I guess it's not surprising

that old habits die hard and 1) is that I have not managed to maintain my dayre well at ALLLLL.

I guess it's a good thing because I realised (optimistically) of course, it means I have a life!!!! and I am simply caught up with reality.

and not so optimistically, I lack consistency and an ability to follow through with things... for the rest of my life?

BUT I guess it's good that this blog has been with me for all these years.

Right now, it's officially the last week of my holidays before I begin year 2 in dental school and I have tomorrow off and also today (I was so caught up with doing nothing but it felt so goooood).

For a change, that is why I decided to update my blog - not because I had work to procrastinate but simply because I had nothing to do.

I don't know where to start because I have loads of photos of hokkaido and actually hong kong too! but since I'm intending to go to bed and then continue this blogging thing tomorrow, here's just a photo of me after I've chopped my locks off (newssssss)

Excitement and Portability

I am basically updating here to say that I am now on Dayre.me!

You may visit my page which is dayre.me/hodypody via the giant dayre link on the side which you might have noticed hehehe.

I'm very excited about it because I just joined recently and it seems like a pretty much perfect solution to blogging on-the-go so most of the time I will probably put up my day-to-day updates there rather than here...

Although this wouldn't mean the end of my blog because I don't think I could bear to just abandon this treasured time capsule of mine :> Also, I don't trust dayre just yet because they are not as established as blogger which has lasted me throughout all these years and ultimately is a real blog that I can personalise and visit all my old posts at will hehe.

Through this Dayre discovery though, I have also somewhat discovered my talents in marketing and recruitment hahaha. I managed to get quite a number of my classmates on dayre within a week by psyching them up and making them think it's brilliant too! So I'm really happy about the fact that I have more dayre blogs to read. If you do join dayre please let me know (whoever ends up reading this hehehe)

It's also much easier to upload photos and all that there hahaha.

Once again, nothing new throughout the years, I'm blogging when I'm supposed to be studying. Kind of makes you wonder what else there is to this life right. It's been 9 years since I started this blog and I'm still studying. A large chunk of my life so-far has been studying.

GOTTA LIVE A LITTLE.

It's recess week now and I'm supposed to study but obviously dayre has got lots of my attention. I also intend to cook up a few cool new dishes from these cookbooks I got last week. Perhaps I will upload some photos here to archive my growth and experience hehe.

Oh oh oh,

TRAVEL UPDATES
I think it's quite safe to announce my dates here but I'm super excited that 2014 is looking to be a rather exciting year where I get to travel a lot! (ok twice- there are plans)

In April, I'll be going to Hong Kong for the HKU exchange with my class :) It should be a really wonderful time of class bonding and learning about how other dentists are being educated. Initially, I wasn't too keen because I'm the LAZIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD!!!!! and I wanted to play and not work; but I suppose alternating between days of half-day lessons and then playing wouldn't be so bad :) Especially if the company is good and the food is good. I hope Hong Kong will treat me better this time round. My impression of it wasn't so fantastic last June.

and then June! After special sem is over and before the madness of Rag preparations and orientation  comes upon us I will be going to Hokkaido!!!! I'm extremely excited because it'll be my first time going there (although strictly speaking as of right now we haven't booked the tickets)! Amelia says that the food there is the sex (which, I suppose, means it's amazing) and the ice cream and sashimi and food in general is to die for. so so so so, I'm damn excited la. I love food.

omg I really really love food.
a lot.

I'm still quite slim (for now)

but I shouldn't take that for granted. I should exercise or something because really, I'm hitting my 20s (say what-) and my metabolism is slowly degenerating. I'm going to become lumpy slowly but surely if I keep eating the way I do and not exercising.

I hope to be able to confidently put photos up here without filtering excessively and being ashamed of my body. hahahahaha.

ok ciao.

Hello Hello 2014

Every once in awhile I come back to read my blog entries and amuse myself with what and how I used to think. What went on in my life, how I portrayed it. And it strikes me every time that I started my blog in 2005 (which is primary 5, it is now 2014 and I’m going to be 20 this year).

Sure, it made me cringe in secondary school when I looked back at my primary school posts. I don’t know what made me resist it but I never deleted my blog or started a new one, instead choosing to continue on and pile all my memories into one place… putting all my eggs in one basket? No regrets though! 

Why it's incredibly important to laugh at yourself:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/14/10-successful-people-who-_n_4262766.html

So yes, in time everything becomes a little better and funnier and conversation starters and all, yknow :)

Anyway, yesterday, during one of those moments when I came to revisit the grave of my dead blog (which I think may be considered dead) I realised that 2013 was devoid of posts or updates about my life, and 2013 was such an eventful, momentous and important year for me. What a waste it would be if this all stopped in 2012. I actually want to see how this plays out when I’m like… 50 or something. Maybe I’ll blog on my wedding night too. hahahaha.

Of course, recounting 2013 would be impossible so let’s just make a list of momentous things that happened…

1. Dental Internship - 6 months (3 Jan 2013)

2. Got into dental school - 2 May 2013

3. :)

4. Driving license - 13 June 2013

5. Started dental school

hehe ok so I told mummy not to upload anything but on hindsight I'm glad there's a photo to remember this wonderful wonderful moment. I was so excited and elated. 

So mostly I feel like I’ve made some sort of transition into adulthood or like, university life at least, all while forgetting that I turned 19 last year. In fact just two days ago, I actually said I was 18 purely by accident, probably because somewhere in my brain it never registered that I’d turned 19. (Hey, maybe that’s why it’s important to celebrate birthdays, so your brain realises something significant is happening.)

Important things I’ve realised last year were also what I should be prioritising, how I should manage my time to do things that I actually want to do. University is also a pretty important test of how you maintain your friendships I suppose. My good friends are scattered everywhere now and I’ve learnt that it takes effort to maintain these relationships. 

Other things included: 

1. June holiday to Taiwan/HK

2. Phuket trip with the gals (Nico, Ade, Julia) - great food, great company, great photos (which I have access to right now otherwise I wouldn't put the photos up here either hahaha, can't say the same for taiwan and hk I guess)

All in all, great year. Big year. Important year. 

2014’s but barely begun and today I just took my first test of the year (as in 2014, not year 1 of dental school). School doesn’t much getting used to anymore and it’s not so bad. I realise I really enjoy learning and funnily enough, I mentioned today that for once in my life I actually want to retain my knowledge because it’ll matter in the future. 

I also watched 3 Idiots with jw after school today, along with episodes of the office. It’s always great to relax and allow yourself to slack a little after cramming for a period of time. It was pretty strange this time round because the test was during CNY (hey guys happy cny!) so in between studying, I had to squeeze in some visiting. Or rather, in between visiting, I had to squeeze in some studying. But it wasn’t so bad! Really. 

It won’t be long before I have to get back to the work desk and stone again, but for now it’s all good. I’m really enjoying the company I have in school and out :) which makes life pretty good right now. 

Life is good, because God is good. gotta remember that. 

Oh oh, tomorrow’s gonna be a short day that starts late at 11am so I’m quite happy because maybe I’ll get to bake my breakfast cups in time for school for once :D and then maybe I’ll have photos to BLOG. 

hahaha, blogging makes me feel young again. 

and re-reading my posts makes me feel old. 

an odd day of rest

Prelims have begun and so far it's really iffy, I'm not entirely sure how I'll do but I guess I just have to remember to leave it to God and let Him decide what to do with my grades. I wasn't feeling all too well this morning when I had to take my math paper but it went as well as any other paper so thank goodness for that. 

Today was an odd day where I didn't feel any desire to do work and kick start make myself productive for my chemistry paper on friday. I'm probably taking it for granted a little that I have a free day tomorrow to study and yet I feel no regret at how I spent my day. I read a little bit of literature and more importantly I read a letter from my favourite girl (hi j) and it strikes me how once in a while you meet amazing people completely by chance and they change your lives. Our world, this universe is ruled by randomness and in this randomness comes beauty and perfection. Our lives are perfect plans that coincidentally bump themselves into being, falling in place as we go along, seemingly by chance yet completely unaccidental.

But today was a perfect day, it was restful and relaxing and I like how I was not at all bothered. I touched the piano for the first time in the longest time and I stink at it now my fingers are so rusty and stiff :( 

I should probably be getting to sleep now, I remember now (after being away from the computer for so long) how the internet especially on the computer is so alluring and easy to use and hence addictive it's going to keep me from my bed oh no.

Tomorrow will be a fruitful day and I will pull up my grades for every paper!!!!!!!!!!

good night xoxo

Dream Home

I am finally bored enough and free enough to blog about something that I've been wanting to for a bit now, and that is my obsession with creating lists! I don't really know what to call it actually, it's not so much as checklists as taking notes and snippets of stuff I see online and cataloguing it for my own daydream-y purposes.

Okay I think I'm being confusing, let me explain. I like using Evernote to create random notebooks where I can collate all the random ideas I have and save pictures and make comments on the posts that I make. So I've done this for our concert costuming ideas, random purchases I've made, birthday wishlists or wishlists in general, manicure ideas, clothes I'd like to buy... but predominantly it is posts and posts on furniture and my dream home.

I was mostly inspired to blog about this because we were visiting homes today (like homes for sale) and I was struck by how incredibly expensive all the houses are and how impossible it seems to buy and own a decent (okay so I have pretty high standards for decent) lovely home in Singapore. I can easily say that earning enough money to buy a lovely home to live in is one of the strongest motivations I have for doing well in school (even though it doesn't seem like it because I'm spending my time blogging right now hahaha but hey, exams just ended last week) 

I'm not really a video kind of person (that is to say I don't really prefer watching videos but not that I do not watch videos at all), I like reading articles and looking at photos on 

• tumblr
• thoughtcatalog.com
• freshome.com
• uhh some other sites I can't remember
• oh and men's health hahahahahhahaha don't judge

because I read them on flipboard, which has the most amazing layout ever to read and view stuff. It's super beautiful. Here is a video to show you what flipboard is:

flipboard is how I end up sleeping at 2am when I plan to sleep at like... 10pm

I also get distracted on instagram, a recent addiction but @.@ so worth it (follow me @jodyhong hehe) 

So anyway some time ago I added these random home decor and interior design feeds onto my flipboard and oooooh I realised that I would really love to own and decorate my own home in the future that is super cosy and shit. and I have notebooks on my evernote which catalogue (but it is not exhaustive because I am not always hardworking enough to save the images hehe) pretty homes and ideas. and I would like to share them here today!

So some things I would definitely love to have in my dream home are:

1. Daybeds and Swings (or daybed swings rather)

I think wanting a daybed-swing would necessarily mean that I need a lot of space in the house because this will not be my bed this will be my day bed. hahaha. Anyway, that first picture of the swing/daybed is my idea of extremememememely comfortable and perfect for a lazy day at home. to read or to play games on. yum. 

Having the daybed in or outdoors does not matter to me, actually, because I think outdoors might actually be a little inconvenient and perhaps a little dirtier. I don't think I will be a very hardworking diligent home cleaner so indoors is better... definitely. besides, outside is only better if there's a lovely view or a lovely wind.

On a random note, this is also a sofa I would like to have hahaha

2. Funky Furniture

Not entirely sure how everything will be able to work out because there are such amazing random things that I'd like to incorporate into my home but here is one coffee table I would love to have. 

AND THIS WORK TABLE

I can't find the video that came along about this video but those little cupboards can be hidden into the depths of the table. here's some random site talking about the table. 

And the following is a screenshot I took from my iPad sometime ago. I actually find the entire setting of the second picture very lovely even though the focus is on the ballerina table.

3. Bookshelves

Now, I realise that bookshelves should go under funky furniture but... I don't care. I'm not really sure how I want my bookshelf to be like but I just know that it's imperative to have one. I've seen curved bookshelves that go around a wall, or incredibly innovative designs like this:

but I haven't decided what kind of bookshelf so... here's a list from Freshome. And oh wow, THIS:

THIS ALREADY LOOKS LIKE A PERFECT ROOM.

-

Apart from the photos that I do have, I figure I might as well start fantasizing about a lovely home with infinite space here before I end off. 

I'd like a place with a lot of space, definitely, and a balcony. I'm not entirely sure how large the balcony should be, but it should exist; and it should be windy. 

I'd like a living room with a large television and DVD player. Cable TV is not necessary because I honestly do not watch television shows (at all, I can safely say) so I wouldn't need it. A DVD player is necessary though. very necessary. There would be a space in front of the TV for games like wii and maybe a kinect for dance central, but honestly I do not play those games either. I would actually connect my age-old Nintento 64 to it and play pokemon stadium (provided my sister allows me to steal it, but I'll figure that out when the time comes. my sister would of course be invited to join me in my awesome living room)

this is our real nintendo 64 with our never-gets-boring Pokémon Stadium :')

Nearby, there would be a cupboard where I store my favourite boardgames like Monopoly, Game of Life, Saboteur and Twister, etc. and there should be a space somewhere in the house that can permit the playing of these games. 

Now, I'm not really a cook or even close to one, but I figure I'll learn in time to come. But I know that the kind of kitchen I'd like would be the sort with an island in the centre, like this:

the island is that huge table in the centre, I find it very nice. This kitchen was just found on google I was just trying to illustrate the island hahaha.

Ooh, I'd also like ceiling to floor glass windows around the house, to let a lot of light in, because natural light is the best sort of light. Speaking of floors, I'd like either parquet or marble floors (are those the only kind?) and one room (at least) that is entirely carpeted hehe. with the furry soft kind of carpet that you could bury your face in. Only you wouldn't because that is extremely unhygienic and dubious. but would be comfortable for your butt, y'know. 

kind of like the carpet in this photo but maybe not in such a sad colour

Hmm... what else? 

I like wallpaper actually. and I like those homes with one wall wallpapered because I really think it adds colour and detail to homes and I'm not really the artistic sort so.. 

(I just found this list of white wallpapers that look pretty cool but they're not my sort but I thought I'd share it anyway)

Or maybe just really bold colours because I've seen a super lot of photos of homes with brrrriiiiilliant colour that just sounds impossible to get bored in. like this one (to see the full article click here):

That's all I can think of actually, because mostly I've been screenshooting random homes all over the world that are impossible to own but very possible to look at and admire. So I'll end off by posting them here hahaha

Sigh. lots of work to do before I can even come close to living in a home half that size hahaha but yes this is my motivation. A levels let's go.

Oh yes please

Did no one else notice how amazing it felt to sleep in this morning while the rain was pouring hard and fast and loud with the thunder roaring as if the whole earth was being shaken to its core?

Of course, all that amazing comfort was destroyed in moments just by the thought, the act of going to school. Luckily enough my mondays are pretty nice. and I ended at 11.30am this morning :> Unfortunately, I also realised that having too much free time on your hands breeds lethargy - something I unfortunately experienced myself while googling costume designs for our concert..

It started out as a bad afternoon but quickly it became absolutely wonderful as we started learning our batch choreography (by Jolene!) for the concert finale. I really really love our item and think that it's the most amazing shit in the world. It's so fun and I think we learned it at a fast but comfortable pace because we are all batchmates and there is little to no stress~

So everytime I'm being overwhelmed with the stress of not being able to complete learning all the choreographies etc etc, and just being too damn afraid of the concert drawing nearer, it's times like today that get me hyped up all over again. I'm so so so so so psyched and ready to take on the world.

Therefore, I must finish my tutorials tomorrow. That is all.

In other news, HERE ARE THE CUPBIRTHDAYCAKES I GOT FOR JEAN'S LOVELY 18TH:

omg they're such tiny images but they're actually quite high quality walao. i already took super long to upload this and i'm super tired so maybe i'll reupload them tomorrow!

goodnight!

A little push

My sister told me I should blog so I thought I would.

Today, I was watching these hair tutorials by LetsMakeItUp1 on youtube and I think her hairdo tutorials are very amazing hahaha because she always makes all the complicated hairstyles look damn easy. I tried re-creating the pretty little liar's hannah braided down-do but kind of failed cos I ended up braiding exactly what I always braid on my sister's hair when I feel like it... BUT IT TURNED OUT V PRETTY and she took a nice photo of it so here's the photo:

I think it looks super pretty and I think my sister has absolutely beautiful hair. It's super thick and healthy and I wish I could have hair like that so I can do shit with my hair too. Or I just wish I could detach my head/hair so I can do all this funky hairstyling without the arm-aches that come along with doing your own hair (ew no I take that back that's a disgusting sentiment)

Anyway, that above photo was edited with instagram.

I just discovered that instagram was a social networking thing too. I honestly did not realise that hahaha but now I realise I have some photos up too and and it's quite cool imho.

I also discovered evernote and I'm having a ball of a time archiving random shit like dream house designs and clothing designs and costume designs all on my new ipad and iphone and laptop (i am such a techno loser). and when I say archive I don't mean come up with designs I just mean saving photos from all over the place into little notebooks that synchronize across my different devices. it's just fun okay!!!

Like okay, I saved a photo of this sweater because I'd really really like to own it but I'm not quite sure whether I trust buying online goods or not but isn't it just absolutely gorgeous! I have a bias towards baggy clothing that makes me feel like I'm permanently draped in a large blanket and furthermore I imagine this would also make me feel like I am being clothed in outer space. So yes, I would like to buy this. Ah, heck I'm going to order it now.

no, on second thought I'll just wait a while longer and let this longing sit for a few good days.

In other news, my CT results are coming back and they are not good at all. I feel as if I should be a little more disappointed but one part of me knows I kind of deserve it anyway because my studying was infinitely halfhearted and definitely not determined nor focused at all. This should be a good wakeup call but I'm taking it so painlessly and I think that's bad...

NO I NEED TO START WORKING HARDER yes I do.

and it's no good that I'm discovering so many wonderful things on the internet. like online shopping (ya ok I'm very outdated ok. i took v long to trust online shopping hahaha) and and gmarket and scramble (omg) and food too.

ok that is all there's still school tomorrow I need to get back in the mood man it's already 1:08am. and it's a short week yay!

good night world.