May so far...

2013 has been quite interesting so far, I didn't know that life after graduation could be equally awesome as schooling days only until now, when I get more free time for my own interests and pleasure. Thanks to the Victoria Day, I managed to clear things up a bit.

1. Finally created my postcard wall after procrastinating for almost 6 months. I was secretly collecting postcards in the first few months without telling my friends about the plan. But I guess most of my friends read my mind so well, they never forget to send me postcards whenever they are and that totally speeds up my collection time. This wall serves more like a memorial and motivational wall as it'll keep reminding me on the places I'd be dying to go in future, while remembering my friends who are all over the world now. It feels like a big tree which branches out so quickly as we're all so grown up now, walking ourselves towards different paths and personal goals in life. Time does make people differentiate, I have to admit that.

Anyways, thanks to the public holiday, I finally had time to decorate my room and turn it into a lovely paradise. Seriously, I love my room a lot better now with the fancy wall and entertainment available. 

Kareshi setup a TV in my room so that we can watch movies together on a bigger screen. As much I feel that it's partially for his convenience, I really enjoy the new visual sensation, because I can typically read on screen as I'm typing this blog post, how cool is that! I love my baby :)

2. Aside from enjoying my leisure time on personal hobbies, I also make sure that I spend enormous time on beneficial things which will broaden my knowledge. I read about a motivational theory and decided to give it a try. The theory goes like this:

人的差别在于业余时间，而一个人的命运决定于晚上8点到10点之间。每晚抽出2个小时的时间用来阅读、进修、思考或参加有意的演讲、讨论，你会发现，你的人生正在发生改变，坚持数年之后，成功会向你招手。

I started implementing this practice few times a week and try to improve my investment knowledge by reading articles, using simulation stock trading in hope of managing my finance efficiently and maximizing my funds ultimately. I also started gold investment just to test the water out of the market.

24 years old might not be an early age to start investing my money but the saying 'better late than never' makes me stand strong my my point. :) I made my way into metal investment last month, hopefully I'll be able to immerse myself deeper into mutual funds and stock investment before making an entrance into these fields.

I found this Taiwanese show last month and I got addicted to it since then. The topics discussed in this show interest me because they are primarily related to work environment, ways of dealing with co-workers and some professional tips on investment plans. It's totally a show for people like me who are pioneer in  investment as well as other savings plans and would like to get a hand on them. Let alone the financial suggestions, the show has instilled an important concept in me, which is to select our investment plan wisely based on our financial capability. 

                                                            上班这党事，给你一个赞！

Happy Shopping, little Mich is going to have a colourful summer!

 A friend of mine informed me about the clearance sale that's currently happening in Ardene at Landsdowne Centre, so I decided to take my chance and buy like the Ahjuma style. So....one day after work, little Mich took an hour to commute to Richmond just for the sale, with the hope of getting at least an item she likes. One thing I learn from clearance sale is  the idea of  'first come first serve' , so don't hesitate till the last minute and just get my ass there already. I specially picked a weekday just to avoid the crowd and hopefully be able to find my size at ease before things are sold out.

Fortunately, my time was not wasted considering all the cheap deals I grabbed home.  I have to say, price affects my purchasing decision a lot, sometimes I tend to buy more when things are cheap just so that I can replace one with another when one is worn out. I don't mind cheap clothes and accessories as long as I know how to make use of them fashionably. Moreover, I like variety, which makes it logical for my cheap purchase because I must buy new clothes every year.

 Although I'm a 'humble' person *cough*, do not assume that I'll not show off my purchase because I will. :p

Happy happy, $2.90 for a pair of sneaker, what more could I ask for?

Oh yay, more colours being added to my shoe rack.

$ 2.90 for these ballerinas as well, I'm dying already!

Seriously, I haven't seen socks that are less than $1 ever since I got here, let alone $ 0.70! Tights are $1.10 each, hence the variety.

Pink jacket for $ 3.90 and beach short at $4.50, omg how to resist these prices?

Best thing is to know that what I saved was far more than what I paid. Seriously, I gotta thank my friend properly for sharing the great news.

Looks like I'm going to have a very colourful and sporty summer this year, I can't wait to start the mix and match session already!

Seattle trip Part 2

Frankly speaking, I did not perform a thorough research on Seattle before my trip because we just booked the trip 3 days before departing. So I decided to go spontaneous and relaxing this time, realizing that the person next to me is what matters the most for this trip. As much as I wanted to join my friends for the tulip festival at Harrison, I decided to turn down the offer and support his rare travel enthusiasm.

Kareshi is a typical libra and he kept asking about the places I wanted to go throughout the trip and he would just accompany me to anywhere I go. Fortunately we had a map in hand and we relied on it so much, besides wifi because I obtained all of the useful travel information from tripadvisor.

Speaking about my encounter with Chihuly Garden and Glass, it was very spontaneous too! I only knew about its existence when finding my way to Space Needle. The moment I saw the official website, I knew this was absolutely the place for me! It's a small glass museum located near space needle, and the entrance ticket can be combined with Space Needle at $33. Seriously, this place is a diamond in the rough, the colour of these glass sculptures totally won my heart and earned my money deservingly. As much as I was amazed by the glass art, I was also impressed by  the staffs professionalism on things that were beyond their duties. One of them even assisted us on the best photography angle and took gorgeous pictures for us.

See?? I'm not lying to you at all!

We also went up to the observation deck of Space Needle but I wasn't mesmerized by the view at all. Really, I regretted it because I thought the above view could be found in K.L effortlessly.

Nah show you a 2-in-1 photo in line with the 2-in-1 ticket.

Being slightly disappointed with what the view has to offer, I have a general good impression on the services. I have to say, they are quite good at capturing visitors' heart. Both Chihuly and Space Needle have this free photo-taking service whereby the staff takes a photo of you and hands out a card or a paper slip with a barcode. You can then view your picture at the specialized photo booths and have it sent to your e-mail for free. I like the idea of adding services to customers instead of focusing on the intention of commercializing every service provided. The cost may have been incorporated in the ticket but I generally feel happier that way because they don't ask for more from me.On top of that, I get the photo and card as souvenir.

End the day with a 'cheesy' dinner at the cheesecake factory, I could smell, taste and see cheese throughout my meal. I had four-cheese pasta as main course, as if I didn't have enough cheese in my meal, the waiter went on asking if I needed extra cheese topping =_= .

Since the restaurant name is CHEESECAKE factory and it's not available in Vancouver, there's just no reason to leave without having a piece of cheesecake. We ordered 2 slices to take out and continued our cheesy meal at the hotel.

Ah~~the meal was so American, especially the food portion and ingredients. My sweet tooth was being fed satisfactorily.

Seattle trip Part 1

I visited Seattle with Kareshi last week. Although it was my second visit to this city, it was my first trip with Kareshi since we're officially together. One thing I'm very grateful is that he fully understands and grants my wish of leaving footprints on as many countries as possible, his support and respect really aid in strengthening our relationship.

Seattle is not very far from Vancouver,  approximately  4-hour bus ride would bring us across the border to a entirely different city relatively to Vancouver. We decided to have an on-foot tour around Seattle downtown due to the small city size. I enjoy the fact that the downtown map is not scaled down massively because 1 block practically takes about few minutes of walking, causing every part of the Downtown to be within walking distance. Moreover, walking tour allows me to capture the beauty of Seattle through its street culture, so I'm definitely buying this idea.

Despite the city size, there are several quirky attractions that make Seattle a worth-visiting city, and Seattle's gum wall is undoubtedly topping the chart. It is located at the Post Alley at Pike Place Market, a hidden underground which is very contrast to the merry atmosphere of the market. Being rated as the second world's germiest tourist attraction by trip advisor, I'm not surprised to see a long stretch of wall filled with colourful gums.

I felt delightful to see the variety of gum colours, simultaneously grossed out at the fact that a wall is plastered with human saliva, and that dilemma directly contributed to my short stay at the wall place. In my opinion, it's worth a single visit but I'm just not convinced to make a second attempt anymore.

Another recommended attraction on my list would be a place of interest for all the Starbucks fans. Seattle owns the first Starbucks cafe in the world which was opened in 1971. At this store, you don't see the typical green logo but the original brown logo, which adds a slight vintage sensation to the store.

Although I'm not a fan of Starbucks coffee as most of the beverages are overpriced and the brand is too commercial for my liking, this is still a place that's worth a visit just to tick off the must-do list. Yah I'm a typical tourist  and I know that. Kareshi bought a mocha frappucino from the store and he said it was not any different from any other Starbucks stores, so my two cents is just save the money but take some pictures when you come here.

Just like other typical Starbucks, souvenirs including mugs and coffee packs are also readily available here. I personally think that the coffee mug is a perfect fit for Starbucks lovers just because of the sentence 'the first Starbucks store', which may sound very appealing to many people. I've heard of people telling me the reason they like Starbucks is not really because of the beverages but the atmosphere as well as the successful branding（把环境也吃进去了).  That makes me think that this coffee mug is definitely a must grab for Starbucks fans under this classification.