Category: Musings

Coffee tumblers

On By mouseytongIn France, Misc..., MusingsLeave a comment
Starbucks coffee tumblers

I finally found a new coffee tumbler alike my old one that I had for at least 12 years and left in the hotel in South Korea. For more than a year I was searching all the Starbucks that I come across for the same type of tumbler but was unsuccessful.

Of all places, I found it in a Starbucks in Paris. Wasn’t even intending to step into a Starbucks in Paris but I had to go to a shop nearby and it only opened at 1430. I planned it such, that I found a restaurant within walking distance to have lunch and since I had some time still to kill I stepped into the Starbucks across the street to check out the carrot cake and maybe get a speciality coffee just to try something new. Lo and behold, right in front of me, when I stepped in, the tumbler! It is the opposite if my old tumbler which was green with a black rubber band. this one is in black with a green band. I am so happy I found it again.

Among all the other tumblers that I have bought and the 3 other ones I bought from Starbucks, none of them survived more than a few months. The drinking lid always broke off in a matter of months. Never locks well enough and I always encountered leaking unless I hold it. I could never leave it in my bag without fearing it would spill coffee all over. The other tumbler in the photo is one such tumbler. Also from Starbucks but the drinking lid is broken and it doesn’t lock as securely as the other one.

Just wanted to sing praises and thank the universe for listening to me when I was desperately searching for a new tumbler. Now I can have my hot/cold coffee without fear again. I am a happy camper!

Toodeloos!

A week in…2025

On By mouseytongIn Food for Thought, Misc..., MusingsLeave a comment

It has been a week into 2025 and it has been quiet. Not much fanfare welcoming 2025 as I was sick and we were up in the Dolomites mountains freezing our asses off welcoming the new year. We literally just left the hotel and made our way to the town centre piazza at Campitello about 20 minutes before and by 20 minutes later we were back in our rooms and under the covers. Quite a contrast to last years’ new year celebrations where we were in Slovenia holed up in our room as it was raining cats and dogs out. It was also too cold and not worth getting ourselves all drenched just for a 10 minutes welcome of the new year.

So far, for me 2025 is going to be one of the best year yet. Not only do I believe so, I know so. Also, I am manifesting for it to be one of the best yet and out of this world amazing year. For manifesting to work I also need to have it written down in black and white and reminding myself daily like a mantra. Sending the vibes out to the universe and wait for it to come back to me with an answer.

I also always think it is more of a mind over matter thing. Which is why I believe it is and will be a great year. I have always felt that I am lucky and have been blessed in my life. Being a mostly positive person, sure helps matters. Even the worst year in recent times, definitely referring to the dreaded COVID-19 times, I felt that it was a blessing in disguise in many ways. Of course, financially it wasn’t a great year or even a good few years after but what came out of that time for me personally was a moment of discovery and personal growth that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.

Planning on continuing the journey on personal growth, I can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for me. With the few things that we have already planned, I believe it is going to be one hell of a ride and I am going to enjoy riding the wave of 2025!

Happy New Year to you peeps and sending you positive vibes for a great 2025!!

Toodeloos!

Always at the back of my mind.

On By mouseytongIn Food for Thought, Misc..., MusingsLeave a comment

Everything starts with a first step. So, today, I am taking that first step in starting my blogging back up.

I have the app on my phone, on my tablet, on my computer and I stare at it from time to time. Sometimes, I even “compose” my entry in my head and tell myself that I should sit down and post. Never got round to it. Another year has passed. I also realise that I haven’t been posting much as well on other platforms. I shall just give the excuse that life got in the way. However, we all know that I am just a lazy ass. No excuses. Everyone can make time when they want to and obviously this lazy ass here has not made time for it.

If you have been following me on Instagram, or Twitter, you would probably know that I am now back in University and I should be graduating by this academic year. I am a year behind as I divided my last year workload in two. I realised that I would need time for my final thesis and that I didn’t need to rush things as, unlike the other younger students who needed to graduate and move on to further their studies or get a job. I, on the other hand, am doing it for my own satisfaction. A personal goal. A personal achievement that if something came out of it in the future would be just an added on bonus.

Although I got to say that I previously had reservations on posting as my life revolved around my children so much that I practically did not have a life outside of children, home and work. Work is sometimes boring and not really something I would want to post here. Would probably be better suited to be posted on the company Instagram or LinkedIn.

My kids are a little older now, so in theory I have more time. I just need to now get a routine going to dedicate time to posting. Just recently, I had a reminder of an old post on FB and I clicked on it and went down a rabbit hole of my old posts. It reminded me that I should, one way or another start to document my life, especially my travels again. It was good to read about my travels and my thoughts and reflections on it. Places I have forgotten that I have even visited. Food that I completely erased from my memory.

Re-reading the posts, brought those memories flooding back. The emotions – the awe that I felt, the anger, the disappointment even my taste buds were tingling as I read some of my food reviews. This flood of emotions has swept me up and floated me back here.

It is now almost the end of the year. Would it be the same if I try to make a new year resolution at the end of a year? I guess, a resolution is the same whether at the beginning or at the end of a year. Starting the resolution and keeping it is the key to making resolutions.

I am such a procrastinator! Here is to keeping to the resolution and keeping it consistent.

Toodeloos!

.

Happy New Year!! Hello 2021!

On By mouseytongIn Food for Thought, MusingsLeave a comment
Leaving behind 2020! Happy New Year!!

Hello 2021!! And bye-bye 2020! You won’t be missed but you will be remembered for all that you were. It is not easy to forget what 2020 was but it was also hard to remember as all the days blended into one. Homeschooling, staying indoors, 24/7 with the kids bursting with boundless energy. All in all, a very unforgettable year.

It was also a year where I finally lost 10kgs from all the weight I put on over 15 years here. Though I have only managed to lose the those from my pregnancies and none from the gluttony after moving to Italy. Such is life! 😅 I got to work harder on this.

I can also say, I have gained a lot too in other areas of my life. I finally used my kitchen to the fullest extend since we got it 13+ years ago. It was as if 2020 knew I had to make up for all the lost years. My kitchen told the universe that they felt underutilised and wanted to do more. Wanting to be used for what they were made for. 😄

I upped my cooking skills. Managed to finally bake bread, cakes, biscuits and cook up a storm. I have also finally learnt to cook Malaysian food with whatever I could find and all its substitutes. My saving grace is that I am cooking for Italians and even if I don’t do a good job, no one is any the wiser! 😆

Then there is an international Tabata group going on since lockdown and it is still going strong. It was actually helpful for me on my weight loss journey. The girls are amazing. Very motivated and they re going strong. Germany, Italy, the UK, Australia, Malaysia and occasionally Singapore and Japan all log in at a specific time to exercise our fats away and build camaraderie. I hope this goes on for as long as it can.

After these trying months, I am ready to say goodbye to 2020 and welcome 2021 with open arms. All ready for all it has to offer and all its possibilities.

So Happy New Year everyone!

P/s: Watch this space as I have something planned…fingers crossed, it comes to fruition.

Upgrading myself

On By mouseytongIn Food for Thought, MusingsLeave a comment
Photo taken from Pinterest

It has been a while since I have blogged. This time, things have aligned for me and also thanks to Nowrid I have rediscovered a part of me that I have put on the back burner to be a mother. Between work and motherhood, everything else was not that important. Then, Covid happened, everything came to a halt and my youngest is now in school. I find myself with more time to re-evaluate my life. Things that I couldn’t do before I could now look into.

When I said things were aligning for me, I really meant it. An Italian company approached me before to work with them 3 years back but I couldn’t as J was not even a year old and she was with me most of the day. 2 years later, J has just started kindergarten and I was getting used to the free time when they approached me again. This time, I was very interested. I was also very excited and nervous. Though I am on social media, I have never done any social media marketing of this kind (cosmetics and beauty) and my main business of exhibition design and construction didn’t need the same type of marketing. Also my main business has been in business for almost 30 years, and we have ties and experience in the business that supersedes this new company.

I was looking around. Checking out social media of similar companies. Doing online research on similar companies to figure out a way to market this company and to see where we fit in the grand scheme of things. All this researching open my eyes to the power of digital marketing. I was intrigued but I didn’t know where to start. I was also searching online for more info to learn about it. All this researching made me feel helpless.

So when my sis sent me a message and asked if I was interested in a course for Malaysians offered by BAC, and for free too, I jumped at the chance. This course, has been the best thing that has happened to me in a while. Also the best investment of my time. Nowrid‘s easy going, straight forward explanation of how digital marketing works was a godsend. He made it look easy. He was also open to answer all our questions and doubts. What was more interesting was that he taught from his experience and gave alternatives and brought in other experts of other platforms that he might be so conversant in.

He gave me hope that I may one day actually know what I am doing with digital marketing. All I have to do now is to apply all this knowledge and learn as I go along in my new venture into the world of beauty.

I am a strong believer in that everything happens for a reason and I know that things aligned in such a way that I was meant to take this course by Nowrid and will grow from this. Thank you Nowrid for opening my eyes to the world of digital marketing and a making it less scary for novices like me. Lets see where I will be in a year or so.

Till the next time, Toodeloos!

Timing is forever off

On By mouseytongIn Misc..., MusingsLeave a comment

My timing for blogging is forever off. I think of the random-est things at the most random times and it is usually when I can’t blog. It is because I am driving, putting the kids to bed then subsequently falling asleep myself or having a epiphany while I am with kids which is almost 20 hours a day.

Thanks to my babysitter (godsend) I have about 4 hours Monday to Friday excluding holidays that I can get some time for myself. Which I subsequently fill with work, physiotherapy, and all other appointments ie. hair, nails, banks, dentist, doctor and grocery shopping and cooking if I need to. In the end when I don’t need to do anything, I literally don’t. 😀 Does that make sense? I also spend some of that time to be with M. We work together cause we have businesses together. We used to travel together very often as well. Now less so. So when I don’t have the kids, I will go the the meetings and other appointments with him so that he doesn’t have to inform me of them later.

Now that I have some time, since I have to do some work urgently, I gave J her tablet. The only way get her to leave me alone and not bang on the keypad while I am working. Not even with the TV on on the kids channel does the trick. I am forcing myself to write. Forcing because I can see that my flow of thought is not there. I feel that I am incoherent and just having a verbal diarrhea. But I know that I have to try. I also get frustrated that when I do find some time, I don’t really remember anymore what I wanted to blog about. Then my mind wanders and then I find myself on Instagram, FB or Youtube, Netflix or Viki. I am going through a documentary phase. Devouring documentaries like there is no tomorrow. Mostly criminal and historical or both.

This makes me feel like when I first went back to school. After not having to write anything longer than possibly 3 sentences, I found it so difficult to even write 500 words for my first English 101 essay. I was despairing, thinking , oh no…how am I ever going to write my papers as things get harder. Thank God, all I needed was more reading and more writing. I managed to graduate so I guess I did do something right and what I wrote coherent enough for a final thesis. *peace sign*

Sigh…absolutely incoherent again. Could you get my flow of thought here? I think I want to attribute this to mommy brains. You know, the same ones as the pregnancy brains? 😛 Ok, I am just trying not to take responsibility. Just looked at the word count at the bottom and I am approaching 500. Whee!! Who would have thought this incoherent verbal diarrhea can even reach 500 words! Ah…proud mommy brains moment! 🙂

Signing off and I apologised if you came here to read about something more interesting and got this. I will try to make an effort on the next one. I update on Instagram more often. See you there!

 

A Tribute To Genoa

On By mouseytongIn Food for Thought, Italy, MusingsLeave a comment

This video was sent to me in a WhatsApp group. I couldn’t help but tear up when I was listening to this. *Sniff*

Genoa is genuinely crippled by this disaster. The city is literally divided in 2. So many areas are closed and so many families have been evacuated and so many businesses affected. Even giants like IKEA are feeling the pinch in just 20 days from the collapse of the bridge. You can only imagine the damage to smaller businesses.

Some big companies had to layoff or rather suspend some personnel indefinitely as well some parts of their building is right underneath the bridge so it is not safe for them to work.

Now the city is also at almost a standstill especially during peak hours as traffic that usually passes by the city via the highway has now got to go through the city and back onto the highway. Good thing is that highway is free for now. Even the Telco companies are waiving this month’s bill in solidarity to businesses within the vicinity of the bridge. Our business is one of them.

Some places are so dead…it is disconcerting and sad.

I hope we bounce back soon. I hope that the displaced families will have everything sorted before winter comes.

I ❤️ Genoa!!

2017 just flew by…

On By mouseytongIn Celebrations, Food for Thought, Musings, wonderings...Leave a comment

Where did 2017 go? I remember it just like it was yesterday when we were braving snowstorms that grounded our flight in Istanbul for days. I remember the havoc that the airport was in after many days of flight cancellations and delays when we finally got into Istanbul. We were lucky to be diverted to another town, Elazig, and set up at a newly opened hotel (literally opened the day before we arrived) for 3 days before we got the clearance to finally fly into Istanbul and make further arrangements for our next flight home. Finally in Istanbul we waited a whole day for our flight that kept getting delayed till it was finally cancelled and I insisted that I do not want to be on the next flight out but in 2 days time as it was after midnight and they are finally flying people out and I know from my experience, that the airline will do its best to clear its backlog and we might still be bumped off the next flight we thought we were already booked on. With children, I rather we rest well and check out the city and finally get to really fly out instead of waiting around in the airport. By this time, the airport was already out of many things. A family was stranded so long that they ran out of diapers and couldn’t find any on the airport and they couldn’t get out of the either. Luckily I had enough to pass them some. Poor family. We finally got in on the 12th of January when we left on the 6th.

It felt like it was just yesterday! Now it is already the 19th of December!! 2017 has been a beautiful year and seeing that it just flew by it must have been a good year too. Because only when you are having fun, is when time flies. Little munchkin has grown so much and is a little tornado. The hashtag that I gave her on Instagram is #TornadoJ. I can actually say she is living up to it. Little bumblebee is not so little anymore. She is only 3 but taller than most 5 year olds. She has always had a strong character and I can also say that she is also living up to the hashtag that I gave her on Instagram, #HurricaneZ. My little forces of nature. I am so lucky to have them.

So, thank you God for a wonderful 2017 and for my family and all that I have been given and for keeping everyone safe and bring on 2018!!

A very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and a Happy New Year to all!!

adding hashtags here #feelinggrateful #feelingloved #thankfulforeverything

 

Caught between a rock and a hard place…

On By mouseytongIn Food for Thought, Musings, wonderings...Leave a comment

Of course there are a few reasons for my lack of blogging. No time. Nothing much is up. No inspiration. So on and so forth. It applies to my Instagram and Twitter posts as well. I have to admit though, the main concern for me is the fear and respect for my children.

I chose to write, photograph and post about my life but my children didn’t. Or at least, have not decided for themselves yet whether they would like to or not. Then there is this online paedophile concern that lurks in the corners every time I think I want to post a picture. I don’t want anyone to be using my child’s photo for anything. Not even a meme. But once it is out in the world wide Web it remains there forever. Even with all the security measure we put in, it can still get out. After all, we are all only connected. Just 6 degrees of separation separates us all.

Which means the moment I share a photo in Facebook even with friends only setting, it can and will be shared with others if anyone of my friends liked the picture or commented on it. It pops up on their friends’ feed telling them that their friend has just liked a photo. All this ease has put a stone in my shoe, so to speak, making me uncomfortable. Makes me think twice before posting.

Then, comes the part that maybe my children won’t like their antics to be splayed out for all to see. Especially when they hit their teens. By then, it is too late to say sorry or to retract. What is done is done. It cannot be undone.

Now cones the crux of it all. Since becoming a mother my life revolves around them. Almost every picture and thought I have, have them in it. Scroll through my phone and all I see are my two angels looking back at me. Then when I am with them, I don’t have time for anything else. My hands are full. Even if I take a photo of something else, I have no time to organise my thoughts and make a blog post even if that what the intention when I took that photo.

Or maybe I am just lazy. I still work and am lucky that my time is flexible. Household chores are done to the minimum. I get a lady in to do the heavy duty cleaning. Maintenance is key. Whatever time I have to myself now is late at night, which usually doesn’t happen as by the time I put them to bed, I would have fallen asleep too. Or the time I have the babysitter who is an angel with Z and now I have to get J used to her for an hour or so, so that I can get some gym time in, is my only “me” time. J like Z before her is with me 24/7. There is always tons of laundry to get through. So many older clothes that don’t fit “growing like weeds kids” have to be routinely sorted and stored or given away. That in itself is a chore! Then I have a threenager now who will wear only what she wants regardless of the weather outside. I think she is made for warmer weather. We are living in the wrong country! 😓😝 Just the other day, to counter this I thought it was wise to start her early on her choice of clothing for the day. We took 5 hours to end up not looking like a hobo and be adequately dressed for cold rainy spring evening. Don’t forget loads of screaming and tantrums and threats of “if you don’t get dressed, we are leaving without you!”. I just don’t have the energy after everything. Then I just procrastinate. 

I would love to blog more. I just have to find my balance which I have yet to find. Maybe until then you will hear from me sparodically. Unless I have something else to write about that doesn’t involve my children. 

On another note, it is still surreal that I am now a mother of two! Surreal even after 3 years….

Good night!