Love

Read this lovely article from Zen Habits that speaks about love.

To love others, you have to first love yourself. Only then can we channel our love to others from our heart:)

I would like to share some inspiring quotes mentioned in the article.

As Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield says, “Love and compassion are not the possession of any group or religious system. They are woven into our human spirit.”

That's the lovely thing about love. It is so important and fundamental that everyone is advocating it. The article thus suggested a really simple loving-kindness meditation which the Dalai Lama teaches:)

As you breathe in – cherish yourself.

As you breathe out – cherish all beings.

Although I don't know how to explain how meditation actually works, but I have tried before and I can really feel the calming effect within myself. :)

All the time, we tend to find ourselves focusing on what's happening external to us, responding to external stimuli, so much so that we are left with very little or no time to get in touch with ourselves.

So to me, meditation is a way to "go inwards" and direct our attention to ourselves. That's why meditation can also help us become more self aware:)

The simplest way is to first focus on our own breathing. Because that is the thing that is always happening, yet something that we never notice.

So whenever you need some personal time, try focusing on your breathing and nothing else for 5 minutes! See if it works! :)

Love yourself, and you can love anybody else:)

It's cool time

Cooling down after a 26-minute jog:) 2nd run of the year:)

Finally managed to find time to jog amidst all the dissertating:) Hope I can allocate more jogging time especially after CNY when my dissertation is fully completed.

And of course, I'm so glad that I'm into my final stage of dissertation, after 6 months of running between Yishun Town and Garden & Landscape Centre, it's finally fully implemented with (5 sets) surveys, (5 individual) interviews and datalogging fully done. Feels so good to have all these completed, feel so much lighter now:)

Sneak preview of my baby:)

Now what's left is tons of analysis to be done. Good thing is I just need to face my laptop and keep typing away:) Wish me luck!

I'm so looking forward to CNY!:D:D:D Spring cleaning sooooon~~ CNY clothes shopping sooon~

Oh! And Chaotic thrift is setting up a mini booth at LNY@Bishan! It's a large scale event to be held at the large glass field beside Bishan bus interchange. We will be selling our new pre-loved clothes! Lots of good bargains!:D Do support us between 27th Jan to 11th Feb 2010:D

January is such a hectic month! Stay cool:)

I like such a cool weather:) Going to have a good night sleep later:)

Buddy, Beach, BBQ, Bedok85

Saturday was a day well-spent:)

Morning was spent at Chong Pang CC, where Project RUSCO was held. It was a mini exhibition to increase environmental awareness. Yishun Town was one of the school involved and my rooftop garden project was being exhibited:)

The student ambassadors of YT were really great (and cute too)! They really did their homework and were able to handle Q&A by Mr. K Shanmugam, the Minister of Law and Second Minister of Home Affairs.:)

Thereafter, LokeX2 brought me to E-hub for lunch:) Whee~ And we had our first try of Buddy Hoagies, located next to Pastamania.

Service was good, food was great and the best thing is it's nett price:) Worth a try:)

Then we went to ECP for a walk! Cos of CLEO! It says that we are surrounded by air that is more positively charged due to pollution, so there's an electrical imbalance in our body. A visit to the beach will be able to offset that! How great!:D This is because when waves break the surface tension of water, negatively hydrogen ions are released:)

What a wonderful reason for a short getaway to the beach:D Much needed for us! The best part is it's zero cost with unlimited supply (of negative ions)!:D

Our right feet, almost the same size, but different fatness! Look at his impression, it is so light!:P

Walking on the sandy beach, with wind blowing, peace and quiet:) Such a wonderful mood booster!

Sat on the rocky structure facing the sea, our ionic therapy began:)

The effect was instantaneous! Felt so refreshed and happy after that!:D

We were lucky as the therapy lasted for quite awhile before it became sunny and scorching hot. So we headed back to help out with the remaining room cleaning. He is lucky to have his sister to help him pack his stuffs every year (and his sister thinks I'm unlucky haha):) Now the room is so much cleaner, neater and bigger too!:)

Then we went for Shawn's BBQ as he is going for NS next month. I must say it's the nicest BBQ I have eaten!:D

Then, Dawn called to ask us out for Bedok 85! Apparantly, Xu Xu was still hungry after their BBQ at another place. So off we went for more food!

LokeX2 introduced hao dan to us! An alternative to hao jian. It's a unique dish and very egg-y. Though this seems healthier than hao jian, both me and Dawn still prefer the hao jian hehe:P

Finally, it was back home:)

Body Worlds Exhibition with The 6Cs later!:D

It will never be the same next time.

As usual, on board bus 52 to get to SDE.

But this time round, I made myself feel "more". To appreciate every single moment, every single thing that I'm doing now as a student.

I know that it will never be the same next time. Even if we going to go back to see-look around as super duper seniors.

I just knew. Although I did go back to my pri and sec school as a relief teacher, partly to relief class and partly to relive the past, it just don't feel the same.

Same old place, same old classroom, some same old teachers etc.

Same old me. But definitely different, which is good as it means I have grown:)

The thing is, I just want to be more mindful about every single thing that happens to me and around me.

Most likely next year this time, I should be blogging as the same old me but who is experiencing a totally different phase of life. But I will be glad. :)

Just that, for now, I want to fully immerse myself into my final phase of student life:) Absorb and "feel" all the joy, craziness, freedom, complains, stress and fun as a 22 years old student:)

Alright, suddenly, preparing for dissertation seems more like a pleasant task:D It's akin to being pregnant for almost a year, all the hard work and time put in just for the birth of my baby:) Jiayou everyone:) We will be enjoying the fruits of our labour very soon:D

Back

Back to school, but sadly for the last time.

Everything is also back on track. Finally settled all my modules:)

Signed up for Yogilatez by NUS Aerobics Club:) Thanks to LokeX2 for helping me as I have no class today:)

So finally, in my final sem I'm going to do Yoga combined with Pilates:) Cheers to healthy mind, body and soul:)

Suddenly I feel like signing up for every single events there are in school as this is my last chance doing so as a student with special CnG rates. I'm so going to miss being a student.

Contemplating whether to attend NUSSU Bash "Blackout". As what Xu Xu said, it does sound cool to have it at the racing pit. Just wondering if it's going to be outdoor haha..

Back to student life means celebrating bdays for each other and this year starts off with Xu Xu's one!

LokeX2 suddenly suggested having a surprise bday for him since he was going to drive us to meet Dawn for dinner together. Dawn and I were meeting to discuss about ChaoticThrift going flea-style at Bishan! More updates on that:)

Luckily LokeX2 managed to distract Xu Xu by doing Sudoku together, hence Xu Xu was rather surprised! Whee~

And I like the candid shot! Haha~

Cheers to Xu Xu for treating:D And I don't know how we did it, but each pair of us just eat one corner until a "tree" was formed:) Good coordination I must say haha..

Thanks to Dawn also for waiting for us for so long as there was a traffic jam. :)

AndX3, congrats on getting your license! :) Yeah another potential post clubbing driver, if we have car that it.

***

Been dissertating for the 1st two days of the sem.

Had a no-dissertation day to give myself a break from dissertating:) Love it:)

Procrastination can be good too!:D

I especially like what was written on an article by Jie Kai on Sharing Success.tv.

"According to the dictionary, to procrastinate is to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.

So, when an opportunity is lost, another opportunity is gained."

Opportunity lost is dissertating can mean opportunity gained in re-charging and giving some attention to other equally important matters.

Like what I always think "There is much more to life"

So I think it's really important that we remember to savour every different aspect of life and appreciate every single dimension of our life:) Just like how I'm fully enjoying being a student. Everything to it, definitely not just the academic aspect.

Start of year 4 sem 2 - final sem and final 5 months of being a student.

I'm glad it's still the start cos this means that I'm still aware of it and there are still chances to live the most out of this 5 months!:D

Back to printing and filing my notes:)

RML

Yes I signed up for RML at the start of the year with LokeX2!

Run for My Lunch 2010:) http://www.rml2010.com/

Going to start small with the 3km community run which is to be held at ECP.

I like this event as it is in support of Student Advisory Centre's Lunch Box Fund. Money will be raised for this fund.

I would say it's a great event to start the year with, one that is good for health and charitable:)

This also nicely coincides with my 1st resolution of the year, that is to exercise more:)

So plans have been made to run for at least 3 times a week before the event and hopefully this will set my engine going for the rest of the year:) Perhaps I can progress to join a 5km run after this:)

This is just one of the many events that are lined up for me. As for the rest of January, it's going to be a hectic month filled with lots of events:) I must say it's going to be exciting!

- Body Worlds exhibition with The 6Cs

- Project RUSCO with Yishun Town where my rooftop garden project will be exhibited

- CHAOS Hen Party

- ChaoticThrift going Flea-Style at LNY@Bishan

- 阿密特首次世界巡回演唱会 with Wan Xin and Deon

- Submission of dissertation which will mark the end of my half-yr long project

Cheers to the month of January!:D

Living as a minimalist

I recently came across an online website advocating being a minimalist. Started to read more about it to understand the essence of it.

It turns out to be "Less is more". Simple as it may sound, it is actually quite multi-dimensional, applicable in almost every aspects of our life.

I also came to realize how much I needed to start living more like a minimalist. Esp when I realize I did spend alot, shop alot, sleep too much etc. Particularly shopping, I must admit I bought much more things over the last year as compared to previous years.

It's a kind of obsession I think, something like me having tons of notebooks that are totally brand new. Fortunately, I managed to overcome this notebook obsession, no more notebook purchases, just have to use those that I currently own, which happens to be a box-ful.

So I decided that I should apply the minimalist spirit into my everyday every-moment life.

Spend less - Save up more (for grad trips)

Shop less - I need to make more rationale and quality purchases. This will also translate to more savings. I should bear in mind my mummy's nagging "东西是买不完的"

Surf less - I really enjoy the abundance of time we have during Dharma Camp 3 years ago where there's no TV, internet, laptop etc. More time to appreciate each moment of life and to spend more time on quality activities.:)

Sleep less - Ever since last sem when I took only 3 modules, I feel that I am not as productive as when I was in year 2 taking 6 modules and still have the time to join CCAs. It has got to be me sleeping too much. I must rmb "I can sleep all I want when I leave the Earth".

Eat less - Definitely not dieting. I always eat whenever I like. I need to be more mindful of how much I eat and maintain a balance.

Make-up less - Tried this for the past few days, really love the feeling. It's actually not zero make-up for me. Just that I replaced my liquid foundation with BB cream and I skipped my eye make-up totally. Saves me a lot of time too as eye make-up is the most tedious of all. I believe it helps my skin to breathe better, thus feel less burdened. Overall, I feel more comfortable and natural without worrying about not being presentable.

Alright, 6 less-es sound good enough for the moment:) Shall work on them!

For a start, a nice body and facial scrub plus a facial mask to kick off the last weekends of my holidays:) Life's simple pleasures:) CnG!

10!

On the 2nd day of 2010, I went CnG shopping with Joyce!:D:D:D Finally~ We have been talking about it since some time ago...

So I brought her to Bugis street! And we practically covered every single part of Bugis street! I could totally feel the soreness in my legs.

Joyce is really a great shopping companion, she can really walk and walk without complaining! Even I bought ice Milo while she survived purely on her water. I believed we shopped from around 4pm to 9pm, that's 5 hours straight!

It's practically $10 everywhere! Luckily I managed to control (abit) so I only had alot of pending items which in the end I didn't buy. Joyce is not an impulse buyer, a very rational one actually!

So here's us after a long day of shopping!:D

I really like this! We looked so so so delightful, esp Joyce!:D

It's been a few posts since I posted pictures. I'm beginning to like word post:) More bloggable without the need to edit and upload images, which usually take up quite some time.

But I still love taking photos!

Beautiful and happy (so that includes candid shots) moments are meant to be captured!:D

Us making funny faces!:) These photos are more us as we are more animated than our usual "decent" pose suggests.

My personal favourites!:D

On a side note, I did a 17 min run! Nothing to wow about but it's the start that's difficult. So I did the 1st run of the year! 30 min run next and many more to come! :)

Minimal

Attempted the minimalist lifestyle for a day (less than a day I supposed).

It has been a long time since I went Suntec without full gear make-up, one that includes eye make-up to open my peepers.

So today is the day where I only applied BB cream and a slight hint of blusher. And I didn't tie up my hair into my usual bun. So today is "minimal" day for me:)

Felt really good about it:)

As in, I feel that I look much better than expected. Maybe cos I have been putting on make-up for quite some time already, so I thought I would look weird without it, especially my eye make-up. However, it turns out well!

So it was kind of a dress down day for me:) Should do this more often, save time on make-up (and removing make-up) and tying hair.

Photos unedited. I'm quite amazed my eyes are not as small as I thought:)

Anyway, me and LokeX2 were at Suntec for True Fitness Open House. Personally wanted to just get the 1-week trial membership to try their yoga classes. I was really contemplating on signing up if it's good after I have a stable income. But turns out the membership fees are really rocket sky high!

Whatever it is, since we were there, we got to tour around the place and also got to do an in body analysis. Basically it reports on our fat% so we know which part of our body requires more attention.

It was really insightful as they explained the numericals.

My BMR (basal metabolism rate) is only 1161kcal and google says that an average female BMR should be around 1300-1500kcal per day. No wonder they said I have a low metabolism rate and LokeX2 is right about me sleeping too much.

The same goes with him. His BMR is 1550kcal while google says an average male BMR should be around 1600-1800kcal per day.

Time to really get moving MORE!

Anyway, mine on the left and his on the right.

There are 2 interesting parts here. One is I have higher fat % on both my legs as compared to him! OMG! I really should stop laughing at him cycling (and still not actually losing visible weight):P.

The other thing is he has a much higher fat % on his right leg than his left, so much so that his % is almost similar to mine. Weird.

Alright, these were the most useful things we learned:) Shall go down for at least 1 of their yoga classes this week to get started on yoga. As for actual lessons, hopefully to sign up for one in NUS first, cheap and good:) Enjoying the benefits as a student for the final last sem.

Resolution of the month: Move more, hydrate more and eat less:)

Reflections

Before I officially embark on the new year of 2010, I would like to take some time reflecting on my past year in 2009.

To me, 2009 has been a fantastic year, the best year that I have had up till this point:)

It all started with something seemingly small yet major to me - rebonding of my hair.

Gone with the legendary "broom", I finally can let down my hair and enjoy having fuss-free hair:)

That, I feel, marks the beginning of my wonderful year of 2009!

Other major highlights of the year are as follow.

• Fulfilled my wish to perform dance on stage, after a hiatus for around 4 years since I graduated from PHS (not considering the mass dances I taught during jc). Love every single moments with Dhoppers, re-connecting with dance, practising together after class, body-aching and of course the final moments on stage, I will remember all these:)

• Fortunate enough to obtain the BCA-Industry Scholarship, thus also secured a job before graduation. I'm really grateful for that:)
  
  
• Met the President up-close and even had a super short but memorable conversation with President SR Nathan during his visit to SDE:)
  
  
• Took a module with LokeX2 and enjoyed the process of studying the same module together:) I'm still very impressed with his beautifully and meticulously prepared mindmaps.
  
  
• Conquered Forest Adventure with LokeX2. I'm quite afraid of heights btw, despite my height, and we had to do flying fox for 3 times!
  
  
• Watched my 1st musical titled "Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy" at Esplanade with LokeX2 and Pok. I prefer the fast, hyped up songs rather than the slow, soothing ones. Yes, I did doze off but only for a few seconds.
  
  
• Bowling with SDE and PFM gang. It's real fun and I think it's a nice combination of exercising and socializing. More of it this year!
  
  
• Helped LokeX2's aunt to paint her newly renovated house. We just painted the kitchen though. But it's really nice to have her trust us enough to let us do the painting.
  
  
• Bought my 1st smartphone BB Curve! Like everything about it except that it's black, that's why it's covered with pink cover now:)
  
  
• Signed up for SG Cares and embarked on 2 volunteering events, one with Mercy Relief and the other with KidsRead Programme. Volunteering never fails to brighten my day:)
  
  
• Set up an online thrift shop with CHAOS known as ChaoticThrift. I love how it brought us together every alternate weeks and strengthen our bonds. It's like we are back to the times when we were preparing for our dance performances during secondary school days:) And we did actually made a few deals!:)
  
  
• Embarked on a $20,000 rooftop garden project with the passionate and generous help from Mr Lee from Yishun Town Secondary School and Mr Richard Tan from Garden and Landscape:) It's all thank to them that I am able to work on my dissertation and thus is able to graduate:)

Yes, I have to flip through my 2009 organizer and BB to help me with this reflections.

On top of these, I am blessed with my lovely LokeX2, CHAOS, POXML, The 6Cs, PFM Gang, Dhops and most importantly my family:) They have made my 2009 a great blast!

It has been a great year I must say:)

However great the past year has been, I remember reading from somewhere saying that what happened in the past, whether good or bad, is still the past. Your past will not determine whether you will succeed in the future. Rather, it depends on the present. So no matter how well or how bad one has done, it really doesn't matter. Don't let it makes you complacent or let it limit you, now is the key to make things happen:)

So with the new year, its a good time to reflect on our life and to decide to make this year an even better one:)

"Forget perfection, aim for improvement."

Cheers to a better 2010!:D