Living my Chinese horoscope life

My life has changed forever. :D

I spend my days milking myself away. I spend too much time doing this. Probably the most productive thing I’ve been doing in the last 2 weeks.
In between those sessions (which are once 3-hourly, doesn’t matter if it’s day or night), I squeeze in time to carry the little one, bathe, have my meals, nap, massage, go on social media and reply messages. And really there’s not enough time to nap. 2 hours if I’m lucky, one if I’m slow. I don’t know what sleep is anymore. Considering I didn’t sleep a wink the night before I went into the labour ward and I didn’t sleep the night LO was born, I’ve not slept for more than 2 weeks. Pardon me if I’m cranky!

The only good photo of me and LO in the last two weeks. One which I’m not in my pajamas and doesn’t show my eye bags and dark circles.
Can you see how small the little one is??? I don’t think I have large hands but as you can see here she’s so small in my arms.

And then one with the eye bags and pajamas - and a MOS burger! That’s me protesting over the confinement food. 

No wonder Courtesy Lion gave up

There is something so wrong with this society.

I’m not small by any standards, and pretty bad at balancing myself. Almost gonna pop. 

Yet people in the MRT are not budging to give up space for elderly and I’m expected to do so I suppose? I’ve done it before and today another elderly woman came to stand in front of this priority seat where I am at. Opposite me, on the other priority seat, a man around my age is with his headphones gaming away on his phone. All around me are young people. Really??? Am I really suppose to be the one to give up my seat? I had to do it once before and I felt so ashamed of the young people around me who failed to give up their seats for this one old frail man. I was happy to give up my seat then because I was only a station away anyway. 

All these are on top of the few times people just pretended not to see me. Fine with me, because on those few incidences I only had to go through a few stops anyway. 

That’s why for longer distances, I’d rather take buses than MRTs. It’s easier to find seats and less agony and disappointment. 

People in this society, truly shit. Exactly how I felt when I came here 10 years ago. Still hasn’t changed!

Edit: After I posted this, two other elderly came in and again stood in front of me. Beside me was a father carrying a toddler. I can’t expect him to move. When I got off where I did, the fat guy occupying the priority seat in front of me who’s been so busy gaming got off too. Looking back I should have used my umbrella to poke him from where I was and told him to budge! 

Irresponsible doc

The wife of the late Chris Cornell is seeking to sue his doctor for prescribing drugs that ultimately caused his death/suicide.

Can the wife of Chester Bennington sue this same doc for Chester’s suicide?
Chester was broken after Chris Cornell died.
#gonetoosoon

Not a fan of social media at this time of the year

For the last one week I keep seeing photos of people attending Halloween-themed parties or posting photos with Halloween filters.
Sorry I don’t get it.
Halloween.
What’s so special about looking gory? Of course there are people who use this opportunity to dress slutty...
I just don’t get it. Is it cool or nice to paint your face white and then smudge lipstick all over??
Or dress up as popcorns or weird characters..? Huh????
Ijustdontgetit. I’m so bored of these appearing on my Instagram and Facebook. Cannot wait for this time to be over.

Act Now, Idiots!

What a damning report on the state of the environment.

Save water - do you think no energy goes into purifying water?
Save energy - why use the air-con when you don’t need it?
Save fuel - take public transportation.
Save paper - something we do carelessly use and throw takes so much to produce.
Reduce plastic waste - why recycle when you can reduce? China is no longer taking in the world’s plastic to recycle. Your government will soon, like the US, be unable to deal with all the plastic waste and end up incinerating them like regular trash.

Let’s encourage our family members to use their own refillable water bottles when going out instead of buying bottled water. Discourage the use of plastic bags. Bring your own food container when taking away (I applaud BP folks when it comes to this! They truly deserve a pat on their back!).

Re-use plastic bags.

Also, if you know a supermarket is giving out shitty plastic bags (looking at you AEON), bring your own recycle bag especially for things which has sharp corners (eg cereal boxes) that’ll tear the plastic bag. You know that bag can never be re-used again, even as a trash bag. So why bother taking it?

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Simple tasks have become so hard. Clipping my toe nails require some kind of acrobatic effort. Even roaming about Orchard Road is an ordeal now. My toes have become pretty dexterous as bending down to pick up things is pretty arduous too. Even sleeping is hard, having to be like an Indian roti flipping about to ease aches on different sides of the body throughout the night. When Markus is at work I literally lie on and cover all corners and sides of the bed. 

These are trying times

I swear.

I cannot take the bloody tantrums. Not when I am dealing with all those hormones myself. 

In Singapore things are just tougher

If this were a marathon...

I  am now past the easier parts of the run. Here comes the challenging race to the end. 

If this were a three-lap race, I have now started my last lap. 

P/S: There is sometimes a little bump at random spots where I can do fish-bumps. Too cute. 

Shocked

Was at a bakery with my aunts. As we were leaving, my uncle who waiting was in the car the whole time said it seems like there was a power trip to one of the units along the row of shops. The Tenaga Nasional (electric utility company) guys had opened up the main power box by the roadside to check. The affected shoplot owner was there and my uncle said she gasped and covered her mouth when the Tenaga men told her what’s inside. So there we were in the car, waiting to see them pull out a snake. 

Then we saw one of them use a stick to pull something up.... and it was a FAT CAT. 

The cat was very stiff and it looked exactly like how it is in cartoons when an animal gets electrocuted - forelegs and rearlegs outstretched. 

Poor cat. RIP. Wish I could unsee it. 

Annoyed by sounds people make

It seems like a majority of the people around me make a certain kind of sound be it with their bodies or with things they always have with them AND THIS ANNOYS ME SOOOOO MUCH.

Most of these people I know are guilty of just one type of noise and it will be distinctly them.

It annoys me so much that I feel my personal space being invaded by these noises because there’s no way I can block them out, even when I’m in my own room.

Is there a name for this condition? 

Guess the story

Markus read a Grimm Brothers’ story last night and now I can’t get this rhyme outta my head.

“Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te!
Flounder, flounder in the sea!”

It’s August! Time flies!

It’s a busy time of the year. Relatives from Aussie are back and more are coming back over the next few weeks.

To be honest I feel very blessed.
I have close friends who are with me on my new journey - I don’t know how many people can say so themselves.
I spend much of my time sleeping these days. It is something I’ll not get for a while in the future. 

My nephew hates me

LOL.
He hates me and uses big words (for his age) to show his dislike.

Last trip back, maybe 2 weeks ago, he told me “Ji Yi, don’t distract me. I’m watching iPad.”

Yesterday in the car, after he got scolded by me, he said quietly to me - and only loud enough for me to hear so his mum doesn’t scold him - with a crossed face, “You’re so annoying.”
HAHAHAH.
OK he is pretty bratty.

Meanwhile the pounds are definitely piling on.
It has taken about 20 weeks to happen but it looks like it is finally happening. I keep feeling hungry!

Hooyah!!

Cannot be more relieved to know the 12 boys and their young assistant coach in the Thai cave have been successfully rescued.
A million praise to the rescuers and volunteers.

May these boys recover from their ordeal.

This.
I’m sorry. I’m not the one who’s on the side blaming the young assistant coach. If anything I feel the boys survived because of him.

For some Americans to say he should be prosecuted etc., (and read the comments!) I think they know little about life in the rural areas and compassion. They know little about nature. They know little about forgiveness.

To continue with German or start with Japanese?

I self-learned German for a very short period of time. I even bought a huge-ass Oxford Dictionary for German-English translation.
I gave up quickly when it came to adjective endings. It made no sense. I asked a German before what should I do to remember - he told me he doesn’t really know how the endings work too. It’s just through usage that eventually one remembers it. Most Germans will tell you the same.
And thus I gave up there.

Now, I have this real urge to learn Japanese. Do you know the bloody pain of shopping in a Japanese drugstore but can’t buy anything interesting because of illiteracy? Or that shopping along the aisles of the prepared-food and trying very hard to guess what meat is used for that piece of tonkatsu?

Then of course there are the beauty and skincare stuff.
There are many household hacks and cooking programs that are in Japanese too. Sounds like a good language to know! I also foresee myself going to Japan more often than Germany....

The dilemma.

I can’t even read Chinese. I’m sure there will be people around me who will tell
me to properly learn my own mother-tongue first....

Sleep

 I used to think I sleep a lot. Now I have been sleeping even more. It’s now or never!

How can we improve the lives of children?

“More than half the world's children are at risk of poverty, conflict and discrimination against girls, according to a report by Save the Children.” BBC, 31 May 2018.

It sounds unbelievable yet that is probably the sad truth.

China ranks 40th in the list. With a population so massive, it ranked considerably low. Is education alone enough to help these children out of their bleak future? 

Faith

Sometimes life throws you lemons.
I’ve not really learned what to do with lemons.
While I learn, I have to learn to have faith also.

I’m thankful for the support around me.
T___T 

To be called a biatch

“A look at some of the most annoying things fliers do at 35,000 feet.”

The above article lists everything that annoys me about passengers on a flight.

When I got to #2, I had many flashbacks of me telling passengers to turns their phones off or putting it in flight safe mode. This was extremely common up to say, about 2-3 years ago, before CAAS and/or The Company changed the rules. In the first few years many phones still had to be turned off on older planes and on the newer planes, they go on flight mode. (Things are different today: on most planes phones can be used during take-off and landing, and only on the really old ones in flight mode.)

As I was saying, flashbacks. We have been taught to be firm. You can’t say, “Can you please put your phone in flight mode? We are taking off.” Because there have been too many instances where smarty-pants travelers tell the crew, “No I can’t.” No time to argue man. So the point is to be firm, “Please put your phone in flight mode now,” while not trying to sound rude. But there is a small population of men whose ego get bruised sooooo easily when being given an instruction by a female crew. The expression on their faces tell it all. WORSE, and I’ve seen it many times too, they PURPOSELY dilly-dally just because they can’t swallow their pride to do it as an instruction from me.

Now that I’ve started I suddenly have a flood of responses from memories of how these pax have responded to me.
Yes, I even can profile to you how different demographics respond to simple instructions like that.

The point is, I think I’ve been called a bitch in someone’s head one too many times over this phone thing *laughing with tears smiley*!

The next time you fly, don’t take it to heart when given an instruction by a crew ok? Most times we want to be polite (not that we aren’t, it’s just that for safety matters we’ve to be firm) but there are passengers who take politeness for granted and refuse to comply. We have no time to be arguing and coaxing when take-off is imminent. 

Woman fined $500 over an apple. What’s the big deal?

I can’t believe I’ve had to see the headlines of this woman who was fined $500 for an apple across different news portals for 2 days now.

She did wrong and got fined. It’s not the first day someone got fined for violating a country’s agricultural rules!
Ask the Australians - they know it too well.
Yes, the US has its own prohibitions and restrictions too. Read the damn customs form! You want to fly in and out of any country, please check the CIQ. Before flying into the US from France this woman would have had to fill in a Customs declaration form which would have stated clearly what she can and cannot bring in. If she blindly checks every box, who does she want to blame?


Yes, I’ve had colleagues who got fined for a pear, NZ$500 in Auckland. Got fined in LAX for bringing in instant noodles with dehydrated meat from Japan. And Australia? One too many incidences for me to remember. And so? Can’t dispute it because they knowingly brought these stuff in despite being familiar with the rules.

If the officer is nice he will tell you to dispose of it. But there are always warnings in the airport or even in the customs form of the hefty fines that could be imposed on you if you’re not truthful. 

Southwest 1380

Did you all notice how the passengers strapped the oxygen masks around their face in photos circulating online?

This is what happens when you don’t pay attention to safety briefings by your flight attendants/safety videos. BREATHE INTO THE MASK.
The mask is suppose to be over your mouth and nose.

Why were they wearing it like muzzles?

The survivors onboard are bloody lucky they’ve got a former fighter pilot who descended the plane very quickly (as was mentioned by a passenger, the plane started to freefall. I believe it was a very rapid controlled descent). If she hadn’t, these jokers who can’t even put on an oxygen mask would have passed out (or worse, died) even before they could land. But, isn’t it COMMON SENSE TO BREATHE INTO AN OXYGEN MASK???? 

Bus 26

I had a dream of being on a flight. It was FRA-JFK and my inflight supervisor was none other than my mum!

I was beyond excited to be on the same flight as her and was gonna explore some of the great food in NYC. I remember telling her maybe on the first day she can have the hotel breakfast (since our Top 3 get free breakfast at the lounge in most hotels although in reality our NYC hotel does not provide breakfast) and on the second day we can go for scones. Scones. New York. Dreams can be strange.

There were just scenes of us wandering NYC and eating. Then I woke up from the dream.

I started to think of what I would normally eat in NYC. In all my years of flying I’ve not seen New York much because it’s not my kind of place so I would usually swap it for Tokyo-LA. And in my first 5 years of flying I don’t think I was ever rostered one. It’s only in the last few years that our Tokyo stay was shortened rendering that flight less attractive (Tokyo was my motivation yo!) that I stopped swapping over. I would also gladly give away JFK flights for most other European flights. This resulted in me not knowing enough great places to eat in NYC - although I must say I love love love Red Poke. I do miss it every now and then.

Special mention: I also thought of The Halal Guys when I woke up from my dream. I mean it deserved a thought since I was thinking about New York eats. But really, what’s the deal about Halal Guys?? I had it once and never thought of having it again. And yes I bought it from *the* stall with the longest queue near Hilton. 

Blood pressure monitor

I think a BP monitor is one of the best things you can buy for yourself.

There have been times Markus’ BP went up too high. Knowing it early gives him a better chance at trying to bring it down with lifestyle and diet changes. Of course sometimes lifestyle change may be very hard but at the very least, with a monitor it’s possible to track your BP constantly.

One of my in-laws recently felt faint. It was because of the monitor that was able to show that it was actually his BP was very high.

My BP is on the low side. On a good day it’s the high 80s/50s. On normal days it’s ~95/60 thereabouts. My heart rate is also on the lower side, around 61. Sometimes I wonder it’s my job that gives me the numbers of an amateur athlete ＼(^o^)／*not shy*
You know I do ZERO sports. Never had a history of doing sports too except for a one-off quarter marathon participation. I subscribed to a gym for 30 months but went there a total of ten times (not proud). Being a cabin crew is physically demanding. 

“I feel your pain.”

Maybe this was how the empathetic expression, “I feel your pain/I understand your pain,” came about.

READ: The doctor who really feels his patients' pain 

Once every 5 years

Me, grounded, while waiting for US visa renewal.

My batch girl Ee Vonn and I chose to renew it on the same dates so we could keep each other company for those few days.
Our passports were taken away so we were stuck in Singapore. :(

Yeap, there is a major renovation going on at Control Center now - they’re expanding!

Constipating

It’s all fart and no shit. Agonizing.

It’s not like I’ve been binging on chocolates - no I haven’t!

Also, who bit Beyoncé? 

Happy 10th

Today marks the 10th year I’ve been with The Company. 

Out of 20 in my batch, only 7 are still flying. I wish my batch mates a happy 10th year! 

Kinda crazy that I have been here since graduation. Everything I know about the world I learned from Google and the people I met while flying. 

Very humbled to have been given this chance to go on this journey. I’ve had too many happy times flying but I’ll save that for another day. 

To celebrate, I’ll be meeting 2 very important girls for high tea: the first is my closest batch girl and the second was the girl who casually asked if I’d like to go for the interview together with her, and who also got offers from Emirates and The Company, and who together with me chose to stay closer to our families. 

Without the two of them, my journey as a Cabin Crew would definitely not have started not would it be complete. 

Is the air in the plane different at the front end and the back end?

Did a notorious flight yesterday.

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At one end, one passenger complained to me that the crew zipped past him many times without answering his call light. FYI, the seat-belt sign hadn’t gone off for more than 2 minutes. Then he said, “I want cup noodles and a cup of coke now! I’m very hungry!!” (Aren’t you an adult?)
So I apologized and flew off to get this hungry and angry man his request.
Before I managed to excuse myself, he even curtly said,”You better remember! Nowadays your crew are very forgetful!” (Already judging? Didn’t we just meet?)


—————————

At another end of the plane, a passenger bought a big box of assorted Ferrero chocolates for the crew, wishing the crew Happy International Women’s Day and appreciating that it’s a day to celebrate US!

—————————

Which ends do these two pax belong to?
It’s your guess ;) 

Problems that come with a helper

My grandmother-in-law’s helper is young and vain. Only lately she has been giving a lot of problems and these problems are all too familiar - Gua-ma used to have problems like that with her previous helpers too.

For instance, this helper has been putting on makeup every day! When relatives come over on Saturday she makes sure she has on her makeup. Eye-shadow and all. Like WTF?? For who to appreciate?
Despite almost all of her salary being sent back every month to her family, she recently secretly bought a new smartphone. Where did she get her money from?
She also started to have a relationship with another man from her home country who’s working in Malaysia - and they’ve never met before!
She also cries or make a fuss when she does not get her iPad back in time say, before dinner time.
It’s all very messed up.

If you ever find a good helper, like a good girlfriend, never let her go. 

Long winter

Had Spring lost track of the dates and forgot to come?? 

This winter is kinda draggy. I’ve been to too many cold cities this winter. Heading to London tomorrow and I must say, I’m not looking forward to the cold! 

Temperature is -2, feels like -9, they say. 

I don’t like shopping when I’m all wrapped up like a dumpling. 

In other news, I’ve concluded that every time I drink Starbucks, I get a few new zits. Says a lot about the sugar content. 

NO GUNS

Why doesn’t America understand - NO GUNS?

Why does Trump want to equip teachers with guns? He said a teacher adept at guns could stop a shooter.
Guess what? If I’m a teacher I just want to educate and nurture children - I don’t want to have a gun in my hand and be forever worried of when I have to fire my first shot at a shooter.
You think all teachers are like them hunters?

Just take the bloody guns away, instead of forcing them on people who DO NOT WANT TO HURT, DO NOT WANT TO TAKE LIVES. 

CNY is approaching but I got fat

The pounds are piling up.

I’m doing a Manchester-Houston flight and the jet lag is the worst. I am  stoning every day in Houston.  One has gotta eat right? But I end up sleeping shortly after dinners and snacks. Whenever I see a bed I have to sleep - with a full stomach.
My face is like a balloon now too.
This jet lag is going to last all the way back to Manchester and then Singapore.
After this flight I’ll be back in Batu Pahat. So that’ll mean as I battle jet lag, I’ll be snacking on CNY goodies. So it’s back to eat and sleep, and eat and sleep again. Yay to fatness. NOT. 

Only a vision

I remember as a teen, I was always looking out for the latest radios that looked and sounded good. I then progressed to getting good earphones and headphones when music became more portable.
For me it has always been about the sound.
In any case I was never interested in TVs.

Not until I met the Beovision 14. I can’t take my eyes off it every time I step into B&O. It’s the most beautiful TV I have ever seen. It is good enough to just be a piece of art in the living room.

It has a motorized stand but I love it when it’s on its easel. It looks like a gigantic photo frame. With 6 layers of anti-glare coating, you don’t see much reflection and glare despite it standing at an angle.

With a $15,000 price tag, sadly it is but a dreeeeammm.

Too beautiful. See it to believe it. 

Straws.

So small yet so damaging.

There are many reusable straw options online. Be sure to pick one that is of good quality and I’m sure they will last a very long time. Most of those sold online also come with a cleaning brush to ensure the insides of the straw can be properly cleaned.

As someone who normally drinks cold drinks when eating out, I end up using a lot of straws. I do intend to carry a reusable one with me and refuse the disposable straw.

Every bit counts. 

8 days in Taiwan

Oh yeah. 

Markus and I definitely had a good time shopping. 

Sadly though all of the pineapple cakes we bought expire before CNY so we can’t use it as CNY gifts. 

We had a good trip eating and shopping but I must say the highlight of the whole trip was when we took a electric bike to explore Hualien. Having forgotten to bring along his international driver’s license we could only rent the electric bike. It was fun, nonetheless!! Riding at 40 kph with beautiful mountains surrounding us and Jay Chou playing on Spotify. It is as Taiwanese as it gets. 

Writing our hopes and dreams and sending it above

Markus and I were in Shifen yesterday. Every minute or so a Kong Ming lantern would go up to the sky.
We did ours too, and sent it up in twilight.

At 32

I almost lost my life today. 

Happy 2018!

Happy new year!

I had to work on the first day of the year but all is good! I’m used to this.

It’s been a long time since I made a new year’s resolution. I decided this is the year I’m going to make a braver move in being green.
I do my part when it comes to recycling and saving water and electricity. But this year I’ll challenge myself to do more - cut down on plastics.
This will mean being a responsible consumer and buying things in bulk (eg 20 toilet rolls in a bag instead of 10) and using reusable containers for food instead of plastic bags.
Eventually it’s just about getting used to this way of life which I’m sure will be easy.

Care to join me in being a green ranger for Mother Earth?