Random highlights of the year

So 2013 has flew by really quickly. Here are some of the highlights of the 2nd half of the year for me :)

Celebrated ze novio's birthday in June.. Just a simple dinner together; nothing too fancy :) 

#Couldn't get anyone who was around to take a photo for us so we did the next best thing ----> elevator-mirror-selfie ;)

#Got him an ice cream cake for the first time ever. Could you believe the both of us finished that whole thing on the spot? It was so cold that our mouth felt super numb after that..haha

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Dinner with the family at this new ramen restaurant we discovered at the Intermark, KL.

Menya Musashi :)

My dad absolutely loved it. He has been raving about how al dente the noodles were ever since we had it.

#There are 4 flavours to choose from and this is one of them. Mine was the red spicy one :) But if you like something authentic then go for the brown soup (i forgot what it was called).

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#Hello Kitty coffee art @Coffee Stain by Joseph

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Went out with ze novio and the sister one fine day. Basically just to chill and hang out.

#Lovin' this epic picture. Squeezy pouty!

#Now here's another epic pic of Jo-Ann..hahaha

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#Almost could not believe my eyes when I saw this sign one time at Publika. Looks like my childhood dream of becoming a doctor eventually became a reality, through another Abby. haha.

Lovin' my stripe maxi from Dr Fashion! 

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#Nice expression there sista! I'm particularly fascinated by this geometrical-looking object beside us. 

In October, 3 of us : ze novio, his sis and myself decided to head down to Melaka for a food escapade! But through the pic below, you can obviously see we explored way more than just food. :D

#Are you wondering what were we trying to do? 

We were actually trying our level best to reenact the hindi movie, Chennai Express', train-chasing scene...which if you're not aware of, is extremely common in hindi movies. Haha.

Attempt failed cuz we kept laughing. 

#At the famous cendol store in Melaka. One of my fav pics of 2013 :)

#You can't call it a Melaka food escapade if you haven't tried one of these yummy cendol. Absolutely mouthwatering!

#Not forgetting Satay Celup at the most popular one known as Capitol. Queue already started although we went there really early. Coincidentally, it was ze novio's uncle's friend who owns this place. 

Believe it or not, it was my 1st time there! After having been to Melaka for sooo many times I finally had my chance to give this place a try. Really loved their thicky gravy.. 

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Rewinding back to late August when I visited Bangkok, a city I have been to for at least 4 times in my life. I's like my second home ya know.

#Love locks at the Swiss Sheep Farm @Cha-am, Hua Hin. 

# You + Me = <3 

Maths made easy! haha

#One-of-a-kind experience feeding the sheeps. They were like hungry wolves constantly craving for more. hence my expression here. Super duper funny!

#Yay! Now I can be a princess riding on a horse carriage too. I think we paid 100 baht for this experience @Swiss Sheep Farm. But the ride was a really short one.

# Since my dreams of going to the REAL Santorini @Greece isn't arriving anytime soon, this is a pretty good attempt, no?

#My first pair of Melissa shoes. Got it at an awesome 50-60% discount at a store in Bangkok which also sells other labels.:) Unfortunately, I wish it was a lil' more comfortable. Somehow it seems to keep cutting into my last toe and I'm a lil' disappointed. So currently am only wearing it for short events..

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And finally the definite highlight of the year has to be the day I've been waiting for since I first stepped into my campus: My Convocation!

After 4 long years of hard work, toil, sweat and sleepless nights (as cliched as it sounds), I can proudly say I am a graduate, and from a local university:) My CGPA was 0.03 away from getting First class honours but what is done is done. I did my best and I accept my result with gratitude cuz I know everything is a gift from Him :)

#Disheveled after a long day. Nevertheless I couldn't keep the smile off my face :)

#And is there a better gift apart from being able to graduate together with your loved one? :) 

Absolute happiness!

10 things

I came up with a list of 10 things to be grateful about. It's just a reminder of how much I already have and how much there is to be thankful for in this life.:) Like they say,'The happiest people are not those who have a lot, but it's those who are contented with the little they have.' It's good to write down 10 random things you're thankful for. Its somewhat proven to give you that boost and emotional lift :)

I'm thankful for...
1. The fact that I wake up every morning and I'm still alive and breathing and kickin'. Many people fall asleep and don't wake up the next day....So the God-given breath of life is not something anyone should take for granted.

2. The best mum in the face of planet earth. And i truly mean it. A mum who still wants to feed you with her own hands (like that time when she asked me to open my mouth so she could stuff a piece of egg mayo) even when you're already a young adult...But yet in her eyes,you're always still a big baby.:) 

#Back in beijing 2010. Ok you can't really see my mum cuz her specs are all blurred cuz the weather was 0 degrees! hahaha.It was Reaaaally freezing temp. I wasn't in too good shape either..wrapped like a burito ==' And i had to ditch my lenses for something more comfy..le sigh. No room for fashion or looking pretty during icy cold blistering winter man..unless you can brave the cold. I can't.


A mum who would make cup of tea for you whenever you ask for it even though she knows you're just being pure lazy by giving her the excuse that she makes 'better tea'. ><

A mum who doesn't like shopping (yes, you heard it right) and hardly goes out except to work..but joyfully INSISTS she wants to tag along with her two daughters even if she knows she has to pay for everything during that trip to the mall and in the process, get pestered to buy that cute Nike gear.==

And best of all, a mum who rather shamelessly tells everyone (from the uncle at the optical shop to the mak cik at pasar) she meets and drags me to them saying (more like yelling), 'THIS IS MY DAUGHTER! PRETTY OR NOT? LOOK LIKE ME OR NOT?' And when they respond with a 'Waahhhh..she looks JUST LIKE YOU' , 'Looks like your sister!', 'What? I can't believe it..you look so young'...she has the wide grin on her face and a rather sheepish yet happy smile. LOL. And you walk away feeling rather embarrassed and questions her purpose for that, but deep down you know she's proud of you.:)


3. The other half of my parents - my DAD! (needless to say). The strictest, most demanding autocratic dictator (prolly i exaggerated a lil..haha) in the Chan family but who has also in recent years mellowed down a lot.:) The one who never fails to give good advice ; supports you in everything you do and would defend you when you were being bullied during your younger years :) The one who trusts in you even when the entire world says you're wrong. 

Only a dad would do that, and for that...I'm beyond blessed.:)

4. My results last semester.  I've been doing rather consistently well every sem, although i had some minor slip ups in two sems but last semester's result was a pleasant surprise.Cuz i just felt i didn't put in that much effort compared to some other sem. I got a First Class CGPA *wide smile* Really thankful to the Lord for this undeserved favour. Now lets just hope this sem's results will be good. It doesn't have to be fantastic, I know i did my best, that's enough :)

5. The many trips abroad that I've managed to go to in recent years. It didn't come easy cuz no one in the family is a travel junkie as much as I am and budget is always another issue especially if you're travelling as a family! (which means expenses will skyrocket). And none of my friends are really that gung-ho about travelling unfortunately :( But so far I've managed to cover the following:
- Bangkok x3 (2009,2010,2011) Yes, i love Bangkok this much! :D
-Beijing,China x2 (2010, 2011) One during winter, the other, summer. Diff experience ;)
-South Korea (2011)
-Singapore x2 (2010, 2011) I know its funny that I've only been to Sg twice despite the fact that we live so near to them.LOL.But i love it there, really :)
-Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (2011)
- Indonesia (Medan, 2003 & Jakarta, 2008) Both under my church's mission and conference trips :)
- Taiwan (2012) The most recent one!:)

#Taiwan : Queing up for a very popular ice cream. I really forgot what its called but you can add your own toppings (which are free) and its pretty delicious too, hence the long queue!

#One of the best hotels in which we stayed. I think we moved at least 3-4 times during our week's stay.;) But this is the top of the list! Great service and we loved the concept!

#South Korea: This was taken at Mt Seorak when the scenery was at its best during autumn. If you guys wanna visit Korea, Autumn is definitely ze best time! Cuz that's when you get to see beautiful maple leaves in an array of orange, greens, reds and browns.:)

Really breathtaking I must say!

#Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: Now you see me.......

Now you don't! 

This was at Chu Chi Tunnel in Vietnam. It used to be a special hole where the people would hide during a war. As you can see from the picture, the hole looks really small and it really is. I reckon it could only fit someone less than a 6 footer After me, there was a caucasian man trying to get in but had great difficulties. So, yea, go into the hole at your own risk. XD

Btw, did i mention my mum totally freaked out when i volunteered to go first? She was so afraid it was a one way trip down there. HAHAHA. But of course,I went down and came back up! So there was really no need to worry. LOL

As you can see they're all Asian countries, not that I'm complaining.:) But my ultimate dream is to cover Europe, America and Japan. Oh, and Maldives! The list would go on forever but shall take it one step at a time.:) collect more moolahs first...hehe

7. Being one of the top 5 finalist in my uni's Prom Queen ceremony although i honestly think there must have been some sort of mistake! (Random? hahaha. But this is a random To-Be-Thankful-For-List okay) And no, i didn't win, and i wasn't surprised either.haha. I was feeling REALLY jittery on stage.:/ Not to mention, having fever and flu on the same day...le sigh


#Can you spot me? Hint: Am wearing my all time fav shade ;)))


8. Being able to try out all the awesome new restaurants/ cafe/ foodspots while I'm back in KL. I'm glad i don't have to eat Nasi goreng kampung and Maggi goreng almost everyday while I'm in Johor. I'm serious. There's not many options there since its like an outskirt area and mostly are Malay stalls.I do love mamak food and its one of my fav hangout spots, but too much of anything can make you really sick.:/ So i make it a point that while I'm in KL, i have to explore all the good stuff!

#Mc Cafe brekkie with my beloved during one of those rare days when both of us were up early.haha. :)

#Fried tempura at Pasta Zanmai. 

#One of the best pork ribs ever @ Morganfield

#My all time fav cendol at Jonker Street, Melaka. :D

Looking at this really makes me hungry! 

#First time trying out at Watami Japanese restaurant @Paradigm Mall. I love how they gave us good service too :)

9. God's protection and mercy during the accident i met roughly 1 month ago. I felt like it should not have happened cuz it was an emergency break done by the first car but i slipped up and couldn't break in time.But everything happens for a reason and I'm just really thankful no injury was incurred and no lives were loss.

10.I'm not a sports person for the most part but last year I decided to challenge myself to join the Penang Bridghe Marathon. Together with my dad and bro who have been joining marathons for a couple of years, we decided to sign up. My sis and mum joined in the fun too :) I didn't get to train much prior to the actual event cuz i was so caught up with my assignments + thesis..and then i fell really sick for 1-2 weeks which was just around the corner before the marathon. However,to cut the long story short, i managed to do it on the actual day and i even surprised myself (and my family) by clocking in at just 1 hr 12mins for 10km! :D which is a hugeeee achievement me thinks ;) On top of that, the results showed I'm the Top 8% out of the 5000 participants who were in my category, which certainly added to my satisfaction and joy :)

#This was during a charity run organized by my church just days before the actual marathon so i took it as a practice and exercise for the actual one in Penang. I emerged in the 7th place for my category in this run :) Could have done better but still satisfactory me thinks..hehe

Opps btw, did you notice i missed out no.6? HAHA. Well then, I guess no.6 will be being thankful for starting this blog so that I can record my journey of life and in the future, reminisce in amusement and loads of gratefulness ;)