Dreamer's dream

Caught up with my old friend when in KL... we talked about recent happenings as well as the past. haha, this is what happened when you are with OLD friend >__< We suddenly turn into oldies! Actually, we are not that old la, just that all of us have memories of the past and it's just natural that we discuss about the history when we meet *Denial*

My friend said she dreamed of going to Hawaii since young. She couldn't really remember what made her wanted to go there. She figured it must be because of the movie she watched when she was a kid. She imagined herself lying in a hammock and sipping juice from a coconut decorated with a pink umbrella at the beach where the sand is as fine as flour, the sound of the ocean waves can be heard, Hawaiian music playing in the background and a few ladies wearing coconut shell-made bras doing Hula dance... she said to her Hawaii is a paradise. To date, she still hopes she would be able to visit that place. 

It's so cool to have a dream like that! So i tried to recall, what is my dream? i thought very hard but it didn't come to me... Oh gosh, I don't have a dream? Then the next day, when i walked past a shop, it came to me.... 

I was in high school at that time and once, i went to a florist to purchase some flowers for my sister who just gave birth. The shop was full of beautiful flowers! On the shelves, in the fridge, on the floor, on the wall, outside the shop.....  And the shop itself smelled wonderful, just like flowers.. I wonder if there were bees and butterflies in the shop too.... There were rolls and rolls of colourful ribbons and gift cards at the working counter. Behind it, there were also soft toys and balloons with greetings like "It's a girl!", "I love you", "Happy Birthday!" etc. Everything made me feel happy inside. Then and there, i dreamed of owning a flower shop just like this one when i grow up. I reckoned i would be happy everyday if i  worked in shop like this.

As you can see, it hasn't happened.... I could if i want to i suppose but you see, i've found my happiness.... That to be happy everyday, all i need is have happy thoughts~ wow, why am i so clever ah? haha... 

Our minds are really powerful. It can create and destroy.... 

Create happiness and destroy hatred....

Jane, do i get discounts?

Super Memory

SometimesI really admire my own memory.  It's so powerful that even I am amazed! ^^

Jane always asked me how I have the ability to remember things fromlong ago. She hardlyremembers what was said 5 seconds ago! Yeah Jane, beware cozwhatever u do and say, i remember hehe...  

Just a few examples to share - the other day, one of my TW friends said she found an Italianrestaurant which we should go. The place is very cozily decorated andfood isn't very bad. She told me the location of the restaurant. Hmmm... I felt I had been there before and when i clicked on the enclosed link, irealised that another TW friend had taken me there once, THREE years ago! Icould even remember what I had! 3 years later, I went backto this exact same restaurant, nothing much has changed except thistime, i went with different companions :P

Last night, Jane and I were whatsapp-ing. These days we human beings donot communicate verbally anymore. All we do is use our fingers.Personally, i think it's not very healthy. Real human interaction isvery important because it brings people closer. Not that writing messages won't bring people closer.. it's just different. U see, thesedays it's easy to spot families or groups of friends, although theyare sitting together in one table but nobody talks. Everyone is lookingdown at their phones and the only thing we could hear is incomingmessage alerts. SAD.... 

Anyway, back to my original topic, Jane and I were whatsapp-ing, Janewas trying to ask me to do something and before she brought it up, Imentioned exactly what she wanted to say. Jane was surprised and calledme a genius. Well, if that's the way she wants to put it, I won't try to deny la hehe...

I said to Jane that it's because I am Smarties and she is a M & M. She didn'tcatch what I meant so I told her a joke which I heard years ago when we were stillin high school. I asked her "why do M&M go to school?" Shereplied "how do I know?" The answer is "Because M&M want to beSmarties!" ahahahaha... funny right? Or did you not catch it likeJane? well, then u are M & M too...  haha...

I once came across a phrase that says "快樂的人都是記性不好的". I'm here to object because this phrase isn't entirely true. Because although I have good memory, I'm NOT unhappy. Being happy isn't difficult if you know the secrets. Well, actually, there are not secrets la hahaha...  You justgotta have bigger heart than other people, that's all. If u try to find faults in everything, no matter how bad your memory is, you will still be unhappy.... Wow, am full of wisdom today! hehehe... 

If you still don't know how to create your own happiness, then try to be with someone who is happy & funny like.... 

My crazy brother...

who always does funny stuff to make ppl laugh
HAHAHAHAHAHA

or play with cute kitties. It can take away your worries too....

...as long as they don't belong to u :P

If you still don't feel happy, how about...

Eating yummy cheesecake? 

V rich cheesecake from 日光 in Taichung

If one piece of it still doesn't bring you happiness, try eating the whole thing! Yayeeee... the thought of it is enough to make me happy! haha..

~快樂並不在於有與非有而是在於珍惜與知足~

Flying around

One of my hobbies is traveling. I know, it's an expensive hobby! That's why I travel with care, which means I only travel to places I  can afford. Sounds pitiful isn't it? Because I can't travel anywhere I like without first checking my bank account T___T Well, that's life...Good thing is, my appetite is pretty small so i don't feel sad that I cannot travel to expensive places... As long as i get to go somewhere, am contented. "知足常乐" (Happiness lies in contentment) is the key to happiness! Yayeee... But of course i would be great if I could visit places that I can't afford ;P so if there is anyone out there who would like to sponsor me, please let me know! *day-dreaming*

Am not a fussy traveler. As long as the flight time and price suit me, I will fly. But I try to avoid early morning flights because it's a pain having to wake up very early in the morning to catch the flight. Late night flights are OK but not really preferred because it is also a pain having to stay awake until it's boarding time. What is worse about midnight flight is that it is not easy to fall asleep in an uncomfortable plane chair (now i feel sorry that I can only afford economy class T____T) and also the flight announcements can be annoying sometimes, especially when I FINALLY fall asleep T________T . oh yeah, and if there are kids who do not need to sleep..... Unfortunately, I experienced all of these during my flight to Perth in CNY T________________T

Although late night flights are not preferred but I take them anyway. Yeah i know, I give in easily haha... Once, i took a 1.15am flight.  I almost dozed off during the waiting time and was soOOoooo happy when they let us into the plane. I was even happier when i found out that I could have the whole row of seats to myself! Yayeee.... Sadly,  I forgot to place my handbag under the seat in front of me. I just put it on the floor and went to dreamland...... I think it was 5 minutes after the plane had taken off that one of the air stewardesses woke me up and asked me to put my bag under the seat... And from that second onwards, I stayed wide awake the whole night T____T My brain, eyes and soul were sleepy but they just wouldn't go to sleep! Darn!! But one good thing about a midnight flight is that u get to see sunrise from up there!   

Wah, I'm flying over an ocean of clouds!

When taking midnight flights, I make sure I brush my teeth and put on skin care products. Well, i gotta stay fresh when I wake up in a new place bah! hehe... But sometimes when i travel internationally, all my skin care products are in my check-in bags! So what do i do? I would go to the duty free shops and take some of their free cleanser sample, go to the washroom and wash my face, then go back for toner, serum and moisturizer. Wait, I have to keep my hands moisturized too, let me apply some Jurlique's Lavender hand cream... Thank goodness for testers, I not only get to use all sorts of products I don't normally use at home but also have good skin when i wake up hehe... Please don't call me cheapskate... am just fully utilising what's available :P

One of my fav airports - Changi

Quiz: Where is this place?

Sometimes I wish I had Doraemon so i could use his 任意门 to go any place i want anytime! Which means I could have delicious sashimi and Ramen in Japan tonight, supper at Shilin night market in Taipei after that, then have my favourite bo lo bun & a cup of milk tea in HK as breakfast the next day before i come back here to work .... you get the idea hahaha.... *day dreaming continues~~*

Buying ice cream

That day, I was just about to leave the coffee shop when I heard the familiar 'ice cream bell'. I immediately ran outside and tried to locate the ice cream man... He was no where to be seen! :'( Then I heard the sound again. It seemed to come from the back so i went behind the shophouses and there, i saw him. He was slowly pushing his ice cream cart under the hot sun. The bicycle, ice box and umbrella which made up the ice cream cart looked a bit too heavy for him now.... 

I called out "ice-cream!" like old times.  I really missed the ice cream in butter bun... I really wanted to know if it still tastes as good as it was, so i said 'gu you bao' (butter bun) please. He searched through the bags of buns in the basket. While waiting, I looked at this man who I used to buy ice cream from. It was quite hard to believe that this is the same person... He used to be very young, full of energy and have dark hair.  He now has grey hair and there were so many deep lines on his face and hands... And he looked much smaller than before. He has definitely grown very old. Suddenly I felt sad. What if I wouldn't see him in the streets anymore? It would be like losing a childhood memory! 

Before I could think any further, he replied 'today no gu you bao, how about a plain one?' He looked at me with a mixed expressions.. as if he felt sorry that he didn't have what i wanted and hoped I would still buy something. I nodded. He quickly cut open the plain bun and stuff a few scoops of ice cream in between and handed it to me. He asked me if i would like to try other ice cream and started to point at the pictures on his ice box.. He said this one is new, quite nice... Was he was trying to tell me not to look backwards (i.e.  always ask for things I had ages ago) and instead I should look forward (i.e. try new things)?   

Ice cream in plain bun~

I still prefer the butter bun *stubborn*

Haha, ok, i think too much. He was just trying to sell me more ice creams. I did buy more... One for mum, one for dad and 2 for me!

I must buy more next time!

Jenn is a Food Addict!!

I can resist all kind of temptations but when it comes to food, I find it hard to resist... T___T and would do anything to have it...  There, my answer to why I can't fit into my older dress :S

While on my way to take a bus to the airport, I spotted these cute looking egg puddings in real egg shells! Gosh, they looked delish and simply screamed "eat me!". I stood in front of the counter for a while, wondering whether I should add more weigh to my already heavy bags. What's more, these little devils need to be refrigerated, would they go bad after a 12-hour journey? Otherwise, my effort and cash would be wasted! And it's sinful to waste food too!

Must try when in Taipei!

Have an egg pudding after my home-cooked lunch

The next moment, I found myself telling the cashier that I wanted to take away one box of their delicious egg puddings. T___T I always have weak will power when it comes to food.... Fortunately, they remained fresh and yummy when I got home. My mum loved it too... both of us were fighting for the puddings and i wished I had gotten 2 boxes instead! one for her and one for me....! 

Since I'm on the food topic now, i want to tell u something I eat lately. We all know that instant noodles isn't healthy and we should avoid eating it as much as we can... but what if the instant noodles is good for your health ....? Like this one....

The other morning, mum didn't make me any breakfast.... So i grabbed a packet of the Chinese Herbal flavour vegetarian noodles and ran to work... The pantry of my office is 4 levels below where I am so I decided to cook in my own way.. I wasn't being lazy, it's just that, going down and climbing up will spoil my appetite hehe... So, how did i cook my breakfast?

Ready to enjoy in 2 minutes!

It was quite good. There are real wolfberries too! wow, so healthy! My vision was sharpened immediately! haha...  Too bad i didn't remember to take some veggie on my way out. It would have been healthier! 

Nah never mind, i can always cook a healthier one next time~

My secret diary

When we were in Perth for CNY, my eldest sister asked us to go through the stuff we left in her shed. While digging through boxes of items, I saw my old diary. I remember mum bought it for me after we watched the Disney cartoon, Aladdin in the cinema. How long has it been? *counting fingers & toes* I took my diary back together with many other things of sentimental value. 

The diary was locked but with my cleverness, i opened it easily with a pair of scissors. Sorry kid, the lock is only for decoration. If you think your secrets are safe in there, then you have been misled. Your parents and siblings, best friends and even the maid have probably read your mind while u are gone :S I'm sure this didn't happen to me because being an insecure person who trusted no one and even with the lock, i still found it necessary to hide it haha.. well, at least that is what i think la :P

Author: Jennifer

Type: Autobiography

The other night, i made myself a cup of tea and sat down to read my diary. Wow, the diary was written when I was 14?! My first year living in AUS!  I couldn't even recall some of the happenings! Is this why people keep a diary? The other day, Jane told me that as time goes by, she found herself slowly losing some of the past memories... Sometimes I do found myself in that situation too. It's like, one person is only given that amount of storage to keep her memories. Once it's used up,  older memories get deleted automatically to make way for new ones. Hmmm... Or is it a sign of aging? >__<   

My diary really made me laughed and teared. Teared because i recalled how  much I missed my parents, my younger brother, hometown, friends and old life back home.... And how i struggled to adapt to new environment and life and how much i went through to concur my struggles... I laughed when I read about happy moments which I spent with my family and school friends and the day my eldest nephew was born. I cried when i recalled sending my parents off... 

I have forgotten how my sister used to bully me and made me do stuff for her in exchange for a ride to school. And how i fought with Jane for the bean bag in the TV room and that we actually woke up at 630am on cold winter mornings to watch Garfield! And while my parents were away, we had fried rice everyday and made sandwiches as lunch to bring to school. And that we had to cycle to school in the cold rain and fought through the strong wind. We even had to control our spending to ensure continuous supply of food & utilities. And how we kept checking the mailbox (not the cyber space one but the wooden one in front of our home) everyday hoping to see a letter from friends back home. Everything started to come back to me... Half way through my own diary, i found an envelope. I opened it and found a top secret written by me! haha, funny! Well, since it's a top secret, i can't tell u what i wrote :P 

Am publishing more than 50% of what used to be my secrets in this blog! Oh gosh, the 14 yo me would be furious if she found out! haha... 

I don't write a diary anymore. Hmm, maybe I just don't have secrets anymore haha... However, i am grateful that I have this blog to keep track of some of the happenings and thoughts in my life.. so that when my oldER data gets deleted from my 'hard disk', at least i have this blog to refer to... And if i ever have children and grandchildren, they could read through this blog to learn how their great mother and grandmother lived her life haha... Who knows? There might be interested publisher who would like to spend their hard-earned money to publish my blog into a book...! OK, i think a little bit too much haha....  but in case it did become a reality, please support by buying a few copies! Thank you in advance!

Last day of CNY

Chinese New Year is officially over (but it's still CNY to me which means the non-stop eating frenzy continues :P)... 

Last night, we had a simple meal at home. When the sky turned dark, the firecrackers and fireworks show began until it started to rain at around 10pm.  The whole neighbourhood was so alive! It really felt like we were at war or something, except this is the sound of excitement and happiness... Of course, at times I worried too coz we were also polluting the air :S

Tiger didn't really find it amusing at all though. When our neighbours played firecrackers, he started to bark.. It's like, he was yelling "BE QUIET!!!" haha... When fireworks explored above his head, he looked up and barked at them as well... At the end, he got really tired and just ignored everything and rested himself in the garden... I bet he must be thinking " since i can't beat them, I might as well ignore them" hahaha....

The scariest thing after CNY is my weigh. After all the uncontrollable eating, I wonder how many KGs I have put on! It is pretty hard to resist those high fat high calories food during CNY you know. They are just on the table right in front of me and it's not polite to reject them... So, I joined everyone else and ate and ate and ate..*weak will power*.. til now, I still haven't had the guts to weigh myself. I'm just not ready to accept the truth >__<  but judging from my skirt and pants, I think the outcome will not be so pleasant.... T___T Jane on the other hand is the brave one for she weighed herself on the 7th day of CNY and found herself heavier by 4kg... She reckoned that 4kg is on her face instead of her body.. what do u think? haha

Yay... waiting for our Vietnamese hor-fun!

Looks like both of us have really round face... but i like to think of it as 福气满满！ *self-consoling* I have to put the blame on my sister... because from the very first day we arrived Perth and entered her house, all of us were 'blessed'.

Like other Chinese, my sister has words of good luck hung at her front door... It is said that, by hanging these at your main entrance, these blessings will come to you all year round... So, what happens when these words were hung by one of my nieces who doesn't understand Chinese? It's still a blessing to all who lived at or visited her house BUT in a different way... 

You see, my sister asked for "getting rich"  and "good fortune"... which sound very good on their own... unfortunately when you combined the Chinese words, they actually mean "getting fat" (發福) haha... Spotted it and told my sister.. She explained it to her daughter and we all laughed hysterically.... 

Getting Rich on the left

Good Fortune on the Right

發福 = Getting Fat

Thanks sis for the extra pounds! Would be great if these were actually British Pound which she enclosed in the angpow!