The Happiness Project: July

Hello friends!  I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend.. can you believe we are halfway through 2014 already?  I certainly cannot.  I know I'm a few days late with this post, but I had a fun weekend away in Bali with friends.  I'm sure you don't mind!

Anyway, let's get to it.  First, let's take a look back at how I did for June:

Meaningful communication with three friends at home:  I would definitely say that I did this one successfully.  I think almost all of this occurred via email (maybe I spoke to someone on the phone, but honestly, I can't really remember what month that was), with the exception of some time hanging out with Sara in Hong Kong!  But it was really nice to be able to trade a few notes back and forth with some friends sharing updates and funny stories.  I really do feel so fortunate to have been able to carry on such great friendships despite geography.

Dinner with a (different!) friend at least once a week:  Ok, so I think that I did this?  If you can count lunch, then I definitely nailed it.  And I guess I didn't really specify if it was a one-on-one thing or if group dinners counted?  Anyway, I'm going to give myself credit for this one haha.  And as a bonus, I was able to try a lot of really fun new restaurants this month too!  Hooray for breaking out of the comfort zone haha.

Be present:  June was definitely a very social month for me!  I think I did a good job of showing up, even if I went home early :)  But another thing that I think I did really well this month was to really be present when I was somewhere.  I love technology, but sometimes it really does distract us from the people that are right there in front of us.  Early on in the month, I kind of decided that I was going to try harder to just leave my phone in my purse when I was hanging out with friends.  Because honestly, what could be on my phone that would be more important than being present for the people in front of me?  (Although, I will say that this approach is a bit distracting when the people you are with are just on their phones the whole time haha!)

Alright.  Now on to July.  In the book, July is focused around money.  "You can't buy happiness" and all that stuff.  To be honest though, I really feel like I'm in a good place with how I handle money and how it can or cannot buy me happiness.  Some people might think I'm cheap, and some people might think I spend too much, but I don't really care.  I'm (mostly) quite happy with how I do things in this area.  As I read the chapter, I kept trying to think of ways that I could apply Gretchen's actions to my life.  When I didn't really feel like I could, I tried to think of other ways that I could spin the focus on money and happiness to turn it into something that I thought would resonate with me.  But I couldn't really.

So, I decided to just scrap it.  Why choose a topic simply because somebody else chose it?

Instead, I'm going to re-visit the topic that started this Happiness Project.  You may recall that the focus for the month of January was energy.  You may also recall that lately, I've been complaining a lot about not having enough energy.  I figured that since I am now halfway through the year, this would be a good time to go back to the beginning to do a little reset.

So in July, I will again be focusing on energy.  I'm going to use the same resolutions that I used before:

1.  Go to bed on time
2.  Get out of bed on time
3.  Exercise at least three times a week
4.  Eat vegetables every day
5.  Spend ten minutes a day straightening up at home

I've got a lot of things going on in July as I prepare to leave Singapore, so I think that being mindful of the five things listed above will help make sure that I've got enough energy, both physical and mental, to make sure that I don't get crushed by stress.

I think I've already blown it in the first week, but I'm going to do my best to commit to focusing on energy for the rest of the month!!

Have a great Monday everyone :)

Winding down

Hi everyone.. how was your weekend?  Mine was a really lovely combination of tons of random stuff, but unfortunately, I did a terrible job of photographing any of it!!

Most of you probably already know that my two-year assignment here in Singapore is coming to an end.  My last day of work here is 31st July, and I'm planning to fly back to the US on 2nd August.  So soon!!  Although this experience has had it's share of highs and lows, overall, it has been absolutely amazing, and now that it is winding down, I am getting so very sad!!!  It is definitely a bittersweet time - I'm very excited about the next steps on my path, but at the same time, my time in Singapore has been incredible.

Since I don't have many weekends (or weeks) left here on this island, I've started trying to get around to many of my old favorites while also getting to all the places that I've been wanting to try!  Friday night, we spent the early part of the evening hanging out on a rooftop at Boat Quay before visiting the "kebab window" that I love.  Afterwards, we headed over to Parkview Square to see the Wine Fairy in action!

Lobby bar

Apparently, Parkview Square was originally meant to be a hotel, but I think something happened with the financing, and the new buyer just turned it into office buildings.  So it has a really lovely and grand lobby area that includes a vertical wine room.  A girl (dressed in silver and sequins) attaches herself to some cables and goes up and grabs your wine order from the column.  Sounds pretty cool, right?

Can you see her?

In actuality, this place was a bit of a bust.  The was service extremely slow (even by Singapore standards!), and the overall atmosphere was just a bit blah.  I wouldn't return again, but I guess it was something to experience!

Saturday was a pretty lazy day for me, but the exciting thing of the evening was a (completely unpictured) dinner with friends at the new Outback!  Another mall has just opened up on Orchard, and along with it, a new Outback Steakhouse!  My friend Kim works in their corporate offices back in Tampa, so she was able to get me onto the guest list for the friends & family opening event.  In the spirit of cultural sharing, I invited some of my English friends to come enjoy a (gratis) taste of how America interprets Australian cuisine.  It definitely brought back some memories!!!

On Sunday, I celebrated my friend Sarah's MBA graduation with a super fancy champagne brunch at the Ritz Carlton!!  To me, this brunch is the ultimate event - it just seeps luxury.  We feasted on all sorts of delicious treats and had our fair share of Moet while sitting in the lovely setting.  It was so great :)

Ritz Carlton lobby

Cheese tray

Tonight, I had planned to go running with a friend after work, but when she had to bail, I took advantage of an empty calendar and went to go check out the newly re-opened La Pau Sat!  (hey - I can run anytime, but I can only go to hawker centers for just another month!)  This hawker center is right next to my office, and I used to go there quite frequently, but it closed down for renovations more than nine months ago.  I think the entire CBD is very happy to have them open again!!

I had a delicious bowl of bun bo hue for S$6.  Later on this week, I have some fun plans to get around to some other delicious places that I've been meaning to try, and then on Thursday night, I'm heading to Bali to ring in the 4th!!

Hope everyone at home has a great Monday!!

USA! USA!

So the other night, I went to watch some World Cup action. The USA v Germany game kicked off at midnight here in Singapore, and I decided that it was worth it to have a sleepy morning in order to cheer on the team!  I just went to watch the game in Robertson Walk, which is right next to my apartment. There are several bars and a huge courtyard that made for a great place to watch! There was actually a huge turnout, so it made for a really fun night. Although it sucked to lose, we were all happy to advance to the next round. Happy people all around!!

I realized that I have absolutely zero USA gear of any sort. Lots of people were dressed up in their red, white, and blue and carrying big flags and stuff, but I was only wearing a blue and white striped dress! So now I am on the hunt for some USA apparel!!  I never really wore any sort of America gear back home, but I feel like when you live outside the US, it's important to be able to represent!  I had planned to just order a bunch of stuff from Old Navy, but their online shop is all sold out of my size!!  Tragedy!!

So readers- can anyone please do me a favor and look for some cheap but cute America gear? If you buy it for me, I promise to pay you back!! I feel like there should be some cute stuff in the stores in preparation for 4th of July, so can you please keep your eyes peeled???

Thank you!! 

Old lady

A lot of times in Singapore, people just say things that would never be said in America.  I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before on the blog, but it's totally a cultural observation.  Nothing is ever said maliciously or anything like that.. it's more like, people are just unafraid to say exactly what they think without any sort of sugar-coating.  (My hair dresser once told me that I don't need to worry about the lack of volume in my hair.. "because your forehead is so big.")

I went to the dermatologist earlier today.  I suppose that one of the benefits of moving to a new location is that it encourages me to make sure I get to all my doctors for (less than) annual check ups!  Towards the end of our session, I asked her about my general skin-care routine and if there were any tweaks that I needed to make.  "Well you should definitely be using an anti-aging treatment around your eyes."

Well then.

So I'd like to ask you guys for any recommendations for any anti-aging eye treatments, creams, and/or serums that you love?  And while we're at it, I'm looking to re-examine my whole routine, so please fire away with any recommendations for cleaners, toners, moisturizers, etc!

Summer solstice

Hi all!  Sorry to disappear last week, but I was taking some time to just enjoy life during the extra long days!  Anyway - how is everyone?  First let's talk about this morning's USA v Portugal game... I got up early to walk over to a Korean restaurant near my house that was showing the game.  (Random, I know.)  I was really glad I got up for the game, and I'm very happy with the draw, but man!  Those last 30 seconds were tough to watch.

Backing up a bit - I just have to tell you guys that I had such a great week last week.  Nothing super special happened, but it was just a happy week.  Things have just seemed good lately.  Lots to be thankful for!

Highlights of the past few days include a really delicious five-course Italian wine paring dinner at a new (to me) restaurant called Wolf with some friends, Saturday brunch at The St. Regis, and attending my first rugby tournament!!

Sunrise in Singapore during a morning jog

Berries, yogurt, and granola!  Strawberries were on sale for 2 for S$10.  This is the first time I've bought strawberries in nearly two years living here!

The new Chinatown Food Street

Fun times catching up over burritos and quesadillas!

Pre-dinner cocktail at Club Street Social

Italian wine dinner!!

Saturday brunch is so much better than Sunday brunch!

Sideline dance

Action!

What's left

Hello all!  I don't have a ton to share with you today.  This weekend was really low-key, which I absolutely loved.  Sometimes you just need a weekend where you have no plans, right?  Anyway, I've got some things penned in my calendar for most of my remaining weekends in Asia, so it was really nice to spend a weekend just doing whatever came along!

Friday night wine flight

Super delicious sabbich lunch on Saturday.. I can't remember everything here.. roasted eggplant and cauliflower, pita, hummus, veggies, smoked egg.. it was amazing!

Followed by an impromptu (and expensive!) rickshaw ride!  Check one off the list!

Sunday morning after my run, I came back to my neighborhood to find loads of people out to watch Cote d'Ivoire and Japan

I stayed at watched with the Japanese fans for a bit.. long enough to watch them score a goal!

Other (unpictured) happenings this weekend included a wellness expo where I picked up some new granola, a hawker center day drinking turned to dinner session, a sushi dinner with a friend, and a marathon of Game of Thrones!  (I haven't seen the finale, since it only aired on Monday morning in Singapore.)

One of the things that I was talking about with Caroline (pictured above on the rickshaw ride) over lunch was what things I still haven't gotten to do in Singapore yet!  I've been thinking about this, of course, for a while now, but I haven't actually written it down, so I figure that I need to do that, or else I will never get around to any of it!  So here it is.. the list of what's left to do in Singapore...

- Go to Mustafa
- Ride the cable car to Sentosa
- Ride in a rickshaw (check!)
- Go to the Art Science Museum
- Rent bikes at Pulau Ubin
- Go get BBQ at Smokey's
- Do the tree top walk at MacRitchie Reservoir

I guess that's it for now.. it's a fairly short list when I look at this way, so hopefully I am successful in knocking it all out!  Of course, this doesn't include all the things in Singapore that I've already done that I want to do again... so we'll see.

Alright.. have a good week everyone.  Team USA kicks off in less than 12 hours!!

Lately

Hello everyone!  I'm excited for the World Cup to start, but I'm still trying to sort out whether or not I'll be able to watch the USA game (it's at 6am on Monday morning).  Either way, go Team USA!

This little list has been going around the blogosphere (the corner I read, anyway), so I thought I'd share with you guys.  It's meant to be a collection of things you're looking forward to, but it semi-stresses me out to think about the future right now, so I'll just tell you what I'm doing now!

Eating - today is Thursday, so I'm just having my weekly dose of Rejuicenate.
Drinking - see above.
Practicing - patience!!  And yoga.  Always yoga.
Mastering - a daily flossing habit.
Learning - international economics.  I've been listening to a lot of NPR's Planet Money during my workouts and commutes!
Trying - to eat my stash of frozen vegetables that I've been hoarding away.
Playing - nothing?  We forgot to bring Uno when we went to Hong Kong this past weekend.
Finishing - some things at work.. I hope!
Reading - Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir.  Eddie Huang is a Taiwanese-American who grew up in Orlando, so I thought that I would really identify with this one.  Not so much though.  An interesting book, but it definitely doesn't resonate with me the way I thought it would.
Remembering - to floss.
Wearing - Singapore clothes, aka summer clothes.
Cooking - things in the microwave.  Mostly frozen veggies and frozen dumplings.  I miss the days of real cooking.
Working - still.  Finished with my work travel for now, but still have work to do!
Travelling - less.  One trip to Bali during 4th of July weekend, and that's it.
Wanting - ice cream.