Ways to be happy

Well I've been seeing too many posts of people complaining on facebook and everywhere else. And I can't help but wonder what the purpose of complaining is.
Firstly by complaining about everything under the sun like annoying aunties, inconsiderate passers-by and anything, really, what are these people trying to achieve? Sympathy? A listening ear? Firstly, people who even care about you a single bit wouldn't even be replying you over there on such a public platform.
Next, if you really want advice, you wouldn't be doing it through social media since you're only attracting more attention to yourself. And if you're talking about a particular someone on your friend list/other mutual friends, wouldn't you be afraid that some people might see it and news might travel? Not a smart move, I personally feel. Shouldn't you be telling it to someone whom you can trust your secrets with, instead of posting cryptic messages in the hope that someone will ask you for more detail? I'm happier sharing my problems with my friends through messages, don't know about you. People who do that are just trying to garner attention and gain satisfaction from people who reply them. Not classy at all, really.
And then what comes next is what I'm so annoyed about! It's that these people are simply giving off negative energy! Don't they even realise this? Sounding like a selfish prick here because of the negative vibes that I've been getting. Not that I've been in the best of moods these days but at least I don't pass on these negative feelings on to others through a cryptic post on social media. I appreciate an inspirational quote or a quote that gets people thinking, but those who are just ranting or complaining just deserve to get unsubscribed off my news feed. Afterall, I don't think much of people who post their entire lives on Facebook.

If you're really that unhappy, find out why you're feeling this way and attempt to solve it. Complaining gets you no where. Yes, you feel better after ranting but where does it get you? No one is going to offer you a practical solution online.
Happiness is a choice, really. You choose to let the unhappiness overwhelm you. If you're always displeased over the same issue, then clearly something is wrong somewhere. It's like being trapped in maze. Your friends are the people on the outside. They can see the way out of the maze, and are shouting out the directions to you, but you insist that they are wrong and go the other way instead. You choose to trap yourself in the maze and yet complain about not being able to get out, what logic.
I think friends can give you all the advice in the world, but it's still up to yourself to decide whether you want to remain stuck in that rut or to get out of it. If such people want to keep complaining and yet refuse to listen to what others tell you over and over again, then these people should also realise that even if you're not sick of listening to others repeat the same thing over and over again, the party giving advice will also one day get sick of saying the same old thing. Another thing is that some people like asking others for advice when they clearly have already made up their mind and are just waiting for you to reaffirm their decision, but more often than not, what I say is not what they want to hear. So please consider the stand of others' as well! You know how annoying it gets when people ask for advice when they've already made up their mind. It's like our words don't count at all, really 对牛弹琴. Really tired of hearing the same thing, and knowing that I have to say this in response to that. I know I'm guilty of this sometimes but I'm trying to change and have been heeding the advice of others.
Always remember that your close friends will never mind you complaining endlessly to them or ranting simply because they're your friends. But just do it in private, please?
Another way to feel happier is to consider what you have, instead of what you don't. I remember a quote from Joy Luck Club. Jing Mei's mother tells her,"Why do you think you're missing something that you never had?" And I find it so true. The reason why most people are unhappy and dis-satisfied is because they envy what others have and wish they had what others have, without cherishing what they have. Envying never ends and is just a vicious cycle happening over and over.

Perhaps the easier way out for my own happiness would be to stop being such a stalker and looking through Facebook and do other productive stuff. That way I wouldn't be typing out this spur of the moment post when I could have spent the time elsewhere.

Define: Love

I think I've finally figured out what love is. All along, I've always tried to define love by feelings, how I feel towards a person, how the other party feels towards me (read: self centred thoughts revolving around myself). But today I realized that feelings don't matter a single bit towards defining love.

I realized today. how much I love my family. I've always doubted whether I truly love them. What a thought, right? Though I assumed so, and felt like I did, but never once was I sure that I loved them because of how I defined love. But now I'm sure.

Love is defined not by telling the people that you love them, but by showing them through your actions. Not the intentional ones like buying something you think they might like. Yes, those are acts of love but the nagging that they have to hear from you because you care for them and worry for them speaks volumes more because honestly, you wouldn't say a single thing when you don't give a damn at all. Never did it occur to me that such an annoying act towards the other person could be an indication of love, but yes, it is.

I found my answer when I wasn't looking for it at all. So enlightened now. Perhaps you already know this, but for me, better late than never(:

Pique Nique! V2

Met Steph for dinner 2 weeks ago and we decided on Pique nique because we never tried their main courses before. Went there for their desserts at Jcube before and was so tempted to try their mains and glad that I did! Googled their menu before visiting and I already decided what I wanted even before I arrived there.

My pique nique classique burger

This was super good! The beef patty was moist, flavourful and huge, topped with the slice of cheese. And the bun was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The fries were nice as well, probably because it was salty. Felt super guilty after eating them. But always very glad whenever the food I order turn out nice, but that also means that when I visit again, I'm more likely to stick to the safer choice. Hahaha.

Steph's farmer's omelette

Which she enjoyed as well.

We actually just ordered one main each, but then a family of 5 came and ordered desserts to share. 5 of them shared 3 desserts, which all looked so good, much to our dismay. So we decided to order this! It was either the cakes or a dessert. Really hate when I have to choose, especially between desserts. There were waffles, brownies and sticky date and toffee pudding. But we eventually decided on brownies because Steph really liked the brownies I baked last time.

We tried very hard to avoid the fresh cream and swept it aside, hahaha, the health conscious. The brownie was warm and moist, going very well with the cold ice cream. Haven't had brownies in a long long time so I really enjoyed it. I know you can't really see the brownie from this photo. The scoop of ice cream was really big. Steph said she still prefers the brownie I baked. So I guess I'll bake brownies some time, when I don't feel so lazy.

Went to Mango after dinner to shop a little since their sale just started, and really, Steph and I always manage to buy the same item, though in different colours. Hahaha, but luckily, we never ever wear the same item when we meet. Really glad to have Steph stand by me still though the 4 of us from JC don't meet or talk as often now. I was so pleasantly surprised when I bumped into Steph at the Harbourfront ferry terminal. It turned out that she was going to Batam as well! But we were not on the same ferry, neither did we stay in the same hotel. Still, it was nice to know that such a coincidence existed(:

Introducing Jaeho!

Say hi to... My new bag! I've always wanted a cambridge satchel ever since I saw it. They come in so many colours and I thought I wouldn't know which colour to pick if I had to choose one. Haha but the price always put me off since I was still schooling at that time so I never thought of buying it. Then came my birthday and my Mum saw them on ASOS. She asked me if I wanted one so I went to browse through the bags they had, and I saw the Cambridge satchel again. So I decided I would get one even if my Mum wouldn't sponsor me, using my year end bonus and the discount code that ASOS gave before christmas. I got it in rust as it was one of the colours exclusive to ASOS. I tried looking for reviews for the bag to decide on which size to order. Was pondering over the 13" and the 14" ones. I was really really leaning towards the 14" until I read that many prefer the 13", so I took the risk and got the 13" since I really really liked the colour. Delivery took about 3 weeks due to the festive season and I saw the box lying happily on my bed when I got home.

First reaction when I saw the colour was that it's not true to the colour on the site, but it's fine by me, I like this colour as well.
Colour in real life.

And I always had difficulty gauging the size of the bag in comparison to the person carrying it. The 13" always looked really small to me, but it feels alright to me when I saw the actual size. In fact, I really really love this, so I named this bag Jaeho, hahaha, after Yunho and Jae. It's funny how my belongings have names like Hochun and Jaeho. Maybe someday I will name other belongings Yoosu, Jaechun, or Minfood(haha!).
One picture for anyone who needs to gauge the size. Perfect size, really(:

The interior of the bag. It's a daily challenge to fit all the barangs I want to bring to work into my bag, as you can see, 2 books and my already take up most of the space. I still have to fit my phone, charger, key pouch, fruits and a small lunchbox. I would say it helps me keep the unnecessary stuff I don't need at home. In a way it's good. Although it looks big, it really cannot fit a lot of items.

One thing I was (and still) very shocked about was how hard it was. It's really really really hard like cardboard. My parents tell me that it will soften over time, but that means that I need to carry it every day. And I fully intend to. That means that I need to sacrifice reading thick books during lunch and on the journey to work and home. Hahaha.

And I received my flats from The closet lover today! It's so pretty! I don't really buy shoes online because I'm afraid of the fit and all, but this was too pretty to resist:P Opted for registered mail for the first time ever because I was afraid of it getting lost in the mail. Such a comfy pair of flats. There is slight cushioning so it doesn't feel so 'flat' if you get what I mean. Wore it in the photo above too. My new favourite pair of flats:D Fits true to my usual size as well.

Work lunches

The good thing about having lunch alone almost daily is that I get to decide what I want to have, without having to consider anyone else's craving, neither do I need to get that look from people eating with me when I don't finish my food. But of course, the downside is having to eat alone, something I'm not very good at. Getting better at it nonetheless. The worst part of eating alone is finding seats. While queuing for food, I'd get so stressed up, afraid that I'd not be able to find

I'm aware that this is not considered as proper food for lunch, but I was given these when we had a health screening, since we all had to fast before the blood test, and I already brought breakfast from home, so I saved these for lunch. 

Finally managed to have the popiah sold near my office this week! The queue has always been so long and I've given up queuing so many times. Imagine my glee when I saw just two people in the queue and proceeded to queue and understood the reason for the perpetually long queues. It was really that good, except that two popiahs are too much for me. I should stick to just one the next time. 

Favourite choice of food for lunch - Yong tau foo soup! I usually just pick six or seven pieces and order soup. Love that it's so healthy but delicious at the same time!

And sometimes there are talks, so lunch is provided. I love the lunches catered because they taste so good, unlike the food we get when we have camps in school - lots of rice with just two vegetable dishes. It's usually bento boxes with chicken and fish and lots of veg, a lot of rice as well but well..I just don't finish them. 

Subway lunch during one of the talks. 

Such nice packaging for the bento box right? My colleagues always comment that it's very good as well. 

Second favourite choice for lunch after yong tau foo! I remember having fish soup noodles for lunch a few days consecutively when I didn't know of the existence of a yong tau foo stall yet.

A rather extravagant lunch I would say! I got a shock when my manager told me to choose a place to have lunch when she came over to accompany me. I didn't have a lot of cash in my wallet (such a -.- moment), so I chose one of the cheaper items on the menu at Ichiban sushi (I think). Ordered my favourite beef. And it turned out that she was treating me because she found out that it was my birthday a few days ago. Such a lol moment and I got worried for nothing. But I also learnt to keep more cash in my wallet for such 'emergencies'. 

No idea why the photo ends up in portrait form though I uploaded it in landscape.Met my Mum for lunch at Crystal Jade Clementi Mall when she had an appointment before work. Boy the food took really long to come, given that we had limited time to eat. I got so panicky because I was afraid I'd exceed my one hour lunch break. In the end they missed out on the broccoli that we ordered and we had to cancel that order.  How could we not order custard buns when we saw it on the menu, and so we did! Haha. They were really huge compared to the ones we had before at Swatow dim sum buffet. I was rather disappointed by the custard bun because the custard didn't 'flow' out like the ones I had previously at Kungfu Paradise and at Swatow Toa Payoh. The custard just seeped into the bun and that was it. My Mum and I shared the fried rice which was really good. It was supposed to be an 일인분 but it was still too much for both of us. The service could have been improved on since it wasn't really full house, and considering that it was lunch hour and customers have limited time to eat and don't have the luxury of time to wait so long for their food. 

 

There is actually Fish and Co at Clementi mall. I wonder when I'll ever get the courage to step into the restaurant and say 'table for one'. Guess it's neverrrrr~~

Sadly my choices are rather limited to these, as well as Mr Bean pancake and soya bean whenever I feel like it. I recently started to like Jollibean's red bean pancake. And the sad thing that I realised is that wherever there is Mr bean, there will not be Jollibean! Oh well. We can't have the best of both worlds. Been trying the red bean pancake at different outlets and really, the standard varies by a lot. Really glad that the one at Civic centre tastes decent. I love those with overflowing red bean. Uh don't need to remind me about the calories. Out the window they go when it comes to pancakes and flour related food. Hahaha. 

Speaking of flour and such, I just made waffles from scratch and used the waffle machine after a long time. It all started when my brother came into my room asking if I wanted waffles from across the road, which I declined. Then my Mum decided to make waffles since we have a machine. Hahaha and then I went to the kitchen and took over the making of it because I wanted to play. It was really fun to make waffles. As with making anything, your skills improve with practice so I made very nice waffles towards the end and sadly, it was also the point when everyone is already so stuffed, so I ended up finishing the last few pieces of waffles. My Mum actually forgot the sugar when she made the first batch, so she made another batch and we added sugar and peanut butter into it, which tasted rather good, albeit the peanut butter taste a little lacking. Couldn't bring myself to add even more peanut butter though because of all the saturated fat and yada yada yada. I wonder what the nicest topping for waffles are. I've only tried nutella which I didn't really like, peanut butter which was sadly not my ideal choice because it was a little too sweet, and maple syrup or honey. What's your favourite topping?(:

2012

Well, so it's 2013 now and I haven't been blogging as often I'd like to. Never thought I'd be saying this, but I have no time! Or I spend my time doing other things like online shopping (I take super long to decide whether to buy this and that, and browse so many sites, plus scrutinise the clothes when they have a zoom-in function. And browse for fun as well), reading (yes it's one of my favourite hobbies, really. I've always stuck to chick-lit because it's light hearted and all, but recently I started reading 'heavier' plots by Jodi Picoult and enjoying them quite a bit), and of course watching shows (whole long list of dramas I want to watch and a backlog of Running man). So this sums up what I've been doing. Okay I realise I sound like a wormmmm. 2012 has been great, don't know what to look forward to in 2013 but I'm optimistic that things will get better.

The main purpose of this entry was to summarise my 2012 (a little late, but just for memory's sake).
1. Starting work
I guess this would be most significant because it's like a new milestone that I've reached. I won't ever forget - 15th Oct 2012, the day I started work! Not forgetting the arduous path that led to me finding the right job. God is good, really. Because I find that everything happens for a reason. We will never know why it happened at that moment, but someday upon looking back, you'll find that His plans are the most perfect. I don't know how my future will pan out, honestly it's still a hazy path ahead and what I once thought would be comfort has gradually turned into confusion again. I know I can't rest on my laurels and will most probably have to consider further education in the near future, but I'll take my time to ponder over what exactly I'll do. Nevertheless, still something that has been weighing down in my mind. I like going to work because of what I do and the freedom it gives me. Like I always say, work can be left in the office, which is why I like it. As long as I get to make a little difference in the lives of others, I am content.

2. Treasuring those who matter
This year has been such a rollercoaster ride for me. I guess I do experience highs and lows in my life every year, but this year, I've experienced the extremes quite a bit, so it really opened my eyes (and heart, I might add) to people who really matter to me. I'm never one to make small talk or keep up pretences with people I'm not close to, so I'm really thankful to the people who've stood by me through the tough times. These people never forsake me when I need comforting. The long period of time I had before I got employed allowed me to spend precious time with my family, something I didn't get to do while still schooling because there was always something to be done, some notes to be read, webcasts to be watched. Words probably can't express how thankful I am so I'm going to express it through my actions.

3. Changing habits and keeping fit
This is something I'm rather proud of, because after all these years of saying that I want to exercise and lose weight, I haven't exactly managed to do it until 2012. Not with my effort alone, but with my friend's encouragement to push me in the right direction, I finally started jogging in February 2012 and kept up with it till about July or so. I started with the intention to lose weight because I somehow managed to eat unhealthily and gain about 5kg over the span of 3 years. Though it was not really obvious to others (Or maybe it was, but all of my friends were too polite to tell me that I got fatter), but I got really unhappy when I looked in the mirror. And although I knew that I was getting heavier, I was not doing anything about it. Yes I know talk is cheap, and I tried to eat less, but that was quite useless. So I eventually started jogging after a wake up call (stepping on a weighing scale). At the start, it was really tough because the last time I jogged was in 2008, but it gradually got easier. And it so happened that the modules I took taught me a lot about the foods that we should choose for healthy lifestyles and some tips on exercising as well, so I changed my eating habits (switched to wholemeal bread, started taking oats, included more fruits in my diet, and of course, cut down on unhealthy snacking) and managed to lose enough weight to reach my targeted weight! So I stopped jogging for a period of time, but managed to continue it again. One thing I'd like to continue in 2013 would be jogging, not for the sake of losing weight now, but simply for health's sake. Sitting in my office and listening to all the advice the nurses dole out to patients make me feel so guilty about not exercising so I'm glad I started again. Signed up for a few runs this year to give myself the motivation to 'train' for them. The photos show the before (left) and after (right). The difference in face isn't really obvious but I did notice the change when I kept buying the wrong sizes when shopping online. And whenever I jog I'd think of being able to fit into nice clothes, so weird but true.