GOODBYE OCTOBER.

Just like that, it came and went. The year's ending and that whole deal of reflecting on one's life repeats itself.

MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Rewatched ep 10-14 like a record of 4 times? Gosh. I haven't done this for a super long time..

It's the final episode tomorrow and I am depending on the spoilers for today's episode since the subs won't be out till tomorrow. From what I read, things still don't look too good for TH and YR. Gaaah. For now I can only engross myself in their awesome soundtrack and dream of a typical K drama ending.

Shall end here before I end up ranting like an ultimate fangirl.

HELLO, OCTOBER.

It's been such a long, long time since I've blogged! It even came to a point where my domain has expired, though I am sure I have renewed it but I supposed it didn't go through. Getting back the same domain is going to be totally not worth the money - so till I find something new, I am just going to live without it for awhile.

In other news, life has been pretty busy lately. Everything seems to be going well this year. I don't want to jinx this good feeling that I'm having.. 2013 has been a year of mostly uncertainties. With every down, I can only hope for my next up and I am hoping this is it. I've been truly blessed thus far, and really.. Alhamdulillah for all the good things that have come my way.

An hour and eight minutes ago, I turned 28. Two years shy of the big 30. Four hours ago, I decided to start on a new K drama and after watching im for a few minutes, the scenes and happenings caused me to reflect on one of the major turning point in my life. That was my serious break-up with CMT.

We have been together for a long time and just like anything that's old, it had the tendency to break any moment due to it being overused, overworked.. you get my drift. I remembered contemplating about the break-up for quite a while. I returned to Singapore, tried hard to pick my life here where I left off. Most importantly, gain employment and hopefully it was something that I like. Things didn't go well. Relationship-wise, it didn't go well either. CMT was busy with his camp stuffs and I felt that he just wasn't there for me. Something from what I watched just now struck me. "We were together, but I just felt lonely."

In early 2011, we broke up - but 9 months later, somehow we decided to give the remnants of whatever feelings we have left for each other another shot. It wasn't easy at all. But I am reallt thankful that both of us were serious on making things work this time. Fast forward to 3 years later, here we are - engaged to be married.

More than a decade of being together, I'm glad we went through what we went through. Yes?, both the good and the bad. Even the extreme ones. Every squabble or fight we had was a lesson learnt. About each other, the people and things around us.

I'm not sure whether CMT will ever read this - considering how long my blog has been stagnant. But I hope he knows how thankful I am to him for not giving up on me and on us. And I couldn't ask for a better person to journey the rest of life with.

Here's to me being 28!

HELLO, 2014.

I am really looking forward to my 2014. It is a year of new beginnings in all aspects of my life.

LAST WEEK OF 2013.

2013 is fast approaching to an end and I can't even begin to describe what a whirlwind this year has been. 

SURPRISE.

To my horror, I've posted the previous #QOTW before in November. Yikes. Should really take note next time!

Errors aside, I am not sure if many knows that I am huge fan of How I Met Your Mother. I started watching this series when I was studying in Melbourne and it holds a certain kind of special meaning to me. Unfortunately, it is running it's last season now and I am trying to savor every episode before the last :(

My favorite character is surprisingly Barney Stinson, because despite the fact that he's practically a woman-eater, he is such a romantic, in the not so sweet and mushy way. I love how he pulls surprises off to Robin. I love his unexpectedness the most.

This is a scene from Episode 12 - The Rehearsal Dinner.

WHIRLWIND.

BUSY BUSY BUSY.

Haven't been updating the blog much lately because I've been busy with sewing and preparations. 

But I will try not to fail with my #QOTW.

LINE CONVERT

How I wish most of my contacts will make a move to Line from Whatsapp! I recently converted even though I've had the app since God knows when after Nad managed to convince me. Well, the stickers are the main reason for my move. Yes, the stickers! If Whatsapp decides to have a similar function then I'd probably stay on but that doesn't seem to be the case for now.

So far I've succeeded in converting the sis and cmt to Line users and both are enjoying the app, especially cmt. We walked past a shop celling mobile accessories and I pointed out some Line characters' casing. Despite being the one who first introduced him to the app, I actually forgot the characters name. I was like, "Eh bi, look! That's the Line characters!", as I was pointing to the casing. He just went, "Oh, that's Brown." "And the bunny!", I said. And he went, "You mean Cony?".

And then he went on to tell me facts about the characters - the duck is called Sally (yet to verify this!) and Brown only has one expression so he conveys his feelings through his actions.

Wow.

A short manga featuring some of the Line characters. 

Source: Line homepage

SAY NO.

This sudden urge to cut my hair short. It bugs me.

WONDERMENT.

Past incidents and current happenings affect one's perspective in life. Who knew that time spent waiting at a bustop could result in endless thinking and wondering what's the story behind every random person that I saw. Not that I am judging.

But yesterday one particular person caught my eye. He was standing outside one of the fast food outlets and was greeting every single person that walked past him. I realized he was a security guard working at the mall. Somehow I decided to observe him and was particularly interested in the response of those he greeted. I wasn't surprised when most of them did not even gave him a nod, what more a 'hello' in return. In other words, they did not even acknowledge his existence.

It's the same with people giving out flyers. I can understand the fact that some people wish to not accept them, for whatever reason (like probably they do not want to waste paper). But I find it rude if 1. they somehow change their course of direction and 2. ignore the person altogether. A nice gesture of raising your hand slightly to show that you do not wish to accept the flyer doesn't seem so tough, I would think.

Note: It's a different case if you have already stated yourself clear but the flyer person still insist on you taking the flyer.

An emotionless society, they say.

MINIMALIST.

It was quite a painstaking procedure editing this layout. I attempted using several pre-loaded templates but nothing was to my liking so I went ahead to use the default one and edited bits and pieces of it.

Hats off to those CSS/HTML wizards out there. Honestly, I find the whole thing mind blogging although I am not totally throwing it off the window that one day I may just try to learn this whole shizz.

Of matcha and patbingsoo

Besides green being my favorite colour, I am also an avid lover of matcha. To be precise, matcha is actually fine green tea powder. Being so, it is an anti-oxidant, an energy booster, a good source for detox and even burns calories.

This is why I am trying my best to inculcate the habit of drinking green tea every day. Not the bottled ones, of course. Those that comes in tea bags.

Since we are on the topic of matcha..

Patbingsoo (taken with Panasonic Lumix GF2)

This was what we had during our trip to Seoul two months ago. Green tea patbingsoo (Bingsoo means shaved ice). The green tea is barely visible thanks to the generous amount red beans given. The white cubes are actually rice cakes. It does look similar to our local ice kachang, but I assure you the taste is different.

Honestly, I've yet to find a reasonable tasting patbingsoo in Singapore, and I doubt I will ever find one. Nothing beats the original, anyway. But if anyone who is reading this and knows of a place, please do share. 

Wary.

Sometimes I feel there's got to be a meaning to all this.

Social media round up.

We all know how much of a follower we are of social media nowadays, and with so many different platforms, when does it become too much to handle and care for?

Personally, I am trying to keep it minimal, after testing out a few. Some was good while it lasted. 

Twitter: I deleted my account recently as I have been neglecting it for months. I can't believe I used to check my Twitter almost every hour. The itch to tweet came almost every hour too and then I got out of that addiction. Soon, the app just remained in my phone yet never opened. Until one day, I got a call from Noi and she told me I have been tweeting weird things, which obviously, isn't me. That wasn't the first time. So I thought, that's it. I could finally live without Twitter. 

Instagram: Still very much into it. Tags are very helpful too. Faster and probably more accurate than Google images.

Keek: Created an account just because I wanted to follow a few celebrities on Keek. And then Instagram video was born. Out goes Keek.

Pinterest: Still very much into it. Addiction level: high. Enough said. It's a super duper virtual board. Am absolutely loving it.. till something new comes along, that is.

Polyvore: Its use is highly just for research.

Flickr: Have been inactive, but I do plan on using it again. So it shan't be deleted.

Google+: I don't really find it user-friendly and am not exactly sure of its use, yet.

Facebook: Stating the obvious.

LinkedIn: Probably it will have some use in the future. 

Blogger: Will be here for long for days/nights like these. Plus, it's turning out into my logbook of sorts for korean dramas.

++ A few design-related platforms which I should really spend more time exploring.

Finally.

2 months ago, I was excited to embark on the next step of my journey and now that it is over, I came out feeling 99% certain that it is time to go solo. I have somehow felt jaded about a couple of things and it has come to a point where I realized there is no greater satisfaction than working other than for myself.

So maybe this is it.

2013 thus far has been great. I made a life-changing decision. Changed my path. Convinced my dad. Learnt many, many new things. I am happy with all these achievements thus far. And I know I can go even further, especially now that I have the support of my dad.

Well, I am going to use the last two weeks of Ramadhan to do more soul-searching, get some answers, figure out my next steps. For it is in this holy month.. our doas may be granted, Insya'Allah.

Baaanaaanaaa

Counting to next week because then I can finally start on all my pending projects!

Relax.

It's been such a chillin' Sunday. Don't you just love it when you can sleep in and not care about the time  you have to wake since it is not a work day? Who cares if the alarm rings because you can just shut it off. I woke up feeling rejuvenated and somewhat inspired to begin sketching again. So I was ready with my book and pencil when the bro came up and asked when am I going to start on the sashes. Right.

Consistency.

Or the lack of it. I should stop saying I will try updating on a regular basis because I know that will never happen..

Truth be told, I was already halfway through an entry when my laptop decided to crash on me and well, it's been in the Laptop General Hospital for more than a month. Literally. I just got it discharged today. And I was surprised all my docs and programs were still intact. Like duh. They changed the motherboard, not the hard drive.

In a nutshell, this past month has passed by so quickly, and I couldn't be more glad. It's now Ramadhan again! Is it weird if I were to say I am so not looking forward to Syawal, somehow. Was telling my mom how I preferred this holy month to the celebratory one. There seems to be nothing to rejoice for. I mean, I do meet my relatives on a regular basis now, Syawal or not, so maybe that's why. Unless of course, if you are a newlywed or have kids then probably it would be a different story. I miss those times of actually missing Syawal back when I was overseas. Things were more significant then. And back then I realised I took things for granted.. which is probably what I am doing now, again. Human beings are so difficult to satisfy sometimes (most of the time).

I do not even want to get started on that, because now I miss Melbourne too much. Or rather, I miss being away from home, the norm, and from this country. Sadly.

Things you can't find in stores.

Happy midweek everyone! It's ironic how I find that time passes faster when I have so much time at my expense. I really do mean it. Probably it's because I'm spending my time wisely, doing the things that I love to do, and slowly chasing my dreams.

I am making 2013 my year, and I truly hope this is the year that things I had wished for become fruitful and true. It's either make it or break it.

Below is a picture I recently drew after seeing one of Miranda Ker's IG post. How true, how apt. Blessed are those people who realize these are the essential ingredients in life.

Just a thought.

I was watching an episode of Win Win earlier today and the "Personal letter to myself" by the special guest, Lee Young Ja, totally hit me to the core. I can't remember the exact translation, but it was something like, "I am glad I failed. I am glad I experienced despair. Because it taught me to think of others. If I had kept on succeeding my whole life, I would have lived to be a beast or a monster."

Somehow, it was something that I needed to hear. We learn from our experiences, our failures. The less smooth-sailing it is, the better because it gives us the chance to learn. Having said that, here's a great quote which I came across today.