And today's Valentine's Day. A day of loveeeeeeee... Hb and I had our celebration dinner earlier on Sunday. Nothing fanciful just dinner with our favorite seafood dishes. :))

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Remember to always cherish and love your loved ones not just other half but families too! :))

It's the year of the Dragon and at the beginning of it all, my tension headache from 2006 returned coupled with a crazy insomnia that saw me sleeping at 5ish everyday. :(

Hopefully this is just a phase that will end as soon as it started. Just like what Lillian Too said. Perhaps it's the arrival of the Dragon energy to signify the start of a brand new year!!!

So ya, here's to a healthy & happy 2012!!! TQ TQ!!!

Day 8th of CNY is THE most important day of all to the Hokkien community. This year, it was on a Monday. I initially wanted to take both Monday and Tuesday off but due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to go to work. Hb came to fetch me back to KS as usual.

Before prayers began, we visited Hb's ex-business partner at his banglo in KS and had a great time chit chatting about our recent holidays. They just got back from South Korea; which Hb and I went last year. This year we visited Beijing.

As usual, offerings were placed on a table right outside the house. While waiting for the clock to strike midnight, we entertained ourselves with firecrackers! This year, only FIL, MIL, Hb and I were present. BIL's overseas for work and SIL's son was sick. So unlike other years, it was kinda quiet. Nevertheless with the numerous fireworks at play that night, it was somewhat festive-feeling!

MIL said before we came back, a poor teenager said he was cheated to come to KS and needed bus fare to go home. He only asked for RM28 so my MIL gave him the money and told him to go home the following morning.

We thought nothing of it. When it was time to pray, we did the usual and started burning the various offerings. After prayers, we took several plates of offerings to a temple nearby. As we were walking back, a strong gust of wind started blowing (as if it was going to rain soon and as a matter of fact it did much later). The wind was so strong that it blew the offerings we burnt earlier; combination of ashes and burning bits right into the house!!!

From a far, the mixture of fiery red burning bits coupled with black ashes looked as if a dragon was flying into the home!!! The scene gave me goosebumps as I've never seen such a thing before!!! The entire incident kept us all preoccupied for quite some time cos' while MIL cooked supper, Hb and FIL cleaned the place outside while I mopped the entire place inside.

Hopefully the entire incident of "dragon flying into home" means GOOD FORTUNE for us all! Dear Ti-Kong, hopefully our prayers are answered. Thank you thank you!!!

Separately, the following day, a dragonfly flew into our home and refused to leave. It flew so low and at times hovered mid air as if checking Hb and I out. Again, I googled the meaning of dragonfly... and this time, the meaning was a good one! Some sort of a bearer of GOOD NEWS!!!

So ya, hopefully this year will be a great year for us all! :))

Just realized I did a recap of 1H of 2011. So here's the 2H of 2011.

July
Launched my first project at work.

August
Parachuted in to help on a high profile company wide project. Recognition in credit roll which I found out later on was extremely precious and difficult to get in. Though I didn't think anything of it, my boss feels that this single cross functional project sealed my position in the company. :)

September
Short break to Pangkor with Hb to recharge our energies. I love the beach!

October
Presented winning idea in Bali at the management offsite and won a further RM5,000. Unfortunately, till now we've not received the money. Nevertheless, had some time to go paintings shopping at Kuta.

November
Family holiday to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

December
Finally, the entire team was fully assembled. This is also the one year I work till the very last day of the year. Previously, I would've taken the entire week off.

Note: Photos to be added later on.

I want so many things in life and I want them now that somehow they became a "rojak" of wish lists that may not be clear enough for the universe to decipher.

I want to have a baby NOW!

I want to have time to spend with my loved ones going on trips, journeys and such together NOW!

I want to be able to prove my worth in a bigger way NOW!

I want to be able to do something that I am comfortable with confidently NOW!

I want to have excess money to live the kind of life I want NOW!

I want to be happy and healthy NOW!

So ya, my wish lists dear universe. Please help grant them NOW!

Life is totally unpredictable. Step grandma just passed away. Heard the news around midnight. Her only son's working in Shanghai alone.

Found out that she fell down near the phone. Her last phone call was ten-ish from the son. It was good that at least they managed to talk, albeit for the last time. So so sad. Pity my step uncle, who's in actual fact my age.

Dear grandma, may you rest in peace.

This year, I've nailed down 3 key areas to really focus on. Some say that resolutions are meant to be broken but personally, what's not on paper's not counted and what's explicitly expressed do have a higher chance of becoming reality... "The Secrets" you know. So here are my 2012 resolutions:

Personal
Continue savings of 40%
Reduce expensive habits

First half of the year as I was transitioning between my old and new job, I found myself perpetually stress and along the way developed expensive shopping habits. Truth be told, I busted 25K on LV within several months, bought more than 5K worth of beauty products and facial treatments. Spent 6K in changing my braces to Invisalign. Bought an iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, iPad 2 AND the recently launched iPhone 4S.

Second half of the year, I suddenly came to my senses after paying 4 to 5 digit credit card payments monthly! Instead of spending crazily on branded and luxury items, I now save up 40-50% of my nett income. The single biggest motivation to do so is to save up for our double storey that will be completed in August this year! Might as well spend on building our dream home than for "syiok sendiri" moments.

Career
Stop unnecessary dreams
Pursue career wholeheartedly

The first 10 years of my career game plan was very clear and rigid. Eventually, at the age of 30, I finally achieved what I set out to do. Took me 10 long years and a truckload of sweat and tears but it was all worth it and handsomely rewarding. Then came my marriage at 30. All's fine and dandy but since then, I found myself in a limbo.

Should I set aggressive targets for myself as before and aim to rise further up the corporate rank? Or should I shift my focus towards becoming a family woman. Perhaps I should stop working or how about starting something small on my own or with Hb so that I can have more time for my family and loved ones?

I have been in a limbo for close to a year. Then came the opportunity for a career change that came along with greater monetary and compensation which I took up after spending 10.75 years in my previous company. It was a huge step for me. However, with the kind of pay and rank I command, the expectations were also a lot greater.

I need to be focused 100% in order to achieve what I've planned for the company. I can't be stuck in this crazy limbo state no more. As such, I will give myself another year of crazy aggressive demanding workload. I can be quite a workaholic but also have a tendency to procrastinate with unnecessary thoughts in my head.

So ya. Enough of dilly dallying, enough of wondering which direction to take when it comes to my career. I should just charge ahead!!! Just 12 more months to go. Then regardless of which route I take, I would have already gathered enough highlights to boost my professional profile for future usage.

Health
Begin next phase of life
Look after health

I am a smoker, a hard core one who smokes a pack in 24 hours for the past 12 years. Is it damaging? Am certain it is. But why am I smoking still? Stress? Habit? What? To be honest, I'm not exactly sure.

But all I know is that, if Hb and I are serious about expanding our little family unit, then we need to know what to do and be committed to it i.e. quit smoking and drink lesser.

I also hate to take vitamins, supplements or any form of liquid 'goodies' like Yomeishu / Dom. But for the past 6 months, I have been diligently popping Folic Acid in preparing my body for pregnancy. On top of that, I've also started taking Yomeishu.

So ya, those are my 3 areas of top priorities which I absolutely need to achieve in order to move on to the next phase of my life. May I have the strengths both physically and mentally to achieve them. As my best friend always say: I CAN, I WILL AND I AM GOING TO ACHIEVE THEM ALL!!! This shall be my new mantra for 2012! YAY!!!