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Sorry I’ve been pretty much dead to my blog… 😔 Not that I have a fantastic excuse of any kind, really.

To be honest – I’ve just been too busy adult-ing.

Mondays to Fridays I’m literally swamped at work. And it’s not really about not having the time – because to write a blog entry doesn’t take that much time.

It’s really the mental + physical energy to turn on my laptop, sit down somewhere where no one will bother me too much and start writing.

Must be the age.

But don’t get me wrong – I still write. Just that it’s mostly on WhatsApp to my close friends about how our days went and if any one of us had a bad day… the amount of content generated wayyy surpasses an average blog post. Haha! 😂

Then Saturday & Sunday, I’m spending quality time with friends and family. ❤️

Must be the age.
…but suddenly some people have become immensely important in my life.

Really, just some. A small handful that I can list out for you on the spot.

And while there are other people whose company I enjoy; I have this small handful whom I love being around and cannot imagine my life without.

There comes a point in your life whereby you realise some people who have made defining impacts in your life – that you would be a different person with/without them.

And it makes me just so happy knowing that I’m lucky enough to have people like that by my side.

Y’see, for someone like me – I don’t expect people to stay very long. If anything, I expect all relationships to have a self life; simply because of how I grew up. If the other party doesn’t leave, I leave anyway. Because it only seems natural.

However over time I’ve met people that insisted that they stuck around; that proved to me they’d never walk away by choice; that showed me there are relationships in this world that can go on without an expected deadline.

And to think I’ve only come to learn this at this age.

But I’m grateful. ☺️

XOXO, G. 

Lately I’ve come to realise that some lessons in life are plain mandatory.

Without those times that really bite you, you’d probably never realise you weren’t bitten all along. Without actually running to the other side and take it in, you would’ve kept on thinking, “What if the grass is greener on the other side?”

Well, it sometimes is – it sometimes isn’t.

You might not call yourself a gambler, but we all are in this journey we call ‘life’. Whatever decisions you make at every moment is a gamble that it will be a better bet than other decisions.

So I was miserable at my table; the odds seemed to have mounted against me and before losing everything, I decided it was a better bet to end that game.

Other games seemed a lot more desirable; made me smile more and piqued my interest in rather unexpected ways. Enormously tempting, I tell you.

When you’re without a table that ties you down, the other tables start hollering. Didn’t even look at most, some made me look again – but only one got me to sit and play.

It was a brand new gamble. And of course I hoped for better odds.

However you’d soon realise that the grass on the other side might seem greener because you’re looking at it from afar and were too blinded to actually see the obvious issues.

And it slowly started to click – this game definitely isn’t mine to win. There’s another player in the shadows that has been well-concealed from me. Call it female instinct or pure logical observation – but some moves were not made by anyone else I could see at the table.

At any gamble (or decision in life), you play because you know you have the chance to win. However at this gamble, I knew the chance was a mere illusion that acted as a bait – probably because the dealer was feeling little greedy.

At this gamble, I realised after a few rounds that my chances were none. I was just another filler of the seat for a bit – the real player was the one seated in the shadows.

And to think I used to play this so well.

Call it karma. I finally got mine. So back to my own game – I’m bruised, but I’m alright.

XOXO, G. 

Sponsored Post 

From the 20-25 October, the Japanese Calligraphy Art Exhibition (co-organised by Sunstar) opened its doors at The Luxe Art Museum to the public.

On 21 October, I headed down to the cosy little exhibition space tucked away along the streets of Dhoby Ghaut – where people all gathered to soak in the enticing charm of Japanese calligraphy with some of Japan’s amazing calligraphy masters.

At the calligraphy performance, we got to experience first-hand the masters work their magic with exquisite brushes drunk on black ink; making their calculated movements on paper.

It was truly enchanting to see the amount of focus the masters had in their eyes, coupled with the elegance and discipline in their hand.

👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

We also got to try out 団扇 (u-chi-wa) by writing our names on Japanese paper fans! And so I wrote my Japanese name which was given loooong ago by a Japanese teacher – みかこ (Mikako).

Aaaaand done!

The exhibit area was also bathed in 60 scintillating calligraphy masterpieces from member calligraphers of Nihon Shodo Bijutsuin (日本美術院).

There were tonnes of people roaming around; gazing at the works, having intense discussions in English or Japanese. It was easy to while away time

Featured at The Luxe Art Museum was also Kenkodojo – immensely healthy food & beverages to help rebalance your health! 💪🏻

Even overheard an elderly Japanese woman proudly proclaiming she drinks one can a day! Because I don’t like berry flavours, I went for the Super Vegetable flavour.

It will definitely take some getting used to – I’ll be honest! But with all the healthful ingredients packed inside, it’s really no wonder the elderly Japanese lady was raving about how much the drink benefited her.

Check out Sunstar’s Singapore online store!

If you want to know more about the health drinks, there’s the Super Vegetable Drink and the Multi-berry Juice!

The extend of this event didn’t just stop there! To better connect with Singaporeans, Sunstar brought the event to the heartlands in Choa Chu Kang Community Club and Our Tampines Hub! And I headed down to the one at Choa Chu Kang Community Club!

The entire hall was bustling with loads of people.

Sunstar had a stall showcasing their wide range of dental care products – from toothbrushes to toothpastes and mouth washes!

I was quite suckered into the whole thing… 😝 So somehow bought a couple of toothpastes and other random dental care.

Oral hygiene important, okay! 😬

The entire event was graced by several people from all walks of life – including Mr Gan Kim Yong, Singapore’s Minister of Health.

And soon, we got to once again witness some master calligraphers perform their art right before our very eyes.

I really appreciated this calligrapher who daringly said she wanted to do her writing on the floor – and it was really evident how much more intense the art became when the artist was given a larger creative platform.

And it was another round of 団扇 (u-chi-wa)!

Getting ready to be inked up!

Listening intently to the instructions! Must write nicely! Bwahaha.

We even had practice sessions before we started writing on the paper fans. This time, they gave us a selection of words – I chose to write 桜 (Sakura)!

The evening continued with a dental show that aimed to properly educate people on how to properly take care of their oral hygiene. Catchy songs, high-energy dance moves and memorable jingles filled the CC’s hall! ☺️

My favourite one was about brushing your teeth twice a day!
Once with the Sun, and another when the Stars are up –
so you get Sunstar!

The children seemed to have so much fun grooving to the songs – and getting goodie bags didn’t hurt either. 😉

It was quite a full day, but thoroughly educational and enjoyable!

I got to pick up a bunch of oral care essentials at discounted prices! (Much YAYYYY!) And experienced first-hand the elegance behind Japanese calligraphy, while soaking in a large collection of masterpieces; even got to try out a little for myself!

A HUGE thank you to Sunstar and Japan Calligraphy Art Academy for organising this truly enriching experience for the locals here in Singapore. ☺️ 🇸🇬

XOXO, G.

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“Calligraphy is an art form that uses ink and a brush to express the very souls of words on paper.” Kaoru Akagawa （赤川薫）

There are several things to love about Japan – that’s why I’ve always loved revisiting the country! 🇸🇬 ✈️ 🇯🇵

The food never leaves me bloated and unsatisfied (even their convenience store wares), the people are often very polite and kind, and their products have crazy gorgeous packagings! 😍

But lets not forget their culture – the Japanese boast a long history with countless stories and works of art to showcase to the world today, tomorrow and beyond. I’ve visited a few museums, palaces and other historical monuments whilst in different parts of Japan. And one art I love is the art of calligraphy.

It’s not just fancy writing; from start to finish, the entire art itself captivates and engulfs you – if you were to give it so much as a sliver of a chance.

Right from the moment the artist starts poising his/her hand to select a brush; the magic begins. The intensity coupled with elegance in each movement is carefully calculated and flawlessly executed to making its way to completing a masterpiece of black & white.

If you’re lucky, you’ll manage to hop on and join the artist as you make through each turn and flick – and when you take your first glimpse at the entirety of the masterpiece, that bit of your breath gets stolen away.

Fallen in love with calligraphy yet? …or maybe you’re not quite convinced?

Head down to the Luxe Art Museum between 20-25 October 2017 and be enthralled with about 60 pieces of specially curated calligraphy masterpieces! 👍🏻

Calligraphers from the Japan Calligraphy Art Academy (Nihon Shodo Bijutsuin – 日本美術院) will be presenting…

1   Kanji (Sino-Japanese ideograms)
2   Kana (Japanese syllabary)
3   New Calligraphic Art (I’m quite interested in checking this one out!)
4   Seal Carving

Don’t miss out on the calligraphy performances by the visiting calligraphers! They happen daily from 2-3PM (except for 25 Oct). Visitors get to do a calligraphy trial too – so be there early to save a spot!

Y’know what’s the best part about all this?

IT’S FREE!!!

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“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous

While I rather enjoy my work, the feeling of having a ticket to a whole new foreign experience is simply too amazing. In my Outlook calendar, I have a whole line-up of meetings blocked in blues – then planned holidays in a pretty shade of pink!

☺️☺️

And it comes to a point whereby travel has become a mandatory part of my life. Simply because every single day at work I’m too busy fulfilling my responsibilities to earn my keep – I find I forget to live life.

And that’s quite the basic fundamental of being human, isn’t it?
We need to LIVE our lives.

Albeit reality dictates we also have bills to pay… 💸😩
And lately my life has started growing up a little faster than my wallet.

So to sate my travelling appetite, I’ve started exploring more on travelling to my little island’s neighbour – Malaysia 🇲🇾!

And if you’re looking for some awesome accommodations, check out Traveloka Malaysia!

Traveloka is a spanking new website that allows you to search for a whole bunch of hotels and flights – at really competitive prices! And Traveloka boasts about having the most extensive search results. 👍🏻

You’ll also see that hotel listings on Traveloka have TripAdvisor reviews conveniently embedded right inside them! So this means – we no longer need to manually search for the hotel name on TripAdvisor to see what other fellow travellers have to say.

ISN’T THIS AMAZING???

Because this just makes it soooo much easier for you to know which hotel will give you a legit great holiday experience AND is worth your hard-earned moolah.

And honestly when it comes to getting quality advice on my travels, TripAdvisor is my go-to. No doubt there.

One pretty cool hotel I think you’ll love is the Lexis Suites Penang!

Check out the hotel’s listing here!

This hotel is crazy cool. Okay – the pictures of the hotel at night kind of looks like a Genting hotel… but it’s the inside that caught my eye.

For starters – they provide something intangible in the air that simply makes the world a better place… 😌

Wi-Fi.

Now, don’t ever discount the importance of Wi-Fi. I’ve been to a few hotels that charged about that price range, and didn’t have the courtesy of having free Wi-Fi. Apparently all part of the ‘zone out’ experience, and if you really need Wi-Fi… you can pay for it at the business lounge.

No – I don’t ‘zone out’ when I don’t have my Wi-Fi.
If anything at all, I go into panic mode because every second I’m unable to check if any important emails came in, I think my work is imploding.

NOT a desirable feeling while on a holiday, I’ll give you that.

And you might say this isn’t healthy. No, it really isn’t. But that’s the lifestyle I have currently whereby I need to check my messages and emails every once in a while, just to make sure things are going well.