Baby bootie, my first crochet endeavour!

Japan trip updated... check it out!

I got pretty sick after Taiwan/Japan trip. Even in Taiwan, I was already experiencing shortness of breath. I grew so tired over the weeks and felt claustrophobic!! I was paranoid as I didn't get any better after 2 weeks coming back from holiday. So I went to see a doctor, took an X-ray and blood test. Finally test result came back, everything was normal and perfect (even my cholesterol level, haha and blood count), it turned out to be allergy.. to ..... DUST MITE, AGAIN!!!

I was in shocked!! I was so certain that it was some sort of chest infection. It must be polution.. in Taiwan.. so I mustn't go back there anymore. I'm giving Japan a benefit of a doubt...I can't rule out Japan, I love Japan too much =)

I took 2 days of sick leave and I managed to do something useful. I made a baby bootie on my first attempt!!! I got the idea from Li Lian, my friend who makes beautiful crochet..

Here's to show you first baby bootie... my pride and joy!



I wish I have more time to do more.. which I will once I find time...

Alrighty, adios for now.

Too many hobbies.. so little time..

There are a million things which I want to do but I just don't have the time for it. My day starts at 7am and by the time I come home from work, it's probably around 7pm on typical days. I have to go to gym 3 times a week and unfortunately, laziness ruled on some days and I ended up going to gym only twice a week, which is still not too bad (comforting myself here). By the time I get home from gym, it would be about 8.30pm. Then, we take turns to cook dinner. Sometimes we just eat out. If we cook, it will be about 9.30 -10pm after clearing up and washing up dishes. Then, we will go online just to check our e-mails and catch up with family and friends. That will take at least half an hour, which is archetypical and obligatory. That will leave me with another 1 hour or less to do my hobby. Now, tell me, how is it even possible to do my hobby? Some days I will be so exhausted (most of the days) and I just want to watch movies and not do anything else, not even eat!!

Here are the things I want to do at the moment:

1. I want to do read my books (possible on some days, but so frustrated because I cannot finish reading sooner than I anticipated),

2. I want to make jewelleries and sell them if possible (I am still waiting to have time to set up a website or even seeking some help from friends who won't charge me),

3. I want to study about photo-editting and photo effects (I have to practice and read all the tutorials online),

4. I want to knit (winter's arrived and I only managed to knit a scarve since this year)

5. I want to borrow some Hong Kong TVB's series, gosh I miss those time when I used to follow the 6pm movie in TV2 or TV3 and the 8pm series on Wah Lai Toi (although quite unlikely now due to the money involved to rent),

6. And my latest interest is to play piano, so much so that I want to get a new digital piano. I haven't played the piano since I left home for uni. Come to think of it, it's quite a waste to finish Grade 8 and not play at all now. Pity my parents who had to struggle to pay for my piano lesson fees last time. Perhaps, I should serve in the worship ministry and make full use of this ability. (At this point of blogging, I really feel compelled to serve the Lord). I can sing and dance and play the piano although not excellent but I guess good enough to serve the Lord with what I have.

If only I work nearer to home, right now it can easily take me 3 hours driving to and from work every single day. What a total waste of time!! No wonder days just pass us by just like that. Travelling time really irritates me to the core although I must say, it's the best time to learn patience.

God knows my heart's desire. If He is willing, He will help me by changing my situation now. If not, He probably thinks I can still endure the travelling and not spending my time wisely. This may be too menial an issue for some, but I guess I am feeling tired from all the travelling. Work wise is alright, although the company's not very kind to their staffs. I often wonder, why do people even bother sacrificing so much for this company.

Anyway, I wish I don't have to work so I can do all the things I love to do. Then again, the only such time to happen is when I have a baby. Then again, taking care of a baby is worse, not just an 8 hours job, but a 24 hours, round the clock job!!!

Please don't get me wrong. I am not unhappy with life now. I just have so much excitement in life after having found so many hobbies. I just can't seem to find time to do them. I just pray that God will answer that little prayer of mine in due time.

Obsessed with dancing

I'm loving lyrical dance, which is a combination of ballet and jazz..I hope I will be able to join dancing class next year... =) This duo dance is awesome and I love every move. The choreography is just so beautiful and sweet. This really motivates me to want to dance. I had better do something about my dreams before I get too old.
Dancing is something I truly love, the part I worry is the training. It is not easy. I am also worried that I am too old to start learning. I am quite petite in size and people tend to think I'm still young. So I'm going to use it to my advantage and use it while I can. Enjoy the video clip!



Just in case you would like to know the names of the dancers, they are Amanda Ocampo (7 yrs old) and Clarisse Chavez (17 yrs old).

Getting serious with my endeavour

I always believe that a hobby must fit these criteria below:
a) enjoyable (of course, needless to say)
b) free or with minimal cost
c) useful and
d) rewarding

Of course this is strictly my own conviction and I am not placing judgement on what others do with their hobby. As I mentioned before, I am very shrewd nowadays when it comes with money. I do believe it is good practice to manage your finance well and be a good financial steward with what God has bless you with.

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will
trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone
else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (Luke 16:11-12).

Anyway, I became quite obsessed with making jewelleries that it's excess for me to wear alone. Hence I've decided to sell them. My policy, however is not to sell them expensive but to make it affordable for everyone. My new endeavour has since fulfilled my criteria as a worthy hobby ie very enjoyable, free and at minimal cost (it wasn't free initially, but I have sold some and since got back the cost of the jewelleries), useful to myself and even others as I can custom make jewelleries for them and last but not least rewarding, as I am making some money for myself. Isn't that awesome?

Here's to share with you some of the jewelleries I made:

Am thinking of setting up website and/or catalogues but let's see how it goes, shall we? Wish me the best!

A new endeavour

I mentioned before that there was a beads and such warehouse near where I stay. I have always loved arts and crafts and I love making things because I have a somewhat creative hands. So, knitting is being put on hold and this time, I am an accomplisher. So there's no unfinished projects, a dire habit which I used to have ie never finish a project which I started. Lately, I'm quite enthused with jewellery making, even more so after I discovered the warehouse. I am also trying to design my own label because I intend to sell them, just for fun since I won't be able to wear all the jewelleries. I am kicking off with earrings, and thus far, I've finished making 30 earrings. I started wearing earrings to work (which I almost never did) just to promote them and hoping my colleagues will notice them without me actually promoting them (I'm not a natural sales person). True enough they did notice and were astonished when I said I made them. Some even offered to buy. I am so excited about it. To be honest, at the back of my mind I do hope I will achieve some side income from this.. for the thrill of it. =) Tada, here's to share with you my first piece(s) of work.

Another scarf, here we come again!

I bought this wool from NZ whilst walking around in the town of Queenstown. Managed to get the colour I like and also at a reasonable price. Ironically, the wool is made in Australia. Hmm...

I'm still in the middle of this project. Tried a new pattern (of my own, but there is probably a name for it out there by someone else).

Knitting

Again, I must stress that knitting is a waste of time unless you want to acquire new skills. You can easily buy scarfs or knitwears so cheap nowadays. Nevertheless, I 've got the grip of it now, and I can't seem to stop. Hehe, here's another of my scarf and this is for my sister as she requested for something green. JLee, hopefully you like this colour.

My first scarf

I've finally finished one project and I'm so proud of it. It's my first knitting attempt, so it obviously doesnt look perfect, but I'm glad I even finished it. I always used to start something but never got to finish it. Cross-stitch took me much longer, which was why I gave up half way. Somehow either I got lazy or I just got bored because it takes too long. I'm a very impatient person, and I want to see the result quick. Although this scarf took me almost 3 weeks, it was worth the wait.

I've been so caught up with knitting that I've so much.
Basically, knitting consist of two types; knit and purl. Once you master the basic, the rest is just a variation of these two. The scarf in the picture is made of the most basic stitch called garter stitch. Now, I'm doing a new scarf but using stockinette stitch. It's really nice but somehow it gives some curls at the end. Will post up the picture when its finished.

Ok, tomorrow is the day I've been waiting for 1 month now. It's the bed.. hopefully everything is right, otherwise, I'm going to make them refund my money and write a complaint letter and advertise to the whole of Sydney on how bad their customer service is. Wish us well..

Productive Weekend!

I was meant to blog about this last weekend, a long weekend but were too busy with chores and visitations. Hence, I better take this opportunity to blog while I still can now after the whole mattress ordeal!

I have always wanted to learn to cook or bake new recipes. Andrew gave me an idea when he mentioned his cravings for Kuih Talam. It immediately strucked me on my cravings for Kuih Lapis.

So, I searched up some recipes on Kuih Lapis and found it a fairly easy recipe to make the kuih. So, with all my ingredients ready, I was in business. Unfortunately I didn't have a kitchen scale and had to go "agak-agak" with all the amount of flour and corresponding coconut milk and water. It took me FIVE long hours to steam every layer of the kuih, and I later learnt it was because the flour mix was too diluted hence the long time it takes to set. Oh well, it did turn out alright. It was very soft, but with a nice taste because I added a few drops of banana flavour on top of pandan flavour. Adventurous, wasn't I?

So, I was so glad that I learnt something new. One more thing which I was so excited and proud of, was that I picked up knitting over the weekend! I haven't had a clue on how to knit and thanks to the internet resources, I learnt how to knit and am now still trying to practice and get the yarn tension right.

So, there you go.. it was indeed a truly productive weekend!