My blind date

I welcome the weekend with a book. Currently I'm reading two - a physical book at home and another on my Kindle but when I have the opportunity to stop by my favorite book store, I went. I love this book store not only for it's affordable prices but for the wide range of books and the excellent customer service. 

 However today I went because I had a mission - I want to try a blind date. 

A blind date with a book actually. I have so many books to read yet this mysterious concept attracted me to gamble and try my luck - just for the fun of it. 

How does this blind date work? 

First, browse through the wrapped books on display. They are located right in front of the store. 

Each book has few words of description on them so you will pick your book based on these few words. Literally can't judge the book by its cover. 

I knew I wouldn't like anything sci-fi or fantasy so it was important for me to be selective of my date. I also had to make sure it's not a book I already have because I would be so disappointed if it is so. I actually saw a book that describe exactly a book I already have. 

Then, take your date home.

In the end, I picked this up ... 

The words that attracted me most was time-travel because I have never read one with that theme. The other words basically gave it off as chic lit. I do like stories that does not have the typical family, boy meets girls type which is why books like Jane Green's Jemima J and Sophie Kinsella's Remember me? are my top favorites. 

Another shot to show how thick the book is .. 

So I unwrapped my blind date ..

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My blind date. 

The first thing I did was to search for it in goodreads.

A little bit about the book :- 

How many lifetimes would you travel to find a love that lasts for ever?

When single career girl Jo-Jo steps onto a zebra crossing and gets hit by a car, she awakes to find herself in 1964. The fashion, the music, her job, even her romantic life: everything is different. And then it happens three more times, and Jo-Jo finds herself living a completely new life in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The only people she can rely on are Harry and Ellie, two companions from 2013, and George, the owner of a second-hand record store.

If she's ever to return from her travels, Jo-Jo must work out why she's jumping through time like this. And if she does make it back, will her old life ever be the same again?

It has 4/5 stars and 92% liking rating so I have good feelings about this book. I really hope we get along! 

If you like this mysterious blind date thing, head over to Bookxcess to grab a date. It has been extended till 22 March 2015. You can buy blind dates in a group or even order it online. Check out Bookxcess on facebook. 

Tell me how did your blind date go ;) 

Later dayz,

How I relate to a fictitious character

Today I finished another book. A book that I've read 3 times over the past ten years.

Why have I read it 3 times? 

Here's the introduction of the book :- 

Jemima Jones is overweight. About one hundred pounds overweight. Treated like a maid by her thin and social-climbing roommates, and lorded over by the beautiful Geraldine (less talented but better paid) at the Kilburn Herald, Jemima finds that her only consolation is food. Add to this her passion for her charming, sexy, and unobtainable colleague Ben, and Jemima knows her life is in need of a serious change. When she meets Brad, an eligible California hunk, over the Internet, she has the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself–as JJ, the slim, beautiful, gym-obsessed glamour girl. But when her long-distance Romeo demands that they meet, she must conquer her food addiction to become the bone-thin model of her e-mails–no small feat. 

It's a chic lit which I borrowed from my cousin in my late teens. Back then I was still starry eyed looking for prince charming on the horse, reading chic lit phase. 

SPOILERS AHEAD. 

During my late teens, the first time I read the book I was super impressed with Jemima for losing the weight and gaining the guy. Though back then I was more impressed with the fairy tale ending. My reactions were :- 

"Oh wow she got thin"
"Aww, she got the guy. I wish I could find someone like that .. " 

I was blissfully dreaming of my own fairytale one day, jealous of a fictitious Jemima. 

The second time I read the book I was in my early twenties and I was jealous that Jemima had the will power and determination to lose all that weight. My reactions were :- 

"You go girl *secretly bitter*"
"Well, if I have a guy like Brad and Ben, I would totally work my ass off too" 

I felt like I could relate to the bigger Jemima. The one who felt insecure, shy and low confident Jemima. She was just like me, maybe I was smaller but when she lost that weight and became skinny I just brush her off as obsessive. 

The third time I started reading the book was because I lost some weight. It might not be a lot but it transitioned me from overweight to a healthy weight range. I finally have a waist! I wanted to see how I would feel about Jemima right now. 

Well aside from the cliche romance rubbish,  (Ben only loved Jemima after she got thin.. pfft. I became a realist since) I realized Jemima was pushing herself too hard with the workout and food that she portrayed an unhealthy character. 

The parts where she narrates on how she feels after she lost the weight though got me nodding and thinking "yep yep, I understand" even though I'm not blond and stick thin. 

Most importantly, I now believe that what Jemima has achieved can be done. At least in the end, she stopped being crazy about her weight and just decided to be healthy instead of being a skinny stick. 

Many people complained that this book is fat shaming and promotes unhealthy body image which will influence the younger girls but I just take the lesson out of the murky pool. I see it as a transformation not only for beauty but most importantly for health.    

This in turn has motivated me to go further.  

Later dayz,

On the scale

Chinese New Year day 5. 

One week of eating. Not working out. I stepped on the weighing machine.

No weight gain. 

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Before anyone thinks I'm bragging or anything, I have to state that I got sick right before Chinese New Year which decreased my appetite. Infection from close contact with sick family members. I also ate in moderation, out of habit. 

My sore throat evolved into an annoying cough that wouldn't go away and flu that is still blocking my nose. I can't smell anything that I eat. 

Flu, faster leave as I want to enjoy my food!

Later dayz,

Come into my dream

source : deviantart

I saw my little small sapphire dwarf hamster and called her as she was running away from me.

"Miya!" I called out even though her name was Miz. 

I could see her little furry butt and she was limping, running away on 3 legs with her back right foot hanging. I just want to cuddle her in my hand again. 

I shifted the things around the area to look for her calling out her name repeatedly. Suddenly in a container under the wood bedding and a sunny side up egg, a small nose poke out and I quickly pushed the bedding aside to pick up a pearl dwarf hamster who was half asleep as I cupped him in my hand. 

He had a lump on his left side and  I excitedly exclaimed - "Haz!"

Suddenly I was clutching a pink photo album in my left arm and I had a huge ring on my right hand finger. The pink album represented Miz and the ring represented Haz. Someone told me they're gone and these are the things I have of them. 

I started crying and sobbing non stop as I hugged both items tightly. Slowly the items disappeared as my tears subsided and I slowly woke up for real holding my pillows with sadness in my heart. 

I lost both of my hamsters last April and September. I just realized last year at this time, I had both critters, now I have none. I want to move on and open my heart to other hamsters in need. 

Though I think, both of them visited me in my dream this morning. 

Later dayz.

Appreciation for Kindle

Every now and then I would pick up my Kindle Touch and get back to reading it. I like to change between my Kindle and physical book because I still buy them (I have weakness for nice book covers). 

Once in a while I get this deep appreciation for my Kindle, I myself am not sure exactly why. I don't get that way with my iPad or my phone, just my Kindle. 

My Kindle has been with me for about 3 years or so. I asked my cousin from Singapore to get it COD from the seller and he brought it along to a family gathering to pass it to me. My own Kindle. 

Maybe I appreciate the lightness of the device. I took my physical book to the train at peak hours and it was hard to read when I need to flip the pages in the crowded train. A Kindle would have been much easier and it's not bulky.

Maybe I appreciate the amount of books I can store inside. Imagine a thousand books in one device in my hand. It does sound awesome and overwhelming when I currently have about 50 books in mine. 

Maybe I appreciate the battery life because unlike my phone which needs daily charging, the Kindle can last me 1/2 month with constant reading. 

Maybe I appreciate that I do read no matter what genre because a lot of people do not read and thus do not know how to appreciate the beauty of this device and the satisfaction it brings.  

I get annoyed when I explained what my Kindle does and they raised an eyebrow and said "that's it? no color?" because I love my Kindle the way it is. Colorless and just great enough for reading. 

My Kindle might be left on the shelf for a period of time as I shift between physical books but each time I picked it up again, I appreciate my Kindle for what it does. 

Later dayz.

Review for miband

Jogging and walking are not my favorite type of exercise but when I heard of the Fitbit Flex two years ago, I started exploring fitness gadgets. 

Fitbit is unfortunately a little too expensive for me and I scraped the idea of owning one after weighing out the pros and cons. Most of my workouts are strength training and lesser cardio. 

I don't recall who passed me a link but it was for the mi band. I started doing some research first and foremost because I want to make sure it's compatible with my S3 phone. 

I bought the mi band online and it arrived within days. The battery was at 74% charged but I put it on after downloading the mi band app in play store. 

After using the mi band for nearly 3 months, here is my review : 

What does the mi band do ? It tracks my steps and my sleeping hours - that's the basic use of the tracker. 

When I registered my app, I set my profile and set 8,000 steps daily. 

The interface is really simple and  easy on the eye. The chip on the strap records my steps and when I bluetooth connect to the app at the end of the day, it took a few seconds to sync and update the data. 

When I click on the number of steps for the day, I get the breakdown details of my daily steps. How many steps I walked during that particular hour. 

I can view and compare my steps daily too.  I like to see the numbers spike up and down especially now when I'm walking more during the weekdays. 

If I select the moon icon at the bottom of the interface, I switched to sleep tracking mode. I used to wear the device to sleep but stopped doing so because I didn't want to wear it 24/7. 
  

The device will track your sleeping hours and break them down to your light and deep sleeping pattern. 

There is also the alarm clock function which vibrates to wake you up. I didn't quite like it because I get annoyed with the band vibrating on my wrist.
  
The chip itself has 3 lights which you can see if you swing your arm up as if you're looking at the time. The lights represent your progress of the day - if you complete your total steps for the day, the band will vibrate. I usually get excited when the band vibrate!

A few more things to note :-

Accuracy - I would take this with a pinch of salt because I was in the car for an hour + the other day but the app recorded I walked 10 steps during that hour. I tried walking slowly a step each time while holding my phone to see the numbers increase and it did precisely so I would say it's plus minus for accuracy. 

Battery - long lasting. When I bought it, it had 74% left and it lasted for a month and a half before it died. It took me about an hour to charge via usb and slipped the chip back into the strap

Waterproof - I took if off during shower because I don't think this is waterproof. Little splashes of water is fine but I doubt I can go swimming with this. 

Strap - when I first got the strap, I couldn't push the knob in the hole so I had to get my scissors into it and twist it a little to enlarge it before clipping the strap on. 

Design - certainly not a glamorous piece but it's passable as an accessory without being noticed. I'm using the black band which can match any clothes. 

For Xiao Mi phone users, I think there's more features for you guys but I'm using S3. For the price, I would say this is a good basic gadget to track your steps and sleep. Don't expect something fancy though. 

Get it here!

Later dayz,

Why I love Blogilates

When you have something good, you would want to share and this is what I'm doing today. 

When people asked me what exercises I did to lose weight - all I can say is pilates Blogilates style. The founder of Blogilates is Cassey Ho and I found her about her through another youtuber (for this I owe you Bubz!) and I'm so happy I found her. 

Here are the reasons why I love Cassey and why I would recommend her if you are into home on the mat workouts like I do. 

1. Her workouts are fun and usually accompanied by a pop-ish song in the background

2. Her workouts are short and effective. Her longest video up to date is about 20 mins but most of them are below 15 minutes mark so I don't feel like I've been dragged on too long. 

3. Her monthly workout calendar are free. All you have to do is sign up for her newsletter for free and a password will be sent to your inbox. She planned your whole month workout with different target area every day so today I work my legs, tomorrow my abs and so. All her workouts are free and can be found on youtube. Bonus : Cassey even list her daily calendar workout in playlists on her channel which was very helpful. 

4. Her blogilates app (both ios and android free!) provides huge motivation to keep working on your goals. Sometimes on my lazy days, I get in and looked at these amazing transformation these girls accomplished and I want that for myself too so I get off my butt and sweat it out. 

5. Her workouts make you sore. Trust me, the pain - the good kind is addictive and you just want to keep going. I remembered almost giving up after my first day because I was so sore and my abs hurt but I didn't want to keep giving up on myself. The workouts remained the same as time goes but you get better. 

6. I started with Cassey's beginners calendar first to ease into the idea of working out. So if you feel that you need to start with baby steps, Cassey has her new version of beginners calendar which will help you begin before transitioning to the normal monthly calendar. 

7. She releases a new video every Monday which means you'll get more and more workout videos. 

8. Cassey's positive and cheery attitude with her motivating words and encouragement during the workout sometimes distracts me from the pain and just makes me happy working out. Positive body image and loving yourself are what she promotes and it is parallel to what I strive for. 

9. She's real - she's not skinny, she's fit and toned. Through her, I accepted the fact that I will never be skinny because I'm not built that way but I can be the best version of myself in my body. I used to hate my body but now I love it and I want to nourish it with good things. 

10. Her workout does not require equipment - most of them. All you need is a thick yoga mat. I personally use a 8mm thick piece because my elbows and knees are being pressed into the mat all the time. Most of them the workout can be done with my own body weight. Some of her arms workout require weights but I worked with water bottle until I was comfortable enough with to get a pair. 

I'm sorry if the list is all jumbled up and similar cause I felt like I'm just babbling on. Moving on .. to the other side. 

As much as I love Cassey and appreciate all that she has done for me and the other girls, there are some things that just I can't get along with : 

1. Her meal plans are nutritious and healthy but it's different from what I have here. Either the ingredients are expensive or hard to find. I just have to make the best of what I have here. 

2. I've been following her workouts for a year and half now. Even though she put them in different combination each time, it does get repetitive. It's only a matter of days/weeks before the same video end up in the playlist again. I can parrot what she says in her videos and I heard the same stories again and again. 

Other than that, I love Cassey and so thankful I found her. I never thought I would enjoy working out - ever. Maybe one day I'll talk about my pre-Blogilates days but that's all for now. 

Later dayz, 

Pasta meals

Last weekend I ate pasta twice. I'm usually a pasta fan and it's definitely one of my favorite high carb meal. 

I tried the pasta at Kim Gary, a Hong Kong restaurant. 

Spaghetti with bacon and ham. Pepper added separately. 

Lunch set comes with soup and drink. The drink was meh but the soup was delicious. The main course itself was small in portion. 

Actually I've been to Kim Gary a few times but yet to find any dish that is spectacular. Is there any dish that I should try that could make me change my mind? 

Pasta was unsatisfactory but it's a Hong Kong restaurant so I had low expectation for this. 

The next day, I went to Capricciosa, the Italian restaurant.  

Cream penne with chicken 

For lunch I get to select the pasta of my choice, my sauce and my toppings . 

Almost the same price as yesterday's spaghetti set but this was so much better and the portion was huge. I love pasta that is different and non noodle like so I will order them if I get the chance to. The soup of the day was mushroom and it was just okay but the soda drink is bottomless. 

I made the mistake of saving a bit of my soup to end my meal with and cold soup was horrible. 

This was my second time dining here and I would definitely be back. 

No hating, just my opinions. 

Later dayz,