Times

So. I was made redundant last month.

O right. Happy New Year, 2021. And yes, Happy Lunar New Year, today.

Dont get too upset now, I expected my redundancy since the company merged early last year. And hence why I worked really hard to 'prove' myself valuable to the company. I think the company tried too, to create room for me. They just didnt value what I can offer, though.

So really, there was closure and relief, when I was told my position is redundant. I had a small payout too, which I used to satisfy a luxurious want (yesterday, kekeke), so I guess it isnt that bad. You'll find out soon *mysterious smile

In all honesty, after all the worry and anxiety for half of 2020, I was pretty calm by this time, more like fed up and resigned. Even was going to start looking for jobs in 2021. So.. knowing I was going to be jobless in a week, I left it all to God, my troubles and my worries. Even Fen was pretty taken aback by how calm I was. Although, yes I am very hurt by the company's decision and my new boss' promises that I was very much needed in the company *rolls eyes

In the 3 years I've been in Oz, I've had 6 jobs. In the 10 years of my Singapore career, I've had 3 jobs. Go figure. So yes, it is very disturbing for me that I cant find a workplace to settle in. Then again, I'm in a different country. So I got over it.

Before you start feeling sorry for me.

The recruitment agency that placed me in my last 2 jobs was VERY speedy to help me get back into the workforce. Within a week from my last day, I already had 2 decent job offers. Hurhurhur. Are they good or am I good, lol. But no.

GOD IS GOOD.

I mean it. The lessons learnt these last 3 years have been hard, so I'm saying it again. A job does not define me. Hence I chose not to worry. Not to be put down. Not to be depressed. Yes, I was sad because I put in effort in my job, only to be rejected. Knowing that it was not the culture for me.

So the whole episode was timely, was planned and in God's timing.

The last 2 weeks were just me resting, catching up with a few friends, hiking, shopping spreeing, and lotsa lame funny videos laughing my heart out. T'was perfect and refreshing.

P/s: Victoria just announced a Stage 4 lockdown reintroduction from midnight tonight. Again, perfect timing and I'm just thankful for God. My heart is full and I'm at peace.

Pp/s: I got a shitty haircut last week. Lost my thick blunt cut and have an overly layered head now. Worst thing was the styling after, made me look like a 50yo aunty. My face was speechless.

Ppp/s: I'm on a roll watching Chinese dramas. Shocking, but they're mostly wuxia ones, so brought back tons of childhood memories!

Anyway, hope you guys are doing well yourselves, take care. God bless!

Our Earth. You, yes you, can save it.

I'm back! Did not expect to be absent for this long, really. Life caught up for a bit, and I was just immersing in it.

Let's see, what has happened since March this year?

Duh. Covid-19. I suppose it was a blessing I managed to catch up with my family in SG in Jan, and Grace and Sharon in Melbourne when they were holidaying in Feb, right before things got worse and companies started working from home.

It's now 7 months since working from home. I should be relishing every moment of it while it lasts, but am already dreading going back to the overcrowded city bustling with people, noise, chaos. After all, I did come here for the space and quiet. And I do really, really love the idea of not squishing with people on the train, not spending 3 hours commuting, not paying $180/mth for the Myki pass. It's also very environmentally friendly, not commuting! Public or private transport.

I arranged for my haircut in Aug, only to have it postponed to Sept and then postponed again until further notice when Stage 4 lockdown kicked in. This week, since the 5km restrictions are lifted and hair salons are allowed to reopen, I got a call from my hairdresser to reschedule my hair appointment. That was such a joyous moment! So excited for this Friday =)

Online shopping has been great. Other than the super delayed shipping if we ordered from USA, we pretty much get our stuff within the week.

The mask culture didnt really bother me too, I've been loving masks since travelling to Taiwan and picking up their love for masks. I'm not keen on wearing masks to gyms when they reopen though. Working out is a huff and puff business, masks seem a bit impractical that way..

Also, just celebrated Fen's birthday. It was quiet and beautiful, with a few surprise Uber Eats delivered to our place from friends! We took leave from work the next day (which is technically yesterday, lol) and took advantage of the lifted restrictions to travel further out and explore Point Cook Saltwater Coast. Figured the car needed to stretch the legs wheels, too.

A few things I picked up this season:

• I cut Fen's hair better now. Thank you, YouTube. Got rid of his 3 year old man bun, and gave him a BTS look (so says everybody)
• Knitting beanies. I was knitting scarves sometime in 2018, but stashed it aside until this winter, when I decided I've had enough of small beanies that look atrocious on me. On my 7th beanie now, as we speak
• More Asian dishes. Pretty expert at glutinous rice, wantons, carrot/yam cake, fried fish soup with evaporated milk now~
• Must have baked basque burnt cheesecake three thousand times now.
• Running 6km once a week

Must have bought at least 5 new cat beds for the cats. Time spent with them is never enough, but I count my blessings, anyway. They're doing well, I managed to get their dental cleaning rescheduled, and we've been home so much there hasnt been too much drama between Ash and Pitch, so they've stayed safe and well. We did panic a little bit when supermarkets were imposing limits to chicken, because we bulk cook and freeze their meals. Luckily that restriction didnt last too long.

I wrote this entry today not really to recap this pandemic life, actually.
Just finished watching David Attenborough's A Life On Our Planet on Netflix. This entry might sound like my last, not intended but necessary.

A person as famous as David Attenborough had repeated over and over again about how we are destroying our natural world. Has mankind listened? Really listened and do something about it? Maybe, perhaps not enough.

I keep asking myself, what else can I do as an individual? What more can I help? Other than being educated and aware of the world around us, the products and where they come from, I need to ACT.
So should you. Please, we have to do something. Anything.

As a matter of fact, since my last post, I've already begun to reduce meat intake. Fen has been soooo supportive, agreeing to eat lesser beef himself. Our meat varieties are turkey, chicken, seafood, with the occasional duck when they're on sale (hoho~). He's big on morning fruit smoothies, which is a great plus!

Even our body wash, dishwashing liquid and hand wash are eco-friendly now. The plans for our house now are not just installing solar panels, but also perhaps keep bees and plant more native plants, and grow our own vegetables. The ideas are endless, the options are endless, we shouldnt stop trying to save Mother Earth.

I cannot stress enough. We must do something. We can make a difference. Let's not be conformists, let's do something good in this world. Please.

You can.

Eco-friendly journey

I am going to list a number of changes I've made in efforts to do my part to be kinder to the environment.

And remember, anything is better than nothing. I'm not a saint, so dont be saying unkind lame shit like "o you dont drink cow's milk anymore, but you still eat cheese..?"

• A lotta Oz homes are installed with solar panels for hot water. It's pretty neat, and works to save bills and tap on available energy =) If I ever have my own place, I'd defo install me some solar panels.
• Switched to natural hair shampoo. I get mine from Hairstory, and there are definitely cheaper options out there. The shampoo has no suds, and my hair health has even impressed hairdressers. The point is, the soap we use washes down the drain and into sewage, and eventually, the ocean. What we do matters. I only wish natural is the way to go as a normal lifestyle, but brands these days market natural and chemical-free like it's a royalty and prestige. Our body washes are now also sulfate-free as we try to reduce our contribution to pollution.
• Stopped drinking cow's milk. The production of cow's milk is now commercialised on a large scale. Google 'cow's milk industry' and read up all you want. Simple fact: Cows need to give birth in order to lactate. To get that much milk you need to make cows give birth and deprive the calves from their mothers' milk because, well, humans wanna drink it.
• I've recently also stopped drinking soy milk. Was on it for 2 years after eliminating cow's milk, but I think soy milk is not ideal for my skin. I couldnt explain the millions of bumps on my face for 2 years until I started to pen down the changes I've made to my lifestyle, soy milk being one of them. It's only been a month, so I'm going to keep up with this to confirm my theory.
• Saying no to plastic bags when we buy stuff. That being said, we need trash bags, so.. we buy eco bags for our trash. There are however controversies over how eco the eco bags are, so.. I am just trying to do what I can, and if I have a better alternative, I will do my research and act on what I'm best informed of.
• Carrying our glass water bottles and reusable coffee cups everywhere we go. There was this time I went to a cafe to grab coffee, and it was like 4 out of 5 orders were in a reusable cup. This really comforts me, knowing how many disposable cups are reduced with everyone's combined efforts =)
• Even at my workplace, I'm constantly asking if there is a need to print. Where I can do digital copies or signatures or set up excel templates to do the exact same activity, I would. It's getting the team on board that's the challenge.
• Switching from plastic clingwrap to beeswax wrap. You can even make it yourself if you feel adventurous. Food wraps are pretty essential, and I find that a beeswax wrap does the job. It doesnt even have to be beeswax, as long as we use reusable ones that can reduce our garbage. Anything we can do on our part. Or finish our food every time so we never have to clingwrap any leftovers. Anything goes.
• Menstrual cup. I cant even stop raving about it. I got mine from Woolworths, DivaCup. Packaging says biodegradable silicone, which I really hope it's true. Truth be told, I am not a tampon user, had a bad experience when I didnt know how to use it for the first time (I was prolly 20 years old), and never touched tampons again. So this menstrual cup... Is weird. Every time I insert or take out, it just feels like.. I'm fingering myself. I know how it sounds.
  But it works, and I'm pleased with its function. So... I've put it to test:
  - Overnight 5hrs 1900-0120
  - Church on Day 2 6hrs 0900-1500
  - Hiking on Day 4 7hrs 0900-1600
  - Full day at work Day 5 8hrs 0700-1500
  Interestingly I didnt trust it enough for gym on Day 3, and used a pad which in turn ironically stained my pants after =/ 
  I will however recommend wearing a period underwear because in between changes, there will be a bit of blood spillage/leakage. It feels so good though, to have a clean bum (because, pad). Unless you use in and out of shower where you can thoroughly clean and wash the nether region, it wont be blood-free for sure.
• Latest switch: reusable cotton pads. I have, for many years, looked at the disposable cotton pads I'm using and wonder if it adds to the landfill in a negative way. I dont know what took me so long to search up reusable cotton pads, but I'm just thankful for whoever came up with it. 

I hope this is helpful to any of you looking to take some baby steps to change your lifestyle to a more eco-friendly one.

I think I can prolly do more on my part, and off the top of my head, compost is something I'd be interested to start, takes some work and research. This will further reduce the trash we take out. Currently we'd have 3 bags of general trash per week and a pretty full load for recyclables per fortnight. I'd just really like my own place to set up the compost though, coz you cant exactly move it about =/

Blink; it's 2020

Happy New Year everyone!

Despite being MIA for over half a year, can I just say, the last 10 days have been soooooooo packed. It's amazing how Fen and I could still find a day to sleep in till 1300 in the arvo, and still gym 2 times the past 2 weeks! Okay you think 2x in the last 2 weeks is weak. But I went with a Grade 3 full ligament rupture and avulsion fracture, so.. beat that.

As Fen and I were reflecting 2019, he said it was more eventful for me than for him. Well, so I began to recollect the events of the last 12 months:

• Learning (still) to have 3 cats in the house as we welcomed Ash the highly likely Abyssinian-mixed into the family. It hasnt been the easiest, but we do love all 3 furries so very much. Our cats have very different personalities, and as we embrace all of them, we continually pray for them to accept one another and co-exist to be happy and healthy. Not quite there yet, but we'll keep trying..
• Jobless for 1st 2 months of the year; constant crying, feeling sorry for myself, dwelling in past glory days, stressing Fen out with my suicidal thoughts of unworthiness and uselessness in the world.
• Got into serious rock climbing - Fen bought us the climbing shoes and gear so we can now hop around climbing gyms and just pay entrance fees. Love climbing with my boy =)
• A church friend threw a crumb for a casual job as a Receptionist; grabbed it immediately, got the role, and started to mingle with humans again, after a very very bad 10 months of my 1st job in Melbourne being assigned a janitor's room as my office. What a breath of fresh air. And did I mention the job was in the city?! I was stuck in the West since we touched down in Oct 17, so having a daily commute to the city was definitely welcomed. In the 3 months I was in the role, as I started processing with my qualifications and experience, that the best job I could get was a casual Receptionist, negative thoughts started to crawl back to my head.
  That's when Fen told me to get off IG for 3 weeks to be more mindful of my reality and not get caught up with all the social media and their superficial 'perfect' posts.
• Made new friends at church and finally could be ourselves with like-minded and open-minded people. Really was quite liberating when we find ourselves some good friends =)
• Started doing more and longer hikes. Went camping! Love all the experiences ^^
• And then Daniel fast. Felt really good with clean food. Lost 6kg. Had a breakthrough with a recruitment agency and aced the interview and finally landed my first ever accountant job. Albeit still a casual role. But finally getting the local experience that is soooooo required in this country. Yes, every company asks for a local experience without FIRST giving you that experience. Go figure.
• Got tired of the city commute HA. Didnt take that long. Have thoughts of relocating to regional areas, still thinking about it =/
• Bought our 2nd second hand car (lol). Bit dramatic during the purchase process really (then again, when am I not putting myself in dramatic situations *rolls eyes), but really thankful for this sturdy reliable vehicle now. Fifi had done us great great service for almost 2 years, and we're ready to have an upgrade and start exploring this country with longer road trips =)
• Celebrated Fen's birthday with our close friends at our rental place. So much laughter, so much love, a home away from home <3
• Finally landed a permanent job. After 2 FULL years in Melbourne. A very awakening journey. Taught me so much. "A job does not define me." "I did not move to Melbourne to get back the exact same life as I had in SG." "Happiness does NOT come from just having financial stability."
• Signed up for a gym membership with Fen. Fen researched intensively, and we literally tried/inquired 5 different gyms before settling with Crunch Fitness. And we've been enjoying it so far!
• Sprained my ankle and tore a ligament. You know, just to celebrate the closure of a dramatic year. Jazz up this year further~

The last 10 days of the year were definitely fun and packed. Lunches and dinners (non-stop feasting) at friends', cherry picking (cutting it real close coz the season is almost over!), beach day, not forgetting to gym regularly, hiking (with that ankle yes), still remembered to save lives and donate plasma at red cross lol, movie night with friends, sleeping in with Fen, catching up with laundry and ironing (!), spending quality time with furries.

O my, I enjoyed the break so much. Although I definitely wouldnt mind a quiet peaceful time spending Christmas and New Year. Spending it surrounded by friends is a bonus =)

So I'm just thinking up a list of prayers for 2020. Getting the Australia bush fires to stop will be a good start. A very painful lesson for the nation, dont know how the people directly impacted can recover. Let's not stop praying and doing every bit we can =*

I'll check in again, hopefully soon!

Take care, have a very blessed 2020, thanks for reading =)

Q2 2019

It has been a hot minute since I blogged here! I do have many topics to talk about, just never got around to doing it. Perhaps it's lack of time, motivation, creativity, or just really plain lazy.

I had a fantastic birthday spent with Fen, he was such a darling. We are hooked on indoor rock climbing for a couple of months now, so he bought me climbing gear for our future climbs =) It was such a great day spent climbing with him. Weather held up so well too, as we hopped around the city~

My prayer came to pass as I also managed to get a job and started working in March. It's not the best job I can get, but for now I'm just happy to bring in some dough. It has been a rough year, and things are looking up. I know I should be counting my blessings, and sometimes it's just so easy to sink back into self-pity. Fen has been a great support system, and church friends are reaffirming that and all encouraging.

Our hiking days are going strong, and now it's bumped up to camping! Had a overnight car camping experience during the Easter holiday weekend. It wasnt like, superb, but it was nice. Nice enough for us to wanna plan for the next one. In 3 weeks. Lol.

So our camping gear were fully sponsored by Fen's colleagues, who were more than excited to encourage him to go camping. He kept refusing to go when our church friends invited us, but I managed to convince him at the last minute. Still, we were under prepared for this trip, it got really cold and felt colder because we were in the nature and not the urban jungle. I also had too much Vietnamese coffee to drink, which didnt help my tummy. On top of it all, we kept getting lost and losing sight of the camp lead while on the road. Add-on, there were 4 cars altogether (12 campers) and maybe only 3 had Telstra network. It was bad. Nonetheless, the experience and company was really good.

Fen and I got excited enough to want to get our own camping gear. So when we say camping gear, it should have basic things like these..:

• tent
• sleeping bags
• mattress and air pump
• light/lamp
• camping chairs
• all-wheel drive (lol)

So, we've got ourselves a really good 2-man tent, and 2 really decent sleeping bags. We've got a well-battled Fifi, and the rest will have to come from China, unfortunately. But it's all good, I cant actually foresee myself being a regular camper, but I'm happy to be doing outdoorsy stuff like hiking, climbing, camping! Nothing too cray cray~

Cats. Pitch. Since my last post, she has given me a least 8 very deep puncture wounds, and on 2 occasions have sent me to the doctor's. She's still not cool with Ash, but Ash is getting cooler and cooler with her. So I guess there is some progress..

Fen and I are thinking of going on a Daniel fast for 3 weeks to pray for a new car. Doing some research now, and will need to work out our daily meal plans. We've been thinking about a new car for a year now, and while Fifi has been doing very well the last 2 months, we're thinking of going for longer and longer day trips and with her 325Ks mileage, we are just that bit concerned about making those trips safely.

Lastly, can I just quickly talk about Endgame!!! Sigh, a mega blockbuster, and the highlight from it all is fat jokes on Thor. The scene that stood out for me was the part when Thor's mum commented that 'the future hasnt been too nice' to Thor. Life is so hard for Thor.
Sure, the entire story is bizzare, but if I break up each character and what they've gone through, o man, such losses they suffered. Sigh. I'm a sucker for good character building stories.
Having said that, I'm definitely not a fan of time travel stories. Opens up tooooooooo many cans of worms that are very difficult to wrap and account for.

So yea, nothing exceptionally interesting in our lives now, but the days are good for us. Thanks for popping by to read!