Welcoming 2015 and Saying My Last Goodbyes to 2014

There was so many thoughts and words on my mind before I started writing but when faced with a blank canvas, I guess the mind copied the idea of blank canvas being cool and most of my thoughts, jumbled or not seem to be gone so lets see if it flows back as I write on.

Well, first of all, time indeed does fly and it has been exactly half a year since I have last been on this platform.  My once before constant platform that I turn to to express my thoughts has been rocked and it is not because of a New Year or a New Year resolution that made me came back.  It's just coincidence that something happened today and it made me thought of this this platform that I once have and will always have.  It's like a long lost love whom I know I can always fall back on at any time, any place, waiting for me loyally as long as I intend to return.

The start of a new year and this is the time where everyone seems to be busy making resolutions, except me.  The last time I made a NY resolution was at the end of 2k12, over here and wow, that nostalgic sense that is kicking in as I revisit my older posts.  I am just smiling in my seat, recalling the times where I have fulfilled some of the resolutions and looking at those that has not been fulfilled yet and wondering if I should make another set of NY resolutions for this year.

The fun part of making a (long) list of NY resolutions is the satisfaction feelings that you get when you achieved it because you get to put a big, fat, tick on those that you have finished.  Gives you a sense of motivation, that's what resolutions are all about.  It's like a small gentle push that you need before jumping off the cliff on that bungee jump.  You know it's going to be alright but at times, you still need that gentle push to help you get going.

Ahh 2014, where to start.  Each year has been a roller coaster ride because it's impossible to go through 365 days doing the exact same thing and facing the exact same circumstances everyday but 2014, it has been quite a ride.  I've done a lot of things I never thought I was capable of doing, faced a lot of troubles that I never thought I would ever have to face and the year ended and started with a bang.

A short summary to you and to myself of what happened in 2014:

1.  Travelled to a few different countries for a long period of time and truly enjoying myself, one of which I travelled there alone, something that I have never done before but something that surprisingly, I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to the next travel be it with or without company;

2.  Discovering that words will always only be words and you can never measure the depth and value of words that one says:  Never hold a person's word too much because it's like water:  it can never take a solid form and it will morph according to the situation that fits it best, hence, action speaks louder and carries more truth than words;

3.  I have finally truly experienced Autumn, it's really beautiful :);

4.  Met up with a friend that I've met online from 7 years back who turns out to be exactly who he says he is and not some psychotic, scary man who would try to run away with my organs or so;

5.  Understanding the idea that when one door closes, two more opens up.  One friend goes, a few other approaches;

6.  Life is funny and things happens in a really weird and unsuspecting manner.  It's like cancer, you never know when and how it hits you, it just does and when it happens, you have to deal with it;

7.  Finding another me, it's interesting, especially for a narcissist like me who loves mirror, it's like talking to my own reflection but one who actually talks back, which brings me to the next thought <- well when I describes it like this it sounds a little creepy but I meant it in the best possible way!;

8.  I have found another me but I am still on a journey to find myself.  I am lost at sea and am trying to find that sanctuary, that island that would save me but the question and unknown answer it: Would I find it?

9.  I picked up drawing and cooking in 2014, it's really fun while I was at it;

10.  Met a celebrity at Apple Store and many more but that's where the list should end for now.

Reading back at the list, it does not sound like I had a good year but in all honesty, I think I did had a good year and am hoping this year would be just as interesting and challenging as the last and I am looking forward to a few things in 2015.

The reason I didn't make a list of resolutions for this year is because I already know what I want (for some) and I will try to achieve it by all means but on other areas, it's still hella grey and I am still looking for my way out.  

Another question that lingers:  Have I been a better person in 2014 than I was in 2013? Am I a wiser person today than I was last year? I don't know the answer and I can't answer it for sure myself because it would have been a very bias answer but instead of looking back that much, I  tell myself to  look forward more and strive to be a better person each coming day.  Work smarter, be wiser, walk faster, be tougher, love harder, do everything better then at least at the end of 2015, I am able to tell myself, I have tried and did my best everyday, living life to the fullest each day without regrets.

Looking forward to having you, 2015.  Lets take on this year together, hand in hand and not against one another! Good bye 2014, I will always remember you :3

If you like my posts, follow me here and my Facebook page on the right side bar of the blog and if you like my pictures, follow me on Instagram (ID: Mishberries) for more stuff to coming your way!

Happy 2k15, mishums (that's who you are, readers!), see you soon <3

Mish

0055 Hour

Shoo Shoo Negativity!

Humans are interesting.  We are interesting.  We are all so full of life and so aware of what's happening around us everyday, so full of colours and energy and yet behind all that, there are times where we channel it towards the wrong direction.  Sometimes self inflicted, sometimes it's the circumstances around you.

Recently I have been doing some reading here and there and I came across one line which struck me deeply:

"Love fades"

And it got me thinking.  Maybe I was reading too much into that line but I've decided that whatever that little voice at the back of my mind is telling me, I agree with it.

I agree that no matter how good or bad those feelings are when something good or bad happens, it will eventually fade away with time.  Where good things happens, perhaps there's a picture of it to strengthen the memories and feeling of that particular good moment, say a birthday party, wedding, your first concert and things like that.  Whereas the bad things, doesn't matter if it's a hurt or angst that you were feeling, no matter how much hurt it caused you at that particular moment and how you were telling yourself you are not going to survive this? Well that's not true because that hurt, that angst, will fade away if only you will let it.

If you truly believe that you can recover completely from it, that's not true either.  It's like falling down and scraping your knees.  You will recover from the fall and your knees will heal but there will always be a scar there, reminding you of the fall.  It's the same in life.  Even after a while, when all those hurt and angst fades, there will be a small scar at the back of your mind or heart, reminding you that the event did indeed happen but you would've have already felt much better by now.  It might still leave a little anger or sadness in you but you could overlook the event now and in a sense, that self recovery is also self toughening and self conditioning to be a stronger, guarded person.  Slightly wiser, I would say, or I would hope to say.

I know this is cliché and overused but still I quote, "If it's not okay, it's not the end because at the end, it will always be okay".  True to a certain extent, or at least I wish for it to be true.

We can survive this.  We are already surviving this.  I can do this.

Until next time, my little berries.

Eternal Love

It's either this size or the original size which is really big, so sorry about that but to look at the picture, just open it in a new tab or click to view it =D  You can also view my other works in www.mishberries.deviantart.com 

This is the story of our life, the two women who loves each other eternally.

It begins with the day I was born, not via natural birth but via caesarian because I was just that cooperative right from the start.  It wasn't easy having me, whether it's during pregnancy or after birth.  My mom never had a good night sleep after I was born because I simply refuse to sleep at night (seems like I was born to be a nocturnal person after all xD) and I would just cry and scream my little lungs out at almost every hour during the night and being a person with a full time job , I was driving her insane but yet she tolerated and loved me so dearly.

Then comes the time when I could nearly walk and talk.  She was always there for me, for every single stage of my life.  She taught me my first baby steps and always telling me that it is okay to fall and get hurt because as I recover from it, I become a tougher and wiser person.  Sometimes she knows I am making a mistake but instead of preventing me from doing it or scolding me, she watch me make that mistake but she knows it is a lesson well learnt for me and those are what we call life lessons. 

Being the only child, it also means I am the jewel of her eyes but contrary to everyone else's belief, my mom does not spoil or spoon fed me.  In fact, she treats me like another young adult since a young age, trusting me to do chores and let me act independently, provided if I let her know exactly where I am going, what I am going to do or what time I will be home and from there, we bonded and cemented our trust into opening up to each other and not concealing things from one another.  From there, she taught me how to trust and respect another person.

She taught, showed, naaaaaaaaaaggggeeeeddd and still is teaching me everyday on how to be a better person, a more sincere person not only to others, but especially to myself.  She also taught me that at times it is okay to be at the disadvantage as long as we think we are not overly taken advantage off and we do not have to go all the way to prove that we are right all the time because given way is not an act of weakness, but it is an act of showing care and love for another's feeling and well-being.

She is a much tougher person than I am in a lot of sense, and definitely much wiser, because as they say a chip of the old block, she did inherit after my smarty, cunning, adorable Grandma after all xD  Though we are nowhere near Grandma's standard but hey, having parts of her flowing in us is pretty much good enough <3

Though of course, no matter how much love there is between the two of us, it is unavoidable that we too, have our differences and the way we fight it out is fun, we shout it all out but hey, better loudness than violence o/ 

Regardless of whatever that happens, at the end of the day, even without spoken words where we just lay down side by side in silence, just a simple nudge or cuddle is more than enough and we understands exactly how much we love and care each other.  

To the only woman whom I love eternally,

Happy Mother's Day, buibui <3

From,

Baby <3

Celebrated Earth Hour for 12 Years Consecutively

You know what the title meant?

It meant I had a blackout last night.  For 12 hours.  So for the next 12 years I ain't going to participate in any Earth Hour Day just because I've already did a crash course of it, all in one night and its filled with sweat (given the crazy hot weather) and guess who decided to crash the party on this unfortunate night? Dem mosquitoes.

I was at my wits ends, tossing and turning at 4 am in the morning and I show up today looking like @.@ and my head's spinning like @.@

But, like what they always call me, Optimist Mish has strike again!  In the midst of darkness and warmth, I still manage to humour myself when I was preparing to shower before bed.  I took all my shower necessities and it was only halfway walking through the bathroom that I've taken my toothbrush, facial wash (among others) AND my spectacle casing.  I mistaken it for my toothpaste xD

The absence of electronics (and the Internet) has never been felt so badly until last night when I am cut off from my computer and also my phone because I have not charged it but fear not, because Optimist Mish striked twice last night!  Me and my friend decided in less than 5 minutes to run out in the middle of the night to catch a late night movie just so that we could escape the heat for 2 hours (and yay for yummy popcorns) before going back to reality and we ended up watching Brick Mansion.

In all honesty, the movie wasn't that great (story line wise) but seeing Paul Walker all over again and knowing that's his last film actually made it worth watching ;_;

There's just one thing to this blackout that made me want to cry a little.  As you all might (not) know, I started drawing digitally on my free time recently and last night I was midway through one piece when the blackout occur.  I was already spamming Ctrl + S when I was drawing out of habit but I am not sure when was the last time I save before the blackout so fingers crossed that almost everything is still there because I would rage quit drawing if the piece that I've drawn is gone =<

Hopefully electricity is back on and life shall be smooth sailing once more today! I will post some random update photos below so be sure to check them out and I will see you guys real soon! ;D

Some of my artwork xD Hope you like them \o/  

My art site: Mishberries.deviantart.com 

Mish says Hi & Bye!

Ta-ta!  See you guys next post!

Singing Is Not My Forte

But it is something that I like and enjoy doing.

I used to tell those around me that one of the things to do in my life is to record a song and put it on YouTube one fine day and like everything else, days passes in the blinks of eyes and there's still no song, no YouTube.

One night, I decided to pick up my 10 bucks microphone from years back and just started singing and recording in really bad quality and bad singing.  After that I decided to send it to my Godbrother for some laughs and what a turn of events.  Instead of laughing at me, he actually encouraged me to post it on YouTube.  What he said was if I never do it that night, I will never do it and I will never start.  He told me everyone needs a starting point and that is one truth that I cannot ignore so I did.

I posted my first ever singing video on YouTube on 7th of February this month and by today, I've posted my 3rd video.  It is far from perfection, very near to imperfection but hey, one achievement accomplished in life is one step nearer to chasing down all your dreams and doing them and that in itself is something special and intimate to yourself.  Its like feeding your soul with happiness and with life instead of just stressing and dumping it with work loads and tiredness.

I know that I still sound like I have not gone through puberty nor someone with great vocal but I am glad and thankful enough to have a voice to use and because of that, it overcome my fear and shyness of sharing it with all of you.  Quite on the contrary, I am happy and humbly would like to share my singing with the rest of you and hope that you would in turn chase down your dreams and do it irregardless of what type of dream it is.

So here's Stay The Night by Zedd ft Hayley Williams for you =3

On a side note, I would be away for few weeks for some long awaited vacation so don't forget to follow me on Instagram or my Facebook page so that you can catch up with me when I am away! I promise to post pictures of glorious food at least once daily when I am away! <3

See you guys soon!

My Facebook page

My Instagram ID:  Mishberries

My YouTube channel! 

Stay The Night: Zedd ft Hayley WIlliams <3  I've decided to add the caption to my YouTube video! Not sure why didn't I thought of that before =p

One of the Toughest Question: Describe Yourself

Despite the amount of time some of us spend in front of the mirrors scrutinizing each inch of the mirror reflection of ourselves, when this question pops out, we would always do a double take, ponder and then try to answer this question seriously but we could never truly accurate describe ourself.  Its like forever trying to grasp which shade of colour we are but we always miss the mark:  we either describe ourself as too pale a shade or too bright a shade.

Lets not go all deep and describe or measure our intelligence by the score of our IQ or type of Myers Bridge test.  I shall take the challenge and try do describe myself (face wise) for once.

I have quite a broad face, sharper chin, medium size dark brown eyes (don't you scream FALSE at this point!) that forms into a one liner when I smile or laugh (see I am admitting this fact but I DO have eyes pft!), average nose with a 'button' tip, normal size lips, not too big not too small not too thin nor too full, layered hair from neck length (shortest point) to nearing waist length (longest point) and with pores on my face, yellow skin shade.

And that's how I see myself in the mirror.  Perhaps others see the same, perhaps others sees differently, I don't know, I cannot be my own judge.

I came across this video by chance and I thought it was a wonderfully made video and if I could, I would make you watch it but I can't so I would simply, politely ask you to watch it and hope it reaches out to you like it did to me.

It is a 3 minute video and it currently has 61 million views so it has to mean something, so please, do watch it.

Most of the people around me sees things beautifully and the best side of another person but when it comes to themselves, they are unnecessarily harsh on judging themselves and I think it is high time to change that.  We are mere mortal and we are on a very different league than Angelina Jolie or Chris Hemsworth but that does not make us any less disabled than them and it is something that we should realize.  Some of us may never look like cover girls but hey, we have heaps and abundance of happiness in our life and for that alone, it is simply enough.  

We are growing each day and in a blink of an eye, we will start to sprout grey hairs, wrinkles and then we simply pass on and turn to dust so don't be so hard on yourself.  Love thyself, for there's only one of you and you, my dear friend, is special.

Lots of love,

Mish

P/s: Thank you Po, for sparking this thought in me.



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Ambulance Waaeeeeyooo Waaaeeeeyooo

Waaaaeeeeyooooo.

When you hear that sound on the road, there's two things that you would do.  First, jump in your seat.  Second, check if your seatbelt is strapped.  I mean many times during that split second when I hear a siren, my first thought would normally be the police and the I would check whether my seat belt is strapped or not as a second nature movement though I know 99% of the time I never move my car without first strapping my seatbelt on but that guilty alarm in me just trigger off anyway.

Many times however, it turns out to be the ambulance instead.  Where I came from, my home town, whenever people hear the ambulance siren, they simply continue drive like the ambulance is just but another car with an extra kinky horn sound and would not budge an inch to let the ambulance pass.  You know why?  Because they would say "Ah there's no one inside, they just want to past through this jam the easy way" and if someone do give way and the ambulance sped away, you will NOT be surprised to see a few cars who's stuck in the traffic jam, swerve and tail the empty space led by the ambulance as though they are some important ministry escorts.  It's pretty ridiculous but you know, most of us just shrug and forget all about it when the light turns green because hey, there's only that many seconds the light will stay green and all of us are trying to get past that traffic light and reach our destination the soonest possible, especially when the sun is scorching so hot.

Where I am now, it's much better.  Whenever there's an ambulance, most of the cars will swerve in all sorts of ridiculous manners just to let the ambulance pass and then wait patiently for the traffic light without trying to pull a Fast and Furious stunt, tailing behind the ambulance and I really appreciate that.

I never really get to appreciate this act of letting an ambulance pass that much until last year in June, when my mom and I was visiting my 97 year old grandma and you could imagine how my mom panicked when we arrived and we saw the maid crying and wailing.  My mom ran to the room and saw that my grandma was suffocating and gasping for air.  I am glad that I kept a cool mind and called the ambulance calmly while my mom was nearing a nervous breakdown herself.  That 10 or 15 minutes long wait for the ambulance, I can tell you from personal experience, that it is absolutely horrendous and mind torturing. With every second that pass, I swore and swore relentlessly under my breath as to why are they taking so long.  I pray and pray with every second that they get the house address right and not miss a turn and end up somewhere.   The swearing helps with calming and my prayers was answered, they arrived and within the next 20 minutes, my grandma was admitted to the emergency ward.

She managed to last though that journey but she didn't make it through the next day.  My grandma passed away on the midnight of that day.

But, till today, it feels like she has never really left us because she was so great and so strong when she was alive, even after she's gone, she's already moulded that bond and etched that image of hers so deeply in our mind that she seems to be forever living, through our memories and our stories of her.

It was from that moment onwards that it was embedded so deeply in me.  Whenever I hear a siren and I see that it's an ambulance, I immediately give way without a second thought.  I do not care whether or not the ambulance officers are abusing their powers or they are really on the way to help another distress family, it does not matter.  What matters to me is, they get to their destination as soon as possible.

I've decided to share this moment with you today and I hope you in return, would decide to share this with another person because you never know, when you will be the one waiting for the ambulance to arrive and when you are left so helpless, you could only pray that others would be more considerate and give way to the ambulance.

I will see you guys soon.

Love,
Mish

Stamp of Approval

Heys,

Was absent for the past few weeks but it has been a great few weeks.  Took some time off and had a short vacation in Sydney and I seriously fell in love with almost everything about her.  The people, the food, the malls, the WEATHER (something that you cannot comprehend unless if you live in Malaysia where you can't even use the phrase "chill your tits" because the weather is so hot and damp all year long, everyday that the weather simply does not allow your tits to chill) 

Source: the Evil Internet

and also the fact that they love mother nature and not chop off every branch or tree that they see.  Their parks are amazing to no end and everything is just so different, so nice.  Maybe that is why we need some change of scenery once in a while- try different things, try new things and get immersed in it.  Going to dedicate an entire post to that soon, still filtering out the pictures (like a thousand over pictures lol) and when it's all ready, I am going to share that lovely experience and fun time with all of you!

For today, we are going to talk about something more closely connected to ourselves:  The HUGE Stamp of Approval.  You are probably thinking, what is this Stamp of Approval about?  Take for example, after you finish a piece of work or product, how would you judge whether or not you had produced a magnificent piece or if it is just another pile of dung that you should just flung it in your enemy's face?  How do you judge such success or failure?  Do you judge it on your own or are you the type who is concern about what the audience at large thinks?

For someone like me who is abnormally thick face and having skull made of stone, negative comments does not really penetrate through this stone-age skull, thus keeping me happy and staying positive.  Others might think I am delusional or that I am finding excuses to not see something that I am bad at when others point it out but that is not true.  I actually listen to each and every comments that comes to me: nice comments, lovely comments, constructive criticism comments and finally, criticism comments.  

You got to agree with me that almost everyone loves to listen to nice and lovely things that people say about yourself so the first two is naturally approved but for the final two, I take different approaches when I get criticism like that.  I fully appreciate constructive criticism because the audience are telling me nicely that I am lacking something in my latest work, telling me something which I can improve myself on or simply telling me something which they prefer to see me do that would put me in a better light.  These pool of people are people who are trying to help you strive for a better or greater outcome thus continuously make you challenge yourself to greater heights.

The final type of criticism comments normally comes from people who does not like to see good things happen to you and they are trying to bring you down by demoralizing your spirits, telling you that you will never be good enough and that you will never be perfect.  Whatever you do you will never succeed and will never make progress.  Well, n all honesty why do I need to heed to this kind of people?  They are not helping me improve and if anything, they are making me feel horrible about myself and making a loser out of me.  It's like someone telling me that I am never pretty enough, never skinny enough, never perfect enough so what should I do?  Cry like a baby, lash out on the person and then feel so bad and insecure about myself that I go anorexic and after that pain and tires everyone around you who tries to help you out of your situation?  Or do I do what I do everyday, enjoy each and every meal that I get and still dress up when I go out (maybe a size or 2 bigger) but still having people who enjoys my presence and company despite of my current size?  

What both you and I got to know is:  

"The world is not here to please you

You are not here to please the world

You are here to please only yourself "

- mishberries

Your thoughts are your rules, your creations are your life and you should not let other people change that.  

And another thing that you have got to differentiate is:  Is the person really criticizing and not liking your work or did the person simply lose interest in your work?

If the person is simply criticizing you, then I shall refer you to the paragraphs above.  However, if the person is someone who has been very supportive when you first started out, or someone who has been following your work for quite some time but recently the person is losing interest in your work and not showing the support that they were showing some time ago, it does not necessarily mean your skills or work is going downhill because along the way from when you first started out until todate, you've picked up a fair bit of other supporters or fans because of your more recent works.  The case could be perhaps your old supporter has simply lose interest in your current work because one does not simply stay a loyal fan for eternity.  One changes over time and so does one's preferences and interests in things.  

Take a moment and do a reverse thinking.  Put yourself in the shoes of your fans because I am sure that each and everyone of you have fans or people who likes what you do but YOU yourself in turn, is a fan of someone else.  For example, I was such a huge fan of Mariah Carey because she is a truly good singer but after a while, I turn to some other artists because at that moment of time, I find that my taste in music has changed and maybe Katy Perry's song at the moment suits me more.  Just because I am no longer supportive of Mariah Carey does not show that she has done something wrong, her recording has gone to the dogs or she sings horribly.  In fact maybe in her recent albums she outdid herself and sang some alien register note that is higher than her current whistle register note but it is plainly, I am just not that into her at the moment.  Sorry Mariah, yay Katy! 

Coming back to our normal peasant lives and not some superstar lives, it is natural to feel a bit discouraged when you learn that some of your supporters are not showing the support that they used to or liking your creations as much as before but hey, at least they have journeyed with you and they were the ones who were the pillars supporting you when you were still wobbly and uncertain.  As you travel along the journey, you will meet strangers.  Some will join and walk with you, some might not and join another group of travellers and  as you and your companion journeys, you will undoubtly come across a cross road.  Some might stay with you a little longer and take the path that you take but some might have a change of heart and take the other path.  What you should do at this point is to not be sad over those that had left you but move on, continue on your path towards your destination and more will join you naturally along your path.  People come and people go, you and your companions will come across cross roads every so often and some will indefinitely leave you but know this, you will always get new companions, new pillars that will support you along your way and the most important is to not be discouraged when some of them leave you at the cross roads.  They have their own choice and own journey to go and you can't be that selfish or hold on to that nostalgic feeling and not let them.  They too, have their own path and who knows perhaps one day, their path and your path will intertwine with each other in the near future and they will then join in your journey with you once more.

That little story above is to remind all of you and also myself constantly that in everything you do, there will always be people who shows interest in what you do and people who does not show the same amount of interest in what you do as before but that is not because of you but because the person have a change of interest and you have to understand one thing:  they have every right and reason to do so and it is by no fault of yours, especially when you think or even more evidently when you could see yourself improving in your work or the skills that you have.  You should not penalize them and most importantly, you should not penalize yourself.

You can never get that stamp of approval from everyone.  It's like what Dumbledore said to Hagrid after it was leaked that he has a giantess for a mother and some parents are protesting against him teaching in Hogwarts: "Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for a universal popularity, I am afraid you will be hiding in this cabin for a very long time".

Like Hagrid, you can't have everyone liking your style, your skills, your work but know that you are good in what you do.  You should define yourself and not let other people define you.  Stamp of Approval or not, you are awesome.  I am awesome and you should not let other people tell you otherwise.

Aaaand, that's the end of my long winded post for today and below is a sneak peak of my more light hearted upcoming post about my trip to Sydney!

Source: My iPhone >D

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram (Username: mishberries) or Like my Facebook page ( on the right hand side of my page) if you like my stuff or just wish to say hi!  See you next time around!

mish <3

Quitting

One of the things that I do often in life, as much as I dislike it, is actually quitting.  Quitting and doing things halfway - basically not completing or finishing what I start.  

-And I have nearly quit blogging after nearing a whole year of writing it.  In fact, running it for so many months has been a record and I never thought I could last this long until well, in May 2013 when I gave in to my flaw and disappeared.  I actually did not want to quit writing but I keep stacking myself up with excuses until I am practically buried by it.  All kinds of lame, ridiculous excuses - anything at all to stop myself from writing.  Why was I doing that?  I do not know.  Perhaps it was caused by laziness, or perhaps it was caused by some other interference in life and I've been trying hard this recent years to get rid of my flaws as much as possible yet I've failed.

For 2 whole months, I was absent, telling myself I will start writing again once I get through with some of the matters on my hand.  Well, what I realized is, there is never such thing as the "right time" or "perfect time" to do it.  The only "time" that matters is when you actually take the time to initiate or do something.  YOU have to make it happen, time will not make that happen for you so 

HERE I AM FOLKS.  MISHBERRIES IS BACK IN BUSINESS BLOGGING.

I missed blogging and I missed all of you.  How have you all been?  I am pretty sure you are all doing great as time and greatness does not stop just because I stopped blogging >D  

That brings me to realize another thing.  Well I actually realized this some time ago but I thought today is a good day of bringing it up :D  No day is actually a good day unless I make it so =P

I've realized that the world does not revolve around me, never ever around me.   What I do, what I say at most affects a minimal number of people around me and to what extent, I do not know but other that than, I am nothing and no one to other people  but I alone, can make a difference.

I alone can make a difference to myself and only I can make myself happy.  I've been asked and perceived often by people around me:  

"Why are you always so happy?"

"Wow you are such a happy-go-lucky person"

"Hahaha mish is a potato aka everything goes, everything's okay"

"Mish is so lucky, she has everything and gets everything that she wants therefore she is so happy every day" -> I kid you not, I got this too.

Today, I am going to share "Mishberries's Secret to Happiness" with you.  There is no hard and fast rules.  There's only one rule:  And that is, your happiness lies in your head (not hand) and not anyone else's.  You got to decide what makes you happy and what makes you not.  

Happiness does not drop from heaven into my hands.  I have what I have today is because I partly earn it and I am partly lucky.

The part where I earn it and the part where I am lucky is illustrated below.

YES of course I can get lucky but everyone else gets lucky too!  It's a once in blue moon thing but what I do is, I try to maintain that luckiness.  I don't treat it as a 'one-time use' coupon, instead I appreciate the opportunities and turn it into a win-win situation and who wouldn't be happy about it??

Folks, you gotta realize, what you think of yourself, how you bring yourself, basically EVERYTHING about YOURSELF, is 100% controlled by you and no one else and it is only you alone who can decide things for yourself. 

One thing that I've learnt is, never let others make the decision for you and every decision that you made, be it good or bad, you should take full responsibility of it and that's the thrills in life for me.   For good or for bad, at least I know I've decided it for myself and not bluntly following another person's direction.  Of course I will be more than happy when people gives me suggestions or advises on what to do but what's important is, YOU/I've got to make that decision, so that I will not end up regretting later on thinking "Why the hell did I listened to someone else and not myself??" because whatever the outcome of that decision is, it affects you and only you, and not the person who made that decision for you.  Of course you can blame the person but ultimately, YOU are still the one getting the full blast of the outcome and not the other person, alright?

I mean of course it's always easier to have someone else decide for you and if things goes great, good for you.  If things goes wrong, well, you've got no one to blame but yourself.

Which is why, I always take full responsibility of my actions.  If I did good, I truly believe that I deserve it and might even brag (a little) to my close friends and family to share the joyful piece of news, I did bad, well I gotta pick up from where I fall and continue to climb from there.  Life does not stop at the point where I fall.  The journey simply just begun.

And that, is why/what makes me happy with my life everyday.  I tell myself to be content with what I have.  If better things comes along, I am very thankful.  If it doesn't, I can live with it.  Don't get me wrong, I am content with what I have but that does not mean I am settling.  I never settle with what I have but I don't get too far ahead of myself and wishing a 100 things that I know will never happen in the next 24 hours.  I am a reasonable realist and a rationalist so to speak.

I enjoy life, I enjoy food and I actually enjoy being me.  I am not envious of your lives, as fancy as they get but I am genuinely happy for you and would work hard to one day be at a point where there is really nothing more that I want or need.  

One of my dream in life is to travel overseas but given the setback on finances (3rd world problem >D), that does not stop me from realizing this dream.  I tell myself to do it slowly and to enjoy the fruits of my labour (literally).  It is not impossible and I will still get there, just sooner so slower than I thought but does that matter?  At least I got there right? >D  

I should probably change my tagline to "Soon. conquering one country at a time" >D

That's it for today!  Say no to quitting and say yes to blogging!

My thought of the day:   "You are who you want to be" :D

Cheers <3

mishberries

Which is Your Type of Fuel??

Petrol?  Gasoline? Diesel?  Which is your type of fuel that runs your engine?  NO LOL, not talking about THAT type of fuel and THAT type of Engine.

Last weekend, I met up with an old friend and we got into talking about relationships and personal characteristic, what are we looking for and he said something really interesting.  He described it as "her love is what's keeping my engine running" and that got me thinking.  I think it's a really nice metaphor to correctly describe a lot of situations that we are in today.

The engine that we are talking about here is our heart and the fuel is the driving force behind what's motivating us, keeping us determined and always looking forward.  Always reaching out higher with each passing day and trying so hard to just succeed.

What's yours?  Which is your fuel that fires up your engine?

My interpretation of my mechanical heart and my fuel.  Done in Photoshop CS3.

I gave it a short thought.  Love and Family is definitely in the equation but that's not the only equation.  There are multiple factors or fuels that keeps a person's engine running.  Perhaps it's for money.  Perhaps its for yourself.  Then I realized, whichever factor you chose, it is not of importance.  Important thing is it keeps you looking forward, never wanting to stop whatever you are doing and only giving yourself room for improvement.

So what about you?  Which is YOUR type of fuel?

Behind each of this factor, there's a short story to it.  

The ones who chooses LOVE as their fuel are usually a person of more sentimental and emotional values who uses ones wit and time to learn new things to satisfy their partner.  They would do the impossible if they could.

The one who chooses MONEY is usually someone who grew up in extreme environments:  They are either pretty rich to begin with, or pretty poor and when they have a chance to make their own money, this motivation usually drives them like fire.  Just remember to keep a look out and not let the fire burn you.

The one who chooses FAMILY are ones that has very close bonds with their parents, their partners or at times for their children.  This is someone who simply wants the best for their family.

The one who chooses SELF is someone who wants to prove themselves very hard, very self motivated and nothing is going to stop them from succeeding and making it bigger than what they already have.  They are not selfless, they simply has high pride and believes that they alone can make a huge change to their surrounding and make it better.

No one is always limited to just ONE factor because only the sky is the limit.  If you have more than one of this fuels that runs your engine, you will go a long way from here and most likely than not, to achieve your goals.

Good day, people.

Some Hardcore Truth about Relationship - Are you IN or are you OUT?

No, not another love story or another 50 list of what you should do to improve your relationship or finding your "One True Love".  You know I am not corny like that >D

Yesterday I came across this really good read, written by Ian, about relationship and I think it's one of the best relationship article that I've read in a very long time so I would really like to share it with you.

It sticks to reality and not fantasies but it rings a bell of truth in each sentence.

Original Image from Here

Ian's wise words:

During a seminar, a woman asked," How do I know if I am with the right person?"

The author then noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so he said, "It depends. Is that your partner?" In all seriousness, she answered "How do you know?" Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's weighing on your mind 

replied the author.

Here's the answer.

Every relationship has a cycle… In the beginning; you fall in love with your partner. You anticipate their calls, 

want their touch, and like their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love.

People in love sometimes say, "I was swept of my feet."Picture the expression. It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something happened TO YOU.

Falling in love is a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few months or years of being together, the euphoria of love fades. It's a natural cycle of EVERY relationship.

Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts. The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship; you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.

At this point, you and/or your partner might start asking, "Am I with the right person?" And as you reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else. This is when relationships breakdown.

People blame their partners for their unhappiness and look outside for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes.

Infidelity is the most common. But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your relationship. It lies within it.

I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else. You could. And TEMPORARILY you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later.

Because (listen carefully to this):

The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the person you found.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. You have to work on it day in and day out. It takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it demands WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make it work. Make no mistake about it.

Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your partner), Just as there are physical laws Of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships. If you know how to apply these laws, the results are predictable.

Love is therefore a "decision". Not just a feeling.

Remember this always: God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let GO! ♥

And that, ladies and gentleman, is Ian's story.  I like how true it is and it does not delude the readers into thinking their sleeping beauty or knight in shinning armour will just come and sweep you off your feet like how Walt Disney depicted love should be.  Of course there's a minority of people who is living out their fairytale life but for the majority of us, this is the road to follow.

Giving and taking.  Learning and understanding.  You can't just have your partner bend to your will and needs all the time.  He/she is not a rod of Iron and you are not Magneto.

Happy loving.  

100th Followers! Time to Celebrate!

Yes I am a very direct person so as the title implicates, YAY TO HUNDREDTH FOLLOWER on BOTH Google Friend Connect (though it's going away soon) and also Facebook!! To be very honest, though I've always wished to have that many readers one day, I've never dreamt that this day would come and it came so fast that I felt like I've been hit by a bullet train.  That's how happy I am!

When I first started out (there goes the grandmother story), I always content myself that as long as there's just ONE reader out there reading my blog, I will continue writing and what do I know, 9 months later and on April's Fool day, I have one hundred times the amount of what I initially wished for.  100 may be like a quarter or one tenth of the readers you have but with this dream in mind, I will get there one fine day and be one of the stars shining among all of you <3  We all gotta start from zero (literally) but there's no stopping once this engine starts running!

I just want to thank each and every one of you who has read my tl;dr (too long; didn't read / to long to read) posts, nonsensical posts and yet still stayed, liked (or laughed) at my stuff and at last, comments on them.  Your comments keeps me going to know that you have taken your precious time off just to read on my humble (distorted) thoughts and it matters not whether you agree or disagree with me because we will always agree to disagree >D

To my very 100th Facebook like, thank YOU Chanel Chua for liking my page and making this day so memorable to me.

To my very 100th GFC reader, thank YOU Holly-Bella Casell for keeping me going on <3

To those of you who comes in between, thank YOU ALL SO MUCH because without you guys, I will never get my 100th reader!

To celebrate this special day, I am going to share 2 funny facts with all of you just so that everyone can have a laugh and share my happiness with me!

First Funny Fact

My ideal colour of a car would be either white or black because I think a car looks most elegant in this two colousr (except for VW Beetle in Yellow) but little did we know that the older Chinese generation  actually DISAPPROVES of this two colours for cars!  The big WHY?!

My aunt just dropped the bomb on me this evening lol!  According to superstition, white car signifies the ambulance whereas the black car signifies the undertaker's car (touchwood!) which is why older Chinese people will NEVER buy a black or white car!

Second Funny Fact

We used to think humans are funny and that they are aliens because we have hair growing at very weird places like eyebrows in the upper part of your head, armpits, chest hair and not just hair all over our body.

Do you know how hilarious it is for a human to not have eye brows?  Ever thought of it?

You will go from this

To this.

I am giving you nightmares, aren't I?

Okay BAD Photoshop skill but you get the gist >D  SO, be thankful of your brows! Don't over pluck them all off or you might just look like the person above, which is NOT comfortable to look at! <3

Be happy for who you are and what you have, don't change yourself too much just to follow the trend because if it is the no eyebrows trend now, I will... I would.. IT'S NEVER HAPPENING ALRIGHT!

Again, thank you guys so much for making this day happen for me.  It's been a great achievement and together we shall achieve even more!

And like I said, since GFC is going away, BlogLovin is replacing instead so give my BlogLovin some love so that I am able to share my love with you guys as well! <3

BlogLovin

Tagline of the day:  Your face looks like McDonald.  Because I'm Lovin it.  <3  (original source:  a post from 9gag)


P/s: HAPPY EASTER * APRIL FOOL! <3

Picture courtesy of my German friend who celebrates Easter! 

I Finally Got My First Ever Tattoo

Yes ladies and gentleman, I have done it.  I mean it wasn't a spur of the moment thing.  People who knows me must have heard of my desire to get a tattoo at least once or twice and after several visits to several tattooist shop and selecting the tattooist of my choice, made appointment to discuss the designs and of course the price, oh the price is a bomb, I kid you not, and ta-da, I'VE GOT IT!!!


To those of you who are close to me, I am really sorry that I did not confided in you earlier regarding this because I don't want you guys to change my mind or talk me out of it as I have thought and considered about this very very seriously over the span of few years.  So mummy, I am super sorry that you have to find out through my blog instead of me telling it to you because I really could not sum up my courage to tell it to you as I know you are dead against me getting one.  But what's done is done ma, you can't really just scrap that piece of skin off me like you constantly tell me you would ._.  So yes, I am expecting a call from you very soon, but please, just read to the end because I will be stating my reasons of why I got this tattoo.


Well, without further ado,

MY FIRST EVER TATTOOOOOOOOOO 

Well to you it might just be a silly, simple tattoo that spells LOVE but this is not those type of love that you think it is.  I am not a delusional 13 year old teen girl who goes there needling herself with the word 'love' because of romance.  This is the love that I feel towards both of my parents, forever lasting and skin deep.  After such a long consideration, I finally decided on this.  I am here today because of the two of them.   The love and affection that they have showed me, the care and the pain that they have to go through from the things that I've done, the everlasting love that they have for me.  That's the exact same love that I have for them which is why I got this tattoo.  I think it's intimate and it means so much to me.


Yeah well anyways, I am NOT asking YOU to go tattoo yourself nor encouraging, don't get me wrong.  I just want to share what I've done with all of you and before you even think of inking yourself, please please please think it through because it is something that will last forever. Even if you decide to remove it one day, it will still leave laser scars and that is not a pretty sight.


I've done hours and hours of research before thinking of getting one so please, tattoo is not something that you should get in a spur of the moment thing!  If you just want to have fun or think it's something cool, then you should just go for temporary tattoo and not a permanent one.


Anyways, all of you must be dead curious of whether or not it hurts.  Oh you sadistic people.  OF COURSE IT HURTS!  But I won't say unbearable.  I think the tolerance level for everyone is different and I did choose to tattoo myself at quite a tender part I would say.  It still have that red marking around the fresh tattoo even up till now but my tattooist says it will go away in a couple of hours so I guess it should be fine.


I must point this out:  Who says only doctors have steady hands??  Tattooist DO TOO!!  Especially on calligraphy tattoo like this and where some of the lines are real thin.  There's no cover up or thickening of the line so they CANNOT go wrong at all!!  Thank goodness the tattooist is super experienced and professional, which is why, selecting the right tattooist is of utmost importance!


I will let you guys know how it's healing in a few days time but in the meanwhile, another picture of me with my new beloved tattoo!! <3  So HAPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! <3

"Hey there <3"

The info of the tattooist including their Facebook portfolio is at the bottom of the page.  Be sure to check them out! <3

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HAPPY EARLY APRIL'S FOOL PEOPLE.

Yeah I know.

Original Image here.

Don't go on hating me >D

Love ya all, ohiohiohiohio!

Ma, don't kill me okay <3  IT'S A FAKE ONE <3

All Our Little Quirks

What's "QUIRK"?

quirks  3rd person singular present, plural of quirk (Noun)

Noun A peculiar behavioral habit: "his annoying quirks". A strange chance occurrence: "a strange quirk of fate".

That is what quirk is.  In simple words, it is not just a habit. It is a weird habit that one have.

I was just thinking about it this morning and within 15 minutes, I could name a number of quirks that I have.  I was surprised to be honest, to realize that I actually have quirks.  To think I was normal.  Pft.

Okay, yours truly is very bad at drawing on anything other than MS Paint but I tried >D  Thanks Godbro for lending me your tablet! <3

First of all, I dislike socks.

Yes, socks.

For all of you who comes from a 4 season country you must think I am mad but from where I come from, it is actually pretty normal to NOT wear socks, especially for females.  I am fine with stockings, I just don't like socks.  We don't have winter so most of the time you will catch me with flip flop, sandals, open toes or any other footwear but shoes.

I don't do any form of exercise except one where it requires me to move my lower jaw and upper jaw.  An exercise also known as chewing.  And swallowing.  That's the closest to any form of exercise that I would do, so there's perfectly no reason for me to wear any form of closed toe shoes.

Reason:  I always have trouble with washing socks because I refuse to wash them with any of my other clothing.  I find it disgusting but I will not stand to actually collect an entire basket of socks before I can wash it, so that's the reason why I hate socks.  I don't know how should I wash them.



Second, I used to peel my toe nail when I am under stress.


During assignment days or exam days, I will automatically start peeling my toe nail every time I sit down and have my books opened in front of me.  Of course I know that's even more disgusting that washing socks but it's a quirk, and I can't help it.  Until I tore half of my little toe nail once.

That's a very good lesson to make me stop and I haven't touched any toe nail ever since except for pedicure purposes.


Third, I am a very needy person.  With my blanket.

Be the weather hot or cold, I MUST have my blanket covered up till my neck before I can actually sleep.  Even if I am taking a nap at 2 in the afternoon at a 33°C weather where it makes my sleep so uncomfortably sweaty and sticky.

I can't help it, it's a quirk.

Reason:  I feel insecure without my blanket ;_;  Like I said, I am very needy of my blanket, oh Mr Blanket <3



Fourth, (which I personally think a lot of you have this as well >D), no nail no finger no toe OUTSIDE of the bed frame.  Each inch of my body must be within the bed's perimeter at ALL times.


Yes I know there's no Boogie man or even if there is one, my bed's frame is made of solid wood so I don't think Boogie man can hide underneath it BUT still, I can never, ever sleep safely if any part of my body is over the perimeter of the bed.  It's just, wrong.

"Mish, put your darn finger back into the blanket, RIGHT NOW!" is what my brain would alert me when I put a nail out of the line.


Fifth, I always save the best for the last (in food).

I've gotten this numerous time.

"Why don't you start with the main course instead of the side dishes?"

"Wouldn't the nicest part of your food gets cold and then it won't be nice anymore?"

"Aren't you afraid of anyone eating your favourite food because they though you cannot finish it?"

I just can't.  I simply have to finish my least favourite portion of the meal before I start on my favourite food because it's just so satisfying to eat the best pieces at the very last few mouthful.  It's a feeling of satisfaction.

Well I eat pretty fast, so the food is still pretty warm by the time I finish it :D

No.  They will have to get past me first before they can touch my food.


This are some of the quirks that I have, or at least I realize I have.  Some people don't even realize their own quirks, for e.g.  my mom >D

She has this quirk of staring at people when she's eating.

Well not stare per se, it just appear as though she is staring but according to her, she did it unconsciously and she is simply looking everywhere absent mindedly instead of having her whole face blasted by the steam that is coming from the food and she is simply eating and not thinking of anything but for anyone who is sitting opposite her aka me or her friends, it really does seem like she is staring intently at your face and every time we ask her "yeah? anything?" she will say "no" then it appears as though she is thinking of something about you but she is not telling.  But no, it's just a quirk lol.  If you ever have a meal with my mom, you will know >D

(In all honesty, I think I do that at times as well but because of my micro size eyes, people usually don't realize.  Should I be happy or sad? I can't decide.)

These are just few example of quirks that I have.  I have read somewhere that for some people when they lie, you can tell immediately (but only if you are close to the person to begin with) because they will exhibit certain tell-tale signs such as rubbing their nose or ruffling through their hair, things like that.

So what about you?  Have you given any thought on this?  What's YOUR quirk? Let me know in the comment section below! <3