Beneficial Reading in 2025

after a year of 'forcing' myself to develop a reading habit in 2024, i found out that my reading preference is at two extreme > romance in Chinese and self-help books in English

reading Chinese romance books started way back when i was only 12, a year or two after 蔡妈咪 picked up the habit as i had to tag along her to book stores to rent them so very often... every visit would last at least an hour so might as well make my time and her money worth...

in my peak, usually during the school holidays, i could finish 3 books a day... headache was a norm from long hours of reading and crying over all the misunderstandings and unacquitted love of the characters...my eyes would be so puffy from the crying that i had multi-layer eyelids... 😂😂😂...

i stopped reading them during JC times, after an S-0 told me that they made me form unrealistic expectation of him... and i think i also got busier with school, then with work and definitely with more fun things to occupy my time with...

then Covid hit, confined at home, watched one show after another on Netflix and i was hooked onto a C-drama that was adapted from a "juicy" novel... and the floodgate is open once more... now even more because of the many many online platforms... 就是喜欢谈恋爱的感觉, 甜甜的... 以前是希望发生在自己身上... 现在是接受现实, 享受想象就可以了... 😍😍😍

i think i was only a English reader in primary school... have recollections of reading all, if not most of the books by Roald Dahl and the series of Nancy Drew, Secret Seven, Hardy Boys, Famous Five, Sweet Valley Twins... moved on the Reader Digest in Secondary school and stopped reading altogether when silent reading was no longer mandatory in my life... 😂😂😂... completed the first few books of Harry Potter before it got too dark and sadist and Twilight because of the movies...

Read an English suspense / adventure book hoping that it would ignite my love for reading in English... nah, didnt like it... too adulty for me with the much violence and sexual references... eventually it was books on how to be better at my job and how to better my life that kept me willing to continue reading...

so for this year, i'm gonna continue my love for trashy romance novel in Chinese as nutrients for my heart and self-help books in English as tonic for my brain...

the trashy romance novels that i read / listen to are so trashy that i'm too embarrassed to mention the titles to anyone... hence the title of this post is "Beneficial" reading where i only document the worthy books... 😅😅😅

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(XII) Completed on : 13 Apr 2025

exercise & healthy diet do reduce risk of cancer & reoccurrence... bra & sugar does not cause cancer... never ever trust alternative medicine / treatment... trust science & data collected from the many years of work of doctors, patients & researchers, not a page of testimonial on website or a friend of a friend of a friend (whom could be a paid influencer) who claims otherwise... 

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(XI) Completed on : 1 Apr 2025

my dog-ther definitely dont think so!!! 😅😅😅

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(X) Completed on : 29 Mar 2025

i think i'm quite safe from those authority scam and love scam cos i dont pick up calls and i dont care about making new friends nor making big money... i just have to be more mindful about my love for cheap bargains... 😅😅😅

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(IX) completed on : 19 Mar 2025 

Don't be drawn to 'potentials', those who need to be healed or reformed... not an investor nor a doctor... 😂😂😂

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(VIII) completed on : 17 Mar 2025 

 a mini just for fun book that sadly has no pic of any of the designs mentioned nor of Xiao Zhan... 😅😅😅 

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(VII) completed on : 2 Mar 2025

simple short story about alien invasion with many many 'ink' sketches; the style of drawing that i like... 

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(VI) completed on : 25 Feb 2025

so familiar... over committing then under delivering and the endless boom & burst cycle... yet it's not a valid reason for dishonourable choices & actions... 

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(V) completed on : 10 Feb 2025

finished in one seating cos it's a comic book about the life of 8 local artists and i was super bored while being confined to my hospital bed... 😅😅😅

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(IV) completed on : 8 Feb 2025

about the author's journey thru grief over the sudden loss of a 青梅竹马 > bf > fiancé... a sharing on her 10 years of escape, depression, 放飞, attempts to seek help, guilt, struggles...

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(III) completed on : 27 Jan 2025

interesting read about the 典故 behind the idioms... 😍😍😍... suitable for kiddos who need to write compos...

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(II) completed on : 6 Jan 2025

started this book on Friday afternoon and received the heart aching news that night... it's as if whoever / whatever here there is prepping me for the terrible news... my viet green bean cake whom was under my form-ship for 4 years has passed on last December... if only... but there's no 'if only' in life after it happens... 早知如此 何必当初...

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(I) completed on : I.II.MMXXV

> happy breathing technique to wake the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex when the amygdala is in control

> notice, comment and celebrate character strengths that lead to achievement and not of achievement itself

> additional printable @ myHappymind

Giving Thanks in April

11th April (Fri)

such a blessing to bump into Miss Wu with an extra doughnut to 施舍 to my 可怜 tummy when i had to stay back to create work unexpectedly... 

时间不三不四 after work was completed... had made arrangement to meet xy & vv for dinner so if i would to go home, nua 不到两小时就又得出门了 so decided to stay all the way and used the time to prep for the next few weeks of work instead... 

finally 到点出发... google map told me that the train ride to Bugis and the walk to Bugis only differs by 5 minutes... since weather was okay, i was in comfy enough shoes, i walked the 2.2km... 💪💪💪

very yummilicious QQ ramen @ Ume San 100 followed by equally yummilicious dessert @ Yat Ka Yan, fortune centre with my favourite fyp mates, the most knowledgeable people to talk to with regards to the current tax galore situation...

 as the night was still young after dessert, we even convened to 24hr xin wang to continue our chits & chats...😍😍😍

7th April (Mon)

thank you sylvia, harlina, an unidentified angel, jen, yanping and swc for feeding me 饱饱 and 甜甜 this hari raya season...  

5th April (Sat)

of many many songs, dances & colouring on this super warm & humid morning with and for the residents... then to volunteering 后的甜点 at Torori Tenshi no Warabi-Mochi @ Vivocity with mx, our second dessert date this week!!! 😍😍😍

Asti has been a great help since she joined us last year... mum luvs her and we appreciate her so valid reason to have a nice halal dinner @ Bumbu Restaurant to celebrate Hari Raya with her... 蔡妈咪 luvs the Peranakan deco and was taking in all the sights like a 好奇宝宝... 

brought Asti to Sultan Mosque to look see look see, take pics before my ridiculous journey home > so tired was i that i boarded the wrong bus... supposed to take bus 107M towards home sweet home but ended up on bus 100 that took me back at Vivocity... 😅😅😅

2nd April (Wed)

dessert with mx @ Lantine... rave review online (really cannot trust seh) but the souffle literally and figuratively fell flat... didnt seemed like there were 3 layers, more of 2 layers squashed together & not fluffy at all 😖😖😖... had much much better ones at Hoshino & Typhoon

then to dinner @ Genki to enjoy members' discount of 20%.. 😍😍😍

#Inktober52 2025

 Inktoker52 is a spinoff of Inktober...a WEEKLY prompt is released every Thursday for artists at all mastery levels to response to on top of the daily prompts in the month of October... 

giving this a go this year to reduce the lack of motivation and stress of completing a DAILY drawing for the annual Inktober... i even allocated half a page in all the weekly pages in my planner for this!!!  💪💪💪

googled what Axolotl is then realised it's this cute pink smiley salamander that had caught my eye with its fashion sense... 😍😍😍

 

and i spotted him at this place above... could remember it so well cos it happened at a age when i was obsessed with horoscope... 😂😂😂 

切八段  绝交... 😂😂😂... got the idea from the C-drama 偷偷藏不住 where 桑稚 and 桑延 were 'fighting' over a fight in a cafe... 

我也有想耍帅的欲望... 😎😎😎

reference from photographer Van Duijn's picture perfect moment of a squirrel smelling a yellow daisy before taking a bite of it...  

inspired by this interesting sad news of an angler fish on its 自杀 journey... 😓😓😓

the first Pisces who popped into my head... 

inspiration from the minion movie... 😂😂😂

surprisingly, this was the easiest to draw thus far cos a little off proportion, a missing or an additional part here and there also make no diff that this is a dripping monster.... wahahahaha

one of my bucket list.... to be the human in the cage, watched by free-roaming animals... wahahahaha... 

included the Aquarius in my life... 

the only 'tick tock' that was in my radar this week was on the 'tik tok' ban then an almost immediate revival! 

i luv shrimps (prawns?!?!?)... big, succulent ones that are already peeled for consumptions... gave up trying to draw the noodles & kway tiao... not my level yet... 😓

a tequila sunrise at sunrise - a tai tai lifestyle that i want seh!!! 

 

Happi SG60 with 60 I - eat in Singapore

Singapore is 60th this year!!! so i feel it's a super valid reason to set this 60 Singapore hawker food quest for myself to indulge in since our hawker culture was successfully inscribed in the UNESCO Representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2020... 😋😋😋

(14) I'm team roasted chicken with a habit of pouring the chilli over my rice & meat directly... Twelve Roasted, opposite home sweet home, sells a small variety of soup too and i luv its watercress soup that comes with much veg!!! 

3 Apr (Thur)

(13) Mee Hoon Goreng from the new KNS (what a name!?!? from a hokkien perspective 😅) malay restaurant at Hougang Interchange... yummy but at $5.50, abit ex ah?!?! or is this the norm?!?! i remembered my favourite bee hoon goreng from below woodlands home sweet home at only $2.50, 3 decades ago... wahahahaha 

27 Mar (Thu)

(12) my favourite 水饺面 from Li Fatt Wanton Mee too... only get to eat it if i leave work earlier as it's sold out / closes by 2pm... luv the black sauce & chilli with the noodles and the 3 满满的 meat & prawn 水饺s...

6 Mar (Thu)

(11) Hungry but no appetite to have rice nor noodles, so 2 kosong prata with sugar & curry to the rescue for dinner... 

3 Mar (Mon)

(10) Fishball Meepok @ $3.30 from Jiak Mee Fishball behind home sweet home... my go to whenever i had to collect shopee parcels from the bubble tea shop next door... luv the soft soft QQ fishballs lots... 

2 Mar (Sun)

(9) Prawn Noodles from Jiak Pork Ribs Prawn Noodles... new found place for this flavourful dish after my favourite one @ Defu closed down... 

27 Feb (Thurs)

(8) Yong Tau Foo from the famous 永祥興豆腐 that's only open for order from 12-3pm per working day and it's a very day thingy that it's sold out before the 3 hours is up...吃闭门羹 before at 2.30pm... 😓😓😓

queue was ridiculous long at 11.30am when we arrived but moved fast when they started serving at 11.55am... reason being that there's only 1 option available...9 pieces @ $6 per bowl... luv the soup and though there's NO option to add any kind of noodles / rice to go with it, it was filling enough!!!... very 霸道 way of doing business!!! 

20 Feb (Thur)

went to get my favourite bubble tea from Woobbee since we were in the vicinity... been ages since the last visit till the 口号 for my "passionfruit aiyu @ 0%" is no longer valid... 😅😅😅 

heng, it's still as tasty!!! 😍😍😍

(7) Masala Tosai from Srisun Express, just opposite home sweet home too... always forgot the actual name and would order it as potato tosai... thankfully, most prata places understood my request... 😅😅😅

18 Feb (Tue)

(6) potion for 1 @ $5 from SK Kway Chap, just opposite home sweet home also... other than its yumminess, the other thing that i like about this stall is the extreme cleanliness... watching uncle prepare each dish with a wipe wipe here, wipe wipe there is kind of interesting... also luv spotting the 夫妻档 having dinner in Nex occasionally when i was a frequent at Nex long long ago... heee 

3 Feb (Mon)

(5) my favourite ban mian from 全心面, just opposite home sweet home too... a tiny one chef auntie store that has no digital footprint at all... anyway, chef auntie is super generous with the 面 and the 料 that i have to ask for 少面 every time... 😍😍😍 

7, 25, 27 & 28 Jan... this is how much i like this ban mian, especially on a cold cold day... 

(4) my favourite wanton mee from Li Fatt Wanton Mee just opposite home sweet home... luv the generous black sauce with green veg and yummy wanton... has been eating it when it was just $2.50 back in 2011, now it's $4... the power of inflation!!! 

23 Jan (Thur)

(3) one of the healthier version of char kway tiao from 91翠绿炒粿条面 @ Golden Mile... see the green veg, i like... spot the mini fried whitebaits that looked like 菜虫s, i like too... see the two big prawns, i luv... all these @ $4.50... 😍😍😍

22 Jan (Wed)

(2) Bak Chor Meepok @ 乐满园 coffeeshop... 重重的一包 at only $3 !!! 😍😍😍 

10th Jan (Fri)

(1) buy 2 free 1 姜葱田鸡 with veg & tofu @ Chang Jiang G1 as 开工大餐

3 Jan (Fri)