lifeminiseries.com

I can’t believe it’s March already. The past two months have flown by in a blink of an eye. It’s funny how when I was younger, I always saw myself living in a time bubble that never seemed to move forward. Now, I feel like it’s passing me by so fast, I can’t even remember what I had for lunch yesterday! (yes, I am acutely aware that could also just mean my memory is failing me).

Most of all, I can’t believe I signed up to this blog exactly a year ago. It took me a while to figure out what it was that I wanted to express through this blog. I knew it would be public and I wanted to set myself apart from the usual daily blogs millions of other people have. I wanted to write about my passions, my memories and my thoughts. After a while, the blog pretty much came on its own.

My dear friends, I don’t know if you have noticed this but this blog has now pretty much become a blog which serves no purpose whatsoever (lol). Sure, when I started, I did try to follow a particular theme as suggested by several friends. However, after about 6 months, I realized it wasn’t very practical for someone who gets bored so easily. So I experimented with the types of topics I wanted to write about, books, saving money, childhood memories, etc. After a while, I realized I was running out of things to write on those topics. So I decided to expand to other areas, food, cooking, health etc. Hence, this is the result of my writing in the last 12 months.

I am still surprised I have managed to keep this blog going this long. This is the only thing that has remained constant in my life for the last 12 months. I guess I have more stuff going on in my mind than I thought. After all, I find this to be a great creativity outlet. I have never had an artistic flair and neither am I gifted in music (which seems to be the running gene in my family - cept for my eldest sis and me) but writing is one thing that I have always enjoyed doing.

It helps that there are always so many interesting and exciting things that happens around our daily lives which most people just take for granted. One of my favorite past times is to sit at a busy corner shop cafe and watch the world go by. For example, if someone had been doing that this morning while I got off the tram, they would have noticed that my shirt had miraculously unbuttoned itself the entire way and I was struggling to hold on to it, hoping nobody saw me.

I suppose the one thing I could try and work on for this blog is to add more pictures and maybe jazz it up abit. But on the other hand, I quite like the simplicity of it and the fact that well, this blog is after all about writing. Then again, it could just be my lazy ass finding an excuse not to bother finding out how to jazz it up. ah well. maybe one day…

Happy birthday lifeminiseries!

I was talking to a friend the other day who had just broken up with her bf of 11 years. We were discussing on the topic of men and what kind of guys she find attractive. I did not see it coming when she said she’s into white boys..especially since the guy she’s been with since high school is an Asian.

But, attraction is a rather subjective matter, I think. According to a research done, it seems that women find different men attractive at various stages of their menstrual cycle. Personally, mine doesn’t change that fast but I have realised that the guys I would have gone for when I was younger is no longer the guys I would be attracted to these days.

I suppose age plays a big part too. The older I get, the more attracted I am to the mature, settled, stable kinda guy. Physically, he has to be fit, healthy and takes care of himself. It is not hard to see that the underlying message is that I want to make sure my life partner is going to at least last another 40 years of my life and be able to help me raise our kids and provide for them without bailing out at the first opportunity or prematurely dying from smoking or other disgusting habits people may have.

My friend and I both agreed that personality plays a major factor (which I always think is more so for women than for men). It’s a rare occasion when I meet a guy (or girl for that matter - but different story altogether) whom I can instantly click with. I am always pleasantly surprised when I am able to carry long witty conversations with a stranger and be able to joke and give each other shit like as though we have known each other for years. No awkward pauses and none of those moments when I’m cracking my brain trying to keep the conversation going. And best of all, I don’t need to fake an interested look when I’m just absolutely dying of boredom inside.

I sometimes wonder what exactly is it that attracts couples together. Some people may end up together for 10 years only to break up. Others may have only met and married within a 6 month period. And, if you are with someone, is it still normal to feel attraction for another person? And if so, what does this mean? Personally, I think that people are bound to feel attraction for other people, regardless of marriage or in a committed relationship. I think it is all harmless as long as the line is not crossed. Unfortunately, judging by the number of people who are caught cheating or who have cheated, this happens more often than one likes to admit.

I suppose it’s just another “When harry met sally” debate. Can two people honestly remain as friends if there is mutual attraction? On rare occasions such as these, I’d like to have faith in the human race and say I’d like to think so.

I had the opportunity to go swimming last weekend. The weather was just right and regardless of whether we ended up crashing my friend’s place to use her pool or not, it was a hell lot of fun.

One of the reasons why I really wanted to go was so that a friend of mine could teach me how to swim freestyle. I had signed up for classes a year ago but long story cut short, I just couldn’t be bothered arguing to the centre that they still owed me 4 classes.

When I was younger, my parents taught me and my sisters how to swim. That was the only ‘lessons’ we ever had. Sure, we learnt how to float, how to swim from one end to the other, how to stay underwater and just get used to swimming in a pool. But we never actually learnt anything else other than breast stroke.  I suppose on the upside, at least we got used to being in water and not freaking out when we are underwater. On the other hand, because I got so used to being in pools, I now freak out at the thought of swimming in the open sea where there are no edges that I can eventually hang on to when I’m too tired of staying afloat and also where I can’t see the bottom. Worst of all, where I know there are things lurking around that I may not even be able to identify. The worst thing you can get at a pool is a floating band aid coming right at your face. I won’t even touch on the pee-ing issue because everyone prefers to think it never happens.

Last year, when I signed up for classes, I thought, ok, I’m finally gonna learn how to swim freestyle. The instructor asked if I knew any other style and I said, “yea, my parents taught me breast stroke when I was younger and that’s basically the only thing I can swim.”

So she asks me to show her my technique which I did. When I got up, she had this look on her face and went, “dude, I don’t know what shite you just pulled right there, but that ain’t no breast stroke!”

Ok, she didn’t say that, but she may as well have! All I could think of at that moment was, WTF? What have I been swimming all my life if that wasn’t breast stroke???? Did my parents just make us invent a new swimming technique?? Like how they never corrected our hokkien?? Then I thought about how I had openly swam my ‘breast stroke’ in front of the hundreds of people since I ‘learnt’ how to swim. o…m…g.

Does anyone else feel my embarrassment here?

Anyway, moving along, I eventually learnt how to swim freestyle. It was great but extremely tiring. After less than an hour in the pool, I was exhausted. I got out of the water and could hardly walk without feeling like my legs were about to collapse on me.

I hadn’t practiced since then. So last weekend when I went back to the pool with a friend who was happy to teach me, it all came back to me. It  wasn’t so hard after that. I’m actually surprised I can swim that fast especially since breast stroke always seems so slow (then again, it could have been due to the fact that I wasn’t actually swimming breast stroke). Before I knew it, I’m already at the end of the pool. Now I understand how people can swim so many laps in an hour.

It was great being back in the pool. My family used to go swimming every Sunday and I hold many fond memories of those days. I just hope the weather doesn’t get too cold too soon!

I was having my lunch earlier and like always, I was busy reading the news online. I wasn’t really paying much attention to my food and while I was busy scooping up the remaining bits of noodles, I looked down and realised what I had subconsciously done.

Does anyone else leave the best bits to the last as well?

Sometimes, life is like riding a ferris wheel isn’t it?

From the moment you get on the carriage, the anticipation builds up its momentum and your palms start getting damp. You look up and see the dangling legs from the other carriages and think, you’ll be at that spot soon enough. You wonder how many rounds you get but wave the thought away - it doesn’t matter, your turn’s about to start.

As the carriage starts moving upward, you feel your heart soaring up in the sky and for a brief moment, you feel invincible. For those few minutes, all your worries fade away and all you can think about is how happy you are feeling. You look down at the world bustling below you and it’s as though time just stood still. The higher you go, the more exhilarating it becomes while at the same time, at the back of your mind, you subconsciously realize, the harder the fall.

When you reach the peak, all you can think of is, “I wish this moment will stay forever”. But it never does. After all, everyone knows that what goes up must come down.

And so, your carriage is now replaced by another at the top. As it goes lower, you can feel your heart sinking with it. Then you go through the cycle all over again. This goes on a couple of times until you realise your time must be up soon. And that’s when the palm sweating begins again.

Each time your carriage goes closer to the ground, your beating heart becomes deafening, not wanting it to end. You dread having to face reality once again. Your mind goes on a frenzy - “is it the end already? But I haven’t fully enjoyed it. I was too busy. I was too distracted. Will they let me get on again? But look at all those people lining up! It’ll take me forever to get back on - I may never get the chance to do this again”. Then you realise you have bypassed the exit door. The relief is overwhelming. You realize your time isn’t up yet - you get another chance. You try to do everything better this time, you don’t want to make the same mistake as the last time.

Eventually, your carriage is the one that opens and you know it’s time to leave.

I guess the ultimate feeling at the end of the ride is to feel as though you have accomplished what you had set out for. You are ready to leave the carriage and leave no regrets behind.

For some people, unfortunately, the end arrives far too early. For many others, it is the fear of letting go.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you have tried, you realize there is only so much you can do alone. By that point, letting go is the best gift you can give to anyone, especially yourself.

“Letting go doesn’t mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be.” - Anonymous

I take the public transport to and from work every day. These days, because the tennis open is on, it’s hard to get a seat on the trams. This is fine as long as I can find a spot to stand and not have to sniff in the next person’s BO or get strangled by someone else’ hair.

My problem isn’t so much standing. It’s sitting. As long as I can get a seat, I’m happy. However, I also like to give my seat up for elderly people, pregnant women, disabled people, etc. That’s where the problem comes in.

See, as an Asian, I tend to look younger than the locals. So when I see a woman whom I think could be younger than me or just slightly older, I just think, tough luck. But at the same time, I’m wondering if other people are looking at me thinking, “look at that bitch – just sitting there refusing to give her seat up for her elders”. Is it just my conscience that seems to hate me or does anyone else have the same issue?

People here age remarkably fast. Someone my age can look at least 10 years older than they actually are. So I hardly think it’s fair that I should give my seat up for someone who can’t even take care of their youthful physical appearance. That’s what you get for trying to tan the freaking daylights out of yourself when you were a teen. Now, you gotta live the consequences and if that means no seat given up for you, so be it.

Of course, there are times when I do want to give my seat up but the person is on the other end of the tram, which really leaves me no choice but to stay put. I have experienced times when I would give my seat up when some asshole decides he has more right to sit on it than the poor lil lady standing next to him. These days, I tend to tap the elderly person and offer my seat so that nobody steals it instead.

Anyway, for the times when I am unable to do so because of the above said distance, I would then give ‘you should be SO ASHAMED of yourself’ looks to the men and young people who fastidiously ignore the elderly person trying to cling on to the railings for dear life. The worst are those who sit there and smiles to them pitifully and looks away. At least, although selfish, the former knew that what they were doing was wrong!

I know that this is nothing more than cultural upbringing. No respect is taught at home anymore. Parents just leave their kids to decide what they think is best and to make decisions and grow up as individuals without any discipline or guidance. Ok, I just made that all up, but I bet this exists because all of them seem to take the same trams as me.

Let me tell you about the experience I had in Japan. I decided to take the bus one day because I wanted to see what it was like instead of the train. Japan is notoriously well known for its aging population and sure enough, I did see a lot of older generation while I was there (all up, I saw about 5 children during my almost 2 week stay there). So while on this bus, a couple of elderly people came on board.

Now, what I am about to reveal probably doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. The most extraordinary thing happened each time they came on board. At least 3-4 people would spring up from their seats for them to sit. These old people actually had a choice on which seats to sit on. It was remarkable to watch. I felt like I was in a parallel universe (the Japanese probably consider this to be true anyway). This is one of the reasons why I would go back to Japan in a heartbeat. I mean, sure, they work you to death there, but at the same time, they have the lowest mortality rate, that is, if they don’t commit suicide first from the workload. Ok, maybe not anytime soon, but definitely when one is ready to retire and live out the remainder of your life. Plus, by then, you can always count on getting a seat on public transportation.