My Cup of Tea

People who have worked with me will probably know that tea is my beer. There's always a cup or a flask of tea on my desk Then, I'll always let out this ahhh of satisfaction whenever I take a sip.

Inspired by George Orwell's 'A Nice Cup of Tea', I decided to write how I like my cuppa tea.

1. Add sugar to coffee, not tea
The golden rule that should never ever be broken! Just as Orwell said, "Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter". It would be unreasonable to add salt or pepper so why is sugar acceptable?

I have came across people gave me weird looks when they found out that I don't drink tea with sugar. They look at me as if it's out of the world. I would rather eat the tea leaves then drink tea syrup!!

2. Milk tea, not a fan of it
I love milk and I love tea. But milk tea, I'll pass. The taste is alright but it's just not how I like my tea to be served. Maybe it's because I have yet to come across a really good cup of milk tea. And perhaps it's because I grew up drinking Chinese tea and no one adds milk into Chinese tea.

3. Three minute rule
I usually dip the tea bag for two to three minutes. If I want a stronger flavour, I will use two tea bags. Maximum maximum four minute. Nothing should stay inside longer than that unless you want to kill the tea's flavor and fragrance.

4. Lukewarm tea, somewhat tolerable
If can, use only freshly boiled hot water. But I understand that sometimes it's too hot and you'll leave your cup on the table and let it cool down a little before enjoying it. Sometimes you tend to forget about it and the next thing you know is the tea is now lukewarm.

Lukewarm tea is still somewhat borderline-ly acceptable to me. But I can write you the horror story of the year if it's Chamomile tea. I was having lunch and the tea was burning hot so I thought that I'll have it after I finish my food. Finally I'm done, took a sip and my facial muscle and throat voluntarily flexed.  The next millisecond, I can feel my lunch fighting against gravity and travelling up to my esophagus. *shivers*

That's about it I guess! I'll write another one on my favorite teas next time. Till then, let me know what is not your cup of tea!

Half a lime

I was never a fan of the fantasy genre. Harry Potter? I don't know. Disney? Not really a fan of it. But watching Ghibli films just makes me wanna drop everything and live in a different world. 

Miyazaki Hayao is a genius, a true auteur indeed.  If his intention is to make his audience's imagination run free,  mine has definitely reached another dimension  at Bolt's speed.

I don't know how to explain but there's a tsunami of emotions in me after watching his films. It's not my first time watching these film but argh..I'm in awe right now (just watched 'Howl's Moving Castle')

I guess when I was younger, everything seems to be so idealistic. My biggest problem was probably missing an episode of Pokemon or doing badly for spelling test. 

The first time I watch 'Spirited Away' was when I was 12 years old which is exactly ten years ago. I loved it. It has a great storyline, it's so colourful,pretty animations, it was a nice film.

I still love it very much today but the sense of appreciation is different. As I grow older, I've learnt more about the world, life and went beyond bad spelling. Instead of the visuals, I became more emotionally attached to it.

I am so tongue tied or maybe brain tied right now that I can't even write a coherent blog entry. I can't even put my feet on the ground as I'm floating on overwhelming emotions. What an adventure I just went on.

Thank goodness I work from home! If I have to go through all that dreadful traffic to get to work, reality will probably strike me like a lightning and I will suffer from the most severe withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, have a great week ahead and if you need some sort of escapism,  try watching something from Studio Ghibli!       

Graduation

Yesterday, I officially graduated. No pictures of me tossing the mortarboard because I did not attend the ceremony. I can't recall since when I've told myself that I will not attend my degree's graduation. Anyway, this entry is not about why I chose to graduate in absentia but some thoughts I had last night before going to bed.

Monash, although I've complained so much about the tuition fee, parking wars and overly flavoured cafeteria food, thank you so much for the amazing 3.5 years. I wouldn't be who I am or do what I am doing today if it's not because of you. So....we're pretty much even hah.

If to draw a graph of my years at uni, it would look really extreme. For one semester, I did so well that I received the Deans Recognition Award. And the next semester, I failed a literature subject and flushed my GPA down to the river of Kayu Ara, which explains the .5 year.

Fortunately, there were more good things than bad that happened throughout the years at Monash. Made some really amazing friends and thanks for still keeping in touch with me and being so patient especially when it comes to my ranting session.

Also, Sports Journalism was definitely one of the biggest highlight of uni life. I had so much fun, went through some silly moments, met a bunch of bonafide media representative, and to be able to write/read about things that you like feels really nice. But the best best best part is I was able to earn the best working experience ever thanks to Sports Journalism!

And not forgetting, I ate fire! 

Monash, if you don't mind having me back on campus again, I'll be back!

My Must-Have from Coach's Legacy Holiday 2012

The season of giving is just around the corner! I've got my Xmas cards ready but guess what? There's something better (and someone more generous) in town! What do you get when you put Bag Addicts Anonymous and Coach together?

G-I-V-E-A-W-A-Y!

Yes, it's the Bag Addicts Anonymous x Coach Giveaway! And if you think a Coach Legacy Leather Medium Skinny worth RM 300 is tempting, they are also giving away an exclusive leather-bound notebook that is not for sale in any Coach store in the world. So what are you waiting for? Head over to Bag Addicts Anonymous for more info!

Anyway, here's my take on "My Must-Have from Coach's Legacy Holiday 2012" Collection.

Legacy Color Block Leather Large Clutch

Not so much of a clutch fan because I prefer my hands to be free but I like the zip on the clutch because that would be so useful for me. I always have this 3-minute panic moment because I can't find my parking ticket or my thumb drive. Besides that, then color block makes the clutch looks more casual and who said that clutches are for dinner only?

Legacy Leather Canteen Bag

What I like the most about this bag is the shape! Definitely not the bag to bring to camping or hiking but I can imagine myself carrying this bag with the sundress I bought just a couple of days ago. The tassel detail has definitely add some aesthetic touch to the bag.

Present picture frame key fob

I have something for cute miniature key fobs! When I saw this, I knew that it would make a great present for my car keys. The bottle opener key fob is pretty cool too. For more of the Coach Legacy collection, feel free to check out the link below!


All photo credit goes to Coach and bagaddictanonymous.com

It's the talk of those who sees it

The weather at the Langkawi Island is like a temperamental woman. It rains and shine without any warning. The bottom line is its humid, hot, rain and all that other characteristics of a tropical island.

So when I came across a penguin fridge magnet that says 'Langkawi', I thought it was really hilarious. Hello? Langkawi is the house for a variety of wildlife and why are the penguins immortalized?

Being that person who would buy things to laugh at, I put one of it in my shopping basket. I felt really satisfied as I thought it would make a good story for one of those catch up sessions.

I did journalism back then in uni and I guess that part of me came back as I felt the need to find out the relation between pengs and Langkawi.

Googled and damn!! They do have penguins at Langkawi's underwater world! I can feel the bubble burst and I bet the penguin is secretly laughing at me!

I ranted about it to my boss (who laughed and bought the fridge magnet too) but unlike me, he defended for the fridge magnet like a proud owner. And he told me 'it is the talk of those who sees it'.

Not too sure what he sees in that fridge magnet but that sure strike a chord on me. Maybe instead of "damn, I laughed for nothing", life would be more enjoyable if I look at it as "my fridge would look so good with this".

The solution to Monday blues

Very simple! Just work seven days a week. You won't even realize its Monday.

Go fix yourself a nice warm cup of tea and melt those blues!

Anyway, Happy Monday everyone! Have a great week ahead while I suffer from some work withdrawal symptoms.

First world problem

During my last day at Langkawi, I finally had the chance to do some tourist-ey activity with my boss and a fellow team member of the event.

We started our adventure with a cuppa from Starbucks and head to a mall in town to get some souvenirs.

Langkawi is tax free so chocolates, liquor and cars are known to be pretty reasonably priced there. However, Langkawi is also famed for cheap plates and pans or anything you would use in your kitchen.

So after stocking up on chocs, we head to our next destination to get stuff that will make our mums happy.

I've always wanted a complete tea set but my mum aka the kitchen cabinet's dictator would say that it's impractical, there's no room for that bla bla bla.

But being the stubborn daughter, I was like screw it, I'm getting one!

Then comes the first world problem. Every set that they have there is so elaborated. It comes with like hundreds of cups and at home, I am the only one who appreciates tea!

But I still bought one anyway! Didn't really like the design of it but its the smallest set! (See pic)

So, what's your recent first world problem?