22 things I love about you, Annabelle

1. When you make me laugh with your imitations and accents
2. How artistically talented you are
3. How we can infuse any spongebob episode into our daily life
4. How honest you are with your opinions and perspectives
5. Your strength in overcoming obstacles life throw at you
6. Your bravery in trying new things and getting yourself out there
7. Your love for dogs
8. Your easy-going personality and how patient you are with me
9. How low-key incredibly sporty you are
10. How our friendship is majority video calls
11. Your taste in music
12. Your love for analysing quality movies
13. You send me bible verses to overcome my daily problems
14. You take pretty photos that deserve more love on instagram
15. How hardworking you are in your studies, work and making it in life
16. That the only true exercise we do is a chicken nugget drive thru run
17. That moment we shared star gazing at a neighbourhood we weren't suppose to be at
18. You give me compliments that I don't deserve
19. You're extremely optimistic, I can just go to you for a daily dose of positive vibes
20. You give your biggest and shiniest smile in photos
21. You're supportive of my decisions and motivate me to go out of my comfort zone
22. You have such a kind heart and a beautiful soul

Happy blessed 22nd birthday, Annabelle ♡
I'm pretty sure we have countless more photos together but these are the only ones I have access to from the Interweb, still no luck in getting my photos from my hard disk. Anyways,
I love you.

21 new activities I'm going to attempt

Yoga

Boxing

Pottery

Stargaze

Painting

Camping

A full split

Aerial yoga

A handstand

Scuba diving

The cartwheel

Learn to juggle

Writing poems

Paddle boarding

Mountain biking

Make a pillow fort

Facial and exfoliating

Enjoy a body massage

Climb Mount Kinabalu

Learn another language

Use a disposal camera for a trip

dream journal #20

18th October 2017

I was in little traditional Japanese restaurant and I threw my worst tantrum there when my food took too long to be prepared. I remember throwing plates and bowls across the room, no shouting or screaming, just silent furious actions and stomping around. I knew people were staring at my outrage but I was just ever so hungry.

I don't think I should go to bed with an empty tummy again.

21 student life advice in England

Post dedicated to my great friend, Christabelle

1. Invest in a good pair of waterproof boots (or boots with spray on waterproof substance for my case, the rain here is ruthless)
2. Give airbnb a go (All 11 of my stays were great experiences, you get to meet such lovely hosts too)
3. Trainline.com makes life a little less irritating
4. Get a 16-25 railcard (Very common advice but it does saves you a whole lot of pounds which means more money to spend on impulse purchases)
5. Always, always ask for student discount at the till, you're paying thousands for university, you ought to use your privileges to full use.
6 Asos.com (they have pretty much everything, shipping is free and they make returns so easy, just drop it at any collect+ location plus it's also free)

7. Register for Unidays, you pretty much get half price off Netflix and Spotify
8. Attend events in the Student Union, you're bound to get a free pen, sandwich, cup of tea or even a tote bag. They're always giving free stuff.
9. Instead of paying fees for societies that you only attend once or complain how they only drink in bars (their form of a 'social'), do volunteering instead. I cannot emphasis enough how many treasured friendships I've made through volunteering (I can write a whole post about volunteering, which I will do in the near future).
10. Go to the movies on Tuesdays, it's student night, usually half price. I'm not a frequent clubber so I'm afraid I can't help in the aspect of which clubs have the cheapest drinks, sorry!
11. I don't recommend to shop on Student Night, that's the one night every city prepare in malls (usually after freshers' week) for students to take advantage of the discounted items. Here's the trick, they mark up the prices way higher than usual with a major discount tag slapped onto it, this gives you the illusion of actually saving more by purchasing an item at a lower price when it's actually not at all.
12. Tap water is drinkable in England, however, it never hurts to have it filtered just to be safe. (Get one of those Brita fliter jugs on amazon)
13. Always check the expire dates on items in chinese supermarkets, they tend to still sell stuff past the expire dates for a cheaper price (the nearer to the till, the more expired it is).

14. Shop on depop, though it's secondhand, sometimes items are brand new, never used but cheaper on the site
15. Sell your preloved stuff on depop, just a way of getting extra cash instead of trashing or donating them

16. Go that extra mile and recycle, though you think it's such a small act, it does make a difference. They make it so convenient and easy in England unlike countries like Malaysia where you don't have a recycling bin provided at every home. (Olio is an app you can share your unwanted food that are still in good condition for others or get food from places with surplus of food, it's just a brilliant way of decreasing food waste)
17. Smile and say your please and thank yous to bus drivers, cashiers, waiters and strangers.
18. Go out of your way to help someone, whether it's helping an elderly grab something from a tall shelf or helping someone pick up something they dropped or supporting a friend in their social enterprise in helping the poor and needy.
19. Always search the web for vouchers before purchasing something at full price (especially domino's)
20. You can only bring one hand luggage for a budget airline, that includes your backpack, even my little longchamp backpack had to be stuffed into my hand luggage before I was allowed to board the plane.
21. For someone who has never stayed in a student accommodation, I can truly say you save a sum from renting a flat or house from a landlord. Although, you have to go through the hassle of actually looking for the perfect place, I, for one, never regret the places I called home during my university time. You just ought to be smart in searching for somewhere close to the city (so you don't have to pay for public transport), cheap (always try your luck in bargaining for cheaper rent) and cosy (add a few plants, fairy lights, photos on the wall and you got yourself a place you can call home). Disclaimer, this might only be comfy for an introvert like me who don't go out very frequent and keep my social events at a bare minimum.

21 things I've learnt before turning 21

1. Be weird, be quirky, be silly, be kind, be you (unless you're terrible person then don't be you).
2. Any recipe that includes garlic, always double the garlic or even triple.
3. Go ahead and try something new. It's scary? Give it a try, you'll thank yourself after.
4. Only you are in charge of your happiness, not him, not her but maybe your dog but that's different.
5. Keep building yourself, when demotivated, take a break then find motivation in others.
6. Make funny faces at babies.
7. Do whatever feels right to you although you don't know what lies ahead.
8. You'll get your heart broken sometimes but you know what? Life goes on, you've survive the moments you thought you couldn't.
9. Be around people who makes you happier and keep the positive vibes up.
10. It's ok to let go of toxic friendships, even if you want to keep that friendship, keeping a distant makes a difference.
11. Sometimes things don't go the way you want it to, don't worry, things will work out one way or the other (Trust me when I say this, I've lived those moments).

12. Pet a dog on the streets but first, ask the owner for permission.
13. Tell the people you love that you love them (often and as frequent as possible).
14. Get that cute pair of underwear and socks, get flowers for your room, don't forget to treat yourself.

15. Eat what you want, don't hold back, you can sweat it off in the gym or take a walk in a park or take the stairs instead of the escalator some other time.

16. Bring a stick of bubbles wherever you go, you never know when you'll come by the perfect time to blow bubbles and you know what, bubbles brings happiness to any age, it's ageless.
17. Write little happy memories down, you might find it in the long future and and be able to reminisce the good old days and see how far you've come.
18. Send your friends or family a postcard, give extra hugs, get them flowers because you thought of them on a Tuesday or a Wednesday not only because it's their birthday.
19. Tell yourself you are smarter, more beautiful and stronger than you give yourself credit for. It's normal to degrade yourself but you can change that, it's not permanent.
20. Instead of just being kind, strive to be kinder than you already are.
21. Never stop praying and believing in yourself (sometimes, you're all you got).

grumpy frumpy

Why hello there, little grumpy frumpy is back to write more fruitee loopees about just anything to everything. I just organised my list of drafted blog posts from my travels that goes back to more than a year ago. At the moment, I'm just having a hard time accessing my old iPhotos in my hard disk since I updated my laptop. For a not-so-techie person, I've been struggling and constantly sighing whilst dealing with this. Even getting my laptop to recognise my hard disk is a struggle. I'm just waiting and waiting for something to happen.

Aren't we all just waiting for something to happen?

... waiting for a movie to start in the cinema

... waiting for an amazon package to arrive

... waiting for that text or call from a special someone

... waiting for a reply for the job you apply for

... waiting for a bus, a train, a cab

... waiting for the next season of our favourite series

When do we ever just live where we are not in the moment of waiting for something to happen?

Not being able to access my photos is getting to my head, this is why I absolutely despise updates. The car sirens outside isn't helping either. I'm going to stop trying, ask an apple genius tomorrow, brew a cup of tea and sink into a book. This is me actually trying to do life but life is not being very nice so I'm signing off for now.

21 books I'm going to read

1. You Deserve a Drink by Mamrie Hart
2. Blue Ocean Strategy by W.Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne (Recommended by Aaron)
3. Alice's Adventure Under Ground by Lewis Carroll (Purchased in Cambridge)
4. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories by Tim Burton (Purchased in Brussels)
5. The Humans by Matt Haig (Recommended by Lewis)
6. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Recommended by Christabelle)
7. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
8. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K Rowling (Recommended by Chris)
9. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (Recommended by Jesslyn)
10. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
14. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
15. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
16. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow
17. The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
18. Salt by Nayyirah Waheed
19. 7,300 Days by Isabella Mente and Chase Wolcott
20. The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**ck by Sarah Knight
21. Egghead: Or, You Can't Survive on Ideas alone by Bo Burnham
+
22. Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Recommended by Crystal)
23. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (Recommended by Crystal)
24. If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern (Recommended by Crystal)

A year ago on one fine day in January, I decided to make 12 lists of 21 things for 2016 which you can click to see. As determined as I was, looking back, I admired past Sarah's determination to actually attempt that and because of that, present Sarah, is determine to actually go forth with what past Sarah initially planned. So sit tight and watch as I make a courageous attempt in doing life. (A little insight of me and why I'm making a big deal of reading, well, I'm just not a very good reader, I get distracted all the time which makes me have little patience in sitting still and reading a page but I've been good lately, I try.)

"Reading could be the BEST addiction one could have. The only proven side effect is imagination & an edge in knowledge. If put in action, the consequences could be very positive to anyone."

Some sort of a comeback (?)

It's been awhile and getting back on the blogging wagon is going to be a bumpy ride. I'll try smoothing the edges, take the duster out and start sweeping the cobwebs on this webpage. Of course, like how life works, things happen no matter how much you want time to wait for you. A little heads up, I'm writing this while in one of my many unpleasant moods. Just 10 minutes ago, all was good but it took a turn. Words written when in an unpleasant mood is still words written from the heart. Though I may want to take it back after awhile, I don't feel like I would regret feeling how I felt. We're all humans after all and feeling unpleasant is one way of living. It may not be the right way but who's to say what is right or wrong.

--- one hour later ---

A lot has changed since I was back on this website, a lot included me as a person, the people in my life, the lessons I've learnt, the places I've visited and basically a whole lot of realising my ideal style and pace of living. Where do I start? Probably should update my 101 things in 1001 days list. I'll get to that.

--- one week later ---

Rusty as I am in blogging, I think I've developed into a person that is more likely to get distracted, as you can see, I can't even finish one single blog post of thoughts. To describe my situation right now, I'm seated in my best friend, Carmen's room in Sheffield listening to Bach's Violin Concerto BWV 1042 in E major: I. Allegro. That way you have a rough concept to imagine while reading this and future Sarah can read this and remember this little memory. Here are five words to describe how I feel currently with life at the moment.

happy. blessed. content. free. relaxed.

I've been spoilt rotten by my family, friends and boyfriend (who I will fill my readers in about him in the near future). I'm just at a constant speed of always feeling blissful and grateful for everybody in my life. For if not for them, I would never have found peace in my heart and mind. Not saying that, I am completely cured of my sadness and being a chronic over-thinker but progress do start somewhere. I'm a little sad Blogger doesn't have their own app anymore, which makes uploading photos a pain in the neck. In other news, please do look forward to more frequent blog posts and my adventures. Much love to those who take your time to come to my blog to read my rinky dinks and shloopings.

dream journal #19

22nd July 2014

In this dream I had three years ago, I was still in the midst of finishing my foundation year in INTO Newcastle. As the dream starts, I was in the INTO building lobby section talking to my classmates when a man in an old fashioned brown suit handed me a letter. Inside, it said I was chosen to attend an elite boarding school situated in England itself. The dream fast forwarded and changed scene immediately to me arriving to the location. There was a big hall where all the students rested, it was two rows of beds with a desk next to each bed. I was escorted to my desk where I put my backpack and things down. I remember sitting down on my desk thinking that I was one of the lucky ones that had a window right in front of my desk. Outside my view was a park filled with trees of autumn where the colours looked like a bowl of cheetos mixed with nuts and peas. However, as sudden as I got to this school, the overwhelming-ness of everything hit me like a train. I just burst into tears and rang my father up to come pick me up. In my dreams, I have the tendency to dream that I'm in a country far away from home but whenever I need my family or friends, they would be just a drive away and can come tend to my every need. This was one of them. It was such an unfamiliar place but things got better when I bumped into Fiona, Cassandra and Christabelle in the halls. Cassandra was placed on the right of my bed and Fiona was on the left. I took a little scroll alone around the campus and found a path through a bunch of trees when I stumbled upon a tunnel hole just the right size for me to crawl into. Leaving my dreams on auto-pilot, dream Sarah started to crawl inside, for someone who is a self-diagnosed claustrophobic, dream Sarah started heavy breathing and that's when I woke up from my dream thinking to myself, of course, I would never crawl into that hole in real life.

In relation to that, I might need to take a break from watching too much Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland films which I sense I got the unconscious inspiration from for this dream.