Konnichiwa!

As some of you have already known that my finals had already ended, and I’m now on my way to the big apple city. Since I’m travelling alone before meeting up with my friends on the 23rd, such a situation reminds me of a song, which is also Susie’s all-time favourite.

“I’m a big big girl, in a big big world, it’s not a big big thing, if you leave me…”
Okay. Only the first 2 sentences are relevant in this case. I’ll be departing from Seattle Tacoma (SEATAC) airport instead of Vancouver airport, so this journey is another long one for me.^_^ But I totally have adopted the resistance and quietness while travelling alone since this is not the first time for me.

So, this is only half of my journey so far, as I’m now still sitting in the SEATAC airport.

8.35 a.m- Bus ride to the required bus stop for pick up

9.35 a.m- Picked up. Another bus ride to SEATAC.



11.00 a.m- Stuck in the Seattle Custom for 40 minutes. A little bit of story here, I was required to pay a fee cost 6 USD, and the smallest note I had was 50 dollars. So, the officer gave me that fierce look and said “small notes or credit card”. So I ended up swapping my credit card to pay 6 dollars, what a crap.



2.10 p.m- Reached SEATAC. I thought my luggage went overweight again when I saw “35.5” on the electronic weighing machine, but it was actually in lb. PHEW, I swear I made an effort to travel light and I made it. Custom was quite strict, no friendly faces. They greeted me by asking me to take off my shoes, and took out my laptop.

2.30 p.m- I’m here sitting and blogging.

So my next destination is Long Beach, then Washington.

Ja ne !

2009 is the year of health

I think my housemate really influences me a lot in terms of my diet because she’s very health conscious and eats healthy food. She can practice a dietary habit with very little dose of coke, junks, and fatty foods because those things are usually out of her healthy list.

Really, I started thinking about my health since last year, when health-related problems occur among my friends. They emphasize to me on the importance of eating healthily because health is irreplaceable and it’s not something that can be bought by money. I somewhat find it true and these words of wisdom hit me hard, because I’m a student who is going to scrutinize on the food products in future, therefore I should start paying more attention on my health before I can convince the others on the best choice for their health. Also, I didn't want to worry my parents on my eating habits, especially my mom because she will become worried if I did not take good care of myself.

Because of them, I revised my dietary plan and tried to be responsible of my own health. Here are the few changes I made since I started second year. Well, I’m not trying to be a health freak here, but I do want to eliminate a few things which I feel I can live without them.

My accomplishments in Semester 1 were:
1. No instant noodle since day 1 of Semester 1. No, not even a sip or a bite, I really did not buy any instant noodle this term, and surprisingly it was not very difficult to resist the temptation because I had only thought of it once.

2. Less than 6 packets of junk foods. Gone were the days when I had a bar of chocolate weekly to satisfy my sweet tooth.



3. Less than 10 cups of bubble tea. Considering the fact that I used to have bubble tea once a week, I think this is the biggest success in my dietary plan.

4. Eating fast food for not more than twice monthly.

5. Self-invented more recipes to eat at home instead of eat out. More fruits and “greenery” in my meals.



So far, I find the plan easy to follow because I did not put a complete full stop for some of my favourite foods. Instead, I reduced the portion so that I'm humble to my stomach, meanwhile maintaining my health. Also, I feel so proud of myself for trying out a variety of recipes from Chinese cuisine to Japanese and Korean cuisine (I learnt how to make Bibimbap and fried Udon.)

To me, I feel that there’s a limit to everything, nothing is infinite. My age is not the factor that allows me to stay wild and careless all the time anymore. There'll certainly be a time where we have to be responsible with our actions.

If we found a balance to be satisfied with what we eat, meanwhile we can keep up with our level of fitness, then there’s no harm to make a difference in our dietary plans. Having said that,I still eat out once in a while, or bite on that juicy BIG MAC without feeling guilty. We don’t have to eliminate our favourite foods completely, but eating them considerately is much more approachable and lasting.

I guess I found another new motto this year, “be happy, stay healthy.”



Would you?

You Know Pui Mun is having exams when

She is playing with the molecular model kit again.



Notes are posted on the wall to remind her on what she has learnt the day before.


And most importantly,



She is SITTING in front of the table to study.
Hahaha. My housemates say they should take pictures of this ‘rare occasion’.

Finals are starting on Thursday, and my last paper falls on the 16th.

What happens next?

Off to the States for my white Christmas!! Whoo hooo!

This is a hard time for me.

I was re- arranging my photos the other day, and I found out the difference between my previous look and recent look.I felt like I went through a transformation because my face used to be so chubby at the beginning of 2009, and it took less than a year to lose that baby fats naturally. I think my face has never been this slim before ;the V-shape is so obvious when I smile nowadays.

NOOO.

I swear that fat loss was unintended, because I did not tie my stomach tight to slim my face.I have long accepted the fact that my face was chubby and it could hardly be changed. Thanks to the hectic workload and never-ending essay assignments, I accomplished something that I could barely achieve when I attempted to- slim face. And I’m definitely not exaggerating when I say my face is the first body part that shows the extra fats when I gain weight, now you get what I mean.

But, but, but…..

I’m not feeling very happy either. I started to understand how Eileen feels when she says she is losing weight even though she carries out a regular diet, because that is what happening to me now. But again, lacking of sleep is devastating, and what I eat can’t even compensate with the loss of sleep. If you asked me how horrible this term is, that's how it goes:

-Staying outside for more than 12 hours for lectures, group meetings, labs and tutorials. Going back home at 11 or 12 a.m is not impossible.

- Weekends are not meant to be slacking time anymore.3-4 hours of group meetings on Sunday is very common.

- Waking up at 5 or 6 a.m to study or finish assignments is not impossible, when you have 25 essays to write in 13 weeks.

-Having 2 midterms on the same day is very common, and the best way for me is to skip class on that day to squeeze out some studying time.

- Skipping lunch or dinner is not impossible, because sometimes I hit the sack right away after reaching home.





I went through another transition stage; from grumbling a lot on the workload, till I do everything quietly and automatically because I don’t know what should I say about it anymore. Because I’m running out of time, I’d rather save most of the energy as an input to produce more works.

There was once when I was sobbing while talking to Atlee gg about my group mates who left me with almost the entire project to complete with.When I found out, I had to finish the draft 2 hours before the due date on my own, and only one of the guys helped me on the latter part. There was another time when tears fell down quietly while I was doing my English essay at 5 morning, grasping the advices my English professor gave me. Stress is far beyond the word to describe my life.

But again, they taught me on the cruelty of life, if you’re not good enough, you’ll be knocked out. I accepted the cruelty, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t strive hard to survive in university. I will cry, but that also means that I will rebound after that.It is just another fall which will be followed by a rise. So, don’t worry about me, I’m not a walking skeleton, my weight has not dropped to 30+, and I still get a few hours of sleep every day.

See, I still have time to blog for you guys !

Of course, this is a hard time for me,but it will be over after final exams. Let’s pray for my last battle,I thank you in advance.

09年的最后一份生日礼物

最近都在下雨，连自己的心情也随着天气冷了一块。

庆幸的是在远方的朋友都很爱我，会嘘寒问暖，会关心我的境况。

庆幸的是每一次的心灰都会换来一份温暖，给予我最大的关怀与鼓励。

有时候真的不能忽略休息的重要，因为只要稍微停一停，歇一歇，真正看清身边的风景才会惊觉自己所拥有的幸福。

也许你们现在看不见我脸上洋溢着幸福的表情，那是你们时常为我制造无可取代的微笑。

就连回忆也变得有温度了起来，为我抵挡住了外面狂风的侵袭。




今天，25日，收到了今年最后一份的生日礼物，是来自于一位很重要的朋友。

感谢你参与了我今年的生日，毕竟记得才是最重要的过程，真的很感激你的那份心意。

你害怕我会太思念钢琴的触感，所以特意缝制了一座布钢琴给我。

你甚至会顾虑到我的财政状况，‘雪中送炭’来救济我噢！

这叫我怎么能不感动呢？^_^

此刻的心情，除了温暖之外，也还真的无法用言语来形容。

Lian Lian 公主，除了感谢，还是感谢。感谢你的一切，感谢能够在2007年认识到你。

Coping with stress and depression

Some people ask me how I manage my depression and stress, I would say I spend time alone when I'm truly upset.Call me a lonely ranger when I’m in depression, because that’s how I get rid of the sadness and disappointment. I love to keep some time for myself to release the stress and do things that I’m comfortable with to relax myself. Also, I realized that no one loves to hear rants, so I’ll try to keep them to myself as much as possible.Trust me, I really don’t want to hurt your ears if I could.

One of the reasons I remain silent when I’m depressed is also to avoid lies. I really dislike people talking to me perfunctorily, how they pretend to care for me when they don’t seem to care much. I'd rather not fall for the lie ‘it’s ok, you’ll be fine’ when things are in a complete mess and it’s not a one-day thing to resolve it. I'd rather accept the truth than being deceived by the layer and layer of lies people make, because they create an illusion and make me feel good for their lies, and demand more in return. I’d rather keep quiet than create a situation to push people saying something that I wish to hear.

It’s better if they skipped the process because I won’t blame you for doing that. So, don’t talk if you have nothing better to say. I don’t believe that perfunctory greeting by some friends will help much, because it’s perfunctory, it lacks the sincerity. Sometimes companion is more powerful because your companion shows your concern to a person. For example, I rather have people to lend me their shoulder when I’m depressed or share some funny jokes with me than repeating sentences like ‘don’t worry, you’ll be fine’, ‘ it’s ok, don’t think too much’ etc. There are obviously better things that can be done to make someone feel better.

I believe that you are the one who understands yourself the best, therefore the best way to cope with stress and depression is to do what makes you feel comfortable. You may cry, hang out, sing out loud, watch a comedy, eat, dance, sleep or anything else which can lighten your day even by a bit. It’s not a must to tell out your problems, but it’s necessary to have a channel to locate these ‘excess’ emotions. You don’t need forever to deal with depression, but getting some time off the things that remind you of the source of depression will be good.

I know this is a stressful period for my peers from far far away, so let’s walk through it and we will prevail.

Walk through the path of life with you guys.


*p/s: it is very comfortable btw, thank you. ^_^

Good times, friends time

Besides busy grasping the lecture notes, I celebrated quite a lot of friends’ birthdays this year. Perhaps September to November is like the peak of birthday parties since there is a lot of September, October, and November babies around me. So I actually celebrate a birthday almost every week.

First, it was Afsan’s birthday!


2 weeks later, we had a birthday party for Isis!


They’re close friends of mine in Vancouver and coincidentally we’re all in the same faculty. Hanging out with them is like putting thousands and thousands of laughing pills into your mouth because they never fail to make my day with their stories. I see them on every school day and we-the threesome are always together when we have the same class.

Richa, on the other hand, is another good buddy of mine as I’ve known her for the longest period among three of them. It’s only until this term that we get to know each other better and go into much more personal conversations.

So much good foods, laughs, and good times when I’m with them.This,is one good contributor to the fun and happiness in my second year so far, and I bet the good times we share will continue to blast off. ^_^

A gift that makes my day.

Last Sunday, when my brain was so dry and deep fried by Chem notes, I took some time out of the book and tried to fix this:



It was one of my birthday presents this year, all the way from Singapore by Atlee Young.

Basically it is a keychain, but what makes it interesting is that it’s a 3D puzzle. It comes in 14 skeleton pieces, so I’ve to patch it up one by one before it can actually turn out to be a Star or Apple.

Initially, I didn’t think it was difficult to put together the 14 pieces by looking at the size of the puzzle.

But ….but……but…..

It turned out that I was very WRONG!

It actually took me a while to figure out things without using a guidebook, because there wasn’t even a piece of paper telling me how to do it. So, after a few trials and errors, mix and match, I finally came up with the end product.

TADA!!



Anyway, it was really a nice gift from you. Although I knew how would the puzzle look like, I still find the process of putting them together enjoyable, and trivial thing like this simply made my day!

Besides that, it was my first time putting in effort to work out something for my birthday gift,when the common scenario is that the birthday gift is wrapped nicely and waiting for me to open it.

That's why, I really need to thank this person,Atlee GG,that was another sweet gift from you.Thank you so much!

Now it’s my turn to surprise you on the coming 27.11.09. Watch out ^_^

Lights on me, it's Bee day.

So I just celebrated my 20th last month. Being a 20 year old “kidult’’, I don’t see myself as a unique individual and how I should be different from the past, because these cumulative experiences and personalities have built up my character for 20 years.

Also, I’m trying to think it in an optimistic way, being a 20 year old is just like living 365.25 days more than a 19 year old. True enough, I feel like 20 is just a beginning of a new chapter in life.

It feels weird to not have husbands and besties to celebrate my birthday for 2 consecutive years. But thanks to the postman, you guys never fail to warm my heart through letters and presents.

It feels weird to not have a birthday hangout, but there was a field trip to compensate it.

It feels weird to not eat cake on the exact day, but I ate a few birthday cakes from other friends’ birthdays to compensate it.

Maybe Alexander is right, when one door closes, another opens.

My new friends in Vancouver hugged me and gave me presents.

Old friends called me one by one to just sing me a birthday song.

Besties and Atlee gg sent me presents through airmail.

A friend wrote me a poem and it was really funny, it made my day.

Housemates had dinner with me and bought me bubbletea.

=) How great is that, for an ordinary person like me to be granted by all these wishes and blessings. I’m not sure since when I pulled down my self-esteem, it is so low that I don’t see myself as a special person anymore, because I’m like you, him, her, and everyone out there, we’re similar in a way that we share most of the fundamental needs in life. But every year, you, him, and her remind me of the significance of my birthday, and how I can be protected and loved.

To me, Bee day is not only about eating cakes or singing birthday songs anymore, but it’s the way we treat a person all these while that counts, that is the cumulative gift we can offer to a person with our heart. When life sucks, a present may keep you warm but good memories cheer you up.

No matter what position I fit in your life, never forget the fact that your michelle, pM, bzz, sis, mm, darmun, wife, munx2, neighbor will always thank you for being part of her life, because you guys allow her to stay bubbly and lame.

So there goes 15.10.09,

A day which was not just about me, but all of you were in as well.



I hope I did bring you good times for the past 15th October of the year.

Music keeps me alive

I’ve always admired those musicians who are able to reach far in the music industry, not solely for fame, but a passion to ignite their musical bones. Perhaps I’m barely as great as them, that’s why seeing these people’s performances give me the push to continue with my music life. It is a difficult path to walk, it’s either becoming very famous with your superb skills, or being washed down by the mainstream music.But because these people have made it so far, they have inspired another bunch of people who are far behind them, and to improve on it instead of commenting on their performance. I seldom comment on other people’s performance when I’m not up to the level that I’m satisfied with, I’m nothing.

I started watching this kid’s videos a year ago and I’m fully convinced by his skills. He’s just born to be the special one, with the naturally gifted fingers.



Do observe his fingers from 2:29 minute onwards, see how his fingers harmonize with the guitar.

Please remember his name, he is Sungha Jung.

Another love of mine is this pianist, Jon Schmidt. Just in case you don’t know who he is,remember the pianist who played on the youtube video -
“ Love Story meets Viva La Vida”



He was the one!!

These 2 songs definitely make a good match, what makes it sound greater is the fact that I'm so familiar with these songs.It would be awesome if I met a cello friend and then we can play duet together. I will work on the piano part as well, let’s see when I can surprise you guys with it.

But my favourite Jon Schmidt's piece is still " All Of Me"


One of my goals in life is to learn three musical instruments and to play them skillfully, without anything but my fingers. If music comes within my heart, and if I was that good, I don’t need a music sheet to remind me how to play though. Therefore I’m self-learning on how to play piano by ear recently, trying to figure out the tips from online tutorials I’ve watched so far. And I’ve found myself a new activity for next year’s summer- learn a new musical instrument. I’m choosing between Violin or Guitar I guess, give me some comments guys!


Gah, I think I really need some piano time already !!