10% of #100happydays

Starting off the new year of 2015 with finding something to be happy about for 100 days (minimum) under the hashtag "100 Happy Days" was the initial plan. Of course, nothing ever goes to plan for me. Planning doesn't come easy for me. I tend to want to plan things right down to the minute details on a pictometre.

What kickstarted my spontaneous #100happydays was the simple act of latching on to the wifi at work and updated all my applications. They got prettier. That was it. Seriously...that's how shallow I am.


^_^


I got the idea from an ex-sushi-making colleague who just got married. Her posts, consisting of a collage of pictures from each day, were infectious as she took us along the journey of wedding planning and other non-wedding happy happenings in her life.

Instead of following the same, and because of the spontaneity of my own project, I didn't post up a picture or a collage of pictures with a mini essay on what made me happy that day. So what happened was a picture, with one-word summaries.


DAY 1
As mentioned, was started off by updating all the applications on my tablet and the prettier widgets set off a flurry of silly, sparkly fireworks in my unbalanced hormonal state.

Truly, the little things.


DAY 2
My first Christmas present, Joleen gave me this thingamajig...an earphone port stuffer (??)
Yes, I have a weird affection for owls ever since Mick Todd, then a PhD candidate in UTAS in 2011, took us, a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears, eager-beaver undergraduates on an 'owl hunt' where he played some calls - territorial and mating calls. Screeching calls near midnight in total darkness? Fucking awesome experience.

Also, when I took this picture, I noticed that the books in the background were for once, non-fiction. Seeing as this was my desk at work, the genre of those books and the titles alone were a wake up call. That I may have finally, found my place in life. No...not botany specifically, but doing things I love to do and doing something unusual.


DAY 3
Another life goal came to realisation: wearing a saree.

Janita, my longest-time ever bestie, had bought me the material for Christmas in 2013. Late November, we finally went to Chennai Silk Palace in town to get it sewn. Since I wouldn't have anyone to help me tie/wrap/pleat on the spot, I had it ready made. Slightly shoddy workmanship for RM160 but the experience was worth it.

The turquoise chiffon with silver sequins stood out among the shimmery reds, blazing blues, sparklings golds of other sarees. Wouldn't say I stood out as the only Chinese wearing a saree...I was tripping all over the place and extremely self-conscious of my muffin top.

I didn't take a picture, sadly, because I was so caught up with the magical midnight mass I was attending. Hopefully next year I get to participate because that's how I've always preferred to experience things.

Christmas tree at my (hopefully future) home

DAY 4
Christmas Day!

Started off with another mass less than 7 hours after returning home from the midnight one and despite my sleepy state, I saw a cat on a motorcycle.

Ok, bear with me here. It wasn't a stray getting comfortable on a parked bike. It was one kitty, claws dug in securely into the seat, riding pillion, and getting ear and chin scratches from the owner when he stopped at the traffic lights.

A cat riding a bike. Got me so happy. And devastated I wasn't quick enough to snap a photo.

Also...I went to Butterworth. For significant reasons: Meeting the Family. More on that another time. If I feel like it. I'm too old to simply tell everyone everything now.

DAY 5
I GOT PAID!

LOL. Surely, everyone loves payday but not counting part-time jobs, this was my highest paycheck ever since graduating.

Highest paycheck in my career thus far. When I made up my mind to make it a principle in life not to work for money, no one told me that this field doesn't pay nuts. They also neglected to tell me the satisfaction of doing something worth waking up for.


DAY 6
Went over again to the mainland to meet up with my insane sistah, Esther, and Royston. Had a 4-day weekend journey with them and Z way back in October and...had quite a few new experiences that should've been experienced if I hadn't been so...cynical and pessimistic.

Fine. It was just drinking, alright? Like, heaps. Until I got rashes. The first time it happened was in Sandakan where I overdosed on seafood and boxed wine.

I was mixing quite a bit of hard liquor but thankfully, no puking was involved. Just plenty of giggling and stumbling.

The happy part for Day 6 was the high tea in Winter Warmers...and confessing to Esther the happiest thing in my life that had righted an effed up year.


DAY 7

4PAWS.

'nuff said.


DAY 8
I don't need elaborate and expensive gifts.
I don't need fancy events.

Leftover bridal floral arrangements given to pretty my desk and attract lil' bees are big enough gestures to make me melt.

A colleague snatched one from the cleanup of the wedding ceremony held over the weekend. Kenny may be gay but seriously.....not everyday I get flowers and I LOVE getting flowers, especially when they are so pretty and he doesn't have to spend a penny.

Pretty flowers are expensive and end up in my craft drawer or half dead in a pot.

...

DAY 9
Found out my whole life may have been a lie.

Sangria wasn't just ice cream soda, tinned peaches and sparkling (sometimes non-alcoholic) wine and orange juice.

At Mish Mash, a quiet pub on Muntri St, it was a full-bodied red wine with Cointreau, pineapple slices on a toothpick and a lot of other shizz that made my eyes sparkle like an anime character as I sat at the bar with Reuben, waiting for Jeffrey and Justin to turn up.

It was a nice catch up on post-Form 6 life. Touching the surface of the lives of others I haven't bothered to keep in contact TBH. Just to make conversation and enjoy light-hearted company. No other girls but gosh the gossip these boys can dish...!!!


DAY 10
Ending this post with something that's so typical of me:

I ran into this butterfly on the way down from lunch.

As usual, I walked into a tree. No, the overhanging leaves of a plant, really, but still...call it walking into a tree, and saw this pretty fella. Not moving despite the 'collision', the subsequent 'oooohhhh!!', and followed by a camera phone, looming very close, invading its' personal space.

I can't tell you the species because I'm not familiar at all with the flora and fauna of Malaysia. But ain't it preedieee thang????


Also, it was New Year's Eve.