2nd Month Anniversary!

It was our 2nd month anniversary yesterday. We didn't do anything special. It's just a tiny milestone in the journey we call marriage :)

We did, however, buy a small slice of cake and stuck 2 candles on it to signify the event! :) How cute was that?



Happy 2nd month anniversary, Hubby :)



Quirky

My first collage attempt

I've been wanting to create a collage for the longest time. But being the noob that I am, I couldn't really figure out how to do it with Photoshop.

Bali Honeymoon 2009

It's a good thing then that I re-discovered Picasa (my brother introduced it to me once but it got wiped out when my laptop was reformatted and well, ...) and it's been giving me hours of fun!

It's now Picasa3 and I think there's more eye candy to it compared to the last version. Try it out. It's simple, hassle-free and easy to navigate. Except for a few effects that I'm still working on......

So, what do you think of my collage? :)

Quirky

Chat box : "here today, gone tomorrow?"

I've been thinking about this for a while now.... Should I take down the chat box on my blog? Not that I have a lot of people chatting there anyway. What do you think?

The reason I put it up when I set up this blog was for communication to flow besides comments on the posts but so far it's only me and a few 'bees'.... The flowers have died and the novelty has worn off. I'm neither famous like Kenny Sia or controversial like Xiaxue, so I guess there won't be many people scurrying around my blog and chatting with each other....

Planning to put up a site meter to see the traffic this blog engages, though. Saw one that's quite nice in a blog I visits. It even shows you the country your last visitor came from, on a revolving Earth! Quite cool :)

I've been re-addicted to Moleskines again... well, I was never in rehab for this addiction so I shouldn't say I got addicted again but yeah, it's pulling on my heartstrings to buy another one.....

*but I haven't even finish using the ones I already bought!!!* so screams the tiny voice in my head.... my logic.

As if it would be easy for me to resist that temptation..... NEVER! :P




Quirky

Quotes I Love

I don't meddle with what my friends believe or reject, any more than I ask whether they are rich or poor; I love them.
~James Russell Rowell


Quirky

It just had to bite me in the a**

Well, what I hoped did not materialize, really did not. Thank God.

But then something else had to happen.... *cannot be bed of roses for a while meh?*

Was talking to my colleague on the phone late evening yesterday and a slight shift of my body caused one of the nerve on my neck to just twitch! It hurts blardy bad. Had to cut my colleague off halfway and hang up cos it's really too painful.

*she might think it was a lame excuse to cut her off but NooooOo.... it's real, k?*

The pain travelled down to my fingers.... Man, it was scary. I couldn't move my head without feeling sharp pain. Had to drive back cos unfortunately I drove to work yesterday. It was quite a challenge driving with minimal head movement. I can't really see the cars on my right or left...just had to keep to my lane and hope no cars wanna hit me.

Went to a chiropractor..... she hurts.... the pain... and she can actually laugh.... sadistic :( Felt slightly better after she did her stuff though. At least now I can move a bit more..... Have to go see her again and the thought of recurring *extreme* pain is scaring me.


Quirky

I like the way this gate suddenly was just put there.... not like there's a fence around and anything to 'open' up to. I just like the way it is.

Taken in Uluwatu, Bali

Quirky

Please not again....

Nothing yet to confirm my suspicions but I really do pray that it won't be a repeat episode from 2007 all over again.

Whatever the case is, I should learn to live life with less tension and more happiness.

Stress might be the contributing factor but let's just hope it just stays as stress and nothing else.



Quirky

Levels of Insanity

Some funny things I read from a forwarded email :

* Someone withdraws money from the ATM and when the money comes out, screams "I won! I won!!'

* Someone goes into 7-Eleven, chooses a condom to purchase, goes to the counter and asks the salesperson, "Where's the fitting room?"

* During lunch break, put on your sunglasses, park and points your hairdryer out your window and see how many cars slow down.



Quirky

Credit Card : Boon or Bane?

What is your opinion on credit card?

Is it convenience? Flexibility to buy something now and pay later? A hassle because you can't track what you spent?

A lady I spoke to is dead against credit cards. She feels that credit cards deal a lot of damage to the financial health of a lot of people, namely youngsters who just came out to the working world. She is a bit on the wiser side of the age ruler but what she said bears truth.

In this current financial fiasco, if you do not handle your spending well, you could be in trouble.

Credit card allows you to buy something now and pay 30 days later but if you don't pay the full amount by the due date, the interest rate is exorbitant. And although the government has reduced the interest rate on credit cards, it's still about 13.5% p.a. Banks usually don't put the p.a interest rate visibly :P They just publish the 1.3% p.m (per month) rate. Which seem little but is actually not when compounded.

A lot of people I know, just swipe their cards and pay the minimum by month end. By paying the minimum, there's no 'penalty' from the bank and they can still use their cards but they usually don't realize the interest charged to them the following month. And if you continue to pay the minimum each consecutive month, you'll soon realize you're just serving the interest.

On the other hand, credit card provides convenience and I think safety. I like using credit card for numerous reasons. It's convenient because I can use it almost anywhere. I feel safer because I don't carry a lot of cash on me. It's flexible if I need to purchase something on installment (usually I search for those with 0% installment plan lah). And I get to enjoy the item first and pay only 30 days later! Ain't that cool? :)

I think the bottomline is that people need to be educated on using credit cards and how having one doesn't mean you can literally live on credit. If you don't have the money to pay by month end, please don't just swipe your card. You'll be living on borrowed money and that's why the whole world is suffering from financial meltdown. A lot of us has been living on borrowed money. Money we have not yet earned.

It's easy to swipe the card. And it feels good to buy, buy, buy. But we need to have control, no?

For me, I know how much a month I can spend. And yes, I use my credit card when doing so. But because I know my budget, I tend not to overspend. Using the credit card gives me points that I can accumulate and exchange for something when I have enough points. So, it's a good thing!

I get to enjoy my item first, collect points and redeem something else in the future!

So, for all the misuse of credit cards, I believe that it is also a good medium. It probably was design with goodness in mind but well, we humans tend to misuse goodness.... Like morphine. It was discovered to relief pain but humans use it to get 'high'.

The ball is in your court. Take control of your own financial health :)



Quirky

MYOB

Back in my school days, I bring bread for breaks almost everyday. Sometimes it was peanut butter, sometimes jam, sometimes 'barbacued pork' or 'pork floss' (the latter two being Chinese 'delicacies' ~ to me).

I have no idea how it all started but maybe my grandmother made them for my mum and then the 'tradition' passed on but I kinda liked that. Bread is healthy and I don't have to rush to the canteen to line up for food.

The times when I do, I have to face lots and lots of kids queuing for food and then the hassle of finding a spot to eat. Not that I'm a loner, I have friends who brought their own food too :) Things were simpler, anyway. I had more time to eat and chat. Imagine 20 minutes of recess time, half of it spent queuing and finding a space to eat....

Anyhow, I have people I know who frown on the fact that I eat bread everyday in school and I don't know why, it's not even their problem. My food, my stomach, my time.... Does it even concern them?

More than 10 years has passed since we left highschool and she's still harping on it. And to make matters worse, she's now my colleague and the ONE time I brought sandwich for lunch and she saw it, she's telling everyone that I ALWAYs bring bread for lunch. Erm, hello, it's only once. I go out for lunch with the rest everyday. Do you not see it? Oh, you're always with us too, am I invisible?

I am considering bringing sandwich for lunch more often now because I feel it's healthier than what we eat outside. Less oil & cholesterol, more fibre & protein (and if I add cheese, more calcium). You want to make more comments? Feel free. I'm SO going to turn a deaf ear.

~ la la la di da ~

:)



Quirky

Paranormal?

Do you believe in the paranormal? Does the very thought that they might exist scare the socks off you?

Well, I believe they do exist because the world is more than we can comprehend. And also because where there are forces of Good, there are always forces of Evil as well. Feel free to counter this :)

Anyway, what I wanted to write about is not whether they exist or not because we can banter on and on and no one can provide concrete proof. Not that I intentionally ask for it. I'm quite, quite happy with the philosophy, ''the well water does not disturb/bother the stream water'' (literally translated from a Chinese saying ''jing shui bu fan he shui''). So, if I don't disturb 'them', they will also leave me alone :)

Again, I digress. Sorry. Back to the story...

One night, I think about 2 weeks ago, 5 of us namely Mr. & Mrs. PPJay, Momo and Mr. & Mrs. Artsy went to a park in the vicinity of PPJay's house to play fireworks (it was still Chinese New Year). The park was quite well lit and there were some guys playing basketball on the other end of the park.

The girls had fun catching up while the guys were lighting the fireworks. Although the fireworks these days were not as bright and loud as those when I was a child, it was still better than nothing :P We stayed at the park until close to midnight and decided to adjourn to PPJay's house. While walking towards the car, Mr. PPJay told us that his parents used to stay around that area and how the Japanese used to kill and dispose of the victims' bodies on the train tracks behind the row of houses. Apparently there are ghost stories aplenty in that area...

As Mr. Artsy started the car, he also turned on the CD player. But as the song came to play, both Momo and me looked at each other. There seemed to be another layer of music amidst the existing one. Queer as it might be, both of us did not mutter a word. Then Mr. Artsy pressed the button to stop the player. He just did it abruptly without saying anything. The music that was on the player stopped. The music both Momo and I heard was still playing! And it sounded as if it came from the back of the car.

PPJay commented that the sound came from inside Momo's bag. Momo said she does not have this ringtone but took out her mobile to check anyhow. Nothing. But the music persisted. Never stopping. I checked mine too, although I don't have that music as well. Also nothing.

Momo and I looked at each other again, not daring to look behind us......

Then PPJay noticed light within Momo's bag.... "Look, got light inside your bag".... Momo looked again and .....

... the music got louder.....

.. the music and light came from.... another mobile phone! Belonging to her sister.... They both have exactly the same phone and according to Momo, this is the first time she ever accidentally grab her sister's phone.

Mystery solved :P

Well, the scary thing was the music refused to stop and kept playing while we were looking for the source. And it was the soft, classical kinda music.... Really set the mood, man...

What are the coincidences of a phone ringing (non-stop & foreign, mind you) in the middle of the night while your friend is telling you a ghost story?



Quirky

A wish for all out there

Happy Valentine's Day!

Celebrate love & life with your love ones. Better yet, remember to spend some time with the person most precious to you -> Yourself!!




Quirky

Quotes I Love

In so much as any one pushes you nearer to God, he or she is your friend.
~ French Proverb



Quirky

It's back up! It's back up!!

Ok. I thought it was gonna be a loOong time before everything is back to normal but it's back now! Thanks to pressing a lot of buttons and my husband :)

Seriously, being patient and not panic is most essential in situations like this.... and he's very patient!

*grins*

I shall look for new blogskins but I'm so gonna make sure Ms. Smarty-pants make a copy of the html template for this existing blogskin first!

Ta's :)




Quirky

All Screwed up!

I've been wanting a new blogskin for a while now. Seeing that a lot of other blogs I frequented has beautiful blogskins and mine is kinda 'normal'.....

So I browsed, found a blogskin that I liked and tried to incorporate it into this blog. It said on the website that it's compatible with Blogger and silly me forgot to make a copy of my original template before pasting the new one.

And now, everything's screwed up! I lost my entire sidebar! All the blogs I frequented, my Etsy link, my chatbox (although there isn't much activity there..but still!). And the worse thing is that I can't find the stupid layout button on the dashboard or anywhere! I need the da*n 'layout' button!!!

I'm so mad at myself right now.

It's going to take some time before everything's back to normal again.

Will I try a new template again? I wonder.....


Quirky

Quotes I Love

Friendship, gift of heaven, pleasure of great souls!
~Voltaire



Quirky

Etsy! Etsy!!

Whaatt? Who? Huh?

Etsy! That's what! :)

I think I'm going to give Etsy another try.... I have been procrastinating and lazy so I can't blame anyone but myself that my previous cards were not well received. Well, that and probably cos I'm just not good enough yet?

Anyways, I've uploaded a few items on my shop just a while ago and will be uploading more soon. I am gonna 'focus' more on cards and tags this time around.

I guess I was trying to make too many things at a go the previous time and that turned out to be a disaster. Let's see how it goes this time round. Do drop by my shop, have a look and if you like something, click 'BUY' !!! :)

*ok, that was shameless but oh, well... worth a shot* :P



Quirky

Quotes I Love

Only friends will tell you the truths you need to hear to make the last part of your life bearable.
~Francine du Plessix Gray


Quirky