BITS AND PIECES

I think it's nice to try living in different cities.
It's like I'm absorbing and taking little bits and pieces of each city and building myself.

WHY ARE WE HERE?

Just read a long article ending with the sentence, "Why are we here?"

It's 3.15am.

I cannot sleep.

LATE NIGHT POST

It is 4am in Berlin. I just woke up from a nightmare. It is the first nightmare I have had in about 5 or 6 months. 

I was just about to google some things and saw my google search history. 

So random. Just why.

OOPS

I haven't blogged for ages.

I have been busy.

Things I have been up to:

• I started a new job in Berlin
• Drank heaps of wine and beer
• Fell in love with Berlin and the people of Berlin
• Tried some new things...
• Went on a weekend trip to Barcelona
• Came back to Berlin
• Drank more wine and beer
• Left Berlin
• Arrived in Singapore
• Started my new job in Singapore (same company, different branch)
• Company party on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands
• And this week I had my first sober week for the first time in ages (alcohol is expensive in Singapore)

This list can be expanded to be an extremely detailed and long list. 

But nah.

I'm still instagramming though.
It's on the side bar of this blog.

STRANGERS IN MY DREAM

I don't like having dreams where strangers come into my house. Especially dodgy, uninvited strangers. 

Just had a dream like that. It's 3am now and I can't fall back asleep.

Also, I have a blocked + ticklish + runny nose. I really want to sneeze. I've had a dozen unsuccessful, dissapointing sneeze-build-ups so far. Must sneeze before falling asleep. 

TOMORROW'S WEATHER

I always feel the need to check the weather forecast before going to bed. 

It is going to be sunny tomorrow. I will sleep comfortably tonight.

HUNDEE BUCKS

Thought I found $100 in between all the junk mail:

Turned out to be junk mail:

RECENT GOOGLE SEARCHES

Google's iPhone search app keeps a record of things you have googled.
Here is a screenshot of a section from my search history.

I live an exciting life.

ANOTHER REASON TO LIKE JASMINE

I wrote before, listing the reasons why I like the word/name Jasmine.
Blue Jasmine will be an addition to that list.

RUN!

I think I tend to run faster when I am running away from something, compared to when I am running towards something.

But running away is not as fun as running towards something.

Being stationary is the worst.  If you remain stationary for too long, it starts to feel like you have no energy to run at all.

I think it's important to avoid becoming stationary at all costs. Make a small effort to at least walk or limp or crawl. Then you have something to build momentum from. 

Yes, these are metaphors.

I am poetic like that.

BETTER IS BETTER THAN MORE

Wise words from wise, wise Seth (Italics added for emphasis):

"The restaurant makes the menu longer instead of figuring out how to make even one dish worth traveling across town for. We add many slides to our presentation before figuring out how to utter a single sentence that will give the people in the room chills or make them think. We confuse variety and range with quality.

Practice is not the answer here. Practice is the 10,000 hours thing, practice alone doesn't produce work that matters. No, that only comes from caring. From caring enough to leap, to bleed for the art, to go out on the ledge, where it's dangerous. When we care enough, we raise the bar, not just for ourselves, but for our customer, our audience and our partners.

It's obvious, then, why I don't play the clarinet any more. I don't care enough, can't work hard enough, don't have the guts to put that work into the world. This is the best reason to stop playing, and it opens the door to go find something you care enough to make matter instead. 

The cop-out would be to play the clarinet just a little, to add one more thing to my list of mediocre. As Jony Ive said, "We did it because we cared, because when you realize how well you can make something, falling short, whether seen or not, feels like failure."

It's much easier to add some features, increase your network, get some itemized tasks done. Who wants to feel failure?

We opt for more instead of better.

But better is better than more."

What a wordsmith.

APRIL ALREADY!

Conversation with my mum this morning –


Mum:  "Hey wow, it looks like you lost a lot of weight suddenly. You look great"

Me:  "Whuut?! Really? I've actually been feeling really fat. That's so weird, but yay!"

Mum:  "Yeah, I was joking. April fools."

Me: "..."

NEW STRESS FOOD

Mum and dad only drink long blacks, so a few months back, when they bought a Nespresso machine, they got one without a milk foamer. I had no use for this machine since it did not come with a milk foamer. 

But a couple of days ago, I realised I could make iced lattes by adding (soy)milk and ice to the espresso.

So since then, I have been making and drinking a lot of iced soy lattes. It tastes the same as the real iced lattes from cafes.

Just yesterday, i had 4 cups.

I couldn't sleep last night.

Today, I have had 2 cups so far. 

DOG WALKERS

I found this in my mailbox today. So cute.

THINGS I SAW & DID

View of Vulcan Lane from Raw Power Cafe.

Got to see the sun rise because I stayed up all night working on a project.

Neighbour spying.

Moth.

Saw this car strolling through Takapuna.

Mum's friend got us some Korean granny socks.

I made fake nails out of blu-tac. Real nails are better.

OWWWW

I'm uncomfortable about the fact that I feel comfortable.
Things are too comfortable right now.
It's confusing.
Why am I uncomfortable about being comfortable.

I feel like I am buried deep inside my comfort zone.
I find this extremely uncomfortable.
I am grateful.
But I do not feel excited, nor do I feel fulfilled.
I need to change something.

MARCH ALREADY!

Just recovered from a mental breakdown this morning.

I realised it is March already. Then I thought about what I have achieved this year so far.

Then I thought about all the things I want to do and achieve before I'm 30. And for a moment I thought I was already 24. I had a mini anxiety attack. Then my brother reminded me that I'm 23. So I felt a little better – like I'd saved myself a year.

But I'm still feeling a bit anxious. I can sense the sad-anxious-confused-mood-creature creeping up into my head space. This is not good.

Tea. 

Here is the sad-anxious-confused-mood-creature. It is confused about what kind of creature it is. 

BUSINESS CARDS!

Got my freshly printed new business cards delivered from London. Yeeeee!

Got my business cards printed through www.Moo.com. I like the way they packaged my business cards.

WEEKEND OUT OF AUCKLAND

Spent the weekend in a little town called Ohakune. Took 6 hours to get there from Auckland (by bus).

We were there to do the Tongariro Crossing, but our quest was halted by the schizophrenic mountain weather. We did manage to do one of the mini tramps in Tongariro National Park though. It was quite pleasant. 

So...Tongariro shall be crossed another time. 

The quiet town centre of Ohakune

The exciting big carrot statue in Ohakune

Beautiful scenery and cute walkway in Tongariro Nat'l Park.

I think that was Mt. Ruapehu.

Friend gave me some healthy coconut water. It was yum.

A BILLION COINCIDENCES

Today was a day full of coincidences and supernatural timing of events. Not quite a billion as the blog post title suggests. But many many things happened today.

I cannot go in to all the details.

But I will say that today was a very interesting day.

I also happened to paint my nails in interesting colours this morning. Maybe that's why all these things happened.