Saturday, May 31, 2025

Giving Thanks in May

31st May (Sat)

Michelle's hatchday meal @ Omote (again!!!) on birthday girl's (very persistent) wish...  



30th May (Fri)

lunch with PAL's Pals to celebrate the last day of on-site work!!!



29th May (Thurs)

my favourite game in shopee!!!

new high score + 11 coins for forming that DURIAN!!! 



28th May (Wed)

another chance at trying to have live greens at home sweet home... 

thanks sylvia for putting it together 😍😍😍



23rd May (Fri)

its successful marketing video lured us to Dong Qu for our meet-up!!! We were seated up at level 5 in the vip attic, an exclusive cozy corner just for the 3 of us and Ken who came later... 😍😍😍 


三位有点恐怖的美女 caught on cctv... heee


18th May (Sun)

it was on my to-do list to get a new phone since last month as i wanted a better camera phone for my up-coming Poland & Germany trip... 


saw this ad on Friday and immediately surf Shopee to see if this phone is available. The lite version in the 400 series is!!! And cost only $285 after all the voucher discount... it also comes in a really sweet marrs green that i like... 😍😍😍 


dont understand the specs so went youtube to watch its reviews!!! Sound and looks good enough for me... i like that it's lighter & thinner, has a bigger screen, takes nicer pics with the depth that i prefer and has the AI eraser feature that my current 3.5 years old Realme 7, which has 2 cracks now, no have!!! 


Well, i'm a proud owner of another XZ endorsed product... 

my new pretty Honor 400 Lite arrived today!!!...

 with a charger head which i was told is no longer a norm to come together with a new phone and 一对容易不见的 ear-piece... 😅😅😅



17th May (Sat)

had fun organising earrings on my new earring holder today!!! 


14th May (Wed)

having to work 😓

having to wake up at 6am to go to work 😓😓

having to brave through the thunderstorm at 6.30am to go to work 😓😓😓

having to endure 脚湿湿  for braving through the thunderstorm at 6.30am to go to work 😓😓😓😓


was seriously contemplating to summon all my ailments, discomforts, triggers & excuses just so that i could avoid all the 😓😓😓😓 then it struck me that i could avoid the rain totally by taking bus 147 or 165 from behind home sweet home to the interchange instead of the usual route that involves crossing the road rain or shine... 


What a revelation after staying in this place for 14 years!!! 



10th May (Sat)

a warm & humid morning of dances, taking pics with pika-pika, songs and colouring with the residents... 


蔡妈咪's day dinner @ Kin Kao Mai where everyone enjoyed the food lots... had chose this place as i tot 蔡妈咪 would enjoy the 老歌 歌台, instead the oldies reminded her of dad and she teared... 😭😭😭... i'm an ID-zero-one-T too!!! 

To Snowie: 
Happi 14th Hatchday... thank you for being with me for yet another year... continue to stay healthy please!!!

To Brownie:
小胖, 妈咪想你!!!



4th May (Sun)


😍😍😍



3rd May (Sat)

caught me by surprise when PAP candidate Darryl David and his team of entourage came to '拉票' on Monday night... first time seeing my MP face to face in my 14 years staying in this estate because i wasnt given enough 'lead time' to be not at home.... feel awkward having to make hi-bye small talks like these... 😅😅😅

4th time on PO duty... thankful for the more humane break time this round that made the 14.5 hours of work more bearable... 



2nd May (Fri)

celebrating two consecutive days of hamster walk walk with calories at tenderbest... 😂😂😂



Friday, May 30, 2025

#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!!!  💪💪💪


din even know got this character until i googled about the cute mushroom 们s in mario... 😅😅😅 


it just had to be this prompt on the week of ur anniversary... 
妈咪 好想 好想 你   




i will gladly pull the trigger on the two tauruses who wasted my time and energy if it's not a crime!!!


one of my favourite pleasing view


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


the conversation on 18 Dec 2022: 

Allie: Candy Auntie, are you scared? 
Moi : erm, yes, a little bit. 
Allie : I'm not scared. 
Moi : 😅😅😅


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!!! 
 

Thursday, May 29, 2025

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 hobbies & activities 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 so 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 an 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 to Reader's 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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(XVIII) Completed on : 29 May 2025

one of two books that i 'took' from the SG60 booth @ Chen San library... a photobook of Singapore from 1950s till present... 


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(XVII) Completed on : 26 May 2025

author connects her love & lack of love life to Joni Mitchell's 4th album; Blue (way too much i feel)... 一样米真的养百样人; some people have more emotions & desires, choose to live in the moment and care less of the consequences that arise from repeated decisions that bring pain and trouble and stress and regrets... 真的摸不着我的头脑... 😅😅😅

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(XVI) Completed on : 16 May 2025

a book that's half fiction, half non-fiction as it explores the lives of two amazing and inspiring women; Mary Agnes Chase and Marguerite Williams written elegantly in poetry verses detailing how they rose up the ranks in botany (specialising in agrostology) and geology respectively, at a time when women were not allowed to vote and white & black arent allowed to eat at the same cafe nor poo-ed in the same toilet... 😓😓😓


first book this year that i gave a 5 stars out of 5 stars!!! Was such a joy to read that i finished it two days ahead of 'schedule'... 😍😍😍

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(XV) Completed on : 12 May 2025

my favourite article in this book is "Learn when to say NO" by Bruce Tulgan... giving a well-reasoned NO without making oneself looks bad is an art act!!!

useful for future mentoring &/or CT sessions though i very much wish there wont be any anymore... heee 

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(XIV) Completed on : 4 May 2025

book cover is in the same colour scheme as my bookmark, a chers' day gift from a kiddo 2 years ago... this book is a fun read with comic on one side and 繁体字 in vertical arrangement on the other side... 😎😎😎

thanks and no thanks ah, Snowie!!! 😂😂😂

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(XIII) Completed on : 29 Apr 2025

Fantastic book that suggests strategies and tips for ADHD-ers to better their life cos apparently children with ADHD can be developmentally delayed in executive functioning skills by 30% or 3 to 6 years... no wonder they have difficulties doing what most kids their age can do. And even when they reached adulthood, they may be functioning at only 80% of what the masses are capable of too... 


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(XII) Completed on : 13 Apr 2025

exercise & healthy diet do reduce risk of cancer & reoccurrence... bra & sugar do not cause cancer... never ever trust alternative medicine / treatment... trust science & data collected from the many years of scientific work of doctors, patients & researchers, not a page of testimonials on websites or friends of friends of friends (whom could be paid influencers) who claim 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