New Post 2012- My 30 birthday week

And so, before i knew it, my 30th birthday week is about to end. It has been a great week so far. I've spent CNY + birthday with wonderful people who mattered to me most, received surprises, gifts, thoughts from folks for far. I'm a happy contented woman. Yup, dont think i qualify for a " girl" now.

And i've been meaning so much to have some spare time to myself. Yes, really spending it with myself, with my thoughts, sitting on my coach and just typing all what i have been feeling since the beginning of this 2012.

I've pretty much started 2012 being really sick and unwell, i had fever and headaches for consecutive days and had to go to emergency dept in Raffles Hospital to take a blood test. It was freaky as the doc initially thought i had Dengue. ( Not for the 2nd time??!! i thought). Thank goodness ( or not), it ended up as viral fever and my fever subsided after a few days, but my headache persisted. It was horrrible having this headache which painkiller do not seem to cure and I had to go to several chinese docs to find out the root cause. Finally, after completed the medication ( diagnosis: heaty lungs and liver), i was back to normal.

And perhaps, it was this illness that somewhat changed my perspectives drastically. In a way, i always knew health was important, i was one who always aimed to strike a balance between work and life but this illness taught me to even MORE appreciate the people around me, showed me what i have been taking from granted ( unknowingly), and what i have been missing out while enjoying the love, convenience brought about from my parents.

Example:
1. I do not know how to cook cooling herbs, water to cool down my "internal organs"=> my mum made for me and i was so touched, i took a pic of it on my phone.

2. My mum-in-law bought me more herbs ( from the chinese medicinal hall) knowing my headache and fever did not subside.

3. My dad called up his friend to find out which chinese doctor is good and my family took me there and waited for more than an hour for the doc to see me and prescribe my medication.

4. My hub came home early everyday when i was sick, checking on me, he spent his weekend at home with me even though i was asleep most of the time and he had nothing to do.

5. My diet was controlled ferociously by my hub and my family. Cooking light meal, no oily food, even for them

6. I realize i do not know how to take care of myself, i shuddered at the thought how i'm going to take care of my kids, my loved ones should they fall ill.

7. I realize how ' shallow' our lives has become. Material needs, eating processed food, using money to buy convenience.

This made me even more determined, to cook, to create value, to be independent so that others can be dependent on me. Yup that's it.

With that, i shared these thoughts with the weekenders, yup, weekenders has become a very integral part of my life. of our lives ( hub and me).

In fact, i'm ending this "work weeK' with a dinosaur exhibition with S and J! That reminds me. I have yet to load pictures. Okay, i probably continue this post another time. But most important phrase for myself this 2012.

" to be independent, so that others can be dependent on me"!

My business thoughts 2 jan 2012

For the longest time, i have always toyed with the idea of coming up with my own business.
These are the ideas that have sprung out of my head for the past few years, as much as i can remember

a) Florist cum coffee shop
- Since i love fresh flowers & how pretty they are
- Coffee?? Self explanatory

b) Bookshop cum coffeeshop
- Much of it was inspired by "You've got mail"
- Well, we had Borders and see what happened to it ( dont think mine will work)
- I always feel books and coffee go well together on a hot afternoon
( Bookstore has to be fully air-conditioned, accompanied with plush cushions, lazy corners)

c) Online self motivation blog
- Partly because i love to read self motivation stuffs, especially tips on how to improve life
- I reckon it will be minimum capital required to maintain this business
- It's meaningful if you have readers who feedback how they find it useful ( granted they know the existence of the blog in the first place)

d) Cafe / bakery
- with nice ambience, a great place for me to entertain my friends
- Sitting along the island with good food, chil

e) Lifestyle store
- take ikea for example, how they are able to fuse lifestyle with furnitures
- Take Typo, fusing lifestyle with stationery
- I just need to create a lifestyle for a particular item which i believe there's market for

Is there anything else which i have missed? I cant quite remember but over the years, these were the ideas that stuck

I have read books, watched enough movies to know certain signs should not be ignored and we should always follow our heart.
But how often is that possible, when one just have ideas and more undying passion to carry it through?

It's the 2nd day of 2012, and i have not quite done my traditional post of blogging the highlights, learnings of 2011 and what i aim moving forward 2012.
I was down with a bout of fever & headaches, i like to think it was due to lack of sleep and the constant nights out ( nope, i hardly took much of a sip this holiday season)

I will be capturing the highlights of 2011 in another post. With my Macbook Pro, i feel i haven been utilizing much, making use of it to its full potential.
This will be something i target to capture in 2012.