Being the eldest in the house (despite really being the middle child), I feel like I have so much responsibility... probably due to my maturity level and what it convinces me I should be doing and how I should live my life.

After receiving thoughtful gifts from my lovely high school mates (and 'xiao mei'), I realise I must give back. :) My presents are the awesome because I don't think too much about the price of things, meaning from the gifts I receive, I don't equate my gifts to those in terms of how much they cost and even better, I pick the things I love to give to those I love. ^^ Most of the time, they're things I can match up to those friends since knowing them for about 3-5 years by now. And due to the reason I am able to buy so much is because of my work and conservative spending habits. :P

That should be all for now. Hot pot tonight!

10 steps to happiness

Flicking through New Idea, I came across a snippet about how to become more optimistic (written by psychologist Jo Lamble). It was quite an interesting read so I'd thought to post it here too after what I wrote about the other time.

NB. I'm not 'emo' or in a depressed mood to be posting all of this, neither do I think anyone else is. :) I receive a few new issues of mags before they're even on sale at times (...connections), so when I come across something interesting, I have the need to share it! My favourite mag so far is 'Good Health'. bahaha. I love my mags.

10 steps to happiness:

1. Smile. Even if you don't have a lot to smile about, forcing yourself to grin has been shown to boost your mood. And it's contagious - giving and receiving a smile will instantly improve your day.

2. Show compassion. Doing something for someone else will boost your sense of happiness. Drop in on an elderly neighbour. Offer to help a friend. Ring a person you know is going through a hard time.

3. Be grateful. Write a list of all the things in your life for which you're grateful. If you want to take it further, consider writing a thank you note to someone who has helped you in the past.

4. Don't take it to heart. You'll get suggestions and comments everyday, so look at them objectively. Often the comments are innocent - but if they're not, they usually say more about the person dishing them out than they do about you.

5. Bank compliments. If you've given a compliment, don't dismiss it. Thank the person and store it away for later. You can then draw from this bank of compliments when your confidence is feeling a little shaky.

6. Go to bed on a high. Every night list three good things that happened during the day. They don't have to be sensational events, just something simple such as seeing a cute baby or a lovely sunset. It's very therapeutic to finish your day in a positive frame of mind.

7. Imagine success. Try to imagine what success looks like. Where would you be? What would you be doing? Now, think about the steps you need to take to make that picture a reality.

8. Ride the storm. If you're stuck in traffic or miss the bus, allow yourself to feel irritated and grumpy - but only for a while. Let the emotions wash over you and shift your focus to the rest of the day.

9. Don't envy others. Yes, there are usually people worse off than us, but thinking of them doesn't really ease our pain. Conversely, wishing you were in someone else's shoes not only fails to improve your mood, it can make you feel so much worse.

10. Take control. You might not have caused the problem, but you can decide what to do next. Avoid being a victim and take steps to regain control. Where will you start looking for a new job? If you're newly single, how will you spend your weekends? In what ways can you be healthier?

Hope that wasn't such a long read. Will find more amusing things to post later! :]

happiness

So one day, I was randomly flicking channels trying to find something to watch when I came across the Oprah Winfrey show that featured a discussion about the pursuit of happiness. To be honest, it was actually very interesting and personally, I felt that it changed some of my views to life in regards to improving and potentially making myself a very happy person.

Happiness is what you make of it and how you perceive it to be in life (such as in an optimistic or pessimistic way). There was an example of a man on the show who's job is a funeral director. Although his profession is all about dealing with the dead, he sees it '...as a profession where I'm helping people at a very difficult time in their lives'. That is so true, isn't it?

It's like with my job (a checkout chick), where I serve a bazillion customers. Instead of thinking how tiring or repetitive my job is (mind this, I've had a long 8 hours before and it usually is the worst of hours), I just think how I could've made their day a step happier by greeting them all in the same manner and effort without lashing out any signs of frustration or fatigue.

And better yet, with some nice customers especially this asian couple who bought 2 massive 15kg+ watermelons which 'broke the scale', a conversation began, which of course starts with asking if I'm chinese and what language I speak. I don't know why but it's usually one of my highlights at work because being born here with English as my most fluent language, I'm able to test out my Chinese speaking skills (without being embarrassed as much, haha) by trying to converse with them in my home language (Cantonese) or with Mandarin (which I know bits and pieces of right now).

It might not seem as exciting because it's something you experience to know how it feels, but as an asian, I must say that asian 'elders' like them may seem proud about how this 1% is working at the checkouts in a supermarket surrounded by a majority of western people. That night, I went home and told my parents the exact same situation and omg, the look on my dad's face was like, 'Wah, dey interest in my daughter becos she chinese and speak so good'. Alright, I'm going off track here but hey, happiness delivered to asians here by me. ;D

Back on track... so then in the end after a massive wait due to having to weigh the watermelons again with a more 'pro-er' scale to figure out the price (which came to just $10 for both), they left smiling and very thankful to my awesome customer service. That seriously made my day... and furthermore, they may just come back to visit me (... aww) ...but if only I had really pictured what they looked like because seeing so many people everytime I work, I lose track of those people that make me happy. Instead, my mind keeps images of those who seemed 'unique' at the time I serve them aka the grown woman whose daughter is more mature than she is, or the spotlight bag man, or the woman with the bright pink lipstick who doesn't wear it right. I'll leave that for next time...

So yeah, happiness. It's all about making the right choices, enjoying the simple things in life and thinking and acting positively. Once you've realised how happy you are with yourself, you're able to deliver happiness to others whether it be through something on a small or large scale. Every bit of effort put forth into that delivery will definitely be very memorable and worthwhile.

A quote by an unknown:

“The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.”

Although you may not be the richest person in the world, you live life as it comes with a positive mind, and from that, happiness :D! Money cannot buy happiness (well in some extreme cases, yes, but literally, it's a saying I've heard many times so no, it can't) but happiness can be sold with effort.

PS. I don't know if what I wrote made sense or not because I was just typing away like a nerd who perhaps knows lots about something from learning off random sources.
PSS. She is way too mature for her own age... pshh.
PSSS. Sources include the Oprah website, world of inspiration for the quote and my brain.

Until next time, bye! :]

drawings.

Ta-dah. :S

And by the way, these are of my originals scanned straight from my little sketchbook. Enjoy looking at them...


Drawn awhile ago, with a grey lead for the first and just a cheap black marker for the others. :]