What is LIFE?

Went to watch “Pirates of the Carribean” this afternoon and guess what? Johnny Depp had a compass that just couldn’t point still in one direction. All because he didn’t know what he wanted in life. And this started me thinking… what do I want in life? For many, they must get married and have children to complete their lives. For others, they want lots of money to do all the things they’ve wanted to to.

For me? SIGH… Not that I’ve never thought about ‘what is life’ before. I was only 12 when I first thought of this question. I wasn’t quite happy then and didn’t have very pleasant thoughts in my mind. As I grew a bit older, I wanted to marry by 25 and have two kids before 28 (I think it was ‘cos of the tax deductions then). Subsequently, I started wondering why were we brought into this world? What is the meaning of life? And my conclusion? Life is but suffering. So, I decided I’ll never have kids because I don’t want more to suffer.

Even though I’m relatively happy now, I still have not found a good answer to this question. And what is my direction in life? Over the past few years, many things have happened and I have matured a lot. For now, I know that life is short. While we can choose the way we live it, it’s never ours to keep. All I want to live my life happily and treasure those who matter to me - my parents, my brother, the few good friends I have. All the rest do not quite matter. For now…

Renewed Passion for Korean

Life is really interesting… or I’m just fickle minded. Just when I was so disappointed with myself last Friday after my Korean lesson and was on the verge of giving it up, I seemed to have a new found passion for the language. Maybe it was the five hours I spent studying and blogging last Sunday that did it. For the past few days, I have been studying every night. Now, it’s nothing but Korean before I sleep and when I wake up. So much so that I almost replied a supplier in Korean today… 하하. Think I’m going nuts. 아니야, 그녕 저는 한국어를 정말 좋아해요 (NO, I just love Korean language very much).

Shopping Therapy for the Happy Soul

Egg tarts and cherries (below) rule the day but there are other must-try desserts listed on my travel blog.

Hong Kong has long been touted as Asia’s food and shopping paradise. For many years, Singapore has been trying to catch up but we still have not succeeded and I can see why.

During my recent weekend trip there, out of the many malls and shops that I patronised, only one had a service staff with a really grumpy face. All the rest were friendly, approachable, attentive to our needs and I must say, very persuasive in getting us to part with our tourist dollar. What impressed me was even the MTR subway station had trained service staff on the lookout for lost tourists so that they can help them with directions. I supposed Hong Kong has come a long way. I remembered when I stepped on Hong Kong soil almost eight years ago, the service staff were rather rude and they could only speak Cantonese. Now, they could converse easily in Mandarin and English.

This was a wonderful trip. Shopping was great and I ate food was great. Retail therapy never fails to make a woman happy. So, Happy is even HAPPIER now, what with the biggest shopping haul ever ; )

Read more about it on my travel blog.

The First Time…

Since I blogged about First Love in my Korean Blog, I thought I should log the ‘Firsts’ that I’ve experience in life last week.

It was the first time I became a landlord, or should I say, landlady. Yes, it was a happy weekend for me. Within one day, I had three offers for my flat. While I didn’t let out to the highest bidder, I hope my tenants are good tenants. I must really thank my mom for what she has done for me… taking care of 95% of the things needed to be done for the flat. And I don’t blame her for her constant nagging too but I was really too busy. To make up for it, I gave her the first month’s rental.

Last week was also the first time I became the proud owner of a digital SLR camera. After considering for more than a year, I finally bought a Canon 350D. I’ll have to set aside time to learn how to use it properly or it'll become a white elephant. Hmmm, I think I’ve been quite a spendthrift lately. I’d better tighten the purse string for the rest of the year.

P/S: I completed my first competitive run on 2 July and the results were out this week - a disappointing 80th position, out of 700-800 runners. I don't know how on earth women can clock 33min for 8.4km! My timing was 45min : ( Sigh....

내 제일 경쟁의 달리기

Kids performing at the MilkRun. MILK stands for Mainly I Love Kids -- it's an annual charity event organised by Beyond Social Services to raise funds for their programmes and facilities which they run for underprivileged kids and delinquents.

아침 6시에 일어났어요. 오늘은 일 안 졸아요. 머리하 아바요. 복이 아바요. 감기에 골려요. 하지만 오호에 난 달리 어야 하껬어요. 어껗게?

[Translation: Woke up at 6am this morning. Today is not a good day. I have a headache, sore throat and cold. But I have to go running this afternoon. How?]

Yes, my first competitive run and I have to be sick. This darn little cold that dragged on for 5 days. Even though I know it’s dangerous to run when you have the flu, I just couldn’t give up especially when I had been looking forward to it. This was a charity run – Milk Run –8.4 km starting from Zouk, going round Clark Quay and back to starting point. I went for it anyway. But I almost gave up half way through it… imagine running under the scorching sun – it must have been at least 33 degrees C! I kept telling myself “화이팅”, “멈추지 마”, “천천히 완성해요” (‘common’, ‘don’t stop’ and ‘finish it slowly’). I completed it at 45minutes. Not the best timing considering last year, the winner for Women’s 10km Open completed the race at 43min. Nonetheless, I’m really happy that I did it! And what better way to end the day with a thirst-quenching ice kacang - 진짜 맜있어요! (Really delicious!)

P/S: Next will be the 10km Great Eastern All Women’s Run in October. Or should I take part in the New Balance Real Run in August? Hmmm, this is a tough one because part of it involves running on sand which is not easy. Well, we’ll see.

2006년 어때요? (How’s 2006?)

It’s really hard to believe that half the year is gone. It seemed like only last month that I had posted my New Year’s Resolution my blog. Very soon, I’ll be a year older… and hopefully wiser.

Let me try to review my New Year’s resolution in my semi-drugged state (cocaine it isn’t but a flu tablet that’s putting half my brain cells to sleep!)

This was what I posted on 1 January 2006. Those in orange have been achieved whereas those in purple are only half achieved:

Goal #1: Get a place of my own
Goal #2: Get my Yoga Instructor Certificate (Well, almost. I just need another 12 hours of training before I submit my Teaching Guide and get my Certificate)
Goal #3: Spend more time with family, especially my parents
Goal #4: Learn two new skills – read and write in Korean and ice skating (Can’t find a half tick symbol. I’ve completed my Basic Korean Course but I haven’t found time for ice skating)
Goal #5: Stop binging on chocolate and lose the extra fats I’ve accumulated this year
Goal #6: Manage my finances better and save some money for rainy days
Goal #7: Do some voluntary work… maybe teach baking skills to delinquents who are running a café (I’m not teaching baking – I don’t have the skills anyway. But I’m teaching a group of underprivileged kids yoga.)
Goal #8: Be happy, always!

Hmmm, almost achieved all 8 goals. That’s not too bad... In fact, I think I’ve over achieved some of the things… like I’ve started my humble little Korean Blog – Seoul Far Seoul Good – so that I can improve my Korean. Another reason to be happy.

Moving forward, the following is what I hope to achieve by 31 December 2006:

Goal #1: Continue to spend more time with my parents.
Goal #2: Stop my incessant snacking in the office and at night (This is a BIG challenge. The habit has grown from bad to worse. I need some tips, someone help, please?!).
Goal #3: Complete a biathlon.
Goal #4: Pick up golf again so I can get my handicap by next year.
Goal #5: Travel at least four times a year (… shall I say, excluding Malaysia? But this would mean I have a lot of catching up to do because I can’t travel far until end October).
Goal #6: Be Happy, Always (물론 of course)