Before I embarked on my new journey in my new job, I would like to pen the past journey down, to remember the things that I have done and to be able to look back and tell myself I made the right decision.
1. Starting The Clutter Bug Shop
I have always wanted to start my own business. The feeling of working on something I can call my own, where I can be in full control of my time and the things I want to do. Be it a bed of roses or a stumbling block, at least you learn from it the hard way the experience is invaluable.
No one gets rich by doing a day job his whole life, and there will come a time when one is too old to work. Then, what next? I admit I do admire people who find joy, success and stability in their own entrepreneurship journeys and I hope to be able to be like them someday.
This was one of the reason why I left my previous job without finding another one. I wanted time to figure out about this, to use the time to try this out because I know if I don't do it now, I may not dare to do it again... or well, I may be too old for this.
I pondered over this for some time and contemplating taking my bonus before leaving - that means about 1.5 - 2 months later, but D convinced me not to. Yeah, it's quite a large sum of money but the time, energy and lessons learnt during these months are things which you can't put a price tag to.
At this moment, though I am still pumping money in without seeing actual profits, I do feel happy, passionate and excited about the things that I am doing and really wish to continue if I could, in the hope that this can be something that defines who I am. To me, it's more of a hobby and passion than a business, if I can put it this way.
2. Eating Clean/Exercising
I blame it on not having no time to exercise and the lack of food choices when I am working. So now that my hands are free, I have no more excuses to not do something good for my body! Honestly speaking, eating clean and exercising regularly are never easy for me. I enjoy snacking and have a terribly low threshold for sweet stuffs. But, I know I had to do something about my weight before it's too late.
I used to be skinny. No matter how much I eat, my weight was constant throughout my puberty years. Then university hall life came about with regular late night suppers. The tummy emerged and stubbornly followed me till now. I hate running and I have no ball sense so I kinda hate most sports too. Diet/starving is a no-no because I just can't bare to go hungry.
I signed up for a gym package last year and have not been going regularly, so I thought now will be a good time to make my money worthwhile. Did more yoga, pilates, zumba and such and I do feel good after each class! I also embarked on Insanity Workout and completed 30 days of cardio exercises (not consecutively). Till now, I can't believe I did it. I could definitely feel the difference during this intense workout period - the focus on my core muscles and that I was able to complete most of the workout without giving up. BUT. My knees started to hurt after a month and that's why I stopped doing. I did not really link it to the workout until I found out others who does it also experienced the same thing as me. It may be because I am not doing the right way, and cardio exercises involved quite a bit of jumping with may not be the best for the knees.
I accompanied Insanity Workout with a one week (almost) carbo-free diet. Yogurt and fruits for breakfast, salad/fish soup/chicken/salmon for lunch and a light dinner with brown rice. My body did felt cleaner during this period of time. Even now, I try not to overeat and choose healthier choices most of the time and my tummy is definitely flatter. Occasionally when I am out, I still do indulge in comfort food.
D and I recently invested in a slow juicer as well which makes good cold-pressed juice. So for the past few weeks I have been religiously juicing for D, my family and myself. A glass of cold-pressed juice makes a good filling breakfast or a great drink after a workout!
I am happy to say I lost about 2-3kg during this period of time!
3. Reading
I literally don't read books at all. Otherwise I start on them but hardly reach the last page. If I do, I most probably took about 2 months to do so. My first language may be English but my grades are often not reflective of it as well and I am well aware about my poor grammar and lack of vocabulary in my personal dictionary. So, here's the attempt to improve on it!
I actually set this as one of my year end resolution - to read 5 books this year. YES, it's not a lot, but I am making a realistic goal based on past experience. Anyhow, I am proud to say I have reached my goal, starting on my 6th book and am currently obsessed with the Twilight Saga. Current read - Breaking Dawn (last book!)
4. Volunteering
Volunteering is not just about giving back to the society but it also helps one to count your blessings and be contented and thankful for all that you have. This is the reason why I wanted to spend time during this sabbatical of mine to do something meaningful.
I contacted a few charity organisations but not many replied or are interested to take in short term volunteers. SPCA was the only choice and I was more than delighted to accept it. I was appointed to assist at the dog shelter and boy, I had a totally enjoyable time there! It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be to wake up at 630am in the morning in order to reach the shelter by 8am. This is considered a great feat for sometime who sleeps late and through lunch time the next day.
I understood the heavy responsibilities in the decision of bringing a pet home. Like the saying goes, "To you, it may be just a pet, but to them, you are their life".
5. Blogging
Ah, I started blogging way back in my secondary school days. Stopped, and decided to be back on this again. This time, blogging not only helps me to pen down my thoughts, experiences and life, but serves as a platform for me to display my love for photography as a side hobby as well as to hone my writing skills. It is not easy to always find the time to organise my thoughts and write them all out properly. Time is always seem better spent going out, watching dramas or conducting some online shopping, but I will try to do so regularly!
6. Driving Lessons
I should be jailed for being the biggest procrastinator in the world. I started learning driving during the last years of my uni life and I have not graduate up till now! Was rather consistent during the first month of unemployment... then I got too caught up in my blogshop and other stuff that I neglected driving once again. Now that I am starting work soon, it will be difficult but I will try my very best not to let all these time, money and hard work go down the drain. Just less than 10 lessons to go, a FTT and the final practical test before I can be a qualified driver. Fighting!
7. Spending Time with Family and Friends
Without the irregular working hours on weekdays and having my weekends freed from work, I had more time to accompany my parents for home cooked dinners at home. I met up with my ex-colleagues and friends too, caught up with my group of girlfriends much more often than ever in the past few years, chill with random groups and individuals who I have not met and chat for the longest time and of course, with D as well. Weekends were not like the past where I meet him as and when my work ends, or sometimes just for a dinner or not at all. We could spend a whole day exploring places, not worrying about work or having people calling me up randomly. Family dinners were easier to plan as well since I am more accommodating with almost no schedule to talk about.
I cherish these times a lot and was one of the reason for my change in job as well. As much as it can be flexible in some sense, I do not want to lose the precious time I could spend with my family and friends.
8. Cooking/Baking
I envy those who can randomly whip up deliciously food without a recipe or just vaguely glancing at recipe books, and those who can bake pretty and yummy cakes for tea which are instagram-worthy too. During this time, I realised maybe I am really not cut out to be one.
I did quite a lot of baking, chocolate cake, banana muffins, macarons, choc oatmeal cookies, etc. Almost none was up to expectation even though I followed closely to the recipes used. Some I tried a few different recipes and yield different results, but none as close to what I should get. It came to a point when my mom begged me to stop making them my guinea pigs. D tried to be nice and was always encouraging about my desire to bake. But more often than not I find my bakes in his fridge after many weeks later...
Took up Japanese Cuisine class as well and learnt the skills from experts on common dishes like sushi-making, agedashi tofu, katsu don, chawanmushi and the likes. I thought, since recipes may be deceiving and may not be accurate, it can't go wrong seeing with my own eyes how things are being made.
This proved quite useful and my first attempt at the tofu and egg dish garnered rather good reviews from my family. Only down side, jap ingredients are so precise, difficult to find and a waste to buy if you are gonna just make it once.
9. Photoshoots and Editing
This is very much related to my blogshop. Had to learn the ropes all by myself, do every little bit of things on my own, including a very crucial part which is photo-taking and editing of the pictures of the accessories. I still remember when my first batch of goods came, I took 2 whole afternoons just finding the right place with bright sunlight and snapping all the way. Most of the raw photos weren't up to expectation at all and I spent the next few days, many hours each day, just editing till I'm satisfied. It was a tedious process and my inner being was asking if all these were worth it. All I can say now is that I am getting better and faster at this now and hope to improve further for future launches! Moreover, it is a new and useful skill learnt and made me appreciate Macbook more.
10. Travelling
Such a long break will be a waste if I did not spend some time travelling. The question is, who will be free to travel with me?? Fortunately D had a work trip to Brunei not long after and I tagged along to this country which I will never thought of going to if not for this opportunity. I blogged about it a while ago in March and I had a lot of fun travelling on my own as well as spending time with D.
These 100 days past really quickly.. in a blink of an eye, half a year is gone like that. First month was resting and rejuvenating my soul, second month was working hard on things that I am passionately and determined about, and the last was following through the things that I've been doing and kinda felt a little lost after accomplishing most of things that I wanted to do during this period. God did really had a plan for me and I am really thankful that everything just falls into place so nicely for me.
I felt accomplished, satisfied, renewed and excited about what to come next.
I am thankful I got the job that I hoped for since the time I decided to leave my previous job.
Looking back the last 2 years, I absolutely enjoyed my time in NEA, not just the job itself but the fun and laughter brought to me from my colleagues and partners which have become friends to me. It was a very meaningful job and I learnt a lot from it.
Moving on, I am excited to start this new journey and the challenges that awaits me. I hope that I will be able to continue to contribute to society in the ways that I can, be able to complete tasks assigned to me and perform beyond expectations, as well as to meet new people and friends in this new environment.
Fighting!
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