10 Random facts about me

I was going to do a post about my life so far but then I thought about doing this instead. I feel like I really should have paid more attention to this blog. There was once a community around it but now it feels kind of lonely on here but I am really hoping that we can all reconnect again soon. I have been doing some of my blogging rounds again to get in touch 🙂 Hope you all are well.

I have never done something like this on my blog where I  tell you folks all about me. I am not talking about what colour I like or what’s my favourite food but other, more personal things.

random

  1. The first time I ever really got scared in my life was when my nani ma (maternal grandmother) passed away. The night before it happened, my dad had told us that we should pray to help my grandmother feel at peace because she had been in the hospital for some time and was in a lot of pain. The next morning she passed away and I thought that I had done that. The 9 year old me was petrified for years and didn’t share this with anyone until I was much older.
  2. For the longest time, I did not understand where I belonged. Our family had a habit of moving around a lot and I don’t mean schools or houses; I mean moving from country to country. Even though it was like being on a big adventure. I did not really understand where I belonged. It was only when I got my Singaporean citizenship that I finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt at home… for the first time in my life. Before that, every time I’d sing the national anthem in school, I’d feel like such a phoney. Thank you Singapore for all that you have given me and the love you have shown me.
  3. I once painted my whole apartment with my sister and my parents finally let us paint it the colour that we wanted. It was a big win for us and even though we were so sore after I felt like that was the happiest day of my life.
  4. Even though I have now finished my Masters, I still have dreams about how school exams and how I just NEED an extra 5 minutes to finish writing it. Do you folks have them too?
  5. I sometimes feel like I am an old soul stuck in a young persons body and even though I feel this way I am scared of ageing. Not scared in a getting wrinkly sort of way but more of a not having the time to fulfill all of my dreams and everything that I want to achieve in life.
  6. Sometimes when life feels like a race, I tune out everything. This includes news, people’s voices, anything that comes my way basically but I am capable of having engaged conversations during these phases as well.
  7. I often have really great blog ideas when I am in the middle of doing something really important and later when I try to blog about them, they just do not seem as exciting.
  8. I am 28 and I still do not know how to put on makeup. I don’t really understand the purpose of many of the things that are sold at sephora, why the fuck do we need a shadow crayon? I am really envious of girls whose make up is always on point and I wish I could learn it somewhere but whenever I try to go on to youtube to learn it, I get sucked into the interwebs and start watching cat or baby videos.
  9. The scariest day of my life so far was the day we lost my cousin and even though I still don’t understand what happened I think of him every single day. I was 25 back then and I remember coming back home and mom asked me to just sit down and listen and so I did. I recall everything going numb when I heard that he had passed away and all I could say was “what the fuck”.
    That was the first time in my life that I ever really comprehended the fact that any of us could die at any given moment. While we lived on opposite sides of the globe, we shared a special bond, sharing some of life’s weird details with each other. It was really hurtful then that his sister said to me, “why are you crying? you don’t even live here.”
    I wanted to say that loving someone has got nothing to do with living with them 24/7 but I didn’t. I understand that she must have felt that her loss is bigger than mine but there is no need ever to trivialize someone else’s loss.
  10. Since some of the facts have been pretty heavy, here is a lighthearted one to end this post. When I was in grade 3, our class put together a production of Sleeping Beauty. I wanted to be the princess like every other girl in my grade but instead my teacher thought that I would make a great king. So I played the prince’s dad.
    Sure I was a king but my only line in the show was “OH HA HA what a splendid day” and that ladies and gentlemen were my 2 seconds of fame in grade 3 theatre.

Hope all of you are having a splendid weekend! Would love to hear more about all of you too!

Casa Loma and Other Weekend Things

So this weekend was incredibly amazing! C’s friends were in from out of town and we went to visit Casa Loma! Like finally! It was really awesome and totally lives up to the hype… wait there is no hype! Why is there no hype? The place is bloody amazing! There is a tunnel underground and you can walk from one end to the other.

We basically walked from the castle to the red building across that you see in the picture below.

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Won’t lie, the tunnel isn’t the best experience when you have asthma but it was worth it. Cause where the tunnel ended, a garage and stables began! I mean seriously, the man had way too many cars. Here are some of my favourites! (Apparently, he was the first one in Canada to have a motorized car and he crashed it on the day he got it because he didn’t know how to brake! waittt whaaat?!)

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Then we went on to see some other treasures in this humongous place that someone once called home albeit briefly. Henry Pallett only got to reside there for 15 years.

The place is basically secret passage galore and weird art. Pallett also loved animal skin rugs (someone call PETA) but then again that was the norm back then. Ewww.

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Saw this clock thingy (pictured above and had to take a photo).

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Also Lady Pellatt was awesome!

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More glorious views from the tower! Used to be slums and now it offers such a great view of the Toronto skyline.

Screen Shot 2015-08-02 at 9.54.40 PMUs ❤ ( Hubberz and I!)

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Yesterday I went to watch Inside Out with my sister but that’s a post for tomorrow because I want to do a proper review on that but I give it 4 thumbs up, you know with my hands and feet! Love you sista! #sisters4eva

I didn’t do any work this weekend and that is just fine

It happens every once in a while. I lose all will and motivation to do anything but that’s not what happened this weekend. I intentionally decided to not do anything.

No school, no work, no getting stressed out about oh so many things that needed to get done.
Instead, I read and spent a wonderful day in the city, out and about, with the hubz! 🙂 Couldn’t be happier! Totally ready to kick butt at work tomorrow now!

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Picture Taken at Kensington Market in Toronto

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First weekend read was A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did not Buy by Sarah Lazarovic! She is a Canadian illustrator and designer who also happens to have written a wonderful book. It is a light read and perfect for a lazy summer weekend. This is also something I would highly recommend all of you shopaholics out there to read. I picked up some shopping tips and actually applied them when I went shopping. All I can say is, quality over quantity folks.

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My second weekend read was a graphic novel. I haven’t updated this site in a while but I did mention a year ago that I am enrolled in a Masters program at University of Toronto. It is a really diverse program, which is why I have been able to take some really interesting classes in the last two years (Oh did I mention that I graduate in 2 weeks?!)
Anyways, I am currently taking a class on Graphic Novels and Comic Books in the Library and have actively started seeking out and reading comic books. Which led me to The Big Skinny.

Ok that’s a big fat lie! That’s only part of the equation. I also have started a weight loss journey… No, I don’t have an eating disorder and I am not obese. I am just trying to be healthier and eat better for the sake of older me. (hey 50 year old me! if you are reading this… you are welcome! ;))
So as I was saying, the comic book class and the quest for a healthier me led me to Carol Lay‘s work in the form of The Big Skinny. It is a bibliography cum self help guide to help folks eat healthier! I especially love the calorie count table at the end of the book! Thank you Carol.

The book does not tell you to count calories obsessively but just being aware of what you put inside your body is really freaking important!

It was written in 2008 so some of the research is not super up to date. For instance, she recommends using Stevia and Edamame… Two things I will never put in my body ever again. Overall though, it is a really fun, fast and useful read.

Oh and I guess finally cleaning my desk counts as a little bit of work! :p

photo (10)I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend as well! Catch you soon!

Letting Go and Growing Up

So much has changed now or maybe nothing has changed. At home with my parents this week and it feels like I am not just reconnecting with them but reconnecting with myself.

There is so much that I’ve been able to let go of. I guess when you leave home things happen. I do not feel attached to a lot of the stuff that I was extremely territorial about and gave them away to my sister today. I was cleaning my room out and my sister asked me, if this was me officially moving out?.

I guess yes and I guess not. I love my parents place and I want to leave some parts of me behind, interspersed with their life and creating what we call home. Mum and Dad are both doing well which makes me extremely happy and sister is taking care of these two baby hamsters that are the cutest things in the world.

Opened my parents fridge and it is spotless and clean as always. Compared it to C’s and my fridge (cause obviously!) and wondered why we aren’t able to maintain it. Perhaps it took my parents years too? or so I like to think because it makes me feel better. My mom is the glue to this family and my dad is the glitter. Blame the book that I am currently reading but I think it is really true.

 

Growing Up

 

I really do not know how my mum does it. My parents have been married for almost 29 years now and are able to maintain this extreme balance in their lives that I can only dream of. My dad always and I mean ALWAYS gets home around 6pm and hence my folks neither understand or approve of my work schedule.

As expected mother was against me getting anything from thrift/vintage stores, “Ab toh job hai, naya khareed lo. (now you have a job, buy new stuff)?” she asked and her expression whilst asking that question was priceless. I wonder what my mother liked when she was younger? Maybe I should ask her that.

The earliest memories I have of her revolve around her 80’s fluorescent hoop earrings, her freshly starched salwar kameez and her pencil heels. She always seemed ready to conquer the world, a lot like how I am now in my flats! ha!

I do not possess the grace of my mum but someday I hope to be like her and I hope I can be as amazing a mother as she is.

Of talented friends…

Heather's painting

The demon in my head

Price: C$130

This beautiful piece was painted by a friend of mine, Heather Jenkins, and I really want her to have her own online store but first we have to sell some art to prove that there is demand for it!

It is going for $40 with a frame! Let me know if any of you awesome folks are interested! You can reach me at roasted keyboard at gmail dot com. To see more of Heather’s beautiful work, click here! >> CLICK ME <<

Update

Heather's work

Finished product: C$40

Size: A4

This is the final product but if any of you like the 3 stages it can be painted on a canvas as well! It would mean a lot if you lovely folks shared this post!

Identity Crisis Resolved: I am a Liberal Feminist

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All was fine in Twitterville yesterday until… well until it broke down but that’s besides the point… I was labelled a liberal feminist. Now, being called a feminist is not a bad thing but the stereotypes attached to it and the extreme hatred with which the words were uttered was nothing short of f*cking ridiculous!

I am a feminist

It was not until last year that I finally began to explore / understand the concept of feminism, thanks to Karen Schulman Dupuis. Prior to that I had a rather negative view of feminism because, well, the media, more often than not, tells us that feminists are bra hating, hairy legged uncivilized buffoons.

media representation

But what feminism really is equal rights for women.

What is feminism

While the movement gained momentum in the 20th century, it has its roots in the French Revolution of the 1700s when women began to push for equal rights, (Side note: I am…

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100 Happy Days; Finding Happiness : Day 1

Happiness to me is a warm cup of tea in the morning…

A smile on the faces of those I love… The rain on my face on a hot summer day…

A good book……….

It’s ironic that while we get busier with this funny little thing called life, sometimes, just sometimes, we forget to live it. We forget that in order to really live we have to savor every moment and be thankful for each day.

My awesome sauce friend (I was going to say dear but awesome sauce sounds far more awesome!) Casey is currently taking part in the 100 happy days challenge on his site, which you should totally check out because you will get to see his adorable little baby Isaiah amongst other awesome things!

So… he is taking part in this challenge, which I highly recommend that you check out, and I thought to myself, hey! this sounds great! I should do it too! because ever so often I feel low and I don’t want to!

In high school before blogs were a thing, I used to keep a journal which I called and still refer to as my ‘happy book’.

It has little notes from people that I love and care about. Needless to say it made me and still makes me extremely happy whenever I read it. The little book also goes wherever I go!

It was given to me by my sister when I was 18 as a New Years’ present but it ended up becoming much more than that. Thank you sisbug! I love you so much!

Diary

P.S: This post was going to be about meeting a friend but this seems more appropriate as a start!