I'm not a born optimist henceforth I'm a natural at pessimism. If not for my religion that gives me a strong holding, I
foresee myself pulling my hair all the time. I'm a closet
drama queen. But I read from someone's Twitter that if we spend too much
time counting our troubles, we would have no time to count our
blessings. So, today thou shalt attempt to quantify my happiness!
April is my birthday month and just being in that month alone makes me a happy girl! I declare to the Husband that everyday is my birthday in April, so he has to sing a birthday song to me as and when I want to hear it! Haha! *princess mode kicks in*
Here's my Happiness month summarised!
Happiness is...
Discovering a newly renovated Marks & Spencer store at Wheelock Place, with a huge and spacious Food Hall to boot & my favourite snack in stock! Gosh, makes me miss my London flights! I used to spend hours wandering in M&S stores whenever I'm in London. Almost all their food, including takeaway, are so yummy & well-presented! It's the best thing about UK, okay next best thing after Primark!
Receiving a birthday discount card from TCC (because I'm their member) that offers a whooping 50% discount for my 1st consumption in Apr, and subsequently 30% for 2nd consumption! And discovering their new Teriyaki Salmon pasta is yummilicious!
Realising my 2-year-old dream of dining at Ikoi again, a day after my birthday! Can be so hard to get seat reservation even when I call 2 weeks in advance! But I have learnt a way! If you don't manage to get reservations earlier, call around 8pm on actual day and you might be lucky to get counter seats! Only applicable for 4 or less people tho! The Ikoi chef was nice enough to make salmon in broth (that pot with a flame beneath), using the salmon meant for sashimi upon our request. We had 30 slices of salmon sashimi cooked. It was a one-off thing. The taste was out of the world! Very very yummy! The broth is so delicious and no msg overload for me! I miss Ikoi so much! The soba soup, the sushi, the salad, <3 <3 <3
Seeing very pretty flowers at Orchard Hotel! Hotels always have such beautiful floral arrangements! They look like orchids up close, but their petals are so soft and delicate! I wonder what the name is.
Having a new place to store all of TFL's stocks! Like finally!!
Although the Soon Seng Transport guys were punctual, strong & efficient, I won't be getting them again if I need movers next time. The In-charge blatantly refused to wrap my chrome racks with cling wrap, saying there is no need to. When my Husband insisted, he only wrap the bottom legs with cling wrap. 好敷衍哦！ Now, if cling wrap is cheap and they can wrap my stocks with so much of it, why not my S$500+ chrome racks??
Or maybe, I will just request for that IC not to be one of the movers if I need their service again.
Still, getting a new place for my stocks is pure bliss!!
Visiting at Victor's Kitchen for the first time, and there were plenty of empty seats for the taking! It was 4pm on a weekday afternoon. The place was more run down than I realised. Felt a tad embarrassed because I had a guest with me and was telling him how this place had nice and affordable food as raved by netizens. Gaah, if I had known about the bad flooring condition, Swee Choon would have been more ideal! Thank goodness he loves the porridge there! Well, so do I! It's almost like home-cooked, without those usual msg and saltiness! I like all the dim sum shown above, except the custard lava buns. Sorry I'm no fan of those buns!
Getting a new solid pinewood bed frame from Seahorse at S$109 & my dream mattress! Queen-sized! The original version comes with storage drawers underneath, but I'm no fan of such storage. So while shopping for a new mattress at Seahorse, we casually asked the salesgirl if this bed comes without storage drawers (the showroom version has 6 drawers underneath and retails at S$390+). Imagine our joy when she told us the price! Even cheaper than Ikea's version which is untreated wood by the way!
My in-laws have been using Seahorse mattresses for their room and so
does my brother-in-law. Once while the Husband was talking to his
brother, I sat on his bed and fell asleep in the midst of their
conversation. My first time sleeping on a Seahorse mattress and boy, it
was such good sleep! I'm loving my new Seahorse foam mattress! It's so solid hard, which is great for our problematic backs! Took us a while to get used to it and I'm never going back to those spring coil mattresses! At S$399 for ours, it's really affordable and value-for-money!
Buying takeaway 奶黃千層餅 from East Ocean at Ngee Ann City and gobbling them while standing! Because I love them so so so so much! Much prefer them than custard lava buns, which can be too salty for my liking. Think this is healthier too! It's almost like Kueh Tutu, but much tastier! You should try if you have not!
Finding a new way to eat foccacia with cheese, without slicing through the bread! Because I was too lazy on a busy work day. Hahaha!
Watching carnations bloom from buds to full-blooms! How pretty in pink! These were from sister-in-law to Mum-in-law for Mothers' Day. So this is for May! I didn't know carnations can last for more than a week. Then again, Mum-in-law used to run a florist shop. Maybe she has some magic formula to keep these flowers pretty. Must ask her someday!
Finding a pair of pretty shoes that looks good on my big feet, light & uber comfy to shop in! The piggies + the Husband say they are pretty too! It's pretty rare that the Husband notices what's on my feet. Hehe. The flatforms are of a great height, don't cut my feet (I don't have sensitive feet to begin with though) and go with almost everything! Plus, the shoes have really great friction in the soles!
Best of all, I have gotten them in 4 gorgeous colours for TFL customers in the next launch!! Deep red (so sexy!), Peach & Nude! Good things deserve to be shared! =D Can't wait to show you gals when I get the pics tonight!
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You know, it's actually harder to stay happy. Being happy for a while is easy. When we get a payrise, when a piece of good news come in, when we get to eat good food, when we go on our dream holiday etc. But staying happy continuously? That needs constant practice. Silly as it sounds.
It seems easier to be bitching about this, gossiping about that or just plain ranting about things. I don't think I will tell my gal pals about how happy I feel seeing pink carnations bloom or wrapping exercise books with pretty wrapping paper. It's just not common to talk about things like that. Has it become more socially acceptable to be ranting about things/people than revelling in the joys from simple happiness? Or even when we don't talk negatively, most of us don't speak positively or in an upbeat manner either.
When I meet people who jumps at the chance to rant about everything under the sun, it is unnerving. I hope I never forget how to stay happy. I don't want to grow old and grumpy when Life has already given me a lot, really.
Start by saying thank you for all you already have. If you don't know how, read this book "The Magic" by Rhonda Byrne. I strongly recommend this book! It is available at Popular at less than S$20.
May we all never ever forget how easy it can be to stay happy! =DDD
Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu
Your wedding is one of the best days of your life. Because it’s the day you realise I finally have the thing I need to be happy. And then you forget. So then what happens is instead of waking up every morning and shouting Somebody loves me!
You start looking around and thinking, "What do I want now? What’s the next thing I need to be happy?" So, you look and you look and you keep thinking that you found it. But nothing works because that hole in your heart that you’re trying to fill is already filled.
You just forgot. Don’t ever forget. Always remember how much you wanted to be loved and how much you are loved. And I think if you can do that, you will stop looking and realise you already are happy.
~ Lynette, Desperate Housewives
