Memories in Hard Copy

We are living a generation where most people just love taking photos and thanks to Instagram, this ’hobby’ booms even bigger.

Food, click. Babies, click. Sunrise, click. Flowers, click.

Yes, I am one of those people. I am not as active like most but I do understand taking pictures that may seem its objective insignificant to some. It simply strikes a memory, memory of that moment or of that day. At least that is how I felt or think.

How about photos of outings and events especially taken by a camera? We automatically upload to social media websites such as Facebook and blogs. Gone are the days of a photo album. Once in a blue moon, I would take out my old photo albums with pictures taken long before internet and social media. I would smile or grimaced (depending on which stage of growth I was – everyone has their WTF period).

Nowadays, you need an internet connect and to log in to see photos and I doubt one social media can keep photos worth decades.

That is why; Jhon and I decided to gather all our photos into a photo album. Yes, print and compile 5 years worth of photos and mind you, we had been to MANY outings. Jhon initially wanted to create a scrapbook but it would cost a lot more money and time. When we started the photo album, it was the most fun I ever had.

It was nice to see how we grow physically and mentally as a couple.

Firstly, I had never done couple photo albums before. Secondly, placing thousands of photos was easier and faster compared to an actual scrapbook. Lastly, it was so nice to reminisce that long of a memory with Jhon.

4-5 weekends later, we managed to complete 1 album worth 3-4 years worth of photos.

Sounds like we are almost done but I believe we had even more outings between 4th and 5th year. I can’t wait to bring it up to date and slowly fill the empty pages with new outings.

I strongly encourage everyone to do so too. Start printing and have hard copy pictures of the people, places and outings you’ve been to. Nothing beats a hardcopy memory.


   

Hey now, Hey now, My boyfriend’s back!

If you followed me in Twitter, you would know that Jhon went away for week, taking advantage of the Chinese New Year holidays to go back to the Philippines. I didn't follow him this year because he simply wanted to rest and chill at home and he knows if I were to follow, I want him to take me to places. Who wouldn't??

So anyways, that week has passed and Jhon is back in Singapore! HORRAYY! I know…nobody cares but me. Haha I picked him up at the airport at about 9.45am and I followed him back to his place to keep his luggage. I was hungry by then so we headed to McDonalds for Brunch (Yey for opening until 12pm) and spontaneously headed to Parkway Parade.

I know! Wasn't he tired? He was! He barely had any sleep and this guy wants to date me out! I was so guilty but he said he wanted to make me happy and he wanted to spend time with me. Aww… We walked around the mall until he could handle it and decided to head to my place.

On the way out, I saw Twelve Cupcakes which was quite a craze in Singapore. I have very high expectations about cakes and cupcakes so I finally decided to try them.

I bought Salty Caramel (My choice, obviously, I love caramel), Red Velvet (Everyone crazy about this one) and Mocha (for the coffee lover, Jhon)

I still don’t get it. Hahaha No doubt the cupcakes were delicious. They were soft and delicate.

Salty Caramel was beautifully soft and creamy. You can never go wrong with sweet and salty.

Mocha has the perfect combination of coffee and chocolate.

Red Velvet was like a normal cupcake to me lor…
 And must take equal bites of cream and cake to fully enjoy it.

But isn't that what cupcakes suppose to taste like?! So far, I have tasted only 3 awesome possum cupcakes in my life and the rest were yucks. I think majority were exposed to the yucky ones but to them it’s nice and compared to Twelve Cupcakes, their cupcakes were heaven times million. Not saying Twelve Cupcakes are not that fantastic, they simply baked cupcakes like how they were supposed to be baked and my expectations were more than that.

Despite of my expectations, I would definitely give Twelve Cupcakes thumbs up for baking the way it should be. Eh, how come become food review.

ANYWAYS, back to my boyfriend, we started to watch Tall Man and he fell asleep several times. He was just too tired and I keep telling him he should go home and rest but he refused! Siao right? So we continued to watch a 2nd movie, Splinter which was very good actually (Tall man too) He survived this movie but he looked exhausted.

I got hungry so I cooked some rice and fried eggs. He didn't want to eat but he eventually did. He ate so much and to think he declined. He intended to head home at 7pm but guess what was on? Karate Kid (2011). Jhon ended up heading home at 9.30pm. haha

I am so glad is he back. =)




   

Relationships and Religions

There are common relationship pairings such as relationships and money, culture, common goals, etc. I can only guess relationships and religion would probably be an unlikely issue unless either one of the the partner is a Muslim.

Most people knows that Islam has its strict followings and one of them is that a union would work better if both parties are of the same religion and for this case, Islam. It is a great sin to convert from Islam so the best solution is the other partner has to embrace Islam.

Yes, yes, some nay sayers would disbelieve and think it is just a gimmick to get people to convert to Islam because it is perceived as "If you want to marry me, you have to convert" Ultimatums can be very strong indeed but one has to understand that it is more than that. It is about sharing the same faith, beliefs and common goal in the after life. As much as I can respect one's choice in religion, I would like to believe my partner will go to the same heaven, do you know what I mean?

People tend to underestimate a relationship with different religions. They think it's easy, just convert! I can't speak for other religions but in Islam, it's way more than just converting. It is a submission, of your heart and soul, sincerely.

This is where my relationship comes in. Jhon was a born Catholic. I would say quite devout because he was once a choir and altar boy. It was from the same exposure that lead him away from that religion
which in turn made him a free thinker.

As for me, I am a born Muslim. Regrettably, I could not call myself as a devout Muslim but I do uphold some Islamic practises such as avoiding pork, practise fasting and etc. No doubt in mind, I always strive to be a better Muslim the best way I can.

As explained, Jhon has to convert to Islam.

When he does, I would want him to convert because he sincerely and faithfully want to be with Allah not me. Sure, I am the catalyst but the end of the day, it would be for Allah. If we don't make it as a couple, I don't want him to discontinue being a Muslim.

That, takes time, loads of time.

Many people do not understand this, even fellow Muslims because in their minds, I should just throw him into a religious class and that is it. If only they realize it does not work that way. Why do you think we hate going to school? It is because we were forced to go.

So besides struggling with our responsibilities as a son/daughter and my fear of marriage, taking our relationship to that official level takes time. Not many people understand this and I am not going to pour out our personal obstacles to every Tom, Dick and Harry who questions our delay in pursing marriage.

But here they are, one of our main reasons of delay.

When time does come, Jhon will be attending religious classes with me next to him and we shall embark our route to a spiritual learning together. There is no point enforcing him to Islam when I am weak in knowledge. I would be a hypocrite if I do so.

So, with God's willing, may this journey be smooth sailing. Amin.

   

The Talk

Last night, Jhon and I had "the talk" about our relationship. We have it once in a while but rarely being super serious about it. You know, like how couples light heartily share their goals in the relationship.

But talking about it and seriously doing it is another thing.

We have been together for more than 5 years and marriage was never been the focal point in our relationship even though we started dating at 23 (me) and 25 (Jhon). But after 5 years, our choices has changed.

Marriage has always been at the back of our minds but there were so many obstacles that we felt that needed to overcome first. When we started dating, besides being the bread winner of his family in the Philippines, part of his income was sent to construct a 2 storey house from scratch.

Wedding and marriage takes a lot of financial attention and I thought, it would be selfish of me to add more stress. But as the house was almost finished, his mom was diagnosed with colon cancer (similar to my dad) last year. More finances and stress was leaned towards to that direction. My only concern was to support and help him in every way.

After a while, he and his parents had decided that after majority of family issues has been settled, he should focus on us. (His parents kept asking for a grand baby since last year lol)

As of now, his sis is working, bro is looking for a job, house is 90% done and his mom has successfully underwent surgery to close her intestines and stoma last Monday. She was released from the hospital just yesterday and doing well.

This means after all these years, we can focus on moving forward in our relationship!

It will probably take another few years but it just brought tears to my eyes as he told me his plans to make it work. The feeling of security that we are going somewhere instead of being of always on hold for others. He told me he will focus on saving, taking classes and move forward from there.

I hope his mom will heal smoothly and quickly to avoid anymore complications and I hope, with God's willing, our journey to the next level will be successful.

   

Why I Dislike Hugging Women

I love hugs but since I am socially awkward, I always find myself making hugs even more awkward for me.

Reasons to not hug guys in general is easy. I can just say I draw a line on how and who I hug. Now, girls in general love hugging each other but I always find it awkward!

Why I find it awkward? It's the boobs!

[Drew on paint. Nice or not? lol]

Hugging with other women always bothers me, even if it's my mom or sis. I always think, how to we deal with the boobs when we hug?

Should we do the Jigsaw Puzzle? Linking boobs while hugging to feel a more fitted hug? What if the other lady does not realize you are attempting it? Would it mean more maneuvering to fit? What if one has smaller boobs? 

Or do we have our boobs squish together which most ladies do I suppose. But it's just awkward having my boobs squishing to another pair of boobs! What if the lady has thick padding? I've experienced this before and it was uncomfortable for me. Although kudos for her being confident with her thick padding lol.

That is why, most of my life, I hug like this

[http://theoatmeal.com/comics/hugs]

It has never fails me but some had told me that my hugs always looked stiff.

I can't blame them since all I could think of what do to and how to position my boobs. =P 

   

Losing Weight Part 2 – The Update

Slightly over 2 years ago, I posted a blog post entitled “Losing weight the lazy way”

I shared how I lost a few kilograms within my own comfortable pace when I was verging being overweight with 65kg at 1.68m.

After 2 years, I am still continuing my regime. No doubt, I had my ups and down. Over the years, I had my weight go up and down but by 2 +/- kg due to not up holding my routine. I am only human and I had my weaknesses of eating more oily food than doing my walks home.

It was not that bad because I always take notice of my negligence early so I always managed to get myself on track. Basically, I was able to control my weight not go beyond 60kg ever again.

So recently, my sis had people come over to update her weight check up. (My sis likes to lose weight the “faster and easy way” by taking diet supplements. I strongly disapprove but it is her choice)

She told me to check my weight and fats for fun. These are my results.

I was shocked! I had not weighed myself for years and not realized I have lost even more weight. Technically, it should be lesser because I just had dinner, was wearing jeans and having my period.

The sense of accomplishment was beyond words because I have managed to hit my personal weight goal and still keeping my C cup boobs. Hahaha!

The machine also checks 2 types of fats, fat cells under my skin and fat cells around my organs.

Fat cells around my organs aka Viceroy Fats, super healthy.

The 1230 kcal/day is my basal metabolic rate which means I burn that much calories just doing nothing. Good hor?

Fat cells under my skin, slightly over. Well, I already knew because I still have rolls of fats when I sit down.

As for now, I am trying to get rid of as much fat rolls as possible but in general, just try to maintain my weight. Remember, losing weight is easy, maintaining is the hard part.

Those who know me should know that I hardly shop so I tend to repeat clothes and I found pictures at 3 different stages of weight with the same top. Yes, it's one of my favorite tops, just in case it's not obvious. lol

Look at that difference!

2006

Not the best photo but I look like a drug addict. Nuff said.

2010

This is my chubbiest but when my mom saw the picture, she prefers me at this weight. =S She said I looked (gebu) fresh? But I hate how I felt at this weight. I hardly took photos, running and climbing the stairs was a chore and I just don't like how my body feels in general. I can tell because I am quite an energetic person.

2012

I love this weight although there is a little room for improvement but I generally love it! I feel and look fitter. My aim was to able look good just with T-shirt and jeans. Mission Accomplished!

I am at just the right size. Not too thin, not too chubby/fat. In fact, I believe I am a couple of kilograms lighter than my 2012 picture. 

I have also added a couple of new habits in my routine.

Currently, I have been doing my walks, cut down on food that makes me gain weight fast (fast food) and listen to my stomach not my mouth (don’t be a glutton!)

One of my new habits is POOPING! I am not saying to buy laxatives and poop away okay? Most of my life, my pooping habits are irregular. I would poop every 2-3 days. I know, bad. Now, I eat more food with fibre and drink Vitagen and now, I poop every morning and sometimes in the afternoon too. No words to describe after a wonderful big dump.

And recently, I have started to eat almonds. It was not my plan to. I just had a lot of left over almonds from baking Biscotti so I just ate the rest as snacks. I didn’t realize how yummy they were by itself.

I randomly looked up the health benefits and to my surprise, almonds can help you lose weight lah! They even help slow weight gain. It is also good for your hair, cuticles, heart, pooping etc! So I am trying to keep this habit of snacking on almonds. I tend to eat average 10 pieces a day. I just grab them in my hands and munch =) I try to avoid eating too much because it will cause pimple breakout.

I am so happy and proud of myself for being able to achieve the weight that I want and at my own comfortable pace. I suggest this to everyone who wishes to lose/control their weight.

Just start with small basics and build from there. Trust me; you will see the changes like I did.

Remember, the faster you lose weight, the faster you will gain it and the slower you lose weight, the slower you will gain it. ;D

   

Love your Eye Pouches!

“Eye pouches? Whatchoo talking ‘bout, man? You mean ‘dem eye bags?”

[I have no explanation why I imagine my readers to talk this way but it was the first thing that comes to my head and it has been typed so no turning back]

When I mean, eye pouches, it is not necessarily mean those ugly eye bags that we all love to hate. Eye pouches are fatty deposits under your eyes but eye bags are from fatigue, fluid retention and/or aging. 

Do you know in Korea, the ladies embrace their eye pouches? It is because it is known to make your eyes bigger and make you look younger!

[Korean group - Girls' Generation]

WHUUT??

Apparently, having an eye pouch creates an illusion, more on that later. I don’t believe it too. I have always disliked the bags under my eyes especially when there is lighting from above. Shadows are created under my eyes which make me even more old and tired.

Upon researching, my eyes bags are not exactly eye bags but actually eye pouches! What is the difference?

Eye bags appear whether you smile or not but eye pouches appear only when you smile.

Eye Bags

[http://howtogetridofeyebags.info]

Eye Pouches!

[Actress - Han Ga In]

Okay, back to the eye illusion. The best example is via Photoshop.

See when I remove all the pouches, their eyes looks smaller and their face looks matured. 

[Actress - Park Hye Sang]

My brain is warped. Shouldn't eye bags make you look more tired and not fresher and younger?

Anyways, I admit, once in a while, I do light Photoshop to remove dark circles, reduce eye bags and conceal imperfections because that is my only skill set in photo editing. haha Anyways, I hate taking pictures at the end of the day because tiredness makes my pouch bigger.

Usually I only edit under my eyes when they look kinda bad on a tiring day but on general, I don't bother them.

So let's try this on me.

What do you think? I think I actually look better with my eye pouches. =D Without them completely makes me look weird.

Check in the mirror and check if you have eye pouches and if you do,

Embrace your eye pouches because they make you look good! =)

   

5 Years of Love and Crankiness.

FIVE YEARS! If a child is used as an example, the child can talk, walk, run and goes to school!

Don’t worry; I won’t go all mushy and romantic. =D

This year, we didn’t plan much on what to do to celebrate our 5 years together but at the last minute, we decided to eat at a fancy-shmancy buffet restaurant and head out to Marina Barrage for picture taking.

At 11.55pm, we arrived at Royal Scotts Plaza to have lunch at Carousel, one of the famous Halal ‘atas’ buffet style restaurant. I have always wanted to eat there because of the many good reviews but hesitated because of their price, $50+ per PAX for lunch. Then I thought, let’s splurge for today, okay?

The staffs were nice and friendly with ambience that was great and comfortable.

As for food, their Seafood, Salad and Desert counter is the best.

How else can I prove the food were delicious? We didn’t take many photos because THAT is how much we enjoyed our food. You know, like how the food is so yummy, you forget everything else. =D

If I ever consider going again, I would go for their High-tea. Carousel has the best deserts I have ever tasted in Singapore. THERE! I said it. lol

My initial plan was to walk around the city first before heading to Marina Barrage to avoid the afternoon heat but Jhon insisted to just spend our time there.

He regretted it.

Somehow, that day was exceptionally hot and humid. After 3 hours, we got cranky. =(

We did manage to take some photos in the Marina Barrage Gallery but we definitely didn’t spend our evening there as I initially planned. It was too hot and we were not feeling the love.

Warped mirror made me look so skinny. I don't really like it.

It was not a sweet ending because cranky couple was cranky but we made amends after we cooled off like we always do. =)

I later emailed him a video I made that was meant to be shared under the stars at Marina Barrage and I can witness him laugh and cry from love and happiness. Hahaha! :dramatic:

[Hesitant to share this to public but I made it less personal compared to my previous videos to him so it should be okay]

It is just a short photo montage we took a month ago and I decided to animate it.

Yey! I hope for more years of us together with less cranky moments!

   

New Crocs, New You Fashion Show

I was invited to Crocs VivoCity Fashion Show in conjunction of their new campaign,
New Crocs, New You.

I admit, I was one of the few people who are not fans of Crocs since their first launch. No matter how comfortable their classic shoes claim to be, I would not be caught dead wearing them.

On 14th April 2012 was the first time I ever entered a Crocs store and I converted.
There were so many pretty and cool shoes!

Crocs new campaign is about how over the past 10 years, it has transformed from that 1 style to numerous up to date styles of every day of the week for every one from different ages to different lifestyles.

And of course, don't forget their accessories like bags, mobile/mp3 pouches and shoe pins!

If you are eager to check out their new shoe designs, you can download Crocs Mix & Match Mobile App where you can view their catalog in the palm of your hand.

You can favorite the shoes you love. These are my favorites!

If you are like me, who is fickle minded and don't know what shoes to buy to pair up with what you intend to wear, you can have the app choose a pair of shoes for you! Simply upload a picture, choose 3 main colors from your outfit and ta da!

Anyways, the fashion show was held at VivoCity's Amphitheater and the show kicked off with the song I'm coming out by Diana Ross.

To see pretty shoes on shelves is one thing, but to see it worn is another. My eyes lit up admiring the shoes. I've also chosen a few pairs for Jhon.

Before I end this post, I would like to share you a great contest!
The New Crocs, New You Makeover Contest!

"Your chance at winning a total makeover package valued at USD8,000 is just a few clicks away. Go to the New Crocs New You website, ncny.crocsasia.com, and in 500 words or less, tell the world why you deserve the ultimate makeover. One finalist will be chosen from each participating country. If you are chosen as a finalist, you will be awarded with S$6,000 shopping spree vouchers with a professional stylist. Once you are chosen, share your story with your friends and ask them to vote for you! If you have the most votes, you and a guest will receive round trip tickets and accommodation in a city of your choice.  You will also be sent on a shopping spree with a recognized beauty and style expert. They will then whisk you away to a salon where the New You transformation will begin"


Head down to http://ncny.crocsasia.com for more info and check out the dancing feet!

So what are you waiting for? Click here and here for the website, download the Crocs Mix & Match App on your handphone and head down to the Crocs store near you!

[click here to check out what Crocs shoes I've got!]