Get Busy with Me: How I Spent My 28 Days at Home?

Well, it's really unpleasant being forced to stay indoors, but we should consider ourselves blessed that we are ‘trapped’ comfortably in our own homes. And as we idle about the house with not much to do, we suddenly find that we have been handed ‘too’ much time. Don’t get hung up by boredom! With more time in our hands, here are some productive things you can do while during quarantine period. 

1. Daily Devotion

Enhance each day with verses from the Bible and draw closer to God each day. I've chosen Acts as the book to study during this period. There are 28 chapters in Acts, just fine for a 28-day devotion. Acts is the story of the start and spread of the Christian church. It opens with Jesus returning to heaven and the Holy Spirit coming in His place. Jesus’ followers start following the Holy Spirit’s lead, and 28 chapters later, the Gospel was spreading across the known world.

2. Baking and Cooking

We’re all craving something sweet and soothing during the quarantine. So why not try spending a few extra hours in the kitchen and master some baking recipes that you haven’t had the time to tackle? During this quarantine period, I have tried to make Belgium waffle as I've been craving for some time. I have tried many combinations of waffle ingredients and made many attempts, but it just seemed like all the waffles I had tried before tasted bland and dense. Finally, I made a successful one!

Other than baking, I did prepare quick and healthy meals that can have real benefits for my family. Simple meals are often the tastiest. You don’t have to be perfect in making every meal. I often do cooking in normal days, but I had more time to learn new dishes such as bitter gourd omelette and stir fried string beans during this quarantine period. 

3. Video Calling

I made video calls weekly for fellowship and Sunday school' meeting. This allowed me to stay connected and catch up with my friends and church mates while social distancing. We had the chance to help and support each other in spiritual growth. Besides that, during this critical period, my teammate and I had to make online presentation on our final year project. We also had to use video calls for our discussion.

4. Online Classes and Revision

My university conducted online classes as students and lecturers have been ushered indoors to help prevent further spread of coronavirus. My midterm exam had been converted to assignment. I had to watch live lessons given by lecturer on every Wednesday and had to submit my handwritten answers after the classes. I also spent some time doing revision as preparation for my final exam. 

5. Workout from Home

Basic workout routines don’t require too much. A quick search on Youtube and Google is all you need to feasible workout ideas which you can do at home. During this period, I've used Tabata, a form of HIIT (high intensity interval training) as my workout routine. My Tabata workouts consist of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest and repeating this for four minutes. My workout exercises include burpees, squats, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, high knees, rotating toe touches, jump switch lunges and plank. I also add 30 sit ups to my workout to get a flat stomach. 

6. Blogging

Finally I made it during this period and managed to update my blog since I always can't seem to find the time to work on it. This is the best platform to express myself and to share the bits and pieces of my life.

Okay, these are part of the activities I have done during the quarantine period. This is a great time to relax, spend time with your family and friends and catch up on all the undone tasks. So, stay at home, we're all in this together.

Home Away From Home: Three Different Hostels in My Degree Life

Time flies. It's already the third year of my Bachelor degree studying actuarial science and finance. I have changed hostel three times in as many years, and this gave me the chance to experience different kinds of living environment. All of them were private rooms. Hostel is usually a place where you stay when you are away from your families for studies or work . You need to be stronger and more confident than before when you are staying on your own.

So, let's start with my first hostel. 

Room 1: The Warm Room

My first hostel during my first year was a room in a double storey terrace house. There was a big window which I could feel the sunlight in every morning. It was furnished with a bed with bed frame, a desk, a wardrobe, a three tier drawer, and an upright lamp. One of the advantages of this room is that the room has an attached bathroom. I could use the bathroom freely and i didn't need to walk out from the room when I need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night. 

   

The plus side of staying here is that the maid will come to clean our rooms once every two weeks, including the bathroom.

Having an electrical stove in the kitchen allowed me to prepare some simple meals.. 

 

A mirror selfie with my favorite cardigan!

Room 2: The Memorable Room

Next, my second hostel was a room in a condominium unit sharing with my friends. This room was air-conditioned, slightly bigger and furnished with a bed with metal bed frame, a big desk and a wardrobe. I brought two 3-tier wooden racks to help organize my books, accessories and skin care products. My friends and I had to clean the unit by ourselves as we did not have any cleaning service. 

 

 A selfie taken on my bed. Teehee :)

I like this hostel as there was a living room, a dining area, a kitchen and a laundry area. My life was more sociable as I could stay in the living room to play games, do revision and complete assignments with my friends at night. There was a small television in the living room. 

The gas stove in the kitchen allowed us to cook meals together. 

My friends and I also organized a steamboat party and invited some course mates to share the fun with us. That was a memorable one. 

Room 3: The Superior Room

My current hostel is a room in a three-storey student hostel unit, a more 'high-class' one. This unit is newly renovated and the furniture are all new. It is also air-conditioned. There is a kitchen but I rarely cook because I am currently busy most of the time with my thesis and events in university during my last year. 

 

There's a dressing table and a half length mirror in my room. I like to organize each pigeon hole with same theme of cosmetics, skin care products and accessories. 

 

There is a corridor between rooms. My window is facing the opposite room when there are no curtains. 

 

The bathroom is nice and with new and modern design. The heaters are centralized. So, it's just like a hotel!

There is a sky garden with nice view for the residents to do laundry and relax. There is also a study corner in the sky garden. These are the reasons I like this hostel so much!

In conclusion, I have three different experiences of hostel staying in my university life. Each of them has left me with a lot of different sweet memories. The midnight group studies, the late night parties, the challenging game battles, the endless talking, fighting, shouting and laughing. These are memories. These are unforgettable hostel stories. These are the best part of my life. 

A Special Day in My Life: My 21st Birthday Party

Hey, I'm back!

Throwing back to 30 August 2019, it was my 21st birthday party.

The actual day falls on 3 September but I had to celebrate it earlier as I was going to have my internship starting from September. Teehee :P

After setting the theme as rose gold and flamingo, I came up with the invitation card.

This invitation card was designed using Canva, a user-friendly designing website. I had picked grey-white marble as background to make the overall design more elegant. 

With the help of my boyfriend, I had picked Victorian Garden Tea Room & Cafe as the venue of the party. I fell in love with the place right away as soon as I stepped in. 

Source: Victorian Garden

Designed with the elegant Victorian style, this place provides a very cozy feeling to the guests. The person-in-charge is very friendly, I was impressed by their patience while assisting me in organizing this party. 

I am really grateful to have my boyfriend and my sister who had put a lot of efforts in the decorations of my birthday party. All the accessories were bought online from Shopee. I love the design a lot. Thank god that I had a chance in my life to have this kind of party with such wonderful decorations. 

My birthday cake was customized from iCake Penang. I requested for fresh cream on my cake instead of fondant icing because I dislike the taste of the icing. 

Moving to the F&B part, after discussing with the person-in-charge, every guest in my party was served with a main course with two sides and free flow of simple green salad, classic potato salad, wild mushroom soup, quenching drinks, tropical fruit platter, creamy cheese tarts, indulge cake slice, chocolate brownie booms and more. 

Talking about my appearance, the dress I wore during my birthday party was purchased from an online shop, Femay's Couture. You may search for it via this link: Femay's Couture. The puffy sleeve of this dress brings out the princess feel. I love it so much!

My hairstyle was designed by uncle Desmond, our family hairstylist since I was young. 

Not to forget the last part, I was very satisfied with the door gifts given to the guests. 

The pretty marble triangular boxes were bought from Shopee as well. Guess what's inside the box? There were Hershey's chocolates, Japan Meiji candy and coating biscuit! I would like to thank my sister for the homemade almond hugging bear cookies and heart shaped chocolates. 

That's all about my 21st birthday party. Lastly, I would like to thank every guest for sharing the joy with me on that day and the most important ones, my dad and mum for giving me the financial support so that I can be a princess for one day. Haha :)

Okay, i will end this post with a group photo with my church friends. 

Full video: Lydia's 21st Birthday Party