EZT S8 LIFE UPDATE!. [2021]

 안녕헬로!. ^^ \m/

With this update, I am 5 years behind blogging my memories. As usual, I am here because I want to make an appreciation post to the people in my life and those of you who still come by.

First of all, what on Earth!. Very late but,.. Happy 2021!! So much for hoping the world to act accordingly. We freaking made it :)

Personally, I'm still looking for a job/career, so let me know if you spot anything nice!~ ;) Meanwhile, my Youtube channel is updated more than usual, and I still have a backlog of stuff to upload so keep a lookout for it.

2020 was quite a wild year. Compared to 2019, last year was a whole mix of mid and maniacal. It's so weird to not be able to achieve what I wanted and that it's mostly due to life's doings, instead of solely my own actions. Maybe I might blog a separate post about the year because I only want to focus on December here. Maybe.

Kudos to you if you're doing decent and is reading this wall of text!. Go treat yourself some nice tea.

Here comes the constant: I will now do what I do every year; compile a list of everyone who wished me happy birthday along with as much relevant memories that I want to remember that I can.

Hopefully I do justice because my livestream got screwed up again and I didn't recap it properly because I had to speedrun. Such is life ;)

SEDIA!~

* SpotifyWrapped!. [201203]

The month started out with the yearly Spotify review, right on time. It was better than I expected!~ Loved how they made it in an Instastory style of viewing.

Who else is a genreslut genrelust?. Smart term too. I wonder if there's anyone out there who knows that I listen to more than just k-pop.

I was obsessed with this song since I first heard about it!! During the lockdown/"circuit breaker" period I finally took up Spanish so I was totally in the mood~

I don't know why it seemed like I was going through some break up, but I guess the antisocial-ness of 2020 kind of got to me. It was enlightening to see how some people respond to life at trying times and I suppose some bridges got burned along the way.

Also loved the mini quizzes in between!. So many people got into podcasting and it was nice for many different reasons. I binged The More Better podcast by Fakkah Fuzz because [most of] it were interesting and entertaining.

Immediate takeaways aside, I find it comforting that there still are people out there who are just natural conversationalists/entertainers/etc and they might not even realize it. The interwebs were getting a bit dull and annoying since the pandemic so it's always great to have nice things lurking around.

I also realize how much I really don't care about 2010s music.

I don't think so?. Think the numbers most probably came from Tusa. And what is a stay home year without trying to rap a Nicki Minaj song?? Don't lie. HAHA

Well. You're welcome, Spotify. Haha it took me some time to mentally prepare myself for the results but there's no turning back now.

I was watching a show called 7.7 Billion In Love [77억의 사랑] when one of the guys brought up the song. He actually responded when I posted a shoutout!. 부끄부끄~

Gracias Jorge!. The show itself is pretty interesting. They get a multi-national panel of straight people from both genders and discuss topics with regards to relationship, dating and romance. Think the filming got cucked by Covid-19 going crazy midway, but still a good watch if you're into interracial dating and the different concepts that entails romantic love from different people and perspectives.

Now that we're warmed up with that recap, it's almost time to move on to the highlight :)


*Final Countdown!. [2012??]
No fancy dinner this year but managed to get McDonalds with The Saids!.

I know it's just eating out at McDonalds, but for a moment in life that was something that we couldn't do. So this is a quick appreciation post. Fries hit different when the McDonalds outlets reek of sanitizer.

A parcel from ILIAD!. They had a virtual escape room game for charity event. It was pretty cool for a basic game, incorporating sexual health into Greek methodology and more.

Bought me and the rest of the December babies some goodies and they arrived just nice on time too!. Shoutout to all the postpeople!. Stay safe frontliners~

Being more homebound [more than my homebody self] has let me to discover more stuff I like on Youtube and look what came in the mail all the way from Japan!.

To put it succinctly I used to watch Joey the Animeman, and when I got back into anime due to the pandemic I went to look at what he's been up to and he had a new podcast with two other Anitubers, so I checked it out and I love their dynamics with each other!!

The topics they talk about are also pretty relevant or at the very least interesting, and I hope that they can come to a convention in Singapore when the world is better.

So anyway, I decided to buy CDawgVA's [first?.] merch because its so cute and it's chibi him in a teacup!! ARA ARA~

Talking about Youtube and streaming,..

*D-DAY; 30Y!. [201212]

Prepared a Youtube livestream as always for the birthday countdown. Long live #livEZTream!~ ^^ \m/

Okay so Youtube changed their streaming system and this one shown above is the second try. Click here to check first part where I messed up. Thankfully the viewers hopped on to the new one!~ ^^ \m/

Yours truly!. #EZTS8 ;)

My pathetic setup and just being happy people joined the second stream to celebrate my birthday with me :')

My cake!. Just a small one this time. Wanted to d-i-y a cake like last year's but it's no longer available so I tried to redecorate using the diy set :(

The Instagram Live video made it to the archive though!. Pre-light selfies!~ :D

"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not." -Uncle Iroh

I can do this all day~~ Back it up, back it up YEAH.

It's gonna be alright, 손을 맞대 make a wish~

My speakers died midway but overall #EZT2020 livestream went fine. I still hate this beta but it was nice to have more live audience and interactions!! So anyway below is the rough summary of my 2020 highlights.

Jan: Final party with friends, tried longboarding.
Feb: Final karaoke session with lil sis, Farid's wedding, parent's pilgrimage.
Mar: Played Jenny LeClue, picked up Animal Crossing, fun Origami workshop stint.

Apr: Last hangout with the kiddos before circuit breaker, took a Speak Japanese mini-course and HarvardX Oracles, Omens and Predictions course.
May: Surprise Pisang Goreng Keju from kind aunt, played Death And Taxes, made brown sugar pearls.
June: Watched Sepet, Hari Raya Aidilfitri/Zoom Raya/"CovEid".

July: Rewilding, voted at General Elections 2020 feeling2 Survivor, finally played Timezone arcade.

Aug: Finally pretty much mastered Gyeranjjim, had overdue meetups, got help and finally owned official Survivor buffs, RIP KissAnime.

Sept: Sort of fixed my body clock, watched The Umbrella Academy and High Score documentary on Netflix, tried container gym and trainsushi for my first time, refreshed gadgets, scalded my thumb, first year since no Gmum.

Oct: Had hightea steamboat, picked up coding, got a nice temporary job, mini Halloween celebration with the kiddos.

Nov: Tried minigolfing, visited Jewel Changi Airport and ate at El Fuego for my first time, finally checked out Singapore's Pokemon Centre.

Dec: Read on!~ ;)

Somewhere in between I've created my own site on Wix after numerous Youtube ads, completed a Korean course on Coursera, picked up Spanish and Jagua henna, re-learned Mancala, re-watched Psych seasons and watched the new Psych 2 movie, tried to KDO mass dance online via Zoom, listened to many podcasts and started going to the gym, watched Legendary [and tried to pick up Vogue Ballroom dance], and last but definitely not least binge-watched all seasons of The Good Place on Netflix.

My point is, like I mentioned in my previous blogpost, "That's The Life For Me" helped me maintain a clear vision through the pandemic, and I can safely say I did my best. FIGHTING EZT!! ^^ \m/

Throwback to 2019 #liveEZTream

On to my other favourite part, having people more "stuck" at home and with their gadgets mean getting wishes for 12.12 that I can tally up and blog about!. 

Hehehe, a drumroll for the moneyshots!. Thanks for scrolling this far, see if you can spot your wishes~

First to come is Facebook. I finally got into dark mode for desktop. Thankz for the sole comment and special post!~ :')

Thank you for all your wishes on my main posts!! ^^ \m/

A month later I posted my usual monthly recounts and some of you still sent your wishes so here it goes :3

Here are all the PMs~ Thank you ;)

For some weird reason I can't find any other wishes on other platforms so this will be it for this year. From the bottom of my heart I am really thankful to everyone who was a part of #EZT2020 .

Not forgetting those who wished me in person~ :D THANKZ A BILLION!! ^^ \m/

Had a good sleep post-stream and woke up and it's still my birthday~ Another year of selfies and trying a new look.

What do you think?. Don't like my hair and couldn't get a nice pic but whatever~ Trying the typical "swit" Malay girl angle smile lol

That awkward smile that you do to acknowledge your colleagues + "what's the point of cleavage when you have small tits" le sigh

"New normal" and trying to "act normal". Bag zip spoiled already urgh  :/

Annoying indeed, but just like last year, I was determined to live my day to the best of my abilities.

Long time never dance :(

Silly-outte. Actually quite liked this outfit~

BOO :3

Mirrorfie before the birthday adventure.

Because of the pandemic, I didn't want to have a staycay this time round. Thankfully, the Singapore government gave this thing called "Singapore ReDiscover vouchers" to boost local tourism so I found a good use for it!.

Made my way down to Telok Ayer station to get to Thian Hock Keng temple. For some Malay Muslims, some of you might recognise it as the building across Royz Et Vous.

All for this!. My first visit to the Singapore Music Museum aka シンガポール オルゴール博物館~~

Booking was tough but I'm glad I managed to get a slot because it was so worth it. Upon registering we were asked if anyone has birthdays in the month and those who did [me] gets a special ticket!~

I did not expect that all. What a nice surprise and I'm sorry if you read this post thinking you want to visit for your birthday activity because there will be more spoilers to come.

We were then ushered to the floor above by the wonderful Mr Takumi Minami who was going to accompany us for our tour that day :)

I loved that we could take photos and videos and how intimate the experience was. For someone who loves music and #GeekGirlGoneMad , it was the perfect balance of edutainment.

For example, I finally learned the difference between "vintage" and "antique", amongst many other things.

It was so interesting to see the basic mechanics of music boxes firsthand. Did you know it all started with clocks?!

Before music streaming, we had mp3 players. Before that, we had cds. Before cds, we had cassettes and vinyls. And before that, all we had was metal and wood for music playback.

It's easy to think that we have digressed as a society especially in such difficult times, but thinking about this really changed my perspective.

We HAVE improved as civilization. We ARE living in 2020. What a time to be alive.

If I recall correctly the item in the showcase is the smallest musical "box". It looks like an SD card!!

Can you imagine having to manually switch cylinders just to listen to something else?. Or worse, only being able to afford one song on demand.

Feels like a privilege that we really take for granted. Fascinating that it all started with watches and clocks.  Impressive skill trade from a tradition, to say the least.

A bit of a pity that everyone's into going digital these days. Funny how we have audio and more just a tap away because some fella wanted to be fancy and put an alarm to their timepieces.

So they went from barrels [which you have to crank to listen to] to discs to automated discs, which as someone with an ex-DJ stint, I really appreciate.

From turntables to jukeboxes!. This was huge and legend has it that this almost made it on the real Titanic ship!. o.o

I had the honor of putting a dime in the jukebox baby~

That was actually a screencapture from a video but I'm not going to post it here because I was super gentle and awkward about it because Lord knows I don't have enough money to pay for any part of this should I happen to break anything.

Ok this one was super interesting. Basically, Alicia Keys liked this music box so much that she incorporated it into her music video. I totally went to rewatch the No One mv just for an aesthetic shot of this to appear within the first few seconds. Who knew. Freaking Alicia Keys!!

As a Millennial I am proud to say that I've experienced coin jukebox a few times in my life, but they were all digital by then. Amazing to see and think that music used to be available from like a vending machine.

I can only imagine the excitement of seeing the disc of your song choice being taken out and anticipating the music to come out from the machine. 

By the way the slot I got was shared with an auntie and uncle. The auntie video-ed pretty much everything and the uncle looks like he was dragged along lol.

Cheers to iPhone 11 wide angle lens hehehe

To my surprise, there are actually a few that were made in Singapore!. Most of the local stuff are clocks though. Ironically, we were running a little out of time so not much to say here.

Of course not forgetting the legendary Gramophone. It was very mind-blowing to me to be in time and space where I personally get to experience such a journey. I was physically there.

TMI: The industry got a bit extra and decided to extrapolate the concept into making mechanised bird cages. In my opinion, and thankfully, the idea never really took off. Pun intended.

The tour ended with Mr Takumi showing us a couple of makeshift "modern" musical boxes, which he uses for casual occasions such as getting his kids to take an interest in it. Haha.

I know that it looks like pretty mini paper shredders but it's not!! It is really pretty though. He said he likes it because it sort of represents Singapore; very "cosmopolitan" :)

We then get to go and try out our tickets!! It was a collaboration project I think. Super cool~

Think the uncle's one was "We Are Singaporean" while mine had the birthday song!! ^^

The tour ends with a sweet view of the juxtaposition of the modern and traditional architecture as kindly pointed out by Mr Takumi!! Thank you for the lovely tour~ :)

But wait, there's more. The SRV package ends even sweeter with a treat at the Peranakan cafe on the first floor!. 

Our packages entails a "Peranakan Sweets set" of two drinks and 4 kuehs of our choice from their available selection. Overall I rate the experience 4.8/5 stars!! Very thankful to Klook and the SingapoReDisccover campaign for introducing this lovely activity which I wouldn't have you guessed it- discovered.

I know I partially used my vouchers for this but I honestly think that it is worth paying real money for. I am glad to have this as my birthday event :')

Yes, the Ice Teh O was solid and so were the sweets. 100~

Went for some Wingstop for dinner after. Nothing beats lemon pepper.. Then took the wrong bus route home and saw Doraemons at another museum. #WanitaBukanDoraemon #DoraemonPunBukanWanita hehehe

Took an early rest day because I would be going all out and socializing again. Read on to know why!~

*Houze Party. [1213]

Post-party party!. Ok so the Coronavirus restrictions eased up a little and we could have guests so I decided to have a mini birthday celebration with the rest of my family!. :D

Prepared a balloon bouquet thingy, hoping it'll last. Cheers to last-minute ideas~

The legendary "set" ;) The kiddos loved it!. Hold that thought, more prep work first.

Also made this Halloween-inspired drink o.O

The cakes came on time before the guests reached!. Not up to standard despite pre-ordering. Got reimbursed though so no worries I guess...

Wanted a potluck-y style of party cconcept and the kiddos parents brought this!. "Upgraded pasta because my Papa add the leaves" - Nephew 1. My aunt brought this colourful homemade kueh and Mum made sambal kicap and "taugedil" aka 2020's Malay food fad :P

Thank you everyone for cooperating and bringing the yummies!~ Cheers to a full table~~ ^^ \m/

Ok back to the personally pumped bouquet. Niece 1 having lots of fun~

Love them~

Can never appreciate the kiddos enough for always noticing all the small things...

Did I invite them to a party, or did they a bring a party to me?. 8)

Play until thirsty. Time to introduce my concoction!!

Nephew 1 braved himself to eat an "eyeball"!! Okay think the syrup color made it more intimidating by accident. Fun times hehehee

Shoutout to cuzzie Afi for liking the drink!. "Trio platter" lol

Yer a wizard, cutie~

Cake-cutting time!. Cute how they automatically joined #lil1212bro and I  :')

According to the kiddo's parents Nephew 1 chose this wrapper for me. So cute~ Thank you for the present!. SHIAWASE LIFE LEGGO~~

Just two semi-introverts firstborns and their gadgets~

Niece 1 showing some love for the other birthday fella!! OMG

Crazy girl with so much love to give :')

Niece 2 amused by Niece 1's shenanigans.

Happy Birthday!~ Spidercatto~

Oh we also got cards from the kiddos. They did the painting part themselves!! Love you lah~

Overall it was really nice to see almost everyone again since lockdown/circuit breaker happened. My stomach and heart is full!. #blessed ^^ \m/

*Nolzzati. [1217]

No KAI / #KpopAllIn this year!! As much as I've literally mentioned in my 2019 vlog that it might be the last year that I will be attending, it was still tough for me to see it materialize. While I understand the committee's decision and fully support it, a part of me is heartbroken we couldn't make it to an 8th edition.

2020 was actually a pretty good year for kpop and there are many content that I would love to relish over with fellow fans. I love that we have already gotten onboard "remote-fandoming" way before this pandemic is a thing, and I truly hope that one day we can meet each other and our idols in person again. Till then, stay safe and 화이팅!~ ^^ \m/

Since I had a void to fill,  I took the opportunity to spend the rest of my SRV vouchers and re-visit Singapore's Art Science Museum.

It's been so long I don't even remember when my last was!! It rained on the way but wow, MBS/Bayfront is so different without the excessive presence of tourists!. I liked it~~

The birthplace of one of SG's meme styles iykwim ᄏᄏ

The picture turn out well though!. Neoprints, but make it 2020.

Had tickets to all the available exhibitions but upon reaching, we were advised to check out the Margins exhibition first for various reasons and so that's exactly what we did.

Next is the Planet or Plastic exhibition. A cause that has been closer to my heart after some extra introspection during the pandemic.

Mixed feelings. These photographed colourful toys, for a moment, brings happiness to some kid some where at some point of time, only to find themselves ending up on a landfill after serving it's purpose. Wish it wasn't so.

Our vices, to be interpreted in whatever way you think. Also just wanted to take photos of being outside during the "new normal".

It's really saddening to see the state of affairs of the world that we live in. It's even sadder to know that there are people who are still in denial, or who simply just don't care :(

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”  -Jane Goodall

Luckily, the experience ended on a more positive note: the Future World exhibition!! O.O

This "live" virtual aquarium is actually interactive!. But first, we check into what's in the four walls...

It's actually another interactive city!! Took this photo because I hope to own my own home when I legally can!. Wish me luck!~

I believe I was trying to prove a point here, but I can't remember.

Oh yeah the real name of the aquarium is the Sanctuary. A hit with the kids, basically we could pick a readymade paper template and colour in/design our own sea animals. Check out our masterpiece lol

After illustrating it can be put it in a box which scans the artwork and brings it to life!! *cue Evanescence*

Illuminated cubes~

This light chamber is super disorienting!. Not pleasant but very VERY interesting. Lowkey ethereal~

Another interactive illustration segment, but make it a neighbourhood. 12358W?.

Ilumination balls~

Before the moneyshot spot!.

Remember to shine your light!~ ^^ \m/

Dizzy.

Mandatory toilet mirrorfie before leaving the museum. This outfit was inspired by NINJA crew because I was addicted to Legendary and was upset that they got booted out prematurely. Hair inspired by,.. Animal Crossing lol

Lunch after because member running out of gas from layan-ing me.

Thankz for the cool experience!. Always very proud of ArtScience Museum :)

Water break!. Time to drink the cuppa that I told you to get earlier... The blogpost is ending soon, I swear. Cheers to making it this far!~

*Xmaz. [1223-25++]
Talking about cuppas, treated myself to a large Caramel Macchiato on a nice cool day. More illuminations!!

There's more that'll be included in the Youtube video series that I've filmed. It should be out soon after I finish publishing this blogpost so keep a lookout for it!. Meanwhile,.. not at me pretending to take a sip just for a maskless pic.

Thought that McDonalds was cute to put up this balloon pine tree lol

Tried to bake a pan cookie in my airfryer. Came out too crumbly but tastes okay.

Second one turned out better!! Happy :)

Used the bag I got from this boy again. Pity I didn't get to see him and the family during my birthday month this time round!! :(

Shoutouts to Aunt Amy for coming over all the way to AMK to eat A&W with me and pass me my present though!! ;)

 #WanitaBukanDoraemon #DoraemonPunBukanWanita part 2 hahaha

Loved the gift!. The Ezlink card idea was good too and really appreciate the handwritten letter!~ :D Came home to realize that a fellow 21st July Aunt also dropped by my house to leave my gift on the very same day!. :O

Freaking trippy~ How they both decided to pass my gifts on the same day, both were personalized gifts, both handwritten letters had "oops". Coincidence?. I think not!. o.O

Shoutout to cuzzie Aidie for getting me this gorgeous cutlery set too :) Apparently there are still people who refer to me as "Zaza"...

Shoutout to lil sis Lin for this Koro Sensei bucket hat!!

A little big but I love it :D

Shoutout to #lil1212bro Iman for getting me this game!!. I am obsessed.

As of now, I've played for at least 200 hours in total. Mad respect to ConcernedApe for creating such a wonderful game and world. Took a while for me to catch on but I can't emphasize enough on how it has helped [and still is helping] me tide through tougher days during the pandemic and general adulting.

Another honourable mention is Nintendo's Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. While I have stopped playing it, I still loved every moment I had. From the design to gameplay to the friends, it was adorable and rewarding even though it is free-to-play.

I played it in multiple languages, and like what Sylvana said, the experience is a 10 because I got to spend time together after all. Interest aside, the game helped me keep a sense of time when days get blurred from all the staying in. I can not thank them enough.

THANKZ A BILLION to everyone who showed up [with safety precautions] to make my birthday month a little more special and who was there for me!~ I love you ^^ \m/

*Conkluzion. [1230]

Of course someone had to send me this and I had to put it here for memories sake. Funny!! XD

Another good news that took place in December is that an Indostop opened near my place!. It's like, an Indonesian minimart and while the prices are nothing like what it is in Batam and Bandung, it carried my favourite drinks!!

What a time to be alive. Can't believe I took these luxuries for granted. Get well soon Indonesia and Malaysia!! Always kangen and rindu you~~

Ended the month/year with another mini-gathering with the kiddos. Babygurl flexing her hair~

Live action reenactment in progress...

"Do you want a pizza?. I can make a heartshape pizza for you." He actually legit attended a workshop conducted by Pastamania's Doughworks before. Is this what they mean when you need experience for entry-level jobs?.

"I think you should put the toppings yourself because adek will just make a smiley face and that's it." Oh well. What a joy to be having a pizza made by the little hoomans that you love and love you :')

End product. Had another one because it was actually pretty delicious!!

Nephew 1 presenting his pizza creation to probably my Mum or lil sis. So adorable!! Glad I managed to bake a cupcake for him too before going over. Hope he never lose his charm and love for my baked goods :')

There is a long, touching moment behind this picture but in short the backstory is: I have bestowed him the secret way of  Mini M&ms ;) Of course Niece 1 FOMO and joined the club~

#AuntEZT #AuntiEZT #ATTACKED

My photos with the kiddos vs lil sis's photos with the kiddos.

Real talk though, always thankful to them for their social restoration skills. Love how they never fail to sap my energy, only to eventually restore my gauge with new energy, and oftentimes new perspectives.

2020 mood in general...

Also 2020 mood in general. The show must go on.

That's pretty much it.

My yearly weigh-in.

The dreaded ICA letter :(

Free masks aka time to measure how much of a forkface you are.

Oh this year ended with Facebook having this Me-moji avatar thing. Very interesting to see how some people really see themselves differently than what they actually are. It's not bad, I guess~

Cheers to happier days #EZTshiawaS8 ~

In my previous birthday posting I mentioned how "the recent years passed by so quickly" and "I hope that it will be the same in 2020; that people will vibe back the way they truly feel about each other. My resolve will not waiver."

If anything, 2020 felt so slow and so fast at same time. While it was not the ideal way of spending my last year as a twenty-something, the pandemic was a good time to recollect and reevaluate life. It also showed me what I needed to see.

Overall it has been an okay year for me, and I did my best to wrap it up and kick start my first year of being a thirty-something in 2021. Thank you.

"Let's keep putting ourselves out there because you'll never know when the universe will return you the energy you give and perhaps, even more."

A crazy year where nothing much has happened and so many things happened at the same time. Don't think I did anything crazy but again, this same damn picture :)

I hope that we will always find strength to deal with the pain of growth, than to suffer from staying where we are. Do what you can and hope for the best!~

5 years of adulting and quarter-life crisis, sorted. I look forward to meeting here again when the time is right. :)

STAY AWESOME!!

And write your own story!. ;)

CHEERS!~ ^^ \m/

EZT S8.