In between goals is a thing called life that has to be lived and enjoyed.

2018. Forward to two years later. Hello blogging Universe, it’s me, back at this safe space. 

6 months into the year and I can say that 2020 has been a whirlwind of emotions for many of us – I’m sure of that. The past couple of months have been filled with uncertainty when the world was hit by the Coronavirus at the beginning of the year. In comparison to the previous pandemic like SARS and H1N1, where I was too young to comprehend the severity, this time around the impact of Covid-19 has definitely hit me. 3 cancelled trips and... *loses track of the number of restrictions imposed by the government* later, I found myself diving into a whole lot of “life” conversations with R and in all honesty, I love it. With his Master’s due for completion end of this year, our convos have been revolving around the topic of settling down (we turn 6 years old in exactly a week, where did all the time go!!!) and the first part of it is getting an abode of our own! Umm, let’s just say I did not forget about the part where he’s supposed to go down on one knee first. 

“Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to alive.” aka my current life motto.

You can imagine how much time I’ve been spending on PropertyGuru, Pinterest and Qanvast each day. 2 hours? Maybe more on the weekends... you’ll never find out. That aside, post all the intense discussions and trying to work out our finances, it’s safe to say that we have our minds set on the estate we want to live in for a start, as well as the type of property we are exploring to purchase. In fact, about half a year back before R left for the UK, we went to view one unit in the estate that we are keen on but weren’t ready to take the next steps at that point in time. Fast forward to today, there is a similar unit in the exact same estate! Location wise, it's ideal too. Not sure if this Covid-19 situation is actually a blessing in disguise but I’ll take it. Keeping my fingers crossed that the Circuit Breaker measures put in place will get lifted slowly as we go into the different phases of easing. For now, let me just be extra and put my mood board here for personal reference hehe.

          

      

         

          

     

                

WRITING AGAIN

I was feeling restless from studying for my final exam - argh just 2 more papers to go!! - and naturally I ended up here, scrolling though old posts and spending way longer than I should getting reminded about bits and pieces of my life. I mean, it is amazing to know that I actually have the capacity to put all these thoughts going on inside my head down into comprehensive chunks of words on this space. So I promise (myself) I will be back in the second half of 2018, to hopefully start writing again x

"Let 2018 be the year you finally burn with passion —for the things that you create, the work you do, the relationships you build or fall into."

Hello internet friends. I wonder if any of you even come back to this page anymore, seeing how it's been almost 9!!! months but hey, I am alive! Also finally decided I should pen down 2017 in a glance. I will try to do this religiously every year, so that I can look back on my year and all of those silly moments that I probably won't remember many years down the road. Living in the moment is important, but pictures truly speak a thousand words. Here's to the people and places that made up a part of my 2017, thank you ❤️

JANUARY

I kickstarted 01/01/17 having the first movie date with R and eating our first meal of the day at 5:57pm (according to Moments on my iPhone Photos - how else would I remember such details haha).

Spent the first Saturday of the year meeting up with old friends over steamboat at Elaine's new place. 

        

In mid January, had a steamboat (yes again) reunion dinner with b&h at Mak's house that was way way way too early for Chinese New Year.

     End January was spent in my happy place collecting ang baos and losing money at mahjong. Also look at the cutie pie at just 4 months old (she is 1 year 4 months old as I am typing this right now)

FEBRUARY

1st February was kinda spent in a plane flying to Thailand with my fam fam. We spent 3 days in Chiang Mai, where the weather was always around 18-20 degrees celsius and it was so cooling! The  remaining 4 days of the week was spent in Bangkok because who can leave Thailand without getting some shopping, tom yum soup, thai milk tea and coconut ice cream fix right?!

              

  

Chatuchak Weekend Market with the cousins.
Tuk Tuk ride 🚜 (the closest emoji I could find lol)

Some day in February, I received a phone call that my daddy was rushed to the A&E due to a heart attack while driving on the the expressway wtf I can't really remember what was my first reaction but I think I was very calm in handling the news. Anyway, he had a successful heart operation (thank goodness) and I'd like to think that this entire incident is actually a blessing in disguise because ever since, my old man has quit smoking yassss! It's truly moments like this that make you treasure life and the ones around you so much more.

In February, my family FINALLY got the keys to our new home. It was a rather odd feeling opening the door to an empty house followed by rolling a pineapple into the living room. "Ong Lai" (pineapple in Hokkien) can be directly translated to "Fortune Come" in English lol all them old beliefs. Anyway, receiving the keys meant we could finally meet the interior designer to discuss about the house. That in itself was very exciting haha I can already foresee the future me going berserk when I get my very own house *aherms @dohraymee

MARCH

My birthday month! I turned 22 this year and still very much loved by the people around me and I can't be anymore thankful. I wrote about my birthday in this post about getting pampered by my favourite human in the universe. Thank you for being my safe haven♡

Also celebrated the birthday of my fellow March baby. You're another constant in my life.

Annual Qing Ming affair with my paternal family.

APRIL
April was quite the month of studying for finals but also sneaking time out to surprise a good friend for her birthday, have high tea with the SIM dancers and visiting Art Box. Talk about de-stressing!

 

 This month, my family shifted into our new place! Feat. my everyday views now.

MAY

This was possibly the most demoralising month of 2017 for me 😔 Not due to finals (okay it could have been) but because I had the W O R S T acne outbreak of my life. It wasn't anything like the one or two major zits I get prior to having my period, instead I had outbreak on both cheeks. I attempted to Google the cause of it and what came up was "bacteria from cell phone, touching the face, smoking, alcohol consumption, dirty pillow" omg none of these reasons stood out to me until I came across "hormone fluctuations during early adulthood" and in my head I was like bam this must be it: hormones + late nights + stress (the latter two due to exams). What's more terrible was I couldn't resist the urge to pop them okay MAJOR REGRETS UP TILL THIS DAY THIS MINUTE THIS VERY SECOND. GIRLFRIENDS PLEASE DO NOT EVER ATTEMPT TO POP A ZIT AT HOME, I PROMISE YOU THAT MOMENT OF GLORY WILL HAUNT YOU FOREVER. It took half a year for the scars to finally fade away, not to mention in between May-July I was still getting fresh zits (screw u hormones). It was only in July when I started going for facial again that I saw improvement in my complexion. It's been almost 8 months since the horrible episode and I'll never take clear skin for granted again. Wow wow how did this turn into my acne story again? Hahahaha #typical

 

Right, so in May, I finished my last paper some time in the middle of the month and scooted off to Vietnam with the fambam (2nd vacation of the year yay!) for our long overdue family trip. We spent 3 good days in Da Lat, which has year-round cool weather averaging from 14°C to 23°C (tell me what's not to love about that!), another 2 days in our relatives' hometown at An Giang Province and our last 2 days back in Ho Chi Minh city. Long-ass-aching bus rides aside, this trip felt a little special as it has been a long time since I got to travel together with my extended maternal family. Including our relatives from Vietnam, there were almost 30 of us. We booked ourselves a 40 seater bus for the first four days of our trip and took a road trip from Ho Chi Minh to Da Lat then to An Giang, before finally heading back to the city.

JUNE

Post exam month, time to wreak havoc???? but home girl here leads a mundane lifestyle so havoc came in the form of catching up with friends over pizza and hysterical laughing from playing Cards Against Humanity SG version. The closest to having a "wild" night was getting a drink at Switch with my JC pals.

  

Celebrated my birth giver's birthday. LUV U BERRI MUCH.

   

   

   

This was my 3rd vacation of the year. It also marked the 3rd country I was visiting with R. Got my dose of vitamin sea... Phuket oh Phuket, you have my heart. We stayed in a modern little bed & bistro with superb breakfast food (no, really), went on a few island hopping tours, rented a scooter and explored places as much as we could. I'll never forget how on two of the nights there, it was raining and Ray literally risked our lives by scooting in the rain up curvy slopes with no ponchos no nothing it was so dangerous! These are the ridiculous and dumb moments that will be always etched in my heart.

JULY−AUGUST−SEPTEMBER
These 3 months almost zoomed by without me realising.

When I texted him close to midnight saying I was starving and he appeared at my doorstep with McDonald's. 2 of my favourite things at the same time aaaahhh be still my heart. 

 

 

    

4th vacation of 2017 was to Japan with my favourite ladies, which was a rather impromptu decision but oh boy do I love unplanned trips. It's like you just wake up one day and decides okay let's get out there and live life to the fullest. I've been to Japan, Hokkaido to be specific, once a couple of years back and it's still one of my favourite trip till date; partially because I got to experience real(!!!!) snow there hehe. High expenses aside, Japan has so much to offer —from culture to scenic sights and not to mention all the mouth watering food! My stomach was no doubt in food heaven throughout our trip across Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. As you can clearly see from the amount of things we bought, the damage was definitely done. But whatever it takes for all things matcha am I right?

   

I managed to spend time with some of my best girlfriends (and their doggos).

 

Had the opportunity to visit the local Facebook HQ (thanks to the event company I always work for) and just.... woah. The office left me speechless. As if owning 8 levels of an entire expensive building is not sufficient, they also have their own restaurant catering free food for staff on the highest level. Just imagine eating legit buffet food everyday while enjoying the view of the Singapore Flyer etc. #worklifegoals. Truthfully, working ad hoc event jobs really allowed me to broaden my horizons and discover new things.

Supported Lingkai's for his NTU hip hop production.

 

Managed to catch up with my air stewardess friend who is halfway across the globe most of time. This was 4 days before Elaine flew off to Ireland for 1 year to further her studies in Pharmaceutical Science, and I couldn't send her off as I had full dress rehearsal for my annual dance production that was taking place the next day. Sobbles, how come all the people I love are all so far away from me now. If you ask me, a LDF (Long Distance Friendship) is not any easier to manage than a LDR okay, it takes an equal amount of effort to maintain the friendship, given the timezone difference and simply just... living our lives so many miles apart. 4/12 months down, glad nothing has changed with this one.

This year, I was no longer actively involved in dance. Tried to slowly let go of what used to be a huge part of my student life and through that, I realised how apart from having less commitment to that ONE thing, I could finally spend ample time with my non dance friends and family and basically do many other things without being too focused on solely one. I mean, honestly it's still a little saddening to think about it. I started off genuinely enjoying the process but gradually my passion died down... just like that. With no apparent reasons. Isn't it sad to know that that's also how life works. Lucky I'm still crazy in love with my boyfriend HAHAHA may this burning passion in us never dies.

   

 

In September, this cheeky baby turned 1! 

OCTOBER−NOVEMBER

was like the calm before the storm (December). The new semester had already started for almost 2 months by then and I was slowly trying to get accustomed to *yawns* schooling again. Oh, one thing worth noting was that my parents went on a holiday without me, meaning I was left at home alone for a week and it felt... weird (but liberating muahahaha). A little creepy too being in an empty house alone for so many nights but luckily R came over on the days he did not have to commit to school.

 

We are seriously a pair of overly attached mother-daughter duo. Go overseas must FaceTime.

 

After 3 months of facial, my skin more or less went back to normal in October and the acne marks could be covered with a little concealer (thank heavens).

  

Witnessed a gorgeous sunset while travelling along the causeway bridge on one of the days. Also tried maki san for the first time ever, and still think it's overpriced. P.s. Genki sushi is my current addiction, after Ichiban Boshi.

DECEMBER

Always save the best for the last right? December was a hectic month although I wouldn't have it any other way. It was hectic, yet so fulfilling.

  

Kick started the last month of 2017 working for a private Christmas Event by UBS. It was such a large scale (Harry Potter themed!) party, but the staffs were told not to post anything on social media so yours truly had to sneak a few pictures of me carrying 109476382 balloons while being dressed like a British school girl (think white blouse with tie, skater skirt and knee high socks).

  

December 10: I had my first super duper early Secret Santa gift exchange lol it was the best we could do, trying to accommodate 11 people's schedule. It's a jolly month and all we knead is love.

 

December 11: pampering day with my Queen. We went for a full body massage, permed our hair and did our nails and went home only at 11pm wew.

  

December 12: my old man's birthday. I treated him to the Soup Restaurant and their Samsui Ginger Chicken is to die for. Wrapping it with lettuce, paired with their special sauce reminds me of my late grandma who would whip up the exact same dish for us when she was still around. Miss u popo.

 

December 15-18: road trip back to my favourite childhood place. No one in my family told me we were going to hike so I bought made shift pasar malam canvas shoes. Was rewarded with some of the greatest view which I never knew Malaysia could offer. We started from the bottom of the trek at close to 6am and when we looked above us, it was a pitch black sky full of stars (I am not even exaggerating). It was so so so beautiful. By about 8am, we reached the top and caught the sunrise.

 

THIS IS MY ULTIMATE CHILDHOOD COMBO FOOD (minus the ice in my teh of course). No other toast can beat Malaysia's, not even yakun I'm sorry.

    

December 19: WON ME SOME FRESH'S CULT FAVOURITES FOR MY FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY. I was exhilarated!!!! Fresh's tinted lip balm and face masks are 💯💯💯

December 23: another Christmas exchange with bae's squad. This has become a yearly tradition.

I have no words... but this picture shall be for memories sake. Ray and I are clearly at the stage in our relationship where we take fugly pictures of each other sleeping with our mouth open and then laughing out loud about it 😵 On the bright(er) side, 2017 was the year we started sleeping over at each other's place and damn it, I must admit cuddling to sleep is the best feeling in the universe. 

  

  

December 24-25 was spent with sissy and our mommas. We had Chirstmas Eve dinner at Chikuwa Tei and counted down to Christmas at Le Noir @ Clarke Quay over way too many drinks 🍺🍸🍹🍷

  

   December 26: 3rd Christmas Wonderland with this human. Nothing has changed.. from the identical light deco to giving away money at the game booths to me taking pictures of every shit thing, except this year we finally tried the overpriced food which luckily turned out to be quite yummy. Quail eggs with mentaiko dressing!!! For the past 2 years, we had Texas chicken (1st year picnic style out on the grass while listening to live Christmas carol because tryna be romantic, 2nd year we gave up and ate in the restaurant itself hahaha). There will be no 4th consecutive time because this year R will be away on exchange during the Christmas period *emo*

The last long weekend of 2017 was spent in my happy place. My eldest male cousin got married and it was such a joyous affair! You could see the smile on my granny's face 24/7 💖

   

   

   

   

Ending this entire photo series with MY FACE hehe

And that was my 2017. This year's goals or should I say plans, are straightforward and realistic. One. To graduate unofficially, which is in just 5 months’ time oh em gee please send help to this lost child here I DO NOT WANT TO ADULT. Two. Get a part time job for 1.5 months. Three. Go on my graduation trip with my favourite human. Haven't really come up with a concrete plan but chances are I'll be travelling America with R some time between July-August and then he would leave for exchange in Norway straight, for 4 freaking months!!!! Cries at the thought of having to deal with a long distance relationship #cannotdeal. Okay I seriously have the tendency to digress, but ya basically ever since we briefly spoke of travelling to the States, I have been casually checking out the USA map and just staring at it on my iPhone screen makes me so stoked. And finally Four. Find a full time job. Move on to adulting101 #sos

“Live a life that makes you feel like you have a purpose, a life that makes you filled with happiness because you can’t wait for all the fulfilling moments you’ll experience that day.”

This quote is entirely relatable to me in the aspect of finding a career that I wouldn’t be sick of, at least for a year or two, maybe even three. And deep down, I know that would be a job involving (young) children. Right now, I shouldn’t be but am somehow in the phase where I feel lost and unsettled about what the future holds for me. Some days I tend to (over)think about whether I should be doing this or that and basically just have thoughts like what the hell do I really want in my life? you know, things like that. I’d like to believe that this phase will pass, and most definitely come back to hit me in the face again later, but I really should be focused on stu-dying instead so I will move on for now and try to get my shit together for school. As usual, this post has gotten way too long so here’s an abrupt end to it. Onwards to 2018! x