2013: Resolutions

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Sha

I’ve always loved looking back on resolutions I made early in the year, because chances are I’ve kept most of them (one way or another). And this would often calls for a “how my year went” kind of blog post which will be based on the resolutions made, which I’ve decided to forgo this/last year.

But in a nutshell, 2012 went superbly for the most part, once again with many firsts – with sprinkles of sad moments. But that just sums up life: with every happy moment, there will be sadness.

2013

Well anyway, here’s my list of resolutions for 2013. Some may be a repeated resolution, some new – but what the heck – it’s a brand new year hence a brand new slate.

Being an early riser
This has always been on my resolutions list (or at least, it was in 2012′s!) and although I’ve never managed to keep it, I will not give up! Doesn’t matter that this morning I got up at almost noon, I will persevere at it!

Take lesser cab rides
Disclaimer: It will be too much to make me give up on cabs entirely so this is mostly for going to work. I have no reason cabbing to work because we start late, and hours are kind of flexible. Numbers 1 and 2 sort of go hand-in-hand: So if I wake up earlier, I can keep this resolution. Maybe this can also help with resolution #3:

Have some savings
The past 2 years haven’t been financially easy on both the boyfriend and me due to personal circumstances – and as a result the savings I had about 2 years back is now gone. But now that I’m more financially stable than ever before, it is time to start again. I’ve never been an impulsive shopper, so this shouldn’t be too hard – fingers crossed.

Travel More
In 2012, we travelled lesser than we did in 2011. it was just Bangkok (twice) and nearby cities/islands like Cameron Highlands and Batam and a staycation – but we still made it a point to get a time-out from everything every few months. This year, we strive to travel more with 2 trips planned out already: the first is a short getaway to Krabi next week, and the other is a long holiday in Japan – which is still in the initial stages of planning.

Get fitter, stay healthy
Another repeated item but I guess it is important to be healthy and fit as we grow older. So this will be the usual stuff like drinking plenty of water, taking vitamins, exercising, eating healthy – the whole works. The problem with this resolution is that it will always be kept intermittently (for weeks at a time, and then all hell breaks loose).

Read more
In 2012, I started a Facebook album showcasing photos of books I’ve finished reading. At the end of the year, I’ve read 13 books – which brings us to a little more than 1 book per month, which was my primary aim. This year, I’m going to do the same if not more.

Be happy, be thankful
In 2012, I’ve learned that being grateful and thankful for the good things in your life brings about more positive things. So this year, I’ll continue this practice because the world just needs a kinder environment. I’ve even gotten a proper Gratitude journal just for this!

So that’s my list for the year! What’s on yours?

Frank By OCBC Credit Card

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Sha

Here’s a checklist:

1) Do you like your things to be personalized and have some sort of novelty?
2) Would you like the flexibility in the personalization/novelty factor?
3) Would you like to have a credit card worth showing off?

If you, like me, answered yes to all of the above – then the Frank Card by OCBC is for you!

Although I’ve had several credit cards before, I didn’t feel an attachment to them simply because I hadn’t earned them. They were supplementary cards, so they were really not counted. Plus, I seldom use them (I’m a debit card kind of girl, I like to play it safe).

But in the past few months, the need for at least 1 credit card surfaced (not because I’m a big spender, but it should be more like a “backup”). And of course, I’m finally more than financially stable to have a credit card. So, like everything else in my life, I did my research.

I wanted something snazzy. A credit card with all the perks and hype. This and that. And then I chanced upon Frank credit cards. The big draw to it was the fact that you can choose out of the many, many designs for your card!

My eyes dilated when I saw the choices that lay before me. I could hardly choose, seriously. But then, I found out that you can actually change the designs as and when you like if you get sick of your chosen design. That’s equivalent to 10,000 brownie points to me because I can’t deal with having one design of something for ever. I have short attention span.

But still I made my choice wisely and ended up with THIS:

It was between this retro boombox design or the cassette tape one. But the boombox won. Please understand that I am in my “old school is cool beans” phase.

I’ve been happy with my card despite the initial annoyance with the customer service and call center staff. But I shall not get into that. One of the things I’ve enjoyed in the past 2 months since I had the card was that it gave me a discount when I viewed the Titanic Exhibition at the Arts Science Museum (only for OCBC cards)!

And so this has been the blog post about the first ever credit card that I’ve earned. Another milestone.

Before I end, a couple of disclaimers:
1) This is not an advertorial, I’m blogging about this because it is an interesting card.
2) All images used in this post were taken from the Frank by OCBC website. You can’t expect me to be posting up photos of my own credit card.

Okay, that’s all.

Pink Prada Saffiano Wallet

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Sha

It’s been 10 days since I got it. I guess it should be blogged about because it is kind of a personal milestone – my first branded wallet!

Well it was actually a gift from someone who’d like to remain anonymous to the rest of you. Truth be told, I had wanted to get it as a present for myself (because I love myself), but I guess someone loves me more.

When I was younger, a wallet has always meant something very personal to me. It was where precious photos and mementos (tickets, stickers and other odds and other odds and ends) were housed. Personal artifacts, memories. That has always been how important a wallet is to me. And I always take ages to find a new wallet, and will hold on to the old one that was practically tearing up at the seams – until I found the perfect wallet.

That was the way it was until I lost my wallet in 2006. Instantly, a part of me was gone just like that. The things I lost in it were irreplaceable and I’m not talking about identification cards and credit/debit cards. I was quite crushed after, and then tried to pick myself up again – with another wallet which lasted me another 4 years. And then it got really worn out, then I switched to another – which was off-white in colour and got dirty and ugly pretty quickly.

And then soon after the bond just disappeared and I stopped using wallets altogether. Those who have seen/known me in the past year (up till 10 years ago) would have wondered why I am using a Harrods coin purse that was getting dirtier by the day, and instead of being filled by mementos it was overflowing with coins, folded notes and a mountain of receipts. It was unsightly, and it was a travesty. I guess everyone was too polite to ask.

And now, I have this very, very pretty wallet – in a colour that somehow has defined me. I’m not sure how the journey will be for the two of us but I hope that it will last us both years of precious memories.

Thank you once again to YOU

2012 Resolutions

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Sha

New year, new resolutions. So for 2012, I resolve to:

Keep a healthy lifestyle
This will mean a healthy diet and frequent exercising. I had a staggering headstart last year to eat healthy and start running, but it wasn’t a continuous and consistent effort. This year, all’s that gonna change. FP and I gave ourselves till end of April to see some difference in our fitness levels and weight.

Be an early riser
A complete stretch because I am definitely NOT a morning person. Have you seen me on mornings after a night of little sleep? Maybe a more realistic resolution is “do not press the snooze button”!

Join a marathon
Although I may not be the fittest person around (ever), I’ve always wanted to be in a marathon of some sort. And now that running on a regular basis in on my agenda, surviving a marathon should be quite a possibility.

Rekindle my love for craft
In 2011, I hardly crafted, barely sewed – nothing creative that’s time consuming and handmade was produced. So this year, I shall bring the crafts back to life. Hello felt projects, scrapbooking and anything else that comes my way!

Don’t sweat the small stuff
This is a repeat of a resolution I made in 2010. I do not like making mistakes being the perfectionist that I am, but sometimes I do need to let things go. And most of the time, I get annoyed by a million little things that shouldn’t even affect me. I need to take a deep breathe and tell myself that whether or not I believe it, most of the time it’s only me who is bothered by such details that aren’t worth my time.

Soak in the culture
Read more, travel more, watch more theater productions, view more exhibits at museums. These are basically the things that make me happy and that I’ve always been interested in. So why not kill two birds with one stone?

So I guess that’s it for this year. Possibly the shortest list of new year resolutions by far, but its quality vs quantity right?

A Lookback at 2011

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Sha

Overall, 2011 has been a 140% better (see what I did there) than 2010 and I’m very thankful for that. In fact, I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Sure, I started the year unsure and almost afraid of what’s to come after a very bad year in 2010. The first few months were a bit of a struggle but as we neared mid-year, things started looking up. For one, I snipped off my pretty long hair and made it a cute bob. I haven’t had short hair in 10 years, so this was a drastic change! And it was a good change, as nervous as I was all throughout the time at the hair dresser’s. And now, 9 months later, I’m still waiting and waiting for my hair to be as long as it was before!

2011 is a year where I put myself first, perhaps as a step to self-recovery from the trauma of previous years. I travelled a lot – all for pleasure and not a single work trip (for once), and perhaps because I get away so often this year, I am truly a happier person. Let’s recall some of my adventures while travelling.

It was a year of picking strawberries fresh off a strawberry garden…

and watching dolphins jump and twirl at sunrise

and meeting people from books:

and island hopping at its best..

and go-karting accidents (in Malacca – some trips I didn’t blog about)

It was also a year of many firsts. I flew all the way to Jakarta to catch a Paramore concert. That was one of the best and worst nights of my year (at the same time), but still an experience I won’t soon forget.

I actually took a budget flight(not complaining, just highlighting a milestone – that goes to you dear hater), which wasn’t that bad after all.

Paramore wasn’t the only musical act I caught live this year. I won tickets to a Lenka showcase early in the year, and in October, I re-lived my fangirl days with BLUE at the ION Orchard fashion show. So awesome, I can DIE.

And speaking of musicals, I caught The Lion King this year (oh so many things unblogged!!!) It was fantastic.

Gadget-wise, who could forget the time I cracked my iphone 4 screen?

or the fact that I replaced both my pink sony vaio and my pink point-and-shoot with sexier replacements?

(oh yeah, this was the final look [sans the lens hood] of Sir Olympus’ makeover. I didn’t blog about him getting a faux leather sticker, but he looks cool doesn’t he?)

I kinda overdid it with spending on gadgets this year (no not really, because I really needed to get them replaced – and them *ahem* enhanced) but it was a good year on the gadget front.

And with a new pancake lens and a spiffy camera, came an influx of nice food photos

On the crafts/hobby front, no sewing was done this year for some reason – but I did attempt to bake. Successfully and not so successfully.

Attempt on red velvet cupcakes: More or less successful (turned out better than expected):

And one out of the box cupcakes (with edible glitter and all) which was a complete disaster! Besides the fact that I was trying to achieve the same effect as a photoshopped cupcake!

And of course our very recent adventure with ice cream making. Yet to make an ice cream at home!

Afterthought

As you can tell, this has been a pretty good year for me. And at some point I guess I started feeling happy about my life – but denied it for the longest time for fear of jinxing it. I’ve come a long way this year. I guess sometimes you just need to take a year just to focus on your own needs and wants, in order to find that spark of happiness again. My life is at such a stable state right now that I could barely even think to imagine in December last year.

This is the year I stopped living vicariously (and secretly envying everybody else’s life) and just focused on myself. It’s hard to just stop something you’ve been doing for a long while, and sometimes there’s minor relapses. But overall I’m okay. There’ll be a time and place for everything and not everybody will experience the same things at the same age.

I’m thankful that I’ve had the chance to travel to new places, meet new people, experience new food, able to afford the best gadgets (at this point). I’m thankful that my relationship with the boyfriend is even more heightened, and we’re closer than ever (how much closer can you get after 8 years? Go figure.) I’m thankful that even though there’s been a lot of changes to home life and family – the ones who matter are still close at heart and vice versa.

Lastly, I’m thankful for my awesome job that enables me to do techy things I enjoy and allow me to finally have a work-life balance. You’ll never know how rare work-life balance is until you’ve found it. And once you find it, you’ll never, ever want to let go

So this is me, signing off for 2011. Excited for 2012, because whatever happens, it’s just gonna be an awesome adventure!

.: asylum for the sane :.

where rainbows end.

Category Archives: Personal Thoughts

2013: Resolutions

Frank By OCBC Credit Card

Pink Prada Saffiano Wallet

2012 Resolutions

A Lookback at 2011