2011 New Year Resolutions

Usually come the new year I'd be frantically scribbling my new year resolutions with the hopes of fulfilling them by year end.  After many failed attempts despite being super specific and jotting down the details on how to achieve my resolutions as well as attainable measures, I've decided to not obsess over the whole resolution "tradition".

This year, I won't be having any resolutions per se but rather a guideline of what I want to do throughout the year which will prolly be an on-going thing anyways.  So here's a general idea of what my personal guidelines look like:

What they are and what I'm going to do to achieve these is up to me and I'll sort through it as I go.

Anyways, hope all of you have an amazing year ahead and to better things to come.

Movie: The Tourist

Sorry peeps.  I know I've been missing from this blog for a lil bit and I'd like to start off by wishing everyone an amazing 2011!!  *smiles*

Anyways, it's been awhile since I talked about a movie (I think).  Haha.  The latest movie my family and I went to see was The Tourist starring the incredibly talented Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.

Image from byterology.com

What Is It About?

The story is basically about the pursuit of Scotland Yard for the elusive Alexander Pearce who owes the government a whopping GBP 744 million in back taxes.  They kept an eye on Elise (Angelina Jolie) awaiting Pearce to contact her in hopes of a chance for them to nab him.  Taking a cue from the instructions in his note to her, Elise hops on a train from Paris to Venice and becomes friendly with an American tourist on the train, Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp), a Maths teacher to throw the Yard off the chase.  A lot of chasing and action ensued especially since Reginal Shaw (Steven Berkoff) enters the picture to retrieve the cash swindled/stolen by Pearce whilst acting as his personal finance advisor.

My Thoughts

The movie started out allowing the audience to try and figure out what was going on before unfolding the storyline bit by bit.  The script was intelligent, witty and littered with humor which was delivered beautifully by the cast.  I enjoy movies that keeps you interested throughout the entire film and ones that makes you not expect the ending.  This was one of those movies.  Johnny Depp was brilliant in embodying his character's vulnerability.  Angelina's performance was superb in showcasing the different layers and roles of her on-screen persona.  The chemistry between these two power A-listers was undeniable, I'm surprised this is their first movie together.  Bravo to Quentin Tarantino and his cast and crew.

Have you seen the movie yet?  What are your thoughts on the film?

Backlogs: B2.0 Preview Dinner

Blogging and social media has evolved into a fast growing community with huge potential.  In this day and age, internet celebrities are becoming more and more common.  Twitter and Facebook is now no longer brushed aside as a marketing tool.  In fact, I personally feel that it's a rather powerful tool because (1) there is a vast amount of users on both networks and (2) it lets you communicate with your customers/clients in a more personal way too.

Recently I had the opportunity to meet some of the top people in the Borneo blogging scene at the B2.0 Preview Dinner at The Roof Restaurant, Imperial International Hotel here.

So what's B2.0 all about anyways?  Here's a snippet I snapped from their website.  Click on the image to check out their site.

The B2.0 event was organized by Borneo Colours with the support of Sabahan Bloggers, Sarawak Bloggers and Beleter Community.  There were a selection of speakers lined up for the event covering topics from Blog Monetization to Managing Your Personal Brand to Start Ups Challenges & Opportunities.  For more info on the event, do click on the image above.

Unfortunately due to work (it was held on a Friday), I was unable to take part in the actual event.  And it was an event I was really looking forward to attending.  Nevertheless, I was able to go to the Preview Dinner and meet (and see) some of the speakers as well as catch up with old friends.

For more photos from the preview dinner, do check out the official B2.0 website here.

I am generally a pretty shy person who at time feel awkward in public (it's been awhile since my socially apt days) but I did get the opportunity to talk to Azrul Rahim and Addy Kho.  Not that I said much or that it had much relevance to the dinner or the event.  I admit, I'm pretty bad at conversation topics and I really should work on that.  In fact, when Azrul asked me what nice places or activities to do here if they had just one day to explore, my mind went completely blank.  I know that Sabah is a place where people go for it's nature (i.e. climb Mt Kinabalu, dive at Sipadan, see Orang Utans in Sepilok, embrace the tropical jungles in Maliau Basin, research the ecosystem in Danum Valley, check out the first Survivor site at Pulau Tiga, white water rafting at Padas River, etc.), enjoy basking in the sun at our resorts and islands or go shopping at the Filipino Market downtown.  As for more casual activities, there's paint ball, island escapades (day trips), the Lok Kawi zoo, picnics, futsol, wall climbing, and things like that.  So yes, I sat dumbfounded and practically speechless.  *facepalm*

But all in all I had a great time and hope to see this event returning to our shores soon.

Backlogs: Halloween 2010 with Boutique Cupcakes

Since I've been away from my blog for a little too long, I figured I'd start posting some backlogs to share with you stuff that has been happening so far that I've been fortunate enough to be apart of.  Let's start this backlog series with the Halloween party at the Boutique Cupcakes store at Lintas Station:

Boutique Cupcakes

No. 45 & 46, Ground Floor, Lintas Station, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

(Click the image above to be transported to their blog)

It was a cozy affair with good company, tons of free cupcakes in the classic chocolate and vanilla flavors (they had carrot cupcakes too!) with cute Halloween inspired fondant designs and savoury snacks to boot:

Names Influence Who You Are?

A lot of people scour the web and baby books to find suitable and meaningful names for their newborns.  Does it really make a difference whether your child's name means beautiful, honest, wise, and so on and so forth?  Do names actually play a part to determine or rather influence who you are?  Your personality, the way you view the world?  Or is it a matter of nature vs nurture?

Personally, I have no idea.  But from observation, I have noticed some similar traits in people with the same names (which unfortunately examples elude me at the moment).

Many many years ago (when I was in secondary school), I was acquainted to a website introducing the Kabalarian Philosphy which studies first names since 1930 and for a fee, provides you with an analysis report of your name based on the research they've done.  I am not endorsing the accuracy of this website or this method or philosophy but it's always fun to explore.

So here's what they say about my first name:

• You have a great love of nature and the out-of-doors.
   
• All the finer things of life and beauties of nature are an inspiration to you and you are attracted to the mysteries of nature.
   
• Difficulty in expression results in your being too positive, blunt, and candid in speech and although you are easily offended by others, you do not show it.
   
• You crave affection and understanding, but rarely find it as others do not understand you and accuse you of being cool and aloof.
   
• The average person would never realize the true depth of your nature.
• Although first name creates an interest in the deeper aspects of life, we emphasize that it causes a blunt expression that alienates others.
   
• This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the lungs, heart, bronchial area, and tension or accidents to the head.

There is also a free standard name report service that provides evaluation of your first name, last name, the combination of both names and birth date analysis (purpose of life and inner potential).  But for that you will have to fill up another form and they will email the results to you.  I personally have never tried this service despite it being labelled as "free".  With all the marketing gimmicks implemented on the internet these days, even free means "it's free if..." and you start getting spam in your inboxes (no bueno).

Personally, I see some truth in their brief analysis of my first name above.  But I wouldn't be too sucked into the whole concept though.  It's interesting that there even is a study of names since a lot of names were given because they sounded nice/beautiful, from an ancestor, trendy, religious... and the reasons go on.  More often than not, the decision to name a child isn't scientific.

Have you tried the website to check your name?  How close were they to your personality?

For those who know me in person, how true do you find the above description to be of me?

One Step At A Time

These days my time has been filled with work, home and gym.  Of course I try to make time for friends as well and was glad that I got to do that last weekend.

I'm still in the process of reorganizing my room and it has been taking longer than I'd planned.  I've bought the new pieces except for one big piece and am just excited to start putting everything together and be done with it.  Haha.  Hopefully I'll get everything done by month's end.

Work has been draining me still and no longer fun for me as it used to be.  I believe that you should love your job.  When you no longer do, it's time to move on and take on other challenges.  I really wish that my mum was here for me to talk to her about my concerns.  I could definitely use her wisdom and advise right about now.

OK.  I'm kinda getting off track here.  Anyways, I've started another blog that follows my thoughts and experiences while losing weight, being healthier and improving my fitness.  I'll also be talking about other related topics there based on my own experience, observation and literary research.  If you'd like to read more, you can check it out here.  I've also put a link up top so you can easily click on the image to head over to that blog.

Need to get me some food now.  So, til next post!

30 Day Challenge... Can I Cope? (Post #9)

This was a pretty ambitious and rather tall order to fulfill and I'm beginning to find it to be quite a chore to be honest.  So, here's what I'm going to do.  Instead of a 30 Day Challenge, I'm just gonna look at it as a 30 Post Challenge and it will come along in order but not on a daily basis.

I've been quite overwhelmed lately with everything going on.  And I will have to take this at a slower pace than is entailed by this challenge.

For the 9th Post: A photo I took...

I'm not really sure what bird this is but if anyone of you out there knows, drop me a comment and let me know.  This was taken quite recently at Pacific Sutera during my BFF's pre-wedding photoshoot.  The poor bird supposedly had broken its wings and couldn't fly off.  You could seriously get super upclose and the bird won't budge.  And the colors were so vibrant.

For the 10th Post, I'll have to go digging in the family photo album or something to share.  Til then (and posts in between).

Here are a few updates:

• My online boutique which launched some time in February this year will be closing its doors very soon.  I'll be having a clearance sale very very soon when I get the chance to sort through everything.  At present I'm unable to make the boutique as I'd want it to be and I'm not much for half-hearted ventures.  I had a blast with the boutique and thank everyone for the experience.
• Since I've started embarking on improving my fitness level (and losing weight in the process), I'm going to finally come through with my fitness and weight loss blog.  That will be up soon.  I feel it might help as motivation as well as a means to track my progress and hopefully inspire some of you to increase your fitness as well as be healthy.  I'll also be posting some things about weight loss supplements and slimming centres and share some of my experiences with you.
• My beauty blog 30 Day Challenge will also be following in the footsteps of this challenge.
• I've been posting a bunch of reviews on my Luuux website (link here) which you can go and check out.  So far there's been a bunch of elf product reviews there which I'll be listing on my beauty blog soon.

So that's all for now.

Much luv,