2023

Just a blink of an eye, 2024 is next week and I am taking it as if it’s still 2020 (that two years that covid owe us). 2023 is coming to an end. So much has happened, so many milestones and goals that I achieved this year (maybe because my mentality is that I need to do this before I turn 30 every single year) but this time - I really push myself to do it hahahaha

So the highlights that happened (I have a lot but am gonna narrow it down): 

• Bidding goodbye to the company that I was in for 3 years+ in KL. I am super blessed and thankful to have met nice people in the company (especially when I don’t find myself approachable at times but OATS fam has never given up on me), colleagues and manager whom I still keep contact are no longer holding that title but upgraded to friends. 
• Did staycations with my ex-colleagues and friends too!
• Moved out of my 7 years condominium that I called home. Made the cosiest room ever, being the main tenant for the past 6 years - it hasn’t been easy but am glad to have met nice housemates too (and some bad apples too but hey, without bad apples, life won’t be that interesting amirite 😅)
• Blessed with a nice landlord that understood me and he had been the sweetest landlord for the past 6 years (of course I am sending him something for Christmas!) 
• Two months of being jobless - did some freelance work to sustain myself of course and had the best tai tai life with my friend, Charmaine because we both were jobless hahahhaha. Thanks to Charmaine, I am able to have a gym buddy with free access (lol) and attending most of the classes (if this was school, I believe teachers would’ve graded us an A*+ for attendance)
• I cook a lot lately!! It helps because I am being kind to my bank account + my health too 😂
• During that two months of “sabbatical leave”, I manage to visit a country that I’ve never been to - Bali! So blessed to be able to climb up Mount Batur with a very nice weather! After Mount Batur, went on a full activity after that such as Water Rafting! In short, I was basically awake for 24 hours in that trip. 
• Had covid for the second time 
• Paid off my study loan and I am finally debt free from PTPTN (painful for my bank cause I actually paid off everything while I was unemployed) 
• Went back to Penang for Chinese New Year
• Celebrated Chinese New Year Eve. This time it’s no longer celebrating alone
• Had my first birthday celebration in a fancy restaurant that I am too cool for (lol) and this time, I get to celebrate it with my ex bf on the actual day
• Simple Plan concert - off my bucket list. It’s such a privilege to be able to catch them perform live! I got their official merchandise too!
• YOLO and went to Penang on an one night trip to settle the end year occasion - super rushed but girl's gotta do it (hint: final achievement)
• Perm my hair (again)
• While training for Mount Kinabalu, met new friends and climbed Bukit Berekah (after Ipoh)
• Came back to Sabah after 11 years (went there for National Service) but this time - to conquer Mount Kinabalu with my friend, Charmaine (funny story - while we were otw to Penang for a short vacation, Charmaine asked me if I am interested to hike Mount Kinabalu, without a doubt I was like onz let’s go together) and it happened. 
• Sabah was super fun! It was the best trip I’ve ever had this year. 1 week in Sabah and felt like a milestone conquering Mount Kinabalu. It has always been my milestone. So glad I get to do it with great company. 
• Successfully moved to a new country too, and got a job offer when I was conquering Mount Kinabalu (fun fact). Thankful for the super smooth transition - from all the documentations and the moving out. 
• Reconnected with my primary school friend this year!! 
• Bid my KL friends whom I called family bye bye (got too emotional cause I know that I can’t catch up with them whenever I want to) 
• Went to Halloween Nights for the first time with my friends!! (fun fact: did Universal Studios both day time and night time altogether) 11/10 would do it again
• Almost lost my pouch and made the taxi driver u-turn back to find my pouch somewhere in the hotel (not the room, lobby/bathroom area) and thank goodness I finally to found it somewhere. 
• Blessed with nice and fun colleagues in my current company. They make work more bearable. Having nice colleagues makes a difference tbh.
• Attended my third One Ok Rock concert with the same company. Still the band that gives me PCD
• Executed 5 campaigns (2 major campaigns to be exact!) for the past 5 months (with 0 experience in this industry) and I am still alive
• Donated and did something good this year too! Tho it is not big but doing something small by contributing something to the society/community helps too!
• Saving the best for the last- married my ex bf that is now my husband, and had a wedding before 2023 ends!! Planned my own bohemian-style wedding too (the planning is not consistent, felt like I planned less than a month)

Words can’t express how lucky I am to be surrounded by the people that loves me! I have so much to be honest but am listing down what I remember so far. 

Thank you, 2023! Stay tune next year December, to see my recap of next year. May 2024 be a blessing for all of us! 

2022

Broke a streak because I missed out 2021, so let me restart this blog again (and yes, it is active every December. If you are lucky - you will see this blog is updated in one of those random months.. chances are pretty slim but who knows)

I've been looking at this blank white box for quite some time because honestly, I do not know how and where should I start.. 

Maybe I should list down what I did in 2022 as a recap for me to look back of how did the past 12 months went:

1. Reconnect with old friends (acquaintances and friends that I knew for quite some time - became friends)

2. I cosplayed!! Cosplayed as Nezuko in a small festival with friends, and Kaneki Ken in a big festival in Singapore (solo cosplay). Proud that I finally achieve this dream of mine! (all the planning was super last min too)

3. Travelled after 2 years of no traveling due to Covid-19 restrictions. The highlight of the trip: got my Australia visa approved too (because there were cases when people have to wait for more than 6 weeks to get their visa approved and it is like a gamble.. it is either your application gets approved or rejected as they outsource it in different countries to go through the applications). Basically - Australia trip went well and got upgraded too! 😂 Possibly one of the best highlights ever. 

4. Survived the media-agency life (feels like an agency life) but I am really surprised by the perseverance that I have. 

5. Been hiking a lot (do you know that hiking helps with your mental health? HAHAHAH) and nope, I am not doing it for the sake of my mental health but I just want to get back the stamina again + been stressing a lot so hiking helps. 

6. Tried tufting for the first time! Made Kero-Chan from Cardcaptor Sakura #ogvibe

7. Got a new tattoo this year

8. Perm my hair for the first time. Finally chopped off my long hair (of 2 years+) and perm my hair too on February 13th cause self-care. 

9. Upgraded my room (from small room to a bigger room) because I am ready to have a bigger space! My humble crib that I called home this year. 

10. Went to Penang 2x times this year and it was with friendsssss! Went to Penang Hill (obviously went for the overpriced Habitat for the experience) and of course, both trips are meaningful cause everything was super spontaneous (from asking wanna go penang? let's book a bus ticket/onz let's go to being able to go with the right company). 

11. Went to Cherating and experienced Club-Med for the first time too! I actually climbed an actual rock. A lot of bruises but super worth it. Did sailing too. Super fun experience!

12. Learnt how to make my fav food (cause I can no longer rely on DTF) - I learnt how to make dumplings and Korean pancakes! Been cooking a lot and trying to eat home-cooked meals. (Fun while it lasted cause I stopped cooking at November cause I gave up 💀)

13. Been trying to save up money (haven't been able to reach my saving goal just yet cause it has been an up-and-down-phase) but I am very proud of being able to spend adult money on the things that I like, the food that I like, and being able to pay my bills and commitments (and of course, to buy nice presents and gifts for the people that I love and appreciate!)

14. Grateful to be alive - so that I can pat every cats and dogs that I see on the streets everyday.

15. Recently trying to reconnect with the things that I enjoyed doing - playing the guitar and switch (old friend, how have you been?) and going on long walks and cherishing my me-time moments (by taking long walks, going somewhere alone, eating out alone)

16. My loved ones are still healthy and alive -  being able to celebrate every happy milestone together, going through the good and bad times together. Every moment matters to me. 

17. I learn how to ride a scooter. Up to date, it is one of my frequent commutes too! 

18. Been taking care of myself better: eg: going for facial (lol but am thinking of canceling it tbh cause I can't stand the pain hahaha)

19. Recovered from Covid-19 pretty fast too (I recovered at Day 3, thanks to Chinese medicine that my sister sent over - it feels like Jesus turn water into wine). 

20. I am dedicating my final space: 2022 has been incredibly insane! Grateful for the trials and the blessings. (probably got more but let's cap it to 20)

Don't want to make it sound so cliché but 2023, I am not ready for you because I still haven't processed 2019 yet 😅

2020

 I can’t believe that this blog is 8 years old (well, I’ve deleted my high school blogposts previously cause I cringed so hard reading back at my old blogposts. Realizing the fact that I didn’t delete that one 2012 post (which was just one post) - maybe cause I forgotten about it. Ishhhhh. I cringe so hard when I read back my post but... wow I didn’t know that I was an emotional person back then (maybe up to now I still am) :p . Mind you, this account has been around since 2008 (just that I deleted all my previous post - fast forward to collegeeee hahaha) and active once in a blue moon. 

But hey, this website has always been my personal diary. It was once a private blog that I personally write to express myself better. This blog has always been a loyal friend to me since day 1. I am glad that I didn’t delete the remaining posts that I wrote in the past, to remind myself - how much I grow as a person. I’d like to remind myself that:- 

1. Don’t be ashamed of what I’ve become and what I’ve did in the past. All these blogposts are meant for keepsake purposes! As I looked back, there were a split between inspirational posts, curiosity before enrolling to college, reflecting back on that particular year and how to be better, and not to forget - good ol’ memories about whatever happened (half of it I am not too sure if I was being too emotional or being too deep? Well, I guess I am rather a deep person that dives into it) :p 

2. Technically after 8 years, the current person that I am now defines who I am. There were hiccups between 2015 - 2017 ; 2018 - 2019 because well, a lot of things happened in life and I didn’t really record that down.. but I guess I did summarized that in my 2017 post (a post that was not published and was hidden somewhere under the “drafts” and after 2 years, I decided to post that up (which was last year, 2019). 

2019 - did a recap of that year (for 2018 and 2019). 

3. Last but not least, I am back again. I think I will forever say that I am back every December because.. I notice I blog at this time of the month! So yeah... 

Now it is time for me to highlight 2020. 

2020 - is indeed about a year of manifesting, and a year to be thankful for. I know I’ll definitely read this blog in the next 5 years or so but I am gonna list down the highlights/and what happened this year:- 

What happened this year? 

- The pandemic happened (Covid-19); the first MCO (movement control order) took place in March 2020. Had to work from home, wearing a mask is a new norm, social distancing is a new norm. Traveling is ban because of the pandemic. Malaysia was at a recovery stage before (if I am not wrong - around July/August was RMCO?) and it went backwards after 2-3 months of it-was-fun-while-it-lasted : Back to CMCO (Conditional Movement Control Order) and cases are increasing day by day (2-3Xmore than the first phase) 

So yeah, that basically happened this year. 

My highlights this year:- 

- I am blessed because I am still keeping my job. I am blessed to work in an agency (#survivinginagencylife) that I used to put banner ads in my blog (the era when I was in high school until college) and used to write reviews on food, travel, photography for the fun of it hahahah (good ol’ blogging days). It’s been a year. Got my hands dirty with valuable experiences, and definitely did something that I never thought I would do (I have anxieties btw) but managed to pull through. So grateful for the opportunity and hope to see myself grow even more, to be better - not in terms of career but as a person too! 

- First Class Honours in the UK cert! So happy and thankful. Just received the certificate after a year of graduating from University (completed my degree too!) I am dedicated this post to my late father that always wanted me to do degree and I finally did it. This is for you, Dad. 

- Growing up, it is normal to feel that you want to keep people that knows you long as your friends for life. I learnt to settled down for quality > quantity (actually I learnt that long ago LOL, just that I would like to remind myself that quality friends > quantity. I learnt to accept the fact that not everyone that crossed path with would stay. There’s always a reason why some things just don’t work (that goes for all kinds of relationships). I am very thankful and grateful for the people that shape me to be who I am today (include those that are no longer in contact with me) - without them, I wouldn’t have learnt about life. Life is very complex, and I know that this is just 25% out of it. 

- I would like to give a pat in my back for being very independent. (I know I have been too hard on myself for the past few years but I can’t help to feel very blessed to go through the worst days of my life - that made me who I am today). Have been staying out alone for quite some time and I find joy enjoying meals by myself, doing things by myself, and even sitting down in my room, by myself. To be able to afford to take care of myself makes me feel that I am capable and strong. I am happy to be able to pay my bills and commitments too (especially this year - the pandemic happened but I am still able to pay my bills and commitments). God is good.. all the time! 

- Last but not least, I am blessed to have slothy to keep me accompany and being able to be greeted by colourful bunny everyday too. These are my fav soft toys btw (I am still a child at heart) ^__^ despite the harsh, ugly world, there’s definitely something colourful in the flipside of life. Surround yourself with those that love you. It makes your heart grow fonder and you know that you’re not alone in this! 

- I get to cook more often too! Home cooked food all the way. I lost weight too! Hehheheh. I gotta thank those people that called me fat??? (have they not seen me back in high school/college when I was struggling to gain weight?) So yeah, I took their words as an encouragement to be better. XD I kinda put on weight when I was in University (55kg is my heaviest) and now I am back to 50-51kg hahaha. Most importantly, healthy. 

- Achieve this year’s personal goal too and many more to go! :) 

Here you go, my current updates :D all in all, if you actually read until the end, thank you for reading my long post. 2020 has been both a challenging year, and also a year of blessings. A year of reflecting yourself - your goals, your emotions, your personal development. There are a lot of changes (in the new norm) and also so many things has actually happened too, but I am thankful for the little things. 

Omulab and Waka Waka, in the Heart of Petaling Jaya.

Omulab with my high school friend. We actually planned this since 1 1/2 year ago (like to go there and eat). One fine day, the day has come.

I didn’t really take much pictures but this is what I have. 

My friend ordered the squid ink omurice and I had the herbal rice omurice. 

This is our starter:- 

Egg pudding - RM5

My friend told me she did some research online and told me that this is a must order and so, we ordered one to share. 

Friend also mentioned that one is never enough. Must at least ordered 3 and I have to say that this is actually quite nice. 10/10 would recommend if you like pudding. I like the texture and the caramel taste. Very soft. 

This is my omurice! RM18. It comes with Curry sauce cause well, I was craving for Japanese curry (thanks to Pokemon) and I finally got my Japanese curry. 

Learnt my lesson. Just order one and share. Big portion. Worth the price. 

Taste wise? I would say the fried rice taste like Chinese fried rice (not sure is it cause it is to cater the Malaysian style?) 

I like the egg cause it is half cooked omelette. 

Croquettes. Rm8.50 for 3 big pieces. 

The first batch that came to us was quite sour. At first, I thought it was how it is supposed to taste until I asked my friend if she finds it sour too. 

And I wasn’t the only one. And we decided to ask the waiter.

Waiter explained to us that they added some vinegar in the croquettes. They decided to take the croquettes to the kitchen and came out after a few mins and told us that they will cook a new batch for us. 

The second batch was not sour anymore. They didn’t charge us for the croquettes. 

Omulab contacted my friend after writing an honest review on her IG because she would occasionally post food on her IG based on her thoughts, recommendations. 

Omulab has got a good customer service. They sent me a personal message on Instagram and apologized for the sour croquettes. 

Okay, I’ll come back again just cause they humanize people more than just “earning profits” 

Anyway, after dinner, my friend brought me to this new ice cream place that opened nearby her home. 

RM2 for one scoop cause I went on their third day of opening (promotional price hehe) . I got the chocolate brownie. Quite big. I am happy. 

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My friend ordered the Caramel flavor. She likes it too. 

Air Supply Concert (15th December 2019)

And so, I am back and I remembered that I promised to blog again. Remember I was mentioning about Air Supply on my previous post? I guess I will be blogging about Air Supply then! 

So how did I get the Air Supply tickets? Gotta thank World Of Buzz for giving me the tickets! And heck, I realize that I’ve never been to a concert this year (except for the open stage gig where I met Kyle Patrick from The Click Five- omg I finally met him after ages and I still remembered how obsessed I was towards him! Hahhah after many years, finally gotten a picture with my first celebrity crush (and still is hahahhah) ) I legit didn’t go to a concert as in like in those stadium type that kind of thing hahah. 

So back to where I was, I decided to ask my friend, Cat along cause 1. She likes classics 2. It’s been awhile since she actually for a concert 3. cause I dragged her into this hhahhaha

We took the express bus to Genting at 10am. The bus had this weird noise (such kind of the honk sound) non stop for a good 10 minutes and our ears were bleeding. Thought we would be changing bus but luckily they managed to solve it. 

Then off we went up. 

And Genting was sooooo crowded on a Sunday. (And I just remembered that this month is a festive season and a month when people clear their annual leaves or remaining leaves). Genting was flooded with so many people. Grabbed boost and took the shuttle to the hotel immediately.

We stayed in Swiss Garden hotel for a night and we got it quite reasonable compare to booking a standard room in First World. We got it for RM205/night in Swiss Garden Hotel (it is reasonable, considering the fact that it is a 5 stars hotel and it’s a concert day which means peak season). It’s also a new hotel (newly built like July 2019). 

First World Hotel standard room was RM448/night and honestly speaking, might as well stay in Swiss Garden cause (let me state the pros and cons)

1. More spacious and nicer hahahahah

2. New hotel hahahhah (let’s face it) 

3. Better facilities 

4. Free shuttle bus to the premium outlet. 

5. 5 star hotel. Would rather book a hotel that provides spacious and nicer room then to go for an ordinary standard room in First World plus First world hotel at that time is not even cheap and 2x more expensive than Swiss Garden. 

Cons:- 

1. Not in Genting itself but in Gohtong Jaya 

2. Inconvenient cause of the timing of the shuttle bus 

3. Have to rush down/take Grab to Gohtong Jaya

Happy that we were able to check in early too - went to the counter straight and they gave us our keyssss yayyyy! (called them a couple of times and understand that it was a peak season so it was always busy)

Here's how the room looks like (feat. Cat in the video)

And here's the video of the swimming pool (heated pool), it is pretty troublesome to get there cause the need to keep switching lifts just to get there (still new so, that's why the lift is still under renovation)

and so, we left at 3.30pm after chilling in the hotel + checking out the facilities hahahahh. They even have the "music rooftop garden" where you can probably go sing Frozen 2 songs over there hahahahh.

We queued up for the cable car for 1 1/2 hour (FML) and while waiting, we made a bet of what time we would arrive up there.

Take your guess on who wins this round?

And this is just the entrance okayyy!!! 

We manage to reach up there at 5.32pm (Cat won the bet lmao)

Went up there and had late lunch + early dinner lmao.

Decided to wander around Genting before going in the arena cause it was still early.

Guess who got lucky that night?

In the arena:-

Take 1 (check out the photobomber) 

Take 2 

69 and 70 years old still can sing so well!! 

Full house. The arena was filled with peopleeeeeeee. It is their last concert in Malaysia so am not surprised with the number of people.

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Thank you, Air Supply! 

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We ended our night with some drinks from Starbucks cause Genting was cold + raining so it is a good time to drink and chill before heading down back to the hotel. 

2019.

I'm back... for good. 

I have been neglecting my blog for a long time and am back for good after 2 years +.

I decided to login to my blog after 2 years+ (surprisingly, I still remember my password) and found a couple of drafted posts that I didn't publish (mostly are from 2013 onwards. Most of the posts were incomplete as I didn't really finish the entire story but what I know is that from 2013 onwards was all about rantings and my honest feelings). My blog was my best friend back then, and a space where I can totally be who I am without having the fear of getting judged in some people's eyes. 

Anyway, what makes me come back after 2 years +? I don't know. I felt that something tells me to do so because blogging used to be my passion since high school (I deleted my first blog in high school because it was too cringy and decided to delete it so nobody finds my blog and mock me hahahahh) And so glad that I didn't actually delete this blog (I wanted to 2 years + ago due to certain reasons) but hey, this blog is still around and looks like I'll continue to blog after 2 years + hahahahah

It's coming to the end of 2019. I realize that I didn't post anything in 2018 because well honestly, 2018 was a tough year for me and there's no point looking back since it is the past. Long story short, 2018 made me stronger and carry forward to 2019, I became the strongest of the strongest (actually I'm still very soft at heart) hahahaha but jokes aside, 2018 made me who I am today in 2019. 

However, 2019 has been better (maybe cause I went through a tough battle last year and that I finally know how to guard myself better) - what I notice about 2019 is that - I reconnect with most of my old friends, met some familiar faces that I know but didn't talk - and eventually we talk and became friends, prioritizing the ones that love and support me (that small quality of friends that became my family), and most importantly, being able to let go and be happy for the ones that I've crossed path with but no longer in talking terms due to certain reasons as well. Praying does help a lot and I secretly pray for the ones that I'm no longer in talking terms with to be happy and secretly wish that they will succeed in life - being able to hit as many milestones in life, creating better friendships and relationships. 2019 also taught me to love thy enemies because honestly, we are not perfect and some things happen for a reason. 2019 is also a year where I found out the truth that I needed to know.  Painful but at least it is the truth that I deserve to know and that it allows me to grow as an individual. 

So basically 2018 taught me to try because no matter what, I did tried in whatsoever circumstances that happened, and the truth that I needed to know instead of words but actions. 

& 2019 - healing - and accepting the fact that we can't change the past - of why some things happened alas, acceptance and letting go. 

2019 is indeed a fruitful year (will jot it down on my next post cause it is 1.57am and I'm tired), got a bus-ride to catch later as I'll be watching Air Supply tonight (yayyyy) okay will save it for the next post byeeeeee :D

It was on the draft status since 2017 and I decided to publish this:-

Hi.

It's been awhile since I have last posted.

And I know it because I have been quite busy lately and of course, I kinda lost my mojo to blog.

I shall welcome back myself after a year because I'm currently have nothing to do 'till 7pm and just waiting for time to pass.

In fact, I have so many things to update for the past 1 year that I went missing but I just don't know where to start. (or maybe because I change to be more reserved?)

So what have I been up to since the day I went missing in action 'till now? Well, those people that I am close with should know what have I been doing all these while and yes, I changed. I change to be more reserved, I'm more like an introvert from an extrovert because my body can't take the hyperactive stress anymore so it has to retired (lol kidding. Just that my spirit died off), I have been focusing so much on myself in terms of the direction of where I want to go and am glad that I am doing well in that - like knowing what's best, to change my fate because I am the only person that is able to decide on my fate. Funny how a year and a few months ago I was still on the verge of finding myself - to continue working and have no future otherwise or to change my fate to go further and be brave to take consequences to make sacrifices on what I really want to achieve in my life or just remain in my comfort zone? I choose Plan B and I have no regrets.

After 3 years, I have come to decide my fate is to get that degree that I wanted. I am wayyy behind all of my friends and I know I shouldn't put the stress on myself that I am not trying hard to get it and living with regrets due to the past. I have my moments when I feel that I'm nothing like those people who have a stable family nor a perfect life to get what I really want in terms of how I want to achieve my goal but didn't know where to start. I don't see a future where I can soar. In fact, I am very glad that I went through the hardest 3 years which changed my life forever. I always tell myself that it may be hard for me to look out for the rainbow as most of my friends came out graduated, doing a degree at an age of 19, work-travel, travelling around the world, getting their dream jobs, excelling whatsoever achievements, goals in life and what I get is nothing. I gave myself a pat in the back and told myself to think about how I can choose to change my fate. If Plan A doesn't work out, go for Plan B instead. I may not be the strongest person but I know that I am brave. Without the help of some beautiful people (you guys know who you are), universities halls, classes were never in my dictionary and I would never have the chance to stepped to experience it.


Doing that 3 years, I have gain so much knowledge and understanding myself better. I can remember briefly that I couldn't tell anyone about my background, what was I doing in that past three years, figuring out myself.