Happy New Year! Finally, 2022 is here.
Whatever happened last year, let us have new hopes and dreams this year. The blog post for this week will be about me looking back at the lessons and highlights of 2021.
Last year was exciting because it felt as if I got my life back, although I decided to postpone my travel. But one thing for sure, I think I’m getting used to postponing my travel plan thanks to Omicron.
Yeah, the variants will keep popping out, so we must get used to it. Else we won’t be travelling until the end of the world! I’m just afraid that suddenly the rules changed then I won’t be able to return to Malaysia.
- What if my destination is suddenly listed as a high-risk country?
- Do I have enough money to survive overseas if I can’t return?
- Should I bring my work laptop in case I’m stranded overseas so I can keep my job?
- How much is the quarantine fee if my home quarantine application be rejected?
🤬Covid. Lol.
Anyway, I’m positive that I’ll be able to travel again this year! 😊 So here are my lessons and highlights of 2021:
I paid off my RM11k+ debt
A few months before my mother’s final medication for her breast cancer, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Luckily we found out about it during her pap smear, so it was still at a very early stage.
My mother had no insurance, so my sister and I split the bills for her medication. I was so grateful that God helped us with the timing, procedure, etc so we could pay for the operations and everything went well.
Thank you so much my dear sister for letting me repay the debt in monthly installments. Thank you boss for the quarterly bonuses, such a great help to paying off my debt.
I’m blessed 🙏🙏😭😭
The Shady and The Curious
Obie Trice, no name no gimmicks.
#rewind
I’m a fan of Eminem since I was… I think since I was 11 years old. But this lesson isn’t about Slim Shady, it’s about someone else. Let’s call him Shady because he was one.
Dear Shady, I knew what you wanted since we first met
You even laid down the rules should we’re on the same page — they’re sandwiched between your script
I saw right through them
You’re not the first one who tried to pull the act in front of me, although it’s a different play and dialogue
Some of the things that you told me?
Those words were information that you obtained from my pages
I couldn’t, and still can’t, distinguish the facts and lies, but I thought we could be friends
Because the whole thing was interesting. And so were you.
Your doe eyes. Your gentleness. Your vulnerability.
The way you blew your tea before sipping it
When you’re lost in your universe while explaining something
This Curious lady went along to find out the reasoning behind the show
But eventually, I understood that the badge of friendship was something precious
So I took a bow and skipped the curtain call
Things that aren’t built based on sincerity, honesty and respect would never last.
So rip off that plaster and pull out the thorn underneath your skin. Say no to energy vampires, people who don’t respect your time and effort, and move on.
Some men don’t get your hints. Women should make it clear
Me: “I feel if my crush is very successful, I’ll initiate and wait for him to respond. If he doesn’t, it means he’s not interested. Because successful men can get any woman they want… If I chase him, I’m afraid one day he would abandon me because he doesn’t love me.”
Man: “Many successful men are shy. That’s why women should make it clear if they like a man so he feels confident and would chase them.”
Me: 🙃🙃🙃
Also read: “The Love Lesson that Every Single Woman Should Know”
Eye cream is meant to be applied only under the eyes
I had an allergy thanks to the wrong method of applying eye cream! Can you believe it?
My eyes were swollen, red, and itchy for almost one week. Apparently, the area around the eyes is very sensitive and we shouldn’t apply eye cream or any skincare product there except under the eyes.
Lesson learned!
Clara vs Predators
Being short and looking much younger than my age, I sometimes become prey to predators aka perverts and pedophiles. This is not a joke.
In 2020, there was a grandpa who approached me while I was working out in the gym. He asked me out and said that he was a retiree, looked for a companion and wanted to have kids. Then I told him my age and he went 🤯🤯
“I thought you were 14!!” he said in disbelief.
Fourteen?? So you thought I was a 14 years old girl and talked about having babies with me??? 😱😱
In 2021, I encountered four predators: an exhibitionist, a pedophile, a pervert, and someone whose role was similar to Ghislaine Maxwell.
You can read about the exhibitionist here: “The Desperado Commando”
About the pedophile, he was another grandpa in the gym while the pervert was a stranger who casually said a naughty line when I walked past him.
Luckily, they didn’t touch me else I would whack them with my umbrella!! Or put my Body Combat moves into practice 😤😤 jab-jab-hook-uppercut!
And the woman? We met in the park where we usually had our morning walk. One day, I walked past her house and saw some people so I greeted them. One of them was a grandpa in a wheelchair. He called me ‘Claire’ and told me that his wife often talked about me.
“Oh, so you’re X’s husband!” I said.
The next day, I met the wife in the park and she asked for my phone number. In the afternoon, I got a text from someone who claimed to be X’s husband.
He said that he was the one who asked his wife to get my number, blah blah blah, and hoped that we could be “friends”. With this as his WhatsApp image: 😘
What. The. Hell.
I didn’t want to accuse anyone so I screenshot the conversation and sent it to the wife. I told her that I chose to be honest with her and felt sorry for what happened.
She played it down, acknowledged that he was the one who asked her to get my number, apologised and asked me to forgive her “over-friendly” husband.
I blocked both numbers.
The fantastic Christmas gift from my company
Corporate “MCO Life” shooting experience
I had no idea that my blog post about depression would inspire the personal assistant of my COO to create a video of how the employees in Kuala Lumpur cope with MCO (Movement Control Order). I was so happy to be part of it!
At first, she didn’t know that I was the one who wrote the article until our video call. The shoot itself took almost half a day but it was such a fun experience.
The personal assistant created the questions and narrative of the video. There were one makeup artist, one in-house videographer, two freelancers and some crews from Let Me Film You. As for the talent, there were eight of us.
As the video is too big to be uploaded here, you can check it out here.
Also read: “I Fell Into Depression. These Things Helped Me to Heal”
Don’t Yell At Me becomes my favourite bubble tea shop
I like bubble tea but I was never a fan. One day, I walked past a new shop called Don’t Yell At Me. I thought it was just another bubble tea shop, but since they’re giving away free drinks so I took the chance — and fell in love.
The shop offers various tea and non-tea drinks. I could really taste the quality of their teas and their premium toppings, especially the sweet potato and taro balls (so soft and chewy, mostly made from real ingredients instead of tapioca flour).
So far, I had tasted three drinks last year:
- Genmaicha Latte with kanten jelly
- Winter Melon Honey Chrysanthemum Tea
- Royal Earl Grey Milk Tea with sweet potato and taro balls
Can’t wait to try their other drinks! 😍
My favourite hilarious comic for a mood booster
I found a hilarious comic that helped me lift up my mood, especially when I was disappointed or sad. The title is “Miss Not-So Sidekick”, and you can read it online. This is the second comic that makes me laugh so hard after One Piece 🤣🤣
Alright friends, thank you for reading my blog. Happy New Year! I wish you a great, healthy year and many fantastic trips 😊💖✈️
