Change

My first time shopping in La Senza. I used to think that the designs of La Senza were over the top. The striking colours, crazy patterns on the fabrics, the complicated designs of the straps, even the layout of the shop - all these made me think that only hiao ladies would get this brand. Little did I know that I would become one of the hiao ladies.

Thought of getting my undergarments there because it is quite a well-known international brand, and there was a promotion, so I decided to give it a try. Unexpectedly I kind of fell in love with their bras. They are so comfy. OMG. Much more comfy than any bra I'd ever tried on. It was crazy. They also have a lot of lacey designs I swear I swooned a little when I was choosing which to try on. I circled the shop for so long. Lost in a sea of colourful and gorgeous bras. The sales assistant was very helpful, and I was really amazed by her efficiency.

I don't think I can go back to RM15 bras now.

By the way, I am changing my skincare range. Been using Hada Labo for more than 5 years. Now that I turned 25, I have to take skincare really seriously if I don't want to look like a hag when I hit my big-3. Will be using Beaubelle which was recommended by my beauticians and that is the brand they always use on my face during facials. I am using the second tube of their night mask, and it is treating me well so far. Let's see of this skincare range could live up to my expectation. I would be crushed if it failed me. It is supposed to work because the products are not cheap.

Seriously. Girls need more money as we grow older. Sad, but true. How are we going to maintain our looks and youth if we don't have a job that pays well? Girls, climb higher!

什么?

曾经 我竟然写得出这种文章
太了不起了吧
这个我到底躲到哪
是被一堆英文字母挤到脑袋边边了吗?

嗯
是时候淸一清华文小说上的灰尘了

About Time

This is such a great movie.

I was literally a blubbering mess at the end of the film. This is the kind of movie that is not suitable to be watched in the cinema. It is to be watched at home, where you can have all the soft pillows and tissues and ice cream within your reach.

I definitely need more similar movies. Can't have enough.

Random bits.

Entering the 5th month of being in the education field.
I am always a quick learner,
so nothing beats me down at this moment.
I am still fine although thousands of my body cells die every single day.
Some who are ignorant might think that my job is dull.
Let me tell you this,
teaching is not an easier task than engineering or handling a business.
It requires consistency, intelligence, willpower, and A LOT OF patience.
I dare you to teach for a week, and can still say it is an easy job after that.
Those who say teaching is boring, you can't be any more wrong.
Every day, interesting stuff happen in the school,
which we, teachers, can laugh about for a week.

*

Minions were given out with every McDonald's Happy Meal.

Just like Snoopy and Hello Kitty, 

people all over the country are crazy about them.

People queued up for 2 hours still not getting the minions, 

the minions were sold out within 3 hours,

some people even brought trolleys to get minions.

Seriously, what is wrong with the world right now?

I mean, it is still reasonable if it were all the kids who get crazy about toys,

but now adults fight each other just to get minions.

Some friend of mine even drove to a farther McD just to get the toy.

GET A LIFE, DUDE.

Am I the only one who do not give a shit about getting a McD minion?

After all they are only plastic toys that are slightly bigger than a tadpole. 

*

Reading mojo is back.

Picking up a new book today.

Every time I open a new book, it lifts my mood,

because it means that there is one less book in this world that I have not yet read.

Nevertheless new books are released all the time.

When a book is ticked off on my to-be-read list,

at the same time, hundreds of new books are released.

Always, too many books to read but too little time.

And every time I am down, I buy books.
My new-book shelf is full ALL THE TIME.
In need of a new and bigger bookshelf,
but there is no more space in my room.
The hugest first world pain.

I always find a balance in reading.
Like when I am stressed, I read something light and fun to read,
such as fantasy and chick-lit.
A reminder to all readers: you must not engage too much in a story.
A reader who read too much fantasy could never come back to the real world again.
Just like a gamer who does not socialize because he lives in his gaming world.
If you read too much romance, you might think that fairies do exist,
and one day, you might get cuckoo. Lols.
That is why I choose my reading materials carefully.
If I am reading fantasy, next I will change to read something closer to life,
such as thriller/suspense/chick-lit.
If I am reading self-help, my next read will be lighter,
so I will choose fantasy or action.

*

Sorry, I babbled too much about books.

It's because there are lesser readers nowadays.

I can hardly find a person who loves reading as much as I do.

It is in fact a very sad thing.

Bits of beauty thoughts.

Just watched some videos about a plastic surgery a Singaporean celebrity blogger had undergone in Korea.  She looks so happy in the videos because, well, she does turn prettier. Despite the pretty face, there are many negative comments. People are always envy when they see things that they want on other people's face or life. The community, country, and the world is developing but some human minds always stay barbaric and childish.

I am not an anti-plastic-surgery person, so I think it is good that she went for the surgery, because clearly she is more confident now. Plus I admire her bravery, to get her face cut up and inserted silicone into her nose and fats from her thighs and tummy into her face. Seriously, if I were her, I would just turn and walk away even before I consult the doctor. Besides that, after the surgery, people would judge. She does not care because she said it is her face and she has every right to change it. That, I admire her for. The results were good and she deserves it.

When I look at her recent pictures on her blog, there was a moment that I thought gosh how I wish I have that kind of face why not go for plastic surgery. Then I woke up from my daydream and I thought WTF was I thinking. Lols. I am happy with what I have now. The blogger is a half celebrity, so looking good is her job, but I am just an ordinary employee, looking good is not listed on my job scope. The best thing is, my job requires me to deal with kids, and kids do not judge. They do not care are there wrinkles on your face or how many pimples have popped out during your period. All they need is food and toys.

People are never satisfied with what they have. I always hate my nose because it looks huge in pictures (which it does not, in real life, haha), and my puffy cheeks. My eyes are not big and round like dolls. I have eyebag under my right eye. The list goes on and on. However, after watching the videos I had mentioned earlier, I am happy with my puffy cheeks because they make me look young. I don't have to fill my cheeks with my tummy fats like the blogger. My nose is not high and sharp but the boyfriend loves it and he says my nose will bring him wealth and luck. My eyes are small but they are not dull plus luckily I still have double eyelids. My thick lips that I used to hate are claimed to be sexy, thanks to Angelina Jolie. Just in case you forgot my face as the last picture I posted was like a decade ago.

Looked contented. Right after my morning jog hence the unattractive Milo tee and make-up-less face.

So, it hits me that it really doesn't matter what others say about me, about how unattractive I look, how xxx is prettier than me, how I do not have boobs. After all I am just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. I do not live for cameras and photoshoots, so hell yeah, I am happy with myself. My family loves me, my parents always praise me even when I myself know I look like shit, and my boyfriend had seen me in my worst and still loves me. Maybe I even have things that somebody wish to have. So, with that, I am very, very thankful for everything I have.

You are pretty, if you have a pretty heart. It's a cliche but I think it is true. If a girl is pretty on the outside but a monster on the inside, sooner or later, she turns hideous in everyone's heart. If you doubt this, try to watch Korean dramas and focus on the bad girl/woman. She gets uglier with every episode. No kidding. At least that's my thought when I watch the Korean Drama on ONE with my mom every evening. Haha.

A guide for beginner nerds.

I am a person who visits the bookstores every time I go to a mall. If there are 2 bookstores in the mall, you will see me in both; if there are 5, I'd still enter all of them, just because they are bookstores. Haha. To be clear, my definition of bookstores is places that sell real books with pages and stories. Those that sell magazines and comic books are not included.

Many people wonder, and some came and asked me: how do you choose a book? For some people, they are lost whenever they enter a bookstore because there are like hundreds and thousands of books in front of them and they do not know where to begin with. Hence here I am to tell you how not to be lost in a bookstore. If you hate books and nerds, and you prefer dramas and video games, this post is not for you.

So, the first thing before you enter a bookstore, you ask yourself, do you have a target, a book that somebody introduce to you or a book you want to buy. If there is a target in your mind, it is very easy. Bookstores usually arrange and keep their books according to genres. Find out the genres of the targeted books, and search for them under the particular genres. If you have no idea what genre that you like, and you just feel like you want to get a book to read, this is my suggestion.

1. Go to the Promotion/New Arrivals/Popular shelf
I usually go to the promotion shelf because I am kiam siap. Haha. But hey, you would be surprised at what you can find there. I have found a lot of good books on the promotion shelves over the years.

2.  Pick up your favourite genre or the book with the best cover
In my case, I judge books by their covers. Literally. I pick up books with nice covers that attract me first, then only I look at the genre and the story outline on the back cover of the book. If the story outline interests me, I move on to the next step.

3.  Take out your phone and click into Goodreads or any online book club
In fact, I have a Goodreads app so I just click into the app. Then I search for the book that I pick up just now. To be a nerd, I suggest that you join at least an online book club because you can know a lot of info about books from there. Eg. Goodreads. I get book reviews, ratings, recommendations, and new releases on Goodreads.

4.  Look at the average ratings and book reviews
I usually refer to the book reviews written by readers because the rating for the book might be misleading. There are some authors who are the members of the book club, so the high ratings might be given by the authors themselves or their fans. From my experience, a lot of average ratings are biased, and I had been cheated for many times in the past.

5.  Decide whether to buy the book
If I see readers give the book 1 star on page one of book reviews, then I will put the book down. If there is no 1-star reviews, and I see a lot of 4 to 5 stars, I move to the next step.

6.  Read the first page/prologue
This step is necessary so that you know if you like the writing style of the book. A book with a good story is not always a good book for you because writing style matters A LOT. If you do not enjoy the writing style, no matter how interesting and thrilling the story is, you will hate the book. Like, for me, The Faults In Our Stars by John Green. The story is good and the book is so famous that almost all the readers rated it a 5-star, but after I have read it I rated it 1-star because I loathed the author's writing style. I got so tired of rolling my eyes and yawning after every chapter, and I was really, really glad when I finished that book, I actually cheered. Then I quickly sold the book to Novel Hut with 1/4 of the original price. I didn't want to see it on my book shelf. I just couldn't tolerate the sight of it. Screw it. Screw John Green.

That's the way I purchase my books. It was hard at first but after a few months you will feel at ease in a bookstore. The reason I write this post is that I was once very lost, and that situation lasted for about 2 to 3 years. I had nobody then to teach me how to choose books. That time, the books I bought all suck so bad I stopped getting myself books unless people introduced books to me, because books aren't cheap and I didn't want to waste money buying trash. Then slowly, I discovered this method, and now I seldom get shitty books. When I am free or feel like it, I read book reviews and remember the title and the cover of the books that got good reviews. That way, I don't have to always decide in the bookstore. I can just search for the books and pay.

Happy book shopping and Happy reading!

Beauty products that are worth getting.

I used to have clear and radiant skin until I had chicken pox during my second year in the university. Though there isn't any mark, thanks a lot to the handsome doctor, I guess some hormonal changes happened in my system and BAM, I started to have bad skin. Pimples, acnes, large pores, oily skin. Everything came at once. Since then I began to find ways to save my skin by trying out many beauty brands, hence this post. My face has not returned to its best condition, but I believe it is on its way.

I am not a rich girl. I am not born with a silver spoon, and I do not earn much to enable me to get pricey items, thus most of the beauty products that I own are available in drugstores. Some may think that pricey beauty brands like Estee Lauder, Clinique, SK-II, etc. must produce good-quality products compared to drugstore beauty brands, but this statement is not completely true. Of course, some expensive beauty products are really good but I have friends whose skin got worse after they changed their skincare products to the pricey brands, too.

These are some drugstore beauty products that I have tried and thought I should share with you guys. All of them are worth trying because I got positive results after using them and they are real cheap.

Skincare products first.

I believe you have seen this picture on my blog for a few times already. I am using like my third or fourth tub/bottle now. I have with me the toner and moisturizing cream all the time. Hada Labo might be a tad pricey for a drugstore brand but a tub/bottle can last for 4 to 5 months so it is all worth it. Only a few tiny drops are needed for the whole face. It is moisturizing but it is suitable for those with oily skin too. I myself have combination skin. I cannot use products that are too dry or too moisturizing for the skin, and it was such a pain in the ass. I have tried so many moisturizing brands and this is the only one that brings the best result. However, try not to apply too much in the morning because the skin might get too oily, and when the oil combines with sweat and dirt -> pimples and acnes. 

For cleanser, I use Juju Aquamoist. The other products in the line are too moisturizing for my skin and my skin tends to get more oily. I found that Juju cleanser cleanses better than Hada Labo. More bubbles and it cleanses more thoroughly. 

THIS, my friend, IS A BOMB. I started using it in March after I discovered it on Facebook and that a friend of my sis strongly recommended it. It is not a drugstore product and it is quite pricey so I took some time to consider about buying it. I am glad I did. My skin turned so much better, A WHOLE LOT BETTER, after using this night cream. Within 2 months, my pores had shrunken, my acne scars are lighter, and my skin is not oily anymore so my makeup stays on the face all day. My mom realized the change too. Now, even without facial treatments, I seldom have breakouts like I used to. Totally awesome to the core. My turn to recommend to you guys. You will see the difference too. You have my words! Though expensive, a small tub can be used up to a year, so it is also worth it la, if you divide the price with the days used. Haha. 

I seldom use facial scrub and masks now because, first, I am lazy to scrub the face, second, I found that my skin stays in a better condition without facial masks. Maybe I have not found the best facial mask for my skin yet. 

Makeup products now.

Favourite BB cream. The texture is so light you won't even feel anything after application. Plus the coverage is real good. It covers all my pores, my blackheads and all imperfections. My everyday BB cream. Nevertheless the colour kind of falls in a lighter shade. At least mine is. I am not sure whether there are different shades to choose from. One more downside is that it melts with water. So, what I do is, I apply powder after the BB cream.

L'oreal Angelfit concealer. Using it since like 3 years ago. Awesome coverage. My mom says this is a magical liquid because it covers my acne scars so well. Haha. I use it under my eyes too.

I used to use only Majolica Majorca mascara but this is real good. The former house mate lent me hers and I instantly fell in love with it. As mentioned in the name, it adds to the volume of the lashes and makes it look like you are wearing false lashes and it really does that, no kidding. It is cheaper than MJ too, so recently I got my second tube.

That's all. I have a facial mask I got from my beautician that I have yet to try. Let you guys know more if I discover good stuff. Do try the products above and share with me if you have any cheap but awesome favourites!  

Ten things that I hate.

1. Pimples and acnes.
2. When people smoke in dining places. 
3. When people spit out of their vehicles or straight on the road.
4. Menstrual cramps.
5. Boring books that are rated 4 to 5 stars on Goodreads.
6. When I am asked to decide where to eat.
7. When my weekend plan is ruined by some last-minute errands my mom asks me to run.
8. The Manhattan Onceover (look at me from head to toe) by a stranger, especially a female.
9. Bad customer service.
10. Olives and pickles.

Holiday update.

We ended up watching Olympus Has Fallen and The Call instead of Warm Bodies.  I think we deserve to be called The Weird Couple.  Which couple would ditch romance for action and thrillers?  We only watched romance movies twice, and we weren't even a couple then.  We were in university and between us there was always Eng Keong.  Hahaha.  Now that I think of it, my movie partners during my university days were often Jian Hao and Eng Keong, and we kind of had fixed seating.  Me, Eng Keong, Jian Hao.  All the time.  That Eng Keong was a big big light bulb.

Nevertheless both the movies were awesome.  Didn't plan for Olympus Has Begun but the boyfriend was so eager to watch it, he even gave me the puppy eyes, so I was like OK LA WTH.  Unexpectedly the movie was a bomb.  Have I mentioned how great his taste is?  The Call was good, too, as expected, though I disliked the ending of the movie.  Was gonna watch Warm Bodies in Ipoh but the parents were worried about us staying out late at night so we downloaded a superbly lousy cinema version from a China website, and gave up watching halfway because the quality sucked like nobody's business.

The boyfriend's noob face and my messy hair.

Overall my 1-week holiday was great despite the emotion breakdown on Tuesday.  Went over to the boyfriend's hometown on last Saturday, stayed at his place and visited his family and grandma.

Breakfast on the second day.  Auntie's treat. On the table once we awoke.  I guess she wanted me to eat more because she kept saying that I am too thin, thus the giant packet of curry rice with egg and huge chicken breast and squid.  Boyfriend's portion was even scarier. The whitish drink was milk.  You guys know I don't drink milk but the boyfriend insisted so I layan him a bit and found that there's not much difference between milk and green tea latte so now I can accept milk liao. -____- 

Dessert on the second day when we were in Gurney. The signature dessert of Hui Lau Shan, my favourite after cheese cake. It may look disgusting to you, but trust me, it is the BEST thing ever after cheese cake, green tea latte, and Horlicks milk tea. It is a combination of mango ice cream, blended ice with mango syrup, real mango cubes and glutinous balls. I love the glutinous balls to the max. Awesome awesome dessert.

Dinner of the day. As usual, wanton mee on Chulia Street. A must-have whenever I go to Penang. THE BEST WANTON MEE ON EARTH. Seriously, I haven't found another wanton mee that is nicer than this. Thought of having western food in Harvest In, but the power of this wanton mee was greater. Too bad we didn't have time for the Kek Lok Si laksa. Urgh. Talking about it makes me drool.

Then we went to Straits Quay for crepes again. The standard dropped so much I wouldn't visit the store the next time I go to Penang. I miss the Lemon Cheese Crepe that I had a few months ago. 

Taken on our way back to Ipoh. Again, the boyfriend was driving me home. 

Stopped by Auto-City for brunch before we hit the highway.  Of course, we chose the food that we both loved. Dear Subway, please do us a favour and come open a branch in Ipoh? The boyfriend ordered honey oat for me and earned himself a stern stare. Even worse, he ordered my favourite Parmesan Oregano for himself. Screw him. 

My favourite drink to-go after brunch. Sipped it for almost an hour on the road and that spelled B-L-I-S-S. With boyfriend driving, good music, good chat, and good coffee. Aaaaaaah. Life.

Brought him to Josephine's for dinner because I wanted to let him try this.  He is always a fan of sausages and I knew he would love this. The lamb sausages were real good. Finished the platter within 15 minutes.

Went to Kinta Riverfront at last. Nothing special about the place except for the lights.  It would be great if more pubs and bistros were to open along the river.  There was only one pub that night that had live performance and the other shops were unknown dessert and Malay food shops. Kind of spoiled the romance the lights have created. No more next time. Unless they make it like Clarke Quay and Straits Quay.

It's already Thursday.  School is starting very soon and opportunities and work are waiting.  Must work harder and earn more, at the same time work on the LDR, before the boyfriend fly off to the other side of the globe.

Preparing myself for a new month that will be packed with challenges and work. The busier I am, the happier I get. So come on, continue to throw stones at me and I will get better at catching and crushing them into tiny harmless pieces. 

Have a great weekend, lovelies.

XOXO.

Shortie.

Here comes the third week of March.

Days have been good lately

despite the mood swings brought by my new job.

It is inevitable.

It is only because I am a beginner, they say,

but I think otherwise.

I will always be mad whenever these things happen,

no matter I am just recently into this field

or after I have taught for 20 years.

My intention is to educate, with all my heart and soul,

and only God knows educating is not an easy job.

Gonna have a 1-week break after this week.

And of course,

I will never give up any chance to meet the boyfriend.

We are so lucky we finally have a romance movie to watch!
Errr. Not entire romance, though,
but it is good enough!
Whenever we wants to watch romance movies,
there would be only horror movies on the screen,
and when we feel like watching horror movies,
we can only find romance.
Screw it. Lol.
So this time we are so gonna watch this.
Horror + romance.
It's our thing! Hahaha.

Post-Valentine's symptoms.

I know I should feel grateful
that the boyfriend drove all the way from the north
to see me on Valentine's
and to put himself on the boyfriend scale in front of my family and friends.
I do feel grateful
but now, I feel a bigger portion of lost.
It is like you being a person with a sweet tooth,
suddenly you have an unlimited supply of cakes after a long craving,
then your mom says no and takes it away,
leaving only creams and crumbs all over your mouth.
Get the feeling?
Well, it sucks.

Nevertheless I had an amazing Valentine's Day.
No flowers, no surprises, no candlelight
but we are people of anti-mainstream
so it was alright.
We are so anti-mainstream that
we watched A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD on Valentine's Day.

I mean, who watch Bruce Willis on Valentine's Day on a couple seat in the cinema?
The guy who sold the tickets was like Are you sure?
Do you want another movie like, here, The Wedding Diary?
No?! How about Together??
Then I was like NO I WANT DIE HARD for 3 freaking times.
And we had pizza for dinner like barbarians while laughing like idiots.
That is the fun thing of having a boyfriend who is also your best friend.
You can do all the stupid and crazy things together
and tease each other without having to fear that he/she will get angry,
at the same time enjoy the love and care for each other.

Had breakfast with the family
and chilled with SS after dinner
and guess what,
the boyfriend passed all the 'tests' with flying colours.
My mom loves him even more; my dad never refers him as a 'friend' anymore;
and my SS loupos say they are happy for me.
I knew it all along because he is just too awesome to be hated. ;)
He is the only guy in the world, after my parents,
who says I look hot when I am in pajamas and my grandma specs
and always frowns when I say I'd never ditch contact lens and cosmetics.
He is the only guy in the world who would drive an-hour journey
to get me the sweater I said nice but is too expensive for me to buy.
He is the only guy who can make me smile when I am angry within 3 minutes.
He is the only guy who respects my parents like his own.
He is the only guy who says pink is for sissies
but still willing to have high tea with me in Hello Kitty Cafe.
The list goes on and on and on and he is just plain awesome.
All he does are tiny, little things
but for me, it is all the little things that matters.

Long-distance relationship is like maths.
If you do every step carefully with patience,
you will get the best solution;
otherwise, with doubt and lack of confidence and effort,
you would probably stop halfway.
It is because of LDR that we appreciate our every moment together
as we do not know when is the next time we meet each other.
And the most important thing is, we never take each other or anything for granted.
Those long stares during meals.
The way he loves and sniffs at my hair every 5 minutes.
The scent of his perfume.
The way our fingers intertwined.
Our endless conversations.
These are the things that make me keep falling deeper.

Thank you, all Gods in the universe,
for giving me the perfect Valentine.

XOXO.

Jibber-jabber.

SO, obviously I failed in completing the January Reading Challenge,
which means only one thing:
I have a life.
Haha.
Read 7 books in a month, though.
It's quite a huge success already,
given that I have to work 6 days a week.

You guys know how much I love yogurt.
I used to dislike it before I even tried it.
I didn't like anything dairy so I assumed yogurt tastes like shit.
Thanks to the boyfriend, which wasn't my boyfriend then
when he gave me the little yogurt spoon
and asked me to try,
and from that moment on,
I've been loving yogurt until now.
There's always a six pack of yogurt now in my fridge.
When I finish them all, I just couldn't stop thinking that
Gosh now I have no yogurts in my fridge what am I gonna do.
Is that addiction, by the way?

Anyway, googled the best time to have yogurt
as I wanna get the greatest benefits.
What for paying and eating without getting any advantages right?
And the result was in the morning, as breakfast,
or as an afternoon snack.
I always knew yogurt is good for digestion,
but now I realized,
there are also carbs, proteins, and sodium in it,
which provides energy, muscle/cell building blocks,
and water and electrolyte balance control,
which means it is probably THE BEST thing to have after exercising.

So guys, dig in and enjoy that bottle of yogurt
instead of fast food and sugary food!

Just some random thoughts.

Challenge updates.

OLD
1. Read a book from one of your favourite authors. - Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella

 

2. Read a book from a series you are currently reading. - Chosen by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

3. Read an "old" book in your TBR shelf or one collecting dust in your actual bookshelf/ves at home. - Meridian by Amber Kizer

4. Read a book that was released before 2012. - Living Dead by Charlaine Harris

5. Read a 'leftover' book from a previous challenge. (One that you intended to read but never got around to).

NEW
6. Read a book from a new-to-you author. - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

7. Read the first of a new-to-you series. - Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse Series) by Charlaine Harris

8. Read a recently released book. - Easy by Tammara Webber

9. Read the latest book you purchased or the latest book you added to your GR to-be-read shelf.
10. Read a book that is considered popular or is highly recommended to you.

First challenge.

One fun thing about joining a book club is
you get to see how crazily nerdy some people can be
as if all 24 hours of their days are spent on reading,
at the same time playing with all the reading challenges
refreshed every month.

2013 January Monthly Challenge on Goodreads:

This month's challenge is all about the old and the new.

OLD
1. Read a book from one of your favourite authors.
2. Read a book from a series you are currently reading.
3. Read an "old" book in your TBR shelf or one collecting dust in your actual bookshelf/ves at home.
4. Read a book that was released before 2012.
5. Read a 'leftover' book from a previous challenge. (One that you intended to read but never got around to)

NEW
6. Read a book from a new-to-you author.
7. Read the first of a new-to-you series.
8. Read a recently released book.
9. read the latest book you purchased or the latest book you added to your GR to-be-read shelf.
10. Read a book that is considered popular or is highly recommended to you.

Happy reading!

Seems interesting.
I am totally in for this one
but I am not gonna post at the book club but here
because I doubt I am able to finish 10 books in a month.
I'd rather embarrass myself on my space instead of
having all the nerds laughing at my noobness.

I will update as I go.

Before the fireworks.

Looking back to the past 12 months,

2012 was quite a fabulous year despite the downs.

Anyhow, there will be no ups if there're no downs

because we'd never realize and appreciate.

In 2012, I had:

1. Added 51 new friends on Facebook who were mostly my colleagues during my internship, new Penang friends my former house mates introduced to me, and current colleagues.
2. Ditched the dull straight long hair for shoulder-length, often with side bangs and sometimes straight bangs.
3. Discovered the beauty of Bali and enjoyed my first experience of staying in a luxurious villa with a private pool with SS babes.
4. Completed my Final Year Project and made it into 3 printed copies with handsome hard covers.
5. Broken heart whom I once appreciated and still appreciate, as a friend.
6. Worked the longest job as a biologist, and received a lot of kindness and love from all the elder colleagues that made me believe that there is still hope in the society.
7. Realized how far a guy could go for a girl.
8. Traveled to Taipei, my dream destination, and had the best 8 days of my life, with good food, hospitality and companion.
9. Experienced autumn in Taipei.
10. Fallen in love. 
11. Graduated as a degree holder of Marine Science.
12. Found what I want in life and made the bravest decision to speak for myself.

Quite a great year.

A huge leap in my thinking.

So many things have changed because I have now 

got a clear picture for things that I was confused with.

I should say I have different beliefs in life now.

So, here goes my New Year Resolutions:

1. Keep the workout routine and get the abs I have been longing for.
2. Keep believing and have faith. Especially on relationship. LDR isn't easy after all.
3. Work hard to achieve my goal.
4. Save! For my annual trip with love.
5. Read at least 2 books every month.
6. Never stop upgrading myself. Getting more self-help books, definitely.
7. Change the habit of leaving things half done. Eg. my blog posts. LOL.
8. Love the parents more and give them more of my time.
9. Cut down on milk tea and everything on Chatime menu!
10. As usual, never take things for granted. Cherish.

Be grateful that the Mayans were wrong.

Though it is not the end of the world yet, 

live everyday with hope and appreciate every moment

as if it was the last day of your life.

Dream big and live life to the fullest.

Be awesome, 2013. 

Just another I-feel-like-typing kind of day.

I know I should be updating my Taipei trip Part 2
but I don't have the time. YET.
Coming soon, coming soon.

And I will probably be writing a post about my S3.
If I have the time and the mood.
Time is really limited now, for me.
I have too many good books on the list awaiting me,
and seriously, I can't wait to finish them,
because I have discovered more and more nice books along the way,
and I realized I will NEVER EVER finish reading all the good books in the world.
All the book companies just keep publishing awesome books
and stupid me had missed so many good ones in the past
so I dug them all out and started reading them, e.g. the House of Night series.
My list of To-be-read books will never be shortened.
It will only get longer and longer
unless I stop visiting bookstores and Goodreads,
which is almost impossible.
Plus recently I really feel like re-reading all the old books that I have.
Harry Potter series, the Shopaholic series,
Twilight series, etc. etc.
Gosh I miss all of them so so much.
Now you tell me, where do I find the time to do other things? :(

Taipei Part 1.

It's an off day and I feel like typing.
So here it is.
My picture-heavy Taipei trip blog post.

Laptop cannot display Chinese characters
so excuse me for using English for all the Chinese words.
I know it is weird. :/

So, as mentioned,
flight tickets were booked in July
when I accidentally spotted a promotion going on on AirAsia.

For both of us. :)

The 2-way ticket cost us around RM900 each,

including airport tax and luggage fee.

The boyfriend and another 2 travel mates came down to Ipoh from Penang

and we took Yoyo Bus to LCCT in the morning.

When we were happily checking-in,

only we realized Yi Huey's passport was expired,

so she and Say Seng stayed in KL to have her passport renewed 

while me and boyfriend flew to Taipei first.

Not much choice we had, because it was already 4pm+,

the governmental departments were all closing soon 

and they are far from the airport,

so YH and SS bought their new tickets.

Fact Number 1: 

Before travelling, always make sure the expiry date on your passport 

is at least 6 months ahead of the flying date.

The airport crews are very strict on this.

Reached Taoyuan Airport at around 1130pm.

Oh btw, there is no time difference between Taiwan and Malaysia.

Were picked up by the boyfriend's uncle,

and headed straight to his house.

Had microwaved carbonara spaghetti from 7-eleven nearby,

which didn't taste good,

and hit the sack.

Woke up at 9am+ the next morning

and played Battle Ludo with the boyfriend 

until auntie called us down for breakfast at about 1030am.

Fact Number 2:

The Taiwanese people start their day quite late compared to us.

All the shops open around 11am.

We never did our homework well enough

thus we woke up really early almost every morning

and found ourselves looking at empty streets and closed shops.

LOLs.

Auntie was kind enough to cook us breakfast

and she bought so much Taiwanese food for us to try.

Regretted for not taking pictures of all of them.

Most of the time I was super blur in the house 

from all the walking, eating, sight-seeing and shopping.

What auntie bought, I just grabbed and hentam,

and wow-ed at the awesomeness.

Was so so lazy to run upstairs to grab the camera, so yeah.

The train station was 5 minutes away from uncle's house.

The boyfriend and I took the train to Taipei station, and from there,

we took MRT, aka jie yun for the Taiwanese,

to all the other places in the following days.

The public transports are super convenient in Taiwan.

And also very very clean,

plus you don't feel threatened 

because all you can see are Chinese, 

no immigrants in sight AT ALL. Weird.

All the Chinese signs are really welcoming. :)

The first destination was Dan Shui. 

Headed to lao jie (old street) first as it was still early (for the Taiwanese).

Fact Number 3:

Lao Jie (old street) is a street with traditional crafts, souvenirs, and mainly food, 

of which most of them are famous old brands started by their grandpas or fathers.

Almost all the towns in Taiwan has their own lao jie.

In Dan Shui Lao Jie,

the boyfriend couldn't wait to try this nasty food:

which stank like hell and tasted like shit.

This is the famous chou dou fu (smelly toufu).

The old auntie even tried to make it look edible with the vege,

but trust me, it ain't help at all.

I took a bite and the boyfriend finished the rest with funny face

because it really was disgusting.

Hahahahahahaha.

After eating this piece of shit, he didn't feel like eating at all.

Nauseated by it, he said. LMAO.

DAI SEIIIIIII.

This is xia ba (giant prawn?).

Bought it because the travel guide recommended it.

Nothing special. Just fried juicy prawn.

Ke Kou Yu Wan.

Not that ke kou. Hahahaha.

Not elastic at all but had pork filling and the soup was nice.

The mantou came in a set.

Hong Ma suan mei tang (sour plum juice).

I guess sour plum juice is the second favourite drink of the Taiwanese after pearl milk tea.

It was everywhere.

And this, Hong Ma, was really really nice.

The sour plum taste was really strong.

And I like Taiwan for encouraging recycling and loving the environment.

Fact Number 4:

Learn about recycling before you step into Taiwan.

You should know which is recyclable and which is not

or else you would spend hours in front of all their dustbins

figuring which bin you should throw your rubbish into.

The Taiwanese people also practice recycling at home.

They separate their rubbish according to types

before they throw them out.

Bought ferry tickets, and off we went over to Dan Shui Ma Tou (Dan Shui Jetty).

Dan Shui Ma Tou is the trademark of Dan Shui.

It used to be very old and dirty, then the government repaired and cleaned the place,

and built a chio bridge which then became a tourist attraction. LOLs.

That's the famous bridge, Qing Ren Qiao (Lover's Bridge).

The entrance of the bridge:

My hair was in a mess almost all the time in Taiwan because of the crazy wind.

Mentioned the weather in the previous post

so I am not gonna talk about it anymore.

Just make sure you bring some cardigans and scarves with you

if you are going to Taiwan during autumn.

The sideways of the bridge to nowhere:

So so beautiful.

Dan Shui is really a place for couples.

There was a nice red LOVE sign but I am lazy to download it from my inbox

as it was captured with boyfriend's DSLR.

And also the Lover's Bell: 

And this too:

With wishes and promises cramped on a wooden board.

Fact Number 5:

Plan your Dan Shui trip in the evening.

A hawker said we went there at the wrong hour.

The shops near the Lover's Bridge all open in the evening around 5pm.

Maybe you can go there at around 430pm 

when the sun is still up for photo taking,

then chill at the restaurants with some beers until night.

The hawker said the place is really beautiful at night with all the pretty lights.

After walking around for a bit,

we took LRT to the second destination: 

the famous Shih Lin Ye Shi (Shih Lin Night Market).

It was still early (5pm+) so it wasn't crowded yet.

Walked around and shopped!

Got my first 2 favourite hoodies there with only RM 17 each!

And the boyfriend freaking got 2 Nike pants and a limited edition cap.

Cost him about RM300 which he very much regretted after that.

Hahahaha. Noob ball.

Entered Di Xia Mei Shi Jie (underground food street) at about 8pm.

The underground food street was built lately.

There was an open-aired one at the end of the night market

but we didn't have time to walk that far

plus we were already starving.

The first thing which came in sight:

Juicy and big Taiwanese sausages!!!!!

The jumbo ones vs. the original.

The boy went crazy and bought a garlic jumbo immediately.

It tasted like heaven!!!! So so so so so awesome.

Can totally fight with German sausage.

O-jien (fried oyster omelette). 

A must-try in Taiwan but I dare say Penang has better o-jien.

Seriously. 

Never ordered a second one in other night markets.

Fried crabs.

Saw it on every table so we ordered. 

Also tasted so-so. Quite salty.

Not my thing. Except that it was really crispy.

THIS. THIS WAS THE BOMB.

Called rou zao mian (minced pork noodle).

When the boy ordered noodles I was like

why come to Taiwan night market to order noodles,

but then when I had it, OMG I TELL YOU, IT WAS CRAZILY AWESOME.

Not exaggerating.

I finished 80% of this plate in a few seconds.

This is crazy. The most delicious noodles in the world!! 

And I miss it to bits!!!! OMG.

My boyfriend is a genius. Haha.

Qing Wa Xia Dan (Frog lay eggs?). LMAO.

It is a drink with syrup and many many fen yuan 

which is something like pearls.

Must-have. Stated in travel guide.

Very refreshing. Order the lime one!

Fact Number 6:

Buy small potions in Taiwan night markets and share with friends.

You don't want to make yourself full with only 1 type of food right?

By sharing food, you can try many types of other food

(believe me, you will never want to stop trying),

and at the same time save cost.

After eating, we shopped for a bit

then headed back to uncle's home,

again by MRT and train.

The second day.

After breakfast, uncle and auntie brought us around Zhong Li,

it is a small town located near Taoyuan Airport,

and they drove us to Da Xi, 

which is located like half an hour away from their place.

We reached this place called Ci Hu,

which was once the residence of Jiang Jie Shi.

This Jiang Jie Shi fellow was an influential politician in the 1920s.

He was chased away by China before he went to Taiwan 

and took over the position of Sun Yat Sen.

If you wanna know more, click here.

According to uncle, the Taiwanese people were treated like shit

and Jiang Jie Shi kind of used all the people's money for his own purpose,

so the Taiwanese people hate him, even until now.

This might be true. 

His residence was soooooooooo big.

The bridge that overlooks his park.

His park with all his statues.

I bet there were more than 100.

A lot were transferred from the schools around Taiwan

because many of them were vandalized in their original places.

See how much the Taiwan people hate him. Haha.

A map showing ONLY the park.

There was a walkway in his house area:

He likes jungle trekking?

And who needs a lake in their residence????

Crazy right?

His body and coffin are kept in the area too:

Inside this room.

We were not allowed in, anyway.

Could only look at his giant portrait and the coffin. Pfffff.

After that, uncle and auntie brought us to Da Xi Lao Jie (Da Xi Old Street).

A temple appeared in the middle of nowhere.

Haha.

It was cramped between the shop lots. 

Free pie for testing.

Nice nice nice.

Taiwanese are really really friendly.

Even if you look with not a tiny bit of the intention of buying their stuff,

they still serve you well and give hell lots of things for you to test.

And they will just say Come back if you feel like buying afterwards.

Really warmhearted. 

Cute mango ice cream. ♪♫

Then auntie stopped by at a stall to buy our lunch.

This was the main reason we go to the old street.

Highly recommended by uncle and auntie.

Especially the huang jin dan (golden egg).
The eggs were kept in the fridge and were cold,
and the egg yolk was in this really deep orange and was really Q.
Weird eggs but the boyfriend loved it.

Apparently it is well known in Taiwan.

We bought 2 big packets of taufu and eggs back home as lunch.

After that we just chilled at uncle's house

and picked up Yi Huey and Say Seng from the airport in the evening.

After they took their showers, we packed our things and headed to Taipei.

Spent the night away from uncle's house.

It was a last-minute plan.

Backpacking is really really fun and exciting.

You wouldn't know where you will be until the last minute. Haha.

Taipei Train Station at night.

Found a hotel to stay near the train station. 

Cute room we found :)

and off we went down to explore Taipei city.

With the love ♥

Fact Number 7:

Taiwan's weather is more humid than Malaysia's

thus people with nose allergy will probably suffer from nose block and flu.

Bring some masks with you if you have nose allergy.

The boyfriend sneezed non-stop in Taiwan 

so auntie gave us like 20 masks. LOLs. Cute auntie.

I love how Taiwan government always think of their people.

A lot of tall buildings have the LED signs showing the time and also temperature.

Really considerate.

And the wide pedestrian lane ♥

I felt like I was in a Taiwanese drama.

Haha.

There were many tall tuition centres like this around the train station.

And also a lot of restaurants with cheap meal sets for the students.

In the morning the place was kinda deserted 

but at night the place was really lively,

mostly with youngsters and students with uniforms.

To be continued with Part 2.
Only Day 1 and 2 in this post.
OMG what have I gotten myself into?! LOLs.
Or am I too long-winded??