Busy bee flying through April

April is such a busy month for me, and I'll tell you why in a bit.

Friend's friend owns a beauty studio and her apprentice is looking for some models to practice on her eyelash extension skills, so I honorably agreed to become the white mice. After all,  eyelash extension and refills for free do sound like a good deal to me and I have nothing to lose even though it doesn't out great because I don't pay a dime for this beauty service. In return of the generous offer, I think this deal deserves a full blog post so I will have a long write up about this next month! Despite the inconvenience due to extremely cautious handling on the eye lashes, I can also feel the breeze of having these long eye lashes because I can literally throw my mascara into dustbin with these falsies, and my co-worker says I look like a doll even without make up :)

I was badly craving for Malaysian food last week and kept looking for all sorts of recipes to replicate Malaysian food here. Simultaneously, I also wanted to learn more Malaysian cuisine to expose Kareshi with more of it as a way of preparing him for the first visit to my homeland in future. Out of all dishes, I think Nasi Lemak really represents our food variety well and the ingredients can be easily found here. So here it goes, here's my version of Nasi Lemak served with coconut milk rice and rendang chicken. I'm glad that Kareshi loves the spiciness of this dish and gladly accepting the different food culture in an open way.

Boss sponsored me to a food flavouring workshop because she understands and supports my interest in food flavouring. I was so excited for the opportunity given to me because I believe that this workshop will help me in paving my route to food business in future. The workshop was a joint effort between BCFT and Metarom, a Canadian-based flavouring house and sets foot in many countries including the United States, Australia, Europe and North Africa.The workshop didn't disappoint me at all as I had the chance to smell and guess approximately 20 different scents made out of chemical molecules to mimic several natural-occurring flavours. Sometimes I have to admit that food chemistry is unbelievably powerful and amazing in changing the food industry technologically. Best of all, the 3-hour workshop enabled me to feel like a student again and attend lecture with some other professionals in the industry. I'm truly blessed and I know that.

On the side note, I also enjoyed free flow of Starbucks tea and coffee throughout the workshop. OOO I really can't live without tea!

Upon ending this post, I'm off to Seattle with Kareshi tomorrow. =) Shall bring back more blog-worthy pictures during this getaway trip.

Recent addict

We're not broken just bent, and we can learn to love again

工作是为了娱乐兴趣，而兴趣最终却能够娱乐自己

好像很久没有放肆地自恋一下，跟大家分享我最近的样子。

今年回家的时候，几乎全部人都说我瘦了很多，虽然自己也察觉到这个问题的存在，不过也渐渐体会到了工作会让人自然瘦这个道理。自从上班后，胃口好像变更小了，之前因为上班时间很长，工作很忙需要走很多路的关系，所以也没什么多余时间吃点心的，一点就定时吃三餐，久而久之也就养成了这种习惯，饥饿感渐渐消失了。不过往好的方面想，上班不但让我三餐定时，也让我培养起早睡早起的好习惯，所以虽然瘦了，可是照理来说应该会比之前更健康和精神才对。以前还会为了那两三公斤‘斤斤计较’，现在就真的没有了量体重的习惯，家里连一个称都没有，因为现在的想法是‘想吃就吃，每次吃到7/8分饱就好’。就连一直很积极想要养胖我的Kareshi也开始放弃了这个念头，最近改口跟我说：‘只要你有吃饱就好了，不要勉强’。哇，还真不敢相信半年前对我说出：‘多吃点多吃点，东西要一大坨一大坨吃才行’的那个人会妥协到这种地步，可见他也很无奈呐。

不过大家也不用担心，我不是没吃好，只不过没办法吃很多而已，而且一直以来就这样，那些消失了的脂肪就当作是baby fat好了，最重要的是人看起来精神饱满，健健康康就好。

其实，我还蛮喜欢现在的自己，为了生活而努力，努力生活为了辅助我的兴趣，让我能够在未来好好发展这些兴趣。我听过别人说，最好把兴趣当成是事业上的第二选择，然后把有能力做好的事情排第一，这样就能利用你的才能好好支持你的兴趣了。我觉得这句话很适合套用在现阶段的我身上，因为我的确是在利用我的才能为我的兴趣和梦想铺路，并开始储存自己在职场上的价值，希望以后能够有足够的资金和时间来发展我的兴趣。我觉得，只要抱着这种想法和态度来工作的话，顿时会多了一股动力，因为我知道,工作是为了娱乐兴趣，而兴趣，最终却能够娱乐自己。

5 things which make my day. Simplicity is bliss.

1. Spent some time on photography after a while. Had a lovely walk under a sunny weather , honestly I can't ask anything more than that.

2. Second attempt on making macarons to cheer bf up during finals period. Kareshi is not really a dessert person but macarons are one of the few desserts he really likes so I try to perfect my skills on this dessert to satisfy his sweet tooth. I like to show my support to him through little things, and food is one of them because he appreciates my effort and acknowledges my skills even when I am not perfect. I'm blessed :)

3. Suprisingly found the Inukshuk at English Bay with Kareshi. I've always wondered about the location and now it just comes right into my sight! 

4. Sent money home for the first time since I started working. Having the ability to repay  my parents and contribute to my family make me feel very accomplished. :) I would work hard towards sponsoring their trips and go home more often for them.

5. Found a Korean supermarket which sells heavenly-taste chocolate croissant . I guess it's right to say, sometimes the best thing can be found at the least expected place. Such a good retreat after work!

Little bit about Jpop =)

Originality and styles are always the reasons which draw me into Jpop. Jpop sentimental songs don't base on
soppy and dramatic music arrangement. These songs might not make you tear but they never fail to touch the deepest side of your heart and make you let loose on your feelings. They also make me visualize things and immense myself into the song, that's why I enjoy Jpop R&B and sentimental music a lot.

I like the way Japanese youtubers improvise on each cover and make it sound like their own song, because fitting your style into a song is all that matters in making people feel comfortable listening to your music.

Strongly recommend two of the Japanese youtube channels I love:

 Jpop and japanese covers, you always have my vote. :)

Feeling a little sentimental

Cherry blossom season is here and I decided to take a walk at my neighbourhood area after work today.  Leisure walk has always worked out wonderfully in calming my emotions and generating inspirations. Watching the pretty petals and soft colour of the Sakura has never stopped reminding me to be grateful for the environment I live in, because the beauty of Vancouver is not only embedded within its culture but also its environment. Frankly speaking, every single place can look like art painting if you truly pay attention to the tiny details.

The sentimental atmosphere allows me to sink into my inner feelings and to think only about myself for a moment. My career seems to be on the right track with many learning opportunities to be anticipated, and I believe it’s the same for my relationship. Despite the 4 months that we’ve spent together, I am still new to the idea of ‘us’ and ‘together’, instead of ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘myself’ which I had been practising in the past.  In a relationship, I have to be more patient and optimistic to build up the mutual trust and sense of security especially when I’m with a person who’s lacking so much security. I do feel tired sometimes, because a trivial or unintended action could lead to a series of misunderstanding and discomfort, and the thought of needing him at that very moment but knowing that he can't be there do upset me a little. But I’m also a tough and determined person, I don’t conclude things without putting strenuous effort in the first place, so I try to compromise and do my best to achieve the desired trust level which will work best between us. I have faith in him because we are learning about love and growing up together, and it's the sense of belonging that strengthens our relationship.

也许两个没安全感的更懂得给对方安全感，因为对方就像是自己的镜子，自己付出的也是自己希望得到的待遇。

只是前面的路还很长，先偷懒歇一歇也不会很过分吧？J 5分钟就好，因为我知道每次我休息完后，在前方看到的总会是你的笑脸。然后，所有的泪水和努力都值得了。