Be@rbrick and the countdown to my big move

3.33pm


well im counting down the days to my move. into my new condo. shouldnt be too long now. hopefully by this weekend or early next week, we're going to be getting the keys to the place. and then the real work begins.

there's just so much little things that needs to be done. cleaning up the place, getting the movers to bring our stuff over from the personal storage, where we rented these past few months. even our sofa, we've not bought yet. sigh.

i want a sofabed so at least if guest/s come, they can sleep on it rather then just the sofa or worst, on the floor, with a mattress. my husband says that i can decide on almost everything else in the house, but let him decide on the sofa(or sofabed!). hmm...deep down inside im hoping for a sofabed. nevertheless, i shall let him decide coz he's the one paying for it, not me. hahahhaa...

anyways, apart from that, im still applying for part time jobs. god only knows how many i've submitted. for those of you who are reading my blog, are you looking(or your company perhaps) for part time receptionist? ooh just drop me a message ok? thanks!

lets see what else. oh yes, i've been doing my walks ever since i got back from the chinese new year holidays. time to get healthy and not be too lazy. i gotta force myself to get up early every morning. i wished i could sleep in, but there's noise everyday at my mom in law's place and that gets me up. im a light sleeper you see. any slightest sound or even thunder or drilling, hammering, etc...and my eyes will pop open. sigh

lately, i've been looking into the japanese toy called Be@rbricks .  i guess you must be wondering what in the world is this woman up to this time? kids toys now? hahaha...indeed. i do not care what others think of me, seriously. i do as i please, right? i've yet to buy one of these figurines. still deciding which one to get. its not sold in alot of places so i have to really scout around. (plus reading up on it a little). i can only find them at the moment at toy outposts. (toy shop chain i think) oh ya, and more importantly, my idol, TOP(bless him) from Big Bang, is very into this toy. hahahaha

funny story. the other day i was out with my husband and we came across a toy outpost shop and went in. i found some Be@rbricks and i wanted to get one. my husband asked me if i knew about this toy and what's it about? history of it?  aigoo....all i could think of was that its a toy from japan. and its collectible. hahahaha...he said, that's not good enough. told me to go and read up more about it first before buying the toy/s. sigh *pouts* ...least i know where to get them next time, hah!

so anyway, have any of you heard of this toy?  well basically let me give u a very brief run down of it...i call it  my 101 Be@rbrick. they're  highly collectible plastic figurines(not to mention expensive, depending on the sizes chosen, designs etc) made by medicom toy corporation. and on top of that, they're made in limited production runs. many have featured designs from popular culture, including transformers, the rolling stones, etc. medicom also hosts an online site with interactive games based upon its Be@rbrick toys.

the figure is an anthropomorphized bear with an extremely simplified form and a pot belly. each plastic figure features nine parts (widely referred to as tools in the toy industry): head, torso, hips, arms, hands, and legs; these nine tools allow eight points of articulation: swivel head, swivel waist, ball joint arms, swivel wrists, and ball joint legs.

here i'll show you what i mean. you may know what im talking about.
 

this is a plain Be@rbrick figurine.

the standard size is seven centimeters high, and these figures are referred to as 100% Bearbricks. other Bearbricks are named for their size relative to the standard: 50% are four centimeters high, 70% are five centimeters high, 400% are 28 centimeters high, and 1000% are 70 centimeters high. a 200% size chogokin Bearbrick has also been produced standing 14 centimeters tall.

(by the way, i took all this information from wiki).

ok friends, thats it for now. i think by the time i check back with you in my next blog, i'll probably be in the middle of my move! wish me luck!! ooh and that i'll strike 4D!!(rather my husband, coz i dont buy at all, only when he asks me to).

until my next episode!!

ttfn


3.50pm

moving around is such a chore!

9.39am


in a way, im looking forward to moving into my new condo, my new home. on the other hand, i still would love to crash at my sister in laws(i've been here since december 2012). hahaha...ok yeah  i know i cant have it all. first reason why i kinda prefer to live with my in laws is because, they are cool people. of course there's going to be some small bickering going on every now and then, but tell me which family doesnt have that, right? part and parcel of being the in laws.

i get along pretty well i must say, with my sis and mom in law. they have a maid too who loves our little shihtzu, fergie. in fact the whole family simply adores this lil one (she has been spoilt by the family). anyways, the second reason is that food is prepared and cooked for the family and lastly, my dog is being taken care of and i dont have to think about feeding time or walking it. everything's being done. ok, so in a way, im spoilt and taking things for granted, i know, i know. but what can i do? i cant help it now can i? circumstances is such.

nevertheless i know that eventually, i would have to move out of here, which would be in a couple of weeks time. and then it will be back to thinking and planning of meals, buying groceries and whatnots. sigh. so not looking forward to it, seriously. but on the flipside, it will be  my home and i can do as i please.(not to say at my in law's i cant do as i please, but i gotta respect people's home and play by their rules, i know the drill).

but right now, our headache is our new place. what to do, what to put in etc. i really hate moving from condo to condo every few years! its so troublesome and such a big headache and it stresses me out. honestly its no fun ok. it would be a little bit different if i was moving to another country and you get the packers to pack your crap up for you(including yourself if u get in the way, hahaha..kidding) and ship it off to your destination. voila! done deal. but this moving from condo to condo is just plain bollocks! imagine, just the 2 of us, we can accumulate (well, my husband loves pointing the finger at me over this,that im the one who is "stocking" up on junk by hoarding) from the first place just under 70 boxes! and then we had to move yet again, i had to get rid of some stuff and that narrowed down to around 55 over boxes.

now this last (and hopefully final) move, where it will be more or less permanent(coz previously we were renting), i've minimized on the boxes which is around 20 odd!! imagine that. i managed to sell some of my stuff, gave some to a close friend and some threw away too. sigh. the rest of the items that i really needed was all kept in personal storage. my husband says to me - less is more, to either throw, to get rid or give away... sigh!

so yeah, i will definately have my work cut out for me pretty soon and therefore im enjoying every last moment here at my in laws! ah...feels good being "pampered" in some ways. better make the most of it before my time runs out. hahahhaa...thanks in laws!!

ttfn!!


10.06am

weight issues

12.11pm

im kinda surprised  at myself that i actually got up early this morning and put on my sporting outfit and trainers and went for a brisk walk around my neighborhood. this is very unlike me. hahahhaa...i admit shamefully that i've not been exercising for the past few years.

i know that people have told me that i should get my act together and start working out again, be it going for a swim(and not just laze by the pool and get a tan, which i would normally love to do when im at the poolside or at the beach!) or a jog/walk. whatever it takes, dont be so bloody lazy, so im told many times. sigh

you know, sometimes its just so hard to decide, whether to have a lie in and laze in bed or to get up and go out for a brisk walk or jog or swim. more often than not, the bed usually wins, hands down. there's no fight really. can you fault me?? i dont like sports generally. on top of that, i have 2 left feet. i cant even dance properly! sheesh..

so mmm...thats why today, beginning of the year so to speak, i did my first brisk walk. i reckon i did about 2-2.5km walk around the neighborhood. oggling at people's houseso r should i say mansions, along the way.  im  so amazed at how filthy rich these folks are!

anyways, for the first half of this year, my goal is to try to lose some weight. that's right. what motivates me this time round (yes! i gotta have some kinda motivation in order to lose weight and stay healthy) i would say is Big Bang or TOP from Big Bang. yup...he's good enough of a reason right? wait wait, i know what you guys are thinking. she will never meet him. what the hell is she thinking? well, perhaps you are right but do i look like i care? at least im doing something to keep me a bit more healthier and at the same time drop some pounds if i can. so fingers crossed, neh!! as it is, i've been cutting down on eating carbs and only having some protein and veggies and fruits in my daily meals. trying to steer clear of oily, deep fried foods and desserts! oh how i love desserts but i gotta resist, this is only temporarily so i keep telling myself.

do you agree that its so easy to put on weight and so hard to lose it? why is it so? shoot!!really i hate it. i've tried numerous diets and even went to a popular weight management centre, which honestly didnt really help me at all. those people "robbed" me of around $8k. and i didnt even complete the sessions because i felt it was such a big waste of my time and energy just to drive over to the place and find a parking and mind you, parking was a horror in that area!

and then those fad diets that i've tried over the years. doesnt really work. having said that, i think the only one that actually made me lose some weight was the dukan diet. i only followed it for 8 days. just for that ,i lost 4kgs. you can go check out their website and read all about it. its pretty simple to follow.

why do i go on these diets when i know for sure, the easiest and safest way to lose weight and stay healthy is to eat less, in smaller portions, cut  sugar and salt intake and just exercise at least 40 minutes (to get the heart rate going) for  about 3-4 times a week. beats me man. i'll just do it my way!

now while growing up, i've been a chubby kid from kindie right up to my late teens. i only lost weight after i turned 18/19. and ever since then, its been yoyo-ing back and forth. now, let me tell you, in high school whenever i got invited for birthday parties at my friends houses, boys would also invited and there was dancing involved. unfortunately for me, nobody paid much attention to me. my girlfriends who were my close friends back then, were asked by the boys to dance, they'd pair up and there i was, left out in the cold. sometimes i would be alone, sometimes im with other people who are the loners or should i say, losers like me. i felt like a wallpaper, just blending in with the walls. unattractive to the male species. hahahaha... but honestly, i wished that the ground would just open up and swallow me whole. so i dont have to endure that crap. still haunts me till today.

and then a miracle happened to me. after i hit 19 i think, i lost some weight and the guys who didnt give a hoot about me back in high school, started paying attention to me!! aaaahhh...and thats how i know that these guys are only looking at me from the outside, not from the inside. they want a pretty girl walking arm in arm with them just to show off. well, i didnt give them my time of day. these guys are just plain shallow if you asked me. 

you know, i'll share with you a little story. a true one at that. one of my girlfriends back in high school used to like a guy from another school and i thought that they were a couple. so anyways, after O levels we split up and went our separate ways to further our education. but we still kept in touch. now one fine day, she rings me up and asks me if i would like to join her and her boyfriend(still wasnt entirely sure if they were still a couple because i never bothered asking) at the roller skating rink. well what the heck right? i had nothing better to do, might as well join them.

so,off i went to meet them. and you know what, during the entire outing, i felt that her boyfriend was paying more attention to me than to my friend! i tried to keep my distance from him coz it didnt feel right. and he confirmed my suspicion. when my friend went to the bathroom, he took the opportunity to approach me and asked me if i would like to go for a movie with him sometime and that he's always preferred me to my friend!! imagine that!! he says as i recall, that my friend was coming on too strong and he wasnt really that into her even though they have been "dating".  he says he preferred my kind of personality and character. OMG!!

well, i never told my girlfriend about it, ever, even till today! i didnt want to hurt her and i never went out with that guy or spoke to him after that incident, although he did ring me a couple of times to ask me out (i think he got my number from my friend).  but each time i turned him down. there's no point really because i never liked him. and also it wasnt nice of him to say "not-so-nice" things about my friend behind her back to me. why am i telling you this? what's it gotta do with weight? well, i had lost weight then and only then he paid attention to me! i mean how shallow is that? i dont need guys like that in my life!

to end this, let me just say that im still very weary of compliments that i get from family or friends. i cant accept them as its hard for me to. i dont know why. i always think in my mind that people are lying to me when they compliment me and just saying the right things just to make me feel good about myself. when i look at myself in the mirror, i know what i will always see - a chubby grown up kid with weight issues and constantly questioning myself - "am i fat? look at me, im still fat!!" aargghhh...

i'll just add my "motivation" picture for you to oggle. (or not). taken from bigbangupdates.com website. big bang was at the samsung blue festival held in nanjing,china recently. isnt he just an angel?!

ttfn

1.28pm

what is lion dance?

8.57pm

ni hao ni hao. today im just gonna put in some photos of lion dance taken at my cousin's grand opening of her cafe at a shopping mall in kuala lumpur. she had booked a lion dance troupe to perform outside her cafe.

basically, this lion dance is to bring in good luck and at the sametime to scare away evil spirits,of the particular shop, restaurant, mall, businesses etc. you can have this lion dance at any time of the year but more often than not, people engage lion dance for  chinese new year, big functions etc as its not very cheap to hire these guys.

sometimes people get a bit confused between the lion and dragon dance performance. actually, there is a slight difference between them. the lion dance is usually operated by 2 people hiding inside the lion costume and they have to mimic movements of a lion. whereas for the dragon dance, theres usually more than 6 people (as you know a dragon is a pretty long creature) operating it (with their faces seen )and they have to use long poles to hold up the dragon as they move around with it. thats basically it.

now for the lion dance performance, its usually accompanied by beating of drums, cymbals and gongs in sync with the lion's movements. the lion dancers need to be very agile and fit as they perform a lot of acrobatic moves. one person holds the head and the other the body of the lion. it is common for the lion dance troupes to be part of martial art schools.

my cousin and her family, put "hong bao" (red envelope with money inside) inside the lion's mouth and this is supposed to bring good luck and fortune to them and to their business and is also considered a form of donation to the martial art school where these lion dancers come from.

or some prefer to  hang from the ceiling a head of lettuce or some greens with the red envelope inside. the team will have to reach to "pick" the greens. usually the dancer in the body position is required to lift and support the head dancer so they together can reach the head of lettuce. they "eat" the money and spit out the greens, scattering the fresh leaves around to "spread" out the good luck and also to symbolize a "fresh start" for the new year. the dance ends with a scroll and message of good luck that unfolds from the lion's mouth and a burst of firecrackers to scare away the evil beings.

well there you have it. the gist of what lion dance is all about. now, here are some pictures for you to see. enjoy!!

thanks for stopping by and here's to a great 2013!!

ttfn


9.32pm