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What I learned from (binge) buying Swatch
- I got my first Swatch in 2022. Below are the models I currently have and what I think of them.
- I have included the links as well for easy access for the readers.
- Swatch Classic
- Easily my favourite for weekdays.
- Simple, light design.
- Quartz movement – not a fan of the loud ticking sound (especially when I am driving).
- Swatch Dragonball Collection
- Comes in 3 different sizes – 34/41/47mm.
- Quartz :l
- My go to watch on weekends. Their bright colours make them fun & playful.
- 34mm models are a bit too small for me, even for my small wrist.
- Swatch x Moonswatch
- Comes in different colours as well
- My go to themes are Desert, Jupiter and Mars.
- Swatch x Blancpain (Scuba Fifty Pathoms)
- I have the black colour (Ocean of Storms) – the most impulse purchase item I ever had in my life.
- SISTEM51 mechanical movement
- The one I wish I never bought. Leave it a couple of days and it stops working (eventhough the website says it has power reserve of 90 hours).
- I hated having to wind it everytime I put it on.
- With the current price of AUD670, might as well spend a bit more and get a Seiko Prospex (Panda). Way more reliable and looks professional too.
- Swatch x You
- Several designs for you to choose from and customise
- I got one for my wife’s birthday
- The whole process was fun. Just make sure you order early so it could arrive intime for the big day.
After getting my first Swatch. What’s with that smirk? 😀 - Be warned – if you are used to collecting stuff/hoarding, you can get suck easier to complete a special edition.
- Swatch has been very good in capitilising buyers sentiments, especially when pairing with famous, more luxury brand names like Moonswatch and Blancpain.
- If I could rewind time and save money, I would only keep 1x Classic, 2x Dragonball, 2x Moonswatch.
Until then – be hungry, be punctual.
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The missing pulling factor
- I was supposed to be on leave from today, Thursday 12 Feb until next 18 Feb.
- My office observes the Chinese New Year Holiday next Tuesday & Wednesday.
- So I thought it would be nice to add an extra 2-3 days for a long weekend.
- I was toying with the idea of going back to Malaysia, especially as my cousin next door is getting engaged. It will be easy to meet up with other relatives as well.
- Alas I decided to just stay put and reserve my holiday for next time.
- I kept telling people (and myself) that I’m diverting the money saved to my kids school/uni fees.
- Or that the flight tickets prices has gone up.
- Matter of fact is, the pulling factor (my mom) is no longer around. I don’t feel that compelled to travel back.
- I joked with my brother; if mum was still around, the phone call I’ll make is to let her know ‘when’ I’m coming back, not ‘if’ I’m coming back.
- May Allah bless our parents and reunite us in His highest paradise. Ameen.
Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.
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Watching Witcher on Netflix – my review
- Spoiler alert – please stop reading if you are planning to watch it.
- I have been trying to watch The Witcher for the past year or two now.
- The furthest I watched was Season 1 Episode 4 before I decided it was taking too much of my time.
- This time I managed to reach Season 1 Episode 7 (about to start episode 8). Had to rewatch from the start to get a refresher.
- Yes, it is definitely not one to watch with your kids – sex/gore/blood scenes available.
- S1E1 starts with the downfall of a kingdom. Queen and King dead, the princess was instructed to look for Geralt of Rivia aka The White Wolf aka The Witcher. Sad.
- There are a few warring kingdoms, with kings, queens, mages. One particular kingdom (who was looked down upon) decided to attack the neighbouring country.
- There is a “United Nation” of witches/mages who would send their students to all the kingdoms as advisers. Much like the Ben Gesserit in Dune.
- The 7 episodes so far plays around 2 timelines – past and current. For me, it took awhile for me to discern which timeline I was watching at a time. At one point it starts to click and starts to make sense.
- It builds up to S1E7 when we get more backstory. We get to see how one’s ego and arrogance would bring the downfall of a kingdom. I know it’s wrong but “serves you right Queen Calanthe!”
Until then, stay hungry, stay safe.
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Painting my health count differently
- I was having a chat with some friends last night; one who happens to be my GP.
- At some point, the topic revolves around maintaining one’s health ie drugs, supplements etc.
- Then I realised – wait a minute, maybe I have been looking at things from a wrong angle.
- Two things came to mind – insulin and cholestrol.
- With all the media saying that we need to clamp these two in our body, its not hard to look at them as the culprit, as something that needs to be controlled aggressively. The lower the number, the better.
Looks like a balanced meal to me 😀 - A quick web search of their functions comes up as below :
- Insulin – regulates blood sugar (glucose) levels and enables cells to use glucose for energy
- Cholestrol – maintain cell membrane integrity and fluidity.
- Can you imagine how can we function properly without them?
- It’s not the insulin/cholestrol’s fault, but us humans for being careless with our body.
- We do our best to take care of our body, but if it falls down to genetic, then it’s totally out of our hands.
- “Indeed, We created humans in the best form”
Until then, stay hungry, stay safe.
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The feeling of impending doom – my usual reaction
- Every now and then, just out of the blue, a weird feeling of impending doom would come and hit me.
- You feel like something bad is going to happen, your heart and chest feels like a few sizes smaller, you feel like crying but the best is you get watery eyes.
- All these without any particular reason. It could hit me anytime of the day.
- My default action – I would pickup the phone and call my mum, 4,000 kilometers away.
- Majority, if not all of the time – nothing significant actually happened.
- I would usually called my mum during her afternoon nap, or she was just keeping busy around the house. Hearing her voice is like a cold fizzy drink on a hot day – cool, refreshing, instantly lifts you up.
- And then I would ring my wife. She’s usually at work so I usually keep it short and simple.
- Since my mum passed away last year, I cant remember the last time I had this dreaded feeling.
- Maybe it was a sign before, to remind me how fleeting this life is. I may never know.
- “Every soul will taste death”.
Until then, stay hungry, stay safe.
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Another Sunday done and dusted
- ‘Twas another summer Sunday, with forecast in the high 30s Celcius (37).
- Started my weekly run at 630am, from my house to the city centre. Alternating between run and walk, managed to finish 10km around 8am.
- No way I could run back home, luckily I left my car at the office the day before.
- Still in my running attire, head over to the local golf driving range to hit a few balls with my daughter. It’s getting warmer by the minute.
- I know its a public golf course, but I don’t understand people who plays at the driving range bare-footed. Am I missing something?
- Later as we left home near 2pm, the temperature on the car dashboard was showing “43C”.
- Decided to grab late lunch ( chilli mussels with fish & chips) – glad to see familiar food and faces at Kailis Fremantle.
- Tried taking the portable fridge along, connecting to the car’s 12v socket.
- Definitely need a portable power to maintain the temperature. It jumped from 3c to 10C as we drove back home.
- All in all, a productive day for me. How about you?
Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.
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Products I am currently testing out
- I got my eyes on several items I wanted to try using, but couldn’t due to the entry price.
- Due to the sales period last Nov/Dec, I was able to try them out at a discounted price. Below are some of them and my quick review .
- SKINS men’s long tights – Advertised to “reduce muscle soreness and vibrations”, thus elevating your sports performance
- Verdict – tried a few Sundays for my run (7-10kms). Make sure sure read the sizing guide before you buy. Not a professional runner so cant really tell if it increases my performance, but I am definitely sticking to it in the near future due to it being snuck and comfortable.
- LMNT rehydration – 3 times the sodium level and only 1g of sugar per satchel compared to the other hydrating tablets i’m using.
- Verdict – surpringly small satchet is sufficient for near a liter bottle (instruction says between 16-32oz)
- KINGS Portable Fridge/Freezer – Everytime I go camping (like once a year:)), I’ll look at my companions portable fridge and wished to have one. No, its not FOMO.
- The ease of not having to refill the ice and saving space in the esky (approx 30% maybe) got me tempted.
- Verdict – its currently plug to the wall socket in my living room. Definitely convenient to have cold drinks within reach during those warm summer days. Yet to try out while camping – which reminds me, I need a portable battery to power it.
- Well well what do you know? Another item (portable battery) in my “to buy” list. Maybe there’s a good bargain coming during Easter?;)
Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.
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You are not me…
- …and neither am I, you.
- We tend to forget that different people have different backgrounds, needs, wants, health conditions, happiness level…the list is endless.
- Closest example is myself – while working to obtain a better health condition in terms of body weight, flexibility, stamina for both my wife and I, I sometimes put unnecessary pressure and standards.
- My wife and I, female vs male, has different hormones that affects how our body works. An activity that would make me lose 200 calories, might only burn less of that for my wife.
- Supplements, medications, vaccines – all have different effects as well.
This shoulder press is heavier on my wallet than my body. - I find it interesting to explore new ideas in improving my health, be it through exercise, diet or technology.
- 3 years ago when I just got back into exercise, I spent 2 straight mornings hitting the gym. By the third day I felt weird, like an onset of flu.
- I visited the GP and after some Q&A and probing, he laughed and said “It’s only fatigue from overdoing past your body limit”. Solution ? Water and rest.
- Happy and blessed to say that I am currently at a better position ie I can exercise for 2 mornings straight without needing an MC on the third day.
- Hopefully in a few years time, God willing, I could come back and say I managed to increase my exercise days endurance.
Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.
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Why I write
- I started this page back in Jan/Feb 2021.
- I wasn’t writing as diligent as I would have liked. It was just a year into Covid-19 and there were other things occupying my mind.
- I think the idea of writing a blog came from listening/reading to Tim Ferris’s “Tools of Titans”.
- Most of us who writes a blog have their own personal reason. Making a living out of it is definitely not top of the list.
- With the exception of my teachers in primary & secondary school teaching and guiding us to write for exams (bless our teachers), I have not attended any formal writing classes before.
Even my youngest could write better than me. - Here and there I would pickup the do’s and dont’s, be it on Facebook/Instagram posts, audiobooks or books like Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
- A Malaysian writer I follow once mentioned that we should write down our own life story, so that one day, our kids or grandkids could enjoy reading.
- I feel some truth in that. I was lucky to have a living grandparents when I was little, but the memories was scattered bits and pieces, here and there.
- I asked around about my great grandfather but not much was known. And even the ones known were sketchy, sometimes conflicting.
- Its been slightly over 3 weeks that I managed to blog daily and somehow it feels like forever! Wish me luck with the consistency 😀
Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.
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My love of spicy food
- “As it should be” would be my usual answer when my wife asks if the dishes she cooked are “too spicy”.
- I like to tease her, saying that living in Perth for too long has somehow weakened her spicy resistance.
- I grew up eating spicy food. The state I’m from, Melaka (Malacca) is one of the few states in Malaysia that is famous for their spicy food ie Assam Pedas (a curry/gravy dish usually cooked with fish). You can check the short video here.
- Sometimes a Malaysian would say – “malulah orang Melaka tak makan pedas” (what an embarrassment for a Malaccan to not eat spicy food).
Assam pedas (stingray) with rice. Da bomb! Taken from my own photo gallery 🙂 - Assam pedas are usually a mix of soury, spicy taste. If it is still not spicy (enough), we’ll add some more sambal to it 😀
- A friend once ridiculed me for not knowing the best place for assam pedas in Melaka.
- I told him, the best Assam Pedas I had/have are always the one home cooked.
- My late mum would cook it, as would her siblings (our go to nowadays when we are in Malaysia). I’m super blessed that my wife could cook it as well.
- I tried Claypot Assam Pedas once; bad experience. Not trying them in the near future.
Until then, stay hungry, stay sane.
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