Liebster Award!

Yay, a new blogger award! Picture from In a Messy World

“Hey, what happened to today’s Mid-Week Video Day?”

Surprised? I’d usually post a random video today, but since I didn’t write 2 out of the last 3 Sundays, I decided to make up for it and write today! Videos will be back next mid-week, so don’t worry. 😛

Thanks very much to In a Messy World for nominating me for the Liebster Award! I’m sorry for taking almost 2 months to respond to it, but better late than never, right? She writes thought provoking posts, so do check her out! 😀

How this award works:

1. Acknowledge the blog who nominated you and display award.
2. Answer 11 questions the blogger gives you.
3. Give 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 11 blogs and notify them of the nomination.
5. Give them 11 questions to answer.

Without further ado, here we go!

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My Answers

1. What is your favourite memory?

I have a lot of good and great memories, it’s hard to pick a single favourite out of it! I enjoy my days with my husband, family and friends, I enjoy my video games, I enjoy having alone time, and they’re all important to me. ❤

I’m kind of cheating, aren’t I? 😆

2. What is one thing you regret, and if you could go back what would you do differently?

I’m a semi-perfectionist, so sometimes I wish I could go back in time to change something that wasn’t so perfect! But when it comes to my life, lately I decided (to try) not to regret anything because the whole of my past experience makes me who I am, and if I were to change even a single thing back then, I’d be a different person now. So I’ll say no, I won’t go back and try to do things differently. 😀

3. What are your goals at the moment?

WRITE! Both stories and blog posts!

Honestly I’ve been slacking off since my surgery on early August, especially when I have lots of video games to finish before the next game sale comes! (A self-imposed policy is to finish all the games I bought before buying more.) And it doesn’t help I started window shopping for games in preparation for the next sale. 😅

The good part is that I finally (FINALLY!!) finished writing a story chapter that had me stuck for the last TWO YEARS! That was a couple of weeks back, and I only have one chapter left before I finish the entire story!

So yeah, my goal is to write that chapter ASAP, at least before NaNoWriMo comes in November. 📝

4. How are you feeling right now?

I’m good! I’m a bit sad my brunch appointment got cancelled, but on the bright side, it gives me time to write this post. 😀

5. What did you have for dinner today?

Considering this is posted in the morning, I haven’t had dinner today yet. 😆

6. When was the last time you cried, and why?

One of my ways to destress is by crying on my own at home, and the last time I had one of those was a couple of weeks ago. 😅

It was some time after Apple announced the new iPhone X and iPhone 8 and my husband, being the tech fan he is, had already read up on the new phones and was telling me everything he read from A to Z (yep, he likes to talk 😆). Both of us were looking at replacing my old dying phone and were discussing our new phone options, but considering I’m not a heavy phone user and being the cautious buyer that I am, I felt the new iPhones were way overpriced for my usage. Further into the discussion, I started to lament how very profit-focused this world has become, for example:

• Many things nowadays aren’t made to last because companies want us to buy from them again in future.
• Many things (i.e. devices) are packed full of features that I don’t need, but are the only devices with that one feature that I want and are sold at a crazy price! I can’t be the only one feeling this way. 🙁

I was already really crabby on that day to begin with (woke up on the wrong side of the bed!), so eventually I had to destress. But hey, it was great sleeping after that. 😆

7. The funniest joke you heard?

Like most things I don’t have a favourite joke, so I’ll re-share this writer joke I posted some time back. 😆

Originally posted here

8. Do you have any pets?

I’d like to, but sadly I live in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets, and I live on the first floor so it’s too obvious even if I sneakily do. 😅

I used to have a cat when I lived with my parents, and she was the sweetest thing ever! ❤

Now whenever I have a need to hug a cat, I just hop over to my parents’ and hug the family cat. She doesn’t like it, but she’d tolerate it if I brush her, which she really loves. 😸

9. Your favourite song?

Does it have to be a song? What about game soundtracks? Or songs from a game? 😛

Regardless of soundtracks or songs, I don’t usually have an all time favourite as it depends on my mood! Here’s what I’m currently listening to:

This song is called “Suteki Da Ne”, which translates to “Isn’t It Beautiful?” It’s the romantic theme song for Final Fantasy X and it’s beautiful to listen to, especially the violins. 🎻❤

10. Who inspires you the most?

A lot of people inspire me for different reasons, including you bloggers! I’ve written this before in a previous blogger award; if I had to pick just one person I know personally, it would be my dear husband. ❤

He really complements me very well; while my memory sucks when it comes to numbers and details (like, say, the price range of a carrot or even what graphics card my computer has!), he remembers every little feature a car, phone or computer model has! Not only that, he also has a data bank stored somewhere in his head for the price range of all grocery items and and he could tell with a glance whether an item is good value for money or not, plus he’s an epic planner and would have Plan A, Plan B and all the way to Plan Z. And yet he doesn’t fit the stereotype of a cold, calculating man; he may not be great at picking up subtle emotional cues, he responds lovingly if I tell him I’m down. 😀

11. What are your hobbies?

I have loads of hobbies and not enough time in a single day to do them all! I play video games, read Japanese / Korean / Chinese comics (in English 😅) and random online articles, write stories, listen to music, play the piano and occasionally draw pictures. 🎮📖📝🎼🎹

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My Random Facts

Here are 11 random facts about me!

British English

I prefer to write in British English than American English and will make the conscious decision to spell a word the British way! Where I live we’re supposed to write in British English (a culture stemmed from the British Occupation period), but many people I know write in American English instead. 😶

Mid-Morning Person

I’m neither an early person nor a night owl; given the choice, I usually wake up mid-morning and have brunch rather than breakfast+lunch. 🥞🍳🍞🥐

Touching Scenes Move Me

Touching scenes in movies / games / stories move me! I’m one of those who cry easily from touching scenes (not just sad ones, even happy ones), and sometimes I even have goosebumps from listening to music. 🎼

Extra Piano Practice Required

I play the piano, but I’m the sort who can’t read and play on the spot, so I require extra practice before I can play a song properly. I play best when I my hands remember the keys so well that they know where to go without me having to think. 🎹

Video Game Preference

When it comes to video games, I like all kinds ranging from action to creative sandbox! I don’t have a favourite genre (again, it depends on my mood!), but I prefer playing single player or co-op with my husband or siblings as opposed to competitive gaming. It’s been many years since I played against other players, and now player-vs-player is too intense for me. 🎮

Doraemon

I grew up reading and loving Doraemon, a Japanese comic for kids! The books were cheap because these were translated into a local language (Malay); back then they used to cost around USD $2.5 per book. That was how my Malay became good enough to get me through school (it was a mandatory subject); it’s a good way to make a kid learn a language she doesn’t enjoy. 😆

Cautious Buyer

To the point I take 3 million years to decide on buying something! I always have a “Do I need it?” vs “I want it!” debate in my head when it comes to buying anything, which is good for big purchases like a new phone to replace my old dying one, but not so much when it comes to clothes and other necessities. That’s why I really dislike going shopping. 😅

Volleyball

I used to play volleyball in school! I used to practice hitting serves against a hill at school so that the ball would hit the hill and roll back to my feet with minimal running, though I’d start getting bored in half an hour. Which is probably why I never made the school team. 🏐

Softball

I never played softball seriously, but the one time our school softball club had a training session with a coach, he told me I had talent for hitting the ball a bat! Too bad I’m slow at running. 😆

Chinese

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a Chinese! With black hair, almost black eyes and fair skin (though that’s probably attributed to being indoors so much 😆).

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My Nominations and Questions

Yes, fellow bloggers, 11 of you have been nominated for the awesome blogs you have! Do note this isn’t mandatory; do feel free to decline it for any reason or even no reason at all and I promise I won’t mind. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your blogs. ❤

1. Dr. Andrea @ Thriving Under Pressure
2. Dominic @ The Golden Lands
3. Eric @ MakeItUltra™
4. Jessica Bakkers
5. Kari @ iKariLynn
6. Kay @ His Perfect Timing
7. Melanie @ MNBernard Books
8. Oristel @ Keep On Moving
9. Penny @ Penny Wilson Writes
10. Vilina Cristoph
11. Wanda @ Wanda Luthman’s Children Books

This is the part I write 11 questions to you, but by now I’m kinda running out of writing gas, so I’m going to re-post the same questions I got for you. 😆

1. What is your favourite memory?
2. What is one thing you regret, and if you could go back what would you do differently?
3. What are your goals at the moment?
4. How are you feeling right now?
5. What did you have for dinner today?
6. When was the last time you cried, and why?
7. The funniest joke you heard?
8. Do you have any pets?
9. Your favourite song?
10. Who inspires you the most?
11. What are your hobbies?

Remember, it’s not mandatory!

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Hope you enjoyed reading that, and do let me know what you think!

~Nicolle ❤

A Short Self-Compassionate Letter

Dear Self,

It’s fine to be late with a blogger award nomination! They always say better late than never, and it’s great you took the effort to write even though it was tough. 😀