Vital Self-Esteem

I just watched a local talkshow that touches on the different social & personal issues youngsters face nowadays. Every week, the host along the two other counsellors will interview one troubled youngster. The recent episode that I watched - this lad who was previously extremely obese that shot up to 148kg. He was mercilessly made fun of by his classmates during his school days. As result, his self-esteem suffered a real low & he became anti-social, keeping to himself & didn't have the courage to make new friends, especially of the opposite sex. He further gorged himself with food, since he thought that he was already fat, he might as well eat more & didn't bother. Uptil a point where he finally decided to lose weight. He took on very extreme measures to achieve his goal - he basically starved himself till his stomach suffered severe gastric pains. He became aneroxic. His weight dropped drastically within a short period of time. In between, he became suicidal & tried to cut himself on several occasions. His mum, worried for him, hid all the knives inside the fridge. However, later on with the aid of psychiatric treatment & taking his medicine regularly, his condition improved tremendously. However still, having lost so much weight, he's still not very satisfied, he wants to lose more. This, the counsellors said this is also a psychological problem. They then asked him if he's a perfectionist, he replied yes. He further shared that now he's still in the healing process, constantly need to renew his mind. He find that he can accept himself more now.

This reminds me of a friend . She had a similiar experience. She was somewhat being critisized for being chubby & plump by her relatives when she was in her teens, that she couldn't take it any longer & she forced herself & plucked up the courage to exercise & diet to lose weight. I must say she was quite extreme as well. She jogged intensively almost everyday, eating only wholemeal bread for breakfast & lunch. She gradually lost a considerable amount of weight. But she didn't stop there. She went on to lose a total of 20kg. Now, to most of us, she's considered slim but she's not satisfied. She wants to lose more & always wish to be like one of those HK female celebrities. :-S Whenever friends tried to put a positive note, she just shrugged if off. I wonder is it because she has been 'feeding' on too much negative comments that she could no longer accept positive ones. But one thing I realised is that she not only is self-critical but on others too. :-/ Sad. I was influenced by her negative vibes alot previously but thank God, I'm surrounded by more positive friends now. :)

I had my own fair share of story to tell also. I used to be cruelly teased by my neighbours too. Back then, there were many neighbours living on the same storey. The kids whom I constantly played with were the exact same ones who laughed @me. They called me 'flat nose'. It was so hurtful that I went home crying. I vented on my mum & blamed her for giving birth to me with such an ugly nose. For the longest time, I thought myself to be an ugly duckling. Even during my school days, I suffered an inferior complex. I find most of my friends were prettier than me & nobody especially of the opposite sex would want to give me a 2nd look. I was very conscious of my nose & the way I looked. It was not till recently that I fully begin to accept myself. All thanks to encouraging friends around me & my personal hairstylist, Auntie Baozhen (who always wanna create nice hairdos for me. :P) I find, Hey actually with enhancement like make-up & a suitable hairstyle, I can look beautiful too! :D Most of all, I'm thankful for my Faith also, gave me a different perspective of life & myself.

Self-acceptance - vital. That is what the counsellors of the talkshow shared also. That we shouldn't just pay attention to the outer appearance, but our inner beings, inner selves. We must have a healthy perspective, projecting a healthy image of ourselves. The talkshow ended with one of the counsellors saying that we always pay attention to lose weight on the outside. Perhaps its time we should 'lose weight' on the inside of us too. So true...well said! :)

Cool shades!

Ivy is back from Taiwan & bought this pair of real nice & cool shades for me! :D I love it! She said that it suits me well, I agree totally! Its of Maroon colour. Just nice, I've been looking for shades also. :P

She bought a whole lot of other stuff like accessories & snacks for me as well. Thanks buddy! :D

Strawberry Swing - Coldplay

Cool & creatively made new Coldplay MTV! I love the song & the MTV!

My Favourite YELLOW

My favourite colour & my favourite song from one of my favourite bands in the whole world. :) A timeless classic. I can literally listen over & over again without being sick of it. Now thats a true timeless piece of music & masterpiece. The lyrics is simple yet enduring, about Love, the universal language. I bet Chris Martin sings this to his wifey, (one of my favourite actresses as well) - Gwyneth Paltrow every night. Heehee!

Yellow was the 1st single from the band & it hit top spot on UK charts that year it was released. I remembered watching watching the MTV for the very 1st time & immediately fell in love with the song!& the band as well. Especially the guitars @the starting of the song, real cool! From then, Coldplay went on to become one of the most successful UK band ever.

Hooked on Telephone

I'm hooked on this song from her latest album "The Fame Monster". Infectious & kept ringing on my head! :P As always Gaga's signature upbeat, disco style. Most suited for having a good time clubbing, exercise & heading the gym! Nowadays when I jog, I'll keep my Creative Zen Stone mini handy mp3 player on all the way & listening to Lady Gaga's songs just really keep me movitated & going. :)

I find Lady Gaga really talented, serious of what she does, her music. I guess its like art to her. I like her especially deep & unique voice. She wrote all the songs of her album, play the piano & design all those statement-making, one of a kind clothes, more like costumes to me. Its like she's constantly going to costume parties or something. I wonder @the end of the day, costumes off, would she has a split-personality & has difficulties to switch back to reality or something? Haha!

Long Weekend, SATC & Shopping!

Simply delicious Grilled chicken with Pasta & Fish Chowder! :P

Dinner @Greenhouse cafe. But this time round, all the swing seats were taken, so we settled for the 'normal' seats.

Pretty Bella, Annie.

@Kinokuniya.

My hair clipped up, taught by My personal hairstylist, Auntie Baozhen. Annie took this for me when we were waiting to cross the road. :P

Had Happy & restful Vesak Day long weekend + Family Day early release last Thursday...cool! :D Met up with my movie buddy, Annie-san on Saturday to watch Sex & The City 2. Initially we wanted to watch Ghost Writer starring Pierce Bronson &my favourite Ewon Mcgreggor. But the timings were so limited so in the end, we caught SATC2 indeed, which was a good choice! I wasn't really keen @1st but I'm glad I watched it,coz it was so funny! :D Especially the one who provided most of the comic relief, the flirtatious Samantha, simply hilarious! Love their clothes, shoes. Love the movie for the fashion, the beautiful getaway @Abu Dhabi (which was filmed @Morocco for the movie). It was truly a ride with the four ladies of style, tackling issues like menopause(Samantha), marriage (Carrie), motherhood (Charlotte) & work-life balance (Miranda). If I can choose to be 1 of the SATC ladies, I would choose Carrie. Coz i like to write! & she's a writer. :) But I definitely won't settle for someone like Mr Big though, coz I find he's boring. :-S. I prefer her ex-boyfriend, Aden (who appeared for a while in the movie) :)

Overall, I guess SATC is about being woman...like the song they sang "I Am Woman". :) Many roles of a woman-daughter, wife, mother, best friend. Celebrate womanhood.

Lucius happily eating the Nutella Cake

Birthday Girl Joan & Lucius busying putting the candles


Lucius happily putting the candles for his Mama's cake.

Nutella Cake from Royal Cakes.
I find it expensive for 1kg cake - $45! :O More expensive than Four Leaves! & quality-wise, not that outstanding as I expected.
The Nutella Cake is similiar to Coco Exotic from Four Leaves, which created this cake much earlier than Royal Cakes. Hmnnn...for one thing Coco Exotic still taste the best after so many years, I'm still a fan! :) Quality consistent. For 1 small cake-$26, maybe 0.5kg?

Bouquet of flowers from Joan's friend.



Joan thought this bouquet of flowers was from my bro which disappointing wasn't. I told her my bro not so romantic, she laughed.Haha! How true. Most asian men aren't, anyway. :O Being romantic should come from the heart, not something artificial, my view.