I have been neglecting this blog...TILL NOW!

It just dawned on me that this blog is 5 years old! I started it 5 years ago when I was at my first quarter life crisis, jobless, depressed (mad crying type), and I needed an outlet to let out all my grievances which I was too ashamed of repeating in person (because that meant I would just cry again).

Fast forward 5 years later... while I wouldn't say I am most successful, I have evolved my personality and achievements in many ways, so much that if I were to meet ME at age 24, I would be mildy disgusted.

Here are 5 things which I have changed most in the 5 years.

1. CONFIDENCE
It's a cliche but 自信是最好的化妆品。Confidence does come with age and life experiences. With every birthday I get this sense of self elevation, an uplifting spirit and I remind myself that I'm now a year older and will therefore be a year wiser. As I get older, I have less patience for other people's crap about what they THINK of me. I decide what I want to think about myself. If I want to feel happy, that's what I'll be. So long as I'm doing my job, being a good person, doing myself justice, it'll do.

2. WRITING
When I was young I didn't think writing was a talent. I just felt it was a necessity in life. I got my share of praises and sometimes accolades for blogging, scriptwriting, songwriting, became a published writer on Mypaper, but it didn't do much to my confidence cos it always felt accidental. It was only when I entered the working world that I realised the numbers of degree holders who couldn't write well, including ACADEMICS! It made me a tee bit proud and annoyed that people would pass me stuff to edit whenever they had chunkloads of written crap they couldn't make sense of. In the past year I've lost my steam for writing regularly. Guess I'm less disciplined. $50 per chinese article isn't good money at all really. Mypaper should review their rates for writers. Come on, it's original work!

3. HAIR
I chopped off my long locks in Jan this year. I can't believe I had long hair for 10 FULL years. I kept it cos I had a stupid friend who claimed I look nicer with long hair. But it was a hassle. It takes painfully long to dry, and I admit that I have really FLAT hair. It's fine, soft, shiny, yes.... but along with all these traits come FLATNESS cos the hair is too limp. And so, the longer it is, the heavier it is, and the flatter it becomes. Flat hair does make one look bald, cos it clings so faithfully to your scalp. Thank god I have a nicely shaped head, or I'm screwed. I do like my short hair, and whilst many have asked if I'll keep it long again, I think I'll stick to it for a year or so cos I really appreciate the less obvious flatness and its ability to dry SO MUCH FASTER.

4. BLOGSHOP
I'm really proud of my blogshop, Beauty Personified, which is a well-kept secret from my closest friends. I spend a lot of time on it, so much so that I admit that I'm a bona fide 宅女. I love updating the blog, sourcing the most suitable clothing to market on it, and interacting with my plus-sized clients via email (I have to say that 90% of fat girls are really polite, awesome and appreciative people). The blogshop was accidental. I saw something nice online in XL and thought it was cheap and I should buy it. But cos there was a min. no. to order from the supplier, I posted ads on the now-defunct Yahoo Auctions, selling some of the items which I found on the supplier's site, and suddenly I was getting replies. Gradually I had more and more clients, about 80% are regulars. It was a blow when Yahoo Auctions closed as I not only was successful in selling my pre-order stuff but also managed to sell so many pieces of my 2nd Hand clothes. At the encouragement of my clients, I started the blogshop and have never looked back. I'm still learning how to spot trends to maximise my revenue, but for now I earned respectable pocket money from the blogshop based on the amt of time I put into it. And not ignoring the fact that it truely is a hobby too. My all time high was earning over $1.2k in Sep this year. All these without any paid advertising. SWWEEETTTT!

5. STUDENTS
I never expected that I would end up in education. I can't say I love my job (it's a job afterall), but I do enjoy it -- far more that I was in marketing. I like the learning aspect... now that I work more with people, I'm really honing my EQ skills and patience and GRACE (most used word by my boss KEN). Many of my closest friends in recent years are or were in fact my students. Mixing with them make me feel young (Facebook helps). I get a lot of satisfaction seeing how they have evolved and matured from the first day I knew them. I don't expect them to say thanks cos when I was their age, I didn't! But hey I'm paid to help them so it's a bonus if they appreciate me back.

So there it is... my first blog in 2 months. And my most heartfelt entry in AGES.

Happy 5th birthday blog! I hope to visit you more often to complain, bitch, and to record my life's greatest moments... :)))

完美孤独

作词：林夕

再没有谁的脸色 需要照顾
也没有谁的难题 需要应付
一个人睡着 或睡不着
喜欢看书 就看到日出

再没有人有机会 让我受苦
也没有人有能力 让我认输
何必再等谁 一起诉苦
各自忙碌 有什么好处

盲目如何变反目
爱的程序我早已烂熟
可是说 伴侣是身外之物
我又不甘 不服

我希望觉悟 又害怕麻木
单身的好日子 有没有虚渡
再完美的孤独算不算美中不足

一切心血再不会 白白付出
所有时间怎么过 由我作主
爱过的爱人 一个个数
谁给过我 这一种满足

爱情有一本账簿
从盈到亏我早已烂熟
可是说 伴侣是身外之物
我又不甘 不服

我希望觉悟 又害怕麻木
单身的好日子 有没有虚渡
再完美的孤独算不算美中不足

孤身 身处何处有净土
独立 立在哪里无寒露

###

把歌曲最重要的副歌以哼唱方式呈现的极少。除了十多年前的王菲的《浮躁》吧！

孤独可以可怕，也可以浪漫。但绝对不至于完美。

孤独与拥挤两个极端需要平衡。一个人的时候我喜欢尽情享受孤独，人多的时候我也渐渐喜欢吸取他人谈话中的新知识。

好歌，支持！

Email to an Unknown Jetstar Staff

I pity the Jetstar worker who reads this early on a Monday morning. However, I pity myself more. Never give someone a promotional voucher on the pretext of a prize, and cause the winner agony and undue stress for what is supposed to be a happy event. It's not going to end here. Whoever is on my Jetstar plane to HK is going to receive another bolt of my wonderful scoldings. I love being a communications specialist.

This tirade was necessary. Because after this, I felt soooo much better. :)

###

To whom it may concern:

Thanks for awarding me these vouchers. I thought it would be best to give you some feedback because it has been bugging me for a while.

It was with great happiness that I received news of my win. It meant a lot that the story which I submitted would appear in Jetstar mag as it was an invaluable way for me to show my friend in Taipei how much I enjoyed my time with her during my trip.

What originated as happiness quickly evaporated into dismay once I read the terms and conditions presented in the vouchers. Within 3 weeks of receiving the vouchers, I had to take leave and book a flight, whilst confirming accomodation. Not just for myself but also for 4 fellow travellers because of a clause that stipulated that each person was entitled to using only 1 voucher. Another clause insisted that our travel must be completed by 2 Sep. Then another clause stated that we cannot travel on Fridays, Weekends, PH, PH eves and School holidays. Because we could only make payment via credit card, add another $12 per pax, excluding taxes and other fees which we have to pay. I shall not repeat the T&Cs since you came up with them. What you don't know is how much inconvenience it brings to the person who gets them.

Because of the T&Cs, we have to book tickets separately to Hong Kong. Unfortunately, this, and the stress of booking caused me and my brother to book the wrong flights. So slap another $12 + $40 change of flight fees. Not your fault though. But just to give you an idea of the amount of stress we faced whilst making our travel plans within the short timeline.

My parents initially wanted to travel nearby due to their age. However, the website didn't allow them to make bookings to Indonesia when we tried to use the vouchers. Because no one answers the Jetstar hotline within 30mins, we gave up. I got a scolding from them for causing them distress as they tried to use the vouchers over 2 days. And me, having to work, couldn't do the bookings for them.

I then tried to sell and/or giveaway the vouchers. It was quite surprisingly that no one wanted 3 vouchers worth $100 each. I think the short lead time was the key culprit. Many people asked me why the vouchers gave such terrible constraints. Everytime I repeated the story, the more convinced I was not a winner, but a victim. My parents have been repeating this terrible experience to their friends, and I'm quite sure their friends will repeat the same story to their other friends.

It's amazing to me how this happy incident has downward spiralled into so much unhappiness within a few short weeks. Even before I've began my trip to Hong Kong, Jetstar has already left a bad aftertaste.

I hope you will review the prizes you award for future contests.

Sincerely,

Janice

Congratulations from Jetstar Fan Club!

Dear Jetstar Fan Club supporter,

Thank you for sending us your travel stories. We are pleased to inform that you have been shortlisted as one of our lucky winners for the months of August/September 2010! Please send us a high resolution photo (at least 300dpi) of your trip by 6 July 2010, which we will be featuring on jetstarasiamag.com. If the photo is received after the deadline, Jetstar Asia reserves the right to transfer your prize to the contestant next in line.

....

Very happy to get this msg in my email inbox today! One step closer to winning free travel vouchers but also because this sorry meant a lot to me. As it was an advertorial/testimonial for Jetstar, it had to have that strong marketing angle. But it's true that I enjoyed my Jetstar flight, and it exceeded my expectations. And it's so cheap! Here it is... :)

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Have you ever known someone for so long, and yet never met her? This was the case for me and my Taiwanese friend, Emily. Our friendship developed entirely via the internet, over the last eight years. We had clicked instantly through an online forum, thanks to our shared support for Hong Kong celebrity, Vivian Chow. Throughout the years, we maintained regular contact via MSN, exchanged photographs and spoke often about visiting each other's home countries.

I finally had the chance to meet Emily in Taiwan recently when I discovered Jetstar’s affordable flights to Taipei. I didn’t have a great impression of budget flights, as I once encountered a major flight delay with another airline. However, Jetstar exceeded my expectations immensely. The check-in counter was conveniently located at Terminal One of both airports, which made the already efficient and seamless check-in process even more perfect. The flight was comfortable, and service on board was always prompt and polite. Best of all, both my flights in and out of Taipei left and arrived on schedule.

I’m encouraging Emily to visit Singapore so that I can play host to her in return. Obviously I recommended Jetstar!

改变

詞曲：黃韻玲

街上的行人匆匆忙忙
此刻的畫面是無聲的世界
我故意裝作不在乎
不在乎你和她的一切

我失去 了你
這是一開始就知道的劇情
我失去了你
也失去過去擁有的回憶
這樣的改變　你怎麼會不知道

我失去了你
這是一開始就知道的劇情
我失去了你
也失去過去擁有的回憶
這樣的改變　你從來不知道

###

《改变》是黄韵玲1987年的歌曲，是电影《我有话要说》的歌曲。多年后黄韵玲和好几位歌手如康康和阿妹依然对《改变》有偏爱，在多个节目都唱过。这是她和《遍体鳞伤》演唱者古皓合唱的新版本。

黄韵玲写的词不多， 早期较多。她的词不哗众取宠，不做作，有时简短的不像出自大师的手笔。但很能一针见血，tell you like it is, 让你的心更隐隐作痛。

能够为一首歌同时词曲创作是好事。即使不是最出色的词或曲，却是最契合的组合，能撞击最原始的火花。《改变》就是如此。