KrystalH❤︎

Celebrate the meaning of life

2019-11-21T04:04:00.003+00:00

Life is truly indeed a blessing.

I wish to say this to everyone out there, but sometimes, it's more of a constant self-reminder to myself every now and then that we should often take a step back, slow down, and take time to reflect and to think about those people around us that we should always give thanks to, celebrate the meaning of life and the living always instead of being trapped in constant complaints about how bad our day was, listening to unnecessary gossips or rumours, sucked into negativities and drawn to things that are not beneficial at all to our overall well-being but rather to create more confusion and deception, lies into our lives.

To those who knows me well or probably have followed my blog since ancient days ago, I am one who loves to eat, travel, passionate about sharing my personal experiences and talk about my daily life on this platform or space of mine. Recent years or days shall I say, I have grown to let this space to become a medium for me to share my personal encounter or sometimes, reflection that I have gathered or learnt through my experience in life. I hope my sharing or story here could be of some key takeaway to maybe some of you out there, who perhaps are going through the same situation or probably would love to get some answers etc too. Either way, feel free to always reach out no matter what. I believe being able to talk about your feelings or experiences freely without any form of boundaries or restrictions are the best way to confront or cope with your feelings that sometimes you feel difficult or ashamed to even bring yourself forward to admit them. Well, what should I say to those of you who feels that way?

"Don't be afraid. Life is all about learning and falling down. As long as we are able to take the first step by coming forward, it is one of the biggest achievements already. In fact, you did a great job by firstly admitting to the problems or circumstances you are facing as it requires an immense amount of courage to do so. Hence, a big applause to yourself :) These are baby steps and you have to acknowledge that it is truly a form of achievement. Do not be discouraged or be worried about what others would say or talk about us, because deep down inside, only the ones who are facing or struggling with the problems know the truth. We are all not here to judge but to help."

Throughout my recent weeks, I have encountered many hurtful incidents which was so unexpected that it could have brought me to endless tears, state of depression or even mental breakdown etc. However, before I even bring myself to that state, I managed to convince myself that God is so loving and that His love is so great and unconditional that I should not even bring harm to myself. He doesn't want me to feel broken, and in fact, I have to be thankful as such that being here today and able to write or share this on my blog is already a blessing. I have to remember that as I am typing these now, there are nearly two people who are dying each second, or even those who are battling diseases, struggling to stay alive. Here I am, healthy as horse ever, which is truly a purpose to celebrate and be thankful of. Life is indeed a long journey ahead. Those ups and downs in our lives are placed there for a reason, a purpose to only steer us towards the direction that we're meant to head to, and to grow as an individual in life. I love that no matter what happens in life, whether it is a form of grief or joy, I would always take it as an arrangement or plan by our loving God that it happened for a reason. I can only emphasise that nothing was ever there to bring harm or cause misery in my life, but rather, it was placed there at the very beginning just to prepare me for something better in life, a greater future and plan that He has for me. And for that, I am sincerely grateful that no matter what happens now and in the future, I have placed complete trust in Him, that He will only prosper and guide me towards greater cause in life as long as I continue to pursue and obey Him :)

I love that I have always been so true to myself and to people around me. Whether or not it is towards random people from the any shops that I go to, people on the streets, janitors who clean the toilets at the shopping mall, security guards etc, I have always been happy seeing people who are always there offering their help to the society be it in a small or big form of contribution. Everyone that we encounter or meet in life isn't by chance I believe, but it is by a pre-destined arrangement by God. Hehe. If you believe it or not, there is no such thing in this world or life as being "coincidental". I believe that when things happen, it definitely happens for a reason but not simply by probability/chance. Yes, to those non-believers out there, you can probably try to use your endless theories/science etc to rationalise or back-up all these encounters, however, what I would love to say is that sometimes, there simply isn't any facts/theories or even extravagance scientific theories to prove the supernatural things that we experience in life. Life is simply a miracle, isn't it? ;)

In addition, there isn't much effort that you truly need to give just to make someone's day or befriend with someone. All you need to do is be your true self, and shed light and bring joy to others around you by just saying a few simple words like "How's your day?" or "Thank you very much". I believe that these powerful words are also a form of small encouragement that we can help to make someone's day.

I love that no matter how bad my day or a phase of my life goes, I can still pick myself up real quick and realise that there is so much more to offer in my life and to help those who are truly in need rather than being all sad and depressed about a small little problem or situation that I face. I am so thankful indeed for always being able to realise why certain things happen without even having any proper explanation or closure from the people that I need answers from. However, I keep reminding myself that it's okay, as long as I have done my best and live my life without any regrets and given more than what I should without living in lies and being true to my own feelings, I believe that there isn't anything that I should feel apologetic of / regretful of ever at present or even in the future.

Given the fact that I have lost someone so dearly in my life this year near Mother's Day which was so unexpected and part of me still believe that I should have done more then, however, I believe that my grandma's loss was meant for a reason too. There is no point crying over spilt milk. As such, since then, I have told myself that I do not want to live in any regrets ever, but rather, live each day as a blessing and take it as a chance to change and improve ourselves. And with that mindset, we will not have any regrets even when things happen too unexpectedly or sudden in life. Therefore, to those who are going through circumstances in life now that you are unable or struggling to seek answers or closure etc, do not ever be disheartened and discouraged. Please do not ever bottle everything up and blame yourself or ever feel ashamed/embarrassed about it. Nothing happens without a true purpose, please trust that. And if you ever need someone to confide to, please do come out of your closet and try to speak to people whom you trust like close families or friends who are always so loving and ready to be there for you no matter what goes through in your life. Never feel that you are alone in such dark or difficult circumstances in life. You will only end up being ever more lonely if you are unable to come out of your current circumstances and speak about it freely with people who you can trust in life.

In short, to everyone out there, please know your true value and worth in life. There is so much more that life has to offer us. There is no such thing as a wasted lesson or time ever. Love yourself always and truly, and then you can only accept and give love freely as a blessing to others and those around you. Last but not least, always remember that life is really a blessing. Do not ever feel discouraged by some difficult circumstances you are encountering in life now because life is indeed a long journey. These lessons and mistakes are there to mould us and shape us into someone stronger, and greater in future. Hence, start by doing something positive each day as a stepping stone to walk this journey call life ahead! ☺💓

I shall end my long-winded post about my reflection on my latest encounters in life. I hope it did not bore you guys but rather, you managed to pick something up from my post too!

Till then,

✗

Taking things for granted

2019-08-04T04:49:00.000+01:00

Hey all.

It's already a f r e s h new month...

& well, I can't stop but being super excited and happy about the days ahead that are about to come. That's simply because after the recent reflection and for all the things I have gone through as a child up until today, I realised one very, very important thing... I have never been able to strongly pursue something that I genuinely am passionate about. If you know me well as a person, it is true that I have always been a high achiever, be it from extra-curricular activities, to my education and up to my job profession to. No matter what I do in life so far, I will always try to give my very best and in fact for most of the time, it's always at least my very 100% own effort or more often, exceeding that. Thankfully, I have close friends, family, loved ones around me who can certainly vouch for that trait of mine. & because of that, I realised that for what I've been doing so far in my life up until my present job (which I'm going to officially bid goodbye soon...), was done out of true, genuine and sincere love, respect and in total obedience towards the people who have raised me up so dearly by providing me with all the relevant training and education etc since young, which have moulded me into this young lady today.

As such, all these qualifications, job titles etc that I have gained/achieved overall so far as a child up until today, was never really something that I have always wanted to pursue or chase for. In fact, I had a fear all these time and constant questions about what would eventually happen if I did not give my best towards the things that I was tasked to do or at least "expected" to do (without saying as a daughter/individual/young lady) by those who poured out so much effort and time in ensuring that I have been well taken care of in life. However, I realised as I was trying to constantly match up to their expectations, it has gradually become or developed into a burden to myself without me even realising it.

Pursuant from my recent recovery after I fell sick from my previous post, it has truly opened up my heart and also allowed me to reflect and realised so much, that this so-called "perfectionist" trait or the inability to let my actions have any chance of leading to failure towards those who I deem as people whom I'm indebted to (from school, work, home, anyone whom I've once connected with which have taught me things or have played any role in contributing any good form of gesture/actions in my life), is one of the qualities/personalities that I have come to understand only recently which have been deeply embedded in me since young. & unknowingly, it is also a trait I carry which most often, will be taken advantage of by people whom I never expected would do that towards me... Therefore, without truly being mindful of how this trait of mine which I have comfortably used it to represent/carry myself (unknowingly) and lived with all these years of my life - I have come to a realisation recently that I shall not let the past events which I have experienced from workplace to affect or change me as a person in a whole despite knowing how easily sometimes this trait of mine can be deemed as a weakness or even some powerful trait which can be manipulated or used by others in order to achieve their goals in life.

I can't help but only to assume that some may have the following thoughts or may want to say these which are more inclined towards the negative side of things simply because it would be the most realistic response that I believe most would say to me after reading all of the above:

"That's life, we move on after encountering bad experience at work etc.. That's how we grow up.. "
"That just shows you're unable to move on.. It means that you're just holding grudges towards that person/people etc.."
"That's part of growing up. We have gone through that and been there before, done that too.."
"You should be glad that you have discovered these side of things now rather than later."
"You shouldn't have placed too much trust on someone/people at work in the first place."
"You should know when to give your trust or when not to give your trust out so easily to people at work."
"You should know how to draw a line at work - learn how to differentiate when to deliver and give your best and when to not etc..."
"You could have learnt how to say NO or refuse to do work if you think you're being tasked unfairly etc.."
"You're just too soft/stupid.. If I were you, I wouldn't have even agreed to it etc or even led myself to go through such unnecessary burden/pressure.."

After going through all of the above mentioned, I am pretty sure that some or most of you would already have an idea or possibly full story in mind of what I have actually experienced or gone through at work for the past few years as soon as I step foot into the working world right after graduating as a Masters student officially (again, unknowingly....note that the word "unknowingly" is heavily repeated somehow).. In view of the above, some of you may even agree or come to conclusion that these are naturally things that would cropped up in life because they are incidents that everyone of us are bound to experience as soon as we step foot into the real life/world call "work life".

Well . . . As if I did not know about that already...

But, as I grow up, I have always had the benefit and experience of only hearing about these from a third party point of view and through words of wisdom shared by people and those who are way ahead of me with more experience in both life and work; and never in a million, million years, have I ever thought that these words or "realistic" things would actually happen to me in such a personal way to the extent that it almost led me to losing trust in people (at workplace).. I mean, I have always seen these through by watching dramas etc and listening to words/stories of others, but it really never struck my mind before that it could actually happened to me. Like WOW.. When I look back at all these signs, and hints so far from my workplace and how I was being treated, it just reflected on how fresh and obedient I was back then when I first started my job.. & even so, I still trusted those who always claimed that they are guiding me and watching over me and continued to behave and delivered my work at all times in a manner that I would never give in to any room of failure and let alone towards those at work who claimed that they appreciate my work etc.

I never knew by placing trust or with the strong character that I have all these while (ME: I would never doubt the people around me at workplace since they are viewed as my mentors from the very first day I started working in my first official corporate job) whereby I would always give my best and strive at work at all times would actually lead to such experience in my life or more specifically, being taken advantage of. Moreover, it has never ever crossed my mind that this trait of mine whereby I have been delivering my quality of work in the same way no less than how I have always given to things around me since young from my university days where I would excel all the way, would be deemed as a great tool to be manipulated by some whom I have always looked up to or respected at work, or more importantly, a true mentor whom I trusted solely which would be the one to witness my personal growth/development at work and to also know how to give me the kind of reward that I would never ever have to ask for.

In a nutshell, all these written words are truly my personal encounter and sharing so far. I don't want to be writing or leaving/quoting names of who or what specifically is, but I want this space to constantly be a ringing reminder to my future self when I look back at this space and progress further in life that:

I have actually grown up so much over the years through all these... And these are the feelings/personal encounters/incidents that I had experienced back then which led me to who I am today.

My working experience outside since the day I have graduated may not be a lot to most of you, but to me, it has been a very enriching learning experience where I'm so happy and proud to say, I am really a grown up adult now. I am glad to know that I can see through things much easily compared to those days where I first graduated as a freshie. & even though I have gone through the pain of being manipulated without realisation throughout the years at my workplace, it is undeniably a process and part of the whole growing up and progression to being a real adult without the financial support of your parents behind. Therefore, I am genuinely pleased to know that I have become my own person, with or without my family's background etc or what not, I am able to come out of this shell on my own, to face the real world by myself without being scared that I will struggle and not being able to stand on my own financially, physically, mentally and emotionally. I believe that it is through all these tough trainings which God has planned for me since young and up until today that have prepared me well to do the real thing call LIFE from my 26-years-old-self onwards. & for that, I am truly thankful and blessed to say that I am ready to live the years ahead of me with another new path coupled with more enriching experiences be it in the form of pain, struggle, happiness, opportunities etc which He has planned for me.

I can't believe this, but I am very excited to be living and moving on to the next phase of my life along with all the people whom I truly love. The life that God has created for me is indeed a miracle, isn't it? He works in so many wonderful ways which you can't even imagine.

Happy 4th of August everyone! ☺

* * *

In a whole, today's post is a bit of my personal sharing again about how my own experience at work over the years brought so much self-realisation to me from understanding my personal character/trait to teaching me lessons on how I should view or move forward in life. I hope my post today managed to help some of you who are probably going through something similar in life in a personal way.

Thanks for dropping by this space!

Have a great Sunday and new week ahead~

Till then,

✗

Reflection

2019-07-30T12:00:00.001+01:00

Can't believe it's been awhile since I last penned down any thoughts or things.

How long has it been?

I know it's been not too long, but somehow it felt like I've abandoned this space for a couple of months already. But in actual fact, it is just about close to a month.

Truth to be told, the reason why I didn't really have the time spent to properly write or provide any updates herein was due to the fact that I was fallen really ill for quite some time. In fact, it was the longest point of time ever since I last felt this sick. I can't recall exactly what led to my inability to recover fully but an episode of recurring flu, cough, heavy breathing, headaches and also wobbliness in my legs hit me each time that I wanted to walk around freely. If you do know me as a person, I'm one to be actively moving around most of the time and also seen as one to be constantly on the go in the mall and any gym/boutique studios for exercises etc. In fact, "taking a break" has never seemed to be a term that I would really use, ever, in my life so far.

Based on the kind of experience that I encountered during my weakest point of time recently, I have even thought that I could have in fact retracted some form of Influenza virus or serious viral infections which have led to my slow rate in recovery. At some point, I even suspected whether I was bound to be getting some form of terminal illness (choi / touch wood *like the Cantonese way*). But honestly, I felt so useless at that time to the extent it led me to begin questioning so many irrelevant things around me and mostly I could share with you, it would be negative thoughts in general. I was quite harsh on myself as well during that phase, thinking that I was being really useless and worthless, unable to contribute to my work (because in the nature of work that I am in at present, I definitely feel that it's a guilty thing to be taking Medical Leaves for a long period continuously and it would create unnecessary comments by some since it's the corporate scene I was caught in), or even doing anything to help the people around me but only SLEEP/REST was all I could do. In actuality, I felt just really inadequate in lots of aspects back then which made me began questioning about my existence in a whole, and even the significance of my presence towards the people whom I care.

Just to briefly share with you, I was still so persistent and hard on myself during that phase in such a way that I was heading back to my workplace and trying to complete my tasks and ensuring that I was not creating any disruption at work so far. However, each time whenever I do that, my condition just worsened and it would lead me to visit the panel clinic again, getting more medications and as a result, leading to longer recovery time. At that time, I truly felt that I was not serving any good purpose to anyone in any sort of ways, be it at work, and to the people around me, whom I truly cared for. But just one fine day, after all the back & forth visits to the panel clinics, finally, I stumbled upon this really helpful female doctor who was on duty that evening at the same clinic that I have been going to while I was ill, which really opened up my mind and made everything to appear even clearer to me that made so much sense.

I still remember my experience from that evening to the clinic. That piece of memory still vividly sits and rings in my mind every now & then. Something that I truly felt it was the calling from God. I felt His presence. It was as though all my prayers were answered from that night. I don't mean to brag or sound boastful about this experience, but never ever in my life have I truly been touched in this way that my heart could finally let go a big load, SOOO big that I could really feel that the heaviness I was carrying all these time, throughout my 26 years of my life, was finally off.

The female doctor began her consultation with me as soon as I walked into the treatment room to see her. She was very patient with trying to understand my personal lifestyle, my working life pattern as well as to my recent encounters/experience emotionally or any special events which I was facing during that period. So, I began telling her not only I was having my menstruation that time, I also caught the flu, sore throat, cough etc from people at work, and explained to her about the recent passing of my grandmother whom I was so close with, to my working environment and job as a whole. From then on, after listening to my quick sharing based on the questions she's asked, she then threw another question to me "Are you happy at your workplace? Are you very stressed with work at the moment?" and then formed a clear conclusion that everything I was going through was stemming from the unhappiness that I have from my workplace, which created this tension breathing and headaches that I was constantly having then. I didn't even understand what she was talking about back then. In actual fact, I thought she must be silly thinking that my work placed such a great/important role in my life, when it was more likely the passing of my grandma that could have contributed to such great impact to me emotionally and mentally, which have caused my unhappiness. It never came across my mind that my work/job was the origination of all these negativities that I was experiencing then, which delayed my recovery process, and also led to such low immune system to my body that the doctor claimed from that night.

I had to take some time to digest what she said. She was truly helpful and kind by offering me another day of Medical Leave and told me to rest through the weekend, rather than going back to work. I wanted to refuse the offer initially because to me, it would just create another impression at my workplace then that I was "finding excuse" and "being lazy", hence, the extra Medical Leave. But since I was not getting any better and to heed the doctor's advice, I just accepted it. From that night onwards, I started thinking more about the words given by the doctor herself. Not only I had the time to pounder on late night thoughts about my workplace etc, I also had some time to speak to older people from relevant industry or at least have gone through similar working environment with me, and also with people whom cared for me. With the benefit of having those life conversations/sharing sessions and having been able to think through things properly without being disturbed with any work related matters then, it became so clear to me that what the doctor said to me was extremely true. SPOT ON.

The moment when I started thoroughly assessing all the surroundings/situations/issues/people (from materials to living things etc), it all made sense to me that it was my inability to let go and the guilt that I was facing from work. Deep down inside my heart, there was a very strong feeling that I had which led me to understand that I was ready to move on and to bid goodbye to my corporate job. It was a message that I felt being touched by, which did not really make much sense to me at that point of time, but rather, I knew it was a kind of question/decision that I would have to face or talk about or bring myself forward to those people who would eventually be affected by it - the intention of leaving my current job. This was because I knew so well and have assessed carefully about what would be the responses/reactions that I would get or should at least expect and be prepared to answer coming from those who matter to me:

"Who will be supporting you financially after you leave your corporate job?"
"What are your plans after you quit your job?"
"Does this means that you are going to give up your career?"
"Are you sure this is what you want or have you really thought through it because it is a waste, if you asked me.."
"I thought you love your job being in the financial industry and working as an Investment Banker all these while, because you seemed to be really good at your job.."
"I thought this path was what you wanted all these while, hence, you joined the investment bank after you graduated with your masters degree.."
"Just make sure you can support yourself financially even after you have quit your corporate job, because I definitely won't be responsible in giving you any allowance etc to support your lifestyle etc.."

The above mentioned so far were truly questions and responses that I somehow received when I began discussing about the "intention".. However, it was a first step that I had to have the courage to take no matter what. It was just a matter of time - when I wanted to bring that topic up eventually. Because I definitely can't run away from it. & the biggest weakness that I have to admit about having is my strong personality & attitude - whereby I would never ever in a million years quit or even give up on something or let alone say NO. Therefore, my biggest struggle at that point was the letting go part, especially on my first official full-time employed job since I graduated and came out of university. If you are one who has followed me through or really understood me well as a person/friend/family, never ever in my living years have I ever said such words:

I'm giving up on you; I'm quitting this; I'm failing; I'm leaving you; I'm not listening or doing it, get someone else to do it for you; I give up, I can't do it anymore.... & the list goes on

In view of the above, it became EVEN clearer to me that I should start making a decision and informing to the responsible people at my workplace about my intention to leave before I formally make any decisions in quitting my corporate job. Even so, I kept worrying about what's going to happen after I leave, whether the junior I was closely working with and putting the effort to train then would have a difficult time coping with the job, and whether would it be too overwhelming for the team if I leave them. But much to my surprises and in fact, beyond my expectations, I actually received plenty of support and great advices by those who truly matters and from people whom I love. & from then on, it became so clear to me and everything made sense where I could finally put all the puzzle pieces together - I am certainly blessed and it was a "life" decision that I needed to finally make for myself given that I was backed by people who loved and truly cared for my happiness as a whole.

& to further add on, I would like to say this...

From the moment when I have had the courage to accept the fact that leaving my job was the right decision that I needed to do for myself in order for me to move on to something better in life without truly weighing the real pros and cons from the outcome of my decision in leaving... that "LOAD" was immediately lifted from my heart etc, and without much realisation, I found that I was recovering from all the heavy breathing, migraines etc that I initially was diagnosed with by the doctor. Thankfully, these were all written not on baseless evidence or just pure story-telling or some fantasies which I have formed in my head; but people who were there every step of the way from before to after I have made such decision, knew and could be the living witnesses to all of my sharing today. & for that, I am truly thankful and would say that God has never abandoned me at times when I felt the most vulnerable and pointless in life where I couldn't ever see any directions to every actions that I was taking. He definitely ensured that I could see and experience those pain and feelings which He wanted me to have where it would prepare me to move on to next greater place in life which He's had in store for me (yet to be discovered, hehe)...

I know this may sound a bit too exaggerating or crazy to some of you, but honestly, I would indeed view all these experiences which I have gone through so far from my workplace, unknowingly, as one of the best life-learning experience which has served me a very good training and foundation in my preparation to overcome anything in my life in the near future. I wouldn't ever say that my corporate job has always been easy to me since I started more than two years ago after I graduated, however, I have learnt so much through the hardest way which I am so happy to be sharing with you now that I am definitely prepared to move on to the next stage in life (not married life only of course), but also something else better which He has prepared for me. & again, I just want to say, up until today, I am still constantly amazed by how I am being blessed in so many different ways.

Today's post is just something that I have been meaning to pen down since it's something so personal to me that I truly believe that by writing it down, it will only serve as a reminder to me when I look back some time in future on how I managed to survive being an adult in this realistic world... Not only that, I hope that my sharing today could probably be relatable to some of you out there?

Hmm.. That's all for now.. But I would love to share more on my corporate job etc when I have some time later on.. Maybe it would be another next lengthy post, haha. Stay tuned then!

Oh, would like to side track a bit too... Probably I'd also share more about my proposal experience and pen it down soon... If there's actually any one that would be interested in reading about it. Heh.

Anyways, it's the 30th of July today, and there's only one more day till the next new calendar month of August begins! Can't believe we have passed the half-year mark of 2019 already. It's been crazy and to learn how fast time flies honestly. But as long as we are spending it through the right way and with the right company all the time, it's never a waste..! Don't you guys all agree on that point with me? 😁😄😆

Okie dokes, that should be all for today.

Till then,

✗

What birthday celebration(s) meant for me in 2019

2019-06-22T04:27:00.003+01:00

Hey there, checking back in again, after my last post..

Was really glad that I had the chance to complete that post properly and was also overwhelmed by the kind words I've received thus far from friends who actually took time to read the post. It's amazing how such simple gestures can move and help someone through their day so easily. That's the beauty of life, isn't it? :)

On a separate note... How is everyone doing?

I haven't been able to do much apart from being a very diligent patient, resting at home since I was contracted with some bad viral flu infection.. My condition turned out to be worse than I thought. Honestly, I am one who seldom fall sick, not especially one who gets flu/cough that easily. I'm not trying to boast about my immune system here or whatsoever, but frankly speaking, ever since I have started my corporate job at the Investment Bank since two years ago, it sort of taken a bit on my health since I believe, it's after all the working environment that I'm always cooped up at compared to the days where I love walking around outdoors travelling here & there while I was still in the UK back then. Coupled with the existing condition with the heavy construction site going around my office area in central KL since mid of last year onwards, it definitely don't help much to making my condition any better. If you don't know this about me, I'm one who definitely love walking rather than taking the train or card ride, if I were given a choice. Of course, this is also subject to the weather and environment conditions. It goes without saying, the weather here in KL is not really an ideal place to walk, let alone the safety part itself. Anyway, I feel that I should also take this opportunity to slow down, take a bit of a breather, and not think about work etc for once. Feels nice actually to be able to "R E S T", in some ways (if you get what I mean).

I noticed how much I've always wanted to blog and share my birthday celebration(s) experience but those posts never seemed to have a chance to be published, especially the one that I truly wanted to talk about being at home here in KL to celebrate my birthday with my family members after 6 years (this was two years ago, back in 2017 - which was the picture that I've shared taken with my grandma then). Therefore, this time round, I'm definitely taking the effort to ensure that I will at least get this post out before it turns rusty and no where to be seen/heard ever again... heh.

So, for my birthday this year, it was indeed a memorable one. Instead of having one big fancy birthday celebration with my friends altogether and another one with my family, I had the chance to separate my birthday celebration(s) over a few special meal occasions with some friends, family and of course le bf. The month of March certainly did feel like a birthday month to me over big feasts, which I was truly thankful of ;) Which also explains why I got a bit puffed up (especially swollen on my face) after those endless rounds of big meals from March 16th up until the end of March! Just a gentle reminder, my birthday officially falls on the 18th of March, to those of you who are not familiar of. Hehe.

Without further ado, I shall proceed with the main agenda of today 😃

* * *

15th March,

Friday

First round of birthday celebration started on a Friday where it was a working day. Shortly after work, I rushed back straight home to get myself changed even though it was like going through a battlefield (since it was a Friday, and you could imagine how TERRIBLE the traffic from KL back to Shah Alam area would be), all getting prepared for the night - to see my Manchester girls who took the effort to plan a dinner for me at Beast restaurant in Batai area. It was such a nice time to see the girls, laugh about silly things even almost anything ridiculous we could ever think about over nice steak and wine. & most of the time, these are the simplest things in life that can easily fulfil one's heart. Good food, friends and quality time. 💖

As always, these girls know how to arrange cute little stuffs like that - a cute birthday cake and balloons! :)

Just me with the birthday cake and balloons that they got for me :)

From L - R: Chooi Yau, Jun Yi, Lu Lu & Ivy. Can't believe I've known most of them since Manchester days. <3

Another shot. Since most of them requested more pics due to the angle problem haha.

Another one... (actually there's more, but.. I will not do that here) Haha..

Selfie with Yau Yau.... 😍

My main girls... <3 Lu Lu & Jun Yiiiii... Never once a day without a good laugh whenever I'm with these girls.

Lastly, one with the fatty 🐶

We didn't do anything crazy after the meal, but instead, they were all very accommodating to my wishes. They knew me too well, so well that they know "clubbing" or anything hardcore wouldn't be my thing. Thus, they suited to my request and brought me to a speakeasy bar located around TTDI area - Soma Cocktail Bar. We had another good time chilling and catching up over cocktails, which was truly a thing that I enjoyed most of the time. Since I'm not one who goes for hard liquor but rather the sweeter-side of things, this cocktail bar was certainly the right pick of location for a second round to me.. Would definitely come back again if you asked!

* * *

Another simple birthday celebration over a lunch at Rakuzen restaurant in Pavilion Elite that my department threw for the March babies.

⇩

* * *

16th March 2019,

Saturday

This amazing woman here Chloe, spoilt me over such a wonderful Omakase meal at Sushi Hibiki in Four Seasons Shoppes, KL. Couldn't be any happier to spend my 26th in such a way with this bestie. She's always been there for me no matter what. Even though we've been through so much and it has not always been a smooth journey since last time for our friendship, but I'm glad that after all these years, we still made an effort to stay close in touch and check-in on one another every once in awhile. & for that, I can't wait to see how another 10 years down the road for our friendship would looked like!

* * *

17th March 2019,

Sunday

So proud of them all dressed up in such a "lady-like" manner just for the afternoon tea party, haha!!

The moment where I've been waiting for... "Hold your tea cups, ladies!" *grins*

Making my "4th-birthday-wish" for this year... *feeling thankful*

It was a wonderful afternoon tea time celebration with my favourite June babies, Yee Xin & Evonne! After countless deliberations, they finally decided to bring me to St Regis' Drawing Room for an afternoon tea party, teehee. I definitely would say it's the best decision ever. They even gifted me with this Hammam Spa voucher which is valid until this year end to pamper myself over a spa session anytime! Thank you so much girls ♡

& again, it was nevertheless a wonderful time catching up with these girls. If you don't know about this already, these June babies are the hardest to catch most of the time since they are super busy corporate people. hehe. Hence, it was definitely great to laugh and check-in again on one another before we bid our goodbyes till' the next meet up.

* * *

18th March 2019,

Monday

The actual day itself. Also a working day for me. I didn't apply for any leave, as you can clearly see when you start scrolling down... Nonetheless, it was a day filled with good wishes, happy vibes and wonderful surprises. Can't say it was a bad idea going to work after all!

Me attempting to make the first cut to the birthday cake that my lovely colleagues surprised me with..! More specifically, it was Allina, my lovely junior colleague who made such arrangement. Thank you dear :)

Just one of the boys trying to pull a joke again on me (what's new). Look at the notebook behind that says "Serious Business Woman". Yeap. That's my notebook. Haha.

A close-up of the birthday cake that Allina ordered for me! ☺

Almost everyone from my Debt Capital Markets department was present in this picture, except for my HOD of course.

Another lovely surprise, from my one & only beloved sister, Klara. Such amazing flower arrangement... Can't say I'm not impressed!

& for the night...

I had decided to spend it at a rather new & upcoming restaurant called Gooddam which was located around SS2 The Hub area with my family.

☝

A simple family picture after our dinner course was completed.

Another less serious/formal one with our peace signs ☮

With le younger brother, who always love hiding behind me (since he always complains about being or LOOKING FAT...) Also, another thank you to him for treating me this dinner meal... :')

One with le pug. He's dressed up in his work attire... Hence, which explains the "shirt" he was wearing then..

One with all the cakes and flower basket!

Just so you know, the cake above is from @fatcakeco. Do check out their instagram page if you're interested in making a customised/personalised order for someone special.

In a whole, I was contented with the whole birthday celebrations - from the office up until the night. It was a simple one that I wouldn't complain about. Thank you to everyone that has made my day possible and a memorable one. ♡⼼

* * *

19th March 2019,

Tuesday

DC Restaurant

A quality time with le 🐶

Our complimentary bread basket... Real yumzz (!)

Oh, hello there monsieur..! Where are you looking?

A picture with him. Finally a decent one after a few attempts due to the lighting and also face.

HAHAH. I can't believe this is probably the 7th birthday celebrations that we've ever had together? Lost counted whether did we actually managed to celebrate all birthdays together in the past.. But whatever it is... Thank you for everything. Even though dinner didn't really start off at the right note due to some minor hiccups (late, traffic, work etc), but I'm glad we managed to finish it off with a nice one :)

I think I was so disappointed when I saw this! HAHA... Part of me wished that he could have put in more effort by replacing my name to "Dear, b, or something else..." instead of my name again! (After so many years, still never learn.. tsk tsk..)

* * *

21st March 2019,

Thursday

& finally;;

A co-celebration with le pug that Jeannie, Yin and Hong did for us. Thank you guys 💗💗

It was after our exercise class that we went on straight to spam good Wagyu beef sukiyaki at Mo Mo Paradise Lot 10, Isetan. I know we should have gone for a healthier option since it was after all those cardio class from cycling...But, I guess it's okay to indulge once in awhile, especially for a good reason, hehe. It was such a guilty meal but nonetheless a great one! After that, they brought us to the Tokyo Restaurant for some cheesecake and tiramisu!

* * *

In a nutshell, I just want to give a big shoutout to those who have been part of my birthday celebration(s) this year and also to those who have taken the time and effort to drop lovely messages to me through WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and any form of social media platforms you can think of. It's wonderful how some people whom I don't often keep in contact with still would take the initiative to remember your birthday and drop a personal message to you as a wish on your special day.

☻

You guys are truly amazing. I wouldn't be who I am today, if it weren't for all the love I've been showered with all these years.

Thank you;;

Till then,

✗

Losing someone so dearly

2019-06-21T05:42:00.000+01:00

Today's post is rather a dedication post to my most highly-respected, lovable, and precious grandma who left us too soon on a Friday, 10th of May 2019.

I would very much like to pen down every thoughts, memories and feelings that I have towards my late grandma here in this space. Even though I know it's often easier said than done, however, I hope that this post will always serve as a reminder to my future self too that I once had the privilege of being blessed with such great love from my grandma whom I shared such fond memories of growing up as a child since young for a whole 26 years.

I remember everything so vividly, the night before her passing.

It was a late Thursday. I got off work as usual, and was just finishing up my late dinner at Super Saigon after a late night p.m. Pilates class around Bangsar area where I started receiving text messages from the WhatsApp group chat I was in with my aunties and mum. Around 9 something at night, one of my aunties took the initiative to update the group chat saying that my grandma's uric acid level was exceedingly high, far too high than the readings of someone deemed normal.

Just a fair share to all of you while you're reading this, my grandma has been in and out of the hospital for her regular check-ups on a diligent basis and everything was as per normal until some time last year around late May/early June of 2018, where her report showed that her kidney's functioning level has greatly reduced to quite a worrisome figure. From then onwards, she has been visiting the hospital and treatment centres more often to carry out her dialysis treatment. Not only the dialysis treatment has taken quite a toll on her body and health as my grandma is not someone really small in size but rather quite the opposite, coupled with such thin fine legs that my grandma have, these combinations and changes definitely did not complement well to her entire package + outgoing, loud personality/behaviour as well as her once "active" lifestyle as a grandma.

She started losing more muscles mass and strength since then, but even so, she was still very persistent in going for her usual Mahjong and yum cha sessions a few times in a week when she's not at the dialysis centre doing her treatment or at home watching her favourite TV programmes. If you don't know about this, my grandma has always known to have a strong passion towards gambling, more particularly "Mahjong" with her friends and kaki-s. Hence, she's really active most days running here & there for her "gambling session" and to meet up with her friends for meals/yum cha (coffee).

Things started deteriorating when she insisted on going to meet her friends on a Christmas eve last year in 2018, where I remember I just had my Lasik treatment done not too long ago, hence I wanted to go over to visit her since I was still on my Medical leave then instead of my usual routine working at the office, only to find out that she has already gone out for her Mahjong and yumcha session since early morning. But this time round, things didn't turn out quite the same like it used to, in fact, we were alerted that grandma has fallen down and it was rather a bad fall. The driver who took her there sent her back home immediately and I witnessed it all - from how remorseful she felt to how she started blaming herself for being stubborn etc; all because she didn't heed the advice from my uncle before that for not getting out of the house especially on a Christmas eve period (just to be safe, like the Chinese saying goes). Since that fall onwards, her mobility started becoming worse and she began to rely more on the helper and family members who were living under the same roof with her. Things didn't turn optimistic as she felt useless/powerless most days since she could not move around independently for her usual activities which she once enjoyed attending to so often. However, she was still so cheerful and the same old person each time when I go over to visit her, speak to her etc. Just that, I could not help but to notice the difference in my grandma: it felt that she no longer feel passionate or eager about the life she was living; in my opinion, I had the impression that she was not living the best life she envisioned herself to have during her 80s, being out there with her friends, playing and gambling till late and after dinner. There was certainly a difference in the aura that she gave off.

Another turning point which made her condition worsened was when her persistency and stubbornness drove her to a second and final fall this year, around late March/early April. She insisted strongly to visit the hair salon somewhere located in PJ area, a recommendation by her friend, instead of her usual hairdresser which is much more convenient and easily accessible. I'm not sure how well you guys know old folk's behaviour are, but if they want something, they will definitely make a big fuss out of it till' they get 'em. Hence, my auntie had no choice but to send her to this hairdresser which was highly-recommended by her friend. However, things didn't look optimistic at all when she stubbornly did not wait till' my auntie settled down with the car parking etc before she started walking to the place with the helper. As soon as my auntie arrives, little did she know that my grandma has suffered another fall, but this time round, she was lucky that her fall was not only supported by her helper but also a kind old man who managed to catch her in time. Since then, she not only stopped going out for her usual activities, but it was almost only the dialysis treatment centre that she would visit. This was because standing up was even a huge difficulty for her then.

From that fall onwards, all I could hear was news of grandma being difficult, uncooperative, emotional etc from her own children, including my mum of course. I felt really useless each time and it was really hurtful to learn about these things, seeing that I could not help much as I was not in the best position to "voice" out my thoughts etc at all. It was really difficult learning about them but also not being able to help grandma out of that situation which she was trapped at. Rather, I blame myself for not spending enough time with her since I was too focused on attending my usual 9-6.30+++ p.m. routine from Monday's - Friday's and my weekend activities.

Fast-forward to the day before her passing after I have received those text messages from the WhatsApp group about her condition, I immediately head to the University Hospital at UM which she was admitted to. When I arrived late that night, she was still not given a proper treatment/room area but rather a small space separated from other patients in the Emergency room. The only reason why she was admitted to UM was because of the doctor's referral. According to her usual doctor who treats her, UM is one of the places which has all the equipments catered to her needs, in the event if grandma requires additional assistance regarding her kidney's condition etc. The chances of grandma surviving that night due to her condition was a 50-50. Even so, as I arrived at the hospital, after seeing her, I still had a very strong feeling that deep down, grandma will survive this as always, and I know she is very strong. That was why no matter how hard I kept fighting back my tears as I spoke to her in person that night, I didn't want to think that my farewell to her late that night was in fact my official last goodbye to her.

Most of us left the hospital as soon as we were comforted by the idea that she could finally be admitted to a proper treatment area upstairs to proceed with the dialysis treatment that she has been waiting for. I remember only going to bed around 2-ish in the morning that day and also asking mum when will we hear an update again from the hospital or any news whatsoever. But mum replied: "No news is definitely good news. That's what we all want." Yes. That's what I thought to myself too. However, shortly by 5 something close to 6 a.m., the news that we all never wanted to hear did come after all. All I knew was "PO PO IS IN CRITICAL STAGE NOW!" - words that shouted out of my mum's mouth that morning. I immediately rushed out of bed, remembering that I didn't even brush my teeth etc, just changed into something really decent and followed my mum, sister and younger brother to the car where we rushed straight to the UM.

Everything felt like a dream. It felt so surreal. My head spun endlessly and I couldn't recall the exact feeling that I had then but just the constant fear and thought of losing my grandma forever. The moment we arrived at the hospital and went straight to her treatment bed, she was already wrapped up in a mommy-like, it was as though they were ready to take her corpse away to the cold room for storage. It was my first time witnessing such a sight. At that moment it hit me really hard. It hit me so badly that I felt numbness in my whole entire body. I couldn't believe that the words, the touch, the warmth, the sense of feeling, the voice, the body contact and interactions that I had with my grandma the night before, were really the last moments and closure that I have with her. It wasn't the best proper farewell and I certainly didn't see any of this coming, but I felt the relief and peace in my heart, knowing that I managed to exchange words and experience such heartfelt moments with her before she leave.

As much as I would have wished that I was there the moment she passed, part of me felt that maybe she knew all along that she was ready to leave. She didn't want any of us to see her off. In fact, when I saw her body as we unzipped the bag in the ward, her lips and eyes were shut nicely; lips were giving off a sign of smile. I was glad to see such a sight. It felt comforting to know that she was definitely at a better place now in Heaven. She no longer needs to go through the suffering she dreads for. It was such a hectic morning and everything happened too fast. All of us - the close family members, just needed time to mourn and let our minds process the fact that grandma has officially left us that morning. We were also supposed to have an early Mother's Day celebration over a potluck feast the next day (Saturday) as Mother's Day was on a Sunday. So we, the cousins, aunties and uncles from my mum's side has had it all planned out - even regarding the food etc to bring. Instead of a Mother's Day celebration this year for my grandma and mum, we had a 3-days wake session held at Nirvana memorial centre. I believe that the funeral was an occasion that brought all of us closer, seeing how much close and fond memories we shared together among the cousins and families. It was really a rare occasion for everyone to be at the same place and time, even though it was over a funeral.

I'm not sure whether how true this holds, but during the passing of my grandma, it definitely helped me in realising those who will always truly be there for me as a close, caring friend, someone who would reach out or even check-in on me at times when I'm at my lowest point in life. And for that, I'm eternally grateful and thankful of to have identified and known such kind people in life at this age. I can't help but to notice that losing someone so close and dear to you could teach you so much about life lessons, even though it's not supposed to be learnt that way. But more often than not, believe it or not, it is always when you start to lose something so important to you or probably the thought of losing something important to you forever when it actually happens, will leave such a significant impact in your life. Of course, this is also subject to individual, depending on each and everyone's reaction and response to such life-changing events.

However, the biggest key takeaway lesson that I can safely gather from this incident and through the passing of my grandma is that...

Life will still go on no matter whether you are having your bad or good days; people still come and go. It is your responsibility and own effort to ensure that for whatever you're doing in your life, you don't ever live with regrets, or don't ever walkaway thinking that you can still do it again tomorrow if it's something that you should have done it for today. Be happy with every choices that you make in life. Don't live by constant complaints about how you should have done it, but rather, make a change about your life so that you don't have to live by the same complaints anymore. If God has blessed us with a chance to live everyday, make full use of it by sharing positivity through your words, be it a small encouragement or even any form of compliments. Make someone's day happy by simply living your best every day. Don't ever be a sour grape, or sore eyes about other people's achievements or whatsoever. Learn to say sorry and also thank you genuinely at times when you need to, it definitely helps a lot. Be thankful and grateful for the people we have been blessed with in life 😊

I guess that's all about my sharing for today on my thoughts about life etc. Maybe it's been quite a bore to most of you. But I'm glad that I still have a space that I'm "sort of" maintaining up until today which allows me to vent out my feelings at times when I have no space to shout out to. However, this is probably a personal preference thing. Not many people would agree to this form of practice, but some would view it as attention seeking. However, believe it or not, blogging/writing has been my thing since primary school days last time if you have followed my blog since ages or to those who knew me way back then. So it's not something new to me. I would say it's more of a habit or lifestyle that I've adapted to which has also partially helped to mould me to the individual that I am of today 😆

Alright.. & finally, some of the more recent pictures or rather pictures that I would definitely love to post here since my grandma carries such a wonderful and loving cute smile on her face in the following pictures that I'm about to share *winksss*

* * *

This was taken on 23rd December 2017. During Vincent & Janet's morning tea ceremony at Vin's place.

A close-up with the remaining cousins from mum's side who decided to throw a Mother's Day celebration for our grandma. Taken on 13 May 2017. She always has a difficulty giving out a big smile when it comes to a big group photo. Especially when I remember that night was a drama (only those who were present will truly understand what happened that night).

Another small group photo :)

During the dinner reception of #LoVinJanet (Vin & Janet's wedding) on 23rd December 2017. Always loved calling my grandma over to take spontaneous selfies.

Another one where my grandma has shown her grin so happily during the night of the wedding dinner. It was such a memorable night where I can't believe grandma could sustain through the entire night without complaining a word of tired!

Me dressed up in my own design of my gown with my ever so pretty and fabulous grandma at Grand Hyatt Hotel's lobby.

A random steamboat night at Janet's parents place - this is another time to call for a random spontaneous selfie with grandma again!

My first CNY eve celebration dinner at Ritz Carlton Hotel, KL with grandma back in 2017. Both of us looking so "Ang-Ang" to usher the new year of ROOSTER!

Grandma's co-birthday celebration with Wayn Min this year where she turned 84 during her year, which is the year of PIG *OINK OINK*. As you can see from this picture, she has aged so much ever since she started her dialysis treatment coupled with the first fall she had during Christmas Eve. We didn't manage to have a group photo with her at all this time round during her birthday celebration at my aunt's place.

Throwback to a time where all of us were so happily hugging one another at MBS Hotel, Singapore during Esther & Sean's big day!

This was taken many, many years back!! Believe it or not, I think I was still in college those days, or probably only on my first year UNI!. How time flies... Notice how my grandma loves wearing the same old pink top? hehe. This top was known as one of her favourites for all occasion according to my relatives.

And finally, turning 24 in 2017. Celebrated it at St Regis over a close-knitted family lunch occasion. My first birthday celebration with grandma after 6 years. It was really a great one ♡

* * *

Last but not least...

To my late grandma,

I hope that one day as I grow older, I would still be able to maintain such activeness and outgoing lifestyle with a group of people and friends to share common interests with me. I hope that even when I hit my 80s, I would still keep myself up-to-date with the latest gossip news in the entertainment and show biz industry like you. I hope that I can still stay up late like you to watch live matches on badminton etc as I hit your age in future... I know that I no longer can have the privilege of tasting your best home cooked meals ever again, but trust me, the taste of every dishes you have prepared for us all since young will always ring strongly in my mind. I know you can always sing praises about your dishes and how you have always complained about dishes outside can't be compared to yours simply because your cooking is no doubt one of the bests that I have ever tasted up until today. From the pork trotter vinegar, braised chicken feet with mushroom sauce, chicken rice wine, vegetarian dishes, fish head curry noodles, Yong Tao Fu, and also to endless choice of soup you have prepared for us since young, they are sincerely the best I have ever had in this lifetime. I don't know when will I ever have the chance of tasting such wonderful delicacies again, but one thing I know for sure is that you are definitely at a safe and better place now. I am sincerely glad to know that God has freed you from all the sufferings. You are truly a grandma that every grandkid would longed to have. And I thank you for always listening to my rants about schooling days, work, relationships, mum, money etc. I wonder when will I have the chance to see you again? Probably the next time when you come back to visit me in my dreams again... I miss you always. Miss the touch of your warmth around my waist.. How you always say I need to keep myself warm since my feet and hands always felt cold. Thank you for allowing me to serve you as your granddaughter for these 26 years. I hope I have not disappointed you in any ways.

LOVE YOU ALWAYS & FOREVER MY CUTE, LOVING GRANDMA WHO IS TALENTED IN SO MANY WAYS ONE COULD EVER IMAGINE. YOU ARE INDEED A SUPER MUM AND GRANDMA.

Till then,

✗

Fast forward to Q2 of 2019

2019-06-18T11:36:00.001+01:00

...Where did all the time go?

I know that I may have said this before, but honestly... it's 2019 already! Can you believe it?

↓

I remember there was a blog post that was supposed to be updated a long, long time ago - back in 23 February 2017, where I was about to share details and experience of my first Chinese New Year celebration back at home here in Malaysia.. However, due to much overwhelming celebrations and feasting over the Chinese New Year celebrations coupled with my new occupation as an Associate for Debt Capital Markets department in an Investment Bank during end of February 2017, I would not deny that it was quite a handful for me to handle back then. Hence, which explains why I never got to update my blog from then... till now.

I am not sure how much or how little you guys are curious about my life. Or even whether there is anyone, let alone readers out there who would still stop by my blog every once in awhile to check-in this space.. But one thing for sure that I'm certain of, is that I want to keep this space alive, simply because I want to use this medium as a way for me to pen down every occasion, be it important, small or even the littlest things in life - I wish I wouldn't miss a chance of writing down how I felt about that particular moment then. I can comfortably say this probably because of the recent circumstances that I have had experienced so far, which may have convinced me that life is simply too short to care about what others think about you; BUT rather, you have to live your life to the fullest with the type of values, quality and things that you cherish most in life without looking back at regrets after.

I don't know why but I feel that for these past two years since 2017 (where I have left my blog), so much has happened, which I strongly feel that there were so many challenges I have faced which helped to mould me to the individual that I am now. I wouldn't say I have achieved a lot, but rather, it is the progression and self-development process which I can safely say that I am quite happy to witness of. If I were to look back at who I was two years ago who was still lost about life, career directions, uncertain about the future and always emotional about relationship etc, and fast-forward to where I am now - there is definitely quite a lot of hard work which I have invested there. The word "hard work" here simply doesn't refer to only the physical part invested on but also emotional, mental along with a lot of other factors i.e. people who were always so loving, caring, and supportive, mentors in life, and God who has never abandoned me at times when I see no light at the end of the tunnel, which have helped me arrive at this point in life where I call the present (18 JUNE 2019).

Let me just take baby steps.

I believe that after today, I may start investing a little more time here every now and then, subject to my time management. & again, I feel at the end of the day, it's all about how much something weighs more to you and what not. So it depends really on how I juggle with my daily life activities coupled with my job etc.

I hope this blog post has been quite a delightful one as a refresher for most of you, heh.

Till then,

✗

A memorable day for #esqueweds;

2017-02-23T06:58:00.002+00:00

On the actual big day itself 10.12.16;

Everyone had a super early start! I could remember surviving on just less than 5 hours of sleep x.x I was just so glad that I didn't have really black and bad eye bags on that day itself.. Can't imagine how the photographs would turned out to be if we were all looking zombie-fied when the photographers took pictures of us. Anyway, I think I would let the following pictures from my camera roll to do most of the talking for today's post. Enjoy~

Rise & shine for the early bird :D

Loving this picture of the sister & I even though it's super blur x

A final one of me I promise. Hah.

Moving on to pictures for the morning tea ceremony...

☟

The moment was finally here.. The groom has arrived at the bride's bridal suite at MBS :) Such a beautiful moment!

My aunt & uncle, parents of the bride :)

What a memorable picture :*)

Cousinssss with the bride & groom of the day!

*SQUEEZZEEEE*

Candid shot

Another candid one.

All smilesssss

Yayyy

With grandma and my aunt+uncle

Say peaceeeee.

Pure. Happiness.

Okay, I've run out of captions...

Another squeezyyy one. Heh.

Another one, cousin sis trying to fool my grandma :p

After the super early morning start with the tea ceremony and all, we finally had the time to grab some lunch before we had to head back to our hotel rooms respectively.. After that, it was time to slot in some quick naps before we washed up and changed into our night outfits. All I could remember is that the day went by rather quickly and I was really drained out after lunch.. Can't imagine how my cousin sister, Esther managed to power through the entire day with so many activities going on! Such a tough day :O

- - - -

In the evening by 6pm, the solemnisation of Esther & Shawn's marriage took place at Chijmes, a historic building complex in Singapore. Friends & family came to witness the beautiful couple's solemnisation of marriage.. I just remember that it was such a touching, unforgettable and beautiful moment as I witnessed my cousins sister walking down the aisle with my uncle. Just so beautiful :')

My date of the night.

Siblings love.

Father & daughters.

Me dressed in all black & white. heh.

Another one.

So much love for the newly wed.

"You may now kiss the bride"... Greetings to the new Mr & Mrs Quek :p

After the marriage solemnisation of the newly wed, it was finally time for dinner!! Look at my table settings. It was a Winter Wonderland themed wedding :p

Siblings

Take 2

Taken by my younger brother. :D

Sister and I <3

hehe :p

Credits to the brother again.

Shermin, Alicia, Klara & I <3

___

The night ended not too late and we then headed back to the hotel after that. Requested for some food through room service since the brothers and sister were still feeling hungry. Haha. Anyway, that day was such a busy one.. Can't believe the process of going through a wedding with my cousin sister for the first time (even though I'm not even the bridesmaid) can turned out to be quite exhausting.. However, on top of that, I just felt really happy to be able to witness such a beautiful wedding of my cousin sis with her husband. It was certainly a moment to remember.. Can't wait to be apart of another wedding for my cousin brother at the end of this year, hah!

Oh, and wish me luck for my first day at work which starts officially tomorrow - 24.02.17. YES. You got it right, it's a FRIDAY! Hah. I'll update my blog again soon as I believe that I may also start using this space of mine to rant my feelings etc more often in future.. That's all for now, my dear readers. Have a great weekend and take care.

Till then,

✗

Before the big day of my cousin sistarh

2017-02-23T06:04:00.000+00:00

One of the reasons why I couldn't stay back longer in the UK was because of my cousin sister's wedding.. Well, since she's the first one to get married from my mum's side, hehe. On top of that, my cousin sister's wedding would be in Singapore instead of Malaysia since her husband is a Singaporean. So it is definitely a very big and significant thing for everyone. Therefore, it's undeniable that everyone wanted to ensure that things would go smoothly with necessary arrangements being carried out properly in advance..

Before the cousin sister's wedding on 10.12.16, I had some preparations to do like dress fitting etc. Decided to make a skirt (based on my own design which I've suggested to my designer) to go with the body suit that I managed to purchase from Topshop in London :) Many people couldn't believe that it wasn't a gown when I wore it on the day of the wedding.. hehe. I'm honestly very satisfied and happy with the end result. Playing mix & match with outfits is indeed something that I enjoy a lot.

A snapshot of the entire "gown"

The next day, my family and I headed down to Singapore by car before the wedding on Saturday. We decided to make a stopover at Johor, to have our lunch before we continued our journey to Singapore. If you're a fan of Bak Kut Teh (Herbal Pork), don't hesitate to give this place a try – Kedai Makanan Ah Soon 亚顺肉骨茶. It's one of my family's favourite spots for a decent good bowl of herbal Bak Kut Teh whenever we drop by Johor Bahru or either making our way to Singapore by car :)

Yummy.

Comfort food!

If you're a fan of pork livers like me, this would be the dish you should go for :p

Matchy-matchy with our Yeezy's, hehe.

Finally arrived at MBS Hotel, Singapore, after hours of driving journey!

First time trying this Seafood Paradise at MBS Hotel. Presenting to you some fresh lobster and geoduck's sashimis.. They really tasted so good!

One of their signature fried fishes. I know that from the picture above, it doesn't look very appealing, but trust me, it tasted rather delicious. Something we all agreed that finding the same sort of taste and fish in KL would be difficult.

Some crabs cooked in sweet & sour style.

Salted egg yolk base of crabs.

Another dish that claimed to be the restaurant's signature – Goose Liver with mushrooms.

___

Needless to say, there were a lot eating even before the wedding day of my cousin sister.. It made all of us feel super guilty as we were afraid that on the next day, we would all look super unfit and bloated in our beautiful gowns and outfits, haha. Anyway, do check back in for my next post, it would be more pictures from the actual wedding day itself :) Thats all for now.

Till then,

✗

A snapshot of happiness

2017-02-21T07:59:00.004+00:00

I can't exactly remember the details and know where to begin in order to sum up my last few days in London before I flew back on the 1st of December 2016.. But I hope the following pictures taken from my cameral roll (iPhone 6) would be sufficient to tell a story :) Enjoy the pictures, hehe.

- - -

Had breakfast one of the mornings with Carolyn at this very cool "igloo" concept at Coppa Club overlooking the Tower Bridge and river in London. Food was merely mediocre. I would say we enjoyed the company, scenery and a different dining environment instead of the choice of food on their menu instead :)

Another shot of the igloos.

After that, it was time for some Matcha-madness! Presenting you one of my favourite places in London to satisfy my sweet tooth when it comes to Matcha – Tombo @ Soho.

A long overdue catchup session over dinner at Cay Tre (Soho's branch) with Hikma :)

Catchup session over afternoon tea with Grace at The Rosebury lounge in Mandarin Oriental hotel.. This is one of my all-time favourite places to have afternoon tea in London. Definitely can never get sick of this place <3

Their well-known afternoon tea stand in a form of "bird cage". Not only the service here is impeccable, their selection of teas and scones etc are equally great too. Do give this place a try if you ever feel like having an afternoon tea session in London!

Winter Wonderland again. :)

All wrapped up like a dumpling because it was simply just too cold!

With the massive Christmas tree, which clearly can't be photographed entirely in this picture!

One of my favourite ramen go-to places in London: Kanada-ya!

Yolkin-ing again for one last time before I go back. It was my first time trying their matcha & oreo flavour.. It really wasn't too bad!

Had a catchup dinner with Huay Yee at Park Chinois for the first time.. Food was surprisingly not too bad for the ambience you get there. It definitely is a place worth visiting again if I ever go back in future :) The dish above is one of their signature dishes which comprised of udon, sea urchin and eggs!

Some highly recommended pork ribs by the restaurant.

Dessert time, yum.

Catchup session with Gav, and Vania :)

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Take 5

Take 6. Definitely miss 'em!

Another Winter Wonderland experience again... :p

WW with Gav & Vania!

Definitely miss everything about them. The times we've spent together in Beijing will always be a memorable one x

____

Basically, this sort of summed up my last week in London. I really had a great time visiting new places, catching up with my dear friends and most importantly, cherishing the "me-time" that I had and using it to visit cafes, department stores, my favourite shopping spots etc. Words definitely can't be used to sum up my feelings, more significantly, the years I've spent abroad.. It is really time to wrap up all of those feelings and start accepting as well as adapting to the transition since I am back in Malaysia for now. Stay tuned for more updates because I'm definitely on a streak! :p

Till then,

✗

Sister's 20th birthday & London by night

2017-02-21T06:32:00.002+00:00

HI all! I know.. It's already the year of 2017.

Too much has happened over the last few months which have hindered me from blogging again (in a way).. I wish I could develop a habit of having the discipline and attitude to update my blog regularly. Anyway, there are some events over the last few months (including the leftovers from UK) that I would love to share on my blog before I go on to blogging the latest events in my life. Hehe. I hope it wouldn't be a bore to you guys. But here it is.. enjoy~

- - -

Rewinding back to November 18, 19 & 20

Standing along the streets of Piccadilly Circus in London. One of my favourite spots during the festive seasons.. Look at those lightings! :)

A mirror selfie with Melissa @ Dover Street Market London.

Another one :p

This is the last one I promise, heh.

Another day back in London last year, my friend, Shayne who spends most of her time in Birmingham as a medical student decided to come down to London for a visit. So, as expected, we decided to have a nice afternoon tea session at The Lanesborough hotel.

With Sandra & Shayne :)

Our afternoon tea stand for three, which is refillable to your likings..

Warm scones are served! To my surprise, their scones are really not bad.. It was definitely a place to have afternoon tea. Certainly better than the one at The Savoy's hotel!

Yumz.

After our endless conversations over afternoon tea, we decided to pay a visit to the Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park.. For those of you who don't know this, London will annually hold a Winter Wonderland theme park around close to end of November till beginning of January, featuring all sorts of rides for kids and adults, as well as various booths and stalls ranging from food to souvenirs.

Crowded as always but it was really a great time spent with the girls!

The next day, it was time to spend with my sister as it was her big day~ Someone finally hit the big "2"! No longer a teenager.. How fast time flies. Anyway, I decided to bring her for a lovely dinner for two at Novikov Restaurant & Bar, which we have decided to dine at the Asian part of the restaurant :) In case you're wondering, Novikov has two different sections – the Asian & Italian side.

Freshly cooked big water prawns :) Super delishhh.

Langoustines cooked with fried noodles, recommended by the chef.

Pecking duck for two.. By the end of our meal, the both of us were close to explosion. Haha. Never underestimate the portion served at Novikov restaurant :p

The birthday girl <3

A picture of meh :p

Acting demure, hah.

A surprise that I've arranged with the restaurant for the sister.. It's their signature dessert platter at Novikov~

Happy face.

Happy 20th birthday <3 (20.11.16)

Someone finally turned 20th on the 20th of November.. Such a coincidence, double 20!

The next day for dinner, my sister and I craved for Burger & Lobster. A mini burger that we've decided to try for the first time consisting of some blue cheese and lobster meat with the beef patty.. In my opinion, it wasn't that bad but I guess the sister just didn't quite fancy burger overall.

Presenting to you the choice of our Catch of The Day :D If I'm not wrong, it was like around 3kg lobster for the two of us. We chose to be steamed, instead of grilled.

UHHH, definitely need this right now.

___

Hehe, sorry that this post is basically a very brief one.. Just wanted to share most of the food pictures with you guys :) Hope it was informative in some ways. That's all for now.. Stay tuned for the next update that is about to come soon...

Till then,

✗

A day in Notting Hill

2016-12-20T14:12:00.000+00:00

During one of the weekdays when Halloween was around the corner, I decided to finally visit Notting Hill area and Portobello Road Market. Brought the mum and sister there.. Honestly, it really took me more than 5 years to finally checkout the colourful houses, which is well known around the Notting Hill area. Weather on that day was fortunately great. We went to Farm Girl cafe for brunch before we began our carefree day along the streets of Portobello and Notting Hill. I remember the day was rather chill and strolling around that neighbourhood was just simply amazing.. Would give up easily almost anything now to go back to the days where I can just walk out of the house anytime I wanted, and go everywhere I wanted without restrictions. Anyway, I'll let most of the pictures do the talking for now, enjoy :D

- - -

My first shot in front of one of the colourful row of houses at Notting Hill.

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Take 5

Mumsie & I

Another up-close shot :p

A swift sunset shot as I walked along the Notting Hill neighbourhood.

One of the houses that actually looked so festive with the Halloween decorations.. It felt really good seeing things like these as I don't often get to see decorations like this anymore back home.

Sorry about the endless posing shots in front of the same old house, HAAHA.. I just can't help it :p

Next one.

Never gonna look back..

All smiles for you.

Serious look...

Trying to focus on my photograph-taking skills here.. Hehe.

Smile :)

Blurry picture but never a blur.

Finally, something else – FOOD. Presenting you the pictures of food that we've had at Farm Girl cafe the other time.. Basically, it's one of the rather popular cafes around Notting Hill neighbourhood that serves healthy selection of food. For example, they strongly emphasise on Gluten Free and Vegan or Vegetarian choice of food on their menu using coconut oil etc to cooked with. Also, this is easily by far one of the places that only have lattes like Rose Latte and Lavender Latte here in London. Therefore, I would strongly recommend foodies who enjoy healthy food to visit this place :) It's really a rather different experience.

_____

That's pretty much about it for now guys. I hope my pictures didn't bore you to death at all. Haha.. But please do check-in again as I will be updating my blog quite often these days :p

Till then,

✗

Moving forward

2016-12-20T07:08:00.003+00:00

Before I continue to a new blog post, let me apologise for not updating my blog consistently all these while.. I know I didn't really mention about this at all, but to those of you who follows me on my social media platforms like IG or Snapchat, you probably could have figured this out by now.

So yeap, I actually flew back to KL from London around mid-September this year, shortly after my official submission of dissertation and then spent close to a month at home.. The entire time that I was at home during September up to October, I was basically just trying to get used to the idea of being/living in KL, adjusting myself to this whole transition.. It wasn't really that easy at first, because after all, I was really used to the life back in the UK – being really independent on my transportations and everything else. I didn't have to rely on anyone for getting myself from Point A to Point B, not like when I'm back home now. At the same time, the working/walking pace was really quick back in London especially, that I have already adapted to it long time ago... So, I feel that during that duration when I was back home, a lot of things had to be toned/slowed down and I had to calm myself down most of the time to remind myself that this is not the same as the UK anymore.. "The culture, working etiquette and probably people that you meet would be a tad different now"..

Thereafter, I headed back to the UK again, to actually spend my end-October up till recently – 1st of December – only did I come back for good, in a way. The reason why I've decided to head back and forth to London like that was due to the amount of things that was still left unpacked and waiting for me at my apartment to be shipped all back home. Somehow, this entire arrangement was a rather intentional one. I needed a good reason to head back to the UK again, and knowing that leaving most of my things back at the apartment unpacked would certainly be a valid and more importantly, strong reason. :p Anyway, the first 2 to close to 3 weeks back in London was such a crazy period. Packing up is never an easy thing, especially when I've spent almost 6 years in the UK – seeing the collection of things I've managed to accumulate for all these time just gave me a big-WOW.

Not only that, packing/shipping my things home wasn't the only reason that made me flew back to the UK. As you could have guessed, I think I really needed a good break from everything, and a chance to explore the city on my own again before I really bid my goodbyes to the friends, and city. I was just being so sentimental the whole time. It's no doubt the advancement of technology these days has made communication so much easier between friends around the world.. However, it is an undeniable fact that these technologies can never beat a simple face-to-face meeting in person with your friends no matter what. That's why, I feel that even though I'm back here in KL now, I somehow still have so many attachments with the city, and country that I just left not long ago...

Oh well. I guess it's time for me to wrap up those sentimental feelings and put it aside, but no matter what, I will always treasure the friends, memories and times spent altogether in the UK: Shrewsbury, Manchester and London.. These will always hold a special place in my heart, always. Without any further delay, I actually have some pictures taken during my stay in London this time.. Will use most of them to do the talking and I hope you enjoy them :)

Managed to catch up with this girl, Ellya, over a great lunch at Dishoom, Shoreditch. FYI, Dishoom is one of the best Indian chain restaurants in London. Please head to this restaurant if you haven't already done so! It's just something that you don't quite get elsewhere besides the heart of London or India itself. In case you guys don't already know this, Ellya's my childhood/dancing friend since I was four.. It is always just so good to see her even after such a long, long time! Really so proud of what she's achieved so far. And I dare say this, she's also my one and only friend to date that has such courage to take a leap of faith and follow her heart to chase her dreams in pursuit of her own happiness/love. This is just such a rare thing to see among young people these days... Just so proud of you and always your number one fan <3

Us playing with our phones...

Softserve Society at Shoreditch.. Mama, me, Ellya & sissy.

Trios. Mama looking young, eh? :p

Ellya & I again :) We've officially broken the record of meeting more than once this year! It was too difficult to meet this girl previously because she was always based in Australia previously..

Candid #1

Candid #2

The four of us.

Proudly presenting the vanilla softserve ice-cream that I had back then. The softserves at Soft Serve Society aren't too bad at all.. However, they weren't really my favourite.. So, I would certainly say that it's up to personal preference. But please, do give them a try if you haven't already done so! Who knows, you might like them :)

Another day in London, where I was strolling along West Hampstead, close to Finchley Road after feasting over a Japanese meal with the mum and sister.

Casually posing near the trees, with all the fallen leaves on the ground.. Don't you just love the autumn season?

It was a day before I headed out with mama to Covent Garden area, before our afternoon tea session at The Savoy's Hotel with the sister after her lessons. Can't say my mama isn't good at taking photographs at all :p

Just a snapshot of our afternoon tea stand with the sandwiches spanning the photo. In my opinion, Savoy's afternoon tea was honestly one of the worsts in London. Do not visit this place if you haven't done so.. Service was frankly quite bad with the amount that we paid for. And on top of that, I wasn't really satisfied with their choice of savouries and desserts.. It felt like everything was totally overrated. If you ask me what would be my best afternoon tea experience in London to date, I would always choose Mandarin Oriental's one over & over again without fail.. Oh, but maybe you could even give the afternoon tea at The Lanesborough hotel a try because it's a Victorian style hotel that serves equally delicious choice of savouries and sweets as MO's for similar prices.

A picture of the sweet stuffs apart from the savouries. They don't really look appealing to me, let alone the taste itself :O Haha.

A picture of myself taken by the sister at Savoy's. Sorry about the yellow lighting...

During Halloween's afternoon, I went for lunch with mama and the sissy at Koffmann's Restaurant, in Berkeley Hotel. To those of you who don't know about this, the chef is one of the oldest chefs around – Pierre Koffmann – who has had so many famous celebrity chefs trained/worked under him previously, including Britain's most famous Gordon Ramsay himself. That explains the cute little cartoon portraits in the picture above. Also, if you are reading this and you do reside in the UK or would soon pay a visit to London itself before the year 2016 ends, I would suggest that you should try out this restaurant now before it closes permanently for refurbishment at the end of December. According to the staffs, the chef plans to relocate somewhere in London in future, with the intention of introducing a new concept to his restaurant next time. The following are among the few dishes that I managed to try again this time.

Pan seared scallops with squid ink sauce.

Buttersquash or pumpkin soup, if I'm not wrong.

Salmon salad.

Squid bolognese made in the form of tagliatelle.. Certainly something different, only from the Koffmann's.

The main course that I've chosen from the lunch menu: Pan seared lemon sole served with mussels.

Forcing the sissy to take a picture for me as usual, teeheee.

Another shot ;)

Another gem in London, located around Soho area. Presenting to you one of the famous udon bar in London and also my favourite place to go every single time when I'm back – Koya Bar. Do check out this place if you ever have the time in London, after all, this place is always crowded so I would suggest going earlier to beat the queue. Another point to take note is that they won't let you have your seatings until you and your friends are all present :)

After udon, it was time for some macaron ice-creams! Presenting you another famous area to grab a quick dessert bite right after your meal over the weekend – Yolkin at Great Windmill street. It only starts selling at 12pm and during the weekend (Sat & Sun), and it used to have a long queue.. Their flavours change every week, so please go to their Instagram account at @yolkinmacice to find out more! Honestly, I used to be so crazy over these macaron ice-creams until a certain point I make it a habit to visit them every Sunday when I was in London right after my lunch.. And previously, due to the crazy queue, I would always rush/run to the place to ensure that my favourite flavours don't sell out. However, when I look back at these macaron ice-creams now, it was just all a hype and I don't think I would want to do that again because they are just okay and I wouldn't say extremely good. Forgive me if I say this, it's indeed a bit overrated. But for those who still haven't tried this if you're in the UK, please, definitely give it a try!

____

That's all for now guys! I'm going to update my blog again soon with more pictures coming up during my London's trip. Do check-in then~ Hope this blog post was quite informative with all the extra pointers for places to eat in London :D

Have a great week ahead!

Till then,

✗

Some experiences are meant to change you..

2016-12-15T06:00:00.000+00:00

Day 9 * 23rd May up to Final day of programme * 27th May 2016

On the 9th day of the programme, we had our morning lectures as usual and the school had arranged for us to have our packed lunch in the classroom before departing for our final tour, which was to the Summer Palace. Coincidentally, Yan Hong's Law building was just next to the Economics building that I was located at. Therefore, we decided to meet up again over the lunch break one final time before I leave Beijing.. Shortly after, my course mates and I left with the bus to head to the Summer Palace.

However, our tour around the Summer Palace was actually shortened due to the slight rain and heavy wind weather that we were unfortunate enough to experience on that day. Therefore, our tour guide, Mr Kong, didn't have a choice but to cancel the idea of having us to take the boat ride to cross the river in visiting the other side of the Summer Palace area that we did not cover. Some students were happy about that because they were basically sick of the whole touring thing already; however, I on the other hand was a bit upset and disappointed with the weather :( I am one who really appreciates sightseeing and especially Chinese historical monuments etc if you don't already know this about me. Anyways, I will let most of the pictures do the talking...

But before that, I'll go on with the writings regarding the activities we had for the 10th day and 11th, up until the last day of the programme. Basically, on our 10th day and 11th day, we had our usual morning lectures covering different topics, and then lunch provided by the school again before we headed off to attend company visits. Nothing different happened on those two days itself because everyone of us had group presentations' discussions to carry out each day before our official presentation on the final day of the programme. Therefore, all of us pretty much just wanted to quicken up those discussions and not delay it any longer as most of us just wanted to have more free time to do our own things like exploring the city and eating etc.

That's why, on our final day of the programme, all of us basically had to suit up again for the official team presentation.. The presentation was the task that everyone had to go through in order to receive the completion certificate for the summer school course. Therefore, we had no choice but to go through with the whole presentation thingy.. Well, at least it was better than having the need to take any summer school exams, heh.

Okay, enough words for now.. It's time for the pictures to do the talking.

Yan Hong <3

Summer Palace

One

Smile your lungs out. Hahaha

Blur case

If only everyday were as carefree and easy as this...

With my pink VS umbrella. Haha.

Company visit #1

Another group picture.

Company visit #2

Final day of presentation. It's my team presenting!

My turn to present. Haha.

Still me presenting...

And there I go, finally receiving my certificate of completion for this programme!!

A picture with my team mates.. (without one of the members as he had to leave early)

A picture of myself holding the cert in hand in front of the SEM Tsinghua building :)

Dickson, me & Leslie. Posing in front of the Tsinghua University's signage..

That's all about my summer school experience at Beijing with Tsinghua University so far. I'm glad to say that I have enjoyed every moment of it.. If I have a choice, I would go through it again and probably request for a longer extension of the programme. I really felt like it was a blessing in disguise, without knowing where the choice of my decisions would lead me to; the people that I met and knew along the way have made me realised so many things that I did not know of previously.. I am fortunate enough to say that this experience would certainly serve as a memorable one and something that I would always treasure well. Glad that I went ahead with Tsinghua University instead of the Fashion Management course at HEC Paris, even though HEC's summer school programme was always my first and top choice in the beginning. As far as I know, I did not have any regrets and in fact, I enjoyed every moment of my time at Beijing with the people that I have gone with. A word of advice: "Follow your heart and do not fear the choices that you make, even if it's something that you are going alone at first.. You will never know what's there for you once you go through it."

More new posts are coming soon, stay tuned!

Till then,

✗

Carefree and fun times

2016-12-15T04:57:00.002+00:00

Day 8 * 22nd May 2016 – City tour to LAMA Temple & Hutong

Our day started really early with another city tour but it's a visit covering the Hutong area. It was an area that we were not familiar with... So, joining the tour was a good idea despite the fact that a lot of the other students decided to bail out on this tour as they all had a really long night partying previously. Hehe. Anyways, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking as usual. ;)

One of the group photos we had at the entrance of the LAMA Temple.

Take 2.

Taken by one of the Tsinghua MBA students :D

Another candid shot.

:) chubsss.

All taking a rest from our tour haha.

My eyes can't be seen here (I know that).. Didn't have a great sleep the night before as we were all staying up late chit-chatting and playing poker cards! HAHA.

Forgotten what was the name of this Green Tea place called.. But it was simply amazing! Their soft serve ice-cream was to-die-for! I will definitely come back for this again the next time when I do visit Beijing in future :)

One of the shops along the streets of Hutong that specialises in selling these handmade wooden musical boxes. As you can see from the picture above, my kind of musical box was definitely the one with the ballerinas :D Needless to say, I got one of that for myself. Heh.

Random shots.

Clearly, all of us wasn't really awake yet.

Small eyesssss.

Taken by Chanont :D

Another so-called group shot :D

Be still...

Arthur clearly enjoying holding the flag up high for us..

I promise you, this is the final shot. Heh..

_____

As you can see, I don't really have much to write on this post.. Truth is, I think if anyone is ever interested in the entire itinerary of my Beijing summer school's exchange trip, feel free to drop me an email or whatsoever to find out more about places to dine, visit etc. I'd be more than happy to respond to any of your queries :)

Stay tuned~

Till then,

✗

Lost

2016-10-24T23:38:00.000+01:00

Sometimes, I truly wish there's someone out there who could give me this extra push in life, to simply whisper and tell me that: "I can do this.. I just need to take a leap of faith. Everything will be fine." Now that my education days are over, reality just seemed to be a puzzle to me right now.. I just need to be more courageous and DO it. I can't exactly tell you what's going on at the moment, but for once, I am scared.

This is bothering me. I hope I can figure things out soon.

The Great Wall of China

2016-10-23T22:05:00.004+01:00

Day 7 * 21st May 2016 – City tour to the Great Wall of China & UCL Alumni Dinner at Intercontinental Hotel

Our first Saturday in Beijing itself didn't actually turn out according to the way most of us have expected i.e. the ability and freedom to carry out our own activities and organising hanging out plans among ourselves.. Instead, we dedicated our time in the morning to participate in the city tour that the university has arranged for us to climb the Great Wall. I would say on the day before that, most of us were still quite indecisive about joining the tour to the Great Wall since after all, we were required to gather around Tsinghua campus area around 8am in the morning.

My friends and I were uncertain whether it was something that we would look forward to, as we wouldn't deny the fact that staying in bed for a little while longer on a Saturday after quite a hectic week so far and having to spend the morning/afternoon according to our own preferences were more appealing than the idea of touring the Great Wall. Not only that, I have actually visited the Great Wall before when I visited Beijing during my younger days :p However, after giving much thought to it, most of us made up our minds in participating the tour together.. At least, we wouldn't be alone after all. We would still be going as a group with some close friends along. That way, it wouldn't turn out to be that much of a bore or waste of a time.. Who knows? We might even enjoy the tour in the end.. Haha.

Well, as expected, I think most of us did enjoy the tour. It was surprisingly fun in my opinion.. So, for those of you who don't know about this, the Great Wall consists of different sections that you can begin your climb from and each section takes various amount of time to complete the climb, depending on your own pace and the crowd on that day, while some sections even offer a different experience for you where you can have the choice of taking the cablecar or chairlift up to the wall since it would give you save your travelling time without hiking up the wall.

With Mr Kong's guidance as the experienced tour guide for our trip as usual, we did not waste any time hiking up the Great Wall at all, but rather, most of us have agreed to try a whole new experience when visiting the Great Wall this time round. More than half of us actually chose the path to get to Mutianyu (one of the sections at the Great Wall) by taking the chairlift as mentioned before. I'll post a picture of it later in this post, so keep an eye on it ;) Though being a person who is quite afraid of height myself, I did not really hesitate in opting for the choice of going with the chairlift instead of climbing up to the wall myself with some other friends. The reason was because Mutianyu's section not only offer the choice for you to go up to that section of the wall by taking the cablecar/chairlift, you can also go down the wall later through the Toboggan ride. These options are not only a faster way of covering the Great Wall, they are also one of the choices that allow you to have a taste of fun when doing these typical sightseeing/touring activities. If you're ever interested to find out more about the Mutianyu's section at the Great Wall, I feel that it's appropriate for you to visit this link that I have just uploaded here: http://www.wildgreatwall.com/mutianyu-toboggan-ride/ I believe it is one of the websites that I have come across with, which can explain pretty much almost everything that you need to know before deciding on whether to proceed with hiking up or not to the Mutianyu Great Wall. Hope it helps!:)

After the tour, we had a quick lunch at Subway arranged by Mr Kong. We had to rush our lunch because the journey to head back to our accommodation coupled with the traffic in Beijing would have cost us almost a journey of 2hours-ish. Bearing in mind that we also had another event to attend during that Saturday evening at the Intercontinental Hotel, which was a UCL Alumni dinner organised by our careers team. The whole purpose of the alumni event was to allow those of us who were from UCL's Masters in Management programme to speak with the new students who were to be enrolled for the 2016/2017 intake and for us to have a chance of hearing the experience shared by alumni students previously. That event was also participated by the Chair of the Exam Board for our School of Management. Finger foods were basically prepared by the school on that night, and I would pretty much say that most of us had a great time. The event didn't last until later than 9pm if I do remember correctly.. So, right after that, I joined two of my friends for another round of meal since most of us were still hungry. The same pattern again: Food, Talk, Eat, repeat.. That was how we spent our night together. Simple and just what we needed :)

Before I start filling my entire post with more words, I shall let most of the pictures taken by the awesome Chanont do the talking now. Apologies in advance if most pictures do seem repetitive, as I just uploaded almost everything that I have in hand.. Wouldn't want to put any of Chanont's effort to waste, heh.

Enjoy~!

The picture above shows the "chairlift" that I've taken to go up to the Mutianyu Great Wall section :)

Thanks for checking-in! Be sure to check out my next post ;) I know very well that these are all past events.. But, I would really wish to write these memories down when I still have the ability to recall most of the things now. It will definitely be amazing to have the chance to read through it all again sometime in future :)

That's all for now.

Till then,

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When you are happy, you will know it...

2016-10-18T08:45:00.001+01:00

Day 6 * 20th May 2016 – Company visit at JD.com & city tour at the Temple of Haven

Instead of having our usual morning session at the university listening to lecture talks, we had a rather different morning planned out for us that day. Tsinghua's summer programme has arranged for us to attend for a morning company visit to JD.com's (京东) HQ around the city centre. I'm not sure whether have you guys heard of this company before, but it's like one of the biggest companies in China after Alibaba (Well, I would also say it's another major competitor of Alibaba in China). Therefore, our main purpose of visiting their company was to gain a better understanding regarding how their business model and management level works etc. If I may put it this way, JD.com business model is somehow like Amazon, but it offers more than just that. They also have their in-house technologies developed for household appliances, which is something rather interesting.

So, after listening to the company's presentation and having the chance to tour around the entire company, we had a chance to play around at the company's relaxing/chill area the was specially designed for the staffs at JD.com. I can't really describe the entire experience with you in words entirely.. Hopefully, the pictures below will somehow assist that process for you, my dear readers :) Basically, we spent our whole morning at the company and up until lunch time, where the company and Tsinghua has arranged for us to dine at their cafeteria area. It really is amazing to realise how "posh" and "lavish" the cafeteria or dining area of a company can be.. I can't believe that JD.com has almost everything in their HQ.. Because as far as I know, they even have gym, saloon, and day care places for children all prepared for their staffs. The whole idea of having these facilities at the HQ itself was because the company understands that the staffs may spent a very long working hours at the company everyday, and it is their culture to ensure that the staffs treat the company as though they are at home. More importantly, having these facilities in their company reminds me a lot about Google's working culture.

I personally believe that JD.com tried to incorporate and promote some American working culture among the staffs.. Eg. from Google's HQ, they have almost everything for the staffs on "campus" due to the long and strenuous working hours spent at the office itself among their staffs. Also, after touring around the company and having to had the opportunity to understand the working culture of Chinese in Beijing for the past few days, I realised that majority of the working spirit among the Chinese are really different compared to those in the UK. Their working hours are really long.. For example, they can start as early as 8am and end as late as 11pm or even later than that depends on individuals. It sounds really crazy I know, but I'm in total admiration of their working spirit in Beijing so far. To me, Beijing is like a city that never sleeps, because the people are constantly striving to achieve more by burning the midnight oil at their respective work places.

When our company visit and lunch have finished at JD.com, we then proceeded to our next schedule of the day, which was a visit to the Temple of Haven. As usual, the same tour guide, Mr Kong was in charge of our tour again. He gave us explanations to each sites and spots around, then gave us time to mingle around, for us to take as many pictures as we wanted. I'll stop here and let the pictures do most of the talking now.

Enjoy!

JD.com's mascot. It's a cute dog..:D

Hehe, hello guys. Just sitting casually at one of the large alphabets :p

This is the actual colour for the mascot of JD.com... They do sell this mascot as plush toys here in Beijing that look really cute!

Wee, this "bird cage" looking sofa was located at their relaxing/chilling area that I mentioned previously in my post. Isn't it something different?

Take 2. :p

Look. I can't even believe that they have such HUGE plush toys here in their relaxing lounge. This place was really full of surprises!

WAIT for the next picture. Haha

Hi there.. A very childish and lame picture of the three of us. Leslie certainly made the whole picture looked extra lively.. Haha. Spending our time at the relaxing area of JD.com definitely gave us the chance to relive our "childhood" times and it really felt great going around in exploring different interesting sections at the relaxing area of the company. I would certainly say it was an eye-opener for most of us (in a good way) ;)

Picture credits to Chanont :) This was taken at one section of the Temple of Haven.

Poser... ahaha. I'm sorry.

I really do admire his photography skills. Sometimes, I secretly do wish that I have a boyfriend who can take such awesome pictures of the girlfriend like that. *dream-on Krystal

My signature pink "bag" shot. Haha.

Definitely a candid.

This wasn't taken by Chanont's camera, but by my iPhone6 itself.. Therefore, it explains the difference in quality, heh.

Forgive me, my face was really chubby then...

Cindy(From Taiwan), Me and Vania(UCL's course mate!)

A group shot of us. It wasn't exactly all of us from the programme, but most UCL students were in the picture except for a few :)

Another group shot.. Except that it's quite a blurry one. Apologies for that.

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After our city tour, it was free and easy again. We didn't have anything else arranged for us by the school after that. Therefore, I went to dinner with some friends to try out this place that serves authentic Beijing cuisines. & to my surprise, the food served at the place was certainly up to our standards and expectations. We definitely were impressed by even the simplest dishes that we've chosen. If you're ever interested to try something more authentic yet tasty and delicious at the same time if you're around Beijing the next time, please don't hesitate to give this place a try: 小吊梨汤. If I'm not wrong, they have a few branches in located in Beijing itself. For a foodie like me if you don't already know (although my body size doesn't speaks that way), I would certainly recommend this place to friends who are around Beijing!

Do you realise something? There's live fishes swimming behind the signage of the restaurant (the one above the red wordings on the black board).. That explains the two red thingy behind of the fourth Chinese word.

Some meat dishes, and vegetables. Food that really looked so much like simple home cooked food.. But trust me, they are really tasty. Hehe. I was disappointed that they ran out of my the pork liver dish that I wanted to try so badly. Another thing to know, I'm really one who favours pork intestines and livers. Hard to believe that right? But yeah, that's the truth. :p

Well, the famous and special thing from this restaurant is that they serve you warm Pear soup (黎汤) in a tiny cup (as you can see from the picture above) that is really comforting for your stomach and nice to drink too.. Thus, that explains the name of the restaurant too, which consists of the word "黎" in it. A rather unique concept that I have not heard of nor even come across ever around Malaysia/HK/Macau so far.

Okie dokes. I guess that really is all for now. Thanks for checking in! Will work on my next blog post soon, and definitely check back in the next time;)

Till then,

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The Forbidden City

2016-10-10T07:59:00.000+01:00

Day 5 * 19th May 2016 – City tour at the Forbidden City.

In the morning itself, we attended a lecture about Innovation & Entrepreneurship in China as the main topic for that session. After our morning session's lecture, we had our lunch with such generous servings and choices provided by Tsinghua as usual before we embark on an interesting journey in the afternoon. That afternoon itself was rather different and special as we did not have any visiting to companies like previous days. But rather, Tsinghua has arranged to bring us for a city tour around Forbidden City.

It was really exciting as I was about to visit the Forbidden City again for the second time after my first visit 8 years ago. After all, there wasn't really much that I could remember from my last trip here and a lot of sections at the Forbidden City was sort of closed to the public due to maintenance purposes in preparation for the Beijing Olympics event back then. Therefore, I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't interested or looking forward at all to that city tour visit to the Forbidden City organised by the school..

Also, for those of you who don't already know this, as I don't really mention this often on my blog nor have I ever said it before (actually) – I am one who honestly appreciates Chinese history and loves listening to old tales that happened during those Dynasty-days. Sometimes, I would even get a bit too obsessed with certain historical information I've recently learnt about and would somehow seek ways of finding confirmation through "google" or by asking the elderly's who have heard about the stories or whatsoever, hah. Thus, it is not surprising that I often love spending my free time by watching dramas with storylines set back all the way in Qing/Han/Ming Dynasty times where the emperor, empress, and concubines etc plays a major role in the story.

More often than not, I would somehow picture what and how would things turn out to be for me if I were born in those ancient times where emperor was still ruling the world and women had almost no power or rights in enriching themselves with education back then. However, I would never deny the fact that people back in those days were already so intelligent and creative in countless ways. The things they knew then and monuments they managed to build with the scarce resources as well as limited communication streams they had in comparison to whatever we possess at present never fail to impress and leave me in admiration whenever I visit sites of the ancient days. Hence, the tour and especially the decision of joining the Beijing's summer school course through UCL were exactly killing two birds with one stone ;) Heeh.

And did I not mention this? The best part throughout our tour was, Tsinghua has selected one of the best tour guides in Beijing for us, Mr Kong, where he belongs to one of the descendants of Confucius, which is known as 孔子 in Mandarin.. In other words, his ancestor was the well-known Confucius that we all have read or heard about back in primary school days (if you've attended Chinese school like me) or the highly recognised philosophical system and teachings that some of you may have heard before – Confucianism, which was founded by Confucius. Well, I find that fact really cool somehow, knowing that someone's ancestor used to be someone SO important back in the Dynasty days :p

Okay, okay.. Before I continue to go on&on without allowing my pictures to actually do the talking, I shall pause here for a moment. The following pictures are mostly all taken by my lovely friend, Chanont, who is an amazing photographer and a total sweetheart who was kind enough to take countless shots for almost everyone of us! :D

I hope you like them :) Credits would of course go to him~

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Take 1 (Please excuse the messy-looking hair.)

Take 2

A big picture of the Tian'anmen Tower, taken using my iPhone 6.

*Peace* with Vania :D

A picture of us girls from the course and a South Korean guy..

I think all of the students from the summer school course is in this picture!

Back shot.. Love the idea of how Chanont managed to capture this picture using such lightings!

This is obviously taken using my iPhone 6 camera, which explains the difference in quality of picture :p

Leslie, the photographer, took this picture of me using my iPhone 6, haha. Not bad..

All smiles for the big camera!

Was trying to adjust my hair.. but failed.

Totally unprepared.

#10

#11

Some of us from UCL in this picture...

Another incomplete shot of us :)

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The city tour to the Forbidden City was indeed a whole new experience all over again. It felt so good to be joining the tour with my course mates and friends, although there were some people who did not really enjoy it as much as I do. Haha. But whatever it is, I'm still glad that it did not turn out to be a boring tour as Mr Kong, our tour guide, definitely prepared well and fed us with a lot of great historical information and insights throughout our visit. The tour lasted until about 5 something in the evening, and by then, it was about time to have dinner. Therefore, we decided to stay back in the city centre, since following back our tour bus to the accommodation area at that hour would not be a great idea after all due to the massive traffic. As such, most of us decided to walk to Wangfujing (王府井) street, which was around the city centre where most big shopping malls and restaurants are nearby. Be sure to check this place out if you're looking for a night market experience with tons of street food and things to look at ;)

For dinner that night, we decided to have Pecking duck together at one of the famous chain restaurants in Beijing, called Quanjude Roast Duck (全聚德). Although this has been one of the longest pecking duck places around, however, in my opinion, the service was not as good as the one I have received back at Duck de Chine where my friend, Yan Hong, has brought me to the other day. I would highly recommend you to go Duck de Chine for a finer, and better experience to have Pecking duck. Highly preferable for those of you who are not in a rush, and definitely would love to dine at your own pleasure :)

Here are some of the food pictures that I managed to take before we dug in;

A cold chicken dish.. The taste was not too bad :)

Look at those skinnnnnsss *drools*

OHMY. I wish I was still in Beijing again... T.T

What's a meal without some desserts? Well, our friend ordered an assorted selection of Chinese desserts that was really different, in a good way.

I think that's about it for now... Heh, hope you guys enjoyed the pictures, although I did not have much descriptions or captions to give at all. Stay tuned, for my next update!

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Fun times, great company

2016-10-10T07:55:00.003+01:00

Day 3 & 4 * 17th & 18th May 2016 – A typical day during summer school and attending company visits..

Well, for my third and fourth day at Tsinghua's summer school, there wasn't much that happened, except just usual morning session filled with lectures of different topics from understanding the Chinese economy to learning about data model and decisions in operations management.

On the third day, the school has arranged for us to attend a company visit to Hyundai at Beijing. It was quite a different exposure as we were brought to the manufacturing site of Hyundai cars.. Haven't witnessed anything like this in such a large scale before. That was certainly my first. There are no pictures from the company visit to Hyundai that I could actually upload on my blog, because it was the company's policy to restrict visitors from taking any picture. I would just sum up my third day at Beijing right at this point now. The third day was rather a blur or shall I say.. Nothing spectacular or much really happened. Besides hanging out with my friends at night, going to one another's accommodation rooms to have a long-talk after our dinner, playing with poker cards etc. Though it sounds quite ordinary or like a normal night, but I would say such hanging out sessions certainly brought us closer as friends and it gave most of us a chance of getting to know one another better than before :) It felt so much like high school again. Haha. But definitely in a better way!

On the fourth day, it was really great because after our morning lecture as usual, the school has arranged another company visit. But this time round, we were going to Credit Ease's HQ around city centre.. And you know what was the best part? The company's HQ is connected to a large modern shopping mall that sells almost any international label. Since we were at least half an hour earlier for our company visit, the person who was in charge gave us the green light to explore the shopping mall before that. Haha.

So... Not surprisingly... Girls, being girls as usual, and with my course mate, Roxy around, it was no doubt that she was super excited about it since they had her favourite Korean skincare brand – Innisfree in the mall! As for me, someone who was still very new to the brand, was quite carried away as Roxy kept convincing me about how great some of Innisfree's products were.. Hehe. And knowing me, someone who can easily get swayed by words and who is really responsive towards curiosity, I decided to carry out some beauty and skincare purchase at Innisfree too :p Well, enough about that, I guess I'll let some of the pictures do the talking for this post now :)

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A snapshot from Credit Ease's meeting room where the company presentation to the students was carried out by the representative.

One bingsu place that I managed to discover by myself, and decided to bring my friends along to be my lab rats together :p This was certainly delicious as I don't remember having such HUGE bingsu back at London's Shibuya at Chinatown area.. The portion size and price that we paid for, was totally nothing to be compared to London's. :P

Strawberry flavoured with a chiffon texture cheesecake on top!

That night itself, two of my friends and I decided to try out this famous steamboat chain restaurant in Beijing, that opens 24-hours daily! It is none other than the highly-sought steamboat place, the one that most of you are familiar with or have heard before in Singapore – 海底捞火锅 (Haidilao Hotpot).. I was totally looking forward to having hotpot at that place because I've heard so much reviews about the customer service, food and experience if one dines at the restaurant since years ago!.. It was not surprising at all that a foodie like me was extremely excited to be able to finally have the chance to dine at that hotpot restaurant, heheh. As you can see from the picture above, we have chosen to opt for the all-four-different soup base for our hotpot that night. We were all like: "Let's just try almost everything within our capability since we don't know when would be the next time that we will have a chance to come here again.. Haha." So, the next picture speaks for itself.

These are not everything. I think I didn't manage to capture everything that we have ordered exactly in this picture. But whatever it was, everything tasted really good. Service was impeccable. Food was fresh to the max. Price wise, even better! Hehe. Okay, we can't really make such comparisons about the price point precisely because every time we would compare it to the amount that we would usually have to spend if we were still in London again. Haha. So it's not really a fair comparison. But no matter what, we were completely satisfied with our food for the night :)

Me=the thorn, along with the two "roses": Dickson & Leslie. Hahaha. We were wearing our aprons provided by the restaurant before we dig in :D

Cheers! (non-alcohol drink)

The favourite and signature doll at Haidilao Hotpot place. After this cute little thing finished her dancing and singing around the restaurant, we requested to take a picture with her. Hahaha. Please don't judge us.

- - -

In short, Haidilao Hotpot was amazing. I would definitely pay to go there again. Even though most of my Chinese friends would have said that the place is not the best hotpot place that they have so far, I would still choose to go there again because of the service and food. Hehe, to me, a restaurant isn't good until the service is. :P Well, that's just my personal opinion. Either way, I would definitely highly recommend this place. They offer free manicure service for their customers, kids playground area, free Photo Booth to print your pictures out through your "WeChat" social media account, dancing noodles performance (A noodle where you order, and someone will dance with it for you.. which we have actually ordered :p) and many other dancing performance with performers dressing up in interesting costumes and masks etc.

Sounds like a dining experience you would never forget and even get elsewhere in your country right? Why don't you give it a try! If Beijing is an option that is a bit too far out from your geographical area, why don't you start off with Singapore's Haidilao hotpot first? Well, in terms of the quality, service and ambience offered by Singapore's chain to Beijing's one, I can't give you any exact comparison or comments on it because I personally have not visited the one at Singapore yet. If I ever do, I'll be sure and remember to make a direct comparison whenever possible.

That's all guys.. Thanks for checking in!

Till then,

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An experience I would love to go through it all again...

2016-10-07T09:52:00.003+01:00

Day 2 at Beijing * 16th May 2016 – Official start of the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management Summer Program in Economics and Finance

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In short, the summer school course was a 2-week programme solely arranged by Tsinghua University. All relevant activities and classes were organised by them, starting from as early as 9am up to about 5pm every day. So, every morning, accompanied by some of my friends and course mates of UCL who attended the summer course with me, we would take about at least 15 minutes of walking from the accommodation where we were located by our University to walk to Tsinghua's campus.

The first day was really exciting and the feelings that I had on the first day were still deeply engraved inside my head until today. I was so anxious and excited at the same time.. Couldn't recall exactly when was the last time I felt something like that, being in a foreign country by myself and experiencing a university campus life. Honestly, the opportunity I had in meeting new friends from a different culture background and upbringing, coupled with the time given in getting to know most of my course mates from UCL at a closer capacity certainly made my summer school experience a worthwhile one. I don't know why, but I believe that making it to Tsinghua University's summer programme instead of going for the Fashion Management summer school course that I wanted so badly organised by HEC Paris was a great decision after all. If I had a chance to decide again, I would still go for Beijing's.

Enough said, I'll let most of the pictures do the talking for now :)

E N J O Y!

I was so surprised at how far the School of Economics and Management building were located... For a starter like me, I would have thought the building would just be like about 1-2 minutes walk from the entrance of the University Campus, like UCL's. However, as you can easily see from the picture above, the university is completely none like what you get from city campus in the UK, especially London. Everything is really far from one another... That's what they call, a campus life. & the best part during my summer school experience was, Beijing was somehow pollution-free (not entirely) but at least we got clear blue skies greeting us every day instead of the sandy and bad air.. All thanks to the heavy rain brought two days ago before our arrival :D

I have no idea what building is that in the above picture... But all I can say is that everything here is MASSIVE. Be it the building, field, plants or whatever, you can definitely not see them back in the UK...

As soon as we arrived, we had to register. Voilà, LOOK! It was so sweet of Tsinghua's representatives to greet us with such lovely souvenirs..

Shortly after our briefing and introductory session in the morning, we had to gather near the field area located next to our SEM building for a photoshoot. How sweet of them.. Haha, everything seemed to be arranged perfectly, with no time wasted at all. That's how the Chinese way of doing things ;) The above picture is not entirely ALL students from the course, but it's ALL of the UCL students who participated in the summer school programme, which was a mixture of Route A and B students from the MSc Management programme.

It was so cool that one of our friends, Chanont, brought his 360º camera with him... It was actually my first time seeing something like that!

The above picture shows the exact number of students across different universities who participated in the summer school programme. As you can see, it is indeed quite a small number of students who participated in the programme. Therefore, this summer school programme is somewhat different from those you usually see out there as Tsinghua university is quite selective with the type of university students who are eligible in joining their course. So, I would say, being sponsored by UCL in participating such programme is definitely something I will always be grateful of, heh.

Funny faces of everyone as requested by our organiser, Ms Mao, who is seated next to me in the picture above :p

After our mini photoshoot session, we were told that we would be touring the campus area and it was informed that the entire tour will take up to at least an hour or so... According to them, it was almost impossible to cover the WHOLE campus in such a short time, hence, we were only brought to see sites that are considered as main attractions of the university. In the picture above, the building is known to be a place for students to watch movie. It is like a mini theatre..

This picture shows one of the famous site at Tsinghua campus. According to our tour guide, he said this monument used to be the size of Tsinghua university, before it actually expanded further in the past.

This known to be one of the first classrooms in Tsinghua University, if I'm not wrong. Haha.

This ancient Chinese looking setting was initially a house for one of the ministers during olden days, back before this area was developed into a university. At present, it is now being used as one of the office areas for the staff members of Tsinghua and a place for them to organise meetings.

A mandatory tourist shot in front of the entrance of the ancient looking building :)

A green area with pond on the campus.. Can't actually believe that there's something like this on a university campus. Isn't it good if they have such thing back in the UK too?

Couldn't get enough of taking pictures of the pond.. It reminds me so much of being in a kampung area, but not in a city actually. Haha.

Obviously, how can I not seize the chance of taking a mandatory shot next to the pond? Haha.

At night itself, Yan Hong, my college friend from Concord who was studying her Masters at Tsinghua for a Law degree, brought me out for dinner at Sanlitun (三里屯) area, at this restaurant famous for Pecking duck – Duck de Chine (全鸭季).. I would highly recommend this restaurant to those of you who are visiting Beijing. It is really a different experience dining at a place for Pecking duck. The service, ambience and everything was perfect. And not to forget, reservations are highly recommended as this place tend to get really packed even on weekdays! Apart from that, our meeting after so long was really fruitful.. Can't remember when was the last time we actually met.. If I'm not wrong, it was about 2 or 3 years ago. How funny time really flies when you are actually not taking account of it..

Our vegetarian dish as an appetiser :)

One of the signature dishes if you're in Beijing.. Underneath this fried layer, it consists of dumplings, which is the same thing as Gyoza's.

Fish in a claypot..

Fresh cabbage cooked with shiitake mushrooms..

The chef with our whole pecking duck. One thing that you have to remember when dining at this restaurant in future is that this is the only restaurant that doesn't allow you to go for a half pecking duck even though it's only two people dining.. You have to go for the whole pecking duck no matter what. However, I wouldn't deny the fact that the pecking duck tasted SO SOOOO good... I wish they had something like this back in KL or even London!

Our pecking duck with the signature sauce of the restaurant and the steam sesame bun. Apparently, it is only in Beijing that you will be served the usual conventional thin layer of wrap to be eaten with the pecking duck, at the same time, with this sesame bun mantao. It felt so nice having to finally eat pecking duck again at Beijing itself after so many years!

After dinner, the both of us were so full... I can't believe that the two of us actually ordered so much. Haha. Anyway, Yan Hong brought me to the shopping mall around Sanlitun, which had a huge UNIQLO shop outside. It was so interesting to see how much Beijing has changed and how much it has grown into a developed city that did not use to look anything like that when I visited it 8 years ago. After our tour around, she brought me to the Godiva cafe in the shopping mall to have some desserts.. Knowing me.. How can I ever say no to desserts even after our heavy dinner meal? Heh. The picture above shows a white chocolate cheesecake and berries along with sorbet..

This huge thing here served with dry ice known to be one of the signature choice of desserts at Godiva. Can't believe, we ordered such big portion for just the two of us. Haha.

Sorry.. Couldn't help it.. A picture of myself with one of the desserts that we ordered that night :p

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To sum everything up for that day, I would say, brace yourself with the heavy traffic in Beijing... Getting around Beijing could be really a pain in the a*s at times as it is SO crazy that you actually could get stuck in traffic for at least up to 2 hours, for example, just travelling from Tsinghua University area to the City Centre (Sanlitun) for a nice meal or night out with your friends. That's why, my advice would be, never leave during rush hour.. It is best to avoid getting into a cab or travel by car at anytime between 5.30 to 6pm at all cause.

Not only that, getting back to Zone 4 near the Tsinghua University area from Sanlitun around 11pm at night could also be a problem as all cabs are usually pre-booked by this 滴滴行车 app company, which is similar to Uber but it is born and bred in Beijing. Therefore, please do not have high hopes of just catching a cab by raising up your hand on the busy streets of Beijing during the day or night, as the chances of you getting a cab is merely close to 0%m which is totally contradicting to the situation back in the UK, especially London.

I am very certain of this because I have experienced that almost each time during my two weeks of stay in Beijing.. And our last resort would always be using the app to book a cab instead. Hence, it is highly recommended that you travel with a friend who knows how to converse in Mandarin and read Mandarin because you definitely require that in order to use the app efficiently in booking a cab.

That's all for now and be sure to check-in again for my next post on Beijing!

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Simple yet exquisite

2016-10-06T14:19:00.000+01:00

Day 1 at Beijing before the Summer School MBA in Economics & Finance Exchange Programme at Tsinghua commenced - 15th May 2016

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The highlight on the first day of my arrival was my dinner along with two of my friends at this beautifully decorated yet filled with such great ambience Vegetarian restaurant! Not to forget, the service offered by this restaurant certainly deserved a 5*'s! This place is called King's Joy (京兆尹), with an average spending of 450 Chinese Yuan per person among 3 people with the amount of food that we've ordered as seen in the pictures below. The best part of this visit was the restaurant was located at the heart of Beijing, that is Zone 1, also known as 一环, which is definitely a location surrounding a lot of prime tourist sites, a good choice for dining if you're a tourist around the area.

& to be honest, we did not expect our dinner place at this Vegetarian restaurant to turn out such "fine-ly" since we sort of took a cab blindly from our accommodation at Zone 4 area and just went to the restaurant based on strong recommendations by our friends and reviews without even knowing the exact attire requirements and settings of the restaurant. Haha. Either way, our dinner turned out to be great and we definitely did not regret paying such a visit to this lavish restaurant..

The big signage of the restaurant... & did I not mention as you walk into the restaurant, there's mist spraying out from the bottom, as though you've walked into a garden from those Dynasty times? Haha.. It's definitely a great experience!

A very nutritious vegetarian soup that tasted so much like chicken soup..

Loved this hot drink which was so high in antioxidant content and nutrition value for females :) If you're one who adores health drink from the East a lot like me, let me tell you that this place would be your heaven!

Vegetarian ZhaJiangMian (炸酱面).. The texture of the noodles was so freshly made and everything that was served and eaten together with the noodles was amazing :)

If I'm not wrong, this was a tofu dish mixed with assorted vegetables.. As you can see from the picture, it looks exactly just like diced-chicken pieces. And as my friends and I were eating this, we almost couldn't differentiate whether we were dining at a Vegetarian or Non-vegetarian restaurant :p

Forgotten the name of this dish but the gravy served together with this dish was just perfect! I'm not trying to promote this restaurant even though I know it may seemed like it, but honestly speaking, everything we ordered wasn't a disappointment at all!

This was an appetiser dish. In my opinion, this was one of my favourite among all too.. I'm quite a big fan of tofu skins.. And this dish definitely contained all my favourite choice of flavours :)

This was the dessert that we ordered based on the recommendations of the waitress. It's a soy bean paste biscuit :)

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Based on the brief descriptions that I've given so far, I can assure you that the place that I've mentioned in this post is an ideal place for Vegetarian lovers who seek for something extraordinary.. Ambience, service, taste of food and everything else is great and I certainly have no complaints at all from my first visit. If I ever visit Beijing again, I would definitely love to try the afternoon tea experience at King's Joy!

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Student life is officially over...

2016-10-06T07:20:00.002+01:00

Taken last month by a friend of mine, Eva, back in London at Canary Wharf area.. (Wu Wei & I in the picture above)

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HI GUYS... (I'm back from the dead) WHAT HAPPENED TO BLOGGING?

I KNOW, I KNOW... Well, it's been almost more than a year.. My last post was precisely back in August 2015, and moving forward to the present – it's already the 6th of October, 2016. & you know what's more interesting? Last year this time, I was just a new fresh undergraduate from my Bachelor of Science in Materials Science & Engineering degree, who was about to just embark another interesting journey at UCL School of Management for a Masters in Science in Management degree.

It is so crazy that how fast time can really fly in almost a blink of an eye. I just can't believe it – no matter how often I always say this. Words just can't be used to entirely describe the whole life story that I have experienced through the year of 2016 so far as well as the last bit of 2015 last year. I wish I could have the determination to document every bit of my life travels, university experience and London life previously on my blog.. If you're ever curious about it, I guess my Snapchat and Instagram account can actually contribute to most of the missing parts that I've left out on my blog to all of my readers :)

Now that I have completed my Masters degree officially, but just awaiting for the official results in a matter of few days' time and the graduation ceremony to be held next year during UK's summer time. Well, to be honest, it is still quite unbelievable whenever I come to think of this – I am now officially done with my education life. It's been exactly a month-ish since I last submitted my dissertation to UCL and yet, I still can't believe it or at least cope with the idea that Masters can no longer be a reason from holding me back in facing reality – work life. Student life has only seemed like it just started awhile ago, but now... This is really happening. I'M UNEMPLOYED *GRINS...

At just the age of 23, I have managed to achieve what I really wanted all along, to have gained another extra degree for Masters that is Business-related and totally different from my previous science and more technical degree. What more satisfying to me is, I managed to have met so many other course mates from all walks of life originating from different countries and races altogether, as well as having the opportunity to get to know them at a personal capacity throughout my postgraduate course. My Masters, I would say, is definitely one of the best things and choices that I've ever made in my life. To many, it may just be another waste of time or even money to have studied a Masters degree without having to have any work experience so far. However, to me, it will always be considered and cherished as a personal enrichment and self-development during that phase of my life.

Without further delay, I would actually love to update my readers (if you're interested to know) the places that I have went so far such as Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, New York, Tenerife, Rome, coupled with the student exchange experience to Tsinghua University, Beijing, that I was fortunate enough to have had a chance to go, representing UCL in May 2016... Please read my next blog post to find out what travel pictures or experience that I would share ;)

Again, thank you for actually taking the time to read my long-abandoned blog. Haha.

This will ALWAYS & forever be a place for me to write anything at anytime.. <3

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Final update for Easter trip!

2015-08-07T08:10:00.002+01:00

Last night in LA

Our last day in LA was rather chill.. Just walked around Rodeo Drive again, visited more shops, and of course some other shopping malls that we have not covered :)

At Beverly Hill's very own "Spanish Steps". Finally get to come here personally and have a picture taken here :p

The puppy that was clinging onto me when I visited Satine Boutique.

Tried out Umami Burger instead of the famous burger in Cali: In-N-Out Burger.

What I've ordered: some beef truffle burger :p

YUMS. Guilty as ever but so good, heh.

The outdoor swimming pool at Mr C's.

A picture together at the hotel waiting area before we headed back to Westfield's for some Asian food and to catch the Insurgent movie (Divergent's part 2).

That night ended rather simple with just movies, shows and food before the packing began.. We had to be prepared for our flight the next day back to Chicago :)

Last day in LA & last night in Chicago

Managed to grab some breakfast at Mr. C's restaurant.

After our breakfast, it was finally time to bid goodbye to Mr C, Beverly Hills area and LA in general :') It has been a great time so far in LA & of course LV, and I'm sure I'll definitely come back again in future.. For now, this experience and trip that I've had so far has been a very satisfying one. I couldn't be any happier and more blessed for this trip :)

Our flight from LA back to Chicago lasted about 4-5 hours in total.. As soon as we touched down Chicago, the weather transition was undeniably drastic. I had to bear with not only the changes in weather as well as the time difference too. We were both tired and hungry at the same time from all the travelling we've had, so shortly after, we checked in to the hotel that we've booked, and then pug bought me to this other restaurant that he wanted me to try all along – a Japanese BBQ place.

Some mint choc chip ice-cream from Baskin Robins to end the night.

Remaining time in Chicago before flight

It was a rather difficult time throughout the entire lunch that we had in Eataly. I sort of couldn't bear the thought of separation that I was bound to face again after lunch, where we both had to head back to our so-called respective lives: me back to Manchester; him back to Champaign. It was going to be another two and a half months till' we were going to meet again. So, if I can recall back, I couldn't really talk much over lunch.. In fact, I just enjoyed the company in silence as time passed by..

I will definitely come back for Chicago in future again; as for LDR, I'm glad to admit that it's finally over because we are reunited again. Although it certainly wasn't an easy journey at all, but I think as for now, I felt that throughout all the down's and obstacles we've faced in our relationship, in my opinion, I thought it brought us closer and made our relationship stronger again.

I hope all the bored talks about relationships and my never-ending pictures + updates for my Easter trip previously didn't scare you guys at all. Hehe, in fact, I'm glad to say that the next time I'd probably writeup on my graduation and trips that I've had after exams :)

That's all for now.

Till then,

✗

KrystalH

Update #5 for Easter trip

2015-08-03T13:12:00.002+01:00

Day 7 in LA

The next morning, pug went to change to another car due to some issues with the car rental company.. However, our day turned out to be rather chill, free and easy because we didn't really have any plans besides staying around Beverly Hills area, more shopping and eating again. Heh. Besides that, one of the highlights on that day was being able to meet Ellen Degeneres at Maxfield LA, in person. Such a rare opportunity, but yea, I didn't have a picture taken with her all thanks to the pug.

Saw her with this guy next to her that day! I'm not boasting or kidding, not even a bit. But yeah, hard to prove that I really saw her since after all I have no pictures at all!

Was so furious after that as he refused to help me in handling my handphone. Whatever it is, no matter what, I still saw her in person whether you believe me or not; and yes, she sounded just exactly the same as how she usually is on her talk-shows. Up till' now, I still can't believe that she was just in front of me, standing at the cashier counter, speaking to one of the workers, and holding her Birkin bag; yet I didn't grab the opportunity at that time to have a picture with her T.T *sobs* Thinking back of it now, I would very much like to just slap myself at the face over & over again... Oh well.

Decided to try out The Ivy Restaurant in LA, one of the popular hangout areas for celebrities again.. But as far as I know, this place requires reservation in advance if you ever want to have a try. Not only that, it has really pretty decorations all over the restaurant – filled with flowers, and vibrant prints; reminded me so much of the perfect place for a girl's tea party. Heh.

My freshly blended mixed berries juice.

Fresh roses on every table in the restaurant!

Our lobster pizza!!

Cold stone crabs..

Pasta cooked with beef in pink sauce.. Surprisingly good.

Pug's favourite Mexican dish..

The entrance to the restaurant! How pretty is it?

The entrance to Mr. C's hotel where we'll be residing for the next three nights.

Also, this was our room that we checked-in at Mr. C's Beverly Hills. So amazing.... Wish I could stay here forever, haha..

Bought another box of Sprinkles this time.. And it was all for me. *greedy me*

The Balmain jeans that I finally wore out for our fine dining at Providence, a seafood restaurant rated as the top ten places to dine in LA...

Complimentary starters.

After our dining experience at the Providence, we decided to take the car and drive along Beverly Hills area, with the convertible car roof opened! Heh, we could only do things like these back in LA then, but not in KL obviously due to safety reasons.

Went back to Mr. C after that and stayed at the lobby lounge area, had some drinks while listening to some live band that night.

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Day 8 in LA

Woke up the next day, managed to do brunch at this place which also had quite great reviews and ratings – Blu Jam Cafe. Waited in the queue for awhile before we could finally have a seat to enjoy our brunch on a Sunday. After brunch, we made a move towards Downtown LA, where we had the chance to check out Little Tokyo, Staples Center and Chinatown too.

The guy's choice dish for brunch.

My choice of dish.. One of their signature toasts. & GUESS WHAT? I actually finished the entire plate! OMG.

Managed to make a trip to the Grammy Museum too :p During our visit then, Taylor Swift was nominated as artist of the month. Therefore, her posters were basically plastered everywhere in the museum.

Check out who he was actually "posing" with.. Hint: Kanye West.

Trying to impress me with his so-called drum skills.

Taylor Swift huge-ass poster :D

After that, we explored around Little Tokyo.. Tried a restaurant that serves Udon..

My huge bowl of Uni udon!

Later that evening, pug brought me to the Griffith Observatory where it was located at the hill top. We got there by taking the free shuttle bus service ;)

Panaroma view at the top.

LA city at a distance..

From where I stood – Hollywood sign could be seen.

Just me trying to take a fail touristy shot :O

Another shot of yours truly with the Hollywood sign far, far away..

After visiting the Griffith Observatory, we drove back down hill to head back to Beverly Hills area... Can never get tired of the palm trees I promise...

Palm trees again... This shot was taken while I was in the car!

<3 Beautiful... Amazing sunset shot at a distance with the palm trees alongside :p

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Later that night, we decided to check out the Westfield shopping mall at Beverly Hills area. Since we've had too much of fine dining for the past few days, we decided to settle for something more comforting and Asian – Sze Chuan food. Food wasn't too bad at this place where we've tried called Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant. Hehe, please do check it out if you're ever around the area and decided to have something different :D

That's all for now! I hope your weekend was fruitful and enjoyable so far!

Have a great week ahead guys.

Till then,

✗

KrystalH

Update #4 on Easter trip

2015-08-01T18:41:00.001+01:00

Day 4 in Los Angeles

Took the morning flight and arrived at LA before noon. Felt so excited and happy as soon as I arrived at LA, especially when the taxi was around Beverly Hills area.. :p Went straight to our hotel which was really strategically located in Beverly Hills centre.

The excitement that I had when I knew they served Green Tea Frap at Starbucks in the states :p

Palm trees... So much like 90210~

More palm trees ;)

Just a random shot of me along Rodeo Drive~!

The guy who was carrying my purchase from Charlotte Olympia. Haha. I wish I lived in LA.. The people that you meet and customer service that you get from shopping around the Rodeo Drive area are simply incomparable to what I've seen/received so far in the UK or Asia.

Spotted a pink Bentley.. *screams*

After shopping around Barneys etc, decided to finally pay a visit to my long-awaited-dream-place – Sprinkles!!! Got a cupcake from the store, and went on to the next store which was also Sprinkles, but the difference was, it also served ice-creams etc.

OMG. Fell in love with this place instantly~

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

This was the highlight of my day or shall I say, my entire trip!!!!

I present you, one of their signatures from Sprinkles – Red Velvet ice-cream sundae/cupcake. To be more precise, it was like a deconstructed cupcake, but with cream cheese ice-cream inside... I just couldn't describe in words on the goodness of this cup of sundae at all. Please, just give this a try if you are ever visiting the states. Sprinkles are almost everywhere in the states, not only in LA!

An up-close view of my sundaeeee <3

Red Velvet cupcake. Another one of their signatures <3

How cute isn't it?!

Dinner on the first night was Korean food. One of the highly-raved place in K-town, and we had to queue up for almost 45mins to an hour just to get a table. How great the business was! Sorry, & I just couldn't recall the name of the restaurant at all, hehe.. But look, a table full of side dishes, and they were all just for two of us! And did I mention it's refillable and they were all complimentary?? Unlike back in the UK, any side dishes that you want, you are required to order and pay for it.

The first night was just basically exploring Rodeo Drive on Beverly Hills, more shopping areas, and a lot of eating at Beverly Hills area & then K-town, before we called it a night!

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Day 5 in LA

Woke up really early the next day because we were going to make a trip to the Universal Studios!

My portion of breakfast order.. How big they were. If I continue eating like that without any form of exercise, I'm pretty sure in a long run, I'll definitely gain tons of weight.

Decided to check out the Nespresso Cafe along Beverly Hills area after breakfast.

My cup of latte.. It was really mild and was more focused on the taste of honey, milk and nutmeg.

Finally here! Back here again for the second time because I actually came here when I was 8 last time.. Somehow, couldn't really remember a lot of it anymore~

Universal Studios, Hollywooddddd!

Joining the tour!

Ted 2.

Taking The Simpsons ride! haha.

This was surprisingly good! Those were like tiny ice-cream balls that will melt in your mouth, and I've ordered chocolate mint that time.. A great way to quench my thirst under the hot sun instead of a bottle of water :p

Just being touristy..

Super hot weather.. You could tell from my almost-brown skin colour...

Not really a clear shot here.. But this will do. heh.

Kinda worn out towards the end – our face explains it all.

After our tour at Universal Studios, we finally headed back to our hotel, washed up and changed into another semi-formal attire for our dinner reservation at one of the bests fine dining places in LA – Spago. This was one of celebrity chef, Wolfgang Puck's restaurants... & honestly, I have nothing but high praises for this place. Every dish that I've had that night never failed to surprise me... Furthermore, the restaurant works on a different choice of menu everyday. That was certainly one point that made me impressed. Alright, I'll just let the picture do most of the talking!

Bone marrow as our starters... This was divine!!! I wish I could have this again now...

My choice of starter – white asparagus with some sort of white fish... Surprisingly good!!!

A kind of lobster pasta... 👍🏻👍🏻

Could salivate over the thought of this dish again... This was a type of squid ink pasta cooked with assorted seafood, and shall I highlight the fact that it consisted a generous amount of fresh sea urchin's too?? *salivating now*

Le pug's choice of mains – Lamb shank.

Our portion of sides for the greens... It's huge isn't it??

The amazingly delicious mains that I've had that night – white cod fish cooked in a fusion style.. Somehow, I felt that the dish was so creative as it has incorporated some Thai basil and Chinese flavours!!!

Dessert.... A very huge Mille Fueille that the waiter has portioned out into two servings! So unbelievably huge & good!

Basically went to bed with a very satisfied stomach.. I would pay to go there again, if I ever have the chance to visit LA in future. So in short, our second day in LA pretty much consisted of eating, Universal Studios, and more eating again :p I know, our trip so far just contained so much of eating. I wonder how did I manage all the food back then too.

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Day 6 in LA

Rented a car on the third day in LA.. Obviously, I wasn't the one driving! Hehe. So comfortable and nice throughout our journey to Malibu till' I could fall asleep without worrying about pug's driving at all. *grins*

Nobu Malibu.

Weather was so sunny in Malibu, but it felt really good to be seated outdoor under the shade!

This was one of the dishes that was only exclusively for Nobu in Malibu! Surprisingly, it beats the rest of the dishes that we've ordered so far!

Uni tacos, another exclusive dish only for Malibu's Nobu.

Can I just stay here and not leave? X

Pink Berry's lime flavour... So good!!! Definitely the champion for froyo. In my opinion, Snog, Moo Cow or any other frozen yoghurt places in UK/KL can't even be compared to Pink Berry! So sad that they've actually closed the one in Selfridges London, and had it replaced with Snog instead.

Santa Monica's pier...

Soaking up more sunshine at Santa Monica!

After our short road trip during the day to Malibu and Santa Monica, we finally headed back to Beverly Hills area and then back to our hotel before making further plans for dinner.

Dinner was at Koi Restaurant, a place which serves Japanese cuisine that was located at West Hollywood.. Wouldn't say that this place was the best or very good, because I felt that the food they served was more catered for the local-Californian's tastebuds instead of typical Asians like us who are so used to authentic Japanese cuisine.

However, I wouldn't give such bad ratings to the place if you ask, since after all, the concept and type of food from the restaurant is somehow different from a lot of Japanese places we've had before. Maybe you could always give this place a try, if you ever wanna try your luck in bumping into any celebrities since I've read tons of comments about the place being one of the favourite hangout spots for celebrities. Heh.

Hehe, I know if those of you who are going through my blog post right now must be thinking: "You guys can really eat a lot, just for two!" Haha.. And yes, I wouldn't deny the fact that throughout our trip in LV and LA so far, if it weren't shopping, it would be eating. Yeap. That's us. Hah.

Okie dokes, I guess your eyes must be tired from all the food pictures! Teehee, just trying to finish the entire update for my Easter trip as soon as possible.

Goodnight for now!

Till then,

✗

KrystalH