My Taiwan Trip!

taipei taipei taipei

A city approximately 5 hours away from Singapore...... many sights to see, food to savour, stars to look out for (according to my friend). I made my way there, third time visit to this city.....walking around to many parts of the city, to the many sights that I had missed during my previous trips... visit numerous malls to look for dvds, cds, books, shoes and masks I like (there is really nothing much for me to buy in Taipei.... their things are really expensive I find!!!)......trying to count how many pretty girls I can see at each area (thanks to my good friend, she asked me if all Taiwanese girls are as pretty as those you find in the drama serials... I am trying to find an answer to that... I guess my answer is no.. like any other cities, there are good looking people and there are not so good looking people..... ).... keeping my eyes open for stars (I was so disappointed that I didn't see any... sigh..... ) and trying hard not to say anything (I actually look like a local if I don't talk, people come up to me to ask for directions and a salesperson even commented that I look like a Taiwanese until I start to talk....time to brush up my Mandarin!!!).... 6 days of escape... although boredom did hit me several times, it was not too bad a trip..... I did not like it at the beginning...the weather was too hot, the malls were too boring, the places are too dirty, the hotel was so-so... but the place just grew on me slowly and I was really reluctant to come back...... keeping my fingers crossed for my next visit where I hope to visit more places and other outlying towns!!!!! :)

Lessons from my jet setting lifestyle....

I have just returned from my Taipei trip......... this is my third trip out of Singapore in the past 2 months..... taking the plane has became like taking the public transport for me recently (for those who knows me, I rarely go out of my neighbourhood and since it is the hols now, there is even less reasons for me to step out of my house)...... with all these travelling, relaxing and holidaying, I think I am beginning to discover more and more about myself.....

1) I lead a really privileged lifestyle and I think I have reached a stage where I will not be able to give it up easily.....I used to wonder to myself, why does everyone want to be rich... I am never a slave for money and I am not one that really know the value of money, but I am slowly beginning to understand that this is due to my priviledged background. To me, it is like the norm to travel regularly, to buy labels, to eat at restaurants etc.. hence there is no longer a burning desire to need to join the money chase. I used to think that one should enjoy while they have a chance to and should I lose what I have, I shall just lead a simpler life without all these luxuries that I have now..... but seriously, who am I trying to kid?? Why do the young and pretty (and maybe famous starlets) end up with some rich, divorced, ugly and old guy?? I guess it is to maintain the lifestyle that they are used to (it is an expensive job being pretty!!! :P) Seriously, I think I am going to have really bad adjustment problems if I were to change my lifestyle now!!!!!

2) I love to buy skincare products....... especially masks.... perhaps it is the trauma of having bad skin previously, perhaps it is vanity, perhaps it is the huge amount of free time I have, perhaps, it is the relaxing feeling of putting on a mask..... I just love buying skincare products and my friend has commented that I am a mask freak!!!!

3) I love dressing up but not in Singapore... I have a whole range of strange clothes (aka my travel clothes) that I own just to wear them when I travel ... these items actually look strange only when they are worn in Singapore....

4) My burning desire to travel stems from my escapist attitude..... I have been to many places many times and there are no longer anymore sights to see or anything much to do.. but I am always game to go there again.... just to get away from my regular, mundane life and sometimes the problems and fears that I am facing at that moment in time......

5) I am a city girl..... I think I can probably survive in any major cities, in fact, I do the same things in any major cities, eat, shop, shop, eat.... I eat the same stuff (usually Jap food).... shop at the same brands and buy the same stuff..... modernization has really brought us nearer...

I don't know where the airplane will bring me to next, however, I do hope that it is some place where I will be looking forward to, a place where I will have a chance to do something different from all my previous trips.........

My jewellery creations!!!

Leaping through time....

I recently watched an interesting Japanese animation entitled "The Girl who leapt through time"....just as its title, the story is about a girl who suddenly acquired the ability to go back into the past. After she realised this ability of hers who allowed her to escape her death once, she used it to carry out a lot of silly things..... for example, to avoid situations that she is unable to handle... to avoid the mishaps that she had previously happened to her etc etc..... eventually, some unfortunate incidents happened and made her realised that how important it is to stop being avoidant and face up with the present.





Should there be a day where you suddenly acquired the ability to relive your past, what would you want to change?? This is not the first time that I had thought about this question. Surprisingly, despite all my frequent grumbles of "I should have done this", "I wished I did this instead", if I were given a chance to go back into the past, I don't think I want to change anything. I think i am rather happy with what I have achieve and what I have currently... my experience with life had been pretty satisfactory too...... but the most important part... isn't life itself about hope and the future??? There is really no point trying to relive the past.... hoping to change something in the past for it is the looking forward and hope for the future that makes life worth living........ leaping through time to the past .. isn't that akin to living a life of regrets... always desiring to make some changes to our past??? There are always happy moments and sad moments, good things that had happened and nasty things that had happened.... every experience is a process that makes us a little wiser and adds more unforgettable moments to our memories.... changing the past will not mean that everything will just go according to what we hope had happened.... still both good and bad experiences will befall us...... perhaps that is what that makes our lives exciting....... let's all look ahead to the future and bravely await all the exciting moments that may come!!!!!

Timelessness

How many of you go out with your brother frequently?? I am one of those that would hang out with my younger brother frequently, going out for tea. shopping, movies etc.... as we are both not working and pretty free most of the time, we usually just sought each other's company for last minute outings like those mentioned above. A strange phenomenon has occured recently......it has been more than once that others thought that he is my boyfriend (someone went even further and thought that he was my husband!!!!).... this kind of mistake may not be uncommon, however, what is strange in my case is the age gap between me and my brother is a huge 10 years!!! I really do not know how to react when comments like that are made..... does it mean that I should rejoice because I look a lot younger then my age? Does it mean that my brother should seriously think of investing in a good anti-aging product?? Does it mean that there is a trend that old women will date men a lot younger then them??? Or does it mean that I have really reach a stage that I really should be dating seriously and any guy that I hang out with will be considered by others to be my life partner??? I really do not know what to think!!!!

I would love to think that I have not aged and still look a lot younger then what I am... however, I was just browsing through my photo albums today and..... I really did age quite a bit over the years...... I am not longer the sweet, youthful, pretty and cheerful girl that is staring back at me from the album!!! No wonder I seemed to have lost the interest in photograph taking....... it seemed that I am no longer photogenic as before....... then which of the other 3 options is it??? Do give me your opnion if you can while I go ponder somemore over this...... :P

I miss you.....

I was crying this morning when I woke up after dreaming of my granny. Coincidentally, today is her first year death anniversary.

My granny was this petite lady that I had stayed with for most of my childhood. She adores me as I was her first grandchild. I used to play lots of pranks on her and bully her into giving me what I want as a child. As she was not really a culinary expert, I remember the routine dishes of fried fish, beans and eggs with salted vegetables that she would cook for me. Even as I shifted back to stay with my parents as I grew older, she continues to visit me regularly with all the goodies that she will bring and the extra pocket money that she will secretly pass me (needless to say, I really love her visits..)... I would stay with her sometimes during my school holidays as well and we will go out to the shops together.

Soon, I grew up and started to have a life of my own, the need to spend time on my school work, with my friends and other frivolities of life... I started to see her less and less........ she started to grow older in the process as well and visits became less....... then she developed dementia. The times I visited her became the once in a year Chinese New Year and when she visited my hospital for regular checkups (my ex bosses are actually her neurologists!!). I really wished that I had spent more time with her when I still had the chance but I guess I shall live with that regret now.

I miss you, granny,....... though you do not say it, I know you have always doted on me and was really proud of me. I knew you were glad that I got into the university and eventually got a "good job" working in a hospital... it is as if everything I had achieved no matter how tiny it is became a big big deal in your eyes!!! Thanks for all that reassurance that you have given me. Even when the late stages of dementia plagued you, I knew you never forgotten me. You always manage to call out my name when you saw me along the hallways in the clinics and would want to bring me out to eat (to the amazement of my ex-bosses). I really miss you... whereever you are now, I hope you are well and will remain happy there!!

Excess..... accessories.... jewels.... jewellery......

I love jewellery...... how is that different from many other ladies out there who love these sparkly trinkets?? The main difference is, I enjoy making them rather then wearing them..... This is actually kind of strange.... for those with know me, I don't think I qualify as one of those that accessorise heavily (I think I am improving recently!! Hehe..) I have a platinum chain with a rocking horse charm that I wear regularly for the past decade or so...I do have a large number of earrings that I match with my attire....and a Tiffani and Co bracelet that I do wear once in a while (a very long while)... so why am I interested in jewellery making???

I guess it started a pretty long time ago(just that I didn't realize till recently).. being a teenager, I didn't have the ability to purchase all the accessories that I like, so I would often think of how I could reproduce the item I like... the result of this is multiple pairs of earrings, some strange looking furry cow print pencil case, pouches etc.... this all stopped for a long while after I started working.... I don't know what got into me and there was one occasion when I decided that I wanted to make one of my friends something for her birthday... and I ended up with a crystal garnet necklace earrings set... this went on for a long while...farewell gifts for colleagues, christmas gifts, birthday gifts etc....the person that got dumped the most of my pieces would be my pretty stewardess best friend Sharon.... she loves to accessorize and would pay crazy prices for accessories....I decided that I could make her some similar pieces so that she could perhaps save a bit on accessories (this ploy didn't work though.... now she just owns loads of jewellery.... many from me and many more that she purchase... :P) I just go on making more and more.....

I think jewellery making just allows me to have an outlet for my creative juices to flow....perhaps there is some hidden desire in me to want to be a designer and in designing and handmaking all these pieces, I get transported to my bubbly world where I believe that I am indeed a designer.... for someone with no design background, I think I am really not doing so badly!!!! It helps me relieve stress and boredom as well..... what can one do in 3 and a half months of summer hols??? I can't keep shopping, reading, watch movies or travel..... rather than staring into space, I guess this is a better option..... I do hope that someday this hobby of mine will take me somewhere but I guess this dream is still a bit far now.. in any case, I remain hopeful!!!!!

Take a look at my slide show of some of my designs past and present (I am really sorry that I am not too great a photographer!!) Drop me a line if you like any of them!!!!! :)

Check out my Slide Show!

The new blogger in town

I am not new to this..... I have been blogging away on Friendster for a couple of months... however, recently, a good friend of mine has been asking me to get a proper blog ...... and I was tempted by all the cool pics that can be displayed on a blog site... hence.... hehe..... this...

Well.... why Fluffy's carosel......for those who know me, I have a number of nicknames and Fluffy is the most recent endearment given to me by my colleagues from my hospital (I don't know what kind of impression I am giving... when doctors, nurses and psychologists nickname you Fluffy... hmm.... it must mean something, yah?? But, I refuse to think too much..... positive reframing... I am popular with them... haha)... carousel... don't you just love them?? I realise that I really love carousels.... I have 2 carousel charm necklaces, a horsy necklace and, it is one of the few rides that I will not miss when I visit theme parks (ask jady.. she queued with me for more then an hour to get on the Alfafa carousel in DisneySea.. :P).... sitting on the horse and watching the world spinning by you seemed to give you a whole new perspective of this world..... round and round and round and round as if you are floating in a whole new world of your own..... plus the lovely bright colours and the mirrors...... a chance to look at all the different images of yourself...... and getting lost in the music and movement of it.............. totally out of the world experience.... haha...

So.. I will be blogging on this new lovely site now.....you are welcome to join me in all my new adventures!!!!! :)