87. Catch Up

A lot of things have happened or have already happened. But, what kept me from blogging about all of this is this annoying laptop of mine. Although it is three years and a bit old, it is giving me a lot of problems. I have to cater to this darn thing, making sure that it has plenty of time to load up while I do other things. So, it takes its sweet time in order for me to actually open a browser and start browsing. When I watch videos, instead of playing the sound right away, it shows the video first without sound, stops until a minute later when the sound comes on, and when the sound matches up to the image that it's stuck at, then the screen will start moving again. It is not the video playing that I can't stand and be patient about, it's the long start up time. What kind of laptop needs over fifteen thirty to forty-five minutes to warm up and start up?? Oh right, this HP Pavilion of mine. I wonder why I even bought this thing in the first place. All I know is that I can't wait to get a job and save up to buy a new and much better one.

Anyway, I finished all my final exams yesterday. The last one was for my major Linguistics and although we could have a cheat sheet, double sided on A4 paper, I didn't make full use of the gift sent from heaven and decided to stupidly leave some things out (that I thought the professor would not test us on). But of course, I learnt my lesson for instead of doing the first question of Part B, which were all definitions - easy peasy, I had to do the longer questions of Part B, which were the second and third question. I didn't even have time to completely finish them either. So much regret. But, it's all over now. I just hope the one marking my exam saw that I didn't merely choose to go the easy way, but the hard way... stupid as that may be.

Today, I went to visit my high school, but before that, because we were a bit early than the scheduled time to meet up with another friend, we headed to the mall nearby. I just browsed around and bought two small boxes of Christmas lights for decorations (but mainly for night lights) and was heading towards H&M when I saw a group of kids preparing to sing. We were in luck as they were just starting (although there were some technical difficulties at first) so we managed to catch which school they came from. And, to my surprise, it was the elementary school that I graduated from many, many years ago! And, I also did the exact same thing - singing at the mall (a different one though)! It was really nostalgic listening to the kids and admiring them because when I did it back in grade three, we each had a duo tang of the lyrics provided for us in case we forgot, but these kids had managed to memorized all these songs in the span of four months! They all looked so cute and as I listened, I remembered back to talking with my three childhood friends, sitting casually on the low wooden fence surrounding the playground that we often played at in grade five, and just talking about moving onto middle school next year and how high school is a long way away still. And now, I blinked and zoomed right into University. I think I know what my dad meant now when he always says he just blinked and I turned from a baby to a University student. I remember jokingly telling him that if he blinked again, I would be walking down the aisle, and another blink would have a baby in my arms. Time is just moving so quickly, and it hit me even more as I got closer to my high school.

Visiting all the teachers and making the rounds were great, but the three teachers that I wanted to see the most all weren't there - just my luck. One left on vacation, another moved to a different school on an island, and another was away. I remember that whilst I was in high school, I was always busy and never stopped to think how fortunate I was to have such great teachers, but now looking back today, I really treasure the bonds that we have created with our teachers. Different from University professors, we're able to talk to them casually, asking how their days have been and telling them about our dreams. Cheesy as it may sound, I really like being able to stay close with my teachers, and the Christmas carol singing by the kids only strengthened that. I wish I still kept in contact with all my favourite teachers, all the way from way back. I can only hope that they are doing well and will be having a great Christmas and holiday.

86. S'More Shopping

The Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, and even Cyber Tuesdays emails just don't stop. I have had to resist the urge to click on the tempting emails too many times. But, alas, when there is a very good deal, I will go and check it out. Luckily, that's what I did with Julep. It is a beauty product store, mostly known for their gorgeous nail polishes. I bought some for friends' birthday presents and just browsed the rest of the site for a bit. I purchased six gorgeous colours (mostly pink, because it can look cute, sophisticated, and polished all at the same time... I guess you could call it a safe colour). I bought Layne (Classic with a Twist), Gemma (Boho Glam), Charlotte (Boho Glam), Jennifer (Classic with a Twist), Zora (Classic with a Twist), and Vanessa (Bombshell).

Also, another one of my purchases from Chapters has been shipped, and it is one of their baby products: Large Bashful Bunny in Cream (by Jellycat) and it is just the most adorable and soft stuffed animal ever. But, I'm having second thoughts. Even though I have been waiting for oh so long to buy it, but because of the extravagant price, I have always managed to hold myself back, but as I saw that it was cheaper by around $20, I caved in. I think I will probably go return it because it is a bit too much money for just a stuffed animal. I guess the holiday sales got to me in the spur of the moment. Once it arrives, I will just have to sadly carry it in its box back to the store to return.

On another note, my purchase from a long while back finally arrived! It is a new case for my Samsung tablet and it is pretty cool. I have always wanted a wireless/Bluetooth keyboard and case for my tablet, but I could never find them for Samsung tablets. Well, I looked around eBay and saw this gorgeous red leather keyboard and case for a reasonable price and bought it. I just opened the package today and the keyboard will take some getting use to, but I'm excited to use it to take notes nevertheless!

(Imagine that in red, including the keyboard.)

85. Black Friday Goodies

I couldn't resist and bought two more things yesterday.

Industrial looking bracelet with turquoises accents. I think it would look really cool when paired with an all black outfit.

Some much needed hand therapy for my dry, dry hands. I used to really like Crabtree & Evelyn's Rosewater, but ever since they came out with Evelyn Rose, I've been won over. Rosewater is more on the sweet side, whereas Evelyn Rose is fragrant without it being overwhelming and there's a light bitter undertone. Plus, it smells more mature and lady-like to me.

84. Black Friday at Chapters

I splurged yesterday online at Chapter's and now I'm all set for anyone's birthday that suddenly pops up! Admit it, I bet you do it too. Anyways, part of my purchase has been shipped and I can't wait until they all get here! I'll just show what is on it's way, and once I get another email from Chapters saying the rest of my stuff has been shipped, I'll reveal more of what I bought! I'm so excited!! I love getting packages in the mail!

1. Makassar's scented candle in Ebony & Peach
2. Voluspa's scented candle in Mokara
3. Voluspa's scented candle in French Cade & Lavender
4. Flower and lace embossed leather journal

I actually received Voluspa's Mokara as an early Christmas present from a friend and truthfully, I don't like lighting candles, especially ones with an overwhelming scent even when it's not lighted. Because my friend knew this, she got me Mokara, which is light scented, so I usually just leave the lid open so there is some of it's light, classy scent, but not enough to overwhelm me. I really like it and the decorative tin it comes in is gorgeous. I love patterns (as you probably already know) and anything that's pretty, classy, sophisticated (without breaking the budget of course). 

83. What Made Me Happy Today #1

Although I had a somewhat bad start to the day (I saw someone I would rather not see), it immediately got better as I got to see an old classmate. I hardly recognized him because of Movember so that was a nice surprise. Also, because I only had one class today, I was able to have a break for myself before my club event. I watched a few YouTube videos (like Arthur) and ate Tonkatsu. It was good, except now I have to go buy more sauce for it. Afterwards, I caught the bus back to the University and headed to the event venue. Once I helped set up, I went to the door to help with the registration table. Unfortunately, not many people came as we had anticipated so that was quite a big letdown. But, we got over it pretty fast since we did have some people show up! Whatever, more food for the rest of us! Consequently, we all played games and stuffed ourselves with sugar - it was a good night.

I think I will try to do more of these What Made Me Happy Today entries seeing as how my Thank Friday series did not work out as I wanted. But for WMMHT, it will be difficult to do everyday, but I will most definitely try!

* Picture accompaniment not guaranteed sadly.

82. Inspired by Ikea

Where I live, there's this bench/shelf-like thing underneath our P.O. boxes, and someone put a whole bunch of the 2014 Ikea catalog there so I took one to look through when I want to procrastinate. As I was flipping through the pages, I came across this very comfy and girly looking arrangement and tagged the page for possible future inspiration. And yesterday, bored out of my mind, decided to freehand ink it.

81. Cooking on a Budget

"University is expensive." I'm sure most of us can agree to that. Not only are there tuition to pay, but there is also textbooks, food, and board. Let's not forget the application and admission fees as well. They just seem to be extorting money whenever and however possible. With so much of students' money going towards all these big fees and hidden overhead fees, how can we still have a fulfilling meal that's enough to keep us going through those long nights of studying (or cramming)? Fear not, there is a quick and simple solution I am about to show you.

The answer to your questions will be answered, and the solution is: soup. Ever since the beginning of the school term, I have discovered just how versatile simple cups of water and a few ingredients are. With the right seasonings, this soup will be highlight of your breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner!

The best thing about this "recipe", is that there is no restrictions or specific measurements. You can adjust it however you want and use anything you like. But, for this post, I will show you how I usually make my soup, as well as the Secret Formula I have trial-and-error-ed over and over again to find that perfect balance. Let's not waste anymore time.

1. First things first, boil water on whatever heat setting you want (if you can prepare the ingredients fairly quickly, put the setting on high, if not, then put the setting on low).

2. Next, prepare the ingredients:
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Baby Bok Choy
- Bean Sprouts
- Mushrooms

3. Wash, peel, and dice to bite sized pieces.

Tip: Do not use green potatoes. They are poisonous and may give you food poisoning, and if consumed in large quantities, you will have an outer-world experience (ie. death).

So, chuck all the green potatoes away!

4. Once the water has boiled, chuck everything in the pot except the bean sprouts (unless you like mushy bean sprouts) and wait until it boils again.

5. In the meantime, you can get the Secret Formula (spices and sauces) ready:
- Ground pepper
- Salt
- Sesame Oil
- Vinegar

6. Once the water has boiled again, put a tablespoon of each in and adjust to taste. For the vinegar, a little goes a long way, so you don't need to put more than a tablespoon in.

7. After that, add in the bean sprouts and turn the heat off after a minute or two.

8. Then it is ready to be served. I like to have rice with my soup.

Not only is the soup healthy (no oil needed!), it is also super simple to prepare and is ready in 15 ~ 20 minutes. All these ingredients are pretty cheap and can be bought at your local grocery stores. You do not have to stick to the ingredients shown - play around and discover your own perfect Formula!

Some suggestions for other ingredients are:
- Tofu (for some protein)
- Noodles (substitute for rice)
- Eggs (more protein)

Now you know how to cook a simple, yet delicious and healthy meal on a budget. Enjoy!

80. How to Achieve Everlasting Friendship

If only I knew.

I know how to make friends and keep them, but it takes experience - not a guide - to tell you how to pick out the bad seeds from the good seeds. But, in this day and age with our amazing technology, it wouldn't be too difficult to search up some pointers at least. So, these are some of my pointers on how to make, keep, and sort friends based on my own experiences.

Once upon a time, when I was still Little Milly, I was very naive and trusted all those I met and befriended, smiling at them everyday and worrying about their problems. However, after a few incidents, that all changed. I became more cautious when making friends and smiled only for those that deserved it. I also stopped wasting my energy on other people's problems, but concentrated more on those most important to me and helped them in their time of need. But, how did I do it?

Well, remember during kindergarten when the teacher would say "keep your hands and feet to yourself"? Similar to that, the more "adult" version of it, as I see it, is "treat others how you want to be treated". This is also known as the "Golden Rule", or "ethic of reciprocity" (according to our dear friend Wikipedia anyways).

I am sure you have heard of this many, many times, but it is not just that Golden Rule you need to follow. There are also other things you must keep in mind in order to have that friend who was like a twin sister/brother that never was.

1. Value their opinions. Don't force your own opinions or beliefs onto them. You might think it's right, but everyone has different points of view. Instead, you should try to understand it from their perspective, or "be in their shoes" (in other words, listen). This may take some time and practice, but in the end, will not only make you a better friend, but a better and understanding individual as well.

2. Always make an effort to maintain the relationship. Even if they may seem as close as family to you, you still need to make an effort to ask how their day was. Like in any relationship, if someone gets too comfortable and stops putting in an equal amount of effort, then that relationship will slowly start to crumble as the affection wears off because of this comfort. This leads to the next point:

3. Never take your friendship for granted. Once you start taking your friend(s) for granted, I will guarantee you, it will fall apart for obvious reasons, some of which have already been mentioned. Once you start taking someone for granted, then that means you have set expectations on them, and when they fail this expectation you have arbitrarily put on them, you will be the one to complain, to criticize, and overall, start to develop a negative attitude towards them because of this expectation you built yourself.

There are lots more pointers, but then the list would go on and on, leading to similarities with others, so I will end it here. These are the "rules" I go by when maintaining my friendship, which also helps me develop them into a tighter and stronger bond. This pointers also helped me before in choosing whether or not a friend was worth keeping. Like how you should follow these pointers to treat your friends, it should also apply to your friends as well. If it is all just one-sided, I would not consider that a well-balanced friendship (and you may just be taken advantage of). Ultimately, the choice is up to you and how you want to live your life surrounded by either happiness, content-ness, or bad seeds. It is all up to you (no pressure).

P.S. After using these pointers (and some more) and you find that perfect soul mate, putting a ring on it would be wise. Or, in this case, a soul-friend and a bracelet. Here is mine and my best friend/roommate's that we bought today:

(Gold infinity sign bracelet from Aldo Accessories)

It is optionally to use materialistic objects to show friendship, but it is quite fun. Nevertheless, if you don't want to do that, you can still do other things together. For example, cooking a meal together, going on an outing together, or maybe even bungee jump together. The keyword is doing things together. Only are you together, will you discover more things about each other and learn to either accept them or reject them.

79. A Meaningful Life

Some people go through life living according to other's wishes and some live life through their own ways. But, if you really get right down to it, or the pessimistic way of thinking, we are all living life according to another person or persons' wishes. For example, a small group of elitist who hold all the power in the world. But, I won't be going there today. Instead, I'll be concentrating on what I believe will make a meaningful life, or at least how I want to live my life.

First things first: never waste time. Although it might be intangible, it is nevertheless valuable. I am big on time. I dislike wasting my time, and I hate it even more when other people waste my time. That's right - hate. "Oh, such a strong word" is probably what you're thinking, but that is just how much I treasure my time. The life expectancy for me, according to boring statistics, averages around 81 to 83 years old. But, because of society today with its processed food and lack of time and energy to properly exercise and take a break from working continuously, that expectancy is probably a bit more optimistic. Nevertheless, if I were immortal (God forbid), I would still get pretty annoyed if my time were a-wasting.

Secondly, have a positive outlook on life in general. Don't always think about negative things or let your mind wander off to places of no return. It is not good for your health, and certainly a waste of time. A good way to achieve this would be to make a bad situation, good! This will help lower your blood level and make you a more fun person to be around. Also, since we're on the topic of being around people now - surround yourself with people you actually like. Sure, connections are important, but with Facebook these days, the most connecting you'll be doing with these people you hardly know would be to like their profile picture or share their video. So, in real life, away from the World Wide Web and those superficial online relationships, step out into the sun and find people you enjoy the company of! There's some type of saying that if you surround yourself with beautiful people, you'll become beautiful as well. I'll let you think about that.



Last, but definitely not any less important, is to always be thankful with what you have. Although this might be difficult to do at first, it is definitely feasible. I remember when I was always scrolling through my Facebook and being overly jealous at what other people have and/or doing, and I would start to get annoyed at my own life as I compare the two. It really brought me down and I wasted a lot of my energy on it. But, after thinking about all the things I already have that some people don't have, I was gradually able to step out of that never ending black hole. For those people that are having a hard time with this, here is a little trick I used that I was able to apply to get myself out of that self-loathing-ness. I simply compared what I had that most of the other people on my Facebook didn't have (in a way, sort of like bragging, but doing it internally so people won't think of you as an ass, excuse my French). It can be the smallest things, something that other people may find insignificant, but others may never have. For example, an understanding family, funny parents, your creative skills, ability to keep yourself organized, a clean room - like, all the time, or maybe how you're always on top of things and always getting stuff done before others so you have plenty of time for other things (perhaps a social life!). Anything that makes you happy is definitely something to be thankful for. But, something that annoys you aren't always what you think - that they're just out there to get you, rather they're trying to tell you something or guide you. Maybe that bus you missed was a good thing because then you could have met the love of your life on the next one, or the next bus' fare machine was broken so you didn't have to pay bus fare. The littlest things in life are the things that people should be most thankful for, because when it's not there anymore, it'll be even harder to get it back, and you'll always feel something is missing. This is similar to treasuring what you have  in a way.

These three points are the most important things that I believe in will make me live a meaningful and happy life. I hope I was able to share some useful things that you can take away and given you an inspiring moment. There is also a book, called The Secret similar to what I have shared, but elaborates much more (and more well written for sure) that really gives you an awakening experience. If you have the time, or just happen to come across it at the bookstore or a friend's place, definitely flip through it and take a look at what it says - it might just change your life. They also have a website and a section where you can read stories of people who have used The Secret (I read some of them and some sound really doubtful, but hey, who I am to judge). Another (amazing) blogger, whom I am a fan of, also goes into a lot of detail about this book and its ideas and concepts, as well as her real life experiences. Her name is Xiaxue and she is a famous blogger in Singapore (quite funny and individualistic as well). If you have time, do check out her post as it got me thinking quite a lot about how I have been going about in life and really allowed me to introspect my ways of being. Deep stuff, I know.

(P.S. This post is not sponsored by anything or anyone. Though, I do wish I was able to make money off this thing. Maybe I should try out The Secret sometime.)

78. Campus Walk

Since I haven't blogged for a bit nor gone on any exciting and fun outings, I decided to take my camera with me on the way to class today and snap a few pictures as I walked. The autumn weather was really nice today so I didn't do any editing to my pictures (partly because they are already so pretty looking, and partly because it would take too long... okay, mainly because it would take too long). Usually, I bike to all my classes because it's just so much more convenient and faster, and I get some exercise in my day as well. But, because the weather was just too nice to pass up the opportunity and I had lots of time to spare before my next class, I took a casual stroll to the campus. 

In this day and age of technology, you see everyone walking without direction with a phone in their hand texting, surfing the web, or playing with some phone apps. No one really stop and smell the roses along the way anymore and I feel that it is really unfortunate because there are so many little magical things to discover along the leaf-covered roads. I remember walking and biking up this one route next to a building many, many times where there was a waterway with some tall stalks of what looked like leeks built alongside the building. But, I never really paid any attention to it and just thought of it just another useless University installation and just continued my walk and minded my own business... until one day, with nothing to look at, I stared down at the waters and saw two bright orange goldfishes with long tails. I wanted to take a picture of it to show my friends, but before I could do that, they slipped underneath a drain. I guess it's little unrecoverable moments like these that are the better moments as it gets you thinking of what other little magical things you have missed because you were merely too busy staring down at a dumb device.

(This wasn't where I saw the little goldfishes, but it's similar to the long "water leeks" I was talking about)

After that encounter, I have begun to notice other magical things around the University that I have never noticed before or taken the time to, and through these pictures, I hope I'll be able to share some of these little bits of happiness or thoughts with you. Maybe they will inspire you to do the same!

What appears to be a boring, gray building has a fun side to it as well!I spy with my little eyes, something that is orange and is all the rage right now. 

This little park filled with stones that I often see young children with their parents playing at. I saw a family with two little kids playing with a telescope with their dad's help one time. It was really cute, but I wouldn't advise doing that in the daytime.

Look at these beautiful trees with the gold-coloured leaves. I wish gold apples grew on it as well!

 
These hills that I think would be pretty fun to roll down as they're not too steep. Or just run around on. That seems pretty fun too.

Then I saw these trees which didn't look like trees but just long pieces of branches stuck in one place in the ground. But, I think it'll look cool if something hanged from it, like garlands of hearts or something like that. Or maybe in the spirit of Hallowe'en, little ghosts dangling from the branches.

Then, I walked up to an on-campus college with this cool building that I always see half of when I pass by, never really going up the stairs to see the whole thing. I'm glad I did, because it is really cool. It'll be neat to sketch it as well!

Then at the same location as I turned around, I saw these cute benches with these overhanging things (not sure what they're called). I think you can hang just about anything here: ghosts, pumpkins, spiders, spiderwebs even. Or hearts. Hearts are nice. Oh, flowers would be really pretty! It could be a mini rose garden!

And then as I continued further onto Campus, I see another construction going on... as usual. But, this deserves a post entirely for itself as there is just too many things to say about the continuous construction, which I probably will not do because it's just not worth my time.

Then something reminded me of a reading I had to do in one of my classes called "The Garden of Forking Paths" as I saw that the University had many, many paths laid out on its campus, each leading to different destinations or point of destination. I thought it was pretty interesting.

And as I laid my eyes upon its golden wings, I stopped and stared as time seemed to stop for me to simply admire its grandness in all its beauty.

After admiring the grandness of nature, I took this picture of the building of where my next class was to be held, and noticed how I had never realized that despite the building looking old and dirty, the trees inside under an "open rooftop" looked really enchanting. I guess it's the gray, concrete material of the building contrasting with the sunlit nature inside its "womb".

Anyways, that was my walk. It was pretty fun, and I hope I'll be able to do it again as this isn't even a quarter of the size of the University. No wonder I bike everywhere.