One year old me

1. I still sleep with a child’s bolster at night. I’ve had mine since I was about 10. If there’s a fire (touch wood), that is the first thing I will save.
2. Theme parks are awesome, and I don’t think it’s childish to want to go to one and play.
3. I prefer music from the 50s to the 90s. Latest would be early noughties. Current music shits the big one.
4. I can still be a pushover despite being one in school and striving not to be one again when I grow up.
5. Operation Stop Being A Pushover will be a life long battle, I’m afraid.
6. I can eat and watch Bones, CSI, etc at the same time (with all the human remains in full glory), but I cannot watch gory movies. At all.

8 year old me with my 4 year old brother

7. I’ve taken after my mum in being a little OCD when it comes to cleanliness and tidiness.
8. Years ago, I swore I would never become like my mother.
9. Now I count my blessings if I even take 50% after her.
10. I don’t need 500 friends to validate my existence.
11. A handful of very good friends whom I consider family and that I can count on is more than enough for me.
12. I can finally cook! (and to think that 10 years ago, I absolutely hated cooking and the most I could do was scrambled eggs and rice).
13. I can still scream and jump like a teenager when at a pop concert.

Me at 14 years

14. When I’m out late at night, I can and will jolly well take the taxi instead of trying to save money and take the train and bus instead.
15. I can make things with my hands and people love them.
16. I can make things with my hands and make money out of them.
17. I don’t have to be in an office 9 to 5 just to have a successful and fulfilling career.
18. I can finally say NO to my parents.
19. It took me a long time to actually believe what Eleanor Roosevelt said – “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent“.

25 year old me at Odaiba, Japan.

20. I’m utterly hooked to my phone. It’s my safety net on public transportation and when I’m eating alone.
21. Having said that, I CAN eat alone without having a book with me. But probably not without my phone.
22. I can finally apply liquid eyeliner properly now with wings and all that. Booyah.
23. I’ve always enjoyed writing but never thought I’d be blogging and enjoying it even more.
24. People who sulk about turning 18, 22, 25 and think that they’re so old now annoys me.
25. Lack of control stresses me out and I take them out on my hands. I now have “stress callouses”.
26. Having a home of my own is a wonderful feeling (before thoughts of mortgage stress creep in).

My wedding day

27. I only started using tampons a few years ago, and every time I get my period, I think back of all the horrid times in school when I was running around in thick sanitary napkins. Ugh.
28. I can be thin and unhappy, or I can have a few kg more (still within a healthy BMI) and be happy. I’ve been there, and I choose the latter.
29. Sometimes all I need is a good cry to get the bad stuff out of my system. After that, the rainbow comes out and all’s good with the world again.
30. I didn’t appreciate my family all that much until I moved away from home to Australia 4 years ago. Now I miss them every single day.

My parents and I at one of the wineries in Mornington

31. I used to think that I’m contented where I am now, but truth be told, I’m not. I want to make a name for myself doing something I’ve always wanted to do, defy all Asian stereotypes and tell the world that I don’t have to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, whatever-Chinese-families-think-is-the-definition-of-success to be successful.
32. I’m actually happy to be turning 32.