One of the best perks of not working anymore is that I get to travel alot without having to worry about :-

1. Saving my annual leave
2. Applying in advance for a month’s leave or 2 week’s leave from work
3. Explaining why I need to take a month’s leave and where am I going

For instance, I am in a way scared of heights. I can climb up but I can never climb down however if Im desperate and there’s no other way then I have no choice but to climb down C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y … Angkor Wat’s steps are so narrow that it AMAZES me to see how these Cambodians and monks can climb up and down like a seasoned mountain goat whereas us tourists will climb up on all fours! I felt like a giant lizard as I climbed up those stairs and to climb down, I swear if you’re not careful you’ll break your neck. I was contemplating whether to risk it when I saw this other Asian lady next to me was feeling the same way I was feeling and we kept on smiling at each other for encouragement. My husband was below waiting for me and eventually the Knight in Shining Armour that he is, he climbed up and showed me another route to go down BUT it was a long queue. I was tempted to go back where I was and go down from there but my husband stopped me. However I am side-tracking here, what made this climb worth the risk was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SUNSET that I got to witness but did not manage to capture due to my husband’s camera dead battery! I was upset because he did not manage to capture a photo of me standing by the edge of Angkor Wat as proof to my sisters that I DID IT! Well its not Mount Everest that Ive climbed but this was worth the effort to prove it, dont you think?! Apart from that we covered 11 temple sites from dawn to dusk! Not many people can accomplish that within a day as per my husband who probably say that to me as a “pat on the back” compliment.

Hey I see my blog is pretty much active with visits here !!

Hi there anonymous visitors !! How do you do?

Studying used to be something I truly do not enjoy at school but you have to whether you like it or not! I thank my lucky stars that I did put 100% into what I learned at school despite how much I do not like some of the subjects taught at school. If I didn’t, where would I be now? Of course I have my favorite subjects, least favorites and the hot & cold subjects for me.

My most favorite subject has to be English then come History! My least favorite would be Mathematics and my hot & cold subject would be Art. When I say hot and cold is because 1. I love to sketch and I can do a good sketch but when it comes to coloring (this is where the COLD part comes) I totally totally totally mess up my sketches. I guess this is where a good Art friend of mine would tell me, ‘I need to find the right style of art for me.’ P-R-O-B-A-B-L-Y!

I am thankful that with my good grades in English I can compose a blog like this ^_^ and I can read books or newspapers or magazines or even comics with no problem! Now you must be wondering where is this blog of mine leading to because I’m talking more towards school & subjects. Again this is sort of like a walkdown my childhood memory lane ok .. I would like to share what I used to read as a child and I dont get bored reading them even at this age of mine. Why? Because its a classic to me and it would be the choices of reading material I would one day let my own children read too! Some of those books I have read, I have bought them and kept them as part of my treasured memories. Next I plan to buy a few of Enid Blyton’s books for my own treasured collections.

Before I even read J K Rowling or Beatrix Potter or Roald Dahl, I used to read alot of Enid Blyton’s books. The first book I have read by Ms. Blyton was Amelia Jane! Soon i got totally hooked reading her work and it went on to her short stories to Mr Twiddle, Mr Pinkwhistle, The Faraway Tree, The Wishing Chair, Mr Meddle and many more! Till today I still enjoy reading her books and the illustrations that come with her stories. To me reading Enid Blyton was like opening up a ‘dictionary’ full of words that I never heard of as a child. This is where my trusted sidekick comes in my Longman’s Dictionary.(Note: Thanks Tine for mentioning Enid Blyton in your blog. You made me want to talk about this today) When I started at Highschool and I got so excited when I had my 1st library card, yes I was a bookworm ..I still am in a way because once my nose is buried deep in a book it will take alot to grab my attention especially if its a very GOOD book! The first book I’ve ever borrowed from the school library was The Water Babies.

I mentioned illustrations earlier didn’t I? It was from there my passion to draw was born. I would look at the artwork of these stories for awhile before I would flip to the next page. When I read a book I could either speed read it or take my time but I prefer to choose the latter because I like what my mind visualises when I am in deep read mode . Soon from books, I found myself reading comic books and I know it was The Archies that I first enjoyed reading (I still do if you see my chest full of Archies, you know I am an Archie addict). From the Archies I soon got into Beano, Asterix & Obelix and The Adventures of TinTin

Archie & The Gang

Beano

Asterix & Obelix

TinTin

These are the authors and artists that have left an everlasting effect to the pleasures of reading, creativity and imagination! If it had not started from Enid Blyton I would not be able to read, write and speak English at the level that I currently am right now. I always use Enid Blyton as the stepping stone material to learn the language for friends who ask me on how to improve their English.

Without English, I would not have the pleasure of enjoying music of all genres, movies of all genres too and even tv programmes!

So what was your reading pleasure ? Do you still enjoy reading them now if you have it in your collections?

Image credits:-

Amelia Jane – Found at Kidz books

The Waterbabies – Found at Reader2

Archie – Found at Windsor Bear’s The Archie Page

Beano – Found at The List

TinTin – Cartoon-Secrets

Asterix & Obelix – Understand France

Growing up in the 80s and going through the test and trials of a teenager in High School back in the early 90s there were so many songs that I could connect to and think fondly of my past. Some makes me smile, others make me cringe and think to myself why did I even do that? Did I actually have a mad fringe like that? What in the world made me think what I wore was ok ?

Sure there’s the Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet or Thompson Twins to your Bros, Curiosity Killed The Cat and so forth in my list of yester-year favorites. However I’m going to list out some of the songs that I remember very well and what it reminds me of when I listen to them.

Moonlight Shadow – Mike Oldfield feat. Maggie Reilly
No special events of my life reminded me of why I remember this song very well except I loved the song and the video (at that time). I remembered seeing it on a video tape of Top of The Pops my eldest sister brought back home.

I Know Him So Well – Elaine Page and Barbara Dickson
As much as I like this song whenever I hear it, it reminds me of the time when I got really sick, the sickest I’ve ever been when I was young

Let The Music Play – Shannon
Ok so I did do a bit of breakdancing during those days and this song reminds me of how flexible my body was in doing all those moves except the ones where I spin my head

Je Ne Sais Pas Pour Quoi – Kylie Minogue
I remember this song so well! I had a MAJOR crush on this guy at High School. One of the seniors who stayed another year in school because he failed last term. Absolutely gorgeous guy with dark skin and well known for being one of the school’s bad boys who wouldnt even turn to look at ugly duckling me so Ive been admiring him from a distance. Anyway during this time too I was in a softball team. I dont know why I even tried out for it since I am not even into sports ..more of a spectator than an athlete. During practice I got myself a black eye when I didnt see a fastball coming right at me ..trust me for trying to catch with my right hand instead of my left. Walking around in school with a black eye wasn’t fun at all and to make it worse my high school crush finally noticed me and said hello to me! When he saw me I can only wish for the ground to swallow me straight away as he gave me that sympathetic look! UGH!

Pop Art Album and Velveteen Album – Transvision Vamp
I love Transvision Vamp – all the songs on these two albums. To me, Wendy James was an icon. I loved her voice, I love her style and she made pink lipstick looked so good!!

What songs would remind you of your growing years?

For the past few days I have been wondering to myself whether to write a letter to my pen-pals or not. I did not have any ideas on what to write and so my procastinating side got the best of me.

However, today I received a lovely surprise when I received not one but two letters from my friends. Finally something for me to do, I needed it. My brains are slowly covered with cobwebs already. Since joining this online pen-pal website I have made five new friends from Japan, supposedly alot more than that but for some reason they either 1. stopped writing or 2. completely did not want to keep in touch, which is a shame really as we got along quite well in the beginning, well with one of them, i did! With the current five I managed to keep in touch with 3 of them alot via snail mail. The other two via emails which I dont mind. The other mail I received today is from my pen-pal from Germany whom Ive made friends with via Friendship Book.

we

image found at CartoonStock

I enjoy receiving emails from family & friends. Its always nice to see a familiar name appear in my Inbox but if you see that name all the time, the anticipation of expecting is no longer there, if you know what i mean.

But you cant beat the old fashioned way of mailling and thats Snail Mail. To receive a letter from the postman with your name on it is enough to kiss those bad days away and put a smile on your face. It is more personalised and special.

I dont remember being so active in correspondence before during my school days so it surprises me alot that I do it now at this age but I guess its never too late to start isn’t it? Although it does take a toll on my hand as I write. Its unbelievable how our handwriting has changed over the years of using the keyboard to ‘write’ what we want to say. The good thing about these correspondences or pen-pal exchange, I learn alot about cultures & traditions and lifestyle through writing apart from travelling.

So, do you prefer Email or Snail Mail?

I was thinking of adding the vest when I wear my comfy tee from time to time with either my jeans or a pair of tailored trousers to make it look more chic than casual. So I guess I am slowly putting back some crisp collared shirts in my wardrobe again along with my t-shirts.

I dont own too many dresses in my wardrobe, its not that I dont like wearing them but I can never find a style that would fit me to a T and if I do find one that I like its never available in my size. However I wish to be more ladylike too instead of wearing jeans and tee all the time. I was going through my wardrobe today and I can count how many dresses I have, informal ones that is. I found these 4 gorgeous dresses when I was browsing through Miss Selfridge’s collections. I wouldn’t mind buying them if they were available here.

The last dress looked rather cute & quaint isnt it ? ^_^ I can see myself wearing a pair of flats and have my hair pulled up into a pony tail looking like someone that came out from the 50s Holly Golightly
Fashion come and go but there are always fashion styles that will forever remain a classic! That is what I look for in my personal style – chic, elegant and classic!