Today is the first day of a new beginning. At least this is what I have been thinking since last Friday. In a way, my self-prophecy came true. Obviously, I wish I had better comeback lines to outwit the nasty people I had to deal with on a regular basis. But today is not the time to ruminate about the past.

Ok, I know you are confused right now and you have absolutely no idea what I am rambling about. Please be patient while I sort my thoughts out and turn them into a more coherent format.

But hey, since I’m feeling generous during this Chinese New Year period, here are some clues: career, crossroads and courage.

This will be one of the greatest lessons you will ever learn about life and career in general – something that they never teach in school. Why? Because it’s something only life can teach you. And here I’m giving it to you for free.

It’s simple. I’m shit scared but I have to take this leap of faith if I want to truly succeed. If I continue to be shit scared because I fear looking silly or facing failure, then I will always have that “what if” on my mind. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? Right? Glad you came to the same conclusion.

So yes, I admit that I’m shit scared. But I am also telling myself this: “Use this fear as motivation to do better. You only live once. You can always pick yourself up, no matter what. The most important thing is you have to try.”

Because if you never try, you will never know. What makes you think you won’t succeed? Why not think of it as “every move you make is a step closer to success”?

And it doesn’t mean you sit there and wait for things to drop on your lap. You have to understand that it’s going to be extremely tough and you will have to put in effort to ensure that you are well-prepared and ready to take up the opportunity when it arrives.

Being grateful helps too. When you show gratitude to the good things in your life and people who have helped you, you will find that more of the same will come to you.

But always, always remember that you are worthy of the success that is coming your way. So dream big and prepare yourself in all ways possible to receive it.

You can do it. Happiness is in your hands.

Claire: “It’s suspended there to remind us before we pop the champagne and celebrate the New Year, to stop and reflect on the year that has gone by. To remember both our triumphs and our missteps – our promises made, and broken. The times we opened ourselves up to great adventures – or closed ourselves down, for fear of getting hurt.

“Because that’s what New Year’s is all about: getting another chance. A chance to forgive, to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more. And stop worrying about ‘what if’ and start embracing what would be. So when that ball drops at midnight – and it will drop – let’s remember to be nice to each other, kind to each other. And not just tonight but all year long.”

Happy New Year and it will be a great year for all of us.

Now let us all be “psychotic” (inside joke) and only do the stuff that makes us happy because we must be happy always. Oh, and to take things easy, not take unhappy things to heart and let the bad stuff slide over us like water off a duck’s back because there is always a better tomorrow. Also, life’s too short to harp over assholes.

It was so bad from the minute I walked into the office until 8.46pm – yes, until this very moment – that I officially want to quit my job or kill myself. I kept telling myself that it can get only better and there will be an end in sight. There was none.

I finally buckled and called my friend for help. In the end, I was filled with so much frustrations that I broke down in the car, unable to stop crying. Thinking about the day’s events and how weak I felt made me even angrier.

The call I received at 6.45pm was humiliating, to say the least. I can’t believe someone had the cheek to make those comments to me. Worst of all, I can’t believe I let myself land into this situation. I never had to sink so low my entire life and it’s an experience I am going to remember for a very very very long time.

Unable to get over the humiliation, I drove blindly and I nearly crashed into the barrier while exiting the highway. The moment when I had to swerve wildly to avoid hitting a car and the barrier while a motorbike was following closely behind my car scared the crap out of me.

If I didn’t steer away in time, I would be stuck with a wrecked car at the highway and a lot of explaining to do to the police. That woke me up. I didn’t feel better about myself but at least I was more focused.

I did what I had to do. I will survive and recoup my losses and I will come up with a solution to deal with this. For now, I just need the day to end.

Tomorrow, I will activate my positive neurones and face the world like I am infallible again. Goodnight.

In fact, I’m so delirious with joy that my expression is exactly like when my favourite Milk Toof – Lardee is really tao zui (also known as “drunk with happiness”).

You don’t know what “tao zui” means? Tao zui at level one looks just like this:

You can’t stop grinning now too, can you? Especially when you see both Lardee and ickle having so much fun like “wheee!” (tao zui level two) here:

Bet you want to start jumping on some bubble wrap now too… Because we have reached the ultimate high in Tao zui-ness:

I can’t stop smiling when I look at Lardee’s and ickle’s happy pictures. It’s as though I have this permanent grin on my face. I absolutely love this feeling. Don’t you?

On Saturday night, as we walked out of the cinema after being thoroughly tickled and amused by the Muppets (you should totally watch the movie if you’re a big childhood fan of them like me), I wondered why so many people were either looking at the sky or pointing their cameras at it. Usually I try not to follow the herd but I was curious. Then I saw it and it was amazing. (I also had to try really hard not to point at the moon to my friends because I fear getting cut behind my ears. True story.)

There was a gradient shadow creeping slowly across the unusually bright moon and like a movie played at extremely slow snail pace, we could see coppery red tinges filling up the sides. It was a total eclipse and the last one we would see until 2014.

From Wired Science:

“A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth slips between the sun and the moon, casting a long shadow on the lunar surface and darkening it. But sunlight filters in through the edges of the Earth’s atmosphere, casting a reddish-orange glow on the moon. This light is a projection of all the sunrises and sunsets happening on Earth at this time, creating a spectacular cosmic show.”

I thought the last line of Wired’s explanation was beautiful. I love sunrises and sunsets and the idea that all of them were happening at the same time I was staring at the eclipse is intoxicating.

But my first thought that night was: “The moon is exceptionally beautiful tonight. Wherever you are in the world, we’d be under the same sky and looking at the same moon. Are you thinking of me as I am of you?”

Gosh, I’m so romantic that even I’d melt and fall in love with me if someone said that to me. RIGHT?

So were you there to see the perfect alignment of the moon, Earth and sun on Dec 10? What was your first thought?

I used to think I want to be like Barney – awesome, hilarious and free-loving with a bevy of ladies to choose from. Then I saw the episode last night and I realise there is a Ted in all of us, even if we try so hard to deny it.

Ted has been trying very hard for the longest time to get over his ex-girlfriend who broke his heart. He was also hoping to kick-start his flagging career to distract himself from the pain. Then one day after a series of incidents and at his most dejected moment, he finally admitted it out loud – a thought that has been on his mind for the longest time.

Ted: Okay, I am going to say something out loud that I’ve been doing a pretty good job of not saying out loud lately. What you and Tony have, what I thought for a second you and I had, what I know that Marshall and Lily have, I want that. I do. I keep waiting for it to happen. I am waiting for it to happen. I guess I’m just tired of waiting. And that is all I’m going to say on that subject.

Stella: I know that you’re tired of waiting. And you might have to wait a little while more but she’s on her way, Ted. And she’s getting here as fast as she can.

You know what, I feel the exact same way as you, Ted, and I know exactly what you are going through even if I haven’t quite said it out loud yet.

So here goes. Hi you, yes you, I’m right here waiting for YOU, whoever you are and wherever you may be. Godspeed.

I remember watching Robin Williams for the first time as Mrs Doubtfire on an LD which my dad loaned from the video store. If you had to ask what’s an LD, you’re too young to be reading this blog.

Here is Williams on the Ellen Show with Ellen looking so handsome, well-dressed and polished. Seriously, look at her. This woman is giving all gay women a very good name.

So Ellen asks Williams about the new iPhone 4S and one of its new apps, Siri. And he mocks the app a bit before going into full French Siri mode.

“Why are you looking at a phone? LIVE YOUR LIFE.”

I nearly cried at this Taiwanese movie. (OK, I may have secretly teared a little in the dark and wiped my tears off before anyone could see how sensitive I really am!) It is really one of the best movies this year or perhaps even ever. I could relate to almost everything that happened to the male protagonist (the main lead) and how he felt about the love of his life aka “the apple”.

If you haven’t watched it, then I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you… Yet.

There were a few scenes that really grabbed my heart and made me reflect on the choices we make in life, whether right or wrong.

Turns out there is no right or wrong. Whatever that we decide to do in any particular moment in time, there is perhaps another us in another universe making a different choice and the outcome would turn out differently.

The decisions we make in a spur of the moment could make us happy or break our hearts. The thing is we’d never know which would turn out better for us so we can only imagine the infinite possibilities.

Sometimes we need a really good poignant movie to remind us to treasure the things or people we tend to give up too easily on because we always think there will be something better in future.

What if you have already met The One and you foolishly let them go?

Maybe because you think your family wouldn’t approve or you said hurtful things in anger or you were too stubborn to change your mind. And then when you were hurting so much or you realised you have made the biggest mistake of your life, you want to make things better but you don’t know how.

There are many times in life when all it takes is a simple sorry and to let go of your pride to make two people really happy. And yet there are equally many times when two people walk away from each other crying over the same broken relationship.

There was this scene where they were on the phone but miles apart from each other and leading separate lives and they looked up the night sky at the time.

He said to her: 「也许在另一个平行时空里,我们是在一起的。」

She replied:「那 另一个时空的我们 一定很幸福。」

The quotes loosely mean: “Maybe in an alternate parallel universe, we’d be together. And in that world, we’d be very happy together.”

Along the journey of our life, sometimes the pain would awaken us and we would finally realise what had really mattered and what we have lost. And our hearts would ache at the memory.

In the same phone conversation with her, he told her there must be a lot of people who like her.

And she said: 「被你喜欢过的我很难在觉得别人有很喜欢我。」

What she meant is she will never ever feel as loved by anyone else because no one can love her as much or the way he had loved her.

Heartbreaking, isn’t it?

In another scene where they were sharing their aspirations, he said out loud that he wants to make a difference in the world that he lives in and then he looked at her and silently thought:

「而我的世界，不过就是你的心。」

Likewise, I once told someone a long long time ago… “You mean the world to me.”

And I can’t stop laughing still at how ingenue the whole comment reads. If there is something you have to read today to end your weekend right, then let it be this. Or if you find yourself dreading Monday and you need a quick pick-me-up, look no further than here.

I love drinking hot cocoa, especially during rainy days where the skies are gloomy and the winds are biting.

It’s nice to hide out at a quaint, cozy cafe and enjoy the warmth from holding the cup of delicious frothy chocolate goodness. What’s even better is you get some fluffy marshmallows to dip into the drink and the yumminess that melts in your mouth after? Heaven.

And as you settle back in the comfortable couch, and as the hot drink warms you up, you look around you and you think to yourself: “This is life and it is awesome.”

And you turn around because someone is telling you something funny and you start laughing and you can’t stop. When you finally catch your breath, you give a witty reply back and the person laughs in return. You feel even more awesome and the smile on your face feels like it’s here to stay for a long, long time.