Shanghai 2015! (Part I)

This year my family once again made our annual trips to Shanghai to visit our long-distance relatives! The thing about such trips is that I always go with a feeling of excitement, but halfway through, I would be pining for Singapore because I would miss everything here so much.

Changi Airport's Christmas decoration! It is a real pity that it doesn't snow in Singapore because I for one sure can think of half a million things to do with some fluffy white snow, hehe.

2014 Changi Airport Christmas decoration

A majestic looking (although also rather fake looking) castle! I was curious what was inside, but I don't think we are allowed to go in.

I like the flowers!

Large snowflakes as decoration

The AED at the side of the house (along with the Chanel 5 tag) totally murdered the originally sweet and picturesque sight of the hut! I can't remember why Mickey mouse is there though, can anyone?

"Look at my house!" - Mickey

The playground!

Changi Airport's playground for children.

Nope, no children on that night when we were at the airport, which was a temptation for me since I could have the whole playground to myself! But woe betide my grown frame and overly mature face since I have to uphold my "grown up respectability" and sit demurely on the sofa whilst sneaking longing glances at my childhood amusement.

I really do think Singapore has a brilliant airport.

Then...

Litter litter everywhere

I didn't know why, but the sight of the litter and cans and bottle being left on the sofa of the waiting lounge shocked me a little. I am guessing it is mainly because I am so used to the impeccably neat and tidy environment of Singapore that such a sight seems like an oddly insulting smear upon our country's magnificent airport.

Around the lounge, more litter could be spotted, and in one area, it was particularly cluttered. I was slightly irked by the sight: couldn't the litter bugs have the basic decency to clean up their own mess after themselves? Just because there is a highly efficient cleaning crew in Changi doesn't mean that we can pollute the environment!

On the airplane (we rode with China Eastern Airlines), we were pleasantly surprised to find that that particular plane has been upgraded to have a small screen at the back of each seat. Cue movie time!
I woke up in the middle of the night around 1-2am to watch Maleficient. Hehe and I didn't think of watching that on my own! I saw this other dude that was watching it in the seat before mine and it looked interesting, so I kinda copied him.

Maleficient is a brilliant movie, and Angelina Jolie did a fantastic job portraying the lead character. The joy, heartache and betrayal were all beautifully captured. The only gripe I had with the movie was that Sleeping Beauty (Aurora?)'s character was mildly bland, which is like okay, acceptable, since this movie isn't really about her (that much) anyway.

One of the places in Shanghai which we went to was Cheng Huang Miao shopping district, and this was how it looked like when we stepped out of the metro station (which is the MRT train station, but they like to call it that so hehe).

Dong Fang Ming Zhu in the distance.

 As seen from the photo, that day was kinda hazy and it wasn't possible to take an ultra clear shot of the skyscrapers. Sighs to air pollution.

I took a picture of a random building which I thought was rather nice looking at that point of time. As for now I just can't seem to see the appeal that I saw then...hmm

Ahh! I love love love these quaint little street side stalls. I love how cluttered and yet organized they are, I love how one can always find unimaginable surprises buried beneath their lackluster surfaces.

Since it was around Christmas period, the stalls were naturally full of X'mas themed items. Look at the golden reindeer and its dainty posture! <3

I bought some really cute and tiny little soft toy bears from the stall below! Can you see all the bears hanging by the sides? The bodies of the bears are actually shaped like bear claws!

That many gloves xD

 And the endless assortment of trinkets for very affordable prices. I love how in China we can always haggle over the price since the price the seller first offers is usually an unreasonably high one haha. Bear that in mind travelers! Remember to cut the price by half!

 Nearby, (please don't ask me the name, I have absolutely no idea), there is this giant outlet mall that sells the widest variety of things I have ever seen. I particularly like the mugs:

Kawaii milk carton mugs with ceramic straws attached!

 The endless rows of mugs.

And here comes the ceramic decorations! They are beyond adorable!

Wind chimes! I think?

Okay these must be fake potted plants! If you want to brighten your room but cannot remember to water your plants, try one of these! They never wilt! But they do gather a lot of dust!

I like the little fences that make up these pots! And the flowers look refreshingly real from here, don't they?

Beneath the flowers, near the mugs are the most adorable clocks! Maybe you might even wake up on time just to admire the clock?

DIY wood crafts. Or are they styrofoam? I can't remember....

Look at them crystals.

Ahh! I like the Energy-battery based waterbottle design! It is so adorable and creative!

The Minions pillow and head-rest.

Yes. They are still water bottles. I am obsessed with how cute they are and I cannot stop posting picture of them.

Okay phew finally, here are handmade notebooks.
Yes, each of them priced at 35 rmb which is roughly S$7.

Mmm, here is the name of the stall! I think I am in love with the antique feeling of the shop, not to mention the slightly musty scent of parchment!

Here is an assortment of very strange accessories. Yep, the colourful long stringy looking thing on the panel near the right of the photo are actually earrings. Sorry, but WHO THE HELL WEARS THEM?

I suppose my look of incredulity must be pretty ill concealed: look at the judging look on the stall owner's face. xD

Here is another stall that allows you to design your own notebook cover as well as postcards I think? I like it, I like it, I LOVE it. Unfortunately the price was a bit out of my budget and I didn't get to try it out.

AHHHHH there we go again! This time it is overly adorable glass bottles. WHY China WHY do you do this to me? You are inducing an obession for bottles in me!

More...

And more...(holy mackerals, is that a minion shaped bottle!?)

Finally, the bleating of the sheep who looks more like a pale lettuce interrupts our never-ending flow of pictures of kawaii bottles.

Soft toys!

DIY felt toys.

HATS.

 Stationery!

More X'mas stuff on sale outside the building.

Mmmm I like the owls! They look so cute and life-looking.

 FANS.

The district is a bit run down, I have a feeling that it is deliberately kept that way to increase the mystique and the ancient vibe.

Alright, that guy photobombed.

Feels like 19th century China. Where chinese operas were still being staged frequently outside.

 My mom bought a pair of sunglasses from here!

 Our lunch that day. Priced way over 100 rmb, don't be fooled by the looks. It tasted horrible. Like beyond horrible. The fried chicken was stale, the fried dumplings were cold and hard and I could barely chew through them. The only thing I liked was the potato wedges thing, but it was extremely oily and had this taste of stale oil. Also, the xiao long bao you see here (steamed buns) were almost cold and tasted horrible. Argh, it was a horribly spent 130 plus dollars.

 Ahh, the items below are tiny versions of the real thing crafted from gold I think?

 Speed sketch: how many can you name?

Here comes the pricey store:

The pikachu below looks like a counterfeit product!

 For people who like "Attack on Titan"!

That's all for today's post! I will update again soon!

Thank you all for reading and please leave a comment to let me know what you think of the goods found in this shopping district! ^_^

Escoot: Korean Sports Watch

Sponsored Review

Riddle: Why did Peter sit on his WATCH?

Ans: Because he wanted to be on time!

If you think the joke above is absolutely lame, well, you are actually quite right, since I remembered it from this joke book that I read in primary school. Hee.

But hey, this brings us to our main point today: KOREAN SPORTS WATCH!

I am not sure if it is only me, but nowadays whenever I hear the word "Korean", the said item seems to interest me more. Much more. Must be the Hallyu wave *thoughtful look*

If you are just as excited as I am, you will be more excited by the sleek, simple yet attractive design of the watch!

Escoot Korean Sports Watch 

Be it the blue or white watch surface, this Korean watch manages to retain its sense of admirable simplicity whilst giving us customers a choice between two delightful colors.

If you think that the color white is more prone to stains or simply incompatible with your skin tone, black watch strap is also an alternative which is more popular among male users.

Also available in classic black

I particularly like the uncluttered and easy-to-read watch face in this Korean watch because watches nowadays are generally laden with an assortment of functions that sometimes shadow the primary time-telling purpose of the watch. Have you ever had the experience of wearing an expensive wrist watch that offers an array of functions on its overly congested watch face, to the extent that it takes you a moment to locate the time-telling section? Not to mention that some of the sophisticated watches present a minimalist style that excludes the numbers on the watch face: time-telling (for me, at least) becomes a squint-and-estimate cycle. The simplicity of the watch face here thus precludes all these problems.

I like how the watch looks on my wrist, don't you?

Simple and clean look (photo is upside down)

Sorry, I can't seem to flip the photo upright for some strange reason.

As a sports watch, the strap of the watch is made of water proof material that snugly encases the body of the watch. (Hmm, I can't decide what the material is, seems like very durable rubber to me.) I believe such a design concept helps to keep the watch as dry as possible during exercises.

Not only so, if you are a fan of all things sparkly and shiny like I am but at the same time prefer to keep things simple, this watch is all the more the choicest selection.The tiny diamonds fitted at each number on the watch face catches light (especially sunlight) and gives the watch a sparkly and expensive appearance without making the watch seem overly flashy or bombastic.  

For just S$12, I feel like this watch is definitely a worthy buy, be it for yourself or for a friend!

Oh yes, did I mention that the watch also comes with spare batteries on top of the pretty packaging? (sorry mine was a bit out of shape from mailing, so I would spare you guys the photo ^^)

Downsides

Sorry, here is the place where I would insert a bit of hard truths to my readers among my unabashed appreciation of the watch.

Foremost, I am not sure how long this watch is going to last you. I think part of my reservation and doubt also stems from my deeply-seated belief where price=quality. The higher I pay, the more likely it is that the product is going to be lasting me for a really long time. So as an individual who has just received a brand new watch, I am unable to make any guarantees that this will last you for xxx number of years, because I simply don't know. I can only tell you that so far, the strap looks pretty sturdy and unlikely to break any time soon!

But if you are one of those who prefers to keep a drawer full of a variety of watches, without minding their lifespans, then this is the watch for you! Because for just S$12, you get to buy a watch that you can match with almost any dress or outfit! 

Maybe I will update again a couple of years later when the watch spoils, and then we can all decide how durable this time-keeper is!

Yes, it is upside down. Still sleek.

Chinese New Year is coming soon! Not only that, a variety of other occasions worth celebrating lie in the year ahead, and when fretting over what to get for your friends and family, why not consider this watch? The simplicity of the design and the subtle shine of the small diamonds make this watch a perfect gift for all occasions!

Escoot.sg provides mailing free of charge, so make your way to Escoot today and check out their items including this watch~!

Will post again soon, love you all!

Lie to me: Chocolate pudding

Haha I totally love the irrelevance in Lie to Me (American, not Korean one). It went like that:

A: "What's that!"
B: "Chocolate pudding!"
A: "Who eats chocolate pudding at 10am in the morning?"
B: "People who like chocolate pudding."

Haven't been able to blog for a while because of my exams~

Good thing that almost half of the subjects are done now and it is finally all going to end in two and a half weeks time!

For those who are also caught in this hard time, have faith and keep going!

Meanwhile, thank you for the constant support to this blog~! :)

How to lose faith

Sunshine, bright sparks, dancing lights,

Down, down, down falling heights.

How do we lose faith? Sustained lies.

Disappointment, hurt: repeat a hundred times.

On your best days - Look! Parasites!

Downcast, ill: they take flight.

Smiles, maintained, a different kind.

Within, you have long been cast aside.

#Poorexamspirit

*reader discretion is advised, blog post is written in a fit of extreme rage and may sound like a biased ranting Havisham*

Okay I am really really fed up and I need to do a short rant.

This rant is about #poorexamspirit, and yes I am employing the universal symbol of annoying - the hashtag to signal my utmost displeasure at this spirit is some people.

I know, A-levels is coming. It is coming in less than ten days and we all are stressed. We all have the right to be stressed. It would be almost kind of strange if you are totally nonchalant and dandical right now (unless you don't care or you have finish), but it doesn't mean that it is right to try and destress yourself by making other people feel annoyed, under-accomplished and stressed.

I am not targeting my rant generally, because most of the people around me have been nothing but encouraging, thoughtful and balanced. It is really these one or two specific PARENTS and STUDENTS that really send my blood boiling.

They like to ask you, out of the blue, via the most annoying means of whatsapp, "How is your daughter's (i.e. me) progress?"

It would have been perfectly fine if the person was asking as a mere greeting, you know like you want to start a conversation and you are not sure how to begin, so you go like, "Hey what's up, how is it going? Hope revision is going well!"

OR you are saying it out of a sincere concern, or pure curiosity to see if you are on track.

But nope.

The aforementioned parent here is making me so annoyed precisely because I can interpret from her "concern" this underlying tinge of ill-meaning malice and secret hope that you have done NOTHING for revision, so that naturally you will flop your A-levels. It angers me to know that there are such people out there who build their notion of successes upon other's presumed failures.

Naturally, I won't say it is not entirely because of my heightened senses and shorter fuse pre-exam, but such "concern" irks me straight to the core. One primary method of detecting such a false concern is when the person immediately follows up that question by humbly boasting (oh, you oxymorons, what who I do without thee?) "My son has finished all of Ten-Year-Series before Block Test 2, oh dear what is he going to practise on now? I am so nervous that my son won't get straight As, I mean afterall he wants to be (I mean I want him to be) a doctor, or a lawyer or any other prestigious job which give you both the status and the money. Oh help me, I am so stressed out!!!"

Yes, thus is the suffering and misery I have to endure every now and then from the specific parent who bemoans her anxiety and hysterics about her son not securing the desired profession.

I would have gladly offered her a wide-range of expletives which I would also have given her the honor of choosing, but as refined as my mother is, she bears with such hysterics good naturally, advising her not to take it so hard, and that A-level is but a part of your life. It is not the end. Nothing is, but death (unless you believe that you become an angel or part thereof, but that is honestly another story).

But I would also elaborate that such people are as non-deserving of well-meaning advice and attention as a person who repeatedly inserts her arm into a lion's cage does, because the next thing you know, the person is DOUBTING your advice as a chicanery to encourage her son to slack off and therefore, screw up the exam.

The absurdity of which can only be expressed by me through a thoroughly frustrated shake of my head and a choked, "I cannot..."

Yes yes, I am so trying to tell you to flunk your exam. It takes a thief to catch a thief doesn't it? To misinterpret well-meaning advice like this indicates something about your mentality and stream-of-consciousness.

And you have nothing to do? Why not buy a hundred-year-series to practice on, I am pretty sure they sell it on, like Mars.

Yes, I am stressed. Understandably you are stressed to. That I can understand. But it becomes tedious and meaningless when you ask about "What is your daughter doing now?" and we reply honestly that "She was taking a short nap" and you have to trade in barbs like "She is so confident and sure of herself eh?" because it is pointless and honestly grating in nature. Just because it is A levels doesn't mean that I should go out on this frantic "sai-kang" mode and stop my metabolic processes and rests to do half a bazillion papers a day. I need to rest, too.

So if any of you guys are also in a similar situation whereby you have to face such individuals who about warp every truth you ever utter, my suggestion is really, block the person on every communication line possible and if he persists, flip him or her off with a well-deserved middle-finger.

Rant: Return our CPF?

I was like blogging about how absolutely annoying Yang Yin was, and then I had to chance upon Han Hui Hui (HHH)'s speech at Hong Lim Park that lambasted Singapore's government (People's Action Party) for basically doing a poor job of governing the country.

Her speech was extremely incendiary, and as a student who studied the building of Singapore briefly in Secondary 1 and 2, I felt rather incensed by some of the sweeping generalizations she made in her speech, some of the absurd arguments she has against the local ruling party and her whole sail negation of all the effort that PAP has put into building this country.

Before I begin my own tirade against her arguments (and arguments only), I have confessions to make. I don't claim to be the person with the best and most well-rounded knowledge of the local political scene despite my frequent attempts at trying to catch up with the news and doing extra readings for the sake of General Paper (GP). I am also not saying that PAP is like the flawless government or that our leaders are infallible. Maybe it is because of the history of Singapore that I have studied, I have come to appreciate our government more for the things they have done for us, the areas they are always trying to improve, rather than to be wholly blinkered by the errors that they have made.

And, you are free to disagree with any of the arguments that I have:) After all, politics is always full of diverse opinions which are greatly influenced by our personal experience and beliefs as well as our individual doctrine of thoughts.

For background information, you can visit hardwarezone.
I apologize if any of the information above is flawed, because I did not write it: in fact I have no idea who HHH is before today, so I am researching as I write my post.

And here is the video that irked me so much:



Here is some of my thoughts (I will try to take on a measured tone as far as possible).

#Problematic argument 1
"What should we do with the [CPF] money that the government will return to us? We can take back our CPF and build our own flats!!"

First and foremost, why are we even worrying about "what to do with excess money"? Like goodness, if say suddenly maybe three thousand dollars fall out of the sky, I am very sure I would have some place to spend it in, starting with a good buffet. Whilst the use of rhetorical question is one of the commonly used public speaking device, this rhetorical question had me absolutely confused.

As for building "[your] own flats" as HHH excitedly suggested to all, it is logically impossible. Spoken in Chinese, her statement can either be interpreted as 1. using the money to hire people to build the flats, and 2. using the money and building the flats yourself.

I cannot decide which option above is more absurd. Do you know how to design a flat, know the materials to use? Do you know where to hire all the hard workers who toil endlessly to enable the timely completion of the flat? I doubt it. Building the flats by oneself is odder still, to the extent that it could have been like this comical punchline in a Jack Neo movie where the characters light-heartedly whine about the government and come up with solutions like building their own houses. Building a private housing would have possible, but not with the amount of CPF money  that you are banking on. I know people who live in bungalows and other private housings: those cost a couple of millions at least. In the recent Yang Yin scandal, Madam Chung's private estate is a whopping $40,000,000 (thereabout). I am sure your CPF isn't half that sum.

#Problematic Fact 2
"Is there a need to sell a flat up to 3 - 4 million?"

Have you seen a HDB flat (assuming they are talking about flats) selling for 3-4 million? Good riddance! The most common costs of flats in Singapore is about 300-600 plus thousand, where did the 3-4 million dollar flats come from?

Assuming that you are not talking about flat as the subtitles suggests, but about private estates, why are you complaining about the price of private housings? As in, buy what is within your means, if you can afford a 3-room flat, buy a 3-room flat. If you can afford a mansion, go ahead, no one is stopping you (unless you swindle people's money). The private housing prices here are high due to the scarcity of land, if you want to have cheaper "private housing", why not go to places with less people? Like somewhere near the edge of Gobi desert or Sahara. You can build a mansion the size of a football field and no one cares. If you can afford it, that is.

#Problematic Fact 3
"Take the land and build condominiums. Can Singaporeans afford to buy such properties??"

Well yes, apparently a great number of people can afford to buy such properties, because otherwise the logical deduction would be that all the condominiums existing now are empty for our good brothers to live in. Which is not the case.

I feel like it is a case of, "since we here cannot afford it, thus no one can afford it, so why build it?". It is a logical fallacy in itself, since just because the speaker cannot afford it, she assumes that no one can afford it. Gah.

#Hasty Accusation 4
"Money faced government. They are not caring for our accommodation. They are not caring for our medical healthcare. Is this how a government should behave?"

Think Middle-East. Think about Greece. Think about all the corrupted government that you read about in the newspaper and think about our government. Whilst I agree that I have limited knowledge about our politics, Singapore is the 5th least corrupted nation. Thus, the whole accusation of money faced is rather untenable, especially given the context of CPF where the money is returned to you eventually.

"They are not caring for our accommodation." Just a moment ago, I remember someone declaring that she wants to build her own flat or something with her money. Wait, so now you would like the government to care for your accommodation (which they have already been doing and is still trying to improve).

"Is this how a government should behave?" How then, should a government behave? Like the Greek government perhaps?

#Bad sentence structure 5
"Don't let them play like monopoly."

Sorry, I can't help it, I had to really gawk at this one. I mean, you either play monopoly, or you monopolize something, right? I presume it really meant "play this country like a game of Monopoly".

#Rhetorical Question 6
"It has been 50 years under their rule. Did our lives become better or not?"

Well, I wouldn't know for sure, since I have only lived for 18 years...hold on you won't know either! Furthermore you haven't even been living here for your whole life.

I feel like the above could be a false dichotomy. Our lives has indeed been better in some ways. Think about public transport. Bus 189 used to have very low arrival frequency, but now it comes so frequently that I don't have to wait for more than 10 minutes. Back when I was a child, most buses didn't have air-conditioning, so you can imagine the heat. Now we do. We have more places to relax, more places to shop, better facilities. There are simple exercise equipment below most flats. All these weren't around 50 years ago. Why can't we appreciate the small good things too?

Yes, there may be areas that are not as good. Like how the traffic is always pretty congested in the morning, the public transports are so crammed. I cannot count the number of times I felt grouchy because I was shoved up against someone's sweaty armpit in the public transport, but it is too absolute to claim that our quality of life did not improve at all as the speaker seems to suggest.

Besides, if you have so much time to grumble, why not try to make your own lives better? Or, go to whatever places that you think will make your life better. A discontented heart will never be satisfied.

#Claim 7
"Lee Family must go!"

That made me angry. That made me really upset that anyone could say that so easily without feeling guilty for saying it given all the good things that Mr Lee and his family has done for the country. I am not saying that they are flawless government. I am not saying that they haven't made any mistakes either. I am just saying that perhaps we need to think about the amount of effort they put into coming up with policies that strive to make our lives better.

~*~

I would have continued pointing out all the illogical and warped arguments that inundated her speech, but I am too irked now to continue in an organized manner without bursting into a string of expletives. I couldn't even finish watching her video because I was so hopping mad. Yes, our government has their flaws. Yes, they are not perfect. Yes yes, they could have  done more. But our government is made up of humans, and humans are prone to flaws, so why do we expect our government to be perfect? It is like, we are picking out flaws and magnifying them. (Remember what HHH says about having to eat grass at Hong Lim Park?) Or distorting their intentions.

At the end of the day, it would be prudent to note that a perfect governing system doesn't exist. No, you cannot just grab "90 people out of the 3 million" (it is 5.4 million btw) to form a new government just as you cannot grab 9 people to form SNSD (lame, I know). I am trying to say that while governing a country may appear easy to people like HHH, it is not. (Think about Obama's white hair, whoot.) We have leaders like Kim from DPRK, Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao (says my GP teacher), and I feel that our government is much better by comparison.

I know I am presenting an overly idealistic or even rosy image of our government, but that's because I am trying to focus on the small good things that we too often overlook. It is natural for us to complain and grouch about the shortcomings of the government, but at the end of the day, we also need to look at the things they have done for us, the sacrifices they have made, and be fair in our judgement.

Btw, here is petition you may want to sign if you have watched the video above and are fuming like I am.

Till next post, ciao~~

Gah I haven't finished prelims yet and I am already looking forward to the end of A levels.

Bad me. Very bad to be distracted now.

Anyhoos, I was thinking that post A-levels, I have so much things that I want to do...such as:

1. Blog more often, and blog lengthier and funnier posts. Hey com'on I am a naturally good joke teller, it is the A levels that is seriously killing all my funny cells xD

2. Finish learning Korean. I think I will just be satisfied with relative fluency in speaking, and being able to read basic characters: enough for me to, say travel around Korea without having to resort to pantomime when asking for help xD

3. Learn French Latin. Then Latin French. Then Spanish and Italian. Speak to my dad about getting him to teach me both Cantonese and Hokkien. Erm...seems like I am being overly idealistic, but hey, I can hold onto my dream of learning as many languages as I can! Learning languages is fun, unlike Maths. >:D
Cantonese and Hokkien is probably important because if I don't learn it, those two language are so gonna die out in my family, which is a tragedy, me thinks.

OH WAIT THERE IS JAPANESE! I can get my mom to teach it, no sweat. Wow, only now I realized my family is rather multilingual...hmm

On second thoughts, I may learn Latin first. Quidquid latine dictum, altum videtur.

3. Maybe get LASIK. I don't know yet, because to me the risk doesn't really feel like it is worth it, but my mom is all for me to shed those horrible glasses of mine (prolly because I scratched mine badly, and need to change it relatively frequently) Between contact lenses and LASIK I can't decide which one is worse. Aish.

4. Buy tons (by tons, I mean more than 3) of circle lenses. Because I need to look good in Shanghai. Yes yes I need to look good in front of my family who likes to judge people based on their looks. I know people would tell me to be myself and not give a damn, but it is a little hard, and besides I would do that if say, I look like Park Min Young or the likes.

5. Take up fashion sketching more seriously! Recently I can't even produce a proper skeleton, it always look so awkward and disproportionate. Argh. And I forgot how to draw ruffles (on skirts), and jeans. Blearrrrgh.

6. Read all of Shakespeare's plays because I suddenly got interested in them. A good place to start would be "Measure for Measure"? :D

Then again, maybe not. Thinking about Romeo and Juliet is a enough turn-off.

7. *Maybe* get my hair trimmed. In China. With my personal hairdresser. Because he trims it best. But it rather costly (considering that the trimming isn't that special), and it costs about 150RMB. Oh wells, we will see.

8. Go shopping in the night markets in Shanghai. I super love night markets: cheap stuff makes me happy xD

9. Rebond my hair perhaps? Not sure either, because: a) I am too lazy to sit through 4-5 hours of merciless heating b) I can't wash my hair for 3 days after that c) it damages my hair. a lot. Hrrrrmph

10. Earn money. Plenty of money and bring my mom out for dinner often :D


Gah~~! Thinking about post-alevels make me so happy and excited that I forget about the terrors of A levels. Bad bad bad :(

Btw, today before lit or after lit exams, Amy, Clarissa and I were chatting about Lit A levels, and I was told that CJC really wanted to beat our schools' lit. (I think? Not too sure, I was told that.) I heard that their teachers put in super lot of effort into lit, but it's okay, our teachers are super hardworking too :D I like the CJC lit website though! It is so well organized and I can always get extra info there hehe xD Mr Simpson is a sly genius since he uses googlesites xD

Anyways, gtg, shall post again, but not so soon ^^||

I haven't posted in a while~!

Since last post, I have been making some radical changes to my life. For instance, I have been slowly trying to convert to vegetarianism (is there even such a word?). I have been eating almost no meat for the past four days, because you know, the initial change is bound to be a little harder. Okay, on the first day I still ate a bit of fish, but for the next three days, I thought I was doing pretty well with my no-meat  agenda.

I am not gonna sit on a moral high horse just because you know, I ween off from yummy meat now. I am not going to preach to each and everyone of you and try to tell you to convert to vegetarianism either, because honestly, I don't even know how long I will last.

I am thinking I wouldn't be a full-blown vegetarian, because to a meat-lover like me, doing that is like taking all the cream off a cupcake: life would be pretty boring. It is more like, I think I would eat meat once a month perhaps? Or every time I really can't sustain anymore.

I know that "true-blue" vegetarians may deride this effort thinking that you know, that is just a lack of will (to save cute little chickens and ducks) and principle, but they are right I guess. I mean in the first place, I am not converting entirely out of my altruistic love for all things warm and furry and breathing, but for my own health in the long run. So if I am called weak-willed, then okay, I accept that too.

I am converting partly because I always feel so lethargic and lacking in energy, and it is very detrimental to my studying process because my brain always feels de-oxygenated and sluggish, and my eyes are always heavy with sleep. Furthermore, studying Cancer as part of my biology module reveals that meat in general increases chances of getting cancer, which spells a lot of trouble. Some more, my experience with Helicobacter Pylori bacteria infection actually puts me at a higher chance of getting stomach cancer, which is like SCARY MAX (not even gonna lie).

So, no meat. Nope.

Do I miss eating meat then?

Well, actually not really. Probably because it has only been 4 days, and I don't really feel that kind of overwhelming urge to propel my lumpy body to the nearest Old Chang Kee to inhale all those greasy fried delicacies. I can still abstain from meat even when it is cooked in the dished, I just pick them out and put them in this tiny little pile in a corner.

Okay, maybe the picking them out part is understating the amount of control I am having. Yep, I do feel tempted to pop a piece into my mouth, I have to consciously tell myself not to, partly because i am so used to guzzling down all the meaty goodness in every dish that it has become second nature to me. Think Pavlov's experiment. Ah-ha~ That's how it is like.

So generally, I am still going good, not missing meat too badly, and I don't feel an urge to eat any so long as no one puts, say KFC or McSpicy in my face. Mom has been super supportive (since she has been practicing her semi-vegetarianism for almost 2 years now?) and she is super glad that I have hopped on the healthy bandwagon.

Not only so, I am trying to squeeze in some time for work out and exercise each day, be it just simple brisk working or brief figurobics, to improve my stamina. It sounds really out of place, maybe, to be doing this now, but I am holding fast onto the hope that it will ultimately pay off.

I was really astonished that it actually felt good to exercise and breathe in and out deeply from the need to pay off oxygen debt during exercise. And this is something that is coming from an ultimate slug who prefers sleeping to shopping even, simply because shopping requires one to walk around the mall. A lot. (If you wheel me around, I can consider it!) So I am surprised at how addicted I am now to my morning routine which involved exercising and eating healthier: it makes me feel really happy and good. Ahhh...must be all the dopamine released!

On a completely irrelevant sidenote (ahh that's why it's a sidenote!), I am so so in love with Asapscience channel on youtube, I swear it is my favorite educational channel on youtube! Check it out here: ASAP science

So before all these changes to my life, like I have said, I was really tired all the time, and I sleep at around 10pm average daily, sometimes I sleep at 8.30pm-9.00pm when I really can't function anymore. And I take like 3-hour long afternoon naps....so majority of my productivity comes from sleep.

I am not sure if it is my diet now or exercise, but I can feel myself slowly becoming more energetic and sleeping (slightly) less (it is only 4 days!), and I have absolute faith that if I keep this up, I would become super energized (WHEEEEEEEEEE)!

Oh yes, I have totally cut off any sweet drinks, but have some trouble abstaining from sweets/chocolates. :( I am really attached to those, so I am now eating them in very very moderate amounts. I am also not eating most wheat/gluten products, primarily bread, because of gastric problems. My stomach is causing me to eat more healthily than I would like to! ^_^ Which is not a bad thing I suppose!

So far for now, I guess! I would really try to take this to the end and I would continue to make random updates to tell you of my progress! :):)

Om Nom #5 : Cute Candies

I came across some super cute candies some time ago, called the "Fruits Roll". :)

Fruits Roll candy

The reason why they caught my attention is that the wrapper was so brightly colored, and also the depiction of the roll: I was curious as to whether they really roll it or it is just another kind of scam. xD

The one on the left is apple-grape flavor, the one on the right is orange-grape flavor. I was surprised at how affordable each small sachet is: just 20 cents. I mean, it is like the perfect kind of little gift for people to give out to, say, 200 people, without having to declare bankrupt. Imagine giving stuff like Cadbury or Hershey.... I shudder to think of the costs.

The fruit loop inside is kind of small, which is perfectly okay, given that we only pay 20 cents for each, we really cannot expect the diameter to be that of Moses Lim's waist. (Sorry Moses, it just came to mind >.< But I assure you that you are one of my better-liked celebs in Singapore.)

I unpeeled it

 I love, love, love the color. It is this beautiful, translucent color: never in my life would I imagine that the colors purple and orange can coexist without creating this horrible clash. This is the type of colors that I would love my pencil case to be in heh xD Such a toned-down, dreamy sort of color, and look at that sticky shine! Oh yum!

The taste is really not bad for just 20cents, like it is not too sweet, and eating it kind of stimulated my salivary glands to result in some drool-reflex, and it prompts you to eat more. I think that part of the reason why I was so happy eating it is because the peeling is really fun. It makes your hand sticky, but it is kind of worth it. I

I also get like a sense of deja vu, like the taste reminded me of some long forgotten childhood memories that threatened to resurface, but ultimately I am just left with some odd feelings without being able to recall anything.

The grape-apple one looks like that: again, I really love the color combination ^u^

I kind of got them for Denyse and Clarissa (Clarissa just have to be absent on that day), and it was kinda funny and cute watching Denyse eat it carefully xD Like I said, love buying things for people without burning a hole in my pocket :p

Till the next post, adieu~~~ :)