Category Archives: Life

All is quiet on New Year’s Day

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How did you spend the first day of the new year?

I went shopping, and I didn’t exactly enjoy it.

Shocking, I know. And it was hardly eventful too, but I guess it was more exciting than what I had originally planned: watch TV. Yeah yeah… I’m boring like that. But that’s how I like it sometimes, y’know? I like the quiet. Hitting Orchard Road on a public holiday, and a Saturday, no less, has never sat well with me. Thankfully, the crowd “listened“, and a substantial percentage of Gen-Yers stayed home, fast asleep/recovering from their hangover, I presume. SWEET.

Perhaps I’ve been imbued with the whole must-save-money-for-NYC mantra, because I just didn’t feel like spending. And this despite the fact that I need new work clothes (my wardrobe is getting a little too overwhelmed with weekend wear). My spoils for the day? 3 tops, a pair of pants and a necklace. All of which are varying shades of black. As I get older, I find myself more drawn to the monochrome. Everything that caught my eye today was either black, white or grey. I then took the conscious effort to look for colour, but none of them appealed to me. Am I getting boring?

My second day of the new year promises to be more fun, with a little afternoon get-together with my buddies from work, then a seafood buffet dinner with the folks at Concorde Hotel. I might just bring my camera, y’know, in my attempt to fulfill #12 on my list.

I’ll leave you with this classic from Nirvana, because it’s my song of the day, and I have it on repeat.

Happy New Year! :)

In Bloom, by Nirvana

30 before 30

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Inspired by the Mighty Life List, and worried that my remaining 20s would go by in a flash, I’ve decided to come up with a personal list of 30 things to do before I turn 30.

I love making lists (but boy, did this list take me a loooooong time!) and while I may not always adhere to them, I do feel that it gives me something to look forward to. I’m also gonna think of this as my sort of new year’s resolution; the only difference is, I’m giving myself more than a year (about 20 months, as of today) to get through all these.

To make myself more accountable, I shall blog an update every last day of the month so you can check on my progress. Because this time? I really, really want to strive to achieve all of these goals.

1. Read the Bible from cover to cover
2. Get my online store started
3. Have a great time in NYC
4. Have dinner at one of the restaurants from this list or this list (whichever is more feasible)
5. Locally, have dinner at one of the restaurants from this list
6. Get in shape
7. So I can participate in the 10km 5km Shape Run (I shall not commit to a route yet)
8. (Finally) Be able to cycle
9. Get back into the habit of reading
10. Re-watch Lost
11. Bungee Jump
12. Be a photography goddess (or y’know, at least take better photos)
13. Create my own photo book
14. Successfully bake a cake
15. Get a family portrait taken
16. Learn to drive (as opposed to actually getting my license – I’m being realistic here)
17. Complete at least two DIY projects from this list
18. Be registered as a bone marrow donor (yes, I know I’m terrible for not having done it yet)
19. Send a package to my sponsored child from World Vision
20. Organise another family gathering with the cousins and rellies
21. Re-design my blog (from scratch, entirely on my own, with no template whatsoever)
22. Learn how to use Adobe Illustrator
23. Scan ALL my family’s old photos
24. Get back on Postcrossing and send 100 postcards (currently: 16/100)
25. Stop biting my nails – for good (something tells me this might be the most unachievable…)
26. Attend the Singapore Grand Prix
27. Attend the Singapore Biennale
28. Understand my financial/insurance plans (in my defence, my cousin’s doing a kick-ass job with it)
29. Stay at any of the Banyan Tree resorts for at least 2 nights
30. Have dinner ON a beach

Would you like to help me accomplish any of them? :)

Welcoming the new year with tentative arms

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57:365 Stress
(Photo by gramola2three)

After attending meetings for two days straight, I think it is safe to assume that 2011 will be filled with a whole lot of crazy. I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed after sitting through the barrage of information that was fed to us. And the whole time, I kept wondering if I’d even be able to watch any more TV. Yeah, guess who has her priorities right? LOL.

But seriously, it’s either I’ve been relaxing way too much this holiday that any work is appearing insurmountable, or the workload for next year really has increased tenfold. The school term hasn’t even begun and I already feel like crawling into bed and letting Damien Rice sing my weary soul to sleep. *sniffs*

I know things will be okay as soon as I get right back into the thick of the action. But I also know that part of me is not looking forward to this brand new scholastic year as much as I usually do because my beloved form class of three years – my babies – have all graduated and they won’t be there any more to cheer me up. And I know I’m being a total sook about this, but these kids really did brighten up my days at work, y’know? I always looked forward to going into their classroom, because they provided me with a haven where I could relax, be myself and simply enjoy the delights of teaching. I probably sound insane but it really is the individual students who make me passionate about my profession. Without a connection, I don’t know if I can find the drive to keep going. I guess this is what I’ll learn in the new year, now that I’ll no longer have a form class.

One thing that’ll definitely sweeten 2011 is the realisation of our long-awaited NYC trip at the end of the year. It’s something I’ve been anticipating since 2005 and I can’t begin to describe how excited I am about it. Goodness knows how much we love to do our travel research so when the suggestion was made for us to meet once a month in preparation for the trip, I think I practically yelled out that it was a BRILLIANT idea. It’ll certainly give us something to look forward to each month. Now, we’ll just have to make sure our other travel buddy is mobile enough to meet us. :p

What about you? Any trepidations/cheer about the new year?