Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving to my work place for giving me a very long weekend. And a day to be thankful to America for lots of holidays every month possible.

You guys have a great turkey-eating-sleepy day. And for the ones in SIngapore, happy happy lah. Wait for Chinese New Year. Later!

An Interesting Insight

A paragraph taken from Stephen R. Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

"Each of us tends to think we see things as they are, that we are objective. But this is not the case. We see the world, not as it is, but as we are-or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms**, When other people disagree with us, we immediately think something is wrong with them. But, the demonstration* shows, sincere, clearheaded people see things differently, each looking through the unique lens of experiences."

**Paradigm is a dimension, perspective, frame of reference or assumption. (For our benefit, I just want some of you to really understand what I'm talking about.)

*Demonstration in the book was 3 very similar photos. One of them is a very different from the other two but pretty similar in a different perspective. What I'm showing you now is one of the two similar photos. I can't find the other two online and I wouldn't mind scanning from the book but I don't feel like doing that.




This is one of my favorite parts in the book. I was quick to find this very amusing, partly because this is a very frequent incident for me. It happens to me a lot. For instance, I lived almost all my life in Singapore, then I moved away and changed. Some people may view me as someone who has forgotten where I came from and who I really am. They'd tell me that I can't runaway from being me. That's another thing very amusing. How about considering me as someone very adaptive and a goal-oriented individual? :P Err. For one thing obviously I'm growing up. Another point I have to make here, people. There's no running away here from myself. I can't stay young, crappy and don't know what to do with her life kind of person. I'm already at a stage weird enough for me, forcing me to blossom into a more responsible working adult. My whining and constant procrastinating can't get me any money to pay my rent, motorcycle, insurances, wedding, house and school. -_- And as for me, I have realized that people have their own paradigms. If we become more aware of our paradigms which are the source of our attitude and behaviors towards things around us and also the most powerful influence, it will affect the way we act towards other people differently and broaden up the spectrum.

This is probably more of a detail explanation of our daily defensive quotes like "They just don't know me that well!", "Fuck them and ignore them all!" or "They're just trying to make you miserable!"

In fact, the barrier between people is, in the layman's term, understanding. Don't you think so too?

I'm too lazy to proof-read this. So. Just to let you know.

All Worries Aside

As I recall talking to my girlfriends more and more of our daily whines and dissatisfaction, I realized there are so many more important things in life we tend to forget about. For instance, I have a Josh, Ally, Raphael to take care of. On top of that, work issues, health and my studies. Time and time again, I thought my past was a failure. But no, there's no failure. I just keep getting on my feet. I saw myself, as I drowned myself in those thoughts, fighting it and doing it all over again until I get it right. My present now is a result of my past. And my present is a gift wrapped up for my future. I guess I'll never know what's in that future but the result of my future is what I'm doing for the present.

Just to share it with everyone of you, whenever you're feeling down, just know that there are just too many things far more important than that little trouble in our head. If it needs to be fix, try fixing it. Or else, don't worry too much about it. Where there's a will, there's a way.

I constantly find myself tested. One after another, they come to test my faith in me. And I just realized I've gotten through a lot of pain with people saying mean things to me. And I'll still standing here. :) This is a great quote from Fay in her blog,"Believe in Yourself; You're all that you've got." I believe in me. If no one else believes in me, there's nothing I can do to change that or challenge that. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion based on their knowledge. I know more about me than anyone. So why fight that? There's bigger battles to fight. And I got to get me some education! :P

Ah life. It's a thrill.

Nothing Rhymes with "Arrrghhhh!"

Believe me now when I say I'll get stronger by the second.

Quotes to pull one through in life

It's already hard enough to be at this best position where we're at now in this long-winding journey. If we just help each other out by encouraging, we would be a mile stone ahead of what we set ourselves to be.

And little reminders for me and also my friends. There'll be times when people do what it takes to hurt you unexpectedly when all you meant to do was to do good in life, just remember this:

"If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing."
-- Margaret Thatcher

And for the ones with the unintended cruel intention, it is nice to be nice sometimes. :) And the quote says:

"We won't always know whose lives we touched and made better for our having cared, because actions can sometimes have unforeseen ramifications. What's important is that you do care and you act."
-- Charlotte Lunsford

Do good deeds in life. And if you have a religion, it's good. They teach you to do good things in life. Don't hate. :)

Something I found comforting..

"Quote: What goes around comes around. Treat people the same way u want them to treat u. Live life to the fullest. Never do anything and expect a return, always do it full heartedly and then one day the return will be bountyful.

About Me:IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT ON YOUR OWN - I AM FAR FROM PERFECT BUT DEFINITELY A PERFECTIONIST. I AM HARD TO GET CLOSE TO & BELIEVE IT OR NOT I LIKE IT THAT WAY. ONCE I LET YOU IN YOU WILL FIND THAT I AM HARD TO LIVE WITHOUT. I LOVE TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH - ESPECIALLY MYSELF. I AM OBSSESED WITH MY FAMILY,FRIENDS,MY HUBBY & FORMOST MYSELF BUT FAR FROM CONCEITED. I AM VERY SARCASTIC BUT SOMETIMES IT'S MISTAKEN FOR ARROGANCE. I HAVE LEARNED THAT I AM MUCH STRONGER THAN I EVER GAVE MYSELF CREDIT FOR. I BELIEVE THAT EVERYTHING REALLY DOES HAPPEN FOR A REASON. I BELIEVE THAT EVERYBODY HAS A SOUL MATE & I FOUND MINE. I HAVE HIT A FEW BUMPS IN THE ROAD OF LIFE BUT THEY HAVE ALL MADE ME THE PERSON I AM TODAY & I WOULD'NT TRADE ANYTHING I HAVE DONE OR BEEN THROUGH FOR ANYTHING IN THE WORLD. IF YOU DON'T LIKE ME, DON'T TALK TO ME, IF YOU DON'T LIKE WHAT I DO, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, SAY IT TO MY FACE. OTHER THAN THAT I'M JUST HERE TO LIVE LIFE, HAVE FUN & MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL - NO REGRETS"

I'd like to follow this person's footsteps.

My New Toy: Karaoke Machine

I thought this is something pretty interesting to show you guys. It's my very own karaoke machine with a build-in screen and an iPod dock which means I could download music and sing along to just any songs including the karaoke version that I can get online of course. I miss Japan and Karaoke so much that Josh got me this machine. It is a great deal for something pretty compact. I hope you guys find this interesting. It's loud enough to have it rock your house parties!



PS Before anyone comments on something about my elbow in video, I'd like to say....Yes, I know I have paint on my elbow from painting my kitchen..

New Set of Songs + Other Favs

I've recently updated my music playlist. The new ones on the playlist are more of ambient music for inner peace and it is very stimulating. I constantly find myself lost in another unknown little magical forest and me flying. And then... Some sort of futuristic platform with modern creatures. It's always got to do with me flying. That's probably an unachievable desire I yearned as long as I live.

Well enough of my rambling. Enjoy.

Kitchen Make-Over Project (Modified)

Edited and indicated with "*". Just so that you guys don't get the wrong idea about some things.

Say "hello" to my hideous kitchen and "later" to dear party on this weekend. There's much to do for this kitchen. The walls are way too dull and it just got to get worse with the matching cheap-materialized cabinets and stove. I just started painting two walls by the kitchen bar and it didn't turned out dark brownish-red like what I had in mind. Ouh boy, a disaster. It looks rather purplish than reddish in photos. I'm not satisfied with the semi-gloss texture and I sort of regret not choosing a matte texture instead. I guess I'll live with it and make the best out of it.

Anyway, the theme of the kitchen will be oriental-crossed western. I'm soon getting some herb plants to put by the kitchen window and some stuff to put on the walls to give that oriental feel to it. I feel at my best when I'm surrounded familiar things. *Things that feel very Singapore-like.* Right now, the kitchen feels like instant meals and white sorority-pike pizzas all year round.

Hideous walls. The right side of the photo is the new paint color. Intended to have it brownish red but I'll live with that now.


*Wall decor to bring out the oriental feel and my sweet good morning reminders about life. The one framed is a souvenir Josh got from China. The 3 little wall decor are very important words to keep me going. NOT to indicate I'm 100% Chinese. If possible, sometime soon maybe, I will get something in arabic and sanskrit to complete the holly molly SIngapore feel which will definitely defeat the purpose to make an oriental kitchen style. I guess I'll stick to the Chinese Calligraphy. Wa laa. And ouh wait...... I am still quarter chinese.... Nenek guwe cina. Apa salahku? Bloody hell.*


Temporarily frenching it up a little.


Ouh, for the love of god. My heart aches looking at the gloss. I'm considering doing some lighting set up at the bar to make a positive effect on the walls. Maybe spotlights and a focal point like a painting to divert the eyes away from focuing too much on the ugliness of the semi-gloss.


Reminder to all....! Don't ever buy semi-gloss for your kitchen or anywhere in the house!! It's ugly... :(

Halloween 2008

I hope everyone had a blast last Halloween. Evidently, I was a little disappointed and upset not being able to give away candies this year. I saw a kid's face at my kitchen window showing how he'd already guessed that I didn't have treats to give away. This is never going to happen again next year. I will be stocking my pantry with candies every October this time.

Here's my halloween costume. I was a scottish girl. It was fun in spite of the aftermath pain I had from wearing heels all night. Photos taken at home before party.

Japan

I miss Japan.

Oh Joy.