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).