Let's go Banana!

Note: I waited for the whole month to use my birthday reward. The card was tossed around and I even use it as a coaster for my mug, hehehe...

Yes, I mean Banana Republic!

Eversince I become their member, they kept shower me with gift cards and reward cards. And I have to say their reward are very different from the others. Most of the time, a very long time limit (up to 6 months) and no minimum purchase, they will just give me the $15 to spend on whatever I buy, including the clearance. How can I not love them?!
Few months ago I used a gift card and bought a pair of beautiful earrings for only $0.98 which original price was $26!

They also send me birthday gift card too. I love their merchandise because it's elegant and beautifully made with good quality.

Now, if you say, I must have spent a lot in order to get all those gift cards. I can assure you I didn't because I'm a frugal spender. I was brought up to only buy things that I need, not so much for indulgence or desires.
Living in the US, a shopaholic nation, I believe not only me but almost everyone is bombarded with coupons, rewards, sales, gift cards...etc. which basically trying to lure you to spend your money at their retails. But most of them come with tiny small prints which excluded so many things that you cannot use the coupons for. This is especially true for Macy's. They send you like so many gift cards and coupons but it all has a minimum spending and they will not allow you to spend on their clearance or discounted items. Then again, if there's something that you need in coincidence, the coupons work, better than nothing. But do not just go there thinking you're saving with those coupons and end up buying things you don't need.

Anyway, I am so pleased to be a member of the Banana Republic. Thank you! By the way, the banana rewards are good for Gap, Old Navy and Piperline too! So if I can't find anything at Banana, I can still go to Gap or the other store.

Psss... Banana Republic is having a sales now & their 4th of July special let you get another 25% off their sales merchandize. And I just found out they have this special thing now(not sure until when) that if you bought something on Tuesday you get a $10 reward good for your next purchase, this apply for card member only.

Whatever it is, be a smart spender. It would not be very wise of you to go shopping everytime you got a coupon in the mail, isn't it?

Time

Time flies and never waits for anyone. I’m amazed at the speed of it flying by. The very last entry of my blog was more than 6 months ago and it then went into an idle mode. I became so busy at work and other personal affairs.
Being interested in so many things and wanting to do so many things, I most of the time overwhelmed myself. Those who know me, my husband, my brother and my cousins will always remind me that I’m being “greedy” :D It’s always so much to do, so little time…
Time management wasn’t an issue to me while in college; I can say I was very good in that. But now, I’m not sure it’s the amount of things I want to do is so vast and scattered or is it the “partly human partly owl” schedule driving me nuts. Anyway, I’m ready to relearn.

Working overnight shift can be so confusing and time consuming. It takes someone to really understand it only when he/she went through it. Not that it’s better but for 3-4 nights/week on a 12 hour shift, I personally feel it’s not the worse. Compare to some who work for 5 nights/ week even on a shorter shift like 8 hours can turn your world upside down.

Anyway, sometimes life is like that, we can’t have everything perfect, correct? But we can work around it to make it better for us and our family. When it’s getting tough, I remind myself that I’m making a difference in my life and of others. Other than that, I want to make sure I’m having fun doing what I’m doing and sometimes I need to create fun for myself to keep things in balance. Okay, talking about BALANCE, now I’m talking about 2 things here. Have fun & enjoy what you are doing; and Time Management- manage your time well so you can be stress free.

One should feel good in whatever they do. Remembering The Secret, if you are not happy about what you are doing, your negative thoughts is sending more on the bad frequency to the universe and calling for more things that make you feel bad. .“It is impossible to feel good and at the same time be having negative thoughts. If you are feeling good, it is because you are thinking good thoughts.” (The Secret)
Do not underestimate our thoughts and emotion. I once read a book says emotion is energy in motion… So our negative thoughts can definitely make an impact on our life and collectively it can even impact the world.
Anyway, be happy and have fun in whatever you do! When they say, learn from a child, I think it’s basically that. They sure know how to have fun & enjoy. :)

Time management! I read Professor Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture a while ago, but how much do I remember now? Not much. So I’m so happy to accidentally come across his lecture on the web just now. And the topic is TIME MANAGEMENT.

“Being successful doesn’t make you manage your time well.

Managing your time well makes you successful.”

It’s an interesting lecture. I’ve definitely relearn something that I thought I knew. If you are interested, here’s the link to the video:

Do you guys sometimes feel there are so many things in life that we have to relearn?

A matter of a few degrees…

Icons on my computer desktop

Just a few degrees difference can sometimes mean a great difference…
Celsius on the left icon and Fahrenheit on the right.

Lesson: Do not always believe what you see… :)

The Purpose of Life

A trip home for 3 weeks seems rather short especially when I haven't been home for more than 4 years. However, I am glad that the timing was perfect!
It happened that I decided to stay in Bandar Utama, PJ for the first week eventhough I "suppose" to stay at my grandma's place in Setia Alam, Shah Alam. But I was thinking it will be easier to go around, to shop and to spend time with my brother who work in PJ. I was right. I spend the 5 days staying with my 5th aunt, chatting, catching up, sharing thoughts at night before sleeping. Then I followed her to the office where I will see my brother (they both work for my uncle). Then I get to spend the lunch time with my brother, at the same time exploring different places with yummy local food. After that, we asked our dad out for dinner. It was great that I planned it that way, later I learned that my 5th aunt and my brother was very busy the 3rd week and believe it or not I didn't get a chance to meet my 5th aunt again after the 1st week. :)
The second week I went back to my hometown in Ipoh and had a lazy time there, spend time with my other brother and my mom and our new added family member, BaoBao, our dog (a Shi Tzu breed). I wish I could have done more in Ipoh. I wonder why there's not enough time...mostly I don't know where to go and so coincident my brother was busy to take me out at night. But I have to say I really enjoy the breakfast time in Ipoh, those noodles, yong tau fu (stuffed beancurd), and chee cheong fun (thin roll of rice noodle with gravy) is extremely delicious!!! I also enjoyed the vegetarian sushi that my brother recommended. I think the other reason is that I was thinking maybe there's chance again next year when hubby is going home with me. I have to write down and plan accordingly where I want to go... hmmm....have to take him to hike at Menglembu...and what else? to go around the oldtown in Ipoh I guess...I'm kind of lost, I don't remember where else to go... I found myself became unfamiliar with Ipoh. I think I can get some suggestion from FB.
So, at the end of 2nd week, I went to Penang and stayed at my friend, Doreen's place. It was a beautiful condominium by the beach. I am really thankful to her parents. They were so warm and welcoming. For the whole 2 days, they took me to different places with great local food. I almost burst with tears of happiness when I ate the asam laksa...that one is really good!!!!!!!!!!! Arrgghhh...I'm craving for it now. With such limited time, Doreen's dad make an effort to take us to tour around the island. I've been to Penang many times when I was little but I think I haven't been there for more than 10 years. The city has improved a lot. I also get to meet some of my high school classmates who are now living in Penang.
The 3rd week and the last....I went back to KL with my mother. This week I stayed at my aunt's place who live accross the street from my grandma. It's a very relaxing and warm week as well that I get to spend more time with my grandma and my other aunts and uncles, chatting, catching up and listening to my grandma's stories about her childhood and when she married my grandfather. She also told me about the day my grandfather passed away. I 'm glad she's coping well, and I keep telling her that I'm coming back soon next year with my husband, and that she has to live to meet him, to meet my children, to meet my cousin, Shen Yee's children, Hong Ping's children....etc.. she laughed...and said "ok, ok"
On my grandma's birthday, I took out some old pictures I took from home to share with everyone and I can feel the warm feeling and hear the laughter as everyone reminiscent the good old days.
On the day I have to leave, my 3rd aunt cried, my first aunt did too, my mom didn't, hehehe, she's used to it I guess, me too...but I'm crying now.... my grandma stand outside and keep waving until our car turned away. My cousins, and my brother including me keep saying, we'll see each other again, soon, in March, that's a great comfort.
Family is so important... I wish I have some of them staying in New York with me, but I am happy that at least I have my loving, caring hubby with me. He comforts me by saying, "one day honey, we may be able to retire in Malaysia." I think as long as I can go home every year, I'm happy.
I ask myself repeatedly will it be better if i never leave my country?...I know it won't be the same, just as my friend said, you will never learn as much if you never leave your home, if you never leave the comfort zone. I agree. It is a learning process.... I learn something during this trip, the message become clearer to my mind - The Purpose of Life is to discover yourself.
I think it takes many events and encounter with many different types of people to realize and really found ourselves.

I will share some of the photos soon.