I’m Still Alive

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It’s been a long while since I last blogged!  Suddenly I’m like, losing all motivation / incentive to blog, lol.

Nothing much has changed, except for the fact that I’m getting more tired lately.  I haven’t really been doing much changes to my lifestyle or diet… just not sure why I keep feeling so lethargic.

The haze that we are suffering from is still far from over.  The hotspots in Indonesia are still burning, just that the wind directions are favourable for us these few days.  Thank goodness!  Nevertheless, the haze looks like it’s slightly back… to be on the safe side, I’ve closed all windows and door, switched on the air purifier and aircon.  I don’t want to fall sick!  =(

Since yesterday, I suddenly have the urge to visit Finland again.  Solo, this time.  You can probably say it’s something like a closure for myself, I guess.  I’ve already done some homework, looking at the overall cost to go (after all, in the past, I’ve always stayed at Reko’s house, so I saved quite a bit on accommodation.  On top of that, my coffee and lunch was always paid by him, and dinner was always prepared at his home.), as well as where I would want to go this time.

The trip will tentatively be in year 2017.  I’m looking to go before the Christmas period (I want to go to the Christmas market!), and be back in Singapore BEFORE Christmas.  So that leaves the period to be either second or third week of December 2017.  I’ve already decided on the hotel and airline (pretty obvious choices here), so I’m just looking at where to go.  I’ll definitely be looking at the places where I used to go with Reko.  Visiting those places again, alone this time, will probably do good to my soul.  On top of that, I’ve been looking for decent coffee roasters/cafes where I could get a real good cup of coffee (besides Robert’s coffee, that is).  I’m prepared to walk – just hope I don’t keep slipping on the ground since there’s no one for me to grab on to this time, lol!

Spending around SGD3k just for 5 days seemed a little too much, but I guess it’s necessary.  I’m not sure if Reko would want to meet up (I highly doubt so), but I guess I’ll at least try to meet up with his sister.  I kinda miss their mom too, but I guess things will be awkward if I drop by their house for a surprise visit.  >_<;

On the side note, I found out last night that Rosso no longer offers meatballs pasta.  Sigh… there goes my favourite pasta in the whole world… :(

Exhausted

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Its been so tiring lately. I’m all exhausted. When will I be able break away from all these chains, these emotional rollercoasters, these routines…

Will all these be ending soon? I’m really just so tired…

Tears

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Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to sleep. I guess the tears have replenished themselves for that few hours.

Happy 50th Birthday, Singapore

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I’m about three days early, but let’s not care about such minor details, shall we?

Singapore, through all the hardships, is finally 50 years old. Unfortunately, the man who had pushed Singapore to where she is on international stage has passed away earlier this year.  If only Mr Lee Kuan Yew would still be here, I’m sure he would be proud of what he had achieved as he watches the SG50 parade this coming Sunday.  Alas…

I’m not a patriotic person.  At least I don’t think I am.  I have lots of complaints about Singapore, constantly pointing out the flaws of the system, etc, when my overseas friends raved about the positive impressions they have on Singapore through various media.

I do, however, appreciate Singapore for where she is, what she is.  Although I’m upset that we do not have four seasons here, I’m glad that we also do not suffer from natural disasters.  We are relatively safe, geographically speaking, that is.  We have strict laws, but thanks to that we do not need to worry about random shooting in schools or malls.  We stressed on racial harmony, and even though there are tensions between different races, there’s no racial riots yet.

There were quite a few times in the past where I thought I would leave Singapore for good, and move to Finland with Reko.  Although I was excited about the idea at that time, there’s always another part of me wondering if I’d miss Singapore.  Then, I heard Kit Chan’s “Home”, and I realised the lyrics really hit home (pun not intended).

Here’s the lyrics (with the bold parts that resonates the most in me), followed by the MV thereafter:

Whenever I am feeling low, I look around me and I know.
There’s a place that will stay within me, wherever I may choose to go.
I will always recall the city, know every street and shore.
Sail down the river that brings us life, winding through my Singapore…

CHORUS:
This is home truly, where I know I must be.
Where my dreams wait for me, where the river always flows.
This is home surely, as my senses tell me.
This is where I won’t be alone.
For this is where I know it’s home.

Whenever there are troubles to go through, we’ll find a way to start anew.
There is comfort in the knowledge and home about its people too.
So we’ll build our dreams together, just like we’ve done before.
Just like the river that brings us life, there will always be Singapore..

(Repeat chorus)

For this is where, I know I’m home…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjU1zKYZsHk

 

Whatever worries I may have for Singapore’s future, let’s cast it aside for now, and relish in the fact that Singapore has reached 50 years old, and hope there’s many more years to come for us to celebrate.  Happy 50th birthday, Singapore.  =)

Untitled

Love, Music
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我知道我们都没有错， 只是放手会比较好过。最美的爱情， 回忆里待续。

X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X

退后
作词：宋健彰
作曲：周杰伦

天空灰得像哭过
离开你以后 并没有 更自由
酸酸的空气 嗅出我们的距离
一幕锥心的结局 像呼吸般无法停息

抽屉泛黄的日记 榨干了回忆
那笑容 是夏季 妳我的过去被顺时针的忘记
缺氧过后的爱情 粗心的眼泪是多余

我知道妳我都没有错 只是忘了怎么退后
信誓旦旦给了承诺 却被时间扑了空

我知道我们都没有错 只是放手会比较好过
最美的爱情 回忆里待续

天空灰得像哭过
离开你以后 并没有 更自由
酸酸的空气 嗅出我们的距离
一幕锥心的结局 像呼吸般无法停息

抽屉泛黄的日记 榨干了回忆
那笑容 是夏季 妳我的过去被顺时针的忘记
缺氧过后的爱情 粗心的眼泪是多余

我知道妳我都没有错 只是忘了怎么退后
信誓旦旦给了承诺 却被时间扑了空

我知道我们都没有错 只是放手会比较好过
最美的爱情 回忆里待续

我知道妳我都没有错 只是忘了怎么退后
信誓旦旦给了承诺 却被时间扑了空

我知道我们都没有错 只是放手会比较好过
最美的爱情 回忆里待续

Small Update

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I’m sick.

Like really sick.

Had fever for almost a week, and the tiredness hasn’t quite go away yet after one whole week.  I’m just still feeling so tired and weak despite resting more than usual.

Ugh.  Just hope I can get back to my normal routine again soon…

Anyway, a list of movies that I wanna catch for the rest of the year!

– Attack on Titans 1 (WHO could miss this, seriously?! I don’t have really high hopes for it though – after all Mikasa was supposed to be the special one in the manga due to her being Asian, but in the movie, all of them are Asians, so… *cough* We’ll see how it works out!)

– Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (I’m not a TC fan, but I’ve been following this franchise for quite a while, so it doesn’t seem right to give it a miss.)

– Pixels (OMG evil Pac-Man!  Who would have thought! :D  The trailer looks soooo much fun!)

– The Martian (Matt Damon is in it.  Matt Damon.  Heck, isn’t that reason enough?!  XD OK fangirl screams aside, I absolutely loved the book to bits – all that science really took quite a while and a few re-reads of the sentences to sink in – and it’ll really be interesting to see how Matt portrays all that wit in action, while the book had it down in logs.  Is he going to talk to himself throughout the whole movie?  Or will it be like a daily playback of what he had done – like how we are reading Mark’s daily logs in the books? Well I don’t know, but I know I can’t wait for the movie to be released!)

Staycations

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I like staycations.  They are like mini vacations, though still on home soil.  But getting away from the familiar home/room settings makes it feel very much like a weekend getaway to some hotel overseas.

So far, I’ve only went for chain hotels’ staycations, mainly the AccorHotel chain, simply because I was their platinum member back then. But now that I was being “downgraded” to just classic member, I can just give up on their privileges and go for those boutique hotels which offer more interesting and quirky rooms.

My previous 2-weeks stay (not really a staycation but really a two-weeks stay due to my home’s renovation) at Hotel Clover The Arts was really a lovely stay.  It was super small, yes, but just nice for just myself.  I washed my working clothes by hand and hang them in the toilet to dry, and there’s also a small space for me to put my laptop if I needed to work or surf net (while not on mobile). The bed was awesome, and no windows in the room means I have no natural light and I can sleep like a log with the lights off, regardless of what time it was in the day.  The only con I could think of was that there were days I wanted to go out, only to find that it was raining and I had to head back to my room to grab my umbrella.  Other than that, the room itself was great, the breakfast included daily was awesome and filling, location was perfect (I walked to and fro from work everyday).

I fell in love with boutique hotels since then.  This upcoming New Year eve staycation, I’m also looking at another boutique hotel.  Not gonna reveal the name here, as Bear would read it!  I want to give him a small surprise.  =)

But there’s a list of boutique hotels in Singapore that I wanna try at some point. Since my overseas holidays have been reduced to just one per year, maybe I will just arrange for more staycations then!  =P

Bucket List

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I don’t usually have a bucket list, but more like a wish list.

Though now, I do have a bucket list (though admittedly some of the stuff in the list is unattainable).

But here goes:-

  • To visit Netherlands’ fields of tulips
  • To embark on a solo trip overseas (anywhere)
  • To view and experience Northern Lights
  • To spend Christmas AND New Year in a winter country with snow.  Lots of snow.
  • Visit Japan, namely Tokyo (for cherry blossoms, Disneyland, Disney Sea, Ghibli Museum, Kiyosumi Garden, Akihabara, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku), Osaka (for Universal Studios, and maybe a side trip to Kyoto), Hokkaido (for Sapporo Snow Festival, and maybe a hot spring resort stay at Noboribetsu).
  • Visit Maldives before they disappear under the rising sea levels
  • Do a free & easy multi-city Europe trip just to take in the main sights – at mainly these destinations: Paris (France), Lucerne (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), Venice (Italy), Santorini (Greece), Tromso (Norway), Prague (Czech Rep), Reykjavik (Iceland)
  • Go onboard a journey on Orient Express.

Now let’s see which one is attainable, and which isn’t.

To visit Netherlands’ fields of tulips – Can be arranged rather easily, actually.  Just that apart from the tulips, I’m not really interested in anything else, although I could combine a tulip field trip in Amsterdam with other Europe cities.

To embark on a solo trip overseas – I almost nearly do it for this year end, but I guess I should spend the money on a new rig instead… I can easily do this for either Hong Kong or Taipei at some point.

To view and experience Northern Lights – OK this is somewhat on the mid-difficulty level.  Northern Lights are elusive; it doesn’t mean that you go to the right place and you can see them.  You need to be there at the right time too, and hopefully the skies are clear for you to view them, without any light pollution from the city.  And the places where there’s a high chance for tourists to view the Northern Lights are far away from tourist cities – you’ll need car transport or you  need to sign up with Northern Lights tours, which can cost quite a bit.  Tromso (in Norway) is a good place to view it, as it is up north in Norway, but it has become a tourist spot just because of that.  Food and accommodation are way overpriced… So unless I have a lot of money to burn, the best bet to strike this off the bucket list is to visit Saariselka (at least I’m slightly more familiar with this place) and hope for the best.

To spend Christmas AND New Year in a winter country with snow – Well this is already on my list of to-dos.  Just that I ain’t sure when exactly can I embark on that trip.  I have year-end closing to worry about, and that my mom still refused to let me travel by myself. I’m pretty sure I’ll get it done eventually.  Just not sure when.

Visit Japan – This isn’t that hard, but looking at the sheer amount of places I wanna go… I may have to split this into two trips.  One week trip just for Tokyo and Osaka, and another week’s trip for Hokkaido.

Visit Maldives before they disappear under the rising sea levels – Not too sure about this too.  Yeah Maldives is a place I’ve always wanted to go – but I don’t want to settle for a cheap accommodation just to get my arse there.  I want that perfect Maldives holiday – house on stilts over the water with glass floors, where manta rays and small sharks greet you every morning beneath your feet.  So getting there isn’t an issue – but the cost of staying there is.  Will I ever live my dream vacation in Maldives?  Not sure… maybe.  At least it doesn’t cost as much as the next two items on the list…

Do a free & easy multi-city Europe trip just to take in the main sights – Now this.  I’ll probably need one or two months away from work just to do this at one go.  Okay, I could break it up to several trips, but at the end of the day, each trip will take at least two weeks.

Go onboard a journey on Orient Express – This one – I’d say it’s just unattainable and leave it at that, lol. Just a 2 day 1 night train trip from London to Venice cost USD3,230 per person.  Yup, just for a 2d1n train trip, and it’s not even a round trip.  Just one way.  Okay if Europe 2d1n trip is too much, how about Singapore to Bangkok then?  But even so,  just a one way trip (2 nights) cost USD2,690 per pax. Yup.  And Scoot cost just SGD$39 during sale period, and it takes only 2 hrs 55min. I mean, yeah sure, all meals onboard are included, you are travelling on a luxury train, where breakfast is served to you in cabin at your preferred timing, where you get to sip classy tea with sandwiches and cakes in an afternoon tea setting in your own cabin too… but holy cow, that’s a lot of money.  Maybe when I win Toto first prize some day.  Maybe.  Which is actually not possible since I don’t buy Toto.  =_=

Sigh.  So much for a relatively unattainable bucket list.

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